A half-blood of the eldest gods

Shall reach nineteen against all odds

And see the world in endless sleep

The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap

A single choice shall end his days

Olympus to preserve or raze.

Oracle of Delphi, post World War II

Hey there, everyone. It's Percy Jackson here, no surprise. Currently I'm really fucking confused.

My idiotic yet good friend Grover kept on muttering about how "they never get past ninth grade," while the two of us were staring at three old grannies finishing a pair of socks.

Suddenly, one of them dropped their needles, and all three looked shocked.

Almost robotically, I walked towards the three ladies, and they started to panic.

I stopped in front of them, and whatever reason my legs brought me here still hadn't come to mind.

Being the ADHD child that I am, I said the most sensible thing. "Dropping needles? You must be getting old, Granny, why don't you let someone else help?"

"We are the Moirai, boy." One of them snarled. "We need no godling to tell us how to do our work, let alone you."

Immediately, my mind jumped to Mr. Brunner's lessons about the Moirai, the Greek pantheon's weavers of fate.

"I'm a god?" I asked confusedly. "That's really cool. What are my powers?"

"Not god, Percy." Grover said timidly. "Godling. That's the kid of a god."

"What, are you a 'godling' too?" I asked harshly.

"Satyr." Grover said.

"Those are the half donkeys, right?" I asked, fully knowing that I was wrong.

"Half goats." Grover said, lifting his cap and showing a bit of horn.

"Some friend you are." I said, then I turned to look at the "Moirai," but they weren't there.

"Well, where the fuck did they go?" I asked.

"They're the Moirai, Percy!" Grover rebuked. "You don't talk about them like that."

I turned to Grover, dumbfounded. "You've been hiding the fact that you're half donkey from me, and your concern is three old hags?"

"Half goat." Grover protested.

"You can be a fucking centaur for all I care!" I exclaimed. "You're not getting it! I thought you were the one person in my world who didn't keep secrets about me from me! Then I hear you going to Brunner's office, and talking to some girl named Juniper, and suddenly all those thoughts go down."

"Percy-" Grover began, but I raised a hand.

"I'm going home, Grover." I said. "My mom is going to give me straight answers about my dad, and you're not going to see me until next year."

I boarded the bus before Grover could protest, and left.

~~ Ascension to the Past ~~

I jiggled my key into the lock and opened the door to my house, and saw Ugly Gabe and his friends all sitting around and playing poker.

"Hey, Gabe Ugly." I said. "I'd really appreciate it if you and your friends left the house for a while."

"Excuse me?" Gabe said, standing up. "Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?"

"C'mon, Gabe, don't embarrass yourself." I said, false confidence in my voice. "We both know I'm going to win."

Even at the age of 16, I had a nice body. 5' 9", and while not looking like a bodybuilder, I had streamlined muscles all over. The perfect swimmer's body, if I do say so myself.

Gabe chuckled, then he sneered and threw a punch at me.

With skills and reflexes I didn't know I had, I grabbed Gabe's wrist and twisted his arm behind his back.

"Out." I said, twisting Gabe's arm further. "As soon as I let you go. I don't want to see you today, capische?"

"Yes." Gabe grunted.

"All of you, out." I said. "Gabe'll come out in a moment."

As soon as everyone left, I roughly twisted his arm even more. "You hurt my mom again, and it'll be worse than just a twisted arm, understand? You'll have broken arms, bleeding eyeballs, your balls will be gone. I'm sorry for describing all that," I said sincerely, "my mind is just running around, you know how it is. ADHD, dyslexia, and all."

"Yes." Gabe grunted.

"Good." I said, then I let him go. "And please leave us the Camaro keys, we might need it."

Gabe put his keys down and left without another word.

I sighed and went to my mom's room, and knocked on the door.

"Come in, Percy." My mom said, and I opened the door and entered.

My mom came out of the bathroom in a bathrobe and a towel wrapped around her hair.

"What's up, Percy?" Mom asked, seeing my troubled expression.

"When were you going to tell me my dad was a fucking god?" I asked.

Mom sighed and sat on the bed. "Sit next to me, Percy."

I sat next to her.

"I couldn't tell you because it wouldn't be safe for you." She said. "You demigods, you have what's called a scent. It grows as you increase in power, and monsters sniff the scent and chase after you. When you become aware of your heritage, the scent becomes all the more stronger."

"That makes a lot more sense." I said after a moment.

"I'm guessing you were pretty irritated, huh?" She asked with a wry smile.

"I was." I admitted. "So, who's my dad?"

"Poseidon." Mom said.

I sat there in silence, processing the information.

"So, how did you find out?" Mom asked.

"Several things." I said with a sigh. "Grover and Mr. Brunner, and then today I met the Fates."

Mom paled. "The Moirai?"

"Yeah." I said, trying to shrug it off. "They're pissed at me, I think."

"Ohhh, Percy." Mom said. "What should I do with you?"

"I didn't start it." I said, then I recalled the full event to her.

"They dropped their needles?" Mom asked. "That's unheard of, impossible. They're the Fates."

"I don't know, Mom, it's just what happened." I said.

"Ok, well, we're dropping you off at Camp Half-Blood." Mom said, getting up and wearing her clothes under her robe.

"Camp Half-Blood?" I asked.

"It's a camp for demigods." Mom said. "Sanctioned and protected by the Olympian Council, and meant to train you all into warriors."

"A child soldiers' camp." I said, getting up.

"Don't say that there." Mom ordered.

"You're okay with me being a child soldier?" I asked confusedly.

"Dear, I have no choice." Mom said, putting her hand to my chest. "You're a son of the Big Three, they're coming after you already."

"Who?" I asked.

"I'll explain on the way." Mom said, going to my room and throwing some clothes into a carry-on. "Get the keys for Gabe's car."

"I have it." I said, swinging the key around my finger.

Mom paused to give me a look, then she zipped up the carry-on. "Well, I won't ask, but let's hurry up."

We got into the car, then Mom pulled out of the driveway, and started driving just nine miles above the speed limit.

"There's a prophecy." Mom said. "You or the kids of Hades or Zeus will decide the outcome of an upcoming war. I don't know the specifics. They cannot know you know your heritage, and you cannot let them know you know about the prophecy. You will find out in your time, and you will act surprised for both, if you want to make sure Zeus doesn't send Hercules or Echidna to kill you."

"Damn." I said, shocked. "This is the real deal."

"Yes."

Suddenly, I lost control over my body, and I grabbed the steering wheel and turned it to the right as fast as I could.

I did it just in time, as a large bolt hit the spot where the car would've been had I not moved the wheel.

"We're two minutes away." Mom said, and I looked at her. "If I die, Perseus Achilles Jackson, know that I love you more than anything else in the world."

"You're not dying today, Mom." I said. "I won't allow it."

"Tell that to your uncles." She said as she swerved through cars.

Then a bolt hit the car, and we rolled on the ground until the car stopped, upside down.

"Oh, fuck." I said, unbuckling my seatbelt and kicking the door open, then getting Mom out.

"That's the border." Mom said, pointing to a lone pine tree a hundred feet away. "Make it there, and you'll be fine."

"Let's go then." I said, pulling her to her feet.

"I won't be able to enter." Mom said. "I'm a mortal. Clear sighted, yet still a mortal."

Then, the moo of a cow reverberated in the air, and we looked behind us to see a fucking huge ass dude with a bulky body and the head of a bull.

"What the fuck?" I asked.

"The son of Pasiphae." Mom said, answering my question.

"He's about to charge at us, Mom." I said, then I let go of her, and put her to the ground.

"What are you doing?" She asked. "Go to the border, he can't attack you if you cross it."

"But he will be able to attack you." I said.

Minotaur charged at us, and I ran towards it as well, not entirely sure what to do and acting on my instincts.

(A.N.: I say only Minotaur because I think Minotaur is the name of the monster, just like Echidna is the name of Echidna, or Kampé is the name of Kampé. Granted, in universes/stories where there are several Minotaurs, such as God of War, it's a different case, but in Riordanverse, I understand that there's only one Minotaur.)

Minotaur swung his arm at me, and I ducked underneath, then grabbed it and swung up on it, kicking his snout with both feet.

I hung onto his back and grabbed his horn and pulled it back with all my strength.

Minotaur dropped to fours, and struggled to go towards Mom while trying to shake me off.

I grabbed his other horn and tried harder, and Minotaur mooed in rage.

Once we were two feet away from Mom, I broke the horns off.

Freed from my grasp, Minotaur shot his hand at my Mom.

He touched her, and suddenly, Mom turned into gold dust.

I roared in rage and dug both horns into Minotaur's eyes, breaking into his brain.

Minotaur dissolved into gold dust, leaving now sign of his presence except for the two horns in my hand.

"Do you think he might be the one?" A girl asked.

I couldn't be bothered to hear the answer as I fainted from exhaustion.

~~ Ascension to the Past ~~

I woke up in a bed in what was clearly a medical facility.

"Well?" I asked myself as I sat up, hanging my legs off the bed. "Where am I?"

No one answered me, and I sat there silently. I could swear I heard breathing from the chair in the corner of the room, but if there was an invisible specter sitting there or something was beyond me. Don't blame me, I just learned the Greek pantheon is a real thing. No telling what else was real.

A few minutes later, someone entered the room, and startled when they saw me awake.

"Oh, hey. We weren't expecting you to wake up so fast." A blond boy with a smile. "I'm Lee Fletcher, Son of -"

"Apollo." I said, standing up and cutting him off. "Sorry, it was kind of obvious, what with the bright disposition, and being in the medical bay. Also, Apollo was said to have been blonde."

"Nice." Lee said, obviously surprised. "I'd say you were a Son of Athena with that quick thought process, but those sea-grean eyes are telling me I'd be wrong."

"I have ADHD and dyslexia." I said with a shrug. "My mom helped me learn how to use those to speed my thoughts rather than crutch them."

"Then you had a better mom than most demigods." Lee said. "Good sleep? Are you feeling sore anywhere? That was a big fight you had."

"What happened to its body?" I asked innocently.

"It disappeared, like all monster bodies." Lee said. "It's reforming in Tartarus."

Well, now I knew my next destination. If the gold dust reforms in Tartarus, that's where Mom is.

"Huh." I said. "I thought Tartarus was a thing?"

"We usually say being around here, not thing." Lee said. "But yes, Tartarus the place, is actually just the body of the being."

"Then how does anything get there?" I asked.

Lee was clearly uncomfortable with the questions, but I didn't really care. "Well, there's like, connections to the world, like the pithole in the Underworld. We don't know them, but the monsters do."

"That's… really weird." I said somewhat truthfully.

"It is." Lee said, relieved that the topic changed. He handed me a box. "These are your spoils from the fight."

I opened the box and saw the two horns of Minotaur. For sending my mother to Tartarus, I decided that I'd get these horns at least five more times.

"Thank you." I said.

"Yeah, well, if you're ready, I need to take you to Chiron." Lee said.

"Chiron?" I asked. "The centaur who taught Hercules?"

"Yes." Lee said. "He's the director of Camp Half-Blood."

"Well, let's go." I said.

Lee led me towards a large building.

I looked at the other buildings. "Doesn't the Greek pantheon have like sixty plus individuals?" I asked as I looked around.

"Yes." Lee said.

"And a lot of these have kids, right?" I asked.

"Yep."

"So why are there only buildings for the Council members?" I asked. "Hera doesn't even have demigods."

Lee's features tightened, but it looked like he was more unhappy with my questions than with the status quo. "It's the verdict of the Council."

I nodded, and we reached the door to the main building.

I entered, and saw Mr. Brunner but this time his lower body wasn't in a wheelchair but instead it was the body of a horse, a dude with purple eyes and tiger stripes on his shirt, and Grover.

"Chiron." I said, looking at Mr. Brunner.

"Mr. Jackson." Chiron nodded at me.

I looked at the other dude. "... Lord Dionysus."

"You are the one that Graver says talked to the Fates, correct?" Dionysus asked.

"Yes." I said.

"Well then, Peter Johnson, I do not look forward to the next time we see each other." Dionysus said dismissively.

"It's Percy Jackson, sir." I said.

"Paul Jacobson." Dionysus said.

"Sir, it is Percy Jackson, do remember it if you can keep your crazy side under control." I said with gritted teeth.

Dionysus looked me in the eye. "What do you know about my crazy side, Johnson?"

I resisted the urge to wince as Dionysus showed me images of going crazy, turning into foam in the sea, and being squeezed to death.

As soon as he was done, I leaned forward. "I am Perseus Achilles Jackson, son of Sally Jackson, and you will address me correctly. I don't care what problems you have with babysitting your child soldiers, but I don't give a shit. My mom died because of your world, and I'm not the kind to forget that, Dickysus."

"Mr. Jackson, apologize." Chiron ordered.

"To who?" I asked.

"To Lord Dionysus." Chiron said.

"But I never said anything wrong to him, just like he never did to me." I said. "He was talking to a Mr. Johnson, while I was talking to Dickysus."

"No, he's correct." Dionysus said, stopping Chiron from continuing. "But disrespect me again, and your mind will be too vegetable to understand that I'm torturing you."

I scoffed. "This is coming from the Wine God who's drinking Diet Coke."

I turned to Grover. "Grover." I said. "It's nice to see you."

"You too." He said.

"Now that pleasantries are done, may we discuss the event with the Moirai?" Chiron asked.

I sat down. "Nothing much to say, really. The Fate dropped her needles, I talked to them, they're pissed at me, they try to kill my mother in retaliation."

"Try?" Dionysus asked with a scoff. "There's not even a bit of her body left."

"That's because there's no body." I said. "Minotaur just touched her and she turned to gold dust."

Dionysus and Chiron looked at each other, and I leaned back.

After a while, they looked at me.

"Tomorrow will be Capture the Flag, it's a mandatory event." Chiron said. "We shall discuss this with the Council, thank you, Mr. Jackson."

I nodded and left the building, then I waited by a pole.

Two minutes later, Grover came out of the building.

I walked up to him. "I'm sorry about how I acted to you earlier." I said. "You didn't deserve the words I said to you, and I didn't deserve the loyalty you gave me."

Grover nodded hesitantly. "You were confused and afraid, you didn't understand what knowing would do."

"No, I didn't." I agreed. "But please, if there's something you think I should know, tell me?"

"You have my word." Grover said.

"Thank you, Grover." I said.

"Don't mention it." Grover said. "Now, how about I show you the place?"

~~ Ascension to the Past ~

The next day, I decided that I considered myself officially disillusioned with the Olympians. Honestly, they were asking for the other fifty or so powerful beings to rebel.

Last night, some of Ares' spawn tried to give me swirlies, and I schooled most of them, barring the leader, one Clarisse La Rue. An Athenian girl my age was nearby and watching, but offered me no assistance.

As a member of Hermes Cabin, I looked to see who was drawing the plans for their team, the blue team, and saw that it was the Athenian from yesterday. She looked at me, and immediately walked over to me.

"You'll be on the left side, by the lake." She told me.

I raised his eyebrow at her, and she looked at me, daring me to contradict her.

"Alright." I said, walking in the direction I was assigned to.

I sat at the lakeside, waiting for everything to start.

After a minute, I heard the muted breath of someone near him.

"You know, Athenian, you've proved I cannot ever trust you." I began, hearing her voice catch when she realized I discovered her. "First, you spy on me when I'm sleeping, then you come to a secret meeting in the Big House? Then you stand there and refuse to help me, when you could have, even when you knew I was going to win. Why? Because you thought you were playing the long game."I laughed. "You want all of Ares Cabin to come and attack me, and overwhelm me. You get brownie points with Dionysus because he doesn't like me. You get a whole cabin out of the main fight. All good things. But you know the problem, Athenian? You didn't clear it with me. This is why Sparta won the war, Athenian. You and yours all like to play games against each other. But in Sparta, they understood that you were nothing without your shield brother. Had you cleared the plan with me, I would have let myself get injured at the hands of Ares' spawn, and kept them occupied for the whole of the match. But now, I will deal with it, and you'll watch."

I jumped up into a tree, and hid myself.

Two minutes later, the Ares' kids came into the lake clearing.

"The punk should have been here." One of them said with a snarl.

"Ohh, I'm here." I said, falling behind two of them and knocking them out with the flat sides of my sword. "But I'm pissed. You know why, Clarisse?"

"Why don't you tell me?" Clarisse asked as I parried her spear attack.

"Because we were both set up by the Athenian." I said, then I backed up.

Clarisse's eyes widened. "Why are you telling me?"

"She wanted to destroy me," I said, "I don't really appreciate that."

Clarisse gave me her hand. "You have my respect, Prissy."

I shook her hand. "I hope one day you can have my respect as well."

Clarisse nodded. "Let's go, everyone."

They all left, and the Athenian took off her invisibility and glared at me, a cap in her hand. "You're a traitor."

"No, I'm an honorable person." I said. "Keep this in mind, Athenian. Every soldier has their own needs and wants, respect that, or you will lose not only the battle, but the whole fucking war."

"You admire the Spartans, huh?" The girl asked.

"I think they're better than the Athenians." I said.

"Chiron will know what happened today." The girl said, walking backwards. "Never expect the support of Cabin Six."

My view of her was blocked by the trees, and I didn't look for her, knowing that she was invisible.

I heard a growl behind me, and I turned, sword at the ready.

A large dog or wolf with red eyes walked out of the treeline, and I swung my sword testingly.

"Well, whatever you are, you don't like me." I said. "So, shall we start?"

The dog howled and leaped at me, and when he was midair and reaching for my face, I jumped four feet back.

Next, I stabbed my sword into his skull, bringing his jaw down and cutting through his tongue all the way into the ground, pinning his head to the ground.

Slowly, the beast turned into golden dust.

I picked up my blade and started wiping the blood off, then I heard the trotting of a horse.

Chiron arrived, along with several campers, the Athenian girl and the Hermes Cabin leader Luke among them.

"We heard the howl of a hellhound." Chiron said.

"That's what it's called?" I said. "Nice to know.

"You killed the hellhound?" The Athenian asked.

"Yes." I said.

"I don't believe it." She said, and I rolled my eyes.

"You are just unhappy you lost the match because of me." I said.

"You bet your ass I am." She said, moving forward and attempting to push me back.

I didn't budge, and she made an ass of herself.

"Don't touch me like that again." I warned her.

"Annabeth, back down." Luke said.

"Yes, Annabeth, back down." I said. "What was it that was said? Knowledge is power. But then again, I'd say it's wrong. Because your mom is just a little bitch for Zeus, even swearing her pussy off limits for his sake. So, are you going to be Luke's little bitch, or will you fight me?"

"Annabeth…" Luke warned.

I gestured at Luke. "It's your call. Or it isn't, it's Luke's."

That did it for her. She growled, and tried slashing me with her knife. I blocked it with my sword, then pushed her to the ground with my other arm.

She fell to the ground, and before she could recover, I had my sword's tip at her neck.

"You tried, that's admirable." I said. "But it wasn't enough."

Her gaze shifted from my eyes to something above me, as did everyone else's. I looked up, and saw the image of a Trident floating above my head.

Everyone bowed, barring Annabeth, who was still stuck under my sword.

"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

And that's how I changed cabins.