The House of Hades (Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Hazel

Hazel clapped her hand over her mouth. She opened her mouth to say something but only a choking sound came out. Leo had struggled against the upper air to get ashore, to save the others, only to find out Piper was dead.

It was like losing Percy and Annabeth all over again. Hazel could absently feel the tears flooding her cheeks. She took a few steps closer to Jason. “No… Piper can’t be dead. This can’t happen!”

“Yes, it can,” Jason said. “Hazel… you’re a daughter of Pluto… can you sense it? I need you to…”

“She can’t,” someone spoke. “But I can.” Nico limped over, looking pained. “She’s alive, Jason. Don’t lose faith in her so soon. Do you need help carrying her to the Argo II?”

“I’ve got her.” Jason stood, wincing, holding his side. He picked Piper up, and then Hazel could clearly see the blood staining her shirt.

“Oh, gods,” Hazel muttered, feeling her stomach twist into knots. “That’s what Aether did to her?”

Jason nodded. “Aether was about to stab me… to kill me… Piper jumped in the way…” He abruptly cut off, glancing downwards, the tips of his ears turning pink.

Oh. Jason was feeling guilty that Piper was in this condition because of him. Hazel walked alongside him and felt Piper’s forehead. Her skin was like fire.

“Hey, glad to see you’re alive!” Leo called from the deck. Then his face fell. “W-what happened?”

“Leo!” Hazel shot him a look. “Maybe this isn’t the time…” Since she was standing behind Jason, she put a finger to her lips.

Leo grabbed Hazel’s arm and pulled her aside. “Okay, Hazel, tell me the truth. What happened? And you better not lie to me.”

Instead of answering, Hazel yanked her arm away. Leo’s eyes grew in size. She felt immediately guilty, she realized, too late, that she had been horribly rude. But the tingles of electricity that had run up her arm had shocked her. What scared her most was that she felt this way around Frank, and now she was feeling jittery around Leo.

“I’m sorry.” Hazel turned around and gripped the railing. She exhaled shakily. “I’m just really stressed right now.”

“Me too,” Leo admitted. His eyes moved from Hazel’s face to watch the others rushing below deck to tend to Jason, Nico, and Piper. “This whole roller coaster ride of a quest… I want to get off but I’m strapped in.” He chuckled in the back of his throat. It was a nervous sound. “Do you get what I mean? It’s like you think you’re ready to go on a roller coaster, you think it’s going to be mellow, but once you’re strapped in the whole thing is full of twist and turns. Then when you want to get off because it’s so overwhelming, you realize you’re strapped in and can’t get out. Do you get it?”

Trying very hard not to cry, Hazel nodded. She could feel her eyes prick and her throat felt dry. “Yeah,” she said. “I get exactly what you mean.”

“You do?” Leo barely glanced up. “Well, I’m going to send us off again.” He walked over to the helm and began to shake one of the white controllers.

“Where are we?” Hazel walked over next to him. She peered over his shoulder to glance at the helm. She was so close to him that she could smell the faint scent of engine oil and smoke on him. When she exhaled, he shivered slightly in front of her.

“Well, do you see that chunk of land over there?” Leo asked, pointing northwest. Hazel followed his arm and could barely make out the outline of a long stretch of land in the faint moonlight, and since they were in the air, she could barely see it.