Title : England's Greatest Era

Author : Amy

Rated : T

Disclaimer : The marvelous Rick Riordan owns the PJO characters.

Summary : Embark on a journey with Annabeth and Percy as they become from Childhood Friends to Secret Lovers. And maybe Husband and Wife. All here in this English themed story about the kings and queens.

ENGLAND'S GREATEST ERA

CHAPTER 25

Annabeth tentatively opened the door to her parents' bedchambers.

It had been a week since the ball. Annabeth and Percy had mentally prepared themselves for a sudden attack from the queen but nothing happened. Annabeth realized that her mother hadn't come out of her room for a week. Her father had dealt with diplomats alone. Her mother hadn't come out of the room at all. She had her meals sent to her instead. Annabeth started to worry. It was very unlikely for her mother to miss her duties and act out of character. What if she was sick? For a week, Annabeth had made plans about how she could possibly persuade her mother into agreeing to let Percy and her betroth. Unfortunately, none of those plans had more than a forty percent chance of success.

However, Annabeth decided to just wing it.

"Mother?" she called out. Her voice cut through the silence in the bedchamber. Annabeth received no answer. She didn't expect to. She just wanted to see if her mother was okay. Her grey eyes scanned the room, looking for her mother's figure. There she was, lying on the bed, under the covers. She wasn't moving and Annabeth had a mild panic attack at the thought that her mother could possibly be dead. But then, her mother's chest moved up and down and Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief.

Annabeth closed the door slowly as to not startle her mother or create a disturbance that could make her mother even for annoyed at her. She hesitantly walked up to her mother. Queen Athena was lying on her back, her eyes staring at the ceiling. They were dull and so empty, something Annabeth was shocked to see. Her mother looked disorientated. Annabeth sat down near her mother and touched the hand that was near to her.

"Mother, are you alright?" Annabeth asked. Her mother's eyes shifted from the ceiling to Annabeth's face and then back to the ceiling again.

"How can I be when you are marrying that spawn of a devil?" It was more of a statement, an angry statement. Annabeth remained quiet. She decided to let her mother get everything of her chest. After a few moments of silence, Annabeth realized that her mother wasn't going to elaborate.

"Why do you hate him so much?" she asked, desperate for a lead in solving this problem. There had to be a reason.

Her mother didn't answer. Her lips were pursed and she ignored Annabeth's question. Anger bubbled up in Annabeth. She wanted answers and it was about damn time she got them. She had a right to get married. Percy had filled all the requirements. He had half the blood of a Duke but that was better than nothing. There was nothing else in the laws that stated that she couldn't get married to Percy so why was her mother being so stubborn?

"Mother, answer me," Annabeth demanded. Her voice sounded harsher than it should have been. Her 'Queen' voice was coming out.

"Do not speak to me that way," Athena scolded, her voice low. Annabeth frowned.

"No," she said, forcefully. "I want answers, mother. Just tell me the truth, why won't you tell me the reason you are so adamant on opposing our relationship." Athena stayed quiet. Her poker face was on and Annabeth almost groaned. "Mother, please," she begged. "I know that you love me, mother but if you really did, you would let me be happy. Why won't you let me be happy?"

Athena turned her head to Annabeth and looked at her daughter with sad grey eyes. "The same reason why my father didn't let me be happy," she said.

"What?"

"Do you remember your grandfather Zeus?" Athena asked. Annabeth shuddered at the memories that surfaced with that name. Grandfather Zeus was a scary man. Even in the last few years of his life, he was always the regal king everyone looked up to. Whenever Annabeth and her brother were caught in mischief, he was always there to look at them disapprovingly. He scared Annabeth a lot. Annabeth nodded.

"When I was young," Athena started. "I always hoped for approval from your grandfather. He was a hard man to please. On the outside, you may see him approve of the servants and his subjects and all but when it came to family, his expectations were high. He expected me to be perfect. I was his eldest daughter. I had a sister named Thalia. You've never met your aunt Thalia. She died at a young age when she sneaked out with a rascal named Luke. It was puppy love but Thalia didn't think that. She made a mistake that costed her life."

Athena raised her hand and caressed Annabeth's face. "You remind me so much of her. You're both headstrong and stubborn and you both fell in love with rascals."

"Mother," Annabeth said, removing Athena's hand from her face. "Percy isn't a rascal. He had lived with us for a long time and learnt our ways."

Athena shook her head. "Looks can be deceiving, my dear."

Annabeth disagreed. "Not with Percy. You can read him like an open book."

"Anyway, whenever we broke one of the rules of this castle, your grandfather would give us a bad scolding and make us do the maids' chores. He said that if we were going to act like scum, we might as do work as scum. I always followed the rules. I had to. I wanted his approval so bad. But he never gave it to me. Not even when he was on his deathbed. Since I had always lived by the rules, I was afraid to break them when you wanted to marry Percy."

Hearing her mother admit that she was afraid was a big shock for Annabeth. She had always thought that her mother was fearless. Nevertheless, she didn't interrupt the story. "Every time I even thought of bending the rules for you, his face would appear in my mind, angry and disappointed. So I never did."

"Percy is a son of a duke now," Annabeth said. "I can marry him. The laws say so. But why won't you let me?"

Athena frowned. "I just don't want to lose you."

Annabeth grasped her mother's hand in hers. "But you have me. I'm here."

Athena covered her face with her hands. "I'm just afraid of what the future will bring," she said on the verge of tears. That also shocked Annabeth. Her mother crying? At this rate, Annabeth might get a heart attack.

"I'll be fine," Annabeth said, trying to soothe her mother.

"I don't want you to end up like her," Athena said, wiping her tears. "I don't want a repeat of what happened to my sister." Annabeth shook her head.

"It won't happen," she said. "Percy loves me very much. He won't let harm come to me. He never did, even when we were kids."

At that, Athena chuckled. "I remember the time where he had banned you from the garden because he thought that the thorns on the rose bushes were conspiring against you and will murder you if you stepped foot near them. It took a month of convincing from his mother for him to let you go out again." The mother and daughter laughed.

"See mother? If Percy didn't even trust plants, I doubt that he would trust strangers and put me in danger," Annabeth said. Athena shrugged.

"I guess I owe you all an apology," she admitted. "You both should marry and I should have listened to Aphrodite ever since the beginning. I am so sorry for everything. I just hope you and Percy will forgive me."

Annabeth smiled at her mother. "I forgive you, mother and he will too."

Athena took a deep breath in and exhaled. "I give you both my blessing for the marriage."

Annabeth grinned. Her mother was opening up and letting her marry the man of her dreams. Annabeth hugged her mother and muttered millions of 'thank you's. Everything was slowly piecing together. The only question is...

Is a happily ever after on the list?

A/N:

We are near the end, guyssss!

I am so sorry for not updating much. I promise I will try to do more. I am so thankful that a plot bunny decided to show up. If not, this chapter wouldn't be here.

Anyway, I have a proposition for you guys.

All the stories that you want me to update is in my head. All I need is the time to write it out. So, I am asking you if you would like to type out the next chapter for me. I need your full dedication in this. I'll give you what the chapter is supposed to have (the plot etc) and you type it out. Then you'll send it to me and I'll edit and correct mistakes. After that, I will post it up and credit the chapter to you.

So if you are interested, and I really hope you are, just give me your name or PM me and tell me which story you would like to do.

You can choose to either write one chapter of this story then a chapter or another story or just stay on one story.

For example, you help me with a chapter of It couple in trouble then you want to do a chapter for You got competition. Or you want to stay on a story until the finish. That is fine by me. All I need you to prepare is the knowledge of the character's personality.

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So, hope to see you soon.

Have a nice day.