Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot XP
The black haired boy drummed his fingers on the table nervously, looking from the closed door, to the table, then back again. The blonde haired girl beside him sighed before putting her hand on his to stop the vibrations on the metal table. "Percy, calm. Breathe." Annabeth forced the other to look at her, using her stormy gray eyes as a distraction. Percy closed his eyes and sucked in a large breathe, trying to calm himself down.
"Why are you so nervous anyway? I mean, you're just performing in front of the rest of the campers." Thalia tried to hide her snickers as she put a hand on Percy's shoulder comfortingly. "Don't forget the go—" Nico was cut off as Annabeth elbowed him in the ribs…hard, "—ds…ow." Nico rubbed the sore spot before glaring at the girl next to him, who glared back as well.
"Hey, you guys ready yet?" A head peeped in from the door, smiling. "Ready as we'll ever be, sir." Thalia laughed and took Percy's elbow, dragging him outside to the backstage.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Chiron chuckled at the expression on the boy's face, "Because this is one of the few chances we get to party, why not take the advantage?" Percy dragged his feet "Yeah, but why me??"
"You're an awesome drummer, Perce. It'd be a waste to let all that talent get out of practice." Nico stated, sticking his tongue out.
"Did I just detect sarcasm in your voice? Because I'm sure I heard an underlying message that said 'You Suck.' somewhere in the there."
"Me? Sarcastic? Noooooo…."
"Okay, now you're just being cruel."
"Why, thank you."
"Okay guys, knock it off." Thalia rolled her eyes at the bantering before walking over to the gold colored bass leaning on its amplifier.
"Sweeeet." Nico fingered a few chords on the electric guitar, which was painted all black, before stepping behind the microphone.
Annabeth adjusted shoulder rest of her gray colored violin before looking behind her to check on Percy, who was now admiring (more of oggling) the drums, which had the swirling colors of blue, green and white, as if waves were washing over it.
"Put your tongue back in your mouth, Percy, and grab your drumsticks, yeah, the blue ones. Anyway, you guys will start playing on my queue. Okay? Okay, I'll get started."
Chiron grabbed a mic and parted the curtains just enough to let himself through.
Percy squirmed in his seat as he listened to Chiron start the introduction. "And now, performing for us live are the CHBs!! Performing 'What If'!" There was a scattering of applause, as the curtains were opened, shedding light on the four teenagers on the stage.
Annabeth took a deep breathe and started, keeping her eyes on her instrument as she moved the bow over the strings with precision. "Time to shine…" Percy muttered to himself as he started along with Nico.
Leaning into his mic, he started the song.
What If by Simple Plan
What if I lead the way?
What if I make mistakes? (will you be there?)
What if I change the world?
What if I take the blame? (will you be there?)
Everyone watched in amazement as Percy sang, they had never known his voice was this good. "His arms are moving so fast!" Grover exclaimed to Argus, who was standing beside him, as he watched along with the crowd. There were a few whispers here and there as the band did the interlude, but annoyed "Shhhh!"s took care of that. Watching from Mt. Olympus, the gods sat in their seats as they stared at the big screen that hung from the ceiling, courtesy of Hermes, Athena and Hephaestus, watching the demi-gods play their song.
I remember going back to the place we used to lay
But I keep losing track
And now the days they all turn black
And our dreams all start to fade
But there's no turning back
Chiron smiled to himself as he watched Percy sing. He could see that Percy had concentrated his entire being into getting the song right, which was a good thing and meant that his plan had worked. Clapping along with the others, he sat down and watched.
Cause the world keeps turning
And my heart's still burning
What if I change the world?
If I lead the way?
What if I be the one who takes the blame?
What if I can't go on without you?
What if I graduate?
What if I don't?
What if I don't?
Percy had closed his eyes somewhere along the middle of the song and felt every individual beat. He smiled and kept singing, he knew the lyrics too much by heart to forget them so easily. Feeling his confidence grow, he opened his eyes and looked at the crowd, slightly shocked that everyone was clapping and dancing along. He met Annabeth's eyes as she winked and mouthed 'Great job', before turning back to play on the guitar she had switched to right after the opening.
I'm slowly, giving up
As the world keeps losing faith
And you still turn your back
Now the path I follow takes a toll on me, on you
But there's no turning back
Poseidon looked at his son play, not able to keep the proud shine from his eyes. He had been listening closely to the lyrics and realized the reason why Percy had chosen this song: Because this song reminded him of himself and what he had to do and what could happen if he decided wrong.
It was a sad revelation, to know that his son had the weight of the world resting on his shoulders, but it made him proud that Percy had taken responsibility for it and made sure that nobody would get hurt.
Cause the world keeps turning
And my heart's still burning
What if I change the world?
If I lead the way?
What if I be the one who takes the blame?
What if I can't go on without you?
What if I graduate?
What if I don't?
What if I don't?
What if I don't?
What if I don't?
(What if I don't?)
(What if I don't?)
I'll be waiting here
I'll be waiting here
I'll be waiting here
For you to call me
I'll be waiting here
I'll be waiting here
I'll be waiting here
For you to call me
I'll be waiting here
I'll be waiting here
I'll be waiting here
For you to call me
Oh…
Percy was thankful now that Chiron had chose him to perform. He forgot that Chiron was so good at reading people, so he should've known that Chiron knew about his troubles, fears. This must've been Chiron's indiscreet way of comforting him, 'No wonder he was so persistent that I would play…' Of course, even though playing the song got his mind off of the inevitable future, the lyrics were enough to remind him of everything he was worried about. Every decision he made would affect himself and everyone else one way or another in the future. There were so many 'What if's...too many…
What if I lead the way?
What if I graduate?
What if I change the world?
Would you still remember me?
What if I lead the way?
What if I graduate?
What if I change the world?
And I found the words to tell you what you mean to me
I'll be waiting here
I'll be waiting here
I'll be waiting here
For you to call me
I'll be waiting here
I'll be waiting here
I'll be waiting here
The last note hung in the air, immediately followed by thundering applause that deafened everyone's ears. People were whistling and shouting as they continued on with the party. Thunder rumbled outside, which suspiciously sounded like clapping.
"Way to go, guys!!" Grover shouted as he trotted over to friends, who were packing away the equipment. "Thanks, Grove." Annabeth said as she zipped up the case of her violin, "What do you mean 'Thanks'?! Grover's right! We rocked!"
"Don't get carried away, Nightco."
"Nightco?"
"Yehp. Figured you needed a nickname" Thalia smirked at the black haired boy.
"Oh really now? Fine then, you be Thunderalia."
Thalia slapped her forehead "What??"
"And Percy can be Persea! Got it? Per-SEA!" Nico banged his hand on the table as he laughed out loud, continuing his rant.
"Alright, Nic, we get the poi—"
"And Annabeth could be Smartabeth! HAHAHA!!"
"…That is so lame."
"Yeah, even Grover could come up with something better than that!" Annabeth chimed in.
"Blaa-aah! What is that supposed to mean?!"
Percy looked at Grover's expression of utter dejection and couldn't help himself.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Grover looked at his friend with a confused look on his face.
"You….HAHA!!!..should've seen your….HA!.....face!!!"
Everyone laughed as well, tears coming to their eyes as they leaned on each other for support.
"Well," Thalia wiped away the tears on her eyes as she stood up straight, "At least I learned something new!" "What?" "Percy's one emotional guy!! Com'ere and let me give you a noogie!!" Percy choked on his sandwich as Thalia wrapped one arm around his neck, pulling his head closer to him, and using her other hand to mess his hair with a fist.
"Thalia, carefule now, we wouldn't want to explain to Poseidon how you killed Percy by noogie-ing him to death." Chiron appeared beside Nico, who was still chuckling from his corny joke. "I….I don't get what you mean…" Percy gulped at the sobered expressions on his friends faces. "We're not stupid, Perce. The moment we heard the lyrics of the song, we knew exactly why you chose it." Annabeth spoke up, concern etching into her face, "And we wanted you to know, that you're not alone in this." She stepped forward and engulfed Percy in a hug, followed by Thalia, Grover and, finally, Nico.
"Thanks you guys. I had a lot of fun too."
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Hey guys! I'm back with another songfic! I finally stopped procrastinating and started working on all those ideas that have been piling up in my notebook XD
Anyway, this is my first PJO fic, so I apologize for the crappiness -_-"
-Corsiva V.