Disclaimer: all rights reserved to (uncle) Rick Riordan
(A/N) Sorry for the wait. I'm no longer a part of the PJO fandom but my sis wouldn't allow me to abandon this work. Since my last time here, my writing skills have immensely changed, my maturity as well. No worries the content isn't too weird, despite a certain uncanny character (oc).
Chapter II
When Percy slowly blinked his eyes open, he struggled to grow accustomed to the seemingly blinding light that was overhead.
His head spinning and a sour taste on his tongue, he groaned as he closed his eyes again and shakily brought his arms up to cradle his throbbing head.
"Good evening, Perseus," a melodious voice spoke from somewhere a little to his left.
The son of Poseidon's eyes flew open momentarily before closing yet again, the light still too bright for his sensitive eyes. He blindly struggled to push himself up into a sitting position, wincing when his head spun.
A weight on his chest pushed him back onto his back and he blinked up blearily at the face hovering above him.
A warm smile stretched across the angelic face, sharp and pointy white teeth in view. "Woah there, hero, be careful," the stranger spoke again. "Take it easy."
Percy barely registered what the person was saying as he felt like his head was underwater, everything seemed sluggish and disconnected.
He tried to sit up again but the weight on his chest kept him in place.
Looking down at the offending weight, he realized the person had rested their hand on his chest. Percy blinked slowly at the odd appendage. The stranger's nails were abnormally long and sharp and the skin of the hand seemed uneven and patched, scaly even.
"What-" he started to say but abruptly stopped when the stranger's hand slid up his chest to press a finger to his lips, shushing him. The long nail poked his nose and he nearly went cross-eyed as he tried to look at the finger.
His heart beat erratically in his chest, Percy wanted to slap the hand away. He fought to keep in a shudder, the stranger's finger felt like rough sandpaper against his skin.
"That's a good boy," the person spoke again in a sweet voice. Their finger slid down to drag slowly against the skin of his neck.
Percy's sight had fully recovered now, he examined the stranger above him. They had soft feminine features and almond-shaped eyes the color of melted chocolate. But what stuck out the most were the pointed teeth still on display through the wide smile on the stranger's pretty face.
"Um…" Percy started again but the stranger shut him up with a glare, hand slowing to rest on his cheek.
"Shut it, Perseus," the stranger said, voice still as sickeningly sweet as ever and the wide smile still intact. The hand was now caressing his cheek softly, and the stranger seemed oddly content, humming softly. Percy realized that the stranger was in fact male, albeit the soft and girl-like features.
"But I-" the sea god's son tried again but this time was interrupted by the stranger clutching his jaw in his hand, nails digging into the flesh of his cheeks as he squished Percy's face and leaned in till their noses practically touched. Gone was the warm and kind smile.
"I. Said. To. Shut. It," he hissed, punctuating each word with a tightening of the jaw, nails digging even further into the son of Poseidon's cheeks and eyes narrowing into near slits.
So Percy did just that. Not wanting to feel the pretty stranger's wrath or get into any more trouble than he probably already was in, he shut up.
The stranger kept the grip on his jaw, the pressure never relenting and Percy could feel the blood on his cheeks where his nails were digging into his skin. It hurt like a bitch but he had gone through much worse.
"Good boy," the stranger purred, smile returning and Percy recoiled at the praise, struggling to escape the claws (quite literally) of the vixen-like stranger.
"Ah ah ah," the pretty stranger said, tutting slowly in disapproval, grip tightening a bit and nails digging in deeper. "Bad boy, Perseus."
The son of Poseidon hissed at that but stayed still, brows furrowed and drawn into a frown.
The vixen laughed lightly, like a tinkling bell and Percy wanted to spit in his beautiful face.
"You have really pretty eyes, Perseus," he smiled down at him, chocolate-colored eyes boring into his.
Percy shifted uncomfortably as the other stared him down, his warm smile had started to become more creepy than kind and the sea god's son felt his stomach knot up in unease.
A minute or two passed, the nails set in his cheeks unmoving and the creepy smile still plastered across the stranger's face.
Percy had tried to look around to try and decipher where exactly he was but the grip on his jaw would tighten when he tried to look anywhere that wasn't the stranger's unnerving smile.
So when the stranger finally let his face go, Percy was in a total trance, having zoned out a while ago.
The cool air hitting his bruised face made him wince and he hesitantly sat up.
His eyes quickly scanned the room he was in. He found to be in a simple room, not that much different from his own at home (although his was much messier) with white walls, a closet, a night stand and a bed he was currently seated on.
He turned his gaze to the boy sitting to his left on a drawn wooden chair.
The pretty stranger was giggling innocently as if he hadn't just abused the son of Poseidon's face.
"You're so cute when you're lost," the stranger said, still giggling.
"Where am I?" Percy asked, running a shaky hand through his messy hair.
"All your questions will be answered shortly, Perseus," the pretty boy answered, before standing up and patting Percy's head endearingly. "I have to go now that you're awake. It was nice meeting you, Perseus."
Percy gaped at the boy in disbelief. "Wait, where are you-"
"Someone will fetch for you in a while," the pretty stranger cradled his aching jaw and pouted, "Luke isn't going to be happy with what I did to your face."
Percy wanted to comment on that but kept his mouth shut. He didn't understand many things right now and he didn't want to be any more confused than he already was. Questioning every and anything right now was only bound to get him more bemused.
"Here," the vixen said, reaching behind him on the night stand for a pile of clothes and handing them to the son of Poseidon, "change into these."
Percy nodded meekly, he really just wanted to be left alone now.
The set of clothing was left on his lap and the stranger slowly retreated, dropping Percy's jaw and slowly exiting the room.
Percy barely looked up as the boy left. Could he even be considered a boy? Was he a monster? Percy was confused and his head was still spinning but this time for different reasons. Questions were jumping around in his head, he had no idea what was going on. Why had Luke kidnapped him? Where was he? What was happening?
Percy let out a frustrated groan and fell back onto his back with a grunt.
What worried him most right now wasn't his current situation or what was going to happen to him but how his mother and friends were going to take the news.
Percy let out a silent string of curses as he started to think of Annabeth and how she was going to react.
Disappearing on her seemed to be a recurring event and he knew how much it troubled her. Knew how much it hurt her and how she became even if he technically wasn't there to witness it.
"Fuck," he whispered, rubbing his face in exasperation but wincing when he grazed the cut flesh of his cheeks.
Groaning in annoyance, that little pretty rascal was going to pay, he sat up again and examined the clothing that sat in his lap.
Percy laid the clothing out on the bed and frowned. The clothing seemed to be more like sleep attire if anything. A pair of grey linen shorts and a simple white t-shirt.
Percy hoped they weren't expecting him to go anywhere outside because spring had barely just kicked in and he wasn't too keen on frolicking around in linen shorts.
Grumbling to himself, he reluctantly got out of his school clothes and put on the new outfit. Percy felt rather light in the attire, the shorts were soft and comfortable and Percy could imagine himself sleeping in them. Percy kind of wanted to close his eyes again and do just that.
But the boy (monster?) had said that someone was going to fetch for him soon so he resisted and decided to snoop around.
Percy soon discovered that the room was practically empty and most importantly locked. Which was understandable but still relatively annoying for Percy. Some part of him (most likely the demigod part of him) hated to be cooped up in small rooms with nothing to do for a long period of time.
When a good fifteen minutes had passed and no signs of anyone coming to get him, Percy had tried just about anything to get out of the room. The single coat hanger in the closet was no help unless he wanted to end his own life but even then there were no high placed hooks or ledges he could hang off of so even if he were that desperate it wouldn't be possible.
Percy had tried to use his powers to try and locate water in pipes overhead or some place near but it seemed like this room was completely shut off from everything. Percy also didn't know what he'd do once or if he had the water, it's not like he was physically apt at the moment (he had just woken up after receiving a blow to the neck) and even if he did somehow manage to escape the room, he didn't know what awaited him. Which usually wouldn't have bothered him, heck Percy's known for his act first think later ethic. But really right now, he felt so drowsy and put out that he knew he wouldn't get far.
They had even somehow taken Riptide from him which left Percy baffled and weaponless. Which come to think of it, was something that had occurred in the past. But it still deterred him because Riptide was always on him and now he felt vulnerable and weak.
Percy wondered if he could telepathically send a message to Grover like Help! Luke is alive and has captured me! I don't know what he's planning but please come and save me!
Percy quickly shot down the idea because he was pretty sure that the telepathy thing was faulty and Grover was off somewhere doing his Lord of the Wild business far from where he was. Maybe if there really was no other choice, he'd give it a try. But for now Percy wasn't endangered. He could defend himself.
By the time someone finally came to get him, Percy had slightly dosed off. The sound of keys jingling and the door creaking open jostled him from his semi-sleeping state.
Another stranger, this one (thankfully) not the same pretty one but a big burly woman with broad shoulders and a shaved head.
Percy barely had the time to react before he was hauled to his feet and dragged out the door.
—–––—–—
When Annabeth woke up that morning, she was already running late on her schedule.
Making her coffee also seemed to prove that today was going to be one of those days where nothing would go as planned. The coffee maker shut down on her and she had to go for tea instead.
By the time she was dressed and out the door, Annabeth was already fifteen minutes off schedule and caffeine-deprived. This usually resulted in long and tiring days with painful headaches and a snippy attitude. Annabeth hated being off schedule, and most importantly she hated not having her coffee.
She could have easily stopped by some coffee shop somewhere in New York on her way to the Empire State building but that would only make her more late than she already was. And anyways, there were always too many people at coffee shops at this hour.
Annabeth groaned when she checked the time on her phone again. She hated being late.
She had a meeting with a minor goddess to whom she had promised to discuss the making of a chapel in her name. Not that she really had the time to design said chapel but she couldn't really say no to the goddess. Minor or not, Annabeth had come to avoid any conflict when it came to higher beings.
After that meeting, Annabeth had a lunch arranged with her mom.
Athena was a very busy goddess and quite honestly not the best company but as her former statement indicated, she had close to no time for her children so Annabeth always felt honored whenever her mother accepted to spend some time with her.
Admittedly, the lunch would probably last thirty minutes tops but it was always nice to hang with her mom. No matter how boring her philosophical talks about the impending doom humans were bringing upon themselves got.
In conclusion, Annabeth not only hated being late she just couldn't afford to be late.
As young as she was, Annabeth was busy. She was the Architect for Olympus for God's sake! Time mattered, gods and goddesses were busy beings. She really could not be remotely late for anything.
Now, she wasn't an obsessive perfectionist. She just needed every second of her day to be spent wisely in order to achieve as many things as possible in the short span of 24 hours.
Of course, she was able to see Percy and occasionally Sally or even her friends. But time was limited. There were a lot of things to do and she couldn't afford to slack off too much.
Annabeth, after moments of reflection, decided it was best if she took the Subway. So she started in the direction of the nearest Subway entrance.
The Subway entrance was 4 minutes away from her house and the trip itself would last around 15 minutes if no problems arose.
But it was on her way there that she received the call. The call that would change everything.
Annabeth paused mid-step as she heard the phone, stashed away in her satchel, ringing.
Frowning at the interruption in her walk, she hesitated and pondered over the consequences of answering. Answering meant losing precious time, answering meant being off schedule by several more minutes.
But when Annabeth saw the ID of the caller, she knew she had to answer. Sally knew Annabeth was working and couldn't afford small talk. Especially not this early in the morning.
So Annabeth answered. Before she could even say a simple "goodmorning", Sally's frantic voice came from the other end of the receiver, effectively making Annabeth stop in her tracks.
"Annabeth? Look, I'm sorry. I know how busy you are and how important your job is to you but-but," Sally said, her breath ragged as she stuttered over the last word. "Have you seen Percy? He hasn't come home last night. Paul hasn't seen him in class yesterday. He hasn't called or-or said anything. I haven't heard from him since yesterday morning."
Sally continued to ramble on details, her voice grew higher and Annabeth could hear the woman try and conceal how worried she actually was.
It was only after a minute or so, when Sally realized that Annabeth hadn't said anything yet, that she grew silent.
"Annabeth honey?" Sally asked.
"I'm here," Annabeth answered back, voice unusually calm for the current situation.
"Do you know where Percy is," Sally repeated. She could hear a bit of shuffling on the other end and a baby crying in the background.
"Sally, I-I don't know where he is."
Silence ensued as both women took in those words.
"Do you think he's at Camp?" Sally's voice was small and hopeful but the impossibility of what she suggested struck Annabeth in the gut.
"He would've warned you," the daughter of Athena muttered into her phone, her vision growing blurry.
"Maybe he broke his phone or- or lost it," Sally tried, but they both knew that however clumsy and forgetful the son of Poseidon was, if that were the case he would've still somehow contacted her.
"Maybe," Annabeth replied weakly, blinking back tears.
She had completely stopped walking and was currently standing in the middle of a busy street, the people around her cursing at her and pushing past her.
Percy, you're so so stupid. So fucking stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
"I-I have to go," Annabeth said suddenly. She felt awful but she couldn't let this ruin her day. Her dumb - ,stupid - boyfriend was probably fine.
"Anna-" Sally started to say but the daughter of Athena hung up.
So goddamn stupid.
Annabeth felt tears rolling down her cheeks as she fumbled with her phone in search of her stupid boyfriend's contact.
When she found it, she immediately called his number, silently cursing him over and over in her head. So stupid. So effing stupid.
The inevitable happened, the call went to his voicemail and she furiously hung up and wiped away the tears that were falling from her eyes.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Someone rammed into her sending her phone flying out of her hand and onto the dirty ground. She bent down to pick it up as more tears came falling.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
She stood up with her, now cracked, phone in hand.
Why does he have to be so stupid?
The daughter of Athena pushed past the throng of people busying around her and came to the edge of the sidewalk. There, she held out her arm to the nearest approaching taxi.
So fucking stupid.
Once the taxi had stopped for her, she climbed in and instructed the driver to where she was headed.
"Long Island."
"But that's-"
"I know where that is. You drive, I pay," she retorted, eyes narrowing at the man that sat behind the wheel.
The man apologized and started driving.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
It was only when she was chanting those words in her head that she realized who the real stupid one was. Not Percy, but her.
—
Jason had been in the middle of helping out some poor kid with his armor when Annabeth had rushed into the arena. She looked disheveled, her face was flustered, her hair was down - that was never a good sign- and she looked like she had just run a mile.
As her eyes frantically searched the blank faces that were all staring at her in puzzlement, Jason's hands, that were previously strapping the breastplate to a flimsy 10 year old's upper-body, fumbled and tugged at a strap too hard resulting in the kid squeaking.
The noise drew not only everybody in the silent arena's eyes on them but also Annabeth's.
The daughter of Athena's eyes met his and she surged forwards.
Everything was kind of eerily still as she stumbled to get to him. She tripped over her own feet and shuffled awkwardly as she hurried to approach him. When she finally was close enough to reach him, she did just that; her two hands grasped his shoulders in a tight grip and she looked dead into his eyes.
The crazed and distressed look in her eyes twisted a knot in his stomach. Her lower lip trembled as she opened her mouth before closing it seconds after when no sound was exiting.
"Annabeth," Jason said in a sort of greeting, his voice hesitant and his brows knitting into a frown. He was immensely aware that everyone else in the arena (including the little kid standing not even a foot away) was watching them intently.
"Jason," she answered back, face stoic and void of any emotion. Her voice was unusually high pitched and hoarse. Her grip on his shoulders tightened and before he knew it, she was crying.
Round thick tears came pouring down her cheeks, her iron-grip on him never relenting as she broke down in front of not only him, but the watchful eyes of campers that surrounded them.
It was in those next few seconds that two things occurred to Jason. First of all, he'd never seen Annabeth cry before. Second of all, Annabeth was at camp.
Annabeth was full-on sobbing now, her frame shaking and stuttering as
tears rolled down her cheeks in little rivulets.
"Annabeth," Jason said, this time his voice was soothing as he looked at her in bemusement.
He removed her hands from his shoulders, prying them off would be the most accurate way to put it, and tried to take them in his but the daughter of Athena pulled them away slowly before covering her face with them.
"Annabeth," the son of Jupiter repeated, dragging her hands from her face so that he could look into her eyes.
Her grey eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks swollen and tear-streaked. But most importantly, she looked wrecked and tired.
"What's wrong," Jason asked, voice soft and a bit shaky. He hated seeing a friend like this. Annabeth and he had never been exclusively close but she was Percy's girlfriend and they had been quest-mates. He cared for her.
Annabeth just shook her head and her shoulders started jerking violently as more tears came pouring out of her eyes.
"What's-" Jason started to say but he was abruptly cut off by Annabeth letting out an anguished scream.
"It's Percy," she exclaimed, choking on her tears. "Percy's gone."
Whispers and gasps echoed throughout the arena at the blonde's words and Jason had a hard time processing what she had just said.
Percy was attending his Senior year of High School in New York whereas Annabeth was working on Olympus. They were seeing each other every
other day. Percy even came to camp once in awhile, dropping by to say hi and/or giving some sword-fighting lessons when he wasn't drowning in essays and assignments.
The last time Jason had seen him had been barely a month ago. He and Annabeth had stayed a week at camp over winter break before setting back to New York in a hurry to go back to more impending matters like exam preparations and redesigning some god's palace.
"Annabeth," Jason reached for the daughter of Athena but she swatted his hands away and ran out of the arena and away from the burning stares and growing whispers of the campers.
The son of Jupiter was left standing there as chaos erupted around
him. He was still having a hard time coping with what had just happened.
It's the 10 year old boy who couldn't manage to put on his armor properly that shook him out of his stupor. "By Percy does she mean the Percy?"
Jason turned to gape at the kid. The kid himself gaped back in awe, brown eyes wide in disbelief and crooked armor hanging off his little bony body.
The kid continued,"As in Percy Jackson?" Something twisted in Jason's gut at the sound of his name. His heart beat erratically in his chest as he slowly looked away from the kid and settled his eyes on the rest of the arena.
People were all talking animatedly and in frantic and hushed tones. He's pretty sure he even spotted one girl crying.
Jason's head spun. The kid beside him was still bombarding him with questions. Is he alive? Can I meet him? I can't believe he's gone. Were you there when he found the golden fleece? Does he like dogs?
So maybe the boy hadn't asked that last question but Jason wasn't really focused on that right now. His mind was reeling, a thousand questions of his own were jumping around in his brain.
Jason effectively shut the rambling kid up with a quick wave of his hand and a promise to answer his impending questions later. And before the kid could stutter out his thanks, Jason was off, running out of the arena himself with his heart pounding and his vision burning.
(A/N) I await feedback eagerly :)