Percy was having a good day, a great one, in fact.

A couple of days had passed since their win against Kronos, and Percy had never felt better.

The air in the camp was light, devoid of any tension and fear. Though there still were the mourning periods for the dead, Percy had never seen the camp so…alive.

Campers seemed to figure out that they too were mortal, just as much as any human being. That any day could be their last. That realization seemed to wake them up, since everyone was up and running to do something, anything.

In other words, no one was lying around and dying because of boredom.

Demigods were all around the camp like an infestation of spiders, talking and chatting with each other. People that Percy would never even guess would even say a word to each other were laughing and smiling like old friends, as if they had known each other for an eternity.

Overall, everything was just right.

That was before darkness engulfed him and he woke up on the ground in an enormous, unknown room.

His first thought was: Where did the lights go?

When his eyes adapted to the harsh change of place and he could actually see, his thoughts swarmed at striking speed, trying to figure out where in Hades he was.

A second ago he had been standing in Camp Half-Blood, and now he was in the middle of nowhere, alone and trapped. He had no doubts that this was the work of a god.

Percy carefully stood up, and his hand immediately crept into his pocket. A loud sigh of relief emitted from his body when his hand closed around the familiar shape of his pen.

At least with Anaklusmos, if someone or something even dared to fight him, he would give them a free ride to Tartarus. No need to pay for a taxi.

It was at that moment that someone groaned behind him. Percy didn't need to turn to see who it was.

His heart already answered that for him.

"Annabeth?" His eyes widened when he found her lying on the ground, partly unconscious. His body moved on its own, and in a flash, he was kneeling next to her.

"Hey, hey," he carefully slapped her on the cheek, trying to wake her up. "Annie, wake up."

Annabeth mumbled something incoherent, and her eyes fluttered open. "Percy?"

The said demigod smiled. "It's me."

He could feel Annabeth's body surge with relief, relaxed by his presence. Then, in an instant, that relaxation was gone, and she surged into a sitting position, almost clocking him in the head. "Where are we?"

As if on command, lights turned on from every corner of the room, illuminating rows of seats, ones you would see in a movie theater. Before them, a giant screen stood attached to the wall.

What kind of sick-

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Percy, turn around."

Now Percy is a relaxed fellow. He has fought all kinds of monsters, gods, and even Titans. Hades, there isn't something that he hasn't faced. And from all of those situations, Percy has reached one important conclusion: There is absolutely nothing that can faze him.

Except, of course, a younger him lying on the ground.

Or more importantly, younger them lying on the ground.

Younger Percy had the same blond hair, except there was still no visible gray streak decorating it. He wore the same recognizable orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt that Younger Annabeth was wearing next to him. Both were unconscious.

Percy's gaze swept over Younger Annabeth, and then to his Annabeth. And again. And again.

Disbelief clouded his vision, and he found himself rapidly shaking his head.

The similarities were astounding. They were quite literally the same girl, with a couple of barely visible differences only Percy could spot.

Yet, somehow, she was exactly as he had remembered her.

This couldn't be possible.

"How-" he started, but Annabeth interrupted him by abruptly standing up and pulling him with her.

Her face displayed her shock, like a painting.

No, this couldn't be possible. This was all just a stupid dream.

They both tumbled a couple of steps backward before Percy accidentally stepped on something, more precisely someone.

"Grover?" Annabeth breathed out. At least this was their Grover, not a younger counterpart or monster. Well, it was too early to tell about the latter.

They both shared a confused, shocked, and even terrified look. Percy uncapped Anaklusmos and pointed it toward the satyr.

Annabeth gave him a bewildered look, and he shrugged. "Just for precautions."

She settled her piercing gaze on him. "How do we know if that's really Grover?"

It seemed that Grover was ready to answer that question for them since he woke up and when he saw the sword pointed right at him, he bleated and scrambled any direction he could go. Percy had never heard such a high-pitched scream or bleat in his life.

"What are you doing?! Oh, Pan, are you insane?!" Grover's high pitch didn't leave him, even when he cleared his throat.

Percy turned his sword toward the ground and muttered: "Yeah, that's Grover alright."

Grover wasn't ready for jokes. "What is going on? Where are we? What happened? Are we dead? Oh, Gods, did we actually die? Oh, no, no, no, this is not good. Juniper will kill-"

Annabeth interrupted his rant. "Slow down."

"Wait till he sees the other thing."

Annabeth shot him her shut up or I'll cut your throat glare. Percy's heart quickened.

"What other thing?"

Percy grimaced as he felt the weight of Annabeth's glare on him.

Knowing that he couldn't even try to explain what was going on (even he himself didn't know), he pulled Grover up and stepped sideways, giving his friend a full view of the anomaly behind him.

Percy, with full certainty, could say that they had reacted far better than Grover had.

At first, he just stood, staring at the scene in front of him. Then he started to laugh like a maniac. Then he stopped when he realized that this wasn't just a hallucination or a joke.

And now he froze in the same place, with his mouth hanging open and his eyes bulging from his head. Percy was afraid that they would fall out and then there would be legends about The Eyeless Satyr. He shivered.

"Grover, hey!" Percy snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Yo, my main man, my bro, hey, back to reality."

Grover didn't react.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and looked at Percy. "That's not how you do it."

She took a breath and stilled herself. In a swift motion, her hand went hurling at his face.

She slapped Grover. Clean in the face. Percy jumped in alarm.

"Annabeth-"

Grover shook his head and held his cheek, nodding at her. "Thanks."

Percy gave up on understanding what was going on.

"You do realize that your younger selves-"

"Yes."

"And how-"

"No clue."

"But where-"

"Grover, I'm gonna save you the time and tell you that we have absolutely no idea what is going on!"

Percy's head hurt. He massaged his temples as he tried to find any reasonable explanation for what was happening.

Annabeth was faster, already surveying the demigods with disbelieving shakes of her head. "I don't understand..."

Well, if you don't understand, then we're all screwed. Percy thought.

"Why don't we wake them up-" Grover's sentence was cut short by Younger Annabeth slowly opening her eyes. They all fell quiet.

At first, she needed a couple of seconds to wake up, blinking away the blindness. Confusion racked her body and when she saw Annabeth, her entire demeanor changed.

Her eyes widened, and she staggered back, muffling the scream that she was about to let out.

Her ragged breaths filled the room as she surveyed the trio in front of her. She had the same calculating and wise look that Annabeth had, but of course, there was fear in it too.

Everyone stood silent, unaware of what to do.

Annabeth was the first to move. She took an attentive step back and knelt on the ground, her hands raised in surrender. "We're not gonna hurt you."

Younger Annabeth rapidly changed the direction of her stare, observing each of them. Her eyes landed on Percy, and her fearful expression transformed into one of shock. She was gawking at him and he noticed a thin layer of pink cloak on her face. He almost laughed.

Younger Percy muttered something and a tiny drop of drool circled in the corner of his mouth.

"Do I really look like that while sleeping?" Percy whispered to Annabeth. She in return nodded her head, still trying not to frighten her younger counterpart.

Grover scratched his head. "This is so weird."

Younger Annabeth was horror-struck when she noticed Younger Percy next to her, drooling and mumbling something about water. She shook her head, still absolutely bewildered, and then her gaze switched back to Annabeth. She went silent for a couple of seconds. "When is a door, not a door?"

Annabeth gave a knowing smile. "When it's ajar."

Younger Annabeth's body froze, and an astonished glow transformed her face. "You're me?"

Percy and Grover shared puzzled looks. "What was that?" Grover muttered. Percy shrugged.

"I think so," Annabeth put her hands down and let out a big breath. "I don't know how this is possible, but somehow it is."

Younger Annabeth nodded. "Maybe a God?"

"Maybe."

This whole situation was so terrifyingly weird that Percy was sure that it was all a dream. A terribly realistic dream. He slapped himself.

Nope, not a dream. He thought.

Every questionable gaze turned toward him, but he just waved them off. "Just making sure."

Younger Annabeth's gaze stayed on him and then turned to Older Annabeth. "Is that really…?"

"Yeah, that's Percy." They had this sort of conversation pass between them with just their eyes. Two Annabeths in one room? This could either go amazingly well or absolutely downhill.

Lucky for them, it was the first.

Percy cleared his throat and directed his attention toward Annabeth. "What was that? The riddle before?"

"A code we have," Annabeth smiled at her younger self. "In case somehow time travel or something like this is possible. That way we'll know." She didn't give out further explanation.

Why don't I have a code? He frowned.

Younger Annabeth cleared her throat, a dumbfounded expression on her face. "Um, what happened to your- I mean our hair?"

Annabeth smiled and touched the blonde ends of her braids. "I dyed it or actually, we dyed it. Wanted something new for a change."

"What about the white part?" Younger Annabeth motioned to the gray strand that sat in Annabeth's hair like she was a goddess.

Annabeth's expression went blank. "That's a story for another time."

The air became tense with a sort of exhilarating desire to know what was going on. Lucky for them, Younger Percy was there to save the day.

"Hmm, yeah…" He mumbled and rolled over, shoving Younger Annabeth to the side.

She hit his head in return. "Wake up!"

Her hiss woke him up in an instant. He scrambled into a sitting position, his eyes scrunched in pain. "Huh, what...?"

Percy held his head in his hands and groaned. "Oh, great. Styx."

It wasn't that he was annoyed by the younger him. He was more embarrassed than annoyed, really.

With a faint notion, he could guess what thoughts were swirling in the kid's mind. He had an idea of what he would be thinking and doing. Styx.

Younger Percy then appeared to wake up finally, as if on command, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes. When he saw the scene before him, he did the only thing that made sense. He screamed.

His panicked gaze darted left and right as his body tumbled backward, leaving Younger Annabeth muttering, annoyed to herself.

Grover turned toward Older Percy with a questioning gaze. "Should we -like, leave you- him... or?-"

Percy sighed, exasperated. "Just... let me deal with this."

Annabeth stifled a laugh from next to him.

He stepped toward the younger duo. Younger Annabeth was furiously whispering to Younger Percy, even though he was hardly paying attention to her words. His gaze was caught on the approaching Percy.

It was spooky staring at your younger counterpart in the eyes, like staring at a twin or a very well-made costume. It was creepy. Younger Percy was so familiar and unfamiliar at the same time that Percy couldn't remotely understand how Annabeth had been so composed talking to her younger self.

"Hi."

Younger Percy's widened eyes stayed drawn on his face, even as he retorted: "You're looking at yourself as a kid and all you say is 'Hi'?"

Percy no longer had any doubts that it was him. He let out a small grin. "You are the one who screamed like a little girl."

"Touché."

Younger Percy seemed to calm down. His shoulders relaxed and his face softened, though there still was some anxiety in his features. Then, as he realized that Younger Annabeth was next to him, his attention snapped to her. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She slowly got up and gave him a hand for help, which he gratefully took. Their hands stayed intertwined for a couple of seconds more before they frantically pulled apart, both of them red in the face. Younger Annabeth's gaze went everywhere but Younger Percy while he dusted and smoothed his clothes.

Percy heard muffled snickers from behind him and when he turned toward the other and more familiar duo, he found Grover's arm glued to his face in a way to hide his laugh. Next to him, Annabeth stared fondly at the scene with her arms crossed. When she saw Percy looking, she gave him an adoring shake of her head and marched beside him. "How were we so oblivious?"

"That was all you, Wise Girl."

Annabeth scoffed. "Yeah, right."

Percy laughed. "Remember when we met Rachel? You were so jealous."

She slapped his arm. "I was not!"

Even in the most bizarre situation, they were still them. And for that, Percy was grateful.

Yes, they were in some weird time paradox without a plan and with younger them (even though he still had no idea how this was possible), but Annabeth was there.

And that was all he needed.

They could be in Hell for all he cared, but she was here. And that was all that mattered.

"Hey, so like hate to interrupt your date or whatever you guys have going on, but-" Grover appeared from behind them, laying his hands on their shoulders. "We still have absolutely no clue on what is going on here."

He had meant it as a joke, even though Percy would have loved to be on a date with her instead of being in the middle of the fiasco that was happening, but their younger selves did not take it so lightly. He forgot just how much tension there had been when they had first met.

The easiest way to explain what was going on was that Younger Percy and Annabeth were a blushing and shrieking mess. Even Percy fought the urge to burst out laughing.

Screams of protest erupted from both of them as they defended themselves to each other.

"I would never, ever be with you-"

"Vice versa, Wise Girl!"

"And to think-"

"No way-"

It wasn't clear who they were trying to convince, but they were so utterly wrong. Their future selves were standing right in front of them. However, it was hilarious to see them arguing like that.

Annabeth let out a smile at the interaction and turned to Percy. "They're at the beginning of the quest. At least I think that's what time they're from."

"You know I remember when you were like that," Grover said, reminiscing. "It's really freaky just seeing you so little again. I wonder if we'll meet little me."

"You'll jinx it."

And he really did, since moments after, Grover's voice was heard again, but higher pitched and from unusually far away. "I'm here!"

From the dark part of the room, where most of the seats were situated, Younger Grover trudged toward the group as if he had just went to the bathroom and nothing more. "This is so cool! Like some science-fiction movie!"

Older Grover jumped in excitement. "Gods, It's me! Look at how young I am. Woah, this is so weird."

"Now you understand," Percy muttered.

Astonishment clouded Younger Grover's face before he let out a dumbfounded breath. "This is like- like Back To The Future! Wow…" Before he could say anything else, Younger Percy was already in the air, running with all his might toward his best friend.

"Grover!" As fast as lightning, he was next to him, hugging him with all the strength he could muster up. When he pulled away, he slapped him on the back. "Why didn't you say anything earlier!?"

Younger Grover shook his head and gave a quick smile to Younger Annabeth and a nod to the future trio. "Didn't want to interrupt and plus -there are other people here."

The atmosphere darkened and tension filled the room, rightfully so.

"There are other people here?" Annabeth was ready in a fighting stance, while Percy pulled out his sword, springing Anaklusmos.

Younger Annabeth sprang to her friends, wanting to ask them what was going on, but it turned out that Younger Percy had understood the situation very differently.

In a matter of seconds, Anaklusmos was glowing in his hand too, but it was pointed toward their older counterparts. "Hey, if you want to hurt him, you'll have to go through me!"

Percy's eyebrows furrowed, and he hesitantly put his sword down. "Uh, what?"

He wasn't the only one confused by his words. Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

Grover stepped forward, horrified "They're not gonna hurt you -me -us? Gods, this is very confusing!" He gave an appreciating look to Younger Percy. "But, thanks, bro."

"That was some fast thinking, dude!" Younger Grover grinned.

"Stupid thinking." Younger Annabeth shook her head.

Some of the tension had dissolved from the oddly comical occurrence, reminding Percy of his blind loyalty. He knew that if something like that had occurred to him, he would have done the same thing.

So, there really was a reason why Annabeth told him to slow down and think in battle, or really in any situation.

His head turned to his Grover without thinking and he saw that the satyr was already peering at him, giving him a grateful smile. Percy gave him his classic troublemaker grin, knowing that he would do anything for his best friend.

Annabeth sliced through the tense atmosphere, reminding everyone about reality. "Grover, who are the people?"

Her eyes were already scanning the room, no doubt for the tenth time, looking for the people Younger Grover was talking about.

He, in return, hesitated for a moment before inhaling. "I think it's better to see for yourself. All of you."