Adrasteia

Finding Adrasteia

"Percy! PERCY!" There was a loud pounding on my door as a girl shouted out my name. I groaned and forced my eyes open before looking out of the window. The sun was just coming up from behind the mountains and into the purple sky. "PERCY JACKSON!" the girl screamed, continuing to hammer at the door.

I threw the covers off of me and jumped out of bed. I ran to the door and pulled it open. I was hit with a cool breeze and the sight of Silena Beauregard in black skinny jeans and a white knitted cardigan. Thalia was behind her, eyes bleary, in a long-sleeved, black, Panic! At the Disco shirt and black pajama pants. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail. Silena looked really freaked out. Thalia yawned.

"Silena? What's wrong?"

"C'mon, Chiron needs to tell you guys something," she said urgently before turning and walking quickly in the direction of the Big House. I shot a confused look at Thalia, but she just shrugged and followed Silena.

When we got to the Big House, Chiron was pacing back and forth in the front. A girl in full armour was standing by him, and they both looked up as we approached. "Percy, Thalia. Thank you, Silena." Chiron paused and frowned as a boy about sixteen ran in with a Hermes girl.

"We found some tracks," the boy said. Chiron and the other girl, who I think was an Apollo girl, exchanged glances and followed the other two kids out of the Big House. Chiron motioned for us to follow him. We walked out past Thalia's tree and followed the border down near the lake. There were deep ruts in the ground, as if someone had been dragged backwards by their arms. The tracks led toward the forest. A Hunter of Artemis came out of said forest and shook her head at Chiron.

"They just stop about five feet in at a huge pine," she said dejectedly. The Apollo girl felt something on the ground next to where the tracks started. She looked up in surprise.

"Chiron, this ground... It's softer than the dirt around it and seems to have been disturbed recently," she said, sounding curious. Chiron nodded and turned to the Hunter.

"Alaya, please fetch a Demeter child," he requested. She nodded and ran back into the camp.

"Uhm, sorry, but what exactly is going on?" I asked, a bit annoyed that I had been pulled out of bed at the crack of dawn.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Isn't it obvious, Percy?" I shook my head. "Someone was taken from here last night. Chiron, were they on gaurd or did they just go for a stroll and got snatched up?"

"They were on gaurd." My jaw dropped as realization flashed across Thalia's eyes.

"Was it... Was it Addy?" I asked quietly, fearing the answer. Chiron nodded sadly as the Hunter and Jayne from the Demeter cabin came up.

"Ah, thank you." Alaya nodded. "Miss Kokovich, I'm terribly sorry for waking you up at this hour, but would you mind inspecting the ground over there?" Chiron asked, pointing to the spot that the Apollo girl had been feeling. Jayne nodded and made her way over there. She put a hand on the ground and closed her eyes for about a minute. Suddenly her eyes shot open and she stood up. She placed a hand on the tracks nearby before looking up at Chiron in alarm.

"Sir... These tracks weren't physically made by anything." We all raised our eyebrows. "They were created, most likely by another Demeter kid. That dirt over there... A tunnel was created there, leading all the way to the Hudson Bay. There was another tunnel created about three feet over that eventually joined up with the first tunnel. The tunnels were dug up about five hours ago and were also filled back up at around that time. So I'm assuming this was all the work of the Demeter child." Chiron furrowed his eyebrows and nodded.

"Thank you, Jayne. You may go back to your cabin now." Jayne hesitated.

"Sir... Was someone kidnapped?" Chiron regarded her with kind but stern eyes.