Something New: The Memories
It had been 4 years. 4 long years. 4 years since what? 4 years since the most beautiful, yet the most terrifying day that Percy had ever known. It was the day he had gained one thing, but lost another. He lost his lover, and gained a daughter.
His lover, Annabeth Chase, was a beautiful lady. She had elegance and intelligence. She was his everything. His anchor. His love. His best friend. And then she died. She had abandoned him. Abandoned their daughter to him. It wasn't her fault. And Percy knew it. He didn't blame her, but he also couldn't help but feel alone. Annabeth had died during labor, leaving Percy a beautiful daughter to take care of for her.
His daughter. Her name was Allison. Allison Jackson. She was beautiful. Allison had the hair of her mother, but the eyes of her father. The sea green eyes were stormy and caring, while still carrying a look of curiosity and pride. In short, Allison was the embodiment of both of her parents, and not only biologically.
Allison was Percy's pride and joy. He was able to carry on through her. Percy finished college with the help of his mother and his cousin. Sally helped pay for college payments and take care of Allison initially. Later on, Thalia helped take care of Allison when both her and Percy moved to San Francisco.
Percy had achieved his dream career of being a marine biologist. He loved the water. Ever since he was little, water was his element. It most likely helped that his father was the owner of a huge shipping company. His father was a nice man. Poseidon had always been the best father that Percy could ask for. Or at least for Percy's first 12 years of life. After that, Poseidon had always been busy. He visited occasionally, but Percy's mother was pretty much the only parent that Percy really communicated with.
Even after 4 long years, Percy was about to experience a lot of more ups and downs. But the question is, will he be ready?
(Present Time)
Percy laid his head on his desk. He was tired. He had been working long hours. Percy groaned. He looked up again and gazed at a picture on his desk. It was a picture of his daughter and him. She had a vivid smile on her face and Percy grinned with joy. The picture was taken by Thalia when the three of them had visited the aquarium. Like her father, Allison loved the water. She was even more in love with the creatures of the see. Most of all, she loved dolphins.
Percy gained a little more energy from just remembering his daughter. He smiled and turned back to his work. He had been writing essays the entire day. Ugh. Percy had never been the best at school, but marine biology was and is the only thing that could keep his attention. Percy always wrote two essays at once. His ADHD demanded it. Although it was weird and worried his lab mates at times, his work was always tremendous and so no one was worried for too long.
Percy was feeling his tiredness catching up to him. 'Oh no.' He felt his eyes begin to close slowly. By the next 10 seconds, Percy face-planted into his keyboard and passed out.
(Later...at like 6 pm)
"Kelp Head, get up!" Percy heard a voice call out. He groaned.
"Just let me sleep...", Percy muttered. He felt a hand grab at his hair and pull it slightly.
"Allison's waiting for you Percy." As soon as my hazy brain registered the words, I immediately sat up. I looked over to the person who woke me up. Just as I suspected, it was my ever so loving cousin Thalia. Or as I like to call her, Pinecone Face. Thalia was wearing a black top and black jeans. It was weird seeing her wear something so...plain. Yeah, that's the word.
"How did you get in here?", Percy asked while rubbing his eyes.
She looked back at me with an amused look and held a key. "I used my charming good looks to get a copy of the key to your lab and office."
His eyes sarcastically widened, "Someone thought you were pretty? The world is ending."
"Ha, ha, very funny." She told me with a fake sense of hurt. "Now, let's go see Allison"
Percy nodded with glee and quickly stood up. However, because he wasn't careful, Percy knocked over a lot of papers and pens. He groaned and bent down to pick all of his stuff.
"You're such a Seaweed-Brain.", Thalia exclaimed without thinking. She immediately covered her mouth with her hand. The room filled with a sudden silence that seemed unnatural.
Percy felt a pang in his heart. A lone tear escaped Percy's eye. It had been 3 years since he last cried about Annabeth, but hearing his old nickname was just enough to give him a reminder of the pain of losing her. After the first year, Percy had never cried again. He created his own bottle of emotion and locked it. He figured that he needed to put his daughter's needs before his own.
He shook it off and finished picking up his stuff. "I'm sorry.", Thalia apologized. Percy looked over and smiled, "No worries." He grinned even more, "Let's go see my little Alli!"
The duo walked out and went into the lobby. They could see a little girl with beautiful golden curls sitting there playing with a little toy dolphin. Percy coughed intentionally as he approached his daughter. The little girl looked up and her face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Daddy!"
Allison bounded over to her father. She jumped up into his open arms and nuzzled into his neck. "I missed you daddy."
"I'm sorry, baby. Wanna go get ice cream?"
She smiled again. "Yeah!" But, being the curious little girl she is, she noticed the line of a single dried tear on Percy's face. "Daddy, were you crying?"
Percy's face froze. "No. Not at all. Come on, let's go get ice cream." Percy suggested that once more to try and get his daughter's mind off of him. Allison looked at him with a stare that so closely resembled her mother's own stare, but Percy had to keep his cool. Allison gave up, and pointed at the door.
Percy and Thalia chuckled at her antics. "You joining us, Thals?"
Thalia gave it some consideration. "I don't like ice cream." Allison gave her a really adorable face that just begged for her to join them. She sighed. "But I'll go."
Allison giggled in joy and wriggled around in Percy's arms, causing him to move around weirdly to keep the both of them upright. "Calm down there girl, you might give Thalia a headache", Percy said to his daughter with a smirk on his face.
Thalia pulled out her keys from her purse and smacked Percy's head as she walked out off the door and towards the car. Allison giggled wildly again as Percy groaned. The father-daughter pair walked out to the car and got in.
"I like it when Aunt Thalia drives. She goes so fast!", Allison said cutely. If Percy was drinking anything, he would have spit it out.
"Thalia! Are you driving over the speed limit when Allison is in the car?", Percy exclaimed, giving a glare at Thalia. She rubbed the back of her neck and blushed furiously.
"Uh. Noooo?", Thalia lamely muttered. Percy shook his head. "Oh well. I know I can't stop you. Just be careful."
Thalia didn't even answer. She smiled with glee and took off.
(10 minutes later)
"Daddy, I want a chocolate sundae!", Allison pleaded. Percy laughed and ordered it. He had ordered a banana split and Thalia had ordered a double scoop of chocolate chip ice cream on her cone.
The three sat down outside and enjoyed their ice cream.
There was a lot of small talk and some giggles and laughs for all of them. Allison, of course, had gotten a lot of ice cream on her nose. Every time that it happened, Percy would either wipe it off with his finger, or lick it off with his tongue. Some would say it was gross, but Thalia thought it was cute. Which is saying a lot.
After eating ice cream, everyone went back home. Thalia was actually living with Percy. They thought that it would be easier on both of them. Thalia would have to worry about less bills and such, while Percy could worry less about who could take care of his daughter and home. Thalia was actually working at home for her father. She managed a lot of his work for his air company.
Thalia took a shower while Percy put Allison to bed.
"You had a good day, Alli?", Percy asked his daughter. She smiled at him.
"Yes, Daddy. I'm glad we got ice cream with Aunt Thalia.", Allison answered in that little cute voice of hers. Percy smiled. He was happy as long as his daughter was content. He kissed her head and gave her a hug before putting her into bed. She blew him a kiss and curled herself into her blanket.
Percy sighed and walked out to his kitchen. He got a glass of water and sat down at the circular table. He was soon joined by Thalia. She looked at him with both worry and anger.
"Percy." She called.
I looked up. "Yeah?"
"How long have you been having these nightmares?"
"...what nightmares?", I responded. I tried really hard not to waver and slip.
"Don't lie to me, Percy. I heard you muttering when you were asleep. Now. How long?" She questioned, but it was more of a demand.
"Ever since she died, Thals. She was my rock. She was my everything." Percy responded with a wavering voice. Thalia couldn't help but feel bad for her cousin.
"Oh. Well. What have the nightmares been about?" She asked carefully.
"What do you think? The day that Annabeth died with my child in her arms. You weren't there. You didn't see her pained expression. You didn't hear her beautiful voice telling our daughter's name. You never heard her dying voice tell me how to live on without her. You don't get it!" Percy screamed in a hushed voice. At this point, tears were streaming down his face.
"Look, Percy. I understand that you are having a lot of stress from work and the lack of sleep. So, I'm sending you to therapy."
"Therapy? I don't need a therapist."
"Yes, you do. I will take care of Allison while you go over to your new therapist."
"Do I have to? You know what happens when you split the word 'therapist'? You get 'The Rapist'." Percy lamely responded.
Thalia face-palmed. "Seriously Kelp Head? She is a close friend of mine. And I doubt anyone could rape you if they tried. You may not look like much on the outside, but I've seen those secret muscles of yours. Like, seriously. You work out or something?"
"Yeah. There's a gym right by the lab."
"Ah. Anyways. Tomorrow, get groceries in the morning. Then, come home and eat lunch. After that, to therapy you go."
"You realize that I'm not going to tell her anything right?"
"If anyone is going to be able to get you to speak, it'll be her."
Percy growled, but nodded. He stood up and got into his bed. He sighed once more, waiting for the nightmares to come.
Percy woke up to the sound of breathing. He looked down to see his little girl laying on his chest. Thalia was standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. She laughed in her own head while looking at the little girl's antics.
"Percy, hurry up and get dressed. It's 10 already. Please go get groceries. Remember that you have to go to therapy." Thalia told her cousin. Allison's ears perked up and she sat up.
"What is a thewahpy?"
"Just some grown-up stuff, Alli." Percy explained, hoping that she wouldn't probe anymore. Lucky for him, she nodded and bounded out of the room to go play with some toy dolphins.
Percy stretched and stood up. He quickly showered and brushed his teeth. He quickly checked himself in the mirror. He tried combing his shaggy black hair, but it didn't work. He sighed. Oh well. Percy made his way to the kitchen and grabbed a bagel.
He took his keys and kissed Allison goodbye. He kissed Thalia on the cheek too, just to mess with her. She had a little fit and wiped it off like a child. He chuckled on his way to the car while still eating a bagel.
Once he arrived to the store, he walked inside and grabbed a shopping cart. Apparently, Thalia had created a list for him because she didn't trust him to remember everything. Percy made his away around the store, grabbing all of the necessary groceries.
Percy quickly paid and walked out of the doors.
Suddenly, he heard a scream. He looked over towards the direction of the scream. He saw two people having a struggle. He recognized a female fighting with some burly dude. Percy let go of his grocery cart and ran towards the fighting people. Percy was really surprised at how well the lady was fighting. She was really putting up a fight.
The lady threw punches and kicks like no one else. She grappled the man's neck and knee'd him in the stomach. The man growled and stepped back. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at the lady. She froze in fear and stared at the man intently.
Percy felt anger rush into his system. This man was not going to kill this lady, and he was going to make sure of it. Percy ran quickly. He leaped onto the car behind the man and dove onto the criminal. Percy wrestled with the man and shouted at the lady, "Go!"
She nodded slightly and ran off towards the store doors, where Percy's shopping cart happened to be. The man wriggled free of Percy's hold and grabbed his gun. He shot the revolver twice, one bulet missing and the other going right through Percy's arm muscle.
'Ah, shit!', Percy thought as he felt a stinging pain in his arm. However, he ignored it. The anger that he felt for someone attacking an innocent lady made him mad. How did know that she was the victim? Well, the scream and fact that her purse was laying on the floor helped.
Percy grabbed the gun out of the man's hands and butted him in the head. Multiple times. The man was knocked out and was slightly bleeding. Percy clutched his right arm, the one that had been shot. Luckily, there was no bullet lodged in there as it had gone straight through him.
He made his way back to the store. He found the lady sitting on the bench outside. She was sitting next to his grocery cart. Percy could feel the blood trickling down his arm, but he decided that it didn't matter.
"Hey. You okay?", he asked the lady. She looked up with her slightly bruised face.
"I was doing pretty good, well until the gun. Are you bleeding?", she asked in exclamation. She jumped up and walked up to Percy. "You've been shot!" she stated.
"Don't worry about it. The bullet came straight through."
"You are not helping the fact that you have been shot, mister." the lady responded.
"Eh. I'm just glad you're okay." Percy spoke. At that moment, Percy noticed how gorgeous the lady was. She had sparkling black eyes and beautiful silky black hair. Her hair was tied up into a bun. Her figure was slender, yet she did not look overly skinny. She had curves that were only accentuated by her gray blouse and white pants.
Percy shook the thoughts away quickly. Annabeth had told him to move on, but he just couldn't do it. No one could fully fill that void in his heart, he thought. The lady coughed. Percy looked up.
"Well, if that's it. I'm going to be on my way. See ya, miss..."
"My name is Zoe. Zoe Nightshade."
"Well, Miss Nightshade. Stay out of trouble.", Percy stated with amusement, despite the fact that he was still bleeding.
He turned around and walked back to his car. He put away his groceries and got into the car.
He heard a voice call out. "Wait! What is your name?"
Percy looked back to Zoe. "It's Perseus Jackson. Call me Percy." He smiled before backing out of the parking lot and driving off. He looked into the rearview mirror and saw Zoe looking at his car. For a second, he even thought that he saw a blush...
Bam! First chapter! Yay! This was a new idea that I just really wanted to write despite having another story. Anyways, I hope that you guys liked the first chapter. Oh yeah. Zoe will not be speaking in her old english, seeing as how this is AU, but she will have weird expressions and will kind of be like her original self. We'll see. Anyways, review! :)
