Hey guys! Back again with another chapter. Most of the reactions for the last chapter (both from the people on Fanfiction and friends that I, personally, showed it to) were "OMGs I hate you", "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME", "UPDATE", or "Why?"

I regret nothing :)

Thanks to The Demigod Gryffindor, gopercyjacksonstuff, foureverbookworm, IIangelofmusicII, and OtakuReader for reviewing.

Thank you OtakuReader for the constructive criticism! I hope this chapter clears up the reason behind why this story may seem rushed. (Hint: It's in Annabeth's flashback).

Disclaimer: If I own PJO, then today isn't National Lame Duck Day. (P.S.: Today is National Lame Duck Day.)

Annabeth POV

They skidded to a halt in front of the palace gates, knowing they couldn't enter the castle without direct permission from the king. Annabeth screamed in frustration, earning her a few reprimanding glances; a lady was expected to be more in control of her emotions.

Right now, she couldn't care less about etiquette. She began to pace restlessly, running her hands through her hair, tangling it into a blond nest, while Percy stood stock-still, gaping at the castle doors as if he could still see Rachel's bright red hair waving in the wind like a candle's flame.

"What the HADES was she thinking?" Annabeth demanded. "Does she want to die? She knows fully well that the-"

She was cut off by a hand clamping down on her mouth. Panic overtook her for one moment, and she screamed and kicked instinctively before she realized it was just Percy. "Not here," he whispered into her ear, removing his hand from her mouth. Annabeth nodded, cursing herself for her mistake. Percy took her hand and she allowed herself to be led to his house. She trudged through the door and threw herself on his couch, burying her head in her hands. A moment later, she felt the couch shift and heard the springs creak and moan as Percy sat down next to her.

Neither of them spoke as they considered the weight of the situation. As Annabeth thought up theory after theory about where Rachel could be, her heart seemed to grow heavier. She half-hoped her heart would just turn to stone so it could never be wounded, never be broken. She didn't want to feel anything anymore.

The silence between her and Percy was pressing down on her, suffocating her, the loudest silence she had ever heard.

As if on cue, Percy muttered, "I'm such an idiot."

"You're not an idiot," Annabeth said reflexively.

"Yes, I am, Annabeth!" he exclaimed, his green eyes shining. "Rachel came here from the palace looking for protection from Midas. It was my responsibility to look after her, and I failed." He sunk back onto the couch, pressing his fingertips to the bridge of his nose. "I failed," he repeated miserably.

Annabeth awkwardly touched his arm in an attempt to comfort him. "Percy, she just raced off! No one could have done anything to stop her."

"But if I hadn't told her about Midas-"

"We both know that if you hadn't told her, she'd be mad as Hades."

Percy sighed. "Midas could have taken her away already, or she could be undergoing torture right now, or she could be wasting away in a dungeon, and I don't even know what to do."

Annabeth shifted on the worn seats until she was more comfortable. "Percy, do you remember the story of Pandora's pithos?"

He shrugged. "Sort of. Why?"

Ignoring his question, Annabeth said, "The legend says that Zeus fell in love with Pandora. Hera, offended that her husband would stoop so low as to admire a mere mortal, suggested that Zeus test Pandora's 'perfection' and 'obedience' by giving her a pithos with evil spirits trapped inside it and telling her not to open it. So, of course, Pandora got curious, opened the box, etc. etc., and the evils of the world raged out in a deadly storm: famine, sickness, drought, pain, and greed, but one spirit remained." Annabeth looked up and met Percy's eyes. "Elpis. Hope. Because hope stays with mankind through all ordeals. It is only released when given permission. Hope's the only thing we have right now, and if we give it up, Evil will definitely win."

Percy blinked slowly. "That," he said, "was deep."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "It's evening now. Tomorrow morning, I say we find out where Rachel went and figure things out from there."

Percy's eyes were already closing. "Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena," he murmured groggily. She smiled at him fondly and rose from the couch, starting towards the bed and coming to a halt when she saw Rachel's clothes still lying haphazardly on the mattress. Tears rose to her eyes; she hadn't known the princess that well, but marriage to Midas was not a fate she would wish upon even her worst enemy.

Everything was happening so fast, and all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and leave the rest of the world to muddle through this mess. Then, a memory flashed through her mind, and she smiled.

-FLASHBACK-

She was about five years old, and she sat on her mother's lap, watching the snow fall outside the window. "Mama, I'm cold," she said, "and hungry. Why can't we light the fire and have some stew?"

Her mother stroked her hair patiently with nimble, warm fingers. "The kingdom's going through a hard time, Anna. It'll all be over in a couple of months."

Annabeth fidgeted anxiously. "We were all happy a little while ago. Why is everything happening so fast?"

"I know life's moving quickly," her mother replied, "but the brave people are the ones who stay strong, stay standing, even when the world is changing rapidly. The brave ones are the trees that stand tall despite the rushing flood of water around them, while the cowards hide below the surface. Annabeth, our character is determined by the way we respond to change – the bad sort. After all, they say the best things happen to the worst people."

-FLASHBACK-

That was when Annabeth believed she was still safe from the reality of the world, when she thought she had another decade to grow up.

Glancing back toward Percy, who was snoozing peacefully on the couch, his face a thousand years younger, Annabeth grabbed a blanket off the floor and curled up on the seat next to Percy, careful not to touch him, and threw the cloth over both of them.

She vowed that wherever Rachel may be, she would find her, and be brave about it. She'd make her mother proud. Annabeth closed her eyes, drifting into a dreamless sleep.

Percy POV

Sunlight shone through the windows of his house, hitting him squarely in the face. Percy groaned and tried to block out the sun with one arm, opening his eyes blearily. He almost jumped out of his skin when he saw Annabeth lying on his chest, a blanket draped over both of them. Her lips were slightly parted, and her hands were latching onto his shirt. She looked younger in her sleep, the worry lines on her face faded and her usually tense muscles relaxed.

He tried to think of a logical thing to do, but all his thoughts were some variation of "Um…Umm…UMM…" Slowly, he circled his arms around her and kissed her forehead gently, maybe because he was feeling daring, but probably because his brain was still half-asleep.

Annabeth shifted, opening her eyes and squinting in the sunlight. She tensed and blushed as she realized what position they were in, and Percy internally recited a stream of every expletive under the sun. "Um," she said in a small voice.

Percy immediately removed his arms from her waist and scrambled off the couch, landing face-first on the floor with a THUMP. Annabeth snorted, Percy suppressed a chuckle, and before he knew it, they were both laughing loudly, shamelessly. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed, this feeling of giddiness overtaking his mind, his ribs shaking, his stomach hurting, but in the best way possible. As they both sobered up, with weak little chortling aftershocks, wiping tears from their eyes, Percy knew that he'd never felt this good in a long, long time.

After they had both washed up, they stood by the window, feeding Blackbeard. "So now, we just have to find Rachel," Annabeth said.

Percy glanced up as Beckendorf ran past his open window, shouting over his shoulder, "Urgent gathering near the palace! The king's going to deliver a message!"

Percy and Annabeth exchanged a meaningful glance. "I think we're about to find out where Rachel went," Percy said. She nodded her agreement, and they raced out of the door, joining the tightly packed crowd in a march towards the castle.

About half an hour later, they stood before the palace as the king, flanked by two bodyguards twice his size, stood on a small podium. He said in his nasal voice, "It is my pleasure to announce that I, His Majesty the Great King Charles Dare, have made an alliance with King Midas in exchange for presenting my daughter's hand in marriage to this great and noble man. Princess Rachel Elizabeth Dare is now queen of the Midas kingdom!"

The effect was instantaneous. Ripples of whispering ran throughout the crowd, each different. Some were glad to be rid of the princess, others knew that Midas could now torture Rachel for information about the Dare kingdom, and still others wailed about how coldhearted it was to subject an innocent girl to Midas' cruelty. The king continued, shouting over the people's voices, "Princess Rachel left with King Midas this morning to his castle, and the couple's wedding will be in several weeks!"

Percy met Annabeth's stormy gray eyes, which looked darker than ever. "She's already gone," he said meekly. "Midas took her."

Annabeth placed a hand on his arm gently. "Let's go home. I have an idea."

AT PERCY'S HOUSE::

"You want to call a gathering of all the poor people in the city?" Percy asked incredulously.

"Not all of them," Annabeth said hastily. "Just some representatives. They need to be people who can make decisions for themselves, people who are independent and capable of being leaders. And we need them assembled in the Square as soon as possible."

Percy smiled, thinking. "I know the perfect people."

Annabeth bit her lip. "That's great, but how are we going to get messages out to them by this evening? Knock on everyone's doors?"

Percy scoffed, walking over to Blackbeard's cage. "No, of course not. Blackbeard has some wild guinea pig friends. Whenever I need to send a message, I just use a guinea pig."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "You have carrier guinea pigs? Like carrier pigeons?"

"Who doesn't have carrier guinea pigs?" Percy retorted.

Annabeth stayed silent for a full minute. "You know," she said finally, "the more I get to know you, the more I regret it."

Percy grinned. "I love you, too, Annabeth dearie. Now come on. Help me write these messages."

Three hours later, when the sun was near the horizon and the messages had been written and sent, Annabeth and Percy stood next to each other in the Square as hundreds of people filed in, standing in a disorganized mob. Annabeth nudged Percy, motioning for him to address the audience. He knew that she would rather give the speech, but because of long, deep-seated prejudices, men were generally treated with more reverence than women.

He stood as confidently as he could before the peasants of the city, trying to seem as authoritative as possible and probably failing miserably. "Citizens of the Dare kingdom! I have called you here today to bring to your attention a disconcerting problem." He took a deep breath. "Midas intends to wage war on this kingdom and take it for himself. It is up to us, the citizens, to stop him. The king refuses to acknowledge this truth, and Midas will never expect retaliation from the lowest classes in society."

"What can we do?" a man in the back called out. "We are the scum of society, ever disgraced, and do you really think we will be able to make a difference?"

"Forget that," another man interrupted. "What have this kingdom and its rulers ever done for us? Why should we go riding to our deaths like madmen when there was no life worth living in this hellhole?"

Annabeth stood up suddenly, marching towards the audience. "It is your duty to serve your kingdom," she said calmly, and with much more power than Percy could ever have injected into his voice, "not only because this is the kingdom that gave you food and money, however little it may be, but also for this reason: if Midas takes over this kingdom, the life you suffer through now will seem like a pleasant dream." Sweeping her gaze over the crowd, she continued, "Take it from me; I lived in Midas' city for years, and he has made my existence more miserable than most of you realize. If you prevent Midas from overthrowing the king, I will do everything in my power to change the life you have now, and give you the justice you deserve."

A burly man in a ripped tunic stepped forward from the mob. "How do we know we can trust you, eh? You're nothing but a mere woman," he spat.

Percy started forward furiously, but Annabeth grasped his arm, an unusually placid expression on her face. Turning to the peasants, the man continued, "To Hades with this lot of Drakonian rubbish. I say we take over the kingdom ourselves when Dare is weakened! As soon as Midas' forces strike this kingdom, we'll put ourselves in charge of the government!"

"You can't do that!" Percy yelled. "You'll just tear yourselves apart looking for power."

"Not to mention the rather huge problem of getting everyone to listen to you without the use of force," Annabeth added in a quiet, angry voice.

The man leered at her. "Who said we ain't usin' violence, eh?"

Annabeth's eyes hardened. "You'd just be proving yourself a tyrant, no better than Midas or Dare!"

The man waved her off dismissively. "Who cares? All that matters is that we will have power." He turned back to the crowd, bellowing, "Who's with me?!"

Percy felt his heart sink as more than half of the poor responded enthusiastically, following the man away from the Square. A small group of about fifty people was left, and his heart softened to see them. Silena, Beckendorf, Leo, Travis, Connor – his friends. They hadn't left him, not even now. "Thanks, guys," he said, smiling slightly.

Leo grinned. "The pint-sized McSchizzle is always here for ya, man."

"What?" Annabeth asked, looking thoroughly confused.

"Oh," Percy said eloquently. "Introductions. Friends, meet Annabeth. Annabeth, meet my other friends."

A chorus of "hi"s was received, and Annabeth waved awkwardly. Silena broke the silence by saying breezily, "So, Annabeth, Percy told us you had a plan."

They all looked at her, and she seemed to grow in height, her gray eyes sweeping over his friends' faces. "There is no alternative. We have everything we need here: strategists, metalworkers, healers, fighters."

"So what's your idea?" Percy asked, bewildered.

Her eyes darkened several shades, a fire alighting within them. "Prepare for war."

Rachel POV (Again, any grammatical errors in this section are intentional)

She was taken away to Midas' castle, and he locked her in his dungeon. It was dark in there, and cold, and damp. She saw rats and bugs. She hated rats and bugs. The first day she screamed until her throat went raw. The second day she sobbed hysterically. And the third… well the third day was today. Third day today.

She rocked back and forth as Midas came to get her. She hadn't had food, nope nope nope. No food for Rachel. This time he takes her upstairs. There's a fire here. She likes fires. Warm and cozy warm and cozy. And then a guard comes and throws her a hunk of moldy bread and gives her a cup of water and she pounces on it like a rabid animal, wolfing it down like a lion devours his prey.

Now, she could think. Midas leaned closer to her and leered at her. "Now tell me, my pretty one, where your father is keeping the key to his wealth."

The same question, every day. Every single day, something about her father holding treasure in his castle and having a key. Midas had tried starving her, tried locking her away, but she could only tell him what she knew. Rachel looked up at him, trying to make her eyes spew fire, but did not respond.

Midas' expression hardened even further. "I asked you a question! Where is the KEY?!"

"I don't know," Rachel replied coolly.

Midas roared in frustration and picked up the hot poker lying next to him, pressing it against Rachel's arm. She gasped, but clenched her teeth against the scream that rose in her throat. "Burn, my pretty," Midas hissed. Burn…

The world blurred and spun around her as Midas stuck the poker in the fire, heating it further, and pressed harder. He asked her again and again: where is the key where is the key where is the key. And every time, she told him the truth.

A low, inhuman growl ripped its way out of his throat. Raising the poker, he carved a long gash down her arm. For several seconds, Rachel felt nothing. Then, the pain hit her like a speeding steed and oh gods death seemed preferable. The Fields of Punishment seemed preferable. It was worse than anything she'd ever experienced; there were no words to describe it and it would never end how could it possibly end?

Rachel couldn't help it. Throwing back her head, she screamed into the night. It was a scream of torture and of innocence being shattered like glass. It was a scream that echoed off the tops of the trees into the heavens, as the angels, those precious few messengers of love that still remained, cradled their heads in their hands and wept.

Umm… hi? So all of you probably hate me right now, which I'm totally cool with. See, it was a comparatively light-hearted chapter until I put the Rachel thing in, because no chapter is complete without our poor Rachel being tortured. I feel so bad for her right now. She is suffering my wrath. I've had a stressful week (homework, homework, and more homework), so I took it out on poor Rachel. Sorry!

Anyway, tell me what you think in a review! Thanks for reading, and CC is always welcome. Happy Lame Duck Day.