Hey guys! Sorry that there have been no updates in the while, but I hope to post the next chapter next sunday. Please enjoy this chapter. Read, Enjoy and REVIEW! :)
Frank
Frank rocketed down the thin hallway, weaving through low doorways and protruding objects, Percy and Leo in tow.
Frank had woken up in a damp dungeon, Percy and Leo unconscious in the darkness near him. Straight away Mormo, a vampirish creature guarding the cell, started taunting them. They easily overcame her though, thanks to her arrogance. She foolishly gave them light, just enough to see her, and within seconds Frank had shot her down with his bow. Then they quickly broke through the bars, Frank scampering through as a mouse, grabbing the keys which lay next to the pile of ashes which had been Mormo, turning back into a human, and letting Percy and Leo out. Whoever captured them was being cocky, and Frank was happy to ensure that that would be their fatal mistake.
Frank suddenly stopped after he had taken a few steps in the thin passage, and he felt Leo thud into him. "Damn," growled Leo, looking straight ahead at the locked metal door. Percy slid past both and smashed Riptide into a lock. Seeing as a hellhound was chasing them, he didn't want to hang round too long. The door still refused to budge as the hellhound turned the final corner, drooling. Frank's body grew to twice its regular size as he formed an elephant, turned round and charged at the hellhound. At this precise moment Leo cheered and broke the door down with a strange mechanical device, which had appeared from his tool belt. Frank hurtled towards the growing figure of the hellhound. Leo screamed at him frantically.
"Frank! Hurry up! We need to lock the hellhound out."
Realising that smashing into a truck sized hellhound was of no use whatsoever, Frank transformed into a small bird, deftly turned round and darted towards the doorway. Percy slammed the door shut, as Leo locked the door behind him. The hellhound leapt, snarling, but just banged his head against the metal barred door. His jaw snapped against the hole, which Leo's device had blown into the door, but the creature wasn't able to reach them. Leo laughed in delight. "Take that, you- ew! It drooled on me!" Frank stifled laughter as he saw Leo wipe hellhound drool on his trousers.
"Come on!" Percy said urgently. "We need to find out where we are."
And so they had ran down the hallway, occasionally slashing monsters to dust. It was unusually quiet though, most of the monsters gravitating towards one room in particular. Frank thought he heard the shouts of Jason and- was that Hazel?
"Jason!" Leo shouted. "Hazel!"
Suddenly a cold tingle ran down Frank's back. He shuddered. The darkness that had lingered over them ever since they had woken up, got even darker, oppressing them.
At the end of the hallway, the darkness clumped together- one solid mass of pure darkness, soulless, vaguely forming the shape of a gigantic human clad in an armour of shadows. And he was standing in the room where Hazel and Jason's shouts had come from.
Frank ran forward, Percy and Leo behind him.
Frank immediately drew his sword, took a deep breath and entered a pitch-black room.
A loud, deep voice reached them. "Oh hello Frank, Percy and Leo. You have arrived just in time for your deaths." Chills ran through Frank's very bones. That voice… it was horrible, a rumbling sound, coming deep from the depths of the darkness, cold, heavy, disturbing. "I see you managed to kill my pets, even Mormo. No matter. All the more fun for me." Frank figured this guy was messed up, sadistic level 100.
Jason yelled desperately. "This is Erebus, evil god of darkness. He's working for Gaia."
Percy laughed, trying to act cool. "Sure. So you're the famous Erebus. The one I never heard anything about. Nice to hear about you, you're quite the annoyance. Oh and Mormo, that fool, we disposed of her rather quickly. As we are about to with you." Despite his words, Frank could see Percy shivering at the darkness, which swarmed him as he spoke.
Suddenly Percy screeched in pain, followed by a loud crash. "Of course, I should have expected bold words from a foolish demigod like you. You will all soon realise just how wrong you are."
Suddenly Hazel screamed, and Jason yelled in shock as something hit him. Leo fell to the floor. Frank was alone, and Erebus approached him. He snapped his fingers and a slither of light escaped into the room. Frank covered his eyes, but glimpsed a colossal figure, dressed in ebony from head to toe. Suddenly the thread of light disappeared and Frank was plunged into a darker and darker room, until he felt started to feel oppressed, his mind crushed by the inky blackness. Erebus was playing with him, allowing him a glimpse of light, before forcing the darkness back on him. He felt exposed, his piece of wood, here in this room, open to Erebus.
"Frank. Ready to die?" Erebus asked, a sneering tone underlying his voice. Frank didn't know why Erebus had singled him out to kill first, but he suspected it had something to do with his lifeline, his piece of wood. Frank drew his sword, unsure of what use his bow would be against such an enemy. As he took his sword out, it began to glow. He felt tingling all over his skin. He could now see Erebus' frowning, hulking figure. He charged, using the element of surprise to his advantage, but Erebus quickly recovered and hurled a power driven punch to Frank's gut. Winded, Frank staggered, as Erebus drew a mighty sword, a whole metre long, black from hilt to point. He swiped at Frank, who dived and rolled, avoiding the blade by a hairbreadth. As he leapt to his feet, he ducked under a lightning fast attack from Erebus.
Erebus didn't seem to be trying, and as he let Frank into the fight he eased up. Frank felt confident; he just needed to get a lunge at him, as Erebus made a cocky mistake, just lightly deflecting Frank's uppercut. Frank stabbed at Erebus, before Frank realised what was happening, Erebus deftly parried the attack and hit the flat of the blade against Frank's leg. Frank yelped, and realised how helpless he was, fighting against Erebus.
Then, in the corner of his vision, he saw someone else get up and sneak up behind Erebus, woken by the glow of his sword, which even Erebus couldn't snuff. Frank, ignoring he pain, rose and in a flurry of attacks, occupied Erebus' full attention. Frank ignored the other person, and instead attacked with fury. He triumphantly pressed on Erebus as he jabbed Erebus. It wasn't major, but it was a start. Erebus, fired up by anger, smashed his sword into Frank's sword, so powerful the light flickered and as the light returned, Frank felt a numbing, razor sharp edge on his neck. His own glow had faded. Only the faint ebb of his sword, on the floor, stopped him from being absorbed by the chilling, tangible marble darkness.
Suddenly he heard a smash, as a dagger clattered against Erebus. The grip on the sword loosening, Frank darted away and went to tackle Erebus to the floor. Erebus, swirling round, hurled a punch at Percy, and then twisted to kick Frank, but Frank dodged the kick and held him to the floor. Erebus' hold over the others weakened and Jason stirred too. But Erebus drew another weapon, a staff. He tapped it against he floor and tendrils of darkness wriggled through Franks faint glow. Frank felt lightheaded, but ignored it and focused on transforming. He pictured it right in his head, and slowly his form grew to ten feet, and his eyes closed to form one single, colossal eye. A Cyclopes. He had never tried turning into a monster before. Frank was elated at the fact that it had worked, but it had taken a lot of concentration. He knew he wouldn't be able to sustain this form. He pulled out his javelin, which felt like a twig. He threw it directly at Erebus, so much force behind it that as Erebus blocked it, his staff splintered into millions of shards.
Erebus, livid, drew his sword and bolted towards Frank and swiped at his head. But Jason, hovering above him, landed on his shoulder, causing the swing to go wild and miss completely. Frank stabbed at his gut, but Erebus ripped out of Jason's grip and dodged easily. He now had no weapon, but he was still immensely powerful. He barrelled into Frank, knocking him flat on the floor. Jason stabbed him in the shoulder, but it was shallow and Erebus shrugged it off. He picked up his sword and prepared to separate Frank's head from his body.
Hazel screamed in agony as she saw what Erebus was trying to do. Some sixth sense had awoken her, telling her that Frank was in danger. That same sixth sense had already clouded Erebus' vision, using the mist. Frank looked up, as he accepted his death. Suddenly Erebus turned round and hacked at the floor viciously. Hazel- she must have manipulated the mist. Frank didn't ask questions and guided by his glowing figure, hurled his sword into Erebus' stomach. Erebus let out a blood-curdling scream, which echoed around the floor. Rather than disappear into ash he lay on the floor, writhing in pain, slowly losing his form, just becoming fading wisps of darkness. Frank knew that Erebus wasn't dead- he couldn't be killed. But he had been sent away, back to the depths of wherever darkness came from.
Suddenly the lights flickered on. Swarms of ghost like figures rushed in to his aid. The phantoms had crimson, blood red eyes and bobbed in the air. The rest of their body was black. They each held a smaller version of Erebus' sword. As they stormed forward, Jason picked up Leo, and Frank carried Percy. Hazel redirected the ghosts in the opposite direction. The demigods all sprinted out, in their blood and sweat stained clothes, breathing heavily. Percy woke up and called for them to halt.
"How do we get out?" he asked. Frank shrugged and started to walk. Jason held out his palm, signalling for him to wait and Percy started to talk. "We should go the other way. It gets lighter that way, towards the surface."
Leo, who had recently woken up, raised an eyebrow. "I think that we are underground," Percy responded to Leo's curious expression.
Percy led they way as they wound their way up, slowly. Finally they reached a pair of locked gates. Leo strolled past the others, tools at the ready. As he worked at the lock, he started to look worried, then frustrated. Hazel stepped forward, worried. "Why isn't it working?"
Leo looked her in the eye and then shrugged. "No idea," he said, "I think I'm gonna have to blow it up." Jason raised his eyebrows and then nodded. "Everybody back, these babies are going to blow!" yelled Leo.
Everybody rushed twenty metres back, and Leo set out a 20 second timer, as he sprinted back to behind a wall. Then he gestured to put their fingers over their ears.
BOOM! Pieces of door and wood flew everywhere.
"Whoops. I think I went slightly overboard," Leo muttered. Percy raised his eyebrow and laughed.
"Only slightly?" Percy quizzed.
"Guys we gotta go. Looks like the whole place is gonna fall!" Frank yelled, he was already outside. All around them the rocky interior of the house was flaking, and viciously vibrating. Frank watched as rocks started to fall as Hazel, Percy and Leo escaped. Jason flew ahead of them, dodging the falling material. Leo flailed behind, retrieving something. Percy yelled behind him, as Leo stood hunched under a colossal piece of collapsing rock. Frank watched in slow motion as it crashed towards Leo's petite figure. Just as it looked like he was going to die, a metal ball sprung outwards like an umbrella and covered him. He put his thumbs up,
"Works!" Leo shouted, as he stumbled out towards them. Franks mouth hung open.
"Where are we?" Frank asked.
"According to Tom..." Leo started.
"Tom?" Frank asked.
"Tom," Leo explained, "is my Universal GPS. He says that we are in the middle of nowhere. How unbelievably helpful. But he does tell me that we are somewhere between Athens and the Greek border. That's a start I suppose." He frowned.
Frank realised that Erebus had probably transported them to his evil monster mansion lair to kill them. And now they had to get back.
"Right. So we have very little knowledge as to where we are and we have no idea at all on how to get to camp. Great!" Jason muttered.
"Wait. No. I'm getting some new information…it's telling me we are slightly north of Athens. Well. Let's go!" Leo shouted.
Frank led the group towards camp. It was almost night-time, and campfires flickered in the gusts of wind which twirled in the air, dancing in the moonlight. As they walked in they noticed bags under people's eyes, less enthusiasm, almost as if they were slowing down. They saw Travis wondering around, and Jason approached him to find out what's as going on.
"Travis! How's it going man?" Jason questioned loudly, calling to Travis.
"Guys! You're here, you're back!" His voice seemed grateful they were back. But it seemed tired nevertheless. "Yeah, it's mayhem here, no one knows what they're doing, Annabeth and Piper can't fix it, and no one knows anything. The enemy has taken half the northern camp; we are all crowded, a depleted army. Connor and I suspect the spy is the problem." He paused, looking them in the eyes.
Jason nodded sullenly. "Right. Well, we had better check up on Piper and Annabeth! Oh and how is Reyna?" he asked.
Travis shook his head. "Ask Connor," he muttered, "he's in he infirmary," he finished, obstinately. Jason nodded gravely and then walked on, setting a pace.
All around Frank were frantic people, scurrying. They carried armour, swords, food supplies and some carried maps and battle plans. Among them was Clarisse, giving orders to a large group of people and their horses. Hazel spotted Nico and briefly went over to speak to him. Frank stopped and chose to talk to Clarisse.
"Clarisse! How is it all?" Frank yelled, above the clamour of the camp. Clarisse turned round and made one last order to the horsemen, who led heir horses elsewhere, whilst she approached Frank.
"Difficult. The spy is really stopping all our attacks. They're important, because the enemy have anticipated our every move. But thank god your back! Look, I've got things to do, speak to Piper and Annabeth, they'll know." Frank nodded. Things weren't going to plan.
They carried on, entering the looming figure of the infirmary, where they expected to find Connor and Reyna. Frank couldn't believe the amount of ill, or wounded soldiers, and how many of the Apollo cabins were scurrying around, healing. Percy greeted Damasen, who was helping the healers. Frank and Leo carried on to the far bed, where Connor sat, holding Reyna's hand.
"Connor!" Leo called out.
"Hey guys, nice to see you. Glad your back. You all just disappeared. Annabeth and Piper are out of their minds. Everyone's confused. Annabeth managed to rally the people, but somehow the enemy keeps forestalling us. Guess it's because of the spy." He shrugged. At least he was talking, Frank thought.
"It's bad, huh?" Hazel asked, and Connor nodded grimly. "How's Reyna?" she quizzed.
Immediately Connors face drooped to a grave look. "Still in a coma. Damasen has healed her hand. She's still breathing," he paused, "but she sometimes screams out, and she's had serious spasmodic outbursts. It's not looking good. Will reassures me that hopefully she will be up in a week, but…" he trailed off, frowning.
"It will be ok, Connor," Leo consoled.
"Hopefully." He looked them in the eyes, "You need to get on, the pavilion is straight ahead. Annabeth and Piper are there." He gestured with his hand.
Frank nodded. Percy led the way along with Jason. Frank lingered back for a second, waiting for Hazel. He squeezed her hand. She smiled back at him.
"It's taking its toll," she said quietly. At a questioning look from Frank, she continued. "The war. I don't know how much longer we can carry on like this."
Piper and Annabeth were delighted to see them at first. Percy kissed Annabeth, lacing his hands through hers. She hit him softly in the chest. Piper softly screamed and threw her arms around Jason.
"I was so worried, seaweed brain!" Annabeth cried out. Percy murmured consolingly in her ear.
"I'm just glad you guys are alright." Annabeth sighed, as she and Piper came up to greet the rest of the seven.
After a moment of reunion, Annabeth started speaking urgently. "The camp's in bad shape. Now that you guys are back, we can hopefully deal with it. But first we need to deal with the spy."
At this, Piper took over. "We've just discovered a set of footprints, only a minute ago, and we think they belong to the spy. We were going to send some people to follow the spy, but now some of us can go."
Frank swooped down, his eagle talons outsretched. Percy and Hazel were on his back as he flew. They had been elected to go after the spy, while the others tried to sort everything out back at camp.
Running on the path between the grassy, sun-beaten hills was a figure in a hooded cloak, their face hidden. Frank flapped his wings faster, catching up with the figure, who Frank was certain was the spy.
As Frank lowered towards the ground, nearing the spy, he could feel Hazel tense. He slowed down, and Hazel jumped off onto the group a couple of feet below, and propelling herself towards the spy. Frank halted, and Percy jumped off, sword raised, as Frank turned back into human. Hazel reached forwards, and pulled the spy's hood back, turning the person towards them. As the cloak fell down, Hazel gasped. Frank stared at the snarling face of the sky, completely surprised.
Cliffhanger! The identity of the spy will be revealed next chapter, which as I said I hope to post next sunday. Please review with your guesses of who you think the spy might be. Please review before you go! I would be very grateful if oyu could let me know what you think, and what you want from this story.