"hey", I said awkwardly. Artemis gaped at me in disbelief. She elbowed my shin, rather painfully, might I add. I let out a cry of indignance and pain.

"What are you doing?" she hissed. "You do not say 'hey' in front of super-powerful deities. That's how you get killed."

I was about to retort when someone cleared their throat loudly. I turned my head towards the lady in the middle and she spoke with a smirk, "It is alright Artemis. The 'great' Percy Jackson does not bow in front of anyone, do you?"

I blushed and rubbed my neck sheepishly. She was indeed correct, heck, I didn't even bow to Zeus. Granted he was an arrogant brat but he was a super-powerful arrogant brat. "Only if they don't deserve it or I don't know them."

The Lady laughed, a tinkling melodious sound, her eyes shining with amusement. By now, the remaining people in the room were openly chuckling too. The golden dude was teasing the lady in black. Something about 'trickery'. I don't know why, but that caused alarm bells to start ringing in my brain. I honestly thought she was gonna explode, since she had this beautiful but intimidating and frankly scary aura around her. To my surprise, she started...pouting?!

Well, these guys were certainly different than the Olympians. I couldn't imagine Zeus pouting ever...actually, I could but I wouldn't want to see that. I shuddered at the thought.

The other people stared at me for a second before bursting out in a fit of giggles.

I blinked. Why were they laughing?

"Oh, we were just imagining Old Thunder pants pouting." The lady said before bursting into another bout of giggles.

I stared at them. Did they just rea-

"Of course we did Perseus." the golden man said. "We wouldn't be 'super-powerful immortal deities' if we couldn't read minds, right?"

The others nodded sagely.

"It's Percy" I grumbled but I was still confused about who these people were. Even if they were two of them had familiar auras, I couldn't place my finger on who these guys were. Sure, they seemingly had huge amounts of power but they seemed pretty chill. If it was Zeus in front of me right now, I am sure he would've blown his gasket. Seeing my confused face the pale lady with black eyes cleared her throat. "Now you must be wondering who we are, right?"

I nodded. I waited for an answer but she seemed to look at me in anticipation. I frowned and then realized she was having a dramatic pause. The Lady in the center rolled her eyes answered the question for her. She took a deep breath.

"We are the protogenoi council."

My mouth fell open as she continued, "We are, as you know, the primordials. My name is Chaos, the protogenoi of creation and gravity, and the Queen of the protogenoi council."

I blinked, my mind still unable to comprehend what was happening. I then remembered that Gaea was a protogenos too. That raised some serious red flags. So, I asked what anyone would ask in that situation. (hehe) "Are you going to kill us?", I asked bluntly. Artemis gave out a sound between a choke and irritation.

Chaos laughed, "No we are not going to kill you, Percy." Now I was confused.

I frowned. "But aren't you with Gaea? She tried to kill us, so why are you not going to?"

As soon as I mentioned Gaea's name, the atmosphere became gloomy and depressing. All the primordials looked down in sorrow.

Chaos merely smiled sadly, "Gaea is my daughter, yes, and I love her with all my heart, but her prejudice against the gods has gone too far. In her hunger for power, she lost her kind and impartial nature that my sweet daughter once had. She began to siphon the energy from the domains of other primordials which disrupted the balance of powers and brought the primordials to the verge of fading. Those you see before you are the only ones left who are unaffected."

By the end of her explanation, she had tears in her eyes. I felt a twinge of sympathy for Chaos and quickly apologized for my blunt question. Chaos just gave a watery chuckle and waved her hand dismissively. She took a moment to compose herself and looked at me.

She smiled and said, "Now, let me introduce you to my children." Upon my questioning gaze, she elaborated. "The primordials you see before you are my children, meaning I created them. The five along with Gaea were the first beings to be sprung from my thoughts and energy. They are the most powerful and are the second generation primordials. I, along with my brother and Death are the first generation primordials." she explained.

"Death?", Artemis asked.

"Yes, my dear, Death. Not Thanatos but the fourth horseman of the apocalypse", she said with a sly smile.

Artemis' eyes widened. "But that would mean-"

"That the Christian pantheon is alive?" Chaos cut in.

Artemis just nodded dumbly.

"Of course dear, all the pantheons are interwoven with different names for each primevals. Yes, that would also mean I am the closest being to which they call 'God', and my brother is the fallen Angel by the name of Lucifer."

"Satan" I whispered. Chaos visibly winced but continued, "Anyway, that is a story for another day. As I was saying since these were the most powerful of all the primordials, they were least affected when Gaea 'stole' the collective energy. My grandchildren, however, were greatly affected by the depletion." Chaos said sadly and I nodded, my eyes asking her to introduce the primordials.

"Well," Chaos started with a smirk at my unasked question and clapped her hands, "The 'Golden man' and the 'Athena look-alike' as you so eloquently put are Chronus and Ananke my eldest children, the primordial of Time and the Primordial of Compulsion and Fate."

Everyone burst out laughing as I blushed a deep crimson and mumbled out an apology. Even the pale emo-looking dude had a smile on his face.

Chaos smiled mischievously.

Uh oh, she heard my thoughts.

"Of course I did Percy," she replied with a sly smirk. " 'the gloomy emo dude' is Tartarus, the primordial of the pit and the 'pretty woman with dark eyes' is Nyx, primordial of Night."

All traces of blushes were gone from my face as I paled. My eyes were wide with fear and horror as I squeaked out, "Tartarus and Nyx?"

Oh shit shit shit, I'm fucked.

Tartarus boomed in laughter at my expression and Nyx started giggling. I had a bewildered look on my face and so did Artemis. She looked really cute by the way.

"Um...is there something I'm missing here?" I questioned warily.

"No, nothing young Perseus. You are still as insolent as the day we met." Nyx said between her giggles.

"Uhh...thanks?" I honestly didn't know what to say at that.

I saw Chaos face-palm so I stuck my tongue at her. How mature.

She blinked, and I almost shit my pants, thinking I'd done something wrong. Then she too stuck her tongue out at me in retaliation.

"Perseus" Artemis called out harshly. "You didn't tell me that you met Lord Tartarus and Lady Nyx in Tartarus," she said in a sickly sweet tone that spelled trouble. I paled before spluttering something incoherently and finally decided on, "I...forgot?" I winced at my quivering voice.

Artemis was about to say something but Tartarus said in a teasing tone, "My my, Perseus, we aren't that forgettable, are we?"

I gaped slightly but quickly responded, "No, no Lord Tartarus."

The other Primordials were just as surprised as me when Tartarus made a joke, so I guess he doesn't make jokes often. Who would've thought? The bloodthirsty primordial of the Pit of Evil and executioner of the damned didn't joke? (Note the sarcasm).

Chronus blinked at Tartarus in disbelief. "Did you, did you just make a joke?"

"No"

"Ah..."

An awkward silence surrounded the throne room before Chaos cleared her throat bringing attention to herself. "Now, you both must be wondering why are you here, correct?"

"Yes, Lady Chaos" Artemis nodded curtly. Maybe she finally got over her shock of being in the same room with a super-powerful teenage group.

Chaos sighed wearily, "As you know, Gaea has disrupted the scales of balance. Her power has only increased over time and we have concluded that we cannot do anything. The damage to Earth and the Universe is in fact irreversible."

I frowned at that, "How can we do anything to stop this? You said it yourself, even the elder primordials cannot do more than what they have already done. So, how can we, a lowly demigod and an Olympian make the change necessary?" Artemis smacked my head at my impatience and I heard Nyx giggle. I pouted.

Chaos smirked mysteriously. "Yes Percy, you right now cannot. However, you nine years before can."

I blinked dumbly before my eyes widened as understanding dawned on me. Chronos smirked at my expression.

"Wait, so you want me to-"

"Yes"

"To change the-"

"Yep"

"And save every-"

"And save everyone. Pretty much, yeah", Nyx chirped.

My head started spinning at all the new information I had just been provided. I sat down hard on the floor and put my head in my hands. My head was seriously hurting at this point. I saw Artemis coming by my side with the corner of my eyes. She sat down next to me and whispered soothing words to me as I got out of my shock. She raised her hand and cupped my cheek and brought my eyes to her. I was once again captivated by her beautiful silver eyes that held a twinge of concern and some other emotion I could not identify. We just sat there gazing at each other oblivious to our surroundings before someone cleared their throat awkwardly.

We both snapped out of our stupor and blushed deeply when we realized the primordials were staring at us. Nyx had a knowing smirk on her face while Chaos wriggled her eye-brows suggestively. I blushed before composing myself.

"But, why me?" I squeaked out the question before clearing my throat and repeating myself. "Why choose me?"

Gods that was embarrassing.

Chaos just smiled, "Percy, the strain on the mind of a mortal whilst time-traveling is enormous. If you were to the pas now, your consciousness will be ripped apart. An immortal can, however, withstand the strain and safely travel through time. In order to make it safe for you, you need to acquire mental shields for your mind. The fastest and the safest way to acquire that would be obtaining a blessing from a primordial."

My eyes widened in shock as I asked, "So, one of you is going to give me your blessing?"

Chaos nodded and continued, "We chose you as the candidate for this 'quest' of sorts because we are sure you would never use the powers that you acquire for selfish and prudish purposes." She finished with a reassuring smile.

"Great, more power," I said sarcastically.

The primordials and Artemis chuckled quietly as I thought over my decision.

I turned towards Chaos. "Will I be able to save the dead demigods?" I asked with a hopeful voice. I really wanted to save my friends who died in the wars. I felt guilty for most of their deaths like Zoe and Bianca. I always felt I could've done more to save them. Heck, I wanted to save Luke who I still hadn't forgiven completely. Yes, he did save us in the end, but he hurt too many people before he realized their mistakes.

This time Ananke answered. "Yes, Percy, I have ordered my daughters to let you interfere as you see fit, seeing they messed up in this timeline."

I nodded in gratitude before remembering something. "Your daughters are the three hags that fucked my life over?" I growled. I honestly didn't mean to be so blunt or disrespectful but I was really bitter about all the wars and the deaths of my friends. The three hags always looked at the mortals and demi-gods as their playthings.

Ananke winced in sympathy but nodded. "Also, the prophecies and the quests that you were assigned will remain the same and you cannot change the events, except saving your friends, unless ordered by Chaos." She warned. "If you do so, no one will be able to stop the Fates to put all odds against you. They are highly prideful and will not like the idea of a demi-god interfering too much in their plans."

I frowned a bit but nodded in understanding before bowing slightly.

"Okay now who will give Percy their blessings?" Chaos asked giddily. She was about to say something more but Nyx piped up, "I will"

Chaos glared at her daughter and said in a stern voice, "Daughter, we've been through this. I will give my blessing to Percy first and only then you can give him your minor blessing."

Nyx pouted and whined but finally relented under her mother's firm gaze.

Chaos walked towards me and placed her finger on my forehead. She muttered an incantation and a dome of black energy surrounded me. I felt a surge of power through me and I almost collapsed from the exhaustion. I suddenly felt raw and tired but ironically more powerful too. Chaos nodded to Nyx who repeated the same process only this time I was prepared for the wave of exhaustion.

"My blessings will help you control the Night and shadow-travel" Nyx stated happily. I grinned and thanked her. Shadow-travelling would a highly useful ability.

Chaos then piped up, "My blessings will also give you numerous powers, but they will be revealed as you continue your journey."

I pouted a bit but nodded. Chronus waved his hand to get or attention.

"So now you are ready for your trip through time. First, you have to select an immortal to accompany you." Chronus declared.

"Isn't it obvious? I choose Artemis." I replied.

I looked towards Artemis and grinned. She blushed a bit before smiling back confidently.

Chronus nodded. "I figured as much. Now-" he clapped his hands, "Since you both will likely remain away from each other-" he placed his hands on his staff and started muttering something and I saw a warm golden glow encase me and Artemis. "This will help you in communicating. Now, you can hear each other in the other's mind. You will not be able to hear any thoughts as that would be an intrusion to privacy but you can transmit messages."

I could tell Artemis was happy about the privacy part because she nodded gratefully.

"Also, Chaos and Nyx will speak with you and advise you throughout your trip through time," Chronos stated.

I frowned. I could definitely imagine Chaos guiding and advising me but not Nyx. I was willing to bet my left hand, she wanted to be a part of this 'quest' because she was bored. Her grin towards me confirmed that and I sighed.

Artemis and I bid our farewell to the primordials before readying ourselves for the task ahead.

"Now this is going to hurt." Chaos smirked cryptically as Chronos started chanting.

"Wait, wha-" I started to ask but doubled over in agony as pain throbbed in my skull.

The last I saw was a similarly catatonic Artemis and Nyx smirking stupidly before my consciousness was ripped through the fabric of time and space.

I do not own PJO

Sorry for the delay, I had a huge test yesterday and I fucked it. So, yeah tomorrow a chapter for Acceptance will be uploaded