Chapter Four: Hazel (Hazel Vs Leo)

Saying Travis left a bit of a mess was an understatement. It was like there was a paint explosion that took place in the middle of the arena. It could have been cute if it wasn't for the paint fumes and the smell of emptied ketchup packages. Luckily, there were many legionaries that were cleaning every nook and cranny of the arena. It took only a matter of seconds before everything was spotless. With the power of Rome, we can conquer most of the world and clean up after ourselves at the same time.

I left Annabeth near the balcony of the viewing area and was walking towards the ramp leading to the arena. Before I got there. I saw Frank and Chiron approaching me alongside Reyna. Frank finally looked like he was in his element when it came to being a praetor. He was leading both Chiron and Reyna around the newly changed viewing area. When he saw me, he ran up quickly and gave me a hug.

Frank let go and gave me a smile. "You're going to be great out there. Did Nico teach you any tricks during training?" Frank asked.

I waved him off. "Nico was busy with Will, and that was a tall order itself," I said smirking. "He had no time for me."

Frank looked a tad stressed after I said that, I knew he wanted to train me instead but didn't have the time for it.

Chiron came and interrupted us. His impolite interruptions reminded me of a more subtle version of Arion's swearing. He gave me a stern look before regarding Frank and Reyna with a look of respect.

"Rather than bothering young Hazel before her match, how about we instead focus on our commentary problem." Chiron said with a straight face.

We all knew what Chiron was talking about and Reyna rushed off without a word. Probably to deal with it. Frank gave me a kiss on the cheek and an assured grin.

"Don't hurt Leo too bad now, you might embarrass him in front of his girlfriend." Frank said. I laughed with him.

"Don't worry, our match will be as quick as the last one."

Chiron interrupted us again. "I wouldn't take Leo as a fool, Hazel. When his head is in the game, he can produce wonders. Both mechanically and creatively." After dropping his piece of wisdom, both Chiron and Frank traveled towards the rest of the demigods as I walked down towards the arena. Leo was one of my best friends so I knew how useful he can be in a fight. When it comes to finding impromptu solutions in battle, he might be better than Percy.

By the time I made it down the ramp towards our battleground, the arena was brand new. The water Percy used against Travis was back in the pond and the pipes were untouched. I didn't have to worry about slipping. I was standing in the arena by myself before I heard a booming voice.

"HELLOOOOO CAMP JUPITER." Came from the heavens as I saw Leo descend towards me on top of a dragon. At first, I thought it was Frank transformed into a dragon, but it was mechanical, and the dragon's head was familiar enough to put a smile on my face.

"Festus!" I screamed. I ran towards the center of the arena where Leo greeted me. I remember seeing him in the viewing area before the first match but not after. Knowing Leo, he probably was preparing his grand entrance.

Leo hopped towards me in his traditional worker clothing with a magical tool belt around his waist and goggles on his head. Nothing he wore screamed battle, but I wouldn't expect anything else from him.

"So, ready to lose this one? Clarisse taught me the art of badassery." Leo said confidently. "You know, I already knew the basics, but it can't hurt to learn more."

I laughed alongside him. "Trust me, learning can hurt. I'll show you in our match."

"Ooh, someone is confident." Leo answered back. His smile wavered a little as he looked back at me with a genuine gaze. "Seriously though, let's have fun with it and don't hurt me too badly."

I gave him a hug and an answer. "Same to you, I rather not get oven-roasted."

We both took our places as Festus flew out of the arena into the skies. The gusts summoned by his wings and the smoking coming from his mouth went into the stands and upset almost everyone. Leo tried hiding his face as many Romans and Greeks alike booed him before the match even began.

The booming voice coming from the commentary desk didn't help Leo one bit.

"BOO THIS GRAECUS" Terminus shouted. "ROMANS, BOO HIM AND HIS STUPID DRAGON"

The yelling intensified and reached a crescendo before Reyna sat at the commentary desk and smacked Terminus on the head so hard that the whole crowd could hear it. Stopping him in the process. His statue-like body wobbled around but didn't fall. The last time he fell, he gave Percy his blessing in killing a giant.

Nothing but silence for a solid 30 seconds as Reyna put the headset on and acted like she didn't just hit a Roman God in the head.

The silence ended and whispers began as Terminus looked as if he was about to explode at any minute. If his head wasn't marble, a vein would've popped out.

Terminus only spoke in a whisper which made him more frighting than before. "You just disrespected the only God who has protected this camp for years, and Rome for centuries. What are you doing?!"

Reyna didn't even look in his direction. "I am the praetor of this camp; I will do what I damn well please, and at this moment, what I'm doing is commentating with you."

This was all said with indifference. From the looks of it, Terminus did not want to settle down, but he had to respect the Praetor's law. Surprising, slapping Terminus in the back of the head was the least shocking thing Reyna was doing as she was now apart of the commentary team. Maybe slapping Terminus was to divert the attention of that fact.

Reyna sat down next to Terminus and started to speak into her mic. "Leo Valdez vs Hazel Levesque of Rome. Are you both ready?"

I looked towards Leo who stood at the other side with his hand hovering near his toolbelt. Whatever the plan was for him, it started there. I looked towards Reyna and gave her a nod as Leo did the same.

"Well then." Reyna addressed. "Let the match begin."

I unsheathed my sparta and charged forward. Leo didn't hesitate as he pulled out a hammer from his tool belt and was ready for the exchange. Leo's hammer swung for the fences as both his hammer and my sword met; causing sparks to appear. His hammer won in the exchange as I was blown back a few feet.

I stood up right away with a shocked expression. Leo, who was known as the skinny non-fighter of the seven was actually pushing me back.

I attacked again and again but was reflected and parried every single time by Leo's hammer. This wasn't looking good.

"It seems like Centurion Hazel is having some difficultly in combating Valdez." Reyna added without fanfare. "Defensively, Valdez is looking like a top fighter."

"However, the offense is the best defense." Terminus interrupted. "And I fail to see how he's beating her without laying a finger on her." It seems like he was still ticked off by Reyna's slap, but he continued with commentary regardless.

Leo had a wide smirk on his face as the boos from the crowd stopped. "Clarisse didn't have time to teach me everything, so parries and deflection seemed to be good enough." Leo gloated.

I stood there with no answer. Sweat rolling off my face profusely.

"Guess I'm just good at everything." He sighed.

The moment he said that he charged forward hammer in tow and pounced on me. This was it. I was on the defensive now, but that doesn't mean I didn't have a counterattack. I rolled past his assault and swing my sword at his mid-section. I did it with enough force that it wouldn't be lethal and would cause a small cut. No matter how good he has gotten, his hammer was too small and narrow to block this type of attack.

How wrong I was as Leo pulled a shield out of nowhere and blocked the entire strike. The whole arena was shocked as my sword bounced off the shield with so much force that I lost grip and the weapon was sent flying to the other side of the arena.

I was on my last legs with no hope of winning. Leo took his new shield and pressed a button at the back that shrank it before putting it back in his tool belt.

Leo looked back with a satisfied grin. "Made some new weapons during training too. Like my shrinking shield? It has reverse impact panels that send shockwaves when it comes in contact with other weapons. Patent pending. Goodbye Hazel's sword, we hardly knew ye."

"You talk too much." I said slowly.

Leo shrug before taking his battle stance. "Well, I am winning. How about you shut me up?"

I had nothing else up my sleeve. My plan was to overwhelm him before he pulled out anything from his tool belt or use his powers, but he has gotten so much better at pulling weapons out quickly. It's almost instant for him. He didn't even use his powers yet and I'm losing. I needed a new plan.

Do I wing it like Percy does? No, that works for him because he can perform under pressure. I cannot go back and grab my sword. That would just paint a target on my back. I took one more look at everything before deciding. Leo walking slowly towards me, the crowd going wild with anticipation, and the rest of the combatants watching closely in the viewing area. All eyes were on me. The child of the underworld.

'We are not defined by our parentage, young one. Be proud of where you come from.'

Cassius's words rang true in my head as I wiped the sweat off my forehead and got into position.

I thought Leo not using his powers was a good thing, my old plan relied on it. Maybe it was the opposite. Maybe I needed him to use his powers.

I knew what I had to do, and it had to work.

I put my hands on the ground and felt the riches below me. I caused a small earthquake beneath Leo as he stumbled trying to get his bearings.

'Good, an opening' I thought as I ran towards my sparta and picked it up with no interference. Part one of the plan was done. The next was crucial.

I thought of Hecate and how she wanted me to make a choice by the crossroad. I used that memory and let the fog surround me.

From the fog, Leo saw me summon the riches of the earth as the ground below me ruptured. I sent emeralds, rubies, and sapphires of every kind towards Leo with so much force that Leo dropped his hammer.

This was all for show. As my real plan started.

Leo barely had time before he gathered a massive amount of flames from his hands and blasted the treasures. Melting some in the process.

There was a massive heatwave that engulfed the entire arena. Leo probably didn't know how much heat he needed to generate to burn all the gems coming his way. He was now the one sweating as he used almost everything to stop me. We both looked exhausted but the more I pushed, the harder Leo did. We didn't stop. The end was near.

"Oh, come on, Hazel!" Leo yelled while scorching all of my riches. "These gems cost a fortune and you're wasting it!"

"Am I, now?"

I whispered in Leo's ear and he freaked out. I was right next to him.

Leo stopped the flames and tried to grab his hammer, but I disarmed him easily. His other-worldly reflexes were no longer a problem as he was drained after causing an inferno.

I had my sword to his neck and there was no way he could break out. The worst part, Leo knew.

Leo looked at his confused stare. "How did you end up behind me? And why am I the only one sweating?"

I grinned back at Leo. "Say Uncle first and maybe I'll share my wisdom."

Leo looked away from me and I knew immediately that he wanted to win. At first, I thought he just cared about the spotlight, but his performance in the fight was amazing. None of us saw it coming, especially him. At some point during that fight, he thought he could win. He wanted to win.

"Uncle." He said covering his face, a few moments pass before he bounced back and smile at me. "Congrats Hazel."

Reyna stood up from her desk and held her headset mic high.

"The winner of this match, Fifth Cohort Centurion Hazel Levesque."

The Roman crowd erupted and cheered for me. I looked towards the crowd and felt a huge amount of pride. At that moment, I remember the rest of Cassius's words.

'We are not defined by our parentage, young one. Be proud of where you come from but be even more proud of who you are.'

I never used my powers of the underworld against Leo. I followed my own path walked past the crossroad.

While Leo was confused at first, he looked at his surroundings before leaving the arena and smile. He realized what I did. The only thing left in the arena was Leo's own destruction cause by his flames, and nothing more.

He laughed one more time before leaving for the viewing area. "I knew I would be beaten physically but mentally? I'm losing my edge."

Terminus had a harder time figuring it out. "What was that witchcraft? How did she end up behind the fire starter?"

Reyna had a faint smile. "She used the Mist. After grabbing her sword, she created an image of herself summoning the power of Pluto and ran behind Valdez."

Terminus looked shocked "Wait, her blasting those gems were faked? That's the magic of another goddess. She's a child of the underworld, isn't she?

"Which is why the gambit worked. We were led to believe that she would use the power provided by her parentage like every other demigod. The image she created looked as if she was using a huge amount of power, which prompted Leo to do the same. Leo used all of his strength and Hazel didn't have to. She lurked in the shadows for an opening instead."

Reyna looked straight in my direction. For the first time today, there was a small grin forming on her and it was only there for a moment.

"Not a Roman tactic, but clever, nonetheless." Reyna said proudly.

Reyna's comments and the crowd noise almost made me cry. Here I was thinking that they only viewed me as a child of Pluto and nothing else. I've proven myself not only in the fight against Gaea but in both camps and in the eyes of our praetors. Somehow, I have forgotten that.

I looked over at the viewing area and saw so many reactions. Clarisse and Calypso facepalming, Percy and Annabeth clapping up a storm, and Frank almost in tears looking straight at me. He was proud of me more than anybody else in the arena.

I had to thank Cassius and Hecate the next time I see them. I knew who I was, and that was enough.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! This is the last Hazel POV chapter for now. Reyna is up next! Fun fact: Leo is the ninth seed of this tournament. (Hazel was eighth) Leo is also a camper of Cabin 9 and used Bunker Nine to create the Argo II! Never planned that. These types of things are just meant to be...