Well, hello there. This idea isn't the most original, actually, this started being a project. But I enjoyed writing it, and I thought that at least one of you would like it, so I posted it. Anyways, this is a one-shot, and probably won't turn into anything else. It's too early in the morning for me to ramble, so, read on!

Routines. The Prince of Olympia not only knew routines, he lived them. Every day, it was the same routines, repeatedly. His day always started the same: a butler would go to his luxury room to wake him up; he would eat a delicious salad in bed; then he would carry on his duty as a responsible prince. Visit the poor, prepare speeches for the public, but nothing meaningful. Frankly, he was getting quite tired of the same; he wanted something different, something new.

His name was Percy Jackson. Prince Percy inherited his father's jet-black hair and sea-green eyes. He had a strong jaw and a long nose attacked by dark freckles. Despite his copied physical appearance, he always thought that he had stolen his mother's personality. Yes, stolen. Percy's mother died giving birth to him, which made him regret and despise his own dull existence even more. Despite hating his own home life, Percy did appreciate the palace. It had dozens of rooms, each with a different personality. The ballroom was huge, and Percy loved to dance with the maids for a laugh. His favorite part of the palace was the garden. The garden was gigantic, lovely, and was always glittering with thousands of different colors. He would stay in the garden for hours, reading in peace, not having to worry about a silly, meaningless speech his stern father wanted him to write. He did have one friend in the palace, Mario, the purple-eyed cook. He was funny, and wasn't much older than Percy, and they became friends. But even that wasn't enough for him to live a happy life in the cursed palace.

The thing about Percy was that he was always running. He never felt secure, so he always ran, he always tried to escape. It was one of the characteristics that defined him, the desire to run.

Maybe it was his tendency to run that gave him the idea. Maybe it was the peace of the garden. Maybe it was the fact that the servants lived a happier life than him. Or maybe it was the fifth time that his father hit him. He didn't know what caused it but suddenly knew that he had to escape. He knew he wouldn't be happy in the palace. No one could be. It was a beautiful palace, but if you looked deep enough you could see the sorrow, the abuse, the neglect, beneath the glittering gold exterior. Perfect was the cover that Percy and all the princes and kings before him carried, and he was tired of it. He was tired of hiding beneath perfection as if there was actual hope for a better world. Because there wasn't; Percy knew that better than anyone.

"Son." Percy grimaced as he heard his father's voice outside his room. He quickly kicked the clothes he was packing under his desk, along with the black bag he was hiding his things in.

"Come in, father!" shouted Percy. His father stepped into his room and looked around.

"You are a prince, Perseus. You can't have this," his father's judging eyes scanned the room in front of him, "this mess."

"I'm sorry, father," Percy muttered, unable to look at his father in the eyes, "I've been too busy writing the, ahem, um, the speech, for, you know, um- the speech."

His father's eyes widened, and Percy had to hold in a breath of relief. "You're writing a speech without me reminding you? I'm so proud of you, son! You're already so grown up! Finally accepting your duties as a prince."

Percy had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, instead, he said, "Okay, father. I'm working. You need to leave."

But his father did something that completely surprised Percy. He got on one knee, took Percy's hand, kissed it, and said, "You are finally a man, son.

His father then stood up again, and wrapped his son in an emotional hug. It made Percy feel guilty, but only for a short moment. He would not allow himself to feel guilty for leaving a place where he was not loved. Once his father left his room, Percy immediately continued packing. He would not spend one more minute living in that place.

Once the bus started moving, Percy started having doubts about his foolproof plan. He had never been outside of the palace alone, and he didn't know how to act like an ordinary person. Even so, no one paid him any attention; he was wearing old, shabby clothes that made him look like an unimportant peasant. But there was one girl who looked at him with deadly suspicion. She was pretty, with long, curly, blonde hair pulled up in a tight ponytail. She had grey eyes that resembled a raging storm, but her eyes were glaring at him, and he did not like it.

Once the bus stopped, everyone started emptying it. The girl had disappeared, thank God, and Percy finally felt confident that his plan would work. He started walking down the street, towards the dark night, where he would begin a new life. Soon enough, he was engulfed by darkness and couldn't see an inch in front of him. Percy regretted not bringing a flashlight, but he would not turn back. He kept walking, carelessly, too used to being protected. It was windy, and he was chilling to the bone, shivering. Suddenly, he heard a crunch, and swiftly, someone was on him and he was on the floor. Percy felt a cool, sharp piece of metal pressed against his neck. A knife.

Percy slowly opened his eyes, and they contacted bright green ones. It was the girl from the bus. He couldn't see her clearly, it was too dark, but he knew it was her. Percy took a deep breath, trying to calm himself before he asked, "Who are you?"

The girl didn't respond, just pressed the knife harder against his neck. Again, Percy asked, "Who are you?"

Finally, the girl cracked. "I should be asking that question. Who are you? Did my father send you? Because if he did, tell him I want nothing to do with him."

Percy's eyes widened slightly and he slowly tried to formulate a plan. He had to get out of there. Living in the palace was a better alternative to being murdered. He decided to keep talking to keep the girl distracted. "No, I'm not from your father. Look, I didn't do anything wrong for you to kill me, so please, let me go."

The girl's eyes squinted as if trying to detect if Percy was lying. Finally, she sighed and put the knife away. "Who are you? I know everyone around here, and I don't know you."

"I'm new here," he lied smoothly, "I just moved in."

"No, you didn't." She was looking at him in the eyes, stealing the truth out of him, somehow. She continued, "I know every single person here, I know no house has been for sale in the area, not for years. Now, don't lie to me, and tell me what you are doing here."

Percy was almost shaking with nerves, the girl was terrifying, but at least she didn't have the knife out. Percy quickly blurted, "I'm exploring."

The girl laughed, it was sarcastic, as if she couldn't believe how foolish he sounded. "I'm exploring," she mocked, laughing as if she found it hilarious. "There's no exploring around here, everyone knows that. You're lucky it was me who found you. Had it been anyone else, you'd be dead. Now, who are you running from?"

Percy wanted to scream, this was not going the way he thought escaping would be like. Instead of screaming, he muttered, "I'm not escaping from anyone."

The girl shook her head, smiling sadly, before she said, "Trust me, kid. Anyone who's here is running from something. I ran too, don't worry."

Percy felt a sharp stab of sympathy for the poor girl. She couldn't have been older than him, eighteen or nineteen maybe, yet her posture showed more sorrow than he could ever feel. For the first time, he noticed the clothes the girl was using. She was wearing the same shabby clothes he was using as a disguise, except hers were in worse condition, and looked too worn out. She had old sneakers that seemed to be in good condition, but he had the suspicion that those were stolen. Percy sighed, before giving up and telling her, "I'm running from my dad."

The girl winced slightly, before she whispered, "Well, at least we have one thing in common."

Carlo opened his mouth in surprise, but closed it quickly before replying, "You too?"

She nodded, and added, "My father was horrible to us and my mother. He used to hit her, but she did nothing about it. It was as if she didn't care. But the second she found out what he was doing to me and my sister, we were gone. She brought us here. And we've been here ever since." She paused before she brought out her hand for him to shake it. When Percy shook it, she continued, "I'm Annabeth."

"I'm Percy," he said, carefully, not really trusting her. But Annabeth seemed to read him perfectly.

"Come on," she declared, "I'm taking you home. You obviously have no place to stay." Annabeth started walking towards the light but turned around when Percy didn't follow her. She stopped and signaled for him to go on. He suddenly felt a raging pain in his stomach, hunger, and he decided to go after her. Maybe his plan wasn't going the way he wanted it to go, but at least it was working slightly.

"Mom!" Annabeth shouted, opening the door of her small house, "I'm here! And I bought a friend."

"A friend?" A small woman with greying hair had appeared out of nowhere. She had a kind smile on her face but looked nothing like Annabeth, except for her grey eyes. She had to be in her early fifties or late forties. "Now, I barely see any of those, so you must be special. I'm Annabeth's mother. I know, I know, you thought I was her sister. But I'm not. Call me Athena."

Percy couldn't help but smile. Athena had black hair with long, grey streaks. Her forehead was creased, but she had a nice smile that could make anyone feel as if they were the light of the room. Maybe there was hope left for the world. He could see Annabeth rolling her eyes, but he could tell she appreciated her mother.

The house was small and yellow. Very yellow. It was messy too, clothes were thrown around everywhere, on the sofa, on the small TV. There were pictures hanging everywhere. Percy took a closer look at one and saw two little girls in pigtails and a younger looking Athena. He assumed the two were Annabeth and the sister she had mentioned before. Annabeth had been laughing earlier but frowned as soon as she caught him analyzing the picture. She gently took the framed picture from his hands and hung it again on the wall, a puzzled look on her face.

"Who…" Percy was almost afraid to ask, but he continued, "Who is that other girl?"

"That's my sister," she said shortly, "don't worry about her."

"Did… did something happen to her?"

Annabeth suddenly snapped, "How about you stop nosing around in other people's business? My sister has nothing to do with you, so stay out of it."

"I'm sorry, in the palace- I mean, in my house, people know me for nosing around," said Percy, flinching at his slip-up. Thankfully, Annabeth was too angry to notice.

"Yeah, okay. Just stay out of it. It's for your own good, trust me," she murmured, unable to look at him in the eyes. "Look," Annabeth continued, "I'm here to help you out while you're running. You're not the first runner we've helped before, so don't think you're special" Annabeth pointed towards a room at the end of the hall, and said, "That's where you're sleeping. My room is the one next to it, and you can enter only if there's a grave emergency. If not, I swear you will regret it." Percy laughed, but Annabeth seemed completely and utterly serious. She frowned at him, analyzing him closely. Finally, she mumbled, "I swear you look familiar, I just don't know from where."

Percy laughed anxiously, before nervously responding, "You know, I just have one of those faces. So familiar."

Annabeth nodded slowly, before saying, "Yeah, that must be it." Then she went into her room and closed the door without saying goodnight.

Unfortunately, Percy's stomach was still growling hungrily, so he went back to the kitchen to hunt for food. He saw Athena with a plate of pasta on her hands, and she cried out, "Oh! I thought you would be hungry, so I prepared some food for you. Here you go." She handed him the plate of food and sat down on one the chairs. She kept rambling on as he ate, and he wasn't paying any attention to what she was saying until he heard her say, "…I know Aurelia can be difficult, I mean she is her father's daughter. But after what happened to Aurelia, she's just… different. I don't know-"

"What happened to Aurelia?" Carlo interrupted, feeling a little guilty. Athena looked at him in surprise.

"It was horrible," Athena said, her eyes stared at the ground with grief. "It's still hard to talk about, but-"

"You don't have to tell me," Percy interrupted, filled with guilt.

Athena shook her head, but continued, "No, you should know. After all, you're staying here. Well, my daughter, Aurelia, was found murdered not long after we moved here. She was just fifteen. Annabeth and her were as close as as magnet and iron. Annabeth still blames herself, I guess we all feel guilty for things that are not our fault."

"I'm sorry," he said, feeling shame for bringing up the topic.

Again, Athena shook her head, "Thank you, but talking about it helps me move on. It's been five years; I have to move on." She said the last thing in a whisper, not intending Percy to hear it, so he acted acted as if he didn't.

"You must be her age. Eighteen, right?" Athena said, trying to change the topic.

"Nineteen," Percy muttered, and he ate the rest of his meal in silence, but eventually Athena left to go to sleep. It was late, and the older woman didn't have the energy anymore to stay up at night. After finishing his delicious meal, Percy decided to go to sleep. Almost getting murdered by a stranger had drained all his energy, and the second he laid on the sweet, comfortable bed, dreams stole his consciousness.

"…up! Wake up, I need to go to work, and you're coming with me."

"No…," said Percy, groggily, "I don't wanna."

"Ah, does the little prince not wanna go to work? How am I surprised?" Annabeth mocked. Immediately, Percy sat up straight, almost knocking his forehead with Annabeth's.

"H-how did you know?" Percy said, stuttering. Annabeth just laughed.

"You're such a horrible liar, and your face is plastered in every magazine. Prince Percy Jackson, do you think I live under a rock? Oh, and…" Aurelia handed him a magazine titled, Prince Percy Jackson, Missing?

"Oh no," winced Percy.

"Oh yes," Annabeth said with a bright smile, "Now, off to work, pretty boy. We have a long day ahead of us."

When Annabeth said a long day, she meant a long day. Percy didn't understand how working behind a coffee table could be so much work, but it was. Maybe it was because of the millions of customers wanting a coffee, but it certainly wasn't as easy as he thought it would be.

"Now see, you're getting the hang of it!" said Annabeth the first time Percy served a customer without her help. He was embarrassed to admit he was proud of himself, but he was. Annabeth was laughing merrily, and Carlo was too. The coffee shop smelled, as expected, like coffee, but it had a sweet atmosphere, one filled with laughter and good memories. But then, Annabeth's forehead creased and she opened her mouth to say something, but a gunshot cut her off.

Suddenly, everyone was screaming, and tables were knocked over as everyone threw themselves on the ground. Percy and Annabeth, along with another worker, were hiding behind the counter. He saw two men completely dressed in black. Black jeans, black hoodies, black masks. The other worker, a girl named Amelia, was crying silently. The coffee shop was completely silent.

"Well, hello there," a deep voice said, it was one of the men. He looked around, laughing loudly at the people cowering behind coffee tables. Percy felt a sharp stab of anger but hid silently. He looked at Annabeth, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were shut tightly.

"We're looking for a girl," the man continued, "If you give her to us, we'll leave and no one will be hurt. If not…" The man pulled out his gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet seemed to be screaming as it landed right next to an old man. The old man had his hand clutched over his heart, doubling over in pain.

"Her name… is Annabeth Chase. Annabeth Chase," the cloaked man said sweetly, "come here with us. You don't want anyone hurt, do you?"

Annabeth's eyes were wide, and Percy looked at her in panic. She looked ready to stand up and herself over, but he grabbed her arm and held her down. He felt terror running through his veins. Fear tugging at him and giving him goosebumps.

"Percy, you heard the man, let me go," she whispered angrily.

"And you believe him? Don't do this, it's a useless sacrifice. Don't-"

"What are you waiting for, Annabeth? Come here, and no one will be hurt," the second man said, almost mocking her. Percy saw him grab a little girl who was sobbing and pressed the gun against her forehead. "It's your choice."

Before Percy could stop her, Annabeth shot up and practically sprinted towards the man. "I am Annabeth Chase," she said, "Take me and leave these people alone."

"Sure thing, kiddo," the second man mocked, but then he pulled out his gun and pulled the trigger. Carlo heard a scream and a cry of pain. A woman was on the floor, surrounded by blood. Annabeth cried out and tried to run towards the woman, but the two men were holding her.

"You're not going anywhere," the first man laughed.

"No, you're not going anywhere. Drop your weapon and put your hands up where I can see them." The two men froze and let go of Annabeth, who proceeded to sprint to the woman, where a small crowd was already forming. Behind the two men, there were three police officers pointing guns at their chests.

The first man checked his watch and sighed, before dropping his gun on the floor with an echoing clunk and raising his hands up slowly towards the ceiling. The second man copied his actions, saying, "fine, you've got us. Woohoo, let's go now, shall we?"

The police officers shared a confused look, but handcuffed the men and took them away. Percy went towards Annabeth, who had tears running down her cheeks. "She's dead," Annabeth whimpered, "she's dead and I wasn't able to stop it."

Percy was trying to comfort her, but then, on the border of his vision, the old man caught his attention. He was breathing loudly and unevenly, and the Percy recalled a horrifying, distant memory. He knew what was wrong with the old man.

"Help! Help," Percy shouted, but no one was looking in his direction. "The man is having a heart attack, help!" Again, no one paid any attention to him, they were too busy looking at the dead woman, and the cops had taken Annabeth away. Percy gave up, and grabbed the man, pulling him into his arms, and running towards the paramedics.

"He's having a heart attack," Percy tried to explain to the paramedic, the old man was hanging limp in his arms. He continued, "H-he's having a heart at-"

"I've got him, thank you," a red-haired paramedic told him. The old man was then taken by professionals, and Percy retreated to Annabeth, who was shaken and had stopped crying, but okay.

"Are you hurt?" she asked him, and Percy shook his head.

"I should be asking you that, are you okay? Why did they want you?"

Annabeth just looked towards the chaos with glassy eyes, and said, "I have no idea, I'm nothing special."

"You are. You are special.

Then, she did something that completely surprised Percy. She put her arms around him and wrapped him in a tight hug. "I don't usually give hugs," she whispered in his ears, "but I'm just glad you're okay. That we're both okay."

"Where have you been?" demanded Athena, the TV was on, and a news channel was playing the catastrophic scene that had happened earlier in the day. "You don't call or even text," Athena continued, tears flooding her eyes, "you could have died. You could have-"

"I'm okay mom," Annabeth said softly, "I'm fine, we're both fine." Athena hugged her daughter tightly, before looking at Annabeth.

"I expect you protected my daughter, a gentleman like you." Percy blushed, ready to correct her, but Athena beat her to it.

"Yes mother, he protected me," Athena said, rolling her eyes. "Let's go now," she continued, leaving without waiting for Percy. He followed her, leaving a lonely Athena to herself again.

Annabeth entered her room, and signaled for him to go inside. He hesitated before doing so, recalling her earlier threat about entering the forbidden room. He did go inside, and carefully sat down on her bed.

Annabeth was holding a sheet of paper, her mouth hanging open. Carlo frowned, before asking, "What is that?"

She handed him the note, which read: meet us at Hein's Theater 12:00am – Fc

"Fc? Who's Fc?"

"My father," she murmured so quietly, Carlo almost didn't hear her.

"Your father? The one you ran away from?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"Well, I don't have any other fathers lying around, so yes, the one I ran away from," she replied bitterly. "I have to go, walking to Hein's Theater will take almost two hours, and it's 9:50pm."

"As if, you're not going alone, Annabeth," he said with finality.

"You don't even know me, so don't start acting as if you're my hero, the majestic Prince Percy of Olympia," she snapped.

"Look, I know I barely know you, but you've taught me a lesson, Annabeth. Where I'm from, I'm used to people doing whatever I want. To people being paid to jump in front of a bullet for me. I never thought about anyone else, it was always about me, because I'm the prince. The way you willingly gave yourself to those men, your bravery, it amazed me. And I want to be brave too. My whole life I've been cowering behind others in fear, and it's time I grow up and realize that I'm not the only person in the world. I always run. Whenever there's a minor inconvenience in my life, I run. I escape. I ran from my whole life, right into you. And I'm done running. I'm going with you, no matter what you say or do," Percy retaliated, flushed and out of breath by the time he finished.

Annabeth smiled gratefully, "Let's go then."

Hein's Theater was an abandoned theater in Downtown Genavi; Annabeth was right; it really was a whole two-hour walk. During the walk, they barely uttered a word to each other. The night was darker and colder than usual, and Percy felt green with envy of Aurelia and her warm jacket. The theater looked deserted, with broken windows and walls covered in graffiti. Annabeth looked at it sadly, as if it brought bad memories to mind.

"Come on, the entrance is over here," she said. Percy followed her to a dark alley hidden by trees. By the alley, there was a door, and they went inside. The inside was creepy, to say the least. Right about every inch was covered in spider webs and graffiti; the place was completely dark, it hid away any sort of light that had protected them before. This time however, they had brought a flashlight, which Percy turned on so they could see. They seemed to be in the main hall of the theater, where the popcorn and food was made. Further along there were dark hallways that Percy did not want to go into.

Annabeth tapped her foot impatiently. "Where are they?" she asked, "it's 12:05am, they should be here."

And then they heard it, the sound of a door being smashed closed. By the door there were three men. Percy didn't recognize any of them. Two of them were wearing masks, like the men from the coffee shop, but the other man had nothing from covering his disgusting face to the world.

The man stepped forwards, and Annabeth's eyes widened with recognition. "Father?" she questioned carefully.

"My beautiful daughter!" Annabeth's father took a step towards her, but she took a step back. The message was clear, and her father frowned. "I haven't seen you in years, this isn't the way a girl should treat her father, right boy?" The question was directed at Percy, but he stayed silent.

"Why?" Annabeth asked angrily, "why did you send those men after me today?"

Her father shrugged, and he replied, "You didn't want to meet with me, and I had to see you. I haven't seen you in so long!"

Annabeth looked at him in pure disgust, and shouted, "You hurt people, father! Don't you dare come near me, not after what you did."

"Ah, so that's how it is," The man acknowledged and made a tsk-tsk sound. He pointed at Percy, saying, "Well then, take the boy."

The two men in masks were suddenly on him, and Percy could hear Annabeth scream, "No!" He struggled, but it was useless.

"My dear Annabeth," her father taunted, "After what happened with your sister, you really should know not to mess with me. I have proved to you before that I never hesitate."

Annabeth looked at him in horror, and suddenly Percy understood what Athena had said about her feeling guilty about Ana's death. Annabeth kept her ground, but she managed to steal a glance at Percy, and her eyes were filled with worry.

Percy's eyes met with the ones of the masked men, the man immediately looked down, but it was too late. Purple eyes. A one in a trillion chance. And he had only met one person with purple eyes. "Mario? I know you," Percy gasped. It was one of the cooks from the palace.

Annabeth's father's smirk faltered as he realized who exactly Percy was, and he was visibly trying not to panic. "That's right!" Percy shouted for effect, "I'm Prince Percy Jackson of Olympia and if you even lay a finger on me I'll have you hung."

Mario and the other man suddenly let go of him, and ran away as fast as they could, but Annabeth's father wasn't budging. Carlo noticed how Annabeth was a carbon copy of her father, and wondered how someone like her could look like someone like him.

"Cowards!" he shouted, pulling out a gun and pointing it towards Annabeth. "All I wanted was my daughter back."

"I'm not your daughter," she said coldly, seemingly unbothered by the gun that could kill her at any second. Percy froze, he tried to speak, but he couldn't. He tried to move, but his feet stayed stuck where they were. It was like a nightmare

"You're my daughter," Annabeth's father repeated, there were tears streaming down his face as he pointed his gun at his own daughter. "You're my daughter, and if I can't have you, my beautiful child, then no one else can." Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

Percy heard a scream, but then he realized it was him who was screaming. He was running towards Annabeth, who was lying on the floor, a pool of blood starting to engulf her. Her father was screaming too, sobbing on the ground. Suddenly, Percy heard sirens. The police, he thought. He was kneeling besides Annabeth, but he was shaking too much. She opened her eyes and whispered his name, but her eyes remained wide open. She managed to sit up, but Percy held her. Silent tears were running down his cheeks as Annabeth gasped in pain.

But Annabeth's father was still screaming, he was shaking on the floor. A small S.W.A.T. Team entered the building, but all they found was a broken man and two shaken young adults. One of the policemen took Annabeth's father and handcuffed him, and his eyes met Annabeth's.

"B-but…" he muttered, "I killed you. You're dead, you're dead, you're dead. I'm hallucinating!" he started shouting at the police officers, "I'm hallucinating! I'm hallucinating! You don't understand!" he kept shouting until he was taken away.

"I called them," Annabeth whispered to him, she was shaking with pain, "I told them about the meeting and the time. They came just in time."

There were paramedics taking Annabeth from Percy, and they took her away in an ambulance. Percy was dripping in Annabeth's blood, and shivering.

The police officers questioned him, and suddenly Percy's father was there, hugging his son and holding him tight. "Son! You're alright, you're okay. I was worried sick about you, please-"

"Father," Percy interrupted, "I'm not going back."

"What?" Poseidon Jackson demanded.

"I'm not going back to the palace, father. I wasn't happy there. I just want to be ordinary."

"You're the prince of Olympia, you have to go back."

Percy formulated a plan in his mind, one he knew would work. "Fine," he said, "on one, well, two condition."

That night Percy visited Annabeth in the hospital and told her the news. She was smiling drowsily at him and nodding. Soon enough, she was sleeping, but Percy celebrated with Athena. He never thought he would ever see someone as happy as Athena when he told her the news. Annabeth had been happy too, but not like her mother. They were moving into the castle with him, and his father was paying for Annabeth's care in the hospital.

Thankfully, the bullet had hit Annabeth in the shoulder and had not hit any major organs. She was going to be fine, but would need stitches. All in all, Annabeth was just grateful to be alive, and that her mother didn't have to worry about paying for the hospital bills.

Percy had been running all his life, and he was tired of it. It was time he did something that felt right in his heart, and it felt right to return to Athena and Annabeth after all they did for him. Soon enough, he would be crowned king, and he knew he wouldn't be able to do it without his best friend on his side. Sure, maybe they barely knew each other, maybe they were both from completely different worlds, but that didn't matter, because they made each other happy. They gave each other strength

Annabeth's father, whose name was Frederick Chase, had been sent to a mental institution. Percy couldn't say he was surprised, after all that man did. Annabeth and Athena would be safe now, away from that horrid man. After what they had been through, Percy and Annabeth managed to move, but they would never forget.

Once Annabeth moved into the palace, Percy and she spent a lot of time bonding, and of course, writing speeches for the country of Olympia.

Percy had stopped running; if his experience had taught him something, it was that running would never benefit anyone. When something troubled him, he had to face it, he had to be brave. And he thanked Annabeth for teaching him that.

Now, almost a year later, Annabeth had a ring hiding in his pocket. Because if he wanted to spend the rest of his life with someone, it was with someone who didn't hide behind others when things got hard, and stood up not only for herself, but for everyone around them. Someone who lit up the room when she came in, and made the world a better place just by being in it.

So imagine Percy's joy when she said yes.

Okay, okay. I know the ending is rushed but I liked it anyways. And I also know that I suck at updating Annabeth and RED's Threat, and I swear I will update, but everything's a mess right now, but I promise I will. I don't know what to say, again, it's too early in the morning for me to think. Anyways, I sincerely hoped you liked this one-shot, and I truly wish for you to take the time to review/favorite, because those are my inspiration and because I need feedback and it's Monday and I Mondays. Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read this one-shot, and unfortunately I have to go to school now because it's 7:27 am and school starts at 8 and I'm still at home. Ciao.

~ Love you always, AB