Rachel's Note

Prologue

Oh my gods. No. This cant be happening, it can't, no ones luck could be that bad...could it?

" Chiron!" Rachel's voice rang out through the amphitheatre, "Chiron, there's something I need to tell you."

Chiron's POV

I looked up from the campfire, towards the oracle. Her face was unnaturally pale, and I new nothing good would come from what she was going to tell me. "What is it, my dear?" I'm pretty sure even the Stoll's could hear the worry in my voice. "Can we talk in the big house?" She asked me. I nodded and scooped her onto my back. I galloped to the big house and plopped her down onto the couch. I told her to tell me what was wrong, she took a shaky breath and handed me a note. On the front was written:

Connor,
Give this to Rachel. Not a prank. Don't be a moron.
Love,
Annabeth

I drew an intake of breath and turned the note over. What I read shattered my heart.

Rachel, it's Annabeth, this may sound crazy, but I need you to talk to Reyna, from Camp Jupiter. Tell her to come after the 7, we need her help. The 7 are all okay, at least, last I heard. Percy and I have fallen into Tartarus. We want you guys to know that if either of us don't make it, we love you guys heaps. We hope you can move on without us.

With love,

Annabeth

I wiped a tear from my cheek and looked at Rachel. "Should we tell the others?" she asked me, her voice wobbling and tears rolling down her face. "I think we should, they would find out eventually." With that, Rachel stood up from the couch and headed back towards the camp fire.

3rd POV

Chiron stood before the campers, his face ashen, and cleared his throat. "Campers, we have word from Annabeth" excited chatter ran throughout the amphitheatre, but stopped when Chiron took a shaky breath, a single tear falling from his left eye. "The 7 are all well, but a terrible fate has fallen on Annabeth and Percy." The whispering that could still be heard stopped completely when he mentioned the son of Poseidon's name. Most of the campers had never met him, but they had all heard the stories of the legendary Percy Jackson. "They have fall-" his voice faltered, but he kept going, "They have fallen into...Tartarus." he said the name quietly, as if afraid that if he spoke it out loud, it would somehow make it more real, more painful. The campers in the front row gasped, and the other campers started talking loudly, trying to get Chiron to repeat himself. It seems that in the last ten minutes, the old centaur had aged ten years. Clarrise La Rue, who had been sitting with the Ares cabin in the back row, stood up and bellowed, "QUIET!" All talking ceased immediately, and she asked Chiron to repeat himself. "Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, and Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, have fallen into Tartarus." that one sentence was enough for the camps mood to change in a matter of milliseconds. The campfire, which had been bright yellow and raging into the night sky, turned dark and low, casting a ghostly shadow on all the campers face. "NO!" Grover stood up and screamed at the centaur. "They cant have! I wont believe it, I won't!" in front of everyone, Grover Underwood, Lord of the Wild, fell to his knees and sobbed. Horrible, heart broken sobs. Not even the Ares cabin called him a baby. His girlfriend, Juniper, came a crouched beside him, cradling him like a mother might cradle her child. some of the original campers, the Stoll's, Malcom, Annabeth's brother and Katie Gardener, all broke down and cried, the grief and sadness of the last few months all coming out in one horrible moment. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, had fallen into Tartarus.

And they may never make it back...