The Kingdoms

Chapter 14 - Tied and Lied

Percy blinked as he opened his eyes, he was on his back. He felt like he was moving, and the sky moving above him told him that he was being moved. The filthy prince sat up and saw somewhat familiar dark hair, the person that it belonged to just happened to grab his hair to pull him up more.

"What the heck are you doing here?" Thalia, she was probably the most interesting offspring of all the kings he had to admit. "My kingdom is at war with yours and you just decide that it would be a better idea to come here where you will be killed or imprisoned? Why didn't you just go and rebuild your kingdom like a prince actually would if their kingdom got destroyed?!" She let go of him, putting her hand to her cheek letting out a long sigh. 

"I'll tell Jason you arrived, don't think that changes anything. Just because you happen to be my brother's friend, Zeus will still be the one who decides your fate. Till then-" She grabbed some rope and then hit him in the temple as hard as she could. Which was enough to interfere with his vision and orientation. "I-" Was all he could really get out of his mouth, then something was tied across his mouth, as well as over his eyes and some rope around his hands and legs.

Now blinded, muffled, and almost completely disabled, Percy moved to get comfortable in the cart. He only realized how stupid of an idea that he and Nico had decided to come to the Kingdom of the Sky, now he had a feeling of dread that he was going to die, and if Nico hadn't been caught, he was also going to die once he arrived too. He rolled over to the side he hoped was off the cart, he had no clue whether it was off the road and down the mountain, if it meant not risking anymore.

It wasn't off the edge of the cart, and he could tell as he felt a something stopping him that would have been the side of the cart. Percy hadn't really thought of how there always seemed to be guardrails to make sure nothing fell off the side, he knew he would just have to wait for them to arrive at the castle. Whatever he got was what he got. Percy hoped all too much that Nico would arrive safely, and would not be killed.

After what felt like a hour, the cart halted to a stop. "We have the prince of the Kingdom of the Seas, and the requested goods." "Then you may proceed. Princess Thalia." Then they were off again, into the kingdom which brought many new sounds to Percy's ears. He could tell there was a section of a unit nearby getting ready for what battle may come, then there was the chatter of the people going on about their day. Almost as if there was no war going on at all. Not being able to see anything was the most frustrating out of everything, he had been to the kingdom before, so he didn't really understand why he needed to be blindfolded.

A couple more minutes of that till he felt the rope around his legs get untied, which obviously meant that he was going to have to walk. He was pulled off the floor of the cart, and placed down onto the ground, by who, he didn't really know or care. Now being held from behind, he was forced forward into his blinded uncertainty. "Princess Tha-" The person who Percy was guessing had ran up to them had no chance to say anything, before they were cut off. "Get Jason and my father, tell them to meet in the throne room." The person who was obviously breathless then proceeded to run away from them, which way he wasn't the most sure.

Now Thalia was pulling him along with her, rather than pushing him ahead of her. That was just his entire guess, but he found himself walking backwards either way. They soon stopped, content with staying in one place, he was glad that he had someone holding onto him in some way, because he felt like he would fall if he didn't. It was weird not knowing hardly anything, since his memory was certainly not helping him. "We got Prince Perseus, father. I found him on the road here, passed out from obvious exhaustion." 

"Where is Nico, the one that helped him escape? I thought they both had ran away together, or something like that." He heard Jason's voice to his right, he wished he could smile, the gag stopped him from showing his happiness for knowing that he was there. 

"Jason, don't talk to them like they are your equals, we are at war and they don't deserve such courtesy." Zeus's voice came from his left, Percy knew that the meeting between the three was going to decide what happened to him. "But yes, Jason brought up a good point. Where is the traitorous prince we have been hearing so much about from the Kingdom of the Earth? I know for certain that that prince hasn't been captured."

"We only found him, his companion may have died in the mountains, even though honestly it would have made more sense that he would have lived. As he had obviously lived in the mountains his entire life just like this kingdom and the Kingdom of the Earth." Thalia was right beside him, Percy felt relieved when he knew where the three stood in what seemed like a huge room. Usually that was common for throne rooms, so he decided to just be happy about knowing where the voices were coming from. Then he felt Thalia let go of him, he tried to keep himself still even though he felt like he would rather fall over or try to find something to support against.

"Whether we have both of them or not, we must figure out what to do with him for now. He is definitely a good fighter, so we may be able to put that to use, but he may not be a very trusty servant or helper." He heard Thalia say, her voice heading towards where Zeus's had once been. Percy walked towards the right, looking for a wall, something to hold onto. The last thing he suspected to do was trip, and the next thing was to actually crash into someone. His hands being behind him, he wasn't able to stop himself.

Sorry! His mind said as he tried to say it out loud, forgetting that he had a gag in his mouth. So it ended up coming out as a muffled mess. "Thalia, can we please take off his blindfold? He really doesn't need it on." He knew exactly who he had ended up landing on, it had been Jason. He tried hard to get up, with his hands behind his back; he found himself completely unable to.

"Fine, do what you need to." Percy was beyond happy to hear that, and soon he was released from his dark prison. He just didn't realize how damn close his face had been to Jason's, obviously uncomfortable at the close distance. He pushed himself out from under Percy, allowing Percy to push himself onto his knees before he was able to fall onto the hard tiled floor. He looked around himself, he was so glad he didn't have to guess everything. Jason had made his way behind him and pulled him to his feet by his arms.

"Hey buddy, wish we had reunited under better terms." Jason said, giving a small smile. "That is how war works though huh? Don't worry about dying, I won't let them execute you, but everything else is not in my control." Percy just gave him a nod, as that was all he could really do.

Thalia and Zeus proceeded to speak to each other for five minutes, then turned to look over at Percy. "Thalia, you can be the first to state your opinion, as you found him. Jason, as his friend obviously, you can state yours after. I will state my decision after I have heard from you both."

Thalia moved over to grab Percy and drag him over to the center, Jason returning to the right side where his throne was. "I suggest that we should kill him, he is no help to us in battle, for he will either get away in the fighting or he will betray us in some way." She took a pause, Jason seemed like he was going to object right away. "However, I suggest that we kill him in a different way than just hanging or beheading. I suggest that we make a ceremony and then push himself off the Latin Cliff, just to steal the Kingdom of the Earth's title of having to gotten rid of the Kingdom of the Seas." 

"Thank you for sharing that Thalia, Jason, you have a different thought in mind I am guessing?" Zeus looked from Thalia to Jason, who stood up as he was addressed. He was obviously struggling due to what Thalia's decision had been, he wasn't even looking at Percy now. "I-..." He took a deep inhale, as if deciding still to decide whether to take the life of his friend or not. "I agree with Thalia." It was all Jason said, before sitting down.