Percy left whilst I was sleeping so I woke up to an empty bed.

I laid in bed waiting for my maids to turn up, looking up at the ceiling. Last night I had no nightmares and I slept like a log, which was quite refreshing. My first night of a full sleep.

"Nico is coming!" Hazel swung the door open.

"Happy?" I asked her as I got out of bed.

"More than happy." She beamed at me and ran into the wardrobe.

Ever since Nico and Hazel met, they've been friends. I don't know what connected them in the first place, but since Bianca's death, they act like brother and sister. Hazel lost her mum and Nico lost his sister. They bonded over death and heartbreak and from what I know they constantly send letters to each other.

I got into the dress that Reyna and Katie had picked out for me. We were all going to have some sort of floral pattern on our dresses so we could clearly be seen as the hostesses. It was Reyna's idea, and it was a good one.

Piper was excited at breakfast. She couldn't believe that Drew was eliminated.

"Here!" She shoved a magazine article in my face.

'LADY DREW TANAKA: ELIMINATED

Countries favourite and model Drew Tanaka has been eliminated from the Selection. In a statement she posted on her social media this morning, she said that she "...will remember everyone from my time at the palace. I've made lifelong friends and I'm happy for Prince Percy. I wish him the best..."'

The article went on and on about Drew and her experience in the Selection. It didn't tell the rest of the country how she bullied the other girls or that she disrespected the New Asian culture. In her interview nothing came up about how she was eliminated or why. It seemed everyone was disappointed that their favourite wouldn't be the new Queen. I gave up reading it after the fifth lie that was told.

"We're in the top six," Piper whispered to me.

My smile was small as I watched Percy pour maple syrup on his blue waffles.

Katie dropped by my room after lunch was finished. "Italian's just landed at the airport. Should be here soon."

I nodded, putting my bookmark in place.

"Let's go and get Reyna then."

We walked quietly to Reyna's room.

She opened the door without us knocking. "I was wondering what was taking you so long."

We walked silently towards the main doors.

"Nervous?" I asked the girls.

Reyna shook her head but Katie said yes.

"Hey," I bumped her shoulder as a car came into view at the top of the driveway. "We'll be fine."

"Let's hope so."

The car came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs and we all walked down. The driver stepped out of the car and opened the door.

King Hades of Italy stepped out of the car, wearing a black tux with a matching black bow tie. Hades is very tall, imposing and very muscular. His albino white skin and intense black eyes made him seem supernatural. His shoulder-long black hair was out and he reached into the car, pulling a hand in a white glove out. The hand was connected to Queen Maria of Italy. She was wearing an old fashion black velvet dress. A string of pearls was around her neck and her dark hair was tied back. Maria was beautiful, both of her children looking like her. Bianca had her smile and Nico had her dark brown eyes. She smiled at us and the last Royal Family member stepped out.

Nico was wearing a black hoodie, the hood pulled up over his head and black skinny jeans hanging from his skinny frame. He pulled the hood down once getting out of the car and I noticed earbuds planted in his ears. Nico always seemed to have just gotten out bed as he black hair was always messy and shaggy. His skin had paled since the last time I saw him and he pulled out his earbuds to hear Katie talking.

"Your Majesties," Reyna and I followed Katie in a curtsy. "It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Lady Katie Gardner, this is Lady Reyna Avila Ramires-Arellano and Lady Annabeth Chase."

Hades looked away bored but Maria smiled at us, talking in a sweet Italian accent. "Lovely to meet you, and to see Annabeth again."

"We hope your plane trip was enjoyable. If you would like to follow us we can show you to your rooms." Reyna gestured for them to follow us and we started up the stairs.

"How was your flight?" I asked Nico, falling back to step into line with him.

"Good." He answered.

"He just put in those headphones and listened to music the whole time," Hades grumbled.

"Oh hush, dear." Maria patted Hades' arm. "Nico can do what he likes. The flight was very long."

Nico rolled his eyes and his eyes darted to the paintings on the wall.

"Where are we staying?" Hades asked.

"Fourth floor, your Majesty. You'll be sharing the floor with the New Asian Royal Family." Katie answered politely as we started to walk up the stairs.

Hades groaned. "Not Mars. He can be so annoying sometimes."

"Hades!" Maria pointed a finger at her husband. "You like Mars and Emily."

"I like Frank." Nico piped up.

"I think Frank is scared of you," I muttered to Nico.

He grinned like a madman.

We came to the fourth-floor hallway and we stopped out the front of their rooms. Hades and Maria were to the right and Nico opposite them.

"We hope you find your rooms satisfactory. Queen Sally will escort you to afternoon tea in a couple of hours. She said that she and King Paul will be in their study if you wish to see them." Reyna opened the door to Hades and Maria's room.

Hades walked in without another word but Maria stopped and thanked us.

Nico said thanks as well and opened the door to his room.

"Hey, Nico?" I put my hand on the door so he couldn't close it.

"Yeah?"

"Hazel wants to see you as soon as possible."

He nodded and avoided eye contact. "Tell her I need to go to the hospital wing first and then I'll see her."

"Hospital wing?" I asked.

"I'm not feeling good." He looked me in the eye and then closed the door.

"Huh," I muttered to myself staring at the closed door.

"What?" Katie asked.

I squinted at her. "He needs to go to the hospital wing."

"Is he okay?" Reyna asked concerned.

I nodded. "Yeah, he's good."

They didn't ask any further questions. We decided to go to the rooftop and double check everything was okay. When we got up there, we all sighed a breath of relief. Everything looked perfect.

The tables were filled with mini cakes, mini sandwiches, dips and everything in between. Champagne was cooling as tea was ready to be served. The tables had lacy light purple table clothes and gorgeous flowers in tall vases. Lanterns that hung from the ceiling in multiple different colours were being lit by maids and a small band were setting up in the corner. They started to pluck the strings of their violins and cellos, filling the space up with beautiful music.

"Oh my gods, it's-" Katie started.

"Perfect." I sighed, smiling at my two teammates.

We waited patiently for the other girls to turn up and when they did, you could see the visible signs of disappointment on their faces.

Piper pushed me lightly on the shoulder. "Great. Just great."

The corners of my mouth tugged up. "I'm can't help it if my team is awesome."

Piper stuck out her tongue and ignored me for the next five minutes. I laughed and walked over to Katie.

"Everything ready?" I asked, my hands starting to sweat as nerves finally appeared.

Reyna nodded and as soon as Sally and Paul walked in with Maria, Hades and Nico behind them I stepped up and welcomed them.

"Your Majesties, welcome to afternoon tea," I waved my hand over to the table filled with food. "Please help yourselves to the delicious food we have prepared."

Maria smiled at us as Katie gave both her and her husband a drink of champagne.

Zoe giggle and grasped Nico's hand, pulling him towards the food. He had changed from the clothes he was wearing before into a black tux and black bow tie. I was surprised that the suit shirt wasn't black either. His eyes widened and he grabbed Percy's forearm, pulling him along as well.

"You've done a fabulous job, ladies." Sally rested a hand on my shoulder. "I love the flowers."

Katie beamed, the tips of her ears turning red. "Thank you, your majesty."

"Queen Maria, would you like to meet the other girls?" I asked.

She looked at Hades who shook his head. "I'm not going to talk to a bunch of teenage girls. I'll have a conversation with Paul, thank you very much."

Maria looped her arm with mine and patted my hand. "He can be so moody sometimes, can't he, dear?"

I chuckled. "That is Hades."

Maria rolled her eyes.

"Calypso, Rachel, Piper, I would like to introduce you to Queen Maria of Italy."

They curtsied politely towards Maria.

"Lovely to me you all. How are you?"

"I'm very well, thank you," Rachel replied. "How are you, Your Majesty?"

"Now that I think about it, Illèa is a lot warmer than back home," Maria said.

"It's winter over there, correct?" Piper asked. "Do you get snow?"

Maria nodded smiling. "Lots of it..." and then the conversation went to snow and everyone's adventures during it.

I was pulled out of the conversation before I could tell the story of how Percy nearly choked on the carrot we used for our snowman when we were ten.

"What's up?" I asked Percy when we got out of earshot of the others.

"I really badly want to kiss you." His eyes were looking at my lips.

"Yeah?" I smirked. "Why's that?"

"You asked Mum to make blue chocolate chip cookies for today." He looked longingly over at the food table.

I laughed. "That? That's why you want to kiss me? Because I got you cookies? I thought it would be something romantic."

He gasped and put his warm hands on my waist. "What could be more romantic than blue chocolate chip cookies?"

"A candlelit dinner?" I bit my lip as I thought. "Slow dancing in the rain?"

He rolled his eyes. "Not even true. Slow dancing in the rain is so clichè, it's not even romantic anymore. Cookies are much better."

"But what if that dancing led to a kiss in the rain? That would be romantic."

Percy bent down a little so his eyes were level with mine. "Are you my Annabeth Chase? She would never talk about romantic things and even if she did she would agree with the cookie thing."

I stuck out my tongue and was about to say something fantastically sarcastic when we were interrupted by a surprise noise.

We both turned shocked towards Nico who was smiling brightly at Reyna.

"Did he just laugh?" Percy asked staring at Nico, an arm around my waist.

I nodded and watched with wide eyes as he laughed again. "He hasn't done that in front of us in years."

"Look at Maria."

I followed Percy's instructions and watched as Maria wiped away a tear that had fallen. She looked at her son and smiled, then turned back to her conversation with Piper.

"This is a historic day," Percy muttered.

"Oh, shut up. He was bound to laugh sooner or later. He even was smiling this morning. Something's changed recently. Something's made him happy." My thoughts went back to how Nico needed to go to the hospital wing earlier.

Percy guided me over to Paul, Hades and Tyson and I listened to Hades rant about summer for the next thirty minutes. Apparently, the sun was too bright and the flowers made his nose itch.

Bored with the conversations being held I decided to grab a plate of mini lemon tarts and hand them around to the people mingling and sipping their champagne.

I was about to walk up to Rachel, Calypso, Katie and Reyna but I stopped a few feet away once I realised they were talking about me. I busied myself with looking at a bouquet of flowers so I could eavesdrop.

"-and did you hear that she's been sneaking into his room at night?" Rachel whispered.

Katie gasped. "What? No! What have they been doing?"

Reyna scoffed. "Who knows. I've heard Percy talking about nightmares but I bet that's a lame excuse for her to spend time with him."

"Have you not noticed he's been awfully invested in her?" Calypso asked.

Katie nodded her head. "I knew that he was spending a lot of time with her but I thought that was because of what happened."

I didn't have to see to know that Rachel rolled her green eyes. "Post-traumatic distress order. Pathetic excuse, really. When was the last time you went on a date with him Katie?"

"Um," Katie paused for a moment to think. "Not since he's been back."

"That's an extremely long time to not ask you out on a date." Reyna pressed.

"So?" Katie asked. "He's been busy."

"Too busy making out with Annabeth." I restrained myself from slapping Calypso. Not all of my time spent with Percy is making out with him. We talk too!

"You guys sound jealous. Annabeth is his best friend. They've been through a traumatic experience together." Katie was about to walk off when Rachel grabbed her forearm.

"Yesterday I heard Sally and Annabeth talking about what type of flowers she'll have at her coronation."

My eyes widened as I watched Katie's hands curl into fists. "What type did they decided?" Her voice sounded strained.

"Roses."

Katie held back a scream. "Roses? Roses?!" She leant in closer to Rachel, Reyna and Calypso and I almost didn't catch the next few words. "What do we do?"

"Show him what she really is," Rachel smirked. "A dirty, cheating liar."

I quickly ducked into the hallway and leant my forehead against the cold wall trying to slow my fast breathing. They think I'm a dirty, cheating liar? They think I make excuses to see Percy? That I've been faking my mental health? I was surprised how quickly Katie got jealous, and I thought she was my friend. I felt a sting in my chest when I thought about what they were planning to do. How, though? Are they just going to corner Percy and tell him their perspective of me? Percy would not believe the words coming out of their mouths for one second. He knew me to well and he knew that I wasn't faking the nightmares just to spend time with him. I came to a conclusion rather quickly. Any other person would be worried about their plans and worry about Percy, but I wasn't just any other person. Percy has known me for eighteen years. He will not believe the lies that they tell him, so there is no need to worry about four petty jealous girls. As far as I knew, I'm the only one he's in love with, so I'm actually winning this competition for his heart.

"Hey," Percy gave me a cup of tea with a nectar shot, just the way I like it when I walked back outside. "I saw you duck out and was going to follow but I figured you needed a moment to yourself."

See? We didn't even have to look each other in the eyes for him to know that something was wrong and that I needed a minute to myself. We'll be fine.

I took a sip of the warm tea, it's flavour and warmth tingling through me. "I'm all good. Just needed a moment to myself, it was getting a bit too crowded here."

He squinted at me and didn't comment any further but I knew it wouldn't be the last of it. "Alright then. Zoe is waving you over. I think she got new shoes last week and wanted to show you."

I gave him a small smile and turned around to find Zoe. She did indeed have new shoes and they were most sparkly ones yet. I had a conversation with Tyson about the new shipment of books that just came into the library and then a conversation with Sally about Percy.

"He's been so spaced out during meetings lately." She frowned as she watched her son talk to Piper and Nico.

"Yeah. It's taken a toll on him."

"But you've helped him so much," She placed a hand on my upper back. "I know about you and him at night. I can sometimes hear you both crying through the walls. I've tried to talk to Percy, but he pushed me away."

My heart broke for the mother who just wanted to help her son. "I'm sorry Sally."

"Just tell him that I'm here. And that I'll listen."

I nodded and thought back to all the times we had cried after we woke from nightmares in Percy's room. Sally must have heard everything.

"Excuse me, everyone!" I yelled over the top of the music to get everyone's attention. "Dinner will be served in forty-five minutes. You can spend that time up here, in your rooms or in the gardens." I smiled. "I hope you have enjoyed your evening so far."

I stepped away from the doorway as everyone went back to their conversations.

"We did well," I told Katie who was standing next to me.

She nodded her jaw tense. "Yeah, we did."

Her conversation with the other girls floated around my brain. "Everything alright, Katie?"

I reached out to take her hand but she pulled back so swiftly I couldn't see her hand. She glared at me with so much hatred that I didn't think it was possible.

"I'm fine Annabeth," She spat. "Why don't you run back to Percy?"

I watched deflated as she stalked over to Rachel.

A flicker of black court my attention and I watched curiously as Nico slipped out of the door and into the hallway. My thoughts of Katie were pushed to the back of my mind.

My eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. I looked around and deciding that there wasn't anymore I could do here, I followed Nico out of the rooftop.

He started to jog and I followed, picking my heavy skirt up as I followed him down the stairs.

I nearly I fell over once I realised that he was going to the hospital wing where a good-looking doctor was working. The dots all connected.

Since about ten months ago, whenever Nico visited us here in Illéa he's always spent most of the time in the hospital wing. We've always thought he was addicted to the smell. Now I'm not so sure.

He was about to turn the corner when I called out to him. "Nico! Wait!" He stopped and waited for me to catch up, watching me with extreme caution. "Hey, wanna come on a walk in the gardens with me?" I asked trying to think of a way to phrase the question that was on the top of my tongue.

He eyed me and shook his head. "Sorry, I'm, um not felling to well." He awkwardly patted his stomach.

"Oh, something you ate?" I faked concern. "Are you going to the hospital wing then?"

He blushed, looked down at his feet and nodded.

Tapping my chin I continued. "I think Will's on today." At the mention of Will's name his head shot up.

"Will?" His eyes looked so brown an innocent.

"Yeah, Will Solace. Doctor Solace. Surely you've met him."

Nico shook his head. "No. I don't think-I don't think I have." He stuttered out, obviously nervous that I had court on to one of his biggest secrets.

I quietly smiled at my self. I knew what was happening.

"Oh really?" I asked and he nodded. "Huh. Well, he's the tall doctor. Blonde hair, blue eyes, face covered in freckles." I inched closer to Nico.

"Good looking?" Nico asked.

My face broke into a massive smile as Nico realised what he had just said. He quickly covered his mouth and moved back against the wall.

"Yeah, he's pretty good looking, isn't he Nico?" He flattened himself against the wall. "Good kisser too?"

He nodded before he could think.

I moved closer to him. I knew he hated people in his personal space. He'd spill his deepest secrets if you got close enough.

"Been kissing a doctor lately have we Nico? How's the long distance relationship going?"

Nico tried to run to the left but I put a hand on the side of his head, blocking his exit.

"You can tell me, you know. I can keep a secret and whatever you're hiding doesn't change the fact that your still the same kid I knew five years ago. "

He tried to move the other way but I blocked him again with my arm. "I'm not going to force you to spill something that I know will take a lot of courage to tell me. But remember, I'm practically your cousin."

He raised his dark eyebrows at me. "Is that because you're going to marry Percy?"

I growled. "Don't change the subject, death breath. This is about your relationship, not mine."

He sighed seeing there was no way out of this.

"Yes, fine. I've been secretly dating Will for nearly a year now. Happy?"

I smiled, breathing out a huge breath of relief. I moved my arms away and backed away, nodding.

"And?" I asked, wanting to know the full story.

"Remember when I broke my arm a year ago here? Well, Will helped me and I got a crush. The next time I visited we kissed. We started dating after that." He mumbled, looking away from me and focusing his attention on anything and everything.

It must have been relief that I felt in my chest. Maybe because he had found out who he really is or that he was comfortable with telling me. "Does anyone know?"

"Just Jason. He walked in on us. I made him not tell anyone. He's tried to get me to tell everyone but how would my country feel if their future king is gay and can't produce an heir?" He played with the skull ring on his finger, twisting it around and around, a nervous gesture.

"Hey," I placed a hesitant hand on his elbow. "I support you, Jason does. Percy will, Hazel will. Everyone will. They'll be happy for you and Will. You can always adopt, there are so many options. We all love you, Nico." Even though I knew he would push me away I hugged him.

He didn't though, but melted into my touch. I was pretty sure I heard a sigh of relief escape his lips too.

He pulled back from the hug. "Please don't tell anyone. I'll tell my family soon, Hazel too. I just need a little bit more time."

I nodded and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Tell Will I said hi."

He smiled his thanks to me and turned the corner to go and see his boyfriend.

What an amazing couple they would make. Will, a ball of sunshine, and Nico, a cloud of darkness. Maybe they could balance each other out.

My smile fell once I walked outside, a cold breeze pushing the hair out of my face. The sky was an explosion of yellow, orange and pink. The colours of the sun setting on another delightful day of the Selection.

"Hey!" Percy stopped next to me puffing. I didn't even hear his footsteps come up behind me. I saw you walk out and thought I'd give you a head start. What's wrong? And tell me the truth."

I bit my lip and looked away, the memory of Katie's hatred filled glare playing on repeat in the back of my mind. I can't tell him about the other girls. He cares about them too, I can't split him like this. "I just-I just realised how close I am."

His hand rested on my shoulder. "Close to what?"

"How close I am to the end. I'm in the final six, Percy."

He spun me around and placed his other hand on my shoulder, bending down a little so he was eye level with me. He eyes searched mine. "Is that a bad thing? Do you not want to marry me?"

"Of course I want to marry you!" I blurted out. My hand came flying up to cover my mouth as I watched emotions ripple across Percy's face. I let my hand fall. "I am in love with you, aren't I?"

"Are you?" I raised my eyebrows at his idiotic question. "Sorry, stupid question. You've told me multiple times."

"Cleary not enough," I muttered looking away.

He kissed my cheek. "And I'm in love with you. What's the big deal? Is the picture of me being your husband so horrible that you need to take a walk for fresh air?"

"It's not a horrible picture," I shook my head. "It's a wonderful picture."

He smiled his charming trouble maker lopsided grin and kissed me.

Thoughts of Nico's love life and jealous girls flew out of my head as my body melted with Percy's.

Dinner flew by pretty quickly. I was satisfied to see that Nico needed help re-tying his bow tie and when I winked at him his face was so red I thought it was going to spontaneously combust. The food was amazing and Hestia's dessert melted in your mouth and left you begging for more. I talked politics, fashion, Percy and everything else under the sun as we ate and we had no issues. It seemed Katie, Reyna and I had planned the whole day down to perfection. I got distracted though, multiple times during dinner. I couldn't brush off the glares so easily as I had hoped I would.

Reyna thanked everyone for a fantastic evening and excused everyone to go to sleep. I left the dining room with one last glance back towards Percy and gave a high five to the rest of my time.

Hazel gushed about seeing Nico and how excited she was that he was here. She didn't say anything about Nico's relationship with Will so I guessed that he hadn't gotten around to that.

I was just about to brush my teeth when I heard a faint knock at the door.

I opened it and Percy was standing there holding Zoe on his hip. She had tear stains down her cheeks.

"Zo-Zo?" I asked quietly, reaching out to take her into my arms.

"She wanted to see you." Percy closed the door behind us. I noticed that he was wearing a grey t-shirt and black shorts. I had to gain some self-control to move my eyes from his shirt clinging to his chest to the crying girl I was holding.

She wrapped her legs around my waist and buried her head in my shoulder. I had my hands on the back of her thighs.

"What's wrong?" I asked Percy.

He shrugged and sat down on my bed, watching as I rubbed circles on Zoe's back.

"What happened, Zoe?" I whispered into her ear.

She pulled back and looked at me sadly. Her bottom lip trembled. "Mummy banned me."

"Huh?" I asked, taking a moment to decipher what she was saying. "She banned you from what?"

Percy came up and stood behind me, his hand on the small of my back. He rested his chin on my shoulder as we both waited for Zoe to answer. If someone walked in joe and didn't know who we were, it would look to be a mother and father watching their daughter. I nearly smiled at the thought.

"The game," She said. "Capture the flag."

Percy sighed and wiped a tear from her cheek. "Is this punishment for the table?"

She nodded and I couldn't help but grin. I turned my head away before she could see it.

"Uh, Zoe, this is what happens when you've done something bad. You get punished so you don't do it again."

"You also hurt me really badly." Percy rubbed the back of his head remembering the pain from the fall from his chair a couple of days ago.

"I didn't mean to hurt you!" She buried her head in my hair. "I just want to play with you guys this year."

I sighed and looked up at Percy. He raised his hands in the air saying that he didn't know what to do.

"Zoe, you need to understand that your mum doesn't want to hurt you, but you did a really bad thing," I said in a soft voice. "You know you can always watch us and plan with your team, you just aren't allowed to play. You can still have fun and hopefully, this will help you learn from your mistakes."

"I'm tired." She grumbled, obviously not getting the answer that she wanted.

"I'm sure you are. You were screaming when I walked into your room." Percy chuckled.

I helped Zoe into my bed because she wanted to have a sleepover with me.

"Are you going back to yours?" I asked Percy after I spat out the toothpaste.

He shrugged from the doorway. "I'm just going to end up here anyway. Plus I'm already in my pyjamas."

I kissed him on the lips, lingering there for a moment before walking back into my bedroom. "Lucky you."

"No," He pulled the blanket over me and a sleeping Zoe in the middle. "Lucky you."

Word count: 5100!

I had trouble writing this chapter but I think I'm glad with how it turned out.

SolANEGLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. ARE YOU HAPPY? The ship has sailed! And what a beautiful ship it is!!!

Also, can I just take a moment to say this, and I don't wanted any hateful comments or a fight to start but: LOVE IS LOVE! <3

Got some tension between all the girls. It was bound to happen as we got closer to the end.

Question, and please don't start another mass thread of comments! But: what should Annabeth get Percy for his 18th birthday? (NOT A RING!)

Happy Australia Day to all my fellow Aussies. *in a terrible take on the Australian accent* Put a shrimp on the barbie, mate! (No one even says that!)

I am forever thankful to you people. The amount of messages and comments of praise that I receive astounds me! And the amount of reads this fic has!!! Mind blowing!

Also, we are looming closer to the end my friends! 5 more chapters not including the epilogue!!

With hugs,

- Squirrel