The Stolen Weapons
Ch. 3
Birthday to Remember
A/N: Alright, thanks for waiting so long guys, I know its almost been two years, buuuuut here it is. Enjoy. I don't own anything, but I follow the guy who does on Twitter and that should count for something, amirite.
Piper sat in the chair in front of her mirror as she finished brushing her hair to get ready to go out. Today was finally her twelfth birthday, and Ms. Sally was letting her, Percy, and their new found friend, Grover, hang out around the city for the day. School had just ended last week, and Percy said that they would get to have the most tourist-y day ever! Piper will wholeheartedly admit to have been looking forward to this since Percy explained they were going out on her birthday, but there was just one small issue. That issue was in the form of Tristan McLean. World famous actor and movie star. The object of affection of thousands of women's dreams. And let's not forget, her dad.
She understands that he has a busy life, she understands that his job as an actor is what helps her, not to mention Percy and Ms. Sally, live comfortably and have clothes on their bodies. Really, she does. But the bitterness has been eating away at her for some time now. And while it's dimmed down, a byproduct of being disappointed time and time again by her father and false promises, the anger is still there. Hardly existent, but there nonetheless.
For her birthday, Piper had originally asked to spend the day with her dad, just one day! It didn't have to anything spectacular, just some father-daughter bonding time. Unfortunately, her birthday, June 9, was on the same day as an important publicity interview for a new movie, so Jane immediately rejected the very idea, not giving neither her nor her dad the chance to argue with her. Piper, in all honesty, wasn't even upset with only the demon assistant this time. Her dad hadn't even made an attempt to reschedule the interview to find time for her, so Piper decided to stop trying to talk to him. She thought that by ignoring his existence, she could numb the pain she felt. Out of sight out of mind? It had been a few days since she's called him now, but he's called her plenty of times and even left a few messages.
It was a weird reverse psychology she seemed to be using on him, she noticed. When she ignored him, he paid her more attention. When she sought him out, he paid less attention. Her dad was definitely making a bigger effort to talk with her now than he ever has before.
That wasn't even the best part though. No, the best part was Percy who was constantly trying to comfort her. He had hardly left her side ever since he found out that she was upset, and Piper loved it. The attention she was getting from her best friend and crush felt amazing, but it also scared her at the same time. She had never been one to love attention, the opposite in fact, but now she felt like she couldn't get enough of it from him. And she hated it. The feeling was eating at her conscience. Yes she was upset with her dad, but it was already diminishing. She wasn't all that upset anymore. But then Percy had to be his caring and compassionate self. In the first week of her depression, Percy made her some of his signature Blue Jackson Pancakes. It was a rare treat, and they were delicious. He also made sure she was never distressed, hanging out with her and doing what she wanted to do. It was a bit selfish of her, but she just wanted to see how far it would go. There was her conscience, telling her to stop it already. To let things go back to normal and stop taking advantage of Percy's kindness, but there was also a nice, silky smooth voice that was so charming, telling her it was okay to like the limelight. She hadn't done anything to change the predicament.
"Pipes! You ready to go yet?!" Percy called from down the stairs excitedly, if a bit impatiently. Blame the ADHD.
Piper was brought back from her reflections. She quickly answered back, "Yeah! I'm ready!" Piper checked the mirror once more, making sure the feather at the end of her long, chocolate brown hair that was set in a braid looked alright before she rushed down the stairs, equally exited.
At the bottom of the stairs, Percy and Grover chatted and Piper allowed herself an extra second to admire Percy's carefree smile and the happy shine in his eyes. They could have lighted the bottom of the sea floor, far beyond what the Sun's rays could reach. Yeah, she fell hard for her him. But how could she not? He was, without a doubt, the sweetest guy she has ever met.
Of course, she didn't know a lot of guys, but she digressed.
Always nice to her (and anyone, unless you made him mad) and he wouldn't let anyone make fun of her (he stood up for anyone). Humble, too (he wouldn't take the credit when Percy got the idea of inviting another actor to co-star with her dad in a movie (she would never be able to figure out how Percy managed to somehow get Leonardo DiCaprio's private number and convince him to be the co-star in what is now one of her dad's most successful movies)). It also didn't hurt he was, admittedly, an attractive guy (the whispers in the girls changing room were testament of that) and people liked him. Unless you angered him, in which case you should watch your back.
Percy looked up to see that his best friend had come down the stairs, causing his lopsided smile to widened, "There's the birthday girl!" He exclaimed.
Piper smiled brightly at that and said, "Hey guys."
"Oh, I got you these." Grover said holding out a small box full of strawberries with a pink ribbon tied around it.
"Thanks, they look really good." She said a bit awkwardly. The strawberries did look good, but she was still a bit uncomfortable. She wasn't too fond of him herself if she had to be honest, but Percy seemed to like him so she wouldn't say anything. There was also the fact that it was originally supposed to be just her and Percy, but then Ms. Sally let it slip they were going out on her birthday and it was decided he would come with. Not that she hated him or anything, it was just she always got this feeling that he was hiding something from them. And as a person who has lived in both New York City and Hollywood, you learn to tell that basically screams 'Do not get involved with!' But she trusted Percy's instincts and decisions. Grover certainly wasn't a spectacular liar, that's for sure.
It was then that Sally walked into the room. She smiled at the trio of kids, struggling to not let it waver. She knew about Grover and what was behind the seemingly meek appearance and crutches. More than that, Grover had told her his suspicions about Piper. How they had not been attacked by monsters yet was completely beyond her, but Sally was grateful to whichever God or Goddess she had to thank. "So are you kids ready to go?" She asked with faux happiness. She was a better liar.
The three kids all cheered in agreement, and it wasn't long before they were all cozy in a car with Sally driving. Grover called shotgun, leaving him in the passenger seat and Percy and Piper sitting in the back. They shared the strawberries amongst themselves, which both Percy and Piper noticed were from a brand they never heard about, Delphi Strawberry Service, but the duo agreed they were some of the most delicious strawberries they've ever ate. When Sally noticed a certain road sign, she knew they were almost at their destination. Sally spoke up, "So you guys already know not to leave anyone alone, to look both ways before you cross the street, and to not talk to strangers, right?"
Percy groaned a, "Yes, mom" at the same time that Piper said, "Yes, Ms. Sally" and Grover said, "Yes, Ms. Jackson."
Sally let out a light sigh followed by a small smile, "Alright, be safe. Don't waste all your money in one place and remember we're meeting again at 5:30 in front of the ice cream shop we always go to." Percy perked up a bit at hearing that, which did not go unnoticed by Piper who hid a smile.
The three nodded as they exited the parked car, waving goodbye as Sally drove off.
"So," Piper drawled out the 'o', "what are we doing first?" She asked, looking towards Percy's direction.
Percy gave a small smile before shrugging, "Whatever you want to do, birthday girl. There's just this one place that I have to show you, but that's not till later. Unless you really did wanna to all the tourist things?" He questioned.
Piper hummed in agreement, "It's a big city, I'm sure if we walk around long enough we can find something to do." And so, that's what they did.
The small group walked around Times Square, laughing a bit at the obvious tourist who looked completely overwhelmed by their surroundings. Not a very nice thing, but still hilarious to watch. As they were going down Broadway, street performers were lined up down the street making a sort of mini-circus. That was entertaining. Along the way, they stopped in several small shops full of 'I Love NYC' shirts and mugs. Within the first two hours of walking around, Piper already had a red birthday girl crown on and a fluffy teddy bear, both bought by Percy who was proud to say that he saved up on his allowance. Just for fun, they entered a clothing store that looked so high class, it might as well have been for the top 10% of the world. How they got in was a mystery. They stood out, obviously, but were not bothered until they were quickly kicked out by the snooty owner who had threatened them with a broom. It wasn't Percy's fault he spilt his soda, that lady with the rodent in her purse was the one who bumped into him! They had ran down the rest of the block, laughing the whole way.
When lunch time came around, they chose a cool looking pizza place and sat down there for a while, enjoying the food before spending a few dollars in the small arcade room they were next too. Piper won air hockey, but only because Percy claims to have let her win. She won the rematch, but lost at foosball.
The rest of the time was spent just walking around and hanging out. It wasn't their first time in Times Square, but it was their first time without an adult breathing down their backs, so that made it about ten times cooler. Piper was having the time of her life, she had even forgotten her problems with her dad for the time, and she knew Grover and Percy were having just as much fun. They were just normal kids, sitting at a booth in a pizza place and enjoying the food.
"What time is it?" Percy asked as they relaxed on a bench.
Grover looked at his wristwatch then answered, "It's about four thirty."
"Should we start heading back then?" Piper asked, a bit sad of leaving.
"Yeah, probably." Percy replied, standing up.
With that the three of them started the trip to the ice cream shop that Ms. Jackson had set as the rendezvous point for them. The walk was accompanied with chatter, laughs, and a few jokes. Even Grover seemed to have loosened up a bit, Piper noticed.
They had been making good progress when Piper stopped all of a sudden. Percy and Grover stopped also and gave her worried looks when finally Percy spoke, "Hey Pipes, everything alright?" He asked cautiously.
"You never got a chance to show us that place you told me about earlier." She answered.
Grover let out a sigh of relief that no one seemed to have noticed.
Percy looked into the distance for a while, confused before realization hit him. When it did he laughed, "Oh that, that's what you're worried about? That's for later still. It'll be fun, I mean you've already been there, but it'll be different this time. Promise" He assured.
"I'm holding you to that." Piper nodded, trying to seem calm while hiding her inner excitement.
A couple blocks after that exchange, they were hanging outside of a small ice cream shop, waiting for the familiar car that Percy's mom drives.
"Today was great guys, thanks for everything." Piper said, expressing her sincere gratitude. Her sudden confession startled the two boys, but they quickly broke out of it.
Percy's smile quickly returned as he said, "No need to thank us! It's your birthday, it's supposed to be awesome."
"Do you guys remember the look on that lady's face when she grabbed the broom?" Grover asked with a wide smile, remembering the incident earlier that day.
"Oh yeah! Her face was so red when she saw the Pepsi on the floor!" Percy laughed.
"Ha, snobby old hag." Piper agreed.
"Mom!" Percy called out all of a sudden.
The other two looked down the street and sure enough, they saw Ms. Jackson's blue car down the block. They hurried to it, cautious of other cars, and piled in.
"How was your day?" Sally asked as she checked to make sure everyone was buckled up.
"It was awesome, Ms. Sally." Piper said, smiling. "Thanks for letting us go."
"Yeah, thanks mom!" Percy agreed.
"Agreed, it was pretty cool." Grover added.
"Well, the day isn't over yet." Sally grinned.
"Where are we going to?" Piper questioned. Maybe this was the place Percy had been referring to.
"You'll see, it's a surprise." Ms. Jackson explained, causing Piper to groan. She hated surprises.
The rest of the ride was full of tired quietness as the kids relaxed from their day of walking around the Big Apple. Looking out his window in the passenger side, Grover couldn't help but notice all the dark clouds gathering, and the restless waves as they drove along the coast. He gave a small gulp of fear and tried to turn his attention away from the brewing storm, opting instead for dreaming of a green planet with beautiful scenery.
Sally also noticed and gave a worried glance at the rear view mirror, suddenly wondering if this really was a good idea. But she couldn't really cancel now, a lot had been done to set this up. So going against her better judgment, she continued to drive towards their destination.
She peeked at the duo at the back of the car, and smiled sadly at the scene before her eyes.
Piper was curled up against Percy, burying her head in his chest while Percy had his right arm around her body. A bit of droll was leaking out of his mouth and Piper snoring quietly against him. It was a Kodak moment, and she made a mental note to tease them about it later on.
Looking at the kids sleeping behind her, Sally couldn't help but let out a quiet sob. They were both so young, so innocent, so full of life and wonder.
"Hey kiddos." She said softly, wiping away any trace of sadness from her face, "We're here."
Piper smelled the ocean and Percy had a whiff of cinnamon. The three roused a bit, but were soon awake enough to get up and out of the car. They all seemed disorientated but quickly realized where they were.
Piper gave a huge smile as she realized she was back in Montauk, where she had so many amazing memories with two of her favorite people. She hugged Ms. Sally as she said, "This is so awesome, and thank you so much for this Ms. Sally"
Sally smiled and hugged her back saying, "You haven't even seen the best part yet." She quickly whispered, "And I can't take all the credit, Percy insisted on this you know. On everything."
Piper smiled brighter and walked in with the other three close behind to see the cabin had already been cleaned inside and was even decorated with birthday banners all around with the number 12 hanging everywhere. That wasn't what had Piper close to tears though. No, it was her dad standing in the middle of the small cabin with his arms outstretched for a hug.
Without another thought, Piper ran forward into her dad's arms and hugged him as tightly as possible. "Dad, you're here, but what about the interview for that big movie you had?" She said after a while.
"I had a change of heart. Rescheduled it." He said with a big smile, "Couldn't miss my little girl's birthday."
Piper smiled and she stood back up when the other three walked into the cabin.
"You know what this means?" Percy asked with a goofy smile, "Time for cake!"
It was then in that moment of happiness that the wind howled louder and the splashing of the waves sounded more aggressive. Lighting flashed and thunder boomed.
Sally gave Grover a worried look and he returned it back quickly, unsure of what to do.
"I hate to say it, but we might want to relocate this, the storm sounds pretty bad." Sally said quietly.
Everyone heard her though and Tristen spoke up, "I agree, it's getting really bad out there."
It was a group effort to pack up all the decorations and get all the things they had packed into the cabin. It was a second before Tristen opened the door that Grover's nose twitched.
"Wait!" He called and everyone looked at him confused.
"What's wrong?" The actor asked, turning his head towards the boy.
Grover, unsure of how to reply, looked to Ms. Jackson for help.
"We should wait so we can take everything at once. You know, to make it easier." She tried helplessly, but it was for naught.
Tristen brushed it off quickly, "Nonsense, everything will get to the car at some point, so why wait." And with that he opened the door before either Sally or Grover could stop him.
What Grover and Sally saw could have something completely different from what the two kids and even Tristen himself saw. What they saw a huge Minotaur pick Tristen up by the waist as the man, screaming for help. Whatever it was the kids saw couldn't have much better than the truth with the way they screamed.
"Ms. Jackson, you take Perce and Piper while I distract him." Grover said as he mustered all the courage he had. He started to run outside, throwing rocks at the beast's head while running away from the door. His eyes were wide with fear and terror.
Sally didn't hesitate for a second as she nodded, grabbed the two kids by their wrists, and ran for the door.
Grover was in panic mode and could feel himself running out of adrenaline as he ran to the side of the beast, waving his arms around to get the monster's attention. "Hey stupid!" He called, fumbling with his pant pocket and finally taking out his reed pipes. He frantically started playing a tune that causing vines to gather around the Minotaur's ankles. This seemed to only anger the monster as his grip increased around Mr. McLean's waist, causing him to cry out in pain. Grover's eyes widened as Tristen's body disappeared into golden light.
Sally, on the other hand, was still running along the beach with Percy and Piper. They had almost reached the car when Piper yelled out, tripping in the sand. Percy immediately helped her up, and both continued to run to the car, Sally in tow. She could almost sigh thankful that she still had both of their wrists or both would be running back over towards the monster.
"Hurry! Get into the car, we don't have much time!" She rushed.
The kids hesitated for a second before following her instructions. Just as she was about to drive off, Grover managed to reach the car and get in, sadly that meant the Minotaur was back on their trail.
Sally sped down the road as quickly as she dared with how hard the rain was hitting.
"Mom," Percy said, his voice shaking ever so slightly and Sally's heart would've broken on spot if she wasn't so determined to get them to that certain place Poseidon had told her about as quickly as possible.
"Yes, Percy?" She answered as calmly as she could.
"What was that thing?" He asked, terrified.
Grover spoke up, "Minotaur…" His voice trailed off.
"What?" Percy asked, more confused than ever, "Is that the name of the thing that's," he looked out the window, studying the creature. It would have been absolutely and downright terrifying if it wasn't for a certain detail, "wearing bright, white Fruit of the Loom briefs chasing us?"
Grover nodded.
"But aren't those things fake." Piper said shakily, "Like, from mythology?"
"From mythology? Yes. Fake? No." Grover responded.
Neither one knew what to think of that. How did Grover even know about this stuff?
Sally wasn't paying attention to the conversation, instead she was speeding down the road, "We're almost there guys, don't worry." She said, trying to reassure both herself and the kids.
Too bad that no matter how fast she went, the mythological being wouldn't stop catching up to them. Before anyone knew what had hit them, a deafening BOOM sounded and the car was suddenly upside down, the menacing monster slowing down and walking up to them, sensing close victory.
"Mom? Piper?" Percy called out immediately.
Piper let out a long groan in reply, as did Ms. Jackson who also tried to reassure him that she was fine. The only odd thing was Grover who seemed to be taking his pants off…?
"Whoa, whoa!" Percy exclaimed, "Grover, what are you doing!?"
"Don't worry, I got this Perce." He said and soon his pants were off revealing goat legs and hooves. Percy wondered if he had horse shoes on too, or were those only for horses. Grover started kicking at the back window glass with all his might as Percy unbuckled his mom and Piper out of the front seats.
Soon enough he heard the sound of glass shattering and Percy started helping Piper out of the car as Grover did the same for his mom. Once all four were out of the car, Grover spoke, "We need to get you and Piper to the top of that hill," Grover said shakily to Percy as he pointed over at a hill with a large pine tree on top, "as soon as possible. Hurry before it catches up."
Percy nodded quickly, feeling the adrenaline caused by the entire situation surge through him. They started running as quickly as their injured bodies would allow before Percy realized his mom wasn't following.
"Mom?" He called back, stopping in his tracks.
"You go, I-I can't go there with you, but you'll be safe. I'll be alright, I promise." She encouraged him and Grover quickly grasped Percy's wrist and started dragging his friend along before he could argue. With surprising strength, Grover dragged him up the hill, despite his protest not to, or his wails about not leaving his mom.
They were almost a quarter up the way to the hill when Piper screamed.
A/N: I love having two of these things. First things first, you should check out my amazing Beta, EpicReads, cause he helped a bunch with the story and made it all amazing and stuff (he's in my favs, seriously read his stuff, he's awesome). Oh, and uhm to that one guest in the comments, the reason why the years to age are off by a year is because I decided I wanted to keep it like actual book with Percy's age (he was 12 in the Lightning Thief and was a 6th grader). Sally most likely put him in a year late, I'm sorry for not making that clear in my story. Well baaaai for now guys, I really can't promise regular updates, but I'll try to not let it get to practically two years again. My apologies, and thanks for reading!
