Alive
A Percy Jackson story
Written/edited by: Max/musiclover99
©-Rick Riordan

It was around 12:40 in the morning when the phone rang.

Sally Jackson groaned slightly, partly awake, mostly asleep. She was about to go back to sleep when the ringing stopped, replaced with a familiar voice that she hadn't heard in too long.

"Mom," it said. She bolted upright in her bed, jostling Paul next to her, but she couldn't care about that at the moment.

"Hey, I'm alive." She had to resist the urge to laugh hollowly at that. Of course that would be the first thing he says.

She wanted to pick up that phone and speak back, tell him how he's so grounded when he gets back home, that he'd better come back home, alive, whole, and well, and how much she's missed him so much, but she couldn't bring herself to move. It felt as though if she moved, this would all be a dream she had, nothing more than her imagination, and she'd wake up with no physical proof that her son is alive.

"Hera put me to sleep for a while, and then she took my memory, and . . ." There was a hesitant end to that sentence, like he had more to say, but didn't want to, for whatever reason. Sally had never cursed anyone, but she had found an urge to do just that at the goddess of marriage. She couldn't, though, because she was just a mortal, and there was probably a good reason for doing this.

(That didn't mean she had to like it, though.)

"Anyway, I'm okay," the phone continued. "I'm sorry. I'm on a quest—" She could just picture the wince he probably made after that sentence. He knew how she felt about quests.

Another quest. Another dangerous, monster-filled, life-threatening quest. He's probably started it a while ago, she thought. And she didn't know about it.

"I'll make it home," the voice rang out. "I promise. Love you." Click.

And then she could move again.

She grabbed the phone and pressed the proper buttons, hearing the standard phone operator say, "To hear your messages, press 1. To—" Beep.

Her hands were shaking, and she was trying her best not to cry in relief. The message played back.

"Mom. Hey, I'm alive. Hera put me to sleep for a while, and then she took my memory, and . . . Anyway, I'm okay. I'm sorry. I'm on a quest— . . . I'll make it home. I promise. Love you."

"To erase this message, press 1. To replay this message, press 2. To see other options, press 3 now."

With a shaky hand, Sally pressed the End call button and put the phone back.

She didn't know how much time had passed until she laid back down in her bed. A minute? An hour? Two hours?

She felt like a nervous wreck, one that just wants nothing more than to break down sobbing.

Her son was alive.

Percy was alive.

Percy was alive.

That was all she had ever wanted these past few months. To know that he was alive and breathing and okay.

She realized that she should have doubts: that Percy won't make it home, that something will happen, that his luck after almost six continuous years of quests will finally run out.

But she doesn't have any of them. Because he promised.

Percy never breaks promises. He always sticks to them, like the kindhearted boy he is, the kind of boy she wishes everyone could see.

He promised that he'd come home. So he will.

She knows.

. . . *waves hand* He-ey. Er, um, yeah, sorry I basically died off on this site. I was in a slump and had minor WB, and stories like Carved in Stone and the Ranger stories and Prank Wars and Disney's Perseus all kept mocking me. Because I'll end up never finishing some of them, and taking forever to finish others.

Prank Wars is only seven chapters long, and it's been a freaking year.

Disney's Perseus has been up for months and is on chapter two or something. (I have up to chapter five, but beyond that, I'm sorta lost now. I'll get it, so the few fans it has, don't worry!)

Carved in Stone . . . no. Just . . . no.

Rangers . . . honestly, I went into writing that without thinking about it. So I'll probably finish, but it'll take a while to get the shaky start back.

Etc, etc. Plus, I got a tablet for a late Christmas/early birthday present, so I've been drawing stuff and got addicted to deviantart and Tumblr.

Thank you all so much for continuing to read my stories for whatever reason, because even last month I got nearly 2,000 views. I'll finish those stories (except for CiS, cause lord, what is that even) eventually, trust me!

You all rock. :3

P.S. I still f*cking hate verbs. :| This was sorta meant to be my Mother's Day fic, but then I got a different idea. Plus, it's four days late, and even later for places like Spain. So this is just another fic, I guess. Ideas accepted, but only if it's my type of thing. Thanks for reading!