Chapter Text
Standard issue disclaimer: I do not, have not, and in all likelihood will not ever own any portion of the Percy Jackson franchise, which is property of Rick Riordan and whoever he decides to sell out to, or any portion of any other IPs which you may recognize in my writing. You know what though, sure, I own Greek mythology. Time to start paying royalties, everybody, it’s all mine now.
i.
“This is ridiculous,” she whispers. “You have to know how ridiculous this is, right?”
“I don’t care,” he says, just as quietly. “I don’t care if we have to tear their world down stone by stone to do it, you’re right, and we will make it right.”
Their lips find each other, and the rest is history.
ii.
It shouldn’t have happened, couldn’t have happened. Born on opposite sides of a war that could have, should have, might have torn the world apart, it was plain lunacy for two pivotal figures to fall in love.
Together, they fight, a third faction in a war and a world that didn’t have room for even two. They rage against the established order, and all the cruelties that it brings, but they are only two and their opponents are many and mighty beyond words.
They are beaten, but not broken, and their last thoughts are of each other.
Death is a mercy, and so is dying at the side of somebody dearer to you than your own heart.
iii.
He doesn’t understand what is happening when he wakes up. He remembers everything up to the moment of their deaths, and finds himself in the same form he always wore, but he wakes in an unfamiliar world. It is filled with things that look like gods and titans but things which die, and are powerless.
None of them, it seems, remember him long. He wanders in great circles, and whenever he returns to a group he has met before, he returns as a stranger.
Nothing changes for a very long time.
iv.
Something changes.
He finds her, and she remembers everything, as he does. They rejoice, and come together once again. Neither can fathom why they are alive again, in this strange world neither of them remembers, but they don’t ask.
He discovers that her being is not the same as it was. Before, she was granddaughter of the king of gods, and only the divine could touch her.
Two days after he is reunited with her, he discovers that she was reborn as one of the things that die.
v.
Time passes.
The things that die - humans, they call themselves - die, as they must, but are replaced by others. He warily eyes fire, unsure how they have discovered what should belong only to the gods. They learn quickly, but advance slowly.
Before they have learned to use stone as a tool, he finds her again.
This time, she doesn’t know him. She doesn’t remember anything of the war they fought or the vow he swore to her, but her face is the same and he is sure, so sure , that somehow he has found her again.
It takes time, but he has time in abundance. Nephew of the king of titans, his body has not changed. He is still impervious to time and its ravages.
He spends many days with her tribe, living as they do, meeting her. There is an ache in his chest that her smile soothes, and one day, she is in love with him again as much as she ever was.
One day, she wakes up and remembers him again. They are overjoyed and deduce that her falling in love with him must be the catalyst for her memories.
They are reunited, truly reunited, for three days.
She dies again.
vi.
Eventually, a pattern becomes obvious.
He is immortal, and still powerful, but no longer the stuff gods are made of. He never forgets, and wanders the world in search of her.
She is mortal, and powerless, and never has any memory of him, or who she once was, or any of the lives they spend together.
He loves her in the only way an eternal can; with all of his being and for all of his life.
Every time, she falls in love with him and loves him just as deeply, with a passion that burns just as hot.
Sometimes, she remembers who they have always been to each other, and they are fully together for a moment. Every time she remembers, she dies just three days later.
Once, after she dies, he travels to Olympus, to demand answers. He is slain once more, but awakens in the demesne of Hades, memories fully intact.
From Hades, he learns what is happening. Their uprising against the old gods and the new was alarming to both factions, and a ceasefire was called in the war while a punishment was decided upon.
The two lovers were stricken with a curse, the essence of which was to be safeguarded by the victor in the war, to ensure that it would continue unabated for all time. His curse was eternal life, hers eternal reincarnation. They were doomed to continue their cycle of reunion and death until - until what, exactly? He didn’t know how long they were to be tormented, how many millennia it would take to slake the bloodlust of the young gods they had dared stand against.
He asked Hades why this punishment, and was met with bitter laughter.
“It’s poetic, is it not, little cousin? My brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and dear mother and father decided that they should destroy the both of you as totally as they possibly could. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten so soon, after all, that Perseus is to destroy ?”
So! This is my first actually new story in ten years, maybe eleven. It wouldn't be happening without the help and inspiration of my lovely and talented cousin starlinks, who is in my completely unbiased opinion the single best PJO writer on this or any website, and if you liked the general vibe of this chapter, you should absolutely read your lips, my lips, which directly inspired this story. If you didn't like this chapter, you should also go read ylml, because it's a great story and you will feel better for having read it.