Annabeth's POV

4 years and 8 months later

*BEEP* *BEEP*

*BEEP* *BEE-*

I clicked my phone to stop the alarm and tiredly raised myself out of bed. Looking down at my phone I saw that it was 5:30AM. I let out a heavy sigh and stood up to go get ready for the day.

It had been almost 5 years since I left Percy, since then I had moved in with my dad and step-mom and thankfully was able to finish my last semester online. I barely had made it through that last semester though as I was a mess from the break-up, between laying in bed with morning sickness, post break up depression, and even making some bad decisions with men…and women. I was able to graduate and clean my act up by the time I had hit my second term with Diana. After deciding to keep Diana, I had thought about putting her up for adoption but after seeing her first sonogram something in me told me I didn't want to give her up, I was able to get an online architecture job while I stayed with parents until Diana was born. Then, after that I had Diana in September and for the first six months of her time in this world I decided to start looking for an in person architecture job, it took a while but I was able to secure a well paid job and was able to soon move out of my parent's home and into my own place. Since then my life has been mostly about Diana and work, I won't lie though that I would still have the occasional wild night out but I made sure my wild nights never took priority over Diana.

After taking a shower, putting on a little make-up, and getting dressed I walked down the hall to wake up Diana. After getting her up and ready some I went down stairs and got started on breakfast, while I was never the best cook I was able to make a mean scrambled eggs and ham. I picked Diana up from her spot on the couch where she was watching Bluey and sat her down at the kitchen table with her food.

"How did you sleep Diana?" I asked, smiling at her puzzled look. While she had blonde hair and showed to be quite smart for the average four year old. She had Percy's green eyes, nose, personality and facial expressions.

"Good. I dream of sharks and shark boy." She said inspecting her egg to make sure I hadn't left any shells in it. I had done it once and she now insists on inspecting anything I make even if it didn't call for eggs.

"Oh? Who is shark boy?" I asked confused as I had never shown her Sharkboy and Lavagirl so I didn't know who she could be talking about.

"The boy tat plays wit sharks, he can talk to tem, sing wit tem, and tey don't bite him." She said, smiling at me excited to talk about sharks and this shark boy.

"Oh? What does shark boy look like?" I asked, now really intrigued to see how this girl could have thought up something so wild.

"Don't remember" she stated, shrugging her shoulders, and then continued inspecting her food. I shook my head, chuckling at her. I told her that there were no shells and she needed to eat her food because we had to get her to daycare. She rolled her eyes and ate her food before running to the door to go to daycare.

After dropping her off I stopped by a coffee shop and before making my way to work. While driving, my phone buzzed a couple of times and I saw that it was the intern Lucas, I smiled seeing his name. He was 22 years old with short dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and a very attractive smile; he also happened to be my summer fling. Today was his last day and he was seeing if I was going to his goodbye dinner tonight. I texted him back that of course I was and that he wasn't going to leave before getting a "special" goodbye from me. As I hit send I looked up and slammed on my brakes, stopping just inches away from hitting a giant cyclops walking across the street. It looked at me and as I stared at it longer it started shifting from a cyclops to a random construction worker. He yelled at me to watch where I was going and then continued on. I stared at him until he got to the other side of the street. A car honked behind me snapping me back to reality and I continued on to work pushing that interaction to the back of my mind.

Percy's POV

As I got out of my uber I looked at my new home for the next eight months. It was a small place looking out over the bay. While a place like this would normally cost a fortune even to just rent I was thankful that Piper had offered it to me for a nice reduced price, free. I walked over to the door and turned the key in the lock. As the door swung open the smell of a new house washed over me, clearly Piper had used it maybe once before letting it sit here for gods know how long. I walked through the place and checked to make sure everything worked before throwing my bags and suitcase into the bedroom. The master bedroom was nice, very ocean themed which I wasn't sure was on purpose or just coincidence. I grabbed my laptop and walked out to the kitchen to see if there was anything I could use to cook. As my laptop booted up I checked the cabinets and drawers, all stocked with a couple of basic kitchen utensils and dishes. The fridge and pantry however were both empty, I would have to go buy my own food. I first logged on to my laptop and went to check my emails, seeing one from Olympus I opened it. Very rarely did I receive an email from there but usually it meant something serious.

Perseus Jackson,

While Lord Zeus had blessed your flight across the United States, he must remind you that you must keep away from Annabeth Chase. Failing to do so will result in consequences, this is on the authority of Lady Athena blessed by Lord Zeus.

Yours Truly,

Hermes, God of Messages

Twitter: HermesDaReal420
Insta: MessengerGod69

TikTok: HermesHasFun

Business Inquiries: HermesOfficial

I clenched my hands into fists as I read the message, I knew Athena was going to pull something like this after I got here. I slammed the laptop shut and went outside to look at the view of the ocean and tried to calm down. While I wasn't here solely for Annabeth I still would've liked to see her and try and get some closure. I wasn't sure why Athena was forbidding me as last I had heard she hadn't talked to Annabeth in the past five years.

"Fuck this." I muttered and started to make my way to my laptop to try and look up Annabeth. A hand then stopped me as I reached my door. I looked up and my stomach twisted, while she looked like Annabeth, it was not. As I stared at her I then tried pushing past her before the door opened and there stood my father.
"Percy, we need to talk." He said, gesturing to himself, Athena, and I. "Athena, I think you can let my son pass now."

She let her arm down and stepped aside to let me in the house before saying rather coldly, "You are lucky your father opened the door when he did Perseus."

I looked back at her and simply stated "You too."

"Percy. She is trying to help you, could you not try and piss her off?" my father said, rolling his eyes as he held the door open for Athena and I.

"How? By threatening me with "consequences" if I even see her?" I sarcastically retorted back.

"By keeping you from getting hurt anymore son, you are supposed to be here for one main reason. You're job." Poseidon stated, slamming the door to punctuate the last bit. "I told you what working for me was going to be like, you agreed and said you understood that personal life matters would be put last. Annabeth is one of those matters."

"I also told you last time we spoke that you are not to try and reach out to her no matter what." Athena added.

"You have still yet to say why, you know just as well as I do-"

"I am a god! I do not have to explain myself to you demigod." She said, raising her voice and growing herself to appear larger.
"I miss her. It has been almost five years since she left, you don't talk to her, no one talks to her, everyone treats her like she's dead, and no one has told me a damn thing. I've done quests, jobs, and whatever else to get answers and you just keep dragging me along. If I want to try and let her back into my life I should be able to! I can do both that and my job and you know it." I argued back to them, looking at my father last.

"And then what, Jackson? What if she doesn't want you in her life? What if-"

"What if what, Athena? I don't know but living in "what if's" is driving me insane. What if I had listened to her? What if I had woken up that night? What if you had done the job that you were supposed to do?" I yelled back, getting angrier as I went on.

The temperature in the room started to fluctuate more, Athena getting mad started heating it up and in my anger the temperature started to drop. As she tried to intimidate me into submission the angrier I got and the more the air started to drop, storm clouds started to form outside and a little inside. The waves now crashing and becoming bigger with every second that passed, the pipes in the house that were filled with any water started to rattle and the ground even started to shake. Athena started to look around and realized that it wasn't my father that was backing her up, it was me doing it. She stepped back and shrunk back down to a normal height before looking at my father with what looked like fear on her face.

"Percy! That is enough." My father shouted, snapping me out of my anger. He looked at me with a fear in his eyes too but quickly changed it.

"My apologies, Lady Athena." I quietly said, looking down.

"You-..you may see her, but just know this Perseus, I am not to blame for whatever happens next. You may not be as ready as you think you are. " She said, with a clear voice of worry. She then opened the door and disappeared when going through it.

"Percy, she's just trying to look out for you." My dad said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Why though? Ever since the break up she's been like this, everyone has. Piper won't even tell me anything."

"Percy…what happened wasn't supposed to and it could've easily been avoided. Not only by you but also by Aphrodite, Athena and even Annabeth. Athena just…well she feels bad and like she has failed, and us gods do not like that feeling." He softly told me. I looked down knowing that he was right.

"Okay. I'm still going to try though." I said, looking back up at him.

He nodded his head in acknowledgment and gave me a hug. I was going to ask about how I was still alive but a roll of thunder boomed across the sky.

"That's my que, oh and before I forget, don't do that shit again to Athena. You are lucky I was here or else you wouldn't be and don't worry about any retaliation. She knows what you're going through and knows that I am going to make sure nothing happens." He said, before walking through the door and closing it shut.

I looked outside as a storm rolled in, no doubt a result of mine and Athena's standoff and Zeus's dramatic ass. I looked over at my laptop and then down at my phone, it was already 5PM and I was getting hungry. Finding Annabeth could wait, I needed to get some groceries and food to eat.