A Rift in Time (Percy Jackson/Ranger's Apprentice Crossover)

Chapter Nine

It didn't look like much. It was a hole in the ground, now about twenty feet wider than it had been, but you could feel the danger radiating off of it in waves.

It shook you to your core, a chill you could feel in your bones.

And they hadn't even made the leap yet.

"You guys don't have to come with us, you know, Percy," Will told him gently, "We couldn't ask you to go through this again."

"No," Percy sighed, "You guys are my friends. The problem you're having is on us, too. Besides, you're not making it through Tartarus on your own."

Annabeth slung a bag over her shoulder, sliding her Drakon Bone sword into its sheath. "We beat Kronos once, with Luke's help. We couldn't have done it without him. We're older, stronger now, but he's still a Titan. There's no way you're beating Kronos without us."

Horace eyed them jokingly. "I can't tell if I should be grateful or offended."

Annabeth scowled. "We can't guarantee survival in Tartarus, not to mention what will happen when we actually get to Araluen. You'll need all the help you can get if you want to prevent the future that Apollo watched unfold."

"Yeah!" Came Leo's voice from behind them, "There's no way you're staying alive without everyone's favorite Supersized McShizzle!"

"Everyone's favorite what?" Evanlyn grimaced, wrinkling her nose at him.

Piper slapped him upside the head. "Don't mind him. He's just the Repair boy."

"I resent that, Beauty Queen," Leo pouted, "Hazel, back me up. I am the epitome of scrawny chic."

"Who are they?" Alyss asked, pointing in the direction of the daughter of Pluto and son of Mars, "Are they coming with us?"

"I told you I would introduce you to my pet dragon, didn't I?" Percy grinned, a stark contrast to the dark atmosphere that came with standing next to the pit, "Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque, from the Roman Legion."

"I thought you said that we wouldn't have time to get to the Romans before Araluen was destroyed."

"That would be true normally," Percy admitted, "But not when you've got a Speedy Gonzalez, cussing sailor of a demon horse that can cross the country in eight hours and chomp through gold."

"Flying horses," Will mused, "Demon horses, cursing sailor horses. Is there anything this world doesn't have?"

"Don't forget Nico horses," Percy chuckled at his own inside joke, "But I'll tell you about the wizards some other time."

"Alright," Percy clapped, focusing himself, "We're going to Hermes's Shrine, finding out how to open its gate to Araluen, saving your world, and somehow making it home alive. In the meantime, Nico, Solace, the other Head Counselors, the Hunters and Reyna will protect both camps. Good? Good. Let's go!"

He stepped forward to jump, but Nico tugged him back with a stern glare. "Your plan is a little half baked for having the fates of two dimensions resting on it."

"Hey," Percy grinned cheekily, "Where there's a Will, there's a way, and we've got two Wills."

"You've been waiting all day to get to use that one, haven't you?"

"Hey, wait," Will complained, "How come he gets to still be Will and I have to be Solace?"

"You could be William instead," Percy offered, "Maybe Bill?"

He looked over at Nico. "What do you think about calling your boyfriend Willy from now on?"

"Go see my father."