Lost

30

Thanksgiving went by with a blur, along with the days leading up to Christmas.

Every day I went to school on Chiron's orders, my mom would ask me if I was feeling fine, and Paul would try to get me to talk at dinner.

After school I went through Daedalus's computer in hopes of finding something new, which I never did.

I also tried to talk to Hazel, Frank, Leo, Calypso, Piper, and Jason about finding Annabeth, but none of them were as devoted and me, and the phone would barely work, anyways.

Christmas was small this year with just Paul, my mom, and Estelle. I watched as Estelle opened her first present and grinned with glee.

"I'll be right back, I've just gotta grab something from my room," I lied to my mother.

She nodded, but I could tell she wanted to say no. "Be back soon, please. We'll miss you out here."

My room was as messy as always as I made no attempt to ever pick it up. I sat down on my bed and loaded up Daedalus's computer and read over Annabeth's note to myself over and over again.

Then I heard the familiar sound of water and turned to see an Iris message materializing in front of me.

"I accept?" I said as the rainbow mist turned into an image.

It was a close up of Nico's face. He looked skinnier and bruised, but his eyes were wide with fear.

"Percy!" he cried as the image flickered.

"Nico?!" I asked. I leaped off my bed and ran over to the Iris message. "Where are you? Are you okay? Is Annabeth with you?! Is Reyna?!"

The image flickered again and Nico spoke again, this time fear filled his voice. "Percy—"

The image flickered a little before coming back briefly. "—go back to Rome!"

The image then closed, leaving me all alone again in my room. My hands instantly found a few spare drachmas as I rushed to my bathroom and turned on the fountain.

"O, Iris, show me Nico Di'Angelo!" I said as I chucked the drachmas through the rainbow mist that was materializing.

Then the screen flickered. I saw Nico's face again, this time it was bobbing up and down—he was running. And, by the looks of it, away from something.

Before I could ask him anything, the screen went blank and soon disappeared.

The drachma clunked against the countertops and the water suddenly stopped. I had failed to contact him again.

Before I could even process anything, I rushed out of my room and grabbed my coat and started hastily pulling it on myself.

My mother stood up and rushed over to me. Both Paul and Estelle went silent, Estelle even dropping her Christmas presents.

"Percy, where are you going?" my mom demanded as she rushed over to me. Before I could grab the door handle she grabbed my arm and forcefully pulled me away. "You can't just run off!"

I sighed and tried to break her grip. "I'm sorry, mom, I really am, but I got an Iris message. From Nico. He—he said go back to Rome, and I need to get to camp. Now."

My mother's eyes widened as she lessened her grip on me. Then she placed the car keys in my hand. "Take the minivan. I trust you, Percy."

I nodded and rushed out to the street. I got in the car and drove to camp as Christmas music blared on the radio. And then it started to snow.