the great wave | percy jackson

𝑥 - piper

When her and Jason had finished speaking with the North Wind (more like begging him not to kill them, really), Khione led them back to the entry hall in stony silence. Leo was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, and Piper checked around for Ash until she saw her through the big glass doors at the end of the hall. She was out on the balcony with Calais, where the ground was covered in a thick layer of ice. Someone (probably Cal) had decked her out in a Nordiques jersey that was the length of a ballgown on her, and the two of them were playing a heated game of hockey, using their swords as sticks. Piper didn't know if she'd ever seen anything more dangerous or stupid in her life, and she'd been friends with Leo for almost a year now.

Anyways, one final harrowing encounter with Zethes later, they were off to Chicago on Festus' big bronze back. Piper didn't relax until the glow of Quebec City had faded behind them; that had not been a pleasant experience. First there was Ice Queen Khione, and then the way Boreas had laughed at Jason before becoming Aquilon... the greater evil he'd spoken of... Piper shivered as his parting words echoed in her mind. You will tear each other apart.

"You were amazing." Jason's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

That compliment should've made her day. But all she could think about was the trouble ahead. The closer they got to the solstice, the less time Piper had to make her decision. She told Jason in French (surprise, surprise, apparently she was fluent): "If you knew the truth about me, you wouldn't think I was so amazing."

"Huh?" he asked.

"Vert," Ash said in a French accent almost as bad as Zethes'. "Means green. And incroyable is incredible. She must be talking about the Hulk."

Piper had to laugh. "Vérité," she corrected. "Means truth. I said, in truth it wasn't so incredible. I only talked to Boreas."

She didn't turn to look, but could feel Jason smiling at the back of her head. "Hey," he said, "you saved me from joining Khione's subzero hero collection. I owe you one."

"Trust me," Ash spoke, "by the end of this quest we'll all probably be about even. But yeah, merci beaucoup, Pipes!" She pronounced it mercy boo-coop and Piper giggled again. Leave it to Ash to improve her mood. She'd been worrying herself sick, about who Jason really was, about Coach Hedge and whether he was okay or not, even about Leo, who looked despondent as he passed them Uncrustables from his toolbelt.

"I still can't believe Khione," he moaned. "She looked so nice. I was convinced I found my MJ."

"Trust me, man," Jason said. "Snow may be pretty, but up close it's cold and nasty. We'll find you a better prom date."

"I volunteer as tribute! I've never been to prom!" Ash raised her hand excitedly and Leo gave her a crisp high five. They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a while, Piper steadily growing sleepy as she thought about her Grandpa Tom, and all the old Cherokee legends he'd told her when she was small. About her dad and how he never played indigenous roles, about the way he'd joke and deflect and say he just liked the Greek myths better. She looked up at the stars, trying to imagine them as characters from her grandpa's tales, attempting to see the patterns her ancestors once had, but all she could come up with were the little stick figures she'd been taught in school–Hercules, the Big Dipper, Perseus...

Jason must have noticed she was drifting off to Lala Land because he tapped her on the shoulder and encouraged her to get some sleep. Blinking at him in mild confusion, Piper came back down to earth and decided she could pretend for a little while longer. She could dream of finding a way to save her father without betraying her friends, she just needed a little more time. So she leaned back against Jason's warm chest, heartened when he didn't complain, and the moment she closed her eyes, she was asleep.