Victor's POV
I couldn't find Percy.
I had already freaked. I freaked even more when I saw faint streaks of blood on the sand and onto the forest. The councilers were all here together, even Posiedon was here. Annabeth was crying silently, tears dripping down her face. Posiedon's face was grim, and the rest just looked worried.
"It can't be Tartarus." Jason said uncertainly.
"Maybe a monster?" Piper suggested.
Nico shook his head. "There is no way he would of been pulled away by a monster. And also, he would be dead by now if it was."
"Then where could he be?"
Everyone was silent.
"Maybe he ran away."
Everyone stared at me.
"But... Percy wouldn't do that." Nico said with wide eyes.
I narrowed my eyes. "I know. He's not. Annabeth should know. Many things here would remind him of Theo."
Annabeth didn't seem like she was listening.
"It's all my fault." she sobbed.
I scowled. "No. And you can stop crying."
She wiped her eyes. "We have to hope he ran away." she said blankly.
I nodded.
"We just have to hope."
~
Annabeth's POV
I knew I had screwed up.
I scraped half of my food in the brazier, praying to every god I knew. What would I do now? What could l do? I looked down. A week had passed. The search parties couldn't find a trace of Percy. I knew they would never find him.
But how would l tell everyone what l had done?
"Annabeth?" Luke put a hand on my shoulder. "Councilers meeting."
A lump of fear caught in my throat. I knew l couldn't go. I would get caught. But what excuse did I have? I swallowed. "Okay."
We walked to the big house together in silence.
"It must be hard for you. You know... About Percy."
I looked at the ground. It was hard to choke up words. "Yeah."
Hazel came up next to me. "He'll be okay."
I knew that couldn't be true. He was wounded, and was out there somewhere with nobody to take care of him.
"I hope so."
~
"Nobody had any dreams? Heard anything?" Posiedon asked.
We all shook our heads, including me. The council was ending. Nobody knew.
Nico raised his hand, and everyone stared at him.
"I think Annabeth knows something."
All eyes were on me.
My heart pounded.
"I- I don't know anything." I mentally cursed my trembling voice.
"Annabeth. You have to tell us."
A tear rolled down my cheek. "I can't."
Nico narrowed his eyes. "You can't hide guilt from me Annabeth. What is it."
I burst out in tears, and everyone was silent.
"What did you do?" Victor asked, a dangerous edge to his voice.
"I-" I gulped. "I cut off his wing." I sobbed.
Everyone was silent.
"But.... I thought his wings were indestructable."
Victor was white. "Not the base." his eyes were wide and shocked. "What did you do?"
Someone grabbed me by my shirt, and I was dangling in the air.
"How can you do that!? How can you do that to Percy?" Zoe yelled. "And you hid it from us all this time?"
Luke pulled us apart, and I collasped to the ground, crying.
"He told me he wound bring back Theo." I cried. "He swore on the river Styx."
"And you screw up?" Posiedon said incredulously.
I couldn't say anything. I could only cry- regretting my actions that happened a week ago.
That terrible night.
"You're a daughter of Athena! You're supposed to be smart!"
Now everybody hated me.
"Council ajourned." Jason said in a tight voice. "And Annabeth.... Lets have a talk."
~
"Annabeth, it's alright. You can stop crying." Luke soothed beside me.
"But- I-" I sniffed. "I cut of his wings."
"Okay. Can you tell me what happened? In detail?" Jason asked.
"I had a dream." I sniffed. "Promethesus said he would bring Theo back to life if I brought him Percy's wings. I didn't believe him at first- but he swore on the river Styx. So I met Percy at the beach. When he fell asleep, I..." I choked on my words and tears. "I cut off his wing. I was cutting off the other one- but he-" I took a deep breath. "I ran. And I met Promethesus, but he said he couldn't bring back Theo."
"Why?"
"He said wings." I said miserably. "I needed to give him both."
Both boys were silent. I wiped my eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Luke patted my shoulder. "It's okay. It was just Promethesus tricking you. We can find Percy. Don't worry."
"But he'll hate me." I cried. "He won't love me anymore."
"Annabeth." Jason said quietly. "I'm sorry, but it is selfish to wish that he'll love you."
I looked down.
"I know. I just can't imagine it."
~