It was a few days after Nico left with Reyna when the topic of Percy came up. Percy and Leo were somewhere on the ship and the rest of the demigods were handled together in the dining room. Jason was the one who brought up the conversation

"I haven't known Percy as long as some of you, but who is he?" The side conversations came to a close.

"What do you mean?" Annabeth answered.

"When I saw Cupid with Nico, he had some interesting things about Percy."

"What kind of things?"

"Well, something along the lines of he's hiding something, something big from us. And the way he said it, Cupid made it sound like Percy was dangerous."

"By the way, what does Demi-Proxy mean?" Frank spoke up.

"What?"

"That's what monsters call him, not Perseus, but Demi-Proxy as if he's different from the rest of the demigods."

"I hate to say it," Annabeth started, "But there were several questionable events down in..in T-Tartarus." Everyone was quiet for a second, letting their thoughts settle down. Piper spoke up.

"I think we should confront him about it tomorrow morning. We're companions. He shouldn't have to hide anything from us. We've told each other our secrets and pasts, however bad they were, it's not fair for him to keep these secrets from us. Besides, it can't be all that bad, right?" Famous last words.

The next day, after informing Leo of their plan, they confronted Percy. They decide to let Annabeth do the talking since she's known him the longest. She decided to be direct about it.

"Percy." She started gaining his attention with the tone of her voice. "There been some..questionable incidents lately with you to say the least. We've known each other for years, and we've all been through so much together. You went to Tartarus with me. Please tell us it means to be a Proxy."

Percy laughed hesitantly. "What do you mean? I'm a proxy to Olympus-"

"Cut the crap, Percy. That's bullshit and we both know it." Percy was silent for a few moments before he sighed. "Fine, it's been long enough anyway. I guess you deserve to know. But just let me remind you, sometimes the truth is better left alone. After all, ignorance is bliss, right? So let me ask you, so you really want to know?"

Piper was getting impatient. "Stop being so dramatic and just tell us, Percy." Said teen just sighed.

"Fine, whatever I'll tell you." He took a deep breath. "I'm a Proxy to a different entity. One who is outside Greek mythology." He let that soak in.

"Which entity is this? Who do you serve Percy?" Now comes the hard part, Percy thought. He braced himself. "He has been called many things. Grossman, The Tall One, The Faceless One, The Operator. But you would most likely know him from the name Slenderman."

He heard a sharp intake of breath, but besides that, it was silent. And it stayed silent before something clicked in Percy's head.

"Don't tell me you've never heard of him before." He was met with blank faces.

"Um, Isn't slender man a monster who stalks his victims, driving them insane before he kills and eats them?" Everyone turned to Piper. "What? He's a popular character on the internet."

"So you do know!" Percy exclaimed. It was silent yet again, this time with dropped jaws and disbelief in their eyes.

"You work for a..a a monster?! Oh my gods, what do you do for him?" Annabeth sounded slightly hysterical. Percy gave her a deadpanned stare.

"I get him coffee. What the fuck do you think I do Annabeth?" He could practically see the wheels turning in her head. When it finally clicked, she jumped back and stared at Percy with a mix of fear and disgust in her eyes. Percy almost rolled his eyes at the predictable action, but it still hurt inside. Before Annabeth could ask the most clique question to a killer, he actually did roll his eyes and spoke. "No Annabeth, I am not going to kill you."

"You have to admit, it's a valid question."

"Considering most of the people who ask that do end up dying, yes I guess it is a valid question." The room suddenly turned tense.

"What are you saying, Percy? That you're a murderer?" Leo practically spits out the last word.

"I'm a Proxy to one of the most deadly beings on Earth. It's not all sunshine and rainbows."

"If Slenderman is real, does that mean other Creepypastas are too?" Percy's jaw dropped, then he started to laugh. "I would have never guessed you would be into that kind of thing." Ignoring the jab, Piper persisted. "Are they?"

"Yes" Satisfied, but still terrified, she backed off.

"Piper, who are these Creppypastas?" Annabeth asked.

"Horror stories to you. Of murderers, demons, and anything that goes bump in the night." It was Percy who answered. "But they're a little more personal to me, considering I'm one of them."

That caused an outcry, none louder than Annabeth. "What?!"

"Oh gods, I'm in a compressed space with a killer. Please save me." Leo was mumbling to himself. After listening to more cries and distress, Percy had enough.

"QUIET!" Everyone looked at him fearfully. He sighed.

"Stop being so dramatic about it. It's nothing new." He waved a hand as if to dismiss it.

"Nothing new?!"Annabeth sounded strangled.

"Yes, the gods have known about it for years."

"They've known about it for years, and haven't done anything?! Were they even worried about having a serial killer in the camp?!"

"Whoah, first things first, I am not a serial killer. Second, why would they? I took an oath not to kill any innocent campers, so I don't see why it's a problem."

"And that makes it ok?!"

"You've known me for how long? Do you think I would just up and kill an innocent? Do you have no trust in me?" Percy sounded hurt.

"You have no right to pull that shit! That was before I knew you were a serial killer!"

"For the last time, I am not-"

"I don't care what kind of killer you are! You still kill people Percy. That's not ok, in any sense of the word!" It was silent, Percy and Annabeth staring at each other while the others looked on.

"What do you want me to say, Annabeth? You guys are the ones who asked. I told you."

"Don't you dare say I told you so!"

"Then what?" He growled out, making the others flinch back in fear. That stung.

"I grew up and lived in a different world than you. I am not like you. Hell, I don't even know what I count as anymore, It's definitely not human or even demigod. I'm sorry I scare you with my job, but that's who I am."

"And that makes everything ok? You had a shitty childhood and decide to become a killer to what? Take revenge on the world?" That was the wrong thing to say, as Percy suddenly loomed over Annabeth with a really scary face.

"Do not speak as if you know me." He growled out.

"what are you gonna do then? Kill me?" She asked, defiant.

"Hey, guys, this has kinda got out of hand. We have a world to save, remember?" Leo interjected, shakily. Percy seemed to grow confused as he saw Annabeth staring at him with hatred in her eyes and he stumbled back.

"Fuck." He muttered, putting a hand to his head.

"I am clinically insane." He said from his place at the table, head in his hands, as he tried to explain himself to his companions. "I have voices in my head that scream at me every day to paint my body in red, to destroy everything around me. To bathe in the blood of my enemies. To tear their flesh from their bones with my hands. To rip out a spine and drink their blood like fine wine. Shove their heart down someone's throat. To-"

"STOP!" Piper commanded with her charm speak, looking ill. Actually, everyone looked ill, Percy reflected, no one willing to meet his eyes, except Annabeth that is.

"And you've never, I don't know, ignored them?" Percy stared at her for a second before breaking out in laughter. It made them flinch, hearing hysterical laughter fall from Percy's lips.

"Oh Annabeth, you think I never tried? The result was always the same." He chuckled. "It was always like waking up from a bad dream but imagine coming to your senses in the middle of carnage. Walls dripping blood with the family you just accidentally murdered. No, After killing my stepfather, I tried to make the voices go away for good by standing in a burning house as it collapsed around me. Unfortunately, that didn't work, nothing has." He finished, with a manic look in his eyes.

"Jesus." Someone muttered, probably Jason. Percy took a deep breath to steady himself and control the voices screaming in his head.

"Look, I don't expect you to be ok with what I do. I have enough self-awareness to realize that from a normal perspective, what I do is completely wrong. But that's not going to change what I do, nor what I think. All we need to do is finish this quest, then I'll be gone from your lives, alright?" It was quiet for a moment.

"C-can I ask a question?" Piper spoke up.

"Sure, what's up."

"Does that mean the other Creepypastas are real? Like Jeff and Ticci Toby?"

"Really? You had to mention that asshole first?" Percy sounded annoyed.

"I take that as a yes?"

"Ya, most are real. The ones that circulate a lot are most likely real. Just don't mention Jeff again. He really pisses me off. Bat-shit crazy that one. Likes to show up in your fucking room at 3 am like a deviant and try to stab you before you realize he's there."

"OK, we get it. Never mention him again got it."

"Do you live with him? What about the others? What's it like?"

"Leo!" Piper hissed.

"What? I'm curious." Leo held his hands up in surrender.

"It goes about as well as you could imagine having so angsty killers under one roof."

"Ooh, who is it?"

"There's asshole number 1, who comes into your room uninvited at 3 am and stands over you holding a knife above his head. There's EJ, who sometimes bothers who for your kidney when he's feeling peckish. BEN likes to crawl out of the TV like a horror movie and yell through the speakers when he's feeling particularly chaotic. LJ tries to make you eat candy that could burn through your stomach in seconds. Sally wants everyone to play with her, which sometimes ends in injuries. Hoody and Masky are pretty chill, except for when they have psychotic breaks, or wake up with their old personalities. Slenderman shows up randomly just to give us all headaches, or jobs to do." He paused.

"Those are the constant ones. Others show up and stay for a while then leave, or just show up at the regular meetings."

"Damn, sounds fun," Leo commented.

"You have no idea." He muttered.

"What about Ticci Toby? He's pretty popular, right? You've never mentioned him."

"Oh, that's me."

"WHAT?"

"Why are you so surprised? I've said I used to have a sister, killed my stepfather and tried to kill myself in a house fire."

"But, but-" Percy rolled his eyes.

"I've mellowed out throughout the years, and not everything in the stories is true, but yes. I'm him."

"But, your name is Percy…"

"My name is Perseus Tobias Jackson. My stepfather's last name was Rodgers and I went by Toby, short for Tobias when I was a kid. The name just kinda stuck."

"I guess that makes sense," Piper said, weakly.

"Look, can we just forget this ever happened? Sure, I might not be the same Percy you have in your head, but like, I haven't changed in the ten minutes we've been talking. Nothing I've done or accomplished has been fake." He paused.

"Also, as I've said before, the gods know about. They even embrace it. I've been working with Thanatos for years to help get rid of mortals the gods hate because they technically can't interfere directly."

"Damn." Leo whistled.

"So the gods know about it and haven't done anything? Are they just, ok you in camp with their children?" Annabeth asked curious more than anything, now that the shock had worn off.

"Well, when I first came to camp, I took an oath never to kill innocent campers. But that was kinda unnecessary. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I don't kill innocents of I can help it. The gods understand that and point me in the right direction."

"Huh," Jason said and left it at that. He understood, intellectually, that Romans have a greater habit of killing during exercises and spars than the Greeks. He was no stranger to it. It was just, jarring to know that people killed for the sake of killing, especially that one of those people was someone he considered a friend, but was that really different from they did? Monsters had personalities after all. Jason looked around and could see that his friends weren't as accepting as he was.

"I don't understand how you think or why you act," Jason started slowly, "But I am no stranger to killing. I know a few others in this room are the same way." Percy looked at him, surprised.

"And you're right. Finding out this tidbit of information does not change everything you've accomplished in your life. If anything, it makes me respect you a little more." Everyone looked to him in something akin to shock.

"Really?" Percy's eyes were big as if he wasn't expecting any forgiveness or understanding from his comrades. That annoyed Jason a little, especially after all they've been through together.

"If what you're saying is true, especially about the, uh, voices. I think it takes incredible self-control and mental fortitude to be able to resist for such long periods of time."He paused.

"I don't condone the killing." Percy waved it off, "Of course, I don't expect you to."

"But I would be honored to work with you, Percy, no, Ticci Toby." Jason held out his hand. Percy gave a feral grin and gripped his hand. He knew exactly what Jason was saying between the lines.

"I'd love to. Thank you, Jason Grace." It felt a little bit like making a deal with the devil, and from the other's faces, they thought so too. But if it defeated Gaia, then he was willing to do anything. Besides, it was Percy. From what he's experienced and heard from others, he would never hurt his friends.

"As long as that viciousness is pointed at the enemy, I'm good," Piper commented.

"What she said." Said Leo. Hazel and Frank hesitantly nodded too. The only one silent was Annabeth. She met Percy's eyes and it felt like she was looking into his very soul. They stood that way for a moment before she sighed.

"You've saved my life plenty of times. I can't ignore that, no matter what or who you are. Let's work together once again, Percy." And what could Percy do but smile at his friends?