This chapter is in honor of the amazingess that is the Blood of Olympus. (I know it came out, like, a while ago but this chapter took some time, ok!?) If you haven't read it already, you're not allowed to read this story :P Come back when you're a worthy PJO fan! ...Nah, jk, but seriously READ IT!
If you HAVE read it already, TELL ME YOUR REACTIONS IN A REVIEW! I wanna see what my fellow fans think :D (and just BTW, this is totally not a ploy for me to get more reviews, not at all...lolol ^^")
Hope you all enjoy this~!
For the first time since the war, Hazel felt absolutely intimidated.
The last time she had felt intimidated, she was fighting the giant Alcyoneus in Greece to save the world from utter destruction. She as fighting side by side with Hades, her father, and Hecate, her mentor. She had to live up to the expectations of gods and hold her own against the might of a primordial goddess. That was the kind of intimidated she felt right now.
Yeah, intimidated.
The creature in front of her seemed to sense her fear, if the knowing smirk (at least she assumed it was a smirk...you could never really tell with monsters) was anything to go by.
Hazel absently noticed her hands were shaking, but her attention was totally focused on the figure in front of her.
The daughter of Pluto stiffened as it began to speak.
"Why so nervous, Hazel?"
Its voice was grating and evil. Hazel didn't like it one bit.
"W-what do you want from me?" Hazel said, her hands instinctively reaching for her sword - thanking the gods as she felt the cool feel of Imperial Gold under her fingertips.
It laughed. "We wish to make a bargain."
"I refuse to accept any bargain from you." She scowled. The nerve of this thing, wanting something from her after stabbing her in the stomach!
"Oh, but I'm afraid you don't have a choice. You see, this dreamscape," it raised it's drill hands to the surroundings around them, "is all from your little, ah, wound."
Hazel said nothing, her grip tightening on her sword.
"Here, your worst fears becom reality, and you're powerless to do anything to stop it. If you ever want to leave, you must accept our most gracious deal."
Golden eyes narrowed.
"We'll set you free and heal your wounds - which, by the way, will be fatal unless you do something - but when the time comes, you will join us. You will become a Shade."
Hazel felt her heart drop to her stomach.
"Well? Do we have a deal?"
Percy struggled in his chains as the dracanae dragged him down some dark, slimy tunnel.
To be perfectly honest, Percy was kind of disappointed. The decor of this place was absolutely dreary. If you were going to make a secret base and hide it deep underground, at least make it appealing to look at.
He supposed it was some kind of snake thing, but then again, monsters made no sense.
Who on earth designed this place...
Shaking his head, Percy realized that this delirium he was apparently stuck with was a side-effect of that stupid tranquilizer they doused him in.
Heh, you know you're high on drugs when you're commenting on a snake demon's lair decour.
The dracanae dragging him wasn't anyone he knew. They both were big, burly, and probably could bench-press the weight of a pickup truck. He knew they were girls, but they could seriously pass for guys if not for their long hair.
Percy felt very, very scrawny.
One of them hissed, "All right, put him down here."
Percy fell with a thump onto the cold ground, his cheek stinging as it met the floor in a very undignified faceplant.
"Ugh..." He groaned.
The second dracanae seemed to laugh. "I assume you've been curious as to why we are here, yesss? Well, you're a lucky boy."
In front of them was a ginormous cavern, the size of a parking lot. The room was filled with a giant lake, large waterfall in the very center. The water seemed a sickly green color, and the ceiling was illuminated with bright green, luminescent crystals.
The creepy green moist in front of them was creating a rainbow. A pale, sickly-green-and-not-much-other-color rainbow, but a rainbow nonetheless. Percy had a hard time connecting the dots but finally came to the conclusion - they were...Iris-Messaging?
Yeah, Percy was confused.
"Great Dracliaesacra, we request safe passage through your sacred temple." One of them mumbled, tossing a silver coin into the mist.
The coin touched the mist and disappeared into sparking green powder, and the dracanae trudged in. Their snake feet touched the floor and sparks arose, but they didn't sink. As a matte of fact, they were walking on the water.
Percy gaped.
His chains were being pulled towards the lake as well, and his skin touched the green liquid.
He let out a pained yelp, liquid fire coursing from the very spot to every inch of his body. His skin began to smoke.
Acid.
Not good.
He winced, as the pain suddenly doubled and he struggled not to cry out.
Definitely not good.
Frank couldn't move.
Not that he didn't want to move, no no. He literally couldn't move.
His legs seemed to refuse every command given by his brain, like they had a mind of its own. He could almost imagine them going, "Nice try, buddy, but you're not going anywhere."
And if he was honest with himself, he didn't WANT to move.
Every shred of his attention was focused on the girl sprawled out on the bed before him. Her cocoa skin and dark curly hair, with golden eyes hiding behind her lids.
Hazel.
Just the thought of her name made his hands clench in anger and his teeth bite down on his lip, hard. Oh, Hazel.
It was killing him inside, to know that she was hurting and in pain and dying before his very eyes, and he couldn't do a single thing to stop it.
They had long ago maxed out on ambrosia and nectar; even going so far as to give her a little more than they should, hence her rather flushed cheeks and warm skin.
Frank was scared to think about when that warmth was forced out of her, to be replaced only with cold, lifeless death.
Yeah, death. That was the thought he had been avoiding for the last hour or two - time flies when your sitting on your girlfriend's deathbed, they always say!
Frank narrowed his eyes and squeezed Hazel's unresponsive hand a little bit tighter.
Apollo had done everything he could, and luckily the gaping wound in her abdomen was extremely painful and life-threatening but not fatal. After all, such a thing was minor to the god of healing. The problem was the foreign energy coursing through her veins, almost like poison. Apollo predicted it was infused in her by the monster that attacked her.
Frank damned that monster to the darkest pits of Tartarus.
He closed his eyes tightly. That...that fucker had almost killed Hazel - and still could, if Apollo couldn't find anything from his experiments back on Olympus.
He swore to the gods, he had never, never been so frightened as he had that moment, seeing Hazel speared on that demon's drill-hand.
Flashback:
Fran furrowed his brow as he looked at the food offered at the hotel buffet line.
Simple stuff like Fruit Loops, or the super-fancy omelette and bacon combo plate?
Descisions, decisions.
Thalia, to his right, was greedily grabbing every box of Cheerios she could find - Frank almost laughed at the sight of the normally tough girl giving in to a cereal addiction.
Yet another thing to add to his "I Need To Tell Percy As Soon As We Find Him" list.
Thalia likes Cheerios.
Gee, who knew?
Suddenly, a scream echoed through the room, and people started muttering, looking rather frightened.
Frank froze, his plate crashing to the ground as he recognized the voice behind the scream.
Hazel.
Oh gods, no.
Frank took his ow and arrow of of his shoulder, strung an arrow, and raced back to the stairs, his heart thumping in his chest like a stampede of centaurs.
He vaguely noticed Thalia, Nico, and a couple random people behind them, but paid toeh others no mind. He clenched his teeth and prayed to the gods that she was alright.
He reached the top of the stairs, only to find a scene that could have been taken out of a horror movie. His heart went into his throat as he bit back a horrified scream.
Thalia, however, didn't hold back. "Hazel!" She cried, her voice full of agony and despair. Frank knew they had become close friends - they were cousins, after all - and Thalia couldn't bear to lose another one.
Hazel was slumped on the tip of a drill-like appendage, the owner of said appendage a few feet away and cackling in a deep, grating voice. Blood dripped nonstop from the drill and poured onto the floor.
So much blood...
Sudenly, Hazel lurched, falling off the drill that had completely speared her through her stomach and she landed, limply, on the ground.
Frank saw red.
End Flashback
Frank stroked her curly hair and wondered what he was going to do.
He didn't know.
His friends and Hazel (because Hazel wasn't just a friend, she couldn't be classified as just a friend) were his entire life. If any of them died...
He didn't know what he would do.
Here he was, about to lose the love of his li-
Frank cut his thoughts short with a start.
He loved her.
He loved her.
The thought of loving someone, young as he was, seemed incredibly scary. He had yet to see the world, and he was barely at the start of his first relationship, for crying out loud!
He loved her.
Frank looked towards the still figure he was feeling so conflicted about.
A small smile came to his lips.
Love, huh...
When it came to Hazel, suddenly love didn't seem so irrational anymore.
"Hazel...please wake up soon..."
:,) Was that cute or was that cute!? Come on, I even smiled while I was writing it!
So we got some angsty drama for Hazel, the naming of the mysterious monsters, some mysterious plans for Pecy, and a bit of soul searching for Frank. The suspense is building up, people! Muahahaha.
**ANNOUNCEMENT! READ BELOW!**
Now, I have a problem, and I need some help.
When it comes to Hazel's little predicament, I honestly don't know how her part is going to end. I've had some serious thoughts about eithe killing her off, making her join the Shades, or having Apollo cure her. I honestly made this part up as I go, and either way it won't drastically affect the ending, though there may be some extra drama depending on the outcome. I will be posting a poll later, and I NEED YOU ALL TO VOTE! I hope to at least have 10 responses, so I can be sure that's what you readers want.
See you all! Love to everyone whose reading!