Disclaimer:
This is a work of fanfiction based on Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan and The Rising of the Shield Hero by Aneko Yusagi.I don't own any characters, settings, or ideas from the original series. All rights belong to their respective creators. Original characters and concepts introduced in this story — like Seren, Leora, Darin, Mira, Caius, and others — are my own creation. This project is something I've directed and written myself. I used AI tools (like ChatGPT) to help draft and organize some sections, but every creative decision — from the plot and pacing to the character arcs and emotional moments — was made by me. No profit is being made from this story. It's purely for entertainment and to share a new take on two worlds I love.
The breeze off the Hudson was crisp, carrying the smells of street food and city life — the kind of ordinary chaos that should have been comforting. Percy Jackson leaned against the rail at Battery Park, one hand resting lightly on the hilt of his pen — Riptide, disguised for now, but always close.
The water below lapped gently at the stones, as if the river itself were trying to whisper something he couldn't quite hear.
Annabeth Chase stood beside him, arms folded, staring out across the water.
"You're fidgeting," she said without looking at him. "I'm not fidgeting," Percy muttered automatically.
He was. She smiled — that small, knowing curve of her lips that always made him feel like she saw straight through him.
"You feel it too, don't you?" she said after a moment. "That... pull. Like something's waiting."
Percy tightened his grip on the railing. For weeks, there had been this buzzing at the edge of his senses — like static in the air before a storm.
It wasn't monsters. Wasn't demigod danger.
It was something else. Something bigger. He hated that Annabeth felt it too.
He hated not being able to protect her from it.
"We've beaten worse," he said, forcing a grin. "Whatever it is, we'll face it together."
Annabeth turned to him then, her storm-gray eyes serious in a way that made his stomach twist.
"Promise me," she said quietly. Percy blinked.
"Promise you what?"
"That you'll find me," she said. "No matter what happens. If we get separated — you find me. We always fight together."
Percy swallowed hard. "I swear it, Wise Girl," he said. "On the Styx."
Thunder rumbled low in the distance — not from any storm cloud he could see.
Annabeth smiled — a real one this time — and leaned into him, their foreheads touching.
And then the world split open. A surge of blinding light erupted around them, ripping the air apart with a sound like tearing fabric.
Percy reached for Annabeth — felt her hand in his for half a second —and then nothing.
He was falling — spinning — the world shattering into fragments around him.
He screamed her name, but the wind tore it from his throat.
When the ground slammed into him, it wasn't New York beneath his feet anymore.
It was somewhere else.
Somewhere wrong.
And Annabeth was gone.