Full Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series and/or any other real world works and businesses I may mention in this story.
?:
You know I always imagined the afterlife being something akin to Heaven or Hell and not just a vast emptiness. It also was quite confusing as to why I was here since I didn't remember dying.
Come to think of it I didn't remember much if anything.
Who even am I?
Welcome to the world of Percy Jackson!
General world knowledge has been retained while all personal information has been wiped to ensure an easy transition.
What the hell?
I didn't know why exactly a holographic screen had popped up in front of me and I was already feeling like I wasn't going to like it.
And why was it telling me my damn memories where gone? Who gave this thing the right to take them?
Forces beyond your comprehension.
Now, which pantheon would you like to be apart of?
Pantheon? What the… oh, yeah, Percy Jackson. But why was it telling me to join a pantheon and greeting me to this world?
What was this some sort of game? Was I being reincarnated?
Yes!
So you're telling me you wiped all memories of family, fiends, and identity just so I could adjust easier?
How the hell did that make any sense!? If this was a game why would I give a shit?
To give you deeper immersion.
Fuck you and give me my memories back.
Now choose a pantheon:
Greek
Roman
Shinto
Biblical
Norse
Egyptian
More Options:
Oh great, so it's just going to ignore me now.
And this thing seriously wasn't going to give me the option of just being a normal human? I had to be in a Pantheon?
Yes! As is the whole point of this reincarnation.
Again, fuck you.
I really didn't want to be the gods errand boy, but apparently that's not my choice.
Might as well go with what I know than I guess.
It wasn't even really a question as to what pantheon I'd choose. Roman's where to strict, Egyptians were just magicians who were occasionally possessed, never bothered reading the Magnus Chase series, and I didn't have a single clue as to what was up with the Biblical and Shinto factions.
So I selected the Greek Pantheon. Some of them might be dicks, but at least they weren't evil.
Excellent choice! Now choose your divine parent.
Apollo
Hermes
Ares
Demeter
Hephaestus
Aphrodite
Athena
Dionysus
Zeus (Locked)
Poseidon (Locked)
Hades (Locked)
Artemis (Locked)
Hera (Locked)
Hestia (Locked)
Random Select (The game chooses who your godly parent is, but unlocks the locked choices. Warning! These locked choices are locked so canon cannot be affected. Selecting this option may cause a deviance in the timeline.)
Well shit. I was really hoping on getting to choose one of the big three as my parents. Sure it would paint a target on my back, but the power boost alone would be worth it.
But… there is that random option.
Seems either my choices where the regular Olympians or I take a 3/14 chance of getting to be the child of the big three. Hell, technically it was a 3/11 chance due to Hera, Artemis, and Hestia not having any mortal kids.
It would change canon apparently, but that made sense. If I got lucky and became the son of one of the big three I'd be taking a dump on cannon. At least with the minor Olympians, I could just be excused as one of the nameless background campers.
Another son of the big three would throw everything from the great prophecy to the pre-story timeline out of whack.
Sounds like fun at the very least.
And I may not remember my life, but I feel like I was a betting man.
'No risk, no reward.' I thought as I selected the random option.
Selecting a parent…
Godly parent selected!
Please choose your name!
Name:
It wasn't even going to tell me who it chose? Alright game, be that way.
As for my name, 'Alexander.' I thought.
If I was going to be in the Greek pantheon why not go with the greatest of the Greeks.
!
Name selected!
Here are your current stats:
Alexander Arc, Lvl: 1
Title: None
[HP] - 500/500 [MP] - 200/200
[STR] - 5
[VIT] - 5
[PER] - 5
[DEX] - 5
[INT] - 5
[WIS] - 5
[LUK] - 5
Points - 0
Money - 0$
Hint: In order to bring this page up in the future just say stats.
Alright, this seemed like a barebones RPG status screen. I can work with this.
HP was health, MP had to be either Magic Points or Mana Points, and they were followed by basic stats.
But what's up with the last name? I didn't put in Arc.
Also, use the skills command to bring up the page where your individual skills and perks will be listed.
'Skills.'
!
Skill Tab:
Magic-
Combat-
Misc-
Perks-
Again it seemed like a barebones interface. Nothing I couldn't handle on my own.
Now if only I could figure out how to change my last name. Alexander already was on the brink of sounding like an asshole but combined with Arc it just sounded snobby. I mean come on, even something like Clark or Jones would have been a better last name.
!
This is the end of the tutorial and character creation.
Wait, what? What kinda shitty tutorial and creation was this? I only got to make three choices and learned how to summon two screens.
In a moment you will arrive in your new world. Remember to have fun and relax! It's just a video game… or is it?
Hold up a damn second.
Game Start!
"Alex stop staring at your food and actually eat it."
I jerked my head upwards and was greeted with the sight of a middle age man with dark hair and blue eyes sitting at a table across from me.
Paul Arc, Lvl?
Title:?
I stared up at the words floating above the man as a torrent of even more questions flooded my mind.
Such questions included why the hell was I now and why did this man have the same last name as me?
"Is something the matter son?"
Shit.
Was this guy my dad?
"Nothing dad. Just not that hungry right now." I said with the best smile I could manage.
The man gave a look with a raised eyebrow, "You sure? The airport is a two-hour drive away and I'm not stopping to get you something and possibly make your sisters miss their flight."
Yep, this guy was my new dad.
Goddamnit. When the system told me it was throwing me into the world I thought that I was going to be totally reborn or even possibly just dumped into an alleyway. Not reborn into a family I had no memories of.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Alright then." He shrugged, "Go and get dressed. Your sisters should be done packing by the time you're done."
"Alright dad," I said as I stood up and hurriedly left the kitchen.
Only to stop in the hallway when it occurred to me that I had absolutely no idea where my room would be.
"C'mon luck stat," I muttered and choose the door at the far end.
Opening the door I was greeted with a messy sprawl of clothes, an unmade bed, and sci-fi posters tacked to the walls.
If stereotypes where anything to go by then this was probably my room.
+1 to Luk!
I was slightly startled at the notification just popping up in front of my face but waved it away as I walked into my room and shut the door quickly.
Leaning against the closed door I slowly slumped to the floor and went over my situation.
My entire life of personnel had been wiped out, I think I was in a video game or at least was reincarnated with the powers of one. Wasn't going to totally trust what the system was telling me was happening.
And I now apparently had a family who I didn't have a single clue about.
"Wonderful." I muttered, "And now that I'm a demigod monsters are going to be after me."
Speaking of being a half-blood. I wondered who the system choose to be my parent? Seeing as how I had a dad it probably choose a female goddess as my parent. Which ruled out being the son of the big three.
'Well not necessarily.' I suddenly thought, 'This could be a Game of Thrones situation where he's just my uncle who took care of me after my mother died. Or maybe I was just adopted. That old trope used in fiction to give the character a tragic backstory while still having a family.'
It was a long shot, but at least there might be some hope that I had a useful godly parent.
Wait a minute. Didn't demigods have inborn traits based on their parents?
"Perks," I commanded.
!
Gamer's Body: Allows you to continue fighting at peak condition no matter what. Toxins, poisons, crippling blows, curses, (etc.) cannot affect you.
Demigod: Because the blood of the gods flowing through your veins you are afflicted with two status effects:
ADHD: which gives a 20% bonus increase into leveling physical skills related to fighting and a +10 to physical stats every ten levels.
Dyslexia: Your brain is hardwired for ancient Greek. As such you have almost complete mastery of the ancient language while it is slightly harder for you to read other languages.
Son of ?: You are naturally gifted in archery, shooting, and stealth. Your soul has a natural affinity for light and you innately can use photokinesis.
I stared in wonder at the broken perks I had. Gamer's body by itself was already overpowered and the two demigod related perks only compounded it.
It also wasn't even a question who my parent was. Naturally good at archery and can use photokinesis? I'd be an idiot to not realize my godly parent was Apollo.
He was literally the god of archery, the Sun, and medicine.
Which while not big three material, he was still pretty powerful compared to the rest of the Olympians. After all, photokinesis was a pretty rare ability and could be massively useful.
Hell, I should count myself lucky that I even have that ability. Many of the minor Olympians abilities can skip many of their kids if I remember right. Such as Leo's rare ability to use fire or Piper's ability to use charm speak.
Only being a child of the big three seemed to guarantee you powers.
So while I didn't seem to have his pyrokinesis or his ability with healing. Bending light would have to do.
It also meant my guess that Paul downstairs wasn't my father was probably correct. Maybe my real mom had died in a monster attack or childbirth and he was just my uncle who didn't want to break the news until I was old enough.
Speaking of old, how old am I exactly?
Standing up from the slumped position I looked around the room for a mirror and upon the lack of finding one, settled for the next best thing.
A D.S with a camera.
Snapping a picture of myself I turned it around and opened the gallery. There I found a picture of a 12-year-old boy with reddish brown hair and blue eyes so light I could only describe them as icy blue.
I gave a light sigh. What else should I have expected? 12 years old is about the age when everything kicks off in the PJO universe.
Bringing my perks screen back up I gave it one last glance.
"Weird that it still has a question mark where Apollo's name should be. Maybe I need to be claimed for it to unlock?" I muttered to myself.
!
For excellent deduction take +1 to INT.
'Nice.' I thought, 'Looks like I can earn stat points just by doing things related to the stat. Let's see what I'm up to now."
Alexander Arc, Lvl: 1
Title: None
[HP] - 500/500 [MP] - 250/250
[STR] - 5
[VIT] - 5
[PER] - 5
[DEX] - 5
[INT] - 6
[WIS] - 5
[LUK] - 6
Points - 0
Money - 0$
Hey, my MP went up! I'm going to take a shot in the dark and guess that increasing my intelligence raised my MP.
+1 to INT.
Not bad at all.
A smirk made its way to my face. Here I was, the demigod son of Apollo who had access to magic, a body that wouldn't stop working at full condition until death, and for knowledge of the series.
Everyone was so fucked.
"Alex hurry up and get dressed." My dad/uncle called from outside my door, "Your sisters are ready to leave. Hurry up and get dressed."
"Alright," I yelled back and dismissed my notification screens.
And thus I began one of the most difficult tasks known to man.
Trying to find some clean clothes in a 12-year-old's room.
'Alright, something is definitely going on.' I thought suspiciously while sitting in the airport with my family.'
Paul and I where here to see them off. Apparently every year they go to some private school in Europe for gifted students. When I asked Paul why he would let his teenage daughters go to Europe all alone he had replied that they would be staying with some of our extended family over there.
I was almost tempted to ask why I wasn't allowed to go as well but refrained as I fully expected to be lied to.
There was no way this family was normal.
'They don't even look alike for christ's sake! At least Paul and I share bluish eyes.'
If you're wondering who I was referring to then look no further to the three young women in the airport with me.
My three sisters; Jezzabell, Ashley, and Michelle.
Or more like half-sisters at the very maximum though, because there was no way in hell the three of them could be fully related to me.
Not even taking into consideration my perks essentially told me I was the son of Apollo which means we definitely didn't have the same father, but because of how oddly different they looked.
Jezzabell was the oldest at 16 with dark red hair and emerald eyes.
Next up was Michelle at 15 who possibly had most golden blonde hair I had ever seen.
Finally, there was Ashley at 14 who's hair was so dark that it almost had a purplish gleam in the light. If that wasn't weird enough for you then just take a gander at her eyes. They were almost violet!
Who the fuck has violet eyes?!
'This shit only happens in anime, something Percy Jackson is definitely not. So what the hell's going on here?' I pondered.
I had a feeling that this game was trying to push some type of cliche family mystery on me as some form of a prologue.
!
New quest issued!
Quest type: Crossroad You've noticed your new family isn't exactly normal. So do some digging and find out its secrets.
Rewards: ?
10,000 XP Increased closeness with the Arc family.
Failure: ?
Do you wish to accept?
[Yes/No]
!
Quests:
You have discovered the quest system! Quests are issued when the system deems appropriate. Completing quests can deliver you rewards that vary depending on the quest itself.
In addition, there are varying types of quests. Normal quests can be denied with little to no penalty. The second type of quests are crossroad quests and while they can be denied, there will be consequences.
I read over my new notifications with interest, tuning out what my family was talking about as I read them.
'Interesting. Maybe this system has more depth to it than I previously thought. Especially with two different types of quests.'
Looking back over the one that was issued to me I wondered what kind of consequences there would be.
Now I know what some people would be thinking. Why would I deny such a quest? Didn't I want to learn more about my new family and get closer to them?
Honestly though?
Couldn't give less of a shit if I tried.
I had literally just met these people two hours ago and while I get the game was trying to immerse me in the world and provide an interesting prologue, I just wasn't interested.
I was in the Rick Riordan mythological world for fuck's sake! There was so much to explore not only on this world but the realms of all the mythologies that existed.
On the car ride here I was already planning on finding a way to ditch them. Once I lost them I'd figure out a way to get from Virginia, where I lived apparently, to Camp Half-Blood in New York.
Of course, it would be dangerous. Monsters could probably kill my level one ass rather easily and I was only 12. But I figured I had the advantage of my body acting like a video game character, which means it probably eliminated my need for food and water.
Add in a little praying for Apollo to help a bit and I might have a chance. He seemed like one of the only gods in the series that gave a shit about his kids besides Poseidon and Hades, so maybe I'd get lucky.
It was also a pretty dick move, to be honest. My family would probably be devastated by me disappearing, but hey, tough shit.
It's not like I actually knew any of them.
With my mind made up I mentally gave the no command for the quest.
!
Are you sure you want to deny a crossroads quest?
[Yes/No]
'Yes.'
The screen seemed to dim a bit before it flashed out of existence.
"Alex would you stop staring off into space and say bye to your sisters," Paul said bringing me back to reality.
I looked up and indeed the three of them were already standing up ready to get in line as passengers were already starting boarding.
'C'mon Alex, just pretend to be their brother for another couple of minutes and then you can get the hell out of here.'
Putting on my best impression of a sad 12-year-old, I got up to give each of them a hug.
Out of the three of them, Michelle was the only one who gave me an actual proper hug.
"Oh I'm gonna miss you so much Alex.' Michelle coed as she squeezed the life out of me and kissed the top of my forehead, "I promise to call and write as much as possible when I have time."
I had somewhat of an actual smile when I broke the hug. This girl was so genuinely sweet. I might actually feel a bit bad about disappearing.
Next, I hugged Ashley who while hugging me back, didn't put much effort into it.
Finally, I went to hug my oldest sister Jezzabell, who simply gave me a sneer and was about to turn away if it wasn't for Michelle giving her a glare and Paul giving her the dad look.
The redhead scoffed and bent down a bit to give me the shittiest hug I had ever received.
"Try to not be any more of a disappointment than you already are shitstain." She whispered into my ear as she hugged me.
I raised an eyebrow at that. Did she really just say that to a 12-year-old? What did I ever do to her?
An actual child might have been hurt or would have started crying at their older sister saying something that bordered on verbal abuse to them.
But I wasn't an actual child.
Using all the strength that my little body could muster I pulled her into an even tighter hug so I could reach her ear.
"And I hope you rot in Hell you rancid fucking cow," I whispered right back.
I had a sneaking suspicion that along with being a betting man, I might have been a bit of a smartass in my last life as well.
I felt her jerk away from me and she stood back up, her expression a mixture of utter rage and a bit of shock.
I gave her the brightest smile I could muster.
"By big sis!"
"Will the rest of the passengers please board." The woman at the desk asked.
With that my sister grabbed their bags and began walking away. Michelle and Ashley gave me a wave as they walked away while Jezzabell gave me one last glare.
Bitch.
Paul and I waited in the airport until my sisters plane took off.
We began walking through the terminal and back towards the exit, making small talk as we walked.
Well as much small talk as one could manage between the age difference and only just meeting the man, but small talk nonetheless.
Little did he know though I was scooping out when exactly I could ditch him.
Maybe I could disappear among the crowd of people backed up behind the security checkpoint as we passed. Perhaps tell him to go get the car while I use the bathroom.
Or maybe just straight up punch him in the dick and take off running.
My options where truly vast.
"What do you want to eat?" He asked as we began walking through the part of the airport where all the restaurants and fast food places were built in, "Do you want something special or just get some burgers from Mcdonald's real quick."
That gave pause to my escape plans. Even though I wasn't hungry, who could say no to a Big Mac and French fries?
"Mcdonalds is fine," I answered.
"Alright, then le-" He paused abruptly and tensed up.
Paul began scanning the airport and slowly reached his hand into his coat.
I was going to ask him what was wrong, but the system sent me a notification instead.
!
New skill created: Danger Sense
Danger Sense Lvl (1): That little feeling you get in the back of your mind when someone or something wants you dead.
I finished the notification and shivered as a chill ran down my spine.
Turning towards Paul I asked, "Dad do you-"
"Yeah, I do." He said with a strained voice, "Listen to me closely. Do you know remember where the car is?"
"Yeah. Why-"
"Here." He cut me off, "When I say run you take off towards the car. I don't care who yells at you, don't stop for a second."
He tossed me the keys to the car and a silver necklace with the Greek omega symbol on it.
"Dad-" I tried.
"Stay in the car and keep that necklace on you at all times. If I'm not back within 15 minutes, if someone you don't recognize comes to the car, if something feels remotely off, clutch that necklace and say Ianuae Magicae. Do you understand?"
I nodded and took the items completely bewildered by what he was saying.
"And always remember, I love you son."
He was acting if something was about to attack us and he just told me to say magic doors in Latin.
Could he do magic?
My question was answered as he held his hand out and European long sword with glowing markings appeared in his hand.
Well, that answered that question.
Now, what the hell was going on?
!
You were warned that denying crossroad quests would have consequences.
This is one of them.
Alright seriously, what the h-
*Boom*
Any thoughts that were going through my mind where cut off by the entire airport exploding.