the winner takes it all
5_m0re_minutes
Summary:
Hera messed up. Percy Jackson wakes up outside the Wolf House to a she-wolf goddess telling him that the Queen of Olympus wiped his memories. Even worse, Hera accidentally put him to sleep for an entire year instead of six months. It's December 2010, and without Percy's help in the war, Gaea and her giants claimed victory and drove the gods into hiding. With the Mist fallen and the world crawling with monsters, Percy must seek out the demigod survivors at Lupa's guidance as they prepare to make their final stand.
Or an AU, dystopian retelling of Heroes of Olympus with a lot of plot twists: the canon divergence is not what you think it is, and the original plot gets entirely upended.
Notes:
Content Warning for graphic depictions of violence and very brief mentions of suicidal ideation
Chapter 1
Chapter Text
It feels like pulling his head up from underwater wit the way his mind is struggling to obtain consciousness. It feels like his brain is slush, submerged and unable to piece anything together. He strains, hard, on bringing himself up to the surface. With a deep pull, he drags himself up, up, up, up.
And for the first time in 365 days, Percy Jackson opens his eyes.
December 14th, 2010
It takes him multiple minutes to regain feeling in his body. The experience is terrifying. His limbs are so, so heavy and they just aren't responding to him. He wiggles his fingers, first, and then his toes. In the next minute, he can shift his body somewhat. His wrist and ankles and knees move, but his skin is tingling with pins and needles, burning and freezing at the same time. A minute later, he's able to gain enough control to slowly roll over off his back and push himself up into a sitting position.
He's wearing jeans that are covered in leaves. He brushed them off and then shakily gets to his feet. He realizes how cold he is, wearing those old jeans, an orange t-shirt, and only a thin jacket over top. Aching with the cold, he looks around.
Somehow, he's found himself in a forest. The tall trees are slanted down under the weight of snow and icicles. It's actually snowing, faint flurries catching in his hair and eyelashes. The scene is peaceful, really, crisp cool air against his skin, snow falling against his cheeks. Or it would be peaceful, if Percy knew who he was.
My name is Percy Jackson, he says to himself. I am… Oh gods. His hands start to shake as his heart accelerates. Who is he? He racks his brain, trying to figure out where he is and what he is doing here. Nothing. He can't recall anything at all. His breaths start coming out short and ragged. How can he not know who he is?
A hand runs up the back of his head, checking for a head injury. Nothing. Oh gods. He can't breathe properly, the air coming in and out too fast. It feels like a weight on his chest. Oh gods, who is he? What happened?
Breathe.
Oh gods.
Breathe, Percy.
Oh gods, oh gods.
Breathe, breathe.
Oh god.
He struggles, forcing his breathing to slow, choking on air when he does. Slowly, slowly. In and out. Breathe in….breathe out. After a couple minutes, Percy manages to get his breathing under control. It's okay. He'll figure this out just like he'd done when he'd…
He loses it, the memory fading from the edge of his mind.
Oh gods.
Realizing he's fallen to his knees, he shakily gets back up, subconsciously rubbing his arms against the frigid air. He needs to figure out where he is and go get help. Percy notices that he's now standing on stone floor in what looks like a strange sort of temple. Tall pillars, Greek style, hold up the tall ceiling. He's on the outside part, but it looks like there's more to this place indoors. As pretty as the forest is, he needs to get out of the cold. The door is old and heavy, so he has to yank hard on the rusted metal knocker to get it open. A cold draft rustles into the dark room. Some nervous feeling in his gut has Percy leaving the door open even as he steps inside.
It's dimly lit, there are no lights or even torches on the walls. Only light streaming in through cracks in doors or windows illuminates the place. Percy think he's right that this is a temple. He squints his eyes and see down the hall that those same pillars are lining the walls. Stepping forward into the darkness, he creeps inside the temple, watching for anything to give him a clue where he is.
He can't find anything. He keeps walking through, laying his shoes down slowly with each step so he doesn't make any noise. And yet, every turn into a new room yields nothing. Each place looks the same: big, empty marble floors with the same stone pillars.
Percy enters a larger hall, maybe the main one considering its size. Even this one looks exactly the same as the other rooms, just bigger. He turns the corner, his sneaker squeaking on the marble floor.
He barely has time to register the noise before something slams into his back, sending him crashing to the ground. He throws out his hands to catch himself, the impact sending him tumbling down marble steps. Instinctually, he shoves his hand in his jeans as he falls, yanking out a pen and uncapping it. Percy springs to his feet, whirling to face his attacker with the suddenly-appearing bronze sword. The blade is glowing softly, lighting the space ahead of him just enough to see a huge wolf staring at him, yellow eyes angled down, a predator watching his prey.
He sucks in a breath and steps back, making room to swing his sword between them cautiously. The big grey wolf has to be almost as tall as him, even though he guesses himself to be around six feet tall. It's grey fur sways as it stalks forward, eyes trained on him.
Percy steps back in response, his sword out. He's waiting for the beats to growl or attack him, but surprisingly, none of that comes. Instead, he hears a voice in his head as clear as if someone was talking to him.
Finally, the Son of Poseidon awakens.
He whirls around in alarm, looking for the owner of the woman's voice. There's no one in the room though, other than the wolf that is still staring at him.
Foolish boy, I am the one speaking. Look at me.
There's no way…but there's only one living being that he can see. Is this the wolf? Somehow, something in Percy tells him this isn't the strangest thing he's experienced.
Lower your sword, I will not hurt you. Why would I have kept you alive all these months only to end your life now?
"Kept me alive? Who are you? How are you talking in my head?" Percy demands, not lowering his weapon at all. His heart hammers wildly in his chest. He can almost feel it in his throat.
I am Lupa, a Roman goddess. I have nourished and protected you over this past year as I did Romulus and Remus.
The cold chill from outside spreads over his veins. "The past year? Where am I? Who am I?"
Lay down your weapon, the she-wolf orders, her tone making it clear that she is no longer asking, but commanding.
Percy acts on instinct, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the pen cap, touching it to the handle of the sword. It turns back into a pen, and he pockets it. He looks at the she-wolf, waiting expectantly for her to explain what she knows.
He listens as Lupa tells him about the Greek and Roman gods who never died, and sired half-blood children. She tells him he is the demigod son of Poseidon, God of the Sea. Percy knows he should call her crazy, but there's a wolf speaking to him in his mind, and something deep inside knows this is the truth. Maybe a gut feeling, but he trusts the she-wolf.
Lupa tells him that a year ago, the Giants began emerging, so the Queen of Olympus spelled him to lose his memory and fall asleep until he was needed, leaving him in the she-wolf's care. I believe she made a serious mistake. You have been asleep for exactly one year today, and the world you wake up to is not the one you left.
"What do you mean?" Percy asks quickly.
The Giants just won the war. The Mist, the magic that shields our world from the eyes of mortals, has fallen. The land is plagued by monsters, who roam free and devour demigods and mortals alike. The gods have disappeared into hiding, too afraid to show themselves for fear of Gaea ending them.
Oh gods. Percy steels himself, practicing controlling his breathing before…whatever had happened earlier he does not want to happen again. This situation is terrible, and the people who'd died…If he had friends and family, they were probably gone. He might be alone.
Part of him wishes he'd lose his memory again. It would be easier to know nothing than to know of this.
"What do I do?" He asks the she-wolf desperately, embarrassed to hear the crack of emotion on his voice.
Lupa lowers her head. You must find the remaining demigods, but first you must train. You have slumbered for a year—you are weak. Stay with me, and once you are strong, you will go.
And so it is. For the next year, Percy trains with the she-wolf. He stays in the temple, recovering slowly. It takes a while to regain muscle strength. After being unconscious for a whole year, his muscles atrophying, it takes a lot of food and training to get back to strength. He does not want to know how the she-wolf kept him fed all those months.
When he is back up to strength, Lupa keeps him for many more months, insisting he needs to build his skill. Even as a wolf, she teaches him fighting techniques that his body does not recognize. He learns hand-to-hand combat, sword movements, and gains incredible mastery over his water control, which Lupa explained comes from his father, Poseidon.
She teaches him to control his father's domain, and how to extend his power. Percy learns to hold water in the air, to shape it to his will, to move at high velocities. Lupa guides him to learn the art of pulling water from the air and environment around him.
Take from the sky first, she tells him, pacing on her paws as he practices in the forest, eyes closed in concentration. The sky does not need it. Only once that is depleted should you ever take from the soil, and then from the plants. And he does, water droplets materializing from the air into his palms. At first, he can barely summon a handful. As the months pass, he can do a bucket, a barrel, the volume of his body, and with significant effort, even the volume of a tree.
Lupa only gives him praise when its due. She never goes easy on him, but she only pushes him as far as she knows he can go. She pushes him past boundaries, teaches him how to cross his control to the very brink of his father's domain.
The first time she has him control something other than water, nothing happens. They start with the mud, watery in consistency. That first day, he can't do anything. Now, Percy flexes his fingers and a large mass of mud rises from the lake bed. He shoves his arms forward, and it slams into a tree, the force of it flying flecks onto his face.
Good. Lupa circles him. Let's move on.
The she-wolf tells him that not only can he control the water and its shape, but its density. This is especially hard for him to grasp, but once he does, it comes easily. He learns to solidify water into icicles and blades. He learns to send these weapons flying into the forest. Lupa has him fight with it over and over and over again until he can do a flip and thrust out his hand, drawing water from the air, solidifying it, and launching it into a target in one fluid movement.
Once he's accomplished in controlling water, Lupa reminds him that his father is the God of the Seas, Stormbringer and Earthshaker. She tells him that it's time to learn how deep his connection to the earth goes.
This is what makes Poseidon different, the she-wolf had told him. His primary domain is the ocean, but he can delve into the realms of his brothers.
She has him try circulating the water from the air, summoning it and rotating it until he's making his own hurricanes. It's unconsciously pulling in wind, and Percy eventually gets it strong enough to rip up bushes.
Lupa has him concentrate on his connection with the ground, next. She teaches him how to tap into his emotion and send his power down instead of it. This is definitely the hardest skill to master. It takes a long time, and he almost gives up. But after almost a year, something is happening.
Percy stomps on the ground and it rumbles, cracks bursting out from his foot. He raises his sword, running towards Lupa, each strike of his foot sending minor trembles through the ground. It's part of his fighting style now, just as naturally to him as not getting wet in the rain.
Sometimes, as Percy's practicing, he thinks he can feel something deeper lurking inside of himself. While he's pushing his powers to the edge of his father's domain, there's a rumbling deep inside that tells him there's more. There's so much more than what he can do. He feels it when he's practicing with the mud. There is even one time, when he pulls up more mud than he's ever done before, power heaving, that he sees Lupa twitch out of the corner of his eye and lose her footing.
He asks every month if he's ready to go. He's terrified of what's out there, but Percy is also anxious to find whatever life he had. Even after being awake for a year, none of his memories have returned. His only hope left is that they might be triggered by familiar places and faces.
Every month, Lupa says no. Until the mark where he's been awake and training with her for a year does she finally agree that it is time for him to leave. She sits him down seriously, going through the plan.
The protections around your camp have fallen. The demigods have likely retreated to the place that only half-bloods can enter.
"Where?" Percy asks, twirling his pen nervously. He wishes Lupa was more direct, although maybe speaking like this was a god thing. Every time they speak, her words are mysterious like this.
The Labyrinth, Perseus. Follow your instincts, they will lead you into the city and to an entrance. Be cautious of who you trust.
Chapter 2
Summary:
Percy finds the demigod base in the Labyrinth using a wind-up music box.
Chapter Text
January, 2012
That is how Percy finds himself, a couple weeks later, sneaking into San Francisco. Lupa had been right, the entire way was filled with monsters. He'd hiked for days through the woods, wanting to keep off the roads if what the goddess had said was true. Still, he'd been ambushed by lizard women, a giant dog with glowing red eyes, and weird half-dog beasts with sharp fangs. His instincts truly had kept him alive. He must be an accomplished swordsman because only those skills from his life (that he can't remember) are keeping him alive. He would be dead without that knowledge with somehow, thankfully, was not removed with his memories.
Percy had broken into a store at the edge of the city the day before. It was abandoned and had been raided, but he was able to find a Finding Nemo backpack and shove the remaining supplies left: some goldfish and fruit snacks, a couple diced peach cans, a switchblade, some duct tape, a package of flashlights, a tool belt, and a handful of batteries. He'd snuck into a few more stores, almost dying in one after running into a woman with a donkey leg and a metal leg who exploded fore on him. In this place, he got an even better haul: cans of green beans, a compass, a wind-up box that played music astonishingly loud, two wall hammers, a leather notebook and pen, and a six pack of walky-talkies.
Now, it's been sixteen days since he left Lupa and Percy has probably encountered over twenty monsters. Thankfully they've all been alone or in a very small group, or else he would be screwed. If a single monster sees him and escapes, and tells others…
He has not seen any humans and has no idea where they were. He is too scared to figure it out.
Something in his gut is telling Percy he needs to go to Alcatraz although that's not exactly his top tourist destination. He can see the island, not too far away, but it is so out in the open that his stomach rolls just thinking about how to get there. Being the Son of Poseidon, he guesses he can probably swim there pretty well, but he has no idea what is in the water. It's a better bet to sneak onto one of the ferries that he's seen heading over every hour, even though he can see there are full of monsters.
He finds a large knee-length jacket and throws up the hood, hoping to hide his human shape at least from a distance. Percy makes his way towards the dock, spotting a smaller ferry boat that probably can't hold more than twenty or thirty monsters. Figuring that is his best bet, he hides under the dock waiting for the coast to be clear.
"—Don't know what the point is, we've been at this for months," a low voice says, accompanied by odd clicking noises as it spoke. Heavy footsteps slam above Percy as the monster walks up the gangplank.
"Something will give," a reedy voice replies, fading away as they walked past. "They need to come out for supplies, eventually we'll catch them."
Ten minutes later, the ferry's engine revs, and it starts pulling away. Percy quickly crawls out of his hiding place and jumps on the boat. There is a small nook by the back propeller that he lands on. He squats down, hood covering his face. He isn't completely out of sight, but a large portion of his body is concealed. Better yet, he is at the back of the boat.
The fifteen-minute trip to the island is horrible. He's filled with anxiety for the entire journey and miraculously manages to get through it without any monster attacks. He slips off the boat before they dock, swimming underwater around the back of the island. He discovers he has control over the water and is able to breathe and see well. Percy even figures out how to propel himself through the water, moving quickly enough that hopefully any monsters under the waves won't suspect he is a human.
Or half-human.
He comes up to the surface around the back of the island, the tall stone wall of the former prison towering overhead. Percy can feel a tug in his gut leading him inside and knows this is where he is supposed to be. He steps onto the thin ledge of rock, dry despite having swum. Earlier, he'd clipped the tool belt around his waist and hung the wall hammers on each side. He knows this is a ballsy move, but something tells Percy he's climbed this high before. He pulls out the hammers, finds a ledge for his foot, and starts the climb.
Percy pegs the hammer into the brick, testing the sturdiness and pulling himself up. Percy repeats the same in his right hand, reaching high with the hammer, pulling himself up, and regaining his footing. Half-way up, the hammer slips, and he almost falls. He manages to get the other hammer in the brick before, thankfully. His arms are shaking with the strain of the climb, sweat covering his forehead and dripping into his eyes. He blinks, eyes burning as he pulls and pulls his body upwards.
When he reaches a window, Percy wants to cry in relief. He glances inside, seeing two of the serpent women, empousai. Deciding he can take them, Percy sheaths the hammers and exchanges them for his sword. Holding the window frame in his left hand, he kicks in the window and slings himself inside.
The empousai hiss, turning towards him with their clawed hands raised. Before they can attack, Percy slashes his sword, beheading them both in one swipe. Following the tug in his stomach, he hurries out of the room and down a set of stairs, the tug telling him he needed to go down deep. He flies down the flights of stairs, bursting out on the basement floor.
To his horror, he has entered a hallway flooded with monsters. The cells line the walls, but the hall ahead is packed with dozens of monsters, all crowded around one cell at the end. And because his luck is terrible, Percy realizes that cell is where his instincts are guiding him.
Before he can come up with a plan, shouts sound. He's been sighted.
"There's a demigod!" One of the monsters yells.
Percy curses and takes off, running right down another hallway. He hears feet—or maybe tails? Claws? Tentacles? Racing down the hall, he spins around a tight corner again, heart beating fast. This must be a hub for monsters, they are clearly staking out that cell, which means they knew where the demigods are hiding.
"DIE, DEMIGOD!" A voice bellows from behind.
He feels a rushing of air behind him and ducks. An axe slams into the concrete wall where his head has just been. Eyes wide, he ducks around a corner, but instead of running again, pulls out Riptide and the wind-up music box. Holding his breath, he watches as multiple dozen monsters of all species storm down the hallway, chasing thin air. Miraculously, they all charge past his hiding space.
Percy waits ten seconds until they'd gone before rapidly twisting the box. It squeaks in his hands as he revs it up. Finally, Percy gets to his feet and lobs the thing as hard as he can across the big hall of cells. He faintly hears it hit a wall, but the screaming music it plays is the real banger.
"SOULJA BOY OFF IN THIS HOE—"
"HE'S OVER THERE!" He hears them yell, followed by rushing sounds of feet. Taking his chance, Percy runs back the way he'd came, hoping and praying to the cowardly gods that they'd taken the bait.
"WATCH ME CRANK IT, WATCH ME ROLL—"
He sprints down the hallway, turning back towards the entrance. There are still monsters in that main stretch, but far fewer than there had been, maybe only six telekhines.
"WATCH ME CRANK THAT SOULJA BOY—"
"WHERE IS HE?"
The monsters yell as he approaches, but Percy engages immediately, cutting off their voices along with their heads. He dodges a swipe of talons and drives Riptide into its gut, using upper body strength to slam the monster, still impaled on his sword, onto his other friend so hard they both break into yellow dust.
"THAT SUPERMAN THAT HOE—"
"It's Jackson!"
He hears a monster scream as they appear at the end of the hall, having discovered the music box was a distraction.
"Shit," Percy curses, stabbing the last telekhine near him before turning to the cell. In his presence, he can see a triangle symbol glowing red. That has to be the entrance, but how to get in?
"NOW WATCH ME—"
"He's alive—KILL HIM!"
The monsters charge, dozens and dozens bursting down the hall towards him. Percy is trapped, cornered against the cell at the end of the hallway with nowhere to go. They thunder down towards him, fangs and claws and teeth baring, thirsty for his blood.
Fifteen feet.
Ten feet.
Five feet.
Out of pure instinct, Percy brings his hand down on the triangular mark. The stone wall creaks open, just enough room for him to slip through. He bursts inside, sprinting fast and hard as he has no idea how to close the door. The light from the prison illuminates the walls and floors, stone carved with inscriptions that looks hundreds of years old. It is truly a maze.
He hears the stone slide closed behind him and the light vanishes, leaving Percy in almost pitch black darkness.
"YOU WILL DIE, JACKSON!" He hears voices roar behind him.
He curses colorfully and runs faster, guessing there are at least a handful of monsters behind him, and he has no idea which they are and if he can take them. Percy doesn't even know where he is going, he's just running down this hallway and that, trying to lose them.
A trip wire has spears shotting forward. He drops rapidly, feeling one of the weapons burrow through his hair. A wet thunking noise tells him it has killed one of the monsters. Good.
"JACKSOOOON!"
The dark hallway suddenly opens up into a huge cavern that's lit by torches. It is big enough to fit fifty people, tiled floor made of many colors. To his surprise, there are people in the room. He catches a glimpse of them, all teenagers or so milling about, before they look up.
When the dozen people or so see him, they start screaming and pulling out weapons. He hears someone shout for names, but Percy doesn't have time to pay more attention. He stops running, sneakers squeaking as he slows, and turns to face the incoming monsters. He can't keep running from them, now that there are people, he is endangering them.
Percy raises his sword as the monsters burst into view. There are a dozen of them that have squeezed through the passage before it closed. It is an assortment: four dracaena, a teenage hellhound, some telekhines, and another few that Percy doesn't recognize.
"YOU'RE DEAD, JACKSON!" Bellows the monster charging at the front, a young woman with fangs, a goat leg, and a bronze leg.
People scream behind him, but Percy ignores them. He can feel that they are near water, and his head is roaring with the distant sound of waves. He feels power amassing in him as his gut clenches painfully, tugging hard at that connection with the sea.
Just as the monsters get close enough to touch, Percy lets out a yell as two hallways in front of him burst with water, waves roaring down. He thrusts out his hands, guiding the tidal waves to slam into the horde with enough force that most of them turn to golden dust on impact. He circulates the waves around the three remaining, forcing water down their throats. As they choke and drown, Percy stabs and slashes with Riptide, turning the rest into dust.
The water recedes, seeming to almost seep into the tile and fade away.
Percy falls to his knees in exhaustion, his sword clattering to the ground. Behind him, he can hear the teenagers yelling but he can't make out their words. His head iss spinning, his body aching. He holds his left hand against his ribs which hurt very badly, pinching like they are broken. The donkey girl had sliced at him with her talons, but though his shirt had been ripped to shreds, his skin is untouched.
The adrenaline drains form him like the water had done, and his body feels filled with the fatigue of being on the run for months and using so much power. He can tell there are hands on his shoulders and hears someone yelling his name before he collapses.
Chapter 3
Summary:
Percy meets the group of underground demigods, but he leaves with more questions than answers.
Chapter Text
When he wakes up, it feels like his veins have been pumped full of lead. His chest hurts so bad and his side stings. He tries to sit up, hissing at the pain immediately when he does.
"Whoa whoa not so fast!" A voice says quickly, and there are suddenly hands on his shoulders holding him steady.
Percy blinks, breathing deeply through the pain, and takes in his surroundings. He's in another circular room, probably a little smaller than that clearing he'd run into when…well, however long ago that had been. The stone floor is grey, but the walls are made of an old limestone, making the environment lighter. There are also windows, and he can see mountains and a lake through them.
The room itself is packed with cots. It's really nothing fancy, a mix of cushions on the floor, simple cots, and some beds on boxsprings. Small, mismatched tables are also set up around the room, holding a variety of medical materials. There are metal stools, wooden side tables, and even a hideously-painted vomit green stand. It's pretty obvious this is their infirmary, which actually seems pretty decently equipped for an underground operation.
"How do you feel, Percy?" The same person asks. Percy turns to see a blonde guy, maybe a few years younger than him, watching him with rapt attention. His eyebrows scrunch over concerned blue eyes. His skin is tan and littered with freckles even though Percy doesn't know how much sun they get down here.
"Uh, okay I guess," he says, not really sure how to answer. He's hesitant to say anything at all, if he's honest. It feels strange, the words in his mouth. Not the words, exactly, but saying them. This, he realizes, is the first time he's spoken to another human being in over two years. It's jarring.
The guy raised an eyebrow, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement. "Are you sure? Your heart rate is a little elevated. Makes me think you're in pain."
"I guess, I mean—wait." Percy narrows his eyes suspiciously. "How do you know my heart rate? Who are you?"
The boy looks disappointed for a moment, but then his expression is quickly replaced with a grin. He holds up his hands and wiggles long, slender fingers. "Nice to meet you. Will Solace, son of Apollo."
A healer, then. He must have somehow felt his vitals just form having hands on his shoulders. Something about that feels intrusive, even uncomfortable to Percy. He hopes this guy can't tell his heart rate all the time, that will probably become embarrassing.
Will must notice his frown because he laughs. "Don't worry too hard about it. Hey, if you're feeling better, do you think you can walk? I'm supposed to take you to the leader."
He doesn't know what to make of this guy. The laughing, teasing, and smiles are strange and foreign to him. Lupa's words had been telepathic, for one, but the she-wolf was always cryptic and blunt. She only spoke when necessary and got straight to the point. There was no conversation, no friendly banter, and certainly no laughter or joyfulness. Percy does not understand why this boy is speaking to him so carelessly. Maybe he's just like that. Maybe people are just like that.
He doesn't know. He has no memory of ever speaking to a human.
Hiding his hesitance, Percy nods, slowly swinging his legs off the side of the low cot. He is still wearing his pants, thank the gods, but his shirt has been removed. It isn't much of a loss, honestly, as it had been shredded by that demon lady's talons. White bandages criss-cross his chest.
"Bruised ribs," Will says, nodding at the injury he was inspecting. "Ribs should heal nicely. Not a big deal though, I gather," he adds, eying the plethora of pale and pink scars littering his chest and arms. He hands Percy a folded black t-shirt.
Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Percy slips it on quickly. It's a little small, tight around the back and shoulders and certainly pretty worn, but it's clean and mostly intact, and he's grateful. After covering himself, he gets to his feet and follows the healer out of the infirmary. He feels stiff and sore from walking but isn't about to complain. Will leads him into the hallways which seem like pretty typical Labyrinth, from what he knows of it. The same stone floors and long corridors. Surprisingly, they pass quite a number of doors as they walk down the halls. Percy keeps one hand clutching his pen, eyes darting around as he braces himself for monsters to come barreling down the side halls.
"Oh don't worry about getting attacked," Will consoles after noticing Percy's defensiveness. He gestures to the corridors they pass, turning a corner. "We have the halls we're not using blocked off for the most part."
"What are you using the space for? What is the place?" Percy asks, hoping the breathlessness in his voice wasn't too apparent. Walking with bruised ribs is rather difficult.
"We make use of it how we can," Will replies mysteriously. They pass an open archway leading into a massive room. It's an arena, hundreds of benches high above the ground for seating. The arena itself is huge, long chains hanging from the ceiling. There are a half dozen people inside from age twelve to eighteen sparring with weapons. It isn't a well-furnished room, mostly cleared out except for two old mats on the ground. "After we lost the war, our only safe haven was compromised. Since only half-bloods can get into the maze, we came down here. It was hard to find a good place. People can go mad pretty easily down here, so we had to send out small teams to investigate, and they couldn't go too far. We found this section of the maze not too long after. It's the best deal: there's a lot of good quality spaces clustered together, a couple entrances nearby, and only two main passages. Makes for good defense. We spent awhile neutralizing the booby traps in these rooms though, you would not believe how many times I almost died."
They round another corner. This stretch is short, another door at the end of the brief hall. It's large and wooden with an old brass knocker that reminds him of the door at the Wolf House.
"The best part," Will continues as they approach the door, "is that the Labyrinth shifts every now and then. All the rooms stay the same, I mean, but the actual location for where this is changes. Makes us harder to find even if anyone did get down here. We've been near the San Francisco entrances for a few weeks now. It'll change real soon actually, so you're just in time. And here we are," he finishes, stopping in front of the door. He knocks just once before opening the door, gesturing Percy inside with a flourish.
The room is also pretty big—he agrees with Will that they'd chosen a spot with great room sizes. It is more dimly lit with a single window looking out over the Golden Gate Bridge. There's an old desk pushed by the window covered in papers, maps, and books and a grey curtain behind it. The furniture is miss-matched here too. It's clear that the people here just brought in whatever they could find.
The rest of the space is taken up by a big, circular wooden table. A dozen or so chairs are jammed around it and they're currently filled with people. There's a number of them, hunched over the table and deep in conversation, multiple voices talking over each other at once.
"If he's alive that could mean so much about our options here—"
"We can't just force anyone back into war, we've finally got something stable."
"Shh!" Another voice quiets, and the group suddenly stops talking and turns to look at the newcomers. All their heads look up as Will shuts the door, darkening the room a little bit.
A scraping noise sounds as a chair scrapes back, a girl at the head of the table standing up. They appear to be the same age, eighteen or so, but this girl holds herself like she is much older, more mature. Golden curls are tied back in a ponytail, making the sharp angles of her face stand out. She has stormy grey eyes that blaze wide with a strange emotion as she stares at him, lips slightly parted.
"Percy, this is our War Council," Will introduces, gesturing to the faces of the teenagers huddled around the table.
It looks like they are all holding their breath, waiting for him to respond, so he says, "Uh, good to meet you." Percy can nearly taste the tension breaking at his words although he has no idea why. The blonde girl's shoulders actually visibly slump.
"This is Annabeth," Will continues, shifting nervously now. "She's our leader. And she, uh, has a few questions for you."
He waits, unsure of what to say. Will pushes at his back, guiding Percy forward to stand in front of them instead of hovering by the door.
The blonde girl, Annabeth, crosses her arms, still regarding him with that odd blazing look, like she wants to punch him in the face but is trying to restrain herself. He feels this strange tension between them, like there's a lot of intense emotion there.
"How are you here?" She asks. Her voice is somewhat low for a woman, deep and authoritative. Her tone is firm, and Percy can't shake the feeling that she's asking him multiple things with that one question.
He shifts on his feet. "I, uh, found the entrance at Alcatraz. Sorry about the monsters, by the way. I don't think they liked my music taste."
"You got in through Alcatraz?" A big burly guy with a young-looking face asks. "How is that possible? I mean, that place is infested with monsters. We can't use that door for supply runs anymore."
He just shrugs, unsure of how much to reveal. Yes, Lupa told him to find the demigods in the Labyrinth, and they healed him in the infirmary, but that doesn't prove their intentions. He doesn't know them, and for now, he'll wait to see what they're like before disclosing how much of a threat he is.
Annabeth holds her hand up, refocusing the room before she pressed on with what was feeling like an interrogation. "How have you survived? Where have you been? The Giants have taken over for a year now. It would be impossible to have lived on the surface all this time."
Ah, that. He isn't sure how much he should disclose. "It's kind of a long story," he admits.
"Try me," she says firmly.
And so he tells them his story, or all he knows of it. "A little over a year ago, I woke up on this mountain forest. I had no idea how I got there, or who I was. There was this goddess, Lupa, who found me, said she'd been watching over me while I was unconscious for a year."
"You were at the Wolf House?" A guy asks with alarm. Like Will, he is blonde with blue eyes, but not as tan. He looks a couple years older than Will, his skin paler and facial structure sharper.
Percy raises his eyebrows. "You know it?"
The guy bobs his head in affirmation. "That's where a lot of Roman demigods start off. But I—we were there," he says, gesturing to a tan boy with elfish features and dark curls as well as a tan girl with choppy brown hair, both sitting on either side of him. "A year and a half ago. So we would have seen you, right?"
He was at a loss for an explanation. "I—I don't know. I mean, I was asleep, so I guess Lupa might have been…well, come to think of it, she didn't exactly say I'd been at the Wolf House for a year, just that she'd been watching over me and I woke up there."
"Maybe you were only moved there after Jason, Piper, and Leo left?" Another girl suggests. She's definitely younger than the rest, her hair and skin dark and facial features young, like fourteen or fifteen. What stands out are her eyes, which glow golden.
He shrugs.
"So you were asleep for a year? Why? How?" Annabeth demands, looking curiously upset by the news.
"Lupa told me the giants had been gearing up for a second war, so the Queen of Olympus, Hera, had swapped me for some prophecy," he explains, hoping he had understood the she-wolf well enough to relay the information. "But apparently Hera got kidnapped, and Lupa thought it messed up her magic. She said I was only supposed to be asleep and under Lupa's care for six months, but I was out for a year. By the time I woke up, it was over."
That same blonde guy scowls. "I know about Hera's plans. She did a whole swap, memories wiped, even the name. Oh it's Jason, by the way."
"Sup," he greets. "So you all—you fought in the war?"
The mood changes, turning somber.
"We're not here to talk about the war," Annabeth interjects. "We're here to figure out you. If you've been conscious for over a year now, where have you been all this time? How did you know where we were?"
"I stayed with Lupa. She nourished me back to health and helped me train. Once she felt like I was ready, she told me you all were hiding in the Labyrinth."
"Did she say anything else? About the gods or the war?" Jason persists, leaning forward. As he does, the natural light from the window falls across his face, and Percy gets a good look at him. With his square jaw, muscular frame, and blonde-hair-blue-eyes thing, he appears like a storybook hero. He seems like that main protagonist, the hero that stars in every movie, like some Hercules or Matt Damon or something. It's so cheesy he almost wanted to laugh.
Except it makes him feel a little insecure. Percy is no hero—or maybe he had been, at some point, but he has no idea. At any rate, he is no Jason. First off, he looks terrible. He hasn't been truly clean in probably two years. He knows for a fact that his skin and clothes are caked in dirt, dried blood, sweat, and monster dust. His hair is matted with blood and dirt, and he bets his face is dirty enough that his features are somewhat obscured.
And sure, Percy's tall and strong. After training with Lupa for a year, his shoulders have gotten real broad, his body pretty athletic, but he isn't super built like Jason. And there had been enough reflective surfaces in San Francisco for him to see that with his unruly black hair and stabbing green eyes, he doesn't look like a hero. His face is all angles and rigid lines and honestly, in the right lighting, he could look more like a villain. Percy doesn't know why this bothered him, but for some reason it does.
"Did she say where the other gods are?" Jason prompts again, looking a little confused.
He realizes he'd been zoned out, probably looking like an idiot. He clears his throat. "Sorry. Uh, no. Why?"
The youngest girl, the one with glowing gold eyes, lets out a sigh. "Ever since the Giants won, the gods have gone into hiding. We haven't heard from any of them in ages. Having an encounter with a goddess, even a minor one—let alone being with her for two years—that's unheard of."
"And since we can't kill Giants without a god, we're royally fucked," the elfish boy next to Jason says under his breath. He's small in stature, skinny but not scrawny, but this glint in his eyes has Percy on edge. It isn't fear, but he knows this kid could hold his own. This guy is someone he should by wary of, like their essences clash on a fundamental level.
Then, what the boy had said hits him, and equal shock and despair ripples inside. "Wait, we can't kill the Giants without the gods?"
"Oh my gods!" A girl snaps loudly, standing up aggressively. Percy hadn't seen her, hadn't noticed she was there from where she's been sitting next to Annabeth, half-concealed in shadows. She'ss tall, dressed in all black, with choppy black hair and eyes so blue they looked like lightning. Her gaze as she glares at him is sharp and angry, as if she wants to squash him under her steel-toed boots. "Don't you know anything?" She spits angrily before shoving in her chair and storming out of the room.
Percy watches in amazement as the mystery girl slams the door shut behind her, leaving them all in petrified silence. He has absolutely no idea what that was about. He's frustrated with the amnesia more than anyone, but it isn't like he has any control over that. Why is she so angry?
Maybe she'd known him! Maybe they had been close and that was why his amnesia is so upsetting to her. They couldn't be been family, the only similarity between the two is the black hair. Friends? Perhaps best friends? Percy blanches, panicking. Oh gods, is that his girlfriend?
"What did I do?" He asks the group, truly at a loss for an explanation and really, really hoping he hasn't pissed off an ex or a girlfriend. Well, if they had been together, they aren't now, right? He's been gone for two years, so…
Annabeth gives a pointed look to Jason, who quickly stands up and follows the angry girl out of the room. She turns back to him, her lips pursed and eyes storming. "I think we're done here. For now. Grover, give him the tour, and then take him to the baths." She wrinkles her nose, turning her back and walking over to her desk dismissively. "He needs it."
The others start getting up, clearly taking the hint that their leader is dismissing them, but Percy isn't done yet. They've gotten plenty of information form him, but he has barely learned anything.
They must have underestimated him, or though him dumb, if they don't realize all the hints they've been dropping. That angry girl had really confirmed it, but there had been plenty of other hints. Will had called him by his name, and he is pretty sure he has heard people yelling his name when he'd run into their little underground operation, being chased by monsters. When he'd come into this War Council room or whatever it was, Will had not introduced Percy.
Even though he is absolutely certain that he has never once told them his name.
Which means these people—maybe not all, but at least one of two of them—know who he was. Or at the very least, they know of him.
"Wait," Percy declares, and he is surprised to find his voice comes out deep and demanding, startling everyone to a stop. Even Annabeth gazes up from her desk with raised eyebrows. "Aren't you going to tell me how you know me?"
Chapter 4
Summary:
Percy gets familiar with the underground base.
Chapter Text
The room falls silent immediately. Even though his back is to the others, he can feel their gazes burning into him and Annabeth, waiting for her verdict.
He watches her as well. Her face is schooled into a neutral expression, her eyes calculating as she considers him thoughtfully. He waits with bated breath, every muscle and tendon tense in his body.
"There were many demigods at the Greek camp, years ago, before it got overrun," she speaks finally, slowly and definitively, making eye contact with Percy as well as the others in the room. "Many disappeared during the war. Perhaps you were one of them."
He swallows disappointment. There's a feeling deep inside him that there's someone out there he cares about so much that he'd give his own life. The only thing left is to find the people he loves…but what if there aren't any? 'One of many'… "So you all didn't know me?"
Annabeth stares at him, log and hard, before slowly shaking her head. "No." She twitches her hand absentmindedly at Percy. "Grover," she orders, her tone making it clear that the conversation is absolutely over.
The others file out of the room, but his eyes stay on Annabeth. The girl is bent over papers on her desk, head bent and no longer paying him any attention. He wants to get more information from her, wants to scream at her, beg her to tell him anything; he sense that she isn't giving him everything she knows.
"Come on, let's show you around," one of the boys says softly, a hand on his shoulder. He's average height, a few inches shorter than Percy, and has a sizeable amount of facial hair. His most prominent features, though, have to be the horns poking out of his brown curls or the donkey legs on his bottom half. "I'm a satyr, half-goat, half-man," he explains, following Percy's gaze. "My name's Grover."
"Nice to meet you," Percy says, reluctantly following the boy out of Annabeth's office room.
The satyr smiles, but it's forced. "Yup. Well, let's get on with the tour then." They start back down the hallway leading from Annabeth's office. It isn't a long hallway but there aren't any other doors on it, not until they turn the corner twice, heading back in the opposite direction. "I guess Will's already shown you the infirmary," he chuckles, a soft bleat to his voice that has something nostalgic panging inside Percy.
"Yeah. Hoping not to end up back there."
Grover snorts. "Well, knowing you, you probably will." When Percy stiffens, he seems to catch what he's said and backtracks. "I mean, your entrance the other day. Pretty intense, all those monsters chasing you. First time we see you and you're getting injured, right? Seems like it's starting a trend, you know?" It's a lousy recovery, and they both know it, but Percy doesn't call him on it, yet.
Maybe they've heard of him somewhere, but are waiting to get a gauge on him, just like he's doing. Maybe they do vaguely recognize him. It's anyone's guess.
"This is the biggest room, where we sleep," Grover gestures, changing the topic. It's another circular room, but easily the biggest one. The floor is filled with mattresses. Some have metal box springs, some have wooden bed frames. There's a lot of variation in the mattresses with a number of big, full twins whereas most of the others are smaller. They all have some sheets on them, a blanket, and a pillow. There are so many beds, even with extras leaning against the wall, that there are only two or three feet between each of them.
Grover leads him over to the back corner, where the beds are mainly full twins. "This one's yours," he points to a full twin mattress that has no bedframe. The sheets have an Iron Man pattern, but the blanket is blue, his favorite color. His Finding Nemo backpack has been set on top. "We had to get one of the younger demigods to switch to a smaller mattress to get you this XL. He was not happy about it, but, well," Grover shrugs. "You would barely fit on a twin."
He gestures at the arch they'd walked through. Beyond it is another door. "That leads out to where you came in. We use it as a more recreational space during the day, but that's where the inner patrol duty guards."
"Inner?" Percy questions, following Grover carefully as the satyr weaves around the beds to the back archway.
"Yeah, we've got two layers. The inner patrol is two people at the main doors, that's the only entrance that we didn't block off," Grover explains. "And there are two others on the outer rings. They walk around the corridors around our base. The shifts go all twenty-four hours. We all rotate, but it's only two hours at a time, so it's not bad. And you'll get a partner to walk you through the outer rings and learn your way before you go it alone. Don't want you to crazy after just getting here."
He frowns. "Um, is that likely?"
Grover grins at a demigod who waves to him as they left the sleep area. "Only if you wander deep into the maze alone. We've removed all the booby traps in the vicinity, but if you go too deep, you'll probably die or go mad if you don't know your way around. And the corridors move sometimes, so best not to go far."
They turn right out of the big room, coming onto another long corridor. It's also well lit with windows, which Percy realizes is deliberate. They must have also chosen this location because of the natural lighting. "How do you light the place when the sun goes down?" He asks curiously. It isn't like they have an electrical system down here.
"The Hephaestus kids have come up with some clever ways to power things. But you'll see later," the satyr shares with an amused glint in his brown eyes. "Okay, so up here we have a number of things. This is the kitchen, here. We've got no idea what this place was before we came, but they did conveniently have some stuff we can make use of. The rest of it was polished up by the Hephaestus guys. Honestly have no idea how we'd survive without them. You'll get dishes duty at some point, but it's the Demeter kids who're on cooking duty." Grover looks out a window next to the kitchen. There's a large field outside, tilled and growing crops. "We've learned that even though the maze shifts locations every now and then, but there's a sizeable radius around this section that stays the same. We've got the Demeter kids growing most of our food, but obviously we get a lot from supply runs too."
The satyr shows him the other rooms on the hallway: a weapons room, storage, a map room, and finally, the bathroom. "You'll love this," he ushers Percy inside, leading him through an archway into a cave.
It's also pretty dimly lit, with torches burning on the wall as the only source of light. The ground is a big rock structure, peaked in the middle and with deep dips on the sides. It's huge, and pools of water fill both holes with enough space to fit twenty people easily. It reminds Percy of something he knows he's seen before, but he just can't put his finger on it.
"This is the boys side, and the girls are over there," Grover points to both sides respectively, the wall of rock in between just tall enough for privacy. "You'll see Leo and Jake, love those two, have these filtration devices on the sides." He points now to small devices under the water, glowing a faint green-blue color.
He walks out of the doorway towards the water, his hooves finding surprising stability on the rocky ledges. "Come on, Annabeth told me to get you cleaned up, and I'd rather not be flayed alive."
Percy follows, only pausing briefly before following Grover's lead and stripping. He guesses, with everyone living in close quarters for a year now, that some boundaries have just fallen away. He feels a little awkward about it, but Grover acts like it was the most natural thing, slipping into the water enthusiastically, which makes him feel a little better.
He can't deny how great it feels. He hasn't really taken a proper bath in ages. There had been a small lake near the Wolf House, but he didn't really have any cleaning materials, just his powers. He managed to get most of the surface grime, sweat, dirt, and blood off, but he had still felt unclean. He thanks the gods, wherever the bastards are, that the demigods grabbed soaps, shampoo, and conditioner on their supply runs. He hadn't even been able to get to a lake over the last couple of weeks since leaving Lupa, unwilling to expose himself to monsters. The magic sword-pen, Percy had discovered, only reappeared in pockets, so he is weaponless when bathing.
He submerges himself, running his hands through his hair, and shaking out the plastered dirt, grime, and blood. He swims over to the far end of the boys side of the cavern, cleaning his skin and hair for the first time in ages. It's so refreshing, like some sort of renewal. Even when he's finished cleaning up, Percy remains underwater, just enjoying being submerged.
He loses track of time. Maybe fifteen minutes later, Percy senses a disturbance in the water at the other edge, feels a few more people in the body of water. Seconds later, a booming noise reverberates through the cavern, and he pushes off the rock floor immediately.
As soon as his head and shoulders break the surface, laughter fills his ears. At the other end of the cavern, a few of the boys from the War Council room are standing near Grover at the edge, roaring with laughter.
"I can't believe that worked!" The elfish boy snorts, his right hand still slightly hovering over the water.
Percy realizes the boy had slapped the surface to get his attention. He drifts over to them cautiously, even though he wants to smile with them. It has been so, so long, two years, in fact, at least, since he's had anyone to laugh with. Today is the first time that he's even spoken to other humans (or half-humans apparently) in over two years. He hadn't realized how lonely it had been, having only a wolf goddess for company, and a hollowness he hadn't even noticed in his chest becomes apparent.
"If there was any doubt that you're the son of Poseidon after yesterdays' spectacle, that's all gone now," Jason grins at him. He and his elfish friend are already in the water, while two other boys are still on the rocks.
He doesn't smile. "Who are your parents, anyway?" He asks, realizing he doesn't know most of their names or lineages.
Jason raises his hand, flashing an odd tattoo that's burned into his forearm. "Jupiter," he says, which makes a lot of sense.
"Your Highness," the elfish boy smiles mischievously, flourishing his hand and bowing obnoxiously to his friend, who elbows him hard enough to send the boy tipping into the lake.
"That's Leo," Jason points to the gasping boy, who flips his curls out of his face. "Son of Hephaestus."
One of the boys on the rocks waives. He's big, taller than all of them, probably, with huge muscles. But his face looks young, a sixteen-year-old face on a man's body. "I'm Frank, son of Mars." His build isn't surprising, then, but Percy thinks the kid appears too nice to be the son of a war god.
"Frank, get in the water already!" Grover bleats, waving him in.
The big guy smiles shyly, hiding behind a rock to remove his clothes. He appears to be the only one of them that is even somewhat self-conscious. Except the other boy on the rocks, who lingers in the shadows.
"And this is Nico," Jason waves to the last boy.
"Son of Hades," the kid answers, stepping forward into the light. He's easily the smallest, maybe around Leo's height but even skinnier. His skin is concerningly pale, almost literally white. He's all black—black hair, black clothes, black eyes, black bags under his eyes. And he looks at Percy with a very intense expression that sends a shiver up his spine.
Percy is absolutely, positively certain that he knows this kid. There is definitely something big in their past, but he has no idea whether that is something good or bad. Or maybe he doesn't know him, but knows of the kid? With the way Nico is looking at him, Percy wonders if it would be best, if he did ever remember the kid, to pretend he was still an amnesiac.
"Nice to meet you," Percy speaks cautiously, rising out of the water as the rock slopes upwards.
Their gazes all drop to his chest, expressions of laughter falling as they take in the sight.
"Dude," Leo whistles. "You've been fucked up, holy shit."
He glances down, noticing this is not the second time that day someone has commented on his scars. Percy thought that was a demigod thing, but he realizes the other boys do not look this bad. They have their fair share of nicks, but nothing like him. He has similar nicks, albeit many more, but there are also large, jagged lines like blades had been stabbed and dragged through him. There are even smaller burn marks, like flaming fingers had been extinguished in his skin.
"Nothing recent, though," Frank notes, which is true. All his scars are faded and white and pale pink, clearly years old.
Percy's mouth twitches. "I've run into dozens of monsters, but none of them seem to be able to break the skin. Dunno why."
Leo's eyes light up like Percy'd announced he can fly. "That is so cool! Are you invincible? Is that like a Poseidon thing?"
"That better not be, I don't get to be invincible!" Jason protests.
Percy shakes his head. "No. I mean, I don't think so? 'God of the seas, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses,'" he recites from Lupa's teachings. "There's nothing in there about being invincible is there?"
Nico sits down on the rocks, stretching out his legs. "You probably bathed in the River Styx," he informs coolly, twisting an iron skull ring on his finger.
"There's a River of Sticks?" Leo demands.
The son of Hades rolls his eyes. "No, obviously. River Styx, the goddess. It's in the Underworld. That's how Achilles became invincible. It's incredibly dangerous though, no one has figure out how to survive it."
The others turn to look at Percy with impressed glances.
"I'd tell you if I knew," he sighs, rubbing his forehead. "But, like everything now, I don't remember." After a moment, he admits, "I wish I knew who I was."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Jason says sympathetically.
Percy looks up at that. There's something there, in Jason's voice, that flags him. This guy is speaking pretty familiarly. Again, he's got this nudge in his mind that they know more than they're letting on. He's getting pretty confident that they at least know of him. There's no way they just happened to guess his name. Maybe he wasn't, like, best friends with anyone, but someone in this place has to have an idea of who he is. Someone must have heard of him at some point. Unless no one knew him, and no one cared what happened to him. But Percy hopes that's not true. He has this urge to commit to someone, and thinks there must be a person out there who he was fiercely loyal to in his past. The fact that there's got to be something going unsaid rubs him poorly. Why were they withholding information? And especially something as big as who he is, knowing he's an amnesiac? That's a big deal and really not cool. It makes him resentful, and angry, although he tries not to show the blossoming aggression and opts to gain an opportunity to gauge their reactions. Most communication, he's learning, is from what isn't spoken. "So none of you recognize me, not at all?"
Frank seems uncomfortable as he slips into the water near them. "Leo, Jason, and I definitely wouldn't have crossed paths with you, I don't think. Those two arrived here a little less than two years ago, so you'd probably been missing for a few months at that point. And I joined everyone during the War."
He nods but he's disappointed. Obviously, there is something with Grover, who seems terrible at keeping secrets. And maybe Nico, although he doesn't know for sure. Had he only been at the camp briefly before he'd disappeared? Maybe Percy had not been there long, or maybe he'd just made no friends. Or if he did have some friends, they might have all died during the war, and then there'd be no one to remember him at all.
Maybe there's no one left alive who knows who he is after all.
Chapter 5
Summary:
A new face at the base might have some insights into who he is. Also, Percy finds a super cool estuary.
Chapter Text
He leaves the rest of them shortly after that, Grover calling after him to be in the dining pavilion in a couple of hours for dinner. He does the math as he walks down the halls, figuring he must have been unconscious for at least a full day. When he walks towards the entrance hall, the two people on inner patrol raise their eyebrows at him. Both are wearing leather armor, one holding a sword and the other a spear.
"Hey, where are you going? Aren't you new?" One of them, a teenage girl, asks, stepping to intercept him.
Percy shrugs easily, letting his shoulders and spine loosen in a posture of relaxation. "Look I was told to get familiar with the inner rings so I can start patrol soon."
The boy looks satisfied by this, but his partner is still hesitant. She adjusts her stance and presses, "Shouldn't you have a companion, though? You could get lost."
He raises his hands in a display of innocence. "I mean, I was told only the few inner rings, so that should be fine, right? I'd go get Annabeth to repeat her instructions to you, but I don't want her to kill me for using her like a walkie talky."
The girl nods then, very much in agreement about not wanting to bother Annabeth. "Alright, but my shift ends in two hours, so I'd suggest you come back before then." She steps aside, letting him pass. He can't believe this—they seriously need better guards if he's able to trick them so easily. He mentally flags this.
Percy nods at her casually, throwing a curious expression on his face, which isn't even a ruse if he's being honest. He turns out of the hall and heads down one of the side halls he'd drawn water from. The corridor is dark, the only light coming from the entrance hall around the corner. He draws his sword, the light from Riptide glowing just enough to guide his way. As he walks, the stone floor shifts, looking older and older, even the style of the walls' construction seemed different. The dismantled booby traps that Will had mentioned become pretty apparent very quickly. Ever dozen feet or so, it feels like another death trap. He can see where gears in the wall to launch knives have been jammed, where a trip wire has been cut, and a piece of wood laid across what looks to be a long, deadly drop below.
He feels a shift in the air and comes to a stop. The scent changes from old and musty, and there's still that, but it's also crisp and fresh and salty. He focuses, and there's that tug in his gut telling him there's water nearby. It feels like the lakes, but there's also something else. Something older and ancient that he feels not just connected to, but it's in his blood. Abandoning his mental tracking of directions, Percy just follows that sense. Maybe it's stupid and dangerous to just wander on a gut feeling in the Labyrinth, but Lupa said to follow his instincts and that's what he's doing. It takes him through a strange, complex combination or turns and he's got to be at least fifteen minutes away from their base and definitely not in the inner ring anymore. He finally reaches this dip in the wall where the feeling is strong, some light streaming in from the corner. He runs his hand over it, the brick fading into sandstone, and discovers a gap in the rock. Taking a step into the dip, he discovers the light is coming from a gap in the rock, big enough for a person. Like a mini tunnel, Percy sticks his foot on the wall below and pushes up, pulling his body into the space. It's actually a pretty decent size, and even though he's not a small guy anymore, he can fit through with a problem.
He hops out, landing on his feet after a five-foot drop. He's standing on grass, but it crumbles into a sandy shore not too far away. The cavern opening is at the top of a sand dune, he notices, but he can't see anything else of the Labyrinth from outside other than the Delta mark by the sandstone entrance.
The sandy shore lines a thick, rich blue river which merges downstream with a lighter, frothier water. There's a thicket of trees on the opposite side, and following the river to the left he can see a vast expanse of water in the distance. He reaches his senses out, probing, and figures out exactly what that strange sensation had been. The river water in front of him is fresh and clear, but down below it's different. More ancient, richer, that sensation he knows so well because it's inside him. Saltwater. The ocean.
He's at an estuary, and the mix of waters is thrilling. He had no idea it would be so rejuvenating but it totally is. It's making his limbs feel energized like the way it happens when he steps into actual water, but he's like, twenty feet away.
This is the perfect place to train, and he's pleased and surprised that it exists so close to their base. He has no idea if this is even San Francisco anymore, or if this is within the range of land that stays constant when the place moves, but he hopes it is.
Percy figures he's got an hour and a half before he needs to be back so he makes use of it. He goes throw sword movements, faintly wondering if he should try to summon monsters to practice against at some point. He practices summoning water form the air to follow his sword movements, and then for the water to harden into mini blades that follow his movements. He picks up speed, getting faster and faster as Lupa had instructed him, until he's going pretty quickly. He's not putting in everything, there's no reason to go all out and drain himself during solitary training. Not that he wants to train against anyone, which is the whole reason he's out here in the first place. Percy's still getting a read on these people after all, and he does not want them to know what he can do just yet. Grover, Nico, and that angry girl from earlier probably at least know of him even if they'd never spoken, which means these people are hiding that from him. They're probably withholding a lot more information. He doesn't remember his past, but Percy's going to keep his secrets all the same.
He doesn't have many advantages here, as far as he can tell, but he'll try to make use of them. In their favor, it seems like a couple know of him, which means they know information about himself that he doesn't. They've got the numbers, and they also fought in the war, which means they have a much better idea of what the current line-up is than he does. And while they do have numbers on their side, he isn't sure how strong they are. They've got multiple of the Big Three, which isn't good. They might be much, much stronger than he is. He doesn't know, he's never seen another demigod fight before and has no idea where he stands in comparison.
Which means his advantages come from keeping his abilities quiet. They saw him controlling the water when he came, and he had his sword out, so they know he's a decent fighter and can control large amounts of water. He'll keep the rest of his skills secret. Even if someone knows of him, he's pretty certain that most of what Lupa taught him was new material, so that could be an edge as well.
Another point in his favor is that they're clearly underestimating his intelligence. From the way they're speaking to him, it's like they don't realize the information they're dropping at his feet. He's picking up their clues but they don't even realize it. Percy has no idea why they think he's dumb but for some reason, these people are either not careful with their words or just don't think he's smart enough to put the pieces together.
He curses, realizing with the sun setting in the distance that he needs to hurry back. He's broken a light sweat but hopefully no one questions it much. Then he slaps his forehead, remembering he's the son of Poseidon. After quickly cleaning off and drying himself from the freshwater river, he climbs back through the Labyrinth entrance and hurries back down the halls.
He's not entirely certain of the path back, but he latches onto the water in their bathing lake and follows it back. Once he recognizes the dismantles booby traps, he's confident that he's going in the right direction. The same two guards are at the entrance hall when he comes back, which is a big relief. He nods at them as he slips back inside, and not even a full minute later he sees two new demigods swap out with the pair.
The demigods are heading to the kitchens, which is a relief because Percy realizes he has no idea where this dining area is. He falls into step with them as the group hordes toward the kitchens. They go down the hall, but instead of actually going into the kitchen, they go out that door leading to the plain of crops he'd been shown earlier. Instead of walking to the plants, they turn around the kitchen and come upon a big stone platform with a tall wooden ceiling, lights strung across in rows. There are a dozen tables or so, again with the mismatched furniture, and an assortment of chairs stuck around them. It's on the edge of a cliff, the rock bed plunging sharply to the river a hundred feet below. The demigods pile into their tables routinely, and he falters, unsure of where to go. He doesn't want to be that idiot who sits alone or the idiot who sits where he's unwelcome.
A hand claps on his shoulder and Percy twitches, hand flexing near his pocket. Thankfully, it's just Jason, the boy looking amused by his reaction. Standing next to him, Percy's able to size the other boy up. He's around his height and age, maybe an inch taller but a year or so younger. Up close, he sees the guy has a small scar on his lip, a tiny imperfection that somehow makes him look even more stereotypically like a hero.
"Hey," he greets with a small smile. "Come eat," he gestures, leading the way towards the front of the pavilion. Percy follows in silence as the demigod walks towards the biggest table at the front, which fits probably a dozen people if they squash in tight. It's pretty much the same people from that War Council there. The indigenous girl with choppy hair and swirling eyes smiles up at Jason, who sits beside her, too close to just be friends. "Miss me, Pipes?" He grins as he settles by her.
The girl rolls her eyes. "I literally saw you an hour ago."
"That's a yes," Leo snorts from her other side, making a look at Percy like eugh can you believe these two? He wants to laugh or smile, but the knowledge that these people are deliberately withholding life-altering knowledge from an amnesiac sends his stomach rolling.
You can't trust them, he reminds himself. As much as he wants to, he knows he must stay on guard. If they're comfortable withholding such significant information from him, there's probably a lot more that they're concealing. His best bet now is to keep an eye out for any clues, and to seem unthreatening in the meantime.
He sits down next to Jason, looking around for the others. He spots the son of Hades, Nico, at a table nearby with a bunch of blondes. He's in conversation with the healer, Will, but a scowl crosses his face as he makes eye contact with Percy.
Their staring contest is cut off by the arrival of Grover, Annabeth, and the angry girl. The trio walks into the pavilion, their voices low as they talk. Grover and Thalia are leaning in to hear Annabeth as she speaks, her face serious and grey eyes blaring. Even just the way she walks is intimidating. Her shoulders are thrown back and wide, her posture exuding strength and confidence. She walks with authority, making it clear who's in charge.
When she catches sight of Percy at her table, her lips thin slightly, but that's the only indicator of emotion she gives, other than holding up her hand to cut Grover off mid-sentence. While Annabeth doesn't show displeasure at his being there, the girl next to her certainly does. Her electric blue eyes narrow immediately and her lips press into a scowl. Her back even goes almost comically rigid.
Her reaction only furthers Percy's theory. No one has had such a strong reaction to him. This girl most certainly is super mad at him, and the only reason why that he can think of is because they'd known each other. Maybe, in his previous life, he'd broken her heart. Maybe he'd done something terrible to her.
Is he the bad guy? It is a disappointing theory but not very outlandish, and one he's forced to consider. Maybe Hera had swapped him as a punishment. What if he'd betrayed this girl in his previous life, and the others knew about it, and that's what they were keeping from him?
"Any progress with Octavian?" Jason asks, the scar on his lip bunching as he frowns at Annabeth.
She shakes her head as the group of three settles at the table. Behind her, one of the tables at the back of the pavilion gets up together, heading into the kitchen. "You know there hasn't been," she sighs. "He still won't budge."
"Fucking coward," Leo hisses under his breath. "Sorry Hazel," he adds guiltily to the girl walking up to them. She's with Frank, the big guy with the baby face. She looks flustered by his language, fanning her face.
"I still don't understand what his deal is," Frank agrees as he pulls out a chair for Hazel. "If he let us team up with the—uh, the others, uh, we'd have a much better chance." He corrects when Annabeth shoots him a look. Frank coughs awkwardly.
The table in the back returns with their food, and the next group takes their signal to head into the kitchen. Percy watches with curiosity. They've been underground for a year and it shows. The demigods move so fluidly, adopting to this system like it's second nature. Which it is for them, now. There's just so many specifics that he wonders how anyone had the brain to figure out such tiny details. From dismantling booby traps to dinner rotations to patrol shifts and mattress distribution…it's just so well thought out.
"I've added you to our schedules," Annabeth tells him, watching the way he looks around. "We've got the assignments up on a board, so make sure you take a look."
"You've got outer patrol with Thalia on Thursdays," Leo grins mischievously. The angry girl gives him a glare so fierce that the air feels charged.
"Don't provoke her," Jason chides, and Leo miraculously listens. Percy tilts his head, studying the dynamic. Annabeth is surely the leader, but he's a little confused about the hierarchy. The angry girl, Thalia, and Grover seem to be pretty close with her. He isn't sure though because Jason seems respectable. Son of Jupiter, King of the Gods, and all-around nice guy. There's no doubt that Annabeth is in charge, but maybe Jason's second?
"So Percy, did Lupa tell you any embarrassing stories about Jason?" The choppy-hair girl beams at him.
He shakes his head. "No. We didn't talk much. And when we did, only about war." The mood at the table immediately darkens. He curses his stupidity again—why does he keep saying the wrong thing? How did he magically lose all social skills in two years of solitude? Unless he just never had them to begin with.
"Well," Jason leans back, visibly relieved that Percy doesn't have dirt on hm. "I'd love to spar against another demigod that was trained by Lupa. And I've never fought a son of Poseidon before. Nico, Hazel, and Thalia make for great opponents but I'm curious what you can do."
He wants to say no, but there's no way Percy can decline without looking really suspicious. "Sure. After dinner?"
Jason hits him on the shoulder enthusiastically, but Hazel crosses her arms and gives him a scalding look. Those golden eyes are intimidating. "Um, excuse me?" She snaps, raising her eyebrows in a way that makes her eyes bigger and more intense. "Don't act like I haven't beat you multiple times, my lord."
There's a number of snickers around the table, and Jason looks effectively embarrassed. "Okay fine," he relents. "You can join too."
"What about your big sister?" Thalia trails, exchanging an amused look with Hazel. "You know my lightning is better than yours."
Jason rolls his eyes, throwing his hands up. "Okay! You as well."
"May as well throw in Nico and make it a Big Three tournament," Piper suggests.
Leo jumps to his feet excitedly. "I'll go fill him in!" And before anyone can stop him, he goes off towards Nico's table.
Jason groans, dropping his head in his hands, but Percy's actually pretty excited about this now. He hasn't trained with another demigod and especially not another Big Three one. At least, that he knows of. But mainly, he likes this because it gives him a fantastic chance to examine the others and figure out what they can do. Where he stands in comparison.
"It's our turn," Grover says, eyes trained on the tables as the one next to them comes back with their loaded plates. The satyr hops to his feet and all but runs to the kitchen. The others aren't far behind, and Percy, whose stomach grumbles embarrassingly loud, follows eagerly. Over the last few weeks, he'd been stealing snacks and whatever he could find from stores, even forcing himself to eat partially thawed frozen food when he couldn't find a microwave. With Lupa, his diet had been plants nearby and animals he'd hunted and cooked. It hadn't been good, there wasn't much spice in the mountains, but it had worked. This will be his first actual cooked meal in as long as he knew.
As they approach the kitchen, the door to the pavilion bursts open. Percy only has a moment to take in her appearance. She's average height, her flaming red curls falling messily over her face and green eyes, which are wide with terror. She flies through the door right into Percy, who's walking into the kitchen. The commotion grabs everyone's attention and they watch in horror as the girl loses her balance and stumbles on the cliff, pitching to the side.
He acts on instinct without thinking about the consequences. Water materializes from thin air, forming into a large hand that wraps around the girl's flailing figure. He tilts his fist, guiding the water to set her back upright before releasing his grip and sending the water back into the atmosphere.
The girl's gaze is blazing as they make eye contact and Percy can tell she's seeing so, so much more than what's right in front of her. "Oh my gods," she whispers, completely frozen. "I can't believe…you're alive--!
She's violently cut off by a hand seizing her bicep. Annabeth throws him a look that tells Percy she absolutely saw what he did before dragging the new girl through the door and out of sight.
He stares after them, his mind reeling from what had just happened.
That girl knows who he is. And more importantly…
She'd thought he was dead.
A N. Those are the first five ch of this fan fiction and the it is on ao3 and I will always give the name as it was found nd the name of the person who wrote it check summery
