Butcher

I

The first thing any demigod would hear when arriving at Camp Half-Blood was that it was the only safe place in the world for demigods to thrive.

And this was partially true, despite other places existing alongside Camp. He got used to big exposures to death in the first years of his life as a hero and wondered if he was just that lucky that he averted his demise so many times. It turned out he was destined to reach at least sixteen, but from there he did not really know what would come next.

But the answer would come pretty soon. Arguably his greatest trials would come after his supposedly greatest of them all happened. Falling into Tartarus made an impression on him that he knew that he would never recover from. Being able to control any liquids... was unprecedented. It brought a new range of opportunities for him to make things better.

Because he had been all too familiar with guilt. Guilt for not saving the countless lives that had been extinguished so he would live to fight another day. Zoë, Bob, Damasen, Bianca, Beckendorf, you name it. This newly discovered power could easily prevent more loss of life. But despite how eager he was to make this happen, never would he go against the wishes of his lover.

When he first controlled the poison of Akhlys, he felt something inside of him break into millions of pieces, urging him to destroy the wicked goddess and make her suffocate in her own tears. It was only when Percy had seen the terror on Annabeth's face that he stopped. It clumsily glued the pieces together, but he knew that this was the best that it could ever be done. Never again would the pieces be fully connected, no matter how hard he tried.

It didn't stop with poison, though. He quickly discovered that it could be so much more. He and Annabeth were going to his parent's home when they were faced with some monsters. They fought them with relative ease, but Annabeth was injured in the middle of the battle. Turns out, it barely scratched her, but it made his heart clench in desperation. Without even realizing it, he got control of the bloodstream of a single hellhound. The beast yelped in pain, and once more Annabeth was horrified by what she saw.

This time, he promised not to exploit more of this bloodbending. There are things you shouldn't control . These words would forever accompany him, until the day he died.

For the next months, he tried to help people the best he could while also heavily pursuing his goals of trying to live a normal life, trying as best as he could to forget his memories of Tartarus, and whatever these new powers were. Things like finding a chalice to enter college, bringing a god and its demigod master to camp, defeating another metal giant, and training a Norse demigod. Average stuff for him, considering what he had to go through earlier in his life.

But it could never be this easy.

Sally Jackson, the mother of the Hero of Olympus, died in childbirth. Thankfully, Estelle lived, and Paul was still here. Annabeth grieved alongside Percy. The cracks got worse after that, but the night after his mother's death he took a deep breath. There still was much to be done. Sally would not want him to be grieving forever. He knew that when death claimed her, she would accept it. Despite her mortality, she was willing to do anything for the greater good, even if it took her own life with it. Much like Percy.

For his family, he tried to keep the pieces together. Looking up to the future. Most parents died before their children, after all, it was natural. But Percy had wholeheartedly expected to perish before his mother, mainly because of him being a half-blood. The Fates probably laughed at his assumption.

Traveling west was always dangerous. He straight up refused to use the newly reformed Labyrinth, so the journey out west to get to Camp Jupiter had to happen by foot, of course, to settle in New Rome and start attending university along with his girlfriend. Surprisingly, it went smoothly during the first days of the journey, even meeting up with Grover again. That truly felt like the old days. But of course, something was bound to happen, right after they separated from their satyr friend in California.