Hello lovlies! You don't know how much i love reading your reviews! Specially Swan Destiny's. Thanks for all the suggestions and supporting the story! :)
Update time once again! And based on the reviews... this chapter may or may not be a make-up chapter... (pray to the gods this isnt a cliff hanger cuz even im confused)
Chapter 26
The sun was descending from the sky at a sluggishly slow pace, the warm breeze blew across the kingdom, putting everyone at ease this afternoon. It was the type of afternoon that made you want to sit under a tree and have a contented nap after having a big lunch. Though, one person in this kingdom wasn't exactly feeling contented and relaxed this afternoon.
Annabeth waited anxiously at her balcony for the afternoon sky to settle in, hands tensing nervously on the railing. She wore a slim, blue dress with patches of silver running across it. The sleeves were long, reaching up to her wrists. The fabric was a little thinner so it wasn't hot and sticking to her skin, but not so thin that it was see-through.
Annabeth let out a frustrated sigh and marched over to her bed, throwing herself face-down onto the pillows. It took all her will power to keep from screaming into them. In fact, she was about to until she heard her bedroom door click open.
"Annabeth?" A familiar voice called. She recognised it as Thalia. She heard her friend stifle a small laugh and she groaned in reply. "Get read for the ball, princess." She mocked. Even if she was facing downwards, she could tell the older girl was grinning. "Your knight in shining armour's waiting."
"Shut up!" Came Annabeth's muffled voice. Thalia stifled another laugh before closing the door. A few seconds later, Annabeth pushed herself off the mattress and stood up. She sliped on her blue shoes and fixed her hair up with the silver circlet her father gave her. It fit perfectly so her hair flowed down her shoulders in golden curls.
Annabeth stared at herself in the mirror, seeing those stormy grey eyes stare back at her. She took a deep breath.
Its go time.
...
As Annabeth made her way out of the palace, careful not to trip on her gown, she spotted the two graceful carriages parked before her. They were painted white and gold to be pulled by four white mares each. And by the side of those carriages were the soldiers, patrolling the perimiter, ready to escort the royal family. Annabeth frantically searched under every helmet for those familiar sea-green eyes she wanted to see, but she figured she wouldn't see anything from this distance.
A warm hand landed on her shoulder. She looked up to see her father smiling down at her, his golden crown and gold-lined robes glinting in the sunlight. She smiled back up at him and he passed her a knowing look before proceding to his carriage, his wife by his side.
"Princess." Annabeth looked to her left to see another knight dressed in full armour, holding his hand out to her. Now, she didn't know that much knights, but this one's voice was familiar to her ears, and she already had an idea of the person under that armour. She took his gauntlet covered hand and allowed herself to be led to her own carriage. All the while squinting at him, trying to sneek a glance at the eyes under his helmet.
Annabeth was led up the steps of the carriage and was seated in the velvet sheets. The curtains for the small window were pulled down so she couldn't see outside. The knight wordlessly seated himslef opposite of Annabeth, closer to the door. In fact, he was seated as far away as he could from her. He closed the door shut and opened the small sliding pannel that let you talk with the driver, which was placed right behind him.
"We're good to go, Pollux." He said.
"Alright, Percy!" The one outside replied cheerfully, and for some reason, the princess's escort muttered what sounded like a death threat to the other knight.
Annabeth raised her eyebrow as the knight slammed the pannel closed, a small grin threatening to show on her face. "Percy?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. If the boy in the carriage heard what she had said, he gave no indication that he did. He sat quietly in his spot opposite from her.
A few moments of silence passed as they made their way to the Southern Kingdom. It wasn't really that far. If the conditions were right, it would only take less than an hour to get there. All the while, Percy was unusually quiet, making Annabeth all the more guilty.
"You know," Annabeth finally said. "There's going to be this big dance at the ball." Percy didn't reply, his helmet pulled down low. "And," Annabeth continued. "It was decided that whoever my escort was today would have to be my partner for the dance."
Percy's head suddenly tilted up, his armour squeaking a little bit. Annabeth could see the worry and the hurt still lingering in his eyes. She missed those mesmerizing sea green eyes, though it pained her to know he still hated her. Yet who could blame him?
"Uh... really?" Percy asked disbelievingly, voice muffled by his helmet.
"Yeah." Annabeth tilted her head a bit and gave a small, good-natured smile, resting her palm on the empty cushion by her side. "I guess I can pay back that dance I owe you."
Percy remained quiet after that comment and a hint of fear enveloped Annabeth's heart. She feared she might have said something wrong and messed this up again. She mentally cursed herself repeatedly for an entire minute. She just HAD to bring that up.
"You're lucky we had to wear some formal uniform under this armour." Percy said, a hint of amusement in his voice. That surprised Annabeth. "So, you're okay with that?" She asked, leaning forward in anticipation.
Percy shruged. "Sure." Annabeth's heart lifted up at his reply. "It's responsibility." And her heart crashed down again.
It was silent again for what seemed like an eternity. And it wasn't the usual comfortable silence between the two, as there was a lot of tension in the atmosphere.
After a few more minutes, Percy brought his hands up to remove his helmet since it was getting quite hot. He laid it down by his side and straightened out his raven dark hair, which, of course, would remain untamed no matter what you try to do. Annabeth was unknowingly staring at him. And after a few minutes, Percy turned to look at her.
"What?" He demanded, raising an eyebrow. Annabeth blushed and quickly averted her eyes. "What what?" She countered, scowling at herself, feeling the warmth creep up her cheeks.
Percy smirked, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "You were staring." He stated. Annabeth was by now crimson red. "Was not!" She yelled.
Then he laughed. A pure, well-meant, heart-warming laugh. Annabeth smiled, her blush fading to faint, pink tint. She missed that laugh, and it was music to her ears. She felt as if they were fine and nothing had happened. It felt like how it was once and how it always should be, but she wasn't sure if she wanted it to always be exactly like this .
Percy quieted down and kept his eyes lowered to the carriage floor, his smile quickly fading. Annabeth frowned automatically and felt her heart get crushed again. She hated it when this happens. One second they're fine, the next they're total strangers. But to be honest, she didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do or what to feel. All she could do was sit there awkwardly, seeing Percy's unreadable expression.
Annabeth sighed and turned to her right. She put her hand up to lift the curtains covering the window, just to get a peek, oblivious to Percy's gaze following her every move.
She saw that the sun was setting already, and they were driving across a familiar road of cobblestone, the roadside decorated with patches of bushes that sprang beautiful and colorful flowers. A sudden blare of trumpets from a distance made Annabeth jump in her seat, so did Percy.
"We're close." Percy said recovering from the initial shock from the trumpets, grabbing his helmet that lay by his side and put it on. "C'mon."
Annabeth felt the chariot come to a stop, and the trumpets blared right outside her chariot.
"ANNOUNCING!" A loud voice came from right outside. "THE KING AND QUEEN OF OLYMPIA- LORD FREDERICK AND LADY SUSAN!"
After a few moments, the chariot moved forward a few feet and abruptly stopped.
"ANNOUNCING," The voice blared again. "THE PRINCESS OF OLYMPIA- PRINCESS ANNABETH!"
"That's our cue." Percy muttered an opened the door of the carriage, stepping outside, holding out his hand to the princess. "Well?" He asked impatiently.
Annabeth took his hand and stepped outside, seeing crowds gathered on either side of a restricted isle leading up to the entrance of the stone palace, candle lamps glinting by the grand doors. The crowd cheered as she walked as gracefully as she can (which wasn't that graceful) down the isle, her hand resting on Percy's armour covered forearm. She felt him tense a bit as they walked, causing her to tense as well. She slid her hand down his arm, taking his hand in hers. Percy gave her a quizzical look and she just smiled. "I prefer this than that nonesense 'formal forearm hold'." She said, putting their hands in between them. Percy visibly relaxed, though she couldn't see his actual expression with his helmet on.
They walked up the steps and into the light of the ballroom of the Southern Kingdom's palace.
"I'll be back for the dance later." Percy told her as soon as they got inside the massive ballroom, with the golden chandeleir hanging from the tall, domed ceiling, and the polished marble floor. "I'm on guard duty." He stated and quickly left.
Annabeth could only nod as she was distracted by the amazing architecture and construction of this ballroom. This was far better than their own kingdom's ballroom. She made a mental note to ask for some renovation requests from her father.
...
The ball went by slowly, classical music echoed through the room, played by the orchestra at one corner. Chatting voices of different royal and high people sounded everywhere, laughing, talking and the occasional dances.
All the while, Annabeth roamed the ballroom, occasionally greeting some relatives and, at one point, had a short chat with her father and step-mother. She greeted the king and queen of the Southern Kingdom, Hermes and May Castellan, Luke's parents. And a little later, she ran into Luke himself by the buffet table.
"Oh, hey Luke!" Annabeth greeted as she took a small piece of chocolate from one of the silver platters on the table.
"Hello, Princess." Luke smiled, yet it was not as bright and not as wide. It was obvious something was bothering him.
Annabeth lowered her chocolate. "Is there something wrong, Luke?" She asked. The prince immediately gave her a reasuring smile, but she noticed the falseness behind it. "I'm fine." He said. "But I must leave. We'll talk again next time, alright?" He didn't wait for a reply and rushed off, leaving Annabeth quite confused. So was every boy she found interesting suddenly avoiding her?
...
Percy sighed and took off the last of his armour, which was his iron breastplate. He smoothened out his formal clothes- a white, long-sleeved shirt, trousers, boots, and a blue cape wrapped around his back, giving a 'musketeer' sort of appearance. Jason and the other knights wore almost the same clothes except they differ in the color of the capes and trousers.
They were outside the palace, guarding the gates. Percy sat on a long, wooden stool just by the open, grand doors, listening to the cheer and laughter from inside. Jason came and sat next to him, no longer wearing his armour. He fixed his orange cape around his neck.
"You know," the younger knight said. "You guys should really talk. Just to clear up any misunderstandings." He suggested.
Percy glared hard at the stone floor. "There aren't any misunderstandings. No denials. No confrontations." He said.
Jason gave a dissapointed sigh. "You guys still have to talk." He urged. "You are best friends. You should be able to understand each other. Keep your promises."
"That's the thing." Percy's hands curled into fists. "She broke her promise. She said she'd keep the secret!"
"Well, I still don't know about this promise, but you also promised to be her friend forever. To be there for her." Jason reasoned. Percy remained silent, his fists unclenching slowly, his expression softening.
"Maybe," he said slowly. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I should-"
"Jackson!" A voice hollered to his left. It was Clarisse, still in full armour walking towards them. "It's dance time with the princess. Get your butt in there." She smirked.
"Alright, alright. " Percy grumbled, stood up, and walked passed her, into the palace doors.
He had to resist from sheilding his eyes from the blinding light. The ballroom was marvellous, with it's white and gold domed ceiling, pearly white floors, glistening high walls and basically it's architecture was constructed in full detail and with careful planning. Just how Annabeth loved it .
The music had stopped playing as the royal crowd gathered in a circle, leaving a wide space in the middle of the ballroom floor. Percy watched as the king of the Southern Kingdom lead his wife by the hand into the middle of the ballroom and danced as the music started playing again, this time with a softer, more delicate, and romantic melody.
He felt someone tap his shoulder right next to him. He looked beside him to see Annabeth, dressed in a beautiful blue and silver dress topped off with a silver circlet on her head. Percy subconsciously blushed, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. She looked simply stunning, amazingly beautiful.
Annabeth smiled up at him, her gray eyes sparkling." So do you want to dance?" She asked, tilting her head towards the middle of the ballroom.
Percy shook himself out of his trance and took her hand in his as gently as he could. He put on a small smile and led her by the hand to the dance floor.
"To be honest, I'm not that good a dancer." Percy admitted.
Annabeth laughed. "Well, let's see." She stopped, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Who knows, you're dancing could be really good, or as bad as your swordplay."
"Ha,Ha. Very funny." Percy grumbled, nevertheless putting a hand on the princess's waist. Though he was smiling. "My swordplay's not that bad, anyway." He defended.
"Oh, really?" Annabeth challenged.
"Yes." Percy smirked. "It's surely better than yours!" He said as they started to dance in sync with the gentle music. "All you know how to fight with is a knife."
Annabeth raised her eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?" Percy only grinned in reply. "Well then," Annabeth put on a smug smile. "Challenge accepted."
Percy laughed as they danced, making Annabeth laugh as well. It felt like as if they we're still good old friends, as if there was nothing wrong. Yet Annabeth knew that deep inside, they were both dying to say something they've been holding in for quite a long time.
"Seaweed Brain." Annabeth muttered subconsciously.
"Wise Girl." Percy retorted. Annabeth let out a small laugh. "Still haven't figured out a good enough comeback?" She said.
Percy grinned. "I don't think I want to come up with another one." He said. "It suits you."
"You're head's full of kelp. " Annabeth stated. Percy laughed again, a melody to her ears.
They danced across the dance floor, oblivious to the people around watching. They didn't care. They didn't want this moment to be over. Simple, happy, peaceful.
Then, Annabeth frowned down at the floor. No matter how good everything was, she knew she couldn't escape the problem at hand. She knew that this peace was only temporary. Soon, everything would be a battle field again. She hated to be the one to end this peace, but she also needed to end this silent war. She needed to fix this. She needed to fix her mistake. And she couldn't fix anything without a proper solution.
Annabeth let her hand slide down from Percy's shoulder. She separated herself from him and tried to leave. But Percy held her hand tight, giving her those sad, confused, puppy-dog eyes. "Annabeth-"
"Percy, please." She cut him off. "I... I need to think, alright. I-I have to...ugh." Annabeth mentally scolded herself for how dramatic she was being. She forcefully pulled her hand out from Percy's and power walked away.
The crowd parted to let Annabeth pass, she knew Percy was following her. She tried to lose him around the palace. She walked up the stone steps and around a corner, losing the footsteps behind her.
She walked strait down the dim hallway and ended up in front of two, regulars glass and wooden doors. She pushed them open to find herself on a balcony. The cold, midnight air wafted over her and only the light of the moon gave her sight.
She calmly walked over to the railing, squinting in the night. She put her hands on the cold, stone railing and felt like she was suffocating despite herslef. Annabeth tried to stop them, to stop the tears and emotion from engulfing her. To stop this overflow of drama from overtaking her. She needed to think. She needed to think of a solution to this problem. She felt like there were a thousand voices screaming inside her head, problems wanting to get out, dreams wanting to turn into reality. Her heart raced, her pulse sped up and she felt like screaming for everything to stop.
It it did. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder.
"Annabeth?" It was unmistakably Percy.
Annabeth looked over her shoulder to find him standing there, looking down at her. She never felt happier to have someone here with her when she needed someone most, even though she was trying to run away from him.
"Hey." She greeted quietly.
Percy swiftly moved to take off his blue cape and put it around Annabeth carefully, his arms going around her to wrap the cape around her shoulders.
"I thought you'd get cold." Percy stated simply, his breath tickling Annabeth's neck. She was cold.
She wrapped the cape around her arms tightly and they stood there silently.
A small, orange glow gave them light from the open doors behind them. The laughter of the crowds back at the ballroom sounded far and dull.
"Percy," Annabeth said quietly. "Listen, I'm sorry. I never meant to break the promise. I was... well, I don't know. It was stupid of me to do that. I don't even know why. " She took a deep breath. "And I know I've basically betrayed you. And I'm sorry. I... I was an idiot, really. But you are still my best friend and you mean the world to me, so I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry. For everything."
Percy shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Sorry for ignoring you like that." He said. "I guess I really just felt betrayed. But you know," he smiled. "I'll forgive you no matter what."
Annabeth smiled. She felt like a weight was lifted off her chest. She felt relieved of all the pain.
She turned to him, sea green eyes meeting stormy gray.
Then, she hugged him. Wrapping her arms around his waist. Percy was stunned for a moment, before wrapping his arms around her as well. She felt comforted with the warmth that engulfed her. She felt happy. There was no other way to say it.
She looked up, once again their gazes , she lost control. It was like her body gravitated toward him and vice versa, closing the distance between them.
They kissed.
It was a light, soft kiss. A fuzzy warmth engulfed Annabeth as she felt his warm lips press gently against hers. It lasted for only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity of bliss.
"Wow." Percy said, breaking the kiss. Yet their foreheads remained touching.
Annabeth let out a small, giddy laugh. "Wow indeed." She looked up, both their gazes meeting again.
"Annabeth, I..." Percy said.
"Yeah?" Annabeth urged.
"I have to tell you something."
"What is it?"
"I...
I have to leave."
LALALALALA. IT ENDS HERE.
The chapter, I mean.
So yeah... internal debate over and this was decided. I just finished watching The Amazing Spider Man so I keep imagining Gwen and Peter in place of Percy and Annabeth so dam it to Hades. =_=
Yeah, um, tell me what you think should happen if you want to, but I already have something planned. Sorry to Swan Destiny. I really loved your suggestion, but I already have a plot bridge. (Yay!) But still, thanks for your support and awesomeness! :)
Okay, I guess that's it for now. Hopefully I'll update soon. I might be able to start writing the next chapter by next week. But you have to admit that chapter's extremely long.
Bye! :)
~Apollo'sAwesomPirateDaughterXD.