A/N: I am a horrible author for leaving so many of my stories unattended...BUT I just got "The Son of Neptune" over the weekend and finished it like *insert finger snap here* that. I couldn't wait to start writing some fanfiction. (By the way, I don't know about you guys but I'm shipping Reyna/Leo now even though they've never met..yet. Don't kill me.)

I wrote this in a short amount of time, so please note that there is a high chance of it being edited. Sorry if this causes any unforeseen inconveniences, but I really wanted to get some early critique on it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series or any affiliations to it. (I hope I worded that correctly.)

Spoiler Alert: low

The phone rang in the middle of the night, not that Sally was asleep, anyway. It was eight months since Percy's disappearance. She hardly ever got enough sleep because she'd be wide awake worrying about him. Where was he? What was he doing? Was he even alive?

Sally shook the last thought out of her head. No, of course Percy was alive. He'd come home. Eventually.

She missed her son so much.

Annabeth contacted her when the camp had found a lead on Percy. A boy named Jason, from a separate demigod camp, claimed that he and Percy may have been switched, and Annabeth intended on going on another search to find Percy and bring him home. Sally hoped Annabeth could, but something in the back of her mind told Sally that it wouldn't be the right time yet.

Normally, Paul would come to help her when she'd stay up late like this. They would talk for a little, about Percy, about the times they had together. But Paul went to bed early that night, and she had stayed in the kitchen, drinking a warm glass of blue milk. It must have been cold now, though; she had only finished half of it before getting lost in her thoughts.

Sally went to look at the caller ID on the phone. It was a strange number. Even the area code wasn't recognizable, so she sat back down at the table, listening to it ring. Shortly after the ringing stopped, a long beep sounded, indicating that the caller had left a message. Curious, she walked back over to the phone, gingerly picking it up and putting it to her ear. Sally pressed the voicemail button.

It beeped and relayed the words, "You have one new message. To listen, press one—" She did, cutting off the recording. The voicemail played.

"Mom."

Sally's eyes widened at the sound of the voice on the other end. She gripped the phone tightly. It was Percy. She'd know his voice anywhere.

Percy. Her son. Fearful relief washed over here. He was alive, but what happened in those past months? She listened intently.

"Hey, I'm alive. Hera put me to sleep for a while—"

This was Hera's doing? She vaguely remembered Hera being mentioned along with Jason's name when she and Annabeth talked. It didn't surprise Sally so much; she knew the gods had peculiar ways of going about things.

"—and then she took my memory and…"

Percy's voice trailed off in thought. Sally could just imagine him thinking hard, trying to piece together the complicated story in a way that it would make sense. After a long pause, he gave up. Sally almost chuckled.

"Anyway, I'm okay. I'm sorry."

Sally sighed, but smiled. He didn't need to apologize; she could never be upset with him. She was just so happy to know he was fine.

"I'm on a quest—"

His voice stopped at that sentence. He probably thought she'd start panicking. Sally almost had, too, but she caught herself. Panicking wouldn't help anyone, and she knew it.

"I'll make it home. I promise."

He said it with conviction; Percy never goes back on a promise. It took Sally all she had to not break down and cry. Percy, her sweet little boy (she could hear his protests at the thought), was being so brave and strong for her sake. For everyone's sake. She wanted so much to be able to help him, to hold him like he when he was a kid and tell him that it would be all right, though she knew it was impossible.

The last two words came out tenderly, almost child-like.

"Love you."

"Love you, too," Sally whispered into the phone. It beeped in response.

"End of messages."

A/N: Yes, I know. The ending was terrible. There wasn't much detail. I could totally improve this or that. Please bear with me. I'll get it fixed ASAP, but I want to know what you think of the overall idea. This one-shot is more of a...prototype? I don't know. Whatever you want to call it. Please review!