Spies-in-Training: A Royal Problem | Percabeth AU

Chapter 12: Missing

A/N: IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE MESSAGE ON MY PROFILE, DON'T SKIP THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT!!!
Hey guys, I'm sorry it took me so long to update, I swear I'm not abandoning this story, I just have a lot going on right now. I recently shifted my house, so there was that whole hassle, plus I have no Internet except for online classes, and I get a ton of homework daily. I also had to publish this chapter and the next two chapters at the same time so you all could understand things a lot faster instead of having to wait for me to update. So that's it, and because of all this I probably won't be updating very frequently for a while, so I'm sorry about that. But I swear, I am NOT going to abandon this story, because I'm really enjoying writing it, and because I hate it when people discontinue their books! Anyways, on to the long-awaited chapter!

Annabeth's POV:
Last night's meeting had gone well. So far, we didn't have any serious suspects, but we were starting to slowly build up a list. Most of our suspects were random people around the castle like maids or butlers, and even some nobles, but we nothing to seriously suggest that they were rebel spies.

Thalia and Frank told us that they had informed the principal and Alexander, and they were setting up a team and trying to figure out how they would sneak into the base. It was going well so far. The principal said that they had determined the location of the headquarters and had finished recon on it. Apparently, the headquarters was disguised as some rich person's mansion. There was a huge, well guarded gate surrounding the property, covered in electric wire. Inside the gates, every entrance to the base was guarded by two guards, and probably a lot more that were too well-camouflaged for us to see, so it was virtually impossible to sneak in.

However, during the recon they had also noticed that there was a huge truck, easily big enough to fit five people in the back, that was allowed through the gates every week. Apparently, it brought raw materials for some construction that was taking place in one wing. There were two drivers in the truck, who were also rebels who happened to work in construction. They were taken into the base after delivering the supplies, presumably to check on the construction and calculate how many and which supplies they would need to bring next.

The SEA's spies had tracked the truck and had shown us the route that it took. (I am such an idiot, I just realized that I never actually mentioned what the agency's name is, I only told you the school's name. So, just to clear things up, the agency is called SEA, which stands for Secretive Espionage Agency.) They could easily take out the truck just as it was leaving to bring the materials to the base, then put on their uniforms and get into the base. They could pretend that we were there for the construction, and no one would suspect them. They could then look around for information and swipe files or anything else we needed.

It was a good plan, but Alexander still had to finalize the last couple of details and come up with a cover story and backup plan in case the rebels got suspicious. He also needed to figure out who to bring, and get permission from his superiors, so with all that, it would be a few days before the mission went into action. So the gang and I were all in a really good mood that day. Little did we know, that good mood was about to be diminished.

***

The day started out pretty well. We all woke up refreshed, ready for another day of building up suspects and relaxing at the castle. We had an amazing breakfast with Sally, Paul, Percy, Tyson, Evelyn, and Zoë, and after that we all separated to look for potential suspects or reinforce our suspicions about certain suspects.

I was walking in the corridors, lost in thought about finding potential suspects, when I heard a voice next to me say, "Hey."

I whirled around, startled, and saw Eric grinning at me sheepishly. "Sorry I startled you," he apologized. "I didn't know you were so lost in thought."

"It's alright," I reassured him, my voice slightly high-pitched. Get it together, Chase, I mentally scolded myself. "What are you doing here?"

"I was stationed here to patrol the corridors. It's really boring, actually," he sighed.

"Well, isn't that a good thing?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess, but still. Anyways, what are you doing?" He asked.

"Nothing much, just wandering around, looking for leads," I replied, glancing around to make sure no one overheard.

"Ah, I see," he grinned at me. "Well, I better let you get to it. I have to do my own duties, too." He saluted me jokingly and left down the hall.

Shaking my head in amusement, I continued on my way. I was turning the corner to get to the staircase when I bumped into a nobleman.

He stumbled, dropping some of the papers he had been holding.

"I am so sorry," I apologized, bending down to help pick up his papers.

"Oh, it's alright," he assured me quickly. He snatched up all of his papers before I could help him. Curious, I stood up and discreetly tried to see what the papers were about, but he had angled them so I couldn't read them. "Well, I better go," he said. "Duties to attend to." He nodded at me once, then hurried off in the opposite direction.

But before he left, I looked up at him and noticed something. He had blue eyes. Ice blue eyes.

I narrowed my eyes in thought as I made my way up the staircase to my room. Could he be the rebel? He had the same eyes and build, and he had acting very suspicious. He certainly didn't want me to read his papers. Of course, that didn't mean he was the spy, but still, I wasn't about to discount any potential suspect so easily. I decided I would look into it later at our daily meeting, maybe get some background information on the nobleman.

I entered my room and was about to flop down on my bed when I noticed something that chilled me to the core.

It was a note. A very simple note, only words. But these words were enough to make my blood freeze.

Dear Annabeth,
We know who you are, and what you are trying to do. You see, we're not so easily deceived. Good luck for our little surprise.

With best wishes,
THE TITANS

And at that moment, the alarms started blaring throughout the castle. Piper burst through the door.

"Have you seen her?" She asked, out of breath.

"What do you mean?" I asked worriedly. "Piper, what's going on?"

"It's Evelyn," she said, her eyes dark with worry. "She's missing."

A/N: Okay, so I know you guys are wondering who 'The Titans' are, (well, you can probably guess) or at least why I haven't mentioned them before, but everything will be explained in chapter 14.