Chapter Text
The world had ended on a Tuesday. Not that Percy had really realized that, well, mostly. He knew it was a Tuesday because that was when he was supposed to be turning 16. Because that was when the Great Prophecy was coming into effect.
And well, Kronos, who had been holding him captive for the past week, certainly wasn’t going to let him forget that. That much was for certain.
It was a mess.
He and Bechendorf had boarded the Andromeda to blow the ship's occupants sky high. They had been expecting a Titan, the king himself, Kronos. Along with the large monster army that had been occupying it for the past three years now.
To say their information was bad was an understatement.
Instead of it just being Kronos. It had been the entire Titan Council waiting for them.
Bechendorf had been killed almost instantly. Percy had put up a fight, but well, when you're talking that many titans…he might be one of the strongest demigods in generations, but he still had his limits.
He had been tossed into the Andromeda’s brig. Alive but really not able to do much else than watch as events unfolded over the next week. They made pretty damn sure he wouldn’t be able to mount an escape attempt.
The days had blurred together into one giant mess. He couldn’t really tell one apart from each other in the brig on the Andromeda. He could only really tell time was passing at all. Because Kronos forced him to see what was going on during the war.
He had watched camp attempt to defend Manhattan against Kronos’ army. And slowly watched Manhattan and Olympus with it fall. As they were vastly outnumbered. He had watched Hades eventually, far too late, join in the fighting only to be felled by some Titans.
The Olympians, meanwhile, were so busy, stuck dealing with Typhon. That they couldn’t deal with the army marching on Olympus. He had heard a couple of them making comments about needing his Dad or Hades.
Apparently being none the wiser that both had faded from existence fighting in separate battles. So caught up in their own fight with Typhon that they hadn’t realized the destruction going on elsewhere.
So eventually he had been made to watch as Olympus crumpled and fall. As the Gods tried to hold back Typhon. Only to slowly fade and die one by one.
And he had been unable to do anything but sit there and watch it all in real time. Kronos had made sure of it. Even though he was stuck in the brig. He had his own personal little tv to the outside world.
And he had watched as the world had crumbled around him.
But before all that he had been dragged out and had watched Atlantis fall to Oceanus. That had been the worst part. The one time he had been let out of the brig before the end. Was to be dumped into the ocean. So he could watch Atlantis’ fall.
Kronos had been insistent that he had a front row seat to that.
Percy had been able to do nothing but watch as the royal family had been killed off one by one. Until all had been left was his Dad. Though at that point he was more of a shell of the God he had known. And he was hanging on to existence probably by a tether.
Atlantis was in literal ruins at that point. And the way he was more of a shade reminded him of how Percy had seen Pan last summer. But unlike that time there would be no peaceful going into Khaos. Kronos and Oceanus wouldn’t allow that for either of them Percy knew.
Percy hadn’t wanted to watch his Dad’s last moments of existence. Percy hadn’t exactly had a choice in the matter.
There had been a brief moment where his Dad’s eyes had locked onto his own for a moment. Right before he had disappeared for existence. And somehow Percy knew that his Dad hadn’t blamed him for what happened. How his Dad couldn’t blame him after the fucked up mess that was being captured by Kronos Percy didn’t know.
But he knew.
After that, Percy had been thrown back into the Andromeda’s brig. With the only company being the visits from Luke's top brass, who were also tasked with trying to break him before his 16th birthday. And when they weren't there (usually trying to pull information out of anyone unlucky enough to fall in the Titan's Army grasp.) He had that weird television that had been giving him the play by play of the end of the world.
Percy had never once turned on Olympus and his friends. He would rather have been dead first. And Gods knows how much he had begged to just let him die.
At the very end of it all, he had been dragged to what had been the ruins of what had been Olympus. To make the decision to raze Olympus. Though it was all but a formality at that point since everything was gone.
After all, how can you preserve Olympus when there is nothing left to preserve at this point?
Manhattan wasn't quiet in rubble, though the damage had been done from what he had seen before he had been dragged into the Empire State Building. But he had a feeling that once Kronos goes full Titan, the rest of the city will go with it. And he doesn't know when that will happen, but it has to be a matter of when now...
Well after he somehow made the choice to raze Olympus. Which at this point he wasn't sure how it even works. Maybe just not fighting against Kronos counts as making the choice?
(But again, there was nothing left to preserve. Even if he had picked a fight and somehow won. Which would be a miracle in itself. What makes Olympus just that was lost with the war. Except for a few exceptions who considering they were on the raze side to begin with...
Them still existing won't do any good.)
Someone had run a blade over his arm, cutting it wide open. And shortly after, whoever had a hold of him lets him go.
(He's not even trying to keep track of which goon is doing what. It doesn't really matter most of the time unless it involves two particular members who've made it their mission to keep him from dying.)
He hadn't even tried to keep standing up at this point. He's too tired from everything. There's no point. Kronos won, and even if he could have preserved Olympus. Even if that was supposedly part of the prophecy. It's obvious that this isn't how things are going to end for them.
(If it had been any other time before the last week, the blood would have worried him. But after a week of being someone's healing toy plaything because he wasn't allowed to die. It barely registers as a problem. The more concerning part is the fact that he can't seem to hold onto his sense of self. Since that bodes ill for the afterlife, he is pretty sure. Since if you don't have that then how can you be judged?
It's not dying he had been scared of. After all, he's been begging for death for a week now. It's whether there was still an afterlife to go to at this point...
He doesn't know if Thanatos still had even existed to reap his soul. After all, he wouldn't be the first God lost to the war. He doesn't know what minor deities were on which side in the end. But honestly even if there wasn't one...he just wants it to be over with. Even if it means no longer existing.)
And then Kronos starts glowing, a warning sign that he is about to take his true form.
Percy's not surprised by this. He knew if they didn't stop him before, it was too late. (And they were way past late by now.) That this was going to happen. Though it seems the rest of the top brass didn't expect Kronos to do this. He had warned Luke back then that Kronos had no interest in saving mortals. Not really, anyway. The minute he won, it was over for them.
But he guessed the denial had been strong in the group that makes up Luke and Kronos' goons. Going by the amount of shouting he is hearing. They had thought they were going to be safe somehow in a world that was meant to be only for who Kronos wanted. And Percy had always known it would be just for the Titans and whoever Kronos found useful.
(In other words, not mortals and demigods.)
Well, at least it would be fast he figured as the brightness had turned up a notch.
But before he could be taken out by Kronos, going full Titan mode. Things had just frozen.
And before Percy had a chance to process what was going on or question Kronos. Or even just cry about the fact this was apparently going to keep going. (Hadn't a week of torture been enough?) Since he had first assumed the Titan was behind it because he had seemed like the most likely culprit since he was the Titan of Time. Four figures had appeared before him.
Three of them he had only ever seen them once. When he was 12 when the bus had broken down on the way home from Yancy Academy. But regardless he knew who they were—the fates.
The fourth figure he did not know but he would quickly come to know during the conversation. As a primordial that many had assumed had long faded. But for now, Percy’s attention was only on the morai.
If he hadn’t been so exhausted and so defeated at that point. He probably would have screamed at them for letting this happen. But he was so broken he had stopped caring if he was being honest.
He was going to be dead soon. He knew as soon as he formally made the decision Kronos would kill him. The morai were just prolonging the inevitable. What did it matter if the fates were finally here along with the strange new deity he had never seen before?
And then the fates had started speaking and he had started to care all over again.
What had happened on the Andromeda apparently was never supposed to happen. Yes he was supposed to go on there. Yes he was supposed to run into Kronos. But somewhere along the way something had changed that even they hadn’t anticipated. And had set the world on an unnatural path as they called it.
Percy had wanted to cry. Because why were they telling him this? What kind of twisted cosmic joke was it to finally tell him that none of this was his or the world's fate. Only after all of this was over and done and the western world was in shambles?
His friends were dead. His family was dead. The world was dying. What was the point of twisting the knife?
And then the unnamed deity had finally stepped forward to finally introduce himself and with him the puzzle pieces had finally started to click into place. He was Chronos the primordial time deity. The one god with more control over the time and space continuum than the Titan.
And the one with the ability to give him a chance to set things right and fix the tapestry that apparently had been unwoven when the Andromeda mess had occurred. Which was why the fates were allowing for an unprecedented interference according to them.
Percy was being allowed to go back in time to shortly before the first quest. Back to when he first started coming into himself as a demigod. A chance at a do-over. An opportunity to fix as many things as he thought he could, since the tapestries were reset at that point, and the strings were not cut.
This wouldn’t be easy, they warned. He should tell at least a few people so they could help him and advise him and so they could share in his burden. Because what happened was not in his control.
(Which was both relieving and still wild to hear from them of all deities. But still put a knot in his stomach. Like to know that there was a chance to change your fate was wild to consider. What was the likelihood someone would believe that? Seriously?)
The path he took last time will most likely not look the same as last time no matter what actions he takes. And it should not be the same because the same path is what got them there. Which was also no surprise. He knew how the quests would go so he wasn’t going to go the exact same path. Particularly if he was going after the bolt he wasn’t going into that casino again if he could avoid it.
(If he wants to help get Bianca and Nico out. It will have to wait at least for the moment)
Which was going to change some things.
If it had come down to the fact that it was about Percy just reliving it all over again. Percy probably would have turned it down. He couldn’t stand the thought of having to do all his quests over again. But…it wasn’t about that.
It was about setting things right.
It was about making the correct decision this time.
It was about making sure his friends and family actually lived this time. It was about making sure the world didn’t end when he turned 16 because he had the wrong information.
He could survive doing the quests over again. If it meant the world was safe at the end of the day.
“Where do we start?”
Waking up four years in the past. Even when you were expecting it. Turned out to be very disconcerting Percy realized both physically and emotionally. And had him hit almost immediately by a nausea spell that made him run for the bathroom.
Percy’s not sure how long he’s sitting there in the Yancy bathrooms trying to process things. He thought he had things under control when he was talking to the fates in those final frozen moments before he was thrown four years into the past.
He thought he had his emotions in check. And was ready to see Grover at the very least when he landed back in his 12 year old body.
Turns out not so much.
Okay, he could do this.
The fates wouldn’t have sent him back at all. If they thought he had no chance of success at this right? So he definitely could do this.
And yet the thought of this caused sheer overwhelming panic.
There just was so much to deal with. Two whole wars (apparently if the fates warning about something looming on the horizon after this one was to be believed) he was going to have to deal with. And while the fates had made clear this was not a task he was to deal with alone. That this was not something meant for one lone person.
(Which was why it wasn’t supposed to be one person the morai had said. He was supposed to find people he could trust, they had said. They knew he was at rock bottom right now. But finding these people was important.
Not everyone wanted the world to crumble. It was important to remember that at the end of the day.
But he still had to deal with telling what had happened. He still had to deal with the fact that he had probably sealed the world’s fate in some way when he had boarded the Andromeda.
And while some people might not blame him for that choice. There were definitely some people who would. And who could he know to trust to not blame him?
His Dad? Sure it looked like he hadn’t blamed him for what happened. But had he been truly not blaming him for what happened. Or had that been wishful thinking on his part?
The Gods were tricky things after all. Who knew what was going to happen the minute he started talking about this. But the reality was that telling his Dad probably was his best option. Because if he couldn’t trust his Dad. Then who could he trust?)
“Percy! If we don’t get going now then we’re going to be late for the bus!” Grover’s voice calls from outside the restroom stall.
Crap. Right. Met field trip.
What a way to start a return to the past.
He barely had enough time to regain his bearings before he was going to be fighting a fury apparently.
Well at least after today he would have a full month before he had to start dealing with Godly shenanigans he guessed. Though once that started up it was never going to stop for the rest of his life…
Percy uses the bus ride to Manhattan to try and start running through plans. And as a way to keep himself somewhat distracted from Nancy Bobofit’s shenanigans.
(Though the latter works only to a small degree as it turns out. Even with him trying to think about the end of the world. Nancy is still annoying as ever even after four years.
Partly because, dammit, Grover is his best friend. And losing Grover had hurt. He had thought and hoped the bond breaking might be enough to actually kill him. For a brief moment it had put him in a state where he hadn’t known anything. Where he had been allowed to be dead. Then the Titans had brought him back using Hubert as a conduit to make sure he wasn't allowed to move on to the afterlife.)
He at least had a month to start preparing things. Figure out who he wanted to tell. Who he should tell about what had happened.
This wasn’t something he could really talk to Grover about.
He adored his best friend to pieces. But while he had grown up a lot in the next four years this was too much to ask of him at this point. And he didn’t think he would be able to handle it at this point.
Plus while Grover had gotten better at lying when they had gotten older. (As seen by the fact Grover had managed to fool Polythemus for as long as he had.) Grover right now could not lie his way out of a paper bag and that was going to be kind of important to keep secret. Maybe he could tell older Grover but that was at least a good year off.
And Chiron…he adored the teacher. But something kept him from telling Chiron. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was exactly. Maybe it was the fact that he didn’t know where the slip up had occurred so he was turning all critical eyes on everyone at camp.
Part of him knew that it probably wasn’t entirely his fault what had happened. That they had bad information about the Andromeda situation. They had been told that only Kronos was on the ship. Not the entire Titan Council.
So he would have to wait until he was at camp to tell anyone about what was going on then. And he still needed to figure out who from the list he could trust.
Annabeth? No. It wasn’t that he didn’t think he could trust her. But he remembered what Annabeth was like at this age. And she still had some growing up to do as much as he loved her. And he didn’t feel comfortable divulging this situation with her.
And most of the rest of the campers while he knew to an extent he wouldn’t say he trusted that well to divulge this kind of information too. He probably needed to fix this time around getting to know them really. But that just made the point of not sharing this information at this point because he didn’t know them.
So who was left now?
His Dad?
That honestly was his best option but at the same time…
He was still kinda scared that he might actually blame him for what happened. But really his Dad was the only option part of him knew. Part of him was probably going to implode if he didn’t have someone to talk to about this. And while their relationship was maybe not the strongest at times.
His Dad was still the best option he had.
And his Dad could probably advise him on who else to tell about this safely. Along with anything else that might be useful to deal with as a result of this whole situation.
But still maybe have someone else with him? He sort of remembered from old tales that Amphitrite was his partner in more than one way. So maybe if his Dad didn’t smite him as soon as he found out badly he had screwed up. And if she didn’t hate him she could help?
He didn’t know who else to ask at the very least. None of the council he felt really comfortable with. Not at this point at the very least.
And he knew even less about his half siblings than he did about his immortal stepmother. So they were probably even worse options than she was.
But at least he had a whole month to try and quietly do research on the rest of the family. To try and get a better idea on what to expect when he reached out to his Dad before they had this conversation. To decide if Amphitrite really was the best option.
Or if he should just go it alone with his Dad.
For now he has other problems to figure out. Particularly how to handle a certain fury posing as a math teacher as they pull up to the Met.
Percy lets most of the met trip pass without messing with things. Since the more he thinks about it the more he realizes there wasn’t really anything he could change if he wanted to.
As much as he didn’t like having the target on his back. He probably needed some kind of sign of who he really was for things to get moving along. And as much as he hated being on a time crunch.
Well if he waited too long then the time crunch would be even worse.
So it was probably now or never or he was going to regret it down the line.
Besides he had a feeling he wasn’t going to really change what happened at the fountain. What she did had pissed him off too much. Him being able to resist Nancy’s taunts was a big maybe and he knew it. And honestly now that he knew what he was doing…that seemed less likely than more likely.
As he’s sitting there eating lunch. His mind drifts to a certain apartment that is just several blocks north of here. And the urge to go home is so much stronger than it was nearly four years ago.
But then again he hadn’t lived through the end of the world during the last timeline yet either.
The only thing really keeping him at this point is the fact that he can’t really change things at this point. Its too risky to move the fight with Mrs. Dodds too many unknowns.
Since he certainly doesn’t care about what trouble he will get in with school if he leaves the field trip. It’s not like he isn’t going to get expelled from it in a month anyway.
It’s just one month until he got to see his Mom again. But it felt like an eternity at the moment. However, after everything that had happened…at least he was going to get to see her again.
Small victories at this point he would take anything.
His Mom and Paul’s death had been one of the only small mercies he had gotten in the last timeline. Kronos had simply been too bored with mortals to pay much attention to his Mom and Paul. He hadn’t known what had happened to them.
If Kronos had cared more about mortals. Kronos would have definitely used them like he had used his Dad’s death to torture Percy. That wasn’t a question in Percy’s mind. He had just hoped their deaths had been quick.
Of course…he would have to see Gabe again. Who he would rather not have to ever think about. Let alone be in the presence of. But at least he would only have to deal with him for a couple of hours.
Just long enough to get his stuff and go to Montauk. And then he would only have to see him one more time before he would be permanently rid of that guy.
(He would need to take better care to pack an actual go bag this time. Since he knew what was coming in a few hours. He needed to see to try and see if he could have some things to bring with him to camp.
He wasn’t entirely sure if it would survive the lightning blast from Zeus. But he had to at least try. Only having a couple days of clothes that Luke had stolen for him had been rough to say the least.
And the less he had to rely on Luke the better.
There was no way to avoid the camper entirely of course. He wasn’t looking forward to being stuck in closed quarters for five days with his torturer. But it wasn’t like he had much of a choice.
Probably moving up his claiming up by a few days would be too risky. So he was going to have tough it out and hope that being near Luke didn’t send him into panic spirals.
Which probably was going to be easier said than done.)
Thank the Gods.
Literally the only good thing to come of the Medusa encounter. Was being able to give her head to his Mom. So they could be forever rid of that man.
“Percy?” Grover’s voice interrupted his train of thought.
“Huh? Sorry G-Man missed your question.”
“Just asked if you're okay? You’ve been kind of out of it today.”
Yeah that’s what happens when you are trying to figure out how to stop the end of the world he thought. Out loud he said. “Just tired and missing home more than normal. Didn’t have the best night's sleep last night and being back in the city is making me think of Mom.”
Easy enough excuse. And a good one since he was going to be distracted for the next few weeks figuring out what to do. Plus probably having actual nightmares by the furies if the last time around was any indicator.
“Oh yeah we’re not that far from your apartment are we?”
“Yep. Just a few blocks south of it.” Though admittedly if he went home right now part of him realized all that would be home is Gabe and maybe some of his poker buddies. Which okay makes the temptation to barge in a bit less.
“Looking forward to seeing your Mom again?”
“Yeah.” Grover only knew the half of it.
In the end Percy lets everything with Mrs. Dodds play out the same way it did the last time. The only thing he maybe changes is to try and make sure he doesn’t react too much with the sword.
After training at camp for the past four years. He actually has some instincts to rely on. Instead of whatever comes naturally to him unlike the last time around.
But it isn’t like anyone else here knows that. As far as Chiron and Grover know the only time he has ever picked up a sword is during tournament days. So anything beyond that was going to look suspicious at this point.
Even though its really hard to just stand there and let a monster come at him. After four years of quests and training. And having just survived the apocalypse.
Percy stands in the empty room for a moment. And in that second realizes that for the first time Chiron is nowhere to be found. Which makes him wonder, what would have happened if he hadn’t taken out the fury?
In the last timeline it had really been a combination of luck and natural sword skills that had taken out the fury. Neither of which Chiron had anyway of knowing he had. Well maybe beyond some hints in the tournaments at school he guessed.
But that wasn’t a real indicator of talent he would argue.
Not really anyway
So Percy tries not to be cynical about the whole thing. He really does. But part of him hasn’t forgotten about Chiron’s comment that first summer about him having some weird first test.
And how there were only forty plus campers at the Battle of Manhattan. And he has to wonder if Chiron’s practices for getting demigods to the camp are actually all that practical.
Combine that with a lot of unknown feelings right now. And he’s trying really hard not to not misinterpret Chiron not being here as something else somehow. But…
Nothing probably. He just was fresh out of a war. He was definitely over thinking this. There was no way Chiron out of all people had definitely been working for Kronos.
Besides it wasn’t like anyone knew about Kronos at this point. Well aside from Luke and a few select people.
He was just letting his paranoia over the past week get to him. That’s all.
Though regardless of Chiron’s intentions something really needs to be done about the first test. That had definitely done more harm than good for the camp during the war. Nothing could convince him otherwise.
But right now there’s not that much he can do about it right now. Not while he’s away from camp. Not while no one is aware of his situation at the moment.
Though this does give him a slight push in the direction of reasons why he should tell his Dad he realizes. He can’t do anything about making Chiron see reasons on why the first test is probably doing the camp more harm than good.
His Dad who is one of the most notoriously protective gods in the pantheon on the other hand is a whole other matter. Since he knows his Dad is most likely going to flip about the first test.
(There is no way he knew about that test in his mind. His Dad may not have been perfect. But he was better than most Gods. And he wouldn’t have liked the idea of that he was pretty sure.)
Though after all of these thoughts Chiron asks for the pen back. Percy can’t deny that he hesitated in that moment for a brief second.
And not entirely just because of his questions about Chiron’s choices, potentially.
Honestly the last thing he wanted to do was give Riptide back. After being weaponless, powerless, and tortured. But he knew there was no excuse that he gave Chiron that would make sense to the centaur. So he reluctantly handed it over.
He just was going to have to get by for the next month without it.
Though it was going to be really hard dealing with that. Knowing for one that the Minotaur attack was coming and he couldn’t do anything about it. And for another that Zeus was definitely most likely aware of his presence now.
He only just held back for so long out of sheer luck probably.