Alternatively

Once Upon A Dream (ii)

Things weren't exactly playing out as he thought they would.

Sure, this Annabeth had the gorgeous golden curls he might have imagined of a princess and the vibrant  tenacity of any knight, but he didn't realize how much time would have passed before she found him. She existed, and he did as well, in an era he never thought possible.

"-distract Silena so I can hide him in the bathroom."

The one called Grover pinched the bridge of his nose. "One, two, three, four-"

"Okay, what are you doing?"

"My therapist said to count when I feel stressed."

Percy looked off, staring at the boats idly docked. Even they seemed different, alien, yet he started to walk towards them. His father used to take him to the shipyard when he was younger; the adults would review the royal navy and Percy would get lost in the riggings. The boats may have looked different, but the gentle ebb and flow was exactly the same.

"Hey, no, you can't go on that!"

He looked up with a frown, ripping his hand from the ship's bow. "Apologies."

She waved her hand and turned back to Grover. "I just need to keep him hidden for an hour, two at the most."

"You've literally explained nothing!" he exploded. "Where did you find him and why is he dressed like that and why does he have to hide in your bathroom, of all the places in the world?"

"He can't hide in the main room, that'd be ridiculous."

He ran his hands through his hair. "Oh my god, you're gonna get expelled."

A man walked by, eyeing the trio strangely as he walked into the hotel. A chill ran up his spine and he allowed Annabeth to step in front of him, stared back with eyes of stone. The man disappeared into the building and his heart thudded painfully. Nothing was familiar and remaining calm was pretty hard.

"Look, I'll like, help? But he's gotta go tonight, okay?"

Annabeth straightened, side eyeing her friend with a frown. "I'm gonna need you to be more lenient on that time limit."

"God," he sighed, pulling something from his pocket that lit up the night. "You're just...god, okay. Silena and Beckendorf are both in my room still, I snuck her in after Mr. D did room checks and by the way? She totally covered for you, you owe her big time."

"I let her copy my midterm last semester, so that's just paying up."

He rolled his eyes, leaning away as Percy crept closer, staring at the object with growing curiosity. "...yeah, but um, you're safe to go in and I'll text when she's on her way back, dude, will you please back up a little?"

"What is that?" the prince asked, watching as words popped up in a gray box.

"My phone?"

He mouthed the word, still staring at the device with wide eyes. "What do you do with that?"

"What do I-what do you mean?" he stuttered, looking to Annabeth. "What does he mean?"

She waved his concern away, grabbing Percy's arm. "I'll explain later, oh, knock on Trav's door and ask for some jeans."

If they had stuck around a millisecond longer, he was sure they would have witnessed the boy's head exploding. Percy had hoped to look at the phone for a while longer, figure it out as much as he sorted out what a car was or a stoplight. Instead, he stumbled to keep up with the woman as she led him into the building.