When Percy Jackson woke up, he knew something was wrong.
He felt different. His bed was hard, cold. For once, ever since going to that place, he didn’t have any nightmares. Or demigod dreams, for that matter.
All of that happened in a second. The next second just made him even more confused.
When he opened his eyes, he wasn’t in his bed in his college dorm in New Rome. He wasn’t in his mom’s Manhattan apartment. He wasn’t in his cabin at Camp Half-Blood. No, he was lying on the ground, in an alley. It was a place he was familiar with, though he hadn’t been there for a few years now. He was outside Berkeley, next to a Bargain Mart, where he had stayed after leaving the Wolf House. He had only stayed for a night since the Gorgons started chasing him the next morning.
Speaking of Gorgons, he could hear one of them–Stheno, most likely–harping on about giving the demigod she and Euryale could smell some free samples. As they appeared at the end of the alley close to the Bargain Mart entrance, Percy could see Stheno and Euryale in all their glory–Bargain Mart uniforms and Cheese ‘n’ Wieners platter included.
He could tell that, once they spotted him, they knew who he was. It made sense to him–even if he hadn’t fought him, at this point every monster knew who Perseus Jackson was. The part that didn’t make sense, however, was that while they seemed to know him, they didn’t seem to recognize him. They should recognize him, though. They had chased him across Berkeley for three days before he found Camp Jupiter. Without a car or any means of transport at the moment, Percy had a feeling it would take the same amount of time.
The two Gorgons approached quickly, hissing about the “missing son of the sea.” As they got within his range of attack, he acted on instinct, taking out Riptide and slashing through the two monsters before running. This scene seemed all too familiar to him. It was almost like he had deja vu.
As he was running off, he could hear the two monsters reforming. It was insanely fast. The last time Percy saw a monster reform that quickly was–
On the quest to free Thanatos with Frank and Hazel.
sh*t.
Percy had figured something out: either Thanatos had been kidnapped again, or he was somehow back in time, before getting to Camp Jupiter. He was hoping it was neither, but with his luck, he doubted it. Between waking up where he did, the appearance of Stheno and Euryale, and the fact that the two were reforming so fast, Percy was thinking he had somehow time-traveled. And if that was true, he couldn’t attract the attention of any of the Gods.
What did that mean for Percy?
No acting out of the ordinary. Under normal circ*mstances, that may not be a problem, he could just act like himself, but these were not normal circ*mstances. If he was getting the time right, he was supposed to have amnesia right now. And since Juno/Hera was likely watching him, that meant he had to act like it.
Percy kept running, and the Gorgons were still close behind him. Once he got to a secluded area, he stopped, spun around, and sliced the monsters to dust before continuing running. He should be going in the direction of Camp Jupiter, at which point he would have to try to stick as close to what had originally happened as possible. He had a hope, though, that this time he may be able to make things better.
—-----
Three days later, Percy was flying down a hill on a free samples platter. When he landed in a clump of bushes near the highway due to the help of some mysterious wind, he looked over to the highway’s median. There they were: Frank and Hazel. He looked next to him and was both completely surprised and not at all surprised to see the figure there: Juno. He had known he was back in time–not only had he figured it out three days ago, but in those three days he had picked up a newspaper, only to see the date as three years ago–but he had hoped that this was just some extensive nightmare.
Percy went back to staring at Frank and Hazel from a distance. Once he started to hear the Gorgons flying towards them, he looked in the opposite direction of Camp Jupiter–to the sea. Was he seriously considering just f*cking off to live in the ocean when he could prevent so much heartache in the near future? No, not really. He was mainly thinking about his dad, what Poseidon may do if he were to go to Atlantis. Percy knew he had been missing for eight months at this point, eight months of his parents and his beloved girlfriend worrying out of their minds.
Percy also knew, though, that he had to look like he was actually contemplating it. It was the reason Juno had talked to him originally. He didn’t want to risk messing that up, risk having no reason to go to Camp Jupiter other than Lupa.
That was when Juno spoke up, right on cue.
“You’re right, of course.” Percy looked over at her, carefully turning his face into a mask of surprise. Juno continued, “It isn’t a maintenance tunnel. It’s the entrance to camp.”
Percy couldn’t help himself. Hope filled his eyes, his entire form. Once he got to camp, he could try to fix things.
Somehow, everything was going to plan. Percy picked up Juno and ran across the highway towards Frank and Hazel, knowing no cars would hit him. As Frank and Hazel started fighting the Gorgons while getting himself and Juno to safety, he had to hold back a smile.
Things were going to be better. He could make things better.
