Daughter of Death || Dividing Line

Chapter 2

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(I know I skipped a lot, I'm lazy, sorry.)

We were taking a break from sailing and I felt a weird presence. Almost like a voice in the back of my mind. And it wasn't my conscious. Jason and Percy had been possessed and were just coming out of the infirmary. Piper called us all to the lounge and I was zoning out ass she explained about the eidolons that possessed Percy, Jason, and Leo. "One more thing. The eidolons, they're still here. In this room," Piper said. I turned to her and my face paled. "Everybody, listen up," she said, standing up and facing us all. She locked eyes with each and every one of us before using her charmspeak. "Eidolons, raise your hands." There was silence. Leo laughed nervously and started, "Really? Did you really think that was going to-." His face went slack and he raised his hand. Frank, who was sitting next to him, jumped up and pressed his back against the wall. I freaked and grabbed his hand, trying to pushed the presence out of him. I could see him fighting, but it wasn't enough. He turned to me with those golden eyes and smiled wickedly. I dropped his hand and pushed myself an inch away from him. Percy and Jason rose their hands too, matching gold eyes. I took a few deep breaths and focused on Piper. She spoke to them, the conversation going something like this:

"Are there any more of you here?" Piper asked.
"No, the Mother Earth sent four, the strongest. We will live again," Leo responded.
Piper's face went pale. That meant there was one more within us, one that didn't respond when Piper did her charmspeak. I had a feeling that's what the voice in my mind was. But Piper brushed this off, she can deal with other one later. Piper retorted, "Oh, no, you won't. Not here. Listen carefully."
Jason and Percy turned toward her. Those gold eyes were unnerving, but seeing all three boys like that must have fueled Piper's anger.
"You will leave those bodies," she commanded.
"No," Percy said.
Leo let out a soft hiss. "We must live."
Frank fumbled for his bow. "Mars Almighty, that's creepy! Get out of here, spirits! Leave our friends alone!"
Leo turned toward him. "You cannot command us, child of war. Your own life is fragile. Your soul could burn at any moment."
Piper didn't seem sure what that meant, but Frank staggered like he'd been punched in the gut. He drew an arrow, his hands shaking. "I—I've faced down worse things than you. If you want a fight—"
"Frank, don't." Hazel rose.
Next to her, Jason drew his sword.
"Stop!" Piper ordered, but her voice quavered. I could see her rapidly losing faith in her plan. She'd made the eidolons appear, but what now? If she couldn't persuade them to leave, what would happen? In the back of my mind, I could almost hear Gaea laughing.
"Listen to Piper." Hazel pointed at Jason's sword. The gold blade seemed to grow heavy in his hand. It clunked to the table and Jason sank back into his chair.
Percy growled in a very un-Percy-like way. "Daughter of Pluto, you may control gems and metals. You do not control the dead."
Annabeth reached toward him as if to restrain him, but Hazel waved her off.
"Listen, eidolons," Hazel said sternly, "you do not belong here. I may not command you, but Piper does. Obey her."
She turned toward Piper, her expression clear: Try again. You can do this.
Piper mustered all her courage. She looked straight at Jason—straight into the eyes of the thing that was controlling him. "You will leave those bodies," Piper repeated, even more forcefully.
Jason's face tightened. His forehead beaded with sweat. "We—we will leave these bodies."
"You will vow on the River Styx never to return to this ship," Piper continued, "and never to possess any member of this crew."
Leo and Percy both hissed in protest.
"You will promise on the River Styx," Piper insisted.
A moment of tension—I could feel their wills fighting against hers. Then all three eidolons spoke in unison: "We promise on the River Styx."
"You are dead," Piper said.
"We are dead," they agreed.
"Now, leave."

All three of them slumped over. I caught Leo by his shoulders and leaned him against me as we sunk down onto the couch. Hazel and Annabeth grabbed Percy under his shoulders, and Piper went to hold Jason up. They came around a few seconds later. I felt a sharp pain in my head and I clutched my temples, wincing and hissing in pain. "P-Pipes? Can you see if you can get the-the thing out of my head?" I asked shakily as Leo grabbed my hand. I felt the voice back in my head. I will take you over. You belong to me now. "Shut up! SHUT UP!" I screamed as I furiously clutched at my head while Piper walked over and knelt next to me. "Run," I whimpered, trying to warn my friends. I felt one last sharp, agonizing sensation, and my memory stopped.

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I grabbed Diana by her shoulder and she flipped me onto the ground. She smiled cruelly at me and her eyes, her blue eyes, were now green. I could see a misty haze. As everyone ran for her, she knocked them out, one by one. Until only me and Piper remained. Before I could process, she had me and Piper tied up on the ground. "Diana, stop!" I yelled and she just laughed maniacally, but it wasn't hers. Her laugh is warm hearted and benevolent, this was evil. "Diana is gone. She won't be coming back," the thing said. "Eidolon, leave my friend," Piper commanded. Diana just raised an eyebrow and laughed again. "I am no mere eidolon. I am the strongest of eidolons. You don't command me, I am the greatest of possessive spirits, sent from the depths of Tartarus. You can't control me. Nothing can! Diana is long gone, lost to my power. I have inhabited her body and I will never leave!" I yelled, "Let her go! You let Diana go right now! Don't hurt her!" It shook her head and turned away to grab a knife that was sitting on the table. It started speaking again, the speech about how Gaea needed the blood of a male and female demigod to rise, and me and Piper would be it. As the demon was monologuing, I could see Diana fighting it. For a split second, she was herself, before it took her over again. I fiddled with the ropes and managed to untie them, but I remembered something that Chiron had said. If the will of a person is strong enough, they can overcome a demon or possessive spirit. You have to strike a memory of something they love, something they'd do anything to protect. She had single-handedly willed herself to fight Medea's power on our quest to save Hera, and Medea was one of the most powerful sorceresses out there. "Well, you're a pretty lousy demon if she can actually fight you. I mean, come on. You can't destroy one human soul? Pathetic," I said, trying to annoy the thing. If I can get it close enough.... It tried to argue but it had nothing to say. So instead, it crouched in front of me and grabbed me by the collar, about 5 inches between our faces. "Listen, Valdez, I will snap your neck like a twig if you don't-," she started. My hands shot up, I pulled her face to mine and kissed her. She lost her balance and fell on top of me, totally confused. When I pulled away, she fell forward onto my chest, breathing heavily. "It's me," she said and pulled back so I could see her. Her eyes were blue, and the thing was just a floating presence. She leaned back down and wrapped her arms around my neck as she clung to me for dear life. She shivered like she'd just seen literal hell, maybe she had. The floating demon like thing said furiously, "I shall be back, and when I am, you will regret this." It flew past us and dissolved. Diana crawled over to Piper and untied her. Piper ran over to where our friends laid unconscious on the ground, and me and Diana stood up. Piper pulled Jason close, looked up at Diana with hurt, and said, "What have you done?" Diana's face was full of emotion, mixed shock, betrayal, hurt, anger and fear. She took a step back and pulled her arms close to her chest. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She turned around, tears forming in her eyes, and she ran out of the room. I turned to Piper, furious. "Why would you say that to her?! She was possessed! She couldn't help it! Excuse me if your oh so perfect boyfriend was knocked unconscious, but she could have killed him had she not been fighting against that thing! How dare you!" I yelled. She stared at me with shock, but I walked out, following Diana. I found her sitting on the edge of the bow. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and I saw silent tears rolling down her face. I sat next to her and she hugged me, sobbing and trying to apologize. I told her to stop blaming herself, and she nodded before she continued to cry. I held her until Piper came and sat on her other side. "Diana, I'm sorry," she said as she rubbed a hand on Diana's back. She pulled away from Piper and said, "I don't want to talk to you. Give me some space and come back when I don't feel like punching a hole through your face." Piper looked down and stood up. Diana looked around at the countryside down below us. She inched closer to the edge. She dropped her legs and let them hang freely, nothing keeping her from getting flung over the edge. I twirled a piece of her hair around my finger as she stared. She pulled off her glasses and turned them in her hand. "I don't need them anymore, I'm fine," she mumbled. And with that, she threw them out into the distance. She sat her hands down and watched them fly away. "Okay, they should be awake by now. I'm going to make sure that no one kills Piper for blaming me, and I'm going to try to find my brother," she said, standing up. I nodded and watched her walk away.