Prologue – Feel Free to Skip This Chapter

In fact, please do.

This is morbid.

-This Chapter Contains Both Annabeth and Percy's POV-

Just skip it.

©Rick Riordan
Copyright not intended

...5 Years Ago...

[Percy]

"Perseus Jackson, the son of Poseidon, was born to kill Athena and take over her land, Athens. He would someday overthrow that wretched woman, becoming famous throughout the land of Greece; he will be known for a very long time, and have unquestionable power…"

Blah, blah, blah.

I couldn't focus on what my mentor was teaching me; it wasn't in Greek - my mind was spinning as always - and it was talking about me. I turned the page of the old book, reading a different section that didn't include me, or said anything about me, or gave a slight hint of who I really was: Perseus Jackson.

Well, that's what everyone in Sparta told me ever since the day I was born. Honestly, how the heck was I, the prince of Sparta, going to defeat the goddess of war? Maybe I could, just for my family, I guess, but the rest of that answer is equivocal and extremely irrational - I'm just a kid. These prophecies are just getting weirder and weirder, but they were true…

No, literally; I was destined to conquer Athens and be the dreaded king of that foreign place—blah, blah, blah—and bring back the throne to my real father, Poseidon. The three fates, which looked like old hags and shared one eye, said so themselves. They also told me that I would someday loose a friend. That would never happen. But, that was only half of it, and the rest was unknown.

Next thing you know, the next great prophecy will be in the future about something stupid. If it'll includ Kronos, we're going to die.

The war between Athens and Sparta quickly grew more elaborate, but all I could do was sit there and watch my guards protect me as soldiers from Athens tried to murder in my sleep. It's intriguing when you find a lot of blood on your floor and a beheaded man by your bed, but at least you're not the one who killed them. Ever since Greece heard of the prophecy, all of the states and cities backed off and never allied with any of us, not wanting to make the situation even worse.

And well, I agreed to fight.

Giving Athens back to my father isn't the only why I decided to fight. The city itself is considered to be rich, powerful, big, beautiful, and the capital of Greece. The state flourished in certain aspects of its culture.

I wanted respect.

I wanted revenge.

I wanted pride.

They killed my mom when I was just a kid, and that's something I will never let go. I closed my sea-green eyes, letting memories flow through my brain, ignoring the mentor.

Her pale, delicate hands touched my face as she kissed my goodnight; it was soft, and she smelled like baked blue bread. Underneath this beautiful woman's long eyelashes, her sparkling blue eyes that looked like sapphires shimmered in the night, despite the darkness surrounding them. My tanned hands reached out to touch her brown hair, and she smiled at me. "Sleep well, Perseus. Mommy will always I love you."

That was the last memory I have of her.

I have to do what's best. And what's better than taking her back? A life for a life.

Usually, I'm not this smart, or determined.

Ever since I started training at a young age, my mother, Sally Jackson, switched me from village-to-villagebefore she died. A Minotaur killed her before I learned the real reason why I was born. She hid me just to keep me safe from everyone and everything that could harm. What hurt more was the day when they told me she wasn't my biological mother.

But to me, she would always be my real mother.

Sally was a peasant. Poseidon, the god of the sea, fell in love with her, and a baby was conceived (not me, by the way), but the witch who gave birth to me killed their baby before they could see its face. It's tragic, but she still treated me like her own flesh and blood. Did I just call my own mom a witch? Yes, I did. In fact, I almost called her something that rhymed with witch.

Kind of like Zeus and Hera, eh? I'm surprised that it wasn't Amphitrite who decided to murder their child as it began its new life here on Earth. I pity my brother; I've never met him, but if I did, I would've done what ever it took to protect him.

The king of Athens told us that her people did nothing, but their patron is not the god of truth. I'm not saying she's a liar or anything, but the grey-eyed goddess does have a reputation for hating my dad's guts with a burning passion. Sparta never really cared, until they realized that Athens wanted to do something about it... When I was born, the real trouble began.

My best friend and cousin—Grover and Nico—say I'm special and have big dreams, but they don't know the real me; I would save their butt if someone attacked us, which could happen at any time. I'm just a kid.

Why couldn't I go to Tarturus or Hades instead? Why couldn't I just...die? Why are people putting pressure on this 12-year-old?

I needed answers to my problems, but daydreaming like an idiot won't help me at all.

My mentor told me my session was done for the day, and I nodded. Thank Poseidon. I thought. Literature is a pain to study.

As I reached my room, I shut the door closed, and began to undress.

I stood in front of the mirror and combed my black hair, grinning. My deep, dark pools of sea-green eyes brought out that charming smile I was known for. My body was exaclearly defined as I examined a warriors outfit, one I have never seen before.

I'm not going to bore you with pathetic ideas of how I look in this thing. It's unnecessary.

I walked down the stairs quietly and swiftly. Today was the day that I would be free and start fighting in the war beside my brethren; it would also be the day when I would be able to avenge my real mother.

"Do you think we should tell Perseus?" I heard two voices talk silently in the hallway.

"No! The king would kill us if we did!" another one replied. Kill? Kill who? And why? Who were these guys?

"Oh, but we have too!" I hid behind one of the white pillars and scanned the two strangers talking. The taller boy had small horns sticking out of his head and acne all over his face. He was half-animal, half-human and had curly strands that fell over his eyes. The other person had black, shaggy hair and olive skin. He seemed dark and depressed and wore all black.

Grover and Nico.

They continued arguing, "Why did you loose it anyways! In fact, how did you loose that thing?" Nico yelled at the top of his lungs. And I thought I was stupid. I leaned in closer, absorbing all of the information like a sponge as they carried on.

"Me? I'm the one who lost it? You're the one who almost sold it for a stupid piece of gold!" Grover defended himself.

"But I didn't—did I?" Emo-boy bickered.

"You're an idiot!"

"Who you calling idiot, Goat Face?"

"Who you calling Goat Face, Death Breath?"

I stepped out, my foot stomping the marble floor real hard. "What are you two fighting about?" I asked.

The young satyr and son of Hades turned around in shock, "Hush... What? Where-"

I grew impatient, "Aren't you two going to answer my question?" I demanded.

"What?" They stared at me, realizing the 'gig' was up. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes, I want to know."

"You really, really want to know?"

"Yes!" I screamed, "Please tell me!"

They took a deep breath and spoke, "We lost riptide in the woods, Percy."

Scene Two ...2… (Tell me if this confuses you)

I searched in the woods for over an hour looking for that thing! I didn't care if some rare, stupid birds were singing a song and creating a sweet melody; I didn't let nature's beauty distract me from finding my cherished token; I didn't even bother stopping to say sorry to the nymphs! Wait 'till I get my hands on those clowns...

As I was grumbling to myself, I stepped on a twig and fell on a branch. On the muddy, dirty floor I saw what I was looking for: Riptide.

I grabbed the precious thing, and this stupid grin started to grow on my face. Then, I heard something in the same are where I was at.

I uncapped riptide as I found what I was looking for.

By the lake, a young girl about my age was playing with a small dagger while hiding behind a tree. She looked tough, athletic, and beautiful. Too bad I just saw her angelic face just now. She continued to undress herself, taking off her dirty clothes, revealing her bare body, her back against me, and headed towards the pool of water.

I was stunned at this sight. I didn't see much, but what was a peasant doing here? I've never seen her before. She jumped into the lake and started swimming in circles. I watched, aroused. There was a feeling of guilt swimming around my stomach; I was taking advantage of her.

Then, I made a huge mistake: I broke the branch.

All of a sudden, the blond girl with ringlets stopped, and hid, "Whose there?" She grabbed her knife and ran out of the water, tossing an oversized rag over her exposed chest. "Show yourself!"

Then, there was a tough tug on my shoulders, "Perseus!" I turned around and saw a broad man facing me.

It was the king. I gulped, "Father?" Even though I wasn't really related to him, he was still married to my biological mother, making me his son.

"We were waiting for you," he said in an angered tone. But his dark eyes showed a lot more, "Where have you been?"

I tried to speak. "Well, I was—"

He didn't let me finish. "Do you know how long the fates and guests have been waiting?" his voice was now harsh, "How could you be so dumb?"

"No, wait! You have to see this—"

"See what?" I pointed at the lake. The girl wasn't there. He snorted, obviously angry. "Percy, let's go."

I grumbled as my father, Gabe Ugliano, lectured me and almost slapped my face the way there.

Annabeth-

I heard the vibrant voices of peasants, servants and guards laughing as I watched them dance from a hill. My father, also the general of Athens, told me I couldn't go. He says it's because I'm a young woman who needs to clean the household and feed the animals.

I don't believe him.

That old man has been hiding secrets from me every since I was born. He came up with brutal excuses and told me life was dangerous ever since the war started. Danger is what this 12-year-old needed.

It wasn't until last year my older brother died in battle leaving me alone in this cold, cold world as father thought of ways to take Sparta down. It's his job to serve the king, and apparently, serving the king is more important than loving your daughter. I know he loves me, but I just don't...feel it.

The more I thought about it, the more I was sure that my life sucked. And besides the reasons listed above, why?

I was ugly.

I was considered a beast.

People threw rocks at my face.

I was under a curse.

You see, when I was born, the people of Sparta heard about my birth and a goddess (I'm not sure which one, though. It might have been Aphrodite. That stupid witch) cursed me because I was said to be a blooming flower. I didn't really care about looks or what I looked like until the day a mob came after me and threw rocks at my face saying "get lost". It wasn't until night my beauty was restored to my body and prevented a soldier from sacrificing me. And I mean sacrificing; he had me all tied up, and was about to cut me open. I thought the citizens of Athens wanted nothing more than peace and prosperity. Maybe they thought I was a descendant from Poseidon...

I should know better than to blame my father for what's happening to me now, but I just can't stop the irrational feelings taking over my heart. Why do I hate him so much?

It was 6:00 P.M, and the children were still playing and dancing. I envied them.

Sunset hit and an aurora of gold waves came out of nowhere and surrounded my body. It was time for another transformation; I sighed.

Strands of dark, silver hair turned into golden locks, falling over my stormy-grey eyes. My hideous scarred and hairy skin became perfectly tanned and petite; I was fat before, and had blemishes everywhere. My huge thighs and arms were shrinking. Lastly, all of my horns, fur, and hairy spots disappeared. It took more than just 5 seconds to complete this "transformation", but I really wished that it was my birthday again. Well, at least I didn't have a snout or anything related to a real monster's form. Hopefully, I'm not the next Medusa.

I stepped back into the small cottage after it was over and brushed my long, sun-kissed hair. The mirror, a priceless artifact to the young girl named Annabeth (me), reflected a young woman with stormy-grey eyes who was frowning. I've never noticed this until now, but why were my eyes a storm while my brother's pools were the shades of day? Who was my mother, and why did she leave me?

"Annabeth, are you there?" I turned around and saw Thalia Grace, my best friend and the king's daughter to this nation, and Greece itself; Zeus was his name. He is the ruler of all the gods and goddesses, therefore making Thalia bigger than royalty itself.

I smiled, "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I came to see how you are doing. Hopefully, you're not planning to run away from Athens again." Thalia said, eyeing me. I stood quietly as memories of my past came rushing to my brain.

When I was only seven years old, I was sick and tired of not knowing why I was being abused and teased so I ran away. It wasn't dark out and I was running decently fast (monster form, of course) so I bumped into another beast. He was shocked at my sight, and ran away from me. I started crying after that, I barely cried.

After they found me, father told me to never leave the cottage again. Thalia is the only person who understands me; she got turned into a tree! But lucky for her, Jason found the Golden Fleece and made her mortal again. She's lucky, I'm not.

I sighed, "No, I won't, promise."

She smiled, but then it disappeared, "I know you left the cottage yesterday, Annabeth."

My eyes widened, "What?" I looked up, "How did you-"

"A little bird told me."

I hate being in this situation!

Yesterday, it was my birthday. Every year I was granted one wish: being normal. So, during the whole entire day, I didn't look like a beast. I ran into the deepest part of the woods, and started to practice fighting with a sword. I guess I ran away from Athens too much yesterday; I heard a crack once I started taking a shower. I didn't realize I was around Sparta territory! Who knew I was faster than Antalanta.

I didn't meet Thalia's eyes until she sat down next to me. Her's was dark. "You know, I did not like being a tree. I felt like killing the birds every time they pooped on a branch,"

I sighed, "I know Thalia. Don't remind me."

She ignored that last sentence, "You know what? You have a cool curse. You can kick everyone's butt, and at the same time, manipulate them into thinking you're a weak, beautiful woman! In a few years -"

"Would you just get on with it?"

She stared at me, "Just be yourself, Kay? True beauty is what's inside!" she said. I already know this. I don't care about looks! I just want to be normal! I want to dance, sing, and play with the other 12 year olds! Well, at least she tried.

"Thanks," I said quietly, still fidgeting with the dagger.

She shrugs. "I didn't really help, did I?"

"No, not really. We both know I don't care about looks! I care about being normal!" I raised my voice. "I-I"

"No, it's okay; I understand." she picked up her bow and arrows, "I have to go now. Take care!"

I nodded, "You too."

Everything was quiet once she left. My life is no perfect fairytale, that's for sure. At least I don't need a goddamn prince to save my behind; I can do things independently, whether I'm normal or not.

"Annabeth!" I turned around, and saw a guard there. He was huffing a lot, sweat dripping down his skin.

I frowned, "Who are you? And how do you know my name?"

"I'm your father's assistant! Follow me, quick!" the huge, broad man lead me into a chariot and sped down the hill quickly. What's going on? I thought. Where is this thing taking me? We entered the village down to where the king and queen lived. The man pushed me inside, right in front of their feet.

"Is that you, Annabeth Chase?" the queen asked me.

"Y-yes," I answered.

She smiled, "Luke, come over here." A young, handsome boy came out of nowhere. He had sandy blonde hair, a tall body, and a mischievous smile. "Lead Annabeth to the infirmary. Her father wants to see her, for the last time."

Infirmary? What did she mean by last time? I didn't have the guts to ask any questions because he led me away.

...

"William?"

"Yes?"

"Show this young lady where the general is; I have to go."

"OK," he faced me, "this way, Annabeth Chase." I nodded, and did what I was told to do. I've seen him before. William is 13-years-old, only one year older than me. He has caramel hair, and stormy eyes. There's something about this boy that I can't lay my finger on...

From what I heard, William's the only child of Athena, and was destined to fight the prince of Sparta. I know they were pressuring him, a lot. I kind of felt sorry, yet, I also envied him. I wanted to go on a quest, but how could I do that?

We entered this room with nothing inside except a bed and a curtain, "Where's my father?" I asked. William showed me a dead body, "Father?" I ran to his side. William, who knew he had to leave soon, told me what happened.

The general is dead.

"And I have something else to tell you too..."

"What is it?" I asked.

"You were cursed for good and bad reasons. Come, let me explain everything to you..."