I felt guilty for leaving the kids so soon, especially Harry, who'd definitely need my support. Coming up with an idea, I used a little godly magic on one of Leo's magic-proof phones that worked everywhere in the world, to power it for a full year without ever needing to recharge it, and gave it to Harry. 

"You can talk to me through this at any time of the day, okay? It only has my contact, but it'll work in Hogwarts. You don't even need to charge it. But remember, use it only when you're with people you trust. It's on the edge of the wrong end of the law, and you're not supposed to be carrying it around. You'll get into deep trouble if the wrong person sees it, okay?"

Henodded. "Thanks bro. I'll remember. See you during Christmas break."He gave me a hug, and waved goodbye. "I'll still try to write lettersoften, kiddo. See you soon." Ruffling his hair, I walked out of the housebefore vapor-travelling to Camp. 

I took in a deep breath, inhaling the familiar scent of strawberries and grapes that was present everywhere in Camp. Going to the Big House, I found Chiron, Other Percy, and a few senior counsellors sitting in a circle and playing Uno. Chiron had been trying out new games, and the younger campers often brought in board games to play with him during their free time. So far, he had managed to win every game of Monopoly he had played, (by bankrupting everyone else within ten minutes) and mastered whatever game the kids had come up with.

As I walked in, he held up just one card. "UNO!" he smiled, before putting it on the pile on the table. "I win."

The Stolls groaned, "Come on! We bet ten drachmas each that UNO would be the game you'll lose." Leo, who was sitting opposite them, held out a hand. "Pay up, tricksters. You should know by now that Chiron's the king of card games." They reluctantly dropped the coins in his hand, and Leo happily pocketed them.

Chiron suddenly noticed me. "Percy! Welcome back, m'boy." The others just looked between Other Percy and me, completely confused. I gave him a fist bump, (it's much more macho than a high five!) before slapping his back and saying, "Thanks for keeping an eye on Camp while I was gone."

He smiled. "No issues. So are we done here?"

"Yeah." I tapped his shoulder, and he shimmered like a mirage before disappearing.

"Wha- Ok, I'm not even going to ask. Goodnight Chiron, Percy, if it really is you." Malcolm just walked out, completely done with what was happening.

"Malcolm, wait!" I pulled him back inside. "I meant to tell you this tomorrow, but since most of you counsellors are here, I just say it. I'm bringing Loki to camp for a few weeks, maybe months."

"Wait, What?"
"Loki? Who the heck is he?"
"He's mad!"
"He tried to kill everyone!"
"Percy's finally gone loopy, dude."
"Are you really Percy?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" I yelled, and they quietened down. "He was being mind-controlled during the attack. Jason, Leo, you know how it is to be possessed by eidolons, what happened to Loki was no different. He couldn't help it, okay?"

"The Norse came to Mr.D for help in restoring Loki's mind, but he was not able to fix it in one go like he did with Chris. Loki must regain his memories and restore his mind by himself. He needed to stay somewhere without bad memories so that he doesn't have flashbacks or relapse, and the Gods suggested Camp."

"What if he relapses?" Katie Gardner, from Demeter, asked.

"That's why I came back early. Despite the fact that this is not the entire manifestation of my power, I can contain his powers if he loses control. I'm much stronger at Camp, with it being one of my sacred places and all that jazz. You have nothing to worry about. Just treat him as you would any other camper, and no Clarisse, you cant give him a swirly." She slumped immediately, "You take all the fun out of my life, Prissy." She grumbled. They slowly filtered out, going back to their cabins, till it was just me and Chiron left.

"Is the portal between the camps working properly?" I asked.

"Yes. The Romans have closed their borders for a month or two, though. Something about improving fortifications and rebuilding the city without untrained Greeks messing around. Jason has joined them to help build some new temples. They promised to visit, though. Malcolm gave them Annabeth's designs from when she rebuilt Olympus as inspiration. They loved the blueprints."

I smiled, happy that Annabeth's work was helping others even after her death. She would have wanted that. Somehow, it hurt less and less every day to remember her. I could now focus on the happy memories and enjoy those, than remember her dying in my arms during the battle. Chiron told me that the campers had set up memorials for all the demigods who had died during both wars, and their friends and siblings often visited these to honour their dead comrades.

The next morning, once we were done with breakfast, and the plates had been cleared, I cleared my throat and stood up. All eyes turned to me, and I suddenly felt uncomfortable. Pushing that aside, I made the same announcement that I had made to the Counsellors yesterday night, and explained why Loki was coming to stay with us.

Chiron finished for me, "His own people don't want him there. Very few of the Norse stay in the same room as him, let alone be cordial with him. He's lonely and misunderstood, just because he's different from them. They don't like his tendency for pranks and lies, and cast him out. Most of you here know how hard it is to fit in with other people who are different - quite a lot of you consider Camp as your home. When you've got this chance to be here, doesn't he?" He asked softly, wording it such that the campers could relate to Loki.

Most of them slowly nodded, understanding the situation. They agreed to treat him like any other camper, but I could feel a sense of dread when I saw the grins on the Hermes kids' faces. If they teamed up with the God of Mischief- I don't even want to consider the consequences. "Go back to your activities, you can meet him at dinner so that he isn't overwhelmed early in the morning. Chop chop, get going."

They went, but not without complaining loudly.

Once everyone was gone, I flashed to Olympus and went to my house. Odin and Frigga were waiting for me at the main door. They said that they had to get back to Asgard immediately due to Royal duties, but Thor had offered to stay with his brother. (I suspected that Thor had offered to stay mainly because he wanted to meet the demigods he had heard stories about on Asgard, not just to help his brother.)

I didn't mind the Thunder God staying, and thanked the Fates that Thalia wasn't in town. Or else she would definitely take offense to Thor's attitude and the two would have a showdown in the middle of the Camp which I desperately wanted to avoid. I found Thor rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet like an excited kid in Disneyland, while Loki sat there, spinning a knife in his hands, looking fed up with his brother's antics. "You've got quite great moves, Loki. We could have sparring sessions sometime." I said.

Both of them jumped, Loki less than Thor, at my sudden appearance. "Lor-" Thor was cut off by my best wolf glare. He shivered and took a step back, before continuing, "Sorry, Percy, it is wonderful to see you again. Are we going to the famed Camp Half-Blood now?"

Stifling a laugh, I nodded. "If you are ready, that is." He nodded so fast I thought his head would fall off. Loki just stood up with a bag on his shoulder. I snapped my fingers and vapour-travelled us to Half-Blood Hill.

Dramatically throwing out an arm, I announced. "Welcome to Half-Blood Hill, Thor and Loki. Behold, our illustrious training ground!" (I am related to Zeus! Gotta be dramatic some time or the other!) Just as I said that, I heard a lot of high pitched shrieks from the cabins. "COOPER!" "ELIZABETH!" and saw the door of the Aphrodite cabin open and all the girls flooded out, their hair a mess and clothes completely black. "Schist, that's going to be an issue." I mumbled.

"Thor, Loki, why don't you go down to the Big House and Chiron'll show you your rooms? I'll come and meet you in a few minutes." Thor practically ran towards the building, saying, "I'm going to meet the great Trainer of Heroes, Chiron!" Loki followed at a slower pace befitting a god/adult.

Ten minutes later, I was able to leave after the pranksters had paid the Hecate Cabin to reverse the damage they had done. The Aphrodite girls returned to whatever they were doing, and hopefully, Beth and Cooper learnt their lesson.

At the Big House, I helped Thor and Loki settle in, befor going to the pegasi stables. Loki followed me while Thor was happy to sit and listen to Chiron tell stories about the ancient heroes. "Hey boss, how ya been?" Blackjack whinnied as soon as I stepped inside the stables.

"Good, what about you? Have they been feeding you properly?"

"Yeah. Your sister gets us enough apples and the occasional sugar cube. Got any donuts, boss-man?"

"Sorry, I don-" Loki lifted is hand and murmured something, his hands glowing green. A box of Monster Donuts appeared out of thin air in my hands. I was surprised. "You can understand him?"

"I can speak to all animals with the help of my magic." He replied. "Go on, the donuts aren't poisoned."

I opened the box, and offered a few to Blackjack. He nickered happily, before eating them all. "I like this new dude! He's a little old to be a camper, though. What's your name, Mister?"

"This is Loki, Blackjack. He's staying here for sometime."

"You're the Norse dude everyone's talking about! Cool!" He nuzzled Loki before flying off.

"You've got Blackjack's seal of approval, Loki. He'll have all the pegasi practically worshipping you in a day." I laughed.

Loki suddenly looked less than enthusiastic at the prospect of staying at Camp. "Don't worry, I can get them to back off when they overwhelm you. So, what do you want to do? I'm bored."

He looked surprised at the question. "My lord?"

"Okay, rule number one if you're staying at Camp. No one, and I repeat, NO ONE calls me Lord. I prefer Percy. Two, you get to have a say in what you want and don't want to do, Loki. No one's forcing you to do anything. Consider this, a long due holiday."

He gave me a small smile, and suggested, "Maybe we could spar? It has been quite some time since I fought with a truly skilled swordsman."

I led him to the sword arena which was supposed to be empty for the next hour, but it wasn't. Beth was hacking away at a practice dummy with her knives. She grinned when we came in. "Hey Percy, Loki. Here to spar?"

"Yeah. You wanna stay and watch?"

She nodded eagerly, running off to the stands as we took out our weapons.

He was dual wielding curved daggers, and man, he fought well. He fought like Annabeth did. Dodging and flipping over my attacks, before striking like a viper. He anticipated my attacks, and countered each and every one of them perfectly, neither of us getting in a single hit.

Finally, after what seemed years later, I managed to land a lucky hit on his left wrist, making him drop one knife, and disarmed him of the other one seconds later.

Panting slightly, both of were smiling as he grabbed his knives and I helped him up. Suddenly, I heard clapping all around us. We had been fighting for more than an hour, and the Athena and Nike Cabins had come down for their practice, but had chosen to sit and watch us instead.

"That. Was. Awesome!!!" I heard Beth yell. "From today, Loki's training me. I would never even have tried to learn swordfighting if I knew you could do so good with knives!"

Loki just stood there, a slightly shocked expression on his face as everyone crowded around him, complimenting his skills and begging him to teach them. Seeing that he was getting overwhelmed, I decided to interfere.

"Okay, that's enough. If Loki wants to teach you, he will. For now, just stick to introductions."

One by one, they told him their names and ages, and shook his hand. Last was Beth. "Hi, I'm Beth. I'm this idiot's sister." She pointed at me. "Nice to meet you Loki. I'll be there for the knife lessons tomorrow." she skipped off to her next activity without giving him a chance to reply.

I laughed at his expression. "She does that a lot. You'll get used to it." Loki went to find his brother while I stayed back to teach my lessons. A few hours later, I was tired by the back to back classes I taught, so I decided to go for a swim in the sea.

Jumping in, I went back and forth a few times, enjoying the feel of the water moving around me, before turning around and lazily floating on my back. I could feel the water washing away my tiredness and re-energizing me as I swum around.

My peace was abruptly shattered by loud screams from Camp, and a sudden shift in the surrounding air. Storm clouds were gathering, and a sudden bolt of lightning hit the middle of Camp. Focusing on the spot where the lightning had hit, I vapor travelled there.

It was Thor, and he was having a Mexican standoff with Thalia. Thalia? Why did no one tell me that the Hunters were here? As the only other person who could get struck by lightning and live, it was up to me to break up the fight.

"THALIA!" I yelled. "DON'T SUMMON ANY LIGHTN-" A huge bolt of lightning hit the ground, a part branching off to shock me as well, before creating a crater a little bigger than the other one Thor had made.

She grinned. "I win, Mr. God of Thunder. That'll teach you a thing or two about women." Before coming over to give me a hug. "Kelp Head."

"Pinecone face. How ya been? Are all the Hunters here?"

"Yeah. Lady Artemis sent us here for a rest. We've been travelling non-stop for months. She said that she trusted you to keep the boys away from us, and gave us permission to shoot any boy dumb enough to come too close."

"Of course, Miss Lieutenant. Do you want help setting up? Will and I can help." The Hunters didn't mind me, Will or Nico helping, because they had realized that the three of us were not at all interested in dating them.

"No thanks. We're all done."

"You up for Capture the Flag?"

"Of course! Get ready to lose again!" By then, the other campers had wandered off and I was left to worry about the two smoking craters in the grass. Katie was going to be so pissed when she saw the damage the two had done to the grass. Sighing, I trudged back up the hill to the Big House, annoyed at having my swim interrupted for nothing.