Do-over (A Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

7. Animals shouldn't be crossbred

I was sitting next to a sleeping Annabeth a few minutes later. I looked up to see Grover fiddling with his reed pipes, but he wasn't playing it. I figured he didn't want to wake up Annabeth.

I kicked an empty Coke can away from my feet as I looked around the clearing. Chip packets and soda cans littered the forest floor. After seeing the God of Wild Places fade into nothing, I had learned to appreciate nature more. Seeing evidence of people being careless made me sad, and I didn't like being sad.

'Get some sleep, man,' I said softly. 'I'll wake you if there's trouble.'

Grover nodded mournfully, 'This makes me sad, Percy'

'Hmm?' I hummed distractedly. I had heard a twig snap in the distance but it was probably nothing.

'All the litter, pollution, people not caring about nature,' he sighed. 'This is a terrible time to be a satyr.'

'No it's not,' I said, trying to cheer up my best friend. 'Look, just because Pan is missing doesn't mean that being a satyr is a bad thing.'

'How do you know about Pan?' Grover suddenly asked as he sat up straighter.

'Uh, I heard about it from another satyr at camp.' I lied. Why couldn't I just keep all this information inside of me? I was going to get killed because of this.

Grover sighed again and leaned back against the trunk of the tree, 'So you know about the search?'

I nodded.

'So you know about the searcher's license?' he said almost dejectedly.

'Yeah.'

'Do you think I would find-do you think I would get my searcher's license?' Grover asked hopefully.

I had caught his slip up, of course. He wanted to be the one to find Pan. All satyrs did. What Grover didn't know was that he was actually going to be the one to find the missing god.

'You'll get your searcher's license, Grover,' I reassured him. 'You'll be the one to find Pan. I know it.'

Grover responded with a small scoff, 'I doubt that.'

He didn't know how wrong he was.

There was a brief moment of silence between us. It was pleasantly peaceful but Grover was the one to break the silence.

'Hey, Percy?' I hummed in response. 'Do you remember what the Fu-Kindly Ones said?'

'Yeah, they weren't after me,' I looked up ar Grover. 'They were saying 'Where is it?'. Last I checked, I'm not an object.'

Grover nodded, 'That's what I'm saying. They're looking for something. Not you. The question is, what are they looking for?'

I don't know.' I shrugged. I decided that the knowledge of Hades' missing Helm should be kept from them for now. Hades hadn't informed the Olympians for a reason.

'One more question,' he asked timidly. 'Why did you send Medusa's head to Olympus?'

'Just wanted to annoy the gods.' I replied smirking. I couldn't mess with the Fates for sending me down this road so I might as well mess with the gods.

'You're going to get yourself killed, man,' Grover warned. 'The gods wouldn't let this slide just because you're a kid. They've killed people for something far less.'

'Whatever.'

Even in the darkness, I could see Grover staring at me before shaking his head.

'You get some sleep, Percy,' Grover said as he lifted his reed pipes to his lips. 'I'll take first watch instead.'