My story | PJO x male reader

Prologue

Percy POV:

My nightmares were filled with...him.

I stood next to a railroad crossing. The tracks looked rusted and abandoned. Parts of the track were torn up like someone had ripped them apart in a rage. But somehow, transparent trains floated over the rails with ghostly passengers, all pointing behind me like their favorite circus was getting set up.

I turned but definitely did not see a circus.

Flames reached for trees and yanked land into their grip. Even though they were about a mile out I could feel the heat singing my skin. The blaze stretched across the horizon capturing everything in its wake but was brought to a halt at the train tracks, as if an invisible wall blocked its path.

On the other side of the tracks, it seemed so much better. A concrete path strode through the flowery valley that led straight into a valley. In the center of the valley was a tiny town. A gated community and instantly recognized it. Elysium.

Laughter and upbeat music echoed over the tracks and pruned any fear that lingered in my mind. The only thing that seemed out of place was a figure walking down the path. He was whistling something with his hands stuffed in his pockets. There was something familiar about him. How he walked? How his silhouette looked? The occasional glance at the sky? But none of those told me who it was. I couldn't even get a good look because of the weird spirit trains that kept blocking my view.

Finally, one train passed and the figure stood right on the other side of the railroad.

"Hi?" I asked tentatively. "Who are--"

He slowly put a finger to his lips. "Do not disturb the dead."

Another train passed.

"I have seen many dead people enter this utopia." The moon lit behind him, so his face was shrouded in shade. "I have also seen many people deny fate or deny death. Do you know, by chance, someone by the name of Y/N?"

My head jerked up and looked at the boy.

He chuckled. "Got your attention?"

"Who are you?" I took a step toward the railroad tracks.

"Ah, ah, ah," he teased, "if you put a foot over that line you're not coming back."

"Wait, what?"

"You'll pick it up. But, for a select few of us," The boy started to walk over the train tracks. He stepped through and a sound like a future spaceship sounded. "We play on the rails, trying not to have our minds go off of it. Like I said, you'll pick it up."

"Who--who are you?"

He laughed at the words. "Just someone trekking through hell." He said before his body convulsed and morphed. His eyes turned from black to green, his hair from pitch black to H/C, and his skin from pure pale to S/C.  "You could've saved him, couldn't you?"

"What are you--"

"How could you just let him fall? You could've helped him, but you just watched..." his face slowly became more decrepit and deceased. Wrinkles started forming, his green eyes starting to lose all the light. "...as this happened."

I reached for my pocket and uncapped Riptide. The bronze glint, fully illuminating Y/N—the boy's face. "I'll ask for the final time," I said. "Who. Are. You."

"Me?" Y/N grinned. "I am your key, your compass, your tool—"

"For what?"

His face morphed. Green eyes turned blue. H/C hair turned to sandy blonde. A scar started to etch itself over one of his eyes. "So, you don't end up like Luke. We'll be in touch."

And the dream fizzled away.