Piper woke to the rattling of carriage wheels on a cobblestone street. She laid there for a moment, trying to fathom why she was in a carriage.
Then, it all came back. The ball. The dress. The other dress, the one that changed everything.
Jason. Piper had been forced to leave him behind forever, just because she was a princess. She missed him already so much. He probably thinks that I ditched him last night, Piper thought, if only I could've had time to explain…
"Piper, are you awake yet? We are almost to the palace," Fortuna said, shaking Piper's shoulder.
Piper looked up miserably. She could tell that none of the fairies had wanted to take her away by their reaction to her face.
Nemesis pointed out the window. "Look, Piper. Do you see your home? Isn't is positively wonderful?"
Piper looked. She wasn't going to lie to herself, the castle was grand. It even surpassed Queen Venus's, which was very elaborate itself. Just by looking, she could tell that castle had many rooms and fancy structures inside, along with many other architectural secrets. Whoever built this castle had an eye for building things.
Victoria snapped her fingers in order to get back Piper's attention. "Now, you won't be seeing your mother and father until later today. First the maids will clean you and feed you, then you will be escorted to the throne hall, where you will meet your parents and your future husbands as well. In fact, he might even be there, though I'm not sure," Victoria informed.
Piper put her head down, still thinking about Jason. "When will we be married?" She asked, hoping for the date to be far away.
The fairies shared a look. "Sometime within the next few weeks," Fortuna answered.
The carriage came to a stop. A kind looking girl with caramel-colored hair and almond eyes opened the door. She smiled and addressed the fairies.
"Victoria, Fortuna, Nemesis. The kingdom has long missed you! And…Princess Piper," The girl curtsied, "I am Calypso. I took care of you when you were just a baby. Come dear, let's get you cleaned up," She motioned for Piper to exit.
Piper jumped out and followed Calypso who was walking towards a small wooden door on the castle. Calypso opened it, and held it open for Piper to walk through. Then she took the lead again, walking up and through what seemed like millions of staircases and corridors. Finally, Calypso stopped.
Calypso turned to face Piper. "This is your room." Calypso opened the door to reveal a colossal room, that was filled with elegant dark mahogany furniture.
Piper nearly gasped. "Wow. Just wow! I can't believe this is even happening to me! To think I had this all along," Piper sat on the squishy bed in the middle of the room.
Calypso smiled. "Yes, it is amazing. Now, stay here. I must go fetch the maids, and it may take a few minutes. Don't leave, or a feel you may get lost, okay?"
Piper nodded, not really paying attention to her words. Calypso left the room and closed the door, leaving Piper to her thoughts for a while.
Piper really couldn't believe this was happening to her. It was cool and all that she was a princess, but it didn't mean anything to her if it meant she could never see Jason again. Stupid royalty, she thought bitterly.
Suddenly, a snowflake fell onto Piper's lap. Curious, she watched it lay there and waited for it to melt. It didn't.
"Why aren't you melting?" Piper asked it, feeling ridiculous for talking to a snowflake.
As if in response, the snowflake lifted itself up and glided towards the fireplace.
"Don't do that! You'll surely melt then!" Piper cried. Instead of melting however, as the snowflake hit the flames, the flames turned into snowflakes as well. Then the fireplace expanded, and the snowflakes melted into the wall, becoming ice. A staircase appeared, completely covered in ice.
"That's odd, I wonder where it leads to?" Piper mumbled to herself. Piper walked towards the staircase. As she got on the first step, she decided to come back if she didn't get to the top within the first minute.
That decision though, was useless, for as she stepped on the second step, the fireplace closed her in. Piper panicked and started hitting the icy wall. After a few minutes of that, Piper regained herself.
"Since I can't go back, I'll just go up. Maybe it was built to be that way," She said, walking up the icy steps the best she could without slipping and falling.
Soon, she arrived to a snowy room, that looked like it had been through a blizzard quite recently. Piper looked around shivering for an exit, but she couldn't seem to find one.
"Aww, the Poor Princess Piper can't seem to find a way out," A cold voice mocked from just behind Piper.
Piper spun around to see a very beautiful dark haired, light skinned, woman. "K-Khione!" Piper shivered.
The woman smiled. "Ah, yes. I have waited many years for this moment. Your friend Nemesis thinks she knows revenge? Well, wait until she sees this!" Khione waved her hand, and the snowy room changed into a room filled with icicles, some pointing up, some pointing down from the ceiling.
"P-please, I d-don't want t-this to happ-pen," Piper struggled to say, as she backed up carefully.
An needle of ice appeared in Khione's hand. "Just stick out your finger Princess, and it will be a lot less painful," Khione crooned.
Piper tried to back up more, but she tripped over an icicle and fell. Khione leaned over and grabbed Piper's hand.
"Say goodnight, Princess Piper," Khione said as she stabbed Piper's finger.
Piper gasped as she looked at the blood leaking out her finger. She could feel the curse taking over her.
"Jason," Piper said, and she fell into deep sleep, listening to the sound of Khione cackling.
Victoria was down in the throne hall, seated in a chair below the King's and Queen's thrones.
She and the two other fairies had been whispering nervously back and forth, waiting for the King and Queen for the past few minutes.
The maid known as Calypso came rushing down the stairs.
"The Princess! In front of her fireplace with a needle made of ice in her hand! She's nearly dead!" Calypso screamed hysterically and collapsed to tears at the last step.
The fairies rushed up the stairs, with Victoria in the lead. After several agonizing minutes, they arrived at Piper's room. Indeed, Piper was in front of her fireplace, seemingly dead.
Fortuna felt her heart, "The curse, it has begun. She is only sleeping-"
Queen Aphrodite darted into the room from the hall. "What did Calypso mean, nearly dead? My daughter, she can't be, be dead!" The Queen pointed to Fortuna, "You said she wouldn't die! Just sleep!" Aphrodite started crying as well as she fell beside Piper.
Fortuna stood, and Victoria felt a little sorry for her. "She is certainly not dead! She is only sleeping. She can be woken up only by the one she loves now," Fortuna shared a look, "Here, let us lay her on her bed. We shall discuss this in the throne room."
The four of them laid Piper on her bed, and Queen Aphrodite left the room still sobbing. Victoria was about to follow when Fortuna grabbed her and Nemesis's shoulders.
"Victoria, I want you to find that man that Piper spoke of before. I think he is the one that can break this curse," Fortuna looked Victoria in the eye, "Please be careful, I fear Khione might have him, and you're like a sister to me…" Fortuna wiped away a tear and turned to Nemesis.
"Nemesis, we have major work to do. That thing you did to Piper before we left? Where you made her unconscious? I need you to teach me how. I think it is necessary for us to do that to the entire city." Fortuna explained.
There was a silent pause. Victoria broke it, "Well let's get going!"
Victoria flashed out. First, she was heading to that Valdez's residence, for she knew that he knew just about everyone in the city. If anyone knew of this mysterious man, it would be Leo Valdez.
She appeared on top of a messy desk, knocking over two stacks of paper as she did.
"Holy Mother!" A boy yelled.
Victoria jumped off the desk and landed perfectly on her feet. She looked at the boy known as Leo. He was sitting in a chair that was now moved all the way back to the wall.
"What are you doing here Victoria? And since when did you get the ability to appear out of no where?" Leo asked, trying to calm down.
"I was born with it boy!" Victoria scolded, "I have something to ask you, so listen close."
Leo saluted. "Yes sir, I mean ma'am."
Victoria glared at Leo, "I am looking for a man who Piper spoke of. This man is very important, he is the only one who can save Piper."
"Save Piper? Is she in trouble?" Leo asked, getting up from his chair.
"Yes, she is in very much trouble. Now where is that man?" Victoria answered frustrated.
Leo ran a hand through his curly hair. "I was hoping you would know. He disappeared, as far as Reyna and I can figure out. He was supposed to pick up Piper for the ball last night, but neither of them showed up."
"Khione must have him." Victoria muttered. She raised her hand to flash out again but Leo interrupted her.
"Please find Jason. If what you say is true, Piper needs him more than ever," Leo pleaded.
Victoria smirked. "Don't you worry boy, I am triumphant in all I do."
Disclaimer: Anything you've seen before, is not mine unfortunately.
Thanks forevermore for the reviews! And don't worry, you'll see Percy and Annabeth soon enough!