Summary: There's a story for everyone. For every scenario and lesson that you want to get across. This story is one of madness. This story is the story before the story that goes into the story that everyone doesn't know.
Percy Jackson had a long fall from the hero he used to be. Especially when the gods banish him to a place full of death, decay, blood, and insanity. It's also not supposed to be real. It's Wonderland. Alice's Wonderland. Except before Alice. And not a hundred percent whole. Or sane. And nothing like it was made out to be.
As Percy tries to fight and live in an apocolyptic Wonderland, he gains the name Cheshire for his grin. And because it was the only thing he could think of. And he's going sword happy. He's also going crazy but that's not really important.
The people of Wonderland are ruled by the Queen of Hearts, tortured extensively by the Mad Hatter, addicted to drugs given to them by a blue catapillar, and are given a specific time to die by the universe that makes a specific serial killer rabbit really jumpy. Percy- or Cheshire- meets all of these people.
Percy's life in Wonderland is started with threats by those who want him dead. The Queen of Hearts especially. In this before tale of the tale, I will tell you the story of The Cheshire Cat. Or Percy Jackson, as he used to be called.
Chapter One:
He was falling. The space of the hole he was falling through was filled with clocks and other items- Nope. No no no. This is all wrong.
Deciding on how to tell you the story is hard. Deciding on which story to tell you is harder. I could tell you the regular one where Percy Jackson found out he was a demigod. I could tell you the one where he was kidnapped by a goddess that had issues with his girlfriend. I could even tell you the story about Apollo.
But I don't want to. I want to tell you something with fighting, bloodshed, and insanity. And what a perfect story I found. This is the literal fall of Percy Jackson. Not the fall into Tartarus or even a second one. This is about a banishment into a world thought not to exist.
The Before Start really isn't important. Not when I have the actual start that makes the Before Start unimportant and unneeded. Well, irrelevant anyways. Though it is part of the story...
Alright, I'll give you a short summary about what happened: Annabeth cheated on Percy with a girl cause she actually gay and used him for fame though that has nothing to do with the story that comes up. There, that sums it up nicely. With a bow on top. And maybe some cherries... I hate cherries.
Moving on, Percy ends up in the throne room of Olympus because of some bad decisions like a Jack in the Crack burrito and getting involved with a gang. In an accident, Percy causes the death of an innocent but that's a completely different story.
The point is: Percy's sent somewhere as punishment until the gods deem he had enough. Hehehe. That's a fun part of the story. But I still have some ways to go before we get to the part. No matter how fun it is.
Let's start there. The throne room of Olympus was large and white, like the guy who sat in the head throne giving Percy a narrowed stare. Zeus, King of the gods and god of the sky, sat on his throne silently as everyone around him yelled and argued with one another.
The throne room was filled to the brim with the fourteen Olympians. Hestia and Hades still looked a little uncomfortable with the fact that they were sitting on a throne as part of the council. The thrones themselves were huge and decorated to match their personality. Like for Poseidon his was beach chair with a fishing pole on the side. Though if he ate the fish he caught wouldn't it be considered cannibalism?
Percy and Zeus stared at each other without paying attention to the others. They seemed to be having a silent conversation without words. Finally after what felt like years, Zeus slammed his master bolt against the marble floor to silence everyone.
"Enough," he said hardly. "I have decided that Perseus should be punished for his crimes. A hero is meant to protect mortals not kill them. So as punishment Perseus. You will be banished from Camp Half-Blood until the gods deem fit."
Both Poseidon and Hestia roared their disagreement but Percy silenced them with a look. "I accept," Percy said. "Where do I go?" Zeus took his time to think about it until a perfectly crazy idea popped into his head. Even though I'm pretty sure I'm crazy, this wouldn't have been my first idea. Possibly. I don't know what I would have done in that situation.
"A place where I could monitor you at any given time..." Zeus's eyes were lit with something Percy couldn't decipher but thought it was intrigue. "Athena, could I speak to you for a moment?" Athena nodded and stood and walked over to her father.
He whispered in her ear and she nodded as he did so. Suddenly she reared back and gasped in an overly dramatic manner. The other gods leaned forward wanting to know what the two were planning.
"That... That could work father," she said slowly. "Are you sure though? The... Yes father. I understand." Athena became quiet and walked back to her comfortable reading chair throne. She sat down and stared at Percy long and hard for a minute. Then she turned to her father and said, "Yes. It would work."
"Excellent,"" Zeus grinned.
"What are you planning to do with my son?" Poseidon asked his brother. His Trident was being twirled nervously in his fingers, it's brass glinting in the light of the throne room. "Tell me."
"I have decided to send Perseus to Alice's domain." Silence reigned for more minutes than Percy could count. It was five minutes. Only Percy seemed immune to the stuffing atmosphere that took over the room.
"Who's Alice?" Percy asked. Zeus shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of twelve Olympian gods. Zeus quickly turned his attention to the demigod.
"That is unimportant," he said stiffly. "What does matter is her domain. Her domain is a mirror world. Though very unlike this one, her world is right next to this one. And with the right tools we will be able to see you and transport you to and fro the world."
"What am I supposed to do there?" Percy asked. His only answer was a shrug from the king of the gods.
"There are a few conditions of course." Percy nodded expecting something like that. "You are to be stripped of your powers and weapons." It was the bluntness of the statement that caught Percy off guard. Poseidon looked ready to argue but Percy shut the sea god down himself.
"I accept," Percy said before Poseidon could argue Percy's defence, whatever that may be... "I used these powers irresponsibly and I accept the consequences."
Many of the gods nodded appreciatedly with looks like, Oh my lord he's such an adult. Poseidon smiled warmly knowing none of the horrors that his son would face in Alice's domain. And the horrors he would do there.
"Athena, could you open the portal?" Zeus asked. She nodded her head.
"Of course," she said. "Please give me a moment to collect the materials." Zeus nodded his agreement and Athena pulled a book from the air. It was large and leather bound. Looked beyond old. Too old to be a simple book.
As Athena read the book she waved her hand periodically to form random objects; a watch, a large hand mirror, a tea cup, and a deck of cards. Percy stared at the items and felt a tickling in the back of his mind. There was something familiar about those items.
Athena levitated the objects to the float an inch off the throne room floor and had them spin in a slow counter clockwise circle. Percy watched as a hole appeared in the middle of the circle. It was deep and dark and couldn't help but remind him of Tartarus. The only difference is that it was as small as a rabbit hole.
Later on Percy would physically kick himself for not putting the pieces together earlier. He would curse himself repeatedly and then go fight someone with a grin. But again, I'm getting ahead of the story.
Percy edged to the hole while trying to see what was down it. There was a light somewhere down there but Percy couldn't see where it was. Like he could only sense it was there.
"What now?" He asked Zeus.
"Now we take your powers," the king answered. "Poseidon would you do this for both your son and I?" Poseidon may not have liked it but he did so without further argument. He said a few words in Ancient Greek and a light green aura of power surrounded the demigod. It swirled and then dulled. The color went from a sea green to an acid green then to a grayish color. It started to get less intense until it was like it wasn't like there at all.
"I couldn't take all of it," Poseidon told them. "No matter what, he is still my son and the sea will always be with him." Zeus nodded having no problem with this.
"Any god that wishes to say their goodbyes do so now," Zeus ordered. Poseidon, Hestia, Hades, Artemis, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Hermes were the only gods to say goodbye.
Poseidon have Percy a hug that rivaled Tyson's. It was short and brief but it was enough to make Percy feel as though his decision was the right one. If only he knew...
Hestia came up next and hugged him tightly in her little eight year old form. "Be careful," she whispered in his ear. "Alice's domain isn't what it might seem. Everything happens for a reason." Percy nodded into her hug and she let go and left without looking back at him.
Hades was next. He clamped a hand on Percy's shoulder and didn't say a word. His eyes spoke volumes. He shook his head sadly and left. Artemis hugged him. With wide and terrified eyes he gently patted her back while severely confused on why women were the way they were. She also left without looking at him.
Apollo have him wink and a pat on the shoulder. I seriously think that guy is secretly gay. Percy thought that too. Aphrodite gave him a hug while also secretly assaulting him. This time he didn't seem to mind it. Whoever Alice was, Percy was pretty sure she wouldn't be treating him like this.
Hermes gave him a hug and a piece of advice. "Try not to step on any toes. And Hearts are the difference between life and death." Percy wanted to ask what he meant but Hermes didn't bother explaining as he was already out the throne room door.
The rest of the Olympians sat staring at him. The hole was still small but slightly bigger than it was a few minutes ago. The objects were spinning in a faster circle and it looked like the hole itself was spinning without disturbing the marble floor around it.
"Jump down the hole," Zeus commanded. Percy took an uneasy step towards the whole. Apparently it was too slow for Ares because he jumped off his throne and pushed Percy down. The objects feel down with him and somehow fell faster than he did.
Percy screamed his head off the first thirty seconds of falling. It turned into a yell you do to entertain little brats at a Halloween party and then just descended into silence. Percy didn't know it then, but that would the last time he would be truly alone. The last time his mind would be empty and not filled with voices.
The light was coming from the tunnel itself and it changed continuously. It was like going through slides in a kaleidoscope without the warping of vision. Though falling through a kaleidoscope would hurt considering all the glass.
Though funny enough, glass is exactly what Percy hit. Not noticing the mirror coming at him, Percy swung his hand out and it hit the mirror. Instantly, it shattered. Glass pieces of Percy's reflection bounced around the hole, ricocheting off the walls without any friction to stop them.
They were like bullets lines with razors. They wizzed by and cut Percy in perfectly jagged and parallel lines like the mirror it was. Broken pieces of the mirror hit the other objects causing them to spiral out of control.
The watch's hands which were still a second ago now spiraled out of control. Each hand was going a different direction faster than Percy could keep track given that he was paying attention to the teacup that started spilling tea he didn't even know was in there. The pack of playing cards opened and fifty four Las Vegas casino cards flew out into the hole.
The cards flew around Percy dangerously. Hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds were all flying around him. Then came the Jack of Spades. The face on the card was obscured by a piece of mirror small enough to fit on the card but big enough to let Percy see his face.
What happened next is an anomaly even I don't understand. The mirror melted into the card to show Percy's face on it. As Percy stared at it, the color of the tunnel started to change. Percy started to change. His green eyes got greener, his hair tinged purple, and his shard wounds from the mirror healed and turned dark. The card that was in front of Percy's face fluttered down to his left arm and phased into it. It was gone completely with only a black left on his wrist.
The hole was getting narrower by the second. By the time that other stuff happened, the hole was brushing Percy's shoulders and he could finally see the opening. It was a bright blue that blinded Percy's ability to see past it. But it was close, rapidly approaching, and getting smaller by the second.
It was just closing when Percy reached it. In fact, it just closed when Percy reached it. But as he landed where the hole was a moment ago, it ripped like paper and Percy fell through it... Into the open sky of blue. Bright blue and green clouds parted Percy by as he picked up speed.
The ground was coming up fast and clear. Percy was panicking. Obviously. Screaming like the child he felt like in that moment, he closed his eyes. He was sure he was going to die like anyone would when they fall from five thousand feet in the air.
Except Percy didn't go splat even though it would have been fun to see or hear. When he opened his eyes he wasn't a grease stain on whatever surface would have awaited him. Instead, he was safely lieing down on a cobblestone road in the middle of what was presumably nowhere.
At least he thought it was nowhere until he was shot in the right thigh by an arrow. Percy yelled in pain and clutched his thigh. There were a lot of things he expected. This was not one of them. Not yet.
The arrow stuck in his jeans with blood pooling and staining the fabric around it. Percy didn't pay attention to the pain as he was busy scanning the area around him for the shooter. The area around him were only woods with a really high acid factor. The trunks were red and the leaves were yellow. The grass was blue and the cobblestone beneath him was tinted green. Even Percy's own blood was a different color: black.
Percy didn't have to keep looking for long. At the edge of the woods came a guy in red armor with skin as skin as pale as paper. He had a crossbow strapped to his back and a steel short sword in his left hand. The blade was a good one. It's craftsmanship was amazing. It was s smooth and slender blade that meet a silver and red grip with a red heart at the end.
At that moment, Percy couldn't remember what Apollo had said about hearts. He really needed to work on his memory. The man didn't speak but rather waited for something. Taking a chance, Percy gripped the arrow and ripped it out. It was a good thing it wasn't serrated because it hurt like hell. The shaft of the arrow was red just like the trees. The arrow head was made of stone but it was just normal stone.
The guy didn't move so Percy took another chance and stood up. His body was screaming at him to sit the fuck down so he wouldn't bleed to death. But as usual, he didn't listen.
"Why did you shoot me?" Percy demanded. The shooter remained stoic and silent. "Can you at least tell me where the hell I am?" This time the guy did answer.
"You are in the Queen's kingdom," he answered like the dock he probably was. "In her woods that are restricted to all Wonderlanders."
In his defense, it would be a little absurd to suddenly hear that Wonderland was real. Sadly, Percy didn't catch the whole 'Wonderlander' thing so he didn't put one and one and two together.
"Is that why you shot me? Because I was in the Queen's woods?" Percy asked incredulously. Now, I'm not a mind reader or anything like that but I'm pretty sure he was thinking: Is that a queen declaration or something?
The guard- let's call him Jerry. He seems like a asshole anyways. So Jerry nods and Percy stares at him, wondering why the hell that would be the first thing for them to do.
"I'm not even going to comment on how fucked up that is," he muttered. "Look, before I bleed out and die thanks to you, can you tell me where Alice is?"
The effect was immediate. Jerry the Asshole's eyes widened and he takes a wild swing at Percy. Seeing it, Percy ducks only to find he's four feet back from where he stood. Jerry- that fucking dick- looks just as surprised as Percy does. Unsure of anything, Percy takes a step forward only to end up behind the sword swinging, arrow shooting, son of a bitch.
The two stare at each other before Percy has to dodge another slash from Jerry's sword. The sword strike was a head slash. When Percy dodged he found himself in a tree on a branch. To say he was confused would be a severe understatement on your part. Or you're just stupid.
'What the hell is happening!' Did I also mention he was freaking out?
There was no indication that he was going anywhere. One second he's on a cobblestone road and the next he's on a branch. The moment Percy tried to move, he was suddenly somewhere else. It was like teleporting without any of the effects they had in movies and TV.
Jerry seemed to have enough so he brought out his crossbow. Seeing it, Percy made to hide behind the tree he was on to find himself in a completely different tree two yards away. An arrow wizzed by and Percy tried to move again, ending up further away.
The next time he moved, he slammed into the trunk of a taller tree and fell from twenty feet in the air. He didn't move to get up when he landed on the ground.
"You're pretty fast," a woman's voice said to him. Percy nearly flew out of his skin but only ended up ten feet in the air. "Scratch that. You're really fast."
Trying not to move that much, Percy looked over to see a small fourteen year old girl with white hair and great clothes. Her shirt was more of a smock than a shirt. Her pants were like those for painters. You know. The ones with the scrunchy bottoms? Those ones. Except gray.
The painter chick had white skin too. It was pale. Even if it was compared to a two hundred pound gamer who lives in his parents' basement. Her irises were pink.
Oh dear God Percy is stupid. Or is it unobservant? Either way he isn't getting it. Has he even read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland? Probably not... What about the movie...
Never mind. Back to the story. The girl had around twelve watches on her. Five on her arm, six on the other, and on a chain around her neck. They were all different watches though. Rolexes, digitals, even stopwatches. The one around her neck was gold and had a cover to hide the watches hands.
"Who are you?" Percy asked. He wanted to remain at that spot. That one spot. He moved carefully and slowly. Almost methodically. To his great relief, he did remain rooted next to the girl that appeared out of nowhere and had a thing for watches.
The girl glanced at one of the watches and grumbled. "Well since you're new and you're time isn't here yet, I suppose I could tell you." She gave Percy a sweeping bow that caused her hair to fall off her shoulders. "People call me Rabbit. Let me be the first to welcome you to Wonderland."
How did you guys like it? Give me some comments please!