Well, I'm back with a new chapter :) Just because my week was nice it doesn't mean this chapter will be nice or happy :P Just kidding.

Chapter 28 – We'll figure it out

HAZEL

Hazel thought she was going to throw up.

She couldn't move without a new wave of nausea washing over her. She wanted so bad to join the fight, and being nauseous was a stupid reason to not be able to defend your friends, but she couldn't. The ship rocked too much.

And, she felt a little dizzy. Leo had kissed her right in front of everyone. Hazel glanced at Frank, but she couldn't see his face. Had he seen it?

Leo was fighting Khione, his whole body in flames. She had managed to knock Jason down, Coach Hedge was running around and yelling, Nico was trying to summon more skeletons but Khione just waved them off, Piper was frozen again after trying to attack the snow goddess and Frank was still shooting arrows that Khione dodged or froze. And what was Hazel doing? Standing on the same spot as before, hugging her stomach and trying to don't lean over.

Leo was incredible. Khione had finally stopped the snow-hurricane and was now dancing out of the way from Leo's columns of fire. Anger and fear was reflected in her coffee brown eyes.

"Take this, ice princess!" Leo shouted and aimed at her stomach, but she just dodged the column.

"Don't get too big-headed, Valdez, I'm a goddess." Khione growled and created an ice-wall to protect her from the flames.

Leo grinned playfully and melted the ice-wall with a mere touch. The goddess was now standing in a puddle of water, looking angrier than ever.

"Is this because of the nightmares, Valdez?" Khione asked. "Dreams are dreams, Fire Boy. Nothing more. But apparently you're so scared of reality that you can't even sleep without dreaming of what may come."

Leo slowed down, looking like he had been punched in the face – and Khione smiled triumphantly and shot a blast of ice toward him. It hit Leo and froze him to a statue, and for a moment Hazel couldn't breathe, but then the ice melted of him and made place for a whole lot of flames. His whole body was basically on fire, from head to toe.

"Do you know what, ice princess? I'm not scared. Actually, I'm really happy. It was so nice of you to come and visit our ship. Because now, I get the chance to kill you."

Khione didn't have time to duck or even move. Faster than Hazel thought was possible Leo threw himself at her, nailed her to the floor, his eyes burning with rage (and fire). Khione screamed, Leo's flaming hands was burning in to her face. Slowly, she started to melt, like an ice sculpture.

"We're not done." Khione gasped. "We'll never be."

"Let's see about that, huh?" Leo said.

Hazel knew goddesses couldn't die. Khione couldn't just die. But she had the feeling that Leo ahd drove her away, at least until they reached Greece.

Frank lowered his bow. Coach Hedge stopped yelling and stopped. Nico stood there, his hands raised in an awkward pose to try raising more skeleton warriors. Jason was still unconscious, and Piper was frozen. Everybody was quiet, staring at Leo who was sitting down in a puddle of snow, still smoking.

The whole world was spinning in Hazel's eyes. She felt a new fresh wave of nausea and before she could stop herself she leaned down and puked.

Leo and Frank ran to her side right away. She held up a hand to show them that she was fine, even if her mouth tasted awful.

Coach Hedge trotted over and patted Leo on the back.

"Good job, Valdez. Now, let's get that cupcake to bed before she throws up all over the place."

Hazel slowly straightened and followed Coach Hedge down to the sickbay, leaving Frank looking hurt and Leo looking shaken.

"Seasickness, huh?" The coach asked and pulled down Hazel on the bed. "Nothing can cure that as well as fresh-pressed orange juice."

Hazel didn't dare to open her mouth. She was still in a state of shock, not just because of the throw-up but because of the fight. The way Leo had looked, so fierce and angry, scared her.

"Here's a bucket. Feel free to throw up as much as you want, Levesque. I'll come back with a glass of orange juice in a moment."

Without really knowing what to say, she tried to nod as the satyr left, humming on a song like everything was fine.

Hazel didn't want to be in the sickbay, she wanted to ask Leo what Khione and he had been talking about. She wanted to comfort him, not throw up. She felt guilty; I wasn't she that needed the help, he did.

A knock on the door.

"Hazel?" Nico peeked in. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Hazel snapped and sat up. "How's Leo?! What happened up there?! What did Khione talk about?!"

Nico came in and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Calm down. We gave some ambrosia to Jason so he woke up and Leo melted the ice so Piper is free now. They're talking to him. He seemed pretty shaken up, but that's all."

"I have to talk to him." Hazel said immediately and remembered the word she had heard Leo say that night he told Festus about his nightmare: Piper and Jason's idea of quality time doesn't involve me anymore.

"Calm down, Hazel. Leo's okay. What's the big deal anyway? He fought, so what? I don't mean to be rude-"

Hazel stared at her brother in disbelief.

"He just fought a goddess! Khione mentioned his mother! And something about nightmares… How would you feel if you had nightmares about your mom and an enemy goddess knew about and probably caused them?!"

Nico didn't answer. He twisted his skull ring without meeting Hazel's eyes.

"I'll tell him that you want to talk." Nico said at last. He looked a little ashamed. "'I'm sorry. Get well soon."

He left the sickbay just as Coach Hedge came back with the orange juice. He handed it over to Hazel, who murmured a "thank you" and started to sip it.

"Why so serious, cupcake? We just chased Khione away! You should be happy."

"Uh, yeah. I mean-I am." Hazel replied flatly.

Coach Hedge hummed and just messed around a little, until he yawned and said:

"Well, I gotta go. If it something, just call and we'll come."

He trotted out, leaving Hazel staring down at the orange substance in the glass. Leo was having nightmares about his mother again? Why hadn't he told her? It made total sense. That's why he looked so tired nowadays.

Apparently, Khione was involved. Did that mean Melinoe was too? She had a vague memory of Leo mentioning that toying with the demigods' minds was a part of Khione's plan.

Hazel wondered what they were trying to do this time. Last time Leo dreamed a nightmare he had gone insane, rambling about making a deal with the two goddesses to get his mother back. Most of the crew had lost someone they loved. If Khione and Melinoe were going to make everyone go insane and make a deal with her, Hazel knew the demigods' would give anything to get their lost loves back. And that would make the snow-and ghost goddess to get exactly what they wanted. Hazel didn't have any more golden whistles; she would never be able to cure all of them. And what if she went insane?

It wasn't just that. Apollo had said "it's always darkest before the dawn", and sure, it had seemed very dark indeed when Leo had went mad, but Hazel knew that it wasn't the darkest thing that would happen to them on the quest. She kept wondering if she had acted right, using the whistle for him, when they maybe would get in a lot more trouble in Greece. What if they would get stuck in a horrible situation where the only thing that maybe could save them was the whistle and Hazel wouldn't be able to do anything because she already used it once? Maybe she should have tried to examine the other ways of curing Leo before she used it.

"Nico said you asked for me." Leo's voice came from the doorway.

Hazel flinched and returned to reality. She smiled weakly and said:

"Yeah. Come in."

Leo looked like a total mess. His whole body was smoking, his hair all over the place, and dark lines under his blank, shocked eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked with a worried voice.

"I'm-Yeah. Sure." Leo answered flatly.

Hazel rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Leo. That was the biggest lie I ever heard. Now tell me what Khione was talking about."

Leo hesitated. He started to fiddle with something form his toolbelt that cute way he did when he was nervous or worried.

Hazel softened.

"Leo." She jumped off the bed and walked to him. "What's wrong?"

She was surprised that he managed to pull off a grin.

"Nothing, Hazel. Just some nightmares. They didn't mean anything."

"What if they did?"

Leo didn't answer.

Hazel stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him.

"Will you tell me now?" She asked.

"If I don't, will you kiss me again?" Leo joked.

"You're hopeless."

"So I've been told."

"Just tell me now!"

Hazel refused to take no for an answer, and Leo seemed to realize that.

"I've been having these nightmares." He started nervously.

He told her everything. Hazel could almost imagine being there, and it made her shiver.

When Leo was finished, Hazel didn't know how to comfort him. He refused to meet her gaze; he looked down at his hands while fiddling with those things he had pulled out from the toolbelt.

"Leo, it will be okay." Hazel assured him.

"Yeah. Sure." Leo muttered.

"I mean it. As long as we get through it together, it will all get figured out."

Hazel could see that he doubted her. She couldn't bring herself to say anything else, because she knew it would sound too lame. So she just wrapped her arms around him and kissed him again, sweet and soft.

"We will figure it out together. I know everything feels really complicated right now, but we will get through it." She said.

"And if it is too complicated?" Leo asked mournfully.

Hazel didn't know how to answer that.

Okay, I maybe wasn't kidding after all…