Chapter Text
"Annie!"
Annabeth’s laughter rang out in the icy air, and though she tried to cover her mouth with her hand, she couldn’t hold it back completely.
The two of them were sitting in a small café near Percy’s house. It was Christmas Eve, and Annabeth had agreed to spend the day with his family. Percy, of course, hadn’t missed the chance to take her out for hot chocolate — even though she had ordered a boring coffee instead.
Steam rose from their cups while snow slowly fell outside the window. For once, the city looked peaceful, wrapped in that white blanket that made everything seem like it came straight out of Santa Claus’s beard.
Percy wiped the whipped cream from his nose, pretending to be annoyed by his girlfriend’s wheezing-hyena-like laughter.
“Gods, Seaweed Brain,” she said between laughs. “You’ve been like that for half an hour.”
Percy faked indignation but couldn’t help but smile. As she laughed, he looked at her with that same awe he always felt. The snow behind Annabeth made her seem almost unreal, like she belonged to another world — brighter and more perfect. Her blonde hair moved gently with the breeze whenever someone opened the door, and her warm clothes stood out against the white backdrop, making her the most beautiful thing Percy had ever had the luck to see.
He knew some people in the café were watching them. Some with fondness, others with amusement or annoyance, seeing them laugh so freely. But Percy couldn’t care less.
His world had narrowed down to the person in front of him — and making sure he didn’t choke on his hot chocolate.
“You have bread on your cheek,” he said, holding back his amusement just to mess with her.
Annabeth flinched, quickly bringing her hand to her face with a frown.
“Really? Where?”
Percy held in his laughter, watching as she patted her cheek worriedly. Her fingers brushed over her skin, searching for something that wasn’t there. Her face started turning red, like a clown’s nose.
“Percy!” Annabeth exclaimed when she realized there was nothing there.
Percy burst out laughing, that genuine laugh that made his chest feel lighter — like everything was in its place.
Annabeth tried to scowl, but her lips were trembling, and in the end, she ended up laughing with him. — Honestly, Percy was the one who should’ve been wearing the clown nose, he seemed to have a future in that profession— Their laughter filled the space, blending with the sound of clinking cups and cheerful holiday conversations around them.
For a moment, there were no prophecies, no gods, no monsters. Just the two of them, in the middle of winter, sharing a hot drink and a happiness that few would understand — unless everyone had suddenly gone through two wars against titans so old they should’ve been using canes, and those titans also happened to be your relatives.
And that was enough.
Well, yeah, not everything turns out the way he wants.
In fact, most of the time, it was the other way around.
Percy found himself standing on a mountain. The air was dense, filled with a suffocating heat that didn’t match the landscape. He recognized the place almost immediately: Mount Tamalpais, where the battle against Atlas had taken place.
But something was wrong—far beyond the fact that just seconds ago, he had been in his room in his mother and Paul’s Manhattan apartment.
The sky was covered with dark clouds spiraling over the peak, and from the cracks in the ground, threads of steam rose as if the mountain were about to erupt.
He crouched instinctively, feeling like he shouldn’t be there.
At the center of the summit, Leo was kneeling, his hands tied with thick ropes made of seaweed, and his face covered in soot. He wore a toga, stained gray and brown — the white was no longer visible — by the filth of the place, and his eyes, usually sparkling, were narrowed in pain. His breathing was weak, but he still clung tightly to life.
In front of him, a powerful being stood like a living tide. Its body seemed to be made of constantly moving water, with seashells embedded in its tunic and bright golden details that gleamed like coral. Its voice sounded like waves crashing against a cliff:
“This is the price for defying the order. Fire is insolent, and you should no longer exist. Earth and water will consume you.”
Leo didn’t even try to speak. His fingers were shaking—his whole body was trembling like jelly—and there was no spark of will to live anywhere in him.
Percy felt his heart hammering in his chest. He wanted to intervene, but something held him back, as if he were merely an invisible spectator. He took a step forward and felt the ground creak beneath his feet, but no one seemed to notice.
The figure raised a hand, and a wave of muddy water appeared out of nowhere, suspended over Leo like a liquid guillotine.
“When you fall, I will claim your power as mine” it said.
Percy held his breath. The guy’s eyes moved from side to side, scanning the area, although, he didn’t seem to notice Percy.
Percy clenched his fists, feeling his helplessness, but he also understood that this was a warning. A distant whisper reached his ear, perhaps his instinct — or the voices. Damn! He was seriously losing his marbles.
The water crashed onto the ground beside Leo, but it didn’t touch him.
Percy felt the dream beginning to fade, like foam dissipating on the sand. Before waking up, he saw Leo lift his gaze for an instant, his lips murmuring something barely audible.
"Oceanus..."
And then, everything went black.
"Percy! Come help your sister!" His mother’s shout woke him with a start. The images, once vivid, began to fade away.
"Percy!"
It was kind of embarrassing to admit that, after several hours helping his mom and Paul take care of Estelle, the memory of his dream had settled in the back of his mind—faded, like when you try to remember what color your mom’s clothes were in the morning. He knew it was there, but without someone reminding him that it existed, it simply wasn’t going to surface.
Estelle was happily playing beside him, her small figure wobbling from side to side as she picked up stuffed animals and enthusiastically banged on a toy xylophone. Her high-pitched squeals filled the apartment like little bells, and Percy easily lost himself in the domesticity of it all. The smell of freshly baked cookies blended with the pine scent from the Christmas tree, and every now and then, he heard his mother’s soft laughter from the kitchen as she chatted with Paul.
Then, a small glint caught his eye. It was subtle, barely a reflection under the desk where Estelle had left her building blocks—those tiny things always ended up injuring someone’s foot! —but his hand instinctively went to his pocket, brushing Riptide in its pen form.
He crouched down and stretched his arm to pick up what seemed to be a crumpled piece of paper. Percy unfolded it curiously, and as he read the contents, a faint, amused smile spread across his face.
Can you stop asking everyone if I’ve turned into a real ghost?
I was at camp last week. The fact that you weren’t there is not my problem.
Stop sending those toys. I’m not some toddler who wants Halloween decorations. Leave Mrs. O'Leary alone. She’s not a messenger, and stop giving her cheese buns too. They upset her stomach, and she comes back whining afterward.
Have a good Christmas.
Screw you, Jackson.
There was no signature or seal, just words scrawled in black ink, a handwriting that looked like it belonged on some ancient scroll in a museum.
Nico di Angelo.
Percy chuckled quietly. There was something oddly comforting about knowing that, even with everything between them, they could still mess with each other.
So... it turns out evil could actually wait a few more weeks to be dealt with.
Christmas, and almost half a month after, were peaceful. The memory of the dream had been scrubbed from his brain — Percy thought he’d read about something like that online once. Something about a defence mechanism or whatever.
Not that a defence mechanism worked against deities that were supposed to be long gone, unfortunately.
One morning—Percy had no idea what day it was, maybe sometime past mid-January—a letter appeared on his nightstand.
How it got there? He had no clue, and he preferred not to know. For his own sanity.
He’d woken up to his baby sister’s excited squeals, his mother’s complaints about the time, and Paul’s soothing murmurs in the distance. Winter hung in the air, and the smell of freshly made hot chocolate drifted through the apartment. He grabbed a jacket from his chair—it was probably dirty, but did it really matter? —and was about to leave his room.
And then he had saw it.
At first, he thought it was another one of Nico’s responses to the cookies he had sent with Mrs. O’Leary the night before. But he quickly realized it wasn’t.
The paper was yellowed—so old that not even the eighty-year-old kid could have pulled it off—and covered in stains of… something.
I don’t think dreams should be ignored.
Good luck, Perseus Jackson.
His best guess was that it was from a god.
Leo, the mountain, the chains, Oceanus…
Who was Oceanus anyway?
He would soon find out.
Yay!
The pit in his stomach had grown heavier when he realized he had been ignoring the fact that Leo had been getting tortured by some entity.
Crap.
He hated his Dory brain.
Annabeth had come over as fast as she could when Percy told her about everything that had happened over the past few days—month? —and now they were packing a bag to head to Camp Half-Blood and figure out what this Oceanus guy wanted.
From what Annabeth told him, the guy was a Titan who had fought fiercely against the gods. He ended up having his power reduced, and no one had ever bothered talking to him since.
Percy was starting to think he had a thing for attracting ancient Titans.
"Annabeth, sweetheart." his mother approached the blonde with some clothes in hand, placing them in the suitcase resting on the dining table. "Take care of Percy, please. You know he gets into too much trouble on his own."
"Of course I will, ma’am."
"Sally, sweetheart." his mom corrected her kindly.
The road to Camp Half-Blood had been both familiar and strange. Snow covered parts of the forest, and the bare trees swayed in the icy wind, as if their branches were whispering warnings Percy would rather not understand. Annabeth walked beside him, hands tucked into her coat pockets, frowning like she always did when her mind was working at full speed.
When they arrived at the Big House, they found Chiron by the fireplace, reviewing some papers with a worried expression, though he relaxed slightly upon seeing them.
Did centaurs have debts to pay too?
"Percy, Annabeth. What a pleasure to see you," he said with that paternal warmth he always had, but his tone tightened when he noticed the look on their faces. "What’s wrong?"
Percy didn’t waste time—he had already wasted enough during his lazy days. He told Chiron everything: the dream, the mysterious letter, Oceanus, and most importantly, Leo.
Chiron listened in silence, hands folded in his lap, gaze fixed on the flames. When Percy finished, he expected some kind of immediate action. Maybe Chiron would stand up, rally the campers, strap a bow to his back, load medical kits onto his horse half like some kind of mini-Ares-built emergency van, and map out a plan to rescue Leo. But what he got was a long sigh.
"Percy..." Chiron said calmly. "I know this concerns you. And I understand that you want to help your friend. But... there is no prophecy. No warning from the Oracle."
Percy froze for a second. He could’ve done a decent impression of Grover’s uncle, Rock Dude.
"So what?" he shot back, trying to keep his tone in check, though anger burned in his chest. "Does that mean we just leave him there? Wait until the old ladies of fate send us a pamphlet with instructions?"
Annabeth touched his arm—a subtle attempt to calm him—but her eyes reflected the same frustration.
Chiron seemed to choose his words carefully.
"You know it’s not just that. We’ve been through a lot... The gods are barely stabilizing after the war with Gaia. And Oceanus... not much is really known about him. He hasn’t been active since the Titan War. If he’s truly awakened, I don’t believe he holds much power, but... he’s still an ancient Titan."
Percy clenched his fists. He hated these answers. Those political explanations that, in the end, only meant someone else was going to suffer while they waited.
"But it’s Leo," he insisted. "He left camp with us. He fought for this. He died and, apparently, came back. If he were here in my place, he’d already be building a flying ship to save all of us—or, wait! He already did!"
Chiron didn’t respond immediately. His eyes softened, but there was a weariness in them.
"I know, Percy. But you also have to understand... sometimes, the hardest decisions are the ones that require us to wait. We can’t always rush in headfirst."
Percy felt rage climbing up his throat.
"And what if he dies while we wait? What then?"
A heavy silence fell over them.
Percy stood up abruptly.
Annabeth stood with him.
"If we can’t count on the camp, we’ll go on our own."
Chiron looked at them for what felt like an eternity. Then he slowly nodded, with sadness in his eyes.
"I knew you would say that. And I can’t stop you. Just... be careful. Oceanus is not like the monsters you’re used to. He’s patient. And water... well, Percy, you know better than anyone that water can be crueler than any sword."
Percy swallowed. He knew. But he didn’t care.
"We’ll bring him back," he said, with more conviction than he actually felt.
Chiron didn’t smile, but there was a hint of pride in his eyes.
"Then may the gods protect you."
And all Percy could think was that, from experience, that usually didn’t turn out well. It mostly ended with a lightning bolt to the throat or something.
How were a bunch of underaged kids supposed to free one of their own from the clutches of a retired Titan?
What was Annabeth’s brilliant idea?
Try to get out unscathed, with Leo over their shoulders?
Turns out, Annabeth already had it all planned…
Just like last time!
Tada!
The blonde rolled her eyes as she saw Percy standing there with his arms crossed. "You know there’s no one we can trust more than them. Don’t be a baby."
"But we shouldn’t drag them into this!"
Annabeth raised her eyebrows, looking at him with zero surprise. "I heard you muttering about them on the way here."
Percy felt his cheeks heat up—for a few horrible seconds, he pictured himself like one of those cartoon characters Estelle loved to watch.
"Okay, yeah," he admitted, flopping onto his bed with his arms spread out. "But I still don’t think it’s fair."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow.
"Ugh! Fine! Yes, I want them to come with us."
"I’m calling Piper." Annabeth unfolded her arms, giving him a small smile before heading out of his cabin.