I slowly opened my eyes to see black. Something was tickling my nose and I pulled away fast, thinking it was a spider.

"Gah!" I brushed my hands over my face, getting rid of the feeling of little hairy legs crawling over me. I shivered as I thought of my greatest fear.

The thing of black moved and I was greeted with the face of my best friend, who was half asleep.

"Gah?" He asked, his eyes still closed.

I wrapped a piece of his hair around my finger. "Your hair felt like spiders crawling over my face."

"I'd kill the spiders for you, Annabeth," His hand came out from underneath the blanket and curled into a fist. He startled me by bringing the fist down onto my pillow with force. "See? I'd burn them too and yell at them to stay away from my girl."

"Aw," I bit my lip, looking down at my sleepy head. "Thank you, my Prince Charming."

He sent me a smirk and brought the blanket up over his shoulders, pushing his face closer into the pillow.

I sighed and looked out the window. Last night I didn't even bother falling asleep in my own bed. As soon as my maids left, I snuck into Percy's room. He was still in the shower, so it gave him a fright when he walked out only in his boxers to see me sitting on his bed reading. He didn't talk to me as he got changed and left the lamp on until I finished my chapter. We talked for a little bit as we snuggled under the covers and maybe kissed a little bit too. Neither of us were haunted by nightmares, and that was a relief. We both needed as much sleep as possible for the big day we were having today.

"I'm going to have to go now, Perce."

He waved and turned his back on me.

"No resistance?" I asked shocked. "No pleas to keep me here? No 'I need you's or 'please don't go's?"

He scoffed. "Bye."

I gasped and playfully pushed him on the back before jumping out of the bed and fixing my crumple side of the blanket.

I stood at the end with my hands clasped behind my back. "Thank you, your highness, for a wonderful evening in which you drooled as you fell asleep next to me, but I'm going to have to tell you that I will not be returning. Your attitude this morning was distasteful and I will have no more of it. I bid you farewell, sir."

As I turned around I didn't miss the grin on Percy's face. Before I ducked into his closet he yelled at me, "See you at breakfast!"

I giggled, which I realise I had not done in forever, and opened the door to the secret tunnel that would take me back to my room.

Hazel could barely contain her excitement as she quietly walked around the room. Her hands were shaking so much she started to pick up random things and then place them back down again. She then took to humming as she re-organised my wardrobe.

Alicia rolled her eyes at the behaviour but I knew she was excited for Hazel, we all were. She would finally be seeing Frank after nearly a year and a half apart.

Frank and Hazel's relationship was adorable. They've known each other since Hazel started to work at the palace because she was assigned to keeping his room clean when he came to visit. They hit it off as friends straight away, and when the four of us, Hazel, Frank, Percy and I, would hang out, Frank blushed all the time when he was around Hazel. And I mean all the time. Anyone could spot that he had a huge crush on her, everyone expect Hazel that is. She finds him adorable and funny, and he trusts her with his life. Hazel won't admit it, but I think they had their first kiss last time he visited and they've been writing letters to each other since.

"Are you okay, Hazel?" I asked amused as she stood next to me staring at herself in the mirror.

"I should've done something with my hair," She tried to pat down the mop of curls on her head. "What was I thinking?"

I sighed and took both her hands in mine, forcing her to turn towards me. "Hazel, Frank loves you for the way you are. He doesn't care what you look like."

"Yeah, but his parents will. They know something's going on between us and if you haven't noticed, they're the King and Queen of New Asia. That's pretty big."

I shrugged. "Mars if difficult, but Emily is a sweetheart. She already loves you and that's all you really need from his parents."

Hazel gasped. "What about his grandmother? He loves her to bits."

I rolled my eyes. "You've already won Frank over, that's all that matters."

"I have not!"

I shook my head. "Liar. Frank loves you to pieces."

Hazel pouted at me, but a blush crept up her neck. She stuck her tongue out at me and turned away, her hair swishing as she walked back into the bedroom.

Justine placed the last pin in my hair. "Done."

I raised my eyebrows at her. "I've come to notice that whenever there is a special occasion you guys always make my hair into some sort of crown."

Alicia shrugged. "We're just waiting for the real thing."

On my way out Hazel stopped me. "If you see him, tell him to come and find me as soon as possible. Please? I don't think I can wait longer."

I nodded, stifling my massive smile. "Of course."

Piper was a bundle of nerves when I sat down next to her at the dining table for breakfast.

"What's wrong?"

She tapped her fingers on the table. "What's wrong? What's wrong?! I'm about to meet another dam King and Queen and be the host for their morning tea and lunch!"

"Oh hush," I placed a hand on her hand, pressing it down on the table as Reyna shot her an annoyed look at the tapping. "I'm sure you've organised everything down to the very last detail, and done it expertly. You'll pass today with flying colours and look spectacular whilst doing it."

She breathed out slowly as she tried to settle her beating heart. "I'm more worried about our group. Something's going to go wrong, I can just feel it."

"Excuse me, ladies," Sally stood up from her seat at her table, grabbing everyone's attention. "I would just like to congratulate you all on getting here today to host two of the most important Royal family's. I know you must be nervous, but a Queen always shows confidence in her actions even though she is a complete and utter mess on the inside. I know because I speak from experience." We all chuckled quietly, some of us not believing that Sally had any doubts at any point. "I would like to wish everyone good luck and that your plans go accordingly, but I also hope that you'll be able to think quick enough if anything does not go quite right. Let's have breakfast!"

Butlers and maids placed plates with a scrumptious looking omelette in front of us. Everyone dug in immediately. It seemed they we all eating away their nerves.

All I knew that was happening today was that Drew, Calypso, Rachel and Piper had planned a morning tea and lunch fit for the New Asian Royal Family. Reyna, Katie and I would be attending both and so would the Jackson family. Last night Percy said something about how my dad might come too, and he would probably talk to King Mars about war strategies.

I wasn't really nervous for me, but I was nervous for Piper. And Hazel. Not so much for Drew, though. I grew up with these sort of gatherings, so I knew how it all worked. The others, they didn't, and I could understand why they were nervous. Having the King, Queen and Prince of an important country attend a morning tea and lunch that you had organised is daunting in every aspect. Will they like the food? Entertainment? Even, you?

Rachel made eye contact with Piper and Piper nodded back. "We've gotta go."

I squeezed her shoulder. "Good luck and don't forget to curtsy."

Piper gave me a small smile and asked to be excused. Piper, Drew, Rachel and Calypso all left to go greet their guests, so it was just the five royals and three Selected.

"Well," Percy leaned back in his chair. "This is nice. It's so quiet."

Zoe made eye contact with me, grinning evilly. My eyes widened as she quietly got down from her seat. She crept behind her parents and brother before coming to a stop behind Percy. She must have giggled as Percy turned around, but he was too late. Zoe had taken the back of the chair and pulled it down, the chair falling backwards and Percy's head connected with the ground. His legs came flying up and the whole table was pushed forwards where it landed on its side, the food and cutlery all falling to the ground.

Katie stood up in shock and Reyna stared at the mess in shock. I covered my mouth, trying to hide the smile on my face. Tyson was already laughing and Paul and Sally were frozen. Zoe joined in on Tyson's laughter.

"I spoke too soon." Percy rolled over and sat up, his hand massaging the back of his head.

"Zoe..." Sally started, turning around with a murderous look on her face.

Zoe screamed and ran away, her little legs moving very fast.

"Catch her!" Sally pointed to two guards standing shocked at the door. They bolted after the little princess.

Tyson was still laughing. "Oh gods." He knelt next to Percy. "You okay, brother?"

Percy waved him away and grunted in pain as he tried to stand. "Yep. Fine."

Maids bustled into the room with brooms and buckets, and they started to clean the mess up.

"Are you okay, honey?" Paul took Sally's hand.

She nodded. "You should be more concerned about your daughter. She is about to be punished severely."

Paul helped Sally up and they left without another word. Katie looked over at me, her mouth wide open. I shrugged and got up from my chair, walking around to Percy.

"You shouldn't say things like that." I put my hand on the back of his head, where a bump was already coming through.

He grimaced. "She's crazy, I swear."

"Wait until she's a teenager."

"Do you need to see a doctor?" Katie stood behind me, smiling sympathetically at Percy.

He shook his head. "No, no. I'm fine. You three should go get ready, I need to go greet our guests."

I would have given him a kiss on the cheek if there weren't other people in the room, so I settled for squeezing his hand. He left with a still laughing Tyson.

Reyna rubbed her forehead. "I hope tomorrow doesn't go like this."

"Don't jinx us." Katie pointed to Reyna.

"What's our plan of attack?" I asked the two other girls.

"Pick up any flaws with their organising," Reyna said. "And then we can meet tonight and polish off our plans."

"Good idea." Katie gave us both a high five and left to go back to her room.

I decided that I didn't need to get ready anymore so I went out of the dining room and started to walk towards the gardens.

I could hear music playing from inside but I didn't get very far, as someone called out my name.

"Annabeth!"

I turned around and my face broke out into a massive smile. "Frank!"

Frank came running towards me, dressed in a red jacket, gold shoulder pads with the tassels hanging off them. A sword swung at his side and I was pretty sure he shouldn't have been running as fast as he was on his black suit pants and expensive shoes. When he came closer I almost had to double check that it was Frank. Last time I saw him he had a babyish face and close-cropped black hair that seemed out of place with his stout body. I would also have described him as looking like a baby sumo wrestler, but this Frank looked completely different. He was taller and his babyish face was now handsome. His shoulders were broader and muscular and he was lean. Hazel would have a fit.

"Hey." He stopped breathless in front of me.

"Hey." I nodded to him, amused that he ran for me.

"How are you?" He clasped his hands behind his back.

"Good. And you?" I had to look up as he looked to be a solid 6"3 and I was 5"10.

"I'm great. Can I ask you a question?"

"She's in my room. Second floor, tenth one down on the left."

A blush crept up his cheeks and he looked down at the floor. "Who?"

I sighed and pushed his shoulder slightly. "Hazel, you silly Chinese Canadian baby man. Go, your not expected for another twenty minutes."

He smiled bashfully at me. "Thanks, Annabeth."

I waved as he turned around and ran towards the staircase.

"Ah," I sighed. "Love."

Smiling, I turned around and waited with Piper's group for everyone to turn up. The girls had done a fabulous job. Tables were set up with mouth-watering foods from both New Asia and Illèa. The drinks looked refreshing and their colour theme was a mix of orange and red. Chairs were set up for people to sit and there was an undercover part for anyone who couldn't stand in the hot Angeles sun. Music played from speakers set up around the gardens and I was secretly glad that they did that. We would look better with live music.

Pretty soon the rest of my group strolled in and then Sally and Paul, and the rest of the Jackson gang waltzed in with the New Asians. Frank still seemed flustered and I gathered that the meeting with Hazel went well. I smirked at him when he made eye contact. He looked away.

One word that I would use to describe Emily Zhang, would be strong. She had warm brown eyes and straight black hair that made her look paler than she actually was. She's protective of her son but still encourages him. She was the daughter of the last King and Queen of New Asia and met Mars in war. Quite literally. He's from the north part of Illèa and when we fought the war against the African Union, they met on the battlefield. They saved each other multiple times and then when the fighting stopped, they married and took the throne together. Mars had his black hair cut in a flat-top. He was muscular in every part of his body and his face was covered in knife scars. I've talked to him multiple times about battle strategies and the one thing that strikes me about him, is that he is really mature and has a sense of honour. He looks to be the guy that would kill everyone in the room just because his pizza didn't have cheese, but he's the opposite. He despises war, and he helped bring peace to the world.

"Ladies," Sally stopped and faced us. "I would all like for you to welcome our guest, King Mars, Queen Emily and Prince Frank from New Asia."

We all dipped to a curtsy, all of us in sync, except for Drew. She was a bit late to go down and then late to come back up again.

"Thank you," Queen Emily bowed her head at us. She was wearing a beautiful kimono, a pattern of phoenix's rising from the ashes on it. "My family and I are delighted to be here and to meet the possible future Queen of Illèa. We hope we have a wonderful evening."

"Your Majesties." Drew stepped forward curtsying and flash her award-winning smile at the King and Queen.

"What are you wearing?" Queen Emily raised her eyebrows at Drew, looking at her with a look I could only describe as something close to disgust.

Drew smiled again, happy that the Queen had noticed the dress she was wearing. "A lovely dress made expertly by my maids."

"And the colour?"

"Cherry red, your Majesty."

Queen Emily stepped closer towards Drew. Frank took a step as well. "Do you know that in my culture, a young lady who is not married is not allowed to wear red. At all."

"Oh?" Drew looked over towards her group. "Really?"

"And do you know how I see this?" Queen Emily placed on hand on her hip and used the other to point at Drew. "I see that you haven't even bothered to read or learn about our culture, which alone is offensive, but then to actually go against one of our main beliefs? That is beyond rude."

"I am so, so sorry, your Majesty." Piper appeared out of nowhere next to Drew. "Lady Drew was not present at the meeting we had about your culture. We apologise greatly for any offence. I'll take Lady Drew and we shall choose another dress for her to wear. My apologise again."

Piper glared at Drew and dragged her off towards the mains doors. I took this time to look at her dress. It was modest, surprisingly, and the collar of the dress was folded up. It went straight down her body and didn't cling to any curves, creating a pool at the bottom. It was red lace and now that I thought about it, I realised that Queen Emily was right. A tradition that went back centuries was that the colour red symbolised marriage, union and love. A woman who is not married is forbidden to wear red until her wedding day. I nearly scoffed at Drew's ignorance. This could cost her, greatly.

"Emily, Mars, I am so sorry," Sally looked back towards Drew. "I don't know what that girl was thinking."

"Clearly she wasn't," Mars muttered under his breath.

"Some champagne, your Majesty?" Rachel quickly jumped into the conversation, Calypso behind her holding a tray with flutes of champagne.

The King and Queen took one each and Emily started a conversation with Calypso and Rachel, Mars moved over to Paul and Sally and Percy brought Frank over to us.

"Frank, I would like for you to meet Lady Reyna and Lady Katie." Percy gestured to Katie and Reyna as they dropped to a curtsy.

Frank's cheeks were tinted pink. "Nice to meet you."

"And you already know Annabeth." Percy titles his head towards me.

I smirked at Frank. "How's Hazel?"

Franks' hand came up and he pulled at his collar. "Hazel? I haven't seen her yet."

Percy chuckled and clapped him on the back.

Frank changed the topic of conversation to the Selection. The girls started blabbering on about how wonderful Percy is and how the palace is amazing. I rolled my eyes and had a sip of my champagne.

When I saw Drew stalking back in a gold dress and an angry Piper behind her I excused myself from the conversation. Drew went straight to Percy and was clinging to him for dear life but I turned my attention to Piper.

"Don't even talk to me," She hugged and cross her arms over her chest. "I already want this day to be over."

"What was Drew thinking?" I hissed.

"She didn't turn up for one of the most important meetings we had and I was too nervous to notice this morning." Piper rubbed her forehead and took a flute of champagne from a tray that was being passed around.

"Did Drew not greet them earlier today?"

Piper shook her head. "No. She needed more time to get ready."

I rolled my eyes and gave Piper a quick hug. "I'm sorry Piper, it sucks."

Piper closed her eyes for a second, breathed in and then out and then opened her eyes with a forced smile plastered on her face.

"Let me introduce you to Frank."

"Ooo," She nodded eagerly. "This is Hazel's Frank, right?"

I laughed but nodded. "Yes, but he is also better known as the Prince of New Asia."

"Meh," Piper shrugged. "Details."

After I introduced Piper to Frank and we started a conversation, Percy pulled me away.

"Let's go talk to Emily." He grabbed my hand and started to drag me towards where Sally and Emily were talking.

"What?" I had to pull Percy out of the way of a running Zoe who was being chased by Tyson. Her giggles made me smile.

"Come on." Percy tugged at my hand.

I sighed and followed him.

"Ah! Annabeth!" Sally smiled at me.

"Sally. Your Majesty." I bowed my head towards Emily.

"Annabeth, how are you?" She smiled kindly at me.

"I'm feeling great, thank you. And you?"

"A little tired from the plane trip but I'll overcome that."

"See what I was saying?" Sally asked, leaning closer to Emily. Both their eyes scanned Percy and I. It was then I noticed we were still holding hands. "Perfect couple right there."

"Mum..." Percy groaned and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. He didn't let go of mine.

Emily and Sally giggled. "Well, I wouldn't mind Frank working with these two. Annabeth is strong and smart enough to be Queen."

I blushed and looked down at my shoes.

"You don't think I already know that?" Sally gushed. "I've already picked out a few options for her coronation day."

My head shot up and I looked over to Percy who had his mouth full of mini sandwiches. His eyes were wide and he tried to gulp all of them down. I squeezed his hand.

"Yeah?" I asked Sally. "What colour?"

She grinned. "One is grey, and it will make your eyes pop..."

She continued talking about dresses for my coronation day and Emily made suggestions here and there. When I walked into this conversation I thought we were going to talk about politics, not about a day that could belong to anyone else.

Percy stayed silent through most of it and sometimes he added to the conversation saying that the colour would clash with his eyes and at that the colour wouldn't suit my skin colour. I tried to stifle my laughter and he did too. The Queen of Illèa and the Queen of New Asia were talking about my dress seriously but Percy and I found it to be all a joke. Surely I wouldn't be Queen, would I?

Soon other girls joined the conversation and Sally had to change the topic. I excused myself once Rachel came over. I watched as Drew drowned down a glass of champagne. My eyes brows scrunched together as she tried to walk and then stumbled. She looked a little tipsy.

"Annabeth!" Paul called out from behind me. I turned around and saw that Paul, Mars and Frank were talking.

I walked over and smiled, bowing my head towards Mars. "How are you?" I asked.

He nodded. "I'm fine."

"We need another opinion," Paul placed his hand on my shoulder. "I say we should attack Germany by air but Mars says by land. Frank said we shouldn't attack at all. What do you think?"

I raised my eyebrows. "You want my opinion? I'm just dating Percy-"

"You're your father's daughter," Mars said. "You're pretty smart when it comes to this stuff."

My cheeks turned red. "Thank you, your Majesty. Why exactly are we attacking Germany?"

Morning tea carried into lunch, where we went inside and had a delicious meal. Pipers group had chosen the meals well but I could help but notice that Drew was a little too attached to the champagne and Percy. I had more conversations with the New Asians and we discussed politics, food and culture. I had fun.

When I got back to my room it was just Justine and Alicia waiting for me.

"Where's Hazel?"

Alicia smirked. "Waiting for Frank up in his room."

A smile spread across my face and then I was bombarded with questions about the day from Justine and Alicia.

After twenty minutes of torture, there was a knock on the door. Katie and Reyna were there and we spent the afternoon polishing off our plans.

"And the three of us can only have one glass of alcohol. Drew couldn't stand straight at the end."

I nodded. "I feel bad for the rest of their group. Drew made them look horrible."

"But," Reyna pointed at us. "She could be eliminated for this."

I shrugged but I couldn't help but hope.

As Katie and Reyna were preparing to leave, there was another knock on the door.

"I swear you know everybody," Katie muttered.

I opened the door and was greeted with Percy.

"Hey," I smiled.

"Who is it?" Katie came up to the door. "Oh. Hi Perce."

He smiled at Reyna and Katie. "Fixing up your plans for tomorrow?"

Reyna nodded. "It's going to be great."

"Good," Percy nodded. "The Italians are fussy."

Katie and Reyna turned to me. "Ignore him. He's lying, they're not fussy."

Reyna frowned at Percy and left, Katie, slapped him on the shoulder and followed Reyna out.

"Hey, again."

He tipped his imaginary hat down. "Wise Girl. I think that it would please you to walk out to the balcony and look in the direction of the palace gates."

I scrunched my face up in confusion but did what Percy suggested. He closed the door behind him and followed me out to the balcony.

I strained my head to see the driveway better and stifled a gasp as I looked at the scene.

I could see a tall girl walking down the palace steps, a maid behind her carrying a few bags. The girl was wearing a gold dress, her long black hair swishing down her back as she made her way to a sleek black car.

"Is that Drew?" I asked

"Yep."

"And is she getting into that car?"

"Yep."

I watched as Drew turned back around towards the palace, a hand coming up to wipe something from her cheek. "Is she crying?"

"Hysterically."

I turned my head towards Percy as I heard the car engine start. I suppressed a grin as hope blossomed at the pit of my stomach. "Is she eliminated?"

He scanned my face, drawing out the moment way too long. Anticipation crawled over and under my skin. "Yep." Was his final answer.

My eyes grew wide at the fabulous news. I threw my arms around Percy's next. "Oh, my gods. That's great!"

He pulled me back to arm's length. "Now hold on, Wise Girl. Don't say anything mean towards her or I'm going to have to send you to your room."

I laughed, happiness flooding through me like a tsunami. Drew was gone! "If you were to eliminate me I think I would run away to Greece and live there until you had your second child."

Percy threw his head back and laughed, and I quickly joined him.

"Why did you eliminate her? Why now?"

He stopped laughed and looked at me seriously. "Her behaviour was terrible today. She disrespected the New Asian culture and then got so drunk she couldn't walk at all. Mum suggested I do it, so I did."

"And?" I asked, sensing there was more.

Percy shook his head. "Her eagerness for the crown and fame was becoming a little too suffocating. She was lathering her love for me on thick on the Report."

I squealed. "No more glares and terribly mean comments from her!"

"Or," Percy raised his eyebrows. "You're just happy because there is less competition. This is showing a jealous and possessive side of you, Annabeth." He seemed to be scolding me.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, shut up."

His hand took my chin and tilted my head slightly to look up at him. The light from the room cast a glow on his skin that made it looked flawlessly tanned, his eyes sparkling more than usual. He leaned down and I met him halfway there. He pulled me closer and was gripping my waist as I tugged at his hair. The kiss was slow, but I liked it that way. It gave me time to savour the blissful moment.

I'm in the Final 6.

Word count: 4944

Hello!!!! What a wonderful chapter, am I right? I really liked writing this one actually!

Drew is ELIMINATED!! You can stop your plans to kill her now, she's not coming back!

Frazel are just to cute. I can't even!

So, I got back from camping yesterday as saw that I had a whopping 3k notifications. I'm not going to go through them cause that is way to much so if you have a question or something really important to tell me comment here or pm me or write on my board. That way I will see it!

Schools looming closer and closer. :(

I also read the Hunger Games and Divergent series for the first time whilst camping. Can I just say that I never want to look at Alligent again and that my heart hurts for my baby Peeta. *cries* *drowns in own tears* (I'm emotional unstable at the moment. *glares at Veronica Roth*)

Love you to bits guys! Thanks for the 180k reads. It's amazing and I don't have words to express how thankful I am!

- Squirrel