The Warfighter, the Storm, and the Moon

Chapter 32: Friends

'Friends'

29-Sep-2030, 1555U

Grover Underwood

Council of Cloven Elders

Salinas, California, USA

"Uh, Grover?" Don shakily asked behind me. "Maybe we should have this discussion back at—"

"Perseus Jackson, you gods-damned bastard!" I hissed as I stomped up to the taller man, not giving a damn that I was making a scene—right when we should've been leaving a combat zone. "Twenty years. Hm? Twenty years, you disappear, gallivanting in Pan knows where... twenty... damn... years."

"Er... yeah," Percy replied quietly.

"You remember the empathy link? The thing that connected us, the thing that can only be dissolved if the two people involved are face-to-face and want it to be removed? Yeah, well guess what? I knew the link dissolved, I felt it... but I still thought... that you were dead."

Why, you may ask? Well, while the survivor of an empathy link duo typically dies or ends up in a vegetative state, there have been a few cases in which the survivor was unaffected. And given the fact that nobody had any idea where Percy was, I thought I was among those few—seriously, you associate yourself with this idiot long enough, you begin to think anything's possible.

"Uh... wait, I think... yeah, Trivia mentioned that might be a side effect of removing my Scent," Percy remembered, phrasing it like it was nothing more than a tiny little detail. "I... really shoulda followed up on those letters."

"You let me grieve... I grieved for a long-ass time. How could you do that? Hm?" I asked, feeling utterly betrayed. "How? How?"

"Okay, Grover... look, before this gets outta hand like a sad scene played out for comedy's sake, can I just say something?"

I stared at him, unmoving, awaiting his words. After a deep breath, he spoke as he looked me straight in the eyes.

"For all the pain I've caused you, I'm truly, truly sorry. And for what it's worth, I missed you too," he stated apologetically, extending his hand.

That did it. Next thing I knew, I'd tackled him to the ground in a fit of rage, strangling him with the intent of making him feel it the next day (even if I wanted to kill him, I don't think I could). Everyone was shouting something along the lines of "CALM THE HELL DOWN!" and "PLUTO'S PANTIES, UNDERWOOD!" as they slowly, but surely, yanked me off of him. Blackjack nearly clobbered me with his hooves, stopping only on Percy's command.

Oh, and get this: the son of a bitch hauled my ass up onto Blackjack and made me ride with him, apparently to help clear the air. Once everyone was airborne—either on a pegasus or the metal dragon (Festus, I think?)—he turned around so that he could face me.

"Okay, so I think I've got some explainin' to do," Percy began slowly.

"No shit, Seaweed Brain," I shot back with an eye roll.

"Alrighty... so I joined the Navy."

"... why am I not that surprised?"

"'Cause you know me, brother."

"Don't call me that, asshole."

"Fine," he sighed, sounding genuinely regretful. "It was something in the books for a long time. Few different things set it off: you know I wasn't good in school—or anywhere else, for that matter—but I will admit, the wars were always the best part of history lessons. That was one thing. All those stories of badass men that fought for country and honor... I wanted to be like that. Something better, a hell of a lot better than my shithead of a stepdad. Maybe at some point, be strong enough to kick the shit outta him."