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Rory's face felt hot.
Though she couldn't tell if it was because her cold had finally turned to a fever, embarrassment on behalf of Percy, or her wanting to cry because Annabeth just leapt off a cliff and disappeared.
She wasn't dead. That was a fact. Rory would know if she was dead — both due to her ability to sense death and her role as Annabeth's best friend.
But if she wasn't dead, then what happened to her?
Everyone stared at Artemis. Unconsciously, Rory fiddled with the moon charm on her necklace.
Percy looked at the goddess like she had three heads. "Um... okay," he said, very intelligently.
That was nothing compared to Grover. He gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so... you're so... Wow!"
"Get up, goat boy!" Thalia snapped. "We have other things to worry about. Annabeth is gone!"
"Whoa," Bianca di Angelo said. "Hold up. Time out."
Everybody looked at her. She pointed her finger at everyone in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. "Who...who are you people?"
Artemis' expression softened. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you! Who are your parents?"
Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring in awe at Artemis.
"Our parents are dead," Bianca said. "We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but..." She faltered.
No one believed her, it was obvious on their faces.
"What?" she demanded. "I'm telling the truth."
"You are a half-blood," Zoë Nightshade said. Her accent was very old-fashioned, making her sound like royalty. "One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian."
"An Olympian... athlete?"
"No," Zoë said. "One of the gods."
"Cool!" said Nico.
"No!" Bianca's voice quavered. "This is not cool!"
Nico danced around like he needed to use the restroom. "Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for—"
"Nico, shut up!" Bianca put her hands to her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"
As anxious as Rory felt about Annabeth — all she wanted to do was search for her! — she couldn't help feeling sorry for the di Angelos. She had grown up knowing she was a half-blood, but she had seen thousands of times the process of kids finding out their true identity. Percy, in particular, had a rough adjustment.
