If you want a group of people to really get quiet, give them drama. Whisper secrets and drizzle them onto the reaching hands of people desperate for details.

"Carter, I have to go, but you," Percy pauses, "Stay here. Take the bus home and don't go anywhere else." Satisfied with that terrible answer, knowing he has a room of young humans listening, he walks to the door.

Carter stops him, "What are you going on about? Nico?" They turn to the man in black, knowing he'll cave far before Percy would.

"Nope," Nico backs up, "Don't bring me into this, I don't know anything."

They smile and it's the same look Annabeth gets when she knows she can get something she wants out of you.

"Nico," they coo, "I'm confused, help me out. How would you feel if Will was hurt and nobody told you?."

He looks from Carter to Will to Percy.

It's not Piper. Stay strong, man.

"It's probably nothing," he sputters. Percy glares, but can't stop him. "It's about Annabeth!"

Whatever mischievousness was behind Carter's smile disappears. No pause, they storm out the classroom door.

"Carter!"

Percy and Nico chase after them, leaving Will with the kids who brought an avalanche of questions upon him. He was counting down the minutes the substitute would be there.

Percy sees Carter first, shoving things into their backpack from their locker.

"Why do you have a machete?" Percy demands.

"All demigods need a weapon." They tuck it into their backpack like it's made of glass.

"Yeah! But-"

"Annabeth helped me pick it out."

And we are back to the beginning.

"Percy," Carter clasps their hands together, "What is going on?"

Let's go over the facts. They'll figure out that no one had seen Annabeth since morning, and that she wasn't answering her calls or watch. She missed an important class, which is an anomaly alone, and she didn't say anything.

Percy doesn't get anywhere with trying to repeat the facts to himself until they make sense.

"Okay," he says, "We will call an emergency family meeting and come up with a plan."

They are just walking out of the building when a red-faced Will catches up. "Wait up, you guys!"