gone girl.
━━━ chapter twelve

❀

She woke up in an unfamiliar room, to the sound of traffic. Looking around her, she noticed blue walls, posters from alternative rock bands she didn't know and a messy bed in which she woke up on. It looked like your average teenager boy's room and when she finally regained some sense of reality, Amaryllis realised she must have been at Percy's house.

She remembered everything that lead up to that point. Their interaction with Hera, the visit at her mother's house and the reveal that she didn't remember her at all. She didn't remember anything else besides that, but it was enough to make her instantly tear up.

"Percy?" she croaked, just to find out her throat was sore. Now panicked, she yelled his name again but when she didn't get an answer, she got out of the bed and made her way out of the bedroom to the living room.

Her feet clapped against the tiles as she followed the sound of something cooking. When she got to the kitchen, she found Percy struggling with a pan. He didn't even notice her, because he was trying to get a thing that looked like blue pancakes out of the pan.

"Percy."

He turned to see her and his first reaction was a sigh of relief. "You're finally awake. I was beginning to get nervous."

"And pancakes are your coping mechanism?"

"Don't doubt the power of good food," he said as he finally got the rest of the pancakes in the big plate on the counter. He shrugged. "Well. Semi-good food."

He lead her to the kitchen table, where the plates were already set and they sat across each other. Amaryllis caught him staring at her worryingly, which only confirmed things had gone incredibly wrong. "How long have I been blacked out?" she asked.

"A few hours. I didn't know what to do so I brought you here."

"And your mom..?"

"Uh, she's at work, don't worry." He took a few pancakes and brought them to her plate, signalling her to eat but Amaryllis didn't feel like eating anything at that point. She was still dizzy, like when one feels when they go out while they have a fever.

Suddenly Percy's face turned serious. "What do you remember, Mar?"

She felt tears blurring her vision once again, but tried her best to not let them fall out. She didn't want to cry in front of him, she didn't want to feel weak anymore, but it was hard not to cry when she remembered her mother's blank expression when she looked at her.

"That my mom and my godfather don't remember me, at all." She tried to keep her voice steady, emotionless, but it still came off shaking. "That's it. I don't remember how I ended up unconscious... or here."

"So you don't remember...?"

She looked at Percy with furrowed brows. "What? There's more?"

"No, nothing. I was just- nevermind."

The dark skinned boy seemed to want to say more, but instead he took a big bite of his food. "I-I'm sorry, by the way," Amaryllis said. She wasn't sure why, but she felt the need to apologise for everything.

"For what?"

"I don't know," she said, rubbing her temples. "I shouldn't have dragged you into this."

"You didn't drag me into anything. I wanted to come with you and I did." He sighed. "You have no idea what happened, do you? With your mother, I mean."

"No. That's the special thing about me, I never know what's happening. Feels great," she said sarcastically and got up from her chair. "I need to go to the bathroom."

He showed the way and once she closed the door behind her, she leaned against it and slowly fell until she hit the ground. Amaryllis was completely, utterly lost. She couldn't understand why all this was happening to her specifically. First, her kidnapping - or whatever it was - and her missing four years of her life. Lee's death. Then, that. Her own mother looked at her like she was a stranger, didn't even recognize her. Everything was falling apart and the most frustrating thing was that she didn't know why.

What the fuck had she done to the gods? She had never even talked to her father. Even when Amaryllis was younger and she'd pray to him, he never answered. What was she supposed to do?

She clapped her hands together and gritting her teeth, she prayed one more time. Apollo. Father. Sir, she corrected herself. She didn't really consider him a dad after everything that happened. If you can hear me, just give me a sign. Did I do something wrong? Is this a punishment?

She waited for a few seconds, but unsurprisingly, nothing happened. Fine, dude. Ignore me. See if I give a crap, she yelled inside her head. She wanted to scream and break things, she wanted to punch the doors of Olympus open and demand some answers.

Instead she got up and looked herself in the mirror. She looked completely unhinged – her blonde hair was tousled and messy, her eyes were puffy and red from all the crying and her clothes were wrinkled. She threw some water on her face and even searched the drawers for a hairbrush. After she brushed her hair and did some breathing exercises, she felt calm enough to get out of the bathroom and face Percy again.

He had moved from the kitchen to the living room while she was gone. She hesitantly sat at the armchair that was a bit further away from the couch where he was. If he noticed it, he didn't say a thing.

"It was definitely a god's doing," Percy said and turned off the tv, focusing on her. "Maybe the same god's that brought you in Ogygia."

She rolled her eyes, not wanting to get into it. "That's a possibility. But we don't know who did it or even why, so-"

"I was thinking," he interrupted her. "You're assuming that whoever did it meant to punish you or- or harm you, right? But what if they did it to protect you?"

"Protect me? From what? And which god would even care enough to protect me from anything?"

"Apollo," Percy said, like it was the obvious answer. It made Amaryllis angry.

"Just because your dad cares about you, Percy, doesn't mean mine does as well. He has never even spoken to me. He doesn't give a shit about me."

"You're his daughter. He would want to protect you if there was any threat-"

"Well, he didn't really protect Lee, did he?" Amaryllis yelled.

That shut Percy up, but she didn't feel any satisfaction about that, only guilt. He was only trying to help, he was always trying to help and there she was, shutting him off. "I'm sorry, I just- Can we not talk about this right now?" she said, softer this time, to which he nodded. "You know what?Actually, I'm just going to leave now."

Percy's reaction was instant. "What? Where will you go?"

"Camp Half-Blood," she said, getting up and Percy mimicked her. "Don't really have a home anymore, do I?" The bitter realisation took over as she bit her lip.

She didn't have a home anymore.

"Mar, you can't just travel in your state," he said. It caught her off guard to see how worried he was and there was still an underlying sense of him hiding something. "You can stay here for the day, until you feel better. My mom won't mind. In fact I'm pretty sure that she'd yell at me if I let you leave like that."

She sighed. On one hand, she really wanted to be alone and she knew Percy's tactic at comforting people was to smother them with attention and love until they were distracted from their problems. On the other hand, he was right – she wasn't in the best condition to travel, especially not on her own.

"Besides, my birthday is in two days. You wouldn't want to miss it," he smiled and nudged her, trying to cheer her up. "Blue cake, blue cookies, blue empanadas – we're talking about good food."

In spite of herself, she smiled. "What's with you and blue food?"

"Sit down and I'll tell you." When they did, it was basically a confirmation on Amaryllis' part that she would be staying over at his house. "So have I ever told you about Smelly Gabe?"

"Uh, no. I assume he didn't smell good."

"Correct. So Smelly Gabe was my smelly stepfather. Long story short, he was a complete piece of shit. He once told my mom that there's no such thing as blue food or drink. So from that point on, my mom would go out of her way to make blue foods to prove him wrong. It sort of became an inside joke between us and we continue to do it to this day."

Amaryllis chuckled, suddenly understanding the appeal of the blue food. "And what happened to him?"

"He was petrified by Medusa's head and sold as a statue," he smirked and Amaryllis couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Are you serious?"

"He was a real asshole," was the only thing Percy said. "But his stench masked my demigod scent from monsters – that's the reason my mom married him in the first place."

"Your mother is a great woman," Amaryllis concluded, playing with the loose thread of her shirt.

"I know." Sensing that he was approaching dangerous territory talking about his mother, he swiftly changed the subject. "Wanna watch a movie or something?"

"Sure," she agreed. She needed to take her mind off things anyway. "What's your favourite movie?"

"I haven't watched many movies. My ADHD makes it kinda hard for me to focus," he explained and he searched the drawers under the tv. After a minute of searching, he dragged out a few DVDs. "I only have Finding Meno- fuck, Nemo, the Spiderman trilogy and the Pirates of the Caribbean."

"I'd rather not watch any action sequences for the rest of the summer," she half-joked.

"Nemo it is then!"

Once the movie started and Percy came back to his seat, for a moment it felt like they were just two normal teenagers. For a moment there were no gods, no monsters and no weight on their shoulders. It felt refreshing but when Amaryllis turned her head to thank the boy next to her, he shushed her. "Shh, I love that part."

She realised he had pressed fast-forward and skipped the sad part, where the barracuda eats Nemo's mother and siblings. Amaryllis chuckled, "Did you do that for me or for you?"

"Shut up," he laughed but didn't answer.

They spent most of their time commentating over the movie, especially Percy, who would say the most ridiculous things just to get a laugh out of Amaryllis. However, after a while he stopped. Minutes before the end of the movie Amaryllis realised that Percy had fallen asleep, his head resting on her shoulder. She poked his head lightly, but he didn't even move. That was when she noticed he was drooling in his sleep. Chuckling, she turned her eyes back to the tv. It was going to be an interesting few days.

❀

It was August 18th, but most importantly it was Percy's birthday.

Amaryllis had stayed over at his house for the past few days and after a private conversation with Sally that ended up with the girl in tears, they agreed that she would move in with the Jacksons for a while – at least until Percy went back to school. After explaining the situation to her, Sally refused to let Amaryllis go back at the Camp. She claimed that it wouldn't be good for her to be alone and isolate herself, something that would happen if she returned to the Camp after most campers left.

Mrs Jackson – or Sally, as she insisted Amaryllis would call her – and her son were basically the best thing that happened to Amaryllis at that time. After something so traumatic happening to her, she couldn't ask for better people to surround herself with. They were eager to do everything they could to help her and she couldn't be more grateful for that, though she did feel a little bit of guilt that she couldn't offer them anything in return.

The birthday party was Amaryllis' idea and she helped Sally plan it, even helped her bake the blue birthday cakes, because she wanted to be of some use. Paul Blofis, Sally's boyfriend was there as well as Tyson, using Mist to cover the fact that he was a Cyclops. Annabeth was invited as well, but said she couldn't attend and Amaryllis sensed it might had something to do with how the three of them left things at Camp.

Even though she was basically an outsider, Amaryllis felt at home with the Jacksons and their extended family. Paul was a cool guy and his dad jokes made her snort quite a few times. Tyson seemed to adore Amaryllis and the two had formed some kind of alliance against Percy when it came to board games.

When Percy was just about to blow out the candles, the doorbell rang and interrupted their singing. It was a man in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, with sea-green eyes that looked identical to Percy's. It didn't take Amaryllis more than five seconds to realise that this man was Poseidon and that he had come to wish his son happy birthday.

Perhaps she should have felt more amazed upon meeting the god of the sea, but he looked a little too much like one of those German tourists she was so used to seeing around Thassos.

Paul looked like he was holding himself back from talking too much and he didn't seem to enjoy the fact that Percy's father was there. He was even more confused when Tyson saw him and called him dad as well and hugged him. When Poseidon laid his eyes on Amaryllis, he threw a small smile on her direction.

"Won't you introduce me to your friend, Percy?"

The boy seemed to suddenly be very uncomfortable for some reason, like he was embarrassed, hopefully by his father and not her. "Uh, this is Amaryllis."

It would feel too awkward in her opinion to go shake his hand so she just waved with a fake smile and hoped that was enough. Something flashed across Poseidon's face and his eyes darkened. He nodded before he pulled Percy into the kitchen to speak privately.

"Did he seem a little weird to you?" Amaryllis whispered to Tyson, who shrugged.

"Dad has a lot on his mind lately. There is a war happening in the sea and it's getting pretty bad," he said and he focused once again to his UNO cards, ignoring the girl's wide eyes. "Wild card! I choose red."

"Goddamnit, Ty," Amaryllis muttered.

Once Poseidon left, Percy blew out the candles and they finally ate the cakes, until they felt like they were about to die. They played charades, with Amaryllis being in the same team as Sally and then she suggested playing Monopoly. It was a game she used to play with her mother and aunt Evaggelia all the time, during the times where they cut off their power and had nothing better to do.

It turned out Amaryllis was just as competitive in Monopoly as she once was. "Sorry, Paul. During this game you're all my enemies," she joked and the man chuckled as he gave her a fistful of his fake money.

"This is so unfair. You've basically bought every single place in the board!" Percy complained.

"Isn't that the point of the game?" Amaryllis asked him, eyebrows raised. "Besides it's not my fault you've been in jail for half the game."

"I was framed!" the boy yelled, striking a dramatic pose, causing Tyson to appear distressed for a moment.

"By whom, brother?"

Amaryllis couldn't help but burst out laughing. She felt Percy's eyes on her, like he was trying to see beyond her expression and understand if she was okay or not. These days certainly hadn't been easy and Amaryllis found herself stifling her sobs in the bathroom at least once a day. But at the same time, she felt content knowing she was loved nevertheless. Sometimes she needed the reminder.

After a while, Percy went into his bedroom and she followed him. "Hey, are you not having fun?" she asked him as he sat on the edge of his bed.

"This is probably the best birthday I've ever had," he smiled. He looked even more cheerful after his father appeared, which made sense.

"Did you know your father would visit?"

"No, it was a surprise."

Amaryllis pressed her lips together, trying not to show her selfish disappointment. She knew Percy wasn't in constant communication with his father either, but at least Poseidon cared enough to appear to him once in a while. She would have given everything for one visit from her father, no matter how much she resented him.

"By the way I'm sorry I didn't get you a present," she told him after a while. "It's just that, uh, I don't have any money in the moment. Like at all."

He looked at her like he hadn't even thought about it before she mentioned it. "Don't even worry about it. Birthday presents are overrated anyway."

"I'll owe you one."

"Do you know how to skate?"

She shot him a look. "I don't but how is that relevant?"

He shrugged, while smirking the same way the Stoll brothers did before pranking someone. "Let me teach you. It'll be hilarious to see that. That can be my present."

Amaryllis chuckled. "Deal. But it won't be that funny once I turn out to be a skating prodigy."

"I really doubt it." Before he continued talking, Percy patted his shirt pocket and brought out a little piece of cloth. She saw his expression immediately shift, as she realised that he was wearing the same shirt that he was wearing in Ogygia.

She sat closer to him, as he unwrapped it, trying to get a better look at it. "Is that...?"

"Moonlace," he told her. It was a tiny sprig but it had survived two months of Percy having forgotten it in his pocket. "Calypso gave it to me. I promised her that I'd plan a garden for her, but with everything that happened I... I kind of forgot about it."

Amaryllis gently took the moonlace in her hands. The smell of it travelled her back to the enchanted gardens of the phantom island she grew to love so much. She tried not to imagine Calypso sitting by the beach all alone – the thought hurt her more than she thought it would.

"Do you miss her?"

"Of course. She is like a sister to me and I'll find a way to free her someday, just like I promised," Amaryllis said with a small smile.

"How?"

"I don't know yet. But for now, let's just keep one promise at a time. Do you have any planter boxes?"

He led her to the fire escape, where an empty planter box awaited. It was dark outside but the moonlight was enough for them to see. Percy planted the dried sprig of moonlace carefully in the dirt and sprinkled a little nectar on it from his camp canteen. His face was illuminated by the moon and for a moment, he seemed much more mature and handsome, replacing the boyish charm he always had with something else entirely that Amaryllis couldn't quite describe. The thought made her heart skip a beat, but she quickly moved on.

For a while, nothing happened, until she saw a tiny silver plant sprang out of the soil.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, as if the baby moonlace was an actual baby that was sleeping.

"Yeah, it is."

"Am I interrupting something?" a voice said, causing Percy to jump and Amaryllis to instinctively touch her ring. It was only Nico Di Angelo, standing on the fire escape right next to them, looking at them with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you."

"That's- that's okay," Percy said, regaining his composure.

"What are you doing here, other than playing Spiderman?" Amaryllis teased him.

"I could ask you the same thing," Nico said.

"She's staying with me for a while," Percy jumped in to say, his tone making it obvious to the boy that he wouldn't get a further explanation on that.

Thankfully, Nico changed the subject. "I've done some exploring. Thought you'd like to know that Daedalus got his punishment."

"You saw him?"

He nodded. "Minos wanted to boil him in cheese fondue for an eternity, but father had other ideas. Daedalus will be building overpasses and exit ramps in Asphodel for all time. It'll help ease the traffic congestion. Truthfully, I think the old guy is pretty happy with that. He's still building. Still creating. And he gets to see his son and Perdix on the weekends."

"That’s good," Percy said, while Amaryllis remained with a blank expression.

She still hadn't forgiven Daedalus for giving Ariadne's string to Luke, even though he helped them in the end, and the thought of him being like that after everything he did made her think. Why did he deserve to be happy with his family but Amaryllis didn't?

Nico tapped at his silver ring. "But that’s not the real reason I've come. I need to talk to you, Percy," he glanced at the blonde girl. "Privately. It's important."

"Why can't Amaryllis hear it?"

He opened his mouth to explain, but once he glanced into Percy's room, his eyes furrowed. "Is that blue cake?"

Him and Amaryllis exchanged a look. "Come inside for some cake and ice cream," Percy told him. "It sounds like we've got a lot to talk about."

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒.

▊the battle of labyrinth normally ends here, but act one isn't over yet. in the next chapters you'll finally learn the big plot twist and get an explanation for all the questions concerning amaryllis' story - why was she in ogygia at the first place? what was the great incident? (bet you forgot about that one). why doesn't her mother remember her?

▊this chapter was very long but i feel like it was necessary to establish percy and amaryllis' friendship. i kinda wish i could write the chapters from percy's pov just for you to see how much he's simping for mar without even realising it.

percy in mar's pov: awkward but relatively cool
percy's pov: she smiled at me- why do i feel like this- what's happening- stay cool- you're an idiot- oh gods she is pretty

▊percyllis brainrot. that's it. that's all.

❛ gone girl. ❜
( part 𝒐𝒏𝒆 of gone girl series )
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