Hello again, guys :D You're just so amazing, you don't know how nice it is to see your reviews after a boring day at school :) You are just adorable!

Chapter 20 is here! :D

Chapter 20 – Robot-steps

HAZEL

Hazel loved Nico. She really did. He was her brother and all, but sometimes he was just unbelievable.

"Why did you kick me under the table in the mess hall?! Haven't you been feeling it too?!"

The siblings were in Hazel's cabin. Hazel sat on her bed while Nico stood with crossed arms in front of her.

"Don't you get it? That's the problem!"

"What's the problem and why can't we share it with the others?!"

"The problem is that we feel something." Nico sighed. "Do you feel the same thing? A tickle, something awakening-"

"Monsters stirring – yes, I feel it. And that's why we have to tell the others!" Hazel said.

"That's why we should not tell the others! We are just going to give them more problems, and then they can't focus on stopping Khione, and the ship will crash."

Hazel couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"So you mean we should just forget that something in the Underworld is making evil monsters wake up?! It's dangerous! The other demigods have to know!"

Nico didn't look as certain anymore.

"It's probably just Gaea. The only thing we can do is staying focused on protecting the ship from Khione and sail to Greece."

"Both you and I know that this isn't Gaea, Nico." Hazel said and rose. "Fine, I won't tell them, but it's important. This is maybe the other enemy Leo talked about…"

"That part I didn't know. What other enemy?" Nico asked and frowned.

Hazel blushed a little.

"Nothing. I won't tell anyone. You can go."

Nico nodded and left the cabin. Hazel's thoughts raced. She wondered if she dared to go into her head again, after what happened before.

No, Hazel decided. She didn't want anyone to think she was having flashbacks again.

"Can I come in?"

Frank was standing in the doorway, looking nervous.

"Sure." Hazel said and gestured him to come.

"Are you okay?"

Hazel didn't know what to say. Yes? No? She didn't really know.

"I guess…"

Frank shifted on his feet. He looked adorable as always, but right now his eyes were serious.

"Hazel, I need to ask you something. You have to answer honestly."

Hazel felt how her blood slowly turned to ice. She knew what Frank was going to ask, she knew that he suspected her.

"Hazel…"

Suddenly, sensation flowed back into her legs again. Hazel sprang up from the bed.

"I have to go." She said in a toneless voice. "Bye."

Hazel left the room with robot-like steps, ignoring Frank's voice calling for her. She ran down to the pegasus stables, and just sat down on the floor. What was she doing?! She didn't know if Frank wanted to ask her about Leo. It maybe was something else, like if she was keeping the stick safe or something.

Hazel didn't keep track of time. She felt worse for every minute. She seriously had ran away from her boyfriend?! She was transforming to the most cowardly and worst girlfriend ever.

"Hazel?" A surprised voice suddenly said behind her.

She didn't move. She could see Leo's reflection in the glass wall.

"Hazel, what are you doing down here?" He asked. He didn't grin, or blush, or anything. He looked too serious for being Leo.

"I-Uh…" Hazel started, but she didn't know what to say. "I wanted to think, I guess."

Leo nodded, and they fell into silence.

"And you? Why did you come here?" Hazel asked and turned to Leo.

"What? Oh, I just wanted to check that Khione didn't freeze anything down here…" He said halfheartedly.

Hazel frowned a little.

"You seem to be very worried about this snow goddess. Is she really that bad?"

Leo laughed dryly.

"She knocked Festus out of the sky. If she hadn't done that, he maybe wouldn't fell the second time, and then maybe I could repair his body too. Then he wouldn't be a dragon head."

His voice was bitter, like he had given it much thought. Hazel didn't know what to say, so she kept her mouth shut. She got back to staring at the landscapes that flashed by.

Leo came and sat next to her.

They sat there in silence, but Hazel felt comforted. It was nice to just be when you had so many problems.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something." Leo suddenly said. His voice had changed, it was nervous now.

"Stop." Hazel sighed.

"What?"

"Stop talking. That's the only thing we have done recently. Can't it just be quiet for a while? No speaking?"

Leo looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a little smile.

"You just talked yourself."

Hazel nudged him, but could barely suppress her smile.

"I thought all girls loved to talk. Especially about their feelings for awesome guys like me."

He grinned, and Hazel felt the sudden urge to kiss him.

I've already kissed him twice, that's enough, a voice said in her head. For once, Hazel decided to listen to it.

"Yes, well, I'm not any girl." Hazel said. She aimed at the fact that she had been dead for roughly 70 years, but Leo said:

"Well, that's true. You're a metal detector."

"I'm not!" Hazel said fiercely, but Leo was already laughing.

Gods, he is beautiful, she thought.

"Seriously." Leo said when he finished laughing. "You know… About what happened at fake-Christmas…"

Hazel felt her cheeks getting red. Leo was blushing too, and refused to meet her eyes.

"Uh…" She shifted uneasily. "I-I don't know what-"

"It's okay, it was nothing. I know you are together with Frank, so we can just forget it."

The way Leo acted about it, all calm and nice, made Hazel even more uneasy. She knew him. Well, she had known Sammy. She knew that this calmness was just an act.

"Look, Leo, I-" What could Hazel say? That she liked him? That she didn't like him? That she liked him because of that he was alike Sammy?

Leo met Hazel's eyes, and she knew she couldn't lie to him.

Hazel took a shaky breath.

"I'm very confused with my feelings right now."

Leo nodded, and looked away. They just sat there in silence. It was warm, they sat close, but Hazel had never felt so cold and alone before.