Vicious Femmes (a Percy Jackson AU)

The Plan

     I was lucky to find Reyna and Nico relatively easily. I saw Piper talking with Jason, one of the knavish knights that Nico had pointed out at our first meeting. Reyna was laughing as she watched Nico talking to one of the bawdy bards named Will. Will was a tall, handsome young man with blonde hair and clear blue eyes. He was slighter than Percy and Jason, but not nearly as skinny as Nico.
I waved at Piper and when she caught sight of my watery eyes that kept fixating on Percy, she unattached herself from Jason and came over to me. I let the tears fall down my face as she hugged me and I was vaguely aware of her leading me somewhere. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was in a modest room that appeared to be Piper's.
       I sat down on the floor and saw Nico and Reyna looking at me in concern.
      "I saw what Drew did," Reyna said. "I'm sorry."
       "Why did she do it?" I said, my heart twisting.
         "Because she's a cold-hearted snake," Reyna spat. "She revels in causing pain. When she found out I liked Percy, she snatched him right up."
       "I'm sorry — I didn't know," I said.
         "It's fine," Reyna said. "Percy didn't like me, anyways. Annabeth, do you want revenge?"
        "Revenge?" I said, thinking of the brawls that lads in the countryside got into to settle scores.
        "And a chance to get with Percy?" Reyna said.
     I nodded. Perhaps I was being too quick, but I had never felt so instantly attracted to someone. Maybe that was a bad thing. Perhaps it was lust that Gleeson Hedge had preached to us about and not love that motivated me. I shook the thought away and focused on the pain and anger smoldering in my breast.
      "Then your path forward is clear," Nico said. "You'll have to infiltrate Reyna's group fully and bring her dorm from within."
     "But how?" I asked.
       "With gossip," Piper said. "Drew gathers power from gossip. Use it against her."
       Reyna nodded and added, "Drew's power rests on three things: her brawny lad, her technically good complexion, and her army of strumpets," she said.
     I nodded.
      "To bring Drew down, we'll need to target all three of these aspects of her power," Reyna said. "We need to find a way to get her to break up with Percy so you have a chance with him. We'll have to find a way to ruin her complexion. That shouldn't be hard; she's obsessed with becoming paler. Finally, we'll need to turn the other Poupées against her."
      "Drew is only friends with them and you because she befriends those she deems threats," Piper explained. "She befriended Nancy because her father is so rich. Silena may be her sister, but if she was illegitimate like Lacey and me, Drew would ignore her. Drew is afraid Silena is prettier than her and I suspect she's jealous of your blonde hair and light eyes."
     "Alright," I said. "I'm in. Let's bring the Poupées down!"