𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏: 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠
May 29, 2008
VERONICA SAWYER WAS NOT A VERY PATIENT PERSON.
She already knew that. Veronica could be stubborn at times and she wasn't ashamed or apologetic about it. It was a flaw of hers that she was keen on accepting no matter what.
But for Nico di Angelo, her patience was unlimited.
Her six months of searching for Nico had done nothing to help her, only leading her to dead ends and endless frustration. But she refused to give in, choosing to devote her time this summer to continuing her search until she'd looked everywhere on Earth. School was out, she was free for almost the entirety of the summer, and camp wasn't even an option Veronica would consider unless it was her only option.
"Veronica?"
She jumped as she turned to face Jane once again. Jane, the therapist Tina had gotten for her as a suggestion from her "social worker" (Chiron, who'd also rigged the situation to specifically get Veronica a half-blood therapist, which she didn't think was a real thing). Soft hazel eyes peered at Veronica, a knowing look on Jane's face.
"I was thinking..." Veronica trailed off. "Just thinking..."
"Nico?" Jane asked. Veronica glared at her from where she sat, twirling a gum wrapper in her hands. Jane pushed a loose curl into place. "Veronica, it's okay to still be worried. It's okay to hope you find him. But maybe—"
"No buts," Veronica said firmly. "I'm not gonna stop looking for Nico until I've checked every single inch of the Earth."
Jane sighed. "Veronica, that's not healthy. Your mentality is already in shambles as it is because of how much you've put aside on Nico's behalf."
"Who cares if it's healthy?" Veronica demanded. "Nico is out there somewhere, and he's alone or in the wrong company. I promised that kid that I'd always be there when he needed me and I have been nowhere!"
Jane sighed and removed her glasses, wiping them with a cloth. "Veronica, wouldn't your mother's book be helpful if that were the case? It'd lead you straight to Nico with just one spell."
"I'm not using anything that belonged to Marjorie Westcourt," the daughter of Dionysus huffed. "She's dead to me."
"Try as you might, Veronica," Jane replied, putting her glasses back on. "You're still a legacy of Hecate. You still have magic. And unless you find another source for learning, that spellbook is all you have."
Veronica rolled her eyes and looked up at Jane. "I'll use it when the universe tells me to use it."
Jane pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "I suppose there's nothing else I can do to convince you, at least not now," she said, turning her gaze to the small clock on her desk. "Our time is up today."
"Hmm," Veronica hummed stiffly.
"That concludes all the important stuff, anyways," Jane said. "But since I didn't get a chance to ask you earlier because you ran in here and immediately began talking about Chiron, how have you been recently?"
Veronica pursed her lips at the question. "Better," she said. "I've gotten to appreciate some movies I've missed out on and some older ones, too."
Jane nodded. "That's good. What kind of movies have you been watching?"
Veronica started to list them on her fingers. "I've been rewatching the Disney Renaissance era films, and old movies from the seventies and eighties," she told Jane. "And I've gotten into fantasy shows like Charmed."
"Charmed, a show where the main characters use a spellbook," Jane noted.
"Please don't ruin Charmed for me," Veronica confessed. "I don't want to associate it with Marjorie."
Jane shook her head, arms raised in surrender. "Okay, I won't. Whatever you say." She seemed to be giving some thought to something. "How's Rachel?" she then asked.
Veronica failed to hide her smile. "She's coming over for the weekend before she goes to freshman orientation on Monday."
"That's good," Jane said. "And everything with Rachel has been perfectly fine, I assume?"
"Just fine," Veronica agreed. "I've got it perfectly planned out."
"I'm happy there's something that you can maintain peace with," Jane said. Veronica smiled wider as Jane looked at her clock. "Okay, where the heck is Tina?"
Just as she asked, a knock at the door sounded. "Oh. There she is," Jane said softly, smoothing out her clothes.
Veronica grabbed her things as quickly as possible and started to leave. "Veronica?" Jane called, making her stop and turn back.
"Yes?"
"Your mother's spellbook is important somehow. She wouldn't have left it for you if it wasn't," Jane said gently. "I'm not trying to push you. But... just think about it, okay?"
Veronica sighed. "I'll think about it, Jane," she said before she turned the handle and walked out.
♛⸻𖥸⸻♛
May 30, 2008
PERCY JACKSON WAS IN A PICKLE.
In the time since he'd kissed Veronica Sawyer in the gardens of Olympus, he'd been confronted by these horrible things called puberty and hormones.
In a panic after Veronica had told him they were moving too fast for people that'd met and befriended each other in a week, Percy had asked her to pretend that it'd never happened...
Only for him to never be able to forget it happened.
He blamed Aphrodite. Whatever she'd done, it was like some magic trick he couldn't shake off, plaguing his mind every time he thought about Veronica. She moved to Chicago after agreeing to live with a woman named Valentina Bailey. He figured she'd be in New York for the summer because of camp. She'd let him know if she wouldn't be at camp, after all. She still talked to him semi-regularly. In fact, he'd like to think they'd gotten closer.
So he felt guilty about wanting to kiss Veronica. Percy felt like an idiot for having asked her to ignore the event only to fall for her like some bad romcom star.
"The Fates have to hate me," he groaned, throwing himself onto his bed as he poured over the Ancient Greek translations of Veronica's songs that she'd sent him. So far, there'd been three—Tell Me More, Watercolor Valentine, and Spring Fling. He hadn't read the last one yet, but Watercolor Valentine was his favorite of the formers. He wasn't sure why.
"I should try giving her an I-M," Percy said to himself. He fished his pockets for a drachma and, much to his disappointment, only pulled out lint. "Oh, great."
For a second, he seriously contemplated tossing lint into a rainbow and asking Iris to call Veronica for him. But he figured the goddess would laugh at how desperate he was, so he decided against it.
This had to be the most awkward part of his life so far. He didn't know where he stood with Veronica after they agreed to be friends despite their kiss and he was still kind of into her. Of course, he'd never tell Veronica that and risk angering her or losing their friendship. Still, Percy Jackson was kind of stressed about this girl. She was kind of hard to read.
"Maybe talk to her about it," Sally suggested to him at dinner that night—they ordered a large pepperoni pizza. "If all she said was that you're moving too fast, maybe you have a chance. Don't let it slide past you and end up regretting it."
Percy groaned and picked at his pizza. "You just said what Aphrodite told me last winter. She was all like," he brought his voice up in pitch, "'Follow your heart and don't let her go or you'll regret it for the rest of your life and die alone.'"
She laughed at Percy's impression of Aphrodite. "I'm sure that's not what she said, honey," she said softly, "but if the goddess of love herself agrees with me, I think that proves me right."
Percy tried not to pout as he gobbled down a slice of pizza. "I guess..."
"Sweetheart, maybe you should just try to be closer to Veronica's level," his mother suggested. "That is to say, maybe you should try to actually hang out with her instead of just sitting next to her with a lovesick smile half the time you talk to her."
Percy gave his mom a half-offended look. "I don't do that!"
"If I pretend to believe that, will you chew with your mouth closed?" Sally teased him. Percy looked down at his plate and grabbed a fallen piece of pepperoni. "Seriously, though, Percy. Wouldn't it be helpful to get to actually know her? Right now, you're pining away and she's experiencing new things in life that she's never had before. Introduce her to some of that stuff, teach her about things. Wouldn't that be better for winning her affection than just smiling at everything she says?"
"'Winning her affection?' Really, Mom?" Percy questioned.
"Just think about it, honey," Sally said, standing to refill her cup of water.
"I'll... I'll think about it, Mom," he assured her. "I promise."
When she smiled at him, he couldn't help but sigh pathetically as he recalled Veronica's dislike of promises she didn't think she could keep.
What did he do to deserve being this in love with someone before he could even make it to high school?
♛⸻𖥸⸻♛
"AND HOW DOES THAT MATTER?" VERONICA HUFFED AS SHE TURNED TO CHASE MILLER ON THE IRIS-MESSAGE.
Chiron was requesting her presence at camp and Veronica was not happy about it. She'd been living a relatively peaceful life since moving in with Valentina Bailey and she was not happy that Chiron was trying to drag her back down into the sucky life that was being a half-blood.
"Not sure," the son of Ares replied. "All I know is what I told you."
"I'm not going," Veronica insisted. "I have too much to do."
"Like what?" Chase asked. "Are you still looking for that kid?"
"Yes!" Veronica shouted. "And I do not want to deal with Chiron breathing down my neck because it's my 'duty' to help the camp of ingrates who will make someone a laughingstock unless they're useful to them. There is a child who is missing. I promised him that I'd always be there for him, okay? And I'm not putting that aside for Chiron."
She scoffed. "Besides, Chiron has never even cared about me this much before. What makes it different now?"
Chase frowned, like he knew the answer but also knew Veronica wouldn't like it. "Something about a... Mistress? Whatever that means. He said you'd know."
Veronica just barely bit back a snarl. Nobody had ever actually told her what it meant after her father's less than satisfactory explanation. "Tell him that if that's all he cares about, I'm not ever coming back to camp unless it's important. And I don't mean important to him, okay? I mean something I care about. And right now, I don't see a reason to come back."
"Veronica, come on," Chase sighed. "You can't just turn your back on camp. It's where you grew up. You can't honestly say that you wouldn't be sad to miss camp this year."
"You're right, I can't," Veronica agreed. "But if it came down to camp or Nico, I'll pick him every time."
"Why?" Chase pressed. "What makes this kid so important to you?"
Veronica paused, taking a moment to consider Chase's words. As she tried to get her own words together, she was reminded of the look on Nico's face when he realized his sister had left him to join the Hunters, and she wondered if she looked the same when her mother abandoned her.
"He reminds me of myself," she eventually settled on. "I can't help but care about him 'cause of that."
That answer seemed to be good enough for Chase, because he sighed and held his hand in his head. "Just... think about it, Ronnie. Please?"
Veronica turned to look at the Hades figurine sitting on her desk. A flash of the cracks in the dining pavilion plagued her mind for half a second before she took a sharp breath. "I..."
She turned back to Chase. "I'll think about it."
"That's all I'm asking," he said. "That's all any of us are asking. We miss you, Veronica. Camp feels... different without you. It's like the energy has shifted. Steph says it's because Kronos is getting stronger."
"And Steph is right," Veronica said. "I've been having... weird feelings whenever I go near certain places. Tina took me to San Francisco for spring break and I could just feel Mount Tam getting stronger."
She shivered at the thought. "It's unsettling, y'know?"
Chase nodded. "Yeah. With your dad gone, we—"
"Dad's not at camp?" Veronica asked.
"He's going to check on others gods," Chase explained. "It... it's been rough. Some new guy named Quintus is here. He's fucking weird, though. Like, jeez. I think even you would hate him."
Veronica snorted. "That bad?"
"I'd like to kick him in the balls once or twice," Chase answered. "Evie has kicked him in the balls once or two."
"Well, you two have severe anger issues, so who knows if that's just the Ares in you talking?" Veronica taunted.
"Go fuck yourself," Chase shot back.
"I'll think of your sister when I do," Veronica retorted.
"You little—"
A knock at the door interrupted the entire conversation. "Ronnie, do you think that we might need to get more snacks for movie night?"
Veronica smiled and turned to look at the door. "Yeah, Rach, just give me a second. Chase is being annoying."
"Me?!" he gasped. "Well, I never!"
"Whatever, loser," Veronica laughed, about to wave her through the mist to disconnect them.
"Seriously, though, Ronnie," Chase said, suddenly shifting to a more concerned tone. "I... Chiron really wants you to think about—"
"Chase," Veronica hissed, turning back to him on the Iris message. "My girlfriend is on the other side of that door. You know, one of the things I care about? Therefore, tell Chiron fuck off and let me enjoy my weekend with her before she goes back to New York. Capiche?"
Chase bristled at her tone. "Have a good day, Veronica. See you around."
He swiped his hand through the mist and was gone before Veronica could blink and question herself and her tone.
"That was... weird, even for me," Veronica murmured to herself. She turned to the door and took a breath to calm herself down as a nervous chill ran down her spine.
Another knock at the door caught her attention. "Ronnie? Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine, babe," she finally responded, sighing as she stood up and opened the door.
Rachel Elizabeth Dare, her girlfriend of almost five months now, was waiting for her with a concerned frown. "Hey, there, stranger," she greeted the mortal girl with a smile. "What's up?"
"I could hear you talking, but it was kind of muffled," Rachel said. "You seemed pissed."
"Don't worry about it," Veronica said. "Just... it's just camp."
"Your summer camp?" Rachel asked. "I thought you were skipping it."
"I am," Veronica agreed. "I'm gonna continue traveling the country for the summer with Tina, but I won't forget to visit you, okay?"
"Okay," Rachel said, smiling. "It's just that you've been distracted lately. You get lost in your head sometimes, and I can't help you."
Veronica hummed. "You shouldn't have to worry about that," she replied. "This is our weekend, okay? Don't get caught up in my mind for me."
Rachel tilted her head and leaned forward, giving Veronica a quick kiss on the cheek. Her green eyes lit up with excitement as she slowly relaxed, silently agreeing with Veronica. In response, the daughter of Dionysus grabbed Rachel's face in her hands and touched their noses together for a moment.
"Now, what did you want to come ask me?" she asked Rachel softly.
Rachel sighed, her warm green eyes twinkling. "I mean, you don't need to buy more snacks, but maybe we can if you want to have some after movie night."
Veronica tilted her head. "You mean for tomorrow?"
"Sure," Rachel said, reaching to hold Veronica's hand. "And then we can go paint something together. We always work best when we're together."
Veronica pouted, interlocking their fingers. "Do we? Or do you just get distracted by pretty colors and leave me to finish the painting?" she teased.
"You know me so well," Rachel said, lightly tugging Veronica down the hall. "Now, come on, we've got a movie night to plan."
♛⸻𖥸⸻♛
Sorry for the delay! Writer's
block was hitting me hard!
Like always, I do not like the first
chapter of the volume very much.
Either way, so begins act two!
Act two will have more
Veronica-centric storylines
than the original book did,
and I plan on fixing the mess
that was Veronica and Rachel.
Hope you enjoyed this new story,
with more fun takes on Veronica's life
and a proper introduction
to Veronica's life post-TTC.