AN: Hey guys! Here I am with another one-shot. You'll actually see me again really soon, since I'll be posting the one-shot for the poll winner tomorrow, which is Sierra. So tomorrow, you'll get to see a Sierra Grace one-shot. But for now, I'll respond to some of your reviews.
First, from J. Cage: "Are you planning for a Percy Jackson one shot?"
A: I have ideas for some Percy Jackson stuff, but that's mostly on hold until I get through Elizabeth Jackson.
Next from EllaAnnieGrace: "My gods, that was deep, an had alot of foreshadowing,I bet, and the Percy creating a hurricane part that makes me think of LO, so I'm guessing, Percy's probably fighting a child of Hyperon, maybe even the daughter of Hyperon on Gaius' council."
A: Yeah, lots of foreshadowing. That's all I'll say.
From cghe: "So both the Jocelyn and Theo one-shot are in 3rd person. Is there a reason for that? Or just to avoid confusion? Because the Elizabeth Jackson series and the oneshot are both in first person, so I am slightly confused."
A: For the Elizabeth Jackson related stories, Elizabeth is the only one who gets the first person perspective. That's just a stylistic choice I've made. That's the only real reason that Theo and Jocelyn and Augustus get third person perspective.
Also from cghe: "Also, Percy's birthday could be 1992, but the talkpage on .com is very confusing, so I won't comment on that."
A: Either way it's alright. I am flattered that you've done so much research just based off of my work, though!
From anonymous reviewer Person: "This is what we call foreshadowing. I liked this a lot, but I was wandering if you are going to do another untold story addition. Thanks for writing amazing stories"
A: I'm glad you liked it, and thank you so much for the compliment! I will definitely add more to the untold stories at some point, but right now I've been focusing on Elizabeth Jackson, so additions to that might wait for my next break between books, or maybe even until after book 5. Sorry about that.
From Soricon: "how old is Elizabeth as of the ending of book 3?"
A: Fifteen. She turns sixteen between books 3 and 4.
From Katie: "When are you going to post the 4th book in the Elizabeth Jackson series? Just wondering."
A: Chapter one is scheduled to go live on Tuesday, June 14th - that's next week - should everything irl go well over the next few days.
From anonymous reviewer Person (who may or may not be the same Person from before?): "Besides any of the Rick Riordan's characters and Elizabeth who would you say is your favorite character (OC)"
A: Hmm... that's a tough one. I love all of my OCs. But I think I would have to say that my favorite besides Elizabeth is probably Jocelyn.
From the-only-soldier-left: "Ahhhh yay! Finally, Theo! Also, on a less happy note... That was bleak"
A: It took Theo a while, but he finally did it! And yeah, it was pretty bleak.
Finally, from EllaAnnieGrace again: "Could you tell a major us a major city in your time zone please? This is just so I can know when to expect an update (mentally)."
A: I'm in the same time zone as New York City. Also, I'm usually pretty busy during the day plus I'm a bit of a night owl, so I may upload pretty late, my time, on occasion. Hope this helps!
Alright, that's all I have to respond to. I hope you guys enjoy the one-shot and DFTBA!
Summary: (Set a little more than a year before Elizabeth Jackson and the Stolen Goddess). After ages, the Jackson family is finally going on vacation, but something is bothering Elizabeth, so Percy pulls her aside to talk about what's wrong.
Spoilers: No huge ones.
My Dad Makes Me a Promise
"Are we there yet?" Matt asked from the seat next to me.
"Have we stopped moving yet, doofus?" I replied.
"Don't call your brother a doofus, Elizabeth," Mom said from the front passenger's seat. "And no, Matt, we've still got about ten minutes before we get there."
Matt groaned. I rolled my eyes and turned towards the window, staring at the mountains as we wound through them. It was actually really beautiful. I'd never been to the Adirondacks before and I'd never seen mountains like this in person before. I was from the City. I kinda had a hard time believing that we were still in the state of New York, this place was so different from the bustling metropolis I was used to.
"Look, kids," Dad said from the driver's seat, pointing out his window. I looked out to the left and saw two huge structures with ramps coming down from them. "Those were used as ski jumps in the Olympics here a bajilion years ago."
"The Lake Placid Olympics were not a bajilion years ago, Seaweed Brain," Mom chided. "Bajilion isn't even a number. And anyway, they were in 1980."
"That was more than ten years before I was born," Dad replied. "So that automatically makes it a bajilion years ago."
"Wait, so that's Lake Placid?" Matt asked. "We're here? Where's the lake?"
I groaned and bashed my head into the seat in front of me. Sometimes my little brother could be so annoying. I loved him and all, but he was such a kid sometimes. "That's just the jumps, moron. Lake Placid is an actual town."
"Elizabeth, what did I say?" Mom said warningly.
"You said I couldn't call him a doofus," I said matter-of-factly. "You didn't say anything about calling him a moron." I regretted the words as soon as I'd said them.
Mom whipped her head around, her grey eyes storming over. "Elizabeth –"
Dad chuckled. "Come on Wise Girl," he said. "Elizabeth got you on this one."
Mom turned to Dad so quickly I was surprised that her head didn't keep going out the windshield. As Mom started snapping at Dad, he glanced back and met my eyes in the rearview mirror like, You're welcome. I smiled slightly. Dad was awesome.
Finally, a few minutes later, we were actually in the town of Lake Placid. Matt leaped out of the car so quickly, I thought I heard a sonic boom. I got out of the car like a normal person. I turned to follow Matt and Mom down the hill towards the lake, but before I could, Dad placed his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, you owe me one," he said.
I suppressed a smile. "Alright, alright. I owe you one. Thanks for saving me back there, Dad."
"You're welcome," he said. He sighed. "But uh… well, you're not usually so short with Matt. Is something wrong? Did you two get in a fight or something?"
I looked down. I'd been trying hard not to think about it. This was the first family vacation we'd been on in ages. Mom was usually too busy with work to take enough time off for a vacation, much less a full week. I didn't want to ruin it by being upset the whole time. Even so, I couldn't hide anything from Dad. He knew me too well. "It's about when we went to the beach the other day."
"Oh," Dad said with a frown.
"I just… I know you took both of us there, but it seemed like it was something you just wanted to do with Matt. I mean, you spent the whole time teaching him tricks with his water powers, but…"
"You don't have any," Dad finished. "And you felt left out."
I nodded, hiding my face and trying really hard not to cry. "I guess I'm just jealous of Matt. Not just because he has powers and I don't, but also because you and him have something to share that you and I don't."
Dad rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I shouldn't have done that. Worst dad ever, huh?"
"No!" I protested. "Dad, I love you. You're the best dad ever."
Dad snorted. "Yeah, right. Listen, I shouldn't have been helping your brother practice when you were there too. That was my bad. Don't take it out on Matt, alright? And that part about you and I not having a thing for just the two of us? Well let's fix that."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, I have a couple of tickets to a concert," Dad said. "An old hardcore band I've liked for a long time. They're doing a reunion tour. I was going to take your mother, but she doesn't really like that sort of music. Do you want to come with me instead?"
"Go to a concert with you?" I asked, unsure. "Do you think I'll like it? Will they let twelve-year-olds in?"
Dad smiled. "I'm sure it'll be fine. And you're gonna love it, Elizabeth. I can tell."
I smiled back. "Okay, thanks Dad. I'd love to go with you to that concert!"
"Glad to hear it. Now come on, let's catch up with your mother and brother and go get some food. I think we passed this restaurant called the Dancing Bears that I really want to try out."
Four years later
"AHH!" I screamed, throwing a rock angrily into the lake, and dropping to the ground. I panted, trying to get my emotions under control. It's fine, I told myself. So the naiad doesn't know anything. That doesn't mean they're… gone.
That's exactly what it means, I responded to myself. Oh great. I was arguing with myself again. I stood up, clenching my fists. So, I was out of leads. What next?
My stomach answered me by growling loudly. I sighed. "Looks like I'm eating," I grumbled. I turned away from the lake and looked up and down the mostly empty street, the sun setting behind the hill. The first restaurant I saw made me choke, my eyes tearing up slightly. The Dancing Bears. The place my family had gone to eat when I was a kid, visiting Lake Placid for the first time. I took a deep breath. For some reason, I knew that that was where I needed to go. I'd eat, I'd make a call, and I'd regroup. But this wasn't over. I was going to find them.
AN: Little sneak peek into book 4 at the end there! I hope you enjoyed, and I'll be back tomorrow with a story about Sierra. Also, I'll be including a summary for book 4. See you then!
