Chapter 7: The Calm Chapter Before Everything goes to Hades in a Handbasket

Hazel was back in New York all too soon for her liking. It had only been three weeks since the incident involving Captain America. She had vowed to stay away from New York forever in order to avoid a second run in. Her silent vow had remained unbroken… until Percy invited her to his birthday party. She couldn't exactly say no could she? Percy was her good friend and was far more important than her fear of seeing Captain Rogers again.

She and Frank got out of a cab in front of the Blofish-Jackson residence and pressed the buzzer at the front entrance. She held their joint gift in her hands as they waited to be buzzed in. The present was wrapped in blue wrapping paper with blue ribbons. It was Percy after all. Anyone with eyes could see his love of the color blue.

Frank panted a little bit despite the rest he had in the taxi. He had flown them all the way here in Dragon-form and was a little bit tired still. Changing back to his normal self at the edge of the city, they had taken a cab the rest of the way. They hadn't wanted to risk a mortal spotting them anyways, so when Frank mentioned he was exhausted, Hazel hadn't seen it as a problem. The mist was a lot thinner as of late, and while Hazel could always just gather it around them, it was far too exhausting for a long trip. The last thing they needed was her concentration to slip and all the mortals seeing a large dragon flying overhead. Yeah, no thanks. That was drama Hazel did not need in her life.

Well they were here now and they were even on time, despite three separate monster attacks along the way.

The birthday boy himself came down and let them in. Thus began several hours of nonstop birthday fun. Enough snacks to feed a small army, a whole corner full of presents, and a crazy amount of demigods were all packed into the apartment. It would've worried Hazel that they might be attracting monsters with all of that demigod scent in one place, but everyone took turns patrolling around the building to ensure no monsterly interruptions to the festivities.

Percy gladly opened all of the blue wrapped presents. Annabeth got him a new shield she had had Tyson make. Tyson, his head nearly brushing against the ceiling, gave him and new set of armour. Though, knowing Percy, It would hardly be worn. During monster attacks there wasn't much time to suit up. It was a nice thought though. He seemed to like Hazel and Frank's joke gift of a parachute as well. "It's in case you ever jump off a tall object again, except this time there was no water at the bottom to save you," she had told them. Annabeth approved heartily.

The party went on until late into the night and they all couldn't have been happier. It had been almost a year since the Giant War and everything had been so peaceful lately. Hazel couldn't help but feel at peace here surrounded by her friends and family. That should've been her first clue that everything was about to go downhill. Thus is the demigod way.

Short chapter I'm so so so sorry! The next is much, much longer and will be posted tomorrow! I just wanted to post this first since it didn't really fit in with the other chapter. Tomorrow's will be what you've all been waiting for… the confrontation! Just hold on until then, ok?"

The Best Guesst: Just you wait. It's gonna break Tony's mind what Hazel can do with the Mist.

EmJelenKoala: Sorry it's another short one, but I promise the next is gonna be super long! Here's another short one to hold you over until tomorrow.

Emma2448: Nico will be apart of the story a bit later, but for now you'll get protective Frank ;)

HadesGirl: You would know with a name like that ;) Honestly Hades gets such a bad rep. Read any myth and he's actually a pretty chill dude. I feel like nobody ever really writes about Hazel, so I decided it give it a shot!