If you are interested, here is a short note about what I have planned regarding the changes in the timeline:
Percy hasn't had many opportunities to change anything yet, so the plot of the first book - Luke steals Zeus' lightning, he accuses Poseidon, Percy goes on the quest to find it again, etc- will be similar at first sight. Of course, there will be changes already in this book because Percy will make different decisions and even the smallest things can have big consequences, but the big changes will only start happening in the second book. Minor details that happen in this book will make big waves, I promise you.

A Demigod out of time

The Lightning Thief

I

He said it before and he will say it again: he had no idea how he survived Alecto the first time around.

This time he knew what to expect and was prepared, but still got nearly killed. He could swear that Chiron needed longer to appear and throw him his sword than last time. He didn't want to sound snobby or anything, but he liked to think that his life was important enough to warren a certain amount of hurry.

Well, to be fair, things happened a bit different this time around. If you look at it like that you could argue that it was his own fault that Chiron came later to bring him a weapon, because he changed something in the timeline.

Until lunch break their trip went similar to the one he remembered, with the sole exception of him giving a much better answer to 'Mr, Brunner's' question than before.

He had planned to act as normal as possible, hoping that that might be enough to prevent his fight with Alecto. Obviously, that didn't work out as well as he hoped it would. When lunch break started he pulled back from the masses of students, trying to find a quiet place where he could eat without being interrupted. Grover didn't even try to accompany him, he had given up on that after Percy repeatedly told him that he preferred to eat alone.

(He knew that it was necessary to do so, but it didn't make him feel any better)

His plan started to fail the moment Mrs Dodds of all people bumped into him, resulting in her food landing on his shirt.

„Oh no, I'm so sorry honey. Come, let's get you a clean shirt from the museum's souvenir shop, shall we?"

Gods, even when she tried so sound apologetic she sounded like the cruel monster she was.

He wasn't given a chance to react before she grabbed his arm and started pulling him with her, back into the museum. In hindsight, it may have been a terrible idea to get away from the group to a place where barely anyone could see him. Just saying.

From that point on, events happened quite the same as before; Mrs Dodds gave a short monologue about how he should confess and be spared much pain in return, Chiron appeared at the very last damn second, he survived another encounter with his pre-algebra teacher, and nobody remembered her afterwards. He still acted as if he were confused about how everyone could forget their teacher when he was around Grover, who was still a terrible liar. No wonder he picked up on it even the first time this happened.

The biggest success of this field trip wasn't that he survived it though, but the fact that it didn't end in his expulsion from school. He could actually return to Yancy next year! He could already see the beaming face of his mother when she heard the news.

The other thing that would make her happy (and himself proud, not that he planned to tell that to anyone) was his report card. He was not even around the top of his grade, but it was still the best report card he had ever had.

When the school year was finally over he still sat together with Grover for the bus ride, this time fortunately without three old ladies cutting yarn. Meeting the three sisters once per timeline was more than enough, thank you very much, and not seeing someone's -probably his- lifeline being cut was much preferable to the opposite.

Later he allowed Grover to escort him home. He had kept him at arm's length all year along, so he gladly took the chance to spend some more time with him. He missed his best friend. He would need to make sure to spend some much needed time with the Satyr when they were at Camp, to build up their friendship to what it was supposed to be.

All that lead him to where he was now: his bedroom, waiting for his mother to arrive.

He had decided months ago that he would tell her what happened at the museum. This meant that they wouldn't be able to visit Montauk, but that was okay. He would make sure that they would visit it later when all the trouble with the Titans was over.

"Percy, are you there?"

He would recognize this voice everywhere. He turned around and there she stood; Sally Jackson, not just the best mother but also the best person in the entire world.

And that was a fact.

"Mom!"

The next thing he knew was, that they were hugging each other.

"Oh Percy," she sighed. "You've grown since Christmas."

For the next hour or so they sat together on his bed and he told her everything that he hadn't already mentioned in one of his regular letters. Like he suspected she was amazed by his report card and the fact that he could return to Yancy next year.

At this moment he decided that all the trouble this time travel thing brought with it would be absolutely worth it, if only because he could see his mother practically glow with happiness.

Then he came to the point in his story where the field trip began.

He didn't even need to act as if he wouldn't know what to say or as if he were uncomfortable, because neither of those things was a lie. He was uncomfortable, extremely so, and certainly didn't know where to begin.

"Percy, is everything alright? Did something happen?"

And there it was; every time he tried to keep something secret from her, she would make this face where it seemed like she could look into his very soul. He long since accepted that the only secrets he could keep from her were those, she allowed him to keep. Exactly the same thing had happened the last time when she noticed that something had scared him but decided she would wait until they were at their little hut in Montauk before she would press for more information.

Too bad that the Minotaur had been faster.

"I'm not sure. Maybe? You see, we went on this field trip, okay? To this museum, I forgot the name. About Greek and Roman history and mythology."

He could see her eyes widening slightly when he mentioned the 'Greek' part, but she hid it barely a second later.

Huh, he thought, I guess she knows where I'm going with this. Maybe not the part where I got nearly killed, but the part about the myths being real...or something like that. Oh, and she has a great poker face too, can't forget about that!

"And what did you thought about it? Was it interesting?"

"I think so? It was hard to pay attention because Nancy and her friends kept talking and talking, but it was actually alright. Just,... I don't know how to say this without sounding stupid, but did you ever wondered if all this stuff might be real? The stories need to come from somewhere, don't they?"

He didn't dare to look up, because that would mean he would look into his mother's eyes. He didn't think he would like what he would see there.

"Sometimes, yes. What makes you ask that?

Oh fuck, he could definitively hear a slight tremble in her voice. And was that fear she was trying to hide? That wasn't good at all. He didn't want her to be scared, not at all. But what could he do? She wouldn't let it go now, not after he started talking about it. It was too late to stop now. He would just need to try to be as gentle as possible from now on and hope for the best.

"Okay, that may sound insane, as if I were crazy, but please hear me out okay? Do you remember this teacher I wrote to you about, Mrs Dodds? She was a...thing? Monster? I have no idea, but she kinda, well, transformed? Got even uglier than before, and with this big black wings. She talked about me being a thief or something, you know? And told me to confess. And okay, I'm no model student, but I'm not a thief, thank you very much! But, what I wanted to say is, s...s-she kinda tried to, well, kill me? And then Mr Brunner threw a pen at me, and then it was a sword and I kinda, you know, slashed at her? And she blew up? And nobody remembers her? And now that I said it out loud it sounds even crazier than when it was in my head, so can we maybe just ignore it and..."

He felt a pang in his chest. He hated lying to his mother, it made him feel like the worst person around. The worst thing was that he didn't even know if he would want to tell her the truth if he could. Wasn't it much better to keep it to himself and then solve everything without her knowing in how much danger he truly was? This was she wouldn't need to be as terrified as she would be otherwise, right?

Fortunately, his mother interrupted him before he was forced to think more about that.

"No, we can't ignore it, Percy, dear."

Her voice, which she somehow managed to make sound gentle and determined at the same time, cut him off. Okay, so maybe he had started rambling, but by Hades, this might be the most stressful situation in his entire life. Give him Kronos every day, but this? Nah, thank you, but no thank you.

"I'm so sorry that I didn't talk to you earlier. This shouldn't be the way you find out about all of this, it should have been more gentle and slowly. It is my fault because I wanted you to stay with me. I was selfish. I thought you would be safe, that Gabe would be enough, and now you nearly..."

She only whispered the last part, but he still heard it. He definitively couldn't let it stand like that. No way in Hades would he let his Mom think she acted selfishly. Not after she married a thing like Gabe for his sake.

"Okay, listen Mom: you are not selfish! There is not one egoistic bone in your entire body, you hear me? I mean, you have barely any free time because you're always working, just for Gabe to use most of the money for his stupid beer and his stupid poker games, but you still spend many hours every week for volunteer work. And then, when I'm home from school, you still manage to find some free time to spend it with me!"

She didn't give any reaction to that besides a slight shaking of her head.

Okay then, Percy decided, I'll just change the topic then. No need for her to continue thinking about that.

"Has Grover anything to do with this 'keeping me safe' thing?" he asked.

This seemed to work. She raised her head, a slightly surprised expression on her face.

"Grover? He was supposed to keep an eye on you, to interfere if something bad happens. I guess it didn't work well at the museum..."

She sighed. Then she looked directly into his eyes, and all sadness and thoughts about her supposed egoism were forgotten. All he could see there was an unwavering determination.

Were one of his friends present, they would have noted how this was the exact same expression Percy wore every time he went into battle.

"Before we talk about Grover and the monster you met at the museum, we need to start at the beginning."

She took a deep breath before she continued:

"Let me tell you about your father."

Nearly two hours and only one single interruption by Gabe later he sat in the same Camaro that got blown up the last time he sat in it. This was something he hoped wouldn't repeat itself, no matter how much it would annoy Gabe. It just wasn't worth it. No, all he asked for was a nice and leisurely drive to Camp. Just him, his mother... and Grover.

After a lengthy and extensive explanation about his father, the gods and a dozen other things (honestly, how was it that his mother could give such an amazing explanation for everything while the introduction at Camp was so... dull? Forget it, stupid question; the answer was that his mother was simply amazing) he had shown his Mom the card Grover had given him earlier that day and they decided to call him.

Ten minutes later his Mom hat 'convinced' Gabe once again to 'let them go to Montauk', only to pick up Grover around the corner of the street and then proceeded to drive to Camp Half-Blood.

"So," he finally said in an attempt to break the tense silence, "Mom said you're a Satyr. Half man half donkey, correct?"

The next moment the car was filled with noises of coughing and gulping, as Grover tried to get the can that he had been eating out of his throat. Percy couldn't help but smile at this. That was just the reaction he had expected from good ol' Grover.

"Goat! From my waist downwards I am a goat, not a donkey!"

"Yeah yeah, I got it. A goat, no donkey. Don't worry, I will remember that," he said unconvincingly, making Grover mock glare at him.

By the Gods, it felt so good to just goof around with Grover. He had missed this so much over the last year!

"You better. There are many Satyrs at Camp who would trample you to death over such an insult!"

"You know, Mom told me a bit about this this 'Camp Half-Blood', but in the end, she really didn't know too much. She has never been there before, after all, and got all her knowledge second-hand. Can you tell me a bit more about it? Like, what to do and what not to do? Such as this donkey/goat thing?"

The rest of the drive he listened to Grover listening up all the official and, more importantly, the unofficial rules of Camp Hal-Blood. He was surprised to learn that he actually didn't know all of them himself already.

Frankly, he hadn't expected this drive to went as smoothly as it did. Surely if Hades wanted some Monster to attack them, just driving to Camp a few hours earlier than last time wouldn't matter?

But no attack came and finally, after a comfortable and surprisingly entertaining car drive, they could see Thalia's Pine Tree.