Percy had made a home for himself over the past year behind a waterfall. The cliff had a waterfall flowing down from it and the entrance to where he's been staying is behind it. A cave entrance that leads to a pretty nice crib. It's pretty much what you can ask for in a living place for all your demigod needs.
It's been Percy's home for the past few years, thanks to Gaia. Gaia had approached him for help and the only way he was going to succeed is by cutting all connections he had to his previous life, remaining anonymous, and doing as he was told.
The situation sucked immensely.
The waterfall was flowing rapidly, the way it was intended to be. No normal person could've entered his home but as a son of Poseidon, water is no trouble for him. He split the waterfall apart and entered his cave/home.
He went towards what he called the 'Storage Room'. He opened the door and placed the mirror he had collected neatly on a shelf. So far, he had collected fifteen of these relics, ranging from a book that's like an encyclopedia of monsters to fake chompers that can make you bite through everything (retrieving that was a traumatizing experience for Percy).
Gaia explained that the Greek pantheon, dating all the way back to Chaos, has its way with magical items. Some powers are too great for one man or god to keep, so they store them in certain items, or in other words, relics. There are numerous of them over the past few millennia, some have disappeared and some are hidden.
Percy had been selected by Gaia to find these things to prevent other forces from getting their hands on them. Gaia feared something else is rising and they were going to need everything that can help them win this time.
Percy cleaned himself up and sat down on a couch. His home was simple. A cave lighted with magical lights and just enough furniture for him to not die of boredom. Including a satellite TV.
Getting the TV installed and delivered here, in the middle of nowhere, was a long story. Percy was lucky that one of the relics happens to function similar like a generator.
If a generator was shaped like a toilet on wheels.
He turned the TV on, but his mind kept wandering back to Annabeth.
There hasn't been a moment where she didn't cross his mind. Leaving her was the hardest thing he could've done, but to save her and also his friends, he had to do it.
Something in your mind? Gaia spoke in his head.
"It's nothing," Percy muttered. He stared at his sword that was leaning against the wall in its scabbard. It was one of the relics he'd found. It was forged by Hephaestus and imbued with the power of Mars himself. The Blood Sword. The reason for that name is because of the powers and its cost. The sword is a strong sword by itself, but when it gains the blood of its user, its powers are devastating. But using it too much can drain the life out of someone.
The blade wasn't meant for mortals since its between the cooperation of Roman and Greek deities. It's similar to Backbiter, Luke's sword. It requires blood to forge two powers of the opposing side together.
I know something's wrong, Gaia spoke again.
"Even if I tell you, it's not like we can do anything about it anyway," Percy sighed. "It just hurts to see her from so far away,"
If Gaia was actually in front of him right now, she might be hugging him. It's a sacrifice for you to bear.
"I think I've made enough sacrifices in my lifetime," Percy said. "I'm going to sleep,"
Sleep well, my hero,
Line Break
Artemis was back in Olympus for a council meeting.
And she was pissed.
No one dared to talk to her, even her own brother, because of the aura she was giving out. It's not like her aura radiated power. She just has that vibe of someone having a very, very bad day.
The whole council was nervous. Artemis's mood was so bad that the hearth glowed dimly because of her.
Zeus was talking about some stuff, demigods popping everywhere and blah, blah, blah. Meanwhile, Athena, who was sitting next to Artemis, called for her.
"Is something wrong, sister?" Athena asked.
"I'm fine," Artemis grumbled.
"You know you can't lie to me," Athena said. "Goddess of Wisdom, remember?"
"I don't want to talk about it," She grumbled again. It was weird for her to act like this. Artemis wasn't usually one to let things annoy her. Athena thought she would ask someone who might know what happened. The lieutenant of her hunt, Thalia Grace.
"-be very wise so we could reduce the distance between the two camps," Poseidon was finishing up.
"Very well," Zeus nodded. "If there's nothing else, I would say that this meeting has concluded. Council dismissed!" Zeus announced before vanishing in a flash of lightning. Athena flashed towards the Garden of Herself, which is where her daughter, Annabeth, is currently working.
When she arrived, Annabeth was looking over the blueprints she'd made for the place. When she saw her mother, her eyes widened before she bowed. "Mother,"
Athena smiled. "Stand up my child,"
Annabeth stood up shakily. "Is something wrong?"
"Not quite," Athena said. "I need you to visit your friend, Thalia Grace,"
"Can I ask what it's about?"
"Well, it's about Artemis,"
"What's wrong?"
"She seems to be in a foul mood today and I would like to find out why. I tried asking her but she wouldn't tell me. So I need you to ask her lieutenant if there's anything wrong,"
Mentally, Annabeth groaned. She has enough in her hands already and now her mother wanted her to go on a little side quest that she could easily do herself.
But putting in mind that her mother was a goddess and she didn't want to invoke her wrath by defying her, she simply agreed. Besides, it's been a while since she'd seen Thalia and she missed her. Also, it's a perfect excuse for her to get away from work for a bit.
"Can you at least send me there so it's easier?" Annabeth said. Athena smiled and snapped her fingers. The scene seemed to twist around before changing into a different one. Annabeth felt queasy in the stomach from that and almost threw up. Luckily, she managed to hold it in. Annabeth found herself in a forest that was pretty secluded. To her left was the camp for the Hunters of Artemis.
She took a deep breath before going towards it. It's been a while since she saw Thalia, but who can blame her? They've both been busy, especially with all the war and everything.
It was dark at night, so they were probably sleeping. Annabeth had always wondered if the Hunters slept at night because their leader was the Goddess of the Moon. So nighttime was supposed to be when they were most active, right? Food for thought.
Four tents surrounded a campfire, which was guarded by one person, Thalia himself. Annabeth remembered the Hunters when they were a large group. But now, there was no more than a school bus of girls.
"Hey," Annabeth greeted with a smile. Thalia looked around. When she saw Annabeth, her eyes lit up.
"Annabeth!" She exclaimed happily before crushing her with a big hug. Annabeth returned the hug. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm on a little errand," She told. "Mom sent me here."
"Well, make yourself comfortable," Thalia said as she gestured for her to sit down. "It's nice to see you,"
"Nice to see you too," Annabeth smiled. "It's been a while,"
"Yeah, ever since the Titan War," Thalia remembered. "So, what brings you here?"
"My mother had asked me to ask you something,"
"What is it?"
She looked around as if to see if there was anyone watching them. "Is Artemis around?"
Thalia shook her head. "She's still at Olympus,"
She sighed in relief. "Today, during a council meeting in Olympus, my mom saw that Artemis acted a little . . . strange. She said Artemis was in a bad mood and she wanted to know why,"
Thalia just sighed. "Figures. After what happened, I knew it wasn't going to be a good day for her,"
"What happened?"
"Yesterday, we were trying to finish off some of Gaia's remaining forces. But we got outnumbered badly. A monster sneaked up on me and would've killed me if it wasn't for him."
"Who?"
Thalia threw a piece of wood into the fire. Ash and cinders flew up like fireflies in the dark. "He said his name was Percy Jackson or something like that."
Something tugged at the back of Annabeth's head, like the feeling she'd heard that name a million times before. But she decides to shrug it off. "Doesn't ring a bell,"
"Same with me and Artemis, but he said, and I quote, 'already served Olympus enough'."
Annabeth's face morphed into an expression of confusion. As a demigod, the term 'served Olympus enough' doesn't exist. When it comes to the gods, enough is never enough. But if he had served Olympus as much as he claimed he had, Annabeth should know him. Or maybe at least heard of his name.
But then again, there are probably hundreds of heroes in Ancient Greek times that have helped the gods more than they have and yet their names remain unknown.
"Any idea what he's like?"
Thalia scratched her head. "If I remember correctly, he had black hair and green eyes. That's about it,"
"You're hopeless,"
Thalia held her hands up. "In my defense, it was nighttime."
Annabeth just smiled. At least it wasn't anything major. She'd completed what her mother had asked for and now she just wanted to spend some time with her best friend.
But still, something didn't feel quite right about it.
Line Break
Percy had another mission: Mount Othrys.
Out of all the places these relics could be hidden, it had to be Mount Othrys. Which is actually Mount Tamalpais on the other side of the country.
Gaia helped with the traveling of course. If you think he got sucked into the earth and popped out at San Francisco, you're wrong.
She made a few pounds of gold pop out of the dirt so Percy could sell it for mortal money and then get a flight ticket to San Francisco.
She's kind that way.
So Percy got his money and was now currently in an airplane, first class, and chilling. His sword was disguised as a fancy walking cane so he didn't worry too much.
Of course, he could've just flown from New York to San Francisco with one of the relics that gives you wings, but that's just tiring. Plus it has a nasty side effect where it can just shut down without warning and send Percy plummeting to his death at terminal velocity.
After wiping the memory of everyone that knew him, flying didn't frighten him as much anymore. Since Zeus didn't know that he was a son of Poseidon, he didn't have to worry.
"So what are we looking for this time?" Percy said as he leaned in his seat. "I hope it's not something overly small,"
Gaia was silent for a long time. Percy almost thought she wasn't there. "Um, hello?"
A sand glass, Gaia said with a sad tone. It belonged to my son.
"Which one?"
The evil one,
"Oh," Suddenly, his seat didn't feel that comfortable anymore. Facing Kronos was not one of the things he wanted to do again. "Um, he's not really there, is he?"
If Gaia had been in front of him, she was probably shaking her head. He's in Tartarus, thanks to you. There was a bit of resentment in her voice.
Percy didn't know if he was supposed to feel guilty for killing the Titan who almost destroyed Olympus or feel bad for killing her son.
So Percy answered: "He had it coming," It wasn't the brightest answer but hey, he did have it coming.
Gaia sighed. The relic has the power to control time, as you might expect. Either slow down time or freeze it completely.
"I don't get it," Percy said. "You guys are all powerful beings. Why don't you create something that could reverse time? Things could've gone your way if something like that was invented,"
Time is like a stream of river flowing downhill and is one of the strongest forces of nature. You can stop the flow, you can slow it down, you can make it go another way, but you can't make it flow uphill. It's just how it's made.
"Figures. Well, wake me up when we land. I need to get some sleep,"
Sleep well.
Of course, he didn't sleep well. He had a dream.
He was near the beach of Camp Half-Blood. It was night and the sea was calm as usual. There was no one around and it was peaceful.
Percy knew demigod dreams never go happily. He's expecting the place to blow up or something because that's just how dreams work with demigods.
But nothing happened.
He stood there for what seemed like a few minutes before someone said next to him: "Peaceful, isn't it?"
He turned and saw the person he least expected to appear in his dream. "Luke?"
Luke Castellan gave him a mischievous grin. "How are you, Percy?"
Percy was surprised, but he wasn't alarmed. "This isn't real, is it?"
"Well, it is your dream," Luke chuckled.
"How do you even know me? I thought the Lethe dust wiped your memory away?"
"You erased the memories of everyone alive. I'm dead, remember?"
Percy shrugged. "So, what's up?"
"First off, Beckendorf says hi. Oh, and he's getting married today,"
"With who?"
"With the Hulk." Luke rolled his eyes. "With Silena of course!"
"Oh," It didn't occur to Percy that you could get married in Elysium. Just the little things that await you in the afterlife. "Give my congrats to them,"
Luke laughed. "How's Annabeth?" Percy shrugged to question off. "Come on, being years away from her like this, you must check on her from time to time,"
"She's doing fine, I guess. She doesn't remember me. At least she remembers you." Percy said. Then he shook his head. "How do you know what happened anyway? Do they have daily news in Elysium?"
"I have my ways," Luke winked. "Your name goes a long way in the Greek Pantheon, Percy. A lot of people and divine beings know you. Even if you wiped the memories of everyone on Earth about you, there will still be those who remember you,"
"Great." Percy mumbled. He didn't know if he was flattered or concerned that there were other people who remembered him. "I doubt you're here just to check up on me, right?"
Luke chuckled. "Partly that, yes. But also yes, I have something else to tell you," Then his face turned serious. "I've heard some of the old dead people talk. They said that what they'd foretold is true. Everything has occurred the exact time they predicted,"
"I think I've had enough prophecies for one lifetime. But they're wrong. The Prophecy of Seven has happened. There's no other big prophecy than that. Everything has happened,"
Luke shook his head. Percy noticed the winds were picking up speed and the sea was getting restless. "I'm sorry to tell you. There's more."
Dread filled Percy's body. There's more? After all, they've been through, there's more? "Explain."
"I don't know much about it either. But something big is coming. You need to be prepared. I don't know if involves the others, but what I know is that you are involved."
"How do you know?"
"You have been in the center of everything, Percy. Kronos, Gaia, it's always been you. And I'm afraid you're on the spotlight one more time," Luke said grimly. "I don't really know much else, but you need to watch your back. Looking at the trends of catastrophic events, I'm guessing it's going to get even more dangerous."
Percy felt like crying. First the Titan War and then the Giant War (including a bonus package of a romantic walk through Tartarus), and now this? "You're telling me after all I've done, there's more to it?"
This time, Percy realized a hurricane was forming just a few meters away from the beach. Percy didn't know if it was just from the dream or if it was happening in real life. The wind was getting stronger and picking up speed.
But even with a hurricane just a few meters away, Luke stayed calm. His sandy blonde hair was whipping in the wind. "Just, be careful, alright? It's the least I could do after what you did for me." Luke said. He then looked over his shoulder and grinned. "Well, someone else is here. She's been looking for you. I'll see you soon, okay?" Then he disappeared into the air.
Just as he disappeared, a familiar face ran towards him and grabbed his shirt. "Percy! Where are you right now?!"
"Rachel?" Percy asked, clearly confused.
"Percy, you're so stupid!" Rachel exclaimed. That was some greeting. "Where are you? I have to find you right now!"
No words flew out of Percy's mouth. He stood there speechless. He wanted to tell her, but for some reason, his voice failed him.
Then, the hurricane got really close.
"Shit," Rachel muttered. "I don't have much time. Percy, I'm going to find you. Just stay safe, okay? I'm going to get help and come for you. Remember, don't trust her Percy." The winds were roaring in his ears really loudly that her voice was barely heard. "Whatever you do, don't trust her!"
Then the scene melted and a voice said in his head, wake up!
Percy shot straight awake. His chest was pounding and he was sweating. Outside the plane, thunder boomed and the plane shook from turbulence.
What was that dream? And even more, why did Rachel remember him?
Are you feeling alright, Perseus? Gaia asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a weird dream," Percy said, wiping the sweat on his forehead. "Where are we?"
We're almost there. We have half an hour before we land.
Percy just nodded as he leaned back to calm himself down. Rachel told him not to trust her. But who is she talking about?
Also, Luke said something else is coming. And it involved him. Can't the Fates find a different demigod to bother?
What dreaded Percy the most was the fact that the dream was intentional instead of just a dream. He closed his eyes and thought of Annabeth, so he could calm his nerves down.
He wished she was here right now. Partly because she could calm him down, but partly also he needed her to make sense out of all this.
Line Break
Annabeth was back at Camp Half-Blood. It was a tiring day, but it was fun seeing her friends again. Piper was with the Aphrodite campers, training their swordplay while the others are doing their own work. Frank, Reyna, Jason and Hazel were at Camp Jupiter while Leo was probably at Bunker Nine. Nico's probably in the Underworld, helping his father.
Annabeth was on her way to her own cabin when he saw the door to one of the vacant cabins was open. It was Poseidon's cabin. Why it was open, she had no idea. But she was curious, so she went inside. No one lived here since, well, since Annabeth could remember.
The inside was what you would expect from a cabin. Six bunk beds on each side left and right and a saltwater fountain stood at the corner of the room creating a small rainbow, perfect for Iris Messaging. Annabeth got a little jealous. Why didn't they have something like that?
A robotic shark was floating near the ceiling so it looked like it was swimming through the air. It was confusing. If Poseidon didn't have any kids and the cabin was supposed to be just an honorary and vacant cabin, why would someone go out of their way to decorate the place?
Then, Annabeth noticed something different. The first bunk bed was different than the others. It'd been used, but not recently. The walls near it had been decorated with pictures of . . . her. It wasn't just her. It was her with some of her friends like Thalia, Grover, and some others. But one similar thing about each picture was that someone was in it. Someone she didn't know. It was a boy, probably the same age she was in the picture. A handsome boy with jet black, messy hair, and sea-green eyes.
He had pictures of them from when she was twelve. The most recent picture of him was of them overlooking the camp with his arm around her. Annabeth looked genuinely happy in the picture. If she'd been that happy and had been dating him, wouldn't she remember him?
Besides, the man in the picture looked suspiciously like what Thalia had described. Black hair and green eyes.
"What the hell . . ." Annabeth muttered. She took the most recent picture and stuffed it in her pocket.
"Annabeth," Someone called and she jumped in surprise. She turned to the door to see Piper looking at her. "What are you doing here?"
"Nothing," She said. "Just looking around,"
Piper scanned her surroundings. "This place is awesome. I thought Poseidon doesn't have any children?"
"He doesn't," Annabeth confirmed. "But someone wanted to decorate it,"
"Apparently so," Piper said. "Come on, it's time for lunch,"
"I'll be right with you," Annabeth smiled. She looked back at the cabin for one last time. Everything was weird right now. But one thing is for sure.
She had to meet this person that Thalia mentioned.