I Am Percy Jackson
Chapter 4: Let's Confuse Percy Day
Not knowing what to do, I stared. And I'm not sure how long I stared. Oh, sure, I might've looked calm and emotionless on the outside, but in the inside I was completely freaking out. But tell me, wouldn't you be freaking out if one of your close friends appeared out of nowhere in freaking Elysium? Elysium. The beautiful land of the dead. Dead. D-E-A-D.
I watched as he collapsed to the ground with sweat running down his face. His eyes looked up at me and shot his arm out weakly. "It'd be nice to get some help."
I didn't move. Instead I stood there like an idiot with my mouth hanging open. "Nico?"
"Who else can come to Elyisum?" He rolled his eyes.
When I still didn't move, he sighed heavily. "Look, are you going to help me up or not? Because my arm is about to fall off and I don't have a lot of strength at the moment." Then he mumbled, "Who knew traveling to Elysium could take up so much energy?"
I nodded numbly and slowly walked over to him. At first I thought that this was just a weird figment of my imagination that felt real and that once I touched Nico, he would disintegrate and disappear. Slowly, I walked over to Nico di Angelo because...well, he looked like he was dying of exhaustion over there.
I offered my arm to him, completely sure that once he touched it, he would disappear. But, thank the gods, that didn't happen. If he did disappear, it would've been proof that I've finally cracked and went insane.
He clutched onto my hand and I stumbled backwards, surprised at the 13 year old's strength. "You're real!" I blurted. And then I did what I did before. I stared. Yes, I was still in shock. My brain was still functioning all this and I am kind of a slow thinker. Although, on the bright side, I'm a fast fighter and that's a much more important skill to have as a demigod. ...Don't tell Annabeth or any of her siblings that.
"Yeah, I'm real," he said, looking at me with a puzzled look on his face. "Were you expecting me to be fake or something?"
After a few moments, he shifted uncomfortably on his feet. His eyes were darting back and forth; to my bed and me. There were dark bags under his eyes, as if he didn't sleep for days. I could tell that he wanted to just jump onto the bed and sleep, but since I was here, he couldn't.
"You can stop staring at me now. It's really not that weird," he complained.
I blinked and shook my head. Yep, he was still there. "But...wait, are you dead, too?"
He snorted and shook his head. "No."
"Then how'd you get here?" I asked.
His body began to move and forth, like he was going to faint from exhaustion any moment. "Uh, you could go sit down," I suggested.
He blew his hair out of his eyes, revealing a thick, shiny layer of sweat. He trudged over to the bed and collapsed down on it. He was spread out in an angel-like position on the messily made blanket. I had wrinkled the blankets earlier. "This smells weird."
"What?"
"Your bed. It smells weird."
"And again, I say what?"
"It smells like the ocean and salt. Gross."
"Are you saying that I stink? If you are, you could get off my bed," I said dryly.
He got up and straightened his back. "No thanks," he grinned. "This may smell, but it's comfortabe, and I'm tired."
I rolled my eyes. "You still didn't answer my question. How'd you get here?" I repeated.
"I'm the son of Hades," he explained. "Elysium is in the Underworld and the Underworld is almost practically mine."
"Oh...oh, yeah!" I exclaimed, finally piecing it all together. "You can come to Elysium too?" Hope was beginning to grow in my chest. If Nico could do that...
"Yes," he grimaced. "I just found out I could, though. It takes away like 95% of my energy, so if you're thinking that I can bring Annabeth along then, no, I cannot do that."
"I wasn't thinking that!" I lied, crossing my arms on my chest.
"Sure," he raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm no satyr, but you're not a good liar, Percy."
I scowled at him. He grinned.
"So why are you here? Did somebody send you here?" I asked.
"Like I listen to anybody," he scoffed.
"Right, of course. This is big, bad, dark Nico di Angelo!" I exclaimed sarcastically.
"Don't even go there," he warned. There was a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Well, when I found out I could go to Elysium, Annabeth," he shrugged his shoulders, "kinda kicked me out of camp."
I laughed at his expression, but then my laughter quickly ceased. "Nico, did she, er, well...did anybody give you a message or something?"
"Grover was out taking care of the wild and Thalia was with the Hunters, so nobody except Annabeth knows that I could go to Elysium," Nico said thoughtfully. "But Annabeth did say something..."
"What? What did she say?" I tried to act like I didn't care much, but judging by Nico's smirk on his face; apparently, I'm not a good actor.
His eyebrows knitted together into a confused look. "She said: "Percy, choose whatever you think is best. Everything that you do always end up alright in the end."
She knows me so well, I thought.
"What do you think she means?" asked Nico.
"I don't know," I lied.
Nico raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything. Then he yawned and his right hand covered his mouth. "You know what? I'm just gonna go sleep. Tell me when you've figured what your girlfriend said. Night."
Then he fell on his back on the bed with his eyes already closed. I remembered what he said when I was about to bathe in the River Styx last year: "With great power...comes great need to take a nap." I stifled a laugh and bit my tongue.
I slipped out of my room and closed the door gently. Then I paced back and forth in the small hallway. A question then popped into my mind. I almost smacked myself in the head for forgetting to ask Nico. I almost marched back into my room to wake up Nico, but then I decided against it. One thing I know about him was that he was not a happy person to wake up. He might send an army of skeletons after me. Do you know how scary that would be? I shuddered.
I thought about Annabeth's message. Did she seriously expect me to make a decision? I wanted to stay here. I love it here. I really do. But then it also doesn't feel right. It sounds stupid, I know, but I just can't explain it.
I was now facing the door of my room and I turned around, thinking to get a water bottle from the kitchen. I ran my hand through my black hair and made my way out to the kitchen when suddenly I hear a door creak open.
"Percy!" yelled a voice that I identified as one Nico di Angelo.
"Yeah?" I called back.
He dashed towards me, but his eyes were looking everywhere. He looked as if a ghost was going to pop up and kidnap him.
"Uh, are you okay?" I asked worriedly.
"No, I gotta go!" He shook his head. There was still a drowsy, sleepy look in his dark brown eyes.
"What? But you haven't even been here for 45 minutes! Plus, you're tired!" I exclaimed.
"Dad's looking for me and I'm not allowed to be here."
"What do you mean? Can't you go anywhere in the Underworld except for Tartarus?"
"No," he hesitated. "There are limits to everything. You, out of all people, should know that."
"So...you have to go?"
"Yeah, but I'll be back. Or, well, maybe not. Who knows?"
"You better come back or I'll tell Hades you came here," I threatened.
Nico snorted. "Yeah, right. You can't just summon my dad whenever you like." But he looked a little scared.
"Wait, before you go, how's Anna–?"
"Sorry, gotta go! It's really not that fun getting turned into a dandelion. Don't believe me, go try it. Bye!"
Then he vanished, leaving no hints that he was ever there.
I groaned and resisted the urge to kick the wall. Beckendorf would know and I don't think he would like that.
My only source of accurate information on what was going on in the living world was gone. And Nico di Angelo's visit didn't really help either. I'm still as confused as ever.
Somehow, I ended back up on the beach. I noticed that not many people were on the beach. Strange. Back in the mortal world, beaches were always packed and full of people.
A couple of people had set up umbrellas and were tanning. I hated tanning, but it must only be because I was a demigod. If it was hard to stay still in class for 10 minutes, then staying still in the sun for more than 30 minutes would be absolute torture. Having ADHD sucks, but it's part of the package of the miserable life of being a demigod.
A fuchsia colored rock was near my feet. It was just 3 feet away from me. I don't know what, but something compelled me to walk over there and pick it up. I bended down and picked it up. I ran my finger across the rock and was surprised. Rocks were supposed to be lumpy and ugly, right? This rock was like gold. Smooth, beautiful, and rich looking. It reminded me of something. Or someone...
It was weird, but I brushed off that thought immediately. I don't think that person can come here anyway. It would be against the laws.
But I guess this person didn't care much for the laws because of what happened a second later.
A bright light began to appear in front of me and began to the shape of a beautiful woman. She had on a pale, thin, white, beach dress that reached her knees and then it sort of flowed behind her. A small gold tiara rested on her golden colored hair. Golden necklaces and bracelets also decorated her body. She reminded me of Annabeth–without all the accessories—but I knew it wasn't.
I got down on my left knee and bowed. "Lady Aphrodite."
"Rise, Perseus Jackson," she said. Her voice was like tinkling bells. Like the ones at weddings. It was ironic, considering that she was the goddess of love.
I slowly got up. "Uh, w-what are you doing here? Lady Aphrodite," I added. Even though I've seen Aphrodite before, her beauty is still shocking. It's like she's charmspeaking without needing to speak. And no, I do not Aphrodite is prettier than Annabeth, so don't worry. I'm not going to run off into the sunset with Aphrodite just because she was beautiful. Plus Ares might slaughter me if I did that.
Oh wait, he can't slaughter me. I'm already dead... My heart sunk because of the reminder.
She arched a perfectly plucked eyebrow. "And what are you trying to say, Perseus?"
"N-Nothing! I-It's just that...well, isn't it illegal–against the law for a god or goddess that isn't Hades to...come to the Underworld?" I stuttered.
She laughed softly. "Have you been listening to Annabeth lately? And," she put her index finger to her lips, "what Father and Uncle Hades don't know, won't hurt them." She winked at me and giggled like she was a schoolgirl who just told me her crush.
"It's almost impossible to not listen to Annabeth. Her glare can be pretty scary," I muttered. Then I cleared my throat. "Uh, are you sure? I don't want you to, er, get in trouble." It was true. Aphrodite was pretty troubling and scary, but I like her. She was also one of the few gods or goddesses that actually liked me, too. I honestly don't know how I angered so much gods and goddesses. Things just happen...without me thinking.
Aphrodite cooed. "Aw, you care about me! You're so sweet. But you don't need to worry about me. The problem here is you."
"Uh..." I don't know when I started sweating, but my face felt pretty hot right now. "Thanks? And problem? Me? What? I didn't do anything!"
I started panicking inside. I heard that if Aphrodite despised you, then you might've as well signed your death certificate.
"Yes," she smiled. "You are torn between the decision of being reborn?"
"Ye–"
"Yes, I heard your prayers. Your father came to me when you prayed."
I felt one stormy cloud being lift from my head. My dad didn't ignore me. He had heard my prayers.
"So...what should I do?" I asked, trying to act nonchalant.
"Personally, I think you should go for a swim," she shrugged.
"You want me to go jump into the beach right now?" I asked blankly, gesturing towards the water.
"No, no, not that kind of swim."
"Then...oh..." I trailed off into thought. I finally got her point. Take a swim... I stared at her feet. Her golden heels looked a bit out of place in the beach. To tell you the truth, I was a bit afraid to look at her face because of her eyes. Call me crazy and weak, but I was a bit afraid of her eyes. What if she could charmspeak through her kaleidoscope eyes? There's no telling what kind of powers the goddess of love has.
"Ahh!" Aphrodite squealed quietly. "This has to be the most tragic love story ever since Helen and Paris! Oooh, I can't wait to watch all this unfold!"
"Um, love story?" I asked timidly.
"Yes, of course. Why else would I be here?"
She didn't let me reply. Which was a good thing too because I didn't really know what to say without angering the goddess.
"For you and Annabeth, of course!"
"Me...and Annabeth?"
"Mhm," she winked, whipping out a mirror and lipstick with a snap of her fingers.
"But...that's...impossible," I said slowly.
"Not if you–and I repeat–take a swim!"
"Wait, hold on. What exactly is going on in the world?"
Aphrodite held up a hand and finished applying a fresh layer of fuchsia colored lipstick. "That, Perseus, is for me to know, and for you to find out."
"How can I find out?" I asked dumbly.
"Goodness," Aphrodite sighed, but then a smile graced her face again. "Swim! S-W-I-M!" she spelled out, as if I was a kindergartener.
"But it won't work out, Lady Aphrodite," I responded.
"And why ever not?"
"Because I'll be a baby and Annabeth...well, she won't exactly be the same age as me," I rationalized.
"That's where you're wrong, dear," she said.
What? What does she mean? Is today Let's Confuse Percy! day? I thought.
Before I could get her angry, I responded with a, "No, wait, you're absolutely right. I should take a swim."
She looked at me, as if she was calculating me. It sort of reminded me of Annabeth. Annabeth. I sighed, but if Aphrodite noticed, she didn't say anything.
"Good to know you're seeing sense," she smiled brightly, showing all her teeth.
"Yeah...Me, seeing sense...sure, yeah..." I nodded along with her.
"Oh! My time here is up. Uncle Hades will be done talking with his wife and son in a minute. And Father and Uncle Poseidon was talking earlier, but it seems that the meeting has ended." She looked disappointed and a small pout found its way to her lips. "It has been nice talking with you, Perseus. I will not say good bye because I feel we will be meeting very soon. You should take the little swim by next week, I expect. If you don't take that swim, I don't think you would enjoy what would happen next. Take care for now, Perseus Jackson." Then she swooped down and kissed me gently on the forehead and then on the cheek. It felt like I was floating on top of fluffy clouds that were just above Wonderland. My eyes closed.
When I opened them again, the goddess of love had vanished, leaving nothing behind, but the smell of strong perfume. It reminded me of the perfume mortal girls buy at Victoria's Secret. "Um, thank you? Lady Aphrodite," I added after she left.
Suddenly the scent of perfume got stronger and I took that as You're Welcome or something.
What did she mean by "If you don't take that swim, I don't think you would enjoy what would happen next?" How confusing. Confusing. Seems like I've been using that word a lot lately.
I knew not to disobey Aphrodite, but in my brain, it won't make sense if I reborn. Like, how in the Hades will I be able to get together with Annabeth if I'm a baby? It'll be wrong and...just not right.
I had until next week. Which means that I have to have a talk with Hades by tonight. From what I hear from Nico's rants sometimes, the Underworld is extremely packed and busy, so tonight was the perfect time.
I heard some girly giggles and a manly laugh. I turned around and the couple that were laughing noticed me.
"Oh, hey, Percy," smiled Beckendorf, giving me a small wave.
"Hi," I waved back awkwardly.
Silena looked at me suspiciously. "My mother was here," she finally stated.
"Um, yes," I said.
Then she smiled as if she was sharing a secret between her and Aphrodite. "You should listen to her. I'll help you get in contact with him."
"Her? Contact? Him...?" asked Beckendorf, firing one word questions toward us.
"But I–"
"Oh, hush, children of Aphrodite always knows what's best when it comes to these things," she put her finger to her mouth in a Shh motion.
"So you're saying that I should not think and just follow whatever you say," I said.
"Well..." She thought for a moment. "Yes, basically, yeah," she grinned.
I stared at her. "Call me insane right now, but I'm thinking the same thing too. So, how do I get in contact with him?"
"Let's go home first, I have something there," she said, with a knowing look in her eyes.
"Um, okay," I raised my eyebrows.
We began walking back to Beckendorf and Silena's house. I can't call it my house or home because technically, it isn't mine.
On the way back, Beckendorf finally spoke up. "Okay, can someone please tell me what's going on?"
It was rude, but I ignored him. Anxiety and worry was eating me up mentally. If I talked, much less utter one word right now, I may do something I'll regret later. Silena moved closer to her boyfriend and started explaining in hushed whispers.
When she finished talking, Beckendorf looked as if he wanted to say something to me. But Silena quickly shook her head and put her hand over his mouth. "No," she mouthed quietly to him.
Once we got inside the house, Silena quickly dashed to her room. In less than a second, she came back, with a hair not out of place. Sometimes I was jealous on how Aphrodite boys/girls never broke a sweat. Or if they did, they didn't look like they were sweating. My weird side is coming out...
"Here," Silena said. She stepped towards me and told me to put my hands out. I did and she placed a small, black pearl in my hands. Then she clasped my hands and stepped back. "There," she said.
I opened my hands and gasped. It was a small pearl. A simple pearl, really. But when you stared at it, you could see waves crashing against jagged rocks. I could practically feel the sea enveloping me and the sounds of the water pounding in my ears.
"What do you see?" asked Silena.
"Waves."
"I knew it!" said Beckendorf.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"It's different for each person," Silena explained. "Children of Poseidon will see water related things, children of Aphrodite will see love, children of Hephaestus will see fire and repairing, children of Apollo will see music and poetry, and...yeah. You get my point."
"Oh. That's cool," I marveled, still staring at the tiny pearl. "So, what else does this thing do?"
"Didn't Hades give you one of this?" asked Beckendorf, looking at me curiously.
"No, I've never seen this before," I replied. "I wonder why Hades didn't give me one."
Beckendorf shrugged, "Well, just throw the pearl to the ground and it'll give a signal to Hades that you want to be brought to the River Lethe."
"It's that simple?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, cool, huh?" grinned Beckendorf. "I wonder how you make one of those..."
"Yeah, very cool..." I said.
"So when are you going to...throw that?" asked Silena, twirling a strand of her hair. "Can we be there to watch you?"
"Um, when do you think I should do it?"
"My mother says right now," said Silena hesitantly.
"Right now?"
"Yeah."
"Oh." I don't know why, but I suddenly felt sad. It kind of felt like they wanted to send me away... Like they wanted me to leave.
"Percy, it's not like we want you to go. We just want the best for you. And this is the only way," Silena said, smiling sadly.
"Something is going on in the world above. And it has to do with Annabeth," I realized.
"Yes," said Silena. "You're absolutely right."
I lifted my arm and began to open my right hand. It was sudden, but honestly, I just wanted to get this over with. If I don't do it now, I might back out like a weakling and face Aphrodite's wrath. Plus, I knew I was going to see my friends and Annabeth again... Somehow. With Aphrodite's help, I guess.
I didn't want to leave Silena and Beckendorf, but...I don't know. It's all confusing. Not to be cruel or mean, but I didn't feel that bad leaving them. I know they have a happy life here and well, I wasn't that close to them...
"WAIT!" blurted out Silena.
"Wha–?" I started. She rushed over and hugged me. I could see glistening tears in her eyes. "I'll miss you, Percy. I don't want you to go, but I do at the same time. And my mother knows whats best... We'll see each other, in a century or so... If you remember me..." she cried.
"Century? Aren't you and Beckendorf leaving this place in like, a few decades or something?" I asked.
"No, well, you have my pearl and...I...ah," she shrugged, pretending as if it was no big deal.
Realization crossed my face and I gasped. "I can't do this. This is your pearl, I can't–"
"No, you have to," she insisted pushing my hands away. "I can't stop you from being with Annabeth. It'll be like, breaking all laws of being a child of Aphrodite," she muttered.
I raised my eyebrows at her. I still don't understand how Annabeth and I could be together. Seriously. Does it make sense to you? No, right? But somehow, I had faith and trust in her and Aphrodite. Kind of weird, but it's the truth.
"But I–" I hesitated.
"And I'm happy here. With Charlie," she smiled lovingly toward her boyfriend. Beckendorf smiled back. Then he stepped forward and patted me on the shoulder. "You'll do what's right. I know you will," he cleared his throat and I saw that his eyes were a bit shiny, "and we can't deprive you from your happiness. What kind of life will you be living if you're not happy? I–I'll miss you, Percy. You're a great hero and friend."
"Thanks," I sighed. "I wish I could be here longer... I do love it here, I like you guys, you know."
"Stop, Percy. You say you love it here, but you are not happy. And that's not right," said Silena fiercely.
I agreed with her mentally. Don't tell her that, though.
"Now, go, throw that thing before my mother makes an appearance or starts ranting in my head," smiled Silena with a tear dropping from her kaleidoscope eyes that just turned gray. Like Annabeth's.
Annabeth...
I cleared my head and raised my arm again. Then I let the pearl drop. I watched it fall slowly. The little, simple, thing that just determined my future. Of what I was going to do.
Right before the shadows took me away, I heard Silena and Beckendorf's voices combined together: "We'll see each other again, Percy. Do not worry. Find the road to your happiness; Anna–"
And a soft, yet powerful voice interrupted. It was smooth and I felt like I was drowning in creamy, milk chocolate. "Do not fear or regret. You will do fine, finding the daughter of Athena and your friends along the way, Perseus."
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