In which Walt is having a mental break down because fucking seriously Percy?! And then Percy is having one. And also, Piper is a wonderful friend.
Replies:
Undeath9087: They're besties who happen to be in love but they don't realise that yet. Seriously Percy stares into Piper's eyes and thinks how pretty they are and then she's like 'But she's just my best friend' like... sure. Nothing gay there.
Guest: That made me laugh so thank you, I did not know they actually did that.
Thickneck: Percy: I'm off on a date guys!
Carter: No, no I forbade you remember-
Percy: From dating guys. I am not dating guys. I'm dating pretty girls.
Sadie: Hah!
Guest: They know she's not a magician, and that she's Percy's friend. People in Brooklyn House have a vague idea, the rest of the House of Life not so much.
rage2091: Honestly she doesn't even need to read it because she knows it she's just complaining that they dared ask her to read.
rl15435: I dunno, Annabeth definitely likes her so far in this AU. And their first meeting is both sad and sweet at once.
Guest: she really, really does. And you'll see.
MKDemiGodzilla-Warrior: Percy is currently freaking out over said backpack.

If Percy had known how her return to home would end up, she would have insisted that she and Piper stay out longer, to make the most of freedom and fun.

But she didn't know, so after their ice creams the two girls headed straight home- though they'd been out for a good few hours by the time they were back.

When they got there Walt was waiting the the Great Room, as soon as he saw them walking in he was on his feet, a furious look on his face- which was strange, it was very rare that Walt would get angry. "Percy! What in the name of all the gods do you think you're playing at?" and Percy blinked rapidly, leaning back slightly- and his tone was so sharp that the ankle biters who had been playing, coloring from the looks of it, were ushered out by Jaz- who cast a worried glance between Percy and Walt as she did.

"Uh- I'm not actually sure what's crawled up your butt and died so I'm gonna guess and say you've found out about the fact that I added green glitter to Sadie's shampoo ready for when she gets home-"

"When did you do that?" Piper asked incredulously, "I haven't seen you do that-"

"I am not talking about green glitter but I'm sure Sadie is going to murder you for that when she gets home." Walt shook his head, "I'm talking about something a lot worse Percy."

"Uh, I'm kinda lost here Walt-"

"Your mom asked me to fetch you two to ask if you wanted cookies- so I knocked on your door, you didn't answer so I decided to check you two weren't in there wearing headphones. I was not expecting to sense this as soon as I opened the door." he held up- Percy's eyes widened.

"OH! The backpack! The one we stole-"

"Oh my gods." Piper slapped her hand over her mouth, "I can't believe- we forgot about it-"

"You-" Walt looked like he wanted to explode, "You forgot about it? Percy do you- how exactly did you get it and have you even looked inside?"

"Um, well I had this dream the night before we left for Egypt to spend Christmas there and Pipes and I snuck out and long story short, we came back with the bag-"

"You- did you look inside?"

"Um- well we were gonna but we were tired and uh- as you can see we kinda forgot about it by the time we got back from Egypt-"

"Oh my gods." Walt covered his face with his hands, letting out a frustrated groan, "I know your ADHD isn't your fault but do you really have to forget about stuff so quickly?"

"Hey-" Percy held up her hands, "Out of sight out of mind- I try real hard but sometimes stuff just slips."

"Same here." Piper spoke up, "We didn't ask for the ADHD. Blame our absent parents."

"Yeah, yeah well those absent parents are probably losing their minds right now. We knew something was up with the Greeks but we didn't know what."

"Uh, and you do now?"

"Yes, or at least some of it." Walt looked incredibly unhappy, "And you're going to explain all of this to your mom by the way- I'll have to go and talk to your dad-"

"Okay- okay why do you gotta bring dad into this." Percy whined, "It can't be that bad can it?"

And then Walt opened the bag and pulled out a bronze helm- it was a beautiful thing, a work of art even. And Percy could feel the power almost rolling off of it.

It was a familiar type of power- invoking darkness and death yes but- but death wasn't automatically bad in her opinion.

It was a natural thing- and it felt of Underworld.

"Oh." Percy blinked, "Oh gods what is it?"

"This." Walt gritted his teeth, "Is Hades Helm."

"H-Hades Helm. As in- as in his personal-"

"Yes Percy. As in his helm of darkness."

"Someone- Oh shit." Percy stared, "I've had Hades Helm of Darkness under my bed for the past like, six months."

"And there's more." Walt declared, pulling out a two foot long cylinder- it was made of some kind of bronze- and Percy felt power from that too- but it wasn't as comforting. It felt dangerous. "I don't even want to consider what that us given the fact that Hades Helm was in the bag." Walt declared.

"I uh- might have an idea." Percy muttered, "I am in so much trouble."

"Wait-" Piper held up her hands, "Wait just- just wait a second- so- that guy we stopped had just stolen Hades Helm and.. and probably- probably Zeus'- his lightning or whatever too?"

"Uh, it looks that way." Percy said slowly, "Oh we are so fucked. How- How did you not sense it before-"

"Brooklyn House has thousands of magical wards." Walt pointed out, shaking his head, "And even individual rooms are warded- I didn't sense it until I stepped into the room- and even then I only sensed it because-"

"Because you're Waltbis-"

"You know I hate it when you call me that." Walt let out an exhausted sigh, shaking his head. "But yes, because I'm also Anubis. It's powerful Underworld magic, it felt like a punch to the gut. Gods Percy if it wasn't for the wards here- you realise that the Greeks are probably hunting for those? Zeus and Hades are probably both furious beyond all reason."

"Oh no." Percy groaned, "What do we do?"

"I don't-" Walt took a deep breath, "I would suggest returning them- but- as much as Hades is usually fairly reasonable, Zeus isn't from what I've heard of him."

"You think he'll kill me on the spot." Percy scowled, shaking her head. "and- from stuff my father told mom before he left her you might not be far off. He'd hate me just for being Poseidon's daughter he might just strike me down for that alone let alone for having his stolen weapon."

Percy started to pace, "Oh gods why is this happening?"

"Percy- why did you sneak out that night, what dream did you have?"

"I- I was in Greece- I think it was the cave of the Oracle of Delphi- there- she was there, the Oracle, she spoke to me. She told me- she said a bunch of stuff that I'm not even sure- I- she said that the world depended on me running and stopping a boy with a bag. She said he couldn't be allowed to escape and that I had to take the bag and hide it. And then I woke up. Walt I swear-"

"Percy I know you didn't know but this is serious- the Oracle- from what I know I don't think it's usually that straight forward- prophecies-"

"It-I don't think it was real-it was a demigod dream." Percy said, shaking her head, "But it was telling me something I needed to know even if it wasn't the real Oracle."

"Whoever it was that stole the Helm and the Bolt undoubtedly had something bad planned." Walt sighed, "You stopping
him was good Percy- but this- the fact that it's been so long- they've had a lot of time to get angry."

Percy was pacing back and forth now, running her fingers through her hair, tugging it slightly as she did. "I haven't done anything wrong-"

"Percy I know that-"

"They can't blame me-"

"Percy-"

"I have had nothing to do with the Greeks! The only other Greek I even know is Piper and she's not had anything to do with them either- other than a few stupid monster attacks which totally doesn't count- and unless you count that girl who might have been a demigod but I talked to her for like less than ten minutes-" she could feel her panic rising, spiralling- and then Piper was in front of her, gripping her wrists tightly, stopping her mid pace.

"Percy!" Piper almost shouted the name, "Percy- Percy look at me- look at me!" and Percy stopped, her grip on her hair loosening as she stared into Piper's eyes, which were shifting from blue to brown somehow- Percy always found that fascinating, watching them change.

And she felt some of the panic easing away as Piper spoke softly, her voice soothing. "Look at me Percy. It's going to be okay. We will figure this out."

"You're magicking me." Percy smiled weakly at Piper, "You're doing your magic talk again Pipes."

"Yeah, well, if that's what it takes to make you feel better then that's what I'll do."

"See, see this is why you're my best friend." Percy shifted, resting her head on Piper's shoulder and closing her eyes, "It is gonna be okay. You're right. Gods how is it gonna be okay?"

"They need to be returned." Piper said slowly, "Which is tricky but- we take this one step at a time, how does that sound?"

"That-" Percy exhaled, lifting her head and opening her eyes, "That sounds like a solid plan. Okay, okay Piper. So what's the first step."

"Well-"

"Hades." Walt spoke up, "He's the most reasonable, and if you treat him with the proper respect he probably won't just kill you. Especially if-" Walt frowned, "If I- before you go I'll give you something-I'll make an amulet for you, it's not an ideal way to tell the Greeks that we're still around but as an envoy from either myself or your father- it should hold some weight."

"Okay." Percy nodded slowly, "That- that would be really helpful." she took a deep breath, "So, we go to Hades first, return his helm and see if he can maybe help us with a plan for getting the Bolt back to Zeus." she paused, "Where do we go?"

"I don't claim to be an expert." Walt shook his head, "But I know that there's an entrance in LA, DOA records I believe. That's the only one I know of- there are others I'm sure. Closer entrances but- I have no clue how long it would take me to find them."

"Right. So we're going to LA." Piper rubbed her hands together, "That doesn't sound so bad."

"At least it's somewhere I'm kinda familiar with." Percy gave a wry smile "Perks of being a child actress."

Give me the bag too." Walt sighed, "Go talk to your mother. I'll make sure to add extra protective spells to the bag- it probably won't hide it entirely but it should stifle the power enough that you make it to LA without the Greeks sensing you."

"Have I ever told you that you're awesome Walt?"

"Not nearly often enough." Walt gave a wry smile as he took the bag, "Now go, talk to Sally." he snorted, an amused smile playing across his lips. "And I wish you all the luck in the world with that one."

"Oh gods." Percy groaned "I'm a dead demimagician. Dead I tell you."

"Yeah yeah." Piper let out a soft laugh, "Come on, let's go find your mom and talk to her."

Percy glanced at the clock, "At this time of day she'll probably be making the twins their snacks."

So the two girls headed to the kitchen, and they stopped in the doorway, Percy smiling despite herself when her gaze landed on the twins, who were stood on chairs at the counter, Estelle was holding a mixing bowl still and Alex was tipping an unholy amount of chocolate chips into what Percy could only assume was cookie dough whilst Sally busied herself next to them, chopping up some apples and cheese- a snack the twins always enjoyed. "Don't forget the food dye."

Percy chirped, and both of the twins turned, beaming widely.

"Percy!" Estelle clapped her hands, "And Pipey! Where was you?"

"We went out on a boring walk." Piper declared- they both knew better than to tell the twins where they'd actually gone. And Percy met her mom's eyes- and Sally frowned, brows furrowing- she knew her daughter well enough to know when something was wrong.

"Honey?"

"Mom- we need to talk-"

"I can watch the twins." Piper offered seeing Sally's hesitation- and Sally shot her a grateful smile. "Thank you Piper." she brushed off her hands and walked towards Percy, "Come on then. Let's go talk, you can tell me what has you looking so serious."