Percy traced his hands against the dent in the ground. He smiled to himself. He remembered the time he was chasing Rachel down the hall and slipped and his sword impaled the ground. Leo wasn't too happy when he had to fix Percy's sword that was in a 'L' position.
"Why are you smiling at the ground?" A voice dragged him away from his thoughts. He turned around to look at a head of curly blonde hair and sharp grey eyes.
He got up and looked at Annabeth. "Memories," he replied simply.
She furrowed her eyebrows. "I can't figure you out."
Percy smiled mockingly at her. "No one can. I doubt you'll be the first one."
He expected Annabeth to back down, but he was wrong. She stepped closer to him, and looked him in the eye. He was a head taller than her, but that didn't make the message any less clear.
"I am smart and calculating." Her gaze held truth. "And you will not break me."
Her voice had pure certainty in it, and also laced with pride.
Percy met her gaze. "Well aren't you a wise girl."
"I'll take that as a compliment." She said. "What's in your brain, Jackson? Seaweed?"
He gave her a dashing smile. "I guess I'm a Seaweed Brain."
She gave him one in return. "And I'm a Wise Girl."
He stared into her intense, but beautiful grey eyes. His stomach flipped. He felt an urge to get to know her more, find more about Annabeth Chase.
•••
"Your highness," the convict pleaded. "he threatened my family. I had to kill him—"
"Excuses," Percy spat. "My father's advisor has nothing to do with your stupid family, Octavian. Right, Jason?"
Everyone had split into groups. Corinth had decided to be problematic that day. Percy was with Annabeth and Jason.
"The wittiness say that," Jason said, while looking at the written interviews of the murder. He urged his voice to stay steady. Percy's eyes flashed with anger and disgust when he was speaking to Octavian. He looked like he would happily kill him. That unsettled Jason.
Percy looked at the guards and said in his most commanding voice, "Put him in the dudgeons. He'll stay there until the next public execution."
The guards didn't say a thing as they hauled Octavian to his feet. Octavian's shouts echoed throughout the hall. Percy didn't look like he regretted a thing.
Jason stared at him in wide eyes. What happened to the kid that ran away from a slave in the rain?
Annabeth narrowed her eyes at Percy. This was going to be a challenge.
Percy didn't look them. "He's been causing havoc for years, trying to overthrow my father. He worked his way up ranks slowly, doing anything to get his way. When he started killing people, I knew for sure he was terrible. Dad was too oblivious to know that he wanted to kill for power. Now that my dad is gone, Octavian gets what he deserves."
Jason didn't question Percy's reason. Jason believed in justice, you get what you deserve. Annabeth looked, surprisingly, happy. Like she just had a warm drink on a cold day.
Percy was glad that Octavian was in the cells, to be executed later. Although he would never want harm on anyone, Octavian was an exception. He looked out the window, the waves crashing against the shore calmed him down. He snapped his fingers and the wine bearer scurried in and filled him a cup of wine.
"Thanks, Dakota," Percy mumbled, taking large sips of wine. Dakota bowed deeply in response and scurried away once more. Wine wasn't a favorite of Percy's, but it did distract him from Octavian.
"Bring in the next one," Annabeth said in a commanding voice to the guards. Percy couldn't help but have a wisp of a smile.
The way Annabeth stood, the way she spoke, the way she looked, amazed Percy. She stood with confidence, and a demand for power.
She was beautiful.
Percy didn't know what the knot in his stomach was, but he didn't try to acknowledge it.
Annabeth noticed Percy staring at her, but she didn't look at him back. She knew if she did, she would get lost in his sea-green eyes and loose her composure. When she saw him bring justice for Octavian, she felt a pang of relation to him. She was finding herself in him, and that was one step closer to finding out the mystery of Perseus Jackson.
•••
"What the heck is wrong with your face?" Rachel demanded. "Why is it so red? Why do you look like you just ate a blue cookie?"
Percy laughed at Rachel's question. "You look the same way after you eat a blue cookie." He countered.
Rachel held her hands up. "For a queen, your mother makes some amazing cookies."
Percy nodded in agreement, but also felt a sadness at the mention of his mother. His mother was nothing like his father. She was kind, loving, and could rule a country putter than Poseidon, most likely.
He was proudly a momma's boy.
"But why is your face red?" Rachel reminded him of her original question.
Percy shrugged.
Rachel tapped her chin in thought.
"Who do you like?" She finally asked.
"Huh?"
She rolled her eyes. "Your face is red, so either you did something stupid, or you like someone."
"A-Annabeth is cute..." he mumbled.
"What was that?' Rachel asked, a smile evident on her face.
"I may like Annabeth." He said a but louder.
"Hmmm," Rachel mused.
He glared at her in mock anger. She stuck her tongue out at him in response.
They both laughed at their immaturity. All of Percy's life, he had been in closed doors. Strict rules, and if you didn't follow them it was punished severely. Now with the other royals and Rachel with no nagging parents, Percy felt like he could breathe.
He closed his eyes. He slowly grasped the smell of Corinth. The salty wave scents flowing through the air, the cooking of the castle chefs.
Hot air slowly trickled out of his nose.
Is this what freedom felt like? Percy always felt as if when he breathed, something was holding him in, like something inside his body held him back.
He was free for his parent's grasp. He refused to think that his dad would be back with him, even though deep down he knew he would see his father again.
He was saying goodbye to his old self—the trapped and scared little kid, the bird the refused to fly—and was embracing his new self, an eagle with big and powerful wings, ready to fly.
A raven was perched on a nearby window.
"Fly little bird," he mumbled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Not Your Choice
Fanfiction"But he, and everyone else, remained emotionless. So that was the purpose of this meeting? To show how much control their parents have over them? Percy was grateful that he and his future would get to choose, but he barely knew these people. He had...
