Pretty isn't Pretty - Jason Grace

I.VII.

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Part one. Chapter seven.

An exorcism ? Coming right up !

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Piper couldn't explain how she knew.

Stories of phantoms and tortured souls had always freaked her out. Her dad used to joke about Grandpa Tom's Cherokee legends from back on the rez, but even at home in their big Malibu mansion, looking out over the Pacific, whenever her dad recounted the ghost stories for her, she could never get them out of her head.

Cherokee spirits were always restless. They often lost their way to the Land of the Dead, or stayed behind with the living out of sheer stubbornness. Sometimes they didn't even realize they were dead.

The more Piper learned about being a demigod, the more convinced she was that Cherokee legends and Greek myths weren't so different. These eidolons acted a lot like the spirits in her dad's stories.

Piper had a gut sense they were still present, simply because no one had told them to go away.

When she was done explaining, the others looked at her uncomfortably. Up on deck, Hedge sang something that sounded like 'In the Navy' while Blackjack stomped his hooves, whinnying in protest.

Finally Hazel exhaled. "Piper is right."

"She is ?" Aris pulled an unimpressed face which made Piper fume. What was it with this girl ?

"How can you be sure ?" Annabeth asked.

"I've met eidolons," Hazel said. "In the Underworld, when I was...you know."

Dead.

Piper had forgotten that Hazel was a second-timer. In her own way, Hazel too was a ghost reborn.

"So..." Frank rubbed his hand across his buzz-cut hair as if some ghosts might have invaded his scalp. "You think these things are lurking on the ship, or—"

"Possibly lurking inside some of us," Piper said. "We don't know."

Jason clenched his fist. "If that's true—"

"We have to take steps," Piper said. "I think I can do this."

"You've got to be kidding me," Aris scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"What ?" Percy looked at the dark haired girl "What are we doing ?"

"It's a fucking exorcism."

"Just listen, okay ?" Piper took a deep breath, trying to remove her aggravation towards this girl. "Everybody listen."

Piper met their eyes, one person at a time.

"Eidolons," she said, using her charmspeak, "raise your hands."

There was tense silence.

Leo laughed nervously. "Did you really think that was going to—?"

His voice died. His face went slack. He raised his hand.

Aris, Jason and Percy did the same. Their eyes had turned glassy and gold. Hazel caught her breath. Between Aris and Leo, Frank scrambled out of his chair and put his back against the wall.

"Oh, gods." Annabeth looked at Piper imploringly. "Can you cure them ?"

Piper wanted to whimper and hide under the table, but she had to help Jason. She couldn't believe she'd held hands with...No, she refused to think about it.