AN: Hi everyone. So after that last chapter, I gave you a cliffhanger. How exciting! However, this chapter does not pick back up immediately where the previous left off. Sorry about that. Though I didn't state it outright, I left enough evidence for you to make an educated guess about what happened. So this chapter sees a return of Percy as the narrator. So here we go, Percy is back.

Chapter 13: Nightmares, Stories, and Insane Plans

My dreams shifted almost constantly. Some were normal: going to school without pants, Mrs. Dodds asking me to answer algebra questions while she whipped me with her whip of fire, normal stuff like that. Of course, being a demigod, those weren't my only dreams. In one I saw a blond guy that looked maybe a year younger than me in the ruins of Mt. Othrys, seemingly holding the ceiling, though I knew better. He was holding the sky. He grunted in pain. I wondered how long he'd been holding it for. About half of his hair had turned grey, and as I watched, even more of it turned grey.

Then, out of the shadows, approached a figure in golden armor: Hyperion. I ground my teeth in anger, remembering James dying to resurrect him. "So," the Titan spoke, "this is the demigod that defeated you? He doesn't look like much."

"Let me out and I'll show you just how much I am," the boy growled, glaring up at Hyperion. Something about that angry look reminded me of someone, but I couldn't place it.

Hyperion laughed. "I would gladly face you, Jason, but that doesn't really fit with our plan. Besides, I think he," Hyperion pointed over his shoulder to whoever he had been addressing before, "would be upset at not being able to kill you himself."

"Enough, Hyperion," a voice spoke from the shadows. A figure emerged. His body looked like the night sky. Constellations, stars, and galaxies covered his pitch black body. I had never seen the night sky looking so incredible or terrifying. "Just give him the ambrosia. We need to keep him alive."

Hyperion turned and bowed mockingly to the figure. "But of course, my lord. You used to be the least of us. How is it that you are now our leader?"

The lord laughed. "Because, Hyperion, I was the one who went to Mother. You were all afraid. You thought she'd want to take power for herself. But she is perfectly content with letting us take power. It is because of Mother that I am now your leader. Now feed the boy ambrosia, or I'll show you the powers the mother bestowed upon me."

Hyperion scowled, but turned back to the guy he'd called Jason. He pulled out a couple of small squares I recognized as Ambrosia and forced it into Jason's mouth. Jason seemed like he would rather die than let the Titans use him, because he tried to spit out the ambrosia several times, but Hyperion forced him to chew and swallow. Then he pulled out a small canteen and poured Nectar down Jason's throat.

The dream began to shift again. It seemed like they'd be able to make Jason hold the sky indefinitely as long as they kept feeding him Nectar and Ambrosia. That is, as long as they didn't feed him too much at once.

When my dream stopped shifting, I was standing on a beach, staring down the beach to a man, who was facing me with a sinister grin. The gold eyes immediately betrayed it as Kronos, but yet again he looked different, and even more familiar. His hair was wild and black, and he had a closely trimmed black beard. I wish I knew who he reminded me of, but I really couldn't figure it out.

"Jackson," Kronos boomed, "how good to talk with you again." Something strange had happened with his voice. It was no longer his voice. Yes, his voice was there, like a knife concealed under the surface, but there were two other voices combined with his. One I recognized as Luke's, but the other… I couldn't place it, just like I couldn't place who he looked like, but the third voice was eerily familiar. "So, how's the whole, 'I don't care that this time line is due to be erased' thing going for you? Pretty poorly it seems like."

"Why do you care?" I snapped. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

Kronos laughed. "Even if I could, I would not. You're just too much fun, Jackson."

"What do you want?" I asked.

"My my, Jackson, you have no manners. One typically waits for the person who initiated the conversation to get to the subject of said conversation. But, very well, to business. Even if you haven't yet figured out the exact nature of our relationship, I know you've figured out that we do have a unique relationship to each other. This relationship can benefit both of us, Jackson. You know this time line is going to end, I told you that."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Well you don't of course, but without a real body, I'm really in no position to lie to you, now am I? As I was saying, you know that this time line is going to end. And it's going to end sooner than you might think. Things are speeding out of control. By Christmas, the reset will occur. You, your friends, your family, your accomplishments, even the gods, will all be reset to the moment you defeated me in August. And then, you might think that what is going to happen in this time line is horrible, but trust me, what awaits you in the other one is unthinkable. What you need is more power. What you need is your memory. If you could maintain your memory from this time line, but more than that, if you were to gain access to unbelievable power in this time line, then your chances against what awaits you in the other will exponentially improve."

"Where are you going with this?" I asked, suspiciously. "You said this would benefit both of us, but I don't hear a benefit for you. And you mentioned your mother last time. Who is she, and what does she have to do with all of this?"

"What benefit would I gain?" Kronos mused. "Well for starters, it would mean you defeating the other Titans in this timeline. I believe I explained to you earlier that I have a particular hatred for them. Trying to take over the world without me, their King? Disgraceful. But beyond that… the end of this time line would mean the death of me. The permanent death. When this time line ends, and time gets reset to the moment you defeated me, I will be left without a means to sustain my life force, and I will be gone. But if you were to accept my offer of helping you to maintain your memories and powers from this time line, then I would survive."

"I don't know," I said, "you being gone forever sounds pretty good to me."

Kronos gave me an ugly look. "So be it, Jackson, but you will see it my way soon enough."

The dream faded.

I drifted into consciousness slowly, sound being the first sense that returned to me. I became aware of two people arguing, and a third trying to calm both of those voices down. As my consciousness continued to return, I began to recognize them. One of the angry voices belonged to Thalia, and the other belonged to Malcolm, one of Annabeth's siblings. The voice that was trying to calm them down was Chiron. I couldn't make sense of what they were actually saying, though.

Next, I realized that I was lying in a bed, with a soft linen blanket draped over me. It was so comfortable, that I considered going back to sleep, but I decided that I should wake up and figure out what was going on. Speaking of waking up, the next sense that returned to me was taste, which wasn't great. My mouth tasted dry and filled with hot red sand. I tried to make a sound but my throat was too dry.

Finally, I got movement back and I opened my eyes. Malcolm saw my eyes start to open, as he was standing across from the foot of my bed, and said, "He's waking up." Everyone went silent. Finally my eyes opened all the way. Malcolm was standing opposite the foot of the bed I was in, his short blond hair messy and singed at the edges, like he'd just returned from the lava-spewing rock climbing wall. Chiron stood, crouching in full horse form, in the doorway of the room, the ceiling being too low for him to actually stand inside. Thalia was leaning against the wall to my left, glowering down at the ground.

I opened my mouth to try and ask what was going on, but all the came out was a dry hiss of air. I tried to speak again. This time I managed to say, "Water."

Thalia glanced up and reached for my bedside table, grabbing a huge jug of water. She went to pour it in a glass, but I shook my head, indicating that I just wanted the jug. She held it out for me, and I made myself sit up. As the covers fell away from me, I realized that I wasn't wearing a shirt, but I did have gauze bandages wrapping around my midsection. I stared, confused down at it, then reached for the jug of water. I downed half of it in one giant gulp, then cupped some water in my hands and splashed it on my face.

"Better," I managed to croak. My throat was still dry, but bearable now. I looked down at my gauze wrappings. "It seems like I've missed a few things. Would someone care to explain what happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Thalia asked with a frown.

I knit my eyebrows together, trying to think back to before my long stream of dreams. What was the last thing I remembered? Slowly, I said, "We were at the party. I was drinking this Coke that tasted a little funny, but I didn't think anything of it. Everyone there was surprisingly nice, I remember. Then… Helen. She showed up. I tried to attack her, but she was moving so fast. She must have used a spell to speed herself up or something and then… you shot her with an arrow. That's the last thing I remember."

"It's astounding that you remember that much," Malcolm said. "The alcohol content in your blood was well above the intoxication level."

"Alcohol content?" I asked, confused. "But I didn't drink anything with alcohol. All I had was Coke."

"Percy," Thalia started, "Ethan put Rum in it. He thought you wanted Rum and Coke. You were pretty drunk. People weren't being extra nice, you were being extra friendly. Helen wasn't moving super fast, the alcohol slowed down your reaction time. You were moving too slowly."

I cursed. "Damn it. When I get my hands on Ethan, I'm going to punch his lights out."

"If he's alive when I'm done with him, he's all yours," Thalia said with a scowl.

"Why?" I asked. "What'd he do to you?"

"Anyway," Thalia said too quickly, obviously trying to change the subject, "when I hit Helen with the arrow, you managed to cut her in the thigh. She was in a lot of pain, apparently, and she screamed. You got blasted backwards by a wall of forced. You crashed into a lot of things, and took a near blow to your weak point. Or, so we think. We don't actually know where your weak point is." I looked down at the gauze wrapping my mid-section and suddenly felt very exposed. She said they didn't know, but if they didn't, then why was the gauze wrapped around my midsection?

"We don't," Malcolm said, like he knew what I was thinking. "One of the Apollo kids observed that you had several bruises on your lower back, so they wrapped the gauze around it. We don't know where exactly your weak point is."

"Okay," I said slowly, still worried and feeling exposed. "So what happened after that?"

"You were out cold," Thalia explained. "Nico was there, I'm not sure if you remember seeing him, and he helped me get you and Jessica back to the car. Then we drove to Camp. We laid you down in here, and since then you've been sleeping. And boy have you been sleeping. It's noon on Monday."

"What?!" I asked, my voice cracking in my surprise.

Malcolm nodded. "Yes. Annabeth was here from Saturday after noon until 2 A.M. this morning, when Chiron forced her to go back to her dorm at her boarding school so that she wouldn't miss class today. She asked me to tell you that she was worried, and that you need to call her as soon as you get home."

I groaned and leaned against the wall. "I lost two days," I moaned. "And most of today. What about Mom and Paul? And school?"

"I called them," Chiron said, speaking for the first time since I'd woken up. "Your parents understand and just want you to heal. And you needed it, my boy. Gave us a bit of a scare."

"Sorry," I said. "The longer I have the mark of Achilles, the more I think that it's a bad thing."

Everyone was silent for a few moments. Then Thalia shifted her weight, looking at me a little apprehensively. "So, uh… Percy…"

"Here we go," Malcolm said, throwing his hands up. "I'm telling you Thalia, this is a terrible plan. Going through with it would be perhaps the most rash thing you've ever done. You can always get yourself a new spear. Why even bother with this?"

"I can't just get a new spear," Thalia snapped. "It's one of the only things I have left, and I need it back."

"Something happened to your spear?" I asked. I figured that we were approaching the cause of the argument between Thalia and Malcolm.

"It got left behind at the party," Thalia muttered. "I need to get it back, but the police probably found it when they were investigating the damage to Ethan's family's apartment. Helen had used the Mist to make everyone thing she was the Joker or some homicidal maniac dressed as the Joker. She caused a lot of panic. Everyone ran off, and the police were coming. I didn't have time to run back to the rooftop and get my spear back, and by now the police investigation is probably over. They probably took my spear as evidence."

"Okay," I said slowly. "So what is this plan that's causing you and Malcolm to argue so much? I assume it has to do with getting your spear back?"

"Thalia wants to sneak into Police Headquarters to steal it back," Malcolm said. "Which, as I have mentioned, is an insane and terrible plan."

"It's not insane, and it's not terrible," Thalia snapped, glaring at Malcolm. "Malcolm, you're a genius with computers. You could hack the security cameras to cover Percy and I. We could get in, steal a couple of spare cop uniforms, then go down to the evidence locker and steal back my spear."

"You're asking me to hack into the security system of Police Headquarters," Malcolm said. "You would have me hack it so that you can get in, steal uniforms, and get out with your spear without leaving behind evidence. These are felonies Thalia. If we get caught, we're all old enough to be tried as adults. We could go to prison."

I sat in the bed thinking a little. This was a dangerous plan, but I understood where Thalia was coming from. If I lost Riptide, I would be devastated. Even so, this was a pretty crazy plan. But I was Percy Jackson. Since when did I say no to crazy plans? "Alright," I said. "I'm in, Thalia, I'll help you get back your spear."

Malcolm cursed, and Thalia smiled. "Excellent."

"Not excellent," Malcolm sputtered. "Chiron, surely you have something to say to stop them."

"I've already told you," Chiron said wearily, "that this is a decision that I cannot condone or refute. I am your teacher, not your leader or boss. The decision belongs to the three of you."

I looked at Malcolm. "Come on, man," I said. "Help us out here. We need your computer skills. We won't get caught, I promise. And besides, you can't stop Thalia and me from continuing with this plan, and we will get caught without your help. Do you think Annabeth would forgive you if you let me get sent to prison?"

"Actually," Malcolm said, "I think Annabeth would kick both of you from here to Timbuktu if she heard about this crazy plan." He sighed. "But fine. You're right about one thing. If you do this without me, you'll get caught, and we can't have that."

Thalia whooped. "Thanks Percy, thanks Malcolm."

"You're welcome," I said.

Malcolm grunted. "We can't do this plan tonight. Percy needs to take the rest of the day off to rest. Go back to Percy's house. I'll meet you two there at 3 P.M. tomorrow afternoon."

Thalia and I nodded. Malcolm sighed, shaking his head, then went to the door. Chiron got out of the way, and Malcolm left to continue with his day.

Chiron sighed. "As I said, this is your decision, but… I do agree that this is an unwise thing to do."

Thalia raised her eyebrow at Chiron. "Why didn't you side with Malcolm when he was here?"

"It was an argument that you needed to work out without my input," Chiron said. "Please reconsider. I know you're upset about-"

Thalia shook her head. "No, Chiron. I'm going through with this. I'm sorry." Thalia turned to me. "Grab your things Percy, and meet me at the car. It's where we usually park it. We're going back home."

She went past Chiron and walked off. I looked at Chiron. "There's something you guys aren't telling me, isn't there? There's something else going on with Thalia other than just losing her spear."

Chiron sighed. "That is something she will have to tell you in her own time. I have an archery class to go teach. Be careful, Percy."

I nodded. "I will Chiron. Thank you."

He smiled sadly, then trotted off. I swung myself out of bed and found a clean Camp shirt in the corner along with some of my other things, including Riptide. After putting on the shirt and getting my things together, I walked out. I hoped that none of the Half-Bloods at Goode had been attacked today. I'd never forgive myself if one of them got hurt. I also thought about my dreams. The Jason kid looked like he was in trouble. I wanted to help him, but I wasn't quite sure how. It wasn't like I could drop everything and rush to California to help him.

As for my dream about Kronos, I had a sneaking suspicion about just how our relationship worked, and it did not bode well with me at all. I sighed as I got close to my car. I didn't know whether to believe Kronos about this time line ending, but he was right about one thing. Events were speeding up and going out of control.

When I reached the car, I heard Thalia blasting the Heavy Metal she usually played when she was upset about something. I got in on the passenger side and glanced at Thalia. "There's something you're not telling me," I said over the music. "What's wrong?"

Thalia shook her head. "Don't worry about it, Percy," she answered. "Let's just get back home."