AN: And another chapter! Just a heads up, I might skip the kingdom dance part, because there isn't much dialogue, and I don't want a whole chapter or so of just narration. I'll probably do a little blurb on it, but that's it.
Percy ran through the halls of the palace, laughing as his mother chased him all over the place. His short five year old legs couldn't run as fast as hers, so she eventually caught up.
"Now my little clown fish, it's time for bed." Queen Sally of Atlantis said tickling her son's feet.
"But mama, I'm not tired!" Little Perseus complained, even as he stifled a yawn.
"Oh yes you are. Come, I'll read you a Chronicles of the Prince story, then you can dream you own adventure." Perseus nodded and settled onto her shoulder. Queen Sally tucked Perseus in, and read his favourite story, 'The Prince and the Monkey'. Afterwards, Perseus felt his mother drip water on his head. He opened his eyes, confused...
Percy opened his eyes, feeling water on his face, and saw a black horse standing over him, a furious look on its face, and soaking wet. Percy took a moment to gather his thoughts.
"Well I hope you're here to apologize." He said, then tried to go back to sleep. The horse, Blackjack, snorted then dragged Percy away by his boot, eliciting a scream from the thief's mouth. "No, put me down!" He cried, waking Annabeth up.
"Release him!" Annabeth said, chasing Blackjack around. The horse flung Percy around, until he flew out of his boot and landed hard on his back. Annabeth stood in front of Percy and held her hands to the bucking horse, "Woah, woah woah, woah, easy boy, easy." She said, successfully calming him down. "That's it, now sit," Blackjack crouched, "Sit," Blackjack obeyed with a sigh, "Now drop the boot, drop it," Annabeth said and Blackjack dropped the boot. 'You're such a good boy, yes you are!" Annabeth praised the horse. Percy just stared at her. "You all tired from chasing the bad man all over the place?" Blackjack snorted and looked tired.
"Excuse me?" Percy said, very confused.
"Nobody appreciates you, do they? Do they?" Annabeth said, getting an affirmative shake of the head from Blackjack.
"Come on, he's a bad horse!" Percy said, then Blackjack gave him a dirty look as to say, 'Watch it bub!'.
"Oh he's nothing but a big sweetheart, isn't that right," Annabeth paused, not knowing his name, then noticed his name embroidered on Blackjack's tack, "Blackjack."
"You've got to be kidding me." Percy said as he pulled on his boot. Blackjack shot Percy another dirty look.
"Look," Annabeth addressed the furious horse, "today is kind of the biggest day of my life, and I need you, to not get him arrested. Just for twenty four hours, then you can chase each other to your hearts content. Okay?" Blackjack looked skeptically at Percy, who held out his hand for a truce. "And it's also my birthday, just so you know." Annabeth whispered to Blackjack. The horse finally sighed then shook Percy's hand. As Annabeth started off towards the castle, Percy and Blackjack started wrestling, until Pascal the owl shot them both a leering look. they stopped, and followed Annabeth across the bridge towards the castle.
AN: So, a little shorter, but this is where the kingdom scene starts, and I will make reference to it in the next chapter when they are in the boat. Also, I added just a glimpse into Percy's past prince life.