The Fourth Inheritor (A Percy Jackson/Chaos Fanfic) [Complete]

Chapter Six: The Blink of an Eye

A hundred years. It had been a hundred years, yet almost nothing had changed. Bernadette still had her flower shop, Nathan still worked as a waiter, Matthew was still a mechanic. Liam and James were still together, which they were naturally teased about as no one else had a significant other. Naturally, they teased everyone else (apparently, Annabeth didn't count because she wasn't in Haven to prove her existence). Alison, although she didn't hang out with them as much, still worked for the newspaper, Haven News, and spent a lot of time traveling for her articles. Percy... Percy did a little bit of everything. He just hadn't found the right job yet, the right thing to occupy his attention for, well, forever.

That being said, he had had a few more visits from 'the voice.' None of them made sense, and all of them left him doubting himself. He didn't understand why he was here. It didn't let him do anything for the reasons he'd wanted to live. Sure, he had other people to protect now as well, people here that were important to him, but, try as he might, he couldn't forget the ones he left behind. He could still picture them in his head like it was yesterday, although the colors had faded. He remembered, but he couldn't see it anymore. What color was blonde again? Blue? Green? His eyes had been green once. Annabeth's were gray. He remembered those perfectly. Now, though, that was about the only color he could picture. The orange of her shirt was gone, the blonde of her hair, the tan of her skin, even the faded blue of her jeans. The beads around her neck still looked the same, but their color was missing. They were almost the same as the beads that he kept in the drawer with Riptide.

Everything had gone so wrong in an instant that day, and now it was so far gone. In the blink of an eye, it had been so long. No one else had shown up. None of his other friends. If they had, though, they wouldn't remember him anyway. Surely they would all make it to Elysium, so they would have eventually become Solids if they came to Haven. They would be the faces of his loved ones, but they wouldn't be the people. That was the only consolation Percy found as he talked to Specters day after day, listening for a familiar voice.

He would have to accept it, he realized. Everyone was gone. They had likely all died long ago. He thought he had come to terms with this new life a long time ago, but now he acknowledged the truth. He'd simply pushed everything into the recesses of his mind as best he could and tried to leave it there. He never should have wished to keep living. He should have never come here. He'd thought a new life without his memories would be awful, but a new life with his memories was so much worse.

Do you desire to continue?

He was fairly used to this by now, the random pop-ins from whatever this voice was. The blankness was almost familiar by now. "Not exactly."

Do you desire to cease?

"No, not that either." As much as Percy would love to 'cease' or whatever, he would miss people here as well as there. And there was certainly no guarantee of where he'd end up after this.

You desire neither to continue or to cease?

"Pretty much."

Very well. What do you desire?

"Obviously to go back to everyone. It's a bit too late for that, though, mystery voice. Thanks for dragging me here forever without any warning."

You did not desire to end things then.

"Yeah, well, newsflash: It's because I still wanted to be where I was!"

I see. Do you desire to return?

"I already told you that. Of course I want to go back!... Or I would if any of them were still alive."

Percy Jackson, I do believe it is time we met.

"What?"