Chapter 10: Momma I'm Coming Home

~Wolf House~

3rd Person POV

For an additional four months, Percy trained with Lupa and her wolves, learning all he could about his abilities in his lupine form. He became an even deadlier hunter than he previously was, allowing his lupine form's superior sense of smell and silent padded paws make him invisible to his prey. In terms of attack power, he had to fight his way up the ranks of Lupa's pack from the omegas, all the way to Lupa herself, though he never beat Lupa.

He was relieved to find that sleeping in his wolf form was much more comfortable than the times he was forced to sleep outside with the Hunt. He also learned about the Romans and their demigod camp. It was more or less a militaristic version of Camp Half-Blood and Percy never stepped foot in it, figuring that it was for the best to keep his distance. Lupa told him that we would make an excellent Roman and Percy couldn't shake the feeling her words would come to pass one day.

In between his Latin and wolf lessons, Percy trained his own abilities more. He meditated and worked on his chakra control every day to keep his techniques sharp and powerful. He tried to experiment with the Kekkei Genkai that his father had told him about, but to no luck. Water and earth styles didn't get close at all. Water and wind made an Ice Release (Hyoton), but he hadn't formed any techniques for it yet; just getting the two natures in each hand was progress for him.

The only other Kekkei Genkai he seemed to be able to have some luck with was Gale Release (Ranton) which was a combination of water and lightning natures, but again he had no techniques developed for it at that time. Lupa released him from his training after the fourth month and sent him on his way to regroup with his sisters.

Artemis POV

The Hunt was tracking some cyclops in Idaho and it was a rather foolish affair. The Hunt was trying to stay motivated with the lack of monsters that the Titans were recruiting, but it was difficult to do so. Thalia as my lieutenant was giving it her all to be the joyous spirit, but it only did so much. Everyone missed hunting and everyone missed Percy.

We dropped the group of cyclops and sent several scouts out to see if they were rendezvousing with another group or so, but they returned hours later with nothing to report, so we set up camp for the evening. That was when a raven black wolf about four feet tall stalked right into our camp with its fangs bared.

The Hunt retreated and drew their bows and trained them on the beast and I held up a hand for the sign to wait. 'What do they call you, young one?' I spoke in the wolf's mind and he snarled in response to the Hunt. "Girls, lower your weapons," I said and they reluctantly did. As if a switch was flipped, the wolf sat on its haunches and wagged its tail with a smile. Everyone blinked several times.

"Uhh, Milady?" Thalia asked and I turned to say something, but before I could the wolf tackled me to the ground and the Hunt drew their bows again. The wolf started licking me in the face relentlessly. The Hunt just gaped at the scene and I eventually got the wolf off of me. I sat up and chuckled a bit and the wolf came and sat on my lap.

I looked into its eyes and saw the familiar colors of my son and went wide-eyed myself. "PERSEUS?!" I yelled and the Hunt looked at each other uneasily. "Milady…" Phoebe began, but shut up instantly as the wolf in my lap began to shift back into a familiar black cloak with a few design tweeks. The hair was now messily tied back into a bun and the boy had grown taller and more defined.

"Hey Mom," he said cheerfully, while the Hunt just stared at the two of us.

Phoebe POV

"Hey Mom," Percy said after he transitioned from a wolf. After the initial shock, Artemis shifted into her older form and grabbed him by the ear and dragged him to her tent. "Thalia, Phoebe, come here please. The rest of you to your duties, I need to chat with my son," Artemis said and everyone snickered at Percy's unfortunate luck.

"PHEEBS!" he yelled and jumped on me even though he was much bigger than me. "Hey bud! You're a little big for this now, y'know," I told him and he hopped down from me and rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled sheepishly.

"Percy!" Thalia called and Percy stiffened and blushed slightly before turning to her. "H-Hey Thals!" he said and gave her a hug too, making him go even more red much to my enjoyment and Artemis' displeasure.

"Where have you been?" I asked and we all sat down in Artemis' tent. "Well after I last saw you all a year or so ago in California, I found the Hare of Inaba soon after and beat him in a race across the water to get his help. He used sea life like the myth, but a few bribes to his land bridge, they left him stranded so I could win," he said and Thalia and I grinned widely.

"He set me up with a ride on an orca to Hawaii," he said and turned to Artemis, "where I met Grandma Leto and Great-Aunt/Grandma Rhea." Artemis and I went wide eyed at his words. "Y-You saw my mother?" Artemis whispered and he smiled and nodded. "I guess her prison moved with Western Civilization and they're both there. She told me to tell you she loves you and to visit her sometime," Percy told her and a tear was shed from Artemis' eyes. Percy promptly got up and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Grandma Rhea had some choice words to say about the bastard too," Percy said and we all chuckled. "They gave me a raft to get to the Island of Midway where I felt a huge drop off in my powers. I think it was like a dead zone between pantheons. Anyways, I met Akkorokamui-sama there and he tested me," he said and Thalia piped up.

"Who's Akkorokamui-sama?" she asked. "And what's with the '-sama'?" I added. Percy laughed at the two of us and Artemis smiled at her son. "The '-sama' is the same as saying 'Lady' or 'Lord'. In Japan they're suffixes. Akkorokamui-sama is a minor kami that brought me to the Spiritual Plane after he sensed my past," Percy said and the room grew tense.

"Spiritual Plane?" Artemis asked and Percy nodded solemnly. "I was thrown back into my younger self… the night where I killed my mother," he said and the tent went silent. "I relived it more times than I can count… with my birth mother, with both of you, with Bianca… and with Zoe," he said softly and I felt the tears well up in my eyes. All three of us embraced him and only a few tears fell from his eyes.

After the brief comfort, he continued his tale. "I wanted it to end… even wanted to die, but then Father's voice came to me. After Father's, it was yours," Percy said as he looked as Artemis. "After yours, it was Zoe that pulled me out," he said and I couldn't help but smile for the fact that Zoe was still saving him.

"I am a monster… or at least I became one or will become one if that's what it takes to protect you all. I'm done running from that," Percy said with finality and we all smiled at him with pride, though Artemis and I more so than Thalia. "After that, I sliced off one of his tentacles to avoid being eaten, then traveled through the homeland to meet my father where my training began," Percy said.

"Changing into a wolf?" I asked and Percy smirked. "A gift from Yama-no-Kami-sama, Shinto God of Wolves. I actually got back to the States four months ago, but I was training in my lupine form," he replied and I gaped at my little brother, much to his amusement. 'Lupa?' Artemis asked in mine and Percy's heads since I had been around long enough to know about the Romans. 'Yes. We can talk more later,' Percy replied. "Any other gifts?" Artemis asked and he pulled Kurouzu off of his back. "Hachiman-sama blessed my blade to weaken my enemies with every strike they block," he said and Artemis and I nodded in approval.

"What about your training? How did you train? What did you work on? How strong are you now?" Thalia rattled off, clearly hoping for a challenge. Percy rubbed the back of his neck again. "I picked up a few things… probably about three or so times stronger than before I left," he admitted and the trio of us in the tent went wide-eyed.

"S-Seriously?" Thalia stammered and he nodded. "Hand-to-hand combat and weapons were what I trained the least when I was there and even they increased a lot," he admitted and Thalia's eyes sparked with challenge.

"How about a rematch then?" she asked and Percy looked to his mother. "Fine, but make sure everyone is out of the way. If it's going to be anything like last time, craters are going to be in abundance," Artemis said and Percy nodded minutely while Thalia grinned.

The two opponents exited the tent and I turned to Artemis. "He's grown so much… I can tell he has found some kind of peace since his encounter with the Spiritual Plane," she said and I nodded. "He seems back to a bubbly kid again, but I noticed he made his ever present observations the moment he set foot in camp. He's even more analytical than before, but far faster," I told her and she nodded. "He's no longer stuck in his head because of his past," she admitted.

"Well, let's go see how much of a monster my little brother has become," I said with a smile and we both exited her tent.

Thalia POV

Percy said that he got AT LEAST three times stronger than he was when he left? I was extremely jealous of him then. All that power? Why can't I have that power? I stalked almost angrily out to the clearing for the sparring match, but took several deep breaths to calm myself. Lady Artemis had me focus on that when I got particularly heated.

Percy casually strolled into the clearing in the same uncaring demeanor as when I first met him in Maine with, but there was something different about him. His eyes still shined with a twinkle of mischief, but they also pulsated with more power than they had a year ago.

"What are the rules Thals?" he asked cheekily and I shook my head to focus. "Weapons and powers. Death blow withheld or unconsciousness," I told him and he smiled and nodded. I drew my bow to get prepared, but he made no effort to draw any weapons. "Don't go easy on me," I growled at him and he settled into his unarmed stance.

"Begin!" Artemis yelled and I loosed the first arrow.

3rd Person POV

The first arrow sailed through the air and headed right for Percy's shoulder. He leisurely spun out of the way as he moved forward to take away Thalia's ranged advantage. More and more arrows flew and every single one of them Percy dodged. One last arrow flew and instead of dodging it, Percy caught it in front of his chest. Thalia went to reach for another, but didn't grasp any. "You forgot to count them Thals," Percy teased and Thalia snarled in anger.

Thalia drew Aegis and spear and charged forward. Percy was confident that he could easily beat Thalia without a weapon, but he wasn't a dick, so he drew Anaklusmos along with a single one of his hunting knives to match the onslaught. Every strike Thalia threw at the son of Artemis, he managed to effortlessly block, parry, or counter and Thalia only grew angrier.

Percy had yet to use any of his powers, but continued to dance with Thalia as she desperately tried to land a strike. Thalia lunged with an electrically charged spear and tried to catch Percy, but he slipped under the thrust and sliced at Thalia's spear arm.

Everyone in the clearing saw Percy's strike come up outstandingly short, yet Thalia was bleeding from the slash all the same as if he had hit her. She blinked a few times and looked at her arm then back to Percy who had a smirk on his face. Thalia growled in rage again and renewed her charge. Thrust, spin, bash, slice, block, crack; all those motions to try and catch the teenager in a strike and none of them hit.

Instead, Percy countered the thrust with the slice of wind, the spin with a kick, the bash with a leap backward, the slice with his blade, he powered through the blocks, and dodged under and jumped over the cracks of her spear. After five minutes in that exchange, Thalia was littered with cuts, and Percy was untouched and hardly breathing any heavier than normal.

Thalia tried for another massive lightning strike like before in desperation, but Percy used the winds to rush her before she could call it down and ended with his sword at her throat. "Dead," he said and backed away in case she sent the lightning anyways. "H-How Perce?" Thalia asked through panted breaths. Percy just shrugged in response. "That was hardly your full ability," Artemis called out to her son and he nodded nervously. "Come then," she replied and gestured back to the clearing.

Percy POV

'Now I have to fight Mom? This is NOT going to be fun. Well, at least I can cut loose,' I mused as I stepped back out to the clearing. "Same rules, Mother?" I asked and she smiled and nodded before getting serious. "Begin!" Phoebe yelled and my mom summoned her bow.

I dodged the first few arrows, but knew she wouldn't run out like Thalia. 'There gonna flip when they see this,' I mused and performed the hand signs in a blur; I'm sure my mother and maybe Phoebe were the only ones that saw them clearly. "Doton: Doryuuheki!" I yelled and pressed my hands into the ground. The special thing about my Doton was that I channeled my earthshaker abilities within it and they didn't affect where the chakra was controlling the Mud Wall.

Simply put: The 12 foot by 10 foot wall that came from my technique was left unbothered while the remainder of the earth in the area quaked with my abilities. That way I had a defensive wall and something to throw the enemy off balance. I heard several gasps and groans when I released the technique too, making me chuckle.

I used my sensory abilities with aura and the ambient water to get an idea of what my mom was doing on the other side, and to my surprise, she was running toward the wall to leap over it. I smirked. 'Just like Yama-no-Kami-sama,' I chuckled and timed my jump. She wasn't ready to be tackled, midair, so when my shoulder rammed into her gut, she groaned at the expulsion of air.

Instead of pulling her to the ground like I did with the God of Wolves, I grabbed one of her ankles midair and spun her, throwing her off into the trees. The chakra enhanced throw was powerful, but my mother still recovered just in time to land with her feet against the trunk of a tree. I could tell the landing still hurt her though.

"Suiton: Teppoudama!" I yelled and released a dozen blasts of high pressure water toward her that she dodged like I had anticipated. I drew my hunting knives and charged as she dodged only to have my knife charge met by her own. We both smiled at each other and began the exchange.

I knew I was out matched in terms of sheer knife skill and I could tell that Mother had started to use some godly strength to keep up with my chakra, so I needed to use little tricks to win. Those tricks were in the form of wind blades and vapor traveling. We hacked and slashed at each other, each of us becoming more and more decorated with little cuts, when I decided to try the same disarm I did to Hachiman-sama.

I blocked my mother's knife strike with my left and had to use my chakra to do so, but purposely came up short for her other knife in my disarm. Imagine her surprise as well when I used the winds as an extension of my blade and dug hers out of her hand. I then sheathed my own knife while the other was still being used to block.

I went to grab my mother with my now free hand, but she intercepted my hand and it was a standoff. 'Use her hand to perform your signs,' Kushina-sama's voice spoke in my head and I smirked. I used Mother's hand to perform the signs for my technique and nearly whispered, "Fuuton: Renpuushou." I dropped our hands and brought mine with the jutsu to her chin and launched her into the air.

While she flew, I sheathed my other knife and drew Kurouzu and intercepted her when she landed. She recovered better than I had thought and we both ended with a death blow withheld. I was panting something awful and even my mother looked a little winded.

Artemis POV

'My little boy has gotten strong. Very strong,' I mused as we looked each other down before breaking into a huge smile at one another. "What the Hades was that?!" Phoebe came charging over and grabbed Percy by the shoulders. My son immediately blushed and shrugged at his sister, much to her displeasure.

"I'll tell you all at breakfast tomorrow, I promise. Now, I need the lake to recover and some sleep," he said and everyone reluctantly let him go. He was back in my tent 30 minutes later ready for bed. "It's really no trouble, Mom. In my lupine form I can sleep comfortably outside or on the ground in here," he told me and I smacked him in the back of the head.

"I haven't seen you in a year. I have not been able to hold you in an even longer amount of time. You are going to cuddle your mother and we were going to sleep like we used to," I told him and he turned beet red. "Moooomm! I'm 15!" he argued and I snapped my fingers. When he looked down, he was a cute little six-year-old again. "There. Just like when you first came to me," I said with a smirk.

"You better change me back in the morning," he threatened and I chuckled at him as I scooped him up and we climbed into bed. My arms were wrapped around his midsection as he curled up into me and I had my chin on top of his head. "I missed you terribly, my baby boy," I whispered to him and he yawned cutely and snuggled closer.

"I missed you too, Mom. But I'm home now," he whispered and promptly fell asleep. "I love you," I whispered and kissed her head before I too drifted off into unconsciousness.

AN: Let me know what you think! I'm hard pressed to create an OC as a love interest but who knows. I will tell you now, he will very likely kill Steven lol. Until next time!