"Oh, here's our little prince." Rachel said, standing in the doorway of Percy's room, in her elegant green ball gown.

"Hey Raych," Percy said, putting the crown on his head.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare was one of Queen Sally's handmaidens. Sally being the generous and kind queen she was, always insisted that all her handmaidens and the servants in the palace should come to any ball taking place at her palace. In fact, the word servant was not the right word to use for those who attended to Sally.

They more like her friends. Separate individuals rather than mere servants. And it didn't seem fair to Sally that they should be cooking or cleaning while a party was going on around them. They were treated with proper clothes, separate rooms and as equals. After all, what would be the purpose of all that money if it wasn't going to go towards a generous cause?

"Do I have to wear this stupid thing on my head?" Percy asked, gesturing accusingly towards the crown.

Rachel laughed. "Yeah. You kinda have to."

"It keeps falling off." He complained.

"You want some duct tape?" Rachel asked.

"Actually..."

Rachel's smile slid off her face. "Perce. I was joking."

Percy merely smirked at her and got out a roll of duct tape. He did it so skilfully that you wouldn't have been able to tell that it was duct taped from a distance.

Rachel face palmed. "Idiot."

The two had a strong brother, sister relationship. They loved each other the same way you would love family.

"So... Who's this Annabeth?" Rachel asked slyly.

"Uh..." Percy glanced at her for a second. "Someone."

"Does wittle Percy haw a cwush on somewon?" Rachel teased.

"Shut up!" Percy exclaimed.

"Okay." Rachel said with a laugh. "See you then princey."

* * *

"Prince Perseus." Another girl addressed him and curtsied, smiling widely.

"Uh...hi." Percy bowed.

The girl kept smiling at him. Percy smiled back, unsure of what to do. "Well. Bye?"

"It's been my pleasure to meet you, Prince Perseus." She curtsied again and mingled back into the crowd.

"How many curtsies so far?" Jason asked.

"I lost count at a hundred and thirty." Percy replied.

"Are those doughnuts!?" Leo asked and rushed to a table. The others laughed and followed him.

Leo bit into the doughnut. "Oh god. This is delicious."

"You remind me of my horse Blackjack." Percy decided to mention.

Leo glared at him, his mouth stuffed. "Do I look like a horse to you?"

"Well..." Frank said. "You do have those horsey ears and it sound like your neighing when you laugh so..."

"You know what-" Leo said but he cut himself off. He swallowed all the food in his mouth and stared past Percy's shoulder at someone. "Man. Who's she?"

"Oh her?" Jason said. "Calypso. Daughter of Atlas, you know the Duke of Thenning."

Leo ruffled up his hair and walked up to her. He leaned against a table and winked at her. "Hey baby." Unfortunately, the table fell over, unable to hold his weight and Leo toppled over into the food.

Calypso laughed and pulled him back up, muttering something about an idiot. Leo laughed nervously.

Jason poked Percy's and Frank's cheek. "What?" Percy asked.

Jason merely nodded towards the stairwell, where the announcing guy was calling out everyone's name as they descended down the stairs one by one.

Standing at the top of the stairs was Queen Helena. That wasn't who Jason was staring at though.

"Queen Helena!" The person declared. The crowd respectfully bowed before going back to what they were doing.

Next came a pretty brunette. Piper.

Jason's mouth dropped open.

"Piper McLean!" The person announced.

"Hazel Levesque!" (A/N I accidently typed Hazel Grace and I was like: "hmm something sound wrong in that". Now I'm like: "oh my gods! I can't believe I did that!")

"Annabeth Chase!"

Percy gaped. She looked so beautiful as she came down the steps, holding her dress up a little to help her walk. She was staring at the floor like she was concentrating on not tripping.

Piper was looking around and when she saw them, her eyes lit up. She took Annabeth's hand since she was closer to her and pulled her down. Annabeth almost tripped but steadied herself. Hazel followed them excitedly.

"Hi!" Hazel chirped when they reached the boys. She saw that Frank was still unknown to her so she introduced herself willingly.

"Hi." Jason breathed, staring at Piper. A blush was starting to creep up to her cheek. "You look- g-great." He stammered.

Annabeth walked towards Percy but she tripped. Luckily, Percy was there to catch her. Annabeth blushed and stood up again. "Thanks." She muttered.

"No problem." Percy muttered. Her eyes were such an amazing grey. It sparkled with life but also looked broken. He didn't realise his arms were still wrapped around her until she cleared her throat a little, refusing to meet his eyes but smiling softly.

They pulled away from each other quickly. Percy scratch the back of his neck nervously. "You look...you look amazing." He breathed out.

"Thank you." She said. "You don't look too bad yourself." He smiled at her.

When he looked about him, Jason, Piper, Hazel and Frank weren't there. The crowd of people had eaten his friends...

Percy cursed under his breath but when he turned back around to Annabeth, he was smiling. "Want something to eat, m'lady?"

"Why yes, kind sir." She said in a posh British accent.

The two laughed and walked towards the food table at the side.

* * *

The night progressed on. They ate, laughed, told each other jokes and talked like they had been friends for a long time.

Occasionally, they caught sight of their friends. Piper and Jason were converting at a corner, though Jason looked like he was staring more than he was talking. Hazel and Frank were laughing over something and Calypso was smacking Leo's shoulder for saying something stupid.

Then finally, the King and the Queen descended down the stairs and took their places at the throne.

Every on hushed up. King Poseidon stood up. "Good evening, my fair people. Let us start the ball properly. My son, would you lead the dance with a partner of your choice?"

Music started up.

Queen Helena fixed up her hair and adjusted her gown, smiling at Percy, expecting to be the chosen partner.

But Percy turned to the girl next to him. He held out a hand. "I think I owe you a dance." He whispered. The line seemed familiar and it seemed to strike to Annabeth too.

She smiled and slipped her hand into his. "Alright then, Seaweed Brain."

He led her out to the dance floor, past a surprised and outraged queen. Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder and he wrapped his around her waist. They moved across the floor in Grace and harmony. Getting the few steps wrong didn't matter. Even when Percy tripped, they merely laughed and kept dancing.

A people 'aww'ed at them.

Pure joy lit up Annabeth's eyes, a truly happy smile adorning her face. Watching her smile, made him do so too.

Out the corner of his eye, Percy saw Jason leading Piper to the dance floor. Frank and Hazel followed afterwards. Leo literally dragged Calypso out front.

More couples started to join in.

His mother laughed and dragged his father down to the dance floor where they started dancing too, joking in the enjoyment. King Poseidon was hesitant at first but soon cooperated when his wife started dancing with him.

Queen Helena looked like steam was about to come out her huge nostrils but Percy and Annabeth kept dancing.

He was suddenly plagued with another short memory. Dancing with the same girl in a glorious place overlooking a city. The song playing then was sad but maybe a little hopeful too.

"You called me Seaweed Brain." Percy suddenly realised.

"Yeah." Annabeth agreed. "Because you're head is filled with mush and seaweed."

"And you." Percy added, unaware to what he just said.

He blushed beet red.

Annabeth punched his arm half heartedly with a smile. "Shut up."

"Seaweed Brain." She added.

Percy leaned down, their foreheads meeting. "Wise Girl." He countered.

A flash of recognition passed across her eyes and she smiled at him.

"I have to show you something." Percy said suddenly. He led her off the dance floor, still holding her hand and took her towards a staircase at the back, spiralling upwards.

They climbed up the steps, unaware of someone following them.