Chapter 12

So Close and Yet, So Far Away

Annabeth was sent to bed wailing and screaming like a baby yesterday. Percy could not get over the date. The date of the wedding seemed too coincidental. It would be a few days after Percy returned home, his home under the sea, once he retrieved the conch for Circe. Maybe if the conch did get stolen by him it could cause Athena to postpone the wedding. Annabeth seemed very dismal at breakfast today. She found no interest in Leo's crazy jokes or her father's conversation about the history of Athens.

"Annabeth, I know your feelings…" the old man coughed weakly.

"Then why not call the wedding off? I don't love him, Dad. Heck, I don't even like Nico. He's a creepy son of a—"

"Whoa, chill off, Annabeth." Leo put up calming hands "On the bright side, we have a ball coming up."

Percy raised his eyebrow.

"It's tradition to have a ball for the whole kingdom before the prince or princess gets married. We usually do them one week ahead of time." Jason explained.

Leo laughed "Just think about it Percy, dancing, music, a bunch of hot girls—"

Annabeth threw her glass at him "That's enough."

"Annabeth!" the old king barked "You could've hurt him!"

"No, no, don't worry about the unimportant blacksmith. I usually get glass chucked at me and my shirt soaked with water by a jealous—"

"I said shut up!" Annabeth growled.

The old king hastily stood up "Annabeth, go to your room! You cannot control your anger, and until you learn, you'll stay in there." Annabeth stood up and walked herself out of the dining hall. Percy wanted to run to her and tell her it'll be all right, but will it?


Percy was forced to watch Jason and Leo at work. Both of them were very hard workers. Jason was a natural born leader and easily commanded all the guards on their duties. Once Leo got down to making something, there was no stopping him. Percy felt useless. He was just a shipwrecked guy with no voice and using this castle as his free shelter. Percy decided to go looking for the conch since he had nothing better to do. The conch was the key to getting him to where he belonged.

Percy strolled down the hallways of the castle, looking into every room he could open. The conch looked like a conch so it couldn't be hard to miss but this castle seemed to run on forever. There were endless doorways and corridors to take. This wasn't his palace. He was not familiar to this territory at all. Something about the conch though, would make it easy to find in this unfamiliar place. The conch belonged to Poseidon, not Athena. The conch was supposed to be in Percy's domain and spotting an outsider should be easy enough. Percy looked harder, peaking into every room and he found himself at the end of a hallway. There was a grand entrance in front of him now. Percy pulled open the decorated wooden doors using sheer strength.

It was a library. The whole room was a huge observatory. The walls were windows, nothing else. Percy could see the vast ocean on his right and the bustling village on his left. There were bookshelves filled with books, new and old, and many of spot to recline and read them. Percy wasn't a reader, but if he was, he didn't think he would leave this place. The room showed recent activity, books were scattered everywhere and some of the chairs were worn.

"Percy?" A voice whispered as if in disbelief.

Percy whipped around to see a tired Annabeth in front of him. Her hair was a mess and her dress was decorated in ink stains. She wasn't prepped like Percy has seen her but she still looked beautiful, her gray eyes sparkled.

"What are you doing here?" Annabeth pressed.

He couldn't be suspicious. He couldn't give away he was looking for something to steal. Percy found it a sin to lie to Annabeth though, but he done it enough already. He pretended to be shipwrecked, he pretended to know a lot about the human world like he's been here all his life, and he pretended to be a worthless peasant.

"Were you looking for me?" Annabeth blinked innocently.

Percy nodded and regretted it the moment he did. He lied to her again. He wanted to steal from her mother to return to somewhere he actually belonged in. Surely Annabeth would understand if he explained his situation to her. What if she hated him for that though? He didn't want Annabeth to hate him, but he would have to do something that would be treasonous to her eventually, and that was stealing from Queen Athena. It wasn't her fault that the conch was stolen. She probably has no idea what it is.

"Got worried, huh?" Annabeth shrugged "I can always count on you to be there for me Percy."

That wounded him, he did not deserve trust. Percy was a thief.

"Well… I was reading some old legends, can hardly believe that stuff though. This book tells about a society under the sea, can you believe that?"

Percy licked his lips, he could believe in that legend, for he was part of that legend.

"It talks about people with tails instead of legs and they live in this deep abyss…" Annabeth looked withdrawn for a second. "I wish I could live there… maybe I could get away from all this wedding drama…"

It was a wild idea, but the thought of it made his face light up. What if Annabeth became a mermaid? He could show her buildings that would deeply impress her. He could show her his hiding spot and they can escape there if things got too complicated. Annabeth was not any other mermaid he has met, well, she wasn't a mermaid at all, but she was impressive. She could produce interesting conversations, she could think for herself and she was another princess. Don't princes and princesses marry to bring peace to two foreign lands? Athens and the sea do not get along and a marriage could bring peace. Wait, why would he want to marry Annabeth? He knew nothing about Annabeth really.

Annabeth laughed "What is it, Seaweed Brain? Would you like that too? Would you want to live underwater with me?"

Without a moment's thought, Percy nodded. Annabeth was suddenly closer than she was a second ago. His heart was pounding like crazy. He hoped Annabeth couldn't hear it. Percy was leaning in closer too. He's never been this close to a girl before. He could feel Annabeth's hot breath on his face and he leaned in closer. Annabeth's hand was gently on his white shirt and no doubt she felt secure, Percy's arm was nothing but muscle. He gently closed his eyes. They were so close now. He was inches from her lips. Oh, her soft lips, Percy craved them.

There was an annoying pecking sound.

"What is that?" Annabeth had on an angry scowl for the person who interrupted them. Percy felt bad for the person. It wasn't going to be pretty for them.

Percy looked up and his face flushed.

"Prince Perseus! Did I interrupt something?" A muffled voice through the window squawked.

"That stupid seagull!" Annabeth growled "That is the same seagull that Leo's been hunting down! I'll have a chat with him about getting rid of that thing!" Annabeth stormed off. Percy wanted to tell her that the seagull should not bother them, but she already disappeared in some random corridor. Percy felt teased, for Annabeth literally walked away from him when they were about to urgh— and it because of a certain seagull! Percy directed his fury towards that seagull, it wouldn't leave him alone. Percy saw a door leading outside, he fumed through it.

"Prince Perseus! I carry a message from Grover!" Scuttles landed on the wall of the balcony, and it took all of Percy's concentration not to knock him off. "It's about your father!"

Percy stood at attention, did something bad happen to his father?

"King Poseidon himself is sending a guardian to look after you. He's really worried about you, you see. He thought since a sea creature is too restrictive to the sea. He thought that I should look after you!"

"No, he didn't!" protested a voice down below that was no doubt Grover.

Scuttles groaned "It's not me sadly. It's a tragedy that you won't have my protection. It's a person that can be in the surface world and under the sea."

Rachel, who fit those conditions was captured by Circe and waiting for Percy to rescue her. So who is it?

"There she is!" Scuttles pointed with his wing.

Percy spun on his heels.

"Hi, nice to meet you Prince Perseus." The person said coolly. "I'm one of Hecate's sorceresses, and I'll be taking the place of Rachel Dare for now. It's always an honor to meet a son of Poseidon, they are always handsome." The girl grabbed his chin playfully, stroking it. Percy was in dire shock, his heart probably stopped dead. This sorceress looked like a goddess. Her caramel hair was braided down one side. She had a timeless milky face and was dressed in a stunning flat white dress. "I know exactly what kind of deal you made with Circe. You wanted to see your mother, how sweet of you. Now, you have to get a conch and trust me, you will need a sorceress for that, love. Circe has hidden it with her own magic, but no doubt she expected Poseidon to send magical aid to help you. Now Circe has Poseidon's help in retrieving the conch, and also Hecate. She is brilliant in getting this far with her plan and we have no choice but to help her. She will probably leave everyone alone once she gets her own island so for everyone's sake, let's find that conch."

Percy nodded, that's been the plan all along.

"You've been distracted, Perseus! I know the princess of Athens in tempting, but she is no good. She'll turn out like her mother and betray you. She'll hate you once she finds your true identity, and once she figures out you lied to her. She is a human, Perseus, you are a merman, and this equation will not end nicely." She pulled back her fingers that were playing with his scar above his eye "My name's Calypso, by the way."

End of Day Four