The Shadow Summoner | Book Three - PJO Universe

eighteen

NEWS
(Time skip - set after Apollo, Grover and Meg go into the Burning Maze once more).

Grover sat down next to Meg and Apollo with a contented sigh.

The satyr had changed his clothes: a green cap, a fresh tie-dyed shirt, clean jeans, and a new pair of hoof-appropriate New Balance shoes.

A backpack was slung on his shoulder. Apollo's heart sank to see him dressed for travel, though she was not surprised.

"Going somewhere?" Apollo asked.

He grinned, though Apollo didn't miss the hurt in his eyes. "Back to Camp Half-Blood."

"Now?" Meg demanded.

He spread his hands. "I've been here for years. Thanks to you guys, my work is finally actually done! I mean, I know you still have a long way to go, freeing the Oracles and all, but..."

He was too polite to finish the thought: but please do not ask me to go any farther with you.

Apollo wouldn't have dreamed of asking Grover to do anything else for him, not after he had just lost Ariana.

Apollo knew and understood that Grover was close to Ariana - not as close as he and Percy but they had still gone on numerous quests together.

"You deserve to go home," Apollo said wistfully, wishing he could do the same but home was Ariana and Ariana was dead. "But you won't even rest the night?"

Grover got a faraway look in his eyes. "I need to get back. Satyrs aren't dryads, but we have roots, too. Camp Half-Blood is mine. I've been gone too long. I hope Juniper hasn't gotten herself a new goat...."

Apollo recalled the way the dryad Juniper had fretted and worried about her absent boyfriend when he was at camp.

"I doubt she could ever replace such an excellent satyr," He said. "Thank you, Grover Underwood. We couldn't have succeeded without you and Walt Whitman."

He laughed, but his expression immediately darkened. "I'm just sorry about Ariana and..." His gaze fell on the ukulele in Apollo's lap.

He hadn't let it out of his sight since they returned, though he hadn't had the heart to tune the strings, much less play it.

"Yes," Apollo agreed. "And Money Maker. And all the others who perished trying to find the Burning Maze. Or in the fires, the drought..."

Wow. For a second there, he had been feeling okay. Grover really knew how to kill a vibe.

His goatee quivered. "I'm sure you guys will make it to Camp Jupiter," he said. "I've never been there, or met Reyna, but I hear she's good people. My buddy Tyson the Cyclops is there too. Tell him I said hi."

Apollo thought about what awaited them in the north. Aside from what they'd gleaned aboard Caligula's yacht-that his attack during the new moon had not gone well- they didn't know what was going on at Camp Jupiter, or whether Leo Valdez was still there or flying back to Indianapolis.

All they knew was that Caligula, now without his stallion and his sorceress, was sailing to the Bay Area to deal with Camp Jupiter personally.