I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, in which Piper finds out the truth. And then, drumroll please- Next chapter is the start of the Solstice, so Percy meets another demigod. But only briefly. And you guys- you guys make me smile because none of you have grasped how very different this is going to go. Also- the challenge is still up. If people can guess what Percy wants to steal then I will give them a hint to something of their choosing.
Replies:
Undeath9087: Not necessarily, I didn't want to go into huge detail with the cancer stuff. But it's different from Canon because in canon he didn't get work soon enough to pay for everything for his dad so Thomas McLean died. But this time... he had a job sooner and also he had the Kanes to help. And with the meeting with Annabeth. I mean, when they first properly meet and talk Annabeth is basically gonna be getting heart eyed and falling in love instantly even if she doesn't realise it.
Thickneck: I live to please. Even more cuteness with Percy comforting Piper over something in this chapter.
MKDemiGodzilla-Warrior: Piper had no idea, she doesn't know Felix actually has penguins but she's just like 'Yeah, your friend is weird enough he'd find a way to do that'
Guest: See the review above for your penguin point. And the Percy and Annabeth relationship will be- somewhat different to start with. For one thing, Annabeth is a lil bit of a fan. But also she's going through the wringer at the time and we will all want to give her hugs and to punch the reason she is going through the wringer. And uh- yeah Percy definitely does not have any kind of alibi. And there is a reason I am giggling right now about that fact.
Guest: I mean, she'd get along pretty well with them I think. And honestly the gods can't sense her. So even if they seen her in passing they don't think much about her. Now if any of them actually read the books or watched the films they'd think 'Wait one damn second, eye of a god? Magicians?' and they'd realise that something was up. But I'm afraid they have not done so- and neither has Chiron lol.
Noir Nyan: Both, it's both. And there will be bullies but uh- Piper goes to BAG with Percy. Percy who is a famous actress at this stage, the rare bully will be easily dealt with- especially since she goes to the same school as her big brother and sister. As for Piper's charmspeak, she probably could resist if she needed to, but also, Percy and Piper are best friends, if Piper ever does use it on her it's for training, messing around or possibly to help calm her down if she's freaked which Percy wouldn't really fight against.
Guest: I feel like Mr D would freaking love Percy after a couple of meetings, Ares would just want to fight her and Aphrodite... hm. Now that could be interesting purely because like, when they meet Aphrodites clearly going to see that her daughter's head over heels for Percy and vice versa- so would she choose to leave them be or would she still want drama?
The movie was released a week before Percy turned eleven- and it was an instant hint-a fact that Percy was very smug about- and it had been decided very quickly that they'd film the next two movies back to back and do a staggered release date- to make sure none of the younger cast aged too much between movies- which meant continued employments for all of them.
And out of all of the cast the two who had become most famous from the movie were Percy and Tristan, who had managed to pay back Sally for his father's medical bills- and Thomas Mclean, whilst still recovering from the surgery was cancer free- a fact that had been very good news to Percy and Piper, who had burst out into relieved sobs and clung to Percy so that she wouldn't fall over.
And Percy's pay from the movies was being put into a separate account for her when she was older.
And Percy did kinda find it fun- having people in the streets recognise her- having other kids get all excited when they met her- being known for something a bit less serious than being one of the three Kanes who saved the world.
Of course- that did cause some issues- but nothing that Percy couldn't usually handle. And it was usually pretty funny in school- suddenly everyone wanted to be Percy's friend, but Percy was very stubborn, Piper and Felix were her best friends- though Felix was going on a trip to the Three Hundred and Sixtieth Nome- it was usually a punishment assignment but he'd wanted to go there mostly because of his obsession with ice and penguins- he'd have plenty of them there.
In any case, anyone that didn't want her friends around wasn't someone Percy was interested in being friends with, and she made that very clear.
Of course- the only thing in Percy's life that wasn't perfect was the simple fact that she couldn't be honest with Piper.
That changed three months after Percy turned eleven.
She knew of course, that her friend had dyslexia- and she'd never thought much about it- or about the fact that she sometimes she struggled with focusing just like Percy did- she wasn't nearly as bad as Sadie and Percy and Sadie didn't have ADHD so Percy hadn't made the connection.
So as far as she was concerned her best friend was just a normal person- and she knew that she couldn't just go around telling anyone- not yet anyway.
And then it happened.
The two girls had been on their way home from a trip to the shops- Percy had been invited onto a talk show with Tristan- and Piper had been invited too purely because she was his daughter and Percy's best friend, and Percy had wanted a new dress for it.
Piper didn't exactly understand the appeal of dressing up pretty- but as she'd told Percy several times it was fun watching Percy get excited.
And Percy liked it because- well, she liked how normal she felt- it wasn't life or death, it wasn't serious- and she felt pretty when she dressed up.
She was grinning brightly, walking hand in hand with Piper as they made their way back towards Piper's apartment- that was one of the downsides too- Piper couldn't exactly visit Brooklyn House since she didn't know the truth, when it happened.
It wasn't the first time that random people had come up to Percy on the street- but it was usually kids her own age- the boys that stepped out of an alley blocking the two girls way were at least eighteen by Percy's judgement, and they didn't look nice.
Percy's eyes narrowed- the street they'd been walking down was quieter too, a shortcut to get home- not good with a group of five boys who very much looked like they wanted to cause trouble.
Her eyes narrowed, "'Scuse me. I was walking here-"
"You're that girl from that movie right?"
"Yep." Percy could almost feel the anxiety rolling off Piper- though she felt a surge of affection when she saw that her friends hands were curled into fists- she had no experience with fighting but she'd fight to defend them if she had to. "Do you want an autograph?"
"Nope." the ringleader slipped his hand into his pocket-and a moment later he had a pocket knife pointed towards Percy,
"Whatever's in that bag would be a good start- someone like you has to be loaded, I'm betting you have some good stuff in there-"
"I mean-" Percy looked him up and down, flicking him a condescending smile. "I don't think it'd fit you and I mean- baby blue probably isn't your color." and she heard Piper's stifled little giggle from just behind her.
The boys face went red and his eyes narrowed, and Percy noticed the other guys shifting- pulling out their own knives.
"You're real mouthy for a ten year old-"
"Eleven actually." Percy corrected, "But I wouldn't expect guys like you to be able to do basic math. Maybe I could ask my brother to give you lessons like he gives me-"
"Do you want me to slash up that pretty little face of yours-"
"Kinda weird that you're calling an eleven year old pretty-"
"Percy-" Piper's voice was frightened- and she grabbed at Percy's arm tightly- Percy could feel the way Piper was shaking.
And Percy had to remind herself that most kids their age weren't used to getting threatened at knife point.
"It's okay Piper." Percy promised, not moving her gaze from the boys in front of them, "These losers are just tryin' to scare us- they won't dare do anything." she tilted her chin up slightly, shifting so that she could hand the bag with the dress in it to Piper.
And that just seemed to piss the boys in front of them off more- and leader boy lashed out, grabbing the front of Percy's tee and yanking her forward and up as Piper let out a terrified cry, pressing the cold blade of his knife to Percy's cheek, her feet dangling off the ground.
"You wanna fucking push it-"
"Oooh. Your tiny knife terrifies me." Percy lashed out, the palm of one hand smashing into the boy's chin, the back of her other hand catching his wrist and knocking the knife out of his hand.
The boy cried out, letting go, and she dropped, bringing her knee up between the guys legs- and the high pitched shriek he let out was actually kind of beautiful, in Percy's not so humble opinion, as was the sight of the boy hunching over, clutching at his balls- and the other boys were rushing towards her.
Percy resisted the urge to grin widely- this would be fun- but before any of them could make contact Piper let out a terrified scream. "Stop it!" and Percy could feel the power in her friends voice- her head snapped around, her eyes wide with shock as the boys all stopped mid motion- their gazes going distant, almost clouding over.
"Uh- Piper-"
"L-leave us alone!" Piper's voice was terrified and desperate- but that power was still there.
And Percy could almost see the changes- the way the boys started nodding and murmuring- and Percy watched open mouthed as they all turned and headed back where they'd come from- even the boy who Percy had kneed in the balls.
Then she turned to Piper- who looked ashen- her eyes filling with tears as the bag slipped from her hand- and Percy was there in an instant, her arms wrapping around her friend tightly, hand resting on the back of her head as she pulled her close.
"It's okay Piper. Everything's okay." her voice was soft, soothing, "It's all gonna be okay. You're safe."
"I-I- they were going to hurt you-"
"They didn't." Percy reassured her, "They didn't Piper I'm fine-"
"I- I couldn't help you I- they were going to take you away." Piper's grip on Percy was almost too tight- Percy could feel the desperation rolling off of her.
"I wasn't gonna let them hurt either of us-"
"They had knives-"
"I know, and I know it was scary but we're okay Piper. I promise you."
"I-" Piper sniffled, pressing her face into Percy's shoulder, "I- they listened to me."
"Yeah." Percy swallowed hard. "Yeah they did." and that- that was pretty shocking.
"W-why?" and that was the best question Piper could have asked- or the worst. Because it was the one Percy was asking herself, but she didn't have the answer.
"I'm not sure." Percy said slowly, "I think-I think you controlled them."
"B-but that's not possible all I did was yell. I've told you to do things before and it didn't control them."
"But you never meant it like that." Percy pointed out softly as she pulled back slightly, watching her friends face carefully- her eyes were red and her cheeks were tear streaked. "You've never been that desperate before."
"B-but how would I- even if- I mean-" and Percy's mind was racing.
Piper wasn't a Magician- she was sure of that but- she groaned to herself, feeling like an idiot. "You have Dyslexia." Percy breathed out. "I'm so stupid you have dyslexia."
"I- yeah but what does that have to do with anything?" Piper's brows furrowed and her eyes almost seemed to darken in her confusion.
"We need to get home." Percy said firmly, "C'mon." she grabbed Piper's hand tightly and picked up the bag, "I think I have an idea but we need to get home and then we can talk."
"You- you do?" and it said something for how much Piper trusted Percy that the girl gave a firm nod after a long moment, a trusting look in her gaze, and Percy was so very grateful for that as she pulled Piper along with her- walking faster than they had been- and thankfully they managed to get to Piper's room without Tristan intercepting them to ask how their day had been, if only because he was on the phone to his agent when they got back- and once they were in
Piper's room Percy shut the door behind them and turned to Piper.
"Okay. You're gonna have to listen to me real carefully Pipes, okay?"
"Of course." Piper nodded.
And Percy took a deep breath before it all spilled out- she talked to Piper about the Greek gods and goddesses, about the fact that they were still around, still having children. And she told her friend that the books and movies that so many people loved these days weren't as fictional as most people believed.
And Piper listened in awe, her eyes wide.
Once Percy went quiet Piper bit her lip hard, eyeing Percy almost suspiciously. "It sounds crazy." she said, "I- the stuff you're talking about sounds crazy you know that right?"
"Yeah." Percy nodded, "But it's true."
"I- I want to believe you." Piper said slowly, "But- but-"
And Percy knew what Piper was getting at. She needed some kind of proof- and Percy could provide that well enough- she thrust her hand to the side, drawing her precious Khopesh out of the Duat- which made Piper's mouth drop open in awe.
"You're really telling the truth." Piper breathed out, "A-about all of it." she looked stunned. "A-and you think I have- I have powers to."
"You're dyslexic." Percy told Piper, "I think that might mean that you're a demigod like me. Not a magician but I mean- whoever your mom is you probably got the power to tell people what to do from her."
"Is there some way to test it?" Piper leaned forward, and Percy hesitated, a thoughtful look on her face before she moved over to Piper's desk, grabbing some paper and a pen and writing quickly before she moved back to Piper, holding out the paper for her to read.
Piper took it slowly, with shaking hands, her brows furrowing as she stared at it, "I-"
"Can you make any sense of it at all-"
"I think-" Piper was clearly focusing, "Something about 'Demigods can- is that- is that read-"
"You're a demigod. If you can read that much you're a demigod that's ancient Greek. It's what your brain is hardwired for."
"B-but why wouldn't my dad have told me?"
"Probably didn't know." Percy pointed out before reaching out. "Piper- I know it's scary but I'm gonna stick with you no matter what."
And Piper lifted her gaze to look at Percy, taking her hand. "I trust you."