𝐖𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐂! percy jackson

x. A Big Pile of Schist

━━ chapter ten
a big pile of schist

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

━━Fiona woke up abruptly. Someone was giving her a shake, and she was about to snap at whoever dared, but when she saw the worried look on Percy's face, she frowned. She didn't need to ask, however, because she heard Frank desperately trying to wake Hazel with panicked and desperate words.

"She won't wake up," Percy said. "We're trying, but━"

Fiona didn't need to be told twice. "Get us on land," she ordered the son of Neptune. He went to question her, but she just added a sharper, "Now!"

As the boat took a sharp left and rushed through the water, Fiona pushed past her fear and climbed over to the second seat. She took Hazel from Frank and held her in her arms. She shook her gently, whispering, "Hazel, come on, wake up. Come on. You're all right. Just wake up. You're still here..."

"What's wrong with her?" Frank asked, worried. "Is she okay? Is it the seasickness━"

"No," Fiona answered. Gods dammit, Hazel! she couldn't help but think. Stop blacking out! (easier said than done, yes, she knows, but she's over getting really worried whenever she sleeps). "Why didn't you tell me she had blacked out?"

"I thought she just fell asleep!" Frank replied back. "And you were asleep━"

"Well, you should have woken me up!" Fiona pulled Hazel more upright, brushing her curly hair out of her face. "Come on, Hazel. Time to wake up."

"She's going to be okay, isn't she?"

"Yeah ... yeah, she'll be fine ..." Fiona murmured, still shaking her lightly to wake her up. She didn't say anything else until Percy found them land to disembark. With Frank's help, she got Hazel off the boat and onto the shore.

The sky blazed with stars. Fiona knew the others were watching her with frowns, wondering what she and Hazel were hiding, but she didn't care at the moment. All she cared about was waking Hazel up from her nightmarish past.

And when she finally opened her eyes, she let out a breath of releif and sat back.

Hazel sat up groggily. They were on a cliff overlooking the beach, the ocean glinting in the moonlight about a hundred feet away. The surf washed gently against the stern of their beached boat. To their right, hugging the egde of the cliff, was a lighthouse.

"Where are we?" she asked.

Frank sighed, relieved. "Thank the gods you're awake! We're in Mendocino, about a hundred and fifty miles north of the Golden Gate."

"A hundred and fifty miles?" Hazel groaned. "I've been out that long?"

Percy kelt beside her, his shoulder brushing against Fiona's as he put his hand to Hazel's forehead as if checking for a fever. "We couldn't wake you. Finally we decided to bring you ashore. We thought maybe the seasickness━"

"It wasn't seasickness," Hazel took a deep breath.

"Yeah ..." murmured the Son of Neptune, glancing sideways at Fiona. "Fiona said the same thing ..."

She adverted her gaze, focusing on Hazel as her golden eyes dimmed in shame. Her sister gave her a small nod, and Fiona pursed her lips. "I━I haven't been honest with you," said Hazel. "What happened was a blackout. I have them once in a while."

"A blackout?" Frank took Hazel's hand, which startled her. "Is it medical? Why haven't I noticed before?"

"I try to hide it," she admitted. "Fiona knows, so does Nico ... I've been lucky so far, but it's getting worse. It's not medical ... not really. Nico says it's a side effect from my past, from where he found me."