Chapter Text
Prologue:
Hestia watched from her place by the fire pit as Annabeth Chase once again strolled dejectedly out of the Poseidon cabin. The girl’s shoulders were hunched, her eyes downcast. There were dark shadows under them from a lack of proper sleep. And as she dragged her feet in the direction of the pavilion, it was obvious she was so stuck in her own head, she couldn’t even hear the greetings of some of the passing campers that waved at her encouragingly.
The sight was familiar by now. For months the girl had looked this dejected, and there was nothing Hestia could think of to do. She couldn’t very well get her boyfriend back and go against Hera’s—Juno’s—wishes. She could see the logic in her sister’s plan, it was necessary. Unfortunately, the side effects it had on Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson weren’t so welcome. And the same stood for Jason Grace, for that matter, although the boy’s memories had already returned to him by now, unlike Percy Jackson’s.
Closing his eyes, Hestia focused on her brother’s demigod child and found him setting off on a quest with two Roman children. She could see the determination in his eyes, the dedication to the two he had only just met already burning in his chest. But there was pain, anguish and confusion too. The poor thing could remember nothing more than his own name and his girlfriend’s one. He was lost, torn away from the life he’d known up to that point.
It was cruel.
She opened her eyes and poked the fire with her stick. Hestia saw everything. She kept an eye on the people she loved and cared about. She’d known about Poseidon’s half-blood child from before he was even born, because while her little brother could evade Hades and Zeus, he could never hide himself from her. And at the feeling of deep love and care exuding from him around that mortal woman, Hestia’s heart had warmed.
It did not surprise her to follow the progress of Perseus Jackson’s life and discover such a good soul residing in his body. Sure, her brother’s demigod children tended to end up being… less than pleasant most of the time. They had a whole list of dirty laundry caused by their deep flaws. But this child was the result of a sort of love Poseidon rarely felt toward the mortal women he’d courted. He grew up with a wonderful person who loved him fiercely and taught him right from wrong. It made perfect sense to her that he was good.
Following him as he grew up, found friends and family and a place to call a home was heartwarming. Hestia hated seeing him in danger, but she loved to see his good soul shining through when it mattered. And so it stood to reason that seeing this—seeing the devastation caused by Juno’s intervention—made Hestia’s tempter rise a little. These kids have been through too much already. They did not deserve to go through even more trials, more hardships, more challenges than one person could handle in an entire lifetime.
Eyes staring into the fire, Hestia prayed to the Fates, the Moirai. Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. Please, she thought sadly. Please help them in some way. Assist them. If they must go through this again—if they have no choice but to fight another war for us the gods—at least aid them.
The fire crackled and flickered as a soft breeze whooshed by. Hestia watched as images she did not will to life passed through the fire, too quickly to decipher. Her eyes widened as each moment in time embedded itself in her head. Her swelled and broke and melted and sank and mended and shattered and rejoiced. The past made her ache, the present made her restless, the future made her terrified.
Hestia wasn’t used to feeling such intense fear, but with what she saw, she couldn’t help but shudder. Sympathy overwhelmed her as tears welled in her eyes. She cast a look back toward Annabeth Chase and her ichor froze in her veins at the knowledge of what was awaiting the poor girl. It thawed at the knowledge of her success. It pulsed in her ears at the knowledge that there would be a cost, a permanent scar left behind.
“I see,” she said. “Who should see this?”
Instead of showing her the answer, Hestia found herself being pulled away from the hearths all over the world. Her entire essence was pulled into one place, her consciousness molding into one instead of being spread thin all over in order to watch the fires of different people. She found herself sitting at the hearth of the throne room which wasn’t burning all too bright. And as she looked around curiously, she could see baffled members of her family spread around the room—immortals and mortals as one.
Poseidon and Amphitrite were sitting together, their eyebrows scrunched together as they seemed to blink owlishly at their surroundings, clearly taken aback by the change in scenery. Beside them, Triton and Rhode exchanged a flabbergasted look. Athena and Artemis looked just as caught off guard, their eyes wide as they turned to look at each other, as if expecting the other to know what was going on.
Apollo was sitting in his throne, tense and defensive; although the moment he noticed Zeus was absent, his posture relaxed and he heaved a sigh of relief. Hermes rubbed his head in confusion, as if wondering where his headache had disappeared to, but he still cast Apollo a brief look, as if to make sure his brother was okay and not being punished by their father. And, looking just as relieved as them at seeing no hint of Zeus, Hades found Poseidon’s gaze and seemed to silently ask him what was happening, only to frown at his brother’s helpless shrug.
On the floor before the thrones, there was a group of children. Hestia saw Piper McLean and Leo Valdez sticking together as they stared at utter bewilderment all around. Standing with them was the Roman transfer demigod, Jason Grace, whose eyes lit up at the sight of his sister Thalia standing only a few paces away, just as confused as everyone else.
Nico di Angelo was standing off to the side. The boy took one look at the others, paled a little, and stepped back to put some distance between himself and the others. Grover Underwood blinked all around before cursing in Ancient Greek and kicking the floor in frustration with his hoof. Rachel Elizabeth Dare gave him a look, as if not sure whether to be amused or exasperated like him. In the end she just crossed her arms and sent the gods a somewhat wary look, like she was worried they might overwhelm her mortal senses. Although she did seem to calm a little at the smile Apollo flashed her.
There were also two other Roman demigods in their midst. Hestia wasn’t exactly surprised, though. She’d have lied if she said otherwise, her eyes taking in the utterly astonished and nervous looks on the faces of Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque. They were staying close, gazes darting between the gods and teenagers uncertainly. The girl did give pause once her eyes landed on the son of Jupiter, but she didn’t seem to be close enough to the boy to do anything upon recognition. She caught Nico’s gaze but didn’t seem reassured by the boy’s own uncertainty.
And then there was Annabeth Chase, her earlier melancholy replaced with caution and apprehension. She seemed to take one look at the throne room before deciding this was going to lead to nothing but trouble. Her upset frown faltered a little when she spotted Poseidon, likely because the god reminded her of her lost boyfriend. She quickly looked away from the god in favor of scanning the group of teens surrounding her.
She froze at once the moment she noticed the smallest figure in the group. He was standing apart from all of them, his hands hanging by his sides in fists as he gaped at the gods in the room, especially his father. His hand was bandaged and his face slightly paler than Hestia figured was considered good. There was a pen in his uninjured hand, which he seemed to hold like he wasn’t sure whether it needed to be used or not.
“Percy?” Annabeth said shakily.
The boy averted his eyes from Poseidon in favor of looking at the daughter of Athena. For a moment he looked almost hopeful, like the voice was familiar to him. But the second his eyes landed on her, he tensed once again. His injured hand crept toward his pen, going to uncap it.
“What—” he started saying.
He didn’t get far before the girl launched herself forward and wrapped her arms around him. He was leaner and shorter than her, but it didn’t seem to bother Annabeth in the least. The fact that the poor boy turned stone still in her embrace didn’t seem to deter her either. The way he stood there, unresponsive and shocked, would have made Hestia chuckle had it not been for the way the girl was weeping—in relief or anguish, it was unclear.
Leaning forward, Poseidon’s eyes instantly zeroed in on the small figure. “Percy…”
“Wait, is that really—” Thalia gasped.
“Perrr-cy!” Grover cheered as he trotted over. “Man, I can’t believe you’re here!”
Inching closer to his friends, Leo loudly whispered, “I thought the dude was, like, older. He looks like he’s ten.”
“But—but—” Hazel stuttered. “We were just with Percy. He’s older than… er…”
Rachel snorted. “I have no idea what’s going on, but it’s already more interesting than what I was doing before. Clarion classes are overrated. At least I’m not bored out of my mind anymore, I suppose. Hopefully I won’t spit out another prophecy, though…”
“Um…” Percy cleared his throat awkwardly after a long moment. “So am I supposed to just expect weird stuff to happen when I fold my socks every time or it this a one-time thing?”
Annabeth’s sobs morphed to wet, hiccup-y chuckles. She finally pulled away from the confused and awkward kid, although she kept her hands on his shoulders. Hestia could see even from a distance that her eyes were red-rimmed and tear-tracks were drying on her cheeks. Percy gawked at her as he got a good look at her face, clearly recognizing her even if she looked older than he was.
“Annabeth?” His eyes drifted over to the satyr hovering next to them. “Grover?”
Shaking his head in astonishment, Grover said, “Wow. You look like you did when we first met.”
“You mean earlier this year?”
Annabeth sniffed and smiled shakily. “It was five years ago for us, Seaweed Brain.”
“Five years ag—” Percy’s jaw dropped. He glanced at the other teens in the room and swallowed thickly. “Okay, nobody said time travel was included in this whole Greek mess. I can’t be in the future—my mom will kill me.”
Nodding, Thalia grinned and said, “Yeah, that’s definitely Percy.”
The boy looked at her blankly, and Hestia could see the way he was subconsciously stationing himself as close to Grover and Annabeth as possible. She wasn’t sure whether it was because he was wary of the people he didn’t know and wanted to hide with the ones he somewhat recognized, or because he wanted to be by their side in case they were surrounded by enemies and needed his help. His grip on his pen certainly didn’t waver.
“We don’t know what’s going on either,” said Annabeth.
“You’re acting weird,” Percy told her suspiciously.
“I am?”
Grover snickered. “People change in five years, Perce.” He looked at Annabeth. “Remember how you two were with each other at the beginning? Of course you’re acting differently now. You used to be at each other’s throats all the dam time.”
Thalia muffled her laughter. She and Grover sent Percy an expectant look, but he didn’t seem to understand what they wanted from him.
Shooting the satyr a look, Annabeth gritted out, “One day I’ll hear the story behind this stupid joke. Percy will break and tell me, you’ll see.”
Piper scratched her head. “I suppose this is Percy Jackson. Just… slightly younger than he should be?”
“This is the guy everybody back at camp is raving about?” Leo snorted. “Come on. You can’t tell me everything we’ve heard was done by this guy right here. I’m not buying it. I expected, like, a more regal dude. You know, kind of like another Superman.”
Jason rolled his eyes, but he was giving Percy skeptical looks too, which seemed to put the boy off.
Watching silently, Hestia ignored the confused chatter of the other gods in the room in favor of taking in the children. Hazel was now eyeing Leo with an expression of shock, her lips forming the name of a person Hestia knew to be long dead. Frank was staring at the young form of Percy with his eyebrows nearly brushing his hairline. Plus, he glanced at Annabeth every now and then, probably realizing that was the girlfriend Percy from his time had mentioned.
Hades’s son was gaping at Percy, who seemed to be around his age. His brain didn’t seem to be able to compute the fact that this kid he was looking at was actually the same person he knew. Unlike him, Thalia had a teasing smirk on her face as she fidgeted with the bracelet she had around her wrist. But there was a spark of relief and warmth in her gaze; she was clearly happy to see her cousin again, even if he was from the wrong time.
“Please, my lords and ladies,” Jason turned to the gods nervously. “Why did you summon us here?”
“We did not,” said Athena with disdain. “It is rather strange. My headache is… gone.”
“Mine too,” said Hermes. He rubbed the side of his head again, as if to confirm it. “I feel as good as ever. A minute ago I had the worst migraine and now… well, there are Greek and Roman demigods in this room, yet I don’t have any reaction to it.”
Hades boredly leaned his cheek on his hand. “Yes, yes. Quite strange. But do we know who summoned us here? I figured it would be Zeus, but the air head is nowhere in sight.”
Annabeth turned to face the gods, keeping one hand on Percy’s shoulder, as if to make sure he wouldn’t disappear. “You don’t have any trouble with your split personalities?”
“No,” said Poseidon, eyes still locked on Percy. “Not that I’m complaining. It has been more than unpleasant. I don’t mind the peace and quiet at long last. Percy, my son,” he added, “when are you from?”
The half-blood looked at the sea god cautiously. Hestia found it amusing—the slightly hurt look on her brother’s face. But if this child really was from the past, it made sense he wouldn’t be as close to Poseidon as the Percy Jackson of their time. He couldn’t expect him to look at him and instantly feel at ease if the boy didn’t know him well.
“I just… Luke tried to…” Percy cringed and glanced down at his bandaged hand. “I finished my quest. I was just packing my stuff so I could go home.”
Grover and Annabeth exchanged dark looks at the mention of Hermes’s son. The satyr looked furious, but the girl triumphed him. Most likely because she had been there while Grover had gone on his search for Pan. Hestia knew now what the bandage on Percy’s hand was hiding—what was left of the sting of the pit scorpion that had nailed him; nearly killed him. She’d watched as Annabeth nursed the boy back to health, anxious and fretting he might not wake up again.
Poseidon’s own expression became stormy as he seemed to realize what this was about as well. He sent Hermes a brief look—not too accusatory, Hestia was happy to note—and then smiled reassuringly at his son. Beside him, Triton frowned in annoyance while Rhode simply tipped her head curiously at her demigod brother.
“So the summer of 2005, right?” said Annabeth. “We’re from 2010.”
Percy scanned her from head to toe, eyes lingering on the way she was slouching a little, like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. He narrowed his eyes at the tears that managed to slip past her eyes still. Whatever he was seeing didn’t seem to make him believe the future was all too great.
“Something bad happened,” he said after a few seconds of silence. He grimaced. “Am I dead?”
“No!” she protested furiously.
Frank hesitantly lifted his hand and said, “We were just with you a minute ago, Percy. You’re very much alive and kicking—although I suppose we don’t know what will happen on our quest…”
Thalia eyed him and Hazel. “And you are?”
“They’re Romans,” Jason said, finally looking at Hazel properly. “I recognize you. You’re from the Fifth Cohort. Hazel, right?”
She nodded meekly. “Yeah. And this is Frank. He came to camp after you were already gone. Where did you disappear off to? Jason, everyone freaked out and nobody knows what happened to you—”
“Juno decided to do a little mix and match with our campers,” said Annabeth growly. “She took Jason from your camp and brought him to us without his memories. And she took Percy from Camp Half-Blood and sent him to the Roman one.”
The girl gasped. “That’s why he doesn’t have his memories? He did carry Juno with him when he showed up. She said he’s been asleep for months. I… I was wondering what was up with him.”
“Wait,” Percy cut in, looking even paler than before. “Who’s Juno? And why did she decide to erase my memories? And what do you mean Roman camp? I just found out there are Greek gods out there. I don’t think I can handle Roman ones too.”
“You don’t really have a choice, kelp head,” said Thalia cheekily.
He shot her a look. “Do I know you?”
She grinned. “Well, I suppose right now you know me as a tree.”
Jason stared at her. “What?”
“A tree? What does that even—wait…” Percy’s eyebrows screwed together. He licked his lips nervously, glanced at Grover and Annabeth, and then quietly said, “You’re Thalia, the daughter of Zeus? I thought you, like, died.”
“What?” Jason repeated.
“Calm down, Jase. Annabeth and Percy brought me back. It’s all good now.”
Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and cleared her throat. “Shouldn’t we figure out what’s going on? I get that we’re all very confused because we’re… an odd group—especially with Percy apparently being from the past. But maybe knowing why we’re here would help this make more sense.”
Smiling, Hestia nodded. “I can explain this.”
Heads turned toward her at once. The gods fell silent, their discussions dying down as they focused on the eldest daughter of Kronos and Rhea. The children all shut up and focused on her as well. Their eyes widened at the sight of her, like they’d had no idea she was even there. Percy didn’t look surprised—Hestia’s chest warmed at the realization he must have seen her already—and neither did Nico. But everyone else blinked owlishly.
“I asked the Fates to help you on the journey ahead of you,” she said, looking at the stunned kids. “All of you are facing so much after having gone through a lot. I hoped there would be some way to help. And the Fates have answered my prayer.”
Percy clicked his fingers. “I saw you at camp before!”
“You did,” she inclined her head. “You didn’t stop to say hello.”
“Er…”
Squeezing his shoulder, Annabeth told him, “This is Hestia, goddess of the hearth. You’ve met her a couple of times before. She’s one of the only immortal deities you’ve met that doesn’t want to incinerate you.”
He looked stumped. “I’m sorry, what?”
Hazel’s lips quirked upward. “With the way he talked to Lord Mars even without his memories? I’m not surprised to know some gods want him gone.”
“Mars? He’s the Roman side of Ares, right?” Grover snickered. “Oh, I’m so glad more people realize how hard it is to walk around with you. You were new to our world and already started badmouthing the god of war. It’s only gotten worse over the years.”
“He was a jerk,” Percy said defensively and crossed his arms.
Grover laughed some more.
“Aunt,” said Artemis, ignoring the kids, “did you say the Fates answered your prayer? They gave you a way to help these children with their upcoming mission?”
“They did. I received bits and pieces of Percy Jackson’s thread of life—things that have already happened, and things that will take place in the near future. Things that could help guide the children.”
Percy blinked dumbly. “Huh?”
“What… what does it mean, my lady?” asked Annabeth.
Gesturing at her fire, Hestia said, “It means I can show you moments in time to help you learn from the past and prepare to the future. And I have seen what awaits some of you. It is not pleasant, nor is it going to be easy. I believe this might be able to help you down the line, I sincerely do. But,” she met Percy’s confused gaze and gently said, “these moments are attached to the core of who you are, young one. Meaning that your thoughts might leak through.”
He flinched back, eyes wide open. “Why me?”
“Sister, there must be a better way,” Poseidon tried.
“Yeah,” Triton crossed his arms and sneered a little. “No one wants to hear the thoughts of this demigod.”
“Son,” warned Amphitrite.
Hestia looked at her brother apologetically. “I saw what awaits them. They truly do need all the help they can get, especially with us incapacitated because of our two halves fighting each other. I do not know why they picked your thread, Percy Jackson.” She turned to look at the boy. “But I learned not to question the Fates. The choice is up to you, though. I will not show any of this to you if you refuse.”
He looked like he wasn’t sure how to even begin to digest everything that was happening.
“This is absurd,” said Athena steely. “If anything, an input from my daughter would be much more detailed, I’m sure.”
Ignoring her mother, Annabeth turned to Percy. Her eyebrows knit together and she had a scowl on her face, although Hestia was certain it wasn’t aimed at the boy. She was most likely bothered by the situation they found themselves in, not liking the choice that was given to the person who would grow up to be her missing boyfriend. And, frankly, the goddess couldn’t say she disagreed with that.
“Listen to me, Percy,” she said softly, which seemed to shake Percy up even more. “You don’t have to say yes to this. We’ll… we’ll handle our mess without some kind of an invasion of privacy. I don’t know what exactly awaits us on the quest we’re going to leave on, but I know we’ll be okay.”
He looked around at the grimaces and uneasy faces of the others. His expression was remarkably unimpressed.
“Is this about that prophecy you’re not allowed to tell me about?” he asked her.
She cracked a watery smile. “We’re already past that, Seaweed Brain.”
Off to the side, Rachel dryly said, “This is a new Great Prophecy you’re dealing with.”
He fidgeted with his pen and glanced at Hazel and Frank. “Wouldn’t the me from your time be worried because you just vanished?”
They shrugged helplessly.
“He won’t know they’re gone,” said Hermes dismissively. “The Fates organized this, huh? Time out of this room stands still for now. I’m getting no new emails. That’s the only explanation.”
“There could be thousand other explanations,” Athena said flatly.
Hestia didn’t say anything as Percy once again took Annabeth in. She could see his concern growing at every added little detail of her appearance. The girl looked exactly like a miserable, hurt and anxious person would. She was exhausted, wary and still had a tear or two slipping out every now and then as she blinked at Percy’s young form. It was probably not a great sight.
Turning to the goddess, Percy asked, “Is this second prophecy going to be worse than the first one?”
“That’s a complicated question, Percy Jackson. Some aspects would be worse. Some wouldn’t. But the journey will be near impossible to complete, especially for… for several of you, including you and Annabeth Chase.”
The girl’s breath audibly caught, but Percy just nervously shifted his weight from leg to leg.
“What do you think we should do?” he asked her.
Hestia exhaled and with a sad smile said, “I think you should watch these moments.”
Looking at Grover and Annabeth, he said, “My thoughts are pretty dumb.”
“We know. Your brain to mouth filter isn’t great,” commented Thalia.
“It’s your choice,” repeated Annabeth plainly.
Grover nodded. “Whatever you choose, man.”
Percy nodded to himself as he shoved his pen into his pocket. With his hands free, he seemed to feel slightly lost because he kept on clenching and unclenching them, although he winced when it seemed to aggravate his wound. Meeting Hestia’s eyes again, the boy swallowed, then nodded curtly once more.
Slumping down in his throne, Poseidon ran a hand down his face and grumbled about his son sacrificing his privacy. Hermes seemed to be agitated too, most likely because they were all aware that moments from the past would include his deceased son. Athena’s lips pressed tightly together but she didn’t say another word, instead interlacing her fingers in her lap and maintaining a blank expression.
“Right.” Leo twitched and looked all around. “I suppose we’ll see what everyone’s been talking about, huh? See if he lives up to the legend.”
“Yeah…” Piper didn’t sound too convinced.
Cracking his knuckles anxiously, Nico took a seat on the floor and muttered, “Well, this should be good.”
“I guess we’re staying, then,” said Frank. He sent Percy a friendly smile. “We literally just met, but we saw you fight. It was amazing. I kind of can’t wait to see what happened to you before you reached our camp.”
Percy smiled back uncertainly as he took a seat between Grover and Annabeth. He kept on sending the girl these brief looks, like he was wondering why she was acting differently than the girl he knew from his time. Hestia was at least glad to note he didn’t look like it was bothering him. He just didn’t seem to know what was different.
“I just hope everyone will see Percy trying to kill me,” said Rachel.
The boy startled. “What?”