𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗰𝘆

𝟬𝟬𝟭. forgive me

•·.·𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗬 𝗝𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗦𝗢𝗡·.·•

all year, all i could think about was charlie, i didn't even know if she was alive, she was wondering the streets alone at night, how could i let her do that?

i shouldn't of let her go. i should've made her come with us, made sure she was safe, asked her to come to camp with me, she was clearly a half-blood, and a powerful one at that.

after nico had done almost the same thing as charlie last winter, opening a crack in the ground, i'd come to the realisation that she was probably a child of hades along with nico.

i had a lot of questions for her, though i knew i'd probably never get to ask them, because even if she was alive, which i prayed to every god that she was, she wouldn't talk to me, she'd never forgive me, she was so mad at me, she cracked the ground, made zombie guards appear.

i don't think that type of anger just goes away with a 'sorry'.

when annabeth was given a quest and she needed people to go with her, i immediately thought of charlie, not just because it would give me an excuse to talk to her, but also because she was clearly a half-blood and artemis said she was powerful, so powerful it threatened the gods. we needed a powerful demigod on our side if we were going to win this war against luke.

annabeth was less then thrilled when i suggested charlie for the quest, it took a lot of convincing but finally she said yes. which is why we were at her apartment complex or what i hoped was. it was just me and annabeth, i didn't want her to feel overwhelmed or scared and crack the floor open again.

i knew where she use to live, when we was at yancy, she gave me her address once so she could tutor me over winter break, but she ended up cancelling on me. i didn't even know if she'd still live there. i could remember the name of the building and the floor she said she lived on but i couldn't remember the number.

finally after knocking on several doors, a women answered, she looked to be in her mid 30s, she was beautiful, though other than the dark hair she looked nothing like charlie, but i knew who she was immediately, she was charlie's mom.

"sorry wro-" annabeth started but i cut her off.

"you're miss o'brien right, charlie's mom?" i asked.

"yes? i'm sorry who are you?" she asked, wiping her hands in the towel she was holding.

i gathered charlie would've told her mom about me, and what happened last winter, so i couldn't exactly say 'hi im percy jackson you know the guy who dragged your daughter from you to san francisco, forced her into a car that exploded, then let her hold up the sky for me, she saved my life several times and instead of thanking her i yelled at her, then i let her go and wander the streets alone. so anyways where is she?'

"jackson," i said, "we went to school with her,"

i couldn't think of a fake name fast enough so i went with the first name i thought of, my last name.

her smile immediately dropped, and i knew she knew. "oh." she said, "uhh, charlie's not here, she's away... visiting... family. sorry." she said going to close the door.

"no, please," i said desperately. "i know she probably doesn't want to talk to us, but... we need her,"

she opened the door, fully. "she's going to kill me," she sighed. "she's not here, she's at a ice cream shop with a friend."

"do you happen to know which one?"

"before i let you drag my daughter off to another city again, can i talk to you?" she asked, i looked at annabeth, before stepping in.

she closed the door behind us, gesturing for us to sit at the kitchen table. it was a small apartment, but it was cozy, there was pictures on the table behind the couch, pictures of charlie as a child, charlie and her mom, there was one taken from last winter, from hoover dam, she was wearing the same clothes, she had her arms crossed like she didn't want to take the picture but she was laughing, i couldn't help but smile looking at her, she was beautiful. i mean she's always been beautiful, even when she was in yancy, but i don't know how i hadn't noticed how much more beautiful she had gotten. her hair fell below her shoulders, her eyes were closed from how big she was smiling, she had a necklace that fell from her neck with a silver 'c' on.

"i took that when we went to hoover dam. you remember that day don't you percy?" she asked, a sense of hostility in her voice.

"he's really sorry for dragging your daughter away, miss o'brien." annabeth told her, looking at me. "aren't you?"

"yeah, i'm sorry."

she sighed sitting down at the table, prompting me to do the same.

"you need to understand something percy, i found charlie when she was 9, wrapped up in old blankets with a brick in her hand. she lived on the streets, alone, with no one to protect her, so she had to protect herself. i swore that i would always protect her, keep her safe, even if it was from herself." she told me. "i know who she is, and i know you do to, but she doesn't need to know, and i'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell her."

i didn't know charlie grew up on the streets, i knew she was adopted i just figured she was in an adoption centre or something.

"i know?" i asked, i knew she meant that charlie was a half-blood but i couldn't take any chances.

she didn't answer me, she looked disappointed, but she smiled, leaning back in her chair. "she's just down the street, i would offer you to wait for her here but she'll be a while."

me and annabeth got up, heading towards the door.

"percy," her mom called me. "promise to keep her safe, please."

i looked at her. "i promise," she smiled at me mouthing a 'thank you' before i turned around heading out the door.

first chapter of botl!!

if you saw this earlier pls pretend you didn't lolol😭

i don't even feel like this is a chapter more of a starting point for the story it's so short but it sets up the story later on so it's kind of important.

i wanted to include the talk with charlie's mom and i couldn't do that in charlie's pov so i had to make a percy pov lol

idk why but i hate writing in percy's pov so this will probably be either the only or one of the only chapters in his pov 😭

love u,
- madi