Protecting Home: Forgotten Power, Part Two!

Chapter 3: Preparation - Hazel

PoV: Hazel

I sat in front of my cabin, watching Percy and Dex talk. They were really similar in many ways, and I thought it was good that they were talking about their past together.

Quietly, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the necklace I'd found all those weeks ago when Sophie and her friends had first come to our school. I didn't like hiding it, but something about it made me unable to leave it. The black swan charm glimmered in the new morning light, showing me my reflection.  I studied the crystal for a little while longer before signing and putting it in my pocket.

It made me upset that I couldn't tell Frank or Nico about any of this. Annabeth had said Sophie asked us not to tell anyone, but I didn't like leaving the two people closest to me in the dark. Frank had trusted me with his whole life -literally! I couldn't stand hiding this secret from him. And yet, here I was, covering it up like some horrible surprise.

Then there was Nico. I didn't understand how we could all trust him with the Athena Parthenos, and yet, when it came to elves living among humans, we had to lock it up. If you thought about it, the elves were just like us; constantly in danger that they had to hide from humans. The only difference was their "skills" and "abilities ". I cursed the gods to myself before I stood up and walked back inside my cabin.

As I silently pushed the door open, I smiled at my sleeping brother. Nico had told me about an unrest among some of the spirits - something about a powerful being who was on the brink of "collapse"- and apparently it had been haunting his dreams for the last few weeks. I was glad he was sleeping soundly again and tried to get back to my bunk on the other side of our makeshift barrier as quietly as possible.

After I laid down again, I just stared at the ceiling, knowing I wouldn't be falling asleep again by time soon. My nightmare still plagued my thoughts, and I hated that I knew it would happen. Percy was just a bit to cocky for his own good in this situation, and I knew he would probably do something crazy that would ruin our whole plan, if we even had one when we started fighting.

I don't know if I fell asleep or lost track of time, but by the time I had roused myself from my thoughts, the sun was about a quarter of the way through the sky, signalling it was about 8 in the morning. Breakfast was about to start, so I got out of bed and changed my clothes before walking to the pavilion. Almost everyone was already there, besides a few stragglers. As I looked around I saw Dex and Percy sitting and talking together at the Posiden table, and Fitz was having a conversation with the leader of the Iris cabin, who's name I could never remember. Nico was already sitting at our table, so I grabbed some food and went to join him.

 "Hey!" I said as I sat down. Nico looked at me and smiled, "Did you sleep better tonight?" Nico nodded before going back to eating. I frowned, "If everything's alright, why aren't you talking?"

 He sighed before whispering, "I know about Sophie."

 I had to try very hard to keep a straight face, "What? How?"

 "You remember that 'powerful being' some of the spirits were worried about?"

 "I thought you said they were... energetic? Enthusiastic?"

 " I thought they were, until some of them started... wailing, I guess. They seemed really panicked. As if whoever this person was, they couldn't die. Some of the others, though. They seemed happy. Like they wanted vengeance, or something. 

"Because I kinda had a bad feeling about those ones, I went to the upset ones instead. One of them said something along the lines of, 'You can't let the Moonlark die too, ' and a different girl kept repeating Sophie's name in a whisper. Didn't take long to put them together. "

 "But, how'd you know I knew? " I asked.

"That necklace you out in your pocket. Annabeth took Sophie here a couple times, and she was wearing a necklace that looked like it."

I nodded before dropping the subject, letting us finish our meal in silence. After paying tribute in the fire, I gave Nico a pat on the shoulder and told Frank I was showing some new campers around before going off to join Percy with Fitz and Dex.

"We should go to the shed!" Percy exclaimed .

"Why are you being so vague?" I asked , causing the elves to give Percy suspicious looks.

"It makes it mysterious! Come on!"

I rolled my eyes and went with Percy to the weapons shed. When we opened the door, I saw the elves' faces pale. " Um... are you guys okay? " Percy asked.

"Uh, well..." Dex trailed off before turning away.

" elves have fragile minds, " Fitz explained, "We can't really use any of these."

" Then, how do you fight? " I asked, curious.

"With these, " Fitz said, whipping a throwing star into the shed door.

"And these!" Dex exclaimed proudly, holding out some weird device he'd probably made.

Percy grabbed the throwing star out of the door and examined it, "Well, I'm no Annabeth when it comes to weapons, but these seem pretty good!"

Fitz gave a wavering smile as Percy handed the throwing star back to him, "They actually belong to our bodyguards. Elves don't use any kind of physical weapon of they can help it. We usually rely on our abilities. "

I nodded, "We're kind of like that, but all demigods are hunted as children. We're taught to always have a weapon ready. Our demigod abilities come in handy once and a while."

" So, " Percy gave a rundown of what they'd told us, "Very minimal use of weapons, rely on abilites, and have amazing throws. "

"Where'd you pick up that?" Dex asked .

"Remember when we played dodge ball in P.E?"

We laughed at the memory, but I still noticed the sadness in Dex's eyes. Of course he was sad! Sophie, his cousin, was an important part of that memory, and to his life in general. And I knew how that felt, with Nico and all.

I put my hand on his shoulder, "Hey, she'll be alright. They'll find her."

Something in his eyes made me think he didn't believe me, but he still nodded and smiled.

Percy grinned, "Yeah, they'll be fine! All of them! But they have their own job, and we have ours. Don't worry, I have a plan!"

Dex leaned over to me and whispered , "Why do I get the feeling this plan of his is crazy and almost impossible?"

I shrugged, " because it probably is. Come on, before he gets annoyed. "

Okay, so here's chapter three. I'm not 100% sure I portrayed Hazel right, so sorry if I didnt. I apologize for posting this a day late. I wrote it last night but forgot to publish it. Anyways, have a great day/night!