***Here's Chapter 11; just fyi, it's a little bit darker towards the end than some of my other chapters. Chapter 12, from Hazel's POV, will be up by Monday, April 21. Have a great weekend and happy Easter!***

XI. ANNABETH

Of all the old heroes Annabeth had read about, Paris seemed by far the least threatening. But that was before she saw him. She had expected someone young and handsome, but if Paris had been that way once, he certainly wasn't now. The best word Annabeth could think of to describe him was grotesque.

Helen had led the demigods into an adjacent glade where Paris was seated on a leafy throne that reminded Annabeth of the one she had seen Dionysus sit on once at a Council of Cloven Elders meeting. Oddly, the clearing was full of small apple trees interspersed with chocolate fountains. Paris was lounging on his throne, using a paring knife to cut slices from a chocolate-dipped apple, which seemed to Annabeth like a weird combination. Beside the throne was a massive chocolate fountain, at least ten feet tall, and a pile of ripe, red apples. Paris had chocolate smeared across his face and there were chocolate stains down the front of his Greek chiton, which was stretched tight across the massive expanse of his stomach. His entire body was bloated and speckled with chocolate and apple seeds. The sight made Annabeth nauseous. He looked up as they approached him and a hideous, chocolate-stained grin split his face.

"Helen, my love!" he said jovially, opening his arms as if he expected a hug. Helen, however, stopped at the foot of his throne, her beautiful face fixed in an icy expression. Paris either didn't notice or didn't care. He had already turned away from her to look at the three demigods. "And who have you brought to me?"

Annabeth's skin crawled as Paris's eyes raked over her, Piper, and Hazel. His expression was greedy, as if Helen had brought him a tasty snack. "Let me see, daughters of Aphrodite and Athena, I believe," he mused. "I had the pleasure of meeting your mothers, long ago. Zeus himself chose me to decide which goddess was the most beautiful, you know. Hera, Athena, or Aphrodite. Whichever I chose received the golden apple. You can see that Gaea has rewarded me with apple trees here, to remind me of my great decision."

Annabeth remembered the story of the Judgment of Paris. Hera had offered to make him ruler over all of Greece and Asia. Athena had offered to make him the wisest man in the world. But Aphrodite had offered him Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, to be his bride. Despite the fact that Paris already had a wife, a nymph named Oenone, he chose Aphrodite as the most beautiful, so that he could have Helen.

"Yes," Paris said dreamily. "I chose Aphrodite's gift, my sweet Helen. And so I have the chocolate fountains because chocolate, after all, is the food of love. Isn't that right, child of the Underworld?" He winked at Hazel, who recoiled.

"And you gorge yourself on this food every day," Helen said, still staring straight ahead.

Paris's expression hardened. "I may do as I please, woman. Don't forget that."

"Of course you may," Helen said. Her voice was flat and emotionless. "I apologize, my prince."

Annabeth exchanged looks with Piper and Hazel. None of them wanted to stay in this place any longer than they had to. They needed to get Paris's half of the key and get out.

Piper took a deep breath, then forced a smile. "Perhaps, Prince Paris, you can help me as you once helped my mother." Annabeth could sense the power of charmspeak in Piper's voice. Paris perked up. "My friends and I are looking for a key that will allow us to get into Demeter's temple in Eleusis. We knew you were the best person to ask about it and we would be so grateful if you could help us." Piper's smile was sincere, but Annabeth could see her friend clenching her fists behind her back.

Paris considered them carefully. For a moment, Annabeth thought it might actually be that easy, that he would just hand over whatever the key was. But then, still smiling condescendingly, he shook his head. "I'm afraid I cannot give you that, my darling. You see, the earth mother herself has entrusted me with the task of guarding the chest, just as Zeus once trusted me to judge the beauty of the great goddesses." He pointed over his shoulder at a small golden chest sitting on a shelf behind his throne.

"I am not your darling," Piper said. "So you're just going to sit back and let Gaea destroy the world, the same way you allowed Troy to be destroyed so you could have what you wanted?"

The smile slid off of Paris's face like melting chocolate. "Helen was given to me by your mother. If anything, Aphrodite started the Trojan War. The fault is not mine."

"What about when you challenged Menelaus to single combat, then ran away when it looked like you would lose?" Annabeth said. "You let Hector, your brother, die in your place."

Paris's face had a very ugly expression. He was still clutching the paring knife in one hand, the chocolate-covered apple in the other. "Hector volunteered to fight for me. His death is not on my hands."

"What about Achilles?" Hazel asked. "You took advantage of his weak spot and shot him from a distance, like a coward, rather than face him. Is his blood on your hands?"

Paris looked at Helen, standing as still as a statue beside Piper. "I don't know, my dear," he said in a low voice. "On whose hands is the blood of these heroes?"

Helen's hands, held loosely at her sides, were still dripping blood on her dress, though the drops left no stain. Paris held up his own hands, which were streaked with chocolate and juice from the apple he was holding, but there was no blood.

"Am I any worse than those so-called heroes you three claim to love?" Paris asked as he sliced another chunk of apple off and popped it in his mouth. He pointed his knife at Annabeth. "You claim to hate me because I left my brother to die in my place, but Perseus Jackson did the same thing. He left Charles Beckendorf to die while he fled to safety in the sea."

Annabeth felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. "Percy didn't want to leave him," she said, hating how weak her voice sounded. "Beckendorf made his own choice. He died a hero."

"As did my brother Hector," Paris said with a revolting smile. He turned to Piper. "And you dare to say that I selfishly abandoned my home, while Jason Grace plans to do the same thing. He told you, didn't he, that he will leave Camp Jupiter, his home of fourteen years, to stay with you at Camp Half-Blood?"

All the blood drained out of Piper's face. "How—how can you know that?"
Paris's smile widened. "The earth mother has many eyes and ears." He looked at Hazel, who gritted her teeth. "Frank Zhang has a weakness, just as Achilles did. You have to know that it is only a matter of time until someone takes advantage of that weakness, as I did to Achilles, the supposed greatest warrior in history." Paris made a disgusted face. "Leo Valdez is very good with fire, isn't he? How can you be sure you can trust him? He's keeping secrets even now. I mean, he hasn't told you where he went for that week he was gone, has he? For that matter, how can you trust the two who came back from Tartarus?" Paris gestured towards Annabeth, whose stomach clenched. "How do you know that place didn't change them?"

"Stop it!" Hazel snapped. A tremor rippled through the clearing like a tiny earthquake, shaking the fountains so that chocolate splashed over the sides. "You're not turning us against our friends."

"You're as bad as Hercules," Piper spat. "You blame everyone else for your problems and try to make other people as miserable as you are. But you're wrong. Jason, Leo, Frank, and Percy are way better heroes than you ever were. All you are is a disgusting, selfish pig."

Paris's face froze. Annabeth clenched her fist around the handle of her sword. When Paris spoke, his voice was low and dangerous. "I was chosen. I alone of mortals was deemed fit to judge the beauty of goddesses. I was given the gift of the most beautiful woman in the world. That is my legacy. I will not be slandered by some worthless female demigods."

Annabeth suddenly understood why Periclymenus had suggested that the boys stay on the ship. It wasn't just to gain Helen's trust. It was because Periclymenus wanted to humiliate Paris and he knew that having the Trojan prince be brought down by a female demigod would be a crushing blow to Paris's pride. Annabeth was happy to indulge the old Argonaut on this one.

She drew her drakon bone sword and glanced at Piper and Hazel. "We need to get that chest."

Hazel drew her spatha. "Only one way to do that."

Piper drew Katoptris, leaving her Boread sword in its sheath. Annabeth guessed the gesture was symbolic, since that had been Helen's knife. "Let's go."

The three of them charged at Paris. Annabeth knew it wasn't a fair fight, but she didn't care. They had to get the chest and Paris seriously needed to go back to the Underworld.

However, Paris moved unimaginably fast. Annabeth dove to the side as he threw his paring knife at her. Hazel dodged as he flung the chocolate-covered apple at her. Piper jabbed her knife at him, but Paris spun out of the way, surprisingly light on his feet for someone so large. He grabbed an armful of apples off the pile by his throne and began flinging them at the demigods. The apples were so ripe that they burst on contact. Annabeth figured she was going to have bruises from where the fruit hit her, but she could deal with that later. Helen was still standing stock-still near the throne, neither helping nor hindering.

Paris ran out of apples and took off running out of the garden, dodging around chocolate fountains and apple trees. Hazel screamed and another tremor shook the ground, this one much harder. Chocolate fountains tumbled, splashing chocolate everywhere, apples thudded to the ground, and Paris was knocked off his feet. Annabeth lost her balance and fell to her knees. Piper charged at Paris again, but he was ready for her. He caught her wrist as she brought Katoptris down and twisted. Piper cried out in pain and dropped the knife. The next instant, Paris was on his feet, holding Katoptris against Piper's throat.

"Enough of this," he growled. He limped back to his throne, one arm locked around Piper's shoulders, the other hand keeping the blade of the knife against her throat.

Annabeth's heart was pounding as she got back to her feet. Usually this was the point where she would start trying to talk her way out of the situation. But Paris was insane. Annabeth was afraid that if she said the wrong thing, he would kill Piper.

"Now," Paris said as he stood in front of his throne, "Gaea demands one of you for her sacrifice in Athens. I don't care which one she takes. The other two will stay here with me. You will serve me, as Helen does, because I am—"

"—a world-class jerk," Piper finished. She head-butted Paris in the mouth. He roared in pain and flung her away from him, clutching his face.

Piper slammed against the ground. Katoptris flew out of Paris's hand and landed at Helen's feet. Slowly, Helen bent down and picked up the knife.
"Help me, woman!" Paris said through his busted lip. Blood was running down his chin, mixing grotesquely with the chocolate on his face.

Helen looked at him for a long moment. If Helen decided to attack Piper, Annabeth and Hazel were too far away to help. Hazel began to move, cautiously, towards the throne. Annabeth held her breath. All of Paris's attention was focused on Helen and Piper in front of him. Then Helen said, softly, "No."

"Excuse me?" Paris demanded.

"No," Helen said simply, louder this time. She pulled Piper to her feet and handed her back Katoptris. "I am done helping you."

Paris hissed. "You were my prize, woman. Without me, you are nothing!"

Helen shook her head. "Wrong. It is you who are nothing."

Paris opened his mouth to reply, but he never got the chance. He had been so focused on Helen, he hadn't noticed Hazel, who snuck around behind his throne and drove her sword through his chest.

Paris let out a hideous wail. His form shivered, smoking where the Imperial gold blade touched him, and then his body burst like the fountains, spraying chocolate everywhere. Hazel, Piper, Annabeth, and Helen were doused in the goop.

"Gross!" Hazel shrieked, backing away from the throne.

Annabeth gagged. She swiped at her arms, trying to get as much of the Paris-chocolate off of her as possible.

Piper actually threw up. Her face was pale under the chocolate as she stood back up and said shakily, "That was the single most disgusting thing I have ever seen."

"Yes," Helen said. She looked strangely unperturbed by the chocolate staining her clothes and skin. "But he's gone now." She turned to Annabeth. "You can take the chest."

Annabeth had absolutely no desire to get closer to the spot where Paris had been, but she forced herself to walk forward and collect the small golden chest off of the shelf behind his throne. It was warm to the touch, like it had been sitting out in a field on a summer day. The chest was carved with agriculture-related scenes outlined with stalks of various grains—barley, oats, wheat.

"I must thank you girls," Helen said. "You have brought me a brief respite from my curse and I am grateful. This belongs to you." She handed Piper a wicker basket with a lid, the size of a small picnic basket. "This kalathos, along with the kiste chest, will get you into Demeter's sacred place in Eleusis. But take care not to open either of these until you are in front of her altar. I doubt the goddess would appreciate that."

"Thank you," Piper said as she took the basket.

"You're welcome," Helen replied. Her eyes were mournful again. "I am sorry for Paris's behavior, but there is truth in the things he told you. You can't trust heroes. They will always let you down."

Annabeth's hands tightened on the chest she was holding. "You're wrong. Percy has never let me down. And Piper's right, these guys are different than the old heroes. They're better people."

Helen just looked at her, as if foreseeing heartbreak. "For your own sakes, my dears, I hope you're right. Now, farewell. And good luck with your quest." With that, she raised her hand in a final wave as she and the clearing evaporated like mist.

The pitch-black funnel cloud also slowly dissolved, leaving the three girls standing on a sunny, wind-swept hillside that looked completely normal.

Hazel exhaled. "Well, that was less than fun."

"Yep," Piper agreed. She studied the basket in her hands. "This is the weirdest looking key I've ever seen."

"Yeah, it is," Annabeth said. "Hopefully it makes sense once we get to Eleusis."

"Here's hoping," Piper said.

Hazel made a face as she pulled an apple peel off her shirt. "Come on, let's get back to the ship. We can tell the guys what we learned."

"And get cleaned up," Annabeth added.

"Yeah," Piper said as they started to walk back. "I don't know about you two, but I don't think I'm going to eat chocolate or apples again for a long time."

***Just a last, quick note: I know the story of Paris and Helen is often considered really romantic (epic love and all that), but in several versions of the story, Paris really was a jerk. He had a wife and a son whom he abandoned to chase after Helen and he did run away from the fight with Menelaus, Helen's actual husband, which led to Hector being killed by Achilles. That's where the idea for this chapter came from: I wanted to play around with the idea of Paris being a selfish jerk who Helen doesn't actually want to be with. Hope you enjoyed reading!***