Never Forget

“Hi, Mom.”

“PERCY!”

Hearing Sally’s voice, Percy had a hard time not choking up. In fact, he failed miserably. Annabeth, standing by his side as always, squeezed his hand.

On the other end of the phone, his mother had burst into relieved sobs, and he wished he could be with her right now and hug her tightly. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Yeah, it’s me.” Dumb thing to say. “I’m okay. Quest’s over. Uh, we won.” He tried to sound upbeat, but it was difficult when he was struggling not to cry.

Sally blew her nose and seemed to pull herself together. “Oh, Percy. I’ve missed you so much.”

“Me too, Mom. You got my messages?”

“Yes, I did.” Sally still sounded like she had a bad cold. “Will you be coming home soon?”

“You bet,” Percy replied. “Soon, I promise. As soon as camp’s back in order. There’s, um, some stuff I need to help sort out. But straight after that. How are you? How’s Paul?”

“Other than worried to death about you, we’ve been fine.”

“Good. Look Mom, I can’t stay on the line much longer …”

“I understand,” Sally said quickly. “Thank you for calling, Percy. Come home soon.”

“I will. Promise.” Percy caught Annabeth’s eye. “Oh, and Annabeth says hi.”

“Tell her hi back.”

“I will.” Percy swallowed. “Love you, Mom.”

“I love you too.”

-

It felt odd packing to go home when no-one else was. It would probably have felt even odder if he were in a full cabin, but still, as Percy folded up his clothes and gathered his possessions the rest of Camp Half-Blood were out in the sunshine, doing their activities.

Well, almost all of them.

It wasn’t the end of the summer yet, but given how long he had been apart from his mother, Percy had decided he had to leave early, and Chiron had been most understanding. What was more, Annabeth was coming with him.

Well, they had agreed to never be separated again. And now Gaia was gone, there should (hopefully) be no need for them to part ways. Though Percy would never say that out loud. He had no wish to tempt the Fates.

A knock on the cabin door startled him from his thoughts. He grinned to see Annabeth standing on the doorstep. “Ready to go?”

“How are you packed already?”

“It’s called being organised, Seaweed Brain. You want any help?”

“No, thanks. I’m fine.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Well get a move on, because I already ordered the cab.” Despite his denial, she came in properly and began helping out.

“Piper’s going home early too,” she said as she folded up one of Percy’s t-shirts, which he had already folded up but apparently not to her satisfaction. “She wants to see her dad.”

“Good for her,” Percy said, but he was distracted by the realisation that, of his group of friends, only he, Annabeth and Piper still had family in the mortal world. It was a bit depressing.

Together they finished packing Percy’s things in less than a minute. He took one last look around his cabin before they ventured back outside.

Chiron, Jason, Piper and Grover were gathered by Thalia’s pine tree, the others having already left for Camp Jupiter or, in Nico’s case, was still snoring in the infirmary. Jason and Piper were busy kissing goodbye when Percy and Annabeth reached them. Grover pulled them both into a hug.

“You’ll visit before the end of summer, right?”

“’Course we will,” Percy said. “Just try and stop us.”

Chiron hugged Annabeth and wished them both well, and Jason and Piper stopped kissing long enough to hug their friends goodbye.

The other side of the hill, two cars sat; one, a regular taxi, the other a sleek black limo. The driver stood outside it, holding the back door open.

“I’m guessing the limo’s not for us,” Percy said.

“Good guess,” Annabeth said.

“That’ll be my ride,” Piper said with a sigh.

Percy whistled. “Nice ride.”

“Miss McLean?” the driver/chauffer said, looking at Piper.

“Yes, that’s me. I told my dad a normal cab would be fine,” Piper muttered, but quickly brushed it off and climbed in. “I’d offer you guys a lift, but—”

“That’s okay,” Annabeth said. “See you, Piper.”

“See you, Annabeth. Keep Percy out of trouble.”

“Who, me?”

They all waved a last goodbye, Annabeth got in the taxi followed by Percy, and he gave the driver the address. Both cars drove away from the camp, Piper’s heading for the airport, theirs to Sally and Paul’s flat.

After months of being asleep and then more months of wolves and giants and Romans and warships and ancient ruins and more giants and monsters and battles and Tartarus and more monsters and battles, driving through New York City felt completely surreal, much as it had the first time Percy had left camp. He stared at everything; the city so familiar yet so strange.

“You okay?” Annabeth asked quietly.

“Just … adjusting.”

She nodded in understanding, and they linked hands. Now their quest was over, their goal accomplished, life seemed to have slowed down around them. In a way, that made their ordeal harder to deal with.

Percy was so lost in his own thoughts, it was Annabeth who spoke to the driver when they neared the block. “Just up here.”

The car stopped, and they paid and got out. Percy pulled his key out of his pocket, hand trembling slightly.

“Shall I do it?”

“No, I’ve got it.”

After a couple of attempts, he managed to unlock and open the door, and they stepped inside
his home.

“Mom?” he called.

There was the tinkle of breaking china in the study, and Sally Jackson appeared in the doorway. “Percy!” she gasped.

For a moment they were both simply frozen, staring at each other, before simultaneously they both broke into a run and hugged tightly.

Percy breathed in his mother’s scent, his head spinning. He always missed his mother on his quests, but this time had been so much worse. He hadn’t seen her in almost a year. And it felt like ten times that long.

“I’m here,” he said stupidly into her shoulder. She let out what sounded like a cross between a sob and a laugh. “I’m home now.”

“You’ve gotten taller,” she said in reply, and it was his turn to laugh.

“I have?”

“I’m sure of it.”

Silence stretched between them for a few minutes before they broke apart. Percy had just as many tears on his face as Sally did; she ignored hers and wiped his away with her thumb, staring intensely into his eyes as if trying to make up for months of not being able to look at him.

“Oh, Percy.”

“Mom.” He lifted his hand and pressed hers to his face.

She kissed his other cheek and then rested her forehead against his, closing her eyes. “I missed you so much.”

He tried to reply, but something had stuck in his throat.

A chink from the kitchen sink made them both jump and turn around. Annabeth smiled sheepishly, pieces of Sally’s broken coffee mug in her hands. “Sorry. Just thought I should get this off the floor.”

“Annabeth, really, you don’t have to do that,” Sally said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind.” Annabeth wrapped up the china shards and put them in the bin.

Sally picked up the phone. “I should call Paul, let him know you’re home.”

-

If immortals were good at one thing, it was holding a grudge. Tartarus was no exception.

The sheer insult of those demigod gnats managing to reach the Doors of Death was bad enough. Add the fact that they had managed to escape completely, perfectly unscathed to boot, only made it worse. But then on top of that, they had gone on to be instrumental in destroying Gaia!

True, those particular two had not been the ones who actually delivered the final blow. But they had certainly contributed. Tartarus had picked up enough from the monsters that had been sent back to him during the battle.

He had never been directly involved in human affairs before. Or, for that matter, had the desire to be. But an unfamiliar desire had overtaken him—a thirst for revenge. Revenge both for himself and for his beloved.

Tartarus had never made plans before. But he had witnessed monsters make them time and time again. In his aeons spent listening to his subjects, he had picked up a few tips for success. He had to be patient. Rushed plans inevitably led to vaporisation.

Not being able to leave his domain was the biggest obstacle. Which was why he was going to need some help …

TBC …

Notes

This is my first Percy Jackson fanfic, which is really exciting. I have been writing fanfic since about 2005 (mainly Harry Potter) but I’m comparatively new to this particular fandom. I have other fics in the works too, though I’m trying to concentrate on this one for now.