The Heart Of Hazel // Percy Jackson Fanfix Book 1

I

Dedicated to deviously_innocent

WHEN HAZEL WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING, Leo Valdez was crashing two skillets together.

The cabin groaned and mumbled. Above her Hazel, Piper groaned. Hazel heard the bed springs move as Piper readjusted herself. "Leo! What are you doing?" She said in subdued frustration. 

"Well," Leo said, stopping his noise. "I was hanging out with Jason, but he got really boring,"

"Leo!"

"And then I ended up in Annabeth's cabin, but she gave me those crazy girl eyes, and then I ended up hanging with Percy. He wants us all to meet him in the dining pavilion. I promised I'd get as many campers as I could."

Hazel sat up. "Leo, no. Nobody rang the horn so there's no reason to get up." Leo sat down his pots and rolled his eyes. His hand erupted in a ball of fire.
"Everybody up or the cabin goes up in flames!"

Nobody moved. Leo walked over to the huge, pink shoe cabinet. It was embroidered in diamonds and rubies. The handles were delicately created into strong wisps of wood. Leo flung the doors open, revealing at least 100 pairs of shoes. He held his flaming hand close to a pair of custom AF1. "The shoes go first." He threatened.

Lets just say, the cabin sure was busy.

As soon as Hazel got dressed, the cabin members began to shuffle out the door, muttering impolite words about Leo."Hazel wait!" Someone called. Hazel turned around to see Piper jogging towards her. Her long, choppy hair was losely braided to the side. The daughter of Aphrodite smiled as she caught up with her. "Hey Hazel! You going back home today?"

Hazel nodded. "Yeah, the train to Camp Jupiter leaves at 9:30 tonight. So I have plenty of time."

Ever since their battle with Gaea the dirt faced Earth queen last summer, both Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter had finally made renovations to their camps and finally aligned. Even day bus loads of demigods came and left each camp, always taking a kid from the other camp with it, or dropping them off. Finally the Greeks and the Romans had untied the right way. Even if it did take a couple millennia.

Piper nodded at this, smiling brightly. "That's great! I was going to hang out with Jason today, but he decided to stay at Jupiter to do gods know what, and since you're staying this'll be absouletly perfect!"

They heard a squeal behind them. "Omg! Hazel did you hear that? Piper wants to hang out with you alllll day!"
Lo and behold, Leo Valdez. He squeezed in between them and put his arms around their shoulders. He was a little shorter than Hazel and way shorter than Piper, so he looked pretty silly in between the two. Hazel smiled and gently slid his arm from her shoulder.
"Leo, Piper and I were thinking about just having a girls day."

Leo's body seemed to slump. His smile faded and his eyes drooped. Hazel was about to speak up, when Leo seemed to be rejuvenated, jumping back into normal 'ol Leo. Hazel still felt like something was wrong. His eyes didn't smile like they normally did. He plastered on a thin smile and nodded. "Sure, sure. I'm sorry."

Hazel looked at Piper who seemed to realize something was wrong too. Piper looked like she was about to say something, but when they looked forward, Leo was trudging towards the woods, a wrench in his hand. Hazel wasn't sure if she should go after him, and was contemplating it when Piper said, "he'll be okay, right?"

Hazel nodded. "Yeah," she said uncertainly, glancing again towards the woods. "Yeah, he'll be fine."

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Hazel and Piper talked all the way tp the dining pavilion, talking about all sorts of things from boys to death. Hazel liked talking to Piper. Neither talked too much or too little. Their topics flowed in balance. Piper had soon became a sister to Hazel in just a matter of months. She'd do anything to protect her.

"Have you heard from Nico and Will?" Piper asked her. She fidgeted with the feather braided in her hair. Hazel shook her head and sighed.

"No. I don't know where they could be. I just hope they come to camp soon."  Piper nodded. 2 months ago Hazel's brother Nico was sent on a quest to retrieve a cursed stolen necklace to save the life of a camper. The camper had randomly fallen deadly ill and suddenly Annabeth, Will and Nico were shoved into a quest together, not thst they were probably complaining. The only way to save the camper was to retrieve the necklace from the deepest wood in the world of mythology:
The Foloi Oak Forest. Hazel was worried for her brother, but he made her promise to not worry too much and that he would call her for help of he needed it.

She prayed to Pluto that they would be okay.

Soon the reached the dining pavilion and found Percy standing in the middle of the nearby fields, waving them to him. He whistled as they arrived. "Well Leo sure knows how to get a crowd." The campers muttered not-so-nice words about him. Percy chuckled and they sea green eyes sparkled. "Hey thanks, Leo." He called out to the crowd. Everyone looked around amongst them.

"Anyone know where Leo is?" Piper cleared her throat. "He went into the woods earlier. Probably to his bunker."

Percy's eyebrows knit together and he and Hazel shared a look. They were both thinking the same thing. It wasn't like Leo to just leave. But they couldn't dwell on it then. Percy cleared his throat.

"Listen up, campers! As we know, next week is the forth or July! Since the Hephaestus cabin is on a field trip to Camp Jupiter's forgeries, we're gonna be hosting a little competition."
The camp cheered but Hazel was left confused. Why wasn't Leo on the trip? More questions swirled her brain.

"It's a friendly competition so no sabotaging. You have a week to complete the greatest fireworks display you can. Good luck, folks!" Percy said cheerfully. He was doing a great job running camp. And he seemed to be enjoying it too. After most of the campers had dispersed, including Piper, Percy approached Hazel.

"It's not like him to just up and leave," Percy said thoughtfully. "We should go check on him." Hazel nodded, and they began to trudge through the woods. Piper uncapped his pen, and it grew into a fully grown sword. The woods were a dangerous place for a demigod, especially for a child of the big three. Two? Monster meal. Hazel saw a glowing in the distance, and heard the clinking of metal. She and Percy quickly hid behind a tree. She couldn't really anything in front of her but the light. "Dang it!"  She heard a voice call out. She glanced at Percy.

Leo.

Leo yelled in fustration and seemed to kick something, which made him scream loudly. Leo marched into view, his hand ablaze. He threw a ball of fire at a tree angrily, and a tree nymph came out and stated whacking him on the head with a headless branch. "Ow!" He cried, shielding himself. He ran deeper into the woods.

"What did you do to him?" Percy asked incredulously. Hazel shook her head. "I told him Piper and I just want to hang out today."

Percy cocked an eyebrow but trudged forward, a worried Hazel following suit.