Here's the author, back again with a story they said they were gonna update but couldn't summon the last dregs of motivation to do so. In any case, I hope this comes out soon. To those on , sorry for the wait. I have a couple of stories on ao3 that aren't on this site, and those have been taking up more of my time. Thought I'd write this cause I have a bunch of free time. Expect shorter, but more frequent chapters. I hope.

Sally Jackson wondered, not for the first time, if the effort she would have to put into strangling Ken would be worth it. It wasn't exactly something she had thought of until recent events had run their course, but now it was an idea that gnawed away at her self-restraint every time she added another point to the list of things her employer had kept from her/done in the past couple of days. Of course, she was thankful that the value he placed on her life was higher than the continued protection of his identity as some immortal slayer (and she wouldn't lie and pretend it wasn't something extremely flattering). However, it was as if the man's brain had taken one look at the fact that he was no longer hiding away and pretending to be a mortal, then proceeded to make every possible bad decision one after the other. Naturally, there were things that the gods were keeping from them. Unfortunately for the divine beings, Sally Jackson had not hidden her son away for more than a decade without picking up a few things about finding out stuff that people didn't want her to find. It was particularly useful in ensuring that no suspicious individuals came close to Percy, and had been successful until a Fury masquerading as a teacher went undercover just to hunt down her boy.

She ticked off the points in her head once again with practiced ease even as she watched Percy fumble with one of the training swords against another camper (Luke was his name, and while she wouldn't keep an eye on her son if Chiron had been training him, this one triggered red flags in her head and she couldn't figure out why), flexing her fingers and relishing the strain. Killing the Minotaur she could excuse, especially since it prevented her from becoming a smear on the ground. Defeating an army of monsters was also acceptable, for Camp Half-Blood was at stake. Everything after that however...

Knocking around the Hunters of Artemis like they were toys before escaping into a monster-riddled forest. Proceeding to lay traps that the "Hunters" couldn't detect and essentially defeating what was the equivalent of Olympus' special forces (according to information obtained from a little prodding of the resident centaur). Beating the Goddess of the Hunt herself and apparently fleeing with her Lieutenant. Challenging Zeus to a duel and utterly owning the god. Bargained with the twelve Olympians and destroyed Ares. Each act was more ludicrous than the former, and to think that he had managed all of them in the span of a day or two. Even now, after his disappearance, there was a tension in the air that continued to speak volumes of the impact he had managed to leave. The forest was still out of bounds to everyone but Chiron and the camp's resident god, and more than one cabin had to have their walls or windows fixed up after Hunters had been thrown into them. Several craters created from Ken swinging around his supposed "god-slayer" were left untouched, especially when no new plant life decided to grow in the soil. She wasn't too certain of her suspicions, but it was likely that the weapon had somehow managed to leech the very life out of the soil. Terrifying, but fascinating at the same time. What sort of divine relic could do such a thing? And how had the soft-spoken man with a newly discovered dark side chanced upon it? After all, despite all the rumours flying around about the true identity of one Kaneki Ken, he was still human. Well, relatively human. Unless he was a half-blood with an obscure parent. That would explain the unnatural strength and his decision to stand against the gods rather than with them.

Humming gently to herself as in a twist of fate, Percy managed to swiftly disarm his older opponent, she reflected on Poseidon's choice to reveal himself as her son's other parent. It was far too obvious that a child of the "Big Three" was forbidden, considering Hades had taken it upon himself to try and kill her son with no regards to the others who could have gotten caught in the crossfire. Annabeth, one of the few campers that seemed to be completely uncaring of Percy's apparent status, had once mentioned to her how the pine tree at the border came about. The story was eerily similar to the one that had caused her to end up in this camp which she didn't belong in. She was highly certain Poseidon had pulled many strings to make sure she stayed here rather than get kicked out onto the streets. It was a shame that technology was banned minus a single computer due to its apparent ability to draw monsters like a beacon. Being confined to the camp came with its benefits and drawbacks. On one hand, she could personally keep an eye on her son, and the other campers by extension. These were all children after all. Children raised to be soldiers, to worry about how to defend themselves against forces beyond mortal comprehension before worrying about their studies. On the other hand, it felt largely like being trapped in a cage. Part of the reason she was still here was that the gods were using her to try and draw Ken out. She was the last link they had between the man who had saved her and the mortal realm. Still, she doubted that he would come back. Her boss was a man with many tricks up his sleeves and a reputation amongst both mortals and gods. It would be all too easy for him to cut his losses and vanish into the wind.

Sighing softly at the thought of not seeing Kaneki Ken once more, she wondered if he would remember her. The white-haired individual had touched many lives, and her story was far from special. His cafe was filled with workers that had once been cast aside, who had no other places to go. Each and every one of them would gladly lay down their lives for the man who had picked them back up. She wondered if they had noticed her disappearance, and if Ken had gone back to visit them for one last goodbye. She shooed Percy away, motioning that he should probably attempt to socialize, smiling slightly as he fell into alongside Grover and Annabeth, the trio acting like they had been friends for far longer than they had been acquainted. Her son held his heart under lock and key, but there was a pull to him that he had never quite been able to hide. People were drawn to him, and while that caused more harm than good, she knew that one day his nature would allow him to accomplish great things in life. She just hoped that she would still be around to see him grow and succeed in life. As the training grounds gradually emptied of campers, she leaned back in her chair and thought about her future.

"After all," she confided in the air as the last groups of teenagers departed noisily, "he won't be around to save me next time."

The words were loud in the silence, but with no one around to hear them, they vanished into the wind. Just as she was contemplating whether to get up and find something to do other than brood about Ken or keep an eye on her son, she looked up, hoping to catch a glimpse of the stars untainted by man.

Only to find a pair of familiar grey eyes instead of the stars she was looking for. Caught off-guard, Sally tried to recover her wits even as her brain struggled to comprehend how the other had snuck up on her without anyone noticing. Noticing her confusion, a small smile graced his face as gloved fingers reached out to gently flick her forehead.

"I promised to protect you. And I always keep my promises."

Percy Jackson returned to where he had last seen his mother after a couple of minutes of attempting to get the two other teenagers who were almost constantly hovering around him to leave. He was unsuccessful in the end, but years of hiding and slipping past his bullies in school had made the boy adept at escaping from pretty much any situation. He walked slowly, hands in his pockets and head ducked down to avoid any unwanted attention.

He was a child of the sea. A son of Poseidon. And according to the daughter of Athena, he wasn't supposed to exist. Percy rubbed his chest slightly, wondering why it still stung when his brain conjured up the memory of the blonde telling him, very matter-of-factly, that his existence was a crime. One would think that he would have been used to it after how long he had spent with his guard up, lashing out at the world when it decided to toy with him. But then again, Camp Half-Blood was different. Here was a collection of individuals who didn't fit in the mortal world, with traces of ichor in their veins that had painted targets on their backs. A dark voice in the back of his head that was gradually becoming stronger ever since he had bore witness to Kaneki Ken's acts of madness whispered that he really didn't belong, and the solution to that was simply to disappear. Permanently.

With practiced ease, he shoved that voice back into its cage, turning the corner and taking a quick glance to check if his mom was still there. Unsurprisingly, his eyes caught the telltale glimpse of the woman who had almost been forced to lay down her life for her son instantly. However, it was the cloaked figure standing over her that gave him pause. The stranger seemed to be fading in and out of existence, despite being very real and having their arms braced against the back of the chair his mother was sitting on. The rational course of action here would be to raise the alarm, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that Sally Jackson was in no sort of trouble whatsoever.

She was smiling up at the other, whose face was concealed from Percy's view, but from their body language alone, he could tell that the figure was smiling just as brightly. Something in his gut twisted, something awfully similar to jealousy. The urge to march up to the duo and demand answers was stronger than ever, especially when his mom reached up to cover the stranger's hand with her own. Instead, he watched as his mind whirred.

Somehow, this person had slipped into Camp Half-Blood undetected. Somehow, they had managed to locate Sally Jackson and found her conveniently alone. And somehow, his mother knew this oddity. All the signs pointed to this cloaked figure being the man who had challenged the gods and walked away unscathed. Kaneki Ken. From what little he had managed to pry out of her the days after their world had been turned upside down, Kaneki was her boss. Someone who had been there in her time of need and hadn't hesitated to extend his hand. His mom made it sound like that was all that there was, but the tender look that had crossed her face when she was speaking about the man plus the affection in her voice screamed that she was very, very attracted to Kaneki Ken. Percy...didn't really know how to feel about that. On one hand, his mother was a grown woman, with enough wits at her fingertips to ensure he had gone undetected for more than a decade. She knew what she was doing. On the other hand, she had confessed that Kaneki's apparent infamy in the realm of Greek Gods and his powers were a complete mystery to her. The only things she had been able to state with confidence was that he acted far older than he looked, and possessed a dark side that was more suited to be the persona of a serial killer. He wouldn't trust this "Kaneki" with anything more valuable than his left shoe. His jaw tightened at the audacity of this man, who had waltzed into their lives like he owned them.

Clenching and unclenching his fists, Percy walked away with a huff, deciding that it was probably in his best interest to cool off before confronting the duo. It wasn't one hundred percent certain that Kaneki Ken was simpy stringing his mother along because he had already known about her son's connections to the godly realm. It could simply be that the man had feelings for her.

However, he thought as a chill ran down his spine, I highly doubt that.

And that's a wrap. A simpler chapter for me to get back into the swing of things, with some exposition. I'm unsure of what direction this story will take, but I'll see it through as best as I can. See you all next time.