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A year changed many things for demigods. No, it had almost been two years, even. She couldn't fathom that it had been that long already.
If not for the distress call from Sally Jackson, and then another hysterical message from her godly father, Livia figured she'd never return to the Big Apple. And well... her sister had let her go. Because while everybody had moved on, she hadn't. She joined her friend Thalia after that stupid war that had torn her apart. Of course it all came back to bite her in the ass. It all came back to Percy Jackson. Fucker.
"Oh, Liv, you look just like the last time I saw you." Sally Jackson welcomed her with open arms, hugging her tight. The comment felt odd. Of course she would still look like a seventeen-year-old. She wouldn't age again, not for a long time. "I didn't know who else to call, I mean – Annabeth and Percy..."
Livia grimaced, she did not need to know if those two found solace in each other after she went... rogue. "What's going on, Ms. Jackson?"
"Oh, best if you come in. It's Mrs. Blofis-Jackson now, I didn't know if anyone had told you."
"Congratulations."
She hadn't known how uncomfortable it would be to see Percy's mother again. They'd met a few times during the war, but... Livia cut contact with everyone from her old life. Just as Thalia had done, just as all those other hunters had done before her. Sally belonged to her old life, and the only reason she stood inside the Jackson apartment was because Artemis and her father had forced her to go.
Artemis believed she would return wiser from the storms, and that her hunt would become larger with the return. Something about identities morphing into one. Livia didn't understand then, and she likely wouldn't soon.
Her eyes slid over the wall behind the couch. Wedding pictures. Sally Jackson and a man that must be the Blofis fellow. Livia met him, she thought, but couldn't recall him making much of an impression on her. No, those had been reserved for one person only. He was in a few pictures, smiling like he didn't have a constant threat looming over him. Her own face graced the wall as well.
Annabeth, Grover, Percy, and herself. They looked undamaged, pure as snow. Completely unaware that in a few years, they would most likely not be friends anymore.
"How have you been, Liv? Percy doesn't seem to mention you, and every time I ask, he shuts me down." Sally gently pried.
"We grew apart." Which wasn't a lie, but it still left a bitter taste in her mouth. "But I've been good. In less danger than I used to be."
Sally frowned, but nodded. "I didn't know if you would come. I think something's wrong with Percy, and the gods."
Percy was in trouble. Livia tried her hardest not to let out a laugh, because of course he managed to get himself caught up in something. That was his thing. Always in trouble, always barely escaping death. She witnessed it herself many times before.
