Hello, people. My school started recently, and I won't be able to update as often. But yay, 10 chapters!
After we reach Athena City, I instruct Butch to take us to Chiron's house, at the edge of the city. The three look at me reproachfully.
"Princess Annabeth, do you enjoy flaunting your legs? Because I know a fellow…" Leo trails off at my glare.
"But, really, Annabeth, why do you were trousers?" Jason's curious.
I sigh. "Because it's hard to fight in a dress. It's hard to ride a horse, hard to climb walls, hard to look scary in a dress." I seem to upset Piper, who's wearing a light blue dress. She stares out the window, not meeting anyone's glances. When we finally get to Chiron's house, she seems reluctant to go in. I'm about to lose my patience when Jason steps in and murmurs quietly to her. Then she follows me into the house.
"Chiron? Chiron, are you in here?" He seems to be outside, so I lead them out the back door. I call louder this time, and he clops up.
"Annabeth! How did it go? Who are these?"
"This is Jason, Leo, and Piper. They're all royals."
"And…?"
"And… he wasn't there." My voice cracks a bit, and Chiron leads me away from the trio.
"Any clue?"
"Not one." Suddenly, my tough outside cracks. I slide to the ground, biting my lip to keep from sobbing.
"Annabeth, don't despair. We will find him, no matter what."
"What if…what if he doesn't want to be found?"
"He's a nice person, Annabeth. He wouldn't leave without warning." I nod, clinging desperately to the little hope I've got.
"Would you be so kind as to show Piper around the facilities? I'll show the other two." I give another nod. Chiron clops away. I take a deep breath, ready to gather my wits to reconstruct my tough, unbreakable shell. Before I can, or even get up, a hand appears. I look up to see it belongs to Piper. I hesitate a moment, then take it.
Carefully, I brush myself off, then turn to her. For an awkward second, it's quiet.
"Who's the boy?" She breaks it.
"What?" She's stunned me.
"Come on." An eye roll. "You were obviously looking for someone, and when you were all, upset, I could tell that it wasn't just…someone."
I'm quiet for a few seconds, and she sighs.
"Weren't you supposed to show me around?"
I do as she suggests, showing her the small cabins on Chiron's property, as well as the pond, mess hall, and point out the arena from a distance, since it's so far away. She seems surprised at the size of it.
I take her to the entrance of the cabin she's been assigned. "Well…this is your cabin…"
"Uh, thanks." She turns to leave, and I go out on a limb.
"Percy."
"Huh?" She turned around again.
"You asked about him, and his name is Percy."
"Oh."
She stands silently for a second, then starts up again.
"You ever kissed him?"
I nod.
"Multiple times?"
Another nod. She smiles a sad smile, and motions me into her cabin.
"Come on. You can help me improve my wardrobe and tell me about your love life."
She sits on the bed, and I go to the wardrobe. It's full of everything we need.
"Yep, this is perfect. Every occasion, well, except for extremely formal. We always just stock as we need it."
"You mean like ball gowns?"
"Yeah. I know a really great store. The owner is really rude, but her dresses are beautiful. Anyway, the dresses here are for every day. Pretty simple, but beautiful." Piper nods.
"The leggings, trousers, tunics…those are all for practicality. You'll get used to it, it's pretty comfy and easier to move in."
"Just like a the men's tunic and trousers?" Piper wrinkles her nose. I laugh.
"No, we definitely make it more feminine. You want to change now? Dresses tend to get in the way for what we do here." Piper agrees, and I give her a light golden tunic, black leggings, black boots, and a black belt. She comes out and twirls playfully.
"Nice! How do you feel?"
"Like I'm going to get in trouble for showing my legs so much." I laugh.
"There's just one last thing you need. A weapon."
"Where do you keep those?"
"In the weapons shed."
"Where's that?"
"It's attached to the arena." She groans.
"Well, at least I'll be entertained while we walk," She tells me with a meaningful glance.
"Alright. Where to start…Well, you know I'm a princess. My mother wanted an arranged marriage, and she arranged it behind my back. There was this huge ball, and I was introduce to like a thousand men. They ranged from 12 to 80 years of age. Percy was one of them. Luke and Lord Hatter, the other men I courted, were also among them.
"Every moment I spent with Percy was an adventure. Lord Hatter left almost immediately, and Luke left the day Percy was missing. That was…three weeks ago.
"Anyway, for Luke and my's first date, we sat in a carriage and toured the city, waving around and not paying for lunch. I hated it. The next day, Percy took me out. We wore disguises, ran so we smelled, and splashed mud in each others faces. We talked a lot.
"The next time was a hunting trip. I showed him how to properly hunt, and he kissed me for the first time. That night, he snuck into my room. It was…so fun. He was so nervous, I was so nervous, but we played it cool and went for the kiss. The next morning, he was gone."
Piper's silent as we walk, digesting what I said. I go over my experience with Percy.
It's too much. It was so beautiful, and now it's over.
I sit down, hard, sobbing. Burying my face in my hands, I let go for a moment and let myself cry. Let myself wish for Percy so much my heart hurts and my lips yearn to feel his again.
Tottering on that line again. But I don't care! It's fun!
Some fun female bonding, plus a recap. Please review, I hope you enjoyed!