Don't hate me once you read this chapter. Its got something big, and there is a bit of Apollo/Addie at the end. More below!

-Addie-

Dionysus went to help Jason and Piper, and I scanned the area to see where I was needed. The other gods had shown up to fight off their banes. Apollo was getting help from Frank and Leo. Percy and Nico were holding off the remaining bits of the army. They seemed to be coming in less numbers now.

I ran over to help Hazel and Hecate with Clytius. They seemed to be managing the giant all right. Hazel might have been young, but she was a fierce fighter. Hazel turned and looked behind me. Then, she let loose a bloodcurdling scream.

"FRANK!"

I spun around and watched as Frank was tackled by a hellhound. I threw both of my daggers as hard as I could at its head. They both sunk in to the hilt, and the hound rolled over. I ran to Frank and used the earth to push the massive hound off of him.

He had a large bite on his leg, and his face had two deep lacerations cut into it from the hellhound's claws. He was breathing shallowly, a fact I was thankful for. I ripped off my jacket, wrapping it around the bite. He was bleeding pretty badly. I tied the sleeves so they made a tourniquet around the top of his leg. I needed to get him somewhere safe where I could stop the bleeding.

"Stay with me Frank," I whispered. He looked awfully pale. I received no coherent answer from him. I tried to pick him up, but my knee gave out. There was no way I could carry him by myself. I was about to summon a slab of rock to help, but someone else grabbed Frank's other arm.

"C'mon, we can get him out of here," Percy encouraged me. We hauled Frank up, carrying him towards the ship. I was limping profoundly, but it didn't matter at the moment. The only thing that mattered now was helping Frank.

We carried him to the dining room, laying him out on a table.

"Percy, we need nectar and bandages," I said quickly. He ran to get the supplies, while I tentatively removed the body of jacket from his leg. I prayed that I would be able to heal him, that my magic would not be led astray. I placed my hands on his leg, murmuring words of healing and health slowly. It almost sounded like a song to me. I had never thought about how music and healing were tied. His skin began to stitch back together, and I sighed in relief. The brief surge of energy I had left me. After so much magic and no sleep, I was exhausted. I might be stronger than most demigods, but I tired twice as quickly. Percy ran back in, his arms full of supplies.

I took the nectar from him, wetting a cloth bandage with a little of it. Frank was beginning to come back around. I didn't know if the reason he had passed out was from the blood loss or the impact to his head, but hopefully the nectar would take care of both. I began to dab at his face, and the cuts slowly started to mend.

"Wha…" Frank began to groan.

"Relax, buddy. We got you," Percy assured him.

"Percy, go and help the others. I've got this," I blurted quickly. He grabbed his sword, and ran back out of the ship.

Frank's eyes caught mine, but his gaze was a little blurred, like he wasn't seeing me clearly. He grabbed my hand, and I turned to look at him.

"You saved me," he whispered.

"Not yet," I replied softly. I withdrew my hand from him, turning to grab the bottle of nectar. "You need to drink this." I put the nectar to his mouth, helping him lift his head. Frank took a few tentative sips, and a little color slowly came back to his cheeks. I set the nectar aside and kept dabbing at his facial wounds. He was just staring at me, but I was avoiding eye contact.

"I never expected you to like me," he whispered quietly. "With my d-

"Frank, you are not your father. I do not judge a person by their parent's actions or what other people say about them. Too many times, the same has been done to me. I like to see for myself."

I finished dabbing his face, and the cuts had faded to angry pink lines. I checked on Frank's leg, making sure that the wound would heal. It would still take some time, but it had improved greatly with the combination of healing magic and nectar. I began to wrap it up while a shudder ran through the ship. I turned my head, listening to the distant shouts of the others. I said a prayer of thanks to every god I could think of, including God himself. I know it didn't make sense, but I felt responsible for these demigods. They reminded me so much of my friends, and they were so young. I had to help, in every way that I could.

"Thank you. I…I owe you one," Frank grunted as I tightened his bandage.

"You owe me nothing. What are friends for?" I reminded him. I brushed the sweat off of his forehead with the clean side of a rag, and Frank groaned. He made a move to get up, but I held him down. His gaze had cleared just a little, and he had a pleading look in his eyes.

"I've got to get back, I need to help-"

"No you don't. I'll go check on everyone. Even sons of Mars have to know when to pick their battles. The war is not over, Frank, and if you want to be here for the next battle, you have to stand down. Knowing when to withdraw can be just as brave and smart as knowing when to charge. You are in no condition to fight, and the others would get hurt watching your back."

Frank gave me a look, one I had seen on his father many, many times. It was that I am not going to be a coward, and you cannot tell me what to do! I am the Lord of War, and I will fight! I almost wanted to roll my eyes at the irony of it.

"Let your troops do what they've been trained to do, Praetor Zhang. I was in the legion once, and I defended my Praetor and my country with my life. Let us do our jobs so you will be alive to do yours."

Frank nodded his head, albeit grudgingly. I touched his shoulder and then grabbed my sword from the table where I had left it before I had tried to sleep.

"Get some rest, okay?"

I took a step back. I had blood on my hands, mixed in with monster ash. I knew I was filthy, but that was just one of the parts of being in a battle. I had been in enough in my lifetime. I readjusted the brace on my leg, and then hobbled up to the main deck, passing Hedge.

"If anyone comes near him, you call me."

Hedge nodded his head, holding his club in his hands.

I moved as fast as I could down the gangway, but I noticed that the bulk of the fighting seemed to be over. There were no more giants in sight, and the monsters that were left were disappearing back down the holes.

I saw the group huddled up, and they were all yelling and screaming. Dread filled my stomach, threatening to overwhelm me. I ran to them, wondering what on earth could've happened. That's when I realized there were only five demigods standing there. Nico was yelling furiously at Percy, and Piper's head was buried in Annabeth's chest. Leo just stood there, looking unsure.

"He's my friend, Percy! We are going get him back!"

"Nico, we don't even know where the army is!"

"We can't go chasing after them without a plan, Nico! Or we will all get killed!" Annabeth pleaded with him.

They all looked at me as I approached them, terror in their eyes.

"Where are Jason and Hazel?" I demanded. Nico looked down at the ground. Piper finally looked up, meeting my eyes. She held such determination in them, such anger.

"They're gone. Porphyrion took them," Piper croaked. "We have to find them! She'll kill them, Addie!"

The force of her charmspeak hit me hard, but she didn't have to use it. I wanted to help, more than anything in the world.

"And we will. We won't leave them behind Piper, I promise. Annabeth's right, we have to form a plan," I reminded her gently. "Will someone please explain what happened?"

"We managed to take care of the giants, all of them," Annabeth answered. "The gods left, and the army began to retreat. Porphyrion just came out of the tunnel, and Jason and Hazel were the closest ones to him. He grabbed them and left before we could do anything."

There was a rush of sound off to our left, and we all drew our weapons, turning. About thirty girls, all dress in shades of green, brown, and gold, ran towards us, bows at the ready. One girl that was leading them carried a spear and shield instead of a bow.

"Thalia?" Percy called.

"Artemis sent us to help, but it seems you all have it under control," she murmured, retracting her shield. She walked up to us, the rest of the hunters behind her. "Jason on the ship?"

She looked at each one of us, her smile fading as she continued. The color drained from her face, and with her silvery glow, she looked like a ghost. She took a tentative step towards me. The look on her face was frozen. I had never seen her that scared, except when she had to ride with Artemis or Apollo somewhere.

"Where's Jason, Addie?"

I tried to tell her, but I couldn't. I looked down, shamed that I wasn't there to help. If I had only been faster healing Frank! Annabeth repeated what she said told me to Thalia, and one of the other Hunters came and laid a hand on her shoulder, comforting her as she heard the news. She shrugged her shoulder out of the girl's grasp, and threw her spear into the ground with a feral yell.

"Dorianna, contact Lady Artemis. Tell her I need to speak with her when she is available. The rest of you set up camp near their ship," she barked. The Hunters scrambled to follow her orders.

I reached for her, but she just gave me a glare. I knew it wasn't at me, but that didn't change the fact that it still hurt.

"We will get him back," she ground through her teeth. "I will not lose my brother again."

Artemis was kind enough to lend me a tent. After the day I had, I really didn't want to be around anyone.

Percy and Nico moved Frank to his room, and I, being the only one versed in healing besides the Hunters, had checked on him. He was going to be fine, but he needed to stay off of his feet as much as possible. We had talked about a strategy, but we had to know where the army was for us to even go on a rescue mission. After being up all night, I just needed to get some sleep. We all needed some. I suggested we do that, and then we could get back together to talk about it. It was around mid-morning when I fell into my tent. It was pretty basic. It had a small table with two chairs, and a double sized cot that was actually very plush and comfortable.

The Hunters had agreed to keep watch while we all got some sleep. I checked one last time on Frank, and made sure they all got into a bed. Percy had started snoring as soon as the boy's head hit the pillow.

I flopped into my bed, rubbing my knee. It was still sore, but it seemed healed for the most part. I grabbed a pillow, pulling it to me. I curled into it and closed my eyes. I was just about to fall asleep, when I heard the rusting of the fabric on the tent door. My eyes opened wide, but I kept my body very still. My dagger formed in my right hand, just as I felt a touch on my shoulder. I shot up from the bed, pinning the body to the ground, my dagger at their throat. My knee was protesting, but I didn't have much of a choice.

"Gods, Addie!"

Apollo held his hand up in surrender. I immediately pulled my dagger back, transforming it back. He had a small grin on his face, and I felt the blush creep up on my cheeks. I started to scramble off of him, but Apollo put his hands on my waist, keeping me in place.

"I am so, so sorry," I stuttered quickly. "You scared me, and I wasn't expecting anyone, and-"

"Addie, its fine," he said as he ran his hand up my torso. "I'm actually rather impressed. That was a very nice move. I'd even go so far to say that our current position is rather… what's the modern word? Hot?"

I closed my eyes, but I could hear the laughter through his voice. His hands were at my back, and he used me to pull himself up quickly. I gasped, my eyes flying open at the sudden change in movement. I was now sitting in his lap, and our faces were just inches from each other. He reached for my hands, still frozen at my sides in embarrassment, wrapping them around his neck. His nose grazed the skin on my jaw line sending shivers all over me. In that moment, I realized how worried I was about him. When I fight, I don't really feel emotions. It's best to cut them off, to focus on the task at hand. I pulled him to me, and he wrapped his arms tightly around me. I kissed his cheek and buried my head in his shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"You are asking me if I'm okay? I'll always be okay, Addie," he reassured me. His hands rubbed my back, making me feel loved and needed. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. I managed through it."

He leaned back so we could look at each other. He brushed the hair out of my eyes, staring intently into them. He placed his lips against my forehead, his breath curling against my skin. Once he pulled away, his fingertips began tracing the dark circles underneath my eyes.

"You look tired," he admitted. I just nodded my head again. I had so many thoughts bouncing around in my head. I wanted a respite from it all. Apollo tilted his head with a knowing look, like he could tell I was overwhelmed and exhausted. Would there ever be a day that I wasn't one of those two things? Apollo picked me up in his arms, handling me like I was a porcelain doll. He laid me on the cot, climbing in beside me. I was curled up on my side, my back to his front. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest. He blocked away every worry I had in the world when I was with him. I closed my eyes, utterly content in his arms.

"Don't you have god stuff you have to do?" I slurred tiredly. I felt him chuckle, and he planted a kiss in my hair.

"As a god, I pretty much do what I want, and right now, I want to hold you. You could've died today. I missed you, and I have a few free hours that I wish to spend with you. Is that okay, your highness?" he added with a twinge of sarcasm. I couldn't help but smile.

"Who am I to stop the sun lord from doing as he pleases? I am at his disposal," I yawned. I could feel his smile against my skin. Before I even realized it, I was fast asleep.

Sorry it's been a few days you guys! I got to studying and reading (The Selection is such a good series! I highly recommend it!), and I had to rewrite part of this chapter! I also edited it in a hurry, so I apologize for spelling mistakes.

Until after the 16th of Jan, I may not be updating as often as I normally do. I have a big test that day, so most of my time will be devoted to that. I will try, but I can't make any promises. There will be updates, but it might just be once or twice a week until then.

Any ideas on what will happen? Did I scare you guys? Are you nervous?

Leave a review pretty please! :D