Hey everyone!
Quite a while ago, I posted a one shot called The Missed Call about the voicemail Percy left his mom from Alaska and I mentioned possibly continuing it to include some other scenes and perspectives involving that message he left. I got a huge amount of positive feedback for the idea but I think adding to that fic itself sort of ruins it a little from a literary perspective. As a compromise, I am doing this instead. So, this is a sequel/companion thingy to The Missed Call. I wasn't expecting to actually write it all up today, but I was stuck watching my brothers earlier and had some time. Hope you like it!
Annabeth stopped in front of the door to the Blofis' apartment and took a deep breath before knocking on it, fighting, as she always did, the swell of emotion that threatened to overwhelm her every time she did so. This apartment, so familiar to her, had become a refuge over the past months, but one that was filled with painful memories at the same time. Because she had so many amazing memories of being here before, and she couldn't set foot inside now without them all flooding back to her again and again.
And yet, coming here provided her the release she needed, the opportunity to get away from all the prying eyes and concerned looks. This was a place she didn't have to be strong; it was neither expected nor necessary. Here, she could give in to it all and just cry.
She was so tired. Not a night went by in which she didn't see him in her dreams. Dreams, not nightmares. They weren't always bad. Those were the worst of all, the good dreams of Percy. Because they always, inevitably ended and all the pain and worry and fear would wash over her anew every time.
She just wanted answers, some sign that they were right about what was happening; some sign that he was okay. It had been six months since Jason and his friends had shown up at camp and figured out what was going on, and still there had been no sign at all of Percy. Something should have happened by now, and with every day that passed with no word at all, the harder it became for Annabeth to fight off the voice in her head that told her he was gone, that she had lost him forever.
She couldn't believe that. She wouldn't. There might not have been any proof that Percy was okay, but there wasn't any that suggested he wasn't either, and that was enough to keep her dwindling hope from extinguishing completely. Percy couldn't be gone, she told herself again and again. He couldn't. After everything they'd been through, no matter how illogical it sounded, she would know if he was, she would feel it. She knew she would.
That didn't mean she felt nothing wrong now though. Quite the opposite, in fact. Ever since that morning when he'd first been discovered missing, Annabeth had felt a gaping hole in her chest, like someone had punched a hole straight through her, right where her heart would be and left her hollowed out. Because Percy had her heart, and he was missing.
Annabeth had been coming here every week since then. She had always liked Sally, long before she and Percy had been anything more than friends, but over the past few months, they'd grown remarkably close. Sally was the only person who Annabeth felt comfortable allowing herself to be vulnerable with. She was the only person who wanted Percy back just as much as she did. The two would talk-and cry-together and Annabeth would leave feeling a little better than when she came. Sally, she knew, also took the opportunity to feed her a good meal every time she stopped by too, and Annabeth let her because she knew Percy's mother enjoyed the opportunity to coddle her a bit and because Annabeth wasn't eating particularly well or regularly any other time.
She typically came by two or three times a week now and probably would have ended up dropping by on her own later today anyway, even without the phone call she'd gotten early that morning from Sally, sounding more hopeful and optimistic than Annabeth had heard her in a long time, telling her to come over as soon as she could; there was something Annabeth needed to hear. Annabeth, curiosity blooming in her and lessening the general misery that had become a constant companion lately, asked what it was. Sally hadn't answered her except to say, rather breathlessly, "He's alive," and Annabeth, needing no further encouragement than those two words, had assured her that she would be over as soon as she could.
The door opened, breaking her out of her thoughts, to reveal Sally Blofis standing before her. She looked tired and wan, which was not unusual as of late, but somehow lighter than Annabeth had grown used to seeing her, as if some of the weight and worry she'd been carrying around with her had lifted some. "Oh, Annabeth," she said, wrapping the younger girl in a tight hug before the latter could say or do anything.
"Sally, what's going on?" Annabeth asked when she let her go and led her inside, shutting the door behind them, "Percy…" She trailed off, unsure of what it was she had even been about to say.
"He called," Sally answered with a smile, in a tone that suggested she still couldn't quite believe it herself. She looked immensely relieved.
Annabeth blinked, processing her words. Her brain worked abnormally slowly in her shock. "W-when?" she managed after a few seconds, following Sally further into the apartment.
"Last night."
Annabeth gaped while her spirits soared. "What did he say? Where is he?" Sally did not answer except to lead her into the living room. Confused and slightly annoyed at the older woman's lack of helpfulness, Annabeth followed. Sally made her way to the side table beside the couch and, as the younger girl watched, she pressed a button on the answering machine. The next thing Annabeth knew, a voice she had not heard except in dreams for the last six months filled her ears.
"Mom," Annabeth gasped as her heartbeat skipped around. The voice was tinny and distorted from the bad connection, but it didn't matter. A wave of relief washed over her so powerful, she immediately felt tears springing to her eyes. "Hey, I'm alive. Hera put me to sleep for a while, and then she took my memory, and…"
Hera. Immediately, righteous anger flared inside Annabeth toward the queen of the gods. It was her doing. They'd figured as much based on Jason's account, but to hear it said in Percy's words made it fact. She had thought she hated the goddess before, but that was nothing compared to what she felt, in that instant, toward her. Her rage was short-lived however, when Percy's voice, after a brief pause, picked up again. Her relief and utter joy was too all consuming to allow much else.
"Anyway, I'm okay. I'm sorry. I'm on a quest-" Annabeth almost smiled when he broke off that thought, as if his brain caught up with his words and he realized his mom would worry if he told her that. That was probably exactly what happened. "I'll make it home. I promise. Love you."
The message cut off, but Percy's voice continued to echo inside Annabeth's head. I'll make it home. I promise. Love you. Her heart still felt constricted at the thought that he was out there somewhere, outside her reach, but he was alive. He was alive and he was okay, and after so many long, excruciating months of fearing the worst, this proof was everything she could have asked for and then some.
He was alive and okay. Hera had taken him like she'd taken Jason, wiped his memory and deposited him, she assumed, in California with the Romans. Somewhere in that time, he'd apparently lost six months to some kind of goddess-induced sleep, but he was awake now and on a quest. That thought brought her up slightly short. The idea of Percy off on a quest without her was just so incommunicably wrong. She'd always been with him. But Percy, she knew, could handle himself and she was just too relieved at the moment to give it much more thought than that.
Looking up from the answering machine, at which she'd been staring, wide-eyed, since the beginning of Percy's message, Annabeth met Sally's eyes, which were slightly watery as she smiled. Annabeth herself noticed, for the first time, that the tears that had rushed to her own eyes at the start of the message had apparently burst forth when she'd done little to prevent them and had traced their way down her face as she'd listened. So shocked was she, she didn't move to wipe them away even now.
It took her another second or two to find her voice, and when she did, she could manage nothing more than, "Oh my gods…" Sally's laugh sounded in her ears and Percy's mother was hugging her again. "Oh my gods," Annabeth repeated again and she realized, again belatedly, that she was shaking.
Since when was she such a mess?
"He called in the middle of the night," Sally informed her after finally letting her go. "I just missed it. I tried to call back, but no one answered and there was no voicemail set up." Annabeth could tell the fact that she'd missed her son's call weighed on Sally, but she too seemed too happy and relieved at this proof of her son's continued existence to let it get to her too much.
At some point during the relay of Percy's message, Paul had wandered in from the kitchen and leaned in the doorway between the two rooms, watching the scene before him, a smile on his own face as well. He met Annabeth's eyes now and smiled wider.
And as for Annabeth, she was having trouble remembering why she'd been so miserable as early as this morning. Right now, she felt like she was on top of the world. All the work they were doing to prepare the Argo II for the trip west seemed worthwhile to her now. She couldn't wait to set sail. She felt invigorated. She'd been so ready to give up for so long, convinced that everything they were doing was for naught, sure that Percy would have found a way to let them know he was okay if he truly was. Now he had. It was all the proof she needed. As soon as the ship was ready, they would go. Percy would be waiting for them, for her.
Annabeth took a deep, calming breath to get a hold of herself. "I really hate that goddess," she said with half a relieved laugh. Sally and Paul, familiar with Annabeth's perpetual struggles with Hera, both laughed.
Percy was alive. Annabeth had never really believed he wasn't, but with every passing day, she'd found it harder and harder to realistically convince herself otherwise. Now, she found it much easier to believe she would see him again, with this proof.
Percy was alive. He was okay. He was out there somewhere, on a quest, fighting, she had no doubt, to get back for her, just as she'd been fighting for so long to get to him. And she would continue fighting for that until he was with her again. They had both been through too much by now for her to even consider any other option. Her mother would likely be mortified to hear these thoughts, even if she had been herself, but Annabeth couldn't find it in herself to care. She knew what she wanted, and she had never been one to give in.
I'll make it home. I promise.
Darn right you will, Seaweed Brain, she thought. She was not about to let him do anything else.
I felt like certain parts of this maybe portrayed Annabeth's character a little weakly because she is normally such a tough girl, but it did say in HoO somewhere (HoH, I think) that she went over to Sally's often to talk and cry with her during Percy's absence, and she, by this point, I'd imagine, is super emotionally strung out, so I tried to portray that in the way she reacted to the voicemail message. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if not, then, I'm sorry. I did my best.
If you'd be so kind as to let me know your thoughts, I would greatly appreciate it!
Thanks for reading!