"Are you serious?" Frank pressed his hands into the table nervously. Percy? "And he just disappeared? Just like that?" The mess hall was weirdly quiet, they could still hear the battle sounds outside.
"I don't know, Frank! I just don't know!" Annabeth started to cry again, hiding her head in her hands. Piper rubbed her back assuringly, but she was worried over her boyfriend also. Leo was still searching for him, but so far, there was no news.
Nico had the best idea so far. "Let's stop talking about Percy." His feet rested on the table, relaxed, and leaning back in the chair. "I don't know about you, but Octavian and his minions are winning this war so far. Gaia's dealt with, but not the Romans."
"What would they do if we surrendered?" Leo asked as he walked in. Piper's face twisted into a mournful frown as Leo shook his head. Jason was nowhere to be found. I swear when he gets back, I'll hit him with a brick for scaring me.
Frank laughed sarcastically, "You are kidding, right?"
"I don't know. Maybe it would be better than having our friends and family getting killed!" Leo suggested shrugging his shoulders.
"They'll kill us anyway!" Frank argued.
"They are kids!"
"Leo, they're demigods. Do you really think 'family and friends' will stop them!"
"Well, it would stop me!"
Everyone was silent as Frank and Leo glared at each other. Finally, Hazel got between them, so as they wouldn't start a fight.
Hazel rubbed her wrist, thinking of a plan. "Frank, I don't know, I think that Leo might be right. I bet we could get most of the demigods out before we surrendered, then they'd only have the few of us to capture. Most of them could escape via Pegasus or by the water, maybe even Nico could shadow travel a few of them," Hazel glanced pleadingly at Nico, who nodded slightly, "About five could escape every fifteen minutes, so the other Romans don't notice. The rest of us left could stay. We'd be the sacrifice. We'd be the one getting captured." Hazel's plan was well-thought out, probable, and could be easily done, but it was dangerous, extremely dangerous. Especially for the Seven, minus one. If the Romans could kill Percy, they could kill anyone. Hazel held her breath as she waited for the other's to tell her what they thought.
"Hazel, I don't want you to get hurt. I-" Frank started to say. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nico rolling his eyes.
"This isn't about me Frank, it's about saving the lives of at least twenty-five other people. If Percy thought they were worth dying for, then I gonna put my two cents in and believe him." Nico rested his arm on Hazel's shoulder, smiling proudly at her.
"I'm with Hazel." He announced. Piper stood up straight.
"Octavian isn't going to lay a finger on my siblings."
"Nor mine." Leo agreed. No one was going to hurt Nyssa.
Annabeth slapped her hand on the table, still sobbing into it, and gave Hazel a thumbs up. Maybe Annabeth said "good plan," or maybe it was "Grape Plague," but either way, Annabeth agreed with her.
Frank felt Leo jostle his shoulder. He realized that everyone was waiting impatiently for his answer. Surrender. His dad would be horrified! So would his grandmother…
But this was his decision.
"I'll tell the other campers," He mumbled. Hazel's face broke into a wide smile and she leaned over to kiss Frank on the cheek. His face felt like it was on fire, and was sure that he probably resembled a tomato.