The Blood of Olympus (Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 32: Piper

Chapter 32: Piper

 

            PIPER HAD NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY to be back on the Argo II.

            After Annabeth had found her in the Temple of Aphrodite, it took hours for them to trek across Athens. Their injuries and exhaustion caused them to go slower. Several times an hour they would have to stop and rest, wishing they had water or food to help them get by.

            Now that Piper was back, she could finally sit down and be tended to. She could finally remove her armor, which felt like a thousand pounds on her body. Everything seemed to finally be okay.

            “Have you eaten?” Jason had insisted on inspecting every bump on Piper’s body, bandages and gauze in hand. If Piper was wrapped up anymore, she would feel like a mummy.

            She shook her head. She drank the last of the nectar, feeling more strength surge through her veins. Nectar was like the Gatorade for demigods- reviving them and giving them energy.

            “You finish cleaning up. I’m going to get something prepared for you.” Jason handed Piper a washcloth and a roll of gauze. As if trying to be sneaky, he grabbed the horn of the plenty before leaving the sickbay.

            Annabeth and Percy were still in the sickbay, though they were no longer tending to Annabeth’s wounds. Percy’s arms were wrapped tightly around Annabeth, and her face was buried in his shirt. They hadn’t spoken much. Piper almost felt like she was interrupting them, so she stood up and walked out of the room.

            Piper put her armor back into her closet and put her sword on her bed. Already she felt tired, so she sat on the floor for a moment. She felt like she was sick, though she knew it was just from the long fight.

            She looked into Katoptris, touching the long cut on her face. She had gotten it after being thrown against a pillar. It still stung, though it was closing. Piper hoped it wouldn’t scar, because she didn’t have an excuse to tell her dad if it stayed permanently etched on her skin.

            After a few moment of staying on the ground, Piper stood up. She sheathed her knife and walked out of her cabin. When she went to the dining hall, she noticed it was empty. Jason wasn’t here, so he must have been somewhere else.

            A voice in her head told her to go on deck, so she went above deck.

            “Oh, Jason,” she said, and she couldn’t help but to laugh.

            Jason was sitting cross-legged on deck, sitting on a purple blanket that looked like his comforter on his bed. The cornucopia was perched on his knee, and food was prepared on the blanket.

            “I had a feeling Percy and Annabeth were going to eat together, so I decided to come up here to give them privacy.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “I couldn’t find a picnic blanket, so I took my own blanket.”

            “Vegetarian sandwiches, I’m impressed.” Piper grinned and kissed Jason on the cheek. “Thank you for this.”

            “Don’t thank me, Piper.” He laced his fingers through hers. “I’m just so glad that you’re okay.”

            Her heart swelled at this. Her hand brushed against the cut on her face. “Yeah, barely,” she muttered.

            “Don’t say that.” Jason squeezed her hand before dropping it, grabbing his own sandwich and taking a bite of it. “I know you said you nearly died, but I have a feeling you fought like a maniac.”