Chapter 15: Guess What Guys?

The sun was just about to rise when I opened my eyes again. Hazel would want to wake up soon. I could sense the ogres outside getting restless, preparing to fight their way into the mansion, and eat whoever had come in, during the night. They had discovered where Grey had made short work of the small party of six last night. They knew we were here.

I walked up to Hazel's room, and knocked softly. I was somewhat surprised to see her already up and dressed.

"Hazel?" I asked. "How long have you been awake?"

"Oh, an hour or two. Couldn't sleep anymore," she said, though her eyes looked a little darker than before. I could see that she needed rest, but wasn't in the mood to argue about it right now. "Is Frank up yet?"

I shook my head. "You asked me to let you know before he's up."

Hazel smiled. "Thanks, Percy. It means a lot."

She reached down and picked up a set of clothes up. Very large clothes.

"What?" Hazel said, realizing I was staring at the clothes with some confusion. "Frank needs a change of clothes!"

Oh.

"Okay, just curious," I said, backing off a little as Hazel stepped out of her room. She surprised me by carrying the clothes towards the kitchen. "What are you—"

"Mrs. Zhang was nice enough to let us sleep in her house for the night, we might as well fix her some breakfast. And for the three of us as well," Hazel said. But as she came into the living room, she looked outside and saw all the ogres. She paled a little. "Uh, Percy?"

I waved off her concerns. "I won't let them into the house, don't worry."

Hazel seemed to find comfort in this, and began bustling about the kitchen. Giving how easily she found everything, I almost would've thought she lived here for a time. In virtually no time, Hazel had prepared two platters of poached eggs, bacon, toast, and even managed to wrangle two glasses of orange juice. She set out two plates on the island, before carrying the other two plates up to Granny Zhang's room.

I began to dig in. I had to admit, Hazel was a pretty good cook. The food didn't feel… nourishing, but I enjoyed the taste. I was still hungry when I had finished. It was kind of strange.

Suddenly, in front of me, a small package shimmered into existence. It couldn't have been bigger around than a half-dollar, and it looked sort of like a paper wrapped around a rock. I unwrapped the paper, finding words on the inside the package. A small square of ambrosia fell out.

You might find this a little more filling.

-Dad

I grinned, before popping the square of ambrosia in my mouth. While I was mortal, I had had to be careful about how much food of the gods I ate. But now that I was an actual god, I only just now realized that I could eat the food of the gods.

Hazel walked back in a moment later, her hair wet like she had taken a shower. She dug into her meal heartily, finishing it almost as quickly as I had. She kept glancing worriedly at the ogres outside. I touched her hand, and for a moment she looked shocked.

"Don't worry, Hazel," I said, "I got this. I won't let you or Frank get hurt."

She swallowed first. "I—I don't doubt that anymore Percy. I believe you. But I just wonder how Frank will react. He seemed pretty mad about something yesterday, and I'm guessing it wasn't about him having to ride in the chariot."

I nodded. She was right. I was going to have to try to break this gently. I stood up, and waved a hand. The dishes all flew into the sink. Hazel grinned at me.

"Wow, that must be nice," she said.

I laughed a little. "So, did you wake Frank?"

Hazel shook her head. "He needs as much sleep as he can, and I think his grandmother wanted to talk to him about something first. Meanwhile, she told us we can use whatever we need in the attic."

I frowned. "What's in the attic?"

Hazel shrugged. "Guess we'll find out?"

So with that, Hazel and I walked up to the attic. When I opened the door and lowered the ladder, I was met with a pleasant surprise.

"Oh, well then," I said. Hazel came up right behind me.

The attic was full of a variety of weapons rivaling Camp Half-Blood's. I saw several types of exotic-looking arrows, swords, spears… was that a grenade launcher? It had a basket of ammunition next to it that looked suspiciously like potatoes. I didn't want to ask.

I walked over towards the window, which was more like a door disguised as a window. The latch opened, and I stepped out onto the roof.

It was actually a surprisingly flat area of roof. And over in the corner was an outdoor hose. I grinned. Like they had been expecting me. I picked up the hose and turned it on, sure that I would need it in a minute. Hazel came out onto the roof a few moments later. She had grabbed a new sword and had strapped it to her back. As soon as she was within view of the ogres, however, she ducked down again.

"That's… that's a lot of Sasquatch," she said, keeping a low profile. "Why are they—"

"Zhaaaaang!" one of the ogres down on the ground called out.

Hazel paled a little.

"Zhang! Zhang! Zhang! Zhang!" the other ogres began chanting.

"Percy?" Hazel asked. "How much longer until they attack?"

I scanned the crowd of Laistrygonians down below us. "They won't hurt any of us, don't worry."

Some of the ogres below had spotted me, and were pointing and cheering, but it was more like a hungry bloodlust than anticipation to see their main course. Several hefted cannonballs, but the lead ogre (who wore a KISS THE COOK! apron) told them to stop.

"He isn't the Zhang boy!"

I grinned. "No, son of Poseidon up here! Hi, howya doing?"

Some of the ogres grunted a laugh, before one hurled a cannonball at me. The hose suddenly sprang to life in my hand, and the water current hit the projectile head-on, exploding it on impact into a shower of celestial bronze shards, sparks, and smoke.

"Oooh," some of the ogres said appreciatively as the glittering shards of deadly metal rained down on them gently.

"I'm taking it that you're all a little short on patience today?" I called down from the top of the house. In response, another ogre threw another cannonball at me. Again, I detonated it before it could hit the house. "Right."

Hazel now seemed much calmer than before about the numbers of ogres below us, whether from watching me or from her own confidence in our group I couldn't say.

It was a few minutes later that Frank stepped out onto the roof as well, joining us. He looked down at the crowd of ogres warily. He was wearing an olive green shirt today, and khakis. He looked pretty good, honestly. He quickly scanned the rooftop for us, before officially joining us on the roof.

"Morning," I greeted. "Beautiful day, huh?"

Frank nodded after a moment, scanning the crowd of ogres below us like he didn't like our chances. I sensed one of the ogres throw another cannonball, and I used the hose to detonate it again.

Suddenly, Frank glanced over at Hazel, who was stretching her legs by walking back and forth between the window-door to the attic and where we were standing. He stared at her for a minute, before she walked over to him.

"Are you okay?" Hazel asked, sounding quite concerned already. "Why are you smiling?"

"Oh, uh, nothing," Frank said, suddenly self-conscious I supposed. "Thanks for breakfast. And the clothes… and not hating me."

That last bit surprised me, and I could see very clearly that Hazel thought so too. She blinked.

"Why would I hate you?" Hazel said, almost defensively. Her face held so much confusion, it was almost humorous.

Frank seemed more self-conscious now than before. He looked at his feet. "It's just… last night," he began, stuttering a little bit. "When I summoned the skeleton. I thought… I thought that you thought… I was repulsive… or something."

Hazel's eyebrows shot up, and I could almost hear her thoughts even without trying. Is THAT why you were so sullen yesterday?

"Frank, maybe I was surprised. Maybe I was scared of that thing," she admitted, "But repulsed? The way you commanded it, so confident and everything—like, Oh, by the way guys, I have this all-powerful spartus we can use. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't repulsed, Frank, I was impressed."

There was a moment of silence between the two of them.

"You were… impressed… by me?" Frank said, as if trying to wrap the concept around his brain.

I almost laughed out loud. I was the god of the group; I had been impressed. Besides that, the guy was built like a quarterback. He was kind of impressive and intimidating already, if he didn't have such a goofy sort of personality.

"Dude, it was prettyamazing," I added, glancing between Hazel and Frank.

Frank looked between the two of us for a moment.

"Honest?" he asked, as if he wasn't sure if we were lying to him.

"Honest," Hazel said, "But right now, we have other 'problems' to worry about."

I wasn't oblivious to the little quotation marks around 'problems'. I knew what she meant. We had a truth to reveal.

'Not yet,' Hera spoke into my mind. 'It would be fruitless anyways, since he will have lost his memory by the next morning anyway.'

'Woah, hold up,' I thought to the peacock-queen. 'Why is Frank losing his memory?'

'Simple answer,' Hera replied, 'The Athena girl has not solved his curse.'

'So we were timing it now?' I thought back. 'I didn't mention anything about a time-limit. Annabeth can still keep trying until she figures it out.'

'Eternity is too long of a wait for a mortal. She will have to have figured out his curse by the time your quest ends, godling,' Hera whispered in my mind.

'If I know Annabeth, I'd be surprised if she didn't figure it out by the end of the day,' I replied.

'Until then, godling,' Hera laughed.

She went quiet in my head.

Since I was still confident in Annabeth, I had no fear of Hera's threat.

I pulled myself out of these musings. "Yeah, I've got a trick or two up my sleeves, still. I can handle the ogres."

Frank nodded grimly, and I felt a pang of hurt at having to keep the secret from him a little longer.

Hazel nodded, and I was pretty sure she knew what I was about to do.

"Guys I've got an escape plan," Frank said, and proceeded to tell us about a plane—yikes—waiting for us at a nearby airfield, and the note his grandmother left for the pilot. "He's a legion veteran. He'll help us."

Hazel seemed not to exactly like this idea, and I shared the opinion, even though it was a well-thought plan. Planes. Ugh.

"But Arion's not back," Hazel said. She looked up to Frank. "And what about your grandmother? We can't just leave her."

Frank swallowed nervously. "Maybe—maybe Arion will find us. As for my grandmother… she was pretty clear. She said she'd be okay."

I thought I'd use this opportunity to speak up. "There's another problem. I'm not good with air travel. It's dangerous for a son of Neptune."

Frank nodded, but he didn't look like he was about to change his mind. "You'll have to risk it… and so will I. By the way, we're related."

I could feel my jaw drop a little. "What?"

Frank counted off his fingers like they were bullet-points. "Periclymenus. Ancestor on my mom's side. Argonaut. Grandson of Poseidon."

Hazel seemed as shocked as I was about this information. "You're a—a descendant of Neptune? Frank that's—"

"Crazy? Yeah. And there's this ability my family has, supposedly. But I don't know how to use it. If I can't figure it out—"

And suddenly the ogres spotted Frank. The lead ogre cheered, and the others followed his example.

"ZHANG! ZHANG! ZHAAAANG!" They cheered.

Hazel moved closer to Frank protectively, it was sweet. She glared down at the ogres, and I knew that she was thinking of doing some serious damage.

"One last thing," Frank said, "We've got to protect Ella, take her with us."

"Of course," Hazel said, looking up from the ogres. "The poor thing needs our help."

"No, I mean yes, but it's not just that. She recited a prophecy downstairs. I think… I think it was about this quest."

Frank recited the prophecy he had heard Ella say downstairs. I almost laughed at the sad look in his eyes as he told me a son of Neptune shall drown. I couldn't drown. I never had been able to drown in water, but now I couldn't drown at all. Immortality has perks.

But I knew that if I tried to evade a prophecy, it would come back to bite someone else. That was enough to keep me from laughing as he finished the rest. The only other relative of Neptune on this quest, so far at least, was Frank. Frank, as far as I knew, could not breathe underwater anyways. I'd have to keep a close eye on Frank to make sure he was safe.

The ogres were restless. The leader stepped forward, and hefted what looking like a pair of grilling tongs. "Frank Zhang! Come down, son of Mars! We've been waiting for you. Come, be our honored guest!"

Hazel sneered at the ogres on the ground, and I decided Hazel could look terrifying and yet somehow still also sweet at the same time. "Why do I get the feeling that 'honored guest' means the same thing as 'dinner'?"

I could see Frank's uneasiness next to me, and I could sense his uncomfortable and panicked nerves. Subtly, I sent a wave of relief towards him, dispelling his queasiness like I had for Hazel a day or two ago. I almost chuckled and gave myself away when his eyes popped wide open, before glancing around him suspiciously. I suppose he had just been thinking about the uneasy stomach he had had.

I looked down to the ogres, before glancing at Hazel. She raised an eyebrow in silent question, and I subtly nodded. Frank didn't notice this, he was busy staring at the ogres below, trying to get their attention.

I closed my eyes and began to concentrate. I didn't know if I would be able to do what I wanted to do, but I could visualize what I wanted to happen, and I'd work from there.

I wanted my power to flow towards that large stack of cannonballs. I might not be able to create fire, being a son of Poseidon, but it didn't take much to detonate these things, last time I had seen them. Just a touch, really. And that was all I wanted.

'Hazel,' I said, sending my thoughts to her like some of the gods could do with their children. I didn't know if it would work with other demigods, but I was a god of the Unclaimed. Demigods were sort of my area of power, so maybe—

I knew it worked when Hazel's eyes widened and she looked at me. Quickly, I added, 'Don't freak out. I just wanted to warn you that I'm about to do something to confuse the ogres. It's going to be sudden, and it's going to be loud.'

Hazel glanced at the ground below, her eyes alighting on the stack of cannonballs that was my target, and the one that I was exerting force on. Her eyes widened.

'Detonate,' I thought, and my power responded.

With only the thought impulse, the cannonballs suddenly exploded, causing a wide crater to appear and several glittering piles of golden monster dust nearby it. The ogres began panicking as I began to secretly detonate each and every pile of cannonballs they had stored up. The Zhang family mansion's lawn would be riddled with craters, but that was the price I would have to pay to, y'know, make sure my friends survive.

A few of the ogres began lobbing cannonballs towards the house. I knew I couldn't spread myself that thin, what with trying to detonate all the cannonballs at once. So I did the next best thing. I jumped towards Frank and Hazel, and felt a protective sphere bubble out around the three of us. The cannonballs bounced away, hit by a shimmering field, before falling away to the unfortunate ogres below, who found themselves on the deadly end of a bronze meteorite shower.

By this point, there were only a few survivors left. Frank just gawked at the wreckage below.

"Well," I said, trying to sound as sarcastic as possible. "That happened."

"These are without doubt the lamest monsters in history!" Hazel said, beginning to laugh. Though Frank would just see this as her laughing at how stupidly lucky we appeared to be, I knew that she was laughing because for once, things were easy on a quest. Thanks to a certain god in their midst.

The ogres heard her and began to heft more cannonballs angrily, before remembering what had just happened to all the closer ogres who had just tried that. I felt through the ground with my senses, and was pleasantly surprised to find a water sprinkler system in the lawn. I felt a tug in my gut as I erupted the sprinklers, causing mass hysteria among the ogres to any who were still unaffected by the strange display of power, with no apparent origin. Mixed with the shattered remnants of the leftover celestial bronze cannonballs, the water proved to be quite deadly to any open cuts on the monsters' skin. Soon there was no more monsters below. Frank was open-mouthed as he stared at the craters and golden powder below, where once there had been a regiment of bloodthirsty cannibals.

"Mars almighty," Frank whispered, confusion and awe being his two prominent emotions at the moment. "That… that was unexpected."

"Shall we be off to this airport, I suppose?" I asked, managing to keep the disbelief in my voice as I said so.

"I guess. How far of a trip is it?" Hazel asked, turning to Frank.

"Not far. Maybe five minutes if we use the car in the garage," Frank said.

"Let's go then," I said, turning and walking to the door. It took me a minute to realize that Frank wasn't following me and Hazel.

"Frank? C'mon, let's go," I said, motioning for him to follow us.

"Just a second," he said, peering through the forest below us. "Why isn't there…y'know, a side-quest?"

I was confused. "What do you mean?"

"It's just weird, that some god decided that we needed help, then didn't show up to give us some ridiculous side-quest for their help," Frank said, turning back towards Hazel and me.

Oh. Hm. Well, there wasn't much I could do about that, was there?

"Well, maybe it was a gift from Mars or Pluto or someone," I said, shrugging. "Saw that the outcome of the fight would be bad? Let's just go before whoever it is changes their mind about that side-quest."

Frank cracked a smile at this. "Yeah, I suppose so. Let's go."

I made a mental note to not intervene so obviously again without some god or other giving me a hand and appearing for me. I was kind of surprised that Frank picked up on that, actually.

Hazel walked up by my side, slyly leaning over and whispering, "When are you going to tell him?"

I sent her my thoughts in response. 'Juno won't allow me to tell him. Technically, she's upset that you know about me. She's insisting I erase your memory of the fact.'

Hazel obviously paled a little at this. Hurriedly, I explained. 'Don't worry, I made a bet with Juno. She has to let me let you guys keep your memories, and tell Frank, without interfering if I win.'

'What's the bet? Is it probably you'll win? Are you really going to erase my memory?' Hazel thought, naturally panicked.

'A—' I began to think to her, before thinking better of it, 'A friend of mine has to solve Frank's curse.'

There was silence for a few more moments from Hazel.

'Do you seriously have to wipe our memories?'

'Not all of them, anyway. Just—just the ones relating to me, I think,' I thought to her. Quickly I added, 'If I lose.'

Frank passed the two of us, noting Hazel's expression with worry, but before he could ask her about it she had already hidden her panic and replaced it with a smile.

"Well, here's the old Cadillac," Frank said, motioning to the only car in the garage. "This thing can get us to the airport pretty fast."

For a fleeting moment, I wondered if Zeus would still strike me down with lightning, even if he knew it was pretty much pointless. Since I wasn't sure about the answer, I reached out to take Hazel and Frank's hands, about to simply teleport across the country, when Hera interrupted me in a flurry of panicked words.

'Stupid—don't—dare—plan—swear—destroy—send—Tartarus—you!' was all I could comprehend at the speed she spoke at.

I stood still for a moment, at a loss for words. I settled on something simple. 'What?'

'You are prohibited from showing these two demigods your godly power,' Hera said gruffly. 'I swear, I will send Zeus after you if you mess this plan up.'

'Yeesh, I'm worried about Zeus coming after me anyways, what with the flying,' I thought.

'You think lord Zeus is unaffected by the confliction the gods are feeling?' Hera thought to me.

Confliction? What was she talking about?

'Yes, godling, the gods are at war with themselves, clashing over Greek and Roman. The headaches are AWFUL!'

This was the first I'd heard of it. I frowned.

'How come I'm not affected?' I thought.

'Ask your girlfriend. She's soooo smart,' Hera said sarcastically.

'She gives me a straight answer every now and then, your majesty,' I thought back.

'WAS THAT SASS, PERSEUS JACKSON!?' Hera screeched.

'No,' I thought.

There was more silence for a moment.

'WAS THAT MORE SASS?' Hera screeched.

I rolled my eyes, but gave no further response. Fine. If she was sure I could fly then…

"Let's roll," I said. Frank nodded. Before he could react, I swiped the keys out of his hand. "I'm driving."