Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Percy anchors his thread in Los Vegas and finds an entrance to the labyrinth, or rather, Kronos does because Percy is numb with shock.

Nico Di Angelo is out.

Years ahead of schedule!

He’d even be the same age as Percy just about! Gods, and wasn’t that a horrifying concept, the fact that currently all known children of the Greek big three were all ambiguous ages due to magic bullshit, and the Great Prophecy explicitly said one of them had to be exactly 16. 

“But how? Why? What about Bianica? Will she notice Nico is missing? She had joined the Hunters before to get some of that freedom of just being a girl with other girls…” Percy says, throat thick.

“As I brought you back to simply be a child with other children.”

“And look at how well that’s gone!” Percy shouts, throwing up his hands to Kronos’s low hum of grief and guilt. 

 Had Glimmer bumped into Nico on the way out and grabbed him? She had been holding his hand when running out. She must have. Of course Nico would trust a big sister figure. Another unintended consequence of their actions.

Percy feels sick.

“It’s done now. They will continue to the Garden of the Hesperides for the Golden Apple, and Nico will be with them.” Kronos says. 

“He can’t go up against the Ladon like this!” 

Percy gasps for air, stifled in the tunnel. The Thread glows brightly behind him and the spool sits like a mini star in his hands. He tried not to think about how the string looks uncannily like his frayed Thread of life in the Fates hands all those months ago. For all intents and purposes this spool was Percy holding his own life in his hands. 

“Neither can you. Make haste, dearest, as the final hours of this week are upon us and your mother will be at your school to pick you up at the end of this day.”

“We didn’t have a Thread to lay out the last time Rachel and I came from Las Vegas. It will take awhile.” Percy says, mind refocusing on the imminent problem instead of the absolute clusterfuck Nico released. When you anchored a Thread at one location just outside of the Labyrinth and went through to the other side and anchored again, the maze didn’t stay in that path. It reconfigured constantly. So the Thread would automatically shift from the path you initially took to whichever was the most direct and safest. The Thread would remain invisible to everyone except the person who originally laid it, and would only be visible with permission from the layer. 

Which meant Percy was walking blind. 

But he can’t let it go.

“Grandfather? If anyone could see through the magics that mess with our ages, it’s you. At this point in time, who is older between me and Nico?” Who would be forced to bear the weight of the Great Prophecy?

Kronos is silent.

Percy feels his heart jolt. 

Half horror, half hope. Or all hope, the way it tried to flee his heart with Percy’s mounting despair.

“Tell me!” He begs. 

“Oh, my darling grandsons,” Kronos despairs. “You and Nico are now both aged at the exact same point in time. By a quirk of…fate, the Great Prophecy could now be either one of you.”

…

…

…

Percy continues on in a trance. 

It makes horrible, horrible sense.

The Fates would want a back up option. They themselves said how Percy’s thread was frayed, their increasing troubles weaving him back into the narrative with it being so weak without Poseidon’s powers or claiming over Percy to reinforce it. He remembers the way the three Fates had sewn Neresus’s mouth shut with his own immortal thread to protect Percy due to that fraying and he shudders so hard he nearly drops the spool, the spool so like the Fate’s own. This way, by having Glimmer find and take Nico out early, they could fall back on Nico if Percy should fail. 

They didn’t have faith in him.

And why exactly, is Percy so hurt by that? 

Percy had grown up knowing not to be so trusting, but his blind loyalty in those who showed him even an ounce of kindness often led to the false belief others would feel the same about him to some extent. Kronos feels grim in the back of his mind, confirming Percy’s suspicions. 

All they could do now was walk on. Percy doubts Glimmer would let him put Nico back in the Hotel, and after Percy’s near entrapment he’s not sure he’d even had the stomach to do it. 

…

…

…

The damp earthen tunnel gives way into a smooth square corridor like the entrance to a professional sports arena and for a horrible moment Percy thinks he’s going to walk into the middle of a football game or something.

But no.

The reality is, as always, much worse. 

Percy darts off to the side and into a throng of humanoid monsters in the bleachers, mist-mask up, just in time to avoid being seen. 

“And what do you have to offer myself and my parents, Poseidon of the Sea, and Gaia of the Earth, for safe passage now, Kampê of the scimitars, guardian of Tartarus?" Antaeus roars.

He’s standing next to several dead magical creatures.

Percy’s jaw drops.

It’s several of the trafficked animals. A dead juvenile Hellhound, a magical bird, and a heartbreakingly young Unicorn who had been impaled on its own ripped off horn, a hole in its head and heart. 

Percy sees red. 

If he had gotten here a few minutes earlier he probably would have heard the last words of that unicorn, he might have been even able to save them!

Calm. Calm, dearest. 

The crowd of monsters roars. 

Percy recognizes several he would fight or had fought in the past world, such as Kelli the Empousa. Percy’s mist-mask means he fits in too well with the crowd of monsters, especially since he’s altered it to fit in with monsters. The thought that they couldn’t tell he was human was a relief but also makes his stomach roll.

Percy tugs his lasso and shoots off a quick prayer to Kym.

Kampê smirks from next to the seat Luke Castellan would have occupied once upon a time.

Because now, another, unknown demi-god is in Luke’s chair.

Oh. 

Right. 

Immortals couldn’t act against the divine laws the same way demi-gods could. Of course Kampê would have to be working with a demi-god of some sort in order to navigate the Labyrinth by Thread! 

But who?

Percy can’t even tell the gender. They’re silent and wearing a gold mask, blatantly stealing Kronos’s colors. 

“Krios had already built a small group by the time I began whispering to Luke, which would have been a year from now, right after Luke should have failed his quest for the Golden Apple in that timeline. I can’t say I know who that demi-god is.” Just as Kronos had not known how Krios and Luke had acquired the first scythe piece.

“Gaia was feeding Krios instructions.” Percy murmurs. 

Gaia knew where the Scythe shards were, but it’s not like they could ask her. Even asking Krios was a longshot. 

“She was. She knows where those pieces are because she made the weapon. She used me to clear the path for her own uprising.” Kronos nearly snarls, heartbroken, and it’s just as good that Kampê chooses that moment to stand, a cold smirk on her face visible even from hundreds of feet away. Geryon claps in the crowd three rows in front of Percy and the din drowns them out. It’s so weird to think Percy had once fought in that arena.

“We have one last offering to you, Antaeus, son of the Sea and Earth.”

Percy jolts at the reminder that this is his half-brother and also the son of his arguably greatest enemy. 

And Percy loses his breath as three Hunters are pushed forward from a hole in the wall underneath their stone rows of seats. 

They remind him so strikingly of Phoebe, Thalia, and Bianica that he nearly cries out in fear and grief. There was nothing worse than being a spectator. 

Except he recognizes them.

“Three huntresses, arrogant enough to think they could stop us! To the glory of Gaia!” Kampê cries! 

Two of them are Merida and Winnie, new hunters Percy had run into along with Phoebe in Wisconsin this week. The third is a girl with skin so pale it nearly glows, with hair a platinum blonde in thick locs that reminds him of Kym’s jellyfish locs. She shares the same face with Kym, and, wait, hadn’t Kym said most of her children were daughters that joined Artemis’s hunt?

Was Percy about to watch his Niece die?!

No.

No he wasn’t.

“You aren’t strong enough yet to confront Antaeus directly!” Kronos cautions. 

The three girls are released from their Celestial Bronze binders by a monster with keys  and shoved in front of Antaeus. The best Percy can figure is that they found and followed some of the traffickers' tracks into the maze and got caught.

Several sacrificial horses are released with the three girls and Antaeus shouts in delight and begins his attack by lashing out at a horse. The force of his blow splits it in two and sends its digestive track over to the girls, with intestines wrapping about Winnie’s shoulders like the world’s least fashionable scarf. The appendix slaps her wetly in the face before falling limply at her side, leaving behind a bloody imprint on her cheek.

She screams. 

Merida and Niece begin a volley of arrows to Antaeus as they had been given them back for a more enjoyable fight. Percy sees a safety net go up over the crowd so that they can’t shoot into the stands. Niece is noticeably better than the newer Merida.

Winnie detangles herself from the intestines.

Just in time to be grabbed by Antaeus.

Percy gasps. 

The blood makes her slippery enough where he drops her like a bar of soap. Winnie does some quick thinking and entangles the intestines between Antaeus’s legs and he stumbles.

And falls.

The crowd goes wild. Percy feels nauseous as he watches Antaeus’s broken neck reform from the dirt, the way the blood splashed on the shifting earth.

The way Percy’s had, the way it had woken Gaia. 

Percy runs.

“Under the stands where the girls were released, the other horses are there, along with the supports. Get the keys from the warden.” Kronos murmurs. 

They can only hope the three girls can hold out just a bit longer!

Percy runs past the warden that released the three girls. Percy kills him and grabs the key ring. Percy slips back under and sees the stone. 

The stands are carved into the side of the stadium.

They are rock.

He grabs his lasso, the key-ring, and looks at the chained creatures.

Many are not horses, but various magical creatures whose parts are known to be useful in poisons, potions, and healing poultices. 

The ones that are horses stare at him meekly. They are in varying conditions. The ones meant to be sacrifices to Antaeus and Gaia are less taken care of, as Blackjack had been, but the ones meant to be munitions for Gaia’s rise are strong. 

Fight-ready. 

“Little Lord!” They cry out. The horses are armored down to the knee joint, meant to be ridden by humanoid monsters, or traitorous demi-gods. Percy had taken down several in the Battle of Manhattan. 

Percy grins widely under his mist-mask. 

And he holds the keys to the chains.

They cheer and chant in time with the monster crowd above as Percy frees them.

Another freed.

The crowd boos and Percy can only imagine what is happening above.

Three more.

“What a dodge!” An announcer shouts.

“Stampede!” Percy cries.

He needs the horses out from underneath the stand for his plan to work. He got the idea from when they and Rachel had fled the Night Mares and emerged by Nereus. The rest of the non-horse creatures end up following the horses out due to the flow of the crowd and Percy struggles not to smile when he thinks of how Annabeth, Grover, and himself had freed the zebra and lion from the back of Ares’s van.

They charge outward.

And into the arena. 

“What's this?! A stampede?!” The Announcer shouts in pure shock. The loud tinny radio voice echoes and nearly splits his ears.

“Don’t destroy them! Gaia has purpose for them!” Kampê shouts, sounding like she had just grabbed the microphone. 

Antaeus roars in anger so loudly Percy can even hear him from below.

Percy breathes deeply.

And notices a horse left behind. 

“What's wrong, didn’t I-” Percy cuts himself off. 

His eyes go wide.

It’s a Pegasus with a Unicorn horn. Pegasus were relatively common. Unicorns were rare, having almost been hunted to extinction due to the mist enhancing and healing power of their horns. A Pegacorn, or Unisus, (Percy didn’t know the official term) was something he’d never seen before, only heard of from some of the hunters. 

She looks despondent.

“My son is dead out there. Just died. If you had released me sooner…” the grieving mother trails off and Percy’s heart clenches. This time, it was not the foal who needed saving, but the mother. She wasn’t chained, but too stunned by her loss to move. 

“I know. I’m sorry. A lot of people are trying to stop these traffickers. I am sorry we can’t help your baby, but right now there are other children fighting out there. Can you help?” Percy asks gently.

Another roar from the audience outside and his fists clench. 

“You are a child, little lord.” 

Kronos weeps.

Percy closes his eyes.

“I know. Will you help me?”

She stands.

She nuzzles his wild hair, and steps through the entrance with a sudden, fierce whinny. 

Percy sighs in relief and grief and goes to execute the next phase of his plan. 

He places his palms to stone. 

“Peresus, are you sure you have the strength?”

“I’m gonna have to.” Percy says, voice trembling. He pulls out his square of ambrosia and flask of nectar from Kym. So far, Percy had not needed it, not being hurt enough for it, and simply water healing if the occasion arose.

But he would need it now. 

Percy remembers the lessons from his dad in the other world. The EarthShaker domain was not as intuitive to Percy as the Sea had been, but many things were changing in this life.

That was one of them.

Percy has no clue why this time around he’s taking more after the Earthshaker domain but he will need everything he can get his hands on. Percy presses his palms to the underside of the stone stadium, the top of the horses’s and Huntresses' former prison.

He scraps into the very bottom of his meager self.

And screams. 

The arena shakes.

And so does Percy.

He seizes as the bedrock does, the earthshaker domain grabs hold of him and rattles his bones. A memory of Gabe grabbing his shoulders and shaking Percy back and forth so violently that Percy threw up the blue candy his mom brought is the only thing he can think of. His vision blacks out, his ears ring, he begins hyperventilating. 

He’s going to die here.

Kronos has made himself as small as possible in the back of Percy’s mind because any more divine strain might honestly kill him.

Percy twitches like a half swatted mosquito on the ground, his lungs refuse to expand, and he can feel his life slipping away.

Percy paws helpless at his square and manages to bat it in his mouth.

His jaw won’t chew! He bites his tongue so hard blood splashes on the ground and Percy can only do a terrified wheeze, his rattled mind thinking of Gaia rising from this. 

Percy had been smart enough to open the flask and set it against the wall, and most of the nectar had splashed to the ground.

His cheek lands in it.

Percy drinks the puddle. 

He slowly gets up, gasping, shivering, humiliated. He had wet himself at some point. He picks up the flask and puts the last few drops on his tongue, the rest unsalvageable. 

Kronos comes roaring back.

He’s mad.

He’s never mad at Percy.

“Peresus James Jackson, how could you!?” Kronos rasps. Percy can feel his anger, his fear.

“How could I not!? And let those girls die?” Percy’s speech is slurred as his tongue heals, his teeth are chattering as they did when going with Frank and Hazel to the frigid Alaska. 

“You almost died!” Kronos sounds completely shocked. Percy only really trained extensively with his stronger powers when Kronos was sleeping and incorporating a grain, so he wasn't overwhelmed by divinity the same way Demigods could be if they ate too much nectar and ambrosia. 

It occurs to Percy that Kronos had not genuinely known, until this very moment, how taxing the stronger powers of Percy’s dad was to him this young, this frayed.

Percy sends a wave of sorrow and realization crashing over Kronos, who struggles to calm down even with it. Percy takes the half chewed square with him

But they don’t have time.

Percy sees the gold dust float down from the entrance from monsters crushed by falling stalactites. The arena with the horses and hunters is mostly protected by the very net Antaeus had put in place to prevent them from firing arrows into the audience. The net had funneled most of the rocks into the crowd, crushing most of the monsters. Percy had chosen to shake the carved seats in this area and send the horses and creatures out to the arena to try and protect the girls from any falling debri, but yet still distract Antaeus to give the girls a better chance. 

“Evacuate!” Kampê roars. “Round up the munitions and follow Aurus!”

Percy jolts.

That must be the disguised demi-god. 

Percy staggers up and disguises himself as a surviving monster and he sees Antaeus cursing as he reforms from being impaled. The monsters are trying and failing to round up the horses and other creatures. Several carry weapons and materials. 

Percy spots the Unisus after several moments. She’s hiding her horn by using its inherent magical powers to use mist-makeup like Percy does. She has her son’s horn in her mouth.

Golden monster dust and clouds of kicked up dirt provide a smokescreen for Percy to turn over to the three girls. Somehow, there seems to be a slight but present breeze that prevents it from settling, keeping them hidden. For now. 

Winne coughs up blood. She’s partially covered by a boulder. One just a bit too large for the net to catch.

Percy freezes.

No.

No, no, no!

He runs to the three girls.

Niece almost stabs him with an arrow she’s gripped so hard her knuckles are white. Percy would have let her. 

But Merida stops her.

“Kyantos.” She cries out, tears cutting a path through the dirt and blood on her face. “You’re here!” She’s overjoyed and Percy had never felt more guilty in his life. Bianica had been crushed too.

“I was tracking the traffickers too.” He utters in a way of explanation. 

Niece’s eyes sharpen in realization.

“Can you help us get Winnie out?” Niece begs. Percy wishes he had the ability to ask her name, but the wind has been taken from his sails. 

Percy forces himself to look.

Her arm is a lost cause. One lung has absolutely collapsed. 

Percy has no abilities in the Earthshaker domain left today. 

Merida runs back with part of a broken catapult and begins digging around Winnie, who has begun whining softly and mindlessly. Percy and Niece join in and begin digging desperately, and eventually pull her out after Percy rips off three fingernails.

Her arm stays behind. 

Merida vomits.

Winnie’s unconscious, and Percy mentally begs her forgiveness as he takes what’s left of the chewed ambrosia square and forces it down her throat, rubbing her neck and tracking the motion as she reflexively swallows. What does it mean for an Archer of Artemis to only have one arm? Niece takes Percy’s lasso and makes a tourniquet on Winnie’s stump.

The dust is settling.

Niece looks exhausted.

The horses are nearly all rounded up, some empty-backed, others ridden by monsters. 

“The bottom of the horses, cling onto them! Place your bow so it sticks out from under the boulder!” Percy orders sharply.

Niece catches on quickly, looking on mournfully at her bow-always an initiation gift from Artemis- and places it under the boulder. She grabs Merida and they find a horse adjacent to Percy and Winnie. 

“What about you?” Niece hisses. 

“I can mist-manipulate. I will pretend to be a monster and get on the back of the Unisus!” Its horn could help Winne, if Percy asks nicely. 

“Unisus? Pretend?” Niece asks sharply, and Percy flinches. She probably hadn’t meant it like that, but before Percy can explain, the others are upon them. Percy will have to manipulate his mist-mask to blend in better because the surviving monsters would recognize Kyantos.

The girls are invisible as they cling to the underbelly, the horse armor coming down around them.

Percy runs over to the Unisus.

“Please, it's just me, and this is Winnie. I can hide her but only if I ride with you. Please.”

The Unisus looks.

Then dips her back. 

Percy gets on with Winnie, and feels the warmth of the horn’s power in his very tired, aching bones. Winnie lets out a little sigh of relief. It feels like the first time he wore the Golden Fleece, except a bit less powerful. 

Percy massages the mist like clay with this horn-boost, using up what’s left of his powers to pass himself off as an Empousa. His scent is beginning to leak through from all the blood, but thankfully that can still be passed off from all of Winnie’s blood at the boulder. 

That won’t last. 

“My monsters, it seems Antaeus has accepted the sacrifice of three crushed demi-gods, and the brave monster who sensed the coming quake and released the munitions before they could be crushed will be remembered for his bravery!”

The monsters cheer, and Percy feels sick as he makes himself cheer along with them. 

“We begin the next part of our journey! Aurus?”

The demi-god steps forward. 

“Monsters! You have my permission to view the New York Island thread route!” The mysterious demi-god says. Percy still can’t place an age, but it sounds like an older female teenager.

But suddenly he can see it.

A thread, one Percy looks at and just knows, leads to New York island, the exact place outside of the Dare’s mansion he had first found evidence of trafficking due to Cecil sniffing around there. 

They move onward.

But just before Percy crosses the tunnel he must pass Kampê and Antaeus. 

Percy strains his hearing, heart pounding, still as a rock. The Unisus looks like a Pegasus now, of which the monsters have several, so Percy shouldn’t stand out. 

Kampê is speaking to Antaeus.

“-Meet at the bay, where your sist-”

A monster laughs and drowns her out, but Percy could have sworn Kampê was about to say something….

“The unfavorite task.” Antaeus says as if making an inside joke, and laughs. “And yet, where is Krios? Doing mothers bidding?”

“He is seeking allies.” Is Kampê’s stiff reply. 

“Who? I heard your monsters chattering about Atlas.” Antaeus laughs. “And yet, the most powerful of her sons is unresponsive?”

Kronos lights up like a live-wire. Atlas would have been a great warrior in the titan’s cause, and with Mt. Orthys abandoned and avoided due to the numerous curses- and the fear Atlas would somehow trick them into bearing the weight of the sky- very few people went there.

Percy struggles at the thought of Ouranos.

Kronos threads gold fibers in his lungs, forcing him to breathe evenly and not panic with so many monsters getting in line with them. Percy can feel himself break into a cold sweat, so tense and upright one could mistake him for a dummy. 

The insane laughter, the shattering of the heavens, helplessness. 

Percy has never been happier to be so deep underground.

Gods, the last place on earth he’d want to be was at the one point where Ouranos could harm him before even waking up!

In fact,

The only reason to go would be because of the Garden of the Hesperides.

Percy nearly falls off.

Winnie whimpers and Percy holds her closer even as his mind explodes. 

Luke, Glimmer, Selina, and now Nico were going there to get a Golden Apple!

And now, they finally had a lead on Krios, and it seems he would be going to that same place to begin war preparations and speak with Atlas!

Which means Percy now needs to go there too!

“It’s all coming together.” Percy whispers, feeling sick. 

He can almost see the Fates laughing at their cleverness. Setting up the quest, Percy’s efforts to find Krios, and the efforts of Kampê on his behalf are all now destined to collide at Mt. Orthys. It might be Gaia had the ‘revolution’ start there on purpose, knowing it was where her husband’s influence was the strongest without him waking. 

Gods.

She had planned the ‘Ouranos contingency’ from the very beginning.

Kronos murmurs to calm Percy but can’t hide his own despair. Both at being used in such a gross manner by his own mother, and the fact that as cunning as he was, he had clearly inherited it from Gaia. 

Before they can hear more, before Percy can learn how Gaia is perceiving Kronos’s wresting of grains, the Labyrinth entrance yawns in front of them like the hungry mouth of a giant.

They disappear into blackness

And with the knowledge that Percy would have to get closer to Ouranos far sooner than either of them had thought. 

…

…

…

Winnie is still bleeding.

“Smell that?” a monster asks.

It's thick and cloying and sweet like rotting fruit in the air. 

“Grabbed a bloody souvenir from the crushed Hunters!” Percy says. Kronos laughs for him, altering the pitch of his voice. They move in mostly darkness, Kampê and Aurus leading the pack, various monsters with torchlights.

“Nice!” A monster riding Niece’s horse fist bumps him, and Percy resolves to kill him at the first available opportunity. His lasso has slowed the bleeding to a trickle, but in a few minutes Percy won’t be able to pass it off. 

And Percy sees a glow up ahead. 

Another thread.

One of Percy’s this time.

It’s the thread that leads from Northern Wisconsin to Devil’s Tower. 

It will have to do. 

Percy watches in awe as Kampê and Aurus and then the rest of the monsters walk right through it, not seeing or feeling it at all. 

Percy silently calls the two horses with Merida and Niece over to him, and pulls his own over into a nook. His contact with the Horse Domain is thriving at least. 

“Need to fix some horseshoes.” Percy says when they look in question. 

“Little lord? Next steps?” The horse with Niece asks. 

He inhales.

Percy speaks a command to the three horses to follow him. Quickly.

They turn the corner and Percy draws the other end of his lasso and ties it tightly to a support beam at neck level.

And when the monster who fist bumped him, the monster riding Niece's horse trots across it decapitates him.

He explodes in a shower of gold. 

“We don’t have much time.” Percy says, still hearing the other monsters down the other corridor. If something could happen Percy didn’t want to try and use the EarthShaker domain again. 

Niece comes out from under the horse pale-faced, as does Merida. Their hands are bloody from where they were clutching the armor.

“She’s still alive. The Unisus allowed usage of her horn." Percy whispers, holding the girl close to reassure himself he wasn’t a murderer.

They look up and the Unisus -Percy really needs to get her name- allows the mist to lift just enough to show the horn. Merida bursts into frantic, near silent gasping tears as she struggles to be quiet. 

“What is your name?” Percy asks his Niece.

Names have power.

She blinks and smiles. 

“Kim.”

Percy smiles despite himself, his face still hidden by his Empousa mist mask. He almost asks what the Unisus’s is before freezing. Speaking with horses would be a giveaway about his heritage.

“Kim, Merida, can you see the Thread Kampê and Aurus are following?”

“You mean, like the thread Ariadne created? No.”

Hm.

Aurus had only given permission to what she thought were monsters, Percy included. Kim and Merida would have been left out of that. 

It also meant that Aurus laid the thread.

And the only way to do that was if she at one point had the Spool. 

He feels it in his pocket, still laying the thread from Vegas. 

“I can. I can follow it to where the trafficker’s drop off point is, but you all need to get Winnie medical attention. Any longer with the monsters and we’d have been discovered from the scent of her blood.” And his too. Winnie would live, thanks to the Unisus and the leftover ambrosia, but only if she received medical attention soon. 

“But how?” Merida exhales a relieved sob.

“You follow one of the strings I laid.”

They whip their heads to him.

“You were just outside of Wisconsin where you followed my path into the maze?” Percy asks gently, heart twinging in guilt.

They nod.

“I caught up with the three of them, but the traffickers attacked. Phoebe was injured and we were taken into the maze.” Kim sneers at herself. She looks so much like her mother. 

“So will Phoebe still be there?”

“She should be. I’ve seen her heal from worse.” Kim confirms. “She'd be able to help Winnie, she’s one of the few healers in the Hunters.”

Healing outside of the Apollo cabin was rare. It’s what made his ability to water heal so valuable. Percy had half a mind to take Winnie to camp to be healed following Kampê’s thread, secret identity be damned, but the monster caravan was just too much of a risk.

“The thread I laid is just ahead. You can only see it with my permission, which after I give you, can’t be taken away. If you follow it to the right it will give you the quickest and safest path back to where you left Phoebe in Wisconsin. But safest does not mean safe.” Percy emphasizes. 

Merida and Kim nod. 

Percy lays Winnie gently onto the Unisus he’s riding. He ties a second tourniquet and then a third with the space left on her arm from the munition rope, before untying his bloody lasso.

“The Unisus will go with you.” Percy says gently.

Kim walks up to it, patting its head with a trembling hand. Percy can tell she is an albino this close.

“...You wouldn’t happen to be a daughter of Kymopoleia, would you?” Percy dares to ask.

Kim turns to look at him.

She grins.

“Well, how else do you think I kicked up that smokescreen in the arena?” She smiles sharply. “It’s not as showy as what a child of Zeus would have been able to do, but it allows for neat tricks. Sometimes I can change the wind enough to catch the scent of prey, and send my arrow further.”

Awesome.

Kim walks over. She slowly but surely pulls him into a hug.

“Thank you.” she whispers fiercely into his hair.

A sniffling Merida joins her from the other side, sandwiching Percy in. The two girls are warm, and smell like campfire, arrow oil, and herbs. Like home. 

He breaks.

It’s worth it.

All the pain and confusion, it’s worth it for moments like this. 

He chokes out sobs against his niece's neck as Hope's mother-of-pearl swims in his vision. She’s taller than him, and so is Merida.

“Artemis instructed me to say that the offer to join the Hunters is a standing one.” Kim says as she pulls away and Percy finds himself chasing her warmth.  

“I…I can’t say what my path is at the moment.” Percy turns her down gently, heart yearning for belonging. He pats the Unisus’s face, who is drawn to the Hunters as they had helped her in the past.

“I grant you three permission to use the Thread from Devil’s tower to Wisconsion.”

The two girls blink.

Then gasp.

It lights up just ahead of them. Percy understands it means he won’t be able to use it again without potentially being cornered by more Huntresses following these three, ones not as trusting.

“The Unisus will go with, she can keep Winnie stable until Phoebe can help.” Percy says gently. The Unisus had agreed to it earlier. 

The two girls nod.

“That makes sense, we had another winged unicorn a few decades ago. Lady Artemis offers special protection to rare hunted creatures.” Kim says, causing Percy to do a double take at her youthful appearance.

It wrings a tired, genuine laugh from the two girls.

Percy watches them leave with a sort of quiet desperation, but he won’t break the rule of three, and if the overheard conversation with Kampê and Antaeus is anything to go by, then Percy might finally be able to discover who the mysterious contact at sea is. 

…

…

…

Percy rejoins the twisted monster caravan.

They don’t notice another lost Pegasus.

But they do notice the loss of a Unicorn. 

The head count they took at the beginning excluded the Unisus thanks to mist-manipulation but now it means Kampê is keeping a closer eye on the surviving munitions. Percy can’t help but think the loss of so many horses would upset the contact at sea. 

Kampê certainly thinks so.

She keeps turning to scan the parade from the front and Percy tenses every time. 

And then Percy finally sees his own thread.

Side by side with Kampê’s and Aurus’s. 

The one leading to the Labyrinth entrance right outside of the Dare’s estate, the train tracks Cecil had been investigating all those weeks ago. The one right off the estuary bay.

Percy feels a chill down his spine.

A sudden and clear dawning comprehension floods him and he just knows.

Pieces start clicking into place.

Kampê and Aurus bring the beasts of war and burden to heel at the front, and the surviving armed monsters load them into cattle cars to complete the few minutes to the bay.

And as it comes into full view, Percy sees her. 

He goes weak at the knees.

Kronos takes over.

He calms the nervous horses, murmurs sweet things to them, to Percy, who is now the most nervous of them all. 

They unload the horses and Percy still has his empousa mask on. How many faces will he wear in this life? It won’t hold up under close scrutiny, especially after the buff from the  Unisus’s horn is now gone. 

The ocean churns.

The wind picks up, waves crash. 

“Really Kampê , this is all?” Kym drawls.

Kym.

His sister, Kym.

Kym, who was working with Krios.

Percy is numb.

“We encountered difficulties with Antaeus.”

Kym sneers at the reminder of their shared brother. 

Kym is the contact at Sea. 

“My half-brother? He demanded his pound of flesh?”

It makes so much sense. 

Kampê must have gotten the Night Mares directly from Kym as they were creations of hers. Kym must have been one of the ocean spirits helping to disguise Luke's ship, the Andromeda, in his first life. Percy remembers emerging from the laundry chute with Rachel after their first time Out West, and briefly seeing Kym in the bay. At first he thought it was her checking in on him, but now that just feels like the stupid and wistful yearnings of a little kid. It had been for this. 

“And more. Additionally, the labyrinth experienced an earthquake. But we have the munitions for you to store and help ship to Circe, and your payments will be upon delivery to Circe. Circe herself will handle it, as usual.”

Wait. Is that how Kym was able to destroy Luke, Selina, and Glimmer’s boat? When moving munitions to Circe’s island she must have encountered Glimmer and Luke! It would explain Luke being turned into a Guinea Pig in one of his past dreams too.

Kym smiles cooly. 

“And what should I tell her when less than half of the creatures she was promised arrive?”

Kampê remains silent. 

“That will be all for the moment.” Kym says, because as powerful as Kampê is, Kym is still a god, and Kampê is just a monster. 

Percy slips away after anchoring the Vegas thread..

…

…

…

The afternoon is summer-hot. 

Percy goes to his school completely numb. He had washed off the blood and dirt in a Springer's fountain, watching numbly as the water healed his ripped off fingernails, they appear, unpainted unlike the others. Springer would be serving as his body double at the moment.

It all hits him at once.

Nico was out at the exact perfect time where their ages meant either one of them could be the “half-blood of the eldest gods”. Krios was most likely on Mt. Orthys, the one place on earth in this timeline where Ouranos was near. And Kym was working with the very people trying to kill him, the one who set the Night Mares on him.

Springer's pool with the trailing branches of the willow tree tell Percy the Nymph herself is about to emerge. 

Willow approaches.

Percy smiled tiredly at her.

“My lord Kyantos! Are you alright?” She asks worriedly.

At this point Percy is fully healed but no matter how long he sits here the water can’t touch the bone-deep hurt he’s feeling. 

“I will be fine, Willow. How are you and Springer?” Percy’s tired smile is real this time. Bringing Springer back to life to allow her to reunite with her lover Willow had been one of the more rewarding things he had been able to do.

But instead of lighting up,

Her face falls. 

Percy stands from the fountain in alarm.

“Did something happen? Is my cover blown?” 

She shakes her head ‘no’, lips trembling.

“I’m so so sorry, I am- I am such a weeping willow!” She says in between desperate gasps meant to clamp down on sobs. 

“Then how can I help?”

Willow looks tearfully up at him.

Fearfully.

“Lord, I know it’s because her divine presence matches yours, of water and rebirth, that you have her stand in for you. But you brought Springer back to life and now she spends all her time pretending to be someone else instead of rediscovering who she is! I know water nymphs have a longer range but you spend so much time away it is taxing on her! And… and we scarcely spend time together!” 

Percy sits back down slowly, weak at the knees.

His absence had been hurting Springer and he hadn’t even noticed. Worse yet, Willow had been scared to tell him.

And worst of all, he would need her to still act as a body double until Friday of next week!

“...Thank you for telling me. It was right of you to, and I’m sorry I hadn’t noticed the burden.”

Willow sniffles, making horrible, strained noises as she struggles not to cry. 

“I…a lot of lives depend on the time between now and the Fall Equinox. I will still be in need of Springer’s services until that day. But after, she will have all the rest she needs. I am so sorry, Willow. I…I'll go and swap with her from school.” Percy says, standing up again and getting out. He notices his tone becomes more formal and Kronos-like when speaking about serious topics. 

“Thank you. Is it because you’re investigating the cause of the drought?” She does one last wavering hiccough. 

Percy pauses.

That had been Jason’s cause. Jason had tracked down Esther, the descendent of Neptune off the assumption she would know why Neptune was causing it. But it was now clear Neptune was not causing the drought. Jason was helping to recover some of the Riders lost horses and stop the traffickers as an apology. Percy’s goal was looking for Krios for hints about the Scythe pieces' locations. But now, that would be a priority too.

He nods.

Percy can’t bring himself to smile at her relief.

…

…

…

Things do not get better when he goes to swap.

This is the third week of school.

Percy peeks through the window to see Tyson, Pansie, Grover, and Springer as himself.

Pansie and Grover are giggling back and forth, and Tyson is hard at work making the most intimidating looking pen-shooter Percy has ever seen. Springer smiles along, but it has a distant quality to it. 

Pansie leans over to whisper something to Grover and both burst into fits of giggles that leaves Tyson confused and Springer amused. 

And Percy is jealous.

He’s so stunned by such an ugly emotion that he takes a step back from the window instead of tugging on the water that was Springer’s signal for relief. He collects himself. Springer does not deserve such emotions from Percy. 

Kronos sends feelings of support, but he is getting ready to incorporate another grain this weekend. 

Percy finally tugs on the water and waits for Springer outside.

She is there a few minutes later, a look of unmitigated relief on her, or rather, his face. Naiads made for terrifying shapeshifters. 

“Lord Percy, it is good to see you again.” She sounds tired, but happy.

“I’m glad to see you too. Shift back to what’s most comfortable for you.”

She does.

Percy hesitates. 

“I heard from Willow that you were suffering exhaustion shifting as me.”

Her eyes widen.

“I-I it’s really no problem at all, I can assure you, I’m having a great time with Tyson, Pansie, and Grover, we’re fast friends!”

Percy feels another jolt at that.

“It’s more than okay if you are, you went through quite an ordeal before I revived you.”

Her jaw opens and closes.

“I’m sorry I haven't been here, but I have until the Fall Equinox to complete my mission. I will still need you up until then, do you think you can manage? If you can’t please let me know and I’m sure we can work something out.” Percy genuinely had to spend time with the Riders and Jason looking for the cause of the drought and tying up the loose end of the traffickers. And now, he had to visit Mt. Orthys to speak with Krios, hopefully not get smited, and somehow avoid Luke and Glimmer’s quest group.

Gods. 

Springer looks a mix of worried, reluctant, longing, and hopeful.

“I’ll be here as long as you need me, Percy.” She steps forward to kiss his cheek, grinning and disappearing into a cloud of mist.

…

…

…

Percy slips into Springer’s chair, because after three straight weeks it was hers not his. 

He feels like a fraud sitting here as himself.

“You were gone for a while Percy, how are you feeling?”

Percy smiles wanly at Pansie. She had been a friend he had made as himself. She had been with him when cleaning up the City’s parks. It had been Percy who introduced her to Grover. Percy had met Grover when his mother had taken him for a quick visit to camp, so that she could check it out. Percy had met Annabeth and Grover at that point, and had blessed the strawberry fields with life-giving water where Grover had played his pipes. 

“Fine.” He says. He’s out of energy to lie extensively.

Grover nods.

Grover knows Percy is some sort of demi-god since Sally took him to visit the camp’s strawberry fields, but Percy can tell Grover is having a hard time putting a pin on Percy’s heritage. 

And now that Percy is here, he can’t even be close to his friends like he had wanted to, because Pansie does not know of the godly world, and Percy can’t let Grover figure out his heritage. And the longer he sits here instead of moving, the worse he feels about the Night Mares. They were getting better at tracking him. 

“And how are you doing Grover? I think you mentioned your uncle went on a trip not too long ago?” Percy asks casually.

Grover’s eyes turn shiny, but he speaks neutrally.

“Yeah! I, uh, it was cut a bit short, he got into an accident uh, but he’s okay now! We’re all really grateful for it. I told him not to be so hard on himself. We all need to try again sometimes.” Grover says meaningfully, probably thinking of how things ended with Thalia.

Kronos nudged Percy pointedly, mentally raising a brow at him.

Percy pouts and looks away, but can’t hide the new, small, genuine smile. 

Perhaps they all need to be less hard on themselves. 

…

…

…

They are driving up to Montauk.

They had picked up Rachel for the trip, finally getting permission from Mr. Dare. It had taken some doing due to the extent of her previous injuries, but Sally promised to be careful, softening at the care her old environmental rival showed to his daughter.  

Tyson sits up front with Sally driving, Percy goes to the back with Rachel with the excuse that he’d like to take a nap. And he absolutely will crash when he gets to the cabin but he needs to work out a plan with Kronos for this weekend. 

“Will you go to confront Kymopoleia?” Rachel whispers after Percy had filled her in. 

“I will.” Percy whispers, wincing at her full name. 

“Do you fear for your safety? I can delay reunification if you do.” Kronos murmurs. 

“I think I’ll be okay. And I will also confront Arilane too.”

Kronos sends his grim affirmations.

Kampê’s demigod partner Aurus had laid those threads at least a few months ago. And Percy only had the spool for a few weeks. Arilane had to know something about the traffickers. She had gotten that spool from somewhere, and Percy had at first thought it was a gift directly from her mother, Ariadne, the wife of Mr. D, but then where did the traffickers get it from? This is a question Percy initially had when Arilane gave it to him, but he had dismissed it due to convenience. 

A mistake. 

Percy does not relax until he enters the safe bubble his father made around the little town of Montauk. That should slow down the Night Mares for a little while. 

…

…

…

Percy wakes up a little before noon on Saturday morning. 

Kronos does not. 

Kronos is deep asleep incorporating the grain and it won’t be until Monday morning that he wakes again. 

Considering Percy had gone to bed right after helping mom with dinner at 7 pm, he had slept nearly 15 hours.

“Are you alright, Percy?” Mom asks. She’s worried. Her eyes glimmer with deeper thoughts. 

Percy nods, beaming now that he has rested. 

Percy takes a walk on the beach with Rachel. 

He will meet with Arilane this afternoon, and Kym tonight. 

As Percy walks into town with Tyson and mom, they run into Chef Helen.

“Sally, Percy, Tyson! How are you all doing?” She rushes to give them a hug.

“And who is this?”

“Rachel! My best friend!” Percy beams. She’s doing the town’s catering for a late-summer beach party. She eyes Rachel's hair in particular. 

“Well, Ms. Rachel, We’re having a little end of summer party before the fall equinox less than a week from now. And you’re all invited!” 

Percy nods at the reminder of the clock ticking down. Next week Percy hopes to stop the traffickers once and for all, and the week after, seeing if he could finally visit Krios on or before the equinox. 

“We’re doing great!” Sally is beaming. Her college studies are going well. 

"Excellent, sit and fill us in!” Chef Helen smiles. “Oh, and Percy, your three little friends from camp will be here soon too this afternoon.”

Percy smiles at the reminder of seeing his friends, but also must hide his anxiety at how he will have to confront Arilane. 

Percy lets them talk as he takes a short walk within eyesight on the beach. He entertains the thought of making more sand-castles with Tyson. In true cyclops fashion, Tyson had made works of art, and Percy was just happy to be there. 

He runs into Psamathe. 

The Nereid of sandy beaches. Sandy colored hair, eyes, and skin, further freckled. She’s dressed normally enough but a clearsighted mortal or an aware demi-god would be able to see divinity. She had been sent by Poseidon to check-in on Percy and Tyson, and communicate with Cecil apparently, although that leaves Percy wondering what happened to Eudora and Shelia. Hell, they were here more for the traffickers than they were for Percy. Percy remembers the dream he had with them a few weeks ago, weeks that now felt like months, about how they spoke with Cecil about the traffickers, and Kym too.

Psamathe is crying.

Percy immediately abandoned his train of thought and pads up to her, barefoot in the sand. Rachel follows, the oracle present in her eyes. She seems to think better of it and hangs back. 

He gently tugs on her sleeve.

She looks down slowly, having known he was there the second he set foot on the beach. 

“Hello, little one.” She murmurs. She glances over to see his mother watching closely. Sally nods after a moment, but her finger briefly goes to her lip. Percy pretends not to see. 

“Are you okay?” Percy asks quietly.

Psamathe smiles tiredly, touched by Percy’s concern.

“No, young one. I miss my husband dearly.”

“...is he gone?” Percy asks, deeply confused, but trying his best to sound sympathetic. Shouldn’t Psamathe have married an immortal? The only other goddess he could think of marrying a mortal was Harmonia. 

“Alive, but gone, in a way I cannot reach. He is beyond where the ocean is, unable to come out to meet me.” Psamathe signs shakily. Her persona of a random beach-goer is slipping. 

Percy bites his lip.

He decides ‘fuck it’ and hugs her.

Psamathe startles for a second, before warmly embracing him back. It feels like after Percy made that epic volleyball save when playing with Maria, Arilane, and Penny, lying in the white warm sand and grinning like a dope. 

“You truly are a good boy.”

Psamathe pats his head, and gently turns him in the direction of his mother. Rachel intercepts him first, prophecy swirling.

“They will be reunited.” She says happily. Percy almost asks how she knows, but he closes his mouth into a happy smile.

And walks along the sandy beach, leaving enough space at her side where it was clear she was imagining herself walking with someone else. 

…

…

…

Cecil is waiting in the kitchen with Sally when Percy, Rachel, and Tyson come back to their cabin that Saturday afternoon.

Rachel had already given Percy a heads up when Cecil had told her father he’d be leaving for the weekend. Cecil seems to accept Rachel's presence with a respectful nod and an encouragement to have fun as he gently shooed them out the door.

 Cecil started working for the Dares due to their connection with real estate developers and how their position near the rail yards due to a family history of moving natural goods, means it was a great place for the traffickers to be.

After Percy, Rachel, and Tyson had rescued the initial captives, including the then unnamed Blackjack, there was a renewed interest in Kynatos and funding the initial traffickers, It might even explaining some of the way Cecil gave Kym the cold shoulder, if he suspected her but couldn’t prove it. 

Percy can tell Cecil wants to ask him several questions. But it’s a tightrope. Cecil does not know yet what Percy knows. Cecil runs the risk of accidentally making Percy more vulnerable to monsters if he asks too many questions and gets Percy wondering. But the axe hangs above both of their heads. Cecil and Sally now know Tyson is a disguised cyclops, and they see the way other young demi-gods gravitate to Percy.

It’s only a matter of time. 

…

…

…

“Percy?’

“Yes, Rachel?”

“...Do you remember when we fell out of the laundry chute and back into New York City?”

Percy bites his lip, fresh guilt welling up with the blood.

“I do, I’m sorry that you got hurt so badly.”

Rachel smiles gently.  

“Do you remember how I told you to tell those three girls?” 

Percy nods, grinning. 

“I did end up telling them, -oh! Because I did, they were able to smuggle out the foal we rescued from camp to visit me. I named him Blackjack.”

Rachel grinned softly.

Then she pouts.

“I wanted to see him again too.” she grumbled. She scuffs her sandal in sand. She has chosen an all-white cast for her arm that quickly became a canvas, of which Percy had the honor of being one of the first signatures. 

“Would you say the three of you are good friends?”

Percy nods.

“Yeah, it’s not many people who know I'm Kyantos so it’s a weight off my shoulders.” Percy signs in relief, then cringes at his unintentional reference to Ouranos. 

He looks to see Rachel torn between happiness for him and jealousy.

Oh.

Like the situation with Annabeth.

Percy immediately panics and turns to his grandpa for guidance, but he stays firmly asleep, sensing Percy wasn’t in any actual danger despite his social awkwardness.

“Of course, you were the first ever to know. Even before Betula, Pius, Springer, or Tyson…I was dreaming about you from the beginning. I needed a friend so bad, and there you were.” Percy says warmly. 

Rachel smiles.

She holds his hand with her non-broken one and they keep walking. 

“I’m sorry I can’t go with you in the maze again.” She murmurs. “But, at least you have the string to help you navigate.”

Percy stays silent, only nodding. Because it wasn’t just him who had the string at one point.

“....Why were you so quiet when I said that? Did you lose it?” Rachel begins to panic. 

“No! No, It’s just, You remember Kampê, the monster we rescued Blackjack, Cayenne, and the other from?”

“I do.”

“Well, she and another unknown demigod had it long enough and recently enough to lay down several Threads. So that means Arilane probably knew about it and didn’t tell me.”

Rachel pauses.

She opens her mouth and closes it. 

“And-”

Percy cuts himself off.

“...And when I was last out west, the Stallion that saved us, the one in the bronze shackles, his name was Clyde and when the Night Mares caught up with us he died protecting me.”

Tears well up before Percy can stop himself and he is suddenly glad to be on a walk. He hadn’t had time to process it until this moment but now a guttural sob of his is swallowed by the sea and he hopes Psathme or Kym or whoever won’t hear. Silence is safety. 

Rachel hugs him.

Percy always had a special connection to her as his only true mortal friend. Annabeth-who had been immersed in the divine world since she was six-never really understood why that was so important to Percy.

“He felt so bad over Blackjack. The fact that he had the chance to do something to protect you comforted him in the end.” Rachel says with a faint green glow in her eyes. 

Percy lets out a hiccoughing gasp. They had time-traveled specifically to prevent more deaths. It upsets Percy further that most people would brush off him crying over just a horse, but Rachel seems to understand. 

“...and you’re upset because those Night Mares might be using some of the Thread laid by Kampê and her Demigod to find you? Leading to the Mustang’s death?”

“Yeah. And it’s Clyde. His name, that is.” Percy stumbles. 

“Clyde.” Rachel repeats gently. There’s power in names. 

“You told me that Arilane was the one who figured out you were Kyantos first? After you were laying in the poison Ivy and they followed you?”

Percy nods.

It frames curiosity on her part into something potentially more complex. 

The Town’s church bell chimes for one in the afternoon.

The three girls would be with Chef Helen and her end-of-summer party.

And Percy would have to introduce the girls to Rachel.

And then ask Arilane exactly how she got her Thread and what she knew about Kampê, while playing it cool at Helen’s party.

Joy. 

…

…

…

Many of the townspeople are there.

Sally is speaking with Chef Helen as Penny hugs the woman around her waist. Penny had helped lay the flower decorations around the laid out food. Maria is having a blast doing Karaoke at the front. It’s a Spanish one and Percy is gratified to know many of the words.

And Percy is able to track down and corner Arilane. Camp had officially ‘let-out’ for the school year two weeks ago, but many of the demi-gods had been granted extensions to see the questers return home from the first quest since Thalia perished and Zeus deemed the honor to no one else. Many of the demi-god’s also had mortal parents who had perished in the cross-fire of the monster surge early this summer and now had nowhere else to go. 

Percy swallows his guilt. 

“Arilane? Can I speak to you about how things are going out west?”

“Oh, please do!” She looks relieved, dabbing her mouth and standing to join Percy behind a tree, close enough where the Karaoke will drown out eavesdroppers, but far away enough Percy can still speak lowly. 

“I was able to find Glimmer in the Lotus Hotel Casino in Nevada where she was stuck with Luke and Selina. It’s the modern day Lotus Eaters site, so they had lost track of time and would have missed the quest without someone waking them up.”

“And you did!?” Arilane leans forward frantically.

Percy swallows thickly.

Barely,

“Yeah, I-yeah, by the skin of my teeth. They’re on their way to the Garden of the Hesperiades.” And right to where Percy had to go this upcoming week. Krios would also speak to Atlas on the day of the Fall Equinox, as the date would allow for certain malleability in divine law. 

Arilane sighs shakily in relief, pulling Percy into a tight hug.

It feels so good.

Percy can’t take human contact for granted. 

His arms go to wrap tightly around her waist in return, and maybe it’s this angle where he won’t have to see her face, won’t have to face another possible betrayal, that he asks her.

“Arilane. How did Aurus get the thread?”

Stillness.

In the distance, Maria finishes her song. 

Penny pulls away from Chef Helen to fix some of the flower arrangements.

And Arilane finally moves.

“I…I didn’t mean to.” She whispers quietly. It gently sways locks of their hair. Her arms are stiff in fear.

“I know, I’m not mad at you, but I need to know what happened before you got the thread this summer. Kampê is using Threads laid to traffick many of the creatures, including Blackjack.”

Arilane flinches.

In the distance, Penny and Marie see something is wrong. 

“I-I I’ll get in trouble. People don’t expect me to be so stupid.”

“You’re a kid, it’s okay.” Percy comforts. But in her eyes she is no longer speaking to Percy, but to Kyantos.

It occurs to Percy that she is afraid of him.

As Willow had been.

Like he is a monster.

His stomach sinks like an anchor, and he lets out a devastated, small gasp. His mind flashes to the mysterious, teenage demi-god Aurus at Kampê’s side, the one who had been able to grant the monsters permission to see the Thread to the New York Estuary. 

“Arilane, Monsters can’t use the thread. Only a demi-god can lay the strings. Who laid them?”

Arilane makes a series of motions with her hands behind Percy’s back, right in the small of it where his mortal sport used to be when he had the curse of Achilles.

Percy leaps back, hands raised.

“I swear I’m not mad at you-”

Arilane looks at him with terrified, wild eyes.  

The words die right in his throat like he caught a battle axe to the adam’s apple. 

“I..I thought I was doing the right thing, but…Clay died anyway.” She says bitterly. 

He feels like he’s been hit by lightning. 

But before Percy can say anything, his mom is there.

“Percy, are you okay?!” She says frantically, checking him over.

Percy gawks at her in confusion.

“Penny and Maria said you and Arilane say something weird, a suspicious looking man!” Sally continues to explain, pulling Percy closer, her hand like a cage on his shoulder blade.

“But, I…” Percy’s stunned at such a blatant lie, but maybe he shouldn’t be. He then realizes why those hand signs Arilane did behind his back felt so familiar.

They were the camp-code taught first-thing to all new campers, so they could communicate without alerting monsters to noise.

It was the code for monster.

Arilane had signaled Penny and Maria, who alerted Sally, who of course would go straight to Percy to make sure he was okay and as a concerned and increasingly suspicious mother would not let him out of her sight until she was reassured. 

Allowing the three of them to no doubt take a Labyrinth thread somewhere in the town back to Zeus’s fist.

Percy moves to jerk himself from his mothers hand.

“Peresus James Jackson, can you just for once listen to me?!” Sally snaps.

He stares up at her with wide eyes.

She had put her body between his and the rest of the room. A few townspeople look over in surprise and gentle reproach at him at bothering a nice lady like Sally. Rachel looks over in confusion from where she had been doing chalk on the sidewalk.

Percy can only sit numbly on the picnic bench as the party continues, Sally giving him a blue cupcake as an apology that tastes like ash in his mouth.

…

…

…

Sally tucks Percy, Tyson, and Rachel into bed for the night, the sheets firmly pressed as if to keep out monsters, and sealed with a kiss on the forehead like a wax stamp. It reminds Percy of the nights earlier this summer where the three of them would go and paint prophetic murals. 

After several minutes, where Tyson’s snoring has joined the nightly chorus with the crickets, Percy slips from his bed.

“Are you going to visit Kym now?” Rachel whispers.

Percy pauses.

A deep breath.

“Yeah.”

“Do you think it will go as bad as it did with Arilane?”

“Lets hope not. A goddess could do a lot more than just run away scared.” Percy says bitterly.

“Good luck.”

With Rachel's farewell, Percy slips out the window.

The moon gleams in a near perfect sickle shape and Percy feels the weight of the future pressing down on him with each step he takes, as seagrass turns sand white in moonlight, as his hair dances over his shoulders. 

The first step into the water feels like a secret, the shock of the cool ocean compared to the warm August air.

He takes another step, then dives.

Kym is waiting for him at the bottom of the pier.

“My little Champion!” she coos mockingly, but Percy knows her well enough to see the genuine curve of her smile. It feels too much like what happened with Arilane earlier. With the girl checking in on his progress, and Percy having to burst both of their bubbles by asking the hard questions.

“Kym.” Percy smiles tiredly. The running for his life from the very horses that were creations of his sister, given to his current nemesis Kampê is getting to him a bit. But if Percy tells Kym that they’re chasing him, and Kym confronts Kampê, who reveals she got the blood from Kyantos….then she’d know Percy is Kyantos. That’s he’s getting up to all that stuff in the West, in the Labyrinth. He’d have to explain all the skills he got through training not from her.

She hears his tiredness.

“And what has you so low-tide like?” She muses. She twirls a lock of his hair.

Percy shrugs.

This brain is not as good at finding words, but he will need to before she says he’s too tired to be of use tonight and sends him back to bed.

“Why did I see you outside of the bay by where the traffickers were last week?” Percy asks quietly.

Kym stills. 

Not, in the way a prey animal does as Arilane had, but in the way of a predator being challenged. 

“Oh?” she asks. Giving him time to re-think. 

But he’s had enough.

“You didn’t want me hanging out with the camp girls because you knew Arilane had the Thread, and because Kampê had used it either with or before her to lay the threads the traffickers use, the ones that lead to your meeting point outside the Dare’s mansion. Which is why you don’t like Cecil, or at least the latest reason, because he got a job working for the Dare’s so he could investigate why so many horses were being trafficked along that route.” Percy states. He’s proud of how his voice doesn’t shake.

Kym is silent.

Her face is as unreadable as the moons. 

“...And how, exactly, were you able to put all that together?” She says.

Percy fiddles with his fingers.

Kym doesn’t soften, but noticeably leans back a bit.

“I-I when I first met you, you had bits of boat in your hair and waves. And when I spoke to Annabeth she made a drawing of the Quest ship and emailed it to me, and the details matched what was in your hair. So you would have had to have been in the area. And I had a few dreams too. And my mom was, uh, well, I wouldn’t call them friends, but she knew Mr. Dare very well and I ended up becoming friends with his kid, and so I spent time at their properties, and Cecil was checking in on me because I’m a sea-kid, so I ended up paying attention to what he was paying attention too, and….” Percy drifts off as he tries to explain how he knows so much without admitting he’s Kyantos. Because if Kym is allied with Kampê, then Kyantos would be her enemy by proxy. 

Kym hums.

She crosses her arms.

And grins with her shark teeth.

“Well, look at the brain on you! Runs in the family!” 

She beams.

She's…proud.

Proud of him?

Proud?!

“You’re not mad at me?” Percy stammers.

Kym grins widely, smugly.

“Nah. Why would I be? You got guts, and brains kid!”

She smirks, but it’s tense. Percy keeps his eyes on her fangs.

“Why?”

“Why question a goddess?” Kym fires back.

“But, won’t the lord of the sea be mad?” Won’t their dad be upset? 

Kym snorts. 

“Father has had his mind on other things for the past decade, since that Thalia girl I think he’s been worried the oath will be broken again. And lately as well, all the gods have had their heads in the clouds, so to speak!” Kym laughs at her own joke. It sounds like a dolphin.

And Percy loses his temper.

“They’re killing Demi-gods like me!” He shouts, unable to hide the hurt in his voice.

“And that is why I blessed you as my champion, why I’m training you!”

“But, if I am to achieve honor in your name on heroic quests, won’t that draw attention to what you’re doing day-to-day?” Percy asks, bewildered at the contradiction.

Kym pauses.

“That's different, I hadn’t known about you yet!” She blusters, waving him off. 

“Kym, I’m asking because I care about you!” 

And the rushing current Percy had barely noticed around Kym stop. 

Percy presses his advantage.

“And did you know the Huntresses are after Kampê now? Didn’t you say most of your daughters were with her?” Percy thinks of how easily Kim could have been in Winnie’s place. 

Kym looks stunned. 

“You will be fine, so why worry?!” She asks helplessly. “And I-I trust Artemis to care for my daughters, she won’t allow them after Kampê, so why worry?

Percy remembers Kim.

And Winnie, oh gods, her arm.

How they had nearly died

Kym is a goddess and is as full of horsecrap as any of them!

“Because I care about my friends too!” Percy says, looking at his sister like he’s suddenly seen a monster.

At his look, Kym’s jellyfish hair flashes red.

“And because they care so much for you?” She croons.

Percy flinches.

“Yes, I saw that earlier, they just up and left for no reason at your little mortal party.” Kym croons, but also reveals she hadn’t heard Percy and Arilane’s conversation. 

Percy does not know what else to say. 

“Yes, I see how crowded camp is too. Every child that Kyantos thinks he’s doing a favor saving the life of, he’s just putting them in a loveless place, where they will be ignored, villanised, called monsters, when it’s just their natures!” Kym pours out, eyes flashing, and despite being a goddess with no true bodyparts Percy knows that was coming straight from her heart. 

She sees his alertness at Kyantos.

“Of course you’ve heard of that little demi-god, if that is even what he really is. Whatever heroic nonsense he thinks he’s getting up to, rescuing Cayenne and her ilk, will soon be drawn to a close, so if you’ve befriended him too, somehow Peresus, cease your relations immediately. With my Night Mares he’s no longer for this world and that's for the better!”

The Night Mares.

“Kym, how can we stop the Night Mares?”

She raises an eyebrow and smirks.

“So many of the little demigods hold Kyantos in high regard, don’t tell me you're one of them? Are you friends?” She mocks for real this time.

Percy shakes his head ‘no’. Because that's true at least.

Kym seems to sense that and leans back. 

“There is no stopping them. They’re spirits are either broken with my blessing or the person they are chasing is. That, or the person who summoned them is killed, and the Night Mares become wild once again.”

“They must be tamed, or the summoner killed.” Percy repeats numbly at his options. 

Either reveal to Kym that he is Kyantos so he can have her blessing to kill or tame the Night Mares.

Or kill Kampê. The incredibly powerful monster who had nearly killed a stronger version of both Percy and Annabeth in his past life.

Well.

Both those options sucked!

“Yes. My horses are wild things. They can only be tamed with my blessing, or killing whoever summoned and sic’ed them.” Kym traces a whorl of his hair fondly. She does that often.

“Only?” He whispers, but she does not hear. His heart pounds. Maybe as a son of Poseidon he was an exception again? With his magical lasso from Kronos and domain over horses, could he tame the Night Mares without Kym’s blessing? Failing that, team up with Jason and Esther again to kill Kampê? 

“...How can it be for the better?” He whispers. “Why help traffic them in secret across the sea?” 

Kym sneers. 

Her hair thrashes in a way that resembles Medusa, her eyes flash. 

“Enough!” she snaps. “Stop questioning me! You don’t understand, I need Circe! And why care about those girls? Why care about Kyantos? Why care about those horses? Do you think you matter to them like you matter to-” Kym’s eyes widen, and she cuts herself off.

She exhales sharply, visibly calming down.

“Go home. We’re not getting anything done tonight.”

And with a wave of her hand, a hand that lingered oddly for a second, she speaks.

“Percy…pray to me, if you need me.” 

The current wraps around his chest and lifts him up and washes him onto the beach just as the rays of Sunday morning shine through.

…

…

…

Percy has a nightmare Sunday evening. 

Of how it was his fault again. 

He wakes. 

He and Tyson make castles. Him and Rachel do more sidewalk chalk. They bake with mom and Chef Helen. Arilane, Penny, and Maria do not make another appearance. 

Kronos finishes reconciling by Sunday evening.

He sees the memories Percy sends over.

“Oh, dearest, I am so sorry. We do not know yet of the full extent of Arilane’s motives, or actions.  It might not be as bad as you are thinking.”

Percy grunts and kicks a rock, desperately repressing heartbreak. Hope liked to take advantage of any crack it could find, prying his heart apart like a stubborn pistachio from the inside. 

…

…

…

Percy leaves being Springer as his body double at school again.

“The fall equinox is at the end of this week.” She whispers to him.

Percy nods. 

“At that point you should be able to relax with Willow.” Percy whispers to her, Kyantos mask already up, and he tries not to feel like the worst person in the world as he watches a copy of his own face perk up. 

His plan was to take the labyrinth to the camp of the Riders. Jason should still be with them. If Percy could find the headwaters of Kampê’s whole trafficking racket he might be able to cut it off at the head. And while Percy knew Krios would be at Mt. Orthys at the end of the week, it wouldn’t hurt to try and get more intel to prepare for no doubt what would be an incredibly high-stakes meeting. 

He takes the route by Rachel’s home again, half expecting to see Kampê, or Kym out at sea.

But Rachel greets him. It was weird, because they had just dropped her off not even two hours earlier. 

She hugs him.

Percy feels the weight of her cast against his back. 

Her eyes are red.

“Percy, I have a bad feeling about this.” She mumbles and he feels his heartrate spike, and Kronos’s gold nearly comes forth. A bad feeling from someone with such prophetic powers was not a good thing.

“Dreams?”

“Yes, even with the spool you get lost. I wish I could come with you.” She frets.  “Don’t forget to lay and anchor, and take any exit if you get lost, I can just fly you back.”

Rich people, honestly.

Percy had never been in the air at this point in his life and had no desire to even with his identity being unknown to Zeus. 

Still, he appreciates the concern, and decides not to tell her previous instances of him getting lost with the Thread. It’s whole thing was that it did not lead you, you bumbled around with a way to re-trace your steps if needed and it was only upon reaching a needed area that you could cut and tie it, and only then would it reform into something quick and usable. 

As he looks at it, his stomach sinks further. 

The last time he had seen Esther and Jason was just a few days ago but it felt like years. Clyde had died saving Percy and Jason, and Percy simply can’t forget Esther’s horrified face. 

What would their reactions be, to seeing him again?

Did they think he was dead?

Would they rightfully sneer at him for getting Clyde killed? 

Would they scream and yell at him for being there, knowing the Night Mares were following him and putting them in danger? 

But in order to defeat the Night Mares he has to kill Kampê! It’s the only way to defeat the Night Mares without having to reveal to Kym that he’s Kyantos! And even if Percy did reveal himself to Kym, who is to say he’d even get her blessing? She was fond of him, sure, but she clearly had a good business partnership going on with Kampê too.

And for whatever reason, Kym had some sort of tie to Circe. 

“Do not underestimate your worth to others, dearest.’ Kronos murmurs. 

“That's easy for you to say.” Percy grumbles, then squeaks when Kronos tweaks his nose.

And into the Labyrinth they go. 

…

…

…

It takes most of Monday to make it back to the Rider’s camp.

This time, Percy can see the flickering lights, and breaths shakily. He can make out the command tent, and Esther’s own hut. Fontanne, legacy of Juturna, handled most of the well-water, and Cassie would be grooming the horses now. 

Jason would still be with the Riders. 

Percy walks into camp.

And it’s a magical camp.

Of course he’s not going to be undetected, nor is that what he was aiming for. Seeing as everyone was gathered and awake at the center of camp as night fell on Monday, hovered around what were clearly battle plans, he never had a chance to sneak anyway.

Ever the eye for detail, Cassie, daughter of Venus, sees him first. 

“Percy! You’re alive!” She bawls.

And for the umteenth time in a week Percy is wrapped in a hug. 

“We’re so sorry!” She cries.

Several more riders come running, faces lighting up. Percy recognizes several teenagers he fed the horses with, and traded stories around the campfire.

Esther and Jason come.

Percy can't hide the way he blinks rapidly.

“You guys, I-”

Jason wraps Percy in a hug, as Cassie had stood to get him water.

Percy freezes.

Cassie, Fontanne, Esther, and all the riders gawk at Jason. It’s not what they were expecting from the supposedly uptight son of Jupiter sent by New Rome.

The thought fills Percy with such sadness at the thought of how Jason was raised that he hugs Jason back fiercely. 

“You’re not mad at me?” Percy asks, bewildered. 

“No?! Why would-we were worried!” Jason’s voice wobbles.

Esther steps forward, face softening, eyes searching.

“We were, Percy. You disappeared into nothing and so did the Night Mares. We feared the worst, until Jason was able to track us to something we thought to be long gone. The Labyrinth." 

Percy gulps, but nods.

The Labyrinth had been a surprise to the Romans, as had Iris messages, the same way some Roman magics and techniques had been a surprise to the Greeks.

“Percy, over the weekend with Jason’s help we were able to track to what we think is the primary location for the smuggling scheme. It’s at a dam in the North West, where abandoned train lines have been hijacked by the smugglers to move goods. Not just horses, but resources, other magical creatures that could be used for magicks, potions, and such. It’s a lucrative black market. Any Mist Manipulator or Magic user would be delighted to have any of those.” Esther says.

“But the real question is, what about you, young man? Those Night Mares are still chasing you, and chased you into the Labyrinth. Did you see anything while you were down there?” Cassie asks worriedly. 

Percy takes a deep breath.

And spins the yarn.

“I…I did. And I know who is leading the smugglers. In fact, one of them is the one who set the Night Mares on me, after I tried helping out some horses captured by them previously.”

Esther’s eyes widen.

“Then that is crucial information. Who?”

“A monster named Kampê, and a mysterious demi-god named Aurus. Both female as far as I can tell.” Percy frowns. 

“We were planning our raid for tomorrow because it seems the traffickers are aware folks are onto them, you couldn’t have come at a better time.” Fontanne says, relieved.

Percy smiles.

He had thought they’d be unhappy to see him. 

“Kampê was a famous monster in the old extinct greek myths.” Esther muses. Percy bites his lips to hide his mischievous smile. Not so extinct, but Esther wouldn’t know that. “She had a role in Roman mythology as a guard of the worst in Tartarus, but one who took the noble duty of guarding too far, abusing those under her watch, abusing her power. She was cast out by Lord Jupiter as a result, as the tales go.”

Percy frowns again. Hearing Kampê referred to in any positive context, no matter how slight, was a bit of a trip. 

“If Kampê is guarding the resources for smuggling, we’d have a very hard time getting past her. It will take all of us.’” 

“We will ride at dawn.” Jason says firmly with his baby face.

Esther raises an eyebrow.

“At your lead, Rector Esther.” Jason blinks, realizing that he might have over stepped his authority as a son of Jupiter in a camp run by a legacy of Neptune. Funny enough, Percy hasn’t heard Jason refer to himself as such, not even once, since they reunited in this life. Maybe he was trying to be tactful? 

Esther smiles and puts her hand on Jason’s shoulder.

“You are right, we will!”

The riders cheer, including Percy.

“Percy…you’re younger than I’d like, but proven yourself capable of running and surviving. Plus, the more you’re stationary, the easier the Night Mares will catch up to you and I don’t want that to be at camp. You’ll come with us on the raid.”

Percy nods sharply. 

“I’m gonna try and tame them when they do catch me.” Percy says resolutely. “Failing that, kill Kampê who summoned them.”

Esther smiles grimly, tipping her unfairly cool cowboy hat at him. 

“We will do all that we can to help you. You’re one of us, after all.” Esther says. 

When no one contradicts that, and in fact cheer, Percy gawks. 

They want him here?! He knows they said it before but…him? The Hunters said so too, what was happening here?

And then.

A counter.

“You could have your place in New Rome too.” Jason says softly, neutrally. He does not want to contradict Esther, but a fierce possessiveness flashes in his eyes, for just a second, then vanishes. Percy recalls this Jason views him as his first ever friend.

“True enough. But he’s rather young to go through yet another ordeal with Lupa at the Wolf House to make it to Camp Jupiter.” Esther says mildly. It’s a clear rebuke of the Romans’ process and way of thinking. 

The air becomes…quiet.

They need unity before a major raid, not this.

And now Jason wants him to join camp Jupiter too! Everywhere seemed to want Percy except Camp Halfblood!

“I think I might just go home to my mom and rest for a few years.” Percy deadpans. 

Esther laughs.

Jason suddenly looks a tad jealous then sheepish, then happy for him.

“Or that.” He grins. 

“Or that.” Esther agrees. 

…

…

…

They go over the battle plans.

Jason and Esther show their leadership chops, and Percy once again marvels at the boy Jason was before Juno, someone who was supposed to take care of him as her champion, erased his memories. Even with the horrible context that Juno had in fact delayed the primordials rising with that stunt, it was a tough pill to swallow.

But the plan is clear. 

The Northwest part of Oregon on the ridge of the Great Basin, with an electrical dam abandoned due to wildfires in that area, yet the dam still functioned. The area had also been on the fringes of a gold rush centuries ago, making for access by rail to the Labyrinth. 

“The Great Basin had no outward flows to the sea. All water that falls in it will never reach the ocean. “Esther says grimly. “I will be uniquely disconnected since we’re on the very outer rim of the Basin when we raid this Train at the Dam.” 

With the knowledge that the Traffickers no longer have the spool, they would be forced to use however many routes had been laid out with the spool before whatever happened to have it land in Arilane’s hands. 

This could be a critical attack on the Trafficker’s leadership.

And a solid way to appease Neptune’s wrath too, if Jason could free some of his sacred horses after having insulted the Sea god by blaming the drought on him.

Speaking of which…

“Any news on the drought?” Percy murmurs to Jason as they get ready for Monday night. Tuesday morning they set off.

Jason frowns.

“No. It’s not…” He glances in the direction of the Pacific ocean and specifically the Typhon Neptune was cooking up hundreds of miles away from where they were inland with a wary eye. Outside of the Riders, everyone seemed to be a bit wary of Neptune. Percy wonders on the Trojan Sea Monster, the one who had killed Clay and was currently on its way here, the one Jason was destined to fight.

“It’s not the Sea King. After we defeat the traffickers here, I will have to report back to New Rome that I wasn’t able to find the cause.” That seems to make Jason more nervous than the actual violent confrontation imminent in less than a day. Percy knew politics was a beast that he had been shielded from during this shorter Praetorship and then stint as a college student, but he was aware there was a lot of historical subtext from this time of Camp Jupiter that he had not learned. Just what the hell was going on there, to have Jason so worried?

“Aren’t you two gonna join in!” A Rider cheers. A girl named Sam with red pigtail braids and brown skin with dark freckles. A daughter of Portunus, roman god of Keys, Doors, Livestock, and patron deity of Ports. 

The Riders were holding a pre-raid campfire, cooking frankly some of the best smelling meats Percy had ever scented. He sends a mental apology to Grover as he tears into a mouthwatering piece of brisket, accompanied by maple baked beans. 

Percy cheers as they loop arms and twirl around the campfire, Jason nervous at the edge.

That won’t do.

Percy grabs him boldly and they go around and around, to the point they nearly fall into the fire, Kronos having to pull them back subtly. 

“Settle down now, cowboys!” Cassie calls out, laughing. 

They dance more, and learn a few new work songs. Camptown races, All the live-long day, and even a few sea shanty’s. 

It ends just at midnight.

“Alright, that's enough! We got a long road ahead of us tomorrow and we need to be good and well rested!” Esther calls, the crack of her whip like a gun shot. 

They begin to rest for the right.

“Sleep tight everyone, because tomorrow we ride at dawn!”

And with the thunderous applause, whistles, and cheering, you’d think Lord Jupiter himself was here with them. 

Not that Percy cared about that narc. 

…

…

…

Percy rides with Esther, and Jason with Cassie. Sam is too young to come despite being their age. A few faces are clearly uncomfortable with Percy and Jason being with them and so young, but there aren’t any other great options either. 

The Rider’s horses eat up distance in a way that reminds Percy of Hazel’s horse, Arion, except to a lesser degree. The red clay deserts gave way to lush temperate rainforest then back to a mix of the two as they make their way to an old, crumbling dam at the headwaters of the Snake river.

Percy can tell the moment they enter the Great Basin.

He feels weirdly numb the moment he does, like the Sea becomes absent from the back of his mind. He resists the urge to squirm.

And the Riders see them.

A railroad laid over a thick bridge on top of the dam, the sound of the water rushing through the turbines covering the noise of the railroad tracks. 

And Percy sees Kampê.

“It’s her! Kampê!” He calls to Esther, heart pounding. The Riders would not know about Kyantos. If they could kill her before she sees Percy being attacked by Night Mares then Percy’s identity should be kept safe. 

Esther grins savagely.

She laughs.

“Percy, did you know that before we were ‘Riders’ we were called ‘Raiders’?” She purrs.

“I didn’t!” Percy howls back over the sound of the wind and their pack of Raiders charging ahead down the slope before the train can make it into the tunnel. Someone sounds a battle horn and it reminds Percy of Triton's last stand and he feels his vision turn crystal clear with adrenaline, ADHD sharpening everything. Percy had been armed with his Lasso and a regular short-sword from the Riders. 

“Boy, you’re about to find out why! FORWARD!” 

They charge.

Oh my gods, this was happening.

The divine horses go so fast Percy feels his eyes sting from wind as he screams with the Raiders in exhilaration. Phase one of the plan was to cut the train off before it could make it into the tunnel on the other side of the dam, which is where they were tumbling down from. 

Percy sees several monsters shout, and a volley of fireballs is clumsily launched at them from the railcars. 

And Cassie fires back.

She pulls out an imperial gold pistol and several bullets leave the revolver, spinning hypnotically in the air, colliding with the fireballs and then exploding. She flicks her wrist back to open the spinning chamber and Percy watches as the bullets return to their slots.

The same enchantment that had riptide returned to his pocket.

Too cool!

They join the train on the thick bridge on top of the dam and they have to resort to mid-range measures. Persy stands from where he was in Esther’s lap and tosses his lasso in the air in-sync with several others near them.

He is able to grab a fireball.

He yells, arms burning from the force of slinging it around and then back into the monster cabin, avoiding the ones with hostage horses.

It explodes a pack of monsters. 

Cheers!

“Atta boy!” Esther crows, spurring her horse on. 

“Little Lord! They're here! Look at them!” Several horses say, poking their necks from the side of cab windows. Percy doesn’t know who can speak to horses here but he hopes it’s not many. 

And as Percy sees the train closer, Fontanne suddenly starts laughing.

“Look at it! Those idiots!” She’s overjoyed.

“What?!” Percy asks.

“Look at that old train, it’s a steam engine!” Fontanne howls at them.

And Percy gasps.

Then starts laughing along with Esther. 

“Kid, you got any water powers?”

Percy grins and nods, to hades with secrecy!

“Then Raiders! At the count of three!” Esther bellows.

They had less than a minute before the train cleared the dam and entered the labyrinth tunnel. A monster fires at Cassie and she barely shoots it down.

“ONE!”

Jason uses his spear to take down a flying bronze bat.

“TWO!”

Esther’s horse rears up to avoid its legs being lashed off by a spring trap thrown from the train window as they gallop along. It’s due only to Esther's incredible core and leg strength they stay on. Hazel would absolutely kill Percy if she learned she ever missed this experience. 

“THREE!” 

Esther holds out her hand.

Several other Raiders such as Fontanne, presumably with water powers, do as well.

Percy looks at them in awe, the strain and struggle on their faces as they fight with the incredible power of a steam engine going at full force.

Then he does too.

And Percy feels the divine might, their collective finally reaching a breaking point with his last contribution.

The train engine explodes.

The bang is so loud it startles the well-trained horses. Two fall into the reservoir on the other side, one falls off the much steeper side, catching herself with her lasso on the now crumbling lip of the dam.

Percy’s head is ringing when he sees Esther skid them to a stop at the now exposed engine. 

It looked like something straight out of a horror movie.

A steam engine operated with incredible pressure. You burn fuel to boil water to turn it into steam, which takes up about 1,000 times more space than liquid water. Confined steam makes incredible pressure, and when that pressure is breached, say by the psychic control of water-god legacies, it explodes.

It’s what Percy did to Hephestut’s workshop under Mt. Saint Helens that released Typhon, except on a smaller scale.

But no less impressive!

The series of pipes and metal that had made up the boiler engine ran down around them and burst out of the engine cab like a gutted fish with its intestines out. The long black pipes reaching for the sky and shrieking with the hiss of steam and twitching and moving reminds Percy of a partially squashed spider to such a degree that he’s suddenly glad Annabeth isn’t here. 

“We’re dam good!’ Percy says, earning a bark of laughter and slap on the back from Esther as she dismounts.

They are a mere few yards from the tunnel entrance into the mountain side.

Three things happen.

Kampê leaps from the cab and nearly decapitates Esther.

Kampê sets a storm-spirit on Jason, who is swept literally right off his horse with Cassie and up into the highest areas of the sky with it.

And the Night Mares emerge from the tunnel.

“Kid, can you handle it!” Esther shouts. Fontanne, Cassie, and several Raiders are now engaging Kampê in battle. 

One dies as Percy watches.

But the Night Mares will corner Percy on the bridge if he doesn’t get to the end in time to run onto the mountain slope.

He will have to charge towards them.

He nods.

And yells.

He picks up his lasso, and borrowed non-riptide sword, and charges as Esther charges Kampê, as Jason begins grabbing thin air and ripping it.

Percy charges.

The Mares pause.

He yells and leaps just as they realize he is trying to give himself more space to maneuver off the bridge. 

He’s not going to make it.

But before he can despair-

-A gust of air under Percy and he looks up to see Jason wave his hand in an identical motion, literally blowing Percy to safety, where he ducks into a roll and tumbles down the gravel grassy hillwise. 

It gives the storm spirit the leg up-literally-and it bashes Jason in the temple. Without his helmet he’d be dead. Jason has no experience horse taming!

But Percy does.

“Jason!” Percy bellows suddenly, “CATCH!” 

And Percy throws his taming lasso, his gift from Kronos, to Jason. Jason gasps silently from several dozen feet in the air, wind currents too strong, whipping Percy’s hair even from here, but a determined look crosses Jason's face as he reaches out his hand and the lasso shoots into his palm like he was Luke Skywalker in the Wampa cave reaching for his lightsaber. 

He turns in the knick of time and lashes out at the storm spirit.

It hisses in outrage. 

His grandfather is a riot of gold, both proud and worried at Percy’s generosity as the Night Mares finally close in. 

Percy pants, palms sweaty and covered in dirt and scraps from his landing. He squares his shoulders and dusts off the vest Esther had given him. 

The three Night Mares pincer attack so he can’t dodge.

Percy swipes his blade.

It creates a wound that seals over near instantly.

Percy keeps backing up, swiping his blade to no effect.

They cry out like a laugh and Percy grits his teeth, face flushing, then paling as he quickly loses ground. Had he still been on the bridge he would be dead by now. 

Oh gods.

Being a son of Poseidon had no effect on these animals.

He might actually have to pray to Kym for her blessing, revealing his identity as Kyantos. 

Percy kicks up dirt into one of their eyes and sends a concentrated blast of water into another from the rapidly crumbling dam. The Raiders are still fighting Kampê on the top with the stalled Train. A Raider named Daniel had detached the lame carts from the exploded engine and was using the surviving horses to pull the train-cars from the way they came, the rails beginning to fall apart under them as they moved. 

A powerful bite grabs Percy’s shoulder.

He squeals as the Night Mare’s teeth are stopped only by the thin metal shoulder guard that Fontanne had forced him to wear. 

It shakes its head in frustration and tosses him over his shoulder.

Another Mare turns and aims to kick Percy as he falls.

Percy twists with gold and barely dodges a hit that would have snapped his spine. 

He laughs raggedly as he stands, trembling from strain.

“You’re creatures of Kym, alright!”

And that finally gives them pause.

Huh.

“I’m her champion!” Percy spits. “Not that I know what it means to be one, cause like it did so much good for Jason, he died in the end, and it was my fault too.” Percy confesses. Who will these horses tell after all?

And he remembers.

A psychic attack from the Night Mares, memories of the moment Gaia rose, his fault.

Because it had been. 

He’s thrown into a scene that reminds him he died and that none of this second chance is technically real. He’s surrounded by Greek and Roman demi-gods, smelling catapult oil, singed horse hair, the fires of the woods around Camp Half-Blood. 

It was no accidental nosebleed, no forced blood-letting from being held down that had awoken Gaia. 

It had been Percy’s fatal flaw.

When he had seen Annabeth held hostage, Percy had no second thoughts. He was loyal to his people, not to a cause, not even to the planet. When he saw Annabeth in danger he got tunnel vision. Nothing else mattered in that moment. 

And so, 

Bleeding heavily,

Knowing a single drop could wake Gaia,

Percy had run across the sacrificial alter.

And had bled. 

Kronos snaps him out of it. 

“Oh…dearest…” Kronos is speechless. The silver-tongued titan has no words to say.

Percy sniffles and swipes at his face.

It had been his fault.

And now Kronos understands why Percy was so insistent on that. 

These Night Mares had finally forced Percy to reveal his worst mistake to his grandfather.

How could Kronos ever trust him now to defeat the primordials, knowing that Gaia had been successful in using him once before to rise?

“Dearest, no! You know you’re irreplaceable!” 

Percy scoffs bitterly, head twisted to watch as Jason lasso’ed the storm spirit. 

“Plenty of heroes have been brought low by their fatal flaws.” Kronos offers, which makes it worse.

“We can talk later.” Percy says roughly. 

Because now is not the time. 

The Night Mares dig up the dirt with their hooves.

Creatures of Kym.

Blessed by her. 

And Percy realizes.

“...I’m her champion.” He utters.

And then.

Laughs.

“I’m her champion, and I have her inherent blessing, as her champion!” He says again, words picking up speed like a steam engine as he rolls along, a grin spreading across his face as he gasps with relief.

“I have her inherent god's damned blessing!”

They charge.

And with a startling clarity Percy knows what he can do.

He closes his eyes.

And summons The Head of Medusa that Kronos had banished for him all those weeks ago. 

Without the blessing of Kym he wouldn’t have had the magical abilities to do so by himself, but he feels her blessing, the natural way those of the Sea had stronger Mist abilities gives him just enough juice to bring it into this world. Kronos would not have been able to help him on this, as the Head was the same as the Thread- only wieldable by a demi-god. What better to defeat creatures that inspire fear than the face of Medusa herself? 

Two scream so loudly it reaches Percy through ears still ringing from the Steam engine exploding.

And the third drops with a dull thunk.

Silence.

Percy feels the head turn grainy and then crumble into monster dust in his hands, no doubt joining the rest of her body in Tartarus. Medusa’s head could only be used once after initial decapitation by a hero before dissolving. 

He opens his eyes.

The leader Night Mare is on its knees before Percy, head bowed to avoid the monster’s gaze.

And now his gaze too.

Because it has been tamed.

Percy feels the connection click in his mind. A sudden release of fear, of anxiety, of the curse Kampê had put on him as it is lifted in real time and thrown back in her face.

Its gross appearance diminishes, fangs softening, blood red eyes taming to a neutral brown. 

That was for Clyde.

As Percy mounts the horse, Jason swoops down next to him, face bright and hair windswept, a huge welt on his cheek in the shape of a horse hoof. He’s riding the back of a now tamed storm-spirit.

“I think I’m naming him Tempest!” He says breathlessly to Percy, handing him back his lasso. His eyes rake over Percy and he visibly slumps in relief to see him alive, if a bit beaten up.

“You actually tamed the Night Mare?” He asks, somehow more breathless at the very idea.

Percy grins ferociously. 

“Was there ever any doubt!” He boasts and he and Jason clasp arms and cheer. “We are, after all, damn good!” 

Jason gasps then grins brilliantly at the reused joke, not that Jason would ever know that.

They make their way onto the dam, approaching the fight nearing its end.

A shout.

Percy watches as Cassie places a bullet in Kampê’s shoulder as Esther controls a jet of water to blast her scimitars directly into her chest, and the monster roars.

“Krios will be upon you!” She bellows.

Esther stomps her foot.

Percy watches it break in real time on top of the dam, the whole structure now shaking.

And Kampe falls. 

And explodes into a bomb of monster dust so bright it’s like a firework.

Percy gasps.

“You have to run!” Jason shouts from his spot in the air, safe from the dam collapse, as Esther and Cassie are brought to safety. 

The train is finally pulled to safety from the other side, and the Riders with waterpowers who had been holding back the dam’s water to the best of their abilities see Percy and grit their teeth harder to keep the water back.

Percy and his tamed Night Mare run like a bat out of hell. 

“Go Percy!” Cassie shrikes, firing off several shots into the air, loud cracks echoing like whips in the mountain valley. 

Several more join in and cheer, screaming, clapping, horses stomping and rearing as the galloping Night Mare with Tempest and Jason at his side hollering along in encouragement, as the lip of the Dam gives way in real time.

Each hoovestep is a thunderclap, an earthquake that rattles his chest from the power of its stride and it reminds Percy that Poseidon created horses so that a pack of animals on land running together could recreate the feeling of it. 

They leap.

And land.

Cheering!

Percy is lifted from his tamed Night Mare and put on Daniel’s shoulders. Fontanne and Cassie and everyone crowd around and jump for joy, the horses neighing, various magical creatures freed pausing to dip their heads before slinking away. 

Esther smirks from the back of the crowd, tipping her hat,  leaning against another Raider for support from what was clearly a broken ankle. His tamed Night Mare is still a bit off, but could pass as a regular magical horse, if there ever was such a thing. 

A distant voice calls from the water, a flow on the edge of the Great Basin that was now flowing out of the Basin, and now, presumably into the Sea.

“I’m free!” It calls faintly.

Percy and Esther exchange a baffled side-eye, before passing it off as one of the creatures they probably freed from the cars. 

Either way, it contributes nicely to the jubilant atmosphere. 

…

…

…

They spend the next few hours removing all the horses from their binders. The other Magical creatures will have to be strategically released. Some are dangerous, others incapable of caring for themselves in the wild. 

“New Rome has the capacity to care for them.” Jason says, petting Tempest. “I can take them back to New Rome.”

“The Raiders won’t have a problem with that.”

Jason grins, before his smile becomes softer.

“...Perhaps a Rider would like to come back and testify on the success of our quest?”

Esther hums.

“Perhaps. But you didn’t solve your drought?”

Jason shakes his head.

“No, but this is worth celebrating." ‘this’ being the freeing of the horses, or improved relations, but most likely both. 

But as Esther goes to respond, Cassie appears, white-face, with a rather regal looking horse.

“Jason. I need you to look at this.”

And she turns the horse to the side to see its flank branded with the crest of Camp Jupiter.

The clearing freezes.

Jason goes pale too. 

Percy remembers traveling the Labyrinth earlier and finding a new-looking roman horseshoe in the tunnels. He gently lifts one of its hooves to find a perfect match. 

Someone from inside New Rome had traded this horse. 

Someone in New Rome high enough to smuggle important and well-bred horses.

Someone who had contact with Kampê.

“I will need to report this.” Jason says seriously. No shit. Percy’s Praetor senses are tingling at the very thought of someone in camp doing that. It’d be banishment at the very least. 

“And not to mention the idea that Kampê wasn’t even the top boss. Who’s Krios?” Fontanne asks, brow furrowed.

“One of the cars mentioned Mt. Orthys on the side before it exploded.” Cassie notes. 

Oh shit!

No! 

Why did all children of Venus have to have so much attention to detail!?

“We will have to settle that back at camp.” Esther says. She struggles to stand, with Raiders, or just Riders now coming to help her up.

“We can leave the empty cars behind, but the ones with magical creatures can be pulled to New Rome with Rome’s own bred horses. Jason, someone can assist if needed, but with there still being no answers to the drought, I doubt New Rome will believe me when I say Lord Neptune isn’t behind it. It’s best no Riders go.”

Jason swallows heavily.

But nods. 

“We make camp here for a night. Rest. And we head on home Wednesday.” 

She glances warmly at Percy and Jason.

“Wherever that may be.”

…

…

…

Without Kampê, the trafficking operations will grind to a halt. Aurus is still an issue, but she won’t have the same effect or power Kampê did over the monsters, or the same trust from Krios.

On second thought, could that second demigod be Roman?

Percy jolts, and looks at Jason.

Most of the Riders are sleeping, having made camp.

But it would explain how the roman horses got thrown into the mix. 

Percy had no proof of that, however.

And would the Riders now go to Mt. Orthys to follow Cassie’s lead? 

Would Jason?

The Fall Equinox was on Friday of this week and it was now the early hours of Wednesday. Arilane’s lack of explanation about her prior contact with the traffickers was still a mystery, but one that would have to wait. 

Percy had to branch off from the Riders and Jason to go to Mt. Orthys by himself, disguised so Krios wouldn’t see his demi-god face, but yet, recognizable so Krios wouldn’t instantly kill him.

But he couldn’t go as Kyantos because Kampê would have been reporting to Krios that Kyantos was a thorn in her side, initially at least. They hadn’t blamed the Arena on him yet. 

Percy wasn’t ready to handle a third identity, not when he was even sure of his first.

Would he approach as Kyantos? 

It might give the violent Krios just enough pause to hear him out. For Kronos to emerge, and it’d still keep his primary identity secret at least. 

Percy can see now why the truth is such a precious thing. 

…

…

…

Both Percy and Jason leave in the morning. 

Jason will take the roman horses and magical creatures back to camp, and Percy will head back to his mother. Or so he said at least. 

“I’ll be okay.” He smiles at a worried Esther and Jason. 

Jason lingers.

“We’ll write?” His voice almost wobbles.

Percy pulls him into a fierce hug.

“We’ll do more than that.” Percy promises. 

They go their separate ways. 

The Raiders miraculously only suffered two deaths. There were several injuries however, but the rest would live. 

It says something about Percy’s experiences in the future that he thinks two deaths is a great outcome. 

Esther makes sure Percy is well armed and given jerky, and a unique healing potion, a recipe of a minor sea-witch goddess, as one of her daughters was a Rider. Percy feels guilty taking it since he can and had water healed already, but it was best to not raise suspicion by saying no. 

Kronos lingers in the back of his mind as Percy worries, as Percy takes his new horse and leads it on the outer edge of the creepy Great Basin.

He rides it, and distance loops creepily around it even though it’s no longer a Night  Mare. It bends reality and distance the way the worst dreams do. The American West is so vast and breathtaking that its beauty blends uncannily as they pass. 

“Peresus. I will not abandon you.”

Percy’s knuckles go white on the reins. 

“Gaia rose because of me.”

And instead of denying it this time,

Kronos is silent. 

It’s damning. 

“She fell because of you.”

Percy scoffs.

“She fell because Jason picked up my slack. Him and Piper and Leo, and it ended up costing Leo and then Jason’s lives!”

“I will not choose another demi-god to work with, grandson. Do you understand?” There is suddenly such a weight to his words that Percy clams up again. 

He inhales shakily.

He squints at the horizon just to focus on anything else as they made their way to Mt. Orthys, as Wednesday night fell. 

Then,

He nods.

He can feel his grandfather's earnestness too well to doubt him. 

…

…

…

Percy uses the mist to look older and cash from Rachel to check into a motel for the night, one with a nearby barn for horses. Decades ago it had still been quite common to travel by horse and it’s in decent enough condition to put his weird horse there for the night. 

Without the Night Mares chasing him he’s out like a light.

…

…

…

When he wakes up, Percy goes to wash his face. The refreshing flash of power always got him on his toes.

But something else happens this morning.

Because after the splash and as he goes to gulp from his cupped hands (the shady motel had no clean cups) he sees something that stops him dead in his tracks. His new tooth has finally grown in.

And it was a fang.