Jason opened the door to Percy's room. He caught a waft of the sea immediately. He cringed slightly, even though he knew that he was not stepping into the sea. He walked inside and looked around. Leo had really made a good job out of it. Everything was sea-green or blue. Above him, on the ceiling was a very creative image of a sea. Water kept plopping down from the ceiling as if it had holes in it. This irritated Jason, but he realized that Percy would have loved it.
He opened the only cupboard in the room, and swept past all of Percy's clothes. He opened one of the drawers and inside it he found a photo. He gazed at the picture of Percy Jackson with his his mom, Sally Jackson and his dad, Poseidon. His gaze was locked only on Percy who looked like he had just won a lottery. He was hugging his dad like he wouldn't let go of him. Jason didn't think of Percy as handsome but now looking at the picture he did think so. His windblown hair and sea-green eyes were just too comforting. Jealousy crept to Jason's mind as he saw the photo but he shook it out. But he couldn't help wonder why Jupiter couldn't visit him at least once while Poseidon had the time to do so.
He sighed and kept the photo back to its original place. He opened another of the drawers but there was nothing. He searched the whole room but he couldn't find anything else. But when he opened the desk in the table, he found a letter addressed to him. He opened it, but found nothing written on it. Bu there was a sand dollar attached to it. He took it out and kept it inside his pocket not really intending to use it for himself but one day the time would come, when it would be very useful.
Jason closed the door and went to the deck of the ship. Surprisingly he found Hazel standing there. He turned to go but Hazel said, "Stay Jason. Why are you leaving anyway?"
So, Jason walked towards Hazel. There was a slight wind and Jason knew that Hazel was no big fan of the wind. He asked,
"What are you doing here?"
"Just... thinking over things. I know you would not like the subject brought up but without Percy and Annabeth we cannot do anything."
"I am there. You don't trust me?"
"No, not as much as I trust Percy."
Jason was taken aback by the answer. He never knew that Hazel would think of him like that. They both were Romans while Percy was a Greek. Why would Hazel trust him?"
"I know what you are thinking. It is true that we both are Romans and that Percy is a Greek but sometimes Jason, you are not very open. You take things too seriously. You never tell us everything that is on your mind even though you know we would help you. You are too Roman."
"So you are saying that I should stop being a Roman and stop being loyal to Rome?"
"No. That's not what I meant. I appreciate that you value you being a very loyal Roman but when it comes to destroying the Greeks, you may stand by the Legion to defeat them just because of Gaea controlling Leo that day."
"I would never do that Hazel!"
"How can I trust you? I wish Percy was here. He would have been there for me. You, Jason Grace are nothing but a very loyal Roman and the son of the most important god of all, Jupiter."
"I..." started Jason but he was interrupted.
"Don't be offended. I am sorry, Jason. I couldn't help thinking about Percy and you. Save this quest Jason and I will think about trusting you or not. I can be a very dangerous person to play with."
"All this for trust?"
"Yes. Prove that you can be trusted even if it is your enemy, the Greeks."
Jason suddenly felt a twinge of fear. Before he had thought that Hazel was a very quiet girl who barely said anything and would not fight with anyone unless she had to but now he realized what a dangerous enemy she would make. She just had to make a jewel from underground and make him touch it and bad luck would follow him much worse than death.
Before Jason could say anything, Hazel was off but he could hear the silent sobs. He pitied her. She had gone through a lot. But they all had gone through a lot. Hadn't they?
Jason couldn't help looking at the sky and let out the bitterness and anger in him. He felt fine after that. He was just about to go inside, when he heard noises made by people jumping up and down. Before he could turn around he saw a flash of bronze from behind him and all went black.
