CLANG!

Annabeth and Percy were at it again, fighting in the royal training grounds. Swishing their weapons and dodging every attack each one could muster. Percy swung his sword down to strike, but Annabeth's dagger deflected it. They both put more pressure on their blades, hoping to knock one's weapon out of their grip.

They've been fighting for hours now, or 'Training' as Percy said. They were extremely skilled at combat, which made them good opponents. In fact, the two were some of the most skilled in all of the kingdom.

Eventually, it was Percy who managed to disarm her, making Annabeth's dagger skid a few feet to the left. Annabeth tripped in the action, falling towards Percy. The two fell backwards.

Annabeth was on top of Percy, blushing madly. He just smirked, which made Annabeth even more embarassed. For a minute they breathed hard, trying to get their heart rates back to normal. Annabeth could feel the rising and falling of Percy's abdomen under her thighs.

"S-Sorry!" She said, getting up. "Gods..." Annabeth muttered, her face hot.

"Hey, I won!" Percy said, getting up too. His face was a little red, but he his it quite well.. Annabeth just rolled her eyes, thinking about what just happened.

"We should head back now," He said. "I heard my mom wanted to talk with me. Something about a selection...?"

"A-Alright. I need to cool off anyways."

Annabeth and Percy quickly helped remove each others armor. They headed up the metal staircase of the arena, warmed by the white sun, to one of the many enterances to the palace. Inside, the guards were chatting about something unintelligible until they saw Percy, to which they stopped talking and stood up straight.

The cool marble interior was a nice switch from the summer heat. Their footsteps echoed throughout the palace. Percy walked up the large staircase, to leading to conference room one.

Annabeth was familiar with the place; she had been here a couple of times.

On different occasions she went to share her ideas about the architecture, and other times she went and discussed battle. Queen Sally and King Paul were very open minded about Annabeth's opinions, which Annabeth liked about them.

Once they got there, Percy knocked two times. He stared at the door waiting quietly.

"Prince Percy. You may enter." A woman answered the door, then looked at me. "Sorry miss, I'm afraid you can't enter."

Annabeth nodded, expecting this. No matter how close she was to the family, she wasn't royalty.

"I'll be in the library, seaweed brain," She said. "Don't embarrass yourself."

Percy gave a nervous smile.

"Yeah, yeah. See ya, wisegirl." He said as he went in. The creak of the mahogany door closing echoed throughout the hallway.

Annabeth was left standing in the hallway, so she turned to the right, heading to the library as intended.

A few minutes later she entered, waving to the friendly librarian there. The smell of all the books, new and old, made Annabeth a bit nostalgic somehow. It also made her happy too.

She grabbed one book off the tall shelf. This book was her favourite; about architecture, of course. Ancient Roman style, Gothic, Victorian and of course, classical. All very unique types of architecture!

Annabeth was fascinated about architecture and buildings ever since she was little. She would spend most of her free time drawing designs in her sketchbook. Sure, that made the other kids at school think she was weird, but that didn't matter.

She was so deep into her book that the time seemed to fly by. Honestly, Annabeth could've sworn that only a few minutes passed. 5? 30? Time seemed to blend into a short span.

Annabeth heard a familiar voice ring out: "Wisegirl?"

She closed her book shut and turned. (which she didn't do too often for people. well, Percy was a different situation.)

"Hey! How did it go?" She smiled, but Percy didn't return it. Annabeth couldn't really describe his expression.

"You wouldn't believe it."

"I doubt that."

Percy sat on the chair beside her and sighed. "A selection."

"I already know that," Annabeth scoffed. Percy kept quiet and picked at his nails.

Finally, he opened up.

"The selection will decide who the future queen will be. My... wife." Percy the word said wife like he couldn't believe it. Percy was right, Annabeth wasn't expecting this. At all.

It finally sunk into Annabeth's head.

"What!?" Annabeth stood up. "Percy, that's great!"

"No! Its not for me!" He cupped his face in his hands squeezing his eyes shut.

"You'll find someone smart, brave, anything you could ever want. I'm happy for you!" Annabeth said.

"Here's the thing! Twenty girls can enter. I can't decide who, of course, but my parents can." He said.

"...Whats the catch? Nothings wrong with that. Your parents has great judgement."

"I need you to participate." He looked over towards Annabeth, flashing a hopeful smile. Annabeth nearly choked.

"W-what? Why!?" Annabeth looked shocked with the sudden request. That request was a big one; and she couldn't find a reason why he wanted her to join.

"I need moral support. I can't talk to any girl that doesn't participate. Something about the rules, whatever, so if you don't join, I can't talk to you!"

"...And is that seriously why you want me to join?" She asked.

What kind of reason is that? Annabeth thought to herself.

Percy looked like he wanted to say something, but was hiding it. He looked away, turning to look at the wall.

"Please, Wisegirl, I need you to help." In more ways than one, Percy thought. "I even have a plan!"

"And what do you have in mind?" Annabeth crossed her legs, listening in anticipation. Percy was never the one to be more logical in important situations. His plan most likely had multiple flaws- and Annabeth despised flaws.

Besides, this wasn't something small. This was about who would be the Queen, the queen of the whole damn kingdom.

Percy exhaled steadily. He told his plan to her. She would enter the selection, keeping herself as low-profile as she could. Then, she would stay with him until the last few girls remained. And finally, he would eliminate her.

Annabeth could forsee one major flaw. How would she even get in? Percy said that all the participants were handpicked by Queen Sally and King Paul, but any girl of age could sign up.

Queen Sally most likely wouldn't let her. Annabeth was his best friend, after all. Annabeth knew him the most. That would make everything unfair!

When she told him that, he responded with: "I can make a special arrangement. Just please, trust me."

Annabeth was a little warry, for sure. But she was his best friend. She stuck by him no matter the situation. Besides, Seaweed brain had a simple and straight forward plan. Everything was all worked out.

"Fine."

Percy smiled, a smile that would make anyone fall for him. His expression was relieved and joyful.

"Thank you!" Percy said to her as he stood up. "I'll go talk to my My Mom and Paul. I'll see you tomorrow, 'Kay?"

Annabeth wanted to take it back. She wish this day had never happened. Dumbfounded, she could only mutter one word before he left.

"Okay."

Hmm, I wonder what Percy wanted to say? I guess we'll find out later...

Anyways, that's chapter two! I was disappointed for this one, I wanted to make it longer. I really need to work on that.

But Thank you guys for reading this! Feel free to review, favourite or follow! Anythings great!

Stay safe, stay healthy!

:))