I'd like to give an extremely special thanks to all who've reviewed: Eclipse of Athena, Demi-God daughter of the sea, Thalia Castellan, percabeth-fan-4-ever, pichucherrimteam, leprechaunsarekronos'sservants, PERCABETHGIRL-12, Maurauder, FantasyFan86, filmyfurry, Stolen Silent Stars, Mrs. Jordan Youngblood Powers, Seaweedbrain249, xXBadLuckDuckXx, dancechick307, NCISissnazzy, xXH3ARTXx, Parthenonlover2757, bombplaya3, September Sorrows, maxride45, Fanfiction Fanatiction, athenashadow, Percysbro, Silentsole, Tidustide, SeaKing1342, Il0veH0ckey, Adonai63, PJOnHP, ..21, everyoneisMISunderstood, The Evil Hershey Panda, 11Kayla11, THA musIc GuY, Spunkalovely (ILOVEYOU MEGARA!), ThaliaGrace04, LabyrinthOfDarkness, anonymousbooklover, crazybookworm95, Lisbry, Saf222, Colorful Catastrophe (Thank you times 3, puffin 0997!), Tatiana Lopes, wisegirlindisguise, Sargent fuzzy bear, AchilliesOfGreece, sonofthegods, and MiHeadIsFullOfKelp
And to the anonymous reviewers: Nikki J, puffin0997, Hali, future mrs taylor d. lautner, peaceluvllamas, peacemaker1898, luke, Syd, Massie, PERcabeth21, vê, and Athena'sFaveGrl, and A Fan, Ihateluke, Chloe/Annabeth, NoyP, fdsg (I really like this one :D), Megan, annabeth chase, and SmoothieBlender.
[press ctrl + f and type in your username to see if you're there, which you probably are. sorry if you reviewed and you're not up there. please let me know.]
Thank you guys, really. So much. You make me so much happier :D
I remember being on the phone with my friend and I was like "Look at all these reviews I got!! AHH!!"
His response was "I can't see them, stupid," but I digress.
THANK YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH!
Now, onto very serious matters. This movie came out last night/this morning at midnight (btw, I didn't get to sleep till 3:00. .). I took my friends to see this movie, and I was giggling and squealing and generally freaking out the whole time. It was The Percy Jackson Movie. I leaned over and whispered "we're at the Percy Jackson movie!" to my friend Jordan every 5 seconds, and he was getting really pissed at me :] But it was so exciting, you guys. An extremely wonderful movie. I can't contain my enthusiasm for it. It may not match the book very well, but it's still a SPECTACULAR movie. You should go see it. Right now. :]
So, with that over, we move on...
Oh, forgot to say that the little part about the 'audience' from the last chapter was actually based off the PJatO books.
The Sea of Monsters, I think.
No. Wait. Maybe it was The Titans Curse...
And now, the (I believe so, I'm not sure yet...) second-to-last chapter:
Annabeth's POV. Have fun, Wise Girl. :]
I sat on Percy's bed. Okay, no, I collapsed on Percy's bed and curled up into a pathetic little ball, all crumpled and disheveled. For a moment, the apartment was silent. I wondered how Percy was going to "take care" of this. Then I heard him talking to someone. It took me a while, but eventually I could make out what he was saying. He seemed to be talking to someone on the phone.
"It's been too long since we had a friendly encounter," he was saying, sounding really fake-happy. "We should get together and catch up."
He paused and listened to the response.
"Now," Percy replied to the person on the other end before pausing. "Yes, I just said that," he continued, laughing coldly. I wondered vaguely who he was talking to. If only I knew. I could have figured it out if I wanted to, it wasn't that hard to realize. But I was drained of energy. I just wanted to lie down. By the time I had enough sense to comprehend what Percy was going to do, it was too late.
"How about Rusty's Depot?" Percy asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. "So, meet me there in 20 minutes?" There was another pause, then Percy hung up.
I heard him rustling around in his room for a few minutes, and then his footsteps traveled out into the hall, down through the living room, and out the door.
Click. The sound of the lock snapping shut traveled through the walls and I let my head fall to Percy's pillow. I immediately fell asleep.
--------
In my dream, I was standing on the dock at my old summer camp. I was looking out at the ocean, and saw an old wooden raft sailing towards me. I waited a few moments, and when the raft was almost to me, I looked around. Standing behind me were all the summer campers, over a hundred of them. Up at the front was Thalia, back when she was 16, dressed in black skinny jeans and a black t-shirt that read 'Death to Barbie' in fancy, white, cursive writing. Her short, black hair was choppy and she wore skull earrings. She had on that ridiculous makeup that made her look like a raccoon, and she looked just like she had back when she attended camp with me and Percy. In other words, she looked like death.
Also present close to the dock: Percy's best friend Grover Underwood (a friend who was very close to me) and his girlfriend Juniper (I considered her a good friend), both looking like they had at 14. Grover was tall and gangly, with curly brownish-reddish hair and an almost-bad case of acne. He wore a light brown shirt that read 'Got Earth?' in green letters above a picture of the planet Earth. He had on baggy jeans and shoes that looked too big to be for real feet. Juniper was dressed in a purple sundress and she was barefoot. Her toes were painted in a leaf-green color and her long, amber-colored hair was tied in a side ponytail with a dark green ribbon.
They and the hundred-or-so campers behind them were looking at me expectantly, like they were waiting for me to do something. Thalia looked comforting, but also like she was in disbelief. Her blue eyes were piercing and I felt like she was accusing me of lying. What I was lying about, I had no idea.
Juniper stared at me, her elfish features upturned and scowling. Her expression was harsh, like I'd just kicked her grandmother. I wanted to feel bad, but I didn't know what I'd done. So I moved on to Grover.
Grover stared at me sadly, like he missed me. I guess I hadn't seen him in years, and I missed him too, but still. There was something else behind his sappy look. Maybe it was dread. Whatever it was, Grover had a look on his face that said not only was he missing me, he would miss me when I was gone.
Gone? Gone where? Where was I going? And why did everyone look like they did when I was 14 and going to summer camp? Why did their expressions make me feel like I was about to save them or destroy them, like they were counting on me?
The raft floated up to the dock and stopped with out an anchor or rope, like magic. There were two people standing on it.
The first one I noticed was Percy Jackson, but not the Percy Jackson I knew now. It was him, back when we were 16 (he wasn't 13 here, like I would've expected him to be. That seemed to be our friends' gimmick). His floppy black hair was unruly and messy like it had been the last day I'd seen him, three years ago. His deep green eyes sparkled and he was wearing a green t-shirt to match them, along with a pair of faded, comfortable looking jeans and his favorite white tennis shoes. He was smiling and had his hands on his hips, but he was frozen in place like someone had pressed his pause button.
The second person on the raft was Luke Castellan. Since he was gone from camp when Percy and I were 16, he looked like he did in the present day. He was wearing a white button down and nice dark blue jeans. He wore black loafers and a silver watch on his right hand. He looked sharp, except for his face. He had ridiculous bags under his eyes and the scar under his right eye looked red and tender, like it had been recently re-opened. He had an evil gleam in his eye, and looking over his appearance, I wanted to scoff in disgust. He didn't look handsome at all. He looked like he was hiding a secret and would act ruthless and cutthroat to make sure it stayed a secret. I seemed to be seeing him for what he truly was, which I really didn't have any desire to see.
"Choose..." an unseen voice whispered as it floated along in the wind.
"What?" I asked it.
"Choose," it whispered again. The campers behind me held their breath and I looked back at Percy and Luke on the raft. I smiled, completely free of any fear or stress, and pointed slowly at Percy. There was cheering and laughing and shouting. I grinned as Luke glared at me. I wasn't afraid. I didn't have any reason to be afraid. I saw, out of the corner of my eye, some kind of octopus/shark-type sea creature jump out of the water and swallow Luke whole, but I wasn't really paying attention. I was too focused on Percy.
His form had begun to glow. I dropped my hand that had been pointing at him as the landscape around him faded.
The scene shifted. Suddenly, Percy and I were standing at the camp's outdoor mess hall, where little white holiday lights had been strung all around the Greek-inspired columns and the tables. Colored lanterns were hung in the trees and off the columns, shedding soft purple, yellow, green, blue, and orange light over everything and everyone. A DJ booth had been hooked up to an outdoor generator and was playing music. People were all around us on the marble and the grass, dancing and laughing and generally having a good time.
Percy stopped glowing and his form un-paused.
"Well, Wise Girl?" he said.
"'Well,' what, Seaweed Brain?" I said without thinking. To be honest, I didn't even know I said anything, and I wouldn't have unless I'd heard it. I looked down at my clothes. I was wearing an orange, long sleeved t-shirt and faded jean shorts, along with a pair of brown sandals. I hadn't worn that outfit in years and wouldn't wear it now, especially not with all the bruises and cuts all over my body.
"Well," Percy replied, "I believe you owe me a dance."
Dance?
Oh, I get it. It was a flashback. I recognized everything now. The mess hall had been transformed into the farewell party for the older campers. It was the last day of camp, three years ago, and Percy and I and out friends had all met up at the party.
"Oh, do I?" I asked, giggling.
"Yeah, you do," Percy said, smirking. His green eyes sparkled as he led me to the marble area in front of the DJ booth that was being used as a dance floor. The fast paced pop song ended as we stepped closer, and a pretty, almost-slow song replaced it.
Percy looked nervous, though he was trying to hide it. I noticed a little anxious expression on his features that made him look younger, like when I'd met him when he first came to camp. He rubbed the back of neck then hesitantly placed his hands around my waist. I laughed and slid mine onto his shoulders. We started swaying to the music, smiling like idiots.
"She's blood, flesh and bone
No tucks or silicone
She's touch, smell, sight, taste and sound..."
Percy coughed nervously but relaxed a little. We settled into a comfortable movement.
"What are you gonna do once camp's done?" I asked. "Like, any ideas for school?"
"Well, I'm thinking about being an oceanographer," he replied. He looked at me sadly. "What about you? Are there any good schools in 'Frisco?"
I frowned. I'd had to move from New York 2 years ago, all the way across the country to San Francisco. I hated it. I missed New York. And even though my dad let me come back for summer camp, it still wasn't the same.
"Yeah, there are a few, but the best architectural programs are here in New York," I said wistfully. "I'll find something, I guess."
Percy didn't say anything. He looked around at the woods and the other campers. I looked up and gazed around, too.
"I'm gonna miss this place," he said softly, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. I followed his example and found myself resting my head on his shoulder. He seemed surprised at first, then relaxed and held me tighter as we 'danced.'
"She's got the best of everything
What could a guy like me ever really offer?
She's perfect as she can be, why should I even bother?"
"I'm gonna miss it too," I said.
Percy pulled away and looked at me with those ocean green eyes. I thought about how he looked everyday when he was swimming in the lake and how he always smelled like sea salt.
"She calls to speak to me..."
His black hair fell over one of his eyes and he smiled a lopsided, goofy smile. I felt myself grinning back.
"Wise Girl?" he whispered
"I freeze immediately..."
"Yes?" I replied softly.
Percy took a shaky breath. "You're what I'm gonna miss most about this place."
"'Cause what she says sounds so unreal..."
Percy started leaning forward, and before I could think about it, I was too.
"And somehow I can't believe
That anything should happen..."
"I'm gonna miss you too, Seaweed Brain."
"I know where I belong
And nothing's gonna happen..."
Our lips connected in a sweet and innocent first kiss, and our bodies seemed to fit together as his hand made its way to touch the back of my head. I ran my fingers through his hair. When we parted, we found ourselves singing the lyrics to the song we'd been dancing to.
"'Cause she's so high
High above me, she's so lovely
She's so high, like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, or Aphrodite
She's so high, high above me"
--------
The flashback/dream melted away into black nothingness. I sat up and ran my hands over my face. It took my eyes a second to adjust to their surroundings, but eventually they realized that we were in Percy's room.
I looked over at the clock. 8:27 p.m. I swung my feet around and hopped off the bed. Making my way into the living room, I noticed all the lights were off. I sat down on the couch. Where was Percy?
Then it hit me.
He'd gone to 'take care of it.'
Well, hell.
I ran to his phone and dialed his cell number. It rang once. Then twice. Three times.
"Hey, it's Percy. If you leave your name and your reason for calling, then I might just get back to-"
Click. I hung up. Crap. He didn't answer. Where was he?
I spent a few minutes pacing and worrying and thinking up impossibly ridiculous scenarios before realizing how irrational I was being and sitting back down on the couch. I reached for the remote and turned on the TV. Might as well do something to pass the time before Percy got back, right?
I turned on the History channel. I tuned into a documentary/featurette about Greek mythology that was half over. Apparently, it was about Pandora's box.
Er- pithos, which meant 'jar.' The program was telling me about how most of the demons that haunted mankind- fear, death, sickness, hunger, and Greek monsters like empousai and Cyclopes- were trapped in the jar. Also trapped in the jar was Elpis- hope- that could only be released by a son of man, meaning no immortal could give up Elpis. The narrator guy talked about how half-god, half-mortal heroes like Hercules and Achilles were bribed with the prospect of Pandora's jar; were told that they could set Elpis free if they felt like giving up everything.
The documentary was pretty depressing. And I usually liked documentaries. So when it was over, I flipped off the channel and decided to watch the news.
The news. Like I needed more depressing.
I flipped on to the news. It was 9:02. There was a news story on, and the anchor lady was making a huge fuss about something that happened "mere minutes ago." She kept saying things like "witnesses keep claiming that he deserved it" and kept calling some random guy a "local hero" and that she hoped "the poor girlfriend" realized what she had. I just wanted her to get on with the story. I had no idea what she was talking about. Or, at least, I didn't at first.
"Our local hero of the night," the newscaster said, causing me to sit up on the couch in anticipation, "goes by the name Percy Jackson."
I froze. What?
"Around 8:30 earlier tonight, many residents of the city were dining at a local bar and grill titled 'Rusty's Depot.' Jackson had entered and sat down at the bar. No one paid him any mind, until another young male joined him. They began to have a conversation. As luck would have it, a local policeman was on-shift tonight at his part time job, which just happens to be a bartender at Rusty's."
"Percy, what did you do?" I whispered as I fell to the ground, my eyes glued to the screen.
"The policeman heard everything, and so did security cameras in the building," the anchor continued.
No. No, no, no. This couldn't be happening. Please, tell me Percy didn't go there with-
"Luke Castellan is the name of the other male. As rumor has it, Castellan had been abusing his girlfriend of about a year, who coincidentally is Jackson's 'best friend.' Jackson cleverly worked his way into Castellan's head with his misleading questions, and eventually got him to admit to his crimes."
The anchor paused like she was hearing something. She put her hand up to her ear, where I knew a small headphone was hiding.
"Hold on," she said. "This just in..."
No. No suspense. Percy, what did you say!?
"It seems we've gotten a hold of the video from the security cameras..."
I inched closer to the TV screen. This was ridiculous.
"For those of you interested, and I know I am, here's the clip."
The scene shifted to a grainy image of a dark restaurant. It was just light enough to see the faces and bodies of multiple people sitting at and around the bar. I recognized the two off to the left. My boyfriend and my best friend, Luke and Percy. Awesome.
"I don't know, we just spend time together," Luke was saying. "I'd say once a day. Why?"
"I'm sure that puts a bruise on her social life," Percy replied, and though the audio was terrible, you could still tell he came off calm and smooth. I would have laughed at the cleverness of his wording had it not been about me.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Luke asked slowly..
"What?" Percy responded. "I was just pointing out that she probably wants to spend some time with Thalia, or something."
"Nice try, Jackson. What are you up to?"
"I mean, doesn't it feel like you're abusing the fact that she wants to spend time with you?"
"And you put it like that because...?"
I spaced out and stared at the screen, though I wasn't hearing anything. Percy had a way with words. But this was all wrong. I didn't want this. I especially didn't want this on the news.
I snapped out of my inattentiveness when there was a sudden movement on the screen that caught my eye. I gasped. Luke had thrown a punch at Percy. But he'd caught Luke's hand.
"Why so angry all of a sudden, Luke?" you could hear Percy say. "Did I say something?"
"You act like you know something," Luke said. Another punch. Percy caught that one too.
"I do know something," Percy hissed, bending Luke's arms back into a really painful-looking position. "I know you've been abusing my best friend."
"You've got no proof," Luke snapped. People in the restaurant started to look over at the two.
"Not yet," Percy replied coldly "But I will."
"Ha!" Luke scoffed, ripping his hands from Percy's grasp. "Have fun finding the nonexistent proof that Annabeth's easy to hit!"
The clip abruptly shut off. The scene went back to the anchor-woman who was staring, shocked, at what must have been the screen she'd been watching the video on. She saw the video had stopped and looked at the camera, shaking her hair out and trying to act nonchalant. The camera whirled around and a policeman came onto the screen.
"This week's episode has been permanently discontinued," he said sarcastically. "Tune in next week." The cameraman followed the policeman as he trekked over to a computer and clicked a few buttons and tapped a few keys on the keyboard. A tech producer rushed over to the policeman.
"Hey, you can't delete that file!" he was screaming. "That's rightfully-"
"Stolen," the police officer interrupted. "We did not authorize the viewing of this clip. So no, it's not rightfully yours."
"But if you-"
"Carl!" you heard the newscaster hiss. The camera zoomed back around to the anchor, who was smiling nervously.
"Sorry about that, folks," she said, clearing her throat. "It's a hectic night here at the studio."
They'd shown my name. No one would've known if they hadn't shown that stupid video clip. Now anyone who was watching the news knew about the pathetic little Annabeth girl who'd been abused by her boyfriend. How embarrassing for poor Annabeth.
The anchor-woman whispered to someone who was off-screen, then smiled back at the camera.
"We've got statistics on the girlfriend," she said. "Annabeth Chase, age 19. Here's a photo."
Oh, great. They've got statistics on poor Annabeth Chase, the little girl who'd been abused by her boyfriend. I could just cry.
A picture popped up on the screen, next to my name, age, school, and occupation. The picture was recent, one taken from Thalia's restaurant security cameras, which had really high resolution. I had no idea how they got it or even knew it was me. It was from a month or so ago, when Percy had taken me to see Thalia, who I had no idea was managing a business. Thalia and I were releasing each other from a hug, and Thalia's back was to the camera, which meant you could see my expression (happy), hair color (blonde as ever) and outfit (my pajama pants and pink and white t-shirt) perfectly. I scrambled closer to the TV and pressed the pause button. The screen froze on my bio. I stared at it for what seemed like hours.
I would've stared at it all night too, had it not been for Percy trying to stealthily unlock and open his front door to no avail.
!!!!! ONE MORE CHAPTER!!!
Wow, these just keep getting cheesier and cheesier. I know nothing about realism, huh?
Like it? Mind telling me if you do?