HAZEL FELT LIKE SHE'D JUST INTRODUCED two nuclear bombs. Now she was

waiting to see which one exploded first.

Until that morning, her brother Nico had been the most powerful

demigod she knew. The others at Camp Jupiter saw him as a traveling

oddball, about as harmless as the fauns. Hazel knew better. She hadn't

grown up with Nico, hadn't even known him very long. But she knew Nico

was more dangerous than Reyna, or Octavian, or maybe even Jason.

Then she'd met Percy and Sage.

At first, when she saw them stumbling up the highway with the old lady in

his arms, Hazel had thought he might be a god in disguise. Even though he

was beat up, dirty, stooped with exhaustion, and helping a 13 year old girl he'd had an aura of

power. He had the good looks of a Roman god, with sea-green eyes and

wind blown black hair.

She'd ordered Frank not to fire on him. She thought the gods might be

testing them. She'd heard myths like that: a kid with an old lady begs for

shelter, and when the rude mortals refuse—boom, they get turned into

banana slugs.

Then Percy had controlled the river and destroyed the gorgons. He'd

turned a pen into a bronze sword. He'd stirred up the whole camp with talk

about the graecus.

A son of the sea god...

Long ago, Hazel had been told that a descendant of Neptune would

save her. But could Percy really take away her curse? It seemed too much

to hope for.

Percy and Nico shook hands. They studied each other warily, and

Hazel fought the urge to run. If these two busted out the magic swords,

things could get ugly.

Nico didn't appear scary. He was skinny and sloppy in his rumpled

black clothes. His hair, as always, looked like he'd just rolled out of bed.

Hazel remembered when she'd met him. The first time she'd seen him

draw that black sword of his, she'd almost laughed. The way he called it

"Stygian iron," all serious-like—he'd looked ridiculous. This scrawny white

boy was no fighter. She certainly hadn't believed they were related.

She had changed her mind about that quick enough.

Percy scowled. "I—I know you." Sage stood there impatiently, "I certainly don't know 'im" she said. She was the type of girl who would introduce nuclear bombs and get bored if the explosion wasn't cool enough.

Nico raised his eyebrows. "Do you?" He looked at Hazel for

explanation.

Hazel hesitated. Something about her brother's reaction wasn't right.

He was trying hard to act casual, but when he had first seen Percy, Hazel

had noticed his momentary look of panic. Nico already knew Percy. She

was sure of it. Why was he pretending otherwise?

Hazel forced herself to speak. "Um...Percy's lost his memory." She

told her brother what had happened since Percy had arrived at the gates.

"So, Nico..." she continued carefully, "I thought...you know, you travel

all over. Maybe you've met demigods like Percy before, or..."

Nico's expression turned as dark as Tartarus. Hazel didn't understand

why, but she got the message: Drop it.

"This story about Gaea's army," Nico said. "You warned Reyna?"

Sage nodded. "Who is Gaea, anyway?"

Hazel's mouth went dry. Just hearing that name...It was all she could

do to keep her knees from buckling. She remembered a woman's soft

sleepy voice, a glowing cave, and feeling her lungs fill with black oil.

"She's the earth goddess." Nico glanced at the ground as if it might be

listening. "The oldest goddess of all. She's in a deep sleep most of the

time, but she hates the gods and their children."

"Mother Earth...is evil?" Percy asked.

"Very," Nico said gravely. "She convinced her son, the Titan Kronos—

um, I mean, Saturn—to kill his dad, Uranus, and take over the world. The

Titans ruled for a long time. Then the Titans' children, the Olympian gods,

overthrew them."

"That story seems familiar," Percy sounded surprised, like an old memory had partially surfaced. "But I don't think I ever heard the part about

Gaea."

Nico shrugged. "She got mad when the gods took over. She took a

new husband—Tartarus, the spirit of the abyss—and gave birth to a race

of giants. They tried to destroy Mount Olympus, but the gods finally beat

them. At least...the first time."

"The first time?" Sage repeated.

Nico glanced at Hazel. He probably wasn't meaning to make her feel

guilty, but she couldn't help it. If Percy and Sage knew the truth about her, and the

horrible things she'd done...

"Last summer," Nico continued, "Saturn tried to make a comeback.

There was a second Titan war. The Romans at Camp Jupiter stormed his

headquarters on Mount Othrys, across the bay, and destroyed his throne.

Saturn disappeared—" He hesitated, watching Percy's face. Hazel got the

feeling her brother was nervous that more of Percy's memory might come

back.

"Um, anyway," Nico continued, "Saturn probably faded back to the

abyss. We all thought the war was over. Now it looks like the Titans' defeat

stirred up Gaea. She's starting to wake. I've heard reports of giants being

reborn. If they mean to challenge the gods again, they'll probably start by

destroying the demigods..."

"You've told Reyna this?" Percy asked.

"Of course." Nico's jaw tensed. "The Romans don't trust me. That's

why I was hoping she'd listen to you. Children of Pluto...well, no offense,

but they think we're even worse than children of Neptune. We're bad luck."

"They let Hazel stay here," Sage noted.

"That's different," Nico said.

"Why?"

"Sage," Hazel cut in, "look, the giants aren't the worst problem. Even ...

even Gaea isn't the worst problem. The thing you noticed about the

gorgons, how they wouldn't die, that's our biggest worry." She looked at

Nico. She was getting dangerously close to her own secret now, but for

some reason Hazel trusted Percy. Maybe because he was also an

outsider, maybe because he'd saved Frank at the river. He deserved to

know what they were facing.

"Nico and I," she said carefully, "we think that what's happening is...

Death isn't—"

Before she could finish, a shout came from down the hill.

Frank jogged toward them, wearing his jeans, purple camp shirt, and

denim jacket. His hands were covered with grease from cleaning

weapons.

As it did every time she saw Frank, Hazel's heart performed a little

skip-beat tap-dance—which really irritated her. Sure, he was a good

friend—one of the only people at camp who didn't treat her as if she had a

contagious disease. But she didn't like him in that way.

He was three years older than she was, and he wasn't exactly Prince

Charming, with that strange combination of baby face and bulky wrestler's

body. He looked like a cuddly koala bear with muscles. The fact that

everyone always tried to pair them up—the two biggest losers at camp!

You guys are perfect for each other—just made Hazel more determined

not to like him.

But her heart wasn't with the program. It went nuts whenever Frank

was around. She hadn't felt like that since ... well, since Sammy.

Stop it, she thought. You're here for one reason—and it isn't to get a

new boyfriend.

Besides, Frank didn't know her secret. If he knew, he wouldn't be so

nice to her.

He reached the shrine. "Hey, Nico..."

"Frank." Nico smiled. He seemed to find Frank amusing, maybe

because Frank was the only one at camp who wasn't uneasy around the

children of Pluto.

"Reyna sent me to get them," Frank said. "Did Octavian accept 'em?"

"Yeah," Sage said resentfully. "He slaughtered my panda."

"He...Oh. The augury? Yeah, teddy bears must have nightmares about

that guy. But you're in! We need to get you cleaned up before evening muster."

Hazel realized the sun was getting low over the hills. How had the day

gone so fast? "You're right," she said. "We'd better—"

"Frank," Nico interrupted, "why don't you take Percy and Sage down? Hazel and I

will be along soon."

Sage turned to see a slightly nervous Hazel, then turned and followed Frank and Percy, but not without another glance back.