Disclaimer: you already know
Author's notes: 5/31/20 - Another update. I know. I am surprised myself. I am like 5 chapters ahead and the final fight is close. I honestly would love more views and reviews, but I understand that I have lost so many readers with the years of absent. I get it. I was out for so long. Finish this story is more about me finishing the story than the approval of others. Again, I wouldn't mind higher stats but it's not my family is good during the lock down. Thankfully, nobody of my friends and family is sick. In Mexico, right now we have more cases of COVID-19 than China. It has been hard staying inside all this time but I understand the necessity but I wish sometimes to be out at the movies with my kids eating massive amounts of popcorn. Remember #StayHome
6/1/20 - I actually updated yesterday but the text looked awful. I don't know why. I remove the chapter and it's back again. Today, it's my 13th wedding anniversary. I love you, husband!
36. We Pay for our Mistakes
Romans were stuck in their positions as the monsters weren't attacking at all after the giant Alcyoneus' disappearance. Ceres looked at them also with concern and wondering as the grain spirits were coming back to her to protect the goddess of any harm.
One of the monsters, a big type of snake, seemed to recognize Ceres, cursed something and ran at her starting the battle. Only a couple of dozens started to fight and the rest seemed to be waiting for something. The Romans weren't sure of aiding or not the goddess as the grain spirts seemed up to the task. Only a couple ran to the battle as the rest were staring to the rest of the monster army. Something was definitely off.
In that moment, Em appeared from the garden shelter's shadow and saw the grain spirits and a couple of Romans fighting as many of monsters near to Ceres. They looked like they were only protecting the goddess.
Em saw her mother over a large iron staff and she raised it using her power over the ground quickly with the help of Hazel. Em's power surprised Hazel as she wasn't expecting her.
"Em, what are you doing here?" asked Hazel as she quickly reached to check Taylor's pulse. He looked purplish red as he had been bruised by the iron staff but there was no blood leaking around him. There was an excruciating long pause that frightened Em until her mother nodded saying "He's alive."
Em felt her heart beating hopeful again. She reached for her husband's hand and tried not to cry. She almost lose him again and gladly it didn't happen.
Without Em and Hazel's awareness, the fight between Ceres and the few monsters ended with Ceres' hair untouched.
From behind a large dragon in the enemy lines, Jason came out with the same bloody clothes as before. He walked at ease to the Romans who were utterly in shock as they saw the town's hero walking among the monsters.
"Don't worry. They won't attack!" yelled Jason "We got a deal. The town is safe!"
Romans weren't sure of start cheering or moving at all. They just stared at the scene in front of them. It was unheard of any demigod ever making a deal with monsters in the middle of a battle. Even Ceres was speechless.
Jason walked to Em and Hazel who were next to unconscious Taylor.
"You took the giant down. I didn't expect less of any of you" said Jason as he approached them just a couple of steps "Hi, Hazel. It's been a while."
Hazel saw him not believing her eyes as she whispered "You are alive." She wanted to run to his arms and cry like she was a little girl into his arms "How is it possible?"
Hazel stood up ready to hug Jason but she was stopped. "No, Hazel" whispered Taylor as his hand grabbed her arm slowing her down.
"Taylor?" said Hazel looking back to Taylor's delicate situation and then she looked at her old best friend. Even if her memories were saying that Jason was her friend, she got a terrible gut feeling as she looked back to her son-in-law, the son of her best friend Piper and a boy she cared like her own. Something was terribly wrong here.
"Em, take Taylor out… now" whispered Hazel urgently and Em didn't understand her mother's reasons but she didn't have to be told twice and they vanished in shadow casted by her mother.
Once her daughter and son in law were gone, Hazel stood up to face Jason. He looked just like she always imagined growing old. The memories of his death so many years ago came to Hazel as she stared at him. There was so much she wanted to say and ask, so many questions about his past, about his whereabouts, about his life, but she only managed to ask "Jason, what have you done?"
Jason Grace gave her a lopsided smile and said with no remorse "I didn't do much… I just helped to make it happen."
"What's the deal about?" asked Hazel and she found her sword already in her hand ready to attack.
"I made a lot of deals throughout my many years in Tartarus. It's a very long list but in general, they will get to destroy the city and I would stay alive…" said Jason and his eyes showed a tint of regret and remorse "I did what I had to do to survive even if it meant betraying all I knew once. I hope you understand" He raised his arm and it was the sign the monsters were waiting and they finally attacked.
Ceres' army quickly moved to protect the goddess as the monsters and Romans collided in the middle. Some Romans fled before it started.
"Shell!" yelled an old veteran and a dozen made a formation with their shields that resembled a turtle shell. At the same time, Hazel made barriers of rocks between the monsters and Romans. It was a quick fix but they were quickly overwhelmed by the many monsters coming at them.
Even the bravest Roman was scared to the possibility of losing the city or his/her life, even Hazel. However, her bravery came from her family. They counted on her and they were also in the fight somewhere in the city. She was hoping for a miracle or a break as she was slashing and fighting whatever monster crossed on her way.
Jason was looking at Hazel as she fought. He wasn't moving or fighting around him. It was like it wasn't necessary for him to fight. That made Hazel angry and tried to make her way to him. As she was missed by a hair by a ferocious skeleton bird's talons, she saw an old man going at Jason.
In quick 3 movements, Jason disarmed the old man and left it to the mercy of another skeleton bird who seized him.
The old man was flying and screaming in the middle of the battle when a gigantic eagle came to the rescue. With his talons, the eagle scratched the skeleton bird. It dropped the man before fleeing. The eagle grabbed the old man before he reached the ground and immediate death.
Hazel watched the scene as she thought and she was really glad that Frank got back on time. He rescued the old man. She fought her way to Jason as monsters didn't protect him but didn't attack him. He was just there waiting…
Before Hazel could vanish the serpent she was fighting to, Frank appeared with his sword and vanished it. Hazel was so happy to see him unharmed that she jumped on him and gave her a big kiss in the middle of the battle.
"Where were you?" she asked in his arms.
"Checking that the hospital was safe" said Frank and gave her a quick kiss on her lips "Don't worry for Em and Taylor. Annabeth is with them now."
Frank put her down and Hazel was happy for quick second as everybody was still okay. Then, she saw how her husband tensed his muscles as he was looking behind her.
"Is he?" said Frank in complete disbelief "Hazel, tell me that I am dreaming."
Hazel turned and saw what her husband meant. Jason was there staring at them, probably he was waiting for them. She said "Frank… he is not our Jason."
"But he is alive" said Frank clearly not registering her words "Look at him. It's him."
Frank started to walk to Jason when Hazel grabbed his arms making him look at her. She grabbed his face and said "Frank, look at me. He is not Jason."
"Is it an illusion? How cannot be Jason? Look at him" said Frank pointing at Jason and not understanding his wife. He looked confused at her.
"Frank… he is not OUR Jason" said Hazel gravely and sniffed as she didn't want to cry in the middle of the battle.
Frank opened his mouth and asked softly "Hazel, are you sure of this?" She nodded and it was enough for Frank. "I will fight him. Go!"
"Are you sure?" asked Hazel unable to move.
"Yes" said Frank and kissed her with his hands on her cheeks "Get Percy. We need him… I love you"
"I love you too" said Hazel nodding with her hands over his. They kissed one last time "Get the monsters out of my city, Zhang." She last said with a sassy smile on her face.
As Hazel ran away to the city borders, she took one last glance to her husband before turning on a corner and made a quick prayer for his welfare. Though, she knew Frank would do things right.
Frank took a big breathe and the battlefield seemed to be quiet as he walked to Jason. He fought monsters but nothing took him out of his path until he was just a couple of feet of his friend. He looked at him trying to grasp how much he had changed. His friend looked older but his hair wasn't gray like Percy's, his eyes weren't wrinkled as his and he definitely looked like a grown man unlike Leo.
Frank said "Jason, is really you?"
"In the flesh" said Jason with a smile and lowered his sword, just a bit, a friend invitation to get closer.
Frank walked 2 more steps closer to Jason and asked "What are you doing?"
"A lot of things, right now, having a moment with one of my best friends" said Jason and gave him a light nod "I met your daughter Emily Marie. She is great kid. Congratulations in your upcoming grandkid!"
"Thanks" said Frank and found the next sentence hard to say "why are you against your city?"
"It's not my city anymore" said Jason and looked to his surroundings. His voice was even almost rehearsed until this moment when it turned sour "Sometimes I feel it never was… it abandoned me to rotten in Tartarus. Now they will pay."
Frank didn't recognize the man in front of him. Jason would never say that about New Rome, his city. He yelled "How dare you to betray our city so easily?! You are a disgrace to the Legion!"
"The legion forgot all about me a long time ago…" shouted Jason back and he looked unbalanced like he hadn't in years. The resentment and bitterness of the lost years was tangible in his voice and it was hurtful to hear him saying "as well as my best friends."
Frank stayed quiet as he looked at him. It was true. They abandoned him since they took his death for granted. Frank never thought of the possibility of him being alive even after seeing Leo alive months ago. All the memories of his younger self came to him: Hazel's long nights of crying, Annabeth's depression, Piper's sadness and Percy's disappearance. He found his voice barely loud as he said sadly "You have no idea how much time and how much we mourned you, we all did… We lost you and Leo and were never the same… Piper"
"with a husband and 6 children. I don't see how she managed to even have time to mourn me" snorted Jason with tangible envy and bitterness.
"If we had the slightest idea of you being alive, believe me. I wouldn't have hesitated in going to your rescue" said Frank "Neither Hazel, Piper, Percy and Annabeth."
"Liar!" shouted Jason and wanted to run and stab Frank "You were too busy raising children for what I see, now a grandchild if you are lucky."
They stared at each other like they were the only one around even in the middle of a battle. Jason looked around to the battle unfolding. Romans were losing for sure. Monsters would destroy the city in a matter of minutes, even Ceres' army wasn't enough, and even the goddess looked ready to escape any running minute. Everything he loved once was going to turn into ashes and it was exactly what he wanted once for years, for decades… now he wasn't so sure.
On the other side, Frank was hoping it was all a dream and woke up any second. He hoped for his sons to be fine. He left Frankie and Sammy close to the hospital and Sean was with Theo at the other side of the country. Hazel was fighting somewhere and hopefully she had already found Percy and they were coming. On top of all, he saw the same as Jason: his beloved city was on the edge of destruction and it looked hopeless. The man in front of him was responsible and he was his friend, the friend he had wanted to see since he was a teenager.
Frank said calmly "This is the path that you are choosing: destroying everything you loved once?"
"It's the only path that is left for me" said Jason honestly and raised his sword at his best friend. It was time to fight. "I can't undo it now… even if I wanted to."
Like 20 minutes before, Em came out of the shadow with Taylor in front of Annabeth and Frank at the city hospital. Both grownups were surprised but quickly approached to them to get them. Em was already unconscious as Shadowtravel was new to her and completely draining.
"Did Em do it? Did she really Shadowtravel?" said Annabeth surprised as she checking their pulses.
"It seems so… I never thought she could" said Frank and saw Annabeth nodding gratefully and relieved.
"Their pulse is good. Let's get them a doctor" said Annabeth and quickly grabbed the first child of Apollo she could.
In a matter of seconds, a nurse, a doctor, Annabeth and Frank had Em and Taylor on beds. The doctor was really concerned of Taylor's wounds but he was stable for the time being.
Once the young couple looked safe, Frank looked at Annabeth and asked "Can you stay with them?"
Annabeth quickly nodded and smiled softly as she said "Worried for Hazel and the boys? Sure. Go. I can stay… Be careful." Frank gave a hug and left the hospital to find the rest of his family.
Annabeth was left alone in the hospital waiting next to her extended family's beds. She wanted to go to the emergency room and help the most she could with her knowledge of battle medicine. She wasn't as skillful as any son of Apollo but she could keep people alive until real help arrived. It was an important skill to have for any demigod and she taught it during her early adulthood years at Camp Half-Blood and the weekends when she lived in New Rome.
Taylor was in the bed between Em and Piper. He was the one with most troubled breathing but he was breathing and it was a miracle even for demigods' standards. Em was just resting as Shadowtravel wore her out. Piper was also fine and just waiting to wake up. She was physically well but Annabeth worried of her mental state. The other survivors, even the former praetor Kingston, were unstable, crying, screaming and just terrified.
Suddenly, Annabeth heard a whimper from Piper's lips as she slowly opened her heavy eyelids. She was right at her side as she whispered "Piper, you are safe. How are you?"
Piper needed a second to focus to her surroundings. It was white hospital bright but she was glad to hear her aunt's voice next to her. She always felt safe next to her, even safer than next to Uncle Percy. She whispered with a small smile "Aunt Annabeth, I'm fine… still alive."
With trouble and Annabeth's help, Piper sat up in her bed. Her side hurt and it reminded her about the battle and she asked "How is Kingston? Is he?"
"He'll live" said Annabeth and saw Piper's relief.
Piper sank on the pillows and said "That's great… He saved me at the battlefield. Jason was about to stab me but he pushed me down… not exactly a clever move since it knocked me up but it worked."
"Who is this Jason? I have heard a couple of Romans talking about him" asked Annabeth concerned as it made no sense for a legionary to attack unless…
Piper looked her aunt's troubled face and she didn't know how to say it but she still did: quick and painless as possible like taking a bandage off "Jason Grace, aunt Annabeth"
Annabeth's mouth opened in surprise and said alarmed "Jason Grace? Oh, by all that it's Greek!" She stood up so fast that Piper couldn't grab her.
"Aunt Annabeth! Where are you going?" said Piper loudly but it was too late as Annabeth was too far to hear her.
Back in the battlefield, Jason and Frank were fighting for the sake of New Rome. Frank didn't waste a single movement as he knew that Jason was in better shape than him. It had been a while since he was in a real battle.
"You are getting slow" boasted Jason as he missed Frank's stab "Old age is reaching you."
"I still can take you down" roared Frank and turned into a bear.
"Classic Frank" said Jason and tightened his grip on his sword.
Jason missed to damage Frank's body as well Frank. Both were hesitating in a way. Frank wanted to reason with him, not to kill him. From all his former friends, Frank was the one who never truly hurt Jason. Frank was a good friend but he also left him to rot in Tartarus.
Frank roared loudly at Jason's face with the hope to scare him but Jason didn't back off. He raised his clawed paw in an attempt to disarm his friend and talk to him but Jason's instinct and battle skills were faster than his mind and trusted his sword into bear's thick fur. Time seemed to freeze as Frank and Jason looked perplexed at each other as Jason's sword came out red and wet with Frank's blood.
Frank felt his heart racing as he felt on his furry paws before he turned back into a human. He fell heavily on the ground. Quickly, a pool of blood surrounded him as Jason stared at him motionless and in shock.
"I can't die here" said Frank as he tried to crawl to Jason, to get up and keep fighting, but he fell again and again. His voice was angry and weak "I can't believe I'm glad that Piper isn't here to see you. She would never forgive herself for abandoning you and she would never see what you became... you aren't my friend. The Jason I knew was a better man."
"Frank" said Jason as he saw his friend trying to get up a third time wand fell again in a pool of blood. He got to him and helped him to turn on his back. Both stared at each other as Frank was coughing blood and quickly bleeding out, quicker than Jason could have anticipated. Both men's clothes were stained red. Jason finally reacted and tried to cover the wound with his hands but the blood was coming out like a fountain. He tore out a main artery for sure.
Frank looked at the stormy sky and the outline of his friend trying to help him but it was useless. He knew he was dying. He whispered sorrowfully "Jason… You are wrong about everything. You were never forgotten…We are still your family, your friends. It's never too late to do the right thing, to be the hero we remember, the man I knew."
"Maybe it is, maybe it's too late for me" said Jason softly and he took Frank's hand "For what it is worth, I'm sorry. You weren't supposed to die here. It was never the plan."
"Me too" said Frank and his eyes were watering as his breathing was turning hollow and scarce "Jason, please, protect my children and Hazel. They are no guilty of my mistakes" Jason nodded once "I should have known… I should have known that you were still alive. I'm so sorry for abandoning you. I am truly sorry… Hazel, tell her that I love…" but he couldn't finish the sentence as he died in the middle of the battlefield like a true Roman legionary and demigod.