Annabeth look around the clearing near the cabin
"Markos?" she called, tears in her eyes and voice cracking, she pushed the blonde hair from her face and whirled around frantically, she looked down at the piece of cloth in her hands, turning it over, it was not anything of Markos's
She inhaled deeply trying to catch her breath back, he had been taken to who knows where, by an unknown enemy. And it all happened while Annabeth had been sleeping, Markos was a confident fighter how could she not have roused from her slumber if there was a fight going on around her.
She went back into the small cabin and looked around the small rooms again, there was no sign of a fight, nothing was broken, nothing knocked over. The only thing that was out of place was her own dagger that had been rammed into the table with this dark piece of cloth trapped beneath it, she sat on the dusty floor, taking a deep breath, she was getting too emotional
"Get a grip Annabeth… this is not helping" she took another long deep breath, she wiped tears from her eyes and took a moment, really focusing on the room she was in. the cloth getting crumpled in her hand, she saw that all of Markos's weapons were still hung by the door.
"Ok" she said to herself "Markos's wouldn't leave without his stuff… which means he was forced to leave" her voice croaked slightly but she dismissed it, she needed to be the daughter of Athena in this moment
"I need a tracker" she said to the empty air, she stood bringing her bow, dagger and cloth, stuffing a few gold drachma into her pocket, she gave one last look around the cabin before shutting the door and setting off down the hill, towards the small waterfall.
She recalled the first time that Markos had shown her the hidden waterfall, it had been the first morning after his return from saving his father, he had held her hand in his and lead her down the hill, Markos had asked her to close her eyes and she had trusted him with no hesitation.
It was one of the most of the beautiful sights she had seen, the waterfall was only small but the water was so clear and the sun shone down, illuminating all the green hues in the trees. But as she reached the waters edge now it seemed duller, even though the sunlight streamed through the trees the water seemed murky and lifeless.
She sighed and pulled the drachma from her pocket and threw them into the mist created by the waterfall, she thought for a minute before asking the Goddess Iris to show her who she wanted to talk to, the rainbow shuddered for a moment before a figure appeared, she turned, her black hair falling around her tired blue eyes.
"Annabeth?" she asked her eyes widening with surprise
"Thalia, I'm sorry to call but I need your help" Annabeth said swallowing back the lump in her throat
Concern filled Thalia's blue eyes "Annabeth what's happened"
Annabeth quickly wiped a tear from her cheek "I am in need of a tracker"
"Are you on a quest?" the black haired girl asked "Where is Percy?"
Annabeth hung her head slightly not wanting to speak about everything over a Iris message "I will explain everything, will you help me?"
Thalia nodded "I will converse with Artemis, but we have no current quests so it shouldn't be a problem"
"Thank you" Annabeth said
"I will see you soon" Thalia vowed, before disconnecting the message.
Annabeth sighed and made her way back up to the cabin, there was nothing for her to do but wait, she laid down on the bed, inhaling the fading scent of Markos's skin.
"Where are you?" she whispered to the pillow.