Changing the Future

Chapter 56

For the next three days, no one slept as the search for Percy Jackson continued. The first to fall asleep had been the children of Hypnos (surprise, surprise), who had to have beaten some kind of record as all three boys, including Clovis, stayed awake for seventy-three hours. Once the Hypnos kids were gone, the rest of the camp quickly followed suit.

But, like always, there were exceptions. Clarisse and Chris, for example, absolutely refused to get any sleep until they were given enough satisfactory news about Percy's whereabouts. Although the pair looked exhausted and had probably drank their body's weight worth of coffee, they stuck by Annabeth, going wherever it was she asked them to go.

Luke and I had been the exact same way. And though the sleep deprivation didn't really affect me, I could tell Luke was struggling from the way that he staggered while he walked, or the way he'd nod off whenever he sat down before jerking awake. I'd tried to force him to get some sleep yesterday, but he refused, saying that Percy wouldn't have slept had it been Luke that went missing.

He'd also been mumbling something about his arm hurting, pulling away from me whenever I'd try to ask him if he'd injured himself, refusing to let me glance at his right arm higher than his wrist. I knew I'd have to look into that, and soon, but there were more pressing matters to be dealt with.

And then there was Annabeth, still hunched over dozens of books and maps, spending countless drachmas on IM's to contact the Hunters, Grover, and Tyson. She'd even gone as far as IM-ing Nico, which he responded with a scowl and a curt promise that he'd help look.

"I'm missing something," she muttered to herself, her fingers tracing over the outline of a map.

"No, you're not," Rachel Elizabeth Dare said, setting down a mug of tea in front of Annabeth, gently moving the books and maps aside. "You have done your best to contact Percy in every single way. Now, take a seat and drink your tea before you drop dead from exhaustion."

Annabeth begrudgingly took a seat, rubbing her face before picking up the mug, just holding it in her hands for a while. Rachel gave her a small smile, taking a sip of her own tea. Luke, who'd been sitting next to me at the table, had slumped over in his seat, softly snoring as his sword fell out of his grasp.

I was just about to get up to get some coffee from upstairs (we were in the Big House's rec room), when Annabeth went rigid, her eyes rolling into the back of her head, her mug falling to the floor and shattering.

"Is she having a seizure?!" Rachel exclaimed as I hopped up out of my seat, moving Annabeth onto the floor, away from the broken glass and spilled tea.

"No," I said, realizing that she wasn't convulsing. I placed a finger on her forehead and shivered, feeling the presence of another goddess in her mind. "She's having a vision, that's all."

"But isn't it supposed to be me that gets visions, you know, being the Oracle and all?" Rachel didn't sound jealous; instead she was deeply concerned as well as curious about why Annabeth had just seized so suddenly.

"Yes, but this is different."

Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief as her body relaxed again. She slowly sat herself up, clutching her head while she groaned. Then she stood up so quickly that she nearly passed out, staggering as she kept herself upright with the nearest wall.

"Woah, there," I said, keeping my hands on Annabeth's shoulders to keep her steady. "Slow down. Whatever you saw can wait until you catch your breath."

"No, it can't," Annabeth said, shaking her head, the smallest twinge of hope in her voice. "Hera...Hera told me that I need to go to the Grand Canyon right now. There'll be a boy wearing one shoe, and he'll lead me to Percy." Her eyes widened. "I need to get Butch!"