Chapter 1

"ANNABETH, GET OVER HERE NOW!"

I stood up abruptly and ran to the other room, looking for any sign of trouble.

"Oh my gods, what's wrong Malcolm?" I asked with a sigh after making sure my half-brother had all his limbs. He shook his head gravely and pointed at the screen in front of him.

Percy.

Yes. Percy Jackson. The boy everyone had thought was missing… until now. I suppressed hysteria as I stared at the tiny blurry black and white picture, noting the many bruises and scratches on his body. He seemed to have lost a lot of weight, and his tattered clothes hung off him. Then I looked closely at his hand and noticed a small pen, blurry but visible to my trained eyes. I looked at Malcolm.

"Where? When?"

"As far as I can tell, this was about two days ago at a gas station in West Virginia. Then this," he typed something and another picture popped up, "was a day ago in a store in Ohio."

I looked at the second picture. This one was clearer and dully colored. Here Percy looked a little shabbier, with more scratches and bruises on his face and hands. I noticed with mounting grief that he was wearing tattered jeans and a blue hoodie, which were worn and ripped at the knees and elbows. I glanced at Malcolm and saw his expression mirror what I felt: sadness.

I heard a small cough and whipped my head to the side, tensing my muscles into a fighting position. I relaxed slightly when I saw my friends Piper and Jason, holding hands and looking grave. Piper broke away from Jason and ran over and enveloped me in a hug, murmuring reassurances in my ear, calming me with her charm speak. Jason came over and patted my arm awkwardly, then went over to Malcolm and asked where Percy was now.

"Well... you see… I don't know." He spread his hands helplessly. "I've lost the trail again, I think he's trying to shake someone off his back seeing as he's been reappearing and disappearing for the past year. But my guess is he's still somewhere in Ohio, probably hiding and tending to his wound-"

"We have to go after him." I cut in. "I don't care. We have to try. It's the first lead we've had in months! My boy- I mean our friend needs our help. We need to help him. At any cost."

Piper looked at me with a mixture of pity and, was that... awe? She looked at the boys and glared at them.

"You heard the lady, get the others, bring the Argo II, we need to go get our friend!"

"Soooo Annie, how ya feelin'?" asked Leo, glancing back at me while shaking his Wii controller and pressing seemingly random buttons on the console.

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" I asked vaguely, trying to concentrate on a map of the US.

"Because well… we are kinda sorta going to get your boyfrie-"My head snapped up.

"He isn't my boyfriend, he's just a friend." I said automatically, but knew it didn't sound as convincing as I'd hoped. He looked like he was going to say something else when Hazel and Frank burst in.

"We came here on Arion as fast as we could! Annabeth are you alright?" Hazel asked worriedly, and I made an exasperated gesture with my hands.

"I'm fine, gods, why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"Well… we are finding your boyfr-"

"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" I yelled and then stomped out of the control room.

'Oh Gods.' I thought. 'Why won't they get it out of their thick skulls? Percy. Jackson. And. I. Are. Not. A. Couple.' A sob escaped my mouth. I covered my face with my hands and ran to my room, flashbacks running through my head, things I never wanted to remember again.

Percy was going to die. So was I. I already knew. There was a horribly high chance of us not making it.

I turned to Percy and saw a determined little scowl on his face.

'He looks so cute!' the girly part of me said.

'SHUT UP. NOT THE TIME.' The more rational, normal part of me replied, glaring.

'Kiss him!' the girly voice said slyly, and this time, I took her advice. I looked sternly at Percy for a moment, as though challenging him to stop me, and leaned in and kissed him. I felt as though my brain was falling out of my head and I swear I saw stars. I pulled away quickly and looked at him.

"Be careful, Seaweed Brain." I said quietly, slipping on my Yankees cap to hide my flushed face. It was because of the lava. I swear.

"You aren't making this easy!" Percy complained, and that made me laugh harder.

"I will never make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain." I said, impulsively throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him. We heard wolf whistles behind us, and the rest of camp, led by Clarisse, threw us into the lake.

Funnily, Percy just made a giant air bubble around the two of us, and let me just say: Best. Underwater. Kiss. EVER.

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS-"

"ALWAYS WHAT PERCY? WHAT?" I yelled daring him to say what I knew was coming.

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS ACT LIKE IM DUMB? WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS DEPRESSED AROUND ME? WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG?" he yelled back albeit desperately, flailing his arms.

"YOU- I- YOU'RE IMPOSSIBLE." I crossed my arms and turned around, stomping out of cabin three and into cabin six. I maintained my façade of indifference and anger until my face was buried in my pillow and the blankets were over my head. Then tears promptly spilled out of my eyes and I cried for hours, missing breakfast and lunch. Finally Piper and Hazel came and found me lying in a pile of crumpled up tissues, staring at the ceiling and sniffling loudly every few seconds.

"We um… we heard about what happened with Percy…" Hazel said hesitantly, nervously glancing at me from time to time.

"Yeah, that seaweed brain, how could he think that? Idiot." I murmured back hoarsely, my voice still garbled from the hours of crying and wailing.

"It's okay; calm down, it'll be alright." Piper said lightly, throwing in some charm speak. I felt my muscles relax, my tears stopped, and I finally found the strength to sit up in bed and lean against the headboard. I looked at my friends.

" Maybe.. maybe we need a.. break.." I muttered with a small sob, letting my despair wash over me like a wave once more.

"Wait a day or two, it'll blow over, I know it-" Leo came running in.

"GUYS, PERCY'S MISSING! AGAIN!"

And that's when I screamed.

I shot awake and bumped my head on someone else's. I heard someone curse under their breath, and I looked up after realizing it was a boy. I saw a dark complexion, like cocoa, short curly hair, and a huge red bump, one whose twin was probably on my forehead.

I stood up with a groan and heard another voice, this time a girl. "Hey Carter do you know where Bas is I can't find h- WHO IS THAT?" I spun around and looked at a girl a few years younger than me, with pale skin, straight blonde hair with a strand of purple, and a total Thalia-like style.

"I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, Official Architect of Olympus, and you are?" I said, still ticked at the pain in my head. Was that kid's head made out of steel or something? Gods.

"I'm Sadie Kane, and this is my brother Carter. We're from the 31st nome."