They couldn't stay with the cruise ship for long, being on a deadline. Hazel took them on their next jump the next sunrise.
He glanced at a nearby sign.
"We're in New Orleans. There should only be a few more jumps, and then we'll make it to the Greek camp."
At his words, Hazel's eyes snapped open in a panic. "We're where?"
"New Orleans."
Hazel stumbled to her feet, glancing around them, cursing under her breath when she realized where they were.
"Hazel?" he questioned. "What's wrong?"
"I need to go somewhere," she insisted, breaking off in a weak, stumbling, sprint.
"Hazel!" he called after her, reaching out. He glanced back at Hedge, who was watching the two of them. "Watch the statue," he ordered, before running after the daughter of Pluto.
He followed her into the rundown building right in front of them, up a crumbling staircase, and through a rotting wooden door. Above the door was a sign, reading "Queen Marie."
"Hazel?" he called out, to see her standing in a dusty, old-fashioned apartment room. It looked as if it had been frozen in time.
"Hazel?" he again called out, watching the girl in question sit on a cot, and stare at her surroundings in grief, lost in the past.
"It's still here," she rasped out. "It's been almost a century, and it's still here."
He sat down beside her, and studied the room around them. "Where is this place?"
"My old apartment," she numbly laughed. "I suppose I accidentally took us here. I grew up in this place, remember?"
"Bad memories?"
Hazel bitterly scoffed. "The only good ones from my life before the Hunt."
"This building seems like it's been preserved," he commented. "This room, at least. I remember in New York City, things were constantly changing. I'm surprised a building this old wasn't torn down."
Hazel closed her eyes for a few moments, seeming to concentrate. "My father," she sighed. "There's an aura of death in this room, preserving it through time. It's probably the reason why the building hasn't been destroyed."
"Dear old uncle," he dryly remarked. "Really can't let dead things lie, huh?"
Hazel choked back a laugh. "I suppose it isn't good to dwell on the past, huh? I think he kept it, for me, just in case I ever were to visit."
Percy sighed. "Not the greatest parenting methods, but then again, they're gods. It's not like my dearest father has ever done something purely for my good. They always have ulterior motives."
"Percy," Hazel reprimanded. "From what you told me about what you said with your father, he at least loves you. I think Pluto tries his best. He saved me and led me to some of the best years of my life with my sisters. And I think he wanted to let me have a chance for closure if I were to ever come back here."
She smiled slightly, closing her eyes again. The harsh aura of death in the room faded away. Hazel looked around one last time. "I think it has," she murmured.
"Now come on," she said as she stood. "Let's go back to our quest."
They made their way out of the building to find the coach gone and the statue missing as well.
He cursed under his breath, and surveyed the area. "How in the actual- it's a godsdamned forty-foot tall statue! How does that just disappear?"
"Percy!" Hazel yelled out in warning, summoning her silver bow.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flicker of silver shine in the sun. He reached into his gut, and summoned a shield of water from the nearby storm gutter that he immediately froze.
Silver arrows embedded themselves into the solid ice. Arrows of a familiar make and style.
He glanced at Hazel, who nodded at him to drop the barrier. He did, but only for a second, summoning it back around himself an instant later to block another silver arrow. Hetrusted that they wouldn't shoot Hazel.
"Thalia!" Hazel called out. "We really don't have the time for this!"
Thalia… Percy turned his eyes to where the arrows had come from, to see a group of teenaged girls in silver hunting gear appear in view. In the lead was a girl with spiky black hair and startling electric blue eyes, wearing a silver moon circlet.
"Is your last name Grace?" he demanded.
The girl to Thalia's right, Phoebe if he remembered correctly from her last visit to Camp Jupiter, sharply glared at him, rasing her bow in his direction. "Silence boy!" she hissed. "Show some respect to our lieutenant."
Thalia raised her hand. "Stand down, Phoebe, he's our ally if he's with Hazel. And yes, my name is Thalia Grace."
So this was Jason's sister. "I'm Percy Jackson, son of Neptune and praetor of the 12th Legion. Now, can I lower the shield or will you continue to shoot me?" he said, putting his sword away.
Thalia strapped her bow back onto her back. "As long as you don't provoke them, they won't shoot."
He shot her an incredulous look. "From what I know, my mere presence provokes them." He didn't drop the shield.
Thalia smirked at him. "Smart boy."
He scoffed. "Don't patronize me."
Hazel tapped the edge of his ice shield, and sighed. "They won't shoot you, you're with me. Besides, we have more serious things to worry about. Right, Thalia?" she said, raising her voice so that all the hunters would hear her.
The daughter of Jupi- no, Zeus, rolled her eyes. "Alright, Jackson. They won't shoot you. You can relax."
He dropped the shield, letting it melt back into water. "Alright then, so what did you do to our statue?"
"A camouflage net, sophisticated technology, not thatyouwould know, boy," Phoebe retorted.
He narrowed his eyes. "E-"
Hazel shoved him gently. "Percy, let me handle this." She then turned to the hunters. "You pulled me off course, didn't you."
Thalia smiled. "Sharp as ever. Nico sent us a message, that you were coming. He asked us to assist you. Then, I got a dream from Lady Artemis," her smile vanished. "She told us that the giant Orion was hunting you. And well, you, Hazel, have more experience with this."
"Well? What's the plan then?" Hazel asked.
"The Amazons are with us, we set up a trap for Orion, and you're the bait."
Percy sighed. "Hazel, Coach, watch the statue. I'll go with them," he ordered. "Thisis going to go well."
Spoiler: it didnotgo well.
Well, that was an overstatement. Some of it still did go well. Like his conversation with Jason's sister.
"Well? What do you find so interesting about me?" he questioned her, tired of her searching looks.
"My brother mentioned a son of Neptune. That's you, isn't it?"
"I grew up with him. He's like a brother to me," he responded, meeting her gaze.
"Was he happy?" Thalia asked.
Percy shrugged. "I think he was. We grew up in the safest environment we could have, and he was loved by the legion just from his standing as a son of Jupiter. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows but we were happy I think," he responded. He thought back to their earlier years. The three of them, him, Jason, and Reyna had shared laughter and memories. He, at the very least, had been happy with the legion.
Thalia sharply nodded. "I'm glad then."
They settled into silence after that, and met with the Amazons. He recognized Reyna's sister leading them. Hylla greeted him with a nod.
They then settled in to wait for Orion to show up. He did in a flurry of arrows. The trap for him quickly shifted into a massacre of both Hunters and Amazons.
"You need to leave and return to the statue! Take Hazel, your Satyr and run!" Thalia urged, pulling him with her back to where they had come.
"I can-"
"No, you can't," Thalia snapped. "All we can do is stall while you leave. Do you know the way back?"
He thought back on the path they had taken. "Yeah. I should be fine."
Thalia let go of him. "Good. I'll stall for you. Hurry back and leave."
Percy nodded. "Good luck then," he said.
"And you too," Thalia returned. "And if I don't see him again… tell Jason I love him."
He ran the rest of the way back on his own, leaving Thalia on her own. The quest had to come first.
Bursting into the street where Hazel and Coach Hedge were waiting, he startled them into action.
"We need to leave now!" he shouted. Hazel nodded, and readied the straps on her shoulders, the Athena Parthenos shimmering into view. He grabbed her hand and Hedges, and they all faded into the shadows.
Just as his sight faded, he saw two black arrows flying towards them.