[A/N: Guys, remember what I said last chapter? PREPARE YOURSELVES? Yeah, well. I suggest you do before proceeding. This chapter's really heavy.
MegJackson: I apologize. For making you drop your stuffs and for making you cry. :D
Percabethfever: Wow. Thank you. :D
readwritereview: Yeah, I do. I love In Pieces, In the End and everything! :D And what happened with the scissors? Anyway, you're only turning thirteen? Dang, I thought you're around my age. You don't talk like a soon-to-be thirteen year old. And it's okay to rant. I like reading long reviews. :D
Juzko Disco: Hey, dude! Here's the next chapter so no need to shave all the hair on my head! :D
Kate: Thank you, thank you. And you're not the only one who wants to kill Amber. There are a lot of you out there. Including me! (Even though I was the one who created her.) And personally, I like that line, too. It just showed how much Percy loves Annabeth. I think I was kind of speaking through Percy when he said that. :D
ThreeBulletsAtTheDanegrParad e: I had PM'd you my FaceBook address, so just add me. And the type of music I like: mostly alternative rock. My favorite bands are Paramore, Linkin Park, Simple Plan, Boys Like Girls, Muse, Daughtry, Fallout Boy, Flyleaf. might as well count Green Day in. I'm also a fan of Kelly Clarkson. :D
Howl3: Yeah. But don't worry. It would be addressed next chapter. :D
blondee-boo: Hey! Here I am now, so no three day waiting. :D
WiseGirlandSeaweedBrain: Find out for yourself in this chapter. And thank you again for the cherry. :D
PLEASE READ: I know how much you guys hate cliffhangers but the truth is, I haven't written any cliffhangers for this story yet. In my book, the ending of this chapter . . . now that IS a cliffhanger. I must warn you, though. Brace yourselves for what's about to happen. Just like what Amber said, "I'm about to rock your world." I think this chapter will do the same to you and I apologize in advance. Anyway, read on and tell me what you think! :D
Again, I'm not Rick Riordan so I don't own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians. An AMATEUR WRITER here! :D
WISE GIRL'S SEAWEED BRAIN
Chapter 26: EVEN THE SUN SETS
SAMANTHA
Amber came barging in the door as soon as the words left my mouth.
"What?!" she asked, flabbergasted. "Nothing happened? Dang, I drugged both of you and nothing happened?"
My jaw dropped. She drugged us? I looked at Percy and nearly cringed when I saw the murderous look he had.
"What do you mean nothing happened, Sam?" he asked in a quiet voice. I would've preferred if he yelled or hurt me physically. I couldn't stand the look on his face. "I woke up naked with you holding on to me. Don't try to make this situation okay by lying to me. I know –"
"Percy, I'm telling you; nothing happened! We didn't have sex!" I yelled in frustration. A crowd of students had gathered in front of the laboratory to see what was the commotion was about.
Percy was shocked. "What?"
I gulped back a sob and took a deep breath. "I needed you that night, Perce. In a way I never needed anyone. Somehow, that need was intensified and now I knew why," I said, glaring at Amber. She smirked. "You drugged me and then convinced me to drug him."
"What?!" Percy yelled. He looked at me in confusion. "You drugged me, Sam?"
I nodded slowly. "Amber gave the punch to me. I knew what was in it and I – I made you drink it, knowing what it would do to you." I couldn't look at him, but I could see that his hands were shaking. "I-I'm so sorry, Perce. I wasn't in full control of myself that night and I just needed you so bad that – "
I was cut off short when Percy suddenly yelled. He balled his fist and punched the door. His hand left a dent in the hard wood. The glass on top shattered into a thousand pieces. The students who were watching fled. Amber looked scared and I took a step back. I'd never seen Percy like this. It was terrifying.
"You did that on purpose, Samantha?" he asked, panting. I could see blood dripping from his knuckles. "You – you made me drink that freaking punch even when you knew what was in it?!"
"Perce, please . . ." I pleaded. I wasn't sure what I was asking. Forgiveness? By the look in Percy's eyes, I doubted he would give me that.
"Would you mind sharing what really happened and why we were both naked or are you going to keep things from me again, huh?!" Percy was slowly walking to where I was. His eyes were red from tears, so was his face. The latter was because of anger.
"Perce, I'm so sorry. Please, don't be mad." I knew how stupid I sounded. What I was asking was completely impossible. I kept the truth a secret, and now Annabeth was mad at him, and I was asking him not to be mad.
"Damn it, Samantha, tell the truth!"
This time, I visibly cringed. I was afraid of what he might do. Amber was clearly terrified, too, as she was slowly inching to the door. But Percy stopped her before she could even get out. "Don't even think about it, Amber. I'm not done with you."
He was a completely different person now. I could see no hint of the old Percy. The always gentle, understanding and loving friend I had. I should've known that when it came to Annabeth, he was too protective and now that he had hurt her because of what I did, it was no wonder why he was reacting like this.
Percy turned back to me. "Speak. Now."
"Perce . . ." I began. His nostrils flared and words suddenly poured out of my mouth. "I just – I wanted to be with you so bad that night that when Amber handed me the punch, I gave it to you. Th-the drug must've influenced my mind and then we were kissing in my room. I wasn't thinking straight anymore. When I was about to remove the last piece of clothing on you, you called on to Annabeth." I tried looking him in the eye, but failed miserably. I couldn't. My vision was blurred because of the tears. "I wanted to stop, but my body was feeling too hot so I stripped you and myself and then . . . you just kept of moaning Annabeth's name. I couldn't take it. I stopped, Perce. I just lied next to you and fell asleep. Then you woke up that morning and you thought something happened – "
"Of course I did!" Percy yelled. "We weren't wearing anything, what was I supposed to think?" He brushed the hair out of his face and wouldn't look at me. It hurt. It was worse than watching him kiss Annabeth. "Why didn't you tell me the truth, Samantha? Why?"
The fact that he was calling me by my full name only intensified my guilt. He hated me now. That was for sure. "I didn't want to hurt you – "
"You didn't?" he asked incredulously. "You think you weren't hurting me by keeping the truth from me? That was worse, Samantha." Percy scoffed, but there was no humor on his face. "You know, I wouldn't have gotten mad at you by lying to me if this doesn't concern Annabeth, but it does. Do you have any idea how hurt she is right now, huh?" Percy shook his head. "I thought you were my friend, Samantha."
"I-I am, Perce. Please. I'm so – "
"Well, friends don't do this to their friends, Samantha," he said in disappointment and hurt. Then he turned to Amber who nearly jumped a foot in the air in fear. "And you," Percy said, his voice venomous. "You just love destroying other people's lives, don't you?"
"I – I didn't mean to. It was j-just a prank," Amber stammered.
"A prank, Amber? Do you have any idea what you destroyed? Do you have any idea how many people you've hurt? Or don't you even care about that?" Amber opened her mouth to answer but Percy was on a roll now. "You know, I tried to be nice to you all this time. I tolerated you. But everything has their limitations. This – this is over the line, Amber. This is below the belt."
Percy shook his head again and headed to the door without looking at me. He turned around when his hand was on the doorknob and looked at Amber. "You better hope this gets fixed because if it doesn't . . . you have no idea what I'm capable of."
He slammed the door so hard the remaining shards of glass fell to the floor.
I stared at the broken glass and couldn't help but think that it was a perfect illustration of the state my life was in that moment. Broken.
PERCY
"Annabeth, please pick up the phone and let me explain. Please," I pleaded for what seemed like the thousandth time.
I was driving and on my way to her apartment. I still couldn't believe that Samantha would do such thing. It just wasn't who she was . . . and yet, she still did what she did. It crossed my mind that maybe I'd been too harsh with what I said to her, and to Amber, but everything was in serious disarray now that I wasn't responsible for what I was saying or doing.
It was very unlike me to say hurtful things to other people, even when I knew they deserved it but this one involved Annabeth – the only person in the world I knew I never wanted to hurt. But I did. And now I felt like – excuse my word – shit.
I arrived at her apartment. I jumped out of the car and knocked on her door. "Annabeth, please. If you're in there let me in. I have to explain. Please." I continued knocking but she still wasn't responding. Either she hated me too much or she wasn't here.
I reached into a small gap between her door and a piece of wood she had placed to hold pots of plants. The space was small enough for a girl's hand but it was too narrow for mine. I felt the wood scraping my wounded knuckle and I winced but I pushed my hand further until I felt her apartment key. That meant she wasn't here.
Where could she be?
The answer came into my mind. I went to her backyard and opened up the sprinkler system. The water broke the rays of the falling sun into different colors, casting a rainbow. I fetched a drachma from my pocket and threw it to the rainbow, muttering the incantation. "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering." I threw the coin. "Show me . . . um," I remembered that it was still school days and there weren't many campers at Camp. I thought for a moment and remembered one who spends most of her time at Camp. She might kill me if I contacted her but I figured I didn't have a choice. "Clarisse La Rue, Camp Half-Blood."
The air shimmered and in a moment, a screen-like projection opened up before me, showing Clarisse holding hands with her boyfriend, Chris Rodriguez. Clarisse looked surprised and angry that I butted in her alone time with her boyfriend.
"Jackson!" she spat. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Is Annabeth there?"
"No. Why would she be?"
"Um . . ."
"Wait a second," she said, leaning closer. "Why are your eyes all red? Were you crying?" I didn't answer. "Aw. Prissy is crying."
"Clarisse," I said, fighting to keep my voice steady. "This isn't something to joke about."
Her face became serious. "What is it? I swear to Ares, Jackson, if you hurt that girl, I'm going to rip you apart and feed your pieces to Peleus."
"Well, I did! So can you please come here and do what you said? Because I can't honestly stand myself right now!" I said, growing more upset. Annabeth wasn't at Camp Half-Blood. Where did she go? "Look, if you hear anything from her, or if she arrives, can you please call me?"
"Fine," she said.
"Thank you." I waved my hand and the connection broke. I went back to my car and drove to the Empire State Building. If Annabeth wasn't at Camp, then there was a possibility that she was in Olympus.
The security guard, who was stationed up front the last time I was here, was sitting behind his desk, holding a black book with a gold bird in a gold circle with an arrow on its beak. I knew what that was. "600th floor," I said.
He didn't even look up. "No such thing, kid."
"Look, I'm a son of Poseidon. My aura's pretty strong so unless you want an army of monsters marching through your doors, you'd let me in." I don't usually play the son of Poseidon card but I figured I needed a strong reason for him to let me, and I wasn't in any mood to play pretend.
The guard smirked, took a plastic card from his jacket pocket and handed it to me. "Make sure no one's with you."
I gave a subtle nod headed to the elevator. I inserted the key card to the slot and a new button appeared, one marked 600. I pressed it and waited. The song playing in the background seemed to taunt me. It was Without You by David Guetta. The lyrics cut into me like no other.
Can't erase, so I'll take blame
But I can't accept that we're estranged, without you.
Without you, I can't quit now,
This can't be right,
I can't take one more sleepless night
Without you, without you
Without you . . . There would be no life left for me to live without Annabeth. I know that might sound corny or cheesy or whatever you want to call it, but it's true.
The elevator dinged and I went outside, rushing through the stone pathways leading to the Throne Room, where Annabeth's office was near. The place was stunning, I guess, but I wasn't in the mood to admire my girlfriend's work.
Something Annabeth said returned to me and almost sent me falling sideways. Correction, she had said, ex-boyfriend. Tears stung my eyes again. I believe Annabeth broke up with me again with that line.
I reached my destination and was on my way to opening the door of her apartment when a voice stopped me. "Perseus," it said. I knew that voice. I turned around and was met with a very familiar pair of stormy grey eyes.
I kneeled and bowed my head. "Lady Athena."
"Stand up, boy," she instructed. I did. "I believe I know the reason why you are here." Her tone was cold and I knew she knew what happened.
Annabeth's mother disapproved of me from the very beginning. I didn't know whether because my Dad's Poseidon and they had this old rivalry, or because she just didn't like me. Either way, I knew I was stepping on eggshells when it came to Athena and my relationship with her daughter. And now, I just proved, to her eyes, that I wasn't worthy of Annabeth.
"I never wanted to hurt her, Lady Athena," I said. I'd rather have this conversation with Annabeth, but I knew that I needed to explain my side of story to her mother. "It was never my intention to hurt Annabeth and I know you won't like me very much after what happened but please, if you're going to blast me, just give me the chance to explain to her. Then you can do whatever you want with me."
"Oh, she won't be doing anything to you," said a beautiful voice. I looked up and saw a stunning woman wearing a pink dress that complimented her figure in a perfect way. Everything about her was perfect and I momentarily forgot what I was doing here in the first place. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. "Lady Aphrodite," I said through gritted teeth, kneeling yet again.
"Stand up, Percy. No need for formalities," she told me. I obeyed her order. She turned to Athena and said, "I know why he's here. To apologize to your daughter. Why don't you give him the chance?"
"I did," Athena said. "I gave him his chance, remember? And he still hurt my daughter –"
"Because someone played him and Annabeth!" Aphrodite said. "You claim to be the wisest goddess, Athena, then I suggest you sue that big brain of yours to see what's really going on here. Can't you see how hurt he is?"
"He deserves it," Athena insisted.
"Does he? Let me ask you a question then, who was the person who gave Percy his freedom in the first place? Wasn't it your daughter? She broke up with him, convincing him that he had to figure out what he really feels and then when he did, your daughter acts like this?"
"He cheated on her!"
"Did he? They weren't even together when it happened." Aphrodite smirked. "And nothing happened! You know that, right? See, Athena, you're just like your proud daughter. You think you know everything but you don't."
"Oh, I do," Athena said with a wave of dismissal.
"Really? Tell me, Athena do you understand what love is? Do you know that in order for you to feel love, you have to feel pain first? Do you know that?" For the first time, I saw the wisdom goddess speechless. "Do you know that what your daughter and Percy are going through right now is nothing but a part of them growing up as a couple? And might I remind you, Athena that we can't interfere directly into our children's lives. So I suggest you use your anger onto something more productive rather than annihilating someone you don't even know fully – someone who made a mistake just like everybody else. Just like me and you. Now give him the chance to straighten this out." Aphrodite looked at me, smiling. "You have a good heart, Percy. Annabeth's on her way to Camp Half-Blood. If you hurry, you might catch up to her."
I bowed my head. "Thank you, Lady Aphrodite. Lady Athena.
I hurried back to the stone pathway, half-expecting Athena to follow me and send me back to New York the faster way, but she didn't. I think Aphrodite did a good one on her.
My car was seated where I left it before going up. I jumped in and made a call first before driving. As expected, my call went straight to voice mail. I sighed. "Listen, Annabeth. I know you're pissed at me right now, but I'm begging you to explain things out. Please. I love you."
I tossed my phone back to the passenger seat, started the car and drove, the New York traffic slowing me down. I was a few feet away from the intersection when my phone lit up and chimed. I ducked to my right and picked it up, thinking that it was Annabeth.
That was my mistake.
A huge black dog with red eyes suddenly appeared in front of my car. Instinct kicked in and I jerked the wheel to the left, throwing the car in a spin. Everything was a blur. My forehead hit the mirror on my side, creating a web of cracks on it. Blood flowed from the wound and into my eyes.
Two bumps from behind and front informed me that I had hit two more cars. I had no idea how long my car spun, but it couldn't have been more than fifteen seconds. When I opened my eyes, I saw that my car was sitting right in the middle of the intersection.
And one of the stoplights was green.
I didn't have time to process anything because just then, my car was hit from the right, sending it flying to the road. There were blinding flashes of red and white. I closed my eyes tightly and forced myself to focus. I heard the deafening sound of something large colliding with my Corvette Stingray. It was followed by metal grinding against stone, glasses shattering and a shower of sparks that seemed to blind me, despite of my tightly pressed eyelids.
It stopped and I opened my eyes, afraid of what state I might be in. Things seemed to had been turned upside-down. I was lying on the roof of my car, with shards of glasses around me. There was blood everywhere and I knew that it was mine. There was a strong taste of copper in my mouth. I could feel broken teeth inside. My left leg was bent in a scary angle. It wasn't supposed to point the other way, was it?
When I looked down to my mid-section, however, I knew that things were bad. A piece of metal was protruding from my stomach. A dark pool of crimson blood had gathered around it and was dripping down to my face.
The thing that scared me the most was that I wasn't feeling anything. I knew I should be in unimaginable pain, but instead I felt numb. I realized that my body was going into shock. I concentrated hard and thought, Don't go into shock. Don't go into shock.
Just when I was beginning to establish some focus, the pain hit me head-on. Suddenly, Percy Jackson didn't exist anymore. He was nothing but pain. I could still remember what it felt like taking a bath at the River Styx, and this was almost as bad as that one.
All I was aware of was pain. Pain in my head, chest, leg and stomach. The agony obliterated my sense of self, so I couldn't fight against it. I couldn't do anything but lie there, and wait for it to stop . . . and I knew what making it stop would mean.
I would die.
It was kind of funny that all those years, I survived the worst monsters. I even defeated the Lord of Time himself. It was ironic that one mortal accident would be the end of everything.
I knew I couldn't fight. If the Fates decreed that I was to die, then there was nothing I could do to stop it. I had to accept it. My only regret was not being able to ask Annabeth for her forgiveness, and not having the chance to tell her how much I love her, of what she meant to me and how happy she made me all those times we were together. My eyes teared up at the thought.
Faces of the people I loved flashed by . . . Mom, Paul, Dad, Grover, Thalia, Samantha. My friends: Nico, Katie, Travis and Connor. All of them. "I'm so sorry," I murmured.
Then I went back to Annabeth. I wanted her face to be the last one I'd see when I die. Her smile, the sound of her voice, the smell of her hair and the feeling of her lips against mine. I heard her saying "I love you, Seaweed Brain."
A pair of tear fell. "I love you, Wise Girl. I'm so sorry," I whispered.
I closed my eyes tightly and let go. I fell into an endless abyss, succumbing to the relief the darkness was offering.
[Now that's what I call a cliffhanger! :D
PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!
Here's a bad, bad news. Not only for you, but for me, too. Just know that I'm not doing this on purpose. I'm not sure If I will be able to update in the next four or five days. It's my cousin's wedding and we will be busy, but I'm promising you that I will try my best to update sooner and not make you wait for a long time.
Next - Chapter 27: KNOW THY ENEMY]
