ᴄᴀᴠᴇ ᴄᴀɴᴇᴍ: ᴘᴀʀᴛ ɪɪ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴄᴀʙᴇᴛʜ/ꜱᴏʟᴀɴɢᴇʟᴏ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ

xx | ᴡᴇʟʟ, ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʟɪᴋᴇ ꜰʀᴇᴀᴋʏ ꜰʀɪᴅᴀʏ

Percy totally gets that whole safety in-numbers thing. It keeps kids safe on field trips, deters kidnappers, and all that good stuff. It doesn't necessarily work for monsters. He'd know; he'd been attacked by monsters while in groups of various sizes.

He can't say that he's been eager to split up with Annabeth at any moment on this quest, even in Munich when they were fighting over stitches through a major meltdown. Then again, he knows that Annabeth can take care of herself if a monster shows up. Even if she doesn't like to be alone, she is fully capable of kicking some monster butt.

As her best friend, Will Solace should know this. Sure, Percy can imagine that the poor dude's feeling a little guilty for losing Annabeth after their fight, but she'll get over it and they'll be best friends again... he thinks.

"Will," Percy says, "I'm sure she's fine. Have you tried calling her?"

"I can't!" Will shouts. "She doesn't have her phone!"

Percy does not like the way Will holds Annabeth's sword at his side like he's used it a million times. The wild look in his eyes could convince Percy that Will was actually the one who got it in Tartarus, had he not been there himself.

There's something unsettling about the way the typically upbeat son of Apollo is looking at him, so Percy leads him out into the hall and says, "Why don't you go get Nico and I'll start looking?"

"Why don't you get Nico and I'll start looking?" he snaps.

Percy throws his hands up in defense. "Alright, man, whatever floats your boat."

Will's footsteps in the stairwell echo as he descends, Percy following behind.

He gets off a floor before Will does and searches for Nico's room, except he doesn't actually know which one that is, so he pulls out his phone and calls Nico.

"Hey, everything okay?" Nico asks.

"I don't think so," says Percy. "We can't find Annabeth. She went out for a walk and Will's going ballistic."

Nico sighs loud enough to be heard over the phone line. "Percy, go help Will. Keep him from doing something stupid."

"Uh-huh," Percy says.

"If there actually is danger..." Nico trails off. "Well, have you ever actually seen Will with a sword?"

The answer is yes as of quite recently, but Percy knows what he means. If he remembers correctly, Will used to skip out of sword fighting practices to work in the infirmary, and although healing is a great skill to have, it probably won't help him in this situation.

"I'm on it," Percy says. He runs back into the stairwell and stumbles out of the hotel. How is it that he and Nico are always on damage control after something moderately stupid that Annabeth and Will have done?

He does his best power walking down the paved sidewalk so as not to bring too much attention to himself. He turns Riptide over in his pocket. This churning in his gut tells him that maybe Will's right; maybe something is horribly wrong.

Percy can't lose Annabeth—not again.

He crosses the street, and his nose is filled with the overwhelming smell of sewage. At first, he thinks it's just that city-in-the-morning smell, but then he sees that the sewer is open. Will's sitting on his knees clutching something to his chest. His shirt is stained with monster goo that can only mean Pothos and Annabeth's one night stand Marty McFly were involved in what just happened.