Chapter Two: The Call

Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Riordan's
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
and the Heroes of Olympus Series, and I do not
own the songs I put into this book either.
I only own my fan made characters and of course
the plot line.

Added Songs – In Order of Appearance
No songs added in this chapter.

~Author's Note~

Well would you look here... a daughter of Hades has returned after not being alive for almost five months... I sincerely apologize about that... but life has a way of being bitter and nasty and exams and loss of everything have a way of making a writer curse the heavens and hell.

But yeah, I guess you can say I am back now. But I have a whole lot of catching up to do. I love everything for all of my stories and I've been trying to restart all my research again and writing. I have also started my hectic study schedule for my subjects at school again so I can't promise weekly or monthly post but I will try my best to at least post something for all my stories once a month.

But I do apologize about the wait. I know I'm a terrible writer but I will try my best to catch up. This story, I know where I am going and will try update when I can, hopefully at the end or beginning of the month, depending on when I finish all my writing.

Blurred lines, a phrase that could be used to describe the thoughts that flowed through her brain but the way they are processed because overwhelming that they arrest focused on properly.

Broken soul; a way to describe the shell of her former self that she had become.

Empty; that's all she was on the inside. Her heart, body and mind were empty and hallow.

Love; she didn't know what that was anymore, not since that day. Her love for the life she had worked hard for was just… gone. The enthusiasm for music and life itself was gone, swept away by the media storms that followed the truth coming out into the light.

She had a name but she felt like no one. To the paparazzi she was the number one story line right now; she has been the most stalked person in the world for these last six months. When was she going to walk out into the world without fear of being chased by those who made their living following and telling every detail of her life to the world? She had never left the sanctuary of Apollo Records.

It had become her safe haven.

It was her home.

She couldn't leave without being mobbed so she just lives in her music room. She has a pillow and blanket on the couch in her room, she barely sleeps though, barely identifies with all the instruments of her music room. No one bothers her when she goes and hides out on the roof for most of the day before coming down to lock herself in her room and feel like she is already dead on the inside.

Six months...

For six long, agonizing months she had been holed up in one place.

She had been living like a squatter in the place where she was celebrated for her achievements. It just became a place of the past, joyous memories became haunting nightmares that she wished she could just forget. That love was gone, it had died and she didn't know if she'd ever find it ever again.

She hadn't once stepped food out the building and today was the first day that Annabeth Chase had stepped outside the walls of her tower, her prison and sanctuary, the only place she had ever really known as a place where happiness grew into a butterfly bursting free only for its world to come crashing down around them.

She hid her face, his herself from the world, from the people who were camped out there, waiting for something, anything, even if it was just a glimpse of the back of her head and climbed into the car that was waiting outside for her. They didn't recognize her, not that they really could because she didn't look the same anymore.

None of her friends, co-workers, or anyone for that matter knew she had changed physically. She cut her hair; her once gold blonde princess curls that swayed and waved hello to the sun when she walked outside were no longer there. Her hair was short, rough cut making it look like it was a bad job which it was but that is how she wanted it. She cut it herself, couldn't stand the fact that this was one of the features that made her who she was but she didn't want to be that.

She regretted it but still trimmed it down, keeping it short but hiding her identity crisis underneath a beanie. It hid it well, a single curl always somehow not being tucked in, the rebellious little piece of fringe it was. She truly didn't identify in appearance to the Annabeth Chase she once was, and it wasn't just in that one singular way. It was everything...

The Annabeth Chase the world once knew and loved was gone.

She stared down at her lap as the gentle hum of the vehicle driving through the city was the only noise she could really hear was the brokenness of her lost reality. She was silent, completely mute and void of the entertaining enthusiasm she once bared when she had animated and enthusiastically verbose conversations that used to fill this very vehicle.

Charlie glanced at her in the mirror. She never looked anymore. She never spoke anymore. She was a lost girl that seemed to have been stolen from Neverland; wanting to go back but she never could. She was lost in a world with no comfort; there was people who offered it out to her but she never wanted it. Charles could see how affected she was by everything that had happened and continued to happen due to those people she never could escape from.

She was Annabeth Chase but she wasn't the same girl he had known since he met her all those years ago. He himself had been shocked the first time he had seen her come out of her enclosed cave that was her music room and he was shocked to see her appearance. She was thinner than before but at the same time, she wasn't anorexic thin so he didn't pay attention to that. No, he focused more on her appearance.

She'd taken to that beanie she wore constantly like it was her last reaching life line to survive. It was her present best friend and she never went anywhere without it but it just made it seem like she was constantly trying to hide something beneath it because there was a day he never saw her without it. She wore a hoodie a lot of the time. He'd never seen it before but he never saw her without it. She looked like a constantly sad person with emo characteristics.

He was surprised when she messaged him and asked him to come and get her and take her to The Accident and Emergency Centre in the upper part of town. She gave no reasons why. Made no comments. She didn't even say hello, just gave him a look that said thank you before she closed in on herself and introduced herself to bokette. The Japanese translation was staring out into space without thinking of anything and everything. He was concerned as to why she wanted to go to an A & E Centre but he'd take her where she needed to go nonetheless.

Annabeth stared out the window, lifeless; frozen and suspended in time as she recollected the events that led up to this singular moment of her breaching the safety of her tower and venturing out into the world like a Disney princess, curious about anything and everything. She was not like that anymore. She looked down at her lap where her phone lay, a blank look in her eye as she recollected the events that led up to this brave journey out of her safe haven.

"Hello Miss Chase. I am calling you from Bellevue Accident and Emergency Centre. You were listed as an emergency contact for a miss Hazel Roselle Levesque." A voice spoke through the line, professional, yet full of concern as she sound liked she was reading off of a script.

Annabeth sat up on her bed/couch and held her phone to her ear, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she tried to bring herself out of her shocked state. She had never thought in a million years that she would receive a call like this... especially for the woman who had helped the man who hated her, ruin her life. "I don't recall being listed but if you are phoning it must have some importance." She said with an displeased sigh. She remembers Hazel asking her to be listed as an Emergency contact since she had no immediate relative.

"Miss Levesque was in a serious accident with a Mr. Leo Valdez I believe. They are being rushed in as we speak. Mr. Valdez has suffered a dislocated shoulder but Miss Levesque has been rushed into the operating theater for emergency surgery. We wished to inform you of this..."

Annabeth didn't know how she felt about being called in. It wasn't something she was very excited about given the current circumstances but nonetheless she couldn't deny that a big part of her still cared for the girl. Even if their friendship was a lie to get information, to Annabeth, Hazel was family and she owed it to herself to not let that part of her slip which is why she called Charles and asked him to take her, even with all the risks she couldn't not go.

"We're here Annabeth?" Charles said as he pulled into the drop off area in front of the hospital and put the hand break on."Is there anything I can do for you Annabeth?" He asked in a soft and concerned tone as he glanced over his shoulder.

Annabeth was silent as she looked at the ominous building. Should she really be doing this? After months of avoiding this eventuality, she wasn't ready for it. Someone was bound to recognize the vehicle and her when she stepped out. Was she honestly so sure about this? She didn't know if she was making the right decision or not. She was so afraid of this. "Tell me why I should be doing this instead of hiding away?" She whispered, for the first time in the cold and bitterly silent months, she finally had said something and it was a heavily important question.

Charles looked at her; her grey eyes never leaving the building or the people walking in front of it, going in and out or just walking by. He watched her as she watched as time and life all around her went by and she was losing it. This wasn't the girl, no, woman. This wasn't the woman he had learned to know and seen at times of greatness and times of weakness. "Because you have to be stronger that fear you live in. Fear shouldn't be allowed to control and rule a person's life. You're done enough hiding Annabeth. It's time to step out into the light because you wouldn't have stepped in the car, let alone left the building if it weren't something gravely important and I know you already have your answer."

Annabeth looked at Charles with a sad look in her eye, but one filled with understanding and agreement. He was right. She wouldn't have come if this hadn't meant anything to her. She knew deep down inside her she was still the same girl, unafraid of the world and their opinion of her, only afraid of disappointing herself and if she didn't go in there, then she would regret it for the rest of her entire life. She gave him a sombre smile, small but present as she pulled the handle on the door and opened it but didn't push it open, not just yet.

"Thank you Charles." She said with a soft and grateful smile on her features as she pushed opened the door, shouldering her laptop bag that wasn't a laptop back and closed the door and walked to the open driver's side window. "Will you wait for me Beckendorf?" She asked softly.

"Need you ask? It's my job and you're my friend. I'd wait a thousand years for you so I know you are safe." He said with a gentle smile on his features. He forgot what it felt like smiling like this. He hoped he would do it more and see more of her smile."Text when you are ready to go." He said with a gentle nod.

She nodded back, "Will do. They will all lose their asses when they find out I am here." She said with a chuckle as she stepped away from the car. "I will see you when I am done." And with that, she was walking away and into the building.

Charles smiled with pride as he watched her walk away. She was still fighting the demons and losing various battles but she was winning the overall war and that made him swell with pride. He pulled out the drop off parking area and drove off towards the main parking lot and switched off his vehicle, an echoing silence filling the space but he enjoyed it and couldn't resist picking his phone out of his pocket and searching for his wife's number and sending her a message.

To: Selina (Wifey) Beckendorf

Hey baby. There is something I need to tell you and you won't believe me at first but I think Annabeth is starting to come back to us. She has actually left the building and I have dropped her off somewhere she needed to be. I am sitting here waiting for her. I think she might be coming back round and being herself again.

From: Charles Beckendorf

He blossomed with pride as he put his phone away and switched on the screen in the car and found his music playlist and searched for that song he really liked, but then again, he loved all the music she made but that one she did with Thalia really was a true representation of who she was as an artist. He sat back, relaxed with his window closed and his eyes closed, doors locked for safety and listened as the two harmonizing voices filled the room.

Annabeth pulled on her bag as she walked towards the reception, avoiding all the curious looks from people as she walked down the hall. She bit her lip and kept her head low, eyes averted and closed in on herself ever so slightly as she made her way towards the main reception. She wasn't as obvious to spot as she used to be as she arrived at the reception. "Ummm hello. My name is Annabeth Chase." She whispered to the main nurse when she was alone.

The nurse's green eyes widened in recognition of the name. "hello miss." She greeted. "Miss Levesque is on the third floor. A Mr. Zhang is there waiting and Mr. Valdez who was in the accident with Miss Levesque is currently being treated for his injuries near the nursery." She explained with a soft voice. "Would you like me to show you?" She asked softly.

Annabeth, "Yes please." She said softly as the nurse lead her to the stairwell, believing it was a safer route. "Thank you for not revealing it is me."

"It's no problem miss." She said with a soft smile on her face. "I can understand why... and I hope I am not pushing any boundaries, but I want to say that I understand your reasons for why you did what you did. You did it for him, and you never intended to hurt him." She said softly to Annabeth who bit her lip.

"Thank you ma'am. Very few agree with you." She said softly as they walked up the stairs.

She hadn't thought about Percy in a long time... not in the past six months and three days... not that she was counting. She had become numb and closed off to try and forget the wrong she did that man. The man who never asked for anything more than honesty and love. She still remembered the closing moments of the day that changed her life...

"That's a lie." Percy ground out, making Annabeth stop as he spoke, "I trusted a liar, a façade, a fake face. I trusted a person who I thought understood me, loved me and wanted to spend every waking moment making sure that I was nothing but happy each and every day…" He trailed off, his voice going softer before he let out a bitter chuckle, "Turns out everything I believed was a fucking a lie."

"That's not true. I only lied to you about what I did and what my name was, but everything I told you about myself, it was all the truth, I swear." Annabeth pleaded, her heart feeling empty and shattered when Percy looked up and met her gaze and she saw his usually vibrant green eyes were dull… empty, almost soulless.

"Leave."

"Percy, please. I love you, that part isn't a lie." Annabeth pleased, trying to assure him and make sure he knew that she did it to protect him, not because it was a joke or a game.

Percy shook his head, his body shaking, voice breaking as he spoke out, "It's been nothing but a sick game to you. A fucking prank. It was some sick joke to all of you, playing with my heart, my trust, what the fuck is wrong with all of you?!" he shouted, shoved the kitchen stools that in front of him, screaming out in anguish before he marched up to her and yelled, "Was this some sick, sadistic game to you, huh?! Was this some way to get popularity?! Was this all a stunt, playing with a human being's heart and feelings and trust. What kind of sick, twisted human being are you!?" Percy didn't care that his neighbors could see or hear the confrontation. He didn't care because many stood there, old and new recording it like a television show which on fueled the anger.

"Percy, it wasn't like that! It wasn't some game. I love you, it killed me to lie to you but I did it to protect you, not hurt you." Annabeth pleaded back, tears streaming down the both of their faces as they stared at each other. Percy shook his head, not believing her, "Percy please. I know it was wrong to lie and I am sorry but I wasn't it to protect you. You gave me reality, love, trust… happiness, something I hadn't felt in so long."

His eyes wandered to the necklace that adorned her neck, his eyes solely focused on the pendant. The symbol of his heart and soul, the symbol that represented the love and happiness he had been gifted by Anna, his Anna, the woman he knew and loved. Anger coursed through him as he gripped the heart shaped pendant that bore his initial and the small green emerald that represented him and yanked.

Annabeth winced as the chain snapped from around her neck, the reality of that notion hitting her hard as a sob escaped her lips. The symbolism was easy to detect, easy to bear witness to. Even the dumbest person on the planet could tell exactly what that action represented before the words even left his lips as he squeezed the necklace tightly in his fist and hissed out, "Get out."

Annabeth stood there, she expected him to be hurt but he was blindsided and shown pictures, shown her secret before she had the chance to sit him down and tell him the truth herself. Who knows, the actions taken would have been different but the outcome would have been the same. She'd hurt, broken and destroyed him and he wanted nothing to do with her. She'd spoken her piece, told him the truth but in the end, she was unwanted.

He hated her.

She backed away, her voice catching in her throat as she croaked out a strained, broken "I'm sorry," Before she let out a sob, her hands covering her mouth as she said it again, "I'm so sorry," before she turned on her heel and ran, sifting her way through the gathered crowd.

She wiped her eye as the tear fell from her eye. She had been rocked to the core, wounded and broken and dead in a single moment that she would never be able to stop reliving in her dreams.

"We're here." The nurse informed her as she had lead Annabeth like a blind lamb to the slaughter. Annabeth didn't even realise they had exited the stairwell but the moment she had control of her own mind, she looked up and saw the familiar yet different form of Frank Zhang.

She hadn't seen or heard anything about him since he walked away from his friends, his family, his band, Apollo records... he was helluva different now. He had grown taller, looked more intimidating and had an aura of annoyance and distaste to his frame. He didn't want to be here... yet here he was.

"Been a while Frank." She whispered, catching his attention as he looked up at her like a dear caught in the headlights as his eyes widened in recognition.

"Annabeth..." he whispered in disbelief as he looked at her, "What are you doing here?" He asked as he shifted on the couch and made space for her to sit.

She smiled and took a seat next to him, "The hospital called me. How did you know about her?" she asked him softly as she looked into his eyes. The sparkle was gone, it was a mirrored reflection of her own eyes that were soulless and dead.

"Hospital called me. I didn't believe them at first and then I put the news on and saw the accident and recognized her in the car as they were trying to get her out." He said softly as he looked at his hands. They were taped up, as if he were doing fighting or training. "I almost didn't come, but I felt that I would have regretted it if I didn't come... I still love her." He whispered softly as he bit his lip.

"I didn't know if I would come either... not after what she did." Annabeth whispered as she played with her fingers in an attempt to remain calm. "But I would have regretted it if I didn't come." She whispered as she bit her lip, "A fucked up part of me still cares about her. The girl that died that day, what part of her still exists, still cares." She whispered as she looked round the waiting area. "What have you been doing since you left?" she asked softly.

"Had to get a job somewhere since my family disowned me for lying to them about Hazel. The truth is I am glad they disowned me. I hated them." He whispered as he clenched his fist, "I'm a fighter now. My hands are the only thing I'm good at using and I needed to get my anger out so fighting was the way to go." He said as he leaned back.

"No more music?" She asked him in surprise. One thing she knew about Frank was that he loved his music deeply and for him to not do it was a shock.

He nodded, "It's my past. I left it behind the day I left." He said as he gave a sad smile, "Sometimes I miss it, but it's gotten easier to leave it behind and right now, its the best decision I could have made. I don't love it as much as I used to anymore. How can you keep doing something you don't love anymore?" He said as he looked away at the wall in a deep and distant look, as though he were in deep thought.

What he said sparked something in Annabeth?

To do something you had to love it.

Once upon a dream, music was everything. Life, hopes, dreams, love and everything. It was her greatest treasure and her most important piece of her soul...

But that part of her soul had died.

She'd lost the love for music... she still loved it but not as much as she used to and what Frank said had left something for her to think about. Did she want to keep doing this for the rest of her life? Did she was to keep subjecting herself to the negativity of music without having a true reason for wanting to do it anymore? Did she want to do music anymore? Did she love it anymore?

"What the fuck are you doing here?!" A familiar shrill erupted and drew both the two parties attention to the scrawly, elfish faced Leo Valdez who looked like he was going to set fire to the place as he glared not at Annabeth but at Frank who was on his feet.

"I'm here because I got a fucking phone call. I can be here if I want to!" Frank hissed in anger as he looked at Leo who had his arm in a sling and a plaster covering a patch on the left side of his head.

"You fucking threw her away! You should fucking leave because you don't deserve to be here for either of them because you fucking abandoned them you stupid asshole!" Leo hissed as he shoved Frank.

Before Frank could raise his fist, Annabeth was in between them and shaking her head, "Enough! We are in a hospital. Control yourselves and what do you mean them, Valdez?" She said in confusion.

"He is talking about Hazel and her daughter." Another voice said soflty and calmly. All heads turned and Annabeth's eyes widened in recognition. Will Solace, Apollo's son. "Hey guys. Been a while." He said to Frank and Annabeth.

"How are they?" Leo asked, forgetting about Frank altogether as he approached Will. "Please tell me her and the baby are okay?" he pleased softly.

"Miss Levesque suffered some minor head trauma but due to the excessive loss of blood and the energy required to give birth, we've had to put her into a medically induced coma." He explained softly. "Her daughter was born not breathing. The umbilical cord wrapped around her throat but we managed to get her to breathe even with her being premature. We've got her in an incubator for now but she should be perfectly fine. She is healthy and just about fully grown."

Leo sighed in relief. "Can we see them?" he asked as Frank stood there with Annabeth, processing what they had just heard.

"Hazel is being set up in her room at the moment but the baby you can come see." Will said with a warm smile on his face his face he pulled out a letter. "I went through the trouble of having that DNA test done for Hazel. This is for you to sign Frank." Will said as he showed them the birth certificate where his name was. "Your daughter needs a name, Frank." He said softly.

Frank stared in disbelief, "She... she was pregnant with my baby." He whispered as he looked at Leo for confirmation.

Leo was frowning but nodded. "Yes. And as for the name, she wanted to name her after her after you. Frankie Marie Zhang." He said as he looked at his once band mate and best friend.

Frank had a tear running down his face as he looked down at the paper in disbelief but his hand moved and wrote in her name and he signed under his name and handed the form to Will. "Can... can I see her?" He asked softly.

Will smiled and nodded as he ushered them towards the hall, "This way." He said with a smile.

They all followed him but Annabeth stopped when she saw a familiar figure... hunched over with a distinct air of sorrow and heartache surrounding them.

"Hermes?" She asked hesitantly as she approached the figure.

The man looked up and it was indeed the frail and slowly breaking form of Hermes Castellan... Luke's father. "A-a-nna-beth?" He said as he used the back of his hand to wipe the stream of tears running down his face that seemed endless.

She nodded, "It's me. Why... why are you here?" She asked softly as she cautiously sat down next to him, concerned even though she hadn't seen the man since she was fifteen years old. "Why are you so upset?"

"You wouldn't care... not since everything that happened." He said in a defeated tone as he hung his head, almost in shame.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, feeling confused and at the same time a little hurt by what ever his meaning was... even though she didn't know what it was.

"Luke's dead Annabeth." He said as he looked at his hands, silence encompassing the man as the tears seemed to fall once more.

Annabeth was stunned... Luke's dead?

Her mouth wend dry, she felt like she had been starved of water for longer than the sahara desert had been without rain. She was frozen. A man she once called friend, that she now called enemy was... gone.

"What... what happened?" She asked as she tried to lick her lips to moisten them but it was like all the water in her body had evaporated.

"Luke was sick Annabeth. Not physically, but mentally. His mom has dementia and Luke... he had the early stages of it, coupled with an extreme case of multiple personality disorder that stemmed from a traumatic abuse he suffered as a child." He whispered in an almost guilty tone.

Annabeth didn't know what to do or say in that moment except offer and ear and she did.+

"His mom and I, we'd separated after his birth but she won custody because she was there and I wasn't... when you were fifteen, he was locked in a bedroom after nearly being beaten to death by his mom... you called me worried about him... I found his almost dead... he was never the same since..." He whispered as rubbed his hand. "I went to visit him and found his with a stomach full of pills and ten different bottles of alcohol, still alive but when I brought him... they told me he was brain dead... there was no coming back..." his voice got thicker and heavier as he ran his hand roughly over his eyes to stop the tears. "I pulled the plug... watched him take his last breath..."

The man burst into a flood of sobs and tears as he broke down... all strength and resolve had snapped and shattered like a thin twig. The man who exuded strength and confidence, the man that Annabeth knew as Hermes Castellan was rendered down into an empty and broken being.

Annabeth wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into a one armed hug and offered what condolences she could... but she herself did not know what to do or say in this very moment... a man she had known most of her life... he was someone she loved and cared for... and he changed and became something she hated... but she still felt sadness and guilt for the man that was Luke Castellan.

"He wasn't the person he was anymore and there was nothing I could do. He hurt people he never wanted to hurt and took his life!" Hermes whimpered tearfully as he reached beside him and pulled a book out and looked at it. "He left a note... wanted me to give this to you... please, I know you hate... hate him for what he did but please, take it... for me." He pleaded softly.

Annabeth looked at the old and worn leather bound journal with hesitance and apprehension... the dark and twisted secrets that could be written on the very pages inside made her bite her lip in concern for her own sanity. Could she do it? Take the history of a man that's soul purpose in life to ruin her own, which he successfully did but manipulating fault on her own part...

Did she take it?

She didn't want to upset Hermes any further but nodded as she had a stoic look on her face and accepted the journal from the man.

"His funeral is on Wednesday... I know no one will come... but I figured I should let you know... there was a time he was your friend Annabeth... I hope you come." He whispered as a nurse appeared.

"Mr. Castellan. The doctor will see you now." She said softly with a sad look in her eye.

He smiled a sad smile. "Thank you May." He said softly as he stood up and wiped his eyes. "Good bye Annabeth." He said softly to her as he turned on his heel and followed the nurse, leaving Annabeth staring down at the book in her hands.

Luke was dead... one of her best friends was dead... but also one of her most hated enemies was dead as well.

She was torn... she didn't know how to feel as she hugged the book to her chest and aimlessly walked to the elevator where people crowded.

She stared at the book like it was enigma, a mystery upon which she was uncertain she wanted to investigate.

"hey mommy look. It's Annabeth Chase!" A little girl beamed as she looked up at Annabeth's sad and empty eyes.

She felt nothing as the voices erupted in a zealous cacophony. She felt nothing as the camera flashes as people tried to get a picture of her stoic and emotionless face. She was empty, cold and dead inside.

The elevator doors dinged and she walked out in a neutral pace as people followed... the name "Annabeth Chase!" echoing through the hospital as more and more people gathered around her but she just weaved her way through.

She just walked to where Charlie was... he caught sight of the scene and zoomed into action like the flash and got her in the car... she still didn't blink as she sat comfortably in her seat, doors locked and car zooming away.

All she did was pick up her phone and texted the one person she honestly kept in contact with. The message simple and emotionless as a single lone tear fell from her eye without her even registering it's presence..

To: Thalia Grace

Thals, Luke is dead...

From: Annabeth Chase

well everyone, that is our second chapter in and I have to say, it was a whirlwind one to write but I managed to get it done. I am pleased with the outcome but now, where do we go from here. You'll just have to wait and find out my dear darling Fictioneers. Catch you all on the flip side.

~Michaela~