Have you checked out the poll yet? WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
I apologize if this update was a little later than you were expecting. I recently went on vacation to Washington D.C. for my birthday. As anyone who's ever been there knows, there is a LOT to do and I was VERY busy. Luckily, I have the next few chapters written out (action+Percabeth!), so you don't have to worry about me falling behind. :)
However, if I do happen to update late these next few weeks, it's because I've suddenly realized how close to school starting it actually was and rushed to finish my summer reading. I will probably vow not to use the internet until it was done! (And more or less succeed). But like I said, I'm several chapters ahead, so you need not worry about late updates. (At least until school starts...)
In other news, almost 700 total views and almost 20 reviews?! And now, onto the next chapter...
Chapter 4: "Anger Issues" OR "Sorry, Blondie. I don't do backstory."
"'Son of the sea god,'" Percy whispered shakily, "He meant me, didn't he?"
Annabeth nodded.
"Is that why no one believed me? I've got special godly vision that lets me see mythical things?"
"Not exactly but wherever 'mythical things' exist, like pegasi, or monsters, Mist is generated. It clouds mortals' vision to keep them from seeing the real thing. Half-bloods like us can still be affected, but not as much. A Half-blood could see a pegasus, but a mortal would only see a normal horse, no wings. Understand?"
Percy nodded like he understood, but he still looked uneasy. "Mist...Half-bloods...monsters...this is a lot to take in..." He put his hands to head like he had a headache and sighed.
"I know, and I wish there was a better way to do it. You're lucky though. I was actually chased into camp by a cyclops before I was told." Annabeth shuddered at the memory.
"I'm lucky?" Percy's uneasiness quickly turned to anger. "I've been living off the streets of Manhattan for more than a year, and it was actually an improvement on my old life." He crossed his arms tightly and glared moodily out the window.
"Percy, I know you're upset, but-"
"What the hell am I even doing here? I can't believe I'm actually listening to you-and believing it! I don't even know you!" He threw his hands up in the air. "Great job, Perce. Didn't your mother ever tell you not to talk to strangers? Or their talking pegasi for that matter?" He started to get up from the table to leave, but Annabeth caught his sleeve.
"Listen, I know it sounds crazy, but it's true!" She stood up to meet his face. "I'm not lying to you."
Percy gave her a disgusted look then turned away. "Sure. And my mom's not dead." Annabeth quickly recognized a hurt look in his eyes, a look she often saw in her friend Luke-lonesomeness from neglect. The reason he'd left camp.
"Percy..." He looked at her again and she saw desperation. He wanted to leave Annabeth and all this nonsense with her, but he also wanted to believe it. He wanted to believe there was some way he could be happy again. Annabeth let go of his sleeve and he willing sat back down.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked quietly.
Percy shook his head and laid it in his arms on the table.
"It'll make you feel better." No response.
"Alright. If you change your mind, I'm here for you"
The waitress came over again to ask them if they'd decided what to eat, and Annabeth ordered a hamburger for each of them. When the waitress left to place the orders, Annabeth began doodling on the back of her place mat with crayons until Percy broke the silence.
"She was trying to save up enough money to back to college and become a writer." Percy looked up and glanced cautiously at Annabeth. She put down her crayons and smiled at him understandingly. He sat up and started fiddling with his ripped napkin pieces. "My step-dad had plenty of cash, of course, but he never let her use any of it. We always had to raise our own money for vacation. The only place we ever went, though, was Montauk, in a little run-down cabin by the water." Percy's eyes zoned out. "It's where she met my dad."
"She'd actually done it-saved up enough money, plus some. We went to Montauk to celebrate, but a few days after we got back, they found cancer." His voice tightened as he choked back tears. "She used up all her money for treatment, but it wasn't enough."
Percy stared out the window for a while until he had himself under control.
"Gabe wouldn't help of course. He 'gave what he could spare', which wasn't much, then completely ditched us. She died a week later." His eyes started to water. "He never cared about us. He actually fought with the government to put me into foster care because he wasn't my real dad. They said he was my legal guardian and that I was %100 his responsibility, but he ignored me anyway. Later he cursed my mom out for 'leaving me with him'. That it'd be heaven if I could 'catch cancer too'." Percy had ripped his napkin pieces in half again and again until he had a small pile of confetti in front of him. His fists were tightly clenched now, and tears silently rolled down his cheeks.
"I'd finally had enough. I locked myself in my bedroom for days and snuck out the fire escape at 6:30 every morning to walk to school. When I got home before he was back from work, I'd take all my mom's old stuff and hide it in my room before he found it and sold it. After school ended, I doubted Gabe would be willing to pay for another year, so I ran away. I stole a couple thousand dollars from one of his stashes I found and left with it. Within a week it was gone, but it felt good spending his money. I bought new clothes, a couple fancy dinners, a night in an upscale hotel room, and even a bike. I eventually resold it to pay for food, but it was nice living a privileged life for a while."
"After that, I'd sneak back in through the fire escape every so often to steal food, or more money until someone caught me one night. I got away, but I've been afraid to go back since." Percy wiped his face and risked a glance at Annabeth.
"That was a brave thing to do, leaving Gabe," she encouraged, "It was the right thing to do."
Percy only sniffled.
Just then the waitress came over with their meals. "Here you are Darlings! Oh my..." She turned to Annabeth. "Is your friend alright?" she asked quietly.
Annabeth played the pity card. "Oh no," she explained. "He just found out that his mother died of cancer; he's an orphan now! I was hoping this place would cheer him up-they loved coming here together since his dad left them, just the two of them. Sadly it only seemed to have made it worse." She pouted at Percy and stroked his hands. "It's okay," she told him. Percy looked slightly confused, and Annabeth hoped he wouldn't blow it, but he sniffled again, which seemed to seal the deal.
"Oh, you poor thing! Tell you what, you order anything on that menu that you want and you can have it-on the house!" She shook her head and tutted. "No child should ever have to go through that," she muttered as she walked back to the kitchen.
Annabeth did a victory dance in her head as Percy slowly understood what she did.
"That wasn't nice," he chided, but a shadow of a smile had begun to creep onto his face.
"How so?" she challenged, "It wasn't that big of a lie." Annabeth smiled at him and they both dove into their burgers.
Two burgers, three milkshakes and six plates of french fries later, they left the diner, assuring their waitress that Percy was feeling much better now.
They made the way down the road to camp laughing together.
"Thanks so much for that, Annabeth. I haven't had this much fun in a long time." They smiled at each other, but quickly turned away from embarrassment.
Annabeth looked down at the pavement, blushing lightly. In the hours since she'd met him, she'd grown to like him more and more. He reminded her strikingly of Thalia, which is probably why they got a long so well.
"Hey, do you think my mom knew?"
"Hm?" She looked up again.
"Do you think my mom knew about my dad? I mean, like the whole god thing."
Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe. A lot of times the gods are attracted to mortals because of their vision through the mist. Others, they go their whole life without knowing."
"Oh."
"Probably not though. The more kids realize who they are, the more monsters they attract. Supposedly half-bloods have a strong smell that the can detect. It generally starts when you're around 12 years old, unless you're brought back to camp somehow."
"Smell?" Percy thought for a second. "Maybe she did know. How else could she have wound up with Smelly Gabe? She was always to good for him..."
"'Smelly Gabe'?" Annabeth held back a snicker.
"Yeah, that was my nickname for him when I was little. My mom never stopped me, even though she tried her best to keep me from calling people names. I guess it stuck." Percy chuckled to himself at the memory. "But man did he smell! You could smell him all the way to Manhattan!"
They both started laughing out loud.
"I bet any monster within a ten mile radius or our apartment was instantly vaporized! Their monster friends learned to stay away!"
"S-st-stop it!" Annabeth managed between laughs, "I-I can't breathe!"
But Percy went on. "Man, you could bottle his BO and sell it to half-bloods as a monster repellent! Or an expensive French perfume!"
"A-and they could call it 'Monsieur Gabe's Anti-monster Parfum'!" Annabeth chimed in.
Percy clapped his hands together. "Good one! Maybe I should have taken that bath in the East River after all! All my exclusive Monsieur Gabe's aroma has been washed off!" he said in a terrible French accent.
The two of them cracked up laughing and couldn't stop until they reached camp. It was amazing how close they'd become since they'd met that morning; anyone observing would not hesitate to tell you that they were nothing less than life-long friends. Annabeth imagined many improvements on her life with Percy in it, and even found herself looking forward to finding him a permanent home. She prayed a silent 'Thank you' to Athena for finding her a friend.
Annabeth walked Percy to the top of Half-Blood hill.
"Can I open my eyes now?" he asked.
"Not yet, almost there." She stopped him at the crest of the hill, next to an enormous pine tree that the campers had used as a landmark since she'd gotten there. They called it Thalia's Pine because of the magnificent fight she'd had with the cyclops chasing her and her companions. She'd climbed the tree to escape it and single-handedly destroyed from the tree's boughs using only her shield and an old knife. The camp had never seen anything like that from a 12-year old demigod so the tree was named after her, though her powerful parentage may have helped (in both cases).
"Okay, open your eyes." Percy's eyes opened, and instantly widened as they took in the scene before them. Though empty and abandoned, Camp Half-blood still managed to look as magnificent as when Annabeth first saw it. The Big House's paint was starting to chip and fade, but it was still a beautiful baby blue that perfectly matched the clear November sky. The trees surrounding the valley were almost bare, but the camp's trees were a strong green and full as ever. Deep blue sparkling waves were blown onto the shore from the Long Island Sound and clashed with the pale sands of the beach. The U of cabins looked almost quaint from a distance.
"Wow." was all Percy could manage.
"I know right?! We haven't had a new camper in forever, and there's so much I want to show you! We do all sorts of training for quests and fighting monsters, and there's even a lava-spewing rock wall-" Suddenly Annabeth gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth.
"What? What is it? Have I got something on my face?" Percy asked. She shook her head and pointed at a spot above Percy's. He looked up.
Inches above him was a forked symbol flickering with a sea-green light-a trident.
"What the-?" Percy tried to swat it away, but Annabeth only giggled with excitement.
"Do you realize what this means?"
"Uhh, not really, but I get the feeling you're going to tell me."
"It means the gods are returning! It means there's hope for the camp! I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" Annabeth jumped around, pumping her fist in the air.
"But it doesn't explain why I have a flaming fork over my head."
"It means you've been claimed, Percy!"
"Claimed by who? What am I, a lost wallet?"
"No, claimed by your dad! He's basically just announced publicly that you're his son!"
"Aaaaaand who exactly is this guy?"
"I knew it! The water, the hair, the eyes, the talking-to-horses, I just knew it!"
"Knew what, Annabeth? Quit leaving me in the dark over here, I wanna know too!"
"The trident, Percy! Your dad's Poseidon, Lord of the Sea!"
Oh-em-gee, are Percy and Annabeth flirting!? OF COUSE THEY ARE THIS IS A PERCABETH FIC.
Bonus points to those of you who can figure out what the title is a reference to. ;)
But seriously, if you haven't checked out my poll, DO IT NOW! It's to decide which canon character I should bring into the plot line!
Anyway, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think by leaving a review. Feel free to suggest anything you'd like me to include! (Voting in the poll helps too!) Now also accepting as a Beta for your stories!
You can expect at least an update every month or so. Keep in mind I am a student, and my studies are important also.
NEXT CHAPTER POSTED!