First off, I hope you enjoyed last chapters' Percabeth moments coz this one is about to hit you like a firecracker to your face. *Cue evil laughter*
Enjoy. *smirks*
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"It was like when you make a move in chess and just as you take your finger off the piece, you see the mistake you've made, and there's this panic because you don't know yet the scale of disaster you've left yourself open to."
-Kazuo Ishiguro
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This was by far the most plain, least slutty, most decent swimsuit Drew had ever worn in her life. She looked at the mirror and back at herself and decided that she should go by the Prince's wishes and not wear anything too revealing (I mean, more than it already is) at least as a sign of respect and submission.
She could handle submission, no biggie.
The black one piece swimsuit had a zipper on the front that ran upside down from below her neck till her upper abdomen. She zipped it such that her lower breasts and upper abdomen showed. It was still decent compared to her bikinis.
What are you thinking? How is this not slutty? Well, Drew is a model for those who don't remember. She makes cover pages with lesser cloths than this.
Who can blame me? I have a perfect body.
She applied her signature red lipstick and left her freshly washed long hair down so that it shifted every time she made a move. Guys dig that.
She covered herself fully using a long-sleeved overcoat that ran down her nicely shaved legs. Drew was ready for a real date. She walked through the familiar corridors and reached the swimming pool.
The guards looked at her skeptically before she clarified that she was Drew and she had a date with Prince Percy.
Uh, duh? Why else would Percy spend all this time in the pool?
It was obviously his creative way of showing himself off. Although, he didn't need to. Drew didn't really care what he looked like below all those extravagant suits. Nope, she just cared about the luxury suits part.
Hell, she'd even let him have all the other girls secretly at the same time if he'd just let her be the Queen.
Yes, I'm power hungry. Deal with it.
When Drew walked in, she found Percy leaning over one wall of the pool with both his arms over the floor. His head rested in between them. The rest of his body was under water. He was either tired or sleeping.
Also, he was shirtless.
Well, maybe it could Drew to start caring about what was inside those suits too...
Drew approached him. "Hey." She cooed.
Percy looked up and glared at her. Drew assumed it was just playful. Who in their right mind would glare at her seriously, anyway?
She walked over to the steps and got inside the pool. Percy was leaning next to a wall and she slowly made her way towards him. He looked away and went back to sleeping on his arms.
"Something is wrong with my eyes." She said.
He looked at her questioningly.
"... because I can't take them off of you." She wiggled her eyebrows.
He shook his head and rolled his eyes.
Ah, well, at least he is not in a bad mood.
Percy and Drew had fallen into a unsaid agreement over time. She would initiate conversation, say playful, flirty or suggestive things and he would dismiss it, roll his eyes at her or turn her down.
Hey! He is in denial! You just wait.
Overtime, she also realised that the few times he was amused, it meant he was in a good mood. If he didn't say anything, that was normal and if he started being rude then that day was either stressful or bad. Of course, she had offered to take care of his stress in... um... creative ways... but he always ignored those.
"What did I tell you about wearing modest cloths?" He asked.
"Hey! This is modest." She complained. "Besides, it's not like you didn't expect it."
He shrugged. "That's true."
"See? I'm not boring like some girls."
Annabeth. I'm not boring like Annabeth.
"Come here." He pinched her swimsuit from the tip right below her neck and zipped it so it covered her fully. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"
Drew wiggled her eyebrows at him.
Percy frowned at her for a second before realisation hit him and he gave his signature amused smile. She liked it.
"Okay, I fell headfirst into that one. One point." He pointed at her.
This was another thing she had randomly suggested. She told him that every time he made a comment that could be turned around to mean something else... something suggestive, she would get a point and every time he expertly dodged one of her remarks, he would get a point. She had suggested it out of the blue but surprisingly, the Prince caught on to it and made it an entire game.
Yeah, the guy was weird.
Drew asked. "Do you have something planned for today or..?"
"Give me a break." He said. "I'm out of ideas. I like the water. It feels nice. I just wanna sleep on the floor."
"Oh." She suggested. "We could totally sleep on the floor."
He closed his eyes in amusement and groaned. "Okay. My fault again."
She leaned over to find few plates on his other side. "Snacks?" She asked.
"Yep. Help yourself."
She put one hand on his shoulder and maneuvered across him to reach the other side. He had french fries, chips, sauce and whipped cream. Like all of his food fetishes, the chips were blue.
Where does he get all this blue food from?
Immediately, another thought struck her. She scooped up little whipped cream with her finger and looked at Percy as she brought it to her lips and sucked on it. She smirked when his eyes widened.
Percy coughed. "Okaeyy..." He said. He removed his arms from the floor and got into the water. "That was definitely my fault." He nodded and ran one hand over his hair.
Immediately, Drew noticed something else - his upper biceps were red. Curiosity got the better of her and she touched his shoulder to which Percy flinched. "Did you get hurt?"
He rubbed the spot. "Yeah. No big deal. I just scratched myself while running."
Drew put her hands on his bicep to examine the wound again and this time Percy let her. She looked at him with concern. "Why would you need running?"
"It's okay. Don't worry."
She didn't really worry per se. She was just trying to be sweet. She leaned over to peck his lips but Percy moved away so she ended up kissing his chin.
Then, she thanked the universe for its awesome timing.
Why?
Because someone decided to throw open the doors to the swimming pool and walk in right then.
That someone was princess perfect Annebelle. Oh, I'm sorry, she meant Lady Annabeth.
...who just saw her kissing the Prince when he was shirtless, in water, while she was wearing a swimsuit.
Looks like my plan is working better than how I planned it.
Percy's first emotion was irritation. This guy really didn't like it when he was interrupted for no reason. However, his eyes widened when he saw who it was. Drew could practically hear the wheels turning in his mind as Annabeth stood stunned with the image in front of her.
He moved away from Drew and frowned at Annabeth but it was a frown of concern and not anger. "Hey, Wise Girl, what are you doing here?"
"Nothing." Her expression closed off and she grit her teeth. "I think I forgot some of my stuff here and I came here to take it back." She paced over to the locker rooms.
Percy didn't bother looking back at Drew. In one swift movement, he grabbed on to the walls of the pool, got up all the way by just using his upper arm strength and ran over towards her. Drew watched as water dripped down from his arms, his chest, his stomach, his legs, everywhere. His swimming shorts were still very much blue and since it didn't stick to his skin, it dropped down slightly on one side due to the momentum. She couldn't help but stare. Yep, she told herself, definitely a hottie.
I do want the throne but this is surely a welcome plus...
It took them a moment to come back. She couldn't hear anything from the locker room so that meant Annabeth wasn't yelling - which was truly surprising. When Lady Annabeth did come out though, she was clutching to her swimsuit and walking aggressively over to the doors again. As soon as Drew saw her, she waved like: Hi, bitch. Are you enjoying yourself? I am.
To top it all, she had walked out of the pool herself, sat next to the snack plates and unzipped the suit so now it showed her cleavage very clearly. Her expression was smug and she wordlessly tried to communicate: I told you he likes what he sees.
Well, the Prince may or may not have indirectly scolded her and refused all her advances but it was only time, right? He would be coming back to all this soon enough. Drew just wanted to show her a trailer.
Annabeth huffed. Drew knew Percy would be walking out anytime now so she went into the water again to cover herself up. Call her whatever but she was cunningly intelligent - a very helpful tool when it comes to something like a Selection.
Like she predicted, Percy came rushing out. "Annabeth, wait. This..." He closed his eyes like he didn't know what to say. "Look, just hear me out."
"Didn't I tell you I didn't wanna hear things I don't ask for?" She snapped. "Enjoy your date." Her eyes shot daggers at Lady Drew.
Drew smirked at her. Thankfully, Percy wasn't facing her so he couldn't tell. Drew watched them argue as she enjoyed herself; eating the French fries with sauce.
Percy tried to approach her and grab her by the arms.
"NO." She shouted. "Don't touch me, don't follow me, just don't do anything!"
Percy stood stunned and she dunked down to pick something up from the floor. She walked towards him, yanked his right hand towards her and forcefully placed the item on his hands. "And for gods' sakes, Percy -" She didn't sound angry anymore. She sounded defeated.
Drew loved that even more.
"- wear the shirt," she said and marched off.
Percy looked at his shirt in her hands, back at Annabeth's retreating figure and then at Drew who gave him the world's most artificial I-have-no-idea-what-happened face.
"So," she said, trying to not smile. "You coming?"
Drew could only think of one thing as Annabeth slammed the door on the way out: Mission success.
...
Calypso was over the moon when Willow told her that Prince Percy asked her out for another official date. Then, she wondered why she was feeling so happy over someone she doesn't want to like.
She wore a long white polite dress that reached all the way down to her ankle. She was a little bummed out that the date was shorter than any of her previous ones.
So yes, that is how Percy ended up explaining to her about how him and his former personal guard Jason were attacked in royal grounds. They were sitting with their legs crossed, facing each other. Calypso's face must have done something stupid because Percy laughed.
"It is not as bad as you think." He looked at the horizon. "Everyone is fine. Now we just need to find out if there is any correlation between this guy and the one who attacked Rachel."
"You make it look like you weren't at gun point less than 48 hours ago." She remarked. "Are you alright?"
He nodded. "Little shaken up but okay... overall." He took a bite out of his waffles. "What about you? What really happened after I left yesterday?"
Calypso didn't want to give herself away. "When did you leave yesterday?"
He smirked. "Like you didn't notice."
She panicked for a second. Did Percy see her talking to Drew, Reyna and the others about Annabeth? Then she realised, maybe he was just teasing me.
"Okay, fine. You know that the Drakons topped. Chimeras came second. Hydras third and Centaurs last. When Drakons and Hydras fought, Hydras kept their prisoner next to the restricted gardens. That was a seriously stupid move. Anyone who knows Reyna, knows that they practised there the most. It was almost a give-away. Hydras lost badly but defended really well and managed to find Lady Annabeth's location. That's the only reason why they didn't come last."
Percy looked guilty and Calypso didn't know why.
"Then, when we Chimeras fought the Centaurs, we managed to trick them into thinking our prisoner was in their grounds and at the same time we rescued Lady Billie without much resistance. It was a clear win but Drakons bet us in the overall ranking."
Percy grimaced. "I should have kept my mouth shut and let Annabeth plan strategies."
"What?" Calypso asked. Where did Annabeth come from?
"Jackson!" Someone called out.
Calypso looked up to see a guard and someone else walking with him. Wait a minute - that was Rachel.
Percy got up. He looked at Calypso.
"I can...?" She frowned.
"Yeah, sure." He offered her a hand and she got up. "Jason must've got the suspects."
As she walked a few steps staring at the horizon, she suddenly tripped. Percy caught her by her shoulders right away. She found herself staring directly at the kingdom's heartthrob.
It was in times like these when Calypso wondered if she truly liked the Prince. Sure, he was always sweet and funny but he was beginning to feel incredibly handsome and caring too. Calypso always knew she liked the Prince for his goofy side but she was starting to wonder if she was falling in love with him.
It was a beautiful feeling.
Percy looked concerned. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"No." Her voice came out low. "No. I'm fine."
By that time, Rachel and Jason had reached them. Rachel was openly smiling at Percy but Jason looked between Percy and Calypso apprehensively. Jason opened a file to show him the pictures. He passed another one to Rachel. Calypso leaned over to look at Percy's.
"No." Rachel said. "That's not the one."
Jason looked at her. "Are you sure?"
"Positive. The guy who attacked me was bald."
Percy sighed. "Well, that's pretty hard not to miss."
Calypso looked at the rest of them. "What if they're family?" She suggested.
Percy looked deep in thoughts.
Rachel hummed. "It's worth a shot but we don't have the blood samples of the previous guy."
Percy spoke. "True we don't..."
Jason finished his sentence. "-but we do have the second one's family records." He looked at Rachel. "I'll get you the faces first thing tomorrow morning."
She nodded.
"Percy?" Jason asked. "What are you thinking?"
"The tattoo." He said. "Does it remind you of anything?"
Jason sighed. "Half of all the gangs have eyes or skeletons, it's too vague."
"No." Percy said. "The star with the wings. I can't get it off my mind."
Rachel didn't look convinced. "Star and wings? Sounds like a teenage mistake."
Jason paled. Percy and Jason shared a look.
Percy turned to Calypso. "I'll make it up to you." He looked back at Jason. "Use protocol 7. Meet me back in my room after dinner."
...
Percy walked back to his room with a lot of old records in hand. Jason wasn't back yet. He opened the room to find the Stoll brothers sitting on the edge of his bed.
What?
"Hey rommie!" Said Connor. He had a remote in his hand and was watching the TV.
"What?" Percy asked.
"We're your new roomies!" Travis said. "Gods, how long have I wanted to live in this room..."
"And steal the Prince's stuff." Connor said.
"Huh? Guys?"
"The Queen wanted to have eyes on you all the time for your safety." Connor pointed to the screen. "Do you like this one or the one behind her?"
"Na," Travis said. "This is more Percy's type."
Percy was confused again. When he turned around, he stopped himself from taking a double take. They were watching Victoria Secret's live catwalk. The girl on the screen had blond hair and blue eyes.
He blushed.
"What are you- Annabeth's not the only girl I'm seeing you know?" He said.
Jason came in just then. He carried an entire box of files inside.
"What do you say, Superman?" Travis asked. "Is she Percy's type?"
Jason frowned and looked at the screen. He laughed. "That's practically me you guys."
"Exactly," Connor said, "so you'll know."
Jason shook his head but smiled in amusement.
Percy asked, "What is going on here? And why are the Stolls in my room?"
"Sally wanted you to have extra security." Jason said as a matter-of-fact. "They are part of the extra security."
Percy groaned. "So what? You're gonna... watch me while I sleep?"
"Better than watching you while you bleed." Connor said.
Travis's eyes light up. "All your windows could be broken but you'll be standing on your feet." He sang.
They shared a look. Connor said, "You won't understand man. They're-"
"References?" Percy asked.
They grinned. "See! You're catching up so fast! We'll be great roommates."
Jason looked at Percy warily. Percy knew this look. This was his you're-gonna-hate-everything-I-say-now look. Jason walked over to the large table which was usually pushed to one corner of the room. He dragged the thing forward.
"You're not gonna like this." He deadpanned.
"I figured." Percy brought out the file that showed the second intruder's picture. "The star and wings have something unique in it. Do you see the pattern on the wings?"
Jason nodded.
Travis and Connor walked over. Travis said, "That is the Machivists gang. Drug dealers, right?"
"Yes but they always tattoo their thighs. This pattern isn't them either."
Connor frowned. "No. It's the Revolters."
Percy paled. Revolters were a gang full of people against the throne. That could explain a lot of things. Those guys were deadly. They had piles of guns, bombs and could attack on command. They didn't care about -
Someone knocked on Percy's door and it brought him out of his thoughts. Jason went to open it.
It was King Paul.
The Stolls hurriedly looked for the remote to turn off the television. Percy mentally face palmed. Paul definitely saw what they were watching before.
Jason looked at Percy. "I thought he might want to hear this."
The King looked at the gang. "Stolls, please stay outside."
They shared a knowing look before deciding to obey.
King Paul walked over to the two. "I heard the underground team for the illegal weapons deal has lost contact."
Percy: "It was a two-week mission. They probably got stuck up with something
Jason looked grim. "I don't know, man. Even Silena didn't get any messages for the last week. She is really worried."
Percy: "You know that if we get involved now, we could put all their lives in danger."
Jason: "You're right. Let's deal with one problem at a time. Okay, look Percy, I-I found what I found and I had to tell someone besides you-"
Percy frowned at his bro.
"-because this involves people."
"Jason please explain everything first." Paul said.
He took out the box and reached in to pick up photos. "They call themselves the Platinums. This was from before my time here. You would've been a kid when it happened. The Platinums recruit..." He trailed off.
Paul nodded at him.
"The Platinums recruit kids, Percy. They recruit kids." Jason's eyes were wide in fear.
Percy cursed. He felt sick.
"They believe that true loyalty is brought out by teaching kids instead of recruiting the skilled. Whatever the kids become in the future - doctor, journalist, publisher or anything; he or she carries with them the teachings of the Platinums. The kids are usually orphans. They join because they don't see another option for themselves. Platinums are the same as the Revolters; they want to get rid of the throne but they're more diverse and less of fighters."
Percy let out a breath at that.
"Don't underestimate them though. Their skills are wide ranged. They could prepare a small injection themselves and give it to you. No pharmaceuticals needed. No records whatsoever."
Paul stopped him. "We stopped the Platinums long ago. We had de-brainwashing camps for the kids. It was one of those things we really concentrated on. Also, they're a really small gang. A hundred people maybe. I don't see how this is rising up again. We buried the whole story."
Jason grimaced. "The Platinums had rituals where every teenager must bring a younger kid before they could become a full member. I checked the records. We took take of the members and the leaders but we couldn't track all the new recruits. They must have formed their own gang."
Percy thought about it. "It still doesn't explain how they knew where I was."
"They must have spies inside the palace." Jason stated. "It could be anyone. There is no way we could find out every single one of them."
The temperature inside the room dropped by 50 degrees.
Jason continued. "That's not all, Percy. There is something else..."
What could be worser than this?
Jason took out a small book. "Names of every one who dared to register with the gang. You need to see this."
He opened a previously marked page. If Percy didn't know before, he would have thought it was the vocabulary book of someone trying to learn English. Jason pointed to one name in the list. It read: A Chase.
A chase for Annabeth Chase.
NO. NO.
This is not possible.
"WHAT?" He said immediately. He looked at the King in disbelief. "You're not actually buying this, are you?"
Jason sighed and pointed to a photo. It looked like it was from a CCTV footage. It was of a girl with medium blond hair walking away from Miss. Willow's desk. "How do you explain this then? Leo debugged the phones and managed to find out when it could've been stolen. He confirmed that it was Annabeth's and not yours. That's a picture from the same time but when I talked to Annabeth, she told me she was in the archery arena then."
No alibi then.
She couldn't show her strength in archery publicly.
Percy shook his head. He was angry. "You seriously think Annabeth has something to do with this? Jason! Think! Don't you think she would have hurt me by now if she wanted to?"
He thought about how broken she looked when Sally scolded her.
This couldn't be.
"Jason. YOU are not buying it. I can tell!" He argued.
Jason looked conflicted. "I admit. It makes no sense."
Paul put one hand on his shoulder. "Then we have a bigger problem."
They all locked eyes and spoke together. "Someone is framing Annabeth."
"This is bad." Percy said.
Jason looked at the photo. "And it is probably a Selected."
Percy rubbed his eyes. "Jason, how did you even think of looking at this? I mean... this was a long shot."
"I know you never judged me for my past but I did grow up in an orphanage." Paul looked at him in surprise. "I lost some people to the same gang."
Percy nodded and turned to find that the T.V. was in mute the whole time and he realised that the program was already over. It now showed the news of a bomb blast from somewhere.
He turned up the volume for more bad news.
The bomb blast had happened in Huston province - the place where the underground team had gone missing.
Percy's blood ran cold.
...
*Cue evil laughter again*I'm gonna leave you hanging here. What do you think happened?
Comment your theories! Let's see if any of them come true. ;)
...
