επιθυμία

wish

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Reyna Ramírez-Arellano found herself mindlessly fiddling with a branch of a towering pine tree as thunder rolled over the black sky. There was something off as she stared at the distant seascape, and it was nagging Reyna in the back of her mind. It could be related to the storm that had lasted for five days. Or it could be the emptiness that has resided inside Reyna for the past year.

The air had a dampened chill that settled over the girl like an unwanted blanket. But she was too far into her mind to shiver at the cold. Reyna's body felt numb as her eyes remained fixated on the horizon.

"What are you doing out here?"

Startled, Reyna turned and found Nico di Angelo trudging up the grassy hill to where she was sitting. She offered him a small smile, and released the pine tree branch.

"Thinking," was all she said.

"In the middle of a thunderstorm?" Nico asked, casting a suspicious glare up to the heavens. "You thought here was the best place to think? Under a very tall tree that lightning could easily strike?"

"You seem worried."

"I just don't want to have to heal you later," Nico replied quickly, shifting on his feet. His eyes darted to the pine tree then to the dark sky. A knowing look coated his dark eyes. "Missing somebody?"

Reyna's heart skipped a beat as she struggled to keep her face neutral. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He smirked at her. "It would be easy to summon the Hunt, you know. You have that horn she gave you."

Reyna's stomach turned violently. "That's supposed to be used for emergencies," she mumbled. "Besides, she only gave it to me because I was a Praetor. Demigods still look to me to be a leader."

"Mhm," Nico grinned, "and no other reason at all, right?"

Reyna glared at him. "See Will lately?"

He released a low laugh. "That's a low blow, Rey. And no, I haven't. He's been searching for supplies for two weeks now."

The worry and stress was clear in Nico's voice as his eyes looked everywhere except into Reyna's. And she could understand that.

"He'll come back," Reyna reassured him with a steady certainty that she was surprised to find in her voice. "I did, didn't I?"

Nico's throat bobbed uncertainly, and something like tears shined in his eyes. "Yeah, well, sometimes people don't come back from their quests."

Reyna had nothing to say to that. The sound of the pouring rain occupied every crevice of silence that laid between the two friends. Both Nico and Reyna stared at the sprawling ocean in the distance, both of them wishing for two different people to materialize on the waves.

But their lives were far past wishes.

Reyna cleared her throat, and switched to the first topic she could think of. "Have you heard anything about Clarisse and Drew's whereabouts?"

Nico shook his head. "The team's reported nothing. But they should be back here in three days. That's our panic date."

Panic date was once a term that Reyna never had to use. But now, everything had a set panic date. The date where the residents of Olympus would assume that the worst had occurred, and stop awaiting the return of that demigod.

Will's panic date was tomorrow. It was no wonder that Nico had joined Reyna's seascape vigil.

"Are you sure that it was Clarisse and Drew that you heard?" Reyna asked hesitantly.

Nico released a heavy sigh. "I know Clarisse's voice, Rey. And I don't know who else with the last name 'Tanaka' that she would talk to."

"I just wish it was Percy or Annabeth," Reyna admitted. "I don't think I've ever really met Drew Tanaka."

"Once you do, you'll wish you hadn't," Nico said wryly. Then, he fell silence once again, his gaze lost somewhere between the falling raindrops.

"Do you think they're alive?" he asked quietly a few minutes later. "It's been a year and there's been no sign of either of them."

"It would take a lot to kill Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase," Reyna responded confidently. "They're alive, somewhere. They just don't know where we are."

"But it's been a year," Nico protested. "Maybe it's time to stop wishing they're alive, and start planning what we're going to do if they're not."

Reyna didn't have the chance to respond. For a large ship materialized on the distant waves, the sail a silver gossamer. Even from this distance, Reyna could hear the hunting horns piercing the air.

She stood up suddenly. And, without thinking, Reyna ran down the hill, towards the sea. Nico shouted behind her, but Reyna didn't stop. Her heart was pounding violently; for the first time in months, she felt alive.

Her feet pounded onto the sand, and Reyna stopped herself before she ran into the ocean water. The boat had anchored itself down, and several lifeboats filled with people were rowing towards the shore, each person wearing a silver jacket.

Behind Reyna, a group of demigods had crowded behind her, and they brought excited whispering with them. They stood behind Reyna, craning their necks and standing on their toes to see who was arriving.

"She came," a voice said in Reyna's ear. It was Jason, a relieved smile decorating his face. He released a surprised laugh. "She actually came."

"Did you ask her?" Reyna asked, disappointment sinking down her heart like an anchor.

Jason shook his head. "I thought you did."

Reyna shook her head, and the anchor was cut away from her chest.

The board arrived at the shore, and Reyna stopped breathing as a girl stepped out of the first one, landing in knee-deep water. Slowly, casually, she walked to the shore, her short black hair dancing in the ocean breeze.

Her electric blue eyes found Reyna instantly, and a wolf-like smile materialized on her face.

"Reyna Ramírez-Arellano," Thalia Grace grinned. "You didn't call me."

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"I think I saw an Olympian today," Drew brought up casually at dinner.

The words floated over Annabeth's head; she was too concentrated on eating to listen to the conversation. She pulled a fourth roll off the plate, and spread butter on it.

"They saw me, and started to approach me. But I left before they got the chance," Drew continued. "I didn't recognize them, but that doesn't mean anything anymore."

"You're serious?" Cameron asked, his fork clattering onto his plate. Annabeth looked up from her meal to find the boy staring at Drew with shock in his eyes. "Drew, that means they found you!"

There was a pregnant pause. "Yes, Cam," Drew slowly drawled. "Them seeing me does mean that they found me. Are there any more obvious things you wanted to point out, or is that it?"

Cameron shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant. If they found you, that means they were looking for you."

"Are you going to start making sense soon, or can I leave?" Drew asked, a teasing smile on her face.

"They're looking for you, Drew!" Cameron exclaimed exasperatedly. "They knew where to find you, somehow. That could mean they know where to find us."

Annabeth had stopped eating. She didn't know exactly what the conversation was about, but she knew that when Cameron was agitated, it was best to listen to him.

"If they knew where to find us, don't you think they already would?" Chris asked. "They probably just saw Drew and recognized her. It probably doesn't mean anything, Cam."

Cameron ignored him, and turned to Drew. "Did they follow you."

She shook her head. "I led them through a crowd and changed my appearance several times. Perks of being a daughter of Aphrodite. It would be impossible for them to follow me. Besides, they were puny. No more than fourteen years old."

"You think that matters? Percy Jackson defeated Atlas at fourteen years old," Cameron argued.

There was that name again. The name that Annabeth should remember. A few days ago, it felt as if she was on the verge of remembering everything. But now, she was no closer to knowing who Percy Jackson was.

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Yeah, with help from a goddess, a Hunter, Thalia, and Annabeth."

All eyes darted to Annabeth, who looked down suddenly. She didn't even know who Atlas was, much less what she did to defeat him. But she was sick of everyone expecting her to; she wasn't the Annabeth that they remembered. She didn't even know who they were expecting her to be.

"We're safe, Cam," Drew reassured him, grabbing a roll and throwing it at him. It bounced off his face, and he scowled. "Stop worrying so much."

"I don't want them to find us before we're ready," Cameron protested. "I don't want them to find Annabeth before she's ready."

A silence fell over the group. And suddenly, Annabeth didn't find herself hungry. She placed her fork onto her plate, and pushed it away.

No one followed her as she left the room with no destination in mind.