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

Chapter Ten: Waiting an Eternity

As soon as he'd moved, Annabeth's head snapped towards the border. "Percy?!" Her face fell when she saw him, hopeful expression crumbling into frustration. Chaos' heart ached, despite its refusal to beat. She was waiting... for him? How could he tell her that he wasn't him anymore? "Sorry. I thought you were someone else."

"It's alright. I wish I was someone else," Chaos said, walking over and sitting next to her. Annabeth looked him over, analyzing him, searching for motive or weakness or a clue to who he was. "He's a lucky guy. Does he know how much you love him?"

Apparently, she was satisfied enough with what she saw for the time being. Annabeth gazed down towards the canoe lake as she spoke. "I hope so, but he's a bit of a Seaweed Brain, so I'm never completely sure." She turned to look at him, brow creasing. "Anyways, who are you?"

"I..." Chaos didn't want to say it. He stared intently at the ground. "I'm just a messenger."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth's tone had turned suspicious, distrustful. Fearful.

Chaos still couldn't meet her eyes. "Percy Jackson is not coming back."

"What?!" Annabeth leapt to her feet, hands on her hips. She was mad now. Chaos felt like a coward; he'd taken the coward's way out. "How would you know? Who are you?!"

He finally looked up at her. Muted red, filled with guilt, met stormy gray, filled with anger. "My name is Chaos, formerly known as Percy Jackson. Earlier this morning, I was shot during an attempted mugging. My soul entered Haven, where I spent a hundred years. Then I was summoned by Eternity, who succeeded Order, who succeeded Creation, and became the fourth holder of that power. Chaos. Eternity also informed me that Haven and here run on totally different time because almost no time had passed since I entered Haven."

"No." Annabeth shook her head firmly, ponytail bouncing. "No, no, no, no, no." She stared at him, taking in every feature of his face. Her eyes grew watery, and her voice broke when she said, "Percy?"

"Hi, Wise Girl," he said softly, his own eyes watery.

"W-What do you mean you got shot this morning?! You're right here, you're fine. Y-You look different, but you're... you're you, aren't you?" It broke him inside, the way her voice shook. She was normally so strong and level-headed. He was the reason she was like this now. His fault.

"Not quite," Chaos said, shaking his head slightly. "I can't be Percy Jackson right now. Maybe... Maybe one day, but I still won't be able to come back here."

"Explain," Annabeth demanded, clearly trying to compose herself and get all the facts.

"Once the power gets passed on, I'll return to Haven. Forever." That was what he'd gathered from Eternity earlier, anyways. "Of course, by then everyone here will... everyone will be..."

"We'll all be dead," Annabeth finished, voice surprisingly steady.

Chaos nodded. "Eternity, before she was Eternity, was Cassandra. I mean the Cassandra from Troy Cassandra. I have no idea how long I'll be Chaos."

"How do I get to Haven then? You said you spent a hundred years there, and if that's where you'll be after all this is over... Well, I'd wait an eternity for you and more. You know that, don't you, Seaweed Brain?"

He loved her; he loved her so much. This would kill her as much as him. He never should've come. Yet he couldn't go back now, not like this. "It's not that simple, Annabeth. Gods, I wish it was, but it isn't. Haven is full of Specters and Solids. They're parts of souls that don't make it all the way to the Underworld, sort of." Chaos tried to explain it as simply as possible. He didn't go in depth; he just needed her to understand. "Annabeth, going to Haven means you've died. I don't know exactly how certain people end up there, other than that they have to have some sort of super important regret or something." He halfway scowled. "Even so, they can't do anything about it. That's beside the point though." He looked at her. "I know, I know, you'll get Elysium some day, Wise Girl, and that means... even if you were in Haven... you wouldn't remember me."