Hazel's Pov
As soon as Nico, Leo, and I sat down next to Percy, a bad feeling started manifesting in my head. Somehow I knew I wouldn't be able to see him or talk to him like Jason did. Was I still disappointed when I found out that I for sure wouldn't get to talk to Percy? Of course I was. Did I expect Nico to be the only one who managed to reach Percy's subconscious? Absolutely not. He was the last out of the three of us that I thought would be able to do it. It only made me slightly bitter.
I mean it's not like I didn't try to find Percy. In fact I'm positive that my face was beet red from the strain of concentrating so hard for so long. I gave it my entire focus and all of my energy. I wanted to talk to Percy so bad but I also needed to see for myself that he'd be okay. I wanted solid proof and I just couldn't fully believe that he'd be okay despite what anyone else told me. I tried to picture myself where he was and imagine his voice calling out to me but no matter what it wouldn't work. After what felt like ten minutes of zero progress or hint of success I let out a small huff of frustration and opened my eyes.
When I saw Leo staring at me with a look of pure disappointment I immediately sympathized with him. He sighed and said, "I guess it didn't work for any of us. This really sucks...but I guess we should let everyone know that it must've just been luck when Jason found him."
I nodded in agreement but was still frustrated that we'd failed. I stood up and took a step toward the door before remembering something, "Yeah you're right. Nico are you gonna stay here?" I asked, avoiding eye contact and looking at the door dejectedly.
Leo glanced over at Nico when there was no response, "Yo Nico, you awake bud?" Curious, I turned back and followed Leo's gaze to see that Nico's head was resting on the bed and he was holding Percy's hand with both of his own.
There was no movement when Leo spoke to him so I walked over and gently poked Nico's shoulder. "Nico?" When he didn't react I turned to Leo, "Do you think it worked? Could he really be with Percy?"
Leo shrugged and still looking at Nico said, "Maybe...but there's only one way to find out for sure. Let's kick back and relax while we wait for him to wake up. Then we can ask him ourselves."
Since there wasn't much on our schedule for the day we decided that it could be nice to just hang out and have some down time. It wasn't very often that we were able to do nothing so we figured why not take advantage of it. Besides, we didn't think Nico would be out for more than an hour, so we sat back in our chairs and started talking to pass the time.
Leo didn't hesitate to bring up my past and ask questions that had clearly been on his mind for a while. A lot of his interest was in his great grandfather, Sammy who was my best friend in the 40s. At first I felt a little uncomfortable talking about it since Sammy and I liked each other but I quickly relaxed after Leo admitted that Frank and I made a great couple.
We actually ended up having a lot of fun as I told Leo stories from the happy times in my childhood. In return he'd joke about my age, teasing me with silly names like abuelita and Frank's old lady. The nicknames didn't bother me at all. They were said in good fun and even made me laugh. It was nice to laugh with someone and just take a break from our crazy complicated lives.
After about thirty minutes of talking a sudden cry drew my attention to Nico. He was whimpering slightly so I quickly moved closer to him, gently tilting his head so I could see if he'd woken up or what might be causing his distress. Nico's eyes were still closed but a cut on his cheek seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. A rush of worry filled me as he also seemed to be in some pain. Panic flared in my chest as my heart raced and I cried, "Leo look at this! He didn't have this before! How could that just appear out of no where??? If he's with Percy do you think he got hurt? Oh gods he must be in trouble! We need to get him out!"
Leo was looking at me like I was crazy. He gently put a hand on my arm and spoke in a soft voice, "Hazel, I'm gonna need you to chill out. Nico will be just fine. I'm sure he has everything under control. We need to trust him, he knows what he's doing. Besides, I'm sure Percy's lookin out for him."
I knew he was probably right but I couldn't stand the idea of my brother being stuck on his own in Tartarus again, even if it wasn't the real thing. Maybe Percy couldn't help him. What if he was dying in there? Would we even know?
It took me a while to calm back down. Leo had to tell a bunch of corny jokes before I finally relaxed enough to sit back against my chair. I knew I was overreacting but I couldn't lose Percy or Nico and right now they were supposedly both in Percy's head and I had no way of knowing what was going on or if they were okay or not.
About two hours after finding the cut on Nico's face I started to get impatient. "How can he be in there that long??? Do you think he's trapped like Percy?"
Leo shrugged and said, "They're probably just catching up Hazel. It's been a while since they've really talked and I'm sure there's no shortage of topics." He said with a smirk.
"Why did you say it like that?" I asked suspiciously, watching his facial expressions for an answer.
Leo reclined further back in his chair as he pulled out some tools and material from his belt without paying too much attention to what he was doing. "Eh Nico clearly needed to see Percy the most out of all of us. They have unresolved...issues? Maybe that's why he's there and not us. Whatever the reason, I'm sure they just have a lot to talk about."
Even though Leo was acting weird his words still made me feel a lot better since I knew he that was most likely what was happening. Nico and Percy really could be hanging out and having good conversations. Maybe Nico was even learning more about the curse and how we could fix it. I decided to try my best to relax and not stress about it. He'd be fine.
By the time dinner came rolling around I was a mess and even Leo was starting to get nervous. I'd been doing my best not to start crying while Leo had created an alarm clock, a metal mini replica of the Argo II and a mini version of my spatha in attempt to distract himself.
Nico was coming up on six hours without waking up. He still had a tight hold on Percy's fingers and the cut was still on his face but that seemed to be his only injury at least that I could see.
Leo was pacing behind me while I sat in my chair, tapping my fingers on the arm rest and taking deep breaths to keep calm.
About five minutes after we were supposed to meet everyone for dinner Nico finally snapped awake so suddenly that I jumped out of my seat and stood staring at him with wide eyes.
Leo leapt into action and went to a cupboard. He dug through it as he searched for something but I barely noticed as all my attention was on Nico. I ran a hand through his hair lightly to calm him down and quickly checked him over for any more cuts or bruises. I asked him what happened to his cheek while I continued to worry over him.
Leo moved next to me and I saw a glass of nectar in his hand making me feel bad for not thinking of that sooner. When Nico said that he thought was only unconscious for less than an hour I looked at Leo and saw him mirroring my own thoughts. He looked just as concerned as I felt.
Thankfully Leo broke the news to Nico that he'd been out for a lot longer than thirty minutes. A look of confusion spread across Nico's face as he seemed to understand what happened. "I-It didn't feel nearly that long."
I gently took the glass of nectar from Leo's hand and moved forward, helping Nico drink. As he sipped it, the cut on his cheek began to shrink until it faded completely.
Nico sighed softly and said, "I have a lot to tell you guys but I think everyone needs to hear it. Someone needs to stay with Percy. I-I'm worried about him, he was in trouble when I left."
My heart leapt at Nico's final sentence. He looked really shook up. As I was about to offer to stay with Percy, Piper walked in the room. "Hey is everything okay? We're all waiting for you to eat." She said addressing us with a raised brow.
Leo explained the situation and Piper said, "I can stay with him. I'm not super hungry anyway so I can eat later. Just fill me in on how everything went."
My shoulders relaxed as she offered to take the watch. I moved forward and gave her a tight hug, whispering, "Thank you Piper."
She smiled in response and sat down in the open chair by Percy's bed. "Have a good dinner."
Once we thanked her and promised to tell her what happened after dinner, the three of us went to the dining room. Nico had his hands stuffed in his pockets as he shuffled behind me, staying quiet the entire way and looking kind of queazy.
Annabeth, Frank, and Jason looked up at us as we walked into the Dining room. Frank locked eyes with me his eyebrows furrowed with worry. I gave him a small smile and walked over, sitting in my usual seat at his side.
As soon as I scooted in Frank took my hand gently in his and said, "Hazel are you okay? I was so worried when none of you showed up...I thought something might be wrong with Percy."
With a deep breath Nico cleared his throat, drawing all of our attention. I was glad that I didn't have to respond to frank. Nico told everyone that he found Percy and was able to talk to him. He recounted his time in Percy's subconscious from beginning to end without too much difficulty. He explained how when he touched Percy the cursed wound turned black and that the pain faded away momentarily. He explained how Percy thought that the cure had something to do with Zeus and that we somehow needed his help. Lastly, Nico told us how Otis and Ephialtes the psycho giant twins who almost killed him, Jason, and Percy, found them because of Nico's scent and that Percy was probably fighting both of them right now. When Nico finished his story he said, "How can Percy take on two giants all by himself? It's all my fault they found him and I'm so sorry for putting him in my danger." He said miserably, looking at each of us before hanging his head in shame.
My heart nearly broke as I watched Nico, who was always so closed off about his feelings and emotions, now in tears and blaming himself for putting Percy in more danger. I was about to comfort him when someone else did it for me.
Annabeth had been extremely quiet throughout Nico's story. I knew she was thinking hard as I could practically see the gears turning in her head. When Nico spoke about the giants Annabeth paled but made no sound. As soon as Nico apologized she blurted out, "No. Nico this isn't your fault. We all know the risks in this. You had to find out more information and thanks to you we have it. We are one step closer to figuring this out and saving him."
Jason let out a small cough and said, "So Zeus has the cure? If that's true than why did Percy's wound glow black when Nico touched it?"
Annabeth paused for a moment and nodded as if she made a decision to share a crazy thought. "The curse turned blue when Frank poured the blessed water on it. Then gold when Jason touched it and black when Nico did. All three times it seemed like the curse was getting better but never completely healed. Don't you see? Each of those three colors is often associated with the Big three. Blue for Poseidon, Gold for Zeus, and Black for Hades. I don't think it's a coincidence that the three who touched Percy are also related to those gods. It's all connected. They have to have some way of curing him."
Her theory made some sense but it seemed a bit far fetched. I wanted to support her but a few things didn't make sense to me. "Frank isn't a son of Poseidon though. And Jason is a son of Jupiter not Zeus! If I'm a daughter of Pluto how come it doesn't glow when I touch him?"
Annabeth frowned and I felt bad for challenging her idea. She spoke quietly and said, "I-I just having a feeling it has to do with them. I don't have all of the answers yet but no one else has come up with anything so it's the best we've got."
I know she didn't mean to sound rude but her words cut into me like a knife. She was right. No one else came up with any ideas and I just bashed the only one.
Frank squeezed my hand under the table to tell me it was okay and said, "We'll tell Poseidon what we think and see what he has to say. Maybe he'll know something and be able to help."
Annabeth smiled sadly at him and nodded.
Throughout dinner we kept brainstorming possibilities of the cure. It was frustrating not knowing what to do but we didn't want to admit how worried we actually all were.
After dinner we went our separate ways. Jason left to bring Piper some food and take the night shift in the med bay with her. Annabeth went with him to check on Percy and stay there until she had to leave for her meet up with the sea god and Leo took Nico up to the deck to have a talk. That left Frank and I alone at the table, still holding hands.
After a moment of silence Frank brought my hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to my knuckles. "Are you okay Hazel? It must've been really hard to not know what was happening with Nico for so long. I'm really sorry you had to go through that."
The stress that'd been building inside me slowly fell away at his concern for me. Frank was so caring and thoughtful. He could always tell what was going on in my head and when something was bothering me. As I thought about the hours I had to wait, watching Nico unconscious and knowing that he and Percy could be hurt or worse...Frank was right. It'd been terrifying to be in the dark to what was going on with them.
Tears welled in my eyes and when Frank realized I was about to cry he stood up and gently lifted me into his arms protectively. I wrapped my legs around his torso and held onto him like a koala. I buried my face into his neck and let the tears leak out. I felt bad for having a meltdown so I spoke between the sniffling, "I-I'm sorry...this week is just getting worse and worse and I'm trying to be optimistic but it's so overwhelming."
Frank pulled me closer, one hand firmly holding me in place so I wouldn't fall and the other hand resting on the back of my head comfortingly. "I know beautiful, this is a really difficult time. Everything may seem hopeless right now but Annabeth and I are gonna get some help from Poseidon and like Annabeth said, he might know about a cure. Percy will be just fine and so will we."
He sounded so confident that I should've felt better right away but instead I let out a pathetic sob and said, "I miss him Frank. He's the one who always has a plan. He takes care of us and we take care of him! We finally got him back and now this stupid curse is trying to take him away again. It's not fair!" I understand I was being utterly ridiculous at this point but holy pluto I'm upset! Percy's our best friend and I can't lose him.
"I miss him too..." Frank whispered, his voice full of sorrow. "We won't let him leave us. He can't get out of saving the world again that easy." I let out a breathy laugh at his words and held on a little tighter.
Without me realizing, Frank had carried me out of the dining hall and all the way to his room. When I looked around in confusion he said, "You need to get some rest. You've been through a lot. How bout I get us some hot chocolate and we can cuddle until I have to go. Does that sound okay?" Frank asked as he gently laid me down on his soft bed and pulled a huge fluffy blanket over me, tucking me in.
"Yes please..." I said in a small voice, pulling the blanket up to my nose. He was so sweet and wonderful I could barely contain my smile.
Frank chuckled and smiled down at me, "You're the cutest girl in the whole world you know that?" He leaned down and kissed my forehead tenderly. "Be right back." He grinned and walked out the door to get our drinks.
When he walked back in the door with two mugs almost overflowing with marshmallows and a huge cheesy smile on his face I remembered just how lucky I am to call Frank Zhang my boyfriend. Also that Leo was right, Frank and I do make a pretty great couple.
We spent the next few hours cuddling while sipping on hot coco and enjoying being in each other's arms, taking a break from the stress and struggles of life. It gave me hope that tomorrow could be a better day and eventually everything would be okay.
I know it's been a few days and I'm sorry to keep ya'll waiting!!! It's been an insanely busy weekend and I had almost no time to write. Thank you to BeaFox for the extra special review!!! Also thanks to Mike2020 and Arnav Wadhwa for your lovely reviews as well! I am writing more chapters and I know where I want the story to go but because I don't have any more prewritten chapters I wont be able to post every day. Thank you for being so amazing and as always I love reading your thoughts on my content! I hope you enjoy :)