This one shot was also made especially for percyscamp's competition, but I love it and wanted to share it personally! Enjoy!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Perspective: Alternating third person

Type:  AU

Main Ship: Charlena

Word Count: 3917

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Charles and Silena. Silena and Charles. Say those names to anyone in Sparta, and it would have meant absolutely nothing. Silena, daughter of Lord Beauregard, was expected by her father to court only the highest of men. Charles Beckendorf, a lowly, colored foot soldier - also known as a hoplite - would never make it on that list. But, even without the approval of Silena's parents, the young couple adored each other. They just had to do their best to keep their secret.

Charles had a plan, though. He had been assigned a mission by his commander. He and his fellow comrade, Perseus Jackson, were to intrude a ship belonging to Athens. As of then, Athens was in a back and forth set of battles with Sparta. The constant fighting had taken a toll on Sparta, and the king was sick of it. If Charles and Percy accomplished their mission, they were to be promoted in ranking or could leave the army altogether to start a new life.

If Charles was able to hop aboard the ship, plant a few bundles of Greek fire strategically, and leave before detonating, he was a free man. He could only hope that his beloved Silena was as eager to flee the land as himself.

Silena herself was completely fed up with the human race's mindset. Why was everybody so into sticking their noses in other people's business? If she wanted to date a black soldier, why couldn't she? But most of all, she was sick of her parents. Her mother was a want-to-be Aphrodite, obsessed with her looks and known for cheating on her unloyal husband. Lord Beauregard was just as bad, if not worse. He not only had dozens of conquests but was also the main supporter of Silena marrying a rich old snob.

Silena just wanted to be happy, and to do that she needed to hide her relationship from her family and everyone in the land for as long as she lived. But she wasn't sure that would make her happy either.

*****

The night before Charles was scheduled to chase that pesky Athenian ship, he snuck out of his barracks and along the familiar path to the Beauregards' mansion. Through alleys, around buildings, and under footbridges, he tiptoed around the town until he finally arrived at the home of his love.

Charles snuck around the large building to the back, where Silena's window was present several stories up. He jammed his fingers and toes into the rickety hand holds formed from fallen bricks, making his way up the wall foot by foot. After a minute or two, he slowly nudged open her window as to not make any noise. Then, Charles crept inside the bedroom.

"Silena," he whispered, "are you awake?"

He heard quiet rustling, which was promptly followed by a soft, "Who's here?"

Charles held in a laugh. "It's me, sleepy head. I wanted to talk to you."

"Charlie?" Silena asked. "Oh, come on over. I'll light the lamp."

He did just so, kicking off his muddy leather sandals and shuffling over to her humongous bed. After a few curses, Silena brought a match to an oil lamp.

"At last, I can see your beautiful face," Charles teased, although he wasn't quite joking.

Silena rolled her royal blue eyes, gently sitting on the bed. "What brings you here?" she asked.

"I need to tell you something," he explained, fumbling with his hands.

Suddenly, he felt nervous. What if Silena didn't want to leave Sparta? It would make sense; this place was her home after all. Besides, why would a royal like her want to flee the only land she had ever known for an unruly soldier boy?

But when Silena gave him that look, with the wide eyes and a sweet smile, Charles felt all of his worries melt away.

"The commander gave Percy and me an assignment that if we complete, we are able to start a new life."

"Are you serious?" she asked him, shocked.

He nodded, grasping her dainty, soft hands in his large, calloused ones. "I'm as serious as I've ever been."

"What makes this mission so special? Certainly, others have done tasks and not been rewarded so fruitfully."

Charles should have known that Silena would suspect something. She was a smart girl, and she wasn't so naive to think that everything was rainbows and gold.

"We'll be dealing with Greek fire, and if the detonation process goes awry there is a chance of fatality. But you know that this is my specialty, love. I can handle this."

Silena pursed her lips. "You were never cut out for the soldier life, Charlie."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, not necessarily offended, but confused.

She blew her black hair from her view, flames reflecting off of her crystal eyes. "You're the sweetest, kindest, most empathetic man I know. I know that Percy isn't as trained with trapping and that are willing to sacrifice your life for his."

Charles bit his thumbnail, a bad habit he'd been reprimanded of time and time again. "And if I do?"

"What are you trying to say? That you don't care if you live or die? That your existence has no impact on me?" Silena exclaimed.

He stroked her face. "Silena, trust me. I can handle this, and the end result is worth more than we can imagine. We can run away together and live happily ever. All you have to do is trust me."

Silena's eyes danced around his face, taking in his expression. He really was serious, wasn't he?

Charles rolled his plump lips into his mouth. "You do trust me, don't you?"

"Of course." She leaned up and kissed his cheek softly. "I trust you, Charlie."

*****

The following morning resulted in an unhealthy mixture of joy and jitters. Charles rolled out of his stiff bunk and dressed in his black linen tunic. Shoving his feet into his best sandals, he rushed out of the barracks and to his commander's housing unit.

Along the way, Charles quite literally ran into his friend and fellow hoplite, Percy Jackson.

"Whoa there," Charles said. "Sorry, Percy."

Percy grinned, showing off his bright teeth that would win him all the ladies - if he wasn't so loyal to his mysterious mistress. "No problem. Are you alright? You seem nervous."

Charles laughed, albeit a bit forcedly. "Of course I'm nervous. This could go wrong very quickly, but I'm sure everything will work out."

His happy-go-lucky pal smiled again. "Of course. Besides, you've got to get back home to your sweetheart," he teased.

Charles felt his cheeks warm. "I know I do. We discussed the plan last night, and I think that if we make it out alive, Silena and I are going to flee to some other land."

Percy glanced up at him thoughtfully. "Where to?"

He shrugged. "At first I was thinking Athens, but then Silena brought to my attention that we were destroying one of their prized ships today."

"My...friend, Annabeth, is from Athens. It's been difficult keeping in touch with her through the feud between Sparta and Athens, but I bet that she could sneak the two of you in and get you a place to stay for a while."

"That would be amazing. Are you sure that she would do this for us? That seems to be a lot to ask from a 'friend'."

Percy blushed. "Don't worry about the technicalities. But yes, we could get you in easily."

Charles smiled. Everything seemed to be falling into place so smoothly. "Sounds great. Let's go check in with the commander."

*****

Step, step, look right. Step, step, look left. Charles repeated the mantra in his head as he crept around the large Athenian ship.

Percy was doing his own job, distracting the guards whilst Charles planted the detonation devices. Charles couldn't tell which assignment was riskier, but he did know that he was insanely terrified doing his own.

While setting down another bundle of Greek fire, each hair on Charles' arms stood straight. The sound of feet shuffling along the floorboards filled his ears. He quickly ducked behind a half wall and held his breath, doing his best to remain undetectable.

Before long, the footsteps neared closer, bringing with them insistent murmuring.

"I don't understand what you're trying to tell me."

"Sir, there's been a breach onboard. Someone was spotted on the lower deck, most likely a retched Spartan."

"And you're telling me instead of sending out a group to search?" the first voice exclaimed. "Perhaps you're working for the Spartans as well."

"Now you are just acting paranoid, Sir. I apologize for my unprofessional manner. I will go gather some hoplites and assign them to - "

"No!" the voice interrupted with authority. "No, this is a very important task and I will not have my lowly footsoldiers get the chance to mess up! Send out my personal guards."

"Got it."

The steps stomped off in two different directions, and Charles took the time to catch his breath. He hadn't yet been to the lower deck, so that meant that Percy must've been seen. Was he in danger? Charles wasn't sure, but he knew that he had to do something.

He stood up and glanced around for any lingering Athenians. Then he bolted in the direction that the two men had first come from. That was his best guess for where the apparent messenger had taken off to. Charles decided that the best chance at survival was to not let that guard get the opportunity to send out a search for the two of them.

Along the way, Charles haphazardly planted the Greek fire in different nooks and crannies. He just hoped that the locations were distanced properly and able to be detonated with the initial blow. The goal was to set off a chain reaction, meaning only lighting a few bundles and getting those to set off the lot of them. This would minimize danger and time. With shivers running through Charles' body as he sped through the ship, though, he wasn't sure if the plan would work.

Finally, Charles found a set of stairs leading to the first deck. He snuck around, being careful not to be seen since the first deck was a lot more crowded than the previous one.

A familiar mop of ragged black hair flashed across Charles' vision. Percy rushed around the deck, snatching different objects from some men and hiding them in the pockets of others. His head was craned downwards and he was dressed in white chiton, standard clothes for any Greek off duty.

Charles glanced around before standing straight and mimicking Percy's tactful movements.

"Percy," he whispered once within earshot.

Percy's head twitched. "Beckendorf?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, it's me. I need to be brief because I am wearing suspicious clothing for an Athenian, but I have bad news. One of the men caught sight of you and they're sending out guards to search for you. They supposedly will be here any minute. You need to get out of sight. Perhaps even off the boat."

"What?" Percy said, much too loudly.

"I know, but it will be fine. Just do your best to get out of here, and I will carry out the detonation. We will meet back at the same spot as planned, alright?"

Charles could tell that his close friend and comrade was wary and disgruntled. "I promise that I can handle this, Perce."

Percy slowly nodded. "Okay. I'll leave as soon as I see the guards."

"No, leave now. They'll capture you if they see you at all."

"Beckendorf," he warned. "Let me do my job. There's no way that I will let you stay by yourself if I could still be helping. Carry on planting the Greek fire, and I assure you that I will book it as soon as necessary."

Not wanting to argue with his friend, Charles nodded and took off. As he continued to do his job, his mind wandered to all of the possibilities of what could go wrong. Of course, this just distracted his mind and caused his reflexes to slow.

The sound of a sword being unsheathed caused Charles to halt midstep.

"Don't move, foul Spartan. Stay where you are."

Charles slowly turned around. He was greeted with the man behind the voice of the messenger from earlier on.

"Whoa," breathed out the man. "You're a..."

"What? You're shocked that Spartans allow blacks footsoldiers to perform their important tasks?" he spat, totally out of character.

The man's face showed pure surprise. "I - uh...just, come with me. The commander has a special request of what is done to you, Spartan."

Charles decided that his best bet was to play along until the last minute. As soon as he was especially in danger - because, let's face it, as a soldier on an enemies ship, he was always in danger - he would detonate the Greek fire and flee the ship in the midst of chaos.

"Up," spat the messenger.

Charles complied, trudging up the steps to what appeared to be the top deck of the ship. He was greeted with many angry faces. That didn't surprise him, but what did was the sight of Percy being forced to his knees by a tall, bulky man.

"I have a second infiltrator, Sir," his capturer told the tall man.

"Wonderful," the man replied. "Bring him here so I can scold them at the same time."

Charles resisted the urge to roll his eyes. After several years of being trained to be more manly, he was yet again being treated like a child.

The messenger shoved him over to the large man who appeared to be the commander.

"Do you two know where you are?" the man bellowed.

Percy cleared his throat. "Um, we're on a boat."

The man roared, angrily piercing the deck with his sword. "Not just any boat, peasant. You are aboard the boat of the almighty Kostas. I am the most prized commander of the Athenian leader. Did you really think that you two could sneak around undetected?"

"That was the plan," Percy retorted again.

Charles nudged his idiotic friend with his leg. "Shut up before you get us killed," he whispered.

"Sorry," he mumbled incoherently. "I'm trying to distract him so you can carry out the plan."

"You cannot carry out the plan, Spartans. You have already been captured. Clearly, there is no way for you to do anymore."

"Right," said Percy understandingly. "How foolish of me."

Kostas smiled grotesquely. "I was planning on executing the two of you immediately, but you amuse me. Perhaps I should keep you as my personal entertainers."

Charles laughed. "That certainly would be an upgrade," he said, playing along with Percy's tactic. "The Spartan army is an awful place to be. They treat us awfully and never laugh at our antics. I'm sure working for a prized Athenian commander wouldn't even compare."

"I'm glad you realize that we are superior," said Kostas. "But alas, I cannot have the other commanders thinking I am weak. Lili, send them to Belen."

Lili, the messenger, grabbed the back of Percy's and Charles' clothes and yanked them upwards.

Percy coughed out a laugh and Lili frowned.

"What, Spartan?"

"Nothing, it's just...Lili is a great name."

He angrily smacked Percy across the face, causing the soldier to angrily stare down the older man.

"What makes you think you can do that?" he asked, his face transforming into a stone cold mask.

Lili's own fierce expression faltered. It seemed that the messenger was only able to be bold in moments of preparation, and Percy had taken him by surprise. In fact, Percy took everyone in the room by surprise. It was now or never, Charles decided.

Charles pulled away from Lili and ran to the other side of the deck, straight toward one of the guards. He yanked a piece of steel jewelry that he had seen from around the guard's neck off and immediately twisted around and down the steps. Zooming downstairs, he made it to the second deck, where the majority of his Greek fire bundles were planted.

Charles struck the necklace's charm against the wall, causing sparks. After a few more strikes, an ember landed atop of the Greek fire. As it began smoldering, the bundle sent green smoke into the air.

"Holy Hephaestus," he hissed under his breath.

With wide eyes, he lit a few more bundles before turning to run back up the steps. He couldn't, though, because an angry man was blocking his path.

"What have you done?" asked Lili with wide eyes.

"Get out of my way!" Charles exclaimed.

"Why should I?" the messenger retorted. "You are only here to exterminate us, am I wrong? You are useless and have nothing to offer."

Charles couldn't believe that this was actually happening. I can do this, he thought. They all said I wasn't able to, but I can.

"Listen. That Greek fire is going to go off in less than a minute, killing both of us. If you don't get out of my way this very minute, I will make you get out of my way."

Lili was taken aback, so he stumbled up the steps. Charles gratefully pounded up the stairs behind him. Now, if he could just make it to the top deck and hurtle off of the ship with Percy, he'd be free.

The eerie sound of sizzling picked up, and suddenly, a large boom sounded. Charles dropped to the ground and covered his head as three more explosions occurred. Rubble flew over him, blocking the stairway, but only after Lili darted up to the top deck.

"Curse you, Lili!" he shouted, looking over his shoulder.

So much damage had taken place just from a few bundles, and he could already hear more noise signifying another few explosions. The entire ship was going down, and it appeared that he was going down with it.

There was nothing he could do. He was trapped. He would never make it out to see his beloved Silena again. But the least he could do was try.

Charles turned back to brave the storm. He raced through the hall, leaping over fallen walls and avoiding collisions with Athenian men. But then, just when things seemed to be going well, a bundle of Greek fire went off far too close to Charles. He was hit by immense heat, sparks of fire, and deadly shrapnel.

He felt a warm liquid pouring down the back of his skull. He clutched his temple and crouched down. Why did his head hurt so badly?

Silena, he thought desperately. Oh, I love you, Silena.

The last thing Charles saw was his favorite pair of blue eyes, shimmering before fading into complete black.

*****

"I'm such a failure!" Percy screamed, kicking a rock as hard as he could. "Ouch!"

He managed to wash ashore after diving into the ocean during a detrimental series of explosions. It seemed to be Athenian territory, based upon the intricate architecture. Annabeth would be astonished, he thought happily. Then, he felt guilty. He had a chance at seeing his lover once more, while his comrade, his friend, would never see his dear Silena ever again.

"Who is here?" a snarky, female voice called down through a window. "This land is owned by high authorities! You will be sent to jail if you don't show yourself."

Percy rolled his eyes. "I'm sure I'm going to jail no matter what, Sweetheart."

He could hear a scoff from all the way below the young lady. "Don't call me that, Narcissist. I'm in a relationship."

"As am I."

"Well, come to the door. I must tell my father who is trespassing."

Great. Absolutely everything that could go wrong was going wrong.

"The name's Perseus Jackson, but I have places to be. Can I do this another time?"

There was a pause. "Percy?"

"Uh, yeah, that's what I go by."

"You silly Seaweed Brain!" said the voice. "It's Annabeth! Come in and tell me what's going on!"

*****

After about a week, Annabeth sent Percy on his way back to Sparta.

"Don't be selfish," she'd told him. "Silena deserves to know what happened. Then, I promise we can spend the rest of our lives together."

So there he was, waiting at the door of the Beauregard manor.

"Hello," said a young servant boy.

"Hi there," Percy said, smiling kindly. "My name is Percy Jackson. Is Silena Beauregard here?"

The boy nodded. "I shall go get her."

"Thank you."

He ran off to fetch Silena, a slight blush dusting his cheeks. Percy frowned, wondering how the poor kid was treated that made such simple compliments surprising.

"Percy!" rang out his good friend's cheery voice. "How are you?"

Percy looked at her solemnly. "I'm well, but I have some news."

The happy smile faded from Silena's face as her eyes drooped with sadness and realization. "Where's Charlie?"

"There was an accident," he began. "I was causing a distraction on the first deck but someone noticed us. Charles was doing his best to get the two of us off, but one of the guards trapped him inside of the ship. All of the Greek fire bombs were going off and...well, there was nothing I could do. I'm sorry, Silena, but Charles died."

A tear spilled down her porcelain face. "No. No, there's no way. He promised! He said he'd come back! We were going to spend the rest of our lives together!"

Percy's heart throbbed, and he reached down to entangle Silena in a comforting embrace. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," he whispered.

She sobbed into his shoulder. "I never got the chance to introduce him to my family, Percy. I was worried that they wouldn't like him, but now we'll never know. I can't believe that he's gone. What will I do with my life?"

"You'll do the best you can, I suppose. Charles would just want you to be happy."

*****

Charles would just want her to be happy, sure, but Silena could only be happy with Charles. She gulped as she looked down from her window.

It's the only way, she assured herself. The only way to be happy.

Silena had spent almost a month in utter despair. She could hardly stomach a meal, never spoke, and anything that remotely connected to Charles sent her into a crying fit.

She took in a deep breath and whispered out into the city, "I love you, Charlie. I cannot be apart from you any longer. It hurts too much. I will see you soon, as long as you trust me."

Silena Beauregard had taken a leap of faith when she began her relationship with Charles Beckendorf. It was time for another.

Charles and Silena. Silena and Charles. Say those names to anyone in the society of Sparta, and they'd rave about the prime example of true love. Because everybody knows that the love between those two was real and inseparable.