PeaceMaker

What was a way to describe the atmosphere in the room after the last tones of the last note faded away into the silence in the room? It would be... Renewing? Tense? Revolutionary? To be honest, the silence was enough to describe it. 

It was everything they wanted and didn't even know they needed rolled into one. The music was absolutely god-like. Above any other performance that was done in the room. Not because it was beautiful, angelic, or uplifting but because it was real. It was down to earth and summed up every pain that could possibly be in the room into one melody. 

It wasn't like it wasn't surreal, it was real in a way that it meant something, it focuses on feelings that everyone dealt with everyday and surreal in the way that someone was able to sum up something like that into a beautifully put together performance. 

In mere seconds. 

It was something that was definitely not expected in that amount of time, music created over the span of years could not even create the same emotion that a piece created in seconds could make. Even more extraordinary, the creator of this piece was a mere lady who sat in the middle of the room playing an instrument of love and turning it into one of pain. 

Something so real like that had never felt so amazing, something that kept them so grounded in deep soil, so tangled under the problems they faced daily had never felt so relieving to hear. It was like a release of issues as someone finally chose to address the issues through music.

Antonio stared down at Annabeth, his heart pounding louder and louder. He didn't know how he was feeling at the moment. He was lost because of the music but slowly finding his way by looking at her. His hand touched his chest, squeezing his clothing as he blushed. 

He couldn't even look at her. He was so infatuated by her every being. His eyes begged to look back at her when he looked away and he wanted to be right next to her at this very moment. Like a chick recognizes the first it sees as it's mother, Antonio could only recognize Annabeth through the crowd in front of him. His vision, broad and educated as it was, was ever so tunneled when it came to her. 

"Wow… she outdid herself there," Justin muttered, his eyes drawn to his sister. He was completely awed, amazed, and moved by her presence. 

"Yea.. she did, didn't she?" Antonio nodded in agreement. 

Justin turned to Antonio in amusement. Antonio locked eyes with Justin's mischievous gaze and he looked away shyly. "What are you looking at? It's not like I said something that is wrong or anything…" Antonio muttered. 

"You're really not going to try and hide it anymore?" Justin asked. 

Antonio blushed. "Is it really that visible? I swear I try to hide it just a little bit…"

Justin grinned. "It's not really working but it's cute to look at," Justin teased, "I do understand why though."

Antonio nodded, "I thought she was going to do something similar to your sisters. Maybe dance, maybe play her harp with a sweet little tone, or even do both. I should have known by her outfit that she was going to do something completely different."

Justin nodded his head. "She's unique." He turned back to Annabeth who sat in the middle of it all, her piercing eyes closed as she breathed in the silence in the room. 'She has always been unique.'

She used to follow her sisters blindly, copy every action they did, made sure to dress similar to them, and even tried to have the same mindset as them. But she knew she was different. Something about the piles of makeup she had once put on her face to match Maria's beauty aesthetic, something about the frilly dresses, something about the bright pink rouge she applied to her lips just didn't seem to fit her. She was born differently. She had a different mind, different eyes, different views on the world everyone looked at. 

Before she knew it, she started to hate the frilly dresses and resisted putting on the pink rouge. She chose red instead. Chose more mature outfits, dressed her hair in ways that were often simple and fit her mood. Her outfits were very simple and lacked the bright colors like pink and purple that people her age usually wore. 

She looked different, was more mature, and was definitely more in touch with the world than others around her. She became what she called herself these days. 'She was unique in her own chilling way and no matter how many times mother had tried to change it, it simply never worked. She only wanted to be herself,' Justin thought to herself. 

Antonio nodded his head in agreement. 'God I'm fascinated by her…' he thought to himself. 

Justin smiled as he turned to Antonio and then turned back to Annabeth. At the same time, Dominic was peering down at Annabeth with his emerald green eyes. There was something different about them this time. They were dark. 

Annabeth could feel his stare. It was intense, burning a hole through her body from his position high above her. She didn't know how to feel about his stare but one this was for certain. She was terrified. 

Quietly, she stood up from her seat and walked towards the stairs of the throne, stopping multiple feet away from it. She couldn't dare to get too close to that monstrous energy that was peering at her from above. 

She bowed before him, her eyes falling to the floor. "Your highness," she greeted Dominic, "I hope that was to your liking. I am greatly honored to be given the privilege of playing in your presence."

Dominic made no comment in reply, his gaze not wavering for a moment.

The king turned to face his son, flinching a bit when he noticed the stare Dominic was giving Annabeth. It was lacking any liveliness and was simply a deep crevice of green that shot piercing beams at Annabeth. He had never seen his son with that type of gaze before. A slight smile passed on his face. 

"What do you think, my son?" The king asked, his head cocking to the side in amusement. 

Dominic made no reaction, his eyes simply focused on Annabeth's. Confused for a moment, Annabeth took a peek up towards the royals, and her eyes locked with Dominic's. She froze, a tidal wave of shivers washed over her but she stayed in eye contact, not daring to look away. 

They stayed in contact for a few seconds and for the first time in that minute, Dominic blinked. He closed his eyes for a second and his lips curled up into a smile, his bright eyes opening widely as they peered at her. There was nothing inviting, nothing charming, nothing sweet about that gaze. 

It felt like poison, like a threat almost, yet the words that came out of his mouth were the complete opposite.

"Amazing," Dominic grinned, "I loved the interpretation of the word 'War' in your piece, Lady Annabeth."

His words tasted like honey. Sweet and filled with compliments, yet the way her name rolled off his small tongue was threatening, like he was trying to cast a spell. And the smile that accompanied it… an evil grin a witch would carry as he cast her victim's name multiple times, the smile seeping onto his face. 

"Thank you, your highness," Annabeth smiled, "I am not worthy of all your high praises."

"They aren't that high," Dominic retorted, to which Annabeth flinched, wondering if she made a mistake. Dominic smiled brightly, "They were well deserved after what you just played."

Annabeth chuckled, pulling the attention of all in the room just to her smile. She was gorgeous in every way. Dominic got even more interested, his smile growing purer. "Thank you, your highness, I am grateful that you enjoyed the piece."

Dominic grinned. "You mentioned that you made this?" Dominic's eyes looked at Annabeth as a whole, his eyes searching up and down her body and finally landing on her eyes. He forced her into eye contact, pinning her under a strong gaze that she couldn't look away from.

Annabeth nodded, replying immediately to his question. She felt the rush, the need to respond quickly and honestly to everything that he asked for. It felt different to her. 

It was one thing to be interrogated by someone who was looking you up and down and focus on your subtle reactions and another to be eye to eye with the person who asked the question. His eyes didn't seem to falter, they had such a strong conviction in them, such a strong aura around him that forced her to succumb to his presence. 

She felt like she was under surveillance. Every blink of her eyes, every time her eyes would shake and at the slightness notice of fear or hesitancy in her eyes, she would be executed immediately. It felt terrifying. 

"Yes your highness," She replied. "When you first assigned the word War I was completely taken off guard as I had nothing prepared for that term and the fact that the term might even be mentioned didn't even run by my mind. I had to think of something and I was reminded of a piece that I usually practice with called, 'Sink'"

Dominic looked at her with an intrigued gaze and she continued. "With that, I came up with the idea of using the deep low notes that were often shown in 'Sink' and incorporating it into the piece I just played. The rest were just some things I thought of on the move as I was playing. I'm glad everything came together correctly."

Dominic gave a satisfied grin, happy at the answer she had given. He let her have the satisfaction of answering his questions. Let her get out her sigh of relief and let her build up her confidence again, just to throw another question that would take a hit at her confidence and mindset.

"Why?" He asked, eyes looking straight into hers. 

"What do you mean, your highness?" Annabeth asked, "why did I choose the parts from 'Sink'?"

"No," Dominic chuckled. "Why did you come up with that piece for this theme?'