Disclaimer: Rick is such a wonderful author-I love his writing.

I, honest to god, have no idea what I'm doing. Here I present to you my second fic, and hopefully it isn't that bad. I have no beta reader or anything, and I've looked over it . . . once . . . things should be fine. Enjoy :D

Percy Jackson doesn't know how he got here. There in front of him was a lake, but it was too dark to see whether the water was crystal clear or murky and dirty. The waxing moon shone in the night sky, but the sky wasn't by any means clear. Dark storm clouds, Zeus's doing, was gathering over Camp Half-Blood, as well as the entire East Coast of the United States.

The Gods were fighting, not amongst each other, but all together against a much stronger evil, Typhon, who had escaped Mount Saint Helens . . . . because of Percy. Well, at least Zeus was fighting, along with several of his children. Hades was unwilling to fight, and Poseidon, Percy's father, was defending his own kingdom against Oceanus.

Percy winced as a large thunderbolt stuck overhead, omitting deafening cracks and booms. He was also in the middle of the war, so he should be helping Annabeth and Chiron plan their next move, rather than sneaking off in the middle of the night. Grover was . . . somewhere doing satyr things. Nothing but his own rational mind could have stopped Percy from coming out here. Too bad his curiousity got the best of him. Too bad he was part human.

"What's this supposed to prove anyway," Percy mumbled under his breath, kicking a completely innocent pebble across the dark forest floor.

I'm just showing you how ruthless your Olympian Gods can be. They have no time to mourn when in war. Even if it is his own child who has passed, a cold voice scraped against Percy's spine.

Oh right. Kronos had somehow convinced Percy to test the Gods in desperate times. Not that Percy had believed that nonsense. Kronos wanted Percy to kill himself by 'dying in the best way', to prove his point. Percy concluded, from the lake and the isolation, that Kronos' idea of the 'best way to die' for Percy was either in battle ("Boring and too honorable", Kronos had said) or to somehow drown. He only came out here to prove Kronos wrong.

"I'm the son of Poseidon. I can't drown even if I wanted to," Percy protested.

Nonsense, the Titan retorted. Anyone can die, mortal or immortal. Especially you. Actually, the possibility of a hero dying is very high. Or did they not tell you that either?

"Shut up," Percy grunted out, but Kronos just chuckled as if he knew what was about to happen. Percy frowned.

The same exact brooding expression as your father, Kronos murmured. Percy knit his brows together, wanting to ask, "What in Hades does that mean?" but was cut off.

Kronos' tone turned dark. If you're fairly confident that you won't die, you shouldn't have any trouble doing this, young hero.

Percy swallowed and tried not to doubt his father too much.

Now, Perseus Jackson. A pause. Drown yourself. In the lake, Kronos spoke smoothly into his head. And Percy listened, like the thick-headed confident idiot he was.

Rather than jumping into the pond, Percy slowly lowered himself into it. He shivered as soon as his skin hit the icy water. He took one large breath of the night air and let himself sink down. He closed his eyes and tried relaxing and concentrating like he usually did when he stayed underwater to think. Percy's hair swayed above him as he sank. Was it just him or did his body feel a bit heavier than normal? Please father, Percy prayed as he neared the pond bed, don't let him be right.

It had only been a minute. A very short and vigorous minute, and Percy was already struggling.

Doesn't it burn, Jackson? Kronos whispered. Percy would have have shot a sarcastic comeback at him, but he was currently busy, continuing to hold his breath. Normally he could breathe even while in the water, but as of now, he was struggling to for a mere single minute. He could feel his lungs heaving struggling for oxygen.

I know what you're thinking. 'What if I take a deep breath in and it turns out I could have actually breathed in the water the whole time?' If you believe in your father that much, just do it. Or maybe you already know, young hero, that your abilities have subsided because of other more important things that are occurring, Kronos took the words right out of Percy's brain. Percy shook his head.

It had been two minutes, longer than a normal human could hold their breath, but not long enough to satisfy Percy.

His head was pounding now, the sound of blood pumping through his ears wasn't pleasant either, every cell in his body was screaming for oxygen. He kept fighting even though he felt as if his head would implode in on itself any moment.

The longest two minutes of your life, Perseus? Kronos's cold voice bloomed at the back of Percy's head. In fact, he'd just noticed that everything else besides the voice was burning. A hot wave of desperation had washed over him. Percy tried using the voice as an anchor, attempting to remember how cold the voice felt compared to the aching from the rest of his body. His lungs continued burning. Okay, Percy gasped for air in his mind, I'm wrong, my dad won't help, and I need some fucking oxygen right now.

By now, Percy had done the smart thing and began swimming upward. He kept kicking, but felt as if the distance to the surface was staying the same. He stretched his right hand upward, hoping somehow Annabeth or Poseidon was on the surface waiting for him, meeting his extended hand halfway. No one was there.

Percy proceeded to sink back down like like a heavy weighted rock. He thought about the irony of the situation; the son of Poseidon was drowning.

There was a dizziness, then a sense of anguish. Percy, in his last rational moments, thought, It's like someone's holding a gun to my head and telling me to pause my heartbeat. I need to . . . Dad, please hear me . . .

Blue and black specks danced across his vision as Percy clutched at his chest.

Crying underwater was like not crying at all. The saltwater from his eyes mixed with the brine of the ocean. He couldn't feel any tears on his cheeks, so Percy hadn't even realized he was tearing up until now. He blinked them away. Was it from the pain or from the fact that Poseidon really couldn't tell what was happening to his son? There was no 'Panic now, your son is dying!' alert. The water wouldn't listen to Percy as long as his father needed its strength to fight. No one knew he was gone. He hoped that he wouldn't bump into Nico or Hades down in the underworld. Boy, that would be embarrassing.

Percy couldn't focus and he couldn't breathe and-

Breathe, Perseus Jackson, a calm voice spoke to him. The calm voice seemed more logically sound than Percy was, so he listened to it.

And so, the son of Poseidon opened his mouth and took a deep breath.

Percy drank in all he could, water spilling into his lungs. What had once been his greatest ally was now the thing that would kill him. Why had he listened to Kronos? Because, he answered his own question, I didn't think water would kill me given my heritage. And I just wanted to prove Kronos wrong, which didn't turn out all that smart. You idiot, Percy's inner voice chided himself.

There was no air in all the water that had just rushed down his lungs. Everything felt blocked and he tried coughing the water out, only to find himself sucking more right back in and making the situation worse. Percy's body just shut down.

Small bubbles escaped his mouth and drifted to the surface. They were the only sign that Percy had been at the lake.

Drowning didn't physically hurt as much as he thought it would, but emotions, on the other hand, were a different story. They kept him alive.

Percy knew he was no longer awake, only barely conscious of the nothingness around him. The shock was rising now that he had actually drowned and the aching in his lungs had subsided.

He . . was dying. And nobody would know. His father wouldn't find out until Nico spotted his soul wandering in the Underworld or someone were to find his body at the bottom of this lake, the least likely place they would search.

Would Percy's father mourn him? No time during war, Percy's mind repeated what Kronos had said earlier.

As Percy thought this, he remembered all the times that he had prayed for help or guidance from Poseidon, and he got no answer. Percy had sat on the edge of the lake by Camp Half-Blood, legs submerged underwater most of the time. Sometimes he skipped stones. Sometimes he just sat and stared into the water. Sometimes he sat at the bottom. The only constant was his one way conversations between himself and Poseidon. At the end of each 'conversation', Percy always asked for a sign that Poseidon was listening. There never was one.

Shortly after discovering he had a cyclops half-brother, Percy and Annabeth went after the Princess Andromeda. Tyson had asked their father for transportation, and Poseidon had immediately sent a hippocampus to help them. Percy had felt a faint twinge of jealousy and immediately squashed the feeling. Poseidon had stated that Percy was his favorite son.

Or are you? How are you so sure that those words are true? Have you not seen Tyson, Triton, Polyphemus, Atlas, not to mention Theseus, and all the powerful things they've done? the voice planted a seed of doubt.

I've almost defeated you without my father's help, Percy shot back, his mind wondering what the outcome of the war would be like without him.

Despite his resistance, Percy knew that the words Kronos spoke had been only truth. Tyson had been invited to Poseidon's palace underground, and Triton had already been living there. Because Percy was the only known half-blood son of Poseidon, he was the only one Poseidon wasn't ever allowed contact with. No secret visits from his childhood, and no extra favor that seemed to come with the words 'favorite son'. The sea god could visit and talk and bond with any of his sons, except for Percy.

What about all the times Poseidon has assisted his other sons?

Percy tried shaking off the doubt. He felt Kronos probing through his thoughts and memories, like some prodding his shoulder over and over again. The invasion of his privacy washed a feeling of uncertainty and annoyance over him.

Ah, the daughter of Athena. Annabeth Chase? Kronos said, trying to provoke Percy.

What was the first thing she says every time she sees me? Was it . . . 'Luke?' For a daughter of Athena, she isn't very bright when it comes to people close to her. I mean, after 3 years of separation, she still has hope that 'Luke' will come back to her, and she doesn't take into consideration what she already has right next to her. Percy could imagine Kronos' eyes gleaming as he spoke.

Remember when we were in the labyrinth and you ran out of the room? She saw me and immediately called out 'Luke' even though-have you seen my eyes?-we are obviously different beings. She didn't bother checking for your health even though you'd just encountered a powerful Titan, mind me, and basically ignored everything around her. All this concern for Olympus' soon to be savior. Percy noted the sarcasm.

Didn't she yell at you right afterwards, claiming you wanted Luke to be guilty? Although the truth is the other way around, she wants Luke to be innocent. He's not exactly important in all this, Kronos stirred up some jealousy in Percy's heart.

Leave her out of this, Percy growled in his mind. Why wasn't Percy standing in a line full of dead and damned souls waiting to be judged by Minos?

But it seems to have an interesting effect on you, there was a sly tone in Kronos' voice. Percy blinked once and saw water for a split second.

He was just so frustrated with all his conflicting emotions, he wanted to punch a wall, but sadly there wasn't one.

Percy had clenched his fist-

Wait.

If he was unconscious and almost dead, how would he be able to do anything? It was almost as if everything had froze and Percy had just blinked and clenched his fist in slow motion.

His shot eyes opened, widening at the sudden drawn conclusion. Of course! The Titan Lord of Time was right here in his head. Why hadn't Percy figured it out earlier?

And this is why he's not a child of Athena.

By now, Percy knows for sure that no one is coming. He's just stuck in time, underwater with Kronos somehow poking around in his head.

You can burn all the food you want, pray as much as you want. They will never truly hear you or answer your pleas. No one will help you now. You're on your own. They can't interfere. After all, everything is based off of prophecy, Kronos spoke from experience.

The feeling of being awake and alive but not needing or being unable to breathe was making Percy extremely uncomfortable. This wasn't how life worked, and Percy hoped that Kronos would just save him or let him die soon.

Wake up, Perseus Jackson, Kronos crooned. You know I'm right. Percy stared blankly.

How was my second fic ever? I'm so frustrated from the election (i wrote this on the day of da US election, yes) but I just closed everything down and typed this out instead of watching it.