[Sorry about the weird text earlier. Idk why it keeps doing that.]
"Do we open it?" Frank asked, his voice echoing in the dimly lit basement.
"We're just supposed to guard it," Hazel answered, keeping a tight grip on her Spatha. "But we have to warn someone about this."
"You're right." Frank agreed "Go tell Grover or Chiron. I'll stay down here."
Hazel nodded and started walking towards the stairs. The back of her messy curly hair radiated the blue color that was reflected all over the room.
"Do you think our girls will be alright?" Hazel stopped, and slowly turned her body back at Frank.
Frank swallowed. Everyone told him that having a family would be the most wonderful thing, but no one warned him about the ache of worrying he'd have to suffer as a father. Now that there was an invasion by the most feared force in the universe, he couldn't bring himself to think about losing a member of his family.
"We have to hope." Frank gulped, fearing the future.
"We should make it a competition!" Leo announced as soon as Frank told him the news. All four of them sat at breakfast at Calypso's diner. It wasn't open yet, so the place was empty except for their table. The diner radiated with assortments of the smells of different spices. On Frank's plate, there was Greek yogurt topped with walnuts and a breakfast taco, made from scrambled eggs and gyro. Frank thought the combination of Greek and Mexican was weird at first, but it tasted like heaven. There was no wondering why Calypso and Leo's diner business was doing so good.
"Leo..." Hazel took charge in shooting down his not-so-great ideas. Calypso just sat in silence, shaking her head, clearly having had enough of Leo's ideas.
"No." Leo refused "You guys are trying, we're trying. First one to have a baby wins!"
"You sound like Nike." Hazel pointed out.
"It wasn't my fault that you guys placed her so close to my engine room."
"You're on" Frank accepted his challenge, though he didn't know what made him give Leo the satisfaction.
"Frank!" Calypso and Hazel both scolded him.
"He's not going to shut up unless we agree" Frank explained.
"YES!" Leo threw his hand up in the air in celebration.
"Are you guys sure Percy doesn't need our help on the quest?" Calypso asked, eager to change the subject before Leo lays out the rules and guidelines of his competition.
"I'm sure we'll be fine." Hazel answered "I don't know if my magic is capable of tracking down Circe or Medea, but I'll try everything I can."
"And I'll be there if Percy needs any underwater backup" Frank said.
"Gods," Calypso set down her spoon on her plate "How could Percy do it?"
"Or Annabeth" Hazel replied, suddenly filling the air with a somber vibe. Frank almost wished for Leo to burst out babbling about his rules and guidelines right about now. The truth was that everyone was miserable for Annabeth and Percy. They all wanted to help, but nobody knew how.
Hazel and Frank took Annabeth and Luke in after the incident at the wedding. Now, Jason is trying to raise her spirits by asking for her help running camp. Frank couldn't even imagine what Percy's going through alone. Not only is he not allowed to see his family again, but also everyone he loves back on land. Even a son of Poseidon can get sick of the sea in twelve years.
"We should get going," Frank stood up "How far is the coast from here."
"With Houston traffic, an hour and a half" Leo took a bite of his taco.
Everyone finished their breakfast, then Frank and Hazel got into Calypso's Toyota. Leo didn't want to come along because of his car sickness, so Hazel sat in front while Frank hung out in the back.
For a thousand year old sorceress who had never seen cars until a few years ago, Calypso was a pretty good driver. They zoomed through I-45, and in about an hour, Frank could see the coast of the gulf of Mexico.
Calypso parked near the harbor where they agreed to meet Percy. She said her goodbyes and rushed back in time before Leo blew the whole place up.
Hazel and Frank stood side by side. The weather was pretty hot and humid for a November morning. They both wore shirts and jeans, Hazel's Spatha strapped to her side, and Frank's bow and arrow to his back. The water didn't look anywhere as beautiful as the Californian beaches. Grey colored waves clashed against the huge rocks that sat at the end of the docks where water bottles and plastic bags washed up.
"Look," Frank broke the silence that had been going on for days "I had been thinking about our... situation and having a baby with you was part of the future I was building for us. It took a while to swallow but it doesn't matter to me that you can't have children."
"Frank, it's not fair for you" Hazel didn't meet his gaze.
"Our lives are never fair, Hazel" Frank reminded her "I was born with a magic stick that controlled my life. You died at thirteen years old."
"And removed all chances of having a baby" She still looked down, her voice grim.
"I don't care," Frank held her cheeks, and raised her face to meet his. Tears were flooding her eyes. "I don't care."
"WEIGH THE ANCHORS YE STINKING SEA DOGS" A man's voice cut off Frank's train of thought. In the docks, a three masted ship was entering the marine. It looked more ancient than the other ships at sea, but that didn't bother the people around the harbor.
Hazel and Frank got completely distracted from their conversation by the sight of The Queen Anne's Revenge. They hadn't seen a ship like that since the Argo II, and they were taking in the sight.
"Yo, Zhang! You coming or what?" Percy glided down one of the ropes and made a perfect landing on the rails. He looked just as he did a week ago. Dress shirt and slacks, with a messy black hair and a light scruff that grew on the sides of his face.
Frank took Hazel's hand and together they climbed aboard the ship, saying their hellos to Will, Nico and finally Percy. They were introduced to Blackbeard, the former captain of the ship.
"Percy," Hazel said "I know you need Frank's backup, but I don't know if I can be any help. All I know how to do is manipulate the mist."
"We need you" Percy said confidently "If it's magic-related, it's Levesque-related."
"But-"
"No buts" He insisted "Blackbeard, let's move!"
That night, Percy gave Hazel and Frank the captain's cabin. They tried to refuse, but he explained that he'll be perfectly fine sleeping with the crew and that he was tired of sleeping alone in the huge bed.
Hazel went below deck after dinner with Will and Nico to get settled. Frank and Percy were left on the main deck together, leaning over the rails and gazing out on the Caribbean sea.
"How is Annabeth?" Percy asked.
"She's hanging in there." Frank replied "Hazel and I took her to the hospital in New Rome, and they say that the baby is happy and healthy."
"That's great" Percy said, though neither his voice nor his face didn't really convey any sort of happiness.
They stayed in silence for another few minutes then Frank finally asked "Where are we going?"
"Back to the Atlantic." Percy replied "Maybe Hazel can sense things better out there"
"As long as we don't go back to the Mare Nostrum, we'll be fine" Frank joked.
"What's wrong?" Percy turned his head to face Frank "You've been acting all weird since you got here"
"What?" Frank's hands started getting sweaty. He tried to look as though nothing is wrong.
"You're all... twitchy" Percy said "You're like the same Frank I met at the Little Tiber."
Frank thought about telling Percy his problem with Hazel. In truth, their visit to the doctor's in New Rome had been the only thing in his head for a few days. He could never forget how he felt when the doctor had told him that he cannot have a child with Hazel because of some medical reasons he didn't understand. Something about a rare case of premature menopause. Hazel had been convinced that it was because she had died before and she was technically eighty something years old, but Frank didn't want to believe that.
Before Frank could answer, the ship rocked. Percy exchanged a look with Frank and both of them simultaneously drew their weapons.
It was quite for a minute, then the ship rocked harder. Frank spent too much time concentrating on not falling that he didn't notice the monster standing two stories higher than The Queen Anne's Revenge. Its triangular forehead was wide enough to provide parking for a compact car. Its eyes glowed orange and scales radiated yellow. When it opened its vast red maw, it's breath smelled worse than Leo's work shirts.
The creature snapped at Percy. He sidestepped and thrust his blade straight into the serpent's eye. The serpent's head flailed from side to side as if trying to shake the blindness out of its wounded eye. Frank could hear Hazel, Nico and Will coming up the stairs and join the rest of the crew on deck.
The serpent's right eye had gone dark, but its glowing left iris and its hideous maw reminded Frank of the Halloween pumpkins that littered the streets of New Rome right before he left.
The serpent hissed, spraying venom all over. The serpent struck again and Percy and Frank dove in opposite directions. It's head causing a massive destruction in the wooden surface of the main. There was no way Frank could fight that thing on the ship without drowning everyone on board.
Percy shared a look with Frank, as if thinking the same thing he was. He turned and dove in the water. Frank followed his example, turning himself into a dolphin right before hitting the surface. Percy joined Frank underwater, a safe distance away from the serpent.
"What is that?" Percy's voice sounded the same it did on land.
"Don't know, but we need to keep it away from the ship" Frank spoke in Percy's mind.
Percy nodded and together they charged. Percy willed the ocean to cause a spiral that carried him above water close to the monster. He started slashing with Riptide at his scaly body, trying to distract it from The Queen Anne's revenge.
Frank swam upwards and out of the water, transforming himself midair into a giant eagle. He used wings to fly close enough to the serpent, but was quickly knocked out of the sky by it's giant head. In the distance heard Hazel scream his name while he tumbled down and changed shape back to human.
Frank swallowed a few gallons of water and came up spluttering, then gagged in horror when he saw Percy encircled in the snake's tail. The serpent lifted him out of the water, bringing him level with its remaining eye. Percy slashed wildly, but the monster kept him out of striking distance. The snake's tail constricted around his waist, turning his face tomato red. He hammered Riptide uselessly against the monster's hide.
Frank stood paralyzed, unable to help, unable to think. The serpent ignored him, no doubt too interested in watching Percy implode. Frank tried swimming closer to the ship's hull, but his chest stung in pain as he stretched his hand. He placed his hand on his chest and felt at least two broken ribs. He willed himself to get close enough to the ship, trying to ignore the pain that burned across his whole body.
One of the crew members dropped a ladder. Frank climbed up, getting a better view of the serpent. He didn't know how Percy broke free of the snake's coils but he was now back to fighting it with waves of water.
Hazel, Nico and Will rushed to Frank's aid. Will immediately assessed Frank's injuries, muttered a hymn then fed him a square of Ambrosia. In no time, Frank felt better and was ready for action again.
"What is that thing?" Frank ordered.
"Carthaginian Serpent." Hazel replied "It faced Roman troops in Africa and almost drowned an entire legion under Marcus Atilius Regulus"
"How do you kill it?" Frank asked.
"It was buried under rocks" Nico said "Which you won't find here"
Sure enough, he was right. There was nothing surrounding the monster except gallons and gallons of ocean water. There was not an island or a weird mountain in sight that could be used to crush the serpent.
Frank thought about alternatives to rocks. Something heavy, but the only thing that could be hurled above it was The Queen Anne's Revenge, and there was no way he would do that.
Frank got an idea, crazy enough to be thought by Leo Valdez. He started running towards the rails of the ship and just before hitting them transformed into a dove, soaring in the direction of the beast.
From above, the serpent didn't look or smell any more pleasant. Frank hovered on top, rethinking his idea and wondering if he would come out alive. In a millisecond, he changed shape from a tiny dove to an enormous blue whale, instantly being pulled by gravity onto the monster's body, crushing it several feet into the water.
Percy got the idea, and dove below. He helped will the water downwards, forbidding the currents to carry Frank's body back to the surface. When they reached the sea floor, Frank eyed a rock big enough to trap the Carthaginian Serpent for eternity. He ordered Percy to carry the boulder and place it above the snake's scaly body. It hissed and banged its half-blind head against the sand, but in vain.
Percy and Frank caught their breath- or water, then swam back up to the ship.
"Frank, that was amazing" Will patted Frank on the back, then Percy did the same. He wanted to reply and say it was nothing, but the look on Hazel's face bothered him. She kept her golden eyes fixed somewhere beyond the ship's rails.
"Hazel, what's wrong?" He asked her.
"There." She pointed somewhere into the vast ocean, but nothing stood out to him except water.
"What?" Frank asked cluelessly.
"That blue glow." She replied. Frank took one more look, but he could still see nothing "You don't see it?"
"Let's go" Percy ordered, his eyes fixed outwards into the sea.