Him or her? (A Pipabeth story)

Chapter Fifteen

Piper's POV

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You know that feeling where you just know that everything is about to go bad for you? Where you get this feeling in your gut that tells you 'I'm freaking screwed'? Or where something happens that causes all your plans you had laid out perfectly to crumble to the ground?

Yeah, that is Piper as of a few seconds prior.

Piper had taken a stroll, as you do when you're stressed, into the woods. Of course, when you're taking said stroll in a forest at a Camp for demigods, weird stuff happens. Sometimes the weird stuff is also bad stuff.

Hence the feeling Piper got when she stopped for a brief second to look around and the trees, and turned back to see her mother standing in front of her. Freaking Aphrodite. Goddess of frickin' Love.

Her mother smiled at her — a sickly sweet smile — and motioned for her to sit down. Aphrodite was wearing a knee length light blue dress that showed off her model-like curves, and had wavy blonde hair that looked like it had come straight out of a fashion magazine.

Piper sat down on the log, glaring at her mom. This couldn't be good. Aphrodite sat across from her on a patch of grass. Piper waited for her to speak.

"So... You can't date Annabeth Chase."

Anger immediately rushed through Piper and the sudden statement.

"Wait what?! You can't say that—"

"Hush, dear," Aphrodite interrupted, her sweet sounding voice giving away a hint of venom. "You see, I can say that. In case you have forgotten, I still hold more power over you as a Goddess. You simply cannot break apart Annabeth and Percy. They are the perfect pair! They—"

"Break them apart?!" Piper was outraged. "I'm not doing anything! You're the one who can change people's feelings. The two of them were already growing apart anyway."

"My dear, it doesn't matter if they were growing apart. They're happy now. You were going to go tell Annabeth that she should be with Percy, anyways, weren't you?"

"Yeah but..." Piper paused, "how did you know that?"

Her mom waved her hand dismissively. "It does not matter. What matters, is that you understand the importance of you telling Annabeth that you two should stay apart and she should stay with Percy."

"Did you just try to Charmspeak me? I'm your freaking daughter!" It had barely been there, but noticeable.

"Oh I sincerely apologise. It happens sometimes."

Yeah right mom. Definitely an accident.

"Why does this even matter two you? Why on Earth do Percy and Annabeth have to stay together when they were drifting apart anyways?"

After Piper asked the question, Aphrodite just sat there smiling, a dangerous glint in her eyes, for a few seconds until it started to become almost creepy. After a few seconds, Aphrodite frowned, shaking her head slowly.

"You don't understand, don't you my dear? Annabeth and Percy were perfect for each other. They fit together so well. I loved how their relationship was. As the Goddess of Love, I have power over these things. And regardless of your feelings and you being my daughter, I intend to keep Annabeth and Percy together no matter what."

It was almost as if she heard an audible click go off in her mind or a lightbulb literally switched on. Piper had been so worried about her own problems she hadn't noticed what had been happening with Annabeth and Percy. Before, the two of them definitely had been growing further apart from each other. In fact, they hadn't really even been acting like a couple until suddenly Percy arrives at Camp because he suddenly decides to come back to Camp, and they suddenly start talking with each other and seemingly having more feelings for each other.

It didn't help that suddenly Aphrodite turns up to talk to her.

Just as she came to her conclusion, Aphrodite swiftly moved forwards until she was holding a dagger to Piper's neck. With the closeness, Piper was able to see how Aphrodite's eyes were changing constantly from grey, to blue, with the occasional mix of green. Her heartbeat skipped when she realised the blue and grey were exactly like that of Annabeth and Jason's eyes. Though where the green came from, she wasn't too sure.

"I hope you understand that even though you are my daughter, my favourite one at that, I won't hesitate to take things into my own hands. There is nothing stopping me from completely changing feelings; I've just been trying to keep things..." Aphrodite paused her threat, "...realistic and believable."

Piper sat there as still as possible, still frozen at the thought that she was being threatened by her own mother.

"So," Aphrodite continued, "You need to realise now, that unless you want me intervening even more, that you need to go and tell Annabeth that she should stay with Percy and you two stop being a thing."

To Tartarus with that.

She kept silent and still. Her mom — no, Aphrodite was nothing like a mom right now — walked back slowly, releasing the dagger from next to Piper's next, sliding it sideways quickly and causing a small cut to form on Piper's neck.

She flashed Piper a quick smile that looked more like a threat than a goodbye smile, before disappearing.

It hadn't even been 10 seconds when Piper got moving. Turning around and running back to Camp seemed about the only solution right now. It wasn't a very logic solution, but she was leaving the logic to Annabeth. Now, all she could think about was the opposite. Logic versus Emotion. Thinking versus Feeling. Feeling. Love.

Aphrodite's threat had been thrown out the window, and any thoughts relating to actually doing as threatened to do, had gone as well.

Sure she had been planning to tell Annabeth to stay with Percy, but only because they seemed to be getting more feelings for each other again. It was just a lie. A big fat lie, controlled by Aphrodite, all because Aphrodite couldn't contain her inner fangirl.

To Tartarus with any previous ideas.

She was going to tell Annabeth the truth.

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