'•' The Sea of Monsters '•'

12 :: Big Sister Returns

Published: October 26, 2021
Edited: September 4, 2022
'•'

That afternoon was one of the happiest I'd ever spent at camp, which maybe goes to show, you  never know when your carefully taped-together world is about to be re-shattered into pieces and glued into a whole new shape. Grover announced that he'd be able to spend the rest of the summer with us before resuming his quest for Pan. His bosses at the Council of Cloven Elders were so impressed that he hadn't gotten himself killed and had cleared the way for future searchers, that they granted him a two month furlough and a new set of reed pipes. 

The only bad news: Grover insisted on playing those pipes all afternoon long, and his musical skills hadn't improved much. He played "YMCA," and the strawberry plants started going crazy, wrapping around our feet like they were trying to strangle us. I guess I couldn't blame them.

Grover told us he could dissolve the empathy link between him and Percy, now that they were face to face, but Percy told him to just keep it if that was okay with him. He put down his reedspipes and stared at us. 

"But, if I get in trouble again, you'll both be in danger, Percy! You could die!"

"If you get in trouble again, I want to know about it. And we'll come help you again, G-man. I wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, I already have an empathy link with Neridia that we can't dissolve, another one can't hurt me."

In the end he agreed not to break the link. He went back to playing "YMCA" for the strawberry plants. I didn't need an empathy link with the plants to know how they felt about it. Later on during archery class, Chiron pulled Percy aside and told him he'd fixed his problems with Meriwether Prep. The school no longer blamed him for destroying their gymnasium. The police were no longer looking for him.

"How did you manage that?" I asked. Chiron's eyes twinkled. 

"I merely suggested that the mortals had seen something different on that day—a furnace explosion that was not your brother's fault."

"You just said that and they bought it?"

"I manipulated the Mist. Some day, when you're ready, I'll show how it's done."

"You mean, I can go to Meriwether with Percy next year?"Chiron raised his eyebrows. 

"Oh, no, they've still expelled him. The headmaster, Mr. Bonsai, said Percy had—how did he put it?—un-groovy karma that disrupted the school's educational aura. But he's not in any legal trouble, which was a relief to your mother. Oh, and speaking of your mother..." He unclipped his cell phone from his quiver and handed it to me. 

"It's high time you called her."

The worst part was the beginning—the "Percy-Jackson what-were-you-thinking-do-you-haveany-idea-how-worried-I-was-sneaking-off-to-camp-without-permission-going-on-dangerous-quests-and-scaring-me-half-to-death" and the "Neridia-Jackson-how dare-you-put-yourself-in-so-much-danger-there-are-better-ways-to-help-camp-than-spying-on-a-monster-ship" parts. But finally she paused to catch her breath. "Oh, I'm just glad you're both safe!" That's the great thing about our mom. She's no good at staying angry. She tries, but it just isn't in her nature.

"I'm sorry, Mom," I told her. 

"We won't scare you again." Percy added.

"Don't promise me that you two. You know very well it will only get worse." She tried to sound casual about it, but I could tell she was pretty shaken up. I wanted to say something to make her feel better, but I knew she was right. Being halfbloods, we would always be doing things that scared her. And as we got older, the dangers would just get greater.