Frank had been flying for hours and he wasn't tired yet. Careful to always keep the Argo II in his sights, he ventured away from the group, acting as a scout.

Out of all the animals he could turn into, Frank loved being a bird the most. The freedom he felt when he spread his wings knowing that only his strength kept him above the ground was like no other. All of his senses were keener when he was an animal. As a bird, his sight was the most incredible and yet he still hadn't seen any sign of Percy or Annabeth.

When the wind and the rain hit him, buffeting his wings and slowing his flight, Frank knew they had to be getting close. He dipped below the clouds, revealing a gathering of giants in the distance. Wanting to get a closer look, Frank brought his wings in and dove towards the ground.

The wind whistled past him as he sped up, the giants growing in size the closer he got. He snapped out his wings to catch the air and slow his descent, flapping to keep his body at an angle to the ground. Frank didn't want to be spotted so he kept his distance and traveled in a large circle around them. Once past the giants, he spotted two bodies lying on the ground, framed in pools of blood.

No.

It couldn't be them.

As soon as Frank landed he turned human and collapsed on his knees between the bodies of his friends. Percy was lying on his left and Annabeth on his right, their eyes still open, but blank, blank and devoid of any life.

No. But-

How could they have died? Percy so strong and Annabeth so smart, the two of them were the best team out of the seven. They made it through Tartarus, they always made it through. How could they have died?

They looked so tiny in death, nothing like how Frank remembered them living. Living they were formidable, they were strong, unstoppable. Dead they were nothing.

Percy had been the first friend aside from Hazel Frank had ever made at Camp Jupiter. Annabeth had immediately accepted him based on Percy's opinion. He never had to prove his worth to these two; they saw him for who he was.

Frank cried into his hands, taking a moment to feel the full pain of the loss. It threatened to break him apart before he pushed it down to deal with it another time. He reached over gingerly and closed the eyes of both of them. Wiping his face, Frank stood up and turned back into an eagle. He flew away, not wanting to look at his broken friends for one second longer.

It was much harder to fly now, the winds were reaching dangerous speeds and Frank was having difficulty holding the transformation. His wings were trembling from the effort of flight and his body was trembling from grief. He wouldn't be able to last much longer out here so he made his way back to the Argo II, trying to think of how to break the news to everyone else.

It looked like the weather was taking a toll on the Argo II. There was a flurry of activity on the deck as Leo ran back and forth, adjusting and fixing various parts of the ship. Jason was standing at the helm, occasionally throwing up an arm to deflect lightning from hitting the mast. Piper and Hazel were standing next to each other, talking and holding onto the railing as the ship was tossed back and forth. Hazel's face lit up when she spotted Frank and she moved to met him as he landed.

Her initial happiness was short-lived. Hazel knew Frank better than anyone else, so she knew when someone was wrong. Now human again, Frank bent down and pulled Hazel into a hug, his arms wrapping under hers and drawing her close. She spoke softly, "What happened?"

By this time, Leo and Jason had noticed something was wrong and came to stand by them. Frank released Hazel from the hug and said to all four of them, "Percy and Annabeth are dead. We didn't make it in time."

Hazel gasped, a hand flying to her mouth, her eyes immediately welling up with tears. Piper didn't move, she looked frozen in shock. Jason sat down, burying his face in his hands, hiding his emotions from the group. It was Leo who spoke, "Are you sure Frank?"

"Yes." He replied, "I saw their bodies myself."

"Oh." Leo looked down, fidgeting with his tool belt, his fingers moving so fast, Frank couldn't tell what they were doing. By this time Piper had had enough time to process the news; tears ran silently down her face. A loud sob escaped from Hazel and she put both hands on mouth, attempting to stop her crying.

Jason lifted his head, wiped his eyes and said, "We cannot afford to mourn them now. Their deaths mean that Gaea will be able to rise, she might be waking already and we still have to stop her."

"And how are we going to do that?" Piper asked her voice steady, but her hands shaky, the tears still falling. "Our plan up until now has been to prevent her from waking. Well she's already there, and we have no chance of defeating her now."

Hazel's voice was broken and strained as she said, "I can feel her waking in the ground as we speak. Her power is infinitely more than what I ever felt in Alaska. Piper's right, we'll die if we fight her."

Frank spoke, "Then what should we do? We can't just sit back and do nothing." The ship jerked violently to the side, almost knocking the five half-bloods off their feet.

Leo ran up to the controls, straightening the Argo II. The rain had made the deck slippery and Frank grabbed onto the rail to keep himself standing. His question was still hanging in the air. No one had an answer, for the first time on their quest they were at a complete loss of what to do.

Leo yelled from behind them, "We need to make a decision quickly. This storm is too strong, if we stay up here, we'll get run into the ground."

Everyone looked to Jason, but it was Piper who spoke, "I say we go back to Camp Half-blood." Frank looked at her shocked. She was suggesting running away. "No," She continued, "I'm serious. Any plan that we could come up with to fight her will fail. If we return home, we can rally the remaining half-bloods and convince the gods to join the fight. They won't have a choice now. Having an army at our backs is better than taking her and her giants on just the five of us."

"I don't like it," Jason said, "but it's probably our best bet. What do you two think?"

Hazel said, "I don't think we have any other options."

Frank nodded in agreement, "Let's do it."

Jason turned and yelled up to Leo, "Turn the ship around and take us home."

"Uhhh," Leo looked to be fighting with the wheel, "I'm not sure I can. The winds are drawing the ship in and I don't have the engine power to fight it."

"Drawing the ship to what?" Piper asked.

"Her." Leo pointed. In the middle of a massive swirling of black clouds stood a mountain rising from the ground. Frank was terrified of it even at the distance they were at. Four giants stood nearby watching as the ground crumbled and shook and bended in on itself to give to the massive form. Chunks of the earth were levitating off the ground, glowing with the same energy as Gaea's waking mound.

One of the boulders was hurtled toward the ship. It crashed into the side, sending tremors through the Argo II. More of them came, each one bigger than the last. One rocked the boat so much it was almost completely parallel on its side to the ground. Frank heard Piper scream as she slid off the edge of the boat, falling out of sight. He followed soon after her, unable to keep his footing on the slick deck.