Hope everyone in the U.S. had a good 4th of July. Mine got rained out. :(

Anyway, sorry it's taken a little longer to update but I've been working on some specifics in the story that needed changing.

Without further ado, the next chapter. Please Review!

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As the dining pavilion appeared around her, Kaie felt a sharp stabbing in her gut. The Mist was spread so thin now teleporting herself was becoming dangerous. She clutched the edge of the nearest table and waited a moment, steadying herself.

Now that she was alone, away from the gods, and in the deserted dining pavilion all she wanted was sleep. She felt as though she could sleep for days but she knew she couldn't. Glancing up she could see that the lights in all the cabins were out but every light in the Big House was bright. The cabin leaders would be up there, waiting. Straightening with a sigh, she began the trek towards the large building.

Moments later, she was opening the door to the rec room, blinking in the bright light and ignoring the stares of the cabin leaders who were arranged around the room, sitting on everything from bean bag chairs to the pool table. Percy was closest to the door, forcing Kaie to maneuver carefully around him to avoid contact.

Moving through the room and it's silence, Kaie walked to the cabinets that held junk food and if she was right, Chiron's stash. In every life she had known Chiron he had a stash hidden somewhere close by. He loved his job but sometimes even the professionals need a break.

Her hand hit the back of one of the lower cabinets and a finger caught on a tiny hook. The back of the cabinet slid back and Kaie's hand fell onto a glass bottle. She pulled it out and inspected it in the light, ignoring the stares, clear glass exposed caramel colored liquid through a thin layer of dust.

"Dude! How did we not know that was there!" A sharp voice echoed in the silence as Kaie took a swallow, letting the alcohol burn her throat. She glanced at the speaker, one of Hermes' twins. Connor or Travis. She couldn't tell the difference.

"You've always assumed Dionysus' ban extended to the rest of camp. Chiron always has something lying around. And Dionysus isn't quite as vindictive as you all seem to think he is." She took another swallow and caught Nico's gaze. "How much did you explain?"

"I got to all of it. How's the arm?" He had noticed the sling's absence.

"Healed. Apollo took care of it."

He raised an eyebrow. "How come you look so bad then?" Several of the campers threw him looks that called him crazy.

Kaie simply shook her head. "Real nice Nico." She sighed and leaned back against the counter. "I had trouble teleporting back."

"How come?" She looked over, of course Annabeth had been the one to ask. If Kaie had judged the daughter of Athena correctly, she had probably been doing all the research possible on the Gray Lady.

Kaie explained quickly about the weakening of the Mist. "What does that have to do with your abilities though?" The other Stoll, across the room from his brother and leaning against a daughter of Demeter, asked curiously.

"When I teleport, I pull my body and anything that is with me through the Mist. Less Mist, harder to teleport."

"Nico said you wanted us to help you?" Annabeth turned the conversation back on track, silencing the smaller conversations that had broken out.

"No. I wanted Nico to tell you about a threat to the camp, the mortal world, and Olympus. Because of ancient laws, I can not ask for demigods to fight with me."

"Then we call it a quest." Percy said simply.

"No!" Kaie's voice came out harsher than she meant as she blocked the idea before it could take root in their minds. The demigods around her backed away slightly at the anger that leaked into her voice. A quest would block the gods' involvement and as much as she hated to admit it, she needed the gods for this.

"The morning after tomorrow, transportation will be leaving for The Apache National Forest. Any demigod who thought there was a threat to their personal well being there could go and fight. Dionysus and Chiron are so preoccupied, a few missing campers could easily slip through the cracks for a few days." Kaie explained quickly.

Many of the campers nodded, understanding the blatant use of loopholes in the ancient laws.

"This isn't something numbers will help with. The majority of the camp should remain here but the oldest..." Kaie trailed off, letting the demigods think for themselves. She walked a dangerous thin line here. If she fell to either side, she would loose help that she needed to succeed.

"Why don't we adjourn for now and reconvene tomorrow morning before breakfast." Percy's voice cut through the small conversations that had broke out once again. Almost on his authority alone, demigods began to leave the room, returning to their cabins quietly.

Clarisse stopped on her way to the door. "Nico said you were getting other help." Kaie nodded and looked at the bottle in her hands. She shouldn't be getting drunk but at the same time staying sober wasn't appealing at any level.

"Artemis' Hunters are meeting me there and there maybe a few others..." She didn't want to go into specifics now.

Clarisse nodded, accepting the generalization, and moved on. Within minutes Kaie was alone in the room with Nico, Percy, and Annabeth.

"Did you manage to get any of them?" Nico walked over to her and took the bottle away. "Yeah." Kaie realized how quiet her voice had gotten with the others gone.

"Who?" Annabeth eyed Kaie as a threat as she spoke.

"You'll see tomorrow." Kaie walked out of the room and headed up the stairs to one of the guest bedrooms. Careful to avoid hitting Percy once again.

Nico had tried to catch her hand as she left the room but she had ignored it. Guilt gnawed at her stomach but she was too drained to think.

...

...

Percy had left the Big House almost immediately after Kaie left the room. He hadn't slept in almost eight hours and with the curse of Achilles' that was pushing it.

Annabeth and Nico stood on porch of the Big House. Out of no where, Annabeth hit Nico on the arm the notebook that she almost always had on her.

"Ow!" Nico rubbed the area, she had hit one of the bruises from the past day. He had been lost in thought over why Kaie was distant again and why she had been so careful around Percy. "What was that for?"He glared menacingly at his older cousin but it failed to inspire fear as Annabeth had gone back to staring out at the camp which was spread out before them.

"I'm not going to get involved with your personal life but be careful around her."

Nico got the feeling Annabeth knew something she wasn't telling him. "Did you find anything out about her past?" Nico's curiosity won out over his respect for Kaie's privacy.

"I think so. Did you know Typhon wasn't always under Mount St. Helens?" Nico was confused by the change in topic but focused as Annabeth continued,"A while ago, the gods thought it would be safer for him to be trapped farther away from their seat of power."

"Where?" Nico was curious but didn't understand where Annabeth was going with this.

"For a long time he was trapped under an small island near Indonesia." She told him distantly.

Annabeth looked over at her younger cousin. She didn't want to tell him directly what she had pieced together because it was all theoretical but after seeing the way he had looked at the Gray Lady earlier, she knew she would feel better if he knew.

"Let's just say she and Percy have a few past experiences in common." Annabeth walked down the steps and headed for Athena's cabin. Leaving Nico alone with the knowledge.

...

Please Review! I know alot of people wanted to see more Nico&Kaie but I couldn't make it work in this chapter. I promise there will be more soon though. Unfortunately, I have like five different doctor's appointments this week because of my recent surgery so it might take me longer to update the next chapter. Sorry!