Hey guys! After years of lurking on fanfiction sites I decided to step up and write my own story! This is my first time trying to write a (hopefully) novel lenght story, so be hard on me, criticize away. Also I should warn you that English is not my first language so it is possible that I may have some grammatical mistakes, but I will try my best.
I really hope you enjoy the story, so without further ado let us start.
Disclaimer: I do not own either Percy Jackon and the Olympians or the RWBY show. (Am I doing this right?)
Percy Jackson was not having a good day, he decided. Scratch that, he was having a terrible …Year? Month? Week? He did not know, and that, besides the fact that he was strolling in the vast wastelands in the pit, again, was making him a little bit angry.
He remembered the stupid stunt that led to him being stuck here for a second time, and the poor hellhound that had the misfortune of being the one attacking Percy at the time suffered a very thorough bisecting. Gaea, as a final fuck you to the gods and their children, opened a hole in the earth directed to Tartarus beneath Annabeth, again, and Percy being the good, dutiful boyfriend he is went to her rescue, but not before tripping in a very conveniently placed rock and stumbled towards Annabeth where he managed to push her away, but falling himself in the process, coming to terms with his decision in the nine days that the fall was said to last.
The first few days were not that bad, and he had a fool proof plan that even Annabeth would be proud of. First, he had to find one of the rivers and go towards the Doors of Death, where he would use his famed improvisation skills and wing it from there. But alas, it was not to be. For starters, when he noticed the ground, he saw only the Phlegethon to slow his fall, which he, for obvious reasons, was not very keen on using to slow his fall, but seeing as there was no choice, he went for it and boy, does he regret that to this very day. From there everything that could go wrong did so, monsters looking for tasty demigod flesh became an almost hourly occurrence, and at one point he was so engrossed in a fight that when he killed the last Empousa he notice the lack of a certain flaming river, which was vey bad news considering it was a very integral part of his plan.
And so his days passed by, fighting for his life and trying to find some kind of way of navigating the wastelands of the pit, which turns out is far more difficult that it seems. It was this kind of days that he had the selfish thought of wanting to have Annabeth here with him, no matter how much he hated himself for it.
"I miss you so much, Wise Girl", lamented Percy as he threw a rock off the side of a cliff while thinking about happier times. He missed his mom so much, he missed talking with Grover about nature, playing with Tyson, pranking people with the Stoll's, fighting with Thalia and even sparing against Clarisse. He would do anything to be able to see them at least one more time.
Percy wondered, not for the first time, if this would be the time where he would not be able to defy the odds, that even after everything he went through, the last act of a spiteful dying goddess would be the thing that ends the life which he always clung to stubbornly since he was 12.
"It is a very real possibility, yes", said a voice behind Percy, to which he responded by turning on the spot and brandishing his trusty sword Riptide to the… Wait what?
"Who are you?", demanded the demigod forcefully as he faced the being that spoke to him, noting that it was at least 8 feet tall and was completely made of light, save for the darkness visible in the place where the heart should be. He could feel the power radiating off the god, for what else could it be. It had the bearings of every deity he had met, with a posture that told the tale of an arrogance born of watching millennia pass by untouched.
"I am known in some parts as Light, but you would know me as Aether, son of Nyx. A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, son of Poseidon."
"I'm sure it is", snarked Percy. "What do you want?"
"The tales of your legendary personality are not exaggerated in the least, it seems", said Light, sounding amused. "Well, if that is what you want let us get to it. I am here to make you an offer, to help you get out of this accursed place, something that this time you would not be able to make on your own, due to Thanatos sealing the Doors by order of Zeus, who in his infinite paranoia declared that nothing else will come out of this pit ever again, in an effort to try to prevent uprisings like the last two from happening in the future."
"What!?", shouted Percy, his legs giving up underneath him. "What do you mean Thanatos sealed the Doors of Death!?"
"Exactly what I said, Zeus, rightly fearing the chances of surviving another war, ordered Thanatos to seal the Doors, believing that he would be safe if he followed that course of action."
"But what about me!? Did my loyalty meant nothing to him?"
"You have to understand Perseus, two years had passed at that time in the surface following your fall, and since the efforts in finding you were met with no results, you were declared dead. Now it has been five years since your departure, and no one holds any hope of your return."
'Five years?' thought Percy, "How is it possible that five years have passed, I don't think I have been here for that long, have I?"
"As you know, time passes differently in magical or mystical places such as this," responded Light with a gentleness that surprised the demigod. "Everything you know about the surface world holds no meaning in this place."
Percy sat there, stunned from the revelations being delivered to him in such a blunt manner. "And Annabeth? She wouldn't give up on me, she knows I would find a way to get back" desperately insisted the son of Poseidon.
"She almost did not give up, until her mother explained her that even if you survived this long on your own, with the Doors of Death sealed you had no chance of escaping. She took your death hard, almost giving up on her dream of being an architect, until she met a mortal named Oscar who helped her out of her depression. They found happiness in each other and now they have been together for a year."
A tear slid down Percy's cheek, which he angrily swiped at with his tattered hoodie. He felt irrationally betrayed, which he hated himself for feeling, but couldn't help himself. Here he was, in the place that featured in his worst nightmares because he took the place of his girlfriend, and now she was dating someone else. It stung, and the feeling of betrayal was still there, deep within himself.
Light placed a comforting hand in Percy's shoulder and said "It is not bad to feel betrayed in your circumstances, for you it has not been as long as it has been for them, so that you cannot process what they are feeling is completely normal, but you have to understand that she was relentless in her search for you, every night and day for years looking for a clue of your whereabouts, and when her search turned no results, Athena explaining why the possibilities of your appearance were infimal she fell into depression. It has not been an easy time for her, and now she found someone who could make her happy, and not even you can blame her for it."
"You're right", mumbled Percy, defeated. Logically he knew he was not being fair to her, but the emotional part of him couldn't help but feel bad about the situation. "Well, you were telling me about an offer, I suppose I have nothing to lose for listening to it, so make your pitch."
Aether smiled sadly, recognizing the attempt to change the way the conversation was going for what it was. "I can offer you a way out of here, but you will not return to earth."
"What do you mean 'not return to earth'?" asked Percy, baffled. "Are you saying you will take me to mars or something?"
Amused, Light replied, "No, no. You see, a few thousands of years ago, my father Erebus and I decided to take Gaea's greatest accomplishment and created a world of our own in a different universe, whose details I will reveal if you choose to accept my offer."
"… A different universe? No, wait, if you are offering to take me to your planet, why can't you get me back to earth? It should be easier."
"It would be impossible. In his paranoia, Zeus used ancient magics to prevent us Primordial Gods to go back to earth, which makes sending you to earth infeasible. I am terribly sorry, but that is outside of my admittedly vast capabilities."
The prince of the sea shoulders dropped, and cautiously asked the god to tell him about his world.
Aether told the tale of him and his father, of how he created and the Darkness destroyed, he told him of the relics and the Grimm, of how humanity has struggled ever since, and ashamed told the tale of how humans treated their brother race, the faunus. He spoke of wars and revolutions, told stories of warriors whose weaponized soul allowed them to perform incredible physical feats and developed almost magical abilities always standing between the darkness and humanity, spoke about the different kingdoms that were the centre of civilization of the world and about a substance that allowed the aforementioned warriors to use the elements as weapons, and gave energy to run technology that Percy has only heard of in science fiction.
As Light finished, the demigod sat there, pensive. He couldn't help but find the similarities to his life and every other member of his extended family, being always pursued by monsters, constantly fighting for survival. The only difference being that in Remnant everyone was at risk from the creatures of Grimm. Hearing that, the decision was already made in his mind, the possibility of getting out of the pit and becoming a hero, someone who could use his abilities to help people was the best opportunity he had outside of going back home, which he already accepted it was not something he could do.
Already knowing about his decision, Aether smiled and said, "That is a good mentality to have, many decide to become huntsmen or huntresses for glory or fame, other do so for the money, but few do for the only reason of protecting those who need it the most."
Embarrassed, Percy replied "I'm sure anyone would do the same." Then more seriously he asked, "Is there anything else I should know? Do I need some kind documentation?"
Aether only laughed and said, "I am sure you will figure out a credible story, after all you are quite infamous for your ability to improvise." That's the last thing Percy heard before disappearing in a flash of light.