Time Itself; Chapter III; Knitting, Death, and Freak Outs
Description:
Time has been shifted; history rewritten. The Fates can feel their plans and designs failing for the first time in the entirety of the world. There is only one creature powerful enough to effect such change, Kronos stirs again, and from the depths of Tartarus he'll change everything. Percy, Annabeth, and the rest of The Seven and their allies had finally caught their break, finally gotten a chance to have a semi-normal life, so why does it not seem to last, and why do they have two sets of memories inside their heads?
Review Responses;
Heads up this odd cross posted as such responses here will be for both AO3 and Fnet.
Fnet Guest, Chapter 3 - I'm glad you like my characterizations and how I'm addressing certain issues. I really hope to keep it up as well, with any luck this will be one of the ones I actually see through to the end, I don't have many of those outside of one-shots sadly. Thanks for your support!
Outis02 - Yes, Annabeth is blind. I had hoped I made it clear, if I didn't I'm sorry. Most of the Time Travellers are injured in some way (not all physical). It will be explained in more detail at some point, but until then… spoilers
Disclaimer:
This is the first long form story I'm trying for Percy Jackson, I've seen a number of reading the book fanfics, and well I'm inspired to say the least. I do not own Percy Jackson & The Olympians, or Heroes of Olympus, I've ignored Trials of Apollo as I haven't read them yet. Please don't sue me!
Olympus Throne Room, Mount Olympus, Empire State Building 600th Floor [2005]
"I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle… Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate… The freak weather continued." Aphrodite turned to glare at Zeus and Poseidon. The pair of Gods found the rest of the throne room very interesting at that moment. "One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room… I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs… I called him an old sot. I wasn't sure what it meant, but it sounded good… I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side… there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view… the Hudson River… the smell of pines. I'd miss Grover… I'd miss Latin class too - Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well."
Chiron smiled at both Percy's. Percy wasn't the first Demigod he'd gone to find, but he was the first in quite some time, and he was pleased to hear that he had done well. That his faith was not misplaced on the boy. His eyes lingered on Percy though, there was something at work around him and the other time travellers, something that kept him from noticing… he couldn't place it.
"Ds to Fs?" Athena sounded astounded and distraught at the same time. Her gaze swept over the Demigods and Demigoddesses. "Is distraction and you're other learning issues truly that bad?"
None of them would meet her eyes, not even her own children. The other Deities quietly looked away. Finally Annabeth's voice cut through the silence.
"Most of the teachers hate us because Dyslexia makes us slower, our ADHD makes it difficult for us to stay still. So any teachers who aren't monsters, which a high number are, want you medicated and aren't inclined to give you help or even a chance sometimes. There's few Mortal teachers equipped to deal with Half-Bloods, especially young ones." Annabeth stopped and looked towards Aphrodite. The Goddess continued quickly.
"As exam week got close, Latin was the only test I studied for… I'd started to believe him… I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page… I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book… Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers… I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried… I heard voices inside the office… '... worried about Percy, sir.' I froze… I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult… '... alone this summer… I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too-' 'We would only make matters worse by rushing him… Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can.' … 'Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-' The mythology book dropped out of my hand…" The Stolls, both Lukes, and Hermes cringed, as if they could hear the sound.
"Bad move," came Travis.
"Yeah, great way to get caught." Connor groused.
"Both of you shut up, he isn't one of our siblings." Luke interjected, his tone brooked no argument.
"Mr. Brunner went silent… holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow. I opened the nearest door and slipped inside… 'My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice.' 'Mine neither.' … I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed. I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs… Grover and Mr. Brunner… thought I was in some kind of danger." Zeus held up a hand as Aphrodite reached the end of the passage. His eyes fell on the older Half-Bloods.
"What occurred this solstice?" There wasn't a way to argue against the almost solid stone tone. Percy rose and glared straight into Zeus' face. It amazed the Campers how he stood, not even a shudder in his body, it also frightened them to some extent that one of them would ever be able to do such a thing.
"Something important to you was stolen by a Half-Blood Hero during this solstice meeting, in fact two things were stolen. The theft led to the biggest feud The Olympians have had in some time. You blamed my dad, he wouldn't admit and prove that he didn't do it, and someone else helped the Hero remain anonymous. I believe that The Fates want us to learn from what happened in order to the theft from happening." Every single Camper glanced at each other, they were all here on a field trip, and the only other one who could have done it was Percy, who they now knew couldn't have. Zeus leaned back into his throne.
"This issue was resolved favourably?"
"For you, yes. For me and us," Percy waved at those around him and a bitterness filled his tone as he spat out the next three words. "Not so much."
"The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming… Mr. Brunner called me back inside… 'Percy,... Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's… it's for the best.' … the words still embarrassed me… 'Okay, sir.' 'I mean… This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time.'" Every Camper held Chiron's eye, he groaned and shook his head. "Her was my favourite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year… 'Right,' I said, trembling. 'No, no… Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say… you're no normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-' 'Thanks… Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.' … I was already gone."
"Before you try to say something or jump on me. This has not yet happened to me, and on top of that, I admit I am not always the best with words, especially when I have to hold things back." Amphitrite and Poseidon didn't look convinced, Percy appeared a bit down trodden. Sally leaned over and placed a hand on Chiron's arm.
"Thank you for trying Chiron." He smiled at her and nodded.
"On the last day… I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall… Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching other passengers… I couldn't stand it anymore… 'Looking for Kindly Ones?' … 'Wha-What do you mean?' I confessed about eavesdropping… 'not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?' … Grover, you're a really, really bad liar.' …" Aphrodite grimaced. "Really Dionysus, how are children with Dyslexia supposed to read this fancy cursive?"
"No one appreciates workmanship these days." His grumble was cut off by Hera's glare. "I'll have it changed."
"'Don't say it aloud! … summer address' My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others… 'Why would I need you?'" Annabeth smacked Percy.
"Jeez! I'm sorry Grover, that was uncalled for, I felt so bad for that later on. Also Annabeth and Thalia hit me now, you're going to in the next chapter but it really deserves the two hits from each of you." Both answered, their strikes connected with Percy's shoulder. Aphrodite cleared her throat and pulled the book back up.
"'What exactly are you protecting me from?' There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard… We were on a stretch of country road - no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there… across four lanes of asphalt simmering with afternoon hear, was an old-fashioned fruit stand… just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen…" Poseidon, Amphitrite, and Sally went ashen. The Queen of The Seas fled her throne and pulled Sally and Percy tightly to herself. Annabeth and Thalia clutched at Percy, and each of the other elder Half-Bloods stared at Percy like he was a dead man. Aphrodite spoke faster. "The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn… they seemed to be looking right at me… 'Tell me they're not looking at you… Not funny Percy. Not funny at all.' … took out a huge pair of scissors - gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears… 'We're getting on the bus' … The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic … the engine roared back to life… I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu… He was shivering and his teeth were chattering… 'What are you not telling me?' … He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost - older… 'This is not happening… I don't want this to be like the last time… Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth… Let me walk you home from the bus station.' … 'Does that mean somebody is going to die?' He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin."
Silence reigned in the Throne Room, Percy stood up. He had to pull Annabeth and Thalia up with him, they were tightly stuck to him. He glanced at the pale faces, Deities and Half-Bloods alike that stared at him and younger Percy. He released a puff of air.
"Breakfast? I'm starved, and now seems like a good time for a break before no one can focus again."
A/N:
I actually made it to the first proper break, I know it might seem early, but I wanted to have the characters address this more, and well, I thought it'd be a bit of fun to have some of the conversations I was originally saving for the nighttime break. Don't worry I'm not going to do every meal/break, only the ones that feel important or where characters have a lot to discuss that I don't think they'd be willing to wait on. I have no idea when this will be out, but I hope you enjoy it. I'm working on updating some old One-Shot series, as well as Older Long Form stories. It's a lot on my plate, but I'm going to make this and Imperial Academy my top priorities with shorter AUs and stories to work on throughout my work week. I make no promises that I will have regular updates out on anything. It's been luck that the first three or so chapters of this came out in roughly three weeks. I'm doing what I can but life is variable and I have some stuff I've put off to keep this going. Some of said stuff is sleep schedule management. Thank you for reading. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, the next part shouldn't take too long as it is a break, depending on the length of the next Book chapter I might have it in there, I make no promises.
Characters pulled from 2015;
Percy Jackson
Annabeth Chase
Thalia Grace
Hazel Levesque
Nico di Angelo
Piper McLean
Reyna Ramirez-Arellano
Characters from 2005
The Olympians
Persephone
Hestia
Amphitrite
Katie Gardener
Clarisse LaRue
Annabeth Chase
Malcolm Pace
Lee Fletcher
Micheal Yew
Will Solace
Charlie Beckendorf
Silena Beauregard
Luke Castellan
Travis & Connor Stoll
Chris Rodriguez
Ethan Nakamura
Grover Underwood
-Six Out!
P.S. Sorry for how long this took, got distracted by playing games with an old friend and lots and lots of D&D ideas.