Frank stood at the edge of the battlefield, watching as Percy and Jason fought together with their fathers to destroy Porphyrion. Power clashed between all four of them, sending shockwaves that he was sure could be felt all the way in Rome.
The gods were fighting at their mightiest strength trying to repel the giants away. Each demigod was fighting for their life, struggling to repel Gaea's forces. Frank himself had just been thrown far away by the giant Pelorus, the bane of Mars, or Ares as the First Gigantomachy occurred in ancient Greece.
He was soon joined by Hazel and Leo, who were both helping him. Earlier, they had managed to dispatch Mimas at the cost of the consciousness of the god of the forges. Leo wanted to help his dad, and so did Frank and Hazel, but there wasn't enough time. No reinforcements had come to aid them. All the forces that they had were the seven of the Prophecy of Seven and Nico, the son of Hades. The gods had come to help, but Frank knew that somewhere in New York, the Twelfth Legion was probably holding the Greek demigods in place, fearing for what would happen if they went into the Mare Nostrum.
Since the gods were sane again, Frank assumed that peace had come out of the Romans and Greeks in North America. He could only hope that the Fates would have them succeed in repelling Gaea.
"Hazel!" Frank shouted. "Leo!"
He ran over to help his fallen comrades. Leo popped back up in a flash, his eyes blazing like fire.
For two months, Frank had been afraid of the son of Hephaestus. Ever since he learned of Leo's fire abilities, he tried to shield himself away from him. Back when they had been caught by the Ichthyocentaurs, Leo had tried to check if his fire powers were working. He seemed to only want to light his hand on fire, but it spread. Frank had stumbled backwards, deathly afraid of the haunting flames, but he could see Leo suffocating in there. He could see that Leo didn't have oxygen to breathe.
Frank had let his fear get the better of him. He was so afraid of dying at Leo's hands, he didn't realize he was creating a fissure between Leo and himself. He was pushing Leo away. But later, after Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus...they talked, and he admitted that Leo wasn't such a bad guy. He learned that in Salt Lake City he'd met Nemesis who had said that Leo would always been the seventh wheel of the group, the outcast, the nobody.
Frank could sympathize with the son of Hephaestus. He was different too. Unlike all other demigods he met, he was the only one of East Asian descent. He was big and clumsy. The big part was useful in the legion, but being clumsy only made things worse. The kids at Camp Jupiter had continuously made fun of him for being different. Frank found himself isolated from the others as he was the only one without a weakness that Gaea couldn't control. Mars had told him that long ago that all of the others had weaknesses Gaea believed she could control. It hadn't worked with Percy Jackson.
The son of Poseidon roared and held his sword together with Jason's. Frank could feel the thunder ready to crack in the distance, the winds around Mount Olympus steadily growing faster and faster.
Clouds began floating in, as if they were attracted to Jason. Meanwhile, their parents attacked Porphyrion ruthlessly, Jupiter pounding thunderbolts at the King of the Giants without mercy. Neptune, a god that all Romans thought was dangerous, was fearlessly attacking Porphyrion, stabbing at the giant with his trident.
So far, the giants that had been slain were Enceladus, Alcyoneus, Polybotes, Mimas, Hippolytus and Eurytus. Mercury, Apollo and Diana were struggling against Gration and Leon, while Bacchus was slumped at the base of Mount Olympus unconscious. Vulcan was unconscious, and Mars was being pressed back by Pelorus.
Porphyrion roared and a giant blast of lightning was sent at Jason and Percy.
"No!" Jason shouted and tackled Percy, absorbing the blast of lightning. They were sent sprawling into the dirt a few hundred years away.
Jupiter and Neptune fought with renewed strength after watching their children get blasted like rag dolls. Athena was battling Pallas, who had surprised everyone by showing up, even Gaea. Annabeth was helping her mother.
Venus and Piper were helping them, although it was mostly Piper fighting. Her mother would attack once in a while, but not with as much effort or strength.
"We have to help your dad," Hazel urged.
"I'll help you guys," Leo volunteered. "Want the help, Frank?"
The son of Mars exhaled nervously. "Definitely. Go!"
The three of them pulled their weapons out and charged. As Frank ran, he remembered the grizzly bear from his past and felt his whole body begin to change shape. He roared like ferocious animal and smashed into Pelorus with as much force as he could muster. Frank retreated a little before transforming into a bald eagle and raking at the giant's eyes.
"That's my boy," laughed Mars. "Now, let us kill this giant."
Frank flew overhead and watched as Hazel stepped in with her spatha and cut at Pelorus' leg. She made a deep gash and the giant roared in pain. Mars followed up with a quick counter-attack and managed to cut off the giant's leg. The giant collapsed, and Leo stepped forward. He yelled as fire exploded from his hands, engulfing the entire body of Pelorus. Then Frank dove down and changed back into a grizzly bear, landing on the head of the giant and making the giant bleed golden ichor. Frank rolled off, and before Pelorus could recover from the injury, Mars stabbed the giant through the chest, right into the heart making the giant dissolve into golden dust.
As Gration and Leon fell dead at the feet of Diana, Apollo and Mercury, with the help of Piper, who'd switched from fighting Pallas, the ground shook.
Frank immediately turned his head toward Neptune, but the god wasn't causing the shaking.
In the midst of the earthquake, Athena and Annabeth managed to kill Pallas with the price of sheer exhaustion. Frank was tired, too. He could see the weariness grow in his friends' eyes. Hazel and Leo were pooped as well.
But the ground kept shaking. He saw Jason and Percy rise from where they fell, Percy looking like he'd only been bruised a bit. Luckily for them, the dirt around Mount Olympus was quite soft, so they didn't break any bones.
"I will destroy Olympus, once and for all!" a female voice hissed all around them. "Feed me the blood of two, and I shall rise!"
This was it. This would be the final chance to stop Gaea from rising and expel her back to the depths of Tartarus.
"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call," Hazel said. "To storm or fire the world must fall..."
"Leo," Frank muttered. An idea lit up in Frank's brain. His eyes widened and he turned to Leo. "Leo, come with me."
"Why?"
"We're headed for the sacrificial spot where Gaea needs the blood of a boy and a girl to rise."
Frank turned to Hazel. "Hazel. Can you give me the stick?"
"Frank, I promised to protect-"
"You did, but I'm taking them now," Frank insisted. "What happens from now on doesn't apply to whatever you promised. Just please, pass me the stick."
Hazel bit her lip before pulling out the firebrand. "Frank, I-"
Frank waited for the daughter of Pluto to continue, but she seemed to be at a loss for words. He could see tears begin to leak out of her eyes. She looked so sad, Frank felt bad for sacrificing himself for the sake of the gods. He knew that his decision would hurt her, but the prophecy demanded it.
"Come on, Frank," Leo said urgently.
Frank grabbed Hazel's face gently before kissing her. "I will never forget you, Hazel. Not in a million years. Trust me. I have no one else to remember."
Then he ran off with Leo to the spot where two demigods had to die.
"Frank, what are you doing?" Percy shouted, his voice seemingly not lost its strength. "Get away from there!"
But when he met Leo's eyes, he knew he was doing the right thing. Thanatos had told him that the next time they met it would be under "less pleasant circumstances." He could see the god right now standing before him. A sad smile was on his face, but an image shimmered next to him, an image of his mother. She waved at him, which made the clumsy oaf feel like bawling his eyes out. But Mars said duty came first, and so duty came first.
Frank pulled out his stick and as soon as it made contact with oxygen, it lit on fire. Frank could feel his life sapping away, but he knew all of his power was in that stick, ready to be unleashed a final time.
He smashed it into the dirt, which quickly caught fire. "Go, Leo!" he shouted.
The son of Hephaestus did as he told and with a battlecry, he let loose the most fire Frank had ever seen in his life. Frank was glad he did, though. Leo could tell Frank was sacrificing himself for the greater good.
There was a tiny path that was not lit on fire right to the center circle where Frank sat, holding his stick in the dirt in agony. His life was slipping away from him. He could see the events of his life passing by once again, the most recent events taken into account.
Then he saw a small figure jump into the center of the fire with him.
"Hazel! What are you doing?" Frank shouted over the roaring flames.
"You're right." She wrapped her arms around Frank. "I did keep your stick safe. It was a promise that I kept and am continuing to keep."
Then right in the middle of the flames, she kissed him, an eternal kiss of bliss and passion to their final breaths.
"I'm sorry, Frank!" Leo shouted. Then an explosion of white flame engulfed the young couple, instantly turning them to ash. But as their spirits descended into the Underworld, the fire Leo started continue growing until the point where Gaea was screaming, her screams audible all the way across the world in New York, on Long Island.
Percy, Jason, Piper, Nico, Annabeth and Leo survived the aftermath. Leo broke down in tears when he saw the outline of Hazel and Frank kissing after Gaea was sent back to sleep.
The others' eyes became watery, too. Nico the most of the others, mourning his sister's death. But their sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. Two years later a statue of Hazel and Frank sacrificing themselves was standing up on Olympus, one of the larger statues of demigods there. Then years later...
An old man hobbled along Olympus, making his way to the statue of Hazel and Frank. He stared sadly at the couple who'd sacrificed themselves for Olympus.
"I'm sorry, you two," Leo said. "At least you guys got a good end, huh?"
Neither Percy Jackson nor Jason Grace were the real heroes of Olympus in the Second Gigantomachy. The real heroes were Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque.