Percy had been in charge of Camp Half-Blood for at least 260 years. He remembered, intimately, every iteration of the camp he'd ever been a part of, both as a mortal and a god. Each had positives and negatives, but the first one—this one—was the one he tended to think of the most fondly. He would always remember the camp he'd grown up in.

Or… so he'd thought. Well, he still did, but in his memories, he saw the camp at its height, after the Titan and giant wars, after Percy had made the gods promise to claim their kids and honor the minor gods. The camp he saw before him now was the camp from before the Titan War. The more run-down camp with only twelve cabins.

That was changing as soon as he could figure out how, because he wasn't waiting another three years to fix it. Because this was his camp. Yes, the others were too, but this had been the one that taught him to survive. The one that had defined his life as a demigod and a god. This was where everything started, and it colored every aspect of his life afterwards, for better and worse.

And his mom could finally see it. He was so excited he forgot he was still mad (worried) at her, and he grabbed her hand.

"Come on, Mom! Let's go—"

"Wait a minute," Chiron said, amused. "Firstly, this camp can be a little dangerous to mortals so you need to be careful. Secondly, your Mom needs to fill some things out. You don't have to be there for that, and if you want to be the one to take your mother around, you'll need someone to give you the tour first."

Right. He shouldn't know this place. Glancing at his mother, who also looked amused, he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Unfortunately," the centaur went on, "you came just when the Hermes cabin has the Arena… Hmm. Well, Let's see if I can find someone to give you the tour." Chiron smiled, turned, and began to trot down towards the cabins and the kids Percy could see mingling there. He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of the camp, so nostalgic and welcoming… in its own, dangerous way. It was a camp for demigods, after all. About half-way through that thought, he began to realize he could sense people… not Mr. D or Chiron, or even his mom (well, maybe a little, if he really concentrated), but the kids in the camp.

What?!

His eyes snapped open and he glanced at the group of Demeter kids he could see in the strawberry fields. Kids he knew were there before they'd come around the bend to where he could see them. He certainly hadn't been able to do that as a demigod the first time.

As they passed by the open entrance to the strawberry fields, something seemed to occur to Chiron.

"Katie!" A familiar girl with blond hair (that he knew would go dark in the winter) and green eyes turned to look at them. Another person he hadn't seen in almost three centuries. "I have a new camper! Luke's busy, would you mind taking him around?"

Oh, thank Chaos. And maybe the Primordials too. Hades, even The Fates, at this point (even if he was still mad at them too). Percy wasn't entirely sure what he'd do if he had to talk to Luke at the moment. Thankfully, figuring out what would happen when he did would have to come later.

"Sure," Katie said, though she gave the strawberry field a long look.

Katie's sister, Miranda, said something to her, then gestured to the kids near her, all tending the strawberries. Katie nodded, looking relieved, and handed her basket of tools over before she began to make her way up towards Chiron and the Jacksons.

"Katie," Chiron said when she'd reached them, futilely trying to brush mud and dirt off of her pants as she walked. "I know you were only just made head councilor, but do you think you could give Percy here a tour while I take his mother up to the big house and get everything situated?"

The green-eyed girl studied Percy and then his mother cautiously before nodding. "Sure."

"Once you're done, bring him back to the Big House, please." The centaur turned to Percy. "This shouldn't take long, and then you can show your mother. Thank you, Katie," Chiron said with a smile, putting a hand on her shoulder before leading Sally back up to the Big House. "This way, Ms. Jackson."

"See you soon, Mom!" Percy called, watching her for a moment before he turned to Katie.

"Hi," he said warmly. It had been too long since he'd seen his old friend, and he couldn't help the smile on his face. "I'm Percy Jackson, age eleven." He held out his hand.

She took it and smiled back. "I'm Katie Gardener, age 13, Daughter of Demeter. A pleasure to meet you."

"Demeter, as in the Goddess of Agriculture, Harvest, Fertility, Sacred Law, Earth, Seasons, Bread, and Growth?"

Katie's eyebrows rose. "Yes," she said kindly. "Though 'growth' isn't typically one of her titles, it certainly applies."

Percy shrugged and began walking down to camp. Katie followed. "I know everyone thinks Persephone is the Goddess of Spring and growth in Spring, but it was Demeter who wouldn't let Spring come when she was taken by Hades." Not to mention she could be utterly terrifying and very much belonged to the Underworld when she resided there in Percy's humble opinion.

"Huh. I never thought about it like that," Katie said thoughtfully. "So you know a lot about the myths then?"

"Mom wanted me to know everything I could, except that I was a demigod, apparently." Technically true. His mother had wanted him to know, but had been too afraid of saying much in case he figured it out. That was null and void now, though.

"Oh! Well, do you know who your godly parent is, then?"

Percy cocked his head to one side, trying to figure out how to answer that truthfully. "Well, Mom keeps saying I remind her of him, but doesn't outright say his name. She just says: 'Your father used to do that' and stuff."

Katie nodded, not noticing the deflection, thankfully. "A lot of demigods' parents do things like that. Half of them don't even know their kid is a demigod. What about your Mom? Did she know? I'm guessing so because she brought you here."

He nodded. "Yeah, but she refuses to say until she gets permission from him."

"Smart."

"I know, right?"

They shared a grin as they stepped up to the horseshoe of cabins.

"I'll start with Cabin One," she said, then began talking about each cabin for a bit before moving onto the next. This was an introduction he'd given so many times, he knew all the common and uncommon variations by heart. Thus, Percy mainly tuned her out, instead focusing on the girl at the hearth-fire in the center of the cabin area. The girl he couldn't sense very well. Confirmation that he could only sense demigods. Well, mostly. Good to know. It utterly screwed with his mind and told him he'd brought back powers from the future, but still good to know.

He smiled and waved at her. Surprised, she waved back. He made a mental note to talk to her later.

"And this," Katie said, pointing to the run-down cabin that belonged to Hermes, "is the Hermes cabin. You'll probably be staying there until you get claimed."

"How long will that take?" Percy asked.

The older girl shuffled around a little uncomfortably. "We… uh, don't know. It's different for everyone."

Percy scowled. That needed to change too, but he may have to wait until Kronos was defeated before he managed to get that from the gods. Lazy Olympians. Except Athena. He had issues with his mother-in-law, but that was most definitely not one of them. And he'd told her so. She'd been surprised he had anything good to say about her, and that had sparked one of the most civil conversations they'd ever had. He should probably try to go that way this time when he met her too. And there was Annabeth to consider. Yes, he was 300 years old, but there would ever only be one girl for him. And gods tended to overlook age gaps anyway. Not something he always approved of, but in his opinion, humans were the mature ones in the relationships.

It still kind of made him uneasy, and he didn't really want to push Annabeth into anything, but he had no intention of dating anyone else. Ever. No matter what happened between them this time.

Katie was looking at him kind of funny now, and he realized he'd spaced out for a couple of seconds.

"Sorry. ADHD sucks."

She nodded sympathetically. "Most demigods have it. I do. My sister does—you just saw her in the fields."

"Right. So what did you ask?"

"Just if you know anything about Hermes."

"Oh, sure!" He listed multiple domains and a couple of story blurbs while Katie looked on, amused. "So I'll be staying here because he's the God of Travelers, right?" Percy asked.

"Yes," she nodded. "I'll introduce you to the cabin head when we go by the arena. I think that's where Cabin 11 is right now."

Percy hoped his smile didn't noticeably strain. Whatever issues he had with Luke, he'd better get over them quickly. And here he thought he'd come to terms decades ago, if not longer.

"How many kids are staying there now?" he asked a little slowly.

"A lot," Katie said with a sigh. "Anywhere between twenty and forty at any given point, as the children of the minor gods stay there too. I've been coming to camp for two years now, and it fluctuates a lot."

Percy nodded. He already had a couple of ideas about addressing that situation, but he wanted to talk to Hestia first.

After his mom left. Which reminded him…

"So, what else is in camp?" he asked.

"Don't you want to put your backpack down?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Nah, it's fine. So?"

She shrugged back and started towards the arena, pointing out the dining pavilion on the way. As they passed Hestia, Percy waved at her again. She waved back, looking thoughtful.

Percy managed to talk Katie out of introducing him to Luke when they got to the arena, asking her to show him everything quickly so he could show his mom. Reluctantly, she agreed. So she led him by the lake, the climbing wall, multiple paths into the forest (all of which Percy remembered, even now) the arts-and-crafts cabins (where the Athena kids were just then, he couldn't tell exactly which spark of 'demigod' was her though, and couldn't get a glimpse of her, even though he tried), the forges, pointed out the stables, and finally led him to the beach. He couldn't help how at home he felt, breathing in the salt air from off the water.

"This is amazing," he gushed. "I can't wait to show my mom!"

Katie laughed. "Well, it's been a pleasure. Now, why don't we head back up to the Big House so you can get her, huh?"

"Yeah!" Percy said, grinning. They hurried back towards Half-Blood Hill.

As they approached, he frowned at Mr. D sitting on the porch alone. Katie must have noticed.

"Uh… did they explain that Mr. D's a god?" she asked worriedly. Percy thought back to his most recent interactions and shook his head. "Well, he is. He never remembers anyone's name—completely on purpose, we're convinced—and he can turn people into animals. Don't make him mad, ok?"

"Ok," Percy responded easily. She looked pleasantly surprised and relieved. Did he honestly look that much like a troublemaker?

"Ah, young Peter Johnson," Dionysus said when they climbed onto the porch.

"You remembered my name!" he said happily, just to mess with him. The god sent the two demigods a searching look bordering on a glare. He was positive Mr. D didn't buy the innocent look, but that just made it more entertaining. Besides him, Katie sighed.

"And Kerry Granger."

"I'm going to go back to the strawberries now," she said hurriedly, obviously a little intimidated. "Good day, sir. Good luck, Percy." She sent him a smile before hurrying off.

"Your mother is inside, speaking with Chiron," Mr. D said boredly, going back to his game.

"Thanks!"

"We don't normally let mortals through the boundary. Then again, you are a bit of a late arrival and missed most of the drop-offs. It comes earlier every year. But anyway, do you know it can get dangerous here for poor mortals, though?"

Percy… actually appreciated that, if not the tone in which he said it.

"Yes, But my mom's awesome," the time-traveler said. "She can handle anything. But I appreciate the warning! I'm glad our camp director cares so much!"

Mr. D snorted, looking entirely put out, but… that was just Dionysus. He chose to look better—younger, less like someone who would look at home at Gabe Ugliano's poker table—after his punishment ended. Percy had never wanted to start the argument that would follow if he'd ever asked whether that was part of the punishment, or him inflicting his annoyance on everyone else. It just wasn't worth it, and there had been more important things to argue about.

Sending the god a bright wave, the demigod hurried into the house, letting his grin fade to a smirk once he was out of sight. That had been a little too amusing, and he quickly came to the conclusion that he had to screw with Dionysus. For Hermes' sake. He'd roped Percy into way too many pranks and mischief to not have rubbed off on him. Besides, Percy had always liked a good, harmless prank. Maybe he could drag the entire camp into it too? And he could take it farther with them than with the god. Hmm…

"—Going to be hard," Chiron was saying. "Which is why I recommend he stays here all-year-round. Especially if his father is who I suspect."

Percy peeked around the corner into the room Chiron called an office. One would think with his many years of experience he'd be organized, and maybe he understood his own strange way of arranging the space. To Percy, though, his office had always looked like organized chaos at best. His mother sat across from Chiron, who was in his wheelchair, sitting at his desk with his hands crossed and a serious expression on his face.

"I won't abandon him here," she said. "And if that means we have to go through a little discomfort, that's what we have to do."

"It's not 'a little discomfort' I speak of, but regular life-and-death attacks."

"I can handle it," Percy said, striding in. "We appreciate your concern, Mr. Chiron, but I'm not abandoning Mom either. Even if I'm still a little mad at her."

Because he was. That didn't mean she wasn't the best mom ever.

She sighed. "We'll talk about it if you're really that concerned," she said, patting Percy's hand. He didn't usually stay upset at her, so maybe she was starting to realize the severity of what she'd likely done.

"Good," he said. "Now let me show you everything!" He whipped around, about to step into the hall before he realized he'd interrupted them. "Um… if you're finished," he added on.

"Katie gave you a run-down of everything?" Chiron asked.

No, but Percy really didn't need it, so he nodded. "Yeah! It's so cool! I'm so excited to be here! This is gonna be the best summer ever! Only thing that would make it better would be if Mom was staying too."

Chiron smiled at that. "I'm afraid that's not possible."

Percy made a show of sighing. "I figured. Anyway…" he hadn't been this excited in years. It felt like his body just overflowed with energy, not divine energy, mortal energy. That was totally a thing… right? Maybe kid energy?

Apparently the adults could tell, because they exchanged a fondly exasperated look that Percy probably would have missed at his initial age twelve.

"We're done," Chiron said. "Please be careful. The woods are fully stocked, after all."

His mother blinked. "Stocked? With what?"

"Monsters, Mom!" Percy said quickly. "We have to learn to fight them somewhere."

She blanched. "Monsters?! Why… no, how is this camp safe?!"

"We have barriers set up that the monsters can't cross," Chiron said in a placating tone. "And most monsters are smart enough to realize that an attack on a full camp of demigods is a death sentence. So they hide in the forest, usually deep in the forest, and can't get to the activities part of the camp."

Sally frowned. "That… still seems needlessly dangerous to me."

"I assure you, it is quite necessary," Chiron said firmly. "Here they have access to medical facilities, but they get the experience necessary to take into the real world."

"A controlled environment," Percy's mother muttered, then sighed. "I still don't like it."

Chiron just smiled at her warmly. "I don't either."

They shared a commiserating glance before Percy tugged on his mother's hand again.

"Come on, Mom!"

"Alright, Alright, I'm coming. Now, why are you still carrying your backpack around if you've already seen all of camp?"

"No one was at Cabin 11 and they need to assign me a sleeping space."

"Sleeping space?"

Percy winced. She was not going to like that.

xXx

His mother seemed both awed and disgusted by the camp in equal measure. She glared at the woods and was outright horrified at the state of Cabin 11—which she insisted on seeing so she could know where her son would sleep.

When Percy was sure no one was around, they also sneaked into Cabin 3 for just a moment. Sally liked that much better, but that seemed to only incense her more. Even if Percy ended up there, so many other kids would have to put up with Cabin 11. She promised Percy she would pray to his father that very night. He assured her he would too, but they'd have to coordinate. None of them wanted Percy claimed just yet, and all of them would have a vested interest in making the living situation better sooo…

Percy hoped his dad would listen. He hoped he would be able to talk to him soon too. He planned on telling Poseidon more or less everything. He trusted his undersea family. They looked out for each other, even if not always in the kindest of ways. Yes, he was thinking directly of Kymopoleia there. And maybe Triton before he'd come around. Which had taken a while…

"They… make you climb that?" Sally asked, staring in horror at the lava wall. Percy just sort of snickered as several children started ascending it.

"Yeah. It'll come in more helpful than you may think."

"It's a death trap."

"Nah. We have the Apollo kids here, and there are some very strict rules not to approach it when someone else isn't watching. Besides, you don't have to worry about me. As a son of… um… with my father being who he is, I have a pretty high level of heat resistance."

"But what about the other kids?!"

Has Percy mentioned he loved his Mom. So. Much.

"I'm sure they'll all be happy to be adopted by you."

"Percy!"

"They have to learn, Mom," he said, sobering up. "I know it seems harsh, but we have a pretty good track record since the wall was built only a couple of decades ago."

Sally groaned, but Percy frowned. He'd never asked when the wall had been built… he'd never really needed to know. But it had just sort of come to him. Was the camp itself acknowledging him? Sensing something of his future role within its boundaries? Or was that his future demigod domain again? Huh…

What else had he brought back?

(And how much of Kronos was on that list?)

They eventually ended up on the beach once again, watching the tide come in slowly, and just talking.

"So this is where you'll spend the next several summers."

"When I'm not on quests," Percy acknowledged. "And I'll probably commute more often once I'm old enough to drive and get a car."

"I… just…" his mother sighed. "This is… so much."

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "It's weird to have just one brain to process it all too."

Sally groaned. Percy patted her on the arm. Then he braced himself, banishing all levity.

"Mom," he finally said quietly, getting around to the point he still wanted to discuss. "Please. I need to know what you gave up… and what you got in exchange?"

She sighed. "I really don't know exactly what that apple does. It's supposed to give you a shot at happiness. What I traded for it… they said that trading future relationships and children would be detrimental to you and their goals. I could trade memories of you as a child, or the summer I spent with your father… which I just might. Or I could swear service to them. They want more of a hand in the mortal world, apparently, though I don't know why.

"In any case, whatever they take will be taken when the apple is used."

That… was horrible, but better than Percy thought it would be, to be honest. They must either really like him, really fear him, or be in a particularly good mood. Or some combination thereof.

"Mom, I already have a shot at happiness." That was an outright lie, but he was determined to make the best of the hand he'd been dealt. "I mean, sure, I don't want to be a god," he conceded, "but I do like helping the camp, overseeing demigods, helping Chiron… I even became a large part of Camp Jup… um… the Roman camp. And I got to know Dad's side of the family. It wasn't all bad, no matter how I make it sound sometimes." To be fair, they gave Percy directorship of the camp to stop him from freaking out too badly when his mother got sick. He needed something to live for when his friends and family began to leave him.

May have been the single smartest thing they ever did.

He knew he could get scary, even for gods, when he let himself be consumed by his destruction domain.

Former domain…

Except… if he had everything else and seemed to be tied into camp…

Di Immortales.

He was not looking forward to Mt. St. Helen's if he had to live through everything again.

Or Tartarus.

The world seemed to slow, maybe even stop, for a moment. Would he have to…?

No. He was not going to go there. Wouldn't even think of it now. Nope. No. Just... NO. Not until he had to. If he had to, because everything had been more or less reset, right? So he may not have to go back—

"Percy?" his mother's voice brought him thankfully back to the present.

"Sorry, Mom," he said.

"If you're so worried, I may not have to use the apple at all, you know."

He sighed. "It doesn't work like that. Especially not with The Fates. If they gave it to you, you'll have to make the choice to use it or not in the future."

Her brow furrowed and she looked back out to sea. "Oh."

Percy watched her for several seconds before he, too, sighed into a slump. "I love you, Mom. And I thank you. You're thoughtful and wonderful—the best mom I could ask for. I'm convinced all of my luck was spent as a child when getting you as my mother. I just… don't want you to give up your happiness for mine. Your happiness means so much to me. If the people around me aren't happy—the people I love and care for—then what's the point? What was the reason for all the fights and wars and pain?"

"Oh, Percy… I'd give up anything for you, you know that, right?"

The demigod nodded, but gulped and looked down. "I do… and that scares me, Mom. I know what you would give up… and I don't want you to have to go that far. So please, think about your happiness sometimes too."

She sighed and nodded. "Okay, I will."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

He felt his shoulders and back relax as he leaned into her side.

"I'm happy you got to see this," he whispered.

"Me too."

"Should probably get you back."

She nodded, though neither of them made to move.

"You know, everyone makes bets on the newest campers' godly parent. It's kind of a tradition."

His mother looked down at him, and he could feel her frown. "Okay? Why bring this up?"

"You know how I'm gonna ask Dad not to claim me for a while? Well, I think I brought back some… extra domains and that puts me in a great place to screw with people for a while." Especially Dionysus. And he was glad no one was really paying attention to him outside of the Fates just now. He'd have to be more careful about what he said later.

"You're not going to get in trouble, are you?"

Not if he played it right. "Nah. It'll be up to everyone else to figure things out. I plan on making them guess every single Olympian who can have kids, and any minor gods I can too." He snickered. "Will probably tell that to the Hermes cabin just so they can think I'm one of them."

"Why?" his mother asked, more curious than reprimanding.

"Well, it'll throw everyone off for a while, but mainly to screw with Mr. D and Chiron. It can be pretty difficult to get one up on them. It'll just take some creative application of powers."

"As long as you won't get hurt…" she said.

"Nope." He'd make sure of it.

They stayed on the beach in a comfortable silence for several more minutes before he finally stood, brushed his pants off, and held out a hand for his mother. She smiled and took it, leveraging herself up before they slowly walked back to the big house and Half-Blood Hill.

"I love you, Mom," he told her once he saw her out of the camp.

"I love you, Percy," she said, kissing him on the forehead before turning and heading down to the car.

"Also," he called after her. She paused and half-turned to him. "Destroy him, Mom." He pointed to the car. She followed his gesture, then turned back to him with a smirk that could easily rival his own.

"Bet on it."

xXx

AN: It's been a rough month. On the bright side, Hubby's starting to learn to talk again. He's actually progressing very quickly, considering. But because of all that, it took me a while to get the mental bandwidth to post this. Hope you liked it.

Thanks to my beta readers and discord mods: Berix, The Shadow Slayer, Asterius Daemon, Quathis, Harlequin, Speedster, and The Chronomancer! Also, than you to the rest of my Discord for putting up with the slowness there and still answering my silly questions.

Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)