POV: Annabeth
Another year gone, and still no sign of Percy.
His sudden disappearance from everybody's consciousness last year was their only lead, and still nothing had come of it.
The annual meeting gathered in the amphitheater and looking around all that was seen was drawn faces and tears.
Nico and his father had their usual impassive faces on, but Annabeth could see the sadness and worry within Nico's dark eyes.
Poseidon's face was one of his usual brooding look. And it almost pained Annabeth to look at him.
The color of his eyes, the regal angles of his face and determined set of his jaw all only served as painful reminders of Percy.
Suddenly, there discussion was interrupted by the sound of shouts and running feet as they raced past the amphitheater.
"What the?".
Everybody had similar reactions, turning around in their seats, all straining to get a glimpse of what was going on.
Finally, a shout was heard coming from the dining pavilion.
"Intruder! Intruder!"
POV: Percy
It had been a couple of months since Lady Chaos' portal had spit him out in the middle of the Canadian wilderness. He had travelled across the continent, destroying evil whenever he came across it.
He could sense it. It was like he had an internal GPS inside of him that was constantly tracking evil.
He had just followed and killed a corrupt politician when he found himself in the heart of Manhattan.
The mist was powerful here, but he didn't know exactly how powerful it was, so he retracted his wings into a tattoo that had appeared on his back so that he wouldn't draw attention.
Grabbing a newspaper from a stand nearby, he looked up and realised that it was July twentieth, the three year anniversary of his own disappearance.
He sighed sadly to himself as he thought of his old life in camp half-blood. The life he really truly missed.
Taking Anaklusmos out of his pocket, he twirled it between his fingers in a nervous habit that he had picked up.
He was wearing his usual black clothes and black cloak. The hood still covered his face.
The mist did a lot of things, but what it didn't do was cover up scars, and he had plenty of those. Even in the middle of July he was forced to wear long jeans. The cloak guarded his arms, but on the occasion that his arms did become visible, he got a lot of stares.
The heat wasn't a problem for him, his domain being the cold and all.
His hands in his pockets, his feet automatically carried him towards his old apartment. When he arrived, he looked up to the building only to discover that it had a sign on it that said, CONDEMNED.
It didn't surprise him. The place always was a dump.
Memories came rushing back and he had to brace himself against a wall.
His mother's smile, how she always smelled of the candy shop that she used to work at, the homemade blue cookies that he used to make just for him. And finally how happy she had seemed during those last few months with Paul.
Who had told her? What had they told her? Did they think he was dead?
All these questions circled and swirled around in his mind until he couldn't take it anymore.
He tucked his pen back into his pocket and opened his wings.
He summoned a cold wind and let it take him and pull him high into the air.
He watched from above with humor as the wind he had summoned made the mortals bundle up and shiver.
As he fly over the Long Island Sound he felt relieved to be away from the city. As much as he loved Manhattan, his senses were dulled there.
He flew low, dipping the tip of his wing into the water as he glided. It was one of the best feelings in the world.
Finally, he arrived at the edge of the camp. The woods guarded him from sight so he was able to watch as the campers there went about their usual daily activities.
His eyes settled on his old cabin and he flew down to reach it.
There was nobody around, and he had noticed when he was watching from the tree that none of his friends were there.
Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, Nico, Annabeth.
They weren't there, and for the first time since he had sacrificed himself in Tartarus, Percy found himself wondering whether or not all of his friends had made it through the war.
Or any of them for that matter.
The flower of worry that had begun to blossom in his heart grew larger as he wondered around the cabin area and found nobody.
Finally, he walked in to the Athena cabin.
A few of Annabeth's siblings that he recognised looked up in confusion as he entered, and one of them that he recognised, Malcolm finally spoke.
"Who are you? What do you want?".
Percy just brushed him off, though, and continued walking towards Annabeth's bunk.
It was neat and tidy, not a hair out of place and the bed neatly made.
This only scared him more. Annabeth was organised, but her work area was always messy.
She always said it was 'the cost of being brilliant'.
He smiled at the memory, but it soon faded as he looked over to her desk to find the entire area cleared.
His panic grew. He turned around to find the entire Athena cabin staring at his curiously.
"Where is Annabeth Chase?".
Everybody's face darkened in sadness, and Percy pushed through them and out of the cabin before he could hear their response.
He was attracting quite a few stares now, and then a few gasps of surprise as he opened his wings and took to the air.
He searched all of her usual places, the sword fighting arena, the Big House… Hell he even looked in the stables. There was nothing. She wasn't there.
A dark voice in the back of his mind started whispering things to him.
She's not here because she's dead.
All your friends are dead.
They died in the Second Giant War
They died because you weren't there to protect them.
It's your fault that they died.
Your fault.
He looked down from where he had been searching in the air and saw that most of the campers had gathered in the dining pavilion.
Of course they're in the dining pavilion, you idiot. It's lunch time.
A storm had begun to brew, the weather reacting to his mood of complete panic. The ocean seemed as if it was trying to claw its way onto the shore as huge waves slammed into the beach.
He landed in the middle of the dining pavilion, a gust of cold wind sweeping through behind him and silencing the crowd immediately.
The feeling of the earth beneath his feet gave him added strength, and he drew himself up to his full height before addressing the crowd.
"Where is Annabeth Chase?!".
His voice was low and scratchy from his time in Tartarus breathing in the acidic air. His voice was low and dangerous, and he didn't have to speak loud to have complete control.
His face was hidden by his hood, but his stance was enough to make any demigod's mind scream 'danger!'.
He crossed his arms over his chest, enjoying the gasps that came when his scars became visible.
"WHERE IS SHE!".
His loud tone of voice snapped everybody out of their stupor and suddenly he was surrounded by demigods with their weapons pointed at him while others ran around camp screaming about an intruder.
Strange. Why are they running to the amphitheater?
This observation gave him an idea.
While he was thinking this, the circle had tightened even more. A sword point pressed into his back, and somebody he didn't recognise in the crowd shouted to him.
"You're going to have to come with us".
He laughed, a dark sound that sent chills down people's arms.
The crowd stepped back, surprised and a little bit scared.
"Oh you guys are too cute". His words didn't hold any affection in them, and he began to walk through the crowd.
Two of the more brave ones in the crowd stepped forward and held on to his arms in an effort to restrain him.
But he just opened his wings to their full wingspan and knocked them away.
He laughed again before flying away. Something was happening at the amphitheater, and he intended to find out what.