The Lightning Thief [Book One]

Gone.

Annabeth was tending to Percy's wounds once again, just like when he first stumbled into camp that one night so many months ago. It felt longer though, like a year ago. Percy was no longer the naïve camper who lost his mom. He was no longer an unclaimed Demigod that didn't know anything. She smiled to herself, using a small rag to dab the drool off his face. Percy's eyes fluttered and slowly opened, and he groaned out hoarsely. "L-Luke-"

Annabeth's eyes widened and she sat up so suddenly that the stool she was sitting on tipped over. "Chiron!"

Percy was standing outside on the porch of the Big House with Chiron in his wheelchair and Annabeth standing there with her shoulder braced against a wooden pole, staring out at the strawberry fields where Satyr's were prancing about freely. Percy was explaining what had happened with Luke. The strange encounter in the forest was explained, with Luke admitting to stealing the Master Lightning Bolt and Helm of Darkness and working with Kronos. Annabeth had a hard time believing that Luke would do this, almost refused to believe what Percy was saying, but the evidence against Luke was irrefutable. A small figure could be seen in the distance, running towards the Big House as quickly as her short legs could carry her, and Annabeth quickly remembered this was the small girl that always hung around Reagan. She couldn't seem to remember her name at the moment. As she neared the front porch, huffing breathlessly and wiping away stray tears from her face, Chiron immediately dropped the conversation pertaining to Luke working with Kronos.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, turning his wheelchair to face the girl as she slowly climbed up the stairs onto the porch.

"She's gone!" she choked out, sobs racking her small body because Reagan, in such short time, meant a lot to the nine year old girl.

Annabeth frowned. "Who?"

Rose turned her watery eyes to the blonde. "Reagan!"

Rosalinda was asked to explain everything, from this morning until now in the afternoon. She had regained most of her composure, but was now suffering from a severe case of hiccups that interrupted her speech every once and a while, until Percy offered her his glass of water and the hiccups were cured.

"I was supposed to meet Reagan in the training arena," Rosalinda said, fingers absently playing with the tips of her hair nervously. "She didn't show up for a while, so I went to her cabin to see if she had possibly forgotten or got busy, but Clarisse said she wasn't there!" She paused, frowning down at her feet and looked back up, her bottom lip trembling. Annabeth was sure she would start bawling again. "I...I don't think Reagan was even at breakfast this morning. I didn't even think it was strange, just thought that she had ditched or somethin'," she mumbled meekly.

Reagan and Rosalinda had always met up at the arena after lunch, because Reagan liked to train and Rosalinda enjoyed watching her, and sometimes the daughter of Ares gave her tips and pointers. Annabeth never noticed Reagan's absence, and immediately began to mentally reprimand herself for not noticing earlier. Her whole body tensed up, because not only did she lose Luke, but she also lost Reagan.

Annabeth was helping Percy load his belongings into the taxi, but her mind was somewhere else. Percy grunted as he hefted the last bag into the trunk and closed it. Annabeth blinked when it slammed shut, grey eyes raising to look over at her friend.

"We'll stop Luke," Percy said confidently. When she nodded, he continued, but in a gentler tone of voice. "Do you think Reagan is-"

"No. I don't think Reagan is dead," Annabeth cut him off, not wanting to hear his thoughts on the matter.

"We cannot use resources searching for Reagan, not now with Luke. We must assume she's dead," Chiron said, placing a gentle hand on the blonde's shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly and sympathetically

"She's not dead," Annabeth repeated aloud, slowly shaking her head as Chiron's words rang out in her head. "Percy, maybe she went to her mom again. If you can, could you...."

Percy nodded in understanding. "Yeah. I'll check."

Annabeth nodded nervously, wringing her hands in front of her. "Thanks, Percy."

He offered a smile. "Staying at camp?"

She shook her head. "No. I've decided to try living with my dad again." She pursed her lips anxiously.

"That's great, Annabeth! I hope it works out."

"Thanks. And I hope you don't burn down your new school, Seaweed Brain," she teased.

Percy smiled bemusedly and climbed into the taxi, waving to Annabeth as the car drove away back in the direction of Manhattan. She waved back weakly, waiting until she couldn't see the yellow taxi anymore before turning and climbing back up the hill to go to her cabin to finish packing. On the way, she passed the Ares cabin and made a quick, last minute decision to walk inside. It was empty for the most part, aside from a few Ares kids straggling behind. They gave Annabeth a dirty look before they too left, leaving the blonde alone. It was easy to find Reagan's bed, because pinned to the wall was a picture of Reagan and her mother. The dark haired, young Reagan was laying in a hospital bed, arm up in a sling. Despite the broken arm, Annabeth smiled weakly and walked over. Her eyes scanned the scant bed, noticing the bedsheets weren't disheveled like someone didn't sleep in it. Or someone made the bed very neatly. But that was doubtful, considering all the other bedsheets were messed up and everywhere, pillows strewn across the floor. But now it was clear.

Annabeth smiled again, but the smile was dry and all the saliva in her mouth was gone with the realization of a line from Percy's prophecy. "You shall be abandoned by one who you grow close to," she recited, and finally the words made sense.

Reagan really was gone.