Author Notes: Hey guys so I lied about having this chapter out quickly. I was studying for the LSAT and so that took up most of my time. Fingers crossed the next few chapters are out a little quicker.

Chapter 3: I'm Informed the World is Coming to an End

(All characters are property of Rick Riordan)

Percy eyed up the fisherman as the boat came to a small dock off the coast of what looked like a fishing village. He knew he was somewhere in Greenland or Canada since that was where they had gone to search for Jason's signal, but the village in front of him looked like it hadn't seen outside civilization in a while. The fisherman was whistling a tune to himself as he tied the boat to a post along the dock and heaved himself up and onto the wooden structure. He turned back and reached out a hand to the demigod.

He wasn't happy about the fact that the fisherman hadn't told him anything about where he was or what had happened, but the man had promised answers, and so far Percy saw no reason to distrust him on that. He took the man's hand and joined him on the dock before they both made their way to the village.

As they came to the end of the dock they saw another fisherman snoozing in his chair as the evening sun cast a warm glow across his face, despite the cool conditions. As they approached him he stirred and turned his gaze to them, blinking away his sleepiness as he took in the two new arrivals. A look of recognition crossed his face and he simply nodded to the older fisherman before resuming his snooze. The older fisherman turned back to Percy and waved his hand in the direction of the village.

"Welcome to my humble abode," he said, "Where time stands still."

Percy was not entirely sure whether he meant that metaphorically or literally, as the village could've been stumbled upon 500 years ago and not looked out of place. Small wooden houses dotted the coastline, all with dirt trails that wound towards the docks, where a small marketplace was present. Although the village seemed old, it did not feel dilapidated or run down. The houses were coloured brightly and the market was clean and alive with activity as the inhabitants of the village bartered, laughed, and argued. The men and women were dressed simply in tunics and animal skins but they seemed to not have a care in the world, going about their business leisurely.

"Why am I here?" Percy asked the fisherman, to which the fisherman simply laughed.

"Ay that's a rather deep question, my boy." he replied "I like to believe that our purpose here is to find happiness, and if not for ourselves then for others. After all, are we not all part of the same world, all passengers on this wonderful journey of life. You can be the guy who puts his seat all the way back on an airplane, like an asshole, or you can be the guy who gives up his aisle seat so a mother can sit next to her children. It's all about how you look at it."

While Percy did not necessarily disagree with the notion, the fisherman had grossly misunderstood what he had been asking. "No, I mean why are we here? Why are we at this village?"

The fisherman roared with laughter "Ay I'm quite the fool. Why we're here to find a crew. I live up the cliffside and I must say, in my many years I've never seen a more proficient group of sailors. By Chaos, even Odysseus and his motley crew don't measure up compared to these lads."

Percy did a double-take, "Odysseus? You know he's real?"

The fisherman looked at Percy with concern "Did ya hit ya head lad? Ay of course I know he's real. I met the mad bastard."

Now Percy was getting really worried. He reached into his back pocket and felt the familiar weight of Riptide. "Are you a monster?" he asked, figuring it would be better to skip straight to the point.

At this, the fisherman laughed once more, "Do I look like a wee monster lad?" he inquired "If I was a monster, would I've given you water and seaweed? Which you didn't eat by the way. Don't think I missed that lack of manners laddie."

Despite the fact that the fisherman seemed to be having a jolly good time bantering with Percy, the feeling wasn't mutual. "So who are you? You promised to answer my questions and you keep refusing. Until you start talking this is far as I go with you."

The fisherman simply raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh," he replied "I see. I suppose you'll just swim back home then. Big strong strapping son of Poseidon, shouldn't be too difficult for you. Fingers crossed you don't get eaten by that evil bastard on the way."

Percy frowned, "What do you mean eaten?"

"You're a smart lad, demigod. You tell me. You felt it in the ocean. The emptiness, the lack of life. You think that was a wee coincidence. Maybe you sons of Poseidon really do have kelp where ya wee brains should be."

As much as Percy wanted a quick and witty retort to the fisherman, he couldn't help but recognise that he had a point. The ocean had felt empty, almost like all the life was hiding like it was being hunted.

"Ay I see it dawning on you now laddie." the fisherman told him with a chuckle "No shame in coming late to the party, most important thing is you arrived after all."

Percy let go of Riptide, deciding that if the fisherman was a threat, he probably wouldn't be flaming him quite as hard as he was. "What is it?" he asked him.

The fisherman rolled his eyes "Ay always with the questions this one. Got a gob on him like a toddler. Use a bit of common sense lad. Don't they teach you the myths at that little camp you go to?"

As much as Percy wished he could brag about how his studying with Annabeth had given him a much broader understanding and knowledge of the Greek myths, he knew he was out of his depth here. He had no idea what was terrorizing the waters here. "I don't know," he admitted.

The fisherman sighed but couldn't stop a smile from breaking out across his face. "Takes a lot of courage to say something like that. Or a lot of stupidity," he mused "Either way, gonna need that for what comes next."

Percy was about to ask what he meant by that, adding to the torrent of questions that had been flooding out of his mouth since he woke up but the fisherman had already raced off through the market, leaving Percy scrambling after him. Despite his apparent age, the fisherman was quick on his feet, weaving through the marketplace. Just as Percy thought he had lost him, he saw him at a small stand, talking with some large burly men with long thick hair and thicker beards.

Seeing that Percy had caught up the fisherman grinned. Turning back to the other men he said "And this here is the wee son of Poseidon. He's gonna help us kill the little scamper."

The men turned their gaze and starting sizing him up. Percy wasn't usually self-conscience about his appearance, but the way they looked at him made him uncomfortable. Finally one of them broke the silence.

"He ain't much is he."

Percy tried not to get too offended by that, but calm, measured thinking wasn't his strong suit. On the other hand, the fisherman thought this was hilarious, once again finding an uncanny amount of joy at Percy's expense.

"Ay I know he looks a bit of a flounder but I promise you lads he's a shark once he's in the water. Fast as wee hell and not too shabby with that pen in his back pocket." the fisherman told them.

The hairs on the back of Percy's neck stood up as the fisherman innocently showed that he was no ordinary fisherman. He had no idea how much the fisherman actually knew, but starting right then Percy decided he was no longer underestimating the jovial old man.

"Has he ever fought something like this?" one of the other men asked the fisherman.

At this the fisherman rolled his eyes, "Honestly chaps, does it matter? You're going after it one way or another, would you rather have the son of the sea god on ya wee boat or have him sit this one out?"

The men clearly did not have a good answer to this as they shrugged and handed the fisherman two gold coins. "Keep those on you until you board," one of them said "We set off at daybreak tomorrow. Get some rest, you'll need it." And with that, the men stood up and headed off, quickly disappearing in all the activity of the market.

"Well I think you made quite the impression lad!" the fisherman exclaimed with a grin.

Percy was well past having lost his patience and shot the fisherman a look. The fisherman's grin slipped away and he nodded in understanding. He gestured for Percy to follow him and headed away from the market towards a row of houses by the shore. Upon closer inspection, Percy realised that one of them was an inn, and he followed the fisherman as they booked two rooms for the night. The fisherman told him to meet him for dinner in a few minutes, before disappearing into his room. Percy entered his small room for the night and took in his surroundings.

It was a simple room, sparsely decorated with wood floors and a single bed in the center. There was a small window that overlooked the ocean and there was a painting of the countryside above the bed. There was a small closet in the corner, but considering Percy didn't have anything on him he just sat down on the edge of the bed, gazing out the window across the ocean. According to the fisherman, there was something lurking out there, something evil. The dipping sun sparkled across the waves, giving the impression of eyes glinting back at him from the depths. Percy had always been comfortable in the ocean, but whatever was out there now was sending shivers down his spine.

He was knocked from his stupor by the stench that was wafting out from under his armpits. He didn't know how long he had been in the ice until his rescue, but he desperately needed to shower. A door by the closet opened up to a bathroom that contained a small shower, toilet, and sink, and so Percy peeled off his clothes and jumped in. The feeling of the warm water running over his body felt like a shot of adrenaline, waking him up and rejuvenating him. Whatever lethargy he had been feeling racing around outside in the market had disappeared, and he suddenly felt a lot less worried about the monster lurking in the ocean. The sea was his territory, and anything out there that thought it could take on the son of the sea god had another thing coming.

Stepping out from the shower he quickly realised that the only thing he had to wear were the old sweaty clothes he had just taken off. Figuring he would try his luck he walked back into the bedroom and opened the closet door which, much to his surprise, contained a number of clothes. Most of them were plain and in the same style as the inhabitants of the village down by the market, but one caught his eye. An orange Camp Half-Blood shirt hung alongside the rest, the only colourful addition to an otherwise drab collection. Percy was once more reminded that the fisherman if he really was one, was far more than met the eye. As much as the shirt looked the most comfortable of the bunch, the unnerving feeling that the fisherman knew all about who he was and the camp caused him to reach for one of the other options.

Now showered and changed Percy headed out of the room and downstairs towards the inns dining room. Upon entering he saw the fisherman sitting by a large window, but had to do a double-take to ensure it was still the same man. Whereas the fisherman of before had been relatively unkempt and wearing tattered clothes, the man that sat in front of his now was smartly dressed in a suit and tie, with his long beard neatly combed and his face clear of all the dirt that had covered it not long prior. He was staring intently at a pocket watch and did not make any acknowledgment of Percy's presence until he sat down opposite him.

"You do have a tendency to be a little late you know." The man finally said to him, looking up from his watch and staring intently at Percy. The eyes seemed different as well. Instead of the blue eyes that Percy had woken up to he now found himself staring at solid silver. No pupil, no iris, just silver.

"Well maybe if you were honest with me I would have made more of an effort to get to our dinner date on time." Percy retorted, refusing to show any indication that he was unnerved by the sudden changes.

The fisherman laughed, but with his silver eyes it no longer came across with the same amount of goodwill that had been there previously. Now the laugh seemed downright evil.

"I apologize for not being honest with you, but I needed to get you here in one piece, and more importantly, away from the water. You never know what prying eyes are watching from the depths." The fisherman checked his watch again before turning back to Percy. "Rescuing you today was quite a gamble, I didn't think I would make it back to shore and the fact I did says that my disguise worked. No one ever expects a Protogenoi to look like an unkempt fisherman with a severe case of body odor, especially not a Protogenoi with a reputation for exquisite hygiene."

Percy frowned, he could have sworn he had heard the term Protogenoi before, but couldn't quite place where it was from. The 'fisherman' quickly realised Percy was confused and so continued speaking. "My name is Chronos, and before you ask: no, I'm not your homicidal grandfather back from the pit to have my revenge. I'm 'Ch' not 'K', big difference. One of us spends our days plotting to murder our children and the other spends their valuable time reading trashy romance novels on the beach."

Despite the mention of the name Kronos, Percy did not feel the same rush of fear he had felt earlier. Whoever Chronos was, he wasn't going to hurt him. If he had wanted to, Percy felt reasonably certain he would already be dead.

Chronos was just about to check his watch again when a waitress appeared and placed two meals on the table. One of them was salmon while the other was just a bar of ambrosia. The waitress gave the ambrosia to Chronos but he quickly switched the plates, taking the salmon for himself. "I know you're not a fan of eating fish, so have at the ambrosia. There's quite a bit there so we'll get to see whether or not those years in the ice have strengthened you up a bit."

Whatever appetite Percy had worked up vanished at that. "Years?" Percy exclaimed, "What do you mean years?"

Chronos raised an eyebrow as he tucked into his salmon. "Ah yes, I forgot to mention: You've been in the ice for about twenty years, give or take a year or two."

Percy felt his vision blur and suddenly felt a burning sensation in his gut, he turned away from the table just in time to vomit up the water he had drank earlier. He felt his breath shortening and worried he was about to pass out before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Breathe," Chronos said, "Take a bite of the ambrosia, and breathe."

Percy didn't think he would be able to stomach eating anything but a couple of tentative bites of the bar did make him feel a lot better. His vision cleared up and the awful sensation of vomiting passed.

"Now, while you work on that ambrosia let me fill you in a few things. Firstly, congratulations, you are of legal drinking age and can now rent a car. Also, you look incredible for your age. For a man that's almost hitting 40, you don't look a day over twenty." Although Percy could tell Chronos was joking, that didn't mean he appreciated it, and he shot him a glare to let him know that. "Oh lighten up, you've still got your midlife crisis to look forward to and hey, at least your friends and family will most likely still be alive, imagine if you had been stuck in there for a century or two."

While Chronos was right, things could have been worse, that didn't make his present situation any better. He had lost twenty years of his life, his mum might not even still be alive. And what about Annabeth, she would have moved on with her life. Percy felt the familiar sense of puke rising in his stomach but managed to force it back down. He turned his attention back to Chronos as he continued with his explanation.

"Twenty years ago you journeyed up to the Arctic with your friends in an effort to find the son of Jupiter. What you did not know at the time was that Jason was dead, and has always been that way. His soul was taken from the Underworld in an effort to lure his father there, not you and the other demigods. The fact that you were able to survive being in that tomb for as long as you were is a worthy feat in it of itself. What you felt in there was something that even the Olympians would cower before, a being far more powerful than you or I, and a servant of something even greater than that."

Percy remembered the feeling of his brain melting as he tried to desperately escape the cave. The hopelessness that had seemed into his bones as he came to terms with the fact he would likely die down there. He knew how strong the Olympians were, but even Kronos had not given him the same feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.

"Enlil," Percy said "Enlil and Hadad."

Chronos' relaxed demeanor changed with the mention of the two names, and his eyebrows knit together and his face darkened. "You entered the tomb of Hadad, although tomb is rather a fancy term for prison. He has been locked in there for thousands of years and not once has he stirred. Until, of course, twenty years ago. He belongs to an ancient race of beings called the Annunaki, who ruled the Earth before they were overthrown by my siblings and I. I don't know where they come from but they arrived here not long after my mother Khaos created life on this planet. They are conquerors from another world, brutal and nasty beings with a penchant for cruelty and evil."

The look of pain that crossed Chronos' face told Percy that he had likely experienced that cruelty firsthand. Despite whatever memories were being stirred up, Chronos soldiered on, "Their king was Enlil, and he was more powerful than any being I have ever come across. He created servants out of gods and slaves out of men. His brother, Enki, created the first man and presented it to Enlil as a gift. Enlil used them to build his palaces and mine the earth for minerals. The Anunnaki were obsessed with gold, as they did not have any of their own, and they worked the humans to death trying to get as much of it as possible."

Percy thought back to the paintings on the walls of the cave and remembered seeing the images of people presenting golden ornaments to the figures sitting atop thrones. "At any rate," Chronos continued, "Enlil grew tired of his brother's creation, he found them too stubborn and too powerful, so he had them wiped out and told Enki to create a new, more docile race. Every man, woman, and child was murdered, as my siblings and I sat on the sidelines doing nothing."

Chronos bowed his head in shame and Percy struggled to think of something to say. What could he possibly say that would bring comfort to a god who was still haunted by something that happened millennia ago? He opted to stay silent and waited for Chronos to continue. After a moment Chronos picked up his head and gazed out of the window at the expanse of the ocean. "Are you ever kept awake at night by the mistakes of your past Perseus?"

"Always," Percy replied, "Every time I close my eyes I see the faces of the people I let down."

Chronos nodded his head "They say that time heals all wounds, but take it from the embodiment of time: that's a lie. You cannot bring them back, nor can you right the wrongs of the past. All you can do is move forward and try to honour the memory of those you've lost. Which is why you're here now, an effort on my part to right by past wrongs."

Percy frowned at the Protegnoi, "What do you mean by that?"

Chronos sighed, "Since the incident in Hadad's tomb the other Anunnaki trapped on Earth have begun to stir, and sooner or later one of them will break out. Once they do all life on Earth will face annihilation, unless the ruling gods can defeat them before they bring back Enlil."

"Where did Enlil go? How did you trap them the first time if they were so powerful?" Percy asked, suddenly brimming with questions about how a being who was apparently so powerful was able to be beaten.

Chronos' face darkened again "After he wiped out the first humans my siblings and I decided that we would no longer sit idly by a watch as our home was used as a foreign conquerors playground. We waited until Enlil left with his army, off to conqueror other worlds or whatever he does after subjugating Earth, and then we struck. They never expected their docile servants to fight for their home. The defenses they left were few and far between, and we were able to imprison the Annunaki that stayed, but at great cost. We were left weak, and it wasn't long before the new king of Earth, Ouranos was overthrown by his son: the Kronos you're more familiar with. And from there, the story is as true as they teach it."

"Why didn't Enlil come back?" Percy asked confused.

Chronos lent back in his chair and turned his gaze back towards the oceans. "We made sure he couldn't. The portal they used to come from their planet to ours was sealed, and cannot be reopened except by one of the Annunaki, and all those that could have opened it have remained in their prisons. How long that lasts, of course, is up for debate!"

Percy felt a chill down the back of his spine. He'd been in the presence of one of the Annunaki, an Annunaki that was imprisoned and weak. He couldn't even begin to imagine how powerful their king could be. "So what do we do?" Percy asked.

Chronos laughed "Nothing, you live out your life and pray that you won't have to fight against them. I rescued you because you are the most powerful demigod of your generation, and if the Anunnaki do return in the next few decades, Olympus will need you."

"You think we can win?" Percy asked.

At this Chronos' laugh turned sinister. "Oh not a chance," he said, "But I know that you'll at least try and fight them, and that is worth something."

"So why bring me back if we're going to lose anyway? What's the point in fighting a losing battle?"

Chronos got a faraway look in his eye. "Because I made a promise to someone a long time ago to always give humanity a chance. Now go to bed. You've got a big day tomorrow."

And with that Chronos stood up and strolled out of the dining room, leaving Percy alone with the setting sun and the weight of the world on his shoulders.