Priceless
Priceless
Summary: A short songfic based on a Tumblr thing I saw on Pinterest. Which is that Percy can play the piano REALLY well.
I got the name ‘Priceless’ from the song which this is based on, it’s a Christian song, but I don’t care what you think. I thought of this, and now I’m writing it.
I don’t actually play piano, so, yeah. No technical terms here.
I don’t own PJO, HOO, KC, or whatever else Uncle Troll wrote. I just get the satisfaction of being nicer to the characters. I also don’t own the song, it belongs to it’s writers, “for King and Country”.
If you see any mistakes, don’t be afraid to let me know, and I’ll fix them eventually.
/singing/
._.
Percy’s mom taught him to play piano from a young age.
When he’d started, he just liked to bang his hands on the keys really hard. It created a horrible racket that both annoyed the neighbors and made Smelly Gabe mad.
But then his mom made an off-hand comment about how Percy could make it sound really pretty if he really wanted. So he tried writing her a song. It was basically “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”, but much slower and sloppier. However, Percy never forgot how happy his mom got when he played it for her. She was so happy that he kept playing it, over and over and over. And slowly, he got better.
.__.
Then, at like, fifth grade, at his third boarding school in as many years, they had to pick an instrument. Percy’s every cell screamed at him to pick percussion, but he sat at the piano silently, getting weird looks from everyone in the room. They all thought he’d just bang his hands on the keyboard and distract everyone, probably in an attempt to get out of it.
He proved them wrong though, and after some teasing, they never said anything else about it.
.__.
Years later, just after he and Annabeth had finally, finally escaped the nightmare that was Tartarus, he was sitting on the piano bench on board the Argo II, in the break room. The other six sat on various chairs around the room, chatting quietly. Well, most of them were quiet, Leo was loud. He and Annabeth were discussing some pilot thing, Percy wasn’t paying attention.
No one knew why there was a piano on board, as the other Six plus Nico thought no one played. Percy personally suspected one of the other Hephaestus campers had made it, then snuck it on board. Why? Percy didn’t know.
In any case, the piano was a beauty. Deep stained Rosewood, with ivory keys. The backboard curved delicately, the legs had beautiful curving designs carved into them. The bench Percy sat on was plain on top, but the legs held the same curving designs as the piano itself.
Percy rested his fingers against the keys. He somehow knew what kind of noise each key would make, despite having never heard this piano played before. His ADHD finally kicked in, and he started drumming out a random tune, and before he knew it he’d started quietly playing the tune to Black Parade by MCR.
Slowly, the others quieted, surprised by his playing. Percy knew they were. After all, he wasn’t the kind of person one would expect to be able to play the piano.
He sensed more than heard someone sit beside him. If he’d had to wager a guess, he’d say with confidence it was Annabeth. A quick glance proved him right. He shifted slightly so she’d be more comfortable.
Out of nowhere, a song came to mind, and he switched tracks. In the back of his head, he wondered if Annabeth could sing, or if she even knew the song he was playing.
/Mirror mirror, mirror on the wall/
/Tellin those lies/
/Pointin’ at your flaws/
/That isn’t who you are/
/That isn’t who you are/
Everyone sat entranced. Nobody had expected Percy to be able to sing so amazingly, but his father was Poseidon, God of the oceans, Father of sirens. Percy must have gotten those traits.
/It might be hard to hear/
/But let me tell you, dear,/
/If you could see what I can see/
/I know you would believe/
/That isn’t who you are/
/There’s more to who you are/
He nudged Annabeth lightly with his elbow, silently asking her to join in if she knew the lyrics. They’d been together long enough that she knew exactly what he was asking. Annabeth kissed his cheek (making his fingers stumble, though he’d deny it later) and sang the next verse.
/So when it’s late/
/You’re wide awake/
/Too much to take/
/Don’t you dare forget/
/You can be brave/
/Hear me say/
Percy joined in on the next line, his deeper tenor voice intertwining beautifully with Annabeth’s surprisingly high voice.
/I see you dressed in white/
/Every wrong made right/
/I see a rose in bloom/
/At the sight of you/
/Oh, so PRICELESS/
On the couch, Piper smiled. Besides Percy and Annabeth, she was probably the only one who knew the song. Jason had grown up in Camp Jupiter, Hazel and Nico were out of their time, and Leo had spent most of his life on the run.
/Irreplaceable/
/Unmistakable/
/Darling it’s beautiful/
/I see it all in you/
/Oh, so PRICELESS/
They paused in singing, as Percy played the instrumental part of the song.
/No matter what you’ve heard/
/This is what you’re worth/
/More than all the money/
/Or all the diamonds or pearls/
/Oh, this is who you are/
/Yeah, this is who you are/
Annabeth stopped singing, leaving Percy to sing the next verse.
/So when it’s late/
/You’re wide awake/
/Too much to take/
/Don’t you dare forget/
/That in the pain/
/You can be brave/
/Hear me say/
Annabeth joined again.
/I see you dressed in white/
/Every wrong made right/
/I see a rose in bloom/
/At the sight of you/
/Oh, so PRICELESS/
Percy dropped out, and Piper joined in. Her alto voice provided a lovely quality, layered under Annabeth’s voice as it was. Annabeth glanced at her but didn’t falter.
/Sisters, we can start again/
/Give honor till the end/
/Love, we can start again/
/Oh-oh-oh-oh/
Percy started, and Annabeth stopped.
/Brothers, we can start again/
/Give honor till the end/
/Yeah, we can start again/
Piper dropped out, leaving Percy singing alone slowly, in an almost mournful tone.
/I see you dressed in white/
/Every wrong made right/
/I see a rose in bloom/
/At the sight of you/
Piper and Annabeth joined in again, the speed of the song picking up. Jason and Leo hummed along, not sure of the lyrics. Nico sat quietly watching.
/I see you dressed in white/
/Every wrong made right/
/I see a rose in bloom/
/At the sight of you/
/Oh, so PRICELESS/
/Irreplaceable/
/Unmistakable/
/Incomparable/
/Darlin it’s beautiful/
/I see it all in you/
/Oh, so PRICELESS/
/I see you dressed in white/
/Every wrong made right/
/I see a rose in bloom/
/At the sight of you/
/I see you dressed in white/
/Every wrong made right/
/I see a rose in bloom/
/At the sight of you/
/I see you dressed in white/
/Every wrong made right/
/I see you dressed in white/
/Every wrong made right/
/I see a rose in bloom/
/At the sight of you/
/Oh, so PRICELESS/
/Irreplaceable/
/Unmistakable/
/Incomparable/
/Darlin it’s beautiful/
/I see it all in you/
/Oh, so PRICELESS/
/I see you dressed in white/
/Every wrong made right/
/I see a rose in bloom/
/At the sight of you/
/I see you dressed in white/
/Every wrong made right/
/I see a rose in bloom/
/At the sight of you/
/I see you dressed in white/
/Every wrong made right/
/Oh, so PRICELESS/
The song ended, leaving the room in a semi-awkward silence. Nobody knew what to say. Percy stood quickly, ducking his head to hide how red his face was. Muttering something unintelligible, even to him, he rushed out of the room. Annabeth was quick to follow.
The rest of the group sat quietly for who-knew-how-long, contemplating the fact that Percy could both sing, and play the piano.
In the end, they simply accepted it as another of their Glue’s quirks. It became more commonplace for Percy to play, and on occasion, he and Annabeth and Piper would sing.
.__.
After the war with Gaea, they held Leo’s funeral. An empty coffin, on a stage, surrounded by other coffins.
Percy played a slow tune for them, these fallen heroes. The other demigods sat in silence, while Chiron stood on stage, holding a lit torch aloft. As the final notes of Percy’s song drifted solemnly through the air, Chiron placed the torch on the coffin in the middle, backing off quickly before he got burned.
The blaze grew quickly, consuming the coffins and their contents.
Percy watched silently, Annabeth standing beside him. She wasn’t crying, but on her other side, Piper burst into tears.
Percy’s hand found Annabeth’s.
They watched the flames burn.
