Percy groaned as he awoke. His head was pounding as if a thousand hammers were smashing into it at once— an unpleasant feeling, to say the least. With shaky feet, he rose and surveyed his surroundings.
The world about him was very dark. The first thing he noticed was that there were rotting black shapes adorning the ground at every angle. It would seem that since the Earth had died, all of the trees it gave fuel to had died along with it.
Percy groaned again and rubbed his head with his hand. It needed to be done. Piper, Jason and Leo were not stupid people, but it would take a special bout of idiocy to attempt to take on the Earth Mother head-on with only charmspeak and their powers.
Gaea had rebuffed their attempts easily, assuming her Godly form before they'd even had the slightest opportunity of putting her back to sleep. It was only Percy's action of swatting them aside with an especially well-timed hurricane that they'd managed to survive being in the presence of Gaea's true form.
If only he'd been able to create a tornado large enough to swat aside that collapsing Senate building… if only…
He let out a howl. It echoed through the land, and suddenly all of Percy's memories rushed back to him at once. Annabeth. Her lifeless eyes staring up at him, the feeling of weight, as if a thousand bullets had punctured his chest.
Silent tears streamed down his face. Why did it have to end like this? To end this way?
"It doesn't, you know."
Percy glanced up and his hand moved to grab his sword, but stopped as he saw the armor-clad goddess standing before him. Athena looked down upon him with something akin to sympathy.
"There is a way to fix all of this. To change the past and restore my daughter to life."
"What is it?" Percy croaked. "I'll do anything."
Athena only nodded before disappearing into the wind.
"I can help."
He snapped around, but didn't see anything of note around him. "Where are you? Show yourself!"
"As you wish"
The air crystalized and morphed into an utterly indescribable tall man. He looked utterly nondescript, with a flat face. The only anomaly was his eyes— they were a molten gold and seemed to move about as he spoke.
Instantly, Percy knew he was in the presence of a Primordial.
"I am Chronus, Primordial of Time" the being said. It waited, but Percy remained as he was.
"Interesting…" it muttered. "You refuse to bow."
"I do not bow to anybody. Not anymore." Percy said. "How can you help me?"
The Primordial looked at him with curious eyes. Percy felt vaguely unsettled by the intensity of the gaze.
"I have an offer to make you. I can send you back in time," Chronus said. "For a price, of course"
"Why would you help me?" Percy felt his jaw move before his brain could process what he was saying. "You have always been against us. You fought for Gaea!"
"I help you in the hope that you will create a better world for all of us" Chronus said. "Gaea's death brought about a world in which life no longer has roots. I do not wish to live in such a world."
Percy nodded. "Alright. Name your price."
"Your life" Chronus said simply.
Percy gazed up, wide-eyed in shock. "You can't be serious."
When Chronus made no reply, Percy sighed. "Very well. If that is the price, so be it.
"Then give me your hand" Chronus instructed. Percy raised one palm hesitantly, and the Primordial engulfed it in his large grip. He began chanting in harsh, bold tones, and almost immediately both Percy and Chronus began to glow a molten gold.
"Best of luck, young one" Chronus said. A tremendous force smashed at Percy very suddenly from the left, and he felt his body disintegrate almost immediately from the impact.
The distinct feeling of free-falling filled his mind, and for a moment, he panicked. An invisible bubble collided with him, and he felt himself- his mind, more accurately- get pulled into the Space-Time continuum.
He had a distinct feeling of speed, as if his mind were being pulled to some point on the past- some point years ago at a speed too fast to comprehend- if speed was the right term for journeying through a vortex of nothingness.
After what seemed like an eternity, Percy could finally make out a white light at the end of this long and arduous flight through the tunnel. He swam eagerly toward it, hands and feet paddling desperately. The only thing protecting him from being ripped back to his time was the power's of Chronus; the primordial had provided him with a bubble of air powerful enough to rebuff any temporal attacks.
Now he felt the bubble disintegrating slowly. The brightness moved closer and closer until…"
"Argh!"
Percy fell upon his face on mud-streaked grass. He stretched his limbs and slowly stood.
He was in the small garden surrounding the beat-up apartment of his old home. Standing, he felt the strange feeling of being shrunk. He glanced down upon himself. His legs and arms were so tiny, so fragile!
"It can't be…" he muttered, but his voice seemed far squeakier than he remembered. He ran to the pool in the center of the vast garden and looked down.
He was 11 years old again. He'd retained his newfound features, but everything about him seemed to have shrunk and rounded. It was a strange feeling, akin to jamais vu.
He glanced up and saw the old apartment building looming above him. From the corner of his eye, he thought he could make out the thin form of his mother bustling about in one of the easternmost apartments.
"It worked…" he muttered. He snapped his fingers, and a small flame burst from his palm.
"It worked!" he said again.
There were so many things to do! Destroy the Titans, convert Luke…
"Percy!" a shrill voice shook him from his thoughts. He glanced up to see his mother waving at him. A strange feeling passed through him, something he hadn't felt in a long time.
It was happiness.
LINE BREAK
"Try not to do that anymore, okay?" Sally Jackson said. "You had me worried. What if a stranger came and whisked you away?"
Or, worse: what if a monster came and ate you? the woman thought. Internally, of course. She wouldn't want to frighten her little boy.
Percy simply beamed up at her.
"Don't worry, mother. I can take care of myself." Percy said. Sally frowned. "Percy…" she said uncertainly. "You never used to call me mother. Are you alright?"
He instantly chastised himself for the obvious mistake.
"Of course, mom! I was reading a book called Artemis Fowl, and in that book Artemis called his mom 'mother', so I thought it would be nice to call you 'mother' too!"
It was, for lack of a better world, a lame excuse, but Sally seemed to buy it. Her shoulders relaxed slightly.
"Tell me, Percy. What is your birthday?"
"August 18, mom. Did you forget or something?"
"No, no! I just… had to be sure." She said. Her eyes glazed over and she stared into space for a moment.
"Uh, mom?"
The words snapped her back to reality. She smiled a warm smile. Percy might've been fooled by it had he truly been 11 years old; but alas, he could make out the care-worn wrinkles and the haggard look haunting her eyes as she did.
"Run along now, Percy. Mommy needs to think about some things." she said.
Percy frowned but did as he was told.
It was a trip down memory lane to stroll down the corridors of his old home. Paintings adorning the walls, paintings that had been blasted away and destroyed when his parents had been assassinated… he pushed the image from his mind. That never happened- or at least that didn't happen. Not yet.
And if he had his way, it would never happen.
As soon as he was sure he was out of eyesight of his mother, Percy heaved a heavy sigh. Acting as an 11-year-old was tiresome. It meant pretending to have a mental block, and that meant maintaining a facade- and heaven knows he wasn't good at lying.
"I'm home! Somebody grab me a beer!"
The voice made Percy's blood run cold. Creeping slowly back down the hallway, he peered around the wall.
Gabe Ugliano, in all of his drunken idiocy, was sauntering about the kitchen as if he owned the place. As if.
He felt his fists clench in anger.
"Go away." he said slowly. "You're not worthy of my mother, you slimy piece of filth!"
Slowly and methodically, the older man turned his head. "What did you say to me?"
"You." Percy said. "Are a stupid idiot of a pig!"
Gabe's chest heaved up and down, and his face turned a dark beet-red.
"Are you looking for a beating, boy?" Gabe growled softly. He raised a hand.
He didn't get much farther than that.
Flame rose up in a wall, pushing him back and singing his arms and legs. Gabe screamed in agony as his face was seared by an impenetrable wall of molten rock.
Water raced up through the air and battered mercilessly at his face, beating him and smashing his forehead.
Percy leapt forth, his face set in a mask of rage. His hand transformed into that of a lion; with a feral scream, he slashed down with force worthy of the King of the Jungle.
Gabe's eyes opened wide. He opened his mouth and closed it twice, his hands flailing desperately.
With a jerk, Percy ripped his claw-hand from Gabe's stomach. Having nothing to steady him, Gabe's body fell to the floor, the life seeping from him in waves. Blood poured from his stomach to the floor. Percy spat on the body in disgust.
He snapped his fingers. Flame rose up from the floor, covering the body and burning it to ashes within seconds.
The sound of glass breaking shook Percy from his adrenaline-induced stupor. He turned to the sound and found Sally Jackson staring at him, her eyes wide and her mouth opening and closing. No words came out. At her feet, what had once been a vase laid in splinters, having being dropped from four feet.
"Please, mother! I can explain-" Percy said, his tone pleading.
No sooner had he uttered the words, his mother's eyes rolled to the back of her head. With a dulled thump, she fell to the floor.
Percy instantly rushed forward and pressed a finger against her neck. No pulse.
Her heart had been stopped by the sight of her son standing over the bloody remains of what had once been her husband.
She had literally been scared to death.
A/N Thanks to all of you who reviewed, favorited, and followed!
