Percy Jackson Blood of Olympus (Percy Jackson fanfic)

XXIIIHazel

 Ever since they returned to the ship after the attack in the cave, Hazel had been feeling pretty useless. She also felt like the attack had been her fault. Hazel should have sensed that there was something in that cave. Therefore, she was grateful to Percy for sending her on her own little quest with Walt. She was quite terrified though. Hazel had never been in a battle before, she didn’t know what to expect.

She and Walt left the ship and Hazel opened a hole in the ground. They let themselves drop in and Hazel closed the opening.

“That wasn’t smart,” she said, “We should have brought a...a light.”

A flicker started somewhere next to her and she could make out Walt, holding a long, thick, wooden staff. The end was glowing. Hazel raised her eyebrows.

“Okay,” she said, “Let’s go.”

They walked in silence, there wasn’t much to talk about. Hazel didn’t know anything about Walt, but he seemed to be the complete opposite from her.

Awkwardly, she cleared her throat, “So, Walt. What’s it like sharing your body?”

For a moment, he didn’t answer, he must not have heard her. Hazel brought her eyes back to the front, feeling even more awkward.

But he sighed, “It’s very frustrating at times. Carter and Sadie have told me that Horus and and Isis never shut up. And Anubis says they don’t either.”

Hazel looked at him curiously, and he shrugged, “It does get confusing. No one can tell what thoughts are yours and which are coming from an all powerful being. Sometimes I can’t even tell.”

“Is it easier?” Hazel wondered, “To use your powers I mean.”

He nodded slowly, as if processing his answer, “In a way. But it also requires a lot of self control. It’s dangerous to feel so powerful, you begin to let power corrupt you.”

Hazel nodded, “You sound like you know what you’re talking about.”

“I am sharing a body with someone who has been alive for thousands of years.”

Silence for a few paces, then Walt asked, “So what about you? Do you like being a demigod?”

“I don’t know, really.” Hazel thought back to the first time she met her father, back in New Orleans. She remembered clutching her mother in the cave as it fell on top of them. She also remembered all the good times she had at Camp Jupiter, Frank, Percy, her friends in the fifth cohort.

“I guess it’s all right. Monsters attack you all over the place, and we almost never have happy endings, but other than that...” Hazel looked at the ground, “I haven’t really known for that long...well, not alive I haven’t known...”

She faded out as Walt studied her, “I knew there was something different about you.”

Hazel fell silent, listening to the sound of their footsteps.

Walt looked at her, "when was your birthday?"

Hazel closed her eyes, "December of 1928."

Walt just nodded. Hazel guessed that because he was partly God of the Dead, he probably already knew she had come back from the Underworld.

A rumbling shook the ground above them. It sounded like many pairs of feet were all running in the same direction. Hazel stopped, looking at the ceiling. Percy had said to do anything to trip them up...but what?

"What do we do?" She said aloud.

Walt studied the earth above them, "We're underground," he said as if just realising the fact, "I can work underground."

He thrust his lit staff forward and slammed it into the floor. All around them, hands started clawing their way out of the ground. They stood and formed ranks behind Walt, or Anubis, who ever he was.

"Hazel," he said, "open a door in the ground."

Wide-eyed, Hazel did as he asked. The zombies marched out onto the surface. Soon, Hazel heard the clattering and yelling of a battle.

When Walt turned to look at her, he looked a little disheveled.

Hazel fought down a sob, "You remind me so much of Nico."

Walt looked up, "Who?"

"My half-brother."

Walt shook his head, like he was disgusted with himself, "I hate doing that. They're supposed to be resting, not serving me. Yet they're always willing to sacrifice they're afterlife for a few moments." His voice sounded sad.

Hazel had forgotten that the Egyptians believed in the resurrection, being reunited with their bodies. In Roman mythology, it didn't really matter how damaged the body was, you still got the same afterlife.

"Let's go," Walt said, starting down the tunnel further.

Hazel followed the light of his staff. She could sense hundreds of feet moving above her, she could feel where the feet stopped. But right as they reached the edge of the enemy army, she heard a familiar voice cackle in the darkness around them.