Chapter 12

We Reach Alaska

Hazel's P.O.V.

The giants' loud yell of disappointment still echoed in my ears. I couldn't get over the fact that we'd just survived against an impossible situation, and that now we were heading to Alaska faster than before. Tomorrow was June twenty-fourth. The same day Camp Jupiter was about to be attacked, and we were probably going to die. Lightning kept crackling near us, but it didn't hit.

"I'm gonna sleep, alright?" Percy said from the back row. "I can't keep my eyes open."

"Me neither," said Natalie, who was sitting next to him and looked ready to throw up any moment. For them, travelling on a plane was exactly as bad as travelling on water for me. I'd been very happy when we'd dumped the boat, but it was a bit sad all the same. You do get attached to things sometimes.

Frank was looking quite miserable.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said quickly. "Actually it is something. It's my grandmother. She told me she's been sick for a long time and that she won't live for much longer, and after we've infuriated the laistrygonians, the first thing they'd be doing is tear apart the house."

I stared at him. In all the hurry to get out, we'd forgotten that the giants could hurt her after we left. Frank probably read my face.

"Oh no, she's okay. She's not even at that place right now. She said she'll die as she wills."

"But she didn't leave with us! Then how will she evade the gia–,"

"Trust me. She's completely fine. It's just...the house was one of the last memories of my mum and her. There was a picture of my grandmother, my mum and myself. I wanted to take it, but I forgot to bring it along in the hurry."

"If we survive, we'll go back and collect it," I said, placing my hand on his. He looked a bit flustered. The silence was only cut by Percy's soft snores. I turned back to see his head on Natalie's shoulder, both asleep. A smile spread across my face.

The plane shook as we moved along the sky, nearing Alaska by every moment. One way or the other, tomorrow would be my last day alive. If we succeeded in freeing Thanatos, I'd return back to the underworld. If we didn't, then we were as good as dead without even saying it. I turned to see that Frank had already fallen asleep, my hand still in his. Another thing worrying me was Nico. We wouldn't have heard from him either way, but something felt wrong. It was as if he were in danger and I knew. I couldn't help but feel nervous about him.

After about an hour, the pilot came back. Seeing everyone asleep, he turned to me. "We'll reach Alaska in three hours."

I nodded. "Thank you."

Then, he left me to skulk in my own misery. I'd blabbed out to Nico that I was all comfortable with going back and all, but in truth, I was scared. Scared that I would be stuck in Asphodel again. Scared that perhaps I would never be able to see my friends' faces. A part of me was all good about going back, for the price that we won, alright, but still, there was a mixed feeling about that.

Time seemed to fly about, and after what just seemed like a few moments, I was shaking Frank and the others awake, saying we'd be landing in five minutes. The plane shook more badly as we landed. Percy and Natalie's fists were clenched, knuckles white, and their faces were pale and contorted as though someone was squeezing them by their waists. When we finally landed, they both, ready with their packs swung on their shoulders, rushed out with a hurried thanks to the pilot. Frank spoke with him for about five minutes, thanking and all, and soon we were in the streets of Anchorage, shivering slightly.

"You know what?" I said through gritted teeth. "Let's go to Seward. My place."

"Yeah," Natalie smiled, shaking her head. "First me, then Frank, then you. Now the only place we're left is Percy's place in NYC."

"You all are invited. Seems like now something's gonna happen and we'll need to go there, just like it's happening right now." Percy replied, and maybe, there was a hint of hope in his voice. He glanced at Natalie.

"Yeah, we've been visiting each others' places. It's been more of a family trip." Frank sighed.

"Oh for sure," Natalie said.

We weren't just going to walk, so we did the obvious thing we'd been doing throughout the quest. We took a taxi. I fell asleep in the taxi, so I didn't remember much. But by the time we reached my place and paid the driver, the sun was already setting. I couldn't help but think that when it'll rise again, we'd be rushing off towards Hubbard Glacier.

Home wasn't the exact name for the place, because it had never felt like that. It had felt like a prison, alright. House, well, it was too small to be called that. The dingy cabin stood alone in a corner, a bit far from the shops, and some new buildings that had not existed while I was at place. It was untended, and nobody had even probably bothered to look after it after the mysterious disappearance of the previous owners. A small lamppost was lit up beside the door. The insides were as I remembered, lonely and sad, with a moldy smell. The furniture had a thick layer of dust settled upon it, old photos still hung in the walls, and it seemed like people around had been using it as a storeroom for old and rarely used supplies, because a lot more stuff that hadn't belonged to me and my mother was crammed in a corner.

Fortunately, some of the stuff was useful for us, because it contained a few sleeping bags(must have been put up their by a tour company or something), a rope, some toiletries, some rags, mops, brooms and many more. The small fireplace was extinguished. Frank pulled out a matchstick from his pocket and lit up the dry wood that was already in it.

"It's warm in here. Feels good."

Natalie took a rag and wiped the dust off a table, and deposited her pack on it. The others did the same too, and after five minutes, four sleeping bags were spread together near the fire like a huge mattress on the ground. And we all were sitting, making ourselves comfortable in the warm after the freezing outsides.

"You know," Natalie said. "I suggest we go and buy supplies from the shop, cook something and have a good meal, since there's no place to get ready-made food 'round here. Big day tomorrow."

"Yeah, but the problem is," Percy said. "I don't know how to cook."

"Neither do I," Frank said.

I shook my head too. Natalie looked at us with a weird expression, as though we weren't seeing something that was very obvious right in front of us.

"Well, I do. Why else do you think I would have suggested that?"

"You can cook?" Percy asked.

"Yeah of course I can."

We were all glaring at her. Then she snapped her fingers. "So what? Are we going to buy something?"

"Yeah, sure," Frank said. "I'll come with you. Let's go."

They both got up, pulled on their jackets and went out in the cold outside. The room was quite warm now, and Percy started to explore, looking at the photos.

"Who is this?" Percy called.

I got up and stood beside him. He was pointing to the one and only picture of me and Sammy. We both were standing under a tree, smiling. It had been the only source of hope while I'd been in Alaska. The only hope, that, one day maybe, I'll go back.

"He's Sammy. He's, uh, I mean was, a friend of mine."

"So he's someone you wouldn't like Frank to know about?"

I looked at him. "Yes, I mean - no, it's nothing like that, he's just -,"

"It's okay. There's no problem. I won't tell him. It's alright if you had a crush on him."

"Well, yeah, I mean, I don't even know if he's alive now or…"

Talking about Sammy with Percy felt like talking to a big brother about your crush. So, in a small sentence, it felt completely weird. I looked at the picture. We both were smiling. It was good. I didn't know I was a demigod at that time. Life was somewhat…normal? I looked at another picture. It was me and my mother.

"You look just like her," Percy said.

"Yeah, people say that."

"It was really brave of you, you know. Fighting Gaea was one thing, but the way you gave away Elysium, so that your mum wouldn't have to suffer the pain...very few people would make that choice. And we're not going to let you go back."

"I really appreciate that, Percy, but please don't get my hopes up."

Percy put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm not doing that. I'm telling you, that whatever happens, we won't let Thanatos take you. You'll come back to Camp Jupiter with us. That's a promise."

He smiled at me and squeezed my shoulder. "Thanks."

Then he frowned. "Frank and Natalie haven't returned. I'll just go and see. It's been long."

He pulled on his jacket and went outside, casually flipping Riptide(in pen form) in his hand. I stared at the pictures. The old picture of my first birthday hung sideways. One picture showed my mother holding a bundled baby in her arms, smiling at the photographer. The last picture we'd taken together, in Alaska, hung in the middle. I took the rag Natalie had used to clean the table and cleaned all the pictures. Then I took out the picture of my mum and I and put it in my pack, suddenly remembering what Frank had said. I didn't want to leave that picture behind. I knew it was stupid, because I won't be going back anywhere except the underworld, but a tiny hope was still flickering inside me, as though someone was shielding a candle with their hands against strong winds.

Just then, I heard a scream. Percy! I thought and pulled on my jacket and rushed outside. Percy was half submerged in thick mud. He was going deeper by the moment. Frank and Natalie were desperately trying to tug him, but to no avail. They were slowly going down too. Gaea's voice rang in my ears, amd looking at the others' expressions, they heard it too.

"Foolish demigods. You think you can escape me. I am the earth. And the very earth will swallow you. Enjoy this little game."

Percy was almost inside now, his head just bobbling over the surface as he gasped. Frank was waist deep in the mud.

"Hazel!" Natalie yelled, voice strained from the effort of pulling the boys, sweat droplets falling from her face. "Go and get the rope from inside. Fast!"

I snapped out and rushed inside, grabbed the road and went near them. Natalie's face was scrunched up with the effort. Percy's head was almost inside the mud and Frank was shoulder deep now.

"Frank! Try and fasten it 'round his waist and tie yourself up too!"

Frank did as he was told, though I doubted it would have been easy, since he couldn't see anything in the mud. Natalie and I pulled at the rope.

"We aren't strong enough!" I yelled.

Natalie scrunched her eyes shut as though concentrating. I'd never seen her so desperate in life. Water appeared from nowhere, elongating into small fists that pulled at the rope. It was slowly working out.

"Please, please, please… work out...please," Natalie was muttering. She frowned more, and the fists grew stronger. Slowly we pulled them out of the mud. All of us collapsed onto the ground, away from the mud, breathing heavily. Natalie was panting, her breath coming in small gasps. She turned her head. Percy lay on the ground, not moving.

"No, no, no, no…,"

She stumbled towards him and lifted his head, slapping him lightly on the cheek.

"Hey! Percy! Wake up! Come on!"

I and Frank rushed to his side. Natalie shook Percy's head slightly. Percy groaned, coughing. He slowly opened his eyes. Natalie helped him sit up. He was still coughing. Frank took out a bottle of water and handed it to him. He slowly drank it, and gasped.

"You okay, man? You nearly had us for a second. Knocked the breath out of us," Frank said.

"Yeah, yeah... I'm fine."

Though I knew he was lying. He looked pretty shaken.

"Come on," Natalie gasped. "Let's - let's get inside. Get - changed."

Slowly, we pulled Percy up and dragged our legs back into the cabin. After getting changed into fresh clothes, we all sat down near the fire. Percy was still shivering, so we wrapped him with Frank's spare jacket. Natalie hovered above a pot full of vegetable stew, boiling slightly in a small fire at one corner of the room. The smell was delicious. Percy had stopped shivering, but he still looked glumly into the fire, as though hoping for someone's face to pop into it. Frank was counting his arrows, checking for blunt ones and sharpening them.

Natalie appeared, with four bowls full of delicious looking vegetable stew in a tray in her hands. She passed one to each of us, then sat down herself, her bowl cradled in her hands. The stew tasted as good as it looked. Immediately, my insides were warm and the room felt cozy.

"Wow," I said to Natalie. "This is delicious."

"It's my stepdad's recipe. I loved cooking ever since I was a kid. He taught me how to cook it."

We gulped down our stew in silence, and only after finishing I realized how hungry I had been before the dinner, and how tired I felt. Percy slumped on the wall, hands folded.

"You know what, you and Hazel sleep in the first shift," Natalie told Percy. "I've already slept a lot and Hazel was awake the whole time during the flight. Right, Frank?"

"Yeah."

Frank looked glum. He'd been looking like that for the whole quest, but now, he looked hopeless, desperate. I turned to Natalie and met her eyes. A silent conversation started between us.

Don't worry. I'll talk to him while you sleep.

Hope it goes alright.

Sure it will. Now take some rest.

Thanks.

No problem.

As I closed my eyes to sleep, I was all ready for another nightmare. The thing was, it didn't come. And after a sleep that was good enough to get me fresh, Percy shook me awake and we took the second shift while Natalie and Frank slept.

It's funny how life appears so dull. Probably the nightmares were gone because in sometime I'd be in the underworld, either returned with Thanatos, or with all my friends after getting defeated by Gaea. No, I chided myself. Don't think like that, you have to win. For Frank. For Percy and Natalie. For Camp Jupiter. Time seemed to have slowed down, but it also seemed to pass faster, because after what felt like an eternity as well as a few moments, sunlight poured through the half closed windows. We had some of the left stew from last night, and then headed out. As soon as we saw a local, we stopped to ask for directions.

"Excuse me, sir," Percy said. "Can you please tell us how to get to the Hubbard Glacier."

"You're in on a bad day kid. Better delay your tour. If you want to get there today, you'll need to take the manual boat. It ain't gonna get you there fast. Powered boats don't run today. Best stay here and visit local places and go to Hubbard tomorrow. Anchor's down there."

"Thank you. What do we do?" Percy asked us as he went by for his business.

"Without good transport, we aren't getting there on time. Let's go and see if someone's around to help."

As it turned out, nobody was there to help. All the hope was gone now. We'd come this far only to not reach the place in time.

"Wait a minute," Percy said. "Hazel, your horse. Can you call it? And your pegasus, Natalie?"

I whistled, not knowing what good it would do. We didn't have anything to sit on, and surely, four of us could not fit on Arion. Natalie closed her eyes and frowned. A sudden flash of light, and Arion stood before us, the snow melted in its path. I stroked it's head. He neighed. A speck descended from the sky, silvery - white and glowing in the sun.

Both took a small lap around us and then neighed and stood in front of us. Natalie stroked the silvery white pegasus.

"Why do girls always get ponies?" Frank muttered.

"So, we go in groups of two each. Frank and I can go upon Arion -,"

"NEEIIIGHHHH!"

"Fine, Hazel and Frank, okay? Don't cuss at me like that! So Frank and Hazel, you both can go on Arion and I and Natalie can go on Swiftsilver."

I nodded and climbed upon the horse, thinking whether it'd be my last ride. Frank climbed behind me.

"You both go, we're coming." Natalie said and the last sight I saw was them climbing over the pegasus before we zipped past them ans everything became a blur.