Chapter 14: Ramble On.
The annual storm was something that everyone was used to.
All over town, just about every shop, business, gas station, and general store (all 13 of them) had gone through the exact same process: Board up the windows, batten down the hatches, and spray paint "CLOSED DUE TO STORM" on the plywood.
Every year, every time the storms came, Half-blood practically became a ghost town. No one walked the streets, no one went into the bar, everyone just stayed home. For good reason, too. It's not like anywhere was open, anyways.
Anywhere except for the diner.
If wasn't anything special. Not even really worth having a name, and it didn't, honestly. If was a simple, classic, 1950s style diner. It had booths, and tile floors, and a bar with those round stools lining it.
It also had exactly three customers. Three customers who were tucked away in the back having a hushed conversation.
"So he came in without you inviting him?"
Annabeth sighed, dropping her head towards her milkshake as Thalia leaned into the table and pressed her with questions. The blonde girl let her eyes drift up to Nico, who at this point had mentally checked out and was busy twirling his straw in his own milkshake.
"Thalia..." Annabeth began, but the girl was not having it. She held up her hand before she straightened out a finger and pointed it at her friend.
"Did you or did you not invite him in?" She asked, narrowing her eyes as she took a sip from her milkshake.
Annabeth narrowed her own eyes in return, "I didn't. He walked in with me."
Thalia drummed her fingers on the table, "Maybe a non vocal invitation still works, like if it's clear you want him inside he can come in."
She leaned forward in her seat, her face scrunching up with thought, "Were you trying to..." She waved her hand about, "... seduce him?"
Annabeth dropped her head into her hands, "Thalia, I swear to Christ..."
"What?" She asked, leaning back in her seat, "I'm not the one who's in love with him."
"No. You're just his stalker." Annabeth shot back.
Thalia sighed, taking a glance out of the window as the rain poured down on the diner.
"Are you packing?" She asked suddenly as she watched the rain pour down.
Annabeths eyes snapped up as she looked at Thalia, "What?"
"Are you packing?" The punk asked again, "You know. Armed. Iron on your hip. Do you got a piece on ya?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes, "No Thalia. I'm not bringing a gun into the diner."
Thakia scoffed, "Why not? Nico is."
Annabeths jaw fell open as she looked at the boy, who shrugged and opened his jacket a bit, showing the revolver tucked up under his arm in a shoulder rig.
"Compliments of Thals." He said, as he closed up the coat. Annabeth sighed and shook her head, turning back to Thalia.
"And you?"
Thalia smiled, pulling open her jacket to reveal a massive Smith and Wesson 500 revolver tucked up under her coat. She shut the jacket and took note of Annabeth's shocked face.
"What? It's Texas. Open carry state." To emphasize her point the pulled it out and slapped it on the table, "It was either this or dad's desert eagle. Needed something that could take off a head, in case it tried to bite."
Annabeth shook her head, "You are the craziest person I've ever met, you know that?"
Thalia stuck the gun back into its holster, "Yeah, I know, but not for the reasons you think. For example."
She turned towards the waitress who'd stopped by to bring another round of drinks.
"Hey Lou." Thalia said, in an overly friendly voice. The young woman sighed, letting her gaze drift over to Thalia's.
"This had better not be you asking me on another date, Thalia."
Thalia wiggled her eyebrows, "Maybe later, if I'm feeling confident. But really, I was wondering. You know where Drew and Katie are? I haven't seen them in days."
The waitress, Lou, sighed as she looked around the diner, "No, I don't. Truth be told, im a little worried. Their parents filed a missing person's report a few days ago, but nobody's seen them..." She met Thalia's eyes again, "...it's like they just up and vanished."
She turned away as a few more customers entered the diner and she went off to help them, all while Thalia turned back to the table.
"See? See what I mean? Do you guys seriously think something isn't going on?" She ran her hand over her coat, "We should go into that place."
Annabeth shook her head, "Thalia. We are not breaking and entering into Percy's home."
Thalia rolled her eyes, "Don't think of it as breaking and entering, think of it as coming over without an invitation..." She steeled her gaze and rested her elbows on the table, "...coming over and blowing some vamps heads off their shoulders."
Annabeth sighed trying her best to ignore her friends crazy ideas. Ideas that... well, honestly, sounded less and less crazy every time she heard them, but still. The last thing Annabeth needed was Thalia getting the idea she was right and putting rounds into the neighbours house.
Annabeth opened her mouth to say something, probably some excuse to Thalia's craziness, when the punk held her hand up and snapped her gaze over to the window.
"Holy shit."
She dropped close to the table and motioned the others to follow. They did, and Thalia motioned them to peek over the window. Annabeth followed her gaze and felt her blood run cold.
It was Zoe, standing right outside the diner talking with the blonde guy, Luke, from the bar. Annabeth could practically hear the teeth in Thalia's jaw groan as she glared at the two from over the window sill. She tucked her hand up into her jacket and Annabeth reached over and stopped her, shooting her a glare before Thalia busted out the cannon she was toting around.
"What?" Thalia hissed. Annabeth held a finger to her lips as she pressed a little closer to the window, trying to hear the conversation her neighbours were having.
"...what he needs is a wake up call." She caught the blonde man saying, "A reminder of what's important."
Zoe was quiet for a moment, evidently thinking about what Annabeth hadn't caught.
"Do you think this will convince him? That it'll make him change?"
Luke snorted, "This is the only thing that's ever gonna convince him..." She heard a sound of knuckles cracking, "...let go of the past, accept the future. You know what they say about forest fires, right?"
"I don't." Zoe said, in a soft tone. Annabeth could practically hear the smile on Luke's face.
"They always bring new growth. From the ashes of the old, something new always sprouts."
There was a silence. A tense lack of noise that made Annabeth and the rest of the group hold their breaths, before Zoe sighed. It wasn't a bored noise, or an annoyed one. It was a sad sound, the sound of someone giving up.
"Then do what you must, Luke."
The smile was still on his voice when he replied, "For his sake, I plan to."
With that, the two left the diner, wandering off into the storm.
Thalia waited until they were out of earshot before she slapped cash on the table and stood up.
"Alright. I'm shooting them."
Annabeth stood up just as fast, a look of concern on her face, "Thalia-"
"No, Annabeth. Don't Thalia me. You heard all that shit, didn't you?" Thalia turned to Nico, "Would you back me up here?"
"Okay, let's maybe not shoot them just yet..." Nico offered with his hands raised, "We don't even know what any of that meant."
"I'll tell you what it meant." Thalia said, patting her coat, "It means I'm shooting them."
Annabeth crossed around the table and got close to Thalia.
"Thals. I'm serious."
Thalia met her eyes and glared, "So am I." She let her glare fall a bit and a smile replace it, "Don't worry though, I won't shoot your boyfriend."
Annabeth blushed and turned away, all while Thalia's smile spread a bit. She turned out the window and the smile just about immediately fell.
"Well, once again, speak of the devil..."
Annabeth followed Thalia's gaze out the window and felt her heart do that little somersault in her chest when she saw him.
Percy. Walking down the sidewalk across the street, soaked from the rain and setting at the ground with a looknof pure dejection on his face. His steps were short, his hands were in his pockets, and he looked like he'd just been told his grandma died.
He looked like he needed cheering up, and Annabeth wasn't gonna wait for Thalia's permission to go do exactly that.
Sue slipped out of the booth, ignoring Thalia's protests as she left the diner, crossed the street, and tapped him on the shoulder.
He turned to her and his eyes just about lit up like like the fourth of July.
"Hey." He got out through his smile.
"Hey yourself." She answered, taking a good long look at his soaked outfit, "Planning on freezing to death today?"
He chuckled, looking down at his clothes, "Certainly looks like it, doesn't it?"
She shook her head, grabbing his jacket and tugging him under a nearby awning. He followed her as Nico and Thalia joined them under the cover. Thalia shook the water off her body, before resting her hands on her hip and shooting a stare at Percy.
"What in the hell are you wearing?"
Percy sighed, dusting the water off his coat as Annabeth suppressed a smile.
"Denim." He replied, taking note of how hard she rolled her eyes, "What? It's waxed? The first waterproof jackets even made were waxed denim."
"Is that true?" Nico asked. Percy shrugged.
"Probably. Still got your iron there, lone ranger?"
Nico smiled, opening his jacket a bit to show off the piece. Percy let out a low whistle.
"Subtle and secret. Not bad there, kid."
Nico nodded, "Compliments of her." He said, jutting a thumb in Thalia's direction. Percy let his smile fall a bit as he gave Thalia a nervous glance.
"And you?" He asked, holding his hand up and doing a little finger gun with it, "You packing?"
She scoffed, holding open her own coat to show off the hand held artillery she was packing.
"Damn right I am." She said, shutting her coat, "Can't be too careful, all things considered."
Percy felt his smile fall a bit more as his eyes narrowed, meeting Thalia's steely gaze as the two had a little unspoken battle of will while the rain poured down. Annabeth stepped between the two, eager to dissolve whatever tension their was.
"Y'know, if you're not busy..." She said, shooting a glance at Thalia as the girl caught the message and shook her head, "... we were planning on heading over to Thalia's pretty soon. Wanna come?"
He opened his mouth, then shut it, an answer apparently forming then vanishing in his mind. His hand went up to his tattoo and gave it a rub as his eyes moved back and forth in thought.
"I'd love if you came." Annabeth added. Percy's ticks all stopped at once as a small smile pulled at his lips.
"Then count me in."
The drive to Thalia's house wasn't long.
Just like Annabeth, she lived a moderate hop, skip, and jog away from town, in one of the ancient houses that sat on massive plots of land outside of town. It hadn't been on the market long before Thalia's family had scooped it up, and sat mostly empty when Thalia wasn't home.
Dad was a hot shot and mom was a real estate agent. Neither were usually home. Not to mention Jason was... not really in the picture. A fact that only became more apparent when Thalia had to be alone in the home.
Thalia sat in the passenger seat, next to Annabeth who drove the group to her home, all while Nico and Percy conversed in the back seat.
"So how do you load it? That's what I've been having trouble with."
Percy smiled at Nico's question, slipping the revolver from his hand as he demonstrated it for the boy.
"See the hammer? You half cock it." He said, pulling the hammer back halfway with a soft click.
"Then you can open the loading door," He continued, opening the little slot near the back of the gun, "Then, see this rod under the barrel? It ejects the spent shells."
He pushed the rod back, demonstrating as a round popped out of the gun. Nico nodded, watching as Percy caught the round and pocketed it, unlocking the hammer and handing the gun back to Nico.
"Also, always leave the first chamber empty." Percy added, "You bump the hammer when the chambers loaded and it might go off, regardless of where it's pointed."
Nico sighed, holstering the gun, "Seems like a slow, complicated, finicky gun." Percy nodded with a chuckle.
"Well, to be fair the design's a hundred and sixty years old." He pulled his hat off his head and ran a hand through his hair, "But you're right, it's a but of a clunker. Which is why people normally carried two."
Nico nodded slowly, "Twice the shots before you had to reload."
Percy snapped his fingers and pointed at the boy, "Exactly. Now you're getting the idea, Ranger."
Nico smiled at Percy's encouragement, before his brows pulled in thought.
"Want it back? I feel kinda bad now, taking half your arsenal."
Percy shrugged with a smile, "I don't mind, kid. Besides..." He pulled Nico's gun out and quickly went through the reloading motions, popping the rounds into his hand before he flicked them back into the cylinder, all within seconds.
"...I've had a lot of practice. I can work with one."
Nico smiled as Percy slipped the gun back into his holster, all while Thalia turned over the seat to give Percy a suspicious glare.
"How much experience are we talking about here, Percy?" She asked, "Like, how many years?"
Percy felt his smile waver a little as he looked at the girl.
"Lots. Ever since I was a boy."
Thalia wasn't satisfied, "You got a number for us, cowboy?"
He didn't respond for a moment, before opened his mouth to reply.
"Twelve."
Thalia held his stare, quickly opening her mouth to answer.
"So since you were ten?"
"That's right." He replied, his smile now gone.
"So what year were you born, Percy?"
He froze, screaming at his brain to do the math right quick before she caught him.
"1999."
She held her gaze for a moment, before a small smile spread over her lips.
"Alright, Jackson."
She turned back forward as the whole group settled in their seats. Percyblet out a nervous breath as Nico whispered a soft "sorry" to him.
Percy looked out the window, watching as the dunes went past, suddenly realizing something that hit him like a kick in the teeth.
He knew where they were. Exactly where they were, and he had some notion of where they were going.
"How long have you lived here for, Thalia?" Percy asked quite suddenly. She turned back over the seat, eyes locked on his.
"About ten years? Why?"
He shook his head, "No reason. Just curious."
She nodded slowly as Annabeth pulled off the main road, and pulled up Thalia's driveway. Percy felt himself freeze in the seat, his blood somehow dropping a couple degrees lower than it already was.
He knew where he was.
The group stepped out of the car, pulling their coats up tight as Thalia rushed the group to the door, grumbling about the rain. The group all followed, except for Percy, who stood in the downpour and stared at the home.
He stared at the faded green lumber siding, he stared at the ancient oak door, he stared at the dark windows that he knew opened only if you jiggled them just right. He stared at the home.
His home.
Because of course that's where Thalia lived.
He steeled himself and felt his mind slip back to reality as Annabeth called to him from the open door.
"You coming, cowboy?"
He forced a smile over his face and walked up to the door, stepping inside with a smile as he absently-mindedly tossed his hat on the hat rack by the door.
He did it without looking, and that caught Annabeth's eye.
"How'd you know that was there?" She asked. His hand went up and rubbed itself over his tattoo.
"It's always-" He caught himself, gritting his teeth as he blinked repeatedly and forced a smile, "Lucky guess."
She felt her brows furrow a little, before she let a smile settle on her face, watching as he tossed his jacket on the rack all the same.
"Well, we're here." He said in a nervous tone.
"We are." She replied. She looked down, her nerves getting the best of her as, once again, her heart rate just skyrocketed.
He cleared his throat, trying to calm his own nerves.
"Any chance there's a bathroom I can use?" He asked her, "I've kinda been holding it for a while."
She smiled at him, her gaze lifting as he broke the silence, "Yeah, upstairs. Last door on the left, can't miss it."
He shot her a smile, "I'll be back quick."
He wouldn't be.
She returned his smile, "I'd hope so, cowboy."
He smiled to himself as he made his way up the stairs, but that smile pretty quickly faded as he walked up each step.
Stomp, stomp, creak, stomp, creak, stomp, creak, creak.
The sound of each landing shoot a bolt of sorrow through his heart at every step. Every little sound those stars made. The stairs he'd run down every morning for pancakes on the weekends. The stairs he'd sit on as he read his school books, even when his mom would complain. The stairs he remembered carrying Rachel up on the nights she was too tired for the trip home...
Every single step. Every time the stairs made the sounds he knew they'd make, it drove a knife deeper into his heart.
He got to the landing, stormed down the hall, and walked in the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He put his hands on the counter and stared into the sink, trying to calm himself.
What was this? Why was this happening? Why, for fuck sakes, why was everything falling into place like this? Why did Thalia live at his house? Why was Helen his niece? Why was Annabeth everything he wanted, and yet so far from what he could have? Why?
"Because you came home, dumbass."
Percy felt his gaze narrow into a glare, only for a second, before it settled into a look of sadness, of regret, and of acceptance, and raised up to the mirror.
There he was again. Him. The old him, and not nearly as angry as he had been.
His reflection held up his hands and let a soft smile spread over his face.
"Thanks. I really mean it."
Real Percy scoffed, "For what?"
The reflection shook his head with a sigh, "For bringing me home, Perce. For bringing us home..."
Real Percy shook his head as he took a step back from the mirror, "I didn't bring us anywhere. Do you really think I'd ask to come here? Back to this house? I didn't need this."
The reflection shook his head, leaning into the sink.
"What I think is you didn't want this, Percy..." The reflections eyes narrowed into a glare, "But you sure as shit needed it."
Real Percy felt his hands clench at his sides as his teeth grit in his jaw.
"Why?" He asked, "Why did I need this?"
The reflection took his glasses off and tossed them into the sink.
"To grow." He looked up at Percy, "To remind you of what you seem so complacent to have forgotten."
Percy let his head fall a bit as his hands unclenched.
"What is that?" He asked, even though he knew the answer.
The reflection just smiled.
"Why don't you tell me, cowboy?"
Percy didn't answer, because he didn't need to. The reflection was him. It knew him, knew his thoughts, knew what he wasn't going to say even though he should.
"My humanity."
The words came out of Percy like a whisper of defeat. He didn't mean for them to, but he knew they would.
The reflection sighed, gripping the sink as it leaned in a bit.
"You need to start letting go, Percy." It said, leaning into the sink, "Letting go of everything you don't need."
"Like what?" Percy replied, "What do I have to let go of besides an old bike, some old clothes, and old memories?"
The reflection was silent for a moment, staring into the sink, before it looked back up at him.
"An old relationship."
Percy knew what he meant. The second he'd said it, he knew what he meant. He closed his eyes, not wanting to admit it was right, but he couldn't deny it.
He knew what the reflection was asking.
"It's still there, y'know." The reflection said, "In your room, under the floorboards."
Percy let a breath out of his nose, "How do you know that?"
The reflection just kept his gaze locked on Percy, "Because who else knows it's there but you? Who else knows it exists but you?"
Percy didn't answer, and frankly he couldn't. He just locked his gaze on the sink as the reflection sighed and took a step back.
"It's time to let go, Percy." The reflection said, "Of the past. Of your past."
Percy understood the words, and couldn't help but feel a tear qell in his eye as he took them in.
"I don't want to lose her..."
"You already did." The reflection stated. Not out of cruelty, but out of care, out of a want for Percy to heal. Even if it meant giving up what he held most dear.
"If I give this up, then it's one step closer to being what Zoe wants." Percy said, his glare returning as he burned it into the sink.
"Maybe." The reflection replied, "But I really don't think you were listening to me the last time, Percy."
It leaned back into the sink, "How do you know there isn't a way out?"
Percy felt his eyes narrow as he copied his reflection and leaned into the sink, "I don't think you were listening either. I don't want false hope."
The reflection was silent for a moment, before his eyes flicked up to his real life counterparts and he said something that made Percy really think.
"Who said anything about false hope, Percy?"
Percy felt his glare soften a bit. He opened his mouth to speak, but the reflection shook its head.
"No more questions. Go do what I said. Let her go. Heal. Then maybe I'll counsel us some more."
Then Percy blinked, and the reflection was gone, turned back into the real him.
He sighed, keeping his hands on the sink as he let what the reflection said sink in. He let it sink, let it burrow, let it fester, and let it grow. Grow into an idea that Percy wasn't sure was right, but wasn't about to wait around and think about.
The reflection was right.
He didn't need to think about his next moves, his body just acted on instinct.
He walked out of the bathroom and crossed the hall, standing in front of the door across from the bathroom.
His door, or at least it used to be.
He took a deep breath, reached for the handle, and opened it, stepping in.
It was... not what he was expecting. A music room, and that was understating it.
It was like he'd walked into a music store. There were dozens of instruments. Guitars, bass guitars, keyboards, a drum set. They were set up proper, like someone took the time to specify their locations, and they didn't have dust on them, so Percy knew they'd been used.
He caught himself, and focused up. He could worry about the fact that his old bedroom was now a Tom Lee showroom later, he had something he needed to do.
Needed to do, not wanted to do, but he pushed that aside.
He walked over to the window and took a knee, feeling over the floorboards as he looked for the loose one. He found it, pulled it up, reached in, and pulled it out, and there it was.
The picture.
It was faded, and damn dusty, but a blow of air solved that problem for him. Solved it, and brought a whole different one to his attention, because now he could see the picture nice and clear.
Rachel. It was a picture of Rachel. Well, him and Rachel, but he wasn't gonna even pretend like he mattered right now. It was rhe two of them, right on Percy's porch. He remembered the day so well, of him and her getting ready for prom. He remembered the awful sea green tie he'd worn, and how she'd chosen to go in jeans, because she was Rachel Elizabeth Dare, after all.
He looked at the picture, remembering what his mom had told him. Straighten up, Percy. This'll go on your wall one day.
That memory hurt more that any silver ever could.
He held the photo tight in his grip as he rose to his feet, feeling those tears that had been in his eyes start to come back. His free hand reached up and opened the window, jiggling it just how he knew he had to.
He held the photo in his hand as his free hand traveled to his pocket and fished out his lighter.
He held it there, for a moment, taking in the photo one last time. One last look at that beautiful red hair, at those vibrant green eyes, at that perfect smile.
One last look at the past he couldn't let go of.
Well, every journey begins with a single step, doesn't it? He thought to himself.
His thumb struck the lighter, and he held it up to the photo. It caught quick, and burned quicker, taking to the flame as if it had been waiting for it, eager to be rid of itself.
He let the photo fall out of the window as it faded to dust, the ashes scattering in the rain.
He stood there, watching as the rain poured down, just like it had when he was a boy. All while he stood in rhe room he grew up in as a boy. All while he'd just burned a photo of the girl he'd fallen in love with as a boy.
All that, and the reflection thought being here would help him move on.
Well... it was right.
He felt something shift, something he hadn't realized was still there until he realized it now wasn't. It wasn't regret, no he'd already gotten rid of that. It was something else, something that he felt take it's place.
Acceptance. Acceptance of what? He didn't know. But he had an eternity to figure it out.
"What're you doing in here?"
He froze, feeling a soft curse whisper out of his mouth as he turned around and found Thalia standing at the door. A frown on her lips and her hands on her hips as Annabeth and Nico stood just behind her.
Percy stood there for a moment, panic clear in his eyes as he swallowed and forced a smile.
"Sorry. Got curious."
She let her eyes flick up and down his form as they narrowed into a glare.
"Why's the window open?"
He straightened his lips across his face.
"It was dusty in here."
Sue wasn't buying it, and he knew she wasn't, so his brain finally worked for once and came up with a distraction.
"You guys play?"
He gestured to the instruments around them and Nico interjected.
"Yeah. At least we used to, all the time, until out guitarist..." His face fell a bit as a sad memory flashed behind his eyes, "... left."
Percy considered the boys words and tone, before he reached over and picked up an acoustic guitar off the wall.
"Well lucky for you..." He slung the instrument, which had a polished black finish and bronze embellishments, across his chest as pulled the strap over his shoulder.
"...I can play, and damn well."
Thalia settled a bit as he spoke.
"How well?"
He shot her a soft smile.
"Dam well."
She held her gaze, before a smile spread over her lips.
"Know any Led Zeppelin? We were kinda in a Page, Jones, Bonham, and Plant phase... until out Page went ahead and vanished."
He noticed her eyes soften a bit as the spoke, and he didn't waste any time answering.
"Damn straight I do."
She smiled at that, "Any songs you got in mind, cowboy?"
He narrowed his eyes a bit, "Depends... can you guys keep up?"
Thakia smirked, "I'm your Bonham."
Nico smiled all the same, "And I'm your Jones."
Percy gave them a shrug and smirk, "Guess I'm Page and Plant." He shot a sympathetic look Annabeth's way, "Unless you can sing, that is."
She shook her head with a smile, "I'll just be your audience, this time."
"Yeah, groupie more like..." Thalia grumbled as she sat down at the drum kit. Percy couldn't help but feel a nervous twinge in his gut at the fact that Thalia was, of course, playing the instrument that required wooden sticks in her hands. He pushed that aside as Nico hefted a bass and lugged it into an Amp as he took a seat on a nearby stool. Percy took a moment to find his own stool and take a seat.
Thakia twirled the stick, and shot Percy a look.
"Well? Pick your tune, cowboy."
He thought for a moment, letting the discography of Led Zeppelin go through his head, skittering across his mind as he tried to pick the right song. A song that he loved, a song that meant something to him, a song that fit with where he was. Where he was... and where he needed to be.
He knew which song to pick.
"Ramble on."
Thalia grinned, "Not bad."
Nico groaned, "Hold on." He cracked his knuckles and gave them a shake, sliding his hands up and down the neck of the bass, before they settled on the neck.
"Alright. Go."
So Percy did.
It wasn't a slow song, and it didn't take long for it to get going. He strummed the chords, his hands sliding up and down the guitar neck. He was good. Smooth, and accurate, and precise. Not surprising though, fifty years of practice tends to do that.
He played the song just about perfectly, all while Annabeth watched him play.
She watched the others a bit too, but her and Percy both knew. She was watching him.
Nico started the bass line, and damn. The kid was good. Good enough that Percy let his confidence raise a bit and start to sing.
"The leaves are falling all around. Time I was on my way."
He let a smile spread over his face as the words softly fell from his lips. He looked up at Annabeth, his eyes meeting hers and making a smile spread over his face, one she returned.
"Thanks to you, I'm much obliged. Such a pleasant stay."
He felt his lips tug, downwards this time, as the next words he knew so well came out of his mouth with more meaning than they'd ever had before.
"But now it's time for me to go. The autumn moon lights my way."
So much. The words said so much. More than he had the confidence to say, and more than he had time to consider as the next lines flowed out of him, all while the storm raged against the windows.
"But now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it's heading my way."
The song shifted, and he felt his fingers slide around the frets, making a new tune ring out all while the rest of the band played.
"Oh sometimes I grow so tired."
His brow furrowed, and he had some idea why.
"But I know I've got one thing I gotta do, Ramble on."
His hands slid with more intensity.
"And now's the time, the time is now, to sing my song."
His eyes flicked back up to Annabeth, who was staring right into his.
"I'm going 'round the world, I gotta find my girl, On my way."
His gaze seemed to pass right through her.
"I've been this way fifty years to the day, Ramble on."
A thought passed behind Annabeth's eyes, a reaction he didn't notice.
"Gotta find the queen of all my dreams."
The lines ended quick, and the next ones took their place even quicker. No matter how much they stung to say.
"Got no time for spreading roots. The time has come to be gone."
His eyes flashed in sadness as he felt his brow furrow, a move not unnoticed by the blonde girl who's gaze hadn't left his face.
"And though our health, we drank a thousand times. It's time to ramble on."
He slid the strings again, doing his best to mimic the musical twang that he knew played in the song. Right before the chorus kicked back in.
"Ramble on. And now, the time, the time is now. Sing my song."
His eyes met Annabeth's again.
"I'm going 'round the world, I gotta find my girl. On my way."
His eyes glazed over yet again.
"I've been this way fifty years to the day, I've gotta ramble on."
His eyes stayed glazed, as images of onyx eyes, eyes he didn't know if he wanted to think about or not, drifted into his thoughts.
"I've gotta find the queen of all my dreams."
His hands moved again, doing a soft melody over the acoustic guitar as his pseudo band mates kept up with the song. The next lines he knew well, and he knew they were gonna make him think.
"Mine's a tale that can't be told, my freedom, I hold dear."
His eyes closed, as the next lines drew themselves from his soul.
"How years ago, in days of old, when magic filled the air."
He let his eyes open, and they settled on Annabeth. The girl who'd watched him the whole time, and who's gaze locked with his as he sang. Sang to her.
" 'Twas in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair."
His gaze slipped from hers as it drifted across the room, and another's image took her place in his mind.
"But Gollum, and the evil one, crept up and slipped away with her, her, yeah."
Again, his hands slid, twanging out a soft melody as the guitar practically weeped in his hands.
"Ain't nothing I can do now."
His brows furrowed and his eyes darkened, as he listened to the words he said. He listened to them, and hated them.
"I guess I'll keep on rambling. I'm gonna sing my song."
And he did. He played off the song, singing the lines and strumming the strings with as much passion as Page and Plant had done when he'd seen them live. Years ago, when he was still mortal. When words like those made his heart swell. When music like that made him feel like he was floating. Back when the time he spent listening to music actually had value.
Now? Now that time was nothing. A ticking clock, stretching on and on until a zero that never came. A perpetual reminder that this was a waste of time that he would never run out of.
Yet, it wasn't. At least not as he watched Annabeth's face. Watched her eyes that hadn't left his. Watched how she wasn't just looking at him, but looking into him. Seeing something in there that he knew only she could.
He wanted to tell her.
Tell her everything. Tell her anything. Say what he was and why he hated it and what he wouldn't give to let it all go and spend whatever time he could with her.
He wanted to tell her it felt like his heart was still beating when she was near. He wanted to tell her that he'd give nothing less than the world to be able to grow old with her. He wanted to tell her that whenever they spoke, all those thoughts that plagued him faded out of focus. Something he'd been trying to force for half a century.
He wanted to tell her, but... he knew he couldn't.
He didn't realize the song was over until Nico tapped him on the shoulder.
"You good, Percy?"
Percy blinked, forcing a smile over his face.
"Yeah, never better."
A dirty, worthless lie is what that was. But he'd never be able to explain the truth anyways.
Thalia set her drum sticks down and stood up, cracking her knuckles as she did so.
"Alright, cowboy. You can play, and you can sing, and I think we just found our new Page and Plant... If you're up for that."
Percy shrugged, letting a genuine smile spread over his face.
"I'll consider it."
He probably wouldn't, but he wanted to, and it was nice to pretend sometimes.
Thalia nodded, stepping over to clap her hand on his shoulder as she moved to leave the room, grabbing Annabeth's hand as she did.
"C'mon, groupie. You can ogle him later."
Annabeth snapped out of the state she was in and blushed as Thalia led her out of the room. Percy got up to follow, but stopped when Nico grabbed his hand.
"Percy, wait."
Percy did, turning to the boy.
"Yeah?"
Nico was quiet for a moment, his eyes filled with thought, before he met Percy's eyes.
"Why did you say fifty?"
Percy's face fell, not much, but enough. He knew what he'd said. He'd silently prayed they'd all been too distracted by the song, but Nico just went ahead and proved that wrong.
"Percy. The line is ten years to the day, not fifty. Why did you say fifty?"
Percy didn't say anything. He didn't move, or breathe, or make any reaction. He waited for a moment while his mind struggled to answer.
"Just... felt right to say, I guess."
Nico held his look, long enough that Percy started to get nervous, before the boy softly smiled.
"Well, whatever the reason... maybe hold off next time. We don't need Thalia for have any more suspicions."
"Suspicions?" Percy asked. Nico nodded, with a nervous look in his eye.
"Don't tell her I said this... but she thinks you're a vampire."
Percy didn't answer. He didn't say anything at all, and his face matched what his voice did, saying frozen as he processed what Nico said. Once he'd worked through that shock a weight formed in his brain, sunk through his body, and crashed through the floor.
He forced a smile, trying to convince the boy of his false bewilderment, when in reality all he could do was focus on one word. One solitary, defining word that completely described his emotions, thoughts, and current state as he stood in his childhood home.
Fuck.