Chiron took a deep breath, weariness and sadness from the loss of yet another hero marred his face.

"We must launch a search party immediately." The centaur turned to Mr. D, who, despite Thalia volunteering herself not a second later, shook his head.

"No, we might have regrettably lost uh... Annie Bell-"

"Annabeth." the daughter of Zeus snapped.

"Yes her, we might've lost her but we've gotten a small annoying new boy to replace her. Why risk more demigods on a rescue that might prove futile? There's a possibility that this girl is dead already."

Percy hated hearing these words from the wine god but he knew, he fucking knows alright, that Annabeth might already be dead. He didn't want to believe it, didn't want to ever have to think of such things but the reality was there. He couldn't turn away from it, couldn't make up some fantasy that the daughter of Athena was somewhere alive and well and in need of saving.

"Annabeth may still be alive," Chiron says, trying to sound upbeat but failing to lift the mood. "She is a very bright girl. If our enemies.. have her, she will play for time, perhaps even pretend to cooperate."

Thalia brightened a bit, "Luke would want her alive."

"Yes, well in that case. She will have to be smart enough to escape on her own." Mr  D said.

The room fell silent. Percy felt white hot rage and was ready to stand up and tell the god exactly what he thought about that suggestion. Thalia looked as if she was ready to do the same.

But he couldn't.

He wouldn't.

He was raised as the heir of the Dark Lord and he'd be damned if he didn't act like it. With that, he retreated the menacing scowl etched on his aristocratic features and folded his hands on his lap.

Mr. D was a god, not at all someone you should mess with or have as an adversary. He managed to avoid a brawl with Ares just two years ago.

"My Lord... surely there is a way we can get Annabeth back? She is one of our best strategists, and an invaluable member of this camp. You know as much as I that if this.. situation with Kronos escalates we would need her."

The god sighed deeply and was about to reply when- "This is so cool!" exclaimed Nico who had just burst into the room. Grover followed closely behind. "You're.. you're an actually centaur!" the enthusiastic boy grinned, waving his hands towards Chiron, "and you-" he turned to Mr. D "you're the wine dude!"

The "wine dude" didn't seem particularly happy with being called that and the god's expression turned more and more confused when Nico started talking about his favorite card game and how the god was in it.

"Percy, Thalia," Chiron turned to the two campers "Go down to the cabins and tell the others that there will be Capture the Flag tomorrow."

"Capture the Flag? Aren't there more pressing matters to think about than Capture the Flag?" Percy asked perplexed, not fully managing to keep the irk from his tone.

"It's tradition, a friendly match between the campers and the Hunters whenever they decide to visit."

Thalia snorted "I bet it's real friendly, alright." with that the daughter of Zeus trudged out of the Big House with Percy in tow.    

As the pair neared the cabins, the daughter of Zeus huffed.

"You know, I've never met anyone whose able to control their emotions and reactions as well as you can. It's honestly kinda creepy." The spiky haired girl muttered, a distracted look on her face.

Percy rolled his eyes, "Thank you," he says, voice dripping with fake cheer.

Thalia abruptly stopped by the armory, looking across the valley her gaze stopped at the top of Half Blood Hill. Her expression wasn't as stormy as it was before, now she just looked lost. Grieving for her lost sister in arms.

"Annabeth will be alright." Percy tried to assure the other, masking his own unsureness with confidence. "Her abilities will lead her true."

"If she's even still alive." Thalia sounded frustrated now, "First I find out Luke went darkside and now Annabeth-"

"Do not think like that, Thalia."

"You're right." the girl finally straightened. "We'll find a way, we have to."

Suddenly, a commotion could be heard from the basketball court, where a few hunters were having some down time. One of them was arguing with a guy from the Ares cabin and it looked as if the both of them were ready to trade blows with each other.

"I'll go and handle that, you go and tell everybody about Capture the Flag." Thalia sounded very tired understandably so, all things considered.

"Should we discuss who will be team captain? I think perhaps you should do it."

"No, you've been here longer, it's only fair if you are."

Percy thought about that for a second and nodded "Okay, but I have a feeling that with our different personalities and.. strong opinions we might butt heads a bit, so it would be a good idea for us to come up with strategies together."

Thalia smirked "I guess you're right." she was just about to leave when the dark haired boy stopped her with a thoughtful expression.

"May I ask something? If it's personal you don't have to answer or anything but.. why were you so freaked out back there when you drove Apollo's chariot?" the other froze, a wary look on her face.

"I- I don't know.. m-my mom she.. died in a car crash maybe that's why I freaked out " Percy nodded sympathetically, he can understand  losing a parent, although he's never actually met his mother.

"I'd say sorry for your loss but I doubt that's what you would want to hear. We demigods never have it easy huh?"

Thalia smiled a bit, "We definitely don't, I'll see you later."

The daughter of Zeus went off, looking ready to brave the storm of an angry huntress with a basketball and a pissed off son of Ares with his sword. Percy winced, He'd rather face the Manticore any day of the week over that.

Surprise!! I'm alive, bet u didn't saw that coming did ya?

Happy new year folks!! This is my first update of the year how exiting hahaha

I hope you're all well! I hope that you liked this little update :) just something quick I wrote to get me out of a slump. I took a break from writing a bit to just clear my head I guess, I'm back at school already so the next couple of months is gonna be pretty hectic so I'll up updating sporadically.

Thanks for reading as usual, here's to hoping that 2019 is gonna be a good one,

-ThatBookFanatic