He hushed along the rocks, running along a very narrow path. To his left cliffs fell into the sea, a fifteen metre fall at least. On his right the cliffs rose upward, ten metres of bare rock hanging over him menacingly in the shadow of the night. He was dressed darkly, a very dark blue hood and mouth guard covered his head. A sword was strapped to his back and a smaller knife to his belt, right next to a small bag.
Suddenly the path just stopped and went over into the cliffs. He looked upwards and spotted his next route, a way through the cliffs. He sighed as he realised he'd have to climb to reach his destination. Then he jumped at the rock, practically flying up the cliff and reached the top within a half a minute. He peaked over the edge and there it was. The castle of Fort Genort, one of the most guarded forts of the country. 'And for good reason.' He thought to himself. Then he froze, as he remembered he was about to break into this thing. How did he get this idea again, he saw a shadow moving towards him. He lowered himself back down the cliff and pressed his body against the cold rock and breathed very quietly. He could feel the shadow hesitating at his position. A guard, no doubt. Then it walked further along the cliff. Quietly he pulled himself over the ridge and onto the path leading to the castle.
He hushed a long the path moving swiftly in the dark. Below him, maybe half a kilometre away he could see the Forts docks in the water, a long, stone arm that reached out into the water. The arm lead through a gate in the massive walls, that protected the Fort from attacks from the sea. Above it loomed the castle. Now that he could fully see it, he noticed just how huge the thing was. It stood on a peninsula, on a rock high above the sea. From what he knew, it was the capital of Ogygia, one of the five provinces of Olympia.
He reached the path that lead down, to the sea. He thought for a second. Originally his plan had been to sneak in over the main entrance. But the more he thought about it now, it didn't make any sense, since he would be spotted easily on the open bridge. He took the path down to the sea. There was a hidden passage beneath the walls of the Fort and as far as he knew, no one except him knew of it. Well, at least no one except him would be stupid enough to try and go through it, since it was complete drowned. He had most secret passages memorised, because he had stolen a very old card of the Fort. He knew where they kept their most important treasures, and where the important persons chambers were, like the King of Ogigya, or the captain of the guard. He reached the shore, maybe a hundred metres from the giant walls. The path just stopped and the only way of getting to the entrance of the passage was by swimming. He reached into his bag and took out a bundle of strings, that had a patch of bendable glass attached, an invention courtesy of one of his best friends. He put them on and took a deep breath. Then he dived into the cold water.
He knew his suit saved his life, since the sheer cold would have lead to him being unconscious and being smashed into the rocks by the waves. He swam out into the sea for a while, until he was sure he wasn't going to be smashed into the rock. Then he continued his way to the wall. When he reached it, he wasted good amount of time trying to climb the slimy and walls full of seaweed. Finally he managed and already internally groaned at her thought of his next task. He had to find a single tile with an owl and a sword, the crest of the house of Ogigya, which would tell him that the path is directly beneath.
After twenty minutes of climbing up and down the wall, he gave up and thought of different ideas. He thought about just swimming the length of the wall, but it would take ages.
Then he froze at an idea. He could use his fathers powers! But did he really want to? If the rumour about the queen of Ogigya was true, she could maybe feel the surge of power. But he had no choice. He concentrated and let his mind reached out. Suddenly he became aware of every fish that swam in the depth of the water. He knew how cold the water was and how old the seaweed on the wall was. He could feel a large shop leave the port on the other side, a galleon, probably. He could feel a large mass of people being in one room, probably celebrating something, and a whole city lying asleep. Above him on the wall was a bunch of guards. He felt all that. Or at least he felt the water in those forms.
He concentrated on the lower parts of the wall, until he found an entrance. It was very small and deep beneath the wall. He would have to dive at least ten metres downward and another ten underneath the wall, which was difficult.
Out of pure curiosity he stretched his mind into the castle. The were a lot of people just walking around. One room had a man and a woman going at it and he instantly wished he wasn't so curious. Suddenly his head felt like it was being attacked by a sharp needle. He felt the presence of a woman. She had an air of superiority, but also a small amount of confusion, as she tested his mind. He recoiled instantly and pulled his mind back into his head.
He was breathing heavily, holding onto the wall for dear life. It had to have been the queen, he was sure if that. She definitely knew of his presence now and he had to act fast.
He climbed towards the cliffs until he was above the entrance. Sure enough, he could now see the crest engraved in the cold stone. Before he could further ponder, he jumped and took a deep breath while falling.
He dived in head first and tried to sink as far as possible along the wall. The he turned and swam beneath the wall. He was a natural at diving. And could literally feel his near surroundings. After a few powerful strokes, he reached the entrance to the secret passage. He swam upwards. Slowly his lungs started burning and by the time he reached the surface they were seemingly begging for air.
He broke the surface and breathed heavily. Finally he calmed down and took in his surroundings. The room he was in was small and decorated with a lot of sea shells. On one wall was a painting of Fort Genort from above, the view you have from Mt. Niatnuom. It was worn, probably from the salty air. Directly opposite of the well was a path that led into the darkness. The room was lightened by a torch in a glass container. He wondered how it managed to burn even after at least twenty years. He got out of the water and lied down. After a few minutes he finally regained his composure and continued his way through the dark.
After many twists and turns he finally reached another lightened room. A ladder led up from this one. He started to climb it. At the top was a trapdoor. He opened it slightly. Luckily it was open and he could peek. The exit was in w room with nothing in it, except a door that lead to the basement of the oldest inn in the Fort, as far as he knew.
He stepped out of the trapdoor and pulled down his hood. Now his black hair fell around him untamed. He stuffed the hood into his bag and peeked through the door. As he predicted it lead into a tavern. It was full of drunken seafarers and, what concerned him, some soldiers from the navy. He would have to be careful they didn't question him or ask for his papers. He tried to act casually as he walked past them.
Suddenly someone tugged at him and before he knew he was whisked away by the same someone. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He asked, as he turned around and noticed it was actually two people.
They looked like twins, with brown eyes and hair and an elf-like face. They both had a sly grin, which made him wary. One of the twins, the slightly taller one, put an arm around him and shot his twin a victorious look, far too subtle to be noticed. They were both a little taller than him. "You looked like you need a drink, aye."
"You looked far to serious, mate." The twin grinned.
He sighed. "I'd appreciate it, if you gave back my mothers necklace." The twins looked shocked. "And my fathers knife." The twins handed both objects back to him wordlessly. "Try not to looked so victorious next time, before you actually have what you want." He told them and handed back the taller ones sack of gold coins. Then he walked to the door.
As soon as he stepped outside, the twins whisked him into an alley once again. "What's it now?" He sighed.
"Where did you learn to pickpocket like that, mate?"
"That was nearly as good as us,"
"when we're serious." He blinked. The twins spoke so fast and the fact they completed each other's sentences made him dizzy. "Living on the street for years, alone does that to you. Now if you don't mind I got somewhere to go." He tried to walk past them, but they shoved him back into he wall.
"Oi!"
"What's you're name kiddo?"
"It isn't Jim." He grinned at them.
"How old are you?"
He tapped his chin. "Oh that's a good question. I'm older than you, probably. Now I'm really under pressure of time, so if you would," he squeezed past them, "thank you." He tapped the smaller ones shoulder. "I'll probably be seeing you two soon, unfortunately.
Then he ran for it and jumped at the house on front of him, running up the water drain with masters expertise. As he stood on he roof, he saw how the twins found his calling card. Two simple words stood in cursive, in a completely different language. If they were worthy of finding him they would be able to read it. They would be able the Ancient Greek words for: Percy Jackson.
He reached the castle after putting his hood back on and navigating over the rooftops. Percy's plan was to climb the tower, climb into one of the windows of the chambers and steal what was rightfully his. But first he had to get past the guards. He stood on one of the roofs, right next to the wall, thinking of how to infiltrate the castle. Finally he just diced to go full out attack mode on the guards.
He climbed up the wall and found a fist sized stone. He could feel a guard right above him. Still hanging from the wall, Percy threw the pebble over the edge, a few feet away from him. Like a fool, the guard went to check out the unknown noise. This gave Percy time to climb over the edge and sneak up behind him. Just as the guard turned back around, Percy covered his mouth and slit his throat with his knife. He died silently. Percy dragged the corpse underneath the merlons, where it couldn't be spotted so easily in the dark. Then he looked at the tower and started climbing.
To his knowledge, his object of interest was in the third window from the top. Sure to stay out of sight from the other guards on the wall, he climbed close to the main building. Finally he reached the third window from the bottom. The window was open, as the person inside would've surely suffocated in Ogigya's heat (Actually he wouldn't, but it would've been a very sweaty sleep).
The room was dark, so Percy assumed there either wasn't anyone ever inside, or the person was just sleeping. Fortunately for him it turned out to be the former. He mange to climb in and started to look for his object. The room was full of chests and boxes. Twice he had to hide by climbing to the top of the room and holding himself there, since apparently the hallway was a very popular one at this time of night. The chests were stuffed with diamonds and ruby's, sapphires and emeralds and many pieces of jewellery, which Percy saw fit to take with him. His bag was completely full by the time he got to the last chest.
It was the only one locked, so Percy guessed it held something important, hopefully his belonging. He took out a piece of tin wire. He managed to open the chest without any complications. He opened the chest. Inside was a ring, with a single sapphire inside, crested in emeralds and the ring itself seemed to be made from steel, thigh out shined much more and was far lighter. Percy released the breath he unknowingly held. This was what he had been looking for. He sighed in relief. How convenient that it had really been here. But he had to make sure it was real and not a decoy.
He let a small surge of energy flow into the ring. The sapphire started glowing and Percy felt as if he was standing at the sea, wind blowing in his hair and a salty smell dulled the room.
Suddenly he felt a presence near the room. And it wasn't just any presence, he recognised it. Which was bad because he lived after the motto never let the same person see you twice. But he guessed this way of living was going to end soon. The bad thing about recognising it though, was the fact that it was the queen. Percy jumped for the window sill and prepared to climb down.
Then the door opened, with Percy still sitting on the window sill. A woman stood in the door. She had dark hair and a powerful aura. She seemed to ooze wisdom and she looked at Percy with a testing look. "So it was you a few hours ago. I knew I recognised this mind." Percy stared at her, green eyes meeting grey eyes. "You should go. I know what you took, it is yours by birthright. But know this," she stared at him, "I'll call a lock down in twenty seconds. If I catch you," she smirked. "Well, my husband Frederik won't be as understanding." Percy gulped. Then he started climbing down the tower, noticing the sun that was starting to rise.
A few hundred metres away...
The young captain woke at the sound of the alarms. Her ship lay on the docks of the Fort, a few hundred metres away, but still she could hear the alarms. She jumped out of bed, threw over her clothes and ran on deck to meet her first mate Thalia Grace. "What's going on out there?" She asked.
Thalia shrugged. "Some lunatic broke into the Fort and stole somethings. Apparently it was important, because the King's holding the entire city under lock down. Luckily our entire crew managed to make it back before the closed the gate. They're all accounted for."
The captain smiled in relief. "So it wasn't the Stolls? Good. That would've been a pain to explain to my father."
Thalia rolled her eyes. "As if you care about what he thinks. You're a pirate, Annie, you don't give a flying fuck about him!"
Annabeth shrugged. "True." She looked at the sun. "It's been five hours since sunset, eh? Get the ship ready I want to get away from this hell hole in half an hour."
Thalia nodded and started to get the crew together. Annabeth stood at the helm and looked out at the horizon. Then she looked back at the Fort. She didn't know what it was, but something felt wrong. She had the feeling that a lot of bad things were about to happen soon. 'We'll be ready.' She thought, having no idea how wrong she was.