Odd Ones Out
Chapter 1
Hazel
It was a chilly autumn day. Hazel was walking through New York with Frank, hot chocolate in hand. The wind blew, and she pulled her jacket closer to her body. It was one of those peaceful days. Surprisingly, there had been a lot of these kinds of days after the war with Gaea.
Hazel still got uncomfortable in the modern world, which was why she stayed at Camp most of the time. Whenever people started talking about any kind of technology after the '40s, She didn't understand a word. Leo had tried to teach Hazel about electronics and whatnot, but he finally gave up when she couldn't work what he called an "IPod".
The two walked along the bustling streets of New York, people rushing everywhere. Suddenly, a cyclops ran at them from an alley they were passing by. He was wielding a large club, and was about average height for a cyclops.
"I've been waiting for ages for a demigod to pass by!" He called out with delight. "I haven't eaten in days. Now I get to eat two demigods!"
Just as Frank and Hazel were about to charge, an man's voice said, "Get back!"
He pushed them back against the wall, and began taking on the monster himself. He was very tall, maybe about six feet. He was wearing jeans and a jacket over a plain white t-shirt. He looked really muscular and had blond hair and blue eyes almost as startling as Jason's.
The man had a circular object made of a metal Hazel didn't recognize, but immediately knew was called vibrainium. She assumed it was a shield the way he wielded it, though. It was red, white, and blue with a white star in the middle. Patriotic. Hazel was a bit surprised the man could see the cyclops, since he was most definitely mortal.
His shield, and the man himself seemed familiar, yet she couldn't quite place where she had seen him before. He darted around the cyclops, dodging the club, and placing a few blows himself. The cyclops swung his club at him, but he protected himself with his shield and the club was wrenched out of the cyclops's hands because of the force of the attack.
While the man was about to attack, the cyclops reached out and grabbed the man with his meaty hands. He struggled but it was no use. The cyclops plucked the shield from his hands and discarded it, throwing it a few feet away.
"It's time to join this fight." Hazel told Frank.
He nodded and his backpack morphed into a bow. She drew her spatha, and together they charged. Hazel ran in and cut him on the leg. He bellowed in rage and focused his attention on the two demigods after tying the man to a post that was for some reason in an alley.
Meanwhile, Frank was keeping the cyclops busy by shooting him with arrows. He shot him in the eye, and the cyclops ran after him, shouting threats. Hazel quickly cut the man down from the post.
"Run, this isn't your fight." She told him.
He smirked at her and said, "I'm not one to run from a fight."
Hazel sighed, knowing that he would be too stubborn to leave.
"My name's Hazel Levesque." She said.
"Steve Rogers."
"Sounds familiar." She said, because she knew she had seen Steve before somewhere.
"Well, I'm also known as Captain America." Steve said.
She knew she had heard that name somewhere too. Then it hit her.
"I remember! I saw your poster in the-" Hazel stopped herself before she said 1940s
"The what?" He asked.
"Nevermind, it's nothing." She said.
"Come on, let's just take care of that thing." Steve reminded her.
"Oh. Frank's going to need some help." She said.
When they finally caught up to the cyclops and Frank, the cyclops had thrown his bow a few yards away and Frank had reluctantly drawn his gladius. Hazel ran into the fight and kept stabbing at his legs. Steve had thrown his shield at the cyclops's head, and the cyclops no longer had a head. It dissolved into golden monster dust which scattered in the wind.
"Why did it just dissolve?" Steve asked confusedly.
"Um... " Hazel said, struggling for an answer.
"Hazel, we've got to go! They're starting Capture the Flag!" Frank exclaimed.
"Steve, just forget this ever happened. It will make your life easier." Hazel told him.
"What, but-" Hazel cut him off.
"We've got to go. It was nice meeting you, though."
With that, the two demigods ran off, heading to Camp Half-Blood.
Steve
Despite Hazel's warning, Steve couldn't forget about what he had witnessed. Those golden eyes haunted him, and he couldn't take it anymore. He knew he had to find out more about Hazel. He decided to ask Natasha Romanoff if she could find out anything about Hazel Levesque. Hopefully she would turn up something.
A couple of days later, Natasha came up to Steve. He perked up, because it might be news about the girl.
"Okay, I found out a little about her." Natasha said, as stoic as ever. "She lived in New Orleans, and moved to Alaska."
"Anything else?" Steve asked excitedly.
"She died in 1942."
"What?" He asked.
"That's what her records say." Natasha said.
Steve sighed.
"Why were you wondering about a deceased fourteen-year-old, anyway?" She asked.
"I saw her a couple days ago. We fought a thing together and she told me it would be better if I had just forgotten about it." Steve said.
"Well, it's possible she gave you a false name." Natasha reasoned.
"Yeah, okay." He relented.
Still, Steve was positive Hazel was her real name. She did look about fourteen, but it wasn't possible for her to somehow come back to life. She had said something about seeing his poster, and then stopped as if she wasn't supposed to say anything. Steve was pretty sure they didn't put up his posters anymore.
He was certain now. Hazel was not from this time, and if her records were correct, she was from the 1940s. Steve knew he had to find her. Someone else in the world knew what he felt like, to be out of time. To be the odd one out because you didn't belong in the modern world.