In which Percy has certain dreams- you can almost feel sorry for Luke, and Percy and Piper discuss parents.
Replies:
Undeath9087: I mean, that's Percy's opinion anyway- and yes, yes Percy and Piper are very much in love and not aware of that fact. Which I find funny.
Ryan Fowler: I think it's pretty good. Hades is so confused at first.
thecgw: they don't want the Egyptian gods finding out and panicking about anything.
Thickneck: Yeah, he really is, which is what makes him being taken out by three kids real funny. Even if they did have some help.
Guest: This is a bit earlier than canon- Percy and Piper are ahead of their deadline even if they don't know there is a deadline.
Drizzle: Oh she's already head over heels. And so is Percy, they're both sat there like 'You're so pretty!' 'No you're so pretty' and somehow neither of them click that wait, wait a sec this is a lil bit gay.
Guest: I mean, that is the sort of thing she'd try.

The first stage of the journey went remarkably well, all things considered, they spent the first few hours going over lines- it wasn't for a major role in the movie, but Percy quite enjoyed the irony- it was a retelling of the story of Helen of Troy, from youth to adulthood- Percy was hoping to get the role of young Helen- who had been a daughter of Zeus.

It was especially ironic because if Percy got the role she'd be playing the part of a younger Helen, before Paris came along, during her abduction by Theseus.

And Percy was willing to admit that she didn't like the stories of her half brother- the most well known ones portrayed him well but- well, she'd done her own research- she liked knowing things, and she had been curious about her half brothers- she quite liked the tales of Bellerophon- but Theseus? No.

And it did feel fitting that her middle name was Ariadne- the name of the princess he'd callously abandoned.
Of course, there was only so long that they could read lines for, and eventually they decided to take a break, munching on their sandwiches and sipping their water.

Piper ended up getting out a book as Percy took a nap- after all they'd have hours on the train- with very little they could do to entertain themselves.

And Percy dreamed as she slept.

She found herself in a deep dark cavern- and Percy, who had never been afraid of the dark, found herself afraid- there was something so very dark there- she could see a pit, at the centre of the cavern. Whatever was inside of that pit, Percy could feel the darkness, a physical presence reaching up from the pit itself, trying to claw its way free.

And then there was a voice- deep, echoing as ancient as time itself- and clearly she'd arrived in the middle of a conversation. "It was not request boy, that was an order! You have already failed me once- you will find the Bolt and the Helm and bring them to me as you were supposed to do six months ago!"

"I- I'm sorry-" the voice sounded lost, terrified, "I know I failed I know- but my lord I've been searching- Chiron believes I'm applying to colleges but I've been searching for the items." his voice was terrified, "Wherever they are- my Lord even Ares, Athena, Artemis and Apollo can't sense them. What chance do I have of tracking them-"

"You're the idiot who lost them in the first place!" the voice boomed, "If you have been more careful I would have them now and I could use them- the only good thing to come of this is that war will come soon enough- at least that will weaken my foolish sons."

Foolish sons?

Percy felt a stirring of fear in the pit of her belly.

She knew Zeus and Hades were probably preparing themselves for war- they likely blamed one another for their symbols of power going missing.

And she knew who their father was.

The Titan of Time, the King of the Titans.

Kronos.

Could it be that he was the one behind all this? The other voice had to belong to the blond boy who Percy had snatched the bag from.

"I didn't lose them my lord." the boys voice was pleading. "Please- I told you there were two girls-"

"Then find the girls, find the Bolt and the Helm and kill them for daring to stand in our way!"

"I don't know anything about them! It happened so fast, they had their hoods up- I know one of them was called Percy, and I think I saw white or something but it was so fast-"

"Then find this Percy!" the voice bellowed the words, "Find this girl who stole the bag from you. Find out how she knew, and kill her! And the friend who helped her-"

"They were kids- they sounded young I-"

"I don't care! You will do this boy, or believe me when I say that you will regret the day you were born!" the words had enough force to shake the entire cavern, and Percy pressed herself back against the wall, forcing back a terrified gasp at that.

And okay- okay the stakes were very high. But this Luke guy didn't know anything about her- only her name really. And
there were a lot of people called Percy right?

Well, not so many called Percy's were girls she'd admit that- but still, the chances of him actually connecting her with the girl who'd stolen his backpack from him had to be fairly low.

Unless he realised that the white was hair-in which case it would be very high given the fact that all he'd have to do was use google and he'd be able to get up pictures of her.

But she couldn't focus on that could she? She needed to focus on the here and now- get the items to safety and then she could deal with this boy who'd just been given orders to murder her.

Percy pulled a face, resisting the urge to poke her tongue out at the pit- it wouldn't do much good- and besides it was better if they couldn't see her anyways- she'd be giving herself away if she did.

And-well, it did make one thing clear. Kronos at least- if she was right about who he was, had no clue that she even existed.

And that she could work with.

She woke up after that- blinking slowly as she lifted her head-and she gave a tired still half asleep smile when she realised that Piper had draped a thin blanket over her.

She shifted slightly, sitting up slowly and moving the bag on her lap so that she'd be more comfortable.

"Morning sleepy head." Piper's voice was teasing and she grinned faintly, "Sleep well?"

"Depends on what you'd call well." Percy said honestly, puffing her hair out of her face. "You got a brush in that bag of yours."

"Of course." Piper nodded, pulling her bag close and opening it, pulling out a hairbrush and tossing it to Percy, who caught it with practised ease, pulling it through her hair, and she grinned at her friend when she wordlessly pulled out some elastics too.

"Thanks."

"So, I saw you frowning in your sleep. Have another dream?" Piper's voice was worried- which was pretty reasonable in Percy's opinion- given that Percy's last dream had ended up with them in their current position. And if anything this one was more worrying- which was very annoying in her opinion.
"Yep." Percy popped the P, "And you are not going to like it one bit."

And Percy watched Piper's expression as she told the other girl all about her dreams, and Piper's eyes were filled with concern as Percy told her about the caverns and the voices.

Eventually the other girl spoke slowly, "You know that they're going to figure out who you are eventually right- I mean- it might take a while but eventually they'll make the connection between the girl who snatched the bag and Persephone Kane." Piper shook her head, "It's my fault- I'm such an idiot I shouldn't have said your name-"

"Piper it was a pretty crazy situation." Percy reassured her friend, "It's not good but the last thing you should be doing is blaming yourself."

"I-" Piper's expression relaxed, "You really think so? I'm not used to stuff this big- monsters are one thing but this- this is bigger. You really think it might have been Kronos?" she asked the question with the thinly veiled hope that Percy would turn around and say 'of course not, it's probably nothing. Don't worry'. And Percy wished she could but- she had a horrible gut feeling that she was right and that was very bad.

She highly doubted that Kronos planned on letting his children go on ruling in peace.

No, he'd want revenge on them- that was why he'd said a war would be good. It would weaken them.

"I do." Percy said after a long moment- because she owed Piper better than to lie to her, even if it would be a lie told to comfort her. "But- there's nothing we can do about it right now. We need to focus on avoiding blondie boy and getting the Helm back to Hades and we can see what he can do to help us then. We don't want to get caught by anyone."

"You said that they hadn't been able to track it while it was at Brooklyn House and I know Walt put wards on it but-"

"But the gods might be able to sense it now." Percy finished Piper's thought, biting her lip hard, "I know Pipes I've thought about it too."

"So we have to keep an eye out for four gods." Piper took a deep breath, her brows furrowing slightly. "Do- I've never really thought about meeting the gods before." Piper's voice was soft, distant-and Percy could see that distance in her friends eyes. "Do you think- I mean-" her voice caught. "I know it has to be a goddess- and Artemis is a maiden so- I just-"

"You're wondering if you'll meet your mom." Percy finished for Piper.

"I- I try not to think about it much" Piper said quietly, "But- you can't blame me for wondering about her sometimes. I know you said my dad doesn't know who she really is but- I just- who do you think she is?"

And Percy hesitated, biting her lip as she stared at her best friend, considering it. "I'm not sure." she said after a long moment. "I don't know enough about demigods powers and things. You're smart-" she gave Piper a proud smile- and Piper grinned faintly at Percy, "But- I dunno. You get your powers from your mom and I don't think Athena's known for being able to enchant people with her voice. And- there's the fact that you know French-"

"So do you-"

"Yeah." Percy nodded, "But I can speak pretty much every language." she pointed out. "So it doesn't stick out and- and French is the language of love right-"

"Oh come on-" Piper was shaking her head- though Percy was pretty sure she'd half expected what Percy was saying based on that look in her eyes.

"Piper- I know you're not like- a girly girl-" and that was the understatement of the century- Percy was the sole reason that Piper had any patience at all for girly things- she tolerated them because she knew Percy sometimes liked more girly things. "But- you're like- one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met-" and Percy felt her face flushing as she said that- but hey, it was a fact.

Even at twelve Piper was very clearly growing up to be beautiful.

Piper didn't get annoyed like Percy half expected she would- she laughed and shook her head. "Sure, sure I'm beautiful- have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately?" and that made Percy's cheeks go even more red.

She was used to being told that she was beautiful of course- her family called her beautiful all the time- and she'd heard it dozens of times, when people talked about her, when they wrote about her in magazine- talked about how she was a rising star, how pretty she was, how striking her hair made her look.

But still, it was different when it was Piper saying it.

It made something in her belly feel strange.

"Shut up." Percy really did feel like her face was on fire. "You know what I mean though Piper. And love doesn't have to be about all things girly." she pointed out, "That's just a stupid stereotype- Aphrodite is the goddess of love- and love- love's a powerful force. It's not all love hearts and stuff. It's powerful and enduring, real love anyway." Percy's expression was soft, "Look at my parents." she pointed out, "Look at their relationship- everything they've been through but they still have one another. It's a weird relationship sure but- never underestimate love Piper."

"You- you make it sound kinda bearable." Piper's voice was soft, and there was something in her eyes that Percy couldn't blame.

"I mean. I could be wrong but- I wouldn't be surprised." Percy told Piper. "That's all."

"I- I guess it doesn't really matter either way." Piper decided, "Who cares about my mother I have a family."