Of Water and Salt

Percy felt himself falling.

He could feel a heavy shadow cloak and billow around him as if it were being lifted on some unfelt wind.

The pain of the Master Bolt flaring, burning and biting at him as Hera's magic completely divested itself from him. His body was tensed and he could feel it coiling as if it were folding into itself.

He could feel his strength begin to wane. it wasn't sluggish this time and did not disappear in small increments.

No, it was draining. Leaving him as water would a sink.

It was a terrifying feeling, being conscious and recognizing that he was about to enter that cold embrace of death once again.

His mind was torn away from his imminent mortality, overcome as it was by flashes of horror and fear of the Pit.

The River may not be so merciful.

Its oily depths may decide that his torture was only just beginning.

Burning oceans and rivers of fire seared into his mind. Craggily and treacherous valleys and canyons of obsidian and maroon marred and stained in blood and imbued with rivers of lava and the hate of the Primordial.

Fields of sharp and serrated black glass covered the ground as if it were the rolling and serene fields of grass in the world above.

A sky blanketing in a smoky and tangible darkness, painted and hinted in a deep maroon that reflected the deep seas of fire that called the realm home.

Even now he could smell it.

It's heavy and viscous fumes of poison and sulfur, clouding and fogging around as if it were an insidious mist. The sensation of suffocation while still being able to breathe was not something he held any fond memories of.

Creatures and monsters that made those commonly found in the overworld seem like plush toys in comparison. Devouring each other and, in some cases, themselves as they wandered the red expanse.

It was often why he hated sleeping on sheer principle and elected to exhaust himself into a dreamless sleep rather than doing so naturally.

Even after three years, whenever he slept naturally it was often plagued with nightmares of those demented and horrific scenes of terrain and creatures that stalked the barren plains of Tartarus.

Being a demigod had only magnified the issue tenfold. In the dreams of the children of the gods they were…real. Dreams were not simply images or shows to be viewed. No, to them every dream was a lucid one. They were visions of experience, ones that could be interacted with and tangibly altered.

Tartarus was not the Fields of Punishment. There was an order and segmented regimen to the Underworld's plane of retribution.

It was literal Hell made manifest. Pure and unadultered chaos of anarchy, survival and instinct.

Time moved differently in the fiery wastelands for that very reason. The realm of Tartarus was designed from its very inception to efficiently break anyone and anything that entered it.

The alteration of Time was one of most effective instruments to do so.

And why the realm had earned the son of Poseidon's hatred.

Nico had said that he was in there for at least a year, from what he could remember and he had resorted to simply hiding himself. His natural resistance and disregard to insanity and death on an apocalyptic scale as a child of Hades had kept him…relatively…sane.

Annabeth and Percy's journey in there had dragged on for what had felt like decades.

And yet, to the surface world, they were only in there for two weeks at the most.

And the only solace, hope and sanity they had found was in each other and what had kept them from turning feral and dying a vain death in the Pit.

Fear engulfed him at the thought.

He didn't have that anymore.

His jaw clenched. He did not want to be witness to the horrors that awaited him in the deep recesses of the world. Maybe he would be lucky and die before he fully entered it.

He did not want his final thoughts and scenes to be of that wasteland of fire and torture.

"Wake up, Apollyon." The voice was male and smooth and heavy, yet held an ancient and weathered tone and carried with it the weight of experience. He didn't recognize it nor did it sound as if it were malicious.

He didn't trust it.

But if he wasn't dead already then something must be going right for once.

Percy inched a single eye open and seeing that he wasn't engulfed in hellfire nor upon the hot maroon rock of the Abyss stood slowly.

He took in and studied the scene, expecting it to be an illusion conjured either by his fraying fear or some other dark magic to torture him.

Pale gold scenery with hints of amber throughout. It was an ornate office of sorts and was circular and spacious in nature. Polished mahogany display cases and cabinets adorned the flanks and lined the edges of the room, atop them and displayed were all sorts of gold and amber contraptions, none that he could make head or tails of. A few did though, obsidian vases with gold etchings reminiscent of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome while weapons, primarily swords and spears were displayed in immaculate glass cases. Paintings adorned the walls and statues or busts upon podiums would flank each one.

It looked more like a museum than an office.

Other than two amber and gold couches facing a simple polished mahogany table resting in the center the only other adornments in the room were the carpets and the large amber grandfather clocks that flanked a large circular window with drawn maroon drapes.

He looked upwards and saw a looming expanse of darkness as if he were looking into a night sky yet absent any starlight. A large circular dial twirling and spinning slowly on an axis with several rings twirling and spinning alongside it.

The dial was adorned in all manner of symbols and etched pictures and separated in fifteen triangular sections as if it were a pie.

He recognized the script. Grecian and Latin intermixed with each other and another language he couldn't quite understand nor recognize. The symbols were a little harder to deduce but they looked to be realms.

But as he looked at the pristine twirling golden rings, Percy caught himself in a reflection.

There he was. Adorned in his golden, unmarred, unbroken and resplendent armor.

Percy probably should've realized it before.

He couldn't feel anything.

The burning of the Master Bolt was gone.

He rubbed his fingertips together but even the sensation of flesh was lost on him.

"You are here but not here, Apollyon." The voice said, Percy's gaze snapped to the source. The previously drawn drapes, were folded and tied to the side allowing a view to the outside. A man stood there, off to the side, looking off into the expanse of that same inky darkness. A mess of curly grey hair that seemed fit for a mad scientist adorned his head and he was cloaked in maroon robes that were embroidered with gold and amber.

Percy didn't respond.

"Your mortal form is indisposed at the moment. Your mind brought here temporarily." He explained as he continued to look out.

Percy knew better than to speak unless spoken to. Whoever this was had pulled him from the clutches the Abyss.

And whoever had the authority and strength to do that was not to be trifled with because that meant they had went against Tartarus or at the very least unaligned with the Protogenos of the Pit.

"Come and look." He spoke softly gesturing to the opposite side of him. It was a request.

But there was a clear weight of authority in it that dared him to deny it.

Percy didn't and did as he was asked warily. He curled his wrist to test whether his was divested of his arms.

He was, as Aegis did not spring forth as it should have.

The being did not seem to notice it. If he did, he didn't seem to care at all as he continued to gaze out into the inky darkness.

Percy stood beside the being on the flank of the window as he looked out.

"What do you see?" The man asked him, the ancient voice seemingly echoing itself as it left the man's lips.

Percy regarded him once. Though he still retained an unblinking gaze into the peerless dark.

And then the demigod son of Poseidon looked once again into the blotted black. It wasn't just simple darkness where there would be something hidden in the dark.

But it was just that. An unnerving nothing.

It was just…absence.

Percy voiced as much as he twisted his head to answer. "Nothing. I see nothing."

The response from the being was swift. "Look again." The being unnervingly still simply looking out into the darkness.

Only it wasn't dark anymore.

There was a single hair-width ribbon of glimmering starlight, similar to the rings that twirled on their axis behind and above him, this one seemed to do the same, except slowly as if it were cloud. He didn't think he would've noticed its rotation had he not been paying as close attention to it as he was.

It was massive in its length and went up and went down as far as his eyes could see. It seemed to waver on an unfelt wind. It would lean to one side and have the barest of curves before correcting itself, only to begin leaning another way a little further.

Then it began to…crack.

As if the black void were a sheet of of black, the line of starlight began to grow erratic and misshapen branches of more starlight. Most were flickering and winking out of existence almost as soon as they began. The others continued onwards and branched outwards, few of those began to develop sprouts and branches of their own. Yet the same thing began happening to those as well, flickering out or stopping entirely. Some did remain and continue onwards, forming their own

They began to flicker and waver out of existence only for many more to grow in their place.

Percy looked to the being, confused.

"Look again." He repeated.

Percy turned his gaze back outwards.

He blinked a couple times and flinched slightly as his eyes adjusted to the bright and newly wrought scene.

A city. One of spired gold and amber that stretched and expanded as far as he could see. Plazas and platforms that held curved buildings and parks while saucer-like complexes were cabled and oriented upwards along a singular plane. There was a certain…order to it. An eerie perfection to its expansive and infinite design.

Whatever this city was…it was not natural nor mortal but it did not have the grandeur nor ethereal aspect that divine cities boasted.

It was robust. Efficient and looked more like a machine than an expansive and illuminated city with its winding copper and amber cords and centralistic hubs and spires.

He turned to the being who looked out at the city before he waved a weathered finger.

The image deteriorated as a cloud of that inky black descended upon the city as if it were a curtain. That single ribbon of pearlescent starlight returned.

"Why did you show me this?"

"Time is a fickle but powerful realm, Apollyon." He turned, his face blank of emotion and gestured to one of the seats beyond the desk. "Please have a seat. We have some topics to discuss."

Percy did so, though didn't turn his back on the being as they both sat down across from each other, only a desk separating the two.

"I am sure you have many questions." The being started as he reclined in his seat.

Percy did not hesitate as he blurted it. "Where am I?"

"Your body or your mind?"

"Both...I guess?"

"Your mortal form is currently upon your mortal world, in its correct time, falling off a cliff to be precise. Where you are conscious to now, however, is my realm." The being answered immediately.

"And who exactly are you?" Percy pressed.

There was a solid second lapse of silence before the being responded. "Before I answer that, humor me and tell me what you know of the realm of Time."

Percy felt his stomach constrict at the notion. An image of Luke-possessed Kronos standing upon the broken rubble of Olympian marble crossed his mind.

But the demigod answered regardless. It wasn't like he had much choice in the matter, he simply hoped that this wasn't the Time Lord himself just playing games with his prey.

In his rather powerless state, there wasn't much Percy could do to retaliate or defend himself.

It was hard to think of something on the spot though about something as esoteric as Time.

And even if he had time to prepare, Percy doubted that he would have any more of an answer than he already had.

"Uh…time is time I guess? It comes and goes." Percy said slowly after another moment. "I don't know exactly know what you're asking me."

"None ever do." The being hummed as he reclined in his high-backed cushion seat. "I will explain it in terms that you can understand."

Percy's mind flared slightly.

That didn't sound like an insult at all.

"Most beings, indeed, those not directly knowledgeable of the aspect and realm of Time, tend to believe it to be linear." He trailed off. "This is decidedly not the case. Time in itself is both simple and complex. It is neither a singular pathway of inevitably nor is it one of forked roads of decision and consequence. In a term that you can understand, it is like the oceans that you call home. Time is an ecosystem. It radiates and flows and it kills and it births."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"I am getting to that." He retorted blandly as he continued. "Now Time, by itself, is simple to most beings. It just flows one way. Forward. To beings like myself who are aware of its nature, Time is a dangerous realm. That is where the concept of the Multiverse enters."

He had gathered that from his little…trip into the past. Not exactly in those words but it didn't feel like he belonged there. He was still confused as he usually was when it pertained to subjects like these. Delving into the deeper mysteries of the wider realms hardly ever made sense to him.

Case in point, the Infinity Stones. He knew them to be pillars of creation, actualized remnants from the birth of the universe. Powerful artefacts that had the capability of destroying that very universe they had been forged from.

That was about it. With exception to the Aether, his entire knowledge and intent regarding them could be summed up in preventing any misuse of them.

And he only learned of it because he was charged with protecting the Reality Stone.

"Time and Fate," He stressed the word as he brought his long fingers to lace with each other. Percy recoiled, his attention snapping straight to the being who bore a hole into the demigod with his gaze. "are so intrinsically intertwined that they could almost be called one and the same."

Percy said nothing and the being continued as if he had never stopped.

"These two concepts construct the cornerstones of the Multiverse. It is the ocean in which everything flows." He splayed out his hands grandly. "Most universes are the particles of water that make its oceans or the many grains of sand that make its bedding. They are unassuming, boring and are simply dismissed. Others are simple lifeforms such as the many fish that call the oceans home. There are many and indeed, quite a few are interesting but scores of them so similar and alike that it is impossible to tell them apart as individuals.

Then there are the predators of the seas. Larger lifeforms such as sharks, whales and cephalopods that fight and compete. Each one with a uniqueness but overall…still the same among others. Tell me, Apollyon, what would you consider the ruler beneath the waves to be?"

Percy opened his mouth to speak.

"Other than deities that is." The being interrupted before he could even utter a sound.

Percy's mouth promptly shut.

The demigod considered the question for another moment before answering.

"From personal experience, I would say the Trojan Sea Monster." Percy and Triton had to resort to dropping a literal mountain of rock and earth on top of the beast.

Fighting the creatures beneath the waves was dirty business but short of bringing it ashore, which would have been next to impossible given they would have had to move an unwilling monster a couple thousand miles to the nearest suitable shoreline, they didn't have much of a choice.

The being nodded. "The Sea Serpent. The veritable king of the depths. Unmatched and unparalleled in its strength, ferocity and sheer power. An unstoppable force. A single being among countless others and one that all beneath the waves fear even if unknowingly." He paused and raised a hand, a small conjured image of an ever expansive universe of starlight. "The Prime Universe of our Multiverse. The forebearer, the caretaker and the executioner of its creation, where an infinite others are brushed aside, ours stands alone amongst them all."

There was a pause as image of the universe dissipated in a mist of flittering golden sparks.

"Now to tell you who I am and why you are here." The being gripped the pommels of his armrests casually. "I am Chronos, the Protogenos of Time otherwise known to you as the Father of Time or a variation thereof."

If Percy could feel anything, he probably would've felt his breath being caught in his throat.

There was a solid second of Percy processing the information.

He stood up abruptly. Chronos remained entirely unfazed at the sudden action.

He never had the best experiences with Primordials.

All of them so far had tried to kill him.

And the only reason he lived through every encounter, was only because they were merely toying with him.

"I would like to remind you, before you do anything rash, that had I desired you torment or death, I would have simply left you in the Abyss." The voice was stern though Chronos' expression did not waver in its neutrality.

Percy remained standing. The Father of Time did have a point, so he supposed he would humor the being.

It wasn't like he had a choice in the matter.

But he also knew that he never did, not when it concerned the Protogenos.

Chronos continued. "As of right now, the Multiverse is in a state of flux, attempting to repair itself from your time travel. The being responsible for this will be severely reprimanded for their trespasses."

Le Fay. Percy's mind burned in rage.

He resumed. "The Time Lord's neglect of the realm has further intensified the issues. My intention to correct this cannot be done without the assistance of one unbound by the laws that govern the Divine. These…issues need dealing with.

"Why am I here?"

"Why else would anyone seek you out, Apollyon?" Answering a question with a rhetorical one as he continued. "In return for pulling you from my brother's grasp, you will do something for me. A relatively minor thing compared to the effort I gave."

The demigod narrowed his eyes. The insinuation was clear. "Who is to die?"

For the first time since their encounter, Chronos had a flicker of emotion, just at the corner his lips and something that seemed more like a twitch than any conscious thing.

"I cannot tell you. Not yet."

A whispered thought lingered in Percy's mind at the words. Fucking immortals. The demigod cocked his head, the only visible tell of his annoyance.

"You entire role here is simple. An agent of mine will come to collect you when you are needed. At that time, you will be directed to your targets and given the details of their execution."

It was, by all accounts, simple.

Relatively that is. Most immortal assignments had a tendency to be much more nuanced.

And the demigod believed that one issued by a Primordial would not be different. If anything it would probably be much more problematic than what appeared on the surface.

It being straightforward would practically be a boon to him.

But he doubted that this would actually be the case.

There was a small silence. "And if I were to refuse?"

Chronos did not hesitate in his answer. "Then I simply toss you back into the Abyss." It was said with that same neutrality but it seemed much more emphasized than before. There was no hint of remorse nor was it tinged in any sort of empathy. It was mechanical, assured and appeared to make the Father of Time merely inconvenienced if he were to deny him.

However, it made Percy visibly flinch and he felt his heart had tightened in fear at the very notion of the Pit.

He didn't entertain the thought further.

The demigod didn't verbally agree. He felt there was no need to. It was the Abyss or he killed whoever the Time Father wanted.

It was an easy decision to make.

Percy sat back in his seat. "A couple more details. You cannot reveal anything you have learned here to anyone else."

Percy nodded.

He doubted any would believe him anyway, besides the Olympians and he wasn't inclined to tell them that the Protogenos of Time was up and about.

"In addition to that, any attempts to travel through the realm of Time that are within your capability to stop, you are to do so by any means necessary." He stressed. "This mess has caused me enough of a headache as it is. I will be most…" His neutral tone took one of annoyance. "displeased, should it happen again."

It was a reasonable request, one that Olympus also held as law for their children and it was one that held the penalty of death for any that explored the realm of Time.

Olympus really hated the Time Lord and anything to do with him.

The Primordial of Time nodded once and spoke once again. "I believe that concludes our time here. Should you renege on our agreement, I will not hesitate to return you from where I found you."

The demigod did have a couple things that he wanted to ask, for his own sanity.

"I do have a couple questions."

Chronos hummed in response as he looked to him with amber-lit eyes.

"What of my…interference?" He took in a deep breath.

There was a silence as the Primordial seemed to consider his words.

"It does not concern you nor them any longer." He eventually settled on. His amber eyes flashing gold for but a moment that made it look as if it were a mere reflecting of light off the twirling golden rings that were still spinning above them.

He supposed that pressing the issue was not conducive to remaining among the living. So Percy continued.

The demigod only hoped that Hera would do all she could to ensure an Olympian victory.

"The demigoddess that is responsible? What about her?"

"Deal with her as you see fit. It is of no consequence to me what happens to her." Chronos waved his hand in a dismissive manner.

Good. A rage boiled within Percy. Forget Stark. I'm killing Le Fay for doing this to me. She had tormented him. Held a light that told him of what could have been.

And, even if it was unknowingly, almost ended with another trip to the Pit.

It would be a miracle if even the ash of her body remained when he was finished exacting his retribution.

Chronos stood from his seat and Percy followed suit.

"A word of warning. Do try to stay away from the Abyss. My brother has lost you twice now. There will not be a third."

And with that final warning, The Time Father snapped his weathered fingers. The crack sounding like a lance of lightning and made him flinch and recoil violently at the sound.

He felt that same sapping of strength from before in the darkness of his vision.

He felt that same sensation of vertigo overtake him. His muscles contorting and tightening as he began to lose feeling in his body and his organs failing.

His eyes felt like mountains with how much effort it took to open them. Rain fell upon him, reclined against something solid and heavy, and in the sky a murky and heavy cloud of darkness above. Lightning flickered within their masses while thunder rumbled angrily in response.

Sporadic gunfire was in the streets while curdling screams resounded. Though they soon faded into white noise that his faltering senses struggled to process. Wind howled and hot air seemed to billow in his face.

Percy felt a familiar flaring pain torch across his body from where the Master Bolt had originally hit and where that spider had tore onto him. His remaining strength sapping away as he struggled to even keep his eyelids open.

But he did so.

The demigod had no idea where he was as he sluggishly looked around.

It looked like a warzone. Dying, crackling and embering fires lay scattered about an asphalt road. Cars were swerved into the curb, abandoned while skyscrapers flanked on either side of the road.

The stench of smoke and…death was in the air.

His mind spiked and jolted in a flaring pain and the scene changed.

Around him, there was now a desolate field, with splotches of dying flames that had turned their small areas into dark glass. Bloodied, armored and broken bodies laid hewn upon the brambled plain of sand, and piles of rock. Lightning lanced across the sky of dark and malevolent clouds.

Thunder boomed above in its anger.

The lash of thunder seamlessly molding with the previous chaotic scene.

His breath caught in his throat, his sight hazing before refocusing. The city and barren wasteland seemingly clashing in a frightening amalgamation as one attempted to dominate the other.

He didn't know what was real or what wasn't.

Before him, as his vision began to grow their shadowy webs, a woman stepped into view. Dirtied blonde hair in a tight bun and wearing what looked to be an outfit of blue and black with some sort of symbol on her chest being followed by some sort of orange…thing. A comet of red fire streaked overhead past him. They were jogging towards him.

They melded with both scenes, phasing into and out of the war torn city and desolate battlefield.

He summoned Thyella to him. It thrummed in soothing melodies notes rather than its normal tempestuous chords providing some comfort and focus to him in those fearful moments alone. He breathed heavily, a visible white condensation emanating from underneath his rent and charred helm. Even using his powers was draining him.

They stopped suddenly a few meters away from him at the sight of the summoned sword.

Good.

He raised it slightly, pointing the end at them in defiance.

Percy would die sword in hand against whoever meant him harm.

Though he could hardly grasp it and he felt his eyes blinking sluggishly. A chilling ice crawled up his spine and into his mind. He shivered and his breath hitched involuntarily at the sensation.

The normally easily held sword weighed as if it were the very sky itself. And holding the sword in his state was beginning to sap whatever strength was left in him. His outstretched arm fell limply against the wet asphalt…or mud and the sword held slightly on his fingers. his body too weak and broken to do anymore.

And, as if response to his exhaustion and as that cold began to fully engulf him, a pair of feet dropped from the sky before him and another pair beside the first. He recognized them, even in his darkening sight.

Sif and Jane had come. Or at least, that's who he thought they were. He only knew one other with silver wings and Selene was half a world away.

But he still knew he was going to die. He heard some shouting as the two women came up to him, their voice muffled and distorted as they spoke, while Sif was keeping a hard look at the odd group of blue and black suited group. Jane did what she could applying what rudimentary first aid she could to him in vain hope.

Percy determined that if he was going to die, then at the very least his sword and equipment would need to be handed off.

A passing of the mantle so to speak,

And with no others around, he supposed Sif would have to do. He didn't think Jane would be able to make the most of out of such potent weapons anyway and he knew Sif would ensure they were returned to his kin should they wish for their return.

After all, all of the weapon beads on his bracelet were handed off in a similar manner and he supposed that he should continue that morbid tradition.

With his waning and increasingly shadowed thoughts, Percy adjusted his grip of Thyella. The blade continued to sing its mournful notes, the sea-green illuminating coils dimming with each passing second. With his other hand, he grabbed Sif's, startling her and pulling from her watchful and paranoid looks directed about them and pressed the grip of the Uru Spatha into her hand. She looked between him and the sword in a moment of disbelief.

His hands fell away after that and with a simple tug broke the tie beaded cord wrapped around his wrist, and subsequently shoved the artefact towards her. She took it again, in disbelief but seemed to come to the conclusion as to what was occurring.

Some more distorted and muffled voices, but Percy resigned himself to his fate and cared not for what was happening around him.

His head tilted back, clanging softly against whatever he was resting against. The cool rain offering some relief against his burnt and charred flesh as he closed his eyes.

Primordial or not, when dealing with them, or any being of the Immortal Realm, He could never be quite sure of their real intentions despite their voiced words.

Perhaps, it was some sick game that the Father of Time had decided to play, whether for his own amusement for some other concocted scheme.

He had dealt with it in the Night Mother and the Earth Mother and did so with the Lord of the Abyss and the Lady of Misery.

They were all the same. Promises of riches, power and health but with an agenda that was quite apparent making it easy to deny them.

He supposed that the Father of Time should have been no different. For Percy to merely trade a promise that in the grand scheme of things mattered little to a Protogenos that could manipulate the currents of Time itself on a whim, for a quicker death free of the torture and nightmares of the Pit.

He felt his body slump onto his side hitting the ground, his helmed head clanging hard against it whether it was rock or asphalt he didn't know. His eyes opened slightly, a mere sliver of sight allowed to him in those remaining moments of consciousness. A reflection of his broken and charred face in the small puddle beside his eyes.

There was a single flittering thought as Percy's mind succumbed to darkness.

I fucking hate immortals.

'If Injury is to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.'

-Niccolo Machiavelli

A shorter chapter as we transition into the second half of this arc. Just a couple things to clarify as we move on from here.

For those of you worried that I was about to rehash all of PJO canon and alter, worry not, I don't think I would've had the patience for that because I already did once. But that's for another time.

Also I understand that the Time-Travel Arc was disliked, paced drastically differently from the initial 20 chapters, and above all simply a slog to get through. However, regardless of your opinion on it, it was not only intended but also necessary for what I have in mind for the future of the narrative and plot. Not only this, but I needed an extremely significant foundation to build off of in regards to what I have planned for this work. The Time Travel Arc provided that for me.

The story will also be paced differently from the initial 20 chapters. We will be slowing down significantly from here and it will turn into a rollercoaster with slower areas and faster paced ones.

I would also like to state that, as mentioned before, I have significant plans for this story. Much of the plot has been outlined and established well before any of the chapters are written. Everything from character sheets for near all significant characters have been made, power levels, character arcs planned with chapters and plot points already outlined and made.

On that note, (and as always), you can find me on the Emerald Library Discord!

If you'd like to join, to not only get an inside look on Of Water and Salt (an update schedule included) but also on other works I have planned, you can find the link to that on my profile!