A Different Reality (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Chp 178 - Percy's POV

A/N: Well, it has been a while, haven't it? Still, almost 9k words to ask for forgiveness. Anyway, I love writing dark!Percy and smitten!Percy, but his no-nonsense attitude makes him so unhinged that I kinda missed writing it (like you saw on Reyna's chp).

FRIDAY, 24th February

Going back to his room after dinner, Percy hadn't expected to find two missed calls from Gregor. He called back while organizing his desk, already knowing Peter would be no help studying for the chemistry test they had in two weeks, and the last time he tried to ask Annabeth, it only made him more confused. He was almost giving up and closing the call when Gregor finally answered.

"I'm here!"

Before Percy could say anything, he heard a loud sound of something crashing coming from the other side and Gregor groaning in pain.

You know, for a while, that was the sound I always associated with Gregor.

Groans?

More like any sounds that implied physical accidents. His former apartment had an irregular floor and little space for maneuvering, so either with crutches, canes or nothing, he would fall down every five minutes.

Did you at least help him?

To get up? Yes. To prevent his falling? Eh, not really.

Seriously?

After the tenth time that both of us ended up on the ground, more hurt than if he had fallen by himself, we decided it was safer not to try. Too many elbows, knees and hard heads. You have to remember I was younger, smaller, weaker, and also not the most agile creature.

Fair enough.

Hearing Gregor finally close to the phone, Percy barely resisted making a joke about it.

"Are you okay? Nothing broken?"

"Nothing that wasn't already. And I'm sorry I couldn't answer your call on Sunday. And about taking almost a week to call you back. Things have been... hectic."

"Should I ask?"

"Please, don't. If I can erase the last week completely from my mind by never talking about it again, I'll do it in a heartbeat."

Percy still wasn't sure how that worked, but he felt Peter wincing alongside him.

"That bad?"

"No; much, much worse."

"Then I guess I will just take your word for it."

"Please. Now, was that the girl you were searching for? Was it useful?"

"Yes to the first question."

"And the second?"

"We're... not sure."

Percy mostly repeated what he'd already told Frank, thankful both his friends knew how to listen to the whole story before asking questions.

"And she hasn't contacted either of you since?"

"I can't blame her, it's a pretty absurd concept. You know Peter, so it was easier for you to process it. But Rebecca? We're complete strangers who had stalker-level info about her. And I know we did our best to not pressure her in any way, but she's not stupid, she noticed we're putting a lot of faith in her, even though we also don't know how she could help."

"Do you think she can connect to Rachel in some way?"

"Honestly, we don't know. It could be said it was just a coincidence that she and Annabeth were in the same airport, but demigod life taught us not to believe in coincidences."