180"All of a sudden, you were gone
and I found myself stuck
in an endless limbo."
- Unknown
When Annabeth saw Silena from across the gloomy garden, the reality of what was happening hit her. For the first time in a long time, she removed her Camp Half-blood necklace.
It was unfairly colourful and full of memories.
Families and friends of the three deceased soldiers sat together and mourned. They had made sure everyone willing to attend could do so. The other two deceased soldiers' parents were weeping together. Beckendorf, however, didn't have a family. Silena was everything to him. To support her, the Camp Half-blood members were on Beck's side. The Royals sat at the front, or well, in this case, it was just Percy and Tyson.
They couldn't reveal that the men who had died were special forces agents or that they had passed away in any major accidents during a serious operation. It got classified as military deaths - which happened every day anyway. That was why Paul and Sally couldn't stay. (They paid their respects, of course.)
It made Annabeth wonder how many sacrifices a royal had to make.
However, she wasn't so scared anymore. She wanted to be in Sally's place. She wished to make those life-changing decisions.
She wanted to be with Percy.
The only problem was: She wasn't the only person feeling this way. Back when Selection started, Annabeth had branded a few girls as 'after the throne.'
She wasn't so sure anymore.
Drew, the first person she had labelled, looked genuinely disturbed by everything that was going on. Her usual flirtatious girly personality had dissolved. Also, she kept looking in the Prince's direction. Annabeth couldn't say why.
Could she pull off the all-convincing act?
On the other hand, Calypso had (not-so-subtly) revealed that she was indeed after the throne (in the dining table, in front of a few Selected). She was the first person to break down into tears after his outburst - something Annabeth never expected. Calypso was so strong, forward, beautiful and brave. So far, she had the best improvement records in Willow's class and the tournament. She didn't always win. However, Annabeth could say she was doing her best.
Wasn't she after the throne? Does she have feelings for him now?
It was so confusing.
She didn't know what to feel.
Percy suddenly got up and went forward to face Silena. He told her something to which she only held on to his arms and cried harder, shaking her head. Silena hadn't bothered changing her dress. Out of all the funeral dresses, hers stood out as the only multicoloured one.
How long was she here?
No one had the heart to tell her to change. She was crying non-stop for as long as anyone could tell.
Silena stopped sobbing for a second and glanced at the Selected. She then said something to Percy, to which he shook his head and squeezed her right shoulder.
Percy's hands were trembling.
"Hey, are you alright?" Lady Zoe asked. "Do you know them?"
Annabeth hadn't realized that she had started crying. She wiped the teardrops away. "Yeah." She sucked in a breath. "I was close to one of them. We all were."
Katie placed her hand on Annabeth's back and rubbed it in circular motions. Neither of them told her shallow things like 'I'm sorry' or 'It will be alright.' They knew that it was pointless.
After a while, Percy looked around in search of someone and called Piper over. She was the unofficial representative of the Selected for the day as she was the least drunk out of all the girls. Silena leaned heavily on Piper and sobbed as they moved away from the crowd.
She was probably going to change into something appropriate for the ceremony.
Since they didn't want to bring too much attention to the deaths, they had decided to conduct a simple standard ceremony elsewhere. They had asked the outsiders to come to the place directly and made the coffin arrangements at the palace. For the same reason, neither Percy nor the Selected would be attending the official ceremony.
Crowding the place wasn't safe considering everything that was going on.
The Prince looked around at the audience who were mainly the Selected, immediate parents of the deceased, and several guards who knew the deceased. Annabeth managed to steal his attention for a second. When they locked eyes, it was obvious from the way he was walking that he was trying his best not to get emotional.
Jason handed over a mic to Percy. He addressed the crowd. "We -um- they'll be leaving soon." He breathed in deeply. "Anyone who isn't attending the formal ceremony can p-pay their respects or t-talk now if-if you wish to. You-you can leave whenever you wish." He nodded to himself. "Th-thank... um... thank you."
He set the mic down on the mini table and walked straight towards Tyson. They talked to Jason for a while and walked out together after.
Annabeth got up as soon as Percy left. She didn't wait for any Selected. She rushed into the girl's changing rooms (same as the ones they used for the tournament) and found Silena almost instantly. She had finally stopped weeping and was staring at the black dress she was wearing.
As if possessed, she suddenly tore the see-through overlays of the dress with her bare hands. "It's all MY MY fault." She shouted."He TOLD ME! He asked me to go on vacation with him!" In a rage, she plucked on the dress material on her wrist and neck and struggled with them until all the lace layers came off. "I sh-should've forced him not to postpone!" She started crying.
What was left was a shabby plain black long material.
Annabeth and Piper stared at her, stunned. As soon as she saw Annabeth, she lunged forward inhumanly. She grabbed on to Annabeth, squeezed her with all her might, and sobbed harder.
"He-he-he should be in va-vaca-tion wi-with m-me now." Annabeth looked at her with a lump in her throat. "But h-he's just-ju -gone." Tears ran down Silena's cheeks.
After taking care of Silena for a while, Annabeth stepped out of the changing rooms. Silena had to leave soon and had requested Piper to help her look a little decent. Annabeth had excused herself because she felt too emotional and was afraid it would hurt Silena if she started crying.
When she came out, about half of the Selected had left. Not wanting to go in the same direction as them, she took the longer route. On her way back, she was surprised by a sudden collision sound - like someone was intentionally hitting the wall. In a split second, she was more alert than ever.
Percy was sitting alone on a single sofa in a nearby room, and he was throwing things on the wall.
She didn't hesitate for a second. She opened the door. Caught red-handed; Percy was first shocked, then he looked away, facing the wall. "Please-please go...go back to your room."
"Hey," she ran in. Percy sucked in a breath and shook his head, but she was already fighting to look at him. When he didn't give in, she hugged him from one side awkwardly. "Talk to me."
Percy sobbed.
Seeing him like this made Annabeth go crazy. Why was he feeling so bad?
"H-Hey, it.. it is not your fault." He shook his head at her. "Seaweed Brain, how were you supposed to know that any of this was going to happen?"
"I-I knew it... it was dangerous-" he sniffled. "-that's wh... why we sent a secret t-team-"
It was hard to stop her eyes from watering up. "Besides!" she tried to reason, "It's Beckendorf. He would have gone anyway!"
"NO, HE WOULDN'T." He snapped. His eyes were all red, and he was flushed over because of the tears.
She didn't know what to say.
"I-WE ASKED HIM TO GO! Because we wanted a direct report!" He shouted, still seated. "I could've sent back up earlier, but I didn't! I was too caught up in the Selection and then the attack, and then I thought-" He looked around in anger.
Percy was like a ticking bomb slowly exploding.
"Annabeth, I THOUGHT-" He pointed furiously at himself. "- that we'll put them in danger if I sent extra hands and it would give away the location! THEY NEEDED OUR HELP, AND I DIDN'T GO BY THE BOOKS." He slapped the sofa in rage. "I KILLED THEM... HIM."
Annabeth flinched involuntarily. She unconsciously stepped away from him.
It was as if someone cut the time bomb at the eleventh hour. He was angry one second, then surprised and alarmed next.
"Hey-" His eyes were wide. "N-no, no, no, I... I'm I'm sorry." In a swift motion, he grabbed her hands and made her sit on his lap.
Annabeth was instantly extremely awkward and stiff.
Since when did they get this comfortable?
He didn't say anything. He sneaked one hand around her waist and leaned on her shoulder like he was cuddling her - only, on a sofa. He took deep breaths to calm himself down. He sighed.
On the other hand, Annabeth tried hard to calm her heartbeat down. Hey! Not the right time! Stop! Get lost!
He chuckled, but it was full of raw emotions. "You still smell bad. Better... but bad."
She stared at the wall in shock, not able to digest how close he was. He didn't pull away even when she fidgeted uncomfortably. Annabeth had no idea what he was thinking.
"Do... don't change the, ah, topic." Her eyes were wide, and her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Did I scare you?"
"Perc-!" She whispered.
"Did I? Tell me, please." He was still trembling.
"No-yes?" She shook her head. "No. Um, it.. it is okay to... to feel everything you you're feeling-"
He hissed. "I was mad at me. I'm sorry." He pleaded. "Serious. I-", he searched for words. "I didn't mean to."
She frowned. The sudden change in his behaviour was damn confusing. He waited for her to answer, but the more she sat on his lap, the more she fidgeted. Her cheeks were starting to feel hot. She looked down.
Percy seemed to catch on to the mood shift. He pulled away, looking hurt. The minute he let go of her shoulder, she awkwardly - but immediately - got up. She put distance between them and looked away.
He followed her, scratching his neck. "Was, uh, that n-not okay? Um... Yesterday, you were the one-" He shook his head. "Nevermind."
Annabeth's throat felt dry. She turned abruptly to face him. "Don't get like that with me."
She dared to look at him. The puppy-dog confused look with the dried-up tears and puffed face (because of the crying) almost cracked her up, but, made her emotional at the same time.
"I thought - I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-" He was conflicted.
"No, not that." She stepped closer. "Don't shout at me. I hate it. Just talk to me instead."
Now that her mind didn't have a short circuit, she remembered Percy's terribly hurt look. She was confused, yes, but also incredibly concerned.
He still looked on the edge but managed a small smile. He nodded. "Never. Never again."
She looked at him sympathetically. "Do you wanna talk? I can stay if you like."
"No." He denied. "I... it is something I need to deal with on my own."
She nodded but wasn't too happy about that. It was okay to open up. Percy had to understand it. Then again, if he wasn't ready-
"Actually-" He took out a small box from his pocket. "I need to get this off of my chest." He gave her a vulnerable look.
She didn't really understand what was going on, but naturally, her curiosity kicked in. She took the box from him and opened it.
It had a single stone ring sitting on a small maroon cushion. It was unmistakeably a wedding ring.
Out of nowhere-?
Her heartbeat picks up, although it made absolutely no sense to her brain. Why was Percy carrying around a wedding ring?
"It's Beckendorf's." His face scrunched up in pain again.
Annabeth's world came to a halt.
Too many things fit in at once.
Silena had mentioned that she was supposed to go on a vacation-
The boys, especially Percy and Jason, had been intentionally avoiding Annabeth (and maybe all the other girls, she thought) -
The small smirks and glances here and there in the hallways -
The last time Annabeth saw them, Beckendorf did seem unusually bright around Silena.
Her face scrunched up in horror. She looked back at Percy, and it was clear as day that he was trying to push down the emotions. The tear lines on his cheek were fresh, and his forehead was all red.
He wasn't done yet.
Percy nodded. "H-he was g-gonna pr-propose." He looked at his hands in disgust. "What... what - How am I so-supposed to te-tell Silena?"
Annabeth could feel him starting to break down.
She extended her hands out to him. Percy looked down, frowning and she closed the gap between them. The minute she started caressing his hair, he faced away from her and whimpered.
When she hugged him, he buried his head on the crook of her neck and sobbed silently. So silently that she was worried if he could sense that her eyes had watered up and started pouring out too. She hugged him tighter. She didn't know who needed more consoling here.
She simply couldn't believe how cruel the universe was.
It had willingly taken away every ounce of happiness from two young brilliant souls.
How could life be this unfair?
Percy looked at her and opened his mouth to say something. As if destined, someone threw open the door that exact minute.
Was it just Annabeth or was Jason invading people's privacy a lot these days?
Jason didn't even hesitate. It was as if he was watching from the outside and already knew what they were on about. "Why do you have a dagger on you?" He questioned sharply.
For a second, Annabeth didn't realize that he was talking to her. As soon as Jason had barged in, Percy had let her go. She looked at him, puzzled. Jason expertly reached down to her high shoes and took the dagger out.
He pointed it to Percy. "Did you know about this?"
"Ah, no, no." He frowned. "Annie - why? Why would you carry a dagger to a funeral?"
"Given everything that is going on, I thought we should keep something in hand all the time. Just in case. I didn't realize that I'd forgot to take it out."
Percy and Jason shared a look.
Jason didn't look too happy about it, and Percy tried to play it cool. "Um... maybe a Selected carrying a knife doesn't exactly fit the mood." He remarked.
"Why? Everyone knows we had intense training."
"Just, don't, alright?" Jason dropped the dagger on the table. "I'm sorry for barging in." He looked at Percy, but Percy seemed to agree with whatever it is that Jason meant by his look.
Percy looked away and wiped his tears as they made small talk. Soon enough, Chris, Connor, Travis and Frank joined them.
Frank said. "We've dispatched the rescue team for the other half of the team. They're fine. Nothing major."
Chris looked especially shaken up. "One at a time. The eliminations list is out. I suggest - don't show your face for the day."
Annabeth's mind was on full alert again.
Eliminations?She wasn't-Right?
Annabeth made a sudden move to leave, and Percy blocked her. "No news for you."
They stared at each other a little too long, which made everyone else feel awkward. Chris coughed.
"Jeez, I don't get you." Connor started. "Why do you let the good ones go so early?"
"Yeah, if I were you, I'd wanna use my resources when I-", Travis shrugged. "Ouch! What was that for?" He glared at Jason.
Jason glared heavily in Annabeth's direction as if to remind him of something. Travis looked at her as if he was looking right through her. "Hey, mate." He leaned on Connor. "Do you see anything over here?"
Connor looked behind her too. "Just an old sofa. Why're you so sensitive?" He accused Jason. "It's only the guys. It's not like we don't share detail- Ouch, shit, stop it."
"Haha, very funny." Percy rolled his eyes.
Annabeth: "Am I the only one missing something?"
Travis and Connor: "Did you guys hear someone? I didn't see -"
Jason: "They're children who want revenge for last night."
Connor: "Hey! It was serious! She had no idea who we were, but she could recognize you well. That's not fair!"
Frank: "What now?"
Travis, clicking his tongue: "Annabeth got pretty drunk yesterday and barged into Percy's room."
Frank widened his eyes at Annabeth. Annabeth widened her eyes back at Travis.
WHAT?THE HELL?AM I MAD?
Jason: "You were a mess. First-class."
Annabeth, now exasperated: "What happened?"
Percy looked away.
Travis: "Well, there was this part where you thought it was your room and tried to sleep on Percy's bed-"
Embarrassment crawled up her veins like never before.
WHAT HAVE I DONE?
Connor: "Then you were feeling sick and asked Percy to help you-"
He stopped abruptly. Jason, Percy and Travis were all glaring at him.
Chris, still looking down: "Then?"
Jason, brushing it off: "Lot of useless details. You just feel asleep after a while. Nothing really happened-" He gave Percy a weird look. "-to you, I mean."
Percy was clenching his teeth.
Connor, waving his hands: "I mean, yeah, nothing exciting. Except, at one point you just gave Percy a really frustrating bone-"
Percy stumped his leg - hard.
"Ow- guys! Stop it." Connor protested.
She simply couldn't help herself. "I troubled you?" Her eyebrows came together.
Percy only gave her a side glance. "No- it was - um - no big deal. You just-"
Chris and Frank's eyes were as wide as tennis balls.
Percy glared at all of them as he answered. "You just gave me a frustrating bone ache." He smiled forcefully. "You're heavy, Annabeth. I carried you down, remember?"
Jason mumbled: "No, you didn't."
Frank hit him on the back of his head. "Yes. Yes, he did. I saw him." He gave Jason a weird look.
Annabeth scratched her head, and she left the room with confusion and embarrassment. What she couldn't understand was: 1) Connor was getting death threats from Percy. 2) After a moment of silence, they all burst out laughing.
And, 3) Except for Percy - who instead of laughing, took the nearby pillow and hit himself with a weird kind of secretive smile on his face.
Annabeth was frustratingly confused.
The rest of the week went by without any drama, mostly because the Prince got busy again.
Or well, anyone else would have thought so but Calypso knew better.
She and Prince Percy were sitting opposite each other. She was trying to convince the council in favour of a recent petition. Percy was watching. The petition stated that online courses and education fees must be normalised and subscription rates on apps. It also argued that these courses/services must be graded against each other not to get fooled by the advertisements.
Calypso couldn't think of one reason why the council would be against something so obvious - but that's exactly the position they took!
It was irritating to sit with them.
"Argument." She raised against Councilwoman Athena. "You stand for creator's rights, and I agree. What about consumer rights?"
Athena subtly rolled her eyes and started to reply.
"Before!" Calypso stopped her. "Before you argue that all the terms and conditions are clearly laid out. We all know that nobody reads them fully. We know that the words are manipulated. And- okay! Monetization idea may not work the best, but I can't see why we cannot allow an expert's neutral opinion."
"Then, all the companies would simply bribe the expert, and the public will be misguided all over again." Councilman Hermes put forward. "Lady Calypso, I know you support it for good, but you fail to take a business stand."
The ending bell rang.
"It'll be lesser-" She started.
"Council's stand is set." Councilwoman Athena got up and gave Calypso a look. "I hardly think this topic needs a time extension when there are much more important matters to be addressed." She glared at Prince Percy.
He shrugged. "The number of people talking about the petition is off the roof. We had to address it at some point."
After the 4 council members left the room, Calypso sighed. "They're impossible!"
He laughed. "You asked for it."
"My mistake. My mistake. How do you deal with this all day every day?"
He chuckled. "They're not like that to me. Well... Athena is, everyone else isn't."
Calypso walked over and sat on the chair next to the Prince. "Hmm... Because her daughter is in the Selection?"
Percy's smile dropped.
"You'd be surprised how much one can learn from the Selected." She laughed.
He didn't let it go. "You're really not supposed to know that."
"What can I do?" She leaned forward on the table and rested her head over her arms. "I can't unlearn things. Annabeth doesn't know I know so..." She shrugged. "I heard General Frederick Chase shout something about a divorced councilwoman and that he was sorry. It's not so hard to fill in the blanks."
"When did that happen? How do I not know this?"
"Because you were too busy in Effla province with your little crush - Lady Rachel - that you so badly wanted to hide from Lady Annabeth." She thought about it for a second. "-and maybe even the rest of us."
He stared at her in surprise or bewilderment. "You scare me sometimes."
She grinned. "Not a bad thing, is it? But hey! I didn't take any personal offence with that. You didn't really know me back then."
He closed the laptop and faced her. "So you suggest things would've been different had I known you?"
"Well, aren't they?" She retorted.
He smiled. "Fair enough."
"Besides, the fact that I'm the only one getting to do this must mean something, right?"
"Not really." He teased. "The rest are either not persuading enough, or I don't trust them that much, or I don't like them so much, or they can't handle it, or they haven't asked me."
Her smile fell. He was hiding this from them. She wondered what all he hid from her.
Yet, she smiled and teased back. "So that means you like me, trust me, I'm persuasive, and I can handle it."
He got awkward. "I mean- s-some points more than the others."
She nodded. Her mind couldn't help it. "That's five different girls, isn't it?" She quietly put forward.
Percy looked away. "Yeah." He got up and breathed deep. "It is surprising how open we can be when we know you're not into me."
Calypso stilled. That's not true.Not anymore.
He looked at her. "It is okay. You're pretty amazing in many ways. With all that courage, you definitely make a good Queen."
She tried to lighten the mood. "We're already talking about me being Queen now?"
He looked at his tattoo. "To be honest, I don't even know what I'm looking for."
That's obvious. You're all over the place.
"I mean-" He leaned on the chair. "You're all... different."
"Obviously?" She retorted.
"You're great with the council. I'm sure people will like you. You're bold and-"
"Beautiful?"
He gave her a look but wasn't bothered by the interruption. Looking at the wall, he said, "No one denies that."
She gave him a teasing look.
He didn't notice. "I'm thinking so much from other's point of view that I'm not sure what I want." He sighed, shaking his head. "Enough retrospect for one day. We should get going. I have work."
Lie.
She knows enough to know Percy doesn't really work after 6.
So, it's a date.But- with who?
She was especially curious this time because he's been keeping away these few days since the funeral. She understood that he probably needed some alone time (which is why it was such a struggle to persuade him to let her in on a council meeting, however small).
But, it made more sense to use the Selected as a distraction from the whole deal than to stay away from them. (According to traditional stereotypes about men at least.)
He is acting really weird.
"Alright." He picked up the laptop. "See you on the next date. Ah, I mean, personal meeting." Something fell, and she had enough time to catch a glimpse of it before he hastily picked it up.
It was a stone. At least, that's what she saw.
Should I tell him I like him?Is it the logical diplomatic way to handle the Selection right now?I really do like parts of him.
He looked at her warily - like he was praying she didn't see.
What's so secretive about a stone? (Let's see who finds this out before the next chapter. It is related to this story. Not PJO/HoO. Clue: It is July. )
See? Weird behaviour!
Just when he reached the door. She decided she had to come out of her closet. "Your majesty?"
He slowly turned around like he was dreading something. Her heart started beating hard in an abnormal way.
"Don't lie to me more than you absolutely have to." She bailed out at the last moment.
He frowned in amusement, blinked in confusion and nodded.
Calypso wanted to whine. WHY CAN'T I SAY IT?!
I should just do it before it is too late!
"Perseus!" She called out in panic.
He turned back in surprise. She has never called him by his name before.
"You are wrong."
He frowned harder. "About?"
"When you said we're open with each other because I'm not interested in you. You were wrong. You still lie!" She shouted the last part.
He stood there, not knowing what was going on.
She shook her head and faced him. "That's not my point!" She sounded frustrated with herself. "I don't care if you lie. Well- Nevermind! I'm supposed to say I have feelings for you." She stopped abruptly.
Prince Percy stood there wordlessly.
"I like you, your highness." She confirmed. "No. I-" She thought about it. "I like you, Percy Jackson."
"You're kidding, right?" - was his immediate response. "Some mental trick playing here?" When he looked at her, she looked terribly serious.
"Why?" He asked. "Why- why not Prince Percy? Why... me?"
Jeez, is this how he responds to every confession?
"You are enough." She confessed.
For someone dealing with these many girls at once, she thought he processed these things better, but it was the opposite. He was in utter conflict.
"You know that only complicates things, right, Lady Calypso?" He refused to change their dynamics.
She felt like throwing her laptop on him.
"You were so easy to be around. You are logical. No drama. I was- I thought -" He told himself. "I'll see you later." He looked down.
He didn't look pleased. No, he looked like he was regretting something.
Calypso felt a weird kind of limp in her throat as he walked away.
I'm not crying over a boy.
...
Clearing something up: (As a reply to the most recent comment:)
NO, I am NEVER abandoning this story.
I'm sorry that it has been a while but believe me, every week I come up with more angst, fluff, etc in my head and wonder if or not I can use them. It NEVER stopped.
That said, this chapter was tough to write.
Before you start hating Percy, please remember that he already feels guilty that he has complicated the Selection. Calypso was so easy to be around because they got along well, and he could see things clearly with her since their relationship wasn't affected by any drama.
He feels like he lost that. The more people who like him, the more people he would have to hurt at the end - which is why he is conflicted.
Before you start hating me about the Beckendorf's ring part, I wanna explain. This is again, one of the preplanned things. I can't skip it because otherwise the story won't feel like it is mine. *sad face*
It looks like I'm a sucker for sad roms, deep roms and romantic roms - especially the friends to lovers kind.To heal you and redeem myself, I'll give you Percabeth immediately next chapter so stay tuned.
Calypso confessed! Any shippers here?
Find out what that stone thing is!