Percy stood in the ballroom beside Poseidon and Amphitrite. The tedious procession of royals being announced as they came into the room had already begun. Percy had plastered a false smile on his face as each royal came into the room, but his mind was only interested in one royal's arrival. Ever since he saw her, he had been busy plotting and planning how he could see Annabeth again.

In the meantime, he had to endure every royal giving Percy the once over as they looked down their nose at him. Then they would coldly greet him. Percy couldn't tell if they were mocking him, or if that was just how they acted. Jason was just as stiff as the rest. Percy tried to greet him and the high King Zeus as formally as he could, but he still felt as though Zeus was glaring at him.

He was relieved when Clarisse showed up, and instead of the cold greeting, he got a punch in the shoulder as she practically yelled, "Look at you all done up, Prissy."

"Same to you, Princess Clarisse. I don't think I've ever seen you in a dress." Percy smirked.

"Don't get used to it." She growled as she went to punch him again, but Percy was quick enough to dodge it. "Looks like you still got some reflexes. Good, you'll need it." She said as she left.

"Spartans." Amphitrite muttered disapprovingly under her breath.

Connor and Travis weren't much better when they walked in exaggerating a pompous behavior. "Prince Perseus, so good to see you at this dull and drab event. You look like you're about to pass out from boredom." Connor droned in a dull voice.

Percy had a hard time not bursting out laughing. "You've saved me again. Just in the knick of time." Percy grinned.

"Queen Athena and her daughter, Princess Annabeth of Athens." A servant announced.

Percy's smile dropped as he looked up to see Annabeth in a stunning blue dress. Her hair was done up, making her look every inch the royal she was.

"Uh, oh. He's gone already." Conner waved a hand in front of Percy's face.

"Hermes told us she's the most sought after princess. We wouldn't even stand a chance." Travis bemoaned. "Not that any princess would have us."

"I think I know one prince who would stand a chance." Conner waggled his eyebrows at Percy.

Percy suddenly had an idea. It was the last piece to his puzzle. "Could I ask a favor of you guys?" Percy smirked mischievously.

"Sure, but know that I'm keeping track." Conner winked.

"Duelly noted. When I give the signal, I need you to distract Athena."

"Queen Athena?!" Travis' voice broke.

"Two masters, such as yourselves, surely can think up a distraction where it doesn't look like you are distracting her." Percy smirked.

"A challenge, is it then?" Conner rubbed his hands together.

"Wait for my signal." Percy said under his breath as Athena approached.

"Queen Athena." Poseidon greeted.

"King Poseidon, Queen Amphitrite." Athena greeted back, completely ignoring Percy again

Percy didn't pay her much mind as his eyes were glued to Annabeth. "Your majesties." Annabeth greeted. "Prince Perseus." She held her hand out to him.

Percy didn't even get a chance to grab it as Athena snatched it and drug Annabeth away.

"That was cold." Travis observed.

"Prince Perseus." A hand was shoved in front of his face. " You probably don't remember me, but I visited you in Athens."

Percy focused in on the face and instantly recognized it. It was Drew, one of the daughters of Aphrodite. He squinted his face as if trying to place her, then acted as though he finally recognized her. "I know you, you're that 'moon' girl."

"What?" She said confused.

"Yeah, yeah, you asked me what time it was, and I said it was noon. And you said it sure was a nice 'moon.'"

Travis and Conner burst out laughing. Annabeth let out a very unladylike snort. Drew turned a furious red. "I never." She huffed and stormed off.

Poseidon and Amphitrite gave him questioning looks but didn't say anything.

"Well, played." a dark skinned girl with her hair cut short, smiled approvingly. "Piper, daughter of Aphrodite. We missed you when we first arrived." She glanced at Annabeth, who Athena was leading away.

Percy turned a little red at the thought of what had drawn him away from the front step. Then he recognized her name, "You're Piper?" He blurted out.

"Yes? You've heard of me?" She questioned.

"Yes. No, no. No, I totally couldn't have heard about you." But even as Percy said it he glanced over at Jason, who was talking to Athena. Athena nudged Annabeth forward. Annabeth glanced at Percy before taking Jason's outreached hand. Jealousy flooded Percy at the sight of Annabeth in Jason's arms.

"I see." Piper said. Percy turned his attention back to her, to see her studying him.

""What?" Percy said defensively.

"When Annabeth said she was taken, I thought maybe it was a ploy, but it seems she was quite genuine." Piper observed.

"She said she she was taken?" Percy asked hopefully.

"To every suitor, including Jason." Piper explained.

Percy looked over to see Annabeth dancing with Jason. He felt that hatred build up inside him again. He forced his attention back to Piper, who was looking longingly at the them as well. Then he had an idea. "Piper, may I have this dance?" Percy held out his hand.

She gave him a surprised look, before smiling mischievously. "I would love to." She took his hand, and he guided her out onto the floor.

He knew that if he had even a chance of pulling this off, everything had to be perfectly timed. One of the twins stood by the window, waiting for Percy's signal. Percy nodded to Sandra, who he saw waiting by a tapestry. It wasn't long after that the servants came out with large trays of food. It was now or never. Percy knew that there would be hell to pay, afterwards, but he would rather pay that than spend another moment apart from Annabeth. He nodded at the twin and timed twirling Piper into Jason's arms when Annabeth herself was being twirled. Having successfully switching partners, Percy manuvered his dance partner toward the servants.

"What are you up to?" Annabeth eyed him.

"Wait for it." Percy grinned mischievously.

Suddenly chaos erupted, as royals screamed and jumped out of the way of something large running around. Percy didn't wait around to see what distraction Conner and Travis had come up with. He grabbed Annabeth's hand and ran. They slipped past the row of servants coming out with the food, and disappeared behind another hidden servant hallway.

"Percy," Annabeth exclaimed breathlessly, "are you mad?"

"Did you want to go back?" Percy asked.

"Where's Annabeth?!" Athena's voice called out. "Where is Perseus?!"

Annabeth smirked, "Let's get out of here."

Percy lead her through the many twists and turns of the servants hidden hallways in the palace. They slowly climbed to the one spot where Percy was sure they wouldn't be found. The room was small and lit with only a few modest candles. Sandra didn't disappoint. She had laid a blanket on the floor where a platter of food lay.

"Someone's been busy." Annabeth smirked at him.

"Just in case I could actually pull it off. And you actually wanted to come." He smiled shyly.

"You didn't think I would want to come?" She sounded surprised.

"It was a risk." Percy shrugged.

She smiled shyly as they leaned in and gently kissed. This was nothing like the fevered kiss they had earlier. It was soft, tender, and drawn out to last as long as possible. Percy felt his heart race, his thoughts melt away, and his body hum. He didn't want it to ever end. But the kiss did end with their foreheads leaning against each other.

"It was worth it." Annabeth said breathlessly.

Percy grinned goofily as he guided Annabeth to the blanket. "I have to ask, how did you convince your mother to bring you here? I would have thought, considering her current opinion of me, that she would be against it."

"Easy, I made her think that if I stayed, I would find her statue." Annabeth said as she sat down on the blanket.

"But I thought you said that you thought the statue was with someone who had come from the pit." Percy said confusedly as he sat down beside her.

"She doesn't know that." Annabeth smirked as she popped a grape into her mouth.

"Very clever, Wise Girl."

"I'm just lucky that she fell for it. She is truly blinded by her hatred of Poseidon." She frowned.

"At least she acknowledges him." Percy looked down dejectedly.

"Once I find the statue, she'll see she was wrong, and she will have to keep her word to let you court me." She said hopefully.

"And you believe the statue is in the pit? That's a really dangerous place. Home to all of the worst criminals." Percy couldn't help the terrifying thought of Gabe cross his mind. He pushed the thought away.

"The pit is the next lead. Where do you think all of the enemies are coming from? They're coming from the pit. We will have to take it back. We're going to be right there." Annabeth bit her lip in concentration.

"So," Percy concluded, "fight our way to the entrance of the pit, go into the pit, and find the statue. Wait, how are you going to get it out?"

"Way ahead of you. I've got a crane strong enough to lift it, with rope woven by Arachnia herself." She said with a sense of irony.

"Okay so we lift it out of the pit, present it to Athena and then convince her to let us court each other. Price of cake."

They stared at each other quietly, knowing full well that it was not a piece of cake. There were so many things that could go wrong. Annabeth finally muttered, "It's worth the risk."

Percy couldn't help himself as he bent down and kissed her. "I would do anything for you."

"Including sneaking me away, apparently." She laughed.

"I know. Very selfish of me, but, I really didn't want to spend another ball watching you dancing with other guys, while I am forced to stand idly by."

"Are you jealous?" She asked wide-eyed.

"No. Yes." Percy admitted. "You and Jason look good together. He's going to be high King one day. You would make a strong queen for Olympus. And knowing that, makes me unreasonably hate Jason."

"Well, for the record, I never really enjoyed balls. I can't be myself. I put on the mask of the perfect, polite, weak princess everyone expects. As for Jason, he's too rigid. You wouldn't catch him stealing a girl away." She winked at him.

"You said I was mad." Percy accused her.

"You are. That's what I like about you."

"Like when I went after Nico?" He meant it as a joke, but even as he said it, he looked out the window wondering if he was still alive. Was he okay?

"Yes, like that." Annabeth said softly. "We'll get him back." She tried to reassure him as she placed her head on his chest. They were quiet for a moment when she asked, "How did you get a counselor fired and a new one in his place by your third day?"

Percy laughed. The next thing he knew, he was telling her about everything that had happened since his arrival in Atlantis. Annabeth was a good listener. She even occasionally gave out pointers about what he could do5in the future. He asked about how she solved the mystery of Athena's statue, which she explained better to him. They talked late into the night, with Annabeth cuddling up to him. It felt like the most natural thing in the world. No amount of treasure could replace this.