Hey guys- Hazel and Frank freak the heck out in this chapter- and you get the talk you all wanted- they finally get it confirmed that Percy is in fact a Greek.
Replies:
Weirdhead: At this stage I haven't written much as I'm kinda blocked with it, but I do have the plans and such and I will write it, hopefully ploughing on with the others will help.
Catetaboada2: Heh, He isn't in this chapter but someone else is- I hope that will sate your need to see him for now.
The Official Clarisse: Yes, but first they'd have to bash Frank and Hazel's heads together to get them to kiss already.
JjlovesPJO: Hah, it's building up to the end- and the dream I hinted at will be coming soon.
Undeath9087: They will find out- and they'd just be there like 'Uh, say what now?' as Percy talks about her godly therapist threatening to turn her into a dolphin. And honestly, not in this AU, but I get why you'd ask.
Guest: She's remembering so yeah, and it will come up and Frank and Hazel will react as expected lol. And remember she's dealing with a lot of new information and figuring out how to tell them stuff.
Drizzle: Hey, that's a solid plan- and you can just imagine the monsters realising and thinking 'Whoop, we're dead.'
Percy kept her foot down, ignoring the thrill of excitement at the feeling of speed and power she got from the car as they drove through the woods, heading north.
"About three miles!" Frank said. "You can't miss it!"
Behind them, more explosions ripped through the forest. Smoke boiled into the sky.
"How fast can Laistrygonians run?" Hazel asked.
"Let's not find out," Percy pulled a face.
The gates of the airfield appeared before them—only a few hundred yards away. A private jet idled on the runway. Its stairs were down.
The Cadillac hit a pothole and went airborne. Percy could hear Franks head slam into the ceiling, the only thing that stopped hers from doing the same was the fact that she was bent slightly, her entire body tensed. When the wheels touched the ground, she floored the brakes, and they swerved to a stop just inside the gates.
Frank climbed out and drew his bow. "Get to the plane! They're coming!"
The Laistrygonians were closing in with alarming speed. The first line of ogres burst out of the woods and barreled toward the airfield—five hundred yards away, four hundred yards...
Percy flung the car door open, scrambling out at the same time as Hazel, and Hazel reached the passenger door first, pulling it open and grabbing Ella, pulling her out quickly- but but as soon as the harpy saw the airplane, she began to shriek.
"N-n-no!" she yelped. "Fly with wings! N-n-no airplanes."
"It's okay," Hazel promised. "We'll protect you!"
Ella made a horrible, painful wail like she was being burned.
"Oh gods." Percy's voice was panicked, "What do we do we can't force her onto the plane!"
"No," Frank agreed. The ogres were three hundred yards out.
"She's too valuable to leave behind," Hazel said. Then she winced at her own words. "Gods, I'm sorry, Ella. I sound as bad as Phineas. You're a living thing, not a treasure."
"No planes. N-n-no planes." Ella was hyperventilating.
The ogres were almost in throwing distance.
Percy's mind was racing- and suddenly she remembered the Cyclops and the Hellhound, roaming the hills trying to search for her. Percy felt her heart racing and she closed her eyes, pressing her fingers to her lips and letting out an ear piercing whistle.
Then she was there, bursting out of the shadows, the huge black mastiff, she heard Frank and Hazel screaming but Percy didn't hesitate, "Mrs O'Leary!" and the Hellhound let out a bark so loud that the ground seemed to shake- and it made the giants falter, clearly shocked and worried with the development- and
Frank and Hazel were still screaming as Percy was bowled over, and Percy was letting out a loud bright laughter crossed with sobs as the Hellhound licked her, covering her with dog slobber, "Gross girl! Oh I've missed you." she got up quickly, hugging the Hellhound tightly, "Good girl coming for me. Yes you are." she scratched her between her ears.
"What the- how?" Hazel's voice was panicked and Percy laughed.
"Meet Mrs O'Leary. She's my Hellhound." she shook her head, "Ella- Ella come here-"
"Big dog." Ella's eyes were wide, "Nice Hellhound- good hellhound-"
"That's right Ella." Percy nodded quickly, "She'll take you to safety okay? Girl, you take Ella here to Tyson." Percy swallowed hard before pulling her bracelet off and wrapping it around Ella's wrist, "Ella, Mrs O'Leary will take you to my brother okay. Show him that and tell him I said to look after you, tell him to find Camp Jupiter and wait for me above . Don't try and go in because they might attack. Tell him I love him okay? You look after that bracelet for me. It's important."
"Ella will tell him." Ella nodded quickly, before switching to Latin. "'Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the Mark of Athena burns through Rome.'" and Percy forced down her panic at hearing that and she hugged her tightly before helping her onto the Hellhounds back, and Mrs O'Leary let out a whine that made Percy want to sob all over again. "You can tell me more about that later Ella." She forced back a mental image of Annabeth. "And Mrs O'Leary I know girl but you gotta go. I'll see you soon. I promise."
"Aroof!" Mrs O'Leary almost nodded, and then she was bounding away and disappearing into the shadows once more.
Percy watched as they disappeared before turning to her friends, who were staring at her with wide eyes as if she was completely insane- which honestly, Percy really wished that wasn't such a common reaction. "I'll explain later. C'mon." because the giants were moving again, now that Mrs O'Leary was gone they had nothing to be afraid of.
"Oh gods." Hazel let out a panicked noise, "She will be okay won't she?"
"Mrs O'Leary and Tyson will look after her for me." Percy promised, "Now move!" and Frank had his bow in his hands and he'd knocked an arrow.
An explosion sent the airfield's gate spinning into the air.
Frank tossed his grandmother's letter to Percy. "Show that to the pilot! Show him your letter from Reyna too! We've got to take off now."
Percy nodded. She and Hazel ran for the plane, her heart pounding in her ears as Frank began firing arrow's at the enemy.
Percy and Hazel reached the plane, Percy half dragging Hazel along, not letting her look back.
They sprinted up the steps, Percy gripping the letter from Franks grandmother and pulling out the letter from Reyna, the pilot just nodded rushed off, and a moment later he started up the engine. Percy and Hazel stood at the doors, Hazel shrieking. "Frank! Come on!"
And they watched as a Frank managed to shoot a cannonball midair before he started running, and they were moving, Percy was almost screaming as the stairs started to rise, and then Frank was there, and Percy and Hazel both grabbed a hand each and hauling inside, all of them landing in a pile as the stairs finished closing and the plane shot down the runway. Another blast ripped through the runway behind them, but then they were in the air.
Frank managed to get to his feet and stagger towards the window, and Percy and Hazel followed him, Hazel helping Percy to her feet- and Percy was stunned when she saw that the airstrip was riddled with craters like a piece of burning Swiss cheese. Swaths of Lynn Canyon Park were on fire. A few miles to the south, a swirling pyre of flames and black smoke was all that remained of the Zhang family mansion.
Percy let out a slow shaky breath, watching Frank sink down into one of the seats and bury his head in his hands as he started to cry.
Percy moved into a seat of her own as Hazel slid in beside Frank and grabbed his hand, and she looked away to give them both some privacy, rubbing her right wrist, there was a scar there, it had been covered by the bracelet before, but now it was clear and easy to see, all the way around her wrist- she couldn't remember how she'd got it yet- but it made her chest feel uncomfortably tight to look at it.
Eventually Frank managed to stop crying- and she couldn't blame the other teen for his tears she really couldn't.
Eventually he started speaking again, he wouldn't tell them about his "family gift" was, but as they flew north, Frank did tell them about his conversation with Mars the night before. He explained the prophecy Juno had issued when he was a baby—about his life being tied to a piece of firewood, and how he had asked Hazel to keep it for him.
Some of that, Percy had already figured out. Hazel and Frank had obviously shared some crazy experiences when they had blacked out together, and they'd made some sort of deal. It also explained why even now, out of habit, Frank kept checking his coat pocket, and why he was so nervous around fire. Still, Percy couldn't imagine what kind of courage it had taken for Frank to embark on a quest, knowing that one small flame could snuff out his life.
Percy felt a surge of pride and her lips twitched slightly, "I'm proud of you Frank- to call you family I mean."
Frank's ears turned red. With his head lowered, his military haircut made a sharp black arrow pointing down. "Juno has some sort of plan for us, about the Prophecy of Seven."
"Yeah," Percy grumbled. "I didn't like her as Hera. I don't like her any better as Juno."
That made Hazel shift, her eyes focusing on Percy. "You're Greek aren't you. Your dad is Poseidon not Neptune."
"Yeah." Percy nodded, "Yeah I am. It's all been coming back to me. Not everything yet but- it's coming back." she knew her expression had turned soft,
"Some of it's really good, not all of it but some." she tucked her hair behind her ear. "There's another camp you guys. Camp Half Blood-" Percy felt a rush of warmth when she said the name out loud- and she automatically reached for a bead necklace before her brows furrowed- it was gone. She wondered why, she couldn't actually remember how she'd lost it. She felt almost naked without it.
Frank and Hazel were staring at her as if she was speaking some foreign language.
"Another camp," Hazel repeated. "A Greek camp? Gods, if Octavian found out—"
"He'd declare war," Frank said. "He's always been sure the Greeks were out there, plotting against us. He thought Percy was a spy."
"That's why Juno sent me," Percy said. "Uh, I mean, not to spy. She needs us to work together- I can't remember it exactly but-" she paused, "Jason, he was blond right, scar on his lips-"
"Yes!" Hazel gasped the word, "Yes he is-"
"He's with my brother. I think it's kind of like an exchange."
"That means he's coming back right?" Frank's eyes widened, "If he's with your brother- you said about the warship?"
"Yeah, yeah he is."
Frank tapped nervously on the back of his seat. "Mars said Juno wants to unite the Greeks and Romans to fight Gaea. But, jeez—Greeks and Romans have a long history of bad blood."
Hazel took a deep breath. "That's probably why the gods have kept us apart this long. If a Greek warship appeared in the sky above Camp Jupiter, and Reyna didn't know it was friendly—"
"Yeah," Percy agreed. "We've got to be careful how we explain this when we get back."
"If we get back," Frank said.
Percy nodded reluctantly. "I mean, I trust you guys. I hope you trust me. I feel…well, I feel as close to you two as to any of my old friends at Camp Half-Blood at the moment." then Percy paused, "Well, actually that isn't really fair because I think most people back home were more like family than friends-"
"You said I was family too right?" Hazel's expression was almost hopeful and Percy nodded, smiling slightly.
"Yeah, right." Percy nodded, "I can't wait 'til everyone gets to meet you."
"Then of course we trust you," she said. "We're a family now. Aren't we, Frank?"
"Sure," he said. "Do I get a kiss?"
Hazel laughed, but there was nervous tension in it. "Anyway, what do we do now?"
Percy took a deep breath. Time was slipping away.
They were almost halfway through June twenty-third, and tomorrow was the Feast of Fortuna. Gods but this was bad. "I don't know." she admitted.
"Then-" Hazel hesitated, "Can you tell us more about your past?"
"I- can try." Percy smiled hesitantly, "Though a lot of it's still fuzzy- I think the worst stuff is the stuff that's not coming back yet"
"What about your family? Can you tell us about them?" Frank's voice was curious "And- a Hellhound? It slobbered on you."
"Yeah." Percy smiled faintly, "Yeah she did. I think I got her from-" she paused, frowning as she tried to summon up the name to go with the face in her mind,
"Quintus? No... no that's not fully right I- he was my girlfriends brother. He had a soft spot for me I think. He'd spent years befriending her. She's probably the only tame Hellhound around. She loves ear scratches and cuddles."
"And you were scared of Reyna's dogs." Hazel laughed brightly and Percy flushed.
"Shut up Hazel."
"Ah, there we have it." Frank declared sagely, "The famous sibling bickering, as an only child I don't get it-"
"Oh you're family too." Percy declared, "I'm your great great great bajillion times great aunt-"
"... Huh." Frank blinked, "Well- would it just be easier for me to call you my ridiculous sister?"
"Now that I'm cool with."