Chapter 1
It’s been two weeks. Two weeks since the second giant war. A month since the Greek and Roman forces had united to defeat the giants. Camp Half-Blood was stretched to its limits. The Apollo cabin worked double shifts, healing the wounded, but no one could keep up with the endless flow of casualties. The Romans were doing whatever they could to help with the rebuilding, but it still wasn’t enough. My girlfriend Annabeth and I sat by the sea, letting the waves lap at our feet. Annabeth had fallen asleep against me, her head resting on my shoulder, but I couldn’t close my eyes.
"So many lost..." I murmured, more to the empty sky than anyone else. The words hung in the air like an echo. The stars above were as bright as ever, but there was a hollow feeling beneath them, like the sky had forgotten how to be peaceful. (Was Zues worrying about something? I don’t think so…)
I felt Annabeth shift in her sleep, but I didn’t look away. My gaze drifted to the huntress constellation, where Artemis’ moon bathed the sea in a soft glow. I thought of Zoe Nightshade -- the brave huntress who had given her life to defeat her father. A part of me still couldn’t believe she was gone. Sure, we hadn’t gotten that close during the journey, but she proved herself to be a true warrior and her sisters in the hunt still missed her. She had sacrificed everything, but the world felt as broken as ever. Was it worth it? Was anything?
The guilt gnawed at me again. There were so many people I'd lost. So many battles fought and forgotten, sacrifices that would never be remembered in history books, only in the hearts of those left behind. I clenched my fist, wishing there was something I could have done—something more. I could have marched up to the gods and demanded them to pay their child support. But deep down, I knew it wouldn’t bring anyone back.
Annabeth’s soft breath against me anchored me, and for a moment, I allowed myself to believe the war was over. That maybe, just maybe, we could find peace and quiet.
As if the Fates were offended by my thoughts, Annabeth started screaming and struggling, her body jerking and thrashing. She was calling out for me, saying that she couldn’t see me. I felt dread settle in the pit (haha pit) of my stomach. She was dreaming about that place. I tried to calm her down, rubbing her back in circles. I couldn't let her live through that again. I needed to help her.
“I’m right here, Wise Girl. We got through it. We’re together. We’re safe now,” I whispered into her ear. That seemed to help because Annabeth had stopped screaming. Thank the gods. She leaned into me as she sobbed, clinging to me as if I was going to disappear. (Given the fact that it had happened before, I wouldn’t be surprised if I did) We stayed like that for a while, finding comfort in each other's presence. I continued to whisper sweet nothings to her.
Out of nowhere, I felt a prickle in the back of my neck . Someone - or something - was watching us. I felt the presence of someone (or something) really powerful nearby. My eyes darted back and forth, trying to spot the person watching us. By then, Annabeth had stopped crying, probably having noticed me tense up. She slowly detached herself from me and got up. I did the same, drawing Riptide.
“Show yourself.” I called out,trying to keep my voice steady, “ I know you’re watching us.”
Annabeth and I were standing back to back, weapons drawn. In Annabeth’s case, a stick she found on the ground. She had left her dagger in her cabin. I didn’t think that anyone could look intimidating holding up a stick but Annabeth managed. Clouds of grey mist began rolling in, surrounding us from all angles.
“Who are you? What do you want?” Annabeth shouted into the mist. I could see the faint silhouette of 3 women through the mist. Realisation dawned on them as they knelt.
“Lady Fates,” I said, deciding to do the respectful thing. The mist immediately parted, proving me to be right. (Thank the gods cus I would've seemed really stupid if I was wrong) The Fates stood before us with two threads in hand. One of the threads was sea green with streaks of gold in it while the other was a stormy gray. The threads were intertwined, complementing each other perfectly.
“Perseus Jackson, too many have been lost in this war. It was never our plan for this to happen. We never planned for as many to go over to Kronos’ and Gaea’s side. The only way to fix this is to go back in time and teach the gods the right path. Make them learn from their mistakes. Tell them your story. This way, less people will be lost in the wars. Do you accept?” the middle one, Lachelis announced. I stopped to think. We were all still drained - mentally and physically- from the war. But if I did this, they might have a chance at saving more lives. More people would survive. Maybe Bianca, Zoe, Ethan or even Luke could be saved. I turned to Annabeth. She gave me a look that seemed to say ‘your call’.
“I accept,” I replied.
“Be warned, there are consequences and effects of time travel,” the first one, Clotho told him. I nodded. If it meant he got to save others, I would do it. Next to me, Annabeth nodded too, a glint of determination obvious in her eyes.
“Very well, then. You and your friends will be sent to Camp-Half Blood, 5 years into the past,” Atropos, the last one, told them.
“Wait me and my friends-” I managed to say before both of us disappeared in a flash of golden light.
The next thing I knew, I found myself by the hearth, sitting in a circle with about twenty to thirty people. The Fates were standing in the middle with a pile of books at their feet. Everyone was looking around, wondering how they got there. To my left sat Annabeth and to my right, was Nico. Not surprisingly, the gods sat at the other end of the circle, all sitting on their thrones.
“Perseus Jackson, what did you do?” I heard someone call out. I shifted my gaze in the direction the voice came from. Thalia was glaring at me, arms crossed.
“Oh come on?? Why is it always me?” I whined.
“So you didn't do anything?” Thalia asked. I just crossed my arms and pouted. Some of the gods (Poseidon, Apollo and Hermes) looked amused while the rest of them were confused. The fates spoke, saving me from being shocked by Thalia.
“Gods and demigods,” they announced in unison, their voices booming, “We have brought you all here to read about the deeds of the greatest hero of all time. Perseus Jackson. During these young Perseus’s thoughts will be exposed. Remember that in that time, they are still children and may think unflattering things of you. You must not harm them or the timeline will be disrupted. Demigods, especially Perseus, try your best not to piss off any gods as you teenagers say now.” With that, they disappeared in a puff of gray smoke.
Silence
“Well…… let’s all start off with introducing ourselves. I’m Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon,” I said, gesturing to Annabeth to continue. Poseidon gave me a small smile while my siblings and Mom shot me glances. It was definitely going to be weird, getting to know them again. The first time, it had taken weeks for them to warm up to me.
“Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena,”
“Nico di Angelo, son of Hades” Hades looked up, surprised that one of his children was accepted at camp
“Jason Grace, son of -” what came out next was a weird muffled noise. Jason tried again but couldn’t. Out of nowhere, a note appeared and landed at Jason’s feet.
“The demigods are not allowed to reveal spoilers,” Jason read out.
“Then you guys don’t need to say your parents,” Annabeth instructed.
“Piper Mclean, daughter of Aphrodite,” Aphrodite finally looked up from admiring her reflection to shoot Piper a small smile.
“Leo Mcshizzle Valdez, son of Hephaestus,” Leo shouted, setting himself on fire. I groaned along with the rest of my friends. The gods looked surprised at first before realising that he was fine.
“Hazel Levesque,”
“Frank Zhang, son of I can’t say who but I’m also a legacy of Poseidon!” Frank perked up, “I can’t do anything cool like Percy though.” Frank pouted.
“Dude, you can shapeshift. That’s totally cool,” I told him, trying to cheer him up. He beamed while the gods stared at him curiously.
“Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus.” Hera glared at her husband. While Zeus stared at the ground, trying to look as innocent as possible.
“Will Solace, son of Apollo.” Apollo beamed (haha beamed) at Will.
“Grover Underwood, Satyr and Lord of the Wild,” Grover bleated out.
“Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares,” Ares gave her a grunt of acknowledgement.
“Chris Rodriguez, son of Hermes,” Chris simply said. Hermes gave her a small smile that wasn’t returned.
“We are Connor-”
“And Travis-”
“Stoll. The sons of Hermes,” the Stoll brothers announced. Hermes smiled fondly and shook his head at his sons’ antics.
“Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano.”
“Rachel Elizabeth Dare, mortal.” The gods looked curious when Rachel mentioned she was a mortal.
“You are mortal, child,” Hera asked. Well yeah, that’s what she just said.
“Unfortunately,” she groaned.
“Is that all the demigods?” Hestia asked. No one said anything.
“Then let the reading begin,” Zeus announced in a booming voice cus he was dramatic like that. The gods conjured up couches and invited their children to sit with them. I gave Annabeth’s shoulder a small squeeze before separating myself from her and making my way to the Poseidon couch. I found myself wedged between Dad and Tri. The people without godly parents went to sit with Hestia by the hearth. Annabeth ran to the centre to grab the first book from the top of the stack.
“Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief,” she read aloud.
Well schist, this was going to be a hell of a reading session.