Sooooo idk if I mentioned it back in the earlier chapters, but some of the multiverse stuff in this fic is gonna be VERY much like the multiverse stuff from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness!!!

WARNING: depression, suicidal ideation, and no this is NOT about Beelzebub 😈

PERCY'S ORIGINAL UNIVERSE
ASGARD; SEVERAL MONTHS AGO

HERA GLOWERED AT HEIMDALL, WISHING she could smack the goofy grin off his face. Of all the people she had to go to for help, the Norse equivalent of Apollo was not who she would've preferred.

"You're telling me," she breathed in heavily. "That I not only have two years to find Percy Jackson, but I also have to find her before she gets wiped away from existence?!"

He gave her a happy beam, his golden teeth shining so brightly that it reminded her of Apollo (which only made the urge to smack him even stronger). "Uh huh!"

"And you expect me," she jabbed a finger to her chest. "To comb through millions upon millions—maybe even billions!—of alternate universes to find one girl all by myself?!"

His grin widened. "Yup!"

"This is an impossible task! You cannot honestly believe that I can find the girl in time, do you?!"

"'Course I don't! You're totally right—it is impossible! So good luck! See ya!"

He let out a hearty laugh and started to turn away. Hera's eyes bulged in disbelief. He was actually going to make her do this on her own!

"You cannot just leave!" She sputtered. "You must help me!"

He turned around and gave her a shrug. "Sorry, but I really can't. Look, I get how important it is to find that Percy kid with the whole end of the world and Gaea and whatnot, but I've got my own duties and Lord Odin wants me to focus on that. I can't help you look through each universe to find the girl... Buuuuut," he stretched out, a smile playing on his lips. "I can teach you how to work the bifrost at least."

Hera had to force herself to relax. It wasn't the sort of help she needed, but she had no choice but to take whatever was offered to her.

"Fine," she accepted. "What must I do?"

"First off, while you can use the bifrost to enter whichever universe you want, I highly recommend not doing that," he started.

She frowned. "Why not?"

His expression suddenly turned serious.

"There's a reason why traveling between universes is strictly forbidden. There are gods in those other universes too. Alternate versions of you and me. Some might be just like us, others could be completely different."

Hera listened intently, her curiosity peaked. There were other versions of her too? She wondered what they were like... Were they free from the shackles of a failed marriage, or were they bitter and trapped like her as well?

Heimdall continued on, "Some of them might be more powerful than us, smarter, or crueler, or they simply outnumber us. Imagine what'll happen if you walk into the wrong universe and the gods sense the presence of a second Hera? Do you think they'll take kindly to you being there? If we're lucky, they'll get rid of you and pay no attention to the rest of us, but if we're not... All it takes is for you to attract the wrong sort of attention and we'll get gods from other universes knocking on our door and trying to take us all down for whatever reason they come up with."

She fell silent. Olympus already had Gaea and her giants to worry about, adding gods from other universes would only make things a hundred times worse. Plus, what if she stumbled into an alternate universe where her father had won the First Titanomachy? She definitely wouldn't be welcomed there. The very thought of ever being in that situation made her shiver. Heimdall was right; she couldn't just walk into any universe she wanted, it was too risky.

"That is true..." She admitted begrudgingly. "So what do you suggest that I do? Should I just look around for her in each universe through the bifrost while remaining here and only go in once I've found her location?"

He shook his head. "Nah. That takes too long. I've got a better idea," he grinned. "Have you ever heard of dreamwalking?"

"Dreamwalking?" She echoed.

"Dreamwalking's basically where you take over the body of your counterpart while your body physically remains here," he explained. "It's the easiest way to sneak into a universe without alerting anyone of your presence! The only hard part is making sure the people of that universe don't realize that you're not their Hera."

The gears in her head immediately went to work. "And if I possess the other Hera's body—supposing the gods in other universes are omniscient as well—"

"—Which they most likely are—" He added.

"—Then I'll be able to know right away that Percy's in that universe by just sensing her," she finished. "And I'll use the bifrost to send her back!"

"Exactly," he puffed his chest out with pride. "Man, you learn fast! I'm proud of you!"

She ignored him.

I'll make each visit quick, she strategized, deep in thought while Heimdall rambled away. I'll take over the body of a Hera, use her omniscience to search for the girl, and if she's not there, I'll leave. It'll be so quick, nobody will even notice that I've taken over the body of their Hera. If I split my consciousness and spread myself into multiple universes, I can find her even quicker!

She looked at Heimdall and demanded, "Teach me how to dreamwalk."

NOW

It had been several months since she sought out the help of Odin and Heimdall. Aside from her and the Fates, they were the only other beings who knew the true severity of what had transpired.

But neither of them could help her. She was all on her own for this task, and while it was a sentiment she was very much used to, this powerlessness and fear was something she hadn't felt since the age of her father's rule.

She wasn't any closer to finding Percy Jackson and she had already been to thousands of universes, which wasn't even a fraction of the endless amounts the multiverse contained.

She now understood why traversing through the multiverse was forbidden. It was dangerous. It was frightening... as much as she hated to admit it.

She had been to a universe where Kronos had won the war and Hera had been enslaved, a universe where gods were susceptible to death and one of her 'husband's' bastards, Kratos, was running around slaying gods, a universe where Gaea had defeated them and Hera was on the cusp of fading away (she didn't even bother trying to search for Percy Jackson, she went straight back to her original body after that).

Of course, there were the other less terrifying universes, such as a universe where Percy Jackson had been born a boy—that universe was called PJO-M1)—and another one called Earth-616 where superheroes in spandex went around saving the world (she was pretty sure there was a whole cinematic universe with that exact premise, but whatever).

Anyways, none of them had contained the person she was looking for.

Time was dwindling. She had one more year left. She could almost hear Gaea laughing at her from the earth, mocking her fruitless searches.

She couldn't do this alone. She needed help, but the Fates had forbidden her. Besides, even if she could ask, who could she even go to?

Her husband humiliated her daily, treating her and her domains like a joke with every mistress he invited to their marital bed. The rest of her siblings would rather argue amongst themselves than listen to her. Hestia was the only one with common sense but Hera was certain that she had long since given up on this family. Ares was a moron, and her other son, Hephaestus, hated her.

And as for her husband's bastards... Hera could feel her ichor boil at the thought of them. They wouldn't help her either.

Hermes, however, he would help. Hera wasn't blind to the growing fondness Hermes felt towards Percy since the end of the war, or how he would shirk his duties to try and watch over her and his kids (Hera always made sure to report this to her husband for the sole satisfaction of watching him get punished). It didn't escape her how his once youthful appearance turned a few years older; from a young bachelor god to a grieving father. It was weird watching her usually feckless step-son act like this. She'd rather have his older self, at least then he still acted like a god and not like a broken-down human.

Since his traitorous son defected from the camp, Hermes' attitude had grown worse. He had always been one of the most annoying of the brood (second only to Apollo), but watching him desperately try to change his son's fate was just pathetic. She had never seen such a pitiful sight. She thought when the brat had finally died, he'd go back to his usual self, but he only grew worse and then Percy Jackson went missing.

Ever since then, he had gone out of his way to put an extra eye on her loved ones; he watched over her friends from camp, made extra sure that all of Sally Jackson's deliveries and mail reached her in time and in perfect condition, and made traveling as safe as he could for those in the search parties. And when he wasn't doing that, he was moping. Too busy worrying about his bastard children and Percy to even do his job right.

It was disgusting to see how much he cared, but that was the reason why she couldn't let him help her:

He cared too much. Not just for Percy, but for mortals in general. It was sickening. She could never understand why he loved to make himself suffer, what with May Castellan's prior condition and his fruitless attempts to change his traitorous son's fate. If he knew that Percy was in another universe, he would barge right in there to get her back and promptly deliver her right into Poseidon's palace where she would never be seen again. What ignorant fools. Hera might as well kiss her plans to defeat Gaea goodbye.

As for the other brats, they were all useless. The only useful one was Athena but she'd run straight to father dearest and Hera knew from first-hand experience that he would only make things worse—as he always did. Perhaps he would assist in retrieving Poseidon's spawn—if only to hold it over Poseidon's head—but when it came to Gaea and the Giants? He'd rather let them all fade away before he would ever admit to needing a demigod's help.

No. This was something only she could do. The only one who could ever step up and save this wretched family was her... and Percy Jackson, as much as she hated to admit it.

Her brothers may have been powerful, but she could never rely on them the same way she could rely on Percy Jackson. How could she ever rely on them anyway, when not even the end of the world was enough to keep them faithful to their wives or to the sacred oath they had sworn? The Great Prophecy had foretold that a half-blood sired from one of them could potentially spell doom for all of Olympus and they couldn't even care enough to keep it in their pants. And even though Hades was the only one who hadn't broken the oath, he was more than content to sit out the war and watch them all fade, arrogantly believing that his spawn would triumph over everyone.

Useless. Worthless. Selfish. The whole lot of them, her husband especially. They were too busy looking at themselves to see the bigger picture, to see the massive threat Gaea would bring. They couldn't even work together to fight Kronos and his army—Percy Jackson had to bring them together.

The thought of having to rely on a half-blood to save her family infuriated her to no end, but she had no choice. No matter how hard she tried to keep things intact, to keep things perfect, she could not deny the truth that they were all wretched beyond salvation. They could not save themselves.

But Percy Jackson could, and Hera needed to bring her back. Her family depended on it.

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

When Percy's eyes fluttered open, she instantly thought she had died and her soul was ready to enter Elysium.

Am I... dead? She wondered.

And then:

About fucking time.

Though her vision was still blurry, she could still see that bright golden orb of light just ahead of her. She could vaguely make out some weird noise in the background but ignored it. Groggily, she reached out for the light, and to her surprise, actually managed to touch it.

The orb of heavenly light suddenly gasped. "Oh! I knew you loved me back, my beloved!"

Huh?

Her vision started to clear, and to her horror, it wasn't an orb of light that she was touching, but Apollo's face. His glimmering gold eyes shed with tears of joy and she could do nothing but gape stupidly as his face drew closer, lips puckered to kiss her.

But then a pale hand shoved his head away.

"Fool," Beelzebub hissed venomously before turning to her. His red eyes immediately softened into a look of concern. "Percy, you're awake... How do you feel? Are you in any pain? Do you remember what happened?"

Rather than replying, she looked around in utter confusion. She was in an extremely resplendent bedroom, decked out in shades of bright gold, pinks, blues, and greens. She didn't recognize this room. How did she end up here?

Then it all came flooding back. Her debutante ball. The Fates. The dance they had and the warning they gave her. If I don't get out of here soon, my soul is going to break apart, she remembered.

"Oh for fucks sake," she groaned in pure aggravation. Right after her own universe finished throwing shit at her, the new one had to pick up where they left off.

Apollo was aghast, "Who taught you such foul words?!" He then glared at Beelzebub, as if her potty mouth was all his fault.

Beelzebub rolled his eyes and promptly ignored him. "I take it you remember then," he said to her.

Rather than responding to his question, she changed the subject. "Where am I?"

He narrowed his eyes. He knew her too well and was fully aware that she was trying to change the subject on purpose.

He opened his mouth, probably to call her out on it, but Apollo beat him to it. "We're in my glamorous abode on Delos!" He announced grandly, the air around him seemingly glittering. "I had this room ready just for you! Do you like it?"

"It's really pretty," and it was a genuine compliment too. Sure the amount of gold made it seem a little too gaudy, but it wouldn't be Apollo if it wasn't gaudy. "I like all the blue."

He lit up like a lightbulb—literally. "I heard your favorite color was blue so I gave you the most beautiful blue room in my palace!"

"Thanks," she gave him a tired smile. "So, uh... what exactly happened? How long have I been out?"

"Only two days," Apollo was the first to respond, a reassuring look on his face. "After you were whisked away by those terrifying old hags—er... lovely, elderly deities, you fainted upon returning to the palace. I checked you over, but you simply fainted due to whatever stress you were put through. I suggested you stay in Delos with me while you recover and as I am the god of healing, your father allowed it."

"After lots and lots of shameless begging from you," Beelzebub scoffed under his breath.

Apollo's eye briefly twitched as he did a quick glance at him before beaming at Percy, though his smile was noticeably forced. "And this pesky little fly decided to come with me. Unfortunately, Lord Poseidon allowed it. Though I cannot fathom why."

Beelzebub sighed, as if they've had this argument a hundred times already. "I told you," he began, voice laced with aggravation. "I've studied and researched Percy's unique body ever since she was born. I am the only specialist when it comes to her, so of course I would be brought in to care for her. Besides, did you honestly believe Lord Poseidon would solely entrust his unconscious daughter with you?"

Apollo's face turned into pure fury, his eyes glowing golden. Percy knew she had to do something quick before a fight ensued because she did not want to get stuck in the middle of some petty god-fight.

"So!" She loudly cleared my throat. "Where's my dad at?"

Beelzebub relaxed. "In a meeting with his brothers. They've been discussing the Fates' sudden visit." Suddenly, he said, "Apollo, since Percy's awake, why don't you inform her father?"

The suggestion made all the radiance disappear as the pink haired god blanched. "Lord Poseidon...?" He repeated weakly. "Ah, well... erm..."

Percy suddenly remembered Apollo's attempted marriage proposal he tried to give her in the middle of her debutante ball and winced alongside him. Right. Poseidon probably wasn't all too happy about that.

"Lord Poseidon would surely ease up on you once you tell him about all your hard work in getting his precious daughter to awaken," Beelzebub added, his voice silky smooth and persuasive.

He gasped in joy, a stark contrast to how murderous he looked just a few seconds ago. "That's a great idea! I'll be back, my beloved!" He flashed Percy one last smile before teleporting away.

Once he was gone, Beelzebub's face hardened and he immediately turned back to her. "Tell me everything that happened with the Fates." He ordered.

Percy sighed in defeat, a headache already building up in her head as she recalled the entire conversation she had with them.

"It's... my thread," she finally confessed.

His eyes widened in horror. "They're going to cut it?" He whispered. His legs suddenly felt so weak that he had to sit down at the edge of her bed right next to her feet.

She shook her head. "No. It doesn't completely exist. That's the problem."

He hadn't been expecting that. "What?" He asked, bewildered. "What do you mean?" He had never heard of such a thing before.

"I don't really know how to explain it, but it has to do with the fact that I'm not from this universe. Because of that, I technically don't exist. And apparently, because I don't belong here, my soul is going to start fracturing soon if I don't find a way back to my original universe." She sighed bitterly.

He froze, the words slowly registering in his head. "...Fracturing?"

"Yeah. It's gonna, like, keep breaking apart until there's nothing left and then I go 'poof' and disappear into the void or whatever," she snorted.

Beelzebub could only stare at her as an onslaught of emotions started to attack him all at once. He felt numb and overwhelmed at the same time, and her nonchalance certainly wasn't helping.

"Y... You're saying that you... you..." He was struggling to speak the words going through his head. He had to take a deep breath. "You're going to die. That's what they told you?"

"Well, I might not. There's a way to prevent it, but—"

"—How?" He demanded.

"The first is to find a way for me to go back home before my soul starts to crack, because once my soul cracks, I'll be in for a lifetime of pain. And that pain won't go away even once I return home, so my best bet is to get back to my original universe before any of that happens." She explained.

He swallowed thickly. His progress with the bifrost was... not ideal for this situation.

"Did they tell you have much time you have left before your soul starts to break?" He asked.

She shook her head.

Fuck, he cursed. If her string doesn't even exist, then there's no way for them to know anyway.

"And what's the second method?" He asked hurriedly.

Now it was her turn to gulp. She fell strangely quiet, which he found rather suspicious.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Percy." He said firmly. "What's the second method? I need to know."

But she continued to hesitate, unable to look him in the eyes.

"Percy," he said again, practically begging her at this point. "Please, please just tell me."

"...Ascension," she said quietly, her voice so feeble as if the very word terrified her. "Gods don't have souls. So if I were to become a god, my soul would burn away and be replaced with divine essence."

His eyes widened. It didn't even click in his head how scared she sounded at the thought of becoming a god; all he could feel was hope and relief. He may not be able to return Percy to her universe in time, but ascending her into godhood was definitely something he could do.

He started to reach out for her.

Her eyes widened and she backed away into the headboard. "What're you doing?"

"I'm going to ascend you," he replied impatiently.

"What? No. No!" She shook her head. "Do not turn me into a god, Beelzebub."

His face fell into anger and disbelief. "Have you lost your mind?! Granting you godhood is the quickest and easiest way for me to save your life!"

"I don't want to become a god!" Her voice rose.

"Why the fuck not?!" He yelled, his volume rising above hers.

"I just don't, okay?!" She snapped. "You've offered me this before, a long time ago, and my answer still hasn't changed. Immortality, demonhood, godhood, I don't want it."

The memory flashed through his head:

"Should I fail to find a way to access the multiverse, I will ascend you and you will kill me. Now that I know you aren't the result of an incomplete ascension, there should be no risks in turning you into a god."

"I don't want that. I don't want to be a god."

"Oh? A mortal refusing godhood? Would you like to be turned into a demon instead?"

"No. Godhood, demonhood, it doesn't matter to me. I don't want any of that. I don't want to be immortal."

Beelzebub was breathing heavily now. The conversation had happened so long ago, and he had simply brushed it off as some pathetic form of human rebellion, but now he knew that there was more to it. Percy was on cusp of being wiped away from existence, and she didn't want to be saved.

"You... you are a fool," he spat darkly. "You do not understand what you're saying."

"Oh, believe me I do." She said firmly, her voice as hard as steel. "I know what it means to be a god—I've known since I was twelve—and that's not the kind of existence I want for myself."

They both stared at each other, their eyes full of pain and anger.

Percy was the first to soften up. "Look, I..." She sighed. "I trust you, okay? I trust that you'll find a way for me to go back home. I don't care how long it takes or how much of my soul gets chipped away in the process. I'm willing to risk it. I... I don't belong here anyway," she admitted shakily, feeling so much pain for having to say it out loud. "I need to go back home."

Beelzebub wanted to scream. Did she really want to go back to her old universe so badly? Was she so desperate that she would naively put her hopes on him finding a way to send her back? That she would willingly put herself through the pain of her soul being torn apart?

How dare she. How fucking dare she. He loved her so much that he would swallow all the three realms for her if she wished; he would do anything for her and do whatever it took to spare her even a fraction of pain... to hear that she would choose a lifetime of agony and a short mortal life made him feel as if he was the one being torn asunder.

Percy stayed rooted on the bed, her back pressed against the headboard as she watched him, breathing heavily. Suddenly, the sunlight shining through the window disappeared, replaced by a dark, murky red.

She turned towards the window and her heart stopped. The bright sun and shining blue skies were rapidly fading away, being devoured by a blood-red sky and black clouds. Valhalla looked as if Hell had been brought upon it, and she knew Beelzebub was responsible for it.

She sucked in a breath, "Beel—"

"—I need to go." He interrupted her stiffly, his voice was a cross between his own and something more darker... more ancient. His head was bowed, leaving her unable to catch a glimpse of his expression as he stormed out of the room.

As he headed down the hallway, he glared at the green haired figure leaning against the wall.

"I don't have time for this, Loki," he snarled, fully aware that he had been eavesdropping on the conversation. "Begone."

"That stupid girl is going to get herself killed," Loki said. His voice was eerily empty, and so were his eyes as he stared him down. "You're going to let it happen?"

Beelzebub let out a demonic growl at his words, his teeth sharp and his sclera now black. "Do not make assumptions. Now leave. Your presence is unwanted here."

Loki scoffed bitterly before his gaze traveled over Beelzebub's shoulder to the door of the room Percy laid in. He gave Beelzebub another cold look before teleporting away.

Beelzebub glowered at the spot Loki once stood on. He had no idea why he came here in the first place, but as long as he wasn't meddling he didn't care because right now, he was too furious to deal with anyone. He teleported away, knowing that if he stayed a second longer he might bring the entire island of Delos down from his rage.

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

Percy remained in the room Apollo lent her, feeling frustrated, scared, and angry at the same time. Frustrated because of everything that had happened so far, scared at the thought of her potential demise, and angry at... well, everything, really.

After everything she had been through, her life was still being thrown around like it was some toy to play with. She wanted to lash out at everything for putting her through so much, but right now, Apollo and her father would be here in any second and she had to pretend that everything was sunshine and daisies.

So the second the two aforementioned gods appeared in her room alongside her uncles, Zeus, Hades, and a helmet-less Adamas, she quickly put on a happy face and cheerfully exclaimed, "Daddy! You're here! And my favorite uncles too!"

(It was getting kinda scary how good she was at pretending that her life wasn't falling apart.)

"We're you're only uncles," Adamas said gruffly.

Poseidon's stoic face crumbled slightly into pure relief as he went to her bedside. He murmured her name fervently before squeezing her against him in a desperate hug, holding her so tightly like he was afraid to let go.

"Those wretched old hags," he said darkly once they pulled away. "How dare they hurt you."

Hades cleared his throat, "Brother please watch how you speak about the Moirai," he warned.

"They ruined my daughter's ball!" He snapped.

"We can always throw another one!" Zeus croaked eagerly.

Adamas sent him a dry look, "You just want another excuse to dance with other goddesses."

Poseidon ignored their banter and turned to Percy with a determined look on his face. "As much as I hate to say this... Zeus is correct. Percilla, I shall prepare another debutante ball to make up for what happened."

"No, no, it's okay!" She assured him quickly. "You don't need to do that, my debutante ball was actually pretty fun!"

Hades gave her a worried look. "Dear, you were practically abducted by the Fates and when they returned you, you fainted."

"Right," she said lamely. Getting abducted by higher beings had become the norm for her at this point. "Well, aside from that, I still enjoyed the party! So there's no need to recreate a new one."

Plus, she really didn't want to have to go through another First Dance with her dad. The first time was embarrassing enough for her.

Poseidon didn't look pleased, but nodded in acceptance. "Now tell me, what did those hags do to you?" He demanded.

"Well... they took me to this danky old cave and just danced with me there." She answered, and it wasn't exactly a lie either. Just... not the full truth. She had to be very careful with what she said with Apollo around, being the god of truth and all. "It was pretty weird."

All five gods stared at her in disbelief. She tried not to show any nervousness.

"That's... it?" Apollo asked doubtfully.

She nodded.

"They said they wished to speak with you," Hades remembered. "What did they talk to you about?"

Percy had to quickly rack through her brain to find a way to tell a white lie about her conversation with the Fates.

"They talked to me about my mortality," was her vague reply.

Apollo, Hades, Zeus, and Adamas all winced. Poseidon stiffened. The topic of her mortality had practically become taboo down in Atlantis. His mood would always darken every time he was reminded of his daughter's expiration date, and it didn't help that he was becoming increasingly paranoid at the thought of her soul somehow not reaching Valhalla after death.

She watched each of their expressions warily while trying to look perfectly calm. Each god looked like they wanted to prod for more details which she could not give out, so she quickly made up an excuse to change the subject.

"I'm really hungry," she exclaimed, which wasn't a lie either. "Can I get food? Please?" She looked at Apollo when she said this, knowing that he'd be the first to cave in.

As expected, he positively lit up. "Of course, my love. Everyone, out! My darling needs to eat and rest!"

The look Poseidon gave him was downright murderous. His hand flexed, like he was about to summon his trident before Hades clamped a hand on his shoulder.

"Poseidon," Hades warned. "Please refrain from fighting while your daughter is in the room."

"If my daughter is fine like he says she is, then I should take her back to Atlantis to rest," Poseidon said through gritted teeth. "I refuse to leave her alone any longer with him."

Zeus made a sound of offense on his son's behalf. "Hey! My son's not that bad!"

Percy and Hades grimaced, Poseidon glared at him, and Adamas gave him a dry look. Apollo looked to her for help, but she awkwardly looked away. He did, after all, kidnap her and tried to strip her naked so her father's concern wasn't that far out.

...But then she also knew that if she returned home with her dad, he was never going to let her out of his sight and she kinda needed a moment of privacy (and freedom) right about now.

"Daddy," she put on her sweetest and most 'uwu-est' voice. "Can I stay here a little longer? Pleeeaaase?"

Poseidon begrudgingly relented. "...Fine, you may stay here until you finish eating. In the meantime, Apollo, if you touch one hair of my daughter's head without the intention of healing her, I will decimate this shitty island of yours, do you understand me?"

"But you were the one who gave this island to my mother..." Apollo mumbled petulantly.

"And I will gladly take it back," the blonde's scowl only worsened.

Apollo shrank, "Y-yes, Lord Uncle, I understand."

Poseidon only glowered at him as if he was a rat he wanted to crush under his boot. He gave Percy one last kiss on the forehead, grumbled something about Beelzebub and 'how dare that stupid fly leave my daughter with this mess' before teleporting away.

Hades sighed at his little brother's antics before softening up upon turning to Percy.

"Rest well, dear," he murmured before hugging her. He teleported away too.

Adamas narrowed his eyes at Apollo. "You better keep your hands to yourself, Albert."

"It's Apollo."

"Whatever." The usually gruff god ruffled Percy's hair before teleporting away next.

"Aww, don't be down, son, I know you'll be on your best behavior," Zeus slapped Apollo in the back. "And Percy! Make a speedy recovery, alright? Wouldn't want your dad to go crazy with worry, ahahaha!"

He seemed to be the only one who found the idea of a crazy Poseidon funny. Both Percy and Apollo exchanged anxious looks at just the thought of him rampaging around.

Zeus smacked Percy on the back good-naturedly before teleporting away, leaving her and Apollo alone.

To her relief, Apollo seemed to be taking his duties as her temporary doctor seriously. With a wave of his hand, a bed table appeared with plates of delicious (and healthy) Greek food laid out. Her goblet was full of water too, instead of wine.

"I've calculated the amount of nutrition you'll need to replenish your energy after being unconscious for two days, while also making sure it's not too much for your mortal body to handle. Also, I've made sure the food isn't too rich to avoid upsetting your stomach," Apollo explained, then went on to list the calorie amount, and the total fat, sodium, carbohydrates, and proteins in her meal as if he was reading from a nutrition label.

When he finished, he beamed expectantly at her, obviously waiting for her to either praise him or break into applause for whatever reason.

"Uh. Thanks! You... er, really know your stuff," she grinned awkwardly.

He preened. "Of course I do. I am the god of healing and knowledge and everything else important." He puffed his chest out with pride. "Now, I shall leave you alone to enjoy your meal. Do call out to me if you require my assistance for anything else," he gave her a flirty wink at that.

He was about to turn before he paused, seemingly remembering something.

"Ah, right, before I leave," he walked over to her bedside table and patted a leather-bound book of sorts. "This is your birthday gift from Lady Mnemosyne. She took it back from the servants after you fainted and insisted that I give this to you once you awakened. According to her, it should help make you feel better, though I doubt whatever gift she gave you could ever outshine mine," he bragged.

Percy perked up. Right. Mnemosyne had given her birthday gift, and she had been curious about it ever since.

Once Apollo finally left the room, she ignored her food and reached out for the book. She flipped it open to the front page and saw a note written in Ancient Greek:

Happy 'birthday', Percy. Consider this as my belated present to you for missing your actual seventeenth birthday.

I'm no art goddess, but I painted these as realistically as I could from your memories. I hope you enjoy it.

Love,

Mnemosyne

As Percy flipped through the pages, she realized that it wasn't a book, but a photo album. But instead of photos, they were hyper-realistic paintings... of the people she knew and loved.

She saw a painting of her mother and her smile. The pain and longing in her father's eyes—the father from her universe—when they first met. The first time she met Grover at Yancy Academy. Anthonius' grin as he was captured in mid-talk (probably rambling architecture, knowing him). Thalia's fierce blue eyes. Luke's tender smile before everything went wrong. The hope in Hermes' face when she told him that he could change. Tyson's toothy grin. A blushing Bianca. Nico eating blue birthday cake. Silena and Beckendorf hand-in-hand. Chiron grinning as he prepared to beat Mr. D in pinochle yet again. All the campers she knew, alive and happy.

Everyone she loved throughout her life had been captured and made immortal from her memories through the painted photo album she held in her trembling hands.

Mnemosyne's words from the night of her debutante ball echoed in her head, "It's been a year already... I know you've been so patient, but mortals can only handle so much turmoil. So... I made you something to help you keep holding on."

A choked sob escaped her lips as she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. Her hand shakily flipped through more of the pages, desperate to see more of them. She felt as if someone had driven a knife to her chest and twisted the blade, but this was a sort of agony that she happily embraced.

She had been here for a year now, and she missed them. She missed them all so fucking much.

Once she finished, she closed the album and hugged it to her chest, sobbing quietly as she clutched it desperately, as if wanting to absorb every painting into her very being.

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

After her father came back to pick her up from Apollo's palace, she was promptly whisked away to Atlantis to never be seen again...

Just kidding. Kind of. After the whole 'the Fates crashing the ball fiasco', Poseidon put the entire palace in extreme security mode and now there were guards at every inch of the place. It didn't help that her father was also keeping an eye on her literally 24/7. The only moment of privacy she got was when it was time for her lessons with Beelzebub, but that was where the next problem laid.

Things between her and Beelzebub were awkward. On Percy's end at least. Their last argument was still fresh in her mind and either Beelzebub was a great actor or he had already gotten over it because he acted as if nothing was amiss. She hoped it was the latter, but she wouldn't be surprised if it was the former.

After a two hour history exam that consisted of at least 5 'small' essays and 12 pages (front and back) of short answer questions with no multiple choice, Beelzebub finally granted her a break as he graded her work. She chose to pull out Mnemosyne's gift to admire every detail of her loved ones' faces as she waited.

Beelzebub couldn't help but mentally approve of her choice because finally she was choosing to read something, and judging by the size of the book, it was a pretty lengthy one too. That is, until he saw her flip the page and caught a glimpse of a picture. He realized that it wasn't an actual book she was reading. Hell, she wasn't even reading.

"What is that?" He asked, setting her exam down.

"Huh? Oh, it's Mnemosyne's birthday gift." She answered, a huge grin crawling over her face. "Look, she made me a photo album, but she painted the photos herself!"

She turned the book over to show him. He saw a hyper-realistic painting that was the size of a small photograph tucked inside a clear sleeve. It showed the image of a smiling, middle-aged woman with dark hair that had a few streaks of grey from aging. Something about her features seemed familiar, but before he could figure it out, she flipped to the next page. There, he saw four small sets of photos of the same boy: a teenager with curly blonde hair, tanned skin, and grey eyes.

She kept flipping through the pages, but he stopped her to ask, "Who are these people?" He didn't see why Mnemosyne would give her paintings of irrelevant humans.

"These are my friends and family from back home," Percy gushed, and Beelzebub could feel his ichor freeze over.

"Oh." He said stiffly. But then he realized that this was something he could exploit later on. "Why don't you tell me more about them?" He asked, putting on a soft smile, pretending to be happy that she had been given such a thoughtful gift.

Percy, who had been stuck in this universe for a year now, only had a handful of people that knew her secret, and he knew she was just itching to talk about her loved ones from her old universe. As he expected, her eyes lit up and she eagerly began telling him everything.

"This is my mom," she said, hastily flipping back to the page of the middle-aged woman. "Her name's Sally Jackson and she's the best person ever. And this is her getting married to my stepdad, Paul!" She pointed at a picture of a wedding scene, with the same woman standing beside a suited man—a human.

Beelzebub had to stifle a laugh, this woman went from a god... to a simple human? How hilarious.

"And this," she beamed. "This is my dad. The Poseidon of my universe."

The second Beelzebub saw the painting of the god, his eyes widened minutely. Percy didn't even need to introduce him as her dad, because he would've made the connection anyway.

She was the spitting image of that Poseidon. From the deep natural tan, to the wavy black hair, and sea-green eyes, there was no denying that this was her true father. If it weren't for the trident in his hand, Beelzebub would've assumed that this man was a human because of the gentleness in his eyes and smile (and since Mnemosyne had painted this from Percy's memories, it was obvious that this was a memory of Poseidon smiling down at his daughter).

He had never seen such a human looking god. This Poseidon had all the imperfections of humanity; sun-crinkles around his eyes that told him he was prone to smiling, a stubbly beard, and rough looking hands. He wasn't even wearing any godly attire, choosing to don a simple Hawaiian shirt with coconuts and parrots all over it, khaki Bermuda shorts, and a hat decorated with fishing lures that said "Neptune's Lucky Fishing Hat".

"He looks... human," was the nicest thing Beelzebub could say. No self-respecting god would ever deign to look so ordinary, but Percy looked at his painting as if he had personally hung up the stars in the sky.

"Yeah," Percy grinned, finding no offense with his comment. "We look alike, don't we? Gods don't have DNA, but mom said I managed to get all of his looks."

"...You sure did," he replied, sounding almost pained. He was so glad Poseidon wasn't here right now because he would've drowned all of the three realms if he knew about this. Knowing that his daughter actually belonged to a different Poseidon was one thing, but knowing that she even looked like a miniature female version of him too? Oh, Poseidon would absolutely lose it.

Beelzebub cleared his throat, feeling a little desperate to move on. Seeing a painting of that Poseidon and witnessing how much Percy looked like him was a painful reminder that she wasn't really from this universe, and he didn't like to think about that.

"Who else is there?" He asked.

"This is my best friend, Grover," she went on, flipping to a new photograph. It was of a scrawny looking boy wearing a school uniform and holding onto some crutches. "I'm pretty sure this is from when we first met at Yancy Academy. I met him when I was twelve. He's a satyr."

Beelzebub blinked in surprise, "He's a what?"

She dismissively waved a hand, "Satyrs are different in my universe. They're in charge of sniffing demigods out and helping them get to camp before the monsters beat them to it. Grover was the one who found me. Anyway, he's my best friend—"

"—You already said that—"

"—And he's also considered the Lord of the Wild, cool title, right?" She grinned giddily. "And this is Grover with my hellhound, Mrs. O'Leary!"

She showed him a picture of Grover getting slobbered on by a giant, red-eyed... black mastiff dog? That was what hellhounds looked like in her universe? No wonder she was so freaked out about the hellhound he sicced on her several months ago.

"And this is my little half-brother, Tyson," she flipped to the next photo, which revealed a large boy... with one eye?

"Is that a cyclops?" He straightened. "And you call that thing—him, your brother?" He quickly corrected himself, but he was clearly aghast.

"Cyclopes are children of Poseidon back in my universe, so yeah," she explained.

Beelzebub blinked in astonishment. Poseidon would definitely hate to hear this. It was bad enough that he was apparently a massive slut in that universe (her words, not his), but to have cyclopes as his children too? The disgust alone would make him lose his mind.

She flipped to the next page. There were two men sitting at a table, playing some card game. One was a pudgy, purple-eyed man who was scowling at the other. But Beelzebub didn't really care about that. He was more focused on the background. He recognized that field and those woods... Was this set in her camp?

"That's Mr. D," she pointed at the purple-eyed man. "Aka, Dionysus. Zeus grounded him so he's been forced to watch over us at Camp Half-Blood."

Beelzebub stared at her in disbelief. "...That's Dionysus? The god?" He asked, just to make sure. During their first trip to New York together, she had informed him that Mr. D was actually Dionysus who was forced to watch over the camp, but he never would've expected him to actually look like this.

She snickered, "Yeah, the god."

He blinked. What was it with these gods and choosing to look so human? He was almost afraid to see what the other gods looked like.

"And this is Chiron, our activities director," she pointed at the other man. "He's in disguise right now, but he's actually a centaur."

While the thought of a centaur and the god of alcohol working together to take care of Percy (and a bunch of other children) made Beelzebub's skin crawl, he was at least relieved to know that it was Chiron. In here, their Chiron was a son of Kronos but he had been raised by Apollo and trained by Artemis, and had thankfully inherited all the best aspects of the twins. Chiron was kind and courteous and judging by the gentle smile on this Chiron's face, he had a feeling this one was the same.

Percy flipped to the next page. There, he saw more photos of that blonde and grey-eyed teenage boy.

"And this... this is Anthonius," she smiled.

Beelzebub gauged her expression, feeling as if he had been sucker punched. Her smile was bright, and her eyes were... soft. Full of love, but not the same kind of love from when she showed off her friends and family, something about this was more... personal. Intimate.

"Anthonius?" He asked, wanting to dig for more.

"Anthonius Chase. Son of Athena—a brain baby like she was, by the way. He's... well, he's someone I really, really care about." She said. Despite the simple description, the way she spoke made it sound more like a confession of love than anything.

Beelzebub had to reign in his anger as he continued to witness the loving way she stared at the boy's photos.

This was the second time he had come to realize that Percy loved another.

Poseidon, he could somewhat cope with because at least he was still a god and was on equal standing. But this boy? This clearly inferior mortal boy? Beelzebub looked at him and saw nothing worthwhile but Percy looked at him and saw the world and that just wouldn't do.

Despite the burning urge to snatch the album from her hands and rip it to shreds, he calmly laced his fingers together and looked at her with a tender smile that belied his murderous intentions.

"You seem to really care about that boy." He noted.

"Mmhmm! We've been through a lot together." She exclaimed. "Gods, I miss him. I... I hope he's doing okay. I know he's definitely freaking out over my disappearance."

Good. Beelzebub thought. He hoped the boy went mad with grief to the point of killing himself. He hoped they all did.

She flipped to the next page and when she saw who it was this time, her smile stilled. The next set of photographs showed an older boy, maybe a young adult. He had sandy blonde hair and blue eyes with a scar running down the side of his face.

Percy swallowed thickly before her smiler returned, but it was sadder this time. "This is Luke. Son of Hermes."

Beelzebub was surprised to hear that even Hermes had a demigod child of his own in that universe, but he pushed that aside when he saw the expression on her face.

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh, it's nothing. He just—He's..." She cleared her throat. "Aside from Grover, who I already knew, Luke was the first friend I ever made at camp. He, uh... Died last year, the summer before I came here. A-anyway."

She shakily flipped to the next page. This time, it was of a couple holding hands. She sucked in a breath.

"Erm, Silena and Beckendorf. Old friends of mine. They... also died that summer," her shoulder sank. She hastily flipped to the next page, like she was desperate to talk about someone else, but winced as a picture of a dark haired boy with an eye-patch came next. "Ethan Nakamura. He died too..."

"You seem to have a lot of dead friends," he couldn't help but point out. There was a deep, pensive frown on his face. Something was wrong here. If these kids were all demigods from Camp Half-Blood—which he was certain they were—then how could they be dead? They were all young, not even at the prime of their time, and they were children of gods. How could they have died so early?

And they all seemed to have died the summer before she came here. His mind went back to the first time he brought her to New York.

"There used to be only twelve cabins for each god? The Greek pantheon is much larger than that."

"Yeah, I know right? I had them fix it after the—... I mean, I had them add more cabins the summer before I got sent here."

"After what?"

"Huh?"

"You said that you had the gods add more cabins after...?"

"It's nothing..."

"Something big happened two summers ago, didn't it?" He asked knowingly. "You mentioned that before. How there were only twelve cabins at your camp, but something happened over the summer and you made the gods change that. Something that led to your friends' deaths."

She stared at him in stunned silence before her shoulders slumped. "...Of course you would piece that together..." She grumbled under her breath.

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

She sighed. "...You told me about your past, so I guess it's only fair that I tell you about mine. There was... this prophecy." She confessed.

He stiffened. "A prophecy?"

"Yeah," she said bitterly. "A half-blood of the eldest gods / Shall reach sixteen against all odds / And see the world in endless sleep / The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap / A single choice shall her days / Olympus to preserve or raze."

With every word she spoke, the colder his ichor became. Surely this had nothing to do with her, right?

His hopes were dashed when she said, "Children of the Big Three aren't supposed to exist, but my dad and Zeus got too horny, and me and my cousins were made. Bianca and Thalia were older than me, but Bianca... died, and Thalia fucked off to become an eternal maiden. Nico was too young, so it was just me left. Long story short, but I ended up having to lead the war against Kronos—"

"—That's not possible," Beelzebub said, a little too harshly. "Kronos is dead."

"Gods don't die in my universe," she shook her head, waving a dismissive hand. "They fade, but that's a really hard thing to accomplish. During the first Titanomachy, the gods sliced Kronos apart and spread his essence throughout Tartarus in hopes he would never reform. Obviously, that didn't work because the Second Titanomachy happened."

Beelzebub's breathing picked up. The gods in her universe couldn't die? And what the fuck was fading? And most importantly: why the fuck was she leading a war against Kronos of all people?

"I had no idea what I was doing, leading the camp and all," she said shakily. "All these kids kept dying... My friends... I was terrified. I just want it all to end."

She wasn't looking at him as she said this, her eyes glued to the album as she desperately took in the lively faces of all she had lost. There was a haunted, faraway look in her eyes that told him that she had completely blanked out, his presence no longer registered in her mind as painful memories filled her head. Beelzebub realized with dread that he would do this when thinking about his dead friends too. He would think about them... and fantasize about joining them in death.

"...Percy...?" He called out, wanting to snap her out of whatever dark thoughts she could be having right now.

She looked at him, and it was like a switch went on. Her bright grin returned. "Oh, sorry," she said, chuckling casually. "Didn't mean to get all emo there, haha."

She flipped to the next page of her album, but Beelzebub couldn't let this go just yet.

"Wait, Percy," he said, almost pleadingly. "Are you... okay?"

"Yeah, sure," she replied nonchalantly. "Sorry, dude, I just get really quiet sometimes when I think about all that sad stuff."

"Percy, where was your father?" He asked her gently. "Where were the other gods? You said you had to lead the camp, but aren't you all just kids? Why did you all fight in the war?"

She winced. "Oh. Erm, well, that was my fault. I accidentally woke up Typhon and helped him escape from his prison, so the gods all had to work together to deal with that little mess while I dealt with Kronos. Whoops... Oh! Beel, look, these are the Stoll brothers!" She proceeded onto the next photo.

He felt like ripping his hair out from how normal she was acting. As if she hadn't just spilled out a bunch of extremely concerning things about her past. He looked at her in agony and wondered if this was how she felt whenever he told her he wanted to die.

He decided to just be straightforward about it, "Percy... do you ever feel like... dying?"

She gave a noncommittal shrug. "I mean, sometimes I think about it," she admitted, looking perfectly at ease despite her terrifying words. "But then I chicken out, haha!" She let out a broken laugh at that, but he didn't see anything funny about this.

Oh. He thought.

Oh... Oh gods. She wanted to die.

She wanted to die so badly that even the thought of her soul being obliterated wouldn't make her ascend because she wanted the guaranteed promise of death.

He felt like crying, because now he understood why she was so adamant on rejecting immortality.

— author's note —

WUTHERING WAVES IS COMING OUT TODAY!!! I'm using Playcover cuz I have a macbook and it's my first time ever using it and HOOOOOOLY FUCK. There are so many problems with the Wuthering Waves app for playcover users it's been driving me crazy 😭😭😭 So many downloads, now I gotta code and shit ugh, is Playcover like this every app or is Wuwa just special? 😭😭

But anyways, if there's any Playcover wuwa users having a "file rename error" issue, I have instructions on how to temporarily fix it until the official Macbook app is released! It's on my Tumblr so check that out if you need to 💀

(^ this is technically a double kill because she also friendzoned him by calling him 'bestie' 🤭)

Now onto fanart!!!

Mermaid Percy from honeydew-mint: 

Hera ranting about Zeus to other goddesses: 

And that one scene where Percy lied to Beel about not liking her daddy:

A Percy picrew from UnprofessionalWrite (that they edited for the fic 💖):