Emergency lights flooded the corridor as they speed walked. There was also a blaring alarm, which was not very relaxing in the dead of the night. Worst of all, Annabeth was cold; being barefoot.
"A break in?" Will said to a passing doctor as he and Annabeth trailed down the long hall. The doctor nodded her head and dashed past them without another word. Somehow, Annabeth knew that something like this would have happened soon. She just didn't predict it to happen this soon.
'Stay safe, Percy... And Sally, Estelle, Tyson and Paul.' She thought worriedly. Based on how people were acting right now, she assumed no one was hurt and injured. Just intruders. That happens to most kingdoms anyways, so it was nothing to freak out about. Right?
Wrong. Despite it all, the stress was almost to much to handle. Ananbeth may have looked calm and collected, but on the inside she had absolutely lost it. Will and her trampled down the doors of the safe room; located on the bottom floor hidden behind some tall and sturdy walls. On the more higher parts of the room were windows. So Annabeth made a wild guess they were in some sort of basement hideout. The room held cans of food, water, a few cots and a couch. Also a huge t.v displaying the news. A few workers sat around it, watching with intentness.
"It's horrible. Who would steal from the palace at a time like this?" One muttered, a frown on his wrinkly face.
"Well, at least they didn't blow up the place, or we would've been blown to smithereens." Another one joked darkly. He looked around the room. "Too soon?"
"Yeah, Dave."
Guards stood outside the door holding weapons of their own to defend. The large room lead to a few more smaller, isolated ones, so Annabeth headed in there while Will chatted amogst the other doctors and nurses. The room had a couple of bookshelves and a cot. She pulled out her phone, which she forgot she had by her side. Would it be too innapropriate to send him a text right now? Who was Annabeth kidding. All she wanted was to know if he was safe. Until Percy made the first move and called her first. A video call, surprisingly.
Percy's camera was covered as he breathed heavily on the phone. "Annabeth," He breathed out in a puff.
"P-percy! Are you alright? Where are you?" Ananbeth whispered yelled.
"Um..." Percy showed himself through the screen. He was sweating- hard- and panting like he had been running for hours. No injuries however. He flipped the camera and Annabeth was shocked that he was alone, in a hallway. Pieces of glass were scattered on the carpeted floor. It looked like he was hiding behind a wall.
"In a hallway."
Annabeth scoffed. "Yeah, I figured that much. But," She narrowed her eyes. "You aren't in a safe room."
"Oh, really? I didn't notice." Percy remarked sarcastically, completely ruining the dramatic mood.
"Then get to one! They're going to kidnap you!" Annabeth nearly yelled, to which she slapped a hand around her mouth. No one entered the room, thank gods.
"No can do. Risky. But i'm pretty sure their goal isn't to kidnap a prince." Percy said, lowering his voice and ducking a tiny bit. It looked like...He was hiding? From what? Or rather who? "Because if that were the intended plan, they would have seen me long ago."
"How are you even there in the first place? Aren't the guards there?" Annabeth questioned. The guards should have been ushering him to the nearest exit and to safety by now. She why was he in a hallway?
Percy scratched the back of his neck relectantly. "Midnight cravings got the best of me so I snuck off. Then this whole fiasco happened, and now our current predicament. I'm pretty far from my room." He slumped further into the wall he was now leaning on.
"Midnight cravings. You're in a life-threatening situation because of,"
"Cravings." He finished. Annabeth felt her eye twitch in irritation.
"I don't care. Just please, get out and to the safe rooms!" Annabeth urged, praying to whatever god, buddah or spirit was watching her right now. And yes, she even prayed that whoever was in there didn't harm the Prince.
"You know Allister and his little friend, right?"
"Ugh, I knew it. It was him, wasn't it-!" Percy cut her off mid-sentence.
"No. Not him," Percy looked over the wall and quickly retracted taking a deep exhale. "I saw four of the intruders so far, and none of them were even close to Allister's appearances. I mean they were all wearing masks but whatever."
'So far?' "What? Then who-" Percy flipped the camera, showing the view on the other side of the wall.
Only a door seperated them. Annabeth assumed it was locked anyways. There stood two people, searching with weapons in their hands. Knifes. The room where they were: a place where all kinds of riches and statues laid. Now that was sick. Stealing of all things? Seriously? Annabeth didn't understand. The kingdom was rich with precious resources so thing slike that came for a lesser price compared to neighbouring ones. But their actions didn't seem like they wanted some mere diamonds, oh no.
A tall figure picked up a gold and porcelain box. It looked expensive. They tossed it away with a simple look, merely smashing it to bits on the cold marble floor. Then came flying a stained glass sculpture. The other person, this one a bit thin-looking a shorter, inspected a glass case. It was hard to see what they were doing, but they smashed the glass with gloved hands and pulled out whatever was in there. Based on their build Ananbeth thought the intruders were one male and female.
Percy visibly stiffened. He looked furious, a look that made Annabeth a bit on edge. "I going in," He said standing up slowly.
"Don't be impulsive!" Annabeth snapped, desperately trying to make him stop. Percy jumped a bit. "Just please... Go. You don't know what they'll do."
"I'm sorry, Annabeth," Percy said, looking down at her face. She looked down. Ananbeth debated whether or not she should let him off to do what he planned, whatever was going on his his mind. That was it. Pery had completely lost his marbles.
"Hold on a minute. Can you describe them to me?" Annabeth asked.
"Erm.." Percy looked over the wall once more. "I'm guessing one male and female. The guy has blonde hair and the girl has grey, thought the two of them don't look old. She probably dyed her hair, and.." Percy trailed off a bit, staring straight ahead.
"And what?" Annabeth questioned further, mentally noting everything down in her mind.
"Though their wearing masks, I can see some sort of scar on the guy's face. That's all I can make out." He said. She narrowed her eyes at the word 'scar'. Was that guy..? No. Annabeth dissmissed the thought immediately. Pure coincdence, probably.
"You got riptide on you?"
"You know I never leave home without it." Annabeth scoffed. HE rdagger, which was strapped to the side of her thigh, felt warm. Ever since she started hearing about the break ins she secretly carried it around. She felt safer with it; as stupid as it sounded at the time. It was a great thing it didn't slip her mind to bring it with her today.
"Stay safe."
"I will."
"And if you don't get killed, i'll make sure to kill you myself-"
"Geez Annabeth! I'll come back safe and sound, don't you worry." He gave one last soft look at her before hanging up. Annabeth placed her phone down and let out a ragged sigh. Percy would be fine. He was skilled in combat just like her. A couple of knives would be no match for him, right? The heat of the situation was too much. Speaking of heat, her head felt hot like her body. Was she on fire?
"Hey," Will peered into the room. "Annabeth, are you alright?"
"Well I mean." Annabeth breathed out. She was sweating bullets by now. "I feel hot."
He surged forward and put a cool hand on Annabeth's forehead. It was hot, much to his dislike. "You're burning up; you should go lay down. I'll go get you some water."
She got up to lay on the cot, but it was more like Annabeth falling rather less than gracefully on it. Since when did she start to feel like this. Annabeth thrashed, suddenly not wanting to be in the constricting clothes anymore. But the girl knew better than to take them off. Instead, she layed there groaning in agony. Through her hazy vision, she could see the white plain ceiling.
What was Percy doing now? Fighting them off, perhaps? Well that was no question. He probably was.
All of a sudden Annabeth wanted to take her words back. She should have done something, anything, to stop him and his actions. Annabeth cursed herself at the thought of being so caught up in a moment enough to not relalize what she was doing. If he got hurt, she would be the only one to blame. But she didn't care much about who was responsible. She cared about her best friend and his wellbeing, in the end.
"Here you go." Will handed a groaning Annabeth a cold glass of water straight from the sink. Nothing special, but it helped with her sore throat. "You know what? You might not recover so fast. It looks like you have a small fever."
"Nooo..." Annabeth flopped into the warmness of the cot. Will shut the door of the room, saying he would check up on her every now and then. He couldn't do much due to the limited suplies. But it was comforting knowing that someone was there to help her. Annabeth looked out the window, opened just a bit so cool air could circulate through the room. She closed her eyes, once, twice.. And she was asleep.
But not for long.
About fifteen minutes later, her eyes snapped open. Much to her distaste, it was still dark as blackjack's coat out there. But the cold, nor the sinuses was the doing of awaking her.
'Should I do this?' Annabeth argued with herself back and forth like a tennis match. The more rational side of her mind told her: 'No! Bad! Very bad and irresponisble!' Meanwhile the more impulsive and heart-driven side of her mind was saying: 'Go for it! Its the right thing to do!' What was a girl in distress to do?
She swung her legs over the bed. It was cold, but less hot which was an upgrade. Her throat was aching and her legs were sore. So why was she doing this? Annabeth opened the window more, letting the smell of the outdoors waft itself into the room. Slowly, she pushed the cot over to under the high-held window and climed atop it.
'I'm so stupid. Rest in peace, future me.' Annabeth apologized to herself for the millionth time before escaping through the window. She only had her dagger and her phone with her, providing light to lead her way to... The palace. To help- or possibly save- the prince.
It was a good thing that Annabeth was provided some cotton slippers when she entered the saferoom, because her feet would've been dead by now. Well, they were, but she didn't mind. This 'expidition' Annabeth was about to embark on was a mission to get Percy the heck outta there. And possibly catch the criminals. It was selfish, yes. But that was Annabeth for you. Selfish and greedy, wanting to do anything to help Percy. And come to think about it- Where were the guards?
Oh, there they were.
In a adrenaline filled trance, Annabeth stumbled upon three guards chatting amongst themselves.
"They sent a group there already. They'll call for backup when they need it," One said.
"Did you hear they news, by the way?" Another one piped up. "Apparently, no one has seen him this night. I wish for his safety, especially since this is his selection."
"That's terrible. But i'm sure he's fine. Probably just false info."
"Still... A break in is pretty uncalled for. Even at a time like this."
It pained Annabeth because of how right they were unknowingly. Percy didn't get hurt, right? Rather did he.. No. She needed to focus back on her mission. Through the dimly lit phone of hers, Annabeth recognized that hallways as one that led up to one of the artifact rooms. Where statues, monuments, and gold alike were held.
And she knew exactly how to get there.
Annabeth hoped for the best.
oof i haven't updated this in a while-
just a little announcemt: i have moved one of my stories onto wattpad. you guys aren't obligated to check it out, but i would really like it if you did! my wattpad acc is Actnitide if ur interested!
thanks for reading!