XLII Hazel

In Seward, Hazel guides Percy and Frank to her old waterfront home, unchanged since 1941 but decayed and used for storage. Inside, she finds preserved drawings and photos, including her mother and Sammy. Percy is unsettled, claiming he has seen Sammy before, deepening Hazel’s conflicted feelings as Frank tactfully leaves to buy supplies.

While cleaning up, Percy thanks Hazel for saving him from the muskeg and worries about Ella’s prophecy that the son of Neptune will drown. Hazel reassures Percy the prophecy may be incomplete and insists he will return to Annabeth. Percy counters that Hazel’s life matters and that Frank clearly cares for her, urging her to fight for this life despite Hazel’s fear that her second chance exists only to correct past mistakes.

Frank returns with gear, clothes, and food. Hazel scouts the docks but learns that reaching Hubbard Glacier by boat would take until the next morning and is too dangerous to navigate without expertise; chartering a plane is impossible on short notice. As they eat, a raven appears ominously, then is snatched and devoured by a gryphon, which calls for reinforcements.

The trio flees to a pier as more gryphons mass in the distance. Percy blasts one gryphon aside with seawater, but the threat multiplies. At Hazel’s desperate call, Arion arrives, crushes the attacking gryphon, and allows all three to mount.

With Hazel leading and Frank and Percy holding on, Arion sprints across the surface of the bay, turning water to steam under his hooves, carrying them at high speed toward Hubbard Glacier to keep their quest alive before the Feast of Fortuna ends.