Chapter Six- Hazel
~~~

Hazel sat uncomfortably next to Hecate. Her almond colored eyes shifted between Leo and the Goddess of Magic. She shifted in her seat, waiting for Leo to sit. Hazel could sense Hecate's patience wearing thin. "Leo why don't you just sit down?" Hazel asked as nicely as she could, trying to keep the peace.

Leo sat. His wild curls were a messy mop on top of his head and his jittery hands tapped on the dining table. "So what's the big deal, lady?" He sounded curious and obviously did not know that the "lady" was Hecate, either that or he just didn't care.

The goddess tensed. "Leo Valdez, you will not refer to me as lady again. I am Hecate and I will not be called 'lady'." She raised her eyebrows, daring him to challenge her. Her black hair was braided neatly and her dark eyes narrowed.

"Sure thing," Leo mumbled and slouched further into his chair. He began pulling things from his tool belt, fidgeting with the parts.

A small smile played on Hecate's lips. She cocked her head to one side and titled her chin as if she was the queen bee. "Very well. I have come to deliver a mess-"

"Wait, wait, wait." This time is was Percy who interrupted her. "How come you're still... normal? Like you aren't going crazy with the splitting personality thingy?" Percy gave her a confused look. His dark hair was a tad messy and his orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt was wrinkly to say the least.

"Son of Poseidon, dare you interrupt me again," she swirled her fingers in the air and an image of a shrewd popped up and then disappeared. She gave Percy a threatening look, "as to the answer to your question- magic is magic." Hecate stared at Percy. "Magic doesn't change, nor does the mist or crossroads." She crossed her arms and stared Percy down, "Hecate or Trivia, my name doesn't bother me."

Percy gulped. "Got it." He looked down at his breakfast plate and stuffed more bacon into his mouth, avoiding Hecate's gaze.

"As I was saying, I have a message for all seven of you." She looked around the table, first at Jason, then Piper, Annabeth, Percy, Frank, Leo, and finally Hazel. "At the entrance to Greece, you will face the biggest opponent before meeting the Earth Mother. How you deal with this opponent will decide the fate of Camp Half-Blood and the Greek demigods. The enemy will try to sway you."

"Who is this enemy?" Annabeth asked, her eyes held intelligence and she was poised.

"I'm afraid that I cannot tell you. There are certain things in life that Fate controls, and because of that, I cannot and will not give you the name."

Hazel gulped, "how do we defeat this... this opponent?" She took a piece of her curly brown hair and began absentmindedly twisting it.

"I cannot tell you that either. It is for you to decide, but all seven of you will need to work together. Beware little heroes." And with that Hecate disappeared.

Frank let out a breathe. "That was intense. Man is she a scary goddess."

"Enemy, sway, what?" Jason placed his head in his hands, groaned, and then looked up, "if a goddess appeared to us, this can't be good." Jason looked like he had aged five years in the past few days. He had taken up leadership role while Percy and Annabeth healed and was stressed about getting the Argo II to Greece in time.

Hazel knew that Jason had been staying up far too late, planning and muttering to himself. Hazel shook her head and remained silent.

Piper nodded in agreement, "who do you think this enemy is?" Her voice was quiet and worried. She picked up Katopris and looked at the blade. Seeing nothing, Piper set it back down.

Hazel sighed and decided now was the time to speak up, "Hecate has appeared to me before in my dreams."

Annabeth coughed, "in your dreams?" Her gray eyes were dark with concentration and Hazel could sense Annabeth's brain turning gears, trying to solve this problem.

Hazel nodded, "Whoever this enemy is, he's stronger than my illusions, he cannot be easily swayed. I don't know who he is but-"

"It's Octavian." Leo spoke. He had been so quiet after Hecate has scolded him that Hazel had almost forgotten he was sitting there.

Frank gagged on his toast. "Octavian is what?" He wiped his mouth and took a drink of orange juice. "Octavian like Roman Octavian who sacrifices teddy bears Octavian? No way," Frank shook his head in disbelief, "he might hate you and be really creepy but the kid's shrimpy and not too," Frank paused, trying to think of the right word, "not too great on the battlefield, to say the least. He's no threat." Frank shrugged and took another bite of toast.

Annabeth looked at Leo, her gray eyes darkened. "Explain." Her voice was calm yet controlling. Hazel noticed that Her blonde hair had a gray streak in it, from what, Hazel did not know.

Leo coughed, "dream. Um..." he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "Octavian is... he's Tartarus." Leo laughed nervously as if trying to break the tension. "Surpise." He muttered as he set a little, homemade wind up toy on the table.

Jason tensed and Piper picked up Katopris again. Annabeth's lips were pressed tightly together, and Frank swallowed the lump in his throat. The windup toy fell over.

Percy spit out his milk. "Excuse me?! That would have been nice to know a little bit earlier." He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and looked at the mess the milk made and shrugged. "Seriously, dude, a little earlier would have been nice." Percy muttered as he wiped the little white droplets with a napkin.

"Well Hecate was here," Hazel's voice was calm as she looked at Percy. "It's not Leo's fault that he didn't tell us earlier." She tried to be the voice of reason. Of course Hazel was just as shocked as everyone else but she had to keep the peace, had to.

"Yah I know, but still," Percy shrugged and continued munching on a blue pancake. That boy was a bottomless pit.

"We need a plan." Annabeth's voice remained steady. "We can't let this faze us. There has to be a way."

~~~

Leo had just docked the ship in a small town in Croatia- something about getting supplies to make repair the ship after the fire monster attack.

Hazel stepped out of the Argo II and watched the tourist mill around in the plaza, something caught her eye. It was an angel... with black wings. Tourists aren't angels. She turned towards Annabeth, "do you see that?" She whispered, pointing to the bench where the angel was lounging.

Annabeth gave a look of confusion. "What is it?"

Hazel navigated around groups of tourist, trying to get closer.

Annabeth followed.

The angel saw Hazel and gave her a smile. He was beautiful. His wings were pure black and his eyes were a deep brown. His skin was a lighter brown and he had high cheekbones. He looked like Thantos...only younger and less intimidating. The angel moved.

"No, wait!" Hazel called after it. She picked up her pace and began jogging in order to keep up.

Annabeth ran behind Hazel.

Hazel followed the angel, turning left and right, up stairs and down, until she was in a temple.

Annabeth gasped for air. "What do you see?" She wheezed.

"Angel." Hazel replied absentmindedly. "Where did he go?" She scanned the room. It had a high arched ceiling with beautiful designs etched into the walls. The columns supporting the building were made of marble and gold leaf. But something felt dark about this magnificent room.

"Wow." Annabeth breathed a sigh of admiration. "This place is beautiful."

"It is, isn't it?" A rich male voice spoke. Resting by an ancient vase stood the angel. He spread his arms around the room. "It is truly magnificent." He smiled and looked at Hazel. "Daughter of Pluto, it is nice to meet you." He turned to look back at Annabeth, "and Daughter of Athena, it's a pleasure. I see you have a fine taste in architecture." He flashed a mouthful of blindingly white teeth, "I presume it comes from your mother's side."

"Thantos?"

~~~

Annabeth: THE END!

Hazel: what a nice place to stop.

Jason: where are you guys?

Percy: Yah, why'd you run off?

Leo: I FOUND THESE GREAT SUPPLIES FOR THE SHIP AND MAN LOOK AT THESE SNACKS-YUM!

Piper: no one cares about your snacks right now, Leo.

Leo: whoa, wait. is it just me or is Annabeth and Hazel missing?

Frank: aren't you just a genius. They ran off dude, did you not read the chapter?

Leo: oops sorry, one sec lemme read it real quick.

Jason: well uh we're owned by rick riordan.

Piper: and you should vote and comment (:

Leo: yeah, bye guys. Read the chapter, it's important- I think. I mean I haven't finished reading it yet so I wouldn't really know but-

Percy: just shut up ok?