The minute Percy and Hestia stepped through the breach, a lightning bolt was shot at their heads. Luckily, Hestia was paying attention (admittedly Percy was not) and deflected it, leaving a rather large hole in a tapestry. Annabeth wouldn't be happy, but personally Percy was just glad that hole wasn't in his head.
"Brother, do try to contain yourself" Hestia scolded, crossing her arms in annoyance.
"Well, you shouldn't pop out with no warning. I thought you might be an intruder". That was about as close to an apology as you could get from Zeus. Hestia sent another glare towards her brother, then slowly strode to the center of the council room, practically dragging Percy with her. The last thing he wanted after that battle was to deal with the Olympian council, which usually was more like the Olympian nursery. However, Percy didn't think he had much of a choice.
"I enjoyed the Valdez kid's reaction much more. He nearly fainted when you threw lightning at this hair. Proper reaction to deities, that one". Ares slumped on his throne in disappointment, fingering his sword. "I like inspiring fear in young demigods".
Hephaestus coughed, drawing Percy's attention to him, "But he wasn't my son".
"Oh please, we have been over this. He looked exactly like your son. Even if he was older. Therefore, he was your son". Aphrodite complained, not even looking away from her mirror.
"Ummm, he's right" Percy interrupted, before things got out of hand, "That was Cisco Ramon. He is not Leo Valdez, but he is his doppelganger. From another Earth".
The entire Olympian council looked remarkably calm at the news that there were other earths. Ares and Zeus looked slightly disappointed, but that wasn't unusual. The majority of the council looked indifferent or relieved. Percy supposed they didn't want their favorite punching bag to up and disappear. Not unless they were doing the kidnapping.
Hades, who was making a rare appearance in the council room, cleared his throat. "Right. Well, that doesn't concern us".
"You knew that there were other Earths?" Percy questioned, "And someone from one of those earths came to kill demigods. No offense, but it really does concern us".
"Not anymore. The passage has been closed, sea spawn" Athena lazily fingered her spear, glaring at Percy.
"And to ensure the bridge remains closed, no one can know it exists". Zeus had taken control back now, addressing Percy directly. "The only people who know of the multiverse are in this room. And that is the way it must remain. Under no circumstances are you to tell anyone about this other Earth".
Percy stared at Zeus, confusion giving way to anger, "But how am I supposed to explain where I have been? What if not telling them places the camp in danger?"
"But son, Hestia has closed the breaches now. No one can cross onto our Earth. That is the way it has been for centuries, and that is the way it shall remain". Poseidon's brow creased in confusion, as if he couldn't understand why Percy would want to tell his friends about the multiverse.
"What if the Flash needs my help sometime?" Percy argued, knowing that he wasn't going to get anywhere, but needing to try anyways.
"Then his earth will have to deal with it". Poseidon gently chided his son, sending a concerned glance at his two brothers.
"I could always remove your memory of this experience. Then we wouldn't have to worry about him blabbering. The fact that he so easily told those mortals about our existence implies that he cannot be trusted when it comes to the multiverse". Hera glanced at Percy, as inspecting a prized cow gone rogue. "It worked to remove borders during the Second Giant War, it will work to keep them up now".
"No. No one is going anywhere near my memories". Percy firmly glared at Hera.
"You must understand Percy, the more people who know about the multiverse, the greater chance our protective barrier will be breached. As Annabeth and you have not shared the news of Egyptian or Norse demigods with the rest of the camps, this should be kept secret as well. Even from Annabeth. Her pride and intellect would not allow her to let this go. I do not want the effort expended to secure our world to be in vain". Hestia gently explained to Percy, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know that you don't like keeping secrets. But this is one time you must respect our wishes. We are united on this issue, young demigod. That is a rare and powerful thing".
Percy looked at the council as he processed the information. "Fine".
"No, swear it". Zeus glared at Percy, one hand on his master bolt.
"I will not speak of the multiverse or my time there unless given permission by the council. If the knowledge of the multiverse is revealed by internal or external forces, I will be released from my oath and free to speak. I swear this on the River Styx".
Thunder roared overhead as the deal was struck. Ares still looked like he wanted to spear him, but the rest of the council seemed satisfied. They began to talk amongst themselves, ignoring Percy once more. Poseidon gave him a smile and a nod: he was proud of his son. Percy acknowledged him, then turned back to Hestia.
"Thank you, Hestia. I do not know what I would have done without you".
She smiled, years of wisdom evident on her young face, strangely mixed with...guilt? "You are most welcome, son of Poseidon. But you are weary and still very injured. Rest now. I will get you home".
And for the first time in weeks, Percy relinquished his hold on the world willingly and fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.
When he woke, he was in a cot. He panicked briefly, thinking that he was back with Zoom in the storage facility. But his arms were not restrained. He could smell pine, strawberries, and lemon. Camp. He slowly cracked open his eyes, and saw Annabeth sleeping in a chair beside him, her frazzled hair surrounding her like a halo. He poked her, partially to make sure that she was real. She groaned and stretched, then started when she realized that he was awake. Percy gave her a lopsided grin, one that spoke of mischief and years of adventures.
"You drool when you sleep". Percy stated, playing with one of Annabeth's curls.
She laughed, grabbing his hand. "If you weren't injured, I would kill you. I believe I warned you that would happen if you disappeared on me again".
Percy rubbed his eyes, starting a bit when he saw a set of IV's attached to his arms. He instantly moved to pull them out, only to be stopped by Annabeth. "Stop, Percy. Those have been giving you fluids and nutrients, helping you heal. We already gave you too much ambrosia and nectar: any more and you could burn up".
Percy shrugged her off and ripped the IV's out of his arms. "I'm awake now. I can eat my calories. For example, I could eat about 20 cheeseburgers right now". He grinned, attempting to conceal his unease with humor.
Annabeth looked at him with concern, but thankfully let the incident go. She knew how much he hated the infirmary, and he hoped she would buy that thought. Because the true answer was one he couldn't give her.
"How did I get here?" Percy asked, though he thought he knew the answer. His suspicions were confirmed when Annabeth replied, "You appeared in the campfire with Hestia. She brought you here to get medical attention. You had quite the laundry list of injuries. Broken ribs, a plethora of contusions, lacerations, spinal damage, multiple partially healed concussions, and you were going into hypovolemic shock. You're lucky to be alive, Percy".
He thought about his time on Earth-1 and agreed readily, "Yeah, I am". He paused, looking Annabeth in the eyes, "Look, I am so sorry. I would have returned to camp if I could have, I wish I hadn't worried you. 2 weeks is a long time, especially after last winter..."
"Percy". Annabeth firmly interrupted him, the slight waver to her voice indicated something was wrong. "You were gone for 2 months. You appeared here a week ago and have been recovering ever since. I thought...I thought it was happening again".
Percy's heart raced, his head attempting to figure this out. He had only been on Earth-1 for a little more than 2 weeks, he was sure of that. Had Hera kept him on Olympus? Had she stole his memories again? And if she had kept him that long, how did he not succumb to his injuries during that time? He was going to kill that cow loving, two faced goddess of...
Then, he remembered the day he had left. It was noon on his earth, dark on Earth-1. His heart sank as he realized time must run differently between the two Earths. He lost time again, he left Annabeth again. He missed Christmas again. His poor mother, her son missing twice within the same year. He missed school, how was he going to get into college now, his plans with Annabeth, the only thing that kept him going through Tartarus, were in jeopardy all because of some stupid, speedy demon jerk face...
The heart rate monitor still clamped to his finger started to beep faster and faster. Annabeth's focus was split between the monitor and attempting to calm Percy down. "It's okay, you're back now. We are together. We are together again Percy". She crooned softly, not stopping until the heart rate monitor had returned to normal levels. She pulled his face against her shoulder, rocking gently back and forth as Percy caught his breath. "What happened?"
Percy had no idea what to tell her. How could he explain this? So he did the only thing he could, "I don't remember anything other than two weeks". Not a lie, allowed him to keep his oath.
Annabeth's retort was interrupted by the doors bursting open, revealing a very nervous Nico, Jason, Hazel, Piper, and Frank. Leo was there as well, but he was waving excitedly and his hair was on fire. It was surreal to see them all again, particularly Leo after spending time with his older doppleganger.
"Hey man! Welcome back to the land of the living!" Leo grinned manically at him, gesturing with a doodad of some sort. "I got you a present. Actually, it's kinda a present from all of us".
Percy looked at Annabeth warily, whose only response was to grin at him. Leo continued, either unaware or unconcerned with Percy's discomfort. "I give you, the PPS! Percy Positioning System. A state of the art tracker implanted in the subjects arm that allows his awesome and very concerned friends to know where he is if he ever disappears again". He gestured proudly at the monitor, which showed an icon of a fish in the infirmary. Percy glanced at his arm. He must have been really out of it to not notice a flaming elf implanting electronics in his arm.
Annabeth quickly snatched it from Leo. "Don't worry, Percy. Chiron will keep this. It is in case of emergency only, not to be used for pranking". She glared at Leo as she emphasized her last point. The demigod in question pouted, his plans for the rest of the weekend ruined. "And Leo messed with the electronics. The tracker won't attract any monsters. We tested it on him first".
Then, Will walked in and attended to Percy, checking his vitals and scolding him for pulling out the IVs. After a few minutes, he declared Percy in good health. "Just keep your wandering and life-threatening situations to a minimum for a while" he mentioned with a smile. "We are glad to have you back, Percy". He unplugged Percy from at least a dozen machines then grabbed Nico's hand, pulling the indignant Ghost King after him.
And Percy's life went back to normal as he sharpened swords in the armory, greeted campers, taught swordplay, and grabbed dinner with all his friends. He would head back to school with Annabeth once the weekend was over. It was overwhelming to think of all the makeup work he would have to do. As if he didn't have enough of that already. He would need to think up an excuse as to where he disappeared to this time and apologize profusely to his mother. Jason, Frank, and Hazel were returning to Camp Jupiter tomorrow, having rushed to Camp Half-Blood when Percy had been found. More like delivered, he thought ruefully.
After getting his dinner, he threw nearly all of it into the fire, whispering "Hestia. Thank you for getting me home. For protecting my home".
The flames roared briefly with warmth, soothing the demigod as he joined his friends. They asked a lot of questions and he did his best to give truthful but roundabout answers. He was abducted while trying to stop a monster. The monster thought that by taking a demigod's blood, he could enter the camp's border. It didn't work and Hestia found him, defeated the monster, and returned him to camp. He could tell they wanted more answers, but he knew he couldn't provide them, for the sake of his oath and for the protection of his people. Including the teams back on Earth-1.
And as the sun set over the trees and the campers sang "I Am My Own Great-Great-Great-Great Grandpa", Percy basked in the time with his friends and thought of all the new friends he gained. He was finally home.
A girl with a brown dress sat in the fire, tending the flames and watching the war-hardened demigod laugh and launch marshmallows at his friends. "I am sorry my child". She whispered to herself, "It is much harder to close a door than open it. This struggle far from over. And I have just placed you in the middle of it. Remember this, Percy, remember what you fight for. Because the multiverse isn't done with you yet".
AAANNNDD here we are. The end. Thank you to all who read, followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. It was an absolute blast to write, and was made even better by the loyal readers and reviewers. I am sure the question will come up, "is there going to be a sequel"? The end of this story certainly implies the their adventures will continue. As we all know, Zoom doesn't last much longer and there is a way for Percy to be free of his oath. The door to the multiverse isn't locked, merely closed. So yes, there will be a sequel. I am still working out the logistics. I know it will just be team Flash (I had a heck of a time juggling team Arrow in this story as well. So many characters!). But I know I definitely want the Heroes of Olympus to interact with the Flash and crew. So here is what I know so far about the sequel:
1. It will not be appearing instantly. I need a few weeks to gather my thoughts and plot bunnies. Plus, I thoroughly edit all my work before posting, which is why updates are slow sometimes. So stay tuned for when that drops. I will place a notice on this story when the currently untitled sequel is posted.
2. It will take place sometime after season 3 of the Flash. Because let's be honest, season 3 was kind of a bummer, and doesn't leave much room for any lighthearted escapades. And I have no interest in using Savitar as the villain.
3. This tale will include more characters from Percy Jackson, including but not limited to the 7 of prophecy and Nico (Because if there is no Oliver, we need someone grumpy to fill his shoes. And Nico is adorably grumpy).
4. No team Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, or Supergirl (because that would stretch my sanity as an author).
5. I am completely ignoring the Trials of Apollo series in these stories (in case you haven't noticed). I have only read the first book (and obviously I reintroduced Leo way before Rick does), and it is just too much to try to stay fairly canon for the Flash, Heroes of Olympus, AND Trials of Apollo. So I apologize to anyone who wanted those characters and plot lines to be incorporated.
6. No speedster villains. I promise. I, along with many Flash fans, could use a break from evil speedsters. The villain will be good, but something a bit more suited to a large team-up of skilled warriors. Perhaps I will draw inspiration from the anticipated season 4 villain.
Have any questions about this story? Have any suggestions for the sequel? PLEASE let me know. I always appreciate any input, questions, or constructive criticism. I would like to incorporate as many as your requests/ideas as possible.
If you liked this story, you may want to check out more Flash/Percy Jackson crossovers. Some of my personal favorites are:
Deluge by silverwolvesarecool - This is an all around great fic. Dialogue, pacing, and characters are on-point.
Where's the Starbucks? by RangerofOympus- A hilarious adventure with Percy, Annabeth, and the Flash crew. A quality read, not to mention super fun!
Flash Flood by silverwolvesarecool - A good Flash/Percy Jackson fic. In my humble opinion, the villain(s) leave a bit to be desired but it includes some characters that bring a different feel to the story. Characterization is good for the most part and the fast pace leaves you unable to stop reading!
