Sorry for not updating yesterday. Really, so sorry. But there were unforeseen circumstances beyond my control that prevented it. Which I will not elaborate on, since it is a very boring story and I know you'd rather read the good stuff.
So, this chapter is...kind of a filler. But you find out what Aphrodite says to Hazel and Piper, so yay!
On an unrelated note, I'm currently working on the next chapter to my other fanfic, Five Ways to Die, but it might take a while. It's kind of taking the backseat to this-this fanfic, right here, is kind of my life right now.
I read The Fault in Our Stars today-and I would've cried, had I not been in English class at the time. But it's been awhile since I've read a new book-meaning not reread something that I read an eternity ago. It's been on my To Read pile for ages, but I've been a little busy lately-I spend pretty much all my time on schoolwork or on writing this fanfic. Which gives me less time to read, which is depressing, but I love writing, so. It's all good. Did anyone else suspect that-SPOILER-Augustus' cancer had come back before it said? There was some serious foreshadowing on that part...
I have an official writing schedule now-I come home, drop off my stuff, grab an apple and a cup of water, and then I come to the computer room to write. Which is actually just my mom and dad's walk-in closet/junk storage room, but I like the clutter. Even if it means I have to do a complicated dance to avoid falling-and even that doesn't always prevent it.
This is what I do: Sit down. Wake up computer. Open wordpad.
Lean back and stare at annoying blinky cursor. Cross arms. Take bite of apple.
Write first sentence. Erase first sentence. Rewrite it differently.
Write first paragraph. Lean back and admire. Take second bite of apple.
Turn on music. Click on Imagine Dragons and listen to Night Visions album.
Click back to wordpad. Write a few more paragraphs.
Get up. Stretch. Examine old pictures hanging on the walls. Trip over old suitcase and land on the broken rocking chair. Flail for several minutes, trying to get back up without falling again. Fail. Hit head on exercise machine. Rub forehead. Mutter curses.
Sit back in rolly computer desk chair. Take bite of apple.
Write until halfway finished. Sing along to Imagine Dragons under breath. Take bite of apple.
Turn paint-chipped areas on the desk into a smiley-face, adding to the collection.
Hit head repeatedly against the desk.
And it goes on, and on, and on...until the chapter is done. Or I'm out of water-it depends. If I run out of water before the chapter is finished, I have a whole mental argument about how much it matters, and that process makes the whole writing thing into something even worse than the above section.
Tyler .d (guest): Um...what idea? Sorry, refresh my memory, will ya? It's hard to keep track of all the reviews...
Leona Valdez (guest): Sorry. Sort of. I did warn you; I was in a really melancholy, angsty mood when I wrote those. And I was listening to Imagine Dragons' song Bleeding Out on repeat while trying to write for this fanfic, and it turned into me crying as I wrote Annabeth and Percy death scenes. I'm such a happy person, aren't I?
drinkingthestarswithbob: Oh, wow. Apple sauce, really? Can you tell me what fanfic that is, I want to go read it. I need a good laugh.
GoddessArtemis1999: They won't have anything to do with saving the world-that's all Greek. And Roman. But they might make an appearance...it all depends, really.
Not so silent (guest): "No offense, but some of your stuff is too mushy for a guy to be writing." That would be because I'm a girl. And while I do occasionally make a conscious attempt to write more like Rick, I am still a girl. No doubt that shows up a bit.
Chapter LXXII
Hazel
Hazel sat bolt upright in bed, her last image of Aphrodite's face still swirling in her mind. Next to her, Annabeth and Piper both do the same. Piper looks furious-irritated. Annabeth looks like she's about to cry. Her eyes are wide and her face is pale, as if she's just seen a ghost. Although that might partially be from the strain of her broken ribs.
"You guys, too?" Piper asks. Hazel and Annabeth both nod. Piper curses, and Hazel's eyes widen before she turns away, her face red. "I'm going to kill my mom."
"I'll help." Annabeth mutters, although she still doesn't look like herself. Piper seems to notice for the first time, and turns to face her.
"Annabeth? What..." But she trails off, looking down at the space between the two of them, first in confusion, then in amusement. "Aww, look at him, he's so cute when he's sleeping."
Hazel leans forward to get a better view and can't hold back a smile when she sees Leo curled up in a ball on a fourth cot between Piper and Annabeth. His arms are wrapped around his pillow, and his face is turned sideways, giving the girls a mostly unobstructed view of his sweet expression, which is incredibly peaceful in sleep. His curls are brushed to either side of his ear, clearly showing the pointed tip-they really are like elf ears.
Hazel giggles. "We should draw a mustache on him."
Piper's eyes sparkle mischeviously as she grins. "Great idea. Anyone have a sharpie handy?" Hazel shakes her head, and they both look at Annabeth.
"I'm not having anything to do with this." She tells them, holding up her hands as if to ward them off.
"Aw, come on, Annabeth! Why not?" Piper pouts.
"Because, knowing Leo, if we draw a mustache on him, he'll prank us back relentlessly until we give up. And after the marshmallow incident, I'm not willing to enter a prank war with him-unless he's on my side." Annabeth explains.
Piper wrinkles her nose at Annabeth's reminder, but Hazel has no idea what they're talking about. "What's the marshmallow incident?" She asks curiously.
"You don't want to know." Annabeth replies.
"It was horrible." Piper adds, looking horrified just thinking about it.
"Hey, the stickiness faded after a couple of weeks. Although I don't think my hair will ever be the same again." Annabeth says, lifting a strand of her blonde hair to her face.
Hazel looks between them. "I think you're right. I don't want to know."
"It's quite an amusing story." Annabeth continues.
"Unless you were one of the victims." Piper interjects emphatically.
"Okay, I get it. No mustache." Hazel tells them, looking back down at Leo. "He really is adorable when he sleeps, though, isn't he?"
"If only he could be like that all the time." Piper remarks sadly, also looking down at him.
"It's a shame we have to wake him up." Annabeth comments. "I don't think he's been getting much sleep lately."
Piper sighs. "I wish he'd tell me what's wrong."
"Me too." Hazel murmurs.
Annabeth doesn't say anything, and after a few seconds, Hazel glances up at her, seeing Piper do the same. Her expression is guarded-like she's hiding something.
"Annabeth?" Piper asks suspiciously. "You know something, don't you?"
"It's not my place to tell." The daughter of Athena murmurs. "He'll tell you when he's ready."
Piper opens her mouth to argue, but seems to realize that arguing would be futile, and turns to Hazel instead. "Hazel, do you know anything?"
Hazel shrugs, wincing when it jostles her hurt shoulder. "Not really. I know he met someone when Khione blasted him off the ship-that much was obvious. But he hasn't told me anything."
They both look back down at him. "I wonder what happened..." Piper thinks out loud.
All of them watch him sleep for a little while longer, listening to his soft breathing.
"I forget how young he is sometimes." Annabeth finally says in a soft voice. "How young all of you are."
"You aren't much older than us." Piper points out.
"Maybe not." Annabeth concedes. "But I've had so much more time to get used to all of this. And all of you...you've been through way too much for people your age."
"So have you, Annabeth." Hazel tells her softly.
Annabeth looks at her with a helpless look Hazel's never seen in her eyes before. "You're only thirteen, Hazel. And I know you're technically from the 1930s, but you still don't deserve to be here, on this quest, nearly dying every day. It's not fair."
"No one ever said life was fair, Annabeth." Piper says gently. "And a demigod's life is even farther from fair. We're used to this now-we can handle it. And if anything isn't fair, it's everything that's happened to you-after all you've done for the gods, you still don't have a real life-a happy life, without constant danger and a life expectancy lower than twenty."
"Percy is my happiness." Annabeth murmurs. "He's all I need."
Piper looks like she's trying to restrain herself, but she doesn't do a very good job of it. "Aww, that's so sweet!"
Annabeth smiles dryly. "Watch out, Piper, your Aphrodite is showing."
Piper crosses her arms, pouting. "Not fair! I can't help it if you guys are so cute! That's your own fault!"
"Okay, back to the topic at hand," Hazel interrupts, sensing that if she doesn't, the argument could go on for some time. "Annabeth, I chose this life. I chose to take my second chance when Nico offered it to me. I knew that it wasn't going to be easy. But I chose it anyway, and if I could go back in time, I'd just do the same thing. Especially since I wouldn't have met you two if I didn't." She smiles kindly at Annabeth, and the older girl takes a deep breath.
"Sometimes I think you act more like the oldest than I do. When did you get so wise?" The daughter of Athena asks, rubbing her face.
Hazel exchanges an amused glance with Piper. The daughter of the goddess of wisdom, asking her when she got wise? She just finds it funny.
"It probably has something to do with the decades I spent in the Fields of Asphodel. I had a lot of time to think." Hazel says, a little uncomfortable reminding herself of her past. But she shrugs it away-Annabeth and Piper are her sisters in everything but blood.
"Sounds like it." Annabeth replies.
They sit in silence for a few minutes after that, all looking at Leo without seeing him-they're all lost in their thoughts.
"What did my mother say?" Piper asks, abruptly breaking the silence.
Annabeth pales again instantly, tears welling in her eyes, but she blinks them away and takes a deep breath, obviously hoping that neither of them had noticed.
Hazel decides to go ahead and answer-she senses that it would be better if they got Annabeth's mind off of her own dream. "Not much, really. She tried to give me advice on my love life-apparently Frank and I aren't 'lovey-dovey' enough-and then warned me to watch out for Ares' sister-whoever that is. But yeah, she went on and on about how Frank and I needed to be 'sweeter,' and 'cuter.' She even dragged you and Percy into it, Annabeth, and told me that I should follow your guys' example, because you're the perfect couple."
Annabeth smiles weakly. "Sounds like Aphrodite."
Piper's expression is dark. "I swear to all the gods, mother, I am going to kill you." She mutters fiercely to herself, glaring and twisting her hands together.
"What about you, Piper?" Hazel asks curiously. "What did Venus-I mean Aphrodite-say to you?"
"Oh, the usual. I need to dress better, be more girly, etcetera. She also told me that I'd better not lose Jason because of my 'un-girly habits'-I'm paraphrasing a little-because she'd worked too hard to make sure we got together for us to break up because of a mistake I made. Idiotic. As if I'd break up with him." Piper seems like she's about to stab something, so Hazel tries to steer the topic away from her mother's so-called 'advice.'
"Did she warn you about anything? Or anyone? Or was that just me?" She asks.
Piper shakes her head. "No, it wasn't just you. She told me to stay far away from some island-Delos, maybe? Have you heard of it, Annabeth?"
"It sounds familiar, but I can't remember why." She answers apologetically. "I can look for it later, though."
"And then she told me to stay away from Crete-seriously, what kind of idiot does she think I am? Anyone demigod who knows their myths is gonna stay far away from there-very far. Crazy woman." Piper adds. Surprisingly, there's no sound of thunder or any type of repercussion for her last comment-maybe it's because she's talking about her mom. Or maybe Aphrodite's just in a good mood after torturing three girls with 'helpful' dream visions.
"Annabeth?" Hazel starts gently, waiting until she looks up. "What did Aphrodite say to you?"
Almost immediately, Annabeth breaks down and starts crying. Hazel and Piper look at each other in alarm, and then lean forward to comfort the older girl, patting her on the shoulder.
"Annabeth, what is it? You can tell us." Piper assures her, her brows furrowed in concern.
"Really, Annabeth, you can. It's okay." Hazel adds, rubbing her back the way her mom used to do for her when she was sick.
Annabeth's shoulders shake with silent sobs, but she opens her mouth to answer. "She said..." She starts to say, and then starts crying harder. "She said that Percy might not survive the fight with Gaea-that there was a very small chance he would."
Hazel freezes, speechless. "What?" She whispers in a small voice.
"She also said that there was still a possibility he would-but that I should make the most of the time we have left, just in case." Annabeth sniffles, fresh tears falling from her eyes.
Piper unfreezes and glares at the wall, absentmindedly patting Annabeth's shoulder. Her expression is downright murderous. "That's it. I'm going to kill her."
Annabeth gives a watery laugh, and Piper looks at her in surprise. "You can't kill an immortal goddess, Piper, and even if you could, it's okay. I already screamed at her pretty good."
Piper grins. "I bet she didn't like that."
"Not at all." Annabeth replies, smiling a little. She stops crying, and sighs, laughing a little, reaching up to wipe the tears off her face. "You guys probably think I'm crazy."
"No way!" Piper exclaims.
"Why would we think that?" Hazel adds.
"I'm crying because a goddess told me that my boyfriend will most likely die-and then told me that there's still a chance he won't, and that I can help save him, as long as I keep it together. I'm not keeping it together very well." Annabeth explains, staring at her hands.
"Annabeth, after what she told you, I'm surprised you're not curled up in the fetal postion sobbing uncontrollably." Piper replies dryly. "Percy is the love of your life-you've been through everything together. And finding out that he might not survive something can't be easy."
Hazel isn't sure what to say to make Annabeth feel better. She wants to tell the truth, but it's like her voice is trapped in her throat, which is tight with despair-Percy is her best friend, after Frank. He's done a lot for her, and for so many others. He doesn't deserve to die-he can't.
But then a rush of anger burns through her-this is so far beyond unfair, there isn't even a word for it. The Fates are mad and twisted beyond belief.
"No matter what happens, Annabeth, we'll help you keep him alive." She swears. "If we work together, there's no way he's going to die on us-he wouldn't dare."
Annabeth smiles broadly and wipes the last of the tears away. "Thanks, Hazel."
Piper grabs Annabeth's hand and then Hazel's, and when Hazel and Annabeth do the same, she raises their arms above their heads. "Girlpower!" She says in a sing-song voice.
They all start laughing uncontrollably and fall back onto the covers. When they finally calm down, they sit back up, still holding hands, and grin at each other.
In that moment, Hazel finally feels like she belongs. And it's the best feeling she's ever felt.
I think Hazel deserves some nice happy feelings, don't you? Considering the world is about to end, and all...
I love you, always go armed with blue plastic hairbrushes, yellow carnations have hidden powers, and BE MORE AWESOME!