Powerful Families

{I} Percy

"I'm home!" I shouted as I opened the door. "I didn't..." I looked around the front room. "Die," I whispered. I quickly ran around the apartment, checking every room. Nobody. It was trashed like a herd of hellhounds had ransacked the place.

"I paid the cab driver." Annabeth ran into the apartment and her eyes sunk in dismay as she looked around. "What happened?" She then looked over to me and our eyes locked for a second. I wanted to cry, but I hated crying in front of Annabeth. Or anyone for that matter. I slumped down on the sofa and covered my face with my hands. Annabeth sat next to me.

"Percy? It's ok." She reassured me.

Just then someone in a police uniform walked into the room and was startled to find Annabeth and I sat on the sofa in the lounge. "This is a crime scene. You can't be here."

"It's ok," Annabeth stood up to face the officer. "This is his apartment. We just got back from summer camp to find the place like this. Do you know what happened?"

"Kidnapping," The officer said too casually. "Who are you?"

"I'm Percy Jackson." I also got up from the sofa. "What do you mean by kidnapping?"

"Sally and Paul Blofis. Kidnapped. Neighbours reported on the first Tuesday of last month." The officer recited.

"LAST MONTH?!" I shouted. "MY PARENTS HAVE BEEN MISSING FOR A MONTH AND NO ONE BOTHERED TO TELL ME?!" I put my hands on my head and turned to look out the window of what used to be our cosy Manhatten apartment. 

"Sorry kid. We did try to get hold of you, but could never get through." The officer walked off to another area of the apartment.

"It's ok Percy, we'll find them," Annabeth reassured me again. She changed her tone to a whisper. "First, let's get hold of Nico and find out if... if they're still alive."

Annabeth and I left the apartment. I couldn't be in there any longer. We got a cab to the docks so I could breathe in the ocean air. The docks were empty, but we managed to find a hose to make a rainbow.

Annabeth threw a golden drachma into the rainbow and muttered: "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Please show me, Nico Di Angelo."

The rainbow shimmered and in it showed a tallish boy in a black leather jacket with a skull ring on his finger. 

"Sup Percy? Annabeth? What can I do you for?" He said.

"I'm gonna cut straight to the point," Annabeth said quickly. "Percy's parents have gone missing. Have you seen or heard of them being anywhere in the Underworld?"

"Sorry man, I haven't. I'll do a quick check and ask my dad, but I doubt there down here as I can't sense them. I'll get back to you in an hour." The Iris message dissolved. Percy dropped the hose pipe to the floor.

"I'm sorry Percy, but on the bright side, they're probably not there. I have one more golden drachma. Do you want to contact Chiron? Maybe he can send out search parties." We made the rainbow appear again and this time Chiron's image formed in the mist. We told him what happened.

"I am sorry to hear that my boy. I will send out some search parties instantly. We'll find them. You can count on us." Again the rainbow dissolved. 

"Go for a swim. Calm down a little. I'll wait here for you to come back." Annabeth advised. I could count on her to know what I needed. I gave her a kiss and jumped in the harbour.

The swim really helped calm my nerves. I swam with a hippocampus and spoke to a neried who said she and her friends would help with the search for my parents. I got back to find Annabeth sat on the edge of the dock with an ice cream.

"Where's mine?" I mockingly asked, making her jump.

"Sorry. I got really hot sat here and I didn't know how long you were going to be." She said. I sat down next to her and had a bite of her ice cream. "Did the swim help?"

"Yeah, it did actually."

"You sound surprised." Her nose wrinkled in that cute way it did when she laughed. I told her what happened on my swim. "Well, that's good. The more beings looking for them, the quicker we'll find them." I was just having some of Annabeth's ice cream when a cough came from behind us. It was Nico.

"Woah, dude. Don't make us jump like that." I said while standing up.

"Sorry," He said. "I asked my dad and had a look around but I can't find your parents anywhere, so my guess is they're still alive. I'll ask around, try and help in the search parties."

"Thanks, Nico," Annabeth exclaimed. She ran her hand through the image and it dissolved. "Come on. Let's go and catch a movie. Get your mind off this whole thing."