Melpomene (PJO)

15. Return to Sender

Annabeth Chase had appeared at the labyrinth entrance just as the rest of camp was waking up. She was alone. It happened during the Ares Cabin's guard duty, and Clarisse had wasted no time finding Chiron and getting the full story: after Mari had been kidnapped, the group had returned to the labyrinth to continue the quest, hoping they'd find her there. Nico Di Angelo stayed behind. Eurytion gave them a parting gift: information. Apparently, Hephaestus knew how to find Daedalus's workshop. But Hephaestus was a god. So his help didn't come for free. The blacksmith god had wanted them to investigate some kind of activity at his forge in Mt. St Helens. They were halfway there when Grover sensed Pan, and he and Tyson split from the group.

But as bad as splitting up had been, according to Annabeth what happened next was a whole lot worse. The forge was absolutely infested with Telekhines, horrible little fish-human abomination creatures with a grudge against the gods. At this point, Mari was starting to think a list of who didn't have a grudge against the gods would be a lot more efficient. Apparently, the Olympians had cast the creatures aside, even after the Telekhines had helped craft their weapons during the first Titanomachy. According to Annabeth, Percy had tried to spy on the creatures but that plan had gone south fast, so he'd persuaded her to run and tell Hephaestus what was going on. Annabeth had thought Percy was going to distract the Telekhines, but when she looked back...

Well, to be blunt, when Chiron looked at the mortal news and saw that Mt. St Helens had exploded, it was no great shock.

Word was buzzing around camp like a swarm of angry bees within an hour. Percy Jackson was-

"He's not dead," Annabeth insisted.

Breakfast had been cancelled. Luckily, the Stolls had brought snacks. Chiron had called a meeting in the big house with all the cabin councillors. That was quickly becoming a habit. Mari was sitting next to Lee, who had an arm over her shoulder. She was only really there because she'd been a part of the quest, so she was more than happy to let him do most of the talking. Adela was long gone - she'd slunk upstairs the second Clarisse had finished speaking, leaving Mari with no words but a crap ton of questions.

"Annabeth..." Charles Beckendorf sighed. "I don't think any of us wants to have to consider the possibility, but you said Mt. St Helens was blown up. With him inside it. If anybody were able to survive something like that, I don't think it would be the son of the sea god. Fire and Water are polar opposites. Believe me, I know, I tried to make this steam-powered automaton dove for Silena last winter and it ended up scorching the entire forge... never mind. Not the point. If anybody was going to make it out of that eruption alive, it would be my dad or one of his kids, and even then it would be unlikely, since none of us can actually produce fire." Beckendorf paused at the look on Annabeth's face. "Look, I'm not saying we should write him off, but we can't afford to ignore the possibility that he's... gone."

"Beckendorf may be right." Chiron frowned. "Already there are reports of numerous illnesses developing in the surrounding areas. There has been an emergency evacuation of over half a million people. If Percy were alive, he would have found a way out already and contacted us. Annabeth, you said he still had Drachma on him when you left?"

"...Yes." Annabeth glared at the ping-pong table. "But he's not dead. He can't be."

Mari hoped she was right. She knew for a fact that Annabeth would never forgive herself for leaving Percy behind if he turned out to be dead. And Mari herself also considered the idiot to be a pretty good friend. Not to mention that if Percy died, then the only person left to possibly be the big three kid the prophecy was on about was Nico Di Angelo.

And gods, between Mari and Annabeth, wasn't it fair that at least one didn't have to lose someone that horribly?

Maybe there was hope for Percy. Annabeth being right was a phenomenon that happened consistently and often. Wait, she was pretty sure those two words meant the same thing. Annabeth would know. She was right all the time.