Forbidden Quests

Chapter 61

The last chapter...

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Annabeth

"You look beautiful, Annabeth," Piper told me. She and I were standing in the bathroom in our room, looking at my reflection in the mirror. I wasn't one for boasting and such, but I had to agree with her. We were getting ready to go to the celebration, and Piper had done my hair for me-perfecting the curls in such a way that they shone like honeycomb spirals. I think one of the major differences was that the locks were clean, as opposed to the past few days where my hair hadn't really been washed frequently.

My dress was a flowing silver-grey with a sea-green belt attaching at the waist. Aphrodite had picked it out, and I had narrowed my eyes when I saw the belt. She had picked out everybody's outfits, actually, not letting anybody have their way. Well, except for Thalia, who stubbornly refused to be put in a dress. She was just wearing a nice tunic, which was the best we could do.

Piper's dress was a light peach shade with a brown belt. She looked like a goddess to me, for she had finally done something with her hair other than those choppy little braids she normally has. But her eyes were fixed on me.

"Percy will love it," she said, smirking.

I glared at her in the mirror, but to be honest, that was who I was thinking of. A smile grew on my face as my mind wandered to him. I was going to be in the Questers' group. Percy was the captain. That meant I would be with Percy practically all day, everyday. That thought sent my stomach aflutter. Piper seemed to be glowing with happiness as well, seeing as she had just made her relationship with Jason official by kissing him in front of every god and the Questers. I guess she wasn't any better than me, though. Gods, I can't believe I told everybody that I loved Percy. I mean, it was true, but what about Percy? Did I just say that and he doesn't think that way about me? That would be horrible.

"Come on! You two are taking forever!" Thalia yelled at the two of us, stomping into the bathroom and grabbing us both by the arm.

"You look fine, now let's go. Your men are waiting."

Piper and I just exchanged glances and rolled our eyes at Thalia's statement, neither of us even bothering to protest. Thalia brought us out of our room and down the hall, not letting go until we stood in front of the dining center.

"Almost everybody is already in there," she said as two demigod guards opened the doors for us and nodded a greeting. She was right, the room was crowded.

The table and chairs had been pushed to one side, the table now littered with delicious cakes and mouth-watering delights. So many people in colorful clothing and varying styles lounged about, chatting or standing aside or watching the dancers. The dancers were on the stage, about ten of them, moving in sync with each other, their limbs like flowing water as they danced about in fluttering cream chitons. It was a beautiful sight. Music went along with the dancers, filling the air with sweet notes.

Almost immediately, Jason came and whisked Piper away, walking with her. Thalia went to eat-no surprise there. Then Drew approached me.

Yeah, you heard me right. Drew Tanaka, the epitome of a jerk, walked straight up to me. She looked dazzling in a red flowing dress, her body curvy and her hair pinned up expertly.

"Why, Annabeth! Welcome back!" she said in a fake, sweet tone. "I missed you."

"Oh, I bet you did," I said in the same voice. "I missed you too-wait, I shouldn't lie. Scratch that." She raised an eyebrow, the sweetness dropping and her true self showing.

"Hm, you're the same as ever," she said, raising an eyebrow as she looked me up and down with a disgusted expression. She cocked her head, her glittering eyes poisonous. "Tell me, have you seen Percy? I heard he was around here, and he probably wants to see me. My dad wants to talk to him too."