She stops in the middle of New York traffic, bumper to bumper with taxis and limousines and busy commuters, and breaks down crying.
He's gone. He's gone, because Hera took his memory. And he won't remember anything.
This is Percy. If they find him- no, when they find him – he will still be himself. The dorky, adorable, stupid Seaweed Brain he's always been.
But that will take months. And right now she can't face months without him.
Right now, she can't face telling his mother.
Annabeth can see herself now, driving up to Sally's apartment, climbing the stairs she's climbed a hundred times, sitting down at the worn kitchen table with a blue cookie and a mug of tea.
Your son is missing, she'll say, as if she's a city official with absolutely no strings attached to the missing person. We're doing everything in our power to recover him. We've tracked him to somewhere in the San Francisco area, but there's little hope.
She can see Sally now, hunched over at the table, trying to figure out what happened. They all knew there would be a day when Percy wasn't there anymore. Heroes never have happy endings.
But she'd thought that maybe this once...
He'll be back. He always is. And then they'll laugh it off, and things will go back to normal. As if it never happened.
She doesn't want to see a mother's expression when she learns her son is missing. Just another hero, missing in the "line of duty". He's not dead, Annabeth knows. Yet it is different this time, different when that hero saved the world, saved her world.
She rests her head against the steering wheel, ignoring the honks of the cars around her. She is a daughter of Athena, and she's strong. Annabeth wipes the tears away quickly, promising it will be the last time she cries over Percy's disappearance.
At the last minute, instead of heading straight for Sally's place, she makes a left turn. And another. Turn straight, right, then left again. She knows the path so well.
Before she knows it, she's parked the Delphi Strawberry Service van outside Goode High School. School started that day, she knows. They will be wondering where Percy Jackson is. But then, so is she. Jason barely remembers a thing about the Roman Camp.
How will they find Percy?
Annabeth stands on the sidewalk, leaning against the van, watching the flood of students. A few she recognizes as Percy's friends from swim team, but none call her over.
Paul exits about fifteen minutes later. He has a laptop bag slung over his shoulder and swings his car keys back and forth, headed for the Prius with the pegasus hoofprints on the roof. But his eye catches Annabeth's, and he stops. He stops and walks through the flood of students to meet her.
"Annabeth? What's wrong? I thought you were at camp."
"He's gone," she says, before her voice breaks.
"Who? Annabeth, are you okay? Where's Percy?"
"Good question." She smiles weakly, standing up straight to face Paul. "He's been missing for a few weeks. We thought it was time to tell you and Sally."
Paul freezes, his keys dropping to the pavement. "What? Where?"
"Hera took him," Annabeth explains. "He's in San Francisco. We're not sure where."
Paul's entire body slumps forward, taking in the information. "God- gods. Wait till Sally-"
"I couldn't tell her. It's been rough on the whole camp. Especially with Gaea rising now."
"Gaea?"
"Long story."
Paul seems to notice for the first time the red around Annabeth's eyes, the way her hands are shaking ever so slightly.
"Annabeth, are you okay?"
"I'll be fine. We'll find Percy soon."
"Why don't you come over for some blue cookies?"
"No thanks, Paul. I should get back to camp. We're building blueprints, you know. For a ship. We're going to bring Percy home. And- anyway, I'm leading the effort."
"I can give you a ride," he offers.
"You should probably give Sally the news. I'll be fine. I just... thought you guys needed to know."
Paul hesitates, placing a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "Thanks. Good luck."
"We'll need it," she mumbles, climbing back into the van and driving away.