The Valdez Legacy (A Heroes of Olympus Fanfic)

Chapter 13: The Dilemma

Piper left the Hephaestus cabin, and walked towards the Poseidon cabin, where Percy, Annabeth and Jason were watching her two kids. She thought about Leo's daughter, Sofia, and how much he seemed to mean to her. Of course Piper understood these feelings, remembering a time when her father had been captured to, but this time it was different.

This time, her friend had been captured, and his daughter was deeply affected by it. The difference was, at the time, Piper wasn't close to her father, but Sofia...she was. Piper couldn't help but wonder if she hadn't said those awful things as a teenager, Leo would've been more likely to come back with his daughter. Maybe they would both be safe.

Piper entered the Poseidon cabin, which was filled with older campers, Roman and Greek. New Rome came a few days ago, after....

  Hazel walked up to Piper, a stressed look on her face, identical to the look the others in the room wore, "How is she? How's Sofia?"

  Piper smiled, "She's upset, but she's doing good for someone in her situation."

  Hazel nodded, looking down, obviously worried about Leo. Crying soon erupted, and Piper looked over to see the youngest Jackson child screaming.

  "Janet, give your sister back her doll!" She heard Annabeth scold.

  Piper smiled. Kaya, the youngest one was her godchild, and the oldest, Janet, was Hazel and Frank's godchild. Little did anyone else know that Annabeth was pregnant with her third child. It was honestly a terrible time to get pregnant; with all the half bloods getting abducted. Leo wasn't the first- nor would he be the last.

Hazel looked down, "I really hope Leo's okay. It's sad that we missed out on so much of his life..."

Piper nodded. She sighed, remembering what happened the night he left. She had been upset with Leo for a reason she couldn't remember, and she started talking about his dead girlfriend...and his mom. We made him feel so unwanted.

As much as it pained Piper to think about it, part of her wondered if he enjoyed his life more since he left. He fell in love, with a goddess, and though she left him, he still had s daughter, and his half-sisters, hell, he even kept contact with the rest of the Hephaestus cabin. Did Leo even think of the rest of the seven? The friends he thought betrayed him?

"When Leo visited me, he seemed...different. He seemed more mature, and he seemed like a natural father. It may have also been because he was scared for his and his daughter's safety." Hazel explained.

Piper nodded. As a parent, she understood. If she felt her children's safety was at risk, she would seek help as well.

Percy walked over to Piper, with a rather tired look on his face, and he was holding Kaya, who's eyes were bright red from her previous tantrum, "Any word on Leo? Or his daughter?"

"Leo...no. But his daughter is here, staying in the Hephaestus cabin. She's safe, but in shock."

Percy looked down, his sea green eyes filled with worry and regret. He too missed Leo, even if he wasn't as close to him as the rest of the seven.

"Is their going to be a quest any time soon?" Percy asked, "Because demigods are disappearing, and it's getting ridiculous."

Piper frowned. Of course they needed a quest- but there wasn't going to be one any time soon. She walked away, thinking about Leo, and for the first time, she thought about Sofia's mother. Was her mother a major god? Or a minor god? Oh gods, what if her mother was Aphrodite? She's be siblings with her best friend's daughter.

Ex best friend. She corrected herself.

Soon, she heard a muffled voice from Percy's chest, where her face was buried in it, "Daddy, is everything okay?"

Piper's heart split into two, upon hearing this, but Percy responded, "Yes, sweetie, things are going to be just fine."

Soon the doors open, and Nico Solangelo appeared with his daughter, Mireya. Both him and Ilene looked sad, and tired, upon Will's disappearance a few days ago.

Piper looked at them. She frowned at the pain her friends were in, and the pain she was in. There was a constant worry that the forcefield in the camp wasn't good enough to keep out, whatever was abducting them.

Then she came to a realization; even if there wasn't a quest, something had to be done, someone had to go out, and stop this monster, and Piper came to a conclusion: she needed to see Rachel.