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Piper IX

Waking up to someone crying was already bad enough, but it was ten times worse when that person was Hazel Levesque.

When Leo opened his eyes, he found himself sitting in the ship's Mess Hall, surrounded by his six friends.

Percy was pacing back and forth. He reminded Leo of a caged tiger. His posture was tense as if he were ready for a fight and his expression was stony-faced. It was hard to picture that this was the same Percy Jackson he had been laughing with a couple minutes ago. How did he go from being so laid-back to this?

Tartarus... Leo frowned. He looked over at the others.

Piper and Jason were huddled together, occasionally muttering something to each other. The son of Jupiter had his arm wrapped around her and Piper was leaning into him for comfort. Both seemed to have their minds on other things.

Annabeth was sitting down, leaning heavily on the table. She had rings under her eyes and her hair was barely staying together in her ponytail. She was giving her plate a scowl as if it was responsible for her problems. Leo felt his heart clench. He wondered when was the last time she went to sleep and if she did, how often was she woken up by nightmares?

Frank and Hazel were sitting next to him, with Hazel being in the middle. Frank looked like he was close to tears, but he tried to keep a brave face on as he rubbed soothing circles into Hazel's free hand.

Hazel's other hand was squeezing a wad of tissue. She was hiccupping, crying, and sniffling, all at the same time. If it wasn't for her deep gasps, Leo would've been worried she wasn't breathing. Her cheeks and nose were red. Her gold eyes were puffy and bloodshot. Leo winced at how distraught she looked.

What happened? Leo wanted to ask, but found himself unable to speak.

Hazel coughed. Frank let go of her hand and was now rubbing her back.

"It's okay, take your time." he said softly. He quickly wiped away a stray tear from his cheek. "We'll wait 'til you're ready..."

It took a while, but Hazel finally calmed down enough to explain the situation.

"We were on the deck, talking about sparkling vampires," she sniffled. "When Nemesis came and said that Leo needed to repay her for using the fortune cookie-"

Percy turned to her.

"Fortune cookie?" he frowned.

"It was supposed to help him when he was in a situation he couldn't solve, but for a price." Hazel tearfully explained. She grabbed another tissue and dabbed her eyes. On the table, the silverware were being pulled toward her, as if she had some kind of gravitational force. "I don't know why he opened it, though. He didn't tell me. All I know is that after she told him it was time to pay, there was a bright light, and they were gone."

Hazel furiously blinked back tears. "I can't believe he would vanish again. This is the second time we lost him."

I'm right here! Leo tried to yell, but remained silent.

She dropped her tissues on the table and brushed her hair back. "I can't sense him, so he isn't dead."

That seemed to relax the others.

"We'll find him." Frank promised. "He couldn't have gotten too far."

"I'm not worried about finding him," Hazel said, placing her hand on her cheek. "I'm worried about what Nemesis will do to him. She made her own son give up an eye! Who knows what kind of torture she's doing to poor Leo..."

Percy winced. The mood in the Mess Hall seemed to get darker.

Leo wished he could tell everyone not to worry about him.