The news comes to her a little late.

It's Annabeth who tells Thalia. Through an Iris message, she looks exhausted and sad through the water. Her image waves back and forth through the sprinkling water.

"Percy," she says, and claps her hand against her mouth; Thalia thinks she sees tears out of the corner of her eyes, but she can't tell. Probably not. "Percy, he's gone."

Who?

That's her first thought, because it can't be Percy Jackson, it can't be their Percy, it really, really, can't be. Percy is brave, Percy is the leader, Percy would never disappear mysteriously and leave questions behind in his wake.

But they don't know anyone else named Percy, so it probably is Percy Jackson that they're talking about.

"Are you sure he's not on a quest?" Thalia asks; her stomach is doing somersaults and her hands are shaking. Stop, she tells herself. This is just a misunderstanding.

"He's not on a quest," Annabeth says. Her hair is let loose out of its usual ponytail, the golden locks flowing down her shoulders. "He's gone, Thalia."

"He can't be," Thalia shoots back immediately; her brain refuses to believe it, refuses to comprehend the situation. Percy is just playing a prank, Percy is playing a cruel joke on them, yes, that has to be it.

"He is!" Annabeth's voice reaches a point of hysteria; a look of determination settles on her face. "Percy is gone, Thalia, and I don't know where he is, no one knows where he is, we're looking for him and-"

She doesn't continue, just buries her face in her hands.

Thalia breathes deeply; she feels like she's just been electrocuted (how ironic, the daughter of Zeus feels this way), shock surging through her body and leaving a prickly tingling sensation behind. "Okay," she says, and she forces her voice to be calm. "I believe you. What do you want me to do?

Annabeth breathes deeply, and she lifts her head up. Thalia thought she was crying, but she has a resigned look on her face, no sign of tears anywhere. "Search for him."

"Alright," Thalia agrees; this is easy, she knows how to search, she knows how to hunt, and all she's doing is hunting for Percy Jackson and intending to bring him back to Annabeth. "I can do that."

The water dissipates for a minute; Annabeth appears again, and says, "I have to go. Be careful."

"You too."

The Iris Message fades out, but Thalia's mind is still in shock; there is a something inside of her whispering, he's not really gone.

She tells that part of her to shut up.

"HUNTERS!" she yells, and all their heads turn to look at her, to meet her hard gaze. "We have a new mission. Find Percy Jackson, and bring him home."

"Are we looking for a boy?" one of the newer Hunters asks; she has dark brown hair tied in a braid, and her nose is scrunched up in disgust.

Thalia shakes her head. "We're looking for a friend, not a boy. Now c'mon, we've still got a few hours of daylight, let's go."

The Hunters start to pack up, but Thalia does not; she walks towards the edge of the campsite they were residing at for the time-being.

"Percy," she murmurs, "what in the name of Hades did you do this time?"

She doesn't get an answer, but she wasn't expecting one.

The last rays of daylight hit her face, illuminating certain angles; without a word, she turns away and back to the gang of girls waiting for her command.

Set before the Lost Hero, and it's been a long time since i've read pjo so if characters are OOC I honestly apologize, it's been a loooong time.

it's not edited very well i'm sorry i'll go back and edit this at some point