Remembering

Chp. 12: Grover's Back!

A/N: Hey guys! In the PJO books, I think Grover is a pretty forgotten character, considering he was Percy's best friend before Annabeth and the reason he got to Camp Half-Blood in the first place. So, I wanted to include him in this story. Enjoy :))

"Percy, we can't tell Reyna yet!" Annabeth cried exasperated. "We barely have a plan and you're already rushing into things!"

"It's been a week! We can't wait any longer. Why don't you want to tell her?" he snapped back.

"I've never planned a quest by myself before! I don't know if it'll be successful...I can't risk your life-"

"Annabeth. I trust your opinions. You of all people know we can't let a quest sit for long." Percy didn't mean to be harsh, but it was true. It was best to act upon planned quests quickly, or at least tell someone!

Annabeth's stomach somersaulted. Percy trusted her opinions? After all her mistakes?

"I'm so grateful you trust me, Percy, but we have to run this by the people in Camp Half-Blood that we'll involve and Jason."

After their week of planning, Annabeth decided the best way to reach the Underworld would be through the Door of Orpheus in New York. To do this, however, they had to bring in Grover, a satyr from Percy's past. Percy's body tingled with excitement and nervousness at the prospect. The name Grover seemed to strike a bell, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

"Fine, fine. We'll call Camp Half-Blood."

~

A few hours later, Percy entered Annabeth's room in the Argo II, ready to call Grover. Annabeth sat on her room's floor, basking in the afternoon rays of sunlight. She held a prism in one hand and a drachma in another. After Percy sat down, Annabeth held up the prism to the sunray, creating a rainbow that spanned across the room. Tossing the drachma in, she called out, "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Grover Underwood."

An image of a satyr materialized in front of them: brown curly hair with horns sticking out, a wispy goatee, lanky arms, but most importantly-his face. His small smile, olive skin, and bright eyes brought up images from the recesses of Percy's mind. Somewhere in the background, he and Annabeth were talking, but he wasn't paying attention. He remembered being friends with Grover at a middle school, then him bringing him to Camp Half-Blood, reed pipes, their quests-

"Percy!!"

Grover's voice shot him out of his trance, and Percy looked at him with a closed throat. "Hey, Grover."

"Hey, Percy."

Silence.

"I-Perce-Percy, do you..."

"I do, I do remember you. Not well, but..."

"Well, something's better than nothing," he said with a smile. Percy returned the smile.

"Okay," Annabeth cut in. "Let's get to the point. Grover, I called you because we need your help."

Grover looked on, emotions not discernable.

"It's been a couple of months, and Percy and Jason's memories have not improved substantially. If we continue this pattern, I'm afraid they'll never regain them. So, we made a plan for a quest."

Grover beamed, reminiscing. "Just like old times."

Annabeth smiled back. "Yeah...just like old times. From our previous quests to the Underworld, we know two entrances: DOA Recording Studios in Los Angeles and the Door of Orpheus in New York. We can't go through DOA because we've already met Charon once. He won't fall for the same trick twice. So, we have to go through the Door of Orpheus. We won't run into Charon and it's closer to the Underworld's rivers."

"And you need my help because the Door of Orpheus needs music to open!" Grover realized.

"Exactly. You've opened the Door of Orpheus once before with your reed pipes, so we were wondering if you'd do it again?"

Grover nodded, emotions rampant in his chest. Percy was his best friend, his rock, his support system. Now, it was Percy who needed his help. "Of course. You didn't even have to ask."

"Thank you so much, Grover." Percy grinned.

The grin struck a chord in Grover's heart. How many times had he seen the same grin in their childhood? The lopsided smile Percy made every two seconds of the day...he missed Percy's smile, Percy's laugh, Percy. He needed his best friend back.

Suddenly some yells rang out in the background of Grover's screen. He turned behind him to see Connor calling him for the campfire. It was evening for him since New York's time was 3 hours ahead of California's.

"Hey, I'm so sorry, but I have to go to the campfire. Maybe we can talk after dinner's over?"

"Um..." Percy began nervously. "Can we come with? Over IM, I mean. 'Cuz, I-I've been wondering who the people at Camp Half-Blood are...I want to see if I can remember them like I remember you and Annabeth."

"Percy," Annabeth said, warningly. "I don't think that's a good idea. We don't want to overwhelm you with stimuli-"

"Annabeth." he cut her off. "I need to do this."

Hearing the intensity in his voice, she relented. "Okay. Let's go."