ELAPSE | PJO

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 7

{ past / present annabeth }

Annabeth tapped Future Percy's shoulder, her mind racing.

He turned, smiled, and said, "Yeah?"

Annabeth bit her lip. "You knew."

Future Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh oh. You're doing The Face."

Annabeth shook her head. "You knew that the eidolons would show up if you were training."

"Oh." Future Percy nodded. "We knew they'd come out of hiding if we gave them a reason to fight. Why?"

Annabeth eyed her future self, who stood a few feet away, conversing with Will Solace.

"Why didn't you tell us? Percy and I?"

Future Percy shrugged. "Even if we had told you, we would've ended up separating. You two rooted out a good amount of them," he gestured around him. "Plus, anyone could've been possessed. Even you," he added with a goofy smile.

"Geez," Annabeth snorted. "Older Percy is..."

Future Percy flexed his muscles. "Awesome?"

Annabeth laughed. "Different."

He shrugged. "I'll take it."

Future Annabeth walked over. "I've got it," she said, grinning.

"What?" Annabeth asked, at the same moment Future Percy said, "So?" prompting for continuation.

Future Annabeth turned to Future Percy. "Remember how the eidolons were chased out of your head by Piper's charm speak?"

Percy nodded. "Jason's too," he mumbled.

"Yeah. So, we'll have the strongest charm speakers available go around and chase all of the spirits away."

Percy scratched his head. "Weren't we already going to do that?"

Future Annabeth huffed. "Yes. But while said Aphrodite kids work their magic, we'll start the quest."

Future Percy smiled. "That's what I was waiting for. You figured it out?"

Future Annabeth beamed. "Okay, so you know how Kronos is like, the Lord of Time? Yeah, so, we need to find out who made a deal with him, and track him down. And then––"

"Slashy, slashy," Future Percy finished. "My favorite part."

Future Annabeth giggled. "Mm-hmm. And I think we have a headstart."

Future Percy narrowed his eyes in thought. "Who would want to help Kronos?"

Future Annabeth spread out her hands. "Kronos is the Titan Lord, but he's also the god of time. So, what if the god of fate, something that goes hand in hand with time, is behind this?"

"Continue," Future Percy prompted.

"In Greek, fate, or doom, is Μόρος. So I thought: Moros, god of doom."

Annabeth watched them back-and-forth for a while before she threw her hands out. "Okay, slow down. I love the fact that you seem to know what you're doing, but I don't. Back up and fill me in."

The two turned to her with unreadable expressions.

"Let's find Chiron."

{ future / present percy }

"Moros is known for leading mortals to their deaths, driving them towards their deadly fate. Helping Kronos means lots of that." Chiron's voice was grim.