Frank thought he knew nausea. After riding on the back of Arion through Alaska, he was sure that was the peak, nothing else would be able to make him nauseous again. He was wrong. Turns out being smacked from Athens to Long Island by the God of the Sky will make your stomach feel like it's trying to stop itself from turning inside out. As Frank stumbled on the deck, with Hazel close behind, he vaguely heard Leo shouting. Frank couldn't tell what he was saying since he was too busy trying to keep himself on his feet, but he got the idea as soon as he saw the state of the Argo II; Abandon ship.
Frank quickly changed himself into a gray dragon, and Hazel hopped onto his back. He saw Piper run over to Jason, and unfortunately, he knew what Leo was planning. That left him responsible for getting Percy and Annabeth to the ground. He scooped them up in his claws, took a quick second to shake off the stars circling around his head, and then he shot into the sky, soaring away from the Argo II.
His nausea settled until he saw the sea of monsters below them. Countless creatures swarmed around two sects of demigods. He saw the glint of legionnaire armour in both groups, but the one closer to the Athena Parthenos at the top of the hill (thank the gods, Reyna came through) seemed to have less of his comrades among their ranks. The other group was trapped in the middle of the enemy army a few hundred meters away. On instinct, Frank nearly turned himself into a bald eagle to get a closer look. He stopped himself, considering his passengers probably would not have appreciated the fall. Over to his side, Jason and Piper hovered in the air, taking in the battle below. Legion eagles began circling them, and Frank pulled in closer, so he was within an earshot of Jason.
"Those three cohorts are in trouble! If they don't merge with the rest of the demigods—" Jason didn't even need to finish that sentence. They'd be doomed, Frank thought, and we'd be doomed without over half the Legion. As formidable as a single cohort could be, the Roman Legion found its strength in numbers. There was no way they'd be able to make it out of this fight without all hands on deck.
"On it! Go, Frank!" Hazel called out. Frank folded his wings and headed left towards the isolated Romans. As he approached, he scanned the horde of monsters looking for weak points. Just like the Legion, these monsters made advantage of the sheer size of the military. One thing they were lacking, however, was organization. Before landing, Frank noted the standards for the second, third, and fourth Cohort. In the center of their defensive circle, legionnaires looked up in awe and fear of Frank. He wondered why, until he remembered that he was a giant gray dragon holding two demigods in his claws—one of which being their former praetor. The other legionnaires were too focused on staving off monsters with their pilum.
To show that they meant no harm, Frank blasted fire from his mouth towards a group of oncoming monsters. The crowd was so dense, however, that more monsters took their place before they had entirely disintegrated. As Frank circled in closer to the ground, he felt Percy slip from his claws and drop. Annabeth quickly followed. Frank landed several meters away and squashed a couple of cyclopes under his giant dragon feet, letting Hazel slide off his back and start slashing wildly with her spatha at nearby enemies. He faced Percy and Annabeth, who were trying to earn the Legion more ground by swinging their swords in wide arcs around them. Frank raked his dragon claws at the monsters in front of him and then let loose a hot, but controlled, blast of fire, clearing a path for Hazel and himself towards the Romans, and disintegrated any monsters within a 10-meter radius. The show of power seemed to give the other monsters a second thought about continuing their frontal assault, but Frank knew they didn't have long. Unfortunately, the Legion troops on the far half of the defensive circle were still pushing back monsters, though they did seem a bit more hesitant to get close.
Frank morphed back into a human, and he and Hazel jogged over to his friends. "Hail, Praetor Zhang!" Percy said with a tired smile, "Good moves out there." The mention of Frank being praetor caused some murmurs among the Romans, but Frank ignored them.
"He does make a good dragon, doesn't he?" Hazel agreed, as she lightly grazed her hand down his arm, a smile on her face.
Frank's light smile turned serious as he turned his attention back to the matter at hand. "We need to get up the hill. They've been stuck here because they don't have the numbers to advance while also watching their back."
"We can cover you guys," Annabeth said, motioned to Percy. Percy nodded in agreement.
"Actually, I—" Frank started, but was quickly cut short.
"I'm sorry, but Frank Zhang? Praetor?" a voice from the crowd called out. A tall legionnaire pushed is way to the front. He wore a centurion badge on the Camp Jupiter shirt that he wore underneath his armour. "Weren't you a probatio, like, two months ago?"
All eyes turned to Frank, and he felt his cheeks turn a light shade of red. For a second, he wished he was back in the barracks of the fifth Cohort, polishing armour. Not that he liked that job, but he would have preferred to being called out in front of over half the camp. Despite his recent transformation (thanks, dad), he still sometimes felt like that clumsy kid, always messing up, sticking out like a sore thumb among heroes and legionnaires. He tried his best to be brave, but he still felt like a fake. Like he was pretending to be someone like Jason or Percy. Why did he deserve to be praetor? Just because those two didn't want the job?
Hazel gripped his hand, and he came back to reality. He wasn't the same guy who stumbled into camp forever ago. He had been through so much since then. He went to the ancient lands and came back in one piece. He fought giants alongside the Olympians. He completed the cycle of the Zhang family, just as his grandmother had promised.
"Frank killed the katoblepones of Venice, singlehandedly. It earned him the Blessing of Mars," Hazel told the crowd.
"He commanded an entire army of the dead in the House of Hades," Percy added, "We wouldn't have made it to Athens without him."
Frank's heart swelled, seeing his friends stick up for him, but he knew he had to win the Legion over himself. "Hank, right?" Frank asked, "I love the Legion. My family has a long history with Rome, and even the Twelfth Legion itself. It really hurts to see what Octavian has done to you guys while we were gone. Jason Grace seceded his position as praetor to me in the catacombs of Epirus. I am the rightful Praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata, and I know that it might be hard for you guys to accept. That's okay; I'm still accepting it too."
Out of the corner of his eye, Frank saw Annabeth turn away from the Legion and face the monsters that began to fill the path Frank had cleared. "We don't have long, Praetor," she said, hefting her sword. Percy followed suit, and the two of them got ready to push back any impatient monsters.
Frank nodded in acknowledgment. "Gaea has used Octavian to splinter the Legion. I've come too far to let us go down like this, we all have. So how about we march up that hill and kick Gaea's culus back into the Earth?"
As Frank spoke, he was filled with confidence. Luckily, his words had the ended effect. From the crowd, he had a couple of voices shout, "Ave, Praetor Zhang!"
Hank looked somewhat satisfied with Frank's speech as well, giving Frank a sideways smirk of approval. Frank wondered whether he actually was actually convinced of his leadership, or if Hank was just itching to fight some monsters. Frank didn't care either way, he decided, as long as they were able to get up the hill and merge with the rest of the demigods "Well then Praetor, what's the plan?"
"Second Cohort!" Frank called out, "You'll be at the front with me. We'll focus on getting some forward momentum. Third Cohort, you'll support our left flank, Fourth, you're on the right. Move almost perpendicular to us and keep the monsters off. As we move up the hill, you guys fan out, and we'll change to wedge formation."
"That still leaves our backs vulnerable," Hank said, his arms crossed. Frank figured someone would bring that up, but he had a plan.
"Hazel, can you and Percy keep our backs clear? Maybe call Ar—" Frank did not even need to finish his sentence. Hazel let out a sharp whistle, and almost immediately, Arion barrelled through the back side of the monster army and skidded to a halt in front of Hazel. He nickered in annoyance as if to say, Can you believe the traffic?
"Way ahead of you," Hazel winked, as she mounted Arion. "Percy! Let's go!"
As Hazel and Arion began to gallop away and take their position, Percy turned around and followed. "Hold on, I'll join you," Annabeth said, sheathing her sword and jogging after Percy.
"Um, actually, Annabeth, I'd actually like you here in the front," Frank said, just in time. Annabeth stopped in her tracks and shot a worried look in Percy and Hazel's direction. Then she faced Frank and nodded.
"You got it, Praetor."
Annabeth and Frank took their place at the front of the three cohorts. As they drew their weapons, he leaned over and whispered to her, "Sorry about that. I just wanted you here in case we find ourselves in a jam and need a plan on the fly."
Annabeth smiled at Frank, obviously taking what he said as a compliment. "Your plan is good; we'll be just fine. But I'm happy to be up here." Frank smiled back at her, thankful to have her approval. This would work. "C'mon Praetor, rally your troops."
Frank locked eyes with the monsters in front of them. Behind him, he could hear Percy and Hazel slashing at the monsters at the back of the Legion's defensive position, buying the Romans enough time to form up. "LEGION! INTO TO FORMATION!"
It was a beautiful sound, hearing over one hundred demigods move in perfect synchronicity into position. Frank took a deep breath and then shouted, "IMPETUS!"
He and Annabeth sprinted forward, followed by his Roman comrades, and they tore into Gaea's monsters.
The battle up the hill was a blur. Literally, it was hard for Frank to see, due to the massive amounts of monster dust floating around the battlefield. Frank changed shape a couple of times as they began their ascent up Half-Blood Hill, but he quickly realized that he didn't even need to. With the support of the Legion, any monster he missed would be turned to dust moments later. As they approached the crest, Frank saw a herd of centaurs waiting for them. They have no idea what's in store,Frank thought to himself. "Repellere equites!" he yelled, and his troops surged forward. After a handful of centaurs met their demise, their brethren scattered. Frank would be lying if he said that it didn't satisfy him.
Hazel came riding Arion up the left flank and joined Frank and Annabeth at the front. Percy jogged up the right; Riptide covered in dust. "That's all?" he said through a huff. Annabeth gave him a playful push, which nearly toppled Percy over. He quickly caught himself, and the two jogged off to meet up with the Greeks.
Right in front of them laid the other group of demigods, with Jason, Piper, and Reyna up in front. Frank and his troops rushed forward to join up with the others, as if the cohorts were magnetically attracted to one another. "Ave, Praetor Zhang!" Reyna welcomed, a grateful smile lining her face.
"Ave, Praetor Ramirez-Arellano! Let's do this." Frank turned to his fully reformed Legion. "Legion, CLOSE RANKS!" The forces of Camp Jupiter let out a roar that probably could have been heard all the way to New Rome. He pointed his sword forward, and lightning spewed from the golden eagle to his left, vaporizing the monsters in front of him.
"Legion, cuneum formate! Advance!" Reyna yelled, and for the first time, Frank lead the entire Twelfth Legion Fulminata into battle.