Before you say anything - I'm using this story to give me a bit extra inspiration for Aphrodite's Exchange Program. I want Chapter 10 to be extra special for you guys.
Lost-In-A-Whole-New-World - Aww, I'd put you up here every chapter if I wasn't so lazy! :P Thank you so much for the consistent reviews you give me. You're a regular, haha. I'm super happy you like the story as you're one of the reviewers I always look out for. What do you mean 'whole'? Did I miss something? If you mean like a reference to something, I have no idea. I've done references before unknowningly to Harry Potter (as I have yet to find time to read that series - don't kill me Harry Potter fans) and a few other ones.
Samantha's Library - Glad you enjoyed it - I had a ton of fun writing it! :) Thank you for the long review as I treasure those with a special place in my heart. 3
Olympian and Wizard - Yes, yes. Hello, hello. I'm alive - tada! I don't know what to tell you about A Percabeth Life, quite honestly. I'd like to do a rewrite, I'd like to upload the rough drafts of the original, but I have yet been able to bring myself to do it. The after-books life of the demigods is so over used and over done - I don't want to be cookie cutter. I've also been having trouble on the execution of the first chapter. It has to be perfect for you guys - you've waited so long. I'll look into it, but I doubt I could juggle three stories at once. As for the writing contest and bullying, I'm going to be getting into Annabeth's life the next few chapters.
Awesome chocolate - I know, I know. I got so into the dialog at the end I forgot to remember about descriptiveness (if that's even a word). I didn't even notice until after I posted it and by then it was too late... Sigh. I kept Percy's powers because if I just made him mortal when he came over it would sort of ruin the point of the fic. Sure, Annabeth would meet her fictional boyfriend, but it wouldn't be as special. I mean, nothing would link him back to where he's from which is half of his character. Look at it this way - he's a completely different species. She's mortal, he's a half-blood. No matter what he is he's going to have to learn to fit into a mortal lifestyle for a little while so I figured I'd keep him a demigod.
Wow. That's a long author's note - oops. Sorry guys. Here's the story. (Tell me if you think I should do the occasional Percy POV chapter like I did here but mostly Annabeth or just keep it all Annabeth.)
Percy eyed the 'Joe' character. He was weird, to say the least. Joe looked like... the average Joe, Percy supposed. He had reddish-brown curly hair (that faintly reminded him of Leo) and dark almond eyes. He had Hermes' famous troublemaker smile and humor sparkled in his eyes like he was about to crack a joke. Percy figured he'd get along with this guy very well.
"Why would someone send me here anyways?" Percy asked. He hated this - it was like a 24/7 inside joke Annabeth and Joe were sharing but he didn't have a clue about it. He unconsiously started tapping his foot nervously.
"Entertainment," Annabeth said coldly, removing her sunglasses.
Her eyes flashed like a lightning storm and Percy had to remind himself this wasn't his Annabeth. But she still looked like her... and she was still incredibly hot when she was mad. Percy mentally slapped him self.
"The gods love a good show. Hades, they're probably watching us right now as we speak," Annabeth interrupted his thoughts.
"Creepy," Percy said, glancing around the room, half-expecting eyes to pop out of nowhere like 'HERE'S JOHNNY!' or something. "But it still doesn't make sense. What kind of fool would send someone to another dimension for a good laugh?"
"Ooo," Annabeth said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "'Fool'. Your vocabulrary is growing, Jackson. I'm so proud."
"Considering that you're the one who came up with my vocabulary, I should be proud of you," he retorted.
"You're right. I should be ashamed of myself for giving you such a low IQ," Annabeth scoffed.
Percy rolled his eyes, "Staying on topic, Chase."
"We're on a last name basis now, eh?" Joe asked, leaning his elbows on the counter. "I can practically taste the sexual tension between you two." He licked his lips. "It's bitter sweet."
Percy tried his best not to blush but he was pretty sure he was failing.
"Ha, ha, ha," Annabeth said slowly. "Good one. I ain't his girlfriend so don't be cracking out that jar of jokes, Joe. And don't forget about," her voice went dark, "the video."
Joe paled. "R-R-Right. S-Sorry!"
"The video?" Percy pressed.
"Oh, nothing, heh..."
"Oh, everything, heh!" Annabeth grinned.
"You really don't need to see it," Joe said quickly. "Totally boring nonsense."
"I got my phone on me," Annabeth sang.
"I will rip you open and use your intestines as noodles in my spaghetti," Joe said blankly.
"Gross," Annabeth shivered, her mouth turning into a grimace.
"Back on topic," Percy reminded them, impaitently tapping a beat with his fingers on the black glossy countertop.
"Right," Annabeth sighed. "Well, someone - meaning the gods - obviously got ahold of a laptop and came across FanFiction."
"What?"
"Fan," Annabeth said slowly, "Fiction. Fan fiction. Say it with me now, kids - 'FanFiction'."
"Yeah, I heard you," Percy rolled his eyes. "But what's that?"
"Imagine a group of horny, squeally, teenaged girls practically destroying their keyboard by typing thousands of stories about the characters from the books. They create spin-offs. Like, taking the original characters from a book and making their own story or plotline," Annabeth sighed. "And I sadly created them by accident."
"You got the description dead-on," Joe grinned.
"That's rich coming from one of the fanboys," Annabeth rolled her eyes.
Joe scowled.
"As creepy as that sounds," Percy hesitated, taking a cautious look at the 'fanboy', "what does it have to do with this?"
"As I was saying," Annabeth said irritatedly, "I think the gods came across FanFiction and fell in love with one of the fanfics and decided to make it real."
"You're saying they found one of these creepy girls' stories and liked it so much that they decided to make it real?" Percy said, his stare blank.
"Or boys' stories," Joe piped in.
"Probably," Annabeth stirred her cup, ignoring her friend. "But that's just my conspiracy theroy. The more realistic idea would be that Posiedon or a Nereid transported you to this world. I doubt a Nereid would have so much power so it was probably Uncle P."
"But why would my dad do such a thing?" Percy sighed. "Has he lost his marbles?"
"I wouldn't be surprised," Joe cocked an eyebrow.
"Don't insult your dad," Annabeth chided. "He's a wonderful god and one of my personal favorites."
"You like my dad," Percy repeated. "Your mother's arch enemy?"
"Well, duh," Annabeth rolled her eyes. "He's like you. And I created him, sort of. Besides, Annabeth fell in love with her mother's arch rival's son so why shouldn't I be able to like Poseidon? He's like a dad to me - at least, I imagine him that way. And technically speaking, my mother isn't enemies with him considering that my mom is the dreaded Helen Chase."
"Your real mom is Helen here?" Percy asked in shock.
"Yeah, what a bummer," Joe huffed. "Her cool life's mom is the Greek wisdom goddess and here her mother is like a total downer."
"He really needs to stop acting like he's 'hip'," Percy glanced at Joe.
"I have ears, you know!"
"Can you please tell Joe that I'm not speaking to someone who writes stalker-like stories about me in his free time?" Percy rolled his eyes.
"I don't write them," Joe scoffed.
"He reads them though," Annabeth rose an eyebrow at the cafe owner, snorting into her cup.
"I do it as like a service to you," Joe defended as he slammed his dish towel on the counter. "I read the stories and look at what your readers are complaining about so you can improve your writing."
"The readers complain about what a troll I am for sending Percabeth into Tartarus," Annabeth said with a blank look. "But I like to give them my middle finger for those situations."
Percy paled at the mention of Tartarus. "Um, Percabeth?" That sounds like-
"Yes, Jackson," Annabeth said grumpily, "Percabeth. P-e-r-c-a-b-e-t-h. It's what the fandom calls you and Annabeth. It's your couple name AKA ship name."
"Ship name?" Percy shook his head, "Like a boat?"
"No, Salt Shaker," Annabeth scowled.
"Haha, Salt Shaker, good one." Joe shot a grin at Annabeth.
"Don't fret over all this fandom stuff. It's a lot to take in and if you haven't learnt about it over time it can be a real headache. You'll figure it out eventually," she said calmly. "But we keep going off topic."
"Yeah," Joe eyed Percy. "How are we going to send ol' fish face back?"
"Don't call me that," Percy sent him a glare, his cheeks going red.
"But we're buddy-buddy, am I right?" Joe grinned, elbowing Percy from across the counter. "We got a bromance going on!"
"A what now?" Percy spluttered.
Annabeth snorted, "Let's keep the bromances between him and Jason, shall we?"
"You can have more than one bromance," Joe argued.
"CAN WE PLEASE NOT GO OFF TOPIC FOR ONCE?" Percy groaned.
"Sorry," Joe said sheepishly.
"Why don't we go back to the beach?" Annabeth offered. "Surely we could find some clues."
"I can't," Joe shrugged. "Shop doesn't close for another good five hours and Martha's on vacation."
Annabeth let out a string of cuss words, ending in a sigh. "Fine. It's just me and you then, Jackson."
"Why don't you call me by my first name?" Percy shook his head.
"Calling someone by their first name is if you could safely call them a friend but I highly doubt we'll ever be friends," she replied as she put back on her sunglasses.
"But-"
"We're merely aquaintances and I request that you respect my desision. You might date Annabeth Chase but I can assure you that I am by far not that girl."
She gave him a cold glare before walking out of the building, her flip-flops making little small noises on the floor as she walked away. Percy looked at his feet, a frown on his face.
"It's okay," Joe said quietly. "She'll warm up to you. Annabeth rarely ever speaks to anyone besides myself - she avoids everyone like the plauge."
Percy looked up, an eyebrow risen. "Really?"
"Yeah," Joe nodded his head as he cleaned up her glass. "You're her soul mate - fictional or real. Either way. You can't just ignore the love of your life forever."
"But she's not Annabeth," Percy gave him an annoyed look.
"So?" Joe challenged as he slammed the cup into the dish drainer. "She's Annabeth Chase. Deep down, she's the same girl. It's not like an identical twin. She is truly her. Annabeth wrote about herself, not some girl that so happened to look exactly like her and have the same name. You'll see and I'll say 'told you so'. I know I will. I always win bets," his eyes shone like he just won the lottery.
"She'll just forever be a friend," he warned. "Don't let that little fanboy mind of your's wander."
Joe let out a laugh, "Oh, I'll let it wander - that's for sure."
"I have a girlfriend," Percy insisted.
"Yeah, but she's right out that door," Joe pointed towards the front of the building. "It's not like you're cheating on her. Besides, she'd never find out."
Percy scowled, "I'd never do that to her - you of all people should know that, Mr. I-Read-Your-Lifestory."
"Loyalty," Joe sighed. "Forgot about that. Well... just remember that, okay? Annabeth is your Annabeth no matter what. It's not like you'd be falling for a different girl. I know you've seen Doctor Who. Rose's alternate universe's dad fell in love with her mother. It's the same person."
Percy didn't look at him, "Well, thanks for the smoothie."
"Anytime, bud," Joe replied. "Do me a favor and show her there's more to life than just reading."
"Now you're acting like this is your last wish," Percy rolled his eyes.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Joe agreed, "but still."
"Don't say that," Percy warned. "I don't want to be stuck here tomorrow."
Joe looked like he was going to say something, but decided against it. "Right. Well, bye dude."
"Don't call me dude, dude!" Percy said as he walked outside.
The car ride was an awkward silence for Percy. Annabeth kept a straight face the whole way and didn't say a word, so Percy just looked out the window and remained quiet. When they arrived after a few minutes, Annabeth got out of the car and walked to the beach, not seeming to care if Percy was following. Percy took this as his cue to get out and softly shut the door behind him.
"There's nothing here," Annabeth examined where she was originally sitting. "Lovely."
"I came out of the water," he said.
"I know that, Jackson," she spat.
Percy tried not to cringe - he'd been in plenty of fights with Annabeth (70% of their conversations were arguments.) but she never outright hated him before. Well, except when they were younger, but that was different. This was purposefull ignoring. This stung.
Annabeth shot a glare at him before stomping towards the shore. Percy reluctantly followed, leaving a good gap in between him. He was pretty sure if he was within three feet of her, Annabeth would punch him in the stomach. Percy didn't care if he was a demigod here and she was a mortal - in any world, any circumstances, Annabeth would be able to knock him down in three seconds flat.
"Heads out of the clouds, Jackson. We got work to do," Annabeth said stiffly and knelt down on the shore line, examinging shells and random things.
"Why are you in such a rush to get me out of here?"
"And you aren't?" she challenged, not looking up at him as she continued to scavenge the sand for clues.
He slowly sat down next to her and stared out at the ocean in thought. "Sure I'd like to get back, but if I ever make it back, will I ever be able to come back here? What if this world fades away when I leave? What if it was all a dream? What if I forget everything about this place if I get back?"
"When you get back," she corrected. "And you have deep thoughts for someone who has a brain full of kelp."
"I thought my brain was made out of seaweed?" he rose an eyebrow.
"Your brain has a shell of seaweed and is filled with kelp," Annabeth replied as she stepped a bit into the water.
-Annabeth POV because I unconsciously switched over to her after that line.-
Percy came up next to her and bumped his shoulder against her's, "I guess I get my deep thoughts from you, huh?"
Annabeth scowled and playfully splashed him with water. (Which didn't do much, because he stayed dry - which just caused Percy to roll his eyes.) "You make me sound like your mother."
"You sort of are," Percy said, confusion laced in his voice. "I mean like, you invented me so...?"
"I'd make a terrible mom," Annabeth said with a sigh as she mentally gave up on the search. There's no way there'd be any clues here.
"What makes you say that?" Percy asked, resting his chin on the top of her head. "I think you'd make a great mom."
Annabeth shoved his head away, "Don't you try anything on me, Jackson. This isn't an M fic."
"A what fic?" Percy questioned.
"An M fic," Annabeth repeated, not meeting his gaze. "You know, rated 'M' for mature."
"I still don't get it."
"A fanfiction rated 'M' for mature," Annabeth said, her cheeks turning pink. She tried to hide it with her hair by looking away but Percy noticed. "Like... meant for adults? Like a movie rated 'R' is meant for 18 and up. Well... 'M' in fanfiction is pretty much 'R' in movies."
"I still don't understand what this has to do with anything."
Annabeth closed her eyes tightly, trying not to get frustrated with the oblivious boy. "Well... you started touching me and then said I'd make a great mom and yeah..."
Percy stared at the ocean for minute, his mind trying to process what she told him. Annabeth's face turned a shade redder with every awkward second that passed. Suddenly, Percy's face went a crimson red.
"I-Um-I didn't mean-"
"I know you didn't," Annabeth tried to sound like she found the whole thing humorous and tried to put sarcasm in her voice, but it was like all of her braveness left her for that moment in time. "I was just joking around," she said weakly.
"I-Uh-R-R-Righ...Right."
"I'm not like that," she muttered. "And for gods' sake, I'm only 17."
"I uh... I would never do something like-"
"I know, Seaweed Brain," she said, her facing turning redder.
Percy paled, "You called me-"
"Well, yeah!" she said exasperatedly. "I was insulting you!" she lied. "That's why I called you that!"
"Why didn't you call me something actually insulting then?" Percy asked quietly, the blush not leaving his face.
"I don't know," Annabeth squeaked. "It just sorta... sorta slipped out, I guess."
They both stayed silent, watching the sun slowly set over the ocean. Red and purple lit the sky in a sherbet swirl of colors along the horizon. Annabeth's breathing went shallow as the sun went behind the horizon, slowly turning the world into a darker place.
"It's getting late," Annabeth said. "There's no clues here."
"Then what are we going to do?"
"For now, go home for the night," she replied, trying not to blush at the fact she was bringing a boy home.
Percy was silent, lost in thought.
"We got a guest bedroom," Annabeth said as she got out of the water and slipped on her shoes. "I'll make up some crazy story about who you are. I'll say you're a writing buddy or something. Maybe the publisher's son, possibly."
Annabeth started walking back towards the car and she heard Percy follow. Annabeth bit her lip and stopped once she reached the car.
"I'm sorry," she said once he came up to the car. The blonde put her keys down on the hood of the car and looked at the boy in the eyes. "I'm not being fair to you at all. It's just kind of crazy to see a person who was just words yesterday be alive today."
Percy nodded his head in understanding and got into the car. Someone doesn't want to talk. Annabeth sighed and grabbed the keys again, realizing he just wanted to go, and started up the car. For the first two minutes, it was so silent you could of heard a pin drop.
"There was a writing contest at my school," Annabeth blurted out. Percy looked over at her curiously. Annabeth blushed a bit and focused back on the road. "It was in fifth grade. The winner got their story printed in the back of a book.
"You should of seen the look of my face when I heard about it," Annabeth shook her head. "I wrote everyday for most of my life. I wrote because I had nothing else better to do. When I heard about the contest, I immediately entered. It was my favorite story too - about a boy from modern times who was a demigod."
Annabeth laughed to herself, "I actually had whole books about him written at my house safely kept underneath my bed. I whipped up a short version of a quick adventure for him and entered it in the contest. My luck, of course, I won."
"How did all of your books get published then?" Percy asked.
Annabeth turned down a road. Big houses lined the road on both sides. "A story for another time. Right now, you have to meet my parents."
"Helen is your real mom so I can't even crack a 'evil step-mother' joke," Percy spoke up.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. This boy was going to be the death of her.
I wrote half of this a few days ago but didn't finish it until now. Too lazy to go over it and perfect it - I'm honestly just winging this whole story, haha. My schedule is getting busier and busier everyday and it's hard for me to find time to write so I'm really sorry for slow updates.