A Son From Lands Unknown (PJO x Male Reader)

Pre-meal Entertainment

Percy had wanted nothing more than to come back to Camp Half-Blood since he left it at the end of last summer, but now that he was here, everything felt wrong. Like someone had come into his room while he was away and made an attempt to 'clean' it without his permission.

On the surface, things didn't look all that different. The Big House was still there with its blue gabled roof and its wraparound porch. The strawberry fields still baked in the sun. The same white-columned Greek buildings were scattered around the valley. The amphitheater, the combat arena, and the dining pavilion overlooking the Long Island Sound. And nestled between the woods and the creek were the same cabins, a crazy assortment of twelve buildings, each representing a different Olympian.

But there was an air of danger now. One could tell that something was wrong. Instead of playing volleyball in the sandpit, counselors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons in the tool shed. Dryads armed with bows and arrows talked nervously at the edge of the woods. The forest itself looked sickly, the grass in the meadow a pale yellow and the fire marks on Hlaf-Blood Hill standing out like ugly scars. Someone had messed with Percy's favorite place in the world, and he was not a happy camper.

As they made their way to the Big House, Percy recognized a lot of kids from last summer. Nobody stopped to talk. Nobody wished him well. Some did double-takes when they saw Tyson, but most just walked grimly past and carried on with their duties. Running messages, toting swords to sharpen on the grinding wheels. The camp felt like a military school. And trust that Percy knew what a military school looked like. He'd gotten the boot from a couple. Not helping the military school look was the way that (Y/N) was carrying himself. He held Tentazione in its semi-automatic form across his chest as if he were ready for some unseen threat to leap from the bushes. He was constantly on guard and looked like he hadn't gotten a proper night's sleep in months. He was still twitching whenever Tyson spoke up.

None of it mattered to said Cyclops, however. He was absolutely fascinated by everything he saw. "Whasthat?" he gasped.

"The stables for pegasi," Percy said. "The winged horses."

"Whasthat?"

"Um... those are the toilets."

"Whasthat?"

"The cabins for the campers. If they don't know who your Olympian parent is, they put you in the Hermes cabin, that brown one over there, until you're determined. Then, once they know, they put you in your dad or mom's group."

"Unless your parent isn't one of the Olympian twelve," (Y/N) elaborated. "Then you just stay there and never take your eyes off your things."

Tyson looked at Percy in awe. "You... have a cabin?"

"Number three," Percy replied, pointing to a low gray building made of sea stone.

"You live with your friends in the cabin?"

"No. No, just me." Percy didn't feel like explaining that he wasn't supposed to be alive, and as such was the only one who lived in the cabin.

When they got to the Big House, they found Chiron in his apartment, listening to his favorite 1960s lounge music while he packed his saddlebags. As soon as they saw him, Tyson froze.

"Pony!" he cried, completely enraptured.

Chiron turned, looking offended. "I beg your pardon?"

Annabeth ran up and hugged him. "Chiron, what's happening? You're no... leaving?" Her voice was shaky. Chiron was like a second father to her.

Chiron ruffled her hair and gave her a kind smile. "Hello, child. And Percy, my goodness. You've grown over the year!"

Percy swallowed. "(Y/N) said you were... you were..."