Hi.
Nothing new. Nothing new nothing new.
Reviews!
Cinder Luna- Thanks for the tip about your story. Thanks for the review!
PicturePicturesMe-We are all sad Annabeth had to leave. :( I'll make sure Percy keeps the hat. What do you mean, are they going to meet the gods? Like is this AU with the gods in it? As in with the powers and stuff? No. This is completely human. Thanks for the reviews!
PoppyOhare- I'm glad you liked last chapter. Here you go. Thanks for the review!
Artemis Izzy-Here you go! Thanks for the review!
POV-Annabeth
We went to a place where the guards were staying. One of them said they will take care of us. I assumed he was the leader because the guards holding us up lead us into his tent without much of an argument.
The guards who held us up set us on a makeshift bed and lays us down. I made sure to wince as I was being lowered down and the leader told the others to leave and send a letter, blah, blah, blah.
As soon as they left the leader looked back at us. He smiled at us and laughed quietly.
"Ya guys look horrible. Ya must have been through so much." The man says with lots of sincerity, but it came across a little sarcastic to me. The man winks at me. That's when I knew he was with the crew.
His name is Blackjack. He is tall and muscular. He has a big smile and long black hair. He has black eyes and his skin is pale white. He looks kind and scary at the same time.
He 'helped' us clean up and wash up. He gave us something to eat and told us to wash up. I scrubbed all the fake dirt off and got my hair manageable again but made sure to keep it messy. The fake bruises wouldn't go away which was planned.
I looked a lot better but I still looked pretty bad. It was kind of early but after getting nailed by Nico. Sitting for half an hour getting makeup done, and after my talk with Percy. I sort was out of it.
I ate as much as I could and went to sleep. Austin followed soon after.
When I woke up i found someone who wasnt blackjack shaking me a bit. He didnt look familiar but he still looked nice. But looks can be deceiving, I learned that the hard way.
"Hello your highness. We are leaving in a bit to take you home." He smiled. "I bet you can't wait to go home." He winked and 'helped' me up.
"You know?" I asked quietly but made sure I sounded tired just in case. He chuckled a little.
"Only about three people here don't." He whispered. It made me smile a bit back. He whispered for me so act asleep and I do. He picks me up, bridal style and carries my to the carriage.
"What would we do with 'em?" I heard someone asks.
"How am I supposed to know?" Another asked back. "All I know is, he was found with her."
"But what are we going to do?"
"We are takin' him with us." I heard Blackjack say with authority. "I talked to the princess yesterday. He's a friend of hers."
"But he's just a..." The first man said but was cut off.
"As far as I know, I am captain here. And as far as you know I am operatin' under the princess's order, you better follow them." A couple boot clicks later all I heard was muffled complaints.
A couple minutes later could I feel someone getting in, slowly and a bit jurky like the person is being helped into the carriage. I assumed that was Austin.
A little later I felt the carriage move and I fell back asleep with a smile on my face.
That was four days ago. And that's how long we have been in this carriage.
Most of the time has been Austin and I sleeping and slowly wiping the 'bags' from under our eyes. We talked a lot, mostly about our exact story, so we have the same thing. We made sure to change our stories a little so they aren't exactly the same because people shouldn't expect that. I mean we are two different people we see things in different ways.
We did talk about our families and got to know each more and made sure to talk about how are 'close' and little things like that.
We ate eveything we were given like it was some treasure that we have never seen before, especially Austin.
We just entered the town were the palace is, Neptunian. I always thought the city was beautiful, with lovely architectured building, smooth streets, constant people, merchants everywhere, delicious food in the air. I guessed that sort of blinded me a bit. I look at it now and see nothing but wealthy people. People with fine clothes and jewelry. Even the pore merchants seemed to have a lot of money.
I didn't see one pore or middle class person in the whole place. Was this Fredericks plan, to get rid of all the middle class, just to let the lower class fend for themselves and make the upper class, the rich people, build there empires and get more wealthy.
It made my blood boil on the inside but I just smiled when I looked out like I have missed this place a lot. Truly I did, but the only thing I was holding onto, that I can enjoy staying here, just died.
Austin out his hand on top of mine and smiled forcibly. His eyes had this angry fire in them that you can only noticed if you knew him. I can tell he was thinking the same thing and needed something to keep him from exploding. I smiled back with the same amount of force he knows that I feel the same way.
We rod for another two hour getting through traffic and the whole time Austin and I talked about anything to get our minds off of our anger.
I saw the carriage pull up in front of the palace soon.
The palace isn't what most would think. It's not a huge building with big towers, made of clay and stone connected by mud or dirt.
No it's a huge house with three stories. It's the width is about the size of a knee ball court. (A whole and half of a Soccer/football field.) The length is about two and a half knee ball courts.
Its a mix of different materials perfectly molded together. It's made of wood, stone, clay and brick but it molds together like a piece of art. The architecture is the best. It's just beautiful.
I hate it.
The house is so big, it's easy to get lost even if you've lived there your whole life. The rooms are so big that even if you put a ton of decor in the rooms it'll still feel empty. Half the place is cold, uninviting, and empty. You feel alone all the time. You feel tiny and intimidated. That's why I asked for the smallest room in the palace. But even then I still feel like an ant in there. The room is equivalent to nine rooms on the ship. And Each room on the ship is eight feet by eight feet. Can you see where I'm going with this? Then the other rooms are about twice or more than that size! It took over hundreds of years to build. Slowly and has part so you can add to it. So the thing is expandable.
I just can't stand it. Then the gardens and stuff add to the large area. You can fit two small villages in this one area.
Its... I just hate it.
I love the architecture. I love the design. I just wish it was smaller. I remember my mom complaining about the size so she sectioned off over half of the palace off limits. That was when this place made sense!
We pull up to the front doors that are ten feet tall and six feet wide. I love how that what it looks like though. It looks that big but there are hidden doors inside of them that are normal size. So you expect these huge doors to open and only a small part of it actually does.
The carriage opens and Austin slides out. I get to the edge of the seat and Austin helps me down. I smile at him but I tell him with my eyes that I will kill him later. He smiles back that says, "I look forward to it."
My father and step-mother are on the top steps. My father has tears in his eyes and he rushes over to me. He slams me into a hug and starts gushing over me. My step mother is smiling and walks over she looks back at the carriage and her smile disappears.
"It's so good to see you Annabeth." Frederick says with force. "I thought I'd never see you again. That blasted pirate will pay for all he has done to you. Look at that bruise." He touches the 'bruise' on my forehead and I 'wince'. He pulls his hand away and says sorry in fake sincerity.
Everything sounds so fake now. I see a glint of evil in his eyes. I see not an ounce of regret in 'hurting' me.
I really was blind.
"Annabeth it's simply horrible." Helen screeches. It so over done that I didn't have to know anything about Percy to know she is faking. "The boys! They were taken by that pirate! And Malcolm..."
"Hush, Helen we will talk to her about this later." Frederick calms her but I must act on this or he will get suspicious later.
"Wait the boys were taken!" I yell. I make sure to act like I'm worried beyond belief. "How? When..."
"Annabeth not out here." Frederick whispers. He finally looks at Austin and looks over him. "Who's this?"
I look back at him and Austin hold out his hand.
"This is Austin Lake." I say with a smile. "He was in the same prison cell as me. He helped me escape."
Frederick draws in a breath and quickly fires thank you after thank you. It was so... lack of emotion I had a hard time believing that he was saying thank you.
"He's been in there for two years." I mutter to Frederick. His eyes widen. He tells Austin that it must of been horrible. Austin 'shivers' and says that it was worse than it sounds.
We finally go inside and Frederick leads us through a billion corridors and hallways till we got to a sitting room.
He had an a person there and told us he will be getting details from us so they can add another charge to the list of crimes Percy has committed.
We sat down and Austin went first. His voice cracked a lot. He made himself leak a few tears a few times and said he barely remembered any of it because he was always out of it most of the time and, 'the days blended into each other. Time didn't matter down there.' Then I talked about how I got on. I told the truth right up to the part where Percy cut off my bounds.
We made sure to tell the same basic story but each changed a few detail in each of our stories like I said earlier.
We acted well, to us anyway. I guess we did our job because they were all 'brokenhearted over what we had to go through the last two mouths or two years.'
When the officer left I asked urgently about the boys.
"Annabeth." Frederick started off. "We got a letter from Malcolm. It said he wanted he boys to come and visit and we agreed to it. The boys needed something to get there mind off you. On their way to Torque the ship was raided and they took the boys."
My eyes, 'well up with tears.' I can honestly say that this is a bit hard but if Malcolm can do it for three years than I can do this for a little under a year.
"Then..." Frederick trails off but he clears his throat. That was fake to. "Malcolm walked into the ship and identified the boys as the princes. Then he said he was the reason you got kidnapped. Apparently he..."
"He told the pirates the route my ship was taking and the pirates were there to take me." I finish. "I know Malcolm visited me a few days ago, before my escape. He tried to convince me to be apart of that retched crew. But I swear I didn't see the boys or I would have made sure they got home safely."
Frederick nods sadly. Helen is sobbing her eyes out. I am tempted to roll my eyes.
I out my head into Austins shoulder to hide my 'crying.' In reality I'm hiding my smile. I feel my fathers cold hand on my shoulder and he says that everything will be alright. My father tell me he has work to do and says he will check on me later.
He also said that he loves me and a few other nonsense things.
I show Austin to my room. I quickly learn which maids, servants and guards to trust and which ones to be carful around.
While some I pass cried real tears and say they are glad I'm back and that they hoped that pirate didn't do anything to bad. Others said, 'It must have been so hard on that ship,' then they winked at me and one slipped a piece of paper into my hands.
When I finally got to my room Austin looked like he was about to pass out.
"I knew this place was big but this is just plain stupid." Austin says with unpleasant disbelief. "This room can fit half the ship." I nod glumly and sigh. I look at my bed. It was always gigantic. Now it looks like a bed for a giant since I've been sleeping in a small one for the past two mouths.
The walls are a bright red. The floors are hard wood and the bed is about eight feet by seven feet. The blankets are a soft dark blue. The pillows are black and everything follows this pattern.
I always like the color scheme. Again I just wish it was smaller.
"It's the smallest bedroom in the palace." I tell him. I lay down and sink into my bed. Literally. I never realized how soft it was. It's too soft.
"I hate it." I mumble honestly. I go to a large chest at the end of the bed and pull out a blanket and pillow. I set it down on the couch in the corner of the room and set it down.
"That bed is too soft." I tell Austin before he can question me. I sit down and feel more comfortable. It's still softer than the amazing bed on the ship but I'll make do.
"I'm going to need a map to find my way around." Austin tells me. He sits next to me and sighs. "This place feels so empty."
I nod and look at the folded piece of paper in my hand.
I open it up and read it in a soft whisper.
"Library. One AM. Saturday." It's Tuesday, so four more days.
Austin took it and ripped it up. So no one else sees it. He ripped it to dozens of tiny pieces.
I sigh and Austin throws the pieces into different drawers. I get up and start walking around my room out of pure boredom. I walk to my closet and see the fancy dresses I never liked. The closet is about as big of not bigger than my room. (Thank you Step mom. Note the sarcasm.)
I walk by my makeup table. I never liked that either. I always tried my best to keep away from it but my step mother always insisted.
I walk but the left corner. It's completely made of shelves with books I haven't read in over a decade. I never got a chance to read because of my step mother. I let my hand roll over the spines of the books. It feels so weird seeing the golden words pop out of the different colored books in English because for the last two mouths I've only seen them in Greek or Latin. Or in Leo's collection Spanish. It's so weird seeing a Language you seen your whole life and barely recognize it now.
I miss speaking Greek, I miss seeing the Greek words. Yes English will always be my first language and I'll always make deals in that language but for fun, to read Greek feels more right.
I walk around more and see a ton of other things that I Ingore.
"I miss home." I say out loud. "And I don't mean here."
Apparently Luke felt two day before they got word I was founded. The day they got word I was found was the day before I got back. So he isn't here right now but he'll be back in two days.
Austin left a few hours ago. I showed him his room and wrote down the instructions on how to get from there to my room. We decided we would meet up every night around eight because we are literally the only people we can talk to. Plus it helps make our relationship believable.
I huff a little and go over to my book shelf. I look over it and grab a random book.I go back over to my bed and lay down. I still hate how soft it is but I realized if I sleep on the couch, unless I figure out a good lie for why I hate beds,(and there is only one that I don't feel like mentioning) people will think it's weird. Especially since I loved my bed when I left this place. So I threw the blankets and pillows under the couch and I'll sleep there when everyone is asleep but for now I have to suffer.
I read a little when I here a knock on the door. I yell come in and set my book down.
I hope it's not my dad. He still hasn't come to see me. I have had my dinner but I didn't eat in the dining room, I ate in here.
Austin pops his head in and waves.
"Hi." He says. Eight o'clock already? I look at my clock on my wall and sure enough it's past eight.
Austin come over and jumps onto the bed next to me.
"I thought you hated how soft this thing was." Austin says as he squirms to get comfortable but failing miserably.
I tell him the reason and keep reading.
"Hmm. Yeah. I understand." Austin growls in frustration. "What is wrong with your dad? I mean my bed is like a freaking rock and this is like quicksand." I smile into book. I really don't know what to say. It's kind of just silence that's not uncomfortable or comfortable.
"You never told me about your personal life." I say after a few minutes and I get tired of my book. I need to head to the library and see if they have any Charles Dickens books.
Ausfin is still squirming and flopping around like a fish. He huffs and starts grabbing pillow and putting them under him for firmer support.
"What you want to know? And why?" He asks. I shrug.
"For our 'relationship.'" I say putting air quotes around relationship. Austin make another hmmm sound. He think for few minutes.
In that time I grab a piece of paper, pen and bottle of ink and start writing a letter to Percy. I will get this to him.
Austin and I have gotten close on the ship but I don't think I'll ever think of him more than a friend. He reminds me too much of Malcolm.
Sure Austin is a lot crazier and not strict like Malcolm but they have the same personality really. Malcolm and Austin likes for you to say what you want to say without the sugar coating. They both love playing games, they both are kind of serious, honest, creative, they both over complicate things. The are both really smart. They just have a lot in common. It's freaky.
So no, I really don't think this will really turn romantic. Besides I like Percy way to much.
Austin is still thinking.
"I was born in Hulila." He finally says. (Im making all this up.)"The town was always more on the wealthy side so it took over six years for the effect of Frederick taxes to truly take form. So it was nice being able to be safe from that for awhile.
"I have multiple brothers and sisters, since my father is Apollo, but I have two sisters, one older and one younger, and one younger brother on my moms side. I was fourteen years old and my younger brother disappeared. Not kidnapped, not anything, not nothing, just went missing." Austin huffs deeply.
"I'm sorry." I tell him. I sort of know how that feels like, Malcolm went missing for, at the time, the gods now why and I didn't know where he was or if her was safe. But I knew he was kidnapped, not fallen of the face of the earth.
"Uh eh missy, I am not done yet. Anyway..." Austin smirks. He squirmed again. "Fifteen, younger sister, went see yah too. Sixteen, mom was arrested, and died. I moved in with some close family friends and my sister came soon after. Seventeen, Older sister was kidnapped by Percy. Eighteen went looking for my missing family. I spent six mouths looking till I was kidnapped by Percy as well. I was mad because of my older sister and it took me twice as long as you to learn the full truth. When I did I learned a few things.
"One; my younger brother secretly visited some friends and Percy happened to be there. Percy kind of took him under his wing and he was apart of the main crew for a long time till he got off and became a spy. He couldn't come back for obvious reason but Percy let him tell one family member of his presence and he told my younger sister. Two; my sister learned and ran away to join the crew too. Three; my older sister was secretly dating some guy and he worked for Percy. She went to visit him and he got her on the ship. Four; my older sister married and my two younger siblings were either engaged or dating." Austin is smiling now. I am happy it all worked out.
"It all lead back to Percy. To be honest it makes me laugh when I look back at it now. Anyway. Three mouths into my kidnapping another person got on. Her name was Danielle." (This is an OC) Austin smiles changes. It becomes more dreamy and far away looking.
Oh this should be good.
"Danielle was forced to be my partner in every chore on the ship. She hated my very soul and she constantly had something to yell at me about. Gods I loved it. She was so funny, 'You are so stupid can't you do anything right?' I'm sorry but the look on her face that she made when she as angry... I just could never take her seriously. It just made her hate me more." Austin chuckles uncontrollably. "I kind of just watched her as she got all red faced and started cursing at me about everything. I would tease her just to see her get mad at me. One day she was yelling at me and I said something that I can't remember. Long story short she said, 'Maybe this will get your bleeping attention.' Then she kissed me and left like nothing happened." I start to giggle. That is amazing.
"To say I was dumb struck would be an understatement. Again long story short, we started dating and we got the ship off together. I proposed to her three mouths ago." Austin finishes with a sign.
"Congratulations." I tell him and I go back to my letter. Austin makes a 'hmmm' sound. He still has that stupid smile on his face. He looks at me with another smirk on his face.
"Does that satisfy your needs princess?" Austin teases. I roll my eyes and dip my pen into the ink again.
We talk a little more about Danielle for a couple of hours. He goes into dozens of stories and i am happy to just listen. Pretty soon I'm done with my letter and Austin asks if he can work on one for his fiancé. Of course I gave him my supplies. While I hide the letters on the underside of a drawer. Hopefully no one will think to look there.
Once he's done with his letter it's midnight. I grab my stuff and lay down on the couch. Austin lays on the other side and we talk a little more till he falls asleep. I continue to read from my book.
Its interesting but really boring. Don't asked how that is because I don't know.
I eventually fall asleep too.
That's it for today.
I know it's boring but I have things planned next chapter and all Tartarus is going to break loose. So you guys deserve a simple filler chapter.
I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for any mistakes.
Bye
-Kayla.