Sally had, admittedly, made many mistakes in her life. Her summer and subsequent months with Poseidon could only be counted as one of them if his family had been hurt by it. She hadn't really thought about it at the time, caught up in a whirlwind romance where an all-powerful being paid her attention for once in her life. She'd admittedly been young and in love and stupid, with dreams too big for her checkbook, a little freedom, a lot of grief, a lot of change, and it had all been so romantic.

It really hadn't hit home until she'd realized, just into January the next year, that her cycle was late. Really late. So she'd taken a pregnancy test. After getting the result, she'd known she had to speak to him again. Despite it being winter, she'd gone to Montauk to talk to the god and that's when he'd really told her about the life of a demigod, about Camp Half-Blood, about his world. She'd done some research before that, but she'd had a hard time equating the god talking so gently to her, who called her a queen among men, with the Poseidon from the myths. She'd even asked him about those.

He'd sighed and gotten comfortable before explaining. First and foremost was how his mood reflected the sea and the sea reflected his mood. He was the sea and the sea was him. The sea could be the calmest, most gentle and comforting presence, or it could be a Category 5 hurricane. It could be steady winds and smooth sailing, or it could be doldrums and stuck in one place for days, weeks, or even months. The sea was freedom and life, but at the cost of tragedy and death.

"Have you only showed this… gentle side to me?" she'd asked, curious more than anything else. She hadn't thought he'd hurt her, and he hadn't. She'd trusted him. (She still did in a lot of ways.)

"Mainly, yes," he'd answered. "I have a temper, Sally. And when I get angry, the sea reflects it, often dangerously—to devastation even—for mortals. I didn't want you to see that side of me. But… I've also mellowed out a lot. As gods, our personalities tend to take on traits of the culture that holds the Heart of the West… for better or worse."

She'd just stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "Such as…?" she eventually asked when he didn't.

He'd rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, we tended to have a lot more demigods—all of us who can and do—when in France."

She'd snorted. Then his smile had faded.

"My brother, the king of the gods, has always been a little stern, but during Rome, he went through the most obvious metamorphosis. When Rome first took Greece, he… he was the first to change."

"Change?"

Poseidon had cleared his throat. "There were… problems. Greece had gotten… greedy. Not that they hadn't gone through bouts of that before, but many of the Roman and Greek gods are the same except… not. Including myself. Those problems showed with him first, then spread to the rest of us. Even me."

"Roman sea god… You mean Ne—"

He'd cut her off by holding up a hand suddenly. "Yes. Don't say his name."

"Isn't he you?"

"Yes, to an extent, but that could call him to the forefront, and he and I are also… different."

"How is that possible?"

"People still worship who I used to be… and who I became. Because both have more or less gone down in history, and are well known, and both are attributed to me, they both manifest. But each manifestation has still taken on parts of the new civilization.

"My brother, often during Rome's occupation, was a bright, happy god. Towards the end, he became a little… unhinged. During England's turn, he started relatively humble, but became nearly tyrannical. When we first moved over here to America, he was industrious. Now, he seems more lazy, elitist, and paranoid. And he isn't the only one. I have my own problems. It's just more difficult for me to see, I suppose.

"That doesn't stop the fact that I still have those traits from the stories. No matter who I am now, I am also who I used to be. And Sally, all of me has come to love you."

She'd blushed then. Could anyone blame her?

"Gods love differently than humans do, though. And since I have never been human, I cannot explain it properly. I still love my wife, for instance, even while loving you."

That had been the first time she'd begun to realize what she'd gotten into. That this man was married and she was the other woman. She'd known he was married but, for some reason, that hadn't hit her until just then.

It had been a shock, to say the least. She hadn't wanted to hurt anyone… Before she'd been able to ask questions about that, though, he'd gone on.

"But because all of my heart belongs to you in some way, all of those traits may go to our child." He'd gone on to explain the oath and that he hadn't truly meant to break it. But now he had, and their child would likely pay the price.

"In the days of Greece and Rome, when a child was born to me, their traits would depend on which aspect of me loved that mortal. Because so much of me loves you… our child could be one of the most powerful demigods I've ever sired. That puts them in even more danger than normal and almost guarantees they will fulfill the prophecy."

By that point, Sally had covered her mouth with one hand while her other had curled around her stomach protectively. She'd felt so… overwhelmed. She hadn't known what to say or do.

"I am truly sorry," he'd whispered. "And above all else, I cannot so much as visit, especially the older they get. It would only turn my brothers' wrath on them while attracting other monsters. Draw even more attention to them. Although…" and then he'd asked her to go and live under the sea, and promised that he'd build her a palace she could live the rest of her days in and take care of her child. And she'd been tempted… so tempted.

But for the first time in her life, she'd been able to be selfish. She wanted her own path, her own goals… she'd wanted to make her own life. And she'd been convinced she could do it.

What a fool she'd been.

Unfortunately, once Percy had been born, she hadn't wanted to bring negative attention from the other gods down on him, so she didn't dare call for Poseidon. What if another god got to her and Percy first? Even when at Montauk, she'd just been too scared for her son's safety. And besides, gods rarely gave opportunities to mortals a second time.

So she'd married Gabe.

And while part of her was still proud of that particular realization and execution, part of her regretted it for both her and Percy's sake. She had to remind herself that Gabe couldn't be worse than the monsters out there, but part of her—that grew larger every day—wondered if that really was the case. He was an abusive scumbag… But he was all they had to keep Percy safe.

And from the moment he was born, she knew she would do anything to keep him safe.

Up until this morning, though, it had been a stable if unsustainable situation. Now, though…

The boy sitting before her wasn't her son. Or, he was—he always would be, he'd made that clear and she believed him—but the way he sat and spoke, what he knew and how casually he spoke of it…

Yesterday, he'd been her little boy. Her dyslexic, ADHD driven little ball of energy, and she wouldn't trade him for the world. She'd always done her best to make sure he knew he was loved, and he'd looked at her like she hung the stars.

Now he looked at her like he'd seen a ghost. A welcome ghost, but still a memory that haunted him. He claimed he'd become a god, and she didn't doubt him. The way he held himself alone was different, more confident, more focused. He didn't need her. He'd lived for centuries without her. Part of her was so proud, but part of her…

Part of her just wanted her little boy back.

She didn't know how to feel about all of this.

But most of her was still the mother to an 11-year-old demigod, and whether he came back from three hundred years in the future or not, what he did not need was his mother breaking down in front of him. So she wouldn't.

She would, however, need a couple of minutes to process, which meant she needed to stall… and maybe get some questions answered. They'd been sitting there too long while she thought back over everything that had led her life to this point.

So she took a fortifying breath and fixed her eyes on his.

She needed more context.

"Why did you come back, then?"

He slumped a little, and there was her little boy. She almost melted in relief.

"As far as I remember, it was an accident."

She blinked. "An accident?"

He nodded. "I'm still not entirely sure what happened. One of the Ath… Goddess of Wisdom's children was working on a new invention with particle acceleration and… she kind of lost me from there. I'm not a scientist. But whatever happened… well, I woke up here this morning. I don't even know how old I am."

Sally blinked again. "Eleven."

"Turning twelve in July?" he clarified. She nodded. "Guessing it's June now?"

"End of May."

He paused. "Oh. The cannon and the school bus… right?"

That was also her little boy. He looked so sheepish for a moment, and she couldn't help but smile back at him. Before either of them could continue though, a waiter appeared next to their table with their food.

"Thank you," Sally said with a smile as the young man turned to leave.

They both waited for him to be out of hearing range before they started to eat. She watched her son pick at his food for a minute as if infinitely curious before stuffing a large forkful of eggs into his mouth.

"300 years and you still eat like that?" she teased. He paused and that sheepish expression came back.

Yes. This was her Percy. She still needed some processing time, but she could do this.

"So, a god, huh?"

He nodded. "Zeu… um… the King of the gods assigned me as a lieutenant to my father, probably because he doesn't know what else to do with me, but I'm usually in camp or helping the satyrs find demigods to bring to camp since that's my domain." He paused, frowning. "Was my domain?"

Sally felt her eyebrows raise. "Camp was your domain?"

He stared at her like he couldn't understand why she didn't understand.

"Oh, no! I… um…" he cleared his throat and put his fork down. "Okay, every god has a domain—usually a couple, sometimes several. Like Apol… um… the sun guy. Or our messenger. They both have at least a dozen, though many of them are pretty minor."

"What were yours?" Sally asked.

Percy blushed. He was still so adorable. "Demigods, first and foremost," he said firmly and with such confidence. No shame here, even through that blush, and she couldn't be more proud of him. "I wanted to protect them. My loyalty will always be to them and my family."

Sally felt her heart melt a little.

Her son went on. "Loyalty is one of my domains. Was. I don't know if I'll get used to that," he muttered that last part to himself, shaking his head, before fixing that sea-green gaze back on her. "That's, um… my fatal flaw right now, but when it was my domain, I shared it with some others. I had a different emphasis than them. Personal loyalty, really, not so much loyalty to ideals, but to people. Ath… the Goddess of Wisdom called it a lower form of loyalty. I flipped her off."

And there was the impish boy she'd raised too.

"Percy!" she scolded. Because Athena was older than him and an Olympian so still a very powerful enemy. Not to mention, she'd raised him to be polite!

"What?" he defended. "She deserved it!" She'd also raised him to stand up for himself so…

"Still…" she said hesitantly, sending a pointed look at him.

He just grinned in amusement. "I have every right to have issues with my mother-in-law."

Aaaand he threw her world for a loop. Again. She gasped. Mother-in-law?! He was married? Who was he married to? Was she a goddess? Or a demigod? Or… well, she couldn't think of anything else, but this was Greek. There were probably things she wasn't thinking of at the moment.

He must have been able to see the questions in her eyes, because he held up his hand (and looked so much like his father just then, her heart ached). "Later, ok?"

Her lips thinned in disappointment. "You'd better," she warned.

He grinned, his smile bright and sunny.

"Anyway, back to domains," he said, turning thoughtful. "Because of my ties to the sea, I was a god of the depths. The deeper you go, the more within my domain it is. So trenches are all me, even if I share them with sea monsters and some of the Primordials. Pressure, animals, darkness, seawater, and tectonic movement fall under that, too."

"Tectonic movement?" Sally asked, hoping she didn't sound overwhelmed again. Her little boy could control tectonic plates? In the future, perhaps, but still…

He nodded and stuffed another forkful in his mouth. He didn't speak while he ate, at least. Once he swallowed, he continued. "Well, Dad is the Earthshaker. Besides, the deepest points of the ocean happen at subversion zones of tectonic plates, and while they can build mountains and islands, there also tends to be a lot of destruction too… which was also one of my domains." The sheepishness returned, though this looked different. This one, he was ashamed of.

Again, her heart ached.

"You… um… named me well," he said, looking down and picking up his hot chocolate, sipping from the mug while his mother looked on sadly. She didn't quite know what to think about that. Or she did, she just didn't know what to say.

"The last of my domains was, um…" he paused, seeming a little conflicted about this one. "Liquids. Like, all liquids. More a god of the state of being a liquid. My natural state in the future was a liquid. But Dad's is the ocean so… that isn't too unusual, I guess."

Sally frowned. "Is that something you inherited from your father?" Because where else could he have gotten that from? Although, to be fair, Sally didn't exactly know the nuances of godly… well, anything.

The shame had returned, and so had her little boy… the one that seemed so angry and frustrated with the world… and himself. The one she'd hoped he would grow out of. Almost immediately, she regretted thinking he didn't need her. He still did. Three hundred years, and he still needed reassurance. And she'd give it to him… once he finished his thought.

"Uh… not really. That was part of the reason I ascended. My domains changed, and my power fixed onto some domains that didn't already have anyone governing them. At least not from our pantheon."

Sally opened her mouth to say something, when her mind caught on those last words. "Your… pantheon? Wait, are you also Roman?"

He looked startled, eyebrows raising high on his forehead. "Wait, you know about the Romans?"

There… were Romans still? And they were separate from the Greeks?

She decided to tread carefully. "I know your father has a… Roman side to him. He said the other gods do too. Do you?"

Percy blinked, seemed to accept that (though he still looked surprised) and shook his head. "No. So… there's a Roman Camp for demigods in San Francisco. Greeks and Romans don't usually get along, so they've been kept separate up until now, and probably will for another couple of years, if this timeline goes the same way. But since the Romans and the Greeks both knew me as the same person, I don't have another persona, really. I mean, sometimes I can feel myself shift, become more disciplined and all, but that's it. Dad and Neptune are like day and night. Except when they're angry. Then they're almost identical."

Sally blinked and tried to wrap her head around that.

"I don't… understand," she finally said. "I didn't get it when your father explained it to me, and I don't think I get it now."

He nodded. "Fair. It's hard to explain. But I think it's like combining Epithets."

Sally tipped her head to one side and swallowed the food she'd been chewing. "Epithets?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You know Aph… ugh. Names have power and I need to be careful," he muttered to himself, frustrated. "The Goddess of Love has multiple Epithets. One of them was a daughter of Zeu—aarg, the King of the Gods, and one of them was the more common manifestation of her after Ouranous was dismembered." He smiled an apologetic half-smile at the gruesome conversation. Sally thought it amusing that he'd think she'd have an issue with it. She'd read the tales and myths.

"Anyway, both of those two goddesses were worshiped so much for the same thing that they kind of combined and became one, or at least attributed to being more or less the same goddess. Other epithets have her more connected to the sea, others more connected to relationships, etc. I think the same thing, or something similar happened with the Romans." He snorted. "It's funny. Many of the gods seem to think of themselves as so much better than mortals but we need them far more than they need us."

He sounded so bitter.

And he still seemed to count himself as a god… understandable, but still heartbreaking.

"That sounds like something you've argued a lot."

He snorted. "Yeah. The Olympians never listen to me though. They just want to keep an eye on me, worried that my other powers will somehow grow into a domain too, or something ridiculous like that. Or maybe that I'll take over or some other sh… er… crap." At least he was still mindful of what he said around her. She could definitely appreciate that and found it endearing.

He was such a sweet kid. Why was he so ashamed of his destructive side? Well, she supposed she could understand, but still. He'd never use that to hurt anyone. Not intentionally.

But something told her that now wasn't the time to bring that up, so she focused on something else.

"Other Powers?"

He sighed. "Yeah. I mean, basic powers of a god, that most of us have. A true form; the ability to teleport as long as something divine wasn't holding us down; the ability to split my consciousness, though I only had a maximum of four at any given point, and even that could tire me out. I have no idea how Her… the Messenger of Olympus has a minimum of twelve at any given point. It was still something I could do, though I don't know how they thought I could gain some domain over that." He snorted, but then paused, troubled.

"And there's a mind-set that's different, Mom. I… I can't describe it… but I think I still have it. Or at least part of it. It's like I could think on the fifth dimension at times—transcend space and time to something more—while at other times… nothing more than human at best. And that whole 'thinking on a higher plane'… sometimes it just happened. I couldn't make it happen. Well, whenever I got particularly angry or frustrated, I guess… kind of, but other times, no matter how desperate I got, nothing. Triton felt similarly, and I never worked up the courage to ask Dad."

He shook his head. "Thing is, I'm mortal again, Mom. But… I remember things, just only in parts. Like some things I remember why I did them, but not how. Others I remember how but not why. Other things I know I did, but can't remember anything more than that. It's… kind of like a dream, but it's changed me. Even now, I can do more than I ever could originally at this age. Even a couple of years down the road." He looked down at his hand. "Like the Mist thing. I know you saw that."

She nodded, food all but forgotten in front of her.

"I'm pretty sure I could split my consciousness right now," he went on, voice quieter, "but… it would kill me. I remember how the currents and tides of the ocean work, but I know I couldn't begin to control them with my current power. Not on a scale larger than the Long Island Sound, and even then…

"I can sense every ounce of liquid around me—up to and including blood. That's… something I got from the future and I'm pretty sure it's part of why I became a god of liquids. I know how to teleport, but I can't do it as I am right now. It's like I've been bound to this plane… and maybe that's how gods are usually captured, their consciousness is just bound to this dimension.

"It's…" he paused, frustrated, then sighed in defeat. "Like I said, I really can't describe it. There aren't words in English or any other language originating from mortals that can, but because I know some divine things I really shouldn't—I remember my true form as a god, not to mention Dad's and Triton's, and that isn't something a normal mortal mind can comprehend. There has to be something different about me. And for that, I'm sorry. I… I don't know what happened to the Percy of this time. But I promise, I will do everything I can to get him back."

He looked at her then, with such conviction, she could almost feel herself tearing in two. Part of her would always love her son, no matter what he did, but she still needed her little boy back. She'd done so much to protect him, and couldn't just stop now.

"Thank you," she heard herself say softly.

The expression that crossed his face almost physically hurt her. Like he'd been expecting that, but his own heart had broken anyway. Sally frowned and thought over how her words could be taken and realized what he thought: that she didn't want anything to do with him as he was now. Yeah, she needed to head that off.

"But I'm also so proud of you," she forged on. "Even after all that time, you're still a good person. I can tell. You still want to help people, you still care about mortals. If you had to become a god, I know you couldn't have been a better one."

He looked so grateful for a moment, but… he thought she was wrong. She could tell that too.

He turned his eyes down in shame. "Mom… you don't know what I've done. What's happened because of me."

She reached over and put a hand on his cheek. "Oh, Percy. We're not perfect, and neither are Greek gods. I don't expect you to never make mistakes."

"But when I make mistakes as a god, people die, Mom!" he whispered, almost desperately. "Earthquakes happen. Tsunamis… I've accidentally turned people into liquids before. And I'm… I hate it! I never wanted to be a god! I still don't!"

Tears had come to his eyes now and he just looked so lost.

"Oh, Percy," she said, standing up and coming to sit beside him on the bench he'd taken as his seat. "My sweet, sweet boy. Have you ever wanted to hurt someone who is innocent?"

He sniffed, and shook his head. "No."

"Have you ever enjoyed someone in pain?"

He winced and buried his head in her shoulder. Oh. Sally didn't like what that said. "Only once," he muttered. "And I wasn't even a god then."

"I'm betting it was someone who hurt you," Sally guessed.

He nodded. "She was gonna kill me and Annabeth… and we were kind of on a quest to save the world. So many people were counting on us."

Annabeth, huh? She'd file that away for later.

"And never since then?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"Despite being a god?"

He snorted, but shook his head again.

"Then I think that one time was understandable. No, it's not something we should just excuse, but you've been carrying that pain for three hundred years. Don't you think it's about time to let it go?"

"It stops me from becoming like them," he whispered. Sally wanted to cry herself. It took every ounce of strength in her not to. "Like them?"

Percy looked up at her. "Like the Olympians. Even… even Dad and Triton. They just… can't understand. And I don't want to forget. I've already forgotten so much."

Sally reached up, cupping his jaw between her hands gently. "Percy, you are allowed to make mistakes. And it looks like you never made that mistake again. Even if you had, you could always work to fix it. And you do. You've already done so much. You're amazing. And I. Am. Proud of you."

He sniffed again. "E-even if I destroyed entire towns?"

And there went her heart again. Maybe she should just leave it shattered at the bottom of her ribcage?

"You can only do what you can to help who you can. Sometimes… and I hate to say this, but sometimes you'll lose people. That's what happens when you have power. And you have to take responsibility for that. But that doesn't mean you're a terrible person. Even as a god. Besides, how many people have you helped in the last 300 years?"

He sniffed and smiled wetly. "A lot."

She smiled again and smoothed his hair back from his forehead. "Now, those don't exactly cancel each other out—I don't think lives can be measured like that—but I do think your efforts count. Never stop trying to help, and I'm including yourself in that, young man." He snorted and buried his face in her shoulder again, but she could tell he was still smiling. "As long as you keep trying, or plan on continuing to try after you rest for a bit, then you could never disappoint me, Percy."

She smiled and rocked back and forth. "And even if you did disappoint me, I could never stop loving you. I promise my future self felt the same. I'm sure she was looking on from wherever she was in the afterlife and smiling at every good thing you ever did."

He hugged her tighter and she leaned her head on his. "I know the gods from the myths seem a little one-sided sometimes, shallow even," she said, "but even if you did become that way after millennia passed, I'll still love you."

He sobbed a little and they sat there for a bit while he hopefully released centuries of the pressure he put on himself. Eventually, he finally sat back and smiled up at his mother.

Yes. Yes, this was her little boy, and he always would be.

"You okay now?" she asked. "Or at least better?"

He nodded. "I forgot how amazing you are… and I never stopped believing you were awesome."

It was her turn to blush.

"Oh, hush, you," she muttered as she stood and returned to her seat, glancing around and seeing a couple of the restaurant servers watching them with fond smiles. Her blush deepened.

Percy cleared his throat and she turned her attention back to him. "Um…" he was obviously looking for a new topic, which… she really couldn't fault him for.

"You said gods seem a little one-sided or shallow in the myths. Um… I don't think you're wrong. Gods are both more and less complex than humans. We… they embody their domains so deeply, no human could understand. But areas outside our domain tend to be… lacking. Not always, and not with every aspect, but… yeah."

Sally snorted softly and went to put her now cold eggs into her mouth, she couldn't let the food go to waste.

"Sounds like something you've thought about a lot."

He smiled wanly at her. "Yeah."

He went to put his own eggs into his mouth, and that's when Sally struck, smiling mischievousy.

"Sooo… Annabeth?"

He spit his eggs out, actually having to cover his mouth to stop them from spraying everywhere.

"Mooooom!" he whined.

Sally couldn't help it. She burst out laughing.

xXx

AN: I know Sally's background may not be exactly canon, but I think it makes a bit more sense than what we got. *shrug* Just my opinion.

Also, one of my beta readers pointed out that it might be a little old when Percy keeps cutting off names he's half-way through saying, but he's just been saying those names for a couple of centuries. I don't think that would just go away, especially not with his current mind-set and state.

I'm not SUPER happy with this chapter, I mean I got a lot of what I wanted into it, but I'm not sure it flows. Quathis assured me it was fine though.

Anyway, thanks to my Beta Readers! Berix, The Shadow Slayer, Asterius Daemon, Quathis, Harlequin, and the Chronomancer!

Also, if you're having issues with ffnet updating, I always post a note about updates in my Discord. You just have to make sure you have the role for the group with the fic you want updates on. In this case, Percy Jackson Fans. :)

Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)