A/N: I have to warn you that this is the most rubbish chapter I've ever written. I'm sorry. I'm in such a bad mood all week. My life's a big mess and it affected my writing. So here it is, I hope you like it. Thank you for those who Read, Favorited, and Followed.

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Bookworm5599: Thank you and it's quite alright. I'm used to being forgotten :'( . Just kidding. It's really okay.

Sora Loves Rain: Yep. Percy's got a secret lalalalala~... You know what, everyone in this freaking story has a secret, maybe I should change the title to "Secrets"instead and Thank you very much!

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Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus.


Annabeth

Annabeth was having the time of her life. She didn't need to sleep on the ground, her marriage was delayed, and Percy stopped asking questions about her secret. The only bad part was that Lady Aphrodite kept on insulting her mother though Annabeth was quite sure that it wasn't purely intentional. The woman was just too insensitive and gossip loving.

"Council members aren't originally allowed to be rulers of Greece you know." Aphrodite told everyone. "But somehow, Athena became a queen."

They were in the castle's meeting room along with Percy, Lord Tristan, Silena, Drew, Luke, Nico, and a few others she didn't recognized. Annabeth pretended to sip on her tea while eyeing the rest of the occupants of the room. There were others who looked at Aphrodite with great interest and there were some who looked at Annabeth nervously, as if they were expecting her to attack the Councilwoman. Instead, she set her cup on the mahogany table gently and gave everyone a calm look.

"I suppose all of you wanted to know how she did it." Aphrodite continued with a grin then looked at Annabeth, "Would you like to share the story with us my dear or should I do it?"

"The nerve of that woman!" Annabeth thought but kept the calm façade on, "I actually don't know what you're talking about, my lady," She told her, giving her a firm eye contact.

Aphrodite gave her a sympathetic smile, "Of course you don't, my poor dear. I'm sure your mother and father concealed the truth from you."

"Aphrodite, please, do not insult the queen and king in front of the princess' presence." Tristan pleaded his wife. Aphrodite patted his hand in response, "I'm not insulting the girl's parents, sweetie. I'm just stating the truth about them."

"Mother, do you mind if I ask what it is you are talking about?" Drew asked excitedly.

Annabeth never liked Drew even when they were children. Drew was too selfish, too self-absorbed, and too jealous of Annabeth. Ever since they were young, Drew would do everything to embarrass her and she finally had a chance to do it without getting in trouble.

"Drew-"Tristan started but Aphrodite cut him off with a squeal.

"Of course my dear!" Aphrodite exclaimed. She looked at everyone who all looked uncomfortable then at Annabeth and gave her a sweet smile. "You wouldn't mind me telling right?"

Annabeth didn't say anything. Her fists were clenching under the table and right next to her, she felt Percy's hand take hers. She gave him a thankful smile. If there was one person who could stop her from punching the woman's face, it was him. Getting into an argument with Aphrodite or not letting her do what she wants could get bad for her and her friends.

"You see, after that last tyrant, Pisistratus, died we needed a new king. Pisistratus had sons but after what happened with their father, the people became afraid of them. As the council, we decided to have a little contest to see who could be the best ruler, everyone was invited of course. Of all the contestants who joined two of the contestants stood out. The one you now address as King Fredrick and an ordinary woman named Sally."

Everyone was listening intently except for Annabeth who had heard of the story before and just thought of it as a stupid rumor and Percy who just glared at the floor. She didn't understand what his problem was but she had the sense to snap him out of it when she felt his grip on her hand tightening.

"Sorry" He whispered

"It's alright," She whispered back

"Sally was a smart and sensitive woman, Fredrick was the same but he's a man so he had the advantage. " Aphrodite continued "Sally only had a chance because there were four women and one man in the council who wanted to give her a chance."

"But there are five women in the council." Silena interrupted at the same time Drew asked in excitement, "Oooh… Who's that? Is he a lover?"

"Silena, dear, I was getting to that and yes sweetie, that man even married her after the contest."

"You mean Councilman Poseidon." Nico said. He had been so quiet that everyone almost looked startled when he spoke up. Percy looked at him nervously as if Nico knew something about him that he was afraid of.

"That's it! How did you know?" Aphrodite clapped excitedly "So as I was saying, four of us women wanted to give her a chance except for one who wanted to power for herself. The said councilwoman seduced Sally's competitor while giving him information about the next test and because Fredrick was ready and knowledgeable, he won. He became king and then married the councilwoman. It was actually legal since nobody thought about it yet and they had a baby girl who is sitting with us in this very room."

Everyone's eyes were on Annabeth who suddenly felt like she was shrinking from all the attention and maybe now bad thoughts about her and her family. She was about to make a comment when Luke beat her to it.

"That's a load of Minotaur dung." He said nonchalantly

"I beg your pardon?" Aphrodite asked as she glared at him "I happen to be an expert on love and I can tell you what the king and queen have right now is not love."

Percy joined in, "Well we happened to be around the king and queen all the time and I can tell you that what they have is true love."

Annabeth gave them both a thankful smile when she heard Aphrodite scoff, "What do you know about true love, handsome? I've seen you and the princess. Did you know that she was only toying with you and the truth is she's betrothed to the Roman Emperor's son?"

It had caught everyone off guard; Annabeth didn't even have a chance to stop her. Percy had already let go of her hand, Nico and Luke exchanged an uncomfortable look as Percy glanced at Annabeth with hurt and confusion. The others who were just there started muttering to each other.

"Is that what you were hiding from me?" Percy asked

"N-Yes." Annabeth said as she sighed "Percy, I'm really sorry. I swear I wanted to tell you but-"

She was cut off by the Leo bursting through the doors which made everyone quiet. He looked like he just seen a ghost.

"Savages, savages in the castle." He said "Loads of them,"

"The guards?" Tristan asked

Leo had a grim expression on his face, something Annabeth didn't see at the cheerful boy often "Dead. Every single one of them."

Tristan pounded his fist on the table once, "I knew sending a major amount of our troops for war had been a bad idea." He said. Annabeth almost thought she saw him mouthed, "Stupid council." But of course, that could have been her imagination.

He ordered for all of them to exit the castle. Percy immediately grabbed Annabeth's hand and started heading for the door when Leo blocked them.

"Jason and Piper," He reminded them

Annabeth's eyes widen, "Where are they?"

"Garden, they might not even notice." He answered "I'll go after them just tell us where you'll meet us."

"The stables." Tristan joined in "We're leaving to Councilman Poseidon's palace since his is the nearest one. Go get my daughter and your friend and meet us there."

"I'm okay with that plan but we're not going with you," Percy said

Annabeth looked at him, a question forming on her brain but decided not to ask. She could feel Percy's hatred for her now. Tristan didn't ask either; he just nodded and led his family out. Leo immediately ran off to the garden. Nico probably felt the tension since he told them that he'll scout ahead and dragged whining Luke out of the room.

"Wait!" He told Nico "I want to watch this wreck."

"Where are we going now?" Annabeth asked Percy, he didn't even glance at her as he answered, "Where else? To Rome where you'll get married and live a happily ever after."

"Percy, I-"

"Let's go before they reach us." He interrupted before dragging her out of the room.

The hallway was quiet, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. It was unnatural and Annabeth didn't know whether she should like it or not since it was the first time she had any quiet time since she came in Aphrodite's castle. At the same time, it was a painful reminder that they were in grave danger. She also felt like something was wrong. The only ones in the hall were Percy and herself. Nico and Luke had only been here a few moments ago.

"Hullo. My, my, what do we have ere?" A voice said behind them. They both turned around and saw the biggest and ugliest guy they've ever seen. He had animal's fur as clothing. With his long bushy brown hair and beard, Annabeth almost didn't know underneath all of those was a human being. He grinned wickedly which showed his single chipped tooth. He had to clones next to him, each holding Nico and Luke. It almost looked like they were squishing them.

"Eh look boys, "The one on the middle, who wasn't holding anyone, told his friends, "There's more of 'em 'ere. I say we kill 'em all."

His two goons cheered while shaking and waving Nico and Luke. The one in the middle raised his arm to stop them, "'Ang on boys. This lassie over 'ere 'as a crown! We're in the princess' presence. We should do something more special for 'er."

"Like what boss?" The one in the right asked

His grin widen even more, "What else? Cut her pretty little 'ead off and sell it to the enemies of Greece! They'll love a little motivation."

Annabeth winced and found herself touching her throat and felt her anger growing, next to her Percy growled and drew his sword. "Not if I had anything to say about it."


A/N: I'm really sorry for the awful grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes. Didn't double check it really. Please Favorite and Follow. Don't forget to leave a Review. I would really appreciate it. Thank you very much. Belated Happy Chinese New Year!

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