Percy Jackson: The True Story

The True Story

Percy couldn't help but smile as Estelle fought against her exhaustion in his arms as he carried her to her room. "Alright, Stary, I think it's time for bed."
Estelle sleepily groaned into Percy's chest. "Noooooo... What happened to Tyson?"
"I'll tell you tomorrow."
Estelle put on her angry face but let Percy place her in bed. "Will he be okay?" she asked with a yawn.
"He came over yesterday, didn't he?" Percy reminded her as he pulled the blanket under her chin, tucking her in nice and cosy.
Estelle nodded with another yawn. She snuggled deeper into the blankets. "I guess..."
Percy kissed her forehead. "Sleep tight, little sis. Love you."
Estelle's eyes drifted closed. "Love you too, Perc."

Percy waited for a few minutes after Estelle's breathing evened out to go to the kitchen. He grabbed a blue cookie from the plate in the centre of the kitchen island before his mom or Annabeth said he had enough earlier and he was setting a bad example for Estelle. Jokes on them, Estelle's asleep now!
"Did you put her to bed?" Sally asked as she took a cookie for herself.
Percy nodded. If he spoke the cookie flavour would be ruined. Then again, he wouldn't mind having to eat another. Or maybe five more.
"What story did you tell her this time?" Annabeth asked with a raised eyebrow.
Percy slowed down his chewing to admire the love of his life for as long as he could. Oh gods, she was just imperfectly perfect. The way her grey eyes were filled with knowledge and care. Her blonde hair was pulled into a loose ponytail with the tips dyed blue and green. The two had gone on a date a few weeks back and dyed each other's hair tips. Percy had to admit, he quite liked his new blond tips.
"You're admiring her again, Percy," Sally teased.
"Well, excuse me. It's physically impossible not to," Percy replied before swallowing. "But to answer, I started telling her the Sea of Monsters. I'll finish it with her tomorrow."
"You love telling her about our quests, don't you Sea Weed Brain?"
Percy shrugged. "Well, what am I supposed to do with them? Write a book? Talk to a therapist about them?"
"Yes," Sally replied with a deadpan expression.
Annabeth shrugged back. She took a cookie from the plate. "I saw something in the reports at camp yesterday. A kid of Aphrodite wasn't claimed until they turned twenty-five. I'm starting to think swearing on the Styx doesn't do anything to gods."
The kitchen tap started running.
"Percy," Sally and Annabeth scolded.
"Sorry," Percy mumbled. "I'm just mad."
"Yeah, yeah." Annabeth put a hand on Percy's shoulder and squeezed it. "We know. I don't blame you."
"The gods promised." Perc sounded heartbroken like he actually had faith in the gods. "Kids out there could be terrified...or even worse. Like you were." He gently kissed Annie's hand. "I never want a kid to feel like that."
Annabeth nodded. "Same here."
"So what's the plan?"
The two demigods turned to Sally who had her arms crossed over her chest. "What plan?" They asked in unison.
"You two never leave a job undone," Camp Half-Blood's mother said. "There has to be a way."
The two grabbed another cookie in thought. They chewed as the gears in their heads turned. They couldn't just order the gods to pay child support again. They already tried that and it barely worked. Could they just...ignore the gods? Skip over that part of the problem? But how could they scout out probably hundreds of kids spread across the states, let alone the world? Even satyrs sometimes miss demigods. Percy felt his eyes drift to Sally's bookshelf over in the hallway. There she kept her published romance novels, all translations and different covers. Sally had just got her Bundeli translation of Love Songs of the Gods published. If only they could spread a warning like that.
"Wait a sec," Percy suddenly said, turning back to his mom and future wife. "Almost every Half-Blood gets labelled 'troubled' and every Half-Blood sees things full humans don't see. Right?"
Sally and Annabeth nodded but stayed silent, wondering where this was headed.
"And I tell the stories of our quests to Estelle and once to a kid at the beach because he couldn't find his dad and needed a distraction. He then realised he's a Half-Blood. Right?"
Sally and Annabeth nodded, starting to realise what he had in mind.
"If we publish our quests we can directly warn Half-Bloods!" Percy concluded.
Annabeth wrapped her arms around Percy and picked him up, giving him a spin. "Sea Weed Brain! You're a genius and not enough people say that!"
"It'll take a while to get it mainstream," Sally added, nodding at the idea. "But I think it will work. I'll help edit and with publishers."

And so it began. Roughly thirty months of work. During this time, Percy contacted anyone he thought could help. He had Rachel Elizabeth Dare do the covers. Chiron and Sally took turns analysing his language choices and structure. He had Estelle and Grover test-read his drafts. He and a few other Half-Bloods created the dyslexia-friendly edition. But no matter how busy he was with writing the first set of quests, Percy never forgot about his duties at his surf school. He started Wave Riders shortly after graduating from New Rome University and, oh gods, he loved it! The way his students grew from beginners and all the way to riding waves with a smile on their faces. Some of his students even considered it a safe place since Mr Jackson and Miss Chase were great with kids with ADHD and Dyslexia. And Percy never got tired of it. The magic of teaching, he guessed, or working in a place designed by the woman he wanted to marry so dam bad. Who says surfing shouldn't be a Uni major?! It's DAM fun! And so is writing actually. His Dyslexia always made Percy hate having to write almost anything in school. And yet, he was enjoying writing every joke and description (mostly of Annabeth). He could only assume it was because now he was in charge. It was his life story. And Percy got to tell it his way.

At the fourth month mark, Percy soon finished his draft of 'Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief'. Chiron was so proud he read it out at the campfire at camp! But, Percy had one problem. He couldn't publish it under HIS name! He needed...what did Annabeth call it? A sudenym? A pseudonym?! WHY WAS IT SPELT WITH A 'P'?! OF ALL LETTERS!
"Maybe something that represents you," Jason suggested.
"OH! Riordan! It means 'Royal Poet'," Will added, stopping playing with Nico's hair. "You are the son of the king of the sea and the line 'I never wanted to be a Half-Bloof' defiantly belongs in a poem."
"Baaaabe," Nico groaned.
Will smiled as he went back to playing with Nico's shaggy hair. "And you say you don't act like a dog," he mumbled to himself.
"Well, we have a last name," Piper said. "We just need a first name."
"Rick."
"Why Rick, Perc?" Hazel asked, turning her head like a curious puppy.
"Probably because it means 'brave ruler' and 'peaceful ruler'." Annabeth shrugged.
"I...I just like Rick. It was a name idea for me and later Estelle if she was a boy."

"So...what do you guys think of the name?" Percy asked the mortal side of the family.
"It sounds so cool!" Estelle said from her perch on Percy's shoulder.
"Now you can send 'The Lightning Thief' to my publisher," Sally answered, nodding in approval with tears in her eyes. "I am so proud."
"You're always up to something, aren't you?" Paul asked with a proud smile on his face. "Your quests became bedtime stories. And now they're becoming a book series."
Percy scratched the back of his neck with an awkward smile.

"THEY SAID YES!"
Annabeth looked up from her designs on her bed and saw Percy sprinting at her. Percy tackled her, getting his revenge for the reunion back when they were seventeen. Now they were both twenty-two.
"THEY SAID YES!" Percy yelled again. "IT'S GETTING PUBLISHED!"
Annabeth smiled and gently kissed Percy's lips. "You happy, babe?"
Percy frantically nodded. "Very."

Annabeth grabbed her glass and raised it. "To Perseus Sea Weed Brain Jackson, for finishing the first series and getting them all into mainstream media!"
Every demigod raised their glasses and cheered for their camp leader. Percy noticeably turned red and stared daggers at Annabeth who stuck her tongue out at him.

'Rick Riordan' was just getting himself ready to finish up the book signing at the library closest to camp. Thanks to learning to control the mist and with the help of the Aphrodite cabin, Percy was completely hidden as the only fictional character he created. This time, 'Rick' was celebrating one year of the Percy Jackson series. Suddenly, a man ran up apologising profusely. 'Rick' smiled.
"I was wondering when you'd show up," he said, taking out a pen. "What am I signing this time?"
The man took out a book from his bag. A hardback of the Lightning Thief. "My daughter couldn't make it this time because she's getting ready for her entrance exams," he explained. "And this is the only one she doesn't have signed. I just wanted to congratulate her."
'Rick' smiled. "Good for you, Tarun. Now, let me double-check. This is for Ana Dakkar, correct? One N and two Ks?"