I do not own anything from Rick Riordan's Universe.
Final Chapter
Annabeth laughed soundly as Thalia told Frederick the little rally that her fans had arranged at one of The Hunters' concerts. Annabeth's dad had a faint smile although he looked more scandalized than amused. The three of them were cleaning the kitchen after the amazing Christmas dinner Helen had cooked for them.
"It's crazy what our fans gift us from time to time," Thalia continued, wiping the surface of the counter. "Once they sent me a dish of pasta. Just like that. It was bad by the time it arrived sure enough, but I appreciated the effort."
Frederick wrinkled his nose. "Why would they send such an unpractical thing?"
"They think with their hearts, dad," Annabeth explained washing a pot. "And no matters of the heart are ever rational."
Mathew popped his head through the kitchen door and asked, "Are you done? Can Thalia play Guitar Hero with us now?"
Frederick looked at Thalia who was done with her task and nodded. Thalia smiled and left the towel on the counter before following Mathew out of the kitchen.
"We're so gonna kick your butt," Annabeth heard his little brother say.
"Game on," Thalia replied.
Father and daughter kept washing and drying in silence. When they were done, Annabeth stretched her arms and looked for coffee through the cabinets. Helen had changed its usual place and she was desperately craving caffeine.
Her dad wiped his hands with a towel and rearranged his glasses. "Talking about matters of the heart," he started getting the filter paper out. "Are you sure that moving to another country with your new boyfriend is a good idea?"
Annabeth froze for a second before continuing her search. "We talked about this on the phone, dad. I need a fresh start. Besides, Percy is not new. Technically." She finally found the coffee stash and headed towards the small new latte machine she had given them for Christmas.
"Yeah but you always dreamt about being the best architect in New York and throwing everything away because of a boy…" he stopped and sighed. "Are you sure there's something you're not telling me? Are you pregnant?"
"I'm not," she reassured him. "And if I were, I would not move to a whole new country away from my family. I am doing this for me. I used to want to be the most important architect in New York. Now, I just want to have a little bit of clarity in my life. Plus, it's not like I'm gonna be a prisoner there. If for whatever reason I'm not happy in Iceland, I'll just move back here." She set the coffee and turned to look at her dad. "I'm gonna be fine. Trust me."
Frederick crossed his arms. "I just wish I'd known him better."
"He wanted to come," Annabeth defended Percy. "But we decided to spend the holidays with our respective families before we leave. All you need to know is that he's a great guy and that I love him very much."
"What about your job?" he insisted. "Have you given up on architecture?"
"Of course not," she replied patiently as she fetched two mugs for them. "I've been investigating some virtual graduate programs in London about sustainable systems. I already applied for a scholarship in some of them."
"London?"
She shrugged. "Closer than New York in case I need to travel."
Her dad sighed and thanked her when she handed him his coffee. "You have really thought about everything, haven't you?"
Annabeth smiled. "It's in my blood."
"And there's no way I'm gonna change your mind, right?"
"Right."
Frederick tapped his fingers against the mug after sighing one last time. "Fine. Just promise me you'll keep in touch."
Annabeth hugged him, careful not to spill their coffee. "I promise. Thanks, dad."
HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyou
"I can't believe that after everything we talked about when we were kids, none of us are gonna stay in New York," Thalia pointed out as she tapped her boots against the concrete stairs of their old high school.
Annabeth hugged her knees closer and looked around. "Luke is."
Thalia grimaced. "Not as expected though."
They stared silently at the spot where Luke used to park his pick-up truck after the school day, so they could go hang at the music store a few blocks away. Annabeth looked at the grey clouds above them and closed the zipper of her jean jacket. "People change and so do their dreams." Then she smiled and looked at her childhood friend. "Well, you didn't."
Thalia raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"You are living your dream. Just in another place."
"Yeah, well…I got lucky. I didn't have awful bosses and immoral firms like you. I think you were brave to drop your dreams away because they were getting auto-destructive."
Annabeth sighed. "Yeah well, I'd say I was the auto-destructive one."
Thalia kicked some gravel off the stairs. "Yeah. You quit your dreams and now you're happier for it. If it makes sense." She cleared her throat. "I mean, you're happy, right?"
Annabeth smiled sadly. "What a hard question." She pursed her lips for a few seconds before replying, "I am happy, but I wouldn't say I gave up on my dreams. I changed them. Stuff that used to be important to me, are not anymore, and I think I've learned that, for me, there are more vital things in life than being successful at my job."
Thalia whistled. "That Kelp Head has really messed with your mind, hasn't he?"
Annabeth punched her softly. "Shut up."
"I'll suggest a tour in Iceland to the girls, so you won't have an excuse to miss the songs of our new album."
Annabeth frowned. "Do you even have listeners in Iceland?"
Thalia shrugged. "Who cares? Once they listen to our music, they're gonna beg us not to leave."
Annabeth chuckled. "Okay. I'll accept any excuse from you if that means you'll visit me from time to time."
"Me visiting you? I think it'll be the other way around. You are a city girl, Annabeth. In a few months, you'll be crawling back to New York."
"I won't. It's not gonna be permanent, anyway. Percy hates office work. He's just accepting the opportunity to help his dad, but he told me that once things are settled over there, he wants to go back to the field."
"Will you follow him again?"
Annabeth bit her lip. "We'll see." She closed her eyes and felt the wind softly hitting her face. "I am gonna miss this place though. So much history."
"Oh, c'mon. You hated this place. I'm the one you're gonna miss."
Annabeth opened her eyes. Thalia was right. She hated high school, and the only worthy memories were the ones with Luke and Thalia. She smiled. "Yeah. You're right."
HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyou
Annabeth checked the folders one last time, to make sure all the documents were in their place. They had already gotten their residence permits, but she preferred to keep all the evidence in case something went wrong.
She grabbed the pole as the subway stopped at her destination and gripped the folders tightly against her chest so the sea of people exiting her wagon wouldn't push them away from her.
The drastic change of temperature made her hug her parka even closer as she exited the underground station and made her way to the Ocean's Enterprises building. As usual, not even February's cold weather was enough to push New Yorkers into the comfort of their home, so she had to endure slow walkers, chatting groups, and even tours as she hurried to reach the building in time.
Annabeth welcomed the warmness of the lobby as she headed towards the reception desk to get her visitor's pass. While
the reception guy typed all her personal info once again, Annabeth noticed a magazine next to him with Percy and his dad on the cover. They were standing together at a press conference, and Poseidon was announcing to the public about the existence of his other son. "The bastard rises to the throne," was the title and a small picture of an angry Triton was at the corner.
She wrinkled her nose. Some media didn't have a sense of decency.
Finally, the guy gave her the small pass and she made her way to the elevators. The doors opened with a ding and, in her rush, she almost crashed against the man who was stepping off. She grimaced when she realized who was standing in front of her.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Jackson," Annabeth apologized.
Poseidon had his phone against his ear, probably in the midst of an important call, so Annabeth deduced the best thing was just to continue her journey towards Percy's desk. However, Poseidon put his phone down as soon as she apologized and gave her a formal smile.
"It's fine, Miss Chase. Here to see Percy?"
Annabeth tried to hide her surprise at his acknowledgment of her. "Um, yes." She showed him the folder. "We're done with the paperwork for the trip, so we're going out to celebrate." She thought about inviting him out of formality -he was her father-in-law after all-, but it was a silly invitation since Poseidon was probably crazy busy being the CEO.
Poseidon's sea-green eyes (she tried hard not to confuse them with Percy's, but it was nearly impossible) lit up. "Good, good. You know, I must thank you for convincing him to go."
Annabeth blinked. "Oh, I just pushed him a bit, but it was ultimately his decision."
"I know, but Percy used to be laidback in those kinds of opportunities. It's nice to see how much he has changed and how he has bigger aspirations now." Annabeth was worried that they were standing in the middle of the entrance to the elevators, but people were just choosing to take another one or just going around them. Perks of being the CEO, she guessed.
Poseidon pinched his black beard, and his eyes wandered around the room. "I was afraid he'd want to remain an assistant for the rest of his life." He shrugged, his expensive black suit rising with his shoulders. "Oh, well, at least I was wrong." He laughed heavily and it echoed through the lobby. "I can't believe I'm relieved of being wrong. You don't hear that every day." He put his phone against his ear once again and winked at Annabeth. "Nice seeing you, Miss Chase. Have a good rest of the day." And then he was gone, his big steps and deep voice flooding the entire place.
Annabeth stayed in place for a few seconds, processing what just had happened, and then proceeded to enter the elevator and going up to the Investigation floor. It was nice for Poseidon to be proud of Percy. Annabeth was sure her dad wasn't exactly proud…more worried about her situation. He used to be though, back when she was the valedictorian in her student life. Work-life…that was a totally different thing.
Then her mind wondered about her mom. Would she be proud? Not that she'd known everything she had gone through. But if Piper was right and Athena was indeed her mom…
It didn't matter. She didn't have a mom.
Annabeth bit her lip as the elevator stopped on her floor and the doors opened. Should she had asked her dad about her? She had decided not to since it was a tough subject for both of them. She just wished she wouldn't regret her decision later on.
She sorted her way through the corridors until she found the big room full of windows and the cloud of cubicles in it. Percy could not be an assistant anymore, but his desk was way better than the small cubicle he had now. Annabeth knew how much he hated it.
When she found him, he also had his phone in his ear. Most things on his desk had been put into a box next to his chair. He still had a few days of work in there before they left, but he was surely desperate to say goodbye to that office.
The only things left were the picture of him with his mom in Montauk and the one of him with her and Stelle in front of the Rockefeller Center. She had framed that picture and given it to him for his birthday.
"That's great G-man!" Percy said truly excited as he turned in his chair and saw Annabeth approaching him. His eyes lit up and they were just like the ones she had stared into a few minutes ago.
She grabbed a chair from an empty cubicle next to his and rolled it, so it was close to Percy. She gave him a peck on his cheek as a way of greeting him.
"Yeah," he continued to say as she rested the folder on her lap and inspected the box full of things. "Well, I hope you can make it. Annabeth will also love having you there."
She raised an eyebrow but waited for him to say goodbye and hang up before she asked, "Having Grover where?"
Percy pushed his phone into his pocket and smirked, "Seems like you're not the only one who's pursuing a degree in sustainable practices. Grover is also thinking about investigating Pro-Environmental policies in Europe and he might pass by Iceland on his journey."
Annabeth blinked. "That's great, but what about Juniper?"
"She has to stay and take care of her home. Her parents need a lot of help, but their relationship will be okay. Those two just have eyes for each other." He noticed the folder and grimaced. "Do you really have to walk everywhere with that? You're already sleeping with it."
"I am not," she said rolling her eyes. "I just leave it on the nigh table next to me at night because I like to go to bed knowing every document is in place."
"And that's different because?"
"Besides," she continued ignoring his question. "I had to pick up some extra backups, remember?"
He closed his laptop and put it in his bag. "I thought we were done."
"We are, but you can never be overprepared," she affirmed proudly.
"I digress," he said standing up and grabbing his jacket. "But I know I'll never win that fight against you." He looked at his watch and smiled. "Let's go or I'll starve to death before we even have the chance to leave this damn office."
HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyou
As soon as Piper took the last sip from her cup, Annabeth refilled it with her favorite wine: Lambrusco. The sweetest one, and also the quickest one that could get her drunk.
The best solution for after break-up.
"I thought he was going to be the one, you know?" Piper said for the fifth time that night. Annabeth was sure the whole bar already knew the story of how they broke up and were getting annoyed of hearing it all over again. Like the series on T.V that had a million reasons, but somehow the channel always emitted the same three episodes. Annabeth didn't care about hearing the story over and over again. Her friend needed her. "I thought I could have with Jason what you have with Percy."
"An extremely dramatic and intense relationship?" Annabeth joked, trying to lift her spirits.
"A steady and long-lasting dramatic and intense relationship," Piper clarified, drinking again.
"I wouldn't be sure about the steady part, and long-lasting…." She sighed. "I mean I hope so, but nothing lasts forever. We might be at each other's throat next year for what we know."
"Yeah, but you guys know what you want. You want each other, and you agreed on putting your relationship first. I thought I'd do the same for Jason, but…" she quieted down.
"Hey," Annabeth called her as she grabbed her hands and looked at her kaleidoscopic eyes. "If there's something I've learned from you is that no relationship works the same as another. You need to keep trying and…who knows? Maybe Jason is the right guy, and you are just at the wrong time. Or maybe you'll find someone else that clicks better with you."
Piper let go of her hands took a big sip before sighing. "I know you're right. Still, it doesn't make it any less frustrating." She played with her cup for a bit before looking up and smiling sadly. "At least I can ask for that transfer to Paris now. Be closer to you in case my heart gets broken again."
Annabeth returned the smile. "I'll be there if you need me,"
"Thanks," she finished her drink and pursed her lips. "How are the preparations for the trip? Everything okay?"
"Yep. We have all the documents needed and most boxes packed. We just need to give some stuff to Goodwill and leave other things at a rented warehouse."
"I'm gonna miss Percy's apartment," Piper admitted. "I thought you were going to pay rent just in case you guys wanted to come back. Just like Percy did when he was in Australia."
"Um, no. We want to try and have a fresh start. We agreed that we'd at least give it a year."
Piper nodded and raised her empty cup. "Well, to new beginnings."
Annabeth smiled ignoring all the curious glances over them and clinked her cup against Piper's. "To new beginnings."
HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyou
Annabeth didn't go back to Luke's grave. There was nothing left to say.
HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyou
The apartment building in Queens now seemed much smaller than she'd remembered. It had been more than a year since she'd had moved out, but Annabeth could still remember every tiny detail of it.
She knew it was kind of lame to say goodbye to a building, an unliving thing. But somehow, it was a symbol of the hopeful younger Annabeth that had come to New York to be the best architect in the world, with her best friends Luke and Thalia to back her up.
She'd had thought she could run away from her past. Instead, she had made the same foolish mistakes.
Was she doing the same by running away to another country?
Only one way to find out.
She watched a girl of her age walk up to the door and pass the card through the sensor to open the door. How many times had she walked through those doors thinking her life was planned perfectly? Thalia used to mock her about it. Now she looked at Annabeth with some kind of respect in her eyes.
As if she'd had seen hell itself.
Of course, some people had it worse than her. She'd just been a spoiled girl whose dreams had not been as perfect as she had imagined.
It all hadn't been a total loss, though.
She had grown wiser.
And Percy had come into her life.
Still, was she sure that changing her dreams was truly the right answer? Or was she just changing the way of achieving them?
A notification sound came from her jacket's pocket. She got her phone out and watched the message on the screen.
3:20 p.m. Finished with the last boxes. Be there in 20.
Annabeth felt a rush of anxiety bolting through her body. There was no turning back now. She never saw herself as someone who'd drop everything to follow her boyfriend to another corner of the world. She always thought she was the rational type.
But she was being rational, right? There was nothing wrong with wanting a change of scenery. Besides, it wasn't like she'd quit her dreams of being an architect. She was going back to study it, after all.
And it wasn't just any boyfriend.
It was Percy.
The guy who had made her question herself to find out what she truly wanted.
The guy that had given her countless opportunities when she had screwed things up very much.
The guy who had shown her what a real relationship should be like.
The guy she was in love with.
And that was enough.
HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyou
Annabeth watched the empty apartment with a weird feeling in her heart.
It was painful to see so many memories being packed in boxes and put away in the storage room. The bottle with the ship she had given Percy, the plates and cups she had bought with sea creatures on it, the desk where Percy used to work, and send her warm smiles every five minutes. Their first kiss on the fire exit. Their blue coloring fight. Their reconciliation.
But she also felt relieved. No more burdens or painful memories too. They were going to get a fresh start. A chance of doing things the right way. A new future.
She was now sure she wasn't giving up on who she was or what she wanted. Annabeth had just changed the way she saw them. And she was proud of her decisions.
A pair of arms surrounded her from behind and the scent of sea-breeze reaffirmed her decision.
"Ready to go?" Percy asked as she turned slowly to stare at his sea-green eyes.
She took a deep breath and smiled.
"Yeah, I'm ready."
And, for the first time, she didn't look back.
The End.
Wow! This is it, guys. Thank you all for your constant support throughout the story. I hope you laughed, cried, and rejoiced with me along this journey. Please keep being awesome and working hard for your dreams without sacrificing your happyness. Everything is about balance.
Love u all.
Be yourself.
And respect others.
See u on the next journey ;)