The Grand Finale (Chapter 42)

Quote: "Do not be upset that the journey is over, as the next one is right around the corner."

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"Something wrong, Percy?" 

A man's voice rang out sternly, and I suddenly felt a surge of air enter my lungs as I jolted awake. I found myself sitting in a chair, in a classroom full of people my age, and I had just been singled out by the teacher.

"Percy...this is the last class of the day, and you choose now to fall asleep?" The teacher rolled his eyes as he seemed to not care very much, and he turned around to write something on a green chalkboard that was filled to the brim with a bunch of words and numbers.

Some people snickered in their seats.

I recognized that voice...and that face.

It was Chiron.

Why was he here?

Why was I here?

What happened?

I was alive...but I felt different. 

Very different.

It seemed as though I was in some sort of alternate universe or something. Is this what death looked like? Maybe I travelled back in time, or am I relapsing my entire life?  I was struggling to wrap my mind around where I was right now.

I noticed Chiron had legs...and he wasn't in a wheelchair like he had before, and he was in front of a ton of mortals...and I don't recognize any of them at all. They were definitely not demigods...and Chiron wasn't a centaur anymore.

My desk that I was occupying had a notebook with some written pages full of stuff I don't recall ever writing down. 

I even had a blue backpack laid out on the floor next to me by my legs, and I don't recognize ever owning one that looked like it in my entire life. It had my name labeled on the top, in a bright yellow color to contrast the deep blue color.

Something fishy was going on.

Chiron paid no attention to me, as I guess he was unaware of what I knew. He looked at me strangely when I woke up, but it seemed as though he was either being a really good actor, or he genuinely didn't know what I just went through. The fact that he wasn't a centaur continued to bother me a bit, as it almost seemed abnormal, which I thought was rather bizarre.

I remember thinking that his legs were weird in the first place, but now that he doesn't have them, I find it even more peculiar.

*DING*

The bell rang loudly in the hallway, and everyone suddenly stood up and grabbed their own bags and began packing up their papers and tools, with Chiron telling us all what we should do when we get home, but I wasn't really listening to be honest. The only part I heard about him talking was that it was time for everyone to go home.

I was in a bit of a daze, as I picked up my bag and did the same as everyone else and walked out the door.

The halls were full of green lockers, sunshine pouring into the crowded halls from the windows, and banners of school icons were pasted on the walls. There were tons of people walking monotonously like drones, everyone was just...automated.

It reminded me of when I was at Yancy Academy a lifetime ago...but this was very different.

The thought occurred to me that I might've just had a really bad dream or something...but that couldn't be it...

All the time, experiences...and the hardships I endured...it was all an illusion? A dream...

That would be really sucky if it was, and I hoped that it wasn't true.

I was thinking that I was in some other universe or something. If what Chaos told me was true, which I can't imagine why she wouldn't have been truthful to me, then it means that the Greek World is gone. 

That could explain why I felt...mortal.

My body no longer had this powerful aura, and I couldn't sense any power coming from anywhere around me. I couldn't read anything that I had once before. Now, my powers were just flat out gone, not suppressed like before. I even began to feel a bit sleepy, hungry, and thirsty, which I hadn't since before I gained all of my blessings.

I was...a mortal.

Thoughts clouded my mind, and with the school closing around me and people leaving, I kind of just blended with the crowd and moved to the exit of the courtyard.

Buses and cars were lined up, but I don't think any of them were for me.

I recognized this area luckily. I had been worried that I wouldn't know where to go, but I knew I was in suburban Manhattan, near where Mom and I used to live before all this started. 

Though, I wasn't sure on where I should be directly travelling to. Did I have a home? Are my friends also in this world, somewhere?

There simply were too many questions that I had to ask.

Luckily, I felt a crumbled sheet of paper in my pockets. I realized that my clothes were completely different, as I no longer had a charred orange Camp shirt, but rather a blue jacket under a lighter blue shirt with a pair of jeans and dark black shoes.

I even felt...younger...like a highschooler...which would explain why I was at a highschool in the first place.

The scars that had been left on my side and my arm were completely gone. The ones I had from Tartarus...and my skin was completely cleared and were light and smooth like a baby's. It was a pretty weird sight, knowing that I had gotten injured in a place, but now it was all forgotten. And when I say that they cleared up, I don't mean that the scars were just faded or less noticeable, I meant that they were erased entirely, one hundred percent...

I was a bit distracted, but I eventually grabbed the raveled piece of paper from my left pocket, and I unscrambled it so I could read what it was, and I didn't recognize the handwriting at all. I assumed that I didn't write it because I can't even remember what was going on just a few minutes ago.

There comes a time in everyone's destiny that we are given a choice. Unfortunately...sometimes we have these options chosen for us by circumstance, and the effects are ones that we must deal with on our own.

Every beginning must have an end.

And each end brings another beginning.

An endless cycle, one that will spawn story after story. For all eternity.

The Greek World's fate may have arrived sooner than you desired, but that does not mean that you or your family must disappear along with it.

Please, visit your old home, in the blue apartment.

It is the least I can do, after all.

I wish to see your adventures continue someday perhaps, and maybe you may be given the opportunity soon, Perseus Jackson.

-The Divine Creator

The second I read the last "r" in "Creator", a small breeze came along and whisked the paper straight from my hands. I didn't expect the wind to suddenly rip the message from my hands, and I also didn't think my hands were that weak...I really lost my super-strength for good.

Something told me though, that the wind would have taken the letter from me anyways.

At this point, I really didn't bother.

If I acted like I was amazed that there was some "Divine Creator", I'd be stuck standing in the middle of the road for hours on end.

Something gave me an odd feeling about this. 

Well, it's not like I didn't know what it was, as I had practically woken from a horrendous nightmare, and been placed into a situation with no clarity or idea on what was going on. First I wake up in the classroom like I was passed out, and now I've read a letter from god, who for all I knew was just a prank someone was pulling on me.

The paper...it said for me to go home, but I was really unnerved at what that meant.

The old blue apartment I used to live in with my mom. 

Sally...she was dead.

She's been gone for as long as I could remember, and it had been almost a literal eternity since I remember waking up everyday to the smell of her baked batches of blue cookies and...god, I couldn't even remember clearly because it had been so long.

Could she be alive? In this new, foreign world?

And if so...could Paul be alive?

What about Luke?

And all the others that have died in the Greek World? Do they exist in this world? 

I might as well have been hurting myself asking internally about all these questions that I couldn't find an answer to unless I found out for myself.

But....

A feeling built up in my heart.

And for once...it felt uplifting.

I didn't know what it was, but the air felt light around me. I knew I should've been alarmed and afraid of this sudden change in...well just about everything, but I somehow didn't. The powers...the immense force that I held in my hands for so much time, all these years, it always burdened me to a small extent. Having the capability to cause so much destruction and wielding it responsibly hasn't exactly been very relaxing, but it was something I managed to do and keep under control for as long as I could.

And now that it was all gone...I felt weightless.

Like all the terror was over.

The emotion that I felt was different than I had ever felt. Instead of wallowing in apparent dread and fear of the unknown, I invited this new feeling with a newfound optimism and hope, because frankly, it was all I had to offer.

As Chaos said before, Hope conquers all fears.

I hope  she was right.

Then, I started running as fast as I could.

I didn't know why, but I knew this area pretty well, more than I naturally should. Perhaps whoever placed me in this world decided to give me a little kick in order to make sure I got to where I am supposed to be.

I recognized the suburbs of Manhattan well, from school to the apartments.

It didn't take long for me to have a straight path and know where I was heading to.

I ran past the sidewalks, my shoes hitting the ground with considerable vigor, and for once, I even began to feel tired from sprinting for only a few minutes. If I had my powers, I could teleport or run as fast as a car, but now I was a normal mortal in a normal world. However, I didn't feel an ounce discouraged, because I knew that there was nothing in this world that could hurt me.

No more monsters.

No more restrictions.

I was a free man.

This feeling of fatigue...it was nothing. In fact, I almost discovered myself to be a masochist, because I started to enjoy this feeling in my legs that wanted to take a rest, and my lungs grasping for breath a lot easier than before. It had been so long since I felt this human, and finally returning this this state made my body feel nostalgic in it's homecoming.

I couldn't explain it, but I had a good feeling about this new life, and nothing would tear It apart.

I ran, and ran as fast as I could even more.

And before I knew it...

I was home.

~1 Month Later~ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well...

If I had to say I was surprised, I'd be telling the absolute truth.

You know how people say that happy endings are too cheesy? 

Screw 'em.

When I came into this world, clueless as a dog looking at it's own reflection for the first time, I wasn't sure what to expect. My life has been filled with adventure, misery, suffering, pain, lots of pain, but it also had it's share of happiness, joy, and laughter along the way. I don't exactly know whether to feel blessed or cursed, but I know for a fact that my life is messed up one way or another.

That day, when I walked home from the classroom that I never stepped foot in before, I came to a place I never thought would exist.

Sally's apartment.

Our apartment.

Paradise.

Imagine my surprise when I turned the knob on the door, and was greeted with a charming response in the form of an entire birthday party. It was August 18th when I came into this new world, and it had been untouched by it's Greek predecessor.

I don't really know how all this time and space mumbo jumbo worked at all. I don't know if the Greek World was destroyed and I was tossed into this one, or if the Greek World evolved into this one, and nobody died to begin with.

Either way, I'm here now.

And so was everybody else.

So there I was, at my own birthday party, surrounded by people I once thought were dead. My mother, Paul, Thalia, Jason, Leo, Rachel, Calypso, Frank, Hazel, Piper, and many, many others.

Charles, Luke, Clarrise, people who I haven't seen in years were there as well.

Even Jack and Annabeth were there.

You may be wondering, how is this even possible?

Truth is, I dunno.

But, what was really amazing was the fact that none of them were how I remembered them.

Greek mythology was an enigma to them. They showed no signs of ever knowing that it actually existed in the way that we experienced it. I brought up the subject, but none of them believed me and thought I was joking around, which kinda freaked me out to be honest.

It's as if it never happened at all...

And the way they acted...it was like one huge family.

Jack showed no hatred or bitterness towards me at all, in fact he was my younger brother in this world, and instead of the bratty, nefarious persona he held in the Greek world, he was rather shy and brash, and was apparently good friends with Nico, as the both of them played with Myth-O-Magic cards a lot.

The same went for Annabeth, she was a lot different than her counterpart personality as well.

Everyone was different in so many ways that I couldn't believe my eyes looking at them all. It was almost like I was in a trance. 

So then there was this, one last person who was late to the party, someone who walked through the door after I arrived.

It was Zoe.

In this world, she was alive, and she was my girlfriend.

Yeah...imagine my surprise then.

The entire day of my arrival was pure shock and me learning about my new place in this world, to find my standing in this ocean of new discoveries. I did everything I could to figure out all that had changed, and if anything from the Greek World remained.

Days following my arrival, I was met with multiple encounters.

The Greek Gods...they were also in this world.

But not as gods...but as people.

My step-father was Poseidon, owner of Atlantic Corp.

My uncle was Zeus.

And et cetra.

They were still here.

The Olympians, all of them were grown adults and worked their own jobs. None of them remembered who I knew them as, and it seemed as though they had lived this life for as long as they could remember, as normal mortals. No powers to speak of at all.

Now...where does this leave me?

Well, that's difficult to say.

In the Greek World, I was Perseus Jackson, Hero of Olympus, Savior of All, God, Titan, Demigod, and owner of practically every legendary title that was available. I was the personification of a living legend, an angel in the eyes of even Lady Chaos herself, who I found out was also in this world and was the principle of our school surprisingly.

In this world, I was Percy Jackson, senior high school student, and a guy who had an abnormal attraction to the color blue.

And that was it.

And I loved it like that.

Since nearly everyone I knew in my previous life were my friends, I retained that bond with them in this world as well. It was probably unnatural to have this many connections for a regular dude in high school, but compared to the amount of insanity in my past life, I'd take this any day of the week.

I used to think Paradise didn't exist, that it was only a place the dead or Gods could visit, but now I know that to be false.

There wasn't a single thing I could complain about.

Annabeth returned to her natural self, the smart Athenian girl I knew her to be.

Jack was my true brother, one who actually admired me as a step-brother.

And everyone...my mother, Paul, and my friends whom had been pulled from the grips of death were back and could live their lives to the fullest, as they should have.

A week or so after my arrival, I got somewhat used to this new life, with very little trouble here and there. It was unsettling to see how this world compared to the old one, but I got over it relatively quickly.

There's really nothing left to this story, if I'm being honest.

It's been a wild ride for me, and there were so many times I thought it'd be the end for good, but here I was. I could eat blue chocolate ice-cream with my friends everyday, watch football with them, play games with them whenever I wanted, and I could breath fresh air without a hint of worry about my life being in mortal danger for a change.

All the pain, all the mountains I've had to climb...it was worth it to make it to this point.

I could've given up so many times in the past, but I held on to the sliver that I could put my fingers on, and right now, it made me think about why I ever wanted to let go in the first place.

That note from "The Divine Creator" still creeped me out a little bit, mentioning that the next adventure was right around the corner. I don't know what he meant, since he never eluded to anything in particular, but I never wanted to touch another piece of magic or mythology ever again if I had to. 

Sure I'd save the world again if I had to, but I'd prefer it if the world decided not to end itself, and need me rather than any of the 7 billion other people on this planet to rescue it.

In this world, I could live the life I always wanted. I could be whatever I wanted to be and not be forced by circumstance to step up to every challenge that came my way, and I could live the way a teenager should live, not fighting monsters and risking my life, but having fun with friends and becoming a man.

Actually, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, Leo, Calypso, Zoe, and I were planning on forming a band, with help from Annabeth, Jack, Luke, and Thalia.

Music wasn't something I had always been into, but people have told me I had a good singing voice in the past.

I'd have to think about it.

Because frankly...

I'm going to live my life the way I want to.

THE END!

(For real, this time.)

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Author's Note: So this is how Percy's story ends. :P

Ok, so there's a lot to say, and I'll say it here.

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING!

All readers, those who read this book a year ago and came back, and to those who recently found this story, I cannot believe that this story blew up as big as it did. Honestly I thought many parts of this book weren't very good, and it's been a rocky road in order to get from start to finish.

I actually originally planned for a war arc between Percy and Pontus, but then I figured that if I did that, the book would just never end, and I'd never be able to move on at all. While this ending may seem abrupt, I'd rather stick with this than leaving it unfinished at Chapter 32. Percy Jackson had really stuck with me for a long time, and I've already moved past the fandom since it's been over a year since I got into it.

Nevertheless, I've enjoyed this little project very much, and it has been a pleasure writing for all of you, with so many readers and from all around the world.

I don't have a sequel or anything else planned, but perhaps I might do a one-shot here and there about Percy's life in the new world, but this story is officially done for the time being.

Again, thanks for reading! 

-MarvelKnight132