Chapter Three

The day Annabeth disappeared

It was a very pleasant evening, or so Annabeth felt as she looked out of her window from her cabin. She decided to go for a walk around camp and maybe even meet Chiron. She had been unable to speak to him all day due to her busy schedule.

After being provided with the position of "The Architect of Olympus", Annabeth found out that she did not have to start for a few weeks. So she decided to stay at camp and help in any way she could.

Unfortunately, after the war with the titans, they were a little short-handed. This meant that Annabeth being the most experienced camper, had to do all sorts of things from teaching archery to Greek mythology. This was why her schedule was packed and Annabeth barely had the time to breathe throughout the day.

On top of this, Seaweed brain had decided to choose this very week to spend at home. So she had to take up a few of his responsibilities as well.

Its funny how just thinking about him made her feel excited. He was her boyfriend now. They had not been dating for a very long time, but she had been his friend since he was 12 and they were very comfortable with each other. She missed having him by her side. She knew that she would be less stressed had he been here with her. Percy had this knack for making people feel calm.

Annabeth got up, left her cabin and headed towards the big house.

She would have made it all the way through and would have had a nice conversation with Chiron and the lives of the Demigods would have been as normal as it gets for them had it not been for the scream that she heard.

High and coarse. She immediately began to run in the direction of the source as she feared a monster attack. As she ran, she began to realize that the voice was coming from outside the camp borders. She ran even faster now, since there was a possibility of a monster attacking a new comer to the camp, right before he or she entered the camp border. It had been known to happen before to a few other Demigods like herself and seaweed brain. In that case, it would be her duty in the absence of Percy, to ensure the safety of camp as well as its new arrivals.

The brilliant mind of Annabeth Chase had first prompted her with the possibility of a trap long before it was too late. But Annabeth had no choice but to make sure since lives may be at stake.

When she did arrive at the source of the screaming though, she did not see a monster nor did she see a young Demigod. Instead she saw a teenager in armor standing casually as if he was waiting for someone. The weapon that the teenager held made Annabeth wonder where she had seen it before.

As soon as the he saw Annabeth, he attacked without so much as an introduction. Annabeth drew her knife and held her ground waiting for him. He was good. His strikes were accurate and strong. He was careful of his surroundings. But after a while, Annabeth began to notice a pattern in the way he fought. She began to note down in her mind how he reacted to her movements and as soon as she saw an opportunity, she disarmed him and held her knife to his throat. He held up his arms in surrender.

"Who are you and why are you attacking me?" asked Annabeth

When the boy did not reply, she decided to take him to Chiron. However Chiron never got to meet the boy. This was because Annabeth was surrounded by three more people and by the time she realized that these people had snuck up on her, it was too late.

So she knocked out her captive with the blunt side of her knife and turned around to face her attackers. She did not last very long against them though, as her weapons were of no use. They just seemed to pass through them. They were mortals.

Annabeth Chase knew when she could not win a fight. She decided to do the smart thing and ran at the first opportunity with as much strength as her legs could provide her. Luckily for her, she was able to lose them in the forest near the camp border. Their intellect was after all no match to the daughter of Athena.

She barely had the time to hide, calm down and begin to think of a plan to alert the camp, when she first saw him.

She could not recognize who it was but this being sent out an aura that made it clear that he was no ordinary human. He seemed too powerful to even be a god.

'What is happening? First it was a Demigod, then mortals and now an immortal being. What did they want with me? thought Annabeth.

This being walked slowly toward her hiding spot and stopped a few feet away as if he was waiting for someone. After a while when nothing happened, he made a gesture in her direction asking her to come out. So she did.

"Why are you doing this? Who are you? asked Annabeth.

The being in front of her replied in a voice that was impossible for even Annabeth to describe.

"Why do you Demigods and we immortals do anything Annabeth Chase? As always it is because of a prophecy. This terrible prophecy that involves you is the reason why you are being attacked. It is also the reason why I have come for you." he said as he snapped his fingers and Annabeth dropped to the ground.

One week later

Sally Jackson had been through a lot of hardships in her life. But she knew that the pain that she was experiencing now could not be compared to anything that she had experienced in the past. All of her life she had learnt the hard way about how to face problems and deal with the challenges that life throws at everyone once in a while. But she could not bear to see her son experience the pain of the loss of a loved one. She had lost her parents when she was five and her uncle when she was in her senior year. She knew that pain and now… Annabeth was gone.

She still remembered Percy's expression when he had been given the bad news from Hades himself.

Ever since then Percy had locked himself up in his room and had barely come out. He never spoke with anyone and had completely isolated himself. She did everything she could to support him but there was not much for her to do. Percy had to face his feelings and had to learn to accept what had happened.

She felt horrible at how helpless she was in this situation.

What Sally Jackson did not know however, was that everything was about to change with the arrival of a guest. The goddess of wisdom Athena.

Goddess Athena had initially considered visiting Sally before she met with Percy. She was curious to see the woman who had stolen Poseidon's heart. But she had more important things to do.

Percy Jackson did not seem the least bit surprised when "her" mother first appeared nor was he insulted for the invasion of his privacy. He continued to sit on his bed brooding, lost in deep thoughts. He acknowledged the presence of the visitor with a simple nod.

"I have come to ask a favor Percy." She said observing him. He looked devastated. His shoulders were hunched and his eyes held an ocean of sadness in them.

"I know that you are angry Percy, at the people responsible to what happened to my daughter. The other gods and goddess do not know that I am here. I am sure they would stop me if they knew, but I have a quest for you Percy." She said.

She stood there for a few seconds anticipating his reply which then came in the form of another nod.

She knew that though Percy pretended to not care, on the inside he was desperate to do something, to distract himself, to get revenge.

Goddess Athena had just the right quest for him. "Your quest Percy-" she said "is to track down the people who attacked my daughter and…. Kill them."

AN:

As always please feel free to tell me how you are finding this story and in what ways I could improve. I am always looking forward to suggestions and opinions of any kind.

Special thanks to all those readers who took the time to review.

I would also like to thank all the others as well for taking the time to read this story.