THIS IS ME TRYING

20: From Grandpa

THE SUMMER had flown by so quickly, that it felt weird to Luna that she was already packing her bags to go back home. She was excited to see Sally, of course, however she would miss Camp and the few friends she had made. Not only had she been given a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, but also a necklace with a thick bead on it; the bead was black and had an image of crossed spectral torches lit up with a blue flame, which reminded her of her claiming.

Luna had made sure to find Clarisse before she left, as Percy always took so long to pack his bags. She found the Ares girl at the climbing wall, like always, glistening with sweat.

Luna cleared her throat, and Clarisse followed her to a quieter area of the field. Luna said, "I, uh, wanted to apologise for what I said."

"What did you say, Red?" Clarisse questioned teasingly, obviously knowing what she was sorry for, but decided that she wanted Luna to state everything. It made Clarisse feel like she had been in the right all along, like she was just saying 'I told you so'.

"For accusing you of graffitiing my bed frame." Luna replied.

Clarisse went on, "And..."

"And punching you." Luna explained, "Three times."

Clarisse continued, "And..."

"And for saying you stole the bolt." Luna exclaimed, as she folded her arms across her chest, "I'm not apologising for anything else, you deserved what you got. And, if anything, you should be apologising for me for kicking the paint over onto my shoe."

Clarisse looked at the tiny stain of brown paint on her red converse, she raised her eyebrows in disbelief, "Really? That's a tiny stain."

"It's still a stain." Luna disagreed, "I got these for my birthday, they were so expensive."

"That's a shame." Clarisse teased sarcastically, "I guess a piece of me will stick with you when you go back home."

Luna paused, almost in shock at what she just said and not knowing how to reply. She managed to ask, "You stay here all year round? Gods, no wonder why you're so grumpy-"

Clarisse nudged her gently, smirking to herself as Luna chuckled. It had occurred to Clarisse that she had never seen Luna smile around her- she looked even more prettier when they weren't fighting each other.

Clarisse cleared her throat awkwardly, slightly turning back to her usual self, "I'll see you next summer, Red."

"Yeah." Luna nodded, internally screaming at herself for not being able to say more. But she couldn't, Luna was frozen on the spot as she watched Clarisse run back to the Climbing Wall.

Luna joined Percy and Annabeth at Thalia's tree, as the young girl told the siblings about how she's going to visit Disney World with her dad- which Percy seemed very happy to hear.

"Guys! Guys!" Grover rushed over to the three, his smile beaming so brightly that it warmed Luna' heart.

Annabeth asked curiously, "You got it?"

"Where is it?" Percy added.

Grover opened up his jacket, revealing a yellow flower stuck to his t-shirt. Tears of happiness swelled in his eyes, as Luna hugged him proudly, "You got it!"

"Is that your searcher's licence?" Percy questioned curiously.

"Yeah!" Grover exclaimed excitedly, "Officially authorised to begin the quest for Pan!"

Annabeth asked, "Where are you gonna start?"

"Well, it seems like every inch of the natural world's been checked, noted, and footnoted." Grover explained, "The Council's theory is that Pan is always on the move, and it's all about timing. But... no one's ever bothered to check the seas."