Chapter One - I Go On Holiday With The Rulers Of The Universe

A/N: For the record this is set in an Alternate Universe, so although technically set after The Last Olympian, a few details that emerged later in the series will also be incorporated!

If I died on this road trip, I was holding my mother responsible. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom immensely, but I don't have any idea what sort of creature possessed her and made her think going on a road trip with my dad's side of the family was a good idea.

The name's Percy Jackson. I'm the sixteen-year-old, son of the sea god Poseidon and the recently dubbed Hero of Olympus. A couple of months ago, I saved the gods and the planet from my evil psycho grandfather who was trying to take over the world.

Pretty fun right? My family's kinda weird like that…

I hoped the monsters wouldn't bother coming after us when the gods were around, but they tended to be a pretty unpredictable bunch. So, I ensured Anklusmos was in my pants pocket- not that it mattered, no matter where it or I ended up it would always reappear there anyway.

Anklusmos was Greek for riptide, my lethal ballpoint pen. Pretty terrifying right?

But Riptide wasn't just any old pen, when I uncapped it, it transformed into a long celestial bronze sword. Lethal to monsters, and people like me- demigods. Half god, half human.

It comes in quite handy in life-or-death situations, which is pretty much a typical day for people like me.

I had just finished up my packing (that I absolutely hadn't left to the last minute despite my mother and Annabeth's continuous nagging) as I chatted to my mother's soon to be husband Paul Blofis when once again Nico Di Angelo materialised out of nowhere.

He wore his signature aviator jacket which seemed even more battered than usual and a pair of loose, black cargo pants. His hands were buried in his pockets.

"Nico, dear god, how many times have I told you to use the door like a normal person?!" Paul sighed.

He and Nico have had this conversation plenty of times since I'd convinced him to visit a lot in between building his father's cabin and helping his dad Hades in the Underworld.

The twelve-year-old muttered a quick apology, bowing his head ever so slightly as he did so. His hair had grown pretty long since last I'd seen him, falling into his face and completely concealing his dark, almond shaped eyes. Like everyone the war had taken its toll on him, making him seem far older than he actually was.

"Well boys, I guess I'll leave you two to catch up! Safe trip!" Paul called waving at us as he walked out the door. I waved back and Nico collapsed unceremoniously to our worn leather sofa, exhaling long and loudly as he did so.

"Hello to you too Nico."

"Hey Perce" he eventually said.

"What just 'Hey Perce' what about 'Hello almighty hero of Olympus?"' I teased.

Nico merely rolled his eyes as he half-heartedly chucked a pillow at me, "Percy, keep going on like this and soon your ego will be bigger than Olympus." I simply winked at him.

"So, how've you been doing Cuz?"

"Eh…Alright I guess." Nico eventually responded, "Busy, but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing."

I gave him a small smile "So how's the Hades cabin coming along?'

Nico's face lit up ever so slightly, although barely noticeable, I could see that his dark brown eyes had brightened, just the tiniest bit.

"Pretty cool, I guess!" I knew for the most part Nico meant well but conversing with the guy was like pulling teeth from a Dracanae. It felt like he'd spent so long trying to avoid people the past year and a half that he'd completely forgotten how to interact with them. Though he also displayed no actual desire to.

"You know" I said slowly, in a desperate attempt to keep the conversation going. "I always thought-"

"First time for everything!" He sniped, if I was honest, I was kind of impressed with how quickly he'd retorted – just a little bit though…

I stuck my tongue out at him, "Shut it Death Breath! Anyway, as I was saying I always thought it was weird that a son of Hades' second name would be Di Angelo, which means Angel. It's kinda ironic, isn't it?"

Nico snorted, "I'm surprised you even know what ironic means…"

"Right okay Nico, whatever helps you sleep at night."

Honestly the youth these days, so snarky and I thought I was sassy… I needed to up my game, pronto – I was not about to be outdone by a twelve year old going through an endless emo phase...

Nico was about to respond before there was a resounding thump and Thalia, Dad, Zeus and Hades flashed into my apartment. I moved to hug my father quickly whilst Nico nodded pointedly to his.

Despite their relationship having improved notably and at quite a rapid pace the last couple of months, there still seemed to be a distance the size of the River Styx between them.

Thalia made her way over to us, squeezing us both tightly, despite Nico's rather amusing squirming.

"It's great to see you both – without there having to be a war this time! How've you both been doing? It feels like so much time has passed!"

I wondered how time moved when you were immortal, I imagined it felt quite different for Thalia than it did for us.

I was still recovering, still trying to cope with the constant nightmares and endless memories that haunted my every conscious and unconscious thought.

So many deaths, so much lost. Part of me was glad that Thalia had the Hunters of Artemis to lean on. Her electric blue eyes seemed only to have slightly dulled – despite everything, they still held that same spark they'd always had. But Nico…

I wondered how Nico was coping with it all. As far as I knew he'd been dealing with it all by himself. No matter how many times I offered my shoulder or cast him a line, the kid just straight-up refused to bite.

I was worried about him. Though I couldn't say as much – part of me thought that if I did, he'd just try to distance himself from me further.

Yes, we were closer than we were before, but a lot of trust had been broken, on both ends…

"Well, is everybody ready to leave?" My dad's cheerful baritone ripped me from my reverie and at the same time my mother entered the apartment.

"Hi Ms Jackson" Nico and Thalia called, Thalia shooting her an enthusiastic wave.

"Oh, Hello Nico, Thalia" She blushed right to the roots of her dark hair when she caught my dad's eye, though the same could have been said for him – honestly I didn't even know a god could blush!

"H-hello Poseidon"

"It's um, it's lovely to see you Sally"

"Now you make sure to bring our son home safely, won't you?" My mom said her expression gentle.

"O-of course Sally"

"Alright then, I'll see you all when you return, be safe will you?"

"Aren't we always mom?"

"Darling, I love you, but you saying that is not as reassuring as you think it is, we all know your track record!" She said it so sweetly, it took me a moment to realise her words were a slight quip. Before I could retort she simply smiled and kissed my hair. "I'll see you soon"

"Yeah mom, see you soon! So, who's driving?" I questioned as we exited onto the street below, an icy wind catching locks of my hair in its gusts and making me shudder.

"I am" Zeus answered.

"Um, dad, can you drive?" Thalia asked as we climbed into the seven seater that awaited us.

"Nope but how hard can it be?" Zeus said with a grin. Thalia, Nico and I exchanged nervous looks and I grasped each of their hands with wide eyes.

"Oh gods, could you just imagine: The Hero of Olympus, The Ghost King and the Lieutenant Of Artemis killed in a car crash, what a way to go…" I stuttered nervously whilst Nico and Thalia nodded slowly in agreement.

Zeus put the keys in the ignition, revved the engine and pressed down on the accelerator, or at least what he believed to be the accelerator…

It took almost half an hour and a lot of threatening to smite the car and everyone in it for Uncle Zeus to realize he was pressing down on the brakes…

Until Zeus got used to it, he was worse at driving than the Grey sisters, grumbling about how much easier travelling by air was.

"Y'know brother" Hades said turning slowly to face my father. "I can't imagine Amphitrite would be too happy about how moony eyed you got with Ms Jackson at the apartment it would pain me greatly to have to reveal such a thing." He lamented.

"You wouldn't!" Hades gave a slow, unnerving grin "Oh but I would. Unless..."

"Out with it, what do you want from me Hades."

"Admit that the Underworld is superior to your pathetic oceanic realm and that despite this whole 'I'm so cool and hip' charadeyou have going on, your choice of style is more tragic than the Trojan War. I mean hawaiian shirts as a fashion statement. Really? Who are you, Dionysus?"

My father merely stared back at Hades, with wide eyes and mouth agape. "A-absolutely not!"

"Oh well I'll just Iris message your wife when we get to Montauk then..."

Dad groaned "Oh come on, have some mercy brother!"

"I'm the god of death, I don't do mercy!"

"Uh fine, it seems I have no other choice!"

"Dad-" I tried, "y'know—"

"No Percy, sometimes sacrifices must be made!"

"Sacrifice…Really…?"

"I know my son; it pains me so—But Amphitrite's wrath will be far, far worse. This is truly the lesser of two great, great evils."

I had absolutely no idea how to respond to that.

"Honestly brothers" Zeus piped up from the driver's seat, "You all know my realm and style are far superior – the fact that you both can even debate that—"

I did my best to ignore their heated argument, turning my attention to watching the features of New York City blur together and disappear behind us.

This was going to be a long, long trip...

Hi there everyone, I don't know how many people this will reach, but I've recently decided to rewrite thi s very old fic from way back in 2012. I'm still going to keep the original on my account until I catch back up!

This was a story that once upon a time ago brought me a huge amount of joy to write, but I've grown as has my writing style, so I want to see what I can do to make this story even better, but still manage to make as any people smile as the old one did.

All my love!

Jacqui x