I had this chapter sitting in the doc manager for god knows how long and I decided to finally put it out before I go back to school.

This chapter serves as a sneak peek for a story I've had out for a while. All information on that OS will be at the end.

Story #28: Hazel and Nico (Try to) Rewrite the Three-Legged Race

Sometimes, a duo can never rely on other people to be their strengths but can only trust their unit. Even shared love can't be the sole factor for being confident in someone, especially when it comes to a duo of siblings.

When it comes to godly siblings versus actual blood siblings, the differences are never more apparent than during Camp events. Capture the Flag presents the dynamics of godly siblings since the teams are made up of different cabins. During that game, the godly siblings can put any differences aside so they don't lose. Today's event is the three-legged race. It's an event that has never shown the wide range of sibling relationships, specifically with those who share a mortal parent, but those bound together by a god have something to help them win.

"That'll slow them down," Nico says.

Joined at the ankle, Nico and Hazel land from a quick shadow-travel through tunnels Hazel defected, crouching behind some trees in Camp's forest. He lowers his hands having twisted his skull ring moments before. They look over in the general direction of where they came from, grim grins appearing as the sound of Nico's skeletons grow followed by other campers screaming and fighting, weapons slashing. Anything to hold them down despite shadow-travelling and access to tunnels to their advantages.

"And with this," Hazel says, twisting her hands. A small green fog dances around her fingertips. "They'll now be seeing skeletons that aren't there and fighting figments of their twisted imaginations."

"You're the only reason I bother participating in these games," Nico says.

Hazel keeps her gaze on him for a moment. She didn't think much of Nico when they first met. She thought he was a scrawny white boy incapable of fighting and needed more sun. Now it's only the latter.

At the sound of someone approaching, Hazel faces her palms upwards and shoots her hands up. The Mist covers them just in time for Jason and Thalia to stumble nearby. The Grace siblings both cussing out the onslaught of skeletons. It must've been harder for the top fighters to battle the corpses given their binding at the ankle since they're both strong and dominant forces on their own. At least now that they're in the clear, they could re-strategize. Nico and Hazel try so hard not to laugh, as if they would've heard them over The Mist's barrier.

"We need to get out of here and win," Thalia says. "Where's the stupid finish line?"

Jason shrugs. "I swear it keeps changing its location."

Nico nudges Hazel's arm with his elbow and she returns the gesture. Another use for Hazel's ability to manipulate the Mist was to alter the path to the finish line for every pairing. Most of the teams would be running in long-winded circles. As long as anyone from Hecate's cabin or even Thalia didn't catch on, Hazel and Nico's plan would work. So far, it seems as if Thalia's too frustrated with her brother and Nico's skeletons to notice.

"Wait…" Jason mutters. "I know what to do. We should've done this the moment the race started!"

Thalia hesitates, disliking the smile on Jason's face. "What?"

Without consulting her, Jason takes off flying with Thalia attached. Her screams grow distant the further they go but still echoing within the treetops. Hazel and Nico imagine Jason flying like a plane with Thalia dangling at his ankle and her head scuffing the trees.

"That won't end well," Hazel comments. "We should go if we want to beat them. My only other concern is those Stoll brothers. Last I saw, they were skipping through the corpses, Mist, and whatever lightning, plants, or whatever the others were using."

"Good call," Nico says, "shadows or tunnels?"

"You could pull your weight."

Nico narrows his eyes for a moment. He'd argue but she's probably right and they didn't have the time considering they couldn't hear Thalia screaming anymore. Besides, Hazel used more of her own strength while taking them through tunnels, tampering with the Mist, and even leaving a trail of gems to distract people. Cabin 11 would definitely stop to look. Sure they used a bit of Nico's shadow-travelling but twisting his ring to summon skeletons didn't require much.

"Hold on," Nico says, "we're winning this."

Moments after disappearing into the shadows, Nico and Hazel reappear at the end. They cross the finish line just in time to see Jason and Thalia crash-land from the sky. Their shackles break given it's the end of the race so Thalia takes that to her advantage to punch Jason's arm while he's still on the ground. Leaves fall out of her short hair but some twigs stick out.

"You know I hate heights!" Thalia screams.

Jason smirks. "Worth second place."

"Third," someone corrects.

Hazel and Nico pause. Did they not come in first? How didn't they notice another team here aside from Jason and Thalia? They turn and see Connor and Travis still sitting on the grass with a pile of gemstones between them. Judging by how comfortable they are, lying back and basking in the sun, they must've been lavishing in victory for a while.

"We won," Travis clarifies, referring to himself and Connor. "Second place." He points to Nico and Hazel. "And a slim third." To Jason and Thalia. "We were betting on you."

"And we're rich," Connor says, lifting a handful of gems just to drop them back in the pile, making a clinking sound, "not bet related. We have a dinnertime game for such. We just followed the gems and wounded up at the finish line."

"How?" Nico questions, feeling dumbfounded.

"This is rigged," Hazel states.

"How the Hades?"

"No," Connor says, holding up a hand, "the real question is How the Hermes?"

Nico and Hazel stare at them oddly as Connor and Travis high-five before organizing their newly acquired wealth.

"Well, this was a waste," Nico grumbles.

"Should've done that strategy…" Jason mutters kind of impressed.

"I'm taking them down at the next game," Thalia says, arms crossed as she glares at them.

"Count us in," Hazel says, referring to herself and Nico.

"Big Three kids for an ultimate win."

And now the sneak peek for my grown-ish fic that is already out:

Rewrite the Race - While on their break, Doug sees Jazz practising laps and he reflects on their decision, wondering if it was worth it (Doug x Jazz OS)