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Piper
We all go silent as Percy informs us that Octavian has taken Charlie. Cute, innocent two month old Charlie is not in between her parents and Octavian in a potentially very dangerous situation.
I look at the door as Percy hysterically tries to explain what happened and Annabeth looks like she is completely zoned out and not listening. I look across the small room at Jason who locks eyes with me and we immediately spring into action. We put aside our awkwardness and focus on helping two of our friends and their infant daughter. Jason walks over to Annabeth, who slowly slides down to the ground in silence and he slowly helps her up and guides her into a chair.
While he is helping Annabeth, Chiron and I help Percy into an exam room so Will can look at his leg. Percy is so distraught and he looks like a mess. His clothes and body are wet, his face is blooded and tears as running down his cheeks as he sobs. When Will comes in, he has to give him some pills so he can calm down and do the exzam and even then all Percy wants to do is get out there and find his baby.
"Percy, can you tell us anything that could help us find where he might take her?" I ask and he shakes his head.
"The only thing he said was that he would be in touch. I'm going to kill him I swear to gods I will."
"Oh ok Percy you need to calm down. Will is trying to look at your leg and he can't do that when you're acting like this."
Percy shakes his head, "Screw my leg, I got to get out there and find her. I let her go. I couldn't stop him." He tries to move my Will and I restrain him.
"Percy, calm down." I suggest and the look he gives me is menacing enough to make me want to crawl up into my own skin.
"You're telling me to calm down? Calm DOWN?" He screams and suddenly all the piping and water sources in the Big House blows up and there is water spraying everywhere as he rages on.
"You better get out of my way Piper or I will make you move." He warns and I stand my ground.
"No, and there is not much you can do with a bum leg. So sit down, shut up and let Will do what he needs to do so we can find Charlie."
That seems to silence him and he glares at me as I walk to the next room. As I approach, I see Annabeth standing at a large circular table getting soaked by the broken pipes. She seems use to it by down as she hurriedly is looking through wet papers and maps while her siblings are giving her information at lightning speed.
"I want a full list of all flights out of every airport in NYC and Boston. Hannah, have someone in the Hepestuas cabin hack into the survelliance cameras in the subways and airports. I need someone to also look through that footage and look from about two hours ago until now. If he plans on taking her out of state, there is a time frame that we can't miss. I also need video footage of any bus, trains or car rental places as well."
Those she gave orders to swiftly head out to accomplish their tasks as Jason comes back in with more news. He covers his face and speaks loudly over the noise of the spraying water.
"I sent New Rome the news and they are sending a squad out and they have their best eagles out searching as we speak."
"Excellent, what does Frank and Hazel think?" Annabeth asks without looking up from her paperwork and Jason responds.
"They haven't gotten any word about his intended whereabouts but they will let any of their demigods out on the field know."
"Ok thanks Jason. That's actually a good idea. Chiron, how many do we have out in the field right now?"
Chiron thinks for a moment and wipes his dripping beard off.
"I believe 10 or 12 demigods out on missions or errands. I can try to get in touch with them to let them know the situation."
Annabeth looks up from her pages. Her curly hair is flat and soaking around her head and for a brief moment I can really see how she is feeling but she hides it quick enough before any of us can call her out on it.
"They should as well as the New Rome demigods know that he is armed and dangerous. I don't want some idiot who thinks they are going to be play hero injured or worse makes Octavian hurt my daughter."
Chiron nods and leaves the room to inform the others. In the brief silence, I step forward and ask.
"Annabeth, don't you want to take a moment to process this?" I ask carefully and she responds quick and calculated.
"If I waste time processing this then I lose precious time to find Charlie. I have no idea what he wants to do with her but I'm not going to take any chances. So for now, I don't rest until she is in my arms again."
"Annabeth-." I argue and she looks at me and this time she is so close to breaking her strong and emotionless face as she takes a deep breath. Her eyes are brimming with tears and she takes a moment to compose herself as she answers.
"Piper, I appreciate the concern but I really, really can't take a break. I need the distraction or I might completely lose it. How's Percy?" She changes the subject and I oblige.
"Well, he is obviously very angry and upset but I don't know much about his injury."
Annabeth looks back down at her papers and wipes her face of water or tears and asks.
"Can you find out?"
"Of course." I answer and while I am walking away, some of her siblings come in with the information she asked for and Jason helps her sort through them while trying to save the content from the water.
I walk into the next room and Percy is laying down on the bed as Will continues to examine his leg.
"Annabeth wants to know what's going on."
"Well, it seems from my analysis that Percy's patella can have some slight tearing or the knee structure overall could have been injuried or have hypertneison. I can't know for sure we get some imaging done."
Percy winces and holds his head as Will continues to prod.
"Ok, then I'll let Annabeth know."
"Piper, wait." Percy looks over at me from the bed. "I'm sorry about earlier."
"You're fine Percy. Everything is wet though so you might have some explaining to do with Chiron."
"How is Annabeth?"
"She is doing ok. Hanging in there. How about you?"
"I just want to get off this table and kill that bastard."
"Alright then. Well I leave you two to continue the imaging."
I get out of the room as quickly as I can and go into the next room. Everyone is dead silent and I look around wondering what is going on. I turn to Chiron and he tells me to be quiet.
"Well I see now that I have gotten everyone's attention, I'll start talking." A demented regonizable voice speaks and I immediately recognize as Octavian. Confused as where his voice is coming from, I look towards Annabeth who is standing frozen in front of an Iris message. In the cloud is Octavian's disgusting, twisted appearance."
"Where is she!" Annabeth screams and Octavian bursts out in laughter.
"Oh you have always amused me, Annabeth. Your daughter is not important at the moment, what's important is my demands."
"What are your demands then?"
"Well, for one I want a face to face with the great Annabeth Chase. Another wish is that you denounce your evidence and tell New Rome to clear all charges. And lastly, I want to the oracle of New Rome."
"You can't be an Oracle if you don't have the sight!" I blurt out and Octavian looks toward me.
"Then you should try to figure out how I get it then Piper before I gut this baby."
Annabeth pulls out her dagger and says, "I swear to the gods if you touch her-."
"What are you going to do about it? I'm a hallogram. I could kill little Charlie right now in front of you if I wanted to."
He moves from the camera and then holds up a sleeping Charlie to the screen. Then Octavian draws his knife against the baby's soft neck and we all begin to freak out. Annabeth draws a deep breath and begs.
"I'll do anything please."
"This would be so fun to kill her right now." Octavian contemplates and Annabeth screams.
"Please I will give you whatever you want just don't her my daughter"
Octavian laughs and says, "Alright then. You have 24hrs until you have to meet with me. Then we can discuss your daughter's release. I'm sure you can figure out where we are. Until then sleep tight."
The Iris message goes blank and Annabeth stands in front of all of us.
"Annabeth, calm down. We will get her back." Chiron instructs calmly and Annabeth shakes her head.
She then pounds and throws the papers off the table as she screams in frustration and pain.
Percy
" I think we will have to do a couple of tests. " Will concludes and I shake my head.
" No, just give me something so I can go find Charlie."
" Percy, this is a serious injury. If you don't get the proper treatment it might never be the same." Will explains and I snap.
" It already is screwed up, Will! If it wasn't, Charlie would be here and we wouldn't have this issue! I'm wasting time lying here while my infant daughter is with a madman. Now give me something that can give me temporary relief so I can find her."
Will sighs and goes to his cabinet. He pulls out a needle and medicine and comes back over. I sit up on the edge of the bed as he tells me what he has.
"This is a cortisone injection. Between this and some nectar it should give you pain relief and hell maybe it will heal whatever-."
In the other room I hear Annabeth scream and I quickly grab the needle and medicine and inject the whole bottle into my knee. Will looks at me and angrily shouts.
" What the hell are you doing! That is only suppose to be half of the bottle!"
" I don't care. I need to get in there. Give me the nectar."
Will shoves the bottle at me and I eat before hopping off the bed. My knee feels like there was no injury to it and I quickly walk into the next room. When I get in there I spot Annabeth across the room breathing heavily. Her papers are everywhere and she is holding the table.
" What happened?" I ask worriedly as Annabeth turns her head toward me and answers.
" Octavian just iris messaged us his demands."
" What are they?" I ask and Annabeth shakes her head in frustration while piper speaks up.
" A face to face with Annabeth, to drop the charges and make him an oracle."
"What? How does he expect that to happen? And there is no way Annabeth is going alone. Absolutely no way." I demand and Annabeth snaps.
" It's like we have much of a choice, Percy. If I can go to him, you all can follow and you can take him down. We have been figuring it out. I'm alright with being bait for our daughter."
" No, it's too risky. We can figure out something else. We got 24 hrs. Let's just not do anything rash."
Annabeth looks at me, " Guys, can we have the room?"
Everyone quickly looks around and exits. Then it's just Annabeth and I across from each other. She crosses her arms.
" We have no other options, Percy. As it is it will take me some time to find where he is and we only have 24 hours. So I'm doing this. You don't get to tell me what I can or cannot do. We established this back in college."
" That was a different time. We have a kid now and what happens if something goes wrong? Do you want our daughter to not have a mother."
" Well that would be better then having her killed!" Annabeth shouts and I try to remain calm.
"We will figure something out. Let's just try to.-"
" Percy, he is going to gut her without any hesitation. I'm going and you will just have to follow along like everyone else." She then walks past me and runs out the door with a loud bang.
I decide to follow after her. I walk out the door timid to run because I'm not sure how much strain my knee should take. I shout after her.
"Annabeth!"
Angrily, she turns and says, "Can't you just accept the fact that there is no other way around this? I have to get her back and this is the only option."
"No, we can figure something out. Look, I know you are upset-."
"Upset?" Annabeth interrupts me. "No, I'm terrified and angry, Percy. I want to punch something so bad right now and I just need Charlie to be safe. It's too early in her life to be in danger. She has so much to come with the prophecy and everything that this isn't how her short life should be right now." Annabeth says frustrated and I look her straight in the eye.
"Then punch me. I'm the one that allowed this to happen. If you're mad at anyone it should be me."
"Percy, I am not mad at you."
"Well you should be. If it wasn't for this bum leg and knee of mine I would have stopped him." I concluded and Annabeth walks towards me as she says.
"I don't blame you and I am sure you did everything you could to save her. Now, it's my turn to do the same. Octavian wants a face to face with me and that's what he is going to get."
"Annabeth, you don't even know where he is hiding! Look, I know you're anxious and you want to get Charlie back. Trust me I want to too, more than anything. But we need to think of something else okay? I don't want to lose both of you if something goes wrong."
Annabeth looks at me and finally she sighs and agrees. "Fine, we can figure something else. Let's just go home."
I nod and grab her hand and it trembles underneath mine.
"Annabeth?" I ask and she sniffles.
"I just want my baby back." She cries and I quickly turn to her and wrap my around her as she cries into my shirt. I feel absolutely awful that I let this happen to my daughter and Annabeth and I swear to all the gods I am going to do whatever it takes to get Charlie back.
Annabeth
I lay awake next to a sleeping Percy, unable to think about anything but Charlie. I know Percy couldn't go to sleep either due to his own worries but I made him take pain medicine. He didn't need it but I lied to him and told him that it will help in the long run. I needed him past out because I needed to be able to my own thing without fighting with him about it. While he was drifting off, I already got a good start on where Octavian and Charlie are.
I quickly make sure that Percy is sound asleep before I roll out of my bed and grab my shoes. I put them on and I open my end table and grab my dagger and other weapons. Percy might hate me for the rest of my life because I told him I wasn't going to do this but I have to. I can't just sit around and wait for Octavian to make his threats actually happen.
Running down the stairs, I grab my backpack that has all of the information my siblings and I have already gathered. I then spread everything out on our dining table and try to look at the big picture. Looking at every angle and clue, I finally figure out where Octavian. I circle the location and grab everything else because I already memorized the map. I run out the door and get into our car and start driving towards Charlie.
The road is barely lit and it's pitch black outside. The ride won't take to long and I think of how I will approach Octavian. I don't know why he wants a face to face with me but I can be sure it's not to have coffee and chat. Whatever happens, I am doing it for Charlie.
I turn off the road 45 min later and drive down a dark, rocky road. Up ahead is an abandoned red farmhouse that has Octavian and Charlie somewhere inside. Some windows are shattered and it looks like no one has lived or maintained the house for years. I'm not sure how he picked this place.
As I park the car, I get my weapons ready and survey the house for a quick exit if I need it. It's a old, unstable house so I am positive some of the doors will be easy to kick in.
I get out and slowly approach the house, my dagger out and my awareness at it's peak. The door is already cracked open, something that I am not sure if it's Octavian's doing or the house's lack of structure. Timidly, I open the door and check the corners before walking inside the old house. The floors are creaky and outdated. The architure in me wants to change so many things but I tell myself to focus.
"Octavian? It's me. I'm here at your request. Now where is my daughter!" I shout and I hear an awful, menacing laugh behind me. Before I can even register that it's Octavian or turn around fully, something large and heavy hits me in the head and my vision turns black and I fall unconscious.
When I finally come to, my head is pounding and my sight is slightly blurry. I'm mad at myself for being so stupid and I angrily move my arms, only to notice they are bound tightly behind the uncomfortable chair I am sitting on. I squirm and my feet are tied to the legs of the chair. Looking around, I frantically try to find Charlie. And then I hear that same chilling laugh and I brace myself for what is to come.
Percy
It's late the next morning when I groggily wake up. I am disorientated due to the strong medicine and I check the time. It's 11 am in the morning, which is unusual for me to be sleeping to since Charlie is usually up a couple of times during the night and I have physical therapy in the morning. But both of those things aren't happening currently and I guess my body needed the rest. Annabeth is obviously up and probably is trying to figure out what to do. If it wasn't for the medicine, I would have been up the whole night, which I am sure she has been as well.
"Annabeth?"
I call out as a walk down the stairs and I get no response. I call out a couple of more times and start to wonder where she could have gone.
I walk past our dining room where there are all of her research papers and my eye catches a big red circle on a map. As soon as I pick it up, I know where Annabeth is.
"Shit!" I scream as I run upstairs not caring about my knee or leg.
Between the medicine, anger and adrenaline running through me, I can't feel a thing. Frantically, I search for her weapon and bag only to find them both missing. Then I quickly get ready and race to the Big House to tell the others.
When I arrive, I don't let anyone ask where Annabeth is before I tell them myself.
"She went after him. We need to get to this spot now." I order and we all jump into action.
Jason, Piper, Nico and I jump into the camp's van since Annabeth took our car and I speed down the gravel road. We are all silent until Nico asks.
"So how did she leave without you knowing?"
I roll my eyes and answer annoyed, "I was asleep."
"Damn. She probably planned that knowing Annabeth."
"Hey Nico?" I respond.
"Yah?" He answers.
"Shut up."
The car falls silent and I focus on the road and on finding Annabeth and Charlie.
After a long and quiet car ride where I avoided conversation with everyone especially Jason, we finally put up to a deserted farmhouse. It's red and broken down with two separate paths to what I assume was the backyard. The windows are broken and the grass has not been cut in years. Our car is parked in the driveway, which makes me feel somewhat better because I know then that they are inside. I park behind it and quickly get out.
"Percy, wait." Jason says and I stop.
"What?" I say angrily as I get Riptide out.
"We need a plan. If they are in there, we can't barge in."
"Sure we can." I respond and ignore is advice. Everyone follows me inside the abandoned home and I immediately feel like something is off. The floors squeak under my feet and there are no signs of Annabeth, Octavian or Charlie. We all then spread out and search the home. I still can't find them and my anxiety is rising with each minute. I told Annabeth that this was something more and we needed a new plan but didn't listen to me. And now I might never see them again.
"Guys, I found something!" Piper calls out and meets us all in the empty space that looks like it was a living room. She hands me a piece of paper and I quickly read it.
Hello Percy,
I hope you are not too upset with the change of plans. I have been thinking about those demands and I then realized that I wanted none of that. Instead, I wanted to do all the things that Annabeth has done to me to her. So I decided to drag out this lovely game of cat and mouse for a little longer. Enjoy trying to find where we all are, we will be making a lot of stops. Oh but don't worry, I will be getting a lot of sueverniors for your family. Especially Annabeth. Charlie is good, eating and growing without her father, something I am sure you know well. As much as I would like stay here and talk with you, I need to keep moving with everyone. Bye!
I crumple up the piece of paper and throw it across the room. Annabeth and Charlie are at the mercy of a madmen and there is nothing I can do.