Chapter 20
Percy
Today was moving day. I packed my things, heading out of the dorm. I couldn't get the smile off my face as I barely even waved to Toby as I departed. I hopped on the first plane to New York. My parents had already left the night before, and since Annabeth and Beatrice had already graduated, they had headed back home too. I was heading back to my mom's apartment, while Annabeth went to Camp Half-Blood, since her dad was in San Fran and we had a meeting on Olympus.
After the long plane ride, I unpacked, and took a long awaited nap. I was awoken by the doorbell. I yawned, getting up and opening the door. Annabeth greeted me with a smile. "Annabeth!" I exclaimed. She ran to me, grabbing my neck as I kissed her. She gave me a hug, the two of us walking to the living room, sitting on the couch. "So what brings you here Wise Girl?" She giggled, "Just wanted to visit you Seaweed Brain. Your a free man now, how does it feel?" I smiled, "It's a little nerve-racking, but at least I have my favourite girl to help me get through it." "You mean girlfriend," she corrected "And I'll be here for you for your whole life Percy. I also came cause' our meeting is tomorrow and I wanted to stay over with you for the night, if that's okay." "Definitely," I said "My mom and Paul are just out, I think they're going for a two- day trip to...Chicago?"
Annabeth and I walked over to the couch, grabbing the remote and flipping through the channels. I wrapped my arm around Annabeth as she cuddled close to me. I felt safe with her, we were both in a simple moment of happiness. Then she spoke, "So, since we have our...uh...meeting with the gods tomorrow, what do you say we go visit Camp Half-Blood, get in some long-awaited training and such? We'd get to visit, spend a few hours, get a workout...what do you say?" I smiled at her, "Sounds perfect." She wrapped her arms tighter around me, as we watched a movie. Annabeth pouted as I let go of her, walking over to the kitchen to microwave some popcorn. Thankfully, her pouty face turned into a smile as I walked back with a bowl of buttery goodness. I laughed at her as her face shone with lust. We ate, watched the movie and then got up as I asked her, "How about I order a pizza to celebrate this special night with my Wise Girl?" She laughed, "Sounds great, Seaweed Brain." After the pizza was delivered, we sat down at our dinner table and ate the whole box like hungry wolves. It was pretty hilarious. As I drank my blue soda, Annabeth sipped on her water, her face growing distant as she took another slice of pizza. Oh, how I loved her. She didn't come back to reality until 5 slices later and an overly sauced face. I chuckled as I motioned to her face. She looked embarrassed as she wiped off all the pizza sauce. From there, I brought out some baked goodies my mom had made recently for me when she left, three blue chocolate cookies and four blue cupcakes. I love you mom. After we finished dessert, Annabeth and I watched some t.v. before she headed to the bathroom before bed. Tonight, we planned to sleep together again since I didn't want to disrupt my mom's room. Plus, I secretly wanted to sleep in the same bed as Annabeth- just strictly sleeping, I promise. Once we were both done in the bathroom, I pulled over the covers as Annabeth snuggled beside me, holding my hand.
Annabeth
Percy's warm body radiated off of me, and once again, I felt safe. We huddled close, breathing each other's air. Spending time with Percy for the night was fun, almost like old times. Hopefully, we'd be able to make more memories like this in the future.
The next morning, I hopped out of bed before Percy, heading to the bathroom to take a quick shower. As I was getting out, I gasped in surprise as the door opened, revealing Percy in his boxers. He apologized, "Oh my gods I'm so sorry Annabeth! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! Oh GODS!" He ran out as quickly as he had entered. At first I was glad he had left, I was so self-conscious and embarrassed, I didn't want him seeing my body! But then, another part of me wanted him to have stayed, to have held me tight and said I looked beautiful the way I was. I shook that thought out of my head, he was trying to be a gentleman, he didn't want to see me like this. He's not superficial like that. I put on my extra pair of clothes I brought in a small carry-on, walking to the kitchen to grab breakfast. Percy was busy toasting some waffles, since he can't cook. I laughed as he gasped when the toaster popped out the waffles, boy did he not know how to cook. Realizing I was in the room, Percy set the waffles down, and walked over to me, giving me a hug, "I'm so sorry about the bathroom thing, Annabeth. I promise, that will never happen again." I smiled, "It's okay Seaweed Brain! I understand, it was really kind of you to apologize, most guys would just gape. The thing is, I kinda...well...I kinda wish you acted like those kinda guys...not-not all the time...but, I-I wished that you would've stayed there...even for a few seconds." His eyes grew wide, I can't believe I told him that! "Oh" he said "Well, maybe...uh...another time." He made a small smile, bringing the waffles over to the table, drowning them in maple syrup.
After breakfast, we finished getting ourselves ready, grabbing a taxi to the Empire State Building. We walked into the majestic building, gold pillars and luscious plants, meeting eyes with the concierge, "600th floor please, we have...a special meeting to attend." Percy handed him a few drachmas, the man motioning us to enter. Walking into the elevator, we were off to Olympus.
We walked out of the elevator, gaping at the high hill, reaching to Olympus. No matter how many times I'd visited, I still couldn't help but awe at its beauty. Quickly, we walked up the stone steps, Percy getting acknowledged and greeted by many passer-bys. Jealousy hit me somewhat, but as Percy took my hand in his, all was well. Breathless, we opened the doors to Olympus (which was pretty difficult considering how large it was), we then joined a large amount of gods as we took a seat in the meeting room. I was surprised that most of the gods were here, many looking bored and probably thinking this meeting was pointless. But to me it wasn't. These terrible flashbacks were really dangerous, and they'd begun to mess with me in the daytime too, forcing me to feel rage and anger...sometimes even the urge to-to...kill. I had to fix this. In the group included my mother, Athena, surprisingly sitting beside Poseidon. I assumed it was because they were our parents, but, I wasn't too sure. Also, Zeus was there, Aphrodite (she never gave us a break), Artemis, Apollo, Dionysus (why was he here?) and a few others. Everyone was seated as Athena spoke, "As you all may know, we have recently completed a war against mother Earth, Gaea. This victory against her mutiny was only possible by the help and teamwork of both gods and demigods. Unfortuantely, this success has also come with a price for our children." Athena's eyes moved to me, slightly glancing at Percy as she continued, "The after-effects of this war are extreme nightmares, hallucinations, flashbacks, schizophrenia (a bunch of voices telling you to do bad things), as well as drastic mood swings that have caused some of the most powerful demigods to feel uneccessary dangerous feelings. The two demigods that have been suffering this, due to their close encounters with Gaea, as well as their time in Tartarus, my daughter Annabeth Chase, and son of Poseidon, Perseus Jackson.I have set up this meeting in order to help these two demigods, so that these fatal side-effects may no longer live on." I was surprised that my mother had taken action for us demigods, but I was also grateful. Once Athena had finished, Apollo spoke, directing his speech to both our parents and us, "Being the god of medicine, a master at it if you will, I have figured out that the only way to get rid of these after-effects is mental training. The two of them must work together, blocking out these problems from entering their system. I have took the slightest bit of action, contacting their trainer, Chiron, with further instructions on this mental training. They will head back to their Camp Half-Blood, spending a few weeks training." The group nodded, then Athena spoke, "Well, that is all for today. Thank you for joining us and we encourage you to continue on with your work immediately after this." They all left, Poseidon waving farewell to Percy, while my mother gave me a slight nod. Wow, that was short.
The two of us left Olympus in silence, not even speaking as we got in the elevator, the soft, irritating elevator music ringing in our ears. We hopped in a taxi, on our way to Camp Half-Blood.