"Leo!"
He heard his sister shout beside him, "Slow down!" Nyssa ordered. Leo reluctantly eased on the gas, bringing the van down to 70 mph. "Sorry," Leo apologized to his sister, who nodded back at him.
Admittedly, Leo should have let Nyssa drive, as his mind has been a mess ever since seeing Piper, his best friend, whom he hasn't seen in almost 4 years. Leo still remembers how hurt he was when Piper just cut contact with everyone, even him.
Leo's mind spiraled as he tried to figure out why Piper had disappeared and then reappeared. He didn't notice he was speeding again until Nyssa called him out. Smacking him on the arm for good measure. So, Leo drove carefully until they turned to the farm road to camp.
It was dark when they arrived at camp. Leo parked the van and shouted to Nyssa to go back to the cabin to let everyone know their backs, as he was already walking to the Big house to tell Chiron the news, knowing the old centaur would like to know as well.
Entering the Big house, Leo noticed voices coming from the rec room. Thinking that a meeting was taking place, he headed straight for the door. In his impatience, Leo slammed the door open, surprising everyone inside the room.
Leo looked around the room and noticed the tension in the air. Initially, he wondered if he was the cause, but he pushed that thought aside. He has more important news to share.
"I found Piper!"
Leo addressed the room before anyone had a chance to respond. The room fell silent as each individual gazed at him.
"What?" After a while, Annabeth whispered to Leo, bringing the room back to life with questions. Leo couldn't really understand anything, especially when everyone was asking and talking at the same time.
It wasn't until Chiron stomped his hoof, quieting the room, that Leo asked him to repeat what he had just said. Leo let out a sigh and addressed everyone with a stronger tone.
"I found Piper."
"I see. Please explain, Leo," Chiron requested.
And so Leo walked to Mason, who stood up and gave him a seat. After he sat down, he addressed the room with a look and started.
"Okay, so I didn't really see her in person, but I saw her," he started. "What?" Katie asked clearly confused.
"So, you know how we went to the city to escort the Romans, right?" Leo asked, getting nods from everyone. "After we dropped them off, Nyssa and I decided to walk around the city for dinner," he continued. "Well, after dinner, Nyssa wanted to look for clothes, so we were window shopping when she stopped at one of those shopfronts with big TVs."
Leo stopped and looked at Chiron, who nodded at him, urging him to go on.
"That's where I saw Piper!" Leo stated with a wave of his hands. "But you just said that you didn't actually see her?" Will repeated his earlier words. "Yeah! What's with that?" followed Travis.
"Well, the TV on the shop window was showing an advertisement for a jewelry shop," Leo said. "And Piper was the model!" Leo clarified while pulling out his mobile phone.
"a model?" Annabeth repeated, clearly bewildered.
"Yeah! Here, look!" Leo answered as he passed the phone to Mason, who was standing behind him.
Mason took the phone and looked at the photo being displayed on the screen, his eyes widening in recognition. The phone went around the room. Every person has the chance to check and see for themselves. After they'd all had a look, Annabeth took the phone and studied the photo closely.
Leo took the chance to ask why they were all here. "Was there an emergency?" he asked. Chiron replied that everyone was fine and that they were just listening to Malcolm's report on the rescue mission.
"Oh yeah! Nice job, Malcolm!" Leo remembered the mission Annabeth's brother was given.
Chiron then informed him of the things that happened on the mission. and of the 2 demigods that help them.
"Cool! So do we know who they are?" Leo asked after Chiron finished the tale.
Upon asking that, Annabeth sighed and returned the phone to him. Then she told Leo that they would continue the discussion about what to do with the news with Piper tomorrow. Leo was about to complain to her when he saw the look on her eyes. They were pleading with him to stop for today, so he just nodded. Then Annabeth closed her eyes and said with a tired voice.
"It's Percy and Hazel."
"What?" I asked again, because clearly, I heard wrong; she couldn't have said those two names now, could she? "It's Percy and Hazel," Annabeth repeated. Yep! Mind blown
I stared at her as my mind refused to take in this information. 3 demigods who have been missing for years. What are the chances of all of them appearing at the same time? Highly unlikely.
I look to Malcolm, questioning him with my gaze. When he nodded, I knew it was the truth.
"What do we do?" I asked no one in particular. "We need a plan," Annabeth replied. 'Of course she'll say that' I thought, 'children of Athena and their plans.'
"It cannot be a coincidence," she continued. "Three missing demigods being found virtually at the same time is an impossibility." 'Great minds think alike,' I thought, "unless someone planned it this way," Katie said, joining the conversation.
"That's why we need to plan this thoroughly; we cannot just show up in front of any of them," Annabeth answered Katie.
"Actually," Malcolm interjected. Annabeth looked to his brother and asked, "What?"
"I actually asked Percy when he dropped us off the airport if he wanted us to keep meeting them a secret," Malcolm stated. "I was ready to swear on the river Styx to keep it all a secret," he paused.
"But what?" his sister asked, urging him to continue. "But Percy said that he doesn't mind us knowing." Malcolm finished looking directly at Annabeth, causing her eyes to widen. "And yes, sister, I know how to go back there," Malcolm stated. answering Annabeth's unspoken question.
Annabeth nods at that and states, "We can plan for meeting Percy tomorrow; now that we know that he is not adverse to the idea of seeing us again, it makes going to meet him a lot easier." The majority of the people in the room agreed with her. "Now we just have to think about how we can get in contact with Piper; you said that she was modeling for the store?" Annabeth asked of me.
"Yup!" Leo nodded as he answered. "What was the name of the store?" Drew, who kept quiet the whole time, asked suddenly. All eyes turned to her as Leo thought back for a minute. "I think it was called Celestial Creations." At that, Drew's eyes widen. "You know the store drew?" asked Travis.
"Yeah, it's a very high-end store, extremely expansive too!" drew confirmed and continued, "My father bought me a set of diamond necklaces and earrings for my birthday two years ago." "He said it cost him more than $100,000!" and it was one of the cheaper once they had it on sale too!"
People nodded at that while not really caring much until Drew stood up and said, "Wait here! I need to show you guys something!" then left the room. As they waited for Drew to come back, they continued to discuss how to best approach meeting Piper.
Katie suggested to go back to the store and ask them for pipers contact details, seeing as she models for them. Annabeth agreed that it was a good idea but also added that the store might not be willing to give out that information to anyone. Here Malcolm said that proof will need to be provided to them to convince them that we actually do know Piper, earning a lot of nods.
After a few minutes, Drew finally came back with a bunch of magazines on her hands. She dropped then on the table and started to flip through one, quickly finding the page she was apparently looking for, then doing the same to the other magazines until all 6 magazines were open on various pages on the table.
I took a look, and all of them feature "Celestial Creations," various jewelry and gems of all kinds being shown on the pages. A frown became evident to all of us and Drew noticed. "Look!" drew said, pointing her finger to each page displayed on the table. Again, we all took a closer look, but still all I could see were pictures of jewelry being modeled on the pages. I glanced around the table and noticed that the guys like me sported a confused look on our faces while the girls all noticed something we didn't, based on their wide eyes.
Not wanting to be left behind, I asked Drew. "What are we missing here?" Drew rolled her eyes at my question, then shook her head when she noticed all the boys looked equally baffled. Before I could say anything, Annabeth asked for my phone again. I passed it to her, and she started to look between the photo on the phone and the pages on the table, comparing them.
After a while, Annabeth placed the phone down on the table, looked up at us, and said, "It's Piper." I guess we still looked confused because she repeated herself and swept her hand over the opened pages on the table. Drew took over and explained that the models on the pages were Piper. I looked again, but I couldn't be sure since none of the pages showed her face. I told them how could they be sure, and all the girls in the room assured us that it was definitely Piper.
"I've been following Celestial Creations for 2 years now, since my dad gifted that set for me. And I've always noticed something familiar about that model; it just didn't click to me that it could be Piper. I mean, she never was once the type of girl who was into fancy jewelry," Drew confessed. "I guess a lot has changed," Annabeth followed up.
"Maybe she's done hiding now?" drew thought aloud. "What do you mean?" I asked her. Drew looked at me before answering me. "She's been modeling for that brand for more than 2 years, Leo; now all of a sudden she shows her face, which means she knows there's a chance one of us will see."
"She also knows that there will be a chance that we will try to get in touch with her," Annabeth continued. "Maybe that means she's ready to come back now," I stated, wishing that was the case. I missed my friend a lot.
"Or it could be that she's moved on now," Drew countered. "What?" I asked a bit harshly. Drew ignored my tone and explained. "Have you forgotten she's somewhat famous? Her father's a famous actor, for gods sake! And remember what Mom said when you went to her?"
"Your mother told me that she sent Piper someplace where she would be safe," I stated as I recalled meeting the Goddess of Love. "Yes! But mom also said that she sent Piper somewhere she can maybe fall in love again!" Drew reminded us.
"So, you mean." I started saying but Drew cut me off. "That her showing her face now might mean that she's moved on and is now with someone else." I was silent as I contemplated that.
Before any of us could continue, Chiron ended the meeting. Reminding us that it was way past lights out and that we continue discussing tomorrow.
We all stood and started to go out of the Big house. As I stepped out, I saw Annabeth and Malcolm walking side by side to their cabin. I feel worried for her. I wanted to ask her if she was okay, but I knew that was a dumb question, so I didn't.
I started walking back to cabin 9 with Jake, both of us silent until. When we arrived, I was bombarded with questions about what happened by my siblings. I promised to tell them tomorrow, but for now, let me rest. After taking a shower, I laid down on my bed and thought back to the day. My thoughts wondered back to Piper, on how she was doing and where she was.
Then I thought about Percy and Hazel.
My eyes closed as I remembered the days we spent together.