𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔢𝔲𝔰

Chapter Thirteen [Chiron] - Teenagers...

A month later...

There had been no sign of them. None at all.

No Chaos. No Tartarus.

And Percy gone just like that. That was what made me stare out the window in sadness most nights. The fact that the wonderful boy I had come to care for so much was gone.

Not really, I reminded myself. If I knew Percy at all, I knew that no amount of words from Chaos or actions from the Olympians could change who Percy was inside. At the moment, the boy might believe that he had to be hard, cold even... but Percy had a good heart. Nothing could change that.

I took some comfort in the thought, but not much. They were still missing... from the face of the planet, it seemed. The Olympians, despite every effort they had made, had found no trace of them. Sally Jackson had been informed of what had been happening as soon as she got back from her meeting a week ago. She was now searching all the mortal areas for him desperately. I felt sympathy for her. She had lost Percy when Hera had taken him against his will. Now she had lost him again. And not against his will this time.

How could he have gone willingly? I found myself asking that question for the millionth time since Percy's departure. How could he believe someone like Chaos? I hoped Chaos would rot in a place further below than even his son's realm for eternity for what he had done.

Annabeth entered the room and stood near my shoulder, glancing up at me. I didn't look at her. I didn't want to speak to her at that moment; there was too much to deal with in too little time. Who knew what Chaos, Tartarus and... Percy... could be planning?

"Ouranos sent a message," she said quietly. I finally looked at her, my interest piqued now.

Ah, the matter of Ouranos. Chaos and Tartarus thought he was on their side. But Ouranos had gone to the Olympians months before and pledged ten decades of service to them in exchange for banishing Gaea so that he could roam free again. Part of that debt was informing us of Chaos's movements. He could not say where they were - for some magics Chaos had placed on him and all his warriors prevented him from revealing it. But he was a useful source of information, to say the least. either Chaos or Tartarus came to suspect...
If you don't think about it, it won't come to it. I sounded wise in my head, but I knew that even if something sounded wise, it was not always true.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Percy's going to his mom's."

I sighed. Not in frustration with myself for not knowing that he would eventually go back there, but in sympathy for his mother. How it must be for her to see her son like this... Somehow we needed to convince him to change his loyalties back to us. We couldn't lose him...

"Then we are too," I said. Me and Annabeth were going to meet Percy.

Holy Hera, if I knew what Annabeth was going through right now...

We made it to Percy's mom's place before Percy. Percy was taking his time coming here apparently.

I turned to Sally as soon as we got in. Annabeth and I would mist ourselves the strongest we possibly could. But I didn't know how much that would work against him, considering how he had been able to sense us back at Mount Olympus. "If you need anything when you talk to him, don't hesitate to give a signal."

Sally just looked at me, seeming offended at my words. "I'm sorry, Chiron... But I'm the one who raised my son. Alone for eleven years... I can talk to my own son just fine."

I nodded, admiring her courage for saying that. I could see the water behind her eyes and hear the shakiness of her voice, but she was a brave one. I could see what had made Poseidon fall for her.