H2O: Just Add the Heroes of Olympus

Chapter 26 - Piper

***NONE OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY BELONG TO ME. THEY ARE PROPERTY OF RICK RIORDAN AND JONATHAN M. SHIFF

Piper

Piper didn't know what to do. Everyone around her was sad and she didn't know how to comfort them. She had heard from other campers how Silena Beaureguard was blackmailed into being a spy for Kronos because of Luke. And how she sacrificed her life to get the Ares campers to fight in the War. Piper looked up to Silena. She was the head camper before Drew and actually had done things right. Plus, Silena's situation was quite similar to what Piper's had been when she first came to Camp Half-Blood.

Annabeth was crying in Percy's arms on the couch, Clarisse was trying to get Chuck to stop crying while tears were in her eyes as well, and Piper and Jason stood in the living room awkwardly. Piper wanted to comfort Annabeth but she would have to get between her and Percy, and that would make things more awkward. Luke had left to let everyone cool down and still hadn't come back yet.

Piper turned and whispered to Jason, "What do we do?"

Jason shrugged and nodded his head to the door. Piper nodded in agreement. They walked out onto the porch and sat on the porch swing.

"I feel like we're intruding on some age-old drama," Piper admitted.

Jason nodded. "Yeah. I didn't know there was so much of it during that war. Camp Jupiter didn't have that much drama."

"I heard that Luke convinced a lot of half-bloods to join his side."

"Yeah, but he sacrificed himself in the end. I guess that's why Annabeth forgave him so quickly."

Piper snorted. "Yeah, that's why she forgave him." Jason looked confused. "Don't worry about it, Sparky. But I am the daughter of Aphrodite, you know."

Jason knitted his eyebrows. "What does that have to do-"

Piper cut him off. "Oh, look! There's Luke now. Let's go talk to him," she said with fake enthusiasm and ran to meet Luke. Luckily, Jason dropped his question.

Boys. Piper thought. So dense.

"Hey, Luke. What did you do?" Piper questioned, noticing the grin on Luke's face.

"Oh, nothing. Just ran into Thalia," he explained. Piper nodded. She could sense Luke's feelings for Thalia, but she didn't say anything. Piper knew if she mentioned Thalia's oath it would just rub salt in the wound. Then Jason joined them.

"Hey, man. You okay?" Jason asked. Piper was a little taken aback by his sudden trust, but Jason was a Roman. He respected sacrifice.

Luke gave him a smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I think I'm going to head back to our house," he paused and gestured to Coach Hedge's house. "I don't think anyone in there wants to see me right now." Piper gave him a sympathetic smile and looked down at her shoes. Then Luke started the long walk down the beach.

Piper and Jason headed back in the house to find Chuck quiet, and Annabeth and Clarisse had pulled themselves together. Chris, Clarisse, Annabeth, and Percy were standing around the kitchen table, talking.

"How do you forgive him so easily?" Clarisse angrily questioned Annabeth.

"H-he sacrificed his life for us," she said as if she wasn't sure. This was the first time Piper had seen Annabeth like this. She seemed uncomfortable and nervous. Something Piper knew were products of her own mother's power.

Percy seemed to understand this. Unlike usual, Percy wasn't trying to comfort Annabeth. He didn't even seem to be standing up for her. Percy was jealous.

Clarisse didn't look convinced. "Yeah, whatever, Blondie," she said and noticed Piper and Jason. "Oh, look who it is."

Annabeth shot Clarisse a look and turned to Jason and Piper. "Where did you guys go?"

"Just out on the porch," Piper explained then glanced at Clarisse. "Luke is heading back to our house." Clarisse looked as if she was about to start screaming when Coach Hedge walked in, Mellie trailing behind.

"How'd it go, cupcakes?" he asked.

"Fine, Coach," Chris said.

"We got attacked by a whole herd of dracaenae, but fine," Clarisse cut in sarcastically.

Hedge looked betrayed. "There were monsters here and you didn't save any for me?" Everyone ignored him. They were used to Coach's impulsive need to fight. Mellie walked over to Clarisse, who was holding Chuck.

"Thank you so much, guys," Mellie said. "Now, you should go home and get some rest. It's a school night." Percy, Annabeth, Piper, and Jason said their goodbyes and drove back to their own house.

So this chapter might be a little boring (and I know I say that a lot) but I had to have it in there. And I wanted an update for you guys. I think this story has gotten really dramatic with Luke in it and I don't really like it but I don't know how else this would happen. I PROMISE there is not going to be a love triangle and I'm not going to break up Percabeth (they are my favorite ship after all). Annabeth is just having a hard time completely getting rid of her first crush. That seems logical, right? Anyways I hope you don't completely despise this chapter and will vote on it. Thanks for reading!