Next chapter here we go. Not sure how long this is going to take me but iteezwhatiteez. Once again I don't own anything and this belongs to uncle Rick.
previously
With that being said she teleported me to a room in her palace. It was pretty spacious but that wasn't really important to me at the time. The first thing I did was look for a bed and after I found it in the back corner of the room I immediately jumped into it before blacking out. I guess this was my new life now. I wonder where it will take me.
Percy's POV:
I woke up two hours later feeling like a zombie with how excruciatingly dead my limbs felt. I slowly got out of bed, wincing with each crack in my body, and made my way to the wardrobe opposite my bed. I took out a pair of black jeans, a blue shirt and some tennis shoes before heading to the shower. After hopping into the shower I let the water heat up to just the right temperature and started to rinse myself off and clean up. The water rejuvenated me to the point where I was only slightly grumpy. I spent a few minutes just relaxing and letting the water do its work before getting out to get changed.
After getting changed I made my way to hecates throne room to find out what we were doing for the rest of the day. It was still quarter past nine in the morning in the real world. Arriving at the doors I was about to nock before they swung open on their own. Hecate sat in her throne, still in the armour she wore in the arena, and beckoned me towards her. I walked forward and bowed to her before standing straight.
" I hope your rest was enough, Perseus, because that is nothing compared to what we are going to do as we move forward. I must commend you however on summoning my power so soon. Sometimes, even the most powerful wizards take months before they can produce an offensive spell like that. A bit chaotic, unrefined and without direction... but it was impressive." she said.
I felt that her praise was unwarranted because all I'd done was a useless bit of magic that took way too much energy for the amount of damage it caused, it's like a painstakingly obvious sign of how far I still have to go and how difficult it's going to be to do all of this again even though it'll have a better outcome. At least this time I'll have a lot more tricks up my sleeve.
I balked, however, at hearing how much training I had gotten myself into but it would be necessary if I wanted to be ready when we caught up to the original timeline and I went to Yancy academy. I blushed at her compliment and took the criticism she gave to heart, the more I felt my body become accustomed to the mana flowing inside it the better I felt.
"Thank you, lady hecate, since it is still nine am in the real world what exactly are we doing for the rest of the day?" I asked.
"We are going to go back to the arena to work on your physical ability for the next eight hours. After a two hour break you will be training to manipulate mana and learning spells for six hours. By that time it should be around quarter past five in the real world and you will be transported back to your apartment. I believe it would be best if we waited for your mortal body to recover before we attempted to face you off against any of my projections. Any other questions?" she replied, all the while a smirk sat upon her face when she saw my mouth drop at the vigorous regiment she had planned out for me.
With nothing much else to say she teleported us to the arena and the sand pit shifted itself into a gym, complete with a sparring arena and a swimming pool.
I'd love to say I coped with her training methods but I'd be lying through my teeth. I was ordered to do three hundred push-ups, three hundred sit-ups and four hundred squats before we could move onto the weight section. At first it didn't seem that bad. The first set of thirty push-ups was followed by thirty sit-ups and then forty squats. I breezed through it due to my godly heritage but after the fourth set my body started to rebel against this cruel and unusual punishment. I felt cramps in muscles I didn't know were possible for a ten year old to have. I soldiered on however and after three hours I managed to complete my task before I fell over drenched in sweat and metaphorical tears.
Laying in an undignified heap I was unprepared for hecate to levitate me over the pool and suddenly drop me in. The water acted quickly to sooth my aching muscles and return my energy after ten minutes in the pool I hopped out and got ready for the next maniacal fitness challenge she would throw at me. I honestly think she got off on seeing me struggle. She started me off with a five kilometer jog before she took me to the free weight section of the gym. I got under the bar and prepared to bench press the weight on it when hecate motioned for me to stop.
"While you were sleeping I added some extra runes to this projection so that the plate on either side is the exact weight you need to progress. Right now it is at one hundred and eighty pounds but after a few months you should get to two hundred and fifty. The same runes were added to your deadlift bar as well as your squat bar." she clarified. At first I was shocked by how much effort she was willing to put into my training but I guess she didn't really have a choice if the fates wanted her to do it.
After that explanation I continued with my workout. I managed to get in four sets of five reps in on bench and similarly for squat and deadlift. By the end of my training session hecate had to throw me back into the swimming pool in order for me to feel my body again. The entire time I layed at the bottom of the pool I cursed my luck for getting me into this. Honestly you'd think I'd get a break after two wars but I was back at the beginning and training to do it all over again.
I took my two hour break at the bottom of the swimming pool and simply allowed the water to rejuvenate my body after the intense stress it went through. I got bored pretty quickly however and decided I might as well see the extent of my water powers while I was here. Before coming back I was almost on the level of a minor god with my control but that would probably change as well. I noticed that the deeper I went the stronger I felt, which probably had something to do with one of my domains being the deep sea. I focused on the water around me and tried to make it swirl into a whirlpool. I succeeded for all of ten seconds before the tug in my gut became unbearable and I had to let go of the water. I let myself heal before trying again, only to get the same result but with slightly less pain in my gut. I continued this pattern for the rest of my break before I had to get out and learn magic from hecate.
When I got out of the pool I felt like I hadn't even spent eight hours training with essentially a slave driver in control of my regimen. I walked over to where hecate stood at the entrance to the gym to get started with the next part of my training.
"You know that was supposed to be your break right? Not just for you to go practice your water powers. Your soul might be immortal but your body sure isn't. As you can tell, certain boons of your godhood were transported to this body as well but right now you are very much a mortal demigod, a ten year old one at that. It might not feel like it since you are stronger than any ten year old has any right to be but pushing yourself too hard and too fast will damage your body and we would have less time for you to prepare." hecate scolded me while I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment."
" Ok, I get it hecate. No more pushing the limits until I'm in better shape. Got it. What exactly are we going to do now anyway?" I asked. I made sure to keep the teasing and sarcasm to a minimum since we were still in the beginning stages of our mentor and student relationship.
Hecate sighed at my attitude but explained anyway. " You are going to learn your first spell. I know your mana reserves are strong but your control and magical prowess will be far more important over the next six hours. Before we begin I need to make a few adjustments."
She snapped her fingers and the room changed once more. It shrunk down to the size of a normal classroom with a single desk in the middle. The front of the class showed a projection onto a wall with the words "magic for dummies" in black writing. I rolled my eyes at her antics before we started our lesson. The first thing she taught me was that magic was found in everything around us. At least to some extent. Basically everything you can think of has mana and that mana is where magic is derived.
We spent the first two hours going over different kinds of magic and which ones I would be able to do at my age despite the whole immortal soul thing. It really sucked that I'd only get back to my physical prowess by the age of fourteen. After that of course I couldn't even begin to think of the possibilities with everything I'd gone through. Anyway the obvious ones like my inherited powers were skipped since we could get into that in depth later. The ones hecate wanted me to learn were essentially a bunch of spells and magical groupings that would aid my quest of fixing this timeline. First was healing either myself or someone else, next was a defensive magic and obviously last was offensive magic.
The following two hours were spent with hecate asking me to stand out of my desk and sit with my back to the wall and meditate. As one can imagine it went swimmingly... not. ADHD could really be a drag sometimes. I managed to calm down enough when it came to an hour and a half in before listening to hecates next instructions.
"Calm your mind Percy, feel out for the sensation of mana in your body. It should be somewhat similar to using your powers as the son of poseidon. I want you to focus on channeling that mana into your right hand and slowly exerting it through your skin."
I did as I was told. Slowly but surely I found the regular tug in my gut and tried to find the chaotic energy I used this morning. At first I couldn't find it but when I looked deeper I found it closer towards my lower spine. Somehow it felt ancient and yet at the same time like it was always a unique part of me that I'd never acknowledged. I took hold of the whisps of mana flowing around inside of me and tried to force it into my right hand when a sudden blue light flashed out of my body. Looking over at hecate for an explanation she simply rolled her eyes.
"magic is not about forcing mana to enact your will. It's about setting the frame for your mana to complete the artwork. Unlike your water powers that don't like to be restrained, mana needs a direction to be focused on and sent to. Not forcefully, but simply guiding your mana to do as intended. Now try again but this time try imagining your mana as water being pushed through a pipe and only you are in control." she explained.
I tried once more and taking her advice into account got it a lot faster than I thought I would. I guided my mana into my right hand and controlled it beneath my skin for a few seconds before slowly letting it come out. A sort of glowing blue water leaked out of my hand and started to pool on the floor around me while hecate floated upwards to save her cloak. I managed to keep the steady release for thirty seconds before I lost my focus and the glowing water came rushing out. I stopped once I realized I would probably flood the room and looked over to hecate once again.
Hecate didn't show any signs of approval or disappointment, but I could tell that she wanted me to do more. We continued with this for the rest of my second session and by the end of it I could hold my steady release of mana for about a minute and forty seconds. A big improvement if I do say so myself.
The rest of the day went by extremely quickly. I finished up with the notes hecate had me write down earlier and made my way to hecates throne room where she sat on her throne, still in her armour which I guess would be a lot more common from now on.
"I hope you enjoyed your first day Percy, you did quite well all things considered. Right now it is almost five pm in the real world so I guess this is goodbye for now." she said.
I'm not sure what I was expecting from this timelines hecate but she seemed appropriately stoic for someone that just found out they needed to take on a champion who is from the future in order to save the world... although I could see a bit of hope in her eyes. Maybe she never wanted to join Kronos the first time around and only ended up joining him because she couldn't find a better alternative. Thankfully I'd been able to sway her over to my side for now. I quickly bowed before replying.
" Of course, Lady Hecate. Thank you for your help. I'm not sure what kind of trouble I'd have gotten into if another, less forgiving god, had found me instead. I'm looking forward to this second chance, and nothing is going to get in my way." I said, trying to convey just how important it was to me that I could do things better this time.
Hecate simply nodded her head before snapping her fingers and I suddenly reappeared in front of my buildings fire escape. I swayed a small bit trying to get rid of the nauseating feeling of being flashed by a god and then looked up the ladder that lead onto the fire escape. Obviously a ten year old should have had no way to reach the elevated ladder but I ignored that completely. I turned to face the building opposite my own. It was a good ten feet between the two buildings, and the first level of the fire escape was nearly ten feet above me. I channeled my godly energy into my limbs and jumped from my side of the alley to the other building using the moisture in the air to increase my speed, landing with both my feet eight feet high on the wall before back-flipping across the alley once more and landing on the first level of the fire escape with my signature smirk on my ten year old face. After finally getting used to this body I guess it's not that bad with all my powers.
I made my way up to the window outside my room and prepared myself to go back inside. I still hadn't seen the walrus yet today but I doubt he'd be anything but piss drunk and lounging his ass off while mom went to work. I never actually thought about what I'd do about him. I was obviously not spending two years with him, knowing what he was doing to both me and my mother, and I didn't have Medusa's head yet.
"As my champion you can control the mist, Percy. No one will question it if you truly do mean to get rid of him. Although I would recommend that you do it before your mother gets home, I'm not sure that you want her involved yet." said the voice of Hecate in my head. I sent a small prayer to her in thanks.
With that figured out I made my way inside. I climbed in the window of my room, made my way straight to the door, silencing my footsteps along the way by vibrating tlhe water molecules around my feet. I silently opened the door and snuck into the kitchen to turn on the tap. I gathered the water into an orb the size of a basketball and turned it into a water version of riptide and made the edges harden with the pressure of the deep sea. while my control over my element wasn't as strong as it used to be, being the god of the deep sea imprinted onto my soul and i could increase the pressure of water much easier than before . I wonder to what extent it carried over in my other domains? the fates said I had kings speak which I've never heard of. Probably has something to do with leadership but I'll ask them some other time. Super strength apparently even though I felt incredibly weak compared to my prime. Is it weird that I'm calling it my prime when it hasn't even happened yet? Although I guess technically I'm only comparing it to my prime of being a god and not while I was still a demigod but even then I used to be a lot more powerful.
Anyway I slowly made my way to the living room where I caught my first glimpse of smelly Gabe in years. He was passed out on the couch with half a beer spilled on his gut and about fifty emty cans surrouning his grotesque form. The walrus still had his three singular strands of hair combed over the top of his head as if that was somehow supposed to be handsome , and his ever present stench wafted through the air before relentlessly attacking my nose.
I couldn't find any way to sneak up on him through his mountain of trash so instead I jumped straight over it, using the water in the air once more to get me over the distance and kicked both feet into his gut, letting a tiny bit of vibration energy out of the soles of my feet.
Blood spurt out of his mouth as he tried to make sense of what was going on and why his wind was gone and a child was standing on his enormous stomach. I didn't give him that satisfaction, however, as soon as I landed i readied myself to swing my water sword through his neck. No point in drawing this out as he'd get his punishment at the hands of my uncle in any case. My blade connected with his neck and immediately went straight through before getting stuck in the couch. His head remained in place for a second before sliding off onto the floor and a spray of blood hit my face from his headless corpse.
I stood on top of him for a few seconds, coming to grips with the murder I'd just committed before I jumped back over to the other side of the room. I let out a sigh at how easily i dispatched of him.
In all honesty I had been a killer for years. I never truly thought about it but ever since I killed my first monster, one seriously temperamental math teacher and the head fury of my uncle, i became a killer.
Every demigod needed to kill to survive and perhaps none of us ever thought about the lives we were taking but they were still lives. The majority of us weren't even old enough to drive but we could wield a weapon well enough to make mortal 'pros' seem inexperienced. We were honestly all too young for this but thats what we needed to do in order to survive. It was kill or be killed for us and I sure as Hades didn't want to die just yet.
That being said the monsters were immortal and they would come back again but some of them were truly peaceful and yet they still weren't considered acceptable and subsequently killed because Zeus still had his head in his ass at this point in time.
I mean look at Tyson, he was the sweetest younger brother a guy could ask for and to think that if I hadn't brought him with me he could've ended up like polyphemus or antaes instead of the general of Olympus. Some monsters were only like that because of a curse from a god or goddess in the first place like with Medusa and Athena and she should've been pissed with poseidon in the first place for raping Medusa.
The older I got and the more time I spent in this world I started to realise something. The gods might have been the better option in both wars the first time around but they were far from perfect and now that I knew the majority of what would be happening I could change things for the better. If that meant I had to go against the gods wishes every once in a while then that's exactly what I'd be doing.
My biggest concern right now however was the corpse in my living room and how on earth i was gonna clean it up and get it out of here before mom got home. Needless to say she deserves at least two years of a normal life without the walrus here. Hopefully she still meets Paul. I never quite thought about where he might have been during this stage in my life.
I stood there contemplating all this for a few minutes before coming up with a plan worthy of Athena. I needed to use hecates power to morph his body and clean up the spray of blood that had gone past me as well as the chunk of the couch that was missing.
After concentrating on my lower back and drawing on her blessing i guided my mana towards the corpse and slowly started to turn it into water. Sweat started to pour down my brow by the time i was halfway through but i stuck through it until my lower back felt like the river styx all over again. Note to self... don't use raw mana to do something complicated when you've only used magic for one day in your entire life . luckily once his body was completely transformed i took control over it with my own powers and it was much easier. I cleaned up the blood and sent the water down the sink before my mother could walk in on me using my powers.
The fates were right. I shouldn't change the timeline unless absolutely necessary, at least then i would be able to predict what was going to happen to us. My mother would find out in two years like last time and in the meanwhile I would be training with hecate and hopefully planning for how we would win both wars.
I made sure that all the evidence of my sad excuse for a step-father was cleaned up before conjuring a small amount of mist in the palm of my right hand. Using the mist I made everyone in the building forget that he existed. I then proceeded to pass out on the floor from over exhausting my body the whole day.
I woke up to the sound of keys in the door, thinking quickly I got up and sprinted to the kitchen. I waited there for my mother and when she came into view I almost dropped the charade right their. After everything I'd been through it hurt me to know that I'd only get her back in two more years, and that I had to lie to her in order to prepare myself better.
I quickly schooled my face however before she could figure out anything was wrong with me.
" Hey honey, i hope you enjoyed your day!" she said as she broke the threshold of the kitchen and saw me. "I'm really sorry that we couldnt go last night, something happened at work but we can leave in twenty minutes if you can pack your bags quickly enough. Now come here."
she motioned to hug me and i happily agreed to it, launching myself into the greatest woman alive. "Gabe said he was leaving by the way, no idea why."
" Really? i thought the beer fridge was full." she replied. she shook her head at me and sent me up to my room to go pack and soon we were on our way to montauk.
The drive was uneventful and soon we were at our cabin and packing our stuff away. It was pretty late by the time we got there but we decided to make a fire anyway and just sit there eating marshmallows and other blue candies that she got from her job.
We spoke for about an hour before she decided it was time for bed and we made our way back to the cabin. It didn't take long for me to find my bed and pass out into the realm of morpheus. I managed to have another dreamless sleep and got up early the next day before the sun rose.
looking around the dark cabin I thought about what it would be like in two years time when I needed to be 'found' by grover again. In some ways I was looking forward to it but it still hurt to think that no one in camp would recognize me and they wouldn't remember any of our adventures together. on the other hand I would get to save my friends like Beckendorf and Selina.
I slowly crept out of the cabin to clear my head and get some fresh air. I made my way to the edge of the beach where the water just barely touched my feet before sitting down and waiting for the sunrise.
A bright flash suddenly went off next to me and the air around me became ten times heavier. Turning my head to the left I got a glimpse of who decided to visit me this early in the morning and almost pissed my pants.
A solid outline of wind formed into the shape of a man about six feet tall with short cropped hair and a chiton made of lightning that sparked every few seconds. The most interesting part about him was actually the millions of scars crisscrossing all over his skin. Standing next to me in all his glory was my great grandfather Ouranos. The first king of earth and the ruler of the primordial age.
I quickly tried to get up and bow before him but he waved it off before I could properly stand up.
"This has been a long time coming, child. I hope you remember what I told you." he said in a whispery voice that somehow still managed to reach my ears.
Obviously he was talking about the vision he sent me in tartarus but it still didn't make sense to me.
"My lord, all you said was to be ready when the time comes. I still have no idea when that time is or if I'm ready." I tried to explain to him.
"You will grow into your role wonderfully, but for now you must be vigilant. As you start making changes the events of our past will mean nothing to anyone who isn't allowed to know yet. Yes I remember what happened or will happen technically but still, the events of this timeline will differ slightly and you need to anticipate the movement of each piece in this game. Not a single one can be left out." he said.
I came to grips with what he was trying to tell me and the message underneath. obviously he couldn't just tell me exactly what to do but it sure helped to have a hint. As I sat there mulling over everything he said the sun started to rise. As ouranos started to disappear he lifted a glowing finger to my forehead and suddenly I felt like I'd had fifty energy drinks in one second with the amount of adrenaline coursing through my body. I could feel the air currents around me and the lightning hiding in the clouds above.
When I came down from my adrenaline rush he was gone but a silver ring was left in the sand along with a small note.
Be careful with this
The note started to disintegrate like the one from the fates only this one left the smell of ozone behind even at the beach.
I decided to examine the ring and put it on my finger. It was truly a masterpiece, fitting for a gift from a primordial. Olympic silver with celestial bronze inlay that was stained black. The design kind of looked like a swirling black and silver cloud with a single tanzanite gem in the centre. I brushed my thumb over the gem and it transformed into a scythe not unlike the one Kronos used. The handle was pitch black with lightning etched in silver while the blade was silver and covered in cloud designs. Holding the scythe in my arms I felt a connection with it that I didn't think I would ever find outside of riptide. It hummed as it seemed to accept me as it's weilder for now. I shrunk it back down before anyone could see and made my way back to the cabin to check on mom.
luckily she had just woken up and probably thought I was just walking around inside the cabin. I quickly made my way back inside and waited for her to find me in the kitchen.
" Good morning, Percy, did you sleep alright?" she asked as she came into the kitchen. I told her I slept fine and waited for her to finish making breakfast for the two of us.
Once we finished eating our blue pancakes we went back out to the beach to relax and talk about where I would be going to school next year as the headmaster had already informed her that I wouldn't be going back after the war cannon incident. It's not my fault they left a loaded cannon out in the open in front of a bunch of kids.
As we were thinking of schools that might accept me I had an idea that would make Athena jealous. I could go to Merriweather prep and get Tyson back earlier than last time. He could even come train with me in hecates palace. for that matter there were plenty of people that I could rescue or find before the time came and maybe even save a few lives while I'm at it. obviously I'd prepare for a couple months before I got anyone else but Tyson should be easy enough right now. I got so giddy about my plan that mom almost noticed before I schooled my features and went back to asking her about which school she thought I should go to. In the end I could barely focus on anything she was saying because all I was focused on was what I needed to do next. Whether it was something in the next few days or even in the next two years.
The pin finally dropped I guess. I, Percy Jackson, slayer of pretty much everything and bane of everything else would need to re-enter the Greek world. I needed to plan two wars and save countless lives. All of it was just hitting me while I sat with my mom talking about some stupid mortal school. In the end I could only give my suggestions of Merriweather prep to her and hope she agreed for now. At least then I would get back my brother. We enjoyed the rest of our stay at Montauk playing on the beach before driving back home before sunset.
When mom put the keys in and opened the door I half expected Gabe to be there drinking his stupid beer but the house was empty and... remarkably peaceful. I said goodnight to mom before going to my room and jumping into my bed after taking off my clothes leaving me in only my boxers. I hopped onto my bed before looking at the ceiling and letting out a sigh
"I guess today was definitely a bit different to your average tenth birthday but hey that's just how the fates love to do things including me."