Disclaimer: Not mine.
Chapter 1 - Failure
Percy kept his eyes on the ground when he was being dragged off to see Kronos. Not out of fear, or subservience. No, he avoided looking at the Titans surrounding him because if he saw the faces of those that took everything from him, he'd try to kill them.
Atlas, walking to the left and a little in front, had led the massacre of the Hunters while Percy was Hyperion's prisoner. Hyperion, walking behind him, spent six months torturing Percy, and any other demigod who was unlucky enough to be captured. Iapetus holding Percy's right arm and walking level with him, had made it his mission to hunt down any demigod not in one of the well-defended bases of the Last Alliance. It didn't matter to Iapetus that most of the children he hunted were eight years old or less, or that most of them didn't even know they were demigods, or that a sizable portion were children of the minor gods, rather than the Olympians.
The Last Alliance, Percy mused bitterly. A pompous name for a bunch of war-torn survivors. They'd come together, worked together, fought together and died together, because it was the only way to avoid Kronos slaughtering them all.
At first it was just the demigods, the satyrs and Lady Hestia. Then Percy helped kill the small army Kronos sent to the Underworld, but not before Persephone was banished to Tartarus. Lord Hades joined after that. After the fall of Olympus, the Hunters had thought all the demigods were dead. Once they realised that some few had survived, they journeyed to Camp Half-Blood and joined the Alliance. The minor gods were betrayed by Kronos and those who managed to escape joined the Last Alliance. Triton had taken control of Poseidon's army after the Olympians were captured, and held the palace against Oceanus's army for three years, until they were finally overwhelmed and forced to retreat to Camp Half-Blood three years after the Fall of Olympus. Triton and the remnants of Poseidon's army also joined the Last Alliance. Ten years after the Fall of Olympus Percy landed on Ogygia and Calypso joined the Last Alliance. She was the last.
But that didn't matter now, Percy reflected sadly. They had lost. The members of the Last Alliance - the surviving members - were split between the Underworld and Ogygia, using them as strongholds that Kronos couldn't - or just couldn't be bothered to - crush. There was nothing left to be done, no battles they could fight and win. They had lost.
Finally, Percy was thrown down in a cavernous room, his footsteps echoing loudly as he stumbled along. Percy stifled a groan of pain as he hit the floor, pushing himself up and looking at the cause of so much suffering.
The Titan Lord Kronos sat on a great throne of cold, dark stone that seemed to suck all of the light and humour out of the room. He was dressed in Greek garments, and he had chosen to wear Luke's face. Percy gritted his teeth at the sight. How dare he? Luke had turned against him in the end, yet he still wore the heroes face as if to say, I win!
"Percy Jackson, the Leader of the resistance, my Lord, as you requested." Hyperion grovelled from behind Percy. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Requested. Riiight.
"Leave us." The Titan of Time said coldly.
"My Lord, our reward-" Hyperion said nervously but was cut off by Kronos.
"Your reward is me not killing you for letting Jackson escape in the first place, Hyperion. Atlas and Iapetus may have some small reward at a later date. Now leave." What little humour and goodwill there usually was in Kronos's voice had vanished, and the three Titans bowed low before beating a hasty retreat. The doors clanged ominously shut behind them.
Percy looked around, taking stock of the room and all it's occupants. The twelve Olympians were chained to the floor in a semicircle around the room, in the same order that their thrones used to be, if Percy remembered correctly. Zeus and Hera were chained to the floor on either side of Kronos, in the center of the twelve. Kronos was absently petting Hera's hair, as if she were a pet.
The chains that bound the gods, Percy noted, seemed to be made of the same material as Kronos's throne. Percy had the uneasy feeling that those chains were suppressing the gods powers somehow.
The gods themselves looked awful. All of them were bleeding and their clothes were little more than rags. Apollo was probably best off, and Zeus, Poseidon and Hermes definitely looked the worst. Percy guessed that Kronos took out his anger on the Olympians. Hermes because Luke betrayed him, Poseidon because Percy fought him, and Zeus because he used to be king of the gods. All had slumped shoulders, looking tired, defeated, hopeless. Broken.
Kronos regarded the Hero who stood defiantly before him. Percy Jackson was still a figure who defied any kind of authority, and had the strength to back up his disobedience. Despite fighting a hopeless war for thirteen years, despite watching friend after friend die around him, despite spending six months being tortured by Hyperion and, on occasion, Kronos himself, the demigod still found the will to stand tall and fight another hopeless battle.
Percy's hands were cuffed, blood leaking from his wrists where the sharp metal dug into his skin. Scars too numerous to count littered his body, some from torture, most from his many battles. Various small wounds, fairly recent, had broken open, leaving small traces of blood to make their way down Percy's body like red tears. The grey streak Percy acquired in his hair had turned a pure, brilliant white during his imprisonment, but his hair was now so filthy that the matted strands appeared black. Percy's clothing, like the gods, were little better than rags. When he looked at Kronos, though, his eyes were as bright as ever.
Percy's eyes were currently resting on the father he hadn't seen in thirteen years. Poseidon met his son's gaze and Percy knew he would be able to read the emotions there. Guilt, for not making the choice when he had the chance, resulting in the Fall of Olympus and for failing to save the gods in the years that followed; relief that they hadn't faded, even if it might be easier for them if they had; sadness and defeat, because Percy couldn't see a way out this time, he couldn't see a way to save them.
A ghost of a smile flitted over Poseidon's features and his eyes showed worry and ... pride? Percy couldn't dwell on that any longer, as Kronos's voice pulled him back to the present.
"Percy Jackson." He rolled the name over his tongue. "It's been a long time."
"Not long enough." Percy spat, glaring daggers at the immortal being.
Kronos tutted. "Now, now, Percy, is that any way to speak to your betters?"
Percy glowered for a moment before smiling disarmingly. "I wouldn't know." He said sweetly. "I've never met any."
Kronos stared in shocked disbelief for a moment before he threw his head back and laughed humourlessly. "You haven't changed at all, I see." He glared at Percy coldly. "And here I thought that wearing this face might remind you that I can't be beaten."
"Or that you can be beaten." Percy said quietly. "After all Luke beat you, if only for a little while."
A quiet gasp caught Percy's attention and he looked towards the sound. Hermes was looking at Percy, his expression stunned and his gaze hopeful. Percy felt his anger begin to rise at the sight. He turned back to Kronos and gave the Titan Lord his best death glare.
"You didn't tell him, did you? You didn't tell him about how Luke was almost the end of you, how a mere, mortal hero was able to hold you at bay." Anger made Percy's eyes darken like the sea before a storm.
"Luke betrayed you!" Kronos yelled.
"He made a mistake!" Percy roared. "And he paid for it with his life." Water swirled around him and the cuffs snapped.
"What does it matter? I won in the end." Kronos said.
"It matters. Don't you see? Luke took control of his body and asked my to give him the knife so he could stop you by killing himself. That was my choice, only I never got the chance to make it. One of the wind gods who was defending Olympus from the air got thrown through the roof of the throne room, the distraction was all you needed to take control again and burn up Luke's body so you couldn't be killed. We almost destroyed you, and we couldn't have done it without Luke. That's why it matters. He beat you, for his family."
Kronos snorted. "Family. As if that matters. My sons tossed me into Tartarus."
"You ate them!" Percy said exasperated.
"And look where that got me." Kronos spread his arms. "I've got everything I want."
"It got you in Tartarus for two thousand years." Percy muttered.
Kronos's eyes narrowed dangerously and he stopped time around the demigod. Before Percy could break free from Kronos's power, the Titan causally strolled over to Percy and backhanded him across the room. "You should learn respect." He rumbled.
Percy gasped harshly as he lay on the floor. His ribs definitely felt broken, and his left shoulder was dislocated. In the corner of his eye he saw Kronos summon his scythe and saunter towards him.
"Thirteen years. You spent thirteen years fighting me, and what do you have to show for it? Tell me Perseus, was it worth it?"
"Yes." Percy said quietly, his voice hoarse from pain. "It was worth it."
"Why? Why would you keep fighting as friend after friend dies around you." Kronos sounded like he actually cared about the answer.
"Because ... we had to try. We had to at least try to save innocents, and rescue gods. We had to try to make things ... the way they should have been."
"The way they should have been." Kronos snorted. "You led us here! You might not have made the choice, but you could have done something differently to save them all. Except you didn't." Kronos's voice went quieter here, gloating. "You failed."
"Maybe I did fail. Maybe I did get everything wrong. But I like to think that I learned from my mistakes. I certainly enjoyed blowing up your fortress when I left Hyperion's tender care." Percy said spitefully.
Kronos glared frostily at him before swinging his scythe over his head and straight down into Percy's stomach, the tip embedding itself in the floor. Percy's back arched in agony, but he stubbornly refused to scream.
"You haven't achieved anything, Perseus. You have thrown your friends lives," Kronos cruelly twisted the scythe, and Percy screamed as it sent waves of unimaginable pain through him. "Your life, away for nothing. Once Olympus fell, you were never going to win. You were only drawing out the inevitable." Kronos stopped twisting the scythe, and Percy shuddered.
"You haven't achieved anything, Percy Jackson." Kronos said, his face impassive. "In a hundred years, what will there be left of you? You might as well have never existed. Nothing will change. I will still rule, and everyone you care about will still be dead." Kronos twisted the scythe even further, and Percy screamed in agony again.
Kronos lifted the scythe free and the only sound in the room was Percy's harsh breaths as he tried to control the pain. His hands moved to cover the wound that was spilling his lifeblood on the floor. "You're going to die, Percy Jackson. You're going to die knowing that you've failed, that you can never win. And when you're gone, I'll attack the Underworld with my full might and crush them. I heard you and Triton get along nowadays. I think I'll give him to Hyperion, for old times sake." Kronos sat back down on his throne.
Percy ground his teeth together, feeling a tide of helpless anger rising in him. If he were capable of fighting right now, he could use the anger to attack Kronos, but he was too weak. He doubted he'd be able to stand, let alone fight. There was nothing he could do. Unless he ...
Percy's eyes slid closed and he mentally reached out for all the water in the vicinity. The moisture in the air, the pipes in the walls, and the sea inside him began to stir at his call. Triton never could work out how Percy still had his powers after Oceanus took control of the seas.
Water began to swirl around him. His clothes, such as they were, quickly became soaked and several of the small cuts on his body began to heal. Water washed away some of the grime from his hair, and the white streak shone.
"Jackson?" Kronos said, suddenly alert as he noticed power gathering. "What are you doing?"
Percy ignored him. Small waves lapped the space around him and droplets of water were suspended unnaturally above him, as though Percy's call meant more to the water than the laws of Natural Order, that even gods must abide by.
Kronos's eyes widened as he understood what the demigod was trying to do. "No! Jackson, STOP!" He yelled, but Percy seemed to be in a world of his own. The waves circling the Son of Poseidon got bigger and choppier, and the earth began to shake.
"Percy, I know how you can stop this from ever happening. I swear on the River Styx I'll help you change it all, just STOP!" Kronos yelled desperately.
Percy gave no outward sign that he'd even heard Kronos's rash promise, but the earth paused in it's shaking and the water held still, so still that it could have been glass, or ice. Kronos took that as permission to continue speaking.
"I'm the Lord of Time. When you die, I can stop your soul from going to Hade's realm and send it backwards instead, to when you first began to realise what you were. You'd still have all your knowledge and experience, you'd just look like a twelve-year-old. Because you'd be a different person in the past, the universes would split in order to avoid a paradox. You could save that world, and I would keep this one. Everyone wins."
"It wouldn't be the same." Percy said quietly.
"It would be, though." Kronos said excitedly. "That's the genius of it. It would be exactly as it was the first time round, except for you. Even that version of me wouldn't know that you'd been sent back."
"But you'll still rule this world." Percy insisted stubbornly.
"What does it matter? You'll be able to save the gods; and not just copies of them, either. That universe will be as real as this one, Percy. You'll just be able to protect it better."
"Perseus." A voice interceded. The ex-king of the gods had spoken, and Percy twisted his head around to look at the Lord of the Skies. To his surprise, he saw none of the arrogance, selfishness or pride that used to define Zeus. Even more shocking was that the emotions he expected to see - grief, pain, bitterness and regret - were also absent. The only emotions showing on Zeus's face was kindness, encouragement, sadness and ... forgiveness. Percy swallowed hard at the implications of that and averted his eyes. "You are leading the resistance in my absence, yes?" Percy met his eyes and nodded hesitantly.
"Then, as your superior I order you to accept this offer of my fathers'." Percy's eyes widened in disbelief and his mouth curled down at the corners. Before he could argue Zeus carried on speaking. "He swore on the Styx Perseus, he's telling the truth. There's nothing left for you here." Percy's jaw set stubbornly and Zeus internally sighed. Damn his nephew's disobedient streak, no matter how long it had kept the hero fighting.
Athena spoke up. "If you do go back Perseus, make sure my daughter survives." Percy stared at Athena helplessly and for the first time in years, Zeus felt a smile tug at his lips. Perseus wouldn't be able to resist going back in time now, his loyalty to his friends and the girl he loved was too strong. They really didn't give Athena enough credit, he mused. She could be downright manipulative when she wanted to be.
Percy sighed and nodded uncertainly. "I'll go."
Kronos started muttering in Ancient Greek under his breath as he made it possible for Percy to relive his life. Percy began to glow gold as Kronos invoked his power over time, and once he finished the odd light sank into Percy's skin. With a flick of his fingers he sent the demigod flying across the room, only to land painfully next to Poseidon.
"I estimate you have ten minutes before you die and your soul goes back in time." He smirked. "Enjoy your trip." He slipped out of the throne room quietly, whistling a merry tune under his breath.
Poseidon reached out gently and carefully pulled Percy into his lap, careful of his son's wound. Percy's eyes fluttered open and he tried to speak, the words coming out as a harsh whisper instead. "I'm sorry ... I couldn't save you. I should have done - something ..."
"It's okay." Poseidon whispered back. "It isn't your fault, you were interrupted before you could make the choice. The prophecy was never completed. You couldn't have known."
"Ignorance isn't an excuse. It was my Fate, my responsibility, and I somehow managed to screw it up." Percy insisted fiercely.
"Something happened that was never supposed to, that isn't your fault." Poseidon disagreed.
"It is my fault." Percy whispered brokenly. "All those lives are on me."
"No, they aren't." Poseidon said in a tone of voice that brooked no argument. "Percy, look at me." When Percy met his gaze, he continued talking. "I don't blame you for what happened. Don't look at me like that." Poseidon added, seeing the clear disbelief in his son's gaze. "It's the truth. I don't blame you, none of us do."
Percy saw the sincerity in Poseidon's words and his eyes softened a little. He nodded a little in acceptance and gasped in pain when the movement pulled on his wound. Percy's eyes slid shut, exhaustion and blood loss finally taking their toll.
Poseidon's heart skipped at seeing his son look so pale, so ... lifeless.
Knowing that his son would soon be gone forever, Poseidon reached out and stroked his son's face, the way you would a small child who needed comforting. Percy smiled softly at the father he no longer had the strength to see, reaching out blindly for Poseidon's hand, only to encounter the smooth cold of metal instead. Percy shuddered at the feel of the chains that bound the gods; they seemed to suck the energy, the life, out of everything they touched. To be chained in these for years ...
"What are these?" Percy asked softly, knowing Poseidon would understand what he meant.
"Chains designed to drain the majority of our power away. Keeps us too weak to fight against it." Poseidon said dully.
"But it can be fought?" Percy said, an idea ticking away at the back of his mind.
"Yes." Poseidon said. "What are you planning?"
"If I channelled all my power through the chains." Percy began, "As if I was about to blow this place up, could I break them?"
"Maybe." Poseidon said, heart in his throat. "But the effort will probably kill you."
Percy smiled crookedly up at Poseidon, opening his eyes with effort. "I don't think that's a problem. What about the other gods, if I shatter your chains?"
"They were all made at the same time, in the same fire, from the same metal. Think of the different chains as bees in a hive - parts of a whole. Only in this hive, you kill one, you kill all." Poseidon whispered.
Wrapping his right hand around the chains, Percy called on his powers for the second time that day. As he did so, his left hand plunged into a well-hidden pocket and pulled out a single drachma and a pre-written note, which he pressed into his father's hands. Poseidon's eyes widened and he hid the drachma and the note as best he could, in case Kronos returned unexpectedly.
Percy focused on the sea as he did whenever he controlled the water, but instead of pushing that power outwards to manipulate whatever water was nearby, he pushed it into his hands, both of which were now wrapped around the chain. The metal was cool in his hands, but the chain felt unpleasantly like it was wriggling to get away.
The son of Poseidon pulled more and more of the sea through him, until it felt like he was about to burn up from the sheer power of it. He could see he was glowing, even through closed eyelids. It was similar to the light when the gods teleport. He wondered if they were related, and then felt vaguely worried. He was only mortal, and that light incinerated mortals.
Percy felt the power in his hands, felt his control slipping, and pushed the power out as hard as he could, into the chains. FLA-BOOM, the might of the sea rushed out with the force of a tsunami, and just as destructive although concentrated on one specific thing.
Despite the sheer power that was being unleashed, Percy could feel the movement of the chains, could feel that they were still in a way, alive. Grimly determined to finally succeed, the demigod pushed everything he had into freeing the gods.
Poseidon watched the amount of power his son had managed to call and control with pride, and more than a little worry. Poseidon knew that Percy would go back when he died, but whether Percy was dead in the world or alive in another, the result was the same. He wouldn't be able to see his son again. Poseidon rested his hand over the slowing heart of his dying son.
A loud cracking noise split the air and they stared in disbelief and hope at the cracks spider webbing their way along the manacles. With a final sort of shattering sound, the once-ominous and life-sucking material broke apart forcefully, the pieces flying away like shrapnel. Very sharp shrapnel. Some dug into Poseidon, some shot up only to clatter harmlessly to the floor, but most burrowed into Percy. One sliced open an artery in his neck. All Percy was aware of was the chains cracking, then spots of pain as the shrapnel hit him, and finally the sensation of blood pouring out of his neck at an alarming rate before his heart finally stopped. His final thought went something along the lines of, 'Now who got the last laugh. Ha!'
Then he woke up somewhere - somewhen - entirely different.
This used to be two chapters, but the second was really short so I made it into one when I went back to get rid of a couple mistakes. Easier that way.
Enjoy, Shib. :)