The Queens of Gotham

The lightning theif

Third person:
"What?!" Percy asks in shock and a twelve year old Ashley moves out of the shadows.

"Congratulations Jackson, it appears I have let you aid me in the greatest theft of all time: the theft of Zeus's lightning bolt."

"But I didn't steal anything!" A frown had now found itself onto the newfound son of Poseidon.

"Neither did I Jackson. You're just lucky I don't take lightly to false accusations against me. I shall aid you on your quest to return the bolt. We shall need to consult the Oracle before we head off."

And so the two falsely accused demigods traveled up to the attic. Ashley's face was stoic, as per usual, but she felt nervous. To be falsely accused of such a crime by such a powerful god... that stuff doesn't just disappear off your track record. If she truly had stolen the bolt, this would be a different conversation entirely. A completely different reaction.

"Hello anyone up here?" Percy Jackson's voice seemed to echo through the dusty attic files with ancient artifacts.

"I guess not. Can we go now? This place smells like ...death." Ashley starts when a skeleton hand grabs her arm causing her to pause. Ah. That explains the smell. The body shifts from underneath the piles of stuff and sits up to reveal a dead girl with glassy white eyes and a floral dress.

"I am the Oracle of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty python. Approach and face your destiny." Percy slowly inches forwards, perplexed at how the ex assassin has remained so calm while literally holding hands with a zombie. Oh wait, her grandfather's the god of the dead, duh, Percy thought to himself.

"You shall go west and face the god that has turned, you shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned..."

"Oh, that's not so bad," Ashley mumbled to herself.

"You shall be betrayed by one who calls you friend..."

"Wait what?" Percy asks as he and Ashley make eye contact.

"And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end." And with that, she fell back over, evidently as dead as she was when the two sixth graders had arrived.
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"We need a distraction!" Annabeth whisper yells and Ashley sighs as she glances at her sword.

"On it." The shadow of the statue the preteen was hiding behind seemed to darken and swallow her whole as she teleports to the center of the clearing, her eyes now closed. "Hey Medusa, are you dumb or just ugly? I mean honestly... you could just use mist to hind your snakes instead of that godsawful scarf." Medusa let out a shriek followed by a shlock and a thump as her head fell to the floor , landing on Ashley's foot, much to her dismay.

"It's just a photo Annabeth, what's the harm?" Annabeth mocks and Percy scoffs.

"Forget it, you're impossible."

"You're insufferable."

"You two argue like a married couple. Now someone, please , get this head that could possibly petrify me off of my foot."

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Ashley set down a card as she glanced up at the Italian boy in front of her. For a ten year old, he sure was good at this game.

"Hey Neeks, do ya know what the date is?" There was something...something important she had to do. Why couldn't she remember? It had something to do with something stolen and stopping a war...but that's crazy. Ashley glanced at the beer before deciding she should stop drinking.