Aroma ~ A Percabeth Story (ongoing): Book 3 - Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Chapter Fifteen ~ PERCY

Chapter Fifteen
PERCY

"I am so done." Esme pushed the game board away, her arms crossed, frowning. "You're all cheats!"

Percy smiled. "Don't be such a bad loser, Esme."

Nero sighed. "Esme, just play."

Adam sat in the corner, smirking, waving his 'Get Out of Jail Free' card in Esme's direction. "Come on, Ezzy," he teased. "Don't you want this?"

The Monopoly board was on the carpet, and around it, cross-legged, sat Percy, his children Esme and Nero, and Nero's best mate Adam Grimshaw. Nero had the highest stack of money; Adam had the most hotels, and Percy had very little money and lots of properties owned. Esme's character, the silver car, sat dismally in the Jail section for the twentieth time in the game.

Adam held the card closer. "Take it, Ezzy."

Esme warily reached for it but Adam just snatched it out of her grasp. "Come and get it," he whispered.

Esme launched from her spot and jumped on Adam, wrestling him to the ground. A forcefield burst up, hiding them both in a purple orb, knocking the game board flying. The sphere began to move around the room as Adam and Esme fought inside, Adam's laughter clearly audible. With a sigh, Percy and Nero picked up the pieces. The sphere burst through the open balcony doors and bounced over the edge, landing on the open lawn below and disappearing towards the beach.

"Sounds like they're having fun," Percy muttered.

They were on holiday in boring, dreary England. It was rainy outside, and they were staying in a large country house that attracted too much attention for Percy's liking, but Annabeth had pleaded and Percy didn't like to deny her. They were near the coast. No doubt Adam and Esme would stop fighting, splash about in the sea and then return to the house arguing like cat and dog.

"Are you enjoying this holiday, Nero?" Percy asked.

Nero didn't answer. Percy knew why - Nero was worried. The prophecy was looming. It had been three weeks since the explosion of the BEA facility and the death of Kheo Heliosi Khamen. He'd been moody and withdrawn since then.

"I can feel something," Nero said suddenly.

Percy looked at his son. "What?"

"I can feel this, this, this presence, trying to grab me." Nero stared at his father with the grey eyes that mirrored his mother's - however, Nero's eyes were stormy grey with fear and insecurity. "It feels like something is trying to take me away, Dad. Something strong. I... I feel it reaching out for me, at night. It whispers to me."

"What does it say, Nero?"

"It's hard to explain. It just wants me to go with it. It says I'm a danger. It... it offers to take me away from this world, away from the prophecy. It says it can save me."

Percy reached over and patted Nero on the shoulder. "Listen to me, lad. I promise you - I promise - nothing is going to hurt you. Nothing is going to take you away from me, your mum, Esme, Adam. You are safe here. You and Esme. Nothing will ever hurt you. Do you trust me?"

Nero looked wary.

"Do you trust me?"

Nero opened his mouth to answer but suddenly the dream shifted. Percy now sat in the Big House around the ping pong table, his head in his hands.

Annabeth sat opposite him. Her blonde hair hung in thick greasy strands, and her face was red and puffy. Her eyes were dark, with purple bags underneath. A plate of untouched food lay in front of her.

She seemed dead.

Broken.

Empty.

"Eat," Percy told her. His voice was as lifeless as Annabeth appeared.

Annabeth shook her head. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Where are they, Percy?"

"You need to rest," Percy diverted. "You haven't slept in three days, love."

The door swung open and Dionysus entered. He wore a bright blue shirt with yellow Hawaiian flowers, and beige corduroys. A fuchsia fedora balanced precariously on his chubby head.

"I've been summoned, I hear," Dionysus grumbled as he took a seat near Annabeth. He took one glance at her tear-stained face and without an ounce of subtlety, he shifted his chair further away for her.

"Any news?" Percy asked anxiously, a surge of hope filling him.

Dionysus shook his head. "No. Your brats haven't turned up, yet. Zeus is growing bored, Perry Jameson. He does not want to keep wasting resources and soldiers looking for two pretty insignificant kids."

Percy deflated. He looked at Annabeth, but she wore a look of determined fury that he'd seen too many times and had usually admired.

"Wasting?" Annabeth shakily stood up. "Are you for real? Are you shitting me?!"

Dionysus didn't even have the courtesy to look guilty. Instead, he looked angry. "Do you really dare take that tone with me, a god, Annabelle Chalk?"

"Yes, I do!" Annabeth screamed. With a sudden strength, she grabbed the ping pong table and overturned it, blasting it backwards across the room. Her grey eyes were livid. "That's my bloody kids you're talking about! They could be DEAD, and you are taking a horrific disregard for them as if they're just pieces of a game board that you're just going to throw away!"

She ran out of the room, sobbing, leaving an uncomfortable silence in her wake.

Percy rubbed his eyes. Boy, did he hate Dionysus, but he knew Annabeth had gone too far. "I'm -"

Mr D snapped his fingers and a can of Diet Coke and a glass appeared. Dionysus bit the ring off of the can and expertly poured half of it into the glass, then shoved the can towards Percy. "Peter Johnson -"

"It's Percy Jackson."

"- I am an expert in madness."

Percy gulped. "Don't."

Mr D leaned forwards as he said sincerely, "I know someone who is losing their mind when I see it, Johnson. And I am truly sorry to inform you that your wife is very much doing so. In a few weeks' time, it will all become too much."

"What do you mean?"

"Despite being a god, I cannot predict the future. However, you'd have to be blind to miss the fact that the woman who just sat here is going to keep living like this."

"You mean -"

Dionysus' eyes were cold. "Like I said. I cannot predict the future."

"But you know madness when you see it." Percy gripped the can tightly in his hands. The fizzy liquid splashed over his fingers but he barely noticed. The idea that his wife, his beloved wife, could not cope with the year-long disappearance of their children for much longer... Percy felt himself begin to tremble.

"Yes." Mr D sipped his glass. "I'm sure she would not be a great loss to the world. But all death is sad, Peter Johnson.

"You would do well to remember that. It is a strength, not a weakness."

***
I don't know what to say about this chapter.

- Lauren