Nico

Camp Half-Blood, Big House

February 12th

1:02 pm

"So the only reason we were chosen for this, whatever we're doing, is because we've been in Tartarus?" Percy asked, his elbows digging into his knees.

"Yes, that is correct," Hecate answered. She stood before the three demigods, her hands clasped in front of her and that polecat still on her shoulder. Her voice was still dripping with ice.

"Cool, just checking," The black-haired teen said, leaning back against the couch. Annabeth swatted his shoulder but he just shrugged like 'what can you do?'

Nico shook his head and looked back at Hecate.

"What about Hazel? She learned everything about the Mist, wouldn't you want to choose her instead of us?" Nico asked, twisting his ring.

"Hazel Levesque is very busy at the moment with some," Hecate's lip curled back, "interesting monsters." That got Nico's attention.

"Is she in trouble?" He asked, his butt almost off the seat in case he had to shadow-travel out of there.

"Hazel Levesque is fine," Hecate reassured him in her cold, strange way. "She is simply occupied by Apollo and his shenanigans." Nico sighed in relief.

"So," Annabeth started, pulling her curly hair back in a ponytail. "You never exactly explained to us what was happening."

Hecate nodded as if she was glad that Annabeth had mentioned it.

"Many eons ago, right after the Olympians have forgiven me for the Titan War, I created a new type of human." Her gaze seemed to have bore right into Nico's very soul as she made sure he was listening and understanding what was being said. "You would call them wizards."

Nico knew that Percy was going to say something.

"You mean like the ones with the sticks-" He started, yelping when Annabeth smacked his arm. He went quiet and Hecate continued.

"The wizards," her lip curled back at the word, "grew very powerful and created their own society among the mortals. However, something has happened that would not only destroy their civilization but ours as well." Nico furrowed his eyebrows but stayed silent, he didn't want to be smacked.

"Zeus has given me permission to issue a quest, despite the Oracle being out of commission, due to the fact that you will receive the prophecy when you arrive."

Annabeth was the one who spoke up then, her curiosity probably too great.

"How would the prophecy be issued when the Oracle is out of commission all over the world?" The blonde asked, biting her lip. The goddess stared at her for a moment before explaining.

"You will be traveling back in time."

Percy

Camp Half-Blood, Big House

February 12th

1:09 pm

"How is that even possible?" Percy asked, unable to keep his mouth shut even longer. Hecate glared at him, and the polecat on her shoulder farted. She didn't seem to like him very much.

"There are things you would never comprehend. Demigods are powerful, yes, but the mortal in you prevents you from seeing the threads that twist your world into a reality," she said, her voice seemingly harsher than it was before. Gods and goddesses don't like demigods questioning their logic.

"But if the past has already happened, wouldn't we already be affected?" Nico asked. Hecate didn't seem to have glared as hard at him as she did at Percy. Maybe Percy had a type of aura that made all immortals hate him.

"Time is not what is it broadcasted like in the mortal world. One does not simply go back and change one thing and everything else is impacted. The choice has already happened, you shall go back and then prevent that choice from happening and thus, saving your society," Hecate said. Percy was extremely confused but didn't want to risk it with the goddess, so he kept his mouth shut.

"You have until tomorrow at 9 am to get your affairs in order," Hecate said. "You will be transported back in time and given the necessary equipment to find the problem, fix it, and return to your proper time."

Right before she was about to leave, Annabeth spoke.

"Hecate, why did you want people who went through Tartuaras?" She asked. Percy glared at his girlfriend, not wanting to be in the company of the chilling goddess a moment more.

"There will be sights that would tear a regular demigod's mind to ribbons. There are concepts and spells that would kill every demigod who stepped forth. However, you three have experienced those sights and concepts. You all have peered into the face of Tartuaras and escaped."

Hecate looked at each of them once more before disappearing in a flash of light. Percy dropped his hand from his eyes and looked at the two people next to him.

"That was cheery."

Nico

Camp Half-Blood, Big House

February 12th

1:13 pm

Will was going to be pissed.

Nico has promised his boyfriend that he wasn't going to do anything dangerous anytime soon, and here he was, three months later, going on another quest with little information on what they were actually doing.

Forget pissed, Will was going to be fucking livid.

Nico dragged his hand down his face and stood up. He looked over to Annabeth and Percy who were sitting silently. He gave a small wave as he exited the Big House, "See you tomorrow."

Percy and Annabeth nodded as a farewell as Nico closed the door behind him. He walked back to the infirmary and opened the door quietly, in case any of the patients were sleeping. He was considerate like that.

Will was bandaging Katie Gardner's arm, who was complaining loudly how even though the Stolls were gone, the Hermes Cabin was still pranking them. Nico walked up to them and stood awkwardly, his hands in his jacket pockets. He rocked forward onto his toes before falling back on his heels.

Katie looked over and noticed him, giving him a small smile, "Hey Nico."

"Hey," he responded. "What happened to your arm?" Katie sighed and tucked some hair behind her ear.

"Hermes Cabin pulled a prank, they thought it would be funny to have Hecate kids to put a spell on the plants outside our cabin. As soon as you exited the cabin, the plants grow vines and grab you," Katie pressed her lips into a thin line. "I'm going to give Travis a piece of my mind when he gets back from college about teaching the kids how to pull pranks."

Nico cocked his head, looking at the college-age girl. "Why aren't you at school?"

Katie sighed, "Got a week off, though it would be fun to stop by for a day or so." She pointed to her arm that was all bandaged. "Guess not."

Nico nodded and turned to Will, "Can I talk to you for a second?" His anxiety must have been noticeable as he put down the medical tape and bandages quickly and followed Nico out.

Nico stopped at the side of the Big House and turned to Will.

"I have a quest," he said, biting his lip. Gods, he couldn't even look at Will.

"A quest?" Will asked. "What kind of quest? Like, oh I have to go to New Rome to help Hazel with moving houses or I am possibly facing moral peril."

Nico dropped his head in his hands, "The second one." His voice was muffled by his hands but he knew Will heard it from his sudden intake of breath.

"How long is it? What's the time constraint?" Will crossed his arms, looking down at Nico with an expression he couldn't read, or one that he didn't want to.

"It will be like, a day for you? A week?" Nico sighed. "I don't know."

"What do you mean 'you don't know?' and what do you mean 'for you?'" Will furrowed his eyebrows, his usual large grin was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't know!" Nico said, dropping his hands from his face and shoving them back in his pockets, maybe if he shrinks in on himself enough, he can disappear. "There was something about time travel-"

"Time travel?" Will cut him off. "How is that even possible?"

Nico shrugged, "Ask Annabeth, she was there. So was Percy."

"Why is it you three who have to go?" The blond asked.

Nico shrugged again, "Apparently because we've seen other demigods haven't, and our brains won't... explode or something when we go wherever we're going."

Nico could tell that they didn't help Will get any less confused.

"Okay, where exactly are you guys going?" Gods, Will asked a lot of questions. Why couldn't Nico be one of the boyfriends that's able to just kiss Will and make him shut up? That would come in handy right about now.

"A school," he said, his voice quiet.

"A what?" Will asked, leaning down to hear him better. Nico huffed and repeated, "A school."

"You're going back in time," Will said. "To go to school." Nico felt heat climbing his neck.

"It's a magic school." He said as if that would explain everything. Will snorted.

"This is the strangest quest I've ever heard of. When you leave?" He asked. Nico ran his fingers through his hair and kicked at the ground.

"We leave tomorrow at 9 am," the boy said. Will sighed.

"How long will it be for you?" He asked, his voice suddenly soft. Nico looked up and tried to look nonchalant.

"We don't exactly know. It could be a month, year, a couple of years. Whenever we find the problem." Nico hoped he succeeded in looking like it wasn't a big deal. Will obviously didn't believe him

"A couple of years? You're really okay with that?"

"No! Of course, I'm not," Nico groaned, "But you can't say no to a goddess! Especially one who can turn you into a freaking poodle with a snap of her fingers-"

"We should break up," Will interrupted. His voice was surprisingly strong. Nico sputtered, face growing pale.

"What? Why?" Nico fisted his jacket, looking up at Will with furrowed eyebrows. Will sighed and scratched the back of his neck.

"If you're going to be gone a couple of years, you might meet someone else and want to go out with them or something and I don't want you to feel like you're tied to me or anything so-"

"That's a stupid reason," Nico now interrupted him. Will stared at him with wide eyes.

"I'm trying to be considerate!" He protested only to be met with Nico rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, but you don't have to. It's fine Will, we're fine," Nico pulled Will's hand away from his neck, he didn't want him to accidentally break the skin and cause him to get a weird scar on the back of the neck.

"I'm not going to find anyone else, and hopefully, we'll be back within the week," Nico reassured his boyfriend, smiling softly at Will being the paranoid and anxious one instead of Nico. Will nodded and smiled gratefully.

They sat there talking late into the evening, and if they stayed out past curfew, well that was no business but theirs.

Annabeth

Camp Half-Blood, Big House

February 12th

1:14 pm

Percy rubbed his eyes with his hands, falling back against the cushion and slowly sliding off the couch entirely. Annabeth knew how he was feeling. The whole concept of the quest was just crazy.

"You wanna know what I think?" Percy asked her, his voice muffled from his hands still laying on his face. "I think that was a load of bull."

Annabeth snorted and Percy continued, "I mean, there's no way that any of this is actually happening right? None of that made any sense!"

Annabeth looked over to her 17-year-old boyfriend, who is at the moment acting like he was 5.

"I think I understand it," She said, looking down at Percy, who was now sitting on the ground in front of the couch. His head whipped around.

"Of course you do, you're smart," he moaned. She couldn't help but chuckle.

Annabeth took a deep breath - trying to think how she could explain how she was making sense of everything. "The reason that the problem didn't destroy the world already is because the future us, or us right now, went back in fixed it. It's like an endless loop."

Percy seemed to have understood, his mouth going into an 'o.' Before he thought deeper and realized that the concepts are not completely the same, Annabeth explained further.

"The real concept is much more complex, but that's how I keeping track of it until I think of something better," she said. Percy hummed in agreement and rested his head against hers. She could feel his hair tickling her shoulder.

"I don't want to go," he said, his voice quiet. Annabeth nodded, wrapping her arm around Percy's shoulder. She laid her head on top of his.

"Me neither," she said, mainly speaking into his hair. "But I don't think we have a choice for this."

"Do we ever have a choice?" he asked. Annabeth didn't have an answer.

"Our lives," she sighed. "Our lives are hard. We have done things that we've both regret." Annabeth wasn't sure if they were thinking of the same things when she said that. "But you just have to live with it, we just have to keep living."

"When did you turn into such an optimist Chase?" Percy asked, his smile wide. Annabeth laughed.

The blonde stood up and held her hand out to Percy, he grabbed it and pulled himself up, standing tall in front of her.

"I have to go call my dad and tell him to call me out of school for the next few days," Annabeth said, pulling her ponytail tight. Percy nodded and dusted off his shirt.

"I'll see you at dinner," he said, pecking her on the lips before walking to his cabin.

Annabeth turned and walked further into the Big House, pausing multiple times to look at the pictures that were hanging on the walls. She finally reached a secluded enough place where no one would find her unless they were looking, which was good because technically, she wasn't supposed to have a phone at all.

She flipped open the phone and typed in her dad's number. She didn't have it programmed in, as it was a waste of time due to the fact that it could be destroyed at any moment. It rang.

After a few rings, her dad picked up.

"Frederick Chase speaking," her dad's voice came through the phone.

"Hey dad, it's Annabeth," Annabeth said, cringing at how weak her voice sounded. She and her dad haven't talked a lot before the Giant War, and they got in a fight right after, and they haven't talked since.

"Annabeth? Aren't you supposed to be in school?" he asked. Annabeth tugged on a curly strand as she spoke.

"Something came up," she said. "I'm going to need you to call me out of school for the next few days, maybe a week."

Her dad sighed, she could imagine him rubbing his brow with one hand as he talked. "Is this a quest situation?"

Annabeth nodded before realizing he wasn't there, she was too used to Iris-Messaging, but she didn't want to accidentally call him while he was out and about or meeting someone. "Yeah," she said. "It's a quest."

She knew that her dad was biting down a statement, one he knew that she wouldn't like. "Okay," was all he said.

"Okay," is what she responded with. Her dad hung up.

Annabeth stared at the phone for another moment before closing it and slipping it in her pocket. She walked out of the Big House and down to her cabin.

She tried to ignore the way that her chest was tight and her hands tapped against her leg as she walked. It was not the time for such trivial matters such as parent relationships.

Due to the fact that nothing will be changed in the book until Percy, Annabeth, and Nico arrive at Hogwarts, there won't be any Harry, Hermione, or Ron sections until then.

Please leave a vote or a comment if you enjoyed it!

Any feedback is greatly appreciated. :)