𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 - jason grace

04. TEAM LEO FOR THE WIN!

"WHO IS AUNT ROSA?" Hazel asked, breaking the silence.

"Long story," Leo said. "She abandoned me after my mom died, gave me to foster care."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well..." Leo seemed anxious to change the subject. "What about you? What Nemesis said about your brother?"

Hazel blinked like she'd gotten salt in her eyes. "Nico...he found me in the Underworld. He brought me back to the mortal world and convinced the Romans at Camp Jupiter to accept me. I owe him for my second chance at life. If Nemesis is right, and Nico's in danger...I have to help him."

"Sure," Leo said.  "And what Nemesis said about your brother having six days to live, and Rome getting destroyed...any idea what she meant?"

"None," Hazel admitted. "But I'm afraid..."

Whatever she was thinking, she decided not to share it. She climbed one of the largest boulders to get a better view. Leo tried to follow and lost his balance. Hazel caught his hand. She pulled him up and they found themselves atop the rock, holding hands, face-to-face.

Maia rolled her eyes from down below, and pulled herself up. This is ridiculous, she thought.

"Um, thanks." He let go of her hand, but they were still standing very close. Maia felt invisible.

"When we were talking to Nemesis," Hazel said uneasily, "your hands...I saw flames."

"Yeah," he said. "It's a Hephaestus power. Usually I can keep it under control."

"Oh." She put one hand protectively on her denim shirt, protecting the firewood.

"Leo?" Hazel asked gently. "You can't take what Nemesis said to heart."

He frowned. "What if it's true?"

"It's not," Maia said, finally getting them to look at her. "Trust me. I've been the outsider my entire life, you'll find your people, if you haven't already."

"Yeah." Hazel said. "She's the goddess of revenge," she reminded him. "Maybe she's on our side, maybe not; but she exists to stir up resentment."

He nodded. "What about what she said about Maia? About her being different, or whatever it was."

Maia pursed her lips. "I'm the unlucky daughter of the goddess of luck. I think that about sums it up."

"Okay then, but what about when she said you were 'already quite lucky'? What does that mean?"

"I don't know, this isn't making sense at all." She sighed. She was cursed by the fates, doomed to (very possibly) die, and now she was lucky? This was a joke. It had to be.

After a moment of silence, Leo spoke up again.

"We should keep going," he said. "I wonder what Nemesis meant about finishing before dark."

Hazel glanced at the sun, which was just touching the horizon. "And who is the cursed boy she mentioned?"

Below them, a voice said, "Cursed boy she mentioned."

Maia barely noticed her, but when she did, she couldn't help but smile. She was pretty. At least Maia thought so, she couldnt remember exactly what she looked like, without looking back at her. She was standing only ten feet from the base of the boulder. Her dress was a Greek-style tunic the same color as the rocks. Her wispy hair was somewhere between brown and blond and gray, so it blended with the dry grass. She wasn't invisible, exactly, but she was almost perfectly camouflaged until she moved. Maia had a hard time focusing on her, but she tried her best. Maia had to concentrate to actually look at her, but that was alright, she didn't mind.