Hi, hello! This is a new story of mine, and I just wanted to try out this universe that I created in my head. It's going to be a little bit confusing, I guess, but I hope you enjoy! See you at the bottom!

I do not own PJO and HoO. All rights belong to Rick Riordan.

Of Crowns and Cookies

Chapter One

This arrangement – one that has been practiced for almost a hundred years now – is stupid.

At least, that's what Percy concluded after staring at the obviously old school grounds. There were six bricked buildings, all huge and brown and bearing the academy logo upon its entrance doors. Flanking the structures at the end were twin towers with flags upon their roofs, which, Percy thought, were more than a little overkill.

He was still near the entrance gate with his mother. In front of them was a huge sign: Olympus Academy for the Royalty. Percy wanted to barf right then and there, and maybe that would get him kicked out soon enough, because, ha. Spontaneously vomiting wasn't royalty decorum at all.

"I can see the look on your face, honey," his mother warned him, though she was grinning at the green field ahead of them. "Act like the fifteen-year-old you already are."

Percy scowled even more. "I want to go home."

"In a year's time, I promise." She turned to face her son. "You're going to love it here. This is where your father and I met, and who knows? Your future queen might be in this school now, too."

He wanted to doubt her, but he knew the likeliness of that possibility. At the age of fifteen, all princes and princesses of the planets of Olympus were required to attend the academy, mainly to prepare them for what's to come when it's their turn to finally rule their respective kingdoms.

Four years, Percy whined in his head. He'd rather have his mother and father teaching him the ways of his planet instead, but alas. This tradition has been going on for way too long than Percy could count. And besides, the products of the school were nothing to be complained about. Every single kingdom in Olympus was doing a good job with the entire ruling thing. Percy just didn't want to admit the school's positive rating out loud.

The truth was he didn't want to leave home. He'd miss his mom and his dad, his hoverboard that he wasn't allowed to bring (for whatever disciplinary reason his mother had), and just his home in general. When Percy saw the planet of Pixebes, where his academy is, from their ship's navigation screen, he only had one word to describe it: brown. He immediately missed the wonderful blue ocean right next to their castle.

"This school's probably a thousand years old," he said. "Why won't they try to rebuild it or something?"

He had a point, though. The school didn't look like it belonged in Olympus' already technologically advanced societies. What made the setting funny now were the different space ships that were landing on the school grounds. There was a lovely contrast between what's old and what's definitely new.

His mother shrugged, laughing. "The students like to keep it this way, I think. Probably to give them an old castle vibe. And it's just on its eighty-ninth year, actually."

"I am so confused."

"Oh, Percy," she laughed again. The tiara on top of her head glinted in the sunlight. "I guarantee you a lovely time. I bet you you're not going to want to leave by the time your first year's over."

"Slow down, mom. I don't even want to go in yet."

"We'll be leaving in a while. Oh, Percy, I'm going to miss you so much!" She hugged him. The thing was Percy was already starting to feel homesick, so he didn't protest even if there were a dozen other royalties to see the affection. New students, Percy guessed, were piling in as more ships landed.

"Keep dad in line for me," Percy mumbled as they pulled away.

She winked. "One day you're going to be just like him." Queen Sally stepped back and motioned for one of the guards that were standing right next to their blue ship. "Hedge, start the engine."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"I'll see you real soon, my little prince."

Percy stood back as he watched his mother be assisted back into their aircraft. He was still standing as the vehicle took off and left the school grounds. He watched as the ship grew into a small speck in the sky, flying to get off the really brown surface of this planet.

He sighed and set his gaze back on the campus.

He was only brought back to reality when someone cleared his throat behind him. He turned around to see a tall blond boy who appeared to be older than he was. He was already wearing the school's uniform (because, Percy noted, the school was that old-fashioned that they still had uniforms) that consisted of a long-sleeved white button down with the school's logo on the left breast pocket. He was wearing the mandatory red tie and black pants.

"Hi," the new guy said. "Lost on the first day?"

"Uh, no," Percy answered. "I was just… I don't know." So much for being a prince and for being eloquent and stuff.

"Nah, that's okay. First day jitters. I get that." He chuckled, stretching out his hand for Percy to shake. "I'm Luke Castellan of Pherena. Nice to meet you."

Percy nodded at Luke, shaking his hand in the process. "Pherena. That's the planet closest to ours. Perseus Jackson of Aspyros, Your Highness."

"We're all royalty and shit here, Perseus," Luke laughed. "No need for that 'Your Highness' bit."

"Uh…" Percy stammered. "Okay, I guess."

To be honest, he was shocked Luke was allowed to say what his mother would call "foul language." He felt like a little kid and he honestly didn't know what to say.

Luke pointed to the smallest of the six buildings. "Anyway, that's the administrator's building right there. You can find the admission office once you get inside. Don't worry because the line's not that long since your room and your schedule's been picked out already. Over there," he pointed to the farthest building on the right. "is the boys' dormitory. You'll have time to settle down before the acquaintance party tonight."

"Party?" Why did he suddenly feel dread?

"Oh, yeah." Luke's eyes glinted with excitement. "All the fresh meat's going to gather at the ballroom tonight. You, along with the other princes, are going to be meeting the princesses for the first time tonight. See you later, Perseus. Have a great first day!"

His room was already occupied by two other people, but they were not what Percy noticed first.

He remembered what his father vaguely said about the dorm rooms in the academy, and that they were supposed to teach the royalty "modesty." The place was as big as Percy's room back in Aspyros, except this one had three of everything: three beds, three closets, and three tables with matching study chairs. There was a door on the far end of the room probably for the shower. And that was basically it. His father wasn't kidding.

"New roomie!" The brown-haired boy currently bouncing on his bed cheered as Percy walked in. He immediately got up to sport his lanky stature, and just like Luke did, held up his hand for Percy to shake. " Prince Leonardo Valdez of Ceprione! But you can call me Leo!"

Percy shook Leo's hand. "Perseus Jackson. Aspyros. Call me Percy."

"Aspyros, huh?" Leo grinned, showing off all his teeth. "Hey, I've got a joke for you! I bet you're going to rule this school! Since, like, we're in Olympus Academy for Royalty? O.A.R.!"

Percy was lost amidst the former boy's laughter. "Huh?"

"You know, like oar? Because Aspyros and sea trading? And actual ocean vessels?" Leo burst into laughter again. "Man, am I funny! But seriously, though. My dad said your planet's navy is great! How many oceans do you guys have again?"

"Four," Percy answered by heart.

"Man, that's cool! That's, like, half of the eight Olympus has! Your planet must be huge!"

Percy could only smile. He pulled his bags and set them on the empty bed across the two others. Leo went back to his own stuff, while another blond boy who was probably an inch taller than Percy walked up to him.

"His enthusiasm must be because there're no oceans in Ceprione," he told Percy apologetically.

"Ha! In Ceprione?" Leo bragged. "We're all about the volcanoes, Superman!"

"Jason Grace of Katias. Nice to meet you, Percy."

So far he was the most prim and proper of all the princes Percy met. He sauntered back into his side of the room after small talk with Percy, and he proceeded to fold out his clothes neatly onto his bed before placing them inside his closet. Leo, on the other hand, was pulling out a heavy case out of his bag, and he frowned when he saw what was inside of it.

"I thought I left this stupid thing back home," he grumbled, carelessly putting the case on the table next to his bed, making it dangerously dangle on one side. Jason scrambled to push it back farther on the desk. "Mom must've put it back for me."

"Leo, that's your crown," he chastised. "Be careful with it."

"Nah, it's okay." Leo shook his head. "That's not the real one, anyway. I break too much stuff that that's practically a decoy crown. Made it myself."

"It looks real," Percy mused. He thought about his own and made a mental note to himself to hide it inside the very back of his closet. It was an obvious place to hide something so precious, but did the room offer anywhere else, really? And besides, it wasn't like anyone was going to break in or anything. Percy had long ago thought that it was a bad idea to be placing a lot of royals in one single place, but the school guaranteed the best of the best security. No kidnapping crime was reported yet, anyway. So far.

Leo winked. "Talent."

Jason still had his face scrunched up. "You're allowed to have a decoy crown?"

"Yes, princess," Leo teased. "I wish my mom packed up my hoverboard instead, though."

"Hey," Percy nodded his head enthusiastically. "I was wishing of the same thing."

"What's a hoverboard?" Jason asked.

Leo gasped dramatically. "Are you kidding me?! You're from Katias! Your planet invented the hoverboard! It's a board that flies, bro! One of the finest inventions, in my opinion! What do you do during your free time? Study?"

"Yes?" Jason looked confused. "Don't you guys have lessons, too?"

Leo was still in shock. "Man, how scary is King Zeus? Why wouldn't he give his son – the prince! – a hoverboard?"

Jason shook his head. "You don't want to know."

"Did you guys hear about the party tonight, though?" The prince of Ceprione changed the subject. Percy was already getting the prediction that there wasn't going to be a single quiet night in their room. He sensed that Jason didn't like to talk much (just like him), but Leo was probably going to do the talking for all three of them.

Percy decided he didn't mind. The awkwardness and peace might make him homesick.

"An acquaintance party, I've heard," Percy said.

Leo jumped excitedly. "You know what that means, right?"

Dressing up, Percy groaned in his head.

"The ley-dies! Woo!" Leo hollered loud enough to probably be heard in the other rooms. "Those princesses better be ready, because the three hottest princes are now going to rule the school!"

Jason could only raise his eyebrows in confusion. Percy laughed.

His roommates weren't so bad.

So far, so good.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome!" A tall middle-aged woman walked onto the high platform that was at the far end of the ballroom. Her welcoming grin showed all of her perfect white teeth. She was wearing a long black dress with a matching dark cardigan on her shoulders, and the jewelry she had on was as bright as the chandeliers on the ceiling that Percy was sure he was going to get a migraine from the intensity of the light she was radiating.

"My dear princes and princesses, royals from the distinguished planets of our vast galaxy, welcome to the Olympus Academy for the Royalty!"

There was a roar of applause before the woman on the front raised her hand to bring silence into the room.

"It is not an easy task to be honing the skills and talents of our future leaders, but I know, and so do the rest of the teachers here, that we are merely trying to bring out the best in you, my dear royals, for we know that you already possess the potential to be the next heroes of Olympus." She paused, her eyes surveying the room filled with wide-eyed and probably nervous fifteen-year-olds. "Fret not, my dears. By the end of your four years here in O.A.R., we guarantee nothing but utmost excellence from you. And now, I'd like to introduce myself. From the vast valleys of Mylita – the planet of wisdom and of the scholars-" there was another set of applause, probably from the natives of the planet just mentioned, "I am Miss Minerva Dodds, the current headmistress of the Olympus Academy for the Royalty."

Miss Dodds' speech seemed to put Percy to sleep, which was, he admitted, something rude for a prince to say. And after all, one day he's going to be hearing more of these gruesome speeches, and he might even make some of his own.

To his right, Jason was listening intently to what the headmistress was saying. Leo, on the other hand, probably looked even more bored than he was. He was doing a cycle of buttoning and unbuttoning the top fastening of his green button down.

"I'm hungry," Leo muttered under his breath.

"Me too," Percy whispered back.

From the corner of his eyes he could see Jason smirk at the two of them.

"I told you to eat before coming here," the third boy replied just as quietly but knowingly.

"Her speech is taking forever," Percy grumbled. Nope. Not very prince-like at all. If his mom were here she'd probably smack him at the back of his head, but she'd do it gracefully like what a queen's supposed to be twenty-four seven.

"You're supposed to be listening, Superman," Leo scolded Jason.

"You guys are being loud!" Jason quietly rebutted.

"The three of you are being loud," someone commented in front of them, but the speaker had her back turned to them.

Percy frowned at the blond princess in front of them, but he kept his mouth shut. Yeah, he was being loud and inattentive; he admitted that.

Leo practically cheered when the crowd dissipated after the series of speeches. He immediately called out a, "See you later!" to Percy and Jason before sauntering off to where a group of princesses were having a discussion. The two merely exchanged looks before heading to the refreshments table.

After a while Jason left Percy to see one of his old friends, some prince named Frank Zhang of Olera.

He was left alone standing awkwardly on one of the table's corners. The very royal thing to do was to socialize, make new friends ("allies", his father likes the term) like what a great and noble future king would do. He could feel his embarrassment radiating off of him as he stared at the other prince and princesses. They looked way more mature than he did, and they definitely knew a lot more than what his probably slow brain can afford. Heck, even Leo was making a good impression on all the other kids. And Jason was practically the perfect prince; he can deduce that even after just five hours of knowing him.

He probably looked stupid and weird in his black button down shirt and black pants (because why he chose to wear all black, he didn't know. Probably to ward off any incoming friends). He stared at his watch just so he had something to do, and he wished he didn't drain the battery of his phone before coming here.

He sighed and looked up from his (very interesting) watch.

And that's when he saw her.

Percy was sure she was the girl from earlier, the one who scolded them for not listening to Miss Dare's speech. Her long blond hair was tied up into a neat ponytail with a peach bow fastened on top of it. Her bow matched the sleeveless dress she was wearing, which reached up to her knees. She wasn't wearing her tiara nor did she have any jewelry on, but Percy's first thought of her was that she was pretty.

It must've been the eyes. They were grey and probably really scary if she looked at him straight in the eyes.

Wait. She was.

Percy got a weird sense of panicking. Surely the blond princess wasn't walking towards where he was standing?

Okay, okay. She was.

Percy was positive she was smirking at him.

End of Chapter One

That was the first chapter! What did you guys think? Obviously this one's a bit different from all the other stories I did, but I don't know. If you guys enjoyed this one, then I'll absolutely continue :)

Thank you for reading! Questions and criticisms are welcome!

-YJ