𝕨𝕚𝕤𝕖 𝕘𝕚𝕣𝕝 & 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕖𝕒𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟

17. Annabeth & Percy

He held out his sword and I planted my feet, trying hard not to fall off the tree.

I looked over at the weapons, I was surprised they stayed here all these years. With all the rebels and guards in the area, I expected them to have been long gone.

"We can do this," I whispered to myself; grasping my dagger a little tighter, we defended from the tree.

"Yes we can," Percy responded unexpectedly, squeezing my shoulder and asking "You promise we'll do this together?"

"Of course Seaweed Brain, we're doing this together" Styx! Seaweed Brain? Really!

He stopped only for a moment, with a jolt and a smile, before continuing on. I just used my old nickname for him, does he care? Does he remember? Probably not.

"So, whats the plan, Stan?" He turned and finger gunned at me.

"Don't ever do that again," Shaking my head and laughing, I pushed the thoughts of old him out of my brain and recounted the plan I had just formed in my head.

"And then, we fight." I finished my master plan and he furrowed his eyebrows. "I might need you to say that all again." He smiled sheepishly.

"Seriously Percy?" I stared at him, trying to look mad at him. Which didn't last very long.

"What! That little bug on the ground needed my attention!" He pointed at a small lady bird perched on a bit of bark.

"No. It really didn't Percy." I was laughing now, relieved that he lightened the mood.

Every minute I spent with him pretending I met him after I left the sleek black car in the grand royal driveway it got harder to think about how sometime I would probably have to admit I had been lying to him. That I had known him for 5 years.

"Ok. Go," he whispered, standing up and brushing off the leaves on his

"Percy! What are you doing?" I feigned shock as I shouted, hopefully loud enough for whoever was after us to hear.

"Guys I think I found them," I heard a loud whisper from somewhere between the trees.

"I'm leaving. This is too dangerous, I'm a prince. I have to rule." He continued and was, honestly, the worst actor I have ever seen. I mean, I'm not great but him? He could win the Oscar of badness.

The Oscar of badness? That should so be a thing. I wish I had like a notebook that I could keep in my head and jot down all the ideas I have.

"Bye then." I said, hopefully sounding defeated. The sound of footsteps under Percy's boot was loud, like he was actually walking away, but he stood still and stomped like a child.

"Yeah, they're definitely here,"

The voice came to a stop in front of the tree. It was a dark haired man, maybe 20-30, with a stubbly beard. He was tall and looked quiet strong, he wasn't exactly handsome but wasn't bad looking either.

"Found you," he drawled. He cupped a hand around his mouth and made an odd noise. Shortly after the call, 7 other people stumbled into the clearing.

Something jumped down in front of us, nearly knocking me off my feet.

"Aha, you clever kids." One of them said, pointing at us. "Got some shiny new toys? Ooh, swords. Shiver me timbers" He pulled out a gun until another hand pushed the firearm down so it was facing the ground. They shared a look and the gun dropped to the floor.

I was about to start exacuting the plan when something caught my shoulder and pushed me down to the floor.

"Percy! Stop!" I screamed, I felt something connect with my head and my eyes started to water. My dagger fell to the floor 6 feet away from me and somebody went to retrieve it.