Grover cautiously approached Sally Jackson's apartment as Chiron's words echoed through his mind.

Be honest, be blunt, and most of all—comfort her.

He blinked back tears as he stood in front of her door. The place looked just like it did the last time he was here, when he was searching for Percy. The outside of the apartment still looked rundown, and Grover could hear the sound of an ESPN sports broadcaster drone about so-and-so team and how well they were doing this season. The scene was too normal for the kind of news Grover was about to deliver.

He knocked on the door with a bated breath. Had Hades kept his promise? Was that sorry excuse of a human still there? Was she—

"Grover, what a pleasant surprise!" Sally Jackson said, her blue eyes sparkling.

Before he could respond or gather his thoughts, Sally Jackson was hugging him. Grover felt all the wind leave his lungs, metaphorically and physically speaking. He wanted to scream. God, he got her son killed and she's here, hugging him.

"Where's Percy?" Sally asked after breaking the hug.

Grover simply shook his head. "You might want to sit down for this."

Immediately, Sally's demeanor changed. Gone was the happy person, and now in her place was someone expecting the worst.

"Oh, I see." Her voice shook as she spoke. "Let's go inside, shall we?"

Grover nodded and followed her inside. Immediately, he was overcome by the smell of beer and cigars, of chips and human stench. Gabe was playing poker with three of his friends without a care in the world. He tried not to gag as Gabe looked at him.

"Hey, Sally! That meatloaf done yet or what?" Gabe yelled at them from across the living room.

Sally's knuckles tightened as she responded to his question. "Almost, my dear."

Grover started to fidget as Sally's gaze was again set on him.

"How about we go somewhere else to talk? Then you can tell me what happened to my son." Sally said, her lips tight.

Grover took a seat in the oh-so-small dining chair and immediately began telling her about what happened on the quest. He tried to sugarcoat certain parts (such as Percy falling off the St. Louis arch) but judging by her expression, he wasn't doing a good job. He started to slow down once he reached the part regarding...the pit.

"He saved us all," Grover said as Sally stared at him in shock, "We couldn't have finished the quest without him. Your son's a hero. "

Sally burst into tears. "My boy, my baby boy..."

Grover felt tears leak out of his eyes. Gods, he couldn't believe he failed again.

"I'm sorry, but, I need a minute." Sally whispered as she got up. "Feel free to stay for dinner." Grover nodded, though he didn't have plans to stay. He didn't want to strain Ms. Jackson too much.

Grover heard Sally stumble through the hallway and open the door to a room. He winced as he heard her sobbing.

"Sally, get me a beer!" Grover heard Gabe yell from the living room.

Grover's vision went red as he stalked towards the fridge. He quickly found a beer bottle, and walked to the living room.

"Here." Grover said as he practically threw the bottle at Gabe's head.

"Hey, watch it—"

"She found out her son just died, can you give her a break?"

Grover was livid. God, all the stories he heard from Percy didn't even do the guy justice.

"That little punk? Hah! I told her he was trouble. Good riddance, I say."

Grover stalked towards him. "You little piece of—"

He stopped in his tracks as he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Sally Jackson.

"Grover—"

"But he—"

"Walk with me."

He sighed, then followed Sally into a room. With a start, he realized it was Percy's. His eyes started to tear up again.

"Do you know what this is?" Sally asked after he handed Grover a medium sized box. Grover's breath caught as he looked at the packaging slip.

THE GODS

MOUNT OLYMPUS

600TH FLOOR

EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

NEW YORK, NY

WITH BEST WISHES,

PERCY JACKSON

Over the top of the package was a slip of paper that read 'RETURN TO SENDER'.

Grover started to laugh before breaking down in tears. Classic Percy...

"It's Medusa's head. Percy cut it off while we were in New Jersey. He sent it to Olympus, but I guess they returned the package."

Sally nodded. "Can it still..."

"Yeah. You would have to unwrap the head, but it can still petrify people."

"Good." Sally said. She got, her eyes filled with the same determination they had the night she disappeared.

"I'm afraid that I have some business to take care of. I'll be right back." Sally got up and left the room, carrying the box with her.

After a few moments, Grover started to follow her before he heard a few voices talking.

"Gentlemen," Sally said (Grover guessed that she was addressing Gabe's poker buddies), "I'm afraid my husband and I have some important family matters to discuss. Please leave."

After a few minutes of muttering and debating, they left.

"What was that for?" Gabe yelled. Grover winced as he heard it.

"My son has just died. I'm sorry that I want to talk to you about that." Sally's words were ice cold.

"Good riddance. Told ya that brat was trouble. So, when are we going to collect the insurance money?" Gabe asked.

Grover already had one hand at the door by the time Sally spoke.

"I was thinking tomorrow afternoon, just in case." Sally said in a sweet falsetto.

"In case of what?" Gabe asked.

"Another death in the family."

"Wha—" Grover heard Gabe start to speak before there was a terrified scream, followed by silence.

Sally entered the room, breathing heavily. She held the box with shaking hands, before handing it over to Grover.

"I've had enough of that box for today. Is meatloaf okay for dinner?"

Grover nodded. "Is Gabe okay with me staying for dinner?"

"He won't bother us about that or anything else anymore."

In that moment, Grover knew that Sally Jackson was going to be okay.

"Sure, I'll stay for dinner."

Annabeth was lying down on her bed, absentmindedly fiddling with her dagger while trying to avoid looking at the letter on her desk.

She took Percy's advice regarding her family and actually sent him a letter sometime in mid-July. She would have done it earlier, but the first few weeks after she got back from her quests were...hectic, to say the least. What with celebrations, burning of the shrouds, Percy's funeral...

Percy.

The name hit her like a brick. The giddy feeling she had from outsmarting the War God only lasted for a day or two before she remembered. Percy was dead. Even if Hades didn't say that Percy was dead, Annabeth had some doubts that he was still alive. Even if he somehow managed to live after falling for an indefinite amount of time, how was he supposed to survive? There was next to no information surrounding Tartarus, and the only descriptions she could find about the place were contradictory. Some theorized that it was a pitch black pit while others thought of it as an upside-down dome. Either way, there was no escaping the fact—Percy was dead.

His funeral was weeks ago, but the memory was burned into her mind. They burnt his shroud while muttering a few phrases in Greek. The Ares cabin had the decency to look ashamed as Percy's shroud was burned. Since he had no other siblings, The only people who went up to talk about Percy were herself and Grover, which only cemented the fact that he was only here for a week.

It was depressing.

Despite this, the celebrations were not hindered in the slightest by the somber funeral. She was rewarded with a crown of laurel leaves and a heartfelt campfire, while Grover managed to not get skinned alive by the Council of Cloven Elders. Grover's objective was to make sure he and Percy got back to camp alive, and while Grover played a major role in returning the lightning bolt to Zeus (which most of the Gods would consider to be more important), Percy falling into Tartarus qualified as him not being brought back alive. The only reason why Grover isn't facing any consequences is because of the fact that Mr. D vouched for him.

To say that Annabeth was annoyed was an understatement. She almost stabbed one of the council members, but one of the nymphs held her back before she could do any damage. While she was glad that Grover wasn't in trouble for any of this, she still found it to be unfair that he still couldn't get his searcher's license.

She sighed.

"Annabeth, it's time for breakfast." Malcom, her favorite sibling (don't tell anyone she said that) yelled from outside the cabin.

"Coming." With one last look at letter on her desk, she walked out the door.

"Cabin Six, to me!"

"M-ma-many cities of people—" Bianca started to read.

"In this context, it's men." Annabeth interjected, gently.

While Bianca was a bit of a slow learner regarding Ancient Greek, she would take her over Nico any other day. The boy could never stay point, and kept interrupting her to ask irrelevant questions. While Annabeth was always glad to answer those questions as they lead to interesting topics of conversation, Nico never actually practiced Ancient Greek which made the class a bit redundant.

"Oh, okay, got it." Bianca said.

"Many cities of men...he saw?" Bianca asked.

Annabeth nodded. "Keep going. You're doing great."

"Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds.*" Bianca said slowly.

"Congrats, you have officially read four lines of Homer's The Odyssey. How do you feel?"

"Like my head is going to split open. Can we take a break?" Bianca asked.

Annabeth nodded. It's normal that in the first few weeks (or even months) of trying to read in Ancient Greek the person would struggle and feel a headache.

"I feel like I'm going nowhere. I mean, I can't even read a sentence without struggling." Bianca muttered.

Annabeth winced in sympathy. "Bianca, look at me." She tilted the girl's face towards her. "Ancient Greek is hard. Heck, it took me a few weeks to be able to read part of The Odyssey, forget being fluent."

"Yeah, but it's been a month."

"Everyone learns differently. Besides, you didn't grow up with it, unlike a lot of the people here." Annabeth pointed out.

Bianco looked unconvinced, but nodded.

"Thanks, I needed that."

"It's nothing."

A few beats of silence, and then Bianca spoke up. "So, what are you going to do regarding your dad?"

"I don't know." Annabeth shook her head. She hated not having the right answer to something.

A month ago, when Annabeth had sent the letter to her dad, she didn't think that he'd respond. After all, why should he? He made it perfectly clear that she wasn't wanted, and Annabeth had made it perfectly clear that she wasn't coming back.

So why had he answered?

Why, after all these years, was he willing to try again? Did he realize his mistake? Did he miss Annabeth? Had Annabeth made a mistake by running away?

The questions burned inside of her.

"Do you want to seem him again?" Bianca asked.

"Yes." The words were out before she could think about her answer.

"Then go. There's no harm in visiting him, right? You can just come back to camp if things don't work out." Bianca placed a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. " I'll support you either way."

Annabeth nodded. "Thanks, I need that."

"That's my line, dummy!"

Both girls started to laugh after that.

"Want to continue with the Odyssey?" Annabeth asked, already reaching for a copy of the book.

"Sure, that sounds—"

"Hey, Annie." Luke said while ruffling Annabeth's hair.

"D-don't call me Annie!" Annabeth said, while blushing. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

She just noticed that he was carrying a large backpack with him.

"Well..." Luke seemed to shuffle his feet in a show of uncharacteristic nervousness, "I'm actually leaving for the summer. Going to see my mom and all that. Maybe even go to school."

Annabeth couldn't believe it. Luke...wanted to see his mom? After everything that happened? While Luke had never told her the whole story, she knew enough to tell that this had come out of nowhere. Why would he go back now?

"Well, that's good I guess..." She trailed off. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I'm not sure yet," Luke said, "Keep in touch?"

"Yeah, just IM me if it's too much."

"Will do." And with that, Annabeth watched Luke leave Camp Half-Blood. She quickly realized that she forgot to tell him that she was leaving as well.

"Styx."

"What?" Bianca asked, concerned.

"I forgot to tell him that I'm leaving to see my Dad." The word Dad felt foreign on her tongue.

"That sucks."

"Yeah."

Annabeth heard the conch shell sound. Lunch.

"C'mon. Class dismissed." Annabeth tugged Bianca to her feet and proceeded to drag her to the pavilion.

On her way there, however, she was stopped by none other than her best friend, Grover.

"Hey, Annabeth." Grover said, waving awkwardly. "Hey, Bianca."

"Hello."

Annabeth gave Grover a questioning look, which was met by Grover gesturing that he wanted to talk.

"Go on ahead, I'll see you later." Annabeth said, waving her friend on. Once Bianca left, Annabeth opened her mouth to talk.

"What's up—" Annabeth narrowed her eyes "—Is that a backpack?"

"Right, about that..." Grover's voice trailed off at the end.

"You're leaving too?"

"Yeah—wait, what do you mean by 'too'?"

"Luke also left." Annabeth said, surprised.

Why hadn't Luke told him?

"Really? Where?"

"To his mom's place."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. Where are you going?" Annabeth said, changing the subject.

Grover took a deep breath. "I'm going to find Pan."

Annabeth's breath hitched.

"What? I thought the council said—"

Grover quickly covered her mouth. "Don't say it so loud. What the council doesn't know won't hurt them, right?"

Annabeth nodded and Grover put his hand away from her mouth.

"What made you change your mind?" Annabeth wondered.

"I've realized that life's too short to worry about what other people think."

Annabeth winced when she heard that.

"Grover..."

The satyr sighed. "Look, Annabeth—I...this, this is my dream. I'm tired of waiting for someone else to give me permission to accomplish it."

Annabeth nodded. "I understand. Got enough tin cans for the trip? A dagger? Your reedpipes? An apple or some extra food?"

"Geez, you're like an old mama-goat." Both of them cracked up at that. "Seriously, take care of yourself. If you ever need me, I'm either at Camp or my dad's house."

"You're dad's place?" Grover asked inquisitively. "That's new."

"Yeah. I followed Percy's advice and well...my dad's willing to take me back."

"Take care of yourself, okay?"

"I'm not the one looking for a god that everyone presumed to be dead." Annabeth pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah." Grover muttered. "You really are a mama goat."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at the comment, but let it slide (for now). She quickly pulled him into a hug, letting a few tears fall as they both pondered over the fact that they might not see each other again.

After a few moments, they broke apart.

"See you later, Annie."

Annabeth smiled sadly as she watched Grover walk away. Then it hit her.

"DON'T CALL ME ANNIE!"

And that's a wrap folks. Damn, that took way too long to write. It took like a few weeks to actually put all of this together. Anywho, I would like to formally apologize for taking so damn long to write a new chapter. Heck, at this point, you probably don't even remember what this story is about. As it is, I'm on summer vacation rn, so I should theoretically be able to update more. It's been about a month into the break, so I think that taking 2 weeks to update is reasonable (I did update a different story before this one).

You guys do deserve an explanation, however. Last summer, my laptop broke. I was on vacation in the Dominican Republic, and I fried the motherboard when I plugged it in to charge (the electricity isn't regulated in the Dominican Republic, so the second I plugged it into the outlet the electricity surged and fried my motherboard). There are no HP stores in the DR, so I had to wait till I got back to the States (in September) to fix it. That took a few weeks, so now our timeline is in October of 2017. School screwed me over in which I had 7 classes instead of 6, which meant I had one less study hall then normal. So, I had no free time over the school year to actually write (man, creative writing club was a mess). And that brings us to late June/Early July of this year. Got on break, started writing, and bam! Now we are here.

So uh yeah. Wow, what a lengthy writer's note. I guess this is officially the end of arc one of the story! Now we have arc two, in which I can't decide if I should actually cover the Sea of Monsters. While I personally did not like the book that much, I have changed a few things which would make the canon go wonky. I might just skip to Titan's Curse and go from there. See you in like a month (pls yell at me if I disappear again).

~MJ