PeaceMaker

Annabeth sat in her waiting room as her maid, Doe, cleaned up the things around her. Her makeup was wrapped up and placed in a bag, and the calligraphy items sitting on the dressing table were placed in the same bag, safely under Doe's arm. 

After making sure that everything in the room was properly taken care of, Annabeth stood up from her seat and walked out of the tiny room into the wide space of the large waiting room. The sections of people in front of her, split into two as soon as they laid their eyes on her. Stares were thrown at her, some carefully hidden and the rest blatantly peering at her. She could see them all, she didn't care.

Her eyes search the room for her sisters, looking over the heads of the women in the room and the scarce population of boys that mostly walked with each other. Her eyes peered through the crowd carefully, still trying to find her sisters when a hand perched on her shoulder. 

"Whatcha looking for?" The voice asked. 

Annabeth's eyes widened and she turned around to face Jena. Her lips spread into a slight smile. "You nearly gave a heart attack when you popped out from behind me," Annabeth scolded.

Jenna grinned, "Should I have left you in here then? You would have been more annoyed then," she teased playfully. "I found Maria on the way to you. She was talking to some girl about how to find us."

Maria shrugged. "You know I'm really bad with directions, I would hate to get lost in here and then have to go back to the hall, alone," Maria shivered, "how embarrassing would that be?"

Annabeth shuddered, feeling the same pain that her sister felt at that moment. They locked eyes with each other and chuckled, a bright smile forming on their faces after the stressful performances. 

The three of them turned around and began their walk out of the room, their maids following closely behind them. 

"Are you sure we should have left our instruments in there?" Maria asked, her head nodding towards their individual rooms. 

Jena gave a light shrug, accompanied by a sigh from Annabeth. "I think so. We weren't the ones that brought them inside, to begin with right? I heard that the maids are supposed to stay behind after walking us to the banquet room to help move the instruments into our family's supply cart. 

Jena nodded, remembering something along the lines of what Annabeth recalled. "That's true, I do remember mother mentioning something about it."

There was another chuckle between the girls but it soon quieted down to silence as they turned and walked out of the waiting room into the wide hallway. There was a question lingering on each other's mind that they weren't sure when to ask and at the same time, what to reply after being asked. 

Annabeth sat in the silence for a few moments before letting out a long sigh, she hated having to sit in silence or waiting for something. "Hey," she muttered, turning to Jena on her left and Maria on her right, "How do you think your performances went?"

Maria let out a small smile followed by a sigh of relief. "I think it went quite well… I mean, the dance was received well by the audience and the king seemed to be pleased by it," she reported proudly before turning to her sisters to her left, a bright smile on her beautiful face, "I even got a chance to speak to the King for a bit, I think he liked my answers to his questions as well."

Annabeth grinned, giving Maria a small thumbs up before turning to Jena. "What about you?"

Jena leaned back, thinking about it for a moment. She wasn't sure how it felt, the emotions being preyed upon by the loud claps that came after her, but she could still remember the feeling that came after she received a round of applause. It was so… "Empowering," Jena muttered in reply. 

Annabeth cocked her head to the side a bit, "what was that?"

Jena looked up at her sisters, proudly. "It was empowering. The feeling of standing in that room as the wave of applause washes in, rolling right over your body and running through you. It felt amazing to be the only one in the room with a zither and the entire room clapping just for me. It felt amazing."

Annabeth nodded, liking her sister's explanation of the situation. She couldn't quite relate to it. There was no applause after her performance afterall, only slightly disoriented claps at the end as she walked out of the room and some thumbs up from the crowd. When she thought about it, it must have been very weird to all of them, having their ears benign intruded on by a song that their ears weren't used to hearing, one that rang deep in their song and pulled at their emotions, rendering them vulnerable. 

Jena and Maria turned to Maria, their eyes glowing in curiosity. They didn't know when their sister performed but assumed it to be right after them, their ears remembering the roar of applause that had filled the room and seeped into the waiting room through the walls. It was impressive, amazing that she was able to get that kind of reaction from the crowd. Made them just a tad bit jealous too.

"So… how did yours go?" Maria asked, locking eyes with Jena excitedly and then turning to Annabeth. "It must have felt so amazing, the applause was absolutely deafening, wasn't it?"

Jena nodded her head, "I bet it was," She grinned, the excitement in her voice slowing down a bit. "I do, however, feel bad for the person that performed after you."

Maria thought about it for a moment as she remembered the silence in the waiting room after the so-called performer finished her performance. There was not a single clap heard in the room after and after a few minutes, a few measly claps were heard as the person left the room. 

"We feel so bad for the performer having to go through that after putting her best self before the king and the people around them," Maria sighed. 

Annabeth shook her head. "Don't be, the performance wasn't as bad as you thought it was," Annabeth intercepted. 

Jena chuckled, her eyebrow rising curiously. "Wasn't as bad? How would you know sister? Yours was met with such glee and hers with absolutely nothing. It is bound to feel horrible for her… I wonder what she did to get that kind of reaction."

"I did well," Annabeth shrugged, "the silence only meant that I did well."

Jenna paused for a moment, listening to the words that left Annabeth's mouth. "I?" she muttered, recalling her words, her eyes widened in realization, "that performer was you?!"

Annabeth nodded her head proudly. 

Maria and Jena went silent, both filled with curiosity but scared to let out even a peep of it. Annabeth noticed, she didn't like that. She hated it when people pitied her or held back some information due to the fear of hurting her. It made her feel like she was weak. Like she was someone who needed to be handled with care. 

She wasn't.

"Hurry up and spill your questions," Annabeth groaned. 

"Omg, what did you do for them to react like that?! I thought we were supposed to perform with our instruments?? How badly did you do for you to be able to get that reaction?" Jena spilled, her questions released from her like a fountain. 

"Yea, yea, I heard absolute silence… you didn't break your instrument, did you?! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HARP???!" Maria yelped, pure fear flashing on her face, "how did it feel? Does it feel horrible after the performance? You didn't feel sad right? You did your best, it wasn't your fault that it wasn't received well…" 

Annabeth let the spill their questions to their content and waited for them as they finished their sentences, a sigh leaving her lips as she watched them lay on the ground limply, tired from asking her questions. "Are you done now?" Annabeth asked. To which Jena and Maria nodded their heads in return.

Annabeth let out a light giggle before she began to answer their questions. "I played my instrument like I wanted to, I did perform with my instrument, I didn't do badly at all," Annabeth began, turning to Jena as she answered her questions and then turning to Maria to answer her questions. "I didn't break the instrument, so don't worry, your harp is fine. I feel fine, a bit troubled but relieved, I don't feel sad in the slightest, in fact, I feel the exact opposite."

"But then what was with the audience? Why didn't they clap? Were they too much in awe to clap?" Maria asked. 

"No… they just couldn't bring themselves to clap. It wasn't something that felt like it needed to be clapped after, in fact, total silence, as they had, was the best way to react after the performance," Annabeth shrugged. Her sisters stared at her in confusion so she elaborated. 

"It wasn't received badly, but rather the way I expected it to be taken.. In confusion."