Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“For the last time Hyperion, we are not waking up Mom”

“Mom would help! She loved when she ruled the first time” Hyperion protested, his golden armour a blinding contrast to the shrouded form that Kronos took. 

Percy blearily took in the scene before him. He was on Mount Othrys, judging from the surroundings (and the fact he could see Atlas holding up the sky was also a pretty good indicator). 

Atop the mountain stood Hyperion glinting painfully in the sunlight. At his side stood Krios in deep black armour, his helmet decorated with ram horns. 

Privately, Percy thought both titans looked a bit tacky in their colour-coordinated armour. Although, he supposed eons in Tartarus probably made it hard to keep up with fashion trends. 

Kronos was there as well, taking on the black-shrouded appearance he tended to in Percy’s dreams. However, this time he wasn’t holding a creepy oil lantern or giving vague threats to Percy’s friends and family, so he considered this a significant improvement.

“I have enough to deal with as is… Castellan has been so difficult lately” Kronos snarled. He waved his arms around in annoyance, causing them to disintegrate into a black mist around him. 

“At least mom has a body” Krios idly commented as Kronos forced the wisps back into an arm-shape. 

“I’m getting a body! The boy is just weirdly attached to it… it will be mine soon!” he shot back. 

Percy barely managed to muffle a snort at that. For someone who desperately wanted a body, you figured he’d understand why Luke liked having full possession of his own. 

Although the idea of Luke being possessed by Kronos was concerning… he’d have to worry about that later. 

Hyperion eyed Kronos. “I don’t see why you don’t want to wake up mom… you were always her favourite” he commented. 

“Only because he was the youngest!” Krios added. 

“You were her least favourite” Atlas grunted from his place under the sky. 

“I hope the weight of Dad crushes you” Krios replied. 

Atlas snarled, but did not comment further. 

Percy was incredibly amused. Watching his mortal enemies bicker like children was way better than whatever his history teacher had been rambling about before he fell asleep. 

He didn’t understand why he had to learn about American history anyway - the only relevant figure there was Washington, and that was only because he was (apparently) Annabeth’s brother. 

The point is that Ancient Greek history was far more relevant to Percy’s life than whatever was going on in the 1780s. Percy was a bit busy with his own war, and he already knew about the American Revolution, thanks to Mr. D. 

(Last summer the entire camp had been forced to witness as he, Apollo and Hermes recreated the musical they had written about founding father Alexander Hamilton) 

(Percy was most surprised at the fact Hermes was the lead rather than Apollo - and the fact that the musical was actually good)

Annabeth would probably give him a lecture about “learning from the mistakes of the past” and “adapting new battle strategies” but in his defence, Mr. Lewis’ monotone voice was worse than fighting a pack of angry hellhounds. 

“Waking up Mom is too complicated… we don’t have time to get demigod sacrifices, we’re busy fighting a war” Kronos stated, drawing Percy’s attention back to the conversation. 

“We are literally fighting a war against demigods… how hard is it to snag a couple as sacrifices?” Krios questioned. 

Kronos’ form shrugged, as though he hadn’t considered that. 

Krios shook his head. “We need to get Koios out of Tartarus soon, he’s the only other one with common sense” 

“And Iapetus, he gets me,” Hyperion added. 

“All you and Iapetus do is fight about who looks better when you’re identical” Krios countered, looking skeptical. 

“He’s the only one that can hold a candle to my handsomeness,” Hyperion replied. 

“You. Are. Identical.” Krios shouted, throwing his hands in the air in anger. This was problematic, as he was also holding his sword, which swiped Kronos’ vapour form in half. 

“You idiot!” Kronos snarled as he willed the mist to form into a shrouded body again. 

Percy couldn’t decide if he wanted to laugh or cower in fear at how angry Kronos was. 

Once Kronos had formed a body he levelled his brothers with a death glare almost as bad as Annabeth’s. 

“We don’t have time to sacrifice demigods. Like you said, we must focus on getting our forces out of Tartarus and the upcoming battle.” Kronos said. 

Krios shook his head, sighing. 

“It would be way easier to do all that with mom…” he trailed off. 

“We don’t need mom!” Kronos insisted. If his shrouded form didn’t taper off into swirling darkness, Percy swore he’d be stomping his feet like a toddler. 

“But sacrificing demigods would be so easy…” Hyperion pouted. 

“We couldn’t just sacrifice any demigod, it’d have to be a powerful one to wake Mom,” Kronos said. “And we’re not wasting forces to get demigod sacrifices,” he told him. 

“Aren’t we recruiting powerful demigods anyway?” Krios sighed. 

“We’re not sacrificing our demigod recruits” Kronos frowned. 

“Aren’t you already doing that with Castel-” Krios said, but was cut off by a pointed glare. 

“Okay, but what if we hunt down Poseidon’s kid to sacrifice him, two birds with one stone?” Hyperion suggested.

Percy paled at the mention of him. Not only did he not like the idea of being sacrificed, he was right here, and he really didn’t want attention on him right now. 

To his horror, Kronos seemed to ponder the idea. He hummed, stroking what Percy assumed was a beard underneath his hooded face. 

“He is a powerful one, if the boy won’t be my host, his blood should at least be put to use when we kill him,” Kronos said. 

Which woah - not cool. First off, he was not pleased to know Kronos apparently wanted him to host his soul. Absolutely not. Percy was not interested in possession or soul hosting or anything like that. 

Second, what was this ‘when’ in killing him? Percy would prefer they not kill him. He enjoyed being alive and in control of his body autonomy. He did not consent to any of these evil plans

Although, generally he didn’t consent to evil plans, so they probably didn’t care about his thoughts, but still! Percy was an unwilling party in all this. 

He considered telling them so, but stayed silent, wanting to continue watching the titan-temper-tantrum showdown.

“Exactly, and then we get Mom back to help us kick the Olympians butts!” Krios exclaimed. 

“Can I do the sacrificing?” Atlas asked, deciding to join the conversation with a sadistic smile. 

“No way, I call dibs, it was my idea,” Hyperion said. “Plus you had your chance to fight him, I want a go,” he said, beaming wide, showing off his painfully white teeth. 

“None of you are killing him. That is my honour” Kronos stated. 

The honour of killing him? Percy couldn’t decide if he was meant to be flattered or not. He decided against it, considering they were still plotting his death. 

Kronos didn’t get the hint that Percy didn’t want to be brutally murdered, going on a tangent about how his body would ‘crumple underneath his might’ or whatever. 

Percy tuned most of it out, letting his mind wander back to the American Revolution musical. 

What was it called again? Oh yeah, Hamilton. Pretty uncreative name in his opinion, I mean, it was just the name of the dude it was about. 

Percy really did wonder how they convinced Hades to participate - although he was a surprisingly good singer. Come to think of it, he thought Hades might have wanted to be there, considering how invested he seemed in the acting. 

Nobody was as invested as Apollo though, who somehow managed to play three lead characters at once. 

Most traumatizing was him and Hermes acting out their ‘affair’. There were kids at camp who would be forever scarred by Apollo spreading his legs while wearing a red dress. 

Those kids included Percy. He could never look at either god the same afterwards. 

Maybe that was why Luke had betrayed the gods - if he saw his dad getting it on with Apollo, he would also want to tear down Olympus. 

“Yes, Perseus Jackson, his blood will look wonderful on my Scythe” Kronos pondered. Percy was snapped from his - frankly traumatizing - thoughts of Apollo in that red dress at his full name being said.

Unfortunately, it seemed saying his full name had made him visible to the Titans, as Krios turned and looked directly at him. 

“Uh Kronos, why did you summon the boy?” Krios asked, turning to look back at Kronos - who was still ranting about killing Percy. 

“I didn’t summon him, which one of you fools did, is this some joke” he growled, looking at Hyperion pointedly. 

“I didn’t do anything!” Hyperion protested, looking offended at the accusation 

“It appears the little hero has brought himself here then,” Kronos said, and Percy could swear he was smiling, despite his face being covered by the hood and dark mist. 

Percy put up his hands in defence. “Listen, I didn’t do anything except fall asleep in class,” he said. 

“How did he bring himself here?” Krios questioned, looking more curious than angry - which was preferable to the scowl Hyperion was levelling at him. 

“Eh, it’s just a thing he does, he’s rather uncontrollable, thanks to his blasted father,” Kronos remarked. 

“Listen, I don’t want to be here listening to you guess bicker over who gets to sacrifice me to revive your mom or whatever - actually, can you guys not sacrifice me, that’d be nice” Percy interrupted. 

Krios’s eyes narrowed.

“How long have you been here, little hero?” he said. “How have we not detected you until now?” 

“I am not little. I’ve actually had quite the growth spurt, thank you very much” Percy replied, ignoring Krios’s questions. 

Kronos grumbled something that Percy could swear sounded like ‘about time’. Percy agreed. Annabeth being taller than him last winter was embarrassing. He hoped he was at least the same height as her now. 

“You are still below average height for a godling” Krios noted, looking Percy up and down. 

Listen, Percy got that puberty was taking its sweet time with him - but did these titans need to rub it in his face? And people claimed he was the disrespectful one. 

“Perhaps we should get a different one for Mother, a sacrifice that’s a bit taller,” Hyperion noted. 

“I’ll be taller than you when I knock you on your ass,” Percy replied nonchalantly. 

Hyperion did not take kindly to that one, lunging towards him. He grabbed him by the arm and hoisted him into the air. 

Shit, Percy had really hoped that contact wouldn’t work, considering Percy was currently in a dream. 

Hyperion seemed surprised at the realization as well, pausing to look at where he was grabbing Percy’s arm in shock. 

Percy took advantage of the distraction, twisting and biting the titan’s hand. 

Hyperion let out a yelp and dropped him. Percy clambered to the ground, nursing his burnt tongue - why did Hyperion’s skin burn, that was so unfair. 

“He bit me!” Hyperion shouted, looking at his brothers in outrage. 

“Yes he is feral,” Kronos said, his tone similar to one you’d use when discussing the weather. 

“And he has Rhea’s eyes, how interesting” Krios stated, bending down to examine him.

Percy wrinkled his nose. “Dude, you are too old for me.” he said in disgust, pushing the titan away. 

“You’re the one that’s making it weird!” Krios spluttered. 

“Please stop hitting on my grandson Krios” Kronos deadpanned. 

“I am not hitting on him!” he insisted. 

“Oh, killing me is fine, but flirting is where the line gets drawn. You’ve got weird morals dude” Percy told him. 

“I am not flirting!” Krios protested but was ignored. 

“Krios is not a suitable match for you” Kronos stated. 

“Krios is not a suitable match for anyone,” Hyperion added. 

“Eurybia and I have a very happy marriage,” Krios scowled. “We have three sons” 

“And Perseus is named after one of them! That’s weird Krios!” Hyperion yelled at him, slapping him upside the head. 

“Uh, I thought Perseus was the son of Zeus” he interjected. 

“Why must all my grandchildren be idiots?” Kronos wailed. 

“It’s genetic,” Krios mumbled. 

“Not Perseus, Perses, who the first Perseus was named after” Kronos stated. 

Percy slowly nodded. 

“Nobody remembers me or my children,” Krios scowled. “Perses, the titan of destruction - my baby boy” 

“Okay… good to know?” Percy said. 

Krios looked at him, his expression unreadable. Percy was regretting saying anything at this point. 

“He was also rather feral,” he said, his head cocking to the side as he considered Percy. 

Faster than Percy could blink, Percy was snatched up by the titan and pulled close to his chest. He tried to push away, kicking his feet and flailing with no success. 

“You will be my new son” Krios stated, his grip on Percy tightening uncomfortably. 

“He’s my grandson!” Kronos snarled

“I have a dad!” Percy protested at the same time. 

“But I thought we were killing him to wake Mom!” Hyperion pouted. 

“He’s annoying” Atlas contributed from underneath the sky, only to receive death glares from everyone else. 

“Don’t listen to him son, he’s just cranky cause he’s stuck holding the sky” Krios said, patting Percy on the head in a gesture that was probably meant to be reassuring. 

“He’s not your kid Krios” Hyperion countered.

“Yeah, holding the sky sucks, he probably wishes he could stretch his legs,” Percy remarked.

“It’s your fault I’m here!” Atlas growled. 

Percy stuck out his tongue at him. 

“Hyperion! Take the sky from me so I can pummel that brat!” Atlas screamed. 

Krios’s grip on Percy tightened more protectively. Percy would be thankful, Atlas’s glare was murderous - except for the fact Krios was squeezing so tight he couldn’t breathe.

Thankfully Kronos - and that was a weird thought to have - noticed Percy’s face turning purple. 

“Krios, you are suffocating Perseus” he observed. 

“Oh,” Krios said, loosening his grip. 

“Put me down!” Percy said, wiggling in the loosened grip in an attempt to get free. 

“He’s probably gonna bite you soon,” Hyperion added. 

He was correct, as Percy sunk his teeth into Krios’s arm. 

“Ow!” the titan cried, dropping Percy, who landed on his feet this time. 

“Why are his teeth pointy?” Krios whined. 

“Poseidon was a biter too,” Kronos said.

“You ate him, you can’t talk” Percy replied. 

“And he constantly kicked me in the stomach!” 

Percy grinned at that. 

“Don’t worry Perses, I’m much better at parenting than him,” Krios said, pulling him into his side.

“Percy” he corrected, pushing away.

“Yes, that’s what I called you” 

“Krios, your kids are literal disasters” Hyperion commented. 

“Perses is destruction personified, Pallas has an unhealthy sword obsession, and Astraeus writes horoscopes online all day,” he said. 

“So they behave exactly like their father,” Kronos added. 

Percy turned to look at Krios.

“Dude, horoscopes, really?”

“That’s what you have an issue with?” Kronos said. 

“Shush cannibalistic grandfather” Percy replied, waving him off - literally, as his shrouded form turned into black vapour. 

Unfortunately, the vapour had very flexible movement, as it grabbed onto Percy and dragged him away from Krios. 

“My brothers are a bad influence on you grandson” he commented as his ‘body’ reformed. 

“No, I’m just like this,” he replied, smirking. 

“He’s an amusing mortal, are we sure we have to kill him?” Krios said fondly.

“But… mom?” Hyperion said. 

“Eh, she was only the better parent cause dad was a dick” Krios shrugged. 

Hyperion considered this. “Mom did play favourites too much,” he conceded. 

“Wait, are the daddy issues just genetic or something?” Percy asked. 

“You have daddy issues? But you’re always siding with him” Kronos said in disbelief. 

“I helped my mom kill my abusive step-dad that she married to protect me, and my dad practically abandoned me for the first twelve years of my life, of course I have daddy issues” Percy shrugged. 

“But- you side with him?” Kronos spluttered. 

“You tried to drag me into Tartarus, my dad told me he regretted my birth, he’s slightly better” Percy amended. 

“This is why I’m adopting you” Krios sighed. 

“No, you’re not,” Percy and Kronos both replied firmly. 

“Perseus - it’s mid-day, why are you asleep?” Hyperion said, as though the thought had just occurred that humans tend to sleep at night. 

“Uh- in my defence my history teacher is really boring?” Percy offered. The Titans did not look impressed. 

“Perses! History is important for young tit- er demigods” Krios exclaimed. 

Percy didn’t attempt to correct him on his name, instead sending him a slightly guilty smile. 

“Are you sleeping in class, little hero?” Kronos frowned.

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep!” he protested. “And I already know about the American Revolution - Hermes and Apollo traumatized me with it” 

“Why are you learning about America” Kronos said in disgust. 

 “Cause I’m American? I don’t know, I don’t want to learn about it either” he replied. “Take it up with the education system, not me” he shrugged. 

“This is why we need to focus on getting Koios out of Tartarus” Krios insisted. 

“No, we need to get Iapetus out of Tartarus” Hyperion countered. 

“We need to get them both,” Kronos stated. 

“How about neither?” Percy suggested, not wanting to fight even more titans. 

They all turned to look at him, and he was suddenly regretting speaking up. 

“I mean, surely you don’t need your brothers to take down the Olympians - cause you guys are so uh, big and powerful and definitely don’t keep getting your asses kicked by me?” he said, though it came out as more of a question. 

Thankfully, the titans seemed to be nodding in agreement, and Percy was bewildered at the fact that it had actually worked. 

That is until Atlas decided to speak up. 

“He’s trying to trick you! And making fun of you at the same time!” he cried. 

Well, it was worth a shot. 

“That’s it, we’re sacrificing him, I want Mom back,” Hyperion said, pulling his golden sword out of its sheath. 

Percy similarly uncapped Riptide and adjusted himself to be in a defensive position. 

Although, it turns out he didn’t have to fight, as Krios and Kronos both jumped to his defence - or rather, Krios did, as the sudden movement turned Kronos into dust, which flung Percy into a coughing fit as he accidentally inhaled some. 

Gross - his nose would never recover from the Kronos bits in it. 

Luckily, it seemed some of the Kronos-dust had gotten into Hyperion’s face as well, as he was suffering from a similar coughing fit, rendering him incapable of fighting. 

Krios stopped duelling his brother, moving to pat Percy on the back as he violently coughed. 

“No sacrificing my son” Krios grumbled. 

“Not… your… son” Percy spluttered in between coughs. 

“Yes, he’s my grandson,” Kronos said, reforming beside them. 

“Unfortunately” Percy grumbled. 

“What?” Kronos said, eyes narrowing. 

Percy sent a glare back at him. 

“With all due respect - and by that I mean no respect - I do not want to be part of this dysfunctional family” 

Krios sighed dramatically “You and me both, kid.”

“Krios, you’re my favourite titan” Percy told him. 

Krios’ eyes widened, and a minute later he found himself engulfed in a hug. 

“I’ve never been anyone's favourite!” he cried with joy. 

Percy squirmed and pushed the titan off him. 

“I take it back, you’re too clingy” 

“Ha, I’m his favourite again,” Kronos said smugly. 

Percy whipped around in bewilderment. 

“Bro, you are my least favourite,” he told him. 

Kronos seemed surprised by this - though Percy couldn’t fathom why. 

“But- what- why?” Kronos asked, genuinely confused. 

“Are you serious?” he questioned. At the silence that followed Percy realized he was being serious. 

“You tried to have me dragged into Tartarus, you told Luke to set a pit scorpion on me, every time we interact you try to have me killed - you were literally planning to sacrifice me…”

“Not anymore!” he amended. Percy rolled his eyes. 

“You’ve been haunting my dreams since I was twelve. That’s both creepy and traumatizing. I’m getting tired of you threatening my friends” he finished, crossing his arms. 

“You brought yourself here in this dream! I am not responsible for that!” Kronos said in reply. 

“That’s your defence? Really?” Percy questioned.

Kronos’s form shrugged. 

“I have limited control over what you do when you dream unless I send dreams to you, it’s not my fault if I appear in your dreams” he countered. 

“But- the dreams you send me are the worst!” he complained. “It’s always the same thing too - ‘join me little hero, or I’ll kill all your friends’ or ‘you will die painfully and in vain’ blah blah blah” he mocked. 

A strange noise came out of Hyperion. Percy turned to see the titan’s face had turned bright gold and he wore an expression that made him look constipated. 

‘Well, fuck, this is where my impertinence gets me smitten" Percy thought, looking at the angry titan's face. 

Instead, Hyperion burst into laughter - which was a terrible grating noise. Percy might have preferred being smote. 

“Shut up! I’m throwing you back in the pit after the war!” Kronos snarled at him, which only seemed to encourage Hyperion's laughter rather than stop it. 

“Hush brother, the demigod is amusing,” Krios said, smiling down at Percy. 

Kronos turned his attention back to Percy. 

“The dreams I send are very creative and scary. Castellan was very receptive to them.”

“Luke isn’t the brightest. I mean, he’s only siding with you cause his daddy issues are even worse than mine” he told the titan. 

Kronos spluttered. “Are my dreams really not that scary?” he asked, sounding very uncertain. 

Percy found this incredibly amusing, I mean it’s not every day your sworn enemy asks for reassurance on how scary the nightmares he sends you are. 

“I mean, maybe I was scared the first time when I was twelve, but you’ve been doing the same thing for two years, it got old quick,” Percy replied. 

Then, sensing an opportunity, he continued. 

“What would be really scary though is if you ditched the black thing, I mean blue is a way cooler - I mean scarier colour. And your voice is really too er- low to be scary. You need to make it high and squeaky, like this.” Percy said, pitching up his voice and squeezing his nose to make it nasally. 

Kronos considered this for a moment, his head tilting to the side. 

“Are you fucking with me, child?” he eventually asked. 

Percy smirked. 

“Krios, your not-son has clearly never been disciplined” he sighed, raising a hand to his hooded face. 

“Perses-us” Krios said, catching his slip-up  “Uh, don’t mess with your grandpa?”

Hyperion cackled again. 

“No wonder your kids turned out the way they did,” he remarked. 

“Eurybia managed time-outs” Krios mumbled. 

“I’m not your son” Percy half-heartedly protested. 

“I don’t think you have a choice, kid” Hyperion commented. 

Percy groaned. He found himself almost wishing he was back in class. This was undoubtedly the weirdest dream he’d ever had - and he’d once dreamed about blue-cookie fish having a dance party on Smelly Gabe’s grave. Thinking back, that was a really good dream. 

It was just as he was thinking about this that he vaguely heard a bell in the distance. 

“Hmm, it appears you are waking up, little hero” Kronos said. 

“No, we were just bonding!” Krios complained. 

“I’m sure he’ll find himself back here sometime, he tends to do that” Kronos replied.

“I don’t do it on purpose” Percy grumble.

His arm was then jerked, and he found himself being violently shaken back and forth by an invisible force. 

“How are you sleeping through that” Hyperion pondered as Percy attempted to regain his footing. 

“Mr. Lewis is really boring. Pity me.” Percy replied. 

Hyperion nodded solemnly. 

“Have fun with school Perseus” Kronos told him. 

Percy groaned at the reminder that history was not his last class of the day. 

He opened his mouth to reply, but instead found himself spluttering awake, one of his classmates violently shaking him as Mr. Lewis towered over him. 

“I will not! Ack!” Percy said, sitting up abruptly and nearly headbutting his teacher. 

Mr. Lewis scowled at him. Percy scowled back. 

“Mr. Jackson this is the seventh time you’ve slept through my class. Detention!” He cried, slamming his hand on the desk and walking away. 

His classmate - a guy named Jay who Percy was on somewhat friendly terms with, sent him a pitying glance. 

“Sorry man, I tried to shake you awake, but you were really knocked out,” he said. 

“It’s alright - thanks for trying though” he said. 

“Yeah, but I’m still sorry you got detention,” Jay said, before grabbing his bag and exiting the classroom. 

Percy put his head in his hands at the reminder of the detention. It was his tenth one this month - he was totally getting kicked out at the end of the year. 

Sighing at his inevitable fate, he packed up his stuff and left the classroom. Glancing at the clock, he swore under his breath - he was definitely going to be for his next class. 

He blamed Krios - that and Mr. Lewis’s droning voice. But mostly Krios. 

Chapter Text

“For the last time Hyperion, my nose is not crooked!” 

“Then why do they call you the crooked one?” 

“Because I’m cunning and deceitful,” Kronos replied. 

“Oh, so they’re calling you a liar,” Hyperion stated. 

“No! They’re calling me clever” he snarled. 

“But you do lie a lot,” Krios pointed out. 

Kronos growled. 

The three Titans were in a cavernous room, the walls and floor made of black marble. The room was lit by greek fire braziers that glowed an eerie green. 

Kronos’s shrouded form sat atop a massive black throne, with intricate carvings inlaid in gold and diamonds encrusted throughout. It was terrifying - if slightly gaudy.  

Percy shivered as a cold breeze came from seemingly nowhere, wishing he had chosen to sleep in something warmer than an old camp shirt and plaid pyjama pants. 

“For the last time Krios, it’s not lying, it’s deception,” Kronos exclaimed. 

“Is that not the same thing?” Krios questioned. 

“No, Krios, it’s incredibly different” Kronos huffed. 

“I still think it’s because your nose is crooked,” Hyperion stated. 

“My nose is not crooked! Poseidon has the same nose as me, and does anyone call Poseidon the crooked one? No! It’s all “storm-bringer” this “earth-shaker” that. And you know why? Because his nose isn’t crooked and neither is mine!” Kronos shouted. 

Percy clutched his side, desperately trying to stifle the giggles at Kronos throwing a hissy fit about Percy’s dad. 

Although, he did have to agree with Kronos. Percy’s nose wasn’t crooked, and he got his nose from his dad. That is, assuming Kronos wasn’t lying about Poseidon having his nose. 

Percy was actually hoping Kronos was lying since the idea of somehow resembling Kronos made him feel a bit queasy. 

“I think Poseidon’s nose might be a bit crooked” Hyperion stated. 

Percy was a bit offended. 

“It is not! My nose is very straight” Kronos cried.

“You don’t have a body Kronos” Krios corrected. 

“Well, not right now. But my nose was straight and it’s still straight it’s just cut into very straight pieces” he grumbled. 

“Too bad there’s no way to prove it” Hyperion taunted. 

“Just look at Poseidon! He’s my spitting image!” Kronos said. 

Percy felt his blood run cold. Percy had often been told he was his dad’s spitting image. And if Poseidon was Kronos’ spitting image…

“Yes, but how are we supposed to get a look at Poseidon… I’m not going swimming” Hyperion pouted. 

They weren’t denying Poseidon’s appearance Percy realized, dread pooling in his gut.

“We could ask Oceanu-”

“Poseidon looks like Kronos?” Percy spit out, unable to stop himself. 

The three titans turned and looked directly at him, and Percy found himself wishing he could sneak back into the shadows. 

“Perses! When did you get here?” Krios questioned. 

Percy didn’t bother correcting his name, too focused on his spiralling thoughts. 

“Look at his nose! It’s straight, not crooked!” Kronos cried. 

“But your nose is crooked!” Hyperion insisted. 

“Our noses are identical! And straight! Look!” Kronos shouted, a shrouded arm pointing at Percy’s face. 

“What do you mean identical!” Percy shouted back, his heart beating rapidly. 

“Yes, I suppose that is your nose Kronos” Krios said, studying Percy intently. 

“What- it’s my nose!” Percy protested, feeling his face aflame at the titans' scrutinizing gaze. 

“Hmmm, he has your cheekbones as well… and eyebrows” Krios hummed. 

“No, I don’t” Percy stammered. “You guys aren’t making any sense!” he exclaimed. 

“You resemble me very closely, Perseus,” Kronos said. “In fact- apart from Rhea’s eyes, you’re an exact copy of a younger me.” 

“No,” he protested, feeling a bit like a stubborn child. 

“Hmmm… I suppose I may have been taller at your age.” Kronos continued. 

“Nah Kronos, you were short,” Krios said. 

“Like really short,” Hyperion added. 

“You didn’t get a growth spurt for the longest time - I thought you were gonna stay half as tall as us” Krios continued. 

“You were such a tiny baby titan,” Hyperion laughed. 

“I don’t look like you!” Percy shouted at Kronos, interrupting the titan’s bickering. 

“Yes, you do,” Kronos replied simply. 

“The resemblance is rather uncanny,” Krios added. 

“Yeah, I’m surprised I didn’t see it sooner,” Hyperion added.

Percy paled. His mind felt like a hurricane, his apparent resemblance to Kronos at the center. 

Hyperion said something about gold eyes, but Percy didn’t catch it. He could feel his blood pumping through his veins, his head was spinning, his lungs burned, his heart felt as though it was going to burst from his chest-

Vaguely Percy noted he was hyperventilating, but he couldn’t focus on anything but he looks like Kronos he looks like Kronos he looks like Kronos he’s a monster-

His back hit something hard and cold, he dimly realized it was the marble wall. He hadn’t even realized he’d been moving backwards, but not it was all he could think about doing he needed to get out get out get out leave leave danger get out

Barely in control of his limbs, Percy ran down the corridor. He didn’t know where he was going, ducking around corners blindly and trying his best to avoid running into anything while his head was still repeating the same thing over and over. 

Eventually, he collapsed, his limbs burning in agony. He was lost, he was trapped, he needed to get out…

Percy gasped for breath, his lungs burning as he greedily inhaled oxygen, the air sharp and painfully cold. 

His hand was clutching desperately to the fabric of his shirt, trying to find something to ground him but it wasn’t working and he couldn’t focus on anything but Kronos Kronos Kronos.

Percy looked up, trying to find something to focus on - vaguely remembering a grounded exercise he used to do with his mom. 

Five things you can see his mom’s voice said but looking around all he could see was black and suddenly the walls and floors were closing in on him. 

Percy found himself hyperventilating again as the walls seemed to press closer and he was suffocating, gasping for air as the black pressed against all his sides and he couldn’t breathe he couldn’t breathe he couldn’t-

Suddenly the scene shifted and he was on a beach and thank the gods he could breathe. He inhaled the salty air greedily, digging his hands into the sand. 

But he couldn’t rest long as a huge bronze oar was flung at him. Percy reacted on instinct, rolling out of the way and grabbing for Riptide. 

Unfortunately, Percy’s hand only brushed against the fabric of his pyjama pants - which did not have pockets. 

Well, shit. 

Percy sprung to his feet, looking around frantically for something he could use as a weapon. 

His eyes instead fell on his attacker, a massive man with a serpentine tail and a huge white beard. 

“You are not Poseidon,” the man pondered. 

“No. I’m not,” Percy agreed. 

“I apologize then, for attacking you,” he said. 

Percy nodded very slowly. 

“You were trying to attack Poseidon?” Percy asked cautiously. 

“Well yes, I’ve just declared war against him,” he replied.

Okay… this was fine . Just a guy with a scary bronze oar that was at war with Percy’s dad. Yup. That was cool. All great. 

“Uh, cool,” Percy replied. 

“You resemble Poseidon very closely… but you are much too young,” he said, eyes looking him up and down. 

“Oh. I didn’t uh- realize. That’s weird. Never heard that one before” Percy said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. 

The man was silent, continuing to look at him intently. 

Was it too cowardly to run and hide? Maybe. Percy still wanted to though. 

“Perseus! Why did you leave? Oh Oceanus, what are you doing with Perseus?” Hyperion said, running up to stand beside Percy. 

Oceanus’s eyebrows drew together. 

“Perseus as in…” he trailed off, recognition appearing on his face. 

“No wonder he looks like Poseidon!” he exclaimed. 

Percy was definitely rethinking the run-and-hide plan. 

His thoughts of running away were stopped by Hyperion placing a burning hand on his shoulder. 

“Yup! Looks like Kronos, just like his dad- ‘cept for the eyes of course” Hyperion said. 

And there was the other realization he was trying to avoid. 

“Oh, he does look like our baby brother! Is Kronos recruiting him then, he must have a soft spot, he always had one for Poseidon” Oceanus said. 

Percy snorted. Kronos? Soft spot? For Percy? Yeah right.

Hyperion beamed, and Percy looked away from the blinding smile. 

“Almost as much of one as Krios has, Krios adopted him” 

As if on cue, Krios appeared. 

“Perses! You scared us, why’d you run away?” he said, pulling Percy into his side. 

“Percy. Not Perses. Per-cy,” he grumbled. 

“Aw, did they scare you off? I told you to be nicer in the recruitment process Hyperion” Oceanus chastised. 

“Recruitment?” Percy spluttered. “They’re not recruiting me”

“You’re not?” Oceanus asked

“We’re not?” Krios asked at the same time. 

“No! You’re not!” Percy protested. 

“Why not?” Krios and Oceanus said in sync. 

“Because you keep trying to kill me and my friends!” he replied. 

“Krios!” Oceanus yelled. 

“I’m not trying to kill him! That’s just Kronos!” Krios said, holding up his hands in defence. 

Oceanus’ frown deepened. 

“I need a word with Kronos. Why are we trying to kill him? He’s cute” 

“I am not cute!” Percy replied, baring his teeth. 

“Aww, he’s like a baby shark. Look at those tiny pointy teeth!” Oceanus said, clapping his hands. 

“Yes yes he’s very cute we get it. Kronos sent us to get him back, not chit-chat” Hyperion said, shooting Krios a pointed glare. 

“I’m coming as well. I need to have a word with our little brother” Oceanus stated.

And before Percy could protest further that he did not want to see Kronos again, they were back in the throne room on Mount Othrys. 

“What took you so long, oh, Oceanus, hello brother!” Kronos said. 

“What’s this about you trying to kill my grand-nephew?” Oceanus questioned, levelling Kronos with an older brother-death-glare. 

If Kronos had a body, Percy swore Kronos would be sweating like crazy right now. 

“Uh… well… prophecy… it wasn’t really me, it was more that Castellan boy… I mean I don’t even have a body, how could I kill him?” Kronos stammered. 

Percy fake coughed. “Luke was acting under your orders,” he said, faking another cough afterwards. 

Oceanus’s expression turned darker. 

“And he sends me nightmares,” he said between coughs again. 

And now Oceanus was looking murderous. 

“Would you like an undersea palace as compensation?” Oceanus asked, turning to him. 

Percy smirked. “Well, I wouldn’t say no…” 

“That’s what it is!” Hyperion cried, pointing at Percy. Percy frowned and looked at the titan. 

“What” he deadpanned.

“No, no, do it again” he insisted.

“Throw Kronos under the bus?” he asked, smirking again. 

“Look Krios, his smile! It’s crooked!” Hyperion exclaimed. 

Krios was strangely excited about this as well. 

“Yes! It’s so lopsided” Krios agreed, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. 

“Excuse me?” Percy frowned. 

He was trying to decide how offended he was when Hyperion spoke again. 

“Your smile is crooked. That’s why they call him the crooked one!”

“I told you it wasn’t because of my nose!” Kronos insisted.

“Woah. No. I do not have your smile. I just don’t. And I don’t look like you” He growled. He was getting really fed up with all the comparisons to the evil Titan king. 

“No, he doesn’t look like Kronos,” Oceanus agreed. 

“Brother, are you blind?” Krios asked. 

“Shush Krios. He’s a much cuter version of Kronos, look at him!” Oceanus moved over to squish Percy’s cheeks. 

Percy swatted at him viciously. 

“Careful Oceanus, he bites,” Hyperion remarked. 

“Like a little sea serpent!” Oceanus remarked as Percy sunk his teeth into his hand. 

Oceanus let out a sharp hiss, but did not let go. 

“Ow. Do you sharpen your teeth, child?” he asked.

Percy bit down harder in response. 

Grudgingly, Oceanus let Percy go. Percy noted with satisfaction that there was gold dripping out of the punctures he’d left. 

“Hmm… I guess the teeth are also different” Kronos commented as Percy wiped his mouth with his arm, leaving streaks of gold. 

“Maybe you should sharpen your teeth- or uh, I suppose you don’t have a body. But when you get one!” Hyperion suggested. 

“Will you stop it!” Percy yelled. 

“Stop what?” Hyperion asked. 

“Comparing me to him!” he said, gesturing towards Kronos’ figure. 

“Does it distress you, little hero?” Kronos asked. 

“Yes,” Percy hissed. 

The worst part about it all wasn’t Kronos’ question - it was the way he asked it. There wasn’t any sort of malice, he was just curious. Percy wanted to punch him. 

“Fascinating,” Kronos said. Percy felt his nails digging into his palms. 

Kronos cocked his head. “You are upset”

“What gave it away?” He growled.

He could feel the air growing tense around him, a tugging in his gut. He was so angry. Angry at his stupid resemblance to Kronos, angry at his dream for bringing him here, angry that instead of attacking him like he was used to the Titans were treating him like a particularly amusing pet cat. 

Red was creeping into his vision - he wished he had Riptide or some source of water so he could just fight the Titans and get out of this dream. 

He couldn’t take four titans at once - even if Kronos didn’t have a body but he didn’t care. He just wanted them to fight because that’s what Percy did. He fought because it was fight or die and none of this stupid dream made sense. 

Suddenly there was a pressure on him and oh- he was on the floor, how did that happen? 

Oceanus was looming over him, as was Krios. And now he was being manhandled into a sitting position, despite his thrashing because he didn’t want to be touched! Except that felt like water and Oh that was nice actually.

He leaned into the touch on his forehead, realizing it was a hand now. But it felt like water- no, it felt like the sea and the sea was good. 

“Since when do demigods use powers in their dreams?” Krios questioned. 

“Since when can he create hurricanes?” Hyperion shot back.

Percy tuned them out. They weren’t making sense anyway- Percy didn’t use his powers, let alone do anything with his hurricanes, and he didn’t particularly care either, considering the arms surrounding him felt like waves gently pushing against the shore and it was really nice. 

Eventually, Percy forced himself to pay attention to the conversation. He would’ve thought he’d drifted off if it weren’t for the fact he was already asleep and dreaming. 

Then he realized the warm thing he was currently curled against was Oceanus, and pushed away, scrambling to his feet, feeling his face grow hot.

“How did you manage to tire yourself out so badly while asleep?” Krios pondered with a chuckle.

“I am having a really bad sleep,” Percy agreed. “Maybe if you guys quit bothering me I’d actually get to rest normally for once” he scowled. 

“You bring yourself here with your own power,” Kronos replied. “We have no control over whatever it is you do to end up here” 

“Unfortunately” Hyperion grumbled. 

Percy shot him a look. 

“Hey, all I’m saying is it would be easier to retrieve you when you run away if you didn’t manage to teleport yourself to some random beach with Oceanus,” Hyperion said defensively. 

“Maybe I wanted to dream about beaches with Oceanus” he replied, sticking out his tongue. 

“But you hadn’t visited in months” Krios pouted. “And you were so upset when you ran away! We wanted to check on you!” 

Percy rolled his eyes. 

“Krios, stop being clingy,” he told the Titan. 

“Yeah Krios, stop being clingy” Hyperion mocked. 

Just as Percy was starting to feel slightly better, Kronos decided to ruin the mood. 

“So Percy, how do you feel about hosting my soul?” he asked nonchalantly. 

At first, Percy thought he heard him wrong, but no, Kronos was looking at him as though he expected an answer.

“What,” Percy deadpanned, looking at the titan in bewilderment. 

“I was rather attached to my appearance, and well…” Kronos shrugged. 

“Dude. No. Fuck Off,” Percy told him. 

“Worth a shot,” Hyperion said, patting Kronos’ arm supportingly. It had the opposite effect, as Kronos’ arm vaporized with the touch. 

“Hyperion. Can you not?” Kronos said, turning towards his brother. 

“I am not hosting your fucking soul!” Percy exclaimed, just to make sure his point got across. 

“Hmm, that’s a shame. Castellan is so difficult” Kronos whined. 

“Luke is hot enough, you'll live. Although, it would be better if you didn’t possess anybody’s body. Have you considered that?” 

“At least this way I don’t have to wait for you to grow,” Kronos pondered. 

Percy spluttered. “I’m not that short- and wait, what happened to my idea of no creepy possession of other people's bodies!” 

“Eh,” Kronos said, waving off Percy.

Percy rolled his eyes. It seemed Kronos was set in his evil ways. Well, nobody could say Percy didn’t try.  

“Don’t be too bummed Kronos, this way we get to keep him” Krios stated, ruffling Percy’s hair which - rude. His bedhead was going to suck when he woke up. 

“You are not keeping me,” Percy grumbled.

Krios paused, horrified. “But we’re not going to kill you, right Kronos?” he said.

“It’s up for debate,” Kronos replied. 

Krios gasped. “No, it’s not! Don’t listen to him, he likes being scary and mysterious” he said, attempting to reassure Percy. 

“It’s alright Krios, Kronos doesn’t like swimming,” Oceanus said, winking. 

“You guys do realize I’m leading a war against you, right?” Percy asked. 

Krios and Oceanus did not seem to listen. 

“Just let them mother, they’re insufferable when they get like this” Hyperion said. 

“Okay…” Percy said, nodding. 

Hyperion leaned closer to him. 

“For the record, I don’t think you look exactly like Kronos,” he whispered conspiratorially. 

Percy frowned. “You don’t?” he asked. 

“Nah, Kronos’ nose is definitely crooked. I punched him in the face once and it didn’t heal right” 

Percy scowled. 

Hyperion laughed at the expression. 

“I’m sorry, other than that you really do look like him” Hyperion shrugged. “Shame you didn’t inherit my good looks.” 

Percy winced away from the blinding smile. 

“Hey, it’s better than looking like Dad. Zeus looks like him… I think that’s why he’s the least favourite,” Hyperion shrugged. 

“I really don’t understand the point you’re trying to make,” Percy told him. 

“All I’m saying is I’m not Zeus’ biggest fan, but Dad really sucked. Zeus is a bit better.” Hyperion said. “I’m still gonna kill him though,” he added as an afterthought. 

“You are terrible at this” Percy groaned, putting his head in his hands. 

“Huh, you’re becoming transparent, I guess you’re waking up” Hyperion hummed. 

“Thank the gods,” he replied. 

“Eugh don’t bring them into this” Kronos complained. 

“Will you come back soon? We can play catch,” Krios offered.

“I’m not your son” Percy deadpanned. 

“We can go surfing with sea serpents,” Oceanus chimed in. 

“Yeah alright, sounds good” he grinned.

“Oh Oceanus gets the family bonding, Oceanus gets to go surfing with sea serpents because he’s the oldest and….” 

Krios’ rant was cut off as Percy woke up in his bed. 

Chapter Text

For once, Percy expected the demigod dream. He hadn’t exactly set out to take a nap on the way to their mission, but Beckendorf noticed him drifting off in the passenger seat and had convinced him to get some rest. 

So when Percy found himself aboard the Princess Andromeda, he wasn’t surprised. Considering he and Beckendorf were on a mission to blow up a Cyclops' den, he was actually hoping he’d get some sort of insight from the dream. 

Wandering the halls, he heard voices coming from one of the cabins and moved closer to the door. 

Leaning against it, he did his best to listen to the muffled argument. 

“No Castellan, I do not care that you think it looks cool, we are not wearing gold armour - Hyperion will never shut up about it” Kronos hissed. 

“You possessed me! I get control of the outfits!” Luke snarled back. 

“You forget your place. I am your master, I will choose what armour we wear” Kronos replied, his tone laced with venom. 

If it weren’t for the fact they were arguing over what armour to wear, Percy would’ve been legitimately creeped out. 

However, considering how ridiculous the argument was, instead, he was trying really hard not to laugh. 

“No, stop talking about the gold. My eyes are cool. Gold armour is tacky . I am the king of the Titans, I am not tacky ” Kronos growled. 

Personally, Percy didn’t think Kronos had the right to talk about tacky. He’d seen the guy’s throne. The gold and the diamonds were overkill with gaudiness. 

He did agree about the armour though. Full-body gold armour was a look, and it wasn’t a good one (sorry Hyperion). 

If Luke thought it would look cool, he was even more delusional than Pery thought. He couldn’t believe his twelve-year-old self looked up to him - Beckendorf was way better. 

He was pulled out of his internal monologue by footsteps growing closer to the door. He jumped out of the way just as the door slammed open. 

Luke- no, Kronos, marched out the door, running a hand through his sandy blonde hair. 

He didn’t notice as Percy followed him down the corridor until they reached an upper deck. Percy did his best to keep track of the turns they made - Beckendorf was planning a mission to blow the ship a couple of months down the line. 

Aboard the private deck they’d emerged stood Krios and Hyperion - two titans that Percy seemed to be becoming increasingly more familiar with in these dreams. 

Krios especially. The titan had been sending him near-constant dreams since their last encounter of them playing catch and doing other father-son bonding activities. 

Thankfully though, neither titan noticed Percy, their eyes drawn to Luke. Percy also got a good look at Luke. He looked tired - there were dark circles underneath his eyes, but his irises were a bright gold that had been haunting him since last summer. 

He was wearing an old-fashioned black suit - Luke was really taking the evil-supervillain look seriously. Unfortunately, Luke in the suit only reminded Percy of Hermes in a similar suit last night - when the whole camp had been forced to watch the gods perform Hamilton again.  

The musical was apparently Broadway-bound. Percy was horrified at the idea of mortals being forced to endure Apollo and Hermes’ onstage flirting. Apollo wearing a red dress grinding on Hermes was a sight that Percy wouldn’t subject to his worst enemies. 

Actually, maybe that was why Luke was so determined to take down Olympus. If it had been Poseidon making out with Apollo onstage, Percy would’ve also considered joining Kronos. 

Not to mention whatever it was Apollo and Hermes were doing backstage . Mr. D had sent Percy to get something from one of the dressing rooms and the sight of the two of them had made Percy want to bleach his eyes. 

Looking back at Luke, the resemblance to Hermes was mildly traumatizing. How was he supposed to fight this guy when all he could imagine was Apollo and Hermes and that gods damned red dress? 

Why did the gods have to be such sluts? 

“I’ve received reports of an enemy mission to one of our weapons bases. The demigods are expected to arrive within the next day, so I’ve sent forces to help the Cyclops defend the den.” Kronos told Hyperion and Krios. 

Percy groaned. They were undoubtedly discussing the mission he was on. And of course, they were sending more monsters to attack him because gods forbid he have one peaceful quest. 

“How many demigods are they sending? This is one of our largest bases, surely at least a dozen?” Krios asked. 

Two. The answer was two demigods. 

“Hmm, likely less, my intel has shown their numbers are rather low” Kronos replied. 

You could say that again. Camp’s forces were scattered throughout on quests. Annabeth and Clarisse were currently hunting Empousa in Michigan, the Stolls were in Maine trying to destroy a Laistrygonian tribe, while Grover and Katie Gardner were trying to recruit any nature spirits they could. 

To make matters worse, it wasn’t summer yet, which meant that they had even fewer demigods to work with. Percy would be surprised if there were any demigods at camp right now with how many missions were ongoing. 

“We should still make sure the base is well-defended, Oceanus really can’t keep fighting with that stupid bronze oar,” Hyperion sighed. 

Krios nodded in agreement. 

It was just then that two more Titans appeared on the deck. 

They were both female, though looked nearly opposite from each other. One was decked out in gold jewelry that rivalled Hyperion’s armour in brightness. Her eyes were painted with sparkly eyeshadow that glittered like diamonds, making her blue eyes stand out like sapphires. 

The other titan shared the sapphire eyes, but that was where the resemblance stopped. Her bright eyes stood out against her dark skin, and her dark hair was intricately braided down her back. Her eyes falling on Kronos, she conjured a glass of water. 

“Kronos! You look so parched, a healthy titan king needs 24 glasses of water a day to stay strong!” She cried, wandering over and forcing the glass into Kronos’ hand. 

The other titan skipped over to Krios. “You look so gloomy, you need to smile more!” she insisted, grabbing his face and trying to force the corners of his mouth upwards. 

“Ack! Theia, stop it!” Krios cried, trying to escape her grip. 

“Theia, Krios likes being emo, let him be,” the other titan told her. 

“Like you’re any different with the constant glasses of water, Tethys” Theia shot back at her. 

“They’re always dehydrated! You need to drink…” 

“24 glasses a day, we know Tethys” Krios groaned. 

“If I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t drink enough. Oceanus is the only one who listens to me” Tethys grumbled. 

“Yes we get it, Oceanus is so responsible and such a good husband” Hyperion groaned. 

“He’s just jealous cause he’s single,” Theia giggled. 

“We had three kids, Theia! I don’t see why we couldn’t get married!” Hyperion grumbled. 

“You’re so vain” Theia replied, crinkling her nose. 

“And you’re not?” Hyperion shot back. 

“No, I’m self-confident” she replied, flipping a lock of blonde hair over her shoulder. 

Percy decided he liked Theia. She was like Aphrodite in her giggles and jewelry, but much less annoying. Maybe he was biased though, seeing how Theia rejected Hyperion so flippantly. 

Hyperion was now sulking beside Krios, looking dejected. It was hilarious. 

“Have you come for a reason, or just to terrorize us, sisters?” Kronos asked. 

“Terrorize” Theia replied. 

Tethys shook her head in disappointment. 

“I’m here to make sure you’re taking care of yourself. You do realize mortal bodies need rest, right Kronos? You look tired” Tethys said. 

“I’m fine,” Kronos grumbled. 

“Oh he’s grumpy, is your mortal giving you a hard time?” Theia asked. 

Kronos’ eyes flashed blue suddenly. “I’m not his mortal!” Luke protested before Kronos gained control again, his eyes shifting gold again. 

“He gives me such terrible migraines” Kronos whined. 

“Hmmm, migraines are a cause of dehydration” Tethys muttered. 

“Or it could be a side effect of spending time with Hyperion,” Theia added. 

Percy couldn’t stop his laughter from spilling out of him this time. Hyperion looked like a kicked puppy - it was so different from his usual expression that Percy practically dissolved into cackles. 

It was at that point, when he was doubled over with laughter, that his dream decided to make him visible to the Titans. 

“Perses!” Krios cried with joy. 

“Percy? What?” Kronos- no, Luke now, judging from the blue eyes, asked. 

And oh, great, now he was pointing his Scythe at Percy. Good ol’ Luke, always trying to kill him. 

Percy ducked out of the way as Luke swung the Scythe at Percy. Percy grabbed and uncapped Riptide in one fluid motion, regretting his nap.

Luckily, he didn’t have to fight though, as Kronos regained control of Luke’s body. 

“Stupid boy, he’s clearly dreaming, judging from the way he appeared” Kronos growled to himself. 

Percy cautiously backed away from Kronos, in case Luke decided to attack him again. 

“No- why would I summon him” Kronos said, continuing his mental argument. 

“I told you, he shows up when he wants… No, it’s not impossible! We’ve covered this Castellan” Kronos argued, rubbing his temple with his hand. 

“Ignore him, this might go on for a while” Hyperion commented. 

“So you’re the Perseus Oceanus told me about,” Tethys said, eyeing him. “You seem dehydrated. Have some water,” she said, conjuring a glass of water and thrusting it in his hand. 

“Thanks,” Percy said, drinking the water. Tethys beamed down at him. 

“See, this is how you’re supposed to behave. No complaints, instead a ‘Thank you Tethys, thank you for worrying about my water intake, you’re so thoughtful’” Tethys lectured, giving her brothers pointed looks. 

Percy figured this was the first and last time he’d ever be considered a model child. Tethys ruffled his hair affectionately. 

Krios gaped at them. “That’s not fair- he bites me when I do that, why isn’t he biting you!” he complained. 

“I like Tethys. She gives me water. You’ve never offered me anything to drink.” Percy replied. 

Krios quickly summoned a drink and offered it to him. 

Percy pushed the glass away. “I’m not taking anything from you, it might be poisoned,” he said, frowning. 

“What- that’s not fair!” Krios pouted.

“Castellan said he smuggled Coke into camp for you. Why am I not your favourite?” Kronos asked. 

“Well first, you’re not Luke, you’re just being creepy and living in his body. And second, Luke literally bribed me with Coke so he could lure me to the woods and kill me”

“Brother!” Tethys cried. “How could you!”

“Castellan was the one who summoned the pit scorpion!” Kronos protested. 

“You ordered me to!” Luke replied, taking control of his body to argue back. 

“Both of you are responsible for the multiple attempts on my life you’ve made,” Percy told them. 

Kronos/Luke pouted, one eye gold while the other remained blue. If it weren’t for the possession thing, he would’ve thought the heterochromia looked cool as fuck. 

Percy was distracted from his thoughts as he felt a weight on his head. He looked up to see Theia placing a crown of golden laurels on his head. 

“Are you trying to buy my favouritism?” He asked. 

“Yes, is it working?” Theia replied. 

Percy considered this. “Yes, it is,” he decided.

“That is so unfair” Krios pouted. 

Theia stuck her tongue out at Krios. 

“You never give me presents,” Hyperion complained, pouting beside Krios. 

“I like Perseus better,” Theia replied. 

“Ha, suck it,” Percy told Hyperion, 

Hyperion growled at him. Percy flipped him off. 

“Perseus!” Tethys chastised. Percy gave her a sheepish smile. 

“Awww, look at those eyes!” Theia squealed. 

“Like baby seals!” Tethys exclaimed.

“Like sparkly gemstones” Theia added. “Or sea-glass,” Tethys added. 

“Ugh, Rhea had the same eyes… it was so hard to say no when she looked like that” Kronos lamented. 

“She was all ‘No Kronos, please don’t eat our children’ and pouted and how could I say no!” he continued. 

“But you did eat your children,” Percy told him. 

“But it was so hard! And not just because I had to unhinge my jaw” Kronos whined. 

“Dude, please no more stories about how you ate your kids” Percy groaned, already having heard too much. 

“That really wasn’t that nice of you Kronos” Tethys frowned. 

“Dad warned me they’d chop me into bits! And they did!” he complained. 

“So eating your children was unnecessary since it happened anyway,” Tethys told him. 

“Zeus ate Metis! You should have wanted me to eat him to prevent that!” Kronos insisted. 

“Metis is why I’m against cannibalism. And why Zeus is my least favourite nephew,” she replied. 

“What is it about this family and cannibalism?” Percy groaned. 

“It’s either that or chopping people into little pieces,” Hyperion told him. 

“Why can’t you all just get therapy? Those cannot be the only options,” he whined. 

“Don’t worry Perses, I won’t let anyone eat you” Krios chimed in. 

“Percy,” he corrected. “And if that was true, you wouldn’t be sending monsters after me when I’m on a quest”. 

“We’re not sending any monsters after you, ” Krios insisted. 

“Uh, yes you are. I literally heard you say you were sending monsters to the den,” Percy told him. 

“Wait… you’re the one going to the Cyclops den? Aren’t you busy?” Kronos interjected. 

“Yes, I’m busy, because you’re fighting a war against me!” Percy exclaimed. 

Kronos managed to look slightly guilty. “It’s not really against you… it’s more the gods…” he trailed off. 

Percy raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, sure, that’s why you keep trying to kill me”. 

“Well… Prophecy… It’s not my fault!” 

“It is completely your fault,” he replied. 

“Kronos! He’s a growing boy, he should be in school learning and staying hydrated!” Tethys insisted. 

“Wait, you’re not in school? It’s midday” Hyperion frowned. 

“No, I’m skipping with Beckendorf so I can blow up your allies, keep up buddy,” Percy told him. “Wait, why did you think I was in class, I’m literally asleep”

“I just thought you were sleeping in class again!” 

“That was an accident! Plus I like this school, my stepdad pulled a ton of strings to let me in,” he told him. 

“Then why are you skipping!” Hyperion shot back. 

“Because I’m apparently the leader of this war! Of course, I’m helping out.” Percy said. “Although technically I’m sick,” he added, winking. 

“Yes, look at how malnourished he is, he needs to stay home and rest and get lots of fluids,” Tethys added. 

“He’s not actually sick, Tethys,” Theia said. 

“Then why is he so scrawny!” Tethys argued. 

“I am not!” Percy cried. 

All the titans looked at him doubtfully. He groaned dramatically, throwing his head back. 

“Oh, first it’s that I’m short. But now that I get a growth spurt I’m scrawny . This is so fucking unfair!” he whined. 

“Not all of us can be six foot one and have big fancy muscles like Lukie Pookie over here,” he said, gesturing over to Kronos. 

“Why do you pay so much attention to what I look like?” Luke asked, taking momentary control of his body. 

“Fuck off Luke, you’re old and evil and nobody likes you” Percy replied, his face growing hot. 

Luke raised an eyebrow. 

“Beckendorf is taller and cooler. You can suck it.” Percy said, sticking out his tongue and flipping him off at the same time. 

“Yeah, suck it,” Hyperion chimed in, also flipping Luke off as Kronos took back control. 

“Is that how you treat your king?” Kronos asked, glaring at Hyperion’s middle finger. 

“He did it first!” Hyperion whined, pointing at Percy. 

“No, I didn’t! Why are you so mean to me,” Percy lied, pulling out his baby seal eyes. 

Hyperion spluttered, while Kronos nodded sympathetically. 

“Stop picking on Perses- er, Perseus,” Krios told his brother. “Just because he’s a demigod doesn’t mean you can be a bully”. 

“Yeah, don’t be a bully,” Percy said, grinning. 

Hyperion looked as though he was about to spontaneously combust. 

“This is why we broke up,” Theia told him, and then Hyperion did burst into flames. 

Tethys laughed, and then waving her hand, dumped water on his hand, extinguishing him. 

Percy cackled at the dejected face a soaking-wet Hyperion made. 

He shook his head, water droplets flying everywhere as the rest evaporated off him in a cloud of steam. 

“You’re so dramatic,” Krios commented. 

“You literally spent last week sobbing in your bed because you missed Perseus,” Hyperion replied. 

“I sent him so many dreams! And he didn’t send me any back” Krios whined. 

“He’s a demigod. He can’t send people dreams” Kronos said. 

“Oh” 

“I knew you loved me! I never should’ve doubted you Perses” Krios cried, running forward and crushing Percy in a hug. 

Percy struggled against the crushing embrace. “I will bite you,” he warned, and Krios grudgingly let go. 

“Shut up Castellan, nobody cares” Kronos grumbled under his breath. 

“Tell Luke I’ll bite him too,” Percy said. 

“Huh, that did make him quiet down,” Kronos smiled. 

“Does he bite everyone?” Theia inquired. 

“Yes,” the male titans replied. 

“Aww, that’s cute,” Theia said. Tethys frowned but didn’t say anything. 

“So… about that quest I’m on that you’re sending more monsters to… can you not?” Percy asked, pleading with his eyes. 

Kronos paused. 

“Hmm… I suppose I could recall the Chimera,” he said. 

“You were sending a Chimera!” Percy exclaimed. 

“Well not anymore” he grumbled. 

“What no! If Percy’s going we need to send more monsters, not less!” Luke insisted. Kronos ignored him, quickly taking back control. 

“Your host is so difficult, Kronos,” Hyperion commented. 

“Well he wasn’t my first choice,” Kronos huffed, crossing his arms and looking at Percy. 

“Dude, you think I would’ve been better? Me? Are you delusional?” Percy said incredulously. 

“He has a point, Kronos,” Tethys said. 

“Plus! I want to keep him… not have him possessed” Krios said happily

“No keeping me,” Percy said, pointing at Krios. “No possessing me,” he said, pointing at Kronos. 

He then turned to look at Tethys. “You can keep giving me water though”. 

Tethys beamed, handing him another glass. 

“Finally someone who cares about dehydration” she beamed. “You know, sea demigods need to drink 10 glasses of water a day”. 

Percy nodded diligently. 

It was just as Tethys was summoning a third glass of water for Percy that he noticed his hands were growing. 

“No, he’s waking up,” Krios whined. 

Percy felt a tapping on his shoulder, but glancing over, it wasn’t any of the Titans. Huh, must be Beckendorf then. 

“Alright, bye guys. Remember, no Chimeras!” He said, looking pointedly at Kronos. 

And then, knowing Beckendorf wouldn’t wake him up unnecessarily, he let himself tune out Krios’ cries for him to come back soon and felt himself awake. 

He blinked sleepily, stretching and trying to relieve the crick in his neck from his awkward sleeping position. 

“Sorry for waking you, you were really knocked out man,” Beckendorf said. 

“No worries, I was really deep in a dream,” he told Beckendorf. 

“Demigod dream?” Beckendorf asked, brows drawing together in concern. 

“Yeah, nothing bad though. I convinced Kronos to not send a Chimera after us, so that’s good” Percy said. 

“Bro, what?” 

“Eh, don’t worry about it, are we here?” he asked.

“Uh yeah, we’re parked about half a mile away, I didn’t want to get us too close” Beckendorf replied. 

“Well then let’s go blow up some Cyclopes,” Percy said, grinning. 

“Hell yeah, I brought so much Greek fire,” Beckendorf said, returning his smile.

Chapter Text

Being an amnesiac demigod, Percy had some pretty weird dreams. However, this dream was turning out to be one of the strangest, which was saying a lot, considering his last dream consisted of a satyr- no, faun, yelling at him to stay where he was. 

Unfortunately for the faun, Percy did not stay put. Hey, he’d never been good at following rules - or at least, he didn’t think he had ever been. 

At least this dream was amusing though, compared to the usual dreams he got about ‘being a valuable pawn’ from dirt-face. 

“And then he started flying! Since when can they do that? How was I supposed to know they could fly-” one of the figures exclaimed. He wore deep black armour, and his helmet sported two large ram horns. 

“That doesn’t make getting beat by a 15-year-old any less embarrassing” another figure taunted. He was similarly dressed in armour, though his gleamed a blinding gold, in contrast to the first man.

To call the figures men was inaccurate though. Percy could sense the power emanating from the two of them, far too much power for them to be demigods - let alone mortals. In addition, they certainly didn’t look human.

In fact, everything about them screamed unnatural , and Percy reached into his pocket and gripped riptide - just in case.

The first being had dark grey skin, and Percy could see white freckles on his face in places not covered by the helmet. The second’s skin was copper-coloured and shone nearly as bright as his armour. The amount of light emitting from the being was overwhelming, to say the least. They both stood at least eight feet tall, making Percy feel short - something he tended to only feel when he was next to Frank. 

“At least I wasn’t turned into a tree” the first being - Percy decided to call him ‘Sulky’ - told the first, who Percy dubbed ‘Shiny’. 

Despite Percy having no clue who - or what - these beings were, he was overwhelmed with a strong sense of deja vu, as though he’d intruded on conversations similar to this many times before. 

“That’s different! At least he was the prophecy child” Shiny argued. Sulky rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah, he was still fifteen,” Sulky taunted. 

“Almost sixteen! And he defeated our Lord too, he was clearly far more formidable than your opponent.” Shiny replied smugly. 

“Please brothers, do not speak of that event. It’s humiliating,” another voice spoke. It appeared to come from a chubby baby with green veins, sharp teeth and wings that resembled wheat sheaves. Percy recognized it as a Karpos - he, Frank and Hazel had run into several of them just earlier that day.

However, there was something about this Karpos that seemed more wrong … even more evil than your typical demon grain-baby. 

Shiny said something to the grain-baby, though Percy didn’t process it, too busy trying to figure out what about the grain-baby was setting off every warning sign in Percy’s body. 

The Karpos laughed, and Percy felt chills run down his spine. 

“Perseus Jackson is certainly not to be underestimated, we know this,” the Karpos said, and that voice , saying his name , caused his instincts to fly into action. 

In the blink of an eye, Riptide was out of his pocket and in sword form. An instant later and he was slicing through the Karpos, which dissolved into a pile of Cheerios. 

“Well, what a surprise this is,” the evil Cheerios drawled - apparently still capable of speech. 

“Perses! I haven’t seen you in ages ” Sulky said excitedly - maybe Percy would need to rework his nickname for him, considering how the being appeared to be bouncing on the balls of his feet. 

Percy’s attention was drawn back to the Cheerios, as a strange black mist emanated from them, forming the Cheerios into a strange three-foot-tall humanoid shape.

Percy looked at the Cheerio man, sure his confusion was displayed prominently on his face. 

“You- this is wrong. You look wrong.” Percy said bluntly. In the corner of his eye, he could see Shiny barely managing to contain his laughter. 

Face heating from the embarrassment, Percy spoke again. 

“I mean - you, this doesn’t make sense. You’re supposed to look different, I think…” Percy cursed his lack of memory. Something about this being was so familiar, yet the fragments of memories refused to connect. 

Taking pity on Percy’s lack of words, the Cheerios spoke. 

“You are correct, this is not my preferred form, little hero”

And all of a sudden, something clicked into place. Little Hero . It slotted into place - this was a name he’d been called before in his past life, by this being. That voice - it was so familiar too… 

Percy tried to push deeper into his fractured memories. There was his name, Percy Jackson, and the name of another; Annabeth - who he somehow knew had blonde curly hair and piercing grey eyes.

And now there was another memory; ‘ run, little hero’ and a blue hairbrush hitting someone in the face. The features of the person were unfocused - the face indecipherable, but it was something… a memory. 

“A blue hairbrush hit you in the face,” Percy said aloud. 

Shiny and Sulky cackled at that. Cheerio man didn’t react - though Percy bet if Cheerios could frown, he would be. 

“Now brother, you never told us this story” Shiny taunted. A stray Cheerio was flung and hit him square on the nose. 

“The boy is confused. Nothing happened with a blue hairbrush. I have no idea what he is referring to, " the Cheerios replied. 

“No, listen, I may not know who you are, but I know someone threw a blue hairbrush at you - and it hit you in the face,” Percy said firmly. 

“Do you truly not recognize me?” Cheerio-man asked. 

Percy shook his head. “I’m guessing you weren’t always so Cheer-y?” he joked. 

The Cheerios did not appreciate the joke, as a cheerio was flung at him, which Percy swiftly dodged. 

“No. Once I had a proper body - this one was just a gift from my mother. I believe it is her idea of a joke, having me inhabit the body of a grain spirit, as I am the god of agriculture, as well as the lord of time”. 

“Kronos…” Percy breathed, “No, not Kronos, Saturn,” Percy corrected.

“Eugh they’ve made him Roman, gross!” Sulky groaned. 

“I’ve always thought Romans are ridiculous,” Shiny agreed. “Can you believe the name they gave me? Sun , that’s my son’s domain! Not mine. I am the titan of all heat and heavenly light, and they dare narrow my domain to one ball of light. Blasphemy! That’s what it is!” he ranted. 

“And apparently they can fly! Flying is so unfair, it gives you an advantage in combat- and they don’t even need chariots to fly!” Sulky joined in. 

“Romans can’t fly…” Percy said eyebrows knitting together. 

“And they are the reason why my poor children faded… oh, I’ve only got Eos left now, and her mother has full custody,” Shiny whined. Percy took a step back, worried that he would either cry or burst into flames. 

“Cease your complaining brothers,” said Kronos - or Saturn, though Percy was unsure of the name at this point. 

“Are you not Saturn?” Percy asked, seeking some sort of clarification. 

“Saturn is my Roman form. I am Kronos at the moment,” he replied. 

“Kronos… we’ve met before, haven’t we? We- we fought. There was a war…” Percy shook his head, overwhelmed by the sudden flashes of memories that flew by impossibly fast. He tried to reach out and grab them, but they moved too quickly, darting out of his outstretched fingers. 

“My, what has happened since then, I wonder, for you to not recall our history? And for you to refer to me by the Roman name… perhaps…” Kronos muttered to himself. 

Percy huffed, annoyed by how cryptic the titan was being. “Welcome to the life of an amnesiac, you never know what the fuck is going on” he sighed. 

“How did you get amnesia?” Shiny asked. 

Percy raised an eyebrow at him. “Why would I remember how I lost my memories?” he asked. 

Shiny at least had the decency to look embarrassed. 

“But you can remember me, right?” Sulky asked hopefully. 

“No?” Percy replied. “I only remember one person, and you’re definitely not her,” he told him. 

“I- I’m your dad? You’re my son, how could you forget me?” Sulky all but sobbed. 

“You’re my… I… Something tells me you’re not Neptune, so I highly doubt I’m your son” Percy replied. 

“Why does he remember him and not me, ” Sulky cried dramatically, throwing his head in his hands. 

“Probably because you’re not actually his father” Shiny replied, awkwardly patting Sulky’s back. 

“If it makes you feel better, I didn’t know Neptune was my dad until Juno told me,” Percy shrugged. 

Another figure chose that time to burst into the room. 

“Brothers! Do you want the Olympians barging down here? Why must you draw their attention- Oh, hello Perseus,” the man said. 

“Oceanus, how nice of you to finally join us,” Kronos said, two Cheerios spinning around inside him to give the impression of eye-rolling. 

“Well excuse me for not wanting to draw any further attention to the underwater cave I’m hiding my idiot little brothers, although you seem to be drawing enough attention all by yourselves!” Oceanus exclaimed. 

“It’s not our fault Perseus keeps rattling off the names of Roman gods!” Shiny complained. 

“Woah! Don’t go throwing me under the bus. You’re the ones claiming you’re Neptu-” Percy was cut off by Oceanus slamming a hand over his mouth. Percy did the mature thing and liked Oceanus’ hand. It tasted surprisingly like calamari. 

“Perseus, we are currently hiding in your father's domain. It would be much appreciated if you didn’t summon his Roman form to send these fools back to the pit,” Oceanus sighed, looking disapprovingly at his brothers. 

“Are you not supposed to be here?” Percy asked. 

“I am well within my rights to be here. My brothers, however… they are supposed to be in Tartarus. I risked much by bringing them to this cave.” he replied. 

“Wait- isn’t Tartarus supposed to be like a prison? As in, super hard to get out?” Percy asked. 

“Eh, I suppose you could say part of their essence is still in Tartarus. This cave is incredibly deep in the ocean, the floor makes up the ceiling of the underworld itsef. However, I suspect this is the furthest my brothers can stretch their consciousness. If the cave were any closer to the surface, I don’t believe my brothers would be able to be here” Oceanus said.

“And mom got the guard kidnapped!” Shiny added. 

“And our mother chained the god of death, which certainly helps.” Oceanus sighed. 

“Yeah, I’ve heard about that predicament. I’m literally on a quest to free him,” Percy rolled his eyes. 

Now, maybe he shouldn’t be giving out this information to potential enemies who kinda-escaped from Tartarus, but he didn’t feel particularly worried, considering one of them was made of Cheerios. 

“Ugh, can you not? He’s so strict about when we can come back to the world of the living” Sulky whined. 

“I think I agree with him on that. I’ve been offered enough cheese ‘n’ wieners for a lifetime” Percy said. 

“I’m sorry- what?” Shiny asked. 

“Stheno and Euryale. Chased me all the way to camp and kept offering me a cheese ‘n’ wiener before they killed me to ‘avenge their sister’” Percy rolled his eyes. 

“The gorgon sisters offered you food before they killed you?” Oceanus asked skeptically. 

“Nah, just Stheno. Euryale was really just in the murder part of things” Percy shrugged. 

“Interesting… I was under the impression Stheno and Euryale had faded” Kronos pondered. 

“And we thought you scattered, yet we still have to put up with you” Sulky huffed. 

“But Mother gave Stheno and Euryale their bodies! What do I get? A Karpos. How ridiculous is that!” Kronos cried. 

“Well actually, I killed the Karpos. You’re just Cheerios now” Percy reminded him. 

Kronos made a strange howling sound at the reminder. 

“This is why you’re my favourite hero,” Shiny commented. 

“And he doesn’t fly! All the best heroes keep both feet planted on the ground when they fight!” Sulky added. 

“Well I’m pretty sure Zeu-” he paused at Oceanus’ look, “I mean, the big guy upstairs, would smite me if I flew,” Percy said. 

“I was a much better king than him. I never smote anyone” Kronos huffed. 

“Didn’t you eat your kids?” Percy asked. 

“Why do you remember that! It’s all anyone remembers! Nobody talks about the stomachaches they gave me- they kicked so much, but I’m the bad guy for eating my kids” he sighed. 

“At least he remembers something about you! He doesn’t remember his own father” Sulky cried. 

“You’re not my dad Sulky, get over it,” Percy said. 

“Sulky?” Shiny asked. 

“Uh yeah. You’re Shiny, he’s Sulky” Percy replied, pointing to each of them. 

“And what’s Oceanus, Soggy?” Shiny asked. 

“No, he’s Oceanus,” he replied. 

“What- why do you call him by his real name?” Shiny asked in disbelief. 

“Because you guys have said his name, and I still don’t know yours!” Percy complained. 

Oceanus sighed. “Hyperion and Krios,” he said, pointing to each titan. “Though Shiny and Sulky may suit them more” 

Percy nodded. 

“As much as I appreciate the new nicknames for my brothers… we have distracted ourselves from the topic of your memories,” Kronos said. 

“If you call me Shiny I’m calling you Cheerio” Hyperion claimed. 

“I told you, I really don’t know what happened to my memories” Percy sighed. 

“Mnemosyne would probably know,” Oceanus pondered. 

“We are not calling Mnemosyne. I forgot her birthday a few hundred years ago, and she still hasn’t let me forget it” Hyperion shuddered. 

“So you’re not helping me because you’re too scared of your sister” Percy deadpanned. 

“She’s really scary. She invented linguistics… every alphabet, every language, it’s all her fault” Krios added. 

“So you’re telling me she’s responsible for the English language?” Percy asked. The titans nodded. “Yup that settles it, I don’t want any help from her. I’m hopelessly dyslexic, and it’s all the alphabet's fault” 

“In defence of our sister, language has brought us together in many ways…” Oceanus said. 

“I cannot freaking read and it’s her fault. I hate English, therefore I hate your sister. Sorry,” Percy said, though he didn’t feel particularly sorry. 

“Let the record show I tried,” Oceanus muttered. 

“It’s alright, I’ll find a way to get my memories back” Percy shrugged. “Something tells me Annabeth would murder me if I don’t… she seems like the type of person to do that” he said. 

“Perseus has a crush” Hyperion sing-songed. 

“I think she’s my girlfriend actually,” Percy said, feeling a faint blush creep up his cheeks. 

“I knew it!” Kronos shouted suddenly, drawing all eyes to him. 

“You three didn’t have to witness them making goo-goo eyes across the battlefield at each other, I did.” Kronos huffed in explanation. 

“I- I don’t make goo-goo eyes!” Percy protested. 

“You don’t have any memories! How would you know!” Kronos fired back. 

“I just know,” Percy huffed. 

“Uh-huh. Well, my memories are intact, and I distinctly remember the pining , and by the titans was it painful to watch” he replied. 

“I’m going to turn you into Cheerio dust,” Percy told him, narrowing his eyes. He was rewarded with several Cheerios flying at him. 

The last Cheerio, however, instead of hitting him, passed straight through him. 

“Huh, does this usually happen in dreams?” Percy asked, looking down at his body - which was fading in and out of existence. 

“Yes, it just means you’re waking up,” Oceanus said. 

“Oh, I guess that makes sense?” 

“Makes more sense than you eavesdropping on our conversations in your dreams” Hyperion sighed. 

“You love it when I show up,” Percy smirked. 

“I deny this claim. You’re annoying” Hyperion said. 

“You’re the best! Come back soon! You were away for so long last time… and some stupid flying dude killed me!” Krios cried. 

“I want to ask questions, but something tells me I shouldn't,” Percy said. 

“Please don’t, he never shuts up” Hyperion agreed. 

“And not only did he fly… he had a sword and a lance. Two weapons is cheating! Here I am, expecting a fair sword fight but no… he’s up there like superman with a lance. It’s just ridiculous!” Krios ranted. 

Thankfully, Krios’ rant was cut off as Percy woke up. Unfortunately, Pax was dangerously close to sinking, and Hazel was desperately trying to scoop water out of the bottom. 

“Oh thank gods you’re up, I didn’t want to wake you but…” Hazel trailed off. 

“I’ve got this Hazel, you get some rest,” Percy told her and set to work on holding the boat together while he steered it towards Alaska. 

Chapter Text

Percy was in Tartarus again. 

He could feel the acidic air burning as it travelled down his windpipe into his lungs. Shards of glass that made up the floor buried themselves painfully into his feet, as the red haze that lingered over the place surrounded Percy. 

He gripped the hilt of his sword white-knuckled, eyes darting around frantically. The red mist seemed to press closer towards him, the toxic air in his lungs burned, and Percy found himself gasping for breath. His free hand clutched at his shirt, trying to relieve the tightness in his chest. 

He could feel his heart pounding in his ears, and he spun around, scanning to make sure nobody was behind him. 

The glass painfully bit into his bare feet, causing the skin to break and the glass to embed itself further. Percy vaguely noticed that he was only wearing his pyjama pants and an old t-shirt… which was strange in itself, but he didn’t let his thoughts linger there, considering he was in Tartarus again. 

Why was he back here? What had he done to deserve this? 

Did he and Annabeth ever really get out? Had the past months with Annabeth just been a lie… some sort of cruel torture to show how hopeless everything truly was? 

Percy’s thoughts were spiralling as he frantically turned around, trying to scan his surroundings. 

But no matter what direction he looked, it was empty . Just red mist that pressed ever closer, no monsters, no old enemies, no Annabeth . 

Gods, where was Annabeth… 

Percy’s heartbeat grew even more rapid, blood rushing to his head as his vision blurred.

He needed to find Annabeth, he needed to make sure she was safe because he couldn’t see her and that could only mean she was in danger  

He was supposed to protect her… he promised her they’d stay together but he was alone and that could only mean she was alone… 

Percy needed Annabeth, she was his lifeline, he couldn’t live with himself if something happened to her oh gods did something happen to her, he couldn’t survive without her, he wasn’t…

“Perseus? Perseus!” 

A hand was on his shoulder, shaking him. Percy acted on instinct, freeing himself from the grip and whirling around to slash with Riptide at his opponent. 

However, Riptide only met air as the jumped backwards impossibly quickly. Vision still blurry, Percy moved backwards, slipping into a practiced defensive stance. 

He blinked several times, trying to get his tunnelled vision to clear. He could hear someone saying something, but couldn’t quite make anything out over the blood rushing. 

Another hand touched him from behind and he whipped around, cutting through the air with his sword. Riptide made contact with something hard with a metallic thunk . 

The figures came into focus, the golden armour standing out like a sore thumb against the rusty red of the atmosphere and the ashy ground. 

“Hyperion,” Percy said, forcing his sandpaper tongue to form words. 

“Why am I here,” He growled, still on the defence. 

“I don’t thin-” 

“Where’s Annabeth!” He demanded voice raised. 

“She’s not here,” Krios said, moving into Percy’s line of sight and stepping to stand beside his brother. 

“What did you do to her, where is she!” Percy shouted, feeling his panic bubbling up again. 

“We didn’t do anything,” Hyperion said. 

“Then why am I here!” Percy replied angrily. 

“Calm down Perses, I-” Krios started, but Percy cut him off. 

“Don’t tell me to calm down! And for fucks sake, it’s Percy, I’m not your son!” 

“Sorry…” Krios mumbled, looking ashamed. “But I don’t think you’re actually here… I think you’re dreaming,”. 

“Oh,” Percy said, feeling his face aflame. “I thought…” he trailed off. Suddenly, several things made sense. Like why he was in his pyjamas. And why no monsters were attacking him, despite him smelling like a tasty demigod. 

He let himself take a breath - a real breath that properly filled his lungs. He could still taste the acidity, but the burn lessened considerably as if his mind had registered that the air of Tartarus was just a memory.

“Are you going to attack us again?” Hyperion asked nonchalantly. 

Percy hesitantly capped Riptide and slipped it into his pocket.

“Hey, don’t blame me for my PTSD” he scowled. 

“Speaking of my trauma… I thought you guys got like, absorbed?” Percy asked

“Eh, turns out it wasn’t permanent,” Hyperion shrugged. 

“I can’t believe Mom’s dating that guy,” Krios groaned. 

“So your step-dad basically put you in a fucked up timeout,” he said. 

Krios and Hyperion looked at him unblinkingly. Percy couldn’t tell if they were confused or just left speechless by his words. 

“So I met the flying boy you were complaining about!” Percy added, trying to change the subject. 

Krios made a noise of disgust. 

“I don’t want to speak about that bastard,” he grumbled. 

“Hey! Don’t talk about my bro like that,” Percy fired back. 

“He’s your bro ?” Hyperion asked. 

“Yup! And I’m actually trying to destigmatize the word ‘bastard’. It’s not our fault our dads cheated,” he replied. 

“I suppose that’s fair,” Hyperion said. 

“Fine. He’s a dolt then,” Krios said. 

“Again, only I’m allowed to insult my bro,” Percy told him. 

“Eugh, please don’t tell me you associate with him,” Krios complained. 

“Uh yeah, he’s one of my best friends. Not my best friend though, that’s Grover. We had a rivalry for a bit, but Clarisse already has the title of worstie, so we gave up on that,” Percy chuckled. 

“What is a worstie,” Hyperion said, disbelief evident in his tone. 

“It’s like a bestie, but you beat each other up to show your love,” Percy smiled. 

“I regret asking,” Hyperion sighed. 

“That makes no sense,” Krios added. 

“Hey, it’s your dysfunctional family,” Percy shrugged. 

“And I don’t want to be associated with it,” Hyperion said. 

“I second that,” Percy laughed. “At least you don’t have to watch the Olympians perform the same musical every summer.” 

“What?” Hyperion asked. 

“Oh gods, it’s awful, truly. Apollo plays like five different people, and Hermes is the lead, not to mention Mr. D can rap super fast… Athena plays George Washington, and I know he was her kid, but it’s still weird to see…” Percy trailed off. 

“I have so many questions,” Hyperion said. 

“You don’t want the answers, trust me. If I have to watch Apollo and Hermes have an affair one more time , I swear, they pratically have sex on stage, it’s awful ,” he groaned.

“And you still fight for them?” Krios questioned. 

“Nah, I’m retired. Plus I was never really fighting for them in the first place,” he replied. 

Hyperion raised an eyebrow. 

“I was fighting for my friends, and I wasn’t completely sure you wouldn’t kill them if you won, considering all the attempted murders,” he told them. 

“Plus there was the whole ‘preservation of humanity’ thing, and Kronos’s vibes are not good,” Percy added. 

“You-you’re telling me you didn’t side with us because of the ‘vibes’?” Krios spluttered. 

“Well no, there were other factors, but yeah, the vibes were a factor,” Percy amended.

“Why did the outcome of the war depend on a literal child,” Hyperion groaned. 

“I’ve been asking that question for five years! The gods always just threaten to smite me whenever I bring up their bad parenting though…” 

“How are you friends with Jason again, when we fought he was all ‘for the gods of Olympus’ and ‘duty of Rome’” Krios whined. 

“Eh, I’m teaching him how to be more impertinent,” Percy said. “So far, we’re doing a good job of dodging the lightning bolts,” he grinned. 

“Do I want to know what you did?” Hyperion sighed. 

“Probably not,” he said.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, what happened to the cave we were in last time?” Percy asked. 

Hyperion and Krios exchanged glances. 

“Long story…” Krios said. 

“It’s really not a long story,” Hyperion said, grinning widely. 

“What did you do?” Percy asked. 

“Well first Krios was moping too much… like there was a puddle of his tears on the floor, it was super embarrassing,” Hyperion said. 

“There was not!” Krios exclaimed. 

“Yes, there was!” Hyperion retorted. “Kronos dissolved in it, it was hilarious!” he cackled. 

“Did you kill Kronos by crying too much… I wish it was that easy for me,” Percy laughed. 

“Anyway Oceanus got tired of Krios being all angsty,” Hyperion continued. 

“No! He said you were being too obnoxious with your glowing!” Krios argued. 

“I was trying to cheer you up!” 

“No, you were actively harassing me,” 

“Was not!”

“Was too!” 

“Oh my gods, shut up,” Percy groaned. “It’s like Piper and Drew all over again,” he complained.

“Okay, well basically Oceanus kicked us out,” Krios shrugged. “Who’s fault it was is a subject of contention. 

“I blame Kronos,” Percy said. 

“You weren’t even there… you know what, I think I agree” Hyperion said. 

“Blaming Kronos is always the solution. Well, my therapist says I should try to avoid placing blame, but I think that’s ‘cause she’s afraid I’ll get smited if I’m honest about my feelings,” Percy said. 

“You go to therapy?” Krios asked. 

“Uh yeah, have we not established that I’m incredibly mentally ill?” Percy shot back. 

“You did mention PTSD,” Hyperion chimed in. 

“Don’t forget the depression, that’s crucial. And the anxiety, the suicidal ideation, the paranoia… though that’s tied to the PTSD,” he pondered. 

“Just the general trauma that comes from being a child soldier, y’know?” Percy grinned, shooting the titan’s finger guns. 

“Why are you the way you are… put the finger guns away,” Hyperion groaned.

Percy was about to fire back with a snarky remark, but instead found himself crushed by Krios.

“Ack, let go!” he cried. 

“No. You get a hug,” Krios said. 

“I bite! You know I bite!” Percy yelled, flailing. 

“No…  don’t bite, OW!” 

“That’s going to leave a mark,” Krios said, rubbing his arm. 

“Good,” Percy replied. 

“Are you absolutely positive I can’t adopt you?” Krios pleaded. 

“Yes,” Percy said, at the same time Hyperion said “Are you sure you want to adopt him,” 

“Excuse me!” Percy cried, offended. 

“Yes! I need to protect him,” Krios said. “He’s been through too much,” 

“Well, I mean, yeah, but others have been through worse,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. 

“Didn’t you say you were suicidal…” Hyperion questioned. 

“I mean it’s like a passive thing. I’m not like actively trying to kill myself, I just don’t think living’s all that,” he said indifferently. 

“I don’t think that makes it any less concerning,” Krios said. 

“You’re not my therapist,” he replied. “Plus, is it really that surprising? My life is shit, no thanks to you” 

“You concern me so much,” Hyperion sighed. 

“Dude, you guys are responsible for a decent chunk of my trauma. Don’t get too cocky though, you still have to compete with my daddy issues,” he joked. 

“I don’t think this is lightening the mood in the way you think it is,” Krios said. 

“Ugh, you guys are no fun. Leo would understand my humour,” Percy said, shaking his head.

“Actually, Leo would want me to tell you to tell your mom ‘thank you’ cause he thinks his dead mom jokes are hilarious, and she’s the reason he can make them,” he added. 

“I thought he was the one that died to blow up Mom?” Hyperion questioned. 

“He did, but he’s back now. Brought back Calypso too, no idea how he pulled her-” Percy said. 

“How is Calypso? She’s my favourite grand-niece!” Krios exclaimed. 

“She’s great actually, she’s discovered the wonders of jeans and t-shirts…” Percy laughed, remembering Calypso’s reactions to all sorts of modern developments. 

“That's good?” Hyperion said. Percy nodded in agreement.

“Plus we’re introducing her to modern music… Piper’s made her a big swiftie,” Percy smiled. 

“Swiftie?” Krios asked hesitantly. 

“Taylor Swift. She’s basically a goddess… the Apollo kids think she might be their sister actually. Either that or Apollo’s gonna have a fling with her,” Percy shrugged before a thought occurred to him. 

“Oh my gods, if Apollo dated Taylor Swift, we’d get an epic album… maybe I should set them up,” he pondered. 

“I’m still confused about who Taylor Swift is,” Hyperion mentioned.

“Huh, yeah, I guess they wouldn’t have nice things like music down in Tartarus,” Percy hummed. 

“It’s miserable here,” Krios agreed. 

“You’re miserable,” Hyperion muttered. 

Krios and Hyperion then continued to bicker, as Percy felt a tugging sensation. Looking down he noticed his hands were fading, as they usually did when he was waking up from a dream. 

“Uh guys, I’m waking up,” he said, but the Titans were too busy with their argument.

“Bye, I guess,” Percy said, before blinking awake. 

“Hey, you okay? I thought you were having a nightmare, but then you stopped thrashing, so I wasn’t sure if I should wake you,” Annabeth said, propped up on her side next to him. 

“Demigod dream… not an important one though, don’t worry,” he said, noticing Annabeth’s worried gaze. 

“If you say so,” she hummed, playing with a couple of strands of his hair as she spoke. 

“Is it time to get up already?” Percy asked, noticing the light streaming in through the windows. 

“Unfortunately,” Annabeth replied, moving to get off the bed. 

“No, stay,” Percy whined, wrapping his arms around her middle and pulling her back down. 

Annabeth laughed. “Come on Seaweed Brain, we need to set a good example for the younger kids,” 

“I’ve always been a terrible role model,” he grumbled in response. 

“That’s not true… well at least, not entirely,” she replied. 

“Now come on, get up!” She laughed, wriggling out of his grip and pulling the blankets off of him with a grin.