Word count: 6644
Sometimes Annabeth wondered if she was just a part of a story. A fiction written for children.
Her life certainly felt like it.
A tale of a princess whose father died of an illness soon after remarrying an evil stepmother who hated her. The said wicked stepmother sending her in exile for no reason other than wanting her son to inherit the throne.
No, really. The parallel between her life and the books she so loved to read was uncanny.
She sigh as she thought back to the last few months.
It had all happened so quickly. Well, her father had been ill for a while, but the royal doctors hadn't predicted him passing away so soon. The entire kingdom had been in trepidation. Everyone had assumed she would succeed her father for the throne. So had she.
But in her state of grief, she had forgotten about her dear old stepmother.
Helen Chase, the queen, went to consult the seer in the neighboring village. The seer, commonly called Oracle, was said to have never make a false prediction. So obviously, her word carried a lot of influence.
Helen had gone alone, just with some escorting guards, to ask about the future of her kingdom and who would inherit the throne.
Oracle had looked at the queen with her mystical green eyes, flaming red hair and said, "Young princess Annabeth Chase shall become the queen. And soon, she shall meet an influential prince from another kingdom and fall in love with him."
Helen did not like that answer.
Good thing she went alone, huh?
She could twist the answer as much as she liked, and no one would be wiser.
And that's precisely what she did.
She said that Annabeth was in danger and should go into hiding until the unknown threat passes.
'Hiding' being a generous replacement for 'exile'.
But not being in the position to refuse her, Annabeth begrudgingly agreed.
The trip itself was long and uneventful, just involving a secrete passageway that she hadn't somehow found during her childhood and walking. And walking. And walking. And walking.
And more walking.
A lot of walking.
Finally, they arrived at the end, barricaded with rocks. Her guards had cleared it enough for her to walk through it and promptly sealed it off.
Annabeth felt sorry for them. They had to walk back all the way back to the palace immediately, the queen's orders. Poor guys. Their legs were probably going to hate them forever.
At first glance of her surroundings, it wasn't all that bad. She was standing at the base of a cliffside. A pretty meadow spread all around her, a roaring waterfall forming a lake that flowed off in a river and a tall and old but elegant-looking tower.
At a second glance, she noticed the entire clearing was surrounded by a thorny and gloomy-looking forest which had that mean I'll-eat-your-candy-in-front-of-you-and-you-won't-be-able-to-do-anything-about-it-Mwahahaha vibes. And why was the lake rising like that?!
It turned out the lake was rising because Peleus, the resident, and her host, sensed her arrival and wanted to greet her.
The first time Annabeth saw him, she really freaked out. But after some assurance that wasn't going to eat her, she calmed down.
At first, she was hesitant and steered clear of him as much as possible, but after a month of solitude and Peleus staying true to his word and being a very polite and gracious host, Annabeth decided to have at it.
She asked him questions about himself and the gloomy forest and talked about Athens and her people.
He told her about the Spider forest, their giant spider armies, and their spider queen Arachne and asked her about the outside world.
After that, they were quick friends. Never had she thought she would make friends with a dragon.
Oh yeah, Peleus was a dragon.
A giant copper-scaled, yellow-eyed dragon.
Which was why it was exciting to talk to him at first, but after a month, even that got tiring. Of course, she had adopted new hobbies, and Peleus had insisted that she learn basic self-defense techniques after she told him Helen's exact words for sending her there even though she told him the truth, but still dull.
Which brings her back to the present.
She sat on the windowsill of the tall tower, looking down at the curled-up form of Peleus. But she knew better than to assume him to be asleep. She had already fallen for that one before and refused to give the dragon the pleasure of getting her flustered again.
Her eyes trailed over the massive scar on his wings. He never did tell her the tale behind that one, did he?
"Pell?" She called out.
He rumbled to show he was listening.
"How did you get that scar? The one on your wing."
He cracked open an eye. "That's a long story, young one."
"I've got time."
The dragon hummed, "Do you know about the Golden Fleece?"
"Of course! Golden Fleece was a magical rug with powerful healing abilities. It could heal any illness or injury in a matter of minutes. But it was lost centuries ago; what's it have to do with your scar?"
"You don't know?"
"Nooo?" She dragged out the 'o' into a question.
The dragon hummed, "I would have thought princess of Athens to know the story."
"What's that supposed to mean?" The blond raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing, young one." The dragon chuckled, beginning with his tale. "The very tower you're living in right now used to hold Golden Fleece. People were waging wars just to get their hands on it; it was too dangerous for the Fleece to stay in the hands of a single nation. So when your kingdom got it, they gave it to me for safekeeping."
"Huh. That's interesting. That explains its sudden disappearance." Annabeth murmured under her breath before continuing, louder. "Wait, you said 'used to'. What happened?"
"Long, long before you were even born, news that the Golden Fleece was here somehow reached Athens's Knight Commander Luke Castellan…."
Commander Castellan broke into the passageway.
'King Chase is foolish, hiding away such a treasure.' He scoffed mentally as he ran towards the Golden Fleece's location. 'Athens would have been invincible if they used it.'
By the time he reached the meadow, his intrusion was noted. The royal guards sent capture units after him.
The dragon protecting the Golden Fleece refused to back down.
'It is my duty to protect the Golden Fleece. You cannot have it.'
They fought a long and hard battle. Commander's sword pierced through the dragon's scales like butter, and the dragon's claws raked him.
They both almost died, but in the end, Commander Castellan elicited a horrible wound to the dragon's wing and won. But by the time he got his hands on the Golden Fleece, the royal army had arrived. He knew, even with Fleece's recuperation powers, going back through the passageway was not an option. So he ran into the Spider forest. The army pursued him.
They encountered the spider army and the spider king. Strong and resourceful, Commander Castellan could have gotten away with the Golden Fleece that night if he didn't have to fight armies of giant spiders and the royal army at the same time right after his battle with the dragon.
And so he died, as did the royal army. The spiders took the Golden Fleece with a grudge towards Athens for killing their king.
The second unit of the Royal Army, led by the to-be king, reached the tower soon after and saw the dragon on the brink of death. They nursed him back to health, but his wing was damaged beyond their healing. He couldn't fly anymore.
But having saved his life even after he failed them, the dragon felt a great deal of indebtedness towards Athens.
He vowed that one day he would repay the favor.
He turned to fully look towards her, "I suppose that would have answered a few more of your question, young one."
Annabeth nodded pensively. "Did you ever try to get the Golden Fleece back?"
"No." The copper-scaled dragon sigh. "By the time I was back to my full health, the spiders had already hidden away the Golden Fleece. And without my wings, I am actually quite weak."
Annabeth shot him a confused look. "But… you're a dragon! You could just trample them! Or set them on fire!"
"It doesn't work that way, young one. Spiders still have Commander's sword, one of the few that can damage me. And dragons and spiders have been coexisting like this for eons; they have developed resistance to fire. Admittedly, I am one of the last of my kind, and they have much expanded their territory."
The grey-eyed princess had many more questions but could see how difficult it was for Peleus. For him, it was probably his most shameful moment. And dragons were prideful creatures, after all.
"I see." Annabeth bowed her head. "Thank you for sharing that with me."
"Of course, young one," Peleus said, walking towards the waterfall. "If you have any more questions, do not hesitate to ask me. It is quite nice to have some company."
The blonde princess smiled lightly, watching her friend go.
Her smile soon turned into a frown as she mentally replayed Peleus's story.
She didn't have all her answers, but with what she knew, one thing was crystal clear in her mind- She had to help her friend.
And a plan was already forming in her mind.
"Where is the Golden Fleece?"
Oracle looked on at her client, unimpressed.
"Many have come here in the past asking the same question. I told them all the same thing, I will tell you the same too."
Something about her was suddenly different. Maybe it was the way her eyes seemed to glow or the sudden breeze whipping her hair around, but the prince knew whatever she was going to say was significant.
On the highest tower,
Used to lie the pelt.
Those who sought its power
Never found where it dwelt.
Heed me, O seeker,
Go to forest bleak
Where bide the creepers
Shrouded in spectral silk, unique.
Beware, caution thy greed.
Should you procure
Conflict it will breed
For the Fleece isn't yours.
Without accent,
You will end up a lament.
Just as the seer spoke the last word, everything went back to normal.
'A sonnet?' The prince tilted his head. 'Though it does explain many things….'
As the prince of one of the great kingdoms, he had access to knowledge not everyone would have.
The first two quatrains were relatively simple enough to guess. The third quatrain and the couplet, however…
He had his suspicions, but he would run it through his cousin.
He fixed his piercing sea-green eyes back on Oracle and thanked her for the lovely poetry.
As he walked out of her cavern, her calm voice carried through the air.
"May the fates be with you."
Peleus had not expected the young princess to convince him to go along with her plans.
How did she do that anyway?
Oh, yeah. By sounding rational.
"You'll get the Fleece, I'll get my freedom, and then we'll both go to Athens. It's a win-win!"
Her plan was as crazy as it was dangerous. And oh, it was perilous.
It had all started with an innocent question.
"Pell, why did you, or the dragons, agree to guard the Fleece for Athens?"
"Well, at first, when Athens had given the Fleece to us, it was more along the lines of asking us to hide it away rather than asking us to protect it. But another one of Fleece's power was to make the plant life in an area grow faster and healthier and bear more produce, lure more animals, and such. It was dragons themselves who decided to protect it with their lives."
"You don't say." She said with a triumph glint in her eyes.
The point she had raised after that was once again very reasonable and logical.
"That means you don't have any obligation towards Athens to bring back the Golden Fleece. Athens gave it to the dragons. It's yours now, Pell. You don't have any duty to Athens."
He had protested; she gave him another logical reply.
In the end, she even roped him in her crazy plan.
That's how they ended up in the Spider forest.
Annabeth draped on his back, covered in fake blood, one hand limp and the other loosely clutching a bronze dagger, pretending to be dead.
They weren't very deep in the forest but could already see hundreds of tiny spiders scuttling around. Most of them no doubt going to report Peleus's sudden appearance.
After a while, when they were pretty deep into the forest, a brave spider, less than a fifth of Peleus's size, stepped forward and asked them the million drachma question.
"Why are you here?"
"Take me to your queen," Peleus ordered.
The spider acceded without any complaints, making Peleus wonder if the question was asked just to save its face.
The spider led them to the heart of the forest, making it more and more challenging to keep track of that particular one. The deeper they went, the more spiders and cobwebs they saw; almost every inch was covered by them. Some giant, some small. None of them were as big as Peleus, but the sheer quantity was overwhelming.
As they neared the tallest tree in the vicinity, the spider crowd started thinning out. Spider webs and natural tree thicket acted like a U-shaped barrier cupping the area with the tallest tree right in the middle. The tree itself was humongous, dwarfing even Peleus. Though the dragon could make out the golden sheen of the Fleece on one of its lower branches, Commander Castellan's sword dug deep into the branch right beside it.
There was just a single spider other than their guide waiting for them at the tree. The spider was easily the biggest one they had encountered on the way, a little more than half of Peleus's size. With a distinctive female aura and a spade-shaped mark on her abdomen, it wasn't hard to guess who the spider was.
"Arachne."
"Peleus. So it's true." She rasped. "We can kill you, you know. You've violated our agreement by entering my forest."
"I come with an offering." The copper-scaled dragon said, shrugging off Annabeth from his back.
She fell at his feet, grip on the dagger loosening a bit to make the whole death pretense look a bit more natural.
"A measly human?"
"Not just any measly human. She is Athens's princess."
"What?" Arachne lurched, coming closer to examine Annabeth. "You lie."
Peleus tossed a coin necklace towards her.
The spider queen snatched it mid-air and looked at the coin intently.
"The royal seal." She muttered. "Curious, curious."
After a few more minutes of looking at the necklace and the still blonde, she turned towards the dragon.
"Why have you come here? What do you want?"
Peleus looked straight in the spider's beady eyes. "Give me the Golden Fleece."
Arachne scoffed an ugly and raspy sound. "Why should I?"
"Because I'm tired of them acting as if they own me!" He roared. "First, they gave my kind the Fleece to protect, and then one of their own tried to kill me. Even now, they act as if I'm indebted to them, expecting me to obey all their orders and one day get the Fleece back to them. The Fleece should have rightfully belonged to my kind!"
"Inspiring." The spider queen said dryly. "But what do I get out of this? They killed my beloved. This dead girl isn't enough."
"They don't know that she's dead. Any day now, they'll be coming back to collect her. The king and queen will be coming themselves, I presume. There's a secrete passageway through the cliff. After you kill them, you can destroy their kingdom as well."
Arachne studied him for a moment. "Why the sudden change of heart?"
"Let's just say this princess over here showed how their kind truly is."
"Finally learning the truth, eh Peleus?" She skittered back on her web. "What will you do with it?"
"None of your business." Peleus subtly nudged Annabeth, signaling her the start of the second phase of her plan.
An explosion cuts off whatever Arachne was going to say.
"That sounded close." Peleus frowned.
"Do not concern yourself with that," Arachne said silkily, shooting a wed string out of her pincer and gliding up next to the Golden Fleece. "My generals are taking care of it. Some… pests got in."
"I see."
"More importantly, Peleus," She said she went to pick up the Golden Fleece. "Let's talk about how you thought you could fool me!"
In a lighting quick moment, instead of picking up the Golden Fleece, she attached a new web string to Commander Castellan's sword and swung it towards the dragon.
"What gave us away?"
"Every single web string is connected here. I can sense the slightest moment through them."
Peleus reflexively jumped away. The sword hit the ground not far from Annabeth.
Annabeth dropped her act and hurried to her feet, trying to cut the silk string attached to the sword. Her dagger bounced off the string harmlessly.
Peleus quickly pulled her back as Arachne swiped at the spot where Annabeth was a second ago with her pointy and dangerous legs. Or hands. Telling with a spider was difficult.
"Her skin and silk are much like my scales," The dragon said to the princess. "Very few weapons can put through it."
"Then you mean this dagger is useless?!" The grey-eyed girl turned to her friend incredulously. "And you're telling me this now!?"
"It'll work on other spiders, just not Arachne."
Peleus and Annabeth jumped away as the sword came swinging again.
"You don't have time to chit chat." Arachne cackled as she brought down the sword over and over, attacking with her long limbs at the same time.
'Okay. So very few weapons can cut through that silk. Just like Peleus's scales.' Annabeth recounted as she rolled away and hid behind the tree's roots. 'Speaking of which, why's Peleus fighting so defensively? Wait a minute, didn't that sword cut through Peleus's scales? That means it can cut through the silk too.'
A crazy plan came to Annabeth's mind. But then again, just coming here was crazy too. What's a little crazier?
She jumped out of her hiding spot and called out. "Hey, you ugly spider! Your legs are hairy!"
"Why you…" Arachne cursed the princess as she brought down the sword at her.
It took a lot of self-control to not jump away immediately and precision to side-step just as it was going to impale her. She quickly grabbed the hilt, pulled the sword out of the ground, and swung it a low semi-backward arc.
SWING! SLICE!
The silk split into two.
The move she pulled applied the same basic principles of her favorite self-defense move, the one Peleus had called 'judo flip'.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Arachne all but screeched.
Before she could attack Annabeth, Peleus breathed a wall of flames. While he knew it wouldn't hurt or stop Arachne, it would distract her for a moment, giving Annabeth a chance to get out of her line of fire.
Now that Annabeth had a good look at the sword, she noticed it was unlike any she had ever seen, jagged at the edges and bone white.
No longer having to worry about the sword, Peleus threw himself into the battle.
His claws against her long limbs, his scales against her silk, his fire against her resistance, and his long reach against her swiftness.
As ridiculous as the notion sounded, the dragon and the spider were evenly matched.
And if the rest of the spiders joined in, it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed. She didn't believe for a second that even with his scales, he wasn't taking any damage.
Unbidden, Peleus's words echoed through her mind.
And without my wings, I am actually quite weak.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'Do what you came here to do in the first place. Duh.'
She wrapped the remaining hanging part of the silk attached to the sword around her waist as a make-shift scabbard and began climbing the tree. She noticed it was a lot less sticky.
'Heavy.' She grunted. 'Keep going anyway. Gotta get that Golden Fleece to Pell.'
Climbing up wasn't very difficult. She found out Arachne's silk lost its stickiness after it dried. Not a very good quality for a spider web to have. It was much like climbing a ladder. Where the handholds were too far for her to reach, she created new ones closer to her with her bronze dagger.
Arachne tried attacking her multiple times, but Peleus distracted or blocked the strikes every time.
More than halfway up to the Fleece, she turned towards the direction of the explosion, and the sight that greeted her nearly sent her tumbling down to the ground in surprise. Thank gods for her dagger.
From the look of it, there were three people, not very far from there, killing spiders left and right. One of them fought against a giant spider, while the other two fought any that came their way.
Had they come all the way from the other end of the forest?
Annabeth didn't have time to wonder.
She started climbing again, and once she reached the top, she understood why Arachne wasn't particularly trying hard to stop her. It was the exact reason why only a sheen of the Fleece was visible from below.
Half of it swaddled around the branch, the entire Fleece was covered entirely by Arachne's silk. It clung to it in a layer, not a single inch of the Fleece's surface visible.
'Okay. If it's the same as all other of Arachne's webs and not sticky, it shouldn't be all that difficult to break it. Right?"
Hesitantly, she put the tip of the sword at the edge of the heavily silken Fleece and dug it into the branch.
The tiny opening gave a bright ray of golden light.
Annabeth glanced down to see Peleus try to avoid getting caught in her webs as she set to work. After freeing it from around the edges, she tried to cut off the top later of silk without tearing the cloth. It went slower than she would have liked, but it worked.
After doing the top layer, she pulled up the hanging part and started working on it.
Concentrating and immersed in her work, she didn't notice the spider that crept up behind her.
Fortunately, her dragon friend did notice it.
"Annabeth, behind you!" He warned.
Perhaps it was instinct, or perhaps it was the fact Peleus had just called her by her name for the first time, Annabeth looked behind her just in time to see the spider spring at her. She shrieked as she scrambled backward, whacking away the spider with her sword.
'Great. Other spiders are joining in.' Annabeth's blood pounded in her ears. 'Gotta hurry.'
She snatched the Golden Fleece and started working on removing the spider silk a lot faster and a lot rougher. Her eyes kept darting around her.
She knew even though no more spiders came her way, her shriek definitely had to have drawn some attention.
As Annabeth bundled up the Fleece after finally removing all the spider silk, she nearly fell off the branch as another explosion rocked the world.
This time it was much closer. Or rather, she should say the spider web and the tree thicket barrier right next to the tree she was on was blown to bits.
The three figures she had seen earlier ran through the gaping hole with battle cries.
"Wait, so now we have to fight a dragon too?" One of them, the one with curly black hair, asked. "Nobody said anything about a dragon."
"The dragon's fighting the spider, and we're here to fight the spider too, so I think that puts us on the same side." The second one, the one with blonde hair and blue eyes, reasoned.
The middle one, one with sea-green eyes and jet black hair, a ranking aristocrat by the look of his armor, said nothing. He just craned his neck upwards. His eyes flickered from the Golden Fleece to the girl holding it.
He locked his eyes with Annabeth's, and for a moment, the world stilled. An understanding passed between them.
It was terrifying.
(Even though Annabeth's first thought at seeing those eyes was 'Seaweed?')
The air around them changed as frowns graced their faces, both of them glaring daggers at each other.
The price just turned his head and charged at the giant spider queen with his companions.
Annabeth huffed and started climbing down, the Fleece tied around her like a sash. Even as she climbed down, she could feel her body rejuvenated with energy and bruises and scrapes on her palm healing.
Meanwhile, the prince and his companions had quickly found out that their weapons were useless and were coordinating with Peleus, acting as a diversion.
They were doing pretty good for themselves until the prince accidentally stepped on one of the new sticky web lying on the ground.
Annabeth raced towards him, drawing out the bone-white sword before Arachne noticed he was practically a sitting duck.
She swiftly cut the silk his feet were stuck to and dodged the ball of sticky spider web that came their way in the nick of time.
"Thanks. How did you cut that? None of our weapons work."
Annabeth's first instinct was to correct him that it's not her sword, but then she thought, 'To hell with it. It's my sword now.'
She shrugged, "It's special."
He eyed the Golden Fleece.
She sent him a dirty look.
"If you two are done ogling each other, come help us, will you?" The blonde swordsman called out.
"Shut up, Jason!" The prince snapped as they both flushed.
Before the prince could run back into the fray, Annabeth pulled him back.
"Wait! I have a plan. I can't do it alone."
The prince looked at her appraisingly and nodded.
Annabeth described her plan as quickly as she could.
By the time she finished, spiders were starting to swarm them in large numbers.
Prince nodded once again and ran off to relay the plan.
Annabeth made towards Peleus, slashing and stabbing at all the spiders that came her way. Thanks to the Golden Fleece, even the dull ache in her arms from handling the sword had disappeared.
"Peleus!" She called out.
He spat a few fireballs at Arachne and turned towards her.
"You got the Fleece. Good job."
Annabeth nodded her thanks before quickly draping the Fleece over his wing and giving him a brief summary of her plan.
"Even if it fails, it will buy us enough time for your wings to heal." She finished.
"That is an extremely dangerous, not-very-smart plan," Peleus stated blandly. "Of course, I shall go along with any of your plans, no matter how ridiculous."
The princess laughed breezily. "Thank you."
"To the right, Leo!" The prince was yelling at the one with curly hair.
The said ravenette threw an explosive at the spider queen pouting, and moved to the right.
BOOM!
"That's my cue," Annabeth muttered.
Annabeth ran off to the spot Peleus had dumped her one when she was pretending to be dead.
Peleus and Annabeth both kept killing off waves of spiders as the trio kept jumping around Arachne, taunting and insulting her to keep her attention fixed on her.
After a couple of minutes, the prince suddenly yelled, "NOW!"
Annabeth took a deep breath and charged forward at Arachne.
The spider queen shot a silk string towards her.
Blood pumping with adrenalin, Annabeth swiped at it with her sword, letting it stick to its flat, and slid under Arachne and toward Peleus in one smooth motion.
As predicted, Arachne made to impale her with her long limb as she slid out from under her. Luckily, Annabeth's hunch was correct, and Arachne herself couldn't pierce her silk. Her make-shift silk scabbard blocked the blow.
Annabeth slashed at her limb, causing the spider to pull back.
Peleus created vast wind gusts with his newly healed wings and pushed Arachne, and a few nearly spiders into her own webs.
The princess scrambled to her feet and sliced one particular silk string after making sure the silk string attached to the flat of the sword also stuck to the one she was cutting.
SLICE!
In one simple moment, she cut both the strings attached to her sword and stepped back to watch the result.
One slice, one blast of air, and a few moments later, Arachne was cocooned entirely in her own silk.
The silk string Annabeth severed was strategically cut. The string connected to Arachne stuck to it, and that coupled with Arachne's body weight being suddenly thrown back at the same time as the silk strand being cut loose caused a chain reaction of other stings, also strategically planted thanks to the prince and his companion's distractions and jumping around, coming loose and twisting and sticking and intertwining to cover Arachne completely.
Every single web string is connected here. I can sense the slightest moment through them.
"It worked." Annabeth breathed. 'Guess sensing isn't the same as consciously keeping track of it all.'
"Yes, it worked. Good plan. Now let's get out of here before she gets out of there." The prince panted next to her.
"Yeah." She glanced towards him, and both of them dashed back to Peleus.
Prince's companions, Jason and Leo, pulled them up, and soon all of them, along with Golden Fleece, were on Peleus' scally back.
"Hold on tight." Peleus cautioned. "It's been a while since I've taken flight. It might get a little rough."
And just like that, they broke through the canopy and tree line and flew into the sky.
It was a beautiful scene. The sunset at the horizon and the ashy forest below them.
The four humans took turns to have their injuries healed by the Fleece.
Nobody said anything.
It was too peaceful to even think about breaking the calm.
Peleus landed back down near a river, miles away from the Spider Forest.
After cleaning and freshening up a bit, the prince turned towards the dragon and the princess.
"I-"
"Firstly, what's your name? I'm getting tired of calling you Mr. High and Mighty." Annabeth cut him off.
The prince glared at her. "I could ask the same, Miss… um, Wise Girl."
"Wise Girl? Seriously?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Fine, if we're going with silly nicknames, you're Seaweed Brain."
"What?"
"You're eyes match seaweed."
The prince blinked. "That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever."
"Can you two please flirt when I'm not around?" Jason sigh, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"Yeah, get some room, guys." Leo shook his head, the same teasing shine in his eyes.
"SHUT UP!" The prince and the princess yelled in unison.
Peleus chuckled lightly. Annabeth shot him a betrayed look.
"I swear if you two weren't my cousin and best friend, I would have killed you both myself a long time ago." The prince muttered darkly.
The grey-eyed princess sniffed and turned away from the dragon.
"I suppose I can introduce myself first. I'm Annabeth Chase, princess of Athens."
The prince, Jason, and Leo stilled.
"Princess of Athens?" The prince furrowed his eyebrows. "What were you doing in Spider Forest? Aren't you next in line for succession? My condolences for your father."
"Yes, I'm the princess of Athens. Due to some internal kingdom affairs, the queen sent me to stay with Peleus. I went in with him to get the Golden Fleece and find a way to get back to my kingdom. Now, your turn."
The prince stood up a straighter, "Prince Percy Jackson of Atlantis."
"Prince of Atlantis? Okay, I didn't see that coming." Annabeth said before smirking. "But then again, it stands to reason that Seaweed Brain would be from Atlantis."
"Hey! Just like how Wise Girl would be from Athens?" he retorted.
Annabeth sniffed, a mirthful gleam in her eyes and a tiny smirk on her lips. "Touché." You're smarter than you look.
Percy frowned a frown that did little to hide the teasing smile on his face.
"Stop flirting!" Leo sang cheerfully and ducked behind Jason to avoid Percy's glare.
"Anyway, now that we're done with introductions, let's get to the point," Percy said, his demeanor turning sober. "I need the Golden Fleece."
Annabeth frowned, "The Fleece belongs to Peleus. Ask him."
Percy turned towards the dragon and bowed. "Please, I need the Fleece."
Peleus looked on for a moment. "Why do you need the Golden Fleece?"
"My mother," Prince of Atlantis said dejectedly. "She's dying of an incurable illness. I can't let her die."
"Peleus," Annabeth suddenly spoke up. "Do you know where you'll go from here on out?"
"I do not. Certainly not back to the tower." He rumbled.
Percy caught on.
"You can come to Atlantis!" He tried desperately. "You can stay there and protect the Golden Fleece there! All forces of Atlantis will help you protect it from any and all other nations! You won't have to stay in a secluded or lonely place either!"
Peleus didn't say anything.
"Peleus," Annabeth called quietly. "All your debts to Athens have been repaid. Don't let that hold you back. You're free."
Peleus didn't say anything.
Just as Percy was beginning to lose hope, the dragon said, "Very well. But the Fleece will not leave my sight again."
"Of course!" Percy agreed in a heartbeat.
Peleus nodded, "I will first get the princess to Athens, then we can-"
"Hell no!" The princess cursed. "I'm coming with you!"
"Young one," The dragon began. "But you must inform your kingdom about your whereabouts and the threat of Arachne."
"Yes, and I'm sure Atlantis has at least one free messenger."
Percy nodded. "Of course. I shall send our swiftest messenger."
"You're not going to listen to me, are you?" The dragon sigh.
"Pell," Annabeth's eyes softened. "You're my friend. I won't leave you alone until I'm absolutely certain you're happy."
She continued in a much more cheerful tone, "Besides, I bet Helen will have a heart attack when she read I'm in Atlantis! It's not like I'm in a hurry to go back."
"Thank you."
No other words were needed.
In the end, Prince Percy's mother was saved, Peleus found a new home filled with happiness, the tunnel leading to Athens was completely sealed.
The prince understood the whole meaning of the sonnet, the last tercet, and the couplet. While he needed the Golden Fleece, he wasn't the only one who would be affected if he took it in bad conscience, hence the permission or lament.
Oracle's prediction came true- Annabeth became the queen of Athens and fell in love with Percy, a prince from an influential kingdom. And when Seaweed Brain asked her hand in marriage, Wise Girl gladly accepted.
And that is the tale of a princess who refused to wait for her Prince Charming to come and rescue her, a girl who refused to be weak, who refused to let her friends suffer.
That is the tale of a girl who awakened the warrior within and took the matter into her own hands.
That is the tale of Annabeth Chase.
Fin
…
Omake [Extra Scene]
The prince and the princess walked in silence. The prince's mother cured of her illness, and Peleus situated in his new home, they were going to visit the latter.
"Hey," Annabeth called out suddenly. "Teach me how to swordfight."
Percy raised an eyebrow in a silent question.
"Well, I," She hesitated before forging on. "I don't want to go back to being the prize princess or become a trophy wife; I want to get stronger. At least strong enough to take care of myself and those around me. Like back in the forest, it was just plain dumb luck that my plan worked. We could've all died. I wanted to help Peleus bad enough to act impulsively, but I didn't have the strength to back it up. I don't want that to happen again. I don't ever want to be the damsel in distress." She smiled wryly. "Besides, it would be a waste to just hang up my sword, one of a few weapons that can cut through nearly anything, as a decor."
They reached the end of the passageway, the Peleus's new home visible not much farther away, in silence.
Just as Annabeth's heart was about to sink into disappointment- which was ridiculous, there were many capable swordsmen back in Athens who would not refuse the princesses' order to teach her- Percy spoke up.
"You have a bit of a habit to ramble, don't you?"
Annabeth blinked in surprise, a tiny blush gracing her cheeks.
Percy laughed. "Kidding. So why me?"
Annabeth grinned. "Messengers were just dispatched to leave for Athens. I'd imagine it would take them at least a week or two to reach there and another week or two for my escorts to reach here. Enough to start on my basics, right?"
"Yes, but why me?"
"Because you're strong?" Annabeth blithely ignored her heart's 'Because I want to spend more time with you before I have to leave'.
"Oh? I'm strong?" Percy prodded, grinning.
"Oh, shut up," Annabeth muttered, that tiny blush coming back. "So, what's your answer?"
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay, as in, I'll do it okay."
"Okay."
"Okay."
Both of them burst into laughter. Laughing all the way till they reached Peleus.
True to his word, Percy had given Peleus a home. A dense spinney with a cave and lake that connected directly to the one in the palace. The Golden Fleece was probably hidden somewhere in the cave.
They spent the afternoon with him, just talking and laughing like old friends. And when they had to return, Annabeth asked Peleus, "Are you happy?"
"I am." He said, and for the first time in months, Annabeth was truly happy.
True to Annabeth's prediction, it did take her escorts a few weeks to reach Atlantis. Enough time for the prince and the princess to go over the basics.
When the inevitable time of departure came, Annabeth unsurprisingly found herself reluctant to leave.
She bid her farewell to Peleus and Queen Sally but found that words failed her when it came to Percy. So she blurted the first thing that came to her mind.
"I'll write after I reach Athens."
Percy looked at her with surprise before it melted into his trademark lopsided grin. "You do that. We'll be like pen pals."
"Yeah." Annabeth smiled back. "Pen pals."
Pen pals they became. They wrote to each other frequently, talking about random things. Annabeth wrote to him in detail how upset Helen was to see her return and made sure to always add a section at the end to ask about Peleus. Percy reminded her to keep up with her practice and never failed to carry on Annabeth's messages to Peleus.
Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Months turned into years. They continued their newfound friendship. Both took over their respective kingdoms, and one fine night when a Royal Ball was hosted in Athens for Princess Annabeth, Prince Percy went down on one knee and asked her to marry him, she could only smile and say, "Yes."
And for the first time in her life, Annabeth was truly and wholly blissfully content.
It's really sad that there's no Peleus or Arachne character tag. And FFN doesn't allow typing the name either.
I wrote this all the way back in what June? Yeah, June. I had been waiting for due to certain reasons but my patience has run out so here you go.
My first attempt at an AU. How was it? Too rushed? Too slow? Unbelievable? (I personally think the fight scene was; I suck at writing fight scenes.) Too short? Too long? Were character OOC? Answer these questions and your thoughts in the reviews/comments!
I accept constructive criticism and appreciation but since it's only a one-shot don't bother with flames, flames will be deleted.
On an unrelated note, I'm thinking of writing a multi-chapter PJO Crime AU. Would any of you be interested in reading that? (IDK. There aren't many Crime AUs in our fandom.)
(Write Future's Decision first, SarcasmRocks.)
I know, I know! I'm trying not to slack off!
To any of my Future's Decision readers reading this, I'm alive and I promise I'm working on the next chapter!
Thank you all for reading this!