Filler chapter unfortunately...
Percy's POV
And just as I was about to drift off, the nursery's mobile made a horrible noise. It was like the lullaby had suddenly rewinded. My eyes popped open, my hand reached for Riptide immediately and I tugged off the blanket.
Then there was someone's feet padding on the floor, echoing through the house, slapping noises and all. Annabeth was still sound asleep, her hand still on my pillow. Quietly, I made my way out of the bed, careful not to wake her up.
Tiptoeing through the hallway, clutching Riptide in my hand, I got ready to strike anything out of the ordinary. Heading towards the nursery, I paused when I heard the faint, slapping noise behind me, in the living room. Following it, I was surprised to see that Gale had made her way to the Christmas Tree.
"Gale!" I whispered, "What in the world,"
She turned around and looked at me, puzzled and then extremely joyful. She clapped her hands before extending her arms to me, asking if I could pick her up. I did, and she laughed happily tugging on my hair.
"How did you get all the way here?" I asked her, not really expecting an answer.
She just looked at me in amazement as if I was the most interesting thing in the world. Then she grabbed my camp necklace and began tugging on it, pulling me closer to her.
Mom then walked into the living room, looking worried, her hair in a mess, her robe hastily thrown on, and her slippers on the wrong foot, "Oh my gods," she sighed, "Galene," she said sternly, stalking over to us.
"You're in trouble now," I teased Gale who obviously didn't understand, still pulling on my cord, "Full names are never a good sign," I smirked, knowing my mom heard.
"I can't believe she made it all the way here," mom huffed, "Gale, you even woke up Percy,"
Gale, finally noticing our mom, smiled at her dreamily and waved at her. This seemed to have broken down my mom, because her shoulders relaxed and her scowl turned into a smile.
"Aww you goofball," she cooed, "You trouble making, goofball,"
Gale seemed to have found this funny, because she laughed and clapped her hands.
Mom shook her head and looked at me, "I'm so sorry, Percy," mom said. She tried to take Gale from me, but I shook my head, wanting to hold Gale a little longer. Mom smiled at me and sighed, "We gotta get the two of you to sleep-"
A loud wailing came from the nursery and the sound of a door opening followed it, which must've been Paul, on his way to the nursery.
"Oh dear," my mom sighed, brushing some of her hair back with her hand. She headed to the nursery, Gale and I in tow.
Clio was causing a racket, crying so loud, it was amazing, Nico, Hazel and Annabeth didn't wake up. Closing the door behind me, I watched as my mom pulled the waistband to Clio's pants and checked her diaper, "She pooped," my mom stated.
Gale and I shared a stare of distaste.
"Mind checking that one for me?" mom asked, and when I looked at her horrified, she rolled her eyes and walked over to us, and checked for herself, "Empty," she stated and carried off Clio to the changing table.
Paul helped her out, handing her baby powder, taking the dirty diaper, and then handing her a new one.
I sat Gale down into her crib and she crawled up to the sides leaning against the crib's bar, like she was a prisoner. Except a happy prisoner. How she got out of her crib, I'll never know. She gazed up at me, smiling.
"Percy, can you get Clio, I'm just going to clean up here," I nodded and scooped up a glassy eyed Clio.
Looking down at Clio, I studied her features. Her tiny nose, and her tiny eyes, and the small amount of hair on her tiny head. I put her tiny foot into my hand and smiled when I held her tiny hand in my big one. Clio was so tiny.
Gale was just as tiny as Clio. Almost identical. Her sea green eyes were peering into mine, and I understood what Annabeth felt when she looked into my eyes. It was like looking into the deepest and clearest waters on the beach, a billion mysteries swimming in them but beautiful at the same time.
Then and there, I realized how stupid I was. Because then and there, I just realized that I was a brother. I mean, yeah I knew I was a brother, I just never had that feeling of being an older brother fill me. The feeling of admiration, possessiveness and pride of being these bundles of joys' older brother. There was no way in Tartarus I was going to be okay with anything from a fly to a god hurting even a strand of hair on Clio or Gale.
Hearing my mom's, "aww" from behind me, I looked up and saw the little twinkle in her eyes. Then she snorted, laughing and pointing at me.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"Look down again,"
For some reason, while I was admiring Clio, I managed to ignore the soaking through my shirt. Clio was drooling on me.
"That's the first time she's done that," Paul laughed, "Well at least now, we can say it's from Sally's side of the family, and not Poseidon's," he shrugged.
Mom rolled her eyes and nudged Paul, who laughed at her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Percy," she said, "Change your shirt, and go to sleep. We'll handle these two."
"Are you sure?"
"I've been doing this for a long time now, Percy, we can manage. And you've got an early start tomorrow, go on,"
I nodded, kissed both Gale and Clio on their foreheads and mom and the cheek. I said goodnight to Paul and made my way to Annabeth's bedroom.
I fished a shirt out of the closet and took my drool soaked one off, tossing it into the hamper. Halfway through putting it on, Annabeth gasped, and jolted awake.
"Percy!" she yelled.
Shocked, I tumbled backwards, and hit my head on the carpet, "Oh geez," I muttered.
My door opened, and mom stood there, looking at the two of us, "What happened? Percy! Put a shirt on!" she turned to Annabeth, "Annabeth, what happened?"
Tugging my shirt on, I finally got to check on Annabeth, who was looking at me in a way she never did before. She was trembling and she was stuttering that it was just a nightmare to my mom. Standing up and rubbing the back of my head, I stood beside my mom and said, "I'll talk to her,"
Mom studied the two of us for a bit and nodded, "Do you want ice for your head? Water, Annabeth?" we both nodded and my mom left the room.
I sat next to Annabeth, who had buried her face into her hands. She was shaking her head and mumbling 'no' over and over again, saying 'he wouldn't' once in a while. When I tried to comfort her, she moved back, shaking her head.
"What happened, Annabeth?" I asked, holding her hands.
She looked up at me, tear stained face and puffy red eyes, "You," she croaked, "You-you left me,"
I gaped at her, my eyebrows furrowed, "I-I went to get Gale," I gestured to the door, "She got out of her crib somehow, a-and, Annabeth, I'm sorry,"
She shook her head, "No, Percy, no, in my dream, y-you," she took a deep breath, "I was hanging on the cliff, at the hole t-to," she shook her head again, "That place, a-and I was hanging there, and you just left, you didn't help me. You looked at me, then turned on your heel. The last thing I saw was the Argo II fly away while I fell,"
Overwhelmed, I hugged her, rubbing her back, reassuring her. "I wouldn't do that, Annabeth. I will never do that, I promise. It's just a dream, I won't leave you,"
Annabeth sniffled and hiccuped, wiping her nose and her eyes, "Promise?"
"Promise," I said, kissing her nose.
She nodded and buried her head into my chest, pulling the blanket over her shoulders. Mom came in with an empty glass and a pitcher full of water, and an ice bag for me.
She placed the ice bag on my head, and poured the water into the glass, she handed it to Annabeth, and rubbed Annabeth's back in a motherly way, "You alright there, sweetie?"
Annabeth took a long sip of the water and nodded, not answering verbally.
Mom looked at me, concerned. "Don't worry, mom," I answered, taking the ice bag into my hands and pressing on the back of my head, "We're gonna get some sleep,"
"Are you sure?" she asked, "Do you want me to call your dad, Annabeth?"
Annabeth shook her head, "No thank you,"
My mom gave the two of us another unsure look and finally nodded, "Okay. But if anything happens, I'm just two doors down, alright? Get some rest," she gave Annabeth another glance, and then walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Annabeth finished her glass and placed it on the bedside table and laid down, burying her face into her pillow. Only her left eyes was visible while she looked up at me. Consciously, I slipped down into the covers and laid next to her on my side, my head resting on arm, while my other hand nursed the back of my head. For a while we just stared at each other, her sad, scared eyes, boring into my worried, concerned ones.
Finally, I gave up on the eye staring contest and discarded my ice bag, reaching over Annabeth and placing it on the bedside table. I got back to my previous position and hugged Annabeth, pulling her against me, tucking her head under my chin. I rubbed her back soothingly, while she started to cry again, her tears soaking my new shirt. While one hand rubbed her back, the other ran through her long, blonde curls, untangling it. She cried silently, her rapid breathing and tears the only sign that she was crying.
A little while later, Annabeth had stopped crying, or at least I thought she did. She may have fallen asleep, but I wasn't too sure, so I pulled away gently, still trying to keep my warmth with her.
Annabeth was still awake, her eyes red and puffy, but she wasn't crying anymore. Tear streams stained her face. I kissed her forehead, rubbing off what was left of her tears on her cheeks. She wrapped one arm around my neck and the other around my midsection, burying her face into my chest.
"What happened earlier with Gale?" she asked softly.
I closed my eyes, feeling that I could now relax a bit, "Gale got out of her crib and crawled all the way to the Christmas Tree," I explained, "Don't ask me how, she just did,"
I felt Annabeth smile against my abdomen, and I warmed up inside liking the fact that she could smile.
We fell asleep.
~~O~~
I woke up to the sound of Annabeth's alarm clock. Sleepingly, I rolled to turn it off, but was surprise to see Annabeth missing from her side of the bed. Puzzled, I rubbed the morning out of my eyes to get a better look and was certain that Annabeth wasn't there.
Listening carefully though, the sound of the shower running, the kitchen bustling and feet padding on the floor assured me that Annabeth was outside, getting ready.
Groggily, I stood up from the bed and made my way to the hallway, where the sound of sizzling and the smell of bacon floated through the air. From the living room, I could hear the faint buzz of a cartoon, Gale and Clio must've been awake.
Checking the clock in the hallway, I read 4:46 am. I walked into the kitchen surprised to see the Mr. Chase sipping coffee with Paul at the breakfast bar, Mrs. Chase and mom preparing sandwiches, and the twins sleeping on the couch.
"Good morning," I said. The four adults looked up and smiled at me.
"Good morning, Percy," Annabeth's dad said.
Sitting at the kitchen table, I asked, "Who else is up?"
"Everyone except for Hazel," mom answered.
I nodded, still incredibly tired.
"Breakfast will be ready soon," mom said, "Annabeth and Nico are taking showers. Annabeth's using the one in my room. You and Hazel are in line, but I suggest you two hurry up, get started on breakfast while I wake up Hazel, okay?" she handed me the tongs she was using to grab the bacon and left the kitchen.
I picked up a few strips of bacon and Susan slid two pancakes and an egg onto plate, smiling at me. I said thank you and sat back down at the table. I poured myself a glass of orange juice and started eating. Susan placed a plate of bacon, pancakes and eggs in front of me and resumed to cook more. Hazel walked in later, her hair frizzy like a lion's.
"Mooorning," I smiled at her.
She mumbled something I couldn't understand, and sat next to me. She started to fill her plate with food and pour herself some chocolate milk.
"Bad dream?" I asked, shoveling some food into my mouth.
She nodded and lazily buttered her pancake.
We spent the rest of the next five minutes eating while I tried to make her smile. She grinned a few times and by the time I was done my food, Nico walked in, freshly showered.
"Good morning," I said, standing up from the table and out of the kitchen.
Nico nodded and took my seat, and started his breakfast.
I gathered my things and started the shower.
Annabeth's POV
Water droplets fell from my hair and onto my necklace while I tried to string the shell Percy gave me onto it.
Stupidly, I was smiling like an idiot. Percy usually was completely dense to everything. But in the end, he somehow found a way to make that everything even better. Forgetting about the promise he made me for our first month anniversary back then, we had to go through a whole quest for Herme's Staff before getting to celebrate our monthiversary in Paris. Which was pretty cool. For our first anniversary, we spent it in Tartarus, and at least, we were together. So I guess, the little things Percy does really get to me, because the smaller they are, the less trouble we get in.
This gift could be considered my ultimate prize for surviving Tartarus and everything that came with it, other than, you know, life. It was the sweetest thing Percy had ever given me, a box full of things that were us. The book was so me, the shell was so him and the sweater was so us. The picture was what showed it all.
The door opened, and Percy walked in, hair dripping wet while he tried to dry with his soaked towel. He smiled at me, noticing what I was doing.
"Hey," he said stupidly.
I rolled my eyes at him and said, "I don't want it to get crushed with everything else in the box,"
He shrugged and walked over to me, "I didn't say anything,"
"You were going to apply something,"
He smirked, "Since when were you a mind reader?"
"When will your ego shrink?" I bantered.
Having nothing to say, Percy kissed me on the lips, long enough to attract me, but short enough to keep me wanting for more. He smirked at me again, raising his eyebrow, knowing he got me.
When I didn't say anything, he kissed me again, long enough for me. His lips, salty but smooth and sea like smell made everything around me melt into nothingness. It was perfect until a drop of water jolted me back as it dripped off his hair and onto my chest.
He smiled at me sheepishly and said, "You woke up early,"
"4 am. Didn't want my dad to come here and find us cuddling,"
"Then it's a good thing that kiss was short or he would've killed me," he laughed. He stood up and started to dry his hair again, shaking his head all the while.
I got up, too, finally getting the seashell on the necklace.
"How long did you sleep?" Percy asked.
"Not too long, but I'll sleep when we get to camp," I answered.
"No you won't," Percy said. I looked at him, bemused. He walked over to me said, "You're gonna get to camp and find something to bury your mind in,"
I shrugged and turned around, not facing him, "There's lots to do at camp. I've got get my siblings in order, check up on the camp, help Chiron ou-"
"Someone else can do those. Annabeth, you're going to collapse at this pace,"
I studied Percy, knowing that this was going to be hard, bad fight, that would last until tomorrow or even maybe longer. I hated fighting with Percy, especially right now, in our predicament. So I did what I could to defeat those beseeching, sea green eyes: show some weakness.
I said, "I'm scared of the nightmares, Percy. Going to sleep and waking up from the nightmares is the same thing as staying up all night and sneaking in some power naps from time to time,"
"Not when I'm with you," he said, "You're totally fine when I'm here, and when I'm not you something bad happens. Annabeth, if I didn't leave last night, then maybe the ending to your nightmare wouldn't have ended the way it did. Maybe you would have just remembered what happened back there. We could talk to Chiron. You could stay in my cabin while we're at camp. Our parents are okay with it, so should Chiron-" he rambled, but I cut him off.
"No he won't Percy. Rules are rules and my mom's definitely okay with this. If she wasn't so preoccupied with everything, then she would've blasted you off the face of the earth already,"
"I want to take care of you," he said quietly, sincerity oozing from his words.
"You did, and look where we still are, Percy," I didn't realize it sounded so bad until the words left my mouth.
Percy stood there, his eyebrows furrowed, gaping at me.
"Percy, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry,"
He tensed and then relaxed. Finally, he stepped towards me and hugged me tightly, "There's tons of food outside. Go and eat,"
~~O~~
I sat at the kitchen table, eating with my dad and the twins, who had just woken up. Percy was bringing our things into the living room while Hazel and Nico watched for Blackjack and his friend.
Percy was walking to the room and back, looking a bit distracted and disoriented. He was, no doubt, thinking about our conversation earlier. I regretted that whole sentence and right now it was drilling into my head, punishing me for being such a jerk. I had no right to say that to Percy, after all he's done for me; staying with me in Rome, falling with me in Tartarus, going through to Tartarus with me, letting me stay here, and remembering me while he forgot everything else. Percy jumped miles just to make me happy, and I repay him by saying everything he does is wrong. What made it worse was the fact Percy hugged me after.I felt like drowning myself in my plate, but that would be more of a reward than a death sentence since Sally's cooking was so good. Instead, I decided to watch Percy, which was more pain right now than ever.
"Is everything alright?" Sally asked, bringing me out of my trance, "You and Percy both seem, I don't know, a bit out of it,"
"It's nothing," Percy said, walking into the kitchen, "We're just going to miss you," I looked at him, guilt filling my face, and he looked back, hurt powdered on his face. "Blackjack's here, Annabeth, we should get ready,"
My dad sneaked a look at me, his eyebrow raised, sensing Percy's tone was off. I ignored him and nodded, standing from my seat.
We lugged our things outside. I smiled at Blackjack and his friend, a chocolate brown stallion with flowing dark hair on it's mane. They walked over to me and his friend nuzzled his snout into my neck.
"Hey there buddy," I laughed.
"Lay off her," Percy warned the horse jokingly.
Blackjack neighed and said something to Percy.
"Yeah, I know, but she's taken, alright," Percy laughed. He turned to me, "This is Buster,"
"Hi Buster," I said, stroking his mane.
He neighed and tried to nuzzle his snout into my neck again, but Percy pushed his head away.
"T-A-K-E-N," Percy spelled, he looked back to me, "He was human about a century ago, and then my dad turned him into a horse for hitting on one of his lovers then," he explained, "I might ask dad to turn him into a clam instead. He obviously has a crush on you,"
The horse neighed and Percy glared at him.
Puzzled, I asked, "What did he say?"
"Nothing. Just a stupid pick up line. A stupid, horse pick up line," Percy puffed, shaking his head, "Here, give me those," he said gesturing to my bags.
I shook my head, "Percy, I can do it," the guilt was still gnawing at me and the fact that he was being so nice about it, wasn't helping.
"You should go talk to your dad," he nodded to my dad who was leaning against the door frame.
"Thanks," I said softly to him and handed him my bags and walked towards my dad.
He smiled at me and raised an eyebrow, "Yeees?" he drawled.
"Why're you watching us like that?"
He shrugged, "Just observing young love complicate," he said lightly. "Nice horse," he added, "Your grandad loved horses,"
"What does Susan see?" I asked, curious.
"She sees one black and one brown volkswagen with trailers attached to the back. It'll look quite odd with the four of you riding the back," he smirked.
Laughing at my dad's 'cool', I hugged him, "I'm going to miss you,"
I could feel him tense up from surprise but his arms wrapped around me and hugged me tightly, "I'll miss you, too, kiddo,"
"You get to watch me leave this time," I chuckled.
He rested his chin on my head, "It's better than waking up to find you missing from your bed. At least I know where you're going,"
"I'm so sorry, dad," I mumbled.
"Don't be," he said, "It's more my fault than it is yours,"
"I made everything so much more difficult-"
Dad pushed me away gently and looked at me, "I don't want you going off to camp feeling like you did something wrong, that all of this is your fault," he said firmly, "Because it's not, never has been. Don't ever blame yourself for any of this, okay?"
I nodded gravely.
"Good," he said, "Now go on and be careful up there. And, Annabeth," he paused, checking me over, "Remember what I said at the park, okay? Good. I love you," he kissed the top of my head.
I walked back to the chariots where Nico and Hazel were sitting in there's comfortably, their bags at their feet. Percy was standing in their doorway talking to Sally, who was crying hard, hugged Percy tightly while he rocked her slowly and rubbed her back. Paul stood next to them, holding both of the girls in his arms impressively. I watched as Percy pulled away from Sally, she kissed him on the cheek, rubbed his arm and patted him away, waving goodbye. She saw the three of us watching and she waved with a sad smile. We waved back, calling out thank yous.
Percy got to the chariot, wiping his eyes. He gestured for me to enter the chariot and I did watching as he gloomily climbed in. "Let's go, Blackjack," he mumbled. Both Blackjack and Buster kicked off, gradually lifting us off into the sky. Percy looked out of the chariot and waved to our families with an even sadder smile than Sally's. I waved to my dad and brothers and watched as they got smaller and smaller.
~~O~~
You'd think, being up so high in the sky, that we'd be freezing. But the chariots gave off the strongest warmth ever. I was just wearing the CHB sweater Percy gave me, and a pair of jeans and sneakers. Everyone else was dressed the same way, excluding Nico who chose to wear his aviator jacket instead of a hoodie.
Percy was absent-minded. He stared out into the clouds, but at the same time, not really staring at them. Even Blackjack noticed, as he kept quiet, leaving Percy to his thoughts. Sometime along the trip, he managed to snake his hand into mine, squeezing it every once in a while.
I couldn't tell what Percy was thinking. Probably everything I said earlier and everything he could think of about his family, swarmed in his head. Percy confused me to the bone, keeping his distance with me but softening up every now and then.
"Percy," I croaked.
He snapped out of his gaze and looked at me, his eyes cloudy, but full of concern. I was taken back. The cloudiness in Percy's eyes dissolved and Percy's eyebrows quirked up, "What's wrong?"
I cleared my throat and straightened up, "About earlier," I started, but Percy cut me off.
"Don't worry about it. I don't think you actually meant it, right?" he mumbled sheepishly.
"Of course I don't! It, I don't know, it came out of my mouth and I just," I sighed, "I don't know. I'm so sorry,"
Percy shook his head, "It's fine, I understand. And I thought about it and you're right, I guess,"
"No, Percy, I'm not," I said sternly, "You've done nothing but take care of me, and it was stupid of me to say that to yo-"
"Be quiet," he said, pressing a finger to my lips.
Surprised, I said, "What?"
"Shhh!"
"Percy, I know what I said was me-"
He covered my mouth with his hand, "Do you hear that?"
I raised my eyebrow at him, but he looked away, searching for whatever he heard.
Then I heard it. I constant "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh," like the sound of a bird flapping it heavy wings, sounded through the air. I looked at Hazel and Nico in their chariot and they were both looking for the sound.
Finally, I noticed a dark of grey moved through the clouds, and I saw its yellow eyes. It was an owl.
"Percy, look," I whispered and pointed to it.
As Percy looked up, the owl flew over our chariot quickly and dropped something on Percy's head.
I posted and revised this chapter a few times within the hour so if your notification says I posted three or so times, I'm sorry, I was just being a moron.
I apologize because I've been an absolute procastinator when it came to finishing this chapter.
Sorry for the wait, I'll try to finish up the next one within the week.
Don't forget to follow, favourite and review.
Thanks for reading!
