(A/N Hey again! So, here is chapter two. Lot's of Annabeth being suspicious and Percy being clueless. The ball isn't quite rolling yet, but maybe that's good. I feel like I'll be doing a lot of summing up cannon between AU changes once the meatier part of the story comes around.)

Darkness. Laughter. "So you decided to join us? And here I thought you might escape notice and leave the little Olympians in the dark. You'll learn quickly everything will be by my design. You can escape by joining me. Others have. They're safe. You will make a fine addition to my army."

When Percy awoke with a start he was met by stormy eyes and a rope around his arms.

"What the-"

"I don't like being pushed around." Her eyes narrowed at him and he slowly remembered that this was not the first time he woke up with her watching over him.

"Where am I?" he scowled at her.

"Camp," she shrugged. His scowl deepened. "So, you're a child of the Big Three?"

"I'm a child of…? I'm… I'm a child of Kane? Adopted, actually."

"Lots of demigods end up in the system. It's cool you got adopted, most don't. But at least you know your godly parent."

"Godly… No. The Path of the Gods is forbidden. Amos would never."

"Path of the-? What? No. Your Dad. You recognized him, didn't you."

It was only then that Percy recalled his odd encounter at the water's edge.

"He claimed me…" he whispered to himself. Ignoring her skeptical look he addressed the girl. "Who was he? How did he redirect that lightning? Are we at another Nome?"

"Uhh…"

"Percy, you're awake." A man in a wheelchair entered and came to his bedside. He had a kind but familiar face. The girl blushed as she said she was about to go get him but he waved away her concern. "I suppose you have some questions?"

"More than a few, actually."

"Let's start with our welcome video. Actually, let's start with getting you untied. I'm afraid Annabeth is prone to taking precautions too far at times." They chuckled as she reddened again and quit the room. Percy held his tongue as he followed the man to a TV where he watched a very strange VHS tape.

"Hello, and welcome to Camp Half Blood! If you're watching this you have my sincerest apologies; you're a demigod." A hand reached into the frame and smacked the blond who'd made the introduction.

"To be clear, he's apologizing that you're related to him. It's rather sad, I know." He made swipes at whatever girl was off screen and continued to give a tour of the camp.

Apparently it was for those who were children or descendants of the Olympian gods, which sounded crazy. Like, totally crazy. He knew about the Egyptian gods from his lessons with his dad, but while his lessons always left him feeling wrong he listened with rapture to the video as his entire being responded to it. This, this impossibility of a totally different pantheon being connected to him and real felt entirely right.

He'd met his father, who was not some powerful magician, but a god. A Greek god.

Once the video was past explaining the existence of the pantheon and his connection to it, he paid little attention. His thoughts were far too muddled and twisted to care where the camp's armory was.

The man in the wheelchair, he remembered his name was Chiron, came back and made a comment on Percy's expression.

"So that man, who redirected the lightning, my father, he's a...god?" A nod answered him. "Who is he?" The man smiled and reminded Percy that names have power. He nodded slowly before narrowing his eyes on the man. "You knew me. When I said my name."

"Yes. I know you. Or at least, I know of you. Your father had me prepare for you to come here, but instead I heard news of your mother's untimely demise. We thought you were dead too."

"No… Dad-my adoptive dad, Amos-tried to save her. He told me about it. She made him promise to take care of me."

"I'm glad. Though I do wonder how he was able to keep that promise. Is this Amos a demigod as well?"

"Uhhh… No."

"Oh? Then he's been fortunate not too many monsters have caught your scent."

"Um, still no."

"Percy?"

"He's...a- I can trust you?" Percy felt very clearly that he could, and knew that it was very unlikely that someone would answer the negative to that question, but the differing sensations in just speaking about the different pantheons made him squirm.

"Your mentor can see through the Mist?"

"Uh, kinda. He calls it the Duat." Chiron froze, a look of dread on his face. After a moment he blinked very slowly and fixed his expression into that of a school teacher quizzing a child.

"The Duat? You're quite sure?"

"Yeah. At first, when I was talking to that girl, I thought maybe this was a Nome. But…"

"No, Percy. I'm glad you're safe. And I'm glad you're with us. But… Could I meet Amos? I feel like our acquaintance might be necessary."

"Uh. Yeah. He's probably been freaking out since he realized I was...gone… What time is it?"

"It is three O'clock."

"Oh no! He's gonna kill me!" Percy was up and pacing. "I've been gone since ten last night!" He started pulling on his hair as he paced. Chiron cleared his throat and averted his gaze.

"You were brought into camp borders around 2 am yesterday morning."

Percy stopped and stared at him. Yesterday. Yesterday! That's 24 hours. No. That's another 24 hours. He'd left Amos arguing with the sleezeball 41 hours ago.

"I'm so dead," he groaned as he dropped back into his seat. He didn't miss Chiron trying to hide a small smile at his dramatics.

"I can contact him if you wish. We'll set up a meeting. In the meantime why don't you get some food at the dining pavilion and have Annabeth show you around?" Percy cringed, still thinking about Amos' reaction to his disappearance, but replied in the affirmative and drug himself out of the chair. "Perhaps you will keep your guardian's gifts to yourself for the time being?"

"Yeah… Sure."

.

The blonde, Annabeth, was fairly easy to find. She had a commanding presence despite her age, she looked to be 12, the same age as him. She wore an orange t-shirt, which seemed to be the camp uniform, and held a shoebox as she barked orders at several other kids, many of which were older than them.

"Uh… Hi?" She scowled at him.

"Percy, right?"

"That's me," he mumbled.

"'Kay. This is yours." She shoved the box at him. "And that," she pointed to a cabin, "is your dad's cabin."

"Number Three. Got it."

"Anything else?"

"Chiron told me to have you show me around. Mainly where the dining pavilion was." She sighed.

"Right. Get that put away and I'll give you a tour." She called over a boy who had similar features to her and Percy took that as a dismissal. Wow was she cranky.

The cabin had a fisherman's theme and a fountain in the corner. It didn't look like any of the bunks were taken so he just picked one to set his box on and decided to open it before going back out to the cranky girl.

It was the minotaur horn. It was black and white with a jagged base where it'd broken. The tip still had dried blood.

Putting it away he left the cabin just as Annabeth ascended the steps to knock on his door.

"Ready?"

"Sure. What were you doing before?"

"Organizing Capture the Flag."

She was animated as she showed him around, detailing how the schedules worked and what each area was utilized for. Her crankiness had dissipated, but she was a bit anxious and wouldn't stop stealing suspicious glances at him.

"You don't seem...freaked out. Monsters come calling often?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I never really understood that they were monsters until a few years ago. I'd just think some rabid cat had a growth disorder." She snorted at that and nodded her understanding.

"The Mist will do that."

"That's what Chiron called it too."

They had just made it behind the bathrooms when she pulled him to the side and pushed him against the building. He grabbed her wrist to stop her, wondering what she was doing, and she countered by judo flipping him onto the ground.

"Look," she said sharply, "I've just got a few questions and didn't want to alarm anyone that might overhear." He scowled and sat up as she took a step back. "What will happen at the summer solstice?"

"What?"

"What's going on?" She began pacing and throwing her hands around as she talked. "What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"

"I don't… Sorry. What?"

"You… It can't be a coincidence now is when you show up."

"I didn't mean to show up at all."

"You didn't… What?"

"I had a bit of a temper tantrum after hearing Dad argue with… Well, anyway I vented my anger on a tree and was fairly surprised when the tree started talking to me. I was sorry and she told me about the Son of- the giant crocodile up the river. So I figured I owed her an apology and went after it."

"You went looking for a giant crocodile by yourself?"

"Uh… yeah? Probably not the smartest thing I've done."

"I'd hate to know what the stupidest thing was."

"Ha ha."

"Who has been training you?"

"Oh. No. Dad won't let me learn to fight. I'm naturally good in a scrap and he's afraid I'll get into too much trouble if I train."

"But the monsters!"

"We've got an...interesting situation."

She eyed him skeptically and turned away to lead him back to the main path. Instead she was blocked by four girls.

"Well! The newbie!"

"Go polish your spear or something Clarisse."

Clarisse didn't back down after Annabeth made introductions. Somehow being the daughter of the god of war made him instantly like her a lot less. He'd put up with way too many bullies. Her gang drug him into the bathroom, and maybe he should quit mouthing off, but he refused to let her scare him.

"Like he's Big Three material. I don't know how that rumor got started, but let's end it here."

Annabeth watched from the corner with a resigned scowl on her face.

And then it happened. He'd felt such a tugging in his gut before, but this time he answered it. And the toilets answered him.

The entire room was engulfed in the sewage and pressed into the bullies, pushing them out the door. When they were gone (screaming and gross) he turned to Annabeth, who was dripping wet. Her expression was full of shock and apprehension.

"How did you…"

"I don't know."

He looked down and discovered that he was the only dry space in the room. Cringing in apology he looked back to his guide. Her expression hadn't changed, but she was nodding and led the way out of the bathrooms.

.

It was at the dining pavilion later on that he thought over his day. The orientation video, the tour, Annabeth's interrogation, the bathroom incident, capture the flag. There was a repetitive question and phrase: Big Three. The video informed him that his cabin was based on his godly parent. Annabeth had said it was his dad, as he'd seen the day before. His cabin was themed after the sea. The water had responded to him both in the bathroom and river. His offering had smelled of sea spray.

His father was Poseidon.

Letting out a deep breath he closed his eyes hoping that Chiron got ahold of his dad and there were no more surprises in store for him at the bonfire after dinner.

.

Amos had discovered his son was gone moments after he got the representative to leave at eleven.

He tried to stay calm.

He checked the pool.

He checked the gym.

He checked the basketball hoop.

He checked the kitchen.

He pulled out Nemo, the shabti that used to keep tabs on him.

He was no longer calm.

He paced. He picked up the phone to dial Julius. He slammed the phone back down. He paced some more.

He turned on the news, continued to pace. It was one in the morning.

Percy would be back. He would sneak in at dawn and sheepishly say he'd left to avoid the argument and lost track of time while at the skating park.

Amos checked his room.

The skateboard was still there.

The khopesh was not.

He tried to scry for him. Something blocked him.

He looked for anything that might have DNA to track him and the spell was blocked again.

Panic was too soft a word for the terror that gripped his heart.

Amos didn't know when he'd fallen asleep, but at about 5:30 he woke up on the couch. Stretching and clearing his throat he went back up to Percy's room.

He wouldn't go looking for a fight, but it was good he was prepared for one. He didn't have combat training, but was naturally talented, so he could defend himself if necessary (likely from any monsters that found him as they were wont to do). He didn't have any deep relationships in his schools because he was always branded a troublemaker and had no tolerance for bullies, so there were no friends Amos could call that he might have gone to see. On his desk was an assortment of private school brochures. It was sad he was taking the time to look into them for the fall. He looked at the notes on each of them.

Latin?

!Greek Mythology!

"Pantheons through the ages" was circled.

MIDDLE SCHOOL SWIM TEAM!

Spanish - cool - accommodate dyslexia?

Amos traced the poor handwriting with his finger while a sad smile sat on his face. Most of the notes had misspellings in them.

The day grew bright and Amos held off on calling the authorities about his missing son. Percy would be back anyway. He was sure. And if he wasn't-which Amos was not considering a possibility-there was little mortal police could do about that anyway.

.

Six O'clock. He had until six O'clock and then Amos was dialing Julius and any other contact in the House of Life that would be willing to assist him in finding Percy. It had been two days. Two days! But at four his phone rang. The number was unfamiliar, but that didn't matter as Percy did not have his own phone.

"Hello! Percy?"

"No, sir. Can I assume I am speaking with a mister Amos?"

"Yeah, look I'm waiting for a call so-"

"About Percy Jackson?"

"...Yeah. He's alright?"

"Yes. I was wondering if I could meet you. We have much to discuss."

"If you harmed one hair-"

"Ah. Beg your pardon. I believe you misunderstand. We found Percy injured yesterday morning. He is fine now, and was fairly determined to get home to you. But we had some...information he was interested in. He agreed to stay the night as long as I informed you of where he was and arranged a meeting for tomorrow."

"What information?" Amos couldn't help the dark tone in his voice. Someone had his son.

"My name is Chiron. I'm a bit of a teacher for children like Percy."

"Children like Percy?" he ground out.

"I can tell I'm only upsetting you by being vague, so I'll be frank. Demigods. Children whose parents belong to the Greek pantheon. When I mentioned the Mist and he said you called it the Duat I was most concerned. So yes, I would like to meet you. And yes, I teach kids like Percy. And yes, he is very safe here. And yes, I know who his biological father is. He met him, though I'm not entirely sure he remembers. He passed out directly after."

Amos couldn't breath. He had to sit down to keep his legs from giving out. Demigods. Amos knew that other pantheons existed and that they didn't mix well. Only the upper circles of the House knew, but he was powerful enough that the information was shared based on the slim chances of such pantheons meeting.

But as distressing as that was, it was 1000 times more heartbreaking that Percy had met his father. His biological father. Tears streamed down his face as he thought of his little Percy growing up these past nine years. What would become of that? Would he be taken from him? Would Percy leave him?

"Sir?"

"Yes," his voice broke as the word attempted to come out like a sob. He cleared his throat. "Yes. We'll meet tomorrow. Where is convenient? I'm in Brooklyn."

"Oh. Yes. How about breakfast in the State Park? Connetquot?"

"Eight O'clock?"

"Of course."

"And Percy is okay now? I know phones aren't great for him, but he's okay?"

"Alright as anyone new to camp is. I just heard a commotion and I take that to mean he's been introduced to Clarisse. But none of the councilors have summoned me so I take that to be a good sign."

"I'd like to assume I'll see him tomorrow, but…"

"I'll leave it up to him. He mentioned you don't want him learning to fight, but that is much of what we do here. Learn to survive."

"I expect he'll be in the first sword class available," he answered with a chuckle.

"Well, if you don't see him, you can recognize my by my wheelchair and tweed jacket."

"Quite the fashion statement," he tried to joke, but holding back his emotions was becoming strenuous.

"Until tomorrow, Mister Amos."

He cried for a solid fifteen minutes after they hung up.

Then he defied the House of Life.

He needed his brother.