Rising Heroes Book One: When Angels Met Gods

Chapter Ten: Goodbye

Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes of Olympus or Violet Eden

Chapter Ten: Goodbye

Piper watched as Nico shadow-traveled away, first with Lily and then Skye. She resisted the urge to pry her baby from his arms and carry her far, far away- to somewhere she would be safe.

Jason placed his arm around her shoulders. "I know," he whispered. "But we have to stop Garnet before she hurts anyone else."

"Where is Garnet, anyway?" Violet looked around like she would drop from the sky at any moment.

Lincoln pointed towards an ominous black cloud flicking with lightning that was steadily moving towards them. "Is it too much to ask for that to be a perfectly normal spontaneous storm?"

A chorus of shrieks pierced the air as the cloud grew larger.

Lincoln winced. "Okay, not a normal storm."

A thin stream of black cloud swirled downward, forming a large funnel that threatened to suck the Grigori and demigods into the storm. Lincoln and Violet clung to a tree while Jason struggled to keep his grip on a boulder.

"Ah!" Piper screamed as she lost her handhold beside Jason, and was flung into the air. Jason reached up and grabbed her wrist, stretching until one hand was on the rock and the other war grabbing Piper.

"You have to let me go!" Piper shouted as she struggled to be heard over the storm.

"Never!" Jason shouted back.

Suddenly the storm cleared, and Jason and Piper were thrown to the ground. Lincoln and Violet climbed down from the tree and helped them stand.

"Well, well, well," Garnet stood before them, holding the Immortality in one hand and a sword in the other. "It's a shame you won't be able to watch one of your precious babies die."

"Neither of them are dying," Lincoln tried to sound confident, but his voice wavered.

Garnet laughed. "Whatever brings you peace in your final moments alive."

Holding out the Immortality, she let out a scream. Exiles and monster materialized, while the Immortality started to glow and smoke. The ground shook and skeletal warriors came up from the ground, surrounding Garnet in a protective circle.

Lincoln and Piper raised their daggers, lightning crackled around Jason, and amethyst mist poured out of Violet. And together, the four of them charged.

They formed a protective circle, with their backs against each other. But it seemed that with every monster they took out, two more appeared. Lincoln and Jason slashed at the monsters, while Violet and Piper used their combined mist and charmspeak to slow them down. Some of the really dumb monsters were even persuaded to kill themselves. But it still wasn't enough.

"We have to get the stone!" Violet shouted. "Then the monsters will retreat!"

"Jason, fly yourself and Piper over to Garnet!" Lincoln shouted. "We'll hold off the monsters!"

Jason nodded and grabbed Piper, and flew them up above the monsters. Lincoln and Violet shifted their position so that they were still back-to-back.

"Garnet!" Piper shouted as she struggled to make her way towards her. Wind buffeted her backwards, nearly throwing her off the mountain. "You don't have to do this!"

Garnet looked up at her, a mixture of anger and sadness on her face. "They abandoned me!" She shouted back. "I have to make them feel the loss that I did!"

With the wind blowing her hair away from her face, Piper could see Garnet more clearly than before. She couldn't be older than fifteen- but the unmistakable look of loss on her face made her seem much older.

Piper pushed charmspeak into her voice. "Give us the stone. Everything will be okay!"

Garnet's eyes glazed over, and her guard lowered for a millisecond. But it was enough time for Jason to push a gust of wind at her, blowing her shield of air away and sending her and the stone flying.

"Garnet!" Piper rushed over to the edge of the mountain, where Garnet was hanging onto a ledge with one hand. "Give me your hand!"

Garnet looked up at her, then down at the steep drop. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"No!" Piper screamed and lunged towards Garnet as she let go of the ledge and fell to the rocks below. Jason grabbed Piper before she could fall as well.

"No," Piper sobbed. "She was just a child."

Violet walked over to them, the stone cupped in her palm. "Exactly," Violet stared at Garnet's body with newfound realization. "'A child must die.' It was never our babies- it was Garnet."

The four of them sat in silence for a few minutes until Lincoln spoke. "The monsters disappeared," he said. "They left when Garnet..." he cleared his throat. "They left when Garnet died."

"She had a hard life," Jason said. "Maybe now she can find peace."

Piper sniffled and looked at the stone. She watched as it disappeared in a puff of pale purple smoke. "At least the gods will keep that stone from ever falling into the wrong hands again,"

They were silent for another moment before bursting into laughter. "Like the gods would ever actually be able to do that," Jason said. Thunder growled above them as soon as he said it. "Sorry!" he shouted.

They tried to stop their laughter, but at the moment it seemed impossible to stop the happiness that came with relief.

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Violet reluctantly hugged Piper goodbye, then squeezed her hands. "It's gonna be okay," she promised.

Piper nodded and smiled. "You'll IM, right? You remember how?"

Violet nodded and patted the bag of drachmas in her bag. "We'll have to plan a joint birthday party. I have a feeling that Skye and Lily will be good friends."

"They definitely will," Piper hugged her one last time and turned to Jason, who was holding Skye. Violet took Lily from Lincoln, then gave Piper and Jason one last smile before climbing with Lincoln into the car provided by Camp Jupiter.

Piper watched as Lincoln, Violet, and Lily drove away, not turning away until the car was a speck in the distance.

Jason placed Skye in her arms and put his hands on her shoulders. Piper looked down at the tiny baby in her arms- her daughter. She still couldn't believe it.

"This isn't goodbye," Jason reassured her. "This is... see you later."

"I know," Piper said. She sighed. "I have a feeling that we'll be seeing each other soon. Sooner than anyone would expect."

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"She looks just like you," Lincoln smiled down at Lily, then at Violet.

"But she has your eyes," Violet smoothed a hand over Lily's black curls. "Your beautiful green eyes."

Lincoln gave a contented sigh. "So what now?"

Violet smiled. "We go home."