Anyone who knows Arya Jackson for more than five minutes knows her opinion of the world, and demigods not so fair place in it. Unfortunately, since the war Arya isn't that easy to get to know. To most she's little more than a legend.
Arya is fine w...
"There's a future version of me who's proud I was strong enough."
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21.
Attempting to Buy a Boat to the End of the World
HAZEL'S OLD APARTMENT had ripped out the non weight bearing walls, and turned into storage, which had long been abandoned probably for safety reasons. The roof looked like it would give in at any second. The dust was at least an inch high no matter where you looked. And, because it was on the shore of a water source, Ace was willing to bet the foundation was a moldy mess that could turn into a sinkhole with any given step.
None of this stopped Hazel from being sucked back into the past. She climbed over a stack of wither boxes into the farthest corner in the warehouse. Behind an ironic sign for gold prospecting supplies. Hazel's childhood remained pinned to the wall.
Crayon drawings were pasted on every wall. Despite them being childish, it was far better than anything Ace would be able to do. Especially at her age. Around the drawings were black and white pictures. Some were of her city, some were of people. One was obviously her mother. Hazel touched each of them with a light graze. Wanting to make sure she wasn't in some hallucination. Percy, and Ace kept their distance. Frank stayed by her side, although for a second he got distracted, staring at the picture of the young teenage boy, with a bright smile on his face. He didn't look like he was related to Hazel in any way. Frank seemed to pick up on this.
"Who...?" As so as he realized, he cut his words off, "Sorry, Hazel. This must be really hard. Do you want some time—"
"No," she sniffled, her voice cracking. "No, it's fine."
"Is that your mother?" Ace asked even though he knew the answer. "She looks like you. She's beautiful."
Percy stepped forward, his eye set on the picture that Frank had pointed out second ago, his face pale. "Who is that?"
"That's...that's Sammy. He was my—uh—friend from New Orleans."
Ace had a strong feeling that 'friend' meant something more than just friend.
"I've seen him before," Percy said.
"You couldn't have," Hazel said. "That was in 1941. He's...he's probably dead now."
Percy frowned. "I guess. Still..."
Ace chalked it up to the fact that Percy's memory was coming back at a rapid pace and with so many faces he was getting them all confused.
