What woke up the two travelers was a slight tickling feeling. It dwelled on their noses and exposed skin. Eyes opened quickly, afraid that it was yet another horrible creature to deal with.
But, instead, they were greeted by the most beautiful thing imaginable. There were small fairy-like creatures surrounding them. Their wings glowed soft colors, and they had simple little dresses made of leaves and other natural materials. They all giggled and scattered once they noticed that the two girls were awake.
"They're… beautiful," Annie whispered, amazed.
"I've never seen anything like them before," Piper spoke in the same awed voice.
They reached out to touch the simple creatures, but in the process scared away the poor sprites.
"That was certainly a nice way to start the day," Annie said in a light tone.
"Agreed. Let's get going now, though. We don't want to waste a minute," the other girl suggested.
Nodding in assent, Annabeth got her stuff together.
They made the journey to the kingdom without incident, arriving at their destination. Once at Piper's house, they sat down and got to finally relax without the worry of being attacked.
"So, we'll go to your kingdom after a few days rest?" Piper asked gently.
"No," she responded.
"What? Wasn't that the whole point of this?" Piper asked confused.
"It was, but then you talked so much about being independent and deciding my own destiny. So that's exactly what I want to do. I'm tired of my parents telling me how to live my life, heck I wasted four years of it because of them. I'm going to stay, and maybe start working, and live my own life for the first time in, well, my own life." Annie spoke confidently, and in that moment you could see the change that the three day journey had inspired in her. There was no longer a prissy princess who was doomed to be a housewife, no. There was an independent young lady. Oh, and by the way, They Lived Happily Ever After.
The End