Demonology (a Percabeth AU)

Sally Jackson

   "That was amazing!" Annabeth told Percy as they strolled down the street.

    She had gotten a large bag decorated with a silver owl. Better then its outsides, however, was the contents; the bag was filled past the brim with books Annabeth had only dreamed of ever owning. There were some of the lost books of Archimedes that Leo would love to see, lost scripts of Shakespeare's plays, and the lost epics of the Trojan cycle, among others.

"I'm about to show you something just as amazing," Percy said.

Annabeth lifted an eyebrow. "And what could possibly match a bookstore?"

Percy grinned. "My mother."

***

Annabeth's first impression of Sally Jackson was that she must be an angel. She radiated warmth and energy. She had grey streaks in her brown hair, but almost as much energy as her son. "Percy!" she said, hugging her son. "I didn't expect to see you so soon! How are you and who is this young lady?"

"She's a human," Percy replied. "Her name is Annabeth."

Sally shot a look at Annabeth. Her blue eyes were as gentle as pools of water. "I hope my son has not been troubling you. He means well, I promise. You should've seen him as a baby. He was always so cute — especially in the water."

"Mom!" Percy groaned, his ears turning as red as tomatoes.

Sally gently laughed. A timer went off. "Looks like the cookies are ready. Annabeth, would you like to stay for lunch?"

As she dashed off, Annabeth turned to face Percy. "Your mom is awesome."

Percy smiled. "I know."

***

Percy's house was a lot simpler than Annabeth imagined. It was a three-bedroom apartment and though nothing was extravagant, it had a simple air of warmth to it. It was the kind of place you could relax in.

Lunch was nachos with Sally's seven-layer dip, freshly squeezed lemonade, and blue chocolate chip cookies. "Why are they blue?" Annabeth asked as she took a bite.

Percy smiled. "My mom, she's real sweet, but she's got the Jackson streak."

Sally cleared her throat. "Percy, I can hear you. You're lucky Paul and Estelle went out to the park today."

Percy nodded. "My mother dated this jerk named Gabe for the longest time. He was really horrible to her. Well, one day he said that food couldn't be blue. Blue is my favorite color, so my mom started making everything blue. She made blue pancakes, blue cupcakes, blue cookies — even blue eggs and ham."

Annabeth smiled. "That's awesome."

"Percy, we should talk," Sally said as they finished up lunch. "Alone."

Annabeth nodded as they left the room. She pretended to be putting away the dishes, but as she placed them in the dishwasher, her eyes caught sight of a hat. It was a battered baseball cap, but it bore the Yankees symbol. She placed it on her head and when she looked down, she couldn't see her body.

I'm invisible, she realized. Her heart pounding in her chest like the fluttering of Percy's wings, she tiptoed to the big bedroom where Percy and Sally were talking and pressed one ear against the door.

"What are you thinking bringing a human here?" Sally asked.

Percy said something that Annabeth couldn't quite discern, but she heard her name.

"You're risking your place here for a human?" Sally asked.

"That's not true," Percy said. "I'm doing my job."

"And your job doesn't entail bringing her up here," Sally said, sounding more worried than angry. "Does anyone know?"

"Ummm," Percy said. "Octavian. I dunno about the others. I took her around."

"Percy, why are you doing this?" Sally asked. "You could be expelled!"

"Mom, I cannot explain it," Percy said. "Annabeth and I — we fight, but I feel so drawn to her. She makes me feel better — like I am more than a demon."

Sally exhaled. "As long as this doesn't last, you can always tell the council that it was just an overzealous first assignment. It's the only way you'll be granted immortality."