Luke and Grover had chosen a good boat to take, even if it was a tad small for four people. Percy knew the type: a one-room motorized sailboat (he approved of the redundancies as long as the motor was used sparingly to keep pollution down) and while he hadn't seen the cabin, he'd bet on two beds—four bunk beds if they were lucky, but since he woke up outside, probably not. If they didn't have bunk beds, he'd bet on storage above the sleeping spaces and a small (very small) toilet/shower room. They probably shouldn't use it to shower until the fresh-water tank could be cleaned, though. They didn't know how long the boat had stood empty, and in this climate, any water stored would likely have growth in it, unless the previous owners (he tried not to think of what had likely happened to them) had used a very strong anti-contaminant. Unlikely. There would probably also be a small kitchen or food prep area if they'd been sailing this far out.
Most of that could fit into a fairly small room, so even up top there wasn't a lot of space, but when at either one of the far ends of the deck, anyone would be out of view. After a few moments it almost felt lonely, sitting there on the side with an unconscious Grover.
So, not long after everyone had separated, Percy fished out his prism necklace and flicked it on. Annabeth had mentioned they'd tried to call the other quest earlier, but hadn't been able to get through. He had to check for himself now.
"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show me Bianca Di Angelo." He tossed two coins into the rainbow created by the prism light, noting he only had two left. How many had he shoved into the rainbow before? Four? He should probably be a little more careful. It had never been a problem as a god.
Captain Reckless strikes again.
Shoving that thought away, he focused on the rainbow with baited breath. He practically melted in relief as a tired Bianca came into view, looking out of a window sadly as scenery passed by outside. She'd survived.
"Um… hi?" he asked, hoping he wasn't bringing too much attention to himself on what might be a crowded train or something. At least it was a small IM window. She whipped around with a squeak.
"Jackson!" Clarisse hissed from out of his view, though it didn't sound angry. He wouldn't have been able to tell when he was twelve the first time, but now he knew enough about her to realize she felt… nervous? Maybe guilty? He blinked. Clarisse? At this age? It didn't seem like her. Or had he just not had the ability to tell? Or the awareness? Maybe he'd been too selfish and self-involved. He wouldn't be surprised.
"Percy!" Bianca sniffed and he noticed dried tear tracks on her cheeks. "Percy, I'm so sorry!"
That took him back. "What? Why?" She was alive. So was Clarisse. Wait… then where was—
"It's Grover!" she wailed, albeit softly. "He got eaten!"
"We don't know that," Clarisse growled. "We just couldn't find him."
"I'm so sorry, Percy! It's my fault!" Bianca went on as if Clarisse hadn't spoken. "It's all my fault! I was the one who wanted to get some food!"
"We were all thinking it, Princess!" Clarisse sounded so done. It almost made Percy smile. Almost. "We needed to eat!"
"But—" Bianca started, however Percy cut her off, loudly.
"Hey! You two! Look!" he pointed the prism image down to show a sleeping Grover on the boat deck (they hadn't wanted to move him for a while, in case of injury). After a couple of moments, he returned the prism pointer to where he could see her face again.
"But—but that's…" she said.
"How the Hades…?" Clarisse started.
"He was here the whole time," Percy said tiredly. "We found him tied up in a sack. And we've already proven that he is the real Grover."
Bianca's (and Clarisse's, she'd squeezed in frame next to her questmate) face paled significantly. She looked nearly bone-white, making her brown-red eyes stand out starkly.
"I… then who…?"
"I don't know," Percy sighed.
"My prophecy," Bianca started slowly, "said something about a 'child of the shifter'."
Well. Styx. The time-traveler frowned. "All gods can change their shape and form to an extent," he said, just as slowly. And mortal children of gods weren't even always human. "It could even be a monster, though there aren't many that can truly change their shape so…" he paused. "Wait. If that…" he thought I… I need to call camp. Just—"
"Guys?" a new voice asked.
The two girls on the other side looked up. Percy blinked. "Who's that?"
"Oh," Bianca said. "We, um, met someone who can see everything."
"Everything? Wait, you mean see through… the Mist?" Percy asked, uneasy and trying to keep up with everything that had happened.
"Yeah," Clarisse grumbled, slumping back in her seat.
"She offered to help us out," Bianca said. "That's why we're on an actual passenger train this time." Before Percy could say anything else, she flipped the prism on her end around and Percy came face-to-face with a very familiar person.
Rachel Elizabeth Dare.
"Oh! Is that how you connect with your… um… camp?" the freckled, red-head asked nervously. She looked so young, not nearly the confident woman he remembered.
"Di immortales," Percy muttered. He really was going to give the Fates a piece of his mind.
"Yeah! This is Percy!" Bianca's voice said.
Rachel eyed him suspiciously.
"Um, hi," he said with a wave. "Nice to meet you… um…?"
"Rachel," she said. "Rachel Dare."
Huh. He wondered when she'd started using her middle name in introductions. "Percy Jackson."
She raised an eyebrow, either amused or unimpressed (he couldn't tell which through the small window). "I know. Bianca has had a lot to say about you, mainly about how she'd failed you by letting your best friend die."
"Well, it turns out he's alive," Percy said placatingly, imagining Bianca wincing at her bluntness. "So we're all good."
"Oh? Good!" Rachel said with a smile, taking a bite out a jerky rope in her hand. She must not have gotten on her vegetarian streak yet. He gave it one year, max. She was already dressed up in her eccentric style of clothing she'd dyed herself.
"Yup," Percy said, sighing. He didn't really want to talk about who the traitor to camp could be in front of Rachel; she wasn't even part of their world. With any luck she never would be, hopefully, maybe…
Yeah, he could dream. It wasn't that he didn't want her around, she'd been a fabulous oracle, and more, a friend. But she'd sacrificed so much for it. And while he trusted few people more, if he could spare her some of that pain, he would.
He had a sinking feeling there wasn't much he could do to stop her from eventually becoming the oracle.
"Anyway, I have to call camp, okay? But I'm almost out of drachma, so I'll have to wait for you to call me back next time, capeesh?"
Bianca, who had turned the prism back around, nodded firmly. "Right."
"Really fast," he said before he 'hung up', "how is your quest going? Any progress?"
She slumped a little. "We're farther west, in Colorado." She very conspicuously didn't add anything else.
Percy winced, knowing what happened in his timeline in Denver. Though they shouldn't run into Ares there… he hoped not, in any case.
"Right. Just… be careful. Okay?"
Bianca nodded. "We will be. I promise."
He sighed. "Good. I'll see you guys later."
"Focus on yourself, Prissy!" Clarisse called out. "We don't need your help!"
Percy just rolled his eyes and dragged his hand through the window with one final goodbye. Then he immediately took out his final two drachma.
"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please show me Chiron in Camp Half-Blood!" He didn't want to have to use two drachma, but the connection wasn't good. Stupid Sea of Monsters. They hadn't had that much of a problem contacting Chiron when he was with the Party Ponies the first time. Finally, though, he could hear Chiron's concerned voice loud and clear.
"—Ercy! Thank the gods! I'm so glad you're alright!"
He sighed. "Yeah. We're alright. I just got done talking to Bianca, too. Her team's doing okay too."
The Centaur frowned. "Percy, don't forget that you need to focus on your own quest."
The time-traveler nodded. "Right. Yeah, I am. It's just… we have a problem."
Chiron's mouth tightened. "Tell me."
So Percy did, touching on how he, Annabeth and Luke had gotten into the Sea of Monsters, and how they'd found Grover tied up in their hold. Chiron just stared blankly. So Percy went on to say what had happened when he'd contacted Bianca during her fight, and then her just barely surviving. He didn't really have enough time to talk about Circe, so he didn't bother. They could discuss that when they got back.
"Di immortales," the activities director muttered, his eyes distant and haunted. "And now you have four on a quest…" He would focus on that.
"'The Shifter'," Percy said softly, working on what they could do something about without abandoning one of their own. "It's Aphrodite, isn't it."
Chiron sighed. "Likely. The only other god I could think of to give those blessed by him or his children any sort of true shifting power is your own father, Percy." Right. Frank. But he'd only ever been able to take on animal shapes, not human.
"I don't think it's him," he muttered. "Has anyone gone missing from the Aphrodite cabin recently?"
The look Chiron gave him, one of pained worry, didn't fill him with confidence.
"Percy," he said, quietly, "brace yourself. More than half of the Aphrodite cabin has gone missing."
That took him back. "Wait, what?!" He'd personally saved or had a hand in saving at least a half-dozen of that cabin this time around. That only barely narrowed it down.
Chiron nodded grimly. "Silena is currently the head counselor, despite her age, because all of the older ones have disappeared, and many of the younger, too."
Percy held his breath.
"That's not all," the Centaur continued. "They weren't the only ones who have disappeared. Several people from the other cabins have gone as well. A couple of Athena cabin members, three Hermes members, two Ares members, three Demeter members—"
""Katie and Miranda?" he asked, feeling like each number spoken had punched him in the gut. His demigod domain twisted worse with each one.
"No, they're still here," Chiron said quietly. "One younger Hephaestus member, and three Apollo members."
Percy's mouth had gone dry. "Erin? Michael? Lee?" he asked, unable to make his voice more than a whisper.
"No, they're still here. Though Johan, Becca, and Jim were the ones from the Hermes cabin, if you wanted to know." He both did and didn't. He didn't know Becca or Jim very well, but Johan…
"Di immortales," Percy whispered.
Chiron nodded, face pinched in a way that made him look infinitely older.
"This… is really bad," the time-traveler said, kind of hating himself for just stating the obvious. Chiron just nodded again.
"Did we have any shifters in camp?" Percy finally asked.
The centaur shook his head. "Many of the children of the gods have features that change with the seasons or domains, like Lady Demeter's cabin. But even in the Aphrodite cabin, all I knew of who could change their appearance had significant difficulty doing so, and could only manage minor changes to their appearances. A couple of them did disappear.
Percy put a hand to the bridge of his nose. "Of course." Then he took another several deep breaths. "I hate this," he finally said.
Chiron nodded. "I do too. But the thing is, Percy, I reiterate that you have to focus on your own quest. Leave what's going on at camp here."
The demigod winced. "But I—"
"Need to get that fleece. Save Thalia, and then we can fill you in when you get back," the centaur insisted.
Percy wasn't happy about it. He wanted to go back to his camp and help figure out what had happened, but the line from his prophecy stopped him. Indecision shall be thy bane, rely on others once again.
"Fine," he said.
"We'll do everything we can here, okay?" Chiron said, not unkindly.
Percy withheld a sigh. "Yeah."
"Take care of yourself, and Luke, Annabeth, and Grover until then." If this quest hadn't been given to Percy, he would have taken issue with Chiron giving that kind of responsibility to a child, but it was his quest… and he wasn't exactly an actual child, but he still thought the point stood. Which was probably something he should take up with the centaur later. But not now.
"I will," he said instead, meaning it.
Chiron, once again reminding Percy why they were on such good terms, smiled again. "I know you will, Percy. Now, I'll let you go so you can focus on your quest."
Percy nodded. "I'll tell the others about this."
A frown from the older being. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I'm not keeping secrets from them. Not about the quest."
"Hmm," Chiron said, eyes studying Percy closely. "It is, as ever, your quest, and thus your choice."
Percy nodded.
"Goodbye, Percy," the centaur said with a yawn. Only then did Percy realize it must be early there. Very early. Had he woken the centaur up? His eyes flicked to the Chiron's tail and managed to catch a glimpse of pink curlers.
Oh.
Oops.
"Um… goodnight, sir," he muttered, hoping he wasn't blushing as badly as he thought he was. Stupid 12-year-old body! "Sorry to wake you up."
Chiron chuckled. "You needed to speak to me. That's fine."
"Still," Percy muttered.
"Goodnight, Percy," Chiron said, still smiling as he swiped his hand through Percy's little image.
Percy just nodded and sighed as he slumped back against the side of the boat.
Your consequences, overdue, he heard the Fates say in his mind. He sighed.
"Did you mean that?" Percy jumped and looked over at Luke, who was just coming into sight around the back of the boat. He was obviously still favoring his left side, so not entirely healed, but he likely would be when he could take ambrosia or nectar again. Actually, Percy was glad to see him alive, and so soon after everything that had happened. Earlier, he'd been too caught up with accidentally having knocked out Grover and his disturbing talk with the king of the Titans, but now that he had a little time to regroup, he realized how good it felt to have everyone on the quest still alive.
Luke kept staring at him. Right, he'd asked a question.
"Um… mean what?"
The blond stepped tenderly into view from behind the single doorway leading down into the very small lower deck on the boat. "That you wouldn't lie to us."
Percy blinked. "I said I wouldn't keep secrets about the quest. Everyone's entitled to their privacy and secrets, Luke. Even me. But regarding this quest? No. You're here, so you deserve to know."
The son of Hermes studied him for several seconds, lips pursed tightly. "Then what's going on at the camp?"
The time-traveler sighed. "Better get Annabeth over here."
Luke's eyes narrowed, but he did call out to their companion. Once the two of them had gathered, Percy explained everything going on and then sat, waiting for their verdicts.
"Do you know what's going on?" Annabeth asked quietly.
Percy thought about that. "I have some suspicions, but can't say much outside a barrier."
"It's him, isn't it," Luke said, voice so quiet it was hard to hear him over the splashing of the boat in the water.
The other two demigods stared at him, and Percy nodded slowly. "I think so, yes."
"So, the campers that left…?" Annabeth's voice was small as she curled in on herself.
"Probably," Percy said.
Luke cursed.
"Look," the time-traveler said, "I think Chiron's right. We need to focus on our own quest—on Thalia."
"Says the guy who keeps calling Bianca," Annabeth muttered. Percy looked at her with an eyebrow raised. She looked away with a blush on her cheeks. Was that… jealousy? Part of him asked excitedly. Part of him wondered if that was healthy. Part of him said not your Annabeth and twelve!
He listened to that one, ignoring everything else entirely.
"I don't want to be the one to deliver the news to Nico that I didn't do anything to help his sister and she died," he muttered. "Once was bad enough."
Annabeth blinked, and paled. "Wait… you mean she…?" Percy nodded, not meeting her eyes. "Di immortales."
"Exactly," Percy sighed. Again. And then realized he'd said that in the open, where anyone could hear. Didn't mean they would, but they could, and that was bad enough. He'd even just commented about how they didn't have a barrier up. Di Immortales, he was tired. Nothing he couldn't handle, but he slipped up more when he was tired.
He was also very much done with this line of conversation. Topic change it was!
"Okay. Does anyone need to sleep?" he asked. The other two shook their heads, but he could tell Annabeth was lying.
"Annabeth, I can tell you're tired. Please head down and rest. We should probably take Grover too, but we all need to be well rested for this."
She set her jaw, stubbornly ready to argue, but he held up a hand. "Please try."
She glanced at Luke, who must have agreed, because she huffed. "Fine," she grunted, turning and stomping downstairs.
"Let me help you with Grover," Luke said. Percy nodded. Between the two of them, they got him down and into one of the two beds there. Annabeth was already lying on the other one, back turned to them. Percy looked at her for a second, then glanced back at Luke, who was watching him carefully. Percy just shook his head and headed back up onto the deck.
Thankfully, neither one of them said anything as they split and went to look out on either side of the boat.
xXx
They sailed on for the rest of the morning. Despite not knowing which way to really go except 'east', Percy noted that they passed all the islands he and Annabeth had the first time around. It was the volcano that gave it away, the one they'd sailed far around the first time. (They would definitely do the same here.) Was this a fate thing? A magic thing? Or his absolutely insane luck at play? Some combination? Ugh.
He was especially frustrated when Annabeth came up later looking no better than when she'd gone down, informing them that Grover had woken up, but seemed to still be tired, so she'd told him to rest. Then she traded places with Luke and determinedly didn't look at Percy. He should have asked Luke to rest first. Now Annabeth would be on deck for the island of the Sirens. And he wasn't entirely sure he should avoid too. He could sense a little of what Grover said now, about powerful natural energy, and they were heading towards it. He didn't want to go out of the way if they didn't have to.
Except this time, there was also a storm building in the sky, and they were sailing directly into it. One that he was positive had nothing to do with him. The clouds started gathering a little after noon, and just sort of grew as the day went on. This hadn't happened last time, but then again, they were here a year early…
"Is this you?" Luke asked shortly.
Percy took a deep breath and shook his head, glancing down at the choppy sea below them. "No. I can only do short, local storms right now."
"Your father then?"
Again, Percy shook his head. If anyone was behind it, he'd bet on Kymopolia. But natural, non-godly storms did happen, more than most sea and storm gods would like to admit. "Not unless the king of the gods did something really stupid."
They both thought on that, then exchanged glances and shivered. That wasn't out of the question.
"What should we do?" Luke asked.
Percy sighed. "Can you stay up a little longer?"
Luke frowned. "Yes. I'm fine."
The time-traveler nodded. "Good. Then I'm going to take another nap. When it gets too rough, wake me up and I'll try and use my bubble trick to protect us. Unless we come across the island of the sirens. Then wake me up anyway."
The older demigod stared at him for a moment before putting a hand to the bridge of his nose. "'Bubble trick', he calls it. 'Bubble trick'."
"What?" Percy asked.
Luke sighed. "Nothing. Just, take a nap."
Percy nodded and trudged over to the door leading below deck. He laid down in the bed across from a still sleeping Grover. He tried not to think about how this had been the bed Annabeth had laid on, if only because Luke had too. He told the inner voice whispering that point to him to shut up. The less he gave into that line of thought, the less he would think it to begin with. He could hope.
He also didn't say it, but he was a little concerned about using that 'bubble trick' for longer than a couple of minutes. His gut still ached. It felt more like an afterthought now, but he'd seen demigods push themselves after just barely healing from serious wounds and re-injuring themselves. He'd always advocated for their rest, and yet here he was about to do more or less the same, even if metaphysically.. He was such a hypocrite. But… the quest would need him. And… why did it feel like he had so much more than just his life on the line? Why did his potential divinity feel more dire than that?
Or was he just being selfish again? A selfish hypocrite. Maybe he fit in with the gods better than he thought.
The idea made his stomach turn, but try as he might, he couldn't seem to find a way to refute it.
Eventually, though, he managed to drift off to a restless sleep.
xXx
AN: Some people may have issues with Percy crushing on Annabeth. I have a few things to say to that.
1. He's twelve. He has a twelve-year-old brain and body, despite his years of memories. He's going through puberty again. Give the guy a break! Experience ca only do so much, and that's something I maintain through all of my time-travel fics. I don't think people coming back in time, being in a 8-16 year old body and acting like an adult is believable. Sorrynotsorry. You may disagree. That's your prerogative. This is mine.
2. He's been thinking of his wife, whom he'd known since she was 12 the first time around and who he was married to for 60 years for a very long time. That sort of longing doesn't just go away, not when he's built her life around her memory. It's a mental thing just as much as it's a physical thing. He's going to try, but I figure that his not thinking about her or anything to do with her would undermine their previous relationship and be unrealistic to the characters. That's how I always feel when I see a fic where Percy comes back when Annabeth doesn't and he's suddenly over her, able to separate them in his mind and oh! Now he's interested in someone else! No. Just, no.
3. Percy is a literal product of a several THOUSAND year old god and a 19-21 year old woman. I mean, without age-gap relationships this fandom literally wouldn't exist. Yes, Sally was old enough to consent, but I just think that strengthens Percy's position of wanting something back but not acting on what could come the closest out of respect.
4. I really want to set him apart from the other gods, even in the future. Many of the other gods would long for something and take it, or at least find any way they can to get what they want. Percy is actively choosing not to act on his feelings and to try and respect the other party, in this case Annabeth. A lot of people have what others may consider inappropriate feelings/emotions towards someone or something else, but they don't act on it, and I think that should be encouraged, especially in cases like this where a child (arguably two) is involved.
That being said, I AM taking into consideration both those who want Percabeth and those who are squicked by it. I think I have a solution everyone will like (or most people in any case) but I do think this is something that needs to be explored and addressed, so it will continue to be so.
Also, sorry this is up a little late. It's been a long week, but a good one. Was able to take hubby out to eat for the first two times in over 8 months. Got to see family and just talk. It was lovely, but VERY tiring for more or less everyone involved. Still, PROGRESS! And if we're lucky, he'll be home in October! Could use thoughts and prayers, please and thank you!
Don't forget, I read all comments. Thank you! A special thanks to my beta readers, discord helpers, and tier 3 and 4 readers: Berix, The Shadow Slayer, Asterius Daemon, Quathis, Harlequin, Speedster, Snow, Starlightluv, Squirps, and The Chronomancer! Also, all of my discord peeps and my readers here! Thank you! (If I've missed anyone, PLEASE let me know!
Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)