"We have to find Annabeth and rescue her!" Piper cried leaping from the chair.
"From Olympus?" Percy asked. "Are you crazy? You don't just walk up to the 600th floor of the Empire State Building…wait, actually we could. We've done it before, but then they were out fighting Typhon."
Piper was too preoccupied trying to figure out a plan, which was difficult because planning was normally Annabeth's department. They needed to figure out how to infiltrate mount Olympus, rescue Annabeth from the weaver without alerting any of the gods that may or may not be under the monsters spell, and then kill the creature and put an end to everything.
"We can help" Sam said standing up, nodding to the others around the table. "Loki's weapon is ultimately a threat to Asgard, so we're kind of obliged to hunt it down and destroy it. If you can help us find it, we'll make sure it's out of your lives."
"We'd appreciate the help" she replied relieved. "Do you know how to kill the weaver?"
"Noting to say slicing it to pieces won't work" Alex smiled confidently.
"What about this mind control thing it does?" Percy asked. What's to keep it from turning us against each other?"
"It's not mind control" Piper explained, "it's more like an aphrodisiac. And it can only produce that stuff through its seamen, which you'd have to either ingest or secrete through your skin. So as long as it doesn't get a hold of us we should be fine."
"Kill it from a distance? I got a solution for that" Magnus assured them tapping the rune stone around his neck. The Greek demigods got a look at it and found the Norse symbol for summer engraved upon it. Neither knew what he meant but had faith in his confidence.
"So how do we get back up there?" Percy asked. "There's no way the guard is just going to let us up to mount Olympus."
"Annabeth got up somehow" Magnus pointed out.
"Yeah, but she had my mom" Piper explained. "And the invisibility cap her mom gave her. So unless we had a chaperone we won't get close."
"Actually, I might have an idea" Alex suggested with a smirk.
A few minutes later the plan had been finalized. Sam was sure it was a stupid plan and even Piper had her doubts, but they were wasting time otherwise. Percy was all set to join them until Piper argued for him to stay at the camp. "If things go wrong, you need to tell Chiron and mobilize the others."
"She's my girlfriend" he argued. "I'm not just going to sit here."
"Pipers right" Sam told him. "This is serious and we need a plan b just in case. Keeping you here to lead the rescue is the best option."
Percy wasn't happy but he was pretty outnumbered about it. "You have until sundown, then we're coming after you" he told them.
The all gathered at the crest of the hill, piling into Percy's car which was parked nearby. Piper held back to say her goodbyes to Percy, telling him "in case I don't come back, tell Jason…"
"To come get you?" He finished.
It wasn't what she was going to say, but it was better than what she had in mind. With a nod she strapped Annabeth's Drakon bone sword to her hip and got in the car, sitting beside Magnus as he started it up. "You can drive right?" She asked him.
"Of course I can" he rebuffed.
"Really? I've never seen you drive before" Alex commented from the backseat.
"It'll be fine" he replied, awkwardly shifting the car into gear before stalling the engine. All three of the girls face palmed as he started it up again and a few minutes later they were speeding down the hill. Percy watched the crew disappear down the street, playing to his dad they didn't wreck the car. But mainly that Annabeth would come home safe.
Half an hour later, after Magnus got everyone to promise not to mention what happened to the car, they arrived at the steps to the Empire State Building. "This is never going to work" Sam whispered, her head scarf pulled over her head hiding her face, uncomfortable in the disguise she was wearing.
"It'll work" Magnus assured her in his disguise, scratching at how itchy it was around his chest.
Piper prayed for it to work as they ascended the steps into the foyer.
Inside the man in uniform was reading a magazine at his post as the four of them walked up to the elevators. "What floor do you wish to visit?" He asked, his voice bored and dull.
"The 600th" a booming voice answered.
The man looked up to see a large man in a white beard staring back at him with chiseled features and blazing blue eyes. His skin went pale as he dropped his magazine, his voice stammering as he found the large man dressed in classic Olympian clothing with two handmaidens wearing hoodies over their faces and a young man dressed in Greek armor. "Lord…lord Zeus? I didn't realize it was you! What are…why are you down here?"
"What business is that of yours?" Zeus boomed down at him, his face a picture of fury. "Now are you going to let me through, or not?" He demanded.
"Forgive me" The guard stammered, fumbling with the keys. But before he found the right one he stopped, asking cautiously. "Forgive me, but why would you need to use this entrance? A god like you wouldn't need to."
Zeus stared at the man, his face remaining a picture of fury. But his voice mumbled as he tried to think of answer. Behind him Sam cringed, muttering under her breath "told you", as Magnus whispered "say something" out of the corner of his mouth. "I don't require a need to explain myself" Zeus replied angrily.
The guard narrowed his eyes, suddenly dubious. He smelly a rat. This wasn't the first time someone tried to pass them selves off as a god to infiltrate Olympus. He started to move back to the podium when Piper, disguised as a handmaiden, rushed forward to grab his arm. "Please" she said, charm-speak spilling from her voice. "Lord Zeus is a busy man. It would be wise to grant him passage to the 600th floor, don't you agree?"
The guard stared at her for a moment before quietly nodding, muttering "yes, it would be wise" as he returned to the elevator. He lead the party to the doors where he inserted the key, unlocking the doors and allowing them in. He passed the right key to Zeus, who took it with indifference as the four of them entered the elevator and waited for the doors to close, using the key to open the button for the 600th floor.
Once the elevator was moving and the music started playing, everyone released a sigh of relief. "What did you do?" Sam asked Piper.
"I used charm-speak. It's a rare gift from Aphrodite" she explained as she pulled off the hood. "Basically convinces people to do what I tell them."
"If you could do that from the beginning, why did you agree to this charade?" Alex asked as she shifted back to her normal look after morphing into the sky god himself. The moment she mentioned she could shape shift into other people both Percy and Piper agreed Zeus would be the most intimidating. If only the demigod could hold up the act.
"It doesn't always work on gods" she replied watching the shapeshifter change out of the suit into a button shirt and trousers with suspenders. "And I thought you said you were a good actor?"
"He has his moments" Magnus said in her defense.
"Her, until further notice" Alex corrected him. Piper rolled her eyes, finding her gender fluidity amusing. From her point of view her sex was obvious, but maybe that's because she's the daughter of the goddess of sex. Since she met the demigod she's been a girl, boy and now a girl again. It was getting tiresome. "So what's the plan when we get tip there?" Alex asked her.
"See if there are any gods who can help" she suggested. "But we might be safer sneaking through the halls and finding Annabeth."
"It's never that easy" Magnus commented, scowling at the music. "Can't this play anything else?"
"Afraid not" she quipped, thinking carefully. "I say we split up. I'll find my moms room and look for clues to the weaver that might help."
"I'll come with you" Sam suggested. "I know the most about the creature."
Piper nodded. "You two check around the hallways and try to find Annabeth. If you see the weaver, don't let it near you."
"You'd better keep that sword of yours hidden until the last moment" Alex suggested to Magnus.
"Agreed" he nodded. "He doesn't know when to shut up."
The elevator finally reached the top and opened into the expanse of mount Olympus. The four of them stepped out cautiously scanning the area. The place was deserted. With a nod Piper signaled for them to spread out. "We'll meet up in the hall of Olympus" she told them.
"Where's that?" Magnus asked.
She pointed to the big building at the top of the steps. "You can't miss it" she told them. And with a nod the four of them split into two pairs and crept into the domain of the olympians.