PeaceMaker

Annabeth was tired. She didn't want to go back to the dressing room. She wasn't even done eating yet so why did she have to go back? It seemed like such a waste of time. 

"Please report to the performance room for the individual performances," The announcer began, "please report to the performance room for all individual performances." 

Justin stood up, Annabeth and her sisters following.

There was going to be a lot fewer people going to the performance room this time as the individuals covered a lot of the people to perform for the king. The individuals were basically like a portfolio for families to look at to see if you were worth getting married to or for the ladies today a way for the princess to see if they were worth being a lady in waiting. 

It was going to be the most entertaining part of the gathering. It had to be, all talents of the ladies that would prove themselves worthy of becoming a lady in waiting or getting married should be brought to the table.

The only thing with the lady-in-waiting performance was that it granted you more freedom and restriction at the same time. 

It allowed those accepted to be able to ask for a marriage that they wished for, even if their family disapproved of it, it wouldn't be in their hands, it would be up to the King to decide for them. It also granted restrictions because the King can refuse for the lady to get married based on his own ideas. It was a double-edged sword. 

Annabeth wanted to have it, that double-edged sword. Most specifically, she wanted to leave her family's hold. It was stifling there, like a little bird stuck in a cage, she wanted to be freed.

Justin led them through the halls to the performance room. He didn't need to perform, none of the men did as even though the group performance was meant for the group, most of the men had gone at that time. There were others that had to go during individual but not for him. The only reason why he was there with the girls was to escort them.

He was protective of them, just like his father. 

There were a lot fewer stares, in fact, none in the hallway. Nobody seemed to care about the other, nobody needed to care about the other. It was a brawl. One that wasn't physical, one that couldn't be interrupted, one that couldn't be seen. It was a mental brawl between all the contestants.

There weren't a lot of people that came for this but the people who did, were highly competitive. They were willing to fight for their spots and were all determined to win this time. It was almost overwhelming. The amount of tension in the room wrapped the contestants and was stifling, even to Justin. It was almost like there was a jolt of electricity that passed from contestant to contestant when they passed each other. 

Annabeth stood in-between Jena and Maria, her head straight up with the rest of her sisters. They weren't planning to back down either. 

It wasn't long until they stepped foot into the preparation room. It wasn't long until their performance and it wasn't long before hostility grew between sisters. The moment they went a foot into the room and were separated from each other by the workers, the moment Justin turned around to leave, the moment they walked away from each other, they were no longer sisters. They were rivals. 

There was no good luck, there was no speech of encouragement, no pats on the back, and no friendly smiles before departure. Without even a glance at each other, a blanket of coldness was formed between them and like strangers after one goal, they walked into their respective rooms with silent steps. The room felt cold, so did the people inside it.

Annabeth silently walked into her room. There on the ground was her harp and next to it on the table was her outfit and her jewelry placed on top of it. Beside that was a long brush pen. She slowly sat down in the chair and seconds after a worker walked into the room, it was a maid directed by her mother to serve Annabeth. There was a maid for each sister, one that had served each of them since birth and had done their makeup since they bought their first rouge.

Annabeth exchanged glances with the maid and soon they got to work. They were well acquainted with each other, to the point that no words were needed between them. The deep but easily disposable trust Annabeth and her maid, Doe had with each other were more than any trust Annabeth had with her siblings. 

Annabeth looked towards the door and Doe nodded. 

"There have only been around 5 people that have performed, my lady," Doe bowed her hair as her nimble fingers combed through Annabeth's long flowing midnight black hair that flowed to the ground. It glimmered when light bounced off it just as brightly as the gold on Annabeth gleamed.

She was clothed in the darkness of night and the touch of a golden crane. Like a phoenix in hibernation, she waited, slowly being elevated to the point of presentation with every piece of jewelry or clothing that was put on her. 

"We're almost done my lady," Doe announced as she slowly lifted up an ornament on the table and placed it on Annabeth's porcelain upper-arm. It shimmered brightly against Annabeth's light skin. 

Annabeth smiled, the red of the blossom red flowers laid elegantly on her lips. She nodded her head and the gold drops on her ears shook with her. 

It was almost time. 

*

"What are they going to be presenting?" Walter asked. 

Justin's head barely moved in response, "I don't know."

"Huh?" Walter cocked his head in confusion.

The group was seated on one side of the banquet room in a completely different arrangement than they were in before. The room had been rearranged in a matter of 5 minutes after dinner. 

Now they were seated alongside each other with tables in a straight line from near the thrones to down to the end of the room. There was a long wide passageway in the middle of the lines of people on either side where the dancers were supposed to perform. This way, everyone could get a clear, if not, visible glance at the ladies as they performed. The room was split according to the families that had kids performing and those that didn't. A family with only one kid would stay on the side with royals who didn't have kids perform. 

And according to that, they sat in the order of their power. The one with the most power sat closer to the king and those with less sat farther away. Kids were seated according to power and friendship as people of stronger power got to pick whom they would sit next to. 

Walter, Falls, Antonio, Dramio, Santigio, Louis, Addison, and Justin were seated down in a line. Justin in between Antonio and Falls, Walter, Addison, and Louis sat to the left of Antonio in the order as mentioned while to the right of Falls was Dramio and Santigio. It was a comfy seating arrangement for everyone. That is everyone but Antonio.

"I don't know what they're going to perform," Justin repeated.

Walter cocked his head in confusion, "What do you mean you don't know?"

Justin turned to Walter with a shrug, "I really don't."

"Didn't you get to see what you were practicing together?" Dramio interrupted, growing interested in the conversation. "I mean if you're in the same household, then surely you would be able to watch each other practice right?"

"Yup. Practicing that was," Justin nodded. "We go to watch each other practice but it was never to the actual piece that we were going to perform."

Addison gave a little gasp of realization. "So you did practice what you needed to but to different songs and different things?"

"Every time we would practice out actual pieces we would be in different sides of the house so we can't really see each other nor can we hear because we would be too focused on practicing out actual performance," Justin explained.

"Wow…" Santigio muttered. 

"Yup, we tended to judge each other though. The girls would somehow find a way to mix the dance steps they actually had to do, into a completely different dance and I would judge how they executed it with father and mother," Justin added.

"That sounds difficult in multiple ways. Did you have to do the same?" Addison asked.

"Hmm," Justin nodded. 

"Isn't that a bit much though?" Falls asked, "why didn't you just judge each other with the correct dances?"

Justin paused before answering. He gave a smile, "Different situations bring out different results."

It was a simple yet complicated answer. Antonio caught both sides of it. 

'It was for the competition. No one was allowed to get comfortable around each other,' Justin thought to himself, 'The moment something that important was brought up, there was no such thing as brother and sisters anymore. We were rivals.'

His smile wavered. 'It didn't matter if we were going for different things, it didn't matter if we were getting judged for completely different things or if we weren't getting judged at all. As long as it required each of us to have different things to do for it, it was no longer a group activity.. It was a battle.'