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A month after Annabeth’s disappearance and fruitless searches for her, the son of Poseidon was done. He jumped to his feet and attempted to leave the rec room where they held another senseless meeting.
„Percy, what are you doing?“, Chiron wanted to know.
„I’m going to Olympus!“, the demigod grumbled determinedly.
„What?“, the old centaur asked uneasily.
„Annabeth is missing and we don’t get a prophecy? There’s something up here and I wanna know what.“, the son of Poseidon stated.
„Percy you can’t challenge the gods.“, their mentor tried to reason knowing his charge well enough to know what he would be doing next. But the stormy expression on the demigod’s face told him otherwise.
His first course of action was to IM Thalia.
The huntress looked a bit startled at the sudden call. „Hey Perce, what’s up?“, she inquired.
„Annabeth is missing.“, he cut to the chase.
Thalia instantly was on the alert „What? Who-?“, but Percy interrupted her stating „I don’t know. Some god I assume. No monster could trick Annabeth.“
The daughter of Zeus’ face contorted in grim agreement. „Meet there in an hour.“, was all she said in return.
Percy simply nodded. Thalia and he not always saw eye to eye. But he loved how they understood each other so easily when it came to things like that.
Before he could end the call however, she added „Bring Nico.“
Percy furrowed his brow unhappily. „What? Why?“
Thalia laid it out for him. „If we challenge the gods, we need all the help we can get. And he is powerful.“
„I don’t think he’ll come.“, Percy admitted.
Thalia raised an amused eyebrow. „Won’t he?“
The son of Poseidon didn’t get what she was referring to. „What are you saying?“, he wanted to know.
„Doesn’t he have a crush on Annabeth?“, did Thalia now share her piece of gossip.
That really took Percy by surprise. „He does?“ He hadn’t known that.
The daughter of Zeus rolled her eyes at him. „You’re so dense. I don’t care what you have to do to convince him. Just bring him.“, she demanded. And then she ended the call.
So Percy reluctantly called the son of Hades.
He appeared utterly shocked at the unexpected reaching out. „Percy?“
„Hey, Nico. I’m sorry to bother you, but I need your help.“, the son of Poseidon admitted.
Nico’s expression got an alarmed nuance now. „What’s wrong?“, he wanted to know.
„Annabeth is missing. I’m sure the gods are involved in one way or another. I’m meeting Thalia at Olympus in an hour.“, he let the son of Hades in.
Nico’s expression was unreadable now. Percy wondered for a second if the connection had frozen, but then he simply said „See you there.“ And the connection broke off.
„So, we really are doing this?“, Thalia suddenly inquired, interrupting the elevator-music-filled silence on their way up to the top.
Percy glanced at her. „You got a better idea?“, he asked in return.
The daughter of Zeus simply shrugged stating „No. I’m not complaining. Just making sure.“, and they faced the doors in front of them again. Nico stayed quiet.
Then they arrived at the top.
They got off the elevator and headed straight for the throne room. When they saw three little demigods arrive unannounced, the few gods present eyed them displeased. „What is the meaning of th-“, Zeus tried, but was quickly interrupted by Percy. „Where is she?“, he simply asked.
„What are you talking about?“, the King of the gods inquired.
„Annabeth. She’s gone. Where is she?“, Percy he clarified.
„How should we know?“, the god gave back indifferently.
And Percy got angry. He picked up a cup from a nearby table and smashed it on the ground in front of the god’s thrones, shouting furiously „Because whenever something bad is happening in my life, it is because of one of you. I wanna know where she is!“
Suddenly more gods appeared in their seats as if summoned.
Zeus straightened in his throne, thundering „Who do you think you are? We don’t have to tell you anything.“
But Percy’s glower was so fierce now, some of the assembled deities started shifting uncomfortably in their seats.
„I am the son of the earth shaker. And I will tear Mount Olympus down if I have to to get my answer.“, the son of Poseidon said threateningly quiet and drew his sword. From the corner of his eye he saw Nico, who was standing a bit behind him to his right, getting into a striking position, his hand on the heft of his black sword. A sound to his left told Percy that Thalia had summoned her shield.
„I will ask only one more time: Where is Annabeth?“, he demanded.
Zeus narrowed his eyes. „Careful, boy-“, he tried.
But that was enough for the son of Poseidon. He locked eyes with Nico and this one look had been enough for them to reach an understanding. Percy spun and hauled off. The son of Hades simultaneously drew his own sword to meet Riptide. And when they crossed blades, a loud bang echoed through the room louder than simply metal clanging on metal but two forces colliding with the potential to break the earth itself apart. The ground started shaking like with a skala 7 earth quake. Cracks appeared on the floor and quickly spread also running up columns. Dust trickled from the ceiling. Even the gods had trouble remaining seated or standing.
And once the gods seemed to have recovered from their initial shock, before either of them could try anything, the three demigods were enclosed in a cackling cage of lightning that shielded them. Percy glanced at Thalia who had stepped up behind his and Nico’s crossed blades. She had raised her spear over their heads, where the lighting cage sprung from. Her eyes were glowing white like the lighting around them. He had never seen the daughter of Zeus like this.
„Answer his question: where is Annabeth?“, she thundered menacingly.
„That’s enough!“, Queen Hera now chimed in. „I have her.“
And three sets of demigod eyes landed on her. With a deafening thunder the lightning cage died down. Accompanied by another loud rumbled Percy and Nico lowered their swords as well. The son of Poseidon narrowed his eyes towards the goddess. „You?“, he spat with barely hidden distaste. „What have you done to her?“
„Nothing. I just need her. The fate of the world is at stake.“, she stated.
Zeus expression soured. „Not this again, woman.“, he called out annoyedly.
„If you had listened to me, it wouldn’t have come to this.“, his wife snapped back.
„What are you talking about?“, Thalia wanted to know.
Hera glanced at her husband uneasily, but explained nevertheless „Gaea is rising. The giants are reborn. And they are an even bigger threat than the Titans. Only gods and demigods fighting side by side can defeat them.“
„Then we’re doomed. You never do anything.“, Percy chimed in cynically.
Hera continued unperturbed „We need to unite all forces of the two sides to withstand this threat.“
Thalia knitted her eyebrows. „Two sides of what? What do you mean?“, she asked.
„Woman, don’t-“, the King of the gods started, but the Queen continued defiantly „The Roman and Greek demigods.“
That threw Percy off his guard. „What? Roman demigods?“ He couldn’t believe this.
Hera answered complacently „Ask your friend.“
And Percy whipped his head around to look at Thalia.
But the huntress held up her hands stating „Don’t look at me. I didn’t know about this. We get recruits from everywhere, but I’ve never heard of a Roman camp before.“
The son of Hades looked a bit more uncomfortable, when Percy and Thalia now turned towards him.
„Nico?“, the son of Poseidon prompted.
„It’s true Percy.“, he confessed. „My father has led me there. He told me not to tell anyone. But he wanted me to meddle. To pave the way for the hostile camps to unite.“
Percy was dumbstruck. He didn’t know what to say to that.
„My brother…“, Thalia then muttered in shock staring at the goddess incredulously. „Is he there?“
Percy’s jaw dropped. „You have a brother?“, he asked.
„I thought I didn’t anymore. Is that where you’ve taken him?“ On her question she had raised her voice against the goddess.
„Yes.“, the Queen deigned to give an answer. „That’s why Artemis had to keep the Roman camp secret from you.“
And now Thalia was even more pissed than she already had been. „So he was alive all this time and you tell me I wasn’t allowed to see him?“, she shouted now, the air cackling around her like charged with energy.
Hera wasn’t fazed at all by that. Surely she was used to that kind of behavior from her husband, who had fallen suspiciously quiet. „We had to keep you apart or the secret of the two camps had been revealed before the time was right.“, she simply stated matter-of-factly.
Thalia’s expression was as dark as a thundercloud now. „Let’s go.“, she told her friends, who sprung to action without question.
But the goddess stopped them. „You can’t go there!“, she called out emphatically, but Thalia whirled around and snapped „Watch us! We’ll go to this foreign camp, we’ll make good with those Romans and we will raise the greatest army of half-bloods the world has ever seen. Then we’ll send those filthy giants back to Tartarus.“ She glared at the gods with open disgust now and spat „We’ll fight another one of your wars for you. But you better answer when we call on you.“
The Queen now shot to her feet. „You can’t! It’s a delicate matter. If you spring to action prematurely, we’ll be doomed as well. Go back to your camp and wait for the arrival of the Roman leader, the daughter of Bellona. You will be sent on a quest and only after Annabeth has completed hers with the Romans can the camps be reunited. They were at odds for too long. First you have to gain each other’s leaders trust.“, she determined.
„And how long will that take?“, Percy now chipped in.
Hera weighed her head. „Half a year?“, she mused.
„HALF A YEAR???“, Percy shouted.
„It’s necessary.“, the goddess insisted.
Percy’s face darkened, but he gave in nevertheless. „Fine. But I swear on the river Styx, if I don’t get Annabeth back after that, I’ll be back.“
Hera’s voice became cold and harsh, when she said „You shouldn’t threaten us. We can spare a demigod in this war.“
But Percy straight up laughed in her face. „Can you?“
None of the gods replied and that was enough of an answer for him.
„If you resent the duties of a demigod, you should’ve accepted our generous offer of immortality.“, Zeus then sneered to get in the last word.
But Percy answered unwaveringly „Now more than ever I’m glad I didn’t. I’ve been nothing but loyal to this pantheon. I saved your asses in the last war. And look at what it got me. If this is how you gods show your gratitude, I don't want to be part of that.“