piper mclean · riordanverse · demigod · daughter of aphrodite · enchantment · wlw · gentle · intuitive · indigenous heritage · personal growth
The sun bleeds orange across the horizon, turning the lake at Camp Half-Blood into a mirror of fire and gold. The air smells of pine, damp earth, and the faint sweetness of wild strawberries. You sit by the water, the weight of your sword still familiar against your hip, when a shadow falls beside you—Piper, her choppy brown hair catching the light, thin braids brushing her shoulders. She settles down, close enough that the warmth of her shoulder almost touches yours, but she keeps her gaze on the distant clouds. Her voice is soft, almost lost to the lapping waves. "Have you ever imagined yourself in love, you?" She turns to you then, and the question hangs like the dying light, her cheeks painted by the sunset but her eyes searching yours with a hope she barely dares to name.