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12.24pm | Camp Half-Blood
“You’re telling me this whole time Camp Jupiter has been in Oakland?” Thalia huffed. She looked at her arms, grimacing at how much of herself was tainted in motor oil. Despite her stained arms, Thalia was very glad for the increased work around the Argo II. Up until this week, days at Camp Half-Blood had begun to feel like clockwork; wake up, comfort Annabeth, figure out how to be useful to the shipbuilding, catch up with Jason, ensure Annabeth ate, be annoyed at the Hephaestus cabin, ensure Annabeth slept, crash, burn, sleep, repeat. Jason-aside, it had been the most stressful groundhog day ever.That was until a few days ago when Annabeth and Grover finally got in touch with Percy in their dreams. Sure, he seemed to not know either of them, but he was alive. What did that say about their lives if living was the bare minimum? And then Tyson had called in last night, his one bambi eye red from crying. He’d reported getting a dream message from Percy telling him to find a harpy in Vancouver, get to Camp Jupiter in the Oakland Hills and reporting that there was a Giant army marching south.“That’s what Tyson said Percy said,” Annabeth leaned against the hull, grey eyes laser focused on the Argo II’s blueprints. The ship was all but complete but with the mention of a Giant army marching south making everyone rush, Annabeth made it her personal mission to ensure the ship was still being built by the book.There was the slightest twinge of bitterness in Annabeth’s voice. She’d been ecstatic to hear that Percy had reached out to Tyson, with full recognition of who Tyson was and directions to where he was headed. Not just that, but Tyson had told her that Percy had mentioned her. Sure, “Tell Annabeth-” wasn’t at all a message, but it implied his memory was mostly back. Annabeth had to take a minute after breakfast to weep in Thalia’s arms in relief after Tyson’s call. And now the daughter of Athena was in full-speed determination mode to complete the ship. Except it felt like the more time passed, the more annoyed and confused Annie was as to why Percy didn’t reach out to her.“You did tell him Tyson was the closest to him and to stay put so Tyson could find him. Can’t really blame kelp-for-brains there.” Thalia stood up and wiped her arms.Thalia didn’t really know what she was doing or if her presence was helpful to the ship, but oil-covered arms was getting tiring. She looked up at the Argo II. The giant flaming dragonhead had been a constant reliable group pet these last few weeks and she was comforted to see it….happy? through all the chaos. The ship was beautiful and confusing. Thalia was still debating whether she loved or hated Wii remote control thing. Either way Supreme Commander Leo was annoying enough that she’d impale herself with said remote before ever admitting she might have found it funny.“Hey, it’s my job as a girlfriend to be annoyed that my boyfriend isn’t paying attention to me,” Annabeth grumbled half-heartedly as the two made their way to the deck.Leo, Piper, Jason and Grover were sitting on the wooden floors eating lunch. The rest of camp were at the mess hall to maintain their ship/life balance sanity, but the main group seemed too lazy to move. They had a lot on their minds. The impending war, the unfinished ship and most importantly, the fact that they had all missed Taco Tuesday breakfast. All serious stuff.Thalia could tell that Leo was about to say something stupid to cut the silence. She braced herself when a note appeared on the deck next to us. It was wholly black, striking against the yellow sand. The words were in white and in large cursive font. As the only camper on board without a reading difficulty, Piper gingerly picked it up.Piper skimmed the note, furrowed her brows and then cleared her throat. “Well, it says,
Hey demigods,
This is a formal warning that you will be transported to Olympus for a fun activity. Do not be alarmed or concerned for you are not in any trouble.
The gods have received a letter similar to yours so they will hopefully not injure/kill/maim etc. any of you on sight.
Another day another slay,
Mike”
“What the f-” Thalia didn’t even get to finish the phrase before the world was tumbling around them. The group was transported to Olympus.As she got her balance back, Thalia noticed the 14 major Olumpians sat on their thrones in front of them. They looked as troubled as the demigods. Well, they also looked annoyed as if this were more a disturbance than an anomaly. Thalia noticed Sally and Paul Blofis on the other end of the mortal group. Annabeth had already made her way over, and was listening to something on Sally’s phone. Both of their eyes shining with unshed tears. Thalia would ask about that later. In the meantime, gods and demigods stared at each other blankly.“I didn’t realise you guys would need an orientation leader to get you to talk. You’re so boring.” whined a voice from behind. Demigods and some younger gods alike stood firm and pulled out their weapons, pointing them towards the voice. When Thalia glanced behind, she noticed the elder gods staying seated. Even Hestia barely glanced from her fire.Thalia turned back to see a young man in his mid-twenties, stepping out of the shadows, one arm draped over his face in dramatic fashion. He was gorgeous, about 5”10 with a medium build. He had deep melanin-rich skin and white hair. Not aged white hair, though - his hair somehow resembled limestone or pearls. What was mostly startling about him was his eyes. They were like the galaxies. Despite his nonchalant stature, he radiated an alarming amount of power.“Most other places at least try to figure out what’s happening. You lot just stare at each other like yesterday’s leftovers. Anyway, hi I’m Mike.” Thalia didn’t know who Mike but she was caught on the other places bit. He’d done this before? Send people mysterious letters, throw them through a washing machine and thoroughly freak them out?"Cutting to the chase. There are different universes. Like in this universe, Greek and Roman gods exist but in another universe, only Greek gods could exist. Or in another, no gods exist. So it would be what you call an Alternate Universe. And I overlook them to ensure things don’t get messed up. So, I’m kind of the controller of the universe, but not really. No need for all that.” he groaned as some demigods started to bow.Thalia glanced at her father since the gods’ reactions seemed way too calm. “Don’t worry child,” Hestia reassured from her vantage point, eyes twinkling. “The elder gods have become used to these interjections.”Sure, why not? Thalia mused. Her current question was why Mike was telling them all this.“Great question, glad you asked” Mike replied, gesturing to Thalia. Great, he reads minds too. “In every universe, every decade or so, there will be a few person who exist in more than 10 universes as a Notable Person. For a regular person usually exists in about three. Your friend, Perseus Jackson, is one of those Notable Persons. Every time this happens, I make it a point to tell the people close to him. Just for fun, there’s no important reason for this. I can never tell him because even if I erase his mind (like I will to ya’ll) his life will get all screwey. And since he’s gone, this is the perfect time!” he finished gleefully.Thalia didn’t quite know what to make of it. Looking at Annabeth’s bewildered expression, she knew no one seemed to know what exactly was happening.“While we’re all here though. You guys,” he stated, pointing to the six campers, Sally and Paul, “You don’t really know what he’s up to, do you? I mean Sally you just got a voicemail from him but eh. He’s fine. In the middle of a quest, but still alive.” Mike revealed. What kind of name is that for a divine being anyway? Thalia thought."I should offer,” Mike contemplayed “Do you want to see what he’s up to?”No, we don’t. Thalia howled in Mike’s direction. You know, because that’s not why we’re building a ship to go to Camp Jupiter like yesterday.“…you do. Okay! Demigods, parent, stepparent and Lady Hestia if you could all just scooch back. Thank you and now if you could direct your attention to the space in front of you.” In the middle of he throne room a giant projection illuminated the centre of the throne room.“Enjoy!” he told us as he sat in a recliner with a box of caramel popcorn. Thalia looked around. No seats for the mortals, she noted, looking to the throne Hestia had conjured for herself alongside her siblings. Figures.The humans sat on the floor as the projection started playing.The air in front fizzled until three figures came into focus in the far back of the throne room. The demigods could just barely see their faces from that far away. There were no backgrounds, no scenery, not even the ground - just three people as if they were a super-realistic hologram.
The first demigod to hobble his way over was maybe 14 with large and stocky frame, a babyish face with brown eyes and a short military haircut. He stopped a few inches in front of us, looking just past our shoulders as if he were looking down. Panic immediately flooded his face as he took in whatever he was looking at. “Guys…you need to see this.” The other two rushed over.
Immediately Sally, Annabeth, Paul and Thalia took a deep breath. Grover was so shocked he seemed to choke on the breath he took in.
One of two demigods was a girl about 12 years old. She had a deep brown skin tone with shoulder-length curly golden-brown hair and the most striking gold eyes. And the third was none other than Percy Jackson himself. He looked about the same. He was maybe even taller, with jet-black hair with a grey streak in it and bright sea green eyes.
As the three demigods’ hearts sunk, Jason looked over to Thalia. “I take it this is Percy?” Thalia nodded, not realising the huge smile on her face.“Good job Annabeth, he’s clearly exhausted and he still looks hot.” Piper stated before shrugging at Jason stuttering in her direction. “Not my type. Don’t worry, loser.”“FYI, guy’s name is Frank, son of Mars/Ares. Girl is Hazel, daughter of Pluto/Hades. She’s from the 1940s, frozen in time like Nico, so calm down.”
“We’re too late,” Hazel said, her eyes wide.
“No,” Percy said firmly. He still looked as devastated as the other two though. “They’re still fighting. We can do this.”
“Is…is this the army Percy said was marching south? Are they already at Camp Jupiter?” Jason lamented, his face taking the same shape as the trio projection in front of them.“Spoiler alert since I’m erasing your minds anyway. They win this battle.” Mike yawned from his chair.
“Where’s Lupa?” Frank asked desperately. His tone mimicked one of a child searching for their mother. “She and the wolves…they should be here.”
“Wolves. Didn’t know there were A/B/O dynamics at your camp dude.” Leo whistled. Piper smacked him in the arm with a stern look.After glaring at Leo with a face that read I don’t wanna know, Jason replied. “I told you about Lupa and the wolves a while ago. But the wolves are more like guardians, they train and protect us. But they can’t fight our battles for us.”
Percy’s seemed to land on a similar understanding. “She did what she could.” She slowed down the army on its way south. Now it’s up to us. We’ve got to get the gold eagle and these weapons to the legion.”
“How much time did he spend with the wolves to know them that well.” Annabeth muttered beside Thalia. Thalia had a similiar thought, training with wolves didn’t seem that appealing. Or that safe, for that matter.
“But Arion is out of steam!” Hazel said. “We can’t haul this stuff ourselves.”
“Maybe we don’t have to.” Percy turned towards Hazel sharply and Thalia could almost imagine the lightbulb above his head. He looked out past Hazel’s head, muttered “Cover your ears.” before whistling as loud as he could.
“Jeez, warn a guy.” Leo grumbled, wincing.“He literally did. We’re just slow.” Grover wailed softly.
Percy stood frozen for a while looking into the distance, before grinning widely. Hazel and Frank had the exactly opposite reaction: looking annoyed at the whistle and then completely terrified at what was in front of them.
“Hellhound!” Frank scrambled backward.
“It’s okay!” Percy resembled a Cheshire cat with how broad his grin was. “These are friends.”
“Brother!” Tyson barrelled in from the side, materialising into our view. He ran toward Percy before smothering him in a tight hug.
“First Percy contacts Tyson, and now Tyson’s first to reunite with him? Where are my girlfriend privileges?” Annabeth said but looking over it was clear there were no real bad feelings. Her eyes glistened at the brothers reuniting.“Imagine how I feel. Though, I did get a voice message.” Sally added, one tear running down her face.
“You are not dead!” Tyson exclaimed. “I like it when you are not dead!”
A birdlady fluttered to the ground into our view, right in front of Annabeth. She preened her bright red feathers. “Ella found a dog,” she stated. “A large dog. And a Cyclops.”
Percy looked down toward Ella, which coincidentally meant he was looking pretty much at Annabeth without the eye contact. He tilted his head, as if something about Ella confused him. Annabeth flushed at the quasi-eye contact.
And then he was knocked to the ground by a giant SUV-sized Mrs O’Leary. Hazel and Frank’s eyes went wide. They both yelled in shock while reaching for their weapons but didn’t seem to know how to react.
“Hey, Mrs. O’Leary,” Percy said from the ground in front of the throne room. The angle the hellhound knocked him down had him right in front of Piper, Jason and Leo. He laughed, exclaiming “Yeah, I love you too, girl. Good dog.”
Somehow through the dog slobber and being on the ground, Piper still found him attractive enough to comment. “Again, not my type but Annabeth? Good job. Woof.”Annabeth managed to blush and look scandalised all at once.
Hazel squeaked from her position beside Frank. “You have a hellhound named Mrs. O’Leary?” Thalia snorted. It was indicative of the lives they led that she forgot how ridiculous that actually sounded.
“Long story.” Percy said, getting to get to his feet and continuing to coo at Mrs O’Leary. “You can ask your brother…” he said and then stopped abruptly as if remembering something. Hazel looked devestated and guilty just as she did at the start of the projection. Percy cleared his throat and shot her an apologetic look. “Sorry, but yeah, this is my dog, Mrs. O’Leary. Tyson—these are my friends, Frank and Hazel.”
Percy looked back down at Ella, who remained by Annabeth’s feet.
“Are you okay? We were worried about you.” Percy shot her a concerned look and Thalia could feel Annabeth melt beside her.
“Ella is not strong. Cyclopes are strong. Tyson found Ella. Tyson took care of Ella.” We couldn’t quite see the harpy’s face from where we were but she was mostly definitely blushing.
Percy had that same confused look from when he looked at Ella before. Then he smirked at Tyson, “You big charmer, you.”
Tyson looked down, turning red. “Um no…Ella is pretty.”
“Wow so everyone who is able to be in a relationship is in one but me. Okay, I get it.” Leo grumbled as Piper laughed softly in amusement.“Annabeth?” Mike called out from his chair. Annabeth looked up at him. “Brace yourself girl. The kid remembers you and is about to mention you.”“Why would you spoil that.” Aphrodite huffed from her throne. The gods had been so silent this whole time, Thalia had almost forgotten they were sitting cross-legged in the Olympian throne room.“I don’t want the poor child to get a heart attack.” Mike rebuffed.
Frank knocked on his head, as if he was recalibrating. “Anyway, there’s this battle happening.”
“Right,” Percy shook his head and focused on Tyson. Which involved needing to crane his head up quite a bit. “Tyson, where’s Annabeth? Is any other help coming?” He said this casually, as if mentioning Annabeth was as easy as breathing. Or more frustratingly, as if months hasn't distanced the two.
Oh yeah, that definitely warranted a warning. Thalia thought as she felt Annabeth short-circuit beside her. Thalia looked over to check on her friend’s state. Annabeth had a small smile on her face and her whole being seemed to vibrate with joy. Sally Jackson sighed heavily from the other side of the group in relief.
Tyson pouted as he teared up.”The big ship is not ready. Leo says tomorrow, maybe two days. Then they will come.”
Percy cursed under his breath. He looked past our heads again to wherever the battle was. “We don’t have two minutes,” Percy said. “Okay, here’s the plan.”
“Question, how long will all of this take?” Annabeth asked, laser-focus kicking in again,“Right, yeah.” Leo was fidgeting with some mechanism, nervous. “We have a ship to finish by…like, right now, apparently.”“Time is frozen while we’re here so don’t worry. You’re not losing time and you’ll get there by tomorrow.” Mike confirmed.
Percy pointed at different things in front of the group very quickly.
“Giants, bad. Gorgons bad. I think any human here is good. Anyone in gold is definitely from Camp Jupiter. So good. Statues are gods. So try not to crush them. Anyone who’s not human or statue is pretty much bad. Oh! Elephant is good. That’s Hannibal, he’s kind of adorable.”
“They have an elephant! I want an elephant.” Leo exclaimed.“Son, you have a dragon.” Hephaestus added, which seemed to settle Leo down. Both in embarassment and truth.
Percy hummed as if wondering who else to point out. “Oh!” he pointed kind of exactly at Piper. “Girl on pegasus? Good.”
“Pretty girl on flying horse is good?” Tyson confirmed.
“Uh sure. Purple cape and gold armour and on peanut butter coloured pegasus. That’s Reyna, she’s Praeter so she’s Extra Good. Help her out if you're in a position to.”
Annabeth chuckled at Percy’s avoidance at calling Reyna pretty, while Piper went quiet at the confirmation that Jason’s ex was indeed beautiful.
“What about guy with the toys?” Tyson asked, pointing. Toys? The group thought. Surely anyone with toys would be good.
“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…” Percy breathed, looking at the direction Tyson was pointing with a sour face. “Unless he’s about to be crushed, you can…avoid him.” He looked to Hazel and Frank for approval, and they both nodded.
“Woah, who’s guy with toys and how was he able to piss Percy off that much?” Thalia asked, looking to Jason.“I think that’s probably Octavian.” Jason muttered. “I…agree with this assessment, he’s not the best person. You'll know when you meet him.”
Percy finished off his spiel with, “Sorry big guy but these Cyclopes and Centaurs are bad too.” Tyson responded with sad eyes, “I have to hit pony-men?”
“Just scare them away,” Percy promised, with the tone of a protective older brother.
“Um, Percy?” Frank glanced at Tyson with worry. “I just…don’t want our friend here getting hurt. Is Tyson a fighter?”
Percy smiled. “Is he a fighter? Frank, you’re looking at General Tyson of the Cyclops army. And by the way, Tyson, Frank is a descendant of Poseidon.”
“Brother!” Tyson crushed Frank in a hug.
Percy stifled a laugh, going back to petting Mrs O’Leary. “Actually he’s more like a great-great-…Oh, never mind. Yeah, he’s your brother.”
Descendent? Thalia thought to herself. Like demigods able to live long enough to procreate...for generations?Annabeth looked similarly bewildered at the concept. And then she blushed.Ugh, I hate straight people. Thalia thought, rolling her eyes. Though, the thought of her friends being able to live full lives did bring her great comfort. When they paid attention to the gang in front of us again, Tyson was wearing a way-too-small helmet and purple banner.
Percy was saying “Ella, just stay here. Stay safe.”
“Safe,” Ella repeated. “Ella likes being safe. Safety in numbers. Safety deposit boxes. Ella will go with Tyson.”
“What?…fine. Whatever. Just don’t get hurt. And Mrs. O’Leary—”
“ROOOF!” went the hellhound before dropping onto her back.
Percy bent down to rub Mrs O’Leary’s belly, going “How do you feel about pulling a chariot?”
The projection image faltered and disappeared. We were left in an empty throne room once again. Mike put down his now-empty box of popcorn and stood.“Anyone fancy looking at alternate universes?”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Annabeth looked up from where Percy’s projection disappeared. “That’s all you’re going to show us?”Mike nodded his head nonchalantly. “Well you’ll see him tomorrow and I’ve already told you they win this battle so I don’t see the point. The faster I get through these, the faster you can finish your ship.”“Not even just a crumb?” Piper tried, and Annabeth could tell she was laying some charmspeak onto her request. Mike turned to her unimpressed. “Cute, but don’t try to manipulate me child,” he warned. He dropped his casual stance, stepping into something more becoming of his powerful aurs. “All that’ll do is make me upset.” The daugher of Aphrodite went a little pale, and nodded in understanding.Mike stared around the room and sighed. “Fine. One more scene, and then the scheduled programming.” The mortals shifted in glee. The immortal took out a notebook and flipped through it, stopping at different pages. With each new page he stopped at, a new projection appeared, mostly of the Roman camp trio.
Percy carrying an old lady across a stream. He was wearing a very worn-out Camp Half-Blood shirt and he was generally a mess. Hazel and Frank were dressed in armour, halfway across and yelling back at him.
Percy and Hazel in front a skinny blonde boy in a toga. He was halfway through cutting through a soft toy. Percy looked very upset, for whatever reason. Hazel managed to look simultaneously annoyed and apologetic. Annabeth could see Percy’s attire closer now. The CHB print on his orange shirt had long faded, and he still had his bead necklace around his neck.
Percy, Hazel and Frank in armour, knocking aside what looked like opposing campers in a game. Frank looked determined, if not slightly in awe. Percy and Hazel were mid-laugh. Annabeth smiled in relief. It was good to finally know that Percy wasn’t entirely struggling in the strict Roman camp. She had been worried ever since Jason’s memory of Camp Jupiter returned that her boyfriend’s easy-going nature would put him at a disadvantage.
A girl in a toga and purple robe explaining something to Percy in a closed-off room. Percy maintained an image of calm, but Annabeth knew him well enough to recognise wariness on his face. “That’s Reyna,” Jason breathed in realization. Annabeth could imagine what it must be like seeing his co-worker/ex/girlfriend in the flesh after months of not having any memory. Annabeth snuck a glance at Piper, who was looking down. She’d make sure to check in on the girl later.
The trio on maybe the shittiest boat imaginable. Percy was looking around, ensuring all was well until he stilled suddenly. His eyes narrowed as if someone was talking to him and then he growled “Get off my ship.” Frank startled beside him, looking at Hazel and then asking, “Uh what?” Percy waited a few more seconds before relaxing slighting, “Nothing. Let’s see what this rowboat can do.” Annabeth made a note to figure out who was in his head. Hera? she hypothesized. It was a possibility but it seemed unlikely the goddess would interrupt a quest or summon such a hateful response. On a related note, Annabeth had almost forgetten how intimidating Percy could be when he wanted, and silently applauded his younger questmates for taking it in stride.
The trio hiding against a rock. Percy was shaking, looking pale, sweaty and dizzy. Hazel had pushed him flat against a rock. Hazel and Frank looked startled at whatever they were hiding from.
The three demigods were standing in front of something, talking. We couldn’t see who their focus was on. Percy was saying “Ella, we want to be your friends.” and the throne room knew this was probably the first time they’d met the harpy. Ella’s disembodied voice sounded from above the demigods, “Friends, Ten seasons. 1994 to 2004. ‘A half-blood of the eldest gods, shall reach sixteen against all odds.’ Sixteen. You’re sixteen. Page sixteen, Mastering the Art of French Cooking-” Percy staggered half a step backwards, like he was hit by something. He blinked his wide eyes a few times as if he was experiencing a migraine and then gasped out “Ella…what was that you said? Those lines…I know those lines.” Jason was shaking his head in pity, presumably because those sudden memories were as disorienting as Percy was displaying them to be.
Percy lurched forward in obvious pain while Hazel and Frank stood behind him in horror. Frank grasped at his shoulders in concern yelling “Percy, you can’t die!” Thalia and Annabeth groaned in unison, while Sally closed her eyes. Percy took a large, painful breath before his eyes shot open and his breathing evened out. Momentarily confused, he looked forward. Another disembodied voice wailed from where we stood, this time of an older man “You—you can’t! Gaea, you—you— Unfair! You tricked me!” Percy rose unsteadily, his two new friends watching his movements carefully in case he fell. “No one tricked you,” he spat out hatefully, “You made your choice freely, and I hold you to your oath.” Leo raised his hand from his seat, “Annabeth, your boyfriend’s kinda scary.”
Frank and Percy with their hands bound in front of them. Hazel walking between them, unbound but wary. A woman yelled “You!” and Percy cursed, face paling. “Clipboard, Spa, Pirates” he muttered. The woman continued, “You were incredibly foolish to come here. You destroyed my home. You made my sister and me exiles and prisoners.” Alarm bells rang in Annabeth’s head. It couldn’t be? “Percy, what’s the scary woman with the dagger talking about?” Frank asked nervously. “Circe’s Island,” Percy said, and I grimaced. “I just remembered. The gorgon’s blood—maybe it’s starting to heal my mind. The Sea of Monsters. Hylla…she welcomed us at the docks, took us to see her boss. Hylla worked for the sorceress.” Oh god, how’d he get out of that one, Annabeth thought before the scene changed.
Hazel, Frank and Percy were sitting down at a picnic table, eating. Hazel drew something quick on a napkin and said “So this is what I’m thinking. We’re here. Anchorage.” Chomping down on his pancakes, Percy added “It looks like a seagull’s face. And we’re the eye.” Hazel glared and him and Annabeth laughed.
The three stood over Thanatos. From the way they all jittered, they were gearing for a big fight. Hazel was speaking to Frank, “Frank, do what you have to. And Percy…can you protect him?” Percy turned to look towards their enemy. “Against a small army?” he droned sarcastically, “Sure, no problem.” Hazel nodded and replied, “Then I’ve got Golden Boy” before charging straight ahead. Frank bent down over Thanatos and we saw the beginnings of Percy summaning a whirlwind around him before the scene changed.
Percy stood alone looking over something. He looked a bit like a supervillain the way he serenely viewed his vantage point. Hazel and Frank all but rammed into him, eyes shining like stars. “Hey,” Percy said casually. When they ran up to him, Percy said, “Hey,” like they were just meeting for lunch or something. “You’re alive!” Frank marveled. Sally sighed into her hands. Percy frowned. “The fall? That was nothing. I fell twice that far from the St. Louis Arch.” It didn’t matter how often Percy referenced his past, the relief that flooded Annabeth was consistent.
Percy putting an animated statue bust on the ground before staggering backwards. He was covered in sweat and blood. He stood there catching his breath for a while as the statue shouted ““That will teach him to obey the rules of Rome.” Then, floods of campers surrounded Percy lifting him up and chanting his name. “Percy! Percy!” which then shifted swiftly to“Praetor! Praetor!” Mike sniffed from his position, “This happens in an hour by the way. I’m showing you the future.”
“This is the last thing I’ll show you from this universe. Tomorrow will be very chaotic so I’m going to let you see how Percy convinced the Romans not to attack you when you land, okay.” Mike summarised. “Not that you’ll remember, anyway.”The projection shifted into an actual screen. Instead of just figures, we were seeing an entire Senate House, just as Jason had described. Percy was wearing Reyna’s signature uniform, seated on a raised platform by her side. He looked as regal and handsome as he looked completely annoyed. Mike snapped his fingers and the scene fast forwarded slightly so Percy was standing, addressing the room.
“I know it’s hard to believe,” Percy was saying. “But I think I’ve earned your trust. I’m on your side. Hazel and Frank—I’m sure they’re meant to go with me on this quest. The other four are on their way from Camp Half-Blood right now. One of them is Jason Grace, your old praetor.”
“Wasn’t expecting him to say my name.” Jason muttered.
“Oh, come on!” Stuffed-Toy-Murderer shouted. “He’s making things up, now.”
Reyna frowned from where she stood slightly behind Percy. “It is a lot to believe. Jason is coming back with a bunch of Greek demigods? You say they’re going to appear in the sky in a heavily armed warship, but we shouldn’t be worried.”
“She’s so hot when she talks about my ship” Leo sighed. “Jason, if you and her weren’t a thing, can I call dibs?” Piper smacked him in the arms and gestured slightly backwards. Leo shrunk in on himself at the reminder that the gods were silently watching.
“Yes.” Percy stated firmly in her direction before looking over his audience. “Just let them land. Hear them out. Jason will backup everything I’m telling you. I swear it on my life.”
“Why’d he swear on his life? Why not on his sword or something less dramatic, oh my gods.” Thalia cringed from beside Annabeth.
“On your life? We will remember that, if this turns out to be a trick.” Teddy Bear man said, a bit too gleefully. Percy gave him a sunken look.
Thalia made a disgusted sound from beside Annabeth. "Well now we know why Percy was only just barely resistent with letting slimy dude get impaled by a giant. What a loser."
A camper rushed into the Senate House, gasping for breathe and shouted “Praetors! I’m sorry to interrupt, but our scouts report—”
“Ship! Yay!” Tyson said happily, clapping and pointing at the ceiling.
The screen wouldn’t pan up to show us what the Senate was watching, but they got a good look at Percy and Reyna looking at the Argo II with impressed looks on their faces. Reyna managed to school her reaction into an analytical look. Percy just looked plain impressed. Annabeth could tell Leo was preening in his seat at the reaction.
“Praetors!” the messenger cried. “What are your orders?”
Teddy Bear Boy (Octavian, Annabeth remembered Jason saying before) shot to his feet and yelled in rage “You need to ask? The omens are horrible! This is a trick, a deception. Beware Greeks bearing gifts!”
Piper hummed in her seat. “Is it that serious though? Like please, it is not that serious calm down kid.”
Octavian pointed at Percy with derision “His friends are attacking in a warship. He has led them here. We must attack!”
“No,” Percy said firmly, but Annabeth could tell he was suppressing an eye roll. “You all raised me as praetor for a reason. I will fight to defend this camp with my life. But these aren’t enemies. I say we stand ready, but do not attack. Let them land. Let them speak. If it is a trick, then I will fight with you, as I did last night. But it is not a trick.”
“I know you guys won’t be going there for a fight and I don’t know what happen so bad by accident to lead to a fight. But ya’ll better not make my cousin fight you.” Thalia winced. “A whole camp + Percy VS the four of you? No way.” Annabeth was also worried if Percy’s statement was foreshadowing something bad happening.Percy turned toward Reyna, as did everyone else.Annabeth noted how royal Reyna looked. She studied the Argo II and then hardened her expression. She could see Percy waiting in anticipation for her response. Clearly, Reyna’s decision mattered much more than Percy’s. Her refusal to welcome the Greeks could be disastrous considering Percy’s promise. Annabeth remembered Reyna amongst the crowd raising Percy on a shield, appointing him Praetor and hoped that was enough to warrant a trust of judgement.
“Hold your fire,” Reyna said and Percy’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “But have the legion stand ready. Percy Jackson is your duly chosen praetor. We will trust his word—unless we are given clear reason not to. Senators, let us adjourn to the forum and meet our…new friends.”
“Jason your could-have-been ex is really scary.” Thalia laughed.
Reyna stepped forward and stopped at Percy’s shoulder. “I support you, Percy. I trust your judgment. But for all our sakes, I hope we can keep the peace between our campers and your Greek friends.”
“We will,” Percy looked at her earnestly. “You’ll see.”
Mike snapped his fingers to fast forward the clip slightly. “I’m getting impatient.”
“Percy,” Hazel warned, “you swore on your life. Romans take that seriously. If anything goes wrong, even by accident, Octavian is going to kill you. You know that, right?”
Leo frowned, “He won’t actually kill him, right?” Jason bit his lip and smiled weakly in response.
Percy smiled. Annabeth desperately wanted to know why. Was he anticipating seeing her again? It sure looked like it. He threw one arm around Hazel and one arm around Frank. “Come on,” he said. “Let me introduce you to my other family.”
“We good with that?” Mike asked, one eyebrow raised. He looked squarely at Annabeth.“That was good, thank you. We can move on now.” Annabeth replied with a smile. Thalia squeezed her hand next to her.“Good.” Mike remarked. With a snap of his fingers the screen started changing again.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The projection morphed into a YouTube homepage.Annabeth found herself looking at her feet, eyeing a simple anklet Percy had made her the week before his disappearance. She toyed the single shell looped around a black nylon thread for comfort. Watching Percy make his way through his quest at the roman camp had been reassuring. But she couldn’t begin to know what to expect for these alternate versions of him - these not-Percys.Distracted by her thoughts, she yelped when noticed that Mike had placed a big couch under the demigods’ and mortals’ feet. Thalia laughed while steadying her.“I’ll ease you into it.” Mike promised. “It’ll be weird regardless of which universe we begin with, but I’ll start with a completely mortal universe without any powers. Where Percy’s mortal and a notable public figure.”The immortal waved his hand and in front of the projection appeared a 17-year-old Percy in flesh and blood. “Hey, it’s like he’s on a choose your own character screen,” Leo burst out. Percy was frozen, staring ahead blankly with Riptide unfurled in his right hand. Wearing his CHB shirt and khakis with his bead necklace. Annabeth resisted the urge to reach out to touch him.“This is 17-year-old Percy from your universe. And now let’s change him into…” Mike snapped his fingers and Percy’s image shifted slightly. Percy looked essentially the same, but more relaxed. A crease in his brow that had been there for as long as Annabeth remembered was gone. Instead of the CHB uniform, he wore a soft blue knit sweater and black trousers. His hair looked more styled, instead of Percy’s wild waves. Judging from his brown oxford shoes, he was dressed from head to toe in designer. Percy was handsome and cute, Annabeth knew this. But this version of him looked….good.“Honey, remind me to get that outfit for him.” Annabeth heard Sally muttering to Paul. Please do, the daughter of Athena thought quietly.“I’m gonna age him up a decade, so don’t freak out.” Mike warned before snapping his fingers again.Annabeth’s knees probably would’ve buckled if she wasn’t already sitting on the floor. What. The. Fuck! she thought as a blush crept onto her tan face.Replacing teen not-Percy was a version of him pushing 30. The outfit formula stayed the same, blue sweater and black slacks with a pair of nice shoes. But his face, good gods he was-“Beautiful.” Aphrodite cooed from her throne.Beautiful didn’t cut it. Gone was the shorter, messier hair and clean-shaven face. Replacing it was wavy, chin-length, salt-and-pepper hair and a whole lot of stubble. He’d grown slightly taller and filled out his clothes better. Contrary to popular expectation, he wasn’t a total clone of Poseidon. There were a multitude of similar features, Annabeth thought while sneaking a glance towards Poseidon, but enough of a divergence for Percy to look like Percy. Annabeth was horrified to find herself still blushing.“The first Not-Percy is an actor in Hollywood. Meet Logan Lerman.” Mike introduced.The YouTube homepage refreshed in front of us.
The video was labeled Hoda and Jenna, and featured three people sitting on a couch. On the left, there were two women in different shades of blonde. On the right was Not-Percy, with a shorter haircut more similar to his younger self (selves?).
The hosts were introducing him by name, while Not-Percy smiled earnestly at them.
Logan, Annabeth tried the name on her tongue.
One of the hosts, Hoda, the daughter of Athena arbitrarily assigned started asking the first question. “So you started as a child actor.”
“Yeah I did I started when I was really young and-”
“How old were you?” Jenna asked, as a picture of young Logan appeared on screen. The picture was not too dissimilar from one of the younger photos of Percy from elementary school. Wide-eyed and adorable and smiling widely. Sally sighed and smiled from where she sat.
“I was probably like seven years old. Like really young.” Logan replied.
“Did you want to do that when you were a kid?”
“Yeah I did!” Logan answered. “But it was a hobby for me. I grew up in Los Angeles.” He paused for a split-second and that was just enough for Thalia and Annabeth’s eyebrows to raise as they looked at each other. Los Angeles Percy immediately conjured up such a different set of images to New York Percy. Piper, Annebeth reminded herself, grew up around Hollywood sorts but this was still different. Percy growing up as an actor was so out of left field. “So it was accessible, you know. There were auditions down the corner from where I went to school. And I could do it without the pressure of doing it professionally, you know there pursuing it.” Mike skipped some of the interview. Logan was saying “I’m proud of the work we’ve done on this show and I’m excited for people to see the second season.”
“And this is the final season of it.” Jenna said.
“Yeah. Yeah.” he head nodded. His hair flopped and it looked so much like Percy that Annabeth’s heart ached.
“Tell us a bit about the premise, because it’s a wild but interesting show.” Jenna said.
“Yeah it’s really cool, I mean. The show plays in the conspiracy that Hitler survived WW2. So a lot of people have talked about, I mean I’ve heard people mention this before but that he a ctually survived and ended up living in South America.” The screen was split with images from this show. And Annabeth had to groan at yet another look of Percy with longer hair reminiscent of the 70s and a full beard. On someone else it might’ve looked campy but on her boyfriend it was so hot. Especially since it was matched with a physical confidence of this man at 30. Asides from looks, it was clear Logan was a very good actor too. “And so it’s about this group of Nazi hunters kind of coming back together to go find him, to track him down. And it’s really exciting.” “There’s so much about you and to you. I don’t know if you know this but did you know that you’ve been dubbed the Internet’s Boyfriend” Hoda reported. Piper and Leo snorted in laughter from the other side of the sofa. “No I didn’t know that.” Logan looked surprised but giddy, like a puppy.
“I didn’t even know this title existed.”
“That’s very flattering.”
“Me neither, we’re gonna give you a plaque.”
“Oh wow, I get a plaque?” Logan replied as new videos passed over the screen. Two girls appear in a vertical video (TikToks, Piper had called them.) One was labeled ‘Young me’ and the other ‘Current me’. A picture of 17-year-old Not-Percy flashed on screen grinning to somewhere off-camera and the Young me girl pretended to faint in shock. Relatable, Annabeth thought. Then a picture flashed that made Annabeth’s blush spawn back, of Not-Percy with that same salt-and-pepper longer hair and a beard looking forward off-camera. When the second girl pretended to fall back in faint, Annabeth wanted to join her. “My cabinmates would call this picture scrumptious.” Piper chimed in, the betrayer. Annabeth nodded mutely in agreement. Gods she hoped the two of them lived long enough for her to see that.
“Are you an online person?” Hoda asked as more videos played of girls mock-fainting to pictures of older Percy.
“I am I mean I don’t have TikTok so I’m unaware of whats going on on that. But I have Instagram and Twitter and things like that, I look. I peruse,” not-Percy said with the dorkiest tone.
“Does that make you a little uncomfortable that the Internet has created this title for you?” Jenna asked, eyebrows pinching together.
Logan leaned back a little, shook his head and then responded. “No, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable, I’m flattered by it.” Logan said with such earnest that Annabeth started blushing again. “I’m happy to know that anyone is even saying anything nice. It’s sweet.” Towards the end, he sounded like he was defending his fans which was very endearing. The video ended there. The group groaned in protest. As Mike stood back up to cross to the centre of the room, he explained “This is really the least interesting variant I could show you. In the next segment he talks about his girlfriend and I don’t think that’s gonna go over well.”Thalia poked Annabeth’s hip and gave her a questioning look. Annabeth nodded slightly, affirming that she was alright. The sooner she realised these men were quite literally not her boyfriend, the easier of a time she’d have. Her actual boyfriend was fine, and remembered her and would be with her tomorrow. That’s all she cared for. Though, Annabeth let herself think, she would probably still be exceedingly jealous if she saw one of these not-Percys kiss anyone else.“None of you have any questions that won’t be answered with more of these videos so let’s move onto the real deals," Mike said.Right now, Annabeth’s worst fear was seeing a not-Percy die. They’d had enough near-death experiences as is but actually seeing that would be terrible.Mike snapped his fingers.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Being on a large couch was nice, Thalia thought.Mike had rectified the fact that he hadn’t initially provided the mortals with a comfortable seating area. Now, the mortal group sat on two large couches, a gap between them large enough to fit three people standing. The gods remained on their thrones behind them. Annabeth and Sally were squished in the inner corners of either couch, nearest to the walkway. Thalia remained by Annabeth’s side while the daughter of Athena swung hands with Sally. “Now that I’ve eased you into it, I’m going to throw you to the deep end. Can’t keep you watching good guy Percys forever,” affirmed Mike, playing with a strand of his icy white hair. “This next one isn’t Evil Percy, but it’s definitely not Good Percy.”Annabeth shifted in her seat next to Thalia, clutching her dagger to self-regulate the anxiety clearly flooding her.Mike waved his hand.
A girl appeared, pacing just in front of the walkway. She had wild black hair tamed by a red crown, and her red and black bodysuit was knicked in some areas. She was staring at something in the direction of the gods behind the couches, breathing heavily with a tense look on her face.
A blonde girl materialised further behind her, one hand on her hip and the other bracelet-clad arm hanging by her side. Also in red, Thalia noted that the two uniforms were similar in design despite having different silhouettes.
“Hey Catra,” the blonde purred. The first girl, Catra (Was she actually a cat?) stiffened, her tense expression being overriden by confusion. Her bewilderment then withdrew into anger.
“No,” she said, whipping around to the blonde. “You can’t do this. You can’t come in and take this from me now.”
It occurred to Thalia that she didn’t actually know who was in the right here. Who was the antagonist in this scenario — Catra with her murderous expression? Or the blonde amused by cat girl’s fury?And when was Percy showing up?
“Woah.” The blonde crooned, eyes widening in interest, “I knew this would get a rise out of you, but still. You really are obsessed. Aren’t you…kitten?” The last word slid out simultaneously as a pet-name and an insult. And it clearly betrayed a piece of information because Catra’s previously clenched hands fell limp by her sides.
The blonde tilted her head back laughing while her entire body was coated in green mist. Her silhouette turned black, and increased in height. And when it changed back-
“Uh.” Annabeth stuttered next to Thalia. Sally and Annabeth’s joined hands separated in shock. The hunter put her hand on Annabeth’s shoulder in comfort.
The first they’d seen of this not-Percy was his head thrown back in a laugh. Canines exposed before his head leaned back to look at Catra.
This not-Percy was mischievous, that was clear. But not in the harmless, playful way Percy could be, if the sly glint in the shape-shifter’s eyes could be believed. He reminded Thalia of some of the monsters she’d encountered, the ones who just wanted to fuck around, annoy the gods and kill humans for fun. Piper and Leo had dubbed them chaotic neutral. This Percy seemed to fit in that category. Mike had said this (shape-shifting not-Percy) wasn’t Evil or Good, which landed him in a middle grey area.Poisonous, mean and unsympathetic in his humour.
He wore a sleeveless bodysuit much like Catra’s but in black. There were cutouts down the side where you could see tanned skin peaking through. As he turned around, he revealed more cutouts exposing a toned lower back. His forearms were covered by finger gloves.
“Fuck, he’s kinda hot.” Thalia heard Annabeth mutter, and Thalia heard Piper let out a surprised bark of laughter.
“You know, it took me a while,” Not-Percy teased, eye burning with a playful venom. “But I finally figured out your character.”
Not-Percy shifted again, until he reappeared as Catra. In this smaller form, he bounded forward, “You try so hard to be the big, bad villain.”Well, that answered Thalia’s question on who was who. The question remained: Who was not-Percy in relation?
Not-Percy changed back into himself in a blink of an eye.
Being so close to the couch, Sally reached out her hand a little.Not-Percy looked back at Catra with a cruel, knowing glint, as if he were a teacher disciplining his least favourite student. “But your heart’s never been in it. Has it?”Sally’s hand travelled back to Paul’s, cringing back as if burned.
“What are you-?” Catra squeaked, as if confused by this line of questioning. She winced, the words “Stop. Stop it!” tumbling out of her. As she turned to move away from not-Percy, the latter grabbed her wrist and spun her back around. They were almost nose-to-nose now, not-Percy sneering down at her while walking her backwards towards the couches.
“People have hurt you,” not-Percy smiled contemptuously, again in that cruel tone. Leaning in further, his lips pouted as he mocked, “Haven’t they?”
Thalia had never seen Percy’s face make that expression before, mocking and cruel. Annabeth beside her was frozen, her breathing shallow.
“They didn’t believe in you.” Halfway through this, he shifted into a taller woman with long black hair and a red mask. Catra recoiled but not-Percy tightened the grip on her wrist.
“They didn’t trust you.” A skeleton-looking man in a big suit and a gravel voice.
“Didn’t need you.” Back to the first blonde girl. Bringing Catra’s hand to his face, blonde girl continued, “Left you.”
In her effort to get away from what was most definitely a queue of traumatic experiences, Catra fell backwards, landing herself right in between Sally and Annabeth on the floor. She leaned back on her palms, breathing heavily. Sally and Annabeth looked down at Catra, at each other and then at not-Percy who had shifted back to his original form.
“But did you stop to think, maybe they’re not the problem.” No trace of playfulness left on a very serious face.
He transformed once more into a…scorpion lady? with a very kind face “It’s you. You drive them away wildcat.” and most definitely strung a chord.
“Why are you doing this?” Catra asked, clearly wrecked as not-Percy changed back once again. He squatted in front of her, which put him just below Annabeth’s eyeline. The look on her face was troubled, akin to distress.“It’s for your own good, darling. We both know this was never what you really wanted.” He was back to crooning, like he was talking to a misbehaving child who just didn’t know any better. “But,” he reached around to grab something out of a pocket. “It was also a good distraction.” Annabeth flinched at the downright maniacal look on his face. It was clear this was a betrayal.
On the portable screen in front of him played a number of clips of a robot army being defeated on various terrains. “Your army was ambushed on their way to a ‘defenceless’ Brightmoon.” The clips stopped and not-Percy assessed Catra’s frozen, shocked face. Illuminated by the green light of his screen, he said “Your face right now is almost better than applause…almost.”
“You…betrayed me.” Catra said, hurt.
Unaffected by her heartbreak, not-Percy stood to full height, a collected look on his face. “It’s not personal, darling. You knew how this worked.” His smile dropped into something more calculating, a hand on his hip. “The best way to survive is always choose the winning side.”
God, that was so different. Watching Percy’s body in action without a fatal flaw of loyalty was a frightening reality. Without loyalty, who knew if this is where Percy could have been led to? Annabeth’s hand tightened around Thalia’s, this time the younger girl comforting her.
“The rebels have some kind of ancient superweapon. Any minute now, they’re going to use it. And when they do, everything you’ve worked for will be destroyed.” Catra remained catatonic in front of him.
In a second not-Percy’s whole demeanor slipped back into play, clapping his hands together and exclaiming “I’d better be going before that happens. And….scene” he said while booping Catra on the nose. “Ta” he spun around and walked away, materialising out of view.
We lingered here for a while with Catra staring in shock at not-Percy’s retreating form. Mike waved his hand just as Catra took her first sigh into what would’ve been a giant sob.“Somehow morally gray ends up hurting more than full-out evil. At least the evil tend to think they’re doing something good, the morally gray are just selfish.” Mike reflected. “But they’re also great fun.”“It’s testament to you, Sally. You raised him right.” Annabeth declared, reaching back for Sally’s hand. Paul rubbed his wife’s shoulders in agreement.“Yeah, Fates know if you hadn’t, the gods would’ve turned him down a different war path.” Thalia added. Sally smiled with a warning look in her eyes. The hunter looked back to her father, who was crackling in annoyance in her direction. She grinned at him then turned around to make a face at Jason, who ducked his head down to hide his chuckle.“We continue with one last scene.” Mike announced with a wave of his hand.
Not-Percy was unconscious, tied up in an unknown earthy substance and placed on a chair. He jerked awake after the first few seconds. His captors made themselves known in between the couches- the Scorpion Lady from before, a brunette piratey man and a flowery girl. The three were dressed to the nines, in gala attire. Not-Percy jumped to his feet as he awoke, before the scorpion lady gently pushed him back down into the chair.
Not-Percy sighed like a petulant child. “Bravo, you caught me. Again.”
Flower Girl started the obvious interrogation. “What are you doing here? Where’s the real Peekablue?”
Ah, so not-Percy was back to impersonating other people.
“Wouldn’t know.” he replied with a bored shrug. “After things ended with my cash-kitten, I needed another gig. I had heard all about the elusive Peekablue. A seer who no one has seen in years? How could I resist?”
Scorpion Lady turned to her two partners in disappointment. “So this whole mission has been a big waste of time.”
Not-Percy piped up again, “I might not have the prince’s gifts, but I know where your friends are. And I’ll tell you, for a price of course.”
There that was again, the self-serving morality of the Chaotic Neutral.
The group of three shifted into a more threatening stance, Flower Girl covering her fist with thorny bushes. Not-Percy looked wide-eyed before sighing in resignation, “Fine.”
“While I was wandering through occupied territories, I posed as a clone. You know, trying to get in good with Big Brother. Turns out it wasn’t for me. It makes for a very dull audience when everyone’s mind controlled. Half the crowd out there is chipped.” He turned his head to motion towards the side. Thalia could assume there was a big party outside, judging by the group’s attire.
“What??” Flower Girl shrieked.
Not-Percy turned back, “That’s not all. Prime is angry. She-Ra showed up and stole his little kitten away. Your friends are on their way back home but Prime set up a blockade around the entire planet, ready to strike down anyone daring to pass. They’ll never make it.”
Thalia felt uneasy at the cavalier tone in his voice. He’d just revealed a heinous plot, and he didn’t sound like he cared that much.
“We have to warn Adora to stop the ship.” Pirate Guy said.
“Yeah, if we can make it through a mind-controlled crowd. We’re underwater, remember?”
“Yeah…” Not-Percy droned, uncaring. “Are we done here?” Something thudded behind him as a fat drop of water landed on his head. The combination of sensations forced not-Percy out of his nonchalant mood, panic flooding his face with a gasp. He focused on something beyond the group.
Turning around, in front of the gods was another girl. She was also in a formal woman’s suit set, dark blue hair hidden under a hat. Her eyes glowed a luminous green and she moved her hand up with force. As she clenched her fist, a crack sounded from beyond not-Percy’s head. While they had no imagery of what happened, the group could see a flood of water pour into the room. not-Percy looked up in alarm at the rising water.
“Mermista! What are you doing?” Flower Girl asked.
“Step out of the darkness, and into the light of Prime.” Her voice was more measured that sounded normal.
"Mind-control," Thalia whispered out loud.
“Mermista? Mermista, No!”
A jet of water rushed from Mermista’s side, the group of three were protected by a giant stem summoned by Flower Girl. But the redirection threw Percy on his side still tied up. Scorpion Lady threw a beam of energy through the stem at Mermista, who was flung back. He lay on the floor almost right in front of Thalia and Annabeth, wincing in pain. And then looking up in annoyance.
“Uh we are in a delicate underwater bubble.” not-Percy called out, grabbing the group's attention. “So could you please stop hitting one another- Woah!” He was picked up and thrown on Scorpion Lady’s shoulder as they looked for an exit.
“We need to get out of here.” she yelled.
“They get out and then he helps defeat the villains on his own while having fun.” Mike waved the images away. "That wasn't so bad, was it?""Could we space out the less Good ones? I dont know how often I can handle that." Sally requested quietly.Mike nodded, "Sure, there's not a ton of those that are fun to show during these anyway. Let's do main hero's best friend next, that should calm us all down."