Broken || A Riordan Universe Story

Piper POV~ "NO! NO! NO, COME BACK!"

I couldn't take it anymore. It's been days of nightmares. My mistakes, my faults, my failures are all coming back. I can't. I can't.

I was in some type of a cell, my arms were tied behind me with a chain. My vision was no help, the horrid twisted memories took place.

     I was with Jason, in his arms. Leo was on Festus's golden back. We were flying upwards fast. I could feel the wind on my body, waking me up. The 20-foot-tall figure of a woman was struggling in Festus's claws. Gaea's dress was woven from blades of grass, her skin as white as quartz, with hair brown and tangled like tree roots. Unlike all the other times her eyes were wide open. They were solid green, like all nature has been condensed into a few spoonfuls of organic matter. Festus was blasting her with flames, which kept her in solid form. She kept trying to shift out of Festus by disintegrating, but that didn't work with Leo blasting her with fire too. All while hurling his own insults.

"Potty Sludge! Dirt Face! THIS IS FOR MY MOTHER, ESPERANZA VALDEZ!"

     Jason was summoning venti who were churning around her, keeping her stone body intact.

     "YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!" She crumbled to sand. "I AM ETERNAL!"

     "Eternally annoying!" Leo yelled.

     I needed to get closer to Gaea for the charm speak to reach her ear.

     "Get me closer," I urged. "I need to be next to her."

     "Piper the flames and shrapnel-" Said Jason.

     "I know." I replied.

     He moved closer to Gaea. So close that I could feel the heat of the flames brushing my cheeks.

     "FOOLISH CHILDREN!" Gaea screamed.

    "You are so weary," I charmspeaked. This was my moment. I poured my whole heart and soul into my words, trying to radiate kindness and sympathy. "Eons of pain and disappointment weigh on you."

     "SILENCE!"

     "Millennia of sorrow," I kept going. "Your husband Ouranos was abusive. Your other children, the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones were thrown into Tartarus. You are so tired of heartache."

     "LIES!"

     "What you want," I lulled, "more than victory, more then revenge... you want rest. You are so weary, so incomprehensibly tired of the ungrateful mortals and immortals."

     "I- YOU DO NOT SPEAK FOR ME- YOU CANNOT-"

     "You want one thing." I soothed. My voice was a weapon. I wielded it like my life depended on it, putting every last ounce of energy into my words. "One word. You want permission to close your eyes and forget your troubles.

     You

     Want

     Sleep."

     I finished charmspeaking. Gaea slumped into her human form. My eyelids weighed a ton, my throat was parched.

     "Leo!" I was gasping for a breath. "We only have a few seconds. My charmspeak-"

     "I know!" He was looking straight at me. Flames were rippling throughout his body; under his skin, illuminating his skull. Festus was burning up at a fast rate. The heat was amplified. "I can't contain the fire much longer. I'll vaporize her. Don't worry. But you guys need to leave."

     "No!" Jason said. "We have to stay with you. Piper's got the cure. Leo you can't-"

     "Hey, I'm going to be absolutely fine. And by the way," he added. "I love you guys."

     Leo smiled, his wolffish grin. But this time there was sadness in his brown eyes.

      There were tears brimming my eyes.

     Festus opened his claws and I was free-falling. Up above me was a ball of fire. There was a comet launched at the ball and it created an explosion of orange light. Turning everything Gold.

     "LEO!" I screeched. "NO! NO! NO, COME BACK!"

     "Come back." I cried, "come back, please."

     Leo Valdez, my best friend was gone. Erased from this world. Just like that.

     And it was all my fault.

     All.

     My.

     Fault.

     I should've done something! Anything! It should've been me who died. Not Leo. Not Leo.

     I shattered into a million pieces. One too many to pick up.

     I kept falling as if there was no end to this tragedy. The guilt was like gravity, pulling me down.

     Then I hit the ocean and was spit into a very similar cave. The Nymphaeum. But this time Percy and Jason weren't with me. I was the only one. The dark water started to fill the cave. It was sucking out all my energy. I was growing weaker with every inch. There was no cornucopia for me to purify the evil water with, it was only me. The water was rising fast, it was already to my chin in a matter of minutes. My essence was draw out painfully. I couldn't feel my body anymore, my senses were dulled. The murky water passed over my head, submerging my body fully. I tried to breath, to get one last gulp of oxygen. But I couldn't. The water burned down my throat and into my lungs. I felt like I swallowed the sun. Everything stopped as the darkness took me away.