Chapter 14: The Beauty and the Prince

"Annabeth! You're home!" my brothers cry out as I step out of the van. I am last to be dropped off at home and the thought suddenly occurs to me that I've been last for about everything lately.

"Hey guys! Miss me?" I say as I take both of them in my arms and hug them tightly. My parents come out behind them and both hug me until it's hard to breathe.

"You're back! Oh we missed you so much!" they cry out and I feel joy knowing that I wasn't forgotten.

"I missed you guys too," I say and smile at them all.

"Annabeth dear, here are your bags," Brianna calls out from behind and I realize that I still haven't introduced her to my family yet.

"Oh! Come here! I still haven't introduced you!" she walks over and stands next to me, "Mom, dad, this is Brianna Anderson, Percy's half sister. She was my advisor for the whole time I was there and one of my very close friends," I say and they shake hands warmly at each other.

"Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about all of you," she says and my parents smile kindly at her.

"What about us? Did Anniebeth talk about us?" my brothers ask her, jumping up and down with large smiles on their faces.

"Of course she did! You know, I heard that you two are the most well behaved boys that Atlantis has ever had," she replies, bending down to their level and they grin.

"See mommy? We are the best boys in the world!" Matthew yells and he starts to run around the front yard with Bobby following closely behind.

"Yes honey, I see," my step mom sighs and we all laugh.

"It was lovely to meet you all, but unfortunately I must get back to the castle to watch my daughter," she says apologetically.

"You have a daughter?" my dad asks, shocked because she seems so young.

"Yes. She's three years old and her name is Kailey," she replies.

"She's just about the sweetest little girl ever," I telll my parents.

"Well, we must let you go and it was a pleasure to meet you," my step mom and smiles at her.

"Have a safe trip back," my dad says and shakes her hand. As I'm about to follow my family back into the house, Brianna calls me.

"Annabeth?" she calls.

"Yes?" I respond and turn around to face her.

"I had a wonderful getting to know you and I know that my brother did too. I hope you know that." She gives me a knowing look and I sigh in return.

"Of course I do. I'll miss you so much," she walks back over to me and engulfs me in a tight hug. I hug her back just as fiercely until she finally and we need no more words for goodbye as she simply gets in the van and drives away back to the castle. I watch the van disappear until it's just a speck in the distance and then head back into the home that I had missed for so very long.

One Week Later: At the Castle

I was searching throughout the castle trying to find Calypso when the idea popped into my head that she would mostly be in the gardens. Luckily I was near the entrance to the Royal Gardens and as soon I rounded the first corner I saw her hunched over a bed of roses. She was doing something that I could not see, most likely pulling out weeds that often grow.

"You know we have gardeners for this kind of stuff," I say amusingly and her head snaps up, brown eyes wide.

"Yes, but I couldn't help myself. I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"There's nothing to apologize for. You can do whatever you like here," I give her a reassuring grin and she smiles tentatively. She stands up and I notice that all she seems to wear is white summer dresses and her caramel hair is always in the same braid over her shoulder.

"Percy, I think we should invite your friend Annabeth over for lunch tomorrow," she catches me by surprise and she chuckles at my expression.

"Do you not want to? Because if you don't feel comfortable having her-"

"No no. I would love to have her over. You jut caught me off guard that's all."

"Well, she seemed very sweet at the ball, but I could tell she's very stubborn. I would like to get to know her better since she is your best friend and all," I was surprised, I had no idea that they had even met at the ball.

"Alright then. I'll text her tonight and then see what she says. Do you want to go in for dinner now?" I hold out my hand and she shyly takes it in her small ones. She nods and we begin to head back inside while I try to ignore the fact that her hand feels wrong in mine, like it belongs somewhere else. Suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck prickle and I feel like were being watched. I whip my head around but I see nothing except the flowers and trees.

"Are you okay? Is something wrong?" Calypso asks with a worried expression.

"Yeah, everything's fine, it's just… Never mind," I shake my head and thankfully she lets it go.

"You fool! He almost saw you!"

"I'm sorry my lady, I did not mean-"

"Yes well no one ever means anything but they still do it anyways. So he's inviting that stupid blonde over huh? Please, like he needs that puny Catherine or that dumb blonde when he can- Well, never mind that. Oh, Christina will get what she deserves soon. Very very soon…"

A/N: I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry! Hoy many months has it been? Gosh, I don't even know… I'll spare you the excuses but believe me, I tried to write this summer and before that, but it was very hard. Now school starts up again next week (High School! AHHH!) and the crazy begins. But here's some surprising news, I STILL get emails from people who read my story and favorite it! That's amazing! Anyways, thanks to some urging from my fans to update, my bff LaughLoverCrystal a little while back, and some determination I was able to update today! This is really short I know But I will try and I really mean try to write the next chapter which will have some MAJOR things going down. But I know you guys will love it! Again, so so sorry for the terrible wait but maybe I'll make it up to you guys later. Adios loyal readers!

~Sky

P.S. As of July 9, I am officially 14! Oh yeah baby! (Sorry, just had to put that out there…)