?as the world caves in?

?we have a nice old story time on a zoo truck?

"Like you said, Percy, two seven year old half-bloods wouldn't have made it very far alone. Aphrodite guided me toward Annabeth, where Athena guided her to me. Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. We'd all run away from home. They were happy to take us with them."

Annabeth sighed. "They were... amazing monster fighters, even without training. We traveled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us."

"I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp," Grover said, sniffling. "Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron; don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Coriane, Annabeth and Luke by themselves. I thought... I thought I could lead all four of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker..."

"Stop it," I snapped. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either."

"She sacrificed herself to save us, her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so."

"Because you wouldn't leave three other half-bloods behind?" Percy said. "That's not fair."

"Percy's right," Annabeth said. "We wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says."

Grover wouldn't stop though. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century. Thalia and Percy."

"You're not lame," I insisted. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met. Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now."

I kicked him in the shin.

"Yeah," Percy said and looked at me, slightly annoyed. "It's not luck that you found Thalia and me, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan."

We waited for an answer, but Grover was asleep.

"How does he do that?" Percy marveled.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "But that was a really nice thing you told him."

"I meant it."

I rubbed my necklace as I spaced out.

"That pine tree bead, is that from your first year."

I looked at it. "Yeah. Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that years beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme one fire, a centaur in a prom dress—now that was a weird summer..."

Percy looked at Annabeth, who looked like she was passed out. "And is that college ring her father's?"

"Yeah. Don't tell her I said it though."

"You don't have to tell me."

"What about your dad?"

"What's there to say?" I scoffed. "He got a daughter be didn't want and drank all his problems away. I hate him. No matter what he says."

"What do you mean by that?"

"A few months ago, he wrote me a letter, saying he's fixed himself, that him and Samantha are married and have a stable life. He wants me to come back and live with them, for school years at least."

"So you'd go back to Virginia?"

"No, actually. The letter was mailed from some house in New York."

"That doesn't sound so bad." Percy was silent for a moment. "Do you think you'll ever try living with him again?"

"Please. I'm not into self inflicted pain."

"You shouldn't give up, you should write him a letter or something."

"Thanks for the advice," I said.

I wanted to snap at him because he didn't know what it was like. But I just couldn't. Percy had gone through his own problems as well, and I wasn't about to break this kid from it.

We sat in silence.

"So if the gods fight, will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will Aphrodite and Poseidon on the same side?"

I put my head down on the backpack we got. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you."

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend, seaweed brain. Any more stupid questions?"

Percy was silent and I drifted off into sleep, smiling to myself.