Heroes of Olympus: The Aftermath of War

PIPER

*Rick Riordan owns all of the characters*

PIPER WAS STARTING TO THINK about vegetarian meals when she smelled the horrible meat from one of the market stalls for a brief moment. Her dad used to say that it contained lots of protein, though she had taken other measures to solve that problem. Even if Gaea somehow managed to resurrect in a pig pen, she was never going to eat that stuff again.

Reyna had sent out a particular kind of transportation to make them comfortable throughout the whole journey. What the favor was about, she didn't know, but the praetor really had some style.

They sat inside a very fast Lamborghini, which was entirely made up of pure Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold. Piper wasn't sure if Arion would have felt offended, since the car could almost beat him in a racing match. But she also wasn't sure about his reaction because Hazel's horse had never shown up after the battle. And she couldn't speak horse like Percy did. So that was that.

The car was a gift from the queen of the Amazons herself, Hylla, who said that Camp Jupiter needed some new resources partly because a) Octavian had nearly spent most of the legion's money, and b) Romans needed to ride in style, not in chariots (or so Reyna's sister said). Piper thought it was meant to be a joke...Romans loved their chariots.

Surprisingly, Nico di Angelo offered his own zombie chauffeur, Jules-Albert, to drive them all the way to the Big Apple. Jason and Frank didn't seem convinced at first, but it turns out that the zombie kept his cool even when facing a traffic jam.

"Dad gave him to me," Nico had said, shaking his head. "But since I'm staying here in Camp Half Blood for awhile, I can't use him much."

"So...we're taking your undead chauffeur with us?" Frank had inquired, tilting his head.

"He's very calm," Nico added reassuringly.

Nobody wanted to argue with that.

Jason was snoring a little too loudly by the car's window, his blond hair covering up his eyes and his hands were used as a makeshift pillow. He easily got tired for the past few weeks, but Piper couldn't blame him. Ever since he made an oath to Kymopoleia, Jason was determined to wipe out the jealousy which loomed over the other gods. It was a good plan, especially when they wanted to avoid more wars. Nobody wanted an encore of what had happened.

Hazel sat by Piper's side, clearly nervous and overwhelmed by how technology had changed over the past decades. After all, she was brought back from the Underworld. If Piper had been through the same experience, riding past screens and huge buildings would make her mouth open wide in amazement.

"Uh...how many hours left 'till we reach NYC?" Frank asked, yawning and terribly bored.

"About 2 more," Hazel replied, squeezing his hand. "But, I guess that depends on the traffic."

Jules-Albert made a growl which kind of sounded like an agreement.

She left her Katoptris behind, since she wouldn't have to use it now. She did keep an Imperial Gold dagger in her bag for emergencies. If you were a demigod, it would only be logical to take precautionary measures.

It was already about 7 PM, and Piper decided to hum a few Cherokee songs her dad taught her just to stay awake. She and her friends had had the habit of taking turns to take "watch" while Jules-Albert drove, fearing that 4 demigods would give off enough scent for monsters to approach and treat them as a wonderful buffet.

She looked up at the starts in the sky, wondering if her dad was doing fine or if he was out doing some TV show again. He was always up for a sitcom and a movie or two, but Piper was sure that even he needed to take a rest sometimes. That's why she didn't want to be so popular, people followed you everywhere.

"Pipes..."

She turned, noticing that Jason had just awoken from his long nap. He smiled at her serenely, fixing his glasses and yawning. He looked cute whenever he did that.

Even he needed a rest.

Piper wanted to doze off too, but how could she? They don't want any sudden visits from unwanted visitors...right?

"Hey, I can take watch. You rest for a bit." he said, as if reading her mind.

"Thanks," Piper replied, resting her head on her own hands this time. "'Night."

"Goodnight, Pipes. Love you."

Just as she was about to reply, Piper saw a huge metal dragon loom over the horizon in the same direction they were heading. Maybe it was a trick of the Mist?

She didn't have time to think about it; she finally dozed off.