Heroes of Olympus Series. Annabeth Chase X Male Reader Story

Becoming A Stalemate

Hazel's POV

Everything smelled like poison. Two days after leaving Venice, Hazel still couldn't get the noxious scent of eau de cow monster out of her nose. The seasickness didn't help. The Argo II sailed down the Adriatic, a beautiful glittering expanse of blue; but Hazel couldn't appreciate it, thanks to the constant rolling of the ship.

She just wished she were on solid ground again. The thing that nauseated her most was the weasel. Last night, Hecate's pet Gale had appeared in her cabin. Hazel woke from a nightmare, thinking, What is that smell? She found a furry rodent propped on her chest, staring at her with its beady black eyes.

Nothing like waking up screaming, kicking off your covers, and dancing around your cabin while a weasel scampers between your feet, screeching and farting. Her friends rushed to her room to see if she was okay.

The weasel was difficult to explain. Hazel could tell that Leo was trying hard not to make a joke. In the morning, once the excitement died down, Hazel decided to visit Coach Hedge, since he could talk to animals.

She'd found his cabin door ajar and heard the coach inside, talking as if he were on the phone with someone—except they had no phones on board. Maybe he was sending a magical Iris-message? Hazel had heard that the Greeks used those a lot.

"Sure, hon," Hedge was saying. "Yeah, I know, baby. No, it's great news, but —" His voice broke with emotion. Hazel suddenly felt horrible for eavesdropping. She would've backed away, but Gale squeaked at her heels.

Hazel knocked on the coach's door. Hedge poked his head out, scowling as usual, but his eyes were red. "What?" he growled. "Um...sorry," Hazel said. "Are you okay?" The coach snorted and opened his door wide.

"Kinda question is that?" There was no one else in the room. "I—" Hazel tried to remember why she was there. "I wondered if you could talk to my weasel." The coach's eyes narrowed.

He lowered his voice. "Are we speaking in code? Is there an intruder aboard?" "Well, sort of." Gale peeked out from behind Hazel's feet and started chattering. The coach looked offended. He chattered back at the weasel.

They had what sounded like a very intense argument. "What did she say?" Hazel asked. "A lot of rude things," grumbled the satyr. "The gist of it: she's here to see how it goes." "How what goes?" Coach Hedge stomped his hoof.

"How am I supposed to know? She's a polecat! They never give a straight answer. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got, uh, stuff..." He closed the door in her face.

After breakfast, Hazel stood at the port rail, trying to settle her stomach. Next to her, Gale ran up and down the railing, passing gas; but the strong wind off the Adriatic helped whisk it away.

Hazel wondered what was wrong with Coach Hedge. He must have been using an Iris-message to talk with someone, but if he'd gotten great news, why had he looked so devastated?

She stared at the white cliffs in the distance and thought about why Hecate had sent Gale the polecat. She's here to see how it goes. Something was about to happen. Hazel would be tested.

She didn't understand how she was supposed to learn magic with no training. Hecate expected her to defeat some super-powerful sorceress—the lady in the gold dress, whom Leo had described from his dream. But how?

Hazel had spent all her free time trying to figure that out. She'd stared at her spatha, trying to make it look like a walking stick. She'd tried to summon a cloud to hide the full moon.

She'd concentrated until her eyes crossed and her ears popped, but nothing happened. She couldn't manipulate the Mist. The last few nights, her dreams had gotten worse. She found herself back in the Fields of Asphodel, drifting aimlessly among the ghosts.