Chapter 52: Lost Message

Hello there. By the way, the Romans won't appear in this chapter. I planned an idea a while ago but I wasn't sure how and when to start with it. Now, after some thought, it seems a good time to start. Well, read on.

Percy's POV


As soon as walked out of our tent, I ran into Rachel. She had a puzzled expression and I didn't blame her as I heard most of the conversation with my mind. It seems that the cryptic messages keep coming lately.

Then I noticed that she was holding something I didn't see Alice give her. It looks like one of the papers inside her fortune cookies but this one has the color of the shade of green of her magic.

"What's that?" I asked.

Rachel shrugged.

"A mystery gift from Alice, maybe?" She wondered. "I don't know but I found it on my pocket a few seconds before coming here."

"May I see it?" I asked.

She nodded and hand me over the paper… and I was somewhere else the next time I blinked.

I looked around and stared in shock at the figure that was sitting in the bed.

"Pan?" I asked wide eyed.

The God of the Wild smiled sadly as he looked at me.

"Hello Percy Jackson," He greeted. "I would introduce myself but I happen to know you already know me."

I shook my head in disbelief. It seems I was right when I said that I can't assume what is going to happen next. I certainly didn't see that coming.

"So, you contact Alice and told her to enchant that sheet of green paper so we could talk?" I asked/guessed.

Pan nodded.

"Why?" I asked.

His nearly lifeless eyes stared at me.

"Because I realized that with all these changes in history, my chosen one wasn't going to keep his schedule," He answered.

I looked down thinking about Grover.

"Yeah, eh, sorry about that," I apologized.

Pan sighed.

"You forced my hand, Jackson," He said. "I really need to rest and you prolonged it for a while longer. But I will let it slide, because thanks to you, I can actually die in peace."

I blinked.

"Come again?" I asked confused.

Pan smiled.

"I wish I could have met you back in the Trojan War," He said wistfully. "The Wild was stronger 1000 years before I faked my death. Nevertheless, you left an important legacy; Achilles legacy.

I raised an eyebrow, guessing where this was going. Pan sighed, his eyes lost in fond memories.

"In the new timeline you forged, it wasn't Grover the first one who found me," Pan stated. "It was a wonderful woman from Achilles´ bloodline. She was a Brazilian environmentalist who worked day and night to save the wildest, purest places of the Amazon, the biggest forest in the world," He said in admiration.

Then he chuckled.

"I understand that the mortal saying these days is that she was my type," He said smiling.

I nodded, surprised at the sudden turn of events but I recover quickly as I saw this coming when he started talking about her.

"So, you have a demigod child," I said and chuckled. "Oh, the Satyrs are going to go nuts when they find out."

"A demigoddess actually, but yes," Pan said smiling. "I want to inform you that I will guide Grover to her. When he takes her to Camp Half-Blood, I will claim her. She already knows about me and has been train by her cousin Logan and his mother Hecate in ancient woodland magic but that way the Satyrs will believe her. She and Grover are to deliver the nature spirits the message that I am still alive because the Satyrs never stopped believing in me but with the Wild so shattered and beyond my powers to heal it that I have to end my suffering by fading and I will after claiming her," He said, his tone a little more morbid. "Nevertheless, at least I have an heir to take my place once I am gone and she will be the new leader of the Wild. All nature spirits will answer to her."

I sighed.

"I wish I could do something to save you, Pan," I muttered. "However, I think that, for once, not even my fatal flaw could help me with this," I admitted. "At least I hope you don't have to suffer anymore."

Pan approached me and placed his hands in my shoulders. He looked at me with a smile.

"Hecate chose well," He said. "Have you ever thought that she could have chosen any other magician and that he or she could have truly messed with history but for their own personal gains?" He asked me. "It is true that many changes have been convenient for you but your main intention when changing fate has been to forge a better future and not just for you. She chose you not just because of your powers and age but also because your heart is one of purest hearts she had ever sensed in a magician. Most of them have good intentions too but they are very power hungry."

I smiled softly. I know Hecate has a lot of faith in me but hearing it like that makes me very happy.

"I know you feel guilty about your father's defeat but I assure you that you can still make things right," Pan went on. "You still have a pathway to change so you can still find a way to restore your father's power."

I ponder on that. Maybe he is right. I shouldn't lose confidence just yet.

"Anyway, it might take a while to spread the message but I give you my word that an army of 120 nature spirits will join your ranks, at latest, tomorrow at midday when the eclipse begins, composed of 40 Dryads, 40 Naiads and 40 Satyrs," He continued. "That will be my last command to my servants of nature: aid you when worse comes to worse because if our enemies win the war, there will be no hope for the Wild," He said, his eyes deep in thought. "After that I will rest in peace and my daughter will take my place both as the leader of the Wild and as the Supreme Commander of the Armies of the Wild."

I nodded as I assimilated everything.

"Well," Pan said after a while, "I guess this is my last good-bye," He said sadly.

I sighed.

"It was an honor to meet you Pan," I said loud and clear. "And I promise you that if I win and survive this war, I will help rebuild the Wild somehow," I said with conviction. "Even if it is just in my corner of the world."

Pan smiled again.

"She really chose well," He repeated. "Percy Jackson, it was an honor to meet you too and I thank you for making it possible for me to have an heir and die in peace. The nature spirits will be in your debt forever and nature is a powerful ally."

His eyes looked tired but he smiled as if his soul was rested.

"Good-bye," He whispered and the God of the Wild left my sight.


And yet another sudden turn of events is set in motion. Please let me know what you think.