A Pirate's Life For Me

Slowly Getting Organized

Piper crept through the palace gardens. She wasn't worried about being seen, really, because she could always just charmspeak them onto her side, but most guards would probably raise the alarm first and she wasn't in the mood to deal with that.

It had been a while, but she remembered the grounds as well as the day she'd left. Sneaking between two ancient fig trees, she spotted one of the doors that servants used to get in and out of the kitchen from the garden.

Piper didn't draw her knife as she inched the door open quietly. The hallway on the other side was always pitch black at night, so she wasn't worried about being spotted, and she could make her way quick enough that it shouldn't be a problem.

She slipped into the hallway and tugged the door closed behind her, then darted down the hallway and crept into the dimly lit staircase that led up into the castle.

If her suspicions were correct, the crew would be in the West Wing. She'd gone to the West side of the castle before climbing in, so hopefully she was right and didn't have to go racing through the castle trying to find the crew before someone else found her.

As she stepped out into a main hall, since none of the rooms in the West Wing had servant entrances, she heard a huge crash. Piper froze and skittered back a pace, trying to figure out what had just happened. She listened hard, barely even breathing.

Two voices rang down the hallway, and Piper sighed in relief. Thalia and Reyna. She broke into a full run, skidding around the corner.

Reyna whirled around to face her, her hands automatically coming up in a defensive position. Piper skidded to a stop and held a hand up, tugging the part of the scarf down from her face.

"It's just me!"

"Piper?"

She grinned. "Thought you could use some help."

Reyna nodded, pulling her hair back. "We were found out. Or the Queen anticipated us. Or something."

One of the doors started on fire, and Piper jumped. Reyna chuckled.

"We weren't thinking too clearly. Most of the crew should be able to get out of their own rooms without a problem."

Piper drew her dagger. "I'll get to work. The faster the better."

Reyna nodded, then went down to the door at the end of the hall. She was sure their weapons were in that room. 

"Ow! Oh hey Piper!"

Piper looked up, grinning at Leo as she unlocked a door from the outside. "I always pegged you as a damsel in distress, y'know."

"You're rude." Leo pointed at her. "You are rude."

Piper shrugged and went to the next door.

"Valdez, get over here and help me." Reyna ordered, fiddling with the lock on the door to the weapons room.

Leo darted over and began to dig in his pockets. He'd bought his pants from a little stall on the side of a market, and they were magnificent. Lots of pockets, and enchanted so exactly what he needed showed up at exactly the right time.

He ended up with a couple small metal rods and nodded, rolling them between his fingertips. "These will work."

"You'd better hope they do." Reyna grumbled, stepping aside to let him work. "Why couldn't you do that with the lock on your door?"

"Those locks are different. Locks like this that are separate from the door have little tumblers inside that I can trip, a lock like that is a rod that moves into a position that keeps the door from opening. Completely different, and I'm not great at undoing them without force if I'm honest."

Reyna managed a snort. "Have you ever been honest?"

He paused, acting like he was thinking about it. "Twice. Approximately."

She shook her head, leaning on the wall and watching him do his thing. 

Leo leaned in, listening to the little clicks the lock was making as he wiggled the first metal rod. Once he heard what he was waiting for, he pushed up and used the second one to slide under it and move the next tumbler up.

It took a few moments, but he got that too, then both rods were turning and the lock opened with a satisfying click.

"You're not allowed to use that on the ship." Reyna told him as she pulled the door open, revealing their weapons stacked inside. "Ever."