chapter 35: the great god pan is dead

Since Grover and Tyson never met her, Percy introduced Rachel to them. Tyson told Rachel she was pretty, making Annabeth's nostrils flare like she would breathe out fire.

"Anyway," Percy said. "Come on, Grover. Lean on me."

Percabeth helped him up, and together, the group waded across the underground river. The current was strong. The water came up to their waists, but being the son of Poseidon, Percy could will himself dry using his abilities.

The rest of them weren't so lucky.

"I think we're in Carlsbad Caverns," Annabeth said, her teeth chattering from the cold. "Maybe an unexplored section."

"How do you know?" Percy asked.

"Carlsbad is in New Mexico," she said. "That would explain last winter."

Percy nodded. They explained to Hoa and Nico about how Grover went delulu after sensing a strong natural presence that they believed to be the power of Pan.

They got out of the water and kept walking. As the crystal pillars loomed larger, Hoa felt the power emanating from the next room. Hoa had been in the presence of minor gods before, but this—this was different. It was so much more powerful than anything she'd ever felt.

Her weariness fell away, as if she had just gotten a good night's sleep (which she almost never got these days). Hoa could feel herself getting stronger, like a plant in one of those time-lapse videos. And the scent coming from the cave was nothing like the dank, wet underground. It smelled of trees and flowers and a warm summer day.

Grover whimpered with excitement. Hoa was too stunned to talk. Even Percy seemed speechless. They stepped into the cave, and Rachel said, "Oh, wow."

The wall glittered with crystals—red, green, and blue. In the strange light, beautiful plants grew—giant orchids, star-shaped flowers, vines bursting with orange and purple berries that crept among the crystals. Soft green moss covered the cave floor. Overhead, the ceiling was higher than a cathedral, sparkling like a galaxy of stars. In the center of the cave stood a Roman-style bed, gilded wood shaped like a curly U, with velvet cushions. Animals lounged around it—but they were animals that shouldn't have been alive. There was a dodo bird, something that looked like a cross between a wolf and a tiger, a huge rodent, and roaming behind the bed, picking berries with its trunk, was a wooly mammoth.

On the bed lay an old satyr. He watched the group as they approached, his eyes as blue as the sky. His curly hair was white and so was his pointed beard. Even the goat fur on his legs frosted with gray. His horns were enormous—glossy brown and curved. There was no way he could've hidden them under a hat the way Grover did. Around his neck hung a set of reed pipes.

Grover fell to his knees in front of the bed. "Lord Pan!"

The god smiled kindly, but there was sadness in his eyes. "Grover, my dear, brave satyr. I have waited a very long time for you."

"I... got lost," Grover apologized.

Pan laughed. It was a wonderful sound, like the first breeze of springtime, filling the whole cavern with hope. The tiger-wolf sighed and rested his head on the god's knee. The dodo bird pecked affectionately at the god's hooves, making a strange sound in the back of its bill. Hoa could swear it was humming "It's a Small World."

Still, Pan looked tired. His whole form shimmered as if the Mist made up his body.

Hoa kneeled, prompting the rest of the group to scramble to their knees with awed faces. "You have a humming dodo bird," Percy said.

Hoa cringed at him internally.

The god's eyes twinkled. "Yes, that's Dede. My little actress."

Dede the dodo looked offended. She pecked at Pan's knee and hummed something that sounded like a funeral dirge.

"This is the most beautiful place!" Annabeth said. "It's better than any building ever designed."

"I'm glad you like it, dear," Pan said. "It is one of the last wild places. My realm above is gone, I'm afraid. Only pockets remain. Tiny pieces of life. This one shall stay undisturbed... for a little longer."

"My lord," Grover said, "please, you must come back with me! The Elders will never believe it! They will celebrate you! You can save the wild!"

Pan placed his hand on Grover's head and ruffled his curly hair. "You are so young, Grover. So good and true. I think I chose well."

"Chose?" Grover said. "I-I don't understand."

Pan's image flickered, momentarily turning to smoke. The giant guinea pig scuttled under the bed with a terrified squeal. The wooly mammoth grunted nervously. Dede stuck her head under her wing. Then Pan reformed.

"I have slept many eons," the god said forlornly. "My dreams have been dark. I wake fitfully, and each time my waking is shorter. Now we are near the end."

"What?" Grover cried. "But no! You're right here!"

"My dear satyr," Pan said. "I tried to tell the world two thousand years ago. I announced it to Lysas, a satyr very much like you. He lived in Ephesos, and he tried to spread the word."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "The old story. A sailor passing by the coast of Ephesos heard a voice crying from the shore, 'Tell them the great god Pan is dead.'"

"But that wasn't true!" Grover said.

"Your kind never believed it," Pan said. "You sweet, stubborn satyrs refused to accept my passing. And I love you for that, but you only delayed the inevitable. You only prolonged my long, painful passing, my dark twilight sleep. It must end."

"No!" Grover's voice trembled.

"Dear Grover," Pan said. "You must accept the truth. Your companion, Nico, he understands."

Nico nodded slowly. "He's dying. He should have died long ago. This... this is more like a memory."

"But gods can't die," Grover said.

"They can fade," Pan said, "when everything they stood for is gone. When they cease to have power, and their sacred places disappear. The wild, my dear Grover, is so small now, so shattered, that no god can save it. My realm is gone. That is why I need you to carry a message. You must go back to the council. You must tell the satyrs, and the dryads, and the other spirits of nature, that the great god Pan is dead. Tell them of my passing. Because they must stop waiting for me to save them. I cannot. The only salvation you must make yourself. Each of you must—"

He stopped and frowned at the dodo bird, who had hummed again.

"Dede, what are you doing?" Pan demanded. "Are you singing Kumbaya again?"

Dede looked up innocently and blinked her yellow eyes.

Pan signed. "Everybody's a cynic. But as I was saying, my dear Grover, each of you must take up my calling."

"But... no!" Grover whimpered.

"Be strong," Pan said. "You have found me. And now you must release me. You must carry on my spirit. It can no longer be carried by a god. It must be taken up by all of you."

Hoa reached out to Nico, her fingers trembling as she reacted to the sad sight in front of her. Without hesitation, Nico grabbed her hand and squeezed, pulling her closer into a hug. Before she knew it, one tear slipped out of her eye, then another, and then she was sobbing into his chest. His cool arms encircled her as she cried in the son of the dead's arms.

"Percy Jackson," the god said. "I know what you have seen today. I know your doubts. But I give you this news: when the time comes, fear will not rule you."

He turned to Annabeth. "Daughter of Athena, your time is coming. You will play a great role, though it may not be the role you imagined."

Then he looked at Tyson. "Master Cyclops, do not despair. Heroes rarely live up to our expectations. But you, Tyson—your name shall live among the Cyclopes for generations."

"Flower," Pan mused. Hoa looked up from Nico's arms. "Hoa. Such a unique name for a unique culture. Your time is coming, but the sun always rises after it sets. And Miss Rachel Dare..."

Rachel flinched when he said her name. She backed up like she was guilty of something, but Pan only smiled. He raised his hand in a blessing.

"I know you believe you cannot make amends," he said. "But you are just as important as your father."

"I—" Rachel faltered. A tear traced her cheek.

"I know you don't believe this now," Pan said. "But look for opportunities. They will come."

Finally, he turned back toward Grover. "My dear satyr," Pan said kindly, "will you carry my message?"

"I—I can't."

"You can," Pan said. "You are the strongest and bravest. Your heart is true. You have believed in me more than anyone ever has, which is why you must bring the message, and why you must be the first to release me."

"I don't want to."

"I know," the god said. "By my name, Pan... originally it meant rustic. Did you know that? But over the years it has come to mean all. The spirit of the wild must pass to all of you now. You must tell each one you meet: if you would find Pan, take up Pan's spirit. Remake the wild, a little at a time, each in your own corner of the world. You cannot wait for anyone else, even a god, to do that for you."

Grover wiped his eyes. Then slowly he stood. "I've spent my whole life looking for you. Now... I release you."

Pan smiled. "Thank you, dear satyr. My final blessing."

He closed his eyes, and the god dissolved. White mist divided into wisps of energy, like a warm blanket, draping over the room. A curl of smoke went straight into Hoa's mouth, Nico's, and the others—though more of it might've gone to Grover's. The crystals dimmed. The animals gave the group sad looks. Dede the dodo sighed. Then they all turned gray and crumbled to dust. The vines withered. And they were alone in a dark cave, with an empty bed.

Percy switched on his flashlight.

Grover took a deep breath.

"Are... are you okay?" Percy asked him.

He looked older and sadder. He took his cap from Annabeth, brushed off the mud, and stuck it firmly on his curly head.

"We should go now," he said, "and tell them. The great god Pan is dead."

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hi im madi, your loyal author ♥️

sad :(((

the great god pan is dead

its mostly j stuff form the book

check out muse! its a jax x reader (from tadc--the amazing digital circus)

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anyways again

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anyways, tysm for reading this crappy book! 😃