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Chapter 26

Hazel

"How did that happen?" Jason asked.

"We think it happened in the crash landing," Hazel said.

No, no, no, no, no, NO! Everything is falling apart! Hazel thought. The pig, the ship, and now we have to fight more of those things?! We're never going to get to Nico in time!

Hazel wasn't going to start crying right then, in front of everyone, but she sure felt like she wanted to.

Instead, she looked around in the sky until she spotted the swarm of flying snake women.

"There they are," Hazel called to them, pointing. She drew her sword. "If we can't save the pig, the best we can do is kill who caused it, right? Let's take our anger out on these things!"

Frank notched an arrow on his bow and pointed it at the sky. And he waited.

Piper drew her small dagger and stood, ready. Then, as Jason drew his sword, she asked, "Where's Leo?"

"Fixing the ship," Hazel replied, and Jason shouted, "Frank, NOW!"

Frank let his arrow fly, and Jason shot electricity after it.

They touched, and instead of frying the arrow, it wrapped around it and added shocking power to its tip.

They didn't see it hit, but they did see one of the women in front jerk to the side suddenly, have a small spasm, and drop out of the sky.

They others watched her for a while, then turned back to the heroes and continued to fly toward them.

"Again!" Jason commanded. "And this time, don't stop shooting!"

Frank let arrow after arrow whizz out stop the barrage of beasts, and Jason sent lightning from the sky down on them, frying a lot and injuring others.

Then, once they got into a certain range, Jason's lightning could blow up the area, so he stopped.

Frank continued to shoot at them, until there were only two left that got close enough to actually fight.

Frank retreated to the pack and Hazel stabbed at the woman.

Hazel took her sword, shoved the tip into the winged woman's arm and dragged it down from the elbow, around to the inside of the arm, and down to the inside of the wrist.

Then she kicked her in the face and watched her fall backward, hit her head on the ground, and lay there.

"What are you?" Hazel hissed.

"Isn't it obvious?" she hissed back. "We're Echidna. Only…better."

There was suddenly a dagger in her neck, and she turned to dust. Hazel kicked the ashes around, sending some flying into the nearby ocean.

Piper came over, kicked up her weapon and sheathed it again. "You're welcome."

Hazel smiled. "Thanks."

What did she mean, "better"? Was she trying to tell me something? Maybe this is all a trick, she thought.

"Hey, Hazel!" Leo called out. She turned toward the boat, trying not to look at the pig, which had stopped swinging. "I need your help back here!"

Hazel nodded and ran toward the ship.

"I've already made three more medium sized sheets of bronze," Leo told her excitedly. "They're over there," he pointed toward the engine, "next to the engine, and there's a hammer over there, too. I was wondering if maybe you could hammer them on for me while I finish making new ones?"

Hazel nodded. "Sure, Leo."

She walked over to the Celestial Bronze sheets and walked back over to the hole. She started hammering the metal to another piece, when she suddenly blurted, "The pig's dead."

Hazel could hear Leo drop his piece of equipment. "What?"

"We think it was the crash landing," Hazel explained, turning around.

Leo wasn't sad, like she'd expected him to be. He was angry. Really angry.

Leo turned back to his work, gritting his teeth. He picked up his piece of equipment, a slightly rusted hammer, and went back to pounding on the Celestial bronze pieces. "We're getting this ship off the ground and into the air today, Hazel. If you're not up for the work, then I'll do it alone."

"I can do it," Hazel replied, turned back around to continue working herself.

They worked in silence; the only sounds were the sounds of hammers on bronze and sheets of bronze being thrown at an engine.

Hazel walked back over to get another sheet, they only needed one more, when Leo said, "That's it. That's all we have."

"No," Hazel said. "There has to be more!"

Leo shook his head. "There isn't."

"The stuff that Jason brought," Hazel said suddenly, remembering.

"Oh yeah," Leo said. "Hazel, would you get them?"

Hazel pulled herself through the small hole, and found the Celestial bronze and metal items sitting on the ground.

Hazel grabbed all the teapots and other items and threw them through the hole and onto the floor of the ship.

Hazel climbed back in after them, and she saw Leo pounding the Celestial Bronze into a sheet big enough to cover the rectangular sized hole.

He handed it straight to Hazel this time, and she took the hammer, and hammered the hole shut.

The inside of the ship was suddenly dark.

"Would you help me over here?" Leo called out to her.

"I would," Hazel replied, "but I can't see."

Leo lit a fire ball in his hand, and Hazel could see him kneeling by the engine with some regular metal near him.

She brought herself and the hammer over, and Leo pulled out another one, and Hazel and Leo, who was working one-handed, were able to cover the holes in the engine.

Leo pressed the button.

The engine roared the life so loudly that Hazel jumped back in alarm.

Leo laughed a little bit, and then shouted, "WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS, BABY!"

Hazel smiled and cheered, and they climbed up the stairs and onto the deck.

"Guys, the engine's working!" Hazel shouted to the small group of friends below. "The hole is fixed, we're ready to go!"

They all climbed up onto the ship, and Leo ran off to his post as the captain's dashboard.

"ALL ABOARD THE ARGO II!" Leo shouted to everyone.

Hazel made sure everyone they had was with them, and then she shouted, "ALL CLEAR!"

"Let's get this show on the road!" Leo shouted, and he lifted the Argo II off the ground and into the air with ease.

"Yes!" Leo shouted. "We did it!"

"But," Frank stepped in, "where do we go, if we don't have the pig to guide us anymore?"

The entire deck was silent.

Piper: Frank, you party pooper! We were celebrating!

Frank: I'm trying to be rational here! We had no idea where we were going!

Jason: Guys, chill! It's alright, don't worry about it! We're going to figure something out and everything will be alright!

Me: ...

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