Hey Guys, I'm so sorry for not uploading earlier. But it turns out I'm back. I don't think you want to her about my excuses about school and all that blah blah blah. But I will just say I'm not giving up this story and its going to be finished! :) I'm so sorry for the wait, but I have put up this chapter! And its 6,000 words so I hope it makes up for some of the time I haven't updated. I hope you enjoy it!
Reviews:
SexyPurpleBeast: Thanks, I'm trying to add lots of plot twists, but you have to wait for later on in the story! ;)
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SummerSpirit18, Ainsley Wright, J'aime lir, Why-I-am-not-that-kind-of-girl, Southern Girl Always, Wisdom Owl, Kayla the daughter of Thanatos, Lmb111514: Thank you guys for your kind reviews! And I will be continuing!
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Previously:
"Hey, I'm Nico," Nico said as he put out his hand for Annabeth to shake, instantly Annabeth's mind ticked over. This was the boy talking to the prisoner, the one trying to get rid of the traitor and figure out the mysteries of Athens.
Annabeth's POV:
Annabeth shook Nico's hand slowly, her eyes gazed over his jet black hair hiding his obsidian coloured eyes. Nico eyed her suspiciously as his eyes met her grey eyes. He seemed to be looking into her, trying to uncover all of her secrets. His gaze was quite intimidating and she knew this was the man talking with the Athenian soldier. His tone of voice matched it exactly, and the aura and feel about him made her unsettled and uneased. He was the one trying to find the spies in Atlantis which was herself and Clarisse.
Annabeth slowly retreated her hand away and placed it back to her side to, in hope to stop the uneasiness between herself and the Son of Hades. Although, the Son of Hades still eyed her warily before turning his gaze back on Percy.
"I brought Annabeth here to watch us swordfight, and maybe teach her a few moves as she seems pretty good with fighting with a pillow," Percy explained while placing his hand on his sword which was strapped to his left hip. Percy shot Annabeth a mischievous grin which made Annabeth nudge him playfully.
"I'm ready to spar," announced Jason with the piercing blue eyes, he looked between Nico and Percy, daring for a challenge "Anyone up for a duel?"
Percy and Nico looked at each other as if having a silent debate about who should go first. Eventually Nico won, and Percy walked with Jason to the middle of the arena. Nearby there was a long wooden chair for people waiting to versus their next opponent. Nico and Annabeth slowly walked there and sat there waiting for the duel to start.
Percy walked over to the centre of the arena and pulled his sword out, his sword was leaf shaped with a leather grip. It appeared to be half celestial bronze and steel and was quite long, because of this it was easier to put distance between your opponent. On the other hand, Jason pulled out a gold coin which Annabeth recognised as an Ivlivs, it also seemed to have latin writing on it. He threw it in the air, and the coin flipped over repeatedly until it landed in the palm of his hand. Once in his hand the coin transformed into a long, slender gladius made out of the finest imperial gold. The hilt had a gold hue down the bottom which was where Jason curled his slender fingers around.
Annabeth folded her arms and waited patiently as Jason and Percy seemed to be in a friendly discussion. Using her peripheral vision she could see that many times Nico was shooting quick glances at her before looking away. Although, this time he was staring at her long and hard, he narrowed his obsidian coloured eyes and started to examine her facial features. Annabeth was trying hard to ignore it and pretend to be very interested and eager for the duel between Percy and Jason to start. She was hoping for the awkwardness to end, what was Nico going to do interrogate her?
Probably, Annabeth thought, he seems suspicious of me, I can feel it.
Annabeth was interrupted from her train of thought. "So Annabeth, where do you come from?" asked Nico looking deep into her eyes.
"I come from the outskirts of Atlantis, my dad was a farmer there and we sold our produce to the local markets." Annabeth answered with ease while looking straight in Nico's eyes. Annabeth knew Nico was trying to read her and detect for any signs of lying, at a young age she too was taught this valuable skill and used it to read many people. By using this skill, she was able to manipulate it to become a better liar and avoid showing any signs of lying.
"What about your Mum, what did she do"? Nico responded eagerly.
Annabeth looked down and felt Nico's gaze soften, "She died during childbirth and at the age of five my Dad remarried." Although this is all true, she knew Nico had taken the bait and by saying this she would ultimately gain a bit more trust.
"Don't worry, I know how it feels," Nico reassured her by resting his hand on her shoulder. Annabeth's eyes met his and she could feel his vulnerability in this situation, this was the aim of her plan. Maybe by revealing all of her 'secrets' about her life she could finally gain some trust with Nico, who still seemed highly suspicious of her. "Once my mother died, my dad remarried a lady called Persephone. I'm not very fond of her. She keeps threatening to turn me into a dandelion somehow, while her horrid mother tries to shove cereal down my throat."
Annabeth stifled a small laugh while Nico looked at her with a small grin on his deathly pale face, "Trust me, its not fun getting cereal stuffed down your throat!"
Before Annabeth could respond both Annabeth's and Nico's attention got diverted to scene that played out in front of them. Percy and Jason were circling each other with their swords drawn, they were looking at each other intently as if trying to read their opponent's next actions. Annabeth narrowed her sharp, grey eyes and analysed both Percy's and Jason's fighting styles.
Jason lunged at Percy with his sword drawn, his sword made a powerful arc which could kill Percy instantly. Percy side stepped the sudden lunge, and simultaneously used his hilt to hit Jason's abdomen. Jason stumbled backwards clutching his stomach painfully, due to the sudden impact Jason lost his breath. Jason recovered almost instantaneously and launched a swipe at Percy's leg, Percy dodged the attack by leaping up in the air.
The blades of their swords clanged together, the sharp sound echoing off the stone floor, the impact of their swords sent sparks flying. Percy then turned left and feinted to the right and kicked Jason hard in the ribcage. Jason stumbled and put his arms out to regain his balance. Percy used this chance and swung his sword in a wide arc, Jason stepped back just before Percy's sword could come into contact with his skin.
"Hey!" Jason shouted with his arms spread out, "You nearly ripped my new shirt."
Jason then went offensive and delivered strong blows to Percy's right and weaker ones to his left, Percy parried each of Jason's strong blows and seemed completely unfazed by them.
Jason blows were beginning to slow down as he got more and more tiresome with each swipe. Just as Jason delivered a powerful swipe to Percy's head, he ducked to the ground and picked up some gravel and chucked it at Jason's eyes. Jason lowered his guard for a second to wipe his eyes - big mistake. Percy used this chance to deliver a violent arc of his sword, sending Jason's sword clattering out of his hands and it skittered towards the other side of the arena. Before Jason could recover from the shock, in one swift moment Percy swept his feet, sending Jason sprawling to the ground.
Percy pointed his sword over Jason's chest and proclaimed, "Dead," A small grin widened on Percy's face. Percy raised his hand out to Jason to give him a hand up from the dusty ground. Jason gladly took his hand and was hauled up from the ground. Percy and Jason engaged in another friendly conversation about their duel that took place just a couple minutes ago.
Annabeth took this time to re-analyse both Percy's and Jason's fighting styles. From Jason she could clearly see that he used more brute force and mainly used offensive techniques to defeat an opponent. It was quite clear to see when Jason was about to deliver an attack his shoulders went rigid and sturdier, this gives his a opponent a better advantage. Jason has a long and slender sword which makes it easier to maintain distance between his opponent. This is bad for wielders of a dagger like herself, as they need to keep very limited space between herself and her partner. However, Annabeth did seem to notice that Jason and Percy had complete different fighting styles. Annabeth recognised that Jason had a Roman fighting style which was most evident in his swings and battle tactics.
However, Percy used the Greek way of fighting which is commonly used by most people. He seems to be very agile and quick on his feet as seen by his swift movements. He uses both offensive and defensive technique very well making it easier for him to beat his opponent. He seems to use some strategy and battle tactics when he duels but he seems to make a few mistakes and misjudgements. Like Jason, Percy has a long sword which makes it easier to keep distance between opponents.
While examining and analysing Jason and Percy she can already determine techniques and tactics to use to fight against them, such as-
"Annabeth, are you awake?" questioned Percy who suddenly appeared to be standing right in front of her. He waved her hands in front of her face until he received a response.
"Sorry," Annabeth said while still slightly dazed, "I just dozed off," She noticed that his sea green eyes looked some what concerned, but his eyes changed back to his humourous self.
"I was just wondering if you wanted me to teach you how to fight, well that's only if you want to," said Percy while fiddling with the hilt of his sword.
"Well, since I'm guessing these two are gonna have a one on one sword fighting session," Jason said while pointing between Annabeth and Percy. "Death Breath and I might duel,"
Nico glared at Jason fiercely. "Ohhhh you're so on, Sparky," Nico pulled out a long and oddly shaped sleek black sword. It had a dark purple hue down the bottom which Nico curled his slender and pale fingers around. "Get ready to die, Sparky!"
"We will see about that!" said a determined Jason while walking to the middle of the arena with Nico.
"Sooooo," asked Percy, "Do you want me to teach you how to sword fight?"
"Sure thing," replied Annabeth, "But make sure you go easy on me." Annabeth stood up from her seat and followed Percy to the other side of the arena where straw dummies were stuck on the wall. Annabeth waited there patiently while tapping her foot on the stone floor, blame her ADHD, and Percy went over to the sword rack. Percy came back with a long, slender gladius which seemed to be made out of steel, Annabeth eyed it warily.
Not my first preference, Annabeth thought, I prefer my dagger.
"Here," said Percy as he passed her the gladius. Percy then showed Annabeth the basics of using a sword or a weapon (which Annabeth already knew), but she had to keep quiet or he would get suspicious.
"So heres the correct stance when getting ready for an attack," said Percy while looking at Annabeth. Percy changed his position into fighting stance as he explained, "So first place the hilt of your sword a couple centimetres from your waist, and put the tip of your sword on a slight angle so it's not completely vertical."
Annabeth tried and placed the hilt a couple centimetres from her waist and put the tip of her sword on a slight angle, "Is this alright?"
Percy adjusted her stance a bit before she got the nod of approval, "But one more thing," Percy placed his hands on the hilt of her sword and slowly made his way down to Annabeth's hands. "See, your grip is too tight you need to loosen it a bit more to get better action and produce swifter movements." Percy placed his hands over the top of hers and adjusted her grip.
Annabeth couldn't stop but notice how warm Percy's hands felt over hers, they felt warm and she got tingles running through her body like waves of electricity. She could feel the heat in her cheeks starting to flourish and grow with every second Percy's hands was on hers.
What am I thinking? Annabeth thought, I think I'm just distracted thats all. I shouldn't be noticing things like this? Although his hands do feel warm- ohhh shut up Annabeth.
Percy continued to show her more moves with the sword such as how to parry, block, offensive and defensive moves. He continued showing her this until Nico and Jason reappeared.
"Hey guys," Nico said, "Uncle Poseidon called for a meeting in the battle plans room so when you guys are finished your bonding session-" Jason nudged him, while Percy glared at Nico.
"I mean swordfighting session, we need to head up there."
"I think we are done, maybe we can come back another time and I can teach you more," Percy said.
"Yeah, I would like that," Annabeth replied while the four of them walked to the battle plan room.
Annabeth couldn't help but admire the battle plan's room, the walls were painted blood red and several paintings and tapestries depicting the history of Atlantis were hung on the wall. In the middle was a wide oval table for battle plan discussions or meetings with tall, wooden and handcrafted chairs in multiple spots around the table. Over to the left side was multiple bookcases lined up alongside each other as if used as a reference in their battle planning.
At the head of the table sat Poseidon, his brown hair covered his dark sea green eyes. Although, Percy and Poseidon looked so similar their eyes looked completely different. Poseidon's eyes depicted stress and anxiety that he has been facing lately with the war and fulfilling his royal duties as King. On the other hand, Percy's eyes looked fun loving, kind, and generous not showing any source of stress at all.
To the left of Poseidon was Queen Amphitrite, she was in a silk blue gown with her sleek black hair tied in an elegant bun. She seemed to be talking in a hushed voice to King Poseidon. On the other side of Poseidon was his two other brothers, Zeus and Hades. Hades had black hair which covered his dark, obsidian coloured eyes. His hair stopped below his jaw and hid his deathly pale complexion. From this Annabeth could ultimately see the immediate resemblance between Hades and his son.
On the right of Hades was Zeus, Queen Athena's and Jason's Father. Zeus and Jason shared the same crystal blue eyes, otherwise they would look nothing alike. Jason had blonde, cropped hair while Zeus had short, jet black hair.
Percy, Nico, Annabeth and Jason stood there waiting for them to finish their conversations so the battle planning could finally commence. Poseidon looked up from his quiet conversation with Queen Amphitrite and gave a small smile to the four of them.
"Hello Percy, Nico, Annabeth and Jason. Please don't stand just take a seat," Poseidon reassured with a friendly smile while gesturing to the nearby chairs. The four hesitantly pulled out a seat and sat down quietly. Although, they were surrounded my their Fathers (except Annabeth) they seemed rather uncomfortable under the adult's gazes.
Annabeth knew Queen Athena didn't like Poseidon or her Father Zeus. She said Poseidon claimed to be a 'twerp', 'brainless', 'unwise', 'annoying', and 'an utter sea spawn'. She also stated that because of his unwise decisions that's why there is such a war between her Kingdom and his. Although, Queen Athena never told Annabeth why she disliked her own Father, she always thought it was some sort of a family problem. But then she could easily ask herself the same question, why didn't she like her own Father?
It's all in the past, Annabeth thought, those people aren't part of my life anymore.
"As you can see my wife, brothers and I have gathered you all here to talk about the upcoming war against the Kingdom of Athens." said King Poseidon. "Throughout this war we have gained many allies and lost many to the opposition. Demeter's Kingdom is the only neutral Kingdom, Demeter claims 'she doesn't want anything to do with this war'. We know that the Athenians have tried to use their cunning ways and trickery to gain her trust but so far it hasn't worked, so far. We all know that Demeter has a powerful army that can ultimately change the war, and thats why we need her on our side. We-" Poseidon gestured to his brothers, "Were thinking of bribing her to join our side, and so far that's the best suggestion we have."
Now I can see what Queen Athena means by illogical, Annabeth thought. All the money that could be spent bribing Demeter could be used for buying more powerful weapons to stop as many troops from dying. If Poseidon said that Athenians 'trickery and cunning ways' won't convince Demeter, who thinks money will. If they were being logical, maybe they could help Demeter in some way.
Jason spoke up, "But who says that Demeter is going to take the bribe, if the Athenians couldn't convince her then who can. And remember the Athenians are known for being smart." Awkward tension filled the room as the two brothers glanced towards their brother.
"Its our best shot," Zeus put forward, "This may have to be a risk we have to take to-"
"Its a stupid risk!" exclaimed Jason while slamming his hands on the table. All eyes gazed towards his sudden outburst.
"Sorry," Jason muttered silently while trying to regain his composure.
"Well, before I was interrupted rudely," Zeus shot a look at his own son, "I say its the best option we got unless anyone has anything better to suggest,"
Nico cleared his throat, "I was just thinking that we could search for the lost daughter of Demeter."
Percy raised an eyebrow, obviously confused, "Doesn't Demeter only have one daughter, Persephone?"
"No, not exactly," Hades answered in a strict manner, "Demeter had a second child, at the age of 5 years this child was stolen from her by a group of bandits that invaded the castle. The guards searched for the missing daughter for 4 months until they got some answers. They eventually found the group of bandits without the Princess, they claimed that they had sold her to an old man. The young princess was never seen again."
"So, the princess may not actually be 'dead'," asked Percy with curiousity.
"Yes, there is a slight possibility," answered Hades, "And if we somehow find the lost princess then Demeter may join our side."
This could actually work, thought Annabeth, I need to tell this urgently to Queen Athena.
"Well, how would we be able to find the lost princess, how can we distinguish between a normal person and the lost princess?" Annabeth stated, all gazes fell on her.
"Well, last time I heard it was rumoured that the lost princess had a birthmark the shape of the leaf on her upper right arm." answered Nico in a strict manner.
"So what are we going to do!" exclaimed Zeus, "Go to every girl in all of the kingdoms and ask to check their right arm?"
"That indeed is a problem that we must face," agreed Poseidon while shooting a glance at Nico. "But the problem is that Zeus is right, I vouch that we stick to bribing the Demeter Kingdom. It seems more logical."
Yeah right, Annabeth thought, it only becomes partly logical if Demeter actually accepts the bribe.
"I agree too, we are running out of alliances and this is the best chance we have got," said Zeus, agreeing with his brother. "So far we are becoming desperate, Ares, Hermes, Dionysus, Apollo, and Hephaestus are all on Athena's side. They are highly strong enemies that we will need to face, we need more allies to make it through this war. Otherwise, we might as well let Athena win this war."
"There may be some hope for the lost princess, we could always just try." Percy suggested.
"It's a waste of effort and time, what happens if we can't even find her?" Hades proclaimed, "All of our troubles would be wasted for a princess that is most likely to be dead."
"Yes, and waste our money trying to bribe Demeter!" Nico said in a raised voice, Hades eyed his son warily as if telling him to 'back off'.
"Well, maybe what Nico means," Jason started with his blue eyes flickering, "Maybe Demeter won't accept the bribe," Jesus pointed to the three brothers, "You three are her brothers, do you think she is most likely to accept money for her military? I have only met Auntie Demeter once but I can tell she is has a soft spot for family, and that is what we should use to our advantage."
Maybe Jason is a bit smarter than she expected, thought Annabeth. Maybe he should try to use more of his smarts in his sword fighting skills.
Zeus and Poseidon looked at each other as if considering Jason's suggestion. Hades looked at Poseidon and Zeus nervously before his obsidian coloured eyes changed back to match his stern aroma.
"This is utterly outrageous, idiotic, and despicable!" shouted Hades, "May I repeat, we are going to be wasting our time and effort to find this lost daughter of Demeter. For all we know she could be dead!"
Amphitrite looked at Poseidon with her light blue eyes, she reached out and gripped Poseidon's hand, "I agree with Hades, its the better option." Poseidon bit his lip and looked at back Amphitrite's pure, light blue eyes.
Zeus raised his hand, "I agree to, its most definately the better option." Zeus met Poseidon's gaze, "What's your vote brother?"
Hades tried to pressure Poseidon, "Remember we only have Artemis, Zeus, Aphrodite, and myself as your allies after what happened with the others and Zeus-"
"Hey!" Zeus shouted while shooting a glare at Hades, "It wasn't my fault that Hermes' Kingdom was attacked and he sent a messenger to me for help that never arrived, and instead somehow the Athenians knew and rushed to help them! It's not my fault that Apollo thought Athena would win, Dionysus disliking me, Hephaestus also favouring Athena, and my own daughter turning against me when she broke her maiden vows!" Everybody sat in silence as Zeus expressed his opinion, breaking out of his calm and collected aroma and becoming frustrated and infuriated.
"Well," said Nico breaking the silence, "There is still a chance of finding the lost daughter of Demeter, I think we should take the risk."
"I agree," Jason spoke up.
"What he said," Percy agreed.
"Well," started Hades, "There is myself, my two other brothers, and Amphitrite who seemed set on bribing Demeter. So technically its majority rules, 4 to 3."
"Hey, wait a second," Percy said while raising his voice, "Doesn't Annabeth here get a vote." All eyes fell on Annabeth waiting for her to speak, using her peripheral vision she could see Hades death glaring her. She noted that King Hades seemed very good at doing that.
"She is a maid!" Hades pointed out while making a gesture towards Annabeth, "How does she get given the right to vote?"
Do all these people just argue, Annabeth thought to herself. Geez and I thought the constant bickering between Ares and Athena was bad but this is raging on for too long.
"Percy," Poseidon spoke up, "We have already decided it's 4 to 3, therefore we are bribing Demeter and not finding her lost daughter."
Before Percy could protest, Poseidon spoke once more, "Nico since you are a good tactician and don't carry many duties come with me and I shall exchange the battle plans with you."
Nico nodded and reluctantly followed Poseidon through the round red door behind Poseidon's chair. Poseidon opened the door and motioned for Nico to enter, Poseidon closed the door leaving the six remaining people in the room in a dead silence.
Nico's POV:
Nico was shown a small room with a table right in front of him. The room was quite similiar to the battle plans room, tapestries, books cases, and the blood red paint which set an atmosphere for this room. An atmosphere for the passion to fight and save their country. The table also had a small replica of the Athenian castle with small guards and horses scattered in front of the castle entrance. Poseidon walked around the table slowly before looking at Nico.
"You may be wondering why I brought you here Nico," Poseidon said while looking at Nico with his sea green eyes. "I've decided that I'm going to tell you the battle plan that I have made so we can invade the Athenian's castle successfully."
Poseidon hunched over the table, and grabbed a soldier figurine and inspected it carefully, "The Athenians are smart folks and are known for their wit and intelligence. This may let them overthink things and over complicate them, this we can use to our advantage. Athena won't be expecting we would make the first move, she would be waiting and would be waiting for the perfect time to attack Atlantis."
Poseidon walked around the table while fiddling with the toy soldier, Nico looked at him as if trying to decipher how his plan is going to work.
Poseidon continued, "While planning she won't expect our arrival and invasion towards the castle. So I think we should invade from the front gate, we have our archers with a clump of soldiers so they are easily defended while shooting. Our archers are going to be shooting those that guard the gate and the archers that shoot from the watchtower. Most likely more soldiers would come and we shall be able to defend them easily with the amount of troops we have. With this, we can get into the castle and hopefully convince Queen Athena to surrender." When Poseidon said 'Queen Athena' he smashed the figurine roughly down on the table.
Nico stared in shocked, this is a horrible plan, thought Nico. There is no sense of smarts in this plan, we are the most likely the ones to die. We can't just go up and attack, Athena is wise and is a strategist/tactician she will be mostly able to predict this happening.
Nico gulped, "Uncle Poseidon, don't you think Queen Athena would be able to predict something like this? Athena's a strategist and battle tactician, you can't believe that she would not be prepared for this."
'Of course she won't," Poseidon scoffed while looking at Nico with his sea green eyes. "Its a great plan, what are you talking about?"
Poseidon looked at Nico warily, "I think that Athena won't expect this, throughout the war she has been the one that attacks first. If we attack very quickly and swiftly this plan can work, how can she expect this?"
"But can't you see this is a set up by Queen Athena," Nico said in an urgent tone clearly letting his calm demeanor fall, "Queen Athena manipulated you to think this way, she is already one step ahead!"
"Nonsense Nico!" Poseidon shook his head clearly showing his disagreement with Nico's opinion, "What you talk is rubbish, how can this be a set up!"
"She is trying to trick you and change your opinion about her battle tactics," Nico said desperately. "She is attacking you first to make you think that she will always attack first, this would make you think that this is her battle plan. But she is just trying to trick you into thinking that it is her battle plan, hoping that you would attack first and she will be more than ready to take your soldiers down."
"I doubt she would do that, I think she would be more concerned about her other royalty duties," Poseidon said while trying to defend his battle plan, "Athena wouldn't waste her time making up some silly old trick to supposedly try and manipulate my way of thinking. It's just utterly outrageous!"
"Uncle Poseidon," Nico said in a calm tone, hoping to hide away his anger about how stupid this plan is. Nico looked at him in the eye, "You admitted before that the Athenians are cunning, intelligent, and use lots of trickery. If they use trickery and wisdom why is it so hard to believe that they would try to trick you?"
"As I said 'they wouldn't waste their time!" Poseidon said in a raised voice.
"Uncle Poseidon, you have to listen-"
"I will not listen anymore Nico!" Interrupted Poseidon with a loud voice full of anger, "I have already decided the plan! We shall stick to it and it shall give us leverage in the war."
Poseidon spun on his heel and stormed out of the room, leaving Nico there dumbstruck.
What am I gonna do, thought Nico, this is a horrible idea. It could lead to so many men dead, and Athena has killed enough men already.
Nico could see through the open door the battle room with everybody surrounding the table. Everybody was in the exact same position before he left and Nico figured that they had suffered an awkward silence full of tension as they waited for Poseidon and Nico to come out of the room.
Poseidon stood at the foot of the table and said, "This meeting is officially declared over, Nico and I shall share the battle plan tomorrow evening for our attack on Athens." Everyone stood up and slowly departed the room.
While everybody was departing his mind raced over the previous events which included Poseidon's 'great' plan. He could tell that his plan would not end well and he is too stubborn at the moment to acknowledge it, if only the Gods could help us now.
Annabeth's POV:
Percy and Annabeth descended out of the battle room due to Poseidon's orders. Although Annabeth's mind wandered to the battle plan that Nico and Poseidon were discussing. It would've been better for her to overhear so she could immediately tell Queen Athena about their attack. But at this rate she would have to wait till tomorrow evening to discover about the attack on the Queen Athena's Kingdom.
As she and Percy were heading out she felt a light tap on her shoulder, she turned around and looked at the Queen's bright blue eyes and her black hair braided over her left shoulder.
"Annabeth, it would be swell if you helped the two gardeners in the garden today, they need as much helped as they can get," commanded Queen Amphitrite.
Percy spoke up as his sea green eyes sparkled in confusion, "Isn't Annabeth suppose to be sticking with me?"
"Well, I have planned for you and your cousins to go horseback riding, I figured Annabeth wouldn't be much use," explained Queen Amphitrite while flicking her jet black her over her shoulder. "Annabeth would be more use in the garden and could probably socialise with more of the maids."
"Yes, I shall head to the gardens straight away Queen Amphitrite," Annabeth said as she curtsied and walked down the grand stairs that led to the throne. She walked down the red velvet carpet which led to big stone doors and headed the same direction to the garden. She pushed opened the door, with some struggle and walked out of the throne room.
She was met by the beautiful scenery of the gardens, in the centre of the garden laid a beautiful fountain which was decorated with different coloured blue mosaics. The fountain had a mermaid spurting crystal clear water out of it's mouth. This seemed to be the main attraction of the garden as four different paths led to the fountain. These four paths allowed you to venture into the beauty of the four different parts of the garden.
Annabeth walked towards the fountain and admired its beauty. She planted her long and slender fingers into the water, slowly moving them while feeling the water moving different directions. She pulled her fingers out of the water and wiped them on her light blue apron. She saw a familiar path straight ahead, she remembered this path to be where most of the gardeners were. So she followed this path and took notice of the freshly cut hedges and the beautiful flowers which surrounded her. Including vibrant orange tulips, pink and white oriental lilies, indigo lilacs, and birds of paradise flower.
Annabeth followed the concreted path until she came across a girl with chestnut coloured hair. She had a white dress with a grass green apron over the top, her apron definitely matched her light coloured green eyes. The girl had brown gardening gloves on and her hair was pulled in a tight high ponytail, however a few strands of her chestnut brown hair covered her tanned complexion. This girl was using a black water can to water the peach coloured tulips.
Annabeth walked towards her with her own white dress moving with the light breeze, the girl clearly heard her footsteps and looked up.
The girl gave her a warm smile before greeting Annabeth, "Hello, you must be Annabeth. I'm Katie, Katie Gardener." Katie held out her hand and Annabeth took it.
"I'm Annabeth as you know, and Queen Amphitrite sent me down here to help out," confirmed Annabeth while pushing a loose blonde curl behind her ear.
"Yes, I was told a little earlier," Katie established while dusting off her gardening gloves before returning her gaze back to Annabeth's. "I think Juniper may have some jobs for you to do and-"
Katie was interrupted by a girl who was dressed in similiar attire to Katie. Instead she had short light brown hair that reached her shoulders, and light green eyes which represented her calm nature. Her complexion was darker and she was carrying around pair of scissors for cutting flowers and branches.
"Katie!" the girl exclaimed loudly while walking towards them, "Miranda needs some help with the Monstera Deliciosa plant, she thinks its dying."
Annabeth remembered the Monstera Deliciosa plant, it was highly poisonous when it wasn't ripe and it was highly rare in these areas. Although, when ripe it is said to be taste like all of the fruits combined leaving the eater with their tastebuds tingling.
"Okay, I will check it out," replied Katie, "Ohh and by the way the maid who is suppose to be helping us out is here." Katie gestured towards Annabeth.
"Hello," Annabeth greeted with a lovely smile spread across her face, "I'm Annabeth, nice to meet you."
Annabeth held her hand out for the girl to shake but she declined, "I'm Juniper by the way, but I would shake your hand," Juniper looked down at her dirty gloves, "But I'm afraid my gloves have dirt all over them."
"Don't worry its fine," laughed Annabeth.
"I better get going and check out the Monstera Deliciosa plant, nice to meet you Annabeth!" Katie waved and left the two.
"I better give you some tasks to do," said Juniper. The two girls walked down the concreted path and were surrounded by multiple flower beds with vibrant flowers in them. Juniper gave her a pair of gardening scissors so she could cut some of the flowers and help make some simple flower bouquets to decorate the Kingdom. Juniper and Annabeth bonded and talked about different topics regarding the war, gardens, and their own families back out home. Of course, Annabeth had to lie but she quite enjoyed her conversations with Juniper and felt like she had already made another friend.
Soon it was nightfall and Annabeth had to resume to her duties as Prince Percy's maid. So Annabeth helped Juniper carry the many bouquets into the castle.
Annabeth and Juniper walked up the castle steps which led to the throne room when Annabeth suddenly remembered she left the last bouquet near the water fountain.
"Hey Juniper," Annabeth said, Juniper turned to her with the two perfectly arranged flower bouquets in her hands. "I just realised I left the last bouquet back by the water fountain I will just go back and get them."
"Are you sure you can find your way back in the dark?" questioned a concerned Juniper.
"Yes, it will be fine," confirmed Annabeth. Annabeth turned around and walked back down the steps and followed the path to the water fountain. With only the faint sunlight to guide her she scrunched her eyes to try and point out any main features. She could vaguely point out the concrete path and she followed down it slowly. Annabeth knew she was getting closer to the water fountain as she could faintly hear the water trickling. With every step she knew she was getting closer so she decided to quicken her pace. She started fast walking and she could see the shape of the water fountain.
She walked towards it and felt around the edges for the lost bouquet. As her hands travelled around the rim of the fountain she finally felt the flowers soft texture and was able to smell the alluring fragrance of the flowers. She picked them up and spun on her heel but stopped when she could hear faint voices in the distance.
She turned around and squinted her eyes once again to make out any shapes in the distance. This time she could see two faint figures in the darkness, one was handing the other some sort of vial with a light green mixture inside it.
The figure handing the vial to the other person said in a hushed whisper, "Dangerous… three drops… and dead."
The other figure nodded before accepting the vial, "Go to their room… three drops…. dead."
Annabeth couldn't fight her curiousity, she was eager to find out what these two were up to. However, she was able to recognised them due to the lack of light. Hoping to catch a glimpse of their faces and their conversation better she took one step towards them. However, she didn't see the twig that laid there on the ground.
CRUNCH!
Annabeth saw the figures run in different directions at the sound of the twig, as if terrified to be recognised. Annabeth couldn't help but wonder what they were planning, she just knew someone would be dead soon and it had something to do with that greenish coloured vial. She would figure this out, she had to find out who the hooded figures were, before something terrible happened.
There can't be anymore spies in Atlantis, Annabeth thought, can there?
She had to figure it out, and with that Annabeth grabbed the bouquet and ran back to the throne room.
I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED IT! IT WAS 6,000 WORDS SO I HOPE IT WAS LONG ENOUGH FOR YOU.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR WOULD LIKE TO TELL ME ANY SUGGESTIONS FEEL FREE TO PM ME!
ONE QUESTION: PLEASE ANSWER IN REVIEW OR PM. WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER LONG CHAPTER 4,000 WORDS AND OVER. HOWEVER, I WIL SPEND MORE TIME ON THEM. OR WOULD YOU LIKE SHORT CHAPTERS AROUND 1,000 TO 2,000 WORDS BUT FREQUENT UPDATES.
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FROM GRACE.
P.S. THIS STORY IS GOING TO BE CONTINUED!