I'm sorry, Annabeth

Piper IV

Her head felt like a million hammers were crushing it into pieces.

"What the...?" Piper's eyes fluttered open.

Everything was blurry at first. Then she recognised the room.

Infirmary.

She tried to move her limbs.

She winced.

Ow. Ow ow ow.

They hurt like Hades.

Her stomach felt like it just twisted itself three thousand times. And her back felt like there were knives scratching onto her.

Ouch.

She tried to remember what had happened.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

They were fighting, Jason killed those demigods on Kronos's side just in seconds. But then, he saw that something was wrong, and when he tried to tell Piper what he thought was happening, Jason disappeared.

Yes. She remembered. Every detail.

After Jason's disappearance, Piper freaked out and started slashing furiously at those demigods.

Then she noticed that something was wrong. She kept killing the same people. Immediately, she realised that someone was manipulating the Mist to fool them. She instantly turned her head around to search for Hazel, who, like Jason, was nowhere to be seen. Frank? Gone too. She saw Annabeth and Percy in the distance, and before she could go over to warn them, she felt a searing pain at her back. She blinked, and saw a demigod holding a knife dripping with blood.

Her blood.

Then the demigod plunged the knife into her back.

Piper swallowed back a scream. She saw everything become blurry and she lost her consciousness.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

"Piper, Piper!"

Piper slowly opened her eyes.

"Wha-?"

It was Jason.

Piper let out a sigh of relief when she saw him.

She's safe. She's safe beside him.

She slowly pushed herself up. Her limbs felt better now. It still hurt though.

"Hey." She said softly.

Jason smiled.

"Hey, Pipes."

"You blacked out again once you woke up half an hour ago."

He was wrapped in bandages, and there were bruises on his cheeks. There was a few scars and scratches on his arms and legs, but to Piper, he still looked as handsome as ever.

She leaned over and hugged him.

"Thank the gods you're okay."

Jason laughed half-heartedly.

"Don't-don't say it now." He whispered sadly. His voice suddenly became soft and miserable.

"Why?"

"It's that-" Jason sighed. "Pipes. Not all of us made it."

Well. That's war, isn't it?

"Pipes, I'll just be going now, people may need help, uh, cleaning camp."

Piper was confused.

"Cleaning camp?"

"Everyone was injured. Piper, you were at the brink of dying. If it wasn't for..." He stopped. "I'm sorry, Piper. I'll just, go...for now." He stood up slowly and carefully. Obviously he was severely injured too.

Piper felt utterly confused when she watched her boyfriend walk away.

What was he hiding from her?

She carefully studied the faces of the demigods in the infirmary. They all looked miserable. Well, yes, all of them were wrapped up in bandages and in crutches, and an Apollo kid was cleaning the blood and wounds of a demigod with a minor wound. But she saw despair and misery in their eyes. Like if their friend has died or something.

Wait.

Friend.

Out of pure instinct, she jumped out of her bed, ignoring the surge of pain flowing into her body. She scanned the room. Thank the gods. Hazel was there, leaning over her sick bay to examine Frank, who had a few broken limbs but thankfully still alive. Jason was here, she just saw him, and Leo was running around giving different demigods some weird crutches. Maybe he upgraded them to make them heal the demigods. Piper turned to the window. She saw a familiar blond haired girl sitting at the beach, staring into the sea. Annabeth was safe too.

Well, everyone should be here. She flopped back onto her bed and let out a breath of relief.

Is everyone here? There's still Percy. A voice in her head said.

He's the hero of Olympus, should be okay. And Annabeth is here. He should be near with her. She reassured herself.

She closed her eyes.

Slowly drifting to sleep...

"NO!"

Piper's eyes shot open.