Ch.1 Missing

I opened the door to my apartment, and walked in. It was a completely normal day, and boring, as my summer vacation was starting out to be anyways. I just came from my friend, Rachel Elizabeth Dare's house, and we spent time studying Greek. So, I felt wrecked out from all that studying, since I have ADHD.

Right when I entered, I sensed something wrong. Or, something different. Then I noticed Annabeth and Grover sitting on my couch talking seriously with my mom. Annabeth had her blond hair in a tight ponytail, and was wearing her orange camp T-shirt. Grover was wearing jeans to hide his furry goat bottom, and was wearing a wizard's hat, which was really weird, but he had to, to hide his horns. It wasn't regular for Grover or Annabeth to hang out, without calling, so it sent a chill down my back.

"Hey, guys," I said, licking my lips nervously.

Annabeth jumped up from the couch and hugged me tightly. "Percy!" she yelled.

My mom cleared her throat behind us, and I blushed. I pulled Annabeth off me and said, "Guys, what's wrong?" Grover paled and gulped while the color drained from Annabeth's face, which made my stomach sick.

"Chiron wants seven people to meet in the big house- me, you, Grover, The Stoll brothers, Clarisse, and Juniper." Annabeth lowered her eyes to the floor before she said, "It's Nico, Percy. He's missing and not even the gods can figure out where he is."

***

Grover, Annabeth, and I hurried as if time was precious. I didn't know why I was, but the thought of Nico missing scared me. Nico was the type to fall for anything, and if anything happened to him, I would be guilty. 5 years ago, Nico's sister, Bianca had died from one of Hephaestus's machines, and I had promised to keep her safe.

The three of us caught a taxi, and paid the driver extra to go fast. Of course, he didn't. Finally, the strawberry farm came into view, and we got off, running as fast as we could to camp. Argus greeted us, as we sprinted past him. Mrs. O'Leary, the hellhound Daedalus left for us last year ran towards me, and knocked the breath out of me.

"Hello," I whispered. "I'll meet you later; I have to go to the big house."

She looked sad, but trotted away to the arena, probably to munch up some more dummies. The point that something was wrong was clearly shown in camp. No one was outside climbing the lava pit or chariot racing. It seemed as if the entire camp was holding its breath.

Annabeth took my hand and ran to the big house. The table tennis table, in which we always gathered around, was already full with many people from every cabin.

Chiron noticed us right away, and he smiled and said, "Ah, welcome Percy. I am pleased you could make it so quick. Take a seat anywhere." Even though he was smiling, there was uneasiness in his voice.

Dionysus walked in and sat in a chair specially reserved for him. "I see Perry Johnson has made it," he grunted, eyeing me skeptically.

Ah, Dionysus, I thought looking around for a seat, always there in time to make someone's life miserable. Annabeth shared a seat with one of her half-sisters, and Grover sat with Juniper. That left me still standing up, looking around like a sheep in a goat herd.

"Hey, Percy," One of the Stoll brothers-I think it was Travis- called. "You can sit in this seat next to me."

I knew better than to sit in the seat next to Travis Stoll that people had reasonably avoided, so I just stood there.

"I'll, um, stand," I said, my face burning.

"Whatever keeps you comfortable," Chiron replied. "And I think I should get started, now that everyone's here."

"Nico has gone missing, and camp half-blood is his home, so I am quite worried. I've informed all of the gods, or most of them, somehow I cannot reach much of the minor gods- but that's different matter-, and all of the gods say they have no clue."

Dionysus nodded dramatically, agreeing.

Chiron continued. "I wanted to arrange search parties to find him, but if the gods don't know then I'm not so sure. He's not dead either, I can tell. Hades would know if he was in the underworld. At least, what I am really sure of is that Nico is in trouble. And it's worse than death."

And with that, our meeting ended.

"Percy, you look worried sick," Annabeth told me. "Maybe you should go lie down."

She was right, I didn't feel too good. So I walked over to my cabin.

I noticed Clarisse's cabin- the Ares- since it was decorated from top to bottom with swords, and had dead monster heads they had killed arranged around the frame of the pavilion. That made me feel worse, since it reminded me of my murderous half-brother, Antaeus, who had decorated his temple with the heads of the monsters he killed in a temple made for my father, Poseidon; and who I just heard came back last month and was looking forward in killing me.

My cabin was all I preferred, for it was decorated just the type of god my dad was. Shells were glued all around the small pavilion, and inside was the water fountain, I used to Iris-Message. I breathed in the salt water odor, and lay down on my bed, closing my eyes sleepily.

And right as I lay down, for the first time the entire year, dreams found me.