Chapter Text
Percy could admit that at some point his life was like a train car. Specifically, when the train gets into a crash and catches fire. He woke up in an abandoned building with Annabeth and…was that Luke? Percy knows for a fact that he and Annabeth shouldn’t be 13 again and Luke should definitely not be alive.
If there is one thing that he knows it’s that he worked hard to get out of the awkward barely teen phase. Percy would like his height back, thank you very much. He would also like to not be in a completely unknown place when he was in camp last night.
Honestly if this is something to do with the gods, he and his lovely girlfriend might have to storm Olympus themselves. And maybe drag Luke along with them just as a ‘look what you did’. Might as well cause as much drama as possible. It would be a fun afternoon bonding activity.
Before you all go “but Percy you shouldn’t do that.” Listen, he led two wars for them and the rebuild of a major part of Olympus was done by her. If anyone has a right to show up and start a fistfight it was them. Luke too if he wasn’t himself.
Percy reached into his pocket to make sure that he had Riptide and felt the normal plastic material of a BIC pen. He went over to Annabeth and gently shook her awake. She woke up quickly, never being the type of person to be a heavy sleeper.
They looked over at Luke then at each other. Percy then said, “do you want to wake him up or is it my turn?”
“It’s my turn.” Annabeth said before slapping him across the face hard enough to make it look like a scene from a cartoon. Luke immediately shot up.
“Ow. What was that for?” Luke said before his eyes actually caught on them.
“I don’t know. How about starting a war without me? Oh, or we could talk about the fact that you willingly chose to work with Kronos. No actually let's talk about you trying to kill us. Repeatedly.” Annabeth said.
“I’m so sor-” Luke was cut off.
“Don’t. You don’t have a right to say that yet. You may have sacrificed yourself to save us, but you have not earned the right to say sorry before you have worked for it.” Annabeth said. “You made the right choice at that moment but that doesn't mean you didn’t make the wrong ones before that.”
“Okay.” he said looking at the ground. That was probably the best reaction he could have gotten at the moment. He knew that he hurt them. His biggest mistake had been directing his fury at camp.
“Now to figure out where in the Hades we are and how to get back to camp.” Annabeth said. Then she accidentally kicked at a bag that had been on the ground. “Was this here before?”
Percy shook his head. They looked into the bag and found cash and medical supplies. Percy’s going to be honest, he didn’t trust that. Nothing good ever happens when there's just a random first aid kit sitting on the ground around them. If he listens carefully, he swears he could hear boss music playing in the distance. The sentiment is repeated by Luke and Annabeth.
“Yeah, it’s time to go.” Percy said. Annabeth grabbed both of their arms and pulled them out of the building. Only now did Percy realize that it was a warehouse that they had been in. He would have laughed at the cliche if he wasn’t too busy being suspicious.
They knew where they were almost immediately. Luke noticed a street sign and Percy knows Manhattan like he knows the ocean. Annabeth could recognize still being in New York by the architecture and stores around them. It would be a two hour or longer bus ride to camp.
Or…A black and orange Bugatti Chiron sat on the side of the road opposite to them. No, they shouldn’t just take someone's car even if it was just sitting there unprotected. They really shouldn't… Okay so listen. They didn’t mean to take it. They really didn’t. But it’s not their fault.
Luke was already opening the doors. Of course, Annabeth had to follow and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid like try to overthrow the gods again without her. And then Percy just kind of goes wherever Annabeth goes so if she says ‘follow me’ Percy definitely will follow.
So yeah, long story short they may have ‘borrowed’ some rich guy's beloved sports car. Ehhh if he’s got money to afford this, he probably has other cars. Rich people do that right? Collect a bunch of cars. Or did TV lie to Percy? Doesn't matter now since they were long gone.
(Somewhere in a Suit Store, Manhattan, New York, a billionaire got a really bad feeling. Justin Hammer was having a good week, but he had the desperate feeling that it was not going to last very long. He ran outside the store to see his car zooming off. Mayhaps he even shed a tear.)
That’s how the trio found them going about, hold on let Luke check the speedometer, about 200 miles over the speed limit. Oops. He’s pretty sure that he heard police sirens about 20 miles back. No wait, make that thirty. Well sucks to suck.
He looks in the rearview mirror and sees Percy and Annabeth having the time of their lives before one of them told him to turn on the radio. Shut Up and Drive by Rihanna flooded the car and Percy made him turn it up loud enough for the car to shake.
Luke had to admit that it was nice to see the looks on their faces. They looked happy. It had been a while since he had truly seen that look on them. Like they held the sunshine inside of their gaze. He was used to them looking for an attack at any moment.
It, gods, it made him happy to see that look on Annabeth's face again. Luke knew that he didn’t deserve to see her looking like that. He had lost that privilege years ago. He had lost the ability to see any of his family happy, and he knew that.
He decides that it’s time for him to put his attention back on the road. Just because he was driving at the Grey Sisters normal speed doesn't mean that he has to drive like them too. He’s the son of Hermes and he would hate to wreck the car.
—-
When they finally get to camp, they turn down the radio and slam the doors shut loud enough for it to echo. It was well past sunset since they had started driving when the sun went down. It was nice to have left all the noise of the city behind.
The fact that no one came out to greet them was the first clue something was wrong. Camp almost always had someone guard both the fleece and the tree. It was just the law of the world. New York has tourists, the gods are terrible parents, the border is guarded.
Old habits die hard, and things didn’t change very quickly after both of the wars. So yeah, people not being there to check out the potential thieves was very weird. But seeing as it was late at night, they thought that it might just be because people are finally resting.
Luke turned back to lock the door and make sure that the Stoll’s don’t break into it when no one is looking. The last thing they need is to get their hands on something that can go three hundred miles an hour. Actually, releasing the Stoll’s on the god’s might be worth it.
He knew that neither Percy nor Annabeth trusted him right now. And they have every right too. In truth he was surprised that they didn’t just kill him back in the warehouse. Luke thinks they probably should have killed him then and there. But because both of them were better than him they let him live.
The first moment that the trio realized something was off was when there was no dragon guarding the fleece. In fact, Thalia’s tree just wasn’t there at all. It had been the first thing since the warehouse that felt off and sent alarm bells ringing.
That was when they realized how weird it was for nothing to come after Luke. If the barrier had been there, then Luke would have been greeted way less quietly. Knowing the camp they all just had spears laying around just in case he managed to prison break the underworld.
Hell, even if it were Annabeth and Percy, something would normally come to attack them on sight because they had been out after hours. The wrath of the cleaning harpies had been cold and unforgiving and Hermes kids were quite used to it. At the very least Chiron should have greeted them.
But they had been met with nothing but silence that was more than what graced the camp at nighttime. (When they weren't at war that was.) It was unsettling. A place like this wasn’t meant to be silent. It was supposed to be filled with the noise cabins bring.
Luke watched as Annabeth had the same conclusion and ran past the hill. Luke followed and there was just nothing. Not in a ‘things have been destroyed’ way but in a ‘things have never existed here. And Luke was terrified. Because what in Hades’ domain could just wipe camp out like that.
There was no fire pit to let out flames. No Hermes kids sneaking out late at night because they can. No big house to hold the camp directors. Just pure, unfiltered silence. It was like looking at the place through a lens back before the god’s resided here.
Annabeth ran down the hill to check things out herself and Percy trailed after. Luke fell to the ground wishing that this day would be over. Maybe if he was luck this was all just a really rude punishment. Maybe he’ll wake up in asphodel and realize that everything was a dream.
Except it wasn’t. And he knew it wasn’t because he could feel his blood moving in his body. He could feel his chest rising and falling with his breath. He could feel the rock digging into his knees. No, he knows that this is not just a dream.
It could have been thirty seconds or two hours when he felt a fist collide with his nose. His eyes were watering, and his face burned from the hit. He looked up to see an angry Percy Jackson towering over him. It almost reminds him of the fight in the forest.
“Did you do this?” Percy yelled more than asked, “Are you the reason that there are no goddamn remnants of camp.”
“Percy, stop, calm down and think.” Annabeth said
“No, I- I swear on the River Styx that I don’t have anything to do with this.” Luke said.
There wasn’t the telltale sound of thunder like there usually was with an oath. Instead, a small gust of wind passed over them as if confirming his words to be true. It was like they only had the remnants of the river, like it was just too far out of reach.
“Wait a minute.” Annabeth said frantically, before starting to speak to herself under her breath.
“Uhm Annabeth-” Luke started.
“No monsters, no camp, no Styx oath, Luke is somehow alive and here. This is-god's this is going to sound crazy, but I think we just proved Hugh Everet III theory.” Annabeth ranted.
“What does that mean?” Luke asked.
Percy, who had listened to multiple late-night ramblings of different theories and the possibilities of them, knew what she was talking about. With wide eyes he said, “I think she means that we are in a different universe.”
“And it would make sense because everything about this,” She gestured widely, “Is crazy.”
He saw the way that Luke’s eyes widened almost instantly “Gods Damn it,” he ignored the ‘dam’ correction, “We can’t even get home now. I thought I was done with this shit.”
Percy ignored him and turned to Annabeth, “so what’s our next course of action?”
“We get Luke to make himself useful and lie well enough to get us a semi-permanent place to stay.” Annabeth replied before getting back into their car.
“I’m sorry, what?” Luke asked bewildered.
“You're getting us a place to stay, keep up will you.” Percy said before opening the car door.
—-
They stayed at a hotel for the night but the moment that all three of them woke up they left. Percy gave Luke the address to his old apartment complex when everyone was inside the car. It was the apartment from before the whole godly mess.
Look, did Percy really want to go there? No, he really didn’t. But he knew that they wouldn’t be asking any questions. They certainly didn’t when he and his mom still lived there. It sucked to go back after everything, but it was the best they had on short notice.
Annabeth must have realized because she grabbed his hand and held on. It wasn’t like it fixed everything, but it did fix a lot for him. Only she could have calmed him down with a simple move like that. Annabeth was his anchor in this, and he was hers.
It didn’t take as long as it should have to get Luke a meeting with the people who owned the apartments. And of course, because they were as shady as Percy remembered they had an apartment within two hours. They didn’t even need the usual documents it takes to rent a place.
They pay a few months in advance just to make sure that if something happens, they don’t have to worry. Demigod luck had never been kind to them so they should at least be prepared for whatever happens. Like Percy had said earlier, he could count on these people being shady.
When they get the keys, they go up to the apartment and realize that it was the exact same one minus beer bottles and cigarette stains. Is it the universes’ goal to torment Percy? It really seems like it is playing that kind of game.
Actually, don’t answer that. He really doesn't want to know the answer to that question. What he does know is that he is going to make it the best apartment they have ever owned out of spite. The landlords don’t give a dam about what they do, and Percy is going to use that.
The first thing they did was figure out what exactly they had. The answer was as follows: fucking nothing. Which is fair enough honestly, he should have expected that. But it had been so long since his mom bought an apartment, and he just forgot.
If Percy had a nickel for every time he wanted to fight the people who run this apartment complex, well it would be weird it kept happening. No, it wouldn’t, they knew exactly what they did. It didn’t make him any less angry. If the others could tell, they didn’t comment.
Wait no. They had bed frames left in the apartment from the last people who had rented the place. It doesn't matter that she probably can’t hear him when Percy lets out the loudest thank you to Hestia that he could manage.
—-
Annabeth was so confused. And that was something that neither Percy nor Luke heard her say a lot. Believe it or not she was capable of not knowing what the Hades to do. That doesn't mean she had to like being left in the dark like everyone else was now.
But right now, she had to make sure she knew what she was doing. One of them was back from the dead, and the other had no way of contacting his mom to tell her that he was okay. So in summary, Annabeth was the only one in possession of the brain cell
Seeing as she had nothing to do research with, she decided she needed to find a way to change that. Annabeth snuck out of the middle of the night with Percy thinking he’s being sneaky trailing her. Normally she doesn't go looking to start fights, but her moral compass got put in the washer by the universe switch.
Now just because her moral compass is off, doesn't mean she didn’t have one. So, Annabeth watched and waited. She was determined to find the biggest asshole to steal money from. She remembered all the lessons from Hermes' cabin.
Annabeth knew her mark the moment he walked past her alleyway. He had been yelling over the phone about things that were highly illegal and shouldn’t have been said out in the open. If Annabeth had to guess- wait no she didn’t need to guess, he said it out loud that he was mafia.
Well thank you (not so) kind sir for offering to pay for her new computer. It is very nice of you to offer to pay like that and over the phone as well. She hopes that the guy gets the day he deserves after he gives money.
It was a very quick transaction, so she’ll spare most of the details. Annabeth just thinks that it’s a crazy coincidence that the man passed out immediately giving her the money. If someone didn’t know her any better, they would say that she did it. And she had to say that she would never.
Completely ignoring the body on the ground and Percy in the shadows she makes her way to the nearest electronics store. She had things to do, and Percy wanted to pretend to be hidden then he would just have to keep up. It wasn’t that hard.
Annabeth bought a silver computer that had an automatic translating feature so she could read things in Greek. It almost reminded her of Daedalus' laptop, and she doesn't even have to worry about monsters tracking her. It was probably one of the best investments she had made in a while
So that’s how they acquired a car, real estate, and a laptop within 48 hours of existing in a different universe. All in all, it wasn’t that bad considering how much worse they could have done today. With any luck they would be home soon. (when had they ever been lucky)