Queen of Atlantis - Rewritten Entirely

Epilogue

Annabeth did not attend the council meeting the following morning. Despite being hesitant to leave her side, Percy would not miss it and waited until Jason was nearby to leave. As such, he ended up arriving a few minutes late. Queen Athena was the only one who seemed affected by his tardiness, but even the slight raise of her eyebrow was not enough to make him apologise.

As if she had known what he was planning, Annabeth had spent all morning telling him not to be too harsh in deciding how to proceed with the prisoners. Many of them had simply fought for what they thought was right. Very few, according to her, had understood just what Kronos had planned.

That did not dissuade Percy from seeking a harsher punishment for the man who had tricked her and the one that had stabbed her. 

Although Percy only had an interest in what was done to the men directly involved in Annabeth's capture, the council would have to spend several days determining how to best handle the situation. With Kronos dead, they didn't have a major figure to pin the war on. By the second day, they had come up with a solution that Percy wasn't eager to share with Annabeth.

"They're putting it all on Luke." While he didn't feel any particular grief about this turn of events, he was worried about how Annabeth would take it.

The only sign that Annabeth heard him was in the way she pursed her lips.

"I argued for Nakamura," Percy offered. He hadn't argued very hard, but he felt it was worth mentioning. "He's already being tried for treason, though."

Nakamura had been an easy decision. He'd stabbed the Queen of Atlantis in an attempt to attack the King. Any other ruling would have seemed out of place and Percy was not eager to let the man go free. 

"Luke knew what he was getting into," Annabeth murmured. She wouldn't meet his eyes, but Percy tried not to take it personally. "When will he be sentenced?"

"Tomorrow morning."

They skipped it. 

Although Queen Athena had made several comments strongly recommending Percy and Annabeth attend the ceremony, Annabeth hadn't wanted to and Percy was not going to force her. Instead, they stayed in their quarters until well past the noon meal. Queen Athena did not seek them out.

The following days consisted of sentencing the remaining members of Kronos army. That, Annabeth and Percy did attend. 

Atlantis had agreed to hold half of the prisoners so that Athens wasn't overwhelmed. As a formality, they were present when Queen Athena made the announcement. Fortunately, there was not a sentencing ceremony for the hundreds of soldiers. Just an official proclamation. When it was finished, Queen Athena left without another word to either of them.

"I'm getting the feeling that our welcome is coming to an end," Percy murmured, his nose brushing against her ear.

"Perhaps we should excuse ourselves before then."

Her ankle was still irritated and it sometimes hurt to breathe, but she was in good enough condition to travel back to Atlantis. The few extra days of rest had been helpful and Will was a good doctor. Even the cut on her shoulder had stopped throbbing so much.

"I'll talk with Jason."

What Percy didn't tell her was that she would be the one to tell Queen Athena when they were leaving. Four days later, after he had spoken to Jason, he asked when she was going to break the news to the queen.

"You want me to do it?" Annabeth exclaimed. 

"She's your mother," he reminded her. Annabeth's eyes narrowed.