Friend Or Foe || [A PJO FanFic]

-=-= Trouble =-=-

*~*~ Rachel's POV ~*~*

I stared at the three boys. What? What would someone gain from sneaking around my cave? Especially when I wasn't even there. They couldn't have been from camp, because they would have come out when Percy and Leo called them. So, who could've been here? My mind was running a million miles per second, thoughts racing through faster than I could read them. I was dumbstruck.

"Rach? Do you have any idea what it could be?" Leo looked at me with worried eyes, something that was very rare for him to look like. He was usually so happy, so carefree, not letting anything get to him. Percy was the one who got freaked out over the smallest details, so to see Leo look like this was almost more shocking than hearing that someone was sneaking around through my cave. I lowered my head, trying to figure out this mess.

"I- I don't know.." I felt terrible the moment those words left my mouth. Percy's face fell, and Leo smiled wearily, while Nico somehow looked gloomier than he already did. I was supposed to be the oracle. I was supposed to have all the answers. But, I didn't. And it felt horrible, seeing my simple words take their hope away like that. I just wanted to go crawl through the secret entrance and stay in the vines for the rest of my life.

Wait.. the secret entrance..

Of course! The thing must've gotten through the hidden crack in the cave! My face lit up, I felt myself start smiling madly. I jumped to my feet, ready to rush over there and check things out. The guys looked startled at my sudden outburst of energy. They all looked up at me confused.

"What? Did you figure something out??" Percy stared at me, and I came back to my senses. I couldn't show them the secret entrance! Rabbit always uses that way, and if they knew then they would want to seal it, or something equally as bad. I didn't want them finding out about Rabbit, at least not yet. They might think she's some sort of monster, or a young demigod, and take her away. I couldn't let that happen. So I let my face drop it's smile, and forced a bitter look.

"Rachel?" They all stared at me, waiting for an answer. I was not going to give them the full answer, but I had to say something.

"Uhm, yeah. I.. just thought I remembered something. But turns out it won't help after all." I sighed, grimacing on the outside, but screaming out in frustration on the inside. I couldn't tell them, though. Not yet.

"Oh.. Okay.. Well, if you think of anything else, tell us? Please?" Percy looked up, and gave me puppy dog eyes. I tried not to smile at the cuteness, but I failed tremendously.

"Of course!" I grinned, before making a shooing motion with my hands. "Now, out you go! I have things to do, and I'm sure you do too!" Percy smiled, and Leo shot me one of his famous cheeky grins, before leaning over and ruffling my hair.

"We're going! We're going." He laughed, and grabbed onto the other's shirt collars, dragging them along behind him. Percy and Nico yelled out in protest, pulling back on Leo's grip. I smiled and waved at them. When they were out of the cave, and halfway back to camp, I turned and rushed back inside.

I ran over to the hidden entrance, before remembering a time before, when Rabbit and I were playing hide and seek. She had found one of the best hiding places in the world, a small crevice about the size of a child. It was camouflaged around a corner, the cracks hidden by shelves I had placed there. I turned back, and sprinted across the small room, over to the shelves. A empty paint pot lay on the ground, with a flower petal next to it. I peeking in through a tiny crack, and my eyes widened when I saw a pile of flowers lying there. I reached in, my arm scraping on the sides of the rock, and carefully pulled the flowers out from their prison. They splayed out on my hands, a perfect ring taking form. A flower crown.

I ran back over to the vines, parting them and pulling myself through the rock. Rips appeared in my t-shirt, my frayed jeans getting tugged back by the jagged stone. I stepped outside into the crisp air, looking around for any sign that someone had been here. A footprint, embedded in dirt, made me pause. It was small, not large enough to be a monster or any demigod here. It was hers. But the thing that made my hair stand on edge was a much larger pair of footprints, very close to where hers were. A monster's.

My eyes widened at the thought of something bad happening to her. My feet switched direction on their own, and I took off for the camp. I ran through the trees, dryads screeching at me to watch where I was going. Campers looked up, surprised, as they watched me pull up in front of the Big House, completely out of breath. I lent against the rail, taking a moment to break in running, before I slammed open the door and rushed inside. Chiron and a few other campers looked up, momentarily stunned by my entrance.

The centaur stood up, and called out to me, "Rachel? What's wrong?" I stood for a moment, collecting my thoughts together, before looking him directly in the eye and speaking.

"We need to send out a search and rescue party."

Now is the time to tell them.

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