Hello! Since Christmas is less than two weeks away (as of 12/13/15), I decided to share an early-Christmas present. Enjoy!
Disclaimer : I don't own the Percy Jackson series.
Perseus Jackson stared out the window, watching the landscape rush by. It was the beginning of winter break, with the snow falling down in thick waves, piling up against the ground. The glass fogged up with his warm breath, and he, with a smile, drew pictures on it before they could fade away once more. Christmas music drifted through the car, his mother, Sally Jackson, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel to the beat. Even though Percy was technically old enough to drive, he didn't exactly have the opportunity over the summer to get his permit and take the test, considering the fact he had spent most of his time cleaning up the camps after the war with Gaea. Besides, he knew he would most likely get too nervous and crash into a pole if he was behind the wheel.
Percy glanced at Annabeth sitting quietly besides him. She looked deep in thought, staring at her shoe, for some odd reason. He leaned over and nudged her slightly, causing her to jump a little and breaking her concentration.
"Something wrong with it?" he asked, semi-jokingly. She stared back at him confusedly. Gods, he thought, so beautiful. With those intelligent gray eyes and curly blonde hair… not to mention the fact that she could totally beat the crap out of anyone in a battle. "I mean, your shoe," he added out loud. "You know, since you were staring at it, I was wondering if something was wrong with it. Wrong color, wrong size, wrong… brand?" Annabeth laughed slightly.
"And when was the last time I have ever cared about my shoe brand?"
"Never," he admitted, "as long as they are good for running and avoiding evil monsters trying to kill you, you won't really care."
"You can say that again," she said, smirking a little.
"As long as they-" he was cut off when she punched him in the arm. Hard.
"Don't be an idiot, Seaweed Brain!" laughed Annabeth, "haven't you ever heard of expressions?"
"I have," he replied, grinning like the idiot that he was, "but don't you think that's a little… redundant, Wise Girl?"
"It's ironic," she corrected, "considering the fact 'Seaweed Brain' and 'idiot' are pretty much synonyms."
"Hey!" he protested, but not mad at all.
"I agree with Annabeth," piped up Sally. "Percy might as well be a goldfish with all the intelligence he has."
"Mom!" The other two broke out laughing, Annabeth getting hiccups. He slid down in his seat, pretending to pout, crossing his arms. Percy couldn't help but smile. After all the fighting, the pressure of saving the world, it felt good to be joking with his favorite two women in his life. They continued on, Annabeth spotting something.
"Pine Cross Avenue," she read the sign. "Are we almost there?" Percy quickly snuck a look out his window. Outside, snow fell into a winter wonderland on the trees, covering them in blankets of white.
"Piper's house should be coming up soon," Sally replied, gluing her eyes to the slippery road ahead of her.
"Mansion, mom," he corrected, a glint in his eye. "After all, Piper's dad is pretty rich and all, so this will most likely be the most fancy, craziest, and best Christmas party I have ever attended."
"What, so my blue, homemade cookies and candy aren't good enough for you?" she questioned, acting offended.
"No, no," he stumbled, "I mean, for a friend's house, or... You know, the..." He trailed off, not quite sure at how to word it. Annabeth gave him an innocent, glancing look, causing him to blush immensely.
"Well," Sally said, pulling to a long, iron gate, "I hope you guys have fun, anyways." Beyond the gates stood a large mansion. It wasn't really tall, only about 2 stories. It was more like stretching widely. Twinkling white lights decorated the outside, including the bushes and large willow tree. There was a large ice fountain of some sorts, twisting through the air. It was as if water had splashed out of the base and froze in midair. It was beautiful. Percy had never been to Piper's house before, but it immediately took his breath away. Annabeth gasped, admiring the architectural design, and he could almost see the gears rolling in her head, calculating how big it was, the designing, and a bunch of other stuff he had no idea about.
The crackling of the intercom broke his stunned state. "Who are you and what is your purpose for coming?" Tristan McLean said in his official, business type voice. Sally opened her mouth to speak, but Piper's voice broke through.
"Oh my gods, dad!" they heard her say. "It's just Percy and Annabeth!"
"'bout time!" chimed in another voice. Leo. "We were just getting ready to start without you guys!"
The gates swung open silently, the car driving through. Sally swung around the circular drop-off, stopping in front of the lighted sidewalk thing. Annabeth and Percy got out, going towards the trunk. He opened it, bringing out a large laundry basket full of wrapped presents with a huff. She took their overnight bags, since they were staying the night at the residence. Sally got out, looking at the couple.
"Oh, I can't believe it! My little boy, growing up!"
"Mom!" he complained.
"Well, I think I should let you guys go now," she replied, "but..." Sally brought out a giant plate filled to the brim with blue chocolate chip cookies with plastic wrap protecting them, "shouldn't you at least bring something to thank Piper?"
"Yes!" Percy whooped, pumping his fist in the air with difficulty, still holding the gifts. "Thanks, mom!"
"You're welcome," she said, handing the plate of goodies over to Annabeth. "Now, I gotta go. See you guys tomorrow!"
"Pick us up at 3!" he called as she got into the driver's spot. She winked, driving off. They watched her until she faded out of sight in the snow.
"Your mom's the coolest person ever, you know?" commented Annabeth. He smiled.
"Yeah, I know."
Before Percy could even ring the doorbell, Piper threw open the door, out of breath. Behind her stood Jason, Frank, Hazel, Leo, and the new addition to the group, Calypso. Piper wore a cute, red, white, and black Christmas dress with a santa hat, her choppy brown hair falling down in a cascade. Jason, Frank, and Leo all had sweaters and some jeans - except for Leo, they had their hair slicked back a little. Hazel wore a simple red and green striped cardigan with leggings and her hair curled, framing her face nicely. Calypso looked beautiful as ever, caramel hair in an elaborate braid. She had a creme sweater with a pretty, red sparkly scarf and jeans. Percy had worn a blue sweater and jeans, Annabeth a sweater and scarf also.
"Hello!" Piper chimed, opening the door wide. "Glad you finally made it!" Leo's eyes opened wide at the giant stack of presents that Percy held.
"Sweet!" he said, grinning elfishly. "Are all those for me?" Calypso gave him a look.
"No," Annabeth replied, bringing out the cookies, "but we also have these to offer." All of them gasped in excitement, except for Calypso.
"Why are you all so amazed at some oddly colored cookies?" she questioned.
"Clearly," Jason said, "you've never tried Sally Jackson's famous blue cookies."
"Come in!" Hazel added. "It must be freezing cold outside!" They obliged, kicking off their shoes to the already large pile by the door and hanging their snowy coats in the closet. Piper began giving them a tour, the rest of the seven - plus Calypso - following along.
"Here is the living room," she commentated, walking through. It was filled with games and activities, including a gaming system. She walked through the other side of it, entering the kitchen. It's counters were completely covered with food and pizza boxes. Annabeth slid in the cookies. Through the walkway was a large hallway, where pictures of Piper and her dad hung on the walls. One door, as Piper said, was the bathroom. Finally, they reached the family room - the heart of the house. It had several luxurious couches, chairs, and other furniture. A grand piano sat in the corner. A shiny, glass chandelier dangled over their heads. In the back was a brick fireplace, a TV hanging over it. And in the other corner, was the Christmas tree.
Percy heard Annabeth gasp. It was about 9 feet tall, extremely wide, a bright yellow star at the top. It was decorated with multiple ornaments, pictures, and colorful lights that faded in and out, making it look like they were moving from one bulb to another. A huge load of gifts sat under it, waiting to be opened. Percy began unloading his basket, tucking the presents under the branches.
"It's real, by the way," Piper said. He could tell - it smelled like nutmeg, cinnamon, and fresh apples. Next to the piano were a set of stairs, one going up, the other down. Piper pointed upstairs.
"Some spare bedrooms, my dad's office, his room, and mine. We won't be going up there." She walked down the other stairs, everyone following her. When they did, their was a hallway, with multiple doors. Piper opened the first one.
"This is where we will be staying," she announced. It was big, with an entertainment center and some furniture. On the other side across from their room was apparently a bathroom. Annabeth dumped her and Percy's stuff with the other's overnight bags.
The other doors held a gym, training center, and much to Percy's delight, a swimming pool! The locker rooms were off the side. "Hmm, maybe Percy wants to have a midnight swim tonight?" Piper suggested, grinning. "I hope you people brought your swimsuits!" Finally, at the end of the hallway, she swung open the door, making them all gasp. It was an indoor, home theater! Comfy movie-theater chairs sat in the middle of the room. In the corner was a giant slushy and popcorn machine.
"No way!" yelled Leo, rushing into the room and starting to fill up a slushy cup with 'Blue Raspberry.' "Pipes, you got the best house in the whole of America"
"And," she said mischievously, "this is only one of the houses we have. This is only the New York one. My residence in California is even better." All of them gasped in unison, thinking about that for a moment.
"Anyways," Frank said, breaking the silence, "can we go back upstairs? I have to prove Leo that I'm totally a better player at video games than he is."
"Move it, Zhang!" screamed Leo at the top of his lungs.
"Not a chance!"
"Yo, Jason, how does it feel to be beaten by the Son of Poseidon?" The girls all looked at each other in exasperation. They were in the living room, sitting criss-cross on the couches, snuggled up in little blankets. Snacking on some popcorn, Calypso leaned over to Annabeth slowly, closely watching the shouting boys.
"Um… is Mario Kart supposed to be this competitive?"
"Sometimes," she replied, "and with these four in particular, definitely." They watched on in amusement. Percy was in first, Jason third, Leo and Frank battling each other for fifth place. They were on the third lap.
"Almost there!" Percy taunted. "I can practically see the finish line from here!" Leo glanced over at Frank and Jason.
"Truce?" They looked back quickly, not quite tearing their eyes away from the screen.
"Truce! You're going down, Jackson!" threatened the son of Jupiter. Frank nodded silently, concentrating on getting the item boxes. Percy saw the black and white checkered line. He grinned, stopping right before he could cross it. If he pushed the button four or five times quickly, he would win first place.
"You guys are on the other side of the map? Losers!" He got up and dramatically stretched, leaving his controller on the ground. With a smile, he did his weird pre-victory dance, which involved a lot of "in your face, Grace!" "suck it, Valdez!" and "you have my deepest apologies, Zhang!" Annabeth rolled her eyes at her goofy boyfriend. Why and how does he even have the time to perfectly choreograph a victory dance? she wondered. Meanwhile, Piper looked entertained, Calypso confused, and Hazel hiding her eyes behind her fingers, peeking out.
Frank passed through the colorful item box. He pressed the "b" button - it spun around for a while, finally landing on a blue shell. He snuck a look at Percy, who was still doing his little dance. Grinning, he activated it.
"Are you guys even close to me? Wait… What?!" Percy cried, seeing his green yoshi in paralysis. He tried to take his controller, but Leo snatched it away, keeping his eyes glued to the screen. With increasing panic, Percy wrestled it back, but not before seeing Leo, then Jason, then Frank pass the finish line, in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place.
"That was a low blow, Frank!" he complained. "Blue shell? Really?" In response, Frank shrugged and hifived the other 2.
Annabeth stood up, sensing a small fight coming. She smiled, clearing her throat. "Now, before you guys go all fighting each other, we should have one more course. One more that will determine the overall winner." They looked at each other, nodding at her and glaring at each other. "But… there is a catch," she said. "Instead of just you four, us girls will also play on the course. So, prepared to lose!"
"Wait, you can have 8 people on a course?" questioned Jason. "When did that ever happen?"
"Since I modified the game some time ago," piped up Leo. "Four players to a course is a little bit restricted, isn't it?"
"Oh, I forgot the catch," she continued, a cunning look on her face. "Along with 4 other competitors, the course will be the hardest one in Mario Kart history!"
"Oh, crap," Percy muttered.
"We will be competing on… Rainbow Road!"
"Noooo," wailed seven people in the room, seemingly in slow motion. One person widely grinned, revving up the kart. The line came up, the person in first place getting ready to cross it.
"Why?" asked one male demigod, looking up at the ceiling.
"No fair!" called a female demigod, pursing her lips in concentration.
"I'm starving. Pipes, you got any nachos?" commented one (you can guess who said that…) And, with those seven demigods begging for mercy, a Princess Peach in her little pink parasol kart zoomed past, earning first place. The winning demigod stood up, looking like he/she just won the lottery.
"Take that, Percy, Leo, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Piper, and Jason!"
They sat around the large table, munching on pepperoni pizza slices - except for Leo, who also had nachos and cheese, cookies, and his slushy.
"So, Calypso," Percy said, trying to appear nonchalantly and failing, "how did you get to be so good on Rainbow Road?" She shrugged in response.
"I don't know. Maybe I won due to the compelling chance to kick your guys' butts?" she suggested. Leo snorted and gave her a nod of approval.
"And I don't know about you guys," Jason said, "but I think we need to have a rematch. But maybe something else."
"Great," Piper responded, "more competition. Wonderful!" Hazel looked confused.
"How is that wonderful?"
Annabeth couldn't help but smile. "She is being sarcastic."
"Well," Percy said, thoughtfully chewing on his crust, "we at least have to open our presents sooner than later, or else I will get seriously mad."
"Hm… so, we should play another game, open presents, and then maybe go out in the snow?" suggested Frank.
"Perfect!" exclaimed Annabeth, admiring the plan. "So, let's hurry up, eat our amazing food, and prepare for present opening!"
"No fair!" Percy called out. "Hazel is super small, so therefore it's easier!" Frank, the spinner, just shrugged.
He was in an extremely awkward spot. For one, this round consisted him, Annabeth, Hazel, and Calypso - Piper had been eliminated already. All girls - wonderful. Second, he was stretching across the mat, almost accomplishing the splits. Third, limbs were all over the place. And fourth, his face was very close to the rear of Annabeth.
"Getting a little too close, aren't you, Seaweed Brain?" she teased, face flushed. Percy felt his face get extremely red from embarrassment. He stuck his tongue out at Leo, who was currently giving him a mocking eyebrow raise and a thumbs up.
"I swear to gods, Leo, when I get out of this, I will kick you to Timbuktu!"
"Do you even know where that is?" questioned Piper. He didn't answer back on purpose.
"Right hand green," announced Frank. Percy silently cursed - in order to accomplish this, he would have to twist his body so that his stomach would be facing the ceiling. He looked behind him, seeing the elusive green spot. With much difficulty, he reached, slapping his hand down on the mat with all the weight of him behind it. The other girls did that step with ease.
"Left foot blue." Percy sighed with relief, his foot bringing his body closer together and allowing him to stop being forced to stare at the seat of Annabeth's blue jeans. However, with a yelp, Calypso lost her balance, falling backwards. Only three people remained.
"Right foot red." His eyes opened widely… he would have to move his foot over Annabeth's arm and past Hazel's chin. With careful, precise movements, Percy raised his foot in the air off his spot of previously green. He maneuvered it over Annabeth's arm, where she wrinkled her nose in slight disgust. He stretched out, adjusting his position, reaching and straining to get that one spot.
Plop! Percy collapsed, bringing down Annabeth with him.
"You idiot!" she screeched, attempting on untangling herself from him. He grinned, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Aw, come on, you know you love me," he pestered. She rolled her eyes, but he caught a faint smile dancing on her lips.
"Hazel is the winner!" announced Frank, wrapping the girl up in his big bear hands. She blushed, looking away. "Now, time for presents, right?"
"Maybe we should just pass out the presents, then have everybody but one person open their present from that person at the same time," suggested Jason, munching on a blue cookie. "That way it would be much more simple, easier, and that way everybody can easily exchange thanks!" All of them agreed that was a semi-good idea, except for Leo.
"You're killing me, Grace! Waiting to open presents? This is America, the land of the free!" he grumbled, looking annoyed. They ignored him. He shoved a cookie in his mouth to keep from saying anything else.
Percy sat next to Annabeth and Calypso. From his point to the right in their circle was the island girl, Leo, Piper, Jason, Frank, and Hazel. The tree was behind Leo.
After some time distributing the gifts, they all sat down again.
"You guys can open mine first if you want," Piper said. They obliged.
Percy received an amazingly cool surfboard, blue etched with a neon green design. Annabeth, a pretty gray owl sweater, Jason a t-shirt saying, "I don't need Google, my girlfriend knows everything." Leo received a helicopter toy, Calypso a set of silver earrings, Hazel a gold necklace that contained a small emerald, and Frank a new bow.
"Oh, Piper," Hazel breathed, mesmerized by the green stone, "I love it! Thank you so much!" She crossed the circle and gave Piper a giant hug. Percy grinned - it looked like the Christmas season had begun.
Jason's presents. Percy - a life-size blue raspberry candy cane, much to his delight. Annabeth - a bunch of architect paper, pencils, pens, protractors, rulers, and a bunch of other stuff Percy couldn't name. Leo - a small dragon figure that looked similar to Festus. Hazel - a new camera. Frank - arrows to go with his newly acquired bow. Calypso - a sparkly hair comb that complimented her dark almond eyes. And Piper : a set of diamond earrings. She, upon the opening of the gift, had nearly fainted. She turned to Jason, gave him a kiss, and looked like the happiest person alive.
"Well," said Leo mischievously, "screw this plan!" With that, he started tearing his present's wrapping apart like a madman. And that was the end of their civilized opening of presents.
Percy glanced around the room, seeing all the activity around him. He fingered his new trident necklace - made out of real azurite. Leaving his goodies on the floor, he sat next to Annabeth on the couch. In the background, Hazel was hugging Frank for the new calvary sword she had gotten. Calypso was attempting to convince Leo from bursting in flames from the excitement of getting an amazing multi tool device. Piper was at the grand piano, adding cheery, homely Christmas music to the background. And Jason admiringly held a brick painted blue - courtesy of Percy. But all that didn't matter, as the most amazing thing in his life was right next to him.
The daughter of Athena turned the page of the book she had gotten. She wore her new silver owl necklace. The eyes of the owl were rubies, and Percy could've sworn it made her stormy gray eyes stand out even more, if that was possible.
"Thank you," she said, not looking up from her book.
"For what?" he asked. "I mean, you basically already told me how much you love that necklace now, and that I'm the best boyfriend ever, so why do you say 'thank you?'" She closed the cover, putting it down on the ground. A glint danced through her eyes.
"Thank you, Percy Jackson," she said, leaning in, "for being the best thing to ever happen to me."
"Yahh!" yelled Leo, wading out in the snow, wearing nothing but his regular clothes. Fire danced at the edge of his body, just enough to keep him from freezing. Calypso rolled her eyes. The other seven were wearing a bunch of winter gear, so Percy felt like a pufferfish, overwhelmed with the clothing. He waddled out, stepping into white snow. They dispersed, Hazel and Frank, Jason and Piper starting to make a snowman. The two boys started betting that their snowman would be better than the other's, and their girlfriends just rolled their eyes and began rolling a snowball.
Calypso had not seen snow for more than a thousand years, and she began jubilantly making snow angels, soft delicate snowflakes catching in her caramel hair. Annabeth joined her, pointing out to the others on how to make the perfect snowman, according to her calculations.
Percy stood for a moment, watching the beauty of his friends, the beauty of everything. That moment was a moment of realization : this was his life. And, with or without monsters to fight, titans to break, or prophesies to fulfill, it was amazing. It always was, it is, and it always will be. That was a promise.
"Hey, Annabeth," Percy said, approaching her, "can I talk to you for a second?" She nodded, standing up unsteadily. He steadied her, "hey, Wise Girl, don't fall on me!"
"So, Seaweed Brain, what do you want?" she asked. He was silent for a moment.
My Annabeth… those eyes, the curly hair… those soft, pink lips, the look on her face when she is concentrating… What did I ever do to deserve her? Wise Girl… I… I love you.
"Well?" she prompted. Percy snapped out of his thinking. Sensing the others staring at them, he knelt down. Well, as much as he could in his puffy gear.
"Annabeth," he said seriously. There wasn't a sound - except for his Wise Girl's gasp.
"I've been meaning to do this for a long time now, and it might be too late. But I don't care. So, Annabeth…" he took her hand. It was shaking violently. He coughed.
"Annabeth… with you go to prom with me?" She blinked. "I mean, if that's ok," he added, "seeing as we kind of missed that in our senior year, and we were kind of busy with saving the world and all, and…"
She cut him off. "Of course." With those words, she leaned in, kissing her Seaweed Brain. Then Leo ruined the romantic moment, by shoving snow down the back of Percy's shirt. He broke away from Annabeth, looking cold and rigid, showing no response from the snow. He turned towards the mechanic.
"Leo," Calypso whispered frantically, "you better run." But he didn't. Percy stepped forward once. Twice. Three times. He reached Leo.
"I- I'm sorry, I didn-" Leo was cut off when Percy shoved his face in the snowy bank. He was so surprised he forgot to activate his fire, effectively causing him to be covered in snow that hadn't melted from his heat.
That activated a full blown snowball fight. Jason rose up in the air, throwing snowballs from above. Piper began charmspeaking the others to not hit her. Frank turned into a fly, disappearing, then appearing behind someone and lobbing snowballs at the back of their head. Calypso and Annabeth were in a heated competition, snow exploding on them. As for Percy and Leo, well, they chased each other around the yard, yelling and overall, having the time of their lives.
Percy and Annabeth cuddled on a sleeping bag, holding a cup of hot cider. They were in their momentary room for the sleepover. All of them were wet, so they had changed into their pjs and were settling down for the night.
Percy glanced around the room. In the corner lay Jason and Piper. She was on her side, Jason hugging her warmly. Hazel was passed out in her bag, Frank right next to her in his bulldog form. Calypso slept facing the wall, her boyfriend snoring lightly on his back, curls falling in his face.
"Annabeth," he said, turning to her, "when was the first time you realized you liked me?" She thought for a moment, then replied.
"Probably when you were searching for me, and I was holding the sky." He grimaced.
"Don't mention that again - I can still feel the pain on my shoulders." They watched the other couples for a while.
"What do you think of Calypso?" Annabeth asked.
"Happy for her. Leo finally found the love of his life."
"You don't feel anything between the two?"
"No," he said seriously. And it was the truth. Calypso had loved Percy, a long time ago. But that was several years ago. And now he had another girl in his life.
It took some time before Percy could bring up enough courage to ask the next question.
"Annabeth Chase… when was the first time you realized you loved me?" She turned toward him, gazing into his sea green eyes that she liked so much.
"Percy… I never told you this, but remember when you were sleeping at our headquarters at the hotel, in the middle of the battle with Kronos?" He nodded.
"Um… when you were asleep, you were muttering. I came to the conclusion from your words that I was what you saw when you took a dip in the River Styx. Am I right?" He nodded again.
"Then that, Percy," she continued, "is when I realized I loved you. And still do." He nodded, for the final time. After staring into the distance, Annabeth opened her mouth again.
"Do you want to hear a secret?"
"Yes,. But only if you want me to know it." She glanced at him. Her words came raggedly and she was a little bit breathless.
"I say that I first realized I loved you when you were turning 16. But I think that what I didn't realize, was that I loved you from the moment we first saw each other, Percy Jackson."
Percy was speechless. He tried to talk, but nothing could come out. So they sat, enjoying each other's warmth, calmly watching the others. She leaned her head into him, and he could feel her drifting to sleep. All he could think of, however, was his Wise Girl. His soul mate. The girl he loves. Always will love.
Annabeth.
So, how do you like it? This is my first one shot, and I am wondering if all my Percy Jackson fan-fictions should be similar to this type of writing (that is to say, one chapter long). Please rate/review!
Note : I don't own the Mario Kart games of the Super Mario franchise, nor the Hasbro Twister Game. They were used purely for the story plot. :)
Happy holidays!
-DragonFire0102