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Chapter Text

Percy was officially sick and tired of the constant hovering. Ever since he and Annabeth had made their way out of Tartarus and the war with Gaia had ended, the gods had kind of became overbearing worriers. It was odd, especially for the children with godly parents who were the most hands off. Percy supposed that he could at least find some peace in the knowledge that the gods did actually cared about them, even if in a very very small amount.

After the fighting was over and the dust had settled, Poseidon had demanded that Percy temporarily reside on Olympus under the watchful gaze of Apollo and Asclepius. Athena, however, had not required her daughter to do anything more than receive a check up to conclude that any injuries she had acquired whilst in Tartarus would not be fatal and then she had promptly been sent her on her way  back to camp. 

Annabeth seemed like she couldn't wait to get away from Percy after his display of power down in Tartarus and as much as it hurt the son of Poseidon, he didn't blame her. In fact, he felt much safer being what he felt like was detained on Olympus where he couldn't possibly be able to hurt his friends.

It wasn't until when Dionysus visited Percy at Apollo's Temple less than a week after Percy was put on bed rest that he had to actually talk about what happened. Before that point, both Apollo and Asclepius were more than content with letting him stay silent as they checked his vitals and used their domains to ensure that Tartarus was not going to have any continuing negative effects on him.

Dionysus had strode in, his eyebrows tight in what was either concern or anger and then sat himself in the squishy chair that sat directly next to the bed. Leveling Percy with an intense gaze, the demigod was now certain it had been concern Dionysus had been feeling. It was a degree of concern that Percy had never seen in a display from the god before.

"Percy, do you know why I'm here?" Dionysus asked his question in a way gentler tone that Percy ever thought the god could accomplish. It was so in contrast to the gruff and abrasive voice that typically exuded from Mr. D that he couldn't help but fidget uncomfortably as he talked.

Once the words sunk in to Percy, as he was slightly groggy from the medication he was on, he was so shocked that Mr. D had called him his actual name that his whole face screwed up before he shook his head genuinely.

"You haven't spoken a single word since arriving on Olympus. That isn't like you, I've seen you every summer since you were twelve so I know for a fact that you like to talk... a lot. And, I can't help but say that I was surprised you would let your father practically trap you here, on Olympus, when you could be at home with your mom instead." Dionysus continued, a knowing look in his eyes.

Oh, Percy wished he could see his mother but he wouldn't. Percy was dangerous and he would rather throw himself back into Tartarus rather than entertain the potential risk of harming his mother. But Percy didn't feel like admitting that right now, so he simply shrugged.

"I'm going to be upfront with you, I think you have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Percy. And rightfully so. You've been through way more than any demigod that's ever lived. No one has ever made it out of that place until you. But I'm not here to force you to talk, Percy, I'm here to tell you that mental health is part of my domains. So, if you ever need to talk, I could push aside my godly ego for this." Dionysus said empathetically.

As Percy tried valiantly to listen to what the god was saying, his ADHD made him hyper-focus on the small things that seemed different in Dionysus since he last saw him. He had bouncy black curls that seemed much healthier than Percy had ever seen him with. His eyes were blue just as they always were but near the iris it was a light purple that Percy had never seen before. Now that Percy was actively looking at the god he seemed less like he had a trailer park beer gut and more like a bulky athletic build. The longer Percy looked, the less the person in front of him looked like Mr. D. And yet, Percy knew it was still him.

Dionysus noticed Percy analyzing him and grinned , "Father restored my domains, my godly image is no longer strained. I'm not surprised you didn't notice earlier, you have a lot on your mind."

Percy let out a big breath as he worked himself up to speak. It seemed like a such a perilous task when every chance to talk before now didn't seem like a subject to waste his breath on.

"Who is camp director?" Percy asked, his vocal chords scratchy from a combination of lack of use and strain from drinking fire in Tartarus.

"Still me for now," Dionysus shrugged, "I think the gods are going to be taking a bit of a more active role filling in week by week or so eventually. But for now, while we adjust the world back to a normal state, I agreed to still be camp director. Why? Are you gonna miss seeing me everyday, Peter?" Dionysus smirked as he joked.

"You know, you're way better than your Roman version, no offense," Percy said, thinking of how Bacchus had treated him not too long ago.

Dionysus raised an eyebrow, "You know, kid, funny thing about that. I don't like him either."

Percy met his gaze again, his features clearly showing his confusion.

"I think you'll find that most of us prefer our Greek forms, that's why Olympus is on the Greek side of the country. It's why we don't allow ourselves to visit that camp all too often. I'm pretty sure only Apollo, Artemis, and Ares don't find too much of a problem with their Roman versions. Those three didn't necessarily change as much as anyone else did, I mean Apollo stayed Apollo he just had a few... alterations... to who he was. Did you know that almost eighty-five percent of New Rome is filled with legacies? It is far more rare for a new demigod to show up there than it is for a Greek demigod to show up at camp Half-Blood. Although, now with the war, those statistics are a bit skewed." Dionysus explained.

Percy didn't know what domain had exactly caused for old crabby Dionysus to become a social butterfly but he wasn't going to question it. He was too distracted thinking about the thirty-five or so campers that filled the cabins when once upon a time twelve year old Percy walked into a camp with closer to eighty campers.

"You don't have to sit here with me. If my dad is forcing you, I won't tell him you left." Percy said sympathetically.

"No, Percy. I'll admit, I was asked to be here by both your father and Apollo but I'm not forced into it. Most of Olympus and both camps are worried about you."

"Why me?" Percy frowned in confusion.

"Because you changed Percy, during this whole conversation there has been not one single sarcastic retort. I've known you since you were twelve, kid, I know that's not normal. Everyone can see how this is effecting you and we just want to help." Dionysus leveled with him.

"Why? So I can go out and complete another prophecy next month? I'm not. I won't put anyone in danger." Percy said immediately as he shook his head.

"What do you mean?" Dionysus froze before raking an analytical gaze over Percy.

"What are you talking about?" Percy backtracked.

"You said you wouldn't put anyone in danger, not that you didn't want to be put in danger. Percy, do you think your dangerous?" Dionysus tipped his head and his curls bounced with the movement.

"All demigods are dangerous, we learn sword fighting day one at camp," Percy snorted.

Dionysus leveled him with an analyzing glare. "Don't be smart with me. You're deflecting."

"It's just some of the things I had to do down there. I'm not exactly proud of it," Percy sighed.

"Percy, if you are going to say you are dangerous just because you did what you had to do in order to survive, then I'm gonna need you to take several steps back from that narrative and look at it from an outsiders perspective," Dionysus instructed authoritatively.

"I already know the outsiders perspective." Percy said with a self deprecating smile.

Dionysus paused at the way Percy looked, it was somewhere between furious and heartbroken, and then the god understood, "Annabeth thinks you are dangerous?"

"She's scared of me and I can't blame her for it. But, if she is scared of me then maybe I really am nothing more than a monster in the making. My dad is known for producing them, right?" Percy's grin morphed into something much more sardonic.

"Percy you have to understand, Annabeth is going through a traumatic time too. She's probably less afraid of you and more afraid of everything in a more general aspect." Dionysus tried to reassure the demigod.

"No, it's me that she's afraid of." Percy said definitely

"Why are you so sure of that?" Dionysus pressed.

Percy hesitated, eyes wandering from Dionysus to the bedsheets covering his legs, "I think something broke inside me while I was in that place."

Dionysus, to his credit, did not falter. Although internally he was receiving treacherous flashbacks of ancient times. Back when he himself had felt something break.

"What broke in you, Percy?" Dionysus questioned, his tone not giving away his thoughts.

"I don't know but I think maybe Annabeth is right to be scared," Percy's voice which had been slowly improving as he began using it again cracked harshly as his emotions got the better of him.

"Is that why you aren't trying to get better?" Dionysus finally got around to the question he had been sent to pry out of the demigod in front of him.

"What?" Percy questioned in alarmed confusion, sitting up straighter in the bed.

"Has anyone exactly explained to you how a demigod's powers worked?" Dionysus paused in his original interrogation at Percy's genuine befuddlement.

Percy shook his head, he wasn't quite sure where this conversation was going.

"Your powers are connected to your father, but they are a birthright that is not to be denied. And your strength? That has to do with two specific things, how much you believe in yourself and how much your father believes in you. That is why your powers have always been so extraordinary. You are Poseidon's favorite son. But from the moment that being in contact with sea water did not begin to heal your residual ailments from that place, your father worried you had lost faith in yourself because his faith in you is still unwavering."

"I don't understand why he thinks I deserve his praise," Percy mumbled as he shook his head.

"Percy, again, you aren't a monster. You are a kid who has been fighting for his life since he was twelve years old. Stop trying to punish yourself, it won't work." Dionysus said a bit forcefully to get his point across.

"Why not?" Percy questioned, the sardonic smile flashing across his face once more.

"Because your blood is turning gold, Percy," Dionysus said gently, as his face screwed up in sympathy.

"What?" Percy's voice gave out in the shock of the situation.

"Just as mine did millennia ago, it was just a theory I had but once you said that something had broken inside you... well, that's basically the first step." Dionysus continued unwaveringly.

"No. No! I rejected the gods offer years ago!" Percy sat up straight, his whole body tense as his worst fears came true.

"This wasn't something to be offered, Percy. This was your fate." Dionysus said sympathetically.

"So I get no choice in the matter?" Percy questioned harshly.

"No one does. Not my father nor yours. Not me nor you. I'm sorry, I know this isn't what you wanted." Dionysus frowned at the look on Percy's face.

"What about the fates? Can't I question them?" Percy asked desperately.

Dionysus suddenly looked as if he were going into godly heart failure, "No! No, Percy, the fates are going to do what they want to do and the only thing you will accomplish by trying to seek them out to change their mind is make them angry and further ruin your life."

"What? That's ridiculous!" Percy looked at Dionysus and wondered if he was bluffing.

"It's happened before," Dionysus said barely above a whisper.

"It has? To who?" Percy questioned, still not quite believing the gods words.

"A certain god of poetry," Dionysus was careful about not naming his brother, this place was attached to his temple and this was the last conversation Apollo needed to overhear.

"I've never heard that before," Percy said, still confused about everything.

"Well, it is a very sore subject for him. I wouldn't recommend bringing it up. He might seem all sunshine but there was a time where he was anything but." Dionysus warned.

"Mr. D, no offence, but I'm pretty sure there was a time in history where all the gods were way more dangerous than you all are now." Percy said.

"That's where you are wrong, Peter," Dionysus began.

Percy did not miss the fact that he was called being called Peter again, it made Percy relax a bit, knowing that Dionysus was trying to switch the conversation to a lighter tone.

"The gods are not less dangerous, we are just different in our composure. Your father has just as much power as he did then, he just does not flaunt it. I think you would agree that he resembles the calm nature of a wave now but back then it was the stormbringer that made Poseidon who he was." Dionysus explained.

"Why did you all change?" Percy asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Honestly, Percy, I don't know. No one remembers what exact moment caused us to change but we did and I think it made us better gods. I know you don't think much of us- a fact I am continuously annoyed by, just so you know -but we are much better than we were and I don't think you understand how hard it is for gods to change especially if it isn't their whole form changing. Gods are supposed to be how they are, no learning to be something else, and yet we -for the most part- do not go after each others children anymore. In ancient times, we used to get involved with demigods quests quite frequently, but our involvement only opened them up to more danger from other gods or monsters who wanted revenge. It's why the ancient laws are in place to restrict parental contact, if we don't let ourselves get attached then we won't almost blow each other up when something happens to them. I know that's not right by your standards, Percy, but that is just how it is."

Percy listened to Dionysus and tried to see what he was trying to say but he just didn't understand. Why couldn't the gods care about them? Why could they change once but not now? Why was he being told this when the god in front of him could be telling him where Percy could find the fates and shove them into Chaos for ever deciding to make him become a god.

Dionysus allowed Percy to sit in silence as he absorbed the information. The god sat back in his chair and allowed for a glass of red wine to appear in his hand.

"Mr. D, can we keep the whole god thing between us for right now? I just I want to tell my mom and I think I want to tell dad too... so can I just have a little time before you tell anyone else?"

Dionysus debated with himself for a moment before nodding, "It can wait a bit, ascension isn't immediate anyway, it is quite the process."

Dionysus left not long after that as Percy pretended to fall asleep. Percy waited until he was sure the coast was clear for him to slowly creep out of the bed. If he had to find the fates on his own, he would. He survived Tartarus, he's sure he could convince the three to stop his ascension. And if they killed him for his impertinence, well, Annabeth already thinks he is a monster... so, what does he have to live for?

Percy realized as he stealthily made his way through the corridors of the temple that he had no clue where he would find the Fates. Were they in the underworld? Or maybe on Olympus? He supposed he could ask someone but he didn't think anyone ever sought them out.

Well, except Apollo, as Dionysus had just informed him. Percy supposed he could try to get the god to tell him where they are but how exactly would Percy be able to do that? Percy pondered Apollo, all of his known strengths and weaknesses, immediately the answer came to him: stroke his ego. 

He wandered around Apollo's temple more blatantly now, walking heavier on purpose in hopes to catch the attention of a certain god.

"Percy!? What are you doing out of bed?" Apollo questioned as he rounded a corner and almost sent Percy to the floor with the amount of force he bumped into him with.

"I was actually looking for you. I woke up from my nap and I had a headache that I hadn't had before and-"

"Oh, well, come along then," Apollo interrupted Percy's explanation as he navigated the both of them towards the hospital beds.

"Hey Apollo, you're the god of like... a lot of things, right?" Percy questioned in faux innocence.

"Well, yes I am," Apollo grinned widely.

"You're the god of knowledge, right?" Percy continued.

"I am, I have to say Percy with your track record of forgetting these types of things, I'm a bit impressed that you remembered. It is one of my more overlooked domains."

"Since you have the domain of knowledge, does that mean you know like... everything?" Percy tipped his head to the side as if he really had a hard time conceptualizing it.

"That is a more complicated question than you realize. I sort of do but I also am not omnipotent in the way you might be thinking. I don't know every single thing, especially if it falls under another gods domains, but in a more general sense... yes, I do know quite a bit." Apollo nodded with a self-satisfied smile.

"Oh, okay! Thant makes sense. So for example, you wouldn't know what and how Hephaestus is building something and you wouldn't know where like the Fates reside because it's like not general knowledge and specific to those individuals?" Percy questioned effortlessly.

"Actually, not to toot my own horn, I do know where the Fates reside, it's hidden to most, even the immortals, but it is easy to get through if you both know where you are going and why you need to see them. I was told because of my domains but they don't like visitors, so, accessing their temple is really never a good idea unless it is an emergency. The last time I visited was when my Oracle was killed by Hades and even then it was risky." Apollo said, gesticulating wildly with his arms.

"Wow! I knew you were an important god but really I'm impressed. I mean, to be trusted by the Fates with something like that... that's crazy!" Percy said with a grin.

"Isn't it! And their temple never actually moved from Corinth in Greece, so it's only accessible by godly travel or the portal in the locked room of my temple! Which is another cool point for me! To be the only place where people can access it, exclusivity is one of the most important factors in level of coolness!" Apollo smirked as he boasted about his privilege with the fates.

Percy nodded and filed the information away for later, the locked room in this temple would be the easiest way to get to the fates. All he had to do was wait until just before sunrise when Apollo would leave on his chariot. Percy was glad now more than ever that living at camp with Travis and Connor Stoll had taught him how to pick an assortment of locks.

So he waited patiently in his sick bed, it seemed that being completely miserable the last few days had paid off in some way as Apollo and Asclepius both were too glad to see him actually interacting with them and making progress to notice anything suspicious. 

Just before sunrise, Percy made his way out of the bed and through the temple. It had more rooms than he thought it would which made his search a bit longer than he had hoped. But finally, just as the sky outside had the days first hue of orange, he saw it. Percy realized it was probably made to look inconspicuous on purpose. The small lock was nothing more than a common cam lock. Percy took riptide out of his pocket and in pen form and aligned the cap of the pen to the center circle of the lock. He reared his arm back and slammed the pen up sharply, satisfied when the center of the lock fell out onto the other side of the door.

Shoving riptide back into his pocket he was more than pleased when the door opened easily. For as paranoid as the gods usually were, he was surprised Apollo didn't keep some kind of protective enchantment or whatever around it. Although, he supposed most people would be stupid to willingly go see the fates. Oh well, Percy was nothing if not reckless anyway.

He grasped the door handle and pushed the door open. At first he wondered if he had entered the wrong room but then he noticed another door in the far right corner that almost seemed to shimmer faintly. Determined now more than ever, Percy strode towards it and flung it open only to be practically sucked inside. 

Percy wasn't quite sure how but he knew it worked. He knew he was now in the Temple of the Fates. Maybe it was the bone-chilling aura that thrummed through the walls. Maybe it was the way Percy could feel hope of new life and dread for the dead with every other step. It was cold and yet loving. Ruthless and yet kind. An anomaly that only would make sense for a Temple of the Fates. It was as if Percy could practically feel every possibility, the good and the evil in perfect symbiosis.

"We wondered when your Fate would bring you here." Atropos' voice echoed off the walls.

Percy froze, "I don't want to ascend."

"Fate does not bend to the will of a person's desire," Clotho's voice echoed next.

"Do you think I care? I am sick and tired of my life constantly being screwed with by immortals. Enough is enough," Percy said narrowly.

"Perhaps, Perseus, you should first learn why one does not go against Fate. Yours was written millennia before you were even born. You have no choices in your Fate, they've already been made long ago," Atropos said scathingly.

"How would my fate be predestined, the prophecy I fulfilled at sixteen said I would make a choice, if it was all predestined how would it be a true choice?" Percy questioned, his eyebrows high on his forehead.

"A valid question, child of Poseidon, it's validity is the only reason we have not already pushed you," Lachesis' voice echoed now.

Percy was unnerved that although he could hear them he could not see them within the walls of the temple. Some part of him knew that he wasn't supposed to move anywhere else.

"The choice was less about you and more about who was going to be the one to make it. If Thalia was to make it, she would have died along with Luke. If Bianca had tried she would have died and Luke would have survived. If it had been Nico, Kronos would have already had a body and his choice would be far more struggling than anyone else's. You, Percy, understood Luke in a way that you could relinquish your choice and let him decide his Fate. It is who you are, Perseus, that allowed you to be a true hero." Clotho explained.

"Why would my destiny be... predestined?" Percy questioned, still determined to get them to take back his ascension. 

"Technically, it is only predestined according to our memory and the Titaness, Mnemosyne. The rest of existences memories have been blocked. My sisters and I are beginning to think though, that that will soon change," Atropos spoke evenly.

"Good-bye, Perseus. Safe travels." Lachesis signaled.

"Percy?!" Apollo's voice carried from the hallway, "What are you doing in there? Are you insane!?" 

As soon as Percy saw Apollo step through the Portal into the temple the power of the three primordial sisters swelled and it felt as if Percy was being tossed backwards through a hurricane. He was unconscious with a last realization that he felt a tight, warm grip on his shoulder.

At least wherever Fate had just flung him, the god of healing would be there to transport him home.

Chapter Text

When Percy awoke, he could tell that he was not simply pushed out of the portal and back into Apollo's Temple. He also could tell that he wasn't even in New York anymore. Both of these things were obvious to him before he had even opened his eyes, this place just smelled different somehow.

It was fresher. It was as if he was back in that cave where they had found Pan those few short years ago. Percy was instantly terrified. Despite the fresh feeling that surrounded him, there was a putrid burning feeling that settled within his stomach. Percy had to will himself not to be sick from the realization of what might have just happened. There was no other place that he could think of where he could feel this amount of fresh pure air. His eyes snapped open and his head whipped around from right to left, assessing his surroundings as fast as he could to ensure there was not a monster lying in wait. 

There wasn't. The only other being in sight was a distraught looking Apollo who was looking at the Sea as if it was a horrifying monster.

"Apollo?" Percy called over, a bit worried as he got up.

Apollo spun around on the heel of his foot and glowered at the son of Poseidon.

"What did you do?!" Apollo demanded.

"I- Where are we?" Percy asked instead of answering the god.

"You would do well to answer me, Perseus. I swear I could wring your neck right now," Apollo continued to glower as he approached in white hot anger.

"I don't think my dad would be too pleased. He sent me to you so you could heal me not wring my neck," Percy said dryly, although, internally he was freaking out on the genuine fear Apollo held in his eyes.

"No, Percy, I don't think your father is going to care what happens to you," Apollo said ominously.

"Uh, why is that?" Percy questioned wearily, finally allowing for the uneasiness in his veins to make him display his nerves.

"Because whatever you said to the Fates made them angry, angry enough for you and me to be pushed back. I didn't even know it was possible, it should create a paradox... yet here we are on this stupid beach," Apollo grumbled as his anger left him and exhaustion settled in.

"What... what do you mean by pushed back?" Percy asked.

"Percy, look around you. Feel around you. We're not where we are supposed to be," Apollo shook his head and swiped his godly hand down his face and left it covering his mouth for a moment as he seemed to have an internal debate.

Percy hesitated in saying he felt it too. He wasn't sure what it meant but it was apparently really bad and he just wanted a fucking break. All he asked was for the fates and immortals in general to stop screwing with his life. Percy swallowed thickly as he tried to keep his composure.

"Perseus whatever you did just caused the fates to catapult us back to Ancient Greece. So thanks for that," Apollo scoffed as he threw out his arms in annoyance.

Percy felt his heart plummet to his stomach as the fates words came back to him.

"But... can't you just like godly travel us home or something?" Percy asked nauseously.

"No! I am not the god of time. I think you are well aware that that title belongs to our grandfather," Apollo said, his eyes still glaring.

"I just wanted them to stop messing with me," Percy said quieter than before as the ramifications of their jump in time started to sink in.

"I cannot believe after everything you have been through and everything that you know about this world, you would still make the biggest and dumbest mistake of your life! Your idiocy is truly astounding and dare I say unparalleled!" Apollo yelled.

"I'm sorry, Apollo, but-" Percy began, genuinely feeling a bit sorry for his actions and that he dragged the god into this with him.

"Who are you?" A voice from behind them demanded in Ancient Greek.

Apollo swore under his breath and Percy turned around to see who he supposed was the Hermes of this time. 

He had a chiton on and looked every bit like the myths described him, helmet, caduceus, and winged sandals. Percy could already say with certainty that he preferred the Hermes he knew.

"Brother, surely you know who I am, do not make me laugh," Apollo took on a sharp tone as he responded. It was sharper than the one he had used even when mad at Percy.

Percy wished he wasn't positioned right between the two gods.

"You are not my brother, he would never wear such a ridiculous outfit. You do know I could smite you on the spot for trying to impersonate a God. Especially one of the twelve Olympians," Hermes spoke viciously.

Percy was almost taken aback. He and Hermes were something akin to friends back home and he had never seen the god act like this, even when he was furious with Annabeth, it was not this dangerous. Percy wanted to go home before he couldn't bear to look at his friends faces again.

"Careful little brother, I may look different but you will lose if you try anything," Apollo retorted with his eyes widening in anger, making him look much more intimidating.

Percy tried to take a step out of the way of the two gods when Hermes snapped his gaze to the demigod, halting Percy from moving. 

"And who are you pretending to be, I'm almost hoping you say Poseidon, he'll love to incinerate you," Hermes' eyes were harsh and unnerving, no trace of the god Percy knew could be found in this god, despite the fact that his face was the same.

"Leave him out of this or you will regret it," Apollo snapped, eyes practically glowing.

Percy, however, had been known to not be able to keep his mouth shut when he probably should. So it really shouldn't has surprised Apollo when the demigod spoke up saying, "I'm Percy, Lord Hermes."

"You dare address me as if we are equals," Hermes glowered, his whole form practically glowing.

Percy was very confused, he definitely tagged on the Lord, something that he never did at home. Apollo pinched the bridge of his nose as he had developed a godly migraine, the magnitude of which could rival the migraine that Zeus had that resulted in Athena. Apollo was starting to consider whether Percy deserved to have the title Bane of Gods tagged onto his many existing titles. 

"Hermes, please, if you ever listen to anything I say in this very long existence, listen to me when I say that we are in trouble. I am Apollo, I am Phoebus Apollo, but I am not your Apollo," Apollo stressed his words and Percy had only ever seen him the god this desperate when Artemis was taken when Percy was thirteen.

Hermes laughed in Apollo's face. Percy winced, assuming that Apollo was not going to be too pleased with Hermes' actions and as if hoping to avoid being further brought into the argument, he quickly averted his gaze to the ground.

"That is it!" Apollo bellowed in a mix of outrage and exhaustion.

At the somewhat unexpected outburst, Percy's gaze lifted rapidly in alarm, just quick enough to watch in shock as Apollo swung hard at his godly brother. A resulting cracking noise and the steady drip of golden ichor spewed out of Hermes' nose. Percy had somehow never seen the gods physically fight each other, he didn't expect it to be so jarring. Hermes didn't even look as mad as he did before, probably because he was too busy staring in shock at the ichor he had just wiped off his nose.

"No mortal could break your nose, brother. Is that enough proof?" Apollo said in a deadly tone.

Hermes stuttered for a moment in confusion before he swallowed hard with a bit of a dazed look in his eyes, "You better come to Olympus."

"To be surrounded by several other gods who will think I am an imposter? No. I don't need that, thank you very much. I am aware of our family's smite first, ask later tendencies," Apollo said stubbornly.

"How did you even get here?" Hermes had returned to ignoring Percy's presence as he looked at his brother analytically.

"The fates have sent us back," Apollo said with a spare glace at Percy.

"Why? Do you need to stop something from happening? Is the world ending or something?" Hermes said a bit sarcastically although if Percy didn't know better he would say he thought he heard an undertone of hesitant fear.

"No, well- kinda, but no, there is nothing we can change and we aren't heading towards a doomed fate," Apollo soothed his younger brothers badly hidden fears.

"Uhm, Apollo," Percy spoke up as he was reminded once again of the fates words.

"How dare you speak to him like that you stupid mortal," Hermes hissed venomously.

"Hermes cut it out, Percy is a friend of ours," Apollo said immediately with a glare directed at his brother.

"That's funny, Apollo, you do not make friends with," Hermes cut himself off before a smirk took over his face, "Oh, I see, he is a lover."

"What?! Ew, no, dude!" Percy said taken aback at the thought of Apollo, his friend's dad, being more than on friendly terms.

"Okay, you didn't have to say ew, that hurts," Apollo grumbled with a frown.

Hermes decidedly did not like his answer or Apollo's reaction as he glared at Percy harshly.

"Don't mind him, brother. He is used to a different version of yourself. You're friends but he still has his moments of being an idiotic mortal," Apollo shot him a sharp look at the last two words.

"Another version of myself allows this mortal to address me in this way?" Hermes said in disgust.

"Uh, yes..." Apollo trailed off not knowing what to say about the predicament.

"Why?" Hermes asked, completely aghast at the thought.

"When I get home Hermes is so going to owe me for this," Percy grumbled to himself under his breath.

"Me, owe you? Did Dionysus make him mentally confused and I am sympathetic of him or something?" Hermes questioned, clearly having heard Percy's grumbling.

Percy turned from Hermes to Apollo, "Do you all act like this in this time? Because if so, I'm going to need you to get us home immediately. You know I can't bite my tongue, especially when I don't even know I'm supposed to be."

Apollo winced harshly, "Percy, if there was ever a time in history that I would need you to bite your tongue and not say anything, it is now. You didn't talk for like a week before yesterday, just go back to doing that."

"I won't do it. My mom taught me better than that and Dad thinks it's funny so, no. Also, I think not talking for that long really makes me want to talk more now? Is that an ADHD thing? It feels like one," Percy ranted in a false act of mischief, forcing the dimple in his cheek to pop in while he smirked lazily in an attempt to distract himself from having a full blown meltdown over the situation they had found themselves in. 

"Yes, well, I don't think your father is going to think it is very funny here and as for your hyperactivity, don't." Apollo commanded sternly, failing to notice Percy's façade when so many times before Percy had proved to the whole Olympian council that he could be a little shit when he wanted to.

"Dude, have you met my dad? He may be seriously powerful but he secretly loves when his kids ruin everyone's mood." Percy forced the smirk to overtake his face fully, whilst ignoring Apollo's instructions. Percy was also keenly aware of the sudden rapid pace of his heartbeat and the burning in his stomach that seemed to grow tenfold from when he woke up.

"Why are you always so difficult!? Percy, please I beg you-" Apollo said running a tired hand down his face.

"You beg him? Are you hearing yourself? Apollo, just smite the whelp!" Hermes spoke up, incredulity clear in his tone and by the expression on his face.

"Okay, I know he is a lot when you first meet him, but he's a solid dude. He's helped me a few times and I couldn't just smite him. Especially because I would not want to face the wrath of Sally when she found out I killed him," Apollo grimaced at the thought.

Percy nodded next to him as he got a better control on his stomach. He could understand the fear of facing Sally Jackson's disappointment, especially since he knew Apollo stopped by for conversation and cookies every so often.

"Who is his mother for you to fear her? I do not think I understand. Is he not a mortal? From what he already said I assumed his father was the god?" Hermes shook his head in confusion.

"Sally is mortal and if you say a single bad thing about her I will snap your caduceus in two pieces," Apollo warned, knowing that Percy would instinctually cause a tsunami in his anger for any bad word against his mother.

"Hey, no, wait! You can't do that to George and Martha! Just kick his ass or something, you don't need to bring the poor snakes into it!" Percy said looking offended on George and Martha's behalf.

"You know of- He knows of George and Martha?!" Hermes looked incredulously from Percy to Apollo.

"Yeah, Apollo already told you we were friends, right?" Percy said with a half grin, although underneath it Percy was desperately hoping to find some common ground with Hermes.

Hermes looked as if his whole worldview was collapsing in on itself. 

"This doesn't make any sense," Hermes muttered to himself, his gaze fluttering rapidly as he thought.

"Hey... you couldn't perhaps Hermes Express us in a box to the future? You're supposed to have guaranteed delivery," Percy questioned the god as he looked at him calculatingly.

"Is he serious?" Hermes said in a flat tone to Apollo.

"Unfortunately, I think so," Apollo pinched the bridge of his nose, "How did you find us so quickly anyways, brother?"

"You didn't answer my question," Percy cut in with a scowl.

"That's because it was a stupid question, mortal. And I do not owe you any answers, despite the clear lapse in judgement from my older self," Hermes almost snarled at Percy before taking a calming breath and facing Apollo, "all of Olympus felt the shift, brother. They felt something happen in this location. We knew it was important and I am required to bring you to father for consideration."

Percy looked at Apollo his eyes saying everything he knew he couldn't audibly express. By Apollo's answering warning glare, he knew the god got the message.

"You can't make us go anywhere, I have to go back to the fates and make them send us home," Percy said to Hermes. 

"Did you just tell me no?" Hermes said, his nose flaring.

"Ye-" Percy began to speak but was drowned out by Apollo's squawking voice next to him.

"Hermes be reasonable, someone would surely smite this whelp and I cannot be the one to deliver the news that he was killed while I was on guard," Apollo was so overly animated as he ranted that Percy was actually a little concerned by the manic gleam in his eye.

"Guard? Why were you guarding a mortal at all?" Hermes questioned as his eyes narrowed.

Percy froze, panicked eyes shifted between the gods as he hoped that Apollo wouldn't open this conversation.

"It is none of your current concern. It is not to be discussed with anyone who doesn't already know without Percy's expressed permission," Apollo said immediately as if reciting the direct order he had been given, which Percy assumed he probably was.

"Oh so I do not know then? Secrets do not bode well to the Olympian council brother surely you know that," Hermes raised a singular eyebrow.

"Whatever corner you are trying to back me into, Hermes, I would cease attempts now before you make a fool of yourself. You do know, in the future, but here it is of little use and thus I am not obligated to discuss the matter."

"We'll see. You still need to come to Olympus," Hermes pressed on stubbornly.

Percy frowned and sent Apollo a confused look. 

"It would be a mistake to be in my own presence. I would lash out assuming that I am not who I say I am. It's dangerous."

"So then I shall explain the circumstance of your time travel by Fates hand before you come in. You know as well as I do that if you don't come father will take you as a threat to Olympus and you will be hunted by everything and anything he can throw at you."

Percy let out a sigh so large it could have qualified as a groan, "Let's just go with him, Apollo. Is it really worth the mess."

"You are infuriating me. Did you not just say you were against going to Olympus?" Apollo questioned slowly with a twitch of his eyebrow.

"I changed my mind. Besides, maybe they can just tell the fates to put us back and we won't need to try to get to them ourselves," Percy said.

Hermes barked out a laugh, "No one can tell the fates to do anything."

Percy decided to let the conversation drop. Despite how it may seem to Hermes, he really wasn't trying to upset the millennia younger version of his friend, but it was just so odd to see him act so differently. Percy did want to get home and he knew from his years of being thrust into quests that when you are given an option for help, denying it can often lead to ten times harsher situations. So, while Percy didn't want to go to Olympus to face versions of the gods that he wouldn't recognize, it was probably better than trying to figure out a way home in a whole world he wasn't adapted to.

Apollo was glaring at him, but Percy would ignore that for now. 

"Lead the way, Lord Hermes," Percy said with a grin.

"Seriously Apollo, how is he alive?" Hermes questioned before transporting them both to the gates of Olympus.

"It was endearing when he was small and we grew used to it- used to his presence." Apollo sighed.

"I'm still right here you know," Percy deadpanned.

Chapter Text

Apollo had forgotten just how beautiful Mount Olympus was. Despite the immense stress he was under because of this unplanned trip, he couldn't help but take the time to take in the scenery.

Olympus in the future was of course still technically this Olympus but there were differences. This was the original Olympus, this is his home more than any other rendition of the home of the gods. This feeling he had as he took tentative steps through the city was only comparable to what he felt when he returned to Delos. 

If he was a lesser god he might have thought himself to be nervous... which he totally wasn't he was a totally awesome, super powerful god and he had this completely under control, okay?

Apollo only wasted about three seconds of his own time to try to convince himself that before he snuffed that thought entirely. At this point, he might as well call himself a lesser god because he would be foolish to not worry about the impulsiveness of Percy Jackson.

The demigod was just as wild and uncontrollable as Poseidon, which had always been a dangerous attribute but given the current circumstances it was considerably more dangerous.

Apollo side-eyed Percy, despite how mad he was at the demigod for landing them in this situation, his healer's mind was constantly on edge. Apollo knew something was still wrong with him, even if he wasn't sure what. Even with having spent a week under his care, Percy had only gotten slightly better and it concerned Apollo greatly. 

The worst part was that while Percy looked fine on the outside, he would experience rapid changes between declining and stabilizing vitals for reasons Apollo could not determine. The god knew that it was nothing short of a miracle that Dionysus had coaxed him into talking. After what Percy must have endured within Tartarus, Apollo wouldn't have blamed him for becoming a recluse.

But beyond that, he knew it was an even bigger miracle that Percy hadn't had any behavioral outbursts including instinctual displays of his powers as of yet. The conflicting emotions and actions of the demigod would have concerned Apollo more if he had not known Poseidon for the millennia he had.

Whenever the Sea God had something troubling his mind he had moments of irrational behavior and mood swings. Just as a tide would come in and out the anger, sadness, and confusion comes in waves. Apollo knew that while Percy was clearly pushing away his feelings as they tried to navigate the situation they had landed themselves in, it was also true that he was going to burn out and Apollo isn't sure whether he can handle the effects of that alone.

Poseidon was certainly going to blame everything on Apollo when/if the fates every decided to allow them to go home. Apollo hoped that wouldn't be long as time will continue on without them since they were sent through time by the hand of Fate not by tampering from the primordial Cronus. It was even more fortunate that they weren't cursed into the past by his not-so-beloved grandfather, Kronos.

Apollo knew -if only because of his domain of prophecy and his own hand in Fate- that if Cronus or Kronos had sent them back, there would be a high possibility the future would 'pause' until everything was righted back to the way Fate had planned it but this was an act of Fate and Apollo knew that meant that time would steadily continue on and no one would know the ramifications of this trip until after they were back in their correct time. 

Fate could technically do whatever it pleased but it hardly ever acted so rashly. This made Apollo wonder if maybe this trip wasn't just an unfortunate incident that occurred only as a result of Percy's act of insolence. Perhaps there was a much larger goal in this that he had been overlooking? But then, if he was overlooking a key detail here, what could anyone possibly benefit from them being displaced in such a way?

Whilst Apollo was spiraling internally into an endless amount of questions, Percy kicked a rock along the path. His vans scuffed against the pathway as he too began to wander into his thoughts. 

He wasn't sure what the gods could possibly want from him and Apollo but he knew it couldn't be good. He had a lifetime of experience of engaging with gods and all other mythological beings to defend his assumption. The fact that these were the gods of the past made Percy even more wary. Annabeth and his mother has told him enough stories to know that these gods were not the same beings he knew, they were much more ruthless and impulsive. 

To make matters worse, the thing Percy didn't want to admit to himself was that he couldn't keep this act together for long. Firstly, he didn't know all of the customs or what they may do at home that would be considered disrespectful here. Secondly, all this walking had only made the burning feeling in his stomach worsen. Percy swore every time he swallowed back his spit in attempt to not gag, he was swallowing another mouthful of the Phlegethon. But wasn't sure if it was psychosomatic, one of those delightful tricks Dionysus had said occur with PTSD. The first two days after he arrived on Olympus he kept throwing up the Phlegethon, but it hadn't happened since and Apollo had even told him on his fifth day on Olympus that he was probably in the clear. 

Percy just wished the fates could have left him alone, all he asked for was for them to stop meddling. He wanted to stop being fates puppet, was that so wrong? They were already screwing him over by making him a god, but they had no right to rip him from his family like this. Not when he was finally beginning to heal. Worrying thoughts began to creep into his mind; if everyone here was more ruthless and cruel, would he be too? Was it something about the environment? Would him being in the process of becoming a god be influenced because he was in this place? He didn't want to be a god in the first place but if there was nothing he could do to change that, he at least wanted to stay true to himself. Percy had already been afraid enough of what he had become in Tartarus, he didn't need to sacrifice his morality just because he was losing his grip on mortality. Besides, Annabeth had already been afraid enough of what he had become in Tartarus, becoming worse than that would probably drive all of his loved ones away. 

Apollo could practically sense the tension as it started to radiate off of the demigod and was quick to set a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Let me handle this, alright? Don't overthink our situation, treat it like another silly quest."

"I've almost died on every quest I have ever been on," Percy replied dryly.

"Yeah that probably wasn't the best example," Apollo admitted, moving his free hand up to ruffle his hair while he thought.

"You act very different than my Apollo, do you realize that?" Hermes cut in, eyeing the both of them from the side.

Percy almost jumped, forgetting that they weren't alone as he had been consumed by his thoughts.

"Well brother it isn't as if we have come from a month from now, over time everything changes." Apollo said to Hermes as he turned away from Percy.

"Gods don't change," Hermes said with an annoyed twitch of his brow.

"You'd be surprised, Herm," Apollo said with a small grin.

"And you there," Hermes pointed to Percy and then paused looking to Apollo, "what is his name again?"

Percy bit his tongue hard to keep from saying something he would regret.

"This is Percy Jackson," Apollo introduced Percy again.

"Perjax, splendid name, truly. So-"

Apollo sensed Percy's rapidly growing irritation and quickly spoke up, "his name is Percy."

"That is not what you just said brother I know for a fact you said Jax," Hermes scowled.

"That's his last- oh never mind he has two names but he goes by Percy." 

"Oh, you should have just said that brother! Percy is a bit of an odd name but fitting for such an odd fellow. So, Percy. It is to my confused understanding that we are somehow friends. Why? What is it that you add to my existence that causes me to find wasting time with you to be worth it?" Hermes questioned rudely, although his face was genuine as if he had no understanding of his words effect.

Apollo breathed in slowly as Percy hesitated to respond.

"We met when I was 12, well almost 13, you gave me a quest." Percy admitted to the god.

"That is ridiculous, we do not send children off on quests." Hermes said, looking taken aback.

Percy could have laughed incredulously but the sour feeling that churned in his stomach was much more intense. He had never thought to imagine a time in which it wasn't always up to children to solve the gods problems and he wondered what changed between now and the future.

"Father has changed his mind on those matters in the future," Apollo said awkwardly as he glanced at Percy wearily.

Hermes looked reasonably stunned, "And I forced you onto a quest at only twelve summers?"

"Well not exactly, I wanted to go after my friend anyway," Percy spoke up in defense of his Hermes.

"I'd say I didn't believe any of this but something in your expression tells me you really have been put through things you never should have been." Hermes said, the brash and abrasive side of him slowly crumbling when faced with the startling reality of the future.

"He's a tough kid, Hermes," Apollo said as Percy grimaced.

"Children are sacred here, I am regretful to hear that isn't the case where you come from. Annoying mortal or not, I suppose child soldiers deserve some lenience," Hermes said in a much softer voice than he had since his arrival, it was the closest he had sounded to what present day Hermes was like that Percy had the urge to hug him.

"Don't tell me he has already attached himself to you," Apollo chuckled, knowing full well Percy's effect on others. It was like having a sad baby seal sat in front of you, you can't resist the warm tingle that sparks in your chest.

"Oh please, the manticore could come kill him this instant and I wouldn't care one way or another." Hermes grumbled.

Apollo chuckled and Percy kept his face neutral, ignoring the pang of hurt in his chest.

"You find Percy's potential death funny and yet you say you are friends?" Hermes questioned, still analyzing the duo's dichotomy.

"No, I think it is funny that you assume Percy would lose," Apollo said simply before stopping to take the sight in front of him in, "It seems we are here."

"You two stay right here while I go in. If you leave not only will we find you, we will kill you." Hermes instructed.

"Easy now Hermes or you will hurt our feelings," Apollo said as he rolled his eyes, ignoring his own nerves at facing the Olympian council for this.

Hermes walked on, disappearing into the large building where the council was held. Percy waited a few moments before he turned to Apollo and gave him a nervous look.

"Are they gonna believe us?" Percy asked.

Apollo was reminded then that despite everything that Percy had went through, he was barely an adult. Apollo was also worried that Percy's resolve would start to crumble now and this would be the least opportune time to have to try to help Percy through an emotional meltdown. Resolving himself to do what he could to prevent that, he took a deep breath and stared at Percy confidently.

"Come on, Percy. You should know by now that I can handle this. We are going to be fine as long as you try your best to work with me. I know you can be a little shit when you want to but I also know you do that when you don't know what else to do to get of a situation. I can promise that escape plan won't help us. We are going to have to set any ego or future contempt aside and just obey at least until we know they aren't going to dangle us over Chaos. So just let me handle it and hopefully we won't be under too close of a watch after today." Apollo said, taking his time to make sure Percy was not only listening but also fully retaining his words.

"Okay, I promise I'll be quiet. I'm sorry I dragged you into this, Apollo, but I was desperate," Percy said as he averted his gave to his vans.

"I can't say I am not mad at you for this, Percy. However, I do understand. Having such a connection to fate can be a very rough existence," Apollo sighed as he let his unfocused gaze settle on the expanse of Olympus.

"We're going to get back home. Right, Apollo?" Percy whispered.

"We're going to try." Apollo said gently, settling a hand on Percy's shoulder comfortingly before repeating himself with more determination, "We're going to try."

Meanwhile, Hermes was approaching the council, quickly trying to organize his spinning thoughts as he grasped at any way he could phrase this without sounding insane. The second he walked in, he knew it was going to be no small task of convincing the full council. Hermes let his eyes glance over the eleven other gods present in the room quickly and he did a double take at Apollo who he couldn't help but she stunned with how different he was from the one outside. 

"Hermes, were you somehow unsuccessful?" Zeus questioned gruffly. 

Hermes gulped, he had forgotten his father had been put in a particularly bad mood from the moment they had first felt the unexpected shift.

"No, Lord Father, I have located the source of the anomaly but I withheld to present them as I believed it best to explain so as to avoid any presumptions." Hermes explained, a caution to his voice that was detected by everyone present.

Athena gestures softly with her hand, asking her father for a turn to speak.

Zeus ignored her for the moment instead asking, "Is this council in danger?"

"I do not perceive them as a threat," Hermes said evenly, meeting his father's gaze with a shred of confidence.

"Them?" Zeus pushed for more information.

"There were two individuals found at the site of the anomaly." Hermes confirmed for the council.

"Athena you may ask your question," Zeus finally addressed his daughter.

Athena nodded once in acknowledgement and turned a sharp gaze on Hermes, "What is it that you know that makes you hesitant to let them in the room?"

Hermes opened his mouth to answer but the words escaped him, he awkwardly winced and closed his mouth as he rapidly tried to summon the words to explain.

"Hermes, you were asked a question," Zeus said, clearly growing impatient with the way Hermes was acting.

"Yes, Lord Father, I plan to answer in the best way I can however the truth seems far-fetched and I worry for these individuals safety if I explain the situation poorly." Hermes admitted to his father.

"I can promise you this game of reluctance is angering all of us more than just saying the truth will. You have already confirmed the anomaly to not be a threat so I fail to see the issue here." Zeus said, impatience flooding his tone.

"Their appearance was an act of Fate." Hermes blurted.

Zeus narrowed his eyes in thought as the rest of those present started to exchange worried glances and Apollo bristled visibly.

"The whole truth, Hermes. Now." Apollo spoke up from his throne, his eyes flashing angrily.

Hermes breathed deeply and nodded, "The fates pushed them back through time. They are time travelers."

"You are certain? Certain that this wasn't an act of darker forces in the future? This isn't a far future's attempt of revenge from certain beings that are presently destroyed?" Zeus questioned tensely.

"Brother you cannot be suggesting that-?" Poseidon spoke up from his throne.

"I can only hope that I am wrong. Did you carefully interrogate these strangers?" Zeus directed his question back to Hermes who was starting to feel more anxious by the second.

"One of them is Apollo!" Hermes blurted, desperate to prove his point.

Immediately Apollo sprung to his feet furiously, "Impossible!" 

The rest of the council continued to share worried and concerned glances with each other, none quite certain on how to handle this situation.

"Apollo, silence!" Zeus commanded before turning back to Hermes again, "How did you confirm his identity?"

Hermes faltered, thinking of his still sore nose, "Uh... he punched me."

Ares couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him but he immediately swallowed his laughter when his fathers sharp glare landed on him.

Zeus breathed deeply, "So this individual who claims to be Apollo but who you swear isn't dangerous... punched you in the face?"

"Well when you say it like that," Hermes said with a wince.

Zeus didn't let him finish, "Ares, Athena, go bring in the two that caused the anomaly. Do not be aggressive but be on guard, they could still be dangerous."

Hermes hung his head, thinking to himself how much he really messed that up.

In an instance, Ares and Athena stood from their thrones and exited the council room.

Outside, when Percy and Apollo heard the approaching footsteps they both looked up to see the two gods.

"Huh," Athena said curiously.

Ares simply muffled a chuckle behind his fist, knowing from his father's previous admonishment that he would not appreciate laughter in this situation.

"Athena, Ares," Apollo nodded in greeting.

"Well you certainly look like our brother, who is your companion?" Athena questioned.

"I say this with no disrespect, sister, but I do not wish to have to repeat myself for everyone. I'm assuming our presence is being requested anyway so I do not wish to test our father's patience today. Especially with the sensitive nature of our arrival." Apollo responded cordially, leaving Percy to crinkle his brow slightly in confusion.

Athena nodded reluctantly and Ares huffed, "I hate to agree with a potential imposter but we do in fact need to be hasty in delivering them to the council or we will raise suspicion."

With that the four began their short journey to meet with the council. True to the promise he made, Percy did not attempt to say anything the whole way there. It was a fact that didn't seem necessarily impressive but for Percy who spoke his mind any time he curiosity was peaked, it really was an accomplishment.

At the entrance, Athena moved to stand on Percy's left and Ares positioned himself at Apollo's right, making the time travelers effectively flanked.

Percy knew better than to try to make eye contact with these gods, so as they walked in, he kept his eyes firmly trained on his vans. He swore he had studied his dirty old vans more in the last twenty-four hours than he had the whole time he had owned them, but they seemed like the only safe place to dare to look.

Despite not looking them in the eye, he could feel their presence, he wasn't sure if they were purposely inflating their godly aura as a way of intimidation just for them or if they just naturally had more imposing aura's in this time. 

Percy's thoughts were cut off as they stopped walking, depositing them directly in the middle of the council, closest to Zeus' throne.  

"So, you are the individuals responsible for the anomaly?" Zeus questioned. 

Percy did not so much as breathe, hoping Apollo was the only one who could sense his nerves.

"Fate has spoken, Lord Father. For reasons unbeknownst to me, we have been transported here. I am a future Phoebus Apollo, I promise you we are not a threat to anyone in this time." Apollo spoke evenly, head bowed in respect but not hiding from his father.

As Percy heard his words he couldn't help but think about how he did in fact know a little bit as to why they were transported here... but he definitely was not speaking up now.

"Do you have any way to prove who you are to this council?" Zeus continued his questioning.

"Uh, not really? I didn't exactly plan for this trip so I don't have anything on me and I don't know the extent of what I could summon to me," Apollo stuttered slightly as he began his response, not expecting to need a way to prove his identity.

"Interesting... and yet convenient if you are lying," Zeus said, his gaze sharpening.

"I am the god of truth. I do not lie and as much as I will be cooperative with your questioning, I do not appreciate having my domain being thrown back in my face," Apollo said sharply, his anger getting the better of him.

Percy winced from next to him, knowing this was going to go south quickly.

"You dare address me -address this whole council- in this way?" Zeus said in a dangerous whisper.

Percy could not believe Apollo had spent that time to lecture him on his behavior when he lost his temper like two questions in. Percy halted his thoughts, looking out of the corner of his eyes seeing the grasp Ares had on Apollo's arm. Quickly he realized that Apollo was used to the Ares of our times aura, and being abruptly exposed to this one while in a more vulnerable state had made him lose his temper.

"Please, he didn't mean it, he's being effected by Ares' aura." Percy spoke up confidently, urging Zeus to listen to him.

"And who exactly are you? If he really was Apollo, Ares' presence would have no effect on him." Zeus said, clearly not believing him.

Apollo was sending him looks of anger from beside him too, clearly upset that Percy broken his promise to stay silent.

"I'm Percy and in the future you all don't constantly have your auras so strong, surely Lady Athena can confirm that the aura Apollo exuded outside was different than the aura of Apollo here but it is still a godly aura. Apollo is already mad at me for dragging him here, he didn't mean to upset you it's just everything is so different from-"

"Enough!" Zeus' voice boomed through the council room.

The sharp tone of his yell making Percy flinch, his breath steadily increasing in pace. Percy tried to ignore the searing pain in his chest that erupted as a result and tried to resist the urge to gag.

Concurrently, Apollo realized Percy was right, and he forced himself to adjust and block out the aura pushing against him.

"Look at me," Zeus commanded, his voice several decibels softer than it had just a moment before.

With his heart now racing in worry, Percy finally lifted his gaze from the floor to meet the gaze of the king of the gods.

Zeus let out a single chuckle in realization, "You are a demigod, yes? I think it is clear to everyone here just who you belong to."

Poseidon glanced at Percy and then looked away in disinterest.

"So, do you believe we are telling the truth then?" Percy asked instead of acknowledging Zeus' remark.

"You dare question me?" Zeus looked reasonably shocked, too shocked to let anger seep into his tone.

"Percy is quite familiar with all of us in the future, I urge you to forgive him, he has somehow always been an exception to formality." Apollo spoke up from next to Percy.

"As if I -we- would ever allow for a foolish mortal to be so disrespectful!" The other Apollo scoffed from his throne.

Percy did not address the Apollo that spoke, instead he turned to the Apollo next him and gave him a look. Apollo instantly shook his head with wide eyes knowing as Percy's dimples slowly popped in and his eyes turned glassy he was on the verge of either hysterical laughter or sobs.

With a loud snort he had been trying to hold in, Percy laughed, a few tears escaping his eyes.

"You dare laugh!" Apollo rose from his throne.

"Sit down!" Apollo demanded to his past self.

Percy's laughter was rapidly changing into sobs and Apollo really was not about to have to stop himself from smiting him.

"What is happening to him...?" Zeus questioned, the anomaly proving to be just that.

"Percy is crashing because he is still sick and all of this stress isn't helping his condition. Ares, Athena, you need to move. I don't know what is going to happen with him this is the first time he's been without the IV's and medicine for this long. I thought he was getting better," Apollo started speaking rapidly, taking off his favorite leather jacket and throwing it on the floor.

Apollo was speaking and moving so fast and urgently that Ares and Athena complied despite not knowing what he was doing. 

Apollo settled Percy down to sit on his discarded jacket and watched as Percy's sob turned into a gag. Without so much as a thought he summoned a bucket and held it in front of Percy, he was just quick enough to catch the sick. With a look of pity he realized what was in the bucket. 

"I'm so sorry kid I thought we flushed it all out of your system, no wonder those anti-vomiting pills haven't been helping your stomach." Apollo banished the bucket with Phlegethon fire water vomit and rubbed calming circles on Percy's back as he continued to sob with his head between his knees. 

"What's wrong with him, exactly?" Athena asked from the several feet away that she had moved once he started gagging.

"Let's just say he's sick. Percy was staying on Olympus under my twenty-four hour supervision and care when Fate itself thought this journey would be necessary." Apollo said, his main attention still on Percy. 

Apollo had made a promise to Poseidon and Sally that he would keep their son safe and give him the medical treatment he needed, it was not a promise he intended to go back on now even if he was mad at Percy and the circumstances have changed.

"Do you need help?" Hermes spoke up hesitantly as he stood from his throne.

"Yeah, try and keep him focused on you. Talk to him, try to distract him from the spiral. I need to go look for something in my temple." Apollo instructed hastily as he stood.

"Hey you can't just go in there! That's my temple!" The other Apollo spoke up.

"It's mine too you idiot, get your head out of your ass." Apollo scowled at himself before racing out of the council room.

The fourteen gods present looked at the demigod on the floor in varied states of bewilderment and confusion.

Hermes pulled himself together and plopped himself on the floor next to Percy.

"Hey, apparently you know George and Martha right?" Hermes questioned.

Percy nodded slightly, his breathing rapid and his chest heaving.

"That's cool, they don't really like people," Hermes said awkwardly.

Percy didn't answer, instead he started drooping like he was going to pass out. Hermes huffed in annoyance and tried again.

"I don't know how to do this, so really you've got to work with me here. What's your favorite color?" Hermes asked awkwardly.

"Move over you absolute idiot," Dionysus sprung from his throne and knelt in front of Percy, trying to establish some for of eye contact.

"Hi, Percy, I'm Dionysus, you probably know me right?" Dionysus asked with a smile.

"He obviously-" Hermes began to speak with an eye roll.

"Shut up," Dionysus glared scathingly at Hermes before Percy managed a nod in between his heaving breaths.

"Alright, that's good. You know what I'm the god of, right?" Dionysus questioned.

Percy nodded again, accomplishing the harrowing feat of maintaining eye contact with Dionysus despite his dizziness. 

"Okay, good. Do you think you can name some of my domains? Really think about it," Dionysus prompted him gently.

"Dionysus, this is not the time for-" Athena started.

"Wine," Percy started to list before pausing for a shaky breath, "insanity, theater-" 

Percy's voice cut off in another light sob he couldn't manage to hold back.

"No it's okay, it's okay. You were doing good, just keep your eyes on me. Alright, can you list everyone in the room right now?" Dionysus asked as he gazed analytically at Percy, trying to figure him out.

Percy nodded but didn't speak.

"What's wrong?" Dionysus questioned, picking up on his hesitation.

Percy opened his mouth but he was distracted by the loud footsteps of Apollo who came in holding a small bottle.

"Fun fact, it's actually much easier to synthesize medicine that doesn't exist yet when you know exactly how to make it." Apollo told Percy as he sat in front down besides Dionysus.

"D, nice of you to help." Apollo nodded in appreciation.

Dionysus mouthed "D" to himself in slight confusion before speaking, "Is he suffering from madness?"

"No, our Dionysus back home gave his brain a full check up and assured a very worried clan of demigods that Percy was going to be okay. You have to understand, this is the after effects of something that happened only a week ago in our time." Apollo explained to the room at large.

Poseidon sat regally on his throne, looking completely uninterested in the scene in front of him. His brother may believe this demigod is of the seas but Poseidon refused to stake a claim on anyone yet. At current, this demigod seems particularly weak and Poseidon would not find himself responsible for an embarrassment like that. Besides, this particular demigod looked one breeze away from becoming a permanent resident of the Underworld.

Apollo handed Percy a cup and a small handful of pills. Grimacing, Percy took a few more deep breaths and took the pills with the water.

"What happened, brother?" Artemis spoke up from her throne, eyeing the demigod with curiosity.

"So much," Apollo said with a sigh. "I need to get him to bed, the journey was a lot on him." 

"What is this council supposed to do about your arrival and what it may mean for us now or us in the future?" Zeus inquired.

"I don't know, unless anyone here wants to interrogate the fates, I think our only option is to wait." Apollo said earnestly.

"One more question, before you leave." Zeus said, halting Apollo after he picked up Percy in his arms, already passing out from the effects of everything he just went through.

"Are the changes between now and from where you come from so different that you willingly interact with mortals in this way even though it is so far outside of your nature as a god?" Zeus asked.

"Five thousand years is a long time, father. After that long change can be imminent and unavoidable." Apollo said with a shrug.

The council exchanged astonished glances, they knew it was a far off future, but five thousand years was enough to even stand out to immortals.

After they were out of earshot of the gods, Apollo lowered his head to whisper to Percy, "I would never wish for you to have an episode like that, but I think that not only gave us credibility, but distracted them from blasting us."

Percy, who was almost completely out of it by this point mumbled, "Zeus: zero, trauma: one."

Chapter Text

At first, no one noticed the disappearance of Percy and Apollo. For a blissful few hours, no one had noticed anything was wrong. When Asclepius went to Percy's room to not find him there, he assumed Apollo had taken him for a walk as they had been planning for a while to start implementing easy physical therapy that would still be realistic whilst Percy was on medication and healing. 

However, as Artemis had been standing amongst her hunters, she felt a sudden ache in her chest that she couldn't explain. It was dull but still consistent and uncomfortable to the point where she just felt wrong. She felt as if she was without something she had never been without before except she had no clue what that thing could be.

Knowing this was not indicative of anything good, Artemis knew she would do well to visit her twin who specialized in prophecies and healing. Whatever it was he was sure to know what it was and how to help her. Then Artemis would be back to feeling like her normal self and she could forget about the whole ordeal. Making up her mind, she looked over her shoulder to face Thalia and addressed her with a carefully crafted neutral look that gave not an ounce of her nerves away.

"Thalia, I need you to watch the girls for a bit. My idiotic brother called and he has misplaced his lyre again. I agreed to help him as long as he promised to leave me alone for the next three months. I'll be back in a couple days at most." Artemis explained easily before climbing into her chariot and travelling to Olympus.

Artemis would have felt bad for lying to her lieutenant but the goddess of the hunt knew something was wrong and she was going to figure out what it was. There was no need to worry all of her huntresses when it could be something easily solved with the help of Apollo.

As she arrived on Olympus she made her way to her brother's temple, only to be confused when she did not see him anywhere. She wandered throughout the building, her curiosity and concern mounting until she came to Percy's room and winced in realization. Of course she didn't find Apollo, he was busy healing the only man worthy of her tolerance. 

Artemis knocked tentatively, "Brother, it's me. I'm sorry to disturb your healing process mojo or whatever but would you mind giving me some peace of mind- I don't feel so good and it is troubling me quite a bit."

Silence.

Artemis blinked.

"Brother?" Artemis knocked two more times, "I have no time for your pranks and I am sure they are of no use to Percy either. Would you please just open the door?" 

Silence.

Artemis took a weary breath, "Brother, I am coming in and so help me this better be a joke."

Artemis paused one last time, hoping against all hope he was in fact just playing a prank. She turned the door handle and swung the door open. Immediately she knew something was wrong. 

The room was empty. The bed was rumpled so Artemis knew they weren't just in another room. There was a large container of nectar on the side table and an IV pole left abandoned with the bag still attached. Artemis was there when the council had approved of Percy's extended stay on Olympus, he was supposed to be on bed rest unless accompanied by someone else and Artemis was willing to bet that they wouldn't have took out the IV line for that.

"Apollo?" Artemis said as loud as she could without it being a scream.

"Artemis? Are you looking for dad? He should be," Asclepius's voice could be heard approaching but he cut himself off when he appeared in the doorway and saw the scene in front of him, "he isn't back yet?"

"Where did he and Percy go?" Artemis questioned.

Asclepius shook his head in confusion, his eyes flitting around the room in worry.

"I- I don't know. I mean- they weren't here when I stopped by this morning to switch Percy's salt water drip," Asclepius motioned to the still unchanged bag of fluid on the cabinet counter in the corner, "and I assumed that dad had took Percy for a walk to stretch his legs, we had been planning to do that."

Artemis tried to digest the information, rubbing the juncture between her throat and chest in worry, "No, Asclepius. Are you saying they've been gone for several hours? Where-?"

Asclepius had never seen Artemis look so distraught that she lost the ability to speak, "I'm sure they just got sidetracked, I mean, the world hasn't ended so we should be fine. Percy's dad would know if something had happened, wouldn't he?"

Artemis shook her head unsurely, "I don't know, there was nothing he could do to help Percy was there?"

Asclepius looked troubled again, "Okay, we need to find them. You take your chariot and check all of the places dad would take Percy. I'll ask around on Olympus and see if anyone saw anything."

Artemis nodded quickly, before she halted, "Asclepius, the whole reason I came here was because I had an ache in my chest. You don't think that-"

"Please don't take offense but I don't want to think of anything like that right now. For now, let's agree to call it instincts that your brother, my father, is planning a prank." Asclepius said in a tight voice.

Artemis sighed, attempting to push away her feelings. 

"If we have nothing by sunset, meet me back here." Artemis said as she steeled her gaze before exiting the room.

When Artemis climbed back into her chariot she took a moment to breathe. Letting one singular tear escape her eye she made a promise to herself. Percy and Apollo were willing to sacrifice so much in order to save her those few short years ago that she was going to return the favor. Artemis knew in the very fiber of what made her a goddess that this was bigger than just a prank or a spontaneous trip.

Whatever was happening was serious and she would be the first one in line to save the both of them. She refused to sit back and wait. After everything that had transpired in the last few years, the prophecies, the wars, the death. Artemis knew some of it could have been avoided if they acted sooner. So this time, when it is her twin and the savior of Olympus who are missing and only Chaos could possibly know what has happened to them, well, she wasn't going to wait for council meetings that will do nothing but waste time and avoid the issue entirely. Her father could yell at her later but she was going after them and nothing was going to stop her.

Artemis decided her first stop would be the one most obvious: Percy's mother. Artemis had never personally met Sally Jackson but she knew the woman was beloved by Percy and she also knew that her brother had visited the woman every once in a while to steal her food and have a conversation with someone other than an immortal.

In annoyance, she changed her appearance to look more like a woman in her early twenties and transformed her chariot into an easy to blend in car. Now her biggest problem was that she didn't know where Percy's mother lived. Sighing, she reached over and grabbed the phone she never used out of the glove compartment of the car version of her chariot.

It only rang once before it picked up immediately the voice she rarely sought out answered, "What's the emergency?"

"Hermes, how busy are you?" Artemis asked curtly.

"Doesn't matter, I'll clear the schedule. You haven't used this phone once since I made you take it, so I'm going to ask again, what's the emergency?" Hermes' voice was startlingly serious, a stark contrast to his typical lighthearted tone.

"I'm on the corner of Sixth Avenue and West Fortieth Street by Bryant Park." Artemis said instead of answering and immediately after giving her half brother the information she hung up and tossed the phone back into the glove compartment.

It only took about two minutes for a Hermes in a baseball cap and sunglasses to open the door in slide into the passenger seat.

"Alright, if you've taken on this form something is seriously wrong. Artemis, what's going on?" Hermes said tensely.

"I need the address of Sally Jackson, I understand you and my brother visit her for lunch every so often," Artemis said.

"Did something happen to Percy? Apollo and Dionysus said he was getting better?!" Hermes said in a slight panic.

"Nothing has happened to Percy, at least, as far as I know." Artemis sighed, her lips pursing in her worry as she tried not to think of all of the countless possibilities of what could have happened to the pair.

"Artemis, I absolutely will give you Sally's address, but I want the whole truth, now. What is going on? Why do you need to go to Sally's? Why are you in this form?" Hermes pressed for details, his brow creasing in worry.

"I think something happened to Percy and Apollo, but I'm covering all my bases first. No one has seen or heard from either Percy or Apollo since yesterday but I know Apollo set his chariot off to raise the sun this morning. So, sometime this morning Percy and Apollo seemingly disappeared and I was hoping against all hope that they just went to visit Sally. I'm sure Percy would want to see her, right?" Artemis explained, her eyebrows pulling in concern.

"Percy and Apollo are missing?" Hermes whispered in horror before taking a breath and shaking himself out of it, "Go straight from here."

With that the two of them took off in the direction of the Blofis household. Pulling up on the sidewalk instead of attempting to find parking, they manipulated the mist to make it look like maintenance was being done to the sidewalk and the two Greek deities made their way into the elevator.

"Do you have a plan?" Hermes asked suddenly.

Artemis blinked slowly, "Well, uh no. Is it bad that I am kind of just hoping they have been here all along?"

"No, but if they aren't here Sally is going to be suspicious on why we don't know where they are." Hermes said, taking off his sunglasses to slide them onto the bill of his ball cap.

Artemis wrinkled her nose, "You look like a dweeb like that."

"Well I had to come in disguise! I wasn't sure if we were committing treason today or not! And since when do you use the word dweeb?!" Hermes defended himself with a pout.

"Hermes, why would we be committing treason?!" Artemis balked at his assumption.

"Well I don't know Artemis, but look at this from my perspective! You rarely use this form and you've never used that phone before! I mean, what was I supposed to think?!" Hermes flailed his arms out dramatically.

"Okay, whatever. Are you staying to help me find them or are you gonna go back to your duties after you show me which door is Sally's?" Artemis asked as the elevator door opened.

"In any other circumstance I would say duty calls, but like I said... I cleared my schedule in case we planned on committing treason today so I'm free." Hermes said determinedly. 

With that, the two made their way to a wooden door and Percy knocked five times in quick succession. After about ten seconds the door swung open to reveal Sally with Estelle perched on her hip.

"Hermes? What are you doing here?" Sally questioned.

Artemis sighed in defeat, that definitely meant Percy and Apollo weren't inside.

"Sally, Artemis and I are looking for Apollo, you haven't seen him have you?" Hermes smiled politely as he questioned Sally.

"No, isn't he supposed to be with Percy on Olympus?" Sally squinted at Hermes in suspicion.

"Well he is but we haven't seen him today," Hermes explained.

"Apollo abandoned my son when Percy needs his help to get better?" Sally's suspicion dropped into a hurt expression.

"Sally, we've never met, I'm Artemis." Artemis introduced herself, trying to change the topic of conversation.

"Apollo's sister. It's an honor to meet you, Percy's told me great things," Sally acknowledged with a small polite smile before returning to her suspicious worry, "Speaking of my son, is he okay? Are you looking for Apollo because something happened to Percy?"

Artemis and Hermes shared a look, clearly unsure of how to lie to Sally and definitely not wanting to tell her the truth of the situation.

"We don't know where Apollo is, that's true. But, we also were kind of hoping that you knew where Percy was," Artemis admitted quietly.

Sally blinked twice, "Why don't you two come in, hmm?"

Hermes winced but nodded, "Yeah, of course."

Artemis frowned at Hermes in confusion but followed his lead into the apartment.

"Now," Sally began in a tight voice as she closed the door, "I hope you don't take this the wrong way but you need to tell me what's going on."

Artemis nodded, she knew how close Percy and Sally were and she supposed maybe Sally could help find them both.

"It started this morning, I've been experiencing an ache in my chest that won't go away so I immediately went to Apollo and he wasn't in his temple and neither was Percy. Asclepius, Apollo's son, said he dropped off a new IV bag for Percy and they weren't there. He wasn't concerned because as a part of a physical therapy regimen that Apollo and Dionysus agreed on, Apollo was going to have Percy start walking Olympus to make sure he didn't start losing muscle mass. Asclepius is searching Olympus and interviewing anyone who might have seen them wander around while I searched in probable locations other than Olympus." Artemis explained.

"So my baby is missing? But he is missing with Apollo? So they are either perfectly fine getting Blue Goo flavored ice cream or they are both in serious trouble?" Sally questioned, her eyes displaying a million different emotions.

"Yeah, Sally. I'm so sorry, but we are going to find them, we promise," Hermes assured.

"Just like you all promised to keep my son safe on Olympus while he recovered from trauma's he never should have went through? You may be gods but I am a mother and I am sick of being fed these placating sentiments that none of you mean. He's a good boy, he doesn't deserve for these things to keep happening to him." Sally had a single tear drip from her left eye as her voice wavered.

"Sally, I really am so sorry that this is happening," Hermes looked down in sadness and guilt, unable to hold her gaze.

"Hermes you have been a friend to my son, there's no doubt about that. However, you are a still a god and there are just some things you will never understand because of that. I am always in a powerless position when it comes to the safety of my son. If Percy was picking where he wanted to go and he didn't choose here, then he went to camp. And if he isn't at camp, he didn't choose to go. The only other thing I can think of is that his father got a little overprotective and in a spur of the moment decision decided he needed to be in Atlantis to get better." Sally said, defeat coloring her tone and her eyes seeming duller than they were when she opened the door to greet them.

"Sally, we might have failed you, failed Percy, but I personally promise you I'm not going to stop until I find him and then I'm going to bring him straight to you," Hermes vowed.

"I haven't seen my baby in a year, don't make a promise you can't keep." Sally said bitterly, her eyes holding a warning that only a mother's gaze could possess.

"Thank you for your help, Sally," Artemis smiled sadly before grabbing Hermes by his upper arm and practically dragging him out of the apartment.

As soon as the door to the elevator closed Artemis pinned Hermes with a sharp glare, "How could you promise her something like that?" 

"Don't look at me like that, I meant what I said. I'm going to bring Percy back to her," Hermes said confidently.

Artemis paused for a moment before giving in and nodding, "Okay."

"You told Sally you had an ache in your chest..." Hermes trailed off.

"Yeah I did, what about it?" Artemis questioned, her eyebrows quirking up at the question.

"I have it too, I think. It's not as strong as yours, I don't think, but it's there. A barely noticeable tightness." Hermes sighed, rubbing a hand against his chest lightly.

"So then I'm guessing you are feeling about as confident as I am that they are just off gallivanting somewhere." Artemis said miserably.

"I think that maybe going to camp wouldn't be a bad idea. At least then we can rule out that we aren't just worrying for nothing." Hermes suggested.

"Don't think I failed to notice you conveniently left out checking Atlantis," Artemis sad as they stepped out of the elevator.

"I fear for the immortal life of whoever has the job of telling our uncle that Percy may be missing," Hermes muttered as they began their short walk to the car.

"Thank you for helping me with this, Hermes. I love my brother and I do like Percy but I am just terrible at these kinds of situations. Perhaps I need to socialize more," Artemis chuckled lightly as they slid into the car.

"Hey, your loyalty is to the hunt and it always has been. You don't usually have to worry about anything outside of that, so who can blame you for having abysmal people skills. My duties need me to be a bit more of a social butterfly as they say." Hermes shrugged with a small smile.

"You're right. The hunt is my priority. But I miss this. Chaos, when was the last time you and I have done anything together? You're my brother too, Hermes. When did we stop acting like a family?" Artemis questioned, a sad expression taking over her features for a moment before she forced the emotions away.

"Have we ever really acted like a family, Artemis?" Hermes snorted, tipping his head and narrowing his eyes in amusement.

"It feels like we did, once upon a time," Artemis sighed as she pulled off the curb and merged effortlessly back into traffic, if she happened to be going a bit above the speed limit, well who could blame her.

By the time they had pulled into camp, using a bit of godly manipulation to be able to drive from the road all the way into camp, Artemis slammed the car in park just past the camp entrance.

Hermes slowly turned to look at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly open, "Remind me never to drive with you again."

"Oh shut up you wimp, we are on an important mission, remember Mr. I'm Ready To Commit Treason?" Artemis said, raising her eyebrows.

"Don't say that here or dad will hear you and torture me for the next three hundred years," Hermes glared.

"Come on, we have interviews to conduct," Artemis grinned innocently as she opened the car door and ignored Hermes' spluttering.

Outside of the car a small crowd had gathered, trying to see who had visited camp.

"Hello children," Artemis said, the grin she had from talking to Hermes still plastered on her face.

The campers in return gave her blank stares.

"Hey, kids," Hermes waved with a smile.

"Dad, what are you doing here and uh who is...?" Chris questioned his father, politely and cautiously gesturing to the currently adult looking Artemis.

Artemis caught on to his question and she said a small, "Oh."

"Chris, this is one of Artemis' alternate forms." Hermes explained.

"Sorry children, I forgot you are not accustomed to my adult form. However, there are more dire matters at hand than my appearance, so if you can excuse us, we have a mission." Artemis said before taking off towards the big house.

Hermes held his arms up in a shrug directed at the group of kids before following after Artemis, but he only got a few steps before he turned back to the crowd, "Has anyone seen Apollo today?"

The resulting chorus of no's and negative head shakes made him grimace before he continued on his path to the big house.

Chiron and Dionysus were sitting outside on the porch, both seeming to recognize Artemis' adult form at the same time, Dionysus getting to his feet at speeds even Hermes was impressed by and Chiron asking, "Oh dear, what has happened this time?"

"Have either of you heard from Apollo today?" Artemis questioned.

"No, why? What happened to Percy? Do you need me to come back to Olympus?" Dionysus fired off his questions, eyes shifting between Hermes and Artemis rapidly.

"Dionysus, do you know something?" Artemis tipped her head trying to decipher his odd actions.

"Artemis, I know a lot of things. You'll have to be more specific if you want a straight answer," Dionysus squinted suspiciously.

"Did you see Apollo or Percy at any point today?" Hermes asked.

"No, why would-" Dionysus tipped his head slightly.

"Did they tell you yesterday they had any plans of going anywhere?" Artemis asked before letting Dionysus finish talking.

Dionysus froze, "No. What's going on here? Are they in danger?"

Artemis and Hermes shared a look and in sync they said, "They're missing."

"Oh, I've gotten too old for this." Chiron sighed, looking extremely troubled by the news.

"Percy can't be missing. Are you positive that they are missing?" Dionysus said, an edge of worry to his tone.

"Geez, D, I didn't think you'd be this concerned over it," Hermes admitted.

Dionysus blinked and reigned himself in some despite his panic, "He's still sick and if he is missing that could be detrimental to his recovery, which I am partly responsible for."

"That's why we were wondering if you had seen them," Artemis said.

"Who knows that they are missing?" Chiron questioned.

"Besides us, Asclepius, Sally Jackson, and whoever Asclepius has told. We're trying to be discreet." Artemis explained.

"Well, the second that you pulled up in that car and got out of it in that form, you lost every ounce of discreet. This camp is filled with his children after all," Dionysus' eyes never left Artemis' as he talked but his arm flung out to point accusatorially at Hermes.

Hermes frowned and looked over his shoulder, seeing two heads pull themselves back around the other side of a tree.

"Chris, Connor, come out here right now." Hermes admonished.

The two sons of Hermes came over to stand in front of their father and exchanged a wince with each other.

"Is Percy really missing?" Connor asked brazenly.

"We hope not," Hermes admitted.

"But he's only just gotten back. How does Olympus lose someone?" Chris questioned, his voice turning bitter.

"We are going to find them," Artemis assured, "how about you boys do some in camp reconnaissance? I know for a fact that any children of my brother can be sneaky enough to pull it off."

Hermes scowled, "Do we really need to involve my children in our problems? I promised Percy that I was done doing that!"

"No, no! Please we'll help, the whole of camp would help if it's Percy who is in trouble." Connor said, his features giving away how upset he was that Percy could be missing.

"You can't seriously be considering trusting those fools with this?" Dionysus said incredulously.

"Watch it, D, that's my sons you are talking about!" Hermes balked in offense.

"I'm a little surprised Artemis let you help her at all. You're an idiot, that's why all of your children cannot help but be fools." Dionysus leveled Hermes with an unimpressed stare.

"Mr. D, loves us in his own twisted way," Conner grinned.

"We're his favorite source of entertainment," Chris agreed with a nod.

"That's nice, but if we could get back on track here, Percy and Apollo still could be missing," Artemis said tersely, having no patience for wasting time.

A whoosh of air to Artemis' left revealed Annabeth as she took off her Yankee's cap. She looked a bit disheveled, with dark eye bags and knotted curls. Artemis noticed immediately that the girl looked frightened, as if any sudden movement would send her sprinting into the other direction.

"Percy and Apollo are missing?" Annabeth questioned quietly, a blank stare on her face.

Chris and Conner exchanged worried looks, knowing what happened last time Percy went missing.

Dionysus squinted at Annabeth in concern, after his talk with Percy he had wondered whether Annabeth might be worse off than she originally appeared.

"Don't worry, Annabeth-" Hermes started to console the girl.

"Maybe Percy killed Apollo and went on the run," Annabeth said with a numb chuckle, although her eyes did begin to water as if she were to cry.

Chiron reared his head back in shock, glancing from Annabeth to the surrounding gods in shock, never believing the girl he had known since she was seven to ever even let a thought like that pass her mind. 

"Annabeth, why would you say that! How could you say that?!" Conner said, anger flooding his tone.

"Annabeth..?" Artemis questioned not feeling outrage at the accusation of Percy but more so feeling worried that the girl was not yet well.

"Whoever Percy was when he went into Tartarus, it was a monster who clawed his way out," Annabeth said lowly, her expression returning to an eerily blank stare.

The six others in her presence all looked amongst each other in shock and confusion.

"I think our search just got twice as complicated," Hermes swallowed uncomfortably.

Chapter Text

Zeus sat on his throne in the seemingly frozen council room and stared at the spot where his son, albeit from the future, had laid down his own clothes to help a mortal. Even after the duo had gone, no one had picked it up. It was confusing, to take the clothes off of a gods back and throw them onto the dirty ground so a mortal may rest his head. Zeus thought it was despicable and degrading.

What self respecting god would allow a mortal to desecrate their image in such a way? And yet, Zeus had detected nothing but concern and kindness coming off of Apollo as he stressed over the demigod. Zeus could not understand it but a part of him wished to know what had changed. Or, maybe it was just this one mortal who was the exception, in which case he wished to know what made the boy different than other mortals that he earned the respect of gods.

Zeus blinked, bringing himself out of his thoughts and sighed, "Return to your seats, medical emergency or not this council still has yet to come to a decision."

Not willing to defy the king, all of those that had not been in their seat had returned without a word.

"Now that we have no more dramatic interruptions, we can continue this meeting. I am convinced that the one claiming to be a future Apollo is in fact telling the truth. However, I am not sure of the other individual. I am also unsure whether they are dangerous," Zeus said as he began the council hearing, "Now, Hermes you have spent the most time with them since their arrival so we will be taking your thoughts into consideration before we vote on the matter."

"Thank you, Lord Father," Hermes nodded in respect before addressing the room at large. "From what I have been able to gather, they truly had no part of being sent here. As of now, I am unsure of the demigod. He is insolent and yet the alternate Apollo seems to find it endearing. I believe it is my duty to report to this honorable council that the demigod has claimed some troubling things- things which are being confirmed, or at least not denied by Apollo. I must impress upon each member of this council that these things are impossibilities outside of anything I could believe we be capable of now."

Zeus frowned looking at Apollo seated on his throne, "Any version of Apollo finding insolence endearing is indeed a surprising development."

Apollo gestured that he would like to speak, to which Zeus nodded.

"Have we considered that that version of me could be under the enchantment of some sort of magic and that is why I am acting so strange?" Apollo questioned tensely.

"The thought had not crossed my mind, has anyone here thought of this possibility?" Zeus addressed the council once more.

Not a single god so much as moved to indicate they had shared the thought.

"If- If I may be so bold, Lord Father," Athena spoke up softly.

"Speak, Athena," Zeus allowed.

"Although Ares and I only spent a very short time in the presence of the two, they did appear to be genuine in their motives and actions. There was nothing about them that would indicate anything malicious being planned. In my opinion, under the analysis of my domain of wisdom, I would concur that this other Apollo is not under the compulsion of any magic." Athena stated confident but respectfully.

Zeus nodded as he took in her opinion, "Ares, what is your opinion?"

"Lord Father, it is of my opinion that at this time we know not enough details to actually make an opinion. They are hiding things, this council has never approved of secrets before and I find it hard to believe that we are not entitled to know that information." Ares said neutrally.

"That is a very good point, Ares. Hermes, what do you know of these secrets? I did take note when you said that the demigod was making dangerous claims," Zeus questioned Hermes with a raised brow.

Hermes looked down in thought before uncertainly meeting his father's gaze, "Percy was used as a child soldier on behalf of Olympus."

Zeus blinked before expelling a quick breath of disbelief, "Impossible."

"Something happened a week ago, that much has been made abundantly clear, and it is of my understanding that it wasn't the first time," Hermes continued on.

"Hermes, that's enough. They have lied to you, clearly." Zeus said sharply.

"No, they-" Hermes cut himself off at the look Zeus gave him, "Sorry, Lord Father."

"It shall be forgotten, for now," Zeus said tensely before turning towards his brother, "Poseidon, Percy is clearly your child; I now extend you an opportunity to shed any opinions on the matter at hand."

Poseidon folded his hands together and took a moment to think, "That child is not mine. You may be of the assumption that he is of the Sea but I withhold my claim on him. I refuse to tether myself to someone who may potentially be a threat to Olympus."

Zeus nodded, "Probably a wise choice, brother."

Now looking out at the council he finished with, "I want you all to be on alert and not to stray too far from Olympus. All eyes should be on these two individuals, especially whilst they are withholding secrets. For now, we shall wait before we make any rash decisions, that's an order."

Once the meeting was adjourned Artemis gracefully got off her throne and raised up on her tip toes to whisper in her twin's ear, "I'm going to your temple to interrogate this other you, don't interrupt me." 

Apollo nodded slightly once she backed away and he sought out the nearby gardens instead. If anyone could figure out the truth from another Apollo, it would be Artemis. He would allow his sister the time for an interrogation, especially because he is dreading being faced alone with this delusional version of himself.

Artemis was protective of her brother, he could be intolerable at times but there was no one in this existence who she cared about like she cared about her twin. They were connected and she would never allow for anyone to jeopardize him. Artemis was willing to torture the information out of Percy if she had to because she was not allowing for her father to believe Apollo to be an enemy of Olympus, especially by him foolishly attempting to place his trust in a male demigod of Poseidon.

Entering the temple,  Artemis wandered around in confusion, it felt different somehow. The energy of this place was not the same energy she had come to relate to her brother. Walking further into the temple, Artemis came upon a door she had never seen before and reached up a hand, knocking carefully as to not alarm them inside.

Apollo opened the door with hesitance that faded away as she realized who was trying to open it, "Arty, hi! Come in, come in."

"Arty?" Artemis scrunched her nose in disgust.

"Nickname, they are going to be quite popular amongst us," Apollo explained with a grin, thinking of the many nicknames Artemis had given him over the millennia.

"But that is not my name, it's disrespectful!" Artemis huffed, still not having moved from her spot outside the door.

Apollo raised an amused brow, "It's a gesture of endearment. Although, I will admit even in the future it is most commonly used when I am teasing you."

"So, you plan on teasing me now?" Artemis question, her eyes narrowing.

"No, no. That isn't what I meant. It's just really good to see you," Apollo explained with an easy smile.

"Right," Artemis yielded with a nod, "How is your ward?"

"Don't call him that," Apollo chuckled, "and Percy's sleeping."

"Ah, so he is still sick?" Artemis asked.

"I guess so, I feel bad because I told him he was all clear and you know how I hate lying even on accident." Apollo ranted as he went over to the side of the room to pick up a medical instrument.

"I do know that you do not appreciate lies, but for you to feel bad about some mortal- well, it's confusing," Artemis admitted.

Apollo was silent for a moment, looking at the piece of metal in his hand in disappointment.

"...Apollo?" Artemis frowned.

"Sorry, I just- It's so different here. It's like I forgot how we used to be," Apollo shook himself out of it.

"You said in the council room that it had been five thousand years. Could so much really change? We aren't supposed to change, we're gods. We symbolize our domains and govern the world, we don't get to care about mortals who will die in the blink of an eye." Artemis said sourly.

"I'm really sorry you feel that way, Arty. Mortals may not live long but it's amazing the effect they can have on our lives," Apollo said with sad eyes.

"Apollo, that's ridiculous! They are mortals! Not to mention this one is a man! A child of Poseidon, whether he wants to admit it or not. I'm astounded you could ever trust a child of him again after what happened with Orion!" Artemis said in hurt.

"You cannot discount every future- wait, what do you mean whether he wants to admit it or not?" Apollo cut himself off, doing a double take between Artemis and where Percy was still sleeping soundly.

Artemis sighed in annoyance before explaining, "Poseidon denounced any claim to this demigod in front of the whole council."

Apollo looked stricken, "No, no, no. This is the last thing Percy needs right now. Oh this is just great."

Apollo muttered to himself as he began to summon different materials and shaping them into new things as rapidly as he could until a metal pole of some sort was standing in front of Artemis with a box on it with numbers and a tube.

"What is that?" 

"Well, we don't have IV's here in this time but he needs it especially if Poseidon denounced him so I had to make one. Now, I have to get a bag of salt water to be able to administer his drip and make sure his healing progress doesn't get worse. Artemis I hate to ask but will you please watch him for a moment. I swore an oath to make sure nothing would happen to him. I promise you, Artemis, he's a good kid." Apollo pleaded with his sister as he made an IV bag out of thin air.

Artemis thought for a moment, in any other circumstance she would have said no but she did come here with the intention of interrogating the demigod, so, "Yes, of course brother I'll make sure he doesn't run off while your back is turned."

Apollo opened his mouth and closed it before he opened it again and sighed a, "Thanks."

Artemis waited a full minute before she approached he demigod on the bed. Squinting suspiciously at the sleeping form, she tentatively reached out her finger and poked his arm.

When he didn't so much as breathe differently, Artemis sighed and reached out again to poke him harder.

This time, he flailed in a panic, sitting straight up and looking frantically around the room. When Percy's eyes laid on Artemis he let out a breath , and sunk back against the pillows.

"Hello, Lady Artemis," Percy acknowledged, still slightly on edge. 

Artemis raised a single brow, "Brave of you to address me in such a manner."

Percy frowned in confusion, "I'm sorry, was that disrespectful?"

Artemis tipped her head in consideration, "My brother had told me it is different where you come from, so I will inform you that mortals do not dare to address gods unless they are asked to."

Percy opened his mouth but said nothing, rather he just continued to make uncomfortable eye contact with Artemis.

"You are very different than anyone I have ever met before, you are truly an anomaly." Artemis admitted, analyzing Percy as if he were a new yet strange looking being, created by the hands of Fate themselves.

Percy just shrugged and looked around the room awkwardly. Apparently talking would be disrespectful and without Apollo here to back him up he wasn't really feeling up to testing Artemis. The goddess took a step closer leering over him intimidatingly.

"Now, I am going to ask you questions and you are going to answer them or I will have to resort to more severe measures," Artemis instructed.

Percy blinked as he tried to keep up with the quick shift in conversation. His mind was still groggy from sleep and the draining events of earlier.

"First: who are you?" Artemis questioned, her eyes narrowing.

"Percy, son of Poseidon," Percy said a bit cautiously.

"As we assumed. Next, Did you have any part in the transport of you and Apollo here?" Artemis interrogated.

Percy paused, "I didn't ask to be sent here, if that is what you are asking."

"You hesitated," Artemis pointed out, looking at him in suspicion.

"I wasn't sure how to answer your question because the fates wanted to send me back so technically it's my fault but I asked them not to," Percy explained awkwardly.

"Why would the fates bother with sending someone like you back?" Artemis said rudely.

"Punishment," Percy grumbled before he could stop himself.

"Punishment for what exactly?" Artemis pressed, eyes narrowing.

"No, no I was being sarcastic, sorry." Percy quickly backtracked nervously.

"That was very idiotic of you. If not for the fact that I promised my brother I would watch over you, I would have smote you already for being a danger to Olympus." Artemis said stiffly.

Percy got flashbacks to the times where his family had voted on whether he got to live or if he was to be sentenced to death for the very same thing. Percy also knew he probably was a real danger at this point, after what had happened in Tartarus. Despite Dionysus' reassurances the day before, Percy knew that he was a danger whether he was classified as a monster or not. Perseus meant the destroyer and at this point that was all he seemed to do. Percy knew that if any of the gods of this time caught wind of who he truly was they would kill him with no regret. Maybe it would be better that way, to take care of the problem before it ever manifests. Percy blinked and forced himself out of his thoughts, focusing back on the conversation at hand.

"I'm sorry Lady Artemis. It's just that I am finally coming to the realization that unless I fix this I'll never see my family again... and that reality just hurts. Still, I should know that it's no excuse to be rude to you, you have always been kind to me and I shouldn't repay that kindness with teenage dramatics now," Percy sighed, wiping a hand down his face in stress as he tried to get himself out of this situation.

"What do you mean I have always been kind to you? I despise men, especially children of Poseidon." Artemis huffed as she rolled her eyes.

"I know that, which is why I should be more appreciative of your kindness and not lead you astray with sarcastic comments of a petulant teenager. The Artemis I know seemed to allow me a shred of kindness despite her scorn towards men. You and your hunters, were all way kinder than you are ever given credit for," Percy said, getting lost in his thoughts of home once more as he continued to talk.

"Do not lie to me," Artemis' temper flared, "I would never, ever let any man near my hunters."

Percy swallowed as he forced his thoughts of home away, "I understand why you don't believe me, but I dislike liars almost as much as Apollo does. The future is a very different place and that's why I want to go back so badly."

"What could you possibly miss from home that Olympus cannot offer you here. We are mighty and glorious. Surely you are better off here with gods that do not try to be anything other than our domains, it makes us powerful, " Artemis said sourly.

"This place... it's missing Love," Percy admitted sadly.

"Now you sound like Aphrodite, did you leave a girlfriend behind or something?" Artemis rolled her eyes.

"No, I mean she broke up with me the same day that everything," Percy cut himself off and started over, "anyway, what I mean is that I miss my family. Their love and compassion." 

Artemis blinked, "Oh, I see. well, at least that is more honorable than some idiotic romance."

Percy's eyebrows scrunched infinitesimally, the only clue to his underlying disagreement that he didn't want to say audibly and make her more angry for it.

"My next question: why are you, a mere mortal, close to my brother?" Artemis narrowed her eyes once more as she spoke.

"Well, I met Apollo right after I met you for the first time, I was thirteen years old and-" Percy began to tell her, seeing no reason to hide the truth from her.

"I appeared to you when you were thirteen summers?" Artemis interrupted in confusion.

Percy nodded, "I was helping locate two children of Hades who were in danger and you appeared with your hunters to help and then you recruited the daughter of Hades into your hunters."

As Percy talked about Bianca he pushed away the guilt he still carried for letting down the daughter of Hades, he also was flooded with the heavy ache of missing Nico. The weight on his heart was forcefully pushed away as Percy knew he couldn't afford breaking down in front of Artemis.

"Wait a moment, mortal, why would you be locating children of Hades, what god would make you do such a thing as a child. That's preposterous," Artemis said, blinking in her confusion.

Percy tipped his head, not quite sure how to phrase his words, "Well they were in danger, the youngest of the two was only ten. I'm sure you don't want to hear the whole story but that's how I met you, well not really you, but you know what I mean. This is really confusing to talk about."

"Yes but the question was how did you meet Apollo," Artemis narrowed her brows slightly.

Percy sat up a bit more in realization, "Oh yeah, sorry! It's the ADHD, I totally forgot that was what started the whole thing. You were going after a monster on your own and asked Apollo to pick us up in the sun chariot and take us back to camp."

"What is this camp you speak of?" Artemis continued, her mind spiraling with questions.

"It's a safe place for demigods where no monsters can get us, some people live there just during the summer and some live there all year. Chiron runs it with Mr. D," Percy spoke fondly, a smile gracing his face as he thought of camp.

"Mr. D? Surely, you do not mean Dionysus? He allows you to address him in such a manner? He allows himself to be in charge of this camp?" Artemis leaned back slightly as she tried to process the information.

"Well, I mean it's a bit of a complicated situation," Percy cut himself off as the door opened suddenly and Apollo came in, his neutral facial expression dropping into one of concern.

"Percy, why are you awake, did you have a nightmare? Are you sick again? Artemis what happened while I was gone? He really needs rest at this point in order to heal properly," Apollo huffed as he approached the counter to set down several of full IV fluid bags.

"How did you get those here?" Percy scrunched his face up in confusion, disregarding Apollo's questions.

"Oh please, Percy, I am a god incase you forgot," Apollo rolled his eyes as he hooked a bag on the metal pole.

"Listen, I'm not too great on my history but I am pretty sure IV's and needles and tubing, and even the word sterile do not exist yet," Percy said as Apollo prepped the bag, attaching the tubing, and sterilizing the needle.

"You would be right, but again, I am a god and you need this to get better." Apollo said simply.

"What exactly are you doing with that liquid?" Artemis looked in confusion at the fluid bags.

"Well, dear sister of mine, any normal patient would be getting what we call a banana bag but Percy does much better if you infuse him with salt water, although true sea water is preferred." Apollo explained as he approached Percy with the needle.

"Come on, Apollo. I thought we're friends, did you really have to invent needles again just to torture me?" Percy whined as he extended his arm, exposing his elbow to the god.

"I'm confused, it is liquid why can he not just drink it? What are you even doing with it?" Artemis looked a bit horrified.

Apollo paused to stifle a laugh, "Sister, this is called an IV, or intravenous. The fluid had to be administered to Percy's bloodstream to have better effects. He can't drink it because he will simply digest it instead of letting it do its job. I know it sounds complicated, but he needs a steady drip of a small amount to keep his strength up while he is sick, if I gave him a whole bag all at once, I am sure he would feel really great for about five minutes and then he would crash and feel sicker by comparison."

While he explained, Apollo flushed the line and tied off Percy's arm, Artemis watching the action in horror.

"Wait- wait a minute, that doesn't look," Artemis muttered as Apollo approached Percy with the needle.

Percy looked away uncomfortably as Apollo inserted the needle and then proceeded to attach the tubing effortlessly. Artemis' jaw dropped in disgust, not understanding how the two were not disturbed by the whole process.

"Okay, Percy, you're all good," Apollo confirmed as he finished.

"Well, if I wasn't then I would be running to tell Asclepius that you failed an easy IV insertion as soon as we got home," Percy snorted.

"You do these on people regularly?" Artemis said aghast.

"It's not as bad as it looks, Arty. You're a huntress you shouldn't be squeamish now," Apollo snorted.

"Yes, but that bag is connected to him! If he wasn't a son of Poseidon I would be worried that you are drowning him! This looks very vaguely like torture Apollo and the only thing keeping me from ripping that thing out of the poor demigods arm is that he seems completely unbothered by the whole thing!" Artemis said looking at the IV pole with distain.

Apollo couldn't help the grin that over took his face and Percy scrunched his face up in confused amusement. 

"Arty, I had no clue you disliked needles! No wonder you refuse to seek me out whenever you are injured! Hah! I cannot wait until we get home, Percy, imagine telling Artemis we know her secret because Artemis herself told us!" Apollo cackled and Percy broke into a smile.

"She'll probably threaten you with the closest weapon and make you swear to never bring it up again lest she turn you into a jackrabbit for a day." Percy snorted.

"This is not funny! Honestly, Apollo how do you call this medicine! I don't understand!" Artemis stomped a foot in her temper.

"It's okay Lady Artemis, I have been poked and prodded constantly for the last week. This is nothing and honestly it really does help, so who would I be to complain?" Percy said lightly with a one arm shrug as to not pull on the tube in the other.

At Percy's words Artemis paused, taking in his sick looking frame that was sunk in the bed hooked up the the tube of fluid and her temper fled. The goddess couldn't help but notice how young he looked suddenly, how weak and tired he he must be to have the dark circles under his eyes with his bangs sweaty against his forehead. The empathetic part of her that Artemis always had to squash- that same empathetic part of her that had mistakenly put her faith in Orion -was clawing at her heart strings.

"Apollo, what is wrong with him?" Artemis sighed in defeat, looking between the two of them.

Apollo sighed, "I'm sorry Artemis but I am under-"

"Yeah yeah, I heard what you told the council. But you are my twin brother and I know you, whether you are from the future or not you are still the same, you are leaving out part of the truth. Half-truths are your specialty brother, what loophole are you avoiding?" Artemis' eyes narrowed as she interrupted.

"It's my fault, sort of," Percy spoke up, "It was my father who suggested the oath that Apollo or anyone else who knows the true nature of my affliction would not be able to talk about it with someone else. I asked him to change it so they could discuss it if they had my permission. He could tell you if I let him, but I don't know if we should tell you, Lady Artemis. The circumstances were different in my time, I don't know how anyone would react to it here," Percy explained, picking at the bed sheet nervously.

Artemis sighed looking between the both of them once more, "Well perhaps you should consider a way to tell the entirety of the council soon. And yes, I do mean all of us. Apollo, Father has put out an official declaration that all council members should be suspicious of you both but more so the demigod. If we deem him dangerous Lord Father has declared he be exterminated. I see now, that our brother Hermes may have been, as much as it annoys me to admit it, right about the demigod. You need a plan and soon. I only bestow you this information because you are my twin, do not make me regret it."

Artemis turned and went to exit before looking over her shoulder and making eye-contact with Percy, "I hope you were telling the truth about the future me, Percy. I hope even more so that you don't disappoint my judgement."

With that, the goddess of the hunt left the room leaving a worried sun god and a contemplative Percy in her wake.

Chapter Text

"Just when I think this situation can't get worse! There is practically a kill order on your head!" Apollo muttered, swiping a stressed hand down his face.

Percy just kept staring at the spot Artemis once stood, "I don't know Apollo, I think we made an ally today."

"What do you mean?" Apollo frowned.

"Artemis called me Percy, I don't think she would address me in such a way unless she at least a little bit of faith in us."

Apollo looked at his cousin and blinked, "She did, didn't she?"

"Maybe they aren't so different here after all, I mean, Artemis in our time would go to the ends of the earth to help you just to be able to hit you over the head and call you an idiot before anyone else," Percy snorted.

Apollo looked down at the thought of his sister at home, "Do you think they've noticed we are gone?"

Percy shrugged, "I really want to say yes but dad wasn't supposed to visit until tomorrow, so I guess I don't know."

"I promise I'm gonna get you home Percy, no matter what the council declares, we are going to be fine. I don't care if I have to be the one to yell at Fate this time," Apollo paused as if realizing something, "Why were you arguing with Fate in the first place?"

Percy froze unsure of how to proceed, "I told you, I was just sick of Fate pushing me around."

"Perseus Achilles Jackson! Don't lie to me, I'm the god of truth!" Apollo said aghast, his jaw dropping in offense.

Percy rolled his eyes at the god's dramatics, "It was just something D had said to me."

Apollo watched the way Percy curled in on himself and instantly got worried again, "What was it? Percy if it's something to do with how you reacted to… you know what… and I need to get the other Dionysus to help sort you out, you need to tell me."

"No, I'm okay. Well, at least D said I was going to be just fine a few days a go but there was something else he had mentioned..." Percy trailed off, not wanting to say the truth because saying it would be making it real and it was a Fate he tried so hard to refuse it had landed them in their current situation.

Apollo sat on the edge of the bed to make himself level with Percy, "Hey, Perce, come on. Whatever it is we can get through it, we have faced worse I am sure of it."

Percy blinked a few times in quick succession, trying desperately to dispel the teas he could feel building behind his eyes, "Dionysus thinks I'm ascending."

Processing the words Apollo flung himself at Percy in a hug, ginning widely as he laughed jovially, "Percy this is-"

Apollo pulled back suddenly as the words sunk in deeper, his happiness fading into a morose frown.

"Oh Perce, I'm so sorry. You never wanted godhood." Apollo said softly.

"Figures, right? I didn't want godhood so Fate hit me over the head with a stick and forced it into me anyways," Percy scoffed, tears threatening to spill over his cheeks.

Apollo reached a hand forward and squeezed Percy's hand in support as he asked, "Is that why you went to see them?"

Percy nodded, a tear escaping from the puddle that sat in the corner of his eyes, "Why can't they take it back, Apollo? I don't want to live forever, I don't want to watch everyone I care about die."

Apollo tilted his head down in sad understanding, "I don't know why they did it and I had no clue that they were going to do it. But I am so sorry the choice was taken away from you."

Percy rolled his eyes sardonically, "The fates were really helpful about that whole thing. I mean you should have heard them before you came in and got sucked back here with me! None of it even made sense!"

Apollo froze before speaking rapidly, "They talked to you? Was there an actual reason for us to be sent here? This isn't just a punishment for questioning them?"

Percy blinked as he tried to absorb the questions before he sniffed and shook his head, "I don't know, it was something about this being fates plan."

Apollo full body twitched, "Percy this is very important. I need you to think back really hard, okay? Did they say it was the fates' plan? Or did they say it was Fate's plan?"

Percy observed how Apollo seemed to be more worried than he had been since they landed themselves here and instantly became worried himself. Focusing on the moment that he had walked through that door he sighed and said, "I think it was Fate's plan? And they said something about a titan and I'm going to be honest I don't really remember much else… I was a bit distraught."

"Are you absolutely positive? Percy, if this was Fate itself," Apollo paused to swallow nervously, "this is bigger than either of us can do anything about."

"What are you saying? Are we stuck here?" Percy said in confusion.

"No, I'm saying that we are completely at the mercy of Fate. There is nothing we can do to go against this." Apollo looked chilled to the bone.

Percy's eyes wandered around the room for a moment as he thought before he spoke up again, "Why would Fate want us to be here? What could we possibly benefit from being in a time and place where no one trusts us?"

Apollo shook his head, "I'm sorry but I don't have any answers for you, Perce. None of this makes sense. Why would the fates be ordered by Fate to send you, and consequently me, back in time all because you are ascending? And even then we have to wonder if that is actually the reason or if it is just a coincidental alignment? Chaos for being the god of prophecy I feel like I am disgracing the domain. I'm really clueless here."

Apollo raked a frustrated hand through his hair and Percy gave him a small smile, "It's okay, Apollo. I got us into this mess, it shouldn't all be on you to fix it."

"Percy, you are sick. You need time to heal you can't risk getting worse by getting involved in anything else." Apollo said sternly.

Percy rolled his eyes, "Apollo I'm literally ascending, I'll be fine. Besides, I'm used to having to save the world at the most inopportune times."

"I have to admit, I never would have guessed you would know the word inopportune," Apollo snorted.

Percy gave Apollo a dead stare, "Really? I'm not actually an idiot, and I'll have you know that my Paul is an English teacher, he talks like that sometimes when he goes off on tangents."

"And yet, I've never heard you willingly use a word like that before," Apollo raised an amused eyebrow.

"Shut up," Percy rolled his eyes light heartedly.

Apollo and Percy sat in comfortable silence for a moment before the other Apollo opened the door and made his presence known.

Percy had to hold back the grimace that threatened to overtake the previous contentment that had shown on his face.

"So is this where you plan on imposing yourselves?" The god questioned rudely from the doorway.

Apollo looked at himself, which was a mind trick that probably would have been too much to handle psychologically if he hadn't been a god and therefore used to separating his conscious in order to do several tasks at once.

"Hello, Phoebus," Apollo grinned innocently.

"Don't call me that," Phoebus frowned in annoyance.

"Well I certainly can't call you Apollo, that's my name and would certainly cause some confusion," Apollo continued to grin at himself.

Phoebus blew a short frustrated breath of air out of his nose, "I am the original Apollo so I shouldn't have to be referred to differently! Call yourself something ridiculous, like Lester."

Percy blinked at Phoebus in shock, not expecting to hear his petulant tone, he was immediately reminded of Octavian and wished he hadn't made the connection at all.

"No," Apollo shot down firmly, "I am older than you. I'm not going by some ridiculous name for your sake. You can be called Phoebus and that is that."

Phoebus glared, "You do not get to order me around!"

"I'm you, but older and smarter, and just overall better. You are making an idiot out of yourself. Chill out." Apollo rolled his eyes.

Phoebus took a large breath in, "If you are going to be staying here, can you not embarrass me? It is as if you have forgotten our customs entirely. You are rude and have a nerve that no god should ever possess. Who do you think you are to not follow orders? To act out of your own volition with no instruction? This isn't the way of Olympus."

Percy frowned and scrunched his eyebrows in confused curiosity, he couldn't imagine an Olympus where everyone just did what they were told. How many times did Percy get sent on quests because the gods did the exact opposite of what they were told? Percy's thoughts immediately wandered to when Thalia, Nico, and him had to get the sword back to Persephone before Hades realized she had taken it against his orders.

"Believe it or not, just because we are gods and are representative of our domains, that doesn't mean we do not have a level of free will. We are gods not mindless drones. In fact I would say that us being gods gave us much more freedom to step around Fate's hand as we wished." Apollo said calmly.

"That isn't the way we do things. He is a worthless mortal, you should have just let Lord Father execute him as he planned!" Phoebus snarled, gesturing at Percy.

Percy's jaw dropped in his hurt and Apollo's nostrils flared in anger.

"How dare you?" Apollo said hurt lacing his tone, "You know nothing of Percy and yet you sit here and judge him with baseless assumptions?!"

"Do you hear yourself?! You are a god, why waste your time defending an inconsequential mortal who has most likely done nothing be a besmirching stain on our family tree?" Phoebus said incredulously.

Apollo's eyes flared from their normal sky blue, turning molten gold in his anger.

"You may not know the whole story yet, but that does not allow for you to make hasty claims of which you know nothing about. You know nothing of what this child- because yes this poor demigod who has been ripped away from his home has not even reached adulthood yet -has been through. I refuse to sit here while you insult him." Apollo said in a scathing tone.

Phoebus recoiled and then swallowed, "Well if I need to know the whole story to understand, then explain it to me."

"No, you will still not understand. Percy is important to our family and you will not understand why we allow his actions until you stop condemning him." Apollo said tightly.

"Apollo, it's okay, you don't have to defend me. I can take a few insults," Percy said with a shrug as if it wasn't a big deal, however the strain in his voice gave his hurt away.

Apollo sighed and leveled the past him with a stern look, "I can't have you negatively impacting his recovery. So until you decide to see him as more than an outlet for your frustrations, I'm going to need to ask you to give him space."

Phoebus looked offended once more but this time he simply spun on his heel and slammed the door shut behind him.

Apollo turned to Percy with an amused annoyance, "Chaos, who does that guy think he is?"

"You don't have to try to cheer me up, I'm okay I promise." Percy insisted.

"Percy, even if I wasn't the god of truth, you proclaiming yourself as okay is the biggest recurring boldfaced lie you tell. You do not have to pretend this whole event is not hurting you and you do not have to pretend that my past self's attitude is acceptable. I apologize for my actions, I was an idiot." Apollo frowned.

"It's just so weird, it's like a monster stole your face and was playing mind tricks with me just to try to hurt me emotionally. But it wasn't a trick at all, it was real." Percy admitted.

"Well just know that no matter what Phoebus may say, I am not going to turn my back on you. Now that we got this out of the way, please do not make me beg you to go to sleep, or worse, please do not make me reinvent sleeping pills." Apollo said with a small smile.

"Alright, alright. I'll go to sleep. But just so you know your sister was the one who woke me up in the first place and you are beginning to border on mother hen vibes." Percy said sassily before he rolled over and pulled the blanket up.

Apollo rolled his eyes, "You should think yourself lucky that it is just me here with you. If your dad was here with you... I shudder to think of what he would have done."

Percy snorted and Apollo went towards the door before he turned on his heel and faced Percy with a compassionate smile.

"And Percy, about the recent development in your soon-to-be godhood, I'm going to be here for you every step of the way. When we get home, I know everyone else will be just as happy. I'm sorry to say we gods are selfish beings and knowing we don't have to say goodbye to you, as much as it feels like a curse to you, is going to be like a blessing for so many." Apollo's smile turned sad before he exited the room and shut the door, leaving Percy's drowsy mind with so much more to think about.

Meanwhile, across Olympus, a certain messenger god was pacing within his own temple. He was beside himself with the conundrum he had found himself in. Everything that he had known since coming into existence had told him things were only ever supposed to be a certain way. Now, with the appearance of one demigod and his brother from five thousand years into the future had him questioning everything he had ever known.

Hermes was born into his domains, stealing Apollo's sacred cows only shortly after he was born. Hermes had always stayed to his domains, never attempting to stray outside of his role on Olympus. Why would he? In his opinion, which were perhaps biased, he had the best domains out of everyone on Olympus. He got to travel every day to talk to different gods. He got to steal things and got away with it every time. His existence was fun and constantly evolving. But it had never evolved like this.

He may not be the god of truth like Apollo was or the goddess of wisdom like Athena, but Hermes was certain they weren't lying or scheming. Hermes was a god who could always catch a trick from a mile away. Nothing that they had said or done had indicated anything but earnest distress.

Hermes wondered about the boy, he yearned to know what it was that made Apollo so protective. What were they hiding? Why was the boy ill? Why would Olympus ever force the demigod to be a child soldier?

Most importantly, Hermes wished to know why it felt like Percy was supposed to be in Hermes' life. As if Fate itself had written their paths to cross and for them to be important to one another.

Hermes wished he could speak to the version of himself that knew Percy. Perhaps then everything would make sense. Perhaps some of his questions could be answered because Apollo seemed to be quite tightlipped about the child.

If Olympus had turned to relying on child soldiers, were they in danger? Is the reason Apollo was being quiet is because he refused to alter fate, knowing they would act upon the news whether fate allowed for it or not.

And most of all, Hermes needed to know what the weighted tightness in his chest was. It was almost suffocating and he couldn't understand what it was or how it had even come to be.

So, he went to the only person he could find solace in amongst the chaos of Olympus, his aunt Hestia.

As the messenger god it wasn't necessarily hard to find anyone that he needed to talk to, but finding Hestia was always the easiest.

He made his way into the gardens of Olympus, navigating the paths easily even in the dimming light. Once he spotted the ivy covered entryway, he smiled to himself and proceeded toward the middle of the large yet enclosed structure. The walls were splashed with hues of bright orange that reflected from the roaring fires blaze. Despite the strength and size of the flames, there was nothing but peace within the walls.

Just as he assumed, he walked over to the hearth and met the gaze of Hestia, a pleased smile on her face. The goddess was tending to the flames on her knees as she sat on the edge of the large hearth.

"Lady Hestia," Hermes greeted, bowing his head in respect.

"Hermes, oh I haven't seen you in so long. What is it you need, dear one?" Hestia said kindly as she rose from the hearth.

"Have you heard about the anomaly?" Hermes questioned, hoping she had the context necessary for his dilemma.

"You mean your cousin and brother from the future?" Hestia said with a small raise of her brow.

Hermes blinked, "Oh, you do. May I ask who informed you?"

Hestia let her smile twitch, "Oh nephew, do not be as naïve to believe I would not immediately know when my family has expanded. The hearth alerted me to their arrival and I have been keeping an eye on them through the flames."

"So then you may see my dilemma?" Hermes questioned hopefully.

"I cannot tell you what to do or what to think, Hermes. That is for you alone to decide. However, I will say that my hearth will always accept family. It matters not to me whether they are from seven centuries ago or millennia into the future. Family is family Hermes. It is a bond that we cannot replace." Hestia said earnestly.

Hermes paused, ruminating on her words. Hestia was always right, or at least it seemed that way throughout his entire existence.

"This bond you speak of...?" Hermes trailed off in question.

"Sacred familial ties. I'm in charge of overseeing them but they are woven through the fates. I don't decide who has one but I protect the bonds that exist." Hestia explained.

"Why would you need to protect these familial bonds? Why have I never heard of them before?" Hermes continued to press for answers.

"If you protect the bonds, you protect each other. You cannot force one into existence, and you cannot force one away. These bonds are why demigods inherit the abilities of their parents domains. Why do you think it is always the favored demigods that go on to become great heroes?"

"But what of godly children? If you are saying that our power comes from the love of our parents well, please do not take this the wrong way but there would be no gods left." Hermes said in confusion.

"It is okay, Hermes, I take no offense. You are allowed to speak freely to me always. Godly children have a different hand in Fate. They are born with domains that are necessary for the continuation of an adapting civilization but they can still have bonds with their godly family, it is simply much more rare." Hestia explained patiently.

"So you located the demigod because he had a bond to someone?" Hermes questioned after a moment of silence.

"Oh Percy has several bonds attached to him, it is part of the reason I have been so interested in keeping an eye on him. It is rare for a demigod to have more than one bond, having as many as he does it is legendary." Hestia said, her gaze straying back to the flames.

"So is that the feeling in my chest? The weight of the bond? How would I have a bond with a demigod that is not mine?" Hermes asked, rubbing a hand on his chest in discomfort.

"I cannot tell you that, Hermes. Your guess is as good as mine. However I would assume that you are quite close so I hope you haven't been awfully judgmental to the demigod. I'm sure this is very confusing for him."

Hermes winced and looked down, "Oh."

"Actions can be undone, Hermes. I just implore you not to discount the child entirely. At least not until you know him. I assume that is what brought you here? You wished to know whether to trust him and your brother?" Hestia said with a knowing look in her eyes.

"It makes no sense for them to be lying. I know not why the fates have forced them here but I know they have people at home missing them if their bonds have anything to say about it." Hestia continued after a moment passed with Hermes remaining silent.

"And you are not at all worried that they are a threat to Olympus?" Hermes questioned hesitantly, his hands twitching in nerves he wished he didn't have.

"No, Hermes. I will admit they are odd, perhaps they are what we need, though. I would be naïve to say let love guide you, but I have the feeling that love, more importantly compassion, is what we might need more of." Hestia advised kindly, her eyes reflecting the blaze of the hearth.

Hermes nodded in understanding, "Thank you for your gracious advice and time, Lady Hestia."

"Always, dear nephew. If you need me I shall be here," Hestia said before returning to the hearth, only to look back and add, "Don't forget to give them a chance. All may not be as it seems, Hermes."

Hermes left with an "I will, I promise."

The messenger god had left his aunt with more questions impeding his mind than he had before. However, there was also a calm assurance. He wasn't simply being a fool for feeling as though he could trust them. Percy and Apollo were important to him in the future and he did not want to fail them now when they might need him the most.

Hermes wasn't sure what a god of messengers, thieves, and travel could do to help them but he was determined now to do what he could. Maybe his show of faith would urge them to share Percy's affliction and Hermes could finally know the full truth on why they were here in the first place.

Chapter Text

Sally waited for just after nightfall before she allowed the full weight of her emotions to hit her. Paul and Estelle were sleeping peacefully but she found herself out on the fire escape, sobbing silently. The moon hung brightly in the sky, a clear shining night that so perfectly contradicted her stormy mood. Sally allowed her gaze to fall away from the Huntress constellation Percy always looked at when he had too much plaguing his mind and instead focused on the fresh blue cookie and set of matches that lay beside her on the fire escape.

Taking a moment to gather whatever strength she had left, she struck the match against the box and brought the small flame to meet the cookie. Immediately the offering knowing who it was for without so much as a second thought allowed for the flames to begin to warmly wrap around the cookie as she whispered, "I really need you."

The cookie disappeared as soon as she finished her sentence and Sally felt a breeze that smelled of salt water before he appeared beside her in place of where the cookie had sat. Poseidon sat next to her on the fire escape, or at least an aspect of him did. For as much as he had cared about her he could never devote his entire being to her. But Sally did not expect him to. Instead she felt content to see the worry and confusion clear in his eyes, knowing she still had his favor -his care- well that was enough.

"Sally, what is the matter?" Poseidon questioned immediately, his gaze zeroed in on her in concern.

Sally took one look into his green eyes and with dread, she realized she had been right. No one had told the god of the sea that his son was missing. Now, the burden was hers to carry, because as much as she was mad with Olympus and distrusted anyone's motives, she knew with every fiber of her soul that Poseidon loved Percy. Sally refused to keep him away from the truth when he could very well be the only one at the end of the day who would give a damn.

"Poseidon, he's gone," Sally croaked, her voice straining over the harsh reality that she wished she never had to say.

"Who? Paul? Did he die?" Poseidon's face changed from one of concern into one of deep confusion.

Sally closed her eyes, as smart and as mighty as the millennia old god was, he also tended to be an idiot.

"Poseidon," Sally continued heartbrokenly, "Percy's gone."

Poseidon instantly stiffened, his breath shuttering, "Sally I assure you I saw him myself on Olympus just yesterday. I can take you to him if you so wish. Why would you think something has happened to him?"

Sally forced her tears back, now was not the time to lose herself completely. Not when Percy's life is on the line and Poseidon was desperate for answers.

"Artemis and Hermes came here today. They said they were investigating any leads on where Percy or Apollo could be- they vanished either late last night or early this morning."

Instantly a storm formed across New York City, all five boroughs experiencing a rapid change from the clear night sky to the dark and foreboding storm. It was just as Sally had thought the sky had deserved to look, but the expression of his feelings brought her no comfort.

"No. Sally, surely-" Poseidon began, his eyes pleading her to be mistaken.

Sally knew how Poseidon worked, whether he wanted her too or not. She had always been good at reading people and she possessed a certain knack for reading gods too but Poseidon she knew even more so. Sally knew that Poseidon would need a harsh truth. Not many dared to defy what he wanted to hear, but Sally always had been different.

"Poseidon, don't try to tell me I'm wrong. You know in your heart that you can't feel him like you usually can." Sally whispered, a tear finally breaking through her resolve. 

Poseidon looked down in hurt as he admitted, "He had been pushing me away for some time now, I- I assumed he just wanted nothing to do with me any longer. I couldn't feel him, but I thought he was okay- just renouncing me."

If Sally could only get away with throttling a god. Well she probably could at the moment, he looked to be in such a state of self deprecation Sally was sure he would just allow her to choke him out. It both made her want to sob and also want to throw him off the fire escape. Sally wasn't sure if Poseidon should have the right to be this torn up, but her sympathy hadn't allowed her to hold onto her anger.

"No matter what you have or have not done for Percy, that boy adores you. He may be going through a hard time right now but you don't get to let him push you away. This is something I can't understand... going to that place. But you, Poseidon, you understand. You are his Father and he needs you. You let him push you away instead of being a parent. Now, he needs you more than ever. Percy was already sick and mentally exhausted- him disappearing-" Sally paused to gulp in air, refusing to sob uncontrollably, "he needs you to step up and help him. Please, go find Percy and Apollo."

Poseidon gripped the railing of the fire escape tightly, this hands warping the metal in his strength. Despite the physical show of strength, the ancient god had never felt more mentally weak. His son had disappeared and he had missed the signs. His son had disappeared AGAIN, and Poseidon had shrugged off any sign of it occurring. Poseidon knew the instant his son had been lost, the weight in his chest pushing so hard on his being and yet leaving an aching hole. Poseidon knew and yet he ignored it, actively trying to not think of what he thought was his son losing hope in him. The old god rarely ever experienced guilt, but in that moment it flowed so heavily through his veins it manifested through raindrops instead of tears.

"You said it was Artemis and Hermes who visited you?" Poseidon questioned rather than attempting to placate her worried or share a comforting sentiment. Knowing Sally just as innately as he knew him, he knew that she would not take well to any apologies right now.

"They weren't sure if Apollo and Percy had come to visit me- which they hadn't. I haven't seen my son in almost a year," Sally said bitterly, tears glistening in her eyes.

"They should have come directly to me," Poseidon scowled in his anger.

"Poseidon, you cannot make them the problem right now. Artemis and Hermes weren't sure if they were actually missing or not. Why would they risk putting you in this situation if there was no situation to begin with?" Sally countered, knowing the sea god could lash out on anyone as a way to cope with things he could not fix.

"I am his father, I am the only one who could possibly care about saving him!" Poseidon exploded in his pent up hurt and anger, unable to keep it at bay for any longer.

Sally reared her head back in her own outrage, unable to keep herself calm when he was being so blatantly ignorant.

"As we have just established, Percy may be your favorite son but you barely even qualify for the title of father. Figure yourself out Poseidon because you know I am not going to sit here and coddle you when you are a fucking god and can fix this for yourself. You don't get compassion from me, not when MY son is missing because YOUR family is so fucked up."

Poseidon blinked, breathing deeply. He knew that Sally was aware she was one of the very few people in existence who could speak to him in such a way and not receive even a hint of angered retaliation.

"I will take care of this, Sally. You have my  word." Poseidon promised, his anger seeping out of his being and into the nearest tides as they crashed harshly against the shores.

"You better, or I never want to see you again." Sally whispered, tears finally cascading down her cheeks.

Poseidon hung his head in acceptance and disappeared from the fire escape, leaving Sally to subside to her tears as she sat alone out on the dark, rain soaked fire escape.

When the god reappeared, he was on Olympus, which was normally something he would try to avoid. Alas, avoiding his brother was the last thing he was going to be able to do. Poseidon sent a summons to the other ten Olympians as well as Hades and Hestia, he was well aware that this was going to be an all encompassing issue. While not everyone would care that Percy was missing -something he personally could not fathom- to have Apollo, an Olympian, go missing without a trace... it was an all hands on deck scenario.

On the very short walk from where he had reappeared within his temple to the council room, he crossed paths with Asclepius who looked worse for wear. Pausing in suspicion, Poseidon leveled the younger god with an analytical gaze. 

"Asclepius," Poseidon called over to the healing god.

Asclepius startled, turning to face Poseidon with a look of dread and fear, "P-Poseidon, what are you doing here?"

Poseidon raised a singular eyebrow, "I've come to visit my son."

Poseidon lied in hopes of getting a reaction out of the other god. He needed to know just how many others had been aware of his sons disappearance and neglected to tell him.

"Oh, uh... I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow?" Asclepius said nervously.

"Change in plans. Now if you excuse me, I'll just be off to-"

"No, wait you can't!" Asclepius yelped as he moved in front of Poseidon.

"What do you mean I can't? I am his father, I can see him whenever I wish," Poseidon kept the ruse up.

"Lord Poseidon, I would really advise against that." Asclepius said with as much confidence as he could muster in the face of the unhappy sea god.

"Good thing you are not my advisor then. Unless of course, there is a reason for why you are attempting to keep me away from my son?" Poseidon pressed, his voice tense and bordering on dangerous.

"No! No- I just..." Asclepius trailed off.

"I do not enjoy deceit, Asclepius. Why don't you accompany me to the council meeting I just called for? Perhaps there you can share what you know about my son's disappearance?" Poseidon said with an unimpressed look on his face.

Asclepius gulped, "You know-?"

Poseidon nodded slightly, "You cannot truly think I wouldn't discover that my son is missing?"

Accepting his fate, Asclepius accompanied the none too pleased Poseidon into the council room.

Poseidon immediately sought out the faces of only three gods who had already arrived: Zeus, Hera, and Demeter.

"Poseidon, I have to say I am worried. You have not called an emergency meeting in millennia." Hera said, her forehead creasing in genuine worry.

"We have a serious situation on our hands. I will explain all that I know when everyone arrives, I feel no need to repeat myself." Poseidon sniffed.

"Asclepius, what ever are you doing here?" Zeus questioned frowning in confusion.

"I believe he may have information that can help us, brother." Poseidon said, not allowing Asclepius to answer for himself.

"Very well then," Zeus paused, "Poseidon how big of a problem do we have? Between the five of us here, can you at least shed some light on the level of threat. We are still recovering from war, we cannot afford to be caught off guard."

Poseidon sighed tiredly, almost showing his millennia in the weight of his gaze as his eyes met his brothers, "It is bad, brother."

Zeus brought a hand up to stroke his beard in stress.

"Poseidon, you cannot be serious," Demeter spoke up, shock clear in her tone.

Before he got the chance to reply, Ares and Aphrodite came into the council room.

In quick succession the rest of those summoned arrived, all except Dionysus, Hermes, Artemis, and Apollo.

Zeus grew impatient and rather angry when a full five minutes passed with no sight of the four.

"How dare they ignore a summons!" Zeus exploded.

Hestia who arrived in great confusion, wondering why they needed her assistance, was beginning to become nervous. It was rare her family needed her at these meetings, it was even more rare- almost never before occurring -that anyone let alone four gods ignore a council summons. Disconnecting herself from the room she lost herself in her hearth's flames, she had been so busy helping everyone recover from the war she hadn't gotten to truly assess anything in the last week.

It took about a minute of studying the flames and what they held within them before she collapsed onto the hearth with a scream, effectively turning every head in the room to her in a panic.

"Hestia? Sister, what is it?" Hades questioned as he was the closest one to her. 

Hades knelt next to the hearth, placing a hand on Hestia's back and looking at her worriedly.

At the same time, Dionysus, Artemis, and Hermes came running through the door but stopped in abrupt horror at Hestia's words.

"They're gone! That's not possible!" Hestia screamed in a panic, gripping Hades' shoulders tightly.

Poseidon's spine when ramrod straight, "Hestia, who's gone?"

Dread overtook Hermes, Dionysus, and Artemis.

"Apollo and Percy, I can't- I can't feel them, I can't see them. They're just... gone," Hestia said her eyes glazed over with tears.

And in one singular moment, all of Poseidon's worst fears were confirmed. Whipping himself around to stare at the three younger gods, he pointed them with a nasty glare that promised nothing but pain.

"What do you know?! I know you know something!" Poseidon said harshly, the ground of the council room trembling slightly.

Zeus, despite all his shock at the chaos of the council room, shook himself out of it to face Poseidon, "Brother! Cease your anger, we cannot solve this if it is not done rationally."

Poseidon paused, his anger climbing, "My son is missing Zeus. Maybe you can do just fine sitting there doing nothing but-"

"My son is missing too!" Zeus said in an outburst, the room silencing in surprise as lightning crackled at his fingertips.

Poseidon curled his lip and spit the same words Sally had voiced to him earlier, "Yes, well, you may be Apollo's father but when have you ever been his parent?"

Zeus recoiled and worked his jaw in anger, "Do not misplace your anger on me, brother, now is not the time."

"Enough! Both of you!" Hades snapped at his brothers, still kneeling at Hestia's side.

"They knew Percy and Apollo were missing!" Poseidon continued, ignoring Hades in favor of throwing his hand out to gesture to Artemis, Hermes, and Dionysus.

Zeus stopped glaring at Poseidon, his face crumpling in hurt confusion as he stared at his three children, "You knew and you did not immediately alert us?"

Artemis sucked in a deep breath and faced her father with a stone cold look, "We weren't sure you would care enough to actually try to get them back."

"You really think I would-?" Zeus started in an incredulous tone.

"What are we supposed to think?" Hermes cut his father off, crossing his arms defiantly.

"Wait, what exactly is going on here?" Athena questioned staring at the scene in front of her in deep confusion.

"Asclepius?" Poseidon urged, gesturing for him to explain.

"Early this morning when I was going to check on Percy, he wasn't in his room. I didn't think it was weird because my dad and I had discussed taking him on walks around Olympus so he didn't feel so locked inside the temple. Then, several hours later when Artemis came to visit Apollo we realized they had been gone the whole time. So, we split up. I searched Olympus, asking several individuals if they had seen them and Artemis was supposed to search places where Percy might have wanted to visit." Asclepius said, trying to hold it together despite the fact that Hestia had just told him that his dad was gone, whatever that even meant.

"I don't understand, how would Apollo and Percy simply vanish? Percy is a bit more understandable but Apollo? Apollo is a god there is no reason he should have suddenly vanished without a trace." Aphrodite spoke up from her throne.

"Could they have been kidnapped?" Demeter pitched the possibility.

"Who would have the power to kidnap the two of them?" Hades refuted.

"Could something have snuck through Tartarus before last week and until now was laying low, waiting for the most opportune time to strike?" Ares question, his mind whirring with war tactics.

Hestia shook her head, gathering herself as she returned her gaze to the hearth. Once her gaze focused on what she searched for within the flames, she winced.

"You don't understand," Hestia said barely above a whisper, "It as if they have been ripped away from us. I am not even sure if they are alive."

The room froze once more and Artemis started shaking her head rapidly, "No, no, that's not possible! My brother cannot have died! I would know! I would know if my twin had left me!"

"Hestia, it can't be, there must be some other reason!" Poseidon said in a panic that caused waves off the coast of long island to crash harshly against the shore.

Zeus simply stared numbly at his sister, trying and failing to process this situation that was set before him so suddenly.

"Poseidon, no known source can rip soul bonds from people. And yet, a plethora of both demigods and gods are currently existing with such an affliction. Do you know how dangerous that is? Apollo and Percy are gone. I need to see everyone who has a bond with either of them that includes most if not all of you. The effects of this are potentially very dangerous." Hestia explained, her forehead creasing in concern.

Dionysus froze, his mind thinking back to what he had witnessed earlier, "Could someone who is afflicted with this potentially exhibit behaviors that present like madness?"

Hestia blinked, "Possibly. I'd assume so but I've never seen this before, Dionysus. If it did present as madness it would not be anything you would be able to cure."

"So I would miss the symptoms in a routine mind check?" Dionysus said, the dread building.

"Of course, bonds lay outside of your domain's expertise," Hestia confirmed before frowning, "why do you ask?"

Artemis' gasped as she realized what Dionysus was getting to.

"I believe I know someone already facing the effects," Dionysus admitted.

"Annabeth Chase," Artemis said in dawning realization.

Dionysus nodded hesitantly.

"What? What's wrong with my daughter? You said she would recover." Athena said in a panic, looking frantically between the Artemis and Dionysus.

"Well, I told you she had PTSD, and I had planned sessions starting out next week but today she started acting... unhinged." Dionysus explained.

Hermes nodded in support of his brother, "It definitely looked like madness. We left Chiron to watch over her. That's why we were late."

"That makes sense, she is a demigod so she doesn't have as much power to withstand the effects. Then we need to gather all of Percy's closest friends and all of Apollo's demigod children." Hestia said in contemplation. 

"Not to derail the conversation, Hestia, I know what you are saying is important. However, what are we going to do about Apollo and Percy being missing?" Poseidon said. 

Poseidon did not care a single bit what the fate of Annabeth would be, not when his son was possibly in mortal danger. His son had come this far, he wasn't losing him now.

Zeus took a deep breath as he thought of a plan, "Alright, Poseidon you and I shall head the search for our sons. Hestia, Dionysus, you two head the situation with the bonds. The rest of you, split up and pick what front you are helping with. This is Olympus' number one priority."

The groups were quickly decided. Joining Poseidon and Zeus would be: Artemis, Hermes, Ares, Hera, and Hephaestus. Joining Hestia and Dionysus would be: Hades, Aphrodite, Demeter, Athena, and Asclepius.

"Lord Zeus, I believe that reaching out to the other gods would be beneficial, we can use all the help we can get if we don't know who or what we are up against," Asclepius spoke up from where he now stood by Dionysus.

Zeus paused momentarily to debate the suggestion, "Very well, however, I urge everyone to keep anyone who has made an enemy of either Apollo or Percy out of this."

"Then why do I have to be here?" Ares grunted.

The answering twin glares from Poseidon and Zeus had him sighing and rolling his eyes.

"Ares," Hera chided, "now is not the time."

The two groups took off in different directions, Poseidon and Zeus' group heading to New Rome to rally any close friends of Percy and transport them back to Camp Half-Blood. Hestia and Dionysus' group was heading directly to Camp Half-Blood to tend to Annabeth and anyone else who may be afflicted.

Originally, they had thought about simply having Ares allow Mars to appear and sending him into the camp with the order's of collecting Percy's friends but Poseidon quickly shot that down.

"None of those children are going to go with Mars no matter how much respect they have. It is well known knowledge that Percy and both Ares and Mars do not get along. They will assume the worst and be uncooperative." Poseidon said as the seven gods stood on the sad excuse for a dock.

The one good thing about the Roman's fearing the sea was that they could congregate there undetected for the moment.

"Well I could send Jupiter in, surely they would listen to Jupiter," Zeus said.

The other six gods gave him deadpanned looks.

"When is the last time Jupiter visited Camp? They will already be suspicious. They may be respectful but after everything that has transpired, who are we to blame them if they are on edge?" Artemis said.

"We could go in as ourselves, as we are now?" Hephaestus spoke up.

They all considered this for a moment before Hera nodded, "It would make sense for Percy's true friends to not fear us and come with us in an emergency than our Roman selves."

"And if they perceive us as a threat?" Zeus questioned.

"Then we force our Roman aspects to appear instead." Hera said simply. 

"Well, you all can do that, I think they'd be more frightened of Neptune than they are of me." Poseidon rolled his eyes as the seven took off toward the mess hall.

"Uncle don't take this the wrong way, but I don't blame them," Hermes commented.

When they appeared in the doorway of the mess hall, all conversation ceased and several heads turned towards them.

Immediately Jason Grace was on his feet, a look of confusion and panic clear on his face, "What's going on?"

Poseidon nodded in recognition of the boy as he addressed the room, "Who here is friends with my son Percy?"

A sharp inhale came from somewhere in the room but no one moved for a moment.

The whole table Jason stood at rose at once.

"Whether Percy is Roman or not he will always be a part of the fifth cohort," Hazel Levesque spoke up from Jason's left, looking a bit pale in the face.

Artemis addressed the room at large, "We need any of Percy's close friends to come with us, it is of dire importance."

Frank narrowed his brows in thought but decided it was better to not speak up.

"Where are we being taken?" Jason asked as the fifth cohort began to leave the table.

"We are going to Camp Half Blood, Jason. All will be explained on our arrival," Hera explained.

"You cannot be serious, trusting the Graceus'?" A legacy from the first cohort scoffed, looking at the fifth incredulously.

He clearly did not think his action through as when Hermes spun on his heel and glowered at him. 

"Gods are gods all the same, legacy. Mercury has no real reason to care for Percy, not as I do. So why would we even attempt to have our Roman aspects gather his friends? Hmm? Because if you would rather I could have Mercury chide your foolishness instead." Hermes said scathingly.

Poseidon snorted, "Oh yes, if we are bringing Roman aspects to the party-" 

"Poseidon, enough. Come along, children." Zeus said impatiently.

Ignoring the mix of blatant gawking and nervous stolen glances, the group of seven gods led the fifth cohort out of the mess hall, and transported them to Camp Half Blood. 

The first thing they heard when the group arrived was screams, immediately putting the cohort on edge. They had already been somewhat disoriented, while in New Rome the sun had just begun to set over the horizon, it was dark at Camp Half-Blood only illuminated by lantern posts and light that spilled from the cabins. 

But still, it wasn't hard to miss Annabeth, who was being carried in her mother's arms, flailing as she screamed, cried, and struggled to get away.

"What happened to Annabeth?" Jason asked in concern.

Poseidon sighed, "Something we hope didn't happen to any of you. Go seek out Dionysus and he will explain it all to you in depth but, in short: Percy and Apollo are missing and we fear that the effects will be more dire than anyone could expect."

The group of Roman demigods stared at the gods in front of them in horror, not getting a word in edge wise before they one by one in quick succession disappeared back to Olympus to plan.

Dakota spoke, interrupting the eerie silence, "How does a god disappear?"

"Percy's missing again?" Frank muttered in shock.

Any other conversation that might have transpired was brought to a shocking halt as Hazel threw up the contents of her dinner before promptly passing out onto the cold hard dirt, her hair splayed out under her.

Chapter Text

It was rare for Poseidon to call a family meeting, not unheard of, but still with his children being as different as they were, he tended to avoid gathering them in the same place. Alas, the latest threat required he tread the dangerous waters. Sitting at the head of a very large rectangular table, his chair the highest and mightiest among the rest Poseidon sent his own summons. Holding the pearl on his necklace he delicately squeezed, it instantly alerting each of his most favored children as it would warm against their necks. 

Triton, of course, was the first to arrive, sitting to his right and remaining silent, knowing his father would not discuss anything without everyone being in attendance.

Quickly, the other children of the sea filtered into the room, sitting silently as they awaited their father's words. The four daughters, Rhode, Benthesikyme, Kymopoleia, and Charybdis filled the remaining seats with Rhode being seated directly to her fathers left, Benthesikyme to her left, Charybdis sitting across from her, and Kymopoleia being to her right the furthest down the table and facing the empty seat next to Benthesikyme. 

"Children, I thought it imperative to alert you to the developing news transpiring on Olympus." Poseidon began.

Immediately, his children tensed at his tone, realizing he was not pleased by whatever it is.

"According to what my brother believes to be truth, Fate has sent two individuals to us," Poseidon continued.

"Fate?" Triton spoke up, clearly seeking clarification.

"Yes, Fate itself has apparently intervened. I know not why, nor how. I hardly believe the individuals do not have ulterior motives. They come from millennia into the future and they seem utterly devoid of respect for tradition. The first is Apollo and while it may be him he seems like the antithesis of the Apollo we know today. The second is a demigod, one that appears to be of the Sea. However, I am not so convinced. I have rescinded any claim of the child before Zeus could try to blame us when he inevitably shows his true colors as a traitor." Poseidon spoke in a no nonsense tone.

"Father if I may be so bold," Rhode spoke up quietly to Poseidon's left.

"Yes, Rhode?" Poseidon questioned with a raised brow.

"I was just wondering," Rhode paused as if losing her confidence before she continued hesitantly, "why do you think the child is a threat?"

Poseidon's face darkened, not at his daughter, but at the thoughts brewing in his head. 

"That child is unknown to us, but I fear he is playing mind games with many of the Olympians, I hand half a mind to agree with Athena yesterday when she proposed enchantments. You all know how much I would rather drain a Sea than agree with that wretched goddess. The effect he had on Apollo, it seemed almost liked control," Poseidon ranted bitterly.

Triton winced at hearing Athena's name, the girl he had once viewed as a daughter was now the only person who could make the prince feel real hatred. 

Kymopoleia squinted at her hands in thought before speaking up,  "If he is causing suspicion to you and he is of the Sea- in some way, even if he is not your demigod -couldn't you as King simply hold him in the dungeons and interrogate him until he breaks?"

Benthesikyme nodded her head in agreement, "Who cares what the Olympian authority is doing, we can just take care of the situation ourselves. The Sea has always dealt with it's own matters separate from the agenda of Olympus."

Meanwhile on Olympus, Apollo was watching over a sleeping Percy. To occupy the time he would normally spend doing his duties, he had re-invented several things that they might need, well more like Percy might need. Some of those things were outside of his domains, which made it extremely hard to make even as a god. Who would have thought that making clothes could be so difficult, but alas when there is only Chiton's or much more barbaric options, he had devoted a few hours of trying to make a few outfits until he finally succeed. 

He was interrupted from fixing the rips in Percy's laces on his shoes when Percy groaned uncomfortably from the bed. Apollo strode over to his side at once, trying to determine if he had woken up sick or was having a nightmare. Instead, Apollo was met with a glowing pearl hanging from Percy's neck, separate from his necklace of camp beads.

Apollo knew instantly what the pearl was and what if had meant, he didn't understand how it was working if the Poseidon here had renounced him but nonetheless, it made Apollo feel more secure knowing that Percy was still tied to his father's domain and protection.

But, Apollo also knew that there was no ignoring a summons like this, so he carefully spun the necklace around and unclasped it. He wondered, why exactly Percy was being summoned, why Poseidon was summoning his children. As questions circled his mind, he knew undoubtedly that it would mean trouble for Percy.

Sighing through his rising anger, he made sure Percy was still soundly asleep and clasped the necklace tightly in his fist, taking off towards the exit of the temple.

Turning the corner outside of the temple he ran straight into Hermes.

"Oh, Apollo, perfect I was wanting to talk to you about-"

"No time, talk later. Can you look after Percy until I come back?" Apollo said hurriedly.

Hermes looked shell shocked but nodded anyways, "Yeah, sure. I'll look after the kid."

Apollo wasted no more time, disappearing from where he had stood on Olympus and reappearing just outside of the door where he knew Poseidon held all of his meetings. It was something the him of this time probably had not found out yet but after millennia it is hard to hide things from one another.

He had appeared just in time to eavesdrop on the inhabitants conversation. In mounting horror Apollo listened as Poseidon ranted so hatefully about the same son he doted after in their time. He heard the malice in the tones of the others and his blood boiled. He felt as if he were every bit the same ruthless god that had scared so many in his mythos. How dare they be so cruel to a boy who had never been anything but kind, loyal, and forgiving?

Bursting into the room without a care in the world Apollo strode up threateningly to Poseidon and slammed the pearl necklace down on the table in front of him. It was clear that no one had expected him or anyone else to intrude on their conversation as the children of the Sea all sat frozen in their shock.

"How dare you?" Apollo said lowly, his eyes not showing an ounce of blue, instead glistening like molten gold.

With every heaving breath the god took he felt himself grow hotter and hotter, sun rays that should be impossible at this depth were shining through streams of water causing bubbles to erupt in their path as the water they came into contact with boiled.

Poseidon reared back, "How dare I? Nephew, I will give you the grace of allowing you to leave, but after that I will not hold back. You have long been an ally of the Sea, do not act so foolishly."

"No, shut your mouth, you heartless, hypocritical, barnacle brain. I don't give a fuck about your threats because I promise you that I am not as respectful as that version of me who plays lap dog for Olympus. The only fucks I give are about that kid, that same kid you are conspiring against as if he is a criminal."

"He could be," Triton said tightly.

All five Sea royalty sat at the table had venom in their gazes but shock on their faces. No one had the audacity to speak to another god in such a way.

Apollo scoffed, "Every single one of you are beyond delusional if you think that kid would ever be anything but loyal. That right there, should clue you in to how much you've royally screwed up."

Apollo gestured to the necklace he had slammed down before he spoke up once more.

"You can deny it to yourselves and I don't doubt you will since you all seem to be too afraid of your own emotions to be anything other than cold and miserable. This place is so different from what I remember it being that I feel not an ounce of hesitance when I tell you that until you can figure out how to be more than just some glorified idea of strength and instead actually act on it, you won't posses enough power to fight me if you attempt to harm that boy. You are all too afraid to step outside of what fate has decided for you but I am not."

Poseidon eyed it for a moment longer than could be written off as nothing before he hardened his resolve once more, his eyes filled with a malicious glee. 

"Thank you, Apollo. Now that we know he is a thief we have a justifiable reason to take him into custody." Poseidon said as he glared down at the pearl necklace that the child could have obtained in no other way. He disregarded what he took as empty threats from the typically docile son of Zeus. The most Apollo's anger has ever wielded was always directed at those replaceable mortals anyways, so why would Poseidon blink in the face of Apollo's rage now?

Apollo gawked, his already furious outrage festering into a familiar nastiness that the gods had often tried to repress in the future, "You can renounce him while he is here and you can pretend he doesn't matter, but that kid has a loving father back home. You. There is another version of you out there in existence that could never dream of being so coldhearted to Percy. The Poseidon that that kid knows is his father; he goes to his birthday parties and gives him advice and gifts. So, while you don't have to pretend to be his father- in fact I would prefer it if you stayed very far away from him -but don't you dare ruin the image of his father he has."

"Apollo, he is just a demigod, he is replaceable. When he is hiding things from the council and more importantly: me- I shouldn't have to put myself on the line for a child that will die anyways and that I have no emotional attachment to." Poseidon rolled his eyes.

Apollo almost lost his restraint, blabbing that Percy wasn't going to be going anywhere as he would be ascending, but he managed to keep the last shred of his composure. This version of Poseidon didn't deserve to know Percy or anything about him.

"You know what- you can believe whatever you want, Chaos knows I can't change your dense mind. However, I do want you to know that when you realize how wrong you are, that I told you so. That boy is only sixteen and he has been through horrors like no one else I have ever known- and yes I mean ever. Percy's father has defended him countless times sometimes going as far as threatening Zeus with war if so much as a hair was misplaced on his head. From where I am standing, you don't deserve to be that person to him, at least not yet." Apollo said with a sharp edge to his voice.

"How dare you speak to our father in such a way," Rhode said aghast, finally forcing herself to speak up.

Apollo didn't turn his gaze away from Poseidon, "Percy is a true hero and he is among your favorite children. You offered for him to stay with you in Atlantis after he recovered- no other demigod has ever been offered such a luxury. I know you see him as weak, but you'll see one day how mistaken you are."

"Are you threatening me?" Poseidon questioned lowly, his eyes full of danger.

"No, not at all, uncle. I am telling you with certainty that there will come a day when you realize that Percy means more to you than you can understand. I wonder if right now you already feel that bond you have to him and how strong it is. In fact, I can't help but wonder if you pushed him away because the amount of love within that bond frightened your currently heartless being?" Apollo challenged.

"Heartless? No, I am vigilant, mercy and gentle acts of kindness have no place here. I care for all of my children and I am protective of my demigods- but I do not love mortals, that is a foolish existence. I renounce my claim to that demigod because he is weak- whether you are blind to it or not. He is nothing more than an infinitesimal splotch in the course of my life and I refuse to have his mortality hanging over my head and causing my family to be the aim of your father's fire when it backfires. Besides, I can already tell he is either going to simply die or cause problems and be imprisoned, there is no happy endings for a mortal such as him. " Poseidon said tensely.

Apollo snatched the pearl necklace back to himself, heartbroken on Percy's behalf, and suddenly possessive of the thing that connected Percy to his real father not the puppet sitting stormily in front of him.

"I hope you remember this moment for the rest of your immortal life. I hope you remember your cruel words, spoken about a son you will one day cherish just as much as you do the children present at this table now. I hope that one day, when you look upon Percy's face you will feel nothing but guilt. I hope that it keeps you up pacing the hallways at night, I hope that you feel ill with remorse. Above all I hope Percy never has to find out what you said today, because I don't think he would forgive you and I couldn't blame him for it." Apollo shook his head in disappointment at the group before he left just as abruptly as he had come.

In the tense silence that had remained after Apollo's exit, Charybdis frowned to herself thinking over his many words that had left her reeling. She was the youngest of the five and she rarely spoke up without being directly addressed, but something inside her had felt moved by what this future Apollo had said. Charybdis would never tell her father, but she believed Apollo's words and she itched to meet the demigod who could earn their father's affection.

"Perhaps, father, in order to avoid suspicion, I could venture to Olympus? I'll keep my distance, I promise. But there is no denying that I am not as well known as you all, it would be so much easier for me to get close enough to observe him and report back with information." Charybdis offered, her true intentions purposely left out.

Poseidon sat in deep thought for a moment while her siblings looked at her in worry, not knowing how their father would react.

Finally, Poseidon nodded once, "Very well. I want you to attempt to get close to the boy though, not stay far away. I need all the information you can get out of him. Attempt to be his friend, as much as I loathe to entertain the idea."

"But father, that's so dangerous and Charybdis is so young," Benthesikyme spoke up in worry.

"Silence, her youth is what we can use to our advantage, no one will expect her to be spying."

As their family meeting had adjourned, Poseidon sighed and rubbed his chest, still no closer to knowing why this child had imposed such a heavy weight on his chest, and wishing it would leave him.

When Percy woke, he had forgotten what had transpired the day before. At least, he did for a few glorious and peaceful moments. Once his brain had cleared and he remembered the torturous events of the day before, he groaned and rolled over, pulling the sheets over his head and burying himself back into his pillow.

"That might have worked if I wasn't in the room with you, already." A voice spoke up from his right.

In startling realization, Percy rolled over and pushed himself into an upright position as he frowned at the god in front of him in confusion.

"Lord Hermes?" Percy questioned.

Hermes smirked slightly, "Good morning, Percy."

Percy blinked before rubbing the tiredness away from his eyes, "Did you need something?"

Hermes shook his head before he sat in the hard chair next to the bed, "No, I am simply on Percy duty."

Percy was, unfortunately, already well aware of what "Percy Duty" was. Whenever Apollo had something to attend to over the past week, he would make another god come- typically Hermes -and essentially babysit him. It wasn't as bad at home, Percy greatly enjoyed the hours Hermes spent teaching him different games he had invented. But here, well Percy wasn't entirely sure that this Hermes could even tolerate him.

"Oh, I'm sorry you got stuck with it. I know you are one of the busiest gods-" Percy began to apologize.

"It wasn't a problem." Hermes cut him off.

Percy tilted his head, Hermes almost seemed reassuring- like he cared. It was a stark difference to how he acted yesterday morning when Percy first arrived. Percy looked at the god observationally, wondering how someone could change so drastically in only twenty-four hours. 

"Still, I would be okay here until Apollo returned. Where exactly did he go anyways?" Percy wondered aloud.

"I know not, he simply had a few duties to attend to and took off in a dash." Hermes shrugged.

Percy snorted, "You talk so... weird here."

"I could say the same about you," Hermes raised a brow, "That is some of the most broken Greek I've ever heard, the accent is nothing I am familiar with."

"I didn't grow up in Greece," Percy admitted, "Millennia is a long time and language is constantly changing, you should know that."

"I do, which is why I have not said anything about it until now. You know, when you arrived yesterday you were speaking something I didn't understand. As the god of languages, that has never happened to me before. What is it?"

"It's called English," Percy said with a small grin.

"English, how odd," Hermes said, his heavy Greek accent butchering the word.

Percy snorted, "Don't worry I'm going to stick to Greek. I know they are already suspicious of me and I doubt me speaking in a language they aren't supposed to know yet know would make them pretty paranoid."

"Speaking of that. If you want to blend in then I would start by a change in attire. You look barbaric."

Percy frowned as he looked down at himself. He was wearing what he had arrived in, a short sleeve blue cotton shirt and grey sweatpants. Sure it wasn't anything fancy but he had been sat up in Apollo's temple for a week so he hadn't really thought of dressing for anything other than comfort.

"Okay, I know it's nothing fancy but isn't barbaric a bit far?" Percy pouted.

"In Greece we wear chitons. Only barbarians wear those things," Hermes gestured to Percy's pants.

"Oh, no no no. No way. I have made it abundantly clear to several people in my lifetime that I will not be wearing bedsheets and I will continue to stand my ground on that." Percy crossed his arms, thinking back to how Dakota had dressed back in New Rome.

Hermes' gaze hardened ever so slightly, "It is tradition- it is our way -and you renounce it."

"I don't renounce your traditions but they are different from where I come from. You don't even wear chitons, you wear sweatpants like these." Percy protested.

"You certainly must be pulling a joke. Why would I ever stop wearing chitons? They are fashionable and comfortable." Hermes defended his way too short chiton.

"Dude, I'm not wearing it," Percy said with finality.

"Well then what do you suppose you will wear while you are here? I'll tell you what. I'll head over to my temple, select some chitons for you to try, and I'll be right back." Hermes grinned before turning and exiting the room swiftly.

Percy was quick to get up from the bed when out of the corner of his eye he spotted one of the cabinets ajar, a piece of fabric obstructing it from closing.

With hope blossoming in him he dashed over to the cabinet and opened the door fully, his tense shoulders sagging in gratitude at the sight of the folded pile of clothing. Percy had no clue how Apollo had procured these style clothing and he was certain it would be better not to ask.

The clothes were actually really similar to what he would usually wear, except there was no doubt some influences from Apollo's style but it was still casual enough that Percy could overlook anything he would have complained about if he actually had options.

Pulling on the simplest of the outfits, a plain blue t-shirt and jeans, he breathed in relief knowing he didn't have to wear bedsheets for who knows how long. He quickly laced up his sneakers and quickly escaped the room.

He turned through the temple quietly but a cold chill that descended down his spine made him halt. Sneaking through the temple like this brought him back to yesterday where doing exactly this had caused this many problems. He wondered for a brief moment what caused him to feel so on edge when he realized this was the corridor which he had been in yesterday. He gulped and turned his head to the right, thinking the same door would be there innocuously, but there was nothing but wall.

Percy wasn't sure if that made him feel more on edge or more at ease. He supposed that since Olympus had not yet moved from Greece, it would only make sense that there was no need for a way to easily get from Olympus to the fates' temple. Where did they say that was again? Corinth, maybe?

Percy pushed the thoughts out of his mind, he couldn't afford to waste time thinking of the fates' when they are exactly the reason he is in this predicament in the first place. Placing blame on others wasn't usually Percy's go to route, especially because he knew he had a part of this, however, blaming Atropos, Lachesis, and Clotho seemed like an easier way to cope with the situation for now.

Slipping out of the temple, Percy was hyper-aware of his surroundings. Thankfully, there was little to no one around, which Percy did find a bit odd. Olympus in his time was always bursting with life and seeing it so silent seemed wrong. Percy wondered why there was no revelry and joy but couldn't bother himself to think about it too extensively, not when he knew he had to find a place to get some peace.

He hadn't really had a moment to sit with himself and come to terms with everything that had happened. Apollo would probably not be to pleased that he had wandered so Percy picked the one spot on Olympus where he knew Apollo would check first. The pond.

Percy had only visited the pond on the far side of the Olympian gardens a few times but it was always where he found himself coming back to each time he needed to think. The first time he had wandered to the pond was after he had held the sky. The second time was on his sixteenth birthday. No he couldn't call it what it actually was, Dionysus had said that is a normal response to traumatic events, to reconfigure them to something easier to talk about. The third time was only a week ago and he had been back there any time he could slip away from Apollo.

It was why he was so certain Apollo could find him, of course looking near the water would be an obvious place to look for a Poseidon kid but it was also a common knowledge to anyone who had gone to look for him when he ran off.

As he sat down on the perfect grass, his shoes mere centimeters from the edge of the pond, he thought of his father. The version of Poseidon he had seen only briefly here seemed colder. Percy knew his father had gotten his reputation honestly, he was one of the most dangerous gods, but that being said Percy had never seen his father so distant.

Don't get him wrong, he had seen his father's anger but there was a disconnect in him here that seemed to really sell the "mightier than thou" attitude. Gone were the khaki shorts, Hawaiian shirts, and fisherman's hat. It was something Percy had expected, of course, but since he had only ever known his father to be the version of him he knew, seeing the version of him he didn't made him feel startlingly alone.

Percy knew he should not expect one ounce of his father's compassion, if that was something this version of him even possessed. Truthfully, could Percy hold it against his father if he rejected him here?

Percy blinked. Yes, yes he could hold onto that hurt. He was one of the lucky ones back home, having a godly parent who not only gave a shit but actively doted on him and proclaimed him his favorite- that didn't happen to anyone else. The fact was his father's love and affection had allowed for him to fight the gods on their ways time and time again because as much as Zeus threatened Poseidon with war, Percy now understood why he hesitated to try and act on his threats.

Percy missed his father sorely, for as overbearing as he was, he gave a shit in his own fucked up godly way. Percy knew that. He also knew that no one understood the connection he had with who he could probably call a deadbeat dad. Poseidon might have been the target of a lot of resentment that Percy probably still was not fully over, his fathers actions proved he gave a shit.

Percy grabbed a fistful of grass and yanked at it in his frustration. He couldn't let his mind stray like that, not when this Poseidon could really let him down. He had to stay on guard.

Proving his words, he jumped in surprise as a gentle hand rested over his fist.

Looking up into the young girls eyes who was, or at least presented to be, of a similar age to Percy with features that were strikingly familiar.

"They are really strict about the conditions of the gardens, I'd be careful ripping the grass out," The girl said softly.

"Oh, sorry!" Percy grimaced, and immediately released the grass.

"Oh, no, I don't care one way or another, the grass will grow back in a few hours with the way this garden is tended to. However, if the nymphs catch you you'll be booted out without remorse." The girl chuckled.

"So, you aren't then? A nymph that is?" Percy questioned as politely as possible.

"My mother is," The girl said simply.

"Oh, okay, that's cool," Percy paused awkwardly, "Um, so... what brings you to the pond?"

"I was watching you," The girl blurted before slapping a hand over her mouth in embarrassment.

Percy frowned, "So can I assume that news has spread then?"

"I was curious, I'm sorry it's just- I'm so much younger than everyone and no one ever let's me do anything so I knew I would have to do something to be able to meet you! I'm just always left out of important conversations and father finally let me in and I think I blew it because I wasn't supposed to tell you any of this because the council is worried that you are a threat but you are mortal so that doesn't really make sense to me and I just wanted to -"

"Woah, woah. Slow down, I can't keep up," Percy said with wide eyes as the girl rambled.

Blowing at her hair to fix the piece that had fallen out of place as she ranted frantically, she thrust a hand forward, "Mortals do this right? Handshake in greetings?"

Percy chuckled lightly and grasped her hand shaking it twice, "Yes we do. I'm Percy."

"Charybdis," The girl smiled brightly before continuing, "I'm your sister!"

Chapter Text

Percy refused to let his smile falter as he sat in the presence of his sister, even though his stomach had dropped in instant remorse. Charybdis, oh he was acquainted with his sister all right. In that moment, Percy wished he was an expert on all of the history like Annabeth had been. His subconscious wish for Annabeth made his stomach sour with a mixture of guilt and hurt which he quickly subdued as he forcibly refocused his attention back onto his half-sister beside him. He was pretty sure, although not certain, that Charybdis was cursed by Zeus a long time ago- or he supposed in the future now. Her curse was what had resulted in her becoming the permanent horrific resident next to Scylla in the sea of monsters that Percy had only come to know her as.

Percy looked at the girl's bright smile and kind green eyes that matched his own and fought the urge to be sick. Charybdis appeared to be a similar age to him, perhaps slightly older; there was a youthful and innocent nature about her that Percy could not help but feel comforted by. Charybdis seemed almost gentle, something Percy had never seen exhibited from any of his siblings in the future. There was always a threat of danger in children of Poseidon, a power that couldn't help to warn others through one characteristic or another. But Charybdis almost seemed to have a childlike glow about her that made Percy want to confide in her.

Above all else, Percy yearned to know the whole unbiased story, he needed some reason to justify what someone like her could do to deserve a fate such as that. Percy resolved himself to ask Apollo for every detail later, but for now he supposed it would be better to actually speak to his sister rather than to fixate his thoughts on what she is going to become.

"It's really good to meet you Charybdis, you look so different than you do in the future, I almost didn't recognize you," Percy half-lied, smile still present on his face despite the thrumming remorse that was ever growing in his chest.

"I would hope so! I'm only five hundred! That basically means I'm little more than a kid in godly time, if you didn't know." Charybdis supplied before continuing, "How old are you? I'm not too well versed in humans but if I would make a guess... fifty-four?"

The innocence and ignorance of the goddess baffled a laugh out of Percy, "I'm sixteen, actually, I think I turn seventeen this week." Percy realized, his eyes wide as he pushed his thoughts far, far away before he broke down into tears.

"Oh! Okay, so I think I have made it clear that I know nothing about mortals and rarely travel outside of father's domain, how embarrassing," Charybdis laughed before hiding her head in her hands.

Percy smiled at her for a moment before another confusing thought plagued his mind. Charybdis seemed so open with him, so unwary, it was nice but also odd compared to how everyone else had been treating him.

"Can I ask you something, Charybdis? Why aren't you wary of me?" Percy questioned. He had to know her reasoning, especially since everyone else seemed to be suspicious of him.

Charybdis deflated in attitude, a thoughtful look taking over her features, "Maybe I am simply acting in rebellion, or I am too naïve to know better. At least, I am sure that is what they will proclaim if I ever am caught acquainting myself with you in a genuine way. But in actuality, I think it is because I hope that if I was in a situation like yours- one where people were wary of me or thought me to be too dangerous -I would have someone who just listened without judgement, someone who cared about my Fate. Because, if you are telling the whole truth and there is nothing treasonous planned of this journey, I wouldn't forgive myself for writing you off without seeing for myself. And you are family, so that has to count for something."

Percy sighed, "I think that is a very dangerous thing, Charybdis. This council is different than the one I am familiar with, so I don't think familial loyalty is going to be a good enough reason. Don't get me wrong, I really do appreciate the sentiment but it is probably really dangerous for you to talk to me."

Charybdis grinned slyly, "That's why I told father I wished to spy on and interrogate you. I'm here on official Atlantean business."

"I don't think you should be telling me that you are supposed to be spying in me... and doesn't that also make you a spy against Olympus since I am their ward? At least that's how they make it seem because I get the feeling if I tried to leave and go anywhere else I would be hit by a stray lightning bolt without second thought." Percy shook his head in annoyance at the everlasting paranoia of Olympus.

Charybdis blinked in silence, as if the thought had never crossed her mind.

"Please don't say anything. Traitors against the Olympians... their Fate is always torturous," Charybdis whispered in fear.

"Hey, I am not going to sell you out like that. You are my sister after all, right?" Percy smiled soothingly, recalling her speaking of him like family when he never expected that, especially not in this time.

"You are very odd, riddled with contradictions. They say you are weak and yet act as if you are dangerous. Apollo speaks very highly of you, which is a impressive feat by itself," Charybdis said, now staring out into the pond in thought.

"You've seen Apollo today? Where was he? When I woke up he was already running some kind of errand." Percy said, wondering where the only person who understood him had wandered off to.

"I don't think I should say," Charybdis started before backtracking at Percy's sad frown, "it's not that I don't want to tell you but I don't think it would be right of me to be the one to say it."

Percy's frown deepened, "Isn't that what you said a few minutes ago, though? That no one let's you do anything because they don't trust you can handle it. I may have just met you Charybdis, but I am good at reading people and I don't think you are planning on hurting me with lies."

"What use would that be? Father said you were sent here by Fate, or at least that that was the theory, so why would I try to ruin the opportunity to know everything you could teach us?" Charybdis seemed ecstatic at the thought.

"Teach you? You are gods, I can't possibly teach you anything," Percy frowned in confusion, "besides isn't it forbidden to tell the past about the future? Wouldn't that create paradoxes?"

"I don't know. Is it forbidden? You are the one who got sent here not me," Charybdis shrugged looking at Percy in confusion.

"Well I don't know either! I really don't want to be responsible for ruining the Fate of existence or something because I told you what a taco is!" Percy said in a slight panic, his eyes growing wide.

Charybdis tilted her head and eyed Percy inquisitively, "What is a taco?"

Percy grabbed at his hair in stress, "It's not important, just a type of food. What I'm saying is what if saying something now changes the future and what I eventually go home to is nothing like the place that I had left?"

"I cannot imagine what that must feel like and I'm not entirely sure I understand the full weight of your words or the danger of your situation, but, the gods of your time didn't know you were going to be sent back did they? Apollo seemed like he was very out of sorts about the whole ordeal when he visited father," Charybdis grimaced as she realized she had spilled the information she hadn't planned on.

Percy did a double take in surprise, "That's where Apollo went today? Atlantis? But why would he-?"

At Percy's rising worry, Charybdis felt obligated to at least explain the reason for the meeting even if she didn't plan on mentioning how said meeting went, "Father called a meeting of his favored children to update us of you and Apollo's arrival. I guess your pearl alerted you, Apollo took it off so you could sleep and checked in on the meeting, I guess he was feeling nosy."

Percy immediately reached for his neck and confirmed to himself that the new present, a gift only given to him days before, was missing from his neck. Instead he only found his camp necklace, which was a comfort to have so far away from home.

"What is that, by the way," Charybdis asked gently as she gestured to the necklace, "What does it represent?"

Percy raised an eyebrow, "Don't think I forgot about our conversation, I'm going to circle back to that. These are my camp beads. Do you know of Chiron?"

"Yes, trainer of warriors and heroes," Charybdis nodded, "I may not know much of mortals but I am not so utterly helpless."

"Chiron taught me and my friends at a camp. Let's just say in the future he has his hands full teaching several different heroes at a time." Percy said, playing with the beads absentmindedly.

"So then, what do the beads represent?" Charybdis asked before she noticed one in particular, "I assume the trident represents you as a son of Poseidon?"

Percy thought of how to best phrase it, he didn't want to lie to his sister when she seems to be the only one who has not been cruel to him from their first moment meeting, but at the same time explaining would be hard to do without raising questions he definitely did not want to answer.

"Yeah, this bead represents me as a son of Poseidon," Percy eventually agreed.

"So the rest signify something important too?" Charybdis questioned.

"These beads represent the biggest moments of each year, so yeah, they kind of represent my family," Percy cleared his throat before he could get too lost in the past, "Anyways, getting back to our original conversation." Percy trailed off shooting Charybdis a knowing grin.

Charybdis gave him a pouty, displeased look.

"I told you I wouldn't forget what we were talking about, Charybdis, and I meant that. No, I don't think the gods knew. At least, Apollo definitely didn't because he would have told me. Now, why did dad call a meeting? What did Apollo say to him that made you so interested you had to come here yourself?" Percy gazed at his sister questions swirling around his head.

"Father is a bit paranoid of what reason Fate could have with sending you back. You must admit it is odd. I know not what Apollo's motives were, only that he was not pleased with Father's inattentiveness to you." Charybdis admitted, she could see Percy was pushing himself out of his comfort zone to answer her questions and only thought it right to offer him the same honesty.

Percy groaned and flung himself backwards into the grass in embarrassment, "Oh great. Please tell me he didn't..."

"I thought it was very admirable the way he defended you against any allegations Olympus may or may not accuse you of in the near future. I can see Father truly must truly care for you in your time," Charybdis said with a small smile as she heaved him back into an upright position once more.

"I didn't ask to be here, it is nearly comparable to emotional and psychological torture. It is like seeing strangers wear the faces of people I know. I may be selfish for thinking it but I am glad Apollo was sent here with me because I don't know if I could bear this alone." Percy admitted tightly.

"You are far from alone now, Percy. Do not take this in the wrong way, but you are just a child. As am I, at least in perspective of my immortality. I understand you, I think. You have a need to be trusted, I possess the same need. Our Father's children always come with a reputation but I feel a kinship to you- that you do not wish to live up to it, the same way I wish not to." Charybdis said softly, her own gaze getting lost into the distance.

Percy felt very seen in that moment, he hadn't thought anyone understood that part of him. As thankful for his abilities as he was, the thought of being perceived as dangerous upon a first meeting with someone was awful. It was in part why he hated the idea of becoming a god so much, gods were feared and that was something Percy had never wished to be, especially by his friends and family. Power equaled danger, a sentiment shared between most of the beings he had met immortal or not. Percy felt comforted to know that it wasn't just him who had felt weighed down by his Father's reputation at times. It felt nice to have someone who understood something that he thought he was alone in feeling.

Just when Percy was going to voice his thoughts, Charybdis' gaze refocused and she turned over her shoulder sharply, suddenly tense, "I must go, brother. If you need me, call for me and I shall come with no hesitance. You have my word."

Percy shook his head in confusion, ready to protest, but she had already disappeared into a mist of sea spray.

Hermes had reentered Apollo's temple a mere five minutes after promising the demigod he would return. His arms full of chitons in colors ranging from traditional whites to blues and greens he thought Percy might like as they complimented his eyes. Hermes walked backwards through the doorway, so as to not bump the clothes into the door, only to immediately drop the pile of chitons in horror when he spun around.

The room was empty. It wasn't like the god had entered the wrong room, temples were mostly open concept with very few rooms spread apart from one another with a few hallways here and there. Even if he had entertained the idea of wandering into the wrong room, this had to be Percy's room. The pole contraption Apollo swore was helping Percy despite Hermes' ignorance of the object was sitting in the corner, an undeniable feature that proved this had to be Percy's.

"Percy?" Hermes called out nervously, "demigod where have you wandered?"

Hermes had been given one job: watch the child. Apollo was going to slaughter him, this was not good. Hermes looked at the pile of clothes- not the chitons, he was ignoring those -and his horror grew. Had someone come in and decided to smite Percy while his back was turned? Or perhaps he was transformed into a worm, at least that was fixable.

Approaching the strange clothes that lay messily on the ground he knelt to inspect them whispering, "Percy? Are you in there?"

"Hermes are you well?" Dionysus called from behind him.

Clenching his jaw at his embarrassing position he faced his youngest brother.

"Dionysus, what business do you have here?" Hermes asked as if he was not knelt over a pile of clothes like he was the one with experience in madness.

"I could ask the same of you but if you must know I have come to check on the demigod, he displayed signs of something adjacent to madness when in front of the council yesterday." Dionysus eyed Hermes strangely.

"I'm just... folding clothes?" Hermes scrambled for an excuse as he stood up from his crouched position.

"Okay fine, let's say I believe you because honestly I'm not sure I want the real answer. Where's Percy and Apollo?" Dionysus questioned, leaning against the doorway waiting for an answer.

"Apollo went to attend to something," Hermes said with an innocent smile.

"Hermes, where is Percy?" Dionysus asked again, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Why do you even care? He's a demigod!" Hermes huffed indignantly.

"I was a demigod once too; not even all that long ago in comparison to how long you have been in existence. I may have a certain dislike for most demigods who are egotistical and entitled but he is a child. When I ascended, I didn't want to lose myself- which was one of the reasons I was so glad to have Ariadne join me at my side -but who will I be if I become bitter towards mortals when I understand them in a way none of you ever could." Dionysus admitted quietly.

"I never knew you felt that way," Hermes tilted his head and analyzed his younger brother.

"Don't get me wrong, most mortals are annoying and they have plenty of faults, but some mortals deserve toleration from us gods. I could almost feel in my being that Percy was one of those people, it is the only reason Apollo would act so friendly with him in the first place," Dionysus blinked and looked around the room again, "So, where exactly is Percy, then? I would like to give him a full mental evaluation."

Hermes swallowed nervously, "I kind of, sort of, maybe, possibly lost him."

Dionysus bristled, standing up straight as he pushed himself off of the doorframe, "What do you mean you lost him?"

"I was supposed to look after him until Apollo got back and I swear I only turned my back for a few seconds and when I came back he was gone and clothes he was wearing when I left were in a pile on the floor," Hermes' tone increased in panic as he spoke.

"But he couldn't have simply disappeared," Dionysus frowned.

"I have to go look for him, I promised Apollo that I would look after him," Hermes said worriedly.

"Since when have you ever cared about things like that?" Dionysus questioned, still frowning.

"I care!" Hermes protested weakly.

"Liar. I think you feel the same way I do, that you instinctually can tell this child is different. Fate has done this deliberately and I want to know why. Don't you want to know? Or are we all supposed to simply wait for a catastrophe to appear before this all makes sense? What could Fate possibly justify as a reason to send Apollo and Percy back here, millennia into their past?" Dionysus rattled off quickly, the need for answers making him on edge.

"Whatever," Hermes brushed the very true accusations off and completely ignoring the harder questions he did not want to ponder on right now, "Just help me find him!"

Hermes stormed out of the room hurriedly, not realizing he was leaving Dionysus to scramble after him.

"Wait! Where are we even supposed to look for him?" Dionysus called as he hurried to catch up.

Searching the vast expanse of Olympus was not an easy task and after an hour of the two gods walking briskly through gardens and temples trying to investigate any possible hiding place, Hermes and Dionysus were growing furiously frustrated.

"Do you think he left the temple of his own free will or do you suppose he was captured by someone?" Dionysus questioned wearily as they paused at the entrance of the last garden to be checked, on the very outskirts of Olympus.

"If that kid was kidnapped then I am making myself scarce before Apollo comes and discovers that I was the reason he was left unattended," Hermes grimaced, knowing how protective of the kid Apollo seemed to be.

"What do you mean?" Apollo said as he strode up beside them, face unnaturally calm.

"Apollo, uh- what are you doing here?" Hermes said anxiously, scrambling backwards a few steps.

"Well when I came back and Percy wasn't in his room I knew he would be here. I'm actually quite surprised you both figured it out! Well done!" Apollo said with a grin, patting his brothers with one arm each.

"Well done? What do you mean well done? We've been searching for him for an hour! Are you saying this was some kind of test?!" Dionysus' tone grew angrier with each word.

"No, no," Apollo was quick to dispel those thoughts, "I just thought you both had come to the conclusion of why Percy would run away to here."

"You expected him to run away?" Hermes balked.

Apollo sighed as he gazed out at the garden in front of him. They wouldn't understand Percy's reasoning for seeking peace and quiet far away from the judgmental gazes of those who inhabited Olympus. Of course it isn't like Apollo could expect these past versions of his brothers to understand anything about them.

"You don't get it, on top of everything else he has been having to deal with Percy is also having a hard time adjusting to this time and place. Our Olympus is different in many ways but there is much the same, this garden on the very outskirts is one of them. Percy has gone there multiple times over the years to clear his mind. I'm not surprised he ventured out here once again, not after everything he has been through," Apollo explained as he began walking with his brothers deeper into the garden.

Once they came around a corner and parted a willow tree, there revealed a secluded pond. Percy sat at the waters edge looking next to him as if someone had been there only moments ago. But of course, Apollo knew that couldn't have been possible and instead reached the conclusion that Percy must have been lost in thought thinking of home and the people that had sat and comforted him by this pond. If Apollo had to assume he would guess Percy was thinking of his father. Apollo didn't blame Percy one bit if he was thinking about Poseidon. The Sea god that existed here was cruel in ways he never remembered and the Sea god he knew at home was a balance of an easygoing nature while still being protective.

"Hey, Perce. You had enough time to think?" Apollo said as he came up next to Percy and forcing the thoughts of the Poseidon that had angered him so greatly earlier from his mind.

Percy took a deep breath and nodded hesitantly, "Yeah, sorry I took off."

"I'm not mad at you, Percy. I'd much rather you go to this same spot where I know I can find you but still give you the space you need. Although, you might want to apologize to Hermes and Dionysus, I think you worried them," Apollo said gently as he helped Percy to his feet.

Percy looked over Apollo's shoulder to the other two gods standing there and winced apologetically, "Sorry, Hermes. I didn't realize you would care if I took off, I assumed you would just go back to whatever you were doing before Apollo asked you to watch over me. And Dionysus, I don't know how you got pulled into this but I really wasn't trying to make a big deal out of any of this."

Hermes and Dionysus shared a look with one another before Hermes shook his head.

"It's okay... I think? Honestly, Percy, if you were anyone else I think I would smite you or at least publicly humiliate you for wasting my time and worrying me but Dionysus and I both have come to a similar conclusion. If Apollo understands your behavior and allows it, then there is a reason- even if you do not yet feel comfortable sharing that reason yet." Hermes said, although he looked pained to admit it if his tightly squeezed fists were anything to go off of.

Dionysus nodded and added with tightly drawn eyebrows, "You have proven yourself to truly be an anomaly, existing outside of every custom we abide by, but if Fate has brought you here perhaps we should heed it and allow you to become comfortable with us again. It is clear to Hermes and I that acting like cruel and demanding gods won't get us any answers, especially when Apollo seems about ready to fight us to ensure your safety."

Percy blinked in shock, truly never expecting for anyone to care about him here, other than Apollo of course. The thought was comforting but also, he wasn't sure if he could allow himself to believe it. Not when he was just steeling himself to be okay with treating them like strangers who wore the faces of loved ones. But despite his fears, he desperately wanted to believe it.

"We want to help you get home, Percy. You don't belong here- I don't say that to be cruel, it is the truth -you deserve to get home. The only way I can see that happening is that you and Apollo are supposed to effect something or perhaps just observe something in this time before Fate will be appeased and allow you to be transported home. I hope that our compliance with your oddness and lack of respect, at least compared to the customs of this time, will help you leave here faster and get back to the version of myself who is probably doing laps around the world trying to find you." Hermes said, looking at Percy sympathetically.

Apollo's jaw dropped slightly, "You came up with that all by yourself?"

Hermes rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "I may have visited Hestia for advice but I didn't have to listen to it, so technically yeah I did come up with it."

Percy snorted, "That is the most you like answer I have ever heard."

Percy's eyes filled with tears as he thought of the similarities in the gods before him to the gods he had known at home. Comparing them had been something he had kept denying himself, but that same hostility from yesterday or even hours ago,... it was no longer present in the two gods. It was like he could tell now that the versions of them he knew were there, hidden behind layers of themselves they had yet to discover as they were not yet molded by millennia of events. But Percy was sure now as he gazed at Hermes and Dionysus that he could see the foundation. The quirk of Hermes' lip that he knew could be a mischievous smile if he tried, Dionysus' analytical gaze that could always figure out when something was bothering someone.

"You really want to help me? You don't have to, if you are doing this out of some newfound guilt... save it because I think you changing your mind in a few days would hurt worse than you deciding to have no part in this at all." Percy choked out a laugh, a sardonic smile gracing his face through his tears as he admitted the fears plaguing his mind.

"We may not be the gods you know Percy, but we can pretend we know what those versions of us are like if it means getting you back to the people that miss you," Dionysus paused with a sad smile before facing Apollo, "both of you."

Apollo brushed the thought off with a scoff, "oh please I am sure they have already thrown a party to celebrate my disappearance."

Hermes frowned deeply, "You are our brother, Apollo. Do not for a second think I would not already be devastated if anything happened to you. In a future where we seem closer than ever? I don't want to even consider the pain of it."

Apollo blinked away tears before they could drip down his cheeks. He turned away from his brothers who were looking at him with so much compassion he did not know they could even possess in this time, instead he focused on Percy who was giving him an inquisitive look that was much easier to handle.

"Alright so, if we are going to be working together to get Percy and I home, perhaps we should move this conversation elsewhere and discuss possible reasons Fate would bring us here and a plan of where we should continue from this point," Apollo clapped his hands and started walking in the opposite direction of the group back towards the willow tree.

Chapter Text

Hestia had never seen the negative effects of a soul bond being forcibly ripped from an individual before, mostly because it wasn't supposed to be possible. But many of her assumptions on what she had thought possible had changed drastically now as the goddess watched in carefully concealed horror a t the scene in front of her.

Dionysus and Athena were in the process of tying a flailing Annabeth to a hospital bed in the hopes that she did not harm herself or others. Hestia had a passing thought of thankfulness that she felt horrible for having in the first place. If Annabeth had been the daughter of a more destructive god or goddess, they might have had worse to about than screaming and thrashing. Hestia wished she wasn't reduced to such a state that she was thanking Fate for putting anyone in this situation.

All of those who had seen Annabeth yesterday compared to today could attest that she seemed to be mentally deteriorating at an alarmingly fast rate. It was not even twenty four hours ago yet that Percy and Apollo had disappeared and yet the effects were already this prevalent. Hestia supposed it said a lot about the bond between Percy and Annabeth that her subconscious reaction was this intense, but still the goddess of the hearth feared what would happen to the girl if they did not find a way to remedy the ailment soon.

"No, please, get away!" Annabeth's screams were downright bloodcurdling.

Her screams were laced with genuine horror and Hestia winced, she had not known what Tartarus could be like but she was certain that it had done no good in aiding with her mental health. It was a lethal combination that she desperately wished she could fix but the fact remained: the Mighty Gods of Olympus were at a loss. The wisest of them were confused, the bravest were worried, the strongest felt useless. Hestia could scoff at their current dilemma, oh how the mighty had fallen within only a day.

"Annabeth, sweetheart, take a deep breath. If you continue like this, you are going to damage your vocal chords," Athena said in a much more tender voice than anyone could ever expect to hear from the normally abrasive goddess.

"You're killing me, stop! Stop killing me!" Annabeth sobbed, her eyes somewhat unfocused as she screamed gutturally. 

Athena glared at Dionysus in accusation, to which he immediately shot down, "I am not hurting her, Athena. At least to my knowledge, that is. She shouldn't be able to feel these restraints but I can't say I know anything anymore, we are all so out of our depths. I didn't think having her wrists bleed from attempting to escape would do any good to help her right now, so the restraints must stay."

It was at times like these that Hestia was reminded of how competent Dionysus was in regards to mental health, even when they knew nothing about the situation he had made sure he was doing all he could to help her. It reminded Hestia of the times when a newly ascended Dionysus used to just walk around Olympus staring at everyone and trying to figure them out like a puzzle to be solved. He knew nothing then either but he knew his domain and his instincts were rarely off in regards to mental health.

"But then why would she think we are hurting her?" Athena asked, a lone tear pooling in the corner of her right eye.

Dionysus sighed, "It is like I told you, Athena. This is presenting as if it were madness but if it truly is a madness, it is one that not even I have the ability to cure or subdue. The only thing I can assume at this point is that we need Percy back as soon as possible if we have any hope of fixing her before there is serious and permanent psychological damage done to her brain."

At Percy's name Annabeth began shrieking loudly in her panic, "No! No! Please, No!"

Hestia felt a presence stand at her side and she ripped her gaze away from the unsettling scene in front of her instead turning to whoever had sidled up beside her, expecting to face one of the many minor gods who were beginning to show up to help them. Only, it wasn't a minor god at all, rather it was a teenage demigod.

"Will, you shouldn't be in here!" Hestia gasped taking in the horrified look on the demigod's face.

"What happened to Annabeth!?" Will gasped out in a guttural tone that perfectly matched the look on his face.

"You needn't know yet, dear one. It is late, you should be in your cabin," Hestia urged him away from Annabeth.

"No, I can't! This is my infirmary and if something is happening, I should be here to help!" Will said defiantly.

"You don't have to, Will, not this time. We are going to handle this." Hestia rested a hand on his shoulder, hoping to implore her compassionate warmth through her gaze.

Will stepped back from her grasp in panic, "Did I do this? Did I miss something that was wrong with her while she spent the three days in the infirmary? Am I why she's like this? Because I failed?"

"Child, I promise you that you had nothing to do with what is happening to Annabeth. It is a very long and complicated ailment that even us gods know very little about," Hestia promised Will, reaching out her hand once more and grasping his.

"Did- did it happen," Will paused hesitantly, "down there?"

"Yes and no. I believe that being down there allowed for her to grow weak and exhausted enough that her current ailment was able to affect her this badly, but it is not the root of the problem." Hestia explained patiently, careful not to say any words that may trigger her when she has only just paused in her screaming.

"Is it contagious? Is anyone else at risk?" Will prattled off immediately as he put himself into healer mode.

"No, it is not contagious but yes I do fear that others may be at risk of developing the same ailment." Hestia explained honestly.

"What are the symptoms? I can do rounds quickly to the cabins and ensure no one is showing signs of suffering with a similar affliction." Will's eyes were wandering around he room rapidly while he talked, clearly he was coming up with a plan in his mind. 

Hestia eyed the boy carefully, she knew that it would be cruel to the boy to have him do anything without knowing the full truth but Hestia was practically sick at the thought of explaining to the young boy that his father and Percy were both gone.

Before Hestia could make up her mind several more teenagers appeared in front of her, she recognized them quickly as the Roman demigod friends of Percy. Troublingly she noted the burly one, Frank Zhang, was carrying an unconscious Hazel Levesque in his arms.

Will seemed to have noticed the same as her as he spoke up, "What happened? What are her symptoms."

"William, no," Hestia said firmly.

Hestia would not allow this poor boy to work himself tirelessly at a time like this especially when his world was about to crumble once he heard the news she was dreading to inform him of.

Will shut his mouth immediately in shock.

"Hello children, I assume you are all that will be arriving from New Rome?" Hestia asked as she gestured for Frank to lay Hazel on an empty hospital bed. Hestia was thankful that they were currently on the other side of the room from where Annabeth lay, her screams still thankfully subdued into muffled sobs.

"Yes, Lady Hestia," Jason replied, making sure to use the goddess' Greek name while in the Greek camp.

Jason was never necessarily best friends with Percy, but he think he understood the guy pretty well. Especially after everything they had went through. Those kinds of things make you bonded to someone whether you had planned on being friends or not. So if there was something wrong with Percy, he of course had wanted to be there to help. How they had acted around each other was plaguing Jason's mind with guilt. Perhaps he had been too harsh; or rather they had been harsh to each other. Now, Jason might never get to fully understand Percy as a person and eventually grow to be friends. It was a reality that made him mourn. A friendship that may never be, all because they had chosen to be competitive and let their ego's get in the way. 

"Then I assume you have been told why you were brought here?" Hestia asked gently.

"Well- sort of, Lady Hestia. Truthfully, we were barely briefed at all," Hestia recognized the girl as a daughter of Venus she believed to be named Gwen.

Hestia froze looking between Will and the group in front of her. 

Hestia then sighed before nodding her head in regretful acceptance, "If you would excuse me for just one moment while I explain this to Will, I can address all of your questions afterwards."

Hestia smiled sadly at the group of Romans and gently led Will outside of the building, standing just far enough away that the soft lighting from inside allowed for them to see without squinting.

"William, there was an incident that happened on Olympus," Hestia began softly.

Will looked at her worriedly but nodded nonetheless, "Okay, what- what kind of incident? How does that relate to-"

Hestia cut him off with a slightly raised hand, she wished to stop him from panicking before he was given all the information.

"There is no easy way for me to relay this information to you, child. Because of that, I will provide you some necessary context so that you will understand this better before I inevitably overwhelm you, is that all right?" Hestia decided she needed to be sure Will was going to be able to handle this conversation before continuing.

"Okay, yeah, I understand," Will agreed, hungry for any information the goddess was willing to give up.

"A lesser known part of my domain of the hearth is a very sacred thing called a soul bond, but it can also be referred to as a familial bond or just a bond."

"A soul bond? Like, soul mates?" Will interrupted in confusion, his eyes squinting in confusion.

"No child it has nothing to do with the tales of love stories that I assume you are imagining. Soul bonds are like tethers demigods have to their godly parent. Although it is not unheard of for bonds to be made between demigods or even from other gods to demigods that aren't their own. It is more of a kinship, a bond created to strengthen and protect. In cases where they appear between demigods it is of my understanding that these bond attach themselves to a demigods life force to aid both of those involved specifically in times where they are weakened or in peril. However, there has never been a significant amount of knowledge given to me about them by Fate via the fates, so it could also be contingent on other events or reasoning that Fate has deemed unimportant for me to know. But what I do know for certain is every demigod is born with a bond to their parent and any other bonds that they may acquire throughout their lifespan are solely based on their interactions with others. It was also a certainty, until today that is, that soul bonds cannot be forcibly made to exist and they cannot be forcibly removed. It was supposed to lie only within Fate's hand to decide those things." Hestia explained the very complex matter to the best of her ability.

Will took a moment to digest the information that really made no sense to him in his still somewhat frazzled state before he nodded in an attempt of understanding, "So like I have one of these family bond things with my dad... because he's my dad? And that bond can't be taken away no matter what?"

Hestia winced before she had time to school her expressions.

"'Is that what's wrong with Annabeth? That Annabeth's soul bond with Athena was removed somehow when it wasn't supposed to be possible?" Will questioned in confusion.

"No child, it was Annabeth's soul bond with Percy that was forcibly removed." Hestia clarified with a heavy heart.

"But how, you said it was supposed to be impossible? Is that the big problem? Where is Percy? Is dad looking after him? Is that why he is still being treated on Olympus?" Will shook his head, still not reaching the correct conclusion.

"That is indeed part of the big problem, you are right, it is supposed to be impossible. However, another part of the problem is that Percy went missing this morning and no one can find him." Hestia said the words she had dreaded, and they had weighed upon her shoulders with the amount of force Atlas had to bear from the sky.

Will gasped in his panic, "What!? But he can't have gone missing! He was staying with my father while he healed!?"

Will's back then went ramrod straight as he finished his exclamation. He began blinking dully at Hestia, on the brink of horror.

"Where is my father?" Will whispered hoarsely.

"Your father is also declared as missing, Will," Hestia admitted in a whisper, her eyes glistening with tears.

Will shook his head in denial, "No, that can't be. Gods don't just go missing without a trace. How could the sun have risen this morning if dad was gone?"

"It is believed that rising the sun was among your father's last actions before vanishing. We have called in an all hands on deck situation in for this; so, until he is found, his domains will be tended to by other gods who share similar domains and can adjust their duties around to tend to his in his absence." Hestia explained.

Will didn't speak up for a tense moment, gulping back sobs before he took a steadying breath.

"If my dad is... gone," Will choked on a sob, not wanting to admit that aloud, "then, what about my siblings and I? Are we going to have this bond ripped away like Annabeth did with Percy? Has it already happened to me and I can't tell?"

"I am unsure," Hestia was furious with herself for not having any answers to soothe the boy in front of her.

"This has really never happened before in all of existence? Once someone has a soul bond it can never go away?" Will questioned in confusion, still blinking away tears.

"Soul bonds can fade on their own but I can see through my hearth that this bond was abruptly ripped away, it is evidence in the fraying strands of life forces. I will have to gather all of your siblings soon and inspect all of you. If I am being honest with you, child, I was so horrified to see Percy and Apollo's missing essence that I had little time to inspect the weaving bonds throughout the flames. It is meticulous work, harder still now that the bonds have no one to connect to. It is very hostile and pains me physically to even gaze upon," Hestia admitted only just above a whisper.

Will returned to silence, not knowing how to come to terms with the reality of the situation. The deceptively peaceful night surrounding them was then interrupted by the sudden appearance of three individuals as they strode towards the infirmary. 

Will frowned in further confusion, "Nico? Lord Hades? Lady Persephone?"

Hestia seemed to remember then what scene she had left inside the infirmary.

"Brother, wait. Before you go in," Hestia halted the group before they could pass them.

Hades gazed at his sister and the child who stood next to her in confusion.

"It is only right that I tell you that Hazel Levesque is currently unconscious in a hospital bed," Hestia hurried to finish her whole explanation at Hades and Nico's rising worry, "I am unsure whether she simply fainted from the news."

Hades took a mere second to sharply inhale and return his face to one of full composure, "Thank you for letting me know, Hestia."

The group of three entered the infirmary quietly and Hestia turned back to Will, "Do you think you'll be able to get some sleep? We won't be able to do anything until morning anyways since we are still trying to come up with a plan to get ahead of this before anyone else gets as sick as Annabeth."

Will frowned, "But-"

"Will, you won't do any good helping if you are exhausted. Please don't force yourself to overexert your energy when we have all of Olympus working together to fix this," Hestia comforted.

Will rubbed at the side of his neck in stress, he desperately wanted to believe Lady Hestia but how was he supposed to trust in gods that had never truly handled anything on their behalf before? After everything they had been through, the gods were rallying together and deciding to act now? But those same gods couldn't find the energy to solve any issues together back when Kronos was rising? Or perhaps when Gaia was rising? They decided to just now act like the all mighty and problem solving gods they portrayed themselves to be?

Will's blood practically boiled with rage. If these gods had gotten off their thrones and actually done something in the first place, he wouldn't have to return to an almost empty cabin. Will knew in his heart that his siblings wouldn't be gone if the gods had taken this kind of action then. Despite this he still felt very conflicted in his rage, unknowing who to point the proverbial finger at in this moment. Will simply nodded at Hestia, before turning away quickly and retreating back to the Apollo cabin. Before he reached the door he turned around and flung himself down on the steps, curling in on himself and tucking his chin into his knees as he finally allowed the tears to flow.

Losing so many of his friends had been hard, losing so many of his siblings had been unbearable, but losing his father was a loss he had never thought to consider. Maybe it was the shock of it that had made it so much worse. His father was a god, someone he had took comfort in knowing would always be there until the day Will died. His father was the one person he had never even considered losing and now he was just missing along with Percy, who had been such a symbol of strength and perseverance to so many demigods. Will didn't know how to begin to process it, not when it was so unexpected.

He was beyond worried that his siblings would fall to the same ailment that Annabeth had. He didn't know if he could bear watching as he lost his siblings, not physically but mentally. Will let his anguished tears fall, the emotions he normally kept locked down were now breaking through all at once. He was distraught and it felt like he was burning, his skin in flames and itchy.

Will Solace felt wrong.

Clawing at the skin of his collarbone, he scratched, hoping to ground himself back to a controllable state. Will knew the signs, he was the head medic after all. He was beginning to have a panic attack. He forced his eyes open, not even realizing he had forced them closed so tightly. Sure, he had no one to help him, but that was fine. He didn't want to bother anyone else with this right now anyways. 

Five things he could see, he thought to himself in a desperate attempt to quell the rising attack. Scanning the area blearily, he caught sight of his shoes, the step underneath him, the grass at the end of the stairs, the rocks he had painted with his youngest sister Gracie, and a spare arrow that lay forgotten on the lawn.

Four things he could feel, Will moved on forcibly as he hiccupped through sobs. He could feel the sticky tear stains on his cheeks, the soft fabric of his shirt, his camp necklace hanging around his neck, the hard step underneath him, and the stinging in his hands from where his nails had unknowingly dug into his fist. 

He continued through steadying breaths, three things he could hear. He reclosed his eyes to focus on the noises that he had been blocking out before. First thing he took note of was the sound of an owl, probably one sent by Athena to watch over her other children while she tended to Annabeth. The next thing he heard very faintly in the distance was a metallic whirring, clearly the Hephaestus cabin were blissfully unaware that anything was happening outside of their cabin. Finally, he was startled to hear rustling in the grass from far closer to him that he would have liked. 

On edge, he flung his eyes open, looking from left to right and trying to find who was coming towards him. He was surprised to see it was Connor Stoll. Immediately Will brought up his sleeve and tried to wipe any remaining tears from his cheek. 

"I'm guessing you heard then?" Connor said gently, coming over and sitting on the step beside Will.

Will looked at the son of Hermes in fury, "You knew?"

"I did. I promised my dad that I wouldn't say anything about it. At lest, not until they were certain what was going on. I am assuming that you just found out? I haven't been able to stomach sleeping, not when something this serious is going on. I've even Iris messaged Travis and he said he is coming back to help." Connor said, kicking his shoes at the ground anxiously.

"No offense, but what does Travis think he is going to be able to do to help anything here? Even the gods are at a loss," Will said miserably.

"Losing Percy and your dad is going to be hard on everyone. We all need to stick together and help each other through this. The whole point is to be there for each other, even if we can't solve the problem," Connor said.

"Do you think they are okay? That they will come back?" Will asked.

Connor was acutely aware in that moment that Will was younger than him, he knew that war had changed them all but the youthful vulnerability was still there in Will. It hurt Connor to have to see that same vulnerable hope that he had had to crush so many times before when informing campers that their siblings didn't make it out of the battle. At least this time, there were still some odds in their favor.

"Percy has always defied the odds and came back to everyone, even when we were certain he was lost to us forever. Not to mention your dad is one of the most powerful gods, even if he doesn't flaunt his strength like Ares. I don't want to make promises I can't keep, Will, but you can't deny the odds are still in our favor here," Connor said consolingly.

"I'm tired of losing people," Will admitted with a tired sigh, "It's like everyone I care about ends up leaving me."

Connor placed a hand on his shoulder, "We all are, but we have never once given up, so I don't see a reason to start now."

Meanwhile, Hestia retreated back into the infirmary, steeling herself to face more children and deliver the same useless answers.

When she opened the door and strode in, everyone who was huddled by the unconscious body of Hazel Levesque turned to face her. 

"Alright, now, you said you were informed on the topic?" Hestia asked the group of teenagers before turning to her brother, "Hades you informed Nico, correct?"

The teenagers nodded and Hades addressed his sister, "I've told Nico everything that we were sure of."

Hestia nodded in understanding before turning to the goddess of spring and asking kindly, "Persephone, would you be a dear and fetch Asclepius from the back?"

Persephone nodded with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes before she turned and walked off deeper into the infirmary. 

"Children, due to the disappearances of Apollo and Percy, we are faced with an ailment I had previously thought to be an impossibility. You see, demigods possess bonds to their godly parents that help sustain their power. These bonds can also be formed between demigods. The bonds are sacred and can not be forcibly removed or made, at least that is what I had known to be true until hours ago. Unfortunately, because I had not thought it possible, I am not sure what the ailment will present as. It could fluctuate and be different for everyone or it could be the same paranoia that Annabeth has succumbed to. At this time, anyone who was close to Percy and Apollo is at detrimental risk, excluding gods. Additionally, there is no real way for me to evaluate every individual as a group at this time so evaluations will be done in the order of anyone presenting with symptoms of ailment first, anyone directly related second, and close friends last. So with that being said, anyone who is feeling sick or paranoid or even generally off should make themselves known as soon as they become aware of it. If you notice any demigod acting strangely do not be afraid to speak up. We would rather evaluate and be thankfully mistaken than overlook someone and possibly leave them to succumb." Hestia explained to the group at large, Persephone returning with Asclepius about half way through Hestia's monologue. 

"Wait so Percy and Apollo being missing is what is making people sick? Then... is that why Hazel threw up and fainted?" Frank asked worriedly.

"Yes, that is why people are becoming sick, although, the reasoning behind why this is happening is unclear at this time. I'm truly sorry that we don't have more answers for you all. As for young Hazel, that is why I have asked for Persephone to fetch Asclepius, it is very possible the news simply upset her and there is no reason she should not be well in the morning however, I do not want to dismiss this in case it is the ailment in a new form," Hestia said, not wanting to cause any additional unnecessary panic but wanting to be upfront and honest about what is going on. Transparency is all she can really offer anyone right now and Hestia was clutching to it like a lifeline.

Nico spoke up in a hoarse whisper from Hazel's bedside, "What if she is sick?"

Asclepius walked over to Hazel and began running his own diagnostics through his godly magic.

"We'll take care of her," Hades set a hand on his son's shoulder, a rare expression of his caring side which he usually kept under tight lock and key.

Nico grasped the hand of the only sister he had left, the one he had seen in Asphodel and knew in his heart he couldn't let her remain there for the rest of eternity. He had lost his mother a long time ago, he had lost Bianca and she had no desire to come back, but he vehemently refused to sit here and let Hazel slip away from him. Hazel was good, too good in Nico's opinion. She didn't deserve this ailment, if that was what she had. The thought crossed Nico's mind then, he hadn't realized Percy and his sister had been that close- or perhaps an individual needn't be that close to catch the ailment. He wished he could take the ailment instead if that was what was afflicting her. 

Asclepius made a hand gesture and all of the graphs and charts that had been previously hovering in mid air vanished. He met Hades' gaze and then Hestia's before addressing the group as a whole, "I don't understand, I can't see anything wrong with her."

Several of the demigods went slack with relief but Hestia shook her head and covered her mouth in a poor attempt to hide her shocked expression.

Dakota noticed the absence of relief from the gods present, "Isn't that a good thing?"

Asclepius sighed, "No, I should have been able to find the source of the vomiting and fainting. Even if it was an emotional response, the tests I ran would have given a backlog of information to me so I could pinpoint a rise in blood pressure that  could have caused her fainting; or perhaps a constriction of her blood vessels that made her light headed and nauseous. Instead there is just... nothing abnormal in these charts."

Nico froze before muttering in horror, "She has it doesn't she? The ailment?"

"I would have to check to be sure," Hestia said, "but the ailment is undetectable and untreatable by typical godly means. Asclepius not being able to diagnose her is very telling."

"But, she wasn't acting like Annabeth at all! Hazel just vomited and passed out, she wasn't showing any signs of paranoia!" Jason exclaimed in panicked confusion.

"I was worried the ailment would affect individuals differently. I am sorry but as I've said there is no prior case of this happening in all of history. I am well and truly at a loss," Hestia may have been addressing them all but her eyes were locked on her younger brother's.

Gwen spoke up hesitantly, unused to being in the presence of gods, "If there is no known way to heal them, does that mean that everyone who gets this thing is going to die?"

Hades hardened his gaze, "We are going to try to do everything we can to ensure no lives are lost because of this. Hopefully Poseidon and Zeus' combined efforts will be able to locate their sons in a timely manner and this ordeal will be over with soon."

Hestia gave a kind smile to the teenagers, "if no one else is feeling unwell, I will escort you to the cabins. It won't do well to flood the infirmary with a plethora of stubborn teens not taking care of themselves."

The romans, not ones to object to any direction an immortal would give them, began to stalk out of the infirmary, throwing concerned looks back to Hazel's sleeping form. Nico however was lingering by the bedside, giving his father a stubborn look. 

"Father, I can't just-" Nico began to object.

"Son, it will not do to have you join your sister in the infirmary because you let yourself grow susceptible from lack of sleep. Annabeth is only as a severe case as she is because of her injuries and exhaustion. You went to that place too and I won't let you harm yourself. If there is any significant change I will come get you, you have my word." Hades said sternly, but his eyes flickered with compassion and concern.

Nico, knowing it would do no good to argue, hung his head and nodded reluctantly, "Okay, but I am coming back here first thing tomorrow morning."

Persephone strode out after Nico silently, letting him get just out of hearing distance from the infirmary, "Nico."

Nico startled turning around in confusion, "What is it?"

"I have never been fond of my husbands infidelities or the children that result from them," Persephone began.

Nico winced before acknowledging her in an octave just above a whisper, "I know."

"Despite my personal feelings and his general coldness to the world, he does care a great deal about you and Hazel. More surprisingly, I think that perhaps I would even be saddened to learn of your demise. You remind me of your father in a lot of ways, which is unsurprising of course- but I just, I do not wish for you to bring yourself harm because you worry for others. It is often those who seem cold who go unnoticed when they are struggling. This situation is worrying and has sent quite a shock throughout all of Olympus but also through the Underworld and through Atlantis. There is nothing that you have to do at this time, let the gods handle this one." Persephone said with more compassion and kindness than Nico had ever received from her before.

Nico nodded with more courage, "Okay, Lady Persephone."

"And Nico, if you need anything, you can come to me. Your father is going to be very busy with this whole ordeal so I will put my feelings on the matter of demigods aside." Persephone said with a sigh.

Nico furrowed his brows, never expecting the same goddess who transformed him into a dandelion for several hours to ever offer something like that, "Thank you."

Persephone gave a sad smile, "you are still very young, child."

Persephone quickly turned and strode back toward the infirmary, leaving Nico standing in the dark night in shock.

Nico tilted his head towards the sky and seeking out the stars as an unchanging comfort amongst the chaos of the day. He hadn't really had time to process anything but as he caught a glimpse of the huntress constellation, he shed a tear.

Percy and Nico had had a tumultuous friendship, mostly because Nico was young and blamed Percy for his sister's death. The circumstances of both wars had only created a bigger rift between them. But Nico reminded himself as he so often had to as he gazed at the stars that represented Zoe that Percy did not kill Bianca. It was his sister's choice that sealed her Fate.

Nico scowled and ripped his gaze away from the sky as he continued on towards the Hades cabin. If Fate wanted to keep ripping people away from their loved ones, Nico wouldn't let it happen without a fight. He wouldn't risk losing Hazel just because the fate's were playing games with Percy and Apollo's lives. 

Chapter Text

Poseidon and Zeus had gone their separate ways temporarily. Zeus was going to go to Olympus and gather anyone who remained out of the loop into a briefing of the situation. Poseidon was traveling to Atlantis to break the news to his people and more importantly, his family.

Poseidon was in a downright miserable mood, although, it was expected of him when his favorite child was missing.

The sea was downright volatile with waves crashing against coastlines mercilessly and more storm activity than researchers had seen reported in centuries. It was a bit ironic that they had been fighting wars for years and yet Poseidon potentially losing his mortal son was what caused him to wreak such havoc.

But Poseidon was convinced that he had never been this angry before, at least not in the life time of any of those mortals studying the seas. His child was stolen from him. Percy was abruptly ripped away and instead in danger because of what was starting to feel like some cosmic joke against him. He resolved himself with one truth: he would see Percy again or he would destroy the world attempting to get him back. 

Just as he was about to summon his favorite children to ensure they were present for his announcement his heart plummeted. If Percy had been taken, why didn't he use the pearl necklace to alert him at once? Poseidon couldn't linger on those thoughts though, instead he had to come up with solutions.

Poseidon knew his children were not overly fond of Percy, if only for the fact that he is a mortal. As much as Poseidon could wish for all of his children to get along, he was not so naïve as to think that was a task he could ever be able to accomplish. But he knew of at least one of his children who would be heartbroken to discover Percy's disappearance. 

Without further preamble, he summoned his family, he summoned his cyclops, he summoned his army, and he summoned his advisors. He settled on his throne in the large meeting hall and waited for them to arrive, pleased to see them appearing with haste.

Amphitrite appeared on her throne next to him and her face crumpled after one look at him, "Oh dear, what's happened now?"

"Unfortunately it seems like we will not be getting a break from chaos anytime soon," was all Poseidon said as he watched the hall fill.

Everything seemed to settle after a few moments of hectic movement as people amassed the hall he addressed them with a heavy glance, "It is with great anguish that I inform you all that we cannot lay down arms yet. There were two disappearances from Olympus very early this morning. One of which was Apollo, which is an unfounded and troubling circumstance in itself as no one has ever managed to steal away an Olympian before specifically without leaving any evidence behind. The next individual I announce with great sorrow and anger. My demigod son, Percy Jackson, is the second missing in this debacle."

Poseidon paused, not so much that he wanted to leave the crowd of his people with that troubling announcement, rather, just as he had to because as he had expected, there was a heartbroken cry from further in the back of the room. The cry belonged to exactly who Poseidon knew would be able to influence some of the more hesitant subjects of his domain to be a bit more compassionate in the disappearance of Percy. Ambling forward through the crowd with distress clear on his face was Tyson, desperate as he cried and struggled to get to the front.

"Brother? What happened to Percy? Daddy where is Percy? Where is my brother?" Tyson wailed.

As much as it hurt Poseidon to have those cries flung at him, he needed Tyson to have this outburst. Poseidon needed for his people to genuinely want to find Percy- not to only do it out of their obligation. He needed his people to be as desperate for answers as he was and the only way he could accomplish that would be to capitalize off of their vulnerabilities. Perhaps it was wrong to manipulate his son's emotions and those of his subjects but getting Percy back was the priority and anything that walked the thin lines of right and wrong would be used to Poseidon's advantage. There was no possibility in where he wouldn't do what it took to get his son back. 

Besides, he had slim to no other options. It wasn't as if Poseidon could appear weakened by the news of his son's disappearance. That would only open up too many future attempts to kidnap or harm his children- more specifically Percy who was his most vulnerable -by his enemies. Instead he formulated this plan, utilizing his all too well known anger and other people's weakness in their compassionate souls to his benefit.

It helped that Tyson was well liked by his people, and for more than just being a son of Poseidon, as he was the most docile of all the cyclops who inhabited his domain. Poseidon assessed the gazes in front of him, taking note that a considerable amount had now flickered with sympathy and the god could not help but internally grin. This improvised plan of his was already working. However, Poseidon did not miss in his evaluation of the crowd in front of him the subtle eye roll that was coming from Triton and he found himself having to resist his own. He knew his oldest son was jealous of Percy, which was frankly ridiculous especially as Percy was only a mortal and as much as it pained him to think about, would be departing from their lives in what would feel like a blink of an eye. Even though Poseidon- not too secretly -wished that his mortal son had accepted divinity when offered.

"I do not know where Percy is at this time, Tyson. Apollo nor Percy have left behind any clues regarding their disappearance. It is truly as if they have vanished entirely. The Olympian council is unsure whether this is a threat towards all of us or simply a targeted attack against the two of them. Regardless, we will be doing anything and everything to gather any information we can that will result in the safe recovery of both of them. I want it known that every one of you is expected to leave no possibility unchecked. Anyone with suggestions is welcome to bring them to Delphin who will pass alone word to me or send a designated team to investigate. The two of them were stolen from Olympus, I refuse to lose anyone else to this so I want everyone to divide into groups which will again be decided by Delphin. That is all, you are excused, besides my children who I wish to stay for just a moment." Poseidon ended his decree, and watched as they all shuffled hurriedly out of the room.

Amphitrite remained in her throne beside him silently observing the room and then changing her gaze to Triton, Kymopoleia, Benthesikyme, Rhode, and Tyson who all gathered slightly closer to Poseidon's throne now that he needn't address a whole room.

Tyson had been sniffling quiet sobs, trying to cease his crying and failing. Benthesikyme was glancing at him awkwardly, not knowing how to handle his tears. Rhode looked a bit sympathetic. Triton was stoically indifferent and Kymopoleia's annoyance was palpable.

"Oh for chaos sake! Stop crying and have some self respect! He was a mortal, he was going to die anyways!" Kymopoleia burst out as she rolled her eyes.

"Kymopoleia!" Amphitrite chided with a frown.

"Percy is not dead! Don't say that! My brother is going to come back!" Tyson bit back in anger as he began to cry harder.

"You're naïve if you think a mortal is going to survive anything that is completely untraceable to the Olympians!" Kymopoleia scoffed.

"Enough!" Poseidon barked sharply, having enough of Kymopoleia's petulance.

Knowing Poseidon was in no mood to anger, she ceased her actions, fixing her gaze at the wall over his shoulder.

"I do not care whether any of you want to acknowledge Percy as your brother or not; your ill feelings towards him do not change the fact that that's what he is. I do not want to hear an ounce of your insolence when your dramatics are fueled by nothing but your hatred of the fact that he is mortal. And do not try to make up some new excuse for your detest of him now, you and I both know that you do not have a reason to dislike him other than the fact that he exists at all. Percy has never done anything to any of you and I expect for you to enthusiastically help with this rescue effort. Or I am sure if you would rather not aid in the effort, I could just tell Zeus of your refusal to help with the search, which includes the whereabouts of his oldest son," Poseidon smiled sharply, the danger in his tone making a clear impact on those in front of him.

The children of the sea balked as they were all in varied degrees of shock at the threat that was certain to have drastic consequences, more severe than any of them had ever been threated with in their entire existences. These consequences were curses they knew and had seen befall upon others, but never had they thought their father would threaten such a thing upon them. Rhode took a half step forward, knowing this conversation with Kymopoleia had to be stopped before they all got a one way trip to the sea of monsters.

"Of course we will help, father. Kymopoleia has seemed to forgotten herself," Rhode tossed her sister a warning look.

Kymopoleia's eyes widened as her anger rose once more. Letting out a sharp laugh in disbelief she snapped, "Forgotten myself? Are you forgetting that he is a mortal? I am not saying that whatever entity captured the both of them isn't a threat; I am saying that our focus shouldn't be wasted on attempting to rescue someone who is probably already dead!"

"I thought I made myself clear that I wanted no more of your insolence, daughter?" Poseidon said in a dangerously calm voice.

Kymopoleia, never one to back down, stood straighter and smiled sarcastically but before she had a chance to say anything Tyson interrupted them, his forehead wrinkled in his hurt.

"Percy is my brother. Doesn't matter that we are different. Percy is strong and brave and the best brother ever! He isn't dead! He wouldn't leave me! Don't talk about him like that!" Tyson said before turning and storming out of the room. 

Poseidon watched Tyson flee before he turned to his other four children, "Perhaps it is my fault for how you all act today, and if so I suppose I cannot fault you for that. However, regardless of the cause of your sour and entitled attitudes, it must end at once. Do you all understand me? I do not want to hear a single complaint out of any of you and I do not want to have to deal with your petty melodramatics. There are bigger things to worry about that standing here and ranting about what you think is or is not worth your time. Go see Delphin for your instructions, I don't want to see any of you right now. You've disappointed me."

Amphitrite watched as the four left in varying levels of shock, anger, and hurt. After a few tense moments of silence the Queen of the Seas let out a sigh as she turned to face her husband.

"I do understand where you are coming from, darling. You care for your son very much, there is no denying that. However, I must say you are being a bit harsh with them. Especially since you have never made them act with any amount of kindness towards your demigod children before." Amphitrite said softly.

Poseidon rubbed a hand against his chest, "Perhaps I was a bit hard on them given the suddenness of the circumstances. Still, what I said reigns true: Olympus has no idea how big of a threat we are dealing with and their childish and unjustified hatred will do nothing to help us resolve the whole ordeal."

"What I am a bit confused with here, darling, is only Kymopoleia spoke in true opposition and yet you threatened them all. That is unlike you and I have to say that it worries me," Amphitrite scrunched her eyebrows up as she spoke.

Poseidon let out his own sigh as he sunk against the throne, "It is undoubtedly the effects of the bond. While I of course will not be effected in the drastic way it apparently will to mortals, it still aches considerably. I have to say the magnitude of the hole in my being has made me quite irritable."

Amphitrite nodded in understanding and took her husbands hand. While she may not have any love for any of the demigods he sires, she understood his care for them. Most of all, she understood that his demigods were of the sea just as every other being in their kingdom. Percy was of the Sea. It was an irrefutable fact that entitled him to not only the protection of the kingdom but the fierce protection of Poseidon himself. Amphitrite had seen thousands of demigods live and die but never had she seen her husband grow to love one in the way he clearly loved Percy. Amphitrite knew her husband better than anyone and she knew that this bond, the one he doted after and had always made sure was tethered to himself strongly, was making him feel indescribable pain now that Percy had been ripped away from him. But Amphitrite knew he would never admit the full scale of the pain he was feeling and she would not press him into speaking about it.

"I do not fault you for something out of your control, especially something as intricate as the bonds you share with your demigod children as I do not even fully understand it. But I will say that in order to be the the great leader you are, you should refocus that pain into power. We will find them both and we will be able to look back on this moment one day and be glad that we chose to remain a strong united front. These past years have been difficult, there is no doubting that. However, Poseidon, we made it out alive. The seas are strong, it is something I certainly shouldn't have to remind you of. We will persist and we will see the sun again; literally." Amphitrite said as she tried to soothe his worries.

Poseidon nodded to show he was listening but remained silent for a considerable amount of time before he decided to speak once more, "As much as Zeus and I can plan to take action, the truth of the matter is we have no place to start. There was not a shred of evidence left behind, it was truly as if they vanished into thin air."

Amphitrite nodded her thoughts racing as she tried to come up with a solution for them, "Hmm."

Poseidon tipped his head to the side, "What is it? Do you have an idea? Amphitrite, like I told the masses, no idea is an idea worth disregarding."

"Well I just," Amphitrite paused to take a breath and collect her thoughts, "I just was thinking of Apollo. Has anyone checked on things that fall under Apollo's domain?"

Poseidon nodded, "Yes of course, the sun chariot duties have been attended to."

"While that is certainly a good thing, I was thinking more about his Oracle. She was Percy's friend, was she not? If anyone would know anything about this situation it would be her- at least, that's what I would think." Amphitrite said, her gaze shifting to the right of her husband slightly as she began to wander in her thoughts.

Poseidon sat up straighter in his throne as if revitalized by his wife's words, "Darling, I have to go. You keep thinking of the genius ideas!"

"Wait you mean that no one," Amphitrite blinked as he disappeared into bubbles, cutting herself off with a sigh she said, "and he's gone."

Amphitrite let herself take a more relaxed position in the chair as she fixed a piece of hair, "Ugh, men. I swear on Chaos that foolish god would have found a way to drown himself by this point if weren't for me."

Poseidon reappeared in Olympus' throne room and immediately made eye contact with Hermes. Apparently, he could tell by the look on his face that he had made a development as he strode toward him with purpose in his step.

"What is it Uncle? Do you want me to go get dad? He is currently in his temple trying to calm down. You missed it, he had a bit of a temper tantrum and Wisconsin isn't looking too good," Hermes grimaced slightly.

"Yes, Hermes, perhaps we should bring anyone who is available and simply awaiting further instruction. I have a lead but I do not know if anything is going to come from it and where we are going already has enough godly presence to provide us with assistance." Poseidon informed.

Hermes frowned in confusion, "Surely you do not mean camp?"

"Yes I do, nephew." Poseidon said with determination before continuing with a half grin, "Now run along and do your duty as the messenger god, huh?"

Hermes put his hand to his chest in fake offense as he began walking backwards, "I am more than my domains, Uncle. Words can hurt."

Poseidon rolled his eyes but resolved himself to wait for the messenger god to do his duty. Luckily for the sea god he didn't have to sit in his own silence for long as two goddesses entered the room.

"Nike, Iris. Thank you for your haste," Poseidon said sincerely.

Iris gave him a sad, pitying smile that on any other day would have made him angry but today gave him a shred of comfort.

"I came as soon as I heard- and not just for Apollo's sake. I know Percy, you have a good kid, Poseidon. I am eager to help find both of them as quickly as possible," Iris said, subconsciously pulling on the beaded strings attached to the bag resting at her hip.

Nike gave a singular nod, "I know of Percy only through others but I will have to agree with Iris. He is the sole reason I have a cabin to house my children in at camp. It is not often I feel indebted to anyone, however, your son has come very close to earning that and like I've said I do not even know him personally. I would have offered my assistance even if it was not a demand from the king himself."

"Like I said, thank you for your haste. Iris, if I may so bold as to ask what you have in your bag?" Poseidon questioned curiously, distracted as the goddess pilfered through the large purse.

Iris grinned and nodded with a chuckle, "When I met Percy he was on the run- on a quest I believe -and those children had been through a hassle before reaching me. A son of yours being chased by Polybotes never ends well. I gave him these bars the first time I met him and when we find him there is no way I am letting him be hungry on top of any other issues he may encounter. Don't worry I stocked up on the wheat germ. At least this time there is certainly not going to be an army's worth of enemies hot on his tail."

Poseidon exhaled in disbelief, "I know my son, or at least I assumed I knew my son. However, I am starting to think my son has made a larger impact than I have ever realized if you would go so far as to bring along a bag full of snacks for him when we locate him."

"Oh it really isn't any trouble. I've spied on your kid for years through my rainbow's messages, I know he has a knack for overlooking his wellbeing," Iris brushed Poseidon off with a smile.

"Your son is legendary in an era when we thought demigods capable of legend were left in our past. He certainly brings pride to my domain. I would go so far as to say he has unknowingly honored plenty of gods over the years. That isn't something I am capable of ignoring when considering aiding in bringing him back to you." Nike said, a neutral look on her face that Poseidon knew well enough after millennia to know she was pleased. 

Hermes reentered the room then with Zeus and Hera in tow, ceasing any further conversation Poseidon might have with the two goddesses in front of him. 

"Is this it?" Poseidon asked to make sure.

"Everyone else has orders at the moment," Zeus confirmed. 

"Very well, where we are going there will be enough reinforcements in the unlikely event something goes wrong anyways." Poseidon nodded.

"Hermes said we were going back to Camp Half Blood, why?" Hera asked for clarification.

"We were diligent in assuring that all of Apollo's domains were attended to, but we somehow forgot the most crucial one: Prophecy." Poseidon gave Zeus an imploring look.

"The Oracle," Zeus realized with wide eyes.

It was only moments later that the six gods had appeared back at camp. Hurriedly, Poseidon located Chiron who had been pacing the grounds of the cabins nervously.

In the dead of night, their figures cast looming shadows on the ground, their faces only illuminated by the moonlight and the reflection of it off of Artemis' cabin. The rest of the cabins were peacefully silent as they slept, most of the campers still oblivious to the urgent panic of the gods.

"Chiron," Poseidon called over to the centaur.

"Poseidon, Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Iris, Nike," Chiron acknowledged, "How may I be of assistance to you?"

"The Oracle, where is she?" Zeus questioned immediately.

"Ah, Rachel Dare is- oh Chaos," Chiron cut himself off as he saw a figure over the gods' shoulders.

Immediately the six spun around and Iris gasped while Hermes exhaled in shock. Stumbling towards them, blood trickling from her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears was Rachel Dare. Though, in the darkness with only moonlight to aid in the image of her, it was hard to tell that she was dripping blood until she had come within fifteen feet of the gods.

"Ms. Dare!" Chiron hurried toward her in concern, rearing back in shock when he too realized the state of her.

Rachel was taking raspy shallow breaths, her eyes wide open yet unseeing. In her hand was a crumpled piece of canvas paper, now clearly stained with blood as her hands were smeared as if she tried to wipe away the first few drops. 

"What's wrong with her?" Iris whispered in horror.

As she continued to approach, her feet drug across the dirt. It was as if the act of picking up her feet was far too much of a labor for her to bear. Rachel finally came to a stop about five feet in front of the gathered gods before her head threw backwards with an audible pop as her neck resisted the force of the movement.

Green smoke like vapor pooled from her mouth, the voice that spoke was not hers and her mouth did not move from its agape position, blood still trickling from the corners.

"To lands forgotten two have traveled,

all to see Fate's plan unraveled.

Seeds planted long ago,

Fate has waited for them to grow.

The truth is buried with the gods suppressed.

Among them: the sleeping Titaness, 

the fraudulent god, 

and the goddess betrayed while in distress. 

Only, the mighty gods will be met with failure,

for there shall be death of the mortal savior."

Poseidon let out a shuttering breath as the last line was told, barely keeping himself standing and barely keeping the California fault line from giving way. 

As soon as the prophecy had finished, Rachel collapsed in an unconscious heap on the ground, her limbs sticking out awkwardly. 

Chiron froze, not knowing how to process the prophecy given before quickly gathering himself and checking that Rachel was still breathing.

"Three big prophecies in under ten years," Hera whispered in horror.

"We- we have to- how do we-?" Poseidon tried and failed to form questions.

"That prophecy was useless! That gave us nothing!" Zeus exclaimed in a panicked frustration.

"No, I don't think it was useless at all," Hera mumbled as she thought over the words in her head.

"Did it say a Titan took them? I don't understand. I thought that any Titan capable of this had been put back," Iris said in rising horror.

"There are still Titans that were never banished to the pit, very few, but they do exist," Hermes added breathily as he tried and failed to calm him emotions.

"It said we were to fail! Us! We don't fail!" Nike grumbled, "What would the point of a prophecy be if we could not succeed?"

"Prophecy's are fickle. Apollo always explained that." Hermes paused as he approached Rachel with unease, "She needs medical attention."

"The biggest question is will our efforts be fast enough?" Poseidon glanced over at his cabin and cursed all of existence that for now it would remain empty.

"We will be. I don't care what the prophecy says, success is our only option." Zeus drew in a deep breath.

"We must inform the others," Hera reminded as they all just stood numbly in the dark moonlight.

The group made their way back towards the infirmary together, a melancholic air seemed to surround them. The introduction of a prophecy had just made their search ten times more complex and dampened the shreds of hope that they had all been clinging to. The gravity of the situation had never felt more real. Initial panicked thoughts over the disappearance of Percy and Apollo had shifted into deeper worries over what exactly the pair had gotten themselves into and if they would ever be able to be found before it was too late. 

Chapter Text

Percy was probably justified in having a hundred different racing thoughts circulating through his mind at any given moment since his entire world turned upside down. He supposed he should be optimistic that over the last day some of those thoughts have already shifted away from borderline nihilistic. It seemed that with every passing minute he was able to find more of a semblance of comfort in the few fragments of familiarity he was beginning to so desperately cling to.

Apollo, Hermes, and Dionysus had led Percy swiftly through Olympus until they had stopped at Dionysus' temple, which out of the three gods had the temple furthest from both the council room and Zeus' temple. They had stopped temporarily at Apollo's temple, to retrieve everything necessary to administer his next I.V. bag. After having his IV line reinserted- this time in his alternate elbow much to the recoiling stares of both Dionysus and Hermes who seemed just as appalled as Artemis had -they ushered him quickly to Dionysus' temple. Percy had quickly found himself leaning against the metal I.V. pole while the three gods had started to pace about the room brainstorming what they should do from this point forward.

Percy was pretty sure that zoning out of the conversation in favor of losing himself to his thoughts was not the best thing to do when they were finally about to make progress. He was conscious of this fact and yet he found that he could not force himself to focus on the present moment and snap out of the daze. Maybe he was simply still exhausted from everything that had happened, but it seemed like all he was able to do lately was zone out or throw up.

He was all too familiar with these spirals, as problematic as they could be since they allowed for him to completely miss out on important information, but it felt like the only time where Percy could allow himself to really think and process his situation was when everything else was starting to feel like a blur.

"Percy, are you okay?" Apollo frowned as he looked over to see the demigod staring at the blank marble wall completely expressionless.

Percy hummed in acknowledgement and it took another moment for him to blink and tear his gaze away from the wall before refocusing his attention over to the three gods to his right.

"Are you okay?" Apollo asked again now that he had Percy's attention.

Percy plastered a smile on his face and nodded, "Oh yeah, sorry. I guess I'm just tired or something."

Apollo approached him, assessing him under his healer's gaze, "You're absolutely sure? Not feeling any kind of effects again? I wouldn't be surprised if you were still sick, especially after the episode yesterday. If I missed something once, I very easily could have missed it again."

Percy rolled his eyes good naturedly, "Apollo, I swear to you, I am totally fine. I think I'm just distracted, and maybe a little tired. But I promise, I don't feel faint, or feverish, or even like I'm going to throw up. You worry too much."

"No, I do not! I am completely justified in my concerns!" Apollo turned to face Dionysus and Hermes, both of which were observing with raised brows, "He never takes care of himself when he isn't sick, how am I supposed to trust him to make good decisions when he isn't feeling well? Especially now that I am faced with unknown possibilities of ailments still residing in him after all he has been through."

"I don't know Apollo, I mean how sick can this kid truly be? I know he threw up yesterday but don't mortals just tend to do that some times. He looks okay to me," Hermes shrugged uncertainly. He didn't want to anger Apollo when they had just seemed to reach a truce, but also not understanding why Apollo would be so worried over Percy when he truly did seem to be getting better.

Apollo massaged the temple of his forehead, "Okay, well, you don't understand-"

"You're right, Apollo, we don't. Neither I, nor Dionysus, could possibly understand what Percy has been afflicted by. We've promised not to push either of you for details, but because of that lack of knowledge you cannot expect us to understand anything about your concerns. We have been told nothing and so we are mostly clueless and cannot form any opinions of guidance," Hermes said honestly.

Percy sighed as he eyed Dionysus and Hermes. "It's really not a big deal," under Apollo's withering glare he was quick to amend,  "at least I don't want to make it into a big deal. I just want to move past it and I'm pretty sure that explaining it all to you would just cause more problems. We already are going to have a hard time when planning how to proceed, I don't want to be the reason it's more complicated."

Dionysus blinked twice at the demigod before focusing on Apollo, "So based on what you have said about this demigod actively avoiding care in favor self sacrifice, I can assume that what I am hearing from this is that it is actually a huge deal and Percy is just trying to limit the individuals concerned about him down to just you?"

Apollo tilted his head and let out an, "Oh", as he though Dionysus' words over before he nodded and said, "Now that you say it, that's probably right."

Hermes shook his head, "Honestly, Apollo, no offense but I am surprised you didn't catch on- especially with how concerned you appear to be about him. I am wondering now, Percy, if you were hoping people would stop worrying about you and treat you like they normally would. You don't appear to be a person who enjoys sympathy."

Percy leveled Hermes with a deadpan stare, "I just don't understand why everyone has to make it such a big deal. It was a bad thing. It happened. I survived. Can't we all just move on. I get why Apollo is worried, it's sort of his job. My dad asked him to look after me while I get better and I don't think he could exactly have said no, but I am sick and tired of the gawking and the questions and the fake sympathy from everyone else."

"You never talked to me about how much this was really bothering you," Apollo was quick to speak up, concern laced on his face.

"Well to be fair, I was basically mute for like the whole time I was in your care before we came here. But anyway, I guess it's just confusing me because I've almost died a lot, you know? And for years there wasn't a lot of people, or gods, or any being between that seemed to care any of those times that I almost became a permanent resident of the Underworld. Now though, because it was decided that my actions were finally a feat that some gods could deem grand enough-" Percy cut himself off and shook his head, "They only care because it was impressive, not because I could have died."

Hermes winced as he took in the demigods words, knowing to his core that right now the only thing that would make him care about a random demigod is exactly what Percy was describing. However, for the first time he was considering that perhaps that he didn't wish for the demigod's words to reign true.

"I am not trying to be cruel when I say this but, well, mortals tend to die a lot and it isn't often we let ourselves care about someone who will inevitably leave us within a blink of an eye. I mean- I do realize now why it could be perceived as insensitive of me to have told you that I didn't care whether you lived or died when you first got here, especially since I know the version of me you know would never say something like that, but at the end of the day, Percy, you are a mortal and one day you will perish too." Hermes did his best to explain in a way that would not close Percy off from further conversation. 

"I know Hermes and I agreed to wait until you were ready to ask but- can we ask? Although a small part of me still believes it could be foolish to not do so as withholding information could be seen as treason, I think it is clear at this point that neither of us plan on going to father about this. Besides, maybe whatever it is can help us come up with a plan because otherwise I think we may be reaching a dead end," Dionysus was hesitant with his words every syllable laced with empathy, not wanting to upset Percy now that he was on the brink of a vulnerable state.

This hesitancy though, was something that Percy didn't quite understand. Why were they being so careful with him? Everything about these versions of the gods he knew was confusing him, but nothing was more confusing than the times that Percy swore Dionysus seemed almost mortal in his mannerisms. He was lacking that nonchalant tone that Percy could always count on. Dionysus spoke with feeling, as if he knew that moments were fleeting. Percy thought perhaps that it was something the god hadn't yet lost to time. Dionysus couldn't have been a god too awfully long, at least not in comparison to the other gods.

Percy resisted the urge to bite his lip as he thought over the consequences of letting the two gods know the full truth. He knew that they had said they were going to make an effort but he didn't expect them to make this drastic of a change so quickly. Percy knew he should probably wonder if it was all an act the two were utilizing just to get the information they wanted out of him. Despite his slight suspicion, he couldn't let himself ponder that narrative for too long, not when the two gods were standing in front of him looking like they genuinely wanted to know every detail of what was ailing Percy so that they could help. It was such a genuine openness, it almost took Percy's breath away, never expecting it from the gods he had been preparing himself since yesterday to be let down by.

Of course, the pessimistic part of Percy's brain still desired to assume the former, nastier thoughts, and wanted to shove the gods far away from his vulnerabilities. He yearned to protect himself from whatever deception could be afoot. He had been hurt, lied to, and betrayed far too many times in his life to not be guarded. After everything he had been through, it would be ridiculous to not have these types of distrustful thoughts whirring in his head at all times.

Still though, the hope in him was yearning for someone more to rely on, Apollo was great to have of course, but sometimes despite the countless times he has been told otherwise, Percy wondered if Apollo felt obligated to be nice to Percy rather than actively wanting to be nice to him.

That optimistic hope that lived within him clung to the thought that these three gods in front of him were truly beginning to care. That for once he didn't have to bear this crushing emotional weight alone. Percy was so sick and tired of being the strong one and now that there was no one actively depending on him to save the day, he felt like maybe just this one selfish time he could let them worry. So he let that trust and loyalty within him, those unwavering qualities that everyone had said made him different, win once more.

Percy clutched his camp beads out of nervous habit while he scrambled for the words to say, letting the trident bead roll between his thumb and forefinger in a self-soothing motion.

"Like I said earlier, Percy, we know you have no reason to trust us since we aren't the versions of ourselves that you know but Dionysus and I really do just want to help you both get home to-" Hermes began to speak up once more, taking Percy's silence as uncertainty.

Percy exhaled a harsh breath as he finally worked up enough nerve and cut Hermes off, "I'm ascending- Dionysus told me that I most likely broke my mortality when I fell into Tartarus... or something like that."

Immediately as the words sunk in, Hermes' eyes opened drastically in disbelief and Dionysus was shaking his head rapidly in confusion.

Apollo covered his mouth with his hand knowing that neither of the gods in front of him would appreciate him laughing- especially since this topic wasn't joke worthy. Still though, he couldn't resist a hidden smirk at the expressions of his brothers.

"You're ascending?" Hermes asked, his eyes still blown wide.

"Forget that! What the ever loving Chaos do you mean when you say you fell into Tartarus?!" Dionysus squawked, pulling at his long black curls in stress.

Percy sighed, his shoulders slumping as he remembered the seemingly endless pitch black free fall, "This is why I didn't want to tell you, I really don't want to explain it- I mean can you blame me for wanting to avoid talking about that place? When every detail I recall feels like it is physically putting me back there."

"What were you even doing close to the underworld? Apollo how did you let this happen? He is only a child!" Hermes frowned at Apollo, not truly hearing Percy as his mind tried to process a demigod experiencing, and surviving, such horrors.

Apollo flinched at his brother's words letting the deep guilt and regret fill him as he opened his mouth to speak, only for Percy to speak up first.

"Please, don't blame him," Percy cut in, his eyebrows tightly drawn together, "out of everyone involved I don't think Apollo deserves the blame for everything."

"Hold on- how in Chaos did you survive the fall? How did you get out?" Dionysus questioned, his hands dropping from where they had been tugging on his curls in favor of gesturing dramatically.

"Wait, so, is that why you're sick? But if you are ascending shouldn't you be stronger? And I still don't understand how you didn't die?" Hermes continued to rant overtop of Dionysus.

Percy's gaze flickered between the two of them, his breaths becoming slightly erratic at the amount of questions being hurled at him at once. Flashes in his mind's eye circulated through his head. The wind gushing, the Cocytus' dark unwelcoming waters that were so unlike his Father's seas, the toxic suffocating air, the bubbling blisters, the-

Apollo was quick to notice Percy retreating into his head and wondered exactly what he was reliving in that moment. Apollo didn't know the answers to his brothers' questions either since Percy hadn't said a word after being placed in his care on Olympus and Annabeth refused to talk to Dionysus about the horrors they experienced. As much as he wished he knew what exactly happened, he knew helping Percy out of these headspaces would be far more helpful at the current moment.

Stepping between Percy and his brothers, hastily Apollo said, "You both need to calm down, okay? I get it, it's concerning and you are right to have questions but he is beyond traumatized from his experience and you two aren't being supportive or helpful, you are just making it worse for him."

Hermes continued to gape but Dionysus shook himself out of his shocked state, "You're right. I should know better, especially given my domains."

Apollo reached a tentative hand out to Percy and rested it gently on his shoulder as he soothed, "Percy it's okay, you aren't there. You're on Olympus with me, Apollo. Take a deep breath and feel your surroundings, the fresh crisp air and the peaceful atmosphere of Dionysus' temple. Can you smell the wine grapes in the air? See you're safe now."

Percy's hand unconsciously found his necklace for what seemed like the thousandth time that day before he took a reassuring breath and shook his head dismissively as he forced himself back to the present, "I'm sorry I was expecting the questions but still it's just so-"

"I understand, well not from experience- I've never been there of course, but I can see where you are coming from." Dionysus was quick to reassure before he allowed a small smile to grace his face, "Ascension, huh? You must be excited."

Apollo started shaking his head ever so slightly with widened eyes. Dionysus didn't notice as his attention  was too focused on Percy.

"No." Percy intoned miserably, trying to stop tears from welling up in his eyes. He grasped the I.V. pole tighter as he leaned more of his weight against it, feeling weak and powerless just at the reminder of how Fate was currently laughing in his face.

Hermes who still looked certifiably shocked wiped a hand down his face, "What do you mean no? To find out you never have to die must be thrilling for a mortal such as yourself!"

"Hermes, not everyone wishes to be a god. It is like you said, gods constantly are forced to watch the mortals they grow fond of die. Percy has never had to face that reality before." Apollo answered for Percy, knowing he was having a hard enough time getting through this conversation.

"I denied godhood once, it wasn't fair of the Fate's to rip that choice away from me," Percy grumbled, "I would have preferred to die in Tartarus rather than be-"

"Perseus Achilles Jackson! Don't you ever say something like that! Do you know how many people and gods would have been absolutely devastated to lose you? Especially in that way!" Apollo snapped, giving Percy an intense look. The god was willing to give Percy a lot of leeway when it came to how he expressed his emotions but he drew the line at allowing Percy to proclaim that he would rather be dead. Not when they truly had come so close to losing him. 

Percy didn't back down or apologize, instead he steeled himself, "You and I both know this would never have happened if I just died down there. Now my eternity will probably exist of nothing but being the same puppet for Olympus that I have been my whole life. I never wanted that. I was prepared to die at sixteen and somehow I survived- no you know what? Fuck that- I was prepared to die at twelve! Twelve! Before I knew just how much the Fates found comedy in my life. I don't deserve this fucking punishment! I should have been able to die in peace."

Apollo blinked twice, calming himself from having an overtly negative reaction despite the stabbing pain of hurt he felt at Percy's words. He knew that lashing out too severely would not help the situation at hand, "After everything, you think I would let that happen to you? You think your dad would let that happen? Or Hermes? Or Dionysus? Or any other of the countless immortals that care about you? Or even any of the countless demigods who care about you?"

Percy was silent for what must have been a moment too long as Apollo's face dropped from the tense concern and frustration he had been expressing into an utterly devastated look.

"Percy, you can't really think-"

"Apollo, no offense but when have any of you spoken up before? I mean I get it, I wasn't worth speaking up to your dad but-" Percy started to shrink down in self deprecation.

Apollo gave Percy such a sharp look that the demigod immediately stopped talking from shock.

"Do you think every time we voted not to kill you, that was simply because we thought it was the right thing to do? No. That in itself was an act of defiance every single time. That was us standing up in the only way we could that would not be denied." Apollo began calmly and when he noticed Percy open his mouth to speak he held up a hand to silence him before continuing.

"Every time Artemis vouched for you, every time Hermes brought you godly assistance, every time any of us helped you or protected you in any way; that was an act of defiance. Especially up until your sixteenth birthday. Your father personally vouched for you when you wanted the Orphiotaurus to stay alive. I know you do not know the implications of that- the weight such a proclamation carries." Apollo paused for a moment, just long enough to notice Hermes and Dionysus' quiet absorption of his words before he began speaking once more.

"We have known you were special for a very long time Percy- at least in comparison to how short your life has been so far -and once we got to know you, we found ourselves actually caring about whether you were okay. You think these guys are assholes? We are too! We are still selfish, conceited, and greedy gods but somehow a good chunk of us came together and we all agreed: Percy Jackson is different. So do not stand there and say that things would be better if you had died because I can guarantee you they would not be." Apollo was heaving breaths, still trying to control his anger as he lashed out at Percy.

"Percy,- not to interrupt you Apollo, I apologize if you weren't done -have you confided in me regarding how you are feeling about all of this?" Dionysus questioned.

"We didn't really have a chance to talk before everything happened, just the bare minimum about me ascending." Percy shrugged, feeling very drained from the emotional rollercoaster he couldn't seem to get off of.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. So, Percy went to," Hermes hesitated with his words before continuing, "that place and is ascending because of it? Or was he going to ascend regardless of that venture? And then the two of you were basically thrown here a week later? That has to be connected, right?"

"I have no real confirmation on it but in my opinion he was going to ascend regardless, his circumstances just sped up that process from happening at an appropriate age." Apollo explained his thoughts.

"Do you think this was some sort of consequence of the fates' plans being tampered with by immortal intervention? I ascended in a similar fashion to Percy and I never had this sort of repercussions." Dionysus was deep in thought as he stared at Percy analytically.

"I don't understand why everyone is so convinced that me becoming immortal was the Fates' long conspiracy. I know tons of demigods way more deserving of that than me. Plenty of people would be honored to be offered godhood, the Fates' should have known this would be an immortal punishment for me." Percy frowned, letting go of the I.V. pole to stand on his own in his determination, despite how exhausted his bones felt by doing so.

Apollo looked at Percy sadly, "No one should have to go through ascension this young. I remember when Dionysus ascended and it wasn't all necessarily pleasant. The worst part is I'm not sure how exactly it's going to effect you, seeing as there are different circumstances that led up to your ascensions and that they are taking place millennia apart."

"Well, not to be negative, but it it seems we have a lot of questions and no real leads on where to go with our theories. Apollo, since we need some direction on this, why don't you just send Percy to your oracle and-" Hermes began suggesting lightly.

Percy shook his head vehemently, his hand reaching out to grasp his I.V. pole once again, "No, absolutely not. No more prophecies. If I hear one more prophecy involving me in this lifetime I am going to walk straight off a rocky cliffside."

Hermes frowned in confusion and Dionysus tipped his head whilst Apollo looked apologetic.

"You have been the center of a prophecy?" Dionysus questioned.

"Sore subject," Apollo tried to warn between coughs, but it did not come across as subtly as he had hoped.

"More than one," Percy admitted to Dionysus with an uncomfortable look on his face.

"I will circle back to that later because I have several questions that would take way too long to unpack right now. However, Percy, it is of my understanding that you are ascending in a similar fashion to me. Did you gain a following that believed in you or was it solely your actions that led to your ascension?" Dionysus questioned, gazing at Percy analytically.

"I guess just my actions, but I still think of it as a cruel trick and not a reward so-" Percy began, his tone slightly bitter.

"Percy, you definitely have a following," Apollo interrupted with a frown of confusion.

"Uh, no I don't? What are you talking about Apollo?" Percy questioned, sending the god his own frown of confusion.

"Percy you have led Camp Half-Blood to battle more than once. They look up to you and turned to you when they believed all hope was lost."

"Yeah but-"

"No, child. Apollo is right. You would be surprised at how willing people are to put their faith in others when times are dark." Dionysus spoke up once more.

It was not a fact lost on Percy that Hermes looked as if he wanted to speak but was forcing himself to remain silent.

Percy leveled his gaze on the messenger god, "What is it, Hermes?"

"Well I suppose I am a bit confused. If you are viewing all of this as a punishment, then perhaps Fate will require you to receive a prophecy anyways.  Also, I still don't understand; why are children fighting godly battles?" Hermes questioned.

Apollo sighed, "No one exactly prefers to send children off to battle, but we are left with little choice in the future. The threats we faced were some of our most dangerous foes and the prophecy itself was quite clear on the age."

Dionysus tipped his head in thought, "If you do not wish to receive a prophecy from your oracles, isn't there still someone that you can confide in for prophetic advice?"

Apollo frowned in confusion for a moment before he gasped in understanding, "Phoebe."

"I am surprised you did not think of it yourself," Dionysus quirked a brow.

"It is not that simple brother, I have not seen Phoebe in quite some time, the rising tension of war was too much and many had many parties who had long remained neutral in conflict had went completely underground to avoid it." Apollo sighed.

"You cannot be seriously considering Phoebe, the Titaness Phoebe," Percy gulped, having a great deal of poor run ins with Titans as of late.

"What do you mean? I think Phoebe is a great idea?" Hermes questioned in confusion.

Apollo's gaze flickered over to Percy, "I promise you, Percy, she isn't like the Titans."

Both Hermes and Dionysus looked taken aback by the comment.

"What do you know of the Titans, child? Why are you both acting like he has ever crossed paths with a Titan?" Hermes asked so fast his words slurred together ever so slightly.

"Long story?" Apollo said simply with a tight nervous smile and a shrug.

"What do you mean-?" Hermes choked out in panic.

"No, no. Hermes, don't ask. I am not sure I can take anymore worldview changing information at the moment." Dionysus pinched the bridge of his nose in stress.

Apollo ignored his brothers, turning his full attention to Percy.

"What do you say? A little trip to see a friendly Titaness and maybe even get ourselves a plan to go home?" Apollo questioned hopefully.

Percy squinted his eyes in thought, "Only if you take the I.V. out of my arm. I'm not going anywhere with this stupid pole."

Apollo couldn't help the relieved laugh that he let out before he turned to his brothers, "Wanna go on a short trip that could definitely be seen as treasonous and get us all into heaps of trouble if we are caught?"

Dionysus blinked in disturbed acceptance that this truly was what his godly existence had come to before sighing and nodding his head.

Hermes however, cracked a wide grin and threw an arm around Apollo's shoulder, "Oh brother, I don't think you know just how badly I want to do that. Come on boys, this is gonna be fun."

Percy looked at the smirking god and knew in that moment exactly why Hermes was given the domains he was.

Chapter Text

Apollo was probably more nervous than he had been in a very long time. Going to visit Phoebe was once a normal occurrence in his godly life but now it had been so long since he had last seen the Titaness that he couldn't help the anxious feelings from rising within him. Phoebe was his namesake and more importantly, his grandmother. Phoebus Apollo was who he was because he had been blessed by Fate to inherit the domain Phoebe had: prophecy.

Apollo had a millennia of memories with the Titaness as he came into his domain. Yet sometimes he felt like the time he had with the Titaness were fleeting. Apollo remembered when Phoebe left,  it was as clear in his memory as it would be had it happened yesterday. It was a day he had tried so very hard to understand, and yet no matter how much time had passed he still came up short.

The year was 1780, in the very midst of Olympus' most recent argument. Moving to New York City. And, as they did every time the heart of the west moved, they fought. Some of Olympus was tired of moving westward, and others were ecstatic.

There was a war, as their always is in these types of godly debates. Apollo remembered that day had been a particularly tough loss for the American forces, which he of course was backing. He had spent way too long in England for his taste, anyway. Already being none too pleased as British troops had led a small amount of troops into the eventually named Battle of Camden in South Carolina only for it to be one of the greatest American defeats yet. Frankly, Apollo thought the whole thing to be an absolute embarrassment and almost changed sides right then and there because it was truly that abhorrent. 

Stewing in his displeasure, Apollo was surprised when Phoebe had graced him with her presence. He greeted her with a smile despite his foul mood, just as he always would for the woman who raised him just as much as Leto had.

"Phoebe, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Apollo asked.

"Apollo," Phoebe said, her smile turning sad.

"Phoebe?" Apollo questioned, immediately alarmed, "Is something wrong?"

"I don't have much time, Apollon. But I couldn't leave without telling you." Phoebe said gently, just as she always spoke to her grandson.

"What do you mean leave? Is someone threatening you?" Apollo stood straighter, as if awaiting for a threat to reveal themselves.

"No, dear one. There are times when we as deities must make difficult decisions for the whole of civilization. I will not be gone forever, but you will be without me for some time." Phoebe explained. Apollo tracked her left hand as it moved to tuck a dark piece of hair behind her ear, he knew it was a nervous habit the goddess had when she was under a great deal of stress.

"I don't understand, Phoebe. Why would you have to leave? Where are you going?" Apollo asked like a petulant child who did not want to leave their grandmother's side.

"I know that you are very well acquainted with the sacrificial demands of prophetic domains. I have seen something in the distant future that I was meant to have forgotten. It is far too soon and far too dangerous to walk about with this information in my head. We shall meet again one day, Apollo, and by then history will have righted itself to make way for a better future. I trust you will be capable of handling the heavy domain of prophecy by yourself until I return. I love you my grandson, my Phoebus Apollon. I know you will make me proud." Phoebe reached out to caress Apollo's cheek comfortingly.

Apollo reached up to his cheek, holding Phoebe's hand like it was already disappearing, "Please don't go, I've never had to do this alone. What if I'm not good enough? What if I make a mistake and you aren't there to help me fix it?"

"You aren't the child that I first gazed upon those millennia ago, Apollo. And, if you do make a mistake, you will not be the first, nor will you be the last god to have done so. You are an Olympian, Apollo, do not get insecure now, you'll make people think gods have feelings." Phoebe gave him a teasing grin.

"We can't have that. What will father think of me? I am nothing but a godly robot programmed with my domains to act as his will commands," Apollo managed his own teasing grin grace his face.

"Follow your heart as well as your head, Apollo. And let prophecy be the tool you use to navigate both," Phoebe winked, telling him for what must be the millionth time the words she had told him during their first lesson.

And then she was gone, disappearing in a glittering light. Apollo had choked back tears, he was a god he couldn't lose his composure now, there was a war to win.

Apollo blinked out of his memory, taking a deep breath as he refocused on the current moment. Percy was snapping his fingers about an inch away from his face, making Apollo's eyes cross as he looked at them.

"I've been trying to get your attention for a few minutes," Percy said in concern, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Percy just lost in thought I suppose. Is everything ready to go?" Apollo questioned, trying to not think about facing his grandmother for the first time in hundreds of years. 

"Yeah they are waiting outside. Too squeamish to see a little needle, who would've thought? Hey, can I ask you a quick question? Phoebe, isn't she your grandma? Or am I totally off base and remembering the family tree wrong again?" Percy asked as Apollo began to take out the I.V. tube.

Apollo let out a breath, "You're correct. Phoebe is Leto's mother. Although I haven't seen her in quite some time now."

Percy nodded as he took in the information, "I trust you. So, as long as you trust her. I'll try to keep an open mind about the whole Titan thing."

Apollo bit his lip to keep from asking who exactly Percy had seen down there. Apollo knew that Percy had never feared the Titans before, even when Kronos himself had tried to kill him directly. Apollo, the god of knowledge, practically itched in anticipation. A part of him yearned to know every detail of what the hellscape was like and yet another part of him wished to never know the horrors of Tartarus.

"I promise you, Percy. The Titaness' are nothing like their brothers. They are all dangerous do not doubt that, but they are kind especially to children." Apollo ruffled Percy's hair.

"I am not a child," Percy rolled his eyes in amusement as he fixed his hair.

"Besides the fact that numerically you are still a child, in the perception of immortals you may as well be an hour old," Apollo snorted before continuing, "not to mention the fact that you charm everyone around you as if you were a baby who giggled for the first time."

Percy scrunched up his nose in disagreement, "Apollo, Olympus has tried to kill me several times for being too dangerous and a threat. That doesn't exactly sound like charming them."

Apollo let out a short laugh, "Then you clearly aren't familiar enough with our history. Do you how often an immortal has killed something before it could hurt our feelings? We don't tend to do that as much anymore but old habits die screaming I suppose."

Dionysus chose that moment to re-enter the temple, "Are you two coming or not? The coast is clear."

Apollo smiled at Percy, "Delphi awaits."

"Wait, woah. We're going to Delphi?" Percy questioned, his eyes widening.

"Well, yes. Where else did you think she would be?" Apollo quirked an eyebrow up as he asked.

"I don't know, I didn't really think about it," Percy shrugged, blinking away his shock.

Hermes, who had gotten impatient while waiting outside had joined Dionysus in the doorway, "Honestly, you two. If we are going to sneak out of here, we have got to go now. Does haste mean nothing to either of you?"

"Coming, coming," Apollo rolled his eyes as he turned and started walking toward the door.

"You're worse than Connor and Travis," Percy muttered to himself as he caught up with the gods.

"Who are they?" Hermes questioned, an eyebrow raised.

Percy fought back a wince, "I'll tell you later, haven't we got places to be?"

"Fine, let's go. We'll have to do this the harder way since we don't want to draw any attention," Hermes explained as they exited the temple and walked down the few steps.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Percy questioned.

"Traveling across the sky would attract attention from a certain king. Traveling across the sea is also out of the question as we would attract the attention of a different king." Dionysus said as if it were obvious.

"Hold on, we aren't walking, are we?" Percy's gaze flickered between the three gods nervously.

Hermes scoffed, "No, absolutely not. We are teleporting."

"For your own protection, Percy, you will go with Hermes. Whereas Apollo shall go with me just in case we are caught." Dionysus explained.

Apollo frowned, "I can teleport myself just fine, I know where we are going."

"Were you not listening, brother? If you are caught teleporting yourself off this mountain, you will be in dire trouble. But if Dionysus takes you, we can hopefully avoid any loose ends." Hermes said sternly.

Apollo huffed, "Alright, fine. But you must be careful with him Hermes."

"I see why you say he mothers you," Hermes rolled his eyes at Percy.

"Enough, let's go." Dionysus cut in before they could get into a brotherly squabble.

Percy was acutely aware of Hermes' firm grasp on his arm and immediately he had the instinct to close his eyes before they disappeared from Mount Olympus and reappeared in what Percy assumed was Delphi.

"Woah," Percy whispered taking in his surroundings. 

The first thing he noticed, as he always did, was that in the far distance he could make out some kind of water. Percy wasn't too good with geography unless he was physically in the water, so he wasn't really sure where he was, but the sparkling of the top of every wave made him want to run and jump into the welcoming waters. He flicked his gaze to the left and right, taking in the two towering mountain rocks Delphi was nestled between. Finally, his gaze rested on Delphi itself, exhaling in amazement. It was as if every structure thrummed with magic and godly power.

"Why do you look so shocked? You must have been to Delphi if you have been a part of so many prophecies." Hermes spoke from his right.

Percy wasn't really sure how to respond to that. Wasn't really sure how to admit to a god that almost every single place they treasured as sacred would decay and be forgotten to time. It reminded him, just as stepping foot on Mount Olympus yesterday had, of finding Pan in the Carlsbad Caverns. The overwhelming feeling could have knocked him off his feet if Hermes wasn’t still grasping his wrist.

"It's just different," Percy settled on, not wanting to lie but also not wanting to reveal the devastating truth. 

"You okay, Percy?" Apollo called from his left.

Percy turned toward Apollo as he let his hand retract from Hermes’ grip. He could see in the gods eyes how much he too was trying not to think of what would become of this place. Percy felt a rush of empathy for Apollo. He couldn't imagine how it felt to look upon a place that was so intrinsically sacred to you and know its fate. To know it would be ripped away from you because of mankind and wars and religious conflict.

"It's beautiful here," Percy said, instead of answering his question.

Apollo graced him with a small smile, "Isn't it?"

"Okay let's go!" Dionysus said, glancing around as if someone was going to jump out at them.

Percy realized quickly that for those who inhabited Delphi, seeing a god walk up the path toward the temple was nothing new. It wasn't that they paid the gods no mind, rather, as soon as the three gods and Percy were noticed, a hush had befallen the entire busy city. Heads had bowed, some had knelt, but none had dared to speak. Percy had never seen anything like it, a whole population of people silent as if waiting for command all because of their presence.

Percy wondered if that was why he had been deemed impertinent before. He had never once bowed when he saw a god approaching. Never felt the need to avert his gaze or hold his tongue. He spoke his mind as if they truly were no different that him. He didn't take commands, rebelled against Ares the first time they spoke. He had dared to question why they needed to listen to him. And yet these people looked ready to sacrifice their loved ones if asked. Percy knew the gods were gods but never had he ever consciously thought of them in this sense. As he continued down the path he could practically feel the devotion these people held for their gods.

For the first time in his life Percy had to rethink how he had viewed the gods. For years they were annoyances, like cousins who would call for twenty bucks and promise to pay him back only to never follow through. Except instead of cash, it was favors the gods asked of him. He didn't know how many times an immortal had told him in one way or another that they owed him one. He looked out at the amassed crowd lining the path and wondered how much he might have overlooked.

It didn't take long to reach where they were going, Percy blinked at the temple in shock. Percy would be the first to admit that he knew nothing about architecture but this was something to be appreciated if only for the exterior art pieces alone. He very quickly recognized Apollo, Artemis, and who he assumed was Leto in one art piece. Sparing a glance at the Apollo who stood only a couple feet away from him, Percy could easily spot the heartbreak in his eyes at gazing upon a temple dedicated to him that had been lost to him for so long.

Before the four had even approached the entrance of the temple, a woman with light brown hair and crystalline blue eyes stood in front of them. Percy assumed this was Phoebe.

"I was starting to wonder if I was going senile in my age. You look wonderful, Apollo. Come, let us all talk," Phoebe graced them all with a kind smile.

Percy knew that genetics weren't technically a thing with gods since they didn't have DNA but as he glanced at the Titaness, he swore she had the exact same nose as Artemis.

Following the group blindly, Percy was led through a hallway that he was certain had an enchantment on it to only to be seen by those who needed to see it. Finally, they reached a doorway with a large circular table and sat in the chairs furthest in the room.

"You knew we were here?" Apollo questioned as he sat.

Phoebe tipped her head with an amused smile, as if telling Apollo he should know better than that.

"Are you doubting me? Apollo, of course I knew the moment you arrived. Everyone felt the shift of your arrival, I was just lucky enough to have the domains that aid me in understanding who and why." Phoebe turned her attention away from her grandson halfway through speaking, to instead address the table as a whole.

"I never doubt you, Phoebe, I simply did not wish to assume and be sorely disappointed." Apollo explained.

Phoebe nodded once to signify she understood before she turned her sharp analytical gaze to Percy, "Hello, young one. You've seemed to have gotten yourself into quite the situation."

"It's nice to meet you, Lady Phoebe. I'm Percy," he introduced himself carefully, still not exactly sure the proper way to greet anyone in this era.

"I dare say it isn't nice to meet me at all," Phoebe began with a grimace.

Percy's eyes widened in worry opening his mouth to apologize.

Phoebe didn't allow him the chance to speak before she continued on, "I mean, you are but a child thrown into the distant past and forced to ascend at much too young an age. And then on top of that, to be brought to Delphi- as gorgeous of a city it is, and as glorious as this temple is -no child should have to seek out prophecy. I am well aware that my domain can be quite nasty at times."

"Oh, it's okay. I'm used to it. I don't blame you, just like I don't blame Apollo. I blame the fates." Percy shrugged awkwardly.

In sync, Hermes and Dionysus looked at him abject horror.

"You cannot say things such as that! Are you trying to get us all killed or slighted by Fate itself?" Hermes questioned sternly.

"Settle, Hermes." Phoebe instructed, "I know not if Apollo has told you, but a part of being able to see the future also means being able to see what prophecies have befallen an individual."

Percy shook his head before he sent Apollo a look of confusion.

"I can see, child, that Fate has not been kind to you thus far. No child should have to endure such pain and trauma." Phoebe continued.

Dionysus turned to gaze at Percy with greater force, as if trying to get the answers to display on his forehead.

"I don't think I really understand. If those prophecies haven't been given here, then why can you see them? How can you see them? Do they like float above my head or something?" Percy tried and failed to grasp Phoebe's words.

Phoebe chuckled, her eyes twinkling in amusement, "No, young one. I looked at you as you came up the path and I just knew. A half-blood of the eldest gods shall reach sixteen against all odds. And see the world in endless sleep, the heroes soul, cursed blade shall reap. A single choice shall end his days, Olympus to preserve or raze."

Percy recoiled as he heard the words to a prophecy that had haunted his existence for years. Hearing Phoebe say it as if she were describing the weather had only made him feel worse. He could see in his mind that moment as if it had happened only minutes ago.

Luke with the cold eyes of Kronos that faded to the blue, that cornflower blue he had once seen as comforting on his very first day at Camp Half-Blood.

He could see Luke kill himself. He could see as a desperate kid who made a wrong choice have to carry out his Fate. A Fate that had been sealed that day Percy had found himself staring in confused fascination at three ladies knitting at a stand on the side of the road. He could see that cornflower blue thread being cut. He could hear the snip, it echoed mockingly within his skull.

"-cy? Percy!"

Percy shook himself out of his thoughts only to be met with cornflower blue eyes that had made him feel every bit of distraught panic he had felt that day almost a year ago. Without being able to stop himself, he turned abruptly and vomited on the marble floor.

"What the Chaos is that?" Dionysus exclaimed as he looked at the floor.

"Phlegethon," Phoebe observed in confused horror.

"That's what is making him sick!?" Hermes exclaimed from where he sat, directly next to Percy and almost the victim of the vomit.

Apollo was hasty, vanishing the sick and procuring a rag for Percy to wipe his mouth.

"I don't understand how there is any more to puke up," Apollo frowned before pouring a cup of medicinal tea that his temple hand on hand.

"I drank, like, a lot of it. There wasn't really a buffet of options down there," Percy said with a sardonic grin that did not succeed at hiding his tiredness.

"I don't under-" Phoebe began before gasping and muttering, "And foes bear arms to the doors of death."

"I'm okay, sorry just, flashback. They've been happening a lot since my trip down there." Percy said as he accepted the cup from Apollo. Taking a sip, Percy was for some reason expecting the bitter taste of medicine but was pleasantly surprised by the tea's taste, "This isn't horrible."

Apollo used to the teen's antics rolled his eyes in amusement before saying dryly, "gee, thanks."

"I'm sorry, are we just going to move on from the fact that he vomited fire water?" Hermes balked.

"You went there and you survived?" Phoebe's face was nothing but sympathy and confusion, "I had seen some things about you, Percy, but I had not seen that. It is no wonder you are ascending, to walk through Tartarus and manage to come out alive is no simple feat."

Percy focused his gaze on his tea, not even sure how to reply to Phoebe. He knew she wasn't saying this to be cruel, but he took no pride in enduring that place.

"Phoebe, now you understand why we were so determined to see you as quickly as possible. We didn't want to subject Percy to yet another prophecy from the Oracle given his track record with them. But we need guidance none the less. I am at a loss, Phoebe. I need your help to get us both home." Apollo fixed his grandmother with a lost look, a frown prominent on his face.

"Of course I will help you in any way that I can, Apollon. Always." Phoebe nodded before she closed her eyes.

Percy glanced at Dionysus and Hermes in confusion, not understanding what Phoebe was doing. The room continued to sit in tense silence for another few minutes before Phoebe locked her gaze on Apollo. 

"I am so sorry," Phoebe's gaze flickered between at the four of them, "There is already a prophecy given. It is to my understanding that this is not in your hands. That you do not have a say in when or if you get to go home. Rather, it is in the hands of those who have received the prophecy. You will remain here until the terms of that prophecy are completed."

"Lady Phoebe, what does that mean? I have to go on a quest regardless?" Percy questioned, the dread clear in his tone.

"No, child. It means that the future is looking for the both of you and Fate has placed the duty of bringing you home within their hands." Phoebe looked apologetically at Percy.

"So, then, they do know they are here?" Dionysus frowned in confusion.

"I do not think so, would you like to hear the prophecy I saw?" Phoebe questioned them all.

"Ye-" Hermes started.

"Wait," Percy shook his head as he thought, "are there any potential repercussions to hearing it?"

"Technically speaking, in terms of time and fate itself, everything you do here has already happened for them."

"But in Back to the Future," Percy muttered in confusion to himself.

"Fate is permanent once it is written," Phoebe continued.

"Well then why does no one remember? I think my-" Percy began to question.

Apollo gasped in realization, "Mnemosyne."

Percy squinted at his now half gone tea, trying to remember who exactly Mnemosyne was.

"Our memories are going to be wiped?" Hermes looked unimpressed at the idea.

"I do not know the intricacies of what will occur, however, I do know the most fundamental rules of my domain. Do not stress yourselves too severely, all will play out exactly as it should." Phoebe assured before focusing more intently on Percy, "Child, the weight of this prophecy does not fall upon your shoulders."

"Are we supposed to simply wait for who knows how long?" Dionysus drew his eyebrows together in discontent, "My father already perceives them as a threat."

"Which is exactly why you must return to Olympus at once and stay out of trouble. Perhaps use this time to allow the young one to heal, Apollo," Phoebe instructed.

Apollo looked unhappy with this answer, "We are truly powerless? There is nothing we can do?"

Phoebe smiled, her eyes twinkling as if she knew something they did not, "All you can do is lead with your heart and your head, Apollo. You needn't prophecy to guide you right now."

Apollo held Phoebe in an intense gaze before he turned to Dionysus and Hermes, "I am going to check in on a few things here. Why don't you take Percy into the city and find him something to eat before we return back to Olympus?"

Hermes nodded, "Alright brother, but make haste."

"Come on, Percy," Dionysus gestured with his head to the doorway.

Percy paused in his seat, fiddling with the empty cup as if unsure.

"Go ahead, Perce," Apollo encouraged with a nod.

Dionysus exited the room first, followed by Percy, and just as Hermes took a step out of the room Apollo called out once more causing said god to halt his steps and turn inquisitively back to his older brother.

"Watch over him," Apollo said seriously.

Hermes nodded, "I will, brother," before continuing out of sight.

Apollo waited a few moments until he refocused his attention on Phoebe, "How much do you know? And what aren't you telling me?"  

Phoebe let out a sigh, "I do not even know where to begin."

Chapter Text

Apollo was tense as he sat in front of Phoebe. This was a table where they had held countless meetings before. It is odd how the most mundane of items can harbor such emotional attachment. Apollo let his hand trace the curved edge of the table, he was so very familiar with loss but he was not familiar with feeling like a dog with a bone, waiting for fate to rip away the treat once more. This wasn't normal, in fact this was probably the most unnatural thing Apollo ever had to experience in his existence. Gods are often forced to say goodbye to those they care about and rarely the opportunity presents itself to see those they had lost again. Yet despite that, the Titaness that he hadn't seen in hundreds of years was smiling patiently at him as he pulled himself together.

Like a child, he wished to rush to her arms and find comfort in her presence. Just as he had as a young god who was still learning to navigate a domain as complex as prophecy.

"How much of the future did you see?" Apollo questioned.

"Not nearly enough, I am afraid. Not if I was able to be blindsided by the young one vomiting up fire water from a river in Tartarus," Phoebe said sardonically before continuing, "I only saw fragments of what Fate thought it necessary I know."

"So then, this is truly Fate that is directly messing with us? I had hoped I was wrong in my conclusions," Apollo sighed tiredly.

"What have I told you about doubting yourself? Yes, Apollo, this trip is a part of some bigger plan that Fate has. I know not what exactly that plan is, perhaps you aren't supposed to know yet." Phoebe offered uncertainly.

"That kid has already been through so much," Apollo interlaced his fingers in thought.

"You care for him a great deal, you must have been enthused to know he was ascending," Phoebe commented lightly.

"I actually didn't know until yesterday. But, yes, selfishly I am very happy to know he will not be another soul lost to the Underworld. Despite how much he doesn't seem to want it, I cannot imagine fate doing something like this for anyone else. He is just so good. In spite of everything he has been through and the cruel treatment he has faced, every morning that kid wakes up determined to do the right thing. He has had so many opportunities to be selfish and he has certainly been given reason to act against the powers that be. I was furious when we landed here but a part of me cannot fault him that after everything that has happened he finally broke." Apollo explained.

Phoebe couldn't help it as her eyebrows raised and she let out a dry chuckle, "I'm sorry. I'm not making fun, I am simply astounded with how you have grown."

An embarrassed smile creeped its way onto Apollo's face, "I don't remember myself being so impossible."

"I know you better than most. You aren't impossible. You are, just as you have always been: defensive. You are so protective of those you care for that I am unsurprised you are hostile towards one another. Your priority is clearly Percy and that is priority you do not share with him." Phoebe said gently.

"I wouldn't expect him to care, but it hurts to know that any version of me could be so cold and unforgiving to that boy. The same kid who befriends Ophiotaurus' and convinces my father of all beings in all of existence to spare it and let it live on Olympus," Apollo shook his head in disbelief at the memory.

Phoebe's jaw dropped, "he truly managed to convince your father that?"

Apollo wiped a hand down his face to try to keep his smile away, "We were in the middle of war and this thirteen year old kid batted his eyelashes, proclaiming that Bessie could not be killed for simply existing and being dangerous.  And wouldn't you know it, the twelve mighty gods of Olympus crumbled within minutes. I swear I have even seen father ranting in the council room to the poor creature before."

Phoebe's smile was wide and bright, "If you weren't the god of truth, I would almost be inclined to call you a liar."

"Were you able to see them? In the future, are they truly looking for us? Is everything okay?" Apollo said, the topic of conversation switching quickly in the comfortable silence that had befallen them.

"I did not see them in the way you are hoping, no. But from the prophecy they were given, they are most definitely looking for the both of you." Phoebe reassured.

"What did the prophecy state? I need to know whether I should be preparing Percy for whatever we will be returning to," Apollo's face pinched up as if he didn't really wish to know.

Phoebe sighed before she shared, "To lands forgotten two have traveled,

all to see Fate's plan unraveled.

Seeds planted long ago,

Fate has waited for them to grow.

The truth is buried with the gods suppressed.

Among them: the sleeping Titaness, 

the fraudulent god, 

and the goddess betrayed while in distress. 

Only, the mighty gods will be met with failure,

for there shall be death of the mortal savior."

Apollo rested his head in his hands as he tried to absorb and make sense of the prophecy. 

"Did it just imply that Percy was going to die? Or is it meaning a demigod back home?" Apollo asked shakily.

"Apollon, you know that I don't know the answer to that," Phoebe said with a sympathetic expression.

"No, but surely it can't be him. He is ascending! He can't die!" Apollo let out a laugh in his spiraling panic.

Phoebe looked hesitant as she opened her mouth to reply, "But he is still currently mortal and very sick."

Apollo shook his head, "No. No, I refuse. No offense, Phoebe, but you don't know Percy like I do. After everything he has been through and how close he is to being a god, he can't just die! The notion is laughable!"

"But dear one, he didn't want to be a god. Perhaps Fate was giving him a way to live out the end of his story as he wanted to." Phoebe offered gently.

Apollo stood up so fast the chair he had been occupying fell to the ground. 

"That isn't the end he deserves. That isn't what he truly wants. He is too young to know what he wants."

Phoebe reached out to grab Apollo's hand in her own, "Apollon, perhaps I could be wrong. However, what he truly wants seems to be the very contrast to what you desire and you have never been one to enjoy not getting his way."

Apollo shook his head once more, "When Percy was thirteen years old, he went on a quest to save my sister who had been kidnapped by Atlas. Percy held up the sky to save my sister. I was the one who put him in that situation. Who meddled with a quest I wasn't supposed to. And Percy held up the fucking sky to relieve my sister from doing it herself. That kid is not going to die on my watch, I don't care if I have to shoot Thanatos with my arrows to stop him."

Phoebe sighed but relented, "Okay, then we shall assume it means some other mortal."

Apollo knew that she was simply placating him but he ignored it. Refusing to think about having to tell anyone that he hadn't been able to save Percy.

"So, continuing on, the prophecy is phrased as if there are other individuals besides the fates who know where we went. Why would anyone know if we have established that it would cause problems? Also, the phrasing is odd," Apollo squinted in thought as he began dissecting the words.

"I thought the same, it makes it very hard to determine who exactly is being discussed," Phoebe nodded in agreement.

"I know our whole thing is vagueness but basically every goddess has been betrayed at some point in her existence!" Apollo huffed in his frustration.

Phoebe sighed, "I know it is not a straightforward prophecy but-"

"It doesn't even specify where we went- or should I say when we went." Apollo cut in, a scowl now prominent on his face.

"Apollo, I understand that this is weighing on you but you have to calm down." Phoebe urged.

"Calm down? Are you kidding me? Am I forbidden from being upset that the only people that can get us home received a prophecy that gives them practically no information on how to actually get us home?" Apollo's eyebrows were high on his forehead in his displeasure.

"No of course not! But it is suddenly significantly warmer in Delphi and unless you wish to harm the mortals, you need to control yourself. And while we are on the topic, perhaps you could explain to me why exactly you can control the sun when I know that is not your domain?" Phoebe tilted her head in askance.

Apollo froze, his face going blank at the reminder. He knew that Helios and Selene were still here in this time but he hadn't allowed himself to truly think about it. What he didn't know was how he could ever even attempt to explain it. In this time, no immortal had ever faded before and wouldn't for a while yet.

"We change over time. Domains gained, shared, and lost by the beliefs of human civilization." Apollo uttered.

"But you are not the god of the sun, Apollo. You are the god of archery, of prophecy, of healing, of music, and of so much more. Truly these mortals cannot expect you to handle yet another domain? A domain that is already taken care of by Helios," Phoebe said in a confused tone.

After being the sun god for this long, hearing anyone try to tell him otherwise made Apollo have the urge to blow something up, "I don't have the answers, Phoebe, it's just different."

Phoebe shook her head but before she could say anything, Hermes burst into the room clumsily. Apollo could immediately tell by the look on his face that it was bad.

"It's Percy, you have to come quickly," Hermes said as he locked gaze with his brother.

Apollo wasted no time asking questions, instead with the agility only a god could posses he catapulted himself over the the side of the table, "lead the way."

~~~~~

When Percy left the temple with Hermes and Dionysus he couldn't help but feel a small tingle of nervousness creep up on him. This was the first time he was truly separated from Apollo since their arrival here. Sure, Apollo had went to apparently visit Percy's dad at some point yesterday but Percy was asleep when he left so as far as Percy was concerned, that didn't count. This time, it was Percy actively walking away from the only individual that actually understood him.

Percy supposed that part of his worry was less about being without Apollo and more about the fact that Anaklusmos was not in his pocket. He is so used to the pen's presence that he never once had to think about the item being on him. Now though in an unfamiliar place with no true allies, his faithful weapon had abandoned him too. 

"So Percy, what do you prefer to eat?" Dionysus questioned as they continued down the path from the temple and into the city.

"Pi- oh, uh. Whatever we find is good enough for me," Percy stumbled over his words.

"You are weirdly low maintenance, do you know that? Most mortals if given the opportunity to tell gods what they desired would ask for lavish feasts if only because we can provide it," Hermes commented with a shake of his head.

"Well first of all, incase you forgot, I keep throwing up so I'd really prefer to not attempt to aggravate my stomach," Percy shrugged.

"Yeah, Hermes, you idiot," Dionysus rolled his eyes.

Hermes threw Dionysus a heated glare before turning his attention back to Percy, "Come on, kid! You could have asked for anything! I'm sure that there is something you want!"

"Really, Hermes, I'll be fine with anything," Percy assured.

"So, Percy, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," Dionysus cut in when it looked like Hermes was going to speak again.

Percy raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What is it?"

"I remember that when you first got here, you called me Mr. D. Why do you call me that in the future?" Dionysus questioned.

Percy sighed, "It's what I've called you for as long as I've known you."

"But why?" Dionysus pressed.

"Okay so, I don't really know if I should be telling you, I still find this whole situation really weird," Percy said hesitantly.

"Oh, please do enlighten us Percy, it sounds like a story I would enjoy," Hermes smirked.

"I met Dionysus when I was twelve, he and Chiron were the ones who really explained to me that I was a demigod," Percy began.

"You didn't already know?" Hermes questioned, perplexed.

"Not really. It wasn't until I reached a demigod training camp that I knew who my father was. You were introduced as Mr. D and I've called you that ever since," Percy tried to explain as easily as possible.

"Why was I at a demigod training camp?" Dionysus asked in confusion.

"Well I guess your father got mad at you for something and you were essentially told to be a good influence on children for a little while," Percy purposely left out some key details so as to not upset the god.

"Hold on, are you telling me that Dio got in trouble and all he got for a punishment was being put on babysitting duty for hundreds of little kids for a minute?" Hermes questioned in absurdity.

Percy shrugged a bit uncomfortably, "I guess so."

"The future is weird," Hermes said.

"I could say the same thing about the past," Percy argued in slight amusement.

"That reminds me! You told me you would explain who Travis and Connor were," Hermes said with a grin.

"I said that?" Percy winced.

"Yes, you told me this morning that I reminded you of them," Hermes confirmed.

"Connor and Travis are your sons," Percy explained simply.

Hermes' grin widened, "Of course, I should have known. They must be just like me then, yes?"

"In actions? Absolutely. They taught me how to pick locks and their favorite things to do would be causing mischief and chaos," Percy grinned, remembering every time Katie Gardener had chased the two and hurled threats at them after a successful prank.

Hermes squinted as if trying to imagine the two boys and the conversation had fallen into a comfortable silence, which Percy was thankful for. The two gods weren't being overly pushy with their questions but still the topic of conversation was always going to make Percy uncomfortable. Any time he had let his mind stray back to his home and any of the people he had been ripped away from, he had to actively fight off the beginning of a panic attack. 

Hermes pointed at a building to which Dionysus raised an eyebrow before relenting with a shrug. Percy gazed at the building they were referring to, there was no clues given by the outside that told him what it was but he assumed it was where they were going to be obtaining some food.

Percy's pleasant smile dropped off his face two steps past the threshold. There was not food in this building, there were fabrics. Percy spared a glance back toward the door but Hermes had already reached down and grasped his wrist in a tight but not painful grip.

"No," Percy muttered to Hermes, knowing his plan.

"We can't have you parading around looking like a barbarian," Hermes refuted.

"Apollo got me these! Everyone dresses like this in the future. Come on Hermes, we've already talked about this," Percy pouted.

"Well the fact of the matter is that you are not in the future right now. I am certain you have already gotten enough strange looks from mortals, we do not need to draw any more unnecessary attention to you," Hermes said definitively.

Percy let out a grunt of disapproval.

“Percy, perhaps Hermes is right. You aren’t even supposed to be off of Olympus, it wouldn’t be a good idea to leave you standing out in a crowd,” Dionysus sided with Hermes.

Percy sighed, “fine.”

A man had come from deeper within the building and froze when he realized who had entered his establishment. The man drew in a breath, seemingly for confidence, before he put on a pleasant smile. "Welcome. I am beyond honored to have you all grace me and my business with your divine presence. Is there anything I can help you with today, my lords?"

"We need your finest fabric to be fashioned into a chiton for our dearest cousin here," Hermes explained.

"Yes, of course, right away," the man nodded, "Tell me, do you have a color preference?"

"Bl-" Percy tried to speak.

"Green, specifically a shade to match his eyes," Dionysus requested overtop of Percy.

Percy bit his tongue. It wasn't as if he would have to wear the chiton often, this was just a precaution to not get them caught.

"Of course. We have a few options depending on the specific shade," the shopkeeper eagerly replied before disappearing behind a doorway.

Percy had to hand it to the man, he had never seen someone move so quickly and aptly. However, he supposed he shouldn't be surprised, any mortal in this time would probably be thrilled to have two gods as customers.

Returning with the options, the man placed the fabrics on the table closest to them. Percy stood awkwardly, waiting for the man to instruct him from there.

"There," the man said as he turned back to the three with a smile, "Would you prefer to choose or would you like me to?"

Suddenly, Hermes was about two inches away from Percy's face, causing him to start to lean backwards.

"Hmm, his eyes are a blue toned green more than a yellow toned green," Hermes commented as he continued to invade Percy's space.

Dionysus picked up two fabrics and joined Hermes in front of Percy. He brought the bluer tinted green up to Percy's eye. Percy resisted the urge to blink, letting the two gods continue with their antics so that the whole experience could be over quicker.

"No this is too blue," Hermes shook his head at the fabric in Dionysus' left hand.

"I agree, what about this one?" Dionysus said as he raised the other fabric he was holding up to Percy's eye.

Percy watched as Hermes grinned and nodded, "This is the one."

That was how Percy found himself exiting the shop in an outfit he had sworn up and down that he would not be wearing. On the positive side, it seemed like Dionysus and Hermes were both pleased enough with the change of outfit as they had paused in asking him questions for the moment.

The worst thing about the whole experience was the sandals that Hermes insisted upon. Percy knew it was probably a silly thing to be hung up over but he missed his sneakers already.

“See, that wasn’t so bad!” Hermes grinned.

“It’s just not what I’m used to,” Percy reminded the god.

“How about we find you some food now, child? Before Apollo decides to shoot us with his arrows for failing to do the only thing he asked.” Dionysus pointed out stands and shops further down the street selling food.

Half an hour later, as they retreated from the various food vendors, Percy decided to ask the question that had been on the tip of his tongue all day. “Okay, I have a question for you both, but it is going to sound really weird since it’ll be obvious to you all."

“With all the questions we’ve had for you it only seems fair,” Hermes nodded.

“Don’t take this the wrong way... but why do you all seem so uptight and cold?” Percy bit his cheek anxiously after he spoke.

Hermes chuckled at Percy’s audacity. 

“We’re gods, you cannot seriously say we have ever been given monikers displaying our warm dispositions?” Dionysus raised a brow.

“Well, no. I don’t even mean to the mortals. I mean to each other. In the council room when you were talking to your dad you spoke as if you were a soldier waiting for commands,” Percy huffed.

“Well, we are,” Hermes frowned as if Percy made no sense.

“No. That's the thing. You’re not,” Percy shook his head, “I guess I don’t understand the dynamic because I've never seen it. Usually when I appear before the council Dionysus is sleeping, Hermes is checking his messages, Apollo is listening to music-”

“Sleeping during a council meeting? To have the gall-” Dionysus looked horrified.

Percy frowned at their faces which displayed twin looks of abject horror, “Are you afraid of your dad?”

“I find it comical you refer to him so casually. He is our paternal parent and we do call him Lord Father but he is not our dad. Not in the way that mortal boys have fathers. Surely you know that,” Hermes tipped his head, his eyebrows scrunching.

“To not fear him would be naïve at the very least. He is powerful, he is our king.” Dionysus added.

Percy thought back to the Zeus he knew at home. The guy was an asshole for sure, but Percy couldn't remember him scaring his children in this way. Percy was certain the god cared about his children in his own twisted way, it was the whole reason Zeus turned Thalia into a tree after all. However, Percy wasn’t an idiot, he knew first hand that the god was dangerous but the dynamic was so different that he couldn’t wrap his head around it. How many times did the gods, specifically the children of Zeus completely disregard his orders because they disagreed with him?

Percy blew out a breath as he relayed his thoughts to the two gods before him, “I do not think you fear your father where I come from- at least not like this. I think you respect him and that you also resent him. But I know that none of you are afraid to challenge him or even go behind his back to do what you think is right."

“Anyone who defies fathers direct orders is punished severely,” Hermes recited, almost robotic in his tone.

“Then why are you defying him right now?” Percy questioned only an octave above a whisper.

“I have no clue, I’ll blame the madness,” Dionysus laughed lightly as if he truly feared he was losing himself to his domain.

“Father was right, Percy. You are dangerous. However, I think it is not in the way any of us could have expected it,” Hermes let out an incredulous breath.

Percy turned to look at Hermes as they continued walking trying to make sense of what the god had meant by that. Only to let out a grunt when he met something solid in his path that almost sent him to the ground. 

Turning his attention back in front of him he saw a girl about his age, “I am so- oh gods no you stay far away from me!”

Percy scrambled backwards, his new sandals digging into the path beneath him as he tried to regain his balance in his haste to flee.

The girl’s eyes were glowing a very familiar shade of green. 

“I am the Or-”

Percy shoved his hands over his ears and shook his head forcefully, “No, I do not accept. Go away!”

Dionysus had stopped next to the girl while Hermes followed Percy as he retreated.

“Percy, kid, you cannot escape a prophecy,” Hermes warned.

“I, frankly, don’t care. Apollo’s grandma said I wouldn't have to do this again!” Percy said petulantly, resisting the urge to stomp his foot.

“No, she said she wasn’t sure,” Hermes reminded him.

“I’m gonna walk off the side of a cliff and just be done with it. What are you going to do about that?” Percy challenged.

Hermes defiantly replied, “I’ll catch you, cousin.”

The Oracle never ceased with her introduction, her eyes glowing and glazed over as she took tentative steps toward Percy, who had froze in his shock at Hermes’ answer.

“Perseus Jackson,” The Oracle whispered gravely.

“Fuck,” Percy swore unhappily before turning to meet the Oracle’s gaze reluctantly, “What must I know?”

“To times of past you have traveled,

and unfolding now is Fate’s greatest gamble.

Consequences reaped and sowed at every turn,

A ticket home must be earned.

To change a god is a feat unknown,

For you to leave, you must find home.

Six loved ones in mortal danger, 

Left to die without their savior.

Connections you severed will soon wither and die, 

Unless you accept this quest and thrive.

Any easy choice you shall take:

To live, to die, to seal a Fate.

What lengths will you go to save a friend?

The answer lies with an intertwined thread,

and family that would die in your stead. 

All roads converge with a dying mortal's breath.”

As the Oracle spoke her prophecy she grasped tightly to Percy’s wrist. As she uttered her last words and gazed deeply within Percy’s eyes he only had enough time to mutter, “That is the longest fucking prophecy I have ever heard of in my life,” before he dropped to the ground his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

Immediately the girl’s eyes cleared and she looked around in confusion for a mere moment. As she took in the scene in front of her, she gasped in horror before making a quick exit from the gods presence.

Dionysus was on his hands and knees in the middle of the pathway, rolling Percy onto his side instinctually as the boy shook violently.

“Hermes, run!” Dionysus instructed his brother.

Hermes needed no further elaboration before he reminded everyone in Delphi why he was the messenger god as he sprinted at inhuman speeds back towards the temple.

Dionysus knew how to assist a mortal in a health crisis. While it is true that he might not be comparable to Apollo, he was certainly better than most gods. 

“Breathe Percy, come on!” Dionysus muttered, knowing that the way his body had tensed as he hit the ground was not a good sign. 

“Percy?” Dionysus whispered in horror at the unresponsive boy, for that is all he was, a young boy pushed too far and used by Fate mercilessly.

Dionysus held him down strongly but carefully, trying to stop him from bashing his head off the ground.

For a moment, it seemed as though Percy was going to stop his fit as he slowed in his rigorous shakes. Dionysus loosened his grip just barely before several things happened in quick succession.

First, Percy started shaking with such force that Dionysus was sure he would leave bruises in his grip. Then, the ground started shaking in synchronicity with Percy. A trembling vibration that Dionysus swore perfectly matched every twitch.

“No, no! Percy you must cease! Wake up child! At once!” Dionysus demanded stressfully.

There was no answer, not that the god really expected one. The quakes didn’t cease and Dionysus knew they were going to be in dire trouble in a matter of moments.

The screaming and running of the people of Delphi was not lost on Dionysus, it was simply not important in comparison to the boy who seemed determined to level one of the very few that the gods actually paid closer attention to. 

“I knew it! And Dionysus, what a fool you are! To let yourself be conned by this traitor!” Phoebus screamed as he approached, giving no attention to Percy, instead directing a fiery gaze to Dionysus.

“This is not the time! Can you not see this is a medical emergency? Do your duty and help him!” Dionysus yelled.

“Absolutely not! This is my sacred city! He deserves death for causing even the slightest disturbance here!” Phoebus growled, sparing a glance at the chaos around them.

Dionysus resisted the urge to scream, but took satisfaction in the fact that Phoebus was suddenly pushed aside like a peasant as Apollo, Hermes, and Phoebe came rushing by.

“What happened!” Apollo demanded as he threw himself to the ground.

“The Oracle of Delphi,” Dionysus said simply, knowing the last thing Apollo needed in this moment was an overcomplicated rant.

“No, surely not!” Phoebe looked shocked as she let her gaze befall the boy.

“He was given a prophecy and then collapsed,” Hermes confirmed.

“Why is he trying to bring down my entire city!” Phoebus demanded petulantly.

“Dear one, I urge you not to be cruel to this child,” Phoebe said with a disappointed frown.

Phoebus’ jaw shut with an audible clack in his shock but he did not say another word.

“He’s cyanotic!” Apollo observed, pulling different instruments out of thin air.

“What does that mean?” Dionysus questioned stressfully.

“It’s not good, brother.” Apollo paused to shine a light in Percy’s eyes, “Fuck! His pupils are blown.”

“Is there anything you need me to do? If the earthquake stops, will he stop?” Phoebe asked.

“I think so, but I don’t know how to make him stop,” Apollo admitted quietly as he knelt next to Percy.

“How do you not know?” Hermes questioned in confusion.

“This is not just sickness, this is a display of power! Do I look like the god of earthquakes to you!” Apollo snapped.

“We’re dead if they discover that we smuggled you out!” Dionysus reminded the group.

“You’re already doomed! You think I won’t be reporting this to Lord Father?! You must have fallen to your madness!” Phoebus squawked.

“I dare say it is bold of anyone to think the whole of Olympus wouldn’t notice an earthquake of this magnitude,” A voice called from over the group’s shoulder.

Poseidon and Zeus stood looking wholly unimpressed as they took in the scene.

“Uncle, please you have to help him,” Apollo pleaded to his uncle.

“I do not have to do anything. The moment you dared to set foot off of Olympus, you made yourself for all intents and purposes, an enemy of Olympus and a traitor too.” Poseidon scowled darkly.

“Father,” Apollo whispered raspily as he turned to Zeus, “please.”

“You are no son of mine, my children obey orders. You should have thought of that before thinking yourself greater than your King's orders,” Zeus grumbled lowly.

Hermes took in the scene in front of him, how the ground continued to tremble, fruit stands losing a tomato here or there, how his father glared at his brother, how Percy remained thrashing on the ground and he knew. He knew at that moment that he had to do something.

Screw the consequences, if Percy knew him in the future he at least wouldn't be killed for what he was about to do. So the god of messages figured, the least he could do is try to save a kid who he knew to his very core that he cared about in that distant future.

“Percy is a child. One that we have apparently failed more than once. He has been through perils that I cannot begin to understand. In the short time since he and Apollo arrived here he has taught me so much. If you do this, you will regret it for the rest of your immortal lives. He was given a prophecy! It must be completed, lest we all risk the wrath of fate. What does it matter that we left Olympus? We weren’t running! We were doing what was necessary to begin the process of them returning home! Yes, we dared to disobey your words but perhaps, though you loathe to admit it, you were wrong!”

“Hold your tongue at this instance Hermes!” Zeus roared, lightning bolts dancing over his skin.

“No,” Hermes stood his ground defiantly.

Poseidon shook his head in shock, “I do not understand the spell this mortal has on you but surely you can see that it is dangerous!”

“There is no spell! It is care and concern which fuel my defense! I know intrinsically that there is a version of me in the far off future who is desperate to get his brother and friend back. Have you ever thought of the embarrassment your future self must think you are.” Hermes spat his words, not realizing how much they were truly targeting his uncle's already weakened composure.

“You are treading very dangerous waters, Hermes.” Poseidon growled, trying to keep the words from touching that weak feeling that had accompanied the child in his arrival. 

“I do not care. For once in my godly existence I refuse to simply do as I am told! Go ahead and make an example out of me for all I care-”

“Hermes do not give them ideas!” Dionysus cut in.

“-at least I will be able to live with myself knowing I did the right thing. You will both have to live with the shame. Unless of course, you make the right choice. Don’t test fate, Father, Uncle. We should all know it fights back ruthlessly.” Hermes was practically heaving in breath as he finished his rant, his fists clenched by his side.

Zeus looked ready to strike Hermes down where he stood but Poseidon surprisingly looked as if he had been slapped.

“If you knew the whole story, you would understand and if you deserved to know the whole story, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Dionysus said simply, his face revealing no emotion.

Apollo was knelt next to Percy, trying everything to subdue his seizures. He had heard every word that Hermes said and tried to hold back the sob that was trying to escape him. Oh, how that sounded just like the rebellious brother he knew. 

Apollo was conflicted, he knew at this moment he had a choice to make. How he handled this situation was make or break. As much as he agreed with Dionysus that neither Zeus or Poseidon deserved to know anything about Percy or the future. It also seemed that the only way to go from here was give them something to back up Hermes’ claims. The very brief silence was interrupted before he had a chance to speak.

“Poseidon, Zeus. Surely you must know that letting this boy die in a time period he does not belong to would have untoward ripple effects?” Phoebe spoke evenly.

Poseidon stroked his beard in contemplation as he resisted the urge to massage that stabbing feeling in his chest once again. His stubbornness quickly won out as he still refused to act.

Another fruit cart had just lost several oranges, the shaking pushing them too close to the edge for them to hang on.

“Father, Uncle. I do not know what to tell you to make you act but I can tell you with the full force of my domain as the god of truth that we do not mean any harm. I can’t guarantee how you, Lord Father, would react. However, I know exactly how Poseidon is taking this and who is to know how much he cares for Percy. Remember the pearl, uncle.” Apollo reminded the god.

The weight of his words seemed to strike Poseidon in some way as his eyes finally settled on Percy. Poseidon didn’t let his gaze linger long before he focused on the water in the distance, as if listening for the waves to tell him what to do.

Apollo took this opportunity, “Percy has a room in your palace. You offered him godhood; the whole council did. And he declined, asking for more safety for demigod children and more representation of lesser gods. Percy is not a threat, not to us. To any monster who wishes to harm his family, perhaps. But to Olympus? That kid has fought for us in so many ways.”

“Why do we care? So many demigods existed before Percy. Why does he matter?” Poseidon questioned Apollo heavily, giving into the urge to rub a hand over his uncomfortably tight chest.

“That is easy,” Apollo chuckled, “You brag about your son enough for me to know exactly why he matters so much. He is a true son of the sea god .He inherited everything that is good about you and somehow miraculously, none of the bad. He is loyal, kind, and strong. And he cares about you to the point where he was willing at twelve years old to go on a quest that led him straight to the Underworld and back just to defend your honor. You care about Percy because no matter how much you have messed up when being his parent, he forgives you. Perhaps he shouldn’t but he can’t help it because that is just how good his soul is.”

Poseidon swallowed as he stared out at the sea. It took a moment of silence and contemplation. As if each wave that rolled in the distance was contributing an opinion to the topic before the god decided, “Very well.”

“You’ll help him?” Apollo breathed.

Zeus balked, “You’re trusting them?!”

“I do not know this child brother, but if what Apollo says is true, which given his domains it has to be;  I believe the thing this child deserves is a chance to explain, even if it is against my better judgment to show a potential threat any leniency.” Poseidon sighed, his chest feeling like a weight that the sea god was certain weighed more than the weight Atlas carried. 

There was a brief moment where nothing changed, Apollo bit his tongue in the anticipation, until slowly the ground stopped vibrating altogether.

“Oh, thank Chaos! Perseus Achilles Jackson I could just throttle you! Why is it that any time you are left with no supervision you almost die or blow something up!” Apollo scowled as he checked over Percy’s health, making sure this fit did not have any sort of lasting effect on him.

“What did you just call him?” Zeus blurted in confusion before continuing, “You addressed him differently.”

“That is because, Father, he is in trouble! I mean honestly do you even understand how much trouble I would be in if I returned with him harmed. I was on Percy watch! The kid attracts trouble like no one I have ever seen before. I suppose we should be grateful it was just an earthquake. One time, he blew up one of Hephaestus' forges that had been overrun by telkhines, oh man, that was a long week on Olympus,” Apollo muttered as he worked, not fully realizing what he was saying. 

“He has enough power to blow up a forge?” Poseidon questioned curiously as he eyed the still unconscious boy in sudden interest.

“Uh, it was more like a chain reaction I suppose. I wasn’t really there but according to Hep-” Apollo bit his cheek hard as he remembered the very judgmental crowd he was relaying this information to.

“Do not stop on our account,” Zeus said with narrowed inquisitive eyes, “I think you forget, Apollo, that you are not in the position to withhold any information. It seems we have yet another council meeting to hold. We shall start with this prophecy that you say was given by the Oracle.”

Poseidon and Zeus left that instant, leaving no trace of their presence behind besides the tenseness that refused to dissipate from the air.

Phoebe placed a gentle hand on Apollo’s shoulder, “I shall take care of everything here. You take care of yourselves. Apollo, contact me if you or the dear child needs anything. And Phoebus, lead with your heart as well as your mind and let the prophecy guide your way.”

Chapter Text

To say that Apollo was sick and tired of Olympus and the Olympians in general would be putting it lightly. With that said, he also knew that his father would strike him down where he stood if he ever spoke such thoughts aloud, but it reigned true nonetheless.

What did they honestly expect Apollo to tell them? None of the information he had was what his father had wanted to hear the first time. He had watched, practically forbidden from intervention, as the events were actively unfolding. So, again Apollo had to ask himself: why should he even bother to tell Zeus now?

Apollo then immediately answered his own question mentally: the Olympian council would either kill them where they stood for insubordination or they would be tortured ruthlessly until they got the answers they wanted to hear. The Olympian gods had always tended to be paranoid, but Apollo couldn’t help worrying that the truth would be harder to explain than about any half truth he could come up with.

Percy was still unconscious for the moment, making the matter at hand so much more difficult. A nasty and well hidden part of Apollo, the part that rarely liked when things didn’t go his way, wanted to feel annoyed or even enraged at the demigod. With a blink he forcibly pushed every trace of that part of himself all the way down to the deepest part of his being. He couldn’t fault Percy, not now. This was not the time to be a selfish and vengeful god, especially when Apollo knew his recovery from Tartarus would be troublesome enough.

For a moment, Apollo thinks back to the last week of watching over Percy, before yesterday he didn’t even speak, he couldn't stand on his own, and hadn’t gone without a near constant drip of a salt water mixture. It is of no shock to Apollo that when Percy had forced himself to do all of that and more in a short period of time, there were dire consequences. Quite frankly he knows he should just be grateful the kid isn't dead from his outburst.

The recovery he and Asclepius had originally planned out for Percy certainly didn’t look like this. So with a mental nod to himself he made a note at the very forefront of his mind to remember that he could not blame the kid for having episodes of this proportion, not when he was suddenly being pushed beyond his limits. They were already expecting outbursts without this new catastrophic level of stress. Percy was supposed to finally be getting a moment of recuperation, not pushed closer to the edge of mania that even Dionysus wouldn't be able to pull him from. After going through one of the most harrowing things any being in existence could experience, Tartarus, one could already expect Percy to have long since tripped over that metaphoric ledge the second he quite literally did.

And how was Apollo supposed to protect Percy when he doesn’t know what they are getting themselves into? Apollo wished he could say he trusted his family to see things their way and understand why things were done the way that they were, but he wasn’t naive enough to hope that.

So now, he had found himself standing next to an unconscious Percy who was hooked up to an I.V. in a makeshift cot in the middle of the throne room as a million negative thoughts swirled within the god's consciousness. Yeah, he was really, really starting to despise the throne room.  If he ever got home, Apollo would have to beg his father for it to be completely redone to look nothing like it was, to hell with reservation, this room makes his nauseous.

He shook away the nausea and the thoughts, he supposed right now he should just be thankful that these versions of the Olympian Council listened to him when he said that Percy needed rest and explained that forcing the demigod to be awake before his body is ready to awaken could cause more harm than good.

Apollo brought himself out of his head and back to the moment as he stood waiting with the others. One by one is very prompt succession the council began to fill the throne room. Apollo couldn't help himself, throwing a look towards his sister. When their gazes locked he was met with her curious look That one look is all it took for him to know that her past promise to him still reigned true and that she was willing to listen to their story. It took a bit of the pressure off Apollo to know that Hermes, Dionysus, and Artemis were at least open to hearing the truth.

Finally, after what felt to Apollo like both far too long and far too soon, the last of the Olympian council filled their seats.

Zeus looked toward Hermes, prompting him to begin with a small hand gesture.

Hermes nodded once in acknowledgement before he addressed the room at large.

“There has been a prophecy given, I believe it is best that we start there.”

“To times of past you have traveled,
Unfolding now is Fate’s greatest gamble.
Take too long and the world will perish,
You will lose everything you cherish.
Consequences reaped and sowed at every turn,
A ticket home must be earned.
To change a god is a feat unknown,
For you to leave, you must find home.
Six loved ones in mortal danger,
Left to die without their savior.
Connections you severed will soon wither and die,
Unless you accept this quest and thrive.
An easy choice you shall take:
To live, to die, to seal a Fate.
What lengths will you go to save a friend?
The answer lies with an intertwined thread,
With family that would die in your stead.
All roads combine with a dying mortal's breath.”

Hermes recited, thinking back to the way the oracle in Delphi had grabbed Percy tightly, nails digging into his arm as the words had sealed Percy’s fate.

“That can’t have been the prophecy, that’s far too long for a prophecy,” Phoebus rolled his eyes.

Apollo blinked numbly as he absorbed Hermes’ words fully, now wishing he had been there himself to hear this prophecy. Surely something had to be wrong. Loathe he be to admit it, Phoebus had a point, Prophecies were very, very rarely ever this long. What was Fate playing at? What sick cruel experiment were they living in?

Artemis looked to her father and raised her hand slightly, a mere tilt up from where it had rested on the arm of her throne, waiting for his nod to speak, “As much as I wish I could pretend otherwise, I do not understand this prophecy. Can anyone here make sense of it?”

“I won’t pretend to be a god of words or prophecies, but I think it said the demigod is dying,” Ares said bluntly.

“He can’t be,” Apollo immediately shot Ares' interpretation down.

Athena furrowed her brow as she assessed the look on Apollo's face, “I think we all understand that you have a responsibility to watch over the boy, but Apollo, you must know better than anyone that mortals die, especially ones that already look halfway there.”

“No, Apollo’s right, he can’t die-” Dionysus spoke up in support of his brother from the future.

“Enough! You are all bothering yourselves with a mere mortal, it is irrelevant whether the child is destined for death. You do all understand that there is much more to this than the demise of the weak demigod. Now, Apollo, if you would please interpret possible meanings to the best of your ability.” Zeus cut off the impending argument and redirected his attention to his son.

“Actually, he’s Phoebus, that’s Apollo, we don’t want to confuse the two so while they-” Hermes tapered off as he realized his father was now glaring at him harshly, lightning bolts flashing within his eyes, “Never mind then.”

“Esteemed council, it is my belief that breaking the prophecy into smaller chunks and then discussing each bit individually will be more efficient in the whole understanding. So, to begin, the first line is obvious: they were sent here, to the past. The second line seems to confirm what they believed: that Fate itself was responsible for this venture. Although, I don’t know why. The third and fourth line seem to indicate that this is a high-stakes quest. Jumping further down, it seems like the demigod is going to have to do something specifically to get home. But he himself has to figure out what. And then it says there are apparently six people in danger, a danger directly related to them being gone. I find it very ironic to call him a savior, though,” Phoebus elaborated.

Apollo shook his head in defiance, interrupting his past self, “Percy is a savior. He’s the savior of Olympus, several times over and in ways he doesn’t even realize.”

“The child, the one who is unconscious and sickly, is the savior of Olympus?” Demeter questioned with a disbelieving frown as she looked down at the cot Percy laid on.

“Not to mention he is only a child and we do not let children fight our battles,” Ares crossed his arms distrustfully, "what you are saying makes no sense."

Apollo took a moment to think of the best way to phrase his next sentence before he addressed the council room, “in the future, there was a great prophecy, one that explicitly mentioned a child of age sixteen. There was no room for what we would prefer to have happened.”

“And we picked… him?” Hera eyed the child distastefully.

“He was one of the only ones that fit the given requirements and despite your current thoughts, he is the best option we could have had for the problem at hand.” Apollo said.

“I do think you may be a bit biased here, brother. You do seem to care for this boy quite a lot.” Artemis commented neutrally.

“Well it is as you all say: he is an anomaly. It makes him interesting,” Apollo said simply, trying to explain away the motivations for knowing Percy. The years of getting to know Percy through small encounters and big encounters alike.

“I want you to make this council aware of all of his feats so that we may evaluate him and the potential danger he poses.” Zeus instructed gruffly.

Apollo paused. All of Percy's feats? He was utterly embarrassed to admit to himself that he most likely didn't know the half of what Percy has accomplished. He knew what Percy told him, which was very little. He knew what he had seen first hand, which again, was not everything. And he also knew what he had been told by others. The whispers and rumors from other gods and creatures, the little that had been televised by Hephaestus, the bits they had had meetings about. It wasn't enough. How was he to summarize Percy Jackson? There was no adequate way. Percy was a person that you truly had to see it to believe it, as they say. Apollo would try his best with what little he had, but he knew it would never be enough.

“Right… well I know that when he was twelve he took on a fury and won, and that he achieved this without receiving training,” Apollo started at the earliest feat he was aware of, he realized to late that he probably sounded a bit hesitant, which wouldn't help their case.

“That’s impossible!” Phoebus scoffed incredulously.

“If you are going to discredit everything that I say then there is simply no point to this whatsoever,” Apollo snapped.

“Apollo, continue, I do not wish to be here for the next millennia,” Zeus urged on.

"I can only tell you what I know. You asked to know his feats, that is what I plan to share." Apollo pauses and then sighs heavily, "perhaps it is imperative to give necessary context to what this prophecy foretold. However, let me be clear that by informing you of this, I do not want to cause any undue alarm. I urge you all to keep in mind that it will not come to pass for thousands of years."

“Go on,” Zeus huffed impatiently.

“The great prophecy foretold the rise of your father,” Apollo admitted with a slightly nervous look.

Instantly, the temperature in the council room dropped several degrees as every head zeroed in on him. He could smell nothing but ozone and he knew he had upset his father, just as he assumed he would.

“What do you mean by that?” Hera spoke up, her tone almost nervous, which something Apollo was certain he had never heard before.

Apollo resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. That he even has to be explaining this is aggravating him immensely. With every thought of the recent wars, he could see flashes of his dead children's faces. “I mean what I said, he rose, it had been so long that his body had begun to reform and he planned to destroy Olympus as we knew it.”

“I do not understand what this has to do with the boy,” Demeter sniffed haughtily, a defense against the topic at hand that was making her uncomfortable.

Apollo met Demeter’s gaze, “your father had a plan that none of you ever expected. He would manipulate the demigod children into believing he was right, he had grown so strong he could enter their minds.”

“This is ridiculous.” Ares addressed the council, “No one is believing this, right?”

“Silence, Ares.” Zeus spoke, his hardened voice sounding sharper now.

“Percy defied that manipulation, he stood in the Titan’s presence and told him no.” Apollo says.

Apollo knows he isn’t quite sure what exactly happened during Percy’s encounters with Kronos. The boy had never spoken of it. This meant that Apollo was left with only a certain broad knowledge and assumptions. The very thing they wish to know more about is one of those topics that Apollo did not have the privilege of knowing.

“Are you trying to say that that child defied Him?” Hera questioned incredulously.

Apollo nods, “Gods were even being manipulated because of his increased strength and yet somehow, Percy managed to remain loyal to us. It’s his fatal flaw: loyalty.”

Apollo caught onto the fact that Poseidon was glancing at Percy every few moments, remaining stoic despite his glances. He wished he knew what was going on in Poseidon's head. Apollo's ichor still boiled when he thought of Poseidon's dismissal of Percy. Now though he wondered if Poseidon regretted it, even just a little bit. Apollo would take great joy in the opportunity to rub it in the Sea King's smug immortal face.

“As impressive as that may be, how exactly does that make him a savior of Olympus?” Athena raised a brow.

“You are trying to make me skip to the end,” Apollo tsked, forgetting himself for a millisecond as he aims a small grin at he as he would with his Athena, only to immediately drop it when he get's a cold scowl in response.

“To be fair, that is a pretty big thing to just wait for,” Hermes says immediately as he notices the exchange, trying to intercept before Athena can say anything about the grin.

“Okay, I'm going to speed run this. Please try not to interrupt,” Apollo begins.

Zeus makes a gesture to begin speaking.

“When the great prophecy was originally foretold, it specified that a child of the eldest gods would either save or destroy Olympus when they reached sixteen. So, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had made an oath on the Styx to not have anymore kids-”

Instantly, the room broke out in shocked and disbelieving shouts. Hera was the only silent one amongst them all, even looking a bit smug. She was beyond satisfied that her husband could at least not sire anymore bastard children.

“I know.” Apollo says and then continues on, trying to explain the situation as simply as possible, “Somehow this actually lasted several decades. Although, when they made the oath, Hades already had two children that he had hidden away with lotus eaters so that they never aged and would be a neutralized threat without having to kill them. Then, finally, Zeus has a daughter-”

Hera’s previous smug grin completely dropped from her face, “of course he did,” she intoned dryly.

“Wait a moment what do you mean? They broke an oath on the Styx?!” Phoebus spoke up in horror.

Apollo nods before continuing on with his explanation, “And at that point, Hades was still pretty mad about Zeus trying to kill his kids before he put them into hiding, so in retaliation he attacked your daughter and you turned her into a tree. The only other option after that was Percy who was five years younger than Zeus’ daughter.”

Apollo knows that isn't exactly true in the long run, but it is true for a point in time, so technically he is in perfect alignment with his domain. Or at least, that's what he justified it as to himself.

“But what of Hades’ hidden children? Certainly they would be considered for this prophecy,” Athena questioned, "that would mean Percy isn't technically the only option."

“Well, his daughter died not long after coming out of hiding which obviously disqualifies her and his son was still a few years younger than Percy when they came out of hiding since they didn’t age while they were in hiding.” Apollo addressed the question and silently vowed to inconvenience his Athena for always having to ask questions he doesn't want to answer if when he got home.

Athena nods, accepting this answer, “so he was truly the only option.”

Ares tipped his head in deliberation, “If this was a war, then how the hell did they manage to pull through if there were no adult children of Zeus, Hades, or Poseidon and only two children total?”

“Well… that is a good question." Apollo sighed, "Percy went on a quest to bring Zeus’ daughter back to life from her tree form and then she decided to join my sister’s hunters which still excluded her from the prophecy,” Apollo explained.

“No offense to your daughter, Zeus, but I’m more concerned about the rise of Father. Apollo, what do you mean he operated underneath our noses and we just… let it?” Demeter raised a brow as she cut in, but Apollo could see the almost imperceptible tremble in her hand.

Apollo winced, “no one wanted to believe it. And this is where Percy comes in-”

“Dear old Uncle Zeus accused me of stealing his masterbolt on my father’s orders, but it was actually a demigod and a god working under Kronos’ influence.” Percy says from the cot, his voice raspy from being freshly woken up, his eyes blinking tiredly.

Several wide eyes turned on him, but it was Apollo who spoke. Pinching the bridge of his nose, “Percy, we talked about this, names have power. You cannot simply use names like that.”

“Apollo, with all I have been through, I don’t care about addressing them by their dumb names.” Percy said a bit grumbly as he slowly tries to sit up in the cot.

Apollo let out a sigh, “you gave me a scare, again. Will you cease doing that for at least twenty four hours, you could even cause gods to go grey with your proclivity for trouble.”

Zeus interrupted Apollo, “Child, is it true that you faced him and survived?”

Zeus was aiming a heavy look at Percy, as if looking straight through him, looking for any hint of a doubt in the demigod. Apollo was certain any hint of dishonesty would have Percy struck down before Apollo could do anything to save him.

“I did what was asked of me.” Percy said simply, his tone holding a weight only one who had survived through war could understand causing Ares' eyebrow twitched in interest.

“Percy is strong, yes,” Apollo spoke in support of him, almost desperate to have his father stop looking at Percy like that, “but it is in part because it was what we demanded of him. He has had my unwavering respect since he helped save Artemis from capture of Atlas. My twin was forced to hold the sky and Percy took it from her. A mere demigod he is not, Percy is more than that in courage, heart, and strength." 

Zeus' gaze spun away from Percy and onto Apollo, "What did you just say?"

Apollo blinked as his thoughts caught up to him, "I have gotten ahead of myself."

"We'll be here all day if you're trying to talk about every event that led up to this moment," Percy speaks up, his voice still hoarse.

"Right," Apollo nods as he absorbs Percy's words before he looks into his father's gaze, "Artemis was lured by the titan Atlas and then forced to hold the sky."

Apollo had never, not once in all his existence, see the flash of something in his fathers gaze that he just did. He isn't even sure what it is. Regret? Empathy? It must have been something along those lines though because it wasn't the very familiar looks of anger, suspicion, or disappointment usually in his gaze.

Artemis sits still, painting a picture of strength and unbothered nature that Apollo would always be able to see right through.

"She was fine," Percy adds, "She's one of the strongest gods in terms of the will needed to hold the sky."

Artemis cannot help but raise a single brow, she is not often referred to as one of the strongest, and the words make her almost more willing to listen that she had already agreed to be.

"As troubling as it is to learn that Artemis is forced to hold the sky and that Atlas escapes, do you really expect us to believe that you were capable of doing such a feat?" Phoebus questions, despite the shaken up expression on his face.

Percy frowns, he remembers the indescribably horrific pain of holding the sky. The strain on his shoulders that felt like they were going to crush him flat. "I did hold the sky," Percy speaks evenly, pulling as a strand of hair that could have been dismissed as ashen from the debris of the earlier earthquake. But it was not ash or dirt at all. "This streak is from the physical and mental strain of holding it's weight."

"But how are we to believe this as proof?" Hephaestus, who had been silently observing the entire conversation, grumbled, "it could be the result of any number of things."

Percy could not help the scowl that graced his face, the one that made Hermes back home tease him for growing into his father's face. Here, that same look seemed less like teasing material and more like a warning as a few of the council members paused if only momentarily. 

"If the scars on my body are not enough proof to acknowledge the things I have gone through, than I do not know what to tell you." Percy snaps.

"Percy," Apollo says gently, an undertone of his own warning.

Percy takes a breath and shakes his head, "why are we even telling them, Apollo? They'll never understand. They didn't believe it while it was happening. Why would they believe it now?"

"You are telling us because I am the King of the Gods and I demand to know," Zeus growls lowly.

"You can't change what fate already decided, if that's your plan." Percy says flatly.

Zeus raises a brow at Percy's audacity, "Child you would do well to remember your place."

"I remember my place just fine." Percy shoots back.

"Alright, enough." Poseidon speaks up suddenly, to Percy's well hidden shock.

"Do not interfere, brother, you relinquished that right when you refused to claim him as your own." Zeus fires back.

Apollo could deck his father in the face at those incredibly idiotic words. The last thing Percy needs is to feel anymore alienated than he already feels.

Meanwhile, Percy frowns in slight confusion.

"I think we all need to calm down and-" Aphrodite spoke for the first time this meeting only to be outright ignored.

"Apollo, I want to know why exactly this child is named the savior of Olympus. No more backstories with possibly misconstrued details. I want an answer, now." Zeus growled out.

Apollo looks at Percy for a moment before he looks back to his father, "There is more than one event that give Percy that honor."

"Apollo." Zeus says in a tone that cracks like his thunder, it almost makes Percy flinch.

"Percy is the reason why your father was defeated, why his army was taken down. To make a very, very long story short: while us gods took on an escaped Typhon, and Poseidon along with the rest of Altantis took on Oceanis, Percy led an army of about thirty-ish demigods to defeat an entire army which greatly outnumbered them. He dealt with turned demigods, monsters, and titans alike, and he came out on top, he caused your father's defeat. He won."

There is a resounding silence around the room as they let Apollo's words sink in. Hermes and Dionysus met each other's gaze as they learn more about the kid they have started to befriend.

"I am confused," Athena admits, "Then why is the child so injured now if this didn't happen just before your arrival."

Apollo grimaced, "Athena, you have to understand that this is an extremely sensitive-"

"I fell into Tartarus." Percy states bluntly, and then immediately tries not to throw up at his own reminders. The blisters. The aching dryness that felt so wrong to a son of Poseidon. the hunger. The desperation. The pain. The despair. He shakes his head to forcibly try to forget.

In his brief flashback of suffering he missed the resounding screeches and gasps followed by immediate talking over each other. He also missed the way Poseidon very subtly sagged against his thrown in his own despair. But it was an action that Apollo didn't miss. This seemed to be another thing adding to the developing inner battle Apollo wondered if Poseidon was having. After all, Poseidon did just save Percy back in Delphi, that meant something, all of Poseidon's decisions always mean something. Apollo knew from his first meeting with his uncle when he was only but new to existence that his Uncle was a strategist. He knew this was building in Poseidon's mind in a very puzzling manner. He just wished he knew exactly how the Sea God was taking all of this information, because despite his own anger towards this Poseidon, Apollo also knew that Percy would take great comfort in Poseidon's care for him.

"Apollo, truly this is a lie?!" Demeter demands directly, instead of the other overlapping chatter.

On instinct, Apollo turned to Demeter and nodded, "yes, it is true," he sighs before he elaborates, "Percy was in my care on Olympus because I was treating him from the after effects of his extended exposure to the elements in the Pit."

"How does one fall into such a place?" Aphrodite frowns softly.

"Bad luck," Percy says dryly.

"That is impossible," Zeus said in a grave tone, "No mortal could ever survive Tartarus, at least without the protection of a god, it is simply not a possibility." Zeus shakes his head, more shaken up than the King ever let anyone see normally.

Hermes and Dionysus lock gazes once more, but this time for an entirely different reason. Zeus was in fact correct after all, no mortal survived Tartarus, which is why Percy was ascending.

"I've always been a bit hard to kill," Percy says dryly, "and as you all have noticed, I'm not exactly a pinnacle of health right now." 

Zeus narrows his eyes at Percy and nods, making up his mind, "I have decided. You're too dangerous, knowing you can cause earthquakes of that proportion and knowing that you are unstable from the effects of Tartarus I have no choice but to eliminate the threat you pose to Olympus."

At the declaration several things happen at once, Poseidon lurches in his seat, Dionysus and Hermes yell in protest, Apollo moves as fast as he could to shield Percy. 

Meanwhile, Percy sits perfectly still, looking up at Zeus with a steely and unafraid gaze. He knew this would come one day, Zeus had threatened to kill him enough in the last few years to just assume one of these days he was going to mean it. He refuses to give this Zeus the satisfaction of fear. He had never feared his own demise, only the effect it would have on others. Now though, after Tartarus, he resigned himself to his fate. It would be better this way. 

"Father no! You cannot do this! What are you doing?!" Apollo yells ineloquently, desperation flooding his being as Zeus gestures with his hand and Ares stands up to physically restrain Apollo, moving him away from Percy.

Poseidon is glancing at the situation in what can almost qualify as anxiety, Artemis looks just as troubled as she feels, Hermes looks and feels sick, Dionysus looks horrified, Demeter looks concerned,  Aphrodite looks conflicted, Athena cannot excuse the fact that she is not satisfied with the little information they got, Ares looks stony as he holds a desperate Apollo back, Hera looks almost unbothered, Hephaestus seems almost wary, and Phoebus, for all his previous grandeur, watches nervously.

"Move, Apollo, I am fulfilling your prophecy, you say there shall be death to your mortal savior? Then death there shall be." Zeus says lowly.

The next moment, Zeus' masterbolt is flying through the air toward Percy. It's an electric, crackling light and he knows it's hurtling straight for him with perfect accuracy. For that one moment, when all Percy can see is the bright white light, he can't help but wonder if he'll wake up, reforming back in Tartarus. This time as the monster he feared that he had become down there.

And that was the moment when someone lunged toward the bolt.

Chapter Text

Zeus was not impressed. In fact, he would go as far as to say that he was very displeased with how this ordeal had played out thus far. If there was one thing Zeus loathed, it was being displeased. No one knew anything about the disappearance of Percy and Apollo. How is it that across all godly domains no one was able to come up with anything? He could feel the electricity crackling within his current form. His veins, instead of merely containing ichor, were live wires that were ready to wipe out entire nations in seconds. He was a walking conduit for mass destruction.

“Dear, we must go,” Hera said, calling Zeus away from his thoughts.

Zeus blinked as he realized that Iris, Nike, Poseidon, Hermes, and Chiron were already several paces in front of where he was. Leaving him where he had remained, glaring at the dirt. Hera stayed next to him as the others proceeded, a worried frown on her face.

“Yes, of course,” Zeus nodded, chasing away any remnant of his thoughts. 

Zeus could not afford any time wasted. Who knows what Apollo could be facing at this moment and to make matters worse, Zeus knows his son well enough to know that Apollo would do something rash or even deadly to save Poseidon’s demigod.

As irritated as that made him, he was almost relieved that Percy had someone with him wherever he had disappeared to- even if he would vehemently deny such a thing to anyone who asked him. Zeus wasn’t entirely confident that he would have been able to contain Poseidon’s wrath if it was just Perseus who had been abducted without a trace. He knew his brother would have assumed them all as suspects which would have made the odds of them being able to do anything productive to try and find him dwindle considerably. 

When the group entered the infirmary, immediately the gods that had been occupying the room turned their attention to them, waiting for any information they might have to share. 

“Another one?” Asclepius sighed before ushering Hermes to set Rachel on an empty bed.

Hestia was quick to notice the unpleasant mood that surrounded them, “What happened?”

Zeus drew in a breath before announcing, “There is a new great prophecy.”

“Another one?” Hades questioned tiredly, slowly pulling his large hand down his face.

“Does it at least tell us how to fix this?” Dionysus gestured to the unconscious children on the beds.

“Not nearly enough,” Poseidon scoffed bitterly, "it is almost like it does not want us to know how to fix this."

“Well? Let’s hear it,” Athena crossed her arms defensively, preparing herself for the words that could change everything.

“To lands forgotten, two have traveled,

All to see Fate’s plan unraveled.

Seeds planted long ago, 

Fate has waited for them to grow.

The truth is buried with a sleeping titaness,

The fraudulent god,

And the goddess betrayed while in distress.

Only, the mighty gods will be met with failure,

For there shall be death of the mortal savior.” Chiron relayed the prophecy to the room.

Gazes shifted between one another as they tried to find the words to say.

“So now we need a plan. And if there are any fraudulent gods or betrayed goddesses who may be in front of us, now would be a good time to say what exactly you know, ” Persephone narrowed her eyes at those around her.

There was silence.

“If anyone knows something and does not speak up, you will not be treated kindly when you are found out,” Zeus warned with dark eyes.

Another tense moment of silence.

“Very well then, does anyone have any ideas on where to start?” Zeus questioned.

“I think we need to contact every Titaness, if it says the one we are looking for is sleeping then perhaps one of the others knows which one we are looking for.” Athena suggested.

Asclepius raised a hand awkwardly.

“Yes?” Zeus furrowed his brows at the god’s demonstration.

“I just wanted to confirm to everyone that the child does have the soul bond ailment,” Asclepius explained.

Zeus blinked, “I don’t care about that child right now. That is of no relevance here.”

“Zeus!” Hestia admonished, “Thank you, Asclepius.”

“She also has something in her hand,” Asclepius added nervously.

“Honestly, again I must ask, what is the relevance of this? We are pressed for time!” Zeus huffed.

“Oh, of course! It’s just- dad would always talk about the girl’s paintings and this looks like crumpled paper. I thought it might be a clue,” Asclepius shrugged, feeling awkward under the intense attention of the collection of gods in front of him.

Asclepius showed the small torn piece of red painted paper, clearly a small piece of a larger painting.

Poseidon stood straighter, looking like he just remembered something.

Hestia caught the reaction, “What is it brother?”

“Percy, he told me about Rachel. He said she would paint parts of prophecies. He tends to rant when burning offerings and one time he was complaining that she had a pile of paintings of his face... and that she insisted that she couldn’t throw any of them away because they might mean something in the future.” Poseidon explained.

“Iris, Nike, Hermes, go search her dwellings and see if there are any paintings of importance or any paintings that belong to the torn piece.” Zeus instructs and the three immediately leave to go investigate.

The discussion of theories and dozens of potential deciphered meanings of the prophecy last for hours with no end in sight and very little actually figured out.

Amongst the grueling hours with no clear answer, and constant bickering between the gods, Poseidon had found himself lost in his thoughts.

He was perhaps naïve to think that nothing else could go wrong. Then he heard the prophecy and the mighty god felt as if he could vomit. What was he to do? 

Part of him wished to hunt down every Titaness that was sleeping and demand any ounce of information out of them. The other part wasn’t that stupid. To demand anything from a Titaness was sealing your fate to a very long stay with Apollo while you healed from your injuries; and as Apollo was not here, Poseidon especially did not want to risk it.

The words of the prophecy burned into his being with a weight he was sure was equivalent to what Atlas felt whilst lifting the sky.

There shall be death of the mortal savior.

There would not. At least, not if Poseidon had anything to do with it. He would unashamedly sacrifice any and all of these little whelps to get his son back. A disapproving voice in the back of his conscience that sounded annoyingly like a younger version of his son advised him that killing the campers would not be a good idea. 

From the moment he had heard that prophecy it had felt as if his father had come back once more to slow time. It had been both a short and treacherously long walk to the infirmary. Relaying the prophecy to all the gods that had chosen to help Dionysus and Hestia had been tiresome. Poseidon wished he could say he was paying attention but the only thing he could think of was Percy. Of the way in which he had failed him yet again, just as he had failed his son every day since he was born.

“-idon? Poseidon? Are you listening brother?” Hades rested a hand on his shoulder, eyeing him carefully.

“Yes, yes. I am fine. What were you saying?” Poseidon cleared his throat.

“I merely asked you if there was anything I could do for you?” Hades settled into the chair next to Poseidon in the far corner of the infirmary.

“I do not know where to go from here, brother,” Poseidon admitted quietly.

“Easy enough. We continue to dissect the prophecy until we come up with a probable lead. We may not be Apollo but I am certain we could come up with the correct place to start,” Hades said assuredly.

“I was actually trying very hard not to think of the prophecy. The last thing my son needs is to be wrapped up in another one of those.” Poseidon grumbled.

“Fate has its own plans. It usually does. For now, we can take solace in the fact that neither of them are dead. I would know,” Hades said.

“Does anyone have a plan?” Poseidon questioned, trying to change the subject so the images of a potentially dead Percy would stop flooding his mind.

“Some ideas, perhaps, but no solid plan as of yet. Were you truly not listening this whole time? We have been talking for hours! It is almost sunrise!” Hades frowned at his brother in concern.

“I may not have been listening exactly but I have been thinking. I’ve been going over every possible situation in my head. I was present when the oracle gave that blasted prophecy. I know every word as if it were branded on my trident. Where in the world could they have gone that was forgotten? Who exactly is it forgotten by? There are thousands of places forgotten about by humans that gods frequent! If it is a place we have forgotten, how are we supposed to find it!” Poseidon ranted, pushing his hair back with his hand.

“Are you two plotting without me? I should be enraged,” Zeus said dryly as he plopped into a chair beside Hades.

“Plotting would assume we have even half a clue as to what we are doing,” Poseidon said sourly.

“Yeah, I know the feeling,” Zeus sighed.

“I just feel like we are missing something important,” Poseidon said in frustration.

“We most likely are. When have prophecies ever been straightforward?” Hades questioned.

“Well-” Zeus began, a corner of his lip pulling up.

“If you are talking about the disaster of 1543, do not even go there. That could hardly be called a prophecy. Apollo was drunk off his ass on Dionysus’ wine and prophesied someone would fall off the parapet into cold unforgiving waters. He was planning to jump into that pond way before he pretended to prophesize it,” Hades snorted as he rolled his eyes.

“I forgot about that! That was a good winter solstice,” Poseidon cracked a smile before it faded away once more.

Zeus’ mirth was also quickly erased off his face.

Hades took in his brothers’ faces and immediately knew they were closing themselves off again. 

“Hey, come on! Seriously we cannot afford the two of you retreating behind your emotional constipation walls. We are going to find them. Now, Zeus, did anyone have any ideas who the three people listed in the prophecy could be?” Hades asked.

“Not that I know of- which I am supposed to because I threatened to torture anyone who-” Zeus’ eyes darkened.

“Woah, woah! Okay, I understand but I think that some gods might be hesitant to tell you ideas when you are in such a state,” Hades told his brother honestly.

“I am not in a state!” Zeus grumbled petulantly.

“If you are not in a state then why is it that America almost lost one yesterday? You know Wisconsin? Heard they had a state of emergency with some freak weather,” Hades deadpanned.

“Maybe they had it coming! No one needs that much cheese anyways,” Zeus shrugged.

“Do not deflect with me. I am your older brother, lest you forget. I know you and your deflection in the face of things you do not want to deal with,” Hades stared at his brother evenly.

Poseidon had to hold in a snort, “Zeus set loose more than ten very large tornadoes at once! There is no deflecting that!”

“You almost flooded the world!” Zeus shot back venomously.

“But I didn’t!” Poseidon retorted instantly.

“Alright, enough! The last thing we need is fighting. We need to figure out what in the Chaos we are doing.” Hades said sternly.

“Who put you in charge?” Zeus grumbled.

“I’m the oldest of the three of us,” Hades said simply.

“And as much as I loathe to admit it, he hasn’t put the state of humankind at risk today,” Poseidon huffed.

“Whatever, can we just do something? If I have to sit in this infirmary for another moment I think I might explode,” Zeus said as he stood from the chair. 

“Where are we going,” Poseidon groaned, “I am not in the mood to go traipsing about.”

“It’s not traipsing! We are planning!” Zeus refuted.

“You both are giving me a headache,” Hades rubbed his temples.

The three brothers exited the infirmary only to be met with Hermes, Iris, and Nike arguing while shoving a large painting at each other.

“I don’t want to! You do it!” Nike hissed, shoving the painting toward Iris.

Iris practically threw the painting at Hermes, “no way, I don’t think I would like being executed.”

Hermes tried to shove the painting back to Nike but froze when he noticed Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades all staring at them with unamused looks.

“Hermes, what is that?” Zeus asked with a raised brow.

“It matches the torn piece that was in Rachel’s hand,” Hermes murmured.

Iris opened her bag and withdrew several other smaller paintings.

“And what exactly were you three doing wasting time out here?!” Poseidon demanded.

Hermes carefully unrolled the painting in his hand, “this one is of Tartarus… we think.”

“You think Apollo and Perseus are in TARTARUS?!” Zeus bellowed.

“We- we’re not sure what they mean!” Nike shook her head rapidly.

“Only Percy is in this one,” Hermes says quickly.

Hermes shows the three sons of Kronos the image, Percy is grey toned, but his eyes were so electrically green. In the painting, Percy had this look on his face that none of those present had ever seen on him before. The surroundings of the painting were so black it was chilling.

“And… what of these other ones?” Hades asks in a calmer tone than his brothers.

“They don’t seem to be of Tartarus, they seem to be of Mount Olympus, but they don’t make sense.” Iris sighed.

”What about them, exactly, doesn’t make sense?” Zeus raised a brow.

”See this?” Hermes points to the background of the painting, ”These are the original columns of the throne room.” 

“And what are you getting at?” Poseidon frowns.

”It just doesn’t make sense for one of Rachel’s paintings to be inaccurate.” Nike cuts in, “If these are prophetic every detail would be exact, right?”

”Do you think this was planted by whoever took them?” Zeus frowned.

Iris shakes her head, “the signature seems to have been authentic.”

”Rachel was already experiencing effects of the ailment when she stumbled upon us, she wasn’t lucid, someone could have made her sign that.” Hermes adds.

”So, we still have nothing?” Hades sighs.

”Not exactly.” Nike grins, “look in the background, there are small details in this portrait. I was telling them that perhaps we are looking at a broad picture when the details will prove more successful.”

”Details?” Poseidon raises a brow.

”The thrones aren’t right.” Hermes points out, “our thrones haven’t changed, ever.”

”That is odd,” Zeus agrees with an exhausted expression, “but what does this help?”

”There’s a string of pearls hanging from Poseidon’s trident.” Iris notes tipping her head, “does that… mean anything?” 

“Pearls you say?” Poseidon says as neutrally as he can manage. 

He knows those pearls, each one assigned to one of his most favored children. One of his best kept secrets, a permanent beacon of them to him and vice versa. The beacon that hadn’t worked when he tried to find his son. They were indestructible so he doesn’t know how it didn’t alert Percy.

He notes that they are all on one, looking like a necklace of fancy pearls. It is almost laughable to see them look so innocent. So unnoticeable. Each one of those were representing Poseidon’s world. But as he gazes at the portrait, he cannot help but hate looking at that precious collection of pearls and seeing one extra pearl, the one that has remained in his pocket for thousands of years. And maybe that never ending grief is what makes him lie about the significance.

”The pearls are of no importance,” his lie is imperceptible to the others.

”Then maybe they are a clue as to who has Percy and Apollo?” Nike suggests.

”The Pearls aren’t the only thing wrong here, though.” Hermes reminds, “Father’s throne is blue for some reason and his masterbolt seems to go straight through it. That’s odd. Apollo’s throne is white, also incredibly odd. There are overturned grapes on the floor under my throne, not Dionysus’. Artemis’ bow is drawn on her throne but pointing upwards.”

As Hermes points out the details Zeus frowns, “are we certain these aren’t as meaningless as they sound?”

“Well look at Percy in the center of it all, looking directly towards your throne,” Iris comments.

”Percy has been in the throne room plenty of times,” Zeus shakes his head, “I still don’t see the relevance.”

"Look what Percy has in his hand." Iris continues.

"I can't tell what that is, it looks like a smudge." Zeus grumbles.

"I think whatever he is holding is our biggest clue here." Hermes says, "We just need to figure out what it is supposed to be."

Hades sighs, "Did you go through every painting?" 

"No way, she easily had hundreds if not a few thousand." Nike shakes her head.

"Okay," Hades nods, "the children will be getting up soon, I think it would be wise to have them look through the paintings. They know Percy better than us."

"I know my son," Poseidon snaps.

"Poseidon, they know him as friends, you know him as his father, it is different. These children have been by his side for years, something might look like nothing and really be everything." Hades says rationally.

"I don't like the insinuation that I would not pick up on it." Poseidon huffs.

Zeus rolled his eyes, "Don't be dramatic, and stop huffing you sound like you have a blowhole." 

"Well you are a blowhole, so," Poseidon snaps.

Hermes has to choke back a laugh that so desperately wants to escape him.

"Enough," Hades intoned gravely, "cease your squabbles or your children may never be found. Iris, Nike, Hermes, why don't you wait for the children to awaken and then bring Percy's closest friend to Rachel's paintings."

"Where are you all going?" Hermes asks.

"I think these two would do well from a trip to mother, she might have some information on who our sleeping Titaness is." Hades says shooting looks at his brothers that say that there will be no argument, "Oh, and Hermes? Keep an eye on my daughter."

"Do we have to go see mother? She's going to-" Zeus frowns.

"Yes." Hades cuts him off and they disappear from camp, reappearing outside their mother's sanctuary, a small pottery studio.

The three gods walk into the pottery studio and the bell chimes, "just a moment," a voice from further in the studio calls.

"Mother?" Hades calls out with a gentleness that is rarely ever in his tone.

A curly haired woman with bright green eyes emerges from around a doorway, "children?" she smiles brightly before it fades slightly, her head tipping as she takes in her sons' demeanor, "what is the matter?"

"Hello, mother, have you been well?" Poseidon asks, ignoring her question.

At the same time Zeus says, "We are in dire need of your assistance, Mother."

Rhea stands straighter a small frown gracing her face, "you need my assistance? You never need my assistance."

"We need your guidance on a prophecy, it speaks of a Titaness and we aren't sure which one." Hades explains quietly.

"How is it exactly that you do not know?" Rhea asks in gentle confusion, "and what prophecy is it this time? I know I am not the best with keeping track of time but I swear they are more frequent than they used to be."

As she speaks she leads them deeper into the pottery studio stopping at a small kitchen in the back.

"Mother this prophecy- it's different. We believe it came straight from Fate," Hades explains.

Rhea freezes mid-step, "what did you just say?"

"It comes from Fate." Zeus repeats for Hades, "Mother do you know something?"

"With how old I am, I would hope I know quite a few somethings." Rhea grins softly, gesturing for her sons to sit at the small kitchen table.

"Mother our children have been kidnapped and are completely untraceable, if you know anything-" Poseidon gives his mother a pleading look, one he has only ever given his mother.

Rhea cuts Poseidon off, a look of concern on her face, "Your children have been taken? Which children?" 

"Apollo and Poseidon's demigod, Percy." Zeus answers.

”Apollo and Percy,” Rhea sighs softly, “That’s a shame, my children. You know, I have heard plenty of whispers about your child, Poseidon, he reminds me of Zeus as a young godling.”

Zeus immediately balks in offence as Hades and Poseidon both frown at their mother’s words.

”Oh don’t you three look at me like that,” i Rhea waves them off, “It’s true. I’ve heard the boy has that same sense of justice Zeus sported as a little godling.”

”He has no sense of justice,” Zeus grumbles.

”Zeus,” Rhea tsks, “grumbling is unbecoming of you.”

“Mother, if we could get back to the matter at hand,” Hades gently nudges the conversation.

”Ah, yes of course,” Rhea nods, “It is a rather odd predicament." Rhea says simply.

Poseidon frowns, “That’s all?”

"You do know something about this, mother. I can see it in your eyes," Hades says softly.

"I cannot help you, my sweet boys," Rhea says gently, "Not in the way you wish."

The phrase seemed innocuous but to the three sons of Rhea, it was not. Rhea was smart and manipulative, it was skills that she has mastered and how they had been freed from their father all those thousands of years ago. They knew from a young existence that word usage with Rhea was the most important weapon she wielded. She had not called them her sweet boys in a very, very long time. Not since they had fought their father and won the first time.

"We were right, then? This is about Fate." Hades asks.

"I truly don't know where they are," Rhea says honestly, "But I do know something."

Rhea gets back up from her chair and goes over to pick up an envelope that had been stuck to the fridge with a magnet.

"This envelope was entrusted into my care some time ago. It was a no questions, no answers situation. I was told I would know when the time was right, and I do. It is so rare for any of you to come looking for my assistance let alone the three of you working together. It warms my heart and shatters it all in one." Rhea sighs.

"Who gave you the envelope, mother?" Zeus asks.

"Phoebe did." Rhea says softly.

"Phoebe disappeared a few hundred years ago," Poseidon frowns.

"She did not disappear," Rhea shakes her head, "She had a duty, as we all do. A task to fulfill, so to say."

"But mother, no task should have taken so long," Hades tips his head slightly, confusion clear in the way his brows furrow.

"Take the envelope, my sons," Rhea says gently instead of answering.

Poseidon gently picks the envelope up and the three gods go to stand.

"Thank you, mother," Zeus says quietly. 

"And I think..." Rhea pauses, "I think I shall join you all back to that demigod camp. You're all in no shape to have anything under control and someone should look after the other little ones."

"Mother they can handle themselves," Zeus frowns at Rhea.

"Are you telling your mother that she is not welcome?" Rhea raises a singular eyebrow.

"No, no, of course not mother," Zeus corrects himself.

"Though, mother, you may make them more than just a little nervous. Almost all of the ones at camp had to face Father not that long ago." Hades said hesitantly.

"All the more reason to come, they need to learn not to fear all Titans just because some of them are awful... namely your father," Rhea said in that short tone she always had when referencing Kronos.

"I'm sure the children will realize that, mother," Poseidon says agreeably, "Percy has learned as such... of course, I believe he said he had wiped the titans memory first so," Poseidon trails off with a frown, glancing down at the envelope in his hand, "Mother, where did Phoebe go?"

"I know not, perhaps the envelope will help you. All I know is that she was watching over something," Rhea sighs softly, "She's always been very cryptic."

"Phoebe and Apollo were close," Zeus speaks up, his voice slightly thicker than before, "It would not surprise me if she had some understanding of this mess."

Hades looks at Poseidon, "perhaps you should open it."

With a simple nod Poseidon unseals the envelope and carefully unfolds the paper within it. The second his eyes skim over the paper he sighs in relief.

"what is it?" Zeus questions impatiently.

Poseidon grins, "Not a riddle or prophecy, finally."

Zeus blinks, "Okay then what is it."

"It's coordinates." Poseidon turns the paper around to show the others.

Hades nods as he looks at the paper, "Then we better go. Mother, go ahead to camp. Hestia, Demeter, and Hera are all there, you can catch them and the others up."

Rhea pauses for a moment as she smiles at them warmly, "You were always so much stronger when you worked together."

Before any of the three gods can respond, she vanishes from the pottery studio, no doubt already halfway to rematerializing at camp.

Poseidon looks down at the coordinates still in his hands, "Let's go find Phoebe so we can fix this mess and get our boys back."

Zeus levels Poseidon with a look of pure understanding and holds out his hand in the ultimate peace offering, "Let's go." Zeus agrees.

Hades let a small smirk grace his face as he and Poseidon accepted Zeus' friendly hand, "together, brothers."

And so, the three godly kings- no- the three brothers join hands, ready to face this predicament together as a team.

Chapter Text

When Rhea materializes within the borders of the demigod camp just past sunrise, the last thing she expected to hear was the sound of guttural screams.

In fact, the once ever stoic queen flinches at the abruptness of the scream. 

It doesn't help that the other children seem to have woken up and were just starting their day. Some that notice her appearance the edge of the entrance frown and tilt their heads, others take several nervous steps backwards. But the Titaness spots one face across the expanse of the lawn that makes her smile internally. That had to of Zeus'.

Rhea is careful, she knows her husband had done irreparable damage and inconsolable pain to these children. She remembers the words of her sons and heeds them. Sure, at one moment in time she would take their nervousness and fear as an unforgivable insult, but times have changed.

She smiles gently at one of the children that she had a strong suspicion was Demeter's. 

"Where is your mother, child?" Rhea questions softly.

Rhea noted that the small girl was too small if she were honest, the fragile and battle worn features were haunting on such a young face.

"All the gods at camp half-blood are divided between the mess hall, the big house, and the infirmary." The girl said softly, just loud enough to be heard over the echoing distant screams, "I think my mom might be in the infirmary right now."

Rhea nods softly, "Thank you, child."

As she makes her way through the camp she notices that the children are aware that something is wrong. Rhea can see it in the shifting eyes, the passing whispers, and the tense shoulders. These children were preparing themselves for another war if that was what was coming for them and it broke her ancient heart.

She follows the sound of the screams to the infirmary and when she walks in she is nothing short of horrified. There are three gods restraining a girl as she struggles in their grasp. The girls eyes are shut tight, and Rhea can't tell if that is a conscious effort of if the child truly is asleep while enduring this. Rhea notes that there are other children unconscious in the room but they had been left unattended, with all the other gods huddled around the screaming girl.

She wanders over to the small girl who has her son's essence and gently brushes the back of her hand against the girl's cheek.

"Dionysus, do something!" Athena wails as she holds the girls arms down.

"I can't help her! I told you this isn't madness, she's in some sort of mental trap! I don't know what I can do for her!" Dionysus snaps, clearly angered he is helpless.

Rhea frowns and gently uses her thumb to wipe away something from the corner dribbling out of the girls mouth, she inspects the substance and tips her head in confusion.

"There is poison in this girl's mouth." Rhea speaks up, startling more than a few of the gods surrounding the other girl before her words to sink in and her great grandson's head pops up in horror.

"Mother?" Demeter says in surprise, but it is practically smothered beneath the other sounds in the room.

"What?!"  Asclepius shouts, racing over to where Rhea stood, "Hazel," Asclepius mumbles to himself, "What happened?"

Rhea frowns, "She is not in here for poisoning?"

"She vomited and passed out last night," Asclepius shook his head.

"Yes, well, poisoned humans tend to do that." Rhea points out.

"Oh no," Asclepius mumbled to himself, "I should have known! This ailment is undetectable by tests, poisoning wouldn't have come up that easy. I hate doing things the mortal way." 

"Luckily it has not yet claimed her life." Rhea says softly.

"We can treat it," Hestia says in the same tone, but somehow her voice carries over the loudness like smoke lingers in a breeze.

"We can't treat Annabeth because it is mental, but this is physical." Asclepius nods in understanding.

"We have to identify the poison somehow." Demeter speaks as she draws nearer Hazel's bed, "if it is a plant I will be able to identify it."

Asclepius takes a tongue depressor and carefully collects some of the poison form her mouth before he wrinkles his nose in confusion. With one hand he passes it off to Demeter to test it and with his other he gently opens her mouth. When Demeter takes the tongue depressor he uses his free hand and picks up a flashlight to shines a light down her throat.

"What the-" Asclepius cuts himself off, "this is weird."

"Oh no," Demeter mumbled, "that is a form of water hemlock I have never even seen before. I don't understand how she is still alive."

Asclepius looks at Demeter, Hestia, and Rhea, swallowing nervously, "That's because... she is the thing creating it."

"Pardon?" Rhea frowns, "Why would this child-?"

"She shouldn't be able to." Demeter says with a matching frown.

"So this is her variation of the ailment," Hestia hums to herself as she digests the information.

"I have to go get Persephone, she stopped to the big house with Chiron," Demeter excuses herself.

"How would Water Hemlock liquidize like this, she is secreting it through the glands in the back of her throat, it's like a paste." Asclepius shakes head in deep confusion.

"If that is the case than it should have killed her, it is a very deadly plant," Rhea points out.

Asclepius opens his mouth to respond but he is cut off by the screaming words, "Let me go!"

All of their heads whip toward the scream to see Annabeth still unconscious and writhing.

"That's the first time she has said anything coherent in a while," Asclepius sighs and shakes his head before he turns his attention back to Hazel.

Persephone came into the infirmary with Demeter, fast tracking to Hazel's bedside.

"What happened, what's going on? She's been poisoned?" Persephone asks Asclepius.

"Sort of?" Asclepius sighed, "She's creating the poison. We believe this is what her ailment is."

"Well how do we get her to stop making it! How is she making it?" Persephone asked worriedly.

Hestia looks at her sympathetically, "we're going to try to administer an antidote, perhaps intravenously?" Hestia offers to Asclepius before turning back to Persephone, "but the ailment is not curable, just like it is not curable for Annabeth or Rachel. Hopefully we can keep her somewhat stable."

Persephone frowns and gently reaches for Hazels hand, "she has already been lost once to horrible circumstances, I do not know what my husband would do in his grief of losing her so horrifically again."

Another terrible scream erupts from the other side of the room, "Please don't hurt me!"

~```~~a~~`n``~~~n``a```~~~~b~````~e~~t~`~~h~

Annabeth woke up feeling quite disoriented. She couldn’t remember what had happened, or where she was, but she remembered her fear.

“Annie! You’re awake, finally,” a male voice called in relief from her bedside.

Annabeth froze, she was certain the blood had stopped circulating in her veins. She rubbed at her eyes and turned her head hoping she wouldn’t see who she thought she heard.

There he was with his blonde hair, mischievous grin, blue eyes, and a striking scar: Luke.

“L-luke?” Annabeth breathed out in shock, her eyes flitting around the room in confusion.

“Annie, surely you aren’t surprised to see me? I told you we have a meeting this morning to discuss our next steps,” Luke raised an eyebrow, “Surely one night at sea can’t have you this turned around.”

“I don’t understand,” Annabeth muttered, pulling at her curls as if to assure herself this was real.

Luke tilted his head, “You okay? You promised me you wouldn’t get seasick.”

“Where am I?” Annabeth questioned Luke.

“The yacht, more specifically about a hundred miles off the coast of Virginia,” Luke supplied before leveling Annabeth with a fond smile, “I’m really glad you’re here, Annie, I was worried that you wouldn’t come.”

Annabeth’s mind spun out of control with thoughts. Luke was dead, she had watched him die. Then again, she had never had a dream that felt so realistic. Annabeth met Luke’s eyes and made a decision at that moment that it would be best to gather more information before saying anything incriminating. 

“Luke, I think I’m still half-asleep. What was this meeting about exactly?” Annabeth questioned carefully.

Luke chuckled, “Oh Annie, no matter how old you get, I can always count on you not being a morning person. We are discussing our next steps to overthrow our parents? That’s like our whole thing, remember? Oh also, Kelli said she would bring you those donuts from Monster Donut that you love.”

At the mention of the name Kelli, Annabeth suddenly felt a suffocating dryness in her lungs and irritating blisters on her arms that when she looked down, were not there.

“Kelli?” Annabeth whispered, she knew that she knew Kelli but the reason why she knew her was just out of her reach.

“You can’t still be mad about your first meeting, can you? She apologized, Annie. You’ve gotta let go of your grudges,” Luke rolled his eyes in amusement. 

Annabeth blinked a few times and shook her head, trying to clear the fogginess in her brain, “Sorry, I guess I just don’t like boats and I think I had a weird dream.”

Luke offered her a hand, “Come on, Annie, we’ve got much to do.”

The second Annabeth felt his hand grasp hers, the room around her melted into entirely new surroundings. She couldn’t help the scream that escaped her as she landed on the hard ground.

“How the hell…?” Annabeth trailed off as she sat upright, taking in the plush green forest that surrounded her.

.”You okay? That looked like a bad fall. You’ve gotta watch where you’re going if we are going to make it,” Thalia frowned.

“Where are we going?” Annabeth rubbed at her head where it had hit a tree root. 

“How hard did you hit your head? We are going to go get my dad’s lightning bolt!” Thalia said with an unamused tone.

“Wait, what?” Annabeth squinted in confusion, shaking her head as she tried to make sense of the situation.

“We’re on a deadline here! I can’t explain everything just because you have a concussion! Eat a bite of ambrosia so we can keep going, we only just escaped those hell hounds.” Thalia huffed as she reached into her bag.

“But… that wasn’t, that was- that was,” Annabeth grasped at memories that weren’t quite there, grunting in frustration when nothing else came to her.

Annabeth shrugged gently in acceptance and took the ambrosia square from Thalia, but the second Thalia’s finger brushed against the palm of Annabeth’s hand, she was falling again.

This time, it was burning, she was burning, she was dying. That was all she knew, hot, pain, dry, death. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t move, she couldn’t see. Finally, Annabeth screamed, flailing her arms and trying to get away from the excruciating pain.

She clawed against the burning terrain, unable to see and unsure why, screaming gutturally. Annabeth struggled against an invisible force, as if her arms were in invisible restraints until finally after what felt like forever, this scene faded too.

Then, when the dark gave way to the little light this new place provided, all it did was highlight the monster it was emitting from. Because what was in front of her was a monster- it surely must have been.

The being was tall and wrapped in shadows. Not to mention what it was doing: torturing a goddess. The area around Annabeth was illuminated by the green glow of poisons that encased the goddess and the haunting glow of the monster’s eyes. She screamed and cried in horror as she watched helplessly. The goddess begged for mercy as the monster brought her to her knees. Finally, when he finished, the goddess lay motionless and unseeing on the dark ground. The monster, done with the lifeless goddess, turned abruptly and aimed a shark-like smile at Annabeth, who promptly screamed in horror as she focused on his green glowing eyes. 

“No, please, please, I don’t know what I’m doing here. Please, just let me go! Who are you?” Annabeth sobbed as she took tentative steps backwards.

“Oh, Annabeth, don’t make me laugh,” The monster chuckled, “I did this for you. You liked this, you thought she deserved this. You liked watching her beg for me to spare her and you liked when I didn’t listen and I drained her of her domains and left her for Tartarus.”

“No, no! That’s not- that didn’t- I hate you! You’re a monster! Get away from me! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,” Annabeth sobbed brokenly as he approached.

“You love me.” The monster insisted with a knowing grin.

“I don’t even know who you are!” Annabeth cried, shaking her head stubbornly.

“Aw, don’t be like that. After everything we’ve been through? I’m just a monster to you?” The monster smirked so widely that his sharp canine tooth peaked out from his lip.

Annabeth shook her head, taking another few steps backwards. “Who are you?!” Annabeth cried.

The monster matched her step for step.

“I am Perseus. I am destruction and I am yours.” The monster whispered.

“No, no… Perseus was a demigod of Ze-”

A cackle cut her off, “C’mon princess, cut the act. You can’t lie to yourself like this. You’re too smart for denial.”

“This is a dream,” Annabeth insisted with a huff.

“Perhaps. Is that what you wish it to be?” Perseus tilted his head.

“I saw Luke; Luke is dead,” Annabeth mumbled.

“Yes, I was there.” Perseus nodded.

“I don’t know you,” Annabeth insisted again, seething as she glared at the being.

Perseus scoffed, “Bullshit! This is bullshit! So you’re just going to give up? Let yourself fall victim? Wake up, Annabeth!”

“What are you talking about!? And why should I even trust your word? You just murdered a goddess! That shouldn’t be possible.” Annabeth crossed her arms.

“Exactly, Annabeth. Is that what happened? Did I kill a goddess?” Perseus stared at her harshly.

“I just saw you do it!” Annabeth exclaimed looking back at the body only to find that it no longer occupied the space it had previously.

“Are you certain that is what you saw? What about what you remember? Don’t give up so easily, Annabeth. What is the truth? Don’t let yourself be thrown around like this,” Perseus scowled.

“Are you my subconscious? Am I just dreaming right now?” Annabeth blinked in confusion at the beings words.

Perseus looked down at the dark ground, his glowing eyes illuminating their shoes, “I already answered that, Annabeth. You’re not even trying! You’re giving up!”

Annabeth jumped as he yelled, his tone gravely and rough, suddenly sounding less than human.

“I- I don’t understand what you want from me!” Annabeth cried.

“Come on, Chase! You’re one of the wisest demigods to exist, don’t give up now! What is the last thing you remember!” Perseus demanded and after a moment of silence he stomped his foot, tremors shaking the ground beneath them, “Think damnit!”

“I was with Thalia!” Annabeth blurted out as she recalled the forest and the tree root.

“No! No, you weren’t with Thalia. God fucking damnit, THINK! Where were you really!?” Perseus yelled again.

“I- I was- I don’t know! I can’t remember! It’s all foggy, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, please don’t hurt me!” Annabeth begged the monster before her.

“I would never hurt you. Besides, I thought you said this was all in your head?” Perseus adjusted himself so he was mere inches from Annabeth.

Annabeth takes a breath, looking into his glowing eyes as she desperately clings to the frayed edges of her memory.

“I- Camp? I was at Camp.” Annabeth bit her lip in fear after answering as she was unsure of her answer.

Perseus grinned so widely, Annabeth was shocked he didn’t split his face in two.

“Good, wise girl. Now think. Why were you at camp? What happened? Why are you here now?” Perseus questioned.

Annabeth breathed in deeply, “I was- it was awful. I was afraid. It was horrible. I couldn’t think, my head was so foggy. I was confused, I couldn’t- I couldn’t face it.”

“Couldn’t face what?” Perseus pressed.

“He was leaving me. I left so he couldn’t leave me. I ran.” Annabeth’s hands formed fists as she tried with all her might to recall the information, her nails digging into her palms and drawing blood.

“Who? Who did you leave?” Perseus prodded.

Annabeth blinked in realization before she whispered, “You.”

“No, it’s not me. Who did you leave, Annabeth?” Perseus’ eyes were glowing more intensely.

“Percy. I left Percy.” Annabeth choked on a sob.

“Why?” Perseus continued to question.

“I overheard Dionysus, Percy’s ascending. I knew he would’ve hated himself for it. I’m not ascending, so I left; told him awful things so he could move on.” Annabeth mumbled a bit incoherently as the thoughts and memories rushed through her head.

“Good, wise girl, come on, you can do this. Now, where are you?” Perseus smiled gleefully.

“I’m- I’m… Am I in a trap?” Annabeth gasped.

“That’s my wise girl.” Perseus nodded.

“I’m not your wise girl,” Annabeth scowled at the figment in front of her.

“Catching on now, are we?” Perseus raised an eyebrow.

“How exactly are you helping me?” Annabeth questioned.

“Where did you think we were in the first place, Annabeth?” Perseus ignored her question.

“In a dream,” Annabeth exhaled in realization, “I’m trapped in my own head?”

“You’re too smart for others to play mind games on you, and look what form of a person you chose to assist you,” Perseus gestured to himself cockily.

“But you aren’t him,” Annabeth grumbled.

“Well, no, but my form is rooted in an aspect of reality. You perceived him as this, even if only in your nightmares,” Perseus countered.

“My nightmares don’t mean that’s who he is,” Annabeth frowned defiantly.

“Then why did you say those things to him, huh? You called him a monster didn’t you? Said he scared you? That you could never be with something like him- like me,” Perseus said tonelessly.

“I told you I only said those things to him so he could live on without me guilt free.” Annabeth defended.

Perseus laughed, “Annabeth Chase please do not fool me. Your words, just as my form, were based in truth. Your words cut him deeper than any knife ever has. He would never be guilt free when you say he is horrific and a monster, like me.”

“Stop! I didn’t mean it!” Annabeth blinked away tears, shaking her head in panic.

“But would you have been able to love him, even without the knowledge of his ascension? After everything he has done or thought in order to survive, could you forgive that? Could you have continued to love him if he walked out of there just a little bit more like me?” Perseus interrogated, his eyes dimming slightly.

“I- of course I would,” Annabeth said teary eyed.

Perseus nodded and exhaled as he looked away, “Annabeth, why do you think you are trapped here? Why do you think you couldn’t remember him?” 

“I- I don’t know?” Annabeth mumbled, biting her lip as she desperately tried to come up with an answer.

“Think, Chase, don’t make me yell again.” Perseus grumbled.

“Is he in danger?” Annabeth whispered, “Did I abandon him when he needed me most?”

“I do not know, I only exist within your brain. The depth of my knowledge is the depth of your subconscious. I am a mere figment to help you break free, your own way of devising a plan to escape a seemingly impossible trap. If you weren’t one of Athena’s most strong-minded children to ever exist I would be impressed.” Perseus shrugged.

“He is in danger. I know it. I can feel it,” Annabeth rubbed her arms as if she were cold.

“How are you certain?” Perseus asked.

“I just am. I know he is in danger and that I am also in danger. They wanted me out of the way,” Annabeth frowned.

“Who wanted you out of the way?” Perseus leaned closer.

“I don’t-” Annabeth started.

“Bullshit, Annabeth! Who? Think!” Perseus yelled again.

“Stop yelling at me, it’s not helping! I don’t know anyone who could pull this off without being caught,” Annabeth sighed.

“You have plenty of enemies,” Perseus commented.

“Yeah, thanks, but that’s not helpful,” Annabeth bit out irritably.

“You need to wake up, wise girl,” Perseus said seriously.

“I know,” Annabeth huffed.

“You need to fight,” Perseus instructed.

“Fight what?” Annabeth frowned.

“You need to get out of your own head, Annabeth, this is like a labyrinth of your own design. You need to find a way to navigate through whatever your mind is throwing at you. You’re waking up,” Perseus said tentatively.

“How?” Annabeth shook her head in confusion.

“Can’t you feel it? You need to kick and scream your way back to reality. No matter what this curse is going to throw at you, you fight and you claw to get back and if it happens again you do it all over again. Remember this isn’t real, so if you need to take a note out of my book and be a ruthless monster, then you be a fucking monster. Do you understand me?” Perseus instructed.

Annabeth nodded with tears in her eyes as Perseus leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, “good luck, wise girl.”

Annabeth felt herself slip away from Perseus and this time when she reappeared she was standing on the shore, staring out into the ocean.

“Ready, Beth?” A voice called to her right.

Frowning at the nickname she turned to see Connor Stoll in full battle gear and looking several years younger than she remembered.

“What’s going on?” Annabeth questioned, wanting to figure out this illusion as quickly as possible.

“Don’t worry! We are holding camp. Poseidon’s army hasn’t broken through yet,” Connor informed.

Annabeth scrunched her brows, “Why is Poseidon attacking?”

Connor looked at her worriedly, “Uh… because Thalia’s dad and the King of the Underworld murdered Poseidon’s son, remember?”

Annabeth felt sick, “right.”

“Hey we’ll make it through, Luke promised that he has back up on the way, I’m not sure who though.” Connor tried to reassure her.

Annabeth turned to fully face Connor, “This isn’t real. Percy didn’t die.”

Connor looked at her like she was wearing a clown suit, “are you okay?”

“Connor, if this were real... why would we be the only one’s here?” Annabeth questioned.

“You have to come with me, Beth. I’ll take you to the others,” Connor smiled, reaching out his hand.

“No! I want to leave!” Annabeth demanded as she ripped her hand away before he could touch her.

Connor’s smile dropped, “but we could never win this without you, you can't abandon your family, Annabeth.”

“You aren’t Connor.” Annabeth narrowed her eyes challengingly.

“Beth, what is wrong with you! Of course I am!” Connor scowled.

“Kicking and screaming,” Annabeth mumbled softly before taking a few steps toward him.

“Come on, Beth. We’ll see what Lee can do about your confusion,” Connor said gently as he held out his hand again.

Annabeth continued to walk towards him, “Hey Connor?”

“What?” Connor asked in confusion.

Annabeth grabbed him by the arm and flipped him over on the hard sand, pressing her knee into his throat harshly.

Connor’s eyes darkened as he glared up at her, pulling a knife out of seemingly nowhere, he stabbed Annabeth in the thigh.

Annabeth screamed, partly from the pain and partly in frustration at letting him get anything past her.

“Let me go!” Annabeth screamed as she tried to gain the upper hand.

Connor scoffed as he flipped her, his knee pinning her chest as she struggled in his grasp. 

“He’s gone.” Connor said definitively.

“Who? Percy?” Annabeth choked.

Connor said nothing else, instead bringing his blade up to Annabeth’s throat.

“Even if Percy is gone, you can’t take my memories of him from me,” Annabeth retorted in anger, bringing her leg up sharply to knock Connor off of her.

Connor, not having expected her to overtake him, sprawled out on the sand. 

Annabeth looked around her to find something to incapacitate him, biting her cheek as she quickly debated the options. Reaching for a somewhat hefty rock, she turned back to Connor who was getting back to his feet. 

“I’m sorry, but I have to,” Annabeth cried out, tears pouring down her cheeks as she threw the rock at Connor’s head.

Annabeth watched with sobs as he crumpled to the ground unconscious, his head bleeding from the impact. She waited for the familiar feeling of her surroundings changing but there was nothing, instead she still stood over Connor’s body.

“No! No, oh no, Connor? No, that was supposed to work!” Annabeth cried as she frantically looked around the beach.

“Well, I certainly think that worked.” A deep voice called from over her shoulder.

Annabeth spun back towards the water to see Poseidon standing at the edge of the shoreline. 

“Poseidon?” Annabeth scrunched her brows.

“You knew my son,” Poseidon commented.

“Yes,” Annabeth said hesitantly, trying to make sense of what was happening as this is the first time there was more than one person interacting with her in one illusion. 

“Then why do you fight for them, the ones who betrayed him?” Poseidon questioned, one brow raising.

“I- I’m not. I wouldn’t betray him,” Annabeth said, certain that it was better to err on the side of caution when it came to even a fake version of Poseidon.

“He is gone,” Poseidon said, “I want him back but I cannot get him.”

“Hades doesn’t let anyone leave his realm,” Annabeth agreed with a whisper she didn't mean to say.

“He is not with my brother. Don’t disappoint me Annabeth, have you learned nothing?” Poseidon crossed his arms.

Annabeth blinked, trying to clear the fogginess in her brain that started to confuse her.

“Annabeth, you mustn't stay in any illusion too long, can’t you see what it is doing to you? If you continue like this your mind will fracture,” Poseidon instructed.

Looking closer at the god in front of her, Annabeth tipped her head, “This is just my subconscious telling me something I already know.”

Poseidon looked at her for a moment, tipping his head, “Come along, I’ll bring you to my son.”

Annabeth smiled in relief, taking Poseidon’s now extended hand.

Annabeth felt as the surroundings started to warp around her and she recalled what Perseus had told her. While she was in this in-between state, she screamed. She used every bit of strength she had to flail around and scream and thrash and fight against something that wasn’t there and then finally she blinked against harsh hospital lighting and she knew she had won.

Holding her hand and hushing her was her mother.

“Mom?” Annabeth cried in relief.

Athena gripped Annabeth’s hand harder and leaned in to press a kiss to her daughter’s forehead.

Annabeth relished in the feeling of her mother’s embrace. 

“Well done, Annabeth, I’m very proud of you,” Athena smiled.

“Mom, what’s going on?” Annabeth whispered teary eyed.

“Everything is just a mess right now, sweetie,” Athena pushed back Annabeth’s curls gently.

“What do you mean?” Annabeth asked softly.

“Don’t worry your head with it, child, I'm here now.” Athena soothes.

“It was so awful,” Annabeth choked up.

“I’m just glad you returned the Parthenos,” Athena smiled warmly, “I knew you were my favorite for a reason.”

Annabeth’s mind came to a screeching halt at those words, “What?”

Athena shushed her softly, “rest daughter, you must be exhausted. I’m so proud of you.”

A tear escapes Annabeth’s eye, “Mom? Where is Percy?”

“Who?” Athena frowns.

Annabeth swallowed back a sob, “you’re not my mom, are you?”

“Sweetie, what are you talking about! Of course I am!” Athena smiled.

Immediately Annabeth was brought back to when she was a naïve child, letting herself throw herself to the sirens to get an ideal version of her mother.

“No, you aren’t.” Annabeth whispers through tears, "I just want to go home. Please! Please, I want to go back. I can't, I can't do this!" Annabeth's voice raises as her breathing becomes erratic.

"Shh, just rest child, I've got you." Athena smiles sweetly and Annabeth can't help but let the words wash over her as her eyes flutter shut and she gives in to her exhaustion. Maybe she was safe here.

~```~~a~~`n``~~~n``a```~~~~b~````~e~~t~`~~h~

Dionysus and Athena sag in relief as Annabeth seems to stop her thrashing once more. 

Athena looks across the bed side to Dionysus, "We can't keep doing this, we're not helping her. We're just watching her suffer."

"She is strong, Athena." Dionysus says in a gentle tone that was rare for him.

It startles the both of them when she trembles slightly and vomits.

Acting quickly, Dionysus undoes the restraints and turns her onto her side so she doesn't choke.

Athena looks down in horror at the substance that her daughter just expelled, "Dionysus is that?" 

Dionysus nodded with a sigh, "Recovering from The Pit is a process, Athena. When Apollo was still here, he explained that is safer for them to expel it over an extended period. Otherwise they would run the risk of permanent damage to their organs or death."

Athena wrinkles her nose and banishes the mess, "They didn't deserve this."

"None of them ever deserve their fates, Athena. Their existences are often closer to curses, take it from me, I was one." Dionysus grumbles.

Athena pauses for a moment to truly look at her brother, "I forget that sometimes."

"Yeah, so do I," Dionysus says under his breath, leaving Athena at her daughter bedside, looking out the infirmary window.

He moves further down to an awake Rachel Dare, "Rachel?" Dionysus says gently.

Rachel was staring blankly across the room, with a constant nosebleed. The bleeding had gotten so bad that Asclepius had to go find the nearest blood bank and swipe blood from their storage to hook her up to a transfusion. When Rachel woke up, it had been clear to everyone that there wasn't all of her actually there. 

"Rachel?" Dionysus says again gently.

"Grapes." Rachel laughed.

Dionysus blinked, tipping his head, "Yeah, I- I guess that's me."

Rachel was holding a plastic container that one of the gods had given her to occupy her mind that wasn't at risk of hurting her. She put the top on and took it off in a dazed repetitive motion.

"Sister secretly sees sibling sometimes, somewhere, some-when, somehow." Rachel laughs.

Dionysus frowns, "What?"

"Pop's pearls perfectly precious." Rachel begins responding with a smile.

"Right." Dionysus sighed, shaking his head as he goes to turn his attention elsewhere.

"-protecting Percy." Rachel finished.

Dionysus froze, in fact, it was as if the entire room froze at the name that slipped from her lips. 

"Did she?" Athena asked from over his shoulder.

"Yeah." Dionysus whispers in shock, "she did."