XXX

As Clotho observed the present, she turned to her sisters. Atropos was glaring at her scissors and Lachesis simply frowned. "This was an unexpected turn of events."

"How, exactly, do you think Ouranous evaded our sights?" The sisters glanced at each other, every single one of them reaching the same conclusion.

Clotho looked up. "Lord Chaos. We know you are here."

There was silence, but suddenly a formless being, of shimmering black fog materialized out of nowhere. "Lady Clotho, Lady Lachesis, Lady Atropos. I see you've found me out."

His voice seemed to reverberate around the room, despite this being in a plain not even a primordial could reach. They examined the Creator. "What are your plans, Lord?"

"This future was doomed to fail the second Kronos' mind was taken over again," he said. "We both know they'd have failed in an unprepared fight against Ouranous. They barely defeated Gaea. Now that he's back, look at the devastation he had caused. The majority of the demigods are dead. The mortals are wiped out entirely. The gods are in chains. The remaining titans and monsters are barely thriving in Tartarus. If they knew, the earth wouldn't even exist anymore. Therefore, I hid this from the minds of everyone."

"And?" asked Lachesis.

Chaos seemed to move an inch and strings appeared on the table. "These are the demigods, and mortal, I believe will be able to save the world, with the assistance of time travel and the experience of this abominable future." They observed to observe the strings.

The electric blue string of Luke Castellan.

The white string of Thalia Grace.

The black string of Nico di Angelo.

The yellow string of Will Solace.

The red string of Clarisse La Rue.

The rainbow string of Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

The storm grey string of Annabeth Chase.

And the sea green string of Perseus Jackson.

"Nobody else?"

"Too suspicious," he explained. "The Romans, however. I do not believe we will have any problems on their side. But..." the purple string of Reyna Ramirez Arellano appeared. "A necessary precaution, I believe."

"They will keep the knowledge of the future, I take it?" asked Clotho.

"Along with something else," Chaos said. "For each of them, to help contact each other mentally, I shall give them a tattoo on their left bicep. Nothing much. Just an Othello. They shall retain their weapons, and the versions in that time will mysteriously disappear. Excepting one..." said Chaos. "Also, to simplify things, have Thalia Grace's and Luke Castellan's birthday moved back a couple of years."

Lachesis raised an eyebrow. "Playing matchmaker, Chaos?"

A ghost of a smile appeared on his formless body. "We all know their destiny is together, not apart."

"Should we inform them of the mind control on Kronos' part?"

"I've already paid their souls a visit. They know enough."

Clotho looked at her sisters once more before she planted a symbol on the compiled strings. They glowed, before they all regrew to their original sizes.

"Let the games begin," Lachesis mumbled.

"You need to stop watching movies," Atropos said, without looking up from the strings. A smile graced her features, however, as she said, "may the odds ever be in your favours, young heroes."

XXX

Percy particularly disliked living, he found. Really, the Underworld was so much... better. He didn't have to deal with problems and... well, problems.

He was five years old when he awoke. He wondered if there was anything significant about this but when he got up his mother (yay, she's alive!) started talking about a man named Gabe. Percy was... reluctant, at first when he realised what he must do.

But then Percy considered the very epitome of ugliness (figuratively and literally) that was Gabe Ugliano.

When his mother told him she'd be going to work and her neighbour was going to watch him, he slipped away when their neighbour buried herself with work. He grabbed clothes and a picture of himself and his mum.

He couldn't be selfish to his mum. He couldn't make Sally Jackson suffer from Gabe again. And with a pained look he ran.

He forced himself not to look back.

XXX

Seeing his sister again was not something Nico had prepared himself for. But she had hardly seemed to care, though, too engrossed in the games and distractions offered by the Lotus Hotel.

The first thing he did was slip out of the hotel, unnoticed.

Using the Hotel Card, he opened a bank account that'd be used to fund their explorations when everything really began. He also got another and transferred the money onto this, as well. With the assistance of the mist, nobody questioned why a ten year old was opening a bank account, did not press the need for paperwork and why he was in possession of that many billions. Indeed, the Lotus Hotel Casino was in possession of a lot of funds.

Following that, he checked the date. 2/8/1998. In roughly eight years everything would really start. He had time to plan.

"You shouldn't remain in one place for too long." He looked up to see a flash of red hair.

"Rachel," he greeted the physically younger girl. "What are you doing here?"

"My father had a business deal going on. It was easy to slip away. I felt... something, drawing me here. It might be the... gift," she gestured to her arm. "I awoke last week, I think. I've tried to contact the others, but I don't think they're- oh. Hi, Percy."

"'Hey, Rachel, Neeks.'" Nico frowned. It felt as if his mind was being invaded, even though they couldn't see his memories.

"'That was entirely too convenient to have happened by pure coincidence.'" Rachel grinned with a 'guilty as charged' look on her face. '"Wait, this is actually real? I thought it was just a joke."'

'"Obviously not,"' Rachel told him. '"You should get back to the Casino. We'll talk more when we're all in a secure place."'

'"Sounds good,"' he said, turning and taking the trip back to the Lotus Hotel and Casino.

Percy and Rachel began to explain what they knew. Apparently Percy had been the first to 'wake up', which was about a year and some ago. He had run away for some dumb reason. Something to do with keeping Gabe away. Sally would murder her son when she found out. Rachel had woken up recently and was acting as if everything was normal where her family was concerned. She told them she still had the Oracle in her, but wouldn't be spouting any prophesies anytime soon with Mrs. Castellan's current condition. In turn, he told them about the vault he'd just opened and that everybody who was due to come back in time had access, they need only give their names or use the mist.

'"We'll be prepared this time,"' Percy said.

'"And we'll win."

XXX

She and Percy seemed to be in the same boat. That was what Reyna had discovered when she decided to run away and go go Camp Jupiter earlier than he should have. He had told her his story and she'd honestly laughed. Reyna disliked being six, of course, but it had its perks. Like people not realising that you're the daughter of a powerful goddess and are, in fact, powerful.

Reyna enjoyed being back, when times were simple and war was not the only thing on people's minds.

She had re-met Jason and Octavian. That was fun. She grimaced. That line was held in contempt. Jason had been pretty much the same, but Jupiter did she forget how annoying Octavian was. She almost wished she had been there when he'd died. And was the one to pull that bloody lever.

'"No morbid thoughts,"' Percy said. '"You're practically projecting them to us."'

'"But it is Octavian,"' Rachel said, taking her side.

'"Well... yeah, I see your point."'

'"I really want Annabeth to hurry up and get here,"' Percy sighed.

'"...Why?"' She smiled at Nico's obvious train of thoughts.

'"Because we can't do anything without our master strategist. Why, what were you thinking?"' Percy was so... oblivious when it came to this.

'"Same as you!"' Rachel laughed at Nico's sarcastic tone.

Yeah, she smiled. War wasn't the only thing on their minds.

XXX

Coming back to life was not something that Will liked to do. He didn't know how Valdez did it. Will was currently five years old and he wished he wasn't. His mother was off... wherever she went and his stepfather was too busy drinking to pay him any attention.

'"Maybe you should run away."' Will jumped about five feet in the air.

'"Percy! You shouldn't shock him like that!"'

'"I blurted it,"' came the weak reply. Will relaxed when he remembered that Chaos had formed some sort of psychic connection between them.

'"Who's here?"' he asked.

'"Um... Percy, Nico, Reyna and, myself, Rachel,"' he nodded, though they couldn't see that.

'"Cool,"' he said. Suddenly, he felt a weird, pulling sensation. With a frown, he followed it.

When he got to wherever he was being pulled to, he did a double take. A nine year old was battling a telkhein. He grabbed his bow and drew it back but by then it was already dead.

It must've been a strange sight. Him, a child and her, a young girl both holding weapons. Anyone who wasn't a clear sighted mortal, demigod, monster or god would probably see nerf guns.

The girl had a mean look on her face, a familiar face, by the way. Her face lit up in recognition. "Solace?"

"Clarisse?" He offered her a smile. '"Nice to see you, daughter of Ares."'

'"You too, Son of Apollo."'

'"Wait, when did Clarisse wake up?"' Percy interrupted their reunion.

'"Five minutes ago. Where's Princess, Prissy?"'

'"Hasn't woken up yet. I can't wait for her, though."' Will smiled at his friend's wistful tone.

'"But you have to,"' Rachel pointed out.

'"Unfortunately,"' Percy agreed.

He saw Clarisse raise an eyebrow. '"Wow, big word. Where'd you learn that from?"'

'"Wise Girl."'

Clarisse barked a laugh. "Should I have asked?"

Will grinned and said, "no, you really shouldn't have."

XXX

The first thing Thalia did when she awoke was punch a significantly younger Luke in every available surface. When he was satisfactorily black and blue, she extended her hand to assist him in getting up.

"Good to see you, too, Thals. Wow, you as a six year old is scarier than you as a teenager," she glared at him.

"You're lucky I don't have my bow, Lucas."

He looked down. "I... I am sorry, Thalia."

"About which part? How you betrayed us to run off with Kronos? How you stole two of the Big Three's weapons of powers and made it seem that Percy was behind it?! Or how about how you poisoned my tree? Or how you offered your body up as a shell for him to do as he pleaded?!"

He stared at his feet. "I'm sorry," he said. "For everything."

Thalia sighed. She stepped forward. He tensed, awaiting the blows which never came. The young girl offered a small smile before embracing him. "I know, Luke." After withdrawing, she said, "but if you do anything like that again, I'll cut off your manhood and feed it to Cerberus."

He was silent and pale. "Artemis sure rubbed off on you, huh?"

"You got it," she grinned. The six year old turned around, surveying their surroundings. "Let's go find Annie."

XXX

When Annabeth first 'awoke' after everything, she found herself in an abandoned warehouse, a hammer desperately clutched in her hands. She then noticed the monsters and before she could process the fact that she had just time travelled, she went into full battle mode. Despite her newly seven year old body being unused to battle, she pushed herself and they were soon dead. Or, she thought so, at least. A monster had sneaked up on her and was about to attack when she heard a screech and turned around to see it explode into dust.

Then she caught sight of the two people in front of her. A roughly ten year old boy and and a six year old girl stood in front of her. She looked at the blond haired, blue eyes boy and the girl with electric blue eyes and spiky hair. They smiled at her. "Hey, Annie."

A sob tore through her body as she wrapped her arms around the two. They remained like this for a good ten minutes before she finally drew backwards. Her face was red as she said, "you two are younger."

"And wiser," said Luke, ruffling her curls. He produced the knife from his bag. "I believe this is yours." Her grin was toothy as she grasped it.

"How long have you two been back?"

"About a month," Thalia said. She glanced around. "Come on, we need to get to a safe place. Then we can contact the others."

"Didn't Cha-" Annabeth elbowed Luke. "You-Know-Who say we can do it mentally?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Remember, names have power."

"I've been dead for a while," he defended. They glanced around the warehouse.

"Please tell me we can make this place our base of operations?" Thalia asked, grinning excitedly.

"Well, it is pretty out of the way..."

"Yes!" Thalia exclaimed.

"But what about monsters?" Luke asked.

Thalia opened up her bag. "He gave this to me. I didn't understand, but it seems the Creator is awesome!" She produced a plant.

"I can't tell if I prefer her as an eternally fifteen year old or six year old," Annabeth said.

"Hey!" Thalia said, indignantly ruffling her metaphorical feathers.

"You are," Luke agreed. "But we need to place this down. Whatever it is."

"Basically, it's my pine tree but not as cool," Thalia said. "Only demigods and clear sighted mortals -ones who we reveal it to, mind you- can see it." She bounced off to plant it outside the warehouse.

Annabeth awkwardly glanced at Luke. "You know, you're still in trouble for turning to Kronos."

"I already have bruises from Thalia," he protested. Annabeth shook her head.

"Don't worry. I'm just going to make you read the Iliad," he shrugged. "In English," Annabeth clarified with a smirk. Luke paled dramatically. "And then the Odyssey and then-" he covered her mouth.

"The description is worse than the torture."

Annabeth giggled as Thalia returned. "So, how do we even talk to each other in our minds, anyways?"

Thalia shrugged. "Just shout their names in your brain and see if they get annoyed." She didn't miss the grin and wink Thalia shot Luke. They had definitely talked with the others.

'"PERSEUS JACKSON!"' It definitely worked, because both of her friends winced at how loud she was.

'"What? Annabeth?"'

'"Hi,"' she said simply. '"You guys have been so unproductive. Alright, so here's the plan: Clarisse will go to Camp, as well as Will, Luke and I. I want Percy and Rachel here and Thalia will spend a year in the Lotus Hotel so Percy can surpass her in age. Nico, remain there. Reyna, continue whatever you're doing, we'll go into a more in depth plan on your part later. Anything to contribute?"'

She wished they were here so she could see their faces. "No," Thalia finally said. "I think that's it."

"Good," she smirked. "So, Thalia, what do you think about winning a war?"

"I happen to like that idea."

XXX

At four in the morning, a seven year old sprinted up a hill, glancing around as she clutched an older boy's hand. Their two other companions both held their weapons, ready for battle. When they saw nobody around the eldest boy produced a tree and began to plant it.

'"I thought Thalia only had one?"' the companion holding a bow said. He looked suspiciously young.

'"No, Chaos gave her two protection trees,"' said the seven year old telepathically. '"She was hardly going to turn into a pine tree again."'

'"Obviously,"' said the broad nine year old girl.

'"Done,"' the last boy said. '"Now let's go before we're seen. Chiron will probably be able to see us, even with Thalia using the mist."'

'"Yeah,"' agreed the blonde seven year old. '"Let's go."'

A child of Nemesis shot up in bed. Demigod dreams sucked.

XXX

Exactly a month later, Annabeth made sure all of her plans were in place. Thalia and Nico would be spending a year and a couple respectively inside the Lotus Hotel while Percy surpasses them in age. Reyna began to make connections in her camp and rise in the ranks. Percy and Rachel (who'd ran away) were staying in their Headquarters for the foreseeable future. They had talked about rebuilding and decorating. She, Clarisse, Luke and Will would be going to Camp. They all had their cover story memorised.

As they came upon the Camp borders, they nodded in satisfaction at the sight of the tree. She glanced at them. They were all covered in dirt and were injured. A good physical cover.

'"Luke, on your left."' A cyclops made to attack the son of Hermes but the monster was long dead before it could even process what had happened.

'"Thanks, Annabeth,"' said Luke as they came upon their once home.

Clarisse glanced at them. "Do you think it's real? What the boy said, I mean."

Will shrugged. "Hopefully," he looked up wistfully. "A place where we don't have to deal with those..." he made a face. "Things..."

"We'll be safe?" Annabeth asked with a child like voice nobody could prove wasn't real.

"Yeah," said Luke, smiling. "I think so."

'"Damn, we are good actors,"' Clarisse smirked internally, though on the outside she was the picture of awe, fear and anticipation.

'"Indeed,"' Annabeth said. She drew in a deep breath. '"Let's go home, now."'

"Who are you?"

(A/N What do you think? Yay, or nay? Tell me your opinions on this story. Ask any questions you have.)