In which Percy gets her birthday present from Piper and Annabeth and seriously the only thing that even comes close is Argos. Like, this is awesome. Also- I know a certain reviewer is gonna lose their mind lol so I will say it now. IT'S HEIST TIME!
Rage2091: You may be disappointed in one sense lol, but I mean, Percy is happy.
Undeath9087: Hades wanted to spoil his niece. He has a soft spot for her after all. She's his third favorite living demigod. And I mean, your theories aren't bad but I feel like they're a little too close to the plot of the actual book, though I do have some aspects of the book lol. You shall have to wait and see.
Fugy: Not bad, though they have no reason to go to school in main. Heheheheh.
Guest: Hades is completely keeping updated on his children- as will be shown in the future. He's been very careful because he doesn't want to risk their safety but he is keeping updated. And he's not breaking the rules as such by having contact with Percy because she's not his, and there's no actual rule about interacting with the Egyptians. It's more an unspoken thing lol.
Zephyr0f8: We shall have to wait and see lol. But Percy would love an army of hellhound puppies. As for the relationship. I fear not yet, but they do have the best present ever to give Percy. She is very excited.
KingBob2405: Percy would just get him something really sweet and thoughtful and Hades would be like 'Hmmm... do I steal my brothers child? She's already a child of the Underworld...'
Guest: I hope it lives up to expectations.
To say that Percy was curious about Piper and Annabeth's birthday surprise was an understatement, to say the least. She was actually starting to get rather excited- something big was up she was sure of it, especially given the grin that Sadie had directed at her when she'd ducked out at around 6:00. She slipped up to her room, grabbing the pile of clothes and taking them with her. They'd been folded neatly and tied into a bundle with a ribbon, and she untied it once she was alone in her room.
She raised an eyebrow as she picked up the first item of clothing, a long sleeved black turtle-neck jumper- not a thick one but the fabric felt soft in her hands.
Underneath the jumper Percy found a set of black gloves, a supple fabric- not leather but it felt similar, and when she pulled them on they were snug against her skin. Hm. Odd. Percy took them off again, gaze shifting to- she raised an eyebrow. Because okay, this was starting to get weird, and Percy was getting even more curious.
A black silk mask that would cover her nose and mouth. What in Hades name could they have planned?
There was also a pair of black yoga pants- they looked comfortable and easy to move in, and Percy wondered just what she'd need them for. Annabeth and Piper must have something elaborate planned.
Well, there was only one way to find out. Percy pulled on the clothes, adding a pair of black slip ons that would be comfortable for whatever her best friends had planned- clearly something stealthy.
She didn't put the mask on yet, instead gripping it lightly as she looked at herself in the mirror, humming thoughtfully.
With all of the black her hair stood out even more. Depending on what they were doing that could be a problem so Percy quickly tugged a brush through her hair before pulling it back into a ponytail.
Once that was done Percy glanced at the clock, trying to push down the sudden rush of nervous excitement. 6:20. It was about time for Percy to head to the roof she decided, slipping out of her room and climbing the stairs up to the roof.
When she arrived, Annabeth was there with Piper already, and Sadie was there too. All three of the other girls were clad in similar clothes to Percy, and Sadie, who noticed Percy first grinned widely and gave a frantic wave. "Percy! About time."
"I'm here early." Percy laughed, a smile playing across her lips as she moved to join her sister and her best friends, "Why do we all look like we're about to go rob a bank."
"Not a bank." Piper was suddenly behind Percy, pulling a black woollen hat over her head, tucking her hair in beneath it.
"A museum." Annabeth added, a gleam in her eyes that made Percy's eyes narrow.
"Okay, okay-" she tried to push down the rush of excitement, "See, when you say that we're about to rob a museum it gets me excited and I don't want to be disappointed so-"
"Annabeth suggested it." Piper declared, draping an arm over Percy's shoulder. She came up with the idea."
"Well I might as well approve of it and help." Annabeth grinned, "I mean, the Parthenon statues don't really belong in the British Museum-"
"HOLY FUCK!" Percy was instantly practically bouncing on the balls of her feet as she launched herself forward, throwing her arms around Annabeth's shoulders even as Piper cackled with laughter, dragged along by Percy, a huge hug that included both of them, "You didn't, you haven't-"
"It's heist time." Piper declared, "Sadie is opening the portal for us and she'll open one when we need to make our great escape."
"You actually planned all this out." Percy breathed, "You- Annabeth, Piper have I ever told you both that you're genuinely amazing? Like, if there was a picture in the dictionary of the word perfect it'd be a picture of you two."
"You flatter us." Piper pressed her lips to Percy's cheek- which made warmth bubble up in the girls chest which she tried to push down. She could consider that later- or so she told herself. Just like she always did.
"Well you are amazing." she gave a cheeky grin, "Seriously, so I assume you have a plan for us?" that was directed at Annabeth, who gave a smug little smirk.
"Of course I do." Annabeth pointed at the backpack resting by Sadie's feet, "Sadie had one of the artsy kids make us some fakes to replace the real statues. And you're pretty good at shrinking spells right."
"That I am." Percy grinned- it was a good idea. No one would even know right away-until they did their routine checks and cleaning's. By which point the theives would be well away and they'd have no way of knowing when the sculptures were even taken.
"I know the guards timetables and routines." Annabeth added, looking down at her watch, "And we need to get moving. Put on your mask just in case we're spotted Percy, but if Sadie opens the portal now into the Egyptian room-"
"I'll be using the bust of Ramesses II, aka my ancestor-" Sadie's expression was smug as she said that, which made Percy snicker and Annabeth and Piper roll their eyes fondly. "As our portal, though really we're spoiled for choice there."
"I have the route of the guards memorised." Annabeth spoke up, "There will be one in room nine who might see us, which is why I will pit on my invisibility cap and head to room six and make some noise, to draw the guard away from the doors. You and Piper will go through, and Piper will split off and go to room 14, to distract the guard who will be in there-" As she spoke Annabeth pulled out her phone, holding up a map so that Percy could see the lay out, "Meanwhile you will keep going straight through to room 18, where our prize awaits. You'll have to work quickly once you're in, I'd say you'll have ten minutes to shrink the statues down and replace them with the fakes."
"Those will return to full size within the half an hour or so after you've taken them out of the bag." Sadie told Percy. "Shouldn't take too long. The bag will preserve the shrinking spells until then, and the spells you cast on the real deals."
"By that point you need to be back in room 4." Annabeth piped up. "I'll have led guard one on an adventure and I should be back there, as should Piper. Just in case you need to cast your usual spell so that we can talk mentally."
"Holy crap one of my besties is an evil genius." Percy didn't bother hiding the manic grin on her lips, "Have I ever told you that you're truly amazing? Like your genius knows no bounds- if you wanted to rob a bank-"
"I am using my powers for good, not for evil." Annabeth's tone was smug, and just slightly haughty as she said that, a faint gleam in those gray eyes.
"I'm not afraid to use mine for evil." Piper said brightly, "Though reclaiming stolen artefacts probably isn't actually evil huh?"
"What do we do once we have them?" Percy asked suddenly, "I want to return them to Greece, obviously but-"
"We'll wait a few months for safety sake, and once the times past, probably once they notice that the statues are missing we'll transport them to Greece and leave them there anonymously."
"Oh I love it." Percy rubbed her hands together, "There's going to be so many people wondering just what the fuck happened and it is going to be chaos-" her eyes were practically glowing with excitement which made Sadie laugh loudly.
"And luckily for us, that's just your department." she winked at Percy. "Just have fun okay? And whatever we do, do not tell mom what we've done today because she will do that whole groaning and looking up at the sky as if asking what she did to deserve so much trouble from her kids-"
"I mean, she did knowingly hook up with a Greek god, and then also knowingly marry a magician who caused so much trouble that he was exiled from the House of Life." Percy pointed out. "She really should have expected every single child she calls her own to be a trouble maker in one way or another."
"You are not wrong there." Sadie snickered, "And she's the woman who once nearly killed a man, she has no room to talk. Now, is it time Annabeth?"
"Yes." Annabeth gave a firm nod, "Summon a portal please Sadie."
And sure enough within moments Sadie was summoning a portal, and together the four girls stepped into the swirling vortex, Percy grabbing both Piper and Annabeth's hands as she did.
There was the usual drop, the rush and then they were through, Percy letting go of their hands automatically so that she could brush away the sand coating her body, and she could see the others doing the same.
"Right." Annabeth's voice was firm as she handed the backpack- which she'd snagged before they'd stepped through the portal- to Percy. "It's time Seaweed brain. Mission steal the Parthenon statues is go." she pulled her cap from her pocket, even as Percy slung the backpack over her shoulder and tugged her mask on so that it covered the lower half of her face.
"I'll be waiting." Sadie rocked back on her heels, "I wish you luck my esteemed fellow outlaws."
"Percy-" Annabeth held out her hand, as did Piper, "The communication spell."
And Percy pulled her wand from the Duat quickly, casting the spell, tracing the hieroglyph on the girls palms, muttering the spell under her breath as she did.
Once she was done and the glow of the magic had faded Annabeth was whisking out her hat, a serious look on her face as she gave a small nod, "I'll see you guys soon." and then she pulled her hat on and she disappeared from view.
Percy felt a hand on her shoulder, and she saw Piper's choppy hair shift slightly where it brushed her shoulder, as if someone was also clasping her shoulder.
"Good luck." She breathed the word before she felt Annabeth take off.
"Right." Piper shot Percy a grin, grabbing her hand, and then they both shot Sadie small nods before taking off themselves, padding down the hall as quietly as they could, careful and cautious as they slipped through one door into another exhibit, both of them sticking close to the wall and pressing against it in the dim light around them, careful not to knock any exhibits.
When they reached the door they pressed themselves against the wall next to it, hearing a clattering noise from down the hall where they both knew Annabeth had rushed off to- and a moment later there were footsteps from the opposite direction and Percy saw the shadow a guard sprinting down the hall from the other direction.
"So far so good." Piper whispered, and they darted around the door, sprinting across the room quickly, straight to the door on the opposite side, parting for a moment to swing around a display in the centre and meeting around the other side of it.
Once they slipped through that door Piper gripped Percy's hand, squeezing it tightly for just a moment before she took off to the left.
Percy's gaze followed her for a long moment before she surged forward, determined.
Straight ahead, her goal was straight ahead, and she could hear Piper's voice as she slipped into the next room, thick with the magic of her charmspeak.
And Percy nodded to herself, slowing her stride, taking a moment to savor it as she headed into the room that held the Parthenon statues.
And yeah, okay she could admit that this was definitely tied with Argos for the best birthday present ever.