More Than You Know (Oneshots)

No Love Greater Than Food

Hazel POV

When Percy offered to make lunch today, I'll speak for everyone and say that we were all particularly shocked. I knew Percy was a great person. He was kind, loving, and loyal. He was a fierce warrior and an excellent fighter. And he could bake. I've tried one of his blue chocolate chip cookies (Sally's recipe of course), and it was downright amazing.

But a chief?

No way.

After we all vocalized our concerns over him being in charge of the kitchen for today, he huffed and decided to go down anyway.

"Fine. You all just enjoy your plate magic food. I'll go make myself some real homemade stuff."

Annabeth just rolled her eyes at his childness and tried to get him to come back, but he insisted on making food today, which none of us understood.

"Is there any particular reason as to why he's so insistent on cooking today?" I asked.

"I have no idea," Annabeth responded, everyone else agreeing with her statement. We decided to leave him be, letting him mess around in the kitchen. The boy gets so hungry so easily, he'll be upstairs in no time.

That's when the smell came.

First there was this delicious smell of homemade pasta, like the really cheesy kind that melts in your mouth. Then came the smell of marinara sauce. I didn't even know we had that on this ship.

And then I realized Percy was the only one down there in the kitchen.

He made all of that?

We all awkwardly sat upstairs, too embarrassed to go downstairs after claiming he couldn't cook, but also way too intrigued at what he was making downstairs. Finally, curiosity got the best of me.

"I'm going to go to the kitchen. I can't sit here not knowing anymore!" I exclaimed. I got up and went down a small flight of stairs and made my way to the kitchen. And there, standing in the midst of it all, was Percy Jackson with a casserole full of freshly made pasta (dyed blue) and a glass of blue juice.

He hadn't noticed me yet and he looked really deep into his thoughts so I thought I'd give him a second before I jump scare him and give him a heart attack.

"Hey mom," Percy whispered, giving himself a seat on the floor. "Today's the day. Can you believe that it's been almost seven years? I'm so proud of us. I know I'm away right now and can't be home to do our usual tradition, but I hope you're back in your own apartment, safe, and doing the same thing. We made it though mom. I'm so happy. I love you."

That was almost the sweetest message I've ever heard anyone say. I know I've always had an estranged relationship with my own mom, and a lot of demigods had bad home lives, but Percy was always the exception and I was honestly glad for that. His demigod years were filled with endless amounts of pain. From two wars and being forced to travel through Tartarus itself. At least he got to have his mom.

"Oh hey Haze," Percy said, a smile gracing his lips, as he got himself to stand up. "Sorry I didn't see you there!"

"It's no problem!" I told him, laughing at his silly antics. "I wanted to say sorry for not believing you before. You think I can have a little bit of that lasagna you made?"

Percy was pretending to think about it, but his cheeky little smile gave it away.

"Of course, take a seat."

Percy served me up a very generous plate of blue lasagna that was actually so delicious! I scraped my plate clean, rejoicing in the taste of actual, homemade food. Magic plate food was good, I'm not going to deny that, but there's always something special about eating food that was personally prepared by someone you love.

"This is amazing Percy. I had no idea you're such a good chef. Your mom taught you well!" I exclaimed, after practically inhaling the meal. Percy, however, winced at the last statement.

"My mom never actually taught me how to cook. I had to teach myself and I realized I was pretty good at it."

"Teach yourself? Why?" I questioned, with complete innocence. Sally was the one that taught him to bake I presume, but she wasn't the one that taught him how to cook?

Percy looked lost at the question, his eyes filled with a sense of sadness and a tinge of fear I couldn't really understand.

"What happened Percy?" I asked him gently. I took his hand and tried to help make him feel comfortable.

"When I was younger, I lived with a man named Gabe. My mom married him to protect me. He was disgusting and smelled so mortal that he masked my demigod scent when I was a kid. He was not a nice person though. I learned well from the beginning that, when I was alone with Gabe, I couldn't talk back. I couldn't even speak without being spoken to. I had to come back directly from school. I had to listen to everything he said."

I didn't understand where this was going, but the story was making me sad.

"But why Percy?"

"He— he enjoyed hitting little kids, and, every time I did something that he didn't like, which somehow happened to be all the time, he would beat me. And, so, when Gabe started hosting poker and alcohol parties in his house, I'd be the one having to cook and clean and serve. My mom was hardly ever home because of her work so I had to deal with it on my own."

I was horrified. Here I was literally just thinking that Percy had a good homelife, when he just admitted to being abused for a good portion of his life. Percy decided to continue his story.

"After I found out I was a demigod and finished my first quest, my mom and I killed him. I have no shame in it. We killed him. He was an abusive, disgusting animal that made me feel small and weak and constantly hurt me. And every year, on the anniversary of the day we killed him, my mom and I make blue food, as a rebellious act against Gabe, our own personal monster, and drink to each other's survival."

I had no idea what to say, but my respect for the boy sitting in front of me increased tenfold. How does he manage to be happy and brave after facing all the worst things in the world?

I realized I had the answer to my own question.

Percy just wasn't the happiest person. He feels pain and sadness just as much as everyone else. He just masks it for the sake of everyone else.

Again, my respect for him shot up.

"I'm so proud of you Percy," I told him, leaving in to give him a hug.

He deserved so much more than what the fates offered him.