Percy Jackson HeadCanons

Cursed*

As Hazel got older, she was better able to control her powers. Jewels didn't sprout form the earth when she became mildly nervous, and metal didn't race towards her when she was excited. But in times of strong emotion, it still became hard to control her gifts.

There was one week in particular when everything seemed to be going wrong. Her car broke down. Frank left his arrows out and she stepped on one, cutting open her foot. There was talk that the company she worked for might be going out of business. If she didn't know any better, she might have thought someone had cursed her.

Frank decided she was much too stressed, and opted to take a walk on a nearby hiking trail. The trails end was a beautiful river that Frank thought Hazel would really enjoy swimming in.

As the two walked the trail, Hazel couldn't help thinking about all the things that had gone wrong that week. Sure, her foot was totally healed thanks to a square of ambrosia and a bit of powdered unicorn horn, but every other part of her life besides her relationship with Frank was still in shambles.

Frank gave her a concerned look. "Hazel, what's going on inside that head of yours?"

She'd stopped walking and was now standing completely still in the middle of the trail. There was a familiar tingling feeling in her gut, a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long time.

Frank grabbed her arm gently. "What's happ-"

He stopped speaking when he saw a ruby the size of his fist sprout from the Earth by Hazels feet. He looked at her quizzically, but her eyes were trained on her feet and she seemed to have no intention of looking up any time soon.

Hazel was stuck in her own thoughts. Memories were soaring across her eyes; visions of loved ones picking up the dangerous riches she brought out of the Earth and suffering deadly consequences.

"Why am I like this?" she shouted. "Why? Why can't I just be normal?"

Frank was startled by her sudden outburst and jumped backward. This brought Hazel's eyes away from the ground. It also made her notice what Frank was holding.

"Oh no. Oh gods, no!"

Clenched in Frank's hand was the ruby Hazel has summoned. The cursed ruby.