You'll Learn to Love Me

Chapter 1: Newbies & A Quest

"This is real sketchy Annabeth." Laylana's voice cut through the air, as they fumbled along the sky towards the Grand Canyon. "Are you sure he's going to be here?"

"He has to be." Annabeth Chase's hand clenched her dagger, her eyes showing her determination.

Laylana continued to look over the ground, questioning why Annabeth insisted she get in the Chariot rather than let her shadow-travel, or even shadow-shift and fly after them. Despite her brother being friendly with the Pesagi, they didn't like her at all. Apparently she reeked of death, which she expected as a daughter of the god of darkness.

Upon arriving at the extraction point, Laylana spotted three figures on the skywalk. "Heads up!" She shouted towards Butch, the son of Iris who was directing the Chariot. He began to descend towards the skywalk, Laylana desperately scanning the area for any sign of Percy. Her frown grew when she realized he wasn't there, her blood boiling unconsciously. Her anger and worry continued to grow when she realized that Gleeson, the protector they sent to this school, was nowhere to be found.

The chariot landed touched ground on the far edge of the skywalk, the Pegasi whinnying nervously. Gods, Laylana only wished she had her brother's ability to talk to horses. She made eye contact with the three teenagers, seemingly around her age, two boys and a girl. The first boy was blond, a tired look in his eyes but he was also clearly alert and wary of the ones in the Chariot. The girl was absolutely gorgeous, and if Laylana wasn't so focused at the task at hand, she probably would have asked her on a date. Her eyes seemed to changed colour constantly, never staying the same, like a kaleidoscope. The final boy was scrawny compared to the others, with elfish features. He was staring right at Laylana as the Chariot touched down, both her and Annabeth jumping off before it stabilized. They left Butch to wrangle the Pegasi, Annabeth drawing her knife and Laylana pulling her twin daggers out of their sheaths as they walked up to the group.

"Where is he?" Annabeth demanded, her gray eyes storming with rage.

"Where's who?" the blond boy asked

She frowned at him, glancing at Laylana before turning to the other two. "What about Gleeson? Where is your protector, Gleeson Hedge?"

The scrawny boy cleared his throat. "He got taken by some... tornado things."

"Venti," blondie said. "Storm spirits."

Annabeth and Laylana arched their eyebrows. "You mean anemoi thuellai? That's the Greek term."

Laylana cut her friend off. "Now cut to the chase, who are you guys? And what happened here?"

The blond, Jason. explained what had happened on the skywalk; how they fought the storm spirits, both his friends - Leo and Piper - had been nearly killed, and how Gleeson had been whisked away. Halfway through his story, Butch finally joined them, muttering some words, that made Laylana proud, about how bratty the horses were being.

When Jason had finished his story, Annabeth's eyes began to shroud with tears, those she quickly blinked them away. Laylana wasn't feeling any different, her heart shattering even more than it already was. "No, no, no! She told me he would be here. She told me if I came here, I'd find the answer."

"I knew this was a bad idea..." Laylana put her daggers away, wrapping an arm around Annabeth.

"Annabeth, check it out." Butch interrupted them, pointing at Jason's feet, noting that he had one shoe. "The guy with one shoe. He's the answer."

"No, Butch," Annabeth insisted. "He can't be. I was tricked."

Laylana felt the shadows growing around her as her rage grew. She let go of Annabeth, taking a step away as to not accidentally hurt anyone and glared at the sky. "Didn't we do enough for you in the past five years? What have you done with him? Why did you take him away?"