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Chapter Text

Nico used to have a crush on me.

For weeks after he said it, I could hardly think of anything but his confession. I played back every interaction we had, every memory of him that I could, trying to see what I had missed. How could I have misinterpreted his feelings so badly? Even looking back, all I could see in him during the memories was loathing.

Then it hit me. Nico grew up in the 1930's or 1940's, back when being gay was still a crime, or at least thought of as a mental illness. Maybe that was self-loathing I saw, and he avoided me because of his own fear? Could I have really done that much damage to him? I had no choice, I had to talk to Will Solace.

"No way! Why would I tell you anything?" Will said.

"Please, I'm begging you! I have to know how much I hurt him. I just want to help make things right!"

Will gave me a look and sighed. "You're planning something crazy, aren't you?"

"Maybe," I admitted. If things were as bad as I feared …

Will groaned. "Alright, but this better stay quiet."

"Nothing I hear will leave my lips," I vowed.

"Okay, first off, I am gay, and I actually do think Nico is cute. But the main reason I'm with him is because when I examined him after he brought the Athena Parthenos back, I found out that he'd been cutting himself, some of them might have even been suicide attempts. I was afraid that if he was left alone, he would kill himself. I don't even dare try to break up with him because I think it would break Nico entirely." I nodded, knowing that, for Nico's sake, I truly did have to keep quiet about it.

After that conversation, I went looking for Nico, but even Iris-messages didn't get through to him. I considered asking Hades, but we had never been on very good terms, especially considering how we had met. Between his accusation that I had stolen his Helm of Darkness and the fact that he had kidnapped my mother in an attempt to make a deal, not to mention the fact that he later imprisoned me before the Battle of Manhattan, we pretty much despised each other. As such, I went to my step-mother, Amphitrite. I had been fortunate enough to learn that she actually didn't mind her demigod children and had even been asking to meet me for years before we finally did meet. With her help, and a lot of arguing and persuasion on my part, she sent me to the Fates so I could ask them how to help Nico. They were not very helpful.

"No one can help the son of Hades now," Clotho stated.

"His fate has been sealed," Lachesis added.

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

"He has joined his father permanently. He now resides in Elysium," Atropos stated.

"WHAT?! Since when? How did he die? He was only thirteen!"

"His day of death was decided when he was born," Lachesis answered. "Even Hades cannot cheat death, as he well knows. Had the children been left out of the home of the lotus eaters, they would have known friends, grown old and died full of years. Niccolo di Angelo heard your discussion with the son of Apollo and killed himself on the day he should have died an old man. You, Perseus Jackson will move on from your cousins' death, marry and have children, then die an old man after having saved the world more times than any other mortal."

I growled at that. "No, no way did he hear us unless you interfered! I had Lou Ellen make sure no one could hear us before we started talking, and she tested it to be sure! And to Tartarus with my fate! I choose my own fate, not you!" With that, I stormed off, intent on going to the one person who would help me.

Hades had been even more helpful than I had hoped once I revealed what the Fates had done. Thanks to him, I was now standing before what remained of Kronos, and I called out to him. What do you want, Perseus Jackson? he demanded.

"I want to make a deal with you, Kronos. I regret some of my choices when it comes to your rise. If you send me back, things will change."

If I had the power to change the past, don't you think I would have done so myself?

"Sending yourself back would take more power than you had outside of your immortal form. Sending a mere mortal, even a demigod like myself though? I bet you can do that even now. What do you say, grandfather? I'll even swear on the Styx if it helps." Hades told me that such a thing was possible, but so far as they could tell, it meant the death of the time traveler in their original timeline. Mom and Paul … were very understanding when I told them what had happened, though I don't think they took it as well as they claimed.

Kronos stayed silent for several minutes before answering. Well played, Perseus. You shall have your wish, but I choose when. And you will serve me in the end.

Chapter Text

When I woke up, everything had changed. Gone was the horror of Tartarus, and my new surroundings were extremely familiar, a dorm room in upstate New York. I immediately recognized it as Yancy Academy, and when I checked the date, I recognized it as well: the day of our trip to the Metropolitan Museum of History and Art. I went to the bathroom to shower and deal with other morning necessities, but when I looked in the mirror to comb my hair, I stared in shock. Kronos had pulled a fast one on me and sent me to another version of my life! My face was basically the same, but I had blond hair now! I knew that I was still me because I could sense the water in the pipes, I had to focus to let the shower wash me, and I still had Dad's eyes.

I looked around my room to see what other changes there were, and I found that I was big into Mythomagic this time. My memories told me that Grover had introduced it to me this year after he had … seen my journal? I quickly found the journal and rediscovered what was in it: sketches of all kinds of monsters, from the cyclops that had checked on me when I was five to a Pegasus I could have sworn was Blackjack from four years ago, to old friends like the Hydra, Minotaur and Medusa. Grover had introduced Mythomagic to me as a way to hide the truth from me, keep me safe a little longer, but I knew better. The winter solstice had passed five months ago, and the storms were getting worse by the day. Chiron and Alecto took us out for the trip in the morning, and I received more surprises. First, Chiron was now black. Odd, certainly different, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities. Alecto hadn't changed one bit, but Grover didn't have the crutches I had grown used to the first time around. Chiron gave his lessons about the pieces of art, including Kronos before giving us our assignment. Just to surprise Chiron, I decided to write my answer in Greek.

As I did, I fell into an old memory from the last time I'd been here. Mom had told me about why she named me Perseus.

"What do you see?" Mom asked.

"Perseus," I told her. "That's me."

"Mm-hmm, that's who you're named after," Mom agreed.

I looked at Medusa's head and asked "Is that why you named me after him? Because he was a hero?"

"What makes you think he was a hero?"

"Because he kills monsters," I answered simply.

"And what makes you think she was a monster?"

"Mom," I said in a tone that made it sound like it should be obvious.

"Not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero, and not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster." I didn't understand it then, but now I did. By conventional wisdom, Tyson was a monster, but he was my brother. Luke looked like a hero, but in many ways he was a monster. "I named you after him because when he was a very little boy, he and his mother were placed in a wooden chest and cast out into the sea by a very angry king. Alone, afraid. And at night his mother would whisper in his ear 'Hold fast, Perseus. Brave the storm that was made to break us for we are unbreakable as long as we have each other.' And against all odds, he managed to find his way to a happy ending."

Unfortunately I fell so deep into the memory that when someone called me, I thought it was my mom, which Nancy took advantage of to mock me. Alecto, as always, sided with her, while Chiron was far kinder. "Pay them no mind. When you're ready to hear what the gods have in store for you, they'll tell you."

I chuckled at that. "Mr. Brunner, I already know what the gods have in store for me. I'm more interested in the parts the gods had better know to stay out of."

Chiron shook his head, clearly believing that I was still the ignorant boy of yesterday. "Just know that I believe in you, and I believe you'll be needing this." With that, he pulled out a pen, one that I immediately recognized as my old sword, Anaklusmos, aka Riptide. "Hang on to that. 'Tis a mighty instrument."

"Riddle me this, sir. If a pen is mightier than the sword, what is mightier than the pen?" Chiron just smiled as he rolled away. When we broke for lunch, Grover started talking about modern theories about the sources of bullying. "Grover, I don't care about Nancy's issues, I care about the fact that she's taking them out on me. Someone needs to do something to stop her."

Grover immediately tried to stop me. "If there's one thing I know about bullies, it is that you should never, ever stand up to them."

"And how did all those people become heroes, Grover? Perseus, Theseus, Hercules, Zeus, Odysseus and all the others? They did it by standing up to bullies like Kronos, Polydectes, Polyphemus, Circe, Minos and Hera. Letting bullies walk all over you just helps the bullies. One day, someone's got to take a stand. One day, someone's got to say 'Enough.'" Naturally, right then Nancy threw her sandwich at Grover, and I stood up for my friend. But I didn't touch her once. No, I used the water in the fountain against her, grabbing her with it and pulling her in. Just then, Riptide started vibrating, odd, but potentially useful. I turned to Alecto, who stared at me with a dangerous smile. There you are. We're not fools, Perseus Jackson. It was only a matter of time before we found you. As she spoke, somehow inside my head, she started revealing her true form. Where is it, demigod? WHERE is it?!

"I don't have it!" I told her, right before I uncapped Anaklusmos and stabbed her in the side. It was fine, I could live with no one else remembering Mrs. Dodds.

What I could not live with was Grover betraying me! The headmaster called the two of us in to talk about what happened with Nancy, and while I told the truth that I never once touched Nancy, Grover went and told him about me wanting someone to stop her. Then he went and lied, claiming that I assaulted her! If there was one thing I couldn't stand, it was betrayal. (Sure, that may be due to my own personal flaw, but who could stand being betrayed?) This betrayal meant one thing for me: Grover and I were done. I would accept him on the quest for the Bolt, but after that, I would treat him no kinder than I would some random stranger.

I was expelled right then and there as a result, so I headed home. A school truck took me to the bus station, and I again saw the Fates, but this time without Grover. With the benefit of hindsight though, I realized something about Luke's cord: it was the same color as Thalia's eyes. Could they have …? It would certainly explain why Luke was willing to go so far, and Thalia's actions during the quest to Mount Tam.

When I got 'home,' I was welcomed by Gabe yelling at Eddie over the plumbing before he turned on me, mocking me for 'failing' school. "I didn't fail, I was thrown out for fighting, Ugly. And I swear, if you raise a hand to me or my mom, you will regret it!" With that, I left and found my mom right where my new instincts told me she'd be: sitting on the fire escape, just enjoying the rain. "You do know that the rain isn't exactly part of Dad's domain, right?"

"Percy," Mom said with a smile. She pulled me into a hug, and for the first time in years, I was smaller than her again. I enjoyed the moment before Mom started talking about what happened at Yancy. She gave me a bag of blue jelly beans as a welcome home gift then asked "Now, what was that about your dad?"

"Mom, I know who Dad is," I answered. I used my powers to pull some water off her hair and swirl it around my hand before tossing it back outside.

"Percy, how did you-?"

"It's a long, long story, but I want to tell you everything," I said. "But … could we talk at Montauk?" One nice thing about this new life was that we'd still go there when we could, and I suspected for the same reason. (Oddly enough, Mom hadn't told me any stories about Dad in this life, outside of the 'lost at sea' story.) Mom didn't even try arguing about the trip, she just told Gabe we were leaving for Montauk before they started negotiating the terms for Gabe accepting the trip.

Once we arrived, I told Mom everything about my experience, from what was about to happen to her and my first trip to camp to what happened to Nico and why I chose to do this. "I thought I had everything planned out, but things are so different even when they're so similar. Grover, Chiron, even you're different. You're so much stronger than the version of you that I grew up with."

Mom hugged me tight before answering. "You know, I was going to tell you about your dad and the connection to this cabin tonight. But since that's not necessary any longer, let me tell you something. Everything you've told me tonight tells me that I have the best, kindest son with the biggest heart in the world. Your father would be so proud of you, Percy. And you don't need me to tell you what to do, you just keep following your heart, keep your knowledge in your head and you will never go wrong. Now, do you want to go to camp, or wait?"

"Mom, I'll never choose camp over you," I answered with an easy smile. Unfortunately, Grover showed up shortly after, causing us to get in the car and start heading to Camp Half-Blood. Grover started things off by saying that the reason he got me kicked out of Yancy was for my own safety. He claimed that once the monster attacks start, they never stopped. "Wait, but Mrs. Dodds was after something. She didn't care about me, she was more interested in something she thought I knew about. And she was a Fury, right? Don't they work for Hades?"

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Grover complained. "Hades has nothing to do with … unless he was behind it? It would certainly explain why Mrs. Dodds was hidden from me." Great, now instead of making him think Hades had his own reasons, he was going to be on the 'Hades is behind this' bandwagon!

The talk probably would have gone on longer, if the Minotaur hadn't shown up. He eventually ran us over the road, though not before Mom managed to get it rammed into an incoming truck. Well, it was better than being struck by lightning, especially since Grover was still conscious. Grover pointed out Thalia's tree, still a ways in the distance. Mom and I looked at each other, knowing what was about to happen. There was no way all three of us could get there before the Minotaur was on us. "Percy, do you trust me?" she asked.

"With everything I am."

"Then go with Grover. Remember what I taught you, and remember the stories. Hold fast, and brave the storm." With that, she took my jacket, gave me one last hug and kiss, then turned to face the Minotaur. I ran as fast as I could, but after only a minute or two, I turned back. I had to know that things were going to be the same! Sure enough, the Minotaur grabbed Mom, and before it could kill her, she turned into dust. I breathed a sigh of relief before playing the part of someone who had just lost their mom. While I had Anaklusmos in my pocket, and it was vibrating like it was desperate to be used, I wanted to do things like before. I managed to get on its' back and pull off a horn before stabbing the horn into the Minotaur's shoulder, though I once again fainted from the strain of the fight. Hey, I didn't have my old stamina yet!

Chapter Text

When I woke the first time, a storm was raging, and a black girl was watching over me. "You drool when you sleep," she said, utterly confusing me. Was this really Annabeth? What about this version changed her so much? And why was it storming at camp? I passed out soon after.

When I woke again, Grover was there and the Minotaur's horn nearby. Grover tried apologizing, but I waved him off, saying he had completed his job. I walked out of the room and spotted Mr. D in a … sunroom? Since when did the Big House have one of those? Well, I played ignorant mortal-who-just-learned-he's-a-demigod for them up to and including asking to see my dad. Mr. D then did something that I could never forgive: he said that he could help, and had the gall to call me his son! I pulled out Anaklusmos and pointed it at his crotch. "Call me that again, and I'll make certain you never have kids again. Got it, wine dude?"

"You wouldn't dare," he said in a whisper.

"Try me, I dare you."

Anaklusmos hadn't moved an inch, but he decided to bend. "Fine, you win. Jeez kid, learn to take a joke."

Fortunately, Mr. Brunner showed up soon afterwards, in full centaur-mode. "Mr. Brunner? Or is it Chiron, the trainer of heroes?" I asked. Chiron chuckled and led me on the tour of Camp Half-Blood and I continued playing ignorant, even going so far as to say that Dad didn't have time for me. I privately prayed an apology, while also promising to explain how I knew to apologize as soon as we could speak in private. I had always planned to tell my parents the truth, though the initial plan was not to say anything until Gabe was gone, and I'd tell Hades as soon as I had a chance to do so, so that he could work to protect Bianca.

This time, when I arrived at the Hermes cabin, Luke wasn't there to immediately welcome me, but my backpack had been untouched, and some of Mom's blue jellybeans were inside. Luke showed up soon after (with black hair rather than the blond I was used to,) and was the first to say sorry about what happened. "You don't need to do that," I said. "I don't think she's dead, I just need to find out who took her."

"I hope you're right, kid. I'm Luke," he said, officially introducing himself and offering his hand.

"Percy," I replied with a smile and taking the hand. Luke was another I hoped to save. He may have died a hero, but he didn't deserve to go that way.

That night, I had the first of my dreams in this reality about Kronos. I was alone in a field by a campfire when his voice came to me. Remember this? He left you here with nothing. I know what you want. You want everything that's been taken from you. You want justice. Fortunately, everyone just interpreted it as a regular nightmare, and Luke was supportive. "Demigods just process reality differently than humans do. For the first time in your life, you're just like everyone else. Come on, it's time to show you what this place has to offer."

"Which is what, exactly?" I asked. Time to see how much like my first life this Camp Half-Blood was.

"Glory," was Luke's answer. As we went outside, he explained. "Demigods have always fought for glory. They used to call it kleos. It's like this stuff that attaches itself to your name, like your namesake killing Medusa. Makes your name bigger, scarier, more important. People listen closer when you talk, they work harder to be your friend, and they think twice before messing with you." Naturally, that was when Clarisse showed up by messing with me, first by bumping into me, then by pushing me to the ground. "Hey, knock it off, Clarisse. It's like his first day, come on."

Fortunately, I knew exactly how to push Clarisse's buttons, especially now. "It's okay Luke, I don't care. Not like I'm trying to pick a fight."

"So the kid who killed the Minotaur isn't looking for a fight?" Luke groaned, knowing like I did that there was no way he could stop her now. Clarisse and two of her siblings grabbed me and dragged me to the outhouses. "Tell me you made it all up about the Minotaur and I'll let you go," she promised.

"Like Tartarus I'm going to do that," I growled out. I hated being called a liar, and that was enough for me to pull on the water with nothing but my emotions. Once again, the water pulled out of the toilet and attacked the Ares kids.

"You are so dead, kid!" Clarisse growled out.

I simply smiled back. "Do you want to gargle with toilet water again?" With that, she ran off, and I walked out to see the Hermes cabin all standing outside, wondering what had happened. Annabeth was there too, smiling, much to my surprise.

"Sorry about that, Ares kids, they come by that honestly," Luke apologized. "Come on, let's get you working on your kleos," and with that, my training restarted.

Spoiler alert, dimension travelling did not improve my skills with the bow or the forge, as I was immediately banned from both activities due to how dangerous I was there. Honestly, I still don't know how I broke the sword that I'd started working on! When it came time for supper, I sat with Luke and Chris. "Are there any gods good at claiming their kids?" I asked.

"Four, technically speaking," Luke answered. "First, Dad almost always claims us when we get to Camp, and when he doesn't, it's because the others are keeping him busy. It's hard being the messenger of the gods, but he does show that he cares. Apollo always claims his kids at sunrise or sundown their first day, and Aphrodite, well, she is the goddess of love and she shows that to her kids. She loves making a big show of claiming her kids, glamming them up in front of everyone. The last one is Mr. D, but that's only because he can be forced to do it now." As soon as he finished, the bell rang for us to give our burnt offerings. When I put mine in, I prayed Dad, once this little argument is over, I need to talk to you in private. I also made a point of saving some to toss into the central firepit for Hestia.

For the next week, I trained with old friends that barely knew me and those that I had mourned. Some of them I made sure to get close to, like Silena, Beckendorf, Will and Lee. One thing that my bout with goddess-induced amnesia and this bit of time travel had taught me was that muscle memory was truly based on the body, meaning I had to relearn how to fight. Luke taught me new skills with the sword that I had never learned, and I practiced my powers in secret, asking Dad not to claim me until I used them in public. Luke was also the one to tell me about how him and Thalia all but adopted Annabeth, and about the Oath of the Big Three. Speaking of Luke, he kept trying to figure out who my Olympian parent was, even exploring the goddesses. "Is that even possible, for some of us to have two parents of the same gender?" I asked.

"It's rare, but not unheard of," Luke answered. "Athena's kids are born of the mind, so it's actually relatively common with them. Aphrodite's the goddess of love, all kinds of love, so it can also be common with hers. Dionysus does it on occasion, as does Apollo. I've even heard that all of the sea gods can bear children, no matter what their gender actually is."

"Seriously?!" I asked in shock. How come no one ever mentioned this before?!

"Oh yeah. Lee Fletcher, one of Apollo's kids, says that according to their records, back when Poseidon still had a bunch of kids here, it was practically guaranteed that one of his sons would be able to get pregnant. It almost never happened though, considering how people felt about homosexuality in those days, but it was possible." My eyes went wide at that claim. My brothers and I had the chance to get pregnant? For a moment, I actually imagined what it might be like, carrying a child before shaking my head. Good gods, but this was really messing with my head!

"You have an idea who your parent is, don't you?" Luke asked. I raised my eyebrow, silently asking why he thought that. "You cradled your stomach like you were imagining what it would be like."

I groaned, but decided to confess. "My mom always told me that my dad was 'lost at sea.' So yeah, I have an idea."

"Well, why didn't you say so before?! Now we have something to work with!"

Before we got back to the attempt at 'discovering' who my dad was, I stopped Luke with a question. "Hey, on my first day, you said that you stole some things for me. Does the camp not provide them for us?"

Luke gave me a grin that reminded me why I had subconsciously fallen for him the first time around. Hey, I'm mentally seventeen, I can admit that I had a crush on him when I was actually twelve! "Well, I did steal them, for a given definition of steal, that is. A lot of us show up after running away from home, so the camp does give the basics out for free. But for me and my siblings, well, our dad IS the god of thieves, so we steal them anyways. Chiron knows, of course and lets us get away with it."

I also talked to Luke about other things that week, many of which turned out to be reasons for him turning against the gods. He could handle his own hatred for his dad, but watching all the unclaimed kids made him all the madder. Worse, every year a couple unclaimed kids would leave, intending to find a way to prove themselves to their parents, but they never returned, something that always made Luke feel terrible. Of course he also mentioned that his mom had gone crazy, which essentially meant that he raised himself, outside of his mostly decent neighbors who did all they could for him. I couldn't help but sympathize with him even more, and I was determined to change things around here as much as possible.

Finally, Friday and the Capture the Flag came arrived, and once again Luke and Annabeth put me on border patrol, with Annabeth leading me to where I needed to be. I grinned, knowing just how easy this was going to be for me since I actually knew who I was and what I could do. Luke gave me a smile and a thumbs up that once again stirred up my old crush on him. Anyways, while I waited for Clarisse to show up, I practiced some of the new moves that Luke had shown me. I wonder why no one ever showed them to me the first time around? When Clarisse and her posse showed up, it was all too easy to take them down, even without standing in the creek. "Not bad, hero, though not surprising for the kid who took down the Minotaur."

I turned to glare at Annabeth. "Would it kill you to let me know what your plan is?"

"No, but it's more fun like this," she countered. Ugh! I'd forgotten how annoying I found Annabeth at this age! Then again, this facet of her is one that I'd always found annoying, even after we got together.

Then the growling from the hellhound got loud enough that everyone noticed it. I did the only thing I could: I turned the water of the creek into a trident and threw it into the hellhound. Naturally, that was the moment Dad had been waiting for, and he claimed me as his own. "It is determined! Poseidon, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, son of the Sea God."

The night before I was to be called into the Big House, I had two dreams. The first was very familiar: the two Greek wrestlers that I now knew to be my dad and Zeus fighting over the missing lightning bolt. The second though was one that was a far more recent memory.

"Hey Percy, having problems?"

I'd been sitting at the beach, staring into the ocean until the other dark-haired teen interrupted my thoughts. "Hey Apollo," I said, greeting the now-mortal deity. "Sorry, just been lost in thought."

"Maybe a friendly ear could help, then? Least I can do after you saved my sister. Not to mention what you've done for me recently," he offered, sitting down next to me.

I shrugged. What could it hurt, really? "I'm … honestly mostly confused about myself, these days. The second Nico said he'd had a crush on me, it's like I can't get him out of my head, even now that he's … gone. I've been obsessed with him and making up with him while completely ignoring Annabeth. What's going on?"

Apollo just smiled at me. "Oh, that's easy. At least some part of you has realized that you were in love with him."

"What?! But I'm not gay!"

"No, but you  are  bi, basically all of our kids are," Apollo said. "Do you mind if I prove it?" I didn't know how he could, but I decided to nod, letting him do whatever he wanted. And good gods, but he did! He went and kissed me … and it was the best kiss I'd ever had in my life. I knew it was probably thanks to his experience, but it still beat every single kiss I'd shared with Annabeth, bar none. When he pulled back, he explained. "If we take lovers, then we've always had at least one lover that was the same gender as us, and our flexibility almost always shows up in our kids as well. Nico's probably the first guy that you subconsciously accepted as being in love with, which is why you're so obsessed. Not sure about why you're ignoring Annabeth though."

When morning came, Chiron and Mr. D called me back to the Big House to start the quest to retrieve the Master Bolt. "Your father needs your help. An ultimatum has been given him to by Zeus, that if he doesn't return the Bolt by the summer solstice in one week, there will be war. That is your quest. You must leave immediately."

"Okay, so I need to find it, but who would steal it? Where would they hide?"

"Zeus is king on Olympus, and Poseidon has always resented it, but there is a third brother who has always deeply resented them both."

I burst out laughing at that. "Seriously? You think Hades is responsible for this?"

"Well, why not, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked, removing her hat to show herself.

"Look, I'm sure he's mad about the whole oath thing, but first off, when has Hades ever acted like he was upset with his lot? Has he even once tried to take over or overthrow Zeus? Come on, Chiron, you should know this!"

"He could still want his kingdom to grow," Grover threw in, coming in from the main house.

"Have you guys not paid attention to the last century, or history class covering that? Estimates go up to five billion people died in just the 20th century! Do you really think Hades needs to expand?"

"Alright then, what's your explanation for the theft?" Annabeth demanded.

I smiled, glad to share my 'theories', one of which I made up thanks to Piper. "I have two theories. First, some ambitious Hermes kid stole the lightning bolt to impress their dad or get his attention. Happens all the time with rich mortals. But they underestimated the gods' reaction to the theft and panicked. My second theory: someone with one hell of a grudge against Olympus stole the lightning bolt and has been hoping for this war, either to replace the gods, destroy them, or help someone else take their place. In any case, considering Mrs. Dodds appearance, Hades is involved somehow, so … where is he?"

"The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles. Also, as you may have guessed, Grover and Annabeth have offered to join you. If you don't want them to join you, I can collect some candidates."

I grinned. "Nah, Annabeth and Grover are fine." With that, I went up to the attic to speak to the Oracle. Fortunately, the prophecy hadn't changed, so we packed for the trip, and I had to shake my head at Annabeth's naivete. Honestly, who packs a book while going on a quest? She certainly wouldn't have the time to read it. For myself, I packed only the bare essentials: a couple changes of clothes, some nectar and ambrosia, a few spare weapons and my Mythomagic deck. We were just getting ready to leave when Luke showed up with his flying shoes. "Luke, thanks, for everything," I said before giving him a hug.

"Hey, how could I do anything else?" he asked with a smile.

"I just really wish I could use those, they look so cool!"

"You can't? But others have used them before," Luke asked, utterly confused.

"It's because of my Dad, old Bolt Boy doesn't like the idea of us 'violating his territory' or some such nonsense," I explained. "But … that doesn't mean we can't use them. Hey, Grover! Have some flying shoes," I said with a smile. With that, we left camp, Luke still trying to keep himself from laughing at my nickname for Zeus.

Chapter Text

As we left, Annabeth stopped by Thalia's tree, and Grover told me the rest of Thalia's story, the part Luke had left out. "Why didn't he kill the Furies, or heal her wounds?" I asked. Honestly, I had started thinking about death a lot since the Battle of Manhattan, and even more since losing Nico. Why didn't the gods intervene in other ways if they wanted to save us?

"She was the bravest demigod I ever knew. She fought valiantly and met a hero's fate," Annabeth interrupted.

"You mean a pinecone's fate," I countered. "Couldn't her dad have done something to actually save her life? Anything to show that he actually cared about her?"

"Forbidden children are always in danger, even the strongest ones, even Thalia. And you are not Thalia."

"You're right, I'm not," I agreed, though not with the point that Annabeth thought I was. The Thalia I knew hated her dad and wanted to run away from her problems. She ran from the prophecy, she ran from Jason, she ran from Annabeth. Even in her final stand, I have to wonder if she was running from Luke.

"Do exactly as I say, and maybe you survive this. Are we clear?"

Oh, she did not! "I don't take orders from anyone, are we clear?"

"Guys, just stop this! I'm getting a headache, and satyrs don't get headaches!"

We traveled through most of NYC continuously bickering, enough so that Grover tried singing a song to get us to agree right before Furies boarded at a bus stop. "I'll be right back," I whispered to Grover before heading to the trio of old ladies. Annabeth had gone inside for snacks, so Grover tried to stop me, but I dodged him and made it up to the Furies. "We need to talk."

"And why should we talk to you?" one of the Furies asked.

As an answer, I just stabbed that one and took her seat, right between the two remaining Furies. "Now, considering how you acted back at school, Mrs. Dodds, I'm betting that whoever stole the lightning bolt also stole something from Hades, am I right?"

"Give us back the Helm!" the other Fury demanded.

I just stabbed her as well, leaving me alone with Mrs. Dodds. "So, that's a yes. Look, you know I can't lie, so I know you'll believe me when I say that killing you was my introduction to our world. I'm tracking down the stolen items and the thief right now. My quest's prophecy even stated that I would see them safely returned. All I want you to do is tell Hades that, and let him know that I am not coming to threaten him or accuse him."

"And I assume you want Lord Hades to return your mother?"

"I'll discuss that with him in person. All I really want right now is for him to not interfere with my quest any longer." Alecto nodded before vanishing in a burst of flames.

"Why did you talk to those monsters?" Annabeth demanded as we trudged through the woods. She had insisted on leaving the bus after I dealt with the Furies. I had tried insisting that we stay on the bus to save time, but Grover sided with Annabeth for once in our arguments, insisting that avoiding high traffic areas would protect us from other monsters.

"First, because they aren't just monsters, they're monsters that work for Hades, and like I said at Camp, that means Hades is involved in some way, and I doubt it's because he wants me dead. Hades might be upset about Dad breaking the oath, but there's never been any problems between the two of them like there are between Hades and Zeus. Talking to them was the only way to find out what they wanted."

"They want us dead! They're monsters, there's nothing more to it!" Annabeth yelled. "They killed Thalia and I will never forgive them or Hades for it!"

"Second, I got the information I needed from them, and got them to agree to leave us alone until the quest is done. Third, just because someone looks like a monster doesn't mean that they are one." If Annabeth acted anything like her counterpart back home did to Tyson, I was going to be furious. Why did I even like her enough to even be friends in the first place? I honestly couldn't remember. Was I losing all my memories of my other life, or was it just the disconnect between my Annabeth and this one? Either way, I was going to start recording my memories as soon as I got home before I forgot anything important.

My thoughts were interrupted by Grover mentioning that he smelled hamburgers. That could mean only one thing: Medusa. Then he started walking towards the scent! "Grover, what are you doing?"

"Somebody is making hamburgers in the middle of nowhere on a satyr path. Whoever it is, they're from our world."

"Okay, but did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, it's a monster trying to trick us? How many monsters are there compared to us, rough estimate?" I asked.

"Around 100:1," Annabeth replied as we spotted the gnome shop. She immediately caught on to who Auntie Em really was, but to our surprise, Medusa immediately introduced herself properly before inviting us in for lunch.

I had to admit, I was curious, and Mom's stories in my new memories were always about how misunderstood she was, so I walked in. Besides, I had some questions that she might be willing to answer. She immediately offered the snacks she had laid out, and I started eating. "Nice to see someone has an appetite," Medusa said when she walked in. "Eat up, nothing's enchanted." Then she spotted Annabeth come inside. "If you're concerned I'd hold a grudge against you because of your mother, don't be. You aren't Athena, and I'm too wise to hold a grudge these days. And you and I might have more in common than you think. Please, join your friend and eat."

Once I finished the cupcake I'd grabbed, I started with the most important question in my mind. "So, I know that you and my dad were … together once, but did he force you?"

Medusa started laughing. "Oh, that Ovid! I have to thank him for this human body, but he really had a problem with authority that made him diss everyone who was in authority, even the gods. No, I loved your father and he loved me at the time, even though I was far more hideous then than I am now."

"Wait, you were born a Gorgon? Then why do you look human now?"

"That's the beauty of our world, Perseus: belief influences reality. So few remember my true origins that I am all but human now, and I honestly prefer it this way. With each new life, I gain memories connected to how my life could have been. For example, now I was once a devotee to Athena even though she never responded, until Poseidon came along and proclaimed that he loved me. Only then did Athena pay attention to me, declaring that I would never be seen again by someone who could live to tell the tale."

"No! That's not what happened! My mother is just, always," Annabeth disagreed.

"Tell me, what is just about cursing a mortal for loving someone unless they belong to Artemis' Hunt? And even Artemis doesn't curse someone if they ask to leave before breaking their vows."

I'm sure she would have continued, but she excused herself to the kitchen and I decided to follow to help. For the first time in my life as a demigod, I was considering sparing a monster that wasn't a cyclops. "So, why are you trying to help me?" I decided to ask.

"Your mother and I, we're like sisters in a way. Targeted by the same monster. So I find myself feeling protective of you."

I was honestly surprised at that. "Monster? Mom never talked about dad like that."

"Where is she now, your mother? Is she safe?"

I shrugged. "Could be better, could be worse. Lord Hades has her because he thinks I'm a thief and can trade her for what he thinks I stole. But I trust him to be kind to her."

"Interesting. And what about your friends? Do you trust them to do right by you, or will they finish the quest rather than help you?"

"Doesn't matter, really. I can save my mom without their help if I need to, and help my dad at the same time."

Medusa turned to stare at me, though with her veil still on. "You're an interesting one, Perseus Jackson. I'll make you a deal, leave me alone and I'll leave you alone."

"Only if you also promise not to harm any innocents who come by. If you attack first, I'm coming for you, and believe me, I will know," I promised. I knew that, if nothing else, Nico would be willing to keep me updated.

"We have a deal then," Medusa stated before offering me her hand. I shook it and made a mental note to talk to Hades about her.

And with that, we were on our way again. Naturally, Annabeth was upset, again, yelling at me for letting her live. "You can't trust her to keep any promises!" she complained.

"I don't, which is why I'm going to ask Hades to let me know if she breaks our deal. I figure once I deal with his little problem, I'll have at least enough brownie points with him that he'll let me know if she acts up. If she does, I'll take her head, but until then, I'll let her live. Sometimes, a little compassion and empathy can save someone from becoming a monster. Sometimes, a monster is a monster only because the world treats them as monsters first." Those were some of the lessons Mom had taught me in this life, not to mention Tyson in my last one. I couldn't begin to guess just how close he'd come to simply giving in to how everyone treated him just because he was a cyclops, including me.

With the bus having escaped destruction, we still had the money to just buy tickets west, and before we pulled into St Louis the next morning, we spotted a few centaurs galloping along. That brought up the search for Pan and the fact that no satyr had ever returned from the search. But just as it seemed like they were about to mention Grover's dream, one of the guards pulled us out and took us back to our cabin. The window had been smashed and the room was in tatters. "You wanna explain?" he asked.

"You can't honestly think we did this, can you?" I asked.

"Did you?"

"How could we break the glass in a way that has the glass ending up inside the cabin?" I asked.

"Well, we got a witness here who says she heard the window smash and then heard children's voices."

"Again, how could we have broken the window and have the glass end up inside the cabin?" The guard just ignored me, probably because they had already made up their minds and I was making too much sense. They kept watch on us in another car until an older woman walked in and immediately asked to sit by us. My guard immediately went up, because the only mortal who had gotten so directly involved in a quest before was Rachel, which meant that this was not a mortal. Considering where we were, I almost wanted to guess that it was Echidna, but why was she showing up so soon? But I decided to play it safe and stood up. "Listen lady, I don't know why you're here, and I don't care. But get out of our way before you end up in Tartarus, like your pet here." With that, I activated Riptide in such a way that it cut right through the bag that she'd brought with her. Whatever was inside died immediately.

"Oh, you'll regret that," she stated.

"No, I don't think so," I replied as I stabbed her straight through the heart. I turned back to the others. "Listen, I'm going to deal with this before moving on. They've got nothing on us, so it won't even delay us long."

"You really think they're going to listen to us?" Grover asked.

"They don't need to, they just need to look at the evidence."

"Do what you want, I'm going to the Gateway Arch," Annabeth stated.

"No, no sightseeing," I ordered.

"It's not sightseeing, it's a temple to my mother."

"I don't care if it's a temple to the entire Greek pantheon with the answers to the universe in it, no sightseeing!"

"And what gives you the right to give me orders?" she demanded.

"My prophecy, my quest, my rules. We need to get to Los Angeles as quickly as possible because we don't have the Bolt or the Helm and we need to convince at least Hades to call off this war."

"I'm the wisest, I have the most experience, it's my quest!"

"Would you say the same thing to Luke or Thalia?" I asked. Gods, but she was irritating me so much right now! It was honestly reminding me of … Zoe! Of course, that's it! That was the problem: her fatal flaw, hubris! It was more on display now than I could ever recall it being before. Looking back on our adventures, I could see her hubris pop up every so often, but she was mostly the brains of the outfit, giving out complicated facts or information that I desperately needed at the time.

When my mind refocused on the here and now though, Annabeth was gone and Grover was giving me a look. "Too far, man, way too far."

I wish I could say that it affected me the way it should have, but it didn't. I just didn't have the emotional connection with Annabeth when I left that I'd had even six months earlier, and that was an Annabeth that I had truly loved. This one just didn't have that. Grover was worse because he had actively lied about me and had barely interacted with me at camp. "Just get her back to camp. If you still want to help, catch a flight to Denver or Vegas, I'll be there for a while."

Chapter Text

As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about with the cops. When I went back to them, one of them told me "Your step-mother showed up and took care of everything, young man. She's waiting for you outside."

I had to admit, I was confused when I was told that. Amphitrite and I got along pretty well in my fist life, once we had finally been introduced, but I was still her husband's bastard, so I had no idea what she thought of me right now, in this life. When I saw her, she ran to me, catching me in a tight hug. "Percy Jackson, do you have any idea how much you worried your father and I?" She leaned in enough to whisper in my ear "I hope you don't mind the performance for the mortals' sake."

"Not at all," I whispered back. The hug was … nice, so much like my mom's hugs that I couldn't help but enjoy it.

As soon as he was gone, she pulled back and waved her hand. "There, now he won't bother us for a while. Let me get a good look at you." After about a minute, during which I had started squirming, she said "You remind me of your father."

"Is that a good thing or bad?" I asked, hoping to get an idea where I stood with her.

"It is what it is," she said before offering me a smile. "I've never resented his demigod children, nor does he about mine."

I stared in shock. "Your demigod children? Do you have any at camp?"

She looked sad at that. "Yes, three at the moment, and I have yet to claim them."

"What? Why? Don't you care about them?"

"It's because I care that I haven't claimed them. You probably haven't noticed, but when we 'lesser' gods claim our children, they are ostracized by the unclaimed who had once been as close to them as proper siblings. Only the Twelve are allowed cabins, so only their children are able to be proud when they're claimed."

"Did you ever think about asking Dad to see if your kids could stay in his cabin until things change?"

She stared at me in shock, like the idea had never occurred to her before, then a smile broke out on her face. "Did you know that I've been wanting to meet you since the day you were born?"

"Really?" That was new … I think. She made sure to invite me to Atlantis, sure, and was happy when I visited, but she'd never said anything like that.

"Yes, and I am so glad that I did! And that is why I have to say something: Percy, you're honestly worrying your father. You're taking all of this far too calmly and rationally for a twelve-year-old, he's worried about you, not to mention the pressure you must feel due to the quest. Please, can you talk to me about what's going on?"

I have to admit, I started laughing at that, while tears gathered in my eyes. Dad worried about my mental health? That was honestly really touching, and the fact that Amphitrite bent the rules to check on me made me decide something. "Okay, I need to talk to Dad in person and in relative privacy, but it needs to be after the quest is done. Would you let him know and come with him?"

"Happily, Percy. And know this for when you meet him: your father loves you, he's proud of you, but he also has a bad habit of sticking his foot in his mouth, so try not to hold that against him when you meet." I laughed and reassured her before she left and the train set off for Denver. Honestly, some things never changed! She had said much the same thing to me the first time!

Luke stared in shock. When he had been called to the Big House because there had been trouble on the quest, he had reasonably assumed that Percy or Grover had been hurt and they'd turned back for medical attention. What he had found instead was that Annabeth had been sent back by the most impertinent demigod he had ever met! And on top of that, everyone could understand why. "Annabeth, he's right! It doesn't matter who's the most experienced, the one in charge is the one who received the prophecy. Besides, I think he's hiding something, because that is one scarily competent twelve-year-old." He actually knew exactly what the sea prince was hiding thanks to his master, but Luke also suspected that things were not going to go the way the Crooked One expected.

Speaking of which, Annabeth's eyes had turned cold towards him of all people. Then, before he could even react, she pulled out the knife he had given her five years before and stabbed him with it! He was so shocked that he barely felt the pain in his shoulder, even though she ran off without pulling the knife. "I'm … going to the airport," Grover said before running off in the exact opposite direction that Annabeth had.

Luke couldn't blame him. The little family he'd managed to build had been completely destroyed, and the only person he could really blame was himself. First, he had been the oldest and should have sacrificed himself for Thalia, now he had failed to recognize Annabeth's growing hubris and keep it in check. There were so many times he hated himself, and this was one of them. He slunk off to the medical wing to get his shoulder taken care of, hoping that new Apollo kid was there, he'd heard some good things about Solace, and he needed a sympathetic ear.

One hour later and he was feeling better, Will Solace was everything he'd heard and more. Luke was heading off to his cabin when, much to his shock, a goddess appeared in front of him. "You're Luke Castellan, son of Hermes, correct?"

"Yes, my lady," he replied. Not like he could do anything else.

"Good, we're going to your cabin. I have something I need to do." Luke was completely confused. While he knew that she was a goddess, he had no idea which goddess. All he knew for certain was that she couldn't be any of the major goddesses. Hera hated them on principle, she looked nothing like Demeter, her appearance didn't change like Aphrodite would, Artemis had no kids and she didn't have Athena's distinctive eyes. "Would you mind calling them out here? I want this to be as public as possible."

"Sure." What was going on here?!

As soon as everyone was outside, (and Luke did mean everyone, the other cabins had also taken notice and were watching as a result,) the goddess started speaking. "I am Amphitrite, Queen of Atlantis and wife of Poseidon. I am here because I have demigod children, and I need to ask their forgiveness. Many of us 'minor' Olympians have children here, but have stopped claiming them because they are rejected by those who have yet to be claimed. Well no longer. My husband has granted my children permission to stay in his cabin, so I am claiming my children." Instantly, three upside-down tridents appeared over the heads of Greg Simmons, Diana Cross and Bobby Steele. Amphitrite then gathered her children and spoke to them in private. Luke, and many others just stared in shock. Could the gods actually be … changing?

I woke with the sound of an inhuman scream of pain and rage echoing in my ears. It didn't sound like any monster I'd ever heard, so I figured it was from a dream … except that I didn't remember dreaming last night. So what caused the scream, and why did I hear it? Oh well, it didn't matter. I got off the train and started looking for a place to eat when a motorcycle rode up to me. "You want some help?"

"Depends on what kind of help you're offering, and who you are," I countered, though I already knew who he was.

"There's a few decent places to eat around here. Pick one and we'll talk there." Just then an Italian restaurant called Venice Ristorante caught my eye and I walked towards it. "Italian, huh? Well, it's been 70 years since I've had Italian, why not?"

We sat down at a table and ordered, while he started a fight on Twitter of all things! It was so petty and thus so Ares that I just shook my head at the idea. With that done, he revealed what Gabe had done, which honestly wasn't so different from my first life. The usual, claiming I was a troubled kid, had something to do with Mom's disappearance, destroyed his oh so beloved Camaro, things like that. Hmm, maybe I could make a deal with Medusa? "Now, the FBI is all over you, and the chances of you making it to LA without getting arrested are slim to none. And even if you did retrieve the Bolt, Zeus is going to war with Poseidon. You're young, so let me teach you something about our family. See, years before I was born, my grandpa Kronos ate my aunt and uncles. Then my dad made him puke them back up, then chopped him up into a million pieces and chucked him into a bottomless pit, so that kind of set the tone right outta the gate. Olympians fight, we betray, we backstab, we will push anyone down a flight of stairs to get ahead. And that's why I love my family so much! My dad knows he's not getting this bolt back with quests or goose chases. He knows there's a war coming, and in reality, I think he's okay with that. I think he just feels its' time for a war, so we're gonna have a war. Isn't that great?"

"I think you're projecting right now, god of war," I countered. "See, I know I'm going to get the bolt back, and I'm willing to bet that if I get it back in time, there won't be a war. So, you offered help, tell me what kind of help, or else."

Ares laughed. "Or else, what?"

"Did your brother ever tell you what I did when he played at being my dad?" I asked.

Ares' eyes widened, and looked down to see Riptide at his crotch. "Oh, I like you! Okay, so here's the deal. There's an amusement park down the road. I left my shield there. You get me my shield back and I'll get you to the Underworld by … lunch tomorrow."

I smirked. "Let me guess, you went there with Aphrodite and Hephaestus caught you again? I'm in."

Waterland was … different from what I remembered, but I was starting to get used to that. The gate almost seemed like a trap, and I was certain that I caught sight of some celestial bronze in the mechanism, but nothing happened. I wandered around the park, constantly seeing small signs of divine work. One of the most obvious was when I got close to it, the Thrill Ride of Love woke up. Since that was where the shield had been before, I followed it and boarded one of the boats. Along the way, Hephaestus' story was shown along the walls, and it made me resolve to do what I could to help him as well as the other demigods and Hades. No one deserved to be treated like that by their own family.

Once at the bottom of the ride, I spotted the shield in the hands of a statue, and at the foot of the statue was a throne. I had a guess as to why that throne was there, and I was not going to suffer Ares' punishment. So now the question was how to do it. Fortunately I was energized by a little swim I had been forced to make, so I figured I'd have plenty of energy to try either of my options, and if not, well, I still had plenty of ambrosia in my pack. So, first I tried just pulling the shield out, but the statue had a surprisingly strong grip. That left me with a technique that I'd started working on after Nico's death and that I had continued working on after my arrival in this timeline. I had only been able to manage it a few times, but this time I had no choice. I manipulated the water, pulling on all my desperation, pain, loneliness and the love I had for my friends and family to force it into the shape I wanted, and a water clone came out. It immediately walked up to the throne and took a seat before being covered in gold.

I gave a sigh of relief at that. No matter how much I didn't like this Annabeth or Grover, I would have never wanted to see them as a statue. I grabbed the shield, then spotted Aphrodite's scarf behind the throne and grabbed it for good measure. With that I got up to leave, only for a maintenance door to open. "Do you need help? The exit's right there."

"Thanks," I replied to the old man who I suspected was actually Hephaestus. "Listen, next time you want to get back at Ares, why not try humiliating him? Don't do something that could hurt a demigod."

"Why would you care? You're just leaving your friend down there."

I chuckled at that while climbing the ladder up to him. "Friend? I thought you guys were keeping an eye on me. If you were, you'd know that Annabeth is back at camp by now and Grover … well, if Grover's a good friend then he's on his way here. What's in there is nothing but water. Besides, even if they were here and trapped in there, I wouldn't leave without them, that's not who I am. Call it my fatal flaw if you want, but I don't betray or abandon my friends." I dropped the scarf at his feet. "Give that back to your wife, then maybe you should try building something that she'd like, try patching things up with her." He gave me an odd look, but I wasn't done. "We're family, and families are messy, immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is remind each other we're related and keep the killing to a minimum."

Hephaestus continued giving me that odd look, like he couldn't figure me out. "You're a good boy, Perseus Jackson. I look forward to seeing you become a hero."

A few minutes later, Grover showed up. "Percy, I can't believe I found you! How are things going?"

"Better, now that you're here," I answered. "Listen, I need your help. Ares is waiting for me, and I need you to steal something from him." Grover stared at me, but stayed quiet long enough for me to explain.

Chapter Text

When I returned with Ares' shield, he stared at me in shock. "Wha-how?! Getting that should have been impossible!"

"What's wrong? Did your plan to guarantee a war fall through?" I asked mockingly. I was sure that he knew what kind of trap Hephaestus had left behind, and sending me after his shield anyway would have been a perfect way to guarantee his three-way war. Ares didn't answer, so I moved on to the whole point of the side quest. "Where's my ride?"

Ares led me to the Kindness International truck as in my first life. "Get in, don't, I don't care. But in a few hours, this truck will be in Las Vegas. Hermes loves the place, and if you play your cards right, he can get you to the Underworld in a matter of minutes. Here," he tossed me a bag, which I knew was also the sheath for the Master Bolt. "Clothes, cash, food, drachmas to summon Hermes. I'd wish you luck, but what good would that do?" With that, he left me to do as I wished, vanishing from before my eyes.

Fortunately, Grover showed up only a minute later. "Found it, but what is it?"

"The key to preventing this war," I said as I stuffed it in the backpack.

When we arrived in Vegas, we set the animals free again before stumbling on the Lotus Casino, so I made a quick prayer to Dad. Please, no matter what, make sure to warn me when I am down to two days before I need to return the bolt.

Then, to my surprise, Dad actually responded! Are you sure, Percy?

Yeah, I have something I need to do. I felt a warm presence surround me, and I knew that Dad was watching over me, and would warn me when I needed it. With that, I started looking around, looking for one area in particular. Fortunately, the magic of the Lotus Casino led me right where I wanted to be. There was an entire room dedicated to trading card games, including a shop to buy cards. I walked up to the shop and asked for Mythomagic boosters based around Poseidon. With that done, I walked over to a table and waited for Nico while reworking my deck to focus on Dad.

As I expected, I didn't have to wait long. Mythomagic was definitely a popular game in the rest of the world, but thanks to the magic of the Lotus Casino, not so much inside. As such, I was the only one with a deck besides Nico, and he easily noticed. "Hey, you play Mythomagic too?"

Nico was as excited as I had ever seen him, just the way I remembered him before Bianca died, and just the way I wanted him to stay this time. "Yeah, a friend taught me this year. Want to play?" I asked with a smile. Naturally he jumped at the opportunity, and we played for what seemed like hours. During that time, we not only had fun playing the game (and I really wish I'd played it in my first life,) but he also talked about Bianca, occasionally slipping into Italian when he did so. I learned more about her in those hours than I had in the days I had travelled with her on the quest to save Artemis.

Of course she eventually showed up, looking for her brother. "There you are, fratellino! I've been looking everywhere for you! What have I told you about talking to strangers?"

"But Bianca! If I didn't talk to strangers, I'd never make any new friends!" I laughed at that, because now I couldn't wait to see how they interacted with each other normally! Bianca was quick to demand to know if we had eaten, and seeing as how we hadn't, she dragged us off to one of the restaurants. "Wait, what about your friend?" Nico asked.

"Oh, don't worry about him, I'm sure he'll be fine. Now, where are we going?"

"We?" Bianca asked with her hands on her hips, clearly wanting to know why I was inviting myself.

"What? I want to spend more time with my new friend," I answered, pulling Nico into a sideways hug. Nico blushed in response, and he was so cute that I just couldn't help but fall for him right then and there.

Bianca gave in at the sight as well, and I spent the rest of my time in the Lotus with them. The two of them were so close that I almost felt like a third wheel at times, but Nico was always quick to turn and include me in the conversation again. I think Bianca warmed up to me eventually, but the girl was hard to read, even compared to some of the goddesses I've met!

Eventually though, things had to end, and it started with Dad activating the sprinklers in the entire casino! Seriously, Dad? You couldn't have found a subtler way to let me know? A feeling of amusement was the only answer and I turned back to the di Angelos. Both of them were staring at me. Wait, why were they … oh, right, I'm bone dry. "Umm, can we save the explanation for later? I need to find my friend and leave."

"No way, Jackson, you're not leaving without telling us what is going on," Bianca insisted. In that moment, I could truly see Hades in her, especially with the look she was giving me.

Well, how bad could this go? Hades wouldn't kill me if I brought his kids and Helm, right? Eh, I was running with it. "Okay then, come with me and I'll explain on the way." We quickly met up with Grover, who had also woken up thanks to the sprinklers (in fact, most of the guests had,) and we ran out of the casino, and this time I paid for the cab with the Lotus card.

"Now Jackson, talk," Bianca growled at me, and I swear, she looked just like her dad when he got angry, and that was terrifying.

"Okay, so I'm the demigod son of Poseidon, which means I have some control over water, including being able to keep from getting wet unless I want to. Grover here is a satyr, part goat part human with enhanced senses to find demigods and monsters. The Lotus Casino was the lair of the Lotus Eaters, and I'm sure Nico can tell you more about them. We're on our way to Los Angeles because Zeus' master lightning bolt was stolen, he blames my dad, Chiron blames Hades and hopefully Hades will have some answers no matter what."

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Bianca demanded.

"Well, he is telling the truth," our cab driver said. We all turned to him and I was shocked to see Hermes there. "So, what's the plan, Jackson? Do you really think you can get Hades to hand over the Bolt, even with those two?"

I sighed and shook my head. "How many times do I have to say it before it spreads, I don't believe Hades is guilty, but he may have a piece of the puzzle. So, is there a reason that you decided to visit, Hermes?"

"Well, among other things, the Fates told me that those two aren't supposed to leave the Casino yet-" He stopped when he felt Riptide at his back.

"They aren't going back," I growled out. "And to Tartarus with the Fates! You're going to take us to Santa Monica, and then you're going to go back to whatever you were doing before you came to see us, got it?"'

"Kid, I think you're the most terrifying demigod I've ever met," Hermes said, but he did as I told him.

My meeting with Halie (as I had learned last time from my stepmother,) went basically the same way as before and the five of us headed to DOA Recording Studios. We still ran into Procrustes, but Nico caught on remarkably quick and stabbed him with a spare knife I had given him. (I had stolen those from the forges shortly before I was claimed. Since I had Anaklusmos, no one ever suspected me.) We were shocked though when Bianca pointed out a strange door, which we discovered was a secret doorway to the Underworld. When we got to the front of the line of dead, Charon took one look at us and panicked. "Wh-Wh-What do you want?!" he stuttered out.

"We're here to see Lord Hades, I have something he's expecting," I answered. Grover could only stare in shock at my bluntness, and how Charon was reacting. Within seconds he was taking us to the ferry.

Along the way, the Styx appeared in a humanoid form and said one thing: "I hold your oath fulfilled, my lord. Continue on your path, and I pray you find the happiness you desire." Charon was even more terrified than he had been before and dumped us as soon as he could. Cerberus had a completely different reaction, as he turned into an overgrown puppy on seeing Nico and Bianca, and Nico was quite happy to oblige him, giving him the best belly rubs he could manage, considering the size difference. Eventually even Bianca was convinced to join her brother, despite clearly being the more serious of the two.

The moment Hades realized that his Helm of Darkness was missing, he spoke to the Fates about it. As the Lord of the Dead, he encountered them more often than most, especially when a larger number of people were destined to come in than usual. So he knew that Perseus Jackson would be coming to him on the evening of June 22nd, and that he would return his Helm. As such, on the evening of the 19th, he was working on paperwork. The problem with this modern age, in Hades' eyes at least, was that so many came to either his portion or the Egyptian portion of the Underworld. Anyone who came from a civilization that was inspired by Greece or Rome fell under his domain, unless their religion still survived, like the Jews and Christians. Atheists and agnostics fell under his domain as well, while the more primitive religions fell under Egypt's control, and he was forced to help the poor mutt out, due to Osiris being missing for the last millennium or so. He was working on getting Egypt caught up when Pheidippides ran into his office, announcing the questers' arrival. "What? Is it the 22nd already?"

"No, my lord, they came here early."

"Early? Odd, I've never known the Fates to be wrong before," he muttered before going to his throne room. When he entered the room though, his heart stopped, because there before him were two people he wasn't expecting to see just yet.

"Papa!" His two beloved children ran to him, and he caught them in his arms, hugging them for the first time in over 70 years.

"Nico, Bianca, I've missed you so!" he said, barely holding back the tears. As the Lord of the Dead, he had very few children at all, let alone demigod children. As such, he treasured each and every one of them more than anything.

"Wait, they're your children?!" the satyr gasped. "I need to tell Chiron!"

"Woah, woah, why should we tell Chiron anything before it becomes necessary?" the son of Poseidon asked.

As a god, Hades could see their intentions, and the satyr was completely loyal to Olympus and the centaur, not to mention the fact that he believed Hades was responsible for the theft of the Bolt. Perseus though, oddly enough, held no grudge despite Hades kidnapping his mother, and was loyal to his children, suspiciously strongly for how long they could have possibly known each other. Even more so when compared to his bond of loyalty to the other, when he certainly knew the satyr for much longer. This curiosity would have to be investigated … later, but for now, Hades knew what he needed to do. "Alecto, Tisiphone!" The two Furies appeared before him, and he pointed at the satyr, causing him to fall asleep. "Take him to the Lethe and call the goddess, have her give him enough of her water to wipe the last day or two from their memories then leave him outside Orpheus' entrance."

The boy just stared in shock as the Furies obeyed his orders. "Okay, so that just happened. What now?"

"Now, you're going to return my Helm and explain what designs you and your father have on my children."

Perseus tossed him his Helm before speaking. "I honestly don't know what you mean by designs. The only design I have on them is to be their friend, and my Dad doesn't know about them yet. Do you mind if I leave? I kind of need to get the Bolt back to Zeus, and warn him about Kronos, and I have no idea how I'm going to get to New York in two days."

Hades was shocked at that. "Okay, first, you're not going to demand the return of your mother?"

"No, you're the one god that's absolutely fair, I knew you'd let her go after getting your Helm back even without me asking for it. But uh, can you get me to New York? Also, could you let me know if Medusa kills any innocents, meaning mortals or those who stop by her place without planning on killing her or any guests she has?"'

"No, not yet. Not before you explain what you meant about Kronos."

"Kronos has been contacting me in my dreams, trying to convince me to bring him the bolt so he can bring down Olympus," his nephew explained. "Besides, who else would have a longer grudge than him? Who else would want your brothers at war?"

"Besides my nephew, you mean?" Hades immediately agreed to speed him on his way and called Orpheus to guide him out to Central Park. There was something strange about that interaction though, and he released Sally Jackson from the spell that had bound her so she'd stay alive while in the underworld all so he could talk to her. As soon as he heard the truth, he realized that he owed the boy far more than he could possibly imagine. "Thanatos, I want you to collect a mortal's soul. Alecto, I have a few jobs for your lawyer persona." After that, he started preparing the Underworld for war.

Chapter Text

The moment I walked out Orpheus' Door, I saw Ares waiting for me. "I challenge you to single combat! If I draw first blood, you and I will go to Olympus and you will confess to Zeus."

Ares just laughed before answering. "Your funeral, kid, but there won't be a funeral. Any trace of you leaves a trace of my plan, and I won't have that."

"But it wasn't your plan, was it? You could have pulled something like this off any time when we kids of the Big Three were more common, but you didn't. You're taking orders from Kronos, he's the one who gave you the idea," I accused.

"Gods don't dream, little man, and no one tells the god of war how to start a fight!"

I smirked, caught him again. "Who said anything about dreams?" Ares ignored that and charged me, intent on shutting me up and reclaiming the Bolt. Two major lessons stuck with me as I dueled him: stay in close and don't match strength for strength. However, I'd also thought of a possible advantage I'd have thanks to my trip. Greek swords tended to have a single blade, which resulted in a lot of cutting attacks, the thrust was basically unknown until Rome came along. Thanks to that, I was able to surprise him by stabbing the god of war through the leg. "Now, why don't you go fess up to daddy?"

"You've just made an enemy for life, demigod!" And with that, Ares vanished.

The trip to Olympus was quick from there, especially since I still had the Bolt. I quickly showed it to the guard, who had assumed I was here for the tour, and then I was riding the elevator to Olympus. The tension in the air was palpable, but every single person there stared at me as I walked past and towards the throne room. The entire council was there, apparently trying to convince Dad or Zeus to stop the war while they could. Then Dad spotted me. "Perseus, welcome."

Every eye turned to me and I bowed my head as a greeting. Then I walked up the middle, giving a smile to Hestia as I passed her and returned the Master Bolt to Zeus. "You succeeded, despite everything."

"Yes, and while I didn't steal it, and I don't know who did, I know who was responsible: Kronos. He will stop at nothing to see you weakened so that when he returns, he won't have as much of a challenge. Demigods are starting to lose faith in you because you won't claim them or show that you care, and they'll be easy pickings for Kronos."

"Are you threatening us, demigod?" Zeus demanded.

"No, I'm trying to warn you so that you can change things," I replied. "It may be too late for some demigods, but for others, there's a chance."

"We're forbidden from interfering in our kids' lives," Apollo stated mournfully.

"So? As long as you stay out of our mortal lives and quests, that should be enough, right? Claim us when we get to camp, then show up, spend some time with us there to teach us about our powers or tell us interesting things about our biology. Mortal parents can manage at least that much."

"We shall discuss this at a later time," Zeus proclaimed. "For now, return to camp. And don't let me see you here again." I just smiled as most of the gods departed, leaving me alone with Dad.

"I always said that he'd have done well as the god of theater," Dad said. "Obedience doesn't come naturally to you, does it?"

"My friends like to say that while others have a rebellious streak, I have an obedient one," I joked in response. Jason, Thalia and my Annabeth were quite fond of telling me that one.

"I must take some of the blame, I suppose. The sea does not like to be restrained," he said once again. I smiled, glad to know that some things stayed the same. "Now, will you tell me why you act differently than I expected?"

"Persephone is up here, right? Get her to arrange a meeting between us and Hades, I'll tell you then. My story involves him more than it does you, Dad."

"This had better be a good story, Perseus."

"Depends on what you consider a good story, Dad."

An hour later and I was back at Camp, my quest completed. Naturally, I was given a hero's welcome for preventing the war, though several people gave me dark looks, among them were Annabeth, Grover and Clarisse. Luke was publicly overjoyed, but I could see confusion in his eyes, like he didn't know what to think of me again. Still, that night he pulled me into the woods, claiming to want to speak to me about the thief away from the celebration. "Worried about your mom?"

"No, I trust Hades to keep his word, especially after the what I did for him. If anything, I'm worried about a line in the prophecy: you will be betrayed by one who calls you friend."

"Damn, I was afraid of something like that. I am not your enemy, the gods are my enemies." Luke had a dark look in his eyes as he asked "What happened? Kronos said you swore allegiance to him in exchange for a chance to change history."

"Simple, I tricked him. I swore an oath that his rise would be different, not that I would support him. My enemies are those who would threaten my friends and family. And if you're planning to tear us apart with civil war, to hand us over to someone who was willing to eat his own kids, then that makes you my enemy as well."

"Percy, we can get out from under the control of the gods! They don't care about what we want, only how we can help them out. Backbiter can open secret doors, so we can stay on the run as long as it takes. They're horrible parents, and they've gotten away with it for far too long."

"I'm not arguing that, hell, I agree with that part, you know I do! Your goal isn't the problem, Luke, it's the road you're taking to get there! Listen, you complain about how many unclaimed kids die because their parents don't claim them, but how many of us are going to die if you start a war trying to bring Kronos back?" Luke hesitated at that. "Look, get out of here if you think you have to, but think about how far you're willing to go, what lines you're willing to cross when you do."

He nodded before cutting a symbol into a broken pillar. "Goodbye, Percy. I'll see you again next summer."

"Wait!" I called out just before he stepped through the portal. "Kronos is going to ask you to poison Thalia's tree to force us to find the Golden Fleece. Whatever poison he suggests, cut the dosage down below even what you're willing to risk. Also, think about the Fates and the role they play in our lives."

"The Fates?" Luke looked like he hadn't even thought about them. He smiled before leaving, and this time without summoning his pit scorpion. Huh, I think he actually meant it when he said he wasn't my enemy.

Two weeks later, I had grown quite close to my step-siblings, but it was finally time to talk to the gods. Four gods were waiting at the bay I'd been called to: Hades, Persephone, Amphitrite and my dad. "Well, Perseus, are you going to explain yourself now?" Dad asked.

"I'm willing, but I need to ask Persephone something first: how do you feel about your husband's demigod kids?"

Persephone laughed at that. "Don't worry, I'm no Hera. Neither of us begrudges the other our mortal children, never have, so long as we're faithful to each other when we can be together. We also consider all our children as belonging to both of us. It's also an easy way to get around the 'no interference' rule. It's only interference if it's our own kids."

"Good, because Nico and Bianca are big parts in my story," I started, only to be interrupted by Persephone.

Persephone was confused at that. "Nico and Bianca? I thought you put them in the Lotus Hotel to protect them from my father."

"I did, but young Percy here brought them out during his quest."

"And Hades brought them out another time," I said, then I started telling my story, giving more details about Nico and Bianca for Hades and Persephone's sake. Then I got to the worst part. "The Fates said that they decided their days of death the day they were born, no matter what happens in life."

"Then they have overstepped their bounds!" Persephone declared. "They are not supposed to decide ahead of time how long one can or should live!"

"So you're trying to change the future?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, though I have to admit, things are way different than the life I lived before. Annabeth is more arrogant than the one I knew, Luke is kinder, Hades had a huge temper, Medusa still held her grudge against Athena, and those are just some of the personality shifts! I don't know if my knowledge will hold true in this reality, but I can't risk it! I refuse to lose Nico and Bianca again!"

Hades and Persephone shared a look at that, but I had no idea what it meant. "When two souls are meant to be together, nothing can keep them apart," they said with matching smiles. I still had no idea what they meant by that.

Amphitrite asked "So, up next Kronos is going to bring Thalia back to try to control the prophecy, right?"

"Right, she would never be able to kill Luke, and she has a big enough grudge that she could be convinced to turn against Olympus, or if we failed to retrieve the Golden Fleece, it would be one potential threat removed."

"Then our only real option is to train you as much as possible," Hades stated. "I can send you the finest blade masters in history to train you in the sword-"

"No. Thank you for the offer, uncle, but I want to train in the trident. I intend to return Anaklusmos to Zoe when I meet her." Wait a minute … "What did you mean about training me?"

Hades and Persephone smiled at that. "Quite simple, as thanks for your help, we decided to give you and your mother a proper house," Persephone stated. "You'd be living in Queens instead of Manhattan with a yard big enough for you to train in, and your mother already agreed to move. There's only one stipulation to the offer-that she do something for us as well."

"And what did you ask her to do?"

"Something I believe you'll agree with as well: to raise Nico and Bianca until we're ready for them to go to Camp," Hades stated. "I will give them rings that will minimize their scent and make it so that no one from our world notices them unless they are already aware of them or are deliberately introduced to them. As such, the only monsters that would attack you would be those that would show up anyways. If you agree, then I would also send you instructors in your chosen weapons."

I honestly couldn't see a downside to the offer, so naturally I agreed. "And what about next year? I can't see Kronos missing a chance to manipulate the prophecy, which would mean Thalia's tree would be poisoned and Chiron blamed again. We can't let Tantalus take over again."

"No, we can't," Dad agreed. "I know our brother has always favored his children, but Tantalus just makes it seem like we truly don't care about our demigod children. It would help Luke with his recruitment. Perhaps some other heroes are possible?"

"I'd suggest considering all heroes, not just the demigods," Amphitrite suggested. "Hephaestion perhaps?"

Hades scoffed at that. "Please, you know better than that. He'd never leave without Alexandros. No, I have better ideas. First though, dear, let me know when Hermes comes for Tantalus, I'll need to speak to him about it. With children here, I'm sure he'll listen." Persephone nodded, and Hades explained his plan. Honestly, I was surprised he came up with it that fast, and I was looking forward to it!

One week later, and I was home with my mom, Nico and Bianca. The new place was so much better than anything we could have possibly gotten in Manhattan, because it actually had a yard! Now the three of us had a place to train where we wouldn't have to worry about damaging anything! Still, my little family wasn't quite complete, so when I wasn't catching the di Angelos up on pop culture (especially the gay rights movement,) I was searching the streets. Nico honestly enjoyed joining me, which meant I got to spend even more time with him. Finally, one day, I found him. "But Percy, he's-"

"I know, but he's also my brother."

"Are they all your brothers?"

"Mostly, all but the Elders. Come on, I want you to meet Tyson."