I got less readers on the last chapter but that's okay. To those who had read,reviewed,followed, and favorited. I know that I don't get to thank you guys too often so, Thank you! I hope you like this chapter as much as you liked the others.

Son of Dragon:

Are you kidding me?!You guys are always one chapter ahead of me. I know right? I don't know why I get attracted to a mad Percy

Sora loves Rain: Thank you. Happy New Year!

Goddess of Idiots: Hope you like this new chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Annabeth

Annabeth and her friends had a hard time bringing the unconscious Jason to the small palace of her mother's close friend and one of the council members of Greece, Lady Aphrodite. She had a hard time remembering the palace since she was only five years old when she stayed there and according to one of the maids, they changed the decorations every month.

Lady Aphrodite and her husband, Lord Tristan, welcomed them and ordered the healers to attend Jason's wound immediately.

At first, all of them enjoyed the luxury of living in a place where there are real beds and real foods but Annabeth immediately learned how tough it was to be back to a place where there are enough people to gossip. She made Percy follow her around so that he couldn't hear any rumors about her engagement since it was not proper to talk about the princess when she's around. She even had to ask Nico and Luke to look after Percy when she's not around.

The biggest challenge was when they had conversations at their meals with Lady Aphrodite and her family. Aphrodite and her two daughters Silena and Drew always look for a way to put her engagement with the Emperor's son in their conversation. Annabeth was only lucky that she found ways to change the topic before it brought Percy's attention. Though she does not know how long that luck would change.

A day after they got to the castle, a messenger came from Rome. He was supposed to be on his way to Annabeth's home to give the king the message but the path that he took was too difficult and he needed a place of refuge which was when he found the isolated castle in the middle of the forest.

"It was only after Praetor Jason left;" He said "Oh it was awful, very awful indeed."

Annabeth was one of the people who were in the throne room with him looked at him with concern, "What is it?"

He crawled towards her and grabbed her wrists which almost made her jump in surprise, "War, your majesty." He was shaking as he said that, "Our people did not expected it. We lost too much but the emperor told us not to fret for we had plan. Oh yes, your highness. A brilliant plan. But he asked me to go after the Praetor to delay your arrival for he was not sure that the end of the war will take a month."

Annabeth didn't know how to take the news. She was certainly glad that she was free, at least until the war finishes and she was angry since the arrival of the news made the whole kingdom buzzing with excitement and chattering. Annabeth had to be on guard more. On the third day, she finally noticed that she was terrible at it.

One good example of her miserable failure was at breakfast when Silena mentioned the party for the announcement. It was actually terrible. After telling that awful lie, Percy kept looking at her like she was secretly a murderer. Even after breakfast, while she was explaining the situation to Jason, he kept on giving that look to her.

"So we're stuck here," Annabeth heard Jason concluded. Her eyes were still on Percy who now looked like he just ate a bad fruit.

"You don't sound too upset."

"Trust me I am but I'm on a quest to guard and guide you through your journey. If I abandon you and rush to help my people then I'll be stripped off my position and marked as a coward and a traitor."

Annabeth turned her attention back to Jason, "I'm sorry." She said "You have to be stuck here when you could be back in Rome, protecting everything you care for."

He just shrugged, "If you don't mind, I'd like to look around."

"Of course," Annabeth responded and watched as he stood and left. She sighed as she turned her head to Percy who was still looking at her oddly.

"Will you stop that?" She snapped

"It's not you," He replied then muttered, "It's who's behind you. Don't look; he'll know we're talking about him. Gods, what did I do to deserve that awful look he's giving me?"

Annabeth knew what Percy was talking about. The person who was staring at him was Nico. When they were fourteen, they concluded that Nico had a personal grudge against Percy though they both didn't know what caused that grudge. They were both too nervous to ask the boy, not knowing if the question would offend him too much.

"That's rich coming from you." She blurted out. He looked startled as he turned his eyes back to her, she tried to hid the redness of her cheeks by turning her head, "You kept on looking at me the same way."

"That's different," He argued "You're hiding something from me."

"I am not," Annabeth said outrageously

He chuckled bitterly, "I may be oblivious but I'm not stupid. I know you're hiding something from me."

"Percy, I'm not hiding anything from you." She insisted but she knew that he wouldn't believe her. Percy never gives up on anything. It was one of the things she admired about him but there are times when she found that trait annoying.

He snorted, "You're a terrible liar." He said "You know, you used to tell me everything. I was supposed to be your best friend, remember?"

Her heart started to grow heavier as he started to walk away from her, "Where are you going?" She asked

"I don't know, maybe some place to think."

"Percy, don't do this," She started but it was already too late. He was already gone.

Annabeth ran her hand through her hair. She can't go after him, he'll just resent her even more but if she didn't go after him, he'll learn her secret which will make him resent her even more. Just when she thought she was hopeless, a dark haired boy started passing by again.

"Nico!" She exclaimed as she ran towards him

Annabeth created this mess when she chose the wrong path. There was no going back. She just had to find a way to get back on track.

A/N: Thank you for reading. I apologize for the grammar and spelling mistakes. Please Review, Favorite, and Follow. Bye!