Chapter 10

Annabeth and Percy lay on the beach, pointing at the white puffy clouds above them. Their hands were intertwined, and their heads barely touched. Percy pointed at a longer shaped cloud, and chuckled.

"It looks like a seahorse," he said. Annabeth cocked her head to the side and laughed while shaking her head.

"No it doesn't."

"It does! Have you ever seen a seahorse?"

"Yes."

"The ones in the aquarium don't count," Percy said and turned his head towards her. Annabeth smiled and looked back at him. She couldn't get over how beautiful his eyes were…it was like the clearest depths of water were enclosed in his irises.

Annabeth chewed on her bottom lip, and her heart fluttered when Percy captured her lips in a small kiss. Everything Percy had told her only an hour ago had really blown her mind; the merman…the marriage, the king of the ocean wanting to kill her.

Even through all of that, she smiled at him and wanted to spend every moment with Percy.

"Don't go back," she whispered. Percy stared at her. His smile disappeared and he turned his head back towards the clouds above.

"I know."

They were silent. Annabeth turned and looked back at the clouds above, her heart aching for this to all go away. She wanted Percy to stay, so badly. She didn't want him to go. She wished she could grip onto his hand tighter and that he would be by her side.

"Percy!" someone shouted. Both Percy and Annabeth sat up abruptly, and Annabeth gasped when she noticed four teenagers emerging from the ocean as if they had just walked out of it for a walk on land. They were each in beach clothes, and they were dry from head to toe.

"What are you guys doing here?" Percy asked while standing up. Annabeth watched in awe, as he ran over to them. Annabeth stood up as well, watching from a distance.

"Did something happen?"

"Not exactly," the blonde haired boy said. He had striking blue eyes, and tanned skin, and he was in a pair of blue swim trunks.

"Your father found out you came here," the girl with the darker skin and the choppy brown hair said. Percy turned to look at Annabeth and a longing look washed over his eyes.

"I can't go back," he said forcefully, turning to the four teenagers.

"Is that her?" the blonde haired boy asked, pointing to Annabeth. Annabeth swallowed nervously as they all looked at her. Percy nodded. Instead of looking at her like she was a new specimen, they all smiled.

"I'm Piper," the girl with the choppy hair said as she walked over to Annabeth. "This is Jason."

The blonde haired boy waved.

"Leo."

The boy with the curly brown hair and cheeky smile grinned at her.

"And Calypso."

The teenage girl with the caramel hair and almond shaped eyes smiled sweetly at Annabeth. That name surrounded familiar…

"Calypso as in the one supposed to be marrying Percy?" Annabeth asked. Calypso and Percy glanced at each other and then nodded.

"We know that it'll bring unity to our two kingdoms, but our fathers are in it for the wrong reasons," Calypso said sadly. "They want money, and money is what will be brought to our kingdoms if there is a unity in trade units."

"So they thought they'd sell their children and make a profit," Percy grumbled while rolling his eyes.

"Our kingdoms have been enemies for centuries," Piper continued, "it's no wonder they would want unity now."

"But neither one of you want to marry," Annabeth pointed out. Calypso and Percy both nodded sadly. Calypso then glanced at Leo and took his hand sadly.

"If my father ever knew I was in love with a commoner…" Calypso trailed off, and she looked down at the sand beneath her feet.

"He would kill me," Leo said, finishing the sentence with ease, like it was something he had come to terms with. Calypso shook her head and continued to look down at the sand.

"We have to do something about this," Annabeth said angrily. "It's not right."

"There's nothing we can do," Jason pointed out, and then turned to Percy.

"Perce, it's bad down there," he said nervously. "Poseidon has guards out searching the entire Atlantic Ocean for you. They'll come on land if they need to, and this is going to be the first place they look."

"We can leave," Percy said. "We can go to the middle of the country, the desert if we need to-"

"You know that's not possible," Piper said sadly while looking at Percy with a mix of empathy and sympathy.

"Why not?" Annabeth asked. She was still new to this whole mermaid/merman thing, and it took a little while getting used to.

"Mermaids and mermen are like fish," Piper explained while looking to Annabeth. "We can stay on land for a certain amount of time, but if we don't get back to water soon…"

"You'll die?" Annabeth asked. All five of them nodded. Annabeth ran a hand through her curls, tugging at each one angrily. This wasn't fair.

Why did she have to fall for a merman? Wasn't her life complicated enough?

"I'm willing to take that risk," Percy said.

"There are ponds, lakes, even rivers," Annabeth pointed out. "What's wrong with those?"

Jason shook his head and shoved his hands in the pockets of his swim trunks.

"We're saltwater mermen and mermaids," he said, "We would get extremely sick if we were to live in those."

Annabeth let out a groan of frustration. She was going to lose Percy, she knew she was going to. She glanced at him and then the rest of his friends before grabbing Percy's wrist and pulling him away from the group. They stayed behind and watched.

"Annabeth, what-"

"Go," she said forcefully. Percy stared at her, dumbfounded, but Annabeth knew she had to get her point across. She knew that Poseidon wasn't going to be merciful to his son, and she wasn't going to get Percy hurt.

"What-"

"Go back, with them. Please," Annabeth said, pleading that he would understand.

"No," he said sternly. "I won't leave you."

"You have to," Annabeth cried.

"I don't-"

"You're a prince, Percy," Annabeth said. "Your father is a king. You can't disobey him. Please for your own safety, go."

Percy shook his head again, as he looked at Annabeth with such a look of hope in his eyes that it made her heart ache. She forced herself to look away from his beautiful eyes…

"Marry Calypso," Annabeth forced herself to say. "Become king and queen with her. Rule together, and make your own rules. You can let her see, Leo without punishment. You can appoint him to higher status in the castle-"

"It doesn't work like that, Annabeth," Percy cried. "Please, I can figure something out. I can find a way to become human."

"Human?" Annabeth cried. "You would leave your family…your friends-"

"Yes I would," Percy said while clutching her hands in his.

"Why?" Annabeth choked out.

"I love you."

Annabeth stared at Percy. His eyes were filled with an emotion Annabeth had never seen before, and she wished she could stare into his eyes forever and ever.

She suddenly pulled Percy down for a kiss and her whole world spun. She wished she could stay in that moment forever, but Percy pulled away all too soon.

"I don't want to put you in danger," Percy whispered. "If those guards come after me and find me with you…"

"I know," Annabeth whispered and pressed her forehead to his. "Go."

Percy captured her lips in one more kiss before he forced himself away. Annabeth waved goodbye to the others before they each dove into the water, different colored tails popping up behind them, one after one.