Shattered

The impending doom that had settled in Piper's chest was no longer settled- it was running around smashing cookware together and screaming death wishes at the top of its lungs. Definately who you'd like to invite to a party. No matter how many times she swallowed and tried to think of Annabeth's smiling face, the little slice of doom would not rest. Frankly, it was annoying her.

Percy didn't seem to be as wrecked by this, but behind his eyes Piper saw it too. The impending doom, the hope, the heart wrenching agony that was this trip. He was just as broken as she was, but the glue he used to hold himself together wasn't as strong as he had hoped. It didn't matter how mad or determined he looked, how though his eyes were the sea green they mimicked Annabeth's scary expression. It didn't matter that Piper knew he could kill them all in one fail swoop, she could feel his grip on her wrist tighten with the need to know. The feel someone else was there that cared just as much as he did. Frank was barely a step behind then, but he didn't know Annabeth like they did. He cared, but not as deeply and recklessly with no regard as Percy and Piper had.

The walked by the rivers, dark coals under their shoes, too loud to let them walk quietly. The closer they got to the Fields of Punishment, the louder her little doom friend got. The red tinge in the sky was becoming more opaque, louder shrieks of terror and pain. The little doom friend's screaming was almost deafening, and Piper's need to discard herself of breakfast was growing more and more appealing. The river looked like blood, deep crimson and thick.

Percy dragged them on, all of them silent. They waded through the blood river, almost touching the bottom of the shorts Piper had changed into. The river felt oddly warm, but as her legs felt sticky and heavy on the other side, Piper was glad to be away from it.

"The climb down is the hardest." Percy said, breaking their silence. His voice was coarse, almost unsure. The three stopped at the edge of a cliff, colors of fire and screams reaching their way up.

"Percy..." Piper's voice was fragile, almost too quiet.

"We'll be able to beat this, just a few kilometers down is Annabeth. We will get her back." Frank put a hand on Percy's shoulder, and Percy looked down. Piper pulled him into a hug, and Frank joined in, the three of them simply standing there, gathering their thoughts for what seemed to be one last hurrah.

Notes

Wow! I am back for a little bit. I'm working on a cool AU, well I like it, that the first chapter will be pretty long. Like 3 google-doc-pages long. Get ready, for The Great Jackson!


~Nova~