Heroes of Olympus: The Aftermath of War

PIPER

*Rick Riordan owns all of the characters*

PIPER WENT BONKERS FOR the pineapple shakes and delicious salad, which the stalls of Central Park have generously provided. Hazel and Jason settled for chocolate milkshakes, while Frank, Bob, and Damasen bought bread instead. The others still hadn't arrived, which was okay, since they were busy eating the food anyway. People stared weirdly when they found them sitting under the shade of a large, old tree, contentedly sipping drinks and discussing topics among themselves. Huh. As if dining under a tree wasn't normal. Compared to Piper's near death experiences, this was totally fine!

Well, maybe since they didn't have a mat to sit on, but that was completely another thing. No one thought of bringing picnic baskets, so why bother dragging a mat along? She and her friends didn't mind sitting on the grass, either way. They were too grateful to have survived Gaea for that.

"Hippie Zeus's statue, you really do love those things!" Jason exclaimed, eyeing Piper as she finished her third fruit shake.

"Yeah, Piper, you ought to have been full eons ago," Hazel inserted, slightly astonished by her big appetite. "But this is my fourth choco drink, so I won't be one to judge."

"Nah, I guess I am full," she replied, turning a bit pink. "Salads and shakes are good, but I think those will be my last ones."

"The trees and flowers are absolutely lovely today," Damasen commented, looking at a patch of roses in front of him. "And the bread is good."

"Welcome to New York, man." Frank said, patting the teenage-disguised Giant on the back.

It was already 2:30 in the afternoon, and no, in case you were wondering, they weren't here for a total of 'boresome 4 hours', since Jason proved to be a sloth when changing his clothes. Honestly, the son of Jupiter might as well have hosted a party inside his and Frank's room the whole time. If Jason 'fixed' himself, he'd take longer than a girl normally would, which, at least in Piper's opinion, was 15 minutes. Finally, 'Princess Jason' (Frank had teased the guy. They adopted the name. Long story.) appeared after two hours of 'makeover appointments', so Piper and the others decided eating lunch before going to Central Park. Actually, they'd just been here for 30 minutes or less.

"H-hey, isn't that F-Festus?" Hazel inquired, pointing at the blue sky.

"Pshh." Frank waved off. "We haven't seen that dragon in---" his voice broke.

Appearing between two large cumulus clouds, the metal dragon crackled and whirred with excitement, carrying Percy, Annabeth, Calypso, and...

Piper couldn't believe it. Leo was coming towards them.

"Yeah, people!" he shouted, waving his hands. "This hot stuff is totally back!"