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Chapter Text

Rhea Jackson

Daughter of Poseidon

The Fate Breaker

Poseidonas (ROR)

Tyrant of the Seas

King of the Seas

Aidoneus (ROR)

The God Whom Other Gods Rely on the Most

King of the Netherworld

Loki

God of Mischief, Lies and Magic

God of Fire, Serpents, Stories and Artifice

Apollo  (ROR)

God of Medicine, Archery and Music

God of Prophecy, Poetry and Philosophy

Annabeth Chase

Daughter of Athena

Architect of Olympus

Grover Underwood

Lord of the Wild

Chosen Of Pan

Nico di Angelo

Son of Hades

The Ghost King

Disclaimer: This story contains graphic depictions of violence, strong language, and/or other mature themes.

Chapter Text

Percy Jackson was annoyed.

It had been a week since everyone had read about everything that happened with both wars. He thought it was finally over. He'd finally have at least one year of peace.

But no.

It was the Summer Solstice. The Fates had taken all the demigods and the Olympians (kidnapped, but whatever) to a place that was definitely not Olympus.

Getting up from the floor he was dumped on, he looked around and saw his friends and girlfriend in the same situation as him. When he saw that they were all unarmed, he began to assess the place they were all in.

A round Greek stadium made up entirely of bricks, it is gigantic not something humans can build in a short time, it is so big that all of the gods from every single pantheon could sit there (now that he knew that the gods from other pantheons exist). Undoubtedly, even if there aren't enough seats, the stadium will magically expand to make one.

Before he could make any other observation, he was interrupted by a bright light that forced him to close his eyes. When the light dimmed and shimmered out of existence he opened his eyes to see what had just happened. A pile of tangled limbs was on the floor, and groans were heard as they started untangling themselves. A few moments later everyone was on their feet looking around with caution.

Percy and everyone with him looked at the newcomers with wide eyes, they could not believe what they were seeing.

"Oh. My. God. Am I seeing things?" Leo spoke up.

Before anyone could answer him, there was a bright light almost blinding everyone. Again.

The people that had just arrived arranged themselves faster than anyone had seen, taking out their weapons, and scanning their surroundings with caution.

There were too many people to keep track of, he was probably getting a whiplash. Ok, let's do something about it, don't want to get confused with who is who after all.

Group 1, him and everyone that is with him.

Group 2, the people who came after his group, the doubles of the people in his group and a few people who are dead in his universe. What. The. Hell. How? Ok, maybe not now. Also, few people whom he doesn't know.

Last but definitely not least, Group 3, those who arrived last. They were dressed very differently, some more revealing, all traditional he could tell, fancy and extravagant. Few had different hair and eye colours. He could feel their aura, very powerful beings he could already guess.

"Can someone tell me where the hell we are?" He didn't know who spoke, just that it was someone from Group 2.

A loud 'POP' was heard and in front of them stood The Fates. The Moirai. Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos.

"You are in a pocket dimension that has a similar structure to the Council of Valhalla so that we can accommodate everyone in one place. We have gathered all of you here at the request of Khaos, The Creator of the Universe. Before we begin with the introductions, two people are not here yet. They will arrive after everyone is done introducing themselves. But first, let us explain why you all are here." the Fates spoke at the same time, which caused almost everyone to shiver because of the creepiness.

Then the bomb was dropped.

Multiverse exists.

What!?

Ok. Despite it being the craziest news he had heard in his entire life, it was not difficult for him to accept it. I mean, it explains why there are doubles of almost everyone in his group standing in this room. He was used to weird things happening in his life since he was a baby though he didn't know it was all real until he was 12.

The Fates had just finished explaining about the multiverse to them and, is it finally the time to know why they were being told about the multiverse's existence?

"You are here to read about the journey of Rhea Jackson, the daughter of Poseidon from an alternative universe." The Fates said while gesturing towards Group 2. "Now, why don't you all introduce yourself?"

Percy looked around waiting for someone to step forward and begin with the introduction, but when he saw no one did, he decided he would start.

"I'll start, Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon"

The groups that arrived after them, he observed, were looking at him like they were looking at an alien.

"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena"

"Nico di Angelo, son of Hades"

"Grover Underwood, Satyr"

"Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, lieutenant of Artemis"

"Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite"

"Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus"

"Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto"

"Frank Zhang, son of Mars"

"Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares"

"Travis" "Conner" "Stoll, son of Hermes"

"Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter"

"Will Solace, son of Apollo"

"Pollux, son of Dionysus"

"Chris Rodriguez, son of Hermes"

"Drew Tanaka, daughter of Aphrodite"

"Lou Ellen Blackstone, daughter of Hecate"

"Alabaster Torrington, son of Hecate"

"Butch Walker, son of Iris"

"Hylla Ramirez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona"

"Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona"

"Magnus Chase, son of Frey"

"Samirah al-Abbas, daughter of Loki"

"Alex Fierro, child of Loki"

Now it was the Gods and Goddess' turn.

"Zeus, King of Gods, God of lightning and thunder"

Percy could see the group that arrived last were looking at them with barely hidden disdain.

"Poseidon, King of the sea, God of earthquakes, droughts, floods, and horses"

"Amphitrite, Goddess of the Sea"

"Triton, son of Poseidon, Heir of the Sea"

"Hades, King of the underworld, God of riches and the dead"

"Persephone, Goddess of spring, harvest and fertility"

"Hera, Queen of gods, Goddess of marriage."

"Hestia, Goddess of hearth, fire, home, and family"

"Demeter, Goddess of harvest and agriculture"

"Aphrodite, Goddess of love and beauty"

"Athena, Goddess of reason, wisdom, and battle strategy"

"Artemis, Goddess of the hunt"

"Apollo, God of music, poetry, and archery"

"Ares, God of war"

"Dionysus, God of wine and madness"

"Hephaestus, God of fire and metalwork"

"Hermes, God of travel, thieves, and communication"

"Chiron, Centaur, Trainer of Heroes"

Now, it was time for Group 2.

"Nico di Angelo, son of Hades" He looked a bit different. He looked healthier and had a twig-like motif tattooed on his forehead.

"Grover Underwood, Satyr"

"Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, lieutenant of Artemis"

"Jason Grace, son of Jupiter"

"Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite"

"Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus"

"Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto"

"Frank Zhang, son of Mars"

"Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares"

"Chris Rodriguez, son of Hermes"

"Drew Tanaka, daughter of Aphrodite"

"Travis" "Conner" "Stoll, son of Hermes"

"Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter"

"Will Solace, son of Apollo"

"Pollux" "Castor" "Son of Dionysus"

"Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephaestus"

"Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite"

"Michael Yew, son of Apollo"

"Zoe Nightshade, daughter of Atlas, Hunter of Artemis"

Percy looked at them in shock and when he turned to his friends, he saw that they were looking at them wide-eyed too. They were dead in his universe. Also, Jason is alive in this alternative universe? It was a bit surreal to see them alive.

"Lou Ellen Blackstone, daughter of Hecate"

"Alabaster Torrington, son of Hecate"

"Butch Walker, son of Iris"

"Hylla Ramirez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona"

"Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona"

"Magnus Chase, son of Frey"

"Samirah al-Abbas, daughter of Loki"

"Alex Fierro, child of Loki"

"Gunilla, daughter of Thor"

"Zeus, King of Gods, God of lightning and thunder."

"Poseidon, King of the sea, God of earthquakes, droughts, floods, and horses."

"Amphitrite, Goddess of the Sea"

"Triton, son of Poseidon, Heir of the Sea"

"Hades, King of the underworld, God of riches and the dead"

"Persephone, Goddess of spring, harvest and fertility"

"Hera, Queen of gods, Goddess of marriage"

"Hestia, Goddess of the hearth, fire, home, and family"

"Demeter, Goddess of harvest and agriculture"

"Aphrodite, Goddess of love and beauty"

"Athena, Goddess of reason, wisdom, and battle strategy"

"Artemis, Goddess of the hunt"

"Apollo, God of music, poetry, and archery"

"Ares, God of war"

"Dionysus, God of wine and madness"

"Hephaestus, God of fire and metalwork"

"Hermes, God of travel, thieves, and communication"

"Chiron, Centaur, Trainer of Heroes"

Percy was a bit annoyed hearing the Gods and Goddesses introduce themselves twice but there were still four more who he didn't know.

"Odin, Norse God of War and Death, Poetry, Wisdom, Magic and Divination" Odin was a barrel-chested man with massive arms, close-cropped grey hair, his beard cut square, to accentuate his hardened, weathered face, his left eye covered by a black patch, while his right eye was dark blue, wearing a short-sleeve polo shirt with the Hotel Valhalla logo on it, along with a massive sword hanging at his side, two crows standing on each shoulder. Clearly, they were Huginn and Muninn.

"Thor, Norse God of Thunder, Lightning Storms and Strength" Thor was a god with shoulder-length red hair, a curly red beard, bodybuilder's arms, and hands the size of pot roasts.

"Frey, Norse God of Peace, Fertility, Rain, Summer and Sunshine" Frey was a god with blond hair that fell to his shoulders, blue eyes, a hawkish nose, a stubbly beard, and brilliant white teeth. A Hollywood Viking that looked more like the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Thor than Thor did.

"Loki, Norse God of Mischief, Artifice, Magic, Fire, Lies, Serpents and Stories" Loki was a god with green feathery hair (with red, blonde, and yellow tints), tousled in a fashionable I-just-got-out-of-bed-and-I-look-this-good sort of way, shockingly handsome, wearing a Red Sox jersey, jeans, white tennis shoes, burn tissue splashed across the bridge of his nose and his cheekbones, his lips marred by a row of welts all the way around his mouth, much like many piercing holes that had closed over.

As if his mouth was sewed shut once. Percy thought.

He could only look in shock as the Norse Gods introduced themselves. He knew a few Norse demigods, but he had never met a Norse God before. He understood that the only reason the Norse Gods were here was that they were connected to the daughter of Poseidon.

Now, it's time to find out who those fancy people are. Finally, he'd been waiting for this since they had arrived.

"Zeus, God Father of Cosmos, King of the Gods" Zeus looks like a very frail old man, with black eyes, yellow pupils flickering every few seconds, and a long beard gathered with an elastic band. He was wearing a long white toga and was barefoot. He may look like a weak old man, but maybe that's the form he chose to have people underestimate him.

"Poseidon, Tyrant of the Ocean, King of the Seas" He was a tall muscular man with an apathetic face devoid of any emotion, blue irises and black pupils, He was wearing an ornated gold choker and dark blue clothing with a gold border that covers the entire upper half of his body, showing his abdomen and chest, with a pair of gold rings around his biceps, a pair of gloves made of what looked like seaweed, with blue bands at the wrists, and around his waist was a white waistcoat with a gold circular motif, which split in front with a single cloth that descends like a loincloth. Under his waistcoat, he wore a pair of baggy trousers that matched the fabric of his arms, tucked into a pair of seaweed-coloured boots with designs similar to those of ancient ruins in the depths of the oceans. He had a highly stylised trident as long as his body.

"Hades, King of the Netherworld" He was a tall handsome god, with an eyepatch placed over his right eye and long, elegant silver hair sprouting in various places on his head. He had a twig-like motif tattooed on his forehead, a lined spiked choker necklace, and a bead-like earring on his left ear with many smaller piercings. He wore a collar that extended to the upper chest, badges emblazoned on either side of the coat, a purple sleeveless shirt, long white pants and a pair of shoes filled with square patterns.

"Hermes, Messenger of the Gods" He was a tall, handsome man (honestly, is anyone ugly here?), dressed in a butler's uniform, with a mop of neatly combed black hair, and tattoos of unknown design above his left eye and below his right eye, a small mole on the right side of his chin and white gloves covering his hands.

"Ares, God of War" He was a very tall and extremely muscular god, with blond hair and grey eyes, wearing only a black loincloth and a red cloak, and had a black helmet decorated with intricate gold carvings.

"Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, Beauty, Lust, Passion and Procreation" She was a beautiful woman, with a face of supernatural beauty, shoulder-length blond hair decorated with flowers, and large blue eyes. Her figure was extremely voluptuous, with very large breasts and wide hips. She was wearing traditional Greek cloth that barely covered her nipples, butt and private parts, as well as lots of gold jewellery such as bracelets and beads.

"Apollo, God of Medicine, Music, Archery, Prophecy and Philosophy, Sun God" He was an attractive man, with long flowing light pink hair reaching down to his torso and a good physique body with a deep diagonal scar on his face. He has golden pupils and lips. Like many Gods of the Greek Pantheon, he wears Greek-related items such as a laurel wreath, buskin sandals and a toga. The toga has a band around the torso and floral designs on the outside of the chest area with an opening to show the chest. He was decorated with jewels such as a necklace that extends across his chest resembling the Sun and its rays, a chain that is part of his sash and an ornate chain around his right leg, a pair of golden gauntlets on his hands.

"Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, Wilderness, Nature, Childbirth and Chastity" She was a beautiful woman, with long flowing pink hair just like her twin reaching down to her waist, lean but fairly voluptuous, wearing a modest traditional Greek peplos, a silver laurel and a moon-shaped pin keeping her hair out of her face, silver necklaces and bracelets and a pair of toe-loop sandals.

"Aura, Goddess of Wind" She was (again) a beautiful woman, with blond hair that reached down to her back, half of her hair in a crown braid, short and slender, wearing a modest traditional Greek chiton, gold chain sinching the chiton at her waist, a few gold necklaces and bracelets.

"Heracles, God of Fortitude, Envoy of Justice" He was a tall, muscular man with long, spiky orange hair. He was wearing a right shoulder guard and chest guard the same as in archery. His left arm had an ornate gold bracelet covering his biceps. He was also wearing a lion fur kilt, champion belt, and simple leather sandals. He has a red tattoo that crosses his torso from his right shoulder to his lower left abdomen. His eyes were blue, and he was carrying a club with the face of a lion.

"Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies, God of Darkness" He was a relatively short but lean and slender god with extremely pale skin, messy black hair, brown eyes with black bags, as well as pointy ears. He was dressed like a priest, wearing a long black cassock with purple cross-patterned sashes on the shoulders, black leggings and black mid-calf boots.

"Thor, God of Thunder, Vanguard of the Gods" He was an extremely tall and muscular man, with long red hair that exceeded his waist and yellow eyes with black sclera. Numerous golden patterns emanate from his hands and eyes, wearing a white sash around his torso and several brown belts around his waist, with one worn diagonally, and two leggings that go down his knees. He also wore a pair of black gauntlets, and a giant grey hammer bigger than his body, which was clearly the Mjölnir.

"Loki, God of Mischief" He had the appearance of a muscular young man, wearing a long-sleeved cape, fingerless gloves, a set of ear piercings on each of his ears, green hair that hung down to his neck, a hair highlight to the left of his face, and his pupils were oblique like that of a goat.

"Odin, Lord of Rage and Madness" He was a well-built old man wearing dark formal robes with gold borders and an eyepatch over his left eye, with Huginn and Muninn on either of his shoulders.

"Shiva, God of Destruction" He was an extremely muscular man with two sets of arms, pale-purple skin, five orange eyes (two of which were closed) including the one on his forehead with dark-red sclera, messy black hair, dark-blue tattoos on his arms, wearing only a pair of yellow loose pants with blue waistband, as well as yellow headband.

"Anubis, God of Funerary Rites, Protector of Graves" He was a very young-looking God, with dark skin and large eyes, very sharp canines, a pair of piercings on his chin and a tongue with a pair of small black canines at its ends. He was wearing a hat on his head that resembled the face of a jackal, including the face, ears and part of the body, long hair gathered in a braid, bracelets and wrist covers on both arms, a trapezoid front on his neck, a shendit and trousers that reach up to his heels, leaving his feet exposed which had long, sharp fingernails and toenails.

"Zerofuku, God of Misfortune" He had the appearance of a young, muscular boy, with a hole in his chest located where his heart should be. He had long dark purple hair with a horizontal streak of light hair down the middle of the length of his hair. His irises were bright while his pupils were black. The symbols on his cheeks were the Japanese kanji for luck (福), and he could see the same symbol was also on his tongue while he spoke. The seven beads that tie his hair were engraved with the Japanese kanji for the seven deadly sins. Ordered from left to right, they read: Envy (嫉), Sloth (怠), Greed (強), Wrath (怒), Lust (色), Pride (傲) and Gluttony (暴).

"Susano'o no Mikoto, God of Swords" He was a tall god with long blue hair with a few white strands in front and thick cloud-shaped eyebrows. He was wearing a huge pauldron on his left shoulder with cloud-shaped patterns, with a long wrist guard on his left arm, while on his right arm, he was wearing a vambrace that reached up to his hand, on the upper part of his body he was wearing a kimono with a single long sleeve on the left arm, held up by a belt with a huge lace closed in the shape of a bow, long trousers that cover almost all of his feet and high-tech geta. He was carrying his sword wrapped in bandages, resting it on his right shoulder, holding it with the aforementioned hand.

"Buddha" He was a tall, muscular man in a tank top with glasses, robes tied around his waist wrapping back to his hands, a bindi on his forehead and his light green hair, black on the sides, tied backwards in a classical/old-fashioned way with what seemed to be a golden type of crown, earrings, and a pair of rectangular glasses. He had elongated earlobes, sharp canines and was sucking on a lollipop. The tank top he was wearing had an eyepatch-wearing rabbit design, with their eyes and mouth closed, and the word "OYASUMI" written right below it, an eye patch on his left eye and his right eye completely black without pupil.

"Lü Bu Fengxian" He was a tall, muscular man covered with battle scars all over his body, the most notable scar being a rather small one on his right cheek, waist-long dark hair, which was tied into a bun and adorned with two golden antennae-like pheasant tail feathers, an Eastern dragon tattoo across the front and back of his torso and shoulders and 「飛將」("Flying General") tattooed on the right side of his body, a goatee and no eyebrows. He was wearing no clothing on his upper body and no footwear, just white baggy pants and a piece of fabric that resembled dragon scales, which was tied by a belt with a large decorated golden lion head buckle. While he spoke, you could see that his teeth were like a shark's, which were usually hidden by his scowling expression.

"Adam" He was a young and muscular man with supreme beauty, with platinum-blond hair, and big sky blue eloquent eyes, fully naked but his groin was covered in a single classical fig leaf covering and his hand was an apple that he was currently eating.

"Kojiro Sasaki" He was a tall and muscular old man with silver hair, wrinkled skin, sharp eyebrows and brown coloured eyes, wearing a red and orange haori with numerous flower patterns and a hakama with a darker shade of the same colour tied with a red ribbon, toe-less leggings that were black in colour, and a long katana as tall as him on his back.

"Jack the Ripper" He was an adult man with silver hair and a silver moustache, with different coloured eyes, with a left eye that was silver in colour and a right eye that was deep red in colour, the latter being covered by a monocle filled with gears, a grey Victorian Era formal suit with a white shirt underneath and a blood-red steampunk top hat, a bolo tie, blood-red trousers, a blood-red coat over his suit, a gold pocket watch attached to his vest and a pair of black gloves.

"Raiden Tameemon" He was a physically imposing man towering over everyone, with dark brown hair, white highlights strung throughout it and tied into a ponytail, eyebrows sharp and distinguished, wearing only a dark blue mawashi.

"Qin Shi Huang" He was a man of average stature and muscular build along with broad shoulders, wearing an intricate bare-shouldered robe, resembling ones worn by Chinese Empresses, a blindfold decorated with a patterned streak that covered his eyes, two tattoos of centipedes, one on his right cheek, going downward vertically from his right eye, which is covered by the blindfold and the other peeking through his back, nail guards on his right hand's middle and index fingers, as well as on his left hand's ring, middle, and index fingers.

"Nikola Tesla" He was a rather tall, young and lean man with curly brown hair that was parted at the front, wearing a formal white shirt, black tie, waistcoat, white pants with a pair of boots along with a long jacket, where the bottom left side is made out of a black netted material, a feather pinned to his left lapel and a glove on only his right hand, both hands having two rings on each finger and a pair of goggles around his neck.

"Leonidas" He was a tall, muscular man with scars running across his body, with a distinct long one running along the right side of his face, a gruff beard similar to a goatee with a man bun behind his head, wearing camo pants, belts with pouches, heavy black boots and black shirt with buckle, with a cigar in his mouth.

"Soji Okita" He was a young adult, his long, dark brown hair tied back in a ponytail, wearing a black and white checker patterned scarf, purple tone kimono underneath Shinsengumi Dandara haori, grey tone hakama pants, and his pupils were slits, possessing a feline quality to them.

"Michel Nostradamus" He was a small and short boy with long, light hair, and a feminine appearance, wearing clothes of rich men from his time period.

More than half of them were Gods and Goddesses, but clearly, the mortals were strong too. Percy could feel the powerful aura of these mortals which matched the aura of the Divines to an extent. A few of the names were recognisable too. Adam, Jack the Ripper, Tesla and Nostradamus. They were well-known names in human history in his world. He was surprised to see them alive in front of him.

"Does anyone have any questions?" The Fates asked, creeping everyone out by speaking together again.

"How are we going to know which God or Goddess we are talking about or to since there are two or three versions of them?" His girlfriend asked, which was a valid point that he could tell everyone was thinking about.

"PJO and RJO," Four voices said together. It was the Stoll twins from both universes. When everyone turned to them, they shrugged and spoke, finishing each other's sentences, which was again, creepy, twin speak will always creep him out. "Percy Jackson is here with the Olympians of his universe" "So, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, PJO" "And the Fates said Rhea and Annabeth will be here soon and the Olympians of our universe are here" "So, Rhea Jackson and the Olympians, RJO"

The Stoll twins were the trouble-makers, always pranking everyone and hearing such a good idea from them clearly baffled everyone from their respective universes, which was shown on their faces.

"What about them?" Someone from the RJO universe asked referring to Group 3.

"The Ragnarök is being recorded in their universe, so Record of Ragnarök, ROR." The Fates replied, before continuing. "We'll be bringing in Rhea and Annabeth now and then you'll begin the reading. Why don't you all find a place to sit."

Everyone decided to sit with people from their own universe, so PJO sat down first, the Divines on the top tier so that they could look at everyone, RJO sat down next to them, again with the Divines on the top tier and finally, ROR sat down, putting RJO in-between them, the Divines sitting on the top tier and the mortal on the bottom tier. It was clear even among the Divines, they were sitting according to the hierarchy, grouping themselves according to their respective pantheons.

A bright light filled the room before dimming down (do the Fates get some sort of pleasure by trying to blind everyone?) and there stood two females, one tall with black hair and a shorter one with blonde hair. They were clearly having a conversation right before being brought here because they stopped muttering to each other to look around to find out where they were. As soon as the black-haired girl saw Percy she stilled which alerted the blonde-haired girl making her turn around to look at what the other girl was looking at.

"No." The dark-haired girl deadpanned before she whined, "Oh god, why!?" The blonde laughed before turning towards the Fates asking what was happening. As soon as it was explained, they were instructed to introduce themselves. The blonde stepped forward first.

"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena" You could hear the resentment in her voice when she said her mother's name. She was wearing a white shirt, black formal pants, a black blazer, a bowtie, a black fedora hat on her head, and white shoes with black details.

"Rhea Jackson, daughter of Poseidon" She had an apathetic face devoid of any emotion, wearing a black double-breasted suit that was kept open, a lavender-grey scarf, a button-up darker lavender undershirt, a black skirt, black high heels with white edge and a black fedora hat.

As soon as they introduce themselves, they start moving to sit down. They climbed up the tiers between RJO and ROR but instead of joining RJO, they both joined ROR, followed by RJO Nico and Grover. While Rhea sat between ROR Poseidon and Hades, Annabeth sat beside Apollo, Nico sat on the other side of Annabeth and Grover sat beside Nico, the three of them a tier below Rhea.

Percy looked at RJO Poseidon, he was looking dejected. Clearly, the father and daughter didn't have the best relationship if Rhea preferred his counterpart over him.

"The books read themselves. If anyone talks in the middle, the narration will pause, before resuming again. There are many differences between Percy and Rhea, we hope you'll learn to be open-minded. No punishments will be allowed for past thoughts or actions." The Fates said before disappearing with a 'POP'.

"Let's get this over with, shall we?" Rhea said.

Chapter Text

The sea may look serene and calm,

But her beauty can be a false balm,

For deep beneath her sparkling sheen,

Lurks a darkness that's rarely seen.

"What do you mean false balm? And what darkness? You're always spewing haikus even when you're supposed to be serious, what kind of darkness would you have?" questioned RJO Thalia.

"Don't ask questions which are going to be answered later, it spoils all the suspense," replied Rhea.

"What do you mean spewing haikus?" asked PJO Thalia to which RJO Thalia groaned before replying that Rhea has a habit of saying haikus at the most random moments.

"We're like haiku buddies," RJO Apollo said with a grin on his face.

"In your dreams, maybe" ROR Apollo replied, gritting his teeth. You could hear some restraint in his voice as if he was controlling himself from beating someone up (probably RJO Apollo for his comment).

"Reacting to my life

Thalia is bummed,

I stay chill" Rhea said looking at RJO Thalia with a smirk which made everyone from the RJO universe groan and those from the PJO universe who suffered from PJO Apollo's haïkus, annoyed, effectively getting rid of the tension that had raised because of the two Apollos'.

The sea's daughter is just the same,

Her beauty hides a treacherous game,

Don't be fooled by her smiling mask,

Or you'll find yourself in an undertow's grasp.

PJO Percy, Annabeth and Grover exchanged looks. By these words, it is obvious that the front Rhea puts on is just a mask, hiding her true self from everyone. She was very different from Percy. He couldn't lie to save his life, he definitely couldn't hide a totally different personality from anyone.

It's a lie that's hard to see,

A mask of truth, it's mastery,

Both lie and truth in one disguise,

Poetry's beauty, none can deny.

"It's true. No one can deny the beauty of poetry," said RJO Apollo.

"Is that the only thing you gather from this? What I want to know is what kind of truth she is hiding. Obviously, she's mastered how to hide the truth, if even you weren't able to sense the lies." replied RJO Artemis.

Even if they tried to whisper, everyone in the room could hear them because of how quiet it was in the room.

Is it a prophecy, or a lie,

Disguised as truth, you can't deny,

Only she knows what's really true,

And hides the answers from your view.

Does she see through the veil of time,

Or are her visions a clever rhyme?

Is she really a comrade, true and kind,

Or is something else, hiding behind?

"What does it mean 'are her visions a clever rhyme'? The haikus you spew all the time are not just nonsense?" asked RJO Thalia asked

"Of course, you're a true comrade. You're very powerful and an extraordinary fighter," exclaimed RJO Drew Tanaka.

"I'm gonna say it again, wait and just read. You'll find out everything," Rhea replied.

Are you worthy of her loyal heart,

Of the care that sets you apart?

Can you keep the trust she grants,

And walk beside her as an ally, sans?

RJO Annabeth, Nico and Grover looked at each other. They knew Rhea only trusted very few, which included them. Sure, it took them a while to get her to open up, but they'd been even closer since she did. They could understand why she did things the way she did.

It's very hard to gain her trust, but once you do, you can never doubt her loyalty.

Save your heart, dear friend,

For the truth will bring a bitter end.

Chaos, and Time, she's the chosen of both,

Her decisions are made with care, nothing loath.

"What does it mean, chosen of both Chaos and Time?" shouted RJO Zeus. He didn't want to admit it out loud, but his brother's spawn was too powerful, he wanted her dead. But he couldn't kill her without starting a war with his brother, Poseidon, which made him very angry. He knows that his brother loves his daughter even if she doesn't give a shit about him.

Rhea just ignored him as if she didn't hear any shouting which just made Zeus more angry.

Will you be her pawn or a true friend,

In this game of life that never ends?

She knows all, but will she tell,

Or keep her secrets hidden well?

"No one is a pawn, they're people, and life is not a game," exclaimed Percy.

"If this is how you react just for this, I wonder what your reaction will be for all the things she's done during the war" RJO Annabeth replied, amusement clear in her voice. Has she gotten a little unhinged by spending so much time with Rhea? Yes. Does she hate it? Honestly, no. But is she going to enjoy watching Percy Jackson having a mental breakdown by seeing how different Rhea is from him? Absolutely.

It had barely even started and everyone was extremely eager to learn about her, especially the campers from RJO. She only interacted with everyone at camp when training them or when absolutely necessary. It was obvious she didn't like to be around people. The only ones she was comfortable around were Annabeth, Grover and Nico, the only ones who probably knew everything about Rhea.

It escaped no one's attention that those three didn't seem as surprised as everyone at the reveal of the multiverse, which meant that they already knew about it.

Chapter Text

Mysterious gift,

A god's spirit now with me,

Strange birthday surprise.

***

“Oh, we’re starting with a haiku!” PJO Apollo exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. Exasperated sighs were heard from all those who had to deal with him because of his antics.

A normal story like this one would start with her birth.

But then again, she was far from ‘normal’.

When she was in her early stages of toddlerhood, memories of this world manifested themselves at such a speed it should have broken her mental health.

Somehow, through it all, she still was mentally stable.

No, what truly nearly cracked her was when she was ten and a hellhound attacked her, she survived because the water suddenly shot and stabbed him through the head, something that should be impossible according to the laws of physics.

 Silence.

Utter silence.

Then the noise exploded.

“WHAT!”

“MEMORIES OF THIS WORLD!? DOES THAT MEAN YOU KNEW THE FUTURE!?”

“YOU KNEW THAT YOU WERE A DEMIGODESS WAY BEFORE YOU CAME TO CAMP!?”

“YOU KILLED A HELLHOUND WHEN YOU WERE 10!?”

Shocked exclamations echoed throughout the chamber. While RJO campers were having a crisis with this information, PJO campers sat in shock. That was totally not what they expected. The ROR Divines and mortals looked interested. It’s not every day you get resurrected by the creator of the universe (And wasn’t that a shock for all those who died during the Ragnarök, and honestly, others too), and being told you’d be reading about someone from another universe.

“You knew you were a demigodess before you entered the camp and didn’t bother telling anyone?” RJO Zeus asked after everyone calmed down from the previous outburst.

Rhea didn’t bother answering him which made RJO Zeus seeth in anger and ROR Zeus laugh seeing his pathetic excuse of a counterpart being ignored.

Honestly, the gravity of her situation hit her at that moment.

Her name is Rhea Thalassa Jackson, the daughter of Sally Jackson and the Greek Sea God Poseidon.

She should have seen this coming.

 “So, you knew who your father was way before the claiming?” asked RJO Katie Gardner.

“Seen what coming?” asked RJO Will Solace.

“Yes, I knew who my father was and I’ll probably be saying this again, stop asking questions that will be answered later on” Rhea replied.

***

*Months Later*

*August 18*

*Montauk*

“Happy birthday Rhea!” Sally smiled as she put the blue cake in front of her daughter. “Finally eleven!”

I'm going to go through puberty…! Rhea nearly cried before she turned her gaze to the sea.

“Oh I forgot the juice, I’ll be right back,” Sally said before she returned to the cabin.

The daughter of the sea felt eyes on her, she turned around to see a black-haired man making his way up to her, he put a box on the table and smiled at her, Rhea gave him a weird look only to freeze when her eyes meet his.

His eyes weren’t blue, green, or any kind of normal colour, no it was like gazing at the literal galaxy. And he seemed familiar but she couldn't tell why.

The mysterious man smiled. “Enjoy.” He said before he walked away.

Rhea turned around to say something, but she did not find him there, no he disappeared into thin air, she focused her gaze on the box for a while before she decided to finally open it.

Inside the box, she found a blue bracelet in the shape of a trident.

“That’s…not creepy at all.” Rhea sarcastically said.

Rhea poked the bracelet around for a bit before it suddenly turned into a trident taller than her body, she panicked when she saw her mother coming out of the cabin and trying to hide the trident, luckily it turned back into a bracelet just in time.

“Rhea? Is something wrong? You didn’t touch the cake.”

“I was waiting for you!”

Sally smiled at her daughter.

 “Who was that man?” PJO Annabeth asked. Now that she knew that the multiverse existed, she was eager to know everything about it.

“You’ll find out after the Titan’s War. Just know that he’s a very important person” replied Rhea.

“So that’s how you got your trident!” exclaimed RJO Nico. He turned around to look at Rhea who just smirked and winked at him.

“So you have a trident? Don’t you have a sword?” PJO Triton asked. Was he happy hearing that his father’s alternative self has an illegitimate daughter? No. He had hoped that at least his father’s alternative self had some self-restraint, but that hope was thrown out of the window when he found out about Rhea. But what puzzled him was, that he had seen RJO Triton and RJO Amphitrite give a small smile and a nod to Rhea when she and her friend were taking a seat, which Rhea had returned all the while ignoring her father. Don’t they hate her for being the proof of RJO Poseidon’s infidelity?

“Yes, I have a trident. I also have a sword but I never use it. My trident is heavy enough to handle the force of my swing,” replied Rhea looking bored out of her mind.

Her words made everyone pause. Force of her swing? What did she mean by that? How strong is she, that she needs a heavy weapon to direct her swing properly?

“That is one gorgeous trident,” exclaimed PJO Leo.

“I know! And guess what? We match! Hehehe!” Rhea replied grinning, grabbing Poseidonas’s trident to show that both their tridents indeed matched.

But that was not what shocked the divines of the ROR world. It was how unbothered Poseidonas was about her grabbing his weapon, him not doing anything to her was more astounding. While the gods and goddesses of PJO and RJO universe were offended, watching a mere demigoddess (or was she?) grab a God’s weapon, they were dumbfounded that nothing was done to her.

[She should have thrown that trident into a volcano!]

[Actually, even tho that guy is an asshole she still loves him.]

 Rhea felt a hand grab hers and squeeze it. She turned her head to look at Poseidonas, who was looking ahead at the book, smiled and returned the squeeze while facing forward again, not letting go of his hand. She knew he didn't like to be touched, and felt happy that he initiated the contact. 

***

Rhea focused on her homework completely ignoring the spirit of the god in the same room with her.

Seriously knowing the future of this world is one thing.

But being stuck with the spirit of your father’s parallel self who came from another world because he died in Ragnarök was another thing entirely.

Not that she was going to tell him that she knew, actually it had been a month since he appeared after she got that bracelet and his spirit had stayed around ever since.

She was also ignoring his existence, being a demigod was already a pain. Till she decides that talking to him will be worth it, she won’t react to his insults.

It’s not like she can get rid of the trident anyways, trust me she tried by throwing it away, but it returned to her a minute later.

And the insults that followed from the blond god haunt her to this day.

 “You ignored him? Pretended like he didn’t exist? And he didn’t do anything to you?” ROR Loki asked, floating above his seat. He knew how trigger-happy Poseidon tended to be, to anyone who offended him, and he was surprised nothing happened to the girl.

“Oh, he did. You’ll see after this chapter probably. We didn’t get along at all in the beginning,” replied Rhea.

“Really, Poseidon? Insulting a child?” reprimanded Aidoneus, while Poseidonas pretended like he didn’t hear him, which made Aidoneus sigh, exasperated.

Rhea groaned loudly. “Stupid dyslexia! I can’t read anything with words jumping around!”

The blond sitting at the end of her bed scoffed. “ Humans, pathetic as always. ” He then disappeared inside the trident bracelet.

Rhea’s eyebrow twitched and gave the bracelet a side-eye. Says the god that died at the hand of one! She bit her tongue not to say that out loud.

Rhea could feel the burning stare she got from Poseidonas because of the comment about his death. She just shrugged with a sheepish smile, still facing forward.

“You knew about the Ragnarök?” asked Sasaki.

“Yes, I knew what was going on in your universe,” Rhea replied to him. Gosh! She’ll be answering a lot of questions from a lot of people, won’t she?

“Rhea?” Sally’s voice floated from the kitchen to her daughter.

The girl shot up, eager to get away from the books in front of her. “Yeah, mom?”

“I need a couple of things for dinner tonight, do you mind running to the store real quick?”

Rhea jumped off her bed and grabbed a sweater before she made her way to the kitchen, her mom put the money on the table for Rhea to take along with a list of things she needed to buy.

Luckily, Sally wrote things big enough for Rhea’s dyslexia to not mess things up.

“I can go.”

Sally smiled as she handed her daughter the money and the list. “Be safe! Don’t forget to put perfume on!”

“Okay!”

Be safe gets a whole new meaning when you’re a demigod.

 “Perfume?” PJO Piper questioned. 

“I convinced my mom that the perfume I use smells heavy enough, that the monsters couldn’t smell me,” Rhea replied, her voice cold.

“Um, what happened to Gabe?” Percy asked, his voice hesitant. He knew how horrible Gabe was to both him and his mother, abusing them for years before his mother got rid of him, right after his first quest. There wasn’t any mention of Gabe in the RJO world yet, and he wanted to know that at least his counterpart was free of him and his abuse.

“Dead,” replied Rhea, curtly. Many turned to her wide-eyed, but before anyone could comment, the book started reading again.

***

“For fucks sake can’t have a peaceful day without a monster stalking me!” Rhea hid in the crowd.

“Puppies!”

Rhea’s eyes widened as she turned around to see that the one hellhound that was following her turned to three.

“Shit.”

She did not hesitate to run, and they followed. I need to get somewhere where I can kill them.

“ Hmpf coward. ” The voice echoed from the trident.

“Oh, I have had it with you!” Rhea glared at the trident. “The only thing you did since you appeared was criticise everything I did!!! You stay quiet all the time and only the thing that comes out of your mouth when you decide to talk is insults left and right!”

“ Maybe if you didn’t suck at everything you do I’ll ignore you. ” He said.

“Excuse me???”

He ignored her.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me!” Rhea had to stop running after a hellhound jumped right in front of her, she took a turn to the alley to her left.

Finally, alone, she took off her bracelet which turned into a trident in her hand, the three hellhounds stopped in front of her and started to approach slowly.

The middle one jumped on her to attack, she did not hesitate to thrust the trident forward right into the hellhound’s throat, the monster turned to dust leaving its fur as a spoil of war.

Rhea dodged the two hellhounds which attacked at the same time, she quickly stabbed the one on the right in the back before it could turn around, and she lifted the trident to block the other hellhound from biting her head off.

“Gotta give it to these mutts…they are persistent!”

“ You’re too slow. ”

“Yeah well, I didn’t ask for your opinion!” Rhea shouted as she angrily stabbed the last hellhound.

“ You’re weak. ”

“For the love of god! I'm eleven! What do you want from me????”

He did not respond.

Rhea sighed. “Alright, at least give me your name, I can’t keep calling you creepy blond spirit in my head all the time.”

“ Poseidon. ”

“Rhea Jackson, but I think you already know that.”

 “Three hellhounds? How many monsters did you face before you even got to the camp? And why didn’t you tell me, my dear?” RJO Chiron asked. He always knew she was very different from every other demigod. More ichor than human blood. More godly. He knew she was destined for great things. But she never spoke too freely with him, always tense around him, as if…

“I don’t trust you. And you have no need to know everything about me and I faced many monsters before I arrived at the camp but you didn't need to know that because I took care of it myself,” replied Rhea coldly. 

Percy, PJO Annabeth and PJO Grover Looked at each other with raised brows. Percy wholeheartedly trusted PJO Chiron. He was Percy's father figure, just like he was PJO Annabeth’s. To hear Percy’s counterpart say that she doesn’t trust her world’s Chiron is a bit (a lot actually) disheartening.

***

“Mom I'm back! Here’s what you needed.” Rhea said as she put down the groceries.

“Thanks, honey!”

Rhea walked back to her room. “So what…”

“ Pathetic. ”

That word was like an arrow to the heart. “Ah…”

Rhea felt another squeeze on her hand from Poseidonas. They didn’t get along at all in the beginning, so he never felt any remorse for saying those things at that time, but now, hearing his own voice say those things to her, guilt was the only emotion he was feeling right now, even if his face remained emotionless.

Rhea, like she knew what he was thinking (she did, she knew him better than anyone, except Aidoneus, of course) bumped him with her shoulder lightly, and squeezed his hand, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“ Your stance is terrible, your technique is flimsy, you can’t even launch an attack without wobbling and let's not forget your terrible sense of battle. ”

“Well…it’s not like I held a weapon before…” Rhea pouted.

“ I can tell, were you planning to have your first time in the middle of battle? ”

Rhea’s eye twitched before she sighed. “Oh please you’re talking like you’re going to change the situation I'm in, you criticised me about how I fought so what? Like I said I never held a weapon before, and I just got rid of my step-father, so mom doesn’t have the financial capabilities to get me to a fencing club, so stop talking like you’re going to take the matter into your own hands because you won’t!”

Inside the trident, Poseidon glared at her audacity, out of all the trash that are humans he got stuck with this one.

“ Tsk. ”

He will bide his time.

[He didn’t have to wait for long.]

“You killed your own stepfather? How cruel can you be?” PJO Hera spoke up, her voice filled with bitterness. Was she happy that they were reading about the bastard daughter of her brother’s alternative self? Absolutely not. She hated Percy, for his audaciousness. Now she has to know about his counterpart, who from what they’ve read so far, is worse than Percy.

“He was an abusive bastard, and killing him was a mercy. I should've tortured him, making him beg for death before killing him, but I couldn't do that as I was still young,” replied Rhea, her voice cold, face emotionless.

Says the woman who threw her kid off of Olympus and blamed her husband’s rape victims for getting pregnant or being with her husband. Rhea thought, discreetly rolling her eyes, not wanting to say it out loud. All these topics will probably come up later in the reading.

Rhea's reply shocked nearly everyone. The only ones who weren't shocked were the ones who knew her true self, and those from the ROR universe. 

Before anyone could comment on her reply, Rhea spoke up. “Let's get to the next chapter. The sooner this finishes, the sooner I can take a nap,”

Chapter Text

Trident plane ride, rough

Death visited me, oh so much.

Therapy is due.

***

“So, we’re starting every chapter with a haiku?” RJO Apollo mused out loud. He was scared to speak up, he didn’t want to feel that oppressive aura that had surrounded him when he had first commented on Rhea being his haiku buddy. It was terrifying. He’d never felt such a powerful aura from any of the gods or goddesses from his universe before, and to think about the auras of ROR Zeus, ROR Poseidon and ROR Hades who are older than ROR Apollo was a terrifying thought. Imagine what their aura would feel like.

“Honestly, everyone here needs therapy,” said RJO Nico, his voice exposing his amusement. 

“Who's gonna pay for that?” asked RJO Grover, exasperated. 

“Rhea, obviously. She has unlimited money,” RJO Annabeth chimed in, a grin creeping up on her face. 

“I think the therapist would need a therapist if they deal with our shit,” Rhea replied rhetorically, rolling her eyes, which just made the trio sitting in front of her snicker behind their hands. 

Rhea frowned when she felt water surrounding her, last time she checked she was sleeping in her bed, she snapped her eyes open.

The sea…why am I in the sea? She frowned as she looked around. This is not normal. Right in front of her some metres away was a mountain; at its peak, she could see a castle.

She raised the waves heading to the mountain, she continued to raise the waves till she reached the castle, the waves were at least 1000 feet high, which is the biggest she ever created, a tsunami at this point.

“The control you have over your powers at such a young age is astonishing,” said RJO Amphitrite, which surprised the people from the PJO world. It was no surprise that while PJO Amphitrite didn't hate Percy (the way Hera does any Zeus's bastard children), she also didn't like him. She was civil with Percy, nothing less and nothing more. 

“Thank you, I trained very hard,” replied Rhea. 

She gently landed on the ground and let the water back into the sea, she looked around for a bit before she turned her gaze back to the water.

Whatever this place is…it’s not on earth. Rhea frowned.

The doors of the castle opened to let her in.

“I saw this in horror movies…I'm still going in tho.” Rhea mumbled to herself.

She cautiously walked inside the castle, looking around for a bit, there were some Greek sculptures with weapons in their hands. Mostly spears and swords.

A sense of danger surrounded her suddenly, her eyes turned to look at the person coming down the stairs, but she wasn’t able to process the situation, in the blink of an eye she was already stabbed by the familiar blue trident.

Gasps and shouts of shock echoed through the chamber, everyone watching with wide eye as Rhea got stabbed. 

RJO Poseidon clenched his hands in a fist, anger rising within him. The only reason he wasn't lashing out was because of his wife's tight grip on his arm forcing him to control himself. They could clearly see who stabbed her on the hologram. Now she is sitting next to the same man? 

“Poseidon! When you told me that you trained her, you left out the part where you killed her!” Aidoneus admonished, but he was not surprised. This is something his brother would definitely do. 

The next time she woke up, she was outside the castle, she gasped as she stood up, and frantically searched for the wound.

The only thing she found was blood, proof that what happened was real and not simply imagination.

Rhea paused. “I wasn’t even able to process the pain I should have felt…” She narrowed her eyes. “Did I die and respawn like a freaking video game boss or something? What the fuck…”

“So you can't die there? That's so cool!” the Stoll twins exclaimed.

“What is that place?” asked PJO Hermes, intrigued. 

“It’s a pocket dimension that we can change as we like. Though it stays the same most of the time. Inside the plane, the pain is obviously real, but death doesn't occur. Additionally, any wounds that might exist are only genuine while I'm within the plane. When I'm outside of it, even if there are no visible wounds, I still experience the pain from those wounds, as if the wounds are still very much present.” replied Rhea, stoically. 

Everyone watched, enraptured. They'd never seen anything like this before. 

[Confusion]

Before she could process the entire thing, the three blades of a trident came out of her. Again?

She woke up again and got stabbed again. What the hell…

And again.

W...wait.

[Fear]

And again.

What is going on here…

And again.

Please stop.

And again.

Please

And again.

I am begging you.

Rhea felt Poseidonas squeeze her hand which she returned. She didn't want anyone to hear her begging for anything, but it's not like she has a choice. 

[Anger]

And again.

I SAID STOP DAMN IT

And again.

YOU THINK I'LL FALL FOR THAT AGAIN?

*TANG!*

Rhea gritted her teeth, this time successfully blocking his trident with her own. The previous feeling of fear completely disappeared and was replaced by anger.

“You fucking bastard.” Rhea glared, pushed his trident and counter-attacked with her own.

The campers let out cheers as she blocked the attack. RJO campers knew she was ruthless when it came to training. She'd sent so many to the infirmary, she didn't let anyone complain. Heck, she'd sent almost half of Aphrodite cabin to infirmary when she had begun to train them, threw them in the middle of a bunch of hellhounds and didn't let anyone help them, letting them fight for their lives. To see how she started her training was honestly terrifying.

“She called him a bastard? She's really brave,” ROR Ares whimpered to ROR Hermes. His uncle, Poseidon, was a terrifying person. There was a reason everyone was scared of him, and to see this barely 11 years old girl call him a bastard to his face was petrifying. 

Poseidon dodged with ease, Rhea jumped away when he thrust his trident forward, she put a great distance between them.

The green-eyed girl continued to observe the Tyrant of the Seas, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of her.

It’s like last time!

Luckily knowing exactly what follows she was able to block the trident that was about to pierce her, she was pushed backwards by force, and she rolled on the floor for a moment before she pushed herself up to stand up, dodging the trident by sheer dumb luck, but not without it cutting her right cheek.

Rhea laughed a bit. I should hate him, but I don’t feel anything, actually, I’ve never felt more alive!

She copied his way of carrying the trident, it felt more right in her hand now, what happened next was a constant series of attacks, blocks, and counter-attacks, with Rhea copying Poseidon’s way of using the trident and him changing his way of attacking every now and then.

“Oh my gods! You're crazy! You're laughing when you should be scared!” exclaimed RJO Leo. Rhea was an intimidating person, who always terrified him. When they were on Argo II, you were either in awe of her or scared of her. Nothing else. To see her laughing while fighting for her life was nerve wracking. 

It was mesmerising to watch them train, it was like a carefully choreographed dance, even though Rhea was getting majorly bruised. RJO campers could totally understand why she was such a good fighter. She learned from the best, clearly.

 ***

Poseidon used his trident to unleash incessant thrusts at blinding speeds in a circular pattern, unfortunately, Rhea was only able to block two times and got injured all around her body, she jumped away from his attacks to approach the water source near her with difficulty, in pain from all those injuries inflicted on her.

The water rose from the pond and started to surround her skin, when the water made contact with her wounds they started to heal, Poseidon observed as it happened.

The blond scoffed. “You need more training.”

Rhea deadpanned. “This was training?”

Poseidon did not respond.

 “No wonder you're so ruthless while fighting. Wow.” RJO Drew breathed out, clearly fascinated.

ROR human fighters could see why Poseidonas was the most feared God. He was the God of Seas, of course, he'll have control over the seas, and he didn't use those powers in Ragnarök, which meant he was holding back. It was humbling. 

***

When Rhea woke up in her bed the next morning her body was hurting her everywhere.

“I was right, you’re an asshole.” Rhea groaned.

“She’s right brother, you are an asshole,” said ROR Zeus, grinning like a maniac.

It was only because Aidoneus was holding him back that Poseidonas didn't skewer his youngest brother then and there. 

“Wow, no wonder you have issues,” said RJO Grover. 

“Well, of course I have issues! That is my sire” said Rhea pointing towards RJO Poseidon. “And this guy is my trainer and dad. On top of the you-know-what,” said Rhea, patting Poseidonas’s arm. 

“We love the crazy,” RJO Loki chimed in, grinning ear to ear. 

“We live for the crazy,” ROR Apollo spoke up, turning around to smirk at Rhea and RJO Loki. 

Rhea just winked and blew them a kiss. 

No one said anything. They could only watch, bewildered.

Chapter Text

Mjolnir in hand,

Met Hermes with a smile,

Loki peeks inside.

***

“Ohhhh, I'm gonna be introduced in this chapter!” exclaimed RJO Loki, excitement evident in his voice, grinning from ear to ear, looking like he was controlling himself from bouncing in his seat like a kid in a candy store. 

Everyone heard the exasperated sigh released by RJO Odin, RJO Thor, RJO Frey and Rhea. 

RJO Zeus clenched his fist, seething in rage realising that Rhea knew and had been interacting with the Norse Pantheon since before she came to camp. Oh, how he was tempted to kill the girl. But he can't! 

Rhea glared at the chess board, or more specifically she was glaring at the white pieces that were mocking her.

She memorised many different Chess Tactics that Poseidonas used from the moment they started playing this game a week ago.

Don't ask how it went from getting stabbed with the trident daily till she learned how to block his fast attack to playing chess, she doesn't remember how it started.

Just how many tactics does this guy know??   Rhea thought as she rearranged the pieces again.

“I always wanted to know who taught you chess, you're an exceptional player, I can see that you learned from the best,” said RJO Will. 

“One of the best.” Rhea winked. “I can say that Uncle Aidoneus is the best chess player. He hasn't lost a single game.”

Aidoneus just smiled in response to that. 

Poseidonas stood up and summoned his trident, Rhea pouted before she stood up too and followed.

Honestly, at this point, she got used to his silent actions, she did not need him to speak to know what he wanted half of the time now.

Another hellish training, someone save me!   Rhea nearly cried.

“Rhea crying at the thought of training? The sun must have risen in the wrong direction. She loves to torture herself by training like a maniac” said RJO Nico, sarcasm dripping in his voice. 

“Shuddap or I'm gonna double your training time” replied Rhea. 

“She also loves to torture others with training” said RJO Annabeth, with a sigh of exasperation. 

***

Rhea yawned as she stretched her body, the school was a pain and her muscles felt like they were on fire from the training, well at least this time she was able to stand two more minutes against Poseidonas.

“That's a very big improvement, dear niece. Especially for such a short time” exclaimed ROR Zeus. 

Sasaki agreed with ROR Zeus. Poseidonas was a ruthless fighter, he had watched himself die about 18 times within a minute impaled by the trident. Her lasting even two minutes was an achievement.

She looked around to see if there was any monster following her down the street, thankfully there was none.

Suddenly someone slammed into her as they were running making her drop her school bag.

"HEY WATCH IT!" Rhea screamed at the blond-haired man who ran into her.

The man in question didn't apologise; he just continued to run away, not long after he was followed by someone else chasing after him.

"Rude people." She mumbled to herself as she kneeled to pick up what fell from her bag.

Rhea felt something under her foot, looking down she found a silver hammer pendant, it looked dirty, she shrugged and returned home with the pendant in hand.

Finders keepers losers weepers.

“Rhea” RJO Annabeth spoke, sighing in exasperation. 

“Hey, like I said, finders keepers losers weepers. But, let me tell you, I did return it. That blond guy who bumped into me while running didn't even apologize to me, you know” said Rhea, side eyeing RJO Loki, who just winked at her.

"The hammer thing looks familiar," Rhea said as she continued to poke the hammer with her pencil, homework forgotten for now.

Out of pure boredom, she picked up the pendant and started to spin it, till the chain broke, and the mini hammer fell to the ground.

"Whoops!" Rhea made her way to pick it up so she could fix the thing, but the mini hammer started to vibrate, and the girl froze in place.

The hammer started to grow till its head became about a foot long and a handle of equal length.

"Oh my god..." Rhea looked awkwardly at the hammer. "It's Mjolnir..."

Now the PJO and RJO Greeks were paying more attention. After all, it's not common for a Greek demigod to be involved in the Norse Pantheon.

Hearing the familiar name Poseidonas from his seat inside his throne room frowned at the image of Mjolnir that appeared in front of him.

The Mjolnir in his world was a hammer bigger than Thor's body.

Pathetic.  He thought.

RJO Thor looked towards ROR Thor. He saw the hammer that was way bigger than ROR Thor and saw that he was wearing a pair of gauntlets.

“If I may” RJO Thor began, hesitantly, looking towards the ROR Norse Pantheon members. “Can I ask why you wear those gauntlets?”

“It's to contain Thor's power, to prevent him from crushing Mjölnir. The gauntlets are called Járngreipr” replied ROR Zeus, diplomatically. 

Others were speechless. ROR Thor was so powerful that he needed to contain his powers? It's just like Rhea's situation, where she needs a heavy weapon to properly direct her attack.

RJO Thor sat back in his seat, eyes wide in disbelief. Poseidonas was right. His Mjolnir's size is pathetic compared to ROR Thor's Mjolnir. But that was not what had him in shock. It was ROR Thor's strength. 

I bet he can crush someone's skull with just two fingers. RJO Thor thought. 

“I always wanted to try your weapon. Can I? Please!” asked Rhea, eagerly, bouncing in her seat. 

ROR Thor observed the girl. From what they've seen so far, it was evident that she's a warrior. A worthy one. He just nodded his head without speaking a word. 

Everyone watched as Rhea got up and approached ROR Thor, lightly tracing the handle with a finger. They all heard her whispering ‘Hello gorgeous, I'm gonna lift you now’ before wrapping her hand around the handle and lifting it.

"Hey! It's a different size but the same weight! Nice!” said Rhea while swinging the hammer lightly as it pulsed slightly.

She returned the Mjolnir to ROR Thor before returning to her place, while everyone just watched her, jaw dropped. She lifted a God's weapon like it was nothing, commenting on the difference between that and another God's weapon like it's…nothing.  

"Oh my god, what am I going to do? This is Thor's hammer! I'm in so much trouble! Oh god, I don't want anything to do with the Norse Pantheon!" Rhea continued to mumble to herself.

Poseidonas finally snapped, annoyed. " Quit your pathetic whining, pick up that pathetic hammer and give it back to its owner. "

"....The Norse are in Boston, and I can't just go and disappear ... hm ... or maybe I could..." Rhea said the last part to herself, she turned to the hammer. "I'm going to lift you, hope you don't mind."

I'm talking to an object great ...

Mjolnir vibrated.

...or maybe it's alive after all…

“A sentient weapon” PJO Annabeth and RJO Annabeth both spoke up, awe evident in their voice. 

"You need to get cleaned too."

Luckily for her, her mom was still working and would come late at night, so she had all the time she needed.

Thank goodness a Hermes Express is close.  Rhea thought as she ran down the street as fast as she could to the nearest Hermes Express, which was half an hour down the street, Mjolnir in her backpack.

"Hello, how can I help you today?" A blond man with a blue hat standing behind the counter said.

"I want to exchange some money for drachma," Rhea said as she put the money on the counter.

"Ah! A demigod, you know, demigods rarely come here to make exchanges, normally they do it by praying to me." The blond man smiled.

Rhea's eyes widened. "You're...Herm..." She did not finish.

"Hermes! Kinda insulted that you didn't recognize me at first, but I can't blame you, you're not one of the demigods at Camp." Hermes smiled before he took the money and gave her five drachma.

"Thank you!" Rhea said before she started to make her way out. "I will make an offering for you later!" And with that, she closed the door behind her.

"Hmmm." Hermes pursed his lips. "She's a weird one."

“So, not only did you know about the existence of our world before coming to camp, but you also met one of the Greek God before arriving at the camp?” asked RJO Chris. 

“Yup” replied Rhea, smirking. 

“You knew about her existence and her whereabouts, and you told no one?” RJO Zeus shouted in anger.

“You never asked!” Replied RJO Hermes, shrugging.

RJO Zeus seethed in rage, glaring harshly at the book, while ROR Zeus was grinning ear to ear watching the interaction. Oh, how satisfying it is to watch his pathetic counterpart’s misery.

***

Rhea took a deep breath as she stopped in the middle of an empty alley. "Chariot of Damnation ... alright got it! "Stêthi, Ô hárma diabolês!" ("Stop, Chariot of Damnation!") She said before she threw the drachma.

Then, just where the coin had fallen, the asphalt darkened. It melted into a rectangular pool about the size of a parking space-bubbling red liquid like blood.

Then a car erupted from the ooze. It was a taxi, all right, but unlike every other taxi in New York, it wasn't yellow. It was smoky grey. like it was woven out of smoke. There were words printed on the door GREY SISTERS.

The passenger window rolled down, and an old woman stuck her head out. She had a mop of grizzled hair covering her eyes, and she spoke in a weird mumbling way like she'd just had a shot of Novocain. "Passage? Passage?"

"One to Boston."

“You took the Chariot of Damnation? To Boston? A Greek travelling method to go to a Norse area?” asked RJO Annabeth, snickering.

“It was the fastest way. I wanted to be back before mom came back home, y’know” replied Rhea. 

***

Long story short.

The ride was horrible, and Rhea hit her head on the roof too many times to count.

The Gray Sister that was driving suddenly hit the brakes and if Rhea didn't grab the seat she would have kissed the front glass.

"We cannot pass the boundary!"

"This is your stop!"

"Out! Out!"

Rhea didn't take more than a few seconds to get out, once she closed the door behind her the taxi disappeared.

The chamber was filled with laughter, seeing Rhea struggling to sit still in the taxi. What was more hilarious was the exaggerated relieved expression she had when she finally got out of the taxi, glad that the ride was over.

"Alright let's see..." Rhea looked around for a moment to memories the place before she continued her way, after a while of walking she stopped a woman. "I'm sorry miss but can you direct me to Beacon Street?"

"Oh sure! You just need to go straight down, turn right at the third opening then left at the first opening and you'll end up at Boston Common Public Park then right in front of it is Beacon Street."

"Thank you!"

Can't believe my first 'quest' isn't the Lightning Bolt retrieving but returning Mjolnir! I swear the world is making fun of me! Rhea thought.

The people from the PJO universe and the RJO universe were astonished. I mean, yes, they did read that she knew the future, but it hadn't really sunk in until now, realising that she knew that her first quest would be to retrieve the stolen Lightning Bolt. 

She finally reached her destination, but Hotel Valhalla was nowhere in sight, the only thing that seemed out of place for her was the fifteen-foot-tall limestone wall with no entryway.

Mjolnir started to vibrate so she grabbed her backpack and took it out, she pointed at the limestone wall with the hammer which started to vibrate more.

She approached the wall and started to touch around but she didn't find anything, Mjolnir vibrated again, Rhea shrugged and touched the wall with Mjolnir, slowly the limestone wall started to disappear to reveal a garden.

"Thanks, Mjolnir," Rhea said before she entered inside, the garden was beautiful! "Wow."

ROR Thor observed RJO Thor's Mjolnir. If what Rhea said is true, that both the hammers weigh the same and the only difference is the size, he realised that RJO Thor's hammer was more sentient than his.

Hotel Valhalla looks like an eight-story mansion of white and grey stone. The double front doors are made from dark heavy wood bound with iron, with a life-size wolf's-head door knocker in the centre of each wing.

Rhea knocked on the door and waited, a girl with brown skin wearing a hijab opened the door, she looked confused at her.

Rhea gave her an awkward smile. "Hi! My name is Rhea Jackson, I came in peace! I was wondering if Lord Odin is here. Or Lord Thor, either is good."

"Alright wait for a bit." The girl said before she closed the door, after some minutes she came back again and opened the door wide for Rhea. "Come inside Lord Odin would like to speak with you."

Rhea nodded and hurried inside, and she was taken by the décor.

The foyer of Hotel Valhalla was compared to the world's largest hunting lodge – a space twice as big as what the exterior would indicate, with an acre of hardwood floor covered with exotic animal skins: zebra, lion, and an unknown forty-foot-long reptile.

Type wild but still chic.

“Beautiful”

“Wow”

“Stunning”

Exclamations of admiration echoed through the chamber, which made the RJO universe’s Norse Pantheon members smug. 

"Follow me."

Rhea stopped looking around and followed the girl to the lounge, right there sat Odin, a barrel-chested man with massive arms, close-cropped grey hair, a beard cut square, a black eyepatch on his right eye, and wearing a short-sleeve polo shirt with Hotel Valhalla logo on it, along with a massive sword hanging at his side, two crows stood on each shoulder.

He was also surrounded by girls who Rhea would guess were the Valkyries.

"Speak child of Greece, why did you come here?" Odin said in a booming voice.

"I'm Rhea Jackson, daughter of Poseidon and I came to return." Rhea took out Mjolnir. "This."

The girls' eyes widened, and some glared at her.

"Now before you throw accusations!" Rhea said in a hurry. "Let me explain why I have this."

They let her explain and listened to what she had to say.

"And to avoid any problems I decided to come here in person and deliver it," Rhea said. "And respectfully, can't you put a spell on Mjolnir so it will always return to its owner? So that it won't get lost ever again."

PJO and RJO universe’s Greek members discretely looked towards their respective Zeus. If the Greek Gods and Goddesses had put a similar spell on their respective weapons to make sure their weapons always returned to them, Zeus's Bolt wouldn't have gotten stolen by Luke.

Why didn't I think of something like that? Why did the sea brat have to have such a good idea? PJO and RJO Athena thought, bitterly. 

Odin chuckled. "I have to admit, I did not foresee this." He stood up and walked up to her then took Mjolnir out of her hand. "Is there anything I could do to repay your service?"

"Yeah, can you return me back home? I don't want to make my mom worry, she doesn't know that I know about," Rhea gestured around her. "The whole mythos thing."

"That's it?" Odin raised an eyebrow.

"I already have everything in life." Rhea shrugged.

"I see." He nodded. "I shall return you home then, your address?"

"Manhattan you can just drop me near the Queensboro Bridge," Rhea said.

Odin snapped his fingers, it took Rhea only to blink to suddenly find herself near the Bridge.

Many looked shocked that she didn't ask for anything. People who were close to her knew that while she's emotionally stunted, she's not selfish.

***

Rhea sighed as she jumped on her bed after returning home. Mom isn't home yet, guess it's one of those nights, hope she's alright!

*TIK**TIK**TIK*

Rhea frowned as she turned to look at the window, someone was knocking on the glass.

It was a man she had never seen before.

He has dirty blonde feathery hair (with red, blonde, and yellow tints), tousled and he is wearing a Red Sox jersey, jeans, and white tennis shoes. Burn tissue is splashed across the bridge of his nose and his cheekbones, and his lips are marred by a row of welts around his mouth, much like many piercing holes that had closed over.

It's as if his mouth was sewed shut once... Rhea thought before the realisation of who this guy was hit her.

As if he knew what she was thinking of, he gave her a mischievous grin.

Rhea on the other hand gave him a 'wtf' face before she stood up and opened the window.

"Loki?"

“That's one of my man y'all!” said Rhea, proudly, which caused shocked exclamations to echo through the chamber.

Percy was wide-eyed, looking between Rhea and RJO Loki. She's dating a God? Wait, she said one of them? Does she have a harem? Does that mean she'll accept immortality or will she remain mortal? Or has she already accepted immortality?

"In the flesh~" Loki smirked. "I heard you returned my dear ol nephew his hammer?" He sighed dramatically. "And here I went through all the trouble to steal it." He pouted before it quickly turned into a smirk. "So daughter of the sea what should I do with you~"

Rhea deadpanned. "Get out of my house, because if my father finds out you killed me, and believe me he will, a war will break between the Greeks and the Norse, and it won't be pretty, you guys can die, the Greeks can't."

Loki smacked his lips. "That's true~ and we can't have that." He said as he poked her cheek. "But you aren't going to get rid of me anytime soon tata~" With that, he disappeared.

"I'm a magnet for weird people!"

The front door opened. "Rhea?"

"YES?"

"Can you help me get these things inside?"

"Coming!"

Loki did not stop bothering her ever since.

Everyone sat in disbelief. The way Rhea got involved with the Norse Pantheon was because RJO Loki decided to be a gremlin and steal his nephew's weapon. 

“So~” began PJO Magnus nervously, glancing between Rhea and RJO Loki. “If you're dating Loki, and he's not locked up in some place where no one can find him, does that mean Ragnarök didn't happen in your universe?”

“Nope, no Ragnarök in our universe” replied Rhea, smirking slightly. “Let's move on, shall we? I believe the next chapter will be where Grover and Chiron will be introduced.”

Chapter Text

Just before they moved on to the next chapter, The Fates appeared again, which made everyone wonder what they were here for.

“The next chapter will be the beginning of the first quest the daughter of Poseidon went on, but before you begin reading that, we’ll be bringing in a few more people.” said The Fates before ‘POP’ was heard and there stood were the new arrivals with a pure black pegasus and a wolf twice everyone’s size. “Introduce yourself and settle down. The reading will begin as soon as everyone is settled”

“Rachel Dare, Oracle of Delphi, I’m, umm, from the PJO Universe.”

“Rachel Dare, Oracle of Delphi, I’m from the RJO Universe.”

“Proteus, Prophetic Sea God, Lord Poseidon’s servant” He was an elderly but dashing man wearing an outfit befitting a butler, with neatly slicked back hair and fins for ears along with markings near under the eyes and a cross-shaped marking on his forehead.

“Hera, Loving Mother of the Milky Way, The Wrathful Queen” She had long aubergine hair that was tied in a braid with gold and silver ribbons weaved in with cyan-blue eyes and was taller than the average human, like all the other gods. She was incredibly beautiful and seemed to appear as a perfect woman, wearing a floor-length pastel purple dress with a deep v-neckline laced with golden trims that exposed much of her bust with a high slit on the left, revealing her entire leg. She was also wearing jewellery from her royal tiara, and armbands, to necklaces, the most prominent being a golden choker decorated with aqua gems and clear ornaments with the Golden Fleece around her shoulders. 

“Brünhilde, Eldest Valkyrie” She was a beautiful woman with flowing midnight blue hair that reached her waist, tall with a feminine figure, and her hair pinned back on the side with a wing-shaped hairpin, her pale skin contrasted by piercing emerald green eyes, and her attire very formal, wearing a white dress with gold and navy detailing.

“Hrist, Valkyrie” She was a tall, busty woman with long dark purple and straight hair with bangs covering her right eye and a long braid going from the left side of her head to her waist. She was wearing a white garrison cap on her head and a white opened-up military jacket with a dark purple strapless corset exposing her cleavage along with white jeans underneath, with white high shaft boots with metal knee guards and black fingerless gloves with detached cufflinks.

“Thrud, Valkyrie” She was an enormous woman with an extremely muscular build, her height dwarfed even Raiden, who was the tallest person in the gathering till now. Because of her muscles and her square jaw, she had a rather masculine appearance; her hair was pink and tied into a short braid that came down the right side of her head, a golden hairpin in the shape of a wing, her eyes green, with pink lipstick on her big lips. She was wearing a red and black corset with golden outlines, black cloth leggings with white metal kneepads and golden outlines, red and black wide-heeled shoes with golden outlines and black armbands, on her right shoulder, there was a golden armband and a thick golden armlet on her right hand, a dark red hood with golden outlines and feathers which went down her back.

“Randgriz, Valkyrie” She was a beautiful woman with long and wide light brown hair that reached her waist, she had a double-ended golden spear hairpin on the back of her head, wearing a classical white and black dress adorned with golden plates on both sides of her waist, a turquoise pendant and black and white high shaft boots on high heels with metal shin guards.

“Geirölul, Valkyrie” She was a Valkyrie with hair that was tied by two wing clips on each side with hairpins, also tied by a bow, on the front of her hair were bangs that swirled with long side-tails that reached her waist, with a Kokoshnik head piece that has three circles on top. She was wearing upwards collared neckwear with a rhombus clip on the front, a black bodysuit that was underneath a huge robe that had long sleeves that covered her whole arms and above a white bodysuit, underneath the sleeves was ruffled layer, a large black bow on her black bodysuit that had its tail over the centre, and it also had white designs, her bottom part of the robe had 2 layers, one layer was short, and was black with white hemline, the second layer was long covering her legs, inside the whole attire was just black, her whole attire also kinda resembling a kimono. She was wearing shoes that were part white and part black, they resembled platform shoes or geta shoes with the bottom being fully filled with the flat wooden base of geta shoes.

“Reginleif, Valkyrie” She appeared as a medieval scholar that came with a cape behind her back and a medieval scholar hat, wearing rectangular glasses and her black hair in a bob haircut style.

“Göndul, Valkyrie” She was a serene-looking woman with light, long hair tied up into two loose ponytails, one on each side in front of her, she had her eyes closed, but when opened, they seemed to be a dark colour. She was wearing a stiff hat with petal-shaped figures decorating the outside part, a flowy shoulderless dress with detached sleeves that opened at the side, revealing part of her legs and feathers inside, small shoes, and a floating long piece of cloth with ends that look like wings.

“Hlökk, Valkyrie” She had the appearance of a girl with a youthful face and large reddish eyes, slightly protruding incisors and thin eyebrows and eyelashes, her blonde hair was neck length, and her bangs were fashioned into a fringe but devolved into a wild mass of blades of hair, her head is adorned with a kokoshnik with a triangular pattern. She was wearing a stylised black and white low-cut dress with a crimson pendant at the base of her neck and with short separated sleeves and collar, her navel exposed in a diamond cut and her skirt was exceedingly frilly, black leather gloves on her hands, on her feet, she was wearing crimson shoes with high heels.

“Alvitr, Valkyrie” Her appearance was similar to Hlökk, save for several differences. Her light red hair was in a bun, curly shape, braided, instead of wild mass blades, her dress and headband that she wore, were also the same as Hlökk, except for her footwear, as her right leg had a long black stocking while the left leg sports a short stocking.

“Göll, Youngest Valkyrie” She was in the form of a teenage girl with lilac hair that reached down to half her neck and aqua-green eyes. She was wearing a green jacket over a white shirt with tight black shorts, on her left leg were a black legging with a garter belt and on her feet were green high-top sneakers. Similar to her sister, she was wearing a gold wing-shaped hairpin (a much smaller one) on the left side of her bangs.

Next was the pure black pegasus, who neighed when it was his time to introduce himself. Rhea stood up, seeing as only she, the three Poseidons and Percy were able to understand him, she decided that she’d introduce her lovely pegasus to everyone.

“This is Blackjack. He’s my beloved pegasus, and he is a horse version of me. Hehe~” Rhea laughed. “And this is Fenrir, Norse Wolf God.” gesturing towards the large wolf which had grey fur swirled with tufts of black fur.

The sound of swords being drawn attracted everyone’s attention, making everyone turn towards the Norse demigods of the PJO Universe, but before anyone could ask why, RJO Loki got up, walking towards Fenrir and Rhea.

“Fenrir is my son,” announced RJO Loki, before murmuring slightly which everyone heard. “My son who likes her more than me.” huffed RJO Loki, looking towards Rhea adoringly, who was whispering something in Fenrir’s ear while stroking him behind his ears.

PJO Norse demigods could only watch in shock, watching the prophesied destroyer of the world wagging his tail while being petted by the daughter of Poseidon.

As the introduction was done, everyone began taking their place, the Valkyries at the bottom tier, bowing to the ROR Norse Gods and then nodding towards their respective Einherjar.

ROR Hera took a seat beside ROR Zeus who leaned in, giving her a loving kiss on her lips in greeting which made PJO and RJO Hera clench her fist in jealousy. 

PJO Rachel took a look around nervously before her gaze stopped at the PJO demigods. “I’m gonna…umm…go that way.” She spoke up before heading towards the PJO gang and taking a seat beside PJO Grover.

RJO Rachel searched around for the RJO group, muttering a light ‘there they are’ under her breath before heading towards the RJO demigods and taking a seat with the Apollo kids.

Blackjack followed Rhea to the top tier and laid down behind her while RJO Loki followed her, sitting beside Aidoneus after bowing to his lover’s father and uncle, Fenrir following after, laying down behind his father and one of his lovers.

Proteus approached Poseidonas, kneeling in front of him. “My Lord Poseidon,” before turning towards Rhea, bowing to her as well. “My Lady, Princess Rhea”. 

Poseidonas nodded his head, acknowledging his loyal servant, gesturing towards the side of him that wasn’t occupied by Rhea to take a seat, while Rhea greeted Proteus with a small smile. Proteus took his seat after giving his respect to his Lord’s oldest brother. RJO Poseidon clenched his fist, burning in jealousy, watching Proteus call his daughter the Princess of his alternative self.

“Hang on, we’re just gonna let him sit there?” exclaimed PJO Magnus. “He’s the Destroyer of the Worlds, none of you are gonna do anything about it?” he and his fellow Norse demigods pointing their weapons towards Fenrir, on whom Rhea was leaning, her turning towards them with a glare.

“Different universes, different occurrences, he’s not the same as the Fenrir of your world. In fact, he’s better.” spat Rhea, her terrifying glare directed towards the PJO Norse demigods who stood with their mouths open, resembling fishes out of the water.

Since no one was doing anything and there was nothing they could do, they all sat down, their hands still on their weapon.

“The next chapter will begin now.” The Fates spoke up before disappearing with a ‘POP’, while everyone sat straighter in their seats, eager to know what happened in Rhea’s first official quest.

Rhea looked around, looking at all the new arrivals.

The chaos that’s gonna happen will be so much fun! Hehehe~ thought Rhea, her eyes reflecting her chaotic thoughts, her grin wide, ear to ear.

Chapter Text

School is such a bore.

Just to remind you, Mythology is real.

Furies hunt me down.

***

“These haikus at the beginning of the chapter give the summary of what is in the chapter doesn't it?” enquired RJO Athena. 

“You just realised that now?” asked PJO and RJO Hermes, bewildered before RJO Hermes continued. “Aren't you supposed to be a Wisdom Goddess?”

RJO Athena gritted her teeth, angered at the humiliation she was facing from her half-brother. PJO Athena clenched her fist. She'd just realised that now too, and hearing Hermes, a God who's always focused on pranking, outsmarting her counterpart (and her) made her seeth in rage.

Those who didn’t like the Goddess, laughed, further humiliating her.

You know the worst thing about this new school year? One of your teachers is a fury who is trying to kill you.

RJO Chiron sighed shaking his head. Of course, she knew about the fury.

And you know what else is worse? Being on the same bus as Jessica Martini, now that girl is one of the mortals she wouldn't mind drowning.

If you're asking, Jessica is this bully in her class who thinks she's a big deal, last time she sent her brother and his goons at Rhea, only for the daughter of Poseidon to beat the shit out of them.

She threw Jessica in the shark tank once when they went to the Aquarium, unfortunately, they couldn't bite her since guards saved Jessica before a shark could take a bite.

Bummer.

Fortunately, Jessica got detention, and no one suspected that Rhea pushed her into the giant tank.

Many laughed at the trouble Rhea caused for Jessica.

“Hmm, Jessica Martini huh? I had Nancy Bobofit as my bully.” spoke up Percy, surprised.

PJO Grover nodded. He had suffered Nancy’s bullying even when Percy tried his best to protect him from her most of the time, which always ended up with Percy in detention. It was astonishing to see how sneaky Rhea could be.

UNFORTUNATELY...Once that stupid Fury came to school, she decided that Jessica was an angel and Rhea was the devil incarnated... ok maybe Alecto wasn't wrong on that one, Rhea has this crazy homicidal rage from time to time but that's it, it's not THAT bad.....kinda.

“You are a devil disguised as an angel, Rhea. She was definitely not wrong.” snickering RJO Annabeth spoke up, to which Rhea just shot her an exaggerated, sarcastic smile.

“Homicidal rage from time to time ? More like all the time .” RJO Nico spoke up, rolling his eyes.

“Ha ha,” replied Rhea, glaring at RJO Nico, but it was evident there was no heat behind that glare.

Jessica threw a paper at Grover's head and Rhea glared at the girl.

Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled.

He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

Rhea knew who he was -for reasons-, he did not approach her, it was the other way around, honestly, he was stalking her at first and she confronted him.

Poseidonas did suggest killing him once, but she ignored that, it was something about how satyrs are filth, and she did not pay attention to his insults.

“You almost gave me a heart attack when you came up to me asking why I was following you,” said RJO Grover, shuddering slightly after hearing Poseidonas suggest Rhea kill him. Thank goodness she ignored that suggestion, and he isn’t a filthy satyr thank you very much.

“Why were you following her anyway?” asked ROR Shiva. His fellow universe members were wondering the same thing. It was creepy, though it seems they're actually friends. If they weren't friends, they'd agree with Poseidonas, she should've killed that Satyr.

“Satyrs' job is to go out in the mortal world, search for demigods, find the demigods and bring them to camp safely, preferably before they end up dead, you know because the demigods are always hunted by monsters,” said RJO Grover, shrugging. Many listened with wide eyes, especially their PJO counterparts, shocked at how casually he was talking about the death of demigods, but he paid them no mind. Spending so much time with Rhea had made him desensitised about the gruesome parts of their life. “Though, not all satyrs are filthy. I’ll admit, most of the satyrs that were born at camp and raised around demigods are not a problem, but those born outside, those satyrs are the ones that are filthy and deserve to be dead.”

PJO Grover couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His counterpart sounded so cut-throat.

Roman demigods exchanged looks among themselves. The fauns in their camp did nothing but beg. Hearing that the satyrs go around risking their lives daily just to bring demigods to safety was so contradictory to what they knew.

"You throw another paper and I swear I'm going punch you." Rhea threatened.

Jessica stopped after that, she knew Rhea wasn't playing, and she did not want to get punched again.

Chiron ... ah sorry, Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.

He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding them through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black and orange pottery.

He gathered them around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top and started telling them how it was a grave marker, a Stele, for a girl about their age. He told them about the carvings on the sides.

Rhea ignored Mrs. Dodds, who was giving her the evil eye.

"Miss Jackson," Mr. Brunner said, "Are you listening?"

Rhea blinked. "...sorry?"

"Alright then... " Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"

"That's Kronos eating his kids."

Rhea can feel Poseidonas' disgust from the bracelet.

Mr. Brunner was obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..."

Rhea smiled. "Yeah, so Kronos was crazy, like bat shit mad—" Mr Brunner sighed while the students laughed. "—because of a prophecy...no wait it was a curse that his father Uranus -who lost his balls by the way- cast... put? on him something about his children overthrowing him or something, but anyway, and Kronos! Instead of keeping his penis in his pants ... chiton like a sane man who got cursed and was told that his kids will kill him will do, he went, and married his sister!—"

"EW"

"And slept with her, not only did he have one or two kids with her, but six, he ate five, Rhea hid the last one, and gave Kronos a rock instead of baby Zeus ... which raises a question, who the fuck mistakes a baby with a rock? Was he blind? Anyway! Years later after Zeus grew up, he went undercover and tricked Kronos into drinking a potion, of sorts to barf his siblings—"

"EW"

"—I am pretty sure that it was not wine as some people like to say, since Dionysus was the one who created it, so we're gonna stop giving the credit of creating the wine to Zeus or to that someone who helped him in creating that potion, anyway, Kronos vomited the siblings, they went to war, they won, cut Kronos into tiny pieces and threw him in Tartarus...But you know what they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, the sixth child ended up eating his first wife who was pregnant, but don't worry everyone! Athena came out of his head! Also—"

Poseidonas scoffed.

Mr. Brunner sighed again. "Miss Jackson you can stop."

Behind Rhea, Jessica mumbled to a friend, "Oh please, like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids."

"And why, Miss Jackson," Brunner said. "To paraphrase Miss Martini's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted," Grover muttered.

"Shut up," Jessica hissed, her face red as a rotten tomato.

Honestly, Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.

Hehe, horse ears. Rhea snorted.

"Weeell~" Rhea started.

Mr. Brunner looked like he was about to start praying, regretting asking her that question.

"Don't be a cannibal" Rhea said. "Or chew your food before swallowing it."

“How dare you?” PJO and RJO Hera glare at her.

"I would have chewed you too if I had a daughter like you that turned out to be a major disappointment," replied Rhea.

RJO Hera stood up, looking like she was about to strike her, Rhea stood up too, summoning her trident, not about to back down without a fight. RJO Loki waved a flag that read ‘Go Go, Rhea!’. Where the hell did he get that? ROR Apollo grabbed Rhea pulling her back to her seat, whispering something in her ear, while RJO Dionysus pulled RJO Hera back to her seat.

"...Right..." Mr Brunner was too stunned to speak.

Grover shivered. "Never joke about that" He whispered.

"On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

Silence.

Everyone was too stunned trying to comprehend what they heard that they couldn’t speak.

“EW!! That myth is actually true in your universe?” exclaimed ROR Anubis, disgusted.

“Happy note, Chiron? How is that a happy note?” snapped RJO Demeter, shuddering in revulsion, remembering how it had felt to be expelled from their father’s stomach out of nowhere.

“Thank you! Please, let everyone know that it was me who created wine, not Father. Stop giving him the credit.” complained RJO Dionysus.

“What she said is right. How did father think a rock was a baby?” started PJO Hades.

“It just means Zeus was so ugly, he resembled a rock.” finished PJO Poseidon, barely finishing what he said before laughing out loud.

RJO Zeus gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. How did that brat always end up humiliating him? Looking around, both PJO and RJO Zeus had the urge to strike everyone who was laughing with their bolt, but when their gaze landed on Rhea, they froze. She was glaring at them, and it felt like she was looking into their soul. Before they could do anything, the reading started, interrupting everyone who was in a conversation.

Rhea turned to look at Poseidonas who decided to get out of the plane to observe around for a bit.

"Can't imagine not having a sense of humour like you," Rhea whispered to him.

" I do have a sense of humour. " He said voice cold as ever.

"I've never seen you laughing before."

" You never said anything funny. " He said before he walked away to another part of the museum.

Ouch. She thought.

Rhea hoped things would go smoothly.

Ok so maybe she spoke too soon but come on! She totally tripped, all by herself, into that fountain. And no, she did not manipulate that water! If she had wanted to do something to Jessica, she would have gotten rid of her, like throwing her off a roof or something similar.

Grover was looking nervous.

"She pushed me! Rhea pushed me!" Jessica wailed from her seat in the fountain, big fat crocodile tears welling up in her eyes.

In three, two, one...Oh! There she is. Rhea deadpanned.

Mrs. Dodds was beside them in an instant, her sinister smile stretched her already thin lips, she fussed over Jessica promising that she would make everything ok before turning fully to Rhea, "Now, honey-"

"I wish she cracked her head as she fell!" Rhea grumbled.

"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.

"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."

She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.

"But-"

"You-will-stay-here."

Grover looked at Rhea desperately.

Rhea just smiled at him.

"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."

Jessica smirked.

Rhea approached her and whispered. "I wouldn't approach any source of water if I were you" In her ear.

Rhea went after Mrs. Dodds.

Halfway up the steps, she glanced at Mr. Brunner, who did not notice what was going on, since he was absorbed in his novel. Rhea narrowed her eyes at that. She continued walking and followed Mrs Dodds to the Roman section.

Except for them, the gallery was empty. Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling and she looked like she wanted to pulverise something...

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.

Rhea rolled her eyes.

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"

The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.

Not that Rhea paid attention to it or noticed it, she was too busy looking at something else.

“What were you looking at?” asked Percy.

“Oh yeah! There were naked statues and I was comparing dicks." replied Rhea.

Percy looked exasperated. “Why?”

“I was bored and she was taking too much time monologuing.” Rhea shrugged.

Thunder shook the building.

"We are not fools, Rhea Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."

Rhea blinked slowly.

"Well?" she demanded.

"Sorry, what? I wasn't paying attention..."

"Your time is up," she hissed.

Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She turned into a hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she tried to slice Rhea into ribbons.

Key word tried.

Rhea stepped to the side and Alecto kissed the ground instead, Rhea had to hold her laugh in.

Laughter echoed throughout the chamber.

They’d been listening to it silently this time, eager to know what had transpired.

“What is that creature?” asked ROR Heracles, intrigued.

“That is a Fury. They are actually three sisters. Goddesses of Vengeance and Justice. They punish those who sin.” answered PJO Annabeth.

Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.

"What ho, Rhea!" he shouted and tossed the pen through the air.

Mrs. Dodds lunged at Rhea again.

Rhea dodged and felt talons slash the air next to her ear, she snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, which turned into a bronze sword. Mrs. Dodds spun toward her with a murderous look in her eyes.

She snarled, "Die, honey!"

And she flew straight at Rhea who swung the sword cutting her head off.

“That’s it? Just one swing? You killed a fury in one single strike?” exclaimed RJO Michael, shocked.

Rhea just smirked. “Eh! Not shocking. I mean, he did the same” she said pointing towards Percy before continuing, “and they know that.” she finished pointing towards the PJO group.

Percy blinked in shock. “How did you–”. He got cut off before he could finish what he was saying.

“Yeah well, they know, we never knew! A Fury!" exclaimed RJO Michael, rolling his eyes.

“She was slow,” said Rhea.

“Slow she says” deadpanned RJO Michael, looking exasperated.

Poseidonas who was standing at the corner of the room glared at the sword, Rhea knowing exactly what he was thinking of shook her head at him.

Of course, he will be insulted, why did she use a sword instead of the weapon he trained her to use?

"I used the sword so he wouldn't be suspicious, in his eyes I'm still ignorant about the mythological world, and it best he thinks so till the time is right."

Poseidonas did not say anything, but judging by his usual apathetic face he accepted her answer.

Rhea looked at Riptide in her hand. "But I have to admit, a sword is not something that I'm fond of using."

She was met with silence as a response.

“She understands you so well, brother, without you even speaking anything,” commented ROR Zeus. He’d observed how Rhea started understanding Poseidonas in such a short time. She didn’t need him to speak to know what he was thinking. Zeus knows how difficult it is to understand his brother. He was stoic, always having a perfect poker face, very difficult to read his emotions.

Aidoneus saw a small smirk appear on Poseidonas’s face after hearing ROR Zeus’s comment, so minuscule that no one would notice if they didn’t know where to look. He knew Poseidonas was very happy that his daughter understood him without any problem, even though he didn’t show it.

Rhea walked out only to find Jessica giving her a smirk. "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."

"As a matter of fact, she didn't, I'm free as a fish in water, I swear, your parents made a joke twelve years ago and people are still laughing at it, the joke being your existence, I just said that cause I know you're too much of an idiot to figure out the joke by yourself, have a good day."

Jessica was too stunned to speak.

Rhea walked away to go and sit by Grover, she made the decision not to give the pen back unless Chiron specifically brought it up.

Everyone sat in silence, reeling in the fact that Rhea had killed the fury in one strike. One! Seriously? Weren’t they ancient creatures? Weren’t they supposed to be harder to kill since they are stronger and more intelligent than other monsters? Intelligent, ha! 

“I hope you won’t make any stupid decisions on your first quest as you’ve done over the years, Rhea” requested Aidoneus.

“Wait, you don’t know what happened in the first quest?” questioned RJO Nico, turning towards Aidoneus, puzzled.

“Nope, Uncle arrived right after I finished my first quest, so he doesn’t know all the details,” answered Rhea. “Don’t worry uncle, there will be a few times where you’ll be tempted to hit me, but the first quest was pretty tame compared to others.”

Everyone just listened to them talk, dumbfounded.

Chapter Text

Meeting the Fates,

A deal to save Olympus,

I love my mom.

***

“You met the Fates!?” exclaimed many campers, their voices echoing through the chamber.

“Yup,” Rhea smirked, looking at everyone who was already freaking out.

Just wait till they see all the shenanigans I’ve been up to over the years. Rhea thought, mirth clear in her eyes.

Chiron made her return the pen after a few months for a reason that she would not talk about.

The night before the final, Rhea stopped outside of Chiron’s office. To do a little spying, she knew exactly what they originally were supposed to talk about, but now that Rhea made a difference she wondered what Grover was going to say.

RJO Grover turned to give Rhea a look to which she just shrugged, trying not to laugh at the face he made before turning back around.

“-worried about Rhea, sir.”

She got a bit closer.

“I know she remembers! There’s no way she doesn’t, I even hinted at it multiple times, but she just gave me this smile and changed the subject, I'm telling you she knows what’s going on!!”

“I’m sure it’s the mist, Grover,” Chiron responds. “I guess she got used to things happening around her and thinks it was a really vivid dream.”

Grover changed the subject. “And what about the kindly one that tracked her down, we have to–”

"We would only make matters worse by rushing her, we need the girl to mature more."

Rhea narrowed her eyes.

Poseidonas scoffed. “Fool.”

"But she may not have time. The summer solstice deadline–"

"Will have to be resolved without her, Grover. Let her enjoy her ignorance while she still can."

"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."

"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly.

Rhea heard enough.

Mature more… She scoffed. I wonder how many demigods died because of that stupid decision.

All the campers looked at each other, the mood turned sombre by that thought, but was it wrong though? Hundreds and thousands of demigods were dead way before they reached the camp. The Gods didn’t care enough to guide them safely to the camp. 

RJO Annabeth remembered her days on the street with Thalia and Luke, before they had arrived at camp. RJO Hermes had spoken in her mind, guiding them to the camp since he couldn't speak with his son since a God couldn't be involved in any way with their children. For the longest time, she'd thought it was her mother guiding them. But now though, that thought felt ridiculous. Athena caring for her child when she/he didn't do anything to increase her ego? Ha! 

RJO Chiron sighed, defeated. At that time, it felt like the right decision, especially since RJO Poseidon and RJO Zeus were on the brink of war. But now, seeing it from the demigod's perspective, it just showed how much of a bad decision it was.

 ***

At the end of term, both Grover and Rhea end up on the same bus to Manhattan.

***

The bus breaks down partway through the trip, and everyone gets out onto a mostly empty road. On the other side are three women running a fruit stand.

To some, they may look like old ladies.

But for Rhea who had seen the fates more than she normally should, they looked completely different.

“You've seen the Fates more than once?” asked RJO Amphitrite, surprised. 

“Yup, they were around a lot when I was growing up. They stopped coming around after this meeting though, since the prophecy had begun. I think they even babysat me a few times when mom couldn't get home early.” 

The Fates are very similar in appearance. The main difference is that they appear different in age, with Lachesis appearing the youngest as a young girl, Clotho as an adult woman, and Atropos as an elderly lady.

 ***

Rhea turned to look at Grover and saw that the blood had drained from his face and his nose was twitching.

"Grover?" Rhea raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"

Rhea shrugged and decided to make her way up to the fates, only for Grover to stop her. “Chill, they are staring and it’s rude not to say hi.”

If Grover could get any more paler he would be as white as paper.

Rhea smiled and walked up to the three.

Everyone perked up, wanting to know about the conversation Rhea had with the Fates. They knew that the whole thing with Rhea was a little different from Percy's. Everyone had heard Percy whispering to his girlfriend about how he didn't know anything and how it was frustrating thinking he was hallucinating and PJO Chiron and PJO Grover gaslighting him into thinking he was seeing things, though PJO Grover didn't really have a choice after the Furies's attack. 

“It has been a while my ladies, how has it been?” Rhea smiled.

Aside from the whole Fates thing, and planning life things, the fates are pretty chill, they have responsibilities after all you can’t really blame them for doing their job.

It’s like blaming Thanatos for being Death.

Percy, PJO Annabeth and PJO Grover looked at each other, eyes a little wide. It was no secret that Percy always cursed the Fates because of everything he'd been through and kept going through. This put things into perspective for them though. 

Lachesis smiled. “Same old.”

“Nothing changes,” Clotho said.

“And repeat,” Atropos said.

“New lives to create.”

“To make them grow.”

“And take.”

“And what about…” Rhea did not finish her sentence, but the fates understood.

“The prophecy approaches,” Atropos said. “Are you prepared?”

“I am.”

Atropos looked at the bracelet for a moment and nodded. “I see.”

“Have you made your choice? Which path will you take?” Lachesis said.

“The lesser of the two evils,” Rhea responded.

“For the sake of humanity?” Clotho asked.

Rhea narrowed her eyes. “For the sake of the world in general, and for my mother, for everything to go smoothly it’s best for Sally Jackson to stay alive through all that and after it ends, if she doesn’t then you can say goodbye to Olympus and humanity.”

RJO divine and everyone from the PJO world were frozen in their places, shocked, to say the least, while those from the ROR world nodded, impressed with the ultimatum. 

Since he wasn't allowed to kill the girl, RJO Zeus had thought about killing Rhea's mother many times before, but now, he was glad he didn't. 

Her decision to let the world be destroyed and condemn humanity to death is very much a Rhea decision. RJO Rachel thought.

Everyone was very much aware of Rhea's love for her mom. If they had a mother like Sally Jackson, the campers realised they would destroy the world too if Sally got hurt or worse, killed. 

“Hmm, yes, yes you’re different than all of your counterparts,” Lachesis said.

“Whether it is good or bad we do not know,” Clotho said.

“Your fate is not in our hands.” Atropos finished.

“So you’re free to do anything and the Fates can't stop you?” PJO Annabeth asked, intrigued. 

“Well, most of the time I can do whatever I want, but there are a few times where I have to let things go as the Fates decide.” Rhea looked at RJO Nico to see him looking melancholic, remembering her explaining this to him after the Titan's war, explaining why she’d let Bianca die. 

Rhea gave a look at the thread Atropos took out.

“He will die. You cannot prevent that.” Atropos said.

“I do not care about his life enough to try and save it.” Rhea coldly said.

RJO Hermes clenched his jaw, anger burning through him. She'd known Luke would die and to hear that she'd not even try to save him just made him more angry. But the Fates had already cut Luke's thread, which means no matter what, she wouldn't have been able to save him. A rational part of his mind thought, but his grieving mind just disregarded his rational thoughts. He'd tried so hard to prevent his son's fate, but that was all for nought. 

The fates smiled. “We wish you luck.”

The daughter of the sea smiled back at them. “Thanks, I’ll need it.”

Grover was mumbling something under his breath the whole way to their destination, it was some kind of prayer that Rhea didn’t pay any mind to, she was too busy reading the book in her hand.

In the end, the satyr gave her the card with Camp Half-Blood information on it and she did not ask any questions.

“It was very concerning or you could say unnerving to see a demigoddess, who according to the past me, didn't know about the existence of the Mythological world, not ask any questions. You were freaking me out.” snorted RJO Grover, remembering panicking about everything that was happening at that time, praying to the Fates to not fail again.

Chapter Text

A satyr's mishap,

Concussion and lost trousers,

Comedy ensues.

***

Many raised their brows, intrigued about the lost trousers part. Out of context, it sounded hilarious, but there was also concern at the mention of a concussion. 

“This is where mom met my father,” Rhea said.

Poseidonas did not respond, he continued to look at the sea in front of him with his arms crossed.

“I was not supposed to exist.”

People from the ROR world leaned forward, interested. They were pretty shocked when they heard that Poseidonas had declared that he had an heiress out of nowhere. The one God, who was known to be cold, calculating, unemotional, a recluse who didn't like anyone except for one of his brothers - Hades or Aidoneus as he likes to be called now, announcing about his heiress was a big shock for everyone. They wanted to know who she was, what she was like, and what made her worthy enough that the Sea Tyrant accepted her as his heiress. To hear that the girl wasn't supposed to exist just added more questions than answering them. 

The blond sea god gave her a side-eye.

Rhea proceeded to explain. “About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more children. Their children were just too powerful you see, World War II was basically a fight between the sons of the King of the Sky and King of the Sea on one side, and the sons of the King of the Underworld on the other, at the end the Lord of the Sky and my father, made the King of the Underworld swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx.” She scoffed. “Yeah well, the big guy up there broke the oath first…twice! And then father followed.”

Hearing about the oath being broken twice by Zeus made both the PJO and the RJO world's Poseidon and Hades glare at their respective Zeus heatedly. He was the one who forced the oath on them and he himself couldn't hold on to the oath. 

Both PJO and RJO Hera clenched their fists, seething at the reminder of the infidelity. 

“Your Zeus sleeps around? And you do nothing about it? You just sit aside and let him?” ROR Hera asked both PJO and RJO Hera, incredulousness evident in her voice. “How pathetic.” She sneered, expressing her disgust about the lack of actions from her counterparts. 

“You speak as though your Zeus does not sleep around” sneered RJO Hera, trying to hurt ROR Hera. 

“I'll have you know, my Zeus is perfectly loyal to me, he doesn't sleep around like your husband. If he ever dares to, I'll cut off his dick and shove it down his throat and he knows this. Don't you, darling?” ROR Hera spoke to her counterparts in a condescending tone, directing her question towards her husband in the end. 

“If I ever lay with anyone that's not you, I'll personally come to you to get my punishment, my dear wife,” replied ROR Zeus, taking his wife's hand in his. ROR Hera smirked at his reply, turning back around after directing a smug smile at her counterparts, thoroughly enjoying the anger she saw on their faces. 

People from the PJO and the RJO world watched the exchange with wide eyes. No one liked their respective Hera, but maybe, just maybe, they might like ROR Hera. 

“ What prophecy were the fates talking about. ”

Rhea smiled, that was not a question, that was a demand. “A prophecy that will determine the fate of Olympus.” She said. “A half-blood of the eldest gods. Shall reach sixteen against all odds. And see the world in endless sleep. The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. A single choice shall end his days. Olympus to preserve or raze.”

Poseidonas glared in disgust. “ The Olympus of this world doesn’t amount to much if a single mixed blood is its hope. ”

“Not only them, Gaea is rising and wants revenge on Olympus but the only way for her to fully awaken is for the blood of a female and male demigod to fall on her body, so I need to make sure that no demigod bleeds during the war against the giants,” Rhea said.

It really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone anymore, but every time anything is mentioned that she knows something she's not supposed to know, it keeps surprising them. 

“ Blood has water, control it. ” He said before he returned back to the Plane.

And yet you didn't use it against Sasaki. She thought.

The Valkyries and the human fighters from the ROR world stiffened in their seats. He could've ended the fight within seconds if he had controlled Sasaki's blood. The more they heard, the more they realised they were too ambitious. Is he the only God who didn't use his full strength or is it the case for all the Gods that fought in Ragnarok? They never could've won against a God in their full, true strength. 

“No hate bro, you’re one of my favourites.” Rhea grinned, giving a thumbs-up to Sasaki, who just slowly nodded in response to her, looking dumbfounded.

“Who is your other favourite?” asked RJO Nico, now interested.

“Leonidas” Her admission made ROR Apollo laugh out loud while Leonidas smirked a little, despite being stunned.

 ***

Rhea lay on the sofa in the library of Poseidonas's castle as she read a book. The library was big with thousands and thousands of books, something Athena would drool over if she saw it but would never be able to touch or even see.

Many turned to look at both PJO and RJO Athena. Confirming what they heard, They were looking at the hologram, mouths agape with astonishment, and greed in their eyes, before their eyes narrowed hearing they would never be able to access it.

On the same sofa right beside her head sat Poseidonas reading his third book, the girl yawned before she placed a bookmark on the page she was in and closed the book then drifted to sleep.

ROR Zeus and ROR Hera exchanged glances. Poseidonas hasn’t even known the girl for long, but he let her sit beside him. No one was allowed to sit next to him in their world. Well, no one except Aidoneus, obviously.  He never liked anyone near his personal space. But this girl, this girl was allowed to do something no one else could. He even let her call him bastard and he didn’t strike her down like he would’ve done if it was someone from their world. They couldn’t wait to know more about the girl their brother had accepted as his daughter and heiress.

That night Rhea had a vivid dream.

It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse, and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.

The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons.

The horse reared up and kicked at the eagle's wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.

Rhea tried to run toward them, but something or more specifically someone was slowing her down making her run in slow motion.

Rhea glared when Kronos laughed. “Stand aside little Half-Blood. Let them fight, let them destroy each other!”

The eagle dived down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and Rhea woke with a start, grabbing the closest thing to her as she trembled.

The closest thing being Poseidonas arm.

“Sorry.” She said as she quickly retracted her arm and then pushed her consciousness out of the Plane to the outside world.

Everyone from the PJO and RJO world shuddered in discomfort hearing Kronos’s voice. PTSD after two wars was expected. Just hearing his voice brought them back to the Titan’s War, all the bloodshed, the bodies of the dead demigods, the clashing of weapons, the screams, it was horrifying. 

 ***

With the next thunderclap, Sally woke.

She sat up, eyes wide, and said. "Hurricane."

I don’t know them. Rhea thought thinking about Zeus and Poseidon.

“Girl just said ‘I don’t know them’,” ROR Buddha began, snickering into his hand, leaning towards Zerofuku, making sure to keep his voice low. “Like she can’t believe she’s related to someone who behaves like children” finished Zerofuku, grinning slightly, matching Buddha’s tone. Spending time with Buddha after being resurrected, it was inevitable that Zero would turn back into his childish self, finally coming out of his shell after years.

Someone was punching at the door, a desperate voice, someone yelling. Sally sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.

Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain no pants on revealing his goat half.

"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"

“I told you I would be in Montauk, should’ve come here during the morning,” Rhea said.

In her defence, she did tell him where she was going! Her mother looked at Rhea in terror not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.

"Rhea," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"

“Apparently Greek Mythology is a real thing, and you know the three little demons that serve the God of the Underworld? Yeah, one was after me.” Rhea said in a deadpan voice like death didn’t bother her.

The look of horror in Sally’s eyes spoke volumes but she couldn’t say anything before Grover cut her off.

“O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yelled. "It's right behind me! We need to go!"

Sally grabbed her purse, tossed Rhea her rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. Go!"

“Ah shit here we go.” Rhea sighed.

“The way you just didn’t give a shit is just hilarious.” RJO Pollux and RJO Castor both spoke at the same time, laughing about how nonchalant she was throughout the whole interaction.

Many couldn’t help but laugh, at how deadpan she was in such a serious situation making it all the more hilarious.

 ***

Every time there was a flash of lightning Grover jumped in fright, Sally looked nervous while glancing at the sky, and Rhea…

Rhea is just blinking bored out of her mind while sitting in the front seat beside her mother.

“Mom put the car on sport mode” Rhea finally said. “Otherwise it won’t go faster, there’s enough gasoline for it to run for the next nine hours in sport mode.”

Sally took a deep breath. “Right.”

Silence.

RJO Ares nodded in begrudging agreement with the decision to turn the car into a sports car. They needed the speed and a regular car would just slow them down.

“This is hilarious,” RJO Stoll twins wheezed, laughing at the silence.

Grover slowly looked at her. “D-Don’t you have any questions?”

Rhea glanced at the rearview mirror to look at him. “No.”

“Don’t you want to know what’s going on?” Grover asked again.

“Will you tell me everything? No, why? Because there isn’t enough time nor is it the place, so I'm not wasting my breath with questions.” Rhea said. “You’re a satyr I think I know half of the story.” She froze for a moment before she turned to look at her mother. “Mom go faster, there’s something behind us.”

The weird bellowing noise rose up somewhere behind them, closer than before, Sally stepped on the pedal to go faster, and they got away from the Minotaur in time.

"We're almost there," Sally said. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."

“Dodge left,” Poseidonas said.

Rhea listened to him, took the steering wheel in her hand, and did a hard turn to the left, the lightning that was going to hit the car missed.

Fuck you, Zeus! Not today, not ever.

Sally stayed silent for a moment and didn’t question her daughter, maybe another day but not now.

“We’re here!” Sally said.

They got out of the car, Rhea pushed Grover into the mud.

“Hey!” The satyr complained.

“Shut up!” Rhea said. “If you don’t want to die keep your mouth shut.”

Sally knowing what her daughter was thinking of didn’t hesitate to jump in the mud, Rhea followed her.

The Minotaur has bad sight, so he uses his other senses to find his target, and now that they washed their scent with mud, it will be harder for him to find them.

“Hmm, good strategy.” RJO Odin hummed in approval.

“A Minotaur? What creature is that?” questioned Susano’o, intrigued.

“Long back, King Minos of Crete prayed to Lord Poseidon for a sign to prove he was the rightful king. Lord Poseidon sent him a beautiful white bull, with the expectation that Minos would sacrifice it. However, Minos was so impressed by the bull that he kept it for himself and sacrificed a different one. Angered by this, Lord Poseidon cursed Minos' wife, Pasiphae, to fall in love with the bull. Pasiphae asked the inventor Daedalus to help her, and he created a wooden cow she could hide in to get close to the bull. This led to the birth of the Minotaur, a creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull.” RJO Annabeth explained. “King Minos, ashamed of the Minotaur, had Daedalus build a giant maze, the Labyrinth, to imprison the beast. Every few years, Minos demanded that Athens send seven young men and seven young women as a tribute to be fed to the Minotaur. Eventually, a hero by the name of Theseus volunteered to go to Crete and kill the Minotaur. With the help of Minos' daughter Ariadne, who gave him a ball of thread to find his way out of the maze, Theseus found and killed the Minotaur, freeing Athens from the tribute.”

PJO and RJO Dionysus glared at the mention of Theseus. The god hated the hero for what he did to Ariadne, betraying her and abandoning her on an island. But he is thankful in one way because now he has a wonderful wife.

The people from the ROR world were stunned. Karma. Many thought. Now RJO Poseidon has to watch his daughter be hunted by the same creature he had a hand in creating. 

“Gods sure are wise, yes go on your way to curse someone to be infatuated with a bull, yes, yes pinnacle of wisdom! Like there aren’t enough monsters already.” Rhea rolled her eyes while mumbling.

RJO Poseidon closed his eyes, pained to hear her berating him. He hated how he was never able to create a bond with his daughter. He tried. Dear Fates, he tried so hard, but she didn’t want anything to do with him. It was as if his presence disgusted her. She barely tolerated him, and it stung more than he cared to admit.

Grover ran beside her, the Minotaur was still away searching.

“What are going to do?” Grover was nervous.

“Rhea you have to run. Do you see that big tree?" Sally said.

“Yep.”

"That's the property line," Sally said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."

Unfortunately, Grover stepped on a branch and the Minotaur snapped his head to where they were.

Both Jacksons turned to look at Grover who made himself small. “…Sorry…”

“Grover” reprimanded RJO Annabeth gently, to which RJO Grover just smiled sheepishly and shrugged apologetically. 

“Keep hiding, I will take care of this.”

Sally's eyes widened. “Rhea! Come back! Don’t!”

The daughter of Poseidon did not listen she grabbed a rock, climbed on a tree and threw the rock the other way, the Minotaur looked where the rock was thrown, Rhea waited till the Minotaur was in the right position before she jumped on him.

Like the angry bull he is the Minotaur started to shake, jump and run into trees to take her off of him, but Rhea refused to budge, she took the chance to break his horn and stabbed him in the neck with it successfully turning it to dust.

“RHEA!”

Rhea turned the moment she heard Grover scream, where her mother once stood was now nothing but golden dust.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS!” Rhea screamed in anger.

Rhea angrily walked up to the property line and entered, a nervous Grover following her, Chiron and some campers came running.

Chiron was about to say something but stopped the moment Rhea pointed at him with anger in her now deep blue eyes.

“Not-A-Single-Word.” Rhea growled. “Show me where to sleep for tonight and we will talk when I wake up.”

Chiron sighed. “Of course Rhea.”

“She is very scary when she is mad,” whimpered ROR Ares to ROR Hermes who agreed. Seeing Rhea mad just showed how much she resembled Poseidonas. 

Surprisingly, everyone could feel Rhea’s anger through the hologram. Her anger felt like the ocean during a violent storm, powerful, wild, and unstoppable. It was not a quiet, calm anger—it was loud, forceful, and impossible to ignore. It was like being caught in a current that drags you down, leaving you breathless and overwhelmed.

Chapter Text

In the camp with demigods,

Dionysus, oh what a treat!

Sarcasm, my friend.

***

RJO Dionysus leaned forward in intrigue. He was interested in what ran through Rhea's mind when they first met. However, with everything he's read so far and with the haiku mentioning sarcasm, he resigned himself to his fate of knowing what Rhea was thinking about him. 

"Can you stop glaring!" Grover finally snapped.

It was morning now and Rhea didn't stop glaring at anything in particular, the girl went directly to the infirmary because it was the closest place to her and slept on one of the beds.

Chiron did not want to wake her up, for now, a wise choice too.

"You're lucky I'm not putting my hands on anyone," Rhea said.

Grover sighed. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."

Rhea took the shoe box with the Minotaur Horn in it and ignored everything around her while she followed Grover, she can admire the art later, and her eyes caught Chiron and Mr. D.

Sheesh, makes you wonder if Gabe was related to Dionysus somehow.

Percy could definitely see where that train of thought came from. Though he was glad that Mr. D is not abusive even if he's an alcoholic, but that probably comes with his domain.

Both PJO and RJO DIonysus wore indignant looks at being compared to the abusive piece of shit.

"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know Chiron..."

"Sup," Rhea said while waving at them.

"Ah, good, Rhea," Chiron said. "Now we have four for pinochle."

He offered her a chair to the right of Mr D, who looked at her with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."

"Don't worry being a pain in the ass for someone is the last thing I'll do...that was a lie," Rhea said.

“She’s so real for that. Hehehe,” ROR Loki said leaning towards ROR Thor, snickering into his hands, not wanting to interrupt the reading.

Dionysus gave her a blank look.

"Annabeth?" Chiron called to the blond girl.

She came forward and Chiron introduced them. "Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Rhea's bunk? We'll be putting her in cabin eleven for now."

Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron." She turned to look at Rhea. "You drool when you sleep."

"And you're a creep for watching me sleep," Rhea said with a blasé tone.

Annabeth blushed in embarrassment and glared at her before huffing and walking away.

Rhea rolled her eyes.

“You were watching her sleep? Why?” asked RJO Michael, bewildered, to which RJO Annabeth blushed, smiling sheepishly. Considering everyone heard the question, PJO Annabeth blushed too, since she had done the same thing, to which Percy and PJO Grover laughed quietly.

“Wait!” exclaimed RJO Will. “Is that why you asked to be put on infirmary duty that day?”

“Well, I was with Chiron when she arrived, so I thought, you know, if I could get some information out of her. But she didn’t wake up until later, and when she did wake up, I was at the Big House.” shrugged RJO Annabeth.

“I remember, she was there when I woke up in the middle of the night, I was delirious mind you, I was not even fully conscious,” Percy spoke up, gesturing towards PJO Annabeth, who slid down in her seat in embarrassment, wanting the ground to swallow her up. “She asked me if I knew something, and when I said no, she stuffed my mouth with ambrosia and I lost my consciousness after that.”

“What!? That is not how you take care of patients Annabeth! If I hear about you doing something like that again, I’m going to ban you from the infirmary forever. You won’t be allowed in, even if someone you care about is in there, injured.” exclaimed PJO Will, shocked and angry at the poor treatment for a patient. RJO Will just shot a pointed look at RJO Annabeth, showing that he agreed with his counterpart.

"I must say, Rhea," Chiron said. "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."

Rhea raised an eyebrow. "House call?"

"My year at York Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to ... ah, take a leave of absence."

"Ah~! Ok cool." Rhea shrugged.

Chiron did a double take. "That's it? You don't have any questions?"

"I'll find out later anyways."

"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently. "Are you playing or not?"

"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair.

"You do know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed her suspiciously.

"I'm not playing," Rhea said. "Have fun tho, I'll just watch."

Mr D continued to look at her before he shrugged and called a random Satyr to join, the satyr nearly fainted.

"Rhea," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?'

"If she said anything I'm afraid I will have to tell you that I don't remember," Rhea said.

Alright, she was guilty about it, for her defence she knows far more than she lets on so she can't help but zone out! You'll do the same thing too if your brain was fucking Wikipedia with all the things you know.

Many people agreed with her. If you had the knowledge of everything that’s going to happen in the future, it probably would be so boring, with how predictable everything would be.

"Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed."

"I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient."

"The fact that you have an Orientation film for all this," Rhea said while gesturing to the camp in general. "Is hilarious."

Mr. D snorted.

Chiron sighed. "Rhea, please for once take things seriously. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know" He pointed to the horn in the shoe box. "That you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods-the forces you call the Greek gods-are very much alive."

"Like Apollo? Cool." Rhea said.

Rhea never thought the sun could shine brighter, Apollo proved her wrong.

"Girl." said Mr. D, "I would be less casual about throwing those names around if I were you."

"I just said Apollo was cool, I didn't insult him?" At this point, Rhea was shining under a halo. "I think Apollo just took a 'shine' to me." She laughed and looked at Grover. "Get it? Shine?"

Grover facepalmed and Mr. D rolled his eyes.

Rhea deadpanned at Grover. "That was a good pun, you boomer."

"It was horrible..." Grover said.

At least Poseidonas didn't comment. Rhea thought.

The god in question was too busy ignoring the filth that was surrounding the girl at this very moment and decided that reading was a better way to pass the time.

“That was a good pun. Thank you for the compliment.” RJO Apollo winked at Rhea but quickly turned back around with wide eyes, gulping, when he locked eyes with his ROR counterpart. He was still scared from the threat he got when they had barely started reading. Gosh, he’s scary. And he has pink hair! Thought RJO Apollo.

“Reading is certainly the best way to pass the time,” Rhea agreed with her past self, leaning her head on Aidoneus’s shoulder with a pout, already bored of having to read her life. Eh, at least I’ll get entertained with everyone’s reactions. thought Rhea.

"Just...tone the naming down." Chiron sighed.

"Alright," Rhea said. "Just to be safe, I will need to throw all logic outside the window from now on right?"

Chiron nodded. "In some situations yes."

"Alright, I can go with that." She nodded.

Grover snorted. "Yeah cause you used logic in your life all this time."

"G-man I will hit you."

"Mr. D," he warned, "your restrictions."

Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise.

"Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"

More thunder.

Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.

Chiron winked at Rhea. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, and took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits."

Rhea gave him a look that clearly said, 'I don't believe that shit'. "So let me get this straight his father." She said while pointing at Mr D. "No offence." Dionysus brushed her off. "Declared a nymph off-limits, his father stayed away from that nymph that is off-limits and respected the distance between him and that nymph?" She leaned down. "You sure he didn't just want to keep that nymph for himself?"

Mr. D raised his hands. "That's what I said! And he cast me here, Father loves to punish me. The first time, was Prohibition. Ghastly! Horrid ten years! The second time well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha. Absolutely unfair..."

"Oh, the hypocrisy of the whole thing speaks volumes!" Rhea laughed.

Grover kicked her. "Rhea!"

"What? I am just saying, I'll be mad too if I was in his shoes, again no offence Mr D, it is hypocritical to say, 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down' when he's doing that every day." Rhea said.

Both PJO and RJO Zeus were red in the face with anger. RJO Zeus had enough and grabbed his bolt, hurling it at the brat who had been humiliating him since the start of the reading.

Many gave startled shouts, but everyone paused, turning towards Rhea when a sharp ‘TING’ was heard. What they saw was astonishing. She had hit the bolt off course with her trident. The bolt hit the far wall, destroying it, but everyone was surprised when it immediately repaired itself. Rhea didn’t wait, she threw her trident at RJO Zeus, not intending to kill him (just yet). The trident struck Zeus's dominant hand, cutting it off elbow down, making him shout in pain as he bled ichor, while everyone grimaced at the ‘THUD’ that followed the falling of RJO Zeus’s forearm.

Shock was written on everyone’s face at what they had just witnessed. The attack was out of nowhere, but Rhea’s reflex was so good that she was able to defend herself. But what shocked them the most was Rhea’s retaliation.

Rhea turned looking at everyone, daring them to make a move. Everyone was too scared to do anything other than sit back down in their seat, turning to face the book, waiting for the reading to resume.

No one had any desire to help RJO Zeus, so he was left forgotten with his severed arm at his feet. He seethed, hissing in pain when he moved to sit. His arm was already re-growing, but he was too mortified and embarrassed and humiliated to do anything.

RJO Dionysus let out a sigh, thanking whatever higher being was out there that he was totally forgotten in the middle of the drama. He didn’t want his father attacking him with his bolt, and neither did he want to face Rhae’s trident’s blade, thank you very much.

Mr. D looked at her. "I may just start liking you." He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win."

"Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me."

Mr. D just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the centaur. He got up, and Grover rose, too.

"I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need to talk, again, about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment."

Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir."

Mr. D turned to Rhea. "Cabin eleven, Rhea Jackson."

He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably.

"Poor Grover."

Chiron looked a bit troubled. "Don't worry he'll be fine, old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been ... ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus."

Chiron rose from his wheelchair a huge white stallion sprung from the wheelchair but where its neck should be was the upper body of Chiron.

"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come, Rhea Jackson. Let's meet the other campers."

The people from the ROR world watched in surprise as the man transformed into a centaur. It was fascinating to watch it happen. 

As the chapter finished, everyone looked around, still tense from the attack that happened minutes before, waiting for something to happen. 

But thank chaos for RJO Hestia. “Let's move on to the next chapter shall we?” No matter what universe, she just had this comforting aura that was a constant in every universe. No matter what or who, no one dared to say no to her.

Chapter Text

To the gods they toast

For my mental health, I toast.

Luck is what I need.

***

“That’s her…” Some camper said while pointing at her.

Rhea gave him a look, the poor boy’s eyes widened and ran away in embarrassment, the girl shook her head.

She turned around to look at the attic’s window and … yep, the Oracle was watching her.

Oh yeah, nothing better than a corpse watching you. Rhea thought sarcastically.

PJO and RJO Apollo frowned. Hearing Rhea call his oracle a corpse reminded him of the oracle's condition before the Titan’s War. He was the patron god for the little girl and he failed to protect her.

PJO and RJO Hades had a grimace on their faces. He did feel guilty for cursing the little girl. She was just doing her job, she didn’t create the prophecy to make his life worse, she was just an instrument of The Fates just like he is, it was a little unfair of him to blame the little girl for the death of his lover, when he should be blaming Zeus.

“Corpse?” RJO Leo whispered, leaning towards RJO Jason and RJO Piper. They’d arrived at the camp when Rhea was missing and they couldn’t learn a lot of things before they left for their quest. Even after they returned, everyone was so focused on getting Rhea back that they had failed to inform them about everything. After the Giants War, the campers had taken note of the fact that Rhea wasn’t exactly able to train them because as soon as the Giants War was over, she had gone on a quest, so, the campers took it upon themselves to train them properly so that they wouldn’t get killed.

As they got closer to their destination, Rhea realised how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.

"The woods are stocked if you care to try your luck, but go armed," Chiron said after he noticed the look she gave the forest.

Rhea nodded. “Beautiful but deadly, got it.”

They continued walking till they reached the cabins.

Rhea gave a look to Cabin Three before she continued to follow Chiron.

Imagine being a teacher for three thousand years, the pain of dealing with brats will be unbearable…

"Oh, look," Chiron said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."

The daughter of Athena was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven.

When they reached her, she looked at Rhea over critically, like she was still thinking about how much the daughter of Poseidon drooled.

Rhea tsk-ed.

"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have a masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Rhea from here?"

"Yes, sir."

"Cabin eleven," Chiron told her, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."

The black-haired girl looked at the cabin with the caduceus symbol.

Do I have to…

"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Rhea. I'll see you at dinner."

He galloped away toward the archery range. Rhea stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at her, sizing her up.

"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."

Rhea gave her a blank look before she walked inside.

“Wow, you really didn’t like me in the beginning,” commented RJO Annabeth, watching Rhea dismiss her younger self.

“You were an annoying pre-teen, you thought you knew everything and that you were better than everyone,” Rhea shrugged, smirking at RJO Annabeth, who just snorted lightly but nodded her head nonetheless, as that was the exact description of her younger self.

Annabeth announced, "Rhea Jackson, meet cabin eleven.”

"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.

Before Rhea could say anything Annabeth said, "Undetermined."

Everybody groaned.

A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Rhea. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."

Luke, the future vessel of Kronos. Rhea thought.

RJO Hermes was frozen in his seat, listening to Rhea call his son ‘the future vessel of Kronos’. He’d tried so hard to make Luke’s fate change but this just proved that no matter what, Luke’s fate was already decided long before he was born and no matter what, he would end up serving Kronos and die.

"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different -ahem lovesick- and she was blushing. She saw Rhea looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counsellor for now."

“Okay.”

“You…don’t have any questions?” Luke raised an eyebrow.

Rhea smiled. “No, I know what I need to know, my dad is a god, and that’s enough to make my life go downhill, let’s hope I survive long enough.”

The campers all laughed, but it wasn’t because what she said was funny, their laugh was bitter.

"Come on," Annabeth told her. "I'll show you the volleyball court."

"Saw it."

"Come on." She grabbed Rhea’s wrist and dragged her outside, when they were a few feet away, Annabeth spoke. "Jackson, you have to do better than that."

"Come again?"

She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."

Rhea rolled her eyes. “Wow, I kill a bull guy and it becomes a problem for you—"

"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth shouted at her. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"

"To get killed?"

"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"

Rhea crossed her arms. “To survive? Get strong so you won’t die and be eaten then be disposed of like yesterday’s trash by the monsters. If you want to fight a monster then please, get out of camp no one is stopping you. Do you think I wanted to fight that Minotaur? Clearly, you don’t know how precious life is.”

Annabeth tried to argue with something, but she kept opening and closing her mouth like a fish.

“Please don’t try to argue back,” Rhea said with a blasé look.

Annabeth glared at her before she started to mumble something under her breath.

“You trained to survive if you ever come across any monster, not to gain glory by purposely seeking one,” RJO Thalia admonished, casting a disappointed look towards RJO Annabeth.

“I know, I was a lot arrogant when I was young,” RJO Annabeth replied in a sheepish tone. Meeting Rhea and going on that first quest had changed her life. She had always thought that if she went on a quest and completed it, her mother would acknowledge her, and praise her. But the first quest had made the reality set in. Being on the run, living on the street with no supplies and limited time, was hell.

PJO Thalia and PJO Annabeth shared a look. They’d had this same conversation after the Giants War was over. It was an emotional conversation, talking about how far they’d come.

Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"

Clarisse is on the loose.

"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"

"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."

''Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, 'Go to the crows!'. "You don't stand a chance."

And have another Minotaur incident? Better not. Rhea thought.

"Oh, the mental images. No! I did not need that!" Percy fake gagged, pretending to puke.

RJO Clarisse turned towards Rhea, exasperation written on her face and asked "Why... Why do you need to supply us with that mental image?" 

“I've been on Tumblr and AO3, you finish the puzzle," Rhea replied with a shrug.

"We'll pulverise you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward Rhea. "Who's this little runt?"

"Rhea Jackson." Annabeth said, "Meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares.”

“War god, I respect that.”

Clarisse narrowed her eyes. “You better.”

The daughter of Ares made a move to grab her trying to take Rhea off guard, unfortunately for her Rhea saw that coming, grabbed her by the arm, and judo-flipped her, holding her down in the process.

“LET GO!” Clarisse growled.

“Sure.” Rhea smiled, she pulled Clarisse on her feet before she kicked her directly into three of her siblings.

"You are dead, new girl. You are totally dead."

Rhea raised an eyebrow. “You want me to break your arm this time? If so then please come at me.”

Clarisse gritted her teeth, her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.

ROR Ares stared in surprise which soon turned to annoyance. “It such a disgrace to see my counterpart’s daughter behave like a bully,” he growled, disgust evident in his voice. It was such a disgrace to behave in such a way for a daughter of War. He may be associated with the brutal aspects of the war, but that does not mean that he would be a bully, and that’s what his counterpart’s daughter was, a bully.

RJO Clarisse flushed in embarrassment. She was a very different person back then, she’d not changed much, she still has some moments where she behaves like a bully but not as much as she used to when she was young. What was mortifying was being called out in front of so many people, by a stranger too. PJO Clarisse squirmed in her seat, knowing that the comment applied to her too.

Annabeth stared at the black-haired girl.

"What?"

"I'm thinking." Annabeth started. "That I want you on my team for capture the flag."

They returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.

"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall.”

“Hmm.”

Rhea looked at the water and noticed two Naiads who waved at her, she waved back with a smile.

"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."

“It’s rude to not smile at someone who smiled at you,” Rhea said.

Annabeth stayed silent for a moment thinking. "You need to talk to the Oracle.” She finally said.

"Who?" Okay, in her defence, she was taken aback, that’s why she asked that question, she knows who the oracle is thank you.

"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron." Annabeth said.

“Alright you do that, I'm going back,” Rhea said while pointing at cabin eleven with her thumb.

“Naiads are not flirts, they recognise the sea in her blood. They were being friendly,” RJO Amphitrite chided lightly to RJO Annabeth, who nodded with an awkward smile while Rhea gave a small nod to RJO Amphitrite as thanks for explaining the situation, who gave a small smile in return. PJO Amphitrite watched her counterpart’s interaction with Rhea. She still didn’t understand why her counterpart even acknowledged her husband’s bastard child, the living proof of her husband’s infidelity.

Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner, Luke came up to her.

"Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."

“Please tell me you didn’t steal tampons,” Rhea said.

Luke stuttered and turned red.

“Oh come on, having a period is natural you prude,” Rhea said.

"We are not having this conversation,” Luke said before he walked away embarrassed.

Rhea just looked at him walking away. “…ain’t no way this guy run away because he got embarrassed over period talk.”

RJO Annabeth and RJO Thalia shared a look, trying not to laugh at how awkward Luke was when the period talk came up. Sure, the girls didn’t have periods when they were on the street, they were too young, but they definitely talked about it, but seeing him fumble while that topic came up with Rhea was just too funny.

A horn blew in the distance.

“Conch shell,” Rhea said out loud.

Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"

The whole cabin, about twenty of them, filed into the common yard. They lined up in order of seniority.

Campers came from the other cabins too, except for the three empty cabins at the end. Cabin Eight, which had looked normal in the daytime was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down while Cabin Seven lost its golden glow.

They marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined them from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods.

In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.

At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven was way overcrowded.

Rhea went and politely asked a nymph for a chair, the nymph smiled and gave her one so that the daughter of Poseidon could sit comfortably at the Hermes table.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, why stay in Hermes cabin? Why not Poseidon’s cabin?” asked Nikola Tesla, intrigued.

“Hermes is the God and patron of Travellers, so he let unclaimed demigods stay in his cabin until they were claimed, but since minor gods or goddesses didn’t have their own cabins, even after being claimed, their children stayed in Hermes cabin. Because of that, the Hermes cabin was very crowded, which ended up with the children of Hermes sleeping on the floor of their own cabin,” PJO Chris Rodriguez replied, barely holding back the venom in his voice. He remembered when he himself wasn’t yet claimed as a son of Hermes, staying in the crowded cabin. He remembered some supplies just appearing sometimes. He knew it was his father, trying to help as much as he could without attracting Zeus’s attention.

Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"

Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"

Rhea raised her own glass. “To my mental health.”

The guy beside her heard her and laughed.

Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue!

Rhea looked at her glass. “Fanta orange.”

The glass filled with the Fanta.

Rhea grinned. “Fanta orange but make it blue!”

It turned blue and still tasted the same, but it was blue.

"Here you go, Rhea," Luke said, handing her a platter of smoked brisket.

Everybody started getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the centre of the pavilion.

"Come on," Luke told her.

As Rhea got closer, she saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire.

Luke murmured in her ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."

Rhea hit him on the shoulder. “Don’t talk in my ear like that!”

Luke winced in pain but hid it behind a laugh, he then approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."

Rhea was next scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames. Amphitrite, please slap some sense into your husband. She scraped another slice into the flames. Poseidon.

She sacrificed burnt offerings to Amphitrite first, no wonder she doesn’t hate Rhea like I thought she would. thought RJO Poseidon, then frowned. She sacrificed some burnt offerings to me too, so why didn’t I get it?

RJO Poseidon’s eyes strayed towards Rhea, seeing her sitting next to his counterpart laying her head on Aidoneus’ shoulder while holding Poseidonas’s hand. He had an idea of what happened to the offerings she gave to ‘Poseidon’ and he had a feeling he definitely wouldn’t like it.

When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for their attention.

Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."

A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.

"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Rhea Jackson."

Chiron opened his mouth before he did a double take and gave Mr. D a look.

Rhea's eyes were wide. He said my name right, thought it was just that one time.

“That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on." Mr. D waved them off.

Everybody cheered. They all headed down toward the amphitheatre, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. They sang camp songs about the gods, ate s'mores and joked around.

“Mr. D always says your name right,” RJO Conner spoke up, disappointment reflecting in his voice. RJO Travis continued, his tone tinged with disappointment just like his twin. “Why can’t he say our names right?”

“What else would he call you other than your name?” Jack spoke up, confused.

“He sometimes calls me Cooper or Carter and he calls him,” RJO Conner replied, gesturing towards his twin and continuing. “Thomas or Terrence” PJO Stoll twins were nodding in agreement. They’ve definitely heard those names at least once before.

"I think it's because he knows I'm insane so he is giving me some slack or something, I dunno." Rhea shrugged. RJO Dionysus snorted hearing her reply.

Many looked at both PJO and RJO Dionysus who didn’t bother looking up from the magazine they were reading. They wouldn’t understand what they feel. Being cut off from their main domain, being stuck at the camp monitoring the demigods and watching them die young. They didn’t want to get close to the demigods just to watch them die, stuck in a never-ending grief.

***

Poseidonas gave the piece of brisket that appeared in front of him on a plate a look before he finally decided to take a bite of it.

Rhea made the offering to the wrong Poseidon.

“I didn’t burn the offering to the wrong Poseidon. I burnt the offering to you ,” Rhea spoke to Poseidonas with conviction, getting an arm squeeze in return.

There it is. Just like I thought. thought RJO Poseidon. He didn’t get the offering because his counterpart had gotten it. He was realising he would never stand a chance to be Rhea’s father when Poseidonas existed. Poseidonas was there for Rhea when she was very young, trained her, and took care of her even if he didn’t need to, even if he didn’t like her in the beginning. Poseidonas deserves to be called Rhea’s father because he’s done everything a father would do. On the other hand, he didn’t deserve to be called her father because he did nothing to her. But does that mean he’s not going to be jealous? Absolutely not, and he is feeling it right now, jealousy, seeing his counterpart get the burnt offering from his daughter, hearing the confirmation from Rhea herself that the offering was for his counterpart, not him.

The hologram glitched, the book hovering for a second before the pages started turning. Everyone watched it happen, confused about what was going on. Finally, the pages stopped turning, the hologram lighting up again. The words being read aloud made everyone lean forward in their seats in anticipation.

Rhea

Age: 15

It was a well-known fact around Asgard that a bored Rhea… was a ticking chaos bomb waiting to explode.

Everyone saw the RJO world's campers nodding in agreement with the statement. 

“Ohh boy~ What did you do now!?” RJO Annabeth questioned, to which Rhea just shrugged, curious to see what would be shown. 

It was also well-known that she treated Asgard like it was her grandma's house, but that’s not the point here. She was bored, like painfully bored—so much so that not even her favourite colour, blue, could cheer her up.

Yes, yes, it was that bad.

Poseidonas and Aidoneus were off on a walk somewhere, leaving her unsupervised. And Loki? Nowhere to be found to entertain her. Go figure.

But~

She was in his room, a room full of magical artefacts and rune books.

“Ohh~ I remember this. This was about a month or two before the Battle of the Labyrinth,” commented Rhea with a wide grin, bouncing in her place a little. She had not gotten the chance to see what chaos she had left behind that day, so she was very happy it was being shown right now. She could finally see what had happened after she had come back home.

“That was you!?” exclaimed RJO Odin, RJO Thor and RJO Frey in disbelief, to which Rhea just snickered a little, nodding her head, while RJO Loki shot the three a pointed look that said ‘See, it wasn’t me!’

A mischievous grin stretched across her face as she grabbed one of the rune books and began to flip through it. "I have NO idea what any of these runes mean," she mumbled, still working on figuring out the Norse language. Give her a break.

Did she know what the runes were supposed to do? Absolutely not.

Was she still going to use them? Of course.

Would it end in disaster? …Eh, probably.

She set her sights on three targets: Odin’s throne, Frey’s room, and Thor’s back (who, to be fair, was snoring and made it way too easy). She scribbled down the runes and waited for the magic to kick in. When nothing happened, she shrugged and left Thor snoring.

What she didn’t realise is that sometimes, when you combine random runes that have no business being together, they take their sweet time activating. Which meant chaos was brewing… just not on her schedule.

Rhea giggled a little, rubbing her palm, waiting to see what happened.

Everyone was on the edge of their seat, not being able to contain their curiosity. RJO Odin, RJO Thor and RJO Frey grumbled in their seats. Looking back at it though, it was funny that the runes Rhea thought did nothing, had caused so much chaos.

***

Rhea returned home a bit disappointed, but a few hours later, Loki popped into her room looking like he had narrowly dodged a disaster. Poseidonas, arms crossed, did not look thrilled.

"The annoyance is here," Poseidonas grumbled.

"Sup, Loki. What did you do this time?" Rhea asked.

Loki, for once, looked confused. "For once... it wasn’t me. I have no idea what happened, but apparently, someone put runes around Asgard, and now I’m being blamed for it. Which, okay, fine, hilarious, but I don’t love being the fall guy."

Rhea froze, then started to snort. “Wait, hold up, they worked ?”

All eyes turned to her.

“Did you touch my books?” Loki asked slowly.

“In my defence,” Rhea began, “I was bored, and besides, I have no idea what the first set of runes even did.”

*Meanwhile, in the Throne Room of Asgard*

Odin was stuck. Literally stuck to his throne while everyone in the room tried to pry him off.

Snickering echoed through the chamber. Rhea was shaking in her seat, silently giggling watching RJO Odin struggling to get out of the throne that he was stuck to. 

“I'll definitely be doing something like this to people who annoy me,” ROR Buddha exclaimed in joy, his eyes twinkling with mischief. 

*Back in Rhea’s room*

“Nor do I know what the second one did…”

*In Frey’s Room*

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!” Frey was running in circles, narrowly dodging jets of fire shooting up from the floor. At one point, he tripped, and a blast of flame shot up between his legs. Let’s just say Frey almost lost his manhood along with being the God of Fertility with it.

“Omg! Oh~ Pfft hahaha! I'm so sorry! So sorry! ” wheezed Rhea in between her laughter, losing whatever control she had, laughing out loud now. RJO Frey just pouted in his seat while everyone laughed at his situation. 

“This is hilarious! Hahaha!” ROR Shiva was having so much fun watching RJO Frey narrowly avoid a huge disaster. 

*Back in Rhea’s room*

“Or the third…”

*Randomly across the Realms*

“GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!” Thor bellowed in fury. For the thirteenth time, he was randomly teleported to another realm mid-fight with a Jotun, his hammer left spinning uselessly behind him.

Rhea was now leaning heavily on Aidoneus, laughing uncontrollably. Poseidonas and Aidoneus shared a smirk, even though not saying it out loud, enjoying the chaos she had unleashed. 

“I should try this sometime,” ROR Loki, in between snickering, spoke up. 

*Back in Rhea’s room*

Aidoneus sighed deeply. “Rhea, why?”

“I was left unsupervised,” she said, as if that explained everything .

Loki, meanwhile, was laughing so hard he could barely stand.

“That is an appropriate reason,” Percy spoke up, holding onto his stomach which hurt from laughing so much.

“What do you say about playing a few pranks together later? You can join too,” ROR Loki questioned Rhea, directing the last part towards RJO Loki, who responded with a wink. 

Before she could answer, ROR Hermes interjected, smirking lightly. “Count me in too”

“Hey hey hey, don't leave us out!” exclaimed ROR Anubis, to which ROR Shiva, ROR Buddha and Leonidas nodded in agreement. 

“Can we join too? Please!” PJO and RJO Stoll twins spoke together, which creeped everyone out. 

“Sure, the more the merrier,” replied Rhea with a shrug. The other volunteers nodded in confirmation making the two sets of twins throw their fists in the air in anticipation and excitement. 

Everyone in the chamber was entertained watching the unexpected effects of the unknown combination of runes. 

Chapter Text

Grover, please don't gloom,

No, we weren't having a moment,

Just be happy my guy.

***

Each morning Rhea took Ancient Greek from Annabeth, and they talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, not that Rhea had any problem with that.

Chiron tried to teach her archery.

"Rhea..." Chiron frowned as he took the arrow out of his tail. "That was a horrible aim."

"You call it bad aiming I call it free acupuncture," Rhea said.

Chiron narrowed his eyes and took away the bow and arrow from her hands.

"You think if I pray to your father he will give me a blessing in archery?" Rhea asked a random child of Apollo who was passing by.

"You can try." He shrugged.

“Now you know how to use a bow. Aren’t I the best teacher?” preened ROR Apollo, smiling smugly.

Rhea looked at him and deadpanned. “You may have been a good teacher, but the best teachers will always be Uncle Aidoneus and Dad, but you’re definitely on the top three” She shot an exaggerated smile at him to which he responded with a faux glare.

“Shouldn’t Chiron be on your top 3 list?” questioned Percy.

“Nah! He didn’t teach me anything,” replied Rhea in a bláse tone, to which RJO Chiron frowned. He knew she didn't trust him, she had said that to his face many times, but hearing that he didn't teach her even a single thing hurt him a little. It made him feel like he failed as a teacher. 

Foot racing? Rhea managed that, you don't dodge Poseidonas’ trident thrust if you're slow. One of the wood-nymph instructors even told her that if they didn't know any better they would have thought Rhea was one of them and that she got centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods.

And wrestling? She can proudly say that she beat Clarisse every time.

The senior campers and counsellors were watching her, trying to decide who her dad was, but they weren't having an easy time of it.

Rhea had many qualities that can match with other gods, except for Apollo, Hephaestus, and Dionysus.

Some even said she could be Eros's child, and the girl of Aphrodite's cabin said that they would welcome her in their cabin if that was the case.

"Why do you think I'm the daughter of Eros?!" Rhea cringed.

"Have you looked in the mirror?" One of the Aphrodite girls said.

Rhea deadpanned. "No, I brush my teeth in the dark."

And god forbid some even thought she was Athena's kid with how much she likes to read.

A look of disgust did not appear on her face, but the way her face suddenly went blank at the mention was enough to make the campers shut up about it.

“Wow! That's so different from Percy,” commented PJO Grover. 

“What's different?” enquired ROR Hermes. 

“I wasn't good at anything but canoeing in the beginning, before my claiming. Maybe a little sword fighting but that was a bust because I couldn't find a blade that felt even a little balanced,” replied Percy. He remembers when he had first arrived at the camp. He didn't have any characteristics of any of the gods, so it was a little difficult to say whose child he was, especially with everyone desperately hoping he wasn't a child of a big three. 

*Thursday afternoon*

Three days after Rhea arrived at Camp Half-Blood, she had her first sword-fighting lesson.

Everyone from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be their instructor.

They started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armour where Luke had to replace three of them because Rhea kept "accidentally" cutting them in half.

~

It was a silent threat if you didn't understand.

~

“He was definitely sceptical about using you for his plan after that,” commented RJO Annabeth thoughtfully. She had seen him take a few steps away from Rhea whenever she had a weapon in her hand. She hadn't thought anything of that at that time, but now, thinking back on it, he was probably scared that she would skewer him before he began his plan. 

"You need to control the strength of your swing. We can't let you accidentally kill someone in camp." Luke jokingly said.

And besides that, there was another problem, Rhea couldn't find a blade that felt right in her hands. Either they were too light (she broke one, that was a genuine accident!), too short, or too long (for a sword).

Rhea decided to take the sword that some said was heavy, it still seemed light in her hand, and it was awkward, but beggars can't be choosers and she can't just take out her trident.

They moved on to duelling in pairs. Luke announced he would be her partner since this was her first time.

"Good luck," one of the campers told her. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."

Luke showed her thrusts and parries and shield blocks, he stopped for a moment. "Hey, you're good at it, did you have an experience?"

Rhea hummed for a bit. "You could say that."

“Yeah, she had experienced being tortured,” commented RJO Nico, exasperated. 

“I remember watching you pick up every single weapon and keeping them back in their places for about an hour,” remarked RJO Drew.

“In the end, you chose the heaviest spear we had. It had been there for years and no one could pick it up. Not Beckendorf. Not me. Not even Clarisse. You picked it up like it was a twig that you were trying your hardest to make sure it wouldn't break,” said RJO Chris, awe evident in his voice. 

Rhea snickered hearing what he said. When everyone turned towards her questioningly, she shrugged and casually added, “I did end up breaking it like a twig.”

By the time he called a break, everyone was soaked with sweat, except for Rhea who didn't seem a bit tired. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler.

Rhea frowned when Poseidonas came out of the bracelet, he just gave her a look before he walked away.

Hmm, guess he wants a look around. Rhea thought.

"Okay, everybody huddle up!" Luke ordered. "If Rhea doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."

The Hermes guys gathered around. They were suppressing smiles, clearly, they'd been in Rhea's shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used her as a punching bag.

He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.

"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Rhea, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."

He demonstrated the move on her in slow motion. Rhea was too bored out of her mind at that moment, so she just let him disarm her.

Luke looked disappointed. "Rhea, pay attention," he said after he retrieved her weapon. "Let's do this for real now, we will spare until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Rhea?"

Rhea nodded.

Luke came after her and thrust forward, Rhea dodged and didn't waste time to direct her blade and hit the base of Luke's before she twisted downward.

*CLANG*

Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of her blade was an inch from his undefended chest, more specifically his heart.

The other campers were silent.

"By the gods...show me that again."

Rhea scoffed and put the sword down. "Forget it, I'm out of here."

Her back was turned so didn't notice the sudden dark look that appeared on his face, nor was she going to care even if she saw it.

The campers from both universes had grim faces. It was disturbing seeing how he changed his facial expression so fast. Seeing him looking pissed at how dismissive Rhea was, was very uncomfortable. 

PJO Hermes and RJO Hermes stared at his son's face, despair written across his face. Oh, how he wishes he saved his son and made sure he went down a different path. He would've been alive, maybe pursued higher education, found a girlfriend, and had a family, maybe. Things would've been so different if I had tried harder. They thought. 

~

Rhea found Poseidonas at the beach she silently sat beside him before she yawned. "I don't know if the training I went through with you is a good thing or a bad thing, fighting with these guys is so boring that I want to sleep standing." She sighed.

" You're fighting with clowns, " Poseidonas said. " A human fights better than these half-bloods. "

"...speaking from experience?" Rhea asked, thinking about Sasaki Kojiro.

Poseidonas narrowed his eyes and didn't respond.

~

Sasaki stared at the screen, dumbfounded. He knew Poseidonas was a stoic, emotionally constipated God that didn’t care about anyone who was not Aidoneus and Rhea, but hearing an almost compliment from a God who hated and wanted to destroy humanity was astonishing.

The gods from the ROR universe exchanged glances. That was a compliment coming from Poseidonas. To hear a God who hates humanity saying that the children of gods were pathetic compared to the humans they fought just made everything much more… interesting.

“I’m flattered?” Sasaki spoke up, leaning towards Okita, his tone suggesting that he was asking it as a question rather than stating it.

“Don’t get used to it,” ROR Apollo said, having heard what Sasaki said.

Friday afternoon, Rhea was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from the first experience on the lava climbing wall. Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat followed by Rhea right after him.

They sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket weaving.

Grover looked down at the naiads before he grumbled. "Basket-weaving... Must be nice to have a useful skill."

Rhea gave him the side eye before she put her hand into the water getting the naiads' attention, she made a 'come here' gesture to one of them and the naiad made her way to the surface.

"Hey, you wouldn't mind teaching us basket weaving right?" Rhea asked.

The naiad smiled before she went back into the water a minute later she emerged with the materials in hand followed by her sisters.

"Come on Grover, you and I are going to learn how to weave a basket!" Rhea said.

At the end of it, both Grover and Rhea had a mini basket in their hands, they talked about canoeing and swordplay for a while, then debated the pros and cons of the different gods.

Finally, Grover spoke about the four empty cabins.

"Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said. "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad."

"And the other three belong to the big three?"

Grover tensed. Here comes the touchy subject. "No, number two is Hera's," he said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals. That's her husband's job. When we say the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos."

"Hades, Poseidon, and finally Zeus."

"Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what."

"Hades the Underworld, Poseidon the sea, Zeus the sky."

"Uh-huh."

"But there isn't a Cabin for Hades here."

"No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either. He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here..." Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that."

~

Poseidonas who heard the conversation frowned, why did the Olympians of this world exclude their Hades from his rightful place?

"Tsk, despicable." He said under his breath.

~

Shouts of outrage erupted from the ROR group. ROR Hades was the most feared and respected God among every single pantheon. Everyone listened to his words like gospel. To see such disrespect given to his counterpart was a disgrace. But, from what they've seen so far, the divines of this universe were pathetic compared to them, so maybe the Hades of this world did something to deserve this treatment. 

PJO and RJO Hades glared at their respective Zeus. They may have a throne on Olympus now because of Jackson, but for aeons, they didn't. And it was all because Zeus was a power-hungry, paranoid bastard who was scared that he would be dethroned.

Rhea sighed. "Death is part of the natural order of life, you shouldn't be scared of it, you should be respectful of it, embrace it even." She said while looking at a tree. "It's not scary, death is... freedom."

Grover stayed silent for a moment while looking at her. "...Sometimes the way you look at things scares me." He turned his gaze to the forest. "Sometimes you talk like you're older than you seem, say things so full of wisdom and other times you start speaking in rhymes and saying stupid puns, and sometimes...sometimes you get this far away look in your eyes I feel like you're slipping from my fingers, like I'm going to lose you."

"Grover..." Rhea started. "That was depressive as fuck never say that again!"

"UGH!" Grover groaned as he playfully pushed her. "We were having a moment and you totally destroyed that!"

Rhea chuckled.

She wasn't going to destroy this peaceful moment and Thalia ...

Rhea side-eyed the tree.

She didn't need Grover to tell her the story, she heard it so many times it became boring at this point.

All the gods related to death were impressed with her wisdom and respect towards death. It's not every day you hear something like this. Almost everyone fears death, but not everyone realises that death is very peaceful. You don't have to worry about any trivial things when you're dead. After you're dead, you just… live in the realm of the dead without any worries. 

Aidoneus took hold of Rhea's hand and gave it a squeeze. He knew in the beginning Rhea was a bit suicidal, not caring about dying which made her reckless even while she was calculative. He was glad she grew out of her recklessness. He would hate to think about the destruction he and his brother would cause if she was even a little hurt. 

***

At last, it was time for capture the flag.

When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded, and they all stood at their tables. Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening grey, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree.

From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

Luke grabbed her by the arm to guide her toward their destination. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."

Rhea narrowed her eyes. "Uh-huh, can you let go of my arm? I don't like people touching me."

Luke retracted his hand with a small smirk and did an 'I give up' gesture. "Sorry."

Where is the disinfectant? Rhea thought as she took out a handkerchief wetted it with the water in the river and rubbed her naked arm where Luke touched her.

She won't do it just to him, she hates people touching her in general.

“You hugged Annabeth, Nico and Grover,” said Percy, confused. He had seen her hugging the trio when they were about to sit before the reading began, he had looked around, realising he was one of the very few people who had caught the exchange.

“There are very few people that are allowed to touch me, they could be counted on both hands, and it's not even ten people,” replied Rhea. 

The teams were announced. Athena had allied with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded for shower times, chore schedules, and the best slots for activities to win support.

Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. Which wasn't much, Aphrodite children would rather look at themselves in the mirror than put a hand on a weapon. Dionysus has only two kids, Demeter kids have the green thumb but aren't that aggressive, Hephaestus there's only four of them, so the rest of the work goes to Ares of course.

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, ox-hide shields coated in metal.

Everyone from the ROR universe nodded at the impressive collection of weapons. 

“Well, now we fight too,” RJO Drew sighed, filing her nails. Her siblings nodded in agreement with her. Rhea might not be interested in the war game but her training made everyone way more competitive than they were before. Now, it was way more brutal, with everyone fighting to win and not hesitating to hurt others for it. 

Rhea decided to go with a spear, but it was so light in her hand that it felt wrong, but beggars can't be choosers, and now Luke just had to convince her to put on the armour.

And he was failing...

Miserably!

"Hell no." Rhea glared.

Luke sighed. "Rhea..."

"No!"

"Put the armour on!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Rhea don't make me force you to wear it!"

Rhea glared harder. "Oh, I dare you! If you just so lay a finger on me Luke I will castrate you!"

"Oooh!" The kids around them laughed.

Luka finally gave up. "Take the shield at least!"

Rhea made a pop sound with her mouth. "Fine."

“You are as stubborn as a mule,” RJO Annabeth said, snickering lightly. 

“I got it from him,” Rhea replied, pointing at Poseidonas. RJO Poseidon glared at Poseidonas, jealousy bubbling in his chest.

“Makes sense. Our brother is as stubborn as a mountain,” ROR Zeus agreed with Rhea, chortling loudly, to which ROR Hera smacked him on his chest, making him shut up immediately. 

Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"

They cheered and shook their swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at them as they headed off toward the north.

Rhea yawned in boredom ready to be done with all of this. "I'd rather be screwed on your trident over and over than be here." She said to Poseidonas who didn't respond.

"And you," Annabeth said as she stopped in front of Rhea. "Watch Clarisse's spear, you don't want that thing touching you. Other than that don't worry about anything, we'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"

"Border patrol."

"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."

" Bait. " Poseidonas said.

"Last time I checked I wasn't a shrimp," Rhea said to him.

ROR Greek Gods and Goddesses exchanged glances. Poseidonas warned her about the danger? That was such a huge improvement for such a short time. He wouldn't have bothered warning someone of danger if it was anyone else, letting them die rather than helping them, even if it was as small as warning them of the danger. He was warming up to the girl very quickly, so much so that he was showing his concern, whether he said it out loud or not. 

It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view.

Annabeth stationed her next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, and then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees.

She stood there alone hugging her spear and leaning on it with a bored expression on her face. Far away, the conch horn blew. She heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past her like a deer, leapt through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory.

Rhea narrowed her eyes when she felt the presence of a monster nearby followed by a low canine growl, behind one of the trees.

The hellhound stayed hidden stalking her for a while before it retreated.

On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark.

"Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.

Rhea smiled. "Oh my~"

They charged across the stream and Rhea waited for them, once the middle one was close enough, she thrust forward with the end of her spear right into his unprotected neck at such a speed that the others couldn't process.

The son of Ares fell to the floor unable to breathe or move, too busy with the pain, they were all surprised.

And it surprised her too.

I guess it makes sense. Rhea thought. I need to tone down my strength a bit, I used the same force I swing my trident with, and this spear is waaaay too light for that kind of thrust, ah who cares? If it will take them down faster.

Stunned silence. 

You could hear nothing, everyone just watching Rhea fight with wide, astonished eyes. She was very fast, probably faster than Hermes, and she was just 12 there. Could you imagine her speed now? Everyone was on the edge of their seat, invested in the fight. 

She blocked the sword that came at her and kicked the guy behind her, she quickly spun around, using the tip of the spear blade to take off the helmet and swung the spear down on the neck of the one she kicked, she stood up to face her other opponent feigned that she was going to attack his throat.

He put a hand up to protect himself from the spear only for Rhea to change the tactic at the end, she swung the spear down on his head with such strength that it broke into two.

Rhea grimaced and the poor guy that received the attack fainted.

"Sorry? I guess." Rhea awkwardly said.

“Rhea!” chastised RJO Annabeth, laughing out loud. She'd arrived at the end of the fight so she had not known about how her spear broke. She knows she shouldn't laugh but it was so funny how Rhea didn't know how to control her strength and how she apologised so awkwardly. 

Percy sat still as a statue, eyes wide and mouth dropped open. He'd seen her fight the Fury and the Minotaur, but damn, he was not ready for this. It was like watching a dance, how she dodged so gracefully, so light on her feet, how she attacked. It was like the fight was choreographed. 

The daughter of the sea stepped to the side when she felt Clarisse charging at her from behind, she put her foot out and the daughter of Ares tripped and fell down the rocks.

"Now see me personally? I would never get over the embarrassment." Rhea said to no one in particular.

Clarisse screamed in rage. "I WILL KILL YOU!"

Rhea deadpanned. "Get in line, there's a loooong list of people that want to kill me."

"The Fury, The Minotaur, The Gods, The Giants, some Jotun." Rhea listed. “Oh! A Giant even wanted to marry me. Can you imagine? Ughh”

"Ugh." RJO Loki rolled his eyes, sneering at the audacity of that Giant. 

"Other Monsters, some other gods, Gaea, motherfucking Tartarus..." Rhea continued with the list before she paused at the name before she giggled. "Hehehe! Tartarus uh... who else? Hmm yeah, I think this is it."

Rhea and RJO Loki continued speaking in hushed whispers about which one of Rhea's enemies was the ugliest looking, while everyone just stared at them in shock. 

Then they heard yelling and elated screams, and they saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high.

He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.

"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."

They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory.

The Blue team exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven.

Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.

The game was over. The blue team won.

Annabeth's voice, right next to her in the creek, said, "Not bad, hero."

Rhea did not even look in her direction. "Had fun watching?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.

"Next time you want me to be the bait you can just say so," Rhea said in a completely serene voice...it was dangerously calm.

Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always always has a plan."

"Alright then, remind me to thank your mother for the plan she gave you, because it appears that you lack the brain cells to think of one on your own." Rhea glared while Annabeth became red-faced from anger.

"It's not like you needed help anyway!"

"Doesn't make it okay for you to keep vital information to yourself, you knew how the Ares kids are and if I didn't know how to fight, I could have ended up in the infirmary or worse fatally injured to the point of no return if one of them was feeling quite bloodthirsty, and if you keep with this attitude not only will you be a danger to yourself but also a danger to the people around you," Rhea said.

Rhea took away the spear that was in the hand of a child of Hermes the moment a hellhound emerged from the shadows attacking them, Rhea had been waiting for it, she thrust forward the moment it jumped at her.

And it turned to dust.

Everyone was silent, you could hear a pin drop. 

“You were right. I was very arrogant and it would have cost someone's life if you hadn't put me in my place at that time. It was arrogant of me to think that just because my mother was Athena, I would be the smartest compared to everyone. She's not smart all the time,” RJO Annabeth spoke up, making many turn to her in shock. The ones who were the most shocked were PJO and RJO Athena, but RJO Annabeth paid them no mind, continuing to speak. “It was foolish of me to think that just because she's a wisdom Goddess, she's right all the time. I mean, Apollo is the God of knowledge, and he doesn't flaunt around that he's smarter than everyone, though he probably is and we don't even know because he doesn't brag about it. Wisdom is built upon knowledge, so, you can't exactly have any wisdom without knowledge. Without Apollo, my mom wouldn't even have her wisdom domain.”

By the end of RJO Annabeth's speech, PJO and RJO Athena resembled gaping fishes, looking very offended but no one paid them any mind. Many turned to look at PJO, RJO and ROR Apollo, but they were wearing blank faces not giving anyone any idea of what they were feeling. Everyone turned back around, RJO Annabeth's words still running through their heads. 

"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't ... they're not supposed to ..."

"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."

Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.

Clarisse yelled, "It's all Rhea's fault! Rhea summoned it!"

"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her.

Suddenly there was utter silence in the clearing, the eyes of the Campers were drawn above Rhea's head.

The green trident was displayed proudly for all the world to see, spinning slowly in the air.

"Oh, Styx," Annabeth cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want to... I assumed it would be Zeus... Your father, this is really not good."

Oh yes, because I have electric stormy blue eyes! Rhea deadpanned.

RJO Annabeth turned to Rhea, a deadpan look on her face. However, she couldn't keep it up for long as she broke down laughing. “It is very embarrassing now that I'm seeing these things. It was not exactly obvious who your father was as you were good at literally everything, but the eyes were a dead giveaway. I had literally seen those eyes a few months before you came to the camp. I have no idea how I didn't connect the dots,”

“I don't blame you, especially with everyone hoping that I was not a child of the big three,” Rhea replied. 

“It was actually pretty obvious for us. I'm very embarrassed I didn't realise it sooner,” PJO Annabeth commented. When she saw everyone's confused faces, she explained. “Percy blew up the bathroom when Clarisse bullied him, water everywhere, and as he said before, he was only good at canoeing in the beginning before he built his strength. And his eyes. It was pretty obvious who his father was. Can't believe we missed all those clues.”

''It is determined.'' Chiron announced solemnly.

And one by one all the campers kneeled before me.

''Poseidon.'' Chiron said, ''Earthquakes, Storm, Father of Horses, hail Rhea Jackson, daughter of the Sea God.''

Hail indeed. She sarcastically thought.

Rhea stood there in front of the lowered campers, their faces not daring to look at her.

She moved into cabin three the same night. It wasn't like she had many belongings in Camp Half-Blood, so it didn't take long for her to leave the Hermes cabin, she chose one of the beds and lay there.

***

Rhea sighed as she stood in front of Poseidonas, her trident in her hand. "A spar?"

The sea god responded by summoning his own trident.

Did she wake up with her muscles screaming in pain? Yes

Did she regret it? Absolutely not.

“You are crazy! Willingly going to him for torture. I mean, spar. It makes me wonder if you're a masochist.” ROR Shiva spoke up. 

“I am,” Rhea replied. When she saw ROR Shiva looking at her with a raised brow, she clarified. “I am a masochist.” What she didn't see was everyone's concerned faces.

Everyone turned back and leaned forward in their seats when they saw that the hologram flickered just like it did last time it displayed a snippet of the future. They were all eager to see glimpses of the future.

*Somewhere in the ROR Universe*

Rhea Akraia

Mother Sea

“Ah, we came a really long way.” Rhea smiled as she floated upside down. In front of her, Nico was sitting wearing a white tuxedo, he didn’t look very amused.

Nikostratos 'Nico'

Ghost King 

Aidoneus' Right Hand

Nico deadpanned. “Rhea, I'll be frank, you made a deal with Beelzebub.”

“Yes.” 

“And he lost.” 

“He did.” 

Nico sighed. “How!? Seriously how…” 

“Boy, I scammed other gods, you’re surprised I scammed the devil??” Rhea deadpanned. 

“…” Nico said nothing. “How are the kids?” 

“Oh, they’re fine! Aeon is training with his grandfather.”

“Woah, hang on! So they’re gonna just spoil the most important information?” Rhea asked.

“Why do you think they shouldn’t?” PJO Athena asked.

Rhea looked at PJO Athena as if she was dumb. “It’s called plot. If you’re watching my life, shouldn’t you do it in order of how it has happened and not jump around?”

The hologram flickered making everyone turn their attention to it. Words flashed across ‘This is the last future glimpse. After this, you’ll just do the reading.’ Everyone let out a disappointed sigh but made sure to pay extra attention, wanting to know as much as possible about the future Rhea.

Aidoneus snickered lightly. When he saw everyone turning towards him with questioning looks, he just shrugged elegantly. “I find it a little funny how Beelzebub fell for her tricks. She made a deal with the devil and won.” Beelzebub just deadpanned at him, smiling sarcastically when their eyes met.

*Somewhere in the ROR Universe*

Aeon 

God of Time and Fate 

Mother: Rhea  

Fathers: Loki and Apollo

“No amount of time stopping will help me,” Aeon mumbled to himself as he hid from his grandfather who he pissed off a bit earlier. “How did mother survive this??”

“Apollo!?” many exclaimed in shock.

“ROR Universe Apollo. Not the plain boring blond Apollo of my world. Isn’t he gorgeous?” sassed Rhea, making ROR Apollo wink and blow a kiss towards her for the compliment.

RJO Apollo gasped, offended. He was not plain and boring. PJO Apollo looked offended too, since he and RJO Apollo looked the same.

*Back to Nico and Rhea*

“Euphrosyne is with Demeter last I checked.”

*Demeter’s Garden, ROR Universe*  

Euphrosyne  

Goddess of Abundance and Prosperity 

Mother: Rhea  

Fathers: Loki and Apollo

Demeter watched as Euphrosyne and Persephone chased each other in the garden.

*Back to Nico and Rhea*

“Callia and Klythos are with Artemis.”

*Somewhere in the ROR Universe*  

Callia Goddess of Hunt and Order 

and 

Klythos God of Nihility and Preservation 

Mother: Apollo 

Fathers: Loki and Rhea

Artemis punched both twins on the head. “I SAID TO SHOOT, NOT TO DESTROY A GALAXY!”

Both twins hissed from the pain. “You weren’t specific, you said to shoot, but not at what.” Klythos sassed. 

Artemis looked at him blank-faced. “Come here, come here, come here.” The twins in all their wisdom run.

“Apollo is the mother!?” Again many people shouted.

“Ok, let’s make some things clear. We’re in a polymerous relationship and all three of us are gender fluid. We have seven kids. I gave birth to a triplet, Loki gave birth to twins and Apollo gave birth to twins too. Now be quiet and watch.”

*Back to Nico and Rhea*

“Vylra and Skjorn are bothering their half-siblings.”

*RJO Universe Valhalla*

Vylra, the second-world serpent, the same size as Jormungandr. 

Sea Monster, she ate Scylla and took the cave. She can change her size and loves to annoy her older brother Jormungandr. She can breathe fire as hot as the sun because Apollo is her dad, and is aquatic-looking cause Rhea is her other dad. 

Mother: Loki 

Fathers: Apollo and Rhea

Skjorn, unlike Fenrir, is more peaceful and takes after Apollo in that regard. 

Mother: Loki 

Fathers: Apollo and Rhea

“Vylra, would you stop being in my space.” Jormungandr glared at the other world serpent who happened to be his half-sister. 

The blue aquatic serpent deadpanned. “Oh, I’m sorry I DIDN’T KNOW THE SEA WAS YOURS! And for the record, YOU are the one in my space, not me!” 

Skjorn deadpanned, unlike his sister he prefers being in his human form thank you very much, although it’s clear by the wolf ears and tails who he is. “Mother, they are fighting again!” 

Loki sighed. “Leave them, they’ll get over it soon.”

*Back to Nico and Rhea*

“…And where’s…” 

“Ah, they’re with Adamas,” Rhea said with a smile.

*Somewhere in the ROR Universe*  

Elio God/dess of Elation and Chaos 

Inherited both Loki’s and Rhea’s chaotic sides, the only thing he got from Apollo is the pink hair. Prefers to have no gender, and dresses like a Jester.

Mother: Rhea 

Fathers: Apollo and Loki

It had been years since Adamas stopped looking like … a mecha or whatever Rhea called it, he owed it to his niece but damn it, he will be happier if she did not reproduce! The floor under him changed again and the entourage turned neon color. And there right in the middle Elio floated. 

“Hello, uncle and welcome to my domain!” The smile on the jester mask on Elio’s face became wider. 

Adamas swore. “Fuck…”

“Who’s Adamas?” PJO Hades asked, intrigued.

“Adamas is the God of Conquest. He is the second oldest son of Kronos in the ROR universe. Dad killed him, and then Uncle asked Hermes and Beelzebub to heal him and bring him back to life. He stayed hidden for a while but now he doesn’t.” Rhea replied.

“I think those are the most chaotic bunch of children I’ve ever seen and we’re a bunch of half-bloods who have ADHD and dyslexia.” commented one of the Stoll Twins, before both of them exclaimed in unison. “We love them! Can we meet them please?”

“Not anytime soon,” Rhea responded.

“Why are all your children Gods and Goddesses? They should be half-bloods,” RJO Zeus questioned, thinking of ways to get rid of them without Rhea, RJO Loki or ROR Apollo knowing.

“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough. Is it over? Can we get back to the reading? I wanna finish this as soon as possible,” Rhea asked out loud. The hologram flickered before it lit up, the part it had stopped at before now displayed on the hologram screen.

Chapter Text

Zeus lost his lightning,

Blames me for the theft, I'm wronged.

God of Justice? Ha!

***

Both PJO and RJO Zeus fumed in their seats, aware they were going to be heavily criticised by the Sea Brat in this chapter. 

ROR Zeus frowned lightly. He had Justice as his domain so it was not hard to guess that Rhea was talking about his counterparts. Are they so incapable that they couldn’t maintain their justice domain properly at least? But seeing how his counterparts behaved, he could understand why his counterparts were not fit to be the God of Justice.

The other campers did not calm down about the claiming.

Days after the capture the flag game, they still stared at Rhea with frightened and unsure glances, not that Rhea paid attention to them, she was too busy preparing for the future.

Clarisse like the other Ares kids had not changed towards her at all, they still hated her. Similarly to Clarisse, Grover was not afraid either, sticking close to Rhea like always.

The Apollo cabin too didn’t care that Rhea was a daughter of Poseidon and were quite happy to teach Rhea how to play some instruments when she asked. Currently, she was improving at playing the lyre and in drawing.

RJO Apollo turned towards Rhea to comment about her improving her lyre skills but kept his mouth shut when he caught his ROR counterpart’s eyes. He gulped and turned back around not seeing the smirk ROR Apollo had on his face at how easily he could scare his counterpart.

And talking about Grover

The satyr looked at the interior of Rhea’s cabin from behind her curiously, before swallowing heavily, poor Grover looked like he came bearing the news of her execution or something.

''What's wrong, Grover?'' Rhea said while holding the door.

''Mr. D wants to see you,'' Grover mumbled nervously, shifting from one uncovered hoof to the other constantly.

“The sun isn’t even up.” Rhea deadpanned. “What does he want?”

''It's probably better if he were to tell you. I haven't the foggiest idea what Mr D wants….At least he didn't look angry.'' Grover murmured the last part, but she still heard him.

“That's new,” murmured Percy to Grover who nodded in response. He remembered how scared he was about being in close proximity to Mr. D at that time. Especially with Mr. D being in such a mood that the only thing that came to his mind was that Mr. D would kill Percy. 

Oooh, it’s about the bolt! Rhea nodded to herself.

Rhea put some clothes on before following her friend outside.

The sky looked rather ominous, dark clouds were covering the usually blue sky, and the falling rain seemed to smother the earth nearly violently.

Rhea entered the big house and looked at Chiron and Dionysus.

''Sit down already, girl.'' Dionysus waved her to one of the chairs.

Chiron gave her a quick encouraging smile, before completely immersing himself in his no doubt already quite familiar stack of cards.

"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity."

Rhea gave him a blank look. Severus Snape, really?

''I thought about just getting rid of the whole problem by making you disappear, but there's the fact that this time barnacle-breathe actually gives a shit about you, so that's out. Plus, I kinda like you…'' Dionysus shrugged in a vaguely helpless motion while Chiron looked at him in disbelief.

And Rhea resisted the urge to groan out loud and smiled politely at him, she really hoped it was not one of THOSE situations…

“What situations?” RJO Leo asked. Rhea only smiled stiffly, not giving any reply. 

“Or I can show you mercy by turning you into a dolphin and sending you to your father’s domain,” Dionysus said.

“You do realize that technically speaking, if you did that, Father would turn her back to her original form after all the mess would have been over.” RJO Triton commented casually, looking forward to the chaos that would begin because of his comment. Did he spend too much time with Rhea that her personality is rubbing off on him? Yes. Absolutely yes.

“You were trying to save her!?” RJO Zeus shouted, leaping up from his seat.

“He did say ‘showing mercy’,” RJO Annabeth retorted rolling her eyes, air-quoting ‘showing mercy’.

Percy, PJO Grover and PJO Annabeth looked at one another with shock written on their faces. At that time, they were so busy with everything that was happening that they didn’t notice his choice of words. But, now that someone mentioned it, it was pretty obvious Mr. D was trying to save him, which was a miracle in and of itself.

RJO Zeus was not able to do anything as RJO Hera pulled him back to his seat, not wanting to be more embarrassed than they were right now.

"Mr. D-" Chiron warned.

"Oh, all right," Dionysus relented. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness." Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the girl is still here when I get back, I'll have to kill her on Zeus's order. And Rhea Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do."

Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A security pass.

He snapped his fingers. The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of freshly pressed grapes lingering behind.

Chiron smiled at Rhea, but he looked tired and strained. "Sit, Rhea, please. And Grover."

Rhea smiled at Grover as he sat down beside her.

''So Rhea, what did you think about the hellhound?'' Chiron suddenly asked, turning to look at her.

“Annoying,” Rhea said.

''I am somewhat relieved it is you…'' Chiron sighed deeply, ''You have the biggest chance of survival, your father will watch over you and you yourself are very strong, that's why… I have to ask you if you wish to accept a quest.''

“No choice,” Rhea said.

“No…'' Chiron agreed halfheartedly, ''You don't. You should know that another God cannot usurp a symbol of power. Since the last solstice, Zeus' lightning bolt has been missing, and he's accusing your father Poseidon of said act.”

Rhea could feel Poseidonas eyes on Chiron.

“So it got stolen by—” Rhea got cut off.

“By you,” Chiron said. "At least … that's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual nonsense: 'Mother Rhea always liked you best,' Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' et cetera.”

Poseidonas scoffed. “ Childish .”

“Afterward, Zeus realised his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now, a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly, that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."

"I wasn’t in—" Cut off again.

“Gosh, it pisses me off when someone cut me off when I’m saying something,” Rhea grumbled, annoyed.

“Why is he not letting you talk? As a teacher, isn’t he supposed to listen to his students and not cut them off all the time?” Heracles asked, his tone reflecting his disbelief. He didn’t get any reply which just made him madder about Chiron’s behaviour.

PJO Chiron sighed. He knew he hadn’t done anything properly when introducing Percy into the Greek world. At least Rhea knew everything, but Percy didn’t. Percy hadn't even watched the orientation film. He had to learn as he went, which was a lot more dangerous, which could have killed him and he let it happen, not doing anything about it.

RJO Chiron who heard Rhea’s comment just frowned. He hadn’t realised he had done that at that time, but now looking back on it, he could see he hadn’t done a good job at introducing Rhea into the Greek world at that time when he thought she didn’t know anything. 

He hadn't been a good teacher for not only Rhea but also all the other demigods. He had seen how Rhea had trained the other demigods. He had many of them coming to him complaining about the training Rhea was giving them. He had tried to stop her, but she had told him how he was very complacent, too soft, not training them hard enough, and that he was the reason most of them were dead. He had thought back about the past few years and he had to agree with Rhea. He knew a war was coming yet he didn’t prepare his students well. He let them down.

"Patience and listen child," Chiron said. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne. The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his daughter. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief.”

Rhea gave him a blank look. “What I'm hearing is that Zeus is jealous cause Poseidon has the Cyclops working for him and used this as an excuse to blame him.”

*THUNDER*

Rhea rolled her eyes. “And where is Olympus?”

“The Empire State Building,” Chiron said.

“I don’t know how that makes sense, but I can tell you this, I was not in Manhattan during the winter holidays, I was in Boston!” Rhea said. “Which makes it impossible even more.”

“What were you doing…” Chiron frowned before he stopped mid-sentence.

Loki kidnapped me. Rhea thought.

“Zeus is crazy!” Rhea said.

Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around them.

They were rolling straight over the valley, sealing them in like a coffin lid.

"Er, Rhea..?" Grover said. "We don't use the c-word to describe the Lord of the Sky."

"Perhaps paranoid," Chiron suggested. "Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before. I believe that was question thirty-eight on your final exam...."

“ What. ” Poseidonas voice was laced with poison.

Rhea ignored that and patted the bracelet.

“The exam passed and the only thing I remember is having an A in it,” Rhea said. “Poseidon, Apollo, Athena, and Hera trapped Zeus with Hephaestus golden net and wouldn't let him out until he promised to be a better ruler." She said answering Poseidonas' silent question indirectly.

It did not make the blond god’s anger calm down.

“How pathetic. The more I hear about our counterparts, the more I’m starting to hate them and I already hated them before.” ROR Zeus exclaimed in disgust.

“It really is pathetic if he didn’t change even after that.” ROR Hera commented, sneering in disgust.

"Correct," Chiron said. "And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since. Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt. He took great offence at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now, you've come along the proverbial last straw."

“So he’s blaming the child of Poseidon instead of a child of Hermes, ya know the God of Thieves?” Rhea said with a raised eyebrow.

Chiron was going to say something to that but couldn’t find anything to counter the logic.

"Rhea." Grover cut in, "If you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that he's fathered a new mortal hero who might be used as a weapon against you... Wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?"

“Oh wow, I'm so glad you asked this question! And the answer is NO IT WOULDN’T.” Rhea snapped.

Grover jumped in his seat from fright.

“If I was a God of Justice I would call for a trial! For fucks sake Apollo is the god of truth! He could have made him make me spill the truth! Or I don’t know make me swear an Oath on the Styx or something NOT THIS!!!!” Rhea shouted.

“YES! Finally! Someone said it. Thank you for pointing that out.” Percy exclaimed.

PJO and RJO Apollo nodded their heads in agreement with what Rhea said. They were the Gods of Truth, of course, they could sense if someone was telling the truth or not. Not that it mattered to anyone though, to everyone else, they were just the God of the Sun, who flirts with everyone. They always even forget that they are the Gods of Knowledge too. It hurt of course, but what could you do?

PJO and RJO Zeus both seeth in their seats, fist clenched so tightly that their fist turned white. RJO Zeus was itching to attack her again but wasn’t going to, not wanting to experience pain again. So all he could do was endure the humiliation and sit quietly.

“Rhea calm down!” Chiron said.

The ground was shaking underneath them, Rhea finally noticed, took a deep breath, and calmed down.

“I'm fine,” Rhea said. “I'm cool, I'm fine, cut the chase and tell me what you want me to do.”

Grover actually looked like he wanted to break down crying, while Chiron merely looked like Rhea would be the end of him.

''Just seek aid from the Oracle.'' Chiron eventually sighed, looking like he had aged quite a few years as he motioned her towards the attic.

Rhea didn’t waste time entering the attic and approached the mummified Oracle.

“I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask.”

"What is my destiny?"

The green smoke transformed into Sally.

“You shall go west and face the god who has turned.

You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned.

Wisdom child shall be betrayed by one who was called a friend.

And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.”

The two first lines didn’t change but the third did, originally it was.

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.

Rhea knew that Luke was not a friend, so she spent most of her time with the naiads, nymphs, and The Apollo kids.

“So the Fates changed the prophecy to make sure it fit your situation properly. So they’re going to change things to fit around whatever you do so that nothing major changes right?” ROR Artemis questioned curiously. 

“Yes, I could do whatever I wanted but not all the time, of course, there are a few things even I couldn’t change. The Fates did everything they could to make sure things went as they should around whatever I did.” Rhea replied. 

Rhea then returned to the others.

''So?'' Chiron asked impatiently when she remained silent.

''Hm?'' She glanced at Chiron. ''Don't worry too much, it said that I shall safely return what was stolen after I face the god who has turned in the west.''

''So what does that mean anyway?'' Grover interjected, a half-eaten aluminium can in his hand.

''Well, the only possibility would be Hades. If Zeus and Poseidon were to go to war, he would be the one who would gain the most.'' Chiron explained patiently.

Rhea wanted to say he was wrong but then again that will not go as she planned.

''Alright, then we will just have to go west and see.'' Rhea eventually concluded, smiling at a slowly paling Grover.

''We?'' He pretty much squeaked in fright. "Did I mention that Maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly.

''You don't want to come along?'' Rhea pouted.

''Alright...alright, I'll come along, but you have to protect me! it's just that satyrs and underground places ... well..."

“I know Grover, but don’t worry, I will protect you with my life!” Rhea said and Grover smiled. “This is going to be fun!”

“Blehehehe I don’t like your idea of fun Rhea!” Grover shivered.

“Wanna come along Annabeth?” Rhea said looking at the place where Annabeth was sanding while invisible.

“How did you…” She said taking off her hat.

“There’s water in the human body,” Rhea answered and left it at that.

“That was so creepy at that time.” RJO Annabeth commented, laughing lightly.

“At that time?” PJO Annabeth enquired.

“Oh, I’m used to it now, but she was always… how can you say it? Hmmm… Intense, you could say,” RJO Annabeth replied.

Chapter Text

Child of Athena,

Our parents' feud should not define us,

Be your own person.

***

‘Be your own person.’ The demigods were expected to behave in a specific way that made them their parent's children, not given much chance to be their own person. Every single RJO camper had witnessed how Rhea behaved so differently from her father. Now, they can see that she was very similar to her chosen father, her birth father’s ROR counterpart, but still, she was her own person. She made decisions on her own, whether good or bad or risky and life-threatening, pretty sure her father disapproved of them.

Everyone wanted to be like her. She was everyone’s role model, which is not always a good thing, but she gave good advice and trained them to make sure they knew how to take care of themselves, which is a lot more than their parents ever did. 

Their departure was accompanied by little fanfare.

It was still early in the morning, and while the sun was seemingly shining brightly, the atmosphere in the camp was solemn.

Once it became known that a quest was issued – the gazes turned from the previous uncertainty to other emotions. Envy, sympathy, encouragement, to even the few pitying gazes – but regardless of their wariness of Rhea, many campers she had been friendly with (mostly Apollo kids), still came to wish their group the best of luck.

“It is so easy for everyone to change how they behave with someone in the blink of an eye when something happens. How pathetic.” spat ROR Artemis, disgust evident in her voice.

Everyone from the RJO universe who had shunned Rhea when her claiming had happened looked down in shame. They knew Rhea was not to be blamed for being born, she didn’t ask for it, but they still went out of their way to ignore her, not going anywhere near her. If she cared about what everyone thought, she would’ve felt like crap, filled with self-loathing. While they were glad Rhea didn’t care about what others thought, they were still ashamed of how they had behaved.

Everyone from the PJO universe was ashamed of themselves too. They could see Rhea was not really affected by how the campers from her universe behaved, but that was mostly because she didn’t care about what anyone thought. But they know Percy, he is an overthinker, and he lets what everyone says affect him. They had read about how he felt like crap after being shunned and being reminded again of their less-than-stellar behaviour just made them more guilty.

Annabeth and Grover both stood beside her, as Chiron saw them off.

The centaur looked tired, but determined as he stood before them, Argus with his many eyes beside him. The head of security wore a chauffeur uniform and was their driver for the first part of their quest.

''He's going to keep an eye – or several – out to look after you guys.'' Chiron joked half-heartedly.

Rhea rolled her eyes at the joke.

Her bag pack contained some spare clothes, other necessities, some golden drachmas from the Camp, the money she saved for months, as well as enough nectar and ambrosia.

Rhea was not surprised when she saw Luke run towards them hastily, a pair of basketball shoes clutched tightly in his hands.

''Hey!'' He panted, ''Glad I still caught you guys.''

Rhea smiled. “How can I help you?” She said.

''Just wanted to wish you guys luck… I thought you might need these.'' Luke explained hesitantly, handing over the sneakers to her.

''Thanks, Luke.'' Rhea smiled politely. “But you know child of Poseidon and flying don’t mix.” She laughed as she gave the sneakers to Grover who shouted awesome once he got them.

Luka smiled strangely. It was a mixture of pride and bitterness, contorting his features into something nearly unnatural. ''Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad…''

This time the bitterness was unmistakable.

''Well, a lot of hopes are riding on you guys… So just kill off some monsters for me, will ya?'' Luke said.

“Sure.”

“Well then bye guys!”

Rhea turned around to see Grover flying with the shoes in an awkward way.

"Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"

"AAAAAAH!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower, heading toward the van.

*TANG*

Rhea grimaced. “Oooh, there goes his head.”

“The difference here is pretty small but still noticeable.” PJO Grover saw the confused looks sent his way, and he elaborated. “Percy didn’t give me those shoes until Luke left, Rhea told Luke that she wouldn’t be using the shoes to his face, probably making him panic realising that his plan wouldn’t go as he expected.”

RJO Hermes had a pained expression, his heart clenching seeing the bitterness his son harboured. He realised that he’d definitely be seeing and hearing more about his son’s hatred towards him and it just killed him more, little by little.

Before she could leave, Chiron caught stopped her. "I should have trained you better, Rhea," he said. "If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason—they all got more training."

Trust me no amount of your training will prepare me like Poseidonas training did. Rhea thought. Good intentions tho, I respect that.

RJO Chiron just sighed but he couldn’t deny the truth behind those words. He regrets not having the opportunity to train her, but it wouldn’t have been useful anyway. She was better trained than anyone when she’d arrived at the camp, being a far better fighter at 12 years old compared to adult Hercules. 

"What am I thinking?" Chiron cried. "I can't let you get away without this."

He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to her, It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap.

But we all know that’s just a way to hide the fact that it’s a sword.

“That's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one." He said. "The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron told me. "Its name is Anaklusmos."

"Riptide." She translated.

"Use it only for emergencies," Chiron said. "And only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case."

“Alright, I’ll be going now, see ya,” Rhea said.

Rhea turned towards the top of the hill where a white van was already waiting for her along with Annabeth and Grover.

Argus held the keys in his hands, as he left first, all three of them following him quietly.

Chiron looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he kept silently, solemnly watching the two demigods and the satyr leave.

“That’s different too,” exclaimed Percy, continuing before anyone could ask any questions. “I asked Chiron about the time before the gods and what would happen if I failed the quest.”

Percy, PJO Annabeth and PJO Grover exchanged looks. It was the small things but it just showed how different Rhea was from Percy.

***

Grabbing her bag pack, Rhea tried to contain the dangerous twitch her left eyebrow seemed to have developed recently.

It was difficult though.

How hard was it to make sure the darn fuel was full?!

She sighed.

Grover began crunching on some aluminium cans he had obviously taken with him as they waited for the bus, the satyr looked at her from time to time.

“No monsters wow,” Rhea said under her breath.

Annabeth gave her an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain."

"Warning number one, don’t call me seaweed brain or I will punch you." Rhea glared. “And stop with the hating it’s getting annoying.”

"I don't hate you."

Rhea rolled her eyes. "Yeah right, 'cause the passive-aggressive comments are totally innocent and void of hatred."

She folded her cap of invisibility. "Look ... we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."

Rhea deadpanned. "Okay and?"

She sighed. "And it’s for the following reasons, one time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her.”

“And so just because of that, you decided that the relationship between our parents should define us as individuals? Do you even hear yourself? Cause you sound stupid to me in this moment.” Rhea said in disbelief before she took a deep breath.

Grover's eyes widened. “Uh-oh…”

“Between us, you’re the only one who cares about that, and by your argument, this means that I need to kill you, you wanna know why? Simple, if anyone has the right to hold a grudge against Athena that will be Poseidon because the woman killed his granddaughter Pallas which started the whole hating thing, to begin with, Poseidon and Triton did nothing but welcome her into their home only for her to ‘accidentally’ kill Pallas in anger cause she lost a duel, as a revenge, I should give your head and send it to my father, but you don’t see me doing this, nor do you see Triton coming for the head of every Athena child out there, and if Poseidon gave a two shit about Athena’s opinion about him trust me your mother would be wearing Poseidon’s trident like a shish kebab!”

Annabeth was about to say something before Rhea stopped her.

“I am not Poseidon, and you are not Athena, you are Annabeth Chase, be your own person, this conversation ends here,” Rhea said.

Percy and PJO Annabeth were frozen in their seats. When they’d started dating, their parents had tried to break them apart. They had thought it was because of the silly rivalry. But hearing the reason behind their rivalry was a shock. They didn’t know this.

“You did what?” PJO Annabeth asked with a shaky voice. If this was the reason Poseidon hated her mother, then it was a pretty darn good reason and she wouldn’t defend her mother no matter what.

“Pallas and I were sparring, testing each other's skills. She was skilled—I'll admit that—but I am the Goddess of War. Losing to her would have been... unacceptable. The blow that ended her life was unintentional, but it was also a lesson. She should have known better than to challenge me.” PJO Athena responded stiffly, her RJO counterpart also sitting rigidly as if she didn't have any remorse and trying to justify her actions as if she wasn’t in the wrong.

“A lesson ?” PJO Annabeth spoke up in disbelief. “So what I'm understanding is, you killed her because your pride couldn’t handle losing? How can you even say that like it justifies what you did?”

PJO Athena frowned, growing more irritated by the second. “Pallas was strong, yes, but she overstepped. I am a goddess. To challenge me is to challenge order itself.”

Everyone stayed silent, watching the unfolding drama with great interest. Hearing PJO Athena’s words, both PJO and RJO Poseidon were about to get up, ready to attack the War Goddess, but their respective wives grabbed their arms, stopping them, insisting that this should be solved between the mother and daughter.

PJO Annabeth shook her head in incredulity. “Order? Is that what you call it? Because to me, it looks like arrogance. You killed her, and you’ve spent centuries justifying it instead of owning up to your mistake.”

“Mind your tone, Annabeth,” PJO Athena said sharply. “I’m your mother.”

PJO Annabeth clenched her fists. “Don’t you dare try to play the ‘I’m your mother’ card. You may have given birth to me but you haven’t earned the right to call yourself my mother. Right now, I think you’re nothing more than a bully who hides behind her title to excuse her actions. This is disgusting.”

PJO Athena’s expression hardened. “Be careful, Annabeth. Words have power.”

“So does accountability,” PJO Annabeth snapped. “And clearly, that’s something you’ll never understand. I can’t believe I ever wanted to be like you.”

Percy placed a hand on Annabeth’s shoulder, squeezing it before taking her hand, helping her calm down. “You’re right about one thing, Athena ,” PJO Annabeth said, turning away from her mother. “I am your daughter. But I’m ashamed of that fact right now.”

Rhea and RJO Annabeth exchanged a long glance. They’d had a talk about this after the quest and they’d sorted it out then. RJO Annabeth had been disgusted with her mother’s actions. It was one of the first things that started breaking her faith in her mother. She thought it was finally time for her counterpart to understand the truth too, watching her counterpart experience her mother’s true character for the first time.

Grover started looking around, sniffing the air like he smelled something foul.

"Grover?" Rhea called.

He tenses. "It's nothing."

Rhea did not press.

They finally got on board and found seats together in the back of the bus. Annabeth was about to stow backpacks when Rhea stopped her.

“Keep it on you, you never know when we will need a fast escape,” Rhea said.

“Good thinking,” Percy commented. “We lost all our items in that bus ride and we struggled throughout the whole quest having nothing.”

RJO Annabeth turned around to look at Rhea who just gave her a wink and a smirk.

Annabeth kept slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh.

And as if Rhea summoned the devil, the three furies entered the bus.

Annabeth clamped her hand onto the daughter of the sea’s knee. "Rhea..."

Rhea kept her eyes on the three witches of hell.

“Stay calm and don’t act rashly.”

“It's okay," Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem.”

Alecto suddenly got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the restroom."

"So do I," said the second sister.

"So do I," said the third sister.

They all started coming down the aisle, Rhea unscrewed the water bottle she had on her letting the water float out, keeping the action away from the eyes of the furies.

Annabeth noticed. “What are you doing?”

“My job,” Rhea said.

The water floated around hiding behind people as the furies approached, the water took the shape of three sharp hairpins and solidified.

“Rhea!!!!” Grover said urgently.

“Wait—” Rhea smirked as the three furies passed the three people that she used to hide the pins, and before her companions could blink, Rhea moved those pins quickly and stabbed the three furies in the head.

They turned to dust.

“Rhea Jackson: 3, the three witches of hell: 0,” Rhea smirked. “Awesome whips, I think I'm gonna keep this one.” She said as she took Alecto’s whip into her hand.

It turned to dust too.

Astonished gasps rippled through the chamber at the show of her power. That was an incredible control over power. 

“Good job, Rhea. That was quick and efficient.” Aidoneus complimented Rhea. Poseidonas squeezed her hand in a job well done. 

“Wow, that was different too. We had to wrestle with the Fury.” PJO Grover commented casually making everyone turn towards him.

Percy seeing the confusion written on everyone’s face, decided to explain. “We weren’t able to kill the Furies without being seen by them. We literally had a brawl with them while we were trying to get away from them.”

“Or maybe not…” Rhea pouted before she hit the bus stop button.

The bus stopped at the nearest stop, Rhea grabbed both Annabeth and Grover’s hands to get them out, and the bus drove away.

There was a sound of thunder, the hair rose on the back of Rhea’s neck.

“GET DOWN!” Rhea pushed the two before she threw herself on the floor.

Lightning strikes right where they previously stood.

“IF YOU KILL US WHO WILL GET YOUR BOLT BACK! Stupid.” Rhea growled.

“Good question. Gods don’t do logical thinking. They act on emotion, impulse, and ego. It’s like they’re all stuck in this eternal game of one-upping each other. They make a mess, and they don’t deal with it. We’re stuck fixing their mess because they can’t—or won’t. And instead of making it easier for us, they sabotage us. Whether it’s intentional or not, they slow us down. Then they complain about how we can’t do it fast enough when it’s because of them we almost couldn’t.” RJO Nico took a deep breath after finishing his rant, while everyone could only stare at him wide-eyed.

“ Whoa! Feel better now? ” Rhea asked RJO Nico.

“ No, I don't, ” When he saw the look Rhea sent him, he relented. “ Okay, maybe a little.”

Rhea just smirked, shaking her head before turning back in front. When she saw everyone still staring towards them, she just glared and snapped. “What are you still looking at? You all better take your eyes away from us before I gouge them out.” Everyone hastily turned back around in their seat, not wanting to risk it.

“Was that an Epic reference?” RJO Annabeth asked. 

Rhea looked confused. “No.” 

“And you call me uncultured.”

“I don't wanna hear it from someone who doesn't think that Jojo is peak anime!”

“I don't like the art style okay??!!!” Annabeth defended. 

RJO Nico turned to her. “You don't like Jojo?? As in Jojo Bizzare Adventure? How are you living with yourself.”

“Mighty fine!”

“You're a lost cause.” RJO Nico shook his head.

Chapter Text

Zeus tried to harm me,

Medusa finds my face fine,

I'm so done.

***

So there they were, Annabeth, Grover, and Rhea, walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind them, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in their noses.

Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."

“I'm going to start blaming Zeus for every miserable thing that is happening and will happen in my life,” Rhea said.

“Do it! My pathetic excuse of a counterpart deserves it. How useless!” ROR Zeus spat.

Everyone looked at him wide-eyed, hearing the venom in his voice. Rhea just smirked and shot finger guns at him in reply.

RJO Zeus clenched his fist, infuriated with the remarks that were thrown at him. He was very annoyed that he couldn’t do anything.

*THUNDER*

Rhea rolled her eyes. “Thunder, thunder, crack, crack, boom, boom.” She then looked at Grover. “Look at it from the good side, at least we still have our belongings!” She said while pointing at the backpacks.

"I'm glad you acted fast and killed them, and that it wasn’t you that died there,” Annabeth said.

Rhea’s eyebrow twitched. Please tell me that she isn’t about to say what I think she will say.

“It's just that if you died ... aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world." Annabeth said.

Rhea’s head slowly turned to the side to look at the blond, her right arm slowly raised before she brought her fist down on top of her head.

It was strong enough to make Annabeth see stars.

“WHAT WAS THAT FOR???!!!” Annabeth screamed.

“You know exactly what you said to deserve that punch,” Rhea said.

Annabeth groaned before she turned to look at Grover for backup, the satyr turned the other way suddenly interested in the trees more than usual.

“That was very rude dear,” commented RJO Hestia with a frown.

RJO Annabeth rubbed the back of her neck, growing embarrassed as she felt RJO Hestia's disapproving gaze on her.

RJO Hestia shook her head, her tone calm but firm. “Annabeth, do you understand why what you said was wrong?”

RJO Annabeth nodded her head and replied with pursed lips. “Yes, I was very selfish and insensitive when I was young.”

“Thank chaos you grew out of it pretty quickly.” quipped Rhea with a smirk.

“Sorry Rhea, I was a little selfish back then.” apologised RJO Annabeth, wincing slightly.

“A little? Really?” Rhea looked at her in disbelief, while RJO Annabeth cringed at her choice of words, snickering lightly in embarrassment and amusement at the face Rhea made. “You basically said my life isn’t as important as your chance to sightsee.”

RJO Annabeth winced. “That’s not what I meant!”

“Oh, I know that. But I take pleasure in making you suffer in embarrassment.” Rhea replied which made RJO Annabeth glare at her mockingly while RJO Nice and RJO Grover snickered into their hands. 

The thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind them, leaving them in almost total darkness. Rhea couldn't see anything of Annabeth except a glint of her blond hair.

“Camp Half-Blood is my home," Annabeth said after relieving the pain in her head. “At camp, you train and train. And that's all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not." She paused. “…where did you learn how to fight?”

Rhea’s face went blank as war flashbacks started to appear in her mind.

“My master … the one who taught me to fight ... what can I say? I haven’t felt so much love for someone other than my mother, he’s the cruel sea… and by the cruel sea, I mean my fuckass of a master with blond hair, blue eyes, and an apathetic face who tried to kill me multiple times, but I love him so much to the point of ignoring his faults.” Rhea said. “Although he will deny and say that he doesn’t have any faults and that he’s perfect, kinda have to agree on that one tho, a little bit."

Grover was taken aback by that. “… there’s a lot there to unpack and I don’t know where to start.”

Annabeth took a deep breath. “I'm sorry who’s he? And he tried to WHAT?”

“Also…” Rhea paused for a bit before she smiled. “Master has a weird way of swinging his hips when he walks.”

“ I do not swing my hips when I walk .” Poseidonas immediately denied.

Rhea smacked her lips. “Yeah....”

“We didn’t need to know that part …” Annabeth said face blank.

“I have to agree with her brother. You do swing your hips when you walk.” ROR Hera commented with a light smirk. Aidoneus chuckled under his breath but ROR Hera heard him making her turn to him next. “I don’t know why you’re laughing. You swing your hips when you walk too.”

Aidoneus just shot her a deadpan look before rolling his eyes and turning to the front. People from the PJO and RJO world just watched the exchange with bewildered eyes, never having seen their respective children of Kronos having a decent conversation, especially teasing each other, without any death threats or fighting. 

A toot-toot-toot sound echoed, it sounded like an owl being tortured.

"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried. "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"

He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff.

Instead of finding a path, Rhea nearly slammed into a tree.

They kept walking until they saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and the good smell.

It wasn't a fast food restaurant, it was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that.

The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was impossible to read because if there's anything worse for their dyslexia than regular English, it's red cursive neon English.

To both demigoddesses what they saw was: ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM.

"Ant … at … the heck is that?” Rhea deadpanned. Pretty sure is something, something Aunty Em?

"I don't know," Annabeth said.

Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."

Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken.

They crossed the street, following the smell of the hamburgers.

"Hey ..." Grover warned.

"The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open…snack bar…”

“Are you crazy??” Grover said.

She ignored him and went inside followed by Grover.

“Another change!” exclaimed PJO Grover. Before anyone had the chance to question him, he continued. “In our world, both Percy and Annabeth ignored me and went inside.”

“Sorry Grover. We should’ve listened to you. We could've prevented what happened next if we did.” PJO Annabeth said sheepishly. 

“But it did end up helping in the end so I don't really mind it that much.” Percy shrugged exchanging a glance with his father. 

“Wanna know the story of Medusa?” Rhea asked Poseidonas. “Cause we’re going to meet her right now, it involves my father, Annabeth's mother, and rape.”

Poseidonas came out from the bracelet and gave her a look.

“Ok so Medusa was this really beautiful woman when she was still human and—”

If looks could kill Rhea would be dead for real this time.

“Or that’s what the mortals say.” Rhea ignored the glare. “And then there’s the version Annabeth told, well we will know when we get inside, if she tried to kill me then…we will know the real version.” She made her way inside. “But my father did indeed rape some women before.”

“ I do not want to hear about my degenerate counterpart, ” Poseidonas said in disgust before he retracted to the bracelet.

“Quite the amusing expression you just made, most of the time your face is blank,” Rhea said as she entered.

"Pursuing such frivolous urges is a weakness, one that mortals fall for in their pitiful existences. A god has no need for such distractions. To indulge in folly is to lower oneself to the level of the 'filth' we preside over. I will never debase myself in such a way." Poseidonas glared at his counterpart. "To fall for such urges is to admit your inferiority, to expose just how tightly you are chained by your own desires, you are no better than a mortal and an animal. Pathetic."

Every single god and goddess from the PJO and RJO world sat glowering in their seats. RJO Poseidon turned towards Rhea, but whatever he wanted to say died down when he saw the smirk on her face at his ROR world counterpart’s comment.

"I tried to seduce him once and he refused me, shame~" ROR Aphrodite commented with a pout while Poseidonas just looked at her in disgust. Seeing the shocked look on everyone’s face, ROR Aphrodite just giggled. She knew Poseidonas had no interest in romantic love. He was an aromantic. But he had a massive amount of love for those he considered family, even if he didn’t show it. While many can be considered his family due to blood relation, Poseidonas only considered Aidoneus and Rhea as his family.

She found Annabeth taking the first bite out of the burger while Grover was nervous, he looked at her and mouthed a ‘Where have you been?’, Rhea shrugged.

“Oh, my~” Medusa said as her eyes behind the veil fell on Rhea. “Are these two you friends?”

“Yes.”

"What's that hissing noise?" Grover asked.

Annabeth paused to listen before she shook her head.

"Hissing?" Medusa asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover."

"I take vitamins. For my ears."

"That's admirable," she said. "But please, relax."

Medusa ate nothing. She hadn't taken off her headdress and now she sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched them eat.

"So, you sell gnomes." Rhea finally said.

"Oh, yes," Medusa said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know."

"And you make them by yourself," Rhea said.

"Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company." The sadness in her voice sounded so deep and so real that if Rhea didn’t know who she was she would have felt sorry for her.

Annabeth had stopped eating. She sat forward and said, "Two sisters?"

"It's a terrible story," Medusa said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a... a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually, they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived but at a price. Such a price."

“Or maybe you should have kept your sex life in your own house behind closed doors instead of doing it in Athena’s temple,” Rhea said.

Medusa paused before she gave a hmm. “I should have expected it…you were wary when you entered here.”

Annabeth looked nervous as Medusa made her way up to Rhea who looked at her stone-faced.

“It will be such a shame to destroy a beautiful face like yours,” Medusa said as she put a hand on Rhea’s face as she would do to a lover. “Won’t you stay with me~? I would treat you better than this cursed daughter of Athena.”

“You mean daughter of wet dreams,” Rhea snickered.

“I think you mean, daughter of a one-night thought,” RJO Nico said smirking.

RJO Annabeth deadpanned at them, eyes narrowing in faux anger. “Shut. Up.”

“It’s so creepy how attracted she was towards you. You were a child!” exclaimed RJO Grover.

“I may have some resemblance with my sperm donor regarding my looks but I’m nothing like him. At all.” spat Rhea. 

RJO Poseidon frowned, hurt by Rhea’s words. RJO Amphitrite side-eyed her husband. She knew Rhea didn’t consider her husband as her father. Now she knows why, she’d had a father long before arriving at the camp, someone who taught her everything she knew, someone who was there for her when she needed someone. Maybe not voluntarily, but he stuck with her when he could’ve been far away from her. 

Her birth father or sperm donor as she referred to on the other hand didn’t do anything. He visited once when she was an itty bitty baby sure, but after that, nothing. He didn’t even know that she and her mother were being abused. He may not have been able to do anything directly, but he could’ve sent some of his servants to do something. But no, he didn’t and now here he is, facing the cold hard truth about how his daughter considers his counterpart as her father, how she doesn’t give a damn about him. If it were anyone else, she wouldn’t have cared, but it’s Rhea. She prefers Rhea over any of her husband’s past demigod children so she can wholeheartedly say that her husband deserves all the treatment Rhea gives him.

Rhea jumped away from her trident in hand. “I must refuse, my apologies.” She thrust forward before Medusa could take off her veil.

Her lower body disappeared into dust leaving only her head to fall on the floor.

“That was … That was fast.” Annabeth said. “Since when did you have that trident?”

“A while,” Rhea said. “Here Grover hold my trident for a moment so I can grab the head.”

Grover quickly grabbed the trident while Rhea walked up to grab Medusa’s head, Grover slowly started to fall backwards from the weight of the trident.

“BLEH-HEHEHE!” Grover fell on his back with the trident on top of him. “It’s so heavy!”

Rhea raised an eyebrow and Annabeth rolled her eyes.

“Don’t be ridiculous Grover it can’t be that bad,” Annabeth said as she walked up to him.

“I'm not exaggerating! It’s really heavy!” Grover groaned.

Annabeth tried to lift the trident only to frown when it didn’t budge. “What the…?” She tried again. “Gods! How do you even lift this thing?”

Rhea frowned. “It’s light in my hands.” She said as she lifted the trident. “It’s the right weight, the other weapons at camp keep breaking, it’s why I'm hesitant to use Riptide, I don’t want to accidentally break it.”

“We need to test your strength when we get back to camp,” Annabeth said.

“Eh.” Rhea shrugged. “Sure.”

“Did you guys ever do the strength test?” questioned PJO Chris.

“No actually. But we know she’s very strong. I mean, very .” replied RJO Grover. Rhea just looked at everyone with a smirk, flexing her muscles, the evidence being her clothes straining against her muscles.

“Can’t believe she's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him." Annabeth said in disgust.

“Hold on,” Rhea said before she went into the warehouse. “Account book.” She opened the book and found what she needed, she paused again before she decided to search for other things.

Other things are money and drachma, and Medusa had a lot of it.

She had to search for that cash cause Medusa only kept twenty dollars in the cash register, and because she wasn’t a child of Hermes she couldn’t open the safe box, so she destroyed it with the trident.

“I found more money~!” Rhea said happily. “I don’t think she will miss it so let’s use it.”

“So… That was a short chapter,” commented ROR Leonidas.

“The fight was over within a blink of an eye. That’s why it felt short. In our world, it took a little running and screaming and fighting and blaming before we could leave Medusa’s lair.” Percy commented. He could see how different his counterpart was compared to him. She was ruthless, having no mercy, a lot more trained than he was and she didn’t hesitate.

The hologram flickered again. They’d thought that after last time, it wouldn’t happen again, but they didn’t mind. Even a small glimpse is more than enough as it tends to be very funny.

Rhea eating things she shouldn’t  

Dionysus looked at the chess board in suspicion then looked back at Rhea. “You cheated" 

Rhea just shrugged with a smile. 

He was not having it and gave her a blank look. “Get out.” 

*Outside*  

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at her. “You… what did you do…” She asked with suspicion. 

Rhea just smiled and chewed whatever it was in her mouth, there was a loud CRACK sound. 

Annabeth’s eyes widened. “SPIT IT OUT!! SPIT IT OUT!!”

“YOU ATE THE CHESS PIECE!?” RJO Will exclaimed in shock, while RJO Dionysus just looked at the hologram with a deadpan look. He knew something was wrong. He had thought that she cheated but this… was worse.

*Aidoneus’s throne room*

 Aidoneus was watching the father-daughter duo, Rhea was running circles around Poseidonas and it started to annoy him, the blond god raised his leg and gave her a sharp kick, and Rhea yelped and stopped. The image of a mare kicking her foal for discipline appeared in his mind.

RJO Poseidon could only watch the hologram in silence with a frown. He couldn’t say anything. He was beginning to realise that he clearly didn't matter to his daughter. But seeing her running around with his counterpart just made his heart twist in raging jealousy.

Chapter Text

I talk to Loki,

Ragnarök no more.

I broke Fate whoops!

***

PJO Norse demigods, perk up hearing the haiku. They were very much interested in knowing how she got Loki to stop Ragnarök. 

Annabeth curled up on the blankets and was snoring as soon as her head hit the ground. Grover fluttered with his flying shoes to the lowest bough of a tree, put his back to the trunk, and stared at the night sky.

"You can sleep you know," Rhea told him. "I'll wake you up if trouble appears."

He nodded but still didn't close his eyes. "It makes me sad, Rhea."

"What does?"

“This.” He pointed at all the garbage on the ground. "And the sky. You can't even see the stars. They've polluted the sky. This is a terrible time to be a satyr."

Rhea sat beside him. “I agree, the sea is in the same shape in some places, the number of times I accidentally swam in oil ugh." She shuddered. “It’s disgusting.”

Grover sighed. " At the rate things are going, I'll never find Pan."

“The Lord of the wild,” Rhea said, and Grover gave an affirmative hum.

Rhea couldn’t tell him the fate of Pan, the Lord of the Wild been holding on for centuries and he’s waiting to be found to send his final message and finally … rest.

RJO Hermes made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. Why is it always his sons? He had searched for his son for aeons, but to know that his son was waiting to be found just to send a final message for so long was just heartbreaking. 

PJO Hermes’ expression was sombre as he remembered the day he got the news of his son's final death from Dionysus after the battle within the camp. 

Suddenly Grover fell asleep without a warning, Rhea sighed and turned to look at the one responsible.

“Loki.”

“Yahoo~!” Loki suddenly appeared floating in the air in front of her.

“Really Loki? Interrupting her when she was on a quest? Couldn't you have talked to her after she had returned?” RJO Odin reprimanded Loki, exasperated knowing no matter how much he was scolded, Loki would do it again and again. 

“Now, where’s the fun in that?” RJO Loki snickered.

Now that Rhea thinks about it, Loki's main form of movement is floating in the air, only on rare occasions is he seen walking … just like his green-haired counterpart.

“You know, with your hair green, you look so much like your counterpart.” PJO Nico spoke up, looking at RJO and ROR Loki. 

ROR Loki squints his eyes at his RJO counterpart before vehemently shaking his head. “We look nothing alike except the green hair. He has all those…scars. By the way, it was mentioned before that your mouth was sewn shut. Why?”

Loki pursed his lips, not wanting to bring that topic up but decided just to say it. “I lost a bet. I made a deal with some dwarves and then tried to trick them. When they caught me, they wanted to cut off my head, but I argued they couldn’t harm my neck. So instead, they sewed my mouth shut to punish me for lying and causing trouble.” 

“I remember when that happened to me too. I escaped. Couldn’t you? You’re a trickster, just like me.” ROR Loki commented, frowning. His words may have sounded rude, but his tone implied that he was simply curious.

RJO Loki’s careful composure snapped. The betrayal he suffered that day resurfaced. “They could only do that because Thor held me down. Or else I would’ve escaped before they could have even blinked.”

Rhea wanted to comfort him, but her uncle sitting in between them made it difficult. She knew that her Loki had forgiven Thor, but no matter how long it had been, the betrayal still hurt, especially at the hands of his blood brother’s son.

“I once walked in on him training and saw him without his shirt on and I saw so many scars. From the snakes dripping venom, being bound to rocks, Fenrir drama and all. But I have to say, he looked really hot, especially with his scars.” RJO Magnus whispers to his partner Alex, who nodded in agreement. While he did whisper, everyone heard him because of the stillness within the chamber.

When RJO Loki saw the looks of pity on many faces, he mentally snarled but kept his outward composure and commented, “Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m not some tragic figure from a sad play. Scars are just reminders that I survived things others couldn’t.” He leaned back casually, crossing his arms. “And if my dear Rhea thinks I look good with them, well…” Loki smirked. “That’s all I care about anyway. Who am I to argue with good taste?”

“Oh, you’re gorgeous darling, especially with those scars.” Rhea winked at him raking her eyes up and down his form while he just smirked.

“You’ve been causing quite a lot of mischief lately! I am so jealous you didn’t include me in it.” Loki said as he poked her. “Stealing Zeus symbol of power? My oh my~ I must be such a bad influence on you~”

“I did not steal the stupid bolt.”

Loki pouted. “Boooo boring, then who did?”

“Luke a son of Hermes under the orders of Kronos, but the bolt is in the hands of Ares because Luke tricked him and with the help of Kronos' influence, he convinced him that by doing so war will happen,” Rhea said.

Loki sniffed dramatically. “I am almost proud.” Then he sneered. “If I didn’t know what Kronos is capable of doing that is.”

“Hmm, he doesn’t just plan on razing Olympus he wants everything under his control.” Rhea looked at the sky. “This includes other pantheons.”

“Heh, Odin said the same thing,” Loki said as he played with her hair. “I wasn’t listening much 'cause he spoke sooo much it was boring, but I did listen when he said that if Kronos rose again things would end up badly~” He let her hair go after braiding it. “Like full-on world war between pantheons kind of bad.”

“Look at him, braiding her hair. I remember reading about the Norse culture. A man braiding a woman's hair symbolises intimacy, trust, and care. And he did trust and care for her in the beginning, even if he didn’t realise it then. That is so cute,” RJO Drew whispered to RJO Katie, both of them giggling.

Poseidonas narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like the trickster bastard. But he knew how devoted RJO Loki was to his daughter and even if he didn’t like it, he would tolerate him for the sake of his daughter. But one small mistake and he would have RJO Loki’s head on his trident’s spikes.

“That will never happen,” Rhea said. “Anyways, what are you up to these days.”

“Ah you know the usual, pranks here, mischief here, and …  oh! Preparing to start Ragnarök.” Loki said.

Rhea chuckled. “Are you so eager to die by Heimdall hands?”

Loki froze mid-float and looked at her. “ What. ”

Rhea raised an eyebrow. “That’s how Ragnarök will go, you start it everyone dies, including you.”

Loki went through a range of emotions, starting with denial. "That can't be true," he muttered.

Rhea's expression stayed blank.

Loki's face twisted in anger. "You act as if you have all the answers! How could you possibly know that will happen?" He paced back and forth, his hands clenched into a fist. "What kind of seer are you?"

Loki continued to pace back and forth, his mind racing as he tried to come up with a solution. 

"There has to be a way…” His face went pale as if Rhea's words finally sank in. “Why did I not see this before?" he whispered, his voice barely audible.

Rhea didn't say anything, letting Loki process his emotions. She knew that he had to go through this on his own.

Loki's body shook, the thought of his own death was unbearable. He had always thought that he was invincible, that he could outsmart anyone, but now he realised that he was just as vulnerable as anyone else. He wanted to start Ragnarök because … because of revenge.

“Revenge? Why?” ROR Buddha asked, leaning forward in his seat, intrigued.

“The other gods punished me by binding me with my son’s entrails and leaving me to suffer venom dripping on my face. They killed my dear son Narvi and to further agonise me, bound me with my own son’s entrails.” RJO Loki seeths.

"Why did you have to tell me this?" he spat out, seeing how silent she was he decided to take a deep breath and calm down. Waiting for her to speak.

“Wow Loki, look at you. Being sensible for once instead of acting in your anger,” praised RJO Frey.

RJO Loki just makes a face at him before turning back around. I can be sensible when it is absolutely needed. He thinks, pouting.

“You have two choices, One start Ragnarök and end up dying in the war, or two don’t start Ragnarök and live,” Rhea said. “You can still be your mischievous self of course, but it doesn’t have to be to the point where your life is in danger.”

Loki took a deep breath and looked away for a moment, considering his options. He knew deep down that Rhea was right, but the thought of giving up on his quest for Ragnarök was difficult to accept. After a few moments of silence, he turned back to Rhea.

"You're right," he said, surprising even himself with how calm his voice sounded. "I don't want to die ...Not at Heimdall hands at least."

Rhea nodded, relieved to hear Loki's words. "I'm glad," she said softly.

"But," Loki added, a mischievous glint returning to his eyes. "I can't just give up my love of chaos and trickery. Perhaps there's another way to use my skills."

“Don’t anger Surtur.” Rhea suddenly said.

“Umm-hmm.”

“I mean it Loki, if you do then Ragnarök will start by his hand, and you will still die,” Rhea said.

Loki stayed silent and then frowned thinking for a moment, what Rhea said didn't make sense, one moment she said he was the one to start Ragnarök and now she says that if he angers Surtur, the fire giant will be the one who starts Ragnarök, something doesn't add up, the future is set in stone unless...

Loki raised an eyebrow, suspicion in his eyes. "You're contradicting yourself," he said. "First, you say that I start Ragnarök, and now you're saying that it's Surtur who starts it. Which one is it?"

“Both.” She said.

Loki's suspicion grew stronger as Rhea's answer confused him even more. "What do you mean both?" he asked, his voice laced with frustration. "How can it be both?"

Now this interests everyone. What she was saying was two contradicting things. How could it be both?

Rhea took a deep breath before answering. “In one universe Loki started Ragnarök himself followed by the army he convinced to join his cause, Surtur was one of them and he burned Yggdrasil roots destroying all the realms; in another universe, Loki angered Surtur enough for him to start Ragnarök and burn Yggdrasil roots destroying all the realms.”

Loki's eyes widened as he listened to Rhea's explanation. "So, there are different universes where different versions of events happen?" he asked, trying to wrap his head around the concept.

Rhea nodded. "Yes, that's correct. And in each universe, the events that unfold are different from the others. The only thing that remains constant is the outcome of Ragnarök and the destruction it brings."

Loki sat in silence for a moment, contemplating Rhea's words, before the realisation of something hit him. “You…You don’t see the future, or to be more specific you don’t see the future of this world.”

Rhea did not respond.

“You know the future of other worlds, or the future of the worlds parallel to ours, and when there’s a similar event you are able to change it with the information you have,” Loki said before he started to laugh. “Oh~! This is hilarious!” 

“Hang on. So that means, you don’t exactly see the future of your own world. You see the future of other parallel universes and change things in your universe accordingly?” ROR Heracles questioned wanting confirmation. 

“Yes. You’ll see further into the reading how it works, but yes, I do see the things happening in the parallel universe and change things in mine.” Rhea responded.

He paused. “How do I release Fenrir from his chains?”

“The chain that holds him will be shattered,

By the violent quakes of the earth battered,

For ages, he's been held in place,

His only hope, the world tree's embrace.

Will the ground to shake and make the tree sway,

The chains will break on that fateful day,

The wolf-god unleashed, his fury unbound,

As chaos and destruction spread all around

But calm him you must, with soothing sound,

To avert the destruction that will abound.” Rhea responded then gave him an annoyed look.

He stayed silent for a moment before he smirked. “Oh well I shall leave now before Zeus finds your disappearance from his sight too suspicious byeeee~”

Loki disappeared and things around Rhea became normal again.

“Wha…wha-?” Grover opened his eyes. “Did I fall asleep?”

Rhea took out a pen and a journal and started to write.

Grover frowned. “What are you doing?”

“Writing a poem,” Rhea said. “Should I start writing Haikus? I think I should start writing Haikus, but first let's get this Poem out of my head.”

“…who the heck gets inspiration to write a poem in a situation like this… hold on! Pause, don’t answer that.” Grover quickly said when Rhea pointed at herself.

“The Shadow seems blameless in this game,

War was fooled and taken by the thief's shame,

Lightning and Shadow both deceived with the same aim,

And the Sea is accused, bearing the false blame.” Rhea said out loud.

Grover deadpanned. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Rhea shrugged. “I'm going to sleep wake me up when you need me or if there’s something.”

“Hang on. She said that, and I missed it. Ugh! Why was I asleep at that time? She literally explained what exactly was happening in four lines. Could have saved us so much trouble.” RJO Annabeth exclaimed in disbelief.

“Would you have believed me?” Rhea questioned with raised brows.

“Well, not immediately, but eventually I would’ve figured it out,” RJO Annabeth smiled sheepishly, while Rhea just shook her head in exasperation.

“So that is how you started giving out the clues about the quest.” RJO Nico exclaimed in disbelief.

Rhea just smirked. “You can thank darling Loki here for making your life easier by giving me the idea of creating haikus about the quest.”

“You’re welcome.” RJO Loki deadpanned.

The hologram glitched again, and everyone got ready to have a glimpse of the future. Again.

"I need some help," Rhea said. 

"Love help?" Piper asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Strategic help?" Annabeth said, raising an eyebrow. 

"Gaming help?" Leo chimed in, grinning like he knew the answer. 

"Emotional help? 'Cause you definitely need that," Jason pointed out, deadpan. 

Nico opened his mouth. "Help moving a body?" 

Everyone froze and stared at him. 

"What?" Nico shrugged, looking completely innocent. 

"Yes. That," Rhea said, nodding with a smile. 

Everyone turned their gaze to her. 

"Wait, you want to move a body?" Annabeth asked, incredulous. 

Rhea winked. "I mean, Nico’s got the logistics down, so why not?" 

They all paused. 

"We are so not asking any more questions," Leo muttered.

“Nico is the only one who understands me. Honestly! Why would I need love, gaming or strategic help? I love playing games and I’m competitive so I don’t need any help with that when I can help myself. I am a queen of strategies so obviously I don’t need help in that either. And love? Pff-haha haha If I ever need love advice, I definitely wouldn’t be asking you.” Piper flushed in embarrassment or anger, no one cared. “Anyone who helps me regarding my emotions will need emotional help themselves so that’s out of the question too. So, clearly, Nico is the only one who knows me so well.”

Chapter Text

Tyrant sea god scowls,

My haiku did not impress,

Echidna appears.

***

“Tell us about your world’s Echidna. I wanna know how she is compared to our world’s Echidna.” RJO Annabeth asked the people from the ROR world, wanting to know this for a while. 

“Echidna is the daughter of Tartarus and Gaea. She is known as the "Mother of Monsters. She has given birth to many dangerous monsters with Typhon like Cerberus, Hydra, Chimera, Sphinx, Nemean Lion, Orthrus, and Ladon. My father killed her during a rebellion my uncle Adamas started.” ROR Ares answered.

“Rebellion?” Many exclaimed in shock.

“Uncle Adamas didn’t want Zeus to be a King anymore, so he started a rebellion to dethrone Uncle Zeus. When Uncle Adamas asked my father for support, my father killed him, well almost, he was just cut into pieces. Uncle Aidoneus asked Beelzebub to put him back together so now he has a humanoid appearance and lives deep in the Netherworld, not seen by anyone, making everyone believe he’s dead.” Rhea replied.

Everyone from the PJO and RJO world sat in their seats, disbelief written on their faces. What the fuck!?

“Hang on! Echidna is Cerberus’s mother in your universe? In our universe, Nyx is Cerberus’s mother.” PJO Nico exclaimed.

“Really? Hmmm, interesting.” ROR Zeus stroked his beard, intrigued.

Rhea snapped her eyes open to be welcomed by the familiar white ceiling of Poseidonas’ Library, her eye twitched.

“Another nightmare, thank Kronos I appreciate it very much,” Rhea said sarcastically. “Fuck you! I won’t help, you son of a fucking cunt.”

Poseidonas scoffed. “ The filthy Satyr is calling you. ”

“He’s not filthy.” Rhea frowned.

“ It’s revolting. ”

RJO Grover leaned towards Rhea and whispered. “I hope I’m not revolting to him anymore.”

“You’re less revolting than you were before. Don’t worry, he tolerates you,” said Rhea.

“He only tolerates any of us because of you.” RJO Grover deadpanned to which Rhea just shrugged sheepishly.

Rhea deadpanned before she sent her consciousness outside, this time she opened her eyes to see Grover’s face.

“Sup.”

“She lives!” Annabeth said. "You slept long enough for me to cook breakfast." Annabeth tossed her a bag of nacho-flavored corn chips from Aunty Em's snack bar. "And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend."

Grover was sitting cross-legged on a blanket with something fuzzy in his lap, a dirty, unnaturally pink poodle.

The poodle yapped at Rhea suspiciously. Grover said, "No, she's not."

Rhea sneered at it. “What is this thing doing here?”

The poodle growled.

"This thing," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him."

"We have enough money, throw that thing away!"

Grover ignored the question. "Rhea, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Rhea."

Rhea stared at Annabeth, who let out a ‘hem-hem’. The daughter of the sea knew what Annabeth wanted her to do, and she refused.

"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle," Rhea said. "Forget it."

"Rhea," Annabeth said. "I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle."

The poodle growled and Rhea full-on glared while looking down at it, she looked downright intimidating, and the poodle's ears flattened on his head and run behind Grover to hide while whimpering his tail between his legs.

“That was I thought filthy mutt.” Rhea glared at the dog still. “I fucking hate dogs, I'm more of a cat person.”

“Rhea that wasn’t nice!” Annabeth frowned.

“I am not sorry, I love all animals BUT dogs,” Rhea said.

PJO Annabeth burst out laughing making everyone turn towards her. Calming down, she explained why she started laughing. “Percy had just woken up, and saw a poodle, which was pink, and said he was not going to say hello to it, but he ended up saying hello to it anyway. Later he admitted that the only reason he said hello to it was because it was weird being stared down by a pink-coloured poodle, which was giving him heebie jeebies.”

“Your aura gives out such a predatory feeling that it scared that poor dog.” RJO Nico exclaimed, snickering.

“You hate dogs? But what about Mrs. O’leary?” Percy questioned.

“I hate dogs. The only exception is Mrs. O’leary and Fenrir.” Rhea rolled her eyes.

Grover explained that he'd come across Gladiola in the woods, and they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover.

"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" Rhea asked. “Wait, don’t answer that, he read the signs, duh, of course, silly me.”

Grover gave her a blank look. “Never steal the words from my mouth … it’s creepy.”

Rhea grinned.

"So we turn in Gladiola," Annabeth explained in her best strategy voice, "we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."

“You guys don’t listen, We.” Clap. “Have.” Clap. “Money.” Clap. “I took all the money from Medusa’s place.”

“Another 200 won’t hurt.” Annabeth shrugged.

Rhea has to agree. “Touché.” She put her bag on. "We are not taking another bus.” She said.

"No," Annabeth agreed, she pointed downhill, toward the train tracks. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the westbound train leaves at noon."

“I bet it was so convenient that y’all had so much money. We had no money after the bus explosion so we used the money Gladiola got us to go to Los Angeles.” PJO Grover commented.

***

They used the reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle to purchase tickets as far as Denver. Grover was the only one who was sleeping, and he was snoring loudly.

"So," Annabeth asked Rhea, once they'd gotten Grover's sneaker readjusted. "Who wants your help?"

"What?" Rhea looked confused. I do not speak when I sleep…

"When you were asleep, you mumbled, 'F you I won't help' and a bunch of other insults that I won’t tell. Who were you dreaming about?" Annabeth said.

Oh… I said that while awake on the plane. Rhea thought.

Rhea shrugged and told her the dream she had without many details.

“You were leaving details out!?” exclaimed RJO Annabeth, to which Rhea just gave her a look making her turn back sound, grumbling. She knew Rhea didn’t trust her then, so it makes sense she wasn’t told everything, but it is so weird hearing about Rhea not telling her something after so many years of being in the loop regarding, well… everything .

Annabeth was quiet for a long time. "That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."

“He’s an emo got it.”

PJO and RJO Hades just gave her an annoyed look. They weren’t emo, thank you very much.

Annabeth choked on air. “Rhea!”

“What? I call them how I see them! Anyways he offered me to return my mother.” Rhea rolled her eyes. “And help him rise or some shit.”

Annabeth sighed. "I guess...if he meant, 'Help me rise from the Underworld.' If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?"

“Oh please ‘help me rise from the Underworld’ That’s stupid, it’s like you’re saying he can’t get out from there. In terms of army Hades has the biggest army of undead I don’t think the demigods at camp will be able to fight against that.” Rhea said.

PJO and RJO Hades just stare at the book with a small smirk, feeling the furious and startled gaze of his younger brothers. While both Hades were not happy with how the truth was out in the open now, it made them feel very smug about one-upping their brothers who always disregarded them, especially Zeus.

“YOU-!” RJO Zeus shot up from his seat, ready to blast his oldest brother.

“Sit down Zeus. You would’ve known about it if you had not banished me from Olympus. So technically, it's your own fault that you don’t know about it,” RJO Hades snapped.

ROR Zeus frowned at what RJO Hades said. He decided to be silent for now, waiting for some time before voicing out his doubt.

Annabeth bit her lip. “Let’s not think about it.” Annabeth readjusted Grover's cap so it covered his horns. "Rhea, you can't barter with Hades. You know that, right? He's deceitful, heartless, and greedy. I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time-"

“Shadow's cloak of darkness no longer shrouds him in blackness,

Lightning strikes out in anger, accusations without a clue of danger,

Sea wrongly accused, its purity abused,

Time taunts with its ticking, each moment of chaos sticking,

War readies its might, for a cause that's not right,

And the Thief lays in wait, for orders that seal fate.” Rhea said.

Annabeth looked confused. “What?”

Rhea gave her a blank look. “I said what I said.”

Annabeth stopped for a moment her brain working around what Rhea said. That sounded like…

“You explained the whole situation in just six lines. I can’t believe it took me so long to realise that you weren’t just saying haikus or poems,” RJO Annabeth facepalmed, seeing her younger self’s slow realisation.

“It’s ok, you were just a kid. You realised it soon after anyway,” Rhea patted RJO Annabeth’s shoulder.

“What would do if it was your parent in the Underworld?” Rhea asked cutting Annabeth's line of thinking.

“If it’s my dad? I’d let him rot.”

Rhea nodded. “Understandable, I had a step-father once.”

“What happened to him?” Annabeth asked in curiosity.

Rhea gave her a grim smile and suddenly Annabeth did not want to know what happened anymore.

Everyone was reminded of her comment about regretting not torturing her stepfather before killing him and shuddered.

Toward the end of their second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, they passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch.

"I want to do that," she sighed.

"Building?”

"Yes, I would love to build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Rhea?"

"Pictures."

"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years." Annabeth said.

“Who knows? Maybe you will have the honour of building buildings on Olympus one day.” Rhea said.

Annabeth chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t think that would happen.”

“New buildings for gods,

Athena's daughter designs well,

Olympus rebuilds.” Rhea cackled like the haiku composition was some kind of joke.

“What the…was that a haiku ?” Annabeth asked in disbelief.

Rhea just smiled, she could feel Poseidonas' annoyance from her bracelet.

He always hated her haikus, boomer.

“You know, with you spouting actual future like a haiku threw me off in the beginning, like, you just told me I would re-build Olympus, but I was so in disbelief that you were saying a haiku that I totally brushed off what you said,” RJO Annabeth commented, faux glaring at Rhea while Rhea just shrugged her shoulders with a smug smirk, happy that she was able to distract the daughter of Athena from discovering the ‘knowing the future’ truth for a while longer.

They pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told them they had a three-hour layover before departing for Denver.

Grover stretched. Before he was even fully awake, he said, "Food."

"Come on, goat boy," Annabeth said. "Sightseeing."

"Sightseeing?"

"The Gateway Arch," she said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"

Grover and Rhea exchanged looks.

Grover shrugged. "As long as there's a snack bar without monsters."

“Chimera in tow,

Echidna appears,

What did I do, oh?” Rhea said under her breath with a sigh.

“ Shut up .”

Rhea pouted at the bracelet. “Boomer.”

“Poseidon! She just said that Echidna would appear and you told her to shut up!? It doesn’t matter if it’s a different universe, you know how dangerous Echidna is,” Aidoneus chastised his brother, who just sat with a stoic face, but not seen by anyone, squeezed Rhea’s hand in silent apology.

The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long.

They threaded their way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s. It wasn't all that thrilling, but Annabeth kept telling them interesting facts about how the Arch was built, and Grover kept passing Rhea jelly beans.

"You smell anything?" Rhea murmured to Grover.

He took his nose out of the jelly bean bag long enough to sniff. "Underground," he said distastefully. "Underground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything."

Silence.

“Doesn’t You-Know-Who have a Helmet of Darkness?” Rhea started. “It’s a bit like Annabeth's invisibility hat right?”

“Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting." Annabeth said.

"Last time I checked the King of the Underworld wasn’t one of the Olympians,” Rhea said.

She ignored how her bracelet shook a bit.

“WHAT!? What do you mean he’s not an Olympian?” ROR Zeus burst out, not able to contain his incredulousness and rage anymore. How could his counterparts disregard their oldest brother? PJO and RJO Hades were actually supposed to be the ones who should’ve inherited the title ‘King of the Gods’ as the eldest after they defeated their father. But it looks like both the Hades gave up that title, letting their youngest brothers take it up, but they were still banished.

“He has fought by your side, stood against Kronos and the Titans, and yet, you banished him to the underworld? You just banished and ignored him just because what? Because he got the darker domain? Dark doesn’t mean evil! And you call yourself the God of Justice and Law? Ha! You should be ashamed of yourself.” ROR Zeus spat.

Everyone just watched silently as both PJO and RJO Zeus spluttered, not being able to form any argument against their counterpart’s words.

Annabeth nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus the darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat if what I've heard is true...."

"It allows him to become darkness," Grover confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"

Annabeth frowned for a moment thinking about something before she pushed the thought aside.

“What were you thinking?” RJO Leo asked.

“I was thinking about how it sounds so similar to my hat, about how someone could’ve used my hat to steal the Bolt when we visited Olympus, but I didn’t believe that at that time because I had my cap with me all the time and wouldn’t let anyone use it. Now that I think about it though, Luke probably took my hat when I was sleeping and stole the bolt and returned my hat before I woke up. That bastard!” RJO Annabeth spat, enraged.

“Imaging he’s watching us right now.” Rhea smiled.

Her companions looked super uncomfortable after that.

“Blue jelly beans! Yum!”

***

Rhea hated elevators with passion! And then said elevator stopped to let a fat lady inside.

The fat lady being the mother of monsters.

"No parents?" the fat lady asked them.

She had beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged so much, that she looked like a blue jean blimp.

"They're below," Annabeth told her. "Scared of heights."

"Oh, the poor darlings."

The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now, Sonny. Behave." The dog had beady eyes like its owner, intelligent and vicious.

And Rhea glared at the ‘dog’.

At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded Rhea of a tin can with carpeting. And she did not like being confined in a space six hundred feet in the air.

Annabeth kept talking about structural supports, and how she would've made the windows bigger and designed a see-through floor.

She probably could've stayed up there for hours, but luckily for both Rhea and Grover, the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.

Rhea steered Grover and Annabeth toward the exit, loaded them into the elevator, and she was about to get in when she realized there were already two other tourists inside. No room for her.

Ugh, what a luck.

The park ranger said, "Next car, lady."

"We'll get out," Annabeth said. "We'll wait with you."

Rhea gave them a thumbs up, Grover and Annabeth both looked nervous, but they let the elevator door slide shut. Their car disappeared down the ramp.

Now the only people left on the observation deck were Rhea, a little boy with his parents, the park ranger, and the fat lady with her ‘Chihuahua’.

Rhea looked at Echidna who smiled at her forked tongue flickering between her teeth.

The Chihuahua jumped down and started yapping at Rhea.

"Now, now, sonny," the lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here."

"Doggie!" said the little boy. "Look, a doggie!"

His parents pulled him back.

The Chihuahua bared his teeth at Rhea, foam dripping from his black lips.

"Well, son," the fat lady sighed. "If you insist."

The daughter of the sea narrowed her eyes before she snapped her finger, and the little boy along with his parents, and the park ranger fainted.

Some blood control to make sure they don’t interfere or tell the wrong tale.

Percy stared at the hologram, eyes wide. After the Aklys situation in Tartarus, he had vowed to never use the darker side of his powers. He was terrified of them. He still remembers his Annabeth’s terrified gaze on him. He didn’t want his loved ones to fear him. But even he couldn’t control blood. He didn’t even know he could. Seeing his counterpart do it so easily made him a bit nauseous.

As if she could hear his thoughts, Rhea spoke up. “You can’t hide your darker side, no matter how much you want to. There’s a reason Poseidon is called the ‘Father of Monsters’. Not only does he father actual monsters, all of Poseidon’s demigod children carry a darker side within them, something wild and untamed, like the unpredictable storms and the sheer, untamed power, that makes them a little monstrous.”

Percy swallowed hard upon hearing that. He tried to ignore it, but no matter what, he couldn’t get Rhea’s words out of his mind. PJO Annabeth took one of his hands in hers making him snap his eyes at her. Her eyes asked him if he was okay. He just gave her a small smile before turning back around, desperately trying to ignore how that smile didn’t reach his eyes.

The fat lady chuckled. “Daughter of the sea, how cruel of you.”

She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, you could see that her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were side-ways slits, like a reptile's.

The Chihuahua barked louder, and with each bark, it grew. First to the size of a Doberman, then to a lion. The bark became a roar.

“What can I say?” Rhea said without emotions in her tone as she took out her trident. “I take after my father in that regard.”

The Chimera was now so tall its back rubbed against the roof. It had the head of a lion with a blood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail, a ten-foot-long diamondback growing right out of its shaggy behind. The rhinestone dog collar still hung around its neck, and the plate-sized dog tag was now easy to read: CHIMERA-RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS-IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS-EXT. 954.

“Tartarus has a phone number?” Rhea blinked.

The snake lady made a hissing noise that might've been laughter. "Be honoured, Rhea Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my broods. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"

Rhea couldn’t stop herself. “Echidna the anteater?"

She howled, her reptilian face turning brown and green with rage. "I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me. For that, Rhea Jackson, my son shall destroy you!"

Rhea gave her a blank look. “Yeah get in line, there’s a looooot of people who want to kill me, and you aren’t even in the top fifty!”

The Chimera charged with its mouth open to take a bite from Rhea.

Yeah, big mistake.

The moment the monster opened its mouth the demigoddess thrust her trident at the same time into the roof of its mouth.

Monsters Lessons: How to Attack 101 , when a demigod has a sword or a spear use your claw cause there’s a 90% chance that the demigod will attack your mouth if you open it.

Clearly, someone was neglecting their lessons.

“Really? That’s what you’re thinking when a monster is attacking you?” ROR Aura asked in disbelief. 

“Yup,” Rhea responded. She had honestly forgotten her Apollo’s sisters were here.

“It is a very good advice.” ROR Ares murmured to ROR Heracles, praising her thinking. ROR Heracles just nodded his head in agreement.

The Chimera turned to dust leaving a pair of daggers behind as a spoil of war and Rhea picked up her trident and the daggers.

“Chimera’s spoil of war is a pair of daggers?” RJO Clarrise asked.

“Yup, and it’s laced with venom by the way,” Rhea responded.

“The pair of daggers that are on the wall in your cabin? They’re laced with venom?” RJO Clarrise shouted, shocked. Rhea just nodded her head in agreement, shrugging nonchalantly, making many feel like they were losing their minds.

Echidna screamed in rage. “Cursed daughter of Poseidon! I shall have your head!”

Rhea threw her trident at Echidna who dodged to the side.

Echidna smirked. “Hah! How will you defend yourself now that you threw your weapon!” She walked up to the trident. “I shall kill you with your own trident!”

Before she could even touch it, the trident floated on its own and thrust forward, Echidna turned to dust, it quickly flew to her hand, and she grabbed the trident.

With a swift flick of her wrist, she twirled the trident a few times and with a sudden motion, she slammed the bottom of the trident onto the ground causing a jagged crack to split the floor beneath her feet.

“Time to get down.” Rhea shook her head. “For the mother of monsters to lose that easily is disappointing, I am going, to be honest, I never thought that it was going to work.” She said as she got into the elevator.

“ You threw the trident knowing that there’s a chance the plan isn’t going to work, ” Poseidonas stated his voice echoing from the bracelet.

“You’re going to find out that monsters no matter how some are powerful are extremely stupid, and I am lucky that she was a prideful idiot,” Rhea responded. “In her mind, me dying by a trident would be ironically poetic.”

“Rhea! Why would you try something that you are not 100% sure would work? Life or death situations are not the time you should be experimenting with things.” Aidoneus reprimanded her, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Her and Poseidonas were so similar, it was giving him a headache. Like father, like daughter. He thought, shaking his head with a minuscule smile.

“That was fast,” was the only thing Percy could get out, still shocked at what he saw. He continued before anyone could ask what he meant. “I almost got burnt, got bit by the snake so I had its venom in my bloodstream, my sword had fallen into the river below, and I wanted to save the mortals, who were awake and seeing everything mind you, so I jumped down from the arch into the river.”

“How did you not go ‘splat’ on the ground? I mean, you do know that the river is a little farther away from the arch right? Not right below it?” PJO Chris asked Percy.

When they realised that Percy didn’t know what exactly happened because he was suffering the venom’s effect, everyone turned towards PJO Poseidon.

PJO Poseidon sighed. “Yes, I made sure he fell into the river. Do you think I would just watch him die? Of course, I would save him.”

Many demigods couldn’t help but feel jealous at the amount of care they heard in PJO Poseidon’s voice when talking about Percy. Percy was so lucky to have two parents, both of whom loved him unconditionally.

The hologram glitches again, making everyone turn their attention back to it, eager to see whatever it’ll show.

Life, according to Rhea:

Rhea, Annabeth, Grover and Nico are in Rhea’s cabin.

"Life is just a dumpster fire held together by toothpicks, floating in an ocean of expired yoghurt and quantum jellyfish, who are all secretly plotting to overthrow the moon because it’s the only thing in the sky that’s ever made sense! Stars are just dots, stuck in a stew, and the Universe is made out of cheese." Rhea declared like she was announcing the end of the world.

Grover, looking utterly lost, slowly shook his head. "...What just happened?"

Nico simply stared, eyes wide, clearly processing the fact that Rhea had just pulled some insane nonsense out of thin air. "I think I just lost a year of my life hearing that."

"...I think I need a drink," Annabeth said, shaking her head.

Grover whispered to Nico, "I don’t think I’m ever going to be okay after hearing that."

Nico whispered back, "If she doesn’t spontaneously combust in the next ten minutes, I’ll consider it a miracle."

Rhea ignored them biting into an unidentified chunk of... something. 

You don’t want to know what that meat was, trust me.

“What” “The” “Fuck” exclaimed the two sets of Stoll twins.

“What did I just hear?” ROR Heracles murmur, perplexed.

“True,” ROR Buddha toasted using his lollipop.

"Holy cosmic cheese," Percy mumbled under his breath, nodding.

"The best cheese." PJO Gorver added with a nod.

"You two are idiots..." PJO Annabeth snorted.

Everyone just stared at the hologram with wide eyes and mouths dropped, not understanding what they just witnessed.

Chapter Text

Fierce god of battle,

Ares fills me with disgust,

I taunt back.

***

“No surprise there. You have a hobby of angering all the gods and goddesses you meet.” RJO Nico commented.

“And making an enemy out of them,” RJO Grover continued.

“Sup bitches and bros and non-binary hoes, her majesty has graced you with her presence,” Rhea smirked as she looked at Annabeth and Grover.

“Rhea!” Grover hugged her.

“What happened up there?”

“Nothing important, killed a Chimera here, and Echidna there,” Rhea said.

Annabeth opened her mouth.

Rhea raised a finger. “Don’t ask questions I will not answer, now if you’ll excuse me for a moment, I shall do something quick.” She said as she walked to the Mississippi River. “Yoohoo for the messenger Nereid that is in the river, I shall meet you at the beach in Santa Monica, see ya!”

The said nereid was confused.

“SO! My dad wants me in Santa Monica! Let’s go.” Rhea started to walk while humming under her breath. “War plotted and planned to lead them to doom,

But she knew and saw through his gloom,

Against all odds, they returned with might,

She defeated the trickster and won the fight.”

“You ever wonder what’s going on in her head?” Annabeth asked Grover.

“You don’t wanna know,” Grover said. “I don’t wanna know and let’s keep it that way!”

“Is it normal for her to start spouting rhymes all the time?” Annabeth asked.

Grover thought about it for a moment. “Sometimes? But never this much, I'm surprised she finds the right words.”

Annabeth decided to keep her suspicions to herself.

“The poor nereid!” RJO Stoll twins cracked up. Almost everyone had an amused smile on their face imagining the nereid’s confused face.

“What did the nereid tell you exactly?” PJO Piper asked Percy.

“She told me that I must go to Santa Monica and that I should not trust the gifts and that my father believed in me” Percy quoted the words he remembers the nereid saying to him in the water.

“Gifts? You mean Ares’ pitiful charity?” RJO Grover whispered to Rhea to which she just nodded her head.

“So you had your suspicions before she told you?” PJO Annabeth asked her counterpart.

“She didn’t tell me like. I figured it out. Admittedly it took way too long for me to realise it and I'm ashamed of that, but I figured it out. Though I’m pretty sure she was making it more obvious so that I would find out.” RJO Annabeth replied.

***

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your father's summon."

They wandered through downtown for about half an hour, the air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis.

Finally, they found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. They veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping our eyes open for patrol cars.

The were three adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure they were up to no good.

Grover took out the spray gun. "It's seventy-five cents," he grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"

"Don't look at me," she said. "Rhea is the one who holds the money the only thing I have on me is the bag of Drachma."

Grover turned to look at Rhea.

“Explain,” Rhea said.

“We’re going to use Iris-messaging," Annabeth said. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods."

"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"

"Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow," Grover said.

Rhea gave him a look suddenly water forcibly emerged from the spray gun and stayed floating in the air while copying ‘rain’, but the water never touched the floor it continued to go down and then up in a circle, the light shined perfectly and created a rainbow.

“Free water.” Rhea smiled.

“It is so embarrassing remembering those times. No one explained anything to me so I didn’t even know what IM’ing was and I was so lost, even after the first quest,” Percy commented, annoyance evident in his voice. PJO Annabeth, PJO Grover and PJO Chiron looked ashamed. 

PJO Chiron couldn’t blame anyone for his incompetence. It was his job to make sure Percy knew everything before going on a life-threatening quest but the poor boy didn’t even know the basics before leaving. He could blame the possibility of WW3 distracting him, but his main priority was teaching the youngsters and he failed in that, and he didn’t even make sure that Percy learnt anything after his first quest according to what Percy just said.

PJO Grover was feeling guilty. He was so afraid of going to the underworld and the possibility of getting his searcher’s licence that he didn’t notice how much Percy was struggling. Sure he helped Percy by explaining things to him here and there, but that was not enough. Not when you’re on a life-threatening quest where you could die anytime.

PJO Annabeth was ashamed that she was so invested in their parent’s rivalry and the arrogance of getting a chance to go on a quest that had no idea what was going on with Percy. Gosh, she was such a bitch when she was young!

“Huh.” Annabeth was a bit impressed but she snapped out of it and took a Drachma in her hand.

She raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering."

She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer.

"Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then there were looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island Sound in the distance. They seemed to be on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to them at the railing was a sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.

Rhea rolled her eyes. “It’s Luke.”

"Rhea!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

"We're ... uh ... fine," Annabeth stammered. She was madly straightening her dirty T-shirt, trying to comb the loose hair out of her face. "We thought—Chiron—I mean—"

There’s nothing worse than to see someone having a crush on someone else. Rhea nearly gagged.

"He's down at the cabins." Luke's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?"

"I'm right here," Grover called as he stepped into Luke's line of vision. "What kind of issues?"

Just then a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers vibrated so much, it shook the pavement.

"Chiron had to—what's that noise?" Luke yelled.

Rhea dropped the water cutting the conversation and Annabeth turned to look at her.

“Rhea!!!”

“Sorry, sorry, I lost concentration.”

That was a lie, she could control the water in her sleep with no problem, she just didn’t want to see Luke's face any more than necessary that’s it.

“I knew it! I knew the connection didn’t get cut off because you lost concentration. You had way too much control over your powers even then for that to happen,” RJO Grover exclaimed jumping up from his seat excitedly, before sitting down with a sheepish look when he saw the looks he was getting. “I knew it,” he whispered to which Rhea, RJO Annabeth and RJO Nico just snickered in amusement.

When Percy realised that many had their heads turned towards him, he sighed and started talking. “He said that word had leaked about the stand-off between Dad and Zeus and that the campers were choosing sides and how it was like the Trojan War all over again. Then I explained everything that happened including my dreams, which I know, I shouldn’t have told him everything . Then he told me how it had to be Hades because he was there at the winter solstice and because he had the Helm of Darkness, you know, cause you’d have to be invisible to steal such a powerful weapon and then he said Annabeth was like a sister to him.” He finished with a big saccharine smile.

"Come on, let's find some dinner." Rhea smiled. “You two look like you’re going to fall any minute and so do I!”

A few minutes later, they were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around them, families were eating burgers and drinking malts and sodas.

Finally, the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow sceptically. "Well?"

Rhea said, "We want to order dinner."

"You kids have money to pay for it?" She said quite rudely too while chewing her gum like a cow.

“You don’t have to be rude you know,” Rhea said. “And yes we do have the money.”

Grover's lower lip quivered, and Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger.

Suddenly a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb.

All conversation in the diner stopped. The motorcycle's headlight glared red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather but leather that looked like ... well, Caucasian human skin.

The guy on the bike would've made pro wrestlers run for Mama.

He was dressed in a red muscle shirt, black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, and he had a cruel face wicked with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights.

As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose as if they were hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations.

The waitress blinked as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked them again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"

The biker said, "It's on me." He slid into our booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth against the window. He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?" He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back toward the kitchen.

The biker looked at Rhea who looked unfazed by the aura he was sending her way, not even an inch of anger boiled inside of her.

What a weak aura, I was crushed by one stronger than this. Rhea thought thinking about Poseidonas torture training.

Everyone felt the feeling of anger coming over them making them turn to RJO Ares just to see him sitting in his seat, seething with his fist clenched. 

“I’m pretty sure Heracles has a stronger aura than this knock-off Ares,” ROR Zeus commented offhandedly.

“Knock-off!?” RJO Ares growled.

“Are you hard of hearing? He said our Heracles definitely has a stronger aura than you. You should be ashamed of yourself if he does, considering he’s not a god.” ROR Hera scoffed.

“What!?” Many voices ring out in the chamber.

“I ascended by drinking Zeus’s blood. I’m immortal but I’m not a god. I’m a Demi-God,” ROR Heracles declared proudly.

His words made everyone from the PJO and RJO universe except Rhea’s gang shocked.

“Can you show us your aura?” PJO Travis asked, excited.

“Yes, please. Can you?” PJO Conner continues.

ROR Heracles raised an eyebrow, looking in his adopted father’s direction for permission. When granted, he let his aura, which he kept locked, loose. Immediately, he could see many having trouble breathing and trembling in their seats. The only ones who weren’t bothered by his aura were Rhea. Even her friends sat with clenched fists. After a few seconds, he retreated his aura back and saw that many had sweat coating their skin from the effort of sitting still. It was evident that if they weren’t sitting, they would’ve fallen to their knees.

“Wow!” RJO Stoll twins breathe out.

RJO Ares wiped his forehead to get rid of the sweat, fuming in his seat at the humiliation.

He gave her a wicked grin. "So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?"

The words may have not been directed to Poseidonas specifically, but the God was still offended.

“You know who I am, little cousin?"

“Ares.”

Ares grinned and took off his shades. Where his eyes should've been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. "That's right, punk. I heard you gave one of my sons a concussion."

Rhea smiled. “I did.”

“That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know? What I'm here for, I heard you were in town. I got a little proposition for you."

The waitress came back with heaping trays of food cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes.

Ares handed her a few gold drachmas.

She looked nervously at the coins. "But these aren't..."

Ares pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?"

The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold.

Rhea ignored all that and started to take a bite from her plate. “Anyways what do you want?”

“Nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little ... date with my girlfriend.”

“Aphrodite, yes go on.” Rhea was bored.

Ares gritted his teeth but decided to ignore the interruption. “We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."

"And let me guess you can’t do it yourself cause you don’t feel like it?"

The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter.

"A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Rhea Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" He leaned forward.

“If me refusing to fetch your shield for you makes me a coward then your inability to get it yourself makes you an incompetent god.” Rhea smiled at him, leaned forward too to meet him in the middle of the table and started to whisper in his ear. “Or maybe you’re the cowardly one, I remember the story of Hephaestus catching you and Aphrodite in a net, is that why you couldn’t get your shield? Because there’s a trap?”

~

The corner of Poseidonas mouth lifted a bit after what he heard.

~

The daughter of the sea sat down with a smirk on her face, she could feel the anger radiating from Ares in waves.

Sweet, sweet smell of anger. Rhea thought.

“You are crazy!” exclaimed RJO Michael.

“Look at him being proud of her already,” ROR Zeus whispered to ROR Hera, who was looking at her younger brother’s expression on the hologram intently. Watching her cold brother who never liked anyone form a bond with a 12-year-old girl whom he would one day claim as his daughter was so captivating.

“I can’t believe my counterpart is such a coward,” ROR Ares spat in contempt.

Her companions looked nervous.

"I know all about your quest, punk. When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful ..." He licked his lips, as if the very thought of the master bolt made him hungry. "Well ... if I couldn't find it, you got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back.”

He’s keeping everything in… I'm almost impressed he didn’t blow up. Rhea thought.

“You mean the slaying of Halirrhothius? Yeah, I know.” Rhea ignored Annabeth's frantic gesture of ‘shut up!’. “I respect you for that one.” ← Sarcasm. 

Ares smirked. “Anyways, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."

“You told him Hades stole the bolt,” Rhea said before she took a sip from her drink.

"Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest." Ares proudly said.

Rhea sighed. “Listen I'm tired, if this was a game I would have skipped your whole NPC dialogue. Alright fine, we will do this side quest of yours. Where’s the fucking shield.”

“NPC dialogues! Hahaha… Wow! How do you think all these comebacks and comments so quickly?” PJO Leo asked Rhea.

“What can I say? It’s a talent of mine,” Rhea replied, shrugging.

Annabeth wanted to jump from the closest window and get away, and so did Grover.

“The water park is a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride."

After that being said Ares was gone.

"Not good," Grover said. "Ares sought you out, Rhea. This is not good."

Annabeth then said. "I hate Ares as much as anybody, but we don't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune."

“A true god has no need for support,” Rhea commented.

"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," Annabeth said. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."

“A true god has no need for support,” Rhea repeated. “Yet he acted almost scared talking about that park."

Annabeth and Grover glanced nervously at each other.

Annabeth said, "I'm afraid we'll have to find out."

“What she said is true. A god, a true god doesn’t need any support. It’s pathetic, how you need the belief of the mortals to stay alive. You are gods. And goddesses. You are a higher power. After Lord Khaos of course. Why would you need mortals whose lives are fleeting? Calling you all our counterparts just embarrasses us.” ROR Hermes commented with disgust towards their PJO and RJO counterparts.

The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time they found the water park. Judging from the sign, it once had been called WATERLAND.

The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry waterslides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around the asphalt. With night coming on, the place looked sad and creepy.

"If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date then he should be ashamed of himself," Rhea said, staring up at the barbed wire.

"Rhea," Annabeth warned. "Be more respectful. He's still a god. And his girlfriend is very temperamental."

“Silly me, they deserve each other.” Rhea rolled her eyes.

"Maia!" Grover's shoes sprouted wings.

He flew over the fence, did an unintended somersault in midair, and then stumbled to a landing on the opposite side. He dusted off his jeans as if he'd planned the whole thing. "You guys coming?"

Annabeth and Rhea had to climb the old-fashioned way, holding down the barbed wire for each other as they crawled over the top.

The shadows grew long as we walked through the park, checking out the attractions. There was Ankle Biter Island, Head Over Wedgie, and Dude, Where's My Swimsuit?

They found a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of–

"Clothes," Annabeth said. "Fresh clothes."

She snatched an entire row of stuff off the racks and disappeared into the changing room. A few minutes later she came out in Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. A Waterland backpack was slung over her shoulder, obviously stuffed with more goodies.

"What the heck." Grover shrugged.

Soon, all three of them were decked out like walking advertisements for the defunct theme park.

“You all look so ridiculous. I can’t believe you’d wear those abominable clothes, Rhea. I thought you had at least some fashion sense back then,” commented RJO Drew, grimacing.

“Hey! All our clothes were dirty. Screw us if we took the opportunity for wearing fresh clothes. Plus, I tried to make do with what was there but there wasn’t much option to work with so,” Rhea shrugged.

They continued searching for the Tunnel of Love and then right in front of them was an empty pool that would've been awesome for skateboarding. It was at least fifty yards across and shaped like a bowl.

Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guard with wings spread and bows ready to fire.

On the opposite side of us, a tunnel opened up, probably where the water flowed into when the pool was full. The sign above it read, THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!

Grover crept toward the edge. "Guys, look."

Marooned at the bottom of the pool was a pink and white two-seater boat with a canopy over the top and little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glinting in the fading light, was Ares's shield, a polished circle of bronze.

Annabeth ran her fingers along the base of the nearest Cupid statue.

"There's a Greek letter carved here," she said. "Eta. I wonder ..."

“I don’t smell any monsters,” Grover said after he sniffed. “I’m going down.”

“WAIT!” Rhea grabbed him.

Grover nearly lost his balance. “What? What?”

“A trap was set by the crafter inside,

This place is full of fake web weavers to hide,

He crafted them with great care,

To scare his victims caught within his snare.” Rhea said.

Grover deadpanned. “Rhea this is really not the time for poetry.”

Rhea looked annoyed.

“Crafter…” Annabeth frowned. “fake web weavers? Web weavers … Spiders?” Her eyes widened. “There are spiders here??? No wait you said fake web weavers, so fake spiders. Crafter… Eta… Hephaestus!”

“YES!” Rhea sighed. “Oh finally! There’s a trap made by Hephaestus here and it’s why Ares avoided this place!”

“So the whole poetry thing wasn’t nonsense?” Grover asked. “You’re an Oracle????”

Rhea deadpanned. “No.”

“But you just gave us a … prophecy or something close to it at least,” Annabeth said.

“That was pure poetry with the warning,” Rhea said before she summoned water from the pipe and directed it to the shield along with the pink scarf there.

“In other words a prophecy!” Annabeth said.

“It’s bullshit!” Rhea said as she levitated the shield and scarf with water and brought it to her.

“Rhea stop denying the truth!” Annabeth snapped. “I had my suspicions and you confirmed it, War plotted and planned to lead them to doom, But she knew and saw through his gloom, War came to us Ares came to us! And he led us here, but you knew he was trying to get us in trouble and so you stopped us from falling into the trap!”

Rhea deadpanned and grabbed the shield and the scarf that reeks of heavy perfume, Rhea slapped Grover's nose away from it and the Satyr snapped out of the magic.

“So you were deliberately giving them clues so that they could figure out that you know the future. Why?” asked PJO Will.

“Well… I knew we’d be going on many, many quests together in the future and it would be better if they knew. Cause then, if I tell them not to do something or do something, they’d do it without arguing too much. If they didn’t know, they’d ask too many questions, try to do something I told them not to do and create an even bigger mess than what it was before. So, I decided to just get it out of the way.” said Rhea.

“Alright.” Annabeth took a deep breath before she looked around for a moment and found what she was looking for connected to one of the Cupids. “See that wire there?”

“Yeah?” Rhea then paused. “Annabeth I swear if you’re going to do what I think you’re going to do.”

“Anything to prove you wrong!” Annabeth then cut the wire.

Noise erupted all around them, of a million gears grinding, as if the whole pool were turning into one giant machine.

Thankfully, the trio weren’t in the pool.

Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position and shot, but not at the demigods.

They fired at each other, across the rim of the pool. Silky cables trailed from the arrows, arcing over the pool, and anchoring where they landed to form a huge golden asterisk.

Then smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between the main strands, making a net.

The trio watched in silence.

The Cupids' heads popped open. Out came video cameras. Spotlights rose up all around the pool, blinding the pool with illumination, and a loudspeaker voice boomed: "Live to Olympus in one minute ... Fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight ..."

And then it happened.

An army of wind-up creepy crawlies: bronze gear bodies, spindly legs, little pincer mouths, all appeared in the pool.

"Spiders!" Annabeth screamed.

Rhea grabbed Annabeth and Grover’s hands and started to run in the other direction.

“SEE??? I WAS RIGHT!” Annabeth was proud of herself.

“You put yourself in a situation where you face your phobia just to prove you’re right?” Grover looked at her like she was crazy. “You’re insane.”

“You tell anyone, and I will end you,” Rhea said. “Swear on the Styx you won’t.”

“I—”

“Do it, swear you won’t tell anyone that I know the future or tell prophecies.”

Annabeth sighed. “I swear on the Styx that I won’t tell anyone about you knowing the future or your ability to tell prophecies.”

“Good…now let’s go back to Ares.”

“I thought Rhea was the crazy one, but I changed my mind. You are even crazier. Why would you put yourself through facing your phobia just to prove Rhea wrong? She gave you guys so many clues to figure it out. She would’ve told you the truth sooner or later anyway.” RJO Katie exclaimed.

“Why did you ask her to swear on the Styx?” Percy asked his counterpart.

“I didn’t trust her at that time. If needed, she would’ve pushed me down a flight of stairs to get something done. She wasn’t loyal to me. So I had to make sure she wouldn’t go blab to anyone, especially to someone who should know that I know the future.” Rhea replied.

“Like Luke,” RJO Chris commented. Rhea pointed to him, confirming it.

“Now, there’s only a handful of people whom I trust with everything and she’s on top of the list. After my father and my uncle of course. She’s my Emanator of Knowledge for a reason.” said Rhea.

“Umm, What’s an Emanator?” PJO Annabeth asked, intrigued.

“An Emanator is a term referring to those who have attained the permission of a God or Goddess, to draw power from the said God or Goddess's domain,” RJO Annabeth explained.

“Wait, that’s a thing?” asked PJO Hazel, surprised. Rhea and RJO Annabeth nodded in confirmation.

“So, who’s Emanator, are you? Apollo’s? Because he’s the God of Knowledge? I thought about your mother, but you don’t seem very close to her, and her domain is wisdom, not knowledge, so that’s out of the question,” asked PJO Drew. “Also, if it’s Apollo, which Apollo’s Emanator are you?”

PJO Athena hummed. “That does make sense.”

ROR Apollo looked at the girl in disbelief at her question before side-eyeing PJO Athena. Didn’t Rhea mention that RJO Annabeth is her Emanator of Knowledge? He looked around and saw almost everyone waiting for RJO Annabeth’s response. Khaos give me patience. And them a brain. The girl tried at least. I'll give her a point for that. A+ for the effort. How is Athena the Goddess of Wisdom again? He thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

Chapter Text

Gambling all night long,

Lost in the Lotus Casino,

A car catches my eye.

***

The war god was waiting for them in the dinner parking lot.

"Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed."

Rhea threw the shield at him.

Annabeth and Grover caught their breath.

Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.

"See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."

The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back.

KINDNESS INTER-NATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO

TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.

Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck was unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. And here's a little something for doing the job."

He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to Rhea.

Inside were fresh clothes for all of them, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuff Oreos.

Like we don’t already have our bags… Rhea thought. But the lightning bolt is here, and that’s all that matters.

“Wait, what?” Many voices exclaimed in shock. Those who were involved in the quest didn't say anything. They just glared at their respective Ares. 

"Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover bowed. "Thanks a lot."

Rhea gave Ares an innocent look. "You're pretty smug for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."

He glared at her. "We'll meet again, Rhea Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."

He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.

Annabeth said, "That was not smart, Rhea."

"You would’ve known if I cared, but as you can see, I don’t give a fuck."

"You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god."

“Are we talking about the same Rhea? Rhea, who loves making both gods and goddesses so angry that they're tempted to curse her?” RJO Thalia asked incredulously. 

“Oh, c'mon! Don't be so hard on yourself. You still didn't know me then. But you learned. They always do.” Rhea smirked. 

"Hey, guys," Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but ..."

He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their checks, two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck.

"If we're taking the zoo express," Grover said, "we need to hurry."

They ran across the street and quickly went into the truck.

Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals they have ever beheld:

A zebra, a male albino lion, and a springbok

Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the springbok had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time.

The springbok had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL!

Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur.

There was an enraged yell. Everyone turned to see it was ROR Artemis with her bow drawn and an arrow notched, ready to strike. “Let me at them! I'm gonna make them wish they were never born!”

“Artie! Artie! Calm down. From what I know, they're dead and Rhea has already helped those poor creatures.” ROR Apollo tried to calm his twin down, succeeding only slightly. 

Everyone turned towards PJO and RJO Artemis. While they didn't shout like their ROR counterpart did, they were trembling with suppressed anger. But what surprised everyone was the way both PJO and RJO Apollo kept their distance from their twin. But anyone who's seen the twins together knew it was better that the male twin stayed away from his sister. She was not very welcome with male interaction, not even her own twin! Which is absurd. While it is obvious that she loves her brother, her aversion to males has put a distance between the twin's relationship. 

"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Human zoo transport?"

He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his reed pipes and Rhea would have joined him. But just then the truck's engine roared to life, the trailer started shaking, and we were forced to sit down or fall down.

They huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell, the heat and the flies.

Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth was in favour of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but I pointed out it wouldn't do much.

Rhea gave the meat to the lion, the turnips to the zebra and the springbok along with water.

Grover calmed the springbok down, while Annabeth used her knife to cut the balloon off his horn.

Rhea was the one to cut the gum from the zebra’s mane after asking the poor animal to sit.

“We shall help them escape in the morning, for now, we need to rest,” Rhea said after adding more water to the lion bowl.

“ Thank you .”

Rhea had to do a double take and confirm that yes she understood the lion when he spoke, but she decided to not say anything. She told Grover to promise the animals they would help them more in the morning, then they settled in for the night.

“Is this–?” ROR Zeus didn't finish the question but the two brothers understood. Aidoneus and Poseidonas nodded their heads as an answer to their brother's question. No one (except Rhea’s gang) understood what just happened but they knew not to question anything unless you wanna become shish kebab. 

Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened their bag of Double Stuff Oreos and nibbled on one half-heartedly.

They rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. The zebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips and looked at Rhea hopefully.

Rhea approached the lion to pet him on the head and apologized, the lion let out a ‘huff’ before he leaned into her hand for more caress.

Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep, strategic thoughts.

Rhea walked before she sat beside her to sleep.

***

In this nightmare.

Rhea was standing at the edge of Tartarus looking down.

“Truly, my lord.” A voice she recognized belonged to Luke said next to her. “You are well-named the Crooked One. But was it really necessary? I could have brought you what I stole directly–”

“You?” Kronos said with scorn. “You have already shown your limits. You would have failed me completely had I not intervened.”

“But my lord!”

“Peace, little servant. Our six months have brought us much. Zeus's anger has grown. Poseidon has played his most desperate card. Now we shall use it against him. Shortly you shall have the reward you wish, and your revenge. As soon as both items are delivered into my hands ... but wait. She is here.”

“What?” Luke tensed. “You summoned her, my lord?”

“No,” Kronos growled. “Blast her father's blood, she is too changeable, too unpredictable. The girl brought herself hither.”

“Impossible!”

“For a weakling such as you, perhaps.” Kronos snarled. “So... you wish to dream of your quest, young half-blood? Then I will oblige.”

The scene changed.

Black skeleton hands grabbed her and tried to drag her into the pit, only for someone to grab her from behind and pull her.

Rhea turned around to meet the blue eyes of Poseidonas, and when she woke up, she found him standing beside her outside of the trident.

“Thank you.” Rhea mouthed at him.

Poseidonas just scoffed before he returned to the plane again.

“Look at him. Pretending not to care about her. He voluntarily saved her. He may have not accepted it then, but he's already started caring for her.” ROR Zeus whispered to his wife. ROR Hera nodded in silent agreement, observing her younger brother's action on the hologram. 

Poseidonas's love wasn’t something he proclaimed with grand speeches or flashy displays. It wasn’t loud like Zeus’s, which was filled with golden gifts and public declarations. No, Poseidonas’s love was quiet, steady, and constant, much like the tides.

It was in the silence. He wouldn’t directly tell you that he cared, but if you paid attention, you’d understand. His love was evident in his steady presence, in the way he was always there when it mattered most, even if he didn’t say much. It wasn’t spoken; it was felt, woven into every unspoken gesture, every lesson, and every nod of approval.

That was simply who Poseidonas was—not the type to say it, but the type to show it. His family recognized this. So far, there were only two people he loved unconditionally: Aidoneus and Rhea.

"The truck's stopped," Grover said. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."

"Hide!" Annabeth hissed.

Annabeth had it easy. She just put on her magic cap and disappeared. Grover and Rhea had to dive behind feed sacks, hoping they looked like turnips.

The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.

"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliances."

He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes.

"You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face.

The lion roared in indignation.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said.

“At moments like this, I remember why I hate humanity,” Rhea mumbled, only Poseidonas and Grover heard her.

Grover looked downright murderous, and he agreed internally with Rhea.

“You hate humanity?” Brunhilde asked cautiously. 

“I don't particularly care about them,” Rhea replied, waving a dismissive hand. 

When Brunhilde first arrived here for the reading, she thought about using the daughter of Poseidon in her plans, but she discovered that it was a fool’s thought, the girl was too unpredictable. Brunhilde prided herself in knowing many things she shouldn't know, but the Greeks knew how to keep a secret. You only know what they want you to know. And she didn't know anything about the daughter of the most feared God. She doesn't exactly have any hopes of having an advantage over the girl or her relatives after the reading is finished. It's pretty obvious that the girl is a Goddess now, she's not blind like those from the other universes, and the girl knew what was happening in the ROR world, and has known it for a long time, which means the girl knew the truth about her plans. 

The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? At least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"

The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at Rhea. “ Free me, my lady. Please .”

“HUGH!” The trucker suddenly put a hand on his heart before he fell on the floor not moving.

“Maurice?” Another man entered. “Maurice what the heck??? HUGH!!!” The same thing happened to him.

Annabeth appeared with her mouth open and cautiously approached the two men, putting two fingers on their pulse. “They’re unconscious…weird.”

“Pity.” Rhea calmly walked up to the animal cages and opened them.

“What did you do?” Percy questioned. He looked terrified about knowing the answer. 

“I can control all types of fluids. I just controlled a teeny tiny bit of their blood to stop their blood circulation for just a second and made them faint.” Rhea's nonchalant reply had many looking at her wide eyes but she didn't spare any of them a glance. 

The zebra burst out. It turned to Rhea and bowed. “ Thank you, my lady .”

Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing.

There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. They rushed to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebra galloping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels, casinos and neon signs.

“I just released a zebra in Las Vegas,” Rhea said.

"Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said.

"The other animals first," Grover said.

Rhea broke the locks and Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'd used for the zebra.

"Good luck," Rhea said told the animals.

The lion bowed to her like the zebra did before he and the springbok went off together into the streets.

“So not only can you talk to all types of horses and their variants, but lions too?” PJO Leo questioned out loud. When he got the answering nod from Rhea, he mumbled to himself. “Man! She just became more awesome.” When he saw the glances sent his way, he grinned nervously. “Terrifyingly awesome! Uhh, terrifying!” He breathed a sigh of relief when everyone’s focus went back to the hologram.

Some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos.

"Will the animals be okay?" Rhea asked Grover.

"Don't worry," he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them."

“Good.”

“Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck." Annabeth said.

Rhea turned to look at the two men for a moment, there was a very inaudible ‘pop’ sound, satisfied, she followed the other two.

“You just killed them.” PJO Annabeth spoke up with a trembling voice. 

“Of course! I couldn't in good conscience leave those filths alive.” Rhea scoffed as if doing anything other than killing those filthy human beings was blasphemous. 

***

They must have taken a wrong turn because they found themselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking.

Rhea groaned. “Oh no…”

The doorman smiled at them. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"

They got led inside and took one look around, and Grover said, "Whoa."

The whole lobby was a giant game room.

But what caught Rhea’s eyes was the Mercedes 2005.

"Hey!" a bellhop said.

"Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key. The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, loom 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just call the front desk. Here are your Lotus-Cash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides." He then smiled. “Enjoy your stay."

“Uh, you guys go upstairs I will go do something quick!” Rhea said before she ran up to where the car was she approached one of the workers. “Excuse me? How can I win that car?”

The man smiled at her. “Are you here to try your luck? Win a jackpot and the car is yours!”

....Alright just this once .

Rhea took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. “Tyche my lady listen I know I never prayed to you besides when it was exams day, but please I'm begging you make me lucky just this once so I can win this I will make any offering you want send me a list and I will bring you the things you want, just please, please make me win the jackpot.”

“ You have no dignity, ” Poseidonas commented.

Shut the fuck up asshole. Rhea thought.

~

Tyche blinked as she looked down at the demigoddess that prayed to her, she shrugged.

“Why not.”

~

Rhea stood in front of the slot and took a deep breath, used the Lotus Card, then pulled the handle and hoped.

Then the Slot stopped.

“Oh my god.”

“Congratulations! We have a winner!”

“I GOT THE FUCKING JACKPOT BITCHES!!!!!” Rhea screamed before she took the car key from the man's hands. “Can you bring the car to the door? I will wait for you there.”

“Sure little lady.”

Rhea ran up to the elevator, she entered a shop that sells sports bags and bought one along with a ball, once she reached the room door she slammed it open.

“Rhea wha…”

“Get up, pack anything valuable and let’s go,” Rhea said while putting anything that they could need in the bag. “We need to go now .”

“Really Rhea? That's how you got the car?” RJO Annabeth spoke up in exasperated astonishment. 

“What exactly did Tyche ask for the offerings?” RJO Nico asked snickering. 

“Oh! She asked for two Starbucks drinks, a whole chocolate cake and a bed with no wave motion.”

“A bed?” Many voices echoed the question. 

“Procrustus was a block down from the Underworld’s entrance. I had to go and kill him and send one of the beds he was selling as an offering for Tyche.” Rhea said. 

“You didn't come across Crusty on the way to the Underworld?” PJO Grover asked. 

“Nope. Why waste time? We went directly to the Underworld with no detours.” Rhea smirked lightly. 

***

Well, the car was there waiting for them at the door, Rhea took out the keys opened the door and pushed Annabeth and Grover in.

The Lotus bellhop hurried up to her. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?"

"We're leaving," Rhea told him.

"Such a shame," he said, he looked heartbroken. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members."

“I am sorry, but if it makes you feel better I did enjoy my time here,” Rhea said as she opened the driver seat door.

He gave her a shy smile before he let the double door open so the car could go through, and Rhea drove.

As she drove in the street Annabeth noticed the date.

It was June eighteen.

“Three days left until the summer solstice,” Annabeth said out loud. “We were stuck there for three days?? ”

Grover looked shocked too. “WHAT?”

“Lotus Casino, Lotus Eaters,” Rhea said.

Annabeth groaned. “I can’t believe I fell for it!” She then frowned. “Hey Rhea?”

“Yeah?”

***

“How do you know how to drive?”

“Ehe~”

“You had three days!?”

“Are you kidding!?”

“Oh come on!”

The PJO trio who were on the first quest complained loudly. 

“How long did you have?” ROR Hermes asked. He was enjoying this ‘getting to know the daughter of Poseidon’ session very much. So many secrets and so much chaos! 

“One. We had one day to go to the Underworld, make a detour along the way to Procutrus's place and then find the correct entrance to the Underworld, negotiate with Hades and escape from him and whatever happened next and then finally get the bolt in Zeus's hand.” Percy took a deep breath after finishing his rant. 

“Well… At least you got the bolt back to Zeus and prevented WWIII.” RJO Will shrugged with an awkward smile. 

Chapter Text

Amphitrite's beauty,

Mesmerising like the sea,

I admire her grace.

***

RJO Amphitrite smiles. So this is the past where they meet for the first time. She was very interested in hearing Rhea's thoughts during that moment. Every time they met up to spend some time together, Rhea always complimented her, though she could sense some story behind the reason for it. She wanted to know what the reason was. 

Rhea stopped at the beach in Santa Monica. She did not wait for a signal or anything, nor did she waste time. She jumped right into the water, and something rubbed against her leg.

Sliding along beside her was a five-foot-long mako shark.

The shark was nuzzling her like a puppy for attention. She grabbed the fin with both hands. It took off, pulling her along.

The shark carried her down into the darkness. It deposited her at the edge of the ocean proper, where the sand bank dropped off into a huge chasm. It was like standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon at midnight, not being able to see much, but knowing the void was right there.

The surface shimmered maybe a hundred and fifty feet above.

“Rhea Jackson.”

“Yeah not to be rude or anything, but can you give me the three pearls? I'm kinda in a hurry.” Rhea quickly said.

A hand brushed against her cheek and the face of the woman became clearer.

And at that moment Rhea knew that his woman was not the same nereid in the Mississippi the aura was different, it was more regal.

A gorgeously beautiful woman, with black hair pinned back in a net of pearls and silk, with mocha-dark eyes, and a kind smile.

“Interesting.” She tilted her head the smile still on her face. “The messenger was right.”

Rhea continued to look at her. “You’re…”

“Amphitrite.” She said while brushing Rhea’s stay hair to the side.

Amphitrite took Rhea’s hand in hers and put the three pearls in her palm before she closed Rhea’s hand in a fist.

“Safe travel young one.” She said as she kissed her cheek before disappearing.

Rhea was too stunned to speak.

"You were the one who gave her the pearls!? That’s when you met her?" RJO Poseidon questioned, completely stunned. When Rhea had been underwater right before the Titan’s war, he was stunned to find out that his wife had already met Rhea. Even more surprising was the lack of hostility between them. Poseidon had always felt jealous of the bond that Rhea and his wife shared. To Rhea, he was just a stranger she wanted nothing to do with. In contrast, his wife along with their son, occasionally met up with Rhea for lunch or coffee to spend time together. Poseidon loved his wife and son dearly, but he couldn’t help feeling resentment because it was clear that Rhea preferred their company over his.

***

And that’s how the other two found her, the expression of shock still on her face.

“Rhea? Are you alright? What happened?” Annabeth asked.

“I think…… I think I'm going to steal Amphitrite from my father and keep her to myself.” Rhea then laughed at the horrified look on both Annabeth and Grover's faces. “Kidding! Kidding! But I do want to have dinner with Amphitrite from time to time she’s nice.”

“Never joke about that,” Grover warned.

Rhea closed the door of the car as she got in, Annabeth sat on the passenger seat beside her. “So she gave me these pearls as a free escape, I know what you’re going to say before you even say it, there’s no such thing as a free meal, but trust me these are legit.” She looked at the pearls. “I wonder if I will be able to create something like this one day.”

Grover who sat at the back met Rhea’s eyes through the rearview mirror. “Maybe? It smells of sea magic.”

“Huh! The more you know! Well to the Underworld we go.”

“Thank you, Rhea. That’s very kind,” RJO Amphitrite smiled in amusement. Rhea just shrugged her shoulders, not bothered in the slightest. On the other hand, RJO Loki and ROR Apollo both pursed their lips in faux vexation. They had obviously heard the story of this, but it didn’t make them any less crabby.

PJO Amphitrite looked on in displeasure. Why did her counterpart even bother meeting with that bastard child? Why is she so cosy with her? That child is the evidence of her husband’s infidelity but she’s still on good terms with her? 

“Were you able to create something like those pearls?” Percy questioned curiously.

“Oh yes. I was able to. It took a few years, especially with Dad’s ‘practice till you get it’ technique,” Rhea responded.

“What do you mean ‘practice till you get it’?” PJO Annabeth questioned, intrigued.

“Oh, nothing much. He explained it to me once and told me to do it, I didn't understand it but he never wanted to show me either, so I tried over and over again until I got it. I repeated it so much that it became muscle memory for me, I could do it in my sleep.” Rhea might complain that her training is torture, but she is very thankful for his teachings. 

Hearing about her training, everyone from the PJO and RJO worlds had wide eyes. Those from the ROR world were not really surprised by Poseidonas's teaching method. It seemed like something Poseidonas would do. 

***

“I was able to find some nymphs that can take my car to Camp Half-Blood, so I don’t have to say goodbye to it!” Rhea smile. “So the Underworld!”

They stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS.

Underneath, stencilled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.

It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece.

“What if we don’t make it alive?” Annabeth bit her lip.

Rhea deadpanned. “Annabeth I will slap the negativity out of you.” She said while showing Annabeth her hand. “We will make it.”

Annabeth nodded. "I'm sorry, Rhea. You're right, we'll make it. It'll be fine."

She gave Grover a nudge.

"Oh, right!" he chimed in. "We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem."

They walked inside the DOA lobby.

MUZAK played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel grey. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or waiting for the elevator.

Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything nor was Rhea planning on talking with the souls.

The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so they had to look up at him.

“This is so different from Helheim. This feels like a cheap motel compared to Helheim,” ROR Hermes whispered to ROR Ares who nodded in agreement. 

He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-coloured skin and bleached-blond hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.

"Your name is…?" Rhea frowned. “I'm sorry sir can you tell me?”

He leaned across the desk and his smile was sweet and cold, like a python, right before it eats you.

"What a precious young lady." He had a strange accent-British, maybe, but also as if he had learned English as a second language. "It says C-H-A-RO-N. Say it with me: CARE-ON."

"Mr. Charon."

"Well done." He sat back. "Good thing you didn’t confuse me with that centaur, I hate being confused with that old horse-man. And now, how may I help you little dead ones?"

“Oh yeah about that, we’re not dead!” Rhea said with a smile while the two behind her facepalmed. “We’re on a quest and I'm trying to clear my name you see? Being called a thief without proof, and I want an audience sooooo.” She put a pouch of drachma in front of him. “This will be yours if you let us pass and see Hades.” She took out another pouch. “And this will be yours when we arrive at the other side of the river Styx.”

Charon looked at her for a moment. “I like your way of thinking.”

“Oh wow, with the way you talk, it’s like Hades doesn't pay you well enough for such hard work," Rhea said.

"Oh, you don't know the half of it. How would you like to babysit these spirits all day? Always 'Please don't let me be dead' or 'Please let me across for free.' I haven't had a pay raise in three thousand years. Do you imagine suits like this come cheap?" Charon complained.

"Death is freedom, if I saw Thanatos I would kiss him,” Rhea said.

“ She did kiss Thanatos when she saw him,” RJO Hazel giggled, remembering the moment it happened. 

“ You actually kissed him!?” RJO Loki exclaimed in faux shock and anger, gasping dramatically. 

“Just on the cheek. She just kissed him on the cheek,” RJO Frank hurried to correct, thinking Hazel's comment made the couple fight. 

Oh, still so innocent, Rhea thought, smiling slightly.

“Oh, I know. She tells us everything. The first thing she told us after we met again was that she kissed Thanatos,” RJO Loki replied, lazily flicking his hand as if to dismiss the notion of him not knowing about the situation. 

Charon snapped his head in her direction. “Oooh, you have issues!”

“I will mention a pay raise while I'm talking to Hades," Rhea said.

He sighed. "The boat's almost full, anyway. I might as well add you three and be off." He stood, scooped up the pouch of money, and said, "Come along."

They pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits, who started grabbing at their clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things Rhea couldn't make out. Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling,

"Freeloaders."

He escorted the three into the elevator, which was already crowded with souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with them and pushed them back into the lobby.

"Right. Now, no one gets any ideas while I'm gone," he announced to the waiting room. "And if anyone moves the dial off my easy-listening station again, I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?"

He shut the doors. He put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel and we started to descend.

"What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing," Charon said.

"For how long?"

"Forever, or until I'm feeling generous."

"Oh," she said. "That's... fair."

Charon raised an eyebrow. "Whoever said that death was fair, young miss? Wait until it's your turn. You'll die soon enough, where you're going."

"We could surprise you,” Rhea said with a smirk.

"Ha! We’ll see about that."

Everything got a sudden dizzy.

They weren't going down anymore, but forward. The air turned misty. Spirits around them started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into grey hooded robes. The floor of the elevator began swaying.

Charon's creamy Italian suit had been replaced by a long black robe. His tortoiseshell glasses were gone. Where his eyes should've been were empty sockets like Ares's eyes, except Charon's were totally dark, full of night and death and despair.

He saw Rhea looking, and said, "Well?"

“Hmm, this reminds me of something,” Rhea said while smiling at him.

“What does it remind you of?” RJO Jason asked, not sure if he wanted to know, but Rhea didn’t reply. She just shrugged her shoulders with a secretive smile.

Although she couldn’t see it clearly because the flesh of his face was becoming transparent, letting Rhea see straight through to his skull, she could tell that he was amused.

The floor kept swaying.

Grover said, "I think I'm getting seasick."

The elevator wasn't an elevator anymore. They were standing in a wooden barge.

Charon was poling them across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things, plastic dolls, crushed car-nations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges.

"The River Styx," Annabeth murmured. "It's so..."

"Polluted," Charon said. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything you come across, hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."

“ You can expect nothing more from humanity, they are filth, ” Poseidonas commented out loud.

Rhea just smiled.

Those from the ROR world, especially those who reside in Helheim were horrified with the condition of the River Styx. 

***

Mist curled off the filthy water. Above them, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the colour of poison.

Annabeth grabbed hold of Rhea’s hand for comfort.

A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones the howl of a large animal.

"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light. "Bad luck for you, godlings."

The bottom of their boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark. A woman holding a little girl's hand. An old man and an old woman hobbling along arm in arm. A boy no older than they were shuffling silently along in his grey robe.

Charon said, "I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise."

“Oh right! Here.” Rhea handed him the pouch.

“Never thought you would keep your promise,” Charon confessed.

“I am many things Charon, but when I say I will do or give something I keep my word,” Rhea said.

He counted the golden coins inside the pouch, then took up his pole. He warbled something that sounded like a Barry Manilow song as he ferried the empty barge back across the river.

They followed the spirits up a well-worn path.

There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBOS.

Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top.

Beyond this were toll booths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon.

The howling of the hungry animal was really loud now and right in the front Rhea could see Cerberus clearly but not enough for her to see what breed he was.

The dead queued up in the three lines, two marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH.

The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were crawling.

"The fast line must go straight to the Asphodel Fields," she said. "No contest. They don't want to risk judgment from the court, because it might go against them."

They got closer to the gates. The howling was so loud now it shook the ground at their feet.

“And that’s Cerberus!” Rhea said out loud. “Huh … He's a Rottweiler."

“What?” Grover was confused for a second till his vision cleared. “Oh…”

Cerberus a purebred Rottweiler, twice the size of a woolly mammoth, and had three heads.

The dead walked right up to him with no fear at all. The ATTENDANT ON DUTY lines parted on either side of him.

The EZ DEATH spirits walked right between his front paws and under his belly, which they could do without even crouching.

“This is so different from our Helheim,” ROR Anubis commented, stunned.

“Helheim? How is it different from our Underworld?” PJO Nico asked. He was very interested in knowing about his father’s counterpart’s territory.

“Helheim is a single territory where all Underworlds from different Pantheons are combined. We have the Egyptian section, Hindu section, Japanese, Greek, Norse, etcetera, etcetera. Every God rules over their respective Pantheon except for Hades who rules over the rulers and all the territories cause in this case we see him as the Emperor in a way. After the Titanomachy Tournament, Hades became the ruler of Helheim. This was done so that he could supervise the demons to prevent them from causing any trouble in the Netherworld or going up to Midgard and causing chaos. Helheim is an ominous and hostile environment. It has little to no vegetation and it is filled with mountains. The sky is also mostly dark and cloudy, making it even more difficult to grow food and plants. Helheim is respectively the only place for punishment when it comes to mortal souls, and a place that is the equivalent of ‘heaven’ for mortals is in another dimension. Hades rules over it too, but he mostly lets Thanatos look after it.” ROR Beelzebub explained monotonously. Everyone in the chamber listened with rapt attention. 

“It sounds like it’s more dangerous than our Underworld,” PJO Nico commented thoughtfully.

“It is. It is also way better organised,” ROR Anubis states.

PJO and RJO Hades bristle with indignation at Anubis’s subtle criticism but keep their mouths shut as it is evident that their counterpart had the most difficult job and he does it way better than they do.

"Why do I see him better…” Grover gulped.

"I think..." Annabeth moistened her lips. "I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead."

“Ya’ll couldn’t see him since the start?” Rhea asked confused before it hit her. “Oh right… I remember why now…”

Thankfully she was ignored.

The dog's middle head craned toward them. It sniffed the air and growled.

"He smells the living,” Rhea stated.

"But that's okay," Grover said, trembling next to me. "Because we have a plan."

"Right," Annabeth said. her voice sounds quite so small. "A plan."

“By the sound of your voices, I can tell in fact there is no plan.”

“Rhea that doesn’t make me feel better.” Grover trembled.

They moved toward the monster.

The middle head snarled at them, then barked so loud their eyeballs rattled.

"What's it saying?" Rhea asked.

"I don't think humans have a four-letter word that translates, exactly."

“Dang, I really wanted to know! I hate dogs but…” Rhea said while fetching the basketball from her bag. "See the ball? You want the ball, you do want it don’t you? If you do then sit!"

Cerberus looked as stunned as Annabeth and Grover were.

All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated.

"Sit!" Rhea said this time more firmly.

Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated like the air let out of tyres.

“Such a good boy!” Rhea threw Cerberus the ball.

He caught it in his middle mouth. It was barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads started snap-ping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.

"Drop it.'" Rhea said with a firm voice like before.

Cerberus's heads stopped fighting and looked at her. The ball was wedged between two of his teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He made a loud, scary whimper, then dropped the ball, now slimy and bitten nearly in half, at Rhea's feet.

"Good boy." Rhea picked up the ball, after getting rid of the monster spit all over it. “On your back Cerberus!”

Cerberus obeyed and laid on his back belly up.

“Good boy! You’re a very good boy! Belly rubs?”

Cerberus's tail started to wag like crazy, Rhea could only scratch the side of his belly, but it was enough to make one of his back paw twitch in delight.

“Aww, you’re a good boy! Yes, yes you are!” Rhea coo-ed. “But we need to go now, you can keep the ball.”

Cerberus started to whimper and … gave her the sad puppy look.

“Aw, baby I'm so sorry.” Rhea tried to resist.

Cerberus gave her a small lick and whimpered more.

“You can search for me on the surface to play if you want?” Rhea said unsure.

Apparently, that was enough to brighten his mood.

Grover and Annabeth pushed her through the metal detector, which immediately screamed and set off flashing red lights. "Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!"

Cerberus started to bark.

They burst through the EZ DEATH gate, which started even more alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld.

A few minutes later, they were hiding, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for backup from the Furies.

Rhea could hear the mournful keening of Cerberus in the distance.

“I thought you hated dogs,” Grover said.

“Well… Cerberus is an exception it seems.” Rhea said. “I really hope to see him again.”

“You tamed the Cerberus with a small ball? Are you serious?” RJO Leo exclaims in exasperation.

“Our Cerberus is a Doberman. With straight ears. He’s the best dog ever,” ROR Anubis exclaims excitedly. 

“We messed up when Percy called Charon, Chiron. Percy had to bribe him with some gold coins and a promise to talk to Hades about a pay rise. Then it was almost the same, except it was Annabeth who tamed Cerberus,” PJO Grover told everyone.

“This is getting more and more chaotic. I’m having so much fun. Hehehe!” ROR Loki muttered to himself, laughing. ROR Thor who heard him just sighed in exasperation, shaking his head in defeat.

Chapter Text

Misunderstood words,

Meeting lord of the emos,

The three of us go.

***

RJO Apollo burst out laughing at the words in the haiku. “Lord of the Emos. HAH! That’s pretty accurate and very funny.”

RJO Hades clenched his teeth, glowering at the hologram. He didn’t want everyone to see the humiliation he had faced because of Rhea’s words.

The Underworld in simple words was:

A little dark.

A little gloomy.

And, as always, hey! Full of dead people.

What are you gonna do?

“Grover give me the flying shoes please,” Rhea said.

Grover frowned. “Why?”

Rhea gave him a look and Grover pouted before he took off the shoes.

“Thank you!” Rhea grabbed the shoes from their laces in one hand as they continued walking.

They tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls.

They crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates toward a black-tented pavilion with a banner that read:

JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION

Welcome, Newly Deceased!

ROR Anubis frowned at the words on the banner. “Why would you say welcome to the dead? It’s the Underworld, not a vacation or a tourist spot to say welcome. Especially when eternal damnation is mentioned”

ROR Beelzebub’s raised brow is the only indication of his curiosity. “Who exactly does the judgement?”

“There are three judges who decide the fate of souls arriving in the Underworld. Based on their actions in life, souls are sent to either Elysium where heroes and those who did something good in their lives are sent, or Asphodel Fields where ordinary souls who did neither good nor evil are sent, or Fields of Punishment where those who committed serious crimes are sent. The judges who decide whom to send where are Minos, who was the former king of Crete, known for his harsh and sometimes cruel rulings, Rhadamanthus, who is often considered the fairest, and Aeacus, who was a former king of Aegina, known for his strong sense of duty.” RJO Nico explained.

Rhea rolled her eyes, annoyed. “Fucking Minos. I don’t know what Hades was on when he decided to make Minos a judge.”

Aidoneus beside her shook his head in disappointment. “My counterpart clearly has questionable judgment. I don’t understand why he thought someone like Minos should be allowed to decide the fates of people’s afterlife. Why couldn’t he choose someone fair and just?”

ROR Buddha leaned back in his seat, opening the wrapper of a new lollipop. Rhea double-takes when she sees that. Where the hell is he getting those? Wait… He’s a god. Of course, he can get what he wants whenever he wants , she thought, mentally face-palming. 

Popping the lollipop in his mouth, ROR Buddha questions. “What exactly is Minos’s deal? Who is that guy?” ROR Buddha asked.

“Alright, so, Minos was the King of Crete, a powerful ruler, but he wasn’t exactly known for making the best choices. His father was none other than Zeus, and his mother was Europa, a mortal princess Zeus carried away—by transforming into a bull, of all things.” RJO Annabeth started.

“That sounds like your Zeus alright.” ROR Shiva interrupted with a snort. When he saw the glare RJO Annabeth was shooting him, he waved his hand her way. “Sorry, sorry. Continue.”

RJO Annabeth shot one final look ROR Shiva’s way before clearing her throat and continuing. “Anyway, we’ve already told you about the Minotaur. The reason Minos forced the Athenians to send seven boys and seven girls every nine years to be thrown into the Labyrinth as sacrifices for the Minotaur was because his son, Androgeus, was killed while in Athens. It was his revenge. Anyways, when Theseus killed the Minotaur with Ariadne’s help, he found out that Daedalus also helped them, and he was furious. So, Minos trapped Daedalus and his son Icarus in a tower. But Daedalus, being a genius, built wax wings to escape. That, of course, led to Icarus flying too close to the sun, the wax melting and plummeting into the sea.”

"This whole family had issues." ROR Adam muttered to himself which was heard by everyone.

Rhea just shrugged, nodding her head in agreement. “You’re not wrong. Minos himself met a bad end. He went to Sicily looking for Daedalus but got tricked by the local king’s daughters. They boiled him alive in a bath.”

“That’s… poetic.” ROR Nostradamus commented.

ROR Hermes frowned, bewildered. “And he’s responsible for judging the souls?”

PJO Nico pursed his lips. “Yes. How does it work in your world?”

“In the Netherworld, every God and Goddess whose domain is connected to death from every single pantheon are responsible for judging the fate of souls, Like Anubis, who weighs hearts on his sacred scale, to Osiris, Hel, Yama, Mictecacihuatl, Mictlantecuhtli, Nergal, Sedna, and countless others. When souls enter the Netherworld, they come holding scrolls that reveal the truth of their lives. Those who lived virtuously come carrying a white scroll in their right hand, while those who committed evil come holding a black scroll in their left. Some arrive carrying a scroll in each hand—those are the ones who are truly judged.” Aidoneus starts explaining.

“So the ones with one scroll are already judged before they even step into the Netherworld?” PJO Annabeth asks, curious.

“Exactly. It’s the ones with two scrolls—the ones who have lived virtuously but have also committed a terrible sin—that need judgment.” Aidoneus answers patiently.

“But how do you decide? Do you gods just argue over it?” PJO Leo asks.

“No, we debate, like lawyers in a courtroom to simplify. But in the end, it all comes down to Anubis' Scale.” Aidoneus answers gesturing towards where ROR Anubis sat. ROR Anubis waves his hand in acknowledgement but lets Aidoneus continue explaining.

“Because his scale doesn’t lie. It weighs not just actions, but intentions. It sees the truth behind every crime, every virtue. If someone committed patricide, for example, that’s a terrible crime, right?” Aidoneus questions.

“Obviously,” Percy answers.

“But what if,” Aidoneus continued. “The father was a monster? What if he was abusing his wife and children, and the only way to stop him was to strike him down? Is that still a crime?”

Percy hesitated, flinching slightly remembering his mother technically killing his stepfather after his first quest. “I mean… technically, yes. But morally? That’s different.”

“Exactly. Anubis’ Scale doesn’t just see what someone did—it sees why they did it. It considers motive, circumstance, and necessity. If someone acted out of malice, they are punished accordingly. But if they acted out of necessity or justice, they still serve a sentence, but only to… cleanse their soul you could say. After that, they move on to whatever afterlife they deserve.” Aidoneus explains.

“So they don’t just throw every sinner into eternal punishment like it happens in our world?” PJO Nico questions.

“No. Every single Death God and Goddess judge fairly. It’s not just about good and evil—it’s about truth. The ones who truly deserve damnation, get it. The ones who can be redeemed are given a chance.”

Silence stretched within the chamber as everyone absorbed the explanation.

PJO Nico muttered. “That actually makes sense. It’s… fair.”

Aidoneus smiled slightly. “Us gods are many things, but in death, we are just.”

Out the back of the tent came two much smaller lines.

To the left, spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path toward the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields and miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas.

Even from far away, you can see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music.

Rhea squinted her eyes. “Isn’t that Sisyphus pushing the boulder?”

Grover squinted his eyes too. “Yep, that’s him.”

“Oh! There goes the boulder down the hill.” Rhea pointed at the boulder that rolled down the hill.

“Even if I can’t hear it I can tell he’s screaming,” Annabeth said. “Let’s go.”

"Is it bad that I find it funny?" Rhea said and the other two shrugged.

The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was much better. This one led down toward a small valley surrounded by walls–a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld.

Beyond the security gate were neighbourhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas, medieval castles and Victorian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colours. They could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking.

Elysium.

In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium.

“Elysium is beautiful,” Rhea said.

"That's what it's all about," Annabeth said. "That's the place for heroes."

“It’s depressing how small it is, only a few people do good in life,” Rhea said. “I can tell I won’t end up there.”

Annabeth cringed. “Don’t be ridiculous! We will do the right thing and … hope for the best.” The idea of death was uncomfortable to her.

Rhea snorted. No, really I belong more in Tartarus with how twisted my mind is .

They left the judgment pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel Fields. It got darker. The colours faded from their clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin.

After a few miles of walking, they began to hear a familiar screech in the distance. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. Above the parapets swirled three dark batlike creatures: the Furies.

"I suppose it's too late to turn back," Grover said wistfully.

"It will be alright.”

"Maybe we should search some of the other places first," Grover suggested. "Like, Elysium, for instance..."

"Come on, goat boy." Annabeth grabbed his arm.

Suddenly the sneakers in Rhea’s hands sprouted wings and shot forward.

Rhea released the shoes.

“Where is it going?” Annabeth ran after the shoes and was followed by Grover.

Rhea took her sweet time and walked after them.

“Knowing what is going to happen next can be so helpful,” Percy whispered to PJO Grover who quickly nodded his head in agreement.

The shoes were going to barrel straight through the gates of Hades's palace before they veered sharply to the right in the opposite direction.

And then Annabeth and Grover stopped dead in their tracks after seeing what was inside the tunnel.

The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle was a chasm the size of a city block.

And the shoes went right into the hole.

“This is…” Annabeth looked uncomfortable.

“The entrance to Tartarus,” Rhea said.

There was something, a deep whisper in the darkness.

Rhea frowned and concentrated. It’s not Ancient Greek…

Another few seconds and Annabeth said, "Rhea we need to—"

Rhea raised a finger to stop her for a moment.

The sound was getting louder, a muttering, evil voice from far, far below them. Coming from the pit.

“Come to me. Give it to me! I shall rise and destroy you!”

Rhea shivered.

Grover sat up. "Wh-what's that noise?"

"We have to get out of here," Annabeth said.

Together, they walked back up the tunnel. And suddenly Rhea’s backpack gained weight.

The voice got louder and angrier behind them.

“Run, if we don’t start running I fear that we will fall into the pit the hard way,” Rhea said before they broke into a run.

A cold blast of wind pulled at their backs as if the entire pit were inhaling.

They kept struggling forward and finally reached the top of the tunnel, where the cavern widened out into the Fields of Asphodel. The wind died. A wail of outrage echoed from deep in the tunnel.

“Curse you!!!!”

"What was that?" Grover panted, and they collapsed in the relative safety of a black poplar grove.

"Tartarus, it’s as if the Primordial was trying to inhale us,” Rhea said.

“Ble-hehe! I don’t want to be food!”

Rhea sighed and stood up. "Let's keep going, we can’t waste any more time.”

Annabeth turned to Grover. “Can you walk?"

He swallowed. "Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway."

He tried to sound brave about it, but he was trembling as badly as Annabeth and Rhea were.

They were almost relieved to turn their back on that tunnel and head toward the palace of Hades.

Almost.

“I was wearing those shoes when this happened to us. Almost fell into the pit. I’m so thankful those shoes were loose for my hooves. They slipped from my feet and fell into the pit while I ran the opposite way with Annabeth and Percy.” PJO Grover shivered remembering that moment vividly.

The Furies circled the parapets, high in the gloom. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-story-tall bronze gates stood wide open.

Up close, the engravings on the gates were scenes of death. Some were from modern times, an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls-but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago.

Inside the courtyard was a garden.

Multicoloured mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as my fist, clumps of raw diamonds.

In the centre of the garden was an orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blooms neon bright in the dark.

"The garden of Persephone," Annabeth said. "Keep walking."

“No!” Rhea grabbed and pulled Grover away to keep him from picking a big juicy one. “You don’t want to get stuck in the underworld!”

And Grover snapped out of it. “Thanks.”

ROR Hermes frowned heavily. “What? Persephone’s garden? Why would she have a garden there?”

Rhea waved a dismissive hand and explained. “Hades and Persephone in our world are married. The whole kidnapped and married spiel. Demeter lost her mind and stopped making things grow, hence the world turned into a wasteland—famine, dying crops, the whole apocalypse scenario. When the gods asked Zeus to do something, Zeus asked Hades to return Persephone, but you know the rules of our Underworld—anyone who eats food down there is bound to it forever. And guess what? Persephone ate six pomegranate seeds. So, the gods struck a deal—Persephone would spend six months with her mother on Olympus, and six months with Hades in the Underworld. That’s why we have seasons. They have a complicated love story. Hades is actually one of the least unfaithful gods, I have to admit. But, Persephone does get terribly jealous when Hades falls in love with a mortal and has a demigod kid, but she herself has demigod kids and Hades most of the time doesn’t know about them.”

PJO and RJO Hades whip their head around towards their wives who wince at their gaze. Both PJO and RJO Hades clench their teeth and fists and turn back around, fuming. They don’t turn when they feel their wives trying to get their attention, content with ignoring them for now.

They walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black marble portico, and into the house of Hades.

The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. There was no ceiling, just the cavern roof, far above.

Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear. Some wore Greek armour, some British redcoat uniforms, and some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulders. They carried spears or muskets or M-16s.

None of them bothered them, but their hollow eye sockets followed them as they walked down the hall, toward the big set of doors at the opposite end.

Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at the three demigods, rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests.

"You know," Grover mumbled, "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen."

Rhea narrowed her eyes when her backpack weighed more again, the weight didn’t bother her, but it was the problem it would bring that did.

A hot wind blew down the corridor, and the doors swung open. The guards stepped aside.

"I guess that means entrez-vous," Annabeth said.

Right inside was Hade sitting on his throne.

He was at least ten feet tall, for one thing, and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, and his hair was shoulder-length and jet-black. He wasn't bulked up like Ares, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther.

“Dunno if I just have high standards that are impossible to reach or something, but I don’t find him handsome at all,” Rhea mumbled. 

Many looked at her with incredulous expressions, to which she shrugged. “Have you seen him? " she asked, gesturing to Poseidonas, who sat stoically at her side, and then towards Aidoneus on her other side, whose face showed how amused he was. “Or him? Look at them! Or any of them!” She gestured towards those from the ROR world. “Now tell me if this is still your standard.” She gestured towards the Gods and Goddesses from the PJO and RJO worlds.

Most demigods shrugged as if saying ‘You’re not exactly wrong’ and turned back around. You could feel the smugness radiating from ROR people while PJO and RJO Gods and Goddesses stewed in their jealousy. 

If they weren’t in front of Hades, Grover would have kicked her.

"You are brave to come here, daughter of Poseidon," he said in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."

“Lord and Uncle,” Rhea said with a bored voice. “I come with one request."

"She sounds so bored?" PJO Thalia muttered snickering. "Calling Hades 'Uncle', but you can hear that there’s no fear or respect in the title. She’s calling him that for the sake of it, not because she considers him her uncle."

"Better than calling him 'Lord of the Emos' again," PJO Grover pointed out.

RJO Hades grumbled to himself with an annoyed look but said nothing. He knew what would come next, and he didn’t want everyone to see him being humiliated by a pre-teen girl. At least I’m not the only one she bad-mouthed that day. Zeus and Poseidon will hear how she talked shit about them too , he thought.

Hades raised an eyebrow. When he sat forward on his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched of trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out.

ROR Aphrodite scrunched her nose in disgust at the attire RJO Hades had on and commented “That is such a… weird design. How… unique.”

ROR Artemis nodded in agreement with ROR Aphrodite’s words. “So true. Like, we know you handle the souls of the dead, but there is no need to go to such lengths to show everyone what your job is. You could dress better and do your job properly and everyone would know to respect who you are.”

All PJO and RJO Artemis could do was stare at their counterpart agreeing with the Goddess of love. What in the world ? rang through their minds.

While PJO and RJO Hades narrowed their eyes in irritation. There’s nothing wrong with what I wear , both of them thought.

"Only one request?" Hades said. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."

Rhea wanted to back talk so bad and goddamn it she had a whole two hours speech to tear him down, but she bit her tongue, not out of fear or respect it was because she didn’t want to destroy her own plan.

RJO Nico raised an incredulous brow. “She actually held back.”

"Trust me, seeing this now, even I’m shocked that she held back, honestly," RJO Annabeth admitted.

“Give me my mother back,” Rhea said. “That’s why I came here.”

“You actually told him that?” Percy almost shouted in disbelief.

“I knew the bolt was in the backpack, which I knew would be there since before the quest. So yes, I actually went to the underworld to get my mother back,” Rhea replied.

“And to get the bolt back.” RJO Annabeth interjected pointedly.

“And to get the bolt back, since I knew that the bolt would be in the backpack once we reach the Underworld,” Rhea agreed with RJO Annabeth.

“What?” Annabeth was taken aback. “No! We came here for the bolt.”

Hades's eyes grew dangerously bright at what Annabeth said before he glared at Rhea like she was the one who caused all the miseries in his life. "You dare keep up this pretence, after what you have done?"

“The fuck did I do?” Rhea said.

The throne room shook with a tremor so strong, they probably felt it upstairs in Los Angeles. Debris fell from the cavern ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.

Hades bellowed, "Do you think I want war, godling?"

Rhea stayed silent.

"You are the Lord of the Dead," Annabeth said carefully. "A war would expand your kingdom, right?"

Rhea’s eyes widened as she looked at Annabeth. Hold on…

"A typical thing that my brothers would say! Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?"

Wait a minute…WHY DID SHE SAY THAT???? Rhea’s eye was twitching madly.

“Wow! That’s different,” Percy commented.

“It was actually Percy who answered Hades’ question, not me.” PJO Annabeth elaborated.

"Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open? More security ghouls," he moaned. "Traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, I controlled all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!"

"Oh yeah that reminds me, Charon wants a pay raise," Rhea added fuel to the fire.

Since it was going that way, why stop it?

"Don't get me started on Charon!" Hades yelled. "He's been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems everywhere, and I've got to handle all of them personally. The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving. No, godling. I need no help getting subjects! I did not ask for this war."

"Ares accused you of stealing Zeus's master bolt and so does Chiron." Rhea bit her lip to not laugh.

I spend too much time with Loki, this is bad.

"Lies!" More rumbling. Hades rose from his throne, towering to the height of a football goalpost. "Your father may fool Zeus, girl, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan. You were the thief on the winter solstice," he said. "Your father thought to keep you his little secret. He directed you into the throne room on Olympus, You took the master bolt and my helm. Had I not sent my Fury to discover you at York Academy, Poseidon might have succeeded in hiding his scheme to start a war. But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helm back!"

“Wow! You are pathetic . I can’t believe you are my big brother’s counterpart,” ROR Zeus spat.

“You’re throwing a tantrum like a five-year-old child. You are supposed to be a millennia years old and you are behaving like a child, nothing like the god you are supposed to be,” ROR Hera looked disgusted with RJO Hades’s behaviour.

RJO Grover blinked a few times. He knew who actually spoke those things to Hades that day and now hearing this couple saying basically the same thing was a little unnerving. He leaned toward RJO Annabeth and whispered, “They are definitely siblings.” She could only nod in agreement.

With each word that came from Hades’s mouth, Rhea’s anger grew more and more, the accusation without proof weighed on her even when she tried to ignore it.

And she couldn’t reason with anyone since they won’t listen, nor will Hades try to reason because he’s a god.

“Did you finish throwing a tantrum like a five-year-old mortal germling or are you yet not ready to start speaking like the god you are.” ‘Rhea’ said coldly with a sneer.

Annabeth and Grover froze, everything and everyone inside the room froze, and the atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Even Hades was taken by surprise as he saw the cold look in her eyes then ‘Rhea’ started to speak again.

"How can you be so pathetic?"

Hades glared at her. “What?"

‘Rhea’ scoffed. “I am saying that for someone acting so damn high and mighty all you seem to be good at is running your mouth."

Hades’s anger was clear to everyone in the room but what was surprising was the fact he didn’t do anything about it, there was something wrong with that girl at that moment, there was a familiar sensation of death surrounding her.

“Gods are supposed to be perfect, strong, intelligent, competent. They do not need scheming, they do not need armies, they do not need supporters, nor do they have a need for betrayal, and they certainly don’t whine at others when things don’t go their way and yet you, Zeus, and Poseidon are the farthest things from what the gods should portray."

The ROR Gods and Goddesses quickly realized who was speaking. The Greek family, in particular, had heard similar comments many times before. ROR Sasaki raised an eyebrow, remembering that he had been told something along these lines during their battle.

Annabeth was scared because she started to wonder if the one talking down to a god was really the same Rhea that she knew.

“But if there is anything I am sure of is that the so-called big three are definitely related, after all, they share the same unredeemable qualities the three of you are incompetent, you are liars, first not only did Zeus lose his symbol but he had the audacity to frame someone else for it." ‘Rhea’ sneered. “Then there is Poseidon, if him not being in his own child’s life was to make the child stronger I could have respected him, but no his lack of presence shows nothing but weakness and cowardice, and let’s not forget about you, oh so great and mighty lord of the dead, you feel wronged for being shunned and yet you falsely accused the people here of a crime they did not commit. Lord of the Dead my ass. You!” ‘She’ points at Hades. “Are nothing more than a child who feels abandoned, you probably agreed to go to the underworld so fast and without a fight to stay close to your dear daddy.”

That last comment made Hades stand up from his throne ."YOU WILL NOT SPEAK TO ME LIKE THI—"

Rhea cut him off, but she didn’t scream or raise her voice, on the contrary, her voice kept the same tone, like a sea with no waves.

“I will speak to you however the hell I want to speak to you, you insignificant piece of shit—"

As Rhea said that she started approaching Hades’s throne.

The lord of the dead unconsciously started to back off till he fell on his throne.

“I will only say this one time …give me what was asked of you, and we will be on our way.” 

PJO and RJO Zeus growled in outrage, springing up from his seat, ready to strike Rhea.

“Nuh-uh-uh. We don’t want to have a repeat of what happened last time you tried to attack me, now would we?” Rhea tutted, wagging her finger at both of them like they were small children.

Both Zeus sat back down fuming.

RJO Poseidon had a frown on his face, his heart clenching at the words that were coming out of his daughter’s mouth. 

At that point Annabeth realized something.

That was not Rhea talking.

She ran up to the daughter of the sea and grabbed her. “RHEA SNAP OUT OF IT!!"

Rhea looked back at Annabeth, and sure enough, Rhea’s eyes were blue, but it wasn’t the same deep dark blue when the sea daughter gets angry, no this was a different blue, it was the surface of the sea and for a moment Rhea seemed to be in a trance but then she blinked, and her eyes returned to the normal sea green.

Percy had wide eyes, mouth dropped open. “What… was that?”

“Oh you’ll find out… later,” Rhea replied, not answering his question.

Rhea’s eyes widened like she realized something. “Ah, shit.”

She grabbed Annabeth's arm and Grover’s before she took out the three pearls and gave each of them one. "I'm sorry for the insults…kinda," Rhea told him. "Uh play with Cerberus once in a while. He likes to play with balls and belly rubs!!" Then she glared. “And I swear to you Hades, if you don’t return me my mother the horrors of Tartarus will be a sauna compared to what I will do!”

Hades then came back to his senses. "Rhea Jackson, you will not-"

"Now, guys!"

They smashed the pearls at their feet. For a scary moment, nothing happened.

Hades yelled, "Destroy them!"

The army of skeletons rushed forward, swords out, guns clicking to full automatic. The Furies lunged, their whips bursting into flame.

The only thing they saw before the three disappeared was Rhea giving them the middle fingers with both hands.

“I was about to faint! Who the heck speaks to the lord of the dead like that?? I...I can't believe it." Grover stuttered, his voice shaking with fear. "She spoke to Hades like that? The Lord of the Dead? I thought I was going to lose my mind in there. One wrong move and he could have turned us into ghosts, and yet Rhea had the nerve to speak to him with such disrespect. I don't know how we made it out alive!!!!"

“Rhea, what was that in there?” Annabeth asked.

“I…If I knew I would have told you.” Rhea said while looking down at her bracelet.

PJO Annabeth frowned. “You don’t know what happened?”

“I didn’t know at that time. I found out later on,” Rhea replied.

***

They ended up in the middle of the Santa Monica Bay, knocking a surfer off his board with an indignant, "Dude!"

Rhea grabbed Grover and hauled him over to a life buoy, she did the same for Annabeth.

A curious shark was circling them, a great white about eleven feet long.

Rhea petted the shark. “Return to the deep, it’s dangerous to be close to humans here.”

The shark gave her a soft nudge before he turned and raced away.

The surfer screamed something about bad mushrooms and paddled away from them as fast as he could.

“It’s early morning, June 19,” Rhea said.

In the distance, Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke rising from neighbourhoods all over the city.

There had been an earthquake, all right, and it was Hades's fault. He was probably sending an army of the dead after Rhea right now.

“Ares better hope I don’t make kebab out of him,” Rhea said.

“Wow! That was intense, man. I thought Hades was going to kill her,” PJO Leo spoke up, breaking the tension.

“I can’t believe she said all that to Hades,” PJO Katie commented.

Rhea, RJO Annabeth and RJO Grover shared a look, knowing it was not actually her who said those things to Hades.

Chapter Text

A fierce battle unfolds.

Against my jerk of a cousin

Victory is mine!

***

Rhea pulled Annabeth and Grover underwater after she created an oxygen bubble around them, then swam fast with Grover and Annabeth's hands in hers. It didn’t take much for them to reach dry land with Rhea’s speed swimming.

Rhea willed the three of them to dry and also gave Grover the spare shoes she had.

Grover was confused. “Why do you have another pair?”

Rhea was the one who looked confused this time. “Did you really think I don’t change my shoes or something?”

“Silly me.” Grover deadpanned.

“Miss fashionista,” RJO Katie laughed.

“What can I say? I have taste,” Rhea winked, tossing her hair over her shoulder dramatically.

“Miss fashionista?” Percy questioned.

“Yup. Rhea is obsessed with fashion. In fact, she turned the whole Poseidon cabin into a huge closet, leaving just three beds free. She puts even us Aphrodite children to shame.” RJO Drew explained, mirth shining in her eyes.

Percy’s eyes were wide. He knows how big Poseidon's cabin is, reconstructed after the Titan’s war. With more than a dozen beds, the cabin was expanded on the inside, making it even bigger, even though it didn’t look like it from the outside. If the cabin in her universe was exactly the same size on the inside as his, then to think, all of it save for three beds was turned into a closet was… wow! What does she even have that she needs so much space? He doubts that even professionals need so much space.

"You shall go west and face the god who has turned,” Rhea said. “Ares is the god who has turned. People are idiots. They looked at the wrong gods to blame, and the god of war who loves war so much is right there, and NO ONE suspected him.”

And there he was, waiting for them, in his black leather duster and his sunglasses, an aluminum baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motorcycle rumbled beside him, its headlight turning the sand red.

"Hey, kid," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see me. "You were supposed to die."

“Wow! My counterpart is an absolute dick,” ROR Ares spat.

“I'm not surprised no one suspected him. Everyone blames Hades whenever anything goes wrong, even if he's not involved,” PJO Nico muttered darkly. Many nodded in agreement with his words while the people from the ROR world looked horrified at the treatment Hades of these two worlds were receiving.

“And you were supposed to return the master bolt and the helm, not steal them for yourself."

Ares grinned. "Well, now, I didn't steal them personally. Gods taking each other's symbols of power–that's a big no-no. But you're not the only hero in the world who can run errands but that doesn't matter. The point is, kid, you're impeding the war effort. See, you've got to die in the Underworld. Then, Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse Breath will have Zeus's master bolt, so Zeus will be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this..."

From his pocket, he took out a ski cap–the kind bank robbers wear–and placed it between the handlebars of his bike. Immediately, the cap transformed into an elaborate bronze war helmet.

"The helm of darkness," Grover gasped.

"Exactly," Ares said. "Now, where was I? Oh yeah, Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon because he doesn't know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three-way slugfest going."

"But they're your family!" Annabeth protested.

Ares shrugged. "Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say."

“Dear Chaos! You guys have issues!” ROR Shiva laughed in disbelief.

“Welcome to our world,” RJO Annabeth, RJO Nico and Rhea spoke simultaneously, spreading their arms as if to welcome them dramatically, while RJO Grover just gave a big sarcastic smile.

“I can't believe the gods don’t spell their symbol of power to return to the hand of their master once they command it.” Rhea shook her head. “Am I the only one with a brain here?”

Poseidonas scoffed.

Rhea glared at the bracelet. “You shut the fuck up, we still need to talk.”

She could feel Poseidonas's glare on her.

The gods and goddesses from the ROR world could only stare in disbelief at how she talked to Poseidonas. But what was even more astonishing, even if it shouldn’t be by now, was that he didn’t do anything to her. He didn’t punish her for speaking that way to him like he would have anyone else. They know they should start getting used to seeing things like this happen, but it’s a little difficult to get accustomed to seeing Poseidonas not be a trigger-happy, happy-go-kill god.

"But I have one small question. You look like someone who cares about power a lot, so why not just keep the master bolt for yourself?" Rhea said. "Why send it to Hades, who could have used it in the war? You didn’t think that you would get away unscratched?"

Ares got a twitch in his jaw. For a moment, it was almost as if he were listening to another voice, deep inside his head. "Why didn't I... yeah... with that kind of fire-power..."

He held the trance for one second... two seconds....

“Taking his sweet time.” Rhea rolled her eyes.

Ares's face cleared. "I didn't want the trouble. Better to have you caught red-handed, holding the thing."

Annabeth's eyes widened. “Don’t tell me… the bag?”

“Yes, the bag. I had the master bolt since he gave me the bag.” Rhea said.

“And you said nothing !?” Annabeth said in disbelief.

“Don’t be dramatic. Sending the bolt to the Underworld wasn't his idea to begin with!" She scoffed. “He doesn’t have the brain for that kind of plan,” Rhea said with a smirk.

"Of course it was!" Smoke drifted up from his sunglasses as if they were about to catch fire.

"No, it was not. You didn't order the theft, someone else with higher power than you sent a hero to steal the two items. Then, when Zeus sent you to hunt him down, you caught the thief. But you didn't turn him over to Zeus. The thief distracted you long enough for his master to take over your mind and manipulate you and that’s how you kept the items until another hero could come along and complete the delivery. That thing in the pit is ordering you around."

"I am the god of war! I take orders from no one! I don't have dreams!" He snapped.

“I didn’t talk about dreams.”

Ares looked agitated, but he tried to cover it with a smirk.

“This is getting interesting,” giggled ROR Buddha, sucking on a lolli-pop.

“Ohhh drama! I am loving this,” ROR Loki floating over his seat, his smile huge and manic.

“I can’t believe my counterpart is so dimwitted.” ROR Ares covers his face, almost whimpering because of secondhand embarrassment.

“There, there. You should be happy that you’re not like him, at least,” ROR Hermes patted ROR Ares’s shoulder, a faux sympathetic smile on his face to cover up that he wanted to laugh.

"Let's get back to the problem at hand, kid. You're alive. I can't have you taking that bolt to Olympus. You just might get those hardheaded idiots to listen to you. So I've got to kill you. Nothing personal."

He snapped his fingers. The sand exploded at his feet, and out charged a wild boar, even larger and uglier than the one whose head hung above the door of cabin seven at Camp Half-Blood. The beast pawed the sand, glaring at Rhea with beady eyes as it lowered its razor-sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill.

Rhea laughed and summoned her trident in hand. “Too much of a coward to face me yourself, Ares?”

He laughed, but she heard a little edge to his laughter... an uneasiness. "You've only got one talent, kid, running away. You ran from the Underworld. You don't have what it takes."

“Having one talent is better than having none like you," Rhea said. “And you haven’t even seen what I can do, scared to lose to a mere half-blood?”

"In your adolescent dreams." But his sunglasses were starting to melt from the heat of his eyes. "No direct involvement. Sorry, kid. You're not at my level."

"No direct involvement? I guess that's what happens when you're scared to get your hands dirty," Rhea retorted. "And as for levels, I may not be at your level of arrogance and cowardice, but I am definitely a few levels above you in courage and heart."

“I’m sorry, was it not direct involvement when you blasted them with lightning when they were on a quest to find your symbol of power?” ROR Artemis started, fed up with the hypocrisy, pointing at PJO and RJO Zeus. “Was it not direct involvement when you sent Echidna after the three? And was it not direct involvement when you made them abandon their main quest for a while, wasting their time just to get you your shield back that you left at a waterpark, that you very well could have gotten it yourself?” ROR Artemis scoffed in restrained anger. “I can’t believe you hypocritical bastards.” She spat, finally saying out loud the thoughts that had run in her mind since the reading of the quest had begun. 

PJO and RJO Zeus and PJO and RJO Ares open their mouths to retort, but their respective Hestia shut them up with just one look. They had done enough and they hadn’t even finished reading the first quest. She was not going to let them do anything stupid now, but even she knew that she couldn’t keep them on a leash for long. They were bound to anger someone and end up with injuries worse than a cut-off arm.

Annabeth said, "Rhea, run!"

“Tsk, just who do you take me for, Annabeth?”

“Oooh~ We’re going to see her fight.” ROR Anubis clapped his hands, bouncing in his seat in excitement.

Rhea held her ground, waiting for the right moment. As the boar charged towards her with its tusks pointed, she sidestepped at the last second, avoiding the attack. With a swift movement, she swung her trident and struck the boar's side, sending it flying several feet away.

She dodged the boar's attacks effortlessly again, striking back with deadly accuracy. As the boar lay defeated at her feet, Rhea turned to Ares with a fierce determination.

"Now, are you ready to face me?" she asked, ready to take on whatever challenge Ares might throw her way. "Or are you going to hide behind another pet?"

Ares's face was purple with rage. "Watch it, kid. I could turn you into-"

"A flowerpot? A garden gnome? Tapeworm? Cockroach? Duck? Dolphin? Horse? Please, Ares, get creative. I'm getting bored with the usual threats," Rhea quipped with a smirk on her face.

Flames danced along the top of his glasses. "Oh, man, you are really asking to be smashed into a grease spot."

"If the fates have it that I lose.” Rhea nearly laughed. “Feel free to turn me into a barnacle on the bottom of your boat. But if by some miracle I win, not only do I claim the helm and the bolt, but you shall also swear to leave us unharmed. Come on, swear on the Styx that you accept the conditions I made."

Ares sneered.

“I swear on the Styx that I accept the conditions you made.” He said between his teeth.

Lightning was heard around them.

“I hate how a Styx oath is handled in our world,” RJO Annabeth sneered.

“What exactly is the punishment for breaking the oath on Styx in your world?” ROR Beelzebub asked.

“Let me explain by taking the oath of the big three as an example. They swore an oath to not sire any children after World War 2. Zeus and Poseidon broke that oath, but they were not the ones who got punished. Their children, Thalia and Percy, or Rhea, were punished by making them go through hell and back, literally. Their life was just hardships after hardships. They had the worst luck you could say, anything bad that could happen to make their life miserable, happened. So yes, in our world, whenever a God breaks an oath on Styx, their children suffer the consequences," PJO Annabeth answered, disgust regarding the unjust situation apparent in her voice.

“How do you punish those who break a Styx oath?” PJO Nico asked the ROR people curiously.

It was Aidoneus who answered. “It depends on the offence, actually. It can range from 50 years on Midgard as a mortal in the worst conditions there is, 50 years being the minimum number of years as it could be more, to death. And it is Styx who judges the extent of the offence and gives out the punishment.”

Everyone from the PJO and the RJO worlds had wide eyes, their mouths dropped open. Why is everything they’ve heard so far better in the ROR world? Why couldn’t their worlds be like that? Oh wait. Because of Zeus. Of course, it’s because of him. Many thought bitterly.

PJO and RJO Apollo sat in their seats rigidly. They had spent six months with mortals as a mortal, and it was the worst time of their immortal life. To think breaking a Styx oath in the ROR world warrants a minimum of 50 years as a mortal… all they could think was it would be torturous.

Ares swung the baseball bat off his shoulder. "How would you like to get smashed: classic or modern?"

Rhea showed him her trident and looked Ares straight in the eyes with a calm confidence. "I don't think you're capable of understanding what classic really means," she said, twirling her trident with ease. "But sure, let’s do it your way.”

"That's cool, dead girl," he said. "Classic it is." The baseball bat changed into a huge, two-handed sword.

The hilt was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth.

"Rhea," Annabeth said. "Don't do this. He's a god."

"That just means he has farther to fall when I take him down," Rhea told her.

She swallowed. "Wear this, at least. For luck."

She took off her necklace, with her five years' worth of camp beads and the ring from her father and tied it around Rhea’s neck.

"Reconciliation," she said. "Athena and Poseidon together."

“‘Athena and Poseidon together.’ Never thought I would hear their names together in one sentence,” ROR Aphrodite whispered to herself, but of course everyone heard it.

“What do you mean? Now that I think about it, where is your world’s Athena?” PJO Annabeth asked the question that had been running in her mind for quite some time.

“Let’s not talk about that world’s Athena. Right now, anyway. You’ll find out more about her situation after the Titan’s War.” Rhea responded.

Rhea smiled.

"And take this," Grover said. He handed her a flattened tin can that he'd probably been saving in his pocket for a thousand miles. "The satyrs stand behind you."

Rhea nodded and put it in her bag.

“ You are not keeping that thing, ” Poseidonas said.

"You all done saying good-bye?" Ares came toward Rhea, his black leather duster trailing behind him, his sword glinting like fire in the sunrise. "I've been fighting for eternity, kid. My strength is unlimited, and I cannot die. What have you got?"

Rhea deadpanned. “A brain.”

Ares laughed. "A brain? That's all you've got? I'll make sure to take it out first before I finish you off."

Rhea remained calm. "We’ll see about that.”

Ares charged at Rhea with his sword, swinging it down hard, but Rhea quickly dodged to the side and countered with a quick strike of her trident. Ares blocked it with his sword, sparks flying off the clash of metal. Rhea continued to dodge and weave around Ares, waiting for the right moment to strike.

He grinned. "Not bad, not bad."

Ares swung his sword again, but Rhea ducked under it and drove her trident into Ares's side, drawing first blood. Ares roared in anger and pain, but Rhea was quick to back away and prepare for another attack.

"Rhea!" Annabeth yelled. "Cops!"

From the corner of her eye, Rhea could see red lights flashing on the shoreline boulevard. Car doors were slamming.

"There, officer!" somebody yelled. "See?"

Rhea let out a ‘tsk’ and raised the waves, sending them at the mortals, who ran away to hide.

Ares was unfazed by the commotion, still intent on taking down Rhea. He charged at her again, swinging his sword with even more ferocity than before. Rhea dodged and parried, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. As Ares swung his sword down at her, she spun around and drove her trident into his back, causing him to stumble forward.

"Nice try," Ares growled, pulling the trident out of his back and throwing it aside. "But you'll have to do better than that."

Rhea smirked. "Gladly."

She summoned the trident back into her hand and charged at Ares, this time unleashing thrusts in a circular pattern at a blinding speed.

~

Poseidonas's eyes widened a bit. That’s….

~

“What!?”

“Oh my goodness!”

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“How are you doing that?”

Almost everyone from the ROR world sported an astonished expression. The gods and valkyries of the ROR world personally knew this technique, while the humans had seen it used during the third round against Sasaki.

“Even Poseidon was surprised. That means he didn’t know she could do it,” ROR Hera murmured to her husband. ROR Zeus, whose expression showed how impressed he was with his niece’s show of power, just nodded his head in agreement with his wife.

Or that what it seemed to others, Rhea used water and shaped them into tridents, with the synced way the attack was coordinated, it was hard to tell if she really was that fast or if it was a trick.

“That is impressive," ROR Thor remarked, his voice quiet yet firm. Noticing the confusion among the others about why it was impressive, he reluctantly began to explain. "When Lord Poseidon uses this technique, he doesn’t just shape water into tridents to attack simultaneously. He is so fast that each strike appears almost simultaneous, even if they are delivered one after another. What is truly impressive here is that she shaped all those tridents from water. It requires immense concentration to maintain the shape of all those tridents, otherwise, they will deform. If she does not focus completely on the attack, she won’t be able to direct the water tridents to strike at the same time. It's not as easy as it seems. As I mentioned before, it takes immense concentration and lots and lots of practice.”

Many people had an impressed and astonished look because of the new perspective.

“Look at her speed. Tridents made out of water aside, her actual strikes are so fast you can barely see her move.” Percy whispered to PJO Annabeth, awe evident in his voice.

Ares was caught off guard by the sudden barrage of attacks, and Rhea was able to land several blows on him. Ichor spilled from the injuries around his body. He stumbled back, his face contorted with rage and frustration.

Ares let out a scream of rage and charged at her once again, swinging his sword with all his might, but Rhea was prepared.

She used her trident to deflect the blow and quickly followed up with a powerful strike that knocked Ares's sword out of his hand.

Rhea then pointed her trident at Ares's throat, ready to strike again if he moved. "Looks like you underestimated me, Ares. I may not be a full god, but I have what it takes to defeat even the god of war." She glared. “And remember, you swore an oath.”

"You have made an enemy, godling," he told her. "And you will regret crossing me," Ares spat out with pure hatred in his eyes.

His body began to glow.

“Rhea!" Annabeth shouted. "Don't watch!"

Rhea turned around to not look and didn’t turn till the light died. Ares was gone. The tide rolled out to reveal Hades's bronze helm of darkness. Rhea picked it up and waited.

They heard the flapping of leathery wings. Three evil-looking grandmothers with lace hats and fiery whips drifted down from the sky and landed in front of Rhea.

The middle Fury, the one who had been Mrs. Dodds, stepped forward. Her fangs were bared, but for once, she didn't look threatening. She looked more disappointed.

"We saw the whole thing," she hissed. "So ... it truly was not you?"

Rhea tossed her the helmet, which she caught in surprise.

"Return that to Hades," Rhea said. "And tell him what went down here, also." She took a deep breath. “Also, tell him this: ‘My mother better be back home after this, or I swear to every living God and Primordial living on earth I will shove my trident so far up your—”

Annabeth quickly ran up to her and slapped her hand on her mouth.

Alecto hesitated, then ran a forked tongue over her green, leathery lips. "Live well, Rhea Jackson. Become a true hero. Because if you do not, if you ever come into my clutches again ..."

She cackled, savoring the idea. Then, she and her sisters rose on their bats' wings, fluttered into the smoke-filled sky, and disappeared.

Grover walked up to the two girls.

"Rhea..." Grover said. "That was so incredibly ..."

"Terrifying," said Annabeth.

"Cool!" Grover corrected.

“I think you mean magnificent, spectacular, phenomenal, and so many words that I don’t need to say to know means the same thing.” ROR Shiva proclaimed.

Rhea had a smirk on her face, enjoying all the praises she was getting.

“Let’s go. We’re taking a flight to New York.” Rhea said as she stretched.

Annabeth stared at her. "Fly, like, in an airplane, which you were warned never to do lest Zeus strike you out of the sky, and carrying a weapon that has more destructive power than a nuclear bomb?"

"Yeah," Rhea said. "You have a better idea? No, and I want to return home as quickly as possible. Also, Zeus won’t strike me down with the bolt in my hands unless he wants to lose his precious baby.”

Rhea started to walk away before she turned to look at the trident that was still in her hand.

“How was that for a fight?” Rhea grinned.

“ …Not bad, ” Poseidonas said.

“And what about when I copied your attack?”

“ There’s still room for improvement. ”

“I thought I did pretty well!”

“ Don’t flatter yourself. ”

Rhea pouted. “So mean.”

***

Grover leaned to whisper to Annabeth, his eyes not leaving Rhea’s back. “She’s talking to her trident.”

“I can see that,” Annabeth said while also keeping her eyes on Rhea. “There’s something with that trident.”

“I bet you were very proud of how much she had improved in such a short time, brother,” Aidoneus spoke to Poseidonas over Rhea’s head, with a small teasing smile.

“As I had said, there was still room for improvement,” Poseidonas stated. He stayed silent for a moment longer before continuing. “She certainly did surprise me by executing that technique. I don’t know when she practiced to do that because I was with her most of the time.”

“Most of the time being the keyword. I wanted to surprise you.” Rhea, whose head was on Aidoneus’ shoulder, listening silently with a small smile the whole time, spoke up. Poseidonas just gave her hand, which he still held, a gentle squeeze, which she reciprocated.

Chapter Text

Met mighty Zeus, yeesh!

Called my own father ugly, too.

No regrets, Gods.

***

“You called Dad ‘ugly’? Whaaa–?” Percy trailed off, thinking how she finds their fathers—well, his father, it’s pretty obvious that she considers Poseidonas as her father—ugly.

“Again. Look at them,” Rhea gestured towards the ROR people then continued. “Almost half of them are mortals. Do you really think your father is better-looking than them? Even those mortals ?”

Percy’s eyes scanned the ROR people. Gods and goddesses, Valkyries, and mortals so striking they could easily be mistaken for deities themselves. Even with his experience, he couldn’t deny it—these people looked like they had walked out of an artist’s dream. Sculpted features, glowing skin, powerful postures—every single one of them exuded a kind of beauty that felt surreal. 

It wasn’t just appearance—it was presence.

His gaze flicked to the Valkyries—women in regal and elaborate attire, each one styled in unique high-fashion outfits with intricate accessories and hair styled to perfection. Then there were the ROR mortals—Leonidas, looking exquisite even with scars, Tesla with his sleek, eccentric steampunk style combined with Victorian elegance, Jack the Ripper in his dark Victorian gentleman aesthetic and Adam, the literal embodiment of perfection.

Even the gods appeared almost too beautiful—Poseidon looked as if ancient sea storms had sculpted him, while Apollo shimmered like the sun personified. Thor exuded a war-hardened aura, and Loki embodied flamboyant chaos with his sleek leather attire and asymmetrical style. Even Aphrodite was unapologetically herself, mostly naked—unlike the Aphrodite of his world, who changed her appearance depending on who was looking at her. These gods and goddesses made the Greek deities of his world seem, well... average.

The Gods and Goddesses from his world, their beauty was more human, more flawed—which wasn’t a bad thing, just… different, even his fellow demigods didn’t hold a candle to the beauty of the ROR beings. It wasn’t a slight—just a stark contrast. The people from ROR didn’t just look powerful—they looked like stories sculpted into flesh.

“Okay, I get it now,” Percy muttered under his breath, eyes still on the ROR group. “You called Dad ugly ‘cause you were standing next to literal godly supermodels.” He couldn’t even be mad at Rhea anymore. She had a point. Compared to the ROR world’s people, the Olympians of his world did start to look a little washed-out.

PJO Poseidon shot Percy a look that screamed, ‘How could you betray me so?’ which Percy just shrugged at, gesturing towards the ROR group as if to say, ‘Can you blame me?’. PJO Poseidon just shook his head, pouting.

Flying on a plane is a nightmare, and this will be the first and last time she does it.

But hey! At least they arrived safely.

They split up at the taxi stand.

Rhea told Annabeth and Grover to get back to Half-Blood Hill and let Chiron know what had happened. They protested, as it was hard to let Rhea go after all they’ve been through.

Rhea hopped in a taxi and headed into Manhattan, and thirty minutes later, she walked into the lobby of the Empire State Building.

She went up to the guard at the front desk and said, "Six hundredth floor."

He was reading a huge book with a picture of a wizard on the front. Harry Potter

“He was reading Harry Potter!?” PJO Nico perked up a little. When he saw the looks he was getting, he grew defensive. “What? It took forever, but I read all the books, alright? I love the story but hate the author. Like, how can you make a character gay and be homophobic?”

“Right!? Ugh. It’s so disappointing to know that such a good literature was written by a homophobe.” RJO Magnus let out a sigh.

The guard took a while to look up. "No such floor, kiddo."

Rhea gave him a cold smile. “Listen here you piece of shit, I'm sure you know what the fuck is going on right now, I was sent on a quest to get back Zeus' master bolt and I swear if you don’t give me passage I will take out the master bolt and kill you with it!” As if to show how serious she was about it, she unzipped the bag in her hand and showed him what was inside.

She was going to take it out before he panicked.

“No! No!" He scrambled out of his seat, fumbled around his desk for a key card, then handed it to me. “Insert this in the security slot. Make sure nobody else is in the elevator with you."

“That’s a good way of getting things done. Threaten them until they do as you say,” ROR Shiva laughed at how frightened the guard looked of Rhea.

“I know! It gets things done so much faster.” Rhea grinned with a glint in her eyes.

Rhea scoffed but still did as he told her. As soon as the elevator doors closed, she slipped the key into the slot. The card disappeared, and a new button appeared on the console, a red one that said 600.

She pressed it and waited.

MUZAK played. "Raindrops keep falling on my head...."

Rhea cringed at the music. “This is horrible, can this elevator go faster???”

“And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed.~

Nothing seems to fit.~

Those raindrops are falling on my head, they keep falling.~”

Rhea put her hands on her ears, she refuses to hear this shit.

“Hey! Don’t diss the music, it’s a classic.” RJO Apollo pouted.

“It’s horrible is what it is. It makes the elevator ride much more miserable than silence.” RJO Nico cringed.

Finally, the elevator stopped, and the doors slid open.

“Wow.” Rhea’s eyes widened. “It needs more blue, tho…”

She did not waste time, she passed some giggling wood nymphs who threw olives at Rhea from their garden, which Rhea returned with a smile, and the nymphs giggled again.

Hawkers in the market offered to sell her ambrosia-on-a-stick, and a new shield, and a genuine glitter-weave replica of the Golden Fleece.

On Hephaestus-TV, the nine muses were tuning their instruments for a concert in the park while a small crowd gathered satyrs and naiads and a bunch of good-looking teenagers who might've been minor gods and goddesses.

Nobody seemed worried about an impending civil war. In fact, everybody seemed in a festive mood. Several of them turned to watch Rhea pass and whispered to themselves.

“A reverse copy of Hades' place, it’s more… cheerful,” Rhea said. “No…it’s more like Hades built a reverse Olympus in the Underworld.”

“ How despicable, ” Poseidonas said, and Rhea did not comment on it.

ROR Loki floated over his seat with a lazy grin. “I don’t know, it’s not too horrible. I’ve definitely seen better, though. Olympus turned into a weird, open-air market full of party people. And minor gods looking like influencers?” He giggled. “That’s not something we have.”

Poseidonas scoffed again, clearly offended by Hades's ‘reverse Olympus’ design. “He really had to go and make his Underworld look like Olympus. A pathetic attempt to feel included in the family that cast him out.” He spat.

RJO Hades ignored the looks sent his way. It’s true that he had built his domain to resemble Olympus when he was young. He was sentimental then. Now, not so much. In fact, he had been changing a few things around in the Underworld, so it didn’t look exactly like Olympus now. Maybe in a few more years, decades maybe, his place would look nothing like Olympus.

ROR Jack the Ripper raised an eyebrow. “It’s ironic. The world is on the brink of fire, and everyone’s buying snacks and food like it’s a carnival.”

ROR Buddha grinned as he added with a laugh. “And preparing for a concert.”

Rhea climbed the main road toward the big palace at the peak, steps led up to a central courtyard. Past that, the throne room.

‘Room’ really isn't the right word. The place made Grand Central Station look like a broom closet. Massive columns rose to a domed ceiling, which was gilded with moving constellations.

Twelve thrones, built for beings the size of Hades, were arranged in an inverted U, just like the cabins at Camp Half-Blood—an enormous fire crackled in the central hearth pit. The thrones were empty except for two at the end: the head throne on the right and the one to its immediate left.

The two gods sitting there were waiting for her to approach. Rhea came toward them.

Zeus, the Lord of the Gods, wore a dark blue, pinstriped suit. He sat on a simple throne of solid platinum. He had a well-trimmed beard, marbled gray and black like a storm cloud. His face was proud and handsome and grim, his eyes rainy gray.

As Rhea got nearer to him, the air crackled and smelled of ozone.

“Were you letting out your aura to intimidate the demigoddess, brother?” RJO Demeter asked, disapproval obvious in her tone.

RJO Zeus ignored the question. So what if he was letting out his aura to intimidate the girl? That was no one else’s business but his. Plus, from what he observed that day, the girl seemed unfazed anyway. He had released his aura completely, something that caused discomfort even to his siblings, but the girl was not affected by it even a little bit. He should've realised how big of a threat she was then itself and gotten rid of her. Now, he can't even do anything. 

The god sitting next to him was his brother, without a doubt, but he was dressed very differently. He reminded her of a beachcomber from Key West. He wore leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts, and a Tommy Bahama shirt with coconuts and parrots all over it. His skin was deeply tanned, his hands scarred like an old-time fisherman's. His hair was black. His face had a brooding look. But his eyes, sea green, were surrounded by sun crinkles that gave away the fact that he smiled a lot.

" That thing is my counterpart? " Poseidonas said with a sneer clear in his voice, disgusted by his appearance.

His throne was a deep-sea fisherman's chair. It was the simple swiveling kind, with a black leather seat and a built-in holster for a fishing pole. Instead of a pole, the holster held a bronze trident, flickering with green light around the tips.

“You have a throne in the council room or whatever it is you call that room, and you chose to have a fisherman’s chair instead of an actual throne to represent your godly status?” spat ROR Zeus, offended on his brother’s behalf.

“And what is that abomination you’re wearing? Don’t you have any clothes? Actual, real clothes?” ROR Aura spoke up with disgust.

“Geez! I had totally forgotten she was here.” When she saw the look ROR Apollo gave her, Rhea defended herself. “Hey! You can’t blame me. She was so silent this whole time. Most of them are” ROR Apollo just shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation with a small indulgent smile. 

Both PJO and RJO Poseidon stayed silent, not answering the questions aimed at him. He had chosen that form to appear friendly and approachable. It didn’t matter what others thought of him. There’s a reason he was one of the most ruthless gods in Ancient Greece. Even if he had mellowed out over the centuries, he was still one of the most dangerous gods on Olympus.

The gods weren't moving or speaking, but there was tension in the air, as if they'd just finished an argument.

But one thought crossed Rhea’s mind when she saw them, and much like Poseidonas' comment about his counterpart, she was disappointed too.

What the fuck? Aren’t Gods supposed to be handsome??? They look… average! Rhea thought.

Again, her standards of beauty are too high because of the blond residing in her trident.

Rhea approached the fisherman's throne and bowed.

Unfortunately, it was awkward and clearly forced, much to Poseidon’s amusement.

"…Lord," Rhea said before she straightened her back.

To her left, Zeus spoke. "Should you not address the master of this house first, girl?"

Rhea side-eyed him, and Zeus sneered at that.

“You really have a death wish, don’t you?” PJO Thalia asked, amused at how Rhea was showing her obvious dislike to her world’s Zeus.

“If I don’t like someone, I’m not gonna hide it.” Rhea shrugged. “It’s a waste of my energy to pretend that I like them.”

Every RJO demigod nodded their head in agreement. They’ve seen how Rhea behaves when she’s with people she doesn’t like. She wouldn’t be fake — that’s just not her style. She would be casually dismissive, sharp-tongued, a little sarcastic, and coldly polite, using the bare minimum words and a deadpan tone. So if she doesn’t like you, you’d know, even if she doesn’t say it directly.

"Peace, brother," Poseidon finally said. "The girl defers to her father. This is only right."

"You still claim her then?" Zeus asked menacingly. "You claim this child whom you sired against our sacred oath?"

"I have admitted my wrongdoing," Poseidon said. "Now I would hear her speak."

Oh yes, because Thalia and Jason were planned! Yes, yes. Rhea rolled her eyes, not that the brothers noticed.

“True. You can’t really try to punish someone for doing the same thing as you.” RJO Thalia voiced her agreement. RJO Zeus looked at his daughter, offended she would say something against him. RJO Jason looked at his sister, eyes wide. He had heard them badmouthing his father out loud, openly, many times before. But he still wasn’t used to it.

"I have spared her once already," Zeus grumbled. "Daring to fly through my domain... Pah! I should have blasted her out of the sky for her impudence."

"And risk destroying your own master bolt?" Poseidon asked calmly. "Let us hear her out, brother."

Zeus grumbled some more. "I shall listen," he decided. "Then I shall make up my mind whether or not to cast this girl down from Olympus."

"Rhea," Poseidon said. "Look at me."

Rhea’s expression was unreadable to Poseidon, the only thing he could tell was that she was bored with the situation. Like nothing could faze her at all.

And that made him a bit uncomfortable.

"Address Lord Zeus, girl," Poseidon told her. "Tell him your story."

Rhea told everything, leaving out the things that were not important to tell.

There was a long silence, broken only by the crackle of the hearth fire.

Zeus opened his palm. The lightning bolt flew into it. As he closed his fist, the metallic points flared with electricity until he was holding what looked more like the classic thunderbolt, a twenty-foot javelin of arcing, hissing energy.

"I sense the girl tells the truth," Zeus muttered.

You don’t say…

“I love her sassy comments. It’s a shame so many of these comments were not said out loud.” ROR Buddha leaned towards ROR Zerofuku, snickering.

ROR Zerofuku grinned. “True. I would’ve loved to see their faces when they heard her comments.” 

"But that Ares would do such a thing ... it is most unlike him."

"He is proud and impulsive," Poseidon said. "It runs in the family."

"Ares didn't act alone. Someone else came up with the idea." Rhea said. “My dreams were full of the Underworld, and Ares also admitted in a fit of rage that he’s been having dreams, too. Someone was using him to start a war."

"You are accusing Hades, after all?" Zeus asked.

"No." Rhea deadpanned. "I'm talking about the voice that came from the entrance of Tartarus.”

Poseidon and Zeus looked at each other. They had a quick, intense discussion in Ancient Greek, which Rhea ignored.

Poseidon made some kind of suggestion, but Zeus cut him off. Poseidon tried to argue. Zeus held up his hand angrily. "We will speak of this no more," Zeus said. "I must go personally to purify this thunderbolt in the waters of Lemnos, to remove the human taint from its metal." He rose and looked at Rhea. His expression softened just a fraction of a degree. "You have done me a service, girl. Few heroes could have accomplished as much. To show you my thanks, I shall spare your life. I do not trust you, Rhea Jackson.”

I don’t trust you either, but here we are. Rhea bit her tongue.

“Wow. A miracle. Rhea biting her tongue, not saying what she’s thinking out loud to Zeus’s face.” RJO Nico sniggered.

“Is the world ending?” RJO Grover continued, grinning.

“Well, it was, at that time.” RJO Annabeth replied, smirking.

“I do not like what your arrival means for the future of Olympus. But for the sake of peace in the family, I shall let you live." Zeus said. “Do not presume to fly again. Do not let me find you here when I return. Otherwise, you shall taste this bolt. And it shall be your last sensation."

Thunder shook the palace. With a blinding flash of lightning, Zeus was gone.

"Your uncle," Poseidon sighed, "has always had a flair for dramatic exits. I think he would've done well as the god of theater."

An uncomfortable silence.

Poseidon did not know what to say, and the bored look on Rhea’s face just made it harder for a good word to come from his mouth.

A faint, awkward smile appeared on his lips. "Obedience does not come naturally to you, does it?"

"No.”

"I must take some blame for that, I suppose. The sea does not like to be restrained." He rose to his full height and took up his trident. Then he shimmered and became the size of a regular man, standing directly in front of her. "You must go, child. But first, know that your mother has returned."

Rhea then opened her mouth.

“Oh dear.” RJO Drew started.

“Here we go.” RJO Clarisse finished, rubbing her hands together, ready to hear the verbal vitriol Rhea was definitely going to spew.

“You guys are enjoying this way too much.” RJO Chris shook his head in amusement.

“Aren’t you?” RJO Drew questioned him, grinning.

“Of course I am.” RJO Chris huffed.

And the things that came out of it were anything but pleasant.

“Zeus doesn’t care about this family, nor do you. The only reason why you guys are with each other is because there’s benefit in it even when being in the same room is repulsive.” Rhea paused for a bit. “Also you didn’t deserve the attention my mother gave you years ago, I do not know what she saw in you, and I will never understand it, nor do I want to, you are not my father, and I will never consider you so, I'm saying this to put the boundaries clear.”

That cut Poseidon deep. “Rhea—”

“No! No! You don’t want to talk to a mistake now, do you?” Rhea glared.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Damn.” “Wow.” RJO Pollux and RJO Castor gasped in unison.

“Did she just—” “She did.” RJO Conner and RJO Travis spoke over each other. 

“That must have hurt.” RJO Will spoke up.

“Will! You are supposed to be the responsible one.” RJO Katie admonished him.

“I am the responsible one. Most of the time.” RJO Will grinned. RJO Katie grumbled under her breath, something about being surrounded by children.

She stayed silent for a moment before she decided to open her mouth again.

“ Make an alliance with the second sea,

Or your kingdom will face the wrath, foresee,

The ancient monsters of the deep,

Will rise, and their vengeance will not sleep.

So heed the warning, make a pact,

With the second sea, that's the fact,

Or face the monsters' wrathful might,

And be consumed by eternal night. ” Rhea said.

Poseidon frowned. “What?”

Rhea ignored his question. “With that being said, I shall take my leave.” She went to open the door, then paused. “One more thing!” She turned around with a deadpan expression on her face. “You look ugly with that beard.”

And as if Medusa’s curse works on gods, Poseidon froze.

As Rhea walked back through the city of the gods, conversations stopped. The muses paused their concert.

People and satyrs and naiads all turned toward her, their faces filled with respect and gratitude, and as she passed, they knelt.

“Second sea?” PJO Annabeth pursed her lips, the gears in her head turning.

“Oceanus.” RJO Annabeth answered her counterpart. “Pontus was the first Sea King, Oceanus was the second, Poseidon being the third king.”

“And the ‘ancient monsters of the deep’ must be—” PJO Annabeth began but trailed off, coming up short.

“Keto. The mother of sea monsters.” Rhea stated.

“You asked Dad to make an alliance with Oceanus?” Percy asked his counterpart.

“Yes, I did. Do you know how much that helped? I’m not gonna give you spoilers, but it definitely helped majorly.”

***

Rhea took a deep breath as she opened the door of the house.

“Mom? I'm home!”

There was a fast ‘pat-pat-pat’ around the house, then Rhea was suddenly in the embrace of her mother.

"Rhea! Oh, thank goodness. Oh, my baby."

She crushed the air right out of her daughter.

“Hey mom, how about you sit down, and I prepare something to eat, yes?” Rhea said as she walked inside.

Suddenly, the earth started to shake violently, and it continued to do so for a solid minute before it all stopped.

Sally looked at Rhea with horror.

“Rhea was that your father?” Sally asked.

“I don’t think so…” Rhea said. “There is no reason for him to cause an earthquake.”

It was only a half an hour later that Rhea knew what had happened, the news about the sudden earthquake was all around the world, and the Churches even started to say that ‘This is God sending his punishment’.

Rhea laughed. “Loki you son of a bitch.”

“That earthquake was Loki? What did he do?” RJO Michael asked.

“That was Loki releasing Fenrir from his bondage.” She said, gesturing towards the large wolf lying behind RJO Loki. “Do you know the story of Fenrir? He is the child of Loki and a jötunn named Angrboða. A prophecy foretold that he would kill Odin during Ragnarök. After failing twice to bind him in chains, they had the dwarves craft a magical ribbon called Gleipnir —made from impossible things like the sound of a cat’s footfall and the breath of a fish—using which they finally managed to bind him. As you read in one of the previous chapters, I gave Loki a huge hint on how to release his son. He took my advice, viola! Fenrir here has been free since then.”

Loki smirked. "You could say I gave Yggdrasil a good hit, hehe."

Extra :

“Mom, why did you get with my dad?” Rhea asked.

“Well, he was tall, dashing.” Sally elbowed her teasingly. “Handsome.”

Rhea deadpanned. “Yeaaaaah, your definition of handsome and my definition of handsome are completely different, 'cause I called him ugly before I left Olympus.”

Sally’s eyes widened. “Rhea!” She couldn’t find the right words and sighed. “Then what’s your definition of handsome?”

Rhea thought of Poseidonas. “Wait till I learn about how to make realistic art, and I will show you my definition of handsome.”

“I did learn how to make realistic art, and I did show my mom what my definition of handsome is.” Rhea had a proud smile on her face remembering the paintings she had done of Poseidonas and Aidoneus that were now hung on her cabin walls.

“True. She spent so long in our cabin, terrorizing us to teach her how to paint and practiced for years to perfect it, insisting that she would only show us her finished masterpieces,” said RJO Will, remembering the times Rhea would sit in their cabin for hours sometimes, hyper–focused, painting and painting. She had started simple—colour mixing, brush strokes, and techniques, quickly mastering simple still–life paintings, which she picked up fast because she already had the fundamentals down and knew how to sketch, and then gradually moving on to portrait painting, then practicing that for years striving for perfection.

Extra 2 :

Sally looked at the car in front of her. “Rhea, from where did you get this car?”

“…Promise you won’t get mad?”

Sally sighed. “Shoot.”

“I won the jackpot in a casino.” Rhea grinned.

“Now…what were you doing in a casino?” Sally asked.

“Lotus Eaters and the quest.”

“We’re going to sit down for a bit, and you’re going to tell me everything.”

“Sure!”

“You tell her everything?” Percy asked, astonished. Sure, he told his mom most of the things, but not everything. Some things, it’s better she doesn’t know, like how many times he came close to dying during quests.

“Yup. Every single thing. Including all the stupid and impulsive decisions I made and what the monsters, titans and giants wanted to do with me, which I probably shouldn’t have told her, but oh well.” Rhea shrugged.

“AHHHH! DON’T!!!” RJO Annabeth screams. She, RJO Nico and RJO Grover covered their ears, shuddering violently in disgust while Poseidonas’s, Aidoneus’s, ROR Apollo’s, and RJO Loki’s expression darkened in disgust and murderous rage.

PJO Frank is the one who asks. "What was that about?"

Rhea’s expression is blank as she says. "You don't want to know... or, well, you'll know."

~

“Honey?”

“Yes, mom?”

“How do you know how to drive?”

“Ehe~”

“How do you know how to drive?” PJO Hermes asked.

“Hehehe~ You’ll find out, don’t worry. No spoilers, after all.” Rhea put a finger to her lips, making the ‘shush’ motion with a wink.

“This was a fun chapter.” ROR Loki said, giggling.

“Because most of it was Rhea insulting those?” ROR Anubis nonchalantly gestured towards RJO Gods.

“Yup. Hehehe~” ROR Loki started floating upside down in his amusement. ROR Thor sighed then grabbed hold of ROR Loki’s arm, turning him rightside up.

Chapter Text

Memories so dear,

Person cherished, now so near,

Heart full of warm cheer.

***

So, uh, funny story?

During the celebration of her return, Rhea drank wine she got from Dionysus’s kids -they hid some in their cabin away from Chiron- and blacked out the whole day. She didn’t know how she ended up in Cabin 3, but she was thankful she did.

And, guessing from the way the nereids were giggling, it’s safe to assume they were the ones who got her in her cabin.

RJO Clarisse grinned, shaking her head. “Figures the nereids would help her. They’ve always liked her, even before everything she did for them.”

RJO Chris rubbed his chin. “Yeah, she always had a soft spot for sea creatures, even when she’s a devil child to everyone.”

Rhea then remembered something and frowned. She returned to her bed and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she was inside Poseidonas's palace, said god was sitting on his throne like always.

“Now that all of this farce has ended, I have a bone to pick with you,” Rhea said. “How did you take over my body? No, scratch that, that’s not important. Why did you say all that to Hades? Why do you care? I was the one being insulted, not you! The whole thing didn’t even concern you!”

Poseidonas sneered before he stood up and walked up to the window to look outside. “Do not flatter yourself, I didn’t do that for you or any of those insignificant worms that you call friends…the only reason I interfered was because I can’t stand the sight of someone who is supposed to be my brother look this pathetic.”

RJO Leo leaned back, whistling. “Man, she’s got a death wish. I wouldn’t have the guts to call out a god like that to his face.”

RJO Annabeth sighed. “She’s not wrong, though. I’d want answers too if somebody hijacked my body.”

Percy looked thoughtful as he murmured to his girlfriend. “That’s kinda cold, even for him. I get the whole ‘don’t flatter yourself’ thing, but man, he’s bitter.”

PJO Annabeth replied just as quietly, “It’s not bitterness. It’s pride. And probably grief.”

Rhea’s glare turned to sadness. “You miss your brother.”

Poseidonas turned to glare at her. “I do not need your pity.”

“I am not pitying you, you’re above that. I am sad for you, that’s two different things!” Rhea said. “…He must’ve been someone amazing if you reacted so strongly… Can you tell me about him?”

RJO Frey shook his head, amused. “That’s just so Rhea. Straight shooter, never sugarcoats it.”

RJO Thor nodded his head. “True. She’s honest to a fault, which might come out as rude sometimes, but that’s just her being honest.”

He stayed silent and did not respond, Rhea approached him.

“Sooo…”

“What?”

“What can you tell me about your Hades?”

Poseidonas glanced at her from the corner of his eye before he glanced back at the vast sea of the plane.

“If he was here, the so-called Olympians of this world will be ashamed to call themselves gods.” Poseidonas’s eyes softened. “Even back in my world, Hades was the god most respected in all the pantheons, he was strong, charismatic, reliable, the most fitting of the title of god.”

Rhea listened intently as Poseidonas spoke, his words carrying a weight of reverence and admiration for his brother. "He was a god among gods," Poseidonas continued, his voice low and filled with emotion. “A true leader.”

"I can see why you would be so protective of his legacy, " she said softly. And I understand why you would be so driven to ensure that his memory is honoured. I wish I could meet him.”

“I think that’s the nicest thing I’ve heard him say so far.” PJO Frank blinks in surprise.

“True.” PJO Piper agrees.

“I mean, from what I’ve heard and seen so far, that world’s Hades deserves all the high praises. He’s way different and better than our world’s.” PJO Leo comments.

“Also true.” PJO Piper agrees again.

There was silence again.

“There is a reason why Hades rules Helheim … it’s because it’s the most violent and dangerous realm. Even if this world’s underworld is an inferior version, surviving it is a feat worthy of praise…… good job.”

Rhea sniffed.

“Cease your whining.”

Rhea smiled. “I am not crying.”

He didn’t say anything after that.

RJO Grover grinned. “Classic tough love.”

“Would you look at that. He’s already complimenting her. He had already begun accepting her as his daughter at that time, and he didn’t even realise that.” ROR Zeus said to his wife.

“I’m pretty sure it took him a while before he accepted that Rhea is his daughter.” ROR Hera replied.

RJO Nico smirked at Rhea. “That’s probably the closest Poseidonas will ever get to saying ‘I’m proud of you.’”

Rhea agreed. “I know. I’ll take what I get, though.”

“Would you give me your hand?” Rhea asked.

Poseidonas frowned at her.

“Humour me just this once,” Rhea said.

And he humoured her and let her grab his hand for the first time, Rhea was stuck in some kind of daze before she let go of his hand.

“Now I see why you respect him so much. He's The God Whom Other Gods Rely on the Most… also… Adamas, huh.” Rhea tilted her head. “He only exists in your dimension, along with the multiverse that belongs to your world.”

“Is there anything important about Hades?”

Rhea gave him a sad look. “Do you really want to know?”

Poseidonas said nothing and started to walk away.

“Sometimes, you’re just not ready to hear the truth. Sometimes knowing changes you, and I think he knew that—even before she answered.” PJO Rachel whispered to PJO Annabeth, who nodded.

“My brothers—”

The blond god stopped in his tracks.

“—I could not make good on my vow. I have failed as an elder brother, forgive me.” She said. “Were his last words as he lost against the Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang.”

"For a god whose strength was respected across worlds... to fall with regret is the cruellest ending of all." ROR Aura spoke sympathetically.

PJO Annabeth was quiet, her voice soft. “That... that hits different. Even gods can’t protect the ones they love.”

Percy nodded slowly, his throat tight. “Yeah.”

Poseidonas turned back to face Rhea, his expression unreadable. "I see," he said simply.

Rhea decided to leave him be.

***

That night, when Rhea was cleaning around the cabin, she found a box. It was like a repeat of the trident incident.

But when she opened the box, she did not find any kinda of jewel like she expected. She found an eyepatch. It was familiar in a way, but before she could link the eyepatch to a memory, it disintegrated in her hand.

“What the…” Rhea frowned. “I swear the universe is making a joke out of me or something.”

It only took her one minute to finally remember where she saw that eyepatch.

“Oh…” Her eyes widened.

~

As Poseidonas walked through the plane, he noticed a new abode had appeared on the other side. It was an exact replica of his brother's domain, and he couldn't resist his curiosity. With his trident in hand, he made his way towards the new structure, and the closer he got, the more his heart raced. When he finally entered, he froze at the sight before him, and so did the other person in the room when they saw him.

"Brother?" they both said in unison, staring at each other in shock.

~

PJO Grover let out a breath. “Man, that gave me chills. Imagine seeing someone you thought was gone.”

Percy rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s gotta hurt and heal at the same time.”

In the following days, everything seemed to be normal, or at least Rhea thought so. However, she couldn't shake off the feeling that Poseidonas was acting more quiet and distant than usual. Despite this, she tried to ignore it and went about her business.

But her world was turned upside down when she returned to the plane inside the trident –the one that she really needed to name– and discovered that it had changed completely. Previously, it was just a vast sea with a single mountain and castle built above it, and it was always day in this place. But now, the plane was divided into two parts, one side had perpetual daylight, and that’s where Poseidonas palace was, while the other was engulfed in darkness, like the Underworld itself. And in the distance, she could see a castle that looked strangely familiar.

Rhea’s eye twitched. “When I said I wanted to meet him, I didn’t … oh, for world sake!” She ran up to Poseidonas's castle and entered. “POSEIDONAS!!! THERE’S… oh.”

Sitting there was Hades, a tall and handsome man with a specially-designed eyepatch on his right eye and long, stylish silver hair that spikes up at various spots on his head, he has a leaf-like pattern tattooed across his forehead, a spiked choker necklace lined, and a bead-like earring on his left ear with many smaller piercings.

They were talking about something that seemed to be important before Rhea came.

They both turned to look at her. Poseidonas looked apathetic as always, and Hades looked a bit surprised about her sudden appearance.

PJO Rachel blinked wide-eyed and leaned towards PJO Annabeth to whisper to her. “Even across the multiverse, family reunions are awkward. But meeting a god like that... I'd probably faint, not gonna lie.”

PJO Annabeth cocked a brow, nodding in agreement. “True. Family reunions are always awkward. But I prefer this family reunion to how the gods in our world have reunions. Always fighting and arguing.” She deadpanned.

PJO Rachel giggled at that. “You’re so right. The gods in our world know to do only one thing—argue. It’s a wonder they haven’t killed each other yet.”

Rhea blushed. “I… I am going to leave you to your… uh, reunion. Sorry to interrupt!”

These are two brothers who died in Ragnarök and are meeting again! So yes, she was going to leave them to their brotherly reunion.

Or so she planned till Hades's soft voice stopped her.

“Won’t you introduce yourself first?” Hades asked.

Percy grinned. “That was actually sweet. He sounded more polite than most gods I’ve met.”

PJO Grover leaned closer to his friends to whisper to them. “I know from what we’ve read and seen so far, the gods of that universe seem… chill, but I can feel their aura, not completely because they’re suppressing it by the way, and they could kill us before we even have the time to blink.”

PJO Nico rubbed his chin, speaking in the same hushed tone. “Makes sense. They’re gods . Like, literally. They don’t rely on human’s belief to exist like in our world. The gods of our world have become weak because of the lack of people who believe in them, whether they want to admit it or not, but those gods don’t depend on that. They are strong because nothing is holding them back.”

Rhea blushed in embarrassment.

“Right, sorry, I'm Rhea," she said, trying to hide her blush. "It's an honour to meet you, even though it's under these strange circumstances." Hades nodded in acknowledgement, and she could feel Poseidonas' eyes on her, even though he remained silent. "I didn't mean to interrupt your reunion, I can go if you'd like."

Hades smiled at her kindly. "No need to apologise, Rhea. It's always good to meet family, even if it's in a different dimension. Poseidon told me about you."

Rhea deadpanned. “Yeah, I'm sure it’s about how annoying, pathetic, and insufferable I am."

Hades chuckled. "Well, among other things"

Poseidonas scoffed.

Rhea gave Poseidonas a blank look.

RJO Travis snorted. “At least she knows her brand.”

RJO Nico looked incredulous. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rhea speaking so politely to anyone .”

RJO Annabeth nodded. “You’re correct. But this is Aidoneus we’re talking about. Someone she deeply respects. Of course, she’s going to be polite with him.”

“Someone we all deeply respect, you mean?” RJO Grover interjected, to which the other two instantly agreed.

***

The following conversation was awkward for Rhea at the start. Aidoneus (Hades), although was easier to talk to than his brother, came out more extroverted than she expected.

But thankfully, he was patient with her and continued to talk to her till she became more comfortable to talk more without blushing.

“—And then Poseidonas took over my body and tore down Hades with his words. I seriously shouldn’t have told him about half of the history of the gods of this world because he used to go on a tirade on Hades, which, yes, was hilarious if you think about it, but... I mean, I personally don’t mind dying!” Rhea shrugged. “It will be Olympus's loss cause the prophecy needs a half-blood to save them, you see? And so if I die, Kronos will end them.” She paused for a moment. “I don’t know how he will swallow them now they are full grown, tho.”

Aidoneus paused when he heard that last part, while Poseidonas sneered in disgust.

“…Why would Kronos swallow our alternative selves?” Aidoneus asked.

“You didn't tell him?” Rhea said while looking at Poseidonas. “Can’t believe I told you so much about history, but that is the only thing you didn't tell your brother, and it's the most important of all the histories I told you! Well, there was this prophecy, or more specifically, Ouranos cursed Kronos after he usurped him. One of Kronos’s children would overthrow him, so to prevent this from happening, he decided to eat all of his children as soon as they were born. He swallowed his first five children - Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon - but his wife Rhea, my grandmother, managed to save their sixth child, Zeus, by hiding him and tricking Kronos into eating a stone wrapped in cloth instead. Zeus eventually grew up and overthrew Kronos, fulfilling the prophecy.”

Aidoneus stayed silent for a moment. “And he’s rising.”

“Yep.” Rhea then stood up. “And speaking about prophecies, there’s still a part of the prophecy that I got that still wasn’t fulfilled!”

“Eww!” ROR Aphrodite waved her hands in front of her nose as if to waft away a foul smell.

“The more times I hear it, the more I think of how ridiculous it is.” ROR Hermes scowled.

“And disgusting.” ROR Ares grimaced.

"Just hearing his name makes me want to murder people." ROR Demeter gritted her teeth.