Truth Builds Trust

Chapter 1

The next book

Author's notes: I don't own Percy Jackson and The Olympians or The Heroes of Olympus series. Everything in Bold belongs to Rick Riordan. I am just a humble fan of his work.

The other characters arriving in this book will be: Clarisse La Rue, Chiron, and Thalia Grace.

The Characters arriving in Titan's curse will be: Rachel Elizabeth Dare, maybe Zoe Nightshade, and possibly Bianca if most people want them to appear.

Summary: Now that the Seven, Nico, Reyna, Coach Hedge and Grover have finished reading The Lightning Thief they've moved on to the next book, 'The Sea of Monsters.' Leo is acting mopey, Nico is trying to hide, and the others are desperately trying to get the Truth out of them. Along with Thalia and Chiron and Clarisse they might just be able to get them to talk, if not then they'll have to wait for the books to explain it.

Percy had practically searched the whole ship but still had found no sign of Nico Di Angelo. He was about to give up when he heard voices coming from the sickbay. Percy entered the infirmary. When he walked in he was surprised to see Nico talking with Reyna. He paused in the doorway waiting for them to finish talking as he didn't want to interrupt.

"Why didn't you say anything about this sooner?" Reyna chided.

"I didn't want to be a burden." He told her. "They have enough problems to worry about already. You have enough problems already."

"You're not a burden Nico." She objected. "You really should have mentioned this a lot sooner. Maybe Coach could have helped you more with his Nature magic."

"I know." He sighed. "I just really don't do well with talking to most people or anything living usually."

"What about me?" The Praetor demanded.

"You're not most people Reyna." The ghost king replied. "It's easier to talk to you. You remind me of..." He trailed off.

"Who do I remind you of?" Her voice had taken on a softer, a gentler tone.

"You remind me of my older sister Bianca." His eyes held the same pain they had held earlier as they read the last chapter.

"What happened to her?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. It'll be mentioned in the books anyway."

She nodded in understanding.

Percy cleared his throat to let him know about his arrival. They both jumped slightly. Reyna relaxed once she realized who it was. Nico on the other hand became more rigid and tense.

"Hello Percy." Reyna said politely. "Can we help you with something?"

"Hey, Yeah, I was actually just looking for Nico." He said. "Can I talk to you for a second?" He directed the last part of his statement toward the son of Hades.

Before Nico could object Reyna spoke for him. "Sure, he's all yours."

Nico shot Reyna a dirty look before she left. Reyna just smiled good-naturedly and left them to talk. She gave him a quick thumbs up as if to say 'You got this.'

Nico sighed, "What do you want Percy?"

Percy frowned as Nico's actions. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"Then talk." The son of Hades' voice was devoid of emotions.

"What's going on with you?" The son of Poseidon asked. "Why do you act like you hate me so much?"

He looked like a cornered animal in that moment. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Nico."

"I'd rather not talk about it Percy." Nico said and he got up to leave.

"Nico?" The son of Hades looked back at him. "Hazel was looking for you earlier too. She seemed really worried about you."

"She doesn't need to worry about me. I'm fine."

The son of Poseidon raised an eyebrow. "Earlier you admitted that you weren't fine."

Nico cursed in Ancient Greek. "Look, it's nothing I can't handle alright?"

"We're all worried about you Nico."

"Why would you care?" Nico snapped.

Percy looked confused at his actions. "Nico, we're your friends."

"I don't have any friends."

With that statement the son of Hades left the infirmary, leaving the raven haired boy to think on his words.

"So is everyone here?" Annabeth said as she looked around. "Grover?"

"Yep."

"Coach?" the Athenian asked.

"Right here Cupcake."

"Hazel? Frank?"

"We're here." Hazel spoke up.

"Leo? Reyna? Nico?"

"Present and accounted for." Leo replied.

"Jason and Piper?"

"Here Annabeth." Jason told her.

"And I'm here and so is Percy." The blond daughter of Athena commented. "So let's get started." She glanced at the books title. "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Book 2 - The Sea of Monsters." She began to read.

Before she could begin a flash of light appeared with their resident Centaur. "Chiron?" Percy said in shock.

"Percy, my boy." The centaur's brow furrowed. "What is going on?"

"We've been sent these books to read about Percy." Annabeth said. "By Hera herself. She seems to think that we need to know everything about each other in order to succeed in our quest."

"That seems like a wise decision." Chiron replied. "I can only assume Lady Hera summoned me to read with you?"

"Yes, Chiron." Piper answered.

"Well, then let's begin."

"We're on the second book already." Annabeth told him. She gave him a brief summary of the events from book 1: The Lightning Thief. And then she started to read for real this time.

Chapter 1: My Best Friend Shops For A Wedding Dress

They all looked at Annabeth. "What it isn't me!" Then looked at Grover who looked a little embarrassed.

"You'll find out." Grover mumbled.

Annabeth continued.

My nightmare started like this.

"Oh, so we're starting off on a happy note." Leo said sarcastically.

I was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town. It was the middle of the night. A storm was blowing. Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings lined the street, their windows boarded up. A block away, past a line of hibiscus bushes, the ocean churned.

'The description seemed ominous. Something wasn't quite right here.' Coach thought.

Florida, I thought. Though I wasn't sure how I knew that. I'd never been to Florida.

Then I heard hooves clattering against the pavement. I turned and saw my friend Grover running for his life.

Yeah, I said hooves.

"No, really?" Leo said.

Grover is a satyr. From the waist up, he looks like a typical gangly teenager with a peach-fuzz goatee and a bad case of acne. He walks with a strange limp, but unless you happen to catch him without his pants on (which I don't recommend), you'd never know there was anything un-human about him. Baggy jeans and fake feet hide the fact that he's got furry hindquarters and hooves.

"That's a good thing." Reyna spoke, "Otherwise the mortals might start questioning things. At least if we didn't have the mist that is."

Grover had been my best friend in sixth grade. He'd gone on this adventure with me and a girl named Annabeth to save the world, but I hadn't seen him since last July, when he set off alone on a dangerous quest-a quest no satyr had ever returned from.

"How encouraging." Grover said disgruntled.

"Sorry." Percy said sheepishly.

Anyway, in my dream, Grover was hauling goat tail, holding his human shoes in his hands the way he does when he needs to move fast. He clopped past the little tourist shops and surfboard rental places. The wind bent the palm trees almost to the ground. Grover was terrified of something behind him. He must've just come from the beach. Wet sand was caked in his fur. He'd escaped from somewhere. He was trying to get away from ... something.

"How very observant of you." Annabeth commented. She shook her head and said affectionately. "Seaweed Brain."

Percy just gave her a grin in response.

Annabeth continued to read.

A bone-rattling growl cut through the storm. Behind Grover, at the far end of the block, a shadowy figure loomed. It swatted aside a street lamp, which burst in a shower of sparks.

Grover stumbled, whimpering in fear. He muttered to himself, "Have to get away. Have to warn them!"

"Warn them about what?" Frank wondered out loud.

I couldn't see what was chasing him, but I could hear it muttering and cursing. The ground shook as it got closer. Grover dashed around a street corner and faltered. He'd run into a dead-end courtyard full of shops. No time to back up. The nearest door had been blown open by the storm. The sign above the darkened display window read: ST. AUGUSTINE BRIDAl BOUTIQUE.

"So that's where the chapter got it's title from." Jason realized.

Percy nodded.

Grover dashed inside. He dove behind a rack of wedding dresses. The monster's shadow passed in front of the shop. I could smell the thing-a sickening combination of wet sheep wool and rotten meat and that weird sour body odor only monsters have, like a skunk that's been living off Mexican food.

Piper wrinkled her nose in distaste.

Grover trembled behind the wedding dresses. The monster's shadow passed on.

Silence except for the rain. Grover took a deep breath. Maybe the thing was gone.

Then lightning flashed. The entire front of the store exploded, and a monstrous voice bellowed: "MIIIIINE!"

They all looked concerned for the young satyr. What was happening? What was chasing him?

They listened intently as Annabeth read.

I sat bolt upright, shivering in my bed.

There was no storm. No monster.

Morning sunlight filtered through my bedroom window.

"Oh man!" Leo complained. "Right when we were getting to a good part, you had to wake up."

"It's not like I could control it Leo." Percy told him.

"Whatever, I still blame you."

Percy rolled his eyes.

I thought I saw a shadow flicker across the glass-a humanlike shape. But then there was a knock on my bed-room door-my mom called: "Percy, you're going to be late"-and the shadow at the window disappeared.

"I wonder what is was." Hazel said to the others.

It must've been my imagination. A fifth-story window with a rickety old fire escape ... There couldn't have been anyone out there.

"Or could there?" Leo said in an ominous voice.

"Come on, dear," my mother called again. "Last day of school. You should be excited! You've almost made it."

"Coming, " I managed.

I felt under my pillow. My fingers closed reassuringly around the ballpoint pen I always slept with. I brought it out, studied the Ancient Greek writing engraved on the side: Anaklusmos.

Riptide.

Percy brought out the pen in question and fiddled with it.

I thought about uncapping it, but something held me back. I hadn't used Riptide for so long...

Besides, my mom had made me promise not to use deadly weapons in the apartment after I'd swung a javelin the wrong way and taken out her china cabinet.

They all started laughing.

I put Anaklusmos on my nightstand and dragged myself out of bed.

I got dressed as quickly as I could. I tried not to think about my nightmare or monsters or the shadow at my window.

"Sorry," Annabeth quickly apologized.

"For what?" Percy asked

"For you know startling you."

"It's okay."

I made a three-fingered claw over my heart and pushed outward-an ancient gesture Grover had once taught me for warding off evil.

The dream couldn't have been real.

Last day of school. My mom was right, I should have been excited. For the first time in my life, I'd almost made it an entire year without getting expelled. No weird accidents. No fights in the classroom. No teachers turning into monsters and trying to kill me with poisoned cafeteria food or exploding homework. Tomorrow, I'd be on my way to my favorite place in the world-Camp Half-Blood.

"Yea! Camp Half-Blood!" Leo cheered.

Only one more day to go. Surely even I couldn't mess that up.

As usual, I didn't have a clue how wrong I was.

My mom made blue waffles and blue eggs for breakfast. She's funny that way, celebrating special occasions with blue food. I think it's her way of saying anything is possible. Percy can pass seventh grade. Waffles can be blue. Little miracles like that.

"I thought it was because of your ex-stepfather saying there was no such thing as blue food." Piper said confused.

"Well, that too." Percy told them.

I ate at the kitchen table while my mom washed dishes. She was dressed in her work uniform-a starry blue skirt and a red-and-white striped blouse she wore to sell candy at Sweet on America. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

The waffles tasted great, but I guess I wasn't digging in like I usually did. My mom looked over and frowned. "Percy, are you all right?"

"Yeah ... Fine."

"I don't think that was very convincing Percy." Jason told him.

"No, it wasn't." Percy agreed.

But she could always tell when something was bothering me. She dried her hands and sat down across from me. "School, or ... "

She didn't need to finish. I knew what she was asking.

"I think Grover's in trouble, " I said, and I told her about my dream.

She pursed her lips. We didn't talk much about the other part of my life. We tried to live as normally as possible, but my mom knew all about Grover.

"Of course she does." Leo commented.

"I wouldn't be too worried, dear, " she said. "Grover is a big satyr now. If there were a problem, I'm sure we would've heard from ... From camp... . " Her shoulders tensed as she said the word camp.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Nothing, " she said. "I'll tell you what. This afternoon we'll celebrate the end of school. I'll take you and Tyson to Rockefeller Center-to that skateboard shop you like. "

"Who's Tyson?" Piper asked.

"You'll see." Percy said with a smile.

Oh, man, that was tempting. We were always struggling with money. Between my mom's night classes and my private school tuition, we could never afford to do special stuff like shop for a skateboard. But something in her voice bothered me.

"What was it?" Frank asked; but he received no answer.

"Wait a minute, " I said. "I thought we were packing me up for camp tonight. "

She twisted her dishrag. "Ah, dear, about that ... I got a message from Chiron last night. "

My heart sank. Chiron was the activities director at Camp Half-Blood. He wouldn't contact us unless something serious was going on. "What did he say?"

They all leaned forward to listen.

"He thinks ... It might not be safe for you to come to camp just yet. We might have to postpone."

"Postpone? Mom, how could it not be safe? I'm a half-blood! It's like the only safe place on earth for me!"

"Except for Camp Jupiter." Reyna added.

"Yeah but that's a Roman Camp." Annabeth pointed out. "He might not necessarily be safe there."

"Usually, dear. But with the problems they're having-"

"What problems?"

"Percy ... I'm very, very sorry. I was hoping to talk to you about it this afternoon. I can't explain it all now. I'm not even sure Chiron can. Everything happened so suddenly. "

"I bet it has something to do with Luke." Reyna said.

"You'd be right." Grover told her.

"Why? What did he do?" Hazel asked them.

"Just keep reading Annabeth." Coach said. "As I'm sure that it is in the book somewhere, right?"

Annabeth nodded and then returned to reading.

My mind was reeling. How could I not go to camp? I wanted to ask a million questions, but just then the kitchen clock chimed the half-hour.

My mom looked almost relieved. "Seven-thirty, dear. You should go. Tyson will be waiting. "

"But-"

"Percy, we'll talk this afternoon. Go on to school. "

That was the last thing I wanted to do, but my mom had this fragile look in her eyes-a kind of warning, like if I pushed her too hard she'd start to cry.

"I hate it when that happens." Leo commented.

Besides, she was right about my friend Tyson. I had to meet him at the subway station on time or he'd get upset. He was scared of traveling underground alone.

I gathered up my stuff, but I stopped in the doorway. "Mom, this problem at camp. Does it... could it have anything to do with my dream about Grover?"

She wouldn't meet my eyes. "We'll talk this afternoon, dear. I'll explain ... As much as I can. "

"So she really won't tell you anything." Piper guessed.

"Pretty much." Percy replied.

Reluctantly, I told her good-bye. I jogged downstairs to catch the Number Two train.

I didn't know it at the time, but my mom and I would never get to have our afternoon talk.

In fact, I wouldn't be seeing home for a long, long time.

"Foreshadowing." Annabeth said before returning to the book.

As I stepped outside, I glanced at the brownstone building across the street. Just for a second I saw a dark shape in the morning sunlight-a human silhouette against the brick wall, a shadow that belonged to no one.

Then it rippled and vanished.

"That's the end of the chapter." Annabeth told them.

"I'll read next if you don't mind dear." Chiron told her taking the book.

They jumped forgetting that Chiron was there as he had been quiet throughout the chapter.

Author's notes: So here it is, The beginning of Them reading the 'Sea of Monsters'. I hope you all enjoy this story as much as the last one. I have resolved to try to start typing a chapter a day again like I used to so that way we can get through these books a lot faster.