Percy clutched his suitcase tightly in his left hand and Riptide in pen form in his right.
C'mon Percy, it's now or never, his brain told him.
AHHHHHH! Every other part of him screamed in panicked response.
His feet might as well have been sealed into the concrete sidewalk. He had fought wars and battled gods, but this...coming back from the dead was a lot harder than it looked.
And he had never even actually been dead.
Before he could change his mind Percy stiffened his back, lifted his chin, and marched up to his apartment. His mind was racing, heartbeat thudding in his ears. He had no idea what he was going to say when his mom opened the door.
He had tried to plan it out, envision how their reunion would go, but he had never gotten further than the part where Sally opened the door and looked shell-shocked, and Percy said, "Hi Mom,". Then his mind would start buzzing and going wild and he would completely forget what he was doing and why in a mess of jittery fear and excitement.
So now here he was, standing not two steps outside of his mother's apartment, with no idea of how to proceed.
His impulsive side decided for him, when his finger automatically hopped up and rang the doorbell. Percy was having a mild panic attack, wondering about what would happen, when suddenly the door swung open and he stood face-to-face with a girl who was definitely not his mom.
Percy blinked stupidly, "Um, hi,"
The girl raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Can I help you?" she prodded eventually.
"Um...this is number 207, right?"
"Yes," she waited.
"The home of Sally Jackson and Paul Blofis?"
"Yes," she waited some more.
"Okay..." Percy wasn't really sure how to proceed from there. "Are they home?"
"No," the girl said.
For the first time Percy's nerves cleared enough for him to really see her. She was tall and muscular, with an athletic build and tan skin, and she looked about Percy's age. She had honey-blonde curls and startling gray eyes, and was holding an adorable baby on one hip. The little girl had blue eyes and silky brown curls framing her round face. She looked up at Percy curiously, then giggled, revealing deep dimples on her cheeks.
For a second Percy just stared at her.
That must be...
Estelle.
His...his sister.
"Who are you?" the older girl asked, with more than a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"Oh! Right, I'm...I'm...Marvin." He nodded, trying to look sure of himself, but internally he was panicking--he couldn't remember his last name.
The girl nodded slowly, "Okay, Marvin," she sounded like she didn't believe a kid in the 21st Century would dare have a name as stupid as Marvin. "Why are you here?"
"I'm actually visiting my...uncle. Paul Blofis? Yeah, he's my uncle and I'm...visiting him." He explained lamely.
Apparently that was a reasonable explanation, because the girl shrugged and let him in. "I'm Annabeth, the Jackson-Blofis's babysitter. And this," her voice became softer, gentler, and fell into what qualified as 100% baby-talk, "this little darling is Estelle." Her voice hardened again and she looked at him with stony eyes. "But I guess you already knew that, 'cause she's your cousin, isn't that right?"
"Yeah, um," Percy nodded vigorously. "I knew that but I've never actually met her, 'cause like, I live a long ways away and I haven't seen my uncle in like, a year so...yeah." He smiled nervously, then withered under Annabeth's suspicious gaze.
"I'm just gonna go...unpack in my room," he gestured vaguely in the direction of his old bedroom, tried for a smile, failed miserably, then retreated quickly into his room, lugging his suitcase along behind him.
Percy froze in his room as a wave of nostalgia plunged into him. Nothing had been touched since the last time he had been there.
He tugged open his sock drawer.
Okay, so almost nothing had been touched.
But if that turkey sandwich was still in there after this long he was pretty sure he would have gagged and died simply from the sight of it.
"Thanks, Mom," he whispered, surprised to feel his lips twitch at the thought of what Sally's expression must have been when she opened the drawer to find the sandwich.
He let his suitcase hang out on the floor and collapsed onto the bed, burying his face in his sheets and pillows. From his experience, every house, every family, had a distinct smell. But you never really noticed the smell of your own home until you came back to it after a long while away. Percy breathed deeply into his sheets, his mind flashing back to the little things that made him happy when he was younger.
Blue jelly beans, the sound of his mom's laughter, and--
A bright light flashed painfully behind his eyes.
No, no, no! He screamed internally. Not again!
Something was there, something big that had been hidden from him, but it was so close, he could feel it there in the back of his mind. He sighed and rolled to his feet, more confused than ever.
He wished his parents would come home. Sally would help him figure out what was wrong with his brain.
He kicked his suitcase idly. Percy knew he should start unpacking, but he really didn't want to.
He went back to bed instead. He had no intention of taking a nap, but the instant his eyes closed, dreams overtook him.
A/N: So you know that sentence where it's like: "She sounded like she didn't believe a kid in the 21st Century would dare have a name as stupid as Marvin" I just wanna say No offense to the Marvin's out there. It's not a bad name. I just feel like that was a very PJO-feeling sentence.
Anyway, vote comment share and see ya later!
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The Fallen Hero (Percy Jackson x Avengers Crossover)
FanfictionThe only one who ever called was Jason. He had broken innocent Hazel's heart. Frank was disgusted by him. Nico hated him...but he always new that. Piper had better things to worry about. No one knew what had happened to Leo. And Annabeth...she didn'...
