Chapter Text
“Oh, good, Percy, you’re already here. Why don’t you sit down?”
Percy’s heart dropped. He had barely made it to Camp Half Blood and he was excited to spend time in his home away from home. Chiron was attempting to look as placating as ever, which Percy knew wasn’t a good sign. He glanced toward the exit and debated the odds of success if he were to make a run for it.
“Now, now. None of that. I have a mission that only you can complete,” Chiron spoke, as if that fact would sway Percy into agreeing.
“Hey now, what about some of the younger, less experienced campers? I know a ton of them are itching for a chance to prove themselves,” Percy stated in a rush, trying to sway an already made-up mind.
Chiron shook his head, “I’m afraid that isn’t possible. See, only you have powers that would be acceptable in the other world, though you might need to conceal them.”
“You aren’t making any sense,” Percy tried the persuasive route, “Maybe we should sleep on it and see if we can think of any other options.”
He held up a hand to cut Percy off, “Percy, you’re just going to have to listen to me— we have been receiving distress signals from another planet’s Gods.”
That caught Percy’s attention, “There are other planets that have Gods?”
“Well, yes, but that isn’t the point. This is a planet ruled by five elements: water, earth, air, fire, and spirit. There has been a war going on because some balancing agent has disappeared. The Gods over there call it the ‘Avatar’.”
“The ‘Avatar’? What does that have to do with me?”
Chiron rubbed a hand down his face, exasperated with Percy, “You will be sent to sway things back into balance. In theory, you should be able to control two of the elements, water and earth. You might have some ability to help with matters of the spirit, but that would need to be proven throughout your journey.”
“Wait, why would I be able to control the earth? Poseidon is the God of the Ocean.”
“God of the Ocean and Shaker of the Earth— did you even pay attention to what I taught you?”
Percy rolled his eyes. He supposed that made sense, but he wasn’t sure how much help he would be if he could barely control ‘earth’ on his home planet. Maybe his powers would be amplified on this planet?
“Okay, so I might have forgotten that tidbit, but does it have to be right now? I haven’t even gotten to see everyone or eat.”
Chiron tapped a hoof impatiently, “You can stay through dinner, but you have to leave after. That should give you enough time to say your greetings and be on your way.”
Hunching his shoulders, Percy knew he had been beat, “How long will I be gone?”
Chiron shrugged, “Maybe a week, maybe a year— it depends on how quickly you resolve things over there.”
The demi-god clenched his fist but knew better than to pick a fight with Chiron, “Fine. Give me two hours.”
“Good, thank you for agreeing,” As Percy was walking away, Chiron continued, “And Percy, you’re going to be just fine. You’ll be home in no time.”
Two hours did not seem like nearly enough time to say his goodbyes to the friends he had just reconnected with, but it flew by nonetheless. Annabeth and the others were fairly understanding, knowing how it was to be at the Gods’ whims all the time. Percy packed light, only grabbing a small bag of the essentials i.e., Anaklusmos and some nectar and ambrosia. He still felt wildly underprepared, but that was always the case.
He visited Chiron after packing up, during which the centaur instructed him to visit Rachel for a prophecy and find him after. Percy wasn’t sure that prophecies could just be dredged up on command, but he supposed it was worth a shot.
It turns out that Rachel was ready for him and had the prophecy ready before he could even ask for it (freaky). He glanced down at the written note she had for him and tried to memorize the prose there.
“Once the world turns to winter, the interloper shall cause the fall of a false god and the downfall of an inflamed community.
When the moment comes that the moon doesn't fall, a terrible act of cruelty shall mark a new fury and a reunion of enemies.
In scarlet twilight, two sisters are bathed in light and behold the return of unity.
When the ground shifts and the sky burns, a victory shall end needless bloodshed and bring an era of harmony.”
As per usual, Percy did not understand whatever had been written, but he knew it would probably come into play later. He knew it was no use delaying the inevitable and visited Chiron on more time.
He was given one final ‘talking to’ before he was ordered to touch a coin that had a yin and yang symbol that, on further inspection, had two fish on it. Percy took a deep breath before doing what he was ordered to do, immediately feeling that he was falling through frigid air and clouds. The wide expanse of sky around Percy and the immense pit in his stomach told him that he hadn’t been dreaming. He was definitely free falling— he could only hope that he had a soft landing or that death would come swiftly.
He wasn’t sure when he had passed out during the whole ‘free falling in a new world to his almost certain death, but he woke up in an icy crater in the ground.
You know, it wasn’t often that Percy prayed to the gods that he wasn’t actually waking up in the tundra, but that statistic unfortunately was not zero.
Percy’s surroundings were not normal to him— not to mention extremely cold. His thin blue t-shirt and black skinny jeans definitely were not made for this weather. He suddenly missed his lion pelt coat. Cursing his luck, he peeled open his eyes and tested each of his limbs for pain or injury. To his surprise, he was completely fine— if a little sore. That was different. He fully expected to have a bone protruding from his leg or something. Nada.
However, things had never been this different. Never had he been in an area where the ocean air felt so clean, so tame, that’s for sure. Not to mention that his innate sense for estimating the miles away from the equator would have him believe that he would be in some place tropical and not in a frozen tundra. Having been laying down this entire time, he finally stood up and took in what surrounded him. The demi-god was in a village of sorts and had company on all sides, mostly older women and young children. The odd ones out were two teens, a boy with a top knot and a girl with a long braid and a pretty blue necklace.
With a small voice, one of the village children had finally worked up the courage to speak to him in a language he didn’t understand. Staring was all that Percy could do. This time a woman spoke up in aggravated tones and the demi-god felt himself shrinking into place, hoping that the sea would pity him and swallow him whole.
He finally stood up, growing more worried for his state of being. Had the sense been knocked out of him? Every villager took a step back, fearing an attack from the demi-god. After checking himself out once more and not noticing any injuries besides a general state of numbness on his butt, Percy made a placating motion with hands. Hopefully they would understand that he meant no harm. Percy belatedly noticed he could see over everyone’s head, feeling tall for once. He mentally scolded himself— not the time.
An elderly woman stepped forward, likely asking if he could understand them. Percy shook his head ‘no’ and shrugged. The question hung in the air until the girl with the braid spoke, resulting in a stiff nod from the teen standing next to her. It was obvious that the teen didn’t trust him but seeing the way that Percy had been shivering caused kindness to win out. The boy dragged him over to an igloo and handed him some warm clothes.
As he changed, Percy’s brain was working overtime, trying to take in as much information as possible. It felt like just an hour ago that he was sitting down to dinner in Camp Half Blood for the first time all summer, blue beverage in hand and an offering given to Poseidon. He hadn’t even had the time to change into the camp t-shirt— that was how early it had been at camp. Now he was on the south pole of some foreign planet, thrust into the action once more.
Once he had finished changing— the other boy turned around in the igloo as if the small space didn’t already make things awkward— he was dragged out to a firepit where there was a big vat of something that smelled delicious. Seeing as he was met with expectant stares, Percy tried speaking in English, Greek, and Latin to no avail. He huffed, instead thrusting a thumb at himself and saying, “Percy.”
The village muttered his name back to him in response and the introductions began. The girl with the braid was the first to break the silence, pointing at herself and saying, “Katara.”
Percy nodded and said her name back to her. Some villagers giggled as he spoke, presumably at his accent. ‘Katara’ elbowed the teen seated next to her, who grunted and said, “Sokka.”
The process repeated itself until they went through everyone in the village. Percy elicited some laughter as he repeated some of the more difficult names. He found the strong desire to crawl into a hole almost unbearable, but he managed. He more or less was able to find out how he ended up in this village, his descent from the heavens evidenced by a rather large crater in the center of town. The demi-god could tell that the villagers were still wary of him, but to them he was unarmed and a source of entertainment. He could live with that.
What made them even more relaxed was his willingness to help around the village, proving to have natural talent for fishing and other things associated with the sea (who would have thought?). Still, things were bound to be pretty lonely until Percy had picked up enough of the language to get by— he could only hope that he could have a real conversation with someone outside of the typical point and grunt.