"And nobody thought to tell us?!" Percy flailed his arms in the air angrily.

"We had only just found out a few days ago," Chiron said calmly. "We've been trying to make a plan to find him."

"And you didn't think we needed to be apart of it?!" The son of Poseidon persisted.

I felt my nails dig into the palms of my hand. Between when we had gotten out of school and gone home for the summer we'd visited camp for a bit. Some of the friends I'd made weren't at camp then, but I had just talked to them days before that so I didn't think much of it. To find out that they were missing made me frustrated. How could I have just ignored that? I should've done something.

Chiron's hooves clomped against the wooden floor as he moved to sit back into his magical wheelchair. "Our forms of communication have been limited. We do not know for sure, but someone— or something— has been monitoring all the Iris messages. Our best hope was to send someone to get you."

I put my hand on Percy's arm. "Okay, let me just see if I have all the facts right. Three days ago, Frank Zhang went missing— officially missing— as in not just he got lost in the forest or he took a trip into town. But as in officially missing, like kidnapped and someone took him. Also, someone is watching our every move... communication and everything. And you guys have been here planning what now?"

"A quest," Dionysus quipped briefly, taking a sip of his coke.

"Uh huh," Percy said slowly, refraining from giving him attitude. "So why hasn't anyone left yet?"

"We haven't gotten a prophecy and—"

"Wait what? You guys have been like sitting ducks for days, because you haven't had your future told to you yet?"

"And we don't have enough information. We have to be smart about this. Why would someone want to kidnap Frank? How did he just disappear right out from under our noses and so quickly? Where is he being held?" Chiron asked rhetorically.

Percy sputtered, "I— we can't just sit here. What information do you have about this?"

"Frank and Hazel were in his apartment in New Rome all that night, and then he'd Iris messaged Piper and Jason that day about meeting up tomorrow for lunch. They'd gone to sleep that night, but when Hazel woke up Frank was gone," the centaur sighed. "She'd assumed he was out somewhere doing something, and he had just forgotten to tell her. But then he didn't show up for lunch, nor had he been seen by anyone that whole day."

"Has anyone gone back to his apartment and looked for any clues as to who or where he has gone?" I asked.

"Yes, we have some people from Camp Jupiter checking it out," Chiron said, sounding tired.

"Okay, good. So since we are going to be sitting around waiting for a prophecy, might as well invite the rest of the prophecy fam. It looks like we could use all the help we can get," I suggest.

"Sounds like a good plan. I will have Nico get in touch with them," the centaur said before taking a heavy breath.

___

That night, the other demigods and I used most of the night discussing about Frank's disappearance and catching up with each other's lives. Something was coming, we just didn't know what. Without a prophecy, it was like being sent into a maze with a blindfold on, so I guess Chiron had a point.

We were all sitting on the ground of one of the empty cabins in a circle. Sleeping bags and pillows were sprawled out all over the ground, opting to be closer together than the beds. Chiron made an exception for us, letting us all sleep in the same cabin.

"We're so sorry, Hazel," Percy sympathized. "We're going to find him."

Hazel sat criss-crossed, and she was picking at her nails. Though her cuticles were as far back as they could go, she didn't relent, just wanting something to do with her hands. I wanted to do something for her, but I didn't know what. The only thing I knew would make a difference would be to actually bring Frank back to her, but we can't.

She inhaled shakily. "Thanks," Hazel sighed. "Let's talk about something else. How are the puppies, Annabeth?"

The daughter of Athena smiled lightly. "They're all so sweet. I've been doing a lot more of the managing though, like organizing fundraisers for the shelter and getting with the families who want to adopt. I was originally hoping to find somewhere to get an architecture internship, but this is a good alternative too."

"Any progress with the phones, Leo?" Reyna asked, curiously.

We all knew that if Leo actually managed to perfect the electronics, it would be revolutionary for the demigod world.

"A lot actually," he piped up. "I'm just working out little technicalities and I need to test it just to be 500% sure. I talked to Iris earlier on to get her perspective on it, so she wouldn't blast me for potentially running her out of business, but she seemed pretty happy with it— even offered to help. She started rambling on about starting her own data service so she would still be getting money."

"How's the normalish life in New Rome?" I asked.

Piper and Jason grinned. "It's really good. I still miss the camp though," Piper answered.

"Asking for reference, Y/N?" Jason winked.

I felt color rush to my cheeks.

Percy pulled me closer to him. "Maybe."

"You guys are disgusting," the boy of fire wrinkled his nose and laughed.

"What about you, Nico?" I asked.

Nico and I had become instant friends since I'd met him... minus our rough patch after his sister died, but he eventually found his way back, and I became one of his closest friends.

He shrugged. "I've been staying at Camp Half-Blood a lot because Will doesn't like me shadow traveling so much between camps. And I've just been busying myself with little things like training and such."

"All of us need to get together more! I feel like I barely see you guys like once a month since we don't have all this world's-about-to-end stuff," Piper said.

"Well, I'll see you guys in the morning, 'cause I'm starting to get sleepy," Leo yawned. "Night."

I felt his yawn catch onto me, and I followed in the sleepiness. "Me too."

"Me three," Jason said.

Annabeth got up to turn off the lights as everyone shuffled back into their own sleeping bags. As soon as my head hit the pillow I felt myself drifting off to sleep, when Percy tapped my shoulder.

"Yeah?" I whispered.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Y/N," he said quietly.

I suddenly didn't feel very tired anymore. "I agree."

His hand found its way to mine. I squeezed it as he brought us closer even still. The air in the room felt chilly and I started to wish I could be closer to him, but the sleeping bags weren't big enough. Instead, we scooted over to where our sleeping bags were flush against each other.

"We're going to get a prophecy and we're going to find him," Percy repeated to feed us hope.

However, we were punched in the gut.

In the morning we all woke up to the sound of Jason's voice. Piper's sleeping bag was empty and in its place was a warning.

___

thank you so much for sticking with this story. it's kind of a mess right now, but i rather like it so far.
as school begins to start, the updates may start to become farther out as school will become my main focus.
i hope you're enjoying it, and i hope you have or are having a great day today!

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