***Thanks again to everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited this story! Here's Chapter 22, featuring Frank. Chapter 23, from Percy's POV, will be up Monday, May 19. So, Blood of Olympus cover came out yesterday, I thought it was pretty awesome. Can't wait to read the preview with the Staff of Serapis e-book on Tuesday!***

XXII. FRANK

Athens, Frank thought as he flew over it, was beautiful. The city sprawled like Rome, hills and ruins interspersed with the more modern buildings. But Athens felt even more ancient, thousands of years of history piled on top of each other like marble blocks. The one thing Frank was sure of as he rode an updraft higher above Athens and watched the morning light make the buildings glow brilliant white, was that they had to save this city.

Frank spotted the Acropolis, rising out of the center of the city, with the Parthenon perched on top. Bathed in sunlight, the temple was breathtaking, but Frank didn't have time to appreciate it right now. A vortex of dark energy, like they had seen on Santorini, was rising out of the heart of the Parthenon. Dread settled in the pit of Frank's stomach, but he flapped his wings and sped towards the disturbance.

He had settled on a hawk form for this scouting mission. Despite what he'd told Leo, a pigeon would have been just too embarrassing. Besides, his vision was sharper as a hawk. Which was a good thing because, as he reached the Acropolis, he was able to spot the Cyclopes and snake-women (dracaenae, Annabeth had said they were called when he'd described them to her) stationed every twenty feet around the base of the hill. The mortals ignored the sentries. Frank figured the Mist made them look like really ugly statues or something, but he doubted the monsters would allow demigods to pass through their ranks. So that was problem number one. As he flew higher, he spotted problems two, three, and four: Gaea had stationed monsters in three more rows, each a little further up the hill. There were about two hundred monsters in all, which meant that the demigods would be outnumbered almost thirty to one. Frank really didn't like those odds. But he didn't spot the biggest problem until he flew over the Parthenon itself.

The temple was open to the sky, so Frank had no problem spotting the two giants standing inside, looking over what seemed to be a map. The larger giant had lima-bean green skin and weapons braided into his hair; based on the description Jason, Leo, and Piper had given, Frank guessed that this was Porphyrion, the king of the giants. But it was the second giant that turned Frank's blood cold. The metallic golden skin, rust-red dragon legs, and hair glinting with precious stones were gut-wrenchingly familiar.

Alcyoneus was back.

Hazel slammed her fist on the table. Plates and glasses rattled. "I cannot believe he's alive again!"

The crew was gathered around the table in the mess hall, alternately eating lunch and discussing their situation. Nobody had been happy when Frank had told them what he'd seen, but Hazel was irate. Her golden eyes flashed and all the silverware was shaking as if it was about to zoom towards her. Frank put a hand over her clenched fist.

"We took Alcyoneus down once," he told her, "we can do it again."

"Frank's right," Percy said in between bites of blue pizza. "And after Polybotes, Ephialtes, and Otis reappearing, we should have expected Alcyoneus, too."

Hazel's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, but it's my fault he even exists now. If I hadn't raised him—"

"You died to stop him from rising," Frank said fiercely. "It's not your fault."

"And you defeated him in Alaska," Piper pointed out. "This is Gaea's fault. She's the one who brought the stupid giants back through the Doors of Death."

Leo winced and set down his fork. "Yeah, about that. I had a—a vision or a dream or whatever about another old friend. Enceladus is back, too."

Jason and Piper both turned pale. Jason swallowed a mouthful of spaghetti and said, "Where is he? The Parthenon?"

Leo shook his head. "He's on Mount Olympus. The original Mount Olympus." He quickly told them about the giants' plan to dig up the mountain and destroy the gods. "But we have to stop Gaea in Athens first. Then, she said, we can go to Mount Olympus and stop Enceladus."

"Wait, she?" Frank asked. "She who?"

Leo turned bright red and became very interested in his burger. Percy, for some reason, was also suddenly looking at his plate. Frank felt lost.

"Leo?" Piper asked gently. "Who are you talking about?"

Leo muttered something so low that even Frank, sitting across from him, didn't catch it.

"What was that?" Jason asked.

Leo took a deep breath and lifted his head. "Calypso. I had a dream about Calypso. Her island is where I ended up when Khione blasted me into the sky."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "But she was supposed to be released. The gods were supposed to set her free after the Titan war last summer."

"Yeah, well, they didn't," Leo said. "But that's going to change when we get back."

Percy looked up. "Yeah, we're going to fix that."

Leo nodded curtly and both boys returned to their food.

Annabeth took a deep breath. "Okay, so back to the problem at hand. Let's focus on dealing with Porphyrion and Alcyoneus here in Athens first. Then we can figure out what to do about Enceladus on Mount Olympus."

"Sounds good," Piper said. "And at least we don't need a god to defeat Alcyoneus."

"Yeah, but if he's been reborn here in Greece, that's an issue," Frank said. "He's immortal in his homeland."

Jason ran a hand over his hair. "And how far to an international border?"

"Too far," Frank said.

"The giants aren't even our biggest problem, though," Hazel pointed out. "How exactly are we supposed to put Gaea back to sleep?"

"A lullaby and a glass of warm milk?" Leo suggested.

"Maybe the torches will do it," Piper said.

"Aside from Gaea and the giants, there's still the army of monsters waiting at the Acropolis," Frank said. "We're seriously outnumbered. And we can't use the scepter of Diocletian again, not without Nico."

"Can't you use it?" Percy asked Hazel.

She shook her head. "I can't control the dead."

"There's also Porphyrion," Jason said. "We can't defeat him without a god."

Annabeth tapped her fingers on the table. "Let's start with the problems we can solve. Theoretically, we should be able to defeat Alcyoneus and the monsters without extra help. We just need the right strategy."

"Okay, you're the strategist," Percy told her. "What have you got?"

"Actually, I was thinking that what we need is to appoint one person to be in charge of our strategy, like a commander," Annabeth said. "That way we're organized and there aren't five different people giving orders at once. And I nominate Frank for commander."

Frank was pretty sure he had heard her wrong. "I'm sorry, what?"

Strangely, no one else seemed surprised. They were nodding thoughtfully.

"That's a good idea," Jason said. "Like in the House of Hades."

"But you guys," Frank gestured to Jason, Percy, and Annabeth, "all have more real world battle experience than I do."

"Maybe so," Annabeth said, "but, Frank, you have a knack for realizing someone's strengths and then utilizing them on the battlefield in the best possible way. That's the type of strategy we need for tomorrow. So, yes, I nominate you for commander."

"I second that," Hazel said immediately, smiling at Frank.

"Third," Leo said, somewhat to Frank's surprise.

Percy raised his hand. "Fourth."

"Fifth," Piper said.

"You've got this, man." Jason clapped him on the shoulder. "I, uh, sixth the motion."

Frank's face was burning. His friends' confidence in him filled him up like a warm drink, but he was terrified of letting them down. However, after a moment he managed to say, "Thanks, guys." Then, he pushed his plate away and straightened his shoulders. "Alright, let's get to work."

***We're almost to the climax of the story—got some fairly action-packed chapters coming up very soon—stay tuned! Next chapter, from Percy's POV, will be up by Monday, May 19. Have a great weekend!***