επιστρέφω

to return

• • •

No one bothered to answer Percy's question, and he couldn't blame them. For all they knew, he had died two years ago. He scanned his friends once more, hoping that he had somehow missed seeing Annabeth. But she wasn't there.

Leo was with Calypso somewhere behind him, and Percy wasn't going to interrupt their reunion; he had hoped to have a similar one with Annabeth. Reyna was staring at him like he were a ghost, and she looked decades older than the last time Percy had seen her. Her eyes were dark and haunted, and she looked nothing like the girl Percy used to know. Thalia stood beside her, her dark hair longer than Percy had ever seen it. A long scar ran across her neck, its slight red hue indicating its freshness.

"We thought you were dead," said Thalia, her voice uncharacteristically hoarse. Her tired eyes scanned Percy's face, as if she expected him to evaporate. "We thought--"

"Where were you?" Jason interrupted, taking a step closer to Percy. Jason looked about the same, but his eyes carried an old weariness that didn't match his youthful face.

Percy swallowed. This wasn't the reunion that he had been envisioning for the past two years, but he didn't want it to be if Annabeth wasn't there. But he had expected at least a smile from someone, any indication that he had been missed.

"I was on Ogygia, with Calypso," he answered, gesturing vaguely over his shoulder to Calypso. "Please, I just need to know where Annabeth is."

"She's alive," said Nico, and Percy could have sworn his heart melted from relief. "Hazel went to find her."

Just like that, Percy's heart froze again. "Find her? She isn't with you?"

Piper stepped around Jason, who had been standing in front of her ever since Percy stepped off the raft. "There's a lot that you've missed, Percy. We haven't seen her since we last saw you."

"But she's alive?" That was the only question that mattered, the only thing in this world that held any importance.

"Yes," answered Rachel Dare from where she stood apart from the group. She looked nothing like the girl Percy had left behind; her sunny disposition was gone, and she looked fragile and weary. Her eyes were a darker shade of green than Percy remembered.

dPercy ignored her and turned towards Nico, silently waiting for him to say it. Nico nodded, his gaunt eyes not quite meeting Percy's gaze. That was enough for now, it had to be.

"What have I missed?" Percy demanded, ignoring how the water began turning at his feet.

Reyna eyed the water's movement as she stepped closer to him. Percy gritted his teeth and forced it to become still. Reyna dropped the spear that had been in her hand as she closed the distance between Percy and herself. She eyed him for a minute, and the past two years crashed suddenly over Percy, like a wave breaking from a peaceful sea. Her brown eyes glistened with tears, and she wrapped him into a tight hug.

"I thought you were dead," she whispered.

And he had been. Dead to the world, dead to everyone in his life that mattered. Dead to Annabeth.

"I'm here now," he whispered back.

Reyna pulled away from him, smiling sadly. "You've missed a lot."

"We need to head back," Rachel interrupted, glancing nervously at the horizon. "We've been away from Olympus for too long."

"Olympus?" repeated Percy, his nose wrinkling in confusion.

"We'll talk later," Thalia said, her tone almost reassuring, "you never know who is listening out here."

Percy frowned, but didn't question it any further. He silently followed everyone else as they flocked around Nico.

"Leo!" called Piper, "we need to go."

Leo glanced back towards the group, as if he had forgotten that they were there. His arms were wrapped around Calypso, and it appeared unlikely that he would ever let go. Percy's heart thumped painfully inside his chest, and he looked away from the blissful look on Calypso's face. She deserved this, he reminded himself. She was stuck on that island for thousands of years; Percy was there for two. But it felt unfair, for her to be so happy. It was a selfish thought, and Percy hated himself for it.

The couple joined the group, and everyone joined hands. Percy frowned as Nico closed his eyes in concentration.

"Are you sure you can shadow-travel all of us?" he asked, confused why everyone else acted as if this were a regular occurrence.

There was no answer as Percy's ears popped, and darkness swallowed the nine of them.

When Percy opened his eyes, the sky was dark with clouds and the air heavy with salt. There were on top of a hill overlooking a valley that was filled with tents. People milled around, decked out in mismatched armor and weapons. It looked like a scene in an apocalyptic movie.

"Where are we?" Percy asked.

"We call it Olympus, mainly to piss Mother Nature off," responded Thalia. "She can't find us because this is a floating island."

Percy could hear Annabeth explaining exactly where this island appeared in Greek mythology, with no less than two sarcastic remarks. He smiled wistfully, but the smile disappeared as he remembered that she wasn't safe in a tent down below him.

A hand slipped into his, and Percy turned to find Reyna beside him. "Jason went to call a meeting. We have a lot to discuss."

He glanced around and realized everyone else had left, leaving only Reyna and Percy on the hill.

"Is this where you went after the camp was destroyed?"

"When you disappeared," Reyna said slowly, "Greece was destroyed. Athens was completely decimated, and the rest of the country burned. Camp Half-Blood was next. Only 40% of those who were there made it out. The rest were killed, by the giants, by fire, by the earth opening up. Across the country, Camp Jupiter received the same treatment. More than half of us... of them managed to escape, but the rest died. But that wasn't enough for Mother Nature. She targeted major cities next. New York City was the first of them. Then Tokyo, Paris, Las Angeles, London. They were all wiped off the map completely. The latest new reports estimated at least half of the world population was killed."

Percy felt almost numb as Reyna spoke. "This is all my fault."

Reyna sighed. "This isn't your fault, Percy. We all failed, but more than that, the gods abandoned us. If they had helped, we would have had more of a chance, but they stayed in Olympus and watched as She murdered half of the world. We've heard nothing from them since, and they haven't intervened in her killing. Even if your blood hadn't spilled that day, She still would have done the same thing."

Percy numbly felt a tear fall from his eye and down his cheek. "Was Annabeth missing when I couldn't find her that day?"

"As far as we know, yes. We haven't seen her since we saw you."

He had been right; she wasn't fine then, and she couldn't be fine now. Not if she had been missing for two years, isolated from everyone she knew, isolated from him.

"And Piper's okay? After what I did... I was worried I hurt her permanently."

"Nico healed her after you disappeared. She's okay now, might hold a bit of a grudge, but who can blame her."

"Nico healed her? I didn't know he had that kind of power."

"He didn't use to. But once everything that happened happened, Pluto, well Hades, seemed to feel guilty and now Nico's the Healer here. He's the only god that gave us anything."

"Okay." Percy could unpack all of that later. "Where is Annabeth?"

Reyna looked at him sadly. "We didn't know until a few days ago. It's a long and complicated story, but Nico heard someone talk about her, and Hazel is out to find her and bring her back. She should be safe; she's with Clarisse la Rue and Drew Tanaka."

"Clarisse and Drew are considered safe people to be around? Things are more messed up than I thought."

"You have no idea."

They stood in silence as Percy attempted to process the information. Half the people in the world were dead, all major cities were reduced to ashes, and over half of the campers from Camp Half-Blood were dead, but that could all be fine if Annabeth were safe.

A horn sounded, and Reyna flinched violently. "That's for the meeting. We should go."

"Right. What meeting, again?"

It was a meeting consisting of everyone important on the island, apparently. Jason, Piper, Thalia, Reyna, Nico, Rachel, and Frank all sat around a large table. There were multiple empty seats, and Percy slid into one beside Rachel and Nico. Neither of them spared him a glance; Nico was staring into space and Rachel was folding and unfolding a scrap of paper.

"We have a lot to cover," said Jason, sounding very official and ready for business that it almost made Percy laugh. "Percy's back, and that's great, but there's a lot more going on that isn't so great. We've heard nothing from Hazel, and it's been two days since she left for her mission. Her panic date isn't until tomorrow at midnight, but we had hoped she'd be back with Annabeth, Clarisse, and the others before then."

"Can someone please explain where Annabeth has been?" Percy interrupted.

"She's been missing for two years," said Nico, not looking at Percy. "Less than a week ago, I heard someone dying, and I decided to help them. It was a demigod named Cameron Skyes, and he had found Annabeth a few days prior. Hellhounds were attacking him, so I took care of them and Cameron told me that he had sent Annabeth with Clarisse, Drew, and Chris Rodriguez to find safety. Before they had found her, Annabeth was being held underground by someone who works for Mother Nature. Cameron said..."

Nico's voice shook as he trailed off. He shook his head, and cast his gaze down.

"What did he say?" asked Percy, terrified to hear the answer.

"Cameron said," Piper picked up from Nico, "that Annabeth had lost all of her memories. She doesn't know who Clarisse is, or Thalia, or you."

The world could have erupted into flame and Percy would have felt better than he did right then. A pitcher of water exploded, and everyone sitting around the table flinched.

"She's safe," Piper said, as if that made anything better. "Hazel found her, and she'll protect her. She's safe, Percy."

Percy fought to control his emotions. She was alive, she was safe. He recovered from his amnesia, and Annabeth was ten times stronger than he was. She would recover, too. It must be a trick of a god, possibly Athena, attempting to protect her daughter.

"Okay. That's okay. I can live with that. She'll be back tomorrow, right?"

Piper and Jason exchanged a glance. "Theoretically," she said.

"There's more," Nico added. "A couple of days ago, Rachel spouted several prophecies after the Oracle was silent for two years. "

"These are them," Rachel said, shoving the pile of paper towards Percy.

Percy picked up one and read its contents:

A half-blood of the fallen gods
shall find the lost against all odds.
And forget the promises meant to keep
A hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap.
A single choice shall end his days
Olympus to preserve or raze.

His blood ran cold. "This is the Great Prophecy. This is my prophecy."

"I know," said Rachel, her gaze flickering uneasily. "Nearly all the prophecies have similar phrasing to past prophecies. Nothing like this has ever happened before."

"We've found several similarities," Jason continued, "most the prophecies indicate 'the lost,' which we think means Annabeth for obvious reasons. The good news is the prophecies predict Annabeth being found. But they also predict a death, possibly multiple."

"Like this one," Rachel flicked a paper scrap at Percy.

Death's daughter shall survive the night
and be the cause of an endless blight.
To find the lost and barely return,
a warrior's life in the end must burn.
Doomed to save the life of a friend
only to lose a love in the end.

"These are cheery," Percy muttered. "Death's daughter has to be Hazel. And if the lost is Annabeth, then that means she'll return, right?"

"And someone will die, possibly two people if the warrior and love are separate," Thalia pointed out, "which is dangerous because I'm pretty sure Hazel loves all of you."

"The point is, all these prophecies predict the lost returning and people dying," Jason continued. "And the first prophecy you read mentions that the gods have fallen, which we have gathered already, but we haven't heard anything official."

"I have," Percy said, remembering what his father had told him. "My father spoke to me before we left Ogygia."

"Wait, a god actually spoke to you?" Piper asked incredulously. "Not in a dream, but real life?"

"Even a dream would be unheard of," Frank added.

"Yeah, he told me that Athena has a plan, and that the gods are acting on it. The gods are planning on replacing themselves with their children, and my dad said he chose me. And several of my friends were selected, too. They have a plan, and they're going to fully carry it out soon."

"That means the war is coming sooner than we thought," Nico said darkly. "If Poseidon spoke to Percy, then we're running out of time. Something big is going to happen soon."

"Something big already happened; Percy returned," Thalia remarked.

"I agree with Nico, there has to be something else," Frank added.

With no warning, Nico gasped loudly. Everyone turned to face him, and his form flickered once before disappearing entirely. Less than five seconds later, he returned, his face unnaturally pale.

"Nico!" Reyna exclaimed, instantly grabbing his arm when he reappeared.

His gaze was wild, eyes darting around the room as if he were scanning for danger. He looked like a deer caught in the sights of a mountain lion.

"How long was I gone?" he asked, his voice nothing more than a whisper.

"What?" asked Reyna, sounding as if she were in shock.

"Barely a few seconds," Thalia answered for her. "Why?"

"They're in trouble. Hazel, Annabeth, they're all in trouble."

Percy stood from the chair, ignoring the screeching noise it emitted. Riptide found its way into his grip. Everyone stared at him, some in fear, some with no emotion at all.

"Where is she?"

• • •

author's note:
take this update as a late christmas present to everyone who celebrates! as a bonus, i'm going to update this book everyday for the next week, which is great because things are just getting interesting. so seven chapters are on the way, one a day. let's hope i don't run out of steam!