"What is this?" Nico asked himself. He poked at the food that was on the small plate in front of him. Coach Hedge had dropped it off as he ran by the dinner pavilion and demanded that Nico eat it. The food looked like it was pizza, but the crust seemed to be made of dried mud, and the cheese could have been grass. The sauce looked like something green.
At first, Nico tried scraping part of the pizza into the fire, as he did with the rest of dinner. For some reason, that bit of pizza appeared back on his plate, forcing him to take it back to his table. Anyone who walked by gave him a strange look. When Will stopped by, he had taken one look at the pizza and quickly made an excuse to leave.
Nico slowly looked around the dinner pavilion and realized that everyone was in the middle of their own conversations. No one was paying attention to him, and Coach Hedge was nowhere in sight. Nico whistled under his breath and watched his Hellhound appear near his side.
Nico placed the small plate of pizza on the ground and focused on his actual meal. He heard the sound of a plate cracking and smiled. At least someone liked the pizza, plate and all. Out of the corner of his eye, Nico saw his Hellhound disappear back into the shadows and probably to go play with Mrs. O'Leary. A glance down at the ground showed that the small plate was gone but the pizza was still there.
"Great," Nico muttered. He picked the pizza back up and placed it on the table. If he just left it there, Hedge would know that he didn't eat the pizza. No one would eat it, so he would have to find a place to dump the pizza. Nico sighed and heard someone sit across from him.
Nico looked up and stared at Annabeth. It wasn't like her to sit at a different table than her own, especially since she was such a stickler for the rules. She also just got back from her first official meeting as an ambassador without either of the praetors to guide her. Nico knew that Chiron had a million questions, as did the children of Athena. Why was Annabeth at his table then?
"I messed up," Annabeth said. She stared at the ground and buried her face in her hands. Nico frowned and lowered his fork. Percy slid into the chair next to Annabeth and rubbed her back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the rest of the campers were giving them strange looks, and Chiron was watching them closely.
"What's going on?" Nico questioned. He watched the two of them in confusion. The two demigods just plopped down at his table, and most likely, neither of them would eat the pizza. Nico sighed and looked at Annabeth. "It can't be that bad."
"Did Hazel tell you that she's been dealing with a bully?" Annabeth asked. Nico frowned and nodded. Despite all of his investigating, he couldn't find out exactly who this bully was. Hazel wasn't quite forthcoming with information, and Reyna didn't know anything as well.
"I know she's been trying to get away from Camp Jupiter as much as possible, but I don't know anything else. I tried asking around, but no one will tell me anything. Did you figure anything out?" Nico asked. Annabeth exchanged a look with Percy and finally nodded.
"You have to promise to not go straight to Camp Jupiter and rip this centurion's head off," Annabeth said. Nico frowned, but after a few moments, he nodded. Why would he rip anyone's head off? It wasn't like Nico was that violent. In fact, he had been very relaxed lately.
"One of the centurions of the first cohort has been bullying Hazel," Annabeth said. She looked at table and seemed to be trying to compose herself. Nico frowned. Bullying could mean a lot of things. It could mean that someone would insult everything Hazel did, or they picked on her in training. "It's the senior centurion of the first cohort."
"What do you mean by bullying?" Nico questioned. Did someone find out about Hazel's past? Was that what the senior centurion was bullying Hazel about? How would they have even found out? Nico looked down and racked his brain to remember who exactly the senior centurion of the first cohort was. He knew that it was someone older than the other centurions, and that centurion also never really wanted to talk to him or really seemed to like him. Granted, the first cohort didn't seem to like anyone who wasn't in their cohort.
"Well, I found him cornering Hazel," Annabeth said. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her jaw clenched in anger. Nico felt his gut twist in fear. "He told Hazel that if he was ever given the chance, he would do the same thing to her that his ancestors did to her people. He then called her derogatory names and made terrible remarks about her skin color."
"Just tell me what he looks like," Nico said. He stood but felt a hand grab his arm. Percy shot him a look, and Nico returned it. He wasn't just going to allow someone to insult Hazel and walk away unscathed. "He's not going to get away with that."
"He didn't," Annabeth promised. "I saw red for a few moments, and I just remember my fist hitting him in the face. Jason walked in, as the centurion fell to the ground. Jason immediately ran over to pull me away. The centurion promised that he would make a report to Reyna, and I would lose my ambassadorship."
"Hazel just has to clear the air. That's what I've been telling you," Percy said. "Jason can help too. Did he hear any of what the centurion said to Hazel? That's all the proof you need."
"Jason told me that he just heard the sound of someone's nose breaking," Annabeth said. She looked down. "It's my word and Hazel's against a senior centurion who is respected by most of the camp. Hazel refuses to talk about what the centurion said, so it's really just my word."
"I should have investigated harder," Nico muttered. He sighed and sat back down. "The centurion isn't doing anything else to Hazel, is he? Did you talk to Frank? He would have Hazel's back."
"That's why the centurion is going to go straight to Reyna, and she's going to play it down the middle," Percy said. He looked down at the table. "We need to make a plan. He threatened to make a report. When he puts it in Reyna's office, we can get rid of it."
"If any of the Romans find out that Greeks broke into the senior praetor's office, they are going to run us out of the camp," Annabeth said. "I just have to face the consequences of what I did and try to convince Hazel to tell her side of the story."
"But has the centurion done anything else?" Nico interrupted. Annabeth looked at him and shook her head. She didn't seem that confident, which caused Nico's gut to sink. Why didn't he check on Hazel more or make sure she was okay? If something happened to Hazel, Nico didn't know what he was going to do.
"Probably not," Percy replied. "As soon as you get physical, there's evidence. He's going to stick to the insults, racial remarks, and mental torture. We have to do something soon. We have to figure out a game plan, by going to Camp Jupiter. Let's take a trip after dinner. Do you think you can shadow travel us, Nico?"
"Definitely," Nico said. He was already planning on the twenty different ways that he was going to kick the centurion into the next week. Nico looked at Annabeth. "We're going to keep your ambassadorship. Don't stress it too much."
"I'm just worried that I completely ruined things, even if he deserved it," Annabeth whispered. She buried her face in her hands. "A lot of people at Camp Jupiter don't like me, since Leo fired on the camp after we appeared with a warship. They also don't think Athena should have any children. I have, well had, a chance to prove that children of Athena are wise and don't want to destroy Camp Jupiter, and I end up punching a senior centurion in the face."
"Look at the positives," Percy began. "You didn't try to blow up the camp again, and you didn't kill the centurion. He's probably embarrassed, and he deserves a whole lot worse. He will get a lot worse. Frank will have our back, and I'm sure Reyna will do her best to have our back as well."
"I guess you're right," Annabeth said. She looked up at them and smiled slightly. There was bags underneath her eyes, and it seemed like she had been worrying herself sick about the consequences of her actions. Punching a centurion in the face wasn't a good idea, but Nico was sure that Reyna would see their side. She had to. "Besides, we're going to do a lot worse to him when we have a friendly sparring match with Camp Jupiter."
"That's the spirit," Percy said. Nico nodded his agreement. Annabeth let out a breath, and her shoulders visibly relaxed. She smiled and grabbed onto her plate of food. Percy seemed like he was ready to stand, but when he looked up, he frowned. Nico turned his head, only for something to hit him directly in the face. He felt something hit his lap and slowly looked down at the wrapped muffin that had been thrown at him. Reyna sat by them a moment later.
"I expected to find you at your table," Reyna said. Her eyes focused on Annabeth and then at the table. Annabeth and Percy exchanged looks. All of the worry seemed to come back to Annabeth, and she bit her lip. Reyna threw a binder on the table. "We need to talk."
"Of course," Annabeth said. She quickly stood and backed away from the table. "I just have to go do something real quick. Piper needs me. I'm going to go help her. I'll be back soon though, after I help Piper."
Reyna frowned and watched Annabeth practically bound over to the Aphrodite table and grab onto Piper. She pulled Piper out of the dinner pavilion. Reyna shook her head and looked down at the binder. Percy leaned forward and looked at her.
"It's been awhile since we talked," Percy began. Reyna gave him a look of confusion. "How have things been with you? Is the praetor stuff going well? I'm sure it is. Nothing fun has happened, has it?"
"Hey," Nico interrupted. Percy looked at him. "Annabeth might need your help with that thing with Piper. You should probably go and help, without saying another word."
Percy seemed to take the hint, and he quickly nodded. He stood and hurried out of the dinner pavilion. Reyna raised an eyebrow and looked back down at the binder. Nico unwrapped the muffin and ate it. One of them needed to act normal to keep the suspicion level down. Out of the corner of Nico's eye, he watched Reyna.
Reyna glared down at the binder and seemed to be lost in thought. After a few moments, she looked up and focused on nothing. Nico frowned. Reyna's jaw was clenched, and it looked like her mind was racing. That could only mean three things.
As far as Nico knew, Reyna hadn't talked to her sister that week, so they weren't arguing. There was no emergency at either of the camps, so she couldn't have been stressed about anything blowing up. That meant something had happened with the Senate, which was probably related to Annabeth punching the centurion.
"Want to talk about it?" Nico questioned. Reyna shook her head and buried her face in her hands. "I'm sure it isn't that good, but it's not the end of the world."
"It is," Reyna muttered. Nico frowned. He was hoping that Reyna had not found out about Hazel yet. He knew that it would only tear her apart. Reyna would want to do what was right as a leader of her camp but would also want to protect her friend. "I don't know what I'm gong to do."
"What he did to Hazel was uncalled for," Nico said. Reyna lifted her head and looked at Nico. A frown came to her face, and her eyes narrowed in confusion. Nico almost let out a curse. They definitely weren't thinking the same thing.
"Who did what to Hazel?" Reyna questioned. Nico cleared his throat awkwardly and tried to think of any excuse that he could. "What are you talking about?"
Nico didn't want to lie to his best friend. Instead, he looked down at the pizza and spoke, "Hedge gave me this pizza. He might have given it to Hazel as well. Do you want to try it?"
"No," Reyna muttered. She rubbed her face and didn't push Nico anymore. Nico was surprised that his terrible excuse worked, but he wasn't going to question his luck. Reyna looked up. "I need to find Annabeth."
"I'm sure she'll be back soon," Nico said. He was surprised when another person sat next to Reyna. Hazel smiled at Nico. It didn't seem like she was upset, unless she was hiding it real well. "What are you doing here?"
"I used shadow travel all by myself. It went great," Hazel said. Reyna nodded her agreement, but her eyes didn't leave the binder. Hazel looked at Reyna. "Were you able to talk to Annabeth yet?"
"She had to go help Piper with something," Reyna muttered. She raised a fist, as if she was going to slam it into the table. After taking a deep breath, she rested her forehead on her fist and stared down at the binder. "I can't believe this is happening."
Nico glanced at Hazel, but she still seemed pretty relaxed. He wasn't quite sure what was going on. Reyna seemed upset about something, but if it was connected to the centurion, Hazel wouldn't be this relaxed. Nico finally spoke, "What's going on?"
"I'm failing math," Reyna answered. Nico looked up in surprise. Reyna's gaze still hadn't left the binder. "The professor said that I do fine in all of the other subjects, but I just can't a grasp on math. I don't have the basics down, and it doesn't help that I am trying to make up for multiple years. I was hoping Annabeth could tutor me."
Reyna ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes. She looked completely stressed out. Nico gently grabbed Reyna's arm. He spoke, "I'm sure Annabeth can help you. If she can't, there has to be another child of Athena who can."
"I guess," Reyna muttered. She slowly stood and gripped the binder. "I'm going to punch a few things and then find Annabeth. We'll be leaving in a hour Hazel."
"I'll be ready," Hazel promised. Reyna walked away from the table, and Nico quickly looked at Hazel. He watched her for any sign that something was wrong, but she seemed pretty happy. Could he just bring it up to her? Would it ruin the mood? "How are you doing, Nico?"
"I'm worried about you," Nico said. He waited until his best friend was out of sight, and all of his attention went to Hazel. "Annabeth told me what happened with the centurion. Why didn't you tell me earlier about what was going on? I would have been right there to help you."
"I can't have you or Frank fighting all of my battles," Hazel said. She looked down. "He also threatened me if I told anyone. This is something I have to solve on my own."
Nico took a shaky breath. He really just wanted to rip the centurion's head off, but he needed to keep his calm. Nico spoke, "If he is making those kind of comments to you, that isn't something you should handle alone. Who knows what else is he saying to the others at the camp. You have to report him."
"If I report him now, it looks like I'm just making it up to protect Annabeth," Hazel said. She rubbed her face and looked distressed. Nico gently grabbed her arm. "I know that I should have told someone, but I was worried about what he would do, and I was worried that no one would believe me."
"I would believe you, and we would convince the others," Nico said. Hazel slowly looked up at him. "Camp Jupiter is extremely diverse, and if the centurion doesn't want to get with the present, he is going to make a lot of enemies. It's going to bite him in the ass. Report him to Reyna and get the ball rolling."
"I will," Hazel promised. She looked down. "If I did this earlier, Annabeth wouldn't be in trouble."
"Is the centurion seriously going to make a report?" Nico asked. He crossed his arm. "He's going to write down what happened and report Annabeth? How serious is that?"
"Very," Hazel answered. She closed her eyes. "For someone who is suppose to be an ambassador, it is almost a deathblow to be reported for physical violence. Sometimes, it doesn't goes past the praetors. Since Frank is my boyfriend, it's going to go over his head and right to Reyna. It might even go past her to the Senate, or gods forbid, it will go right to Lupa."
"And Lupa won't be happy," Nico stated. Hazel nodded and looked down. "It sounds pretty bad, but I'm sure everything will work out. You are going to the campfire with me, and before that, we're going to find a place to dump this pizza."
"It looks like it's moving," Hazel commented. A small smile came to her face. "You should eat it. Hedge made it for you to try, and you should do that."
"Are you sure?" Nico asked. He looked down at the pizza and slowly tried to reach a hand towards it. After taking a deep breath, Nico slowly grabbed the pizza. Hazel was right. Coach Hedge did give it to him for a reason. The least Nico could do was try it. As Nico raised the pizza towards his mouth, Hazel started laughing.
"I was joking," Hazel said. Nico stared at her, and after a few moments, he lowered the pizza. Was Hazel really going to play him like that? "You should have seen the look on your face."
"Why don't you try some?" Nico asked. A smile broke out on his face a moment later. He laughed and placed the pizza down. "We are going to dump this somewhere, right?"
"Definitely," Hazel agreed. She took a sip of Nico's drink. "We'll do it after you finish eating. Then, we'll sit down, and I'll tell you everything the centurion said, as long as you agree to not rip his head off."
"I'll do my best," Nico said. He studied Hazel for a few moments. Nico really did want to find the centurion and rip his head off, but he just hoped that by being calm Hazel would actually tell him everything and allow him to help. With a little luck, he could talk to Reyna about it and help Annabeth keep her ambassadorship.
