The Son of Neptune

XVII
Hazel

HAZEL HATED BOATS.

She got seasick so easily it was more like sea plague. She hadn’t mentioned this to Percy. She didn’t want to mess up the quest, but she remembered how horrible her life had been when she and her mother had moved to Alaska – no roads. Everywhere they went, they’d had to take the train or a boat.

She’d hoped her condition might have improved since she’d come back from the dead. Obviously not. And this little boat, the Pax, looked so much like that other boat they’d had in Alaska. It brought back bad memories …

As soon as they left the dock, Hazel’s stomach started to churn. By the time they passed the piers along the San Francisco Embarcadero, she felt so woozy she thought she was hallucinating. They sped by a pack of sea lions lounging on the docks, and she swore she saw an old homeless guy sitting among them. From across the water, the old man pointed a bony finger at Percy and mouthed something like Don’t even think about it.

‘Did you see that?’ Hazel asked.

Percy’s face was red in the sunset. ‘Yeah. I’ve been here before. I … I don’t know. I think I was looking for my girlfriend.’

‘Annabeth,’ Frank said. ‘You mean, on your way to Camp Jupiter?’

Percy frowned. ‘No. Before that.’ He scanned the city like he was still looking for Annabeth until they passed under the Golden Gate Bridge and turned north.

Hazel tried to settle her stomach by thinking of pleasant things – the euphoria she’d felt last night when they’d won the war games, riding Hannibal into the enemy keep, Frank’s sudden transformation into a leader. He’d looked like a different person when he’d scaled the walls, calling on the Fifth Cohort to attack. The way he’d swept the defenders off the battlements … Hazel had never seen him like that before. She’d been so proud to pin the centurion’s badge to his shirt.

Then her thoughts turned to Nico. Before they had left, her brother had pulled her aside to wish her luck. Hazel hoped he’d stay at Camp Jupiter to help defend it, but he said he’d be leaving today – heading back to the Underworld.

‘Dad needs all the help he can get,’ he said. ‘The Fields of Punishment look like a prison riot. The Furies can barely keep order. Besides … I’m going to try to track some of the escaping souls. Maybe I can find the Doors of Death from the other side.’

‘Be careful,’ Hazel said. ‘If Gaia is guarding those doors -’

‘Don’t worry.’ Nico smiled. ‘I know how to stay hidden. Just take care of yourself. The closer you get to Alaska … I’m not sure if it’ll make the blackouts better or worse.’

Take care of myself, Hazel thought bitterly. As if there was any way the quest would end well for her.

‘If we free Thanatos,’ Hazel told Nico, ‘I may never see you again. Thanatos will send me back to the Underworld …’

Nico took her hand. His fingers were so pale, it was hard to believe Hazel and he shared the same godly father.

‘I wanted to give you a chance at Elysium,’ he said. ‘That was the best I could do for you. But now I wish there was another way. I don’t want to lose my sister.’

He didn’t say the word again, but Hazel knew that’s what he was thinking. For once, she didn’t feel jealous of Bianca di Angelo. She just wished that she had more time with Nico and her friends at camp. She didn’t want to die a second time.

‘Good luck, Hazel,’ he said. Then he melted into the shadows – just like her father had seventy years before.

The boat shuddered, jolting Hazel back to the present. They entered the Pacific currents and skirted the rocky coastline of Marin County.

Frank held his ski bag across his lap. It passed over Hazel’s knees like the safety bar on an amusement ride, which made her think of the time Sammy had taken her to the carnival during Mardi Gras … She quickly pushed that memory aside. She couldn’t risk a blackout.

‘You okay?’ Frank asked. ‘You look queasy.’

‘Seasickness,’ she confessed. ‘I didn’t think it would be this bad.’

Frank pouted like it was somehow his fault. He started digging in his pack. ‘I’ve got some nectar. And some crackers. Um, my grandmother says ginger helps … I don’t have any of that, but -’

‘It’s okay.’ Hazel mustered a smile. ‘That’s sweet of you, though.’

Frank pulled out a saltine. It snapped in his big fingers. Cracker exploded everywhere.

Hazel laughed. ‘Gods, Frank … Sorry. I shouldn’t laugh.’

‘Uh, no problem,’ he said sheepishly. ‘Guess you don’t want that one.’

Percy wasn’t paying much attention. He kept his eyes fixed on the shoreline. As they passed Stinson Beach, he pointed inland, where a single mountain rose above the green hills.

‘That looks familiar,’ he said.

‘Mount Tam,’ Frank said. ‘Kids at camp are always talking about it. Big battle happened on the summit, at the old Titan base.’

Percy frowned. ‘Were either of you there?’

‘No,’ Hazel said. ‘That was back in August, before I – um, before I got to camp. Jason told me about it. The legion destroyed the enemy’s palace and about a million monsters. Jason had to battle Krios – hand-to-hand combat with a Titan, if you can imagine.’

‘I can imagine,’ Percy muttered.

Hazel wasn’t sure what he meant, but Percy did remind her of Jason, even though they looked nothing alike. They had the same aura of quiet power, plus a kind of sadness, like they’d seen their destiny and knew it was only a matter of time before they met a monster they couldn’t beat.

Hazel understood the feeling. She watched the sun set in the ocean, and she knew she had less than a week to live. Whether or not their quest succeeded, her journey would be over by the Feast of Fortuna.

She thought about her first death, and the months leading up to it – her house in Seward, the six months she’d spent in Alaska, taking that little boat into Resurrection Bay at night, visiting that cursed island.

She realized her mistake too late. Her vision went black, and she slipped back in time.

Their rental house was a clapboard box suspended on pilings over the bay. When the train from Anchorage rolled by, the furniture shook and the pictures rattled on the walls. At night, Hazel fell asleep to the sound of icy water lapping against the rocks under the floorboards. The wind made the building creak and groan.

They had one room, with a hot plate and an icebox for a kitchen. One corner was curtained off for Hazel, where she kept her mattress and storage chest. She’d pinned her drawings and old photos of New Orleans on the walls, but that only made her homesickness worse.

Her mother was rarely home. She didn’t go by Queen Marie any more. She was just Marie, the hired help. She’d cook and clean all day at the diner on Third Avenue for fishermen, railroad workers and the occasional crew of navy men. She’d come home smelling like Pine-Sol and fried fish.

At night, Marie Levesque would transform. The Voice took over, giving Hazel orders, putting her to work on their horrible project.

Winter was the worst. The Voice stayed longer because of the constant darkness. The cold was so intense that Hazel thought she would never be warm again.

When summer came, Hazel couldn’t get enough sun. Every day of summer vacation, she stayed away from home as long as she could, but she couldn’t walk around town. It was a small community. The other kids spread rumours about her – the witch’s child who lived in the old shack by the docks. If she came too close, the kids jeered at her or threw bottles and rocks. The adults weren’t much better.

Hazel could’ve made their lives miserable. She could’ve given them diamonds, pearls or gold. Up here in Alaska, gold was easy. There was so much in the hills Hazel could’ve buried the town without half trying. But she didn’t really hate the locals for pushing her away. She couldn’t blame them.

She spent the day walking the hills. She attracted ravens. They’d caw at her from the trees and wait for the shiny things that always appeared in her footsteps. The curse never seemed to bother them. She saw brown bears, too, but they kept their distance. When Hazel got thirsty, she’d find a snowmelt waterfall and drink cold, clean water until her throat hurt. She’d climb as high as she could and let the sunshine warm her face.

It wasn’t a bad way to pass the time, but she knew eventually she’d have to go home.

Sometimes she thought about her father – that strange pale man in the silver-and-black suit. Hazel wished he’d come back and protect her from her mother, maybe use his powers to get rid of that awful Voice. If he was a god, he should be able to do that.

She looked up at the ravens and imagined they were his emissaries. Their eyes were dark and maniacal, like his. She wondered if they reported her movements to her father.

But Pluto had warned her mother about Alaska. It was a land beyond the gods. He couldn’t protect them here. If he was watching Hazel, he didn’t speak to her. She often wondered if she had imagined him. Her old life seemed as distant as the radio programmes she listened to, or President Roosevelt talking about the war. Occasionally the locals would discuss the Japanese and some fighting on the outer islands of Alaska, but even that seemed far away – not nearly as scary as Hazel’s problem.

One day in midsummer, she stayed out later than usual, chasing a horse.

She’d seen it first when she had heard a crunching sound behind her. She turned and saw a gorgeous tan roan stallion with a black mane – just like the one she’d ridden on her last day in New Orleans, when Sammy had taken her to the stables. It could’ve been the same horse, though that was impossible. It was eating something off the path, and for a second Hazel had the crazy impression it was munching one of the gold nuggets that always appeared in her wake.

‘Hey, fella,’ she called.

The horse looked at her warily.

Hazel figured it must belong to someone. It was too well groomed, its coat too sleek for a wild horse. If she could get close enough … What? She could find its owner? Return it?

No, she thought. I just want to ride again.

She got within ten feet, and the horse bolted. She spent the rest of the afternoon trying to catch it – getting maddeningly close before it ran away again.

She lost track of time, which was easy to do with the summer sun staying up so long. Finally she stopped at a creek for a drink and looked at the sky, thinking it must be around three in the afternoon. Then she heard a train whistle from down in the valley. She realized it had to be the evening run to Anchorage, which meant it was ten at night.

She glared at the horse, grazing peacefully across the creek. ‘Are you trying to get me in trouble?’

The horse whinnied. Then … Hazel must’ve imagined it. The horse sped away in a blur of black and tan, faster than forked lightning – almost too quick for her eyes to register. Hazel didn’t understand how, but the horse was definitely gone.

She stared at the spot where the horse had stood. A wisp of steam curled from the ground.

The train whistle echoed through the hills again, and she realized how much trouble she was in. She ran for home.

Her mother wasn’t there. For a second Hazel felt relieved. Maybe her mom had had to work late. Maybe tonight they wouldn’t have to make the journey.

Then she saw the wreckage. Hazel’s curtain was pulled down. Her storage chest was open and her few clothes strewn across the floor. Her mattress had been shredded as if a lion had attacked it. Worst of all, her drawing pad was ripped to pieces. Her coloured pencils were all broken. Pluto’s birthday gift, Hazel’s only luxury, had been destroyed. Pinned to the wall was a note in red on the last piece of drawing paper, in writing that was not her mother’s: Wicked girl. I’m waiting at the island. Don’t disappoint me. Hazel sobbed in despair. She wanted to ignore the summons. She wanted to run away, but there was nowhere to go. Besides, her mother was trapped. The Voice had promised that they were almost done with their task. If Hazel kept helping, her mother would be freed. Hazel didn’t trust the Voice, but she didn’t see any other option.

She took the rowboat – a little skiff her mother had bought with a few gold nuggets from a fisherman, who had a tragic accident with his nets the next day. They had only one boat, but Hazel’s mother seemed capable on occasion of reaching the island without any transportation. Hazel had learned not to ask about that.

Even in midsummer, chunks of ice swirled in Resurrection Bay. Seals glided by her boat, looking at Hazel hopefully, sniffing for fish scraps. In the middle of the bay, the glistening back of a whale raked the surface.

As always, the rocking of the boat made her stomach queasy. She stopped once to be sick over the side. The sun was finally going down over the mountains, turning the sky blood red.

She rowed towards the bay’s mouth. After several minutes, she turned and looked ahead. Right in front of her, out of the fog, the island materialized – an acre of pine trees, boulders and snow with a black sand beach.

If the island had a name, she didn’t know it. Once Hazel had made the mistake of asking the townsfolk, but they had stared at her like she was crazy.

‘Ain’t no island there,’ said one old fisherman, ‘or my boat would’ve run into it a thousand times.’

Hazel was about fifty yards from the shore when a raven landed on the boat’s stern. It was a greasy black bird almost as large as an eagle, with a jagged beak like an obsidian knife.

Its eyes glittered with intelligence, so Hazel wasn’t much surprised when it talked.

‘Tonight,’ it croaked. ‘The last night.’

Hazel let the oars rest. She tried to decide if the raven was warning her, or advising her, or making a promise.

‘Are you from my father?’ she asked.

The raven tilted its head. ‘The last night. Tonight.’

It pecked at the boat’s prow and flew towards the island.

The last night, Hazel told herself. She decided to take it as a promise. No matter what she tells me, I will make this the last night.

That gave her enough strength to row on. The boat slid ashore, cracking through a fine layer of ice and black silt.

Over the months, Hazel and her mother had worn a path from the beach into the woods. She hiked inland, careful to stick to the trail. The island was full of dangers, both natural and magical. Bears rustled in the undergrowth. Glowing white spirits, vaguely human, drifted through the trees. Hazel didn’t know what they were, but she knew they were watching her, hoping she’d stray into their clutches.

At the centre of the island, two massive black boulders formed the entrance to a tunnel. Hazel made her way into the cavern she called the Heart of the Earth.

It was the only truly warm place Hazel had found since moving to Alaska. The air smelled of freshly turned soil. The sweet, moist heat made Hazel feel drowsy, but she fought to stay awake. She imagined that if she fell asleep here her body would sink into the earthen floor and turn to mulch.

The cave was as large as a church sanctuary, like the St Louis Cathedral back home on Jackson Square. The walls glowed with luminescent mosses – green, red and purple. The whole chamber thrummed with energy, an echoing boom, boom, boom that reminded Hazel of a heartbeat. Perhaps it was just the sea’s waves battering the island, but Hazel didn’t think so. This place was alive. The earth was asleep, but it pulsated with power. Its dreams were so malicious, so fitful, that Hazel felt herself losing her grip on reality.

Gaia wanted to consume her identity, just as she’d overwhelmed Hazel’s mother. She wanted to consume every human, god and demigod that dared to walk across her surface.

You all belong to me, Gaia murmured like a lullaby. Surrender. Return to the earth.

No, Hazel thought. I’m Hazel Levesque. You can’t have me.

Marie Levesque stood over the pit. In six months, her hair had turned as grey as lint. She’d lost weight. Her hands were gnarled from hard work. She wore snow boots and waders and a stained white shirt from the diner. She never would have been mistaken for a queen.

‘It’s too late.’ Her mother’s frail voice echoed through the cavern. Hazel realized with a shock that it was her voice – not Gaia’s.

‘Mother?’

Marie turned. Her eyes were open. She was awake and conscious. This should have made Hazel feel relieved, but it made her nervous. The Voice had never relinquished control while they were on the island.

‘What have I done?’ her mother asked helplessly. ‘Oh, Hazel, what did I do to you?’

She stared in horror at the thing in the pit.

For months they’d been coming here, four or five nights a week as the Voice required. Hazel had cried, she’d collapsed with exhaustion, she’d pleaded, she’d given in to despair. But the Voice that controlled her mother had urged her on relentlessly. Bring valuables from the earth. Use your powers, child. Bring my most valuable possession to me.

At first, her efforts had brought only scorn. The fissure in the earth had filled with gold and precious stones, bubbling in a thick soup of petroleum. It looked like a dragon’s treasure dumped in a tar pit. Then, slowly, a rock spire began to grow like a massive tulip bulb. It emerged so gradually, night after night, that Hazel had trouble judging its progress. Often she concentrated all night on raising it, until her mind and soul were exhausted, but she didn’t notice any difference. Yet the spire did grow.

Now Hazel could see how much she’d accomplished. The thing was two storeys high, a swirl of rocky tendrils jutting like a spear tip from the oily morass. Inside, something glowed with heat. Hazel couldn’t see it clearly, but she knew what was happening. A body was forming out of silver and gold, with oil for blood and raw diamonds for a heart. Hazel was resurrecting the son of Gaia. He was almost ready to wake.

Her mother fell to her knees and wept. ‘I’m sorry, Hazel. I’m so sorry.’ She looked helpless and alone, horribly sad. Hazel should have been furious. Sorry? She’d lived in fear of her mother for years. She’d been scolded and blamed for her mother’s unfortunate life. She’d been treated like a freak, dragged away from her home in New Orleans to this cold wilderness, and worked like a slave by a merciless evil goddess. Sorry didn’t cut it. She should have despised her mother.

But she couldn’t make herself feel angry.

Hazel knelt and put her arm round her mother. There was hardly anything left of her – just skin and bones and stained work clothes. Even in the warm cave, she was trembling.

‘What can we do?’ Hazel said. ‘Tell me how to stop it.’

Her mother shook her head. ‘She let me go. She knows it’s too late. There’s nothing we can do.’

‘She … the Voice?’ Hazel was afraid to get her hopes up, but if her mother was really freed then nothing else mattered. They could get out of here. They could run away, back to New Orleans. ‘Is she gone?’

Her mother glanced fearfully around the cave. ‘No, she’s here. There’s only one more thing she needs from me. For that, she needs my free will.’

Hazel didn’t like the sound of that.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ she urged. ‘That thing in the rock … it’s going to hatch.’

‘Soon,’ her mother agreed. She looked at Hazel so tenderly … Hazel couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen that kind of affection in her mother’s eyes. She felt a sob building in her chest.

‘Pluto warned me,’ her mother said. ‘He told me my wish was too dangerous.’

‘Your – your wish?’

‘All the wealth under the earth,’ she said. ‘He controlled it. I wanted it. I was so tired of being poor, Hazel. So tired. First I summoned him … just to see if I could. I never thought the old gris-gris spell would work on a god. But he courted me, told me I was brave and beautiful …’ She stared at her bent, calloused hands. ‘When you were born, he was so pleased and proud. He promised me anything. He swore on the River Styx. I asked for all the riches he had. He warned me the greediest wishes cause the greatest sorrows. But I insisted. I imagined living like a queen – the wife of a god! And you … you received the curse.’

Hazel felt as if she were expanding to the breaking point, just like that spire in the pit. Her misery would soon become too great to hold inside, and her skin would shatter. ‘That’s why I can find things under the earth?’

‘And why they bring only sorrow.’ Her mother gestured listlessly around the cavern. ‘That’s how she found me, how she was able to control me. I was angry with your father. I blamed him for my problems. I blamed you. I was so bitter that I listened to Gaia’s voice. I was a fool.’

‘There’s got to be something we can do,’ Hazel said. ‘Tell me how to stop her.’

The ground trembled. Gaia’s disembodied voice echoed through the cave.

My eldest rises, she said, the most precious thing in the earth – and you have brought him from the depths, Hazel Levesque. You have made him anew. His awakening cannot be stopped. Only one thing remains.

Hazel clenched her fists. She was terrified, but now that her mother was free, she felt like she could confront her enemy at last. This creature, this evil goddess, had ruined their lives. Hazel wasn’t going to let her win.

‘I won’t help you any more!’ she yelled.

But I am done with your help, girl. I brought you here for one reason only. Your mother required … incentive.

Hazel’s throat constricted. ‘Mother?’

‘I’m sorry, Hazel. If you can forgive me, please – know that it was only because I loved you. She promised to let you live if -’

‘If you sacrifice yourself,’ Hazel said, realizing the truth. ‘She needs you to give your life willingly to raise that – that thing.’

Alcyoneus, Gaia said. Eldest of the giants. He must rise first, and this will be his new homeland – far from the gods. He will walk these icy mountains and forests. He will raise an army of monsters. While the gods are divided, fighting each other in this mortal World War, he will send forth his armies to destroy Olympus.

The earth goddess’s dreams were so powerful they cast shadows across the cave walls – ghastly shifting images of Nazi armies raging across Europe, Japanese planes destroying American cities. Hazel finally understood. The gods of Olympus would take sides in the battle as they always did in human wars. While the gods fought each other to a bloody standstill, an army of monsters would rise in the north. Alcyoneus would revive his brother giants and send them forth to conquer the world. The weakened gods would fall. The mortal conflict would rage for decades until all civilization was swept away, and the earth goddess awakened fully. Gaia would rule forever.

All this, the goddess purred, because your mother was greedy and cursed you with the gift of finding riches. In my sleeping state, I would have needed decades more, perhaps even centuries, before I found the power to resurrect Alcyoneus myself. But now he will wake and, soon, so shall I!

With terrible certainty, Hazel knew what would happen next. The only thing Gaia needed was a willing sacrifice – a soul to be consumed for Alcyoneus to awaken. Her mother would step into the fissure and touch that horrible spire – and she would be absorbed.

‘Hazel, go.’ Her mother rose unsteadily. ‘She’ll let you live, but you must hurry.’

Hazel believed it. That was the most horrible thing. Gaia would honour the bargain and let Hazel live. Hazel would survive to see the end of the world, knowing that she’d caused it.

‘No.’ Hazel made her decision. ‘I won’t live. Not for that.’

She reached deep into her soul. She called on her father, the Lord of the Underworld, and summoned all the riches that lay in his vast realm. The cavern shook.

Around the spire of Alcyoneus, oil bubbled, then churned and erupted like a boiling cauldron.

Don’t be foolish, Gaia said, but Hazel detected concern in her tone, maybe even fear. You will destroy yourself for nothing! Your mother will still die!

Hazel almost wavered. She remembered her father’s promise: some day her curse would be washed away; a descendant of Neptune would bring her peace. He’d even said she might find a horse of her own. Maybe that strange stallion in the hills was meant for her. But none of that would happen if she died now. She’d never see Sammy again, or return to New Orleans. Her life would be thirteen short, bitter years with an unhappy ending.

She met her mother’s eyes. For once, her mother didn’t look sad or angry. Her eyes shone with pride.

‘You were my gift, Hazel,’ she said. ‘My most precious gift. I was foolish to think I needed anything else.’

She kissed Hazel’s forehead and held her close. Her warmth gave Hazel the courage to continue. They would die, but not as sacrifices to Gaia. Instinctively Hazel knew that their final act would reject Gaia’s power. Their souls would go to the Underworld, and Alcyoneus would not rise – at least not yet.

Hazel summoned the last of her willpower. The air turned searing hot. The spire began to sink. Jewels and chunks of gold shot from the fissure with such force that they cracked the cavern walls and sent shrapnel flying, stinging Hazel’s skin through her jacket.

Stop this! Gaia demanded. You cannot prevent his rise. At best, you will delay him – a few decades. Half a century. Would you trade your lives for that?

Hazel gave her an answer.

The last night, the raven had said.

The fissure exploded. The roof crumbled. Hazel sank into her mother’s arms, into the darkness, as oil filled her lungs and the island collapsed into the bay.