CH. 1

Jason

I woke to the sound of Piper's charmspeak. I could vaguely hear her yelling, "Wake up, sleepyhead! You're late for breakfast!" That sentence woke me up. I slapped my forehead. "Oh, man, Mr. D.'s gonna kill me!"

Piper watched me scramble around, the amusement evident on her face. As I rushed for the door, she caught me in a hug, kissing me on the cheek. "Good morning, Jason," she murmured, and we headed for the dining pavilion. As we approached the busy eatery, I could immediately tell one of the cabins was missing.

Calypso was dashing toward the forges. She was pretty easy to pick out in the crowd, being the only one wearing white. As she disappeared inside, Piper turned to me, worry written all over her face. Then Percy flipped off the roof. What was he doing up there? He approached us, his sea green eyes stormy with worry. When he was on talking range, I opened my mouth, about to say," What were you doing up there?" but the question died in my throat when I saw his distress. "Have you guys seen the Hephaestus cabin? We have no idea where they went."

At that moment, some of them scrambled out of the woods and ran up to Percy. "Oh, there you are," he said, the relief in his voice mostly hidden, but I could still hear it. A girl in the back of the group, Nyssa, shouldered her way up front. I started walking toward the woods to see if something was wrong. But Nyssa's next words froze me in my tracks. "Leo's gone."

Piper

My automatic response to Nyssa's announcement was, "Oh, it's Leo. I bet he's playing a practical joke." But her tired, concerned face suggested otherwise. Jason just stood there, like he had suddenly been frozen in place. "Come on, Jason, you don't really believe that, do you? I mean, it's Leo we're talking about. He's probably either in Bunker 9 or flying Festus." Jason shook his head. "No, Festus is playing with Peleus."

I turned to Nyssa, and she replied, "The Hephaestus cabin searched Bunker 9, and he's not there either. Chiron has the whole camp searching, but nothing so far." I still didn't believe it, but Jason looked troubled. "Do you think he left on his own?" he asked quietly. "Nuh uh, he's probably not even outside camp," I protested, but Nyssa glared at me. "Stop saying Leo's not missing, because he clearly is!" she hissed angrily.

Jason turned and ran into the woods, an anguished look on his face. "He died once and only barely came back. You remember how awful he looked when he got back with Calypso? I don't want to find out that this time he's really dead." I nodded, caught up in my own thoughts. Then I realized something. "Hey, I bet he's with Calypso! If they're not in camp, they could be in the city."

I turned and whistled for Laurie, my pegasus. Before Nyssa could protest, a sleek white winged horse with a rainbow sheen was at my side. "I'll check the city. You guys look around the camp." Jason tugged on my arm. "But Piper, Calypso's here in-" But I was already spiraling toward the sun, and Jason's voice was lost in the wind. "I'll see you in a few hours, along with Leo!" I called down to them, then turned back toward New York City.

I didn't see why they were so upset. When Leo was gone, it was never a big deal, because he was always back within a few hours. But a tiny voice in the back of my head whispered, You won't find him. I blocked it out and urged Laurie toward the city.