Forgot to Say [Percy Jackson and the Olympians Fanfic]

Too Late to Apologize

All of them surrounded an amaranth, showing her love for him was immortal and would last for eternity.

She swallowed harshly and blinked back tears, barely getting back into the service. She saw several of Percy’s friends and saw for the first time how many people were there. Percy had truly been really popular in school, and in general. Many had come to like him in life, and she was shamed to see that the other gods were there as well, and all of the camp. She had not been able to avoid them after all.

But they weren’t looking at her, and were busy minding the service and looking sorrowfully at the casket. Her eyes drew towards Sally Jackson unwillingly, and she could see the mortal woman trying vainly to pull herself together, even as tears ran down her face and the occasional sob escaped. Percy’s stepdad was bent over, holding his head in one hand and covering his face, his body slightly shaking from what she could assume were sobs. Poseidon sat with them, stoic faced and unnaturally still. Suddenly, he moved and caught her stare, gaze boring into her accusingly. He said nothing, mouthed nothing, did nothing other than stare at her intensely.

She averted her eyes, tensing up, but when she looked back he had gone back to gazing at his son, though the grief was more visible now.

The service ended and it was time for them to mingle around and reminiscence with each other about Percy, before the pyre burning. She chose to stay in her seat, shaking slightly and blankly staring out in front of her.  No one came to her and she didn’t seek them out, so she was surprised when someone sat next to her. She hesitantly looked over and found her daughter looking older and more worn out. She looked down unwittingly and saw her daughter’s own bouquet.

A daffodil for unrequited love. A yellow tulip for hopeless love. A heliotrope for devotion and a blue violet for faithfulness. And a forget-me-not for true love.

Her daughter was still in love with Percy and had never given up on him.

But she didn’t understand the two other flowers Annabeth had, though her daughter seemed to know her thoughts. She plucked the peach blossom and twirled it around in contemplation.

“For bridal hope,” she whispered. She looked over at her mother bitterly. “Percy was driving over to see me; when he got into that accident, he was driving over to come to me. He was going to give us another chance.” Then she held out the snowdrop. “Consolation or hope. I had hope for us and now I am left with the knowledge that we could’ve been together and we could’ve been happy. But it’s become a consolation in a way…because in the end, it was like he’d chosen me. A little bit of comfort, you know? That I was the one he had gone to. I guess that’s my consolation prize –that I was the girl Percy chose in the end, that he had been coming to see me, that he actually wanted to give us another try.”

Annabeth stood up and started to walk away.

“Some consolation. I didn’t get Percy, I got stuck with thoughts of almost and what could’ve been,” she muttered as she left Athena behind.

“At least you have some consolation,” Athena murmured, frozen from her daughter’s words as she clenched her hands around her flowers and stared teary at the ground. “You’re left with the consolation that there could’ve been hope for the two of you? I? I lost it all.”