Chapter II

Worlds Collide

This was beyond weird. Percy, on normal circumstances, he could control his tongue before saying stupid stuff, it was something his mother stressed on him to learn but she was different. Those bouncy blond curls framing her tan face, her gorgeous stormy gray eyes revealed she was not clueless as the princesses he dreaded to meet, and the way her lips slowly formed a smile made his heart stop. But why her? She was obviously no noble judging from her clothes, a housemaid probably. Percy imagined his father's reaction to finding out he is drawn to a peasant. It would be a foreign idea.

But looking into her eyes, Percy forgot everything. It didn't matter she was a housemaid. Percy had never felt this way about any of the conceited princesses. But Percy needed to remind himself, that he was a noble, she was a housemaid. Percy wondered why he has never even seen her around the village or at any of the countless balls he father forced him to attend for 'diplomatic purposes'. He would surely remember her. Ugh, he was doing it again.

"Uh…" Percy needed to get out this awkward situation. Probably a good ten minutes went by from both of them just staring at each other. The housemaid's cheeks flourished to a beautiful shade of red and probably Percy's face was the same way. But somehow, her eyes were something that captivated him. It was like he could see her mind working behind those stormy gray eyes, trying to figure out how to get out of this situation also but they were strong. Her eyes never wavered from Percy's.

"What's your name?" Percy was the first one to speak.

"My name?" The housemaid looked surprised, like she didn't expect to be noticed which Percy didn't understand because she probably had men always swooning over her from her looks day to day. Percy, unfortunately, could not be one of those men.

"I-it's A-Annabeth…" She responded. Annabeth. Even the sound of her name echoed her magnificence. "W-what's yours?" Annabeth asked, her red lips pursing from trying to calculate what this man saw in her.

"Percy." Percy gently smiled.

Apparently that smile made Annabeth's face turn into a tomato "Uh… um… does it hurt anywhere, Percy?" She looked at the wound from where the arrow shot him. Just looking at it, Percy wished his cousin wasn't such a good shot as she was. If Percy didn't receive help with the wound, he probably would've died. It still hurt as if his body was now acknowledging there's a big hole in his body that shouldn't be there.

"No, I'm fine." Percy passively said despite the intense pain coursing through him. He didn't want Annabeth to worry. He actually never liked anyone fussing over him actually.

Annabeth stared into his eyes, making his face redder "You're lying."

"Gah!" Percy cried as Annabeth put her cold hands immediately on his wound. Pain more intensely than before shot through his body faster than Thalia could nock an arrow. Annabeth quickly grabbed a wet cloth from a water bucket and set it on the gaping hole in Percy's side. Somehow, the wetness felt good on his wound.

"You shouldn't lie to me." Annabeth scowled, she looked angry. It defiantly something Percy wasn't used to. A woman mad at him? Usually women would throw themselves at him so that by some chance they might end up as his bride. He sometimes would be ambushed by just going outside the palace walls by adoring maidens. The only woman who ever treated him like an equal—where he wasn't someone mightier than a god or a royal—was Thalia. They used to wrestle and race through the palace halls as equals. He always wrote her letters when stress of being a prince was getting to him. Percy actually even had sparring matches with her and she beat his butt on any day. It was weird, but he liked knowing that Annabeth was like Thalia and played against the norm of what Percy was usually used to with women. It made her even more alluring.

"Seriously, you should tell me if your wound hurts. You don't have to do it all on your own." Annabeth didn't look at him anymore with her striking gray eyes. She focused on rinsing out a bloody towel in the water bucket. It stained the clear water red. Percy grimaced at the realization that was his blood. But something amused him. Something Annabeth said. 'You don't have to do it all on your own.' Oh, how wrong she was. Percy's been training all his life to become a king, to rule on his own, he's been trained to make decisions on his own, to make alliances on his own, all his life has been on his own.

"Well, I guess I should say this. Thank you for helping me." Percy smirked, trying to Annabeth's attention again. It bothered him for some reason that Annabeth had her back turned to him, angry at him.

"Oh, I don't think you'll thank me in a minute…" Annabeth turned to him, a nervous look on her face.

"What? Why would you say that? I'm serious. Hmm… how should I repay you?" Percy dug in his pockets, searching for gold.

Annabeth shook her head "You don't have to pay me. You probably need that gold to put food on the table." At first, Percy was confused why she said that but then, he looked at his clothes. He was a "peasant". No royal attire. No wonder Annabeth has been treating him like an equal. That fact discouraged him. What if she finds out his identity? Will she still treat him as an equal? That was highly unlikely.

Before he could say anything, they were interrupted by a shattering scream:

"ANNIE!" Percy thought maybe this chateau what haunted. The scream sounded like a banshee broke loose of her captivity and out to get whoever this Annie was. Annabeth however on the other hand, looked annoyed. Percy than remembered that usually a housemaid works for the owner of the house and the owner of the house would be no other than Lady Hera and her daughters. His wound was the last thing on his mind.

…

"Where's my son?" The queen demanded, her voice sounding more worrying than her worry lines. She just heard the most terrible thing. Someone assassinated King Zeus, a force to be reckoned with. Prince Castellan warned that the assassin might be after her husband next. King Poseidon didn't know exactly what to do with the information. The assassin made sure he left no tracks. He also couldn't exactly lock down his castle since he argued that would only made the people go into anarchy and probably even more scared as the news of Zeus's assassination spread. He then decided that neither he nor his family is allowed to leave the palace walls without supervision for the time being. But there was one problem; their oldest son was not one to exactly follow that rule, ever.

"He's studying—" Percy's personal guard, Frank tried to state but from his weak tone, he was lying.

"I know he's goes away on his own on his days off." Sally scowled at Frank.

"You do?" Frank bit his lip.

"Yes, the guards positioned at the gates told me everything. So, tell me Frank. WHERE. IS. MY. SON?" Sally was in no mood for games.

"Uh…" Frank was trying to focus his brown eyes on something other than Sally's blue eyes. Every second Frank was trying to muster up some kind of answer, the more impatient the queen grew. Percy is exactly like Poseidon. Poseidon loves to drift off somewhere unannounced. At least, Sally knew where her younger son, Tyson was and he was in the lecture room with Duke Chiron. The same couldn't be said for the heir to the throne though.

"Frank," Sally tried to keep her voice calm. "You're his best friend. You should know where your best friend is at."

"Well…" Frank gulped.

"Well what?"

"You aren't going to like this milady." Frank nervously glanced down the hallway.

Sally peered to the place he was looking at "I already don't like this." She saw Thalia walking down another corridor, arm in arm with her fiancé.

Once she was gone, Frank continued "Percy likes to er… take Blackjack—"

"You mean Fredrick." Sally corrected. Once her son got his first steed he wanted to name him Blackjack but that was very improper name for a horse that carries a prince.

"Whatever, he takes rides with him through town, to the forest. And um… I overheard Princess Grace shot someone in order to get here."

"You're not suggesting—"

"She said Percy's name, milady. She was reassuring Prince Castellan that he would be okay. She also stated that he would get treated at Lady Hera's chateau." Frank whispered, making sure no one else heard.

Sally was on the verge of crying "His own cousin shot him! A-And he needed to get treated at Lady Hera's! That woman is a nutcase, she—!" Before Sally could retrieve a carriage, Frank grasped her arm.

"Milady, Percy was disguised as a peasant. Thalia must've been still riled up from seeing her own father assassinated."

"Why was he—?"

Frank sighed "He didn't want to be recognized."

"I still need to retrieve him from that she-devil—"

"Not without protection milady. I'm coming too. And also I would suggest a change in wardrobe." Sally didn't like this. Why did her son need to escape the castle anyways? The older her beloved son got, the farther he seemed to drift from her grasp. She could never comprehend him. He could be as mysterious as the Mariana trench.

…

"Mother! You told us he would be perfect for us!" Drew whined. "Look at him! He's wearing filthier clothes than Annie has worn in her entire life and that's saying something!"

"Hey! Don't talk to her—!" Before Percy could finish, he grasped his wound. He had an angry look in his eye and looked like he was about to rise from the couch to punch Drew in the face. To stop this, Annabeth laid calming hands on him to lay him back down. He silently understood and resumed to lie there, not risking opening up his wound even more he has.

Lady Hera rubbed the bridge of her nose "Drew, you are never going to win a man's heart with that attitude." It took all Annabeth's concentration not to laugh at that.

"But Mother! I'm not going to marry some peasant!" Drew said.

"Wait, marry?" Percy blinked. "Oh… this was what you were talking about not thanking you Annabeth…" Percy whispered quietly to her. "Still, thank you." For some reason, those two words made her red from head to toe. She would defiantly not mind marrying a peasant. Especially someone like Percy. Percy would defiantly not treat her like her stepfamily, maybe she would feel like royalty marrying him. Just talking to him made her feel special.

"Annie!" Lady Hera's demanding voice retorted her back to reality. "What has gotten into you, child? Maybe doubling your chores could—"

"Hey!" Percy's snap was totally unexpected that even Lady Hera looked surprised just for a moment before melting back to her permanent scowl. Annabeth wondered what he was doing. She never has heard someone interrupt Lady Hera before. Even a few villagers that come by or when they are in the marketplace on rare occasions, everyone seemed to want to please her. Everyone is scared and frightened by Lady Hera's presence, even Annabeth.

But Percy however, seemed not to be. He actually successfully rose from the couch to stand eye to eye with Lady Hera. Lady Hera's scowl deepened more but she had to look up ever so slightly since Percy had a few inches on her. Percy stood his ground too, feet solidly placed on the ground. Annabeth tried to grab his arm to convince to lie back down but Percy only pushed her behind him. Drew watched in a scowl like her mother while Rachel watched in curious awe.

"The law clearly states that all housemaids are only expected to do what is on their contracts, nothing more, nothing less unless it their choice." Percy spoke in a monotone voice like he recited it before. Annabeth only wondered. What did a peasant know about laws? Many can't even read.

"You are clearly mistaken, sir." Lady Hera only laughed. "Annie is not my housemaid, she's my stepdaughter. A very ornery stepdaughter that needs to be punished." Annabeth didn't mean to but the look Lady Hera was giving her made her hide herself behind Percy even more. She could feel him tense up and his knuckles whiten.

"You make your own family do act like a slave in her own home? I can see your daughters are well taken care for though." Percy spat.

"Yes, they are MY daughters. She is a useless good-for-nothing STEPdaughter." There were so many things Annabeth wanted to say to that, luckily Percy spoke them for her.

"Good-for-nothing? She just saved my life! I bet she is better than any of you horrible people. Slavery is outlawed in the kingdom, stepdaughter or not!"

Lady Hera looked like she was about to slap him "You peasants always pity one another don't you? We take you in, treat you and this is how you treat me? Without my permission, you wouldn't be in this house right now. You should watch your tongue peasant, this isn't the kingdom, this is my home!"

"Your home?" Annabeth squeaked. "This is my FATHER'S."

"Oh? Is it now?" Lady Hera crossed her arms. "Might I remind you he's dead? Annie, just because you are hiding behind Brawns here, does not mean you can speak so arrogantly to me."

"But she is." A new voice joined the argument. It came from where Drew and Rachel were at. Judging from Drew's shocked expression, she wasn't the one who said it.

"Excuse me?" Lady Hera's voice shook a little.

"She is right. We only moved here a few years ago." Rachel spoke again, confidence growing in her voice. Everyone stared at her in shock. No one in her stepfamily has ever stood up for Annabeth before.

"Rachel," Lady Hera said in disgust. "I will punish you later for your insolence. Now, you sir—"

"What? Are you going to punish me? I'm not scared of you, Granny." Percy glared.

"Percy please—" Annabeth begged.

"You peasants know each other then, huh?" Lady Hera's malicious smirk was scaring Annabeth. "Maybe I should—"

There was a knock at the door.

No one moved from the tense situation. It was actually Rachel who sighed and scurried towards the door in her pink dress that made her look like a bloated camel. There was absolute silence as the grand white door creaked open. Annabeth knew there was something she forgot to oil. As the door opened more, Percy gasped at the sight of a peasant woman. She was quite older than Annabeth with messy brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a pleasant smile but when her eyes landed on Percy, they turned into a somewhat forced smile. A man way beyond six foot stood next to her, he looked like a normal commoner. He had buzzed black hair and his face was a mix of all sorts of cultures into one.

"And who might you be?" Lady Hera asked rather rudely and Annabeth could see Percy's eyebrow twitching her stepmother's rudeness. The peasant woman couldn't possibly be his lover. Right? Percy possibly couldn't be attracted to older women.

"I'm looking for my son, Percy. Now if you don't mind, I see him right there so can I take him off your hands?" The woman glared at Percy. Annabeth was relieved to learn it was his mother. She looked rather sweet besides her scowl at Percy but she was probably worried about her son.

"Be my guest. He has a rather… selfless attitude." Lady Hera stated.

"Percy," The woman returned to forced smiling. "Let's go home."

Before leaving, Percy turned to Annabeth and whispered "I'm sorry… I-I hope to see you again…"

"I-I hope so too…" Annabeth smiled. "I suggest you leave before your mother starts breaking things."

"Don't stop that."

"What?"

"Smiling. You look extra beautiful when you do it." Percy grasped her shoulders and Annabeth didn't stop smiling. She actually wanted to get closer. Maybe so that their lips actually touched. Her heart was doing cartwheels. He really did treat her like royalty, putting her needs first than everyone else's. It was a somewhat crazy thought she thought this fondly of someone who she just met in one day but life is short. So she waited for Percy to get closer.

Sadly, though he never did. He actually never got the chance to. His mother stomped into the room and pulled him outside by the ear. Hopefully she would see Percy again. But one question still lingered in her mind. How did he know so much about laws of the kingdom?