Story Name: The Iris Network

Author:turquoiserainlilies

Disclaimer: Do not own Percy Jackson or anything related, just the plot (really, not even that original). THANKS RICK!

Summary: He's a gamer. She's the Queen Bee. Percy struggles with unwanted fame from his father. Annabeth can't forgive her best friend for falling in love. Living miles away doesn't stop two people's fate from meeting, after all, the best thing to fall in love with are someone's words. AU!AH.

Chapter:7 of 22

Characters introduced: cabin5girl (guess her name!)

Note: So this beings the holiday section, FIVE WHOLE CHAPTERS. At about a 2500 word average, that's like, 12 500 words for you to read over the next three weeks! I'll be on hiatus until Jan 6, for my next chappie, but you have this while I'm gone! They might not be the best chapters, but they do help move the plot along for a while...

greek3fire iii

new york 12/15/13 12:25 utc-5

percy jackson

wisegirl6: So when did you start getting into gaming?

greek3fire: Why do you ask?

wisegirl6: I dunno, it seems we covered bunch of serious topics, something light would be nice right now

greek3fire: Tough trouble in California? You're lucky you don't have to go through the New York winter

wisegirl6: Ha-ha, I don't live in Malibu beach or something, and it's not sunny all the time here in San Francisco, there's snow and stuff

greek3fire: Mind=blown

wisegirl6: It sounds like someone is trying to avoid the topic

greek3fire: It's just not nice, alright?

wisegirl6: Tell me

greek3fire: That involves telling you about my dad

wisegirl6: And you don't want to do that because…

greek3fire: If I tell you about my dad, you can track me down

wisegirl6: Fine. Just don't tell me his name then. I already know that he's relatively rich and famous

greek3fire: Just relatively.

greek3fire: Fine, I was like 12, and he started talking to us for the first time since I was born. Of course, I couldn't talk to him when I was just born, you know, so that was the first time I met him

wisegirl6: Ouch.

greek3fire: He started being all nice and sweet and shit, I should've known something was coming up. He dropped the bomb pretty quickly, he wanted me to take over his company

wisegirl6: Which is a bad thing because…

greek3fire: I don't know shit about running a business! I didn't know anything! How was I expected to run an entire enterprise by myself!

wisegirl6: Well, they're not all going to be depended on you

greek3fire: Sure feels like it

wisegirl6: I mean it. If a business is dependent on their owner, it's not a successful style. Chances are, if your dad is smart, he'll put in advisers and VPs and all that stuff to structure the business. You just have to oversee them, and make final decisions

greek3fire: That doesn't sound any better

wisegirl6: It's like in games, if you have several directions you want to go, you might consult your map and quests or whatever, but ultimately you make the decision, but you know it'll be well informed

greek3fire: Are you trying to persuade me into becoming a business owner?

wisegirl6: Not at all, it'll be intimidating to talk to someone like that. All I'm saying is that it might not be as bad as you make it out to be.

cabin5girl: Hey dumbo, are you ever going to reply to me?

cabin5girl: Evidentially not, guess I'll see you at VidGameCon Prissy.

Percy had hoped the little babysitting fiasco had been all there is over the whole Poseidon-Tyson drama, and maybe this year he will be spared the obligation of attending some Christmas gala, where all of Poseidon's friends frown upon his jeans and sticky-uppy hair. Obviously, the world seem to be working against him.

His father arrived promptly on Sunday morning to deliver him with so-called good news. Percy thought it might be that he was leaving the country (though Wise Girl made her point of being a CEO being less scary, Percy still thought it was a stiff job). Nope, he wasn't leaving to Aruba for the holidays with his new wife and son, the opposite, he was staying in New York…and he invited Percy.

"To stay in New York." Percy deadpanned, "Gee, I have to check my calendar. There must've been some trip to Paris I missed."

Poseidon sighed. Sally spoke next, "No, sweetie, he's inviting you to stay with his family."

Percy's eyes widened. He's only been in the Jackson Apartment (or should he say Penthouse mansion) once, when he was younger and less wary. That wasn't a fun experience. The maids tried to make him dress in suits and Poseidon's new wife Amy (Amphitrite really, but who wants to be called that name?) yelled at him for every little trouble he made, including but not limited to changing the channel on the TV ("Tyson's too young to be watching ABC Family!"), accidentally knocking over a vase ("Someone will slip on that two drops of water!"), and eating too much at dinner ("You're stuffing yourself. Kids these days." While she was eating a ten thousand dollar steak).

To sum it up, he wasn't eager to go back again.

"Nope." He shrugged, "Thanks but no thanks, I have plans for the holidays."

Ha-ha, nope. Maybe more games with Grover he guessed, going to Drew's party unwillingly and find out who exactly June is dating and assure his best bro that that guy is totally a punk. Maybe Bianca can convince her mother to let her stay in New York, and they'll go ice skating (or rather, Bianca will, while the other two attempted, she always laughed at them) and other holiday-y stuff people do in lower Manhattan. He was not eager to see the fancy shamcy parties the Upper East Side would provide.

"It'll be brilliant." Sally's eyes shined, "I remember when I visited the MET over there, it was brilliant, the people, the style, the scenery, it was all so different."

"It's on the same floating piece of rock." Percy rolled his eyes. He hated being disrespectful to his mother, but he also know that Sally's usual punishment for attitude is grounding…which meant that Upper East Side was cancelled.

"But it'll be wonderful." Sally insisted.

"Then maybe you should go." Percy said coldly. He stopped short at the sight of Sally's broken face. Okay, maybe it wasn't fair. The war between Poseidon and him was exactly that, between Poseidon and him, there was no need to get his mother involved. If only she'll stop trying to convince them to get along!

"I'm happy here." Sally said, "I have lots of work over the vacation, if I want to publish the new book in the next decade."

He couldn't argue with that. His mother worked at Sweet On America most of the year, and the only time she really gets to work on her passion, writing, is during her vacations. So while most families are roasting turkeys and exchanging gifts over the holidays, Sally Jackson would be at her laptop typing furiously.

"Okay." He said.

"Okay you'll go?" She said hopefully.

"Okay you're write, I'm not going anywhere." Percy crossed his arm. Poseidon had been looking at the ping-pong match between the two of them, but now he must realize that he must step up his game.

"The Jackson Household had missed your presence Percy." He spoke in his pretentious voice and vocabulary, "We'd love to host you for the holidays, perhaps I can make it easier, you may bring friends."

That thought perked him up slightly. It'll be nice to get Grover and Bianca there. He knew that they won't exactly have a happy Christmas, and the luxury of the Jackson Penthouse may be exactly what they need, if not for him.

He watched Poseidon's careful green eyes, annoyingly like his own. Did he knew this? Of Percy's need to think of his friends and put them first. That's rather sly of him, he's the perfect businessman.

(Then Wise Girl said, it's all about making informed decisions, perhaps Poseidon is not as blind to Percy's habits as he had thought).

"I'll make some phone calls." Percy grumbled, "But no promises."

"Remind me why you're saying no?" Bianca cried, she slammed her coffee mug to the table and spoke in exclamation and question marks, "It's the Upper East Side! It's brilliant! The only person we really know there is Drew, imagine how jealous she'd be if we tell her that we're staying with Poseidon Freakin' Jackson!"

Percy gave her a look.

Bianca sighed, "Sorry, bitch mode activated. She's been really bugging me lately."

Percy thought to the clothing store with the really ugly sweater. Reyna had been in cohorts with Drew back then, does bothering Bianca have something to do with it? "What sort of bugging?"

"Just asking questions about you, mainly." Bianca shrugged, "Don't know why, but you better watch out, or you'll have two girls on your hands instead of one."

Grover didn't say much, but Percy led the conversation from there. "Don't worry, I'm happily single."

At least, given the choices available to him so far. If he was in, say, San Francisco…

"Glad of that." Grover grumbled, "Single people are the best. This is the reason we're going to a video game convention during Valentine's Day."

"What's up with that anyways?" Bianca sipped her latte, "Who's gonna show up then?"

"Us." Percy said thoughtfully, "And other single guys who play games."

"Point taken." Bianca admitted defeat.

"Back to the point, are you guys going to be coming with me or not?" Percy whined, "Not to be needy of you guys, but if you're not going there, then I might as well just bail."

"I'm in." Grover shrugged, "I would never miss the chance at such luxury."

(Percy had been quite thick. It was obvious that the boy didn't notice what Bianca had. Grover was quite jealous, though pettily, of the Jackson boy's fortune and luck. Bianca privately thought that it was quite petty of Grover to do so, but also disapprove of Percy's oblivion and unknowingly flaunting his luxury that Grover does not have)

"Sweet." Percy smiled, maybe this won't totally suck, "Bianca? You're in?"

"Sorry." She sighed, "I'm visiting Nico over the break."

"You didn't get out of it?" Grover asked, "Your mother still forced you into it?"

"Yup." Bianca popped the 'p', "I'll have to go see my lovely brother again. It's been quite a long time, who knows how different he'd be. I don't know, maybe it turns out that he likes guys now or something."

Percy and Grover know exchanged looks. Bianca had been pushing her brother away for quite sometimes, and although boys being boys are usually oblivious to problems (Percy for most), the sarcasm in Bianca's voice had been obvious.

"What the problem?" Percy asked, "I mean, I remember Nico to be a really cool guy." Creepy and a Satanist is more like it, but he's okay when he's playing video games, most guys are.

"I don't know." Bianca admitted, "Maybe if I keep postponing the visit, I can still pretend that he's my little brother, and not some total stranger with a beard."

"Nico grew a beard?" Grover said wondrously.

"I don't know!" Bianca exclaimed, "That's the point, isn't it? I don't know anything about him! I don't know his favorite color, or his favorite snack, or anything anymore!"

Percy stared. It was in these moments more than most that he wished Wise Girl was here with him. They had met little over two weeks ago, but she knew everything from his parental issues to Grover's crush on June. Surely she'll know exactly what to say to Bianca.

But Wise Girl isn't here. Percy hadn't mentioned this whole drama to her because it just didn't seem quite fitting with their conversation. He made a mental note to check with her on what to do, as soon as he gets home.

greek3fire: So my dad invited me over for the holidays

wisegirl6: That's great, maybe you'll get over your issues

greek3fire: Doesn't seem like it

wisegirl6: Believe you me, I'd rather my mom talk to me about it. She's been MIA (not literally, she's not a spy) for a year now. We call sometimes, but she hasn't said anything about visiting anytime soon

greek3fire: What a tragedy

wisegirl6: Guess we both have what each other wants

greek3fire: Not a big fan on cheating boyfriends and weeping girlfriends

wisegirl6: Not a big fan of clinging exes and depressed best friends

greek3fire: Touché

greek3fire: Can you help me on something?

wisegirl6: Give it your best shot

greek3fire: My friend is going over to California this weekend to visit their brother, but they've been separated (file that under another parent issue), so she's all freaked out about not knowing him enough, advice?

wisegirl6: Do I look like Dr. Phil?

greek3fire: I have no idea what you look like. You could be a 40 year old man with pimply skin

wisegirl6: Oi! My skin is perfect!

greek3fire: I'm sure it is. Back to the matter, you seem pretty good at this, even if you're not Dr. P.

wisegirl6: Well, I'd say that she's just going through some trouble with this. It's her brother, if she's worrying it means that she cares. It'll be fine once she gets over and realize that nothing really changed (hopefully, if not, that's a different conversation). Distract her if you can, I guess.

greek3fire: Brilliant!

wisegirl6: Aren't I always?

greek3fire: Always

Review! You'll feel fuzzy on the inside

Maybe try to make it to 50 before Jan 6?