Hey guys! I am currently on another vacation (that I was a wee bit unwilling to go through with, really) and I'm bored and I am now writing.

Also, sorry to guest LeoValdezLover, but I thought this story up about a year ago and I already have an idea for this chapter. Very sorry, but I still hope you like it!

Here we goo….

Chapter 14

Annabeth woke up in this early morning as usual. But she didn't get out of bed just yet. She glanced at her table by her bed. She stared at the drawer where she kept the letter Percy gave her two years ago. She was sixteen now, and he was probably about the same age. Though what did he look like now? To be honest, she had kind of forgotten what he looks like. But she thought even if she did remember, she wouldn't know what he looked like now.

"Annabeth! Annabeth!" Two identical voices suddenly rang in her ears. Those voices sounded so similar, it sounded like it was one voice doubled. She looked up groggily, seeing two boys with sandy brown hair, blue eyes, and bright, identical grins.

"Bobby, Matthew, what do you want?" Annabeth questioned the ten-year-olds.

"Dad told us to tell you to get ready." Bobby answered first.

"Remember the bunch of new knight recruits the other day?" Matthew added. "Well Dad said a few new ones came yesterday too, and you didn't last and bailed halfway through."

"So now there's just one of them and you have to go." Bobby finished. After that, the twins looked at each other and high-fived, laughing."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at the two boys. "So did you guys practice this or something?"

"Maybe…." Matthew said slowly, grinning . Then the two boys quickly ran out of her room with Bobby screaming. "Dad said to be downstairs in twenty minutes!"

Annabeth sighed. She had wanted to visit the tree today, but it looks like she had more "responsibilities" to do. Ugh, she hated all of this. She was just glad she hadn't been promised marriage like all the other sixteen-year-old princesses. She begrudgingly stood up from her comfortable bed and made her way to her closet to get a change of clothes. She decided on wearing the simple, grey and lavender dress for formal events. It wasn't that grand, it was a long, sleek, off-shoulder dress with sleeves reaching up to her wrists. A few sequins glittered the sash running along her waist. She only wore this so that Susan and her father wouldn't scold her for her "ratty" adventure clothes. If she didn't have any responsibilities or classes today, she would've picked her long sleeved shirt, belt, boots, pants, and vest and climb up the tree. But No, it had to be "formal'. Ugh.

Annabeth plopped down on the velvet cushion of her silver framed throne next to her father's golden one. Next to his throne was an identical, but smaller throne for the queen. And two silver thrones for the twin princes next to hers.

Annabeth sighed, resting her chin on her hand. "When will this be over, father?" She asked, glancing the opposite direction.

"Manners, Annabeth." Her father reminded. "And etiquette. Stop slouching, keep your hand away from your chin."

With that, Annabeth moved her hand to her cheek, making her father sigh in frustration. He was just about to scold her again when the voice of one of the guards interrupted. "Sire! He is here!"

"Alright, alright. Let him in." The king demanded, composing sat straight up on his throne, as well as his wife and children. Well, except for Annabeth, who remained glaring at the wall, not bothering to look up as the grand oak doors opened up for the soon-to-be knight.

"Your highnesses." The boy kneeled. "Thank you for accepting me into the army."

"Rise, boy." The king commanded. "I can tell you will be a very brave knight."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. That's what he says to all of them, she thought.

"Thank you, milord." The boy replied. Annabeth was still looking away, not bothering to look at her family, nor the new knight.

Annabeth mildly listened to the conversation between the king, queen, and the new knight, tuning out every once in a while. Until of course the last part of it.

"You are very kind, my king." The boy complemented "And your majesty, the queen, is very fair. You young princes are very, er, nice. And milady, princess Annabeth," he paused for a moment. "you are very beautiful."

Annabeth had delt with knights saying things about her like this before in order to simply woo her, and for an unknown reason, the king never minded, and she never gave a care. But for some reason, she felt the heat rise to her cheeks when she heard this. She didn't know why, but she felt the truth in his words, unlike the other ones who were just trying to charm her, to catch her attention. But this boy… he meant it. Like a true complement.

Annabeth whipped her head around so fast she was surprised it didn't fall off her shoulders. She stared at him, cheeks undoubtedly flaming. This boy looked around sixteen, no older than her. His dark and messy hair looked like it hadn't been combed for weeks, it was probably messy that way. The smirk upon his face seemed very mocking to her, yet, very familiar. But his eyes…

The king kept babbling the whole time of their short staring contest, and the king was just about to dismiss him. The boy gave a bow and smiled at her. Just as he was about to go, the princess spoke. "Wait!" she called, and he halted, twisting only his upper body to look at her, his bright green eyes twinkling. Annabeth narrowed her stormy grey eyes at him. "What's your name?"

"Percy Jackson, your highness." He answered, passing her a knowing look before leaving. But he looked back at her just as he reached the door, and she swore she saw him wink and left, leaving her gaping at closed, oak doors.

Her parents didn't seem to take notice. They probably didn't even remember his name after all these years.

"Annabeth?" Frederick,Susan ,Bobby and Matthew were looking at her. Probably confused about her dumbfounded expression. But strangely enough, the two brothers caught on quickly. "Ooh! Annabeth's got a cru-ush!" The two mocked in a sing-song voice. Annabeth decided she didn't have time for this teasing and questioning and jumped out of her throne.

She sped up the right flank of stairs, a grin slowly breaking onto her face as she ran, miraculousy not tripping on her dress. She ran past the castle maids, not regarding their dumbfounded expressions at her grinning face. Annabeth could've sworn one of them was so surprised the maid dropped her bucket of water exclaiming. "What in bloody hell?"

Well that was rude, Annabeth thought, but disregarded it immidiately.

When she reached the door to her room, she saw Thalia standing in the hallway staring at her. "Annabeth…?" She asked slowly, as if not believing what she saw.

"He's back." She simply said before rushing into her room. Thalia quickly de-froze and ran in after her. She held the door open, as she stood in the doorway. Her electric blue eyes examining her quizzically. Annabeth and Thalia were pretty close friends, so they usually skipped the formalities. Along with Jason and Grover.

"Who's back?" Thalia asked, though she felt like she already knew the answer. Annabeth turned to look at her friend, who she treated like an older sister. She was still grinning ear to ear, grey eyes shining bright, like they used to do a long time ago. Her look made Thalia feel like Annabeth had accomplished a miracle. Though she knew it wasn't her exactly…

"Percy's back." Annabeth replied gleefully, tugging down her white shirt. "He's back!" She exclaimed again, as if declaring she won the Olympics.

Thalia leaned on the side of the doorframe, a small smile on her face as she examined the excited princess before her. "Thought so." She said almost to herself. "By the way, he said to meet you at-"

"I already know." Annabeth muttered, furiously putting on her boots."The tree, right?"

"Yeah." Thalia shrugged. "Whatever that means. As far as I know, the only tress inside this kingdom are about fifty miles away."

Annabeth carefully buttoned up her vest and slipped on what look like leather gauntlets.

"What are those for?" Thalia asked, pushing herself off the side of the doorway. Annabeth hurriedly made her was towards her balcony. "Tell my parents I'm off for a walk in the garden if they ask." She told Thalia as she pulled up a pile of rope and tossed it off the balcony. One end of the rope was tied to the railing, and Thalia had a feeling of what she was about to do.

"Annabeth-"

"Relax. This is my quick was of getting down.'' She grinned as she jumped from the balcony, hands still on the rope. Thalia rushed to the railing and looked down, to find the princess safely on the ground, hands on the rope.

"Well that was fun." Annabeth laughed, running off into the mazes of hedges. Thalia shook her head, watching the sixteen year old princess leave. She might as well go back to cleaning the hallway. That mop she abandoned had better be there, or else that maid she hated, Drew, would be in big trouble.

Okay so Imma stop here now. Sorry for the unsatisfaction you are experiencing right now, Ehe… But the next chapter will hopefully be uploaded same time tomorrow, maybe a few hours later. Okay, thanks for reading! Review and this will be continued faster.
~Apollo'sPirateDAughter