New Age of Argonauts

4. Snitches Get Stitches

Hazel felt like she just introduced two nuclear bombs. Now she was waiting to see which one exploded first.

Until that morning, her brother Nico had been the most powerful demigod she knew. The others at Camp Jupiter saw him as a traveling oddball, about as harmless as the fauns. Hazel knew better.

She hadn't grown up with Nico, hadn't even known him very long. But she knew Nico was more dangerous than Reyna, or Octavian, or maybe even Jason.

Then she'd met Percy.

At first, when she saw him stumbling up the highway with the old lady in his arms, Hazel had thought he might be a god in disguise. Even though he was beat up and dirty, he'd had an aura of power. He had the good looks of a Roman god, with sea-green eyes and wind blown black hair. She'd ordered Frank not to fire on him. She thought the gods might be testing them. She'd heard myths like that: a kid with an old lady begs for shelter, and when the rude mortals refuse—boom, they get turned into banana slugs.

Then Percy had controlled the river and destroyed the gorgons. He'd turned a pen into a bronze sword. He'd stirred up the whole camp with talk about the graecus.

But Juno introduced him as if he were a demigod. And no gods that she knew of used a last name. Percy Jackson was an enigma.

A son of the sea god...

Long ago, Hazel had been told that a descendant of Neptune would save her. But could Percy really take away her curse? It seemed too much to hope for.

Percy and Nico shook hands. They studied each other warily, and Hazel fought the urge to run. If these two busted out the magic swords, things could get ugly. Despite his powers, Nico didn't appear scary. He was skinny and sloppy in his rumpled black clothes. His hair, as always, looked like he'd just rolled out of bed.

Hazel remembered when she'd met Nico. The first time she'd seen him draw that black sword of his, she'd almost laughed. The way he called it "Stygian iron," all serious-like—he'd looked ridiculous. This scrawny white boy was no fighter. She certainly hadn't believed they were related. She had changed her mind about that quick enough.

Percy scowled. "I- I know you."

Nico raised his eyebrows. "Do you?" He looked at Hazel for explanation.

Hazel hesitated. Something about her brother's reaction wasn't right. He was trying hard to act casual, but when he'd first seen Percy there was a momentary look of panic. Nico already knew Percy. She was sure of it. Why was Nico pretending otherwise?

Percy had the same revelation with Reyna. She waited for him to spit out where they knew each other from. It would be the third confrontation like that. Hazel knew there was more to Percy than he let on. Maybe he didn't know it himself with the amnesia and all, but Hazel was willing to bet Reyna put the pieces together at their meeting. She had acted strange towards the end.

When Percy said nothing, Hazel forced herself to speak. "Um... Percy's lost his memory."

She told her brother what had happened since Percy had arrived at the gates. "So, Nico..." she continued carefully, "I thought... you know, you travel all over. Maybe you've met demigods like Percy before, or..."

Nico's expression turned as dark as Tartarus. Hazel didn't understand why, but she got the message: Drop it.

"This story about Gaea's army," Nico said. "You warned Reyna?"