Chapter 1: Blondie Gets A Lead
The day my brother disappeared was the worst day of my life. There were no sudden noses, no struggle, nothing that could have woken me up to save him.
He was taken right from his bed in the middle of the night, and I was only five feet away.
Five feet.
How could I have not known?
When I woke up he was gone, but I didn't think anything of it. It was just like any other morning. My brother sometimes would wake up earlier than me to get some extra "training" in with his girlfriend.
They spend their time "training" in the lake, so who knows what they're really doing. I, for one, most certainly do not want to know the details.
But when I noticed that his girlfriend, Annabeth, was discussing some building plans with her siblings outside of her cabin across the way; an odd feeling sunk into my gut.
When Annabeth asked me where he was, I knew something was really wrong.
My brother, Percy Jackson, was missing.
Just a year ago, we were the subject of a prophecy and faced certain death. For once in our lives, we thought we were going to be able to get a break.
Big mistake, that was.
Being two demigods, and even worse: the children of Poseidon, we should have known better.
You live and learn, I guess.
Annabeth and I have been leading the search for Percy. Annabeth is the daughter of Athena- the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. Not only does Percy obviously not deserve the wicked smart blonde, but I'm pretty sure I also have a massive crush on her.
Anyway.
If anyone was going to find Percy, it was going to be Annabeth. There was no doubt in my mind about that. She had too many skills and tricks up her sleeves to not find the guy.
But when a week passed after informing all of our contacts that we could possibly inform… nothing. We found nothing.
"Andie!"
My head snapped up and my sea-green eyes flickered out of their daze. "What's up, Annabeth?"
The blonde-haired, grey-eyed girl walked into my cabin with an athletic bounce to her step. I immediately perked up when I saw the pleased expression that she wore. It was nice to see a change after weeks of seriousness that was driven by desire for finding her boyfriend. "I think I have a lead, Andie."
I dropped the bracelet that was dangling between my long fingers. "Wait, what?"
Yes, I was that smart.
She rolled her eyes, something that she did around both me and my brother a lot, and dragged me out of my cabin and toward the Big House.
"I think I found a lead that could bring us to Percy," she explained. "There have been some odd things happening in Washington, and the children of Hecate told me they were able to see a spike of monster activity. This could be it, Ands."
I huffed out a laugh of my own. "Yeah, good plan. Wherever there are monsters, Percy is sure to be."
She shook her head exasperatedly. "That's exactly what I'm thinking." Once we made it to the entrance to the Big House, she stopped me at the door and held my arms in her hands tightly. Her eyes met my own, and she paused. "You and your brother are sometimes so much alike that it worries me."
I yanked my arms from her grip. "Hey, that's not nice."
Annabeth hit my shoulder. "I'm dating your brother, you nitwit. It's not like I think you and your brother are the scum of the earth."
I laughed. "No, you just think our brains have been replaced by seaweed."
She rolled her eyes again. "Oh shut it."
"Whatever you say, Blondie."
Annabeth sighed. "Look, there is something else, but I need to tell you before we go inside. People have been going missing unexpectedly near Seattle, and there have been sightings of odd things- which correlates with the Mist."
I nodded. "So you think Percy's disappearance, here, in New York, has something to do with Washington?"
She huffed out a breath. "Andie, please. Chiron has already granted me permission to go there, but I'm needed here. I think you should go check it out."
My reeling thoughts immediately halted, bringing everything to a stand-still. "Seriously?"
A small smile came to her face at my reaction. "Seriously, Kelpie. I want you to go look for your bother in Forks, Washington."
I coughed, trying to hide the laughter that started to trickle out of my control. "Forks?"
Her smile quickly spun around into a frown. "Andie…"
"Okay, I get finding Percy and everything, but Forks? Where are you going to send me next, Blondie? Spoons?"
Annabeth let out a light hum which was as close to a laugh as I figured I would ever get. "Just be glad I'm not sending your butt to Alaska."
My eyebrows skyrocketed, nearly meeting my hairline. "I'd rather be going to the North Pole if it meant not going to a town named after cutlery."
She blinked. "I'm impressed."
"With what? The fact that I'd go to the North Pole?"
A wicked grin made its way onto her face. "No, the fact that you know what the word cutlery means."
I smirked. "You'd be surprised at all the thing I know, Blondie."
"You're insufferable."
"You know you love me," I half-flirted, finishing out with a wink.
Annabeth scowled and grabbed my arm roughly before opening the door and dragging me into the Big House.
A part of me was glad she wouldn't be coming along. But another part of me was sad that I was going to leave my fiesty good-looking friend behind.
We head into the Big House, where Chiron was sitting in his wheelchair (even though there was ethically no reason for him to be in the chair) and playing some Pinochle with a few other Cabin leaders.
"Welcome, Andie. It's nice to see that you've finally decided to show up," a voice piped out from the ping-pong table where they had all gathered around.
I smirked slightly at the asian-model-looking daughter of Aphrodite. "Nice to see you've made it too, Drew."
She sniffed, sticking her nose up in the air and turning away from me cattily. I shrugged her off, knowing that the Aphrodite girl was always going to be catty to those she thought was intimidating.
Apparently I had too much star-power for her liking.
"What's up, hot stuff?" Connor Stoll asked, throwing me a sly wink as he ran a hand through his dark curly hair. Travis, who was sitting directly at his right, repeated his twin's action.
"Boys. I'm doing well. It's nice to think there's something we might be able to do to find my seaweed-brained brother."
The twin sons of Hermes laughed. It was evident that the war had taken a toll on them and their pranking prowess, so it was nice to see the smiles back on their mischevious faces. However devious they may be, it was still good to see that sometimes it's okay to relish in the past.
Clarisse looked over at me and nodded sullenly. Ever since Silena passed, it was evident that the daughter of Ares always was aware that something was missing.
It wasn't just Silena, either. There were many others who should have been sitting around the table with us that weren't here.
Beckendorf. Lee. Percy.
Luke.
"You okay?"
I saw Annabeth was looking at me worriedly from the corner of my eye. I gave her a half-hearted shrug. "It's easy to think about the ones who should be here, you know."
She nodded, the blonde curls bouncing where they were tied back in a ponytail. "I know what you mean."
"Did you tell her about your plan?" Clarisse asked, getting down to business.
Annabeth nodded seriously at the other camp leaders. "I told Andie about going to Washington, and she will be going in my stead. If anyone disagrees, it's time to say so."
Drew snorted. "What, so she can just go and run off like her brother?"
The two of us glared down at the daughter of Aphrodite. "I suggest shutting up or I will do it for you, Tanaka."
She gasped. "That's assault!"
I looked around the room as though I heard a far-off voice. "What was that? You want me to kick your ass?"
Chiron coughed pointedly from where he was seated with some of the older satyrs. "If I were you, Andromeda, I would take care of what you say before you have others vote on your fate."
I glared at the old centaur. "Oh yeah? We all know I'm going anyway. This is just a formality to make people like Tanaka feel better about themselves."
Will Solace, son of Apollo, and new Cabin Leader after the passing of Lee Fletcher, started to laugh. The others looked at him oddly. "What? You all know she's right."
Clarisse rolled her eyes. "I know she'd do whatever she wants, anyway. Didn't stop her before, surely won't stop her now."
I looked at the daughter of Ares in a slight shock. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said about me, La Rue."
She grunted, crossing her arms with a look of distaste. "That'll be the only nice thing ever say about you, Jackson."
I grinned. "Love you too, La Rue."
"Ewe."
"Make it stop!"
Annabeth cleared her throat over the obvious distaste of the other cabin leaders.
It was sometimes weird to think about how old we were, making decisions based upon wars and life and death… but now is not such a time for morbid thoughts, dear readers.
Back to Blondie.
"We all agree that Andie should go to Forks, Washington, right?"
Everyone nodded. Well, everyone that didn't have a name that rhymed with Shrew.
Or, in other words, everyone that didn't have the name of Drew Tanaka.
"Good. I already took the liberty of making plans to have her travel there-"
"I better not be flying," I held up a hand, interrupting her explanation. "The last time I flew in an airplane I was nearly fried like a fish stick. I would rather not become an Andie-sized fish stick anytime soon, thank you very much."
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Of course not, Kelpie. You're going to take Blackjack. Why do you think I would make you fly?"
I paused, thinking about my decision making up until that point. Yes, still as active and un-thinking as possible. "I don't have an answer for that."
"Are you sure we want her leading a search?"
Annabeth shared a look with Jake, the Hephestus cabin leader. "Unfortunately, she's the best we have with the time we've got."
I groaned. "I'm still here, you know."
Blondie winked. "Yeah, we know."
"Dear gods, please save my soul."
Annabeth hummed in amusement before putting the serious facade back on. "After flying Blackjack to the scene, we will have a car waiting for you-"
I gasped. "I've always wanted a car!"
Annabeth looked at me curiously, pausing her speech yet again. "Since when?"
"Since right now."
She nodded, accepting my answer, and continued, "She will take the car to Forks, where she will pose as a Reporter who is researching the local disappearances. From there she will be leading a search to find her brother."
The Stolls shrugged in unison. "Sounds epic enough," Travis said. "Where are you getting the car from?"
Annabeth smiled slowly. "I do have friends, okay? Look, anyway, we need to get back to the topic."
I turned to face her curiously. "Where are you getting the car from, Blondie?"
She blushed. "Nowhere you need to be aware of."
I let out a laugh. "Okay, I'm so not asking."
The rest of the table (minus the obviously snooty personality and a certain daughter of Ares) chuckled.
Once the chuckles died off, we sat for a moment in awkward silence.
"So, when do I leave?"
This time Chiron turned from his card game with a knowing grin. "How does right now sound for you, Andromeda?"
