Chapter Ten

Nico POV

After the pain faded I looked around. It was a cave with an underground lake. But something wasn't right about it…

The skeleton incident had freaked me out. The sheep were charging us and then there was a sharp pain in my stomach. Then the skeletons rose. It made me wonder, did I summon them?

Annabeth and Thalia started to wake up. So did Grover, but he was much slower. Something cool touched me. It was water-boy as Annabeth had named him. I'd forgotten he was here. He was staring troubled at the lake.

"Gods, what's with the transporting/teleporting thing?" Thalia groaned.

"I agree," Annabeth said, "It's a pain and it hurts."

Grover bleated, "I smell monsters," he said. I took a rock and threw it into the water. The water grabbed it and sucked it down.

"Hey look!" Annabeth exclaimed, "There's an island in the center," And sure enough, there was. "I think we need to cross it," I said.

Grover trotted ((A/N) What? He's part goat.)) over to the lake. Then he stepped in. Immediately the water went up to swallow him. "Help!" he screamed. Water-boy rushed over. He put himself between Grover and the water. Then he spread out forming a teal colored, translucent barrier. It was a temporary shield.

Thalia, Annabeth, and I rushed over and grabbed Grover. We tugged, but the water wouldn't let go of him. Then with a sickening sucking sound we were thrown back because of the force we used to get him out. The water made a rumbling noise, as if it was growling, and then went back to normal. The water barrier formed back to Water-boy, but he looked shaken. I noticed that he was actually a glowing teal-ish color, brighter that the lake.

Panting slightly Annabeth said, "To enter a place no things ever float,"

"What?" Thalia asked confused.

"It's part of the prophecy," I explained.

"Oh. Okay," she said.

"This is the place no things ever float," Annabeth continued, "We grabbed the Golden Fleece, or the golden coat as the prophecy says, and we entered the place no things ever float. But what about the test? And the betrayal?"

"Wait, start from the beginning," Thalia said, "What's the prophecy?"

"You shall look for a golden coat," I said.

"To find a place no things ever float," Grover said.

"A cure to find in three tests. To discover a betrayal worse than the rest." Annabeth finished.

"Hmmm…" Thalia hummed, "So we need to find a way to cross the lake without touching it."

"Yeah, pretty much," I said, "One problem: The lake drags you down to drown. What fun!"

Then I remembered Water-boy's barrier and how it held away the lake-water. Maybe it could carry physical beings? I looked at Annabeth who was staring at Water-boy with a thinking expression. Water-boy, himself, was staring at the lake. Annabeth caught my eye. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said with a smirk, "What are you thinking?"

"You first," she replied returning my smirk.

"What in Hades are you guys talking about?" Thalia asked. Grover nodded.

The two of us smiled. The next thing we know, we're on a sheet of glowing teal water flying just above the lake. "Woooooooo-hooooo!" Thalia screamed. "Ba-ha-ha!" Grover bleated in fright. Even Annabeth was laughing. Me? I was smiling. This was so much fun!

Then we heard roaring sounds. We looked back and saw pillars of water going up and down, trying to grab us. One hit directly below Water-boy. ((A/N) It's still Water-boy. He's just a sheet of water now.)) He veered himself away just in time. Then we were thrown on the island. I got a mouthful of sand. Water-boy turned back to human form, eyes wide.

I looked up to see a torrent of dark lake water towering above us. I heard a scream and a bleat before the water crashed down on us.

(A/N) Booh-ya! I got to update again before I left! Okay, now have a question for you. What is Misc.? Please answer. Now for another question. Who would you prefer to go with Grover? (Not as a Slash) Annabeth or Thalia?

Answer my questions!

-wolfeclipse25

p.s. I probably won't be able to update until August 12 or later.