All of these characters belong to Rick Riordan, as you know.
Chapter 5
They didn't get the news until three days later. They'd gone to the airport to pick her up, but the flight hadn't come. No one knew why, so it was assumed it had stopped for gas somewhere and gotten delayed.
They found out three days later.
The plane had crashed. In some random plains. One of the engines stopped working and they tried to land safely. The plane went out of control and it crash landed. There were only four survivors.
Sally Jackson wasn't one of them.
They were told she was sleeping when it crashed.
But that didn't really help soothe the pain.
They came to the door of 1993 Valencia Street in San Francisco.
And Percy knew. Deep down in his heart, he knew what happened. He burst into uncontrollable tears before they spoke. He collapsed and didn't wake up.
Not for a while.
"Percy?"
Annabeth's voice.
"Wake up."
It was all he could hang on to. His lifeline.
Percy sat up straight. He looked around and saw a familiar organized yellow room. Annabeth's room.
Then he saw stormy gray eyes staring him down with concern and a bit of anger.
"Percy Jackson how dare you scare me like that?!" Annabeth screeched. "You were out for a WEEK!" Then she started sobbing a little. "I thought you were gonna die."
Percy gestured to himself and said with a small smile, "Well, I think it's safe to say I'm not dead."
"Ugh." Annabeth laughed and tackled him. Soon they were both laughing really hard and a pillow fight ensued.
When they were worn out, Annabeth had her head resting on his chest while Percy's arms were folded under his head. She asked softly, "Do you remember what happened?"
Percy nodded. "Yeah. The worst part is, I never got to see her. I haven't seen her in nine years, Annabeth." She nodded, and drifted off to sleep.
Percy couldn't. He'd just been in a sort-of-coma for a week. He lay there, trying to remember his mother's face. Her laugh. Her voice. Her smile.
But it was slowly fading away.
Percy didn't get a wink of sleep that night.
Annabeth woke up, and the first thing she noticed was that Percy was gone. She sat up and noticed a piece of paper on her desk that wasn't supposed to be there. She tossed the covers off and went over to her desk. The paper read in a scribbly handwriting:
Hey Annabeth,
I don't know what to think anymore. I was stuck in some weird place called the Lotus Hotel for 9 years and I thought only an hour had gone by. I mean, I went to sleep, I ate, I played video games, I aged, and I still thought only an hour had gone by. I forgot everything. Then I come out and I find out 9 years have gone by and I didn't know it, and I was presumed dead. Now I'm sixteen and my mother died. I didn't even get to see her one last time. I'm forgetting or losing everything that made me who I am, and I need to find that again. Too much has changed. You can try to find me, or don't. I don't... I need to figure things out. I'll come back, maybe not now, but I will. To see you. Because, honestly, I like you. I really do. It's your choice if you wanna find me, I won't try to stop you. I have a feeling no one could.
-Percy
Annabeth blinked away a tear. Ugh. His brain was- was filled with... seaweed. He had a seaweed brain. So Annabeth made her decision.
She scribbled a note to her dad telling him she'd left to find Percy. She put Percy's note next to it, and packed a bag with clothes, food, money, water, and an extra pair of shoes. On a last thought, she also put in matchsticks and a flashlight. Anything could happen. Then she tugged on her hiking boots, leggings, a hoodie, and her Yankees hat.
Then Annabeth set out.
Authors Note: Regarding the last two chapters with the Lotus Hotel idea, I am aware that the people who enter aren't supposed to age. I wanted to alter the idea so it wasn't all Rick's. So I made it so the people would age, but they wouldn't notice. Also, thanks to anyone who might possibly read this. Sorry if the chapters are a bit short.