Chapter Six

Frank

Frank had taken the form of a four ton flying lizard and was flying their makeshift demigod army over half-blood hill when it happened.

He saw Gaea rise out of the mud in front of a tiny figure-who had to be Jason.

And he saw things go wrong.

As soon as Gaea showed herself a massive bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck her, and a wave combined with a glittering stream of weapons overtook the goddess.

With his extra keen dragon-vision, Frank could make out Percy and Hazel on the shore, sending wave after wave at Gaea while Jason summoned more and more lightning.

The children of the three major gods were holding their own.

But when the water receded, when the lightning fizzled out and the weapons clattered to the ground, Gaea was still standing.

The goddess trembled with rage, her form crumbling as she raised her arms and the ground around her erupted into fire and ash.

The explosion was so big it knocked Frank-along with the sixty-odd soldiers that had been riding on his back- straight out of the air. Jason took the brunt of the blast and was flung to the side. The eruptions continued and ash choked the sky. The sight of all that fire made Frank want to turn into a tortoise and hide in his shell, but instead he spread his fire-proof dragon wings over his friends to protect them.

No sooner had he done this than Reyna crawled out and started running to the other side of the battlefield.

Dragon-Frank huffed and swung his tail around so it blocked her path.

Reyna turned, and the look she gave him made him feel as small as a mouse, but he held his ground.

"I have to go find Jason." Reyna told him. "Now move."

Frank snorted and nodded his scaly head towards the fire, like 'not in this you won't!'

Reyna smiled and held out her cloak. "This is infused with celestial bronze. It withstood a bomb. It can withstand this. I'll be fine."

Frank reluctantly moved his tail and watched as Reyna sprinted towards the spot where Jason had disappeared. Then he tucked his head under his wing to wait out the attack.

The rest of the demigods sat in silence under his wings as the heat became stifling. Frank felt hot chunks of rock and ash rain down on his scaly hide and resisted the urge to fly away. He would stay and protect his comrades to the end if it came to it. The same way his mom had.

Suddenly the attack stopped. Frank could tell they were no longer stuck in an inferno, and instead of burning hot ash, he felt water droplets on his back.

Cautiously, he raised his head, and grinned a toothy dragon grin when he saw Percy. Commanding his own personal hurricane, he was absolutely tearing through Gaea.

Frank lifted his wings off his friends and transformed back into a human. They all cheered as Percy consumed Gaea in his hurricane.

Gaea screamed in rage as she dissolved under Percy's onslaught.

The whole scene reminded Frank of the wicked witch of the west's death from The Wizard of Oz.

'I'm melting!'

Percy kept drawing water from the ocean and created an even bigger storm. He attacked until there was nothing left of Gaea. But he didn't stop there.

He drained the ocean so much that it left hundreds of fish flopping on the beach.

Frank stepped backwards nervously and glanced at Annabeth, who was staring at Percy with tears in her eyes.

"Not this. Not again…" She whispered.

"Annabeth!" Frank yelled. "What's wrong? Why isn't he stopping?"

Annabeth looked at him. "I think he's out of control… He thinks Gaea killed us… We have to get out of here!"

Frank looked around for any possible shelter and spotted the Big House, because of the protection enchantments on it, it was the only structure in the camp that was still standing.

"Over there!"

The demigods raced for the safety of the house as the wind grew steadily stronger. When they all got to the porch, Frank turned and saw Reyna carrying Jason's unconscious body fireman-style toward them.

He and Annabeth ran back into the storm to help her.

Frank took one of Jason's arms while Annabeth took the other, giving Reyna a much-needed break. He glanced at the hurricane, and for a moment stood rooted to the spot, unable to take his eyes away. Through the swirling cyclone of water, he could just make out Percy in the center of it. He was screaming, his face twisted in rage as the storm started to move towards them.

"I have to stop him."

"Frank!" Annabeth protested. "I don't think you can!"

Ignoring her, he turned to Reyna. "Can you two get Jason back on your own?"

Reyna was looking at him coolly, but she nodded. "Good luck, praetor Zhang."

"You can't be agreeing with this!" Annabeth said, but Frank had already transformed into a hawk and taken flight.

Frank slowly gained altitude, struggling to stay in control as the winds tossed him back and forth.

He remembered what Mars had told him at his grandmothers mansion. 'Someday soon, Percy Jackson is going to face a sacrifice he can't make. Without you Frank-without your sense of duty-he's going to fail. The whole war will go sideways.'

Was this what he had meant?

The hurricane was tearing through the camp woods now.

That without Frank to stop him, Percy would be the one to destroy the camps? The heroes?

He was circling over the eye of the storm now; and Percy was in the center of it all.

Frank tucked his wings in and dived toward him.

Halfway down he turned back into himself and slammed into Percy, tackling him to the ground. Percy yelped and sent a wave of water at him, but Frank wouldn't let him go.

"Percy it's Frank!" Frank yelled. "You beat Gaea! Everyone's fine! It's over!"

Percy looked at him and the tons of water he'd been controlling crashed to the ground. Frank was washed several yards backwards as the water rushed back into the ocean. Percy of course, had no such trouble.

Frank stumbled and slipped through the mud and helped Percy up.

"…Frank…?" Percy's eyes widened "Is Annabeth-?"

"She's fine." Frank reassured him.

Percy looked around the camp, which looked, well, like a hurricane had run through it.

"Did I do this?"

"Yes." No use sugarcoating it.

Percy hissed. "Stupid. Stupid! If you hadn't been there…"

Frank didn't know how to respond to this, but luckily he didn't have too. Percy only took a few steps before he swayed and passed out from exhaustion. Frank felt like passing out too, but he had to take care of his friend first. He threw Percy over his shoulder and trekked back to the Big House.

When they got to the porch Annabeth threw open the door and hauled them both inside.

They laid Percy on the couch in the living room. (Which was already crowded with at least a dozen other half-bloods.)

Annabeth ran down the hallway and came back with a frazzled looking blonde camper who was carrying a first aid kit and a canteen of nectar.

"Not another one." The camper groaned before setting to work on Percy.

Annabeth pulled Frank to the side.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

Annabeth shook her head. "You know as well as I do that he could have killed all of us… and this isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened." She said, her voice shaking.

Frank picked the torn edge of his shirt. "You mean… In Tartarus?"

She nodded. "I don't know what to do…"

That was a first.

Frank had never been good at giving advice, but he tried his best.

"Well… This is his problem right? It's not your job to fix it. If he needs your help he can ask you, but it's up to him to deal with it. I guess… Just don't worry about it for now okay? Just do whatever's best for you."

"Maybe." Annabeth took a shaky breath. "Another thing, we're sending out a search party in half an hour for the people who were on the beach when… things got ugly. Hazel, Piper, Leo, about a dozen others. You want to come?"

'Of course!"

"Great. Your shape shifting will probably come in handy."

Just then Reyna walked into the room. She looked pale and grief-stricken, but she held herself high as she strode into the center of the room and announced:

"Jason Grace died a few minutes ago."