XXXVIII

Hazel

(A/N: Well, Chapter 38. I really hope that you enjoy this one. It not, that's fine as well. Anyways, i'm giving myself a pat on the back [this is long overdue] for completing more chapters than my last Fanfiction, the House of Hades. So that story is not finished, and it won't ever be. It's kind of like limbo. Anyways, let's hope I can finish this time! PLEASE review! Even with suggestions on how to improve my writing!)

Hazel stared incredulously at Athena, then back at the Giant fiesta party that was happening on the top of the hill.

"Min- I mean, Athena," Hazel asked, "How on earth did you manage to break the schizophrenic stage? I thought that all the gods were stuck between their Greek and Roman forms."

"I thought so, too." Athena replied. "But someone managed to call on my presence so strongly that I could completely ignore the pleas for help from both sides. Despite knowing almost everything, I could not track the signal. So, I decided to use this chance to come and help you two."

"Well, thank you, Lord Min- I mean, Athena." Frank bowed.

"Stop bowing; formalities are not necessary with me." Athena made a gesture towards the fiesta. "Shall we go?"

Hazel let Frank lead the way to the peak, because she wanted him to feel more important. Despite looking like he was confident and in control, he was kind of a baby inside. He needed moral support a lot of the time.

Enceladus was kind of busy in a conga line. Athena sighed. "Let's get this over with." With a click of her fingers, all the costumes disappeared from the Earthborn. The giant sombrero did as well.

Enceladus turned towards them. His eyes glared.

"KILL THEM!" he yelled.

The Earthborn grabbed spears and charged.

Frank pulled out his bow. He shot arrow after arrow at them, but they didn't even slow them down. The tips were just absorbed by their bodies. They simply pulled them out and kept going.

"Well, erm, that didn't work."

"Glad you noticed!" Hazel said. "Run!"

They split, Hazel going left and Frank going right. Athena just stood there, clearly not fazed by the hundred or so Earthborn that were charging straight at her. She was a goddess of course, and she simply pulled out Aegis. Hazel had to look away, and so did everyone else. The head of Medusa turned all of them to stone.

Hazel peeped behind her. The Earthborn should have been frozen in stone, and that would have that. Hazel hadn't even known that Earthborn- beings of the earth- would have been capable of being turned to stone in the first place.

But then, the unthinkable happened. The stone sculptures began to move.

The Gegenees burst out of the rock, roaring in anger. At this, even Athena was surprised. She probably didn't see this every day.

She brandished her spear, and attacked.

Hazel manipulated the mist. Suddenly, the Earthborn were running towards the edge of a cliff. Not being the cleverest monsters, they all screeched to a halt. Athena, on the other hand, was no idiot. She knew this was Mist, and she used this opportunity to stab all of them, sending them flying behind her. Hazel changed the landscape once again, and they were sent flying off the mountain.

Enceladus still didn't respond. He just sat down, on a giant throne, and ate a huge plate of Mexican food. The second wave of monsters rushed forward.

These monsters were extremely varied. There were harpies, Stymphalian birds, Hellhounds, the whole lot. Hazel drew her sword, Frank his bow, and Athena her spear. They charged straight ahead.

Hazel sliced apart all the monsters in her immediate vicinity. Athena was so powerful, she was taking out monster after monster so quickly that she was basically doing all the work. But in the end, the monsters kept advancing, and they took down Frank. Closely after came Hazel. A harpy gripped her shoulders, carried her up in the air, and flung her down onto the ground. A horde of monsters pinned her down.

In the corner of her eyes, Athena had been pinned down as well. She wasn't in her full, purest form, which was weird, because she seemed to have gotten her act together. But then again, turning into it wouldn't have always worked. Enceladus could just turn away, and it would have no effect.

They were losing. A pair of claws pinned Hazel to the ground- a hellhound had gotten her. Drool dropped onto her lap. The hellhound lunged.

Suddenly, her mind cleared, remembering the long lesson Alabaster had given her on some basic magic. She yelled out, "Incantare: Fluctum Ignis!"

Incantation: Blast of Fire.

A giant blast of fire pushed the hellhound back. "Incantare: Stulti Carcer!" She yelled, and the hellhound's feet were glued to the spot. It couldn't move.

She changed the Mist. Now, they were falling. Air whistled past her ears. Frank was barely keeping calm; he knew that it was just an illusion, but she knew: it just felt so real. The monsters had started to panic; some had already flown off. Others were flailing their arms and trying to catch wind. But they would never catch wind, because this wasn't real.

"Incantare: Terraemotus!" she yelled, while turning the mist back. Suddenly, the ground trembled, creating a large gash in the middle of the mountain. The monsters ran off in fear.

Hazel stood up, dusting herself off. Athena did the same, and raised an eyebrow at her. "Spells, huh?"

Hazel blushed. She didn't feel like bragging at that point. She was more concerned about defeating Enceladus, who at this point had put on battle armor, had an omega-shaped axe in his hand, and a giant frown plastered to his face.

The three of them shared a look, then charged straight at him.

He really didn't stand a chance. Frank fired arrow after arrow, Hazel fired spell after spell, and Athena finished him off with a giant leap, and throwing her spear like a javelin. She pulled a sword out, and sliced his front clean in half, from the top to the bottom.

Enceladus dissolved into dust. Hazel and Frank high-fived. Suddenly, Athena doubled over in pain. They both stared at her.

"Go!" she yelled. "Polybotes is at Camp Jupiter right now! Quick! Before it's too late!"

Frank and Hazel jumped off the mountain. "Arion!" Hazel yelled.

Silence. Then, in a blur of light, Arion was there, Hazel climbing onto his back, followed by Frank. They both put on their seat belts, and Arion sped off.

Even in the distance, Hazel could still hear Athena's cries of agony. Then she remembered something. What had the fiesta party been for?

Well, she might never know now.