Annabeth
Annabeth knew her day was about to get infinitely worse when her mother appeared. All she wanted was a picnic with her boyfriend on one of her rare days off from school, when they both had the time to hang out without worrying about homework or extracurriculars. Couldn't the universe let her have that after everything they'd been through?
"Hello, Annabeth," Athena said.
The goddess moved so smoothly across the grass that Annabeth wasn't surprised to see she wasn't even touching it, just hovering an inch above it. The bright sun reflecting off her white dress was nearly blinding. Annabeth would have appreciated the fact that she sat down to reduce the glare, except for the fact that she sat down on Annabeth's picnic blanket, which meant this wouldn't be a quick visit.
"Mother," Annabeth said, sliding closer to Percy who instinctively slipped his arm around her.
Athena glanced at him and her lips curled. "Perseus." Surprisingly, she almost sounded polite.
Reading the situation and thankfully staying composed, Percy inclined his head and said, "Lady Athena."
Athena turned back to Annabeth and smiled, though it felt wrong. Like she was trying too hard. "How are you?" she asked.
Annabeth rolled her eyes and cut to the chase. "What do you want?"
Athena frowned. "Can I not visit my daughter?"
Annabeth shook her head. "Not since the last time you visited me you practically disowned me and sent me on a quest that nearly got me killed."
Athena looked down her nose at Annabeth. "The Athena Parthenos needed to be returned to the Greeks. As my brightest child, you were the natural choice to follow the Mark of Athena. I knew you would succeed. I had complete faith in you."
"That's still not an apology," Annabeth growled.
Athena narrowed her eyes. "I don't see why—"
"Why are you here now, Athena?" Percy interrupted, and Annabeth was secretly grateful. She was tired of hashing out the same argument with her mother.
Athena sighed. "I require your . . . assistance."
Annabeth's jaw dropped. "Seriously? You want to send me on another quest?"
"No," Athena said, reaching out to touch Annabeth's knee. Annabeth resisted the urge to slap her hand away. "Not exactly. It's my children. Your siblings. They are in danger."
Some of the tension drained from Annabeth's body. "What are you talking about? Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter are both perfectly safe."
Athena nodded. "Yes, of course, they are. But some of my children who have not been claimed yet are in danger. They are being hunted."
Annabeth frowned. "By whom?"
Athena drew back. "The perpetrator is hiding from me. But I know it is one of my enemies."
"Where is this happening?" Percy asked.
Athena didn't look at him. "Here, in California. Throughout various cities. Four of my children have been taken so far."
The thought of innocents was wearing Annabeth down. "So you want me to find them?"
"You mean 'us,'" Percy said. "I'm not letting her do this alone."
Athena considered him. "Fine. I suppose the son of Poseidon would be a useful weapon. Yes, I want you to find them and protect the rest."
"The rest?" Annabeth asked, trying to suppress the rage she felt at her mother calling her boyfriend a weapon.
Athena waved her hand, and a piece of paper appeared in her palm. She held it out, and Annabeth read through the list of names and locations.
She looked up at Athena. "These are all your children in California? I never knew you had so many kids."
Athena almost seemed defensive, but Annabeth could only tell because she was her mother. "As you know, there isn't much intellectual company among the Olympians. I had to look elsewhere."
Percy read the list over her shoulder. "How are we supposed to find the missing kids and protect all the rest? There's too many."
"If we take out whatever's hunting them quickly, we won't have to protect them all," Annabeth said, scouring the page. She glanced at her mother. "What's the pattern?"
"They've begun with the easternmost cities and made their way west toward the coast," Athena said.
"So if we follow their path, we can get to their next target and stop them there," Annabeth finished.
Athena smiled. "Exactly."
Annabeth sighed. "Fine. I'll do it. But I'm doing it for them. My siblings. Not for you."
Athena nodded as though she'd expected that answer. "Thank you, Annabeth. If necessary, send them to Camp Half-Blood."
Annabeth scoffed. "I know what to do with your children better than you do at this point."
Annabeth almost regretted her words at the angry look on Athena's face, but then she remembered the terror she'd felt on her quest to find the Athena Parthenos and all the bones of her siblings who'd come before her and failed. Athena deserved the reminder that her actions had consequences, and that not all of her children would follow blindly like good little soldiers.
Athena chose not to engage and simply stood from the picnic blanket. She looked at Percy again and said in the same flat tone, "Perseus."
Percy tipped an imaginary hat. "Lady Athena."
Then she vanished, and Annabeth let out a huge breath. She tossed the paper to the ground and fought the urge to crumple it into a ball.
Percy tugged Annabeth into his arms, tucking her head into his neck. "You okay?
"She just makes me so angry!" Annabeth exclaimed. "Like nothing I do is ever good enough for her. And she's allergic to apologizing. Gah!"
Percy hugged her tighter. "She's a god. They're all like that."
Annabeth sighed. "I know. I should stop hoping she'll be different. It's just—she was different when I was young. She guided me when I ran away from home. She helped me find Luke and Thalia. And she gave me my invisibility cap. I used to think she'd always be that caring and helpful. Now, she's just like all the rest."
"Maybe it's because she knows you don't need her like that anymore," Percy said.
"Yeah, maybe," Annabeth mused. "Still, an apology would be nice for what she pulled with the Mark of Athena."
"Believe me, I know. I hated watching you go through that."
Annabeth turned in Percy's arms and kissed him, which he eagerly returned. When they separated, she said, "Thanks for being nice to her."
"Instead of being my charming, snarky, impertinent self? You're welcome."
Annabeth nudged him with her elbow, and he chuckled. She wished she could have stayed there for hours and hours with him, but they had a job to do.
"Come on," she said after extracting herself from his nice, warm arms. "We better hit the road if we want to make it to the next kid in time to save them."
Percy looked forlornly at their picnic basket they hadn't had a chance to break into yet. He opened his mouth, and Annabeth answered before he could ask his question, "Yes, we'll bring the food and eat on the road."
~
A few phone calls later to explain to their schools and friends that they would be gone for at least a day or two, and a trip to their dorms to pack a few bags, Percy and Annabeth hit the road in his Prius that still had dents in the roof from Blackjack's hooves. It would take them a few hours to get from San Francisco to Stockton, where the next target lived. His name was Jasper Kleimann, and he was twelve years old. So, he would be claimed soon anyway. Once Annabeth made sure he was safe, she'd get a satyr to bring him to Camp Half-Blood so he could learn to protect himself. It would be quicker to send him to Camp Jupiter, but they didn't take the Greek children of Athena. Minerva was even more of a maiden goddess than Athena. She didn't even have brain children.
Percy drove while Annabeth researched and planned and occasionally handed him snacks. She used her laptop sporadically, not keen on attracting any other monsters to their location while they were on the hunt for another.
"Okay, I found his house," Annabeth said after they'd been on the road for a few hours. "We'll go there first and talk to Jasper and his father. If they don't already know who his mom is, we'll explain everything to them. Then we'll wait for this monster to show up and take it out."
"Are you sure it's a good idea to use a twelve-year-old as bait?" Percy asked.
Annabeth sighed. "I know, I don't like it either. But clearly, this monster has a score to settle, and it's smart enough to target Athena's children. If it sees any hint we're onto it, it'll move on to the next kid."
Percy nodded. "Okay. I trust you."
Annabeth closed her laptop with more force than necessary. Percy must have noticed, because he asked, "Are you sure you're okay to do this?"
Annabeth shoved her laptop into her bag. "Yeah. I meant what I said. I'm doing this for my siblings. They didn't ask to be born into this life or to have Athena for their mother. They shouldn't be punished for that. They're my family, and I want to protect them."
Percy held out his hand, and Annabeth took it, grateful for his presence. "Thanks for coming with me."
He smiled. "Never again, remember? We're never getting separated. Your problems are my problems."
Annabeth grinned and couldn't resist poking fun at him. "Good thing I don't have many problems since you've got enough of your own."
Percy laughed. "Oh, so that's how it's gonna be?"
Annabeth laughed and relished in the weight it lifted from her. "That's how it always is, Seaweed Brain."
~
Annabeth was feeling good about their plan. So, of course, that meant it all had to go wrong immediately.
It was late by the time they rolled into Stockton, and they headed immediately for Jasper Kleimann's house. But when they got there, they found police cars and Jasper's distraught father sitting on the front steps with a blanket wrapped around him. Jasper was nowhere to be seen.
"We're too late," Annabeth whispered as they drove by.
Percy's knuckles tightened around the steering wheel. "We'll find him. And we'll kill the monster and save the next kid."
Annabeth pulled out the paper Athena had given her. "Okay. The next one is Miles Carver in Hayward."
Percy turned the car around and drove out of the residential area of the town. But just before joining the highway that would take them to Hayward, he pulled over at a motel.
"Why are you stopping?" Annabeth demanded.
"Annabeth, it's late, and we've been driving all day," he said as he turned the car off. "Let's get some rest. We'll get moving first thing tomorrow morning. We can't help Miles if we're too tired to fight."
"But the monster—"
"You said there have been a few days between each disappearance. Miles will be fine for one more night. Tomorrow, we'll find him and stay with him until the monster comes for him."
Annabeth wanted to argue with him. She wanted to yank him out of the driver's seat and take his place and push on until they reached Hayward, but she knew he was right. She was tired from sitting in a car all day, and emotionally drained from worrying about her siblings and replaying the conversation with her mother over and over in her head. Percy was right. They couldn't do anything good right now, except sleep.
"Okay," Annabeth relented. "You're right."
They got out of the car and made their way to the front office. The parking lot was packed with road trippers resting for the night: Toyotas, Hondas, Volkswagens, Jeeps, and even a Chevy Impala. Hopefully, none of them would think too much of two college students passing through.
They got a single room and settled in quickly, exhausted from the drive. Annabeth set her alarm for an ungodly hour just to be safe and then tucked herself into Percy's arms. His soft breathing lulled her into sleep, but her dreams were filled with tiny blonde-haired and gray-eyed children calling out for help, and she could do nothing as she watched them die.