Annabeth stared back at her, horrified, stricken with fear. She had a second to think of what would become of her before the queen spoke, her cold voice ringing out in the air.

"What are you doing here?" She inquired, forcing a smile onto her face.

"I-I-"

Queen Helena kept her gaze on the girl and raised her eyebrow elegantly. Annabeth wondered how she even managed to raise that furry line elegantly.

Percy stepped up and took a bow "If I may, your majesty, it was I who inquired after her."

Queen Helena looked at him and giggled ridiculously. Percy smiled nervously. The three girls shared a look and Jason covered up his short with a cough.

"Uh..." Percy continued. "We just came to the palace for a visit and these young ladies were um..."

"Cleaning the windows." Jason supplied quickly.

"Yeah! Cleaning the windows! And uh..." Percy glanced around for help. His eyes met with Annabeth's dirty and ragged skirt. "And we saw how awful their clothes were." He said quickly. Annabeth scowled at him behind his back.

"Yes. Absolutely un hygienic." Jason supported.

"And then we realised that such pretty creatures ought to be well dressed." Percy said.

"Back home," Jason added. "All our servants are very well dressed with unique and beautiful clothing."

"So we knew that we just must buy them some clothes and brought them out here. Oh, they did refuse at first but soon afterwards saw that it was impossible to win an argument against a royal prince."

Annabeth kicked at his foot secretly. Percy bit his lip, whether to keep himself from crying out loud or laughing, Annabeth wasn't sure.

"Ah well." Queen Helena gave out another childish giggle and stepped back into her carriage. "I'll let you explore the village. Be sure to come back for dinner at the palace!"

The carriage set off again at her command. The villagers from the houses immediately came out of hiding and knelt down at the passing of the queen. When she was out of sight again, they retreated back into their straw huts.

Hazel hastily curtsied at the two princes. "Thank you so much, your royal-"

Annabeth cut her off. "I am not a pretty little creature. My dress is perfectly fine thank you very much and I can definitely win an argument with you."

Piper and Hazel stared at her incredulously.

Percy smirked. "I am deeply grieved at my mistake, m'lady. I beg for your forgiveness." He said sarcastically. "Didn't catch your name there." He reminded her,

"Annabeth Chase."

"Nice to meet you-" He bowed and took her hand, acting all formal and kissing the top of her knuckles. "-Annabeth."

He said the name as if it was something he had said everyday. It sounded so natural coming from him, like he'd already called her that a thousand times though they had only properly met today.

Annabeth ripped her hand away from his and wiped it off on her dress hastily. "Thanks." She muttered. "For helping out with-"

"The evil demon." Jason supplied. "Don't know how you're going to survive after marrying someone like her Perce."

"I'm not going to marry her." Percy defied.

"Oh yeah. Forgot. You're going to marry that imaginary girl what's her name? An-" Jason trailed off, staring at Annabeth. "Wait-" He glanced at Percy who was giving him a warning look. Jason looked back at Annabeth.

"What?" Annabeth asked self consciously.

"No-nothing." Jason stammered.

"How 'bout we get those dresses huh?" Percy suggested quickly.

"You were serious about that?" Piper gaped.

"'Course." Percy answered. "Beautiful girls need to be treated properly. Not that you three would need any pretty dresses to make you look amazing."

"You are so sappy." Hazel muttered.

"I know." Percy agreed. "It's one of my amazing-"

"Alright Jackson." Jason interrupted. "We get it."

* * *

"So tell me! How was today, my handsome princes? My day was quite entertaining..." Queen Helena talked on and on.

"I'd rather go die in that hole than listen to her talk about her day." Jason muttered to Percy. (A/N. Mocha48 you probably know where I got that 'go die in a hole' bit from. 😉 Sounds like someone you know?)

"I'd go and die in that hole with you." Percy whispered back.

He and Jason had of course tried to reason with the queen to let the girls sit at the table. Queen Helena though, was enraged and refused for it to happen and ordered them to get back to work but immediately let them keep their dresses when the princes started to talk about never visiting again.

Jason glanced at Annabeth who was just leaving the room. "She was real."

"I told you." Percy said smugly.

"But- how- how did you know? You haven't met before have you?"

"No." Percy stared at the door. "I think-" memories plagued his mind. An underwater kiss. A night at a stables, watching the stars fly past beneath them. A dark place, tinged with red and a sulphurous atmosphere. "I dunno Jason."

"And so-" The queen continued. "-I told them about the-"

"Your highness?" Percy interrupted. "Would you like to visit us at our castle? Maybe tomorrow? There's going to be an awesome ball."

Jason looked at him as if he was crazy.

Queen Helena shrieked loudly before composing herself. "My honour."

Percy smiled at her nervously. "Yeah uh. Can Annabeth, Piper and Hazel come with you?"

Queen Helena's jaw dropped to the floor. "But they're only servants! They can't ride in my carriage or go to my balls."

"I'll ask my dad to send in a carriage for them and my mom loves charming girls like them, so it might get you into her good books too. If you let them wear their dresses, she'd see how much you care about your servants." Percy said slyly.

The queen was seething with rage. "No?" Jason asked as he got to his feet. "Well worth a try, Percy. Let's go back then. Sally will be really worried."

"No you can't go!" Queen Helena said hastily. "You haven't had any dinner yet!"

Percy smirked at Jason and got up too. "Well, thanks but it's okay. We'll eat at home."

"Fine!" The queen exclaimed. "The girls can go! And they can wear their dresses!"

Jason sat back down with a huge smile. "Sooooo...." He said casually. "What's for dessert?"

* * *

When they finally set off to go back home, it was nearly midnight. The queen clapped her hands and two guards came to escort the princes out of the castle.

When the four of them were outside in the corridor, away from the prying eyes of the queen, the smaller guard lifted up his helmet. "Hey, princie boys. Do you want a carriage or do you already have one?"

The bigger guard elbowed him. "Sorry, your maje-"

Jason laughed and extended a hand. "It's okay. My names Jason. Don't bother with the prince."

The shorter guy smirked at him and gave him a fist bump instead of shaking his hand. "Huh. I like this guy."

"Percy." Percy introduced. "But I also go by Persassy."

"I'm Frank and this is Leo."

"Also known as, Chef Leo the Tacos Expert or...Hot Stuff. Any of those names are acceptable." Leo added.

Frank rolled his eyes.

"So, heard that there was a ball coming up?" Leo asked casually as they walked towards the front gates. "Are there going to be any hot girls there? Or just hippie ladies?"

"Leo." Frank said. "Only the higher class guards get to go."

Percy smirked at him. "Maybe." He said.

"But-" Jason said catching on. "If you sneak up through the side gate..."

"We can meet you there." Percy ventured.

Leo's yes lit up. "Hot ladies? You sure?"

Jason grinned at him. "Yeah. You don't have to worry about that."

"And plus," Percy said. "Even if there aren't, you're free to kiss the statues in the hall."

Frank laughed at Leo's face.

The boys kept on fooling about till they got to the gates and when the princes were ready to leave, their friendship status was pretty much signed as official.

*I*I*I*I
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*I*I*I*I
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A/N

Hey everyone! I'm sooooo sorry I didn't upload in so long. Feel free to point out any mistakes cause I didn't check through this.
And tell me if it's starting to get a bit weird....
The picture at the top? I tried drawing Percy. It turned too girly. So I tried making her Clarisse but that didn't work and now she looks like Piper. I honestly don't even know... But something is seriously still wrong with her.
But yeah. Thanks so much for the encouragement on this story though! And I know, I've told this about a thousand times now but I seriously love you all!
Happy very belated new year too!
Bye bye!
See you at the 'ball'. Make sure to get dresses that a re way prettier than Queen Helena's so you can rub it in her face!
Bye!