The Winds Of Heaven (Annabeth Chase x Male Reader)

1. So It Begins

As soon as she got the information, Annabeth rushed to Camp Half-Blood. Not that she wouldn't have come anyway—the Christmas holiday started today, and she longed to see Y/N again.

She'd been staying in New York since last summer to be close to the Empire State Building and overlook the reconstruction of Mount Olympus. It'd been wrecked by Kronos, the Titan lord, during the Battle of Manhattan, and the gods had seen it fit to have her as the architect to build their new palace. It was her dream come true; she could make something that would stand for eons to come, something that had a true meaning. And she'd worked hard on the project, with hundreds of ideas popping into her head each day—a fountain here, an archway there, and way more.

But though this was her purpose in life, it was tiring. And now it'd been almost four months since she'd last seen Y/N, her boyfriend. When they had said good-bye to each other at the end of last summer, she'd thought it wouldn't be long before she'd see him again. After all, Manhattan isn't that far away from Long Island. But he'd been going on quests all over the country, helping Ethan, his satyr best friend, find demigods and bring them back to camp.

She knew why he was doing that: he was trying to clear his mind, to distract himself from the dark thoughts that had been bothering him for some time. She just wished he would've come to see her at least once. But he'd only sent her some photos that Ethan had taken in Washington, D.C.

Annabeth thought about these photos. At first, she hadn't recognized Y/N on them. She figured it was because of what had happened on Mount Olympus last summer. Y/N had learned he would become a god when he turned sixteen. She suspected it had a sort of similar effect on him than what learning they're a demigod can do to a half-blood. Y/N had changed, physically speaking. She'd already noticed something was happening last summer, but it hadn't been a lot. Now it was unmistakable. In the pictures, he looked taller and had broader shoulders than before. What had troubled her was that he looked older, as if he weren't fifteen but twenty. He looked older than Ethan, who was twenty-eight! All right, satyrs age more slowly than humans do, but still!

Annabeth shook her head. These photos sure were strange, but they didn't change anything about her feelings. And she had more pressing matters to think about. Now, she was on the bus toward camp and wished it could go faster. Chiron had sent her an Iris-message this morning, and he'd told her one of the worst things he could've said after "Something bad happened to Y/N."

Percy had disappeared. Out into thin air. Poof! He was nowhere to be seen.

If Annabeth had got it right, Ms. Jackson was the first to notice something had happened. Two days ago, she'd called Chiron to tell him she couldn't find Percy. Percy hadn't told her anything, which he would never have done—he knew better than to make his mother worry about him.

Chiron had tried to contact the gods and ask if any of them knew something about it, but there was the catch: Zeus had stopped all communication between Mount Olympus and the exterior world. He'd done so for no apparent reason, but as soon as Chiron had called, he'd ordered Dionysus to come to Olympus without delay and stopped the Iris-message.

What is happening? Annabeth thought. This couldn't be good news. In ten days, it would be the winter solstice. The Council of the Gods would take place. Why would they shut themselves from the mortal world? And without telling her a word about it! Athena, her mother, could've said something, at least!

The bus came to a stop, and she stepped out. She walked as fast as she could toward Half-Blood Hill, all her stuff into three bags she held on her shoulders. Really, she'd been looking forward to the holidays, but it seemed she would never be given some rest.

She saw Thalia's pine tree way before arriving at Half-Blood Hill. Every demigod at camp knew the story. Nine years ago, Thalia, the daughter of Zeus, had sacrificed herself to save her friends. Her father had transformed her into a pine tree to save her. Annabeth knew that story better than anyone else—she was one of the friends. She could catch the glare of the Golden Fleece in the middle of the branches. Two years ago, she'd gone on a quest to bring it back to camp. At that moment, the power of the Fleece had worked beyond what everyone hoped for, and Thalia had come back to life. Annabeth could also see Peleus the dragon snoring smoke and curling up against the tree. He was supposed to protect the Golden Fleece, but most of the time he acted more like a cat, doing nothing all day.