Sorry to all of you waiting on bated breath for the next chapter of the prank story. I just like writing really sad one-shots. Enjoy!
Sally positions the water spraying out of the sink so it catches the light. A rainbow appears, and she smiles weakly. She takes a drachma out of her pocket. Poseidon had given it to her.
She's never had a reason to use it. Percy always calls her the same time each week, and he visits often too, Annabeth and Grover in tow. But today…today of all days. She needs to use it. He has to know. Right now.
A fluttery, nervous feeling takes root inside of her. He'll be excited. Of course he'll be excited. It won't change anything. Sally has no reason to worry.
She takes a deep breath and whispers: "O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering. Show me Percy Jackson, at Camp Half-Blood."
She tosses the drachma in, and it disappears.
The rainbow shows her the familiar landscape of Cabin Three. It's a mess, as it always is when Tyson isn't visiting camp. Dirty clothes are more visible than the floor. A pizza box lies open, with bag of blue M&Ms inside.
Sally is about to chide Percy when she notices something very, very wrong with this scene.
Percy is not there. A mop of curly blond hair is strewn across the blue bedspread, a face is pressed into a pillow. And the unmistakable sound of sobbing echoes throughout the cabin.
Sally bites her lip. "Annabeth?"
Annabeth looks up, and the tears stream down her face like a rainstorm. "Mrs. Jackson- oh gods. Oh gods, no." She presses her face into the pillow again, poorly masking a wail.
Sally has no clue what's happening. "Annabeth, sweetheart? Did- did you and Percy break up?"
Her head shoots up like a bullet. "No! No, no, no! Nonononono! It's just…he's…" She chokes on her words. Annabeth clambers onto Percy's bed and pulls her knees to her chest, struggling to breathe.
Worry begins to eat away at Sally's consciousness. "What happened?" She tries desperately to keep her voice steady.
Annabeth takes a few deep breaths. Then she looks straight into Sally's eyes. The gray of her eyes has never looked so shattered. Like someone smashed a thundercloud on the ground.
Who knew thunderclouds were made of glass?
"Percy's gone." she said simply. "I went to wake him up this morning because he wasn't at breakfast, but he wasn't in bed. We searched the whole camp. The dryads say that no one was in the forest last night. Olympus has shut off contact with us. And…and he's gone."
Each word feels like a bullet wound. Each "gone" feels like a stab in the gut. Sally feels like she is slowly bleeding to death, drowning in her own pain. The final sentence sounds like a death sentence.
Sally clutches at the edge of the countertop, trying to keep herself from breaking. But it's too late.
Annabeth has started crying again, burying her face into her palms. Snot dribbles down her lip, and red rims her eyes. Sally doesn't imagine that she looks much better.
The first tears fall. Sally gasps for air and leans over the sink- and suddenly it is a storm of tears. Hail and sleet. Pinging into the sink, emphasizing each tiny plink. It sounds like music. A high-pitched death march.
As if on cue, thunder rolls.
"Annabeth." Sally croaks weakly.
Annabeth glances up and sees the look in Sally's eyes. "I'll be right over." she says immediately.
"Thank you." Sally mumbles.
Tears still trace their way down Annabeth's face as she gets off the bed and cuts the connection.
Paul walks in just then, grinning broadly. Right. Today was supposed to be a happy occasion. But the smile slides off of his face as he gets a good look at Sally.
He immediately walks over and takes her into his arms. She cries into his shoulder as she tells him, hiccuping through her sobs. Sally feels his own tears drip down into her shirt.
She squeezes her eyes shut. "Annabeth will be here soon." she tells him. "Can I- can I just be alone for a minute?"
Paul quickly pulls away. "Of course." He walks out of the kitchen. But she sees him place his face in his hands.
Alone now, Sally turns back to the sink. She looks up and sees a picture frame that he decorated himself in kindergarten, with blue glitter and seahorse stickers. Displayed inside is a photo of him and Annabeth and Grover at camp, when he was twelve. His arms are around his friends, and he looks happier than he has since before Gabe came. Because he knows who he is now. Because he finally belongs.
Sally looks at her son's wide grin and imagines it splitting his sixteen-year-old face open today as she tells him. She pictures him brushing away a few tears nonchalantly, then openly crying once he sees she's noticed.
"I'm really happy for you, Mom." he'd say. She can hear it so clearly in her mind that he might as well be standing in front of her.
He can't answer. Sally knows this.
But she stops crying for a second and fixes her gaze onto the picture of him.
"Percy." she tells him. "I'm pregnant."
And then she breaks. Shards of happiness shatter and fall to the ground, splintering into pieces as they hit the floor. Her heart cracks, piece by piece breaking off until there is nothing left and she is hollow.
Okay, then. Hope you liked it, and let me know if you want me to continue with a reunion between Sally and Percy after the war ends. My name is Blackberry Explosion, have a great day!