A/N: A little bit late, and for that I apologize. But I had my head spinning with ideas for this story, and I hope it will be worthwhile. Unedited.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson characters at all, nor do I own the song New Perspective by P!ATD.


~Can we fast-forward 'til you go down on me?~


By the time Piper claimed they had finally reached their 'almost-destination-until-we-reach-our-destination', Jason felt the uttermost exhaustion overtake him heavily, making him suddenly want to take a seat down. Even so, he found himself sinking in disappointment when he heard her repeat the word 'destination' many times when he had a feeling it didn't mean the same as what he had hoped it meant. As they had walked farther and farther away from the area in the forest where they had been, he couldn't help but realize just how stranded he really felt.

Piper wasn't really helping matters either. She seemed to be muttering to herself repeatedly about things he didn't understand. Shrugging it off, he found himself thinking about what she had said before: a whole different realm. Could it really be possible?

Of course it couldn't, he thought dismissively. He can't be that mental, surely, he knew he had hit his head through the landing, but he didn't think it could cause that much damage. Or maybe he was really mental. After all, he couldn't even remember anything in Latin anymore. Obliterate that, he knew a whole different language now! How could that even be –

From ahead of him, Piper abruptly stopped in a halt, causing him to stumble a little against her, making her head snap to him irritably. He only glared at her, but before he could retort something grudgingly rude, he looked up with an absolute start.

Looking back on it, he remembered his reaction when he saw Piper pull out the 'phone' for him and show the magic of the ever-changing 'screen'. He had been surprised, no doubt, and a little shocked that such a thing existed in his world. But this, this newly exposed sight he was currently gaping at, in all the areas and kingdom he could name from the top of his head, was not in any area or kingdom he knew of.

He knew Piper was watching him in the corner of her eye, her lips quirking up in that mischievous smirk of hers that caused nothing but trouble in his thoughts, pleading silently for his reaction in amusement. He wanted nothing more than to growl at her for being the absurd human that she was and claim that her whole theory of hers was nothing more than unintelligent for her to even suggest and laugh in her up-coming misery he would prevail upon her – but that was by farthest from the case.

What he saw had to be magic. It had to be. It completely startled his mind in the most confusing way, and he heard himself take a sharp intake of breath and Piper's bursting of laughter before absorbing what sorcery was before him. There were gray pathways that somehow looked like there were stars compacted together to form it, glittering menacingly from below him. White and yellow lines scattered across the pathways; white in slight dashes and yellow in borders. And if that wasn't fascinating enough, there were...moving steel animals on the pathway?

He jumped in the air for what he felt like a hundred mouse tails and gasped once again. "Are those humans in those...things?!" he shrieked as the girl beside him doubled over, gasping in her own hysterical tears of joy, clutching her stomach in vain. He looked at her morphing face in confusion for a second before he turned back to the most absurdest sight he had ever seen by far. As he took a closer look at the humans, he felt a sudden urge to jump on one of the steel animals smash one of the sucked-in paws and rescue the people inside of it. The poor people...they must have been possessed! They looked so calm in those things.

As if they weren't gobbled by a bunch of menacing looking animals. The eyes of those things...they lit up punishingly bright, much similar to the 'phone''s light but a little more enhancing. The eyelids of the animals were narrowed as if they were searching for their next stalk in their meal. Not to mention the speed they were going in. He could only take quick glimpses of the things before they swiftly rushed past them, leaving him and Piper's hair and clothing swishing loosely against them.

Turning to Piper once again, he studied her calming-down face, but once she noticed his angered expression she burst out with another loud cackle and continued her previous routine of laughing at him. "What's wrong with you?" he exclaimed profusely. "We need to help them in those humans' time of downfall! Clearly that is now! Just look – look how loud that baby is crying!" Jason gestured to one of the animals that crawled on its – circle? – paws and padded smoothly to the side of pathway. Inside there was indeed a baby crying in which he had used to argue his point.

From beside him, Piper rolled her eyes and crossed her arms stubbornly across her chest. "That baby is crying because that other kid – probably his brother – is poking him on the belly." Looking at how long he was still staring at the bunch and how a woman, the mother perhaps, was starting to gaze back at him in confusion as to why he was staring at them in the first place, Piper smacked him with the back of her hand. "And stop staring at them like that. These people judge you know – it's New York, after all." He didn't know what that could possibly mean, but then again, that was the least of his problems.

The only thing that might have surprised him more than the steel animals in front of him was Piper's reaching down and grabbing her hand tightly with his. He gazed down at their intertwined hands thoughtfully, feeling a spark of electricity shoot up his arm hastily. Looking back up at her, he said bashfully, "Did...did you feel that too? That...spark?"

"Yeah," Piper replied, pursing her lips. "It's called static electricity, Prince Jason. Please bear with me. And those," she pointed to the menacing steel animals, "are called cars. They are not harmful in anyway. In fact, the only thing that controls just how harmful they can turn out to be, are the humans inside of it. They run mostly on roads, which is what this pathway is, and can be used day or night. It's a type of machine." She looked at his gaping mouth, and she held out a hand in front of her, stopping him from speaking. "And before you ask me what that is, it's a type of thing...for an example, you know how a well works? How you operate the rope and the bucket to slowly axle its way down to gather the water then return to the surface to drink."

He was appalled. Truly appalled and offended. "Yes, I know how a well works. There are numerous of them all around the kingdom and others."

If she noticed how annoyed he was, she didn't voice it out loud as she continued. "Yeah, well, machines are like that, similarly. Except...not so similarly. Those," she pointed to the steel animals – er, cars – again, "are much more complex."

He raised an eyebrow at her in thought. "So...they are man-made?"

"Precisely," she said with a heart-stopping grin, dimples creasing her cheeks making her almost look innocent in his eyes. Then she pointed to something else, specifically in the sky, and he felt himself getting light-headed all over again. He wondered vaguely if he were to pass out if Piper would catch him. He had, after all, before they came...here. It was by instinct, but he still had a feeling that even if it wasn't, he still would have caught her anyway. That shook him from his thoughts suddenly, and Reyna's face flashed against his eyelids in a piercing picture, and he mentally groaned in guilt. Seriously not the time.

Relating to the point again, in the sky to which Piper was point at, was a bird. Not exactly...he squinted his eyes as he took a closer look at the sight. "That...that can't possibly be a...what's the word? Ma...margin, can it?"

Piper smirked. "This realm has come a long way, you know. Everything seriously is not how it seems at all. But to answer your question, yes, it is a machine, margins are completely different, and yes, that too is man-made. It's called an airplane, by the way, plane for short. They look very heavy, and they are, but it's built specifically for the air, so there's no chance of it collapsing to the ground...most of the time. "

He studied the 'airplane' briefly, the shock slowly seeping away before staring at another sight, beyond the 'cars'. "Those are bizarre castles, I must say," he noted loudly, frowning. This was truly beyond him, he thought. He didn't know how on earth he got to a place like this, and he was now hell-bent on getting out. Piper, however, seemed comfortable here, but that wouldn't stop him. He would either go out of this place with her or without her, no matter what.

She followed his line of sight before sighing tiredly. "Those aren't castles. They're more like towers, I should say, but not really. They're called skyscrapers. And those smaller ones by the side are just buildings. A lot – and I mean, a lot – are found here in New York."

"Do all of these...'cars' and...uh, 'planes' and, er, sky buildings not seem to faze the people here in the kingdom of New York?" he asked hesitantly, but he wished he hadn't when he noticed Piper snorting chuckles at everything he seemed to say. Oh, so now I sound strange.

"Skyscrapers, and yes, as I said, these things are common in New York – it's not a kingdom, by the way, don't go going around this place and saying that because it's not exactly modern – and in this realm," she explained, biting her lip in amusement, clearly trying not to laugh at him. He mentally killed her in his mind. She really got on his nerves sometimes. "And before I continue explaining this new world to you..." she trailed off as she stared at the people across the road that were currently staring at them strangely. They were probably judging them, considering the ripped clothes they were wearing, he thought. He wanted to shout at them and tell them that he was the heir to the throne and they should be more considerate and maybe even help them – but he had a hinting suspicion that they wouldn't care and would look at him even more absurdly.

"We should clean ourselves up a bit?" he asked, staring at her whilst he smirked. He knew she cared more than he did because she actually clearly had an attachment to this place, whereas he would do anything to get out of it. He knew that if the people ahead of him judged him, so be it, because he was never risking coming back there once he got out. But looking at Piper...he wasn't so sure what she thought. "Is there a market where we can?"

Piper frowned then shrugged, making her tattered dress lift a little and he had to look up at her face again, his cheeks tinting pink yet he had no idea why. Getting rid of those thoughts, he raised a brow as she replied. "Walmart will have to do, I guess. It's the cheapest option and it's pretty near."

Jason grinned. "Cheap is good. At least considering we have no money."

Piper laughed, but she pulled out something from her dress and he almost did a double-take – the dress had pockets? Even the fashion was completely different than what he was used to, he noticed that as he watched a few kids walk by, the men had shirts that had sleeves that were cut above the elbow and the women with shorts so short that he got them confused with undergarments. The whole area was making him uncomfortable and he felt overdressed, despite his outfit was ruined. "I actually do have money, thankfully. No need to worry."

They walked their way to whatever market Piper had been talking about quickly, and albeit he was a little surprised with the 'building' along with the lighting (he was too much used to lanterns and candles that 'fluorescent bulbs', as Piper called it, was a bit too strange for him), but he quickly got used to it. They had a couple of stares and even glares being sent their ways by their clothing, and Jason felt like shrinking below the earth somewhere far, far away from their eyesight – more presumably, back home from where he was from.

It was a strange market, he thought. People had huge carts that carried loads at a time – things that included paper in all sorts of form; in rolls and such. He saw some carts that carried fruit and vegetables that he never saw in his entire eighteen years of living. As they walked row to row, he even saw people with some 'phone''s, similar to the kind that Piper had when he didn't crack it, and a whole section where there was all 'technology' as Piper had explained to him. Needless to say, whatever words that swished through Piper's mouth, he didn't understand. At all. And he didn't think he would.

This world was much more, Jason thought, and he couldn't find himself ever getting used to a place like this. He missed the kingdom's simplicity and elegance, unlike this world's complexity and solemnity. He felt dull all of a sudden.

As they finally reached the small clothing section, he was astounded by the clothes there. It was very similar to the attire he saw on the kids outside. From beside him, Piper sighed. "You see anything you like?"

Jason frowned. He didn't know what he 'liked'. He wasn't from that area so it was understandable that he was confused. And the last thing he knew was the type of clothing he should get. "What...do normal people my age wear?"

She shrugged again. "Just shirts like these." She pointed to a whole shelf of shirts of different colors for him – some with deep cuts on the neckline and some round. She grabbed a purple and blue shirt.

"How did you know I liked these colors?" he asked absentmindedly, gratefully taking the clothes from her. He hooked them across his arms when he finally turned to her, noticing her thoughtful expression on her face.

"I guess," she started, walking with him to the pants section, him staring in wonderment at the strange designs this 'Walmart' had, "because you wore that purple robe that other night when we...er, met. It looked good on you, I suppose. Also blue makes your eyes pop." He was about to make a comment about how annoyingly observant she was when she took one of the blue rough pants and walked close enough to him that he could smell her twig-leaved hair. How in this world and the previous does it still smell good?

"What...Piper, what are you doing?" She was dangerously close to him. He had a feeling that all he had to do was take one step forward and they'd be flush against each other. He gulped down as Reyna's innocent face flashed once again across his mind, and he took one hesitant step backwards.

"Relax, sire," she spoke softly, her hands stretching the pants across his waist loosely. "I'm just checking your pant size." She cocked her head to the side, observing her doing, before clucking her tongue disapprovingly. "You might be here for a while, so I should probably get you some more clothes...I'm going to have to tell Leo if you can borrow some..." she trailed off as she finally found his pant size for him before finally backing up to give him space. A good thing too because Jason's throat started to get a little scratchy from awkwardly coughing a lot from their proximity.

"What do you mean I'm going to be here for a while?" he suddenly asked, his voice raising a little that a few people turned and stared at the people wearing clothes that only people with no homes should be wearing and had been shouting. Piper gestured to quiet down, though that was the farthest from his mind right then. He wanted answers and he would surely get them if he had anything to do with it. "No, Piper, tell me what you mean."

Piper let out a loose breath before grabbing a forest green shirt of her own and some other pants, considerably thinner and more fitting than his. "Okay, I'll tell you, but be quiet, alright? Look, I'm just saying," she sounded nervous as she spoke, he noted, "that when you came to ask me what I was doing the moment before we were zapped here, I was a little sidetracked with your presence that I...I forgot to...bring my ring."

Jason blinked. "Your...ring." He vaguely remembered her wearing a bronze ring that she always nervously twisted at balls that he saw her in, and he frowned. "Why do you need that ring?"

She wiggled her fingers against each other sheepishly, biting her lip as she explained hastily to him their situation. "It's...the main reason of how we got here in the first place. I used that ring to draw the patterns – or what is actually the number 2015, which is what year we are in right now, after Christ – and it can only be done on the full moon. The whole process is very complicated and I don't think you'd understand it if I told you the mechanics behind it."

There was that word again he now learned to hate so much. Machines. He was guessing she was referring to that. He was still confused as to half of the things she said, but only paid attention to the important things she discussed. "A full moon? What are we, werewolves?"

She rolled her eyes; the first expression of irritation she made besides nervousness so far in a while. "No, you – never mind. I don't know why exactly it is only on a full moon, but the important thing is is that we need the ring. And I was going to grab it, I really was, but then I tripped, and – that's how we got here. And if you hadn't grabbed on to me before the light had struck, you wouldn't have been here."

"That means..." he said, absorbing the facts Piper had given him and taking it into thought. When he did, his stomach turned, giving him the familiar feeling of wanting to throw up, and his throat got scratchy again but this time for a completely different reason. "We're stuck here. For forever."

"Well, don't be so pessimistic," she defended, but even she looked scared for him. He felt like he was going to collapse right there. Never in his life had he been so terrified of the outcomes. Not even when he was being prepared to be king. Piper looked at him, raising an eyebrow before frowning at him. "So I'm taking you finally believe me?"

He scoffed sadly. "Do I really have a choice?" He was insane, mentally ill for even considering Piper's theory in the first place. But she was the one who brought them there in the first place so he had to go along with it. How else was he going to get back to Reyna and the kingdom that awaited him?

Piper shook her head, finally speaking after a pregnant pause. "I'm afraid not. But...if we do find our way back – " he noted that she looked very turned down and reluctant about that, " – there won't be a time difference from when we left. So when we get back..."

"Everything will be exactly the same," Jason finished, sighing sadly. Honestly, nothing surprised him anymore, he thought. But he would get home, that's why he wasn't freaking out about this. There had to be some type of 'machine' there to help him; and he would find it. "At least if...when I get back no one will suspect anything."

She chuckled nervously. "There's that, I suppose. You'll be back with your Reyna and everything will be fine once again. Trust me, there are other ways to get out, I've heard of them at least, but I don't know of them. Normally I don't leave that ring out of my sight, but...yeah."

He was pretty disappointed to say the least. And the uttermost not hopeful at all. But what else was a prince like him to do? He had to go along with it. At least he had Piper to bear it with him...but she had actually wanted to be here in the first place. He didn't know why that was, but he was sure to ask her for that information later since he was still absorbing the first part of what Piper said.

After a little while they walked to wear the merchants were to pay for their clothes, and immediately, they were met with the judging glare of the woman behind the table. Piper had mentioned something about a 'cash register' and a 'cashier', but he hadn't been paying much attention to her in a while. Mostly because he felt he was a little angry at her, though he didn't really have a reason to be. He had been the one to snoop. He brought this upon himself.

But still. He wouldn't have been there if it weren't for her.

"Halloween isn't until October, you know," the 'cashier' had said, studying them whilst doing some strange thing with the tag on the clothes that created a red beep that Jason somehow found fascinating all over again. I will never get used to this. "It's the beginning of June."

Before Jason could retort something crude about the way she was dressing, Piper beat him to it probably for the best. "We know. Our son had his first birthday today, and we decided to celebrate," she lied smoothly, pulling out some paper money with different faces on each one. Though he would be the first one to say that the paper money was the last thing he was thinking at that moment.

Their son? Had she gone mentally ill? His eyes widened as he fiddled with his hands beneath the table nervously, watching the 'cashier''s reaction to all of this. He couldn't imagine him and Piper having a kid. He or she would probably be very loud and obnoxious, clearly getting its mother's traits. Why am I thinking this?

The 'cashier', however, looked beyond baffled and stunned. Her hands had stopped moving fluidly from shirt to shirt and glanced up to look at them. Quickly, Jason pulled on a poker face. The last thing he wanted was someone from this realm to convict him of a liar. He didn't want to leave this world with bad blood, no matter how unintelligent the lie was.

The 'cashier' gulped before turning back to Piper and taking her money to pay for the clothes. He sneaked a glance at Piper and noticed she was smirking, and soon, he followed. Finally, the woman had shut her mouth, and rightfully so. But, too soon, the woman offered nervously, "You can change in the bathroom if you'd like. Since, you know...you paid for it. And clean up a bit."

Piper nodded gratefully, sending another beam in the woman's way. The woman nodded back hastily before turning away and muttering something about 'teenage pregnancies' and 'finally a boy that's willing to stay', and they walked off. They changed quickly, him stunned a little by the strange scenery but deciding not to make a big deal of it, and he was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the clothes felt. He had really misjudged them when he saw them on the people outside from before. They weren't itchy and overbearing like his normal gowns and robes were. He felt...strangely casual.

Looking at his tired expression in the mirror, he washed off the grime and dirt from anywhere he could reach, very confused by the way the water came out of a little whole above the upside-down dome, and it took him around ten minutes to figure out how to work it and shut it off.

After another three minutes of being stunned by the weird drying towels and how they came out of a black box attached to the wall, he walked out of the bathroom in a daze, Piper waiting there for him not quite so patient, but not so irritable either. Together, they walked out of the store, avoiding the prying 'cashier''s gaze as they went in silence.

Piper was the one who broke it, however, this time. "For the rest of the summer, you'll have to crash with my best friend Leo." She picked up on his worried face, and she filled in sheepishly, "Don't worry, he knows about what's going on. He's the only person I ever told about the whole realm-changing thing, so you won't have to hide anything. And he's nice and understanding and funny, so...I think if you just put an effort into this, then you'll get along."

He ignored the jab in which she had said if he put an effort into this while another question was brought into his mind. "When did you contact him? I thought you said there was no 'signal' or whatever that means."

"There wasn't. In the forest. But now we aren't," she answered, "I contacted him in the bathroom while we were changing."

He briefly remembered the two people he had seen on Piper's phone, and he remembered what each of them looked like. He hoped inwardly that Piper wouldn't be too harsh on him about who he had to stay with. He had to get through with the summer while finding a way out of here, or he wouldn't know what to do. He felt despair all of a sudden, as if what the situation he was in was now weighing down on him.

Piper looked at him from the corner of her eye before looking down as if she was thinking something. Eventually, she looked back up again at him, her expression almost mournful. "Look, I know you hate me for bringing you here, but I just want to let you know that it was by accident. Completely. But...if I'm going to help you to get out of here, then...we'll have to cooperate, alright? Try to limit the fights to only a couple an hour."

Jason appreciated her light humor at the end, though he couldn't find himself to laugh and admit it. Frowning numbly, he voiced out his agreement as they continued to walk in silence.