Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Hazel, Leo; Hazel/Frank, Leo/TBA
Author's Notes: Recursive fanfiction for The Jackson Legacy by notyourleo.
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: Camp Half-Blood series belong to Rick Riordan, The Jackson Legacy belongs to notyourleo.


Part One

The daughter of Pluto spurred her horse across another hill – or rather, hung on to the reins tightly as Arion galloped up the steep slope as if it was mere flat ground. Over the years, Hazel Levesque had ridden her immortal horse countless times in supersonic speeds, but she didn't think she'd over get used to the experience. It was exhilarating to drive him in speeds that no human eye could follow. She had ridden rollercoaster rides, fallen hundred meters to earth, and faced all sorts of insane demigod adventures, but none of them could beat an evening gallop with her horse.

She let him pick the speed and path, knowing that she had only two or three hours at most to enjoy the run. Going at this speed, they would be in Wichita in no time.

She had other things to ponder over. The reason for the gallop in this ungodly hour for a ride, the messenger, the message, the sender, the past, the present, the future, her friends, her home, the responsibilities, the preparations, the looming disaster in the future…

But where was she supposed to start thinking?

The letter?

Or the sender?

Or the message?

"Dear Grandma Kitty," the letter had said. "If you're reading this, then you would know that I'm alive. (Look at the date. If everything goes okay with Peter, you should receive this in two or three days.)"

That was it. Straight out of the blue – 'Dear Granma Kitty, I'm alive.'

Forget ten years of pain and sorrow, ten years of trying to accept the fact that he was dead, that he was gone and not coming back, that waiting wouldn't bring him back. Ten years of grief cancelled out in five simple words.

It took every ounce of her will power to not send an iris message to her protégée and scream that he was back. But she couldn't. She had to know his reason first.

Still running, she smiled to herself in the darkness. Every time she had finally forced herself into accepting the truth and moving on, the missing Valdez would pop back into her life. Maybe it was a part of their Valdez-ness. Once was chance, twice was coincidence. She had to wait only one more time to ascertain the conspiracy.

But why? Why had he disappeared from their friends for a decade without a trace? Why had he run away from her? It had been absolute pain for Hazel to lose one of her closest friends, but when she looked at her protégée, her own pain seemed minute in contrast. Why had he chosen to run away from his best friend, the woman who had been by his side throughout that long quest, only to leave her at the mercy of her own crumbling mind and friends? Hazel watched in pain as she fell apart over the years, slowly losing or giving up hope, turning into a broken wraith, a particle of what used to be a strong, powerful and beautiful young girl. She thought that her own grief would never be gone, but when she saw her suffering …

In neither of her lives she had seen so much love or so much pain.

A certain son of Hephaestus would have a lot to explain.

And apologize.

But he had apologized in the letter. "I know that you'll probably want to strangle me, Haze. And I won't stop you, because I probably deserve that. But can I just say, that I didn't choose this to happen? You know what we were facing, or at least had an idea of it - even though I never got to explain it all. I never wanted this to happen. 'Sorry' doesn't cover it…but, I'm really sorry. Forgive me?"

…like she could ever keep a grudge against him. She could never be angry with Sammy for more than a few minutes, even in play. Perhaps it was another trait of the Valdezes. She couldn't be mad at the Dragon, she had already forgiven him. At least he was alive.

That kind of thing could make up for many wrongs.

Not that the letter came much as a surprise. She was almost expecting something similar to happen, with all that was happening recently. There were whispers of a coming war, one that reminded many people of the Private war. Some said it was terrible as the Giant war. None dared to give no attention to the warnings. Ella's random warnings became more and more frequent and disturbing, and there were small battles happening around the country already. The monsters seemed to rampage freely – their numbers increased more than ever.

Some people deduced that the increased numbers of the monsters was directly linked to the death of Percy Jackson. They probably had got one thing right.

But the greatest shock and warning came just a few days ago, when they received news that the Camp Half-Blood had allied with the Oneiro. For the legion as a whole, they had no outward grudge with the group, but those who lived through the Private war knew that Oneiro working with the Greek camp was alarming. The current praetors were too young to know the full threat they posed, but Hazel, Frank, and few other senate members were able to warn them before they could infiltrate the legion as well. It was not easy, because many didn't want to 'turn against' the gods, and there were a few who downright defended them.

Those people blamed the Esperanza for the losses of the Private war. They conveniently forgot that the Esperanza took up weapons only to defend themselves against – for the want of a better word – the gods' minions. The Esperanza was united by the Mother only to guard the Dragon. They never wanted to destroy anyone, or anything. But now that was what they were called – enemies and destroyers of the western civilization.

Hazel was usually quite patient, but this kind of unjust remarks made it hard to keep her usually placid nature. She had been longing for the return of the Esperanza, just so that their reputations could be corrected. With the Oneiro's return, and the increased monster sightings and the battles – there could be only one reason for them all. The Catalyst behind it had moved out into the open again.

Leo Valdez, the Dragon, who was presumed to be dead – was alive.

So the Mother had been right from the start.

The Mother's belief had been so strong, that Hazel had found doubting herself over the years. Nico had told her that Leo's soul wasn't found in the Underworld, but then, so wasn't Percy's. But he didn't elaborate on the answer – he seemed strangely reluctant to give any more information about where these heroes might be. Hazel had learnt to respect her brother's decisions, whatever they were – he never did anything without a reason.

Not that she was going to forgive Nico right away for losing touch with her and then suddenly dropping a bomb about his marriage. Okay, maybe he was too busy. Maybe his had too many press conferences and auditions and goodness knows what in the mortal world. And even more trouble keeping the monsters at bay in the demigod world. Still, at least a little heads up before the marriage invitation would have been nice. Not to mention that she still had no idea who her new half-sister-in-law was.

The letter and the wedding invitation came together.

So Nico knew that Leo was alive, and possibly his whereabouts as well.

Sneaky Ghost king.

Hazel briefly wondered if Nico would be at Wichita as well, and then dismissed the idea. He was most likely in Hades, acting as a deputy to their father. Nico di Angelo had a very level head when it came to administration. They had used to tease him that his administration qualities came from seventy years of playing Mythomagic.

Managing hoards of spirits was easy. They didn't scream. The only persistent problem was that they kept increasing.

But when it came to managing hoards of fangirls…

Hazel actually felt sorry for Claire. The daughter of Apollo seemed bummed about his less-than-warm welcome and maintained a blank-faced silence until their dinner conversation had moved away from the son of Hades.

Hazel herself had no idea why her brother had gone into showbiz.

Leon seemed to find it hard to keep a straight face and kept bursting into laughs, amused at his friend's discomfort. Peter was too distracted talking about their quest and sharing news and information to notice his two friends' performance.

Peter.

It had been many years since she had last seen Percy's young half brother, Peter Blofis. The boy had grown up so much since the last time she saw him – which made her suddenly feel old though she was still in her twenties. She had liked the Jackson-Blofis family since their first meeting. In her opinion, they were the perfect example of a demigod-mortal mix family. Percy was one of the few lucky demigods whose family understood what it meant to be a demigod, and patiently bore the risk the uneven hours, quests and the frequent near-death experiences.

The Jackson-Blofis apartment had been one of their safe-houses in times of trouble, though they had tried as much as possible to keep from putting in harm's way. But it hadn't stopped Percy from getting lost barely three years after the end of the Private War. It hadn't saved his young mortal half brother from getting dragged into their world with a price on his head.

Peter was an endearing child – nervously polite and well-mannered, so unlike his bold and snarky big brother. He showed the unmistakable signs of a newcomer to their world, even though he was growing into it fast. He was politely interested in everything around the Camp, from the purple Lares to the begging fauns, and seemed to fight with his upbringing when he was trying not to stare at the training legionnaires in the Fields of Mars. Any mortal would have found it hard not to stare when myths and legends were unfolding right in front of their eyes.

But Hazel was watching him from outside the old Temple of Neptune – and she saw something that reminded her sharply of her first impressions of Percy. Not an aura so powerful as Percy's was – she had actually mistaken him for a god in disguise when she first saw him – but Peter had something so…daring. He had his own version of bravery. Thirteen years of Sally and Paul's careful pruning shadowed it, but he couldn't pass as just a mortal anymore. He would face trouble – this quest was only the beginning. But he would survive, perhaps better than a demigod could.

Hazel hoped that she would get to meet him again soon.

Just then, she had no idea how soon her wish would be fulfilled.

She hadn't felt the time passing, and she hardly felt the ride at all until he started slowing down. Arion was truly one of a kind.

They had come to Kansas.

Which brought her back to the letter and the reason that she was taking this lonely ride.

Was it a pattern of life that when you lose one, you'd meet another?

Leo Valdez had returned, just after Frank Zhang was pronounced MIA by the Praetors. A week of search had produced no results whatsoever. There was no message, no one had seen him leave. His quarters in New Rome were undisturbed. There was no sign of struggle. Everything was perfectly fine except for the fact it was completely empty.

She had been at her wits' end wondering where he was when the letter came. The senate did not appoint a search team to look for the ex-centurion, even though his service should have given him at least that much. But no, certain people had the nerve to suggest that legion's resources should not be wasted upon searching for AWOL demigods. As if Frank, Frank Zhang, would run away from camp the day before her birthday.

"PS: I might have some information about where he is. There might still be hope for him. Come soon. - LV"

The post script didn't specify who 'he' was, but Hazel didn't need it. The senate might be able to stop a search party, but they couldn't stop her from visiting an old friend on her own expenses.

And there was another thing….

No, she told herself sharply. Not thinking about it. You're only hurting yourself.

Pushing out that thought, she spurred her horse on the last lap.


A/N: My obsession with The Jackson Legacy is going to be lifelong. It's hard not to fall in love with the story. Harder yet to stop plot bunnies hopping in at random points and claiming my will. Thank gods the author is very tolerant of my infatuation... ;3;

As such, this story might be a bit confusing if you haven't read TJL, but PEOPLE! Are you kidding me?! Why are you here if you haven't read it?! READ IT. NOW. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. ;D

As always, million thanks and hugs to my partner-in-crime, notyourleo. You're my life and soul. ;3; Another million thanks to you, reader. You're our treasure chest filled with shining goodies. We love you! We sail the Seven Seas facing dangers unknown, only for you.

Now, how about that review button in your pocketses, my preciousss?