Jabbas minions cruelly threw them off the ship without Annabeth. They'd kept her on the ship to please Jabba.

Hazel clenched her fists as she stepped into the harsh sunlight of Tatooine. The desert planet stretched endlessly before her, its golden dunes looking almost peaceful despite the chaos of their situation. She could feel the tension tightening in her chest—the mission was clear, but so daunting. Get Annabeth back.

Her heart pounded as she moved to join Frank and Percy. They were a few steps ahead, eyes scanning for any sign of where Jabba might be hiding. The air felt thick with the scent of burnt metal and the dust of the galaxy's most unforgiving planet.

"Do you think we can do this?" Hazel asked quietly, turning her gaze to Frank, who was walking beside her.

"We'll have to," Frank replied, glancing at her with determination in his eyes. "Annabeth is counting on us."

Hazel nodded, her own resolve hardening. They had never faced anything like Jabba before, but she had faced worse. The dead. The monsters. The ancient curses. If she could survive all that, she could help rescue her friend.

She took a deep breath. "Let's move."

They picked up their pace, moving toward the city at the edge of the dunes, a labyrinth of dangerous streets where they would have to blend in if they had any hope of finding Annabeth. There was no time to waste.

As they approached the ship, Frank hesitated for a moment, his face scrunching with confusion. "Wait, where's Percy?"

Hazel's gaze snapped toward the ship. "Jabba must have kept him in the carbonite for too long," she said, tension rising. "We need to free him."

They rushed up the ramp, where Percy was locked in a solid block of carbonite. The ship was eerily quiet, the hum of the engine almost drowned out by the weight of their urgency.

"Ready?" Frank asked, his voice low.

Percy, barely conscious, barely aware, nodded. Frank and Hazel both moved to the controls, and with a careful twist and a soft hiss, the carbonite block cracked open, revealing Percy, his limbs stiff, his expression still frozen in a grimace of pain.

"Percy!" Hazel gasped, rushing to his side as Frank caught his arm.

"Get me out of here," Percy croaked, his voice hoarse. They quickly helped him out, but before they could even start breathing a sigh of relief, the ship lurched suddenly, shaking violently underfoot.

The door slammed open, and they could hear the sounds of Jabba's men rushing in. Their hearts skipped a beat.

"We don't have time for this!" Hazel hissed. "Annabeth... she's still here! We can't leave without her."

But as they turned to rush back to find her, the plan had already shifted. The crew members started dragging them, pushing them out of the ship, forcing them off and away from the mission. Frank and Hazel could only watch as the ship's door slammed shut behind them, leaving them on the barren planet, Percy still recovering from his time in carbonite.

"What... what just happened?" Hazel breathed, looking around in disbelief. They couldn't go back in—not now. Not without facing the full wrath of Jabba's palace.

Percy groaned beside them, still trying to shake off the effects of the carbonite. "We've got to save Annabeth."

"We will," Frank said, though his voice was strained. "But first, we need to figure out where she is... and how we get past Jabba's guards."