What if the Iris Message to Annabeth went through? Son of Neptune - Page 260

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Iris' medicinal tea was starting to work its magic, sending warmth down Percy's arms and legs. The color returned to his skin and he stopped shaking as his strength returned.

The concoction had also lifted the haze from his mind. Seeing the Centaurs and Cyclops working for Polybotes had sent his brain into a spiral. Something was telling him that the image wasn't right like they had betrayed him. That, along with seeing his dad's nemesis, was enough to send his nervous system into a frenzy.

But now, his mind felt sharp, sharper than it had been since he had woken all those months ago. The constant pressure in his head was gone. His vision seemed more clear, his dyslexia not existent as he was able to easily read posters on the wall for the first time in his life.

He could see Annabeth's face almost perfectly in his head, as well as remember details that hadn't stuck out before. He could see her athletic figure clad in athletic shorts and an orange t-shirt, similar to the one he arrived at Camp Jupiter in, but the words were indistinguishable. He could see strawberry fields behind her, bright and red in a perfect harvest. He could hear laughter in the background.

It was his strongest memory yet.

For some reason, New York City also popped into his head, demanding his attention. A familiar comfort came into his chest as he remembered walking through Central Park, a warm hand in his.

That was where he was from. He just knew it.

He also knew that was where Annabeth was.

"How are you feeling?"

The words broke through his stupor and he looked up to Hazel and Fleecy looking at him expectantly. They were sitting around a foldable table in plastic chairs in the back of the store. They were surrounded by shelves on either side. He nodded his head.

"Good. Really good, actually."

Percy didn't know how long his super memory was going to last or if he would remember these new memories once the tea's effects wore off. This was his one chance.

"Hey, can we get that Iris Message now?"

Fleecy nodded her head happily. "Of course! Give me one sec to get the materials." She scurried off down the aisle they were in and made a turn, disappearing from view.

"What is an Iris Message?" Hazel asked, taking a sip of the tea (hers not dosed with magic) Fleecy had prepared.

"I don't know. I just know I throw a drachma into mist and ask for whoever I want to see, and they show up in the mist." Percy suddenly realized he had no drachma. He hoped the goddess could spare some change to his charity: Amnesiac Demigods Trying Not to Die.

"Are you going to try Annabeth?" she asked softly.

Percy nodded. "She's my only hope. " He paused, debating whether he should tell Hazel. "The tea is restoring some of my memories. I think I'm from New York City."

Hazel shrugged. "Never been there. You think Annabeth is there too?"

"Yeah. I'm going to try."

Fleecy came back into view at the end of the aisle, struggling to carry a three-foot statue of an angel in her arms. She plopped it down on the table in front of them, pushing back her crazy white hair.

"Okay, this fountain should do the trick. I just need to-" she looked up and down the shelves, before pulling out a hose with a triumphant sound. She screwed it into the back of the fountain and turned on the water. She turned back to Percy. "Think you can make a mist with this, Son of Neptune?"

Percy nodded, already sensing the water filling the fountain's reserves. "Do you have a…" He always hated asking for money, ancient Greek currency or not.

Fleecy flipped him and Hazel their own drachmas. "This one's on us. I figured you wouldn't have anything Greek on you, considering your situation."

Percy chose to ignore the statement, focusing on the fountain. He called the water, two streams pouring from the tips of the angel's wings into a small pool below it. He willed it to form a mist.

Just as he was about to toss the drachma in, Fleecy stopped him.

"Wait! Make sure you say, 'O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me-' and then whoever you want to see and their location. Otherwise, the call might not go through." She said quickly like she wasn't supposed to be doing this.

Percy tilted his head at her, knowing that is definitely not what is said during Iris Messages. He had no choice so he flipped the drachma into the mist and said, "O Fleecy, do me a solid and show me Annabeth Chase in New York City."

Percy his heart rate picked up as the mist blurred. Was this going to work? Was he going to see Annabeth?

The image shifted like they were looking out the window of a very fast-moving car. Percy thought he saw the Empire State Building. The image shifted the other way like it was looking for something and quickly changed direction. Percy saw Hazel shift uncomfortably next to him, probably feeling motion sick from looking at the image.

Fleecy frowned. "It usually doesn't take this long."

Percy started to internally panic. He was so sure this was going to work.

The image stilled into a dark, hazy fog.

It started to focus, a dark room coming into view. There were rows of bunk beds pushed up against a wall. The center of the room was filled with work tables, covered in maps and blueprints. There were countless bookshelves.

The image seemed to float around the seemingly empty room before it centered on a single desk in the back of the room. A figure was hunched over in a chair, writing furiously on something. There were maps taped haphazardly on the wall, with lines connecting various places.

Percy choked back a sob.

Her blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she was wearing a light blue sweatshirt that Percy just knew was his.

Hazel grabbed Percy's hand comfortingly and gave it a squeeze.

"Annabeth?" he said hesitantly.

To Percy's surprise, the figure huffed angrily and gripped their pencil so tight, Percy was surprised it didn't break. She didn't turn.

"Whatever cruel prank this is, Stolls, I am not in the mood right now. I'm busy. Go bother someone else," she said, her voice deadly.

Percy couldn't hold back tears when he heard her voice.

She was right there.

His entire motivation for staying alive throughout the past months. He had been so terrified so many times, so tired. He considered giving up on multiple occasions, but her face in his head never let him. He kept going because of her.

And now, she was right in front of him. She wasn't just a face in his head, making him feel crazy.

"It's me," he said, his voice breaking.

She whipped around in her chair, the pencil snapping in her hand.

"I said I'm not in the mood, you fu-"

Their eyes met and her voice died in her throat. She stood from the chair, not noticing as it flipped backwards behind her.

"P-Percy?"

Percy smiled through his tears and held up a hand.

"Hey," was all he could manage.

"Please tell me this isn't a dream," she said, disbelief all over her features.

She had dark circles under her eyes. Her skin seemed pale in the dark light of the cabin. Her eyes were tired and red. Her hair had flecks of metal shavings and grease as if she had just come from working in a metal shop. She had a smudge on her cheek that Percy wanted to wipe off with his fingers so badly.

Hazel squeezed his hand, and he realized he hadn't answered.

"I'm here. It's not a dream. But you do look like you could use some sleep," he joked mirthlessly.

"Oh my gods." She stepped closer to the image reflectively. The mist shuddered dangerously and she took a step back. "How-? What-? Where are-? Are you okay?" Her mind seemed to be working overtime and she was struggling to process the image of her boyfriend, alive, in front of her.

Percy nodded quickly. "I'm okay. We don't have a lot of time so I can't explain everything. Hera put me to sleep and took my memory-"

That was not the right thing to say.

Annabeth's face immediately exploded in anger. "Hera? That witch! I swear, I'm going to-"

Percy waved his hands to get her attention back. "Hey. Hey! Please, we're running out of time. We can plot a revenger tour on Hera later. I promise."

Annabeth took a deep breath. "So where are you? You got my message to stay put, right?"

Percy winced. "Uh, yeah, I got your message. But, uh, I'm kind of on a quest… to Alaska." He tried to shrug in an I swear this isn't my fault way.

"Percy Jackson, you're on a quest?" she asked furiously. She threw her hands up. "I tell you to do one thing so we can find your stupid butt after you go missing, and you go to Alaska?"

Percy cracked a sheepish smile. "You know I don't follow directions very well. And I miss you, too."

Her face softened. The image blurred for a second before refocusing.

"You're running out of time," Fleecy warned.

"Who was that?" Annabeth asked. Her voice was starting to break up slightly.

"Listen, Annabeth, Gaea raised the Giants and they're probably coming for you. They're going to be attacking soon."

Annabeth nodded. "We know. We've had some run-ins with them over here too."

Percy still couldn't remember exactly what over there was, but he didn't have time to ask and the memories that would flood his brain would probably give him a massive headache, which he also didn't have time for.

"We're on a quest to release Thanatos so be on the look-out for monsters starting to stay dead once you kill them."

The image was starting to blur. Percy felt his stomach drop as her face shifted.

She nodded and held her hand up to the mist. "Please be safe!" Her voice was barely understandable.

Percy held up his hand to mirror hers and he could swear he could feel the heat of her hand on his. Her lips moved but Percy couldn't hear her.

"Annabeth, I-" he started desperately.

The mist disappeared, fading into vapor, taking the image of his girlfriend with it. Percy felt his eyes burn as he lowered his hand back to his lap. He looked dejected at the space she was just in. He could feel Fleecy and Hazel's eyes looking sadly at him.

Annabeth, I love you.

/

Despite Reyna's hilarious reaction to the unexpected video message, Percy couldn't find it within himself to laugh.

He barely listened to Hazel and Reyna's conversation, only hearing parts about the army that was moving towards them and defending camp. If Reyna noticed his somber attitude, she didn't say anything.

He could only think of Annabeth and her sad, tired eyes.

Percy knew that look. The memories were coming back as he thought about her. She had stayed up for three days straight one time before Percy stepped in to force her to take a weekend off (from building something?).

Percy had held her while she cried her stress out, kissing away the tears.

Now, she had the same look and he was three thousand miles away. It tore him apart.

Percy refocused when he saw the image of Reyna fade away with a wave of Hazel's hand. She turned to him. Her dark eyes were concerned, and it made Percy want to cry again.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Percy just nodded, a lump reforming in his throat. He coughed to clear it. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll be okay."

He knew deep down he was because he had to be. He had to be okay if he wanted to see Annabeth again.

Fleecy, who had disappeared at some point, suddenly came running towards them. "You might want to go help your friend. He's getting attacked by some snakes, I think?"

Percy and Hazel looked at each other in worry, knowing that whatever Frank was fighting was probably more than just a small garden snake.

They stood and took off back towards the main shop, bursting through the door to see Iris waiting for them. She was stuffing various items she had on the counter into a rainbow tie-dye purse. She put the last item into the bag as they came up to her.

"Frank Zhang is outside battling basilisks alone. I do not know his current status of health. Here," she shoved the purse at Percy. "you'll need this. Oh, that looks good."

Percy frowned at the bag, holding it at arm's length before remembering their current situation. He didn't have time to act like a judge on Project Runway. Questionable fashion choices were going to have to be examined later.

But, in Percy's opinion, the rainbow and purple of his shirt so did not match.

Shaking the thoughts out of his head, Percy threw the murse over his shoulder. Despite all of the item's Percy saw Iris throw into the bag, it was surprisingly light in weight.

Iris' examining look kept Percy from running out of the store at that moment, and it seemed like Hazel was in a similar position. She looked between the two demigods.

"As the goddess of messages, I hear a lot of things. And I hear that you two have very difficult times ahead."

Percy scoffed. "Yeah, you're like the thousandth person to tell us that. Thanks for the purse." He pushed past her, Hazel close behind him. They sped up to a run as they got closer to the entrance.

"I hope Frank's okay," he heard Hazel mutter under her breath as they weaved through an aisle. They jumped over a stack of boxes and burst through the door, seeing Frank standing out in the field, his spear in hand.

I hope Annabeth is okay.

/

And here is the other new compilation I decided to make! This series is going to feature moments from the actual PJO and HoO series where the plot could have gone differently. Most of these stories are not meant to fit into the plots of the books. For example, for this story, obviously, Percy getting into contact with Annabeth and getting some memories back likely would have changed some plot points in the actual books had it happened. These chapters will be in no particular order, just depends on when I think of them and when I write.

Some stories may not disrupt the plot, but we'll see. For this story, I considered Percy being able to see Annabeth but the audio wouldn't work so she wouldn't know he was there. That could kind of fit into the plot of the books, but I decided a mini-reunion would be more fun to write :)

If you are new to my stories, check out my other stuff. I mainly do one-shots, but I also have a short story that goes wayyyy back. Check it out to see what I mean.

Sorry for any errors, blah blah blah. See y'all soon.