A Crown of Golden Leaves
By xXTheDragonRiderXx
May 2014

Title: A Crown of Golden Leaves
Category: Het (Canon AU)
Characters/Pairings: Percy/Annabeth
Ratings/Warnings: T+/angst, major character death, violence, language, Romans, fluff, historical inaccuracies,
Tags: soulmates, good vs. evil, AU, Greco-Roman AU, omg what has this fic turned into?, truth and lies, light and darkness, right and wrong, destiny, arranged marriages, FLUFF, feelings, relationships,
Summary: Annabeth, a princess from the declining polis called Athens, must marry the Heir Apparent of Rome, Perseus, in order to save her country and the rapidly expanding world from a threat even the gods couldn't foresee.

PART I OF II: Where the Light Is

"We don't meet people by accident. They are meant to cross our path for a reason." -Unknown

Capvt I: A Chance Encounter

"ONCE upon a time". That's how most of the Fairy Tales begin, right? That's how you're supposed to tell a good story. That's how you know everything will be all right in the end.

But not this one.

This is not a story about a princess. This is not a story about how beautiful her life was. This story is not about her naivety. This is not a story about how she and her prince charming cantered away into the sunset.

No, not this one.

This is a story about a girl who was divided between her duties and her feelings, between her mother and her husband. This is the story of a girl who went away from everything she knew. This is a story about how fast she had to grow up. This is a story of morals, honor, and friendship: how it could change the world . . . for the betterment of humankind, or the destruction of it.

This is a story of Rome.

The Roman Empire was a very beautiful place, or, at least, what Annabeth had seen of it so far.

She hadn't seen the Eternal City itself, yet, but the outskirts were very pretty. The land came up to the Mare Nostrum as they sailed pass; cliffs rose above them for thousands of feet and stretched into the sky. Waves crashed against the rocks at the bottom of the cliffs, jumping into the air up to fifty feet in a spray of blue and white. After that, the waves surged pass the rocks (if there were any) and swelled against the bottom of the cliffs, crashing so hard that she thought that the cliffs would break.

They never broke.

Other places, there were no cliffs, only flatland where the waves rolled gently up against the white and yellow sand. As opposed to the rough and wild nature of the water before, when the tide crashed against boulders and cliffs that drove into the sea, this was gentle and soothing. It was healing.

Then there would be no land at all. Just the water stretching on forever and ever, gray fog and clouds covering the ocean, making it appear gray rather than blue. It rained a lot too. Sometimes so hard it seemed like Poseidon had some personal vendetta against them. The seas would pitch and hurl, making their little ship go up and up, higher and higher, and then down and down back into the seas. Several times, it felt like it would break when it met the force of the raging ocean. It never did. She never was quite sure if Poseidon was protecting them, or if he was trying to kill them.

Once they got out of the seas and onto land, they alternated between riding on horseback and walking. Much to her dismay, she found out that rainfalls would come in less than ten minutes, lasting for what seemed like forever but usually wasn't more than thirty minutes. There never was never enough time to get to shelter, and she normally ended up soaked to the skin.

However, the rest of the day was sunny and warm, sometimes too much so. She had never sweated so much in her life. Greece certainly didn't have weather like this. It rarely rained, but when it did, it stayed.

She could wear even her lightest toga and not get cold- something that was a miracle.

She hated Roma.

She should hate Roma, so she did. It had taken over and made her home weak. Her people were beginning to starve. She had to marry the next Caesar in order to save her people and to save her kingdom. They had taken their gods and made them "perfect."

That was an unforgivable offense.

"Princess?" A blond head popped around the tent they had set up for her. She didn't remove her gaze from the books she didn't know how to read. Oh, how much she wished she knew how to read and write. But she was a girl after all.

She turn on her heel and clasped her hands behind her back. She let her lips curl up into a smile as she took in those light blue eyes of her dearest and oldest friend. Luke, son of Hermes and her personal guard, was like her brother. At one time, she had a crush on him but that faded when she got older and realized he was so obviously in love with Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

He was going to stay with her in Roma, along with a few of her other, and only, friends. At least she had been allowed to have them with her during this dark time.

Luke's eyebrows were scrunched together as he stepped inside of the tent, ducking his head under the makeshift door frame so that he wouldn't hit it. He had to stoop a little so that he fit inside of the tent.

"Are you sure about this? There's still time to turn back."

Annabeth folded her arms under her chest, blowing a piece of hair out of her eyes. "And admit defeat? No."

He raised his eyes to the ceiling, as if he was asking "why me?" "This isn't a war and it isn't a matter of pride, Annabeth." He sounded frustrated, but they'd been having this conversation for over a year. Ever since her father had announced to the Royal Court, and eventually the people, that she was engaged. And she made sure he got the same answer every time.

"I know it's not," she sighed. "Gods, Luke, do you think I want to marry a stranger?"

He glanced at her. "It sure seems like it." She narrowed her eyes at him and he held his hands up. "I'm just stating a fact."

She sighed through her nose.

"Why are you doing this anyway? And if it's a matter of pride..."

She lifted the left side of her lips up in a half smile. "No, not this time. We're in pandemonium, Luke. Cities are fighting each other for more power- don't get me started on Athens and Sparta. We're slowly crumbling. Our people are beginning to starve. We... I need someone by my side to help unite Greece again."

"And what if this man is a perverted old geezer?"

"Then I'm screwed."

He shook his head at her. "Is there anything I can do to change your mind?"

She unwound her arms and let them hang by her sides. She smiled up at him, despite the situation. He was like an overprotective papa bear. "No. I'm convinced I'm doing the right thing."

A loud clashing sound came from outside, like the strike of metal on metal. Her breath caught in her throat as she heard the sound. She didn't know how to fight. Luke's hand had strayed toward his strange double metal sword. Backbiter, but she didn't know why he would name a sword.

"Stay he..." He trailed off when the roof of the tent was ripped and they could see the sky. And a giant eye. "Never mind, run!" He shouted, pushing her toward the uncovered tent entrance hole. She glanced at him over his shoulder as he pushed her out, nearly stumbling over the stupid toga.

"I'm not leaving you!"

"It doesn't matter; I'll be fine! Go!"

She gulped and nodded; the tone of his voice was not one to be messed with. She grabbed up the front of her toga and winced, noticing she didn't have her sandals on; she would regret that by the time this night was over. But her feet started moving of their own accord.

She ran through various spats and spars. There was Thalia charging her spear with electricity, and there were two soldiers who were stabbing some three-chested monster in the chest. She grimaced as her foot landed in something warm and wet before going on quicker. Her feet stung already.

From now on, I'm going to wear shoes to bed, she thought as her gaze landed on Nico, who was calmly manipulating the shadows to drive a Cyclops back. She quickened her pace even though her heart was racing and her lungs felt constricted.

There! The tree line! She would be safe there. She dove between the trees, but then she was running again. It was worse now; she felt like her lungs were on fire and her feet undoubtedly had splinters in them. There was something chasing her too, the footsteps were loud over her breathing. Tree branches started hitting her in the face and she held her arms up, shielding it as she ran. Her hair was falling down her back and her toga was slipping off her shoulders.

Suddenly, she tripped over something and rolled to the ground, clutching her ankle as icy hot pain seared through it. The thing following her was really close now. She closed her eyes and tried not to breathe through her mouth.

"Demigod lunch... mmm," a deep voice rumbled from above her. Despite herself, she opened her eyes and looked up, trying to ignore the way the blood dripped off the enormous man's chin. There was his mouth and a nose. She gulped and looked a little higher.

She screamed, scrambling back into the trunk of the tree. The man wasn't a man- he only had one eye! Her heart, which had begun to calm down, raced again for an entirely different reason.

Cyclops.

She curled into a ball, trying to make herself seem as small and unthreatening as possible. She was going to be eaten. She was going to die. She should have never come here, she should have stayed home-

"Get away from her!"

Annabeth flinched. There was another, more intelligent Cyclops about to eat her. She began to pray to the gods.

I'm sorry, please make it fast. I'm sorry I failed you all. You expected me to save you. I'm not worthy to be your champion. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm...

"Are you an idiot?" an angry voice asked and she hesitantly opened one of her eyes. She saw legs covered in chainmail. She closed her eyes again. That didn't sound like a Cyclops... That voice belonged to a young man. "Don't you know that these woods are infested with Cyclops? I had to abandon my comrades because of you! And they're out there fighting!" Rough but somehow gentle hands took her arms. Annabeth's eyes snapped open.

"Don't eat me!" she shouted, pushing the man away. She pushed herself against the tree, holding her hands out in a defensive gesture.

"What?" The voice, the man, sounded surprised. "I don't eat little girls. I don't even eat humans. And I just saved you!"

Annabeth breathed heavily and looked at the stranger's face. Angular, and his lips looked chapped in the moonlight. She let her gaze travel up, closer to his eyes. She hoped he wasn't a Cyclops.

Her breath caught in her throat and she suddenly forgot how to breathe. No... he certainly wasn't a Cyclops. The most gorgeous pair of green eyes she had ever seen stared right back at were so deep that Annabeth could almost see the storm behind them, brewing in their depths.

"I... I didn't know."

"Obviously."

She forgot all about his eyes at his tone of voice, and she launched herself at him, poking him in his armored chest. "Now you just wait a moment. How do I know you're not planning to hurt me?"

He sent her a look that clearly asked, Are you stupid? "I just saved you from a Cyclops."

Annabeth clenched her fists at her side, "Don't you patronise me," she bit out. "And I'm not a little girl. I'm almost seventeen summers."

The boy stared at her. "You act like a ten-year-old with the way you cowered away from the Cyclops."

She threw her hands up in the air and allowed a sound of exasperation to escape from her lips. "Who are you anyway?"

"Percy."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. Nothing else? He held himself like a general would: shoulders back, head held high. "I'm Annabeth, princess of Greece."

The boy, Percy, made a sound as if he had just caught his breath abruptly. "I should've realized." He rubbed the area between his eyebrows, as if he was fighting an oncoming headache. She pressed her lips together tight.

"What?"

He shook his head, as if he was clearing a bad thought from his head. "Never mind. Come on, let's get back to that valley." He began to walk, clearly expecting her to follow, but she glanced down at her ankle. It wasn't hurting at the moment, but she had a feeling if she put weight on it...

She gently pressed it against the ground and cringed. Bad sprain. But at least it wasn't broken.

"Are you coming, princess?" She narrowed her vision on Percy as he came back. The way he said the normally honorary title... it was like he was mocking her.

"No," she answered flatly. He tilted his head, his eyes flashing with something that she couldn't quite pinpoint... concern? Worry? Exasperation? She turned her head away, lifting her nose in the air as she crossed her arms. There was something different about him; something that made her forget to use her head. Although he was obviously a stuck-up Roman.

"Why not? Are you hurt?"

She clenched her fists tighter around her arms as she began to think of the limited amount of obscenities she knew, all of which were directed at him. She would not admit weakness. He shook his head slightly and his eyes traveled down toward her feet. They widened and Annabeth shifted. Why did he look like that?

"Don't you Greeks wear shoes?"

She forgot about staying aloof. "Of course we do! I just didn't have time to put them on."

"Oh, I see. So you just decided to take a pleasant stroll through the monster-infested forest."

"It doesn't seem very 'monster-infested.'" She was practically spitting the words out, focused on those dark eyes. What in Tartarus had she been thinking earlier? They weren't gorgeous; they were mysterious. And dark. And green. And ever-changing and- no. She was going to get married to the Heir Apparent of Roma. She was not going to let a little-possible crush get in her way!

He took a step back and she suddenly realized that their chests had been brushing. Her cheeks felt warm.

"Are you always this argumentative?" He tilted his head, his lips twitching for the first time since she had met him. She huffed and looked at the ground.

"Just shut up and help me."

His eyebrows shot up for half a second then went back into their normal position. She made sure she was still scowling as he walked up to her and...

Huh?

"You're supposed to jump on my back," Percy instructed patiently.

"I know that," she snapped, then bit her bottom lip. She wrapped her arms around his neck and then her legs around his waist. She knew what this was, but she hadn't done it since she was a child. After all, it was improper.

Go to Hades, she thought at her thoughts, pushing them back. So what if it wasn't proper? She couldn't walk. He stood up abruptly, making her yelp and wrap her arms around his neck tighter.

"You're choking me, princess." He coughed but still somehow kept that mocking tone. She briefly considered tightening her arms around him, but decided against it. She needed him to take her back so she could meet back up with her party.

So they walked on in silence.