Hello beautiful people! I know, it's been forever since I published anything, but I swear to you, it's school that keeps me hostage! I'm trying to be everywhere at once, but apparently that makes me go through some things a bit more slowly. For example, right now I have eight more stories in drafts and 26 pages to transcribe.
Anyways, let's focus on what's already here! You see, there's a reason why I'm so happy I'm finally getting this little guy published. Well, all through PJO and HoO, we saw some beautiful friendhips be born, and of course we love them and all, but I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something with Hazel when I read Heroes of Olympus.
What I mean is this, when talking about the daughter of Pluto, she became close to practically all the boys aboard the Argo, but not so with the girls. Like, Piper and Annabeth became besties almost inmediatly and that's super cute, Annabeth and Reyna bonded pretty well too, and even Piper and Reyna had a moment, but even so the bonding scene I was expecting with Hazel and Annabeth or with Hazel and Piper never came. See what I'm talking about?
You know me, I'm a sucker for hurt/comfort stories and this is just an excuse to write one. So, this is why I decided that Hazel deserved a story in which she became closer to the girls. At first it was supposed to be the three of them, maybe even Reyna, but then the plot refused to appear, and so I decided to split it. There's gonna be a story with Hazel and Piper (this one) and another fic for Hazel and Annabeth. I'm not yet sure about Reyna...
Some months ago I was precisely talking about this to a wonderful author called NoTearsFalling (you should totally go and check her profile out, she's super talented. I mean it, if you like PJO you seriously want to read her stories) and she encouraged me to write this scene I wanted myself, but of course life happened and it took way longer than expected to have it finished. Now I finally can say it's finished!
Now, enough of my babbling, time for reading!
With Both Life and Heart
The thing that made Piper McLean suspect something was wrong was the way in which the jewelry oh-so suddenly lifted from their jewelers and fell crashing to the floor.
It was too early to leave her cabin, only seven thirty or something around that, but the daughter of Aphrodite was already awake, reading Pride and Prejudice at this time that was the only one she really had for herself now that Gaea had been defeated and things at camp were finally going back to normality.
Thus was the reason she was the only one awake when the bracelets and necklaces started acting weirdly. Oh, and if there was one thing that the Aphrodite cabin had in excess, that surely was jewelry.
The loud noise of the crashing instantly sent her wincing. Something was wrong, very, very wrong, she decided, jumping out of her bed. She knew that the magical barriers left any danger out of the camp, but she was still very sure of what she had just seen, and while she had witnessed many strange things, this was sincerely one that just stood out. And there was only one person she knew that could control jewelry like that―Hazel Levesque, who had just arrived to the Greek camp the day before to meet with her brother.
Instantly gaping what was wrong, her confusion turned to worry. Not even caring to notice she was still wearing her old pajamas, she hurried out of her cabin and into the empty pavilion.
When she was standing in front of Cabin 13 she realized maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all. Really, if Hazel needed anything her own brother was there in the exact same room, why would she need her for?
However, that thought did not ease the presentiment that had pulled her to that cabin in the first place, and neither could she convince herself that her friend didn't need any help. That was when she knocked the door.
"Hazel?" she asked, her hand already reaching for the doorknob. "Nico, is everything alright?"
When no one answered her, though, the daughter of Aphrodite could only bite her lower lip in worry.
"Guys, I'm coming in, is that alright?" she inquired; she was not expecting any answer this time, however, and thus she was not surprised when she received none. Slowly, as if still waiting for someone to tell her there was nothing wrong she reached for the doorknob and turned it.
The sudden change of light hit her once the door was open, forcing her to blink a couple of times before becoming used to the dark inside of the cabin. As soon as she was able to do so, she recognized five different beds distributed to each side of the building, ten in total, with an ebony bureau placed next to each, eight of them made with black comforters, although only two seemed to have been used lately, one with a purple duvet and a second one that, although did have black blankets, was unmade.
Instantly, she spotted Hazel's figure curled into a ball and pressing herself as much as she could to the headboard of her bed, shaking slightly. That was the moment Piper realized the daughter of Pluto was crying.
"Hazel?" she inquired, finally stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. "Is everything alright?" she asked, although she knew it was a stupid question ―how could everything, anything be alright?―, but she could not think of anything better to say.
"Piper!" the girl squealed, jumping in the bed as she raised her hands to nervously wipe away her tears. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, there was a certain issue with some jewelry in my cabin and I figured it might have had something to do with you" the daughter of Aphrodite explained with an awkward smile taking a seat in the girl's mattress, right in front of Hazel.
"Oh my gods! I'm so sorry!" the girl hurried to say, focusing her eyes on the purple blankets. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to―!"
"Hey, don't worry about that" Piper assured, taking Hazel's right hand in hers. "Are you alright?"
"It's-it's nothing, really. I just… I had a nightmare, you know, perks of having died and all, nothing important, and when I woke up, Nico wasn't here and I… I'm sorry, Piper, really" she replied, almost tripping over her own words.
"Hazel, I'm sure he'll be back soon, he―"
"He will" the girl interrupted her shyly. "He left a note, Reyna called and he's in Camp Jupiter. Some lares are organizing a strike and they need his help. He'll probably be back before breakfast".
"See?" Piper replied softly. "It'll be okay".
"I'm sorry" the girl repeated softly in a voice that almost sounded defeated. "I'm just being so silly and so… ridiculous. I… I'm sorry".
"Hey, it's alright" the Greek girl offered warmly, extending her arms to circle the Hazel's shoulders. "It's okay".
"I can't believe this happened" Hazel said in a low voice, resting her head in Piper's right shoulder.
"Well, at least you didn't move the armory" the daughter of Aphrodite said without thinking; only when Hazel stiffened in her arms did she realize she'd just made a mistake. "I'm kidding, don't worry" she assured.
"I still pulled you out of bed at this time" the other girl pointed out. "I apologize for that too".
"It's nothing, I promise" Piper murmured giving a tiny squeeze to the daughter of Pluto before letting go of her. "I was already awake anyways".
"Why did you even come here?" the Roman girl mumbled nervously. "I mean, not that I aren't thankful, but why―?"
"Because you are my friend, Hazel" Piper answered softly, a warm smile placed upon her features as she took a grip of the other girl's chin and forced her to raise her gaze. "When I thought you were in trouble I got worried" she admitted. "I couldn't just pretend I didn't know you needed help".
"Thank you" the daughter of Pluto let out in a low voice, almost as if she didn't believe the other girl, but the soft smile on her lips gave her away and made Piper think the sudden concern had been worth it.
"Listen, it's almost time for breakfast, so how about we get ready and then you meet me at my cabin's table?" Piper proposed.
"Isn't that against the rules?" Hazel inquired.
"Chiron won't mind" the daughter of Aphrodite promised, smiling warmly as she brought herself to her feet. "I'll see you there, alright?"
"Sure" Hazel nodded with a gleam in her eyes that was almost childish.
"Then that's it" the Greek girl replied, only now feeling self-conscious of her sky-blue pajamas with tiny red hearts. "I'll try to stop my siblings from killing each other".
As the daughter of Aphrodite turned around and left the room, the Roman girl thought, not for the first time that maybe, maybe it was about time she started believing that she had been lucky enough, fortunate enough to find these people, or to be found by them, she still wasn't utterly sure of which one of those had the Fates provided.
She had physically and literally trusted her life to them when they fought elbow-to-elbow―maybe it was time she started trusting them not only with her life, but with her heart too.
And...? How did that go? I still think it's a little short, but I hope that the cuteness in it makes it worth it!
On other news, one of the thing that has kept me busy for so long is that last month I entered a writing contest. I'd be really, really, really thankful if you could just go to my Wattpad (the same name, Karen Hikari) and vote for "A Blessing and a Curse".
Also, I just opened a Facebook account dedicated to fanfiction, so, if you are interested in knowing what I do, please feel free to go and add me! My name is Karen Hikari and my picture is the image of a girl with red glasses reading.
Don't forget to wait for Annabeth's story too (I hope I can finish that in less than a month), and if you want to see Reyna bonding with Hazel too, please let me know in the comments!
I love you! Read you soon!