Waking up felt like a chore.
Limbs too heavy with sleep.
Percy curled deeper into a ball batting his hand at the piranha whining in his face.
Wait.
Piranha?
He sat up slowly taking in the details around him. He was under the sea obviously. He bit back a yawn as he tried to think. The last thing he remembered was meeting the gods. But he had a feeling that its been some time since that happened.
A loud screech startled him.
Rising up from where he fell off the bed, he took notice of his twin sister looking down at herself in disgust. Not that he could really blame her, there were a lot of feathers and silk. Her beloved dark hair had been cut and styled into curls tightly around her face. She looked as if she had stepped right out of the 1930s.
He rarely ever saw his sister dress in a more formal fashion. She did dress like that on occasion especially for meetings and big appearances that they made in Castellan. She liked dressing in the sea's formal wear.
But more often than not, she was wearing clothes that were comfortable. A simple shirt and leggings were perfectly fine. Her face was red with either fury or embarrassment or maybe even both. Her blue eyes were dark with specs of gold as she looked around the room.
A piece of him felt settled now that he had his eyes on her. He knew that he would be able to get through with whatever was going on with his sister at his side. Looking around the room, he was startled to realize it was basically the same room he had been placed in after Beckendorf's death.
His attention was caught at a sharp inhale of breath.
Krokus stood in front of them; multicolored eyes wide in shock. "Father," he called out even as he launched himself at the two of them. Ariadne went down with a yelp as Percy attempted to get out of the chokehold disguised as a hug.
Their father and stepmother rushed into the room. They paused at the door, eyes widening in shock at the sight of them. Relief covered their expressions before they copied Krokus' actions.
He took note of all of this silently before turning his head to look back at his sister. As a pair of emerald green eyes connected with sapphire blue eyes, they knew what suspicions laid before them.
The gods still on their thrones sneered at them as they finished speaking. It made sense though that didn't mean it still didn't hurt. They were their parents.
"The future," Ares scoffed; he eyed them dubiously. "And why should we believe this?"
Ariadne stepped forward and Percy wanted nothing more than to drag her back to his side. He didn't think he'd ever be able to deal with her not being at side anymore. He half wished Paris was still alive just to kill him all over again. Hector still got side eyed even after Ariadne vouched for him.
[Percy just cannot get the image of her falling to the ground of his head. It was Hector after all that made it possible for her capture.]
"You don't have to believe us," she replied. The gods recoiled at the disrespect dripping from her tongue. They don't recall her ever speaking to them in such a way. Even her banter with Hermes was still marginally respectable. "But it will do you some good to know that a war is on you now. Our dear great grandmother's other children are to be born. They are still to come for us. The Giants. Her children with the pit. They'll come and you'll nearly be defeated. Yes, Uncle-King… each giant will be born to be your exact opposite and they'll start by first kidnapping you Aunt-Queen. Their king will ask for your hand in marriage or be destroyed. You will refuse of course. You all fight and a prophecy will come that you will not be able to defeat them without the help of demigods. And she will search for a herb to keep that from happening. You will then go order every deity of the sky to not pass so that you may find it for yourself."
She shook her head slightly, reaching out to grab his hand. Percy stepped to her side and rubbed the back of her hand as he finished for her, "If that is not enough, even now Aphrodite's son, Aeneas has fled Hippios. He will continue onwards and he will establish a new settlement. He will spread the word of your names until years will pass. That settlement will go on to be called Rome. it will go on to be one of the greatest empires to ever exist. You will exist under new names."
Percy turned to look at his uncle. And he knew it then that even if Zeus didn't believe them, he would still listen to them. "Grandfather is coming, Uncle," he stated plainly. "He's coming back. We barely beat him and the only thing we got was being sent back in time for our troubles. You almost waited too late last time. We cannot afford to do so again. Uncle, please."
Zeus stared at them in silence once more before their attention was drawn to Apollon. The radiant god had his eyes locked onto Ariadne as she stood before them. He froze in his seat. He did that thing that Ariadne had simultaneously cooed over and complained about. His ability to read the future and past without a care for whatever conversation he was having.
He came back to himself slowly before walking over to them, "Their words are true, father. I see it so clearly now." He reached out to lay his palm against Ariadne's face. Percy could see it so clearly now also. The love that the god held for his sister was making its way into his features circling around the shock, awe, and disbelief. He shook his head before taking note of the gods at their sides. "You've known all along."
Hermes stepped forward immediately to soothe the hurt in his brother's voice. "No, brother. I was told only after Ariadne's kidnapping."
Percy flinched. He could still feel that rage and hopelessness underneath his skin. He could still see her body hitting the ground.
Aphrodite gasped eyes lingering on Ariadne, "No wonder I feel such a connection to you. We were close in your time, yes?"
Ariadne nodded slowly, "You were like a mother to me. I was always closer to the gods."
Zeus furrowed his brow, "The ancient laws-"
All of them sneered. Ariadne scoffed aloud, "The ancient laws are shit. That's how Grandfather was able to get a one up on us. You were our parents and we couldn't speak with you. The future is a lot different than now. You aren't worshipped in the same way. Fate will still your hand and you all will go on to become myths. You would only survive by the power of demigods and the few scattered settlements of worshippers. And we'd want more. We'd want to know you. To learn from you. We understand that you wouldn't be able to just drop everything for us at any given time. But I like to believe that a lot of our issues wouldn't have come to pass if you all just showed us how much you claim to love us. I know if my father had told me just once that he was proud of me… I wouldn't have done half the things I did just to make a name for myself."
Percy could feel his father startle before he settled his hands on each of their shoulders, "And I am proud. I'm proud of you both. I'm proud of you all. Not many would be able to do any of the things that you have done. So we will listen to your story. To all of it and we shall learn."
And they explained it all as best as they could. Apollon and Athena took careful notes of everything that was being said. They ooh'ed and ahh'ed in all the right places. They argued and compromised at different intervals.
Percy was sure that Hermes was going to either rip Athena's tongue out of her mouth or stab Ares in the eye when they made the suggestion to kill May to prevent the birth of Luke. Thankfully that train of thought was quickly dismissed because he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to hold back Annabeth, Thalia, his sister and the other children of Hermes.
[There was also the moment where Apollon had seemingly realized that Hermes had slept with Ariadne even after finding out that she was his lover.]
And it was funny in itself when Hades left and came back with the souls of their friends. Luke had told them that he couldn't remember much. Most of it was a blur as Kronos rarely gave him rest and then dying colored the rest of it but he told them as much as he could. And where he couldn't Silena and Chris filled in the blanks from what they could remember.
Zeus and Hades had almost come to blows once the topic came about of what happened to their loved ones. It certainly hadn't helped that Hades had also cursed at Hephaistos for Talon's role in his daughter's death where the forger then mockingly called her thief. Demeter had scathingly replied that it only made sense. The only thing he knew was how to steal.
And of course, Nico had not been too fond of her insults. Not when Hades tried to make sure she survived Kronos' onslaught. Not when Hades covered for Persephone in the making of that sword with the keys to the underworld.
Apollon hadn't been too fond of his oracle being cursed either. Nor was he happy about not being able to search for his sister after her kidnapping. He split his time arguing with both his father and uncle.
He remembered the Fates appearing in the middle of everything. Amphitrite and Persephone had immediately turned to them curious on why they would send them back on such a dangerous quest. Percy knew that even if Ariadne didn't feel it… at least he had Nico to speak with about how weird it was for their stepmothers to care so strongly about them.
It was a mess, but Percy can fondly say that it was what made them a family.
It seemed to be what they had needed. Old anger had been soothed and healed over. And while new wounds had been opened, they'd be able to survive. They'd be able to fix this.
Percy couldn't wait to see it all unfold.
After that it all goes dark.
Their family members pulled away to look them over. Amphitrite sat beside them rubbing a comforting hand through their hair. Their dad crouched in front of them. It's been so long a part of me thought you'd never wake from the Sleep."
That was definitely capitalized. He must have been able to read the confusion on their faces. He looked over at Krokus tilting his head to the door, dismissing him from the room. Then he turned back to them and sighed slightly, "After your reveal on Olympus, the Fates had come to us. They told us of the rips that had been made in the timeline for your changes to come to pass. They changed so many things around to make room for you all."
Amphitrite patted their thighs comforting, "They fixed the timeline as best as they could while keeping the changes that you've all made. And then they placed you in the Sleep. Lady Selene had placed her lover Endymion in the Sleep so that he will be with her forever."
Ariadne furrowed her brows, "So how long have we been in the sleep?"
"Millennia," their father told them. "We are currently in the 1940s. Hades has been falling over himself now that Nico has been born. Persephone wasn't too fond of it, but she has claimed Nico for her own."
Percy wondered how well that's going to go down for when Nico woke and wanted to get to know his mother.
"What of Castellan," Ariadne questioned. Amphitrite patted her head with a small smile, "It still stands. Just like Olympus it moves around. Your spiritual friends await your return patiently alongside some guests."
Poseidon hummed, "If you've awakened, it shall not be too long before the others have also."
All of this was crazy. And the twins looked at each other in disbelief. It wasn't possible. It didn't make sense.
But at the same time it did. The fates wouldn't have stood back idly as they didn't just change the future. Hell they demolished it.
And there was no way that they would have let certain things come to pass themselves. Percy knew for a fact that the burning of the Library of Alexandria wouldn't have happened if Annabeth, Will, and Ariadne were on the scene.
They were closer to their time now though. And it seemed that it was time for them to wake from their sleep.
Eves never leaving his sister, he knew she drew the same conclusion as he. With a wry smile twisting on his lips, he said, "Well Ari, fasten your seatbelt. It's going to be a bumpy ride."