Wilson

My mom and her boyfriend went on a double date with Percy's parents tonight, and I was at his for a while. We had a smaller dinner and he fell asleep around 7:30, so I left him a little note so he won't panic when he wakes up and headed out. Figuring he'd sleep through the night.

And I'm sure Sally and Paul's intents were that talking to my mom would calm their nerves about Percy. That they could hear that this is a normal demigod thing that he's going through. I went through it and Mom did.

But we didn't. And after hearing everything from Sally and Paul, which wasn't even everything from what I understand, Mom got a bit worried about Percy and the others.

Mainly Percy.

So on Saturday we went into camp and most people were gone. Doing their own thing. That's what Saturdays are like in the off season. You can basically do whatever you want, just let Chiron or Mr. D know if you're leaving.

"This place has changed," Mom remarked as we walked towards the big house, and she pointed at the cabins. "how cabins were there when you went here?"

"Just 12," I told her. "That's always what it's been. Why?"

"That's more than 12." Mom explained, and upon further inspection, she was right. It looked like 20 or so cabins. "Who's in charge?"

I shrugged.

"Luke, probably."

We got to the big house, where Chiron and Mr. D were playing a game of pinochle. I'm not sure they know any other games to play with each other.

"Laura! Wilson!" How Chiron can remember everyone's names after years is beyond me. There's so many of us. "Come on in. It's been a while since I've seen either of you, how are you two doing? What brings you in?"

"We're doing alright!" My mom assured the centaur as they paused their game and moved as we sat across from them. "Wilson has been debating coming back for a last summer or two."

"That great!" Chiron exclaimed. "He's always welcome, you know that."

"No, that's not a problem, we know that we're welcome here." Mom insisted, and tried to think about how to word what we want to know. "before I let him come back, though, I want to ask a few questions."

"About?" Mr. D asked, curious.

"I mean, it's been a few years," my mother started off, sighing. "and he still talks to a few demigods from here, but they don't talk about camp much. He's met a few in school, too, that came here later. But first of all, I want to know that if he comes back for a summer, that he's coming home."

Mr. D didn't respond. Chiron did.

"Why wouldn't he?"

Mom didn't say anything for a minute, so I did.

"Beckendorf is dead," I pointed out to him. "And Silena, and that's not everyone, from what I understand. From what I've been told, a lot of people have died or almost died in the past few years."

"It really hasn't been that many—" Chiron's natural instinct was to defend the camp and his job. That's his job.

To Mr. D, this is a job he has to do. He's not here for the bullshit.

"Yeah, it has been a lot." The god of wine cut off Chiron pretty quickly. "There's no way around that. And as much as we've never been able to promise that you go home because you're a demigod, this year is looking a lot more promising. This year is rebuilding and adjusting and getting back to normal. There is stuff going on, but Apollo and a few others are dealing with it and you won't be involved. The only people that could get involved are our leaders and a few councilors who are readily prepared. We have a few people on call right now, but I doubt they'll actually be called. That's a last minute if the like four people already there with Apollo die sort of situation and they'll gotten through a lot without being hurt more than something that needs to be bandaged and given some ibuprofen."

It was silent for a second.

"So if it's not that bad," I questioned. "Why aren't a lot of them even in school yet?"

That confused them and they asked for clarification.

"I go to school with Percy," I clarified for the two people who run this place. "You know, Percy Jackson? Son of Poseidon? He got home about a week ago and today he tried to go back to school and he didn't even make it half a day. From what he's told me, he's the first person to even try to go back and he did it because Paul is a teacher. If it's not that bad, why isn't he sleeping through the night without waking up at least 3 times? He disappeared off the face of the Earth for almost a year and he doesn't want to talk about it beyond Hera wiped his memory and he had to go to Greece. If it's not bad, why if he filtering some of what's happened from his parents? I want to hear the bad."

Knowing he couldn't say much, Chiron went to help campers outside.

Mr. D sighed, and I wasn't a fan of that shit.

"Percy, Annabeth, and Nico," Mr. D started off, sounding a little hesitant. "Who is a son of Hades, almost 16. Those three have definitely gotten everything the worst."

"Why?"

He gave me a warning look to be patient, but I was just worried about my boyfriend and my childhood best friend.

"I'm not sure how much Percy or Annabeth have told you," Mr. D explained to my mother and I. "but 5 years ago now, a little over at that, Kronos regained his ability to contact people and he got ahold of Luke and got Luke to side with him. The summer Percy arrived, he went on a quest, it was successful, Luke resigned, and gave Percy the camp. He told Percy his plan of taking over and left. I don't know how many quests Percy went on just to try to level the playing field and Annabeth was with along with Grover. Eventually they recruited Nico. But last summer Kronos summoned Luke and resigned war and I went to a meeting and they closed the doors and Zeus said flee, the kids will take care of it."

Dionysus paused for a second.

"And they did," he told us, and for a second I was worried that one of his sons died last summer. "Kronos is gone for another few thousands years it seems. However, we lost Beckendorf in a mission, Silena sacrificed herself in battle, and we lost a lot of other kids just to the battle. A bridge fell and some demigods couldn't run fast enough. It really sucks. I wasn't there when Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Luke, and his second hand Ethan, all fought. I know it hurt Annabeth emotionally and I know that Luke stabbed himself when he gained control of his body. Most gods don't know that because the story is that Percy stabbed him and that was it because that's how it was supposed to go. But you know he couldn't do that, and he didn't."

Mr. D paused.

"A few months later, Gaea started to want to do the same thing and Hera panicked and switched around a Greek and Roman demigod to make peace with the camps, which mostly worked." He went on. "Percy and Jason. Annabeth just about lost her mind looking for him and the only people who knew about it was Hera. She didn't tell any of us until after Percy was found and only at the most it was 10 of them going to Greece, but in that time, 3 of them went through Tartarus for a few weeks. Nico was alone for a little over a week, Percy and Annabeth fell down together for a couple weeks."

It was silent because I couldn't respond to that. My mom couldn't, either.

How do you get through that? Even with someone, that's the worst place to be. That's worse than my worst nightmare.

"And luckily, they all came out alive." Mr. D pointed out. "They're all smart enough and strong enough to get through that. But to go from that and within two weeks go into a battle against Giants and monsters and mother nature that started because of a nosebleed on Percy's sake, it's hard to even comprehend what happened, much less talk about it and get better. Percy has gone through the most hell of any camper in over a hundred years I would say with a bit of confidence. Okay? He's in a really shitty spot because of it and I'm aware of that and as much as Chiron doesn't seem to understand what they're going through, Apollo and I are trying to find help for them. It hasn't been much because Zeus currently has a stick up his ass, but we're getting there, and while I can't personally ensure 100% that you're going to go home next fall, it's like a 90-95% chance right now. Okay? If anything starts to develop negatively, we can let you guys know. But for now, camp is rebuilding, and is safe. It doesn't sound like it, but currently, it is."

Taking his word, Mom and I left. She went to go get some shopping done and I went to afternoon practice for swimming.

Everyone was expecting Percy to come, and I had to break the bad news. It'd be a few weeks, but we can go visit him if he want. He isn't dying, he's just at home.

So after practice, a few of us went over. It was Drew, Andy, and myself. And of course, Percy was home. So we're Sally and Paul.

When Sally told us to wait in the living room, it made me nervous.

And then Percy came out, and he was arguing with somebody. Somebody he probably shouldn't be arguing with.

His father. Poseidon.

I've never seen any God in real life beyond Mr. D, so this was kind of intense. I didn't know... Even if I knew what to do, I was kind of in a lot of shock.

He's here! And they're arguing!

"What do you want me to do about it?" Percy asked the man who he looked nearly identical to. They weren't joking when they told me that Percy looks like his dad. "They're in California, on the other side of the country, and I can't fly. Is Reyna not dealing with it? Or Jason? Or anyone in California? It's their jobs, too."

"They are, and Lester is still tracking it down to try and stop it," Poseidon insisted. "But they need help, Percy. If you could just have camp—"

"I'm not doing it," Percy insisted, seeming a little frustrated. "Okay? For now, and until I say else wise. Me, not Chiron or Mr. D. Until I say else wise, Camp is remaining neutral. We are in the middle of rebuilding the camp and healing kids and getting them back home. Okay? I'm not putting more kids in danger. We just got home. We took the load for five years, they can take their share out in California. Sorry, but tell the others that we're not getting involved."

"But Percy—"

"We're not getting involved," Percy wasn't about the change his mind on whatever was going on. "So unless you were here for something else, you're excused, we have guests, and I'd rather not argue in front of them."

So Poseidon left and Percy walked over, looking irritated.

"Sorry, he just... We don't click," my boyfriend apologized as he sat down next to me, across from the other two. "How was practice?"