Okay, guys. I seriously owe you an apology right now. I am SO sorry that this is all stuff that Rick Riordan has already written, with just snippets of Annabeth's thoughts.

I honestly don't care if you skip this chapter, but I felt it was necessary to include things that Rick has written. This story IS about how Annabeth feels while Percy is gone, so...I had to use it.

Disclaimer: All dialogue and characters belong to Rick Riordan.

I leapt towards the bronze controls and Butch tugged at the reigns, trying to keep us airborne.

Leo was screaming in my ear, and pegasus feathers were flying everywhere—including my face.

We plummeted towards the lake. A ridiculous idea popped in my head.

"The lake!" I yelled. "Aim for the lake!"

Butch angled the pegasi down, and suddenly we were submerged in freezing, murky water with a tremendous splash.

I looked around, counting the bodies of the surfacing demigods. All there.

I suddenly wished for Percy. He could have saved us in the water, and made sure that we would have better odds surviving the crash.

Snap out of it, Annabeth. You've got to look for him yourself. He's not going to magically reappear.

I felt tugging under my arms, and naiads gently tossed me on shore. Campers surrounded us with towels and blasted us with hot air, jabbering questions at us.

"Are you okay?"

"Where's Percy?"

"Did you find him?"

"What happened?"

"Who are they?"

I ignored all the questions until I heard a resentful, "Annabeth!"

I turned and saw Will storm towards me, brandishing his bow angrily.

"I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!"

Crap. "Will, I'm sorry. I'll get it fixed, I promise."

He scowled at me, and then at the remains of the chariot floating in the water. He then realized that Leo, Piper, and Jason were still standing there awkwardly.

"These are the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"

"Claimed?" Leo chimed in.

I opened my mouth to explain, but Will interrupted.

"Any sign of Percy?"

My mouth snapped shut. "No."

I heard a murmur go through the crowd. Faces looked disappointed and worried.

Suddenly, Drew, the Aphrodite counselor, shoved her way to the front of the crowd. She flicked her hair behind her shoulder and patted it down before glaring at me.

"Well," she said haughtily, "I certainly hope they're worth the trouble." She narrowed her heavily mascara-ed eyes.

"Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?" Leo snorted.

I never really liked Drew. She toyed with boys and was always fixing her already perfect makeup, but I had given up arguing with her. Still, Leo had a good point.

"No kidding," Jason said. "How about some answers before you start judging us—like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"

"Jason," I reassured him, "I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew?"—I glared at her—"All demigods are worth saving. But I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I'd hoped." I sighed inwardly.

"Hey," Piper cut in, "we didn't ask to be brought here."

Drew sniffed and smoothed out her shirt. "And nobody wants you, hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?"

Piper almost lost it. She stepped forward, her hand raised, when I put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. "Piper, stop."

"We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome," I said, giving Drew a look. "We'll assign them each a guide; give them a tour of camp. Hopefully by the campfire tonight, they'll be claimed."

"Would somebody tell me what claimed means?" Piper asked.

I always felt sorry for new demigods. Some of them didn't even make it, and they never understood what was going on. I always hated that feeling of helplessness.

Suddenly, red light flared in my eyes.

Leo was standing there, a bewildered look on his face.

"That is claiming," I said.

"What'd I do?" Leo yelped. He looked up. "Gah! Is my hair on fire?" He jumped and ran around, the symbol still following him.

Butch muttered something about the Hephaestus cabin curse.

"Butch, shut up. Leo, you've just been claimed—" I started.

"By a god," Jason interrupted. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?"

Again with the Latin? What was with this guy?

"Jason…how did you know that?" I asked carefully. I studied him. He looked surprised that he even knew that. A confused look crossed his face, and it seriously reminded me of someone I knew, but I could not place my finger on it.

"I'm not sure."

"Vulcan?" Leo exclaimed. "I don't even LIKE Star Trek. What are you talking about?"

Star Trek. Jeez…

"Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths and fire," I told him.

"The god of what?Who?" Leo said, waving his hands in the air where his claiming used to be.

I needed Leo to get away from here. He was starting to annoy me. I turned to Will, hoping he would help me out.

"Will, would you take Leo, give him a tour? Introduce him to his bunkmates in Cabin Nine."

"Sure, Annabeth." Thank you!

"What's Cabin Nine?" Leo babbled, looking nervous. "I'm not a Vulcan!"

"Come on, Mr. Spock, I'll explain everything." Will put a hand on his shoulder and steered him away from the lake towards the cabins.

I looked back at Jason. I studied him, and he looked uncomfortable under my gaze. There was something extremely weird about this kid. He knew everything about the gods, but when questioned, he had no idea how he knew it.

Plus, I seriously couldn't get over how familiar he looked.

While looking him over, I suddenly saw a small part of a black mark on the inside of his wrist.

"Hold out your arm."

He looked confused, but held it out anyway.

There was a black tattoo with about a dozen straight lines running down his forearm, with the letters SPQR and an image of an eagle.

What the heck were they? "I've never seen marks like this…Where did you get them?"

Second apology!

This chapter is super long because I just wanted to get all of the "already written" stuff out of the way.

Repeat of first apology!

Gah! I feel stupid posting already written content, but I seriously feel like it will help my story feel more legitimate.

I want to post my own stuff...wah...

I promise this Lost Hero stuffs will end soon!

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