Hi, it's Rachel. I need to apologize. Twice. First, for the late update. This was supposed to come out last weekend, but I just wasn't feeling it. To tell the truth, I wasn't feeling it this weekend either. Which brings me to my next apology. I apologize for the shortness and boringness (is that even a word?) of this chapter. I'll get on track next weekend, I promise. :(

Also, this wasn't viewed by my beta-reader, so there are probably more errors than usual. Post them if you find them, please. :)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJATO.

- CHAPTER X: DO NOTHING -

The next morning, I found myself hesitantly walking up the front steps of the Big House, wondering how the clear blue day could contrast so wildly with my feelings. While the lake was glittering and the birds were twittering, my brother was locked in some kind of stone prison, bound and gagged, crying his eyes out. The thought most definitely wasn't comforting, and it didn't help my mood to remember the image of Kenny—possibly the last image I might ever have of him.

Great.

With a heavy heart, I opened the door and looked around the room I'd stepped into. Strangely enough, there was a ping-pong table sitting in the middle of it (minus the net, of course) with an odd collection of mismatched chairs strewn around it like some scrapped together table. Papers written in ancient Greek were tossed across it messily—some detailing the defensive mechanisms in something called the Argo II, some had numbers scrawled across them detailing how much it would cost to build different cabins for the gods, and one even looked like it was a petition to serve dessert at council meetings.

On the walls, various things were hung up and displayed. There was an old sword, a jar of something that burned like flames but was the color of Robert's green runes, and a cork board that was plastered with old pictures. Some were black and white, pictures of the whole camp, while others were in color and a lot newer. One showed Annabeth arm-in-arm with a dark-haired boy that I had never seen around. I frowned at it, leaning a little closer.

"That's Percy Jackson," a voice said behind me. I nearly tripped over a stool when I spun around. Annabeth stood there, gazing at the picture sadly. "He was the leader of Camp Half-Blood before..." She trailed off uncomfortably.

"Before you?" I guessed.

She gave a stiff nod. "I was sort-of second in command, like Jason."

"What happened to him?" I asked.

"He... disappeared." Annabeth had pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Were you close?"

"He's my boyfriend."

I grimaced internally. No wonder she looked so tired and run down, she'd probably been looking for her boyfriend around the clock. I remembered what she'd said to Jason, It's been six months, Jason. She'd lost someone just like I had. But all I managed to get out was a small, "Oh."

She cleared her throat. "Were you here for something?"

"Um, well, yes," I said. "I was going to talk to Chiron because he told me if I had weird dreams—"

"Sit down," she said, pulling out one of the chairs. "Chiron isn't here right now. But I've been through enough of this I might be able to help you."

I was slightly stunned by this, and stood there gaping at her for a moment before I sat rigidly in a chair next to her. I found myself pouring out everything about my little brother and my dreams, just like I'd done with Aaron. As Annabeth studied my face after I'd finished, she seemed thoughtful but troubled at the same time.

She tapped her fingers on the ping-pong table. "Wow... I'm sorry, Natalie."

"So am I," I said bitterly. "How am I supposed to get him back?"

She looked at me hesitantly. "The deer... do you know what happens when the deer is killed?"

"I haven't heard, no."

"It leaves behind a pelt—a spoil of war," she said. "And this pelt... if it's worn, it's weapon-proof. Not to mention it gives the wearer the speed of the deer."

I stared at her for a moment before it all soaked in. My throat felt dry. "So if I gave it to Gaea for my brother..."

"She could have any one of her sons wear the pelt," she said. "Or even her mortal servants from the Doors of Death."

"The Doors of what?" I asked.

"Chiron didn't tell you about the Doors of Death?" she asked. "They're like Thanatos' personal door to the Underworld. Gaea forced them open and is now bringing souls out to serve her."

"That's wonderful," I muttered. "So I'd basically be making one of her soldiers invincible and uncatchable."

"Basically," Annabeth sighed. "Not to mention making Artemis pretty mad... I'm not sure she'll be quite as sympathetic the second time this has happened."

I put my head down on the ping-pong table. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Do nothing," another voice said from behind me. I jumped again, my head snapping up. I was getting really tired of people sneaking up on me.

Chiron had wheeled into the room silently, and must've been listening in on our conversation. He looked at me, wearing a grim expression mixed with slight pity.

"What do you mean 'do nothing?'" I asked.

"Precisely what I said," he replied. "You can't bend to Gaea's will, Natalie."

"But Gaea has her brother," Annabeth said, looking at Chiron as if he'd gone a little weird. "And you're saying she should just leave him to die?"

Chiron sighed. "It is one life. If Gaea were to be given the pelt... then we'd lose many, many more in the war. Besides—"

"He's five!" I protested. "How can you let a five year-old kid die?!"

"You must wait," Chiron insisted. "If you do something rash now, then—"

"If I don't do anything, she'll kill him," I yelped. "I can't let her kill my brother!"

"She isn't killing your brother yet," Chiron said. "If she has gone to the trouble of putting this plan together, then she won't give up that easily. She hasn't even given you enough information to find your brother or the pelt, child."

I was livid. "So I'm just supposed to sit around and wait for her to take something else from me?"

"No," Chiron said. "You are waiting for more information. Now, I suggest you put your brother out of your mind and go eat breakfast. Both of you."

Annabeth and I exchanged a slight glance, but shuffled out of the Big House regardless. But we didn't go to breakfast. As soon as we were a few paces away from the Big House, Annabeth grabbed my shoulder and started pulling me towards the cabins, not the pavilion. "Where are we—"

"The Athena cabin," she interrupted. "I have books on the labors of Hercules. Maybe we can find out more about the hind. There's no way I'm just going to just sit around while someone else is missing..."

"Annabeth, you don't have to—" I started.

"But I want to," she said. "I've done enough sitting around to last a lifetime. Maybe I can at least help one person."

I swallowed hard. "Um, thanks. I appreciate it."

She nodded. "I have a feeling someone else will want to help us, since she was in a similar situation. Can you go to the Aphrodite cabin and find Piper McLean?"

"Piper McLean?" I repeated numbly.

"Yeah," Annabeth said, and dashed through the doors to the Athena cabin. I stood there, feeling like an idiot, because there was an enormous chance that this Piper was at breakfast like the rest of the camp, and that I would standing around the Aphrodite cabin like a stalker for half an hour. But I trudged over there anyways, feeling like I needed something to do.

The Aphrodite cabin looked like it came right out of a princess movie. The outside was alright enough—the roof was painted a dark blue, the walls were gray, and the porch was a weird checkered pattern. But the inside looked like someone created a life sized version of the Barbie Dream House. The walls were painted a light, fluffy pink, and the floor was made of a white, plush carpet. The bedsheets and curtains were a sea of pastels—light blues and greens, all color-coordinated. Everyone had a neatly packed trunk sitting at the foot of their bed. And the smell, all the perfumes were absolutely overpowering.

"Gah!" I cried, slapping my hand over my nose and mouth. "It doesn't smell this bad in Macy's!"

A laugh floated from the back of the cabin. A teenage girl appeared—a very pretty Native American looking girl with chocolate-brown hair done up in a braid, and eyes that didn't seem to really be any one color at all. Suddenly, I felt very inadequate with my hacked hair, big feet, and slightly knobby knees.

She grinned at me. "Tell me about it," she said, walking over to the threshold I was still standing on. "Unfortunately, the perfume is in all of the fabrics, so I couldn't get it out when I became counselor. But you get used to it."

I swallowed uncomfortably. Her eyes were a bit unsettling. "Er... are you Piper McLean?"

She smiled again. "Yes I am."

"Well, I'm uh... Natalie Hartford," I said, holding a hand out lamely.

She shook it. "Nice to meet you. Did you need something? Because if you're looking for relationship advice... I'd ask one of my sisters. It's not one of my finer points."

I shook my head. "Actually, I'm looking for my little brother..."

Once again, I launched into another whole explanation about how my brother had been kidnapped, trying not to choke up half-way through. I was really getting tired of explaining it to everyone. But she listened with rapt interest and understanding, and for a moment I could almost see her as a daughter of Athena. No wonder Annabeth seemed to get along with her.

"Your little brother..." she said, her eyes shining with empathy.

"Yeah," I mumbled, my shoulders slumping slightly. "So will you...?"

"Of course," she said. "I've always had kind of a soft spot for little kids..."

I smiled slightly. "So have I."

"So where's Annabeth at?" she asked as we left the Aphrodite cabin.

"Athena cabin," I said.

"I figured," she said, and strolled through the door.

The Athena cabin was more of my kind of place. It was mostly neutral colors—whites, grays, and browns. Beds were shoved close together against the wall, and the rest of the cabin was littered in bookshelves, papers, maps, plans, and all other sorts of good stuff. Annabeth was sitting on one of the bunks with a silver laptop open, flipping through a book about Hercules.

"I've found the story about the deer," Annabeth said without looking up from the book. "It was Hercules's fourth labor. He tracked it for a year before capturing it, but since it was a sacred animal of Artemis, she was going to punish him. But he explained the situation, and she just... let him go."

"Great," I muttered. "So I'm going to have to anger the goddess of the hunt for my little brother?"

"Probably," Piper said.

I sighed. "So how am I supposed to find the thing?"

"Well, you said it was at a lake of some sort," Annabeth said.

"Um, there are millions of lakes in the United States, Annabeth," Piper said. "And you know, more in Canada..."

"Do you remember any specifics?" Annabeth asked me.

I sat down on the bed. "No, just that it was a forest."

Piper pursed her lips and sat on the other side of Annabeth. "If she wanted you to bring this deer to her, then Gaea would have to tell you where it was, right?"

"Right," I said. "But how is she supposed to—"

Suddenly, everything shut off like a candle being blown out. I couldn't hear anything, see anything, smell anything, feel anything, nothing. It was like I'd just been hit over the head with a board or something. Then an image slid into focus so fast it made my insides jump.

It was the same deer, standing by another glittering body of water. It paused long enough for me too look out at the opposite bank—it was an enormous city. The sun was just rising over the buildings, and people were out in the streets bustling about. The cities rose against a clear blue skyline, car horns honking in the ambiance of the morning.

But none of that interested me. The thing that caught my attention was the big, blinking sign that I could see in the distance; WELCOME TO CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

I was sitting on the floor of the Athena cabin, Annabeth and Piper hovering over me like they didn't know what to do. I sat up and rubbed my head, looking around the room blearily.

"What happened?" Piper asked, crouching down beside me.

"Gaea showed me where the deer is," I mumbled. "Chicago. Lake Michigan."

"Lake Michigan?" Annabeth asked. "Are you sure?"

"Well, since their was a big huge sign that said, WELCOME TO CHICAGO, I kind of am," I said, dragging myself up off the ground. "Now, the question of the day is how am I supposed to catch it?"

AHHHHHH *dies in a hole* That was bad. Well, not so much in quality, but more like... it wasn't interesting. Sorry for this totally filler-ish, boring, chapter. I'm really starting to get lazy...

I hope you kind-of enjoyed it and didn't fall asleep. Reviews are appreciated. :)

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