Mission Accepted: Percabeth AU (HoO)✔️

The Wall

The palace is eerily quiet. I run down the debutante hallway, knowing exactly where I'm going. I memorized the entire palace. Every staircase, hallway and secret door. My mother used to be a spy. When I younger, she would tell me advice. And I remember her telling me if I don't know where to start, then that's the perfect time to do so.

Therefore, I'm scouting every passageway and taking in every detail. Everything. I will need to befriend certain people to maybe figure out if there was any new hiring lately. Or maybe the rebel was hired into the palace a long time ago, and they've been planning this. Well, I mean of course they've been planning this, for years probably,I tell myself. I continue running, skipping down the stairs to my starting point. I don't care if this takes me all night, I am getting some kind of lead. It isn't like me to not have a lead by now. But here I am.

The massive doors to the palace stretch far up and I walk towards them in a brisk pace. The guards look at me in confusion but let me through. The King and Queen insisted I behold the Royal Crown on my arm.

The wind blows my wisps back and I breathe in the smell of nature. I haven't been in the front of the palace since I arrived. Blinking away my distraction, I scour the area. My first question is, how did they get in? Surely the rebel scum would have some as his guest, but you can't have that many guests at once. They would either be a known member of the court or had to break in. No signs of breaking in were alerted that night. Which means they found a way in somehow.

There are underground tunnels leading into the palace, but I don't understand. You need special permission for that. I chew my lip, which means they have a friend close to the Royal Family. Or they are a friend of the Royal Family. His name is Adam Barber, Percy had said. I have no real proof he is involved somehow, but his vibe is all wrong. Moving on, I tuck that note in for later thinking. Until a clear fifteen minutes pass, I am ready to head inside. Nothing was found there. Onto the next.

I don't take two steps into the palace until a shadow down the hallway catches my attention. It could be nothing. Or it could be something. Choosing to investigate, I break into a run, toward the corner to disappeared around. My breaths quicken and I slow down, pressing myself into the wall. Peering around the edge, I allow my eyes to adjust in the very dim hallway. It heads deeper into Royal's secret staircase. The figure begins climbing and I slip around the corner, slowly. Flexing my hands, I look outside and smile.

The window latch to the right side of the hallway does not budge. It looks into a small fountain. But on one of its corners, I can see the tower the figure is climbing. Windows form all around that tower. Smiling, I stand back, locking eyes on the annoying latch. It clicks, then creaks, then moves. Quickly moving forward, I push open the window and sneak into the tiny square of a fountain. Thankfully my boots are waterproof, along with the rest of my suit. I close the window.

Walking to the corner along the same wall, I feel the water swishing around my knees. Flexing my hands, I place them on the stone surface of the wall. Glancing upward, I take in the sheer height of the tower. Thank goodness Thalia isn't doing this, I think she'd faint.

My right foot comes up, searching for a preferable place to put it. I rely on tiny nooks in the walls, cracks and my sticky hands and boots. On the worst scenario, my abilities. Which would only control my body's fall in the air, lessening the blow.

Once I start, climbing becomes easier and easier. I work fast, hoping the figure is still climbing the endless stairs to whatever room the Royals mark off. The tower has a bridge that branches off to its business section, where they make choices on the country of ours. I remember that place having many entries and exits in different passages. It was already on my list to check out.