Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and that OC I randomly created in like chapter four.
A/N: Hi! So… I kinda realized I forgot the quote in chapters 16 and 17 so… sorry. I'll try to stay on track now. So yesterday I spent like a long time looking at critics reviewing Percy Jackson and the Lighting Theif, and a lot of people hated it just as much as I did. But then I saw one that said, "I'm sure fans of the books will love it" and I was just like whaaaat? And then I did the same for the Sea of Monsters, and people ACTUALLY LIKED IT. Like, they thought IT WAS GOOD. One of the critics even said that even though he knew, like he actually knew, they compressed three books into one movie, and he still said it was good. Someone else said it was "worthy adaptation' Anyway, on with the story
Quote: "If you stand for nothing, Burr, what will you fall for?" -Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Sir
Percy POV:
"Percy, this isn't funny!" Annabeth said, frustrated. They were attempting to make Sally Jackson's famous blue cookies, and it was, to say the least, not going very well.
Percy stopped laughing for a moment, looking at Annabeth, who was currently dusted in flour from head to toe and giving him her signature glare.
"I'm sorry!" He wheezed through a laugh, "But it's hard not to laugh!"
Annabeth crossed her arms, giving him The Look™.
"You're impossible," She pronounced, throwing a handful of flour at him, adding to the light dusting of baking ingredients on his shirt.
"Oh, it's on," Percy shot back. He grabbed some of the gloopy mixture they were currently calling dough, and flung it at her, catching her shoulder as Annabeth turned to the recipe lying on the counter.
She looked at him, raising a single eyebrow. Percy gulped. She leaned forward as Percy backed up nervously, and squirted the blue food coloring all over him. Percy didn't mind. Blue was his favorite color.
With that, a food fight of epic proportions commenced.
They chucked baking ingredients at each other, ducking and weaving so they (hopefully) wouldn't get hit (and mostly failing in that respect, but whatever).
Annabeth hurled an egg at him, which shattered upon impact. Percy made a wild grab for the sugar as Annabeth prepared to throw another. A cloud of powdered sugar flew into Annabeth just as a second egg splattered against Percy.
Annabeth blew her white powdered hair out of her face before looking at Percy, her steely gray eyes determined. Just as an egg-flour mixture was about to rain down on Percy, he dumped an entire package of flour on Annabeth, which soon stuck to her body.
She looked at him for exactly one second before dumping the whole gallon of milk on him, which was soon followed by powdered sugar. Annabeth had planned her attacks well. Percy's soaked shirt and pants provided the perfect landing grounds for the sugar, which was now stuck to Percy's body.
"Ugh," He said, brushing off as much sugar as he could. (Which wasn't much)
They looked at the disaster of a kitchen around them. There was egg splattered on the ground, empty containers scattered on the counters, dough dripping from the walls, and baking ingredients powdering the table.
"We need to clean this up," Annabeth decided.
Slowly but surely, they began to clean up the royal mess they had created in the kitchen, working as a team. Annabeth wiped down the counter (twice, because there was that much stuff on it) and Percy followed with the vacuum cleaner, vacuuming it all up. She cleaned off the dough on the lower parts of the wall while he stood up tall. Annabeth cleared off the table while Percy loaded the dishes. He located all the scattered caps and lids while she put ingredients away.
Finally, the kitchen looked pristine. There wasn't a spot of flour on the table and not a single splatter of dough defacing the pale blue walls of Percy's apartment kitchen. Except, of course, on themselves.
Percy and Annabeth looked at each other, each covered from head to toe in mess.
"You mind if I take a shower?" Annabeth asked.
"Go ahead," He nodded. As Percy heard the sound of water gushing from the shower head, he threw his dirty clothes into a pile on his bedroom floor, and changed into sweat pants and a hoodie.
Percy scrolled through his recent texts while he waited for Annabeth to finish showering. A few minutes later, Percy heard Annabeth ask for something.
"What?" He responded.
"Do you have some clothes or something I can borrow?" She repeated.
"Sure," Percy replied.
He hunted through his closet for something suitable, and then left it on the bathroom floor.
Annabeth stepped out of the shower, wearing the clothes he'd given her, and was about to say something when her phone dinged, indicating that she had a text.
Annabeth frowned as she pulled up the text, and, once she read it, dropped the phone.
"Are you okay?" Percy immediately asked.
"What? Oh, um, yeah. I gotta go, sorry," Annabeth said hurriedly, gathering up her things and walking out the door.
Percy stood there, staring at the open door that Annabeth had just rushed out.
"Bye? Annabeth?" He called, but she was already speeding down the hall, "Annabeth? Okay, bye, I guess."
Percy's mind filled with questions. Who texted her? What was in the text? What was so important?
Percy tried to text her, but there was no answer. It looked like he wouldn't be finding out any time soon.
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Annabeth POV:
Annabeth hurried out of the apartment building, glancing at her phone to check she was following the right directions.
The text read:
718-469-8235: Hello. This is Athena Zeus Olympia. You know who I am, and I know you. We've met personally, although you might not remember it. I've known you all your life, actually. Please meet me at the Empire State Building at 6:00 PM. Ask for floor 100. Say requested you. The key word is Pallas.
Annabeth's curiosity was piqued. She knew who Athena Olympia was, alright. Athena Zeus Olympia, commonly shortened to Azo (although Annabeth had never taken a liking to it), was someone Annabeth got very familiar with during her days at the architecture firm. Athena was the owner of Olympian Corporations, the biggest company in all of the architecture world. The firm Annabeth worked at was it's closest competitor.
Annabeth had spent days researching Athena, trying to figure out her next move -although Athena always seemed to be one step ahead. Annabeth knew this woman, inside and out, yet Athena was just as much of a mystery as ever.
Athena Olympia was the kind of woman people idolized -or hated. Depends where you first heard about her. She designed houses and buildings for the rich and famous.
She was, to some people, considered a genius, one of the smartest people in the world. Annabeth thought Athena was extremely smart, that's true. But there were a few things in the way of claiming Athena was the smartest in the world; logic, and her pride. Annabeth was perfectly aware that she could have had a (maybe) shot at becoming where Athena was had she not left the firm, and that bugged her. Because she was just a random person playing a role in a musical, and she knew perfectly well that there were other people that were just as smart, or smarter than her, that, like Annabeth, had never pursued that path.
As long as Annabeth knew that she, and others, could have gotten that far, she was never going to worship Athena like a goddess. She was never going to say that Athena was the smartest person in the world because that would be admitting that she and everyone else could never have gotten to that level.
She respected the woman, sure. Athena was smart. Really, really smart. Like, a genius smart.
Anyway, all these thoughts were running through her mind as she sat in the backseat of a cab, on the hour or so drive to the Empire State Building. What did Athena Olympia want with her? How did they know each other? Annabeth quickly Googled Athena to make sure nothing major happened while she was away from the architecture firm.
When she clicked on the first article that came up, she inhaled sharply. It was about how Athena Olympia was seen in Long Island. At the theater. On opening night. The pictures to go along with the article? They were of the woman Annabeth had seen that night. It was a side of Athena Annabeth had never seen before. The side that wasn't so cold and calculating. The side of her that seemed almost… normal.
The cab stopped, and, after paying the driver, Annabeth stood in front of the towering building, screwing up her courage to meet this mysterious woman who had apparently known her for her whole life and came to opening night.
It was enough for anyone to want to get back in that cab, go home, apologize to Percy, and forget that never happened. And, to be honest, Annabeth almost did. Almost. After a moment, she pulled open the door and walked into the lobby.
"Hi," Annabeth greeted the receptionist, walking up to her, "Could I have a pass for floor 100?"
"That's a private business floor," The man said politely, but firmly.
"I've been personally requested to come by ," Annabeth continued, with a smile of her own.
The man looked at her, trying to tell if she was telling the truth.
"Full name and key word?" He finally asked.
"Annabeth Chase, and," She lowered her voice a little, "Pallas."
The man nodded, typing furiously on his keyboard, and then passed her a pass that cleared her to go to floor 100.
When she arrived at the floor, Annabeth knocked on a fancy looking office door. It seemed like the safest bet.
There, there was another receptionist, fingers clicking away on the keyboard. Without glancing up, the woman said, " will be with you in just a moment."
Annabeth sat down on one of the hard, wooden chairs while she waited. After a moment, the receptionist glanced up at her, and told her she could go in.
In Annabeth went, to what seemed to be Athena's main office. Inside, sitting behind a glossy wooden desk that probably cost about 30 thousand dollars, was Athena Olympia, in all her regal, smooth brown haired, steely gray eyed glory.
"Please, sit," Athena offered. Annabeth sat, feeling uncannily like a misbehaving child called to the principal's office.
The reality of the situation finally hit her. This was Athena Zeus Olympia. What in the world did Athena want with her?
"You're wondering why you're here," Athena stated. It wasn't a question. Annabeth nodded.
"Well, I'm here to tell you. And this story, our story, starts about a year or so before you were born. I met Frederick Chase when we were both young. He was finishing up his PhD, I had already received mine, and was just starting my own architecture firm.
"He was among one of the smarter men that I've met. And soon, we started dating, then we got married, and… I had you."
Annabeth dropped her glass.
"So you're my mother? Who left when I was five? No reason behind it, no note, no way to contact you. Just.. gone," Annabeth shouted, her voice trembling with anger.
"Annabeth, you don't know the whole story. I left for a reason. The company wasn't doing so well, and I realized that it was because I couldn't be a mother and run Olympian Corporations. So… I left," Athena said. Annabeth's fury grew. What kind of woman would leave her child for work?" What kind of woman could explain this to her daughter in the most cold, emotionless way possible? Annabeth was all for facts and logic, but sometimes that was the worst way to go.
"I'm done, okay? As far as I'm concerned, you're not my mother. I'm done." With that
Annabeth stormed out of the building.
As Annabeth sat in the back of a taxi, a tear slipped down her cheek. She couldn't run from this forever, Annabeth knew that. But forever wasn't now. Now, she would have her pity party before she had to wake up and face reality, because, no matter what she said, Annabeth couldn't just ignore the fact that she was Athena's daughter.
Gods. This woman was her mother.
She, Annabeth Chase, was the daughter of Athena Zeus Olympia.
She never should have answered that stupid, stupid text. Who even does that? Athena, apparently.
Annabeth left the cab, and walked into her apartment. She collapsed on her bed. Tomorrow, Annabeth would do something about this whole situation. She would apologize to Percy, figure out what to do about Athena. It would be okay. For now, though, she would sleep.
So, ignoring the slight growling of her stomach, she wrapped the blanket around herself, and fell asleep.
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A/N: So I'm not sure how in character this chap really was, but like… mortal Annabeth hasn't been through as much as demigod Annabeth, so this is like, really, really big news for her. I may have (okay, definitely) overplayed that, but… yeah. Anyway, please tell me what you think in the reviews, and I'll see you next week!
Reviews:
Just The Soulmates: No, trust me, you weren't criticizing me. It wasn't rude or anything, you made a really good point. I think that, like I mentioned in this author's note, my version of Annabeth isn't the daughter of a literal goddess. She hasn't been through as much, so learning something like that would really change a lot. Imagine if one of your closest friends was a daughter/son of a really famous movie star. That would change a lot, right? I think I've made this Annabeth a bit more human, a bit more mortal, which makes sense, because she's not meant to be a demigod.
Guest: Thank you! You were spot on with that guess.
Recommendation:
The Curse of Moonlace by TwentyBelow
This is a Perlypso story, which I'm usually not a fan of (Percabeth all the way!) but in the first chapter, the author explains that they want to explore Calypso as a character, and they feel like the pairing is the best way to do that. They also made a really good summary, so I'll put that here:
Men can only discover the island of Ogygia once, and when they leave, they are to never return. This was to be her fate until the end of days. That is, of course, until a man of extraordinary birth quite literally fell out of the sky and into her life — and her heart. [Perlypso. Percy stays on Ogygia].
s/13692866/1/The-Curse-of-Moonlace