Persephone Jackson flung open her front door, slamming it closed behind her, and stomped across the living room. She lifted her cross-body bag and threw it safely into her couch cushions as she stalked past the kitchen and straight into her bedroom. Promptly after kicking off her shoes, she fell face first onto her bed and groaned loudly, the soft mattress muffling her agitated screams as best it could. Her neighbors were definitely going to file a noise complaint one day.
She propped her head up on her elbows, so she wasn't tasting her bedsheets and fished her phone out of her pocket. Calling Annabeth was second nature to her at this point and she was able to open her contact without even looking at the screen. She pressed the phone to her ear and waited.
Not even two rings later, she heard the voice of her best friend filter through.
"Hey Percy."
She bit her lip. How should she greet her? Hey Annie. No. How's it going? No. Haha funny story....
"I quit."
Percy closed her eyes. She was supposed to ease into that, not blurt it out before even saying hello.
"You want to quit your job?" Of course, Annabeth knew exactly what she was talking about. Her incredulous tone was clear as day and Percy mentally winced.
"No, like I already quit. Quitted? Quate? Whatever it is, I did it today so..." Percy snapped back, not maliciously.
"Oh Percy, I'm sorry," Annabeth sounded remorseful, but Percy could hear the edge of confusion in her voice, "And you can just use 'quit'. 'Quitted' is grammatically correct but not as common."
Percy barked out a short laugh in response to that. Trust Annabeth to always get it right. At least the correction came after the apology.
"Thanks. And it's just... I was so sick of it."
Percy turned over on the bed so her back was pressed against the mattress. Annabeth had yet to say anything, and Percy was grateful. Her best friend knew she just needed a minute to gather her thoughts.
After the Giant War, Percy and Annabeth had gone to New Rome University like they had planned. While Annabeth studied architecture, obviously, Percy debated for a whole semester before finally settling on oceanography. She was good at it, and much of the information came naturally to her due to her parentage. She still had to work hard to memorize the terms of the processes of the ocean, and pass basic biology, chemistry, and physics class. Her dyslexia sometimes made her curse the day she was born, but overall, she was lucky. Once she understood the material, applying it came easily. While her classes sucked, the internship she managed to score after her junior year was an incredible experience. Three months on the ocean where she could describe the movement of plate tectonics under the sea and the exact patterns of waves greatly impressed the right people.
As soon as she graduated, with a degree in oceanography and a concentration in physical processes, she was snatched up by a private research company who hired her to study and analyze exactly what she was trained to do. It was so easy. She moved to Bludhaven, got a pretty good apartment with her salary, and finally settled into the normal mortal life.
It's not like her life was miserable, far from it actually. She worked normal hours, her coworkers and bosses were all decent people, and she was able to visit camp on the weekends to teach sword fighting and see her friends. Even the monster attacks had greatly diminished after the wars, the low-level monsters like hellhounds, empousai, and cyclops choosing to stay in Tartarus instead of reforming since they no longer had a master to serve and knew that the chance of them simply being sent back was much higher than before.
Life was peaceful. But Percy was restless and fed up.
"You still there, seaweed brain?" Annabeth called out.
She had taken too long in her own thoughts, and Annabeth, as patient as she was, was still a demigod with ADHD. She was probably still working too, and Percy felt a brief pang of guilt before pushing it aside.
"Every day, I go into work, sit on the computer, pull satellite data and analyze it. Every day. I mean, I love the ocean and I love learning about it, but it's the same damn thing every day. And once I finally feel like I'm able to form a coherent pattern to present to my bosses, Dad has a tantrum or hissy fit and ruins weeks of research with his stupid freak storms. And when someone asks me, 'Percy, can you explain this tsunami to me? Where did it form and why didn't you see it coming?' I can't just say "Oh sorry! My dad's having a fight with my stepmother about whether they should paint the living room aqua or aquamarine!"
Percy finally stopped her rant to take a gulp of air and calm herself, "Or whatever it is they argue about," she muttered softly, her anger leaving her after she was able to let it all out.
Over the phone, Annabeth breathed out through her nose. "Trust the gods to interfere with our lives even when they're purposefully trying not to."
Percy huffed out a laugh, and then paused for a minute, but decided to continue anyways. "Maybe I made a mistake studying oceanography at NRU," she confessed.
"You really think so? You were so excited about it, though," Annabeth questioned.
Percy chewed on her lip again. This wasn't something she thought she'd ever address but, then again, she could never keep anything from Annabeth.
"Honestly, I chose it because it was easy, and I knew I'd succeed. I thought that if I tried to do anything else and I'd struggle and fail miserably."
"Percy..." Annabeth started, not with pity, but with a little bit of anger, "So what? So what if it was hard and you had a tough time with it? That's never stopped you from doing anything else before."
And here it was. Percy steeled herself.
"After...Tartarus, you seemed to be doing so well. You always had everything together. I mean you went to NRU and Berkley for gods' sakes. I thought if I couldn't measure up to you, I'd drag you down and you'd break up with me."
Percy heard Annabeth suck in a sharp breath but continued before the other girl could start.
"And then we broke up anyways. And I promise I know now that it wasn't because of that, but that's just how I thought about it back then."
Percy and Annabeth had gotten together at the end of the Titan War, enjoyed a few short months of romantic bliss before being thrown into yet another life-threatening situation. Their bond had gotten them through Tartarus together and Percy was so grateful towards the other girl for being her anchor through all those dark times. And Percy knew Annabeth felt the same way.
But after the Giant War ended, things between them slowly started to change. They no longer had to fight for their lives and had to learn to live differently. At the same time, they were both diagnosed with PTSD by a psychiatrist in New Rome. Turns out, their individual roads to recovery were incredibly different, and their relationship was only hurting them more. They decided to break up during their second semester of college, and they both agreed that it was the best possible decision.
Things had been incredibly awkward at first, especially since they were roommates and weren't allowed to switch out until the start of the next school year, but slowly, they learned to heal. Five years later, Percy still loved Annabeth, and vice versa but their love was now platonic, and they knew it was for the best.
"Percy, I love you but how many times have I told you that you don't make decisions about your education and future based off of your significant other!" Annabeth lectured, sounding frustrated.
"Yeah, well, I agree now that it was a stupid decision, happy?" Percy found herself smiling, despite the bittersweet turn in the conversation.
"No." Annabeth snapped back, but Percy could hear her smile as well. "Anyways, what do you plan on doing now?"
"Okay so maybe I didn't think that far ahead," Percy thinned her lips after she said that.
"I knew it."
"Annie," Percy whined, "Help me, please."
Annabeth laughed over the phone. That laugh six years ago would have filled Percy's stomach with butterflies but now she just groaned, knowing that whatever Annabeth was going to say next was going to be anything but helpful.
"You could buy a boat and live on the ocean. Build a reputation as the crazy old lady who thinks she can talk to fish," Annabeth offered, "Maybe you could be the modern world's first pirate."
Percy flipped over onto her stomach again as she rolled her eyes.
"I'm serious. I don't know what I'm doing with my life. Is it bad if I say I miss the action?" she asked the daughter of Athena.
Annabeth hummed in response. "It's understandable, demigods are hardwired for battle, and it's been a while since you had to fight for your life. I don't think I feel the same way, but I get what you mean."
"That's right, you have your dream architecture job, wise girl. How's that going?"
"It's not my dream job," Annabeth stressed, "It's a—"
"—job to build enough experience and credibility to become a freelance architect who works for high-end clients," Percy interrupted and finished for her, quoting from memory.
On the other side of the world, Annabeth flushed.
"That's my wise girl," Percy said approvingly and Annabeth let out a half-hearted "Shut up seaweed brain."
Feeling much better than when she first came home, Percy lifted herself off the bed and made her way into the kitchen. She placed her phone on the counter and pressed speaker to free her hands. Opening the fridge, she pulled out a leftover container of marinara.
"Alright, so work life, check. Demigod life, Hazel mentioned to me you've been teaching some knife techniques in Camp Jupiter on your free days, so that's also a check. What about your love life?" Percy interrogated and she could practically hear Annabeth roll her eyes.
"You know I'm trying to focus on work right now, and I don't have the time for a girlfriend," Annabeth explained, saying the same words Percy has been hearing her say for the last few months, "And besides, I don't have much luck in that department, I think Aphrodite is still annoyed at me about something or another."
"Oh I know all about your bad luck. Remember that time you had a crush on Reyna and then two months later she went and joined the Hunters?" Percy grinned as she grabbed a pot and filled it with water, setting it on the stove.
"Will you stop mentioning that?" Annabeth practically growled at her, "It was a momentary lapse in judgement!"
"Like Hades it was momentary," Percy snorted, pouring an entire box of pasta into the boiling pot, "For weeks, you were all 'She's so cool' and 'She's so strong' and—"
"Oh my gods"
"—And don't even get me started on your obsession with Diana—"
"Stop it"
"—you, Annie, are just a disaster around badass warrior women."
"Yeah, I wonder why I dated you!"
Percy cackled into her empty apartment, and she knew her best friend was gritting her teeth.
"You know, I bet I could get Piper to hook you two up."
"Enough," Annabeth hissed and finally, after another laugh, Percy dropped it.
Piper had gone to school for international affairs, and after graduating, had gotten a job for the U.N., and was currently working her way up to become an ambassador. Piper's exceptional performance in college genuinely qualified her for the position, but it was largely the (well deserved) recommendation from one Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman that convinced the hiring board. The same Diana Prince that Annabeth sometimes went on long rants about, praising her for her diplomatic and strategic intellect and deadly combat skills.
"Hey, Percy?"
Percy hummed in response.
"If Thalia finds out about Reyna, I'll gut you like a fish."
Percy placed a hand over her heart, even though Annabeth couldn't see, and solemnly said, "I promise she won't hear it from me."
"What do you mean, 'from me'?" Annabeth said lowly.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Percy responded innocently. "Oh! My pasta's done."
She quickly busied herself with draining the pot into a colander and rinsing the noodles with water.
"Anyways, back to what I was saying before, I miss the fighting. I mean, I want to do something that matters and the last time I felt like I was, was when I was 18."
Annabeth grudgingly accepted the topic change and let Percy continue.
"I mean Frank and Hazel are doing amazing as Praetors, Thalia and Reyna are hunting the last of the monsters, Jason...well I'm not jealous of him being a professor, I mean how did that even happen, but at least he's doing something. Leo and Calypso have that mechanic shop, Will's saving lives as a doctor, and even Nico's doing his whole Ghost King thing. And me? I was looking at waves all day, how lame is that?"
Percy poured the sauce over the pasta and shoveled a handful of noodles into her mouth at once.
"I'm sorry, seaweed brain, but I can't answer your question for you. You'll find something that fulfills you because the one thing I know about you is that you always find a way."
Percy glumly nodded while she finished chewing, "Thanks wise girl."
Annabeth laughed lightly, "As wise as I am, I don't have all the answers."
Percy's lips twitched into a smile, "Somehow I doubt that."
In San Francisco, Annabeth's boss knocked on the door to her office and gestured with a file of papers towards the meeting room. Annabeth sighed.
"I gotta go Percy, one of interns is presenting their project and my boss wants me to sit in and give my critique."
"Knock 'em dead," Percy replied, feeling proud of her friend's accomplishments.
Before Annabeth hung up, she added, "Hey, if all else fails, you could just become a vigilante, like Batman."
"Alright alright, I'll figure it out without your help," Percy laughed, pressed the end call button, and continued to eat her pasta. A few moments later, she thought about it again, and snorted to herself.
"A vigilante, yeah right."
A.N. Percy is bi and single, and Annabeth is gay and also single. I don't really have plans for Annabeth getting into a relationship with anyone from the DCU, but if you guys have any ideas, I'll consider them! Just not Reyna (Hunter) or Diana (too old for her).
Let me know what you guys think! Next chapter comes out next Friday!
Also, for whoever celebrates it, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! For whoever doesn't, I hope you had a great week regardless!