Alternatively

3. Across the City

"You hold on and you touch nothing, hear me?"

"I don't remember being this bossy bringing you guys here," he sets Tyson on his feet before tilting his head mockingly. "Oh wait, that's because I wasn't."

"You didn't think to be bossy," she gestures for the kid to hang on to Percy. "You didn't think at all."

"Sometimes I wonder where you get your charms," he drawls, holding his free hand out for her.

Annabeth looks from it to the portal, a force physically pulling her forward and away from the white clouds around her. He understands the reluctance to bring the kid there, the reluctance to take him down; humans didn't belong in either of their realms and would slowly unravel after extended time. And, while it was possible for other beings to cross, it is uncommon.

Plus, it isn't like he and Annabeth are so close as to visit on their off days.

Still, she slaps her palm over his, gives a small nod to Tyson, and pulls them through the portal.

It's warm, humid, and over in a flash. He knows time works differently when you're the one in control of the travel, how every second is expanded to let you think, to navigate. He knows that portals are specific to beings, like how his are always cold coming back from Earth. Knowing doesn't make the experience any less jarring. He stumbles forward, lost in shadows and would have fallen off the edge of a building if Annabeth didn't have such a strong grip, snatching him to her.

"There," she huffs, glaring up at him. "We're even."

He rolls his eyes. "It's not a competition."

"I can't owe you anything, you know that."

"I know you're ridiculous."

"Why's it so dark here?"

They both glance down, realizing Tyson had been sandwiched between them.

"Are we on earth?" he looks between them. "Are we home yet?"

"We'll get you there," Annabeth assures, claws in Percy's wrist forcing him back. "Remember, hold on and-"

"Touch nothing."

"Good kid."

Percy wanders to the edge of the roof as his eyes adjust to the dimness, looking down and down and down...he rubs his arm as rusty orange lights glimmer until he can't discern between shadow and building. The ground isn't even an option; from this height, he'd just be a gorey water balloon exploding on the pavement. Then up, sky scrapers of houses built on top of each other welded together by copper and iron stretch even higher into the smoke stained sky. He had been there before, can't tell you where; everything looks the same and the buildings just keep getting taller. Everything just keeps stacking as more memories are brought back.

Annabeth was right about things being solid down here. The problem with solidarity was that nothing had the chance to fade away, leaving things to be forgotten, crushed, or worse.

Queasy, he steps back, facing his travel companions. "Where do we go now?"

"Up," Annabeth jerks her head to the top. "Fresher the memory, the more stable the portal will be."

"Well," he accepts Tyson's chubby hand. "Let's go, then."

She mutters something under her breath, leading them to a fire escape. It's rickety and it shakes every time they move and he's pretty sure bolts begin to unscrew as they ascend, but he had to trust her as she trusted him. It was important to trust her so Tyson can trust her. He gets so scared; Percy just wants to make the trip back a little less traumatizing.