The shop bell dinged. Piper and Leo walked in, and Hazel emerged from the back room looking very tired. She sat on a stool on the other side of the counter and rested her head on her knuckles.
"Hey, Leo. What brings you here? I've been up since last night working on something for a customer, so I'm sorry if I fall asleep on you," Hazel said sleepily.
Piper approached the counter. "So, I have a gift for the both of you," Piper started. That got Hazel's attention. She lifted her head up and looked straight at Piper. Even Leo looked up from the gears and nuts he had been putting together.
"Go on," Hazel said slowly.
Piper folded her hands on the counter. "Leo, I'm staying true to what I told you. For my third wish, I want you to be free of your curse."
Leo's jaw dropped. "You're serious? I'm free?"
Piper nodded. "You are both free."
Leo threw his hands in the air, making a rainfall of nuts and gears. "Good gods almighty! Hallelujah, I'm free! Flame Boy is back, baby!" As if to prove his point, Leo's fingers danced with flames joyfully.
Hazel jumped over the counter and hugged Piper fiercely with tears in her eyes. "You are an amazing person, Piper. Thank you so, so much. Now I can see Frank again!" Hazel pulled away. "Wait, before I get called away, I have something to give you!" Hazel said. Then she jumped over the counter and went into the back room again.
Piper looked over by Leo, who was happily singing and building a fire out of jewelry cases. In his hand he held the bronze hammer that he hated so much. Hazel came back with a tiny box the was wrapped tightly in purple paper. She handed it to Piper.
"Don't open it, okay? It is Jason's order, but I won't be here long enough for him to come pick it up, so I'm trusting you to deliver it. No peeking!" Hazel warned.
Piper placed the box in the pocket of her dress. "I won't, I promise." Piper had an idea of what was in that box, but she wasn't go to say anything.
Hazel beamed. "I can't thank you enough for this. You'd think that living for a long time without ever ageing would be fun, but after a while, it gets old- no pun intended."
Piper opened her mouth to respond, but Leo's yells of joy interrupted. Piper and Hazel looked over to him, and he was dancing around the fire like some crazy person, watching the bronze hammer slowly melt.
"Burn, baby, burn!" He cried loudly. So loudly, that the people passing by were staring in the window curiously. "I'm coming home, Reyna! I'm a free man!"
Hazel looked at Piper in question. "Who's Reyna?"
"His girlfriend. You probably know her as Princess Reyna. She's the daughter of Queen Bellona," Piper answered.
A look of comprehension dawned on Hazel's face. "The leader of the rebels? She's courting…Leo? What happened there? I'd never have put them two together!"
Piper shrugged. "Love is surprising," she said. Suddenly, Hazel's figure shimmered. "Hazel! You're fading!"
"Finally," Hazel said as she shimmered once more. "Goodbye, Piper. I wish you luck with your love life,"
Hazel hurried over to Leo. She hugged him, the tears welling up quickly in her eyes. "Bye, Leo. I'll miss you. Be good to Reyna, she's good for you. Have the happy ending that I couldn't give you, okay?"
"Why do you have to leave?" Leo asked.
"Because I've already died. You were there, Leo. I was only here to be punished for my crimes. I have no reason to be here anymore, my work is done," Hazel explained. Her form began to shimmer violently, and she gave them both one last smile. "Thank you, I'll never forget you guys."
Piper choked down a sob. Sure, she wasn't very close to Hazel, but the way she expressed her gratitude and was overly nice was unforgettable. She reminded Piper of the people in Queen Demeter's farming town, where everybody treated everybody like family, even if they barely knew them. "Goodbye, have a nice trip," Piper managed.
Then Hazel disappeared from thin air. There was nothing left of her, not even the jewelry shop. Every display and piece of jewelry was gone, and the shop seemed oddly bare without the abundance of purple. Leo stood staring at the place where Hazel had last been.
"I didn't even get to say goodbye!" Leo said in a sad voice. Then he started to examine the empty shop. "Do you think I could modify this and make it my own?"
Despite her sadness, Piper laughed. "That reminds me. Someday we'll have to take a trip with Festus to Queen Demeter's town. Festus met a blacksmith there and I think they'd like to meet again."
"What were you doing there?" Leo asked as he walked out the door.
Piper followed. "Festus broke down and we needed someone to fix him. You weren't exactly available, you know!"
Leo frowned at first, but then he smiled that crazy maniac smile that always made Piper worry. "Hey, at least I got a babysitter now!"
Piper drug Leo through the thick afternoon crowd. They stumbled until they got to the end of the road, where less people were about. Piper turned to Leo. "Have you taken Reyna on a romantic dragon ride yet?" she asked in an amused voice.
"Yes I have, thank you very much. And it was very romantic. Until Festus decided to break down anyways…but that's another story. But it went great!" Leo said proudly.
They started walking back to the building. "Leo, what are you going to do if you don't have any royal blood in your family line?"
Leo shrugged. "I don't know. We've briefly talked about it. Reyna's got an older sister, Hylla, that will get the kingdom anyway. I don't know if Reyna would like commoner life. She would be losing a lot of power. Why didn't you two look up your family line to see if you had any royal blood?" Leo asked in return.
"Because I don't know who my parents were. They died when I was really young, I can't remember!" Piper said in response. She didn't like talking about her old family. She had a new one now, so why worry about that one?
"My mom died too," Leo protested. "And I don't know who my dad was!"
Piper sighed. "Yes, but you know your mother's name, which can be traceable. Sorry Leo, it just wouldn't work out. Anyways, we're happy where we are."
"Yeah, I know. Just wondering, that's all," Leo said dejectedly.
Piper knew it bothered him that he couldn't make things work out after all the work he put into her second wish. But honestly, Piper was perfectly okay with the way they did. Piper and Jason were happy. They had a house, friends, and the power to change things without being royals. Being royal was just a title, it didn't make them any different.
Soon, they arrived at the building. Leo and Piper found Jason and Reyna on the third floor talking to Katie. They were in Katie and Travis's room, lounging on the furniture.
"Please come back and visit once you've sorted everything out, Reyna! At least for the wedding, okay?" Katie was saying.
Reyna laughed. "Of course, I wouldn't miss it. And Jason still has yet to tell me the date of his," Reyna said slyly.
"Jason still has yet to propose," Piper said as she leaned against the doorframe. She reached into her dress pocket and tossed the box to Jason, who was sitting on a couch. Jason caught it, and put it into his own pocket as if nothing happened.
It didn't escape everyone's attention though. Reyna pressed on. "You haven't proposed yet, Jason?"
Jason flushed, but kept his head. "What about you, Reyna? Don't you have a wedding coming up?"
Leo jumped between them. "Woah, man. That's not cool, what you did there. We have business to attend first! Like royal stuff. Don't point out my faults, Mr. Hypocrite!"
"You know, I think we need a going away party for you guys!" Katie intervened. "A proper one. You can set back your adventure another day, can't you? Just tell the others. Invite them too! I want to meet this Percy and Annabeth," Katie said.
"Can we invite anyone we want?" Conner asked as he went through Travis's stuff and took what he thought looked interested.
Katie nodded. "Sure, invite anyone!"
The others went on talking about the party and making arrangements. Piper caught eye contact with Jason, and they left the room and went to their own. Jason pushed the sheets he had brought up earlier off the bed and collapsed on it. Piper resumed hanging up her dresses.
"Jason, what dress should I wear to the party?" Piper said as she shuffled through the rack.
Jason got up from the bed and joined her at the closet. "The purple one," he said confidently.
Piper pulled it out. "This one? What's so special about it?"
Jason walked over to his bag and pulled out the parcel he had grabbed back at the palace. "Well, it's the dress I met you in when you declared yourself a princess," he said. Then he stood behind her, and Piper could hear him unwrapping the parcel. "Close your eyes." he whispered.
Piper closed them. She felt Jason lay something on her chest, and mess with something in the back. He pulled her hair out from under it and let it gracefully tumble down her shoulders. She heard Jason come from behind her and stand in front.
"Now open your eyes," Jason instructed.
Piper obeyed and looked at the mysterious object. She gasped. It was the necklace she had spent forever looking at in the window of Hazel's jewelry shop. Piper lifted it with her hands, and felt engravings on the back. She read them in excitement.
Piper, My Love was on the top, then on the bottom it read -Sparky. Piper's eyes welled up with tears of happiness. "Oh, J-Jason," she stuttered.
Jason grabbed her face and kissed her sweetly. "And this matches the purple dress perfectly. That's why you should wear it."
Thanks for absolutely everything! Almost done (: