Chapter Twenty-Four ~ Hazel

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Hazel hated monsters. She also hated waking Percy up from naps, and most of all, she hated this mission. Somehow they would have to find and save Annabeth in less than fifteen hours, make sure she doesn't sacrifice herself, and not to mention, save the world in four, make that three and a half, days. Great, just great.

"Did you wake Percy?" Jason asked, his eyes scanning the horizon. 

Hazel nodded. Boy, could Percy sleep. She had screamed his name five times before he even reacted. "Any sign of whatever attacked us?" 

Percy came stumbling in. His hair stuck up in all different directions, and his eyes were redder than the rubies Hazel could summon. "What'd I miss?" His words were all slurred so it actually sounded more like "Wadeyemist?" 

"Not sure yet," Jason replied, somehow understanding Percy's incoherent words. "Leo spotted something in the distance; we thought it would be good if we had the entire crew on lookout. Leo's at the helm, Piper's out on the deck, Frank's turned into a dragon to patrol the skies." He looked at Percy, "so that means you, Hazel, and I got everything in between." 

Just then Frank flew in. Literally. Hazel watched as the once majestic dragon turned back into her lovable boyfriend. "There's nothing out there," he reported. "I'm not sure what Leo saw."

"I'll go ask him." Hazel turned and started making her way to the helm. Once there, she tapped Leo lightly on his shoulder. "Leo," she started. 

"Nothing, huh?" Leo finished for her. "I swear I saw something, maybe I'm going crazy." He shook his mop of curly hair. "I could have sworn-" he mumbled beneath his breath. 

"How long has it been since you've slept?" Hazel asked softly. "Maybe it's best if you get some rest." 

"Yeah," Leo nodded his head, "I really should nap. But then how am I suppose to control the ship and figure out how to find Calypso?" Leo's face turned beat red, "I mean how am I suppose to find Celine?" He chuckled nervously, "Calypso- haha- I don't even know who that is."

Hazel stared at Leo, "who?" 

"Forget it. I'm just really, really tired." Leo brushed past Hazel. "I think I'm just going to take a nap." He started making his way to his cabin but then turned and looked at Hazel, "and I meant Celine. You know, the evil witch lady. Yeah..." He smiled nervously and walked away. 

"Weird," Hazel thought. The name Calypso seemed so familiar but she couldn't quite place it. Perhaps Leo really meant Celine, but Hazel had her doubts. 

~~~

"Group meeting!" Jason called, "now!"

"Oh, Leo's asleep." Hazel piped up, "he seemed pretty worn out from earlier so I told him-"

"Fine, it's fine." Jason sounded irritated. "We'll catch him up later. But everyone in the dining hall. We need to discuss what we should do." He ran his hand through his messy hair and left. 

Hazel reluctantly followed. Should she mention Leo's weird comment abut Calypso? Was it even her place to bring it up? She wasn't so sure. But she felt that it was important, that the whole crew deserved to know. But she also felt that it wasn't her place to speak. It was up to Leo to tell everyone... right? Hazel wasn't so sure. 

Once everyone was seated at the dining table, Jason began. "We need to talk about our strategies." His voice was strained, and Hazel could tell he was running on minimal sleep. "We have about 15 hours to find Annabeth, three and a half days to stop Gaea from taking over the earth-" he paused, "so how are we going to do it?"

Hazel looked at Percy. His hands were clenched. He took a deep breath in, "Annabeth contacted me." 

Murmurs spread slowly around the table. "What do you mean?" Frank asked, "I thought she was, well... you know." 

"I don't know how." Percy cleared his throat, "but she-" his voice faltered. "She said that we shouldn't waste our time finding her. That no matter what we do, we won't reach her in time." His eyes filled with tears, "and as much as it pains me to say this, she's right." 

Hazel reached over and squeezed Percy's hand. "Hey," she said softly, "don't worry, we can find her. We will find her. It'll be no problem." 

Percy shook his head and wiped his eyes, "no," he choked. "We can't find her. If we do, we won't reach Greece in time." He took a deep breath in, "sometimes, sacrifices have to be made." He looked around the table, "we will not be going after Annabeth." And with that, Percy stood up and left. 

There was a long pause after his exit. Finally, Jason spoke up, "Well, that's that." He said quietly. 

"No," Piper finally spoke, "there is no way Percy is giving up on Annabeth." Her voice was hard, "true love does not die. True love does not give up that easily." She shook her head, "he's up to something," she looked around at the remaining crew members. "We are a team." She said strongly. "We are going to figure out Percy's plan, and we will help him. Now, that's that."

Hazel found herself nodding to everything Piper said. She was right. They were a team, and Percy would never give up on Annabeth like that. What was going on?

~~~

a/n

Well, that's that! The first update in like... months... maybe even a year! Wow! Haha, well thank you to everyone who's still reading! I hope you enjoyed this update, although it is a short one :( But don't fret, there shall be more! So what is up with Percy? Dundundunnnnnn.... (next chapter shall tell) Without further ado, here's the character chat!

Leo: BOY IT IS GOOD TO BE BACK!

Piper: indoor voices, Leo. They can hear you just fine. 

Percy: Yeah man, we gotchu. Also funny you should mention Calypso... 

Leo: Hey! That was an accident! Calypso... psh I don't know no Calypso. I meant Celine.

Jason: (wiggling his eyebrows) sure you did... 

Leo: I DID!

Piper: indoor voices!

Hazel: well, this isn't a chat room so make sure to-

Frank: VOTE COMMENT AND FOLLOW! HAHAHAHAHAHA BEAT YOU TO IT!

Piper: INDOOR VOICES OH MY GODS!

Annabeth: wow.... it's heated in here. 

Everyone: ANNABETH! WOW YOU'RE ALIVE!

Annabeth: yes, well for now, but wait this is getting too long so- 

ANSWER THIS QUESTION FOR A DEDICATION NEXT CHAPTER:
Who's your favorite character?