Integrity

Chapter 8

Rachel's reading

Author's notes: I don't own any of the stuff in Bold. It all belongs to the amazing Rick Riordan. I hope you all enjoy reading this. Has it really been almost 4 months since I last updated? Wow! I didn't realize that until I looked at my list of stories. I'm really sorry for the long wait. My Depression has been really bad. I'll try to start on the next chapter soon. I can't remember if Zoe ever told Thalia about her dream so I'm assuming that she didn't. If I find out later that she did I'll go back and edit that part of this chapter later. Also to the person that mentioned their anger (I don't know it that's the right word for it) about only Annabeth talking to him about his suicidal thoughts. I'll try to have the others talk to him later on it this story. Anyways, you have all waited long enough. Enjoy reading this! :)

Everyone listened intently as the Oracle of Delphi read.

Chapter 8: I Make A Dangerous Promise

Nico winced remembering what was going to happen in this chapter. The others shot him looks of concern which he ignored.

Blackjack gave me a ride down the beach, and I have to admit it was cool. Being on a flying horse, skimming over the waves at a hundred miles an hour with the wind in my hair and the sea spray in my face-hey, it beats waterskiing any day.

Here. Blackjack slowed and turned in a circle. Straight down.

"Thanks. " I tumbled off his back and plunged into the icy sea.

I'd gotten more comfortable doing stunts like that the past couple of years. I could pretty much move however I wanted to underwater, just by willing the ocean currents to change around me and propel me along, I could breathe underwater, no problem, and my clothes never got wet unless I wanted them to.

"That is pretty cool." Bianca commented.

"Yeah," Percy said softly. He avoided looking at Bianca. Guilt filled him remembering what had happened to her.

She frowned in confusion. Why was Percy acting like that? What had she done?

I shot down into the darkness.

Twenty, thirty, forty feet. The pressure wasn't uncomfortable. I'd never tried to push it-to see if there was a limit to how deep I could dive. I knew most regular humans couldn't go past two hundred feet without crumpling like an aluminum can. I should've been blind, too, this deep in the water at night, but I could see the heat from living forms, and the cold of the currents. It's hard to describe. It wasn't like regular seeing, but I could tell where everything was.

As I got closer to the bottom, I saw three hippocampi-fish-tailed horses-swimming in a circle around an overturned boat. The hippocampi were beautiful to watch. Their fish tails shimmered in rainbow colors, glowing phosphorescent. Their manes were white, and they were galloping through the water the way nervous horses do in a thunderstorm. Something was upsetting them.

"No, really?" Leo rolled his eyes, responding with sarcasm.

I got closer and saw the problem. A dark shape-some kind of animal-was wedged halfway under the boat and tangled in a fishing net, one of those big nets they use on trawlers to catch everything at once. I hated those things. It was bad enough they drowned porpoises and dolphins, but they also occasionally caught mythological animals. When the nets got tangled, some lazy fishermen would just cut them loose and let the trapped animals die.

"Jerks." Bianca declared.

The others agreed with the daughter of Hades wholeheartedly.

Apparently this poor creature had been mucking around on the bottom of Long Island Sound and had somehow gotten itself tangled in the net of this sunken fishing boat. It had tried to get out and managed to get even more hopelessly stuck, shifting the boat in the process.

Now the wreckage of the hull, which was resting against a big rock, was teetering and threatening to collapse on top of the tangled animal.

They all glanced at each other worriedly, especially Grover, Coach Hedge, and Chiron.

The hippocampi were swimming around frantically, wanting to help but not sure how. One was trying to chew the net, but hippocampi teeth just aren't meant for cutting rope. Hippocampi are really strong, but they don't have hands, and they're not (shhh) all that smart.

Free it, lord! A hippocampus said when it saw me. The others joined in, asking the same thing.

I swam in for a closer look at the tangled creature. At first I thought it was a young hippocampus. I'd rescued several of them before. But then I heard a strange sound, something that did not belong underwater:

"Mooooooo!"

They all raised eyesbrows, exchanging looks of surprise.

"A sea cow?" Leo said in disbelief.

"Yep, that's Bessie." Percy smiled happily.

"What?" Frank said bewildered.

"It'll be explaned in the book." Annabeth assured them.

I got next to the thing and saw that it was a cow. I mean... I'd heard of sea cows, like manatees and stuff, but this really was a cow with the back end of a serpent. The front half was a calf-a baby, with black fur and big, sad brown eyes and a white muzzle-and its back half was a black-and-brown snaky tail with fins running down the top and bottom, like an enormous eel.

"Whoa, little one, " I said. "Where did you come from?"

The creature looked at me sadly. "Moooo!"

"Awe!" Hazel and Piper cooed in sympathy for the sea creature.

But I couldn't understand its thoughts. I only speak horse.

We don't know what it is, lord, one of the hippocampi said. Many strange things are

stirring.

"Yeah, " I murmured. "So I've heard. "

I uncapped Riptide, and the sword grew to full length in my hands, its bronze blade gleaming in the dark.

The cow serpent freaked out and started struggling against the net, its eyes full of terror. "Whoa!" I said. "I'm not going to hurt you! Just let me cut the net. "

"A dagger would have been better." Zoe pointed out.

"Well, I didn't have one on me." Percy replied.

But the cow serpent thrashed around and got even more tangled. The boat started to tilt, stirring up the muck on the sea bottom and threatening to topple onto the cow serpent. The hippocampi whinnied in a panic and thrashed in the water, which didn't help.

They all looked worried for the animal at that sentence, especially the satyrs and hunters of Artemis.

"Okay, okay!" I said. I put away the sword and started speaking as calmly as I could so the hippocampi and the cow serpent would stop panicking. I didn't know if it was possible to get stampeded underwater, but I didn't really want to find out. "It's cool. No sword. See? No sword. Calm thoughts. Sea grass. Mama cows. Vegetarianism."

I doubted the cow serpent understood what I was saying, but it responded to the tone of my voice. The hippocampi were still skittish, but they stopped swirling around me quite so fast.

"Well, at least they slowed down." Reyna muttered.

Free it, lord! they pleaded.

"Yeah, " I said. "I got that part. I'm thinking."

But how could I free the cow serpent when she (I decided it was probably a "she") panicked at the sight of a blade? It was like she'd seen swords before and knew how dangerous they were.

"All right, " I told the hippocampi. "I need all of you to push exactly the way I tell you. "

First we started with the boat. It wasn't easy, but with the strength of three horsepower,

"Horsepower!" Leo cracked up laughing, "Good one Percy!"

"Thanks!" Percy replied with a grin.

The others rolled their eyes at both of them.

we managed to shift the wreckage so it was no longer threatening to collapse on the baby cow serpent. Then I went to work on the net, untangling it section by section, getting lead weights and fishing hooks straightened out, yanking out knots around the cow serpent's hooves. It took forever-I mean, it was worse than the time I'd had to untangle all my video game controller wires. The whole time, I kept talking to the cow fish, telling her everything was okay while she mooed and moaned.

"It's okay, Bessie, " I said. Don't ask me why I started calling her that. It just seemed like a good cow name. "Good cow. Nice cow. "

Finally, the net came off and the cow serpent zipped through the water and did a happy somersault.

They all smiled happily at that line. They were glad that they had managed to free the sea cow, Bessie.

The hippocampi whinnied with joy. Thank you, lord!

"Moooo!"The cow serpent nuzzled me and gave me the big brown eyes.

"Yeah, " I said. "That's okay. Nice cow. Well... Stay out of trouble. "

"You're the one who should be staying out of trouble." Annabeth pointed out.

"Hey!" He protested once again.

The other laughed and agreed with the daughter of Athena.

Which reminded me, I'd been underwater how long? An hour, at least. I had to get back to my cabin before Argus or the harpies discovered I was breaking curfew.

I shot to the surface and broke through. Immediately, Blackjack zoomed down and let me
catch hold of his neck. He lifted me into the air and took me back toward the shore.

Success, boss?

"Yeah. We rescued a baby... Something or other. Took forever. Almost got stampeded. "

"Luckily you didn't." Jason commented.

Good deeds are always dangerous, boss. You saved my sorry mane, didn't you?

I couldn't help thinking about my dream, with Annabeth crumpled and lifeless in Luke's arms. Here I was rescuing baby monsters, but I couldn't save my friend.

As Blackjack flew back toward my cabin, I happened to glance at the dining pavilion. I saw a figure-a boy hunkered down behind a Greek column, like he was hiding from someone.

They all listened intently wondering who it was.

It was Nico, but it wasn't even dawn yet. Nowhere near time for breakfast. What was he doing up there?

They all looked towards the mentioned boy, wondering the exact same thing.

I hesitated. The last thing I wanted was more time for Nico to tell me about his Mythomagic game. But something was wrong. I could tell by the way he was crouching.

"Blackjack, " I said, "set me down over there, will you? Behind that column. "

I almost blew it.

I was coming up the steps behind Nico. He didn't see me at all. He was behind a column, peeking around the corner, all his attention focused on the dining area. I was five feet away from him, and I was about to say What are you doing? real loud, when it occurred to me that he was pulling a Grover: he was spying on the Hunters.

The three huntresses looked back to the Son of Hades, wondering why exactly he was spying on them.

The others laughed at the last line, while Grover blushed in response.

There were voices-two girls talking at one of the dining tables. At this ungodly hour of the morning? Well, unless you're the goddess of dawn, I guess. I took Annabeth's magic cap out of my pocket and put it on.

I didn't feel any different, but when I raised my arms I couldn't see them. I was
invisible.

I crept up to Nico and sneaked around him. I couldn't see the girls very well in the dark, but I knew their voices: Zoe and Bianca. It sounded like they were arguing.

The rest of the demigods, satyrs, and Centaur raised eyebrows but continued to listen as Rachel read on.

"It cannot be cured, " Zoe was saying. "Not quickly, at any rate. "

"But how did it happen?" Bianca asked.

"A foolish prank, " Zoe growled. "Those Stoll boys from the Hermes cabin. Centaur blood is like acid. Everyone knows that. They sprayed the inside of that Artemis Hunting Tour T-shirt with it. "

"They what?!" The rest of the demigods yelled.

Zoe glowered at the book remembering that moment. They had been picked up a little bit after that moment and been transported into the future.

"That's terrible!"

"She will live, " Zoe said. "But she'll be bedridden for weeks with horrible hives. There is no way she can go. It's up to me... And thee. "

"But the prophecy, " Bianca said. "If Phoebe can't go, we only have four. We'll have to pick another. "

"No, they don't." Percy commented. "I got to go thanks to a certain someone."

Zoe glanced at him. He still hadn't answered her question as to how he had gotten to go on the quest.

The all looked at him confused but turned back to the book a moment later when Rachel cleared her throat and behan to read once more.

"There is no time, " Zoe said. "We must leave at first light. That's immediately. Besides, the prophecy said we would lose one. "

"In the land without rain, " Bianca said, "but that can't be here. "

"It might be, " Zoe said, though she didn't sound convinced. "The camp has magic borders. Nothing, not even weather, is allowed in without permission. It could be a land without rain. "

"Or not." Nico muttered.

"But-"

"Bianca, hear me. " Zoe's voice was strained. "I... I can't explain, but I have a sense that we should not pick someone else. It would be too dangerous. They would meet an end worse than Phoebe's. I don't want Chiron choosing a camper as our fifth companion. And... I don't want to risk another Hunter. "

Bianca was silent. "You should tell Thalia the rest of your dream. "

"No. It would not help. "

"Maybe it would." Piper pointed out. "If you don't tell her you'll never know."

"Exactly," Thalia said exasperated. "If you had told me about your dreams it probably would have been better in the long run."

"But if your suspicions are correct, about the General-"

"I have thy word not to talk about that," Zoe said. She sounded really anguished. "We will find out soon enough. Now come. Dawn is breaking."

Nico scooted out of their way. He was faster than me.

"It was right after this, that Bianca and I were taken here." Zoe informed them. "After we drove into the city."

As the girls sprinted down the steps, Zoe almost ran into me. She froze, her eyes narrowing. Her hand crept toward her bow, but then Bianca said, "The lights of the Big House are on. Hurry!"

And Zoe followed her out of the Pavilion.

I could tell what Nico was thinking. He took a deep breath and was about to run after his sister when I took off the invisibility cap and said, "Wait."

"That probably wasn't the best idea Percy." Annabeth scolded, "He didn't even know you were there. You most likely startled him.

"You're right as you always are." Percy gave her a half-smile.

The others looked at Percy worriedly. They needed to talk to him as soon as they had another break about his sucidal thoughts. Annabeth had already talked to him about it, and relayed to the others what she had found out. And it didn't exactly reassure them that he was going to be alright.

He almost slipped on the icy steps as he spun around to find me. "Where did you come from?"

"I've been here the whole time. Invisible."

He mouthed the word invisible. "Wow. Cool."

"How did you know Zoe and your sister were here?"

The others were wondering the exact same thing.

He blushed. "I heard them walk by the Hermes cabin. I don't . . . I don't sleep too well at camp. So I heard footsteps and them whispering. And so I kind of followed."

Bianca listened intently to the reading, hoping that she would find some clue as to why her brother and now Percy were acting different around her.

"And now you're thinking about following them on the quest," I guessed.

"How did you know that?"

"Because if it was my sister, I'd probably be thinking the same thing. But you can't."

He looked defiant. "Because I'm too young?"

"Because they won't let you. They'll catch you and send you back here. And . . . yeah, because you're too young. You remember the manticore? There will be lots more like that. More dangerous. Some of the heroes will die."

"Nice way to stay positive, Percy." Jason commented.

"Why, thank you Jason!" He responded with fake cheerfulness.

His shoulders sagged. He shifted from foot to foot. "Maybe you're right. But, you can go for me."

"Say what?"

"You can turn invisible. You can go!"

"The Hunters don't like boys," I reminded him. "If they find out-"

"Don't let the, find out. Follow them invisibly. Keep an eye on my sister! You have too. Please?"

Bianca smiled touched at how worried her younger brother was for her safety. He was considering following them just to make sure that she was safe. If only he still felt that way. What had she done to make him ignore her?

"Nico-"

"You're planning to go anyway, aren't you?"

I wanted to say no. But he looked me in the eyes, and I somehow couldn't lie to him.

Nico glanced at Percy after that line. He looked away just as quickly.

"Yeah," I said, "I have to find Annabeth. I have to help, even if they don't want me to."

"I won't tell on you," he said. "But you have to promise to keep my sister safe."

"I . . . that's a big thing to promise, Nico, on a trip like this. Besides, she's got Zoe, Grover, and Thalia-"

"Promise," he insisted.

The people of the future sent sad, empathetic looks his way. Nico scowled in response and glared at the floor.

"I'll do my best. I promise that."

"Get going, then!" he said. "Good luck!"

It was crazy. I wasn't packed. I had nothing but the cap and the sword and the clothes I was wearing. I was supposed to be going home to Manhatten this morning. "Tell Chiron-"

"I'll make something up." Nico smiled crookedly. "I'm good at that. Go on!"

There were some raised eyebrows at the son of Hades' response in the book. How much stuff had he lied about in the past?

Jason shot the others quick glares as if he knew what they were thinking. He looked like he was about to tell them off for it.

Nico said softly. "It's okay, Jason. Just let it go. I understand why they'd think that. Besides I'm used to it by now."

The son of Jupiter looked at him sadly with a frown. "You shouldn't be used to it. You shouldn't have to deal with it at all!"

"Well that's the way life is. Things happen and there's nothing that you can do to stop them." Nico was looking right at Bianca and Zoe when he said that.

The two huntresses shivered at his look. It was as if he knew what was going to happen and he had accepted that there was no way to change it.

"Besides," As he continued his gaze moved back to Jason, "With my father I'll never be accepted anyways."

"That's not true." Will butted in before Percy and Annabeth could. "You push everyone away, because you assume that they'll hate you because of your father. It's not true. I don't hate you, Jason and Piper don't hate you! Frank and Hazel don't hate you! Bianca doesn't hate you! Leo and Reyna don't hate you and neither do Percy, and Annabeth!"

"I don't hate you either kid." Coach Hedge told him.

"Nor do I." Chrion told him his gaze softening.

The Ghost King laughed darkly. "Yeah, I doubt that Percy and Annabeth like me at all."

"Nico!" Annabeth said aghast. "Why would you ever think that?!"

"I can think of plenty of reasons." He replied evenly.

"Name one then," Will countered.

"I tricked Percy and got him captured by my father-"

"That was to get information about your family." Jason protested, "I'm sure Percy understands that."

"Well, not really." Percy admitted, "But I forgave you a long time ago for that!"

"You did what?!" Hazel gasped in shock.

"I blamed him for-" He ignored Hazel's outburst."Well, nevermind, You'll find out in the book anyways."

"Wait a minute." Frank said. "How did Jason even know about that? He wasn't there for that at all."

Nico and Jason both fell silent. Jason glanced at Nico and nodded in the direction of the others. The son of Hades shook his head 'No' vigoriously in reply. The son of Jupter mouthed 'Just do it!'. Nico mouthed back, 'Not a chance'.

"If you two are done." The oracle responded. "I'd like to finish this chapter. There's only one page left." They all quieted down and shifted their focus to the red-haired girl. Rachel cleared her throat and began to finish reading the last page of the chapter.

I ran, putting on Annabeth's cap. As the sun came up, I turned invisible. I hit the top of Half-Blood hill in time to see the camp's van disapperaing down the farm road, probably Argus taking the Quest group into the city. After that they would be on their own.

I felt a twinge of guilt, and stupidity, too. How was I supposed to keep up with them. Run?

Then I heard the beating of huge wings. Blackjack landed next to me. He began casually nuzzling a few tufts of grass that stuck through the ice.

If I was guessing, boss, I'd say you need a getaway horse. You interested?

A lump of gratitude stuck in my throat, but I managed to say, "Yeah. Let's fly."

"That's the end of this chapter." Rachel announced. "Who's reading next?"

"I will," Thalia announced. "Chapter 9: I Learn How To Grow Zombies."

They all raised eyebrows at this line except for Thalia and Grover. They both knew what he was talking about.

Author's notes: Again I'm very very so very sorry about the long wait. I made myself type up the last part of this chapter so that I could update agian for all of you. I really hope you like this. Feel free to point out punctuation, grammer, and spelling errors so that I can fix them. I didn;t see any while typing but I may have missed some. I'm always open for suggestions for the fanfictions.