Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Percy Jackson skidded down the sloped tiled roof of the royal castle, his leather boots thud thud thud thud thud ing as they slid across the uneven terrain. When he got closer to the edge he pushed off, landing in a crouch on the top of the tower that was next in his path. His partners for this mission coming right behind him. Luke Castellan, a big and bulky thug with a gnarly scar down the side of his face, and Ethan Nakamura, equally as thugly and ugly with a scuffed up eye patch and smaller facial scar. Colloquially known as the Stabbington Brothers because, well, they liked to stab things. Mostly people. Mostly in the back. Percy didn’t even think they were actually brothers. He didn’t care. After they pulled this heist off he’d never had to think about the Stabbingtons again. 

Percy’s lithe and nimble form made it easy for him to jump and scale the frescoes and rooftops that dotted the castle, although his meaty compatriots kept up surprisingly well. He hopped over the last gap and rolled to a stop on the domed roof of the throne room. He came up on his feet, bracing himself on the stone decoration as Luke pried up a section of tile on the ceiling.

He peered out over the beautiful landscape, his breath momentarily taken away. “Look at this view!” He whistled lowly and nodded, making a decision. “That’s it, boys. I’ve decided. I want a castle.”

Ethan spoke up from right behind him, “We do this job, you can buy your own castle. Now get over here and down this hole.” He yanked him back by his collar, spinning him around.

“What! Why do I have to do it?”

Luke and Ethan paused in the action of tying complicated knots into the length of rope they’d brought. Luke raised an eyebrow and looked Percy’s body up and down slowly then gestured towards his own. “You’re the smallest.”

He had to concede it was a fair point. He nodded and mutely held his arms out, his satchel clutched in one, as the brothers fitted the makeshift harness around him. He was about to trust his life to these criminals. The thought made him shudder but he suppressed it.

The brothers finished with the harness and Luke pointed to the hole in a silent demand. Percy sighed and sat down on the edge of it, his legs dangling. Inside he could see the whole throne room laid out, the King and Queen’s thrones up on the raised dais facing out over the standing area for the subjects. Purple banners sporting the sun sigil hung from the ceiling. A retinue of guards stood at the base of the steps to the dais, their poleaxes raised at attention, their postures ramrod straight. It was apparently a very high honor to get stuck babysitting the lost Prince’s crown.

And, ahhhh, there it was in all its glittering, expensive glory, resting innocently on a stuffed purple pillow supported by a marble pillar that stood in between and a few feet in front of the royal thrones. Light filtering in through the stained glass windows made the jewels on the crown sparkly and shine.

Percy rubbed his hands together, already thinking about all the things he could buy, and pushed off the ledge, falling a few inches before the rope pulled taut, halting his descent. The brothers lowered him down swiftly and efficiently, it took merely seconds before they stopped feeding more rope down.

Percy glided to a gentle stop right above the pedestal. Wasting no time, he scooped up the crown and secured it in his leather satchel.

One of the guards sneezed and rubbed his nose.

He shouldn’t, he really shouldn’t...but he just couldn’t help it.

“Ah, hay fever?” He asked.

The guard looked back at him and nodded sagely, “Yeah,” he agreed, before turning back to face the front.

He could practically hear the Stabbington brothers gritting their teeth in frustration and anger. He held back a snort and tugged on the room, giving them the cue to pull him up. He was scrambling up out of the hole when the allergy prone guard shouted, “Hey! Wait! Stop them!”

Percy, Luke, and Ethan flew over the rooftops as fast as their legs could carry them. They shimmied down a drainpipe and weaved through the crowded streets before escaping the capitol. They dashed across the bridge and were free at last.

Percy laughed, “I can’t wait to be in a castle of my own! Could you guys picture it? Oh all the things we’ve done and it’s not even nine in the morning!” He skipped in joy as they bolted into the forest.

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