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Frank
The pile of crushed cars pretty much gave it away. The flying, war-ready Argo II confirmed Frank's suspicions. The giant, screaming spider just drove it home. Oh, and the forty-foot-tall scowling statue of Athena? Yeah… this was definitely a memory Frank didn't particularly want to watch. But all the same, he still morbidly wanted to know what had happened. He hadn't been close enough before to see… He didn't want to watch, but he wanted to… it was the same principle of human nature that made people stop and gawk at traffic accidents.
Annabeth whimpered. The architect of freaking Olympus, one of the Seven, survivor of Tartarus, and retriever of the Athena Parthenos whimpered. But Frank couldn't blame her. After all… Tartarus.
He watched the unfolding memory with undisguised revulsion. Slithery tendrils of thin spider silk snaked across the ground, and someone started breathing sharply when Annabeth-in-the-memory's ankle got tangled in it without her noticing. Then, Frank realized that it was himself breathing like that. Next to him, Hazel squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back. Was Hera really going to make them—especially Percy and Annabeth—watch this?
Apparently so. The Annoying Trio (as Frank had started to think of Loyalty, Duty, and Pride) were quiet, for once. Loyalty was clutching Pride's shoulder so hard Frank thought that he saw Pride wince. Percy and Annabeth weren't doing much better. Insecurity kept shaking his head. He might have been Frank's flaw, but he might as well have been Leo, for all that Frank understood about him. Guilt looked… guilty. Fear looked… well, scared. And Inferiority was pale—Gods of Olympus! How did I not realize earlier? Inferiority… that's much worse than the others… Leo… inferiority?
Like a fast-forwarded scene in a movie, in just a brief moment—or so it seemed to Frank—Annabeth and Percy were dangling over the pit. A one-way fall to literal hell.
"Let me go…" the memory Annabeth looked up at past Percy, an expression of sudden tiredness and sadness etched in lines across her face. Her eyes were a cloudy grey, yet steely with resolve. She was a fighter, a warrior. She knows her place in the world… unlike me… Frank shook off the thought angrily. Where had that come from? Having his flaw around was really messing with his mind.
"Never!"
All three versions of Percy—regular Percy, Loyalty, and in-the-memory Percy—spoke at once. (Or rather, screamed, in the case of Loyalty.) Frank gazed at Percy in awe. He had fallen into Tartarus for Annabeth. Frank had known that, sure, but this was just… Frank had been too far away to know exactly what had happened. To be completely honest, now, he preferred it that way. To see Annabeth's determination, Percy's stubbornness, Nico's anguished expression when he realized what was going to happen… it was just scary.
Suddenly, he understood Annabeth's anger at Hera.
"Lead them there! Promise me!" Memory Percy yelled hoarsely to Nico, fifteen feet above him. Frank saw the tautness of Percy's grip, his scrabbling fingers. He saw Annabeth's widened eyes. He heard Nico's stuttered promise.
He heard Annabeth's soft sobs; he saw Percy's furious blinking. Hazel clutched Frank's arm tightly, so tightly that it hurt. Frank didn't mind. Piper swiped at her eyes every few seconds. Jason's face was gaunt. Leo kept staring at past Percy's hand.
It was starting to slip.
The last time Frank had cried, really cried was a lifetime ago. When his mother had died… yes, a lifetime ago. But seeing that hand slip… Frank brought his hand up to his face, and was only a little embarrassed when it came away slightly damp.
No thumb now.
It slipped some more.
Slipping.
"We're staying together."
"As long as we're together."
Then, in the memory, just as Percy's fingers kept slipping off the tiny ledge, just as Nico watched in horror, just as the others screamed in shock, terrified, as the statue of Athena serenely looked on—
He let go.
The two figures, still clutching each other's hands, hurtled into the inky darkness of the pit, dragged down by the thin spider silk strands. Dragged down by Pride.
The bright flash of godly light was even more blinding after the seemingly never-ending blackness of the pit to Tartarus. Frank averted his eyes; when he looked up again, they weren't by the chasm in the ground. They weren't even standing outside, at Camp Half-Blood. They were in a dark cabin with a single occupant, lying on a bed.
Annabeth ignored it all, mumbling something. Frank wasn't sure if she was speaking to Percy, herself, or anyone in general. Nevertheless, he heard her. "My stupid flaw landed us there. Oh my gods… how did I not realize… Arachne was right! I'm a daughter of Athena, for gods' sakes. Why didn't I realize? Fatal flaws are fatal for a reason…" The thing that struck Frank the most was what she said after that, though.
"Maybe Hera's right. We do need to learn about this." If Annabeth, the president of the We-Hate-Hera Club, was saying that…
"Is this my cabin?" Hazel frowned, glancing around.
The Hades cabin! Frank took in his surroundings for the first time. It appeared to be in the process of being renovated—retro-looking furniture was pushed to one side of the vast space, while creepy blood-red and black coffin-like beds were shoved into an abandoned, dusty corner. Frank vaguely remembered Jason telling him that Nico had planned to redecorate his cabin because apparently it had looked like a "vampire's lair". Frank had to admit that it did.
"Why are we in here? Is this another memory or something?" Leo inspected a coffin—uh, a bed.
"No. I've actually never been in here before," Annabeth replied, pacing around. She seemed to be herself again. Frank noted that a sheen of sweat was still on her forehead, though. Watching your own memories with a bunch of other people wasn't exactly an ideal situation. But… if this isn't a memory, then why are we here?
"Idiots," someone muttered. Frank immediately recognized Pride's disdainful tone. "It's obvious; Hera brought us here for another reason!" Right on cue, a tray of doughnuts appeared on a small wooden table, with a note in fancy script attached.
"Shut the hell up, Pride," Leo scowled at her, before he blanched. "Gods, sorry…" Frank winced as Leo belatedly realized what he'd said.
"It's okay," Annabeth snapped. Leo looked relieved, then cracked some stupid joke making fun of Pride, which she sniffed at.
Frank grabbed a pastry—he had only just started eating breakfast when Hera basically kidnapped him—and took the note as well. Sometimes he actually wished he had dyslexia. Then at least he wouldn't have to read all the notes… notes that were in cursive, to boot.
"Demigods and flaws," he read, "Another hero will be joining you momentarily. Actually… just the flaw, not the hero himself. Guilt is next. Hera. P.S: I'm not totally heartless. It wouldn't do much good to let you starve, would it? Enjoy your doughnuts."
Everyone's heads, in unison, either swiveled around to watch the frozen figure snoring on the bed, or towards Hazel's flaw, Guilt. Frank glanced at Hazel worriedly. He knew she could take care of herself, but he wanted to let her know that he was there for her anyway. It was going to be her memories next. Wait. The guy on the bed can't be frozen if he's snoring… Suddenly, he yawned widely and lazily sat up.
"Nico!" Hazel said, jumping forward and hugging him, seeming to forget Hera's warning that her memories were next.
But then, slowly, she backed away from the figure. And as Frank moved closer to the still-yawning and obviously tired boy, Frank saw why. Nico was stiff, his arms stuck tightly against his sides. His clothing was slightly similar to what Nico usually wore… slightly. He had on ripped black skinny jeans, a black muscle tee, worn black sneakers with frayed black laces, a black belt with his black sword clipped to it, and… well, a whole lot of black.
His face was lined, and his skin was pale, though he practically radiated confidence and power. His eyes were dark, and Frank involuntarily shied away from him. Nico was scary. This guy was scarier. His eyes bored into Frank, and his face held no trace of a smile. In other words, he was utterly terrifying, never mind that Frank was almost a foot taller.
"I'm not Nico," he stated flatly. Hazel gripped Frank's arm tightly. "I'm his fatal flaw. I am Grudge." Frank remembered Hera's note: Just the flaw, not the hero himself…
"Uh, Nico—I mean, Grudge—do you remember us?" Percy hesitantly spoke up, not meeting Grudge's eyes.
"Yes!" the sudden fierceness of his tone shocked Frank, and a couple of the other flaws even scrambled backwards—away from Grudge. "Of course I remember you, Perseus! You killed Bianca!" Percy's expression was one of guilt.
"I—Nico—Grudge—I—"
"Save it, Jackson!" Grudge spat. "I don't want to hear how you allowed her onto the quest in the first place. I don't want to hear about you letting her climb into that blasted machine. I don't want to hear about how you watched her die. I don't want to hear about you breaking your promise to my naïve self."
"Then, what do you want?" Percy asked, staring him down. He seemed to have regained his confidence. Frank admired the guy. Grudge was really intimidating.
"You want to know what I want?!" Grudge laughed bitterly. "I want my sister back. I want Bianca back."
Suddenly, Loyalty knelt down in front of Grudge. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
"I'm sorry," Percy whispered too.
"Shut your face up!" growled Grudge, scowling hard in his outburst. Frank would have found his word choice funny except for his tone. Grudge turned to Annabeth next. "I've got nothing to say to you!" Annabeth looked hurt, but also relieved he hadn't said anything worse. "You—" he turned to Jason. "Always meddling in people's private business, huh?" Jason said nothing. "Piper. I know those rumors your cabin spread about me at camp. I hate kids of Aphrodite… Hazel," his face softened a bit, but he said nothing more. "Frank." Frank cringed a bit. Had he done anything bad to Nico? He couldn't remember. "You're okay, I suppose. You tolerated my presence back at Camp Jupiter. But watch it with the personal questions!" Frank nodded mutely, remembering Italy. He had been prying.
"Leo," Grudge glared at Leo, who, for once, looked completely serious. "Just… you're alright. But doing that doesn't always help." Leo nodded soberly. Frank, however, had no idea what was going on. But he didn't dare ask.
The group that was now fifteen was just wandering around, and polishing off the last of Hera's doughnuts. Strangely enough, Grudge and Inferiority were talking, and neither seemed to be killing the other. Leo was being cornered by Piper, Jason, and Duty, who apparently had put their argument about Reyna aside temporarily. Annabeth and Pride were arguing, while Percy tried to prevent Loyalty from going over to Grudge by sitting on his flaw. Fear seemed to be complaining to Insecurity, who wasn't listening. Hazel and Frank were talking over the recent events, while Guilt occasionally joined in. So, it was normal. At least until Guilt suddenly collapsed. Frank caught her in the nick of time, and had just opened his mouth to ask what was wrong when everyone else rushed over. The flaws, especially, seemed concerned for their fellow flaw. And then, when everybody touched Guilt, or touched someone touching her, the golden light erupted around them.
Frank stiffened as he saw Leo. Or rather, Sammy—Hazel's old boyfriend. Leo shot him a panicked glance, like Frank might take a swing at him. Honestly, Frank didn't know what he would have done to Leo if Hazel and Guilt hadn't both been holding him back. Frank stopped struggling once he saw the terrified, panic-stricken expression of Leo. What the… what's happening to me? I don't do this stuff… why…
Hazel-of-the-past was riding on a tan, proud horse with a flowing jet-black mane. She gripped the reins skillfully and softly urged the stallion to move swiftly, tossing a teasing grin behind her—to Sammy.
Sammy wore a plain, stained white shirt—untucked—over brown pants that were too short for him. He also wore a crazy grin, even as he shouted at Hazel to slow down, because she was "too fast" for him. Frank felt a familiar twinge of jealousy in his stomach, and he forced himself to not look at Leo. Otherwise he might go crazy again.
Sammy panted for breath along with his horse (a chestnut mare) and he made a stupid joke that made Hazel's eyes twinkle and her expression radiant. Frank looked away, but then he saw the half-smashed cupcake Sammy gave past Hazel. Hazel was crying, her gaze locked upon that cupcake. And then Leo kissed Hazel. Frank's Hazel.
No. Sammy kissed Hazel in the past. And it wasn't even on the lips. Sammy. Frank kept reminding himself. He was fine until Sammy said, "See you tomorrow!" to past Hazel.
Then, Hazel and Guilt broke down, crying, and Frank whirled around and punched Leo. Blood spurted out of his face. Kissed Hazel… no, that was a long time ago… KISSED her… in the PAST… KISSED HER! It was IN THE PAST! A long time ago! KISSED her! And then everything was normal again. But nothing had happened. Leo wasn't bleeding. What… I imagined punching him?! How sick is that? What's happening to me? A cold sweat broke over Frank.
He could wonder no more, because the golden light came again. This time they were standing in an old-fashioned school corridor. A stained plaque on the wall announced that they were in "St. Agnes Academy for Colored Children and Indians". Hazel instantly tensed. Frank temporarily forgot about his own problem (suddenly having violent tendencies was definitely a problem), and awkwardly wrapped his arms around her.
In the memory, a grinning boy with dark skin like Hazel's and long, dirty, tangled hair approached a twelve-year-old Hazel. He spat on her shoes. "Cursed witch girl! Gimme some of them cursed diamonds! I want a ruby! C'mon, witch!" Past Hazel did nothing.
Frank couldn't stand it. His vision suddenly tunneled and the world turned red around him. He launched himself at the boy.
Okay, so now Frank is pretty much acting like a violent psychopath with anger management issues, while Grudge is being perfectly delightful.
Completely the opposite of Frank's usual self, yeah? Any thoughts on why this could be? (I warned you that I would have some plot twists up my sleeve... wait. I didn't warn you. Oh well...)
Hint: Pretty much everyone BUT the flaws will eventually be affected by what this is... Hera, you of all people (I mean, gods...) should know that every action has its consequences...
Next update will either be on Thanksgiving (Thursday) or Friday. Hopefully Thursday, because I want to wish you guys a happy Thanksgiving or turkey day or however you want to call it.