Chapter 1 - A Celestial Summons

"Huh?"

Percy had gone to the library after class to do a bit of reading and that's when all the craziness started. With his ADHD and dyslexia, he usually wouldn't be caught dead in a library. He hated reading and the only books he could force himself to read were about Greek mythology to learn more about the monsters that would eventually attack him, or the gods he might run into.

At least until Clarisse introduced him to manga, she sent them as a joke for his birthday with a note saying, "Maybe books with pictures will keep your attention."

Well, the joke was on her because One Piece was awesome!

And it did keep his attention. Something he desperately needed.

It had been almost two years now since the Battle of New York, and most days Percy felt like he was going to die of boredom. It was strange. When he was fighting for his life, trying to save Olympus and stop the end of the world, all he wanted was to be normal. To have days where he could just hang out with his friends, go to school, and not have to worry about ancient prophecies or angry gods trying to smite him.

But now that he was normal, or as normal as he could be anyway, Percy kind of hated it.

Sure, there were no monsters chasing him, no quests that forced him to risk his life, and no world-ending crises looming over his head. But that was just it. The thrill, the danger, the purpose—it was all gone. He had gone from being the hero of Olympus to a regular high school student who spent more time trying to stay awake in class than fighting mythical creatures.

Percy thought he'd enjoy the peace, the simplicity of it all. But instead, it left him restless. He missed the adrenaline rush of facing off against creatures that were ten times his size. The satisfaction of knowing that he was making a difference in the world.

Now, with no prophecies to fulfill or gods to fight, Percy felt...lost. It wasn't just the lack of quests and battles that left him feeling adrift. There was a more personal reason for his sense of displacement.

Annabeth.

Their relationship, once a cornerstone of his life, had become another casualty of their post-war normalcy. They had stuck it out for a good year after the war, doing their best to make a long-distance relationship work. But between attending different schools and Annabeth spending her summers working on the reconstruction of Olympus instead of at Camp Half-Blood, they hardly ever saw each other. The first few months had been filled with late-night phone calls and weekend visits, both of them eager to bridge the physical distance between them. But as time went on, those became fewer and farther between and the demands of their separate lives began to take their toll.

Annabeth was always busy. Whenever Percy called, she was in the middle of her own schoolwork, with her family who she was trying to reconnect with or working on architectural plans for a new temple in Olympus that sounded way more important than anything he was doing. Percy understood, or at least he tried to. Olympus needed her, and she was in her element—using her incredible mind to rebuild the world they had fought so hard to save.

But understanding didn't make it any easier. Their conversations grew shorter, and more strained. Percy found himself at a loss for words. What could he talk about? His latest math test? The new burger place that opened up down the street?

Near the end, Percy couldn't even really say they were dating. Could you call a short phone call every few days dating? Their relationship had become little more than an occasional check-in.

He didn't blame Annabeth. Not really. They had both been through so much and maybe expecting things to stay the same after everything they'd been through was unrealistic. But it still hurt. Annabeth was doing her thing, and he...well, Percy didn't even know what his thing was anymore. He wasn't the hero of Olympus, and he wasn't Annabeth's boyfriend, at least not in any way that mattered.

They had never even officially broken up; things just sort of...fizzled out. No dramatic final conversation, or tearful goodbye. One day, Percy realized that he hadn't heard from Annabeth in over a week, and the thought didn't fill him with the panic it once would have. It was more like a dull ache, a quiet acceptance that they had drifted apart, and neither of them had the energy to try to pull back together.

Percy sighed and closed the volume of manga he'd just finished. He stood up, stretching his arms above his head as he looked around the library, taking in the quiet atmosphere. It was so different from the chaos of his past adventures. Part of him still couldn't believe he was voluntarily spending time in a library, of all places.

But then again, a lot had changed. He was different now—a little older, maybe a bit wiser, definitely more restless. The mundane routine of high school life felt suffocating some days. Percy found himself longing for... something.

Adventure? Purpose? He wasn't sure.

He glanced down at his watch—still an hour before he needed to head home for dinner.

"Right," he muttered to himself and walked back to the section dedicated to manga. "Next volume."

He might as well find it while he was here. At least it would give him something to do when he got home.

"Fifty-five, fifty-six..." he counted, skimming his hands along the shelf, looking for the next Volume of One Piece in the corner dedicated to Manga. "Fifty-nine!"

No Volume 58.

Someone must have already checked it out, Percy sighed. His second read-through of the Paramount War was going to have to wait. He could have skipped to Volume 58 since he'd already read it once, but it was such a good one!

"Volume 58, right?"

Percy blinked, pulled from his thoughts by the cute librarian a few years older than him. She was a pretty girl with blonde hair and glasses that he had been seeing a lot this summer since he was spending most of his days here.

"Huh?" Was his intelligent reply.

She held up the book she was holding, and Percy saw it was Volume 58 of One Piece.

"I noticed you reading Volume 57 yesterday," she said holding the manga out. "This got returned after you left so I kept it at the desk for you."

Percy noticed her face was a little red, one button too many on her blouse was undone and her skirt was a few inches higher than he'd ever seen it before. Having spent a few years in high school now, he could now see the obvious signs for what they were, a subtle attempt to flirt and grab his attention.

It was working.

He smiled and reached for the book letting his fingers skim across hers far more than necessary.

"Thank you," he said, and was about to ask—

"Excuse me!" an old lady at the front desk cut him off. She was banging on the little bell on the desk.

The cute librarian let out a huff before turning around and plastering a clearly fake smile on her face.

"How can I help you today, ma'am?" she asked walking back to the desk.

Percy watched her go, enjoying how good her skirt looked from behind. When the view was hidden by the front desk he sighed and took the manga to his quiet corner and sat down. He opened the book and picked up right where he left off yesterday; Squard stabbing Whitebeard in the chest. He smiled remembering how shocked and angry he was when he first saw that panel a few weeks ago.

Whitebeard had quickly become one of, if not Percy's favorite character in the story, and all it took was a few words for Squard to turn on Whitebeard, his "Pops".

Percy knew Whitebeard would forgive Squard, but he still didn't like the guy. He was thinking how much Squard reminded him of Luke when the page erupted in a blaze of light.

"What the fu—" he started to say as a tremendous force sucked him headfirst into the screen.

It felt like he was plunging down a massive water slide, spinning and tumbling through blinding brightness.

Was he being kidnapped? Was it a monster? The gods?