AN~ I wanted to follow up my Percabeth thing with something that shows a bit more taste and originality. This started out happy, and then somehow got... not... Happy new year, everyone!

Disclaimer: *insert witty phrase her, suggesting that I am a young female who has yet to publish anything, and thus, am simply borrowing the property of Rick Riordan*

When she heard the voice on the answering machine, Sally Jackson almost had a heart attack.

She leaned against the kitchen wall for support, saying, "He's alive... Oh, thank God, he's alive."

"Sally?" Paul asked, sticking his head around the corner. "Who- are you all right?"

"Percy called!" Sally said, pointing to the answering machine with shaking fingers. "Percy called, Paul! He's alive!"

Paul stared at Sally for a full minute, then rushed over and gave her a hug. She wrapped her arms around him, in return, holding back tears.

"So where has he been?" Paul asked after a minute.

Sally shrugged. "He didn't say." She said into Paul's shirt. "But he's alive! He's alive, Paul! I mean, I know Annabeth said- but I couldn't be sure- I mean, I hoped, but-" She stopped. "Annabeth! I have to get in touch with the camp!"

"Slow down, Sally," Paul cautioned. "He may have called them first, you know."

She shook her head. "He wouldn't do that. I know Percy. He wouldn't call camp first. He knows how that would make me feel."

"If you say so." Paul shrugged. He knew how absent-minded he'd been as a teenager, but maybe Percy was more aware of other people's feelings.

Sally picked up the phone and turned to dial the number, then realized that she didn't know it. Laughing a little, she scampered awkwardly for her cell phone and began scrolling through her contacts, then went back to the house phone to dial the number from there, then realized what she was doing, and simply called from her cell phone.

The Big House phone rang four and a half times while Sally waited, shifting her weight from foot to foot. She was about ready to give up when she heard a clunk and, "Hello?"

"Chiron!" she said, but it came out as a squeak.

"Um, yes, who is..." Chiron trailed off. "Sally?"

"Yes," Sally said, breathless, "It's about Percy."

"Oh," Chiron said, "Well, I'm sorry, Sally, but we haven't heard anything new. We have people out looking for him, but-"

"No, no, no, I heard from him!" Sally interrupted.

Chiron stopped for a minute, then said, "You... you what?"

"Percy called me, Chiron! He's alive! ...And in the middle of something, but he called me!" she smiled at Paul, mouthing, told you so.

"What did he say, exactly?" Chiron asked. "It might be important."

"Hold on, let me put you on speaker and you can hear it." Sally said, then played the message again.

Percy's voice came through the machine, crackling, "Mom. Hey, I'm alive. Hera put me to sleep for a while, and then she took my memory and..." there was a pause, "Anyway, I'm sorry. I'm on a quest- I'll make it home. I promise you."

"There it is," Sally said, "Helpful?"

"Yes, actually," Chiron said. "It confirms a lot of what we already thought, and explains why we had nothing from him up 'til now."

"Good," Sally said, putting her head in her hands. "'Bye, Chiron. Find my son, please."

"We'll try, Sally," Chiron said.

She hung the phone up and dropped it on the table, putting her head in her hands.

Paul came up behind her and rubbed her shoulders. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," Sally said unconvincingly. After a few seconds, she burst out with, "I just hate this! I can't do anything, and it drives me crazy! He's only sixteen, Paul, and he's already saved the world once! Why can't they just leave him alone?"

"Because he's important," Paul said, still massaging Sally's shoulders.

"I know!" Sally half-wailed. "And I'm proud of him. So proud. And... I'm ecstatic that he's alive. But sometimes I wish I'd just had a normal kid, you know? One who would grow up going to one school, with normal grades and normal problems, who'd just get a normal job... Because I can't stand worrying about him."

"I know," Paul said. "I know, Sally, I know. But he'll be back."

She sighed. "I have to believe that, Paul. It's all I have."