THE FALSE KNIGHT | Percabeth AU

19: Punches Help with Anger

Annabeth's Perspective:

Annabeth thought she was probably supposed to feel embarrassed of what happened. Instead all she felt was a deep ache. It was like a piece of her heart, soul, was missing. She didn't know whether she could even survive like this for the rest of her life. She didn't know whether she should just give up.

Should she just end everything? That way everyone could be happy. Everyone's lives seemed better off without her.
Not to mention, the betrayal of Luke. Annabeth felt so bad, because she now knew what Percy was feeling.

"Annabeth, wake up! Wait, you're already awake?" Piper said, surprised and coming into the room.

"Yeah. I thought since it was wedding day, some extra work may be needed." She was fully ready, wearing her entire uniform, her hair covered with a hair-kerchief.

"Great," Piper gave her a smile. "You're running the food today. At the wedding. You're gonna be serving the food."

"Oh great!" Annabeth grinned, throwing her a chipper smile back. For once, it was genuine. Finally. She would have her chance to watch out for Luke, since he and the rebels were planning to attack at the wedding.

"You seem pretty happy today," Piper noted as she helped Annabeth make the bed. "What changed? Finally got used to the wedding?"

Annabeth's smile faded. No, she would never get used to it. The heartbreak of losing Percy to someone else. Honestly, she had no idea that when she was going to come here, she was gonna fall in love. She thought she was gonna train, make friends, and be happy forever. Maybe even see some of the world. And give girls more opportunities.

She quickly shook her head. "I- Let's go."
Anyone walking down the halls would have seen a nurse and a maid and ignored them. But Annabeth was prepared. The puffy maid's skirt and corset that she was forced to wear actually came in handy to hide weapons. She also put her dagger in the small bag she had sewn when she was younger and tied it to her waist.

Should I tell someone? Her mind suddenly goes. Annabeth realized that it was a good idea. Maybe her friends could help her.
"Hey Piper...I have to tell you something..."

30 minutes later, Annabeth's throat was sore from all the speaking. Around her was Piper, who looked like she was about to fume fire, Jason, who looked calm but worried, Frank, who was close to tears, and Leo, who was distracted and trying to build a ship.

"Honestly! MAN. I WANNA PUNCH HIS FREAKING FACE OFF!!!" Piper screamed.
Annabeth shushed her. "Calm down. We don't wanna attract attention in case they're listening."

"Still. I'm prepared." Piper pulled out a syringe, needles, and tape. Jason looked like he was trying not to faint at this point. Oh romance, why must you impact people this much?

"Okay, I'm just gonna use my catapult and shoot it at people. Oh, and Frank, I updated your arrows! Now they work a lot better," Leo said, handing Frank a bunch of silvery gold arrows.

"Thanks! These would work so well," said Frank, his worried look fading off.
Now it was time for action.

;;;

Annabeth had never seen a palace so crowded. There were people everywhere. In a huge room you would think that it would be hard to find people, but nope - it was packed with people. Annabeth was dressed up and ready to go behind the food counter. She tried to look laid back and relaxed as she served the few people who had gotten food already.

It was a really beautiful room, though. There were white curtains hung around the walls everywhere. Bouquets of flowers surrounded the walls. Annabeth wished with all her being she could participate.
She didn't really see that many suspicious people. She suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder to find Piper standing there. "All of the knights know about it, and everyone is aware. Everyone followed your instructions and has got a weapon with them." She grinned at Annabeth, and she could see the proudness that Piper held in her eyes.

Annabeth hugged her. "Thank you, Pipes." She wanted to say more, but she couldn't. Her eyes told Piper everything, she hoped. They were best friends.
Thankfully, she seemed to get it, and gave Annabeth a reassuring smile, turning around to leave. Piper was technically just a guest to the wedding, but little did the royal family know that she was prepared.

Suddenly, the music died down. Everyone sat down in their seats as people kept coming onto stage. Annabeth could not focus. All she could think about was the rebel attack.

Percy came onto the stage, wearing a cape and his crown. His hair was combed, or at least attempted to be, and Annabeth's breath caught as she saw his sea-green eyes. A clump of girls around her age were giggling and laughing, and Annabeth started feeling jealousy rise up.
She pushed them down. FOCUS!!! She looked around, studying the faces of the guests. Nothing suspicious.

A few moments later, everyone stood up as Calypso walked out on the aisle. The wedding march played. Calypso looked absolutely gorgeous in a long white dress. It was really fancy and overdone, but her veil and flower crown did look good with her loosely curled light brown hair. Honestly, she looked like a goddess.
Annabeth felt so depressed, the only thing that cheered her up was Percy not even widening his eyes. He didn't turn red or do anything as King Atlas walked Calypso down the aisle. The king handed her off. Poseidon and Sally were to the side, watching this scene with teary eyes. Well, Sally was. Poseidon looked like he didn't care.

Tyson was hanging out in the front row. Annabeth anxiously waited as Atlas handed Calypso off to Percy.

As the vows and the whole boring speech was made, Annabeth could hardly stand still. Then it was the kiss, and Annabeth shut her eyes, not wanting to see what was gonna happen next.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang through the air.
For a split second, Annabeth's instincts took over. She froze, then turned in the direction of the gunshot. Then suddenly, she remembered what she was supposed to do. What she prepared for.

She honestly couldn't say what she did next. It was practically all just a blur of getting people out into safety, battling people. She noticed Percy leave with Calypso in the corner of her eye. Bodyguards were protecting them and the royal families.

She couldn't focus on that now. She jabbed and punched and striked, her training coming back to her even though it had been months.

Suddenly she heard a familiar sound to her right. It was Percy. For some reason, all their fights, all their battles, all their arguments just left her brain. She and Percy just fought in unison, tying up rebels as they went.

"You get him! I'll get this one!" Percy yelled over the chaos. "Got it," Annabeth called, still fighting.

She didn't even notice as suddenly a force pulled her back from the scene. She whirled around, dagger ready, when a pair of familiar eyes made her almost drop her dagger.

"Luke."

She was surprised at how cold her voice was towards him. But it did make sense. This man betrayed and hurt her even though they were very close.

"You're still alive, Annie? You should be dead by now," Luke spat. He stalked towards her, and Annabeth acted without thinking.

She attacked.

Annabeth was always defense. But she took the upper hand, fighting as hard as she could. She didn't notice when Luke's sword nicked her arm. She didn't care when she felt a sharp pain in her leg. She barely felt it actually, just saw a lot of blood. But she was just... angry.

She fought for the kingdom, for her friends and family, for the people she cared about. Most of all, she fought for Percy. Because he had taught her that life was worth living. And even if she died, she would do anything to protect him the way he'd do the same for her. So she decided, it's her death or Luke's.

Evidently Luke was surprised by how Annabeth was fighting. Well, she finally had something to fight for. She realized there was a voice behind her.

"Annabeth!" She recognized Percy's voice but it was too far. She felt a dull ache in her gut and looked down to find a sword point buried in her stomach. She felt dizzy, but she did something she never thought she would do.
With her last ounce of strength, she punched Luke, as hard as she could. She thought she would kill him, so she didn't realize why she did this. He smacked the wall and fell backwards. Suddenly all of Annabeth's strength ebbed away. The dull throb suddenly spiked, and before she could even scream in pain, she blacked out.

This time she didn't notice the arms holding her tight.