Percy POV

I woke up the next morning and everything was hurting. Training with Luke had been brutal; he had not gone easy on me. He'd tell me to keep my guard up, then hit me lower down and say 'not that far'. It had been fun, though. I looked around the cave we were huddled in and saw the rest of my new friends scattered around. I was the only one awake right now. I looked down at the horn next to me. I'd done a lot to earn that horn. I picked it up and cradled it in my hands. Quietly, I crept up and walked to the entrance of the cave. It was still raining and if it carried on for much longer we'd have to swim across the valley. I watched the rain fall and thought about the past few days. I had no idea what was going on but apparently the Greek gods were real. I guess I couldn't really argue because I'd already fought four monsters and befriended another. This was the first time I'd had in days to process what actually was going on. I'd killed my teacher, run away from home and defeated a cyclops, a sphinx and the Minotaur with nothing but a pen. A shiver ran down my spine as I truly realised that Mrs Dodds really hadn't been human. She really had wanted to kill me. I was the son of a god. I was most likely going to die. I'd probably never get to see my mom again.

I don't know how long I'd sat there for but Annabeth came and sat next to me. She put her hand on my shoulder and said, "It's ok to feel sad. It's ok to cry. You've been through a lot through the last couple of days. This would come as a shock to anyone." I hadn't realised I was crying but now I felt the hot tears streaking down my cheeks.

I wiped them away and stood up. "I'm fine," I told her. She didn't seem to believe me but dropped it for now.

Grover came and stood next to us. "I hope you don't mind me asking but how long have you been on the run for, Annabeth?"

Annabeth glared at him before saying, "Since I was five."

I stared at her, shocked. "Five!?"

"Yes," she said, shortly.

"That's so young, though. How did you survive?"

She stayed silent for a bit until I thought she wasn't going to answer before finally speaking. "Luke and Thalia took me in. The cared for me and taught me to look after myself."

"How did they find you? Were you fighting a monster like I was?"

"I ran away."

"Why did you run away?" I sensed I'd hit a sore spot and I heard Luke suck in through his teeth.

"It doesn't matter," she told us shortly, before turning round and sitting by the fire that Luke and Thalia had set up. I knew I wasn't going to get any more answers from her today. I looked at Grover and he gave me a shrug. We went and joined them by the fire. I placed my horn next to me and began to eat what we'd scavenged.

I was cleaning our dishes outside when I heard a shout. I looked around and saw an old, fat satyr running towards us. I turned and ran inside, warning the others.

Thalia, Luke and Annabeth grabbed their weapons, while Grover just groaned. "Do you know him?" I asked.

"Yeah, it sounds like Selinus. He's one of the council of cloven elders and he's probably coming to tell me off for helping you. Either that or he's coming to take credit for the success."

We looked to see a sodden, panting satyr standing at our door. He doubled over and caught his breath for a second.

"Grover," he panted. "I have come to speak with you regarding your searcher's license."

"What's a searcher's license?" I asked Grover.

"It's something I've been wanting since I was a child. It means I am a searcher and can go to try and find Pan, the lost god of the wild." He explained. I still didn't really know what one was but I let it go. Grover turned to the older satyr. "Have I got it?"

"You were largely unconscious when two half-bloods and a cyclops dragged you into the cave and two others fought the Minotaur without you. We can't really see the heroics of these actions." Grover looked dejected, while Annabeth looked at him suspiciously. "However," the satyr continued, "Dionysus feels that we shouldn't discredit you yet. We have decided that your fates are still tied. If this young half-blood gets given a quest, and you go with him and you complete it successfully, then we will reconsider your searcher's license." Grover looked even more dejected.

"You done here?" Luke asked impatiently. Selinus nodded quickly, while eyeing Luke's sword warily, bade a hasty farewell and sped off into the rain.

As soon as he'd left, Annabeth rounded on Grover. "You said you didn't have an ulterior motive for saving him," she growled. "Is this 'searcher's license' the only reason you've been helping us?"

Grover backed against a wall. "No. You've got the wrong idea," he insisted hurriedly.

"Then what's the right one?" Thalia hissed at him.

"I did go to protect Percy, without thinking of the searcher's license. Around October, I realised that if I applied for the license now then protecting Percy could give me an advantage. It was an afterthought, I swear!"

Luke seemed to be thinking it through. "I think he's telling the truth, guys."

Annabeth glared at him before relenting, muttering, "Fine," angrily. She stepped closer to Grover and whispered into his ear. I couldn't hear what she said but, judging by Grover's whimpers, it was clearly a threat.

AN: sorry for the short chapter and the long wait, the next one will come sooner and be longer I promise.