The Afterlife (HoO Fanfiction)

Je reviendrai à Montréal

Sorry if we posted this chapter later than usual. We still love you though! Enjoy!

-E&C

P.S. The title of this chapter is actually the title of a song...

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~Hazel~

The kids disappeared. The kids disappeared. The kids disappeared.

This sentence was playing on repeat in my mind, yet I couldn't grasp all of its meaning. I was simply awed by the bad luck that we had faced in the last day. But the kids' disappearance was definitely not a good omen.

Will and Frank had alerted us as soon as Adelaide went missing. When we found them, they were frantically looking in all the cabins. Frank has simply looked at me with his mouth open as if to show his incomprehension and embarrassment. Quickly, everyone joined the search and looked everywhere, even in cupboards, we couldn't be too thorough. Still, the kids had vanished without a trace.

This forced us to call an emergency meeting around the long table. Therefore we got together in the common room, as always with eyebrows knitted together and ready to establish a battle plan. However, this time, there was no impending attack. All my demigod instincts were screaming that this calm was not reassuring.

Firstly, Will told us what had happened: the news flash, Adelaide's panic, and her disappearance.

Nico interrupted him. "Shit, she could be able to Shadow Travel? I hope it didn't bring them too far? They could be in Australia, as far as I'm concerned!" He seemed equally impressed, troubled and worried. Behind him, Jason was biting his nails and Percy was tapping on his shoulder in a comforting manner. Beside me, Frank was holding my hand. It was all I needed to know that he was supporting me.

"I can't believe that they all left," I murmured.

"Yeah, I don't know about that." Annabeth had clearly heard my intervention. "Adelaide really looked scared, according to Will's story. And she seemed to be in her no one can understand me phase."

Nico objected. "Okay, it's not easy to be a child of Hades or Hecate, but I can understand this phase." Then he added, under his breath: " I kinda went through it..."

"Anyway, as I was saying, I can understand that Adelaide left. Killian and James, too. Lewis must have been like an older brother to them. They are trying to leave the place where they lived trauma and they follow leaders. Delilah looks like the best choice."

"Okay, but why would Delilah leave?" Frank asked. Annabeth continued.

"Ask Percy I-Don't-Know-How-To-Deal-With-Teenage-Girls Jackson." All the heads turned to Percy. He was displaying his most sorry look.

"Thanks, Annabeth for throwing me under the bus. Let's just say that I might've hurt her feelings."

Leo burst out laughing despite the serious situation.

"Thank the gods your daughter is only three years old! What are you going to do when she'll be 15?"

Confronted with the clear awkwardness of the situation, I tried to change subjects.

"Well, anyway, what is done is done. We need a plan for our next move. How do we find them?" My question only furthered our descent into awkwardness.

"Hazel, we have no idea of where they might be. And without the help of the gods or a prophecy, we are totally blind. When could we start?" Nico reasoned.

"Nico is right," furthered Annabeth with an upset look on her face. "I don't see how we could find them. I imagine that we could try patrolling Lesbos, hoping that they didn't go too far. Otherwise, I don't know..."