THIS CHAPTER IS SO SAD, YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND. I CRIED JUST MAKING NOTES, OKAY. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.

also we're gonna pretend TBM didn't happen. that one part. you know what i'm talking about.

~~~

(Piper's POV)

As I faded into the trance, I felt something wrong. The air almost had a haze to it. That was when I started to worry.

I opened my eyes and saw what I felt. A grey sky and clouds covered the atmosphere. The grass seemed to be a nasty shade of greyish green. The area around me was in ruins, buildings seemed to be pulled apart piece by piece.

"Where am I?" I whispered to myself. As I turned, I noticed two big white pillars crushed on the floor with a dirty cloth wrapped around them. The cloth was so dirty, I couldn't even tell what color it was. As I slowly approached it, I noticed it was actually an orange banner. "Camp Half-Blood?" I whispered.

I picked up the banner and looked at it, trying to dust off all the dirt. I could make out the "C" and "BLO", but nothing else. I didn't even know I was crying until a droplet of water fell on the banner.

"Piper."

I spun around quickly and noticed a beautiful woman with long brown hair and silver - golden eyes. I wiped my tears away when I noticed who it was. "Mom. Hi."

Aphrodite nodded back. "I'm assuming you don't like what you see?"

I shook my head. "This - this is the future? Of my camp? My siblings? My friends? My family? This is what happens?"

Aphrodite shook her head. "No. This is what could happen, if you're not careful."

"Not careful of what?" I asked.

"Many things. For one, none of you demigods should be tempering with the future. It's dangerous. You should all be careful of Hurricane Omega, as well," she advised.

"Hurricane  Omega?" I asked. "What's that?"

"I suggest you go see the Olympians when you wake up," Aphrodite advised. "We will explain."

"So...this is just a dream?" I asked. Aphrodite nodded.

"You should go see more of the ruins," she suggested. "I'll come with, if you so wish."

I wouldn't usually ask my mother to follow me around. Heck, if I had the option, I wouldn't even talk to her at all. And I wouldn't have dreams like these. But I think she's going to have to explain a lot of things to me. For once, she could actually be useful.

"Fine," I said. "But don't do anything stupid."

"You're treating me like I'm the child and you're the goddess," Aphrodite shook her head.

"Feels like it sometimes," I muttered. I'm sure she heard me.

I wondered around camp until I found the shroud grounds. I hate being around here. It was like our graveyard. Even though we traditionally burn the shrouds, Hephaestus Cabin also builds small gravestones in remembrance. We didn't start that tradition until after the Giant War.

The shroud grounds' graves were sorted by godly parent, much like many other things at camp. "Am I...am I supposed to go see someone's grave?" I asked worriedly.

Aphrodite confirmed my suspicions with a nod. I took a shaky breath. "Okay, okay."

From where I entered, the Aphrodite shrouds were closest. I wasn't sure I was prepared for what I would see, but I pulled my hair back with a scrunchie I had on my arm. That way I could breath without inhaling my choppy hair.

The shroud grounds are arranged by oldest to most recent. So in the back of the Aphrodite shrouds were the ones who died in the beginning of the Giant War, and the ones in the front were the ones who died later in the Gaea War. Well, that's how it was in present time.

As I walked along the back, I noticed familiar names that I knew were already gone: Macie, Daniel, Laura, Veronica. It made me remember how much I missed them. It wasn't until I reached the front when I got worried.

The first shroud I saw was like a stab in the heart:

                                                                            DREW TANAKA

                                                      DAUGHTER OF APHRODITE, CABIN 10

                                                                    KILLED BY A DRAKON

"Wha...how?" I rasped. 

I never considered Drew my favorite sibling. Most of the time, she ticked me off to no end. But she's still my sister. And she can redeem herself. Seeing her dead...it's too much.

"You aren't done," Aphrodite advised quietly. Maybe this was hard for her, too. They are her kids, after all. Gods have feelings, too.

I tilted my head slightly to see the next two shrouds. I regret it.

                                                                         LACY SCHULTZ

                                                  DAUGHTER OF APHRODITE, CABIN 10

                                              BODY FOUND AFTER HURRICANE OMEGA

                                                                    MITCHELL SONATA

                                                      SON OF APHRODITE, CABIN 10

                                             BODY FOUND AFTER HURRICANE OMEGA

"No!" I cried. Tears traced my cheeks and jawbone. "No, it's not true!"

"I'm afraid it is," Aphrodite hung her head. "If you aren't careful."

"Is there anyone else you took from me," I said, "or did you just murder my siblings?"

"I have no control over this, and you know that, Piper. This is all out of denial. You must continue on. Be brave, Piper. As you always are," Aphrodite monologed.

I slowly trailed to the shrouds next to ours: Hephaestus Cabin. I knew I was going to see something I didn't want to see, and I wasn't wrong. As soon as I read the name on the shroud, I cried harder and sped towards it.

                                                                                    LEO VALDEZ

                                                                 SON OF HEPHAESTUS, CABIN 9

                                                               MURDERED BY TURNED CAMPER

"No!" I yelled. "No! They took him! Anyone but Leo!"

Campers usually decorated graves in memory of the demigod lying there. I noticed Leo's toolbelt wrapped around the stone, and a picture of Leo next to me. I remembered taking the picture, and it just made me feel worse.

When I looked up, I noticed another name from across the yard. Well, two names in different areas.

                                                                          ANNABETH CHASE

                                                           DAUGHTER OF ATHENA, CABIN 6

                                                          MURDERED BY TURNED CAMPER

                                                                     HAZEL LEVESQUE

                                                       DAUGHTER OF PLUTO, CABIN 13

                                                                KILLED BY A CYCLOPS

"They've taken everyone," I murmered. "Everyone I love. Hazel's the only grave at Cabin 13. Nico had to live through that! Frank had to live through that! And Annabeth..."

I looked over at Cabin 3's area. No graves.

"Oh my gods," I sobbed. "Percy survived to watch all of them die. Do you understand? He watched the love of his life die, Mom!"

"Percy went missing after you all died," Aphrodite explained. "No one ever found him."

"Wait, we  all? I died? Why wasn't my grave over there?" I asked.

"You never died, as far as anyone knew. You went missing and weren't ever found. They never burned you a shroud in case you ever returned," Aphrodite said glumly.

My heart was pounding. I knew there was something here I was supposed to see besides my friends graves. I just didn't know where. When I tried to look around, I noted something important and terrifying at the same time. My heart was now pounding at the speed of light.

"Mom, why are there two graves at Zeus Cabin?" 

My voice was shaky and panicked. When I turned to look at my mother, her head hung sadly, confirming my suspicions. "No," I whispered. I stood up and sped over to the Cabin 1 graves.

Two graves for the only two campers. One was a best friend of mine, Thalia.

And the other was Jason.

                                                                          THALIA GRACE

                                                          DAUGHTER OF ZEUS, CABIN 1

                                                                    UNKNOWN DEATH

                                                                       JASON GRACE

                                                          SON OF JUPITER, CABIN 1

                                                                 UNKNOWN DEATH

My hand flew up to my mouth as I started to cry more.

"No one knew how they died. They found their bodies one day after you went missing. Some think it was the Fates. Others think the two were overcome with sadness. Most think it was suicide," Aphrodite explained.

"Suicide?" I managed through tears. "They would never."

"There were no marks or blood on the bodies," Aphrodite shrugged. "A mystery we won't know the answer to, if you prevent it. Now, follow me, we have to-"

I let go of this reality I was in and woke up in a cold sweat. Everyone around me seemed surprised. I continued to cry and yanked the wires off of me. There was something I had to do.

"Where's my dagger?" I asked Jason.

He observed me carefully. It was that look he gave me when he knew I was going to do something bad. "I - I don't have it."

"Yes, you do!" I growled. I know I gave it to him before I went in the future. I wish he knew I was trying to protect him. "Give me Katoptris!"

Jason's eyebrows crinkled together. Oh yeah, he knew something was up. "What the hell are you going to do with it?" he demanded. "And don't you dare use charmspeak!"

"I need it, Jason! Now!" I could feel the waterworks getting heavier.

"No! Piper, what are you going to do?" Jason asked again. He has this thing when he's concerned where his eyes turn less icy and look more like Thalia's: electric blue. All my friends started to get worried.

"Pipes, you okay?" Leo put his hand on my shoulder.

"Piper, what's wrong?" Annabeth asked.

"What happened?" Hazel worried.

"Pipes?" Leo asked again.

"Piper?" Frank waved his hand in front of my face. I must look like I'm going to pass out.

"Are you okay?" Percy inquired.

"What's going on?" Rachel stressed.

I couldn't take all the noise. "Shut up!" I screeched. Charmspeak slipped into my voice without me trying. I turned back to Jason. Maybe I could use charmspeak on him. "Give me my dagger, Jason Grace."

He glared at me, but it was more of a worried glare. "I know how to resist your charmspeak, you know! Don't even try! What are you going to do with your godsdamed dagger?"

I looked him in the eye, but it hurt. I quickly looked away and tried to cover up the tears. "You don't understand."

"Oh yeah? Try me." He crossed his arms. I knew he was just worried, like everyone else here.

I shook my head and went for it. I grabbed the dagger out of Jason's back pocket and ran to the chair. "Piper, wait!"

Everyone chased after me, trying to get Katoptris from my grasp. But I made it to the machine, and I started destroying it.

As I cried and whacked at the machine, I remember what my mom said: "This is all out of denial." It was almost enough to make me stop. I didn't stop, however, until the machine was well destroyed.

That's a lie.

I stopped because Jason came over and calmed me down. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to the ground. As I sat down, I dropped Katoptris and started to cry more. At least Jason's shirt was there to block the tears. I knew he had no idea what was going on.

He pulled my head away from his shirt and let me bury myself into his chest. He kissed my forehead and left his lips there. He shushed me and hugged me closer. "What happened?" he whispered. I just continued to cry.