The Battle for Olympus

Hazel

Frank was waiting for Hazel, as she knew he would be. "Did it work?"

Hazel couldn't contain her relief. "Yes. I should have known my control over metals would extend to Reyna's dogs. You're exonerated too."

Frank sighed. "Thank the gods."

"Thank me, you mean. I did notice we weren't assigned to any search party," Hazel said. "Reyna must not trust us."

"Do you really expect her to? I wouldn't trust us."

"Fair enough." Hazel started down the cobblestone street. "But I think it's time I had a chat with my brother."

Frank fell in step with her. "Nico? Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Percy's going to need all the help he can get. Especially from people who aren't loyal to Rome."

"But Nico didn't help Percy when he first came," Frank pointed out. "He knew who he was but didn't say anything."

Hazel frowned. "That may be, but Nico's smart enough to know when larger forces are at work. I trust him."

"Then that's all I need to hear."

Hazel let them walk in silence for a moment. "But there's something else. We're going to have to be really careful, especially around the praetors."

"I figured that was a given. Any particular reason?"

Hazel grimaced. "I may have... said some things to Jason I shouldn't have. Things that wouldn't exactly inspire trust."
Frank laughed, a relief if Hazel was being honest. She could always count on Frank to have her back.

"I wish I could have been there," he said. "I didn't know Jason before, but I heard he was a good praetor. Fair and just."

"He was."

That was the crux of what was troubling Hazel. She'd only known Jason for a month before he disappeared, but the guy she knew would never choose violence over diplomacy, would never choose violence at all. Something happened in those months away, something that threatened the existence of both Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-blood.

Hazel led Frank into the shrine of Pluto, a place they wouldn't be found. There were few gods the romans liked less than Pluto, one of which was, ironically, Neptune. But still, no one would dare enter this shrine. It was a small space, just a cylindrical room with two windows, lined with chunks of precious metals and jewels. It wasn't much, but it was one of the few places Hazel felt completely safe.
Hazel closed her eyes, feeling the earth below her. She smiled when she felt it. Grimacing in concentration, Hazel raised the rock from the dirt, the walls around them shaking as the stone split the earth. When she opened her eyes, the rock was perched just under the window, nearly as tall as she was.

"This," Hazel said, slapping the translucent rock, "is iris agate, named after the Greek goddess of the rainbow. When the sun shines through, it makes a rainbow. I use this stone for secret iris messages I need to send."

Frank, who'd been staring, shook his head. "Wow! It's beautiful." He frowned. "Wait, you've done this before?"

"When I first came to camp, before you were here, I needed someone I could trust." Hazel bit her lip. "Being a child of Pluto is hard enough, but clearly I wasn't from around here. I would cross the street so I wouldn't have to walk past a white man. I nearly died when I saw a smartphone. I just... needed someone to talk to I could trust."

Frank's eyebrows drew in. "Of course. And it's a good thing you did, now we have an outside contact."

Hazel fished out a gold drachma, far easier to find when you had powers like hers, and tossed it into the rainbow. "Accept my offering, Iris, goddess of the rainbow. Show me Nico di Angelo."

The image shimmered, then solidified. A boy with shaggy dark hair slept outside, his arm curled around a rock and a cloak hastily thrown over his shoulders.

Hazel squinted to make out his surroundings, he appeared to be in sort of a forest on a nice bed of grass. Interesting, Hazel thought. But then, her brother came and went where he pleased.

"Nico!" she whispered. She hated to wake him, but this was important. "Nico!"

"Maybe he's in a coma," Frank suggested.

Hazel shot him a look. "Nico!"

At her increased volume, Nico's head shot up. He snatched his sword and whirled around searching for the enemy. "Who- Hazel!" He let his sword fall. "Geez, you scared the shit out of me."

Hazel snorted. "Sorry, but this is urgent. And we don't have much time."

Nico's eyebrows drew inward and he sat on a rock, sheathing his sword by his side. "Tell me everything."

Hazel explained the arrival of the Argo II; Piper, Leo, and Annabeth's capture; Percy's escape; and finally the plan to wage war on Camp Half-blood. Hazel was well aware everything she was saying was treason in the highest degree, and that Frank would be implicated too. But war had to avoided at all costs. Hazel didn't die and come back to life to let this happen.

Nico listened quietly, his grip on his sword tightening as Hazel went on. When she finished, he looked up at her, his eyes darker than the night sky above him. "That can't happen."

"No it can't," Hazel agreed. "So we need you to find Percy, and rally Camp Half-blood for a fight. We'll do our best to stall things here and convince Reyna and Jason not to attack. But in case we can't, you have to be ready."

"So Percy needs my help again, huh?" There was an underlying bitterness in Nico's voice that Hazel didn't understand, and if they were alone she would ask for an explanation. But Frank stood right next to her, and they were short on time.

"It's not just Percy," Frank said. "It's the entire fate of the world."

"In that case," Nico stood, brushing his pants off, "I'll get right on it."

Hazel smiled. "Thank you. Hey, where are you anyway?"

"What? Oh just the underworld." He said it so casually, like I just went for a stroll and ended up in hell. "Can you believe Persephone, uh, I mean Proserpina got grass to grow down here? Or maybe this was Demeter's doing..." Nico frowned, seemingly absorbed in the mystery. "Or perhaps..." he shook his head. "Sorry. More important things to discuss. I'll head to camp, hopefully Percy knows that the safest place to be. Update me when you can and I'll do the same."

Some of the weight fell of Hazel's shoulders. At least she had her brother on her side. "Thank you, Nico, really. And it's so good to see you again, I wish this could be in person."

Nico's eyes turned sad. "As do I. And of course I'll help you, Hazel." He frowned and cocked his head, a rumbling coming from behind him. "Damnit, they got out again!" Nico turned back to Hazel. "Love you, but I gotta go. I'll talk to you soon!" He slashed his sword through the connection, leaving Hazel and Frank in silence.

"That went... well," Frank said. "I wasn't sure whose side he'd be on."

"I think he's on the world's side. Like us."

Frank turned to her, his face troubled. "Are we really doing the right thing here? We're romans, shouldn't we be on Camp Jupiter's side? If this has to end with one camp obliterated, shouldn't it be Camp Half-blood?"

Hazel had similar thoughts, but she firmly believed in finding another way. "We can't let it come to that. I have to believe we'll find a way out of this where everyone wins. There has to be way."

"If you're confident, then so am I," Frank said.

"Good." Hazel returned his smile. "There's one thing left to do." She reached up and ruffled Frank's hair, starting to grow out of its buzzcut.

Frank backed up. "What are you doing?"

Hazel ran her fingers through her own hair, tangling it so it stuck up in weird places. She grabbed his hand and drug him towards the door.

"Well, if anyone saw us go in, we have to make them think we were doing something in here."

"What- oh!" Frank turned beat red. "I, um..."

"C'mon, dummy," Hazel said. "We have an operation to run."