Chapter 17

Percy

Tick.

Tock.

Tick .

Tock.

The clock was mocking him, Percy decided. As he sat on the arm of Thalia's couch, he watched the seconds slowly tick away as the hands slowly inched towards six o'clock. It was only four-thirty. He hummed under his breath, drumming his fingers across his thigh in some unknown pattern. As he tapped, his fingers landed on his pocket, slightly crushing the forgotten, folded piece of paper from earlier that day. Confused, Percy reached into his pocket and unfolded the paper, examining the crudely drawn face.

"Hey Death Breath! Get in here!" Percy shouted to the house, hoping Nico would hear. Sure enough, a few moments later, the shorter of the two black-clad teenagers came noisily down the stair.

"What do you want Perce?" Nico asked, walking over to the couch where Percy sat.

"Whatca think?" He asked, turning the sketch so that Nico could see the comical face. "As a name for the band, I mean." he elaborated, cutting off Nico's response.

"Hm." Nico said, staring at the paper in his hands. "I like it. Elysium." He said after a contemplative moment, trying the foreign word for the first time. "It's vague. Mysterious. How'd you come up with this?"

"Dunno. It just kinda...came to me I guess." Percy lied, without a tell or stutter. "We should show Jason." Percy said, pushing himself off the arm of the couch.

"Yeah. So what do you want to do with this? T-Shirts? Posters?"

"Easy there. All in good time." Percy replied with a chuckle. "I was thinking maybe we make a sign to hang on the garage before a show."

"We could see if Thalia has a sheet we could use?" Nico offered.

"Yeah. And if not, we could always do it the fun way..." Percy trailed off, sending Nico a conspiritrory glance. Nico smiled, but before could speak, they found Jason, and Nico promptly shut up.

"Hey Jase. I think Percy finally figured out a name for the band." Nico said, and Percy held out the creased paper with the deceased smiley face. Jason stared at it for much longer than Nico did, brow furrowed in concentration.

"So what are we doing with this?" Jason asked after another moment, nodding his head in approval.

"We." Percy said, gesturing to himself and Nico. "Are going to "borrow" one of Thalia's sheets and spray paint it onto there". He said quickly, grabbing Nico and spinning the younger boy around.

"Okay." Jason called as they left. "Just don't take one of the nice ones..." He said, raising his voice so that Percy could hear him. He got no response. "Fine. See if I care when she murders both of you." Jason grumbled to himself, before returning to his homework.

"I'll get the sheet. You find me some duct tape and spray paint." Percy said, clapping Nico on the shoulder, and pushing him towards the garage where they'd be preforming in a few short hours. Percy walked to the cabinet where Thalia stored her towels and things. After two years under a bridge, it was still hard to get used to the fact that he had a bed, let alone towels and sheets. After a few moments of rifling through the cabinet, Percy found his intended target; a somewhat ratty black sheet, with absolutely nothing else going for it.

"You found anything yet?" Nico called, his voice echoing through the house.

"Yeah! Just don't start without me!" Percy shouted back to Nico. "Besides, you'd probably fuck it up anyways." He mumbled to himself, dusting off his jeans and climbing to his feet. Once he made his way outside, he found the other boy standing in the driveway, tapping his foot excitedly.

"I could only find the yellow one." Nico said, tossing Percy the can of spray paint.

"Good. 'Cause I could only find a black sheet" Percy responded, chucking the cloth bundle baseball-style at Nico. "Help me put this up?" Nico shrugged, and walked over to the garage door. It only took the two of them five minutes to tape up the piece of fabric, despite there being three "fuck you's", two separate attempts at hanging it, and a piece of tape stuck to Nico's left ear.

"It's crooked." Nico said, after taking a step back and admiring their handiwork, hand on his chin in the typical pose of someone examining something.

"So fucking what? We're a punk rock band. Not an art gallery." Percy responded, reaching down to grab the can of yellow paint, shaking the can rapidly. "Ready?" He asked, popping the cap off and moving closer to the garage door.

"Hey wait! I want to do some too." Nico protested.

"Fine." Percy said with a sigh, but a smile graced his normally blank face. "Just don't fuck up." He finished, and tossed Nico back the can. Nico fumbled with the catch, nearly dropping the can. Percy signed and covered his eyes with his hand, shaking his head slightly, ye still smiling, as Nico cautiously began to spray the circle of the face, looking at the picture Percy had drawn ever so often to make sure he was still on track.

To his credit, Nico made it much further than Percy had thought he would, finishing the circle on the outside, and staring on one of the x-ed out eyes before his hand started to shake, and the line of paint jumped to the side.

"That's it. Your turn." Nico said, tossing Percy the can.

"Thanks. Nice job on the circle." Percy said approvingly, "Better than I could've done." He said. As Percy worked on the details of the face, Nico spoke up again.

"How many people do you think are going to show up?" Nico asked, idly kicking a few pebbles around the driveway.

"Dunno. Maybe about as many as last time?" Percy said offhandedly. "Hey, you remember what we're playing tonight?" He said, turning his head to face Nico.

"Nope." Nico said.

"Well Fuck." Percy said with a crooked grin. "We'll just wing it." He finished, looking down at the scrap of paper, struggling to make out the letters as he finished the circular face. Several moments of silence followed, as Nico wisely let Percy concentrate on spraying the letters. After a moment, Percy groaned and dropped his head, holding the paper out for Nico to read. "What letter is that?" he asked quietly, pointing to the I in Elysium. Nico stared at the paper, squinting, and turning it in several different direction.

"I" He said at last. "That's probably an I. I'm like, 60% sure."

"Good enough."

"Hey, back to the songs. What about that new one you just wrote? You want to do that one tonight?" Nico asked. Percy gave a small laugh.

"Nah. I mean, I like the song. A lot. But I want to save that one for a different show. Also, do you have any idea how difficult it is to scream like that?' He stood up, and stepped back. "There. Done. How bad does it look?"

"Not too bad. Of course, and I quote, 'So fucking what? We're a punk rock band. Not an art gallery'"

"Yeah yeah. You're a real inspiration, Di Angelo, you know that?" Percy said sarcastically, giving Nico a shove. "Now come on. We've still got an hour till show time."

When the doorbell rang almost exactly one hour later, Percy's head shot up like a bullet, whipping around to face the direction of the front door from where he sat on Jason's stool in the garage, absentmindedly strumming Riptide. In the back of his mind, the little hopeful voice that only recently found it's ability to speak again after so many years of soul-crushing depression, spoke up excitedly. Maybe it's Zoe! It thought. Shut up. Percy thought back as he walked towards the front door. We don't... He started, but was interrupted by the little voice again. Yes we do. It said. Percy didn't answer.

By the time he made his way over to the front door, Jason was walking over, with what Percy guessed was the exact same expression on his face. They both stopped, and stared at each other for a moment.

"You too, huh?" Jason asked, breaking the tension in the air.

"Yep." Percy said awkwardly, before walking away from the door, and flicked a curtain away from the window. He sighed. "I don't know her." Percy said, with an unconscious flip of his hair out of his eyes. "Go get her, Jase." Percy said, clapping Jason on the shoulder, trying in vain to keep the disappointment out of his voice. As he walked back to the garage, Percy could not help but feel a wave of disappointment was over him. By the time he made it back, Percy could hear the voices echoing through the hallways. As much as he thought that he should go back and be "Social" or even, god forbid, help Jason with his bumbling attempt at flirting, but despite all of that, Percy couldn't bring himself to give a shit. So instead, Percy threw himself into his music.

He got as far as to slip Riptide's black strap across his shoulder, and pull a mostly intact guitar pick from his pocket, before Nico appeared in the garage doorway.

"Ready Perce?" Nico asked, to which Percy only nodded in response. Outside the garage, the slow mummer of voices grew louder, as the noise slipped through the walls, and the shadows of feet moved across the crack under the door.

"Here them outside? I think they want a show." Percy said, flashing his rare crooked grin. "You remember the line-up?"

"Yep. I asked Jason. Come As You Are, Aneurysm, Big Long Now, and Dumb as the finale." He said as he grabbed his bass. "Now we're just waiting on Jason."

"Still sucking face?"

"Probably." Nico answered, and the two fell into a dull silence, as they stood tuning their instruments, while the minutes slowly ticked away. With a creak, Jason slipped through the door to the garage, red faced and looking a little embarrassed.

"Have fun in there?" Percy teased. "Sure sounded like ya did."

"Fuck you Jackson." Jason shot back, although his tone made it clear he was kidding. "Ready?" He asked, and when Percy and Nico nodded their affirmative, he slammed his fist into the door control, and it shuddered to life with a groan, revealing the cheering crowd outside foot by foot, until finally the door groaned to a halt.

"What's up Motherfuckers?!" Percy screamed into the microphone to the cheers of the crowd. "Whatda ya say we start this little fucking party?"

Percy-30 minutes later.

As the last chord of Dumb faded into the warm San Francisco Air, a breathless Percy Jackson stared out into the...no, his, audience. He could see several different nameless faces he recognized from the halls of Goode High School. "Alright people, that's..." Percy started to say as he stared out into the crowd. Suddenly he stopped, the blood draining from his face. "Oh Fuck" He whispered as he stepped back from the microphone. "Sorry Folks. Give me one second." He said half heartedly into the microphone, before turning back towards Jason, and gestured for Nico to come over.

"What's the matter Perce? Aren't we done?" Nico asked worriedly.

"No. I want to do the new song too." Percy said hoarsely, his mangled vocal chords screaming in pain as he spoke.

"You sure?" Jason asked, gesturing with one of his drumsticks towards Percy's throat. "That's a lot of screaming."

"I know. I'm good." Percy said. "You guys know what you're doing?" He asked. When the both nodded, he continued. "Good. I want to do something first. Wait for me to kick it off."

"How will we know?" Nico asked as Percy turned back to the crowd.

"You'll know." Percy said, before he turned to the audience. Before he spoke, however, his eyes couldn't help but linger on one very distinct head in the sea of people, one with grey eyes, and curly blond hair.

Annabeth.

She had to admit, at least to herself, that the music here was decent. She'd never admit it out loud and allow Reyna that victory. She did have a reputation to uphold. None the less, the music was decent. It was not even remotely close to her preferred taste, and reminded her of when her Yale-educated parents would talk about their younger years. Specifically, the utter disgust in their voices when the talked about "Those uneducated, delinquent punks." But decent. And, She thought. The Singer's not to bad-looking either.

So when he returned back to the front, Annabeth Chase allowed her self to become excited, to go with the flow of emotions of the people around her. "Sorry about that." He said. "We were going to end it there, but I think you guys deserve a little treat. This is a brand new song, called Bridges." The crowd erupted in cheers again, almost drowning out the rest of his words. "Now wait a minute. This song, is special. This one goes out the person, and I know she's out there," He said, gesturing out towards the large crowd of people, "Who changed my life forever."

Annabeth could here the squeals and aw's of excitable, romance-crazed teenage girls, and took immense pleasure in the disappointed etched onto the faces of many, especially her friend Piper. "I'm sorry Pipes." She said, faking compassion. "You'll be alright." She'd obviously done a wonderful job of lying (as usual) because Piper slowly nodded her head next to her. She looked marginally less distraught than she

"Here goes." The singer shouted from the stage, and the crowd hushed instantly.

The song started slowly, as he picked away at the strings and a soft and melodic noise faded into the air. It was calming, sad, and gentle, unlike anything else she had heard that night. Then, in a heartbeat, it was gone, replaced by a slamming, angry wall of sound coming from all three members, and then he started to scream.

"For the love of God, will you bite your tongue,

Before we make you swallow it

It's moments like this when silence is golden,

And then you speak.

No one wants to hear you!

No one wants to see you!

So desperate and pathetic,

I'm begging you to spare me

The pleasure of your company!

When did the diamonds leave your bones?

I'm burning down every bridge we made!

I'll watch you choke on the hearts you break!

I'm bleeding out every word you said!

Go to hell, For heaven's sake!

No one wants to hear you!

Save your breath!

No one wants to see you!

So desperate and pathetic

You think that no one sees this,

I think it's time you knew the truth!

I'm burning down every bridge we made!

I'll watch you choke on the hearts you break!

I'm bleeding out every word you said!

Go to hell, For heaven's sake!

When did the diamonds leave your bones?

Leave your bones!

You're not a shepherd, you're just a sheep!

A combined effort of everyone you meet!

You're all flesh, with no bone!

Feed them to the sharks! And throw them to the wolves!

I'm burning down every bridge we made!

I'll watch you choke on the hearts you break!

I'm bleeding out every word you said!

Go to hell, For heaven's sake!

Go to hell, for heaven's sake!

Go to hell, for heaven's sake!"

For a moment, there was nothing. No noise, no movement from the crowd. And then suddenly, a roaring cry burst out from the people, seeming to have come from nowhere yet be everywhere, as deafening cheers filled the air. The band up on "stage" seemed shocked speechless at this sudden outcry of support. But Annabeth wasn't clapping. She stared, confusion etched across her face, as questions raced through her mind. The screaming, the anger, the pain...It all sounded so directed...what could have brought that one? Why the trick at the beginning? And why does he seem so god damn familiar?

"Alright Motherfuckers!" The singer shouted into the microphone, his voice quiet and hoarse. "That's our show! Now fuck off! We are Elysium! Fuck you all! Goodnight!" He said, flipping the crowd both middle fingers, while the drummer slammed his fist into the wall, bringing the garage door down. Just before the slowly falling door covered his face, he turned and locked eyes with Annabeth, sea green hurricanes cutting straight into her soul.

The realization hit her like a freight train.

Unfortunately, the story ends here and I can't continue it because my stories are crap.