The 7 play Truth or Dare

A Daring Rescue Mission

I don't own Percy Jackson
Nico POV

I wake up, hard. Because I fell out of the bed. And yes, it hurt. Will is still asleep, so I change into a sweatshirt I stole from him a while ago and sneak out of the room. Only Kayla, Percy, and Annabeth are up, and the smell of coffee permeates the air. "Ugh.. why does coffee have to smell so good!", Leo groans, rolling off the couch.

He gets up, pouring a mug of coffee. The rain is still falling, believe it or not. Who here insulted Zeus? Oh well. Noises of construction can be heard from Percy's cabin, as workmen repair the roof before the cabin floods. "Rachel said she was going to go check the damage to her cave. She left an hour ago. Guys, I'm worried.", Kayla says. "Yeah, she said she'd be back by now. Maybe we should check on her?", Annabeth says, draining the last of her mug.

We all brought clothes here, so everyone changes out of their pajamas.  Will stumbles out into the main room, pouring a rather large mug of coffee. We make plans to go into the storm.   Grabbing my sword, I stand by the door.  We are soon awake, armed, and ready to check on Rachel.  According to Kayla, she left alone and with only a knife. 

We slog through the mud around the cabin,  before we are stopped.  The lake has overflowed it's banks, making the path to Rachel's cave impossible.  We have to climb through brush and mud up to our ankles to get to almost-dry path.  Rain pours in icy sheets, soaking our clothes underneath our armor and helmets.  Katie falls, and we hear a snap.  "That didn't sound good.", Will says, kneeling in the small stream she fell in. 

"I think my ankle's broken.", Katie says,  wincing in pain as Will examines it.  "We'll stay behind.  Keep going.", Connor and Travis say, staying behind with them. We keep on moving, fighting off monsters as we go.  Lots of things have been roused from their burrows and caves by the rain, and now they roam the woods, just waiting to strike.  I pass several poisonous snakes as we jump over a felled tree.

My clothes are wet, sopping rags, thanks to thorns and rain. Thunder claps in the distance, and trees close in on all sides. It's almost pitch black in here, and the growls of various beasts can be heard in the distance.

"Stay close, everyone.", I say.  The people at the back press in closer.  I can see Rachel's cave up ahead.  There's torchlight coming from it, and then we see a bucket of water being poured out.  "Rachel?  Are you in there?", Kayla calls out. 

Then, she steps out.  Her clothes are full of paint and they're drenched.  "Sorry, I saw that my art supplies were intact and got distracted.  My cave is pretty good in terms of damage, let's play here!", she suggests.

"Sure!", I reply. "So, who's going first?", Rachel asks. Lou Ellen raises her hand.

"Truth or dare?", Lou Ellen asks Annabeth. "Truth.", she replies.

"Is it true that you can judo flip a grown man, or is it just a rumor?", Lou Ellen asks the blonde. "No, it's true. I've done it before.", Annabeth replies.

Annabeth thinks for a while, before making her decision. "Rachel. Truth or dare?", she asks the Oracle. "Dare, definitely.", Rachel replies.

"I dare you to let us paint your face.", Annabeth says. Rachel closes her eyes, accepting her fate. I grab a paintbrush, covered in a sickly green paint that looks fresh. I connect her eyebrows to make a unibrow, and sit back down.

Annabeth gives her a third eye with purple paint. Leo writes "NERD" on her left cheek, and Hazel paints over it. "Come on, Hazel.", Leo protests. "I don't think so.", Hazel replies.

The rest spare no time in painting all types of things on her face. I take a step back to admire the craftsmanship. It's a vibrant mess of color and patterns. I hope it isn't toxic.

Hazel gives her a hug, Rachel accidentally smearing paint on her clothes. "Remember when we all drew on Leo? I kinda regret doing that now.", Rachel says.

"You should!", Leo retorts.  I hear the faint sound of hooves in the distance, and Rachel lifts the soaked curtain from the cave door.  Chiron is there, soaking wet.

"No more Truth or Dare.  Please go back to the cabins you normally stay at.  The rain will be over soon, and enough damage has been caused here.  Plus, so many of you out here will attract monsters.", he says.

Well, I knew it'd have to end at some point.  We pack up our things and say goodbye to Rachel, who looks sad that it's over.  At least it isn't banned forever, though.  We'll be able to play again some other day.  And she seems happy to get back to her painting.

"Thanks for the games, Percy.", we say to him, stopping by his cabin to grab our things.  "It's been really fun playing with you.", I say.  "Same to you.", he replies.

Hazel and I walk back to our cabin and close the door.  She draws the curtain around her side of the cabin.  "Goodnight.", she calls out from behind it.

"Goodnight.", I reply, drifting off into dreamless sleep. 

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[A/N]. Sadly, this is the end of the fic.  I've lost a lot of my interest in this fandom that I once had, but I didn't want to leave you hanging.  I thought I'd finish this one, since y'all seem to really like it.  I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it.  It's been a journey, y'all.  I write on AO3 now, for a different fandom.  Thanks for sticking by me and encouraging me on my path to becoming a better writer.  As always, have a great day.