Trust No One

Chapter 21

Annabeth POV

I was so freaking angry. I've been angry for the past week as it's been a week since Percy left Lake Valor, his home. 

It was so like him to up and disappear. 

I knew that Percy was going to take a chance with this deal with Kronos. He had already made up his mind, so there was no stopping him. 

Percy was doing this to help save the world, which was an amazing feat. 

However, I had just got him back, so I was terrified of losing him. 

"Hey, Annabeth, have you heard anything from Percy?" Piper asked in the middle of a combat drill. We were both panting heavily from the serious workout and combat.

"No, I haven't heard anything. He left a note, but that was it," I said. 

The note was pretty vague. Percy simply said that he would be crossing the Mexico border and that this was something that he had to do. It was his responsibility. 

I understood Percy's intentions, but I hated that he was doing this alone. 

"I'm sure that he's all right, Annabeth," Piper said kindly. 

We continued with our combat drills. At least, one day during a week of training involved practicing our combat skills with multiple recruits. 

Also, everyone found out that Percy was using a memory loss facade as expected. Luke and other suspected traitors/spies were on high alert for other informed staff members. Chiron could literally sense them doing secretive research into all the members of Lake Valor. 

Obviously, anyone that knew about the conspiracy was a threat to the WiCKeD and BlodgeHarm spies. 

That's why Percy was doing this alone: to make sure everyone else was safe and still working in the Lake Valor system. 

Suddenly, my next punch came hard on Piper's block. 

Piper stumbled back and landed on the ground. I was lost in my thoughts, which made me lose control of my own strength. I immediately went forward to help Piper up. 

"I'm sorry, Piper, that was too hard," I said quickly. 

"No, it's fine, Annabeth. How about we just take a break?" Piper asked. I felt bad about losing control, so a break seemed like a good idea. 

As we grabbed our water bottles, I noticed Chiron walking towards us. 

"Hello, recruits, am I interrupting your training?" the director asked. 

"No, not at all, Chiron. Annabeth and I were just taking a break. Is everything all right? Do we have another mission?" Piper asked. Her voice lowered as she finished. 

Chiron wore a serious expression on his face. 

"There is no mission, but I am rounding up our team. We will not speak at Lake Valor, but instead meet at Leo Valdez's garage," Chiron said quietly. 

His voice was firm but quiet so that our plans wouldn't be leaked. 

"Chiron, I have to ask: is everyone you're initiating trustworthy?" I asked seriously. 

I wasn't sure what we were meeting about, but our team had to be trustworthy. 

"There's no guarantee that anyone is trustworthy, Annabeth. Ideally, we should trust no one, like Percy is doing, but that's not an option. We need a team," Chiron explained. 

Chiron understood Percy's plan and predicament. Chiron taught his students how to be the best agents possible. That included following your instincts and working alone when you couldn't trust others.