Story Prologue
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Dungeons and Dragons. All rights are reserved to their respective owners Rick Riordan and Mill Creek Entertainment.
Reading Key
"Speech"/ quotation marks around
'Thoughts'/ apostrophes around and/or italicized
Flashback/ italicized
Switching POVS/ bold, italicized, and underlined
Author Notes/ in bold
Xx Time Skip xX/ bold, and underlined
7. Location Change/ underlined
Story Summary:
The battle with Kronos went far worse than anyone could have ever imagined. Percy Jackson was the lone survivor. The demigods died, the titans and gods faded. 'I have nothing left,' he thought as he raised the cursed blade above his head, before swinging it in a downward motion and plunging it into his Achilles heel. Time Travel, Dungeons and Dragons Percy, AU.
AN: This idea came to me and I decided to go ahead and try to write it out. Most of the readers out there who follow me and my stories know that I try to write things that are far from being cliché. This story is going to be very original and AU. I have decided to do this as a story where Percy is sent to the past and becomes a member of the Dungeons and Dragons group. I find that this idea is original and not often, if ever, used. This story will be a time travel fic. There aren't many Percy Jackson time travel fics. In Percy Jackson he is either born in an earlier time or he is immortal and lives a long ways into the future. This way my story will be different. This chapter is a lot shorter than most will be. After all, it is a prologue and only meant to answer some of the questions readers will have. Also, this is based off of the TV show. I have no knowledge of the video game.
Chapter Word Count = 5,000+ words
Prologue
The day, appeared unlike any other, it was morbid and gloomy. The skies were dark and cloudy as if a storm was quickly approaching, and the dull gray rain clouds were floating above everyone high in the sky for all of the cities citizen's to see, as they woke.
Townsfolk who were just moments before asleep upon the gravel of the different roads, or plastered upon the hard cement on the various sidewalks of New York, and some who were even strewn about all across the thick green grass of small yards woke up confused about their current states. Most didn't pay it any heed, sure it was weird, but to be honest they lived in New York and stranger things had happened before. They couldn't seem to remember exactly what caused them to be in such a state, but most people just assumed that it had something to do with drinking and just went about their normal activities as if it were any other day, but even they seemed to notice that something was wrong, that something bad had occurred.
The day wasn't late, in fact to most of New York's population it would still seem early, after all to them the day didn't really get started until nighttime when clubs opened and parties started. It was only a few hours past noon, yet the sun was nowhere to be found out in the dull colored sky, as if it had taken a day off; Something that they all knew to be not just highly unlikely, but downright impossible.
Which caused a whole lot of confusion. The sun isn't always easily found, especially with more and more storm clouds brewing out in the sky. But New York was usually bright and sunny, they had their bad days just like everyone else but something just felt...off. The color of the sky made the time of day feel late, as if night was approaching. And it obviously wasn't at just past noon.
The city of New York, which was normally buzzing with everyday life, was unusually quiet and subdued. New York was a city known for being loud and obnoxious, seeing its citizens so quiet and withdrawn wasn't a very welcome sight at all.
And it was obviously affecting their moods as well. Nobody was smiling, nobody had a cheerful expression on their face, and if you were expecting someone to express some type of euphoria you would find yourself severely disappointed. The mortals couldn't pinpoint exactly why, but today they just didn't feel like joking around, or doing any type of celebrating. The people with stronger minds noticed the condition of the Empire State Building. It was now missing the majority of the higher floors, and several windows were broken and had fallen out of place. They wanted to investigate, figure out the cause, but found they couldn't. For some reason any time they got close they found themselves forgetting why they wanted to go up there, and eventually they just left with all of their questions unanswered.
What they didn't know was that the one man who had the answers to their questions was in the very same building that they wanted to gain entrance to. Because up on the 600th floor was what at one point could be considered the eighth wonder of the world. A once magnificently beautiful place known as mount Olympus in ruins. The palace known as Olympus was once grand, and marvelous. It had been constructed of large beautiful grey and white marble arches that were shaped like a humungous upside down lower case n's. The arches were like passageways to paradise, they led to different places throughout what could only be called a city, and they all were extremely beautiful. Some covered extremely large stairwells that allowed easy transportation throughout the palace; the rails that slid up and down the stairwells were carved gorgeously through the mahogany wood.
Small stories were depicted all throughout the rails telling the tales of the various heroes and gods. Epic stories were carved for the city's population to gaze upon whenever they wanted, and to teach valuable history lessons and morals for the population to learn and admire from. The floors were white marble and tile through and through, with hints of gold streaking across every now and again, adding a sense of diversity and contrast. The walls were full of large portraits and paintings.
The arches that were once thousands of feet high were now destroyed beyond repair, with no chance of anything being salvaged or fixed. Hundreds of bodies lay dead and scattered throughout the tattered ruins of what was once arguably the most beautiful place in the world. The bodies were all mangled beyond recognition, some of the deceased people were missing some of their limbs, and others had their faces so badly harmed that eyeballs were missing, some had noses ripped off. It was like an animal had been let loose and taken full advantage. The battle, no the war, had taken the lives of all, but one. Hundreds of demigods had all put their lives on the line to defend the gods and they all lost their lives because of it.
Death.
It was such a simple word. Such a simple meaning. "Death is but a part of life", is what most people would say. It is impossible to have one without the other. For death should always come after life, without death life is meaningless. You can't truly appreciate life if no-one experiences death.
It wasn't the gods fault that the demigods died, nor was it the demigods fault that the gods faded.
It wasn't really anybody's fault because it was fated that this would happen, after all. And if anybody was to blame it certainly wasn't the earth's sole survivor, one Perseus Jackson. You see Perseus Jackson isn't what one would call normal. He is in fact a demigod. A being with half-mortal, half-divine blood. And even then he was never considered normal. You see Perseus, or Percy as he liked to be called, was a son of one of the big three. The big three were the sons of the titan lord Kronos. There was Zeus, lord of the skies, Hades, lord of the dead, and Poseidon, lord of the sea.
These three brothers were considered to be the three strongest Olympian gods for good reason. They each swore on the river Styx not to have any more children after a prophecy was stated, saying that the next child of theirs could be the downfall of the gods. If you swear on the river Styx, a river in the underworld, and break that promise you die. It was something short, sweet, and simple. If you are joking about something, then don't swear on the river Styx. If you're serious then do it, you have nothing to lose. But for gods it's different. Because it's supposedly impossible for someone who is immortal to die, the child's life is affected. Since the children weren't the ones to swear they can't die, but the fates can make their lives miserable to try and make the gods see what their decisions can cause. One Perseus Jackson is the perfect example, because the life of the only half-blood son of Poseidon was, in a nutshell hell. Percy Jackson was the child of the great prophecy and despite putting forth his best effort the Olympians and titans faded during the battle, killing each other in the huge war. Demigods died as enemies killing each other in the war, but they didn't just kill, they decimated each other.
The only person left was hunched over in what used to be the Olympian throne room, and he was sobbing quietly to himself while trying not to lose it. Perseus Jackson had seen much, too much for someone who recently turned fifteen. His life had more downs than ups, more cons than pros, and he hated it. It just wasn't fair. Since he found out about the life his mother had tried to keep from him, Percy had been nearly killed over a hundred times in some of the most dangerous ways imaginable. Now, he hoped beyond hope that he could simply die. Just like all his friends. He hoped that he could leave this earth once and for all like the rest of his friends and family members.
Silently sobbing the son of Poseidon wished he was dead. All my friends, and family are dead. All my loved ones are gone. Annabeth, Nico, Thalia, Grover, mom, Paul, Poseidon, Rachel, Chiron, Connor, Travis, Katie, Will, Clarisse, Silena, Beckendorf, all dead. I'm all alone. He sadly thought to himself while holding his head in his hands. His eyes were puffy and red in despair over all the losses he had suffered, while his clothes were full of rips and cuts along with large amounts of blood. It wasn't his blood of course, he still had the curse of Achilles, it was the blood of his fallen comrades. Which in this case was a heck of a lot worse, much more devastating and downright saddening. You see as every demigod is born they inherit traits from their godly parent. They also inherit flaws, fatal flaws. Yes fatal, you see fatal flaws are for once exactly as they sound, fatal. Percy had the most devastating fatal flaw. He had the flaw of extreme loyalty, which meant he would always blame himself for any and everything bad that happened to his friends.
I can't believe all my friends and family are gone all because of the stupid titans. Not only did they kill everyone they got themselves killed and wiped out every demigod from humanity. I knew that Kronos would end up ruining everything. He thought to himself, his shoulders shaking in anger, while he clenched his wasn't simply being dramatic either, he was the lone life-form left on earth. The sole survivor. Percy was finally alone. He used to wonder what it would be like to be alone. Sometimes back in school he used to hope he could be just left alone. But now... he was finally alone and he hated it.
Alone.
He was finally alone. By himself, without a friend in sight.Percy knew what it felt like to be truly alone. When his parentage was discovered people steered clear of him out of fear, but he could still see them, talk to them. But now he couldn't. If he looked at them, they wouldn't move, and if he spoke to them they wouldn't knew that their wasn't a real way out of being alone either.
Or was their?
I can end all of this. Percy thought to himself while awkwardly staggering to his feet. His legs were numb from sitting on them for so long. He hadn't noticed earlier because of all the grief he was experiencing, but they were throbbing painfully. Something that made perfect sense to him, he had been fighting in a war for hours but in the end all of their efforts were fruitless. Olympus was destroyed, just like the prophecy said.
I don't have any reason to live. My friends and family are all dead. My mom... step-dad Paul. My best friends Nico,Thalia, and Grover. And Annabeth, my longest running friend next to Grover. Their all dead, so why shouldn't I join them? It would be easier. I don't want to be all alone.
These were the thoughts of the young son of Poseidon as he walked, limped really, across the throne room in search of something. He knew that it was there. Underneath the ruins and debris. He had to find it, so that he could end this. He was so determined to find it, to finally be free. There it was, underneath a rather large pile of debris. The scythe was laying under a lot of rubble and a few dead bodies. Percy gently moved the bodies aside, and pushed all the waste out of the way to grab it.
Percy thought about what he was about to do. Most would consider it stupid. After all he went through it just didn't seem right, to them. But To him it was the smartest choice, the best option. Living in a world alone was unappealing, frightening even. He lifted the golden scythe above his head trying to hold it high for a better angle. Percy pulled the scythe back and with great speed and accuracy and plunged the blade deep into his Achilles heel.
Agony. Pain. Despair.
These were the emotions and feelings running through the son of Poseidon's mind as the aftereffects of the swords running through his body.
The pain was unimaginable, excruciating even. It felt like Percy was literally burning on fire. He couldn't breathe at a normal pace and his breaths were coming out painfully. Every inch of him was sore. It felt like his very being, his very essence was being roasted alive. Agonizing, long-lasting pain. And the worse part about it? He could tell he wasn't dying. He had felt this type of pain before, and while it hurt like Hades, it wasn't him. It wasn't the Hades. No, this was different. It almost felt like how he had felt when he dipped in the river Styx and got the curse of Achilles. Which he had apparently lost, because there was no way he should be bleeding like he was. Percy closed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth together trying not to cry out. It felt like he was shadow traveling with Nico again. Like his body was traveling extremely fast, in no time it all. He could feel pain beyond imagination, but that wasn't all he felt. Percy felt like his body was a liquid and he was being squeezed through a tube of some kind when barely any of the liquid was left. Like he was being strained through some type of tube or something. He felt like his very existence was being squeezed through a tube. And then it was gone.
The pain wasn't gone but the straining was. He wasn't being pulled off anymore. And while the pain was still there it had dimmed slightly. He opened his eyes in wonder, hoping for some kind of clues as to why he wasn't dead. He found them, sort of. Opening his eyes Percy found that he was no longer on Olympus. He was in a room. A very big room it appeared. It was definitely larger than his cabin back at camp, and he hadn't ever felt that that was something to scoff at, compared to most. The room was white in color, large in space, and magnificent in everything. Percy knew that even his closest friend Annabeth would have problems designing such a room.
It was designed in an ancient castle sort of way. Large pillars around the wide bed, with stone floors, and a huge windows without curtains. Percy could tell that this didn't really matter since he was on what appeared to be a higher level of what he guessed was a castle or manor. The room had a nice sized oak bookshelf that was pushed against the wall in the corner. It was stacked with old books on it. Percy glanced at the title and was extremely confused by it. Half of these titles he had never heard; "Charms for the Light," "Advanced Potions Making", "Transfiguration and Conjuration", Defense against the Dark Arts Revised Edition." Charms? Potions? Am I in a child of Hecate's house?
Percy looked around and found nothing that appeared hostile, which allowed him to lower his guard slightly. He glanced around the room and something on the bed caught his eye, armor and it was beautiful, he saw that it was a large navy blue breastplate. He picked the armor up cautiously wondering why whoever or whatever was responsible for this would give him armor. Was he in danger? Were they planning something?
When he picked it up and nothing happened he guessed he was supposed to try it on. Reading the tag and seeing the size fit him perfectly Percy was starting to get suspicious. He putthe armor on one shoulder at a time and suddenly felt the familiar sensations of being squeezed through a tube. This time around he landed in a chair that was already pulled out for him, with a man looking dead at him.
The man had a power that radiated off of him with an ease that made Percy feel nervous. But it didn't appear to fit the man; he appeared to be too friendly for that. He was short, like very short. Percy had seen Star Wars before and the man reminded him of a younger Yoda, though anyone would be hard-pressed to call this man young. He was so old that his hair wasn't grey, it was white, or what little hair he had. He was completely bald on the top of his head and his hair really didn't start flowing until you looked low, like almost to his neck. He was dressed in a small red robe, that appeared to be made of a type of cotton.
The man smiled as if he could read Percy's thoughts and found them amusing. "Hello Perseus Jackson. I can imagine you are quite confused at the moment, and I am happy to tell you that after you leave here you will still have more questions than answers." His voice was soft yet firm, as if he was used to demanding attention when he spoke.
"Don't you mean I will have my questions answered?" Percy asked, curious about his response.
But the Yoda look alike just smiled.
"I've been told I do not give direst answers," he answered simply before deflecting the question. "I can assume that you have questions, mainly ones that go like this, "who am I, where are you, why aren't you dead, why are you here, and how did you transport from upstairs to the living room," he finished as he waved his hands and two chairs appeared, he sat in one and allowed Percy to sit in the other.
"So, where would you like to start?" He asked Percy kindly, like he hadn't a trouble in the world.
Percy not one to turn down questions immediately started firing. "Why aren't I dead? I stabbed myself right in my Achilles heel with Kronos's scythe! I don't understand how this is possible. And if you were the one who saved me I want to know why?!" He finished off in a rant, getting to his feet and pacing around the room in a brisk and upset manner while momentarily completely ignoring the sharp pain in his legs as he did it.
The unidentified man remained calm throughout. "Ah, an easy one. That question is simple to answer. You are not dead because I saved you, had I not you would have simply perished never to be seen or heard from again. I saved you because of the outcomes of your actions. Whenyou attempted to kill yourself to be united with your friends and family you didn't realize what you were doing. You see Hades was the last god to die…well fade rather, and as god of the underworld his domains faded with him, but they still exist. If he was like Apollo god of the sun his domain wouldn't fade they just simply wouldn't exist anymore since the sun was gone with the earth, but in Hades case his domains came to the void with him simply because while there are entrances to the the Underworld on earth it isn't directly linked to earth. When gods fade they go to the void, thus Hades and the rest of the gods are there. This means that all of the fallen demigods and earth's population are there as well. Just like the titans are in Tartarus."
Percy couldn't wait any longer. "So why did you save me? I could have been reunited with my friends and family. If we were all stuck in the void so what? It would have been better if we were still together." He said still not getting the bigger picture.
"That young demigod is what you don't get. Like I said, Hades faded last that night. Meaning when he died that was it. No-one else could get through to the void. If you had killed yourself that would have been that. When you attempted to kill yourself you would have suceeded, but you wouldn't have been with Hades and the others, no. Since you're still a demigod you would have ended up where the only other existing god was, Tartarus. I didn't stop you from going to be with your friends, I saved you from going to Tartarus with all the monsters you've killed the last four years by yourself."
That revelation hit Percy hard. He didn't know what to say anymore. He had planned on a screaming fit. Yelling and cursing the man who he now knew to be his savior. He wanted to argue but found he couldn't. Everything the stranger told him sounded completely true, if not a little bit far-fetched. And after that kind of revelation, what could you honestly say to someone who had saved you from such a fate? What could you tell them?
As if sensing his inner distress the man saved him from having to speak by continuing the now one-sided conversation. "First off, to answer your question about why Kronos' scythe didn't kill you, you forgot one thing. Kronos is the titan lord of time for a reason, his scythe embodies that power. His scythe is extremely powerful and the backlash that occurred after coming into contact with your Achilles heel would have sent you back into time all alone, along with being dead. I couldn't stop the time travel simply because that isn't in my job description. As to your question about where you are, well you are in the year 1980, in my own personal estate."
Percy digested this for a second before finally gathering what had been said. "Wait! I can't be in the year 1980! This is all wrong, none of this was supposed to happen!"
"Oh but you are in the year 1980. It's understandable, mishaps do happen. The power of an Achilles heel along with the scythe created a powerful burst of magic which has sent you back in time. Without my interference you would have likely been in the Tartarus of 1970, not knowing anything about the year and some of the monsters who were still around back then."
The short, albeit powerful unidentified man continued. "As to whom I am, well, my name is Dungeon Master…guarder and protector of the realm."
"Realm, what do you mean realm?"
The man chuckled slightly, "My, my… you do have a lot of questions. Percy blushed slightly in embarrassment, but the man didn't seem bothered.
"Well you don't think that you're still on earth do you? You have been transported here because well quite frankly we need your help."
"You need my help?" Percy asked. "I can feel the power radiating off of you, you're definitely stronger than I am, what could I do to help you? And where is here? And what do you mean by we, who else needs my help?"
"Think Perseus," he said interrupting the assault of questions, "you are a demigod, you should know better than everyone else what it's like for powerful beings. I cannot always interfere, even if I would like to."
"But what do you want me to do?"
"You are a warrior Perseus. No matter what has happened, you are a warrior and I know some teens that could use your help while traveling through this realm. They are trying to find a way home, and in this realm there are a lot of different portals to separate dimensions. You may be able to find a way to the void to be reunited with your friends and family if you travel with them."
Percy sighed heavily as he thought about the offer. It wasn't a bad idea, but he also wasn't sure he wanted to get involved. He knew that he wouldn't be able to sit by and watch something happen, but if he didn't know about it than it wasn't like he could feel bad. He thought about his friends and family, they would want him to try and help where he could.
And if traveling with these teens was going to get him back with them than why not do it, he could get to them faster with more people to help, and he wouldn't be lonely. Also, it was the best lead he had at the moment. It wasn't like he knew anything about this world.
Percy sighed again, he felt so helpless. It reminded him of the time when he found out he was a demigod; he was so confused and lost. But he had friends in Annabeth and Grover that helped him get through it.
Friends.
He now knew what he needed to do. Looking at the Dungeon Master he stood and held his hand out as a gesture of good faith, "I'll help the others travel and get home, as long as you try and help me get to the void as well."
The man smiled like he expected the answer all along, which he probably had, "Excellent!" He exclaimed hopping to his feet. "I shall send you on your way soon then. First you'll need to know a few things, there are monsters here, but they aren't like your monsters most of them aren't as powerful so you shouldn't have that much of a problem but the young ones you are to travel with often find themselves fighting off a dark fiend by the name of Venger. He is a force of evil like no other, he will be a major thorn in your side, but I urge you to try your best to save him from himself."
Percy was listening attentively, "What do you mean save him from himself?" He asked, the old man was right he would be leaving with a lot more questions than answers.
The man didn't answer and merely grinned at him, "Good luck sailor, and remember to follow the trail if you want to find the others." He said before swiping his hand across the room. Percy felt himself being moved and realized he was about to be transported away.
"Wait! What do you mean follow the trail? What trail are you talking about? And what do the children look like, how will I know when I've found them?" Percy's question went unanswered as he felt the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a tube, before he splashed into a river. He felt all the pains he had been experiencing heal from the contact with the water. When he stood from the water Percy felt a pressure in his pants pocket and looked down at what appeared to be a small indent. He reached inside his right pocket and was utterly shocked to find a pen. His pen! Riptide! But where did it come from? He smiled as he looked around at the various trees and the murky water.
This might not be so bad after all.
AN: So that was the prologue. I know some people will be confused about some things so I will explain them in this author's note. I said above that this is AU. I wasn't kidding. In this story the battle with Kronos wiped out humanity. Percy will have riptide because Dungeon Master gave it to him, other than that basically everything about the Earth that he knew will be gone. They probably won't get into any serious relationships since that isn't the focus of TV show, then again it could happen. I am sure that they will be paired up with different people, before they settle into committed relationships, just to test the water so to speak. Not sure who Percy will be paired with, could be Diana or Sheila, or it could be somebody outside of their little group…we'll see on that one. If you have a pairing in mind recommend it. I read all reviews, speaking of reviews don't forget to do that, so REVIEW, please.
Thanks for reading,
wielderofriptide