***Alright, here's Chapter 19. Chapter 20, from Jason's POV, will be up Wednesday, May 7.

In other news, on Rick Riordan's Twitter he confirmed that Blood of Olympus will have chapters narrated by—Nico! The tweet seemed serious and not like one of his joking-around ones. Have to say, I'm surprised. He was so adamant about HoH only being narrated by the Seven that I automatically assumed that would carry over into BoO. However, if it's true (and it seems to be), I for one am pretty excited—should be cool to get Nico's perspective. So, in honor of this fact, I am adding a Nico chapter to my story. It'll be up on Friday, May 9.

Anyway, back to Hazel and the crew dealing with the fact that Octavian stabbed Reyna.***

XIX. HAZEL

Hazel couldn't believe it. The situation was too horrible. "Octavian stabbed Reyna," she repeated. "And he blamed it on Nico?"

Annabeth nodded and swiped a hand across her eyes. The crew was sitting around the table in the mess hall, everyone in their pajamas except for Jason and Leo, who had been on first watch.

"That scheming coward," Frank growled, slamming his fist on the table. "How could he do this?"

Jason had his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. "I always knew Octavian was a jerk, but I never would've thought he'd do something like this." He lifted his head to look across the table at Annabeth. "And you have no idea if Reyna's even going to survive?"

"I told you, I woke up before they took her to the medics," Annabeth said. She glanced at Piper. "But the wound looked almost as bad as Piper's."

The color drained out of Jason's face.

Hazel felt nauseous and it wasn't from seasickness. "We have to do something."

"What can we do?" Leo asked. "We have a day to stop Gaea and the giants. We can't make it to Long Island and back in that amount of time."

Percy clenched his fists on the table. "Octavian is going to use this to rouse the Romans. If they believe him, they'll obliterate Camp Half-Blood to get revenge. We can't let that happen."

"Leo's right, though," Piper said. "I want to toss Octavian off a cliff as much as everyone else, but there's no time."

"But I'm the praetor now," Frank insisted. "I should be there."

"We could take Arion," Hazel suggested. "Frank and I could go, help Reyna, and probably still be back in time to go to Athens."

"And if the two of you are captured or killed on the way?" Annabeth said. "I'm sorry, guys, but Demeter said we need to work together. I think that means it's going to take all of us to defeat Gaea and the giants. I hate what happened to Reyna, but if Gaea destroys the world this won't—won't matter."

"We have to stop Gaea," Jason agreed dully.

Silence fell around the table. Judging by her friends' faces, Hazel could tell they hated this situation every bit as much as she did. There was no good solution. If they went to Athens, by the time they got back, the camps might have destroyed each other. But if they went back to stop that war, the giants would likely raise Gaea, who would destroy all of Western civilization. No matter what they chose, Hazel felt they would lose.

Another thought occurred to Hazel. "Where would Nico go?"
Percy and Annabeth exchanged a look, then Percy shrugged helplessly. "I don't know," he said. "I doubt he'd come back here, not after they made it all the way across the Atlantic."

"He waited until the centurions came, so Reyna wasn't alone with Octavian, then he got out of there with the statue and Hedge," Annabeth said.

"But if he'd just shadow-travelled from Maine, he must have been tired," Hazel said. "They can't have gone far. And if the Romans catch Nico, after what Octavian told them—," she couldn't finish the sentence.

"Then that'll be a bad day for those Romans," Percy said. "Nico's not helpless, Hazel. He'll be okay."

"Plus he's got the coach with him," Leo added. "That's got to count for something."

Hazel wasn't totally reassured, but Percy was right. Nico wasn't helpless. He was one of the most powerful demigods she knew. She hoped he could find someplace safe to go with the statue—and Coach Hedge. "So, what now?"

"Same plan as before, right?" Leo shrugged. "Frank checks out Athens in the morning and we go from there."

"And if anyone can go back to sleep, they probably should," Piper said. She noticed the looks the others were giving her. "Just a suggestion. If we're not sleeping, we should double-check the weapons and supplies."

"Good idea," Annabeth said, standing up. "Leo, can you help me with the ship's computer? I want to see if we can bring up a city map of Athens and maybe a schematic of the Parthenon, since Percy and Jason have both had dreams about Gaea being there."

"Sure thing." Leo got to his feet, too, and the two of them left the room.

Percy stared moodily at the video stream of Camp Half-Blood for a minute, then pushed his chair back. "Think I'll check out that map, too," he said and left the mess hall.

The room was quiet. Jason was slumped in his chair, looking defeated. Piper was spinning Katoptris on the table, as if resisting the urge to look into it. Hazel noticed that the arms of her own chair were now studded with rubies, which was not something she had done intentionally. Suddenly, Hazel couldn't bear to sit here; she needed to do something. She met Frank's eyes. "Let's go see if they've found anything," she said.

He nodded. "You guys coming?" he asked Piper and Jason.

Piper glanced at Jason's bowed head. "In a minute," she said.

Hazel and Frank climbed the stairs back to the main deck, where Leo, Percy, and Annabeth were clustered around the computer.

"Got it!" Leo pressed a button on his Wii remote and over the controls appeared a holographic image of the Acropolis, with Athens spread out below it and the Parthenon perched on top.

Frank surveyed the map critically. "If Gaea really has set up command in the Parthenon, that's not great for us. It gives her the higher ground if we try to attack. Top of a hill is an easily defensible position."

"But we have a flying warship," Leo pointed out. "Why can't we just come in guns blazing, like at the Colisseum in Rome, and blast her away?"

For a moment Hazel thought Annabeth was seasick; she almost turned green. "We are not blowing up the Parthenon. It's one of the most important historic buildings in the world."

"Nobody's blowing up the Parthenon," Percy assured her. "But Frank's right, we can't attack from below, either."

"Depending on what Gaea's forces look like, we might not be able to attack at all," Hazel said. "At least, not a frontal assault. There's seven of us. Even if she only has a couple dozen monsters with her, we'll be in trouble."

"And if she has the giants with her, we're in serious trouble," Leo said. "We can't defeat them without a god on our side."

"Apollo showed up to help today," Percy said. "Maybe the Olympians can get their act together long enough to give us a hand in Athens."

The five of them looked at the map, beginning to comprehend the magnitude of the problem facing them.

"We need more information," Annabeth said finally. "Hopefully Frank can learn something tomorrow. Then, we can make a plan."

"And put an end to both wars," Hazel said fervently.

"Exactly," Annabeth replied.