Hazel's POV
Even before she got on the boat, Hazel felt queasy. She kept thinking about Phineas with steam coming out of his eyes, his hands crumbling to dust. Percy had assured her that she wasn't like Phineas. But she was. She'd done something even worse than torment harpies.
You started this whole thing! Phineas had said. If it weren't for you, Alcyoneus wouldn't be alive! As the boat sped down the Columbia River, Hazel tried to forget. She helped Ella make a nest out of old books and magazines they'd liberated from the library's recycling bin.
They hadn't really planned on taking the harpy with them, but Ella acted like the matter was decided. "Friends," she muttered. "Ten seasons. 1994 to 2004.' Friends melt Phineas and give Ella jerky. Ella will go with her friends."
Now she was roosting comfortably in the stern, nibbling bits of jerky and reciting random lines from Charles Dickens and 50 Tricks to Teach Your Dog. (Y/N) was the only other person she let touch her.
When he asked her why, she would just babble on about some book, "All Together Now." She would say, and then in singsong, she would recite the same phrase every time. 'All together now! We're the little Honeys."
The first time she had done it, they thought nothing of it, but the third and fourth time, they knew she must have been trying to tell them something. They looked at (Y/N) for an answer, but he looked about as lost as we were with her comfort around him. "She should hate me...I didn't expect this." He said.
Hazel knew the feeling, every time she thought about her past, about the life she lived before all this and people like Sammy, and her mother, and then to Frank, Percy and (Y/N), she felt like it was just a matter of time before they hated her.
Even looking at them now she felt like they should have blamed her for something. She was especially wary of (Y/N) since he did something as stupid as swallowing one of her gems. The thought of it made her stomach twist.
She didn't understand why, why would someone willingly put themselves in such danger just to prove a point? (Y/N) may not have believed in the curse, but Hazel did, she had seen it in action, and the aftermath.
She kept glancing over at (Y/N) expecting him to keel over, or spontaneously combust, or a piano to fall on him, something, but every time he would just smile at her. It was unnerving in a way. Hazel guessed the only reason he had lived this long was because his father was chained up.
Not that it put her at ease, even now as they were on the water, she found herself getting chills every few minutes, each time, she'd instinctively look towards (Y/N), expecting him to have been hurt in some way.
But he just looked at her with (E/C) eyes and shrug as if to say 'Still here. Weird huh?' Part of her knew it was arrogance, hubris, but it did give her a sort of a rush each time, if (Y/N) could get over the curse, maybe so could she.
Percy knelt in the bow, steering them toward the ocean with his freaky mind-over-water powers. Hazel sat next to Frank on the centre bench, their shoulders touching, which made her feel as jittery as a harpy.
She remembered how Frank stood up for her in Portland, shouting, "She's a good person!" like he was ready to take on anybody who denied it.
She remembered the way he had looked on the hillside in Mendocino, alone in a clearing of poisoned grass with his spear in hand, fires burning all around him and the ashes of three basilisks at his feet.
A week ago, if someone had suggested that Frank was a child of Mars, Hazel would have laughed. Frank was much too sweet and gentle for that. She had always felt protective of him because of his clumsiness and his knack for getting into trouble.
Since they'd left camp, she saw him differently. He had more courage than she'd realized. He was the one looking out for her. She had to admit that the change was kind of nice. The river widened into the ocean. The Pax turned north.
As they sailed, Frank kept her spirits up by telling her silly jokes—Why did the Minotaur cross the road? How many fauns does it take to change a lightbulb? He pointed out buildings along the coastline that reminded him of places in Vancouver.
The sky started to darken, the sea turning the same rusty color as Ella's wings. June 21 was almost over. The Feast of Fortuna would happen in the evening, exactly seventy-two hours from now.
Finally Frank brought out some food from his pack—sodas and muffins he'd scavenged from Phineas's table. He passed them around. "It's okay, Hazel," he said quietly. "My mom used to say you shouldn't try to carry a problem alone. But if you don't want to talk about it, that's okay."
Hazel took a shaky breath. She was afraid to talk—not just because she was embarrassed. She didn't want to black out and slip into the past. "You were right," she said, "when you guessed I came back from the Underworld. I'm...I'm an escapee. I shouldn't be alive."
She felt like a dam had broken. The story flooded out. She explained how her mother had summoned Pluto and fallen in love with the god. She explained her mother's wish for all the riches in the earth, and how that had turned into Hazel's curse.
She described her life in New Orleans— everything except her boyfriend Sammy. Looking at Frank, she couldn't bring herself to talk about that. She described the Voice, and how Gaea had slowly taken over her mother's mind.
She explained how they had moved to Alaska, how Hazel had helped to raise the giant Alcyoneus, and how she had died, sinking the island into Resurrection Bay. She knew Percy, (Y/N) and Ella were listening, but she spoke mostly to Frank.
When she had finished, she was afraid to look at him. She waited for him to move away from her, maybe tell her she vas a monster after all. Instead, he took her hand. "You sacrificed yourself to stop the giant from waking. I could never be that brave."
She felt her pulse throbbing in her neck. "It wasn't bravery. I let my mother die. I cooperated with Gaea too long. I almost let her win." "Hazel," said Percy. "You stood up to a goddess all by yourself. You did the right thing."
"Yeah Hazel, gris-gris or not, escapee's a bit of a stretch Hazel. Me. I'm an escapee, broke the gates to get out, just nobody tell my dad. He'll dock my allowance." He chuckled. Then bent down and smiled at Hazel again.
"You? I'd say you pretty much have permission back then, and you sure as hell do now. Nico di Angelo approved life VISA, and even better, (Y/N) (L/N) approved gold star certification. It doesn't get much more VIP then that." He smirked.
"I'm sure she feels honoured (Y/N), now leave her alone." Percy said, "I will. I was just..." His voice trailed off, as if he'd had an unpleasant thought. For the tiniest flicker of a second, his eyes changed back to the normal gold colour.
Then he asked, "What happened in the Underworld...I mean, after you died? You should've gone to Elysium. But if Nico brought you back—" "I didn't go to Elysium." Her mouth felt dry as sand. "Please don't ask..."
"Sorry. Didn't mean to pry, bad habit." He nodded slowly before going to chat with Percy. She knew he meant it, that it wasn't malicious. But it was too late. She remembered her descent into the darkness, her arrival on the banks of the River Styx, and her consciousness began to slip.
"Hazel?" Frank asked. "Slip Sliding Away," Ella muttered. "Number five U.S. single. Paul Simon. Frank, go with her. Simon says, Frank, go with her." Hazel had no idea what Ella was talking about, but her vision darkened as she clung to Frank's hand.
She found herself back in the Underworld, and this time Frank was at her side. They stood in Charon's boat, crossing the Styx. Debris swirled in the dark waters—a deflated birthday balloon, a child's pacifier, a little plastic bride and groom from the top of a cake—all the remnants of human lives cut short.
"Wh-where are we?" Frank stood at her side, shimmering with a ghostly purple light as if he'd become a Lar. "It's my past." Hazel felt strangely calm. "It's just an echo. Don't worry."
The boatman turned and grinned. One moment he was a handsome African man in an expensive silk suit. The next moment he was a skeleton in a dark robe. "Course you shouldn't worry," he said with a British accent.
He addressed Hazel, as if he couldn't see Frank at all. "Told you I'd take you across, didn't I? 'Sall right you don't have a coin. Wouldn't be proper, leaving Pluto's daughter on the wrong side of the river."
The boat slid onto a dark beach. Hazel led Frank to the black gates of Erebos. The spirits parted for them, sensing she was a child of Pluto. The giant three-headed dog Cerberus growled in the gloom, but he let them pass.
Inside the gates, they walked into a large pavilion and stood before the judges' bench. Three black-robed figures in golden masks stared down at Hazel. Frank whimpered. "Who—?" "They'll decide my fate," she said.
"Watch." Just as before, the judges asked her no questions. They simply looked into her mind, pulling thoughts from her head and examining them like a collection of old photos.
"Thwarted Gaea," the first judge said. "Prevented Alcyoneus from waking." "But she raised the giant in the first place," the second judge argued. "Guilty of cowardice, weakness." "She is young," said the third judge. "Her mother's life hung in the balance."
"My mother." Hazel found the courage to speak. "Where is she? What is her fate?" The judges regarded her, their golden masks frozen in creepy smiles. "Your mother..." The image of Marie Levesque shimmered above the judges. She was frozen in time, hugging Hazel as the cave collapsed, her eyes shut tight.
"An interesting question," the second judge said. "The division of fault." "Yes," said the first judge. "The child died for a noble cause. She prevented many deaths by delaying the giant's rise. She had courage to stand against the might of Gaea."
"But she acted too late," the third judge said sadly. "She is guilty of aiding and abetting an enemy of the gods." "The mother influenced her," said the first judge. "The child can have Elysium. Eternal Punishment for Marie Levesque."
"No!" Hazel shouted. "No, please! That's not fair." The judges tilted their heads in unison. Gold masks, Hazel thought. Gold has always been cursed for me. She wondered if the gold was poisoning their thoughts somehow, so that they'd never give her a fair trial.
"Beware, Hazel Levesque," the first judge warned. "Would you take full responsibility? You could lay this guilt on your mother's soul. That would be reasonable. You were destined for great things. Your mother diverted your path. See what you might have been...."
Another image appeared above the judges. Hazel saw herself as a little girl, grinning, with her hands covered in finger paint. The image aged. Hazel saw herself growing up—her hair became longer, her eyes sadder.
She saw herself on her thirteenth birthday, riding across the fields on her borrowed horse. Sammy laughed as he raced after her: What are you running from? I'm not that ugly, am I? She saw herself in Alaska, trudging down Third Street in the snow and darkness on her way home from school.
Then the image aged even more. Hazel saw herself at twenty. She looked so much like her mother, her hair gathered back in braids, her golden eyes flashing with amusement. She wore a white dress—a wedding dress? She was smiling so warmly, Hazel knew instinctively she must be looking at someone special—someone she loved.
The sight didn't make her feel bitter. She didn't even wonder whom she would have married. Instead she thought: My mother might've looked like this if shed let go of her anger, if Gaea hadn't twisted her.
"You lost this life," the first judge said simply. "Special circumstances. Elysium for you. Punishment for your mother." "No," Hazel said. "No, it wasn't all her fault. She was misled. She loved me. At the end, she tried to protect me."
"Hazel," Frank whispered. "What are you doing?" She squeezed his hand, urging him to be silent. The judges paid him no attention. Finally the second judge sighed. "No resolution. Not enough good. Not enough evil."
"The blame must be divided," the first judge agreed. "Both souls will be consigned to the Fields of Asphodel. I'm sorry, Hazel Levesque. You could have been a hero." She passed through the pavilion, into yellow fields that went on forever. She led Frank through a crowd of spirits to a grove of black poplar trees.
"You gave up Elysium," Frank said in amazement, "so your mother wouldn't suffer?" "She didn't deserve Punishment," Hazel said. "But...what happens now?" "Nothing," Hazel said. "Nothing...for all eternity."
They drifted aimlessly. Spirits around them chattered like bats—lost and confused, not remembering their past or even their names. Hazel remembered everything. Perhaps that was because she was a daughter of Pluto, but she never forgot who she was, or why she was there.
"Remembering made my afterlife harder," she told Frank, who still drifted next to her as a glowing purple Lar. "So many times I tried to walk to my father's palace...." She pointed to a large black castle in the distance. "I could never reach it. I can't leave the Fields of Asphodel."
"Did you ever see your mother again?" Hazel shook her head. "She wouldn't know me, even if I could find her. These spirits...it's like an eternal dream for them, an endless trance. This is the best I could do for her."
Time was meaningless, but after an eternity, she and Frank sat together under a black poplar tree, listening to the screams from the Fields of Punishment.
In the distance, under the artificial sunlight of Elysium, the Isles of the Blest glittered like emeralds in a sparkling blue lake. White sails cut across water and the souls of great heroes basked on the beaches in perpetual bliss.
"You didn't deserve Asphodel," Frank protested. "You should be with the heroes." "This is just an echo," Hazel said. "We'll wake up, Frank. It only seems like forever." "That's not the point!" he protested.
"Your life was taken from you. You were going to grow up to be a beautiful woman. You..." His face turned a darker shade of purple. "You were going to marry someone," he said quietly. "You would have had a good life. You lost all that."
Hazel swallowed back a sob. It hadn't been this hard in Asphodel the first time, when she was on her own. Having Frank with her made her feel so much sadder. But she was determined not to get angry about her fate.
Hazel thought about that image of herself as an adult, smiling and in love. She knew it wouldn't take much bitterness to sour her expression and make her look exactly like Queen Marie. I deserve better, her mother always said. Hazel couldn't allow herself to feel that way.
"I'm sorry, Frank," she said. "I think your mother was wrong. Sometimes sharing a problem doesn't make it easier to carry." "But it does." Frank slipped his hand into his coat pocket. "In fact...since we've got eternity to talk, there's something I want to tell you."
He brought out an object wrapped in cloth, about the same size as a pair of glasses. When he unfolded it, Hazel saw a half-burned piece of driftwood, glowing with purple light. She frowned.
"What is..." Then the truth hit her, as cold and harsh as a blast of winter wind. "Phineas said your life depends on a burned stick "It's true," Frank said. "This is my lifeline, literally."
He told her how the goddess Juno had appeared when he was a baby, how his grandmother had snatched the piece of wood from the fireplace. "Grandmother said I had gifts—some talent we got from our ancestor, the Argonaut. That, and my dad's being Mars..."
He shrugged. "I'm supposed to be too powerful or something. That's why my life can burn up so easily. Iris said I would die holding this, watching it burn." Frank turned the piece of tinder in his fingers.
Even in his ghostly purple form, he looked so big and sturdy. Hazel figured he would be huge when he was an adult—as strong and healthy as an ox. She couldn't believe his life depended on something as small as a stick.
"Frank, how can you carry it around with you?" she asked. "Aren't you terrified something will happen to it?" "That's why I'm telling you." He held out the firewood. "I know it's a lot to ask, but would you keep it for me?"
Hazel's head spun. Until now, she'd accepted Frank's presence in her blackout. She'd led him along, numbly replaying her past, because it seemed only fair to show him the truth. But now she wondered if Frank was really experiencing this with her, or if she was just imagining his presence. Why would he trust her with his life?
"Frank," she said, "You know who I am. I'm Pluto's daughter. Everything I touch goes wrong. Why would you trust me?" "You're my best friend." He placed the firewood in her hands. "I trust you more than anybody."
She wanted to tell him he was making a mistake. She wanted to give it back. But before she could say anything, a shadow fell over them. "Our ride is here," Frank guessed. Hazel had almost forgotten she was reliving her past.
Nico di Angelo stood over her in his black overcoat, his Stygian iron sword at his side. His eyes were looking around, like he was searching for a face. He didn't notice Frank, but he locked eyes with Hazel and seemed to read her whole life.
"You're different," he said. "A child of Pluto. You remember your past." "Yes," Hazel said. "And you're alive." Nico studied her like he was reading a menu, deciding whether or not to order. "I'm Nico di Angelo," he said.
"I came looking for my sister, to bring her back-" "Back to life?" Hazel asked. "Is that possible?" "It should have been." Nico sighed. "But she's gone. She chose to be reborn into a new life." He looked at the floor and blinked the beginnings of tears from his eyes.
Then he caught himself, and asked, "Have you been here long?" Hazel shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe." With that information, Nico asked "I'm also looking for someone else...a friend, a son of Thanatos. Has anyone like that come through here"
"Thanatos?" Hazel asked. Her past self not realising the importance of the god of death. Nico pursed his lips, "I'll take that as a no, he's not the subtlest of people, if you'd have seen him, you'd know."
"He's supposed to be in Elysium, but something's gone wrong. Death has gone missing, so I thought...I thought I could bring him back and no one would notice. I'm too late. He's gone." Nico looked like the thought made him hopeful, but saddened him.
"I'm sorry." Hazel said. He held out his hand. "Well, I might have been too late for them, but I'm not too late now. You're my sister too. You deserve another chance. Come with me."
(Y/N)'s POV
"Did you do that?" Percy asked, as the two of them nodded off, he didn't seem concerned, (Y/N) shrugged, "Might have helped it along a little. Better now while she's here than in battle." "How'd you do it?" He asked calmly.
Percy always had this sort of mellow calmness to his voice when he was at sea, like he was totally at ease, totally in control. It was cool. "Old 'gris-gris' trick," He said, quoting Hazel "Learnt it from a magician...Learned a lot of tricks while you were away Jackson."
"And how long was I away?" (Y/N) chuckled, "A while. We're both still in the doghouse on that front I'm afraid buddy." Finally, Percy lost his staring contest with the waves and turned his head to look at (Y/N), "Why did you want to talk to me?"
That was the million dollar question, as he walked up to Percy, he really didn't know the answer, even as Percy posed the question to him, an answer didn't find it's way to his lips, for a moment, it was silent, the words slipped out of his mouth without thought behind them.
"I need your help." He said, blinking as if the thought shocked him, as if he didn't realize that was the true reason he wanted to be here with Percy, the one person he knew he could always count on to help him, or at least, the one friend present that he trusted enough to let them.
"I haven't really told anyone about it, only Annabeth, she gets it, but didn't really...understand. But to be honest I didn't think they'd understand, I hoped you would. See, it's not just Gaea being in my head, it's something else, this weird feeling I can't shake that I'm...out of place."
"I would have asked Hazel about it too, but something tells me she doesn't need my help right now." He said as he looked at the two other demigods, sleeping beside one another soundly. "What do you mean, out of place?" Percy asked as he thoughtfully looked at the waves again.
Putting it into words was difficult to say the least, it wasn't an emotion, or a feeling, just a sort of sense, like being able to tell something was off, but not knowing the cause. He thought it was Gaea, but being on this boat confirmed that wasn't the case.
"Like me being here is...wrong. Something is missing, like I shouldn't have come back. Everything feels a little off, like I'm me, I'm here, but I'm not fitting quite right." Percy chuckled dryly, "Trust me. I get it."
(Y/N) nodded. "I...I thought maybe if I came with you, going on a quest with you, it'd...I don't know, make me feel like I did back then. But it's not working out like I expected. I thought being with you would make me feel like I used to, but ever since I came back, I've felt...different."
"Maybe it's to do with your ghost friend, you two have always been together right? Now you're apart, of course it's going to feel strange." (Y/N) sighed, "Maybe, but I feel like it's something deeper than that, and or even my dad being chained up, I feel...wrong. Even my last quest I just felt like I was...there."
"Your last quest?" "Escorting a show off, a beauty queen and a pyromaniac to see the boss lady, not important. But even doing that, I felt like I was just there to be there. Nothing was too different to me not being there, but on this quest. Well...to put it bluntly."
"I know it sounds stupid and selfish, but I feel like all of you hate me, you're just too nice to say it. I feel like I'm causing nothing but pain." "That's just-" "It's not Gaea Percy, I know that. I feel it, the bitterness you all keep hidden. I'm not a kid anymore, I can see it. Hazel still looks at me like I'm about to snatch her away any second, Frank barely looks at me at all."
"And me?" Percy asked calmly, "You have the same look that I had every time I stared in a mirror, that look that means you both know exactly what's going on, but also you feel utterly lost, when you look at me, it's almost always just the last one. I understand it Percy, I do."
"When I first got out, I wasn't me exactly. I was someone else, not entirely me, and not...not me. I was having this really weird dream, it was kind of strange, imagine Tyson w-" "You feel like you're off, like you're empty." Percy interrupted.
"Kinda. But now it's different. I feel like a burden, I feel like I've lost...I don't know, my purpose? Sometimes I look around at the three of you-" "Three's company, an American sitcom television series that aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984-"
"Sorry, the four of you. And I just think to myself. 'what am I doing here?' You know, I don't understand what I'm adding to this group, I don't know why I needed to be brought along and not left back with Reyna and Octavian."
"Because you probably would have stabbed Octavian by now." Percy smiled, (Y/N) missed that smile. He hadn't really gotten time to appreciate how much he missed Percy, ever since they reunited it was one thing after the other.
But now the world was quiet around him, (Y/N) realized just how much he had missed the snarky little dork that was Percy Jackson. He missed how his friend would listen to him, even with the whole world at stake.
(Y/N) sighed and tried not to get lost in the thought, he couldn't afford to shed tears, he had a reputation to uphold. "Anyway, right now, I feel like I'm just going through the motions, it's concerning."
"I've been told so many things by different people, that I should leave you and go off on my own, that I should stick with you and protect you, that I'm meant to guide you all somewhere, but you've already found your way, and you didn't need my help to do it, so now I'm thinking should I try the other option?"
Percy frowned "Look man, if you really think you being here isn't the best idea. I won't hold it against you, I'm sure the others won't too, and if someone you trust told you that it's for the best then go ahead. But personally, I want you here. Watching my back." "I would too man. But I think I'm not meant to be here, at least not right now."
"Every quest I've ever gone on, I've known why. And I knew what I was doing from day one, the reason I was there. But this one, the one to save my father of all people, the one I should care most about. I just feel like dead weight." "(Y/N) We couldn't have made it this far without you-" "Don't lie Percy, you suck at it."
They both knew it. "You would have crossed the water without me, beat the grain demons without me, found the army without me, and would have found your way to Iris without me, probably without getting her hurt, and you would have got to Phineas and done the exact same thing without me, only smoother and with less danger."
"I've caused nothing but trouble for you guys since day one, I'm putting you all in danger, and I guess I'm just worried I'm going to get one of you hurt. And with what Phineas said to me, I thought maybe I had finally found something, I could find out the truth about my mom, but that didn't work out either."
"I thought I had finally found the reason why I came back. Not to help the quests. The reason I came back, what I got out of it-" "Well, avoiding the end of the world would be a nice gift. And living sounds good. But yeah, I follow. So why do you feel like we hate you? What gave you that idea, other than the staring?"
(Y/N) shrugged. But Percy found the words before he did, "Phineas got to you huh, you don't think we all hate you, you're just scared that we should. You want us to, so that you can leave." (Y/N) didn't know that until someone voiced it. But nodded when Percy hit the nail on the head.
"That's why you swallowed the gem." He said, and (Y/N) nodded, it wasn't part of his original plan, but once he saw the opportunity he decided to take it. "If you leave because of that, if you blame it on the luck, it'll only make Hazel feel worse." Percy said. Looking back at the sleeping girl, "She'd blame herself."
(Y/N) had considered that, but thought it was a small price to pay, until he really thought about it, about all she had been through up until now, he could tell the encounter with Phineas shook her a little, just like it had with him and he knew enough about her past to know she still blamed herself for the giant rising.
He shouldn't have even considered putting any more of that on her shoulders. "What else could I have done?" He asked, Percy shrugged, "We could have a fight. Once we get on land, you can go your separate ways then." "What. Like an act? Because I've seen you act, it's worse than your lying."
Percy huffed, "I'll tell them when they wake up, I'll explain that it's not their fault, and that it's just for the best-" "We are still talking about the quest here right?" Percy said, (Y/N) rolled his eyes. "Shut up." The to of them giggled for a second, but then (Y/N) said "I think they'll agree with me."
(Y/N) sighed. "If I didn't come back, none of this would have happened, if I hadn't have been so stupid when I was fighting Nyx, Gaea wouldn't have even risen, and...sometimes I wish none of this ever happened-" "-(Y/N), don't think like that. You did come back, that's all that's important."
Percy nudged (Y/N) "And sometimes, so do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." He said with a familiar tone to his voice that put (Y/N) at ease.
It took him a moment before he questioned, "Did you just-" "I don't know, I lost my memory." He said, but (Y/N) took note of the smirk tugging at his lips. "Missed you gills." (Y/N) said, throwing his arm around his friend. Realizing they had rubbed off on each other over the years.
For a while, (Y/N) meandered around the boat, checking on Ella every so often, making sure she was comfortable, after he saw her begin yawning, he urged her to sleep, "No more blackouts..." She said, also repeating the same rhyme to him about little honeys. Which he was still no closer to understanding.
When he went to wake the others so Percy could rest. Ella stopped him. Adamant that they should be left alone to 'share.' They sat in silence for a while, but looking at the waves, Percy frowned.
"Can you tell me about Zoe?" He asked gently, as the waves rocked the boat, like he was trying to fall asleep, (Y/N)'s lip trembled a little, but after making a tough choicer, he said, "Of course I can." He took a moment to think of how he could encapsulate Zoe in a simple sentence, but couldn't.
(Y/N) pointed up to the stars just as the redness in the sky began to fade, He didn't need to look to find it, another perk of being related to Nyx, not that he would ever forget anyway.
"There she is. In all her huntress glory." Percy followed his eyes and looked encapsulated by the beauty of the constellation, "But the real Zoe...oh boy could I tell you some stories." He smiled.
The two of them spent the next few hours talking about Zoe Nightshade, (Y/N) told Percy of her temper, her strength, and her quick wit, about the adventures they once had together. But that was only the beginning.
As they heard Ella snoring in her perch, sounding like a chirping bird, the conversation carried on, from Zoe, to Bianca Di Angelo, Charles Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, Michael Yew, Lee Fletcher, Castor, Ethan Nakamura, and even Luke Castellan. (Y/N) didn't risk telling Percy of his brother, or his home, it was too much for even him to handle.
For every sad look Percy gave when a name was mentioned, he seemed to remember something, the pain of hearing that name, the circumstances of losing a person, he remembered all the guilt, but the bittersweet memories that came with each new name and face.
The two of them looked at the beads on Percy's necklace, each name on the bead given that year had a story behind it, as did all the other beads, in turn, (Y/N) told him about it all, but with each word he felt guiltier and guiltier, it wasn't until they saw land that Percy said "I feel like I should remember them all, forgetting seems like an insult to their memory."
"Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that, you're too selfless for your own good sometimes gills." (Y/N) took a breath, thinking back to his training with Lou Ellen, he imagined the fire inside him dispersing, vibrating out of each of his pours. He imagined the clouds of mist forming around Percy and Ella.
As much as (Y/N) wanted to help Percy, wanted his dear friend to keep his memories, however painful, and to protect that small amount of history behind the boy's smile, he knew it was too much, too dangerous. Percy frowned at him as he raised a hand "It's a shame. I'm sure you'll remember one day soon."
(Y/N) clicked his fingers, the resounding sound of the 'snap' echoed across the water, taking a deep breath as he released his stress, he watched with a hint of sadness as the confused expression fell off Percy's face and he just stared at (Y/N) blankly for a moment.
Part of him was happy he could tell his friend all of this without any of the awkwardness of the aftermath. Part of him hated having to.
"What was that?" Percy asked. "Nothing man, don't worry about it." He said, Percy looked perturbed. Cocking his head, he clicked his own fingers in (Y/N)'s ear. "What is that some sort of Roman greeting, or an inside joke I should know?" He asked. Clicking his fingers over and over again.
(Y/N)'s heart sank, as his guilty expression became one filled with fear. "Wait, Percy, you...I mean...What?" He said, realizing that there was no veil of mist covering Percy's eyes, no magic affecting him, in a state of shock, (Y/N) tried it again, then once more. Nothing.
"This normally works." He said in a daze of embarrassment and worry. How unlucky was it that the one time he actually needed his magic to work, and absolutely required Percy to forget all that had been told to him, that his magic didn't work.
(Y/N) felt the burn in his chest, like heartburn times a hundred, and remembered the jewel that was currently in his body. He looked back at Hazel, and didn't want to admit that maybe swallowing a cursed object wasn't the best idea, gods know where he got the dumb idea from.
Percy simply put the awkward moment behind him, first waking Ella, who began reciting the beginning of A Midsummer Night's Dream. He roused Frank and Hazel from their slumber, and as (Y/N) got over his shock, he realized that he wasn't the only one who had an eventful night.
Hazel's POV
"Hazel." Percy was shaking her shoulder. "Wake up. We've reached Seattle." She sat up groggily, squinting in the morning sunlight. "Frank?" Frank groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Did we just...was I just—?" "You both passed out," Percy said. "I don't know why, but Ella told me not to worry about it. She said you were...sharing?" "Sharing," Ella agreed.
She crouched in the stern, preening her wing feathers with her teeth, which didn't look like a very effective form of personal hygiene. She spit out some red fluff. "Sharing is good. No more blackouts. Biggest American blackout, August 14, 2003. Hazel shared. No more blackouts."
Percy scratched his head. "Yeah...we've been having conversations like that all night. I still don't know what she's talking about." "C'mere." (Y/N) said, looking her over, checking her eyes like a doctor. Finally, after an intrusive minute of being poked and prodded, he smiled.
"Welcome back to the present day Miss Lévesque." Then he whispered in her ear. "Check your pocket." Hazel pressed her hand against her coat pocket. She could feel the piece of firewood, wrapped in cloth. She looked at Frank. "You were there." He nodded.
He didn't say anything, but his expression was clear: He'd meant what he said. He wanted her to keep the piece of tinder safe. She wasn't sure whether she felt honored or scared. No one had ever trusted her with something so important. (Y/N) pat Frank on the shoulder, "Brave kid." Was all he said.
"Wait," Percy said. "You mean you guys shared a blackout? Are you guys both going to pass out from now on?" "Nope," Ella said. "Nope, nope, nope. No more blackouts. More books for Ella. Books in Seattle." "Dude, if it's anything like my mom and dad sharing dreams, don't tell me." (Y/N) said, plugging his ears.
Hazel gazed over the water. They were sailing through a large bay, making their way toward a cluster of downtown buildings. Neighborhoods rolled across a series of hills. From the tallest one rose an odd white tower with a saucer on the top, like a spaceship from the old Flash Gordon movies Sammy used to love.
Hazel looked at (Y/N), it finally occurred to her that he had mentioned Flash Gordon to Phineas "...Probably just a coincidence." She told herself. She had enough people rooting around in her memories for one day. She was more concerned with another thing.
No more blackouts? Hazel thought. After enduring them for so long, the idea seemed too good to be true. How could Ella be sure they were gone? Yet Hazel did feel different . .. more grounded, as if she wasn't trying to live in two time periods anymore. Every muscle in her body began to relax. She felt as if she'd finally slipped out of a lead jacket she'd been wearing for months.
Somehow, having Frank with her during the blackout had helped. She'd relived her entire past, right through to the present. No wall she had to worry about was the future—assuming she had one. Percy steered the boat toward the downtown docks. As they got closer, Ella scratched nervously at her nest of books.
Hazel started to feel edgy, too. She wasn't sure why. It was a bright, sunny day, and Seattle looked like a beautiful place, with inlets and bridges, wooded islands dotting the bay, and snowcapped mountains rising in the distance. Still, she felt as if she were being watched.
"Um...why are we stopping here?" she asked. Percy showed them the silver ring on his necklace. "Reyna has a sister here. She asked me to find her and show her this." "Reyna has a sister?" Frank asked, like the idea terrified him. "She hit me with a clipboard." (Y/N) mumbled.
Percy nodded. "Apparently Reyna thinks her sister could send help for the camp." "Amazons," Ella muttered. "Amazon country. Hmm. Ella will find libraries instead. Doesn't like Amazons. Fierce. Shields. Swords. Pointy. Ouch."
Frank reached for his spear. "Amazons? Like...female warriors?" "That would make sense," Hazel said. "If Reyna's sister is also a daughter of Bellona, I can see why she'd join the Amazons. But...is it safe for us to be here?"
"Nope, nope, nope," Ella said. "Get books instead. No Amazons." "We have to try," Percy said. "I promised Reyna. Besides, the Pax isn't doing too great. I've been pushing it pretty hard." Hazel looked down at her feet. Water was leaking between the floorboards. "Oh."
"Yeah," Percy agreed. "We'll either need to fix it or find a new boat. I'm pretty much holding it together with my willpower at this point. Ella, do you have any idea where we can find the Amazons?" "Local gyms maybe? Tanning salons, a spa or a nail parlor?" (Y/N) rattled off, picking up a tourist brochure.
Then he sighed, "No good pictures. Can anyone read it?" "Read it! Words words words!" Ella said as she snatched the brochure from his hands with her claws. No luck, even when Ella did read it, she was no help. Just spewing out random addresses.
"We should look around for any beauty salons" (Y/N) said. "Why a beauty salon?" Frank asked, (Y/N) shrugged, "When I imagine Amazon's in my head, they all have excellent skin. Plus, if we're looking for Helen, chances are she's stuck with what she's good at. The last time I met her she was working at a spa."
"You've met the Amazons before?" Frank asked, "No...at least...not in real life. I had this dream once...never mind..." He trailed off. "But you've heard of them right? So you don't um," Frank said nervously, "Do you know if they like, kill men on sight, do they?" "I'd hope not, It would make my dreams a lot more complicated."
Ella glanced at the downtown docks, only a few hundred yards away. "Ella will find friends later. Ella will fly away now." And she did. "Well..." Frank picked a single red feather out of the air. "That's encouraging." "Do you think I should go after her?" (Y/N) said.
He and Percy looked at each other, and Hazel got the distinct feeling she was missing something, "Reyna did say not to take you." "Why not? Me and Helen are friends. I got her a career as a pirate." Now Hazel was sure she was missing something. The two continued to silently communicate, until Percy said "Your call man."
(Y/N) considered it for a moment, his eyes tracing the way Ella had flown, "Percy Jackson...surrounded by Amazons...Man I'm not missing this. Too many dreams would be missed." He smiled, "What's that supposed to mean?" (Y/N) laughed and jumped off the boat.
"Nothing for you to worry about young Perseus. Now, let's go meet my good friend Helen." They docked at the wharf. They barely had time to unload their supplies before the Pax shuddered and broke into pieces. Most of it sank, leaving only a board with a painted eye and another with the letter P bobbing in the waves.
"Guess we're not fixing it,' Hazel said. "What now?" Percy stared at the steep hills of downtown Seattle. "We hope the Amazons will help." They explored for hours. They found some great salty caramel chocolate at a candy store. They bought some coffee so strong, Hazel's head felt like a vibrating gong. They stopped at a sidewalk café and had some excellent grilled salmon sandwiches.
Once they saw Ella zooming between high-rise towers, a large book clutched in each foot. But they found no Amazons. All the while, Hazel was aware of the time ticking by. June 22 now, and Alaska was still a long way away. Finally they wandered south of downtown, into a plaza surrounded by smaller glass and brick buildings. Hazel's nerves started tingling. She looked around, sure she was being watched.
"There," she said. The office building on their left had a single word etched on the glass doors: AVAZON. "Oh," Frank said. "Uh, no, Hazel. That's a modern thing. They're a company, right? They sell stuff on the Internet. They're not actually Amazons." "Unless..." Percy walked through the doors. Hazel had a bad feeling about this place, but she and Frank followed.
The lobby was like an empty fish tank—glass walls, a glossy black floor, a few token plants, and pretty much nothing else. Against the back wall, a black stone staircase led up and down. In the middle of the room stood a young woman in a black pantsuit, with long auburn hair and a security guard's earpiece.
Her name tag said kinzie. Her smile was friendly enough, but her eyes reminded Hazel of the policemen in New Orleans who used to patrol the French Quarter at night. They always seemed to look through you, as if they were thinking about who might attack them next.
Kinzie nodded at Hazel, ignoring the boys. "May I help you?" "Um...I hope so," Hazel said. "We're looking for Amazons." Kinzie glanced at Hazel's sword, then Frank's spear, though neither should have been visible through the Mist. She held a wooden clipboard. "Careful, she's armed..." (Y/N) joked.
"This is the main campus for Amazon," she said cautiously. "Did you have an appointment with someone, or—" "Hylla," Percy interrupted. "Helen." (Y/N) corrected incorrectly, stepping forward to greet her. "Do we need to sign in with your clipboard or something? She's an old friend, probably talks about me all the time. I'm (Y/N) (L-"
Kinzie moved so fast, Hazel's eyes almost couldn't follow. She kicked Frank in the chest and sent him flying backward across the lobby. (Y/N) threw a dagger at her from his hip. She deflected it with her clipboard as she pulled a sword out of thin air, then crouched low and hit him in the gut with the wooden clipboard before he could draw his sword. "I was kidding!" (Y/N) snapped.
He tumbled onto his back, but quickly rolled out of it, before he could counter she had swept Percy off his feet with the flat of the blade, and pressed the point under his chin. "Let him go. Or I swear, I'll feed you that dam clipboard." (Y/N) warned. Putting himself between her, Hazel and Frank.
Too late, Hazel reached for her sword. A dozen more girls in black flooded up the staircase, swords in hand, and surrounded her. Kinzie glared down at Percy. "First rule: Males don't speak without permission. Second rule, trespassing on our territory is punishable by death."
"Your rules suck." (Y/N) muttered as he looked around the room, weighed his options, and then lowered his weapon. "Can we see Helen or not?" Kinzie glared at him. Like she couldn't believe he'd have the gall to speak. "You'll meet Queen Hylla, all right. She'll be the one deciding your fate."