Hi!

I know the last chapter was pretty boring, so I hope this will be better XD Thanks for the reviews!

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Chapter 5 – Sweet dreams

Hazel thought she knew nightmares. She had dreamed pretty horrible things. But this nightmare was far worse than anything she ever dreamed.

She was trapped in a dark room. Suddenly it started to rumble, and a horrible voice hissed:

"You cannot escape your destiny, daughter of Pluto, any more than you can escape from this chamber."

Gaea.

Stones started to fall from the ceiling. It would soon collapse, and Gaea was right: Hazel could not escape.

She screamed, but of course no one could hear her. Just as the ceiling started to collapse, the dream shifted.

Hazel was standing in Camp Jupiter, but she was all alone. Then, from the earth, all her friends popped up; Frank, Leo, Jason, Percy, Annabeth, Reyna and Nico. Their eyes were closed, and they all had that sleepy smile Gaea used to have.

In Gaea's voice, they all said:

"You will end up as your mother did: controlled, unrespected and stupid."

Hazel wanted to scream that her mother was not stupid, it was Gaea who was the stupid one, and the seven would defeat her. But she could not find her voice.

Again, the dream shifted – now she was standing in Arachne's lair. But instead of Annabeth and Percy, it was Frank and Leo who was dangling from the edge of the abyss. They both had white faces and terrified eyes.

"Hazel, help me!" Leo yelled.

"I'm losing my grip, Hazel!" Frank screamed.

Hazel could not move. She was standing there, scared out of her mind, just staring at the two boys. How could she choose? She loved them both.

"Choose now, Levesque, or no one will be yours." Gaea's voice said. It was coming from the pit.

Leo's face became even paler. He started to lose his grip. Frank was trying to hold on with one hand.

"Stop it, Gaea!" Hazel whispered. "Please stop it."

"Choose." The word echoed all around her. Gaea laughed coldly.

"Hazel, please..." Frank whispered. "You love me, don't you? I am the only one for you, right?"

Tears started to escape Hazel's eyes. Did she love him? Yes. But as he really the only one?

"Can't you just change shape to a bird or something?!" Hazel said desperately. "Then I can save both of you!"

"You know that in the end, you'll have to choose." Leo said. "Or…"

Then, they both lost their grip at the same time. They fell down, and Hazel screamed.

"Hazel." Somebody was shaking her gently, trying to wake her up.

"No! Stop! Get them back, Gaea!"

"Hazel, it's me."

Hazel opened her eyes, but it took a while before the face in front of her came to focus. Leo was standing over her with a worried expression.

"Oh. Leo." She blushed.

"Are you okay? You screamed."

Her cheeks got redder.

"I-I'm fine. Just a dream."

Still, Hazel's heart raced. She was breathing hard. The dream had really terrified her.

"You don't look 'fine'. You dreamed a nightmare?" Leo asked. His dark brown eyes were gentle, but his voice sounded nervous.

"Yeah… Gaea just wants to scare me." Hazel tried hard not to shudder. "But it is just dreams."

Leo frowned that cute way Sammy always did when he tried to figure something out.

"What happened?"

He sat down on the edge of the bed, looking ready to run away as fast as he could if he needed to. That almost made Hazel smile.

"Just, you know the usual. Your friends turning evil. You almost dying with Gaea laughing at you. And-" She stopped herself.

"What?" Leo looked curious, but also worried.

Hazel wanted to tell him, but something stopped her.

"Nothing. It was nothing." She said.

They sat there in an awkward silence for a moment, until Hazel asked:

"What time is it?"

"I'm pretty sure it is 6 AM." Leo told her and grinned a little.

Hazel blushed.

"I woke you up?"

"No… No, I was already awake."

She noticed how tired Leo looked and the dark lines around his eyes.

"You have been up all night, Leo?" she asked him. "Please say you slept for a few hours."

Leo laughed.

"Sure, I slept a few hours. Happy?" He asked and winked. Hazel's heart flipped.

"No, seriously, Leo. You can't avoid sleep. Soon you will pass out when you are steering, and then we will have some serious trouble."

"Nah, I'm okay. Supreme Commander Leo doesn't need any sleep."

"But the regular Leo does." Hazel said. "The one who is not a machine."

The air became a little more tense. Leo shifted uneasily.

"Look, Hazel, I'm sorry for that. I wasn't… myself."

His eyes became dark. Hazel wanted to jump into them and light a fire, making them warm and nice again.

"You don't need to apologize." Hazel said softly. "You didn't do anything wrong. But it is wrong that you are feeling that way. We don't just need you here because of your mechanical talents, you are one of the seven. You are one in the team."

Leo did not respond. He did not look convinced.

"We are all on Team Leo, remember?" Hazel said and tried to cheer him up. He did not even raise his head; he stared at his own hands.

"Yeah. Right." He said at last. "Well, I should go. I have to check if Festus seen any monster. And you should go to sleep again."

Hazel blushed. She had not realized that she still wore her night gown, or that she was lying in her bed. Her hair probably looked awful too.

Why do I care? She asked herself silently.

Because Leo is here.

Leo rose and tried to grin, but he looked too nervous and too dark to pull it off.

"I'll see you later then. Sleep tightly."

He turned and walked to the door. Without really knowing what she was doing, Hazel got up from bed and ran to Leo.

"Good luck." She said, and kissed his cheek.

Leo blushed so hard that his cheeks started to smoke.

"Uh, sure. You too."

For a moment, they stood really close and just stared into each other's eyes. Leo's cheeks were still smoking a little. Hazel could feel his warm breath.

Then Leo left the cabin.

Hazel cursed herself for being so stupid. She really had kissed him on the cheek?! What was she thinking?! She doubted she had been thinking at all.

And, Leo's cheeks almost had caught fire. Hazel shuddered. What would have happened if the fire touched her, and she had worn the denim jacket with Frank's stick?

Still, it felt like Hazel's heart pounded twice as fast as normal. She'd been standing so close to Leo, what would have happened if…

"Stop it!" She said out loud. "Stop it, stop it, stop it! You are NOT going to fall for Leo!"

But a part of her said: What if you already fallen for him?

Hazel pushed that thought away. She did not feel sleepy at all; on the contrary, she was wide awake.

She decided to brush her teeth and change clothes right away. Maybe she could find Leo and tell him that the kiss had not meant anything, that it was just a friendly kiss and that she loved Frank. Sadly, she was quite sure that would just sound desperate and false.

So, I've decided to try to write from Leo's POV. If it will be really horrible, just review and tell me that XD I hope I won't screw up his amazing character.

Review please!