Author's Note: I promise this story will be finished someday guys. I'm sorry I took such a long hiatus. Thank you so much for those of you who have stuck around the whole time. It really means a lot to know that all this time later, people are atill reading and interested in updates. I sincerely hope you are enjoying the story

"Percy?"

Sally Jackson remembered as vividly as ever the day that she found out Percy was gone. It had started out as an ordinary morning with Paul, they were settling comfortably into their new life together on the east side of Manhattan. At the time, nobody had yet realized the magnitude of Eris's machinations. As usual, humans had kept their blinders on until it was far too late. Even as the mother of a half-blood and a clear-sighted mortal, Sally hadn't suspected a thing. But Percy was different. His years training at Camp Half-Blood had only strengthened his already excellent gut instincts that would go on to serve him so well. Of course it helped to have a young woman as knowledgeable as Annabeth by his side. Together they'd managed to put together a theory of what was going on, and if true, it would mean that the world may have only had a short time before human and godly civilization collapsed.

She remembered the anger with which Percy confided to her in one of his final visits at the inaction of the camp. He and the rest of the seven wanted to go on a quest immediately. Chiron was divided, Rachel was saying that without a prophecy, it would be doomed from the start. The day before, Rachel had sent an Iris Message pleading witg Sally to talk some sense into Percy. Then Percy himself showed up and told his side. Sally simply hadn't known what to say. Nothing could ever prepare a mother for something like this. She'd finally settled on the most sincere thing she could think of.

"Do what you think is right, Percy. Whatever you decide, I will support you."

The guilt of knowing that she could have talked him out of it would haunt her forever. It all started on that innocuous morning. The Seven had been away for some time and they hadn't been in contact with Camp Half-Blood for several days. Chiron had become so concerned that he sent out patrols of half-bloods on Pegasi to search for them. It was shortly thereafter that they made the horrible discovery. The Seven heroes of the second great prophecy were gone. Sally, of course, was completely unaware of this, until that day when Hermes himself arrived to deliver the news. He'd appeared not as a great divine being, but as a weary traveller with the news that no parent should ever hear. From this point on, all Sally remembered was falling into Paul's arms, a sobbing wreck. It really couldn't be. Her only child, the boy she'd raised alone for twelve years and then watched with pride as he became the exceptional young man she always knew he could be, was dead. She'd always known that at any moment his life might be endangered, that was the life of a half-blood. But somehow she'd never thought it could happen to Percy. He seemed above it all, invincible even. It was such a naive thought, Sally later realized. And she was partly to blame for not stopping Percy when she had the chance.

The news only got worse though. The bodies were being returned to Camp Half-Blood for a proper funeral, but Perry's was not among them. In spite of all the camp's efforts, the only item recovered from Percy was his sword, Riptide, in pen form. His body was never recovered, and soon the camp became too overwhelmed and short-numbered to mount any more efforts. For Sally Jackson, twenty long years would pass without any closure on her son's death. For all she knew he'd been burned or mutilated or worse. The only things that kept her going were Paul and her granddaughter, Caroline. She looked so much like Percy and Annabeth that it stirred constant feelings of joy and pain within her. Joy that a part of Percy had lived on, pain that he and Annabeth weren't here to see what a wonderful person she had become. The last few times Caroline has visited her, she'd confided that she and some of her friends were planning on going on a quest for the camp to scavenge for supplies This story had gradually began to change until one day, Caroline dropped a bombshell. She believed that the new prophecy might be referring to Percy. But that was impossible, Sally knew. Still, she and Paul had agreed to buy them a van and help stash as many supplies as possible for the quest. Even so, in her wildest dreams, Sally could never have imagined that she'd be standing her now, looking into the eyes of the spitting image of her son the last time she saw him. It was as though he'd been frozen in time. His wavy black hair and sea-green eyes and youthful face were all the same, but something was different. The last time she'd seen Percy, he had seemed angry and distant, as though he had somehow lost his way. Now Percy looked like he knew exactly what he was doing and nothing was going to stop him. It was the old Percy, the boy who raced towards danger with reckless abandon. But when he finally spoke, his voice came out in an almost inaudible whisper.

"Mom...it's really you, isn't it?"

"Yes Percy, it is. But...you..."

"I'm alive," Percy finished for her gently.

"It doesn't seem real. Caroline told me, but it doesn't seem real..."

"It's real grandma, it's him," Caroline assured.

"Come here. If you're really here, and this isn't a final insult from the gods, then come to me, Percy, please."

Percy slowly found the strength to move his legs across the threshold of the apartment door, it hadn't been that long since he'd visited in his world, but it already felt like a lifetime. Everything looked familiar yet also frighteningly different. Each step seemed to echo louder in his mind until he finally stood just inches away from his mother. Although she'd aged, she was still the same beautiful and strong woman who had picked him up when he was at his lowest points. He needed her strength now more than ever, but by the tears welling up in her eyes, he realized for the first time that she needed him more. Once, Paul had told him that there was a time when this would happen, and when it did, Percy had to be ready to ease his mother's burden. That time had come now.

"Oh, Percy..." Sally said through tears as she cupped his cheeks with shaking hands. "I don't understand it, I never will. But I believe it."

Percy said nothing, instead merely pulling his mother in for a long hug. It was what they both needed.

"How inconsiderate of me." Sally wiped her eyes and tried to regain at least some sense of composure. "I haven't greeted the rest of your friends."

Percy looked back at Keno, Lucy, Sam, May, and Chuck standing in the doorway. In all the emotion of being reunited with his mother, he'd almost forgotten about themm Boy was she going to be in for another surprise.

"Mom, this is Keno Zhang, Lucy Valdez, Sam Grace, Chuck Hedge, and May Kinsley. Guys, this is my mom, Sally Jackson."

Mutters of "Hi miss Jackson", "nice to meet you", and "Sorry to barge in unexpected..." followed from the group. Sally inspected the group more closely. She'd never met them but they did look awfully familiar for some reason. And...

"Those names...can it be?"

Percy couldn't help but grin. His mom had figured it out right away. "These are the children of the original Seven, plus our good friend Gleeson Hedge's son and...um, well, I don't know much about her or her mother, Harmonia, but this one is apparently the key to our survival." He gestured for May to step forward, which she tentatively did.

"Oh my...she can't be much older than you were when you first discovered your true identity. Your parents must be worried to death about you."

"They um...they won't notice if I'm gone for just a little while."

"Oh that's nonsense, sweetheart. You know on Perry's first quest, I couldn't stop thinking and worrying over him. Of course, the fact that I was in Hades didn't help matters..."

May gasped. "You've been in Hades?"

"And Percy's been in Tartarus," Caroline added. "And yet, they're both here. So I know we can pull this off."

"Hey guys, I know this is kind of a big moment for Percy, but if we don't start moving again pretty soon, the monsters might realize something's up," Keno reminded them.

"Of course," Caroline said, trying to regain concentration on the tasks at hand. "Grandma, is the van ready?"

Sally grinned. "Paul really went all out this time. He's in the parking garage right now, I guess he had a feeling you'd be dropping by today. Shall we pay him a visit?"

That was how they all ended up on an elevator to the bottom floor of the apartment complex, the parking garage in normal times. Normal times these were not, for now it was practically empty, making the dimly lit lot appear even more desolate and lonesome than usual. Everyone who hadn't already fled the city had likely had their vehicle destroyed or stolen. Several yards away, a lone figure stood solemnly next to the silhouette of a sleek van. It seemed the figure had been working on the van until he heard the sound of the elevator descending, although he said nothing at first as the door opened, giving passage to the group into the lot. Did he recognize then? Percy couldn't be sure, but even in the darkness, the man's eyes visibly lit up. He stepped closer to them. His features were older, more refined, yet still familiar...

"Sally..."

Percy's mother pressed on without missing a beat...as if they had spent countless hours prepraring for this day, for this singular moment. "Paul, it's time."

"...Time?" The man moved to meet the group halfway between the elevator and the van. As he approached, he must have finally noticed that one of these kids was not like the others. That he was the spitting image of the son lost so long ago...

"Gods above...Percy, is it you? Or have I at last gone mad?"

Age might have beem kinder to Paul Blofis if he, along with Sally, had not had such a terrible burden to bear, a burden Percy still felt responsible for. In the years since Percy had last seen him, Paul had matured from looking like a typical high school teacher to looking like a full-blown college professor, complete with a neatly trimmed beard. Yet where he, like Sally, had once appeared youthful, now they both appeared worn and ragged by the years alone. Again, Percy thanked the gods they at least had each other.

"Yes, Paul, it's me. It's Percy."

The middle aged man shook his head and let loose a brief, melancholy laugh. He seemed to be speechless at first as they simply embraced each other, finally reunited. By now, this should have been routine for Percy. He should've been used to the storm of emotions raging in his heart each time he greeted someone from his past. Yet he couldn't get past it. Something about the fact that he was frozen in time whilst the world had changed so dramatically around him...while the people he loved had been forced to move on and deal with their anguish without him. It was his fatal flaw, he realized. His desire to help anybody and everybody. But in their hour of need, he had not been there.

"By the skies above, I never imagined-" Paul clutched Percy tightly before finally getting him go. "...I've become a believer in a lot of things since you and your mother came into my life. But until now, until this very moment...it all still seemed like a fantasy."

Percy stood, still shell-shocked. Wondering how he could've ever been embarrassed of his stepfather. "Paul...I don't know how I can ever apologize to you for what I've done..."

Percy felt the others moving closer to him, as if hoping to offer him comfort, but it was Paul who spoke, quietly, yet emotionally. "It has been difficult without you, I can't deny that. For a long time, your mother blamed herself, and I blamed myself for not being able to comfort her...when we lost you, the world had lost a hero, but we had lost a son."

Percy bowed his head shamefully.

"...but, I want you to know that we both have always been proud of you, and we are still proud of you. Nobody knew how that quest would turn out, Percy. You can't blame yourself for that."

Percy paused. "What if I fail again?"

"What indeed? You will never find out if you don't try. Your friends...ah, your descendants believe in you. We believe in you. You're the Hero of Olympus, Percy. You've fought Kronos himself, and won! I was there."

"Ah, technically Luke defeated Chronos," Keno pointed out helpfully.

Paul waved it off. "You get the idea. And anyways, with this ride I've got set up for you, there's no way you'll fail."

That brought the attention back to the van. They still had a long road ahead to get across the country to San Francisco in time to rescue a goddess and prevent world war III. It was finally time for Percy and his gang find out just what his mom and stepfather had done to prepare them for this ardous journey.