HAZEL

Hazel thought they'd never see land again.

The sun sank through a thick blanket of clouds and haze, no longer strong enough to burn through and warm the frigid ocean air. The pegasi had begun to slow their pace, wings heavy as they beat away determinedly at the fog, their riders straining ahead trying to spot their destination through the mist.

Blackjack continued to nicker softly to himself as he had been since they'd left the last island far behind them. The pegasus' obvious anxiety was starting to rub off on Hazel. His black form glided up next to hers and he bobbed his head up at her for not the first time, whinnying half-heartedly and looking behind him.

He wanted to go back.

Hazel had begun to wonder if they'd left too soon. Maybe there was something Blackjack knew that they didn't, something he'd seen that the others had missed. But it was too late now. They had to press on if they wanted to ever make it.

"It's okay, Blackjack," she said soothingly, unsure what else she could do for him.

The sun reached the horizon and hovered there for just a few moments before slipping away for the second time during their journey.

They'd seen no land.

Somehow, someway which was totally beyond Hazel's understanding, the pegasi hadn't yet given out. They kept going, however sluggishly now, and refused to give up with a determination similar to that of one going into battle.

The night seemed to give them an extra boost, the renewed chill of the salt air reinvigorating them, if only for a little while longer. If nothing else, it got them a little closer to their destination and a little further from the threat of crashing into the sea.

"Leo!" she yelled. "How much farther?"

Leo looked over with a wild, tired expression before snapping his attention back to Festus' GPS and staring blankly at the tiny screen. "Uh," he said as he played with a few minuscule levers to find their bearings. "It looks like, no hang on. Wait, yeah, we should be there." He looked up, clearly perplexed, as he squinted again and tapped the monitor.

"What?" Hazel tried not to sound panicked, but their current situation didn't really leave much room for error. Or any room for that matter. If Leo'd screwed up…

"There!" Frank yelled, barely controlled glee trembling from his voice. The others looked to where he was pointing, following his gaze to the small speck of white almost below them.

Land. It had to be Delos.

How had they not seen it? It was so close, so beautiful.

"Let's go!" Annabeth shouted and no one protested. They glided rather erratically down, closer and closer to the island as the pegasi tried to keep some control in their descent.

It seemed to take far less time than it should have to reach the shore as they dropped out of the sky and collapsed in grateful exhaustion in the surf.

All of the heroes staggered off their pegasi who shook their bodies fiercely and took a few husky breaths. Piper knelt down on the ground and ran the sand through her hands absentmindedly. Frank and Jason just sat down, falling onto their backs in defeat and taking in the strange calmness of the air. Leo slid awkwardly off Festus and arched his back with a groan.

"Well I for one am glad that's over," he said stiffly.

No one responded. Everyone was too tired to say anything else. Leo seemed to have spoken for them all.

Calypso began to unload the pegasi who were stretching their wings out from under the packs in an unsuccessful attempt to ease their load. Hazel went to help her and within minutes they had all of their supplies scattered on the sand around them.

The animals nuzzled them affectionately, grateful to be free again, and all seven munched on the little patches of beach grass that surrounded them before kneeling down to sleep.

Hazel wanted nothing more than to do the same, but it was also obvious to everyone that by no means could they leave themselves unguarded that night. New islands probably meant new monsters and none of them found that very appealing.

They set up their tents and Hazel volunteered for first watch. Leo said he would join her, make the job a little easier for them, and Frank and Calypso agreed to relieve them at dawn.

The others almost inaudibly mumbled their goodnights and slipped inside the cover of the tents for some much needed rest.

Hazel plopped herself down on a patch of dry sand with her spatha comfortably by her side. Leo bustled over with a small pile of leaves he'd gathered up at the edge of the forest and, setting them down, started their fire. It had cooled down immensely since the sun had left them so long ago and they were still chilled from the nighttime flight. The heat felt good on Hazel's skin.

They were quiet for the most part, both content to sit and watch the fire on the water or, in Hazel's case, to think to herself about what would happen tomorrow. Maybe nothing, but she thought that highly unlikely. Not when Leo'd had dreams of this place. Not when they were sitting literally on top of the manifestation of a goddess.

Soon, with the cresting of waves on the sand and the gentle breeze that had swept in off the water, Hazel found herself being lulled into a kind of dream-like state. Beside her, Leo was breathing much too deeply and she thought she heard what sounded like a snore.

"Leo," she groaned, unable to blame him but annoyed nonetheless. She nudged his arm and turned to look at him.

She froze.

There was Leo, sound asleep against a rock beside her. Behind him, just a few hundred feet from them stood a massive beast.

It had the head of an eagle, deadly sharp beak and horrible talons on his front feet. His body however was that of a horse, enormous golden wings projected from the broad shoulders and piercing, intelligent eyes.

A hippogriff, Hazel thought. She'd never seen one up close, only in stories. They were meant to be extraordinarily loyal and honorable beasts. Certainly not something you wanted to mess with. And now one was staring her down.

She nudged Leo again to no avail. The son of Hephaestus was too far gone. Maybe she could sneak into the tent and wake Frank or Piper, but she was pretty sure the animal would notice and not quite go along with her on the plan.

She'd just have to try and deal with it on her own. For all she knew it was totally safe. It hadn't charged her yet, had it?

Perhaps a little overly-optimistic but she didn't' quite know how else she could think.

So, almost without thinking, she began to approach it.

The hippogriff balked, not too sure about the child of Hades, and pounded one scaly foot into the sand in warning.

That was when Hazel realized she wasn't alone.

"The mount of sorcerers," a silky voice said from behind her. She flew around, spatha tightly in front of her, but she lowered the weapon just slightly when she saw who had spoken.

"Hecate?" Now she was really confused. As if the hippogriff wasn't enough, now here was a goddess who presumably wanted something of her.

"You didn't think I would come when you're seeking my mother's aid?"

"M-mother? Asteria - "

"Why of course," the goddess said. "And may I warn you, daughter of Hades. Magic is strong here. Do not allow it to overcome you. Listen to my mother's prophecies but know you must be the one to follow them to the end. Do not become misguided by false hopes or fears. Choose the correct path and all will play out as it must."