Our Bedroom After the War (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Winter Parks and New Beginnings

The phone rang five times before Percy heard the voice pick up.

It was the last week of winter break, and the cold wind cut through the city like a freshly sharpened knife. A thick, white layer of snow decorated New York City's only patch of green, making it look like a winter wonderland. He breathed in the frozen air, as he made his way through the snowy forest that once was Central Park. Miniature snowflakes stuck themselves to his jacket, leaving behind small, wet patches on the dark piece of cloth. If he was being honest, he liked the park more like this, despite the cold.

Everything around him, except for the steel grey pathways, was coated in a layer of frost. Some couples were making their way down one of the pathways, meanwhile children everywhere, ran around and played with the snow. Some were dragging their parents around to go see "Santa Claus", others were too busy rolling on the ground to pay any attention to any pedestrian walking by, one kid even smiled at Percy before he took off running. The kid had taken one look at him before excitedly running away, a smile plastered on his lips. Percy shook his head, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, before he continued down the small, stone pathway. His hands gripped the small communication device tightly as the wind blew in his direction.

"Hello, Percy-Kelp Face-Jackson." The girl's voice flooded his ears.

"Nice to hear from you too, feather brain." He responded with a chuckle.

He could hear her laughter through the other end of the line.

"Still better than having a head full of fish food," She joked, to which he nodded absentmindedly, before remembering she couldn't see him.

"Don't start with me Chase!" He complained, although he was still smiling.

A couple of kids pushed past him, playing what seemed to be a very intense game of tag.

"Tag, you're it!" One of the boys yelled as he ran past Percy.

"Where are you? Are you playing... Tag?" Annabeth asked, and he could hear the confusion in her voice, which was something that was very rare for her.

Percy let out a light chuckle.

"I'm not playing tag with anyone, I'm at Central Park!" He responded.

"What are you doing there? It's freezing out! I swear Percy if you catch something-"

"Relax, I just came for a walk... I'm heading back now." He spoke into the phone, dubiously, while kicking the pebbles at his feet.

Percy thought about telling Annabeth about the idea that had been roaming around, in the back of his mind lately. It'd started the morning he'd snuck into his room after the night from the party a few weeks back. It'd been strange, right before he'd fallen asleep, for whatever reason, he'd thought of Nico DiAngelo. As soon as he'd closed his eyes he dreamed about the son of Hades' journey through Tartarus, alone. When he woke up, he'd felt as if the oxygen in the room had suddenly become scarce. He'd thought that even though the war was over, there were still many things wrong in a world where things like that happened.