It was the next day. The sky had brightened. The sun shone through the horizon. Morning was approaching.

Agitated by the sunlight on his face, Percy opened his sea green eyes and squinted, trying to avoid the light. He groaned, stretching out his stiff muscles from sitting and lying down on the ground while he was sleeping. Percy yawned and opened his eyes wider, realizing that he was still in the forest and recollected what had happened the night before.

He felt a pang of guilt in his heart, knowing that he left people back in the palace defenseless. He tried to think on the positive side. Hey, he hasn't been caught. Yet.

Percy rubbed his eyes and looked down at his lap, realizing that the brave, young knight was still lying down in between his legs, breathing softly inside his suit of armor. Percy was tempted to take the mask off and reveal the face of his guard, but went against it, afraid that the young knight would become distressed. He didn't want to cause the boy anymore pain.

He looked down at his wound, a deep gash in his stomach, now a small scratch, but Percy could tell that it would still cause lots of pain, maybe even continue to bleed. The knife went into the boy's stomach very deeply.

After a few minutes of silence and inspecting the asleep knight, Percy lightly got up from the floor, trying to avoid waking him. However, it did not work.

The knight groaned, trying to get up with his hands. The pain suddenly shot through him, Percy could tell, and made him fall back down into Percy's lap.

"Woah!" Percy cried, "Be careful!" He held up the knight until he was able to sit up on his own. The prince then proceeded to pat him on the back, soothing him from any aches and pains that he may have been experiencing. Suddenly, the knight began to cough and gag. Percy held him up and patted on his back harder.

The knight then turned away from Percy, lifted up his mask, and coughed out a large amount of blood. Percy saw a few strands of blond hair stained with red. The knight continued to cough for a few more minutes. Percy remained behind him, knowing that Andrew (Percy decided to call him by his first name by then) wanted some privacy.

After a couple more coughs, Andrew turned to face Percy with his mask down once again. He said with a rough and raspy voice, "We need to leave. Now." Percy nodded. They did not have anything with them, no food, no clothes, nothing. The closest village to them besides Percy's own was a nearby place called Nealus.

He was not the best with directions, so Percy's guard had to lead the way. Of course, he helped guide him while trying to support Andrew. They ran into a few obstacles along the way, but the sun shone brightly on the road they were supposed to take. They continued to walk a few more miles before anyone started to talk.

"Hey," started Percy. "I'm not...I'm not sure if you heard last night, but I just wanted to say, um, thank you." Percy felt himself start to heat up, wondering why. He realized that he has never been the one to thank others, always being the one to be thanked. "Thank you very, very much. For saving me. And the others. Thank you. And sorry. That you had to get hurt trying to protect me. That was really stupid of me, not realizing that the guy had a knife with him. It's just th-". He was suddenly cut off by the knight's cough.

"Prince Percy, it's alright," Andrew said, a strain in his voice. "It's my duty to serve you, to obey you. Protecting you was merely part of my job. I knew what the risk was. And I don't regret serving you in anyway. It's not your fault. So don't apologize." Andrew shifted forward in pain from his wound. Percy supported him further and smiled, not sure if Andrew could see it.

"This is not what I bargained for when I said I did not want this life," Percy chuckled. His knight nodded.

"I heard you that time," Andrew stated, "when you said you did not wish for this life. You thought no one could hear you." Percy whipped his head around to face Andrew, but he was still looking forward.

"You heard me?" The young knight nodded. Percy turned pink. He didn't think that anyone was actually able to hear him whisper that. But it shows just how close his guard is with him. He chuckled.

"Well, that's embarrassing." Andrew shook his head.

"I do not think so. It's your life. You may be able to do what you think is best for you and your people. You were just being honest. However, this is merely my opinion. I may be wrong." Percy's pink countenance started to fade, smiling brightly for the first time in a while.

"But I would still like to say thank you." Percy couldn't see it, but he could tell Andrew was smiling.

"And I, you, my prince."

Together, they continued on through the forest and at last, reached the roads to Nealus.

Before they entered the village, however, Percy realized that Andrew had mentioned sometime back that his family was from this land. The two of them decided to travel to Andrew's place, to refresh themselves and get some rest, to stitch up the wound that has befallen on the youthful guard.

They covered themselves up, trying to disguise the fact that Percy was prince of Atlantis. Percy wore a hood over his face from the leftover clothes Andrew had hanging off his semi-torn clothes. Andrew continued to wear the mask and the two of them ventured in.

The village was busy, filled with people in the marketplace. They sold fruits, vegetables, meats. They had metals, iron, and bronze tools hanging from the stalls. It was just like Atlantis, but Percy noticed that the people seemed to be a little more...wise. Of course, this land is known for their wealth in knowledge.

Percy and Andrew continued on as Andrew led them both to a small boutique, one that looked like it sold cloths and fabrics to scales and telescopes. The walked deep into the shop, finding a door at the back of the store.

A young woman's voice rang from behind them, behind the counter.

"Do you two need any help?" she asked. Percy turned around and noticed that this girl was very pretty, in a plain sort of way. She had straight blond hair with a very light shade of blue eyes, almost grey in a way. The girl was around his age, he guessed, maybe a bit older, but definitely young enough to be betrothed.

Andrew called out, "No thanks, Annie. We're fine." The young woman's face suddenly lit up and she ran towards Andrew, stretching her arms wide and wrapped them around the knight. She squeezed and Percy's guard yelped in pain, a shrill shriek.

"Annie, that hurts! I'm wounded!" the voice echoed inside the helmet. The girl then let go, finally noticing the wound and apologized.

"I'm so sorry, but I can't believe you're home!" She smiled. "Wait till everyone finds out!" However, Andrew stopped her.

"Do not tell anyone that we are here." Confused, she asked why.

After Andrew's explanation, she finally seemed to notice Percy for the first time. Andrew nodded, sending a signal to Percy to inform him that it was safe to take off his cloak. He obeyed.

"So you're the prince of Atlantis?" Percy nodded. "You're pretty handsome." He blushed.

"Annie, stop saying this stuff." She huffed. Andrew turned to Percy. "My prince, this is my sister, Annie." Percy smiled.

"Stop calling me Annie!"

"Nope." The knight then bent over in pain. 'Annie' noticed and brought over a medicine kit. Andrew asked Percy to stay where he was as the two of them walked to a different room. He could hear the grunts of pain that the knight was yelling out. Percy decided to take a look around.

He looked up, first, and noticed jars and jars of strange liquids, probably medicine or elixirs. He then noticed mannequins that were aligned in the front of the shop, facing the glass window that is visible from the streets. There were a few more things they sold, including things that Percy noticed that he had in his palace: telescopes, maps, herbs, weapons. The store held many things.

Something then caught his eyes. It was a picture.

Inside the picture, Percy noticed that there was a man and woman, married, most likely. The woman had black hair put in a braid. She looked well educated, just like her husband, who had blond hair and blue-grey eyes. There were two girls in front of them, both blond with intelligent grey eyes. However, one of them had curlier hair than the other. Percy thought that this must be the picture of the Chase family.

However, he noticed that he could not find Andrew in the picture.

Suddenly, Andrew popped out from the room. It looked as if he was starting to heal better since he was standing up straighter and walked faster. His sister seemed to be proud of her work.

Before Percy was able to react quick enough, Andrew noticed the picture that he was staring at.

"Were you looking at the photograph?" he asked. Percy didn't want to feel like an outsider, peeping into other people's personal business.

"Um…" he hesitated, "yeah." Andrew stayed stiff, but walked over, lifted the picture, and handed it to Percy.

"Are you wondering where I am?" he asked. Reluctantly, Percy nodded. He had always wondered about his strange knight. He wasn't the kind to open himself much, but he was always Percy's closest friend, besides Grover, who he wasn't able to see much since he turned fourteen.

Andrew continued. "I am not here. This picture was taken when I left to become a knight." Percy nodded. He also wanted to know about the other young girl in the front. Andrew read his mind.

"You're wondering about her." He hesitated. "She was my sister. She disappeared a few years ago."

A little piece of Percy's heart sunk. He didn't mean for his knight to relive the experience of finding out that his sister went missing.

Percy quickly added, before letting Andrew continue, "You can stop. You do not have to tell me anymore." Andrew nodded. Percy could tell that he was relieved.

After a few moments of intense silence, Andrew started to talk again.

"We should probably go now. Something's about to start in the streets. Want to go watch?"

Thanks for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoy my future chapters as well! :D