TERRIFIED . . . annabeth chase

eighteen.

NEEDLESS TO SAY, the next five months of Val's life consisted of throwing up, traveling, and reckless decisions.

Normally, she wouldn't be spending endless amounts of money or making said reckless decisions, but considering she had less than a year to live, she decided that she could spend whatever she wanted. That, and Cupid insisted that she should.

Her traveling consisted of people coming and going — Drew came by during breaks, Travis and Connor were there for a couple of months, Val was even on an airplane with Miranda Gardiner at one point.

But she and Kayla Knowles went around the globe, getting on airplanes maybe once every week. They went everywhere, fueled by the thought of just having fun.

And, sure, Val's idea of having fun wasn't laying down half the nights and throwing up, but it was fine. She just didn't want to see Annabeth.

She'd managed that for five months. Refusing any contact with her, going out with Kayla to anywhere they wanted to be at the time — clubs, theaters, restaurants, tourist attractions. They'd taken selfies at the top of the Eiffel Tower, inside the Tube in London, anywhere they wanted. Lately, they'd taken up talent shows, with Kayla doing archery and music, and Val played the piano and danced, just for some more memories and better stories to tell.

That was always fun. Val enjoyed being under a spotlight as she danced, or being in the shadows with the piano keys sinking under her fingers.

Until they'd gotten the Iris Message, which didn't even come from the crew, ( the Stolls, Drew, Will ) the Apollo cabin, or even Annabeth. It came from Nico.

"Val?" his voice asked one day, and Val nearly screamed out of her skin, but her and Kayla's neighbors in their hotel room would not enjoy that experience.

"Nico?" Val frowned. "Why'd you call?"

"Annabeth's been asking you to come back." He's was looking more tired than the last time they'd seen each other face to face. Nico usually sent letters to her, or she sent them to him. Come to think of it, she hadn't had one in a while. "Apparently she haven't been able to call you."

He sent a knowing frown at her after those words came out from his mouth.

"Come on, Neeks, you can't blame me for not wanting her to call," Val looked over at Kayla, who was playing a guitar that they'd picked up from somewhere in Japan. It looked pretty sick. Not, like, Val sick, but you know. Speaking of that, she went to throw up in her complimentary trash can that Thanatos had given her, which dissolved the flowers as soon as she threw them up, because Kayla was getting sick of her throwing up every time Val had a strong thought about Annabeth Chase.

"Val, she needs you right now," Nico said quietly. "And you can't hide forever."

"Look who's talking!" Kayla called from the other side of the hotel room.

"Kayla," Val hissed at her. "Sorry, Neeks. But, I swear, it's not that I wanted to ignore her. It's just . . . well, I asked Cupid to tell Iris to turn off any messages from her and the crew, cause they could just call me anytime."

"I know," Nico looked pained. "But, Val, Percy's been missing for two weeks, and you've been unreachable."

The news took what felt like days to settle in her mind. "He's . . . missing? Percy Jackson. Hero of Olympus. Destroyer of, like, every monster ever. Missing."

"Yes." Val finally figured out why he looked so pained — because the love of his life was missing. "He's just gone, Val."

"Oh." She rocked on her heels. Front to back, front to back. "How are you doing, Nico?"