More Than Just a Half Blood

Chapter 1: A Quest [v2]

A/N: I do not own any of the characters. Those rights go to JK Rowling and Rick Riordan.

Percy couldn't help but feel relaxed and sad as he approached Camp Half Blood and started to take in the familiar scenery. The war against Gaea had been absolutely brutal - in the year since, the camp had gotten as close as possible to a state of normalcy and had restored most of the camp to what it used to be. As the camp slowly started to resemble what it had been before the war, the campers had also begun to act like their former selves. He could hear laughter as he approached Thalia's pine tree - he started to smile and was ready to call out to whoever was nearby and let them know he was back. His mouth was open when he heard the first Clang! It felt like time stopped as he stared blankly ahead. More laughter could be heard in the background of what he assumed was a friendly match but Percy didn't see Camp Half Blood anymore. Percy was back on the Argo II, surrounded by monsters. There was no end in sight to the battle raging on. He kept glancing around, trying to find Annabeth. He couldn't lose her again. Not again. Another monster came at him and he brought Riptide up in defense just in time to cut through it. As the dust settled around him, he started looking for her again--

"Mr. Percy! Mr. Percy! Is this it? Is this the place?"

He was startled out of his flashback by a young girl's voice. He looked down and remembered where he was and what he had been doing. Rosaline had one of the biggest smiles he had seen from her, showing off one of her missing teeth. Percy had been on his way to Georgia to pick up a demigod he'd been tipped off about when he (literally) ran into Rosaline during a pitstop. She was an adorable 8 year old who had no idea what she was or that she still had a mother out there somewhere - her father had passed away while she was still young so she'd been staying at a foster home. She'd been a ray of sunshine on the drive back to camp, helping cheer him up and make the journey to get and return with Max so much better. Max was the demigod he'd been originally tasked with picking up. His dad had known this moment was coming and had already told Max that one day his mom's side of the family would be coming to pick him up and explain everything. That bit was true - Demeter had asked Chiron to help locate her son before it got too dangerous for him to continue living unaware in the mortal realm. Max was 11 years old, turning 12 in 2 short months, and reminded Percy so much of what he was like when he'd first come to camp - hopeful, excited, eager to learn more about a new world.

"Yeah, welcome to Camp Half Blood." Percy tried to keep a genuine smile on his face, but the flashback was still ringing in his mind. Shaking it off as much as he could, he led Rosie and Max through the camp to The Big House, pointing out some of the different areas they passed on the way. He was exhausted from the long drive, but he refused to take a plane like Chiron suggested. Though he and Zeus may be on good terms (as in I'm-not-going-to-kill-you terms), Percy didn't want to push his luck.

Over the last year, Percy had been going on a lot more quests, albeit pretty minor ones that he could mostly do on his own. He'd been having a hard time readjusting to "normal" after 5 years of nonstop battles, especially after coming back from Tartarus and battling Gaea. Chiron had noticed it too. He knew Percy needed something to help channel the emotions and rage that would build up over time. If he stayed at camp just helping rebuild everything, he would crack and show everyone else that the "Savior and Hero of Olympus" wasn't doing okay. And if their hero wasn't doing okay, the rest of the campers would sink back to the depressed states they were in right after the war. He had to show everyone that it was okay to be happy again, whatever that really meant.

If he didn't have a quest to go on, he made sure there was something to take up his time--sword practice, teaching other campers, visiting Camp Jupiter to help with repairs, checking up on reconstruction, updating his journal on which monsters had attacked most recently and where, etc. Anything to keep him busy and not get too caught up in his thoughts and memories. If he let his mind wander he'd keep thinking about everyone who hadn't made it through the war, his friends who'd given up their lives for him. He would start thinking back to his time in Tartarus, wondering how Bob and Damasen are, and whether or not he could have saved them. He'd think about the final battle that ended the Second Titan War. He'd think about how he could have saved so many lives. And above all, he'd think of everyone who was dead, and the one undeserving person who was still alive. Him.

As soon as Percy was within ten feet of the Big House, he could hear screams coming from inside. What surprised him was that he recognized the voice that was screaming as his mother's voice, which startled him more than his earlier flashback. He'd only ever heard her scream on very rare occasions - usually when he was in some sort of danger. He called Nyssa, a daughter of Hephaestus, and Will, a son of Apollo, over to give Rosaline and Max a tour of camp since Percy had already explained the whole one-of-your-parents-is-a-god thing to them.

Percy opened the door to the Big House and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. The scene he saw in front of him stunned him into silence. His mom was screaming at some old man with an insanely long beard and weird robes. Chiron was off to the side, looking as if he wanted to interfere but thought better not to. The old man interrupted every now and then, only to be cut off by Sally.

"I will not allow my son to go on this quest!"

"He is also a wizard--"

"But I don't want him to be one! I closed myself off from that world for a reason!"

"It should be his choice to--"

"He's still my son, and I refuse to let him be a part of another war!"

"I understand, Sally, but--"

"But nothing! I decided to quit it all the moment things got out of hand. I told James and Lily they ought to do the same, but they chose not to! And now they're dead!"

Sally's voice started to choke on the last couple words, pushing Percy to move over to his mom and try to calm her down. "Hey mom, it's okay. It's going to be okay." He didn't know what "it" was, but he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her towards a chair so she could sit down. He knelt in front of her so they were eye-level and tried to show her a genuinely happy expression. "Take some deep breaths okay? Remember what the doc said about stress on the baby?"

He saw her glance down at her stomach for a moment before starting to take some deep breaths. She was near the end of her second trimester and was starting to really show. Sally was over-the-moon excited when she found out about the unexpected pregnancy. Percy had been excited for his mom, but nervous that he'd only bring his new sibling danger - it was a thought his mom had tried to squash several times but that fear still lingered in the back of his mind.

Percy kept his eyes on his mom to make sure she was okay but addressed Chiron and the stranger as he asked "What's going on here?"

Chiron cleared his throat and stepped closer to Percy, prompting him to turn and look at the two men. "Percy, this is an old friend of mine. Do you remember how I told you about witches and wizards a while back?" Percy slowly nodded - a couple months after the war, Chiron had sat Percy and a few other leaders from both camps down to go over some of the other magical pantheons that existed so we could start to slowly build relationships with them (Percy and Jason were more than happy to make sure no one else lost their memories and time). While initially shocking, Percy had slowly gotten used to the fact that wizards/witches, Norse gods, Egyptian gods, and so many other cohorts were out there.

The bearded man stepped forward. There was a twinkle in the old man's eyes and a depth of wisdom that shone through his gaze. It was oddly similar to the look Chiron always had. "I'm Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It's a pleasure to meet you Perseus."

"Percy, actually." He stepped forward to shake the old wizard's hand.

Albus nodded and studied the newly 18 year old boy in front of him. Although he put on a carefree stance and was smiling as they greeted each other, he could see the broken, troubled sorrow in his eyes. He had come to offer the boy something that could hopefully prevent that look from ever creeping into Harry's eyes if Percy accepted. Maybe this would help Percy out as well, a secondary hope Chiron had voiced when they'd first discussed this proposal.

"I've come to offer you a quest."

----

Aaaaand it's here! Chapter 1 (re-released) is officially complete and published!

Again, thank you all so much for your patience and for continuing to read this story after all these years. I definitely don't expect all the original readers from 9 years ago to still be on Wattpad or reading this story, but for anyone who is, thank you so much. Hopefully you think the edits make the story better.

For anyone newer to this story and discovering it for the first time, thanks for giving this story a shot. I'll hopefully see it to completion for you this time :)