VII
Hazel
Hazel had never seen her brother in combat before. His face was set with determination and confidence, his dark eyes glinting with hidden power and a slight hint of madness. The only time she had seen him using his powers the most was when he fidgeted and unintentionally summoned a skeletal mouse back at Camp Jupiter. But to her he always radiated power beneath the layers of scary, much like Percy and Jason do. She guessed she was the only one who sensed it because she was a daughter of Pluto. She knew Nico's potential. It was about time Alexander the Great knew it as well.
The gash on the floor widened into a fissure and skeletons in military wear, some Greek, some in modern desert camouflage wear, others in Aztec and Mayan wear, climbed out and bore for the armed guard. The summoning didn't exhaust him. In fact, he looked perfectly fine. The undead warriors clashed blades with the armed guard and a battle ensured. Alexander extended his hand and a celestial bronze spear materialised from thin air into his open hand. He twirled it around expertly like some kind of Ancient Greek warrior drum major and swung at Nico, who raised his Stygian Iron sword to block the attack, the metallic clang resonating across the room. The Macedonian king stabbed at Nico's torso, but the boy sidestepped, twisted around and swung at Alexander's hip.
The king proved very swift, however, as he met Nico's strike with the shaft of his spear, knocking the boy's sword from its intended trajectory. The king then went on the offensive, stabbing and hacking at Nico who desperately tried to defend himself. From the skirmish, Hazel could tell that Nico was not as good at swordfighting as Percy and Jason. She wagered that even she could beat him at it. She also noticed that Nico wasn't comfortable with using his sword. He's probably used to fighting only using his powers, she thought. Right now she doubted if he had enough energy to fight a full battle against a champion demigod who has probably been blessed by all the gods with just his powers. Alexander, on the other hand, fought with great skill and prowess that reminded Hazel of Chrysaor the demigod pirate. If Percy didn't stand a chance against a guy like that, Hazel thought, how much longer can Nico hold on?
Moments after she thought this, Alexander disarmed Nico, sending the dark blade scuttling under the long table. The king brought the shaft of his spear smashing against Nico's chest. With an audible oof, the boy was sent skidding a few metres back where he lay on his back, trying to regain his breath. Hazel let out a mental gasp. She had had enough. She gripped Alexander's sword tightly in her hand and dashed forward to attack the Macedonian king. She was not used to using a short sword, and for a second she doubted whether she would be able to fight him. As she approached him, Alexander was twirling his spear around, looking like it was suddenly too hot for him to handle. Before she reached him, he slammed the sharp point of the spear into the ground, and this time Hazel gasped outwardly.
The ground where the spear struck ripped open and out of the fissure created a bony hand, followed by a Greek warrior skeleton, rose right in front of her. For a moment she stood there, not fully comprehending what was happening.
"What the…Wha…I thought you were a son of Zeus?" Hazel found herself blurting.
Alexander smiled cruelly and the skeleton bore on Hazel while brandishing its iron sword menacingly. Hazel still hadn't recovered from the shock when the skeleton swung its sword straight at her neck. On instinct, she willed the sword to stop in its tracks. It obeyed Hazel, staying in one spot in the air as the skeleton desperately tried to push it forward. She then tore it from the skeleton's grasp and willed it to hack the skeleton to bits. Hazel was amazed at herself. Just the night before she was that Pluto was not as cool as Hades. Now that she thought of it, her powers were actually cool. Pluto's not bad after all, she thought.
Alexander's smile faded and he stabbed at Hazel with the spear. She parried the strike and swung her sword in an upward arc. He easily blocked, hitting her sword hard and causing jarring pain to shoot up her arm. The king swung the butt of the spear at her face at lightning speed. Hazel barely got her arm up to block and the heavy metal bashed against her sword arm with unexpected ferocity. Hazel cried out as she felt the crunching of bone and the sharp pain that immediately followed. She staggered backwards, her sword cluttering uselessly to the ground. Alexander's spear started twitching like it had a mind of its own and he started moving it about as if it was burning his hands. He pointed the spear at Hazel's fallen blade and then up at her face. As the spear tip moved from the sword to her face, the sword on the ground quivered slightly before it rose, on its own, from the ground towards her exposed face.
She ducked at the last minute, the blade whirling past her left eye and chopping off a bit of her hair. The blade stopped about nine feet up and fell back on her at Alexander's command. She tensed, realising that she wouldn't be able to move out of the way on time. She extended her uninjured hand upwards, willing the sword to stop in mid-air. She thanked her Pluto metal controlling powers, but it seemed they were not enough. She grunted as she struggled to push the sword away from her while Alexander pushed it downwards with the pointing of the spear. With an inward gasp, she finally figured out what was happening. Alexander had hit Nico with the spear and was then able to summon skeletons. The spear had caught Hazel on the arm and Alexander had been able to control metal. After touching them with the spear, Alexander could do what they could do.
The spear was stealing their powers.
"The power of the Spear of Victory is just fascinating, isn't it?" Alexander huffed as he pushed the spear downwards with both hands.
Hazel released the sword and dove out of the way as the dull bronze blade hacked the air where she had just stood. She landed on her back, sliding a few inches backwards in the process. She scrambled to get up, taking care not to put weight on her injured arm. She fought back tears and let out a stifled moan. Her pain on her arm was excruciating. She cradled her arm gingerly, bursts of piercing pain flaring up every time she touched the lower part of her forearm, right near the wrist. Just after she came back to life she had relished every bit of pain she had gotten, seeing it as a sign that she was alive. After all, she had not been feeling pain for almost seventy years. Right now however, her mind wasn't even considering relishing the pain. In fact, her mind couldn't set her thoughts straight. The pain was even clouding her vision.
She almost didn't see Alexander making his way towards her, ready to send her back to the Underworld. She willed the dull bronze sword from the ground to her hand and stood as defiantly as she could with an ancient Greek dress on and a short sword she was not used to carrying on a hand that wasn't her sword hand. To her surprise, the Macedonian king did not attack. He had the butt of his evil spear firmly planted on the ground and was using it as a walking staff. As he drew near, she held the sword in front of her and held it towards his face menacingly.
"It is best you give up now, Hazel," he said calmly. "You cannot defeat me. But unfortunately I can't kill you. I still need you to raise my family from the dead. Surrender now and I might just let you leave once you're done."
"Not a chance," she replied. "We've taken on worse than you."
Alexander sighed outwardly. "If I kill you, do you promise to come back here? Preferably with my family?" He realised the impossibility of his request (Hazel would not come back here), and tried for a new one. "I can just kill you and keep your brother alive as collateral."
Hazel didn't reply. She dashed forward and stabbed at his chest. He sidestepped and bashed her sword from its path. He brought the spear end upwards and aimed for her face. She instinctively ducked sideways and swung at his leg. He blocked again, this time with the spear tip, and swung in a horizontal arc towards her neck. She crouched while at the same time bashing the spear with her sword out of its fatal trajectory. He continued hacking and stabbing at her while she desperately blocked, ducked and parried. Alexander was quickly overpowering her. His brutal hackings were slowly weakening her new sword arm which felt like a hundred tonnes of lead. The searing pain of muscle fatigue mixed with the pain of fractured bone on her right arm made her want to throw down her sword and surrender.
But she wouldn't give up. She was Roman.
She leapt backwards as the king swung his spear in a downwards vertical arc. Just in time too. She would have been cleaved in half. In desperation, she opted to use her powers. This particular power she hadn't used in a long time. She usually avoided it since it used up too much of her energy. The last time she had used it she had been knocked unconscious for an entire day. She had no other choice. Alexander was too powerful. She was about to lose, but at least she would go down fighting. That was the Roman way.
She closed her eyes as she jumped back, and concentrated hard. She felt a tug at the pit of her stomach, and as she landed on her feet, the ground underneath her broke.
The ground cracked and shook, large fissures travelling from Hazel towards Alexander. He staggered and the spear dropped from his hands as the ground beneath him shook and convulsed. The tug in Hazel's stomach became almost painful. It felt like all her strength was seeping to it. She tried to stand up straight, to charge the Macedonian king while he was disoriented, but she couldn't. She felt weak and lightheaded, her arm throbbing through her skin. She stumbled backwards and felt her knees give away, the same moment the ground stopped shaking. She didn't however hit the ground as she felt cold hands grab her and stop her from falling. A flicker of hope ignited within Hazel. Nico was awake. She wouldn't have to fight Alexander by herself.
"Nico…" she spluttered as her brother sat her down. "The spear… it steals our powers."
Nico's eyes widened, but he quickly covered up his shock. His face took up a posture of ghastly determination.
"I'll stay out of its way then," he said in a forced positive tone.
He charged Alexander and pressed the king in offensive twists, hacks and stabs of his black blade. Alexander defended himself without much effort, his twirling spear which had flown to his hand when Nico charged, forming a primitive shield against Nico's savage attacks. Hazel watched the battle with mild fascination; she was more concerned with getting her energy back and her breathing even. She leaned her head against the table as she watched Nico switching from offensive to defensive, his short sword whirling around him trying to prevent the evil spear from touching him. Nico didn't have enough time. Soon Alexander would overpower him again.
Hazel had to act now.
She stood up gingerly, her head throbbing from the sudden change in orientation. She still had some energy left, and she figured out the only way to stop Alexander. Luck.
And she knew how to change luck.
She closed her eyes and felt for all precious rocks under her. Moments later a fist sized amethyst sprouted next to her foot. She picked it up and threw it over Nico's head, who was holding on to his sword while Alexander hacked at it repeatedly with the spear in a furious rage.
"Hey Alex!" she said. "Think fast!"
Fortunately for her, Alexander had great reflexes. He caught the rock and looked at it curiously, which provided ample time for Nico to get back on the offensive and for Hazel to join the fight. The dull bronze sword flew to her outstretched left hand stabbed at Alexander's chest. The king dropped the amethyst on time to grab his spear with both hands and swing it from left to right, parrying both hers and Nico's swords. He brought the spear over his head and attempted to cleave Hazel in half, but Nico stepped in front of her and blocked the strike. Hazel twisted around Nico and swung her sword in an upward arc towards Alexander's ribs. He managed to block and swing his spear towards her, but he changed the direction of trajectory at the last minute to block Nico's strike. The two kids were on the offensive, hacking and stabbing at the Macedonian king who managed to keep his calm, but was now fighting to the best of his ability. Despite their best efforts, Alexander did not get overwhelmed. In fact, they were the ones who started feeling the pressure. No matter how they attacked, he always managed to block each and every one of their attacks. Would the amethyst's curse kick in already, she thought.
She couldn't have thought that thought sooner.
Alexander was twirling the spear parallel to himself when the spear tip caught the table and was embedded in the dark wood. As he struggled to pull the tip put of the table, Nico ran forward and jump-kicked his right hand, causing it to release the spear. Alexander was thrown back suddenly by an unseen force and fell on his back on a pile of cracked earth, releasing his other grip on the spear. The ground shuddered slightly and one crack widened into a fissure. Skeletal hands grabbed every part of the Macedonian king they could grab and pulled him into the dark abyss. He struggled and tore bony hands from their sockets (literally) and slowly tried to sit up. Hazel watched as beads of sweat ran down Nico's exposed face. The strain of opening a portal to Hades was almost too much for him to bear.
"Hazel," he said in a voice as low as a whisper. "Help me…"
Hazel brought her hands together, palms facing each other like she was holding something between them. She felt a familiar tug in her stomach and slowly brought her hands together. As they inched closer, she saw Alexander's breast and back plates contort and bend inward. Within moments he was gasping for breath as the pieces of armour prevented his chest from expanding. Hazel stopped pushing her hands together and slowly dragged them downwards. Alexander, who was almost standing up, was forced on his knees by Hazel's powers. Skeletal hands grabbed his legs and arms, some of the longer arms clawing at his face and pulling him into the abyss. The king's struggle became less vicious as he lost more energy due to the lack of oxygen in his lungs. He managed to free a hand and extend it upward, so that it was the last bit of Alexander the saw. The ground closed itself above the hand and the portal to Hades was closed.
Hazel slumped against the table in exhaustion and tried to even her breathing. She gripped the edge of the table to stop herself from falling. Nico bent over and placed his hands on his knees. He looked like he had run a marathon in a full sprint. Hazel looked at him cautiously.
"So what do we do now?" she asked him slowly.
Nico wheezed for a few seconds before he looked up at her, his eyebrows arching upward and his forehead wrinkling below his hairline.
"We get back to the others," he replied. "But not before we sort this mess out."
"How exactly are we going to sort it out?"
He straightened slowly and sheathed his sword and removed the white toga he was wearing, revealing his usual black (but clean) T-shirt and jeans. For a moment the expression on his face was like, how could you let me wear this?
"It's quite simple really. We lie." Hazel waited for him to elaborate. "Alexander must have told them why he kidnapped us, right? So we tell them that he got what he wanted."
Hazel's brows inched closer together. "I'm still not following you. I don't think he wanted us to kill him."
"We didn't kill him. He's still alive, just that he's in Hades. Anyway, here's my plan, I disappear, then we tell them he went with me to the Underworld to fetch his family and that he told you to tell them to postpone the attack on Rome until he comes back."
Hazel was doubtful. "What if they don't believe us?"
"Lets just hope they do. Besides, Alexander's four generals always quarrel about everything. With any luck, by the time they come to an agreement, the gods will have come to their senses and send these guys back to the Underworld."
Hazel was still doubtful, but they didn't have any other choice. There was no way they could face an entire army by themselves. She doubted if even both Greek and Roman demigods combined could take them on once all differences had been settled. She glanced at the doorway where a mix of dead warriors and undead warriors lay in a haphazard heap.
"How do we explain that?" she asked, pointing at the pile.
"Oh, them?" Nico said. "His loyal guard decided to accompany him on his quest." He waved a hand nonchalantly in the doorway's direction which was in shadow from the lack of light outside the room. The heap dissolved in a pool of shadow and within moments had vanished. He staggered slightly. "It's gonna be fine, Hazel. You just worry about Gaea and her giants."
She nodded slowly. Nico was right. She had too much to worry about. Besides Gaea and the giants there was the Doors, Percy and Annabeth, traversing the Ancient Lands without a flying ship.
Leo…
With all the excitement she had almost forgotten about last night (was it last night?) when Leo almost…
Snap out of it, Hazel, she berated herself. You have a boyfriend for Pluto's sake. A boyfriend who you love so much. And she did love Frank. She recently realised this. He was the nicest boy she had ever met. He was big, and cute. They had gone on an adventure together. He had entrusted her with his life. Sure she harboured a few Sammy feelings. Who wouldn't? He was her first boyfriend. A boyfriend she had never even broken up with…
It doesn't matter now, she thought. Sammy's dead. Frank's my boyfriend now. She closed her eyes for a moment. She felt so guilty, like she had betrayed Frank. Don't be silly Hazel, you just talked with Leo, she told herself. Nothing else happened. She looked around the brightly-lit room. She couldn't wait to get out of here. To get back to Frank. She was going to give him the biggest hug ever.
Nico picked up his discarded toga and wrapped it around his hands. He walked over to the spear that was hanging off the edge of the table and gingerly pulled it out. He walked with it towards the middle of the long table, where he pointed the spear tip at the dark table top and he concentrated hard. Suddenly, the spear twitched and arching electricity crackled along its length. There was a smell of ozone as lightning leaped from the spear tip and blasted the mahogany table in half. Hazel was forced to stand up as the table collapsed under her. She looked at Nico quizzically.
He shrugged. "I figured since the spear absorbed our powers, it would absorb his as well since he was the last person to touch it." He held the spear in one hand and tried to raise one half of the table until it stood by itself at an angle. "I'll go tell the others where you are," he told her. "We'll come back for you." With that he walked into the shadow of the turned over table and disappeared.
For a second Hazel stared at the spot where Nico was, thinking, that's so cool. She then left the room and looked for any people she could tell her lie to, preferably Alexander's four generals. She found herself outdoors with the early afternoon sun glaring down at her. Hazel held her breath. Alexander's camp was huge. Tent pavilions and barracks were all she could see, with archery ranges, stables and other assortments of tents she didn't know their use. There was bustling activity as an entire city of people prepared for war. Hazel looked around. It didn't take long for her to find one of the generals (at least, she assumed he was a general). He was on horseback and was in full Greek armour that was decorated with medals. He looked big and his face was hidden beneath a Greek helm. When Hazel told him the lie, he fidgeted about with his horse and galloped towards one of the tents, telling Hazel to stay put so that he could go and discuss this matter with the other generals.
Hazel leaned against a wooden post and looked around, searching for a way to escape.
A/N: Oh, by the way guys, after HoH I plan on continuing the story by writing my version of the last book in the HoO series called "The Last Centurion" (This is my title, not Riordan's). This whole thing with the Wraith is tied to the last book so stay tuned.
