I Was Just A Bystander

We're Going to Have Issues

-Nico-

The car ride was in relative silence. The radio was playing but none of us talked. I watched out the window as we left the city, heading through farmlands to get to Camp.

Percy parked along the tree line at the base of the hill. We got out, heading up. It was just past noon, lunch probably would have just ended here.

"Is Rachel even here this week?" I asked as we created the hill, gazing down at the camp.

"Yeah, she is." Annabeth said.

"Perfect, we can visit her and get going." Percy said, taking off in a jog. Annabeth shook her head and took off after him. I shared a look with Will, shrugged, and followed suit, Will on my heels.

-Jason-

Usually seeing four demigods sprinting down the hill means something's wrong. Turns out this time it was also four of my idiot friends. Percy and Annabeth passed us, quickly followed by Nico and Will. The new kid that I was showing around looked just a bit surprised.

"Uh, well that wraps up the tour, I should go figure out what's up with those four." I mock saluted and quickly headed towards the big house since that's where it seemed they had heading.

"...Rachel?" I caught as I jogged up the steps.

"In her cave, why is it you need her?" Chiron asked as I walked in.

"Apollo gave me a quest." Will said. It was like the world slowed. "But we need to get a prophecy so we know where to start."

"Alright. I wish you luck." Chiron said quietly.

-Nico-

When we turned to leave we saw Jason standing near the door. He looked pretty confused and I figured that he had probably heard part of our conversation.

"Hey Jason." Percy said as our group left. He followed after us.

"What happened?" Jason asked.

"I got a quest." Will sighed. "Hades helm is missing."

"Shit..." Jason murmured. "But why you?"

"He thinks it was one of Apollo's kids who took it."

"This is going to end in war isn't it?" Jason sighed.

"Probably." I kicked a stone that came in my path. We were nearing Rachel's cave now.

"We haven't recovered enough for that."

"Yep."

"This is brilliant."

"You can say that again." Percy snickered, sending me a grin as Jason shared a look with Annabeth who rolled her eyes.

-Will-

"Want me to come in with you?" Nico asked me when we came to the entrance of Rachel's cave. I shook my head.

"It's okay, I'll be fine." I told him. Nico nodded, and headed over to where Jason, Percy and Annabeth were standing. I took a deep breath and entered the cave.

-Nico-

We waited anxiously for Will to return. My eyes flicked around, unsure what to do. Jason and Percy were talking a few feet away in hushed tones.

"Hey." Annabeth said as she knocked my shoulder gently with hers. I glanced over at her. "It'll be fine."

"Okay." I muttered.

"And Nico? What I said earlier, I didn't mean it. It's hard to quite, we're here to help." I nodded and she sighed. "Seriously, thought death-breath. It might take a bit of time but you'll get there. And this will turn out fine just as that will."

"Thanks Annabeth." I said. The blonde nodded, heading over to where Percy and Jason were. I looked up at the cave just as Will exhaled,chewing at his lip.

"So?" I asked, "What's happening?"

"How'd it go Will?" Jason asked as the three of them came over.

"It went good. We got the prophecy." He said.

"And?" Annabeth crossed her arms, looking every bit like the analytical, smart child of Athena she was. Will took a deep breath, starting walk so we would be forced to follow him.

"Head west towards the land of the dying sun,
Where he lays dormant,
Six shall travel towards the dark yet only five return,
One new five old,
A scoundrel's tricks make turn,
Making those cynical to others."

"Well it is definitely more straight forward than most prophecy's." Annabeth sighed.

"'Head West towards the land of the dying sun' could mean the coast, dying sun, sunset, y'know." Jason suggested.

"Yeah, and 'Six shall travel towards the dark yet only five return' Well... either someone dies, or someone gets lost or left there." Annabeth sighed, again.

"'A scoundrel's tricks make turn', so someone is trickster. 'Making those cynical to others' and makes the others not trust him or possibly each other." Will said. Percy nodded.

"'One new five old' so a new demigod and five seasoned demigod's." Percy said.

However I was only thinking about the line 'where he lays dormant'. Who could 'he' be? A god, an entity? West, towards the coast. There were entrances to the underworld over there, and even one that went straight to Tartarus on the coast. There would be six people going, who we don't know yet. Except for Will and I.

"Who are you taking with you Will?" Percy asked.

"Nico." Will said immediately. "And uh.. I'm not sure who else."

"We'll for starters, let's talk to Chiron. Six people, one who's new, we need to figure this out sooner rather than later. Especially if you are taking someone new one the quest." Annabeth said. We had gotten back to clearing and started back towards the big house.

A new kid on a quest, with five seasoned Demi-gods could cause issues. Fighting styles may clash, they kid could get in the way, all sorts of things.

If we weren't careful there might be more than one person who dies on this quest.

Word Count: 944