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Percy should know that his little problem with Hypnos, the god of sleep, hadn't exactly been resolved.
He didn't know if he was dreaming or not, but the probability was pretty high, I mean, how come the 13-year-old version of himself was standing in the living room of his apartment in New Rome?
"You..." Percy heard his younger self start to speak. The voice wasn't high-pitched like a child's, but it was young, very teenage.
"Yeah, I'm you," Percy replied. "From about seven years from now."
The younger Percy blinked.
"Strangely enough, this isn't the most surprising thing that's ever happened to me," he considered. "And I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming. I was dreaming about Grover dressed as a bride like two minutes ago." Percy blinked. "Well, maybe not exactly two minutes ago, but you get the point."
Great! Twenty-year-old Percy's dream was intertwined with thirteen-year-old Percy's dream, which wasn't bizarre at all.
"Thank you for this special moment, Hypnos! Do you want me to hug my old self?", thought the older Percy.
"Look, I don't want to give you any spoilers about what's going to happen in your summer, kid, and since we're here and apparently I still have..." Percy glanced at the clock on the wall. "... an hour of sleep left, let's keep quiet so I can wake up refreshed for a very important job interview, okay?"
"Interview? By the way, where are we?" Of course, the 13-year-old Percy wouldn't shut up. Ah... Hyperactivity... "Is this our house in the future?" Percy started walking around the living room, and the older one sighed, running his hand through his hair. "It's pretty cool, even kinda neat. Mom would be proud of this evolution."
"My wife would kill me if I didn't clean up," the older one thought again.
"What did I say about being quiet?"
"Dude, when would I ever get the chance to talk to my older self? I want to know if I made the right choices!"
Twenty-year-old Percy sighed.
"You made excellent choices, you're great at it." Thumbs up.
Thirteen-year-old Percy stared at him expressionlessly.
"Okay, maybe... Um, stumbled a few times, but overall, you made the right choices," 20-year-old Percy rephrased, sitting on the couch as he watched his younger self analyze the house.
"Well, bleaching some strands of my hair definitely wasn't one of the right decisions, that's really weird, actually..." Percy approached Percy, looking at the older one's hair. It was curlier, a bit longer and wavier, with some gray strands.
"I don't bleach... Oh, you know what? I'm not going to talk about it, next year you'll find out," Percy stood up, crossing his arms, and with the proximity between the two, there was a height difference.
"Wow, I didn't know I would grow this tall..." The younger one echoed. His head reached the older Percy's lips.
"You do realize you grew six inches in nine months this year, right?"
"I know! Isn't it awesome?!" He couldn't contain his excitement. "Anyway, I thought I wouldn't grow taller than that, and thank the gods I was wrong." Percy lowered his gaze to the other guy's chest. "Wow, I'm huge! Does this happen in college? I bet all the girls want to hang out with us!"
The older Percy smiled, shaking his head in denial. In a way, it was true that there was interest, but none were brave enough to try their luck.
Firstly, because he was married, and very happily so, thank you. Secondly, because he was married, and thirdly, his wife was quite intimidating, like, she had retrieved a 15-meter statue and been one of the main contributors to peace in a centuries-old rivalry.
"You won't worry about that," 20-year-old Percy sighed in the end. He was tired and just wanted a good night's sleep. He hoped he wasn't talking in his sleep; he didn't want to wake up Annabeth. "And no, it doesn't happen in college," he replied, finally.
"Then when?"
"I don't know, kid, I think during the summers of our adolescence. A lot happened; a lot made us strong." Percy walked into the kitchen, deciding to pour himself a glass of water.
"Strong enough to beat Luke?"
Percy was rummaging in the fridge when he heard the other Percy's question. He sighed once again.
"I can't answer that question, Percy." And the fridge was closed with a snap.
"What kind of question can you answer, then?"
"I don't know, and honestly, I don't want to answer any." He poured himself a glass of water. Water relaxed him.
Young Percy just huffed: "Am I that difficult to deal with?"
"Definitely."
"Well, I'll keep asking anyway." He sat on the stool.
"Of course, you will." He sat down too.
"Where are we?"
"In an apartment near the college," Young Percy opened his mouth, and the older Percy raised his hand. "I can't tell you which university we're going to. I don't even know if you'll remember this later, but I don't want to risk our future, which, surprisingly, is very good."
Thirteen-year-old Percy reflected for a second, thinking of contesting. However, he thought of Annabeth for a brief moment and what his friend would do in that situation. This made him act more cautiously.
"Is our mom okay?" He decided to ask
Twenty-year-old Percy smiled at the question: "She's more than okay. We've almost given her a heart attack several times, but nowadays she's fine. You'll be quite blessed in the family department."
Thirteen-year-old Percy felt his heart skip a beat.
"D... Dad, he... Well, does the family have a... Good relationship?" His voice trembled in the midst of the dream, and Percy smiled sadly before answering.
"With Poseidon, it's the same relationship as always, kid. He's proud of us and will be even prouder of you, but that's not where family happiness lies."
A silence hung in the air, and young Percy took a sip of water.
"Our mom met a man."
And he choked on the information.
Twenty-year-old Percy waited for his younger self to calm down after paling.
"And... Is he like Smelly Gabe or...?" The voice was so frightened that Percy wanted to hug himself.
"No, Percy. He's not like Gabe, not even close." They both sighed in relief, one speaking and the other listening. "He's good, he's like a father. He's our father. He'll be what you need."
Thirteen-year-old Percy tried to hide some of the excitement at hearing the older one's words.
"And when will that happen?"
"I can't tell you, I don't want to change a single comma of how our relationship with him is. From beginning to present. I don't want you to know when or how it will happen."
Again, silence.
"Will I better controling my powers? I've burst two pipes at home."
Percy laughed.
"You'll be fine."
Percy nodded: "I didn't know I could be so vague and mysterious, it's kinda weird..."
"You'll go through some stuff."
"I will...?"
"You'll be fine. That's all you need to know."
Silence enveloped them again, and the younger one's eyes ran through the house once more when he noticed something different.
It was a picture frame on the shelf next to the TV: He and Annabeth hugged with Cinderella's castle in the background on disneyland.
Percy jumped from the chair. "Wow, she's so different!" He exclaimed, picking up the picture frame. "And yet the same" The proximity of their future versions' faces made his heart skip a beat or two. Annabeth would age gracefully; her dark skin gleamed in the sunlight, and she had a smile more magical than Cinderella's castle. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Well, at least he would see in a few years. "She has a gray strand of hair too. Is this a symbolism of our friendship? It's kinda cheesy, you know?"
The older Percy also stood up, standing next to the boy.
"Believe me, you'll like this. It's the first visible thing that shows how connected you both are."
"And what's the second thing?"
Percy put his hands in his backpockets and shrugged. Lucky for him, he had ADHD, so his younger self simply noticed another photo.
"Wow, Grover looks weird with a goatee..." He put the picture frame where he found it and glanced over other photos of his older self with a group of people he didn't know, but always with a pattern. "Annabeth is everywhere... Dude, aren't you embarrassed to have like three pictures of her here? Like, of her alone?"
The older one restrained himself from laughing at the audacity.
"Kid, you have a picture of her stuck on your notebook and you want to talk about me?!" He put his left hand over his mouth, as if to hide the laughter.
Older Percy didn't remember how much he lived in denial; it was ridiculous for the kid to have a picture of Annabeth on the notebook he looked at every single day and still think it was just a camp friend.
The younger one blushed to the tips of his ears before facing the older one. "Well, I... Hey! What's that in your hand?"
There was a moment before Percy exclaimed: "You're married!" He let the picture frame lie on the shelf. "You're married! I'm married! We're married!" He breathed before adding, "At twenty! I'm getting married at twenty! In college! Gods..." He rubbed his face, backing away. "Are we dads?"
"What?! No!"
"Then why are we married at 20?! That explains why this place is so organized and why you sound so adult!"
"Listen kid, really, this apartment needs to be organized because otherwise my wife, um, your wife... OUR wife, gets pretty mad about any mess. I sound like an adult because, believe me, I've already said and I repeat: We'll go through a lot and lastly..." Dramatic pause, of course: "We're married at 20 because it was our idea and, believe me, we wanted to marry her as soon as we turned 18, but she decided it would be a good idea to wait a little longer."
Percy could faint.
His heart raced thinking about all the possibilities to fit into the "her," and honestly, he could only think of one person (even though he knew he could have met the "her" over the years).
"Does 'she' by any chance mind the house with more pictures of your best friend than her?"
Percy looked at Percy with a lot of incredulity.
"Gods, was I that oblivious?!"
An instant, just an instant was needed:
"Oh my gods..." The younger one staggered. "Her?!"
"Yeah, kid. Her."
"I can't believe it..." Percy sat down on the couch.
"Cut the crap, deep down you know it!" The older one sat on the couch next. "And I'll tell you more, you'll love it. And even more, you'll be begging to marry her, and I'll tell you even more: She's too much for your little truck, so make sure to make about three trips to handle it all."
"I won't lie, it surprises me a lot that she agreed to marry us."
"I think the same thing every day, kid."
They both sighed, thinking about the moment they were having in that dream, wondering if they would remember it.
"Does she love us?"
Percy felt his heart warm.
"As much as we love her. To madness." He thought for a second. "Well, at least, you guys will get there."
Percy nodded.
"Luke? Kronos?"
"I'm not going to talk about that, Percy."
"I thought I might try again." He shrugged.
"I know, I am you and you are me."
They both felt something snap over their skins, the vision becoming a bit blurry.
"We're waking up..." The older one said. "I hope I didn't wake up our wife during this disturbing experience." Percy stood up as if to say goodbye to his younger self. It was the end of that... um, thing.
"It's still weird to think of Annabeth as our wife."
"I never mentioned her name."
The younger one snorted, also standing up.
"As if you needed to."
"You're starting to get smart, kid." Percy licked his lips and smiled with some pride.
Seeing himself, the same blue eyes, the same lips, the same big nose, the same blond curls, all with an air of innocence, really shook Percy. He would go from that to that. And if he could choose, he would still do it all over again, every moment. All over again. Just to be where he was.
"Are you happy?"
That was the last question.
The older one smiled.
"Very. We are very happy, Percy."
They stared at each other, and the vision became even blurrier, when a white light seemed to erase it all.
Percy Jackson woke up in his room with his mother telling him he would be late for school if he didn't get up.
He remembered a weird dream about Grover wearing a wedding dress and something about an existential crisis. He didn't remember much beyond Grover.
Percy saw a shadow pass by the room, and then began the first day back at school.