Hey! Sorry for the wait! So this chapter is fairly short. I wanted to get this out before my exams on October 31. At least I know my Halloween's going to be scary. I hope everyone has a great day! Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO, HoO, Star Wars and other familiar references. All rights belong to their original owners.

Of Crowns and Cookies

Chapter Eleven

"Okay," Annabeth said finally, snapping her fingers in front of Percy's faraway look. "What's wrong?"

He stared at her for a few seconds, wondering how long he was out this time. Finally he shook his head, focusing his attention back to his half-finished breakfast. "Nothing's wrong."

"Stop picking at your food, Percy," she chastised him.

"Not hungry."

She sighed, reaching out two fingers from across the table and placing them under his chin. She directed his gaze back at her. "See? Now there's something definitely wrong. You've been like this since last night."

And that was true. Yesterday when they saw each other at the field, Travis had politely asked the rest of them to leave while he talked in private with Percy. The Pherena prince was bewildered that Luke managed to contact Percy before mysteriously disappearing, and he was even more shocked to discover that Luke lied about him and Travis not going back to the academy. King Hermes definitely didn't say anything about not returning and being locked up in the palace forever.

And the whole time, Percy felt an ugly ache in his chest. He didn't know what to believe anymore. Luke, his first friend at the academy, possibly lied to him. What was worse was that his sudden disappearance made him a suspect for Connor's death.

But the rest of the world didn't know. The rest of the academy's knowledge was limited to the fact that Luke Castellan was no longer coming back. He didn't disappear; he just didn't want to return.

"You can't tell anyone, Percy," Travis had told him yesterday. "Not even Annabeth. Not yet."

Percy remembered frowning, shaking his head in disbelief at everything he was hearing. "What's going on, Travis?"

"I don't know. But what I do know is what caused Connor to die," Travis said. "My mother – the Queen of Pherena – finally agreed to an autopsy, and she says it's okay for the rest of the school to know. It's going to be announced tomorrow by the holo-broadcasting system."

"I'll wait," Percy had promised, not pressuring his friend to say anything he didn't want to say. "But…"

Gone were the days of Travis' mischievous demeanor. His dark expression looked so much like Luke's it was scary. "We don't know anything about the bastard who killed my brother. Not yet. Whoever he is, he's dead to me."

"Olympus to Percy," Annabeth was saying, once again breaking Percy out of his stupor.

Percy wanted to tell her so bad it started to hurt. "I want to tell you something," he said despite of what Travis said.

"Related to what you talked about with Travis yesterday?"

He nodded slowly. "I'm not supposed to," he sighed, frustrated. "But I can't keep anything from you. And this thing—it's driving me nuts. I can't—" he took a deep breath after he realized he was hyperventilating. "—I can't—I don't understand. What the hell is going on?"

She smiled sympathetically. "I don't understand either, Percy. You're going to have to calm down."

"Luke's gone," he blurted out, getting more nervous and frustrated by the second.

"Everyone knows, Percy," she said, cocking her head to the side in confusion. "I mean, no one can blame him. What happened to Connor Stoll is enough to make anyone traumatized about coming back."

"No, no." Percy shook his head. "That's not what I meant. Look, last winter he called me and he said he and Travis weren't going back. That King Hermes practically won't allow them out of the palace anymore."

"I don't get your point." Annabeth's lips pursed. "So, Travis must've talked him out of it, but Luke—"

He cut her off. "Except Travis said King Hermes said no such thing."

She stared at him. "… I don't understand."

Percy took a deep breath, the pain of having his trust broken returning. "Annabeth, Luke lied to me. He's gone. He's ran away, according to Travis. No one's seen him since the break. And apparently—" were his hands shaking? "—I'm the last known person he's had any contact with."

Annabeth's shaken look was enough to tell him that she suddenly felt nervous. "Gods. Percy… you don't think he—"

Percy nodded reluctantly. "He's a suspect now. But you can't tell anyone. Travis made me swear not to say anything, but…"

"I won't tell," she promised. "That's pretty big news, all right. Percy? Please be careful."

Their conversation was cut off by the sound of music blasting from the mess hall speakers. Suddenly the holo-projectors flashed brightly, and everyone eating their breakfast was greeted by the holographic image of a girl in her school uniform. It looked like she was talking from behind a desk. She had a stack of papers on her hands.

"Good morning, Olympus Academy," she said. "This is Calypso Atlas of Ogygia, bringing you today's news and highlights. First thing's first and I'm going to cut to the chase, we bring you official reports from the planet of Pherena. After last month's incident of His Highness Connor Stoll's death, today we'll be officially announcing – with consent from the royal palace of Pherena and the royal family - the results of his autopsy."

The whole mess hall was quiet as everyone held their breaths.

Even Calypso, the reporter, looked like she was shaking as she read from her script. "Autopsy results indeed show that the fallen prince was poisoned. A significant amount of indigestible Toxic Tulips were extracted from his system. How His Highness was able to have such an intake is considerably unknown. The kingdom of Pherena reports that they are doing the best they can for further investigation."

"In the meantime," Calypso continued. "Keep safe, everyone. May Connor Stoll rest in peace."

The rest of the students were still quiet as the reporter continued to talk about other news and announcements for the day.

Finally, Annabeth spoke, breaking the silence between her and Percy. "…how is that possible?" she whispered to no one in particular. Then she looked at Percy with a serious expression. "Did you hear what she said?"

"Poison," he muttered. "Toxic something; I don't know."

"Toxic Tulips." Her nose scrunched in disgust as she said the words. "Do you remember the first time we were at the library? When you were doing your Geography One project while I was studying Biology One?"

"…yeah?" He wasn't sure where she was going.

"Biology One is essentially Botany, and if I remember correctly I was complaining about poisonous plants with adorable names."

"And…" he said slowly. "Toxic Tulips was one of them? Doesn't sound that scary to me."

"Names can be deceiving," she stated. "Percy, that particular plant can only be found in Tartarus."

His senses were suddenly tingling. "What?"

"It's not something you can just find anywhere." Her lips formed a straight line. Her eyebrows scrunched even further. "I don't understand how that's the cause of Connor's death. It's not like he's going to eat it randomly. And I don't think he's made any recent trips to Tartarus."

"And if that's not the case…" Percy gulped. "Someone here…" He didn't want to finish the thought.

The look of horror on Annabeth's face was already enough proof of the looming danger. "There must be someone in this school we can't trust."

What was becoming a horrible day was instantly turned upside down by Piper McLean's sudden bossiness.

"I need to talk to you," she told Percy, slamming her hand on his table and snapping him out of his reverie. Around him people were buzzing in the mess hall. The new semester brought him a Monday lunch schedule without Jason or Leo or Annabeth.

He didn't even notice he was zoning out again. He was thankful Piper decided this moment to bother him.

"Um…" he started. He wasn't sure if the demanding look on her face made him want to laugh or be scared. "Can I help you, Piper?"

She looked annoyed. "No."

And that absolutely confused him. "I thought you wanted to talk to me?"

"I do, but I don't think there's anything you can do to help. Your roommate is the densest human being in the whole of Olympus," she complained, sliding down on the seat in front of him.

Percy decided this moment to snicker (which was probably a bad idea, considering the fuming princess in front of him). "Oh, you mean Leo? Yeah, he is kinda dense. Don't worry; you just have to give him a little more time to—"

She reached over and smacked him at the back of the head. "I'm talking about Jason, you seaweed brain," she huffed.

Percy's guffaws probably attracted more than half of the people in the mess hall. "Relax. I know."

Piper heaved out a frustrated sigh. "Now's probably not the time to be worrying about stuff like this, I know." She shook her head. "But ugh. You told me once he was absolutely clueless about girls, but gods, Percy, you weren't exaggerating!"

He smiled sympathetically, knowing his best friend. "You've got to elaborate, Princess."

"We talked everyday during the break – oh, don't give me that look; I know you talked to Annabeth everyday, too. But, anyway, I thought we were great. Sometimes I called him and sometimes he called me first. And I think I made it clear more than once that I liked him. I mean, I'm kind of obvious, right?"

Percy snorted. "The whole of Olympus thinks you're obvious."

She whacked him again. "Oh, shut up. And… and… there were times, Percy, that I swore he felt the same way. And I don't know." She sighed. "I thought things were going to be a little bit different once the second semester started."

Oh, Piper. If only you knew.

"Hmm," he muttered. "Are we done?"

Piper nodded miserably. "You must think I'm really stupid now, huh?"

"Not at all." He grinned. "I understand. You're from that overpopulated planet, aren't you? Love's your advocacy and all that."

She kicked him under the table this time.

"First of all," he said, laughing. "I was kidding. And second, ow."

She grimaced, whining. "You're laughing at me!"

"Not at you, I promise," Percy assured her, but there were still traces of a smile on his face. "It's just that… well, we're talking about Jason here. He's in the process of becoming normal. Hey, did you know he knows how to ride a hoverboard now?"

"Yeah, he was excited to tell me."

"And anyway, girls are entirely a new concept to him. He's probably really, really confused about your advances towards him."

"Advances," she scoffed. "Sure, call it that way."

"Now's probably the time I'd offer to help, but…"

"No, no," she said. "There's not much you can do, anyway."

"I can hit him on the head until he starts seeing sense of why you're flirting with him."

"Does he even know what flirting means?"

Percy shrugged. "Not sure. You can try talking to him, you know."

"I talk to him all the time."

"No, like… talk to him about your feelings?" He internally cringed at his words. What was he doing? Why was he the one giving the advice?

Her expression was priceless. "You mean… I ask him out?"

He couldn't see what was wrong with that (what does he know?), but Piper's face said otherwise. "Um…"

Her expression softened. "Hmm, yeah. That could work."

"Feminism," he piped in randomly. "Being a strong independent woman. Stuff like that. I don't know. See? You don't need my help after all."

She hit him for the millionth time that day. He was going to develop a bruise, he was sure.

"What is up with you and Annabeth and hitting people?" He complained, rubbing a sore spot.

"Annabeth was right." Piper grinned. "Talking to you was a great idea."

He snorted, amused. "What in the world was Annabeth thinking?" Percy joked. "Did she think I'm some sort of love expert now?"

Piper shrugged, grinning slyly at him. "Maybe. Obviously you're doing something right with her."

She burst out laughing at the blush on his cheeks.

Jason burst into their room, face sweaty and backpack nearly falling off his shoulder.

"Whoa," Leo said at the sight of the Prince of Katias. "What happened to you?"

Jason was breathing loudly. He held up a hand, signaling his roommates to wait, while the other held one of his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Dude." Percy dangled his legs to the side of his bed, sitting up and putting the book he was reading down. "Are you okay?"

Jason managed to do a frantic gesture with his head. Percy wasn't sure if he was shaking it or nodding. "Piper," he managed to choke out, still breathing heavily.

That got Leo and Percy's attention. Both boys stared at each other, identical worried expressions on their faces.

"Piper?" Leo asked slowly. "Is she all right?"

"She… she…" Jason stuttered. "She asked me out."

Leo's expression suddenly turned annoyed. He threw a pillow at the panicking prince. "Dude! You scared the living crap out of us!"

"What?" Jason defended, throwing the pillow back at him. "I'm scared, too!"

Percy laid back down on his bed, grinning but not saying anything and returning to his book. He didn't expect Piper to act this fact, but eh. The look on Jason's face was worth it.

"About time she did something," Leo commented. "We were growing old waiting for you."

"I wasn't sure if she liked me!"

Percy peered from his book. "You're kidding us, right?"

Jason pointed at accusing finger at him. "You! Piper told me you had something to do with this!"

"Calm down, dude. Are you… trembling?"

"Don't laugh at me!"

"You did say yes, right?" Leo asked.

"I'm not that stupid." Jason scowled. "Of course I did."

Leo shrugged. "Just checking. Didn't want to risk you being clueless again."

The blond prince groaned, moving towards Percy's bed and dramatically lying down by the Aspyros prince's feet. "What am I going to do?" He tugged one of Percy's legs. "Perce, I need your help."

Percy snorted, roughly tugging his leg back. "You're on your own, dude. I barely know what I'm doing myself."

"Could've fooled me."

"Whoa, whoa," Leo intercepted. "How come you're not asking me?"

"Ask questions you don't know the answers to, Valdez," Percy snickered.

This time the Aspyros prince was the receiving end of the pillow.

All too soon Leo was pouncing on the tiny bed. He attempted to land on top of Percy.

"You've insulted my pride, Jackson!"

"Hey, watch it! This is Annabeth's book!"

"Guys!" Jason cried. "Focus!"

Percy finally pushed Leo off the bed. The lanky prince lied flat on the floor.

Silence.

"I'm hungry," Leo suddenly said from the floor.

Jason sighed. "Me too. Mess hall?"

"Agreed," Percy said.

Internally he sighed. It was a relief to know, that even through all the drama, at least some things haven't changed yet.

End of Chapter Eleven

Thank you for reading! Thoughts?

-YJ