Raging Seas [pjo au] || 1

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Grover was dressed in his usual jeans and t-shirt and sneakers, but within the last few weeks he had grown to look older, nearly high-school age. His goatee got thicker, he put on weight, and his horns had grown at least an inch, so he now had to wear his beanie constantly to pass as human.

"I'm off," he told them. "I just came to say...well, you know."

Kali was sad to see him leaving. But he had gotten permission to go search for Pan, so she did her best to be happy for him. Still, it was hard to say goodbye, even if they hadn't known each other or been friends for that long.

Annabeth gave him a hug. She told him, "Keep your fake feet on."

"And no more flying shoes," Kali added with a bit of humor. "I don't want to hear you flew over a cliff."

Grover brayed a laugh. "I promise, you don't need to worry about that again."

"Where are you going to search first?" asked Percy.

"Kind of a secret," he said, looking embarrassed. "I wish you could come with me, guys, but humans and Pan..."

"We understand," Annabeth said. "You got enough tin cans for the trip?"

"Yeah."

"And you remembered your reed pipes?"

"Jeez, Annabeth," he grumbled. "You're like an old mama goat." He didn't actually sound annoyed, though.

Grover gripped his walking stick and slung a backpack over his shoulder. He looked like any hitchhiker you might see on an American highway – nothing like he had been before the quest, a little runty and maybe perpetually nervous.

"Well," he said. "Wish me luck."

He gave Annabeth another hug, and gave Kali one too. He clapped Percy on the shoulder. Then, he headed back through the dunes.

Overhead, the fireworks came to life: Hercules killing the Nemean lion, Artemis chasing the boar, George Washing (who was a son of Athena, by the way) crossing the Delaware.

"Hey, Grover!" Percy called.

He turned at the edge of the woods.

"Wherever you're going – I hope they make good enchiladas."

Grover grinned, and then he was gone, the trees closing around him.

"We'll see him again," Annabeth said.

Kali nodded, refusing to think of how no searcher had ever returned in two thousand years. "Of course we will."

+++

At the end of July, late one night close to one in the morning, Percy and Kali were sitting across from each other on his bed as they played the card game Bullshit. Neither of them were able to sleep. Kali, because that nightmare came back, but this time with just the weird cloaked woman speaking her name as the ground trembled at Kali's feet, and she couldn't fall asleep without worrying she might have it again. Percy, on the other hand, couldn't sleep because he admitted to feeling uneasy about something. He didn't say why or what about, and Kali didn't want to pressure him, so they decided to play a game instead.