Chapter 12: Grover and the Tale of the Lost God
They had a great unforgettable night. All of them had.
After Albert escaped Grover's gratitude and that of the others, he ran away to the house above them. He finally got the bath, he so desperately wanted. Once he finished changing into a new set of clothes, the others did too. While Percy was in the bathroom, he used this time to Iris-Message Camp Half-Blood.
Chiron was pleased to see that they were still in one piece and asked where Percy was. Annabeth carefully explained that he was in the shower. After exchanging courtesy, he, the girl, and the satyr took their time reporting the events of their long night. Annabeth was the best at organizing the events and coherently saying them, but Grover kept interrupting with emotional exclamations and gestures, making Albert smile helplessly at the glares he earned from Annabeth. Chiron looked paler and paler the more they talked. Nearing them the centaur looked at them in awe and bewilderment.
Before they ended the message, he asked the others to leave and allow him some private time with his mentor.
"What is it that you wish to tell me about in private, Albert?" Chiron asked, he had suddenly turned serious, earning a raised eyebrow from the boy, "Don't even give that look, boy. After hearing the report from your friends I can safely say that you are far from simple. I have a debt with you that I can never repay, no- Camp Half-Blood have, soon the Council of Satyrs too. Go on, say what you need."
Albert felt like the other two must have exaggerated his role in the whole thing, it wouldn't have worked without them anyway. Still, he would take the opportunity.
"Thank you, for your kindness, sir," The boy politely said. "I need you to do me a favor. Keep the information of our report away from the campers, no exceptions are to be made. Only the elders of the council and... I am not sure about Lord Dionysus actually, I will let you decide on him. No one else, sir."
This made Chiron look even more serious, "Explain your reasoning, Mr. Gomes."
"You already know the reason why I am asking this and why I asked the others to leave before I did, Mr. Chiron," The boy smiled at the centaur, looking at him as reassuringly as possible. "After the hellhound attack you said so yourself, there is a traitor among us. There might be more than one, and I know you wish for otherwise but we have to be careful. The others would protest this request, they have been to camp for far longer than I do, their emotions and loyalty are to the people who grew up with them and this whole situation would only upset them. It would be dangerous if they knew about our progress as we can only guess what their capabilities are."
The centaur pressed his lips into a thin unhappy line, before he sighed in resignation, "I will do as you said, boy. Be careful on your journey. I have much to do now thanks to all of you, and... Mr. Gomes, once gain. Thank you for giving them closure and freedom."
"I hardly did anything, sir," The boy argued. "The gods and goddesses did all the job. All I did was convince the others to try. I had no idea they would agree."
"Even so... you have no dimension of what you did, do you?" Chiron asked with a stern tone. "What you and your friends did has lasting consequences across the entire world as we know it. The souls of mortals and demigods are now finally following their paths into the Underworld. The nymphs will affect nature as a whole now that hundreds of thousands have been released. The satyr- don't get me started on the satyrs! They will go insane, Pan disappeared a long time ago, and many had given up on finding him. What you did is the proof they needed to know that Pan is still around and he cares fro them. You can't possibly imagine what they would feel and do when they find out. You returned their lost ones to them. If glory is due, you and the others deserve it more than you can even imagine."
"I see..." Albert felt awkward again, Chiron was right. He had no idea what the consequences of the ritual would be in the long or short term. "Our quest isn't over, Mr. Chiron. Also, glory is okay, I admit, but none of us had glory in mind. We just... couldn't leave them behind when there was something we could do. About the satyrs... I believe they deserved this, seriously. For centuries they had been entrusted with protecting the children of the god- us- all I did was inform them where some of them are now. I hope they will flourish somewhere at Camp, or another place that needs them."
Chiron was silent for some long minutes then he shot him a kind smile, the kindest smile he ever saw on him, "I should go now, kid. Good luck on your journey, and come back safely."
The Iris-Message flickered and disappeared. The report was over, they had to leave this place and move on. They can get a nap later, sleep is a luxury and time too.
Soon enough they were back in the woods, a hundred yards from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties judging by all the junk around. The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers, plastic bottles, and... all sorts of junk. Alber was curious whether the party members were humans or common beasts, but beasts although feral and dangerous in their unique ways, did not pollute the place like that.
They had taken some food and blankets from Medusa's home, they had basically looted the place. The sun was high in the sky, they had no problems and were quietly enjoying their peace, it was going to be short-lived they were aware of it.
Grover fluttered with his flying shoes to the lowest bough of a tree, put his back to the trunk, and stared at the sky with a hopeful gaze. He had been this way ever since the ritual.
"Getting the hang of it?" Percy told him. "Last time you almost got hurt."
Grover merely nodded but still didn't close his eyes, still staring at the sky. "It makes me sad, Percy."
"What does? The fact that you signed up for this stupid quest? It makes me a bit mad too."
"No, don't be stupid. I am happy I came, you can't even imagine how much. It's something else. This makes me sad," He pointed at all the garbage on the ground. "And the sky too sometimes. You can't even see the stars here. They've polluted the sky!" He continued in a much tired and still hopeful tone, "This is a terrible time to be a satyr, that's what I always thought and what my people think too."
"Oh, yeah. I get it I think," Percy said. "I guess you'd be an environmentalist."
Grover glared at him looking a bit disappointed. "Only a human- well, half-blood in your case-, wouldn't be in this world. Your species is clogging up the world so fast, faster than ever before and it only gets worse and worse ... ah, never mind. It's useless to lecture a human. At the rate things are going I thought I would never find Pan. Until last night this was only a dream for me, but it's different now. He came to our rescue when we called. I have to find him."
"Oh... I am sorry I said something stupid, dude." Percy said as he thought about the night before. "It was amazing. His presence I mean."
"Yes, it was awesome!" Grover exclaimed feeling refreshed. "The great god Pan is out there! What do you think I want a searcher's license for? I am going to find him!"
There was a strange breeze rustling through the clearing, temporarily overpowering the stink of trash and muck. It brought the smell of berries and wildflowers and clean rainwater, things that might've once been in these woods. Suddenly, the four of them shared looks. It was what they felt the night before. It invoked in them a nostalgia for something they'd never known. The true wilderness. A time before entire forests were chopped down for wood and rivers were clean and bustling with wildlife without dams blocking their paths.
"Tell us more about the search," Percy asked his friend.
Grover looked at them and smiled. Before probably this question was something most satyrs would think of as if they were making fun of. Yet Grover knew these kids weren't like that. They had helped him, all of them. Albert was someone who came up with the ritual idea and changed everything.
"The God of Wild Places, Pan, disappeared two thousand years ago, a long time even for satyrs," He began to tell them as they walked. "A sailor off the coast of Ephesos heard a mysterious voice crying out from the shore, 'Tell them that the great god Pan has died!' When humans heard the news, they believed it. They've been pillaging Pan's kingdom ever since. But for the satyrs, Pan was our lord and master. He protected us and the wild places of the earth. We refuse to believe that he died. In every generation, the bravest of satyrs pledge their lives to finding Pan. They search the entire earth, exploring all the wildest places, hoping to find where he is hidden and wake him from his sleep. Last night he came when we called... you can't possibly understand what this means to me, Percy. I have never been happier, when the news hit the council, they would go insane. Some won't believe until they see the saplings of our kin return and then they will know. Pan is not dead."
"And you want to be a searcher?" Annabeth asked.
"Oh, It's my life's dream!" Grover said with a laugh, a really happy life. "My father was a searcher, you know? And my Uncle Ferdinand ... the statue you saw back there. Now he is gonna go back home, he can finally rest. I will find Pan for them, for us. Uncle Joseph chose the path of a protector, before he had this fight, butting heads with the elders, no pun intended. Now he will learn about what happened too. After thousands of years, we are sure he is out there. I just need to find him."
Annabeth smiled at him and so did Percy and Albert. They have never seen their usually silly and timid and a bit clumsy friend so happy and determined. It is like something fundamental about the young satyr changed in a way they could barely understand, he was glowing with confidence.
Grover shook his head. "Uncle Ferdinand knew the risks so did my dad... But I'll succeed. I'll be the first searcher to return alive! Just watch me!"
"Hang on— the first?!" Percy suddenly asked, rightfully alarmed. "What-what do you mean?"
Grover took his reed pipes out of his pocket. "No searcher has ever come back. Once they set out, they disappear. They're never seen alive again."
"Did you look for your dad last night, Grover? Albert suddenly asked.
The satyr blushed at him and hummed in confirmation, "After I saw Uncle Ferdinand I thought he might be there too, but last night I saw all the satyr statues, he wasn't there."
"Sorry about that," Annabeth interjected apologetically. "We didn't know, you never talked about your family."
"Not once in two thousand years?!" Percy asked again before he added. "Sorry about your dad too."
"It's okay, guys," Grover said with a smile while waving his hand in dismissal," And no, Percy."
"You have no idea what happened to him?" Albert asked. "Grover do you have siblings?!"
"None and... no, definitely not!" The boy hurriedly replied. "It's okay though. Like I said, he knew the risks, but I am still proud of him for trying."
"You really want to go?!" Percy said, amazed. "I mean, you really think you'll be the one to find Pan?"
"I know that tone, you're worried about me. I have to believe that, Percy. Every searcher does. It's the only thing that keeps us from despair when we look at what humans have done to the world. I have to believe Pan can still be awakened."
"We are going to the Underworld, Jackson..." Albert playfully interjected. "Our situation is more similar than it looks at surface level."
"How are we going to get into the Underworld?" Percy asked him. "I mean, what chance do we have against a god?!"
"I don't know," Grover admitted, quiet enough so the girl walking in the front wouldn't hear. "But back at Medusa's, when you were searching her office Annabeth was telling me—"
"Oh, I forgot," Percy sarcastically said. "Annabeth will have a plan all figured out."
"Don't be so hard on her, Percy. She's had a tough life, but she's a good person. After all, she forgave me...." Grover's voice faltered.
"What do you mean?" Percy asked surprised at his friend's abrupt change. "Forgave you for what?"
Suddenly, Grover seemed very interested in the way or anything besides this matter.
"Wait a damn minute," Percy said blinking in shock. "Your first keeper job was five years ago. Annabeth has been at camp for five years. She wasn't ... I mean, your first assignment that went wrong—!"
"I can't talk about it, okay? Please, dude." Grover said, and his quivering lower lip suggested he'd start crying if he pressed him. "But as I was saying, back at Medusa's, Annabeth and I agreed there's something strange going on with this quest, Albert does too. Something isn't what it seems, just like he said before. There is something off."
"Well, duh. I'm getting blamed for stealing a thunderbolt that Hades took!" Percy said as if it was obvious. "I've never even been to Olympus!"
"Let him finish, Jackson..." Albert said, not unkindly. "By the way, nobody truly thinks you stole that thing. I am sure not even the King of the Gods, he dislikes you basically because you exist. A Forbidden Child of the Sea God. He is probably just happy to find an excuse to get rid of you."
"That is so unfair..." Percy murmured quietly now. "It's not like asked for any of this."
"I know, Percy... I am sorry you got into this mess," Grover said. "What I meant was The Fur—The Kindly Ones were sort of holding back in the bus. Like Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy ... why did she wait so long to try to kill you? Then on the bus, they just weren't as aggressive as they could've been. It's like they never intended to kill us."
"They seemed plenty aggressive to me." The other boy snarkily countered. "I remember the whips and screams."
"Really?" Albert shook his head. "They were screeching at us: 'Where is it? Where?'"
"Asking about me," I said.
"Maybe ... but Annabeth and Albert and I, we both got the feeling they weren't asking about a person. They said 'Where is it?' Emphasis on IT. They seemed to be asking about an object."
Percy shook his head in denial, "That doesn't make sense."
"I know. But if we've misunderstood something about this quest, and we only have nine days to find the master bolt...."
"There is something I haven't told you guys," Percy suddenly stopped and told them. "I don't care about the master bolt. I agreed to go to the Underworld so I could bring back my mother."
"You're unbelievable, Jackson." Albert side-eyed him and pretended he didn't hear it. "I can't tell if you are that naive or you simply lack common sense."
"Why?!"
Grover let out a whistle and also shot Percy an amused look. "We know that, Percy. All of us, even Annabeth. But are you sure that's the only reason?"
"At first I was not doing it to help my father, you know? I thought he didn't care about me. I thought I didn't care about him... but he came when I needed him," Percy admitted. "I was so surprised when he talked to me."
Grover gazed down from his tree branch. "Look, Percy, I'm not as smart as Annabeth or as clever as Albert. I'm not as brave as you. I'm pretty good at reading emotions. You're glad your dad is alive. You feel good that he's claimed you, and part of you wants to make him proud now that he helped us out. You have a sense of duty."
"Not bad, Grooves. Really, not bad." Albert exclaimed, feeling rather proud.
"Grooves?!" The satyr boy exclaimed and choked on air, he was turning pink at a visible pace.
"Did you just give him a nickname?" Percy asked. "Why him?"
"You are still so important, Jackson," Albert said with a narrow gaze, the other boy was offended and feeling wronged. He then tilted his head and mischievously batted his eyes, "You're jealous or something?"
"You-you can't do that!" Grover pulled said. "Okay, Percy. Come on, let's go. Leave him behind!"
"Let's go!" Percy said hiding his face and dragging Grover faster away from him.
Albert scoffed at them. Why were they so dramatic for? Did he do something bad or something No! He had been a good guy. He was just teasing them a bit! Was the Aphrodite side of him doing too much? They had barely got out of New York and we're stuck here with no way west. He would consider his shortcomings in personality carefully later.
Now, he was alone he decided to use this opportunity to take a look at the system and see the difference. He suddenly stopped in his tracks. He had thought he had leveled up a couple because of the Furies, he didn't even deliver the killing blow at Medusa. When he saw the game-like screen, he understood that it probably took that this thing leveled up because of the monsters he sent back to Tartarus with ritual and maybe even for the other souls. Maybe even the ritual itself, but it must have been just a small amount of experience instead of all of it, otherwise it would be higher.
Albert had leveled up twenty-three times. This meant he had 115 status points to place outside the natural points he earned just by training and developing the old-fashioned way, but still, he decided to. Now Albert is where to assign these points.
Some of the statuses like strength and vitality were pretty obvious, but intelligence was a weird zone. He fancied himself pretty smart, what would this even mean for him to upgrade? Better memory? Thought speed? He could understand things better? It was a mystery, after all, this system thing was really basic. Still, he could use more vitality, he keeps getting tired and the road forward is a long one. More dexterity too, his movements were all crude and unrefined no matter how much he trained with his bow, he was still lacking. Intelligence? He would put some there too.
As soon as Albert finished distributing the points he felt as if a warth energy spreading from within himself to every part of his body. It was pretty anti-climatic, but at least he got this over with.
"Hey, wait for me!" Albert called out, looking at the trio who got a bit far from him, "Annabeth, you won't believe me, but these two- they are bullying me! I was just being nice and they ran away like I was some nasty monster. Seriously, they are so dramatic!"
His Aphrodite side was showing? Whatever.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone