The Battle Has Just Begun

4 - Questions and a Threat

Percy:

Percy didn't know what to think of it. He woke up one morning, and Piper and Jason go missing. All they know is that they were seen last heading towards "their tree" to have breakfast. Percy and the others had gone there and saw a blanket on the grass, and food and a basket on the blanket.

They also saw the sheaths of their weapons, Jason's gladius sword, and Piper's Katoptris. A little further examination of the scene and Percy noticed some blood smeared on the grass near one of the tall surrounding bushes. 

It was weird but evident that they took their weapons out to fight, which isn't a good sign. After he saw the blood, Annabeth, Hazel, Frank, Percy, and Reyna decided to tell Chiron and Lupa right away. And so that's exactly what they did.

"I don't understand who would've done such a thing," said Chiron.

"What should we do now?" Asked Annabeth.

"Well," Began Chiron. "For now, one of you go and get me Drew Tanaka, the one from Cabin 10, please."

"I'll go," Percy said.

"Very well, thank you."

"Mm-hmm," He turned to walk out the door when it flew open. 

Rachel walked in, panting. "Hey," She muttered.

"Hi," Percy quickly left before she could reply, determined to get behind this whole thing. He headed over to Cabin 10 and gently tapped on the door. 

After a few moments, an extremely irritated Drew opened up. "Ugh, what is it with you guys today?" She exclaimed. "First, your girlfriend, and now you? What do you want?"

"I very much want nothing from you, I'm simply here to escort you to Chiron. He needs to see you," He said, irritated.

At that, she straightened up. "Fine, just a second," She turned around to face the inside of her cabin, and shouted, "Mitchell, you're in charge until I come back, Chiron needs me," She paused. "And, don't do anything stupid! Just, nothing I wouldn't do!"

You just told him to do two different things, Percy thought, because every effing thing you do is stupid. 

She finally emerged, and they left, earning a couple looks from the campers. When the two arrived, Percy opened the door and let Drew walk in first. She took a look at her surroundings and then focused her attention to Chiron.

"Drew, as you might've heard earlier, your head counselor, Piper, has gone missing. And now it turns out Jason has disappeared as well." He paused, hesitating to continue. "Until we find Piper, we need someone to take over as a temporary head counselor. And I see you as the best person for the job."

"Oh, I, um, you want me to be the head counselor for Cabin 10?"

"Yes, until Piper returns," He scanned her for a moment. "Do you think you can responsibly handle it?"

"Yes, I think I can," She replied bluntly.

"Great, Percy, would you mind announcing to Cabin 10 the news, letting them know the situation?"

"Yeah," Percy replied.

"Oh, and before I forget, alert the head counselors, we will have a meeting to discuss the current situation. Drew, go get ready for the meeting then help Percy round up the counselors."

"Okay," Drew said.

"Maybe I should go too, you know, to help gather all the heads?" Asked Annabeth.

"Yeah, Annabeth should come," Blurted out Percy. He couldn't stand Drew, who gave him a look when he asked for Annabeth to join them.

"No, Annabeth, I need you here, besides, Drew and Percy can handle it on their own." Annabeth had no expression on her face, but Percy could tell she was doing all she could to restrain herself from pulling her dagger out. He could see it in her eyes, there was a look of hatred and longing in them. 

"Okay, fine. Whatever." She finally said. And so, Percy and Drew headed off to Cabin 10, alerting any heads they saw on the way. When they finally get to her cabin, Drew opened the door. Percy walked in after her and saw pink curtains, pink bed sheets, pink towels, pink everything. How does Piper do it? He saw about a dozen girls and half that many boys looking up at them. 

Percy started getting ready to tell them what just happened when Drew began. "Our head counselor is missing, along with her boyfriend, Jason Grace. That leaves us with no one in charge. So, Chiron put me as temporary head until we find them. If you don't believe me, ask him," She said, pointing at Percy. He took the opportunity to speak up.

"Uh, yeah, Drew's your temporary head." Some people groaned, some people threw themselves on their beds, face first, and some people muttered no. He then turned to Drew, "Come on, we got a meeting to go to, and the rest of the heads to find."

They turned to walk out and made their way to the rest of the cabins. Once they made sure they alerted all the counselors, the two themselves went to the Big House, where they found Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Reyna, Rachel, Chiron, and all the other heads (Katie, Clarisse, Will, Nyssa, Connor, Pollux, Nico, Butch, Clovis, Lou Ellen, and a few others). 

As soon as they walked in, silence washed over everyone. Until Rachel broke it, "Where are Jason and Piper?"

Someone else asked, "How come they aren't with us right now?" And another asked, "Why is there a meeting at such short notice?" Percy looked to Chiron, and he nodded. As Percy looked at the crowd, he raised his hand for silence, and it worked almost instantly. 

"Jason and Piper are missing. I and a few others went to the last place they were at and found their weapons' sheaths on the ground, and blood on the grass. That's all we know." At this, there were some gasps.

"W-what do you thi-think happened?" Asked a frightened Katie. "We don't know yet, but we will find out." Said Reyna.

"Well, the reason you are all here is that I think our camps are under threat, and we need to keep everyone safe. So, I want all of you counselors to round up your cabin mates and stay in your cabins. No one is allowed to leave, except you counselors. Once you have everyone rounded up, explain the situation. And, since we'll be having meetings more often, you will each need to pick one person from your cabin to be in charge whenever you aren't around. That's all for now, so, is everything clear?"

"Yes," Everyone said in unison.

"Good, you may leave," Chiron commanded grimly.