IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!

This is a repost of the chapter I posted on Monday. It was brought to my attention (thank you all who said something) that I didn't post chapter 10. I thought I had, because it was here in my document manager, but apparently I didn't. So the following chapter is the chapter I posted on Monday. Currently, chapter 10 is what SHOULD have been posted LAST WEEK.

My apologies.

TLDR: Of you've already read this chapter, please read the chapter before this (chapter 10).

Thank you.

xXx

"Poseidon."

Percy jumped about a mile, then berated himself for his lack of situational awareness. So many things could have told him someone was sneaking up on him… or just walking up behind him, but he'd been distracted brainstorming more ways he could make people think he belonged to some of the other gods. And not only had he been at camp, but on the beach, which meant he'd felt particularly secure. Which was actually a good thing because after Tartarus that hadn't happened for years but…

Yeah, there was a lot of baggage to unpack there. So… later.

"Excuse me?" Percy asked, whipping around, only to see one Annabeth Chase standing above him, arms crossed. She seemed more wary of him than before, but her body language looked relaxed and non-combative.

"Can I sit down?"

He frowned. "Of course." He didn't own the beach. The Camp did, so he supposed the gods did… and he wasn't one of them yet, so yeah.

Carefully, Annabeth sat in the sand, gray eyes studying him. "I think your father is Poseidon."

He raised an eyebrow and smirked. Yeah, he knew she'd get it, but he wondered how she'd explained everything he'd shown so far and come to that conclusion.

"And I think you used to be a god."

Percy dropped his notebook and his jaw fell open. How had she figured that out?! No, seriously… HOW?!

"That's how you can control liquids, I'm guessing. It's an augmentation or evolved domain from your father's. He has shown a great deal of… um… power in the past, and most children of the big three tend to be able to fight really well, so that explains that. He was known as the strategist of Olympus before my mother was born, so that's how you could know strategy, plus being a several hundred or thousand year-old god could give you that, as well as whatever you did to convince the Aphrodite cabin. It would also explain why you want to keep your parentage secret, and so why you cooked up this as a 'prank' for the Hermes cabin.

"But another divine being or monster has to be involved somehow because of what you've shown… which means either a legacy on your mortal parent's side—which is super rare—or you're half monster—doubtful as the camp boarders wouldn't let you through—or a god yourself. Or you used to be, and you're mortal now.

"It would also explain why you said 'these kids' to me when regarding the rest of the camp and why Mr. D talked about your domains at the pavilion."

He could only stare in wonder at this girl with such an amazing intellect. For a moment, he had to squash down an old anger that always stoked his destruction domain. It wasn't directed at her (never at her) but at those who had separated him and his wife. Who had taken this amazing girl from him.

He stomped on it hard. Getting upset here would do no good.

Besides, he'd promised.

"Have you told anyone else about your theory?" he asked, voice a little rough.

She glanced warily at him but shook her head. "No. I… figured if you're here and I'm right, you have a reason."

"I appreciate that," he said, shaking his head, feeling his anger subside to something more manageable… more normal. Then he leaned back on his hand, half buried in the sand, as he regarded her.

"Okay, I'm curious. Which 'god' do you think I am, then?"

She shrugged. "I have a list." She took a folded piece of paper out of her back pocket and handed it to him. He opened it and glanced over it. The fact that Triton was on it gave him no endless amount of amusement. The fact that Chrysaor was on it did not.

"Alright, so how do you explain my mother then?" he asked. "I know several people saw her while she was here, so you have to know about her."

Annabeth frowned. "Could have been a nymph posing as your mother, or another goddess… why else would she be here?"

Percy smirked, reached into his pocket, then pulled out a drachma and a crystal he'd recently been able to buy at the camp store.

"Oh, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering! I'd like to speak to Sally Jackson in Manhattan," and he gave her the address, all the while smirking at a wide-eyed Annabeth.

The rainbow cleared and an image of his mother appeared in the sand. She was down on her hands and knees, scrubbing something.

"Mom?" he asked.

She jumped and turned around. "What the… Oh! Percy!" she paused, looking him up and down. "So this is an Iris Message, huh?"

"Yup!" Then he grinned wider. "Did you finally get him out?"

She smiled sharply. "He's gone. Divorce will be finalized in… well, not soon enough, but my evidence should speed it up. Then I sued him for money owed. I think the judge was sympathetic to me or your father helped out because he awarded me everything I asked. So I was able to quit one of my jobs and have been trying to clean up this mess ever since."

Percy beamed. "That's great to hear!"

She nodded, then looked at the shell-shocked girl sitting beside him. "So, who is this, honey?"

He sent her a warning look before introducing them. "Mom, this is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. Annabeth, this is my mom, Sally Jackson."

His mother's eyebrows rose in surprise for a moment. Then she grinned slyly. "Oh? Annabeth?"

"Mom," he said, voice deadpan.

She just grinned wider, then held up her hands. "It's my right as a mother to tease my pre-teen son about future crushes."

"MOM," he hissed, hating how he felt himself blush, both from the pain of old memories and embarrassment. He looked over at Annabeth, who was blushing too and staring down at the sand.

Sally laughed. "I'm sorry, honey. I'll make you some cookies to make up for it?"

He grumbled. "Double batch."

"Of course."

"Blue?"

"Naturally."

He grinned. "You are forgiven."

"Over cookies?" Annabeth asked.

Percy just sniffed at her. "You've never tasted her cookies before."

His mom laughed again. Then she looked around and her grin faded. "As much as I love talking to you, honey, I don't have a lot of time to get this place clean before the inspection."

"Inspection?" he asked, worried. "Are you leaving?"

She nodded. "I don't want to chance Gabe coming back here. He's already tried once, and I called the cops on him. So I have another apartment set up."

"Is everything okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes," she said, placating. "But just to be safe, you know?"

"I should be there, helping you," he said. "I can leave right now and—"

"Don't you even think about it. You have things you need to learn there, don't you?" she asked, eyes darting to Annabeth and back. "Friends to make, a life to live. I can pack this all up on my own. I actually have a lot of free time now."

Percy frowned. "But…" he started, already knowing it was futile.

"No buts about it, young man. If I need your help, I'll contact Chiron…" she paused, frowning. "I'm sure I have his number in my purse."

"I'll get you a card or the number if I have to," he assured her. Then he looked down, feeling guilty. It had been a week since he last talked to her, and he'd only gotten a crystal that morning? What kind of a son was he? "Sorry I haven't called you recently."

"You were getting settled at Camp, honey. I understand. Now, why don't you call me tomorrow, huh? If I get everything done that I need to tonight, I should have some time."
Percy smiled wanly at her. "Okay. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie. Nice to meet you Annabeth. If he can, Percy should bring you around for cookies. You'd be welcome in my home."

The blond just nodded and Percy's mother turned back to him. "It was wonderful to see you, honey. I'll get back to work now. Bye!"

"Bye, Mom."

Hesitantly, he brushed his hand through the rainbow and her image disappeared. For a moment, he bit his lip. Should he not listen and head back to New York to help her? He could go there and make it back to camp in a couple of days. He could even take Annabeth if she wanted to come…

Then again, would Chiron even let them go?

"Okay, she was definitely mortal… and you definitely care for her," Annabeth said slowly, as if working something out in her head.

"But…" he prodded.

"But what I said before still stands," she said, frustrated. "How else could you have your own domains? I heard Mr. D say that!"

Percy stiffened a little. "What else did you hear him say?"

She huffed. "Just what was said at the pavilion. I can't go invisible or anything so I couldn't follow you." She grumbled that last part under her breath. Oh, so she didn't have her Yankee's cap yet? Good to know.

Eventually she fell back into the sand, arms spread out, and groaned. "I will figure you out, Percy Jackson. I promise."

He just grinned. "I look forward to it."

With that, she got up and walked away. He watched her go, brushing her shirt and jeans off before starting on her hair, grumbling about sand the entire time.

Then he looked back down at the list he still had in his hands. He still couldn't help but smile at the name 'Triton' there at the top. His brother would never live this down if he could help it. Well, once they had a decent relationship in any case.

xXx

Gods Eight and Nine came by accident about two weeks into his stay at camp.

That night had been rough, both outside and in with a harsh wind blowing around the borders. The prank wasn't on hold, per se, but a lot of the cabin seemed to need time to warm back up to it, which he thought was completely understandable. In response, he'd gone from brainstorming ideas for the prank with the Hermes cabin and on his own, to brainstorming ways to start the conversation with Luke. Unfortunately, he… wasn't good at it and had come to the conclusion he'd probably just have to pull his usual nonsense and bumble his way through it.

Frustrated and annoyed, he'd gone to sleep a little later than he wanted to, and was plagued with dreams of the future, how the camp had gone downhill without him, how Apollo had taken over and was doing his best, but…

He didn't know what time he opened his eyes, but it was late. Trying to figure out what had woken him, he reached out to his domains, almost on habit, and frowned. It was vague, but he could sense danger coming towards the camp. Monsters, he thought. But… not strong enough to get past the barrier. Groaning, he rolled over and buried his face in his pillow. The idea of walking out to face the problem did not appeal to him for some reason. He frowned. Since when did he back down from a fight? A comparatively easy fight. He'd never been nervous of going outside the camp before, but even the thought of stepping past the border unnecessarily… well, it didn't scare him, but it was close. That was new. What?

It took him a moment to realize why. Ascension. He didn't want to ascend again—wanted to put it off for as long as possible. He knew the kind of fights he would have to face in the coming years, but he'd have to face them as a demigod… or not at all. If he ascended, he'd have to leave everyone to fend for themselves, with only what little help he could swing to give them due to the rules; rules that would very much be enforced by the Drama Queen of Sparks, no matter the consequences. He couldn't do that—had to prevent that at all costs, and every time he fought, he would risk getting lost in one of his domains, like destruction. Even in fairly minor fights, if he used too much power, he could ascend. But he also didn't have a firm grasp on his power levels right now. Not really. He knew what he could do if pushed… but if he made a particularly bad judgment call, and died, he'd ascend (or end up in Asphodel).

Neither of those appealed to him. So, while knowing monsters were outside the border felt like an itch he couldn't scratch, if they wouldn't make it past Thalia's tree—

Fear that wasn't his zinged through him, cutting off his thoughts. His eyes widened and he sat bolt upright. A demigod! The monsters were chasing a demigod!

Styx!

For a moment, his two fears clashed. He didn't want to leave and risk ascending but… he couldn't leave a demigod out there alone. He couldn't. And as a god of loyalty, he wouldn't. Determined, he kicked his way out of his sleeping bag, stumbled to his feet and headed for Luke. The guy may be a traitor to the gods, but he'd help demigods now.

"Luke," he hissed, shaking the older boy. "Luke!"

Luke sat straight up, reaching for Percy's neck out of habit, probably. Or trauma. Half expecting it, Percy yelped and ducked, waiting for the other demigod's eyes to clear.

"Percy?" the Son of Hermes asked, croaked really, voice thick with sleep. "What's wrong?"

"Monsters are chasing someone to camp!" he whispered urgently. "They need help!"

Luke (and several others they'd accidentally woken) stared at Percy for several seconds. Then, to his credit, the blond rolled out of bed, scrambled for his shoes and shoving his feet into them before grabbing his sword.

"Hermes cabin! Anyone who can fight! Follow me!"

"What's going on?" someone asked. Percy didn't bother to see who, leaving it to the others to explain. He simply grabbed his own shoes and sword and followed the son of Hermes out the door and into the warm, summer night. Luke seemed to be waiting, or he'd turned around because they almost ran into each other.

"Where are they, Percy?" he asked.

Closing his eyes, Percy reached for his domains again.

"That way," he said, pointing off to the left, past the big house and Thalia's tree.

"Typical," Luke muttered. "Let's go!"

Percy nodded and they both started running for Half-Blood Hill.

About half-way there, something sharp ran through Percy's stomach and he cried out.
"Luke! They're hurt!"

Luke cursed and turned around, half running, half walking backwards. "Jake! Get the Apollo campers and tell them to meet us over here!" Then he grabbed Percy's arm. "Show me where."

Nodding, Percy focused on rushing forward, up the hill and past Thalia's tree, Luke by his side. That felt weird to realize, but was something he'd have to deal with later. Right now, he had a life to save.

"Over there!" he yelled, pointing towards a nearby field.

"Hurry!" Luke yelled, then glanced over his shoulder. "This way!"

Percy also looked behind them and saw several Hermes campers running after them. He let out a breath of relief just before something pierced his shoulder… or it felt like it, but nothing was there. The demigod again…

He hadn't been this in tune with a demigod's emotions for a long time…

Grunting, he braced his teeth against the pain that faded and they continued to run. They heard yells and screams in the distance, and ran faster, shoes pounding against the road.

He didn't notice the clouds gathering overhead until the rain began to pelt them. In front of him, Luke cursed, but didn't slow down.

"Over here!" Percy yelled when Luke slowed at the edge of the field. The time-traveler didn't so much as pause, plowing through the half-grown rows.

A loud braying of a Satyr in pain made him clench his teeth harder and he willed himself to go faster.

He caught the commotion and movement at the far corner of the field not long after, and hurtled through the night, yelling angrily at the hellhound the size of a minivan.

"Percy!" Luke yelled behind him, but Percy didn't stop. He slid under the hellhound with his unbalanced sword, and sliced upwards with all the strength his little limbs could muster. The monster fell into gold dust.

Then he saw a dracaena looking at him, surprised eyes wide and glowing. Angrily, he threw himself forward, sword braced to slice her head off, but she dodged, swiping at him as he rushed by.

"Sisters!" she screamed.

Cries from behind him answered, but he had twisted aside, and was already leaping at her again. She wasn't fast enough this time, and his sword pierced her side. Throwing all of his power behind the pull, he sliced sideways and she returned to Tartarus.

Then he had to duck as more swipes came at him. He rolled and jumped onto the next dracaena's back, stabbing down before she could move. With a cry, she was gone too.

Rain was coming down in rivulets now and Percy knew the storm belonged to him. His destructive side tended to come out like that in battles.

"Where did all these hellhounds come from?" he heard Luke yell and leaped in that direction.

There was one last dracaena fighting Johan behind Luke, who was battling with a hellhound along side several other campers. Percy leaped at the dracaena, pinning her down with his control over water, taking her by surprise. He landed on top of her and put his sword to her throat.

"Who sent you!" he yelled.

She hissed at him.

"Do you want to die fast or slow?" he threatened. "Who. Sent. You?" He put every ounce of power he could into those words. The storm around them fell harder.

"No one!" she choked, half on water, half because of Percy kneeling on top of her, one foot braced against the ground. "We just thought it would be a good idea to set up an ambush for you brats on your way to your camp!"

Percy snorted, feeling for her blood… she was telling the truth.

He shook his head. "Bad idea. Remember that next time." And with that, he sliced her neck. She disappeared into familiar gold dust that immediately mixed with the rain and mud. He noticed the other hellhound was nowhere in sight and several demigods seemed to be recovering, heaving loudly with their hands on their knees or looking around for more monsters.

Percy ignored them and headed for the two weak heartbeats he could sense.

"Help!" someone said. "Please… help! Bah-ah-ah…"

The Satyr.

"Over here," the voice called weakly. He sounded pained. Percy had to pass him to get to the demigod, and paused by his side.

"We're here," he said calmly.

"Over there! Please!" the Satyr, a boy who looked more like a fifth-grader than the protector he was supposed to be, begged. He pointed in the direction of the second heartbeat. Percy nodded, then glanced at the satyr's legs. One had been broken pretty badly. He winced.

"I'll find them."

"Percy!" he heard Luke call, but didn't answer. Instead he got to the demigod laying splayed across the ground. She had long, dark hair fanning out around her, mixing into the mud and was obviously unconscious.

"Over here!" he yelled, checking her over for injury, cursing the fact that he couldn't just flash her to camp. He could tell she didn't have any breaks, but she did have some severe wounds he needed to get to. Wincing, he carefully rolled her over and prayed it wouldn't hurt her. She didn't respond, and her heartbeat was weakening.

He cursed again.

"Someone get the Apollo kids here now!" he yelled. Then he closed his eyes and felt for her blood. He had a heart to keep going and blood circulation to maintain. He could do that at least. And keep the rain out as well.

The storm around them began to fade off as he focused his energy elsewhere, doing his best to keep the girl alive. She had a slice across her stomach that had bled way too much already, and several holes in her shoulder where it looked like talons or something had pierced her.

"Percy! What are you doing?" he heard Luke ask, but again, didn't respond. He had to focus.

"Percy?!"

But he wasn't sure he could answer even if he wanted to. Luke's voice came to him as if from a distance. He was just too focused on keeping the girl in front of him alive.

He didn't know how long he stayed there, but eventually several hands pulled him away from her body and others took his place.

He made a token protest, but before he could do anything about it, spots danced at the edge of his vision. Oh. He'd… pushed too much. Probably shouldn't be surprised.

For the first time since coming back to the past, he really regretted his mortal body. Well, he almost regretted it, because knowing he hadn't ascended yet sent relief surging through him. At least he didn't think he was ascending. It didn't hurt that much.

He didn't have long to contemplate it before the spots took over everything and he fell unconscious.

xXx

Percy came to slowly, a heavy feeling dragging at his body that he hadn't felt in so long, but he remembered it and despised it intimately.

He'd over-extended his powers. Again. Ugh.

He hadn't felt this way since he'd been a demigod, though. So why… wait…

Time travel. Woke up before the Second Titan War, and he's been trying to knock some sense into people's heads—both gods and demigods… right. And he was connected to the camp because he'd been in charge of it in the future, and he had his domains from the future as a demigod, if not so completely as when he was a god… and there'd been a demigod coming to camp!

The girl!

His eyes popped open and he sat up straight, immediately regretting it as his body protested vehemently. He couldn't stop himself from collapsing back onto the bed like so much hamburger meat in a grinder. And knowing him, probably just about as bloody. He wouldn't know. Opening his eyes hurt more.

"Percy!" someone said over his groans. He gathered the will to peek one eye open again and looked over to see Luke sitting in a chair, still in his pajamas from the night before. (He hoped it was the night before.) The other demigod looked dry, but the bags under his eyes said he hadn't slept much. And his hair… yikes.

"Luke?" he asked in a scratchy voice.

"Is he awake?" Someone else asked, and Chris came into view from somewhere over on the other side of the room.

"Percy?" A couple more voices asked, and several cots moved… or the people on top of them did, and he saw at least half of the Hermes cabin there.

"Guys?" he asked, confused. Were they all injured?! He hoped not…

"You idiot!" Ethan Nakamura growled from his bed, darkness radiating off of him for a moment. He very much reminded Percy of his mother just then. "You wake us up and go running off—probably in a storm you created because that popped up and died down way too fast for it to be anything but divine power—and practically kill yourself fighting multiple monsters that most of us haven't ever even seen! What the actual—"

"Ethan!" Luke scolded, drowning out whatever he said, although it wasn't difficult to figure out.

"—Are you, Percy Jackson?!"

"To be fair," Amy said from her place behind Percy and just out of his view, but he could just imagine the dry expression on her face, "I've put both Apollo and Zeus on the list of odds. Zeus for the storm and Apollo for the prophetic dreams and some rudimentary healing that kept our newest camp member alive."

"Is she okay?" Percy asked, too tired to try and reach out to his domains.

"She'll live, thanks to you," a new voice said. Everyone turned to the mouth of the medical ward (aka a room in the big house built for more or less this purpose) to see an obvious daughter of Apollo enter. She was someone else Percy didn't remember from his previous life. There were too many of those. How did the camp grow in number next summer after losing so many campers?

"I'm Erin Colewood," she said as she strode up to Percy's bedside. "And we almost lost two demigods last night, not just one. I don't know what you did, but you kept that girl alive and it almost killed you.

Percy shrugged. He couldn't remember much more than 'keep her blood flowing, keep her heart pumping, keep it clean and uncontaminated, and oh, she needs more!' so he may or may not have conjured blood—or more likely, duplicated it—to make sure she had enough in her veins. He wasn't entirely sure.

"She would have died otherwise," he pointed out tiredly.

"And who knows how many other campers we would have lost to those monsters," Luke said, sounding just as tired and resigned.

Erin sighed but nodded. "Yeah. You did good, kid. And she'll be fine. It might take a while, but we got to her in time, thanks to you."

Percy beamed.

Luke groaned. "Don't encourage him. He's the largest demigod trouble magnet I've seen since I came to camp and that's saying so much."

"I've decided to give odds on his legacy parent, by the way," Amy said suddenly.

Percy blinked. "What?" he asked.

"My money's on Apollo," Chris called.

"I think Hermes is his Legacy grandparent," Mara's voice commented from somewhere else out of Percy's view.

Percy wanted to be offended on behalf of his mother, but he really couldn't muster the energy. He tried for a token effort anyway. "My Mom is not a demigod."

"Okay, great-grandparent," Amy said nonchalantly. "That's the most likely reason for you to have so many different powers that make no sense." Ah, there was the frustration he'd been waiting for. "I'm definitely putting down an option for a double or even triple legacy."

"Hmm. Legacy of Apollo, child of Poseidon for me," Erin said, striding up to Amy and plopping a couple of coins into her hand. Percy couldn't see Amy's smile from where she sat, but he was positive it was an ear-to-ear grin. "I reserve the right to add in another legacy, though."

"Traitor," he muttered to Erin. "Aren't you supposed to be helping me?"

"Here's me helping you. Drink this," she said, leaning down and putting a cup to his lips. He lapped at it and tasted heaven. All these years later, and his mother's blue cookies were still what he tasted. It was more and different as a god, but he was still not unhappy to have that nostalgic taste back to its pure form.

He must be really tired.

He could see why gods left human food alone when they had ambrosia and nectar.

The warmth spread inside him and he sighed back into his bed, already losing consciousness. He just didn't have the energy to stay awake. The last thing he said before he drifted off into Morpheus' realm was:

"Luke, go to sleep."

He heard some sputtering, several sharp laughs, and then nothing.

Gods Eight and Nine, check.

xXx

AN: So, a longer chapter this time. Definitely one of my favorites though. :3

Thanks to my beta readers and discord mods: Berix, The Shadow Slayer, Asterius Daemon, Quathis, Harlequin, Speedster, Snow, 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. LOL (FYI, I know there are a lot of names here, but sometimes someone will come in and then life will catch up and they have to drop out of the running, so we replace them (usually from my discord) and they pick up from wherever we are now, naturally. So yeah. :) Thank you, again, to everyone.

Staying with Hubby in the new facility. It's... small, but he's already made progress. We have an appointment tomorrow and I'll have to wake up 3 hours earlier than I would like, but that's what you do for love, right?

Discord: www. /xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)