Annabeth

To say that she was surprised to see the one-legged man in front of her would be an understatement. She had seen him before, of course she used to see him every day just before a few hours ago as a statue. Apart from that she had seen him in history text books and civics pieces. He was the man of the revolution the one who had led them through till the end and had lived at the end of it to see his country shine and flourish as his efforts drove out the incivility of the nobles. He wasn't known to be a peaceful man like Gandhi but wasn't a tyrant either. Everyone back home knew him as Sir William Brial the first president of the new Kyte, or maybe that was just an alibi as the people there were calling him Chiron.

Annabeth wanted to ask him a million questions about the things that might have happened and about the things that were going to. But above all she was curious about his leg. Sir Brial wasn't known to be a limper and even if he had been then it would have surely been printed on the history text books in big and bold in the passages about him. So what had happened? Why was he sitting sprawled on a longs four-poster in just a floppy military pant which sagged waist down around his right leg. His chest was tanned and muscled and sometimes covered with splashes of grisly brown hair just like his head and face. His eyes were also warm and brown and so was his smile. He was staring at Annabeth amiably, making her feel a bit... at ease.

He reminded Annabeth of a teacher she had ones had... Mr Bruner, she was quite young back then and had thought that Mr Bruner was actually her real father as he cared about her well-being the most. She had been very disappointed when she had moved to her junior year of middle school and had found out that he was just a very caring and loving teacher. She had cried a little too but that's that.

"So what do you think... Bianca dear?" Chiron asked in a pleasant deep voice.

And for the first time, Annabeth noticed the other two people in the trophy room. To be fair it was very dimly lit and the only thing she could see were the four-poster on which Chiron was resting and the dismantled guns which were lying below it. They were not something Annabeth enjoyed looking at so she was looking at Chiron instead but now that Chiron had mentioned them, she saw them clearly.

Three words for them, cold-pale-shadowy. That's all. That's enough to describe them as far as Annabeth was concerned. From the looks of it they liked to be in the shadows and Annabeth could feel why others around them liked that too. It wasn't everyday you would find a short (probably because he was still quite young) guy wheeling a girl around. They were intimidating but they sure radiated the aura of darkness. One look at them and you knew that they practically dwelled in darkness.

The girl was keeping a straight face but the boy was filled with hostility. Annabeth noted that while the girl had not decided what to think of her yet, the boy already hated her. Well... everybody seemed to hate her here anyway.

"I don't know Chiron." The girl who was Bianca spoke up, " My eyes tell me that she is a noble but... "

"It's okay dear you don't have to strain yourself or anything." Chiron gave her a kind smile as he continued,

"I would like you both to leave us alone for a while, probably take a walk outside."

At that the boy's pupils expanded and he said in a quick flurry, "Now way are we leaving you here with a... filthy noble."

Annabeth winced at being called filthy but said nothing, she didn't want the guy to pull out his gun, which she was sure he had on him, and shoot her down right there.

"You question my abilities Nico?" Chiron asked with a raised eyebrow rather dramatically.

"I don't-"

"Actually," Binaca said as her eyes met with Chiron's briefly, "I would really like to see the morning glories again. Won't you take me there Nico?"

The smile she gave him could have easily been sunshine in that dark room. Although it wasn't cold before it certainly seemed pleasant now. Even though her smile was not directed at Annabeth, she felt a bit better. At least someone there could smile.

Nico looked from Chiron and then at Bianca's brightly lit face and as the muscles in his face relaxed, Annabeth knew what he would say.

"Fine! But If I hear the slightest sound of any kind of threat, this blonde whore..." He said while giving Annabeth a sharp look.

"Nico!" Bianca protested at his language but Nico ignored her as he finished, "Is going down."

Annabeth could see Bianca's smile waver at Nico's behavior but it came back again as he turned to shift her wheel chair.

"You have my word but please watch your tongue Mr DiAnjelo." Chiron said calmly, not looking very pleased anymore.

Annabeth felt further invisible as she let that insult slide too. She wondered what she would have done to him in more favorable circumstances. They didn't seem quite pretty to her.

As The door creeked open and Bianca was wheeled out she heard them one more time,

"Thank you Nico. You are a darling."

"Anything for you Bianca."

"You are such an adorable little brother!"

And then the door was pushed to be closed ones again.

Nico hated the nobles, Annabeth noted. Maybe the reason why Bianca was on a wheelchair had a lot to do with it. If it were so she felt almost sorry for thinking about all those rude and devilish things she had thought as favorable circumstances. Annabeth could after all die for her family, specially her siblings.

"So?" Chiron cleared his throat and drew her attention back to him.

She looked at him for a moment and frowned. Did he expect her to say something? But what? All she had were questions. Maybe she would ask one.

"what happened to your leg?"

Chiron gave her a sad smile before he spoke, "And there you go, proved yourself."

"What?" Annabeth blinked. Proved herself to not be noble? Just like that?

Chiron chuckled at her, "A noble would be least bothered about my leg, rather he or she would feel that I deserved whatever had robbed me of it. But you clearly are not one of them as from the look on your face you sincerely wanted to know about it."

Annabeth nodded slowly, taking in the wisdom in his words. This man was brilliant.

"But-" He paused to give Annabeth a piercing look, "You are not a common civilian either."

Annabeth took a step back from where she was standing. Bad move, but how did he know? Her uniform was concealed under Percy's long furry-brown coat. He couldn't have possibly just guessed that. Annabeth had been very very quiet.

"So... where are you from? And don't tell tales. Nico wasn't lying earlier." The look in Chiron's eyes told Annabeth that he wasn't joking.

She gulped and spoke up in a rather low voice, "You would not believe me."

Chiron's eyes softened, "I can hear truth's voice dear. Try me."

She might as well.

"Okay!" Annabeth said while throwing up her hands in the air and speaking loudly for the second time in hours, "My friend's time machine went hay wire and sent me here in this... place where everyone wants me dead."

Chiron was silent, his face expressionless. Annabeth quickly added,

"I know you don't believe me but you can ask me any date about the rebellion. I would know or any detail." If they were there in all those books she had devoured.

More silence followed. Then Chiron looked up at her and nodded in acceptance. Annabeth could practically feel her jaw drop. She hadn't expected the first person to whom she confessed the truth to believe her. She searched Chiron's eyes for some kind of doubt or mirth or any thing... But they were clear... absolutely clear and trusting. He trusted her. Could he really hear the voice of truth like he had said?

A sad smile appeared on Chiron's face as Annabeth gaped at him. He tilted his head to a side and said, "What is wrong my dear?"

"I am waiting for you to laugh at me, or to yell at me or kill me. Because it is impossible that you believe me. You must be joking and at any moment you would reveal what you really think and sentence me to death. Yes... this has to be a practical joke."

Annabeth said in a quizzical tone. Chiron sat up straight and bent down to pull something out from beneath his four-poster. It clanked as he drew it out and a faint glint from it caught Annabeth's eye. It was made of metal and it suspiciously looked like a false leg. Annabeth watched as he pulled it up on and started fastening it. It looked quite heavy. Annabeth wondered how he managed to walk in it.

"It is very easy to see when someone is telling the truth and when someone is lying. You just have to look for the right signs." His face crinkled as he winked at her. Annabeth noticed that Chiron had smile lines on his face. He must have been a smiling person.

He got up at tapped his false leg against the ground and checked for its flexibility. It moved perfectly with him.

"Okay dear that's all for today. Let's go and find Bianca. You must be freezing in that attire and I am sure we are also invited to old Dionysus's meeting. Hurry up!"

He strode past her much like a horse and held open the to-be-trophy room's door for her. Annabeth followed him outside, wondering why he had dodged the question about how he lost his leg.

After that awfully awkward meeting everyone had filed out of the little room. It was as if suddenly everyone had forgotten that she was a threat to their society. A moment ago one of their leaders, Piper McLean maybe, was fighting and arguing to take her in as if she were a piece of pearl. She wondered about how volatile they had been. One second they wanted her to die the most cruel death and in the other they wanted her as a piece of chess in their board game. She couldn't trust any of them, she realized with a great wave of sadness. She wondered about how her family members were coping with her disappearance. Vera must be running her ass off and posting flyers and Malcolm must be crying his eyes out. Dad would be busy with the suddenly turned violent twins and mom would be going from place to place, office to office in order to look for her.

She clutched the sides of her washed out red dress as her throat started to tighten up. Her pony tail felt heavy on her head. She looked up as she heard footsteps, they were careless and rapid. She looked up and was met by a pair of shocked sea-green eyes. It was him, Percy. Somehow he was stuck with her again. Chiron had just asked him to take Annabeth under his wing and judging from the way his eyes were getting all cold and his jaws were setting along with his fingers folding into tight fists at his sides, she guessed that he wasn't the least bit happy about it. To be honest Annabeth had been watching him throughout the session and she had heard him speak for her life against Piper McLean's ideas. She had felt a great surge of gratitude at him at that but now, after seeing his displeasure, she felt kind of angry. It wasn't she who had asked Chiron for Percy's gracious help! He didn't have to be such a stuck up kid. But yet she decided to be polite.

"Hey." She said.

She watched at Percy took an uncertain step towards her but then stopped where he was. His eyes were waging like an angry sea. Was showing her around and being at least cordial to her that hard to pull off? She hadn't imagined it to be. But when he spoke Annabeth was compelled to listen even if he had closed his eyes and let out a huge sigh before he said it.

"Listen, I'll show you where to sleep and where the bathrooms are. Find a job and stay low here. From the way you jump a feet when you see a gun is a sign that you are not meant for the attack forces."

Annabeth's eyes narrowed. He was underestimating her. He was behaving like she was a great big bad problem in his life, one he was so irritated to have. So be it. She didn't need his help, this was going to be her school some day and she knew her way around it like the back of her hand. She just had to mark new locations instead of the old ones and that would be all. She hated being underestimated and if he thought she was not worth his time then he could just be well off without her.

"I think I'll show myself around. Thanks for offering your kind help." She hadn't meant to taunt him but hey! She couldn't help it.

And apparently Percy couldn't help being extremely rude either.

"Listen blondie. I don't know what your brain powers are but if you have noticed you look like a noble. And people here don't just dislike them because they have stolen their candies. We hate them with every fiber of our being. And if you think people, specially men, are going to forgive you for looking like one... you can just ask me to shoot your head instead."

Annabeth's cheeks reddened. Did he just call her stupid because she was blonde? And hell she knew exactly what people would do so she wasn't planing to sing a song and walk around the public passages with her two arms swinging.

"I am perfectly capable of looking after my self." She said in a matter of factly way.

Percy's face contorted to form an ugly sneer as he bit back the insults that had flung to his tongue as only a single word came out as harshly as it could.

"Fine."

"Fine!" Annabeth echoed.

She bumped his shoulder as she stomped past him towards the door and made her way down the corridor. He wasn't going to hurt her pride anytime soon if she had any say in it which she clearly had. She could feel his eyes staring at her back intently as she walked away from him. She felt hot at the thought of him staring but quickly dismissed the thought. There was no way in hell she could stand that self-absorbed, violent and rude pretty boy.

She was walking down what used to be the south corridor of Brial High. It had led to the various labs back then. Now she didn't know where they ended up. The floors were cemented there and the walls had a serious case of seepage. The windows were highly curtained and rarely any light entered through them. She wondered if the sun had come up yet. It was impossible to know that with all the windows sealed. It was relatively cold there. Annabeth missed Percy's fur coat even though he had been a jerk to her.

How could he possibly call her weak? He barely knew her! And why was it bothering her so much? People often thought she was stupid because of her blonde hair. Yeah right. Her curled blonde hair. How she wished for it to be black!

The passage led to no rooms in particular. People were hanging out there and giving her death glares. But no one touched her. They must have got the news that Chiron thought she was a commoner. So much for ripping her apart.

She turned a corner and felt the windows slowly slide away as the people who passed her lessened over and over. She wondered where she was going. No. She can't think that. She must know where she was going or blowing Percy off would be of no good. That's when she heard a loud gun fire and dashed into the nearest room and closed the door behind her. Her breathing had already become laborious and she was slumped on her back against the door, her eyes squeezed shut. She heard voices saying 'Get them' and stuff and decided to stay where ever she was until everything was settled outside.

It would have been better if she had not thought that and had just bolted out of that room. It was too late when she heard some hard raspy chuckle and opened her eyes. There were four of them. Each one scrawny, blonde and had blue eyes. Their white cotton clothes were extremely dirty and their hair were all tangled and slimy. The looks in their eyes were hungry and they were coming towards her.

Prisoners. Noble Prisoners. The guards outside were trying to get them.

She turned around and tried to open the door but one of the men grabbed her roughly by her hand and threw her against the floor. That hurt. She opened her eyes and as her vision cleared and she sat up a little she saw that she was surrounded by those men. The look in their eyes didn't give her a happy feeling. Instead she was scared. She didn't have any weapon on her and she couldn't take out four full grown men even if they had been weakened by their life in the prisons. She looked around the room and almost cried out in frustration as she saw that the room had just one door and no windows. The men were blocking her way to the door. She couldn't run. She had to think... think!

"Look what we have got here Victor! A lady. I told you it's our lucky day today!"

He menacingly pushed the skirt of her frock up and rubbed his hand against her thigh. In that moment of panic Annabeth swatted his hand away. The man looked at her furiously and slapped her hard against her cheek. She fell back on the ground with a soft yelp.

"Cover her mouth!" Barked one of the men and before Annabeth could scream or yell a smelly, big hand came down on her face. The man's grip was rather tight. The men laughed as they made themselves comfortable around Annabeth and started tearing down her red faded frock. Tears rolled down Annabeth's eyes as she lay there helpless. They had pressed her hands beneath her and one of them was sitting on her legs, completely pinning her down. She felt a gush of air on her skin as one of the men threw her dress away. Now she was just in her camisole and baggy owl boxers but it was only a matter of time until they took them off and... and... and...

Why was this happening to her? She didn't want this. Not like this. She had never let Luke touch her more than a kiss even tough he had been her boyfriend. And now these prisoners were touching her everywhere, licking her, biting her and leaving marks on her skin through their tight grips. They were laughing and whistling and calling her names.

"Look at this Jonathan!"

One of them perked up in delight and pinched Annabeth's thigh sharply. It hurt like hell and her back arched up in defence as her legs tried to free themselves. The men laughed making more hot tears roll down Annabeth's cheek. She wished she could just die.

"Ooh! Such a whore!"

"Who want's to go first?"

"Me!"

"But Victor-"

"I came up with the plan so now move!"

No! No! No! This was not happening. This was just a bad dream. A very bad dream. At any moment mom was going to wake her up and-

Two bony hands tugged at her camisole which made her thrash which wasn't much. The hand on her mouth was making it hard to breath which left her feeling very weak.

"Stay still you whore!"

Another slap. No. This time it was a punch. Her cheek went on fire as those bony hands tugged at her camisole again. This was the end. Annabeth knew she wouldn't survive this and that made her feel good though she didn't give up the fight. She didn't want to keep on living after this any way. She squeezed her eyes further and waited... she waited for them to tear her apart.

There was a loud bang. The man- Victor- who was trying to pull her camisole off wiped around and froze in horror. She could see the color drain off his features as he went slack. It was as if he had seen a ghost. The other men soon followed his gaze and froze up with him. Annabeth's head was free of the smelly hand. She craned her neck up to see who it was. She was met with familiar blue-green eyes. Only they were storming.

Percy slowly came inside as the men got off her and raised their hands high up in surrender. Percy's pistol was on them as he moved to his side slowly, not moving his eyes from them. And then when he was directly in front of them, he looked sideways first and then snapped his head towards Annabeth. His eyes went wide and... soft.

More tears ran down her eyes as she covered her face with her hands and crossed her legs together tightly. Her body shook as silent sobs rattled her. She didn't want him to see her like that. She didn't want anyone to see her like that. Then she heard Percy shoot followed by a painful scream.

This time, Annabeth decided, she didn't mind him killing them off without mercy.

She heard another shot just after a grim and heavy voice whispered,

"Say your prayers nobles."

What's going to happen? Is Annabeth going to be okay? Tell me if you liked this chapter! I love you guys!