Early morning the next day, Prince Jason was sitting in his throne, listening to his sister and father fight.
"No. I will certainly not get married to some stuck up prince! I don't care who it is! I refuse!" Thalia yelled.
King Jupiter stood. "Thalia. That is enough! Go to your room and prepare for the company we shall have tonight!"
Thalia gave the King a look of pure venom, and stomped out of the room, slamming the door as she did. Jason looked over to his father.
"Dad, maybe…maybe you should reconsider this," Jason pleaded. If Thalia wasn't happy, nobody was happy. And Jason seriously didn't want to deal with an entire palace full of unhappy people.
King Jupiter slammed his hand down on the side of his throne. "Not you too! If you are joining her side, you can go to your room as well!"
His words hurt, but Jason didn't let it show. Instead he bowed and strutted to his room, though not as dramatically as Thalia had.
Jason went up the narrow staircase that lead to the tower he called his room. Jason's room looked as if a pure golden rainbow had thrown up in it. Everything was gold. The bed, nightstand, balcony, everything. To Jason, who had lived in it all his life, it got tiring.
Jason leaned against the balcony railing, and watched the giant kingdom go about its life. Merchants were boasting of their products, commoners were scrambling up and down the streets, and palace guards were observing from every corner.
It was mesmerizing, and Jason wondered what it was like to be a part of the grand city. To not have a temperamental royal family, nobody looking up to you, people watching your every move. Jason knew he was being selfish. Who wouldn't want his life? Not that Jason didn't like power or anything, it was just that he didn't want the strings attached to it.
The door to his room opened. "Hey, do you need anything?"
It was Percy, a sea green-eyed man with black hair. Though Percy was supposed to be Jason's main servant, he served as more of a friend.
"Even if I needed anything, I still wouldn't make you go get it. You know that," Jason told him without emotion.
Percy walked over to Jason. "I know, just doing my job though for once," Percy said, "Is something wrong? You only stare off the balcony when you need to think."
Jason sighed. "Thalia's being impossible again. And I tried to persuade my dad to let the whole marriage thing go…and now he's mad at me too. Sometimes, I feel like I can't do anything right."
Percy nodded knowledgeably. "I hear you. Of course, that's a normal feeling for us commoners. Who knew a prince could too?" Percy teased. Jason fake punched him in the shoulder.
"PERCY!" Annabeth yelled as she walked into the room.
"Yes? What did I do wrong?" Percy said cautiously.
Annabeth put her hands on her hips. "Do you just assume you did something wrong?" Percy shrugged. "Good. Because you did! Everybody knows that you don't wax the railings on the staircase! You polish them!"
"Oh…uh, I guess I wasn't thinking…" Percy said nervously.
"Obviously not! Gods, sometimes you are such a seaweed brain!" Annabeth ranted as she left again.
Percy looked at Jason apologetically. "Sorry man. I gotta go. See you later," He said as he ran off after Annabeth.
Jason stared out into the city again. Percy and Annabeth had a great relationship. It wasn't perfect, but it was at the same time.
Absentmindedly, Jason wondered if he would ever have something like that. Love. As a prince, he couldn't count on it though. King Jupiter had already told him that it was likely Jason would marry Princess Reyna.
Not that Jason had a problem with Reyna, she was a great girl and all, but she was just…too much like himself. Jason could barely keep himself under control, let alone Reyna. If they were to rule together, it might be good for a while, but then Jason had a feeling things would get out of hand.
Sighing, Jason resigned from the window and sat at his desk. He still had that dedication speech to write for Thalia's birthday festival, so he started to work on that.
Jason worked on it until late afternoon, when Percy came in to fetch him for dinner. Well, that's what Jason thought anyways, until he seen the state Percy was in.
"Your sister, Thalia! She's gone! Annabeth can't find her!" Percy told Jason frantically before running out once more.
Jason ran off to the balcony, to look into the stables. Sure enough, Thalia's horse was gone. She had run away.
Not knowing whether to be angry at Thalia or Jupiter, Jason ran down the stairs and out the kitchen door, to get to the stables. Once he was there, Jason jumped on his horse, Tempest, bareback and ran towards the gates into the city.
Jason maneuvered Tempest through the throng of city people and merchants, trying to think of where Thalia would've gone. Jason could spend weeks searching and still never find her. He hoped that Jupiter wouldn't send guards after her, that would just make her more angry. If Jason found her, then maybe she would come back.
He turned down another crowded road, which was apparently the farmer's market by all the food. Even though it appeared that they were closing down for the day, just the sight of the fruits and vegetables reminded Jason that he was probably missing dinner.
Jason stared at the nearest cart, which contained fresh apples. Jason jumped off Tempest and sorted through them, searching for a good one. He picked up the best one he could find. Suddenly, a dirty little girl in a ragged dress walked by crying.
"S-so hun-hungry…" She mumbled repeatedly. Jason, suddenly disgusted that his father would let something like this happen in his kingdom, walked to the girl.
Jason leaned down to her height. "Hey, take this." He handed her the apple. The girl looked at him with wide eyes, then surprisingly, she hugged him and ran off. Jason smiled. It made him feel good to make someone so happy.
"Why, you dirty little thief!" The merchant yelled.
At first, Jason had no idea what he was talking about. Then he realized what he had just done. "I'm so sorry sir. Here, I'll pay for that," Jason apologized.
The merchant looked at him expectantly with his hand open. Jason reached into his pockets and panicked. Nothing. Not a single coin.
Jason smiled weakly. "Um, it seems that I left my money at the palace. Can I have my father pay you back twice as much?"
"And who do you think your father is?" The merchant taunted, getting angrier by the minute.
"King Jupiter." Jason stated firmly.
The merchant laughed unbelievably. "Oh, you're going to get it now! Thievery and lies! You have five seconds to pay me, or I'm calling the guards!" He threatened.
Swiftly, a girl with choppy hair swung down from a rafter and landed between Jason and the merchant. She turned around, and Jason was instantly enchanted. In all, she was beautiful. Chocolate brown hair that was randomly braided, high cheekbones, and kaleidoscopic eyes.
Once he was out of shock, she gave him a look that said, I got this.
"Oh kind merchant, please find it in your heart to let this man go. It is not right to torment amnesiac commoners who believe their father is the King. After all, he was just helping that girl. Be the kind man I know you are sir," The girl pleaded.
Unbelievably, the man's face softened. "Alright, I suppose. But just this time." The merchant went back to packing up his stand.
The girl frantically pushed Jason towards Tempest. "Go! Go, before he comes back to normal!" She ushered.
"Come with me. I won't leave you here!" Jason answered, holding out his hand to her.
She looked back at the merchant nervously. Jason noticed he was starting to look normal again, trying to remember what just occurred.
"Oh, alright!" She said, taking Jason's hand. He pulled her behind him. "Let's go! Hurry!"
Jason kicked Tempest and they ran through the streets, the girl giving out occasional directions on where to go. Finally, she told him to stop near an old abandoned building on the outskirts of town.
The girl jumped off Tempest. "Thanks. Do you want to come in? Everybody's out tonight, so it's just me."
"Uh, okay. It there somewhere I can tie up Tempest?" Jason asked.
The girl pointed to an old wooden pole. "Will this work?" Jason nodded, and went to tie Tempest to it.
"We haven't been properly introduced," Piper said as she let him through the cloth door, "I'm Piper."
Jason observed the messy room, littered with random dirty blankets and possessions. "Jason." He answered.
Piper continued up a nearby staircase, and Jason followed. "This is where the older ones sleep. We take care of the little ones that stay downstairs." Piper explained as she showed him the shabby broken middle floor. He could see three cloth doors each on different walls.
"How many are there?" He asked.
Piper stopped and looked at him. "About twenty little ones, and five of us. It's a lot of responsibility, but we manage. We each have our own story. Mostly all of us are here because our parents got killed by the castle guards. Come, my room is on the third floor."
Jason followed her taking one last look at the makeshift living room. Jason couldn't believe how selfish he had been earlier that day. There he was, living in a palace, a freaking palace, and Piper was living with twenty plus people in a shabby broken down building.
"How did you get here?" Jason blurted. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that if you don't want." he apologized.
Piper smiled sadly. "It's alright. Actually, I don't really know. I've been here for as long as I can remember."
Piper jumped over a broken step and looked back to check that Jason would too. Jason followed her lead and jumped. After a few more steps they arrived at a small crumbling room that had two other cloth doorways side by side. Piper chose the left one, and motioned for Jason to go first.
What Jason expected, he wasn't' sure, but it wasn't this. Her room was painted with random murals on the walls, with a long wooden box with a few ragged blankets that served as a bed.
"Here's home," Piper gestured to the room.
Jason's eyes drifted to the picture above her bed. The picture had a many different pictures inside of it, with a girl hanging on to a cliff with one hand while in the other she held a hammer, and several others. The most prominent picture however, had a very familiar face on it.
"Is that me?" Jason blurted out.
Piper blushed and studied the mural as well. "It could be, I guess. Or just another random face. Do you want to see the best thing about this place?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Sure," Jason answered. Piper went to grab his hand, but then blushed and decided against it. She walked to the large broken piece of wall that must've served as a window.
"Look! Perfect view of the palace. Can you imagine what it must be like to live there?"
Jason was slightly taken aback. "Um, yeah I can. Must be great." He said emotionlessly. He was suddenly reminded of the reason he had left the palace in the first place. He was supposed to be looking for Thalia!
"Is something wrong?" Piper gave him with a concerned look.
"It's just, I have to go. Nothing personal." Jason said hurriedly.
Piper looked crestfallen. "Okay, I understand. Farewell, Jason."
Jason gave her one last smile and went down the two sets of stairs and untied Tempest. Jason jumped on him and gave the abandoned building one final look, only to see Piper leaning out of her window, apparently dreaming of castle life.
So, there's Chapter 2! Thanks, as always and forever for reviews!