{1} Princess - P. Jackson 🔱

"Can you please join my 'Anti-Hera club?' It will help me graduate."

🕊️

I know I said I wasn't afraid. But brother, being on this quest is scarier than the others. I didn't feel like this even when I held the sky with Percy. Being down here and not having sense of what is going to happen or who we are going to encounter makes me anxious. Especially when he said one side led to our way to where we wanted to go and the other side led to our deaths.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped closer to Annabeth, putting a hand on her shoulder, I said.

"You don't need to choose, Annie. It's alright."

"No! She has to choose!" The left side said. "With preference on this side."

"Don't listen to him... or them..." I said confused, but trying to sound confident.

"Stop interrupting! Choose, Annabeth, Left or Right?!"

"And who are you to tell her what to do?"

"Oh, silly girl. I'm—"

A bright light flashed in the room. All of us turned to look at a tall and graceful woman standing by the fountain. She had long hair the color of chocolate, braided in plaits with gold ribbons. She wore a simple white dress, but when she moved, the fabric shimmered with colors like oil on water.

"Janus," she said, "are we causing trouble again?"

"N-no, milady!" Janus's right face stammered. "Yes!" the left face said.

"Shut up!" the right face said.

"Excuse me?" the woman asked.

"Not you, milady! I was talking to myself."

"I see," the lady said. "You know very well your visit is premature. The girl's time has not yet come. So I give you a choice: leave these heroes to me, or I shall turn you into a door and break you down."

"What kind of door?" the left face asked.

"Shut up!" the right face said.

"Because French doors are nice," the left face mused. "Lots of natural light."

"Shut. up!" the right face wailed. "Not you, milady! Of course I'll leave. I was just having a bit of fun. Doing my job. Offering choices."

"Causing indecision," the woman corrected. "Now be gone!"

The left face muttered, "Party pooper," then he raised his silver key, inserted it into the air, and disappeared.

"Thanks, blondie." Annabeth said, holding my hand.

"Oh, sweetheart. I'm not blonde. But you're welcome." The goddess said. "Now come, sit and have lunch with me."

We sat down, and she served us with sandwiches and lemonade.

"Who... who are you?" Percy asked, picking a sandwich.

"I am Hera." She smiled, eyes full of power. "Queen of Heaven."

Ugh, where is Janus? I want him back.

I don't have a good history with Hera. First, she's mean as hell with everyone else. She wants her beautiful family to look perfect all the time, and even threw Hephaestus out of Olympus when he was born, just because he was ugly. Second, when I was a kid, she used to appear in my dreams, making them turn into nightmares, saying mean things to me. She would also appear in my room at night and possess my stuffed animals, making me fight them. Yes, I have trauma from stuffed animals.

"Grover, dear," she said, "use your napkin. Don't eat it."

"Yes, ma'am," Grover said.

"Tyson, you're wasting away. Would you like another peanut butter sandwich?"