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Percy hurriedly washed his face from both vomit and tears stains and tried to make himself look presentable. He took up the rope, flung it down the window and tied the end to the shower railing. He scaled down the wall, his heart beating so fast he thought it would explode.
The only other evidence Percy found was a blood trail to the road, where there was a puddle of blood. It was not very big at all, and there was no other blood to be seen.
'Maybe they drove off.' Percy took his time to sit down, and think. Yet his thoughts did nothing he wanted them to do.
(Sorry for interruption but read this next paragraph a bit slower if you want to hear it in Percy's thoughts. :P)
'Annabeth was bleeding. She was alone, probably, like five against one. Obviously, she put up a good fight, and the only way they could make her go was unconsciously. Oh, Annabeth. Where is she? Annabeth; I need her. What if she is gone? No. She can't be. I need to get to her. Annabeth. Gods, Annabeth.'
Percy finally got to his feet and pulled out some cash. He didn't know where to go, but he couldn't just sit around and do nothing.
Her eyes kept flashing in his head.
Her eyes when she was mad, when she was happy, when she was hurt, and whenever she rolled her them. Percy also couldn't stop thinking of her smile, her smirk and the way she loved him.
'Ok, Percy. Get your stuff together. Pray – pray to Athena.' Percy was surprised that his first choice was not Poseidon.
Athena was soon beside him, making Percy fall over his own feet. He did expect her to help him in some way, but he did not expect her to come down and see him in person. 'Ow.'
Since Percy was already on the ground, he knelt down. "My Lady." Percy already felt the lump in his throat. He didn't trust himself to speak anymore.
"Go to Camp. There you will find a hint as to where they are hiding her." Athena said to Percy, studying his forlorn face.
"Do you know? Can you tell me? My Lady, is Annabeth ok? Will she be alright?"
Percy gushed out the words, and when he felt the tear trickled down onto his nose, he stopped himself. Percy bit his bottom lip, holding onto the memory of her laugh.
"I – I am not fully aware of the place she is being held hostage. I do know she is not okay at this moment, and I do know if you get to her, in the end things will depend on your love. There is one part in this journey that no hero has ever been able to overcome. If you pass it, Annabeth will be alright. And so will you. For now, go to Camp, look for that clue. Have perseverance and fortitude, Percy."
"What's fortitude?" Percy really needed to learn how to control his mouth.
"Courage, child." Athena said, seeming to ignore Percy's question. Now, he was curious.
"Ok, but what is fortitude?" Percy wondered.
Then she was gone.
**********************************Now Percy is at camp**********************************
Second day at camp. Percy was not going to do nothing. That clue Athena was talking about better show up, and soon. Annabeth could be dead by now!
Percy willed himself out of his bed, and realized the last time he was in his bed was when Annabeth was next to him. He couldn't cry. He won't. Instead, he punched the bed and yelled in fury.
He had to go. Never mind what Athena said, if no clue showed up by lunch, Percy would leave camp. He didn't know where to go, but he would try and …
Knock, knock. Percy breathed heavily and slowed down his rapid nerves. He threw on a shirt, and went to answer the door.
It was Drew. She had an evil gleam in her eyes. Percy then looked down to see her in her undershirt, and with a mini pants that failed to cover any part of her legs. Percy frowned in disgust and for the millionth time, wished Annabeth were here with him.
He looked straight into her eyes and said: "Drew. Morning. What's wrong?"
"Hi, honey. I heard Annabeth was gone, and that you needed someone to cheer you up."
'Come on, Drew.' He thought. "Yeah, uhm. Yeah. I gotta-"
"Can I come in?" Drew pushed her way inside, and placed her back to the door, slamming it shut. She grabbed Percy's shirt, but Percy was too disgusted.
He tore away from her grasp, and got out Riptide.
"Look, you gotta stop, Drew. You know I won't fall for you."
"Then why do you have your sword out? Are you scared of me? I also know you won't hurt an unarmed daughter of Aphrodite. Besides." She was whispering now, and Percy internally panicked when she said the next sentence.
Drew's POV
"I know where Annabeth is." Percy looked shocked for about two seconds, then…
"HOW? WHERE IS SHE? HOW DO YOU KNOW? TELL ME OR YOU WON'T LIVE TO SEE LUNCH, YOU *****!"
Percy shouted at her, and even though his sword was lowered, he looked as if he were about to make the whole Lake rise and crash on top of Drew.
Drew was scared. She finally realized he would not take anything but the truth. And he would not do anything for her to get it.
"TELL. ME. RIGHT. NOW."
"OK! OK! Gods, Okay Percy. I will tell you." Drew tried to sound annoyed rather than frantic. She took a deep breath and knew she was in for it. Why did she ever listen to -
"Kronos. It was all his fault! He manipulated me in my dreams and used me to kidnap Annabeth. Percy forgive me, oh it wasn't me, I was just being used!"
She risked a look at Percy and immediately regretted it. He looked beyond furious. It was as if he was mad. (Like crazy)
Percy's POV
Percy couldn't believe it. He wanted to strangle Drew, quite literally. He wasn't joking. The only thing that made him stop was Annabeth.
Annabeth had hope for Luke, even though Luke hurt her countless times. Even though he bought into Kronos' cheap lies. Percy didn't have any hope for him. And Luke found the truth in the end.
As much as he hated it, now was the time to amend that mistake. His anger didn't subside but he controlled it and sternly demanded:
"Tell. Me. Everything." Just because Percy wouldn't kill her didn't mean he wouldn't say at least: "Soooo Annoying!."
Drew looked annoyed.
"I helped get Annabeth unconscious. It took six of us, two distracting the secretary from a girl getting in with equipment. We first tried to use chloroform, but somehow she stayed conscious. The other two tried to beat her up. It was an ugly sword fight. I came in and hit her head with a hammer. Me, Annie and thi-"
"Don't call her Annie."
"Me Annabeth and this other guy climbed out the window. The last guy stayed to clean up. I used my charmspeak to make a stupid mortal –"
"Mortals aren't all stupid. Rachel is a mortal and she will know more than you will ever know."
Percy was furious inside, but he refused to take out all his anger towards Drew, he refused to think about Annabeth and all he allowed himself to do was make Drew feel miserable.
"Whatever, Percy. I made that mortal drive them to…. to –"
"To where?" Percy demanded.
"To uh, some place near Siren's Bay."
Drew's POV
Drew was feeling so happy she thought she would explode. She remembered Kronos telling her not to hesitate to tell Percy where they had taken Annabeth. (Although she was not supposed to say she was with Kronos.)
Kronos' plan was to give Percy a good bang up, then after, lead him to the Sirens. Of course, Aphrodite (and all the gods) made Kronos promise on the River Styx he would release Annabeth before that.
And, if Annabeth managed to stop Percy, the fates would take away that tragic ending and replace their lives with joy and laughter.
Drew knew telling Percy to go near the Sirens was part of the plan. (She loved this idea because then Annabeth would watch Percy choose his fate to die.) Drew just wished she could make Percy go a little easy on her with her being on Kronos' side.
She didn't need her amazing reputation at camp to be ruined.
Percy's POV
Percy got up, took Drew's arm, led her to the door and pushed her out of his cabin. He could only imagine the much worse things Drew did to Annabeth.
"I understand that you will be telling Kronos of your weak will which resulted in my girlfriend's capture, am I right?" Percy made it sound like a demand more than a question.
Percy channeled his anger into slamming the door instead of killing Drew.
He walked to his bed, straightened the sheets, and said thank you to Athena. His heart pounded when he recalled the threat to torture Annabeth,
He broke down and prayed over and over that she would be ok.
Then a different memory came to him.
'Have perseverance and fortitude, Percy."
Percy stared at his bed, then he started to pack up the remaining things for his journey to Siren's Bay.
