To Imagine Coldplay- Do you know how relieved I was when Frank turned up as Captain Underpants? XD
To An-Unnamed-Goose- No, Lou's dead somewhere. She's fine. And not in the book, he didn't. I thought to add it, amused me a little :3
Priorities change when rushing a friend to emergency medical care. It no longer seemed important that they had won a major battle or that Apollo was no longer zombifying. Lavinia's heroism and her new dancing shoes were momentarily forgotten. His concern for Louisa and Jason and their whereabouts were pushed aside. He even failed to realise that Diana, who had been at his side only a moment before, had quietly disappeared. Apollo was too busy barking orders at legionnaires, directing them to grate some unicorn horn, get him some nectar, stat, and the manic rush to get chargrilled Captain Underpants to the medical tent.
He and Hazel stayed with Frank until well past dawn. Apollo tended to the praetor himself. He had hoped Louisa would be working her magic- he had seen her healing from severe burns herself, in his dreams. He had hoped she could help Frank quicker.
But she was not here. Neither was Jason. No-one had seen them. Reyna took Lavinia and Thalia in search of them, despite the protests to rest her broken leg. At the time, Apollo had hardly noticed, rubbing a magical lavender infused burn salve on Frank's back.
Sometime after sun-up, the other medics assured Frank was out of danger. Not a single one of them could explain his survival, but his pulse was strong, his skin had healed as if the burns had simply been felt tip pen, and his lungs were clear. The arrow punctures in his shoulder and the dagger wound in his stomach proved a little troublesome, but they were now stitched up, bandaged and healing well. Frank slept fitfully, muttering and flexing his hands as if still reaching for an emperor to throttle.
"Where's his firewood?" Hazel fretted. "Should we look for it? If its lost in the-"
"No." Apollo shook his head. "I saw it burn up. That's what killed Caligula. Frank's sacrifice."
"Then how…?" Hazel bit her knuckles to suppress sobs. She hardly dared ask the question, speaking as quietly as she could, as if her volume controlled any potential ill-will. "Will he be OK?"
Apollo had no answer ready. He knew of Frank's fate, tied to that bit of driftwood. How Juno had foreseen Frank's power and the honour he would bring to his family. The Fates had decreed the situation with the firewood, but now… it had burned up.
It had been Frank's intention, however. After so many years of keeping it safe, he had decided what would happen.
"I think… I think he took control of his own destiny. I've only known one other to have this firewood problem. A prince named Meleager. His mom got the same kind of prophecy when he was a baby. But she never told him about it. She just hid it and let him live his life. He grew up to be a privileged, arrogant brat."
"Frank's not like that." Hazel defied, holding the praetor's hand in both of hers. "Frank would never be like that."
"I know." Apollo promised. "The story goes that Meleager ended up killing a bunch of his relatives. His mom was horrified and she threw that bit of wood into the fire herself." Hazel shuddered.
"That's horrible."
"The point is Frank's family was honest with him. He was given his own lifeline to carry. His grandmother did not try to protect him from the hard truth and it shaped who he is."
"He knew what his fate would be. Or what it was supposed to be. I still don't understand-"
"It's just a guess," Apollo cut in, "but Frank went into that tunnel knowing he might die. He willingly sacrificed himself for a noble cause. In doing so, he broke free of his fate. By burning his own lifeline, he kind of… started a new fire with it. He's in charge of his own destiny now." He shrugged a shoulder. "As much as any of us are. The only other explanation I can think of, is that Juno somehow released him from the Fates' decree."
"Juno?" Hazel frowned. "Doing someone a favour?"
"Doesn't sound like her, I agree. But she does have a soft spot for Frank."
"She had a soft spot for Jason too. Look at the danger she put him in." Hazel reminded him, her voice brittle with anger. "We've lost so many. I can't bear to do this without Frank." She dabbed at her eyes. Apollo knew what she wanted to say. It's not fair. Too many had died. Too many were injured. Too few had miracles.
Death is a part of life, Apollo had once said to mortals whining about the unfairness of death. You have to accept it. Life would be meaningless without death. The deceased will always be alive as long as we remember them.
As a mortal, watching the people around him, the people he had grown to care about and the people who had grown to care about him… Apollo found no comfort in those words.
"LOU!"
"JASON!"
"LOUISA!"
"HEY, KELP-HEAD!"
"Don't call her Kelp-Head!"
"Barnacle Brain?"
"No."
"Fish Jesus? Sushi Shortass? Magikarp?" Thalia hunched her shoulders. Reyna frowned at her.
"I quite like Sushi Shortass." Lavinia chimed in. She ignored Reyna's glare, shuffling in her new dance shoes. "LOUISA! JASON!" She shouted. "COME OUT, COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!"
"COME ON, BLOBFISH!" Thalia yelled. "The longer you stay hidden, the more Reyna will kill you! Same goes for you, Jason! I will kill you!" Reyna shuffled on, hopping unsteadily on her crutches around the debris. They followed the carnage of put-out fires, exploded fountains and sewers, upturned cobblestone streets and toppled upper storeys. "Jason! Lou!" Thalia called.
"SUSHI SHORTASS!" Lavinia tried. Reyna didn't even have the energy to glare at her.
Some of the citizens had seen the pair, during the battle, directing the trio's search in roughly the right direction. They just came across more destruction and more places the cousins weren't.
The more Reyna heard about what Louisa had done to help save the city, the more she thought about strangling her with one of her crutches. She had expected the usual storms and such, but if the damage was anything to go by, it had been to levels not yet reached. She could only hope Louisa had used her natural powers and not gone further.
And she had no idea where or when Jason had come into things, but the general reaction at seeing the pontifex was hopeful and relieved. He had been missed.
"Jason!" Reyna edged her way around rubble. "Has anyone seen Jason or Lou? Gods, I am going to kill them."
"Uh, no." Thalia interceded. "Only I can kill my brother, I have rights."
"You sound like Lou."
"Don't compare me to that jellyfish."
"How many of those have you got?" Lavinia laughed.
"Tons." Thalia managed a smile. "My favourite is bottom-dweller, she hates it."
"Mm. Yes. I can see why." Lavinia nodded sagely, biting her lip to hide a smile as Reyna glared again.
They found Jason first. Thalia wasn't happy with where he had landed himself, but if the storm-strewn, wind-torn, lightning-charred surroundings where anything to do with it, he may not have had much choice.
One of the children had spotted him, having noticed broken bricks in the fireplace. Upon investigation, the little boy and his mother with her ladder found a pair of legs sticking out of their half-destroyed chimney. Luckily, Jason was still attached to the pair of legs, although he was unconscious and stuck.
Lavinia and the mother dug him free. Fortunately, there was a skylight already propped open, although it was the neighbours' and they got a bit of a shock seeing a bright-pink gangly legionnaire and their neighbour lugging an unconscious ex-praetor pontifex down the stairs, even more so when the Hunter Lieutenant and the praetor rocked up on their doorstep.
"Idiot." Thalia scowled. "Dunderhead. Moron. Stupid. Irresponsible, reckless, stink-brained-" Her tirade grew while she dribbled unicorn draught into his mouth, grumbling and eventually swearing. "Absolute bastard, how dare you. How could you be so fucking stupid?"
"Mmph. Love you too." Jason smiled feebly, squinting at her. Thalia froze, blinked at him. "Hi." Jason said. Angry red splotches coloured Thalia's cheeks and she bonked him on the head, maybe a little harder than necessary, but he deserved it.
"You." She growled, temper clipping her words. "Fucker. Kill you. Grounded." He managed a weak nod, wincing at the movement. Thalia swore in Greek and jammed the canteen at his face, seemingly determined to drown him in unicorn draught. "What were you thinking?" She raged. "Taking on an emperor?"
"Ah, don't." He grimaced. "Lou already told me off and- wait." He tried to sit up. Lavinia and Thalia immediately pushed him back down. "No, no, where's… where's Lou?" His gaze travelled between them, landing on Reyna. Her expression told him enough. "She was… I was right with her, we were… we were fighting Tarquin, we got him. But there was this…" He gestured shakily, miming an explosion with his hands. "I think she lost control, I could only see green. Then I… well, now I'm here."
"You were in a chimney." Lavinia supplied helpfully. "Like Santa, but rather than going down the chimney, you were trying to go through it."
"Oh." Jason said brilliantly. Lavinia snorted. He struggled to sit up again, a single glower from his big sister keeping him in place. "I want to help look for her." He insisted.
"OK." Thalia said. "Get past me first."
"Uh…" Jason eyed her sidelong. For a moment, Reyna and Lavinia thought he might just try it. But then he thought better of it and lay back down. Thalia snorted, smirking smugly.
"That's what I thought."
It was an hour from noon when Reyna finally relented. She had to sit down. The pain in her leg, the strain to keep herself upright on her crutches- she had to take a break. Lavinia ventured into a café, open for those who had lost their homes, and came back with sandwiches and bottles of water.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid." Reyna grumbled, viciously tearing away her crusts and throwing them at the pigeons.
"She's your girlfriend." Thalia said around her mouthful.
"She's an idiot and if she's not already dead, I'm gonna kill her." Reyna froze as her own words registered, arm cocked back to throw crusts. Her bottom lip trembled. She lowered her hand.
"We'll find her." Lavinia said, biting into her sandwich. "She may have gone somewhere to rest. Should we check the rest of the chimneys?"
"Or more accurately," Thalia pressed, "she could be sitting at the bottom of the ocean, with all the others of her IQ." Lavinia snorted, hurriedly disguising it in a cough.
"But she could at least let me know!" Reyna swore, lobbing her crusts furiously.
"You wouldn't have this problem if you were a Hunter."
"Oh, not this again." Reyna sighed, dragging her hand over her face. "I wouldn't have this problem if Lou just… sat still. For two minutes, that's all I ask! Why is she like this?" Reyna demanded. "Why is she such a Louisa?"
"Sushi Shortass, I'm telling you." Thalia nodded. "I don't know what else you expected- the girl is literally related to a sheepskin rug."
"Yeah, I know." Reyna rolled her eyes. Lavinia wondered if they had had this argument before. "And horses and merman and Percy, I know."
"Tyson." Lavinia added.
"Tyson's lovely. He doesn't go on the Weird List."
"Naturally." Lavinia agreed. Reyna crammed her sandwich in her mouth, glaring at the pigeons as if they were retaining Louisa's whereabouts. Thalia drained half her water bottle.
"You curse her for all the traits you love her for." She said softly. Reyna swallowed her mouthful.
"I shall kill her for them too."
"Aww." Lavinia mock-cooed. "True love." Reyna elbowed her. "Doesn't Lou have a pegasus?" Lavinia pouted, massaging the on-coming bruise.
"Storm." Thalia nodded. "I asked a few people, but no-one's seen her either. Seems like they both disappeared after that weird green… whoosh." She mimicked Jason's earlier gesture of an explosion.
"If Storm's taken her somewhere, we've got no way of tracking them." Reyna sighed. "Terminus!" She called. The statue materialised, grumpy and still noseless, Julia at his side.
"Yes, Praetor?"
"Have you been able to monitor the borders?"
"I can provide no defences, but I know if anyone crosses them."
"Has Lou crossed them? Lou and Storm?" Terminus had to think for a moment.
"I don't believe they have."
"She's still in the city?" Thalia asked.
"Or the camp?" Reyna tried, a little hint of hope twisting her tone.
"I believe so."
"Have you seen her?"
"No. Julia and I shall keep an eye out. Gods know that girl should be kept on a leash. Look what she did to the city!" He wobbled his head, gesturing widely with non-existent arms.
"Um, Jason was part of that too."
"Mmph." The statue shook his head. "That boy hardly made a dent in comparison. Where is he anyway?"
"Resting."
"Tell him I'm expecting an action figure of my own." When it was clear none of them knew what he was on about, he turned his nose up- or would have, if he still had his nose. "What of the city, praetor?"
"Repairs will be done." Reyna promised. "Thank you, Terminus." Statue and assistant disappeared. Thalia leaned forward slightly to inspect Reyna's face.
"Mm. You've thought of something, haven't you?"
"There's someone else. Someone that could come help us. If Lou is hiding somewhere, resting, she won't be hiding for long."
"What? Who is it?" Lavinia squinted at Reyna. "You make them sound scarier than you, Reyna."
"That's because she is." Reyna smirked, eyes aflame with vindication and revenge plots. Lavinia and Thalia exchanged confused and nervous looks.
Who was scarier to Louisa than Reyna?
They didn't need to ask. Reyna was already answering. "I'm going to call Lou's mother."
"Umph." Frank's eyes fluttered open.
"Oh!" Hazel sobbed, flinging her arms around his neck, smothering him. Apollo would have pointed out this was not the best medical practise for someone just returning to consciousness, but he let it pass. Hazel needed this.
Frank patted her feebly on the back.
"Breathe." He croaked.
"Sorry!" Hazel lurched backwards, grimacing apologetically. She pulled her sleeve over her hand, wiping roughly at her face. "You're thirsty, I bet." She smiled, reaching for the canteen at his bedside. She steadied it so he could drink, a few painful sips of nectar. "You're an idiot." She reprimanded quietly. Frank gently pushed the canteen away.
"Sorry. Um, are… are we good?" Fresh tears fell, Hazel hiccupped a sob.
"Yes. Yes, we're good. The camp is saved. Tarquin is dead. And you… you killed Caligula."
"That was my pleasure." Frank smiled weakly. He turned to Apollo. "Did I miss the cake?"
"What?"
"Your birthday. Yesterday."
"Oh. I, uh, I completely forgot about that. And the cake."
"So, there might still be cake in our future." Frank nodded. "Good. I need cake. Do you feel older yet, at least?"
"Your little stunt aged me about a hundred years."
"Sorry." Frank laughed. His laughter turned into a coughing fit. Hazel immediately began fussing over him, helping him sit back, some more nectar. "I'm OK." He promised, wheezing and squeezing her hand.
"You scared me, Frank Zhang." Hazel fumed, wiping at her face again. "You broke my heart when I thought…" Frank's expression turned sheepish.
"I'm sorry, Hazel. It was just… it was the only way. Ella told me some prophecy lines, just for me. Only fire could stop the emperors, kindled by the most precious firewood, on the bridge to camp. I guessed she meant the Caldecott Tunnel. She said New Rome needed a new Horatius."
"Horatius Cocles." Apollo remembered. "Nice guy. Defended Rome by holding off an entire army single-handedly on the Sublician Bridge." Frank nodded.
"I, um, I asked Ella not to tell anyone else. I just… had to process it, carry it around by myself for a while." His hand went instinctively to his belt, fist curling in the absence of the cloth pouch.
"You could've died." Hazel sniffed.
"Yeah. 'Life is only precious because it ends, kid'."
"Is that a quote?" Apollo puzzled.
"My dad." Frank nodded. "He was right. I just had to be willing to take the risk."
Silence settled over them, considering the enormity of Frank's risk or, perhaps, just marvelling that Mars had actually said something wise. Hazel kept squishing his hand between hers, making him smile and squeeze her fingers.
"How did you survive the fire?" She demanded.
"I don't know. I remember Caligula burning up. I passed out, thought I was dead. Then I woke up on Arion's back. And now I'm here."
"I'm glad." Hazel kissed his forehead tenderly. "But I will kill you later for scaring me like that."
"That's fair." Frank smiled. "Could I have another…?" Maybe he was going to say kiss or sip of nectar or moment alone with my best friend, Apollo.
Before he could say any of that, his eyes rolled back in his head and Frank tipped forward, snoring on Hazel's shoulder.
