Percy VI
The kids in the Hermes cabin who'd been at camp the longest definitely noticed that Percy was distracted during their sword fighting lesson.
"You good, man?" Connor asked in a low voice when Percy set his siblings to doing standard drills.
Percy shrugged. "You know that feeling you get when there's a monster nearby?"
Connor grimaced. Percy really didn't even have to ask. Everyone in their generation of demigods who was still alive knew that feeling.
"Yeah," Percy said. "I've been feeling that for hours."
It might not have meant anything. He might just be paranoid. But paying attention to that feeling had saved his life plenty of times before and it wasn't paranoia when they really were out to get you.
He got through the rest of the lesson, somehow. Once it was over, he headed for the beach. He had long enough before his next class for him to take a few minutes by the ocean to try to calm down.
And if something attacked him, he'd have plenty of water to use to defend himself.
Nico ambushed Percy as he walked by the treeline. His cousin stepped out of the shadow of an elm tree and immediately zeroed in on him.
"Paul's at the Big House."
It took Percy a second to understand what Nico had said. "My stepdad Paul?"
"Yes, your stepdad Paul," Nico said. "He needs you five minutes ago. It's…Percy, it's bad."
Schist.
Percy turned around and ran for the Big House. He heard Nico curse under his breath before running after him. They weren't going that fast, but the people who crossed their path still scrambled to get out of their way. Any faster and they'd have had people running away with them. When two Big Three kids are sprinting like a drakon is after them, they probably have a drakon chasing after them and running like hell is a good choice. Half of camp had unfortunately learned that from experience.
Mr. D was playing cards against two of the satyrs on the porch of the Big House when they got there. Percy took a second to catch his breath, leaning against the railing.
"Causing more trouble, Pablo Jamison?" the god grumbled.
"Trouble finds me, sir," Percy ground out.
Mr. D scoffed and went back to his card game. He wasn't going to delay them. Good.
"Paul and Chiron are in the sitting room," Nico told Percy.
The second that Percy saw Paul's face, his stomach dropped into the Underworld. Paul's expression was all worry and stress.
"What's wrong?" Percy asked. "What happened?"
Paul tried to speak and choked. He shook his head and looked at Chiron.
Chiron folded his hands in the lap of his fake wheelchair legs. "Percy, it's your mother," he said gravely. "She's been taken."
The thing was, every demigod loved Sally Jackson. Hearing that she'd been snatched off the street right in front of Paul and dragged into a van that disappeared into traffic and Mist would send Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter into war mode. Percy was all for that. So were the rest of the head counselors. It was Chiron and Paul who were the voices of caution with veto power.
"Sally could get hurt if you turn the city upside down looking for her. We don't know what the people who took her want." Paul's voice cracked on the last word.
Percy slowly sat back down and put his head in his hands. "But then what are we supposed to do?"
"Find who took her and burn them all," Sapphire growled, not for the first time.
There were sounds of agreement from around the ping-pong table, also not for the first time. That they would all kill for Percy's mom wasn't even in question. Percy was simultaneously very grateful and mildly concerned. Mark was the only Ares kid in the room.
"That still leaves the problem of finding them," Nico said. "Aunt Sally is one soul in a city of millions, and that's if they're even still in Manhattan."
"My siblings and I can look for her when she's asleep," Clovis said, without yawning once. "She knows us. She'll tell us where she is."
"Except she probably doesn't know where she is," Annabeth pointed out. "Sapphire, could you go ask Brooklyn House for help with scrying for her? Not right now! After we're done here."
Percy looked up in time to see the shadows gathering around Sapphire retreat. Sapphire sat back down and nodded.
"Okay, Clovis, have your cabin look for Sally and find out what's happening to her. Ask her about her surroundings. That'll give us a better idea of where she is. Sapphire, ask the magicians to try finding her and work out a schedule for checking in. Lou Ellen, I know your cabin is busy with…everything but look for Sally when you can, alright? Everyone else, keep this quiet for as long as you can. When the rumours get out, make sure nobody overreacts. Clear?"
There were nods all around. Most of the head counselors didn't look happy about Annabeth's gag order, but Chiron would back her on it and listening to Annabeth was the right thing to do for anything that didn't involve spiders.
Sapphire bounced in her seat. "Are we done?"
"If there aren't any other suggestions." Annabeth gave everyone a second to speak up before nodding. "We're done."
There was a sudden whirlwind of activity as Sapphire grabbed Jason, who was sitting next to her, and shadow travelled them away without any warning except for the words "Buddy system."
"If anyone asks, they had permission to leave," Chiron said.
"Thanks, Chiron," Annabeth said.
The other head counselors slowly began to get up to get back to their cabins before dinner. Percy received several sympathetic shoulder pats as they passed him.
"We'll find her, man." Leo squeezed Percy's shoulder. "We'll find her."
Percy cracked a smile that probably looked more like a grimace. "Yeah." He really hoped that Leo was right.
Leo managed an actual smile back, though it was a much dimmer smile than usual. "Hey, Uncle Paul, come on, I'll make you another hot chocolate."
Chiron, Annabeth and Percy were silent for a minute after Leo steered Paul out of the room. They exchanged looks that made Percy feel like they were all on the same page.
"Are either of you also thinking that Asher did this?" Percy asked.
Chiron nodded gravely.
"Yes," Annabeth said.
Great. At least it wasn't just him.
