Thank you reader. Please Review.
Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and Friends belong to the ever awesome Rick R.
11 - The Morning After
I woke up screaming at three in the morning of Thursday. This was the first nightmare I had in a month. I used to have nightmares pretty much nightly after the War, nowadays maybe one a week. I sat down trying to think what just happened, trying so hard to forget the nightmare in vain. I was sweating and quite startled. Annabeth came running at me.
"Percy, what's wrong?" said Annabeth.
"A nightmare. It's Ok. Sorry if I woke you up. Pearl?" I asked. Annabeth cleaned the sweat of my forehead.
"She is sleeping. Don't worry. What were you dreaming?" said Annabeth kissing me.
"Sasha. She was sinking down in a pool of blood and she told me how I could forget the other sword. Then the image changed and I saw Pearl holding your dagger. She was hurt and kept calling me but I ran as fast as I could, but I couldn't reach her. Do you think I saw something in the future?" I said looking down.
"Percy, I hope it's not. You are maybe just concerned about the whole situation. Don't worry. It's just tiredness talking or dreaming in your case. Good to sleep. See you in a couple of hours" said Annabeth and kissed me goodbye.
"Sure, I love you" I said and tried to sleep again.
I laid in the couch for about an hour thinking about the dream. I haven't dreamed of Sasha for a long time. I used to dream of her in our final battle when I gave her that fatal would and she sacrificed herself to let us escape. I sometimes dreamed of her in her hometown fighting my other siblings to death. The best dreams that I had with her were just us running in the snow laughing as little children. Of course, it was only a dream. We weren't children together but it felt so real. Maybe I longed for a childhood with her so hard that my mind played tricks on me.
It was around four o'clock when I decided to go running. I wasn't going to sleep anymore. I felt so wired after that dream. I ran harder and longer than any other day. I felt so frustrated, mad, angry and just pissed off on the whole situation: Pearl has just lost her mother at the tender age of 5. I remembered how I felt when I thought I lost my mom and it just made me angrier.
I returned home finding Annabeth making breakfast and Pearl still sleeping. I got to the kitchen and kissed Annabeth who was standing in front of the stove.
"Good morning, beautiful" I said stealing a strip of bacon of the plate next to the stove.
"Good morning, seaweed brain. You are all sweaty. I guess you had a good run. Take a shower while I finish breakfast" said Annabeth.
"Ok. I won't take long. I am really hungry" I said and went to our bedroom. I found Pearl in bed crying silently under the covers. I must say my heart broke again. I sat down next to her.
"Pearl. Do you want to have breakfast? You must be hungry" I said.
"Yes" said Pearl under the cover. Her voice was harsh and in pain. I removed the covers. Her face and hair were a mess of sweat and tears. She looked at me and hugged me.
"Percy, yesterday was a bad dream?" she asked in a tiny sad voice.
"I wish… So sorry… I know it must be hard for you but we need to your place for your things. You are going to live with us now" I said.
"Ok" she said not looking at me. She sighed and sobbed more.
"Do you want to take a shower?" I asked her.
"Yes, Percy" she said still not looking at me.
"Ok. Let me shower first and I will call Annabeth to help you" I said and kissed her hair. I took a quick shower and found Pearl out of bed looking for clothes in a shopping bag. Annabeth came into the room.
"Percy. I will help her to get a shower. You should go to have breakfast" said Annabeth watching at Pearl.
"No, I will wait for both of you. I will call to the office for another sick day and Paul, we might need his car" I said and I walked to the phone in the kitchen.
I hardly ever use the phone for safety issues. Demigods and telephones don't mix. It's like having All-you-can-eat demigod buffet neon billboard for monsters hanging over your head. I sighed, resigned and dialed Midge. I made the call as short as possible with sore throat, cough and some sneezes to make believable my alibi. I also called mom, said three words: "need, car, going" and hung up.
We ate breakfast in silence. We all wore a sad and wimpy face. After breakfast, we left the house holding hands with Annabeth in the middle. We climbed the same train to my mom and work. We got down a couple of stations before Annabeth. She kissed us goodbye before stepping out in our station.
At my mom's, my brothers, Paul and mom hugged tightly to Pearl and she cried again for over an hour. My mom gave Paul's keys and kissed us goodbye.
Her apartment wasn't far from my mom. We drove listening to the radio and no talking. We stopped in a store and bought a couple of boxes on the way. Once in her apartment building, I went directly to the landlord office and I talked to the landlady while Pearl started packing upstairs. She totally believed me when I said that I was Joanna's brother and Pearl's uncle. That's easier that explain that I really was Pearl's half brother by her father side.
Molly, the landlady, was in her mid-fifties and was like a grandma to Pearl, so came with me to the apartment to help us.
"Pearl, dear, you uncle told me" said Molly and Pearl hugged her. They cried together for a couple of minutes. I just stared at them awkwardly.
I packed all Pearl's clothes and toys in two big boxes. Molly and Pearl packed Photo albums, important documents and some family heirlooms like some Greek plates and jewelry. I took us like five hours and a pizza break to check and packed everything in the car.
Before going back to our apartment, we were outside the apartment building with the car completely loaded and with Molly. I told Molly "You can sell the rest like Joanna's clothes, silverware, etc for charity".
"No, Mr. Jackson. Pearl might need the money. I will sell all and send you the money" said Molly and she smiled at me in a seductive way. I felt awkward but I smiled back.
"Ok. If you insists, take my, our address. In case you need us for anything" I said. Molly nodded and Pearl ran and hugged Molly. She waved us goodbye as we drove back home.
The ride home was as uneventful as earlier. Pearl held the doors while I carried the boxes to our apartment. I was nearly done when Annabeth got back from work. She waved at us in the street as I was closing the car door with the last box in my hands. Pearl waved at her and Annabeth kissed her cheek.
"Hey, seaweed brain" said Annabeth kissing me.
"Hey, wise girl. I am almost finished carrying boxes in. Where is Pearl going to live?" I asked.
"Well…" said Annabeth as we walked upstairs.
Annabeth and I decided that Pearl would live in the spare room aka Annabeth's office. She helped Pearl unpacking clothes and fix her new room while I took the car back to my mom.
At my mom's, Paul opened the door greeting me. "Hi, Percy. Did you do all you needed?"
I nodded and said "Thanks Paul, for the car" as I gave him the keys. My brothers came to me and Patrick gave me flowers.
"Could you give them to Pearl? I don't want her to be sad" said Peter blushing.
"Of course, she will love them. Mom, I am going" I said.
"Wait, Percy, take this" said my mom walking in from the kitchen and she gave me leftover meatloaf for dinner. I was really thankful. I wasn't in the mood for cooking.
"Good night. Mom, thanks. I think we will go tomorrow to camp. We need to take Pearl. She needs to know about demigods" I said.
"Take the car, Percy. I think we won't need it for the weekend" said Paul giving me back the keys.
"Are you sure?" I asked
"Yeah, besides you need to get stuff for Pearl and it will handy for you" said Paul taking my mom's hand.
"Thank you, guys, see ya on Sunday. I guess we will come for dinner" I said at the door.
"Sure thing, honey. Bye" said my mom as she kissed my cheek and closed the door behind me.
I took me half an hour to get back to my apartment. Annabeth and Pearl were almost finished when I got there. Her new room looked cluttered for my taste. Annabeth saw me staring the room and said nothing to me until later.
"Don't worry. I will get rid of some things like books and random stuff" said Annabeth in the kitchen while I was heating up dinner.
We ate dinner in silence and went to bed early. Tomorrow I would go to buy a bed to Pearl after work and go to camp in the evening. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.