Chapter 5: WHERE'S PERCY?!

Once again…another chapter! 6 chapters in 6 days. Major accomplishment. *pats self on the back* Another chapter should hopefully be up tomorrow… but I do have work. But you guys should know the drill by now.

Thalia: What if they don't care!

Percy: Yeah! Like us! Get a move on…I want to find HER. Don't be a meanie.

Me: Hades…some people woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. But *sighs* if you say so…

Nico: Don't use my father's name as a swear word!

Welp. Some people are cranky today. Read, review, follow, favorite, and submit OC's if you guys want! There will be a limit though. I need them as background characters

Oh! I own nada. Nothing

xoxo-daughter of thalassa

Nico POV

Buzz…Buzz

"5 more minutes."

Buzz

"Come back later."

Buzz

"Shut up!"

Buzz…Buzz…Buzz

"What in my fathers name is waking me up so early!" I screamed as I rolled out of my bed.

I look around my room for the source of the noise, only to see my sister Hazel sleeping in her bed.

Funny thing: no one was even at the door. So where was this stupid noise coming from?

.

.

.

.

OH SHIT. SOMEONE DIED. I think. Or it could mean someone close to me disappeared. I think it was the latter, since the buzzing wasn't as loud as it is when someone dies.

The real question is who went missing? (Hopefully they didn't die.)

Everything has been fine at camp. Nothing seemed off.

Will, Piper, Jason, Leo, Calypso, frank, Hazel, Reyna, the Stolls, Clarisse, Lou, and Katie were all fine.

Annabeth was the same: she was still having awful PTSD and look like she walked through hell every night.

Well no duh. She relives were time in the pit every night. you should've known that.

Shut up me! I'm not stupid!

Percy was well Percy. He still suffers from PTSD too. But he was avoiding all of us this week though.

Wait. I DIDN'T SEE HIM LAST NIGHT. It was like he went straight to bed, but he always waits up for Annabeth...

HOLY HERA.

IT'S PERCY! Percy went missing! And hopefully isn't dead.

Never mind that last thought but that buzzing I heard is telling me something happened end to Perce! I'm so sure of it.

The others have to know. So I shake Hazel awake and ask her, " Hey haze, did you hear a buzzing in your ears this morning. Like you sometimes get when someone close to you dies?"

She pauses and I start praying to every god she says no. Finally, after a long minute, she says "Yeah I did. And I thought it was weird because who would have died?"

Shit.

I don't even answer her last question. Instead I pull her out of her bed and say, "Come on. We need to gather all of our friends. This is serious."

As I mutter curses under my breath, all I can wonder is why did Percy disappear?

He had no reason...wait. I bet it has to do with why Percy was upset last week, why Annabeth came to ask me those weird questions, and why he was so upset and depressed.

And I just answered my own question.

He lost a loved one too.

But who?

Annabeth POV

Coldness. Emptiness. That's what I woke up to this morning.

No warmth, no warm body next to me, like their usually is.

I immediately know something's wrong. Percy never gets out of bed until I wake up, knowing that I will freak out if he does get out of bed.

Let's just say the couple times he did it, everyone in camp woke up.

I open my eyes, looking around the room for Percy. But there was nothing. No note, no sign that my Seaweed Brain was ever in his cabin.

It was like he disappeared without a trace. Poof.

ARGH. Stupid ADHD mind.

Something's wrong. Something has happened to Percy. It's like he took everything he owned and left. Or someone captured him.

No. Don't think like that Annabeth. He's alright. Maybe he's at the beach cooling off. Or in the lake.

Not caring what I looked like, I sprinted out of Percy's cabin, looking for the seven or someone to ask if they knew where Percy was.

After looking for what seemed like hours, I ran into Nico.

He looked worried, like something was wrong. Once he realized that it was me who he ran into, his expression turned into one of pity, briefly, then turned serious.

"Annabeth. Thank the gods I found you. Everyone one else is waiting in the big house. Come on," he said and started to pull me towards the big house.

But I was confused. Why is everyone gathered?

"Nico, what's going on? What's happened? Does this have to do with Percy?" I pleaded to him.

Nico looked at me with a guilty look, like he knew something I didn't. But his eyes showed sorrow.

"I..I- it's best if I at it at once." Then he mumbled under his breath, "I'm sorry."

Why is he sorry?

time skip!

When we entered the rec room, no one looked happy to be awake. Even Clarisse. But I realized this wasn't a counselors meeting. It was a gathering of our friends, most of whom were counselors.

It was Leo who broke the silence.

"Alright who called us here? Is the world ending again? At, you know, 4 in the morning?" he said, trying to cheer us up.

It sort of worked. Some people cracked a half smile.

Surprisingly, it was Nico who spoke up.

"I called all of you here. Some-something big has happened. A presence, a ringing in my ears that woke me up early this morning. It took me a while to figure out what it meant-

"Doesn't a ringing in your ears mean someone close to you has died, Nico?" Jason interrupted.

But I was wondering the same thing.

Nico shot an icy glare at Jason, before continuing.

"If you'd let me finish talking Grace, I would have told you that it wasn't a normal someone-has-died ringing in my ears. It was a new ring and took me a while to decipher. It meant that someone close to me has disappeared."

Shock was written over everyone's faces in the room. Including mine. I didn't know Nico had his power.

"I know. I didn't know I had this power either. At first I was confused. I was wondering which friend would just disappear, since it seemed like all of my friends were fine these past few weeks. So I did a mental check list of all of my friends until I stopped reached one that I thought about earlier. At first glance, this friend seemed fine, like nothing was wrong. But something was, we, all of us, just missed the clues. Even the obvious ones like the SAD AND DEPRESSING AURA COMING OFF OF HIM!" Nico screamed, as he slammed his fist on the table.

Everyone started with their eyes wide at him, wondering why he was so angry. He calmed himself down and began to speak again.

But Nico had caught my interest. Who had a sad and depressing aura?

He had tears in his eyes as he began to speak again.

"It was so obvious. The clues were right in front of all of our faces, as if he was trying to tell us what he was about to do. How could we have been so stupid. If we'd got to him sooner, if we haut opened our eyes, we could have helped him and he still might be here right now. ηλίθιοι, i̱líthioi. (idiots) That's what we all are."

At his point, Nico was full out bawling. Hazel went over to him and put a hand on his shoulder while asking, "Who's gone Nico? Who disappeared?"

I have a feeling this has to do with Percy. I know it does. I feel sick to my stomach. I know it's him. Percy wasn't in his cabin this morning like he usually is. I just want to curl up in a ball and cry. I could have done something. Maybe he would still be here. I want to hurl. I know I'm to blame too. I could have asked why he was so sad. (even though it wasn't my place.)

Where are you Percy? I'm so sorry.

Nico POV

Who disappeared, isn't it obvious? I thought to myself.

I looked at the group in front of me, bracing myself for their reactions.

"Isn't it obvious. Who's missing right now? Who?" Nobody seemed to be able to answer my question, though. Annabeth looked ready to cry.

"This is what I'm talking about, you don't even realize that he's gone, not here right now! This is why he's gone, we couldn't realize that he was hurt, was in pain."

I stand up straighter, looking everyone right in the eye.

"It's our savior who's gone. The two-time hero of Olympus. Our Best Friend."

"Percy Jackson has disappeared"

And just like that, chaos breaks out. Annabeth started bawling her eyes out, screaming and crying in pain. Saying she's so sorry. Everyone cries, including Clarisse, into Chris's shirt.

Katie clutches to Travis, bawling into his shirt. Leo and Connor have looks of disbelief, while tears stream down Calypso, Reyna, and Lou's face. Jason and Piper cry into each other, while Hazel cries into my shoulder. Everyone is broken. Percy was our glue.

Yet we couldn't stop him from leaving. But I have a feeling on why he left, and I plan on following through with it.

Where are you Percy?

Location: Forest, about 30 miles south from Camp Half-Blood.

POV Unknown

I ran as fast as I could, to escape the monsters chasing me. I was so close, so close to their camp. I can make it.

As I bust through a clearing, I see silver tents. I made it. I've reached he Hunters' camp. Finally.

I sprint through their camping, looking for the one person that could help me. I scream her name, multiple times.

"Thalia! Thals!" Over and over again.

And then I run into her, as she comes out of her tent. I ignore all the other hunters behind us (all of whom have faces of disbelief except for Pheboe.) and focus on my cousin's face. The face that knows my secret.

"Cuz?" She says in disbelief. "Why are you here?"

I looked at her. "I ran. I couldn't take it anymore Thals. I need to find her."

A look of understanding crosses her eyes. "It's time, isn't it?" she says.

"Yup," I tell her. "Are you in? You said you'd help find her with me. But if you're coming, we need to leave soon. Camp will send out search parties for me soon."

She sighs. "I'm in. I'll help you find her doofus. No matter how long it takes. I'll stick with you till the end of your journey. I'm not the one to break promises." She smiles and gives me a big hug. As we break away, Thalia nodded her head towards Lady Artemis's tent, beckoning me to follower her.

"Come on, Percy. We have a lot to discuss."