Chapter Text
NORMALLY, THE DAY STARTED WITH breakfast to the death. Maybe even a little getting dressed to the death. That last one depended on how the other residents of floor 19 felt that morning.
The day did not usually start with confusing Magnus to the death.
Magnus Chase, for his part, considered himself well adjusted to the ever changing and hectic afterlife that was Hotel Valhalla. He was willing to believe in the impossible and when gods showed up to ruin his life, he had accepted that as a regular course of nature.
However, one thing he had not come to accept was waking up in strange places. The one normal comfort he had was the guarantee that if he fell asleep or died or whatever, he would definitely wake up in his bed in his room on floor 19 of Hotel Valhalla.
Depending on the day, he might wake up only to be beheaded by Alex. He might wake up to TJ’s eager face chattering about the hills they would take today in single combat, group combat, or free-for-all combat to the death. There was also the oh so fun way of waking up to Mallory and Halfborn hollering at the top of their very impressive set of lungs.
Magnus prefered to wake up to none of these options.
Which was why he felt relieved when he woke up and it was silent. Then he realized, Holy crap it’s silent. Who’s about to die? He jumped up, hand reaching for Jack’s pendant form around his neck.
His hand closed around… nothing?
“Jack?” Magnus whispered hopefully, glancing around in the dark. “Jack?”
No singing sword came to his aid.
Magnus really hoped he was still in Valhalla because if he was without a weapon and something was about to happen, he’d really prefer it if he could die safely and wake up in his bed in a few hours.
If Percy had a drachma for every time something insanely crazy happened to him, he would probably be part of the top one percent. If he had two drachmas for every time he almost died doing said insanely crazy thing, that would definitely push him into the spot of richest man in the world.
To be honest, he was done with it. Just one peaceful year was all he was asking for. It seemed like he was going to get that peaceful year too. College in New Rome with Annabeth. That would be at least four years of peace and quiet. He just had to make it that far first.
Then Apollo decided to get himself turned into a mortal and Percy got stuck as the designated driver to get him to Camp Half-Blood. Stuff happened, Percy survived, he went home.
One would have thunk that would be it.
No, no. Annabeth's cousin, her dead cousin, needed his help to learn how to sail a boat and not die.
Okay. Percy could respect that. As Poseidon’s son, he was probably one of the best people to turn to for that and he was actually very flattered that Annabeth recommended her cousin talk to him.
The only thing he had a problem with was the fact that Annabeth’s cousin (his name was Magnus rhymes with swagnus, whatever that means) needed these lessons in order to go on a quest to save the world because apparently some Norse god named Loki (not the one that looks like Tom Hiddleston) decided it was a good time to kickoff Ragnarok. Loki did not consult Percy before making that decision.
And now this happened.
Percy didn’t mention Paul’s strange absence to his mom. Paul was a teacher and it was expected that he would be at meetings. Percy didn’t keep track of those meetings, so he didn’t see it as a problem that Paul was gone.
When Thalia showed up, he didn’t question it. He did question the melting snow in her hair, but only inside his head. For all he knew, Thalia and the Hunters (that would make a great band name) had been in Antarctica hunting the ancient polar bear or something.
He did question it when Annabeth showed up. Because as far as he knew, Annabeth was much, much older than the Annabeth before him.
“This is so stupid,” Magnus grumbled. “Okay, Alex! Haha, very fun. You got me. Can I go home now?”
No response.
“Mallory?” he tried. “Halfborn? TJ? Hello? You’ve made… whatever point you’re trying to make. Can I have my sword back?”
Again. No response.
“Blitzen!” Magnus shouted, getting irritated now. “Hearthstone!” he paused and smacked his head. What was up with him forgetting that there was no way Hearth could hear him no matter how loud he yelled.
He was in the woods somewhere. Definitely Midgard, he decided, but there was snow on the ground. Whichever one of his friends that had put him here had thoughtfully dressed him in winter boots and a winter jacket. The boots and jacket weren’t that bad looking either which affirmed his assumption that Blitz had some part of this.
An owl hooted in the trees.
Magnus glared up at it. “Alex, Sam, if that’s one of you, I swear.”
The owl hooted again and took off.
“I will kill them,” Magnus mumbled to himself. “Well, I’ll kill - try - try to kill Alex. I’ll have to wait for Sam to join the einherjar. If that’s what happens anyway.” He sighed and continued trudging through the snow.
“Sorry I’m late,” Annabeth said, pushing past Percy into the Jackson household. “Are we ready to go?”
Percy blinked. “Uh, what?” he asked, staring at his girlfriend.
Thalia rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Percy? Grover’s distress call? Ring any bells?”
Grover’s what?
Annabeth shot Percy a nervous smile. “I’m sure Percy’s just worried about Grover. Don’t be so harsh, Thalia.” She brushed past Percy to greet Sally Jackson.
As Annabeth passed him, Percy felt a small piece of paper worm its way into his hand.
“Let me go grab something,” Percy said. “I’ll be right back.” He bolted for his room and closed the door. He unfolded the paper Annabeth gave him.
Don’t be stupid, Percy. Act natural. We’re going to Maine to meet up with Grover. Talk more later. At Camp.
Annabeth
That didn’t exactly answer any questions, but at least Percy had some idea of what was going on. Grover needed help and he had asked Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia to help him. Percy didn’t need to know why Annabeth looked so much younger to help Grover.
He left his room and met his friends and mom at the door. “Ready.”
“Let’s go help our goat,” Thalia said.
It felt like a million years passed before Magnus reached the end of the woods. A building made of black stone that looked like a castle greeted him.
“Cliche villain hideout,” Magnus muttered. “Guess that’s where I have to go. Unless someone wants to let me out of this whatever this is. Bad dream? Hallucination? Manipulating Magnus’ Dreams to the Death?”
Still, none of his friends appeared to pull him back to the safety of Valhalla.
Magnus trudged forwards towards the castle. He peered up at the writing above the doors.
“Westover Hall,” he read.
He shrugged and pulled open the door and walked inside. The door closed with a resounding thunk that was so ominous, Magnus decided that he had to be in the right place. He snuck down the dark hallways towards the source of muffled noise. He came to a stop outside the gymnasium. Magnus was about to enter when a semi-familiar voice interrupted his stealth mission.
The eight-hour drive was filled with stories of baby Percy Jackson doing this and baby Percy Jackson doing that. Percy tuned it out and tried to focus on the problem at hand. He started out by listing off everything he knew.
- Grover sent out a distress call
- Annabeth and Thalia were supposed to go with him to figure out what was wrong
- Annabeth knew something was wrong
- Annabeth looked distinctly younger than the last time he saw her
- It was winter now
With all that in mind, Percy could only come up with one logical conclusion. Unfortunately, it was very illogical and Annabeth would probably laugh in his face if he suggested it.
It was almost a relief when they arrived at their destination. Until Percy saw the name of the building his mom was currently stopped in front of.
Westover Hall.
Oh gods. That brought back bad memories.
This was the school Bianca and Nico di Angelo went to before Percy arrived to disastrously bring them to Camp Half-Blood. The whole thing resulted in Bianca joining the Hunters and going on a quest which she got herself killed on. That prompted Nico to run away from Camp and learn his Underworld powers from a revenge seeking ghost who almost got Nico killed. Nico didn’t exactly have a happy life after that either. In the end, Westover Hall was the beginning of the end for the di Angelos.
Percy had no idea why they were back here, but Annabeth shot him a look warning him that if he so much as said another word to question it, he would probably not live to see tomorrow.
Thalia led them into the school, doors slamming shut behind them. They could hear music coming from the other end of the hall.
After a hissed prompting from Thalia, Percy hastily stashed his overnight bag with her’s and Annabeth’s behind a pillar then dashed after them down the hall.
Suddenly, two figures appeared in their path. The terrible thing was, Percy recognized them. The woman was the teacher named Ms. Gottschalk. The other guy, Percy swallowed, the other guy was Dr. Thorn. A monster. More specifically, a manticore.
“Well?” Ms. Gottschalk demanded. “What are you doing here?”
Annabeth opened her mouth. “Ma’am, we were just heading back-”
“Annabeth!” someone called.
Percy looked between the two adults (well, one adult and one monster) to see a mop of blonde hair running towards them. The blonde haired boy didn’t seem very fazed by the strange meeting which put Percy even more on edge than he had been before.
“What are you doing out of the gymnasium, Mr…” Ms. Gottschalk asked, trailing off at the end.
“Chase,” the boy prompted. “Magnus Chase, ma’am. I’m sorry about all this. Some friends dared my cousin and her friends to leave the gym for ten minutes. I was just coming to get them.”
Percy blinked. Magnus Chase? Annabeth’s dead cousin? He glanced at the blonde haired boy and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Because that was indeed Magnus Chase even though it looked like he had used the same deaging cream Annabeth apparently used.
Dr. Thorn narrowed his eyes. “Ms. Gottschalk, do you know these students?”
Ms. Gottschalk blinked, eyes slightly glazed. “I… yes. I believe I do, sir.” She frowned at them. “Mr. Chase. Ms. Chase. I don’t know what you were thinking, but you need to return to the gymnasium at once. You two as well,” she added, looking at Percy and Thalia.
More footsteps and Grover appeared, breathless. “You made it! You-” He stopped short when he saw the teachers. “Oh, Ms. Gottschalk. Dr. Thorn! I, uh-”
“Was helping me look for them,” Magnus lied swiftly. “But now that we’ve found them, we’ll just be going to the gym. Wouldn’t want to ruin the… dance.” He looked a little unsure whether he said the right thing or not.
“Yes, yes,” Ms. Gottschalk said impatiently. “Go on.”
Magnus nodded and tugged Annabeth and Percy towards the gym. “Come on.” He hustled them down the hall in the direction of the music.
Thalia and Grover didn’t say a word. Maybe they were too worried about the teachers overhearing. Maybe they were too confused.
Magnus hurried them to a door that had GYM written on the glass.
“Who the hell are you?” Thalia demanded as soon as they were inside the loud gym.
Annabeth shook her hands. “No, no, no. That’s my cousin! That’s Magnus!”
“Rhymes with swagness,” Percy added.
Magnus groaned. “Who told you about that?”
Percy grinned. “Your…” he paused and tilted his head. “Better half,” he decided. “Alex.”
Magnus sputtered. “Alex is many things, but I would not say Alex is the better half.”
Thalia looked at Percy. “You know this guy?”
“Yeah,” Percy admitted. “I do know him. Taught him everything I know about sailing.”
“Like keeping my butt clenched,” Magnus mumbled.
“Ooookay,” Thalia said slowly. She looked at Grover. “What’s the emergency?”
Grover glanced at Magnus uncertainly.
“It’s okay, Grover,” Annabeth said. “Magnus knows.”
Grover took a deep breath. “I found two.”
“Two half-bloods?” Thalia asked, amazed. “Here?”
Grover nodded.
Percy was beginning to get an overwhelming sense of dread. “Um, so these two half-bloods. Who are they?”
“Brother and sister,” Grover said. “They’re ten and twelve. I don’t know their parentage, but they’re both strong. We’re running out of time, though. I need help.”
“So let’s grab them and go,” Magnus said. He glanced at Annabeth. “I don’t suppose you know where Jack is?”
“Jack?” Annabeth repeated. “No. Sorry. I might have an extra-”
“Nah, it’s okay,” Magnus waved her off. “I’ll be more of a hindrance. Um, but I’m sticking with you. I have no desire to die for real.”
Surprisingly, Thalia nodded. “Been there. Done that. Dad turned me into a tree when I was dying.”
“Grover,” Percy said forcefully. “Where are these half-bloods?”
“Over there,” Grover said, nodding towards the bleachers. “Bianca and Nico di Angelo.”
Percy closed his eyes and offered a silent prayer to the gods that he would please wake up right now.