Once upon a time, a single drop of sunlight fell from Olympus, said to be a gift from Apollo himself. From this small drop of sun, grew a magic, golden flower, with the ability to heal the sick and injured.
Only a boat ride away, a Kingdom called Corona grew, ruled by a beloved King and Queen, Queen Athena and King Frederick. The queen was expecting a child, but she got sick. Really sick. She was running out of time, so the people of the kingdom started to look for a miracle. Which came in the form of a magic golden flower.
However, instead of sharing Apollo's gift, an evil Enchantress, Hecate, hoarded its healing power and used it to keep herself young for centuries. Hiding it from everyone, knowing that if they took it, she would have to succumb to old age.
The people of both Corona searched and searched for this miracle, and were just starting to give up when something caught their eye. A golden glow coming from the inside of a bush. They all started to rush towards it, hoping beyond hope that this was the famous flower from the stories. It was. The golden flower was taken back to Corona, and its magic used to heal the Queen. Then a healthy baby girl, a princess, was born, with beautiful golden hair. Her name, Princess Annabeth. To celebrate her birth, the King and Queen launched a flying lantern into the sky, from the balcony of the castle. And for that one moment, everything was perfect. And then that moment ended.
That same night, the Enchantress broke into the castle, wanting to attempt to use her magic on the girl, to see if she possessed the healing power of the flower she had lost. She recited an incantation causing the girl's hair to glow, like sunlight breaking through the clouds. This was the confirmation she needed. The magic was in the hair. Satisfied, Hecate took out a pair of scissors to cut a off piece, so she could keep a part of the flowers magic with her. But once cut, the hair shrivelled up in her hand, losing its power almost immediately. She checked the Princess' hair, it looked relatively normal, except being slightly shorter from where it was cut. She realised that it was the Princess that possessed the magic.
Hecate resorted to her second plan. It was trickier, but it was her only option. She glanced at the King and Queen, both of whom were in a deep slumber after events of the past day. So took the opportunity to abduct the child, and just like that - the Princess was gone.
The kingdom searched and searched, but they could not find the princess. For deep within the forest, in a hidden tower, Hecate raised the child as her own. She had found her new magic flower, but this time she was determined to keep it hidden. Not to be found by the meddlesome people of Corona. She banned Annabeth from leaving, telling her that the outside world was a terrible and scary place. Annabeth, believing that Hecate was her mother, hung on to her every word, obediently staying in the tower.
But the walls of that tower still could not hide everything. Each year, on her birthday, the King and Queen released thousands of lanterns into the sky, in hope that one day, their lost princess would return. And each year, the Princess would sneak out of bed and look out of the tower's sole window. She was mesmerised by the beautiful lights, and each year found herself itching to escape her confinement. To find an adventure.
Annabeth was nearly eighteen. That made it eighteen years being trapped in this tower, and eighteen years of her only social interactions being with her mother. She managed to keep herself busy most of the time. She had become fascinated with the design of the tower, and decided to read up on architecture. It was amazing, and she found herself become more engrossed each day, her thirst for new knowledge becoming increasingly intense. Until eventually she had decided to design buildings herself.
She used the paint her mother got her, made from white shells, and drew them all over the walls. Her mother became exasperated, but it had stopped her continual nagging to have an adventure. She also found another hobby, when she discovered a bronze dagger hidden inside the chest of drawers in the living room. At first she had practised throwing the knife, and after getting pretty good (if she did say so herself), she had finally decided to try hand to hand combat too. She practised with a mannequin that had been left lying around, using it as a practise dummy. She loved every second. It was energetic, it was intense and it was completely new to her. Uncharted territory. Something she didn't find often, stuck in this place, Annabeth thought disdainfully.
She was jolted out of her stupor by the sound of her mothers voice.
"Annabeth, let down your hair,"
Annabeth froze at the sound. Today, she had decided, was the day she was finally going to do it. She was going to ask her. After all, she had been wondering whether she would finally be allowed to venture outside the tower this year for a really long time. She had been planning her speech all day yesterday.
"Annabeth, I'm not getting any younger down here." Hecate called again.
Elated at the prospect of an adventure, Annabeth went up to her window and started to hook her long hair up, to send it down to lift her mother up from the ground. The same as she did everyday. The tower didn't appear to have any stairs, which had always seemed like a bad architectural choice to her, but maybe the designer had a reason.
"I'm coming mother,"
Once her mother had been lifted through the window, she started to go over through the speech she had planned in her head. Was it persuasive enough? She thought so, but her mother was so over protective, it was hard to convince her to let her do anything at all. She tried to understand, she really did, her hair made her a target. People would use and manipulate her for the magic. But she could handle it. No matter what her mother said, she knew she could handle it. She may not have experience in the outside world, but she wasn't stupid.
Stop over-thinking this, Annabeth thought to herself, it's all you've ever wanted, and if you don't ask you'll never get what you want. She needed to see the floating lights, and they were only around once a year. Passing up this opportunity again was not an option.
"Mother, I was wondering if I could ask you something?" She asked, a little hesitant to begin with. "I was thinking that, well, tomorrow is my birthday, and-"
Her mother cut her off.
"Annabeth, dear, I'm feeling a little under the weather. Would you be able to help me out?"
Sighing, she got up and walked over to her mother, sitting down on the chair in front of her. She would just have to get this bit of her visit over, she should have waited anyway. This happens at least once a day when her mother visits. Once her mother had got comfortable on the sofa, she started a chant, one Annabeth knew by heart now. Each time was the same, her hair would shine like the embers of a fire, and then her mother would look miraculously young again. Once they were done, Annabeth started her confrontation from where she left off.
"As I was saying, my birthday is in a few days, and I was really hoping you would take me to see the floating lights," Her mother looked at her in confusion, with a raised eyebrow, asking her silently to explain herself. " They appear every year on my birthday, mother– only on my birthday. And I can't help but feel like they're meant for me. I need to see them, and not just from my window. In person. I have to know what they are."
Annabeth held her breathe. Her mother was looking at her with a blank expression that was hard to read. Annabeth hated this, she normally prided herself on being able to tell what her mother was thinking, and she really wanted to know how she felt about this idea. It was everything she could ever want. An adventure, all the training she did meant nothing if she couldn't use her skills in the real world. That's where you find out if you're really good or not.
But then her mothers expression turned to slightly angry, and Annabeth knew what was coming. She got ready to stand her ground, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth.
"You want to leave this tower? Don't you have everything you want right here? The outside world is a terrible and scary place,"
Annabeth sighed again, those were the words she'd been hearing since she could remember, "You're naive, in the outside world people will take advantage of that. They'll use you for your power, and take you for all you are worth, then they'll spit you out when you're no longer of use to them."
That was it, Annabeth thought indignantly, she was done with this unjust nonsense. The outside world could not possibly be this bad, so many people lived there, and her mother went there herself too.
"Mother, I'm almost 18, and I am most definitely not naive. I just want-"
"No,"
"But why?" Annabeth asked, she was getting seriously frustrated now.
"Soon perhaps, but you're not ready yet. I only ask of this one thing from you, no questions asked. It isn't safe. Stop being so stubborn," Her mother said, glancing at her expectantly.
Deflating, she decided that arguing with her mother probably wasn't the best approach. She would need a better way. So she nodded and smiled, saying that she would do whatever her mother asked.
"Good, I'll see you in a bit, my flower. I'm just going out to get a few things lunch." Her mother told her as she stepped back up onto the window ledge, motioning for Annabeth to let her down using her hair. Which Annabeth, in spite of her reluctance to let her mother leave without getting her dream, obeyed. After all, with her mother was gone, she could really get to work on a plan to leave this tower.
Percy was being chased by the palace guards. It was nerve-wracking and yet it was exhilarating too. Feeling the wind rush through his hair, refreshing him as it touched his face. He had always the forest. Normally he only ever looked at it from his hut, on the outskirts of Corona, choosing to stay safely in the town. Now he wondered why.
The trees grew to an enormous height and created a slightly ominous, but mostly mystical, canopy of foliage overhead. The forest floor was littered with colourful wildflowers, each one unique. His mum would know them all by name he was sure. She had always wanted a garden.
The thought of his mother spurred him on. He was doing this for her. Ever since his dad had died, they had been struggling for money. His mother had outright refused Percy's suggestion that he applied for more hours in the armoury, or that he got a better paid job in Enchancia, the closest kingdom to theirs. She would always say she wanted him close to her, and that there was no point having money if she never got to see him. It was little things like that which made him realise how much he loved her. She always put him first. But that's why he needed to do this. She would never let him if she knew, but he really wanted to help her out. She deserved it.
"Percy, have you got the crown?" Luke asked.
Luke and Ethan, his partners in crime, were running alongside of him. Luke had blue eyes and sandy blonde hair, with a scar running down his face. Every time he asked him about that his face got a really scary expression, meaning Percy tended to avoid the subject altogether. Ethan had glossy black hair and was a slim, wiry build. He had a black eye patch on his left eye, which Percy also never asked about.
It had been Luke's idea to steal the Princess's crown from the Palace. And Percy had always been the smallest, so it was much easier for him to get through the security. Luke and Ethan were both 21 after all, and he was only 18. Plus Percy was more desperate than them, and they knew it. They took advantage of it.
Luke had been Percy's friend since his dad had died, when he was 12. They had met in the market, when Luke had stepped in to stop Percy being arrested for trying to steal some food off a stall, out of sheer hunger. After that Luke had given Percy little jobs to do, like stealing from shops, claiming he made him do it because he was quick. But Percy knew it was so he wasn't to blame for the crime. Nevertheless, Luke always gave him a third of the money, so he never complained.
This job was bigger than the others. Stealing from the palace meant he could be guilty of treason, and stealing the lost princess's crown only made it worse. But he was even more frantic than before. His mother had just got ill, and the local healer, Will Solace, had said she needed immediate treatment. The only problem was, the medication was so expensive. Percy just couldn't afford it, especially now his mother couldn't work in the bakery as usual (due to her sickness).
Suddenly, there was a rush of wind near his ear, he turned to look at where it came from and saw an arrow, embedded in the tree trunk ahead of him. Uh oh, Percy thought, they must be gaining on us.
He put on another burst of speed to get round the corner, only to find his path blocked by a cliff. They would have to climb it.
"Give me a boost, and then I'll pull you up." He said to Luke and Ethan.
"Give us the crown first. Wouldn't want you running off with it now, would we?" Ethan replied.
Reluctantly, Percy handed it over. Under normal circumstances he would have argued, after all he had been planning to run off with it, but they didn't have to know that. He needed his mum to get better, and would do just about anything for that to happen. So he started to concoct another plan.
After several minutes of awkwardly climbing up the cliff, using Ethan and Luke as foot holds, he finally got to the top of the cliff.
"Now help us up, pretty boy," Luke snarled.
"Sorry, my hands are full." Percy held them up with the satchel, which contained the crown, to prove his point.
He didn't have time to feel satisfied, however, because a second later he felt the pounding of hooves along the ground. They were catching up to him again.
And so, with a swiftness he never knew he possessed, Percy turned around and ran into the trees once again. Not realising that the way he was going would lead him to his greatest adventure yet.