A New Discovery

Chapter 7

     After Percy had returned from Olympus with Dionysus he told Nico, Jason, and Leo about what went down. Jason was pretty disappointed with his father but relieved that Hera had been there to calm him down. Percy didn't tell them about his conversation with Aphrodite but did plan on telling them eventually. The boys were just worried about him because of his freak out from earlier.
It had been a couple of weeks since the incident though and nobody had heard a word from or about Annabeth in that time. She was taken from the pavilion to the infirmary and then disappeared completely. It wasn't until Percy got a knock on his cabin door that that changed.
    "Percy?" He heard Chirons voice come from the door. He did not want to get up yet but here he was getting up to answer Chiron at seven am on a tuesday.
    "Coming!" Footsteps were heard along with some rustling around before the door opened up revealing Percy in his pajamas and messy hair. "Hey Chiron, what's up?"
    "Good Morning Percy. If you wouldn't mind coming with me to the big house we have some things that need to be discussed." He said with a tired look on his face. Since the incident he had mainly been unavailable to the camp so it was the first time Percy had seen him for a while.
    "Alright, just let me brush my hair and teeth and get some shoes on." Percy said retreating back into his cabin after a nod from Chiron.
Ten minutes later he was back outside and on his way to the big house with Chiron. He was pretty anxious and his mind was spinning with 'what ifs' and possibilities. His biggest worry was that the world was going to end again and that he would have to clean it all up again. The last war had been enough to kill many and many demigods and there was a lot of destruction and stress from it. Annabeth had been proof of this and now everybody was on edge about who would lose it next.
Despite what she had said about him and it getting him almost smited he was just worried about her, even if he was hurt by her accusations. He felt like it was his fault for not being able to protect her better or take her place during her search for the parthenon. They had been through a lot together and he hoped that she didn't just hate him now. He really did find it unfair that she thought this was his fault though because it wasn't, and it wouldn't matter to her if she cared more about him than herself. 
      They finally reached the big house and went into the war room. The ping pong table with the sword and dagger gashes was still intact and present since it was so nostalgic for all of the head counselors. From the memories of all of the previous counselors to just memories from themselves it was a sad and happy place for them all. They situated themselves around the table and sat for a moment before Chiron spoke.
    "So I'm sure you want to know why I've called you here so early and I know that you also probably want an explanation for the timing." Chiron asked, more so stated. Percy just nodded his head still half asleep from the early hour. "The reason concerns Annabeth and her whereabouts." At this Percy did perk up and lose his drowsiness.
    "Is she alright?"
    "Yes, yes, she's fine, just feeling sorry for herself and guilty towards you."
    "She feels guilty?" Percy asked hopefully.
    "Yes, she's been with Doctor Solace in his home away from camp for some intensive therapy and recovery. Her mental health since the war has been deteriorating rapidly and I suppose that you telling her just brought too much conflict and stress for her."
    "Stress? Conflict? How is that at all stressful or conflicting for her?"
    "What I'm going to tell you Isn't to be repeated because it is very personal to her and Doctor Solace really shouldn't have even told me this but it is necessary so please be quiet."
    "Okay." Percy said seriously while nodding his head.
    "Her father and step family had never been very accepting of her adhd and dyslexia because they thought that mental illnesses were a joke and basically didn't think it was true because of her intelligence so they thought that she was just lying and trying to get attention from them which brought a lot of stress for her and was a major part of why she ran away. Hearing you say that you had autism was too much for her to handle and she didn't understand how and just got a lot of terrible emotions from it. I'm not going to excuse what she said because it was horrible, but there are reasons behind her actions."
    "Oh gods Chiron, I had no idea, she's never told me." Percy said slightly shocked since he had met both of the Chases and thought that they were very nice people.
    "Yes, it is. Which is why I've decided to talk to you for her personally to deliver the message. She was also hoping to get to see you if you didn't absolutely hate the idea." 
    "I wouldn't mind but what about my responsibilities here? And how long would I be gone for? I don't want to be gone for too long and I don't want to be there long enough to get attached again. I already have someone else that treats me much better than she did and I don't want her to try and get me back after this, no matter the reasoning."
    "You would only be gone for maybe a week at most, and I will talk to her about that as well if it worries you too much. It can be tomorrow or even today if you want. It would just have to be a bit later today seeing as there are some things I have to tend to first."
    "Okay, I will pack a bag and we can head over now if that's okay?"
    "Alright, take your time."
    "Okay Chiron! I'll go get my stuff together." Percy said as he got up and walked out of the room quickly. Chiron just chuckled at his excitement fondly and got up to pack his stuff as well.
     After Percy had headed back to his cabin to pack his clothes and other stuff he would need for the trip it was still early so he decided to go see Nico before he left. He didn't knock or anything once he got there though he just went straight to Nico's sleeping form and crawled into the bed with him. Since Hazel was mostly at Camp Jupiter performing her duties as centurion, Nico had the Hades cabin all to himself. Nico just rolled over into Percy's arms though and grumbled at him. "Percy, it's too early for this, what's up?"
     Percy laughed quietly and told him about the trip and what it would be like, how long he would be gone for and all the other gory details. Nico wasn't super thrilled about it of course but he didn't mind because he knew that it would be good for both Percy AND Annabeth to talk about things because they did have a really strong connection and this whole ordeal was very traumatizing for them both. They had gone through a lot together and even though she wasn't being super awesome right now she had been for a long time and stood by his side through everything.
     Percy and Nico exchanged words and a few (a lot) of kisses before Percy finally said that it was time for him to leave. They said goodbye and Percy got up and walked out of the Hades cabin and went to grab his bag from his cabin. On his way to meet up with Chiron outside of the big house he saw Jason and decided to say goodbye to him too.
    "Jason!" He shouted to where he was standing by the weapons cabin, shocking him a little bit, but Percy could see the grin forming on his face when he noticed that it was him.
    "Hey Perce! What's with the bag?"
    "I'm going somewhere with Chiron for a week so I have to bring a bag."
    "Oh cool, well I'm just looking for a weapon for the newby that we got this week to see what might fit her best."
    "Sounds like fun, I'll let you get back to it." Percy said sarcastically and Jason rolled his eyes.
    "Get out of here Percy, good luck with your trip."
    "Thanks!" Percy said, waving as he walked away.
   
                                   ~~~
    The drive to Doctor Solace's house was a long and boring one. Try shoving an eighteen year old with adhd in a car with a couple thousand year old centaur and see how well that goes. Percy had to drive because obviously Chiron can't but he didn't even get to pick the music. 'We go by seniority' was what Chiron had said and Percy did NOT agree with him. His music taste was terrible and Percy was seriously bored, not to mention that the drive was over 24 hours long! They had to stop at hotels to sleep twice, and the traffic in some spots was horrible.  He seriously couldn't say enough horrible things about the trip but at least they made it there with no monster attacks.
    They were finally pulling up to Doctor Solace's house now though and Percy could feel his nerves setting in. This would be the first conversation that he would have with Annabeth since they broke up and he didn't know how to feel. He was happy to see her and have an explanation from her as to why, but he was also upset and a little angry with her for all of this. If she was afraid of her parents or something then she could have just told him that instead of acting like he was some diseased animal. It was very confusing for him and he wished he could have Nico here but he also knew that this was something that he had to do on his own.
    "Are you ready?" Chiron asked him apprehensively. He had noticed Percy's nervousness and didn't want to make him uncomfortable by doing this.
    "Yeah, just a bit nervous is all, I'll be fine." He said, trying to gain confidence through the statement but finding that it didn't do much to calm his nerves.
    Chiron and he started walking up the driveway to the front door and knocked. Since Chiron had called ahead and Doctor Solace knew about the visit they knew that he would be the one to greet them so they weren't surprised when he did.
    "Hello Chiron, Percy, come in, right this way." The doctor said as he waved them inside and led them down a hallway into the living room where they set their stuff down for the time being. "Annabeth's room is upstairs but your rooms are down here. If your visit goes well she may go back to camp with you. If not then she will stay here for a bit more and we will continue to work on it. Sound like a plan?"
    "Yes, if it's alright can we see her now? I'd like to get out of here as quickly as possible so that we can go back to camp. I have been missing for a while now so I'm sure there are quite a few things that I will need to handle." Chiron asked Doctor Solace.
    "Yes, let me just show you to my office and then I will bring her down." He said and stood up to show them to his office.
    The room was decent sized and very cozy and open. It didn't make you feel suffocated by the coziness but you didn't feel like you were in a doctors office either. Percy had sat down on a small but comfy armchair while Chiron just stayed in his wheelchair and both watched as Doctor Solace left to get Annabeth.
    "I hope that this goes well, Chiron." Percy said in a small voice.
    "I do to my boy, I do to."
                    ~~end of chapter 7~~
2069 words
I am so sorry for not actually posting the chapter last week! I had a ton going on and really didn't have the time to make a proper chapter for you guys. I'm in highschool and have a lot of homework not to mention my job and chores and yk sleep. But here it is and I even left you with a cliffhanger! How kind :) I won't make any more promises for updates at certain times but like for sure once a month at least. And thank you for 100 reads, it's actually pretty close to 200 now so yay! This is my first story and I really like it a lot so I hope you guys do too. Don't be afraid to comment and stuff and please vote! It makes my day when I see the little star notification on wattpad. Anyway, goodbye!
         PS:Solangelo bookkkkkkkkkkkkkk yayyyyyyy!!!!!