Chapter Twenty-Five: Look What You Made Me Do

Percy was dreaming. It was the first thing his body told him when he came face-to-face with Frank Zhang on the pier. Frank was wielding some sort of knife… a machete? But why? In his half-consciousness, Percy failed to understand why Frank was there and why he looked so angry with him. He didn't think he'd ever done anything wrong to the other boy in the whole time that he'd known him.

Percy's feet felt glued to the wooden deck of the pier as he watched Frank toss the machete into the air once, twice… laughing… before a cloud the colour of Annabeth's eyes billowed behind him. Frank seemed to grow about six metres in size as the storm raged behind him. Percy felt a tugging in his chest as he watched the water fight and swirl around the outline of Frank's broad chest.

Percy's eyes shot open.

He was laying in his bed at home, nothing unusual. The clock on his bedside table read 03:30. Another sleepless night. They were becoming more routine now as winter faded away and the nights were becoming that slight bit warmer. Time felt like it was spiralling down a rabbit hole, showing glimpses of his life as he clung to memories, anything that would make him feel human. Had he swam yesterday? He had no idea. Everything that happened, happened in a blur. Each encounter, each kiss, each stroke, each bite; they were all notches along the walls of his mind. He didn't know where each day began and ended.

He was pulling himself out of bed before he'd even made the decision to stay awake. He'd grab himself a glass of water before attempting to sleep again.

The ground floor of his home was already illuminated from the archway of the living room. Percy and his mom had come into some money after things hadn't ended well with his mom's ex-husband, Gabe. The decision to move house felt as easy as the decision to remove smelly socks at the end of the day. Within a week, they'd found a new place.

It was bigger than their old apartment, but still modest and within their realistic means. Three large rooms downstairs, and three upstairs. Tyson claimed the third upstairs room whenever he came to stay. Percy's mom accepted him with open arms, even though he wasn't really anything to do with her. That's the type of woman she was. She'd accept anybody; and regularly, she had.

Percy's mom was sat on their coach with her legs tucked under her, a bowl of roasted chickpeas next to her.

"Mom?"

She swivelled around, but didn't look completely surprised to see him. Her voice was as soft as spring. "Couldn't sleep?"

Behind her head, a twenty-four hour news conference was replaying footage of Percy's dad visiting Ground Zero. He looked as he always looked when he appeared on television: teeth white, suit dry-cleaned, and handshake firm. As soon as he smiled, the footage flickered to another video. Undetermined timeframe. Nico's father: teeth white, suit dry-cleaned, handshake firm.

"Not quite," said Percy, eyes on the television screen. "I had a weird dream."

His mom's eyes flickered like the screen behind her, a show of sympathy, of solidarity. "I can make you a hot chocolate if you'd like."

She didn't mention the programme she had been watching.

The screen changed to show a tall man with extraordinary muscles and a wide smile being interviewed on one of the local news channels. A sometimes politician, a sometimes reality star with an ego as large as his left bicep. A man he had the great fortune of meeting. Another person who was definitely not on his side.

Percy drew his eyebrows together. Now that he thought about, it was this man who had featured in his dream, not his son. Replaying a memory, one of the shelves in the rabbit hole. He was starting to think this journey down the hole was really a spiral straight to his own personal hell.

"Percy?" his mother said gently.

He wasn't going to sleep any time soon. "A hot chocolate sounds awesome."

…

"I'm telling you, man," Grover said impatiently. "It was here when I last came."

They were walking around the first floor of the Met, and Grover had one thing only in his mind. Some statue of a legend unbeknownst to Percy, one of those vegan lords or something. Grover wanted to find him to take a picture and send it to his herbal lovers group chat. Percy was tagging along because he'd overestimated the amount of time it'd take him to reach the Met by public transport.

Annabeth's text had said 4pm, but it was 3:45 now.

"I'm sure it was."

"It was!" Grover said, sounding both 12 and 28 years old at the same time.

"Uh-huh," Percy said.

"Dude, I'm telling you!"

The two of them swivelled round a corner and almost walked straight into Jason Grace, who was preoccupied trying to take a selfie with Piper. The couple fell into laugher when they saw Percy and Grover, though instead of feeling happy to see his friends, Percy felt a chill on the back of his neck. He wished Annabeth was there.

"Oh, hey guys," Piper said to them. She stuffed her phone into the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt. She looked as lowkey as he'd ever seen a girl look.

Grover waved. "You guys happen to know where I could find–"

"LEO!"

"No," Grover said, rubbing the space between his eyes, "not Leo. I mean–"

"Sorry," Piper replied sheepishly, then her eyes darted once again to behind Percy. Percy turned around to see Leo being held off his feet by a burly security guard, and squirming in this grasp. Both Piper and Jason surged past Percy and Jason to their friend, and became involved in as intense a conversation as Percy had seen, hands flailing and heads shaking.

Whatever Piper said must've worked, because Leo was let off with just a warning, and the group returned to the selfie location otherwise unharmed.

"In a museum, really?" Jason narrowed his eyes as the trio returned to Percy and Grover.

"Just a bit of fun, amigo," Leo said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Remind me again why we're friends?"

Grover stomped one foot impatiently, appearing very goat-like. "GUYS. I'm in need. We've walked around five times and I still can't find–"

"The will to live?" It was Thalia, materialising behind Jason's back. "Annabeth's about to lose that very same thing if you guys don't hurry up and get to the steps."

The group gave Grover apologetic glances and murmurs as they left and he groaned, wanting to avoid the wrath of Annabeth.

…

She was sat on the outside steps when the group arrived. Frank and Hazel were already there, and soon began sharing out a tray of brownies. Nico wasn't there.

Annabeth wrapped her arm around his waist and gave him a reassuring squeeze. He took a deep breath as he stood next to her... and he was so grateful for her company, and he'd longed for her all day. But something in the back of his mind was encouraging him to triple-flip down the steps and run as fast as he could, run until he was as fast as the wind, away from everything.

He couldn't do that. It was time.

He realised all his friends were staring at him.

"So I guess it's time I tell you all about the big terrible thing that happened, huh?"

"Look, I didn't want any of this," Percy started, not waiting for his friends to confirm whether or not they were indeed ready. It was his story to tell, and it needed to be shared before... he didn't know. Before it was too late. "My life has had its dangerous moments, ever since I found out about my dad. I always thought he was dead. Then, of course, I found out he wasn't..."

"Been there, done that," muttered Leo. "Got the charred t-shirt."

"Well, being my dad's kid was weird. It led me to lots of different responsibility that I didn't feel comfortable having. Nico and I… we had a thing."

"You dated Nico?" Piper asked.

Percy shook his head. Nico still wasn't here, and it was making him feel agitated; he was worried about him. "Not that kind of thing. We were friends once. Before all of –" He looked to the sky. "This, you know. Before all of this."

"You're friends now," Leo said darkly. There was something in his tone that Percy didn't like.

Percy levelled him with a stare, but Leo didn't back down this time. Annabeth once said to him that it was like, in the months they had been dating, Percy had developed a kind of wolf stare, as though he had walked through hell and back. Perhaps he had.

"It's not the same, Leo," Percy said. "I wouldn't... Look, I don't mean this in a bad way, but I wouldn't expect you guys to understand. I knew him back when his sister was alive. I knew him when he was just a kid. When, I guess, I was just a kid too."

Hazel and Frank held up their fingers as though they were counting. Frank said, "You're only a year older, right?"

"I was held back a grade." Percy shrugged at the looks on his friend's faces. "I had a lot of issues."

"We all have issues, Percy," Annabeth said gently. "And for the record, I was held back a grade, too. And I'm definitely not an idiot."

Percy smiled. "Anyway, I'm still only two years older than Nico - but he was like a brother to me. His sister, my age, she was a friend."

"I heard about this," Hazel said, looking uncomfortable, "and I don't like where this is going."

"Percy," Annabeth said. Her shoulders squared involuntarily; she was becoming defensive. Percy could tell it was hurting her to see her friends like this, but he couldn't help it. For the first time in his life he felt like he was drowning.

"I was supposed to look after her," said Percy. "We were swimming and I was supposed to look after her. This was one of the rare moments where our dads actually got along, and we had gone down to Long Island for some kind of business trip. It took me years to understand what actually happened there."

"So?" Leo said.

"So it was the day that Percy's and Nico's fathers decided on their plan," Annabeth finished. "And Thalia's and Jason's, if I remember correctly. They called them The Big Three. They were like brothers. Key word being were."

"What freakin' plan?" Leo said, eyes blazing. "Can someone tell me what this has got to do with Nico and Octavian and the other evil blonde kid? Whatshisname, Luke?"

"It was a plan to oust the other party," Percy said, scratching the back of his neck. "I still don't fully understand it myself, but it was illegal. What they were doing was illegal, and they used us as a distraction. The papers reported that it was a simple family get together; but they missed all the lying and cheating that was going on behind the scenes."

Annabeth said, "My mom was there. She told me she tried to stop them... I - I actually half believe her for once. It was a really idiotic plan."

"Yeah," Percy said, "but they were rich. They wanted tax breaks, they wanted more money, they wanted power and special treatment. And they got it. They got everything they wanted, except they didn't."

"My dad lost," Hazel said. It surprised Annabeth to hear her voice. She sounded fierce, like how she sounded when she defended Nico from Octavian. "My dad lost some sort of deal, and was left with basically nothing. Well... except his money. And your guys' dads - that's Percy's and Jason's - gave him the short end of the stick. He was given a role defending the educational rights of under privileged children."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Leo said cautiously.

"Yeah," Annabeth said, "until he switched parties."

"My dad felt it made him look stupid. It made the whole plan worthless, and made their friendship look fragile," Percy said. He added bitterly, "Which it definitely was, but that's not the point. They wanted more than they ever gave under the impression that they would help make this country great again. They thought they were doing what was best."

"Soooo..." Leo raised his hand. "Mr. Jackson, where exactly does Nico's sister come into this?"

"She died," Percy told them. "She died and I was supposed to be looking after her. A huge wave came and I lost it... I lost all my direction for a second. I - it's no excuse, but I really wanted to find her. I looked but..." He cut himself off and took a deep breath. "I really, really wanted to save her, but I couldn't. I failed in the area I knew best. I let her down that day. I'll never forget it."

"Percy, no." Hazel sounded firm. "Percy, it wasn't your fault. They reported on it massively when I was still living with my mom. Before she moved. The wave was too massive; and from what I remember, you lot almost died, too!"

"Who else was there?" Frank asked gently.

"Me and Bianca, her school friend Zoe, and Thalia. I... I didn't realise it until recently, but it was definitely Thalia. She was older than me, and she seemed so much cooler."

Annabeth smiled slightly. In a quiet voice, she said, "Wait until I tell her you said that."

Percy reached for Annabeth's hand. His palm felt warm and sweaty.

"It's the one day I wish I could go back on," he said. "I often say that past relationships, past crushes are my biggest what ifs... but it's not true. This is. What if I had been able to save her? What if Nico didn't blame me?"

Hazel shot out of her seat. "He does not blame you!"

"Hazel's right," Annabeth said. "He's your friend now, isn't he? He admires you, Percy. Anyone can see it."

"That's the thing," Percy replied. "He did admire me. I... I could sense it. He'd ask all these questions about surfing and these little magical cards he used to collect. He tried to make me play with him, but I couldn't see straight. I viewed him as a kid, just that. But I shouldn't have underestimated him. He's good. He's a good guy."

"We know," Leo said.

Annabeth nodded. For a brief second, she shot a look at Leo, but she didn't linger on him. It looked to Percy like she had just figured out a puzzle that had been bothering her. She said, turning back, "He's a sweet kid."

"I wouldn't really call him a kid anymore," Frank said nervously. "He kinda scares me a bit. Just a bit."

"He's harmless," Hazel said decidedly. "And I really think this thing with Reyna will be good for him. He deserves to have a friend outside of the group."

There was a brief pause. It was almost like everybody was disagreeing.

"Colour me offended. Aren't we enough?" Leo said, but his heart wasn't in his joke for once. He gave Annabeth an unsure look; his grave look from a few minutes ago had disappeared.

Percy rubbed the back of Annabeth's hand, oblivious. "We should probably get going now. We've got some tutoring to catch up on."

Leo gagged. "Give me a BREAK, sunshine. We all know what that means."

Annabeth smiled. "It means that Percy is going to fail his tests if he doesn't start listening to me." She let go of his hand and pinched his arm. He yelped, twising out of her grip. "See you guys, later."

His friends were laughing as they all stood up on the steps. Percy turned around. "Oh and guys... thanks a lot for before. I mean, the whole story thing." He scratched the back of his neck and pulled a face. "It's haunted me for years, and just you guys even listening makes me feel better. And, yeah, for defending me."

"Of course, Percy," Frank said. He closed a fist and fist-bumped him. Annabeth smiled; it was so uniquely Percy, a move he had clearly passed on to Frank. "We're always here for you. Always."

"You too, man," Percy said. "Don't worry about what that idiot Octavian has to say."

AN: At first this chapter (the latter part) was written in Annabeth's point of view for a later chapter but then I was like nah don't drag it out get a grip etc. Also … hi gang! Who's still with me?