4

12K 302 74
                                    

I stared at the closed casket, at the flowers piled on top.

I felt a hand on my shoulder but I didn't lift my gaze. The only reason I stopped looking at it was because I was forcibly turned away.

"Percy-" Paul cut off as I hugged him. He wrapped his arms around me as I started sobbing.

"It...It's not fair."

"I know. I know, Percy. It's not." He mumbled, running his fingers through my hair.

Eventually I pulled away from Paul and wiped my eyes.

I stood next to him as people came up, said they were sorry, shook our hands and left. There wasn't much variation and when there was...it wasn't the greatest.

Nico and Thalia stood awkwardly in front of me.

"I uh, have absolutely no idea what to do." Thalia didn't look at me. "I didn't care when my mom died. I can't say I know how you feel or anything."

"And my dad wiped my memories so I barely remember my mom." Nico mumbled.

I pulled them into a hug, holding them tightly. "It's not safe for us to all be here." I whispered. "You guys need to go before you get hurt."

"You are in no condition to protect yourself Percy." Thalia said.

"I'll be fine."

Nico shook his head. "You aren't fine. There is no way in my father's realm that you're fine after all of this. We're not leaving until we're sure you won't be attacked."

We started arguing and everyone else in the line edged around us, their eyes wide.

"That's enough."

We froze mid-argument and turned to stare at who spoke.

"H-hi, Dad." I managed a smile.

"Leave us." He looked at Nico and Thalia who nodded and rushed out of the funeral home. Dad grabbed my shoulder and guided me into the hallway.

"How are you holding up, sweetheart?" He asked quietly.

My response was to hug him.

He sighed and gently patted my back. His grip on me was tight, not that I was complaining. It made me feel safe, like everything was going to be okay.

As if anything could be okay when Mom is dead.

"I'm going to take you to get some food."

"The funeral is-"

"Sweetheart, listen to me. You don't need to be there. You need to get food. Your uncles told me that you've been refusing to eat and that's not good Percy. I shouldn't even have to say that's not good. You should know that."

"I'm not hungry." I mumbled resting my head against his shoulder.

"It doesn't matter, I'm taking you to get food. I'm going to go tell Paul so he doesn't freak out. Stay here."

He walked back into the room and instead of listening to him, I went to the bathroom.

When I came back out, Dad was talking on a phone pacing the hallway. He turned and his eyes locked onto me. He relaxed and hung up before rushing over to me.

"Where were you?" He asked.

"Bathroom."

He nodded. "You had me worried. I thought someone took you. Come on. There has to be somewhere good to eat around here."

"Um...can we go get something at the park?" I asked.

"Yeah, whatever you want, sweetheart."

I managed to convince him to walk, considering the fact we were about a block or two from Central Park.

We got hot dogs at a vendor and sat on a bench. I leaned against Dad.

"You okay?" He mumbled.

I looked up at him and then at his half-eaten hot dog. I swallowed. "Can I, uh, have the rest of yours?"

"I thought you said you weren't hungry."

"Can I have it or not?"

He handed me it and chuckled when I devoured it.

"Percy, look at me."

"Hm?" I turned my head only to flinch back as he tried to wipe my mouth. "Hey!"

"Hold still."

"Dad! Stop it! I know how to use a napkin!"

"Apparently you also know how to get ketchup all over your face, what are you, two?"

"Yes."

As the moment passed, I stared at my hands and didn't say anything. Dad noticed.

"Something on your mind?"

"Why- Why did you let her die? I know you could have protected her, so why didn't you?"

"Sweetheart...you know I'm not supposed to interfere with mortals."

"You made her life horrible because you slept with her. She was stuck with me and she married a horrible guy to keep me, a mistake, from getting killed. I think that should count as interfering."

"She never thought of you as a mistake and neither do I."

A sad smile spread across my face. Mom would sometimes get this look on her face, a look that very clearly told me she was wondering what her life would have been like if she didn't have me.

I can't blame her.

"Percy, whatever you're thinking right now it's not true."

"You don't know that." I leaned forward, resting my arms on my legs. "But why didn't you save her?"

"It happened so fast. I could tell she was in distress and then...I couldn't sense her." He hung his head.

"That doesn't-"

"Percy, don't you think this is killing me?!" His hands clenched. "Don't you think that I want her to be safe?! That I want her to be sitting here with us?!"

Tears fell down his face and I reached a hand towards him. He swatted it away.

I stared at him, hurt. "Dad..."

"I'm sorry... This has to be harder on you than it is on me. And you have every right to be angry with me."

"No I don't Dad."

"Yes, sweetheart, you do."

Welp

Any of you got ideas?

I'm gonna go make me some rice and more tea

My Asian friend just teleports into my house

Which we found out orange and rice tastes good during like fifth or sixth grade

And we passed a bottle of tea around my house which it was a good thing we didn't care about drinking after each other because another time we had two separate bottles but somehow we always drank the same amount and forgot to mark our bottles

Anywho

See yah

Princess of the Sea (Fem Percy x YJ)Where stories live. Discover now