Chapter 1: 1. Prologue
Chapter Text
Percy has Seen a lot.
He has Seen many humans, demigods, monsters, titans try and fail to overthrow the gods... Maybe they would be the first to succeed.
Both the camps were tired, of fighting, of quests, of wars of burning the shrouds of their too young siblings and friends. But to their parents, their need did not matter, why would it? The demigods were nothing but weapons in the eyes of the Gods, to use and discard whenever they wish.
Guess they didn't think the weapons would turn against them.
It has been 4 years since the war with Gaea, 3 years since the Gods again started slacking of their oaths to claim their kids. 3 years since many campers lost their lives to please their parents that won't even bat an eye to them.
We. Have had. Enough.
Percy would say that Olympus looked as pretty as it usually did... but it would be a lie. the entire place was up in fire. The demigods attacked at the morning, aided by few other gods namely, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Artemis among others.
Percy, Thalia, Nico, Hazel, Frank and Will were fighting against Zeus, Hera and Athena inside Olympus. While the rest were fighting outside against the other opposing gods.
Percy blocked a bolt of lightning from Zeus by his trident and immediately follows up with a strike stabbing his arm. The King yells out in pain and anger, his power continuously diminishing due to his seat of power being destroyed.
"We are gods, we will not be bested by you mere demigods." bellows out Zeus as he summons his remaining power for a last strike, which gets parried off by Thalia and Nico.
"You already are old man." Said Thalia as she shoots a arrow at his chest.
The fight was over, the Gods were dead... Percy thought he would feel some sort of accomplishment or victory. But all he felt was a strange sense of hollowness.
The Gods were dead.... Now what?
For the first time Percy could not See ahead... the visions that always haunted him, of what happened, of what could happen, were now silent.
The sky outside darken further, with so many Gods gone the domains were going haywire. The ceiling starts collapsing, as they all huddle up in a corner to try and not get hit from the falling debris, Nico and Hazel being too exhausted to shadow travel them out of the palace.
"We are gonna die aren't we?" asks Will hugging Nico.
"Of all the ways I thoughT we'd die... this was not on the top of the list." Chuckles Percy humorlessly holding Frank and Thalia. His statement bringing out some snorts and chuckles from the group.
"At Least we are together." Hazel says with a sad smile.
"Do you think there would be a next life? Or after life considering all this?" Nico asks hugging Will and Hazel. All of them resigned to their fate as the sky keeps falling.
"I don't know, this is supposed to be your area of expertise death boy."snarks Thalia from between Percy and WIll.
"If there is... I hope I meet you all again." Frank says with a sad smile, hugging Hazel and Percy.
"IF this is the end... I am glad I met you all." Percy says at the end as the sky finally collapses.
At the end of the world there is the same thought going through the mind of six demigods.
'Just one more chance to change everything'
Somewhere far above, a being older than the Gods and Titans muses.
"Lets give them one last chance."
With a last binding flash all the demigods open their eyes.
Percy opens his eyes to his dorm room in Yancy.
Nico opens his eyes to the casino with his dead sister talking in front of him.
Will opens his eyes to his cabin filled with his dead siblings.
Chapter Text
Percy jolts awake on his bed. (his bed? When did he lay down) looking around in mild panic. Now Percy does not have
that
much of experience with afterlife, that is all Nico’s thing but, however he has been in the underworld a couple of times, and he is very sure the afterlife is not supposed to be his dorm room in Yancy. Did this have to do with the gods being killed?
Is this all his fault? Did he cause this? Wil-
He is brought out from his spiral by a noise to his left, when he turns to face it he is very sure he is in some sort of dream. Because across from him is Grover, not the tall, confident Grover but a tiny scrawny Grover sitting up on his bed rubbing his eyes.
“Perc?.. Are you okay? Is it another nightmare?” He asks sleepily
Percy looks down at himself, he looks wrong, he is small and scarless. Not even from the scorpion bite on his hand by luke. Like before the first war, before the labyrinth- before everything.
“Uh.. yeah… a nightmare.” Percy replies still confused and overwhelmed with everything, trying to not flinch from his small and squeaky voice as he gets out of the bed unsteadily, and goes to stand in front of the wardrobe mirror, and he was right this was his 12-year old body. Why was he here? Did he time travel? How did it happen?
‘Okay, calm down, you have faced worse things before, you can handle this’
“Percy? Are you okay? Do I need to get your sketchbook?” Grover asks, standing up from his bed walking towards percy. Percy frowns, and shakes his head, running a hand through his hair.
“I am fine…. Just need a shower.” Percy speaks trying to calm down, whom? Him or Grover? He has no idea, before entering the bathroom he glances at the calendar and practically forces his body to enter the bathroom before Grover could ask anything else. It was the day of the field trip.
The field trip.
He wanted to rip his hair out, how did it happen? How did he end up in the past? Is he alone? Gods he hopes not.
‘Okay, deep breaths’ he thinks, slashing water at his face, getting a small adrenaline boost. ‘You are in the past, it is the day where Mrs. Dodds would try to kill me and i would pull an uno reverse on her, and then the rest of the school year Grover and Chiron would gaslite me into believing that she did not exist… Cool, you have seen many time travel movies, rule number 1, don't change the original timeline… dont change it
too
much. I can do that, treat it like sight knowledge’ He takes a deep breath, and walks out of the bathroom, to take a pair of clothes to wear. Grover was sitting on his bed in fresh clothes, chewing his lips with a frown and perks up when he entered the room.
“Are you sure you are okay? You were quite pale.” he say, slightly sniffing the air trying to sense my emotions, as Percy’s rummage through his drawer for some clothes to wear.
“Just… a weird dream. You were being forced to marry a big bald man, and then you ran away with me” He picks out some clothes, and goes to change it. Grover huffs out a snort.
“You have weird dreams Perce”
Percy chuckles, straightening his clothes and shakes his head, looking at Grover, noticing how young he was, he looks just like a child.
He is a child, like me, like everyone
. “You have no idea G-man. Let's go, field trip day isn’t it?”
Grover nods seemingly believing Percy and smiles standing up picking his bag slinging it over his shoulder.
“Hm, and remember Percy, don't start any fights, i don't want you to get in any trouble”
Percy rolls his eyes with a huff, as he too picks up his bag, when was he not in trouble?
“I wont
start
any fights”
Grover just shakes his head and lets out a defeated sigh, knowing he was fighting a losing battle, and just follows Percy out of the dorm room.
Notes:
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, comment any bad grammar that you might find. Just a question, would you all like Jason/malcolm?
Kudos <3
Chapter Text
Percy was sitting alongside Grover in the bus on their way to a museum, the he could not remember the name of for his life. Chiron -Mr. Brunner- was giving a speech about the importance of the museum, that Percy was not really listening to. Grover was also talking to him about something, most likely asking whether he was still okay, or not. Percy nods at appropriate times to let Grover think that he was still listening. Instead Percy was thinking of how much he could change, maybe not so much that he has no idea what would come ahead, but some nudges, change the fates of some people.
He continues filing away the changes he had to make and the order in the which the future (past?) went, while ignoring Nancy throwing her food at him and Grover - She would get what was coming for her in the fountain- and Mrs. Dodds who was as usual glaring at him.
Chiron kept going on and on about the museum as the class entered it. They completed the tour and went for lunch where he doused Nancy with fountain water.
Nancy kept complaining about the water, and blaming Percy for it. From the corner of his eye he could see Mrs. Dodds looking smug and angry as she walks over to them. He plasters on a innocent and confused look at Nancy and her friends who were trying to calm her down.
"Me? How would i have moved the water? You slipped, remember?"
Nancy and her friends looked dazed for a minute for nodding slightly, but are jolted when Mrs. Dodds step near them, and calm Nancy down while also glaring at him. Grover was looking at him with a mix of awe and trepidation that almost made Percy think that he figured it out. Almost. While Chiron had a thinking face on pretending to be lost in his book. He shoves down the feeling of anger at the fact that the centaur left a 12 year old demigod unaware of everything to deal with a fury.
"Now, now honey" She says in a faux sweet tone, looking at him like a cat who got the cream. Percy rolls his eyes internally and looks at her.
"I did not push her"
“Come with me,” Mrs. Dodds said.
“Wait!” Grover yelped. “It was me. I pushed her.”
Percy tries not to smile at his friend trying to help him, but there was no way that he would let Grover face her.
She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.
“I don’t think so, Mr. Underwood,” she said.
“But—”
“You—will—stay—here.”
Grover looked at Percy desperately.
“It’s okay, man, thanks for trying.” Percy says with a small smile.
“Honey,” Mrs. Dodds barked at him. “Now.”
Nancy Bobofit smirked. He gave her his wolf stare, wondering how effective it was on scrawny 12 year old, but apparently it was enough seeing how hard Nancy flinched. Then he turned to face Mrs.Dodds, but she wasn’t there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at him to come on. Percy holds back a huff of annoyance 'I am a human not a overgrown bat like you' as he goes up to her.
He glanced back and caught Grover trying to signal Chiron with his eyes but the man played ignorant. 'No wonder so many demigods de before reaching the camp if this is how you keep them safe' Percy grumbled to himself as he trudged after her, past the gift shop, past the other exhibits, all the way back to the Graeco-Roman section.
“You’ve been giving us problems, honey,” Alecto said and Percy swallowed the urge to roll his eyes.
'For a being so old she clearly is incompetent at reading body language, how did she not know in the yime she was teaching here that I had no idea about the mythological world.' He sighs and looks at her with a confused look. "What?"
She sent him a seething look that would have sacred any other demigods, but considering at that he has gone through it was not as effective. Alecto took a sharp breath, tugging on the cuff of her leather jacket. He tilts his head, 'Is that leather, or actual skin? Would not put it past her to use human skin for that.'
“Did you really think, you would get again with it?” she asked.
“I’m not sure what you are talking about, ma’am,” Percy tried. He caught the annoyance flashing through Alecto’s eyes as she took at step closer to him.
“We are not fools, Percy Jackson,” she pressed on in her task, ignoring his words. “It was only a matter of time before we found out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain.”
Percy stuffs his hands into his pockets, mourning the absence of Riptide, evenly meeting her gaze with his best attempt of radiating absolute confusion instead of his actual emotions.
“Still don’t know what –”
“Your time is up,” she hissed. As Alecto allowed her human form to fall away, revealing the absolute ugly visage beneath, Percy’s fingers twitched in his empty pocket. Then, Chiron rolled up in the doorway, holding the desired object in his hand, tossing it at Percy with his “What ho” shout.
Percy caught it out of reflex but willed his battle reflexes down. 'Act fool, act confused, you know nothing' he repeated in his head as the familiar feel of Riptide in his hand grounded him. A piece of himself back in his hand. He relished the feeling, the blade was part of himself after everything it had accompanied him through. He would have to relinquish it after this battle, he knew. He paused as he stared at Alecto.
“Die, honey!” the fury snarled and lunged.
He dodged to the side and swung Riptide downwards. It felt weird, the blade bigger and heavier than what he was used to, his steps smaller due to the shorter legs, his heart thrumming a manic rhythm in his untrained body. The bronze blade managed to connect with her shoulder and sliced cleanly through her body, exploding her into golden dust as she let out a final screech that rang in his ears.
A look over his shoulder confirmed that Chiron was gone. 'Again, the reason so many of us die early' He scoffed and brought Riptide up, running a gentle hand over the trusted weapon and capped the pen, shoving it in his pocket and walks out of the museum.
He shook his head gently, looking up just in time to catch Nancy Bobofit smirking at him. “I hope Mrs Kerr whipped your butt.”
'Right, another thing that could have put me in danger, making me feel crazier than I already was'. He just glared at Nancy as she flinches and looks away. At the same time he willed the rain to fall stronger at her, soaking her more thoroughly and with a squeak she ran for cover. Percy headed to Grover, willing himself rained on to an acceptable degree, and casually mentioned Mrs Dodds to him.
Grover hesitated and wouldn’t look at him and Percy smirked to himself. As Grover looked up, Percy gave him an exaggerated shrug and turned to Chiron who was watching them with a keen gaze. With a silent breath, he walked over to the centaur.
“Ah,” he said, sounding a little distracted, somehow, “Would you happen to have my pen?”
Percy frowns and tilts his head confused, "Sir, your pen? i don't have it? And where is Mrs Dodds?”
He caught a faintest frown in the man’s face as he gave an impressive blank stare. “You don't?... And Who?”
“The math teacher,” Percy helpfully -or unhelpfully depending on the person- elaborated holding back a grin at another twitch in his expression. Never let it be known that Percy was not petty.
For the rest of the semester, Percy trained with the riptide in a hidden corner of the school grounds, to exercise and get his stamina up in preparation of what was to come, along with refining his control on water again. He had fun by springing Mrs Dodds on both Grover and Chiron randomly. Watching Grover panic for a solid moment before he would deny her existence was both funny and somewhat mean, but in all honestly he brought this upon himself. He couldn’t quite get Chiron to slip up, only catching the faintest hints of reactions because he was actively looking for it, he had given on on trying to get back riptide from him so that's a plus. He tried to not get in fights with Nancy and focus on his studies but the amount of storms made it hard, making him moody and cranky 'For some million old beings they sure act like 5 year olds' Percy thinks with annoyance.
And shakes his head, removing those thoughts no use of thinking about them just focus on the school. 'Man, can't wait to get to mom again, and Pau-... no... Gabe' How could he forget about that piece of trash still sitting at home, wasting away mom's money and getting physically and sexually- no, not thinking about that, with a 12 year old. He would have to deal with him all over again. Could he kill him? Maybe use his blood, give him a heart attack? No, mom should be the one doing it.
Grover glances at him and nudges him, "You are okay, right?"
Percy nods, pressing his forehead. "Just.... nightmares."
Grover looks at him with poorly hidden guilt and worry, Percy knew that he felt bad about hiding it all from him, but Chiron's orders, that stupid horse. Percy sighs looking down at his sketchbook, it was the same as usual. The three thrones, two missing symbols, a thief, good thing nothing seemed that different. He puts his runs a finger of his drawing.
H i s drawings.
Luke can't know about it, no one can. There is no way he is going to suffer as much as he did in his past life. He would have to keep his book hidden at camp.
The pep talk Chiron tried and failed to give him after the exam was even worse as he remembered it and he didn’t appreciate hearing it again. 'How can a person who has been teaching children for a millennia be this bad at pep talk. Maybe he is just old fashioned' Percy packed his clothes in his suitcase with as he raged internally at Chiron’s complete incompetence at empathetic communication. He noticed Grover watching him with a worried expression, probably sensing his anger but ignored him. Percy and Grover, on a Greyhound to Manhattan.
Grover kept stealing worried glances at Percy, most likely confused by the constantly changing moods of the demigod he was supposed to protect. The sudden bursts of anger that overcame him when he recalled particularly irritating future events. But the satyr also kept looking down the aisle and watched the other passengers. There were no monsters on this bus so Percy wondered why. He recalled their ride back home and could only think of the upcoming stop at the Fates’ fruit stand. He had called Grover out on his behaviour, hadn't he?
Wanting to tease his poor nervous friend a bit, he softly asked, “Looking for Kindly Ones?”
Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. “Wha – What do you mean?”
Percy leaned in conspiratorially biting back a grin. “What’s the summer-solstice deadline?”
Grover’s eye twitched. “Look, Percy. I’m a little worried about you with all these hallucinations,” he began and Percy couldn’t help but snort softly.
“Grover –”
“And I thought you might be overstressed or something. There is no such thing as Mrs Dodds, and ...”
“Grover, you’re a really bad liar.”
Grover blushed, fishing out a card from his pockets. Percy knew what the card said and spared his eyes from reading the horrible font. He looked at Grover with a silent demand for an explanation in his eyes. “That’s my, um ... summer address.”
“Uh huh,” Percy just said.
“So, if you need me ...”
The demigod made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. “Why ...,” he began, carefully schooling his tone to be neutral, “Would I need you?”
Grover blushed even harder, looking down. “Look, Percy. The truth is – I kind of have to protect you.”
Percy held back any words on how he was being such a help as Grover wouldn’t have been able to take her on anyway. Alerting Chiron was his best bet even if the centaur’s execution had sucked. “Protect me from what, exactly?” he asked tonelessly.
The bus broke down at that moment, with a huge grinding noise and black smoke billowing up, saving Grover from an answer. The driver brought the vehicle to the edge of the highway and went off to clank around in the engine room. They got off, standing on a stretch of country road, surrounded by maple trees. On the other side of the highway stood the old-fashioned fruit stand of the Fates, simmering in the afternoon heat. The three were placed in rocking chairs in the shade of a tree, just like last time, looking like ancient grandmas in cotton dresses, knitting huge socks the size of sweaters and staring across the traffic at Percy.
Percy glances at Grover, to find him frozen. Not in-a-i-am-shocked way, but more in-a-statue-at-aunt-em's-shop way, he nudges him but Grover shows no reaction, looking around he sees that everyone is frozen. The only ones moving are him and the Fates.
"What?"
Notes:
Hope you all liked the chapters, comment any mistakes or suggestions.
kudos <3
Chapter 4: 4. A talk with fates
Chapter Text
Percy looks around confused, this is not how it went. He did not even change anything. He then looks back at the old ladies knitting in the shop across the street.
Sound of strings being snipped.
Ground covered with dead bodies.
Blood on his hands.
Screams of his friends.
He walks up to them, bowing his head.
"My ladies..." Contrary to the popular opinion Percy knows when to be respectful to those powerful than him.
Clotho, who spins the thread of life, looks at him with a small smile. "Perseus Jackson, so many threads were cut before their time, so many threads could not live up to their full potential. And you are here to make that come true."
Percy frowns, "So you brought me back in time?"
Lachesis, who measures the thread, shakes her head, "No, it was our father. I assume he will be talking to you soon. We can't keep you here for long, so we will say was has to be said. You are given a second chance at life, use it well."
"Your father? Who" Percy frowns again trying to remember their father, he did not think that there was one answer to who their parent was.
"Chaos." Lachesis adds helpfully.
Chaos, and he would be talking to Percy in the near future. You know what? He will not even try to touch that topic, that is a problem for future Percy.
Atropos, who cuts the thread, pulls out a pair of scissors, "You can't change prophecies, if someone is said to die, they will. You try to help them someone else will die in their place... The only one you can't save is this one." She says pointing to the thread that Percy was very familiar with. His electric blue thread. He tried to feel any remorse for his death but could not make himself feel anything other than rage.
"Believe me I would not try to save him regardless." Percy says looking away from the thread and up at the faces of smiling fates.
"Very well, you have always had such a beautiful thread. You will find some changes in you from today." Clotho says handing him a pair of knitting needles and scissors. It would have looked pretty normal but Percy felt as if he was being given his own thread for control, judging by how their smiles widened he was not that far off. He puts them in his backpack and looks at them again.
"We'll be meeting again, good luck till then." Lachesis says, and taking the dismissal for what it was, Percy goes back to stand beside Grover.
And the next moment everything comes back to life, Grover makes a pained noise in the back of his throat. Percy turns to look at him and he was as paler than Nico.
"Grover?"
“Tell me they’re not looking at you. They are. Aren’t they?”
“Yeah. Weird, huh?” Percy bit his lip, 'don't laugh, don't laugh' , “You think those socks would fit me?”
“Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all.”
Percy just shrugs watched the middle lady bring out the huge gold and silver scissors. His gaze settled on the string she was about to cut. He ignored Grover’s pleas to get on the bus as she snipped the thread, the sound echoing across four lanes of traffic. As the other two balled up the socks, the bus engine roared back to life. And with that snip, the Fates had doomed the son of Hermes.
As everyone piled onto the bus and Percy found his seat next to Grover again, he noticed the satyr looking slightly ill. “Tell me what you saw,” he pleaded and Percy gave the shortest, most clinical description he had ever given.
“The middle one cut the yarn.”
He closed his eyes and made the gesture for warding off evil, which was a little rude, Percy thought. The Fates weren’t evil themselves, they just were.
“You saw her snip the cord.” Percy nodded and Grover began muttering, “This is not happening. I don’t want it to be like last time.”
'Thalia' Percy thinks sadly, no matter how much he or Thalia told Grover that it was not his fault, he would still blame himself. But it was fine, Percy was willing to do it all again.
“Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me.”
Percy just nods, "Sure."
He ditched Grover. Again. It was wrong, yes, it probably gave Grover a mini heart attack, also yes. But he needed to get home, he can't change the prophecy, his mother would have to be taken by uncle H. He didn't like it, but it had to be done. He catches a taxi and reached his apartment, standing at the door.
He won't dont anything since mom will be coming back, Percy repeats the words in his head, trying to muster up the courage to open the door and face Gabe again. He did not get it, how could he the one who has fought and killed giants be afraid of a mortal man?
'It is just trauma, nothing to be ashamed about Percy' A voice suspiciously like Will's speaks in his mind.
Percy sighs and slowly opens the door and enters the apartment. It is as he remembers it, beer bottles thrown all around the living room, Gabe and his friends playing poker.
Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."
Percy despite his wishes flinches and looks down, "Yes."
"You got any cash?"
Percy did not really expect anything else from him, and also know lying was of no use, so he quietly places the dollars in front of Gabe, and again holds back a flinch when he puts a hand on his shoulder gripping it tightly.
"I saw your report card. Too bad your mom is coming back today, or I would have punished you, you brat." Gabe sneers tightening his grip on his shoulder.
'Endure it, just for an hour or two. Mom is coming back, he won't do anything.'
His friends snicker, while Eddie frowns looking at them a bit confused, 'right... he is not included in this 'punishing' group.'
"Go back to your room, and i better not see you come out."
Percy nods, ready to take any excuse to get away from him and his friends eyes and quickly walks to his 'room'. As expected, the room was again messed by Gabe. He shakes his head and sighs, repacking his stuff to whatever he would need at camp. Clothes, some money he had left, the knitting needles... would be need them? but he supposes he should keep the gifts given to him with him, so he keeps that also in his backpack, he leaves riptide in his pant pocket, the sketchbook.
He would not let Luke know of it. No one will know of it. He will not suffer the fate of a prophet again.
"Percy?" A kind and soft voice breaks him out of him mind, and he turns around to see his mother standing at the door of his room. Percy smiles and runs to her hugging her tightly, calming down to the comforting scent of candies. She sits with him on his bed and has him tell everything that happened at school. Percy tells her all that he can while eating the candies.
“I have a surprise for you,” she eventually said. “Were going to the beach.”
Percy smiled. “Montauk?” He knew he wouldn’t get to enjoy this trip for very long, but the cabin was still more of home than this actual apartment.
“Three nights – the same Cabin.”
“When?”
“As soon as I get changed.” She smiled gently just as Gabe appeared in the door.
“Bean dip, Sally. Didn’t you hear me?”
Percy kept quiet, glaring at the floor as Sally bribed the disgusting man with dip for the weekend.
“And you won’t take my car anywhere but there and back.”
“Well be very careful.”
Leaving soon after and arriving at the cabin, going through the usual routine, Percy and his mom spent a nice afternoon together, spoke about nothing and everything before the topic shifted to his dad at the little bonfire they had made.
“I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud.”
Percy swallowed. 'He was... just till I was with him.' The fact that his dad did not even try to contact him after the second war when he turned down immortality the second time was not lost on him, he had said so many times that he was his favorite son, but was never there after the war. Triton was around him more than his dad. He resented him a bit, still does... but the current Poseidon has not done all that.
He lowered his gaze again, smiling a little sheepishly at his mom, playing into the insecure, fatherless child act and asked, “Do you really think so?”
Sally took his hand, smiling gently, eyes full of love. “Of course.” Slowly, the smile fell off her face. “I think ...,” her voice grew heavy and Percy knew what she would bring up next. “I think, it is time. We’ll have to do something.”
“Do something,” he just echoed, hoping she would speak on.
“I was selfish,” Sally whispered. “But I have to. It's becoming too dangerous. For your own good, I have to send you away.”
The conversation did eventually fizzle out, his mom being on the verge of tears, plagued by the thought of her baby never returning from said summer camp his dad wanted to send him to. Never, mom, Percy thought. I’ll always come back. I’m a momma's boy after all. He thought back to the many times people had teased him for it but he stood by it. His mom was the best and any camper that had met her agreed with him.
At night, he dreamed of the golden eagle and white horse fighting on the beach with the voice from the ground goading them on. He groans rubbing his eyes, watching it all play out, intervening was of no use anyways.
He sat up just as his mom jolted awake and confirmed the weather. It wasn’t exactly hurricane season, but gods didn’t care for the lives of mortals taken in their stupid arguments. Frantic pounding on the door made her jump up and open it to reveal Grover. Percy noticed that he had lost his pants. He had never actually asked him how that happened, too shocked by the sudden reveal of his friend being a goat. Though he supposes running in fake legs would not be very fast... or comfortable.
“Searching all night,” he gasped. “What were you thinking?”
His mom turned to him, a look of terror in her eyes that hurt Percy deep in his soul. He hid a wince as she shouted, to be heard over the rain, “Percy! What happened at school? What didn’t you tell me?”
The demigod swallowed, eying Grover’s legs again. He had to put on some act of shocked boy at least. The satyr cursed. “It's right behind me. Didn’t you tell her?”
Using her rarely ever used stern-mom-voice, Sally said, “Percy. Tell me now.”
With as little words as possible, Percy mentioned Alecto and the Fates, watching his mom’s face grow deathly pale in horror. She grabbed her purse and sent them off for the car.
Well... Asterion here he comes
Chapter 5: 5. Bull-fighting... Again
Notes:
The fight scene might not be up to the mark, but this is my first fic so don't criticize it too much. And I apologize in advance for this short chapter, the next one will be longer.
Anyways, enjoy.
Chapter Text
Barely minutes later, they tore down the country roads in the deep darkness of night, the car being battered by rain and wind alike. Sally keep her foot on the gas, somehow managing to stay on the road, which was impressive as Percy couldn’t see anything through that windshield. He wouldn’t have driven so fast but usually he wasn’t chased by the bull man himself when he drove. He glanced at Grover during a flash of lightning, the satyr staring out the back trying to locate the monster.
'Right... act fool.'
“So...” Percy broke the silence. “What is going on? What happened to your legs?”
Grover bleated. “Nothing,” he said quickly. “I’m a satyr.”
"Oh." Percy says, seeing if he would explain further on it. 'Really G-man, you can't expect a person to just know what you are.' But he has to keep up appearances. "Like the myths.?"
“Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth? Was Mrs Dodds a myth?”
“So you admit there was a Mrs Dodds!”
“Of course.”
"So you purposefully made me think i was going crazy, despite knowing how I am like?" Percy says with mild frustration.
Was it petty that he was using his mad-prophet -not in this timeline, never again- to make him Grover feel guilty? Yes. But did he care?... Well yes he did, but regardless. Grover winces a bit.
“The less you knew, the fewer monsters you’d attract,” Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. “We put Mist over the humans’ eyes. We hoped you’d think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are.”
Percy fights the urge to sigh. He remembers how terrible his introduction to the Godly world was, the only reason he knew as much as he did was because of his visions.
“Percy,” his mom spoke up, hands clenched so tightly around the wheel her knuckles were white. “There’s too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety.”
“Safety from what? Someone’s after me?” he asked, allowing some sarcastic undertone to seep into his voice. When is no one after him, a trip to a cafe somehow used to turn into a fight with several hellhounds.
“Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions.”
“Grover!” his mom exclaimed just as Percy sighed internally. Why does everyone blame Hades for everything? Although even if it would be correct in this particular case,but despite it all his uncle hadn’t done anything else to deserve that prejudice. He was his favorite uncle.... not that he had any competition for that particular spot. After the second war he did get closer to his uncle, and he was nice.
Sally made a hard left, taking a turn down onto a narrower road, passing dark farmhouses. He knew the road well, even in darkness. A mile left. They wouldn’t make it though, not if Zeus had his way. He kept silent, not engaging in the many questions and banter he had had as a child. His mom made a hard swerve to avoid the figure on the road. He had to steel his nerves, his mother will have to 'die' in front of his eyes, and he can't change it. At least she will be safe.
Percy felt the hair rising on the back of his neck, quickly followed by a blinding flash and a loud booming noise. Bastard. There's a feeling of being weightless before the impact. His forehead smashes into the back of the front passenger seat. It takes him a moment to gather his bearings, but he realizes that he is in fact not dead, and the car hadn't exploded. Otherwise he would actually be dead.
The car had careened off the road and straight into a tree, smashing the front end. The roof has been torn clean open, the rain from the storm pouring in and soaking them. He groans, forcing himself to sit up as the world around him continues to spin. "Grover?" he asks hoarsely, hand blindly reaching out next to him. "Grover, are you okay?"
“Percy,” his mom called.
“I’m okay,” he said, reaching over to Grover, shaking him. The satyr moaned, blood trickling out of his mouth. “Don’t die on me, please.”
He groaned about food and the demigod let out a faint relieved sigh. He’d be fine, just like before.
“Percy,” his mom said, “we need to ...” Her voice faltered. He knew what she saw, he knows what is coming, and he can't prevent it.
“Get out of the car.” Her tone was deadly serious. She threw herself against the door but it was blocked by the mud. So was his. Percy clambered over the other side to try Grover’s. “Do you see the tree on the hill? That’s the property line. Get over that hill and you’ll see a big farmhouse in the valley. Run and don’t look back. Yell for help. Don’t stop until you reach the door.”
Percy swallowed. He didn’t like the idea of leaving his mom here. He hated it. but it had to be done, climbing out of the car, pulling his bag and dragging Grover out while he argued with his mom. She relented eventually, picking up the satyr.
“Percy,” his mom said and took Grover from him. “He’s about to charge. If he does, wait until the last second and dodge to the side.” He swallowed any retort, nodded silently and turned to face the monster just in time for it to get running. He let his instincts take over, bracing himself and rolling to the side just in time, feeling the impact of the large hooves on the ground as he charged past like a freight train. Bellowing in frustration, he turned and tried again.
Somehow, they managed to reach the tree. Percy touched it as his mom dropped Grover and basically rolled him over the line. Hey, Thals. His mom couldn’t pass it and Percy had no way of explaining how he knew. The Minotaur slammed face first into the barrier, howling in rage and punching it before rounding on his mom. So, this is it, Percy thought as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt as helpless as he had the first time, frantically trying to figure out a way to save his mom. Sally retreated slowly, dodging him once like Percy had but missing the outstretched hand that caught her around the neck. The Minotaur lifted her off the ground as she kicked the air.
“Mom,” he cried.
She looked at him, choking out “Go!”
With an angry roar, the Minotaur closed his fist around his mom’s neck just as Percy took his first step forward. She dissolved before his eyes, turning into a golden shimmer, and with a blind flash she was gone. Hades had taken her, just like last time. She is safe, she is a hostage, she is safe.
Percy stepped back over the border, removing his bag leaving it beside an unconscious Grover tearing off his rain jacket. He tossed it aside, allowing the rain to soak him and give him a boost. He would need it.
With a yell of “Over here, meat head!” he braced himself. The Minotaur charged him, both hands outstretched to catch him if he dodged to the side. So, Percy jumped, grabbing the horns and swinging himself around to land on his neck. The bull man staggered, bucked and shook himself but didn’t even think of simply grabbing the boy on his shoulders. Percy wrapped both hands around one horn and pulled. He needed it to kill the thing, he can't use the sword, Chiron will take it back. The monster tensed, grunted in surprise, then howled in pain and rage as the horn snapped.
Percy was flung backwards into the grass, the impact forcing the air out of his lungs. He hit his head hard on the ground and his vision got blurry for a moment. It cleared with a few sharp breaths and rapid blinking, thankfully. He looked down at the horn, a ragged thing the size of a knife with a very very sharp tip.
The monster charged and Percy rolled to the side, coming up on his knees and plunging the horn into the ribcage barrelling past. He sat back, breathing heavily as the bull man dissolved into dust, crumbling away like sand blown away by the wind.
The monster was gone. The rain slowly let up to a drizzle. It was almost comforting. In the distance, the hurricane raged on. Percy sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a minute. He remembered how scared, exhausted and hurt he had been last time. He was drawing strength from the rain.
Grover groaning for food jerked him out of his spaced out state and he got to his feet, kneeling down next to his friend and checking him over. He seemed pretty fine if one ignored the blood in the corner of his mouth. Percy looked down the hill at the half mile he would have to drag his unconscious friend. He tried to pick up his friend and almost tripped over him, the body weighing heavy. His boost from the rain was gone, it was still falling half a metre to his side on the other side of the border. His skin had dried already, leaving him sluggish and tired. With a frustrated sigh, he straightened, grabbing Grover again and managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farmhouse.
The last thing he remembers is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above him, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of Chiron and Annabeth... and was that will? Why was he there? But before Percy could try and question it, he felt his mind slipping away further.
'I'll ask later'
Chapter 6: 6. Talks, talks and some more talks
Notes:
Sorry for the late update, I have just been too busy between school and everything. Hope you like the chapter.
<3
Chapter Text
Percy remembers waking up several times. He recalls Annabeth interrogating him about the Summer Solstice before being kicked out by… Will and Lee? The next time he wakes up, he sees Argus standing in the corner, keeping an eye on everything—both figuratively and literally.
When he regains consciousness again, Percy expects to find Grover beside him. To his surprise, it’s Will who is sitting next to him, writing something in a notepad. Percy tries to sit up but ends up irritating his wounds, causing him to let out a small groan. Will’s head snaps up at the sound. Will’s head snaps up at the sound. And the next moment, he is next to the bed checking him over. And once satisfied, he hands Percy a glass of nectar.
Percy takes a sip of the nectar, relishing in the taste of his mom’s cookies, before looking at Will, searching for any signs of recognition. How can he check it without sounding mad? Why was he on the hill last night anyway?
“So… you were the one in the flannel shirt last night, right?” Percy says casually.
“No, the flannel shirt is Lee’s. I don’t have it yet.” He says absentmindedly, noting something down in the notepad.
A fond smile crept onto Percy’s lips. This was Will—his Will, albeit from the future. Unable to resist, he reached over to ruffle the blond locks. “Hey Will, good to see you again.”
Will’s eyes widen, and he lets out a sound mix between a laugh and a sob. And the next moment, Percy has his arms full of a sobbing blond. He holds Will close, trying not to cry. He again ruffles his hair as they pull apart. “How about we talk later? I am sure Grover must be coming to bring me to Chiron.”
Will nods, wiping his eyes and handing him back the glass of nectar. “Fine, but don’t move too much.”
Percy nods with a smile and drinks the nectar as Will walks out of the infirmary.
‘Hello, child.’
Percy yelps, looking around for who spoke.
“W-Who’s there?”
The voice chuckles. ‘I believe my daughters told you that I would be talking to you.’
Daughters?... The Morai..wai-....
“Chaos?”
‘Indeed. I am the one who sent you, along with others, back to the past.’
Percy’s mind was spinning. Why did he send them all back? What did he get from it?
“Bu-But why?”
Somehow, Percy knew that the being was frowning. ‘Was it not your wish to be sent back? ‘Just one more chance to change everything.’ I just gave you that chance.’
“Still… what do you get from this?”
Percy asks, not willing to believe that he (they?) was doing it without wanting in return.
‘Well… Nyx and Erebus have been a bit insufferable, talking about their kids and all… So I just decided to just… pick one and raise them.’
With the weird feeling that Chaos was grinning, Percy was not sure how to feel about this.
“So… You are what… A hitchhike parent?” Percy asks, baffled.
‘Well… Yes.’
“Oh… Well, I do expect you to pay your child support to my mom when I get her back.”
For a moment, Percy thought he might have taken it a bit too far and that he was for sure getting killed. But of all the ways that he thought Chaos might react, it was not a laugh.
‘You sure are amusing… But fine, I will.’
Percy nods, embarrassed. Praying to anything out there to be put out of his misery. And for probably the first time, someone was listening and decided to be kind, because the next moment, Grover entered the infirmary.
“Oh, you are awake, that’s good… Are you okay? Does anything hurt?” He asks, walking closer to the bed.
“I am fine, G-man,” Percy says, looking at Grover, noticing how he was looking down and how his nose kept twitching. “It is not your fault.” He says, patting his arm.
“It is. I was supposed to protect you, and I couldn’t do that. Instead, you had to protect me and then your moth-.”
If it were anything else, Percy would have felt bad about interrupting Grover, but this time he didn’t. How was it Grover’s fault? Chiron knew who his father was, and yet he only sent Grover. He could have at least had someone on the hill on standby just in case.
“Grover… I love you, I really do, but if you keep talking like that about yourself, then…” Percy pauses, looking around, and sees his empty glass of nectar. “I will throw that at you.”
Grover chuckles wetly, wiping his tears, and nods. “Fine.” He dropped a shoebox in his lap. “I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this.”
Percy popped the box open, already knowing what was in the box, looking down at the familiar Minotaur horn he had left on the hill, too occupied with Grover. A black-and-white bull's horn with a jagged edge where it had been broken off and a tip splattered with dried blood. He wordlessly closed the box again and sighed. He carefully got up and stretched, his body stiff after two days of rest.
“Come on, Chiron and Mr D are waiting.”
Percy followed Grover to the big house, looking around with faint nostalgia, seeing the things that were not yet present in the camp. He sees Aunt Hestia by the fireplace, and he smiles at her, bowing his head. She seemed surprised about being noticed, but still smiled back and nodded at him.
"We're here," Grover announces, nudging him to get his attention.
Percy looks back at him, and then at the people gathered. Chiron, still in his wheelchair, Mr. D, in his slightly pudgy, middle-aged form, and Annabeth leaning against the railing.
Though the more he looked at Mr. D, he could see the flickers in his form, wavering between the middle-aged look and a more youthful look, and a crown of Ivy resting on his head.
Huh
He does not remember seeing this before, or maybe it was just the shock of everything that he did not notice… But it looked better, despite him looking paler. Guess he would have to start offering wine to him again.
"That's Mr. D, the camp director," Grover murmurs, turning to him with wide, imploring eyes. "Be polite." His friend's voice snaps him out of his trance, and he shakes his head.
"I'm always polite."
Grover looks at the sky as if asking for patience… Though he might have been.
"That's Annabeth Chase," he nods towards the blonde girl. "She's another camper and has basically been here forever at this point. And you've already met Chiron, of course."
“You mean, Mr. Brunner?”
"Ah, Percy. It's good to see you up and moving around, my boy. Now we have four for pinochle."
‘Don’t roll your eyes, don’t groan, don’t bash your head on a wall’
With repeating that line in his head, he takes a seat at the table, sitting beside Mr. D, who stares at him with bloodshot eyes and a heavy sigh. “Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don’t expect me to be glad to see you.”
‘Feeling really welcomed here, guys.’ “Uh… thanks?” Debating on whether or not he should say it, and decides to fuck it and say it. "I like your vines. You look better the other way." Dionysus raises a brow in surprise. "Less scar- less awful."
Mr. D narrows his eyes. "Pardon?"
Shoot, was that not a nice thing to say? “Uh… your… crown… it is very pretty?”
"You'll have to forgive Percy. His mind tends to wander sometimes," Mr Brunner cuts in before Mr. D could say anything back.
A nice way of saying he belongs in a mental asylum, asshole.
"Well, do try to stay on topic, young man. I don't have the patience to go over all of this twice." He says it dismissively, gaze drawn back to the cards in his hands as if the previous moment hadn't even happened.
"Annabeth?" Chiron calls out to Annabeth, a quick subject change. She steps forward, and he gives a quick, awkward introduction.
Annabeth watches him with narrowed, suspicious eyes. Looks like he's made about as good a first impression on her as she did on him after that little outburst of his. He does wonder if he could try to be her friend in this life. In the previous one, she was too far gone. Maybe he could help her.
"This young lady helped nurse you back to health."
"I thought she got banned from the infirmary? I don't know, maybe my memory's still fuzzy." Annabeth's face flushes as she crosses her arms over her chest. His memory of that moment isn't fuzzy at all. He's still annoyed about her mini interrogation session, both in this life and his previous one.
"A simple misunderstanding, I'm sure."
"No, it was not," he says flatly. "Do you let her wake up everyone like that?"
Chiron gives him a disapproving look. "Percy. Annabeth took time out of her normal schedule to assist with making sure you were well. The least you could do is thank her."
Percy stares right back. "Uh… No thanks. And I am pretty sure that Lee and Will took care of me."
Beside him, Mr. D snorts in amusement, taking another sip of his Diet Coke. Grover shifts uncomfortably, eyes flitting between him and Annabeth as if he's not sure if he should intervene or whose side he should take. Percy gets that it must be uncomfortable for him to see his two friends fight.
His teacher sighs deeply, knowing that this particular battle with him has been lost.
"Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go and check on Percy's bunk. He'll be in cabin eleven for now, of course."
"Sure, Chiron," she says and then proceeds to call him out on an uncontrollable body function in his sleep and skips away. He glanced from Mr D to Chiron and back, but didn’t break the silence.
“Right,” Chiron eventually said. “I am Chiron. I’m afraid Mr Brunner was a pseudonym.”
“Okay,” Percy just responded. He chose not to ask what Mr D was short for again. Instead, he watched the god shuffle the cards.
“I must say, Percy,” Chiron continued, “It’s been a long time since I made a house call to a potential camper. I’d hate to think I wasted my time. And despite a few complications, you made it here alive. Getting to camp is always the first test for young demigods."
“Excuse me? You are saying that leaving children out to fight those… things by themselves all alone is a test? And making it here alive? Do they die on the way here? I thought this was supposed to be a safe place for us?” Percy fights to keep his voice calm and not shout at him like he very much wanted to.
Mr D slowed in his shuffling and levelled an unreadable look at Percy that he ignored in favour of staring at Chiron.
The centaur frowned. “Of course it is.”
“There was a huge bull man after me, even after Mrs Dodds. You knew, yet you decided to make me think I was going crazy instead of helping me.”
“It could have been a one-off experience.”
Percy takes a few breaths. How many demigods were killed because of his incompetence? Would he rather have the blood of innocent children on his hands than get attached to them?
"Grover," Mr. D says impatiently, seemingly oblivious to the tension around him, "are you playing or not?" But Percy can see the way the man is subtly watching him out of the corner of his eye.
"Yes, sir!" Grover trembles as he takes a seat in the fourth chair, glancing worriedly between Chiron and Percy.
Mr. D turns his attention fully to Percy. "And you, young man? You do know how to play pinochle?
“Of course I do. All civilized young men know how to play it after all.” Percy says, picking up the card dropped in front of him in favor of ripping Chiron into a new one, ignoring the snort that Mr. D lets out.
“I can see you have questions,” Chiron said as he picked up his hand.
Wow! How smart he is. Well, Percy hopes he is not planning on being a detective anytime soon. They would not get a single case solved.
Percy nods with a hum.
“Did your mother tell you nothing?”
Percy sighed, remembering her dissolving into dust. “No, she didn’t. Though the kid in the infirmary… Uh.. Will told me a bit that gods apparently exist, and that we are their children and all.”
“Well, one of my cousin’s brat was helpful. Young man, are you bidding or not?”
After he bid, Chiron picked up the conversation again, “Since you are already told about it, perhaps there is no need for the orientation film.”
Right, he was still annoyed about the fact that not a single one of his questions was answered, and instead of showing him the film, they just threw him out with bare knowledge. Percy thought as he stared at his cards. The centaur gave him a short speech on how the gods were alive, but Percy barely listened. What is the point? He knows it all anyway.
He can feel another pounding headache building behind his eyes the longer this conversation goes on. A few times, Mr. D gently corrects his bids or taps on the table to get his attention when his mind wanders particularly far away.
He glances over at Grover, who is munching contentedly on the empty Diet Coke can.
Chiron is still talking.
Why is he still talking? He could swear the speech was shorter in his previous life.
Mr. D looks bored with it as well; he has probably heard this speech many times before. With a barely audible sigh, the camp director waves his hand, and a goblet appears with a barely noticeable shimmer and fills itself with red wine. Mr. D studies the goblet, eyes flitting over to Percy for a moment before he waves his hand again, turning the goblet into another Diet Coke. Cool, he didn’t do that last time, but, you know what? He’ll take it. (he still finds it cool but would rather die than admit it to Mr. D)
Mr. D must feel his awe-filled stare because he gives Percy a knowing wink before waving his hand a third time. A similar goblet of dark red liquid appears in front of Percy, though distinctly non alcoholic. Which he appreciates as much as he appreciates the fancy-looking cup. He's keeping it. He hopes Mr. D knows that. He should act surprised, right?
“You… are a god.” Percy pauses to pretend to study the cup with a child-like awe. “The mad god, Dionysus. You're Dionysus, one of the Olympians. Like Zeus and Ares."
Thunder rumbles overhead, and he knows Mr. D prefers his mad god title more than the others for some reason.
"Young man, I’d be careful throwing names around like that. Members of my family have smited people for far less."
Wouldn’t I know it?
“Uh… right. Why are you here?”
“Mr D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits.”
“Why was she off-limits?”
Mr D paused, narrowing his eyes at Percy. “Why, indeed,” he murmured. “He loves to punish me. The first time, prohibition. Ghastly. Absolutely horrid ten years. The second time – well, she was really pretty, and I couldn’t stay away – the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. ‘Be a better influence, ’ he told me. ‘Work with youths rather than tearing them down.’ Ha! Absolutely unfair.”
“Isn’t keeping a god away from his domain considered torture?” Percy muttered, remembering a previous incident. He had spoken a little too loudly, given that both Chiron and Mr D stared at him. “And that’s rich, coming from him of all people. Has he ever been a good influence?”
Don’t flip off the sky, don’t do it.
“He’s not wrong,” Mr D said, a tone in his voice that Percy couldn’t quite place. “It is unpleasant to say the least.” He was silent for a breath before turning to Chiron, “Seems you taught him something after all. No questions. Figured out who I am ...”The god nodded. He turned back to the game. “I believe I win.”
Percy glances down at his own hand. "No, you didn't. I do." He sets down a straight and tallies up all the points.
Mr. D looks at him appraisingly and nods, “Well done. Anyways, I'm tired." He announces, standing up along with Grover. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we should talk about your performance on your latest assignment. Again."
Grover flinched, sweating profusely. “Y-Yes, sir.”
Mr D turned to Percy. “Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners.”
Well, that went better than it did in his previous life.
"Will Grover be okay?" he asks, as Mr. D and Grover leave the room. He knows he will be fine, but he has to keep up appearances.
Chiron nods, though the troubled look on his face, which Percy ignores. "Old Dionysus really isn't angry with him. He's just unhappy with his job and takes it out on others, unfortunately. I'm sure their conversation will go just fine."
"Huh..."
“Now," he begins, bracing himself in his chair. "I believe I have talked to you quite enough for the day. Let's get you settled into camp, yes?"
He then rises in his chair for real this time, the blanket over the fake legs falling away as he begins to grow taller. He continues rising, taller than any man, until stark white fur becomes visible. With some careful shifting, he finally manages to free the horse's half of his body from the magic chair, hooves stomping on the ground as he stretches out his legs.
"Much better. It was starting to get a bit cramped in there. Now come, Percy, we still have quite a bit to see before you can rest."
Percy nods, dutifully pushing down all the intrusive horse facts and thoughts that are swimming around in his brain after the official centaur reveal. See, Grover. He does have some self-control!
He stands up and follows Chiron, who is already trotting a few feet ahead of him.
He doesn't forget to grab his new cup either.
At the porch, Will is sitting by the steps and stands up when he sees Chiron and Percy.
“Chiron, I could show him around the camp. You have an archery class at the moment, right?”
Chiron pauses and looks between the two of them, contemplating before nodding. “I suppose so. Well then, Percy, I hope you enjoy the tour of the camp.” He says with a smile and trots away, leaving Percy and Will on the stairs.