Simple Answers, Hard Questions

This is that "story-altering" chapter. I'll let you guys figure out what that means right now, but it's going to get answered down the line.

Birthday was phenomenal: grilled steak, had homemade ice-cream, a gigantic cookie, raked in enough money to pay for a month's worth of gas and also got the Tyrant's Tomb.

At this point, I'm keeping up with the series just to see how it ends and what comes next.

That being said, even though this chapter took long enough to come out, since I had a small mountain of calculus to climb over, the next one's going to take even longer on account of reading.

I'll let you know how it's going if you don't want to read it yourself.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or AC

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Inspired by historical events and an over-active imagination, this work of fiction was designed, developed, and produced by a single-cultural team of one religious faith and belief, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

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The first place they teleported to was the Farm in South Dakota. They found the hideout in charred ruins, like it had been blown up from the inside. After so many hours of investigation, with Percy using Eagle Vision to see what had happened, Lou Ellen using her magic to scan the area, and little Kira sniffing around—though the puppy's help was cut short by a butterfly that needed to be chased around—Percy concluded that the Assassins deliberately blew up the Farm and that there had not been a Templar ambush.

That only slightly complicated things because Percy had neglected to ask for status updates from his students. Granted, it wasn't like they could just send a pigeon his way with reports attached to its leg.

Or email him.

Or call him.

Or even write him a letter.

Now that Percy stopped and thought about it, by mortal means, he was a very hard man to get a hold of.

Not one to panic in situations like this, Percy thought about William, his technical father through the fact that Desmond was the reincarnation—or at least the descendant with the memories of—Altaїr and Ezio, who were his (Percy's) past brother and brother-in-law. William was the de facto leader of the Brotherhood by Percy's order, and so he would have the knowledge and intel Percy needed to know what was up.

It was just a question of where William was.

Through deductive reasoning, Percy came up with a brief list of places to check, the first one being Manhattan because, literal lifetimes ago, when Percy was only just coming into his abilities, he had gone out of his way one night to climb an under-construction skyscraper. Coincidentally, that skyscraper was the same one that he and Shin'en had their moment together, and when Percy had gone diving off the roof, he had gone soaring past the building's styled "A" logo.

Abstergo.

The Templars.

"Lou?"

"Yes, Percy?"

"Let's go back to Manhattan. I have a feeling William will be there."

"Got it."

And so they teleported back to Manhattan, the top of the Empire State Building to be precise, and with the massive view of the city below him, Percy activated Eagle Vision. Not seeing anything on that side of the building, Percy walked to the other side, and saw the glowing gold floor of an apartment complex.

He and Lou Ellen went there, teleporting inside the complex so as to avoid security (and to make a dramatic entrance), and they had to go a little ways down the hall to the particular door that was glowing.

Percy knocked, waited politely with his hands clasped in front of him for three seconds, before the door was opened by a man in his 20's with shortly cut brown hair, glasses, stubble across his face, wearing business-casual attire consisting of khaki pants, a grey button down and blazer tucked into those pants and held in place with a belt, and dress shoes. He also had a silver watch around his left wrist.

"Can I help you, kid?" The man's voice was snobbish and distinctly British.

"Perhaps not you, but your mentor certainly can," Percy said politely, a kind smile on his face. He took a certain amount of pleasure in seeing the man's face morph into shocked panic. "Please, inform William that Percy Jackson has come for a status update."

"Wait—you're Percy Jackson?" The shock was gone and replaced with scrutiny.

"Indeed, I am, son. This is Lou Ellen Williams behind me—"

"Hi."

"Arf-arf!"

"—and our Husky puppy, Kira."

The man's eyes darted between the three of them, trying to make sense of whatever was playing out before him. Lou Ellen began tapping her foot as ADHD started overcoming her, and Kira began squirming, desiring to be let down so she could run around and investigate all the smells wafting up her nose.

"Shaun, what the hell is-oh."

A young woman came up from around the corner of the apartment, and stopped short at seeing Percy and co. Unlike Shaun, who was dressed for the office, she was dressed for physical activity, wearing a tshirt under a dark jumpsuit, hiking boots on her feet, and gloved on her hands.

Her eyes lit up. "You're Percy Jackson!"

"In the flesh. Is William-"

The man in question came hurrying around the corner behind the woman, and when he saw Percy, his eyes also lit up and he brushed forward, going past Shaun who squawked at being jostled out of the way, and opened his arms. Percy could've easily dodged out of the way, but he allowed himself to be scooped up by the most viable man he had for a father in any given circumstance.

"It's good to see you too, William."

The Assassin set the much (mentally) older Assassin down. "Percy, not that I'm not happy to see you, but why are you here? You said last week that it'd be September before you came looking for us."

Percy's smile became a little unfocused and he turned his upper body around to face Lou Ellen, asking with his eyes, Did you know about this?

To which her eyes responded, Can't say I did.

Percy turned back around to face William, who had a brow raised. "Well, to be fair, it has been 80 years and some change since we last spoke, as far as my perception goes."

"Huh?"

"So, you know how I'm the reincarnation of Faris and Virgil?"

"Yes…"

"Um, yeah, if you don't mind me asking, how is that possible?" Shaun broke in.

Percy looked at him. "Isu stuff. Don't think too hard on it."

"No, I think I'm going to be thinking hard on it, especially if you're telling the truth which means you're a treasure trove of credible information."

"Indeed, I am."

"Anyway, you were saying, Percy?"

"Yes, William. As it turns out, I am also the reincarnation of Captain Jake Swallow."

"The Grandfather of America?" William breathed.

"I also strongly suspect Cheyenne Cormac and Peter Frye."

The present three other Assassins' heads were spinning just a bit, because they had no real reason to doubt Percy, who was vouched for by William, Desmond, and dozens of other becoming-prominent Assassins that were coming from the Farm, so, with it being regarded as fact that through some weird Isu process that Percy was somehow the reincarnation of two of the most prominent Assassins to ever live, the news that he was also the reincarnation of three other of the most prominent Assassins to ever live was breath-taking.

And also deeply troubling, in Cheyenne's case.

"Let's talk more inside."

And with that, the hotel hallway was emptied.

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Midway through some boring conversations, Desmond returned, accompanied by Clay Kaczmarek, and a young blonde named Lucy Stillman. The brothers shared a hug, Percy a handshake with Clay and with Lucy, after introductions. Giving the newly arrived trio the abridged version of the previously gone-over explanations, Percy finished with:

"And in due time, I will remember my other past lives, and most likely suffer mental trauma. But, I've made it through this far, and I'm sure I'll make it through the others."

He was met with six stares, while Lou enthusiastically rubbed Kira's fuzzy little puppy tummy.

Silence pervaded until Desmond clapped his hands.

"Well, I remember living as Altaїr and Ezio, and ironically enough, I also remember living as Edward. Good to see ya, lad."

"Shut up, boy."

"Hey, I'm still your big brother."

"Yes, my annoying big brother whom I can kill with little effort."

"But still you're big brother."

"That I can kill easily."

"Yes, but that doesn't detract from the fact that…I'm still your big brother."

"Nor does that detract from the fact that…I can easily kill you."

Before Desmond could get another word in, William's hand popped up. "Boys, enough, thank you."

Desmond and Percy both rounded on the man. "Whatever, boy."

William's eye twitched, but he couldn't really say much in the face of two people who remembered past lives, which arguably gave them more wisdom and experience than he possessed, thereby technically making both of them his betters and superiors.

"Anyway, enough about me. How's the Brotherhood doing?"

"Well, since it's only been a week, we're not even in developmental stages yet. We still have Assassins en route to their bureaus and haven't even made contact with the present Assassins yet." William took a breath. "However, here in Manhattan, we six have been scouting Abstergo's new building, and we've discovered talk about something, some new project they've started…"

All mirth vanished from Percy. "Continue, William."

"They're calling it the Animus Project."

"Animus," Percy said. "Latin for mind. What's the project?"

"From what we've been able to gather, the project aims to tap into the memories of certain people whose ancestors have come into contact with Pieces of Eden."

The fan spinning overhead was the only thing that broke the silence of the room, and then Percy blinked once.

"Is that all?"

"Um…" William started. "Percy, Pieces of Eden are very serious things, and can tip the war in either side's favor."

"Agreed."

Reaching to the small of his back, where his Minotaur Horn storage things were magically hidden and fitted, Percy pulled out the Sword of Baron von Wolff. The Assassins' eyes widened at the sight of the Sword of Eden, with its gleaming, rune-engraved blade, golden hilt, the ruby at the rain-guard, and emerald held in the pommel.

"I can't say for sure, but I'm fairly positive we have a slight Piece of Eden advantage over the Templars at the moment, especially in the sword department."

"Where did you get that?" William breathed.

"Found it an attic," Percy shrugged.

Not at all a lie, as the Sword of Eden had been placed in the Big House's attic at Camp Half-Blood, but Percy didn't feel inclined to share that part of the story. He knew it was a stretch enough as it was to believe he was the reincarnation of so many legendary Assassins, but the existence of actual Greek deities, he being the son of one, especially when the current Assassin/Templar understanding of mythology being that the gods were just First Civ people…that was just too much of a stretch.

It also kind of downplayed the whole struggle, with actual gods being real.

Like, what was the point in fighting over mankind's freedom and bits of super-ancient technology when Mt. Olympus was floating above the Empire State Building?

"What attic?" William asked.

"Unimportant," Percy dismissed.

"Where are you keeping that sword?" Shaun asked.

"I'm a witch," Lou Ellen chirped.

"Oh, yes, that explains everything."

Percy put the sword back up. "Well, if the Templars want to go digging through people's heads looking for glowy thingies, we'll be right there with them. I want all of you to continue monitoring this facility. William, operate with executive and judicial authority. Desmond, aid and guide as needed. The rest of you, comply, obey, and use your heads to maximum effect. Whatever game the Templars are playing, I want to be three steps ahead."

"Got it," Rebecca chirped.

Percy nodded. "Lou and I will be back on September 1 for a world-wide progress report."

"I'll be sure to have good news ready," William said.

Percy stood and shook the man's head, gave Desmond a bro hug, and a curt nod to everyone else, before he and Lou took their leave, the witch teleporting them to the top of the apartment complex.

"Now what?"

"No we go to Greece, to the island of Thera."

Lou made a hesitant sound.

"Yes?"

"Yeah, about Greece…um, yeah. Anything beyond the Atlantic is actually considered forbidden territory to demigods. They're the Ancient Lands, the magic's more powerful, the monsters stronger, older, more dangerous, more threats…"

"Mm-hm," Percy hummed. "Sounds like nothing to worry about, then."

The look on Lou's face said she wasn't totally on board with that sentiment.

"Oh, come now. You have enough faith in the Lord to handle your bedwetting, a little bit of daytime protection isn't so much of a stretch, is it?"

Lou Ellen crossed her arms at the double entendre Percy delivered, making his teasing grin get even wider before he schooled himself.

"I don't have daytime accidents."

"Right now, anyway. Something might happen down the road, and that fact could change. Besides, accident implies something happened that you have control over and could've prevented in some way. Since you literally don't have any nocturnal bladder control, you don't even have night accidents. Just…involuntary nocturnal urinary emissions."

Lou Ellen stared at him with a flat expression. "…yeah. I'll just stick with accidents. A lot simpler."

"Mm-hm. To Greece we go."

"Okay…" the witch conceded, still not on board with the idea. "A teleport that far will take some juice, though."

"Between the two of us and God, I'm sure we've got plenty of juice."

"Arf!"

"See, even Kira thinks so."

"Alright. Let's go to Greece."

And with that, Lou Ellen invoked her magic, accompanied with a prayer, and the three vanished.

Meanwhile, back inside the apartment, the Assassins were in the middle of a discussion.

"Do you really think he's telling the truth about who he is?" Shaun asked, ever the skeptic.

"Yes," Desmond said shortly.

"And what makes you so sure?"

"Because I've got Altaїr's, Ezio's, and just recently Edward Kenway's memories, and everything Percy talks about matches up perfectly with Faris, Virgil, and Jake. Besides, that, even if he is delusional, he's got a Sword of Eden and a magic girlfriend, wisdom, experience, and a whole lot of skill. Him teaching all the Assassins back at the Farm isn't a joke or a story. He really mentored all of us to where we are, and thanks to him, liar or otherwise, the Brotherhood's getting back on track."

"Ok, fine. Say he really is the reincarnation of all those Assassins, that doesn't explain where he got the Sword. He's keeping secrets from us."

"Yes, Percy is keeping secrets from us," William conceded. "However, I trust that man with my life, and whatever those secrets are, Percy's deemed them either inconsequential or detrimental to our cause, and is keeping them from us so our heads stay clear. Now, regardless of whatever you may think or theorize on Percy Jackson, he is the true Mentor of the Assassin Brotherhood, and I'm his appointed fill-in during the time in which he's attending to whatever business he's attending to, and he's given me the mission of collecting reports from, and managing, our global network, while also running the operation here in Manhattan, keeping tabs on whatever the Templars are up to, which brings me to this."

William looked at Lucy and Clay. "How do the two of you feel about an undercover operation?"

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Thanks to Percy's memories, and a Biblical miracle, Lou Ellen got herself, her dog, and her boyfriend not just to Thera, but all the way inside the inner sanctum, right on top of the dais underneath the floating pyramid bearing the symbols of the Cyclops, Sphinx, Minotaur, and Medusa.

Lou promptly fell forward into Percy's arms with a very tired sigh and an accomplished smile.

"Did it~," she breathed. "I'm peeing…"

Given the way she laying on him, Percy had a perfect view of Lou Ellen's butt, and he raised a brow when he did not see the distinct growing wet spot of a girl wetting her pants (he did raise two little girls—he did know what a girl peeing herself looked like). "You sure about that?"

"Magic…time-space…undies…pee's going…to the ocean…night-night. ZZZZZZZZZzzzzz…"

With a small, tired, grateful smile on his face, Percy gently set his girlfriend down, idly wondering what kind of ring he was going to get her. Kira crawled on top of her mommy's stomach and curled up, getting comfy for her own nap.

"She's a cute one."

"Yes, she is—FUCK!"

In a motion too fast even for the average demigod to follow, Percy drew his Sword of Eden, spinning and swinging in a fluid arc, and the blade clanged against something hard and metal, but with enough force to send whatever he had hit and whoever was holding what he had hit stumbling backwards.

Percy's eyes widened at registering who the woman in the suit holding the glowing staff topped with a fancy caduceus was, and he was both lost and shocked.

"Kassandra!?"

Indeed, it was the misthios from well-over two thousand years ago, her face no older or wrinkled than when Jake had last seen her, her hair just as full and vibrant, even in the exact same style, as it was that day.

"Whew," Kassandra said. "I was told you'd be a whole lot stronger today as Percy Jackson than you were as Jake Swallow, but maláka! My arms are stinging!"

Percy was still reeling. "Wh-what-? H-how? Y-You-"

"I know, Jake, I know." Kassandra walked up to the shocked demigod and sealed the gap between his lips with her tongue. Percy's brain shorted out, and his body just went with it, getting into the kiss. Eventually, they broke for air.

"Ooh, salty. You've still got it, too."

The kiss, and then breaking it, was what Percy needed to get his bearings back, and he stamped his foot.

"Explain yourself."

"After we needed to part ways, I found my mother and hunted down the Cult, killing them all. I redeemed my brother, Alexios-"

"I kicked his ass."

"Yes, up until the day he died, he was still fuming about not getting a rematch," Kassandra smiled in memory. "So, I found my mother, saved my brother, killed the Cult, and found my father, Pythagoras-"

"I kicked his ass, too."

"Yes, he also gave me the last Cultist fragments I needed to upgrade my Spear, and informed me that you had gathered all the necessary pieces to bury Atlantis, save for one, so I did that quest, got the Prize of the Sphinx, and my father and I had a small falling out, but we made up, and he gave me his Staff—this Staff, the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus—and he passed on. Then I went through some simulations the Isu AI, Aletheia, created for me to master the Staff's power, and with it, I've been alive all this time, just moving through one page in history to another with Aletheia as my companion, teaching me about things, and telling me about the day I'd finally see you again."

As Percy digested all of that, and the implications of the Staff and what it did for Kassandra, and all that Kassandra could have done over the centuries, all the knowledge that she now had, the wisdom she possessed, his mind disregarded all of that and focused on a single point.

"The night we had sex…did you become pregnant?"

"Yes, I did. You gave me a beautiful boy, Elpidios."

Kassandra smiled, wistful, nostalgic, and sad, and she told the story of her, Natakas, and Darius, and their war with the Order of the Ancients, a group more directly related to the Templars than the Cult was, with Percy asking questions periodically throughout.

"You met Darius? As in the Darius that killed Xerxes with the first Hidden Blade?"

"The very same."

"And you slept with Natakas?"

"I'll admit, he was mostly a substitute for you, but I did love him."

"And when Elpidios was born, he didn't ask any questions about why the baby clearly wasn't his?"

"About that…I took down the Cult in less than a week, and most of that time was spent sailing, and I met Natakas before I finished the Cult, so Elpidios was conceived just days before Natakas and I had sex, so there wasn't a question about the birthing time, and as far as appearances go…my genetics are a lot stronger than Jake's, so much so that no one had any doubts he wasn't mine and Natakas'."

"…wow."

"The sad part is that Natakas and I only knew Elpidios for about two months before the Order came along."

Kassandra explained the attack on Dyme, how she found Natakas' corpse, the falling out between her and Darius, and their subsequent crusade to finally destroy the Order and rescue the baby, which was accomplished, and it was a testament to just how old Kassandra was to be able to recall this whole tale as flippantly as she did as if it were just a campfire story.

"Knowing that the life I lived was too dangerous to try and safely raise Elpidios, I gave him to Darius for safekeeping, and he took our son to Egypt, far away from Greece, and far away from the Order…or so I thought, anyway. It was centuries down the line, long, long after Elpidios passed on, that I got wind that the Order of Ancients was operating in Egypt out of Rome, but I arrived too late to be of any help. Bayek of Siwa and Aya of Alexandria, who renamed herself Amunet, had taken care of the order."

"Bayek of Siwa and Aya Alexandria?"

"Yes, once husband and wife, their son was murdered by the Order, and they went on a revenge path, making so many allies along the way that they started their own organization: the Hidden Ones."

"The Hidden Ones."

"As I understand it, in this modern day, the Hidden Ones go by the name…Assassins."

That wasn't particularly shell-shocking news, but Percy found it concerning that none of the Brotherhood's historical texts mentioned anything of a Bayek of Siwa. There were records of Darius, who used a proto-Hidden Blade to dispatch King Xerxes, and of Amunet, who used a cobra to kill Cleopatra, but there was nothing written of this Bayek, who was obviously the co-founder of the organization Percy's lives revolved around.

"Oh, and Aya, Amunet? Yes, she's actually the descendant of Elpidios, making her our great-something granddaughter…meaning that you, Percy Jackson, are responsible for the creation of the Assassin Brotherhood."

After a moment of silence, Percy stumbled a little, dropping the Sword, and Kassandra rushed forward to catch him before he fell and hurt himself.

"That's some news," he said distantly. "I'm sorry, Kassandra. I'm so, so sorry that I wasn't there for you and our Elpidios."

"I forgive you, Percy," the misthios said honestly and earnestly. "I forgave you a very long time ago. I never even held any blame or anger for you, and that's the truth. I love you, Percy. I don't know why or how it happened so strongly or suddenly, but I love you, and I know how much you've gone through, and a little about what you will go through, and knowing that, there's no way I could possibly hate you."

"I still failed you. I failed as a husband to you, as a father to our child, and as a man."

"That might be how you see it, but no one else does. You had a duty to your crew and all of their families, and the family you had during the early 18th century. That far, far outweighed me, someone you just met, and the child you knew nothing about until a few minutes ago."

Kassandra was completely and totally right, and the logical center of Percy's brain accepted that, but the emotional center of his brain was still beating itself up over what was literally ancient history.

"But still-"

"No. No but still. You are an upstanding and wonderful father to the children that you have, and you will continue to do so. I don't know if Elpidios is alive in this time or not, but it doesn't matter. You are still a father, and you're going to continue to be one, do you understand me, Virgil Cavaliere da Roma?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Kassandra nodded. "Good, good. We are settled then."

"What are you talking about? We've still much more catching up to attend to."

"And in time, we will have all the time we'll ever need to catch up."

Kassandra stood, helping Percy to his feet, and she stepped back holding the Staff in her hands, gazing at it tiredly.

"I am so very old, and so very tired….I've seen so many wars, lost so many friends….I want to rest now, Percy."

"Kassandra…"

She reached behind her back and produced another relic, one that Percy recognized, though it looked far different than when he last saw it. Previously, it was a broken shaft of wooden connected to a sharpened piece of metal, but now it was so sleek and streamlined, it could've easily come out of a modern-day weapon's facility.

"The Spear of Leonidas…you kept it all this time?"

"Well, that's not how you say my grandfather's name, but yes, I kept my Spear. I kept the Staff, why wouldn't I keep the Spear?"

"…plot?"

"Stupid plot," Kassandra snorted, but quickly turned serious again. "I don't need these anymore Percy. You do, but promise me something: promise me that, when you don't need them anymore, you'll destroy them. You'll destroy them all."

Percy had no question about which "them" Kassandra was referring to. One of those "them"s had sent him back in time and destroyed every relationship he had. One of those "them"s had once corrupted his mind and forced him to fight his big brother to the death. One of those "them"s had gotten Ezio's uncle and second home killed and destroyed, and then subsequently changed the whole tide of war. One of those "them"s had been used to lay waste to camp of children by zealous Crusader knights, and those were just Percy's firsthand interactions with the "them"s. The were was no telling what other horrors had taken place throughout history because of "them."

Hell, he had just received word that the Templars were planning to use people's ancestor's memories (he had no idea how that was supposed to work, other than that this Animus thing was involved) to find a whole bunch of "them" and no doubt use them for their never-ending goal of twisted peace through world subjugation.

Percy actually rather hated "them," and he no qualms about destroying all of "them."

"I swear," the Assassin said, "I swear to God, that after I don't need these things, I'll destroy them, and every other thing like them."

Kassandra nodded, her golden eyes somber and deep, conveying more than a million words. With Percy's hands gripping her old weapons, their hands touching for the final time, she let go, and all of those 2400 years got up to her in a single second.

Percy dropped the Staff and the Spear and tried to catch Kassandra before she could fall, but she decayed so fast that all he managed to catch were her clothes.

As a few tears escaped him, not even dust remained of the mighty Eagle-Bearer.

A light overcame Percy, and he his head enough to see a hologram of a reserved woman wearing Isu garb.

"Aletheia."

"Keeper," the AI greeted respectfully.

"You noted how Jake had many questions, but that it would be me who found the answers."

"That is correct."

"All right then: how is that the Isu have no knowledge of the existence of the gods?"

"Like I said before: the gods as you know them never existed. They were merely Isu who allowed the humans to revere them as gods."

"Hmm, and it's clear that for all the intelligence of the Precursors, even they are ignorant to many things in the universe."

"What are you talking about, Keeper?"

"I'm talking about how wrong you truly are, and how wrong your fellow Precursors are. The gods you claim to be you are in fact very real, but false all the same. I am Percy Jackson, son of Sally Jackson, and the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon."

"You are confused then, Keeper. Poseidon was an Isu that died many centuries ago."

"I swear my parentage on the River Styx."

And then there was the dull rumble of distant thunder that echoed throughout the Gateway Chamber, an absolute physical impossibility given the fact that not only were they in a humongous cave, but they were in a humongous cave several hundred feet below solid rock and millions of gallons of water. Aletheia's highly advanced scientific and mathematic mind understood these things, and could not compute how thunder could be heard in this chamber.

"I do not—I do not—I do not—understand—and—and—and—and—and—and-and-and-and-and-andandandandand—Error: catastrophic system failures have occurred, initiating hard reboot."

The hologram vanished, and the Gateway Chamber went dark, with the only illumination coming from the force field keeping the ocean from flooding the Chamber.

"Well, that was inconvenient."

At the foreign voice, Percy dove forward, scooping up the Sword and the Spear, rolled, and popped up in a ready stance, facing the source of the new voice. What he saw made his eyes narrow.

It was a young man, late teens to early twenties, hard to tell with the facial hair running along his cheeks, lips, and the underside of his chin, wearing a black dry-fit polo shirt, black cargo shorts, black Nike tube socks rolled down to his black Nike shoes. There was muscle to his body, hair on his arms and legs, and the hair on his head was short cut, as if he were from the army. It was his eyes though that made Percy weary, for they were not human eyes.

Save for the twinkling lights sporadically dotted about, they were completely and totally black. With a start, Percy realized those eyes were less like eyes, and more like real-time images of Space itself.

"Honestly, you come all this way, your girl over there expending so much energy she couldn't hold her bladder closed and passed out in your arms, your other girl gives you so basically-magic weapons, a poor explanation of past events, and then dies on you, and the third girl here shorts out. You're just having some tough luck with girls today, my dude. Perhaps you should start looking for a boyfriend."

Percy completely, totally, and unquestioningly ignored how this being went through that whole monologue without their mouth so much as twitching.

"No," Percy said flatly in response to being to seek romantic relations with the same sex.

"Good man. God frowns upon that behavior, anyway."

"Who are you?"

"Chaos, the first god of all Greece. I was there at Creation when all us creator gods fought over the rights to Creation. Yahweh won out, of course, I got second, Izanagi third, Amun fourth, and it doesn't really matter from there."

Now was totally lost. "What are talking about?"

"The pecking order of the most powerful beings in all of fiction and non-fiction."

"Huh?"

"Forget it, kiddo. We're here for you, after all, not to talk about Creation."

Chaos, the supreme and sovereign deity of the entirety of the Percy Jackson time-space continuum, from the book that started it all back in 2005, to every piece of fanfiction on Fanfiction, Wattpad, Ao3, Adult-Fanfiction, and every other fiction site known and unknown to broad internet-goers, clapped and excitedly rubbed his hands together as if a five-star meal had been placed before him.

"Right then. How does the existence of the Isu, the gods all over this planet, and Jesus, all fit together? That's the big question, right?"

Percy just nodded.

"Short version: you."

Chaos grinned, the stars in his eyes brightening up.

Percy didn't grin, and he didn't just nod. He was lost, and was getting tired of being lost. "I'm gonna need some clarity from yo ass 'fer I start tearin' you some new assholes."

"Eh, ghetto doesn't really suit you, kiddo."

"Bitch, please."

"Long version: omniscience and omnipotence is knowing how the book begins and ends, and every twist, turn, and about every single one of the most minute details therein, along with how many words there are, how many times a words pops up, and on which pages, along with what the theme and the tone and the main idea are, and everything else in between and beyond, before the book is even written. It's highly entertaining yet highly boring. So, just to spice some things up, I introduced some elements and instituted a little bit of memory control."

Percy felt his whole world shaking from these revelations, and it was only getting heavier.

"But…the Precursors…80,000 years…"

"Yes, I let them think they're that old. I also let them think they created mankind, and that Adam and Eve were a couple of hybrids that started a rebellion. However, humans believing the earth is several billion years old is all on them, thanks to their carbon-dating guesswork."

"…guesswork…?"

"Oh, yeah, guesswork. In order to determine the age of things buried in the dirt, the scientists guess how much carbon was in them, and then apply their formulas from there to get all those incorrect age ranges. So, effectively, the modern American education system teaching the dinosaurs are all hundreds of millions of years old is a total lie and they know it, but it's all about discrediting the church and taking power away from the Bibles and putting it into the hands of politicians, not teaching the truth."

"…the truth…"

"Yep, the truth. The truth is that I've got a whole bunch of mind-control going on right now. The Isu think they're the supreme creators of things, and I let my own children the Primordials think they created things, and this whole thing is God's elaborate, sanctioned testing ground, all centered around you, Percy-boy."

"…around me…"

"Oh, yeah. All around you. See, the Bible as you know it, is God's Word regarding mankind. The angels've got their own version of the Bible that tells things differently. Same history lessons, but with more detail and godly work behind the scenes. The big difference between Man's Bible and the Angel's Bible is that the Angel's Bible teaches of the Final Prophet, a person caught in the middle of overlapping worlds, a mind twisted and torn between time, and yet faithful all the same. The coming of this Final Prophet is the Herald of the End."

"…the End…"

"Yep, the End. The Revelation. All the living and all the dead will be judged according to their works here on Earth, and all those that didn't accept the salvation offered through Christ will be turned from Heaven. Rather unfortunate for all those good, virtuous souls, but hey. They made their choices, or lack thereof, and they'll get judged for it. The wicked and whatnot will be cast into the Lake of Fire for the rest of eternity, including all the demons in Hell, so with you being alive and kicking, they're getting anxious, hoping to get enough numbers on their side to stave off God's judgement." Chaos snorted.

"As. If."

Percy could not physically hold himself up anymore, and he collapsed to his butt.

"So, in summary: the whole conundrum surrounding the Isu and the gods is just me playing some mind games with them, but they don't know about it, and you're the Final Prophet, whose existence is the final sign that the Rapture is on its way, and the forces of Hell are going to start working overtime here on Earth in the vain hope they can actually defeat God."

Chaos grinned at the total lost confusion on Percy's face as his mind tried to make sense of the world-shattering news it was receiving.

With a motion of his hand, Chaos levitated the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus, the Spear of Leonidas, and the Sword of Baron von Wolff, and combined all three powerful Pieces of Eden into one new weapon in a flash of light. Floating in the air, a shimmer surrounding it, was a sword unbecoming and unassuming of how much power it contained.

It was a gladius-type sword, a black grip with a golden pommel and guard, the blade so polished it was mirror bright, albeit a few inches longer than the typical gladius. Other than that, there was nothing outwardly special about it.

The sword floated through the air and came to a rest on the ground by Percy's hand.

"Henceforth, that weapon shall be known as the Sword of Destiny, a total derivative of the Spear of Destiny in name, and it comes complete with all the powers of the Staff, the Spear, and the Sword, along with a few other plot devices. A bit of warning though: it requires the user's energy to wield, and it has something of a corruptive nature to it—also a plot device—so the more you use it, the more you've got to work on your Batman-willpower. Just remember the duty and commitment you have to your kids, and you should be fine though."

Percy was still in a daze, hearing everything he was being told, but only listening to half of it. It didn't matter to Chaos, though, for he knew that Percy would be seeing this meeting happening again in some dreams later on, and would have plenty to ponder on.

"I take my leave, now, Final Prophet." Chaos sucked in air through his teeth, making an eerie hissing sound.

"Oh, this will bring about such glorious entertainment…."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yes, I did say in previous chapters that I had an explanation for the Isu/god conundrum, and that it was kind of a cop-out, and this is it.

It's Chaos just fucking with Percy.

But everything he did say was true.

Anyway, I got caught up in calculus, work, history, another Odyssey playthrough, and I read the entirety of The Tyrant's Tomb, which I will now spoil because my profile pic is that of the Joker from The Killing Joke for a reason, and because I firmly believe in the value of information:

The silent god is Harpocrates, a Greek-Egypt hybrid god, who's also the source of the communication problems throughout the series. He's freed thanks to Reyna, Meg, and Apollo, and subsequently fades.

Apollo's powers are starting to return. His archery is back to godly levels, his strength is returning, and so is his musical abilities.

Frank burns the rest of his lifeline firewood, but doesn't actually die, meaning the whole Son of Neptune was basically for nothing.

Apollo and Reyna do not become a couple, but Apollo still heals Reyna's heart. Reyna also steps down as praetor and promotes Hazel, and becomes a Hunter of Artemis.

Diana, Roman form of Artemis, shows up along with Thalia, and they save the day during the final battle.

God-emperors Commodus and Caligula die, leaving Nero as the last emperor, which is the perfect plot device I need to kick off Chaos War.

Dakota, son of Bacchus, the Kool-Aid guy, dies in battle, and so does Don the Faun.

Uncle Rick introduces another for-no-reason-LGBT character, Russian born Lavinia Asimov, lesbian with a vasocongestion for the dryad Poison Oak, daughter of Terpsichore, tap-dancing enthusiast, pink-haired, and for some reason, she's also Jewish.

Yes, it is now canon that we have a Russian demigoddess lesbian Jew in the Riordan-verse, on top of the LGBT-friendly demigoddess Muslim, and these are the greatest oxymorons I've seen put to print.

If I don't see any Christians in the next book, Tower of Nero, I'm going to file suit for religious discrimination.

Anyway, next chapter is the Prelude to the Fourth Life, which will introduce Nico and Bianca di Angelo, aka Giovanni Cavaliere and Mary Read, Virgil's son and Jake big sister, along with Thalia Grace, aka Evie Frye, Peter's big sister, so that means Percy's going to have to juggle being the strong, wise father that his son knows him as, the slightly unstable maniac that his first big sister knows him as, the really unstable little neglected boy that was brutally, brutally murdered that his second big sister knows him as—a life he has yet to remember—on top of being the feisty, female spitfire fiancé of Zoё Nightshade.

Which leads into the Fourth Life, which will then lead into the super awkward Titan's Curse, in which Percy will be torn between Cheyenne's intense love and desire to be with Zoё and his senses of duty as a father and the Mentor, and Zoё will be trying very hard to get back into Cheyenne's pants after 200 years, only to face opposition from a couple of big sisters who are also daughters of the Big Three.

I just hope I finish at least the Fourth Life before New Years.

This concludes this AN, and my late birthday present to all y'all. Thank you for your support and your wishes!

Fav, Follow, and Review please!