the warrior of olympus [ the heroes of olympus ]

chapter eight

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝚁𝙸𝙾𝚁 𝙾𝙵 𝙾𝙻𝚈𝙼𝙿𝚄𝚂༉‧₊˚.[𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙾𝙴𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝙾𝙻𝚈𝙼𝙿𝚄𝚂]

chapter eight: i fight my very first dragons ( peleus, if these are your cousins, man, i am SO sorry )

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"PIPER?" ASHANTI called out to the younger demigoddess, not even caring that the princess had used the opportunity to slip away, back to jason, and leo to show them the living fur coats. the dionysus demigoddess wasn't all too concerned, as long as the woman didn't attempt to flee the store, ashanti would worry about killing her another time. at the moment, she was more concerned about whether or not she'd been crossing the country with someone who planned to have them set-up, "explain, and quickly."

the aphrodite girl's bottom lip wobbled, not sure if opening her mouth was the best thing to do - the giant had told her if she breathed a word about the situation to anyone, she'd be sealing the lid on her father's coffin. technically, she had already been saying a bit too much, but surely that meant her dad wasn't dead, right? as much as she'd somewhat disliked ashanti, piper figured the girl was trustworthy. the way demigods at camp dropped whatever they were doing to help her - without charmspeak as she suspected drew did. the way campers looked to her for leadership, and how her own friends, jason, and leo, had already bonded with the older girl, trusting her with their lives. what had boreas called her? a 'secret box.' maybe, there was a way to go around enceladus. maybe, the ashanti could help her, they could save her dad, and hera. she had the most experience, but it was still a risky gamble. she could lose her dad.

tears gathered in her eyes as she contemplated back, and forth, the idea of her dad dying playing over, and over behind her eyes as she debated with herself on whether or not telling ashanti was worth his life. air filled her lungs, but it still felt like she couldn't breathe, "m-my dad, he's in danger, ashanti." from by the boys, the woman fixed piper with an evil stare, as if she could sense the aphrodite girl was doing something she wasn't supposed to. her steely eyes challenged, dared the girl to keep talking. cold fear was injected straight into her bloodstream, piper's entire frame stiffening as she realized she'd made a grave mistake. it was no doubt in her mind the woman would contact the giant, and have her father killed. she'd just played a hand in her father's death. panic began to take over.

"what's going on with your father?" ashanti asked, no doubt catching the threatening look the woman sent in piper's direction, "ignore her, she's not telling anyone anything. she's more focused on the guys right now. i can't help you if i don't know what is going on." with shaking hands, and an overall terrified expression, piper ran her entire story from the top with absolutely no deception. she explained her childhood, the stealing, the charmspeak. embarrassedly, she explained the situation with jason, and everything up until they met at camp half-blood. ashanti was a great listener, her facial expression remained neutral throughout the entire store, nodding along at the right parts, and making faces at the things she didn't like ( pretty much anything involving the giant ). the dionysus demigoddess even allowed piper to cry a bit, pretending she didn't see the younger girl wiping away flowing tears, creating red splotches onto the even skin of her face.

when piper had finally finished, her breathing all uneven as she tried to pull herself together, ashanti was silently debating the situation. she looked so focused, the aphrodite girl almost hadn't wanted to speak, but was beat to the punch. "it's not an unsavable situation, piper," the older demigoddess told her finally. "we can find a way to do both, but you need to be honest with leo, and jason. going into an unknown situation is far more dangerous than walking into a trap, i promise." ashanti paused for a moment, peering around to where the woman was. the princess was still off charming the guys, smoothing her hands along the furs, giving them beaming smiles. "for now, we're going to deal with her so she doesn't go snitching. you try, and see if you can lift her enchantment with charmspeak. i'm going to grill her for information."