READ IMPORTANT A.N. AT THE BOTTOM

Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter, and this is my first post of 2015! *Cheering and noisemakers*

Thanks to The Demigod Gryffindor and FourFearsForever for reviewing chapter 6.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Percy's POV

He was in his hut when he heard the news. Crouched behind the sofa, he was attempting to fold his threadbare clothes when he was snapped out of his reverie. He heard the sound of hundreds of people moving at once, speaking in loud voices. The sound carried through his dirty window, making his newfound pet guinea pig, Blackbeard, squeak in fright. He raced over to the door and poked his head out, calling out to an old man who lived down the street, "Ernie? Do you know what's going on?"

Ernie looked up blearily. "Word on the street's that th' Princess ran 'way," he said. Shock flooded through him. Rachel ran away? He sprinted out of his hut, pushing through the crowd with muttered "excuse me"s. He needed to see if it was true, if she really had escaped. He cursed himself a thousand times. This was his fault. If he hadn't told her that her father was going to marry her to Midas, she never would have been pressured into running away. She didn't know anything of the kingdom! If the king had a reward out for her, she would have people searching for her in every nook and cranny of the whole city, especially the poor, most of whom would kill for a spare drachma.

He ran faster, the shock and fear inside him pumping every step. As he neared the castle, the only thought inside his head was "Please don't let it be true, please let it be just a rumor."

He skidded to a stop just before the palace's boundaries, and took in the scene with horror. Guards swarmed every square inch of the castle grounds, as if they were waiting for a command to set out and search the city. The king waddled about, giving instructions to the generals while the queen sat passively by, disappointment obvious in every firm line of her face. Turning his head slightly, Percy received a thrill of fear when he saw a wanted poster up, which displayed a picture of Rachel with the caption:

PRINCESS RACHEL ELIZABETH DARE

AGE: 16

RUNAWAY FROM THE PALACE

REWARD OF 10,000 DRACHMAS TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO FINDS PRINCESS RACHEL AND BRINGS HER DIRECTLY TO HIS MAJESTY KING CHARLES WILLIAM DARE

His heart pounded erratically, and he reached out and tore the wanted poster down. It was ironic to think that one month ago, he would have scoffed and dismissed the princess's disappearance as the foolish wanderings of a spoiled brat. Now, he was prepared to protect her like she was his own sister. His legs, seemingly moving of their own accord, turned him away from the castle and back to his hut.

He shuffled slowly, one villager in the large mass, when a flash of gold caught his eye. He glanced over to the woods, where the movement seemed to have come from. He didn't think he could be any more shocked today, but she proved him wrong. "She" was the girl from his dreams, the pretty, blond-haired, gray-eyed angel who rescued him from the shadow creatures. He stopped walking, stopped thinking, stopped breathing. They held each other's gaze for what seemed like an unbelievably long time, but it wasn't long enough. He wanted to go to her and ask her what her name was, perhaps enquire if she had turned into an angel and saved anyone from dark, evil beasts in dream world recently, but the crowd pushed them apart. He craned his neck to catch one last glimpse of her, but she was gone. Like she'd never been there in the first place.

TIME LAPSE:: TIME LAPSE:: TIME LAPSE

He stumbled through the door of his house. Blackbeard squeaked in greeting, but Percy hardly heard him. He flopped down on the couch, trying to make sense of everything. His mother had always told him, "When life looks hard, go back to basics and try to find a solution." She'd always been hardworking, not really a "believe and everything will magically get better" type of person.

He ran his fingers through his hair. He'd told Rachel that she was going to marry King Midas. He'd had his share of experiences with Midas before, and all he wanted to do was warn her of the danger to come. But, Rachel, most likely out of despair and fear, ran away from the palace and could be anywhere. The trick was to get to her before anybody with harmful intentions could. Problem: she could be anywhere. He sighed. He was just going in circles with the Rachel issue, so he decided to move on to the gray-eyed girl.

He didn't know why he felt such a strong connection to her, almost as if they were childhood friends who had long since forgotten each other. All he did was dream of her! It was like they'd met before; Percy just didn't know where. Confused and frustrated, he stretched out on the couch and was asleep in two seconds.

He was trapped in a jail cell, feeling as if the world around him was crashing down. He stole some important guy's crown, and so he was going to die tonight? The unfairness of it all made him want to scream, or cry, or punch a wall. Or all of them. He heard footsteps in the hallway, and dread accumulated inside his gut as if he had drunk molten lead that had solidified in his stomach. He was going to die. When the guards came, he struggled almost instinctively. He knew that fighting wouldn't make any difference against the guards' burly masses, but he wanted to go down knowing that he'd put up a good fight. His hands were tied, and he was blindfolded and dragged out into the hallway, still twisting and turning, attempting to see past the cloth that masked his vision, when he heard a voice.

"Stop in the name of the king!" The guards, surprisingly, stopped. Who was this person? "I am Annabeth Chase, secretary to the king, and this prisoner needs to come with me!" Inwardly, he smiled grimly. He should have known. Perhaps the secretary, Annabeth, was going to torture him before he died. The guards bowed repeatedly and babbled meaninglessly about Annabeth's greatness after her last words, which made things very uncomfortable for Percy, since they were still pinning his arms tightly. She cut cleanly across their little show. "Hand Prisoner B639 over."

He felt himself being thrust over to Annabeth, who grasped his arm tightly. He struggled to loosen his blindfold, but didn't want to speak. They already had enough intelligence on him; they didn't need more. Then, he was led down what seemed like thousands of flights of stairs. After they reached the bottom, Annabeth pushed the door open and loosened the rope that tied his hands. Was this some kind of trick?

"I'm letting you go," she murmured. "Don't waste your breath asking why or thanking me. As soon as I tell you, run into the woods, cross the lake, and go to the Dare kingdom." He was utterly confused. What could she have to gain by letting him go? Then it hit him. She wasn't loyal to the king. He was so relieved he felt like singing, or flying, or hugging her, or all of them.

But, his relief was short-lived. A guard's voice cut gruffly through the night air. "Hey! Just what do you think you're doing?"

Annabeth looked terrified, and he didn't blame her. "Go," she said, her voice breaking. He couldn't leave her to this guard; it wouldn't be right. "Go!" she screamed, and he could tell she meant it. Ripping his blindfold from his eyes, he sprinted into the woods, trying to ignore the feeling of shame coursing through every bone in his body.

His heart stopped as he heard a scream from behind him.

Percy jolted awake, clawing at the air in front of him. Recently, the scene of Annabeth and how she'd helped him escape recurred in his dreams. He felt regretful that he hadn't even seen her face.

A loud knocking ripped him from his thoughts. He opened the door cautiously to see… Rachel. She wore a dirty brown dress and her noticeable red hair was tucked up into a brown cloth. Her face was streaked with mud, and she stood on his front porch as if they were in a perfectly normal scenario. "Hello, Percy," she said casually.

He said something like "Gah!"

She rolled her eyes. "Are you going to let me in or do I have to push past you?"

He stepped aside, recovering his wits enough to ask, "How did you know where I live?"

"I asked your neighbor," she responded, looking around his hut. "He's a lovely old fellow, by the way." Finishing her examination, she nodded triumphantly. "This'll do," she said, putting her simple cloth bag down on his bed.

"B-Wha- that's my bed!" he spluttered.

"And now it's mine," she contradicted coolly.

He rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath. "Okay, fine. But are you going to tell me what in Hades you were thinking when you ran away from the palace?"

She turned to him, and for the first time, her eyes betrayed a bit of fear. "I just- I couldn't go on knowing I was going to be married to that son of a gorgon. I wanted to do something about it, not just sit by and have all the decisions made for me like I have the past 15 years of my life. And this was the only solution I could think of."

He nodded; he could relate to that. "Well, welcome to my humble abode, then."

TIME LAPSE: THREE HOURS LATER

The sun was setting when Percy thought of the gray-eyed girl again. He had this sudden, reckless urge to go to the place he'd last seen her, near the palace, and try to find her again. It's now or never, he thought. Telling Rachel he'd be back soon, he grabbed his cloak and headed out.

He didn't even have to walk all the way to the palace to find her. He'd barely turned the corner from his street when he saw her, talking to the man with the deep brown eyes that had asked him for change… was it just last month? It seemed years ago. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but he just found himself listening to their conversation, shock overwhelming him when he heard the girl's name.

OHLOOKITSALINEBREAK

Annabeth POV

Annabeth had been living in the woods for some time, and that day, there was a huge crowd flocking to the palace. Curious, she watched from behind a tree as masses of people came to the castle. She heard snatches of their conversations: "That reward money's mine for sure…" "I hope the poor dear's not dead, though she may be better off that way…" "Do you think the king will ever increase the amount of money…?"

Oh, Annabeth realized, the princess ran away. She felt a pang of pity for the young girl. Princess Rachel had been spoiled and bratty her whole life, but recently, something had changed. The Dare Kingdom press reluctantly reported that she'd been seen hanging around the poor more often. Annabeth wasn't too surprised. Her point of view had been altered, and Rachel was just as likely to experience a change of heart.

The crowd had slowly begun to back away from the palace, and in the masses, Annabeth wasn't sure how she spotted that messy black hair, but somehow, she did. That messy black hair that was so much like Prisoner B639's. As if sensing her thoughts, the boy turned to meet her gaze, and she found that his eyes were startling green. Beautiful and clear, they reminded her of the sea on a warm, sunny day. They held each others' gaze for what seemed like hours, before he was ripped away by the crowd, and Annabeth slunk back into the shadows. She definitely couldn't be sure that this was the same man as Prisoner B639, and he probably wasn't, but she definitely felt a connection (as cheesy as that sounded) with him, as if they'd met before.

LATER THAT DAY

Annabeth walked into the poor district to see if she could get a job; anything would do – she just needed a steady source of income. A hand closed on her wrist, making her flinch instinctively. "Spare change?" a familiar voice croaked.

She turned her head and met the deep brown eyes of… "Chiron!" she cried out in excitement.

His eyes lit up and he engulfed her in a hug. "Oh, Annabeth, my child, it's so lovely to see you!" He held her at arms length and scrutinized her. "The palace exiled you, too, did they?"

She lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "Not an exile, more like a daring prison break and police chase across the border."

His eyes twinkled. "That sounds more exciting than the way I was thrown out of the government's workings. Come to my hut, and we'll talk." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders protectively, and she followed him. Chiron was like her father, and for once, Annabeth felt safe.

She didn't know that that feeling wouldn't last for very long.

IMPORTANT AN: As everyone knows, it is January (if you didn't know that, go buy yourself a calendar), and in January, schools like to establish a new method of torture known as MIDTERMS. I will go through this torture within two weeks or so. The torture will last 1-2 weeks. The time before the torture and during the torture (which spans to about all of January), I won't be able to update very often or at all. I'M SO SORRY but school really does come first.

Please leave a review on your way out giving me feedback! I use every bit of advice I get and every review is helpful to my writing process.