Finding Hope (Book 1)

Chapter 27:

If not for the horses, Piper and I would've died. Jason and Percy charged each other, but Tempest and Blackjack balked long enough for Piper to leap out of the way. I rolled to the edge of the road and looked back, dazed and horrified, as the boys crossed swords, gold against bronze. Sparks flew. Their blades blurred—strike and parry—and the pavement trembled. The first exchange took only a second, but Piper couldn't believe the speed of their sword fighting. The horses pulled away from each other—Tempest thundering in protest, Blackjack flapping his wings.

"Stop it!" Piper yelled. For a moment, Jason heeded her voice. His golden eyes turned toward her, and Percy charged, slamming his blade into Jason. Thank the gods, Percy turned his sword—maybe on purpose, may be accidentally—so the flat of it hit Jason's chest; but the impact was still enough to knock Jason off his mount. Blackjack cantered away as Tempest reared in confusion. The spirit horse charged into the sunflowers and dissipated into vapor. Percy struggled to turn his pegasus around.

"Percy!" Piper yelled. "Jason's your friend. Drop your weapon!" Percy's sword arm dipped. Piper might have been able to bring him under control, but unfortunately Jason got to his feet. Jason roared. A bolt of lightning arced out of the clear blue sky. It ricocheted off his gladius and blasted Percy off his horse. Blackjack whinnied and fled into the wheat fields. Jason charged at Percy, who was now on his back, his clothes smoking from the lightning blast. For a horrible moment, I couldn't move. I didn't know what to do. Gaea seemed to be whispering to me: You must choose one. Jason moved his sword towards Percy.

I jumped in front of the blade, knowing that Percy would die if Jason got him. He froze, his sword six inches from my face. "Jason?" Piper asked. Jason turned, the gold light in his eyes flickering uncertainly.

"I cannot stop. He must die." Something about that voice...it wasn't Gaea. It wasn't Jason. Whoever it was spoke haltingly, as if English was its second language."Who are you?" Piper demanded. Jason's mouth twisted in a gruesome smile. "We are the eidolons. We will live again."

"Eidolons... ? You're—you're some sort of ghost?"

"He must die, as well as Hope." Jason turned his attention back to me and Percy, but Percy had recovered more than either of them realized. He swept out his leg and knocked me off my feet. My head hit the pavement, and I was out cold.

~~~~Piper POV~~~~

After Hope was unconscious , Percy did the same thing to Jason. Jason's head hit the asphalt with a nauseating conk. Percy rose."Stop it!" Piper screamed again, but there was no charmspeak in her voice. She was shouting insheer desperation. Percy raised Riptide over Jason's chest. Panic closed up Piper's throat. She wanted to attack Percy with her dagger, but she knew that wouldn't help. Whatever was controlling him had all of Percy's skill. There was no way she could beat him in combat. She forced herself to focus. She poured all of her anger into her voice.

"Eidolon, stop."Percy froze."Face me," Piper ordered.The son of the sea god turned. His eyes were gold instead of green, his face pale and cruel, not at all like Percy's. "Hope has not chosen," he said. "So this one will die."

"You're a spirit from the Underworld," Piper guessed. "You're possessing Percy Jackson. Is that it?" Percy sneered.

"I will live again in this body. The Earth Mother has promised. I will go where I please,control whom I wish." A wave of cold washed over Piper.

"Leo...that's what happened to Leo, and Hope! They were being controlledby an eidolon."The thing in Percy's form laughed without humor.

"Too late you realize. You can trust no one."Jason and Hope were still not moving. Piper had no help, no way to protect him. Behind Percy, something rustled in the wheat. Piper saw the tip of a black wing, and Percy began to turn toward the sound.