Hazel's Flashback

FRIDAY, 6th January

They had been planning their room for the last two days, sketching even during classes. The walls would be decorated with drawings of horses, their common passion.

The idea was to make them galloping around the room, on different sizes to give the illusion of depth. They would be painted of every effect they could think of: one of a shining gold, covered in leaves, polished wood, shining like diamonds, flowers, flowing water, melting lava, steel, clouds. The list was so extensive they had to cross off some of it.

Hazel's favorite idea was Hannah's childhood dream: a full-body mirror with vintage silver frame.

Before telling Nico of this change in Hannah's status, they had been wondering how to transport their meager furniture, like her bed and wardrobe. It was Nanni to suggest they buy new ones. Hannah jumped at the opportunity to buy a four-post bed all white and customize it, another of her dreams.

SUNDAY, 8th January

Once the furniture was chosen and scheduled to be delivered, Hazel invited Lucy to accompany them in choosing other details, as sheets, towels, carpet. Looking around, Hazel worried when she couldn't find Lucy, only exhaling relieved once she saw the other girl half splayed face down over a pile of white carpets.

"Hannah, come feel it, it's sooo fluffy. Can I use it as a comforter?"

Hazel's voice held a teasing laughter when she answered.

"I thought you came to help me?"

"I did. I am. I found the fluffiest carpet for my little sis."

She gestured wildly with her hand, and Hazel knew she was calling attention to the rubber lilac bracelet each of them now had, with the words "Soul Sister" in it. Lucy turned so she was with her belly up, still half draped over the white fluffy carpet.

"Wait, I didn't ask, are you my little sis or my big sis?"

"Does it matter?"

"It does, obviously!"

Hazel grinned.

"Then we're twins. And I thank your consideration, but I don't want a white carpet, I want new towels. Now come."

"Nooo, it's fluffy!"

"You can try the pillows next."

Lucy jumped in a flash.

"Oh, great idea! By the way, even twins don't get born at the same time, so who is the oldest?"

"We were born at the same time, we're magical twins."

"That's just your lazy excuse."

She's right, you know. I'm pretty sure you said even Apollo and Diana didn't get born at the same time and they were GODS.

Which side are you on?

Of the truth. And that, my friend, WAS a lazy excuse.

"By the way, do I get a prize for helping you out?"

"That depends on what kind of prize you're thinking of."

"Dibs on the first sleepover."

I mean, obviously.

"That's a given!"

"Fine, then I want... hm... my own personal mug to when I come visiting."

"Deal."

Flashback over, back to present

FRIDAY, 13th January

Hazel and Nico exchanged a worried glance, and she was the first to speak.

"Lucy... what exactly are you doing?"

"Trying to use my powers of premonition."

"Okay... but why?"

Lucy whipped her head to look at Hazel in disbelief.

"Did you see what day is today?"

"Did you hit your head on the way to school or something?"

Lucy turned to stick her tongue at Nico.

"Of course, YOU of all people would be unaffected."

His tone was half offended and half confused when he answered.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Today is Friday!"

In the end, he made a valid question. Did she hit her head recently?

"Lucy, since when do you fear Fridays? I'm pretty sure you once texted me TGIF."

And you're very welcome for explaining it to you.

Well, it's not like I could have guessed.

"Yes, but those weren't the thirteenth!"

Ah, it makes sense. Friday the thirteenth is often considered bad luck.

Yeah, I remember it, but I don't remember why?

I... I don't know, to be honest; it just is. They even used as a title to a horror movie. Do you want to watch it?

I think I'll pass.

"Lucy, are you superstitious?"

"There is absolutely NOTHING superstitious about days like these. I woke up late, my brother knocked his scalding coffee down my shirt because he was way too distracted, not only burning me and forcing me to change as also making me even more late, so you can think 'cool, the algebra teacher is always late' but noooo, not only he was on time, he also decided to scold me in front of the whole class on tardiness, like he's the one to talk, and then I found out I left my English essay I was supposed to hand in today at home, and my mom is on the hairdresser so she can't even bring me it, I cut my mouth on my braces and it really hurts, and so far Barnacle hasn't shown his face to pester me and I could consider it good fortune, but today is Friday thirteenth so things like that are all bad omens!"

Wow, that's a mouthful.

I think I got... maybe half of it?

"That's it?"

Lucy slapped Nico's shoulder.

"What do you mean, 'that's it'? The cosmos is out to get me and you say 'that's it'? Where is your compassion? Fine, I won't let you copy my Biology homework."

"We don't have Biology together."

"Oh, so that means you forgot those eight questions about RNA and DNA transcription we all received last week as a way for the teachers to assess if all the classes are on the same page?"

He looked slightly alarmed, no doubting remembering it.

"Oh, for the-"

The bell ringed, making the three of them jump. Lucy hugged her books closer to her chest, looking both ways like she was about to cross a very busy street instead of joining the migrating students in the hallway.

"Alright, see you guys later, IF I survive."

Nico waved at Hazel before moving to his next class, looking distressed.

Don't you guys have Friday 13th? In the sense of bad luck, I mean.

Not precisely that, but Romans were always superstitious. The thing about starting with the right foot, or waking up on the wrong side of bed was from Rome, where they considered the left side bad luck. Or saying breaking a mirror carries bad luck. There were a lot of things. I heard that modern Italy now considers Friday, 17th bad luck.

Why the seventeenth?

Because the letters used to write it in Roman alphabet are XVII. If you rearrange it, it looks like VIXI.

What is the problem with VIXI?

In Latin it means "I have lived". The use of past tense might suggest death.

And why Friday?

I honestly don't know.

So, where did 13th come from?

Greece?

Are you saying that if something isn't Roman, it is Greek?

Uh, no. I mean that they don't like the 13th either, because it messes up the perfect number.

The perfect number being...?

Twelve. The goddess Vesta stopped being a main Olympian because with the addition of Bacchus, this would bring their number to 13, which is not good, so she stepped down. At least, that's what she told Percy, we weren't there to witness. But if you look around, 12 is very common. 12 months, 12 signs, 12 labors of Hercules.

Hm, I wonder why.

I think no one really found an answer.

***

Nico glared at Lucy, keeping his voice barely a whisper.

"Of course not! First of all, who Light thought he was to decide people's lives?"

Lucy hissed back, barely leaning in his direction.

"He was someone trying to make a difference. Can you say you wouldn't do the same?"

Nico took a deep breath and Hazel held her own, glancing at her brother worried.

I wish Lucy would stop talking; she may not know, but she's very close to a touchy subject.

Do you think he would tell her about his powers?

Nico's way too careful to slip like this. But I'm not sure if it won't make he overthink.

"He's an arrogant guy who thinks he's a chosen one, trying to make a difference he had no right to!"

Lucy raised her eyes to see if the teacher was not watching them. Judging it safe, she turned to Nico.

"He's a reason to be arrogant, he's the smartest character in the series."

"Guys now isn't the right time..."

Nico interrupted Hazel, not taking his eyes from Lucy.

"L knew who he was almost from the start, he just couldn't prove it fast enough."

"L was trained as a detective, Light was only a high-school student like us."

"So if he's genius, he can do whatever he wants?"

"He had principles, he didn't do 'whatever he wants'."

"Oh, he had principles on how to kill people."

"On how to kill criminals, the ones who had already decided to take someone else's life."

"So you think it's okay to kill someone if they already killed? To kill in self-defense is one thing, but he was an executioner. No one has the right to carelessly choose who to kill, even if that person is a killer. He was just as bad as the criminals he killed."

Nico sighed heavily, his shoulders dropping in exhaustion.

She's forcing him to get close.

Close to what?

His own demons.

"He had a method, it wasn't carelessly. He was on a mission, and he knew he wasn't perfect."

"Guys, please..."

"He thought he was the chosen one. He thought his life was worth more than others."

"He needed to stay alive because he hadn't finished his mission!"

"Can't you see? He would never finish his mission, it's impossible to 'cleanse' the world. In the end, he's just a megalomaniacal sociopath."

"What? That is absurd! We're watching Death Note again because you've obviously watched it WRONG!"

Lucy let her voice raise in the last word and sighed in defeat when the teacher called their names.

"Miss Hara, Mister di Martire and Miss Longoria, I'm sure you can finish the argument about right and wrong at the detention. Now, if you would please pay attention..."

Nico whispered with a tinge of anger.

"Thanks so much for that."

***

Once they left detention, Lucy shot a glare at Nico and waved at Hazel before going to search Vanessa to explain why she hasn't shown up on practice. Once alone, Hazel tried to grab her brother's arm.

"Nico..."

"I'm okay."

"No, I don't think you are. You know Lucy is not like us, she has no idea of the burden of killing someone."

"For her it's so obvious; if you kill, someone else gains the right of killing you."

"Nico..."

"I need to go."

She watched him go, her heart squeezing in anguish.

I'm sorry, I don't know how to help you.

And I don't know how to help him.

I think... I think he needs to help himself.

SUNDAY, 15th January

Well, this is awkward.

They could at least put some music.

I don't feel comfortable asking it.

I'm learning more about Regina than I feel comfortable with.

When Reyna called Hazel asking if she was free to accompany her to a stab;e just outside the city, saying her sister would give them a ride, Hazel wasn't expecting the ride to be that quiet. Even the sisters' body language screamed distance, with Hazel in the back trying to pretend she wasn't there, after her first attempts to start a conversation were quickly cut.

Do you think is it going to be the same to go back?

I was hoping we could try and sleep? It's not like they would notice.

***

Once they were already on the trail indicated by one of the workers, Hazel on a palomino horse and Regina on a chestnut, it was when the former spoke.

"So, you and Hylla...?"

"Hilda."

"Right, sorry. Anyway, what was that all about?"

"Hilda and Regina hadn't been on the same page for some time now. And I'm not sure who wants to take the first step the least."

"Hannah thought Regina lived alone, not with her sister."

"Hilda's been living in a different city. For some reason we still don't know, she decided to come here and is currently searching up and down for a suitable apartment. Since she still goes back to her city for work, the search isn't consistent."

"Why not search for a house?"

"For just the two of us? It seems like a waste of space."

"You could rent the other rooms for students."

"And drag someone to their cold war?"

"Well... then you could get a pet?"

"That's... not a bad idea, to be honest."

Reyna stayed quiet in concentration, staring straight ahead.

Does Regina like pets?

I think you're under the impression Regina and I were close friends. I didn't even know she HAD a sister.

Well, yes, but it's a touchy subject. Pets are usually a neutral topic for a conversation.

Considering I barely had space to keep a beta fish, it's not like I had much to discuss on this topic.

Do you want to get a pet now?

I... I don't know, I wasn't considering it. I mean, I could get one, but what? A cat? A hamster?

As long as you don't keep it in a tiny tiny cage...

I could name it Hazel.

... Do you say that because...?

Well, if you leave...

When. I'm still thinking about when, I can't consider an 'if'.

Well, then WHEN you leave, I think I'm gonna miss talking to you. Maybe I can name my next pet Hazel so I still feel like I have a friend to talk with.

That's so sweet... thank you!

"Regina is considering it."

Hazel distractedly turned to Reyna.

"What?"

"Regina is considering the idea of a pet. She read somewhere that dogs who went to war can be adopted by civilians. Or maybe pit bulls, that usually get put down because the probability of adoption is low."

Oh, I have an idea, if they're up for it!

Hazel explained it to Reyna.

"So, foster? Just help them heal and adapt to the idea of a home so they can be easily adopted? I mean, it's not a bad idea, I just don't know if they would have the time for it. Of course, if Regina is interested, I could present the idea to Hilda..."

"Great, so I have another question."

"Ask away."

"Are going to keep this snail pace or are we gonna ride for real?"

Without waiting for Reyna's answer, Hazel nudged her horse forward, faster, until she could barely hear anything apart from the wind rushing through her hair.

Ooookay, that's fast, that's really really fast!

I know!

Ooooh my Lord, maybe way too fast!

***

They were on their way back, at a slow pace so the horses could recover.

"By the way, have you spoken to Nico?"

Reyna raised an eyebrow.

"Nico? No, why?"

"I'm worried about him, and he hasn't been answering my calls."

"I know he's your brother, but you know as well as I do that he's not very social. If you try to smother him, he'll escape."

"I'm not trying to smother him."

Reyna didn't answer, but her expression to Hazel spoke volumes.

I'm not... right?

I don't know. I don't have siblings to know what is acceptable and what's smothering.

Nanni is your sibling.

Yeah, and I've known that a total of what, three weeks? We totally have a healthy and stereotypical sibling relationship.

"But speaking of Nico, the other day he called me."

Hazel turned to look at Reyna so fast that her horse protested when she pulled the reins.

"HE called you? Why? When?"

Reyna tapped her chin, trying to remember.

"I guess... a week ago? Maybe more. It surprised me as well. But in general lines, he was freaking out because he now has friends and he doesn't believe they're for real."

"Oh."

If it means anything, I think you did the right thing by asking Niel to keep an eye on him.

Hazel kept looking straight ahead, even if she could feel Reyna's eyes on her.

"Hazel? What was that?"

Turning her head to the side, Hazel pretended to be looking at something on the other side of the trail.

"I don't know. It could have been a dog? Or a rabbit?"

Reyna sped up her horse and pulled the reins, getting in front of Hazel's horse and forcing it to stop, when Hazel still wouldn't meet her eyes.

"You know I'm asking about that little 'oh' you did just now."

Hazel shrugged, praying for Reyna to drop the subject.

"It's an 'oh'."

"No, it was an 'oh no, I've been discovered'."

"No, it wasn't."

I'm a terrible liar, but you're worse.

I can't lie to Reyna, I never tried to.

Why?

She's my superior, do you know how much trouble would I be if she caught me on a lie inside the legion?

But you're not in the legion right now?

I'm not a natural liar, do you know how much trouble it was manipulating the mist at first?

"Hannah, I'm a praetor. Trust me, I had more than my share of people trying to pass as innocent bystanders when in reality they were the masterminds behind the chaos. Your 'oh' was a guilty one, and I don't need my dogs to know that? What is it that you did?"

Well, since you can't lie, you have two options. Either be honest and tell her the truth about why Niel started hanging around Nanni or be honest and tell her you don't feel comfortable sharing what you know.

Hazel sighed, raised her head and held Reyna's eyes.

"You have to promise this doesn't leave this place."

***

Reyna's eyes were hard. And after training with the wolved and being a praetor for years, her glare could make a SEAL cower.

"Nico would not appreciate you meddling in his life to this extend, especially behind his back."

Hazel gave a light kick on her horse when it tried to stop to eat, encouraging it to keep moving.

"I know, believe me, I know."

"And I'm not familiar with... what's the mortal's name?"

"Nico's mortal? Nanni."

"But if he's anything like Nico, I doubt he would appreciate the interference, even if it's based on good intentions."

"I know! But if it helps, I only asked Niel to keep an eye on Nico if he got bullied, being friends was his idea and initiative. And I met Lucy only after she became friends with Nico, so I had no hand in that friendship."

"Isn't Lucy that short girl who's sometimes in a cheerleader outfit?"

"Yes."

"Don't Will seat with the cheerleaders sometimes?"

Hazel's face fell.

Do you think...?

I mean, it IS possible, if that Will guy cares about Nico as much as you do. Or almost as much.

Reyna's lips twisted like she tasted something bitter.

"Maybe he did have reasons to not believe in those sudden friendships."

Bullshit!

Hannah!

She hasn't been around to see; how can she dare to judge? Did she see everything they have done for him? For us? Just because it didn't start 'natural', doesn't mean it's not true. It's like saying an IVF baby is not a real baby.

A what baby?

I'll explain later, but you got what I meant.

You're right, I did.

It was Hazel's turn to cut Reyna's path and stare her down.

"I don't think so. Ok, MAYBE Will asked Lucy to keep an eye on Nico like I asked Niel, but she became his friend for real. She even said something to me, I don't remember the exact words, but it was something on the lines of being impossible not to care about him now that she actually knew him. I've seen how both Niel and Lucy act around Nico. I not only believe they really befriended him, and ME, they also became friends."

She shook her head in disbelief when Hannah started listing the most important moments.

You were right, it was bullshit.

Hazel! Language! You're gonna make me blush!

Stop it.

Hahahahahaha.

"Hades' helmet, they drove us to five different airports until we found sits for Los Angeles. We did a movie marathon. Lucy took me with her for Thanksgiving while Niel dragged Nico. Lucy lets Nico copy most of her homework. Niel brought me chicken soup when Lucy heard from Nico that I was sick. You CANNOT convince me these friendships aren't for real."

Reyna's expression was unreadable, but Hazel kept going.

"They're good people, they worry about their friends. Maybe they never had a reason to start talking with Nanni before, but it doesn't mean they don't care about him now. No one who's just 'keeping an eye' spend that much time next to their target. They don't provoke, joke around, feed, help and pretty much adopt as much as they have done with both of us."

"I see. But are they friends with Nico or with Nanni? Will Nanni be alone once we leave?"

NO. Because I'll still be here. I won't leave him, just like I'm almost sure he wouldn't leave me.

"Hannah will never abandon Nanni, she said so herself."

And I don't think their friendship is that weak. Like you said, no one does all that if they don't care deeply. And if they do, I'll be there to give both of them an earful.

A\N: So... hi? Anyway, when it seemed that my writer's block had left... two days after I published my last chapter my keyboard decided to go on a half-strike. Several keys don't work, like A, ctrl, fn, X, delete... at the present moment, I stole/borrowed my roommate's keyboard so I could at least finish this one (and as much as I want to write, I can't do 3k of words per chapter on my phone). So the next update will take at least a couple of weeks (also, it's a Leo's chapter, sooo... you know the drill). So, as a little treat, I did a little snippet that I'm not sure about turning into a fanfic (because I barely can keep up with my fic). It's more like an AU, actually. So, any of you ever saw the video of the girl proposing to a nurse while seriously out of it from anesthesia? I won't put the link here since it doesn't work, but searching for "girl proposes to nurse anesthesia" should take you there. Anyway, I was rewatching it after years and somehow... I put Percabeth in it? I must warn you, the speech is a bit different, since they're supposed to be adults almost at their thirties, but you can read at your own risk.

"You know, there are moments that you can drop work like, half an hour before a fucking surgery!"

Annabeth motioned for silence with her finger while she kept listening to her colleague speaking on the phone. Piper sighed in annoyance, before opening Annabeth's purse and throwing her stress ball on her head. Unfortunately to her friend, Piper not only had an excellent aim, but she also had a hell of an arm.

"Shit!"

With the unexpected impact, Annabeth accidentally dropped her phone, which bounced on her bed and fell to the floor, where her roommate was quick to snatch it and end the call, turning it off and putting it far from Annabeth's reach, who was glaring furiously at her friend.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?"

"Me!? You're about to go into fucking surgery and you're worried about work!? What the fuck is wrong with you!?"

"You could have hurt me!"

Piper's smile was dripping with sarcasm.

"Lucky for you, you're already at the hospital. Besides, it was your stress ball, not a fucking can of Pepsi!"

She followed that statement with a hard glare to Annabeth, who decided to ignore her friend's jab since it had been more than a year ago and she was severely sleep-deprived that week.

"You mean my stress ball that was inside my purse? So you just decided to go through my things?"

"I merely decide to help the stress ball fill its purpose."

"Stress balls are for squeezing, which I'm sure you know since you were the one to gift me the set."

"Its alternate purpose."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, annoyed with her friend and bored out of her mind.

"Yeah, right."

Just her luck to develop appendicitis when there was a promotion on the horizon. She tried to find a more comfortable position, cursing her stupid appendix and her stupid friend who dragged her to a stupid doctor who scheduled a stupid surgery in the worst timing ever.

"You know, if you could look away from work for five minutes, you might even get laid."

"Not this again! How many times do I have to say it, I don't need to get laid."

Like her rotten luck would have it, a male nurse and the anesthesiologist that had introduced herself an hour ago chose that moment to enter her room. Feeling mortified, she shot a murderous look to Piper before masking her expression. Luckily, neither had heard her, or they decided to pretend they didn't. Either way, she was grateful.

The anesthesiologist introduced herself again and revised with Annabeth all the stages she should expect. While she talked, Annabeth caught Piper getting up out of the corner of her eye. Her friend decided to walk until she could stand behind the male nurse. Worried about her friend's intention, Annabeth spared her a glance, only to see the brunette with both thumbs-up while mouthing "Nice!".

Resisting the urge to facepalm, the blonde decided that ignoring her best friend until the next decade was in her best interest and focused on the male nurse, who the anesthesiologist said would keep her company until the drugs took full effect. She would take this secret with her to the grave, but she agreed with Piper. Even if he wasn't exactly the type she would seek, he was nice.

She risked another glance at Piper and instantly regretted it. Something must have shown on her face when she looked at the male nurse because her friend was sporting an unbearable smirk, before pointing to the nurse and winking. Praying that only her roommate could read her like a book, she observed the anesthesiologist hooking the IV with the drugs into her arm.

= A week later =

Annabeth felt like watching a car crash. She could not look away even if she wanted. The more the video kept going, the more she calculated how deep she should dig her grave.

"Oh. My. God. Please, pleease tell me you didn't publish this anywhere."

The video on Piper's phone with her drugged ass yelling how much in love she was with the male nurse and how they should get married at a castle because she wanted to feel like a princess continued, now with her having an argument with herself about napkins' color.

"I did not."

Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that she only had to erase this video and find a way to erase her friend's memory.

"Oh, thank God!"

"But I have several copies lying around in different sources so this gem will never be lost."

Annabeth handed Piper her phone, glaring weakly since she still felt a bit out of it, even a week after the surgery.

"I hate you."

Piper gladly accepted her phone back and Annabeth knew her smirk would take years to disappear if it ever did.

"No, you don't. Anyway, what are you going to do next?"

Annabeth accepted the bottle of water her brunette handed her, before sitting next to her on the couch so they could share the blanket for their movie night.

"What do you mean?"

"You did promise a random nurse you were going to marry him."

Annabeth groaned, taking a swing from the bottle a second later.

"Don't remind me."

"I mean, it could have been worse."

"Really? How so? Care to enlighten me?"

"You could have proclaimed to half the hospital that you wanted to eat him up instead of marrying a, and I quote, 'a fine ass specimen of a man'."

The blonde groaned when her friend repeated which she knew, thanks to that damned video, were her own words.

"We're never speaking of this episode again, promise me."

Annabeth could feel Piper's judgment on her voice when she answered.

"Oh, so we're pretending this never happened? I thought you were better than that."

Annabeth nodded, knowing she would rather perform a self-surgery before stepping foot at the hospital after that humiliation, but she was not raised to act like a coward for something that was out of her control.

"You're right, I need to apologize."

"I was going to say that you need to put a ring on iiiiiiiit!"

Piper tried to dive for cover from Annabeth's pillow attacks, but ended up on the floor with her legs still tangled with the blanket.

"Stitches! Remember your stitches!"

"Beg for mercy first, you bitch!"