The kings and queens of the coming age,
under lockdown
They're expected to find a soulmate
Will they though?
Or rather,will they even survive ?
Love,
Lust,
And deceit awaits
The heirs were called to their float and Annabeth noticed Thalia glance her way and smiled encouragingly at her friend, looking around herself
In the flurry of activity surrounding her, Annabeth caught a pair of sea green eyes staring. She looked right back at Percy and raised her eyebrows. He shook his head and smirked, mouthing the words "you clean up well". Annabeth shrugged, smirking ,"It's a gift".
Percy followed Thalia onto their float . Behind him went Hazel, Malcolm, Drew, Octavian, Katie, Reyna, Luke and Charles.
Annabeth mentally reminded herself to thank her mother, who had insisted she learn the names of the heirs and something about each kingdom before the parade.
Drew was flirting away with Percy, who was trying hard to escape. For some reason, this made Annabeth smile. Malcolm and Luke were talking, seemingly about how the rest of the heirs looked and Thalia joined them soon enough.
Luke strangely however, seemed to straighten up when she arrived,and tried discretely to stare at her throughout the entire conversation. He whispered something to Thalia ,that caused her to smile and hit him on the head while he was laughing.
The rest of the heirs stood along the edge and attempted to smooth out the invisible creases on their dresses.
Annabeth took her time looking at them.
She saw Hazel ,the heir to the Throne of Hades.
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She didn't look much like her brother Nico, who was pale with dark hair. Where Nico had a 'leave me alone' vibe to him, Hazel had a 'Let's go horse riding together and pet bunnies' vibe. She was pretty, with curly brown hair and gold eyes.
Annabeth remembered that Nico was mean't to be the heir, after his sister Bianca had died in a car crash.
Nico however refused to take his deceased sisters place, causing quite a scandal which ended in King Hades himself making a public announcement that his youngest daughter would take the throne and that Nico would retain the title of 'Prince'.
Next to Hazel was Reyna, the heir to the kingdom of Ares. Annabeth recognised her too ,there was an article a few years ago trying to prove that she wasn't Ares's daughter but adopted from some woman named Bellona.
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These rumors however were proved false and Reyna stood tall among them, she was later applauded for the way she managed the crisis and showed leadership.
She looked about Annabeth's age, with black eyes and dark hair worn in a braid.
Piper came over to sit by Annabeth again and was pointing out Katie Gardner, the heir to the kingdom of Demeter.She looked remarkably like her mother, with brown hair and eyes.
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Demeter did have another child, Persephone, who ended up abdicating the throne and marrying Hades.
Too soon, the non-heirs were told to take their positions in the chariots beside the float. They would be following the float in a vertical line, but since there wasn't much place then, they started next to the float.
Jason Grace, Thalia's little brother, was leading them. He had electric blue eyes like Thalia, but very much unlike her, his hair was blond. He was very tall, adding to which was his athletic build.
He got off his chariot just as Annabeth and Piper passed him. Jason waved at the girls and Annabeth noticed Piper go red. She nudged her and they laughed together.
Annabeth promised to find Piper later and climbed her own chariot.
The giant gate opened and Queen Aphrodite's voice boomed through the speakers.
"Good day to you, our adoring fans! Thank you all for being here today and cheering on our beautiful young royals, who are going to be carrying on our legacy and taking part in their very own choosing! I for one can't wait to watch them fall in love in here, at our very own Pallas Cyprus, where our Choosing was held just a couple of years ago ! As you can see, these beautiful children are dressed wonderfully, sponsored by my kingdom of course! All of them designed by me and Queen Hera "
The crowd cheered and the float slowly began to move forward, going in front of the charriot's ready to take it's place as the head of the parade.
Annabeth noticed the Son of Poseidon quickly dash to the back of the float towards her and whisper "Behind me in this too, Chase?" smirking and sprinting back to wave at the crowds.
He really was going to pay for that later.
The prince and princesses piled out after the heirs, all of them in their respective chariots riding in a straight line behind the float, smiling and waving.
Jason was followed by Tyson and Nico, followed by Annabeth herself. She knew Piper was behind her but she didn't know the rest.
The parade lasted for about 4 hours and everyone was exhausted ,except for Drew, who seemed to be loving the attention.
Smiling and waving would seem easy,Piper thought. But when you add a 10 pound dress, a cheering crowd, starvation and dehydration to the mix, it becomes torture.
The royals had finished their third and final round around the Pallas. They entered on their rides ,waving goodby to the cheering crowds as they heard the Gates slowly began to close.
Aphrodites voice boomed through the speakers again,"The young prince's and princesses are officialy apart of the choosing! Wish them luck and joy for they can only walk out if almost all of them find their soulmate ! The Choosing shall be played on your televisons every evening at 7 and we shall have a special report on Sundays to know all the latest gossip !"
With this, gates completely shut and there was utter silence, from both the crowd and royalty. The people suddenly started cheering and whooping.
Inside the walls of the Pallas, all hell broke loose.
