PeaceMaker

Annabeth sat in front of her mirror. She was doe practicing, was done preparing, and was long done with her makeup and outfit preparing. She listened carefully to the laughter that came rushing through the room, indicating that the performance was over. It was like a roar of applause, washing over everything and deafening the ears. 

'Who performed?" She thought to herself, 'it couldn't be one of my sisters right?' She let out a deep sigh and stood up, stretching her arms in preparation to play. 

A few minutes after she heard the taps of a set of footsteps. It was only one but she knew there was another person beside her. 'It couldn't be one of my sisters, they haven't learned silent steps yet and I haven't even perfected mine yet. It has to have been someone else that performed,' Annabeth inquired. A smile crawled onto her face, 'That just makes it better! I'm going against someone who can make the crowd yell and clap like that? Sounds terrifying.'

"Terrifyingly exciting," She grinned. 

"My lady, it seems like you'll be going next," Doe called out, standing up and massaging Annabeth's back.

"Seems so," Annabeth grinned, "finally."

"Are you scared, my lady?" Doe asked. 

"Horrified," Annabeth replied. 

"Are you anxious, my lady," Doe asked.

"So nervous I might start sweating," Annabeth replied.

"Are you excited, my lady?"

"Sooo excited!"

"Are you ready, my lady?"

Annabeth turned around to face Doe and grinned, "more ready than I'll ever be."

Doe grinned. "Let's go my lady!"

"Yes!" 

The doors opened and a woman stood in front of them, with a friendly smile. Annabeth turned around and grabbed the harp, carrying it by herself as the woman led them out of the room as Doe lingered behind her, asking to help carry the instrument. 

They walked down the hall again, Annabeth's eyes running down the smooth white walls and looking at the paintings hanging on the walls. The hallway was exceptionally big and wide, the same size as her room from the end of the hall down ⅔ of it. 

She was amazed by the size of everything in the castle and the quality. The paint itself in this one hallway would probably cost the same as 3 dresses and gold accents were most likely actually made out of gold. 

Just the thought of living in something this big and expensive sent shivers down her spine. It was terrifying. She could literally get lost in one hall on her way down it. 

Finally, they reached the entrance door and stood in front of the large doors, calming down her racing heart. She felt both excited, scared, joyful, and absolutely petrified at the same time. She was so unprepared for this but yet she was still going to launch her entire mind into it, she never gave up on anything and this would be the same. 

*

"Now, after that splendid performance by a beauty we have all never seen before, we welcome a family that we are all familiar with by now," The announcer smiled, trying to brush off the slight tension in the room. 

The crowd echoed a crow of excitement. 

"We welcome to the performing ground, the youngest daughter of the Crowly family, Annabeth Crowly!!" The announcer grinned. He turned around to look at Annabeth and immediately stepped aside, blushing. 'Wow… the visuals…'

Annabeth stepped forward with confidence, stepping onto the performance ground with her head up and no expression on her face. She was gorgeous. The stares of the people in the crowd pinned on her, slightly confused but still nonetheless addicted to her beauty.

It was like the styles were reversed, the ages of the sisters being exchanged with each other. The oldest looked like the youngest with a lively spirit, the middle looked like the youngest but with a charming feeling, and the youngest dressed the most mature, like a lady-in-waiting. 

Her dress was absolutely stunning, seemingly off-shoulder black and gold dress that completely added to the feeling of matureness. It was a high-necked, cut sleeve dress. Her first arms of the dress stopped at her shoulders, exposing her arm halfway before her other long loose sleeves covered the rest of her arm. On her arm was a gold armband in the shape of a V that sat in the middle of the exposed skin of her arm. 

Gold thick lines lined the ends of her first shorter sleeve and her second. In the piece of her clothing in between the short sleeves, were long lines of gold running down to her chest and covered her collarbones. From the piece that covered her collarbone were two long pieces that wrapped around her waist and flowed to the ground, exposing her chest. She was wearing a blank covering underneath that covered her chest from being exposed.

Except for the gold linings, the neck of the outfit, and the gold piece of clothing that had long black lines on it that covered her chest, everything else in the outfit was black. Overall, her outfit would have been plain but elegant if not for the long winding branch-like designs that rose up from the bottom of the dress to the top, stopping on her waist. The branches were gold, climbing up the dress and layering over each other as they reached her waist, the density of the branches reducing the closer it got to her waist. On those golden branches were sprouts and blossoms of golden flowers with silver sprinkled in their middle and their petals. 

Her long black hair flowed to the ground in a half bun, half-down hairstyle. It was straightened to perfection and shimmered when light bounced off it. From her ears hung golden pearls with silver dust sprinkled on them. On her hair, moving along with the part that curved up into a bun was a long line of circle-shaped golden jewels, clinking against each other when she moved. 

In her perfectly wrapped bun was a thick needle-based ornament that goes through her hair. It was designed in a way that it looked like it was splitting apart at the end, pieces curving upwards, others turning downwards and entire long pieces detached from the needle as it came out of her bun on each side and curved downwards and up in a V pattern before merging with the needle again. Pearls lined the top of the needle and long lines of tiny beads hung off of threads on the ends of the needle. 

She looked flawless from head to toe but the most outstanding feature was her eyes. At the tear glands and a little bit under her eyes were dashes of gold, on top of her eye, a deeper shade of that same gold spread from her tear gland to the middle of her eye where it was then blended into a beautiful red shimmery tone. 

Her long eyelashes looked even longer than before and her deep green eyes were highlighted by the colors. On her cheeks was the lightest shade of pink that barely showed on her clear smooth milk skin tone. Finally, her lips held almost two tones, the middle, closer to the entrance of her mouth, was a deeper red and blended out into a lighter tone as it covered the rest of her lips.

She had this air of complete superiority, her piercing gaze peering down at those before her, digging into their eyes and demanding their gazes. Her aura was absolutely dominating, like that of an empress towards her subjects. 

It was unlike all the other outfits that were presented to the king. It was unique, it was compelling, seductive, and fierce. Elegant and lively. Calming yet keeping one on edge for what came next. She was different.

No matter where she was, no matter what she wore, she always found a way to stand out amongst the rest, the pearl in a box of white circles. Seemingly the same but so much more different, more valuable than the rest. She was different. It was why Antonio couldn't look away from her. It was why he was always searching for her, looking out for her, trying to read her. It was why she was so compelling and appealing to him.

It was why he liked her.

The audience was immediately pulled into her gaze and her presence. 

She walked forward as Doe followed behind her, a harp in her arms, and placed it behind Annabeth. Together, they bowed before the king, their eyes hanging low and lips in a thin line showing no emotion but yet holding such a high amount of beauty. 

Annabeth looked up at the king and then bowed her head. "It's a pleasure to be in your present, your graciousness."

The whole room sucked in a breath when they heard her voice. It was so beautiful, calming, and yet strong. It was rich. 

The king smiled immediately. "The pleasure is all mine, Lady Annabeth."

"Thank you, your graciousness," Annabeth replied politely.

Antonio was so caught up in her beauty. He was beyond in a trance. He didn't even hold himself back from staring. 

That was the one. She was the one he was looking for, the one who took his breath away. The one he wanted to spend eternity with.. Annabeth Crowly.