The Battle for Olympus

Hazel

Hazel caught her breath. His curly hair, his mischievous smile, the way his fingers danced with nervous energy, he looked exactly like... but it couldn't be."

Frank must have recognized him too because he froze. "Who-"

"I'm sorry, I'm being rude," Annabeth said. "This is Leo and Piper, they're Jason's friends from Camp Half-blood."

Hazel blinked. So not Sammy, she thought. But why does he look just like him?

"Why don't you, ah, take a seat?" Ananbeth continued. "I think we have a lot to talk about."

"And not much time," Hazel agreed, pulling up a chair.

Piper swooped up the deck of cards and cleared the plastic cups, making room for Hazel and Frank. The basement was surprisingly comfortable, four private bedrooms and a shared bathroom, and although there were no windows, the place was well lit and homey with old Roman tapestries hanging from the walls.

"I assume you know Reyna and Jason's plan to take out Camp Half-blood and the Greeks, right?" Hazel said.

Annabeth laced her fingers. "We do."

"Frank and I want to prevent that, not just because of Percy, but because war must be avoided."

"You say you know Percy," Annabeth said. "How?"

Hazel and Frank took turns briefly describing Percy's arrival and their Alaska adventure.

"I'm a daughter of Pluto," Hazel said, "and Frank's a son of Mars. That's how I was able to tunnel into your room."

"So you're here to break us out?" Leo chimed in. Somehow in the past ten minutes, he'd assembled a mini helicopter out of the playing cards.

Hazel grimaced. "Not exactly. It's way too risky. We're here to let you know you have allies here at New Rome. And we'll be your contact with Percy."

Annabeth's eyes hardened, trapping Hazel in her silver gaze. "And how do I know this isn't a trap? A way for you to get information?"

Hazel knew Annabeth would ask. Percy was right, she was smart. "Feel my hand, Annabeth." Annabeth reached out and took Hazel's hand, her eyebrows furrowed. "You must feel something's off. My life force is different, I shouldn't be here. I died to prevent war once, back in the 1930s. Believe me when I tell you, I am fully prepared to do it again."

Leo choked. "The 1930s?"

Annabeth ignored him and held Hazel's gaze. "There is something about you. But I have no way..." she trailed off. "Actually, Piper ask Frank."

Frank frowned. "Ask me what?"

Piper turned to Frank and smiled sweetly. "What are your real intentions?"

Hazel felt the words wash over her, compelling her to tell Piper everything she knew.

Frank's eyes glazed over. "We want to help Percy and prevent war. He's our friend, we'd do anything for him and that means helping you too."

"Why do you want to prevent this? Supposedly this could save the world."

Frank shook his head. "That strategy is just a guess. But we're certain combining forces is the best way to achieve peace."

Annabeth nodded. "I was hoping you'd say that."

Hazel's mouth fell open. "Charmspeak. I've heard of a rare gift given to children of Venus but I've never seen it..."

Piper winced. "Yeah, yeah. A gift from mom. You should see how many BMWs I've stolen. Which I don't do anymore," she added quickly.

"Hey, I'm a son of Hephaestus," Leo said. "I have cool powers too."

Hazel glanced down at his hands. "Like the helicopter you built?"

Leo frowned. "Oh yeah! Watch this." He spun the propellor, then threw the helicopter across the room, flying for a few seconds before crashing.

Piper groaned. "That was our only deck of cards."

Leo grinned and ran his hand through his hair. "Sorry, beauty queen. It's innovation!"

The resemblance was uncanny.

"Leo," Hazel said, "are you from Louisiana?"

"Nah, Houston. Why?"

Hazel shook her head. "No reason. But Frank and I really should be going, we just wanted to let you know you have allies here."

"When will you have contact with Percy again?" Annabeth asked.

"It's tricky," Hazel said. "Percy can't Iris message us directly because if he catches us at a bad time it could implicate us all. And it's hard to find both time and private space for us to Iris message him."

"Makes sense. So you'll be like... our go between?"

"No. We're a lot more than that. We're on the same side, Annabeth, but we don't have the same goals. We will act as your go between out of goodwill to Percy, but above all we want to stop the war."

Annabeth shook her head. "We do have the same goals. We want to stop the war too! How could we not? It's our camp that's in danger."

"Maybe. But if it came down to saving your camp, or preventing Gaea's rise, which would you choose? Because that's what I'm doing."

Annabeth opened her mouth but Hazel leaned in closer. "You must understand. We are risking everything to even be here. This is treason, Frank and I could be executed for this. We want to prevent war and save your camp, yes, but above all Gaea had to die by any means necessary. And if that means negotiations fail, and war prevails causing the destruction of your camp, so be it."

Annabeth leaned back, a glimmer of something in her eye. Respect? "I understand, Hazel. And I know you'll do what you can. Just... if you make contact with Percy, tell him to find Thalia, okay? And that Grover is in Southern California with his dog. And that-that I love him." Annabeth blinked and looked away.

Hazel smiled. "Of course."

"You know," Frank said, "he wouldn't shut up about you. Annabeth this and Annabeth that. I'm glad we got to meet."

"Me too," Annabeth agreed. "But I think you should go, you've been here to long."

Frank squinted at his watch. "You're right. We've got to get to the armory to polish the shields."

Hazel cursed. "I forgot about that. Cover the hole with a tapestry, or Leo, do what you can to fix it. I'll fill in the tunnel right outside the hole in case it's found, but it's best it isn't."

Leo saluted. "Yes ma'am."

Hazel stepped through the hole and cast a glance back. Annabeth nodded goodbye, her hands gripping the edge of the table. Then she and Frank plunged back into the darkness.