The Gift of Time

7|| Questions

Percy's POV
I wake up from yet another night of training and stumble into my bathroom. With the solstice approaching faster than I thought it would sends my brain into a nervous spiral. Despite Kronos' reassuring words, my mind is trained to automatically think the worst. So that's what I do.

My mind scrambles to the worst possible outcome, and naturally that reminds me of my vacation down to Tartarus. If I have to go back down to Tartarus I might just lose my shit. At least this time I'll have time on my side. I could just propel myself back in time and stay there. Hide in a cave or something.

"You're not going to hide in a cave." Kronos says "Everything will be fine. You just have to make it 3 more days and I'll be out of everyone's hair."

"But you being gone doesn't change anything. I still have your domains, and there's still no one to back me up." I say

"And I trained you for that. You must not lose yourself in a spiral of anxiety because that is how you mess up. If you're confident in yourself and in your abilities you will just fine. It's just like your water powers." He says

"You're right. It is just like my water powers." I agree "Maybe I should practice to make myself feel better."

"Just keep it in the cabin." Kronos says

Annabeth's POV
I didn't sleep much last night. I was too busy thinking up scenarios of why Percy would lie straight to my face. The sleep that I did get was plagued with a horrible nightmare that ties into this whole ordeal. It was of Percy. We were on Olympus and me, Jason, and Poseidon were looking out from behind a corner. We saw Percy standing in front of a mirror with solid gold eyes. He was muttering to himself while twirling a scythe in his hand. It was backbiter.

'It can't be a coincidence. To many things tying together.' I think to myself

These are the only though rolling through my head as I do cabin inspections. After a while, I finally made it to Percy's cabin only to hear him talking to someone. Except no one was talking back.

I decide, against my better judgement, to put on my invisibility cap and go inside. He's facing away from the door so he doesn't see the door open, so I maneuver around the room. He's sitting on the floor with his eyes closed taking deep breaths and muttering to no one. All of a sudden, he takes a deep breath and time stopped.

Fear bubbles in my chest as I'm stuck in time. I can hear the people outside moving around, so it's not the whole camp like last time. No, this is different. The other one felt like a random birth of energy but this... this is controlled. Percy is doing this.

What feels like an eternity goes by when time goes back to normal. I'm frozen in shock and fear for a second until I start to leave. That is until I hear Percy speak.

"I was right. I do feel better." He says and pauses for a second, "You didn't tell me anything, actually. All you said was 'keep it in the cabin' and that's what I did. No one will suspect a thing." He gets up and heads into his bathroom before looking at himself in the mirror. Sure enough, he had golden eyes. "3 days. I can handle this."

I rush out of the cabin before taking off my cap. I jot down his usual score before turning in the paper and leaving to the beach in a hurry. Hundreds of questions spiral through my head, but the most prominent one being,

'Should I tell someone?'

The summer solstice is in 3 days. The hunters of Artemis get here in 2. Percy is obviously frantic if he's telling his reflection that he can handle himself. If his odd behavior continues, there's no doubt that someone will notice. The second most prominent question is, can we last that long?

If Percy really has taken in Kronos how long do we have until he strikes? Surely he wants the throne, so the summer solstice would be ideal. Waiting till the last possible moment to strike is a good idea, but it's too good. He would have to have planned it perfectly to pull it off, and he probably hasn't had enough time to do that? The winter solstice maybe, but that's months away. He's being too careless to have planned for the winter solstice.

There has to be a plan to get whatever it is he wants, but I just can't seem to wrap my head around what it may be. Maybe it isn't the throne that he wants. If he wanted to rule Olympus he would've joined Kronos the first time. It has to be something deeper than that.

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear footsteps someone towards me. I turn around to see Percy walking up. I mask my unease and distrust and motion him to sit. He sits down and wraps his arm around me.

"Hey, wise girl." He says

"Hi, seaweed brain." I respond, "What are you doing down here."

"I was talking to a great white yesterday, and I told him I would go back today. Great whites have very interesting personalities." He says, "What were you thinking about."

"What I want out of all of this." I lie, "What do you want out of it? Out of the wars and the death and destruction."

"I just want everyone to be safe. I want them to be able to live a normal life. None of them asked to be born into this life. Why should they be forced to fight wars that aren't their fault?" He says

"How far are you willing to go to get that?" I ask

"As far as it takes." He answers basically proving my point but I decide to ask anyway

"Like, killing the olympians?" I ask

"Well I don't know about that, but I might make rash decisions now and again. I just want enough power to protect them." He says, "Anyway, my great white friend is waiting. I'll see you later."

He kisses my cheek before disappearing into the ocean leaving me more confused than before. If he doesn't want to kill them then what does he want? He wants to possess enough power to save them, but he already has that. What other power could he possible want to possess? I don't understand whatever it is he is getting out of hosting Kronos, but I'll make damn well sure I find out.