tapes | percy jackson

03

For once, Percy was numb in the morning. Numb towards everything. His eyes had dulled after sobbing his heart out last night. His throat hurts, pained and itchy from all the screaming he let out. And his hands were swollen, red and bruised all over from punching walls and punching himself. Blaming himself all over again like it was the night he realized that Veronica was gone.

Dead because of him.

He would've had a migraine from the harsh pounding on his head. Percy could've sworn he had done it. But, did he care at the moment? No... No, he did not. And he barely even noticed the throbbing pain at the back of his head as he sorted through the collection of CDs and tapes Veronica always collected.

His leg continued to bounce up and down, eyes glancing from the CD in his hands to the other tapes that he messed and rearranged. Why? He didn't know... But it brought him a sense of comfort that he almost never had these days.

Percy's hand dropped to his lap, sighing as he glanced around Veronica's second room — or, her storage room, where she collected every single tape, CD, and maybe books and records. He was surprised that she likes to collect all of it. Percy always knew that Veronica loved simple things, in her words, "less". Maybe these were different? She also loved to watch and read, so that may be it.

His exhausted eyes landed on the lone mini-dv camcorder that sat on the table. It collected dust, just like the others. And could only imagine Veronica playfully nudging him, encouraging him to use the old-style camcorder.

That was enough for him to get back up and approach the table, letting his hands touch the cold camcorder. Beside it was another tape, a mini-dv tape, looking like it was still brand new, with a few dust piling on top like the camcorder.

And nervousness immediately hits him like a speeding truck. This was Veronica's, and if he would damage it in any way, he was sure that she would be sad, and Percy never wanted that. It's why he was always so careful around her, so gentle.

Percy opened it, trying to remember how to set it up and when he did, he was quick on his feet. He had an idea what it was, but he needed to know if it was the same as when they decided to record it.

As always, Veronica manage to make him take a small, and needed, break, and Percy allowed her just that once. And he vividly remembers smiling and laughing all day as she records them both. Whether it be something stupid, ridiculous, or funny, Veronica would still record everything.

That day was no exception.

After a few minutes of setting up, finally remembering what to do and what not to do, he sat down and lets the video play. To his surprise, it wasn't very long. Percy guessed that Veronica probably tinkered with it but he wasn't sure, not exactly an expert when it comes to the old camcorders.

“— do you want the cookie or not?” he heard her say, and his video self immediately snatched a blue cookie from the tray, not wasting a second and bit the entire cookie while Veronica gaped at him.

“Percy! That was still hot — are you okay?!” Veronica frets in the video, dropping the tray on the counter as Percy winced with a nervous chuckle. “Hold on, I'll get some water—”

He fast forwards it, and next it shows two pairs of legs with the waves crashing into them rather violently, eliciting a laugh from the duo. “You promised you wouldn't get us wet this time! Especially not the camcorder!”

“I told you, I would try,” video Percy corrected Veronica who changes the camera to the boy, “I never promised anything.”

“We should've stayed in my apartment if I knew I'd get wet.” video Veronica sighs and the camera looks like it was set down on her lap, seeing as it showed her leaning her head on the boy's shoulder, but she had a smile on her face.

“Why not include me in getting wet?”

“Seashell — darling, do you hear yourself right now?”

Percy felt his face heat up, remembering their conversation that time so he sped it up and spotted video Percy with a red face in the background while Veronica smiles sweetly at the camera.

“I'm probably gonna ask how to fix this later since it took longer than I expected!” Veronica starts her "outro", “Percy and I get to bake blue cookies and it turned out great! Not as good as Sally's but still pretty decent. We went to the beach — and still are — to watch the sunset and its wondrous! And now we're — oh! Time's almost up! Any last words about today, Seashell?”

“Veronica is surprisingly makes good blue cookies!”

“Aww, thank you! And you were surprisingly good at measuring cups!” Veronica thanked video Percy before smiling at the camera again. “And Percy really is, trust me—”

The video cuts off, and Percy took a second to realize that she must've stopped suddenly during that time, and he was quick to sigh and set it back down. His hands collected the dust from the camcorder, but he wiped it away.

Watching the video made him wonder if his past self knew that, in the future, he would have to live years full of pain, not having her by his side. He wonders if he knew the world he's fighting for is worth it or not.

Oh, to be free. To not worry. To have fun like the young teens they are.

Percy should've relished those moments if he knew he would have to live in a living nightmare.

           
          
           
         
        
        
         
         

✧

                   

note: i am no expert with mini dv camcorders, i only searched about it and tried to find a helpful source of information, but i still kept it a bit vague here.

also, i'm not sure if it's a camcorder or just a regular old camera, but i used to have one and i remember having fun with it. if it was a camcorder, then it's probably a flash memory.