A/N: Hey, y'all, Crayola Markers here. This is the sequel to another fic you guys may have read (A Frosty Winter). The beginning starts out as a little serious, but trust me, not ALL of it will be that dark. I'm not going all Harry-Potter-6-and-7 on you guys!

Anyway: if you read the end of A Frosty Winter, the opening flashback scene takes place in late summer of the following year, when Percy is sixteen and Annabeth almost is. Well, what are you doing reading this!? GO READ! :) So we begin...

--

A siren whined loudly around me. It was one of those noises that gets right in your face, not in the background, because of sheer volume. Though it was past two in the morning, the world was too bright. Helicopters chopped the air above me, their spotlights searching around the camp's fields.

"Chiron!" I screamed, catching a glimpse of him galloping quickly to the edges of the camp. "Chiron!"

He looked at me but didn't stop his sprint to the edge.

"What are you doing?! People are dying! You have to help!" I cried, though my voice choked.

He kept his eyes away but finally yelled a response. "Annabeth, I cannot explain. You and Clarisse must lead the troops," he instructed.

"But why--" I began, then I saw. A flash of jet-black hair behind him gave him away. "You're taking Percy away!"

Percy's left hand was held in Chiron's death-grip, the other in Mr. D's. "Let go of me," he growled, trying to jerk out of their grasp. "DON'T MAKE ME LEAVE."

"Annabeth, get back to the field!" Chiron yelled, ignoring him. "We don't have much time."

"She's not going back until I'm with her!" Percy shouted as he kicked Chiron's side. Chiron, being immune to such rebellion, only dragged him down the hill and unlocked the car door.

"Percy, be calm!" Chiron said firmly. "You are much too important to be killed in this invasion!"

"So is Annabeth!" he snapped, yanking free of their hold for a split second before they pushed him in the car.

"Sorry, but she doesn't have a prophecy about her," Mr. D. said gruffly as he slammed the door shut. "Get a seatbelt on."

I pushed him out of the way and reached through the car window. "Don't let them take you away from me!" I shouted as he seized my hand in his.

"I love you," he yelled. "Don't get hurt!"

Tears were streaming down my face, blurring the scene. "No! Let me come with you!"

Mr. D slammed on the gas without warning. I ran to keep up, but they accelerated. Soon my hand slipped from his.

"PERCY!" I cried to the chilled black air. Nobody heard me. It was just me and my scream, echoing through the night like the sirens and helicopters.

--

I sat straight up in my San Francisco bedroom, freezing, eyes burning with the bright light of my familiar dream. It was much too cold for mid-November in California. I threw open the bathroom door and stared at my reflection to confirm what I'd already knew. My lips and fingernails were tinted a pale violet-blue, not a healthy color. My eyes were the same shade of gray, but no spark anymore. They'd definitely lost something since I lost him.

I ran my hands under some warm water, trying to get my nerves under control. Okay, I told myself, be rational. Percy's probably safe right now. Why else would Chiron have instructed that Mr. D drive him away? Besides, it's been more than four months. You need to get over it. Maybe you can drink some herbal tea and get back to bed, and maybe, if you had normal interests like normal people do, you would have a life right now instead of focusing on him.

I sighed; this wasn't helping.

BRRRRRRRING.

I stared incredulously at the phone. Who on earth was calling me in the middle of the night?

BRRRRRRRING.

"Hello?" I asked cautiously. Anybody who calls at this hour had mental problems.

"Annabeth, it's me," Thalia's voice said breathlessly. "Pack your stuff and get over here!"

"What? Thalia?!" I blinked with amazement.

"Yes. Listen. Just call a cab, get on the bus, whatever. Go to San Francisco International Airport, check in at Gate 13. Do it as soon as you can."

I shook my head drowsily. "Thalia, you know what time it is?"

"This is serious. Your ticket is paid for, just leave your family a note or something -- you can call them later."

"Three thirty. In the morning."

"Annabeth!"

I slapped myself lightly to wake up. "Let me get this straight: you call me at three thirty in the morning and expect me to drop everything, leave my home, and fly to only you know where for a reason you won't disclose over the phone?"

She paused. "Yeah."

I glared, though of course she couldn't see me. "You're a Hunter. Why do you need me? What for?"

"I don't need you, no offense. I want you to be here, and I'm sure somebody else will, too."

"How sweet," I rolled my eyes. "But as much as I'd like to see you -- seriously -- I'm kind of attatched to my bed here, and my home, and my brothers."

"This doesn't just have to do with me," she said crisply. "It has to do with a friend of ours. Perseus Jackson. Remember him?"

I froze, fully awake now. You read in cheesy books about how the girl's always struck speechless. Well, that's not exactly it. You're not speechless, you're also soundless and motionless and thoughtless. You literally lose the ability to think.

Thalia seemed to take my silence as a yes. "I'd pack for mild weather," she advised before hanging up.