CHAPTER IV

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HAZEL WAS TRYING NOT TO PANIC. She hopped down the stairs, taking two at a time without making a sound. Somebody, or something, was invading the ship, and either wanted to:

A. Eat her for breakfast with a side of Frank,

B.Kill her mercilessly and take her friends hostage, or

C. Have tea and crumpets and chat about the weather with them.

She shook her head. No wonder nobody called her the optimist. Though, tea and crumpets sound awfully nice....

Her sneakers made small squeaks on the floor as she stalked behind Frank. Then she heard the voices.

"Shhh, Hank! They will hear!" It sounded more like growls than words, kind of like when you teach a dog "to talk".

A grunt was followed by a scccccrreeeaaaattcchhh, like nails on a chalkboard. It stopped as a dull thud sounded, and then a cry of pain. Looks like somebody just got sucker-punched in a not-so-nice place.

"Gosh darn it, Hank! I told you to be quiet! And what did the mistress say? 'Not a scratch on that statue' Guess what you do. Now it looks like someone sliced open her stomach!"

Hazel covered her mouth as she gasped with realization. They were trying to steal the statue! The statue that Annabeth risked her life for, the statue that could heal the rift between Romans and Greeks! If they lost it now, they would never win this bloody war.

There was some grumbling. "No Hank, I really could care less whether or not you had demigod blood with your Fruit Loops this morning! Get to work!" Hazel held her breath as she peaked around the corner of the stable.

The image that greeted her made her wish she hadn't.

The bay doors were open, and two telchines, sea demons and forgers of the deep, were bungee-tying the statue to about two dozen Venti. She whipped her her head back in the hall.

She flinched as six pairs of eyes turned to her. "Storm spirits. Statue. Stealing." She stuttered.

She couldn't stop her eyes from wandering over to Leo, who was fiddling with metal scraps. The poor kid looked like he hadn't slept in a month. His eyes were puffy, face smeared with soot and grime, hair smoking. Right now, he would normally be making some corny joke about Athena being smarter than a bunch of espresso drinks(A.N In the Lost Hero....) or something like that. But now he was shuffling his feet, looking at anything but people.

Just like Sammy did when he was worried, she thought. She mentally slapped herself. What's wrong with me! I can't think like this, I have Frank! She noticed Frank glaring at her. Oops. Staring a little bit to long.

She snapped back to reality. "Alrighty, on three-"

Jason stopped her. "Why wait?"

Together, they charged into the room and all chaos broke lose. The telchines screamed-more like a high pitched yip- and fell over themselves as they tried to get their furry rumps moving. Leo shook himself out of a daze and yelled, "FLAME ON!" and his whole body was engulfed in licking red flames. Jason yelled as he summoned the winds and started war on the Venti . Giant eagle Frank screeched and wrestled with a storm spirit. Piper managed to convince another storm spirit that he was naked, and he un-harnessed himself from the statue and shot away screaming. Nico yelled as he summoned a dozen dead soldiers and helped Jason. Hazel laughed as Jason scooted away from Nico and looked at him warily.

Hazel, meanwhile, was fighting the two telchines with Leo. He was fighting with a hammer, thick flames running along his body. She slashed and hacked, trying to get through the monsters thick skin. Hank, Hazel thought his name was, had a silver sword and handled it pretty well. She grunted as their swords connected, sending shock waves through her arms.

She shouted, "Take this!" and stabbed him in the snout. Little yellow powder rained down all over her, sticking to her sweaty skin. She heard a sickening CRACK as Leo brought his hammer over the other's skull. He grinned like a madman and spit yellow powder out of his mouth.

"That's what I'm talking about!" His smile dissolved when he saw the others. Jason was passed out to the side-Why was he always getting knocked out?-while Piper tried to give him some nectar. Frank was leaning against the wall, a gash across his forehead. Nico was stumbling around, looking like a drunk man as he picked up his sword and started sawing away at the bungee cords. She sighed. At least the Venti were gone. Leo ran over to Jason and Hazel followed.

"Will he be alright?" She asked, looking at Jason. His forehead had a deep purple hue to it, but his breathing was steady.

Piper looked at her boyfriend, worry etched into her normally calm features. "I think so. If he keeps getting knocked out like this, he might start to have permanent brain damage."( A.N. >:-) JK LOL I wouldn't do that! :P )

Jason stirred, opening one eye cautiously. All eyes turned to his sweaty face. "Was I knocked out again?"

Piper laughed. "Yes, the almighty Sparky was knocked out for the fourth time in a row."

He groaned and sat up. "Why, in Zeus's name," He paused as he rubbed his eyes, "is it always me?" He looked at Hazel all serious, and she laughed. Soon the others joined in, and Hazel realized something.

Maybe they would win this war, after all.

XD

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YOU LIKE? I hope so. Sorry about not updating.........got lazy. I'm still human. :P

Song I'm listening to:

FEEL AGAIN: ONE REPUBLIC

Next up: PERCYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

WHOOOOOOOOOOO PPERRRCCAABBETHTHH!!!!

(fangirl moment :D)

Stay awesome, jellybeans! :)

<>~EagleEye~<>

XD

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