The Arranged Marriage (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Fourteen

Annabeth opened her eyes groggily, blinking slowly at her surroundings. She was not in her room. Neither in Athens nor Crete. She was in a cell. A pampered cell, but a cell all the same. As she looked around, everything came back to her slowly. Luke. The drugs. Her lack of memory.

Percy.

Annabeth burst up in her bed, her head whipping around frantically. The door clicked open quietly, sunlight chasing the figure standing there, shielded by the shadows. "Percy?" Annabeth murmured, her tongue dry and heavy.

"Unfortunately," a woman's voice rumbled, "no."

Annabeth stood up, wiping away the sweat clinging to her skin. "Piper?" She glanced behind the figure alit by the sun. "Hazel?"

Piper and Hazel stepped into Annabeth's cell, and pulled her into a hug, not even flinching when the door slammed with finality behind them. "We've missed you so much," Hazel whispered into Annabeth's bird nest hair. "And we heard what happened—everyone in Athens did—so we thought you could use some familiar faces."

"I really could," Annabeth nodded, bubbling laughter born from hysteria rising in her throat. "Surprisingly, the life of Princess Annabeth has not been all a fairytale recently."

"So you haven't fallen in love with your politically sworn enemy, the beast of your story?" Piper asked seriously.

"No," Annabeth laughed, "it hasn't been quite that easy. You see, the last time I saw this beast, he injected a sedative into me with a needle."

Hazel bobbed her head up and down. "We heard that too. He's just trying to help you Annie." She sighed heavily. "We talked to him before we were allowed in. He's quite a handsome boy," she said dreamily. "And so nice."

Annabeth and Piper laughed. "Does miss Hazel have a crush on the Prince of Crete?"

Hazel looked aghast as she blushed a bright shade of pink. "Of course not! Prince Percy is kind, but not someone for me. And besides, I have Frank."

"How is everything going?" Annabeth asked, referring to Frank.

"It's all fine," Hazel blushed. "But let's talk about you. What's been up?"

Annabeth blinked slowly.

"I mean besides Luke and the drug and – "

"I'm going to stop you there," Piper hushed Hazel. "Let's talk about something else."

Annabeth's heart raced as she remembered everything from the past week. "Yeah," Annabeth agreed, her voice sounding far away. "Let's."

Piper chattered away, but Annabeth was no longer listening, how could she when every time she thought of something else, Luke managed to claw his way back into her brain, leaving permanent marks as he went. When Piper and Hazel recognized that Annabeth was checking out, they excused themselves quickly and quietly. Annabeth slumped against the wall, her feet grazing it as a memory hit her full force.

* * *

Annabeth sat on the docks, looking out across the horizon, watching the sun begin its grueling trek up the sky and into the clouds. As Annabeth swished her feet around in the water, ripples distorted her view of her reflection. Once the ripples cleared, Annabeth looked into the wide basin that held the lake and grinned.

Annabeth jumped up and swung herself around and into the arms of Luke.

"I thought you weren't going to be back for another week!" Annabeth exclaimed, hugging Luke.

"I wasn't," Luke shrugged, "but circumstances changed. Now, listen, I have to leave Greece – "

Annabeth frowned.