HAZEL
Annabeth and Leo had finished speaking. All eyes were trained on them, holding their breath and waiting for the rest of the story. But there was no more to tell.
Hazel could see the fear in Annabeth's eyes as they recounted the dream and the uncertainty that replaced it when no one picked up the conversation.
"And both of you saw this?" Jason said gruffly, looking around at the others.
Leo nodded. "Exactly. And what about anyone else?" he said. "Any other oobe's to report?"
"Oobe's?" Hazel whispered wondering what in Olympus Leo was talking about now. Even the others were staring at him like he had totally lost it.
"Out-of-body Experiences? No?"
"Because you couldn't have just said that. Why the acronym?" Frank sighed.
"Cause the acronym is fun to say," Leo countered with a wounded expression. "You trouble me, Zhang. You really trouble me. You understand me, don't you Hazel?"
"Oh, but of course," she said sarcastically.
"See? The lady knows what she's talking about."
"I've seen something actually," Hazel continued, adopting her previously serious expression and pulling the conversation quite abruptly back. "But I don't know that I'd quite call it out-of-body. I haven't mentioned it because I wasn't really sure it had actually happened. I'm still not really."
"What happened, Hazel?" Piper said calmly.
"There was a hippogriff last night."
"Come again?"
"Like, the half-bird, half-horse thing?" Leo said. "How'd I manage to miss that?"
"Eagle and horse, but yes. And you were asleep. I would've woken you up but you're quite the deep sleeper, Leo." He smiled, running his hand through his hair awkwardly.
"What do you mean it was here?" Jason said.
"I mean it was here. It just kind of appeared to meā¦along with Hecate."
To this there was utter silence. As if a mysterious mythological beast wasn't enough excitement. After a moment Frank took the initiative. "What did she want?"
"I'm not sure exactly. All she said was something about how she wanted to be here if we were trying to get information from Asteria. I know the hippogriff was probably some kind of sign, but I don't have any idea why it's important."
"Why would Hecate care about us dealing with Asteria?" Jason said.
"Because Asteria is her mother." Annabeth broke her silence and now seemed more animated than before. "What else did she say, Hazel?"
"That we should listen to the dreams - prophecies - but not let ourselves be guided only by what they say. She said it's up to us to make sure they either happen or don't. As for the hippogriff, I have a hunch it might be back. I'll take watch again tonight if that's okay with everyone? Alone though this time. I don't think it will let me near if there are other people around."
Jason nodded his assent. "Cool. We'll keep an ear out for trouble. It's getting dark, should we make sure everything's good before we call it a night?"
Everyone filed off, securing their belongings in their packs and establishing everything to be in order before saying their goodnights and leaving Hazel alone with her spatha, the crackling of fire, and the rhythm of waves on the shore.
Hazel half expected to be waiting all night for something to happen. Therefore, she was appropriately surprised when the heavy, uneven clop of hooves and breathing started behind her.
She turned around, fighting the urge to not raise her spatha, making herself believe the beast wasn't there to hurt her.
The hippogriff stood proudly, talons dug into the soft sand like a spoon in butter, beak high as he regarded Hazel with kaleidoscopic eyes.
She gently placed the sword down, careful not to flinch when the animal pawed the ground once, and extended her hand to him, palm up to show she meant no harm.
One step.
Two.
The hippogriff didn't budge.
She couldn't decide if this was a good or a bad thing but figured she'd go with the "good thing" option - that was certainly more comforting at least.
Finally, he made his move, moving so swiftly that Hazel barely had time to remember her spatha on the ground. Her fingers felt sticky and they just missed the sword as the hippogriff advanced, bending low and scooping her up onto its downy neck.
It spread its massive wings and they flew.
She willed herself the strength to pull herself up and onto the back of the beast, clinging gingerly and terrified to its neck. Hazel wasn't sure if she was more frightened of the animal or the height. She clung tighter.
Despite the relative comfort of the hippogriff's smooth, strong back, she decided she much preferred the groundedness of the horse Arion any day.
It was bitterly cold and the sky was a photographers' dream - extraordinarily clear, all the stars popping out of the darkness as if in rebellion of the night. They'd already flown so high that Hazel could barely make out the dark splotch that was Delos on the ocean's surface far below. The hippogriff climbed higher.
The longer they flew, the more confident Hazel became that the animal was not going to drop her, and she slowly relaxed her grip on his tawny feathers.
Suddenly, the hippogriff changed course, descending rapidly and accelerating with every second. Within moments it became clear that there was something other than water beneath them. The beast leveled out and there it was, a gigantic, jagged edged island that looked like it'd been ripped out of another continent's geography and was landed here on a whim. He slowed, circling around in the airspace just off the western shore. Something told Hazel they wouldn't be going any closer even if she wanted them to.
There was an opening near the center of the island, a giant crater of some sorts, the land sunken and the bottom to deep to see.
Hazel caught a glimpse of the sun sneaking up from the horizon. It was morning already, though she could've sworn they'd only been gone for a few minutes.
The first few rays of light spread like wild-fire over the crisp ocean, and below them, the landscape began to change, so quickly that Hazel at first couldn't tell what was happening. As the light crept up on the rocks, the rocks seemed to creep back from the light, the sea rising up, apparently in its own mini tidal system, and concealing the island completely. Anyone passing through during the day would never know this was here.
"What is the place?" Hazel said, hardly expecting an answer.
To her horror and almost delight, the hippogriff spoke. "This is the unnatural island made by one with malicious intent. This is the island of your foes from whom you strive to reclaim the world as it originally was meant."
"Oceanus and Koios? Why are you showing me this?"
"The god of the sun and the goddess of magic desire you to succeed, the aid of friends as well as immortals to defeat the titans you'll need."
"Apollo and Hecate," Hazel clarified. "You mean they're willing to help us? Or only that we'll need them to succeed?"
But the hippogriff had fallen silent, his head cocked to one side, listening intently for something Hazel couldn't hear.
A few hazy clouds had moved in off the water and Hazel and her mount rose back up into the clear of the higher atmosphere. Where they almost immediately saw another shape flying towards them.
It appeared to see them and began to slow, a set of long black wings attached to a slender body and its dark haired rider edging slowly nearer.
Hazel couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"Percy!" she yelled, and urged the hippogriff forward who grudgingly complied.
Blackjack the pegasus backed up hastily and Percy reached for his pocket. Oh gods. She got a little closer and the hippogriff stopped again, hovering at a standstill parallel with the horse.
Percy eyed them warily, not having yet removed Riptide and suddenly seemed to realize what was happening. "Hazel?" he said with an expression of pure bafflement. "What the Hades are you doing? What's going on?"
She fought the urge to laugh, both from happiness and from imagining how ridiculous the situation must have looked from his point of view. Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, flying to the rescue on the back of a rhyming hippogriff. "Percy, it's okay. This is just - a friend."
"Where are the others?"
"Follow us," she said and they turned, soaring back to Delos with her two missing friends close behind.
