Chapter 3

Annabeth P.O.V.

I saw them before they saw me. I had travelled to New York City via the Grey Sisters because I was heading to camp. I had heard stories of missing demigods, reports of mass kidnappings on the news. I needed to make sure Seaweed Brain didn't go missing too. When I was in San Francisco, I had noticed men following me. Men in black suits. They would follow me, without actually admitting they were stalking me. I began to feel paranoid and started watching everyone around me. Eventually I couldn't take it, and so I told my family I was going to leave for a bit.

~•~

I was walking towards Percy's apartment complex when I saw them standing outside of the door. I ducked into the alley before they noticed me. It was the same as California: the pair of men in cheap suits with no emotion or inconspicuousness.

Two men, both smoking, were watching the streets. I inspected them closely, taking note of a conspicuous bulge under their arms—a government issued gun holster. They must be watching Sally. As Percy hadn't answered any of my messages, I doubted they were waiting for him. My guess was that they already had taken him.

Flipping my Yankees cap on, I easily slipped passed the agents, who were inattentively staring into space, and up the stairs to Percy's apartment. I knocked nine times: three short knocks, three longer, and three short. The door opened a crack revealing a sliver of salt and pepper hair, a blue eye, and a black bathrobe. Paul Blofis's eye zipped around, searching for the knocker. I cleared my throat softly, and Paul's eye widened. He opened the door a sliver more.

"Annabeth?" He whispered. I cleared my throat again, and he casually turned around and closed the door, though the latch never locked. I slipped in like a shadow and silently shut the door.

"Sally," called Paul, "can you come here a moment? I have a gift for you."

I heard a sniffle and the shuffling of feet. Sally Jackson slowly made her way into the living room. I felt a sinking feeling as I saw the state of her. Eyes bloodshot, nose red, hair as a rat's nest, and a bathrobe almost worn into oblivion. I took off my hat and ran to Sally. She brightened a bit when she saw me and fresh tears, tears of relief, fell down her cheeks. She embraced me tightly as if I would slip away right before her eyes.

"Thank the gods you're safe, Annabeth." She took my face in her hands and looked me over. Paul came behind me and rested a hand on my shoulder.

"Have you seen Percy? Has he contacted you? Is he at camp?" She was so hopeful, I hated to destroy her only life line. My bare expression took a deep toll. She began to cry anew, and Paul held her. She was so strong. Something really bad must have happened. Sally couldn't speak so Paul began to explain.

"We haven't seen Percy since ten days ago. A day after he went missing, these men in black suits came to us. They asked us about things. Things they shouldn't know."

"Are they from the government?"

Paul nodded.

"First these two men came, they were practically identical. Both of them wore blue gloves and black suits. They asked about Percy, the recent vandalism of Manhattan," he paused and glanced at the door, "the greek gods."

"They couldn't know." I shook my head. "The mist prevents large groups of people from knowing about the true nature! Even if the mist fails, which it never does, the gods take care of it!"

Paul just ruefully shook his head, having no other explanation. I stood abruptly, abrupt enough to startle Sally out of her daze. She caught my wrist before I could leave the family room.

"Annabeth, honey, where are you going?"

"Olympus. I need a word with the gods. Then I'm going to camp, Chiron has to know something."

"No. It's too dangerous. The men in black, they know about camp, and I'm willing to bet they know about the Empire State Building, too."

I shook my head, pursing my lips.

"Even if they do know, which is a slim possibility, they can't enter Olympus. Or camp. The boundaries prevent that." I took out my invisibility cap. "Plus, they won't be able to see me."

Sally stood and took my other hand. "Promise me that you will be careful."

"I promise."

She nodded and hugged me briefly. I turned to leave taking the handle. Before opening the door, I slipped on my hat and felt the usual tingling feeling as the invisibility washed over me. I opened the door.

"And Annabeth?" Sally called quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Find him." It wasn't a question, but I still answered.

"I will."

The grand foyer to Olympus was still under construction but was looking amazing. Or it would if there were more people around. More than just me. Silver and gold cobble stones covered the floor of the foyer and made pathways to the Veteran Garden and up to the Palace. Giant bonsai trees the shapes of greek symbols and animals lined the main path while a marble base lead the visitors to the garden dedicated to those who died during the Battle of Manhattan. Names with birth dates, death dates, and their parents were etched into silver teardrop plates draped from trees, on the back of the platelets were the pictures of the deceased. All of them were smiling. I had spent an entire week just designing the plates alone. The trees were Grover's idea. Even the nature spirits were given a place in the Garden, the sprouts and seeds that were the nature spirits now bore the silver drawings.

I hurried up the Main Street to the Palace, past the Veteran Grove. I met no one, saw no one. I didn't even hear a bird song. I stopped at a house that I knew was occupied by Adamanthea, the nymph who nursed baby Zeus. Nothing was disturbed or destroyed or harmed. It was just...empty.

The palace was even more depressing. No one was tending to the flames of the hearth. No little girl in a brown dress. The embers simply continued to glow and warm the unwelcoming palace.

I made my way to my mother's throne, to the base of it where so many painful memories resided. I still couldn't shake the memories of being thrown against the marble, of Luke begging for my knife, for death.

I turned away from the throne and the memories, but something brought me back to face it. Something Percy had done during the Battle of Manhattan. To gain Poseidon's attention, he had mounted his father's throne, almost getting burned to ashes because of it. But it had worked, and since I had no other idea of what to do, I made a split second decision. Finding foot holds in the white marble olive branches embedded in the stone, I climbed the fifteen feet and rested myself on the flat surface. I had expected to feel vibrations of the raw power, feeling waves of heat, maybe even anger from Athena, but I felt nothing. The gods were just—gone.

"That's impossible."

I descended about five feet then jumped the rest, rolling at the impact. I ran out of the throne room, to the peak of the acropolis, right to the edge, and screamed, "HELLO! IS ANYONE OUT THERE?"

Not even an echo. Guess she was on a Holliday, too. I waisted no time but flew down through the village, smashing the button to the bottom floor repeatedly until the doors binged open. I growled impatiently as the floor numbers ticked by.

"Come on. Come on!"

The mirror in front of me showed a crazed gleam in my eyes, my cheeks flushed, hair in a wild pony tail. But at the moment, I could care less about looking insane and unattractive.

~•~

They met me in the lobby, another pair of men in suits. One quick glance at their hands proved they weren't the ones Paul had spoken of. They didn't have blue gloves or inhuman eyes.

Distantly I wondered how they had found me, but then again Paul said they probably already knew about the Empire State Building. It must have been under observation. I guess an elevator button pushing itself was a little suspicious, not to mention it never opened at an existing floor.

The moment I stepped out of the elevator, they saw me. First they confirmed it was in fact me, then they pointed and threw their coffee cups to the side, receiving angry cries from the janitor in the room. I stared back at them momentarily, forgetting about my invisibility cap, and then ran swiftly out the front door. I didn't look back, but without a doubt, they followed closely behind.

"Hey, you, stop!" They yelled to me as I shoved pedestrians out of the doorway, out of my way.

"Fat chance!" I yelled back. I was in the streets by then, rushing through the lawyers, doctors and sales clerks. I had the advantage. I may not know New York like Percy did, but I knew my way around and I was smaller and could maneuver the crowds easier. I chanced a glance back and saw the suits get held up by a family of five. They were yelling something about agents perusing a suspect and calling for back up. Ahead of me, I saw movement of more black suits. Next to me, the cars had just gotten a green light and they rushed into moving. There was no hold up of traffic for once. I calculated the risks of getting past the suits, even with my invisibility cap, I'd get jostled around so much I could lose it. Then I calculated the speed of the cars. I chose the cars.

I never really liked to play frogger, but now I wish I had. Real life frogger isn't as fun as the game and you don't have extra lives and a restart button. The first car only honked, but the second slammed into my outstretched hands, the driver flipping me off and yelling at my stupidity. One car to go, a double decker. The suits were following me, almost past the second car. A hand reached for my hood, but I jumped past the bus at the last second and whipped out my cap. As soon as I was past the bus and out of sight of the suits, I became invisible. I heard yells of frustration but kept running, taking care not to bump anyone and give away my direction.

I didn't stop running until I reached Central Park. And by the time I reached it, I was wheezing so hard I practically fell over. The stitch in my side burning a hole in my body. I needed a friendly face and last I heard he was watching over seedlings. I kept my cap on, not trusting my solitary findings. I knew it was a side affect of being hunted, but no one could help being paranoid in this type of situation. In the middle of the park, I found a tree, whose branches touched many different trees.

"Χαρεια, Dryad, please find Lord Grover of the wild?" I asked in Ancient Greek. A face formed out of the oak, a petite girl who looked about twelve. She blinked her pure green eyes a few times and yawned.

"Why would I help you?" Her eyes moved around, quizzically searching for the source of my voice, "wherever and whoever you are." I hadn't bothered taking my invisibility cap off.

"I need him. Something's wrong and I need to talk to him."

"I don't—"

"Just tell him Annabeth Chase needs to talk to him. Tell him Percy's missing." I snapped hurriedly.

She looked peeved, but the dryad slipped back into her tree, the leaves rustling against each other. Figuring she'd take a few minutes to find him, I searched for a clear spot by the fountain spray. I only hoped that I could still send IMs with the gods missing, and thankfully one drachma lighter, the IM opened to a black and red room. It was tall with buttresses and curtains hanging over the four poster bed. A fourteen year old boy with long black hair was sitting on the floor in front of a black and green flamed fire. Nico was painstakingly sharpening his black sword, the blade catching the light, making shows with the colors Against the obsidian walls.

"Nico!" I yelled.

Nico jumped up, sword hefted upwards, and whirled around. Finally, he caught sight of the daylight and wandered over. He searched the oval for a few moments.

"Hello?"

"Nico, its me."

"Me who?" He asked tentatively.

I growled impatiently, having again forgotten about my baseball hat.

"Annabeth? Is that you?"

I knocked off the hat and became visible. Nico smiled and waved.

"Yes, it's me. Where are you?"

"My room at my father's palace." He paused. "What do I owe you for this rare call?"

"I'll explain in a moment. I need Grover to come first."

Nico nodded and tapped his sword awkwardly. We had never really talked one on one before and now was not a good time to talk about myth-o-magic. Luckily, he wasn't the most social person, so neither of us tried to make awkward small talk. But that didn't change the awkwardness of the seven minutes it took for Grover to come galloping out of the trees. He immediately tackled me in a great big hug. He smelled of pine needles. He bleated greetings and tried to catch up, but I cut him off.

"We don't have time, Grover. I think—I think the government has kidnapped Percy."

Grover smiled jokingly, and Nico laughed outright. "So they finally caught up with him, did they?" The son of Hades laughed.

I scowled at both of them. Even after experiencing the targeting, I knew it sounded insane, but because I knew it was true, I was pissed they were taking it as a joke. "I'm serious!" I snapped, smacking Grover harshly on his arm.

Grover turned pale and half-smiled like he thought I was still kidding, Nico's smile fell, and he almost dropped his sword. He leaned back against his bed pole and sat down heavily. Before they began to ask questions, I told them everything I knew: the men with blue gloves who visited Sally and Paul, the apparent mortals who knew about the Greek society, Olympus's emptiness, and the suits that came close to catching me.

"I—I can't believe it," muttered Grover finally. They had taken the news in relative silence. "I heard that some demigods weren't showing up to their houses or places they were supposed to be, but I thought it was repercussions of the war and monsters. I didn't think they were being kidnapped!" Grover slapped his head, slumping to the ground.

"You had no reason to think that, Grover," I tried to console him.

"But where are the gods?" Inquired Nico. "I mean there aren't many places they can be."

"What about Hades? Is he not there?"

Nico shook his head slowly, "No, he didn't vanished but went away a few weeks ago. I figured it was god business. And we know the gods aren't dead. People are still dying so Thanatos and Hermes are still taking the souls to the underworld."

I shrugged and sat by Grover.

"Have you checked camp?" Nico asked.

I shook my head. "I wanted to talk to you two first. And I haven't heard anything from Chiron. I would've thought he would contact me if he noticed something was wrong." It was Grover's turn to console me, rubbing my back warmly. Nico's cheeks burned and he turned away. He never was the touchy feely type.

"You two should go to camp, check it out. I'll meet you there soon, after I pay a little visit to my underworld contacts. How 'bout at my cabin?"

I nodded and looked to Grover for confirmation. He agreed. I told Nico to avoid public scenes and men in black and to be on high alert. He wished us luck and waved away the IM. Grover nodded to me and set off out of the park.

I hated going by the Grey Sisters, but the way things were going, I didn't trust mortal transport and we needed to get to camp and fast. I paid them with the last of my drachmas and bolted out of the horrendous taxicab and up the hill. Peleus, the dragon, was alert and growling, but he stopped once he recognized us, whimpering slightly as we came closer. I scratched his neck as I walked by, slowing my pace, dreading what we'd see.

From what I could tell, the boundaries around camp were still in place and working. The Golden Fleece hung on Thalia's pine. There was no smoke gathering like storm clouds so that meant no burning buildings. There weren't campers running around either. It was as empty as Olympus, from our point of view at the top of the hill. Grover nudged me forward and together we walked down into the valley.

"Nico said he'd meet us at his cabin. Ready?"

"I want to look around first. Meet at the Hades cabin in fifteen?" I suggested.

Grover wasn't happy but agreed, dashing towards the forest. First I checked the big house, but only felt a deep hollowness in my chest at what I found. Chiron's room was empty. It looked as if he was just out in the archery fields or watching combat practice, but there was no sign of anyone. Rachel wasn't in her spare bedroom, but she was probably at her finishing school. Mr. D wasn't in his room either.

I was starting to feel a burning feeling in my stomach, a falling sensation in my gut. My breaths shortened and I took one every second, my heart racing. They couldn't have come here too. It's impossible. This is my home. They can't come here.

My rabid mind had no control of where my legs took me. Randomly, I'd have flashes ofconscientiousness and discover I was outside the Big House or in the center of the cabins. The sun was about an hour and a half from setting. The soft light burning to harshly in front of Cabin 11. I was so distracted with my sinking thoughts I didn't notice the thick, club-like thing that sailed out and slammed me on the forehead. The next thing I knew was the sun setting far too quickly.

"Is she dead?"

"Course she's not dead. Her eyes are moving, idiot."

"You hit her too hard!"

I registered more than two voices, one female and two males. When I cracked my eyes open, I saw curly black spirals surrounding little horns. Grover cracked a smile and held out a blurry stick—his hand, I deciphered through the haze of my concussion. A little too soon, I got to my feet. My head swam but I managed to stay upright, holding tightly to Grover's shoulders. Once my vision cleared, I saw about fifteen kids looking at me. Grover, Thalia, and some of her hunters smiled warmly. Nico stood in the background, keeping to the shadows. One of the new campers, Tarek, avoided my eyes. A distinctly club-like bat held behind his back.

"I take it you hit me?"

He nodded sheepishly. I frowned but ignored the building pain in my head. As far as I was concerned, the pain could help me concentrate on the task at hand better than five adderolls. I counted the group of teenagers, consisting of nine demigods and thirteen hunters. A sad amount of survivors, I admitted to myself.

"And you all know about the kidnapping?" I confirmed.

Lou Ellen nodded. "Almost got me, but I managed to get away and come here."

Most of the others chorused their close encounters. We exchanged all of our information about the attacks, though most of it was what we had already established.

"No ghosts or spirits," said Nico, "are aware of where the gods are or what's happening. Everything I asked said they'd never heard of a government doing this sort of thing." He shrugged.

I inspected all of the campers, none of whom were undetermined, a side effect of the promise Percy demanded. There was something I needed, some more information, and one girl fit the description. Chloe was from New York and if I remembered correctly, her dad had a useful job.

"Chloe, your dad is a police officer, right?"

She nodded slowly.

"Does he know what was going on?"

"He... He doesn't know what is happening, but they arrested him for hindering agents of federal law. He was the reason I got away." She sniffled a moment but pulled herself together before she started to cry. Everyone was in low spirits, their siblings snatched away.

"Nico, your shadow travel. How does that work? Could you think of a person and go to them?" I demanded.

Nico scratched his chin and played with the hilt of his sword. "Never tried that. But I'm pretty sure you have to have a location in mind." He kicked dirt and mumbled something that sounded like an apology, but seeing as he didn't like to draw attention to himself, I moved on.

"Fine, how about tracking spells, Grover, Lou?"

Lou closed her eyes and mouthed some words, but Grover just shook his head.

"The acorn locator wouldn't work without certain measures..." His eyes brightened significantly, "Percy and I still have the empathy link! I could try to contact him that way!"

I nodded. "Then do that and quickly. Lou?"

Grover rushed off towards the forest.

"It might take a little time...and I'd need biological samples from them..." She shook her head. "It wouldn't work, sorry." She lowered her eyes and tried to hide the wetness slowly growing in them. I fought back my own sense of dread. These enemies aren't like monsters. We couldn't kill them. Our weapons wouldn't even work on them.

"Well, there has to be something. We need to do something. We can't just sit around and wait to get taken!" I bit my tongue, slightly abashed for my outburst. Yelling at my friends wouldn't do anything bug make them more upset. I looked into the dejected eyes of my friends. I couldn't see the hopelessness in their eyes any longer. "I need to think. Go get rest and set up a sentinel. Someone has to be on guard at all times."

They took the hint and rushed off, yelling orders at each other. Nico stayed where he was, watching me with his black eyes. Silently, he walked over and wrapped me in a hug. He had grown a lot since I met him. Now, he was taller than me, my head rested against his shoulder. Finally, I let the tears slip down my cheeks. I stayed there for a few minutes, taking comfort in the boy's arms. Slowly, I pulled away and wiped my tears.

"I think I have another way of finding him." He suggested. I didn't ask what it was but just nodded. "Get some rest."

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