Chapter Text
I had always had a complicated relationship with time.
Mostly because, in my experience, time tended to have a complicated relationship with me.
I had been thrown through time before. Sort of.
There had been prophecies, gods, monsters, magical objects, and enough Ancient Greek nonsense to make the average history teacher develop a migraine. But actually being thrown backward through time was something I never expected to experience firsthand.
Which was why, when the world suddenly disappeared beneath my feet, my first thought wasn’t “oh no!”.
It was Oh, come on.
The second was considerably less polite.
“WHAT THE FU—”
The air vanished from my lungs.
I felt something grab me.
Not physically, no. It was more like the universe itself had reached down, grabbed me by the back of my shirt, and decided to violently shake me like a vending machine that had eaten somebody’s last dollar and not given the snack they wanted.
There was no ground.
No sky.
No Camp Half-Blood.
No Manhattan.
No anything. Just darkness.
I twisted helplessly through it, arms flailing as some invisible force dragged me backwards.
“Okay!” I shouted into the void. “I get it! I should’ve stayed in bed!”
The darkness didn’t answer.
Of course it didn’t.
Because apparently the universe had a sense of humor.
I suddenly saw light. A brilliant flash of gold and blue exploded around me.
Then—
WHAM
I hit something soft.
Very soft.
I groaned.
For several seconds, I simply lay there.
my entire body felt like it had been turned inside out, microwaved by a Pit scorpion, and then put back together incorrectly.
my head hurt.
my ears were ringing.
my stomach was doing something that I was fairly certain stomachs weren’t supposed to do.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
Grass. That was the first thing I noticed.
Green grass.
The second thing was that the sky looked…weird.
Not bad. Just different.
Clearer.
Bluer.
Almost painfully blue.
I pushed myself upright.
“Okay,” I muttered.
I looked around.
There were trees. A hill. A distant mountain range.
And absolutely no sign of New York City.
No buildings, no roads, no cars, or airplanes. No cell towers.
No civilization.
I stared. “...Oh.” I stood and my knees wobbled. I caught meself.
“Okay. That’s new.” I turned slowly in a circle.
Something about the place felt familiar.
Not familiar in the normal sense. Not ‘I’ve been here before’ familiar.
It was more like the landscape was speaking to something ancient inside me.
The wind brushed against my face. I could smell the ocean.
Strongly. Much stronger than it should have been.
I looked toward the horizon, and the sea stretched endlessly beyond the hills.
my eyes narrowed. Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
I reached into my pocket. No phone.
“Great.” I sighed.
I checked the other pocket. Riptide was there.
At least something was normal.
I uncapped the pen and let it transform into my sword.
The familiar bronze blade appeared in my hand, and I sighed with relief.
“Okay. Sword. Good.”
I looked around again. “Where am I?” He muttered.
A gust of wind swept past me. I frowned.
The breeze carried voices. Not human voices.
I couldn’t understand the words, but they seemed to come from everywhere at once.
Whispers.
Prayers.
Names.
Poseidon.
My head snapped towards the ocean.
my stomach dropped.
“No.”
Another whisper.
Hestia.
I froze.
Those two names together made absolutely no sense.
At least, not in my world.
I took a cautious step forward.
Then another. The ground beneath my shimmered.
I blinked. “What the–”
The landscape distorted, and for one impossible moment, the world seemed to split into layers.
The green hills disappeared and the sky darkened.
The sea rose and I saw something else.
A temple. Ancient. Massive.
Its white stone columns gleamed beneath the sunlight.
People moved through the courtyard wearing ancient Greek clothing.
My jaw dropped. “No way…”
Then the vision vanished.
I stared.
“...No”
I looked at the hills, then at the sea. Then back toward where the temple had been.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”
I already knew the answer, I just didn’t want to say it.
I slowly raised my eyes toward the sky. “How far back did I go?”
The universe, apparently, deciding I hadn’t suffered enough, answered.
A wave of divine energy crashed over me, and I stumbled backward.
The air became heavy.
The ocean began to roar, and the sky darkened.
Somewhere in the distance, thunder rolled. I tightened my grip around Riptide.
“Okay.”
I swallowed.
“Time travel.”
I looked toward the sea.
“Ancient Greece.”
My expression went flat.
“...Fantastic.”