Welcome to chapter six, friends!

The poll regarding the Will and Irida story should be on my profile. Emphasis on should. I published it, so wherever it goes when I do that, it's there.

I haven't done this since chapter one, I think, but if my story has not made this abundantly clear:

I am not Rick Riordan. I do not own anything you recognize. I only own this plot, Irida, Louis, and the SS Rainbow. Oops. You weren't supposed to hear that last one.

Anyways, enjoy the story! Keep reading and please review!

—Alex

(Malcolm's POV)

I knew something was wrong the minute Annabeth looked in pain. She always tried to hide her pain, especially after the war last year. But this time, she actually chose to go see a healer. Then she wasn't at the sing along, or at the cabin after the fact. But when I looked under the bed, Annabeth the guinea pig was not what I expected to see. I slid one of her T-shirts under the bed for her, and laid down for a restless sleep.

"Hey, Louis, I'm not coming to breakfast today." I told him in the morning, with dark circles under my eyes. "I'm not feeling too good. Can you lead them to the mess hall?"

"What? Malcolm, you feeling alright?" He asked, concerned. After I had that talk with him last light, he came up to me and thanked me. Said he'd have gotten hurt if I didn't tell him what's what.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm just not feeling too good. I might also check on Annabeth. Go on to breakfast."

"Okay, Malcolm, if you say so. Guys!" He shouted the last bit to the cabin. "Let's go to breakfast!"

As soon as he and the last of my siblings left the cabin, I sat facing mine and Annabeth's bunk bed. "Hey, Annabeth, they're all gone now. You can come out." I called softly. Nothing. I froze. Had she moved overnight? If she went outside after dark, surely a harpy or some other monster would've eaten her. I laid, face down, on the floor and stuck my head under the bed. I breathed a great sigh of relief. She was just sound asleep on her shirt. I tried to pull the shirt towards me. Horrible idea. As soon as she felt the shirt move, Annabeth bolted up in alarm. I quickly pulled the shirt out the rest of the way. I picked my sister up and held her against my chest. I could feel her breathing heavily, her heart pounding at a pace that could not be normal for a guinea pig.

"Hey, Annabeth," I said softly, petting her to calm her down, "it's just me, Malcolm. Your brother. Everyone else has gone to breakfast. Just thought you might wanna have a chat." She looked at me helplessly. I finally got my first, clear look at Annabeth. My sister was a small blonde guinea pig with short hair—well, fur now—and strikingly grey eyes, a symbol of our mother.

I felt her heart and breaths start to slow down, not at a human level, but those most likely acceptable for a small prey animal. "So, what happened, Annabeth?" I asked her while softly stroking her.

She gave me her best "if I knew we wouldn't be here" stare.

"Do you want to talk to someone?" I asked. "Chiron, or Percy…?" Her head shot up at the sound of Percy's name. Although it wasn't his name that triggered it, it was the sound of footsteps leading up to the door.

"Annabeth, are you in there?" A boy's voice called while knocking on the door. Will Solace.

"Annabeth, get between my legs. Just till we know what's going on." I breathed.

"Is anyone in there?" Will called again, knocking harder.

I looked at Annabeth. He was coming in anyways. "Will? Is that you?"

"Yeah, Malcolm, it's me. Can I come in?"

I bit my lip. "Yeah, sure." I said.

Will opened the silvery-grey door and walked into the cabin.

"Hey, have you seen Annabeth?" Will asked me. "I'm here with Percy." I saw his bag shift infinitesimally.

I paled. "Is he waiting outside, or….?"

"About that…No, he's in here." He patted his bag, and I felt the last remaining blood in my face drain. I heard a scratching noise coming from the floor. I heard more scratching, and a head stuck out from behind my legs.

Will sat down on the floor, across from me, like he'd done something like this before. That worried me most. Why in the world has Will done this before? A camper turned into a guinea pig. This is not normal, even for demigods. I thought. Will held his hand out. "Hey, Annabeth," He cooed to my big sister, "it's me, Will Solace." Annabeth squeaked, and scrambled over my legs towards Will.

Slowly, Will reached into his bag and pulled out a squirmy Percy. Annabeth let a loud squeal when she saw him holding Percy, and Percy doing the same for her.

I groaned. Mom, why them? I thought. Why me? Why is this happening? I heard Will sigh. I had a sinking feeling that we were both going to ask Annabeth and Percy for advice. But guinea pigs can't give advice. Only receive it.

The tension was thick enough to cut with a sword. "So, Percy got it too, huh?" I tried to break the silence.

"Yeah, you could say he 'got it' if by 'got it', you mean turned into a little fuzz ball." Will snapped.

I held my hands up in surrender. "Just trying to crack the iceberg, man." This seemed much harder to break than just ice. Hence the iceberg.

"I'm pretty sure it's 'break the ice', not 'crack the iceberg'." Will retorted.

This is gonna get bad. I thought. We're both stressed out. Will's really high strung right now.

"Well—" I started, trying to pacify Will, but I never got to finish my sentence.

We heard voices outside, and we cursed. Kids were walking back to their cabins from breakfast.

"I've got an idea!" Will said, but the campers' voices were growing louder every second. "Can I take Annabeth with me back to the Poseidon cabin?" Will asked me.

I looked at Annabeth, helpless in Will's lap. I didn't want to leave her, but if Will could help…"I'm coming with you." I said.

Will shook his head. "Malcolm, you should go to your normal activities."

I opened my mouth to protest. I didn't want to leave my older sister alone, especially now. "I mean, your cabin's already missing their head counselor, they don't need to be missing you, too." Will said. Always the voice of reason. I thought. Even to the goddess of wisdom's children.

I nodded. "But you'll tell me what's happened afterwards, right?"

"Of course," Will said. "But don't tell anyone. Not yet." I looked at Will suspiciously. "Percy's choice."

I nodded. "Annabeth's, too. Good luck, Will." I called softly as the blond boy slipped out of the cabin.

"You, too, Malcolm." Will muttered as he slipped into the throng of campers.

1,197. Not bad. Sorry it took me awhile to upload this one. I had to clean my bunny's cage before I could proofread. Man, that tiny fuzz ball can poop...

Back on topic!

Malcolm got a POV! Are you guys happy? Also, Malcolm is Malcolm Pace, and he shows up a couple times throughout PJO and maybe once or twice in HoO. He is Annabeth's brother, and he's her right hand man/second in command. I've written him as her (not much)younger brother, because he's her second in command, and not vice versa...

Holy Hera's cows, I did not think it would take this long to proofread, write my A/Ns, and publish! Well, I also had to eat lunch with my family, but still...

Despite the delays, please countinue reading and please review!

—Alex