The Change
Chapter 1 the Discovery
It was a warm day with light and cool breezes now and then. Annabeth Chase, well, Princess Annabeth was taking a stroll in her large flower beds with Thalia. A cool breeze whipped Annabeth's long, blond hair held by her one of her mother's jeweled clips. She stopped at a closed rosebud and whispered "I'm sure you'll be the best rose around here. But just as she stood up, Nico rushed in, panting" They have Percy,…I couldn't do anything to stop them." "What!" Annabeth yelled. She tore off the heavy gold and diamond jewelry, but kept on her signet ring on. She ripped off the lower part of her long, white gown, and was about to run off when Thalia grasped her arm. "I'm coming with you…." She said with a quivering voice. Nico agreed "That's a better idea, and take your guards with you. He had a look of such intensity that Annabeth instantly agreed. That dude scared her; no doubt that he was a son of Hades. With that, they ran off. "Oh my gods, mom, please protect him." Annabeth thought desperately as she dashed her way into the plaza in the center of town. When she reached the plaza, Annabeth was traumatized. Percy's hands and ankles were tied to a long wooden pole, so he had no way of escaping, and his shirt was torn and bloody. His chest, arms and legs were full of bruises, cuts and blood. His face was also cut and bloodied, and had an expression Annabeth couldn't bear to see and live with that scene. It was a mixture of pain, fear, and longing to escape, or die. Annabeth cried from the middle of the cheering crowd"Stop! What are you doing?!" Then her face turned pale.
Percy had been whipped. "But for what reason?!" thought Annabeth as she up to the platform. Percy's face softened and relaxed to see Annabeth. The guard that had been beating Percy was Xerxes, one of her father, the king's strongest and most powerful guards. Xerxes turned around. "What are you doing here girl?" he grumbled. "Speak clearly to me, you are speaking to the princess of this land!" Annabeth said confidently. The cheering crowd immediately quieted down and Xerxes bowed as Annabeth walked up on to the platform. Percy turned his head away from Annabeth as if he knew something bad was coming, and he didn't want to see it. "Why are you beating him?!" questioned Annabeth. "My lady, he was entering the palace gates without permission." Xerxes replied, his voice suddenly soft. Annabeth beckoned to some of her guards and they stepped forward, untying the ropes from Percy's wrists and ankles and laying the unconscious boy on the stretcher. "He was on his way to visit me…." said Annabeth, her voice quivering. Suddenly, Annabeth's father rushed in, and immediately turned pale, as if Annabeth had seen something she wasn't supposed to, which of course, she had. Her father had always said that he was a fair prosperous ruler, and well, Annabeth had always believed him, like a daughter should. Then she saw her father, standing there, pale-faced and completely surprised. Annabeth, knowing that her father had supposedly ordered this, would have attacked Xerxes or her father(at that time, she didn't care about the fact that he was her father), if Thalia hadn't took hold of her arms in her steel-like grip. Annabeth exploded with rage and stomped right up to her father, jabbed a finger in his chest, and screamed at her father" I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU NEVER BEAT ANY OF YOUR SUBJECTS, LET ALONE ANOTHER PRINCE OF THE NEIGHBORING CITY!" "Annabeth… please, it …it wasn't my idea…" her father stammered. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT WASN'T YOUR IDEA?! OF COURSE IT WAS YOUR IDEA!" she shrieked and took a deep breath. Then, Annabeth turned around on her heels and and walked away with Thalia and the guards carrying Percy.