***Sorry this chapter is a few days late. Life happened. This one is a bit of a transitional chapter, but the next will have more action. Chapter 3 will be up June 3. Thanks as always for reading and thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed!***

Chapter 2: Friendly Faces

PIPER:

Piper screamed. She couldn't help it. As the railing of the bridge rose in front of them and a two-hundred-foot drop to the water loomed, Piper momentarily lost her grip on the knife she'd just pulled out of her backpack and screamed.

Luckily, Annabeth's quick thinking and years of training saved them. She snatched up Piper's knife and stabbed it into the monster's thigh. When the giant roared in pain and tried to grab her, Annabeth dove between her thick arms and grabbed the wheel, jerking it hard to the side. She very nearly sent them straight into a semi, but at least they weren't on a one-way trip off the bridge. Meanwhile, Piper reached for the knife embedded in the giant's leg. The monster shrieked in pain as Piper pulled the knife out, but before she could stab her, the giant yanked the wheel hard again, throwing Piper into the back seat again. The knife flew out of her hand. Annabeth yanked the monster's arm, head swiveling between the driver and the road, trying to avoid hitting any innocent mortals just trying to go about their day.

The driver wrestled her for the steering wheel. "Not this time, you brat. I will have my revenge. Joe Bob was supposed to bring me lunch, but instead you stabbed him. I told him he shouldn't have gone to that accursed gymnasium. Nothing good happens in a middle school gym class!"

Piper glanced at Annabeth. "Do you know this lady?"

Annabeth winced, even as she struggled for control of the vehicle. "I might have stabbed her boyfriend in the back a few years ago. But to be fair, he was about to incinerate Percy with a dodgeball."

Several questions sprang to mind as Piper tried to envision that particular scenario, but there was no time to ask them. With a scream of rage, the giant woman stamped her foot on the brakes and the cab came to a screeching halt, flinging Piper into the back of the passenger seat and nearly throwing Annabeth through the windshield. As it was, she hit with a sickening crunch and a gasp of pain. Before Piper could move to help, the giant had a hand around her friend's throat, dragging her off the dashboard. The monster bared her teeth. "Now, I will get my revenge!" She opened her gaping maw.

"Stop!" Piper poured every ounce of her willpower into her voice and the monster froze. Piper knew she only had a moment as her fingers scrambled under the passenger seat, searching for her knife. The monster started to move again and Piper said, "Freeze!" which mostly worked, except for the part where the giant's fist was still clamped around Annabeth's throat and her friend was starting to turn a dangerous color. Forcing calm into her charmspeak, Piper said, "Let her go."

The giant sneered. "Not a chance, you little—"

The rest of her sentence was interrupted as a shining golden blade erupted from her chest. For a moment, the monster looked completely stunned. Then, with a wail of "Nooooo!" she collapsed into dust. Annabeth tumbled into the gear shift, and Piper finally located her dagger, holding it up to cover her friend in case whoever stabbed the giant wasn't on their side. But she lowered it quickly as a familiar face appeared in the window, sheathing her cavalry sword.

"Hi, guys," Hazel said. "Need some help?"

Fifteen minutes later, they'd gotten out of the car, Annabeth had some ambrosia, and Hazel filled them in on how she'd spotted them coming out of the airport, but had been too far away to say anything as they climbed into the monster's car.

"I tried to get your attention," Hazel said, "but the monster was too fast. I guess the Mist must have been pretty strong."

"And I got sloppy." Annabeth shook her head, then grimaced, putting a hand on her side. "I hate cracking my ribs. They take a couple hours to heal, even with ambrosia."

Hazel and Piper exchanged a glance, then Piper asked, "How many times has this happened?"

Annabeth tilted her head, considering. "At least twice. In the Sea of Monsters when a Cyclops dropped me onto some rocks, and once during Capture the Flag. Possibly in the Battle of Manhattan, but everything hurt so bad then it was hard to tell, and Apollo healed me so I'm not really sure what all the damage…what?"

Piper and Hazel were both shaking their heads incredulously. "You just say it so casually," Piper said. "Like, oh, no big deal, a Cyclops dropped me, a god healed me, just an ordinary Tuesday."

"I think it was a Thursday," Annabeth said, and they all started laughing. When they stopped, she shrugged. "Demigod life, what can you do?"

Hazel nodded. "It's true. You get used to weird things. Like I can say to Frank, 'You know, before I died,' or he can say, 'So I was flying over the hills the other day,' and it doesn't even seem strange."

"So here's to all being crazy together." Piper held up her water bottle like a toast, then took a pull. "Now, how do we get from here to Camp Jupiter?"

"Oh, Arion can carry us." Hazel patted the nose of the massive stallion who had come up behind her after nibbling at a patch of grass on the side of the highway. Apparently Hazel had called him and he'd helped her follow the taxi from the airport.

Annabeth eyed the horse as if doing calculations. "All three of us?"

Hazel nodded. "Of course. He did it before with Percy, Frank, and I when he carried us up the glacier in Alaska."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Up the glacier?"

"More weirdness." Piper smiled happily.

Hazel's smile was slightly evil as she said, "Yes. Straight up. You should have heard the boys curse."

That made them all laugh again. Piper reached out to stroke Arion's muscular neck. "Alright, should we head to Camp Jupiter?"

"Actually, we're not going to camp," Hazel said. "There was a change in plans and we're meeting Reyna at a private airport. She got a message from her sister. We're flying to Seattle."

HAZEL:

When she stepped onto the plane, Hazel got déjà vu. It was so similar to the small private plane she, Frank, and Percy had flown to Alaska barely five months ago. Frank had been less than thrilled when she'd explained that she and Reyna were headed to Seattle.

"Because that went so well last time," he grumbled.

"Well, sort of," Hazel said. "We escaped, and I rescued Arion. Those were good things."

"I guess," Frank admitted grudgingly. He still looked grumpy, but Hazel wasn't sure if it was because she was heading on this strange quest or if he just hadn't slept well because he'd been up late supervising the crew tearing down the fort constructed for last night's war games. She definitely hadn't slept well; her dreams had been filled with canyons and woods and the howls of wolves. And she had no idea what any of it meant. She shook her head, bringing herself back to the present as Frank took her hands and said, "Just be careful out there, okay?"

"Of course," Hazel said. "Besides, I'll be with some of the toughest demigod warriors around."

"True." Frank smiled and squeezed her hands. "Say hi to everyone for me."

"I will." She stood on her toes to kiss him good-bye. "I'll see you soon."

Now, curling into her seat on the plane and watching the ground fall away, Hazel hoped that was true. She hoped the Amazons would maybe have some ideas or answers and that was why Hylla had told Reyna to come north when the praetor called to ask her sister what she knew of Orion.

After a few minutes of catching up, they got down to business, laying out the notes on a tray table so they could read all four of them together.

The billows swelled with rage, and the hurricane arose against man…and Orion was more wrathful than his wont.

Orion with his golden bow is on watch during the night.

So vast a blade does threatening Orion wield on winter nights and terrify the stars.

You are not like a son of Zeus…You did not kill that unhappy lover, bold Orion.

For a few moments, there was quiet as they all read through the messages again and an uncomfortable silence threatened to settle over the plane. Then, Reyna said drily, "Cheerful."

"Very." Piper fidgeted with a small braid in her hair, eyes on the messages. "What I really want to know, though, is why us? I mean, Reyna makes sense, you were the one who actually battled him. But the rest of us were on the other side of the Atlantic."

"I wondered that too." Hazel tucked her feet under her and leaned into her armrest. "It seems a bit random, to be honest."

Reyna tapped her fingers against the armrest of her seat. "I thought so, too, at first. But then I started thinking some more about Orion. About things he said, and his attitude. I think he would see you three as a threat, the same as me, the same as the Hunters, the same as the Amazons."

Hazel narrowed her eyes, thinking. "What do you mean?"

"Orion hates female heroes. He had major issues. But, just from a few things he said, I suspect he'd see you all as a threat, or something to despise. Hera's chosen heroes. The ones who defeated Gaea, delayed her rise in the forties, trekked across Tartarus." She nodded at Piper, then Hazel, then Annabeth as she spoke. "It almost makes me suspect he's back, except the notes seem too subtle."

"Can a monster regenerate that fast, though?" Piper asked. "Now that the Doors of Death are closed again?"

Almost instinctively, all three of them glanced at Annabeth. She was leaning back in her seat with her arms crossed, frowning out the window at Oregon far below them. When she realized they were all watching her, she frowned. "What's up?"

"You probably know the most about monster regeneration," Piper said. "What do you think about Orion?"

Annabeth twisted a bead around the string of her camp necklace. "I don't know. Honestly. It seems pretty fast, but it's not unheard of. On my first quest with Percy, he killed a Fury and it regenerated within a couple weeks, so," she shrugged, "sometimes it just depends."

Reyna looked a little queasy. "If he's back so soon…that's real trouble." Her lips pressed together briefly, but then she squared her shoulders. "But we'll just have to deal with it."

Hazel had to admire her strength. Her ability to put her feelings aside and focus on the task at hand was one of the things that made Reyna such a good leader.

But Piper's expression softened. She leaned forward to put a hand on Reyna's arm. "Reyna, I appreciate that, but you don't have to put on a brave face for us. We're equals. You don't have to only be the leader here. It's okay to be nervous or afraid or worried and show it."

Annabeth was carefully studying Reyna's face, then she nodded. "That's hard, though. I know."

Reyna's normally impassive face suddenly looked very open and vulnerable. She swallowed hard a few times, then nodded. "Okay. Thank you. I'll—I'll try."

Piper squeezed her arm as Annabeth said quietly, "We're your friends, Reyna. We're in this together."

Reyna managed a small smile. She met Hazel's eyes briefly and Hazel returned the smile.

As they approached Seattle, though, Hazel's nerves mounted, especially once she caught sight of the city in the distance, spread along the coastline, outlined by the mountains and the bay. The last time she'd been in the land of the Amazons, she'd staged a prison break and half destroyed the place. Reyna saw her watching and gave a small smile. "Don't worry. Hylla likes you. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"I hope so," Hazel said. She stretched, working the kinks out of her back from the flight. "At least we're arriving in style this time."

Annabeth frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Last time, when I was here with Frank and Percy, we sank the Roman navy." A small smile crept across her face. "Of course, it was just a rowboat."

The others laughed. Annabeth glanced out the window as they began the approach into SeaTac. "It is nice to fly. Much quicker. I don't usually get to on quests because, well, Percy. The whole Poseidon versus Zeus thing. At least he's cute, though," she added with a smile and the others laughed again.

As the plane came in to land and they began to gather up their things and prepare to leave, Hazel took a deep breath. Time to go.