The Battle for Olympus

Hazel

"Are you sure we're going the right direction?" Frank whispered. "I'm starting to lose my mind."

Hazel rolled her eyes though she knew he couldn't see her. "I'm a daughter of Pluto, Frank. I know exactly where I'm going." She reached out with her senses and pushed the next wall of dirt out of the way. "We're almost there."

Hazel's gold sword was too big to draw in the tunnels, so Frank held a flashlight, its blue beam doing little to illuminate their path. It didn't matter to Hazel, she could see just fine, but Frank kept bumping his head and ignoring Hazel's advice to turn into a bat.

"Here's a thought," Frank said, "why don't we just take them with us? And get them out the same way we got Percy out?"

"Our borders are too well guarded now, and I can't tunnel through straight bedrock. Also, who's to say they'd even trust us to get them out?"

Frank coughed behind her. "Fair point. They don't even know us."

The tunnel came to it's end, and Hazel pressed her hand against the wall. Vibrations traveled up and down it, probably from the water pipes.

"The foundation is concrete," Hazel said. "So I have to be careful." She frowned. "But now that I think about it..." she reached her senses out, feeling each piece of the conglomerate. Limestone would be the easiest. "Cover your eyes, Frank," Hazel ordered. "This is gonna get messy."

Her hands still on the wall, Hazel meticulously identified the largest limestone chunks. And carefully, carefully, she extracted the pieces. Chunks of concrete shook and fell as the hole widened, larger enough to fit someone Frank's size.

When Hazel turned back around, Frank was looking at her in awe. "Since when can you do that?"

Hazel gazed at the hole, a layer of drywall the only obstacle in the way. "Since now I guess."

Frank rolled his shoulders. "I've got this last part. Although this whole thing would have been easier if I had just turned into a mosquito."

Hazel stepped back. "I think it's better both of us come. In case something happens to one of us."

"Like if we're caught."

"Yeah."

"Well in that case," Frank said, "look out!" He took three steps backward, lowered his shoulder, and charged, slamming through the dry wall with an audible thump. Frank's momentum sent him tumbling through the hole and onto the carpeted floor.

Three people leaped from a table in shock, staring at Frank on the floor. The blonde's hand fell to waist, reaching for a nonexistent weapon.

Frank pulled himself to his feet. "Um, hi."

"Who are you?" the blonde demanded.

"And why did you just bust through the wall?" the other girl said.

Hazel recognized the blonde. Percy described her well. "Annabeth," she said, stepping through the hole, "my name is Hazel and this Frank. We're friends of Percy's."

Annabeth's face softened. "How is he? Is he okay? And you know my name?"

Hazel exchanged a glance with Frank. "Percy described you. But I haven't had contact since the night he escaped."

Her face darkened. "That's not good. He could have gone... where would he have gone? To camp?"

The other girl touched Annabeth's arm. "Percy has to be okay. This means he hasn't been captured, right?"

Annabeth nodded and turned back to Frank and Hazel. "Sorry. You came here for a reason."

The boy who was with them finally looked up. "And how did you get through the wall?"