Chapter 9

~Rachel's POV~

"Come on!" Jason gestured as we got off the hippocampi onto the beach, hefting Percy over his shoulder. The moment my foot touched the ground, the hippocampi were off, splashing through the water, shying away from the island like it was poison. I couldn't really blame them, the beach creeped me out as well. It was pure black, as smooth as glass and as sharp too. Thankful for my thick sneakers, I hurried to catch up with the boy in front of me.

We reached the tree line soon enough, and for a moment I was transfixed by the forest. The trees were twisted as if their creator had been a disturbed genius, both terrifying and beautiful at the same time. Each tree looked like it had been made out of brittle yet volatile glass, the trunks and branches gnarled. Yet they stood proudly against the dark, indigo sky above.

I reached up to touch a branch, and pulled back sharply as a shadow seemed to waft out of it, coiling in the air before drifting off. Now that the shadow was gone, the branch seemed to still and clear, looking now like ordinary glass. Wrapping my hand around it tentatively, I gasped as it snapped off in my hand.

Immediately, the whole forest stilled and I felt like...the shadows were watching me. Evidently, Jason felt it too, as he was still running back to me when the shadows swept both of us up, into a tornado of whirling darkness. I shrieked as I was picked up and thrown about, completely disoriented and rattled when the whirlwind deposited us in the lobby of an extremely large, creepy castle. A lonely wind howled through the lobby as I stepped closer to Jason.

"Who dares step foot on the Isle of Shadows?" A hollow voice echoed through the hall. A figure seemed to glide out of the shadows...

"...Nico?" I stared at the emaciated boy standing in front of me. His black hair swept over his forehead and his sunken eyes were slightly red-rimmed, an air of...brokenness surrounding him. The shadows swirled about his feet, reminding me of a quote I had read from a book: Those who stand alone have only shadows and time for company.

He looked at me and smiled faintly. "Rachel." Then his gaze travelled to Jason, or more specifically the body slung carefully over his shoulder.

"What. The. Hell. Happened!?" Nico hurried forward, looking Jason in the eye. "I'll tell you. Just wait till I can put Percy down." Nico seemed to come to his senses and nodded, leading us down a short corridor to another room, this one brightly lit and white-walled. "Come on, this way." Jason laid Percy on the bed carefully before Nico pulled him away, eyes demanding an explanation.

I looked down the corridor at their retreating backs before turning back to Percy. He looked so serene, despite his various injuries. Fortunately, there were several towels in the bathroom, so I picked one up and began dabbing at the crust of blood around his eye. He groaned and shifted slightly, but stayed under.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Nico's voice was so strained and wracked with emotion that I jumped in shock. "Nico..." Jason's voice calmed him, and their conversation was reduced to unintelligible murmurs.

"Hey." I gasped and jumped, Jason's voice startling me. I hadn't even heard him walk up behind me, but here he was, standing right behind me. "C'mon, we gotta go. Nico will...ah...accommodate Percy until the...um...political tension back at camp subsides. I could see a slight exasperation in his eyes. Jason could be clever and he was definitely a natural leader, but I knew that he much preferred simple, straightforward talking to sneaky, backhand tricks. Not many nowadays did.

"Ahhh!" I couldn't help but let out a surprised cry when the blond Roman withdrew a swirling glass ball filled with shadows and threw it down, creating a strange, circular black doorway which he ran through, grabbing my hand.

In a second, we were back at Long Island, where I promptly upchucked my dinner, stomach protesting violently against the disorientation of the portal. Jason smiled for a moment before gesturing up the beach. When I hesitated, looking back at the shrinking portal, Jason laid a hand on my shoulder. "He'll be fine. Maybe...more than fine." His face was thoughtful as he jogged up the beach, leaving me alone on the silver sand to ponder the meaning of his words.

Maybe...more than fine!?