Disclaimer: um.... yeah I've done this a lot, but here you go: I disclaim the fact that this is mine, for it isn't, and y'all probably know that by now.
Piper's POV:
Piper didn't know her. No, not really. But she never thought that it would be her. The pink haired girl who was a part of the Goode Times had seemed nondescript, just a normal high schooler, with a normal life.
But maybe that had been all part of the act. Maybe the wolves were good at blending in, and that was why they'd been recruited.
If she'd seen the pink haired girl, or Jason, for that matter, on the street, (and technically she had), she wouldn't have given them a second glance.
But now she did.
"Lavinia?" Piper said.
Lavinia's face flickered with emotions, one that looked like guilt.. but before it could fully manifest, her face was wiped clean of emotion again.
"Do you know Lavinia, dear?" her mom said, tossing her blond hair.
"Um, a little bit," Piper said. She was disturbed by how relaxed her mom seemed to be.
Boom! Piper and, well, every sane person in the room, which apparently didn't include her mom, jumped away, as Lavinia threw down what looked like a balloon, but what was really a powder bomb.
Tan powder filled the air once more, and confusion was imminent. Piper closed her eyes tightly, so she didn't irritate her eyes, then looked out in a tiny glimpse under her eyes, seeing only a small gold flash.
When the color dissipated, the silver walls, Piper's teal dress, Jason's pink ribbons, and, well, everything, was covered in a fine film of tan powder.
But what was most startling was the cameras on the floor, severed from the silver walls.
Lavinia shook her hair, sending the tan powder off her pink locks of hair. "Ah, there we go. They'll be confused though, so you guys have your disguises, right? I'll have to have Leo and Jason as my prisoners, but the rest of you, should try to blend in, all right?"
Piper was extremely confused. So..... wait. Lavinia was on their side.
"You're on our side?" Leo said, voicing the question they'd all been thinking.
"Of course she is," Aphrodite said, tossing her blond hair.
"We've been in this gang, together, for almost... five years now, I think," Piper's brother- no, she couldn't handle that right now, Michael said.
It wasn't that he clearly was helping them and had probably been through tough times... it was just that it felt too fresh, too weird, frankly. Like, who was the dad? Not that she was thinking about that. But they did look about the same age... how had her mom had two kids around the same time, was all Piper wanted to know. Or wait, no, no, she didn't. She didn't want to know, and she didn't need to know.
Jason spit out his pink ribbon gag. "Ugh, Lavinia, you couldn't have taken that off before?"
Lavinia shrugged. "It'll go back on when we go to the gala, you know."
Jason rolled his eyes, and Piper felt her knees go weak. Piper wasn't sure if it was fear or just sheer happiness, but she suddenly felt like lying down. Even though it'd only been a few hours, presumably, that they'd been separated, Piper still felt like it'd been years.(lol, in real time it's been like a couple months....)
"Anyway, how come I remember Lavinia, but not you?" Jason fixed his blue eyes on Michael.
Had Jason recovered more about his past? Like about his time with the Wolves, specifically?
Michael looked bored. "The Mist," was all he said.
"Back to business," Lavinia said, chewing loudly on a piece of gum. "First off, outfit changes for you two."
She pointed to Piper's dad and Jane. Piper could see why. Jane wore a cream-colored jacket, and her dad still wore a buttoned down shirt and slacks, both smudged with dirt. Not exactly gala material.
Now it made sense why Piper was wearing the dress. At least her mom wasn't totally crazy.
Lavinia turned to Aphrodite. "Do you have any spare clothes?"
Aphrodite looked less than thrilled about the prospect of giving Jane any of her precious outfits... but she said, "Sure, um, maybe, I guess."
A few minutes later, Jane was outfitted in a pale green dress that suited her hazel eyes, and Piper's dad..... well, at least his clothes were clean.
"Where's my flamethrower?" Leo said.
"Where's my knife?" Piper demanded. Funnily enough, her hand felt empty without Katropis.
Lavinia rummaged around in her bag, then threw two items. Piper's training kicked in, and she grabbed the most dangerous one, her knife. Leo's flamethrower clattered to the ground.
"Darn it," Leo said, "you couldn't have grabbed it, too?"
Piper rolled her eyes and kicked it a little bit closer. "There. Better?"
"So much better," Leo said, dramatically striking a pose.
Piper laughed and sheathed her knife, stashing it in her dress.
"Okay, ready now?" Lavinia said.
"Yep."
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Jason's POV:
Jason was annoyed. Pink ribbons? Like, um, no.
Especially the pink gag. It was embarrassing enough to be like this in front of his friends, he didn't need the added humiliation of not being able to speak.
But then, was his aversion to pink because of toxic masculinity? Was it why he hated pink? Jason suddenly found himself questioning his aversion to pink. He could totally rock pink, for sure.
"Okay, when you get in there, remember that most of the people there are innocent," Lavinia said, popping another wad of gum in her mouth and pulling her hood down. Her manubalista was loaded and ready, tucked into her belt holster, but hidden by her coat.
"Which ones are Wolves?" Piper said. She held hands with her father and Aphrodite. Jane followed a few steps behind.
"The ones with black outfits like ours," Michael said. His muscular frame was hidden behind the dumpy black tunic he wore.
"You should avoid them," Lavinia continued. "Mingle with the guests until I give you the signal. From then, we can sneak out the back door and get away."
"Get away to where?" Leo said.
Jason was glad he said it, as he'd been thinking the same question. He still couldn't remember too much about the building.
"It's a park," Lavinia said. "There's a car waiting for you there."
Jason started to feel his worry ebbing away. They could get away. They could get away.
"But what about Hera?" Piper said, and Jason remembered his lovely stepmother.
He immediately felt guilty for not remembering her. Was she here? Could they rescue her? Jason wasn't sure.
Lavinia shook her head. "You'll have to come back for her. There's no way to get her back now."
Piper opened her mouth, ready to argue, but Lavinia was already pushing Jason's cart through the halls again, and Piper had to catch up.
Once they got to the ballroom though, Piper tried to appeal to Lavinia again.
"We can't just leave her there, Lavinia!" Piper said.
"Yes we can, and we will," Lavinia said. She blew a bubble.
Piper looked frustrated, her hands clenched in fist and her dark eyes fierce. "Can't we even try?"
Lavinia sighed. "Look, as much as I'd love to free her, she is under way too much security for us to get her. There's no way to get her out."
Piper still looked like she wanted to argue, but Aphrodite put a gentle hand on her arm.
"Sweetie, we can always come back.. we need to get out of here now," Aphrodite said.
Jason could tell that Piper was conflicted. Her eyes flicked from Lavinia to her mom. Eventually, she stiffly nodded, and they were off, yet again.
Jason felt kinda dizzy in the cart. And the swaying of the cart certainly didn't help with his nausea. And to top it all off, the mingle song was playing in his head, inspired by Lavinia's use of the word
Mingle, mingle, mingle!
Mingle, mingle, mingle!
Was that a trumpet in the background? Trying to shake the song from his head, Jason tried to focus. Focus, focus, focus. Focus, focus, focus. Mingle, mingle- no, he had to stop hearing that song!
Jason took a deep breath as the light broadened into a door, a peek into a golden-lit ballroom. He saw a glimpse of colorful fashion and people, before Lavinia tugged the cart back, and with it, Jason.
"Okay, Jason will come with me, and the rest of you mingle. Okay, ready?" Lavinia said.
They all nodded in an eerily synced way.
Jason felt super pink and weird as Lavinia pulled him through another hallway to a balcony. She hid him behind a curtain.
Lavinia crouched down. "Okay, this is my guard post. You can see the ballroom from here, and once I give the signal, we'll exit through the backdoor."
She pointed to a small wooden door off to the side, and Jason did his best to nod.
With that, their plan was in motion. For a while, Jason was just sitting there, his limbs growing numb, on the cold floor of the cart, amusing himself by watching for his friends.
Luckily, they seemed to mix seamlessly with the wealthy crowd, their fancy attire blending into the rainbow of color.
Well- mostly. Jason caught Leo screwing something with his screwdriver, was that a table?
Feeling confused(and also a little worried), Jason resorted to just staring blankly at one of the walls of the red cart, too scared to look up.
Soon enough, Lavinia gave him a look and moved her hand in a way that looked natural, but seemed slightly off.
Jason immediately ducked down and made his eyes semi-closed, just enough to see everyone moving towards them. Leo was on the stairs, pulling Piper's parents along with him, Jane was with Michael, and Piper..... was looking angry. Her eyes were wide with fury, and Jason could see her mouth hanging open with shock.
At first he wondered why she looked that way, but then he saw it. In fact, then, everyone saw it.
Dark brown messy braid, cold eyes, and a white shirt and dark blue pants. All wrapped up into the one person Jason figured he wouldn't see. A golden cage surrounded her, bars of what looked like solid gold shielding her from view.
But not their view.
And so, Jason locked eyes with his stepmother, Hera.
So.... it's been a while. Sorry about that. I'm going to keep this short because I'm about to come out to my mom (fingers crossed!!), but I hope that I can get onto a more steady schedule soon. There's only going to be a few more chapters in this, and then sequel stuff, maybe.
See you next time!