Again by .Twix27

Rated 'T' for language and violence

Enjoy!

Dedicated to:

StarlitReader, who inspired me

percabeth777, who's just like me

And Cassie's Neighbor, the one who's stories made me want to become as wonderful an author as she is

PROLOGUE

Red.

Percy sees red before he even enters the throne room, and all he can think is how it's all happening too soon. Can't they have a single month of peace? Then the fear hits him - cold, hard, metallic fear.

Because Annabeth's lying on the floor, covered in blood.

.

Let us backtrack twenty minutes, though, when Percy's world is perfectly fine. Oddly undisturbed.

Percy's walking home from another day at school. School. The word sounds so normal and deliciously boring; sometimes Percy would say it out loud just to hear it roll off the tip of his tongue. (Ladies and gentlemen, that's called insanity.) He's got his hands shoved in his pockets of his hoodie, skateboarding down Lower East Side. He hasn't been attacked for over a week - if the incident with an unruly hell-hound and a drunken cyclops on his way to Sunday church counts, which it hardly does.

But when he gets the IM, he falls off his skateboard, ignoring it when it rolls away. Thalia's face is bone white, her expression grim. At that moment, Percy is reminded his life is in fact very far from normal. Thalia whispers a single, seemingly unimportant word, and Percy's world turns upside down and inside out. (Ladies and gentlemen, that's called fear.)

"Annabeth."

.

Now he's frozen ice cold and numb; standing there shocked. Only Annabeth's whimpers unfreeze him and send him hurtling back into reality. He's running.

Annabeth's got this gaping wound, bright red and bleeding. Slashes across her right shoulder and a scrape along her forehead. Percy's stomach pulls.

I will not cry.

"Annabeth." he chokes, just to hear the sound. They lock eyes, and she manages a shaky smile.

"I'm a little beat up, aren't I?" she says playfully, raising an eyebrow. At least her spirit's been left intact. "Don't look so worried. You need to lighten up, Seaweed Brain."

That brings a smile. But then she gasps (tries to hide it), and he's screaming for somebody to please help them.

He holds her hand.

"Annabeth, people are coming to help you, okay? Thalia went to go get help. Just stay calm. Don't panic—it'll just make things worse. Okay? Don't panic..."

She cuts him off. "Percy, I'm perfectly relaxed. I'll be fine, understand?"

They both know she's lying.

It's not until Apollo says even he can't possibly patch her up, though, that he breaks. Years from now, Olympians still report to have seen a figure crouched next to the fireplace, crying heartbroken, aching sobs.

Still, many write them off as just reports. Because after all, Western Civilization's great heroes never cry.

.

There's this offer. A ridiculous, out-of-this-world offer. The gods strongly disagree with it, but Percy knows.

Percy knows it's Annabeth's only chance.

~o~

There's a soft glowing, and the Queen of the Gods materializes from thin air; gold dust fluttering to the ground where she appears.

"I'd like to make a proposal of sorts."

Percy looks up from his place at Annabeth's side. The gods allowed her admittance into Mount Olympus' hospital - the stay wouldn't be long, after all.

"Yeah...?" Percy's hair keeps falling in front of his face, he hasn't taken a shower since Tuesday (his fault) and he feels like rolling over and dying. Hera's proposal better be a short one.

"I know..." Hera glances at Annabeth, making sure she's asleep. "I know how to save her." Percy's gaze snaps towards Hera, lightning fast. Oh gods please.

His voice comes out shaky, unsteady, much unlike the hero he's pretending to be. "What?"

"I knew you'd be curious."

.

"The Fates have wound everything so tightly together, it's almost impossible to change the past. It's much easier changing the future, isn't it?" Hera looks at Percy questioningly.

"Uh... yeah. I mean, I guess so." he manages.

"So wouldn't it be oh-so-much easier if I could send someone back in the past to eliminate whatever injured Annabeth so fatally today? Think about it, Percy. Did you even wonder what hurt your little girlfriend so bad?"

Percy's sick of this, because he's heard it a thousand times. Sometimes it feels like all of Olympus expects him to be The Hero, capital "T" capital "H" every day. But the truth is he can't be five jillion places at once.

"Hera, in case you haven't noticed, I was a little gods damn busy." Thunder rumbles throughout Olympus, but he doesn't take it back.

Hera just shakes her head, like he's a toddler whining over a lost toy.

"You see, the whole time you and your little friends have been roaming around on your various quests..." Hera goes on, fluttering her fingers like a butterfly. Only the Queen of the Gods can manage to look utterly bored and entranced at the same time.

Percy looks at her incredulously. "They were quests for your..."

Hera holds up her hand. "That whole time, dark forces were rising, forces maybe even darker than Kronos himself. But we gods, I'll admit, were so busy preventing Kronos from taking control; we didn't notice the matter at hand. Percy, as you may or may not have noticed, the koblos are rising."

Silence. Annabeth murmurs in her sleep, face scrunched up in pain. (It should have been me.)

"The... koblas?"

"Koblos. An ancient people who used to roam freely during Kronos' reign. The sly, distorting creatures even the great Adelphos couldn't defeat." Hera answers, a smile playing on her lips.

"Who's Adelphos?"

"Exactly."

Percy gulps, running his hand through his hair.

"They are deceitful, clever spirits and monsters that see into your soul. They are wired to read your mind, know your fears, thoughts, hopes, and dreams. And they use them against you. See, they aren't a brute force... their strength is hitting you where it hurts. Annabeth is only the first step."

More anger courses through Percy's veins. Why did it have to be her?

"How can I stop them?" Percy demands, fists clenched. "How do I save her?"

"Ah, not so fast little hero."

Hera narrowly avoids the spray of water sent in her direction.

"A little angry today, aren't we Perseus? I guess that's what the pain of loss will do to you."

Another shot, this time a little stronger, aimed more carefully. She's baiting you, Percy. Annabeth's voice is in his head, and he stops.

"Just tell me: what do I have to do?"

Hera purses her lips. "You never were patient then, were you?" Percy scowls in response. "The basis of the problem is the past. What we should have done. Go back in the past and stop the Koblos from rising in the first place, and Annabeth will be saved."

.

"You know the rules, right?" A curt nod. "There's no turning back after you... agree with the terms." Another one. " And you do recall you won't have any memories of Annabeth, or the quest you've been sent on, right?" A hesitation.

"Hera, how will I know? How will I know to look for the Koblos, to defeat them, if I don't remember this at all?"

Hera opens her hand, and a glowing grey orb flickers to life just above her palm. Before Percy can react, she flings it at him.

"Hey, watch that!" Percy ducks but not fast enough, and it hits him right below the hollow of his throat. He braces for the pain, but none comes.

Looking down, a faintly glowing, grey crystal hangs from a leather cord around his neck. His camp necklace is gone.

Hera brushes off her hands, satisfied. "This will guide you. Do not lose it."

"And I'm supposed to remember this... how?"

"Just. Don't."

A nod.

"Hera...? I just... why do you care? Why are you helping me, I mean. Besides the whole Koblos rising thing—I thought Annabeth was your enemy. Why are you helping her now?"

Hera sniffs, as if insulted by the suggestion that she'd ever help Annabeth. "I don't care the slightest for the daughter of Athena. Let's just say... she's needed, for something in the future. Something important."

Percy nods, stealing his courage.

"Alright, my hero. I wish you the best of luck."

.

The world sways, and Mount Olympus, Annabeth, and Hera, the majestic queen of the gods, fades.

A/N: And that concludes my first chapter written in the history of the world! It's really short, but it's meant to be a prologue. Things are probably confusing right now, but they'll play out, promise.

Percy's going back in time to prevent the koblos from rising. (they'll be explained in more detail later: who leads them, why, etc.) He'll be introduced to Annabeth (again) and notice… something's up. Something's definitely not right.

Feel free to review and tell me your thoughts! I appreciate every little word! :)

~Selena