"Hoo! We're late, late, late!"

Chiron, Prince Jason's scheduler shouted as Jason felt a needle pinch him in his thigh. He winced as he listened to Chiron's monologue, "We have twenty, maximum, twenty-two minutes, for your royal fitting! And then it's move, move, move to your speech at the Historical Society! After that we have to rush, and I mean, rush, to the Horticultural Society Tea! Oh, and then there's your math lessons, your geography lessons, your science lessons!"

Jason sighed, wishing that for once, a day just for him, nothing for him to do and nowhere he needed to be. No lessons, lords, or lunches, or Chiron's 'to do' list in the way. No one telling him what to do. That would be the day for him.

Faraway, in the village below, in Madame Hera's Dress Emporium, another boy was wishing for the same thing. Percy woke up at the crack of dawn to finish the work that Madame Hera left for him and Grover. He wished that one day there wouldn't be a pile of work on every shelf of the Emporium, no hems in need of pressing, no sleeves in disarray and no wedding gown with a thousand stitches to crochet. And no debt to pay, the debt that his parents left behind.

"Madame Hera!"

Grover's cry snapped Percy back into reality. Percy looked to find Madame Hera, walking down the stairs towards him.

"What do you think I'm running here? A cabaret?"

Percy must have been singing his feelings and didn't notice. He sighed to himself, "I would've said a debtor's prison."

Madame Hera overheard Percy's comment and replied, "Keep laughing! You'll be working for me for another thirty-seven years!"

Percy fired back, "But I've already paid off more than half!"

"But there's an interest," Madame Hera began to walk back up the stairs, "Your parents should've thought of that before they borrowed so much."

Percy shouted, "They did it to feed me!"

Before Madame Hera shut the door to her office, she scoffed, "Their mistake!"

Percy whipped his head around, staring out the window, wondering to himself, what would it be like to be free? Free from IOU's, free to sing...

Back at the palace, Jason was wondering the same thing. What would it be like to be free? Free to try crazy things, free to fly....

Then, he stared outside his window to see Piper, his tutor, and secret crush, studying the flowers in the garden. Jason blushed, seeing her smile while writing down in her journal about the flowers.

"And marry whom I choose," Jason thought out loud.

"I'm so sorry, my darling."

Jason turned around to face his mother, the Queen. Her blonde hair was fading into gray and her face was more wrinkled. Jason guessed it was the stress on trying to keep the kingdom afloat and the only way that he could stop his mother's stress is by marriage.

"But as you know, it is vital you marry Queen Annabeth." Queen Beryl said to him. "It is the only way to take care of our people."

Jason looked down at the ground, not wanting to face his mother's disappointment, "I know, it's my duty."

"Oh, and look! Another engagement gift!"

His mom's exclaim made him look up to see one of the servants hand his mother a gift. Jason turned around to see the pile of gifts for his engagement to a girl he barely knew. Most people would think he was so lucky to have so many things but he started to realize that every present came with strings.

While at Madame Hera's Dress Emporium, Percy began to take fabric for his next project but instead of working on it, he threw the fabric back behind him like a cape and started to sing.

"People would gather around the world to hear my song," he danced around the room, pretending to fly away from the place he has been since he was born.

He could hear Grover reply from his work table, "Can I come along?"

Percy escaped to the balcony of the Emporium. Prince Jason did the same thing back at the palace. Both boys closed their eyes and felt themselves fly a thousand miles away. They thought about taking flight but would it be right? Their consciences were telling them to stay. Jason would remain forever royal and Percy would repay his parents' debt. Both boys realized that duty means doing the things their hearts may well regret. This didn't mean though that Jason wouldn't stop believing and that Madame Hera would stop Percy's schemes. There was just more to living than gloves and gowns and threads and seams. And in their dreams, they'd be free.