The House of Hades

Chapter 7: Hazel

Hey guys, thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to read this far! Hope you enjoy this chappie !

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Chapter 7: Hazel

Hazel was just about ready to quit being a demigod and go back to the Underworld. These past few weeks had been an emotional rollercoaster for her what with impossible quests, kidnapped family members, nearly dying again several times (though to be honest, she was getting used to it), and people she cared about falling into Tartarus. Seeing Reyna, the brave, authorative, strong praetor she had always looked up to break down and fall to peices before her very eyes, she had just about had enough. Unfortunately, she couldn't just quit being a hero.

Hazel sighed, and tried to focus on what Leo was saying.

"...I know we need to hurry up and get to Greece as fast as possible but I just need one more day, and I can finish installing all of the new weaponry in the ship. Trust me, this could make a huge difference against Gaea."

"But we can't wait, Valdez. We need to get a move on and get to Greece. It may have escaped your notice but two of our friends are falling into Tartarus, two people that are depending on us to meet them at the House of Hades." argued Frank. Hazel groaned inwardly. It was infuriating when Leo and Frank kept arguing like this, knowing that she was the cause of all this tension. Time to step in.

"Frank, the thing is, we probably should wait anyway. After all, we've already reached the Adriatic Sea. We need to come up with a plan, and Leo's right in saying that the weaponry needs to be installed," she said, trying hard to keep her tone even and her expression neutral.

"Right, so now that that's settled I'll land the ship on the water and start installing the last sphere." said Leo quickly before Frank had even opened his mouth to reply, and scampered away.

"Ummm, okay then, the rest of us should probably get some sleep then, it's pretty late and I think we can agree we all need it." Piper suggested.

"But what about what Reyna?" Jason asked softly. It might have been Hazel's imagination but a shadow seemed to pass over Jason's face as he spoke. It occured to her that Jason must be pretty worried about Reyna to some degree.

"Reyna's going to have to fend for herself," Hazel said, trying to calm Jason down. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Piper grimace,"I know we left her in a tough situation, but at this point there's nothing we can do for her except hope".

Suddenly, next to her, Frank gave a shudder and leapt out of his chair. At the same time, Piper screamed and then turned to Jason and tackled him to the ground.

"What the heck-" began Jason, but Piper raised her hand, shot a beam of black energy at him, and Jason was blasted all the way across the room where he hit the wall and slid to the ground, motionless.

"Their eyes!" shouted Nico as he drew his sword, "Hazel, their eyes!"

As soon as the words left Nico's mouth, Frank lunged at him, but Nico sidestepped him easily and Frank fell down. Hazel looked at Frank carefully and realized what Nico meant. Frank's eyes were glowing red. Frank quickly got back to his feet and snarled at Nico. He rushed at Nico again but Hazel tackled him from behind and tried to hold him down, not wanting to hurt him. As she fought with possesed-Frank, out of the corner of her eye she saw Piper sneak out of the room, her eyes too glowing red. Leo, Hazel thought.

"Help me!!" Hazel screamed at Nico, who for some reason was just watching her struggle against Frank with a furrowed eyebrow, muttering to himself. At that moment, Frank threw her off him, and kicked her in the stomach. As she doubled over in pain, he took hold of her and lifted her in the air by her neck, with an iron grip. This seemed to jerk Nico out of his reverie. He rushed at Frank and hit him over the head with the pommel of his sword, but Frank wasn't even fazed. He dropped Hazel and blasted Nico with the same energy as Piper blasted Jason with.