Authors note:

Welp, after six months I'm back. Sorry about the long absence. I was building a new relationship and dealing with work and school stuff and things just began to pile up, along with a bad case of writer's block and sort of losing my muse for this story.

Anywho, I hope you guys enjoy. Remember, for everyone who revies with an account and an open PM I'll send you a clip from the next chapter.

Enjoy!

Percy Jackson and the Master of Magic

When Percy and Annabeth are asked to stop a monster by Reyna, they think it will be an easy last quest before retirement. But when the mission goes horribly wrong, Percy Jackson finds out just what kind of monster he could become.

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or its characters, Rick Riordan does.

Reminder: This story is AU as of The Burning Maze. In this AU, it's been two years, and the defeat of Nero, Commodus and Caligula will remain mysterious save for the fact that Percy and Annabeth participated in the defense of Camp Jupiter. I kinda wanna stick away from Trials of Apollo for the most part, since this is my thing.

Chapter 16: Juke Box Hero

…

Kronos, Ares and Hades stared at Aiethales in the distance. They were surrounded by the desert. The California droughts and fires had obviously been in the process of being healed until the Fall. Kronos imagined that the nature spirits had been attempting to heal the landscape before losing much of what remained of their power because of Alabaster's spell.

Kronos glared at Aiethales with distaste. The Titan Lord had never held any affinity for nature. He focused, and tried to teleport inside. He felt the rush of power, but he didn't move.

"You almost did it." Hades noticed.

"I imagine it is due to my human host." Kronos explained. "The warding has no effect on Perseus Jackson, but me, on the other hand..."

"It's time to use the boy." Ares said, sensing where Kronos was going with this.

...

It wasn't hard for Nico to get into Aiethales. Whatever warding that was blocking his father had no effect on him whatsoever.

Meg McCaffrey greeted him with her usual raspberry blowing. Also, for some reason, she kept throwing raisins at his ear.

"Hello, Nico." Apollo said. He was back in the persona of Lester Papadopoulos, albeit with less acne. "What can we do for you?"

"I thought you hated this form?" Nico asked, gesturing to Lester.

"Oh, I still do." Apollo confirmed. "I didn't pick it. When I fell, when I crash-landed, this was the appearance given to me. I feel like it's father trying to torture me from the grave. I had honestly hoped Ares wouldn't recognize me, but…"

Nico was silent. Ares had probably helped Zeus pick out the form of Lester, so of course Ares would have recognized it.

"Anyways, what can we do for you?" Apollo asked, snapping himself out of memory lane.

Nico hesitated. This was the make or break moment. But if he broke, that would mean Will would die. Nico couldn't lose him.

"My father is alive." Nico said finally. "He's figured out a way to restore his godhood." Nico was filled with relief as Apollo's eyes snapped to attention in wonder. Nico himself was flooded with guilt. This was what he was willing to do to protect Will.

Apollo's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Really? Can he help me do the same? It would turn the tide of the fight against Kronos and Ares."

"Of course." Nico said. "But unfortunately, he can't do it without being in the same room as you, which means you'll have to let down that 'no gods allowed' warding."

Meg McCaffrey shot straight up. "Um, Apollo, I don't know…"

"Meg, wait." Apollo said, beaming and standing straight up. "Of course, we'll let the warding down. Hades and I are good friends, and he can restore my godhood before Ares can find me. Can't he, young Nico?"

Nico smiled warily, more guilt sickening him. "Of course."

…

Annabeth walked up to the apartment door of Sally Jackson. She breathed heavily, then knocked gently on the door. It swung open mid-knock and Sally herself hugged Annabeth tightly.

"Annabeth, we were so worried!" Sally said. She looked behind Annabeth as if Annabeth was hiding something behind her. "Where's Percy?" Sally asked.

Annabeth stifled tears and smiled sadly. "That's what I came to talk to you about."

…

Apollo cried out in pain as Ares drove his spear through Apollo's chest. Apollo slowly solidified into a rumbling statue before falling part to dust.

Other dryads and nature spirits cried out in pain as Hades slaughtered them and Aiethales burned. Meg McAffrey's body lay against the ancient tree in the center of the house, while Nico and Will lay tied and trussed like turkeys next to her,

"Boys!" Kronos shouted, appearing out of nowhere. "I think that's enough."

Hades and Ares stopped, and stood next to their master.

"Just one last matter to take care of." Kronos said, smiling. Then he snapped his fingers, and Will and Nico's heads exploded.

"No!" Hades shouted. He slashed at Kronos with his sword, and Ares stabbed Hades in the ribs with his spear.

"Traitor!" Kronos shouted as Hades shadow-travelled away.

"We must find him!" Ares screeched.

Kronos couldn't hear him. Impossibly, Kronos felt weak and a flush of...rage. But it wasn't his own rage.

It was Percy Jackson's rage. But how?

…

Paul comforted Sally while she sobbed her eyes out.

"My Percy." Sally cried. "What has he done?"

"Look, Mrs. Sally," Annabeth said. "I promise I will save him. I just thought you should know."

"He left us that note, and then we could all see…" Sally gulped. "See Olympus."

"I'm sorry." Annabeth said. "What note?"

Paul handed her what looked like a napkin from the Plaza Hotel. On it was hastily scrawled:

Mom,

I'm alive. Annabeth is gone. I'm getting her back. I'm sorry. Tell Paul I'm sorry. I promise I'll find you when I can.

Love, Percy

Annabeth was shocked. She hadn't known that Percy had left them a note.

Annabeth shook it off and grabbed Sally's hand.

"Look, Mrs. Jackson," she said, looking Sally in the eyes. "I promise that I will save Percy. Whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes." Sally agreed, breathing through the tears.

…

Annabeth sat in a booth an hour later alongside Cal, Leo, Frank, Hazel, and Piper at a small diner across from the Brooklyn Bridge. They could see Olympus hanging over the Empire State Building, and apparently so could the other mortals. There were helicopters circling the mountain.

"Never thought I'd see the day." Leo said. "Guess everyone gets to find out how crazy our lives are firsthand now."

"Yeah, no more books, no more stories." Piper agreed. "Everyday mortals now get a glimpse of the real world." She glanced upwards, where Muspelheim was clearly visible in the sky.

"How's your dad?" Hazel asked Piper.

"He's fine." Piper answered. "Turns out being broke has worked out for the both of us. I actually figured out that Cherokee myths are real too."

Everyone looked at her.

"Why can't any story just be a damn story?" Leo rhetorically asked. "Next your gonna tell me that God and angels are real too, and they've just been hanging out in the back seat this entire time."

"Guys, we're running low on time." Frank told them. "It's only a mater of time before Reyna or Hylla figure out a way to kill Kronos-slash-Percy, and we need to stop everyone before it escalates."

"Frank, how many times have we been on the clock?" Leo asked. "I think we've got this. Besides, I can't work on an empty stomach." He took a big bite out of his burger.

"How was Sally?" Hazel asked, changing the subject.

"About as well as you'd expect." Annabeth admitted. "We have to save Percy. I don't think I'll be able to face her, or myself, for that matter, if we don't."

"We'll save him." Hazel promised. She looked at Frank. "Whatever it takes."

Frank nodded his head in agreement.

"So, Annabeth," Leo asked through a mouthful of food. "Where exactly are these Egyptian magicians?"

"I don't know." Annabeth said. "I texted Sadie, but I never got a reply."

"Are we getting stood up?" Leo asked.

"No, you aren't." Carter Kane said as he and his sister appeared out of thin air. Everyone on the table jumped up.

"How the f-" Leo started.

"Invisibility spell." Sadie interjected. "We had to scout around, just in case."

"Just in case of what?" Hazel asked shrewdly.

"Well, the last time a Greek demigod came to us for help, he lied to us and used us." Carter snorted. "Can't really blame us for being cautious."

"Look, I'm sorry for what Percy did while I was gone." Annabeth started.

"He destroyed the world." Sadie said. "All of the gods of Ma'at are now floating in the void, screaming for help. But they apparently can't take hosts anymore. Sorry doesn't quite cut it."

"That's why we're meeting." Frank said. "It wasn't actually Percy who did all of those things."

There was stone cold silence. Every pair of eyes in the booth was looking at Frank.

"Then who was it?" Carter asked in doubt.

"Kronos." Frank said. "The Titan Lord of Time. He's been possessing Percy for weeks now. He's the one who made that spell."

There was silence.

"D'you think he'd be able to reverse it?" Sadie asked hopefully.

"That's what we're betting on." Cal said.

"And if he can't?" Carter asked.

"Then we get some good ole-fashioned revenge." Leo suggested. "An eye for an eye."

"How're we supposed to beat him?" Sadie demanded. "There aren't any more godly players left on the board to compete with something like this."

"That is why we need your help." Leo answered. "I have an idea of how we can cast Kronos out of Percy. This device should be able to separate Percy's consciousness from Kronos. Meaning Kronos won't have a host. Without a host, he won't be able to fight us, opening the door to bargaining with him. I'm thinking of calling it the Ultimate God Weapon. Or for short, the U.G.W. But I need just a drop of blood from a mortal who has been possessed by a god to make it work."

Carter and Sadie looked at each other.

"Are you sure it'll work?" Sadie asked.

"We're betting on it." Piper responded.

"Then let's do it." Carter said, holding out his arm. Leo pulled a miniaturized Archimedes sphere from his tool belt. A slot with a needle opened in the top.

"Please insert your arm here." Leo said, holding the sphere against Carter's wrist. The needle got a drop of blood, and the sphere hissed, symbols glowing. Finally, it stopped making noises or glowing, and Leo threw it back into his tool belt.

"That was it?" Carter asked.

"That was it." Leo confirmed. Just then, a bleeding Hades crumpled onto their table out of thin air.

"What the f-" Leo yelled.

"Annabeth…Chase." Hades gasped out. "Kronos…killed…Nico…find Odin…he can reverse the…spell."

Hades turned into a statue, and started glowing orange, before turning into dust.

"Can we ever have a normal conversation?" Leo demanded, blowing dust out of Cal's hair. "Who the heck is Odin?"

"A Norse god of magic." Annabeth whispered in shock. "If he survived the fall, then he may know for sure how to reverse all of the spells Kronos did. Between that and the U.G.W., we'd be set to take down Kronos."

"Well, how do we find this Odin guy?" Carter asked eagerly.

"My cousin will know." Annabeth said. "Can I borrow somebody's phone? I've gotta call Magnus Chase."

…

…

…To Be Continued?