Next Chapter! Thank you for all of the well-wishes, favs and follows this story has gotten! Love you all!

IAmHelenOfTroy: Hi! I think there's been a small misunderstanding. You see, we are co-authoring this story, AngelOfDarkness can verify it for you. I have written that out in the authors notes but sorry!

Annabeth shivered, feeling a chill run down her spine.

It's just nerves. I haven't been in Olympus for a long time.

It's just nerves.

She bit her lip and shook her head. She wouldn't dishonour herself by comforting herself with a lie. She knew in her gut that something was wrong, however irrational that was. But even without her physic 'feeling' (note to get rid of that, she was not going to become another Percy) she knew that Percy, for all his strength was still half-human. He couldn't go on forever. And in the fight he had been holding back, at least partially. For Nico, his powers drained him so he rarely used them in common battles, and she of course was capable enough to only rely on her wit and intellect. Percy was a different matter altogether. His powers seemed like more of a natural extension of his fighting style, and they worked to heal and regenerate him.

Why wasn't Percy okay…

Why wasn't he back?

Annabeth trusted Nico, he would follow Percy, and there was no way that Nico would abandon Percy if he seemed to be in trouble. But the entire fight was wrong. Yes the mortals were a threat and it was important to hold them off, not attack them directly, but the plan Chiron had come up with was strange. Chiron would never put any of them in danger and yet he seemed oddly happy with the plan, not even offering to stay.

Did that count as a red flag?

Also, the mortals. It was terrifying that their existence had been threatened but there was still something…Off. She hadn't been around genuine mortals since she was seven, and she had no real grasp on their technology and what they were capable of. In fact, she had no idea what the capabilities of people who weren't half-bloods were. In camp, everyone had a strict role, and hers was strategizing against monsters, with obvious attack potential. But she had never tried to see her enemies minds, maybe that was wrong. But there had never been a real need to, she had been in peace for most of her life and when there were major battles she was always working in a unit or at least with other people by her side. And they had preparations, thanks to prophecies. However hard they were to understand, at least they gave warning. Like a giant cosmic bell.

Ding ding get ready your life is going to be ruined within the next few weeks so up and at em people!

Mentally pushing that… Oddly Percy-like thought to the back (far far back) of her mind she thought of what she knew about the enemy.

The mortals awareness, something she'd never even considered happening. Besides conspiracy theorists and crazy people, nobody had even gotten close to figuring out the truth about their existence. It started with the 'natural disasters' that Gaea's awakening caused. The massive upheaval of the Earth revealed new minerals and ores, enough to stimulate a practical revolution in engineering and science.

Mental note, figure out how advanced mortal technology is.

It was annoying, Percy was always the one who knew about mortals and full-humans, courtesy of crime dramas and whatnot. She didn't even know if they had developed past smartphones. And pre-seven Annabeth had been interested in little else than her godly mother, physics and ancient greek, Warfare was a massive gap. But…

She wrinkled her brow, thinking all the way back to history her father had told her about, with…

With bombs.

Remembering the horrific pictures of Nagasaki and Hiroshima almost made her stomach turn just thinking about it, those were not suitable for a curious child. Her father had been distraught that she'd looked them up but that wasn't her focus now.

Because she remembered the massive damage that they had caused.

If the mortals wanted to wipe out half-bloods, why didn't they just drop another bomb? They had planes and she was sure that they could toss one out.

But that-

That didn't make sense because why wouldn't the mortals do that unless-

…

Unless the mortals didn't want to kill them.

She had never even considered-Mortals had never fought them-And anyone who she did fight, ergo monsters had never wanted anything but death.

But these were mortals.

Regular rules didn't apply.

"Annabeth?"

It was Jason, he must have seen her face, wide eyed and terrified in the wake of her latest realisation.

"Jason, why did the mortals attack us?"

"Annabeth, what are you talking about? If this is about your father, I'm sure he didn't rat us out, it must be one of our parents and-"

"Just, just answer the question. Why did the mortals attack us?"

Jason looked hesitant, almost scared. It was understandable, with how she was acting.

"To kill us. To wipe us off the map."

"No, that's what monsters want, but mortals are different."

Jason had lost his hesitancy, face morphing into one of puzzlement and slight concern.

"Annabeth, if you're not coping-"

"No no, mortals aren't monsters. Monsters would want to kill us but mortals, even if they did, why do it in a direct attack? They have better forms of warfare than guns, they have long distance attacks. Going from how they were attacking, their strategy is more appropriate for-for a raid or if-"

Her mind screeched to a halt.

"Or if they were looking for something."

Jason was a blur at the edge of her subconscious because Percy with all his mortal knowledge would have understood this immediately, and he must have known that the mortals were looking for them not hunting them down. Percy would have known so why had he gone.

Why did Chiron choose this strategy?

Annabeth needed to talk to the Gods.

Percy… Please be okay.

Leo shouldn't have come back.

That was his only thought as he knelt on the battlefield that was so empty, filled only with the bodies of injured soldiers. Festus creaked and groaned from besides him. The curly-haired boy gritted his teeth, trying to hold back tears.

Why!

Percy had vanished, taken or worse. And Leo had been helpless. Just like his mother, just like Calypso.

Too often this had happened.

The lump in his throat grew and pulsated, causing him to bend over with agony, the pain in his heart and throat swelling. He choked, falling to the ground, dirt less than a centimetre from his nose nonononononono-

His breathing picked up, choking him. The blood pounded in his veins, ringing and thudding in his ears sounding like a drumming pandemonium. He splayed his fingers across his chest, his heart thudding so heavily his ribs were surely bruised-could nobody hear that ringing noise and why was his vision so distorted it felt as though the World was trapped outside from him, like he was looking out from a lens-was nobody hearing him, was that yelling, what was even going on!

"-eo!"

He knew that voice.

The ringing and banging didn't vanish but receded slightly, enough for his to discern his surroundings.

Battlefield. Festus. Guns. Percy-

"Leo BREATHE! Can you hear me!"

He couldn't breathe, the lump choking him, stopping him from inhaling oxygen, why was there a ringing he needed to breath why was his mouth not working.

He was choking on his own saliva and attempts at breathing but he couldn't stabilise.

"Calm"

Suddenly his vision cleared and he could breathe. Nothing was obstructing his breath, nobody was choking him. He was fine. His brow wrinkled. He had never calmed down that quickly…

"LEO!"

He jerked back to his surroundings, only to be directly faced with the almond eyes he had agonised for for months before they had reunited.

"Wh-what?"

"You were panicking, and I-I didn't know what to do because you were choking and seemed so scared and you told me to stay away but their weapons shot fire and you couldn't get close and you need to calm down because the only thing I thought to do was cast a spell but it won't last much longer so-"

"Hey hey, I'm alright, genuinely. They-they're anxiety attacks and I have them every now and again, it's been a long time. The last time was… Was when I lost you."

Calypso looked at him, panic and concern creasing her face. She sniffed uglily and flung her arms around him.

"O-Okay we're doing the hugs. Hugs are good. O-oh no no, crying. Crying no good I don't know what to do with crying CALYPSO WHY ARE YOU CRYING PLEASE-"

She choked with laughter, a sound he'd never grow tired of, and her sobs subsided. He felt his pseudo-calm fall away as the spell finally wore off, leaving him with his concern over his friend. But right now, his heart was still thudding and the girl he loved most in the World was in his arm and he needed a minute. He squeezed his eyes shut and looped his arms around her.

"We're okay… And we'll find him."

She was probably confused but that was okay. She could catch up in a bit.

Percy…. Please be okay.

When Percy woke up, he had no idea where he was. His vision was still slightly blurred but he could discern his surroundings. It looked like some ominous lab from a movie. Everything was painted white but the room was dark with hardly any light. There was no window and he gulped realising that he was most likely underground, how far he had no idea. Equipment was everywhere and Percy realized with a jolt that some of it was for him.

He tried to move but his legs and arms were strapped down by something he couldn't break through. Upon further investigation, he realized that Riptide was missing, something he had never believed possible, and he wasn't wearing the same clothes as he was before.

What happened?

His vision was clear now as memories of the attack came rushing back to him. He had been fighting... But then he was knocked unconscious and ended up being captured by the mortals.

Annabeth! Is she okay? Is the rest of the camp okay?

Percy was shook out of his thoughts by the door opening. A man in a lab coat came in but the room was too dark for Percy to see what he looked like.

"Ah, you're awake I see," the man said, coming closer to him.

As he came closer, Percy was able to see what he looked like. He had short gray hair but he wasn't wrinkly like an old man. He seemed quite young, in fact. He wore glasses and his clothes were like something Percy would expect from a sci-fi movie.

"Who… who are you?" Percy demanded, his green eyes darkening with anger.

The man smirked at him and replied, "You'll find out soon enough demigod. For now, all you need to know is why you're here."

The man walked to one of the desks and pulled out a syringe filled with a blue chemical. He injected it into Percy's arm as Percy struggles to get away. Percy didn't feel any effects from the chemical however and continued to struggle.

The man, caught by surprise, laughed and said, "It seems like you have grown immune to the numbing drug. Doesn't matter though since I have something stronger I can use."

The man pulled out a different syringe, this time filled with a green chemical. When he injected it into Percy, he began to feel numb. He couldn't move his arms anymore and he had no choice expect to just lay down. The man hummed in satisfaction and injected another syringe.

"There we go," the scientist said, smirking at him, "Now you won't be able to escape."

"Why…," Percy groaned, starting to feel sleepy, "why are you doing this?"

"It's quite simple really. You demigods are a threat to us mortals. You have powers that no mortal has ever had. When we first discovered you, we were afraid. But we soon realized that we were more powerful. Our weapons are more advanced than your fancy swords and they can't harm us. However…," the man started to explain, "Your other powers you get from your godly parent is simply extraordinary. That's why we didn't wipe you out. The government wants that power and quite frankly, so do we. And we will get these powers by whatever means necessary."

The man smiled greedily and that was the last thing Percy saw before he lost consciousness.

Everyone, this… This is dangerous. I hope that… Just… Please be okay.