Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Percy loved the Hephaestus cabin. He spent much of his summers with the children of Hephaestus, mostly due to Beckendorf, and he always felt warm and fuzzy with the campers. Which may have been due to the fire. Though, he didn't visit for a while after the Titan War, not after Beckendorf’s…

Percy wasn't gonna think about that right now.

Anyways, Percy wasn't too sure why he was heading to Cabin Nine. Call it Fate, call it a gut feeling that he should drop by for a visit.

And maybe it was a good thing he did.

Percy poked his head through the door, seeing the familiar mess of gears and metal scraps around the cabin… As well as a not so familiar demigod on a bed drawing.

The daughter of Hephaestus had blue hair that she had clearly cut to be the length of her shoulder herself because of how choppy it was. She had tan skin with splotches of fair skin scattered across her face and neck. Her eyes were as red as fire, and they were glaring at the paper she was working on as if it had personally offended her. The bead-less necklace told Percy this was a newer camper. Ellie Ginerva, if Percy remembered what Jake Mason had told him correctly.

He didn't know what possessed him to do it, but he knocked on the door before letting himself in. Ellie glanced up before doing a double take at seeing Percy, clearly not expecting to see him. The roundness and softness of her face told Percy she was young, maybe twelve or thirteen.

“Hey," he smiled. "Mind if I see what you're working on?”

Ellie hesitated for a couple of moments before scooting over on her bed. Percy took that as a yes and sat next to her. He peered over her shoulder to see what she was drawing.

It was a drawing of a toy train. From the notes he could decipher through the dyslexia, it looked as if she was trying to make it move on its own.

“It's for my brother,” she blurted out. “He's really into trains right now, and I wanted to see if I could make him one that free roamed, and Jake said it'd be good if I drew it out, and-”

“Hey," Percy said softly. “It looks good. Mind if I make a suggestion?"

Ellie looked him over for a couple of seconds before shaking her head.

He pointed to the carts. “You can make those a tad bigger, so that way if you also make him figurines, they can ride in the train. He'd like that, right?"

Ellie lit up and nodded.

They sat like that for the next few hours. Ellie would make another note, and Percy would make a suggestion. There were moments where Percy would make a quip or a joke, and Ellie would laugh, which made Percy smile.

By the time Ellie happily skipped off to the forges, Kiva, a fifteen year old daughter of Hephaestus, walked in as she left. She then looked at Percy and raised an eyebrow, which he just shrugged at.

“And you wonder why campers call you mom," Kiva teased.

“They do what?"

Chapter Text

The first time Percy actually heard a camper call him mom was unexpected.

Clarisse had, begrudgingly, come to him about the fact that River had been going for hours and wouldn't stop no matter what she did.

Which led him to where he was: Percy was leaning against the wall of the arena, watching the child of Ares training without their knowledge. The eleven year old looked like a mess. Sweaty, messy hair that was usually at least brushed, and about half the training dummies were either full of arrows or daggers.

“I’d aim for any vital spots that could kill what you’re fighting,” he suggested out of the blue, which caused the other demigod to quickly turn and almost throw a dagger right at Percy.

“How long have you been there?” They asked, clearly embarrassed by the fact that Percy had been watching them.

He shrugged. “Not too long.”

“Okay. And why are you here?”

“When’s the last time you ate?”

River just stared Percy down, which he had no problem holding. After a few beats, River rolled their eyes.

“What’s it to you?”

“I’m being serious, Ri,” Percy insisted. “When’s the last time you drank anything?” River opened their mouth. “When’s the last time you drank water, then?” River shut their mouth and glared.

They turned away from Percy and got back into position to throw another dagger.

“River,” Percy said firmly.

“Jeez, P, who are you, my mom?” River asked sarcastically before throwing their next dagger. Percy watched as it hit the dummy in its shoulder, making a conscious decision to ignore the fuzzy feeling in his chest at their words.

“If I have to force you, I will,” Percy offered, only half-joking. River ignored him. Percy raised an eyebrow.

He walked over to the cooler and grabbed a water bottle from inside of it. He just gave a quick, “Riv,” as a warming before tossing it at them, which they barely caught. River glared at him before opening the bottle and chugging it.

Percy smiled, satisfied, and started making his way out of the arena. “Make sure to eat something!” He called back.

“Yeah, yeah, thanks, ma!”

Chapter Text

In his defense, Percy had many valid reasons to panic when Katie Gardner came to him about her sister.

What if she was harmed during training or was being made fun of for some reason or–

Oh.

Or they don't know how to handle a homesick fourteen year old.

“We’ve tried everything," Katie said, gesturing to Amerie, who was curled up in her bed.

“And you think I can help, because…?” Percy asked, his arms crossed.

Katie just raised an eyebrow at him. Percy’s shoulders slumped. "Katie.”

“You're good at this stuff, Percy. Seriously, how have you not heard the campers call you mom, yet?”

“I have. Once.”

“Yeah, well, all the kids do it. For good reason, by the way. You're a mother hen,” she stated, smiling.

Percy rolled his eyes, his gaze settling on Amerie. "Yeah, I can do this.”

“You're the best, Perce.”

Percy watched as Katie left before he turned to Amerie. He sighed as his gaze softened before walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Hey,” he said softly.

Amerie looked up at him before lying her head down again. "Hey.”

“How’re you adjusting to Camp?”

Amerie shrugged half-heartedly in response. “Just missing home, I guess.”

Percy nodded. “That's normal. Most new demigods miss home when they first get here.”

She looked at him. “Really?"

“Yeah. This is most demigods' first times being away from their parents in their lives. It makes sense for you to be homesick. That's what's happening, right?”

At her nod, Percy continued, "Well, Am— can I call you that— the good thing is you're not alone."

He looked around her bed, noting the lack of customization. “You know, things from home aren't contraband. Well, depending on the thing anyways. If you have things like stuffed animals and stuff back home, you can bring them here."

Amerie smiled. “I… Think I'll do that actually. Thanks, Percy.”

“Don't mention it.”

Chapter Text

Maybe Percy should've thought twice before killing a monster in front of two kids. Then again, he was also making sure they weren't going to die, so he felt like he had a valid excuse.

He kicked at the golden dust on the ground before turning to the two demigods.

They were clearly twins (unless it was a Stolls situation, which you never know). Same round face, almost exact same freckle patterns, same wavy black hair, same blue eyes… Actually, looking closer, Percy realized the boy’s left eye was lighter while the girl’s right eye was lighter. They both looked around ten years old.

When Percy looked at them, the girl hid behind her brother, who eyed Riptide warily. Percy quickly capped the pen-sword and tucked it behind his ear. He crouched down to their level, holding his hands up to show he wasn't a threat.

“It's okay," he assured. “I promise I'm safe. It's okay."

The girl peeked around her brother. Said brother still glared at Percy, which just looked cute to him, but he wasn't going to let the boy know that.

“My name is Percy. May I know yours?”

The boy started shaking his head, but the girl piped up. “I'm Mavis.”

The boy looked back to his sister— Mavis— with a look of betrayal which she just shrugged at. They seemed to have had a quick twin conversation before the boy muttered, “Matthew.”

Percy nodded and sat down. "Well, it's great to meet you both."

“What was that thing you stabbed?" Matthew blurted out.

“That was a gryphon–”

“Like from Greek Mythology?" Mavis gasped.

“Mav, that's ridiculous.”

“No, she's right,” Percy pointed out, which earned him a look of disbelief from Matthew.

“Oh, great, you're both crazy.”

Percy snorted. Oh boy, here we go.

To the kids’ credit, they both took it well. Matthew only gave Percy about ten “you're actually insane” looks during the explanation about Greek Gods and camp, so Percy called that a win. Meanwhile, Mavis looked excited about the whole thing. She kinda reminded Percy of little Nico. He silently prayed that this turned out better than last time.

“So, there's a camp on Long Island that's for people like us,” Matthew summed up.

“There is," Percy confirmed.

“And by ‘people like us’, you mean demigods," Matthew continued.

Percy nodded.

“I still think you're insane,” Matthew said.

“That's fair.”

“So the ADHD and dyslexia were for a reason?" Mavis asked.

“ADHD for fighting, dyslexia for reading Ancient Greek. I think," Percy added.

“So if we go to this camp, we'll be trained to survive?” Matthew asked skeptically.

“That's where I learned how to take that gryphon down," Percy confirmed.

The twins looked at each other— another twin conversation, Percy guessed— before looking back to Percy.

“So, how far is it?" Matthew conceded.

Percy smiled. Maybe the whole "mother hen” thing wasn't too far off.