Chapter 21:

I Save The Lives of Dead People

HAZEL'S POV

One moment Hazel was minding her own business, calmly reading the newspaper (she still didn't feel completely connected to the modern world), and the next she was standing, disoriented and confused, in a place she had hoped she'd never see again. It was the same island where Gaea had told her that she needed a human sacrifice, the place where her mother offered her life, the place where Hazel had accidentally killed them both when she collapsed the ground beneath them. Except that it was still intact.

She blinked hard, looking around, wondering if she was having another flashback. She hadn't had one for many years, but it was possible. Still, it didn't feel the same. It felt more like she was actually there, experiencing it for the first time.

"Hello again, child," whispered a cold female voice.

Hazel nearly fainted at the mere sound of that voice. She hadn't heard it for many years, and she never expected to again.

"Remember me?" Gaea asked as Hazel turned slowly to see a huge, sleeping face protruding form the sand.

"H-how could I forget?" Hazel yelled defiantly, trying to sound brave.

"I shall rise again," she proclaimed. "And I need a human sacrifice to raise my son Alcyoneus."

It's just like last time, Hazel thought. This time, though, she would just sacrifice herself and no one else would have to die for her.

Suddenly she wheeled around at the sound of her name being called by someone who definitely didn't belong in this scene.

Frank.

And standing next to him, Sammy Valdez and her own mother.

"I'm only kidding, child," Gaea laughed a horrible laugh that shook the mountains. "I will need three human sacrifices this time."

At that point, Hazel literally sank to her knees and let out a sob.

It couldn't be. She couldn't choose two people to sacrifice, she could sacrifice anyone but herself. Somehow she'd have to find a way out of this.

"Frank, Sammy, Mother..." she called helplessly in the others' direction.

"Save yourself, Hazel," Frank called into the wind. Sammy and her mother nodded their agreement.

Think, Hazel, think, she commanded herself. She'd been in tough situations like this before, and she had gotten out of this situation.

A small voice in the back of her head said, "yes, but you didn't get out of this particular situation very well."

And it was true. She had gotten both her mother and herself killed last time this had happened. Still, times changed. She had been younger, less experienced, and she hadn't quite understood what was happening.

And she hadn't known magic.

She stood up, brushed the sand from her clothes, and turned to face Gaea, putting on what she hoped was an expression of confidence.

"Choose your sacrifices, Hazel Levesque," Gaea commanded, "You can pick yourself along with two of your foolish little friends or mother, or you can be wise and save yourself. Let them die, and you shall live."

"I-I'll let choose the other three. I want to live," Hazel announced, hardly daring to say the words. She hoped with everything she had that her plan would work, or else she knew she'd wish she would've died.

Gaea's sandy lips curled into a small smile. "Good choice, Hazel Levesque. You are wiser than most; I expected you to be one of those noble little brats they call heroes. I was obviously mistaken. You could be a true asset to me one day."

Hazel could hardly restrain herself during Gaea's little speech. Those "noble little brats" WERE the heroes, and they were a whole lot wiser than Gaea would ever be. Still, it'd ruin her plan if she spoke out against the Earth Goddess.

"What are you waiting for?" Gaea asked impatiently.

"What?" Hazel asked, taken aback.

"Well, aren't you going to kill them?"

"Oh, um, yeah," Hazel replied awkwardly. She had expected Gaea to want to do the deed herself, but this would actually make it a whole lot easier.

What she wanted to do would take a lot of effort and concentration; she took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself, and started to visualize the scene she wanted to project.

It wasn't hard. She would never forget the way the ground caved in beneath her; she'd never forget the sound of her mother's screams or Gaea's yells of fury. She painted the picture clearly in her mind, putting herself back in the middle of that horrific scene.

When she had it practically glued to the back of her mind, she opened her eyes and stared straight ahead, concentrating with all her might on projecting the picture forward.

The rocks began to rumble. Or, it sounded like they were rumbling. It was an eerie feeling; the sound of an earthquake echoed all around them, seemingly from deep within the ground, but everything was still.

She mouthed "Run!" to the others and they took off as the ground appeared to crack beneath them. She shielded her friends with the scene she was projecting, allowing them to get away safely.

"Finally!" yelled Gaea triumphantly. "But... Alcyoneus? Where are you?"

Hazel couldn't help but grin as the fake magic scene began to fade away and her friends were not to be seen.

"Nooo! You little brat! You've fooled me! Oh, this is not the last you'll see of me, Hazel Levesque!"

And just like that, Hazel was back in the living room, sitting on the couch with the newspaper next to her, no proof at all of what just happened except for the sweat drenching her face and back.

***

FRANK'S POV

All Frank wanted was a snack.

When he got up from the couch to go and grab something from the cabinet, he was intending to open it and find it full of cereal, chips and crackers.

He was definitely not intending on opening the cabinet door to a long, wide, red tunnel filled with the most bizarre array of objects he had ever seen.

Directly in front of him was a narrow, flaming ring that he most definitely could not fit through. The fire was reaching to the edge and bottom of the tunnel, so he also wouldn't fit around or underneath.

Snapping back to reality, he slammed the cabinet doors closed, hoping he was just imagining things.

Unfortunately, he wasn't. The tunnel was still there when he peeked back through the cabinets. Maybe it just was another one of Leo's stupid tricks.

That's when he heard Hazel. She must have been far away, because he couldn't see her past all of the objects. But it was definitely her calling.

"Frank? Frank, help! Quickly!" her voice called.

Without a second thought, he transformed into a bird and shot through the ring. Right after the ring, he flew over a seemingly bottomless chasm and thankfully landed safely on the other side.

He still couldn't see Hazel, but she kept on calling, and so he kept going.

The next obstacle in his way was a glass tank filled with water that covered the whole width and height of the tunnel. Looking over the tank, he at first saw no way to get in. There weren't any doors, handles, hinges, knobs, anything as far as he could see.

The only idea he had was to make a whole in the glass. He could use his beak, or turn into a rhino or something with horns.

He looked around to see if letting all of the water loose would be a good idea. Not many feet behind him, the bottomless chasm sat waiting. At least he knew that the tunnel would not completely flood, because it would all flow down there. He'd have to be something strong, though, to resist the oncoming current.

Starting to get tired from all of the shape-shifting, Frank tried to see through the tank to catch of glimpse of Hazel, but the water and glass distorted his view too much. As he stood there in the form of an eagle, the reality of the situation started to sink in and he couldn't help but wonder what was happening. I mean, one moment everything was normal and the next Hazel was stuck at the end of some crazy tunnel inside their pantry.

It wasn't like life as a demigod was always completely normal, but he couldn't remember anything quite this bizarre. It definitely wasn't one of Leo's tricks; he wasn't that good. Was he somehow doing a mission for the gods that he wasn't even aware of, and they were just luring him there by capturing Hazel? Was Hazel even there, or was it just a fake of her voice? Was it a test of some kind?

"Frank, hurry! Please!" When Hazel's voice sounded again, he left his doubts behind. No matter what the reason for this seemingly random quest, he had to save Hazel. And if it wasn't really her, well... he could never be sure, so he had to try.

Drawing from the little stronghold of strength he had left in his gut and calling on his father, Mars, for a little extra help, he transformed himself into a rhino and charged forward with all his might. As his horns came in contact with the glass, it shattered all around him with deafening crash. He stood his ground as the surge of water and bits glass of pushed around him. The current was so strong that it nearly dragged his massive form backwards into the chasm behind him, but he stood it through. He easily broke through the sheet of glass on the other side, only to be bombarded by a herd of all-too-familiar creatures.

Frank had cleansed the city of Venice of all the katobleps a few years ago on their quest to the House of Hades to save Hazel, so he supposed this shouldn't be too different.

Except for the small fact that he currently did not have his bow and arrows, Hazel's spatha (he had used that to defeat the katobleps last year) or the Blessing of Mars. There weren't as many as last time, but he had virtually no way to defend himself with the exception of his own horns. He wasn't even sure if rhino horns could disintegrate a monster.

He wracked his brain, a number of possibilities racing through his mind in a matter of seconds. Still, there seemed to be something wrong with each one. He could have a go with his rhino horns and see if they would suffice, but he wasn't sure if they would. He could transform into a bird and fly away, though the monsters would probably follow him and could potentially harm Hazel when he reached her, and he wasn't willing to risk that. He could try to rip them apart with the teeth and claws of a lion, bear or tiger, but he wasn't sure if he could work quickly enough to get them all before they got him. He could transform into a dragon, but...

Finally, Frank couldn't think of anything wrong with that idea. With a dragon he would have nearly impenetrable hide, claws like daggers, and of course the ability to breath fire. Without hesitating, he morphed himself into a great dragon.

He let loose a few roaring breaths of fire, meanwhile clawing anything within his reach. In a matter of minutes, they were all laying on the ground, helpless, as they began to disintegrate. Heaving, Frank looked ahead, wondering what obstacle he would possibly have to face next.

Not far ahead, Frank saw with a huge sigh of relief, Hazel was sitting against the wall. He had finally reached Hazel at the end of the tunnel.

But right as he spotted her, she let out a scream of fright. Frank looked around wildly, trying to see the source of her terror. When he didn't find anything, he grunted, letting out a stream of sparks. She screamed again, and Frank realized that Hazel was screaming at him. After all, he was still in the form of a dragon and was frequently letting out sparks.

He didn't have an ounce of energy left in his body. He wasn't sure if he could manage the transformation back to his human form, and yet it seemed like he had to. He glanced up at Hazel, trying to send her a message through his eyes, hoping she would notice their familiarity.

She didn't.

Without thinking, Frank let out a huff of frustration, which in turn sent a column of fire shooting to a place about five inches away from where Hazel was sitting. She squealed again, grabbing something out of her coat pocket.

With a jolt of fear and surprise, Frank realized it was the piece of firewood that was his lifeline. She was holding it in front of her, waving it tantalizingly, as if daring him to light it on fire so that she could throw it at him and hurt him.

Something wasn't right. Hazel would never do that... would she? She had said she'd guard it with her life; in the least, he didn't expect her to purposefully try to defend herself by burning it. It seemed wrong, and yet there she was, right in front of him, holding it out to save herself.

Channeling all of his anger, shock and fear, Frank drew up enough energy to transform himself back to human form. He fell to his knees, panting, nothing left in his body.

"Oh, Frank! I didn't know it was you!" Hazel screamed, running toward him and flinging her arms around him.

And then, it was gone as quickly as it had come, and Frank found himself kneeling on his kitchen floor.

"Hazel?" he called out faintly but urgently.

"Yeah?" she asked, rushing in, looking sweaty and exhausted herself.

"Oh thank the gods," Frank cried out and ran to hug her. She wasn't holding the firewood, and Frank knew that it was in their bedroom, guarded by a number of security measures all of his friends had chipped in, sealed off with an oath made by Hazel.

He vaguely remembered wondering why she was so sweaty herself, before he lost consciousness right there in Hazel's arms.

***

There you go! I didn't quite as long to update this time, I hope. Because I feel like it, I'll dedicate the next chapter to the first person who guesses my favorite book series. Hint- it's not PJO or HoH. Those probably come in second. Hint #2- it shouldn't be too hard if you look at my profile. :)

Tell me what you think of the chapter :)

Enjoy your spring break if you have it this week (I do!)

~evelyn