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Chapter Text

Jason wanted to oppose his father’s ruling. He felt pity for Apollo in the moment that Zeus’ anger was focused wholly on him. The god looked so scared and so young, and it didn’t matter that his father screamed at Hera a second later, because now Apollo would be made a scapegoat. Jason turned to Zeus, who looked both regal and terrifying, and opened his mouth to protest but before he had the chance, someone else cut into the silence.

“But why would Apollo be punished?” asked Percy who was standing quietly beside her father. “He only says the prophecies, he doesn’t create them.”

The gods looked at the girl as Apollo started inching towards his cousin and uncle.

Jason looked at Percy with mute horror; terrified for her safety. He caught Annabeth sighing heavily but the others were stuck between being shocked and too afraid to stop the girl.

“Would you punish my father as well, uncle?” She asked Zeus whose attention was focused solely on her. “After all he was the god of prophecy before Apollo took the mantle.”

Percy felt that the dynamic between Zeus and herself had changed a while back, maybe even before the second Great Prophecy. But she couldn’t for the life of her think what she could have done that would make him hate her less. Nevertheless, she would use it to her advantage.

Slight murmurs started growing between the gods but the demigods standing outside of the circle were stunned silent. The growing horror on their faces was evident as Percy continued to talk without waiting for an answer. The ground beneath Hazel’s feet became decorated with riches. Jason felt like his breath caught in his throat like he couldn’t breathe. Even Leo wasn’t fidgeting or dissociating but fully paying attention to the conversation. But Percy kept on talking seemingly unaware of the danger she was putting herself in with her speech.

“And if so you should also punish Artemis,” Percy started rambling but the serious tone didn’t change. Only her father seemed to understand what she was doing and a small part of him was proud of her. The bigger part was worried she’d never stop putting herself at risk to protect others. Apollo got closer to Poseidon who nodded slightly at him to keep moving. “They are twins so they were most likely in cahoots with each other.”

Artemis frowned at the accusation. She was already punished for not cutting contact with her hunters but helping Apollo? What did she know about prophecies? Then she saw the spark of pride in Poseidon’s eyes.

“And so should Hermes. He should be punished for conspiring since he and Apollo have been inseparable since the younger came along.” The tempo of Percy’s speech was rising with every spoken word.

“And Iris as well, as she and Hermes work in the same gossipy business. And Aunt Hestia! She’s good to everyone so she must’ve been helping Apollo in his plot.”

Poseidon put his hand on Percy’s shoulder in an attempt to stop her from talking.

It didn’t work.

“You should punish all the gods who helped the prophesied seven on the quest. It is only due to that aid that the prophecy came true.” The unnamed gods who had a hand in aiding the demigods started whispering feverishly.

Dionysius chuckled quietly. “The balls on that girl,” he thought.

Ares huffed, amused despite himself when he realised what the whelp’s plan was. She continued to point out all the gods who influenced the quest, no matter how little the influence was. But there was one goddess who crossed the line between a little nudge and a full-blown meddling.

Athena, who discovered Percy’s plot right after Poseidon, just glared daggers at the girl.

“Matter of fact, why don’t you sack the entire council, just to be sure?” She used up the last of the air in her lungs. She took a breath. “Or maybe, just maybe, you could vote on it, to find the culprit who is responsible for playing with the strings of fate? Since the council exists for a reason, no?”

“Enough!” Zeus thundered which made demigods flinch and step away. The gods were silenced as well.

Poseidon stepped in front of his daughter. 

Heated stares exchanged between the brothers made everyone tense. The heroes were scared that the King of gods would make an example of Percy and punish her along with Apollo.

The gods remembered the last time the two powerful brothers had a disagreement. It almost ended in a third world war. 

But Zeus didn’t seem too angry, more annoyed at his niece’s spiel. More angry at the fact that she was right. Zeus may be a paranoid leader but he wasn’t a dictator.

Percy put her hand on Poseidon’s arm, her head peeking behind her father at the audience of angry (and some amused) gods. The heroine was blinking innocently and her poker face left some wondering if she knew what she was doing in questioning the King of gods in front of other gods and stunned demigods. 

Apollo then heard Poseidon speak, not to Zeus, or any other god, but to his daughter. His uncle turned his head a bit and said something in a language the sun god recognised to be High Atlantean. The language of all the royal and divine of the sea. 

“Must you antagonise your uncle so?” Said the sea god.

“He started it,” Percy hissed at her dad. Her fangs had the tendency to sprout out every time she spoke in the sea tongue. And so did the scales now adorning the high points of her cheeks and her brow bone. “And he’s wrong!”

“You know it, I know it and so does everybody else. But do you see anyone else questioning your uncle in front of others?” Poseidon quirked a brow.

Percy just huffed.

“Must you be so difficult, daughter?” He asked, already knowing that he won their little word battle. 

“Have you looked in the mirror, father?” Percy said back and grinned lightly when she saw her father’s lip twitching into a grin. 

The pot meets the kettle.

Poseidon hid Percy behind his back where Apollo stood close by. During the whole drama, he managed to sneak away from his father. And Poseidon was the perfect god to hide behind - a powerful ally and the once prophecy god as well. And his favourite uncle. Apollo played favourites often. Sue him. 

The tension broke and the demigods let out a breath of relief. Piper started fanning herself with her hand. Frank's knuckles were white from how hard he was clenching his fists.

Percy’s eyes flickered to her cousin. Their eyes met. He nodded in thanks and she smiled brightly back at him.  

They moved farther from the circle of the other gods. Percy knew that Poseidon would still be capable of reacting if someone wanted to attack her and she knew that the attention of the gods was now focused mostly on her uncle and dad. 

Apollo felt Hermes’ gaze on him and Percy. He mentally nudged his brother to leave him be now and that they will talk later on Olympus.

Then he saw the red stain growing on Percy’s shirt under her armour. He moved without thinking, bringing her closer to him so he could inspect the wound. 

Some part of him was aware that his father’s anger dissolved when the girl finished speaking and now Zeus was pretending not to notice the stares Athena was throwing at him. 

Percy hissed in pain when Apollo put his palm on her seeping wound. 

“Sorry,” he whispered. His eyes searched for any other sign of injury. 

“The giant twins weren’t hard to defeat especially with Dad on my side. But Otis had a poisoned blade,” she whispered back. “The blade barely nicked me but it stings.”

“Hold on,” Apollo said quietly and started healing the wound. Just a drop of poison made it into the wound, which he found incredibly lucky on her part. He burned away that drop, making sure that none of it got into Percy’s bloodstream. 

At the raised eyebrow of his brother, Zeus only agreed to debate on the matter of the culprit later.

“Gaia,” chimed in Annabeth, who it would seem spent too much time with Percy and lost some of her self-preservation. “She’s awake?”

“Hey,” said Percy after unclenching her jaw. “Would you do me a favour?”

“After you defended me so bravely?” Apollo smiled genuinely. “Anything.”

“If you all get to vote,” the girl inched closer and whispered. “You know who will be found guilty of meddling in mortal matters.”

He nodded. It was pretty obvious that Hera was playing them all, heroes and gods, for fools this whole time. Especially her husband who had ordered the opposite of what she did with her switch of the camp leaders.

“For her punishment, propose her being cut off from one of her domains,” Percy’s face darkened. 

“So the Sea Princess has claws,” said Apollo, only half-joking.

“Fangs,” Percy corrected him. “And it’s she who made this personal.”

Apollo bowed his head slightly. Her brilliant strategy to defend him and the quick descent into revenge made his blood rush delightfully.

The gods were deciding where to send the demigods now.

“Gaia’s main force will attack Camp Halfblood,” Athena said calmly. “That is due to my statue’s allure.”

“Do you think he will let us vote?” Apollo asked his cousins while double-checking for any other scratch or a bruise. 

“For sure,” she whispered and grasped at his hand which was checking her ribs for fractures. A slight hitch in her breath told him he had hurt her, even if she didn’t whimper. One rib was bruised. He healed it quickly. “But I don’t doubt he will try to punish you as well.”

Apollo straightened up quickly. “What?” He whisper-yelled.

“You fell for Octavian’s lies,” she said bluntly. “He played to your ego and you listened.” 

Apollo opened his mouth to protest.

She held up a finger. He shut his mouth.

Poseidon, still standing in front of them, hadn’t said anything but his shoulders did shake in silent laughter, aware of how his daughter was tearing into his nephew.

“That’s your crime,” she explained. “And because of that, you let Octavian see too much of what’s to come. I advise you to act humble around your dad when all of you go back to Olympus. He might question his decision to punish you.”

Apollo took that comment to heart. His one last hope.

“But you have to convince him that it was a moment of weakness,” Percy added and Apollo bristled. “Say it was because of the schism. Even Uncle can’t blame you for that.”

“Camp Jupiter can hold its own,” said Ares, agreeing with Athena. “The Greek camp has fewer numbers and there are those Romans who decided to ally with Gaia to murder as many Greeks as they can.” 

“Alright,” Apollo said unsure. “I will try.”

“And if he decides against punishing you severely, please visit me with the news,” Percy demanded. “So I know the situation.”

“Just because you’re worried?” He asked, bringing a bit of a joking tone to his voice. 

“That and because there’s something wrong with me,” humour slipped away from her voice. “There are some long-lasting effects from the - the Pit.”

His demeanor changed in an instant.

Apollo grabbed her hands. “I will, I promise.”

“Good.”

“They need to leave now if we want them to arrive in time of battle,” added Athena.

“I could slap them back to Long Island,” said Zeus, leaving the demigods bewildered. 

Percy moved closer to her father, almost tripping in her haste. She tugged on his Hawaiian shirt. Now that she was closer she could see that it was inscribed with protection spells written in the Old Tongue. Poseidon put his hand around her shoulder and bowed his head so she could whisper into his ear.

“Dad, I have to go through the sea currents,” she whispered fast in High Atlantean now that Zeus decided on how to get them across the globe. 

“Percy, you won’t be fast enough,” he murmured back.

“Trust me, I will make it. It’s very urgent.”

Poseidon sighed. Damn her stubbornness, just like his. 

“What do you need me to do? ”

“Just get uncle to agree. And send for my mermen, tell them to wait for me near the beaches of the camp.”

“Mhmm, and what will you do in the meantime? ” Poseidon leaned on his trident.

“I have the storm prepared,” Percy said in an unusual tone for her. Poseidon saw her eyes glowing and at once understood that she could see. Similar to how he could see in his youth. “All I need is fire.”

“We’ll need to have a talk after all that, I see,” he said seriously. 

“The time is too young,” she answered. “But it will come.”

He nodded, seeing that there was no point in arguing now that his daughter was in a trance. When he lifted his gaze to look at Apollo, he seemed even more clueless. Percy’s change in behaviour seemed to come out of nowhere. 

“Go to your friends,” he said to the girl. “Tell them and I will talk to my brother.”

Percy ran to her friends who were making their way to the ship. The sea god cracked his neck and moved towards his younger brother. 

“Brother,” Poseidon said while the other gods hurried to make sure the ship could withstand such a fast journey back home. “I’m sending my daughter to return through the sea currents.”

“I assume you have a good reason,” Zeus said warningly. 

“I used to be a god of strategy along with prophecy,” he said evasively. “I know what I’m doing.”

“You have a plan?” Zeus crossed his arms. 

“I do.”

“Will you share what it is?” asked the other when Poseidon stopped talking.

“No, I don’t think I will.”

“Poseidon,” growled Zeus. 

“You are so no fun these days,” said the elder, trying to distract his brother from the fact that he didn’t even know the plan. “Back in the day, you’d do anything I proposed.”

“Back in the day I was young and naive,” parried Zeus. 

“Relax, I mean no ill towards you or the quest,” said Poseidon switching back to a serious but warm tone. “Percy volunteered her mer-guard to fight by the demigods’ side. She’ll need to lead them herself.”

Zeus huffed. He couldn’t protest against extra aid. But the way this girl seemed to always oppose him…

“You know she was right,” said Poseidon when the two were nearing the ship. Percy was talking with Athena's daughter. The blonde grabbed Percy’s arm and nodded her head. Percy’s strategy had her blessing.

“Don’t test me,” said Zeus but didn’t protest otherwise.

“It would be very unwise for you to punish your heir severely,” Poseidon rolled his eyes. He’d never understand Zeus’ parenting techniques. “Especially when you know who is at fault here.”

“Is it true that Apollo had no hand in creating the prophecy?” asked Zeus although he already knew the answer. 

“He only revealed it because it was time,” Poseidon waved his hand at Percy. “Perhaps the oath was a mistake, only putting off the inevitable.”

Zeus only hummed. Poseidon stepped away from his brother towards his daughter. 

Percy had a serious expression on but the hue of her eyes made Poseidon’s fingers itch. Because he knew that his daughter wasn’t completely in her senses at the moment.  

“You have your uncle’s leave,” he said and ignored Zeus’ huff of indignation in the background. “You know what to do.”

“I do,” there was no doubt in her tone. 

Poseidon touched his forehead to hers in an Atlantean gesture of goodbye between kin. He whispered a quick blessing of clear mind and good winds. He ignored the stares from both the gods and the demigods. The demigods’ stares told a tale of jealousy and longing. A last kiss on the brow of his darling girl and she was off walking into the depths of the sea. Some of the gods looked on as she walked past the ship, wondering what she was told to do. Other immortals looked at the goodbye like it was beneath them to love a mortal (or not) child with such passion. 

And it was new for Poseidon to love his human children this much. His attitude towards all of his children was based on protectiveness. 

With Percy, it was deeper.  

Poseidon knew what the prophecy said. Percy knew the arrangement of the threads the Fates used.

The prophecy demanded storm or fire. 

“I’ll give the earth both,” thought Percy as she dove into the water. She searched for a current she could use to find her she-dragon. 

Chapter Text

PAST

“It would seem that the way of the world dictates that some abilities come from grandfathers rather than fathers,” thought Percy, when her half-mortal mind desperately tried to find its footing after witnessing a million moments in mere seconds. 

The girl promptly threw up the ash-tasting fire water of Phlegethon. 

She coughed and tried to catch her breath while her eyes swam with unshed tears. 

She waved off Iapetus’ attempts at help with one hand, the other was still cradling a scaled egg to her stomach. Nothing could help her, not after she saw her grandfather in his youth. The similarities between them made her heart clench. But the fact that she saw his whole life up to the moment his children, (“your father” her mind supplied, “your uncles, your aunts”) cut him up into tiny, little pieces and threw him into this hell in a literal second - the time between one beat of the heart and another - made her mind and soul rebel. 

The vision was too much for the mortal part of her. Her heart was breaking as a thousand emotions swirled in her - grief, sadness, fear and a pinch of despair as she realised that the whole family was cursed. The whole thing, the whole line, was cursed. Her every effort to make a change in the world. It’s all doomed to fall. The thrice damned bloodline of dreamers and rulers.

Her mortal part was rejecting the visions. Percy could grasp only a few while the others were escaping her - like a quick thought that unwritten dissolves into the ether. 

The egg was warm but not warmer than the river of fire. Some part of her knew she would need to find a way to keep it warm. It had to be warm to hatch.

It was her fault she supposed. She stuck her whole head into the Phlegethon’s current. Because of its odd hue it was glowing but not like it was before.

The strange looking river current was calling to her before - although she saw it first as its own little river that seemed to defy gravity. But she was the only one to see the river. 

And the two men had assured her there was no extra river in the Pit. So, she dropped the subject so as not to look like a complete loon. 

Just for that river to flow into the fire one. 

Percy felt strong arms grabbing her from behind. She couldn’t muster any energy to fight back. Enemy, friend, some random monster from the deepest part of the Pit - it didn’t matter after what she’d seen. 

Iapetus took her into his arms, carrying her like she was an infant. If she were to raise her head she’d see above the Titan’s shoulder to the worried face of a Giant. 

“Don’t die on us,” whispered Damasen. Percy couldn’t answer as her mind was battling itself. 

They carried her to their little camp near the river bank. All the while they wondered what was the reason for her sudden illness - the river of fire wasn’t harmful to her before that incident. She could drink it, although it wasn’t the tastiest of treats, and she had no problem swimming within its current. But now it was like the river was fighting her or she was fighting it. It was hard to tell - harder still the Titan and Giant weren’t of the sea or any other water source and everyone knows that waterfolk can be quite eccentric. 

Percy only remembers shreds of their conversation. 

All she could think about was her fate now that she knew what she was at her core - exactly like her grandfather.

PRESENT

Percy felt the waters around her for a current she could use. She ignored the fact that her failure meant Poseidon would lose any trust he might have held for her. She couldn’t bear the thought of it. Not when their relationship was so uncertain because of the schism. Ignoring the unanswered prayers on the quest or the fact that before this fight the last time she had seen him was just before she was kidnapped. 

Before she could only see glimpses of the “river of time” (as she dubbed it) around her. But mostly she was blind to it. Matter of fact, she didn’t even know that time could be seen in itself - sure the wilting flowers and rusting metal were a testament to the passage of time but it wasn’t like seeing time itself.  

If she were to recall her fight with the Minotaur she’d remember the teal hue of the river coiling near in the overgrown grass. Maybe she even pulled from the river of time when she jumped on the monster’s back to break his horn. She did feel like the time slowed down then but she chalked it up to the rain making her faster and adrenaline playing with her perception. 

Or that time she fought her grandfather on the deck of Princess Andromeda. The time-current drummed deep in the sea around them. In her dreams, where Kronos had permanent residence during the war, the current didn’t appear, at that time anyway, but she could see root-like gold lines anytime the Titan used his powers to slow down time. He didn’t slow time often and some part of Percy’s mind knew why - dear grandpa was losing it. It being his mind of course. Since the curse placed on his father, he was slowly losing his mind as more and more possible futures grew and branched out into new universes. 

But back then when she was facing a Time Lord she couldn’t bend the time to her will because she didn’t know she could. Back then it was the fight between the old time and the new. The conflict was basically the picture of how people usually like to personify the old year as an old man and the new year as a baby on the 31st of December. The thought of Kronos hunched over with age and with a white beard almost touching the ground made her giggle. 

The slight shimmering in the water drew her back from the memories she kept replaying in her head. 

There was the perfect current to get to the enchanted island. 

PAST

“I can fix it,” was the only sentence she managed to speak before the cold determination, the type that doesn’t look far ahead, overtook her mind.

Percy jumped from her resting place next to Maya - the Maeonian drakon destined to fight Damasen, over and over. 

Iapetus stood, trying to stop her. From what? He didn’t know. But the gibberish spilling from her mouth made some part of him paranoid for her safety.

But the whole time she was aiming for him - all it took was a short touch of her fingers to his temple. 

They both passed out which made Damasen shout with worry. The unmoving body of a demigod whose chest was fluttering in shallow breaths and the much larger figure of the Titan of the Underworld who, even unconscious, was panting like a dying animal.

During their unplanned nap, Iapetus regained his memories - every, single one. From his earliest memories as a boy during the reign of his tyrant father to the moment Percy has submerged him into the river Lethe. The memories of his closest brother and how Iapetus lost him to the madness of time, to the curse which poisoned him, taking hold of his own body until Kronos was more a puppet on a string of time rather than a living being. And the puppeteer - their first abuser - Ouranus. 

Percy lost consciousness the moment she pulled the same washed-out memories onto the surface of the Titan’s mind. It took a tremendous effort on her part and even more power but she couldn’t not do it - it was not only her determination that drove her to this but madness of the mind, which ailment came from the rapidly changing visions of the possible futures and past events. 

Damasen, for all his speeches about his dislike of them both, tried his best to wake both the girl and the man. He moved their limp bodies closer to the drakon. He noted with growing concern Percy’s rising fever. 

“I’m a Giant of Peace. What do I know about treating Titans? Or demigods for that matter,” he muttered to himself when he cushioned the girl’s head with her dragon hide pack. He put the cooling dragon egg on Percy’s right. It was unlike any egg he had ever seen and the most unexpected thing to find in the Pit. “Although, I could throw her into one of the rivers. Maybe that would help.”

Before he could remind himself that a river started this whole thing, one of his “patients” awoke with a sudden gasp.

Unfortunately for Percy, it was the Titan who woke first. 

With the memory of the swirling water of the Lethe at the forefront of his mind. 

PRESENT

The current was strong enough to take her to the island but she knew she wasn’t permitted to step onto the land. 

Even if Percy was permitted to go to the sea bank, she couldn’t. The current was strong but it was usually her Blue Lady who sought her out. Not the other way around. 

When Percy’s head broke the water surface she was met with a curious sight - a beach of gold and white sand with objects from different time periods. Far away, in the grassy area, Percy could see a fountain made in the style of ancient Mykkens. The legs of a pastel pink beach chair were buried in the sand with the saltwater almost lapping at the light wood.  

She couldn’t access the island now. It belonged to a different time in her life but she really, really , needed that dragon. 

“Seafyre,” called Percy and the beast moved her head in her direction. The dragon’s eyes were yellow, almost golden, and they widened at the sight of her rider. 

It was the first time Percy came to her and not Seafyre to Percy. 

“Come,” said Percy.

PAST

“Zeus got dominion over the sky despite his father being the Lord of Time,” thought Percy when she was pondering the family lines the first night Iapetus joined her in the Pit. She felt terrible for uttering his name in her fight with the cursed spirits. Now he was stuck in this hell with her. And the fact that he kept on calling her friend when she has been the one to wipe his mind of his memories - 

Each time he did anything nice to her it was like a metaphorical twist of a knife to Percy’s heart. 

Before, she would feel slightly bad - after all, Iapetus tried to kill her first. Everything’s fair in love and war.

But after having her own memories stolen away she was a bit more sympathetic to his situation. Maybe a little too sympathetic.

“The first Lord of the Sky,” she started talking, still a bit unsure if jogging back Iapetus’ memories was the best thing to do. But she wanted to get a couple of things straight and there wasn’t anyone else who’d help her. “Wasn’t he the Sky himself? How can you be a lord of yourself?”

Then when he died, for millennia stuck without a physical body in his once kingdom, his grandson, Zeus got the skies as a domain. The King of All, Ouranos, fell at the hand of his son the Lord of Time. Just for the same Time Lord and King of Titans to be dethroned by his son. The son that became the Lord of the Skies and King of gods. 

PRESENT

Grabbing a hold of the same current to propel herself through time and space felt almost easier than it should’ve been.

It was a quite smart thing to do, in Percy’s opinion. She swam to the Camp using the sea currents to make her journey speedy but in normal circumstances that wouldn't have been enough to make it on time for the battle. Here Percy’s brilliance could shine, as her wits could be used without anyone whining in her ear about how mad (or dangerous) the plan was.

First of all, she dived into the current which spat her out into the past. While she aimed for at least two weeks before the battle alongside the Olympians, which technically meant that in the present the Argo II would still be travelling to Athens, Percy got less - only a week to travel from Athens to Long Island. 

Not bad, and most importantly, still doable with the currents acting as slingshots using the demigod as ammo. 

Although she hoped to have at least a day to stay at some sea lord’s castle to rest before the battle. They’d be honoured to have her there and some would be even happy to see her. But no such luck.

The second thing Percy did, which wasn’t exactly planned from the beginning, was drawing on the time river to make herself even faster. 

It would seem that time is a fickle thing indeed. 

Well, it’s either that or it could be Percy’s lack of experience with her new powers. What is a week of difference when you have accidentally seen every second of the Titan’s Age? 

At the very least, this change in plans meant that Seafyre would get to Percy exactly in time for the battle - just how the she-dragon likes it.  

PAST

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the child who fell Lord of the Time got her grandfather’s attributes. Especially when her father, Poseidon seemed to be Kronos come again, not only in the physical appearance but in the attitude as well, as a child the god of the Tides was the mirror image of his father in his youth.

And now Percy, whose childhood fears reflected those of Kronos’, is the one who bears the lordship, or rather, the ladyship over Time. 

While still mortal. 

Percy’s eyes flew open and met the silver of Iapetus. 

The Titan launched at her. 

FUTURE

“Drown the karpoi,” Percy ordered. “You can fight shoulder to shoulder with the demigods but some of the Romans are on Gaia’s side.”

The small army murmured. They were eager to fight after the months of politicking happening in the seas, with smaller lords and dukes and castellans arguing using only words, letters and balls instead of casting true opposition to Gaia using the brute force of their armies.

Still, they were a bit thrown off their rhythm when Percy appeared seemingly out of nowhere with the speed of a bullet and a crazed glint in her eyes.

“Unless they attack you - don’t engage.”

“What of you, Princess?” asked Gawayeane. He was her sworn protector and forever grateful he wasn’t stripped of his knighthood when the Princess went missing. Even if he wasn’t at her side all the time, he still felt responsible for her. And that kidnapping echoed loss in the whole kingdom.   

“I have quite a dramatic entrance planned,” Percy winked at her sworn shield. “I’m afraid you’ll have to manage without my brilliant input.”

The thunder and lightning were gathering in strength. 

“Fight like the men of the seven seas. For the oceans and all their inhabitants.”

PAST

She thought herself dead in that instant, when the massive arms enclosed her. But she had no taste for a fight in that moment. She deserved the punishment for stealing Ipaetus’ memories away.

That’s why she was so surprised when he only held her close to his heart, curled protectively around her smaller body. 

He started shaking and she started crying when she understood. He followed her suit and let go of the dam holding his emotions. 

Damasen only looked confused between the two.

“I’m scared,” Percy said between the sobs. 

Iapetus shushed her. 

The cycle of time repeats itself - back in the day it was Iapetus who comforted small Kronos after he experienced visions of differing pasts and futures. 

In the Old Times Iapetus held shaking Kronos as he cried his eyes out, the smallest, the youngest of them all but the most powerful, not that others knew. Only Iapetus knew that Kronos held another domain other than harvest. 

And when little Kronos wept ichor Iapetus cursed the power of Time. 

“He was so good back then, so little,” Percy continued her cries. “I don’t want to go mad.”

“You won’t,” he tightened his grip. “There is no curse.”

The tears blurring Percy’s view gained a teal tint when she saw another vision of Kronos being punished by Gaia when the boy expected to be comforted. 

She managed to swallow back the bile that threatened to spill from her mouth. 

She won’t let herself become a monster. Percy will need to be stronger than her grandfather and fight against becoming something she wasn’t. And if meant she would forever be stuck in between two worlds - of mortal and godly - then so be it. Time cannot steal away her humanity nor her divine strength. 

“You know what?” said Damasen, dropping his arms dramatically. “I don’t even wanna know.”

Iapetus only shook his head and continued wiping Percy’s tears from her cheeks. 

Chapter Text

The plan wasn’t really thought out, Percy had to admit that.

”Shit!” The curse flew from her mouth naturally as she struggled to control the newfound power. 

When she asked her father for a favour, the idea was still forming in her mind. Unfortunately, it couldn’t ever be completed — there were simply too many things that could go wrong. 

And the fact that no one, not even her, knew what the plan was, could cause even more problems.  

But let’s start from the beginning. Or whatever can be considered the start when the time isn’t linear. 

The moment the small merfolk army made their way out of the ocean, attacking Gaia’s forces from the rear, Percy knew she didn’t need to worry too much about the campers. Their foes were sandwiched between the sharp edges of the sea army’s spears and demigods’ various weapons. And yet she stayed in the water, helping only by creating giant waves, crushing the opponents stupid enough to come close to the ocean. 

“No, no, no, no, no, no,” she clutched her head and muttered to herself. No matter the shouts and cries from the surface — she couldn’t go there to fight, not before she brought Seafyre through the time current. 

Gaia was nowhere to be seen and her army wasn’t aware of Percy’s presence on the battlefield. And it had to stay that way until the main boss appeared. And the daughter of Poseidon was a bit busy trying to straighten a sea current so it could become an entryway for Seafyre. That journey to the island ate away at her energy, which meant she needed to put more effort into something that already took a tremendous amount of concentration. 

“C’mon, you stubborn current.” said Percy through gritted teeth, trying to stretch the thin blue line into something resembling a doorway. “Give me a little more than that.”  

The currentstarted glowing a deep blue shade, illuminating the girl’s pale face. She brought it closer to the surface, so her dragon wouldn’t drown but even that took so much willpower, Percy almost vomited from stress. When she saw a snout peeking out, the knot loosened in her stomach. She thought to order Seafyre to stay hidden in the entryway until she gave her a sign — this way, she’d still have the element of surprise on her side. 

But then the ground on the surface started shaking, knocking over both friends and foes off their feet. 

And Percy wasn’t the one causing the earthquake.

“Oh fuck,” Leo shouted, jumping out of the way of the lighting web hitting the blind sided cyclops. “Jay, try to aim at the bad guys!”

”Then move!” Jason shouted at the boy without looking back. He stabbed at the ugly monster in front of him and ducked when another swung at him. 

“Boys, stop fighting and focus!” Piper shouted at them. 

Jason felt a certain lack of energy on the field. The Greeks weren’t as united as he’d like and he had no way to make them see it. The Greeks could fight, that much he knew, but they wouldn’t listen to him. Not in this already too-chaotic case. He needed Percy. They all needed her. 

“Any word on Percy?” he asked, ducking under the legs of another cyclops. 

“Nada,” answered Leo after smashing a hammer into a monster’s already flat face, making it resemble a squished-up pancake. 

“Stab your friend,” Piper said to a wild centaur, swinging a club twice the size of a human.

“Damn, beauty queen,” Leo snickered. “You tell ‘em!”

Jason looked over at a group of orange-wearing teenagers. They were making their way towards the ocean, breaking the defenses of their foes. Annabeth was keeping their left wing clean. He caught her eyes in a silent question. She shook her head. Percy’s not here, and no one knows where she might be.

A cheer came from the shoreline. The three demigods looked over to see a group of green and gold figures. Their armor glinted when the sun caught the fish scale pattern. 

”Percy has armor like that,” Jason thought back to the evenings on Argo II, when they would talk about their training experience. She had shown her armor to him then and laughed at how she designed it herself as a joke but her brother, ‘sweet Tyson’, forged it and now Percy was stuck ‘cosplaying a fish’. 

“They’re Percy’s!” He shouted, relieved. “She has to be near!”

”I hope she makes it here fast,” Leo said, setting a hellhound’s fur on fire. “We could use the help!”

”Guys, we can’t separate!” Piper reminded them, when Jason flew to kick an Empousa in the head. “Remember the plan!”

”Festus! Come to Daddy!” Leo shouted towards the river dividing the forest. The metal dragon had crashed there after their ship fell apart. They had to make sure Festus was fully operational if their plan of putting Gaia into permanent sleep was to work. They could hear the soft vibrations in the ground and a metallic jingle of the body parts smacking each other.

One of the merfolk stabbed at a monster crawling towards the trio. 

“Where is Percy?” Jason asked the soldier. A helm was masking his features but the eyes gave him away as Gawayeane – the personal guard Percy showed him pictures of. He couldn’t mistake those pink eyes for anyone else. 

“Worry not, young prince,” the knight sounded enthusiastic. “She comes when the situation looks most dire.”

Jason shook his head at the title. The melodic voice of a merman distracted him from realizing that the answer he gave didn’t explain where Percy was at all. 

The merknight turned towards his men and shouted a command. The others answered and continued attacking. 

“What was that?” Leo asked and when he opened his mouth to throw a pun, he had to roll out of the way of a charging cyclops. 

Gawayeane ignored them both, lost to the dance with his sword. The fighting technique was like Jason had never seen before - not even Percy moved like that (on second thought, Jason never saw anybody who moved like Percy). Even Piper stood still for a second to admire the merman. 

And then the ground started shaking again. The trio looked at each other concerned. Their worry grew when Gawayeane’s face turned one of confusion and settled on horror.

That was the moment they understood it wasn’t Percy and her planned, dramatic entrance.

It was Gaia. 

PAST

“She can’t know, can she?” Percy asked, already suspecting the answer. 

“Our mother, you mean?” Damasen answered when Iapetus was busy tending to the fire. They decided to give up on subtlety the moment Percy’s powers flared up. She was a blaring red dot on every monster’s radar, but only a few, dumb enough, audaciously thinking they would succeed, would come closer.  Just to be wiped out with the combined (though unnecessarily) efforts of all three - demigod, Titan, and a Giant. “If she were to fight you, it would be a tragedy.”

“Her,” Percy explained. The fear grew in her stomach. “Others. My parents. Rest of the family. But mostly other Primordials.”

“The news of a new Time Lord, or Lady in this case, would disturb the balance that came with my brother’s admission to the title,” Iapetus didn’t sound as though the memories of those times were particularly nice. “There would be infighting, others would try to challenge you.”

“Not to mention if Mother finds you with the same powers as her favorite son…” Damasen started speaking slowly, as if afraid of the answer himself. 

Percy craned her neck to find the eyes of the much taller being. 

“I won’t try to pretend to understand the relationship she had with your grandfather,” Damasen continued. “But many agree that it was a twisted thing. And while the corrupted bond never broke, her favoritism certainly ended quickly. She does seem to find new pupils fast. Then, most of her affections are focused on the chosen one. Nobody could say what she would do if she knew about your familiar powers.”

“There is a possibility of kidnapping,” Iapetus cut the musings short. “I do not mean to scare you child, but the twisted bond and her current state of mind could perhaps make her believe you are your grandfather.”

“You don’t think she actually would make such a mistake, do you?” A bad feeling stirred in her stomach at the same time as an idea lit up in her mind. “I am still a girl and of the sea. She could smell it, no doubt.”

“Perhaps with time, she would regain sanity and realize what’s in front of her. That would, of course, be terrible for you as she would either torture you for being the reason why Kronos failed or try to mold you into him. But I don’t believe she would realise her error because of your sea essence, it might even convince her of it.” 

Percy looked at the man confused. Kronos was the Titan of Harvest, not of the Sea. There was no world where a stretch like that would be feasible. 

“I remember your grandfather, how he used to hide his powers, sometimes in plain sight. But it was quite hard when the Vortex overtook his mind and he would start spilling absolute nonsense,” Iapetus continued, shaking his head at what his brother used to do and say. “Once it became too much, he hid in the deepest parts of the ocean.”

“Really?” the girl asked a bit unnerved as the similarities between her and Kronos grew. 

“He became a charge of Pontus,” the Titan paused. “He may be the only Primordial who would support you in the eventual fight, and yet it is not a certain thing. He might have been fond of the Little Crow, but you are a completely different matter.”

“So similar,” Percy thought. “And yet not at all.”

“I did not consider this,” thought Percy, clamping her thighs on the dragon's massive back. There wasn’t time to get the saddle, so the rough scales were poking into the underside of Percy’s legs. No time. No time. “Even as the ruler of Time, I am helpless to its constraints.”

But with Gaia waking up, there was no other option. She had to pretend to be her grandfather. 

It was the last thing she wanted really, even if the plan was worming its way into her brain during the journey in Tartarus. This thing was the last possible solution if Gaia were to wake.

And Gaia did. Which meant she got the blood from two half-bloods. Somehow. 

Percy recounted their fight in Athens. Hazel bled, that was true, but the boys didn’t, not from what Percy could see. Could it be that she was so close to waking up that blood didn’t have to drop in the old lands? Maybe the blood fell here, at the camp, and it was enough to awaken Earth?

“Well, no matter now,” she thought, as Seafyre sprang out of the waters. It must’ve been a terrifying sight, especially since the part of the sea was shallow and no one could imagine such a monstrosity hiding there. If it weren’t for Percy, the dragon would have never been there in the first place. It wasn’t like Peleus. Seafyre was a completely different, more deadly and definitely more ancient species. One that should be extinct. 

Funny thing, time. When she was flying, almost vertically, through the air, it was like it slowed down. It did not, she knew. And it wasn’t her ADHD this time. Those were her powers, allowing her to notice every little detail in a span of a millisecond. 

She saw the determined faces of her friends — Jason, Piper and Leo — changing into shocked expressions as they saw the blue beast clamping its jaws on Gaia’s body. Their eyes widening, face muscles twitching and slacking into an open-mouthed expression. 

A beat later, Leo frowned in fear as the powerful wind from Seafyre’s wings buffeted  Festus in the air. The boy gripped his metal friend tightly. 

Jason, holding Piper by the waist, curled his body protectively away from the real-life dragon. And Piper almost screamed but not because of the dragon, no. It was the sight of glowing gold eyes from beneath the black winged helm. 

“The devil’s in the details,” said the young Crow all those millennia ago. 

It was the worst, by far, of Percy’s ideas. To go back in time so far into the Golden Age and to meet her grandfather, while he was still young, uncorrupted. Still insane but in a different way. Not yet a father or a husband. Still so busy with adventures and time-jumping, Iapetus had to force him to his kingly duties.  

Percy did all of that using a fake name, fake backstory and fake appearance to make him teach her to use time powers. To make sure he didn’t find a resemblance between her from the past and her from the future, she carried a silver flask with about 20 ounces of Lethe water. Just in case, she’d have to use some of it as a refreshing (ha!) mist. 

It was just one lesson she dared to seek for the first time; how to measure time so she doesn’t end up too far in the past, or in the future. But then the conversation was derailed a bit.

“If you want to disappear, and you must if you’re a Time Lady, don’t go over the top,” Kronos said. So different his voice was from the one she heard in her nightmares. “If you pretend to be part of the crowd, you must look like it from a distance and up close. Touch of dirt on your cheek, making your garb look used, hair sticking out of place, clothes that match the time period.”

“And that’s it? I just make my hair messier and I look completely different?” Percy doubted his advice. 

“The biggest difference is the eyes,” he winked and his eyes matched her green. Percy’s heart skipped a beat. 

She never realized how much her dad looked like Kronos. How could she? She never saw her grandfather in his real body. The grin, the hair, the spark in his eyes when he smiled. Percy always heard that she looked like her dad. Did… did she look like Kronos too?

“Now you try,” his eyes turned back to gold. 

Now, it may have been a sign of rebellion, or just an impulse to mimic, fuelled by mixed feelings of confusion and anger, but she did change the colour.

“Well, look at that,” the Crow muttered. Their eyes met. His with a spark of interest and something maybe soft, hers full of stubbornness. Gold on gold. “We look related.”

“Yeah, you have no idea,” she thought. 

“Eyes are the window to the soul. They say everything about someone, that’s why it’s so hard to disguise them. Even the colour is hard to keep,” he booped her nose, which broke her focus. “Green suits you better.”

Jason didn’t know what to think. 

When the ground shook and Gaia emerged in her muddy glory, his first instinct was to catch her attention, continue with the plan. 

Fortunately for him, Leo and Piper were of the same mind. 

Gaia was really only interested in the three as well. 

Which was great because they had her full attention. 

Which was also terrible because they had her full attention.

Piper was busy trying to negotiate with the goddess. Speaking with a charmed voice and distracting her from how high they were getting. 

Piper just got a note of a lullaby out to put Gaia to sleep, when a jaw full of teeth tightened around the goddess. 

In the moment when the goddess was stolen away from their hands, when the dragon flew higher, when its rider shouted orders to the beast in a tongue not one of them understood — they didn’t know what to do. 

Was the rider on their side? Maybe it was a rescue attempt from Gaia’s side. But then why was the dragon flying higher, away from the ground?

“Is it ours?” Leo asked, screaming through the wind. 

“I don’t know. Maybe?” Jason answered.

“What do we do now?” Piper looked at Festus, who looked absolutely smitten at the sight of the blue dragon. 

Jason shook his head. 

“We have to help our men on the ground,” his tone changed into a commander’s. “But don’t get too far. We’ll continue with the plan if that dragon comes back with Gaia still awake.”

“You have been awake too long, mother,” Percy said in a deep, hypnotic tone. The Old Tongue felt like a rhyme, both too familiar and too foreign. Like quoting Shakespeare’s sonnets after you spent the whole lesson learning about their context. Weird way to pronounce the words, but if you already know what the sonnet is about, then it feels right. “It is time to rest.”

“My son?” Gaia tried to fight the spell. The siren song was not unknown to her, yet she’d never experienced it on her own skin. “How are you here? Did you escape the Pit? So soon? ”

“I am Time personified. There is no power bigger than me,” Percy layered the siren’s spell thicker. The woman was asking too many questions for Percy’s taste. “But you, my mother, are weak. And you need to hide before the godlings find your presence.”

“We can defeat them! Together!”

“We can’t! You can’t! You are too weak!” Percy was shouting. It felt unreal to her. Siren's tongue was for charming, singing. Not for this. Not in this ancient language she shouldn’t know. Not this almost seventeen-year-old girl from New York City. “It is my time to crush the gods! And when I do, I will wake you and bring back your might." 

“You insolent child! I am Earth!” Gaia thrashed in the dragon’s mouth. Seafyre shook from the effort of keeping the ancient deity in the air. The more lucid Gaia was, the harder it was to stay airborne.

“And I am Time! I am the oldest being in existence! I am the Beginning and the End!” Percy roared and caught the waves beneath them to make a tunnel to the ocean floor. From that high up, Gaia couldn’t see what the sea was doing and when she realized Percy’s plan, it would already be too late for her. 

Seafyre dove towards the depression forming in the water, as Percy continued to scream at the woman.

“The time of Titans is here! You have lost too much already. Let me regain control and you will join me when the time is right.”

“My son,” she sounded more and more tired. Losing control over her limbs, blinking every second or so. Eyelids opening slower and slower. The fight was leaving her, she was sagging in the teeth of the snarling dragon. 

“You can rest. Regain your strength. I will be there when you awake.”

Gaia closed her eyes. And did not open them again. 

When they hit the bottom of the ocean, a lot of things happened at the same time. First of all, and perhaps most importantly, Gaia’s essence sloshed on the sand and rock. Some of it ended up stolen away by the time currents. Some of her was carried by the waves into the darkest parts of the oceans all around the globe. Most of it was tied to the sand grains, which were covered by the waters in a heartbeat.

Second, Percy opened a time current for her dragon friend so she could go back home and back to her future. In that current, a flash of her home called Percy to join Seafyre. But, no. She couldn’t. It wasn’t her home. Not yet. 

Third, an earthquake shook the nearby beaches. People and monsters, buildings and cars shook. Some of its origin came from Percy, who wanted to bury the goddess in the darkest part of the ocean, with billions of tons of water. Hopefully, she wouldn’t wake for a long time. 

The other was Earth hitting Earth and breaking apart underneath the strength of the sea. Releasing control over her physical body, falling apart and into a deep sleep, meant she would no longer have power over the physical earth people lived on. No more drowning people in mud. 

Lastly, the last waves of energy left Percy’s body. Fatigue pulled at her and her eyes blurred. Control ceased, the weaves did what they wanted, earth shook as it pleased, time flew as it should – no longer kept open in one point, no longer slowed or sped up for a second. A slight tingling in her eyes, making them water. 

“Gold no more,” she thought. She fought the tiredness, anger sparked deep in her chest. But the energy to be angry was siphoned away by the fight of wills. Time against Earth. But it wasn’t just Time. There was that famous stubbornness of the Sea within her. Her will won. But at what cost? 

Everything went black and the Princess of the Sea lost consciousness in the deep, dark waters of the ocean.