Shattered

Piper

The cold water was a shock to her system, making Piper bolt upright with a strangled scream.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," Reyna said, standing over her with a wicked smile and a dirty white bucket in her one remaining arm. "You missed breakfast," the praetor stated matter-o-factly.

"Lunch too," Veronica and Atlas chuckled from somewhere behind her.

"I- I h-hate y-you all!" Piper cried as her teeth refused to stop chattering. "W-was th-that f-filled w-with i-ice?"

Atlas and Veronica moved into view, and handed her a thick, fluffy, white towel that Piper grabbed eagerly. "They melted by the time we found you," Atlas boomed. "I did manage to talk Reyna down to only one tray of ice cubes though," Veronica added with a sheepish smile.

Piper smiled at the blonde daughter of Mercury. While she, Reyna, and occasionally Atlas butted heads, Veronica was always kind to her. Once again, Piper found herself pitying the younger girl. Veronica looked like monster, what with her body turning to ash, the intense golden flames that replaced her eyes, and the talons that grew from her hands and feet, but she was a sweetheart on the inside. "T-thank y-you." She peeled the soaked spider silk sheet from her body and began to dry herself with the spa-quality towel.

With a grunt, Reyna sat down across from her on the stone pavilion. "So, what were you doing out here all night? Alone." the praetor asked with a hint of distrust in her voice, as her brown eyes bore into Piper's soul.

As she toweled off her hair, Piper shot the Latina a dirty look. She was tired of the older girl treating her like she was a wolf in sheep's clothing; as if she was going to stab Reyna in the back at the first opportunity. Though, I do want to knock her head off when she gets like this. "I was out here last night because-." She stopped suddenly, her jaw dropping as the memories of the night before came rushing back. "Oh, fuck," Piper squeaked. "I'm the Gayegogi."

Atlas and Veronica gave her a puzzled look while Reyna facepalmed. "I don't even know what that is, but why do I know, why do I just know, that I'm going to want to strangle you," The one-armed praetor groaned.

Piper smiled sheepishly. Yeah. You probably will Rey...

----

The three girls and the titan left the great pavilion, and for the next hour Piper filled the others in on what had occurred the night before, as they slowly walked around the main grounds of Skyweaver Ranch. There were only a few guests, as Spring was still the off-season, so they didn't need to worry about watching what was said.

Atlas and Veronica listened intently to her story, with Atlas only interrupting to have something clarified and the daughter of Mercury expressing concern for her experiencing some of the darkest moments in U.S. history. And as she told her story, for the first time since Piper had met the demigod-titan hybrid, there seemed to be some issue on who was controlling their body. Their normally fair skin alternated between a raging red and a sickening green, their hands either shaking or clenching into fists, and their face transforming to a bitter sneer and then to as if they were about to lose their lunch. Piper knew that Veronica came from a pacifist family, so she was pretty the daughter of Mercury was the one who looked sick.

Reyna was... Reyna.

The praetor had listened without asking any questions, only smacking her upside the head when she told them about leaving the big house in the middle of the night accompanied by potential enemies. After that though, Reyna only continued to nod along, occasionally mumbling to herself.

"And yeah, the last thing I remember is finding out my Grandpa was the last Gayegogi," she finished with an exasperated sigh. She collapsed down on the large stone steps at the entrance of the big house and buried her face in her hands. "Still trying to process what that means, but I think I'm handling it pretty well."