Navy's tribute
This is technically be a part of my RuleBreaker Universe, as one of my demigod OC one shots, but more than that, this is a tribute, as the title suggests. I recently learned a lot about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which began America's involvement in WWII and killed about 2,400 people. This is a tribute to all those who passed on December 7th, 1941, in the military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Percy strolled along the beach in the moonlight, at peace as the waves washed gently against the shore. The stars shimmered far above, silvery light dancing across the sea. He was content to be standing here, to be living in this moment, glad of the chance for a vacation on the only state that was also a chain of islands, after the chaotic and violent events of Gaia rising and being defeated, as well as the stunning revelation of the RuleBreakers. Also, Nico di Angelo had suddenly and mysteriously disappeared, and no one had heard from him, although Jason seemed to know and be unsettled by something when the subject was brought up. Either way, time to pester him later. Percy was glad for the vacation.
He frowned as he sensed a disturbance in the water, a ways up the beach, perhaps a hundred yards, where the pier was which anchored several boats. There was the telltale swish of a tarp and a gentle splash as a boat was placed in the water. He sped up his pace to investigate.
The boat was just a small lifeboat, with a slight figure standing on the dock loading a couple packages into it. He skulked behind a rack of life vests, watching the furtive way she glanced around and slipped into the boat, shoving off. The boat skimmed across the water, seemingly not propelled by anything.
Percy frowned. The way that the boat moved seemed uncannily like the way he propelled boats through the water. She seemed suspicious, anyway, so he slipped into the water and began to follow her from a distance underwater.
Hawaii really had beautiful fish and coral and other sea life, Percy reflected as he followed her. She had set an exceptionally fast pace, particularly as she was in a small lifeboat which shot forward apparently by her mental control over the water.
They entered a bay, and Percy watched as she let the boat drift to a stop near a white building on the water. His blood ran cold, as his underwater powers sensed the ship wreckage on the bottom of the harbor. He saw that this was the final resting place and memorial of the USS Arizona, sunk in the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.
She stood and went to the bow of her boat. He saw, silhouetted by the full moon, that she was really quite pretty, with a sensible navy blue dress, black hair that was braided back, and shimmering deep blue eyes like the moon sparkling over the waves.
She began to speak in a quavering voice. "Father? I-I know you're down there, somewhere. And I know now that you're not my real father, no matter what you told me. But that doesn't really matter. I consider you my father, and that's all that counts."
She sat against the side, which would've overbalanced the boat had the water itself not stabilized it. "A burial at sea—you would've found that so fitting, for a sailor. I guess I just came here for a little… peace. Solace. You would laugh to think of visiting a cemetery as solace, so I guess it's more… closure."
Tears were shining on her face as she continued. "You would be so thrilled to see all of the technology there is now. Things have progressed so much since 1941. Sometimes I think I'm crazy, still being alive after all these years, but magic can do amazing things, I guess. The RuleBreakers are kind, and they are led, more or less, by a partial sister of mine. She's Anacaona, of Poseidon and Bastet." She paused. "Did you know my parentage? Did mother ever?"
Partial sister. Percy felt the breath leave his lungs. This girl was his half-sister. He didn't want to impose on her privacy in mourning, but at the same time he was riveted. He couldn't turn away, no matter how much he wanted to.
"There were two half-sisters of mine there," she went on. "Tegucigalpa and Tenochtitlan. They have been kind to me."
She stood. "One of the hardest parts of my immortality is knowing I may never die like you did. It may be a while before my soul flies to the Underworld."
She opened one of the packages and sifted through it, drawing out a handful of tiny, blue, star-shaped flowers, casting them over the sides of the boat in a shower of periwinkle against the moonlight. More of the small blossoms fell, and more, the currents spreading them into flurries and shapes, miniature constellations across the ocean.
From another box, she took red rose petals and scattered them across the ocean, where they mingled with the blue and made an odd spiraling effect, beauteous and intricate.
Finally, from the last package, she took the white plumeria flowers that were so common on these islands and dashed them into the water, the larger white flowers with the small yellow centers mixing in among the others, red, white, and blue scattering. She closed her eyes and concentrated, the water swirling to her command, the flowers making a very exact pattern.
She bowed her head. "Farewell, Father."
Her boat did not disturb the flower flag on the water as it swiftly swept out to sea, the American flag spread across the ocean.
Percy made his way back to the shore and went to bed, but he couldn't sleep for hours, thinking of the mysterious girl at the memorial.
The next morning, he turned on the news and froze, staring at the TV.
"Someone left an interesting thing at the memorial for the USS Arizona last night," the reporter was saying. "Of course, flowers are allowed always, but the sheer number of these was astounding. It seems that white plumeria, red rose petals, and blue borage flowers were placed together in the shape of an American flag. We think that this is the tribute of one Navy Jones, who was a customer in several flower shops looking for massive amounts of these flowers."
A picture of the girl from last night flashed on the screen—one from a lousy security camera in a florist's shop, but still a clear enough picture to recognize her.
But in this camera, a symbol was visible on the back of her sweater.
A trident.