Chapter Text
The Being:
It Watched the children of Camp Half-Blood with mild amusement mixed with irony. It had known the worlds held things that would be considered miracles in some worlds that were written off as useless or “easy to make, so why bother caring for them?”. But this, this was so disappointing. Honestly, it was a wonder no one had come to save these poor children from their negligent parents in the first place! It descended on the camp with silent wings. It easily bypassed their pitiful boundaries, it was really a miracle that less half-bloods had been slaughtered in the past two wars.
It started with the children of Zeus. Tonight, Thalia and poor, poor Jason, who would be saved once It brought him to the new world, were visiting their friends and now sleeping after a long day of games, recounting the past wars, and happiness. It’s heart, or what would be It’s heart if it had a physical one, ached for the loss that would ripple through them should Jason stay. And so, It stole the children away and tucked them up safely in Its magical pocket.
Next, to Cabin 2, and the son of Poseidon who had made far too many ripples for a mere dewdrop of a godling. He had far too much pain within him, and deserved a father who would swaddle him up and care for him, unlike the abusive, horrid excuse of a man who had once been his father in marriage alone. And the ignorance of this by the sea god enraged It, and he was one of the better ones! Zeus’s daughter, whom It already held safely within Its hiding place, had undergone that too, and her father, the all-seeing “king”, did nothing from his perch on high. And that was just scratching the surface of both their trauma and the god’s negligence! No, It thought. These gods do not deserve their miracles, and took the poor boy, who was being wracked by a nightmare of the Pit, something no child, especially not a godling, should ever experience within their lifetime, for even Lord Zeus himself had terrible nightmares about his brief visit to free the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires for centuries, and whisked him up, safely deposited in her hidden place for until It had finished gathering those who needed it most, and saved them.
Next up were the children of Hades. Hazel, youngest of the three, had already been gathered on Its trip to New Rome just hours earlier, along with her beloved war-child who wanted nothing more than peace for himself, his friends, and even his undeserving father. Nico, who was so small and yet so old inside that It felt Its heart would burst with pity. He had been hurt far too many times for one of his age, and although his father, like Posiedon, tried, he still failed far too often for her liking. Off with you, little star, and don’t fret, the sun-child you love so will come too. I am not, nor shall I ever be, as cruel as Juno as to rip apart soulmates for my own master plan. Perhaps for a little while, but you will be brought together very soon, nowhere near the two months little Perseus and Annabeth lost each other for. You will be alright. You will never lose Jason, the one of the first you could ever truly be yourself to after your sister, and you will never, never have to set foot in Tartarus again. Lastly was poor, dead, Bianca. She had technically chosen rebirth, but rebirth was never as clean or nice as the gods made it out to be. Often, the burden of another soul, another past, another life living within you was a great burden to whomever the soul had become. And if the person found out the truth, they would feel no true kinship to their past life, only the weight of their legacy. The child who held Bianca Di Angelo’s soul would not miss it when It took her, and Nico would be ecstatic to reunite with her. A win-win scenario! It tucked her, Hazel, her little brother, and his little sunbeam away, and flew onwards.
Next was the fiery war-child who had been failed so terribly and deeply by her father, like all the rest, who wanted to be strong enough to protect everyone, when she was but a child, one that should be protected by her parents, not practically abandoned and abused and forced to become a soldier shaped by war far, far too early, and she too was held gently in It’s hand as she was deposited safely in It’s pocket, where she would be safe from this cruel world.
Penultimately was the girl who took on everything the world could have possibly thrown at her, survived, and been given no reward, no “well done”, no love from her swine of a mother. Athena was one of, if not the worst of all the gods, sending her children to fight a monster she created instead of fixing her own problems! There had been hundreds, no, thousands of CHILDREN sent by their own mother to die at the hands of a monster their own mother had created and then told them to destroy for her, when she, a WAR goddess with the domain of STRATAGY, could come up with all sorts of brilliant plans to fix her mess and destroy that monstrosity with ease! The little one roused, having perhaps heard Its furious wingbeats, but she soon went back to her fitful rest. Rest easy little one. Soon enough you will be safe from your “mother’s” atrocities once and for all.
Last but most certainly not least was young Leo. The little boy named not for the bold lion but sacrifice was brave beyond compare and yet hurting so, so badly. Nothing would ease the pain of his mother’s loss when he was too young to understand what it truly meant. Nothing would fully heal him from the horrible foster families that had hurt him and always rejected him over the years, even though he was just a sweet, innocent, tiny child. Nothing could erase the agony of his death and his heartbreak when Calypso left him. And if It did not take him with her, nothing would end his suffering from Jason, his new and one true love, ’s death. It carefully took him and placed him in the safe spot with everyone else.
It took one last scornful look at Camp Half Blood, and this place built around the worship of beings who were practically incapable of loving and caring for their own children, then turned Its gaze instead to the beautiful, pure, children who had done nothing to deserve this treatment. They would be safe now, and those pathetic excuses of immortals that dared to call themselves gods would never touch them. It then raised Its taloned hand, a bright light split the sky open, and they were gone. It was as if they had never existed, and as the god so liked to pretend they didn’t, It didn’t think they would miss them. The other godlings, yes, of course, but It would be back for them soon.
It promised.
…
Thalia:
Thalia woke up in an unfamiliar place. She instantly jolted up, leaping to her feet and reaching for her weapon. It wasn’t there. Panicking, she scanned her surroundings for any potential threats or weapons. She was in the middle of an unfamiliar forest, the only possible ways of defending herself were pointy sticks on the forest floor, and she was not alone. Quickly, using instincts honed by both a terrible war and with the help of Artemis herself, she grabbed the sharpest stick she could find, and pointed it at the other person.
It was not, as she’d expected, a monster. It was her little brother Jason. But he was younger than usual. A kid about eleven years old, instead of a proud and confident Roman ex-praetor.
“Gah!” he yelped. “Be careful where you point that thing! Where are we, by the way? Because I have no idea. This place feels so off and yet so familiar, it’s really weirding me out. Do you have any ideas, or are we stranded in the middle of nowhere alone without our weapons? Because that would be really, really bad.” She shook her head and he paled. “Okay. Okay. This - this is fine. We’re stranded in the middle of nowhere, with no clue where we are, who took us here, how to get home, and nothing to defend ourselves when monsters attack!”
“Okay, calm down, Jase. We’ve got each other, our memories and training, and in the worst case scenario, we can try using these pointy sticks. Plus, I’m a lieutenant of Artemis, I can handle a few monsters!” She put her hand reassuringly on her younger-than-normal-younger brother’s shoulder, and he calmed down a bit.
“But…Thals, your Hunter circlet is gone. And you - you’re younger. I think about thirteen or something.” He said nervously, for good reason, because she shrieked and felt frantically for her circlet. This isn’t possible! I haven’t broken my vow, and even if someone did something to me while I was sleeping, Lady Artemis hates scumbags like that! A Hunter who loses their virginity against their will does not break their vows! So…where is it? And thirteen?! I’m fucking thirteen again!!! This cannot be happening!
“This - this - this shouldn’t be possible. How - how could I lose my circlet? They don’t release unless you break your vow, and I haven’t! What could be strong enough to remove it without the help of Lady Artemis?!” she yelled when her search proved in vain.
“I don’t know. I can’t feel my power as Juno’s champion anymore either, so whatever - no, whoever did this must be really strong to take Juno’s champion claim away from me. Otherwise, she’d strike them down in an instant the moment they even thought about taking it.” Thalia hated Juno, but she had to admit the goddess cared about her brother and wouldn’t give him up for anything. So…who or what was powerful enough to overpower the Queen of the Gods herself and take away her Champion’s power and title?
“Let’s worry about that later.” she said, shaking herself. “Right now, we need to focus on surviving and avoiding monsters. Once we know where we are and are somewhere safe, then we think about getting home and who took us.”
Percy:
Percy woke up face down in the grass. Not great. He heard birds singing, so he was safe, he wasn’t in the Pit and rain pitter-pattering on the ground. He groaned, stretching and picking himself up. He wiped the mud off his trousers gingerly, before doing a mental check-up on his state physically, emotionally, and mentally. No injuries, but his clothes felt bigger and looser than usual, which was odd, but he brushed it off. Unless this was a Stroll prank(and knowing his luck and the lack of familiar surroundings made him confident it wasn’t), whoever brought him out here had no motive to do some useless thing like making his clothes a bit too big. Emotionally he was calm, as he’d been in enough weird situations for this to be somewhat okay. Mentally he was traumatized and needed therapy, but that was normal. He also did a quick run-through of his memories, since after the Juno incident one could never be too careful.
My name is Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, my mother is Sally Blofis-Jackson and my adoptive dad is Paul Blofis, I’m dating Annabeth Chase, I defeated Khronos himself with the help of the Olympians, I was also part of the Prophecy of Seven and briefly suffered amnesia at the hands of Juno/Hera, am one of three demigods to ever survive the Pit, I’m enrolled at New Rome University, and I never want to go on a quest again. Okay, that’s everything, I don’t have any weird memory gaps like before, so unless whoever took me here is stronger than the Olympian Queen(impossible), I’m not missing anything.
“…Percy? Where are we? What is this place?” came Annabeth’s groggy voice behind him. He turned around and saw her slowly getting up. He helped her to her feet and together they surveyed their surroundings. No danger, but this place is weird. It feels…off. Like we aren’t supposed to be here. Nothing that could be used as weapons either. Not even sticks from the trees. Are those grape vines wrapping around the branches of that tree? And where are the birds I heard earlier? I heard them, I know I did, but I can’t see them anywhere! That makes zero sense!
Wait…Annabeth isn’t that short…she almost looks like a kid…oh shit.
“Um, Wise Girl?” Dammit, how does one tell your girlfriend she looks like she’s been de-aged?
“What? Is somethi- what. Wha- how?! Why are you twelve?!” She yelped.
“Wait, me?! You look like a kid too!”
“Hang on, so both of us got de-aged?”
“Looks like it,” he replied. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bird. A raven to be specific. Hey, isn’t that Will’s dad’s sacred bird? What is one of those doing here? He pointed it out to Annabeth and she thought it was definitely out of place. The bird (which had been sitting on a cypress tree with leaves that almost looked like they were tinted gold)noticed them, cocked its head in what looked like confusion, wonder(???), or maybe both, and then took off, flying at top speed.
“You think we should follow it?” He asked Annabeth.
“Well, we don’t have much of a choice, do we?” She replied. He took her hand in his, and together, they followed the crow off into the unknown.
Leo:
Leo woke up alone. That would have been okay, if it weren’t for the fact that he’d been home. But he wasn’t home. He wasn’t in Cabin 9, or Bunker 9, or anywhere else in Camp. He jolted up, whirling around and searching for whoever or whatever had dragged him off and away from his family. He never wanted to leave his friends and family at Camp Half-Blood again after his death and Calypso abandoning him. And now he was alone again, without his beloved siblings, without his friends from other cabins, without - without Jason. His “long-time”(really his crush began when Jason woke up on the bus from the Wilderness School, but the Mist made it seem like he’d liked him for longer) crush was the one who’s been the quickest to get over the whole yes-I-died-and-yes-I-made-you-all-think-I-sacrificed- -myself-to-save-the-world-and-now-I’m-back-after-months and support him after Calypso.
“Leo! Where the fuck are we?! What are you doing here?! What’s going on?!” Clarisse La Rue, angry Ares kid extraordinaire, shouted. So not as alone as I thought! Hooray! He quickly relaxed, glad to see a (well, not really, but she was alright and didn’t hate him, plus they were on the same side in terms of being half-bloods) friendly face.
“I have no clue. I’m guessing you don’t either?” She nodded, still looking angry, or maybe that was just her default expression. He’d never seen her particularly happy, mostly grumpy and stuff. Two more groans emerged from the black night, and they both jumped. They reached for their weapons, realized they were gone, and proceeded to panic. However, the groans weren’t from some terrifying Greek monster like they’d pictured, but more demigods. Will and Frank were lying on the ground, equally confused and disoriented as they’d been seconds ago. They quickly jumped to their feet, and the four decided that they’d take their chances in a nearby cave as Will didn’t want them catching hypothermia, which paid off since there weren’t any monsters inside(Clarisse went first with a very pointy stick to check for them), and they were safe inside. He made them a fire, and they huddled together, waiting for dawn to arrive…
Nico:
Nico woke up lying in a patch of grass, alone. Last thing he remembered he was in Camp Half Blood, cuddling with Will after a nightmare. But Will wasn’t there. He leaped to his feet, calling for his boyfriend. Please not him too. Please let me have this one bit of happiness, just this once. It was only then when he realized he wasn’t alone. He yelped and whirled around, ready to fight whoever had taken Will. However, it was not, in fact, a monster or otherwise. It was just Hazel. What is she doing here?! I thought that she was Camp Jupiter, with Frank, Reyna, and Jason! And…why was she so little?! She almost looks…younger?!
“Nico! What are you doing here?! I thought you were at Camp Half Blood! And…why are you a kid?” She said, confused. He was too.
“I was! Aren’t you supposed to be at Camp Jupiter?! Where are we?! And what do you mean, why am I a kid?! You’re the one who looks like they got de-aged!” He replied. Then, a third voice, one he hadn’t heard in a long time, but one he knew like the back of his hand, spoke up.
“What’s ‘Camp Jupiter’? What happened? Where are we? And Nico, what are you wearing?!” He whirled around again, and saw someone he thought he would never see again, someone who he should have never seen again, but had always hoped to.
Bianca Di Angelo was climbing to her feet, the same age she’d been when he lost her. He stared numbly for a second at his sister who was supposed to be gone, before he practically collapsed into her arms, and sobbed with joy that his sister was alive and she was here. For this singular moment, all that mattered was that he was in his long-lost big sister’s arms, and he would never leave her again. He felt like he was ten all over again, and the future was bright and full of possibilities and no one had ever died, he’d never suffered in Tartarus, he hadn’t felt the pure loneliness and isolation and utter suffocation of the jar, and he’d never almost faded into a shadow or any of the other times he’d almost died. All that mattered was Bianca, and this perfect moment.
“Hey, hey, why are you crying? Did something happen? Are you okay? Who’s this other girl? Speaking of which, could you help us? Are you from Camp? Are you Nico’s friend?” Bianca asked gently. He buried his face in her shoulder and hugged her like he’d never let go. Hazel was confused, which was understandable since she’d never met Bianca before. She’d died before he resurrected her, and they had been in different parts of the Underworld when they were dead. He didn’t even think he’d ever shown her a picture of his older sister.
“I’m Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, Roman form of Hades. Nico’s my half brother. Who are you?” She replied and Bianca gasped.
“Wait…WHAT THE FUCK?!” She clapped her hand over her mouth after she said fuck, as when she was alive she tried her best to keep from swearing in front of him. “I’m Bianca, and last thing I knew me and Nico were unclaimed! I just joined the Hunters of Artemis a few weeks ago, and last thing I remember, we were fighting this automaton called Talos, and I really need to get back there to help save everyone else. I don’t know what you mean by “roman form”, and the way you’re saying that sounds like you think me and Nico are Hades kids, but how would you know that?” This time it was Hazel’s turn to gasp, and she met eyes with Nico. He nodded, conveying that yes, this was his full sister Bianca, the one who died on a quest with Percy years ago.
“Hang on…Bianca di Angelo? As in, THE Bianca di Angelo, Nico’s sister who died on a quest with Percy?! The one who’s partially the reason I got resurrected?!" Nico nodded, and Hazel turned back to her. “Do you not remember the Underworld or dying? How are you alive? Didn’t you get reborn? Who brought you back to life?” Hazel said, firing a barrage of questions at Bianca, who looked more confused than Nico had ever seen her before.
“Hang on, did you say DIED?! I FU - FREAKING DIED ON THAT QUEST?! But - I could have sworn I was just there. Nico, what happened? Who is she? Is she lying? Am I lying? Am I dead? But I can feel my heart beating, I can’t be dead! Why does my brain feel all weird and messed up?” She said, turning him to face her. He was quiet for a moment, he didn’t want to think of the pain, only this beautiful blessing, greater than he could have ever imagined. A hope he’d never dared to hold after she reincarnated and he met Hazel that had been fulfilled at long last. But he had to tell her, you can’t just not tell someone they’ve been dead for years and that her little brother had to grow up without her.
“…you died, Bia…I…I don’t know how this is possible - it’s been so long, it’s been years, I - I didn’t think you could come back, ever. But…you’re here.” He said, his eyes turning glassy and a bittersweet smile crept its way onto his face as his eyes met hers for the first time in so many years. “Gods, I’ve missed you so much.” She looked shocked and froze for a second, before he threw his arms around her again and said, “You’ve missed a lot, but I’ll catch you up! Guess what? I have a boyfriend! His name is Will Solace, and he’s an Apollo kid, and he’s soooooooooo cute and…” Hazel sighed as Nico continued to describe the beautiful blessing that was Will and Bianca did a double take.
“You have a boyfriend?! You’re TEN, you’re NOT ALLOWED to date yet! No matter what, you’re MY little brother and you’re not dating ANYONE until you’re at least THIRTEEN! THEN we can talk about love stuff, but until then - NO!!!” Bianca said protectively. Dammit, forgot it seems like we got de-aged. Oh no, she’s going to shovel talk Will once (if) we find him, that’s going to be so embarrassing! Oh well, it’s a small price to pay for her back.
“Um…you might have missed a bit more than that, um…Everyone but you may have been de-aged?” Hazel said awkwardly.
“What do you mean by that?” Bianca asked.
“I’m fourteen years old, B. Or at least I am mentally, since whatever took us decided to turn us into kids again,” he said, sighing.
“Wait, does that - I’VE BEEN DEAD FOR FOUR. WHOLE. YEARS?!” She stage-whispered, making a small choking sound and her eyes widening. He nodded and her pupils shrunk a bit. “Oh gods. I really have missed a lot, haven’t I?”
“Yeah. But you’re back now, and that’s what matters!” he said, smiling. She laughed and ruffled his hair. He leaned into her touch, humming contentedly. Hazel, being the little sister she is, squealed and said
“Hey, can I join in on this sibling cuddles thing? Especially since Nico’s in there, he’s so hard to cuddle with, something about it being ‘an affront to his emo aesthetic’, yet he never complains when WILL asks!” Bianca looked at him incredulously and then pulled Hazel in. Nico sighed contentedly. Even though he was stranded in the woods with no idea where he was or who brought him there, even if he was separated from Will, even if he was suddenly a ten year old kid and lacking anything to defend himself when the monsters inevitably came, he felt safer than he had since the Pit, in the arms of his two sisters, reunited at last.