Excerpts (SPOILERS)
The Light Before We Land Excerpts
· Chapter titles: Dice Was Loaded From the Start: Judas Kiss (when Luke betrays them), I Dreamed Your Dream For You, Fall For Chains of Gold (Kronos’ intro), Fall For Pretty Strangers (Perseus’ intro), The Darkest Side of Me: Lucifer Rising (Luke’s Interlude), Somebody Get Me Through This Nightmare, Ballad of Perseas, Butterfly Lovers.
· “Even a god king can bleed,” she said quietly. Ares stared at her in shock, then glanced down at his bleeding ankle.
· “Next time, I’m aiming for your shades,” Percy told him pointedly. He sniffed haughtily. “Not a chance in Tartarus.”
· “I’ll catch a copy of your act later,” Ares told her. “You probably look good on TV.” “I better get ground-breaking ratings,” Percy mock-arrogantly.
· “Hey, I could have used that,” eyeing the newly transformed shield into a bullet proof vest. Ares shrugged, teasing, “Armband’s cooler on you.”
· “Double stuf oreos, yuuumm,” Percy sniffed them through the plastic. “Hey, you didn’t include milk to go with them! You can’t eat oreos without milk to dip ‘em in.” Ares laughed, “Go buy some yourself. We’re in a diner.”
· “This bag…can you change it in something other than…pink?” Percy asked in disdain. “Sure, what color you like?” “Green, blue, dark shades preferably…or it has to be something along that shade, dark red like scarlet or something. Just not pink.” He made it dark red and she shrugged. “Alright then, it’ll do.”
· “I guess my life not’s so boring anymore,” Percy mused. “I used to think it was, with the exception of a couple of monsters to keep me company.”
· Grunner’s, Lucas Wright (shapeshifter)
· Internship, Felix Geriam
· Braille reading, college classes
· Chinese Kempo, 7th degree, possible teacher, anatomy fighting
· Percy keeps teaching Grover how to play the flute, he teaches her some of the satyr flute plays
· More lightning/water combo/manipulation, electromagnetic storms, lightning water, conduction, water healing, alchemic meddling, water whip/water bottle use,
· Eddie, supervisor of the building
· Percy goes back home after camp quickly, offered a summer job to clean up the building by Eddie, bc her old job had to replace her. Will go back to Grunner’s after the summer.
· Luke was also nursing Percy back to health, flashback
· “What is up with all of you wanting to turn me into a rat?” Percy asked irritably. “I did offer to turn you into a dolphin once,” Dionysus perked up. “You wanted to turn me into a rat when we first met.”
· Names have power, Percy uses this to her advantage.
· Percy’s terrible gaze
· Dude, look at all the typos I miss! I’m rereading the chapters and I missed some stuff, especially in chapter 3 (more along in the songs)…
· Poseidon can see smidgens of Percy, but can’t look in on her totally. No one else can do the same, though every once in a while, one of the other gods may be able to see something. Fragmented blurry pieces.
· Percy’s sleepwear, Luke’s old clothing, her ‘superhero’ costume (gloves, arm warmers, Amazonian bracelets, tifa clothing), watch bracelet, broadswords, riptide, ring, pocket watch
· Luke keeps wristwatch and ring, and the photo he took of Percy when she left for her Quest
· Travel the world, map in cabin
· The Fates
· Hermes shock when meeting her, Apollo shock
· Percy drinks a drink for Luke in Vegas
· “…When you were preparing the car for us, why shift?” “Well, we hadn’t really hadn’t thought of that.” “Thought so.” “Erm…Percy?” “You know, what the hell was that one week for when you gave us a shift and freakin’ no gas?” “…A super armored demigod car?”
· “Hey! I gave the Percy Jackson a ride to the Greyhound station!”
· Poseidon accidently leaves his photo behind, Amphrite tears it up, and Triton gets to see it.
· Poseidon and Medusa story cleared up.
· Fanclubs, junior division with the kids from the train, parents helping out, founders Park Ranger and Roger Jensen, new “YMCA”
· Hearing about her singing their song in the train, Percy gets tickets to the Killers
· “Actually, I sent Medusa over more as a ‘go to hell’, but fuck you works. I was tempted to write go to hell on the box too,” Percy mumbled.
· “You served Percy Jackson, right?” The waiter frowned and shook his head. “No, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The reporter stared. “We have multiple witnesses saying that Percy Jackson dined here and that you were her waiter. Are you saying differently, even with so many saying that you did?” The waiter stubbornly shook his head again, “Sorry, I was serving a nice Southern belle.” He clamped his mouth shut and turned away.
· The albino lion from LT comes back to fight against the Nemean Lion.
· Neith, Egyptian goddess of war and huntress goddess
· Dreams –Gladiator/Scott Pilgrim
· Warrior woman/Queen
· Atalanta, Greek mortal heroine/Penthesilea, Amazonian queen killed and mourned by Achilles, who greatly admired her courage, youth, and beauty.
· Medusa, poison, left side of body
· Anger is a killing thing: it kills the man who angers, for each rage leaves him less than he had been before - it takes something from him.
Louis L'Amour
· quotation of the verse from the Book of Ecclesiates which includes the language, ‘for every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.’
· Kill Bill/ Inception/ Needful Things (CIA, Norway), Gamer (Norway) elements
· The Rifle’s Creed, Shaun of the Dead, ‘Guns don’t kill people, I kill people’ t-shirt from Happy Gilmore, the Good the Bad the Weird, the Green Mile, Star Wars
Conquest of Paradise
· He loved conflict just as much as his sister. Conflicts caused wars after all. But this was not the kind of conflict he reveled in.
Forgot to Say
She stood before the council, but she wasn’t going to speak up. Whatever they decided, she would accept. Right now, she felt nothing but misery and remorse. She had lost him and there was nothing more to be said.
“Athena…perhaps I should’ve done this a long time ago,” Zeus ran a hand wearily down his face. “If I had, maybe it wouldn’t have led to this. I should’ve taught you humility alongside Apollo and Poseidon in the past, for surely it has worked for them. What do you have to say for yourself?”
She stayed quiet.
“You have lost him and you have nothing to say?” her father asked again.
“I –” her voice cracked, so she stopped and let her words die, tears gathering in her eyes and only two drops spilling one after the other down her lowered face. She was a strong woman and she had always prided herself as so, but there was no shame in shedding tears and even strong men and women suffer agonizing blows.
“A lesson must be taught,” Zeus spoke up again. “I hereby declare your punishment as the following –Sally Jackson has lost her son and only child. For her pain and for your arrogance, you are to serve her until the end of her days. Perhaps feeling the pain of loss twice over will humble you enough to know your words and actions have consequences, and can lead to more than one person being hurt. You are wise, Athena, but you are not all-knowing. Though I doubt the wisdom of your recent actions.”
“It’s not enough,” Poseidon’s quiet voice rang out in the room.
Athena forced herself to look at her former rival, inwardly flinching at the hollow look in the god’s eyes and his gaunt and older appearance.
“It’s not enough,” Poseidon repeated. “That may cover Sally’s pain, but of mine? He was my child too. I have lost him…and because of what? Because he loved her? It is not enough. It is not enough to humble her. It is not enough for him. He was the Hero of Olympus. After all he has done for us, that he’d saved us, and this is the way he dies. Not in honorable death, but a pointless accident that she was the cause of! I want her to suffer like Sally is suffering, like I am suffering. I want something more to be done!”
Zeus looked hesitant, “As much as I wish to honor your wishes, brother, I am not certain what more we can do.”
Poseidon stood up abruptly and stormed out of the meeting, refusing to stay a moment longer. Zeus sighed and looked around the room, seeing stoic faces that revealed nothing, and then he settled his gaze on his daughter.
“Furthermore,” he continued, thinking. “After your sentence with Sally Jackson, you will suffer a mortal’s fate and know how precious and possibly short life can be when you are as fragile, as helpless, as vulnerable and powerless as they. You will learn to treasure life. You will learn to appreciate your own life and of those around you. You will learn that he was mortal and as heroic and brave as he was, he was still mortal. And in his short life, he chose to live it by wasting it with you, you who didn’t value his choice and his life. You will live a mortal life, Athena, and you will face all the hardships they faced to learn to cling to life and treasure it so. Perhaps you too will cling to life and treasure it, and not take it for granted. For though you are immortal, the people we have come to love in life as we meet them may not be so.”
~*~
It wasn’t that Hades was keeping this to himself. Au contraire, he planned to tell his brother as soon as he managed to pull this through. But there was a difference between going through with something and actually succeeding. Why would he tell Poseidon that he’d planned to try to resurrect his son earlier than planned, when there was a chance that Hades might not be able to do it? He wasn’t cruel –heartless and uncaring and deceitful, yes, but not cruel. He didn’t delight in pain, especially not of this particular issue. And he, on some level, understood his brother’s pain more than the others could, though he knew they would want to disagree.
But did they have the probable chance of trying to reincarnate Perseus Jackson two hundred years earlier than was possible? Because if Hades succeeded, Percy Jackson would be back onto earth a year after his death.
~*~
Athena frowned to herself, unhappily sitting on the curve in the rain. She was getting soaked and she cursed herself for not bringing an umbrella. It was about this time that stupid Apollo was supposed to pick her up and bring her to her home. Without her powers, she couldn’t go anywhere as easily as she’d like. And apparently, she’d become prone to mortal absentmindedness.
Suddenly, rain stopped pouring onto her head and she saw shade around her. Looking up, she saw a man with an umbrella standing next to her, shielding her from the rain. His long overcoat brushed against her and when he moved, she nearly gasped aloud.
Twenty eight years later, and he didn’t look any different…just older.
He had the same sea-green eyes, the same face, and the same black hair. But things were different –his face was narrower and lost what little baby fat he had left as a young man, his hair wasn’t the same gravity-defying mess she was fond of but was neatly combed and trimmed slightly, and his eyes weren’t alight with laughter and joy. They were serious and stern as they looked down at her, his face equally grave.
“Percy?” she breathed out.
He raised an eyebrow at her. “How do you know my name?”
She backtracked and tried to rationalize what was happening. Her best bet was to try to minimize her slip.
“Sorry, you just looked like someone I knew.”
He didn’t deter, “Who has the same name as me?”
She inwardly winced, “Yes. His name was Percy Jackson.”
Now he just looked amused.
“As is mine. Percival Jackson….It’s raining, Miss. Perhaps you should wait inside the building, if you’re waiting for someone,” he suggested.
“I –”
“I insist,” and when he held out his hand to her, larger than she remembered, she had a sudden flashback to times her Percy used to do it and then she couldn’t not grab it. He led her inside and she wondered if this was what dying felt like.
~*~
“It is time for you to put wisdom behind you and be mortal,” she muttered to herself. “It is a time to be foolish, like all mortals put their faith in. Foolish enough to take risks that might be greater than all the wisdom in the world.”
~*~
“Look, Athena…I don’t think this is appropriate,” but the flustered man couldn’t help glancing at her with a red face.
“Percy, please,” ‘It’s you, it’s you, it’s you,’ “I can’t lose you again.”
Percy blinked at her, the 27 year old suddenly looking weary and exhausted.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you are a 15 year old teenage girl. Don’t you understand that I can’t do this? I can lose my job and this’ll create a scandal. I can get arrested.”
“You said ‘can’t’,” she declared.
“So?” he asked exasperated.
“That means you do want me,” she said quietly, staring at him defiantly. “Else you would’ve said you didn’t want to.”
His jaw clench and he closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I’m taking you home,” he said abruptly. “Now.”
Her eyes widened, “No! Please, Percy, I-I’ll put on clothes, just don’t send me away.”
“Did you bring a change of clothes?” he asked sarcastically.
Her face flushed red, “N-no. But I can just put the jacket back on –”
Percy grabbed a shirt from his drawers and tossed it to her.
“I’ll find some pants or something for you to wear. Call your brother and tell him you’re spending the night and that I’ll drive you home first thing in the morning. I don’t want to look like a kidnapper or something,” Percy grumbled, though a hint of red on his face showed that he was also embarrassed.
Athena inwardly snorted. Apollo was about as likely to think Percy was some kind of kidnapper when he would probably be kidnapping Percy.
~*~
“Percy! Percy! Percy, please wake up!” she screamed.
Why was she yelling at him? She was always yelling at him. There was no point any way. If he had a chance, she wouldn’t be yelling at him but trying to heal him enough for Apollo to come and heal him or turn him immortal herself.
Percy was dead.
Tears leaked out of her eyes as she gently pulled him out of the car and laid him on the ground. It was a blur as they took him, declared him dead on impact, and everything else. She saw Sally Jackson being told her son was dead, the deafening cries of a mother for her lost son, and Paul Blofis comforting and yet clutching onto his wife, tears of grief on his own face. She was suddenly in her room, not even realizing how had she had gotten there or what had happened between finding Percy’s body and finding herself in her room.
But she didn’t further question it and went to her bed, curling into a ball and refusing to come out. She didn’t take part in Percy’s funeral preparations, both mortal and traditional Ancient Greek customs. She didn’t talk to anyone or do much other than lay there. When they were going to hold his mortal funeral, she decided she could attend that. A part of her felt too ashamed to want to go to his funeral pyre burning after.
It was beautiful. Sally truly did all she could for her son. It was a non-traditional setup, held at Montauk Beach in front of the cabin with white lilies gracing the scene, rosemary wrapping around them elegantly, though aloe dotted the places here and there. Sally must’ve been a fan of the language of flowers and was where Percy had gotten it from, for Athena understood the meanings all too well. Lilies for purity and rosemary for remembrance. Aloe was for the grief.
It was fitting then, that she too chose to bring flowers of significance.
A marigold for the pain and grief that wounds her heart. A mallow for the very love she’d scorn and avoided from her part and his, and now consumed her in his death. A morning glory for their love in vain. A rue for regret. A yellow chrysanthemum for his love she’d slight, accompanied by a creeping willow for the love she’d forsook. And a mauve carnation to signify the dreams of fantasy she was left with, of things never to be, of things she’d wanted, of things she could never have again.
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 contemplating.
“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.”
She teleported back to her room and left her bouquet behind on her chair. She plucked a black rose in the middle of the air, placing it in the middle of colorful arrange of dying roses.
“For your death, for hatred littered in our relationship, and for a farewell to you. And a hope for your rebirth in the years to come, and that I may be able to wait for it.”
Two hundred years was a long time, but she would gladly wait for them to pass if it meant seeing him again.
“I’m sorry. I’ll wait for you. I’ll make it up to you and pay my penance.”
~*~
Athena kneeled in front of the grave, laying a pink carnation on top of the grave marker.
“You’re body is burned, but I’m grateful that you have your own place here, so that I may visit you and try to reach out and speak to you,” the wisdom goddess murmured. “I have brought you a pink carnation from the Fields of Olympus. If you were here…you would tell me what I know. A pink carnation symobolizes a woman’s love, carrying a message that ‘I’ll never forget you’ and that ‘You are always on my mind.’ That is truth, Percy, but it is much too late, isn’t it?”
She started weeping and wondered when had her pride grown so much to have cost her everything.
~*~
A red chrysanthemum, a clover, and an eglantine rose. An odd combination. But Percy didn’t question it as Athena held them out to him, her eyes averted to the ground. He took them from her and securitized them, his glasses glinting from the room’s overhead lights. His sea-green eyes focused in on the flowers.
“’I love,’ ‘I promise,’ and ‘a wound to heal,’” Percy translated softly.
“I love you,” Athena confessed. “And I promise I will heal the wound that I have caused you.”
Dead Roses on Concrete
Lee fidgeted. “Well…at first, he really tried to talk with people, but then when we wouldn’t talk back…he kind of…I don’t know…stopped. It was like he faded away. First, he slowly stopped speaking until he was just really quiet. And appeared out less. I mean, at first, we saw him but we tried not to. But then after, it was like even when we looked for him, we couldn’t find him.”
· Chapter titles: Dice Was Loaded From the Start: Judas Kiss (when Luke betrays them), I Dreamed Your Dream For You, Fall For Chains of Gold (Kronos’ intro), Fall For Pretty Strangers (Perseus’ intro), The Darkest Side of Me: Lucifer Rising (Luke’s Interlude), Somebody Get Me Through This Nightmare, Ballad of Perseas, Butterfly Lovers.
· “Even a god king can bleed,” she said quietly. Ares stared at her in shock, then glanced down at his bleeding ankle.
· “Next time, I’m aiming for your shades,” Percy told him pointedly. He sniffed haughtily. “Not a chance in Tartarus.”
· “I’ll catch a copy of your act later,” Ares told her. “You probably look good on TV.” “I better get ground-breaking ratings,” Percy mock-arrogantly.
· “Hey, I could have used that,” eyeing the newly transformed shield into a bullet proof vest. Ares shrugged, teasing, “Armband’s cooler on you.”
· “Double stuf oreos, yuuumm,” Percy sniffed them through the plastic. “Hey, you didn’t include milk to go with them! You can’t eat oreos without milk to dip ‘em in.” Ares laughed, “Go buy some yourself. We’re in a diner.”
· “This bag…can you change it in something other than…pink?” Percy asked in disdain. “Sure, what color you like?” “Green, blue, dark shades preferably…or it has to be something along that shade, dark red like scarlet or something. Just not pink.” He made it dark red and she shrugged. “Alright then, it’ll do.”
· “I guess my life not’s so boring anymore,” Percy mused. “I used to think it was, with the exception of a couple of monsters to keep me company.”
· Grunner’s, Lucas Wright (shapeshifter)
· Internship, Felix Geriam
· Braille reading, college classes
· Chinese Kempo, 7th degree, possible teacher, anatomy fighting
· Percy keeps teaching Grover how to play the flute, he teaches her some of the satyr flute plays
· More lightning/water combo/manipulation, electromagnetic storms, lightning water, conduction, water healing, alchemic meddling, water whip/water bottle use,
· Eddie, supervisor of the building
· Percy goes back home after camp quickly, offered a summer job to clean up the building by Eddie, bc her old job had to replace her. Will go back to Grunner’s after the summer.
· Luke was also nursing Percy back to health, flashback
· “What is up with all of you wanting to turn me into a rat?” Percy asked irritably. “I did offer to turn you into a dolphin once,” Dionysus perked up. “You wanted to turn me into a rat when we first met.”
· Names have power, Percy uses this to her advantage.
· Percy’s terrible gaze
· Dude, look at all the typos I miss! I’m rereading the chapters and I missed some stuff, especially in chapter 3 (more along in the songs)…
· Poseidon can see smidgens of Percy, but can’t look in on her totally. No one else can do the same, though every once in a while, one of the other gods may be able to see something. Fragmented blurry pieces.
· Percy’s sleepwear, Luke’s old clothing, her ‘superhero’ costume (gloves, arm warmers, Amazonian bracelets, tifa clothing), watch bracelet, broadswords, riptide, ring, pocket watch
· Luke keeps wristwatch and ring, and the photo he took of Percy when she left for her Quest
· Travel the world, map in cabin
· The Fates
· Hermes shock when meeting her, Apollo shock
· Percy drinks a drink for Luke in Vegas
· “…When you were preparing the car for us, why shift?” “Well, we hadn’t really hadn’t thought of that.” “Thought so.” “Erm…Percy?” “You know, what the hell was that one week for when you gave us a shift and freakin’ no gas?” “…A super armored demigod car?”
· “Hey! I gave the Percy Jackson a ride to the Greyhound station!”
· Poseidon accidently leaves his photo behind, Amphrite tears it up, and Triton gets to see it.
· Poseidon and Medusa story cleared up.
· Fanclubs, junior division with the kids from the train, parents helping out, founders Park Ranger and Roger Jensen, new “YMCA”
· Hearing about her singing their song in the train, Percy gets tickets to the Killers
· “Actually, I sent Medusa over more as a ‘go to hell’, but fuck you works. I was tempted to write go to hell on the box too,” Percy mumbled.
· “You served Percy Jackson, right?” The waiter frowned and shook his head. “No, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The reporter stared. “We have multiple witnesses saying that Percy Jackson dined here and that you were her waiter. Are you saying differently, even with so many saying that you did?” The waiter stubbornly shook his head again, “Sorry, I was serving a nice Southern belle.” He clamped his mouth shut and turned away.
· The albino lion from LT comes back to fight against the Nemean Lion.
· Neith, Egyptian goddess of war and huntress goddess
· Dreams –Gladiator/Scott Pilgrim
· Warrior woman/Queen
· Atalanta, Greek mortal heroine/Penthesilea, Amazonian queen killed and mourned by Achilles, who greatly admired her courage, youth, and beauty.
· Medusa, poison, left side of body
· Anger is a killing thing: it kills the man who angers, for each rage leaves him less than he had been before - it takes something from him.
Louis L'Amour
· quotation of the verse from the Book of Ecclesiates which includes the language, ‘for every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.’
· Kill Bill/ Inception/ Needful Things (CIA, Norway), Gamer (Norway) elements
· The Rifle’s Creed, Shaun of the Dead, ‘Guns don’t kill people, I kill people’ t-shirt from Happy Gilmore, the Good the Bad the Weird, the Green Mile, Star Wars
Conquest of Paradise
· He loved conflict just as much as his sister. Conflicts caused wars after all. But this was not the kind of conflict he reveled in.
Forgot to Say
She stood before the council, but she wasn’t going to speak up. Whatever they decided, she would accept. Right now, she felt nothing but misery and remorse. She had lost him and there was nothing more to be said.
“Athena…perhaps I should’ve done this a long time ago,” Zeus ran a hand wearily down his face. “If I had, maybe it wouldn’t have led to this. I should’ve taught you humility alongside Apollo and Poseidon in the past, for surely it has worked for them. What do you have to say for yourself?”
She stayed quiet.
“You have lost him and you have nothing to say?” her father asked again.
“I –” her voice cracked, so she stopped and let her words die, tears gathering in her eyes and only two drops spilling one after the other down her lowered face. She was a strong woman and she had always prided herself as so, but there was no shame in shedding tears and even strong men and women suffer agonizing blows.
“A lesson must be taught,” Zeus spoke up again. “I hereby declare your punishment as the following –Sally Jackson has lost her son and only child. For her pain and for your arrogance, you are to serve her until the end of her days. Perhaps feeling the pain of loss twice over will humble you enough to know your words and actions have consequences, and can lead to more than one person being hurt. You are wise, Athena, but you are not all-knowing. Though I doubt the wisdom of your recent actions.”
“It’s not enough,” Poseidon’s quiet voice rang out in the room.
Athena forced herself to look at her former rival, inwardly flinching at the hollow look in the god’s eyes and his gaunt and older appearance.
“It’s not enough,” Poseidon repeated. “That may cover Sally’s pain, but of mine? He was my child too. I have lost him…and because of what? Because he loved her? It is not enough. It is not enough to humble her. It is not enough for him. He was the Hero of Olympus. After all he has done for us, that he’d saved us, and this is the way he dies. Not in honorable death, but a pointless accident that she was the cause of! I want her to suffer like Sally is suffering, like I am suffering. I want something more to be done!”
Zeus looked hesitant, “As much as I wish to honor your wishes, brother, I am not certain what more we can do.”
Poseidon stood up abruptly and stormed out of the meeting, refusing to stay a moment longer. Zeus sighed and looked around the room, seeing stoic faces that revealed nothing, and then he settled his gaze on his daughter.
“Furthermore,” he continued, thinking. “After your sentence with Sally Jackson, you will suffer a mortal’s fate and know how precious and possibly short life can be when you are as fragile, as helpless, as vulnerable and powerless as they. You will learn to treasure life. You will learn to appreciate your own life and of those around you. You will learn that he was mortal and as heroic and brave as he was, he was still mortal. And in his short life, he chose to live it by wasting it with you, you who didn’t value his choice and his life. You will live a mortal life, Athena, and you will face all the hardships they faced to learn to cling to life and treasure it so. Perhaps you too will cling to life and treasure it, and not take it for granted. For though you are immortal, the people we have come to love in life as we meet them may not be so.”
~*~
It wasn’t that Hades was keeping this to himself. Au contraire, he planned to tell his brother as soon as he managed to pull this through. But there was a difference between going through with something and actually succeeding. Why would he tell Poseidon that he’d planned to try to resurrect his son earlier than planned, when there was a chance that Hades might not be able to do it? He wasn’t cruel –heartless and uncaring and deceitful, yes, but not cruel. He didn’t delight in pain, especially not of this particular issue. And he, on some level, understood his brother’s pain more than the others could, though he knew they would want to disagree.
But did they have the probable chance of trying to reincarnate Perseus Jackson two hundred years earlier than was possible? Because if Hades succeeded, Percy Jackson would be back onto earth a year after his death.
~*~
Athena frowned to herself, unhappily sitting on the curve in the rain. She was getting soaked and she cursed herself for not bringing an umbrella. It was about this time that stupid Apollo was supposed to pick her up and bring her to her home. Without her powers, she couldn’t go anywhere as easily as she’d like. And apparently, she’d become prone to mortal absentmindedness.
Suddenly, rain stopped pouring onto her head and she saw shade around her. Looking up, she saw a man with an umbrella standing next to her, shielding her from the rain. His long overcoat brushed against her and when he moved, she nearly gasped aloud.
Twenty eight years later, and he didn’t look any different…just older.
He had the same sea-green eyes, the same face, and the same black hair. But things were different –his face was narrower and lost what little baby fat he had left as a young man, his hair wasn’t the same gravity-defying mess she was fond of but was neatly combed and trimmed slightly, and his eyes weren’t alight with laughter and joy. They were serious and stern as they looked down at her, his face equally grave.
“Percy?” she breathed out.
He raised an eyebrow at her. “How do you know my name?”
She backtracked and tried to rationalize what was happening. Her best bet was to try to minimize her slip.
“Sorry, you just looked like someone I knew.”
He didn’t deter, “Who has the same name as me?”
She inwardly winced, “Yes. His name was Percy Jackson.”
Now he just looked amused.
“As is mine. Percival Jackson….It’s raining, Miss. Perhaps you should wait inside the building, if you’re waiting for someone,” he suggested.
“I –”
“I insist,” and when he held out his hand to her, larger than she remembered, she had a sudden flashback to times her Percy used to do it and then she couldn’t not grab it. He led her inside and she wondered if this was what dying felt like.
~*~
“It is time for you to put wisdom behind you and be mortal,” she muttered to herself. “It is a time to be foolish, like all mortals put their faith in. Foolish enough to take risks that might be greater than all the wisdom in the world.”
~*~
“Look, Athena…I don’t think this is appropriate,” but the flustered man couldn’t help glancing at her with a red face.
“Percy, please,” ‘It’s you, it’s you, it’s you,’ “I can’t lose you again.”
Percy blinked at her, the 27 year old suddenly looking weary and exhausted.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you are a 15 year old teenage girl. Don’t you understand that I can’t do this? I can lose my job and this’ll create a scandal. I can get arrested.”
“You said ‘can’t’,” she declared.
“So?” he asked exasperated.
“That means you do want me,” she said quietly, staring at him defiantly. “Else you would’ve said you didn’t want to.”
His jaw clench and he closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I’m taking you home,” he said abruptly. “Now.”
Her eyes widened, “No! Please, Percy, I-I’ll put on clothes, just don’t send me away.”
“Did you bring a change of clothes?” he asked sarcastically.
Her face flushed red, “N-no. But I can just put the jacket back on –”
Percy grabbed a shirt from his drawers and tossed it to her.
“I’ll find some pants or something for you to wear. Call your brother and tell him you’re spending the night and that I’ll drive you home first thing in the morning. I don’t want to look like a kidnapper or something,” Percy grumbled, though a hint of red on his face showed that he was also embarrassed.
Athena inwardly snorted. Apollo was about as likely to think Percy was some kind of kidnapper when he would probably be kidnapping Percy.
~*~
“Percy! Percy! Percy, please wake up!” she screamed.
Why was she yelling at him? She was always yelling at him. There was no point any way. If he had a chance, she wouldn’t be yelling at him but trying to heal him enough for Apollo to come and heal him or turn him immortal herself.
Percy was dead.
Tears leaked out of her eyes as she gently pulled him out of the car and laid him on the ground. It was a blur as they took him, declared him dead on impact, and everything else. She saw Sally Jackson being told her son was dead, the deafening cries of a mother for her lost son, and Paul Blofis comforting and yet clutching onto his wife, tears of grief on his own face. She was suddenly in her room, not even realizing how had she had gotten there or what had happened between finding Percy’s body and finding herself in her room.
But she didn’t further question it and went to her bed, curling into a ball and refusing to come out. She didn’t take part in Percy’s funeral preparations, both mortal and traditional Ancient Greek customs. She didn’t talk to anyone or do much other than lay there. When they were going to hold his mortal funeral, she decided she could attend that. A part of her felt too ashamed to want to go to his funeral pyre burning after.
It was beautiful. Sally truly did all she could for her son. It was a non-traditional setup, held at Montauk Beach in front of the cabin with white lilies gracing the scene, rosemary wrapping around them elegantly, though aloe dotted the places here and there. Sally must’ve been a fan of the language of flowers and was where Percy had gotten it from, for Athena understood the meanings all too well. Lilies for purity and rosemary for remembrance. Aloe was for the grief.
It was fitting then, that she too chose to bring flowers of significance.
A marigold for the pain and grief that wounds her heart. A mallow for the very love she’d scorn and avoided from her part and his, and now consumed her in his death. A morning glory for their love in vain. A rue for regret. A yellow chrysanthemum for his love she’d slight, accompanied by a creeping willow for the love she’d forsook. And a mauve carnation to signify the dreams of fantasy she was left with, of things never to be, of things she’d wanted, of things she could never have again.
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 contemplating.
“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.”
She teleported back to her room and left her bouquet behind on her chair. She plucked a black rose in the middle of the air, placing it in the middle of colorful arrange of dying roses.
“For your death, for hatred littered in our relationship, and for a farewell to you. And a hope for your rebirth in the years to come, and that I may be able to wait for it.”
Two hundred years was a long time, but she would gladly wait for them to pass if it meant seeing him again.
“I’m sorry. I’ll wait for you. I’ll make it up to you and pay my penance.”
~*~
Athena kneeled in front of the grave, laying a pink carnation on top of the grave marker.
“You’re body is burned, but I’m grateful that you have your own place here, so that I may visit you and try to reach out and speak to you,” the wisdom goddess murmured. “I have brought you a pink carnation from the Fields of Olympus. If you were here…you would tell me what I know. A pink carnation symobolizes a woman’s love, carrying a message that ‘I’ll never forget you’ and that ‘You are always on my mind.’ That is truth, Percy, but it is much too late, isn’t it?”
She started weeping and wondered when had her pride grown so much to have cost her everything.
~*~
A red chrysanthemum, a clover, and an eglantine rose. An odd combination. But Percy didn’t question it as Athena held them out to him, her eyes averted to the ground. He took them from her and securitized them, his glasses glinting from the room’s overhead lights. His sea-green eyes focused in on the flowers.
“’I love,’ ‘I promise,’ and ‘a wound to heal,’” Percy translated softly.
“I love you,” Athena confessed. “And I promise I will heal the wound that I have caused you.”
Dead Roses on Concrete
Lee fidgeted. “Well…at first, he really tried to talk with people, but then when we wouldn’t talk back…he kind of…I don’t know…stopped. It was like he faded away. First, he slowly stopped speaking until he was just really quiet. And appeared out less. I mean, at first, we saw him but we tried not to. But then after, it was like even when we looked for him, we couldn’t find him.”
Luctor et Emergo
Percy blinked.
Atlas growled and picked her up, tossing her over his shoulder as he hauled her away.
"Hey, hey! What are you doing ? I have rights here," Percy tried to sound angry, ending up more pouty.
"We're going to eat out," he said in a tone that brooked no argument.
Percy huffed, "Why?"
"Because I want to eat out with you," he explained as if she was a child.
She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, but why?"
Atlas sighed, "Just because. If you ask one more time, I'll dump you to the side."
"It'll be better than being hauled around like a sack of potatoes," she muttered.
He gave her a look and she shut up.
~*~
Atlas grunted, narrowing his eyes at the book.
"What kind of shit is this?" he pinched the bridge of his nose. "There's no way I can pull this off."
Right. So he was going to take Percy's virginity. To stabilize her new genes.
"Sounds just as crazy," he muttered. He sighed in aggravation. "Gentle, right....gentle. Gentle for her first time. This book doesn't tell me how to be gentle."
He ran through his sexual experiences and frowned. None of them were gentle, though they weren't completely violently either. He wasn't gentle. He liked sex rough. Not that his lovers minded, though. If they didn't prefer it, they were okay with it. Then again they weren't virgins. Ugh, this was going to be his first virgin! And he had a feeling Percy wasn't a rough sex kind of girl...
~*~
"How's my little girl?" Poseidon looked around the penthouse curiously.
"Fine, Dad," Percy moved around uncomfortably. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I'd moved," she blurted out.
Poseidon smiled at her, "It's alright. I'm just glad you seem to be doing better and that you're living so nicely. Though I'm surprised that Hades is the one that took care of you and gave you all this."
"Ah, yeah. I was surprised too...I'm glad you were able to visit though."
"I got you something," Poseidon changed the subject.
He turned towards her and a medium-sized fishbowl appeared in his hands. An odd looking fish was swimming around in it. It turned to Percy and even smiled at her.
"This is a special type of goldfish. If you ever need help, she has a type of magic she can use to help you out. She can even turn into a little girl to blend in, if you ever need her to, out of the fishbowl."
Percy's eyes were wide as she gaped at it, her eyes looking stangely shining.
"P-Ponyo," she whispered.
Poseidon blinked at her before laughing lightly.
"Cute little movie, wasn't that? Another collaboration between Apollo and I, though Aphrodite likes to frequently meddle in things and got her hand in the project. This little one and her siblings are the basis of the film, though the film's events are fictional."
Percy ran over to him and snatched the fishbowl out of his hands, happily staring into it.
"You are so cute! I'm going to name you Ponyo, okay?"
Ponyo swam around the bowl happily before flipping out of the bowl and then landing back into the water.
"Kyah! So cute!"
Poseidon chuckled, watching as Ponyo jumped out of the bowl at that and instantly transformed into a small five year old girl that instantly latched onto Percy's neck with her arms and legs.
"My name's Ponyo! What's your name?" Ponyo yelled excitedly as she rubbed the side of her face against' Percy's.
"My name's Percy," she replied to her new 'goldfish'.
"Yay! Ponyo loves Percy!"
Percy melted at the cuteness. She turned to her father. "Collaboration with Apollo, huh?" she asked curiously.
Her father grinned at her. "Yeah, we tend to work together on some movies. Know the Little Mermaid?" his grin turned a little mischievous.
"No way! I thought you would have hated that movie."
"No, most of its conception is by me. Apollo focused on the songs. If you pay attention to the movie, you can tell it's partly a whole crack against Triton. He hates that movie, and he was mad at me for an entire decade after it was made."
She couldn't help giggling at that.
~*~
"Atlas..."
He looked away, not even bothering to look at her.
"This is a greatly...disturbing turn of events," Zeus scowled at the Titan, also avoiding looking at the former demigod like the others. "Perhaps we should have taken more care to watch over you more closely."
"He helped Lady Artemis. He helped fight against the monsters. Why are you punishing him?" Percy's eyes began to involuntarily water.
Atlas quietly reached over and took her hand, squeezing it in comfort. The action was watched carefully by every god there, noted without a word. Hermes clenched his jaw, glaring at the Titan.
"I think he should be left alone, if not charged with Percy's safety," Aphrodite surprisingly spoke out. "It's what he's been doing so far. As the goddess of love, I know that his feelings are genuine, as strange an idea that is. Nevertheless, it's true. And I know for fact that he would never hurt her. Or do you wish to further upset her?" her words ended in a murmur that only the immortals could hear.
As much as it pained the goddess, she wanted the girl to be happy, especially in love -Aphrodite's domain. Even if it meant that her, and her brethren's, feelings were to be pushed aside. The Titan's feeling were true, and she knew what Atlas really was to Percy and how strong a bond they already had. And had Percy not suffered so much already? It was the least they could do to grant her some happiness.
~*~
Percy's face wouldn't stop turning red. She didn't even know why she agreed to modeling for the Italian artist, but she had. And now here she was. Nude while being drawn.
"Mia bella, relax. I cannot capture your true beauty when you restrain it from me."
Atlas growled and picked her up, tossing her over his shoulder as he hauled her away.
"Hey, hey! What are you doing ? I have rights here," Percy tried to sound angry, ending up more pouty.
"We're going to eat out," he said in a tone that brooked no argument.
Percy huffed, "Why?"
"Because I want to eat out with you," he explained as if she was a child.
She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, but why?"
Atlas sighed, "Just because. If you ask one more time, I'll dump you to the side."
"It'll be better than being hauled around like a sack of potatoes," she muttered.
He gave her a look and she shut up.
~*~
Atlas grunted, narrowing his eyes at the book.
"What kind of shit is this?" he pinched the bridge of his nose. "There's no way I can pull this off."
Right. So he was going to take Percy's virginity. To stabilize her new genes.
"Sounds just as crazy," he muttered. He sighed in aggravation. "Gentle, right....gentle. Gentle for her first time. This book doesn't tell me how to be gentle."
He ran through his sexual experiences and frowned. None of them were gentle, though they weren't completely violently either. He wasn't gentle. He liked sex rough. Not that his lovers minded, though. If they didn't prefer it, they were okay with it. Then again they weren't virgins. Ugh, this was going to be his first virgin! And he had a feeling Percy wasn't a rough sex kind of girl...
~*~
"How's my little girl?" Poseidon looked around the penthouse curiously.
"Fine, Dad," Percy moved around uncomfortably. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I'd moved," she blurted out.
Poseidon smiled at her, "It's alright. I'm just glad you seem to be doing better and that you're living so nicely. Though I'm surprised that Hades is the one that took care of you and gave you all this."
"Ah, yeah. I was surprised too...I'm glad you were able to visit though."
"I got you something," Poseidon changed the subject.
He turned towards her and a medium-sized fishbowl appeared in his hands. An odd looking fish was swimming around in it. It turned to Percy and even smiled at her.
"This is a special type of goldfish. If you ever need help, she has a type of magic she can use to help you out. She can even turn into a little girl to blend in, if you ever need her to, out of the fishbowl."
Percy's eyes were wide as she gaped at it, her eyes looking stangely shining.
"P-Ponyo," she whispered.
Poseidon blinked at her before laughing lightly.
"Cute little movie, wasn't that? Another collaboration between Apollo and I, though Aphrodite likes to frequently meddle in things and got her hand in the project. This little one and her siblings are the basis of the film, though the film's events are fictional."
Percy ran over to him and snatched the fishbowl out of his hands, happily staring into it.
"You are so cute! I'm going to name you Ponyo, okay?"
Ponyo swam around the bowl happily before flipping out of the bowl and then landing back into the water.
"Kyah! So cute!"
Poseidon chuckled, watching as Ponyo jumped out of the bowl at that and instantly transformed into a small five year old girl that instantly latched onto Percy's neck with her arms and legs.
"My name's Ponyo! What's your name?" Ponyo yelled excitedly as she rubbed the side of her face against' Percy's.
"My name's Percy," she replied to her new 'goldfish'.
"Yay! Ponyo loves Percy!"
Percy melted at the cuteness. She turned to her father. "Collaboration with Apollo, huh?" she asked curiously.
Her father grinned at her. "Yeah, we tend to work together on some movies. Know the Little Mermaid?" his grin turned a little mischievous.
"No way! I thought you would have hated that movie."
"No, most of its conception is by me. Apollo focused on the songs. If you pay attention to the movie, you can tell it's partly a whole crack against Triton. He hates that movie, and he was mad at me for an entire decade after it was made."
She couldn't help giggling at that.
~*~
"Atlas..."
He looked away, not even bothering to look at her.
"This is a greatly...disturbing turn of events," Zeus scowled at the Titan, also avoiding looking at the former demigod like the others. "Perhaps we should have taken more care to watch over you more closely."
"He helped Lady Artemis. He helped fight against the monsters. Why are you punishing him?" Percy's eyes began to involuntarily water.
Atlas quietly reached over and took her hand, squeezing it in comfort. The action was watched carefully by every god there, noted without a word. Hermes clenched his jaw, glaring at the Titan.
"I think he should be left alone, if not charged with Percy's safety," Aphrodite surprisingly spoke out. "It's what he's been doing so far. As the goddess of love, I know that his feelings are genuine, as strange an idea that is. Nevertheless, it's true. And I know for fact that he would never hurt her. Or do you wish to further upset her?" her words ended in a murmur that only the immortals could hear.
As much as it pained the goddess, she wanted the girl to be happy, especially in love -Aphrodite's domain. Even if it meant that her, and her brethren's, feelings were to be pushed aside. The Titan's feeling were true, and she knew what Atlas really was to Percy and how strong a bond they already had. And had Percy not suffered so much already? It was the least they could do to grant her some happiness.
~*~
Percy's face wouldn't stop turning red. She didn't even know why she agreed to modeling for the Italian artist, but she had. And now here she was. Nude while being drawn.
"Mia bella, relax. I cannot capture your true beauty when you restrain it from me."