Heroes of Olympus: The Aftermath of War

HAZEL

*Rick Riordan owns all of the characters*

HAZEL ALMOST FREAKED out when she saw the resurrected silver-ish Titan and the unusually peaceful Giant, who rode on a Maeonian drakon, by the way, block the highway with their all-too-cute cat on Iapetus's---rather, Bob's shoulders, who actually turned out to be a spartus created from the teeth of a saber-tooth tiger.

Hazel wasn't so sure of the information herself, but she made a mental note to listen to the lares on Camp Jupiter for a change. They always talked about those things. The Titan christened the skeleton-changing cat Small Bob, which was kinda cute, in a way. Damasen, otherwise known as the Bane of Ares, was a good friend of Percy's and Annabeth's too, Bob explained.

She knew almost everything about them from her own friends' stories back at the Argo II. After escaping Tartarus and freeing the Doors of Death, Percy and Annabeth were enthusiastic to tell the crew how they survived and the tales of those who had helped them back in the depths of Hades's realm. Bob and Damasen were frequently mentioned, though the two demigods' voices would almost crack at the part where both Titan and Giant sacrificed themselves for the sake of stopping Gaea's madness.

"Foes bear arms to the Doors of Death," Annabeth had said, wiping a tear. "Bob and Damasen. That's what the prophecy meant."

Standing in front of them was an entirely different matter, though. Hazel honestly didn't know how to react. She put her Cavalry Sword away, and so did Jason and Piper and Frank, with their own weapons. Jules-Albert just growled loudly in confusion...again.

Pluto the planet, what was up with that zombie?

"So!" Frank said, apparently shaking slightly. "Damasen...you were...uh, like, Dad's "bane", eh?"

Hazel waited for Damasen's drakon to explode with anger and kill Frank in a matter of three seconds.

1...She'd severe the drakon's head with her Cavalry Sword, whistle for Arion, and get Frank away from this place unless he morphed into an eagle, then he could fly by himself while Hazel helped Jason and Piper fend off the giant.

2...Jason and Piper might take care of Damasen themselves if Frank's morphing backfired, with her bestfriend using charmspeak and the son of Zeus unleashing huge amounts of lightning. Afterwards, they'd instruct Monsieur Jules-Albert to, "Get us out of here!" and possibly make it out alive.

3...Pray that Bob the Titan would probably avoid them and play with his kitten instead.

But, even though Hazel's plan could've worked, none of those happened.

Damasen just sighed, as if he had been asked that question for millions of times now. He patted his drakon, who roared much to her alarm, saying,

"Yes, that is true, Frank Zhang, but I have tried to escape my fate ever since I remembered when. Gaea and Tartarus, my parents, were very ashamed of me that they decided to put me in a place where I could be of no use. Inside my own father's body." he added, possibly disgusted at this point, "I am the war god's opposite, as you may call, 'in peace'. No need to be suddenly threatened."

Everyone nodded like there was nothing strange about a giant being trapped for decades in his Papa Tartarus's own, gross form. Hazel respected him for enduring that.

"Look, Damasen," Bob said, pointing at the sky. "Bob has finally seen the stars after all these years."

It was basically morning, if you were wondering, but it was still so dark that the celestial bodies of light could still be seen way down here. She remembered Sammy teasing her with the rock version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" while he wore his totally Eye of the Tiger outfit. Little diamonds and sapphires used to pop out of the ground after the ridiculous play, and Sammy would know that Hazel was happy. Her last memoir of her bestfriend from her past life was Leo, and even he was dead.

"Ah, hello, old friends." Damasen waved at the hot balls of light and fire as if they could hear him. "We meet again."

Nico had told her a little secret, though, and he made her promise on the River Styx that she would never ever tell anyone about it.

"I felt him die here," Nico had said back at Camp Jupiter when he visited her, pointing at his chest. "But he didn't really die, not really. It was weird."

"So," Hazel replied, confused at the time, "Leo is dead, but he isn't."

Nico just grinned.

Well, now that she could see Bob and Damasen active and very alive, Hazel thought about Leo even more. These guys lived to tell their tale, so why didn't he? Valdez was part of the Seven, no matter how annoying he was.

"TEAM LEO!" her conscience agreed.

"Anyone up for breakfast?" Jason asked, trying to break the silence.

"It's only 3 in the morning, Lightning Boy," she replied, teasing him.

"Hey! Everyone eventually got over that!" he said, offended. "How about a diner then?"

"Sounds good," Piper nodded, taking his hand. "I could use some bread and hot choco."

"A banana for me," Frank chimed in.

"What's a 'diner'?" Damasen and Bob inquired at the same time.

"Meow?" the cat purred.

"Yeah, yeah," Frank waved his hands in a sort-of surrender gesture. "I'll explain."

When the son of Mars continued with his diner lecture, Jason had pulled Hazel aside and locked eyes with Piper, having a quick quiet conversation with her, which practically involved a lot of hand gestures too. When the other girl finally nodded back, she made way for both of them to speak in private. It wasn't really a 'private' space, just a few blocks away from the others.

"So, this may sound weird..." Jason started, scratching his head.

"Do we demigods look like something has never been weird before?" she replied. "Go on. Say it."

"I just spoke to your father," he said. "You and I have a lot to discuss."