Chapter 19: Percy Finds a Way to Interrupt the Flow

The entire room was trying not to look worriedly at Percy. A few of them were thinking again of the thread the fates had cut in the beginning of their viewing. Percy kept coming dangerously close to dying. Was that why they were here? The Fates warning made it seem like he was reaching the last of his nine lives. Annabeth fidgeted with the notepad in her hands and tried to think. She looked at all the things they'd written down and still, it seemed nothing was completely bringing it together.

Luckily the rest of the room was listening to her and stayed quiet. The next scene could play without issue and then Percy would be fine. That was all they needed. She didn't know what she would do otherwise. Hearing the name Iapetus had been enough, but Percy's death would be plenty worse. She gave him a weak smile as the scene played in front of them.

It was torture to watch him struggle to walk along.

Nico and Thalia kept looking back to check on him but each time he waved them away. Nico kept twisting his ring, and each time he did bones started to move, and ghouls got a little stronger around them.

"I'm not sitting around you if you ever fidget with that ring if that's what happens," Piper said to the sullen boy.

Nico shrugged. "Depends on where I am. I've had this ring for years, even if I only started wearing it when I was in the Labyrinth, and it only did that in some places."

"Wait, you didn't get it with your whole dark, death vibe outfit in some type of collection at Hot Topic?" Alex said gesturing to Nico onscreen.

He rolled his eyes. "Bianca gave it to me when we got out of the Casino. I had a bit of a pirate obsession, loved the whole skull and crossbones thing. But even if I played with it in my pocket, it never did anything until after she died."

Percy hadn't heard any of this. He squeezed Annabeth's shoulder. "Hey."

She immediately pretended she was less worried. "What is it?"

"Don't worry. I was fine. I was thinking about good things. That's what we did after the fall. It's what I did here. Hopelessness is the worst thing to have. I just thought about basketball, and the next game I would watch. I thought about Mom and Paul and decorating for Christmas."

The scene didn't stop as Percy whispered to Annabeth of the things he'd found comfort in. The three demigods kept walking in the past, but Percy kept talking in the now. He told her about how he was thinking of going to Central Park in the snow. Of how he had been planning his weekend at camp to have some fun in between the war planning. Maybe they could use a snowball fight as training? As he knew the walk in the past was reaching the end he spoke of his favorite thought.

"I thought about you. How we talked over Iris message. With you it was all normal. That was all I wanted. And I missed you so much. No one else listened to me the way you did. I just kept thinking about how that one conversation went and how it ended. We were talking about Mom's wedding to Paul."

"And I found out that Rachel was coming," she remembered. "I asked why you needed me there if you already had friends there. I'm sorry about that."

"Don't worry," he told her lying back into her lap. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath he repeated, "Don't worry."

Percy was swaying on his feet as they walked. It was obvious he wasn't paying attention until Nico said Uh-Oh. In front of them was a fast and narrow river with inky black water. It wasn't far across, but too far to jump across. Nico cursed and said it was the Lethe. They'd never make it across.

"Yeah," agreed Jason. "That will be an issue."

"The Lethe?"

"The River of Memory," explained Annabeth to the Egyptians and Norse/Vikings. "When souls choose to be reborn, they go there to wipe away their past lives."

"So, no swimming across," guessed Alex. "Not even Percy. Even when he has control of water."

"Underworld rivers are different," Nico said. "It's exactly water."

Percy murmured under his breath. "Still liquid though."

Only Piper noticed the way Annabeth had paled, and clenched Percy's hand a bit tighter, even though she was across the room.

"It looks like some type of border, an end," Walt noted. "Is that your border?"

"Not exactly. Parts of the Lethe do separate Elysium from the rest of the Underworld. But the Underworld is not exactly a land with lines and borders," Nico said pointedly. "You should know."

Walt nodded in a stoic understanding. Though Aaru was also an underworld, it had gates that closed as the hours came and went. Using other entrances allowed it to extend into the Duat, which was a very fluid place, unlike Erebos, which seemed to be set in one place, like the stone it was made of.

Percy said there had to be a way across. Thalia bent down for a better look, but Nico reminded her to be careful. If she was touched by one drop she'd forget herself. Thalia noted she knew this place. Luke had told her about it and how the souls came her to be reborn. Nico agreed it was like being a newborn baby.

"So, you're repeating what we already know," Leo groaned. "What's the point in that?"

"Maybe we didn't know it then?" Percy said in a weak voice. "Let's just move on."

Thalia suggested shooting an arrow as an anchor for rope to cross.

Everyone turned to Thalia. She sighed, knowing exactly what they were thinking and rolled her eyes. "Stupid idea. Even some of Hephaestus's rope wouldn't work."

Nico asked if she really wanted to trust her weight on lines that weren't tied securely. Thalia agreed he was right, and it only worked in the movies. She asked if they could summon dead people to help.

"I'm really starting to wonder what goes on in your head," Sadie announced. "Not that you haven't proved absolutely brilliant before. It's just, what would dead people do?"

"I don't know. Find us a way across? Form a bridge?"

"No. Not stable," Tyson argued. "Would collapse."

"It was just an idea."

Reyna frowned. "The only option seems to be going around."

"Which means they will not," Calypso said with an amused shake of the head.

Nico said that he could try but they'd only appear on their side of the river. Running water was a barrier. The dead couldn't cross.

Zia nodded. "Water acts as an obstacle, especially for those not tethered to the mortal world. Like the gods."

"Your gods can't cross rivers?" Percy asked.

"Not without an anchor or host," Zia explained. "Magic flows faster through the rivers. It is easier to get swept back into the Duat. It seems your gods have more of a presence in the material world. Ours cannot stay there without help."

Annabeth made a humming noise as she thought. "I wonder why. Would monsters get swept back to Tartarus if we did that?"

"We've seen monsters cross bridges before," Will said darkly.

"But they also prove good places to make a stand," Frank argued. "Maybe there is something to it."

Clarisse grumbled. "Who makes all these rules? Fighting used to be simpler before you all began overanalyzing it."

Carter narrowed his eyes thinking of order, Ma'at and Chaos. It was a constant to all of them, with the Fates. Something that controlled even the gods. He made a note to ask someone about the Greek and Norse versions of these things. There was also the fact that water made magic harder to control, it rushed, made things unstable. Percy was on the verge of both those things.

Percy winced and asked what kind of stupid rule that was. Nico said defensively he hadn't made it up. He looked at Percy worriedly saying the older boy looked terrible and should sit.

Nico winced as he looked at Percy now. Percy gave him a weak grin. "Hey, at least I get to sit down now."

"It's not going to help."

"I know," Percy said bitingly. He hated that he kept snapping at people, but he hated being told what he already knew. Giving false comforts never helped in these situations. He tried to ignore the concerned looks in everyone's eyes as they wondered what Percy and Nico had been talking about.

Percy said he couldn't sit down. They needed him for this.

Hazel's eyes widened. "You didn't."

"Hazel…" Percy replied carefully, as if approaching a startled animal. "I—"

"Percy did what he always does," Nico interrupted, putting a hand on Percy's shoulder. He turned to his sister. "He saved the day, and the quest."

Hazel's eyes shone and Percy squirmed which made him bite back another yelp as he was reminded of the no longer existent but still hurting injury. He didn't want this hero worship or to be lauded. It was just liquid. He was the son of Poseidon. Liquid was what he did.

Thalia asked what for. He could barely stand. Percy replied it was water. He could control it by redirecting the flow for long enough so they could cross. Nico said he'd feel safer with the arrow idea.

The room erupted into shouts, except for Percy, Nico and Thalia. Hazel was biting her lip as she looked at them. Obviously, Percy had done it, but he was injured. And redirecting water's flow was a much harder task than breaking pipes, making waves or bubbles. Especially with an Underworld river, which she hadn't even realized he could control.

"Quiet!" Percy yelled, keeping one hand on his shoulder as he pushed himself up. He batted away Annabeth's offer of a hand up, and "Like I said, it's water. I took care of it. Now can we watch?"

"No."

Percy looked at Jaz, usually quiet and sweet, in confusion. "What?"

"You're injured."

"Right! So, we should move on, so I stop being injured!"

Magnus looked at Percy carefully. "I think we've all realized that using powers can strain injuries. And I know you are on a different level with powers, but this seems new."

"It's an underworld river," agreed Grover with his eyes trying and failing to meet Percy's. He knew Percy well, better than almost everyone but Annabeth. Yet, he hadn't known this. It was almost unheard of, no matter how powerful Percy was.

His best friend continued to look away. "You don't know I did any of this yet."

"That just implicates you more," Chris said carefully.

Percy huffed in response and strained to sit up completely from Annabeth's lap. "Look, we all just have to watch this. I can't say anything about it until after we do. It all happened and there's no stopping it."

Everyone looked at him with pity which made him even more uncomfortable. He lied back down and grabbed Annabeth's hand bracing himself for the things he knew were coming.

Percy stumbled over to the river. He looked unsure as he warned the others to stand back.

"There's no way it worked," Juniper whispered to Rachel. "Right?"

"It's Percy. I don't think any of us are really sure of what he can or can't do."

Both girls looked at the boy that they were sure they knew well with worry and confusion. He was playing with Annabeth's fingers as everyone else watched, obviously trying to distract himself.

Percy's expression intensified as he used his powers. The water bubbled. He studied it carefully trying to decide what to do then muttered here went nothing. He lifted his arms carefully.

Percy growled as his shoulder burned. Annabeth tried not to wince as he squeezed her fingers. She ran her other hand through his hair, trying to calm some of the tension she could see in the eyes he was clenching closed.

The river rose up and down in an arc. Then it was a tunnel almost twenty feet high, with the space for two people to walk together through it. Thalia and Nico gaped at Percy as he urged them to go because he couldn't hold it for long. Thalia and Nico scrambled across. The elder climbed the banks and helped the younger up before looking across at their cousin who was swaying again and yelling at him to come and walk.

"How?"

"Whaaa-?" Percy muttered dazedly.

"Finish the scene," Annabeth yelled. "No talking."

Percy shook as he walked, almost falling face first. The water shook with him. He called he couldn't make it. Thalia called that he could. They needed him.

"Understatement." Nico snorted earning him a snack from Thalia who was looking at Percy worriedly in both the now and then.

Hazel frowned even more, and elbowed Jason, who looked at her questioningly, then at their siblings. He sighed. He'd hadn't heard what Nico said, but he could guess. They all needed each other to succeed. He knows he wouldn't have to succeeded in a lot of things without Percy's help, and he know Percy had needed his help a few times too.

Then Percy fell. Thalia screamed as the water crashed down.

The room was overtaken in a gasp. Everyone looked at Percy who was shaky and pale. He met the stares carefully, twisting with a sardonic grin. "Yeah?"

"How?" asked Chris gaping at him.

"I don't know," Percy shrugged. "I think I'm done for now though."

"What?" asked Jason looking at his cousin confused. Percy answered by collapsing onto Annabeth's lap. Immediately, Will, Apollo, Jas and Magnus rushed over, but before they could reach for Percy, Nico grabbed his boyfriend's hand.

"You can't do anything. He'll be fine. We just need to keep watching."

"M' kay," Percy agreed, softly.

Jaz frowned. "This isn't when he lost his memories? Maybe he's confused."

Hazel opened her mouth and then closed it, annoyed. "I hate not being able to answer that."

"None of us can say anything about what we haven't seen yet, or about what we don't know already know, remember?" Annabeth reminded them.

"That's what she was asking," snickered Alex. "Do you?"

"Very funny," Magnus said rolling his eyes.

It was only darkness.

"I don't get it. We're seeing what's happening to you and all we see is darkness. Obviously, you couldn't hold the river anymore. So, you must've blacked out or lost your memory," pointed out Carter.

Thalia knowing her cousin wasn't going to answer sighed. "He came out of the river dry. That's one of his powers."

Percy was clutching his shoulder and curled up. "Yeah. That's it. I'm going to sleep now. Kay?"

Annabeth ran the hand he wasn't gripping through his hair. "I'm sorry Seaweed Brain, I need to stay. Let me just explain to them. They won't be able move on to anything until it's done."

"Mm-hmm," Percy nodded with a groan.

"Will, can you take him to his room?" she asked carefully. She turned to Grover. "And you better go to, Goat Boy."

"Yeah," Grover said walking over and lifting Percy up with Will. "Come on, Perce. Let's get you comfy so you can rest."