Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson. If I did, Bianca and Zoe would still be alive.

Revised: September 4th, 2015


Chapter II

Princess Andromeda

Annabeth's P.O.V

I wake up the next morning in a strange room, wearing strange clothes, and after having the strangest dream. I am wearing a plain brown dress like what servants wear. Malcolm is lying next to me wearing a white shirt and black pants; Chris and Beckendorf are on the other side of the room? I do not know where we are.

Anyhow, Chris and Beckendorf are on the other side of the room dressed the same as Malcolm. Clarisse and Piper are lying near Chris and Beckendorf wearing the same brown dress I am and I almost laugh at the sight of Clarisse in a dress; until a random man walks into the room. That is when I start to scream, waking Malcolm, Beckendorf, Chris, Piper, and Clarisse and startling the man.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down Your Highness," the man looks nervous and as he gets closer, I realize he looks a couple years younger than me.

"Get away from her," growls Malcolm. Beckendorf moves to stand in front of me; Clarisse is next to him, shielding Malcolm. Piper and Chris crawl over to us and sit by Malcolm and me. The man raises his hands.

"I'm sorry," he tells us. "I didn't mean to startle you. I was only bringing breakfast for you." He points to a tray that I had not noticed. It has bowls of what appears to be oatmeal.

"Who are you?" Beckendorf snaps.

"I am…" the boy stops mid-sentence as someone yells from above us.

"William!" the boy, who I suppose is William, flinches. "What is going on down there? Who was screaming? Do I need to come down?"

"No Captain," William responds quickly. "It was just the princess. She was startled when I walked in. She is okay now." William holds his breath as the other person appears to be thinking before he responds.

"Okay, but one more noise down there and I am coming down myself. And you know what happens if I have to come down, right?"

"Y-yes Captain," William stutters. I notice he is pale and trembling in what appears to be fear.

"Who are you?" Beckendorf asks his voice dangerously low.

"William Solace," the boy answers. I gasp as a memory comes back.

1804

I was sitting outside the palace, hoping my mother would be healed soon. My father had called in the best doctor, Apollo Solace, from Atlantis where he lived. Apollo had arrived with a boy, his son he had claimed. Said son was sitting next to me. Malcolm was in the room with Father, but I was not allowed in.

"What is your name?" I asked suddenly. The boy looked up from the toy he was playing with; it was a simple toy: a wooden cup with a ball tied to it with string. You had to try and get the ball in the cup. I had never played with one, but Father told me the toys were common in poor areas.

"William but everyone calls me Will, Your Highness," he answered softly.

"And how old are you William?"

"I am ten, Your Highness."

"No more with that 'Your Highness' crap," I ordered. "Want to play something? I simply cannot sit here doing nothing while my mother is in there ill."

"Sure," he shrugged his shoulder and put the toy down. "What would you like to play?"

"How about we each tell our favorite story," I suggested.

"Very well, I will play. Would you like to start?"

"There once was a young woman named Athena who lived in the kingdom of Olympus," I began. "Athena was a duchess; her mother was Metis and she never met her father. One day, she met a young man named Theseus who needed help fighting a man they called Minotaur. Theseus promised her that if she helped him, he would marry her. Athena agreed and after slaying the man, Theseus and Athena ran away to a deserted island. There, Athena was abandoned, for Theseus did not wish to marry a warrior. For two years, Athena survived on the island until she was rescued by a man named Frederick who made her his wife. Shortly after they married, he told her he was a king and they now live happily ever after. Your turn," I told him.

"There once was a man named Apollo who was in love with a woman, but he did not know if the woman loved him for she never told him her name," William began after a few moments of silence. "After two years of marriage, Apollo confessed that he had had an affair with another woman and she had just given birth to a child; a son they named Michael. However, his lover did not survive and now he had a child to care for. His wife was angry and told him that she too was pregnant. She then told him that she would give birth to his child, but leave right after. Five months later, she gave birth to a baby boy whom she named William. Apollo begged his wife not to leave, but she replied 'If you do not love me enough to not have an affair, I will not stay.' To which Apollo replied 'I loved you, but I do not even know if you love me for you will not tell me your name.' His wife was furious and left then. She never returned and Apollo swore to never love again."

We sat in silence then; each of us thinking about the other's story. Fifteen minutes later, the door to my mother's room opened and my father, Malcolm, and the doctor stepped out. I stood up quickly, William stood a minute after me.

"How is she?" I asked.

"I am very sorry Princess," Apollo bowed his head. "She will live for about a year and then die." I started to cry when my father and Malcolm left to speak to Apollo some more. William pulled me into a hug and whispered to me, telling me it would be okay. Nearly a year later, my mother died and my father announced he had another wife. Mother had apparently told him to remarry before she died so she would know he could move on. His new wife was pregnant and gave birth a month later to twin boys. Apollo helped with the birth and once again, William tagged along. We spoke for a little before he left and I never saw him again though we wrote continuously.

3 July 1812

"William?" I ask tentatively.

"You remember me?" he asks, a small smile on his face.

"Of course I do," I answer. "Oh, William; I always wished to see you again." I give him a hug, which he returns.

"Excuse me," Clarisse speaks up. "But how do you know each other?"

"William's father is the doctor that helped Helen with her birth and told us that Mother had about a year to live." I answer, wiping tears from my eyes. "He sat with me while I waited to hear if my mother would be okay. What are you doing here now, William?"

"Well I…" he is about to answer, but another man comes in. He is tall and skinny with a mop of curly brown hair that hangs in his blue eyes. "M-master Travis. W-what are you doing down here?"

"The captain sent me to get you. You were taking too long. I mean, I know you are slow sometimes, but it does not take half an hour to drop food off for the prisoners. So, naturally Thalia and Bianca assumed you were conversing with them. And it appears they were right." The man replies. He raises an eyebrow. "So, you know the princess personally?"

"W-well not r-really sir," William answers nervously. "I have just seen her before."

"Do not lie to me, William." The man scolds him. "I heard the whole thing. You comforted the princess after her mother died, which means you guys were close. Come with me William." He orders sharply. "I am sure the captain will want to hear about this." He grabs William's wrist and yanks him out the door; slamming it shut behind him.

Percy's P.O.V

I am playing a card game with Nico and Jason when Travis barges in, dragging a terrified Will behind him. We set our cards down and I raise an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Travis, what are you doing?" I ask him.

"What did Will do this time?" Jason asks bored.

"Apparently he knows the princess personally." Travis tells us. "He was talking to her and I heard her tell the other prisoners that he comforted her when her mother died."

"Oh really." Jason is clearly interested now, as is Nico.

"So, William. You took forever to give the prisoners food, why?"

"W-well, I had taken the food down, but the princess screamed when I got down there. Probably because she woke up in a strange room and a strange man walked in," William begins nervously. "I quieted her down and when they asked who I was, I told them my name. The princess recognized my name and told her brother who I was."

"Yes, but were you supposed to be talking to the prisoners or feeding them?"

"Feeding them, captain," William responds quietly.

"Very well," I nod my head. "No lunch or dinner tonight William. And I will send someone else to feed the prisoners. If I catch you talking to them again, you will be punished way more severely. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Captain." Will bows before leaving the room.

"I don't trust him," Jason states after Travis leaves.

"Nor do I," I admit. "We will need to keep a close eye on him. I will not put it past him to help them escape. Then all our hard work would be for naught."