Charmolypi

Chapter 144

"Maybe they just went to the lavatory," Molly suggested, but quickly stopped when she saw how the demigods were shaking their heads.

"What?" Percy asked, completely thrown off from her sudden change in behavior. He followed her gaze. The bleachers. The two half-blood kids, Bianca and Nico, were no longer there. The door next to the bleachers was wide open. Dr. Thorn was nowhere in sight.

"We have to get Thalia and Grover!" Annabeth looked around frantically. "Oh, where'd they dance off to? Percy go grab Thea! Come on!"

She ran through the crowd. He was about to follow when a mob of girls got in his way. Percy maneuvered around them to avoid getting the ribbon-and-lipstick treatment, and by the time he was free, Annabeth had disappeared, and he could no longer spot Thea and her dance partner in the crowd. He turned a full circle, looking for her or Annabeth or Thalia and Grover. Instead, he saw something that chilled his blood.

"Please don't do anything stupid," Remus prayed, but knowing form the way that the demigods were looking at one another, it wasn't the case.

About fifty feet away, lying on the gym floor, was a floppy green cap just like the one Bianca di Angelo had been wearing. Near it were a few scattered trading cards. Then he caught a glimpse of Dr. Thorn. He was hurrying out a door at the opposite end of the gym, steering the di Angelo kids by the scruffs of their necks, like kittens.

"Is that really how we looked like?" Nico said, holding back a small laugh.

Percy still searched the crowd for his friends, but he subconsciously knew that Annabeth would probably be on the other side of the hall. He was going to head in that direction when he suddenly remembered what had happened when they first entered the school, how he was no longer the person to turn to when something happened.

Percy didn't harbor any resentment towards Thalia, it wasn't her fault that she was the daughter of Zeus, nor was it Thea's, and it wasn't their fault they always got all the attention, but he didn't want her solving every problem.

"I didn't solve every problem," Thalia said, slightly defensive.

"You did," came a series of voice from the demigods as well as some of the students. That caused Thalia to turn and look back at them, a slight frown on her face at the implication.

"It was our fault too," Annabeth admitted.

"How?" Jason asked, trying to understand the dynamics of the group with Thalia.

"We started turning to Thalia for advice and help and dismissed Percy. Well in most cases," Annabeth confessed, an apologetic look on her face.

Besides, there wasn't time. The di Angelos were in danger. They might be long gone by the time Percy found his friends. He could handle monsters and he was not going to let the two demigods go.

Percy took one deep breath, took Riptide out if his pocket and ran after Dr. Thorn. He darted through the crowd of students swiftly and got to the doors that the monster had used to escape with the two demigods.

The door led into a dark hallway. Percy heard sounds of scuffling up ahead, then a painful grunt. He uncapped Riptide.

The pen grew in his hands until he held a bronze Greek sword about three-feet long with a leather-bound grip. The blade glowed faintly, casting a golden light on the rows of lockers.

Percy jogged down the corridor, but when he got to the other end, no one was there. He opened a door and found himself back in the main entry hall. He was completely turned around. Percy didn't see Dr. Thorn anywhere, but there on the opposite side of the room were the di Angelo kids. They stood frozen in horror, staring right at the son of Poseidon.