Just a one-shot/ short story idea that I had. Get this- LOU WEARS A DRESS! The idea was so absurd; I had to write it up!

Ugh, Percy Jackson and co aren't mine, but Lou's my OC and blah blah blah.

"I ain't wearin' no dress!"

"That's a double negative and yes, you are."

"Ya can't make me." Poseidon sighed. His daughter was a stubborn wild card and rejected all her royal duties.

"Louisa, I'm afraid you don't have a choice. Each Olympian kingdom has to present a princess of suitable age, should they have one. This includes you." Louisa glowered at the handmaiden, who paled and scampered from the room.

Poseidon chuckled to himself, gaining his daughter's heated glare. "Trust it to be my daughter to be the uncontrollable one." She folded her arms and stomped off, sinking onto her bed and sulking. "Louisa, you have to look your best and wear the required outfit. We are to find you a suitor and it would not prove well for you to represent the Atlantean kingdom in your usual get-up."

"But that's me!" Louisa argued. "'N' I don't want a flippin' suitor!"

"Finding you a suitor would avoid wars, Louisa." Poseidon spoke firmly, his words clipped and to the point. "Will you really risk thousands of lives in an unrelenting war just because you do not wish to wear a dress for a few hours at the least?" Louisa made to protest, but common sense caught up with her and she realised how pointless and selfish refusing to wear a dress would be.

A dress.

Her.

A dress.

The idea itself terrified her.

A knock on the door saved her from answering.

It was her older, twin brother- Percy. They had the same sea green eyes, tanned skin and thick raven hair. His hair, in comparison, had a grey streak that he had been born with and it helped give him a sense of maturity, even though he was the cheery, sometimes childish and calm twin. Their father often referred to them as the two opposing sides of the sea, of the Atlantean kingdom. Percy was the kind, gentle and charming side while Louisa was the not-so-kind, fierce and stormy side with a short temper and a rough air about her. She caused the most trouble, something she prided herself on.

"Hello." Percy smiled. "Are you still sulking about that dress?" Louisa clenched her jaw in stubbornness. Percy glanced at their father, an eyebrow raised slightly in question.

"Yes, she is, but I think I've made her see sense. Tensions are high between the kingdoms as it is and it will help to have our daughters married off to other's sons."

"And she's not happy with that?"

"I'm seventeen! I don't want a flamin' husband!"

"You know the rules, Lou." Percy sighed. "Princesses need a suitor for their eighteenth."

"Why?" She directed the question at her father with the briefest of smouldering looks.

"Ancient laws, Louisa. But we're running out of time and you need to get ready." Louisa scowled. Percy and Poseidon left and a trio of handmaidens ran in.

One uncovered the dress on the mannequin in the corner. Louisa considered faking illness or jumping out of the window, but her father's warning of a highly possible war rang clear in her mind.

It took them nearly an hour to get her ready- it wasn't her fault she tried to fight. She always fought when people tried to get her to do something she wasn't comfortable with.

The dress was decent, but offered no cover for her arms and shoulders and was made of fine materials she couldn't name; a soft, shimmering blue with white lace on the bodice- which had been tied so tightly, she could hardly breathe. The skirt of the dress had a white, translucent cover over it, so whenever she moved, the skirt rippled and creased and looked like waves washing onto a beach. The skirt trailed behind her on the floor, pooling around her feet. Thankfully, she could wear flat shoes so she wouldn't have to wear those accursed heels.

It took them half an hour, a warning from her father and pleas from her brother to get her to still long enough for them to curl her hair about her shoulders. She put her foot down on the make-up, but they managed to get a tiara symbolic of the Atlantean kingdom amongst the curls of her hair and a warm white shawl about her shoulders that fell to nestle in the crook of her elbows.

"Lou, smile, don't scowl. You'll look so much nicer."

"I can't breathe." She protested, massaging her sides. Apparently, she had to wear a corset under the dress and it was torture. Maybe it was her father's attempt at revenge for stressing him out so much.

Sally and Jessica were there. Being twins, Percy and Louisa were cared for by two different women to make the job easier for the biological mother. The only problem with this was that Louisa was closer to Jessica than Sally and this often sparked rows between mother and daughter.

"How on earth did you get her in a dress?" Jessica marvelled. Poseidon smiled and repeated the warning. Both women were impressed, studying Louisa in amazement.

"How on earth do ya expect me ta breathe?" Louisa demanded.

"You're fine." Poseidon insisted. "Stop complaining."

"You were the dress then. See how you feel!" Percy jumped up and put his arm around his sister's shoulders.

"Look- war, bad, yes, got that bit. Think about Tyson though. And your friends- Dylan, Michael and Connor. They would be made to fight should a war break out." Louisa scowled again, before sighing, defeat clear in the slouch of her shoulders.

"I hate all of you." She decided.

"I can live with that." Percy grinned. "Now, come on! It's party time!"

Louisa didn't know, up until she was made to wait with her brother behind closed curtains, that the princes and princesses of the Olympian kingdoms would be called out either individually or in pairs. They were quite famous anyway, being twins. Twins were a rare occurrence and they had made the ideal royal pair as children. Not something Louisa was fond of. There were only two pairs of royal twins- them and the sons of Hermes.

Being children of Poseidon- the second most powerful Olympian ruler- they were called out second to last. And this meant a crash course on how to act like a princess from Jessica with Percy three feet away and organising himself. He was looking for a suitor tonight as well, but it was easier for the boys as they got to choose their future wives while the girls didn't really have a choice unless their father refused.

The twins were colour-coordinated, both in blue even though Louisa preferred red. He was in black trousers, a white shirt with a dark blue blazer over it. He had the Atlantean insignia- a sea blue-green trident0 in the white sash that went over his right shoulder, across his chest, to his left hip and around again. He had personally cleaned the sword hanging from his belt- every boy, upon his sixteenth birthday, was given a sword suited to him and his kingdom as a symbol of him progressing into manhood. Even after a year or so of training, Percy was an exceptionally amazing swordsman, having won various tournaments within the kingdom. If it wasn't for his royal blood, he would join the army. He was still trying to talk their father around.

"OK, OK, together now!" Louisa's handmaiden persisted, waving them towards each other. Louisa had to link her arm with her brother's and was grateful for this- she was already feeling light-headed from lack of proper breathing.

"From the Atlantean kingdom and heirs of Lord Poseidon, please welcome those fabulous twins, Prince Percy and Princess Louisa!" Louisa made a face at the 'princess' bit, to which Percy laughed at, and then the curtains were drawn back, light centring on them.

There were hundreds of people circling the ballroom floor. Standing on podiums at equals distances from each other and at the back of the crowds were the twelve Olympian royals, standing king, queen, king, queen…

"Smile." Percy said out of the corner of his mouth. Louisa shot him a quick glare, her sides in agony from the bloody dress. She did try for a smile, her father's warning stabbing at her mind.

Percy waved, smiling. It was alright for him- he was the friendly, charismatic and placid one, a real people person. Louisa just hated everybody on sight unless they were funny or had a similar sense of humour to her.

She was grateful for Percy's steady arm, because she felt really light-headed and this dress was no use to her balance.

They carefully made their way down the steps and through the crowds that had parted for them, a polite and welcoming applause surrounding them. They stood on the podium at the back, either side of their father.

"Don't like this dress." Louisa grumbled for her father alone to hear.

"Smile." Poseidon insisted in quiet tones. "That's not a smile, that's a grimace."

"Dress." She stressed, pointing out the obvious. Poseidon just smiled and pointed out possible suitors for her. She got to pick- very enthusiastic yay- from a son of her uncle Zeus or her other uncle's son; a son of Hephaestus; a son of Mars; twin sons of Hermes; Dionysus's son and several others she failed to remember.

None of them looked worthy of anything other than her personal punching bag.

Another thing she didn't realise was that the commentator had to read out pre-prepared speeches, highlighting hers and Percy's qualities. Her father had written them, she was sure, but she wanted to know how Poseidon had put a positive spin on a bad temper, violent and stubborn streaks, lack of average princess/housewife skills and an abnormal interest in weapons and fighting.

"Percy- as you can see, good looking, strong build and that charming smile- ladies, what's not to like?" Percy laughed, not noticing his father's frown- Poseidon had spent hours drafting sentences describing his children and the commentator was shortening it all. "He's funny, he's a great swordsman and- get this, ladies- he can cook, clean and is great with children. And if you're looking for loyalty, this is your guy." The commentator jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Percy, who waved and smiled. It was good to label him as a fighter, but much better to say that he was a family man with a sense of humour- prospective wives didn't want boring husbands who did nothing but sit on their lazy behinds all day, every day.

He glanced at his sister, who was looking around at the grand décor of the large, ornate hall. Behind each royal hung a banner of their royal emblems. Poseidon's one was a deep blue with a black circle in the middle that hosted a sea turquoise trident.

Louisa kept tugging irritably at her dress, frowning. She caught Percy's eyes and he smiled to himself. Being twins, they understood each other perfectly with silent looks of various content.

The commentator was talking again. "And who can forget his younger twin sister? She's fiery; she's a twisted humour and she's ambitious. You don't to be on the losing side of this one, gentlemen. She will squash you like a bug." Poseidon cleared his throat. "Great company if you love a challenge and an exciting life." Louisa noticed several princes talking to their fathers. She had no idea what was said about the other princesses (she hadn't listened)- all far more refined and suited to their role than she was- but she got distracted by Hephaestus's curly haired and elfish son, who was grinning at her. He looked like a crazed elf who had escaped Santa's workshop to build explosive things rather than toys. Maybe he would be fun to hang around with- as a friend, not a husband. She would refuse this marriage for as long as she could, no matter what her father said. The whole ideal of marrying someone was completely alien to her- just like this goddamn dress biting into her sides.

After introductions, she had to follow her father around while Percy was allowed to escape- uh, mingle with the party-goers. Louisa had to meet all the princes her father deemed worthy of having her hand in marriage.

"Louisa, this is Jason, son of Z-"

"No." Poseidon glared at her warningly while Jason and Zeus stared at her, torn between annoyance and bewilderment.

"Louisa, we-"

"No." Poseidon sighed, noticing the irritation increasing on his brother's face.

"I have talked to her about it all, but she's a stubborn one."

"Very much like her father." Zeus grumbled. Poseidon gave a sheepish, yet agreeing smile. "The arrangement can be seen as a peace treaty." Zeus pointed out.

"Yes, I understand." Poseidon turned to speak to his daughter, but she had disappeared. "Louisa! Oh, by the gods, where is she?"

"There." Jason pointed. Louisa was going as quickly as she could in that dress up the stairs she and her brother had come down a mere hour ago.

She disappeared out of sight. Poseidon started after her, pushing through the crowd. About halfway through, he saw Percy dancing with a blonde girl about his age and in a dress of dark and light grey. At that moment, it didn't register with Poseidon- he was more concerned about finding his wayward and stubborn daughter.

That's all I've got. I don't know how often I can update on this one as I only had a paragraph for chapter two or whatever. What'd you think?