***Hi guys, here's Chapter 31, featuring Frank. Don't hate me for this one! Chapter 32, featuring Piper's POV, will be up by Friday, June 20. ***

XXXI. FRANK

The best thing about being a dragon, Frank realized, was that he was fireproof. His scaly hide was as immune to flames as Leo's skin. For once, as he swooped over the screaming monsters of Gaea's army, breathing fire and sending masses of them back to Tartarus, Frank felt invulnerable.

He couldn't keep the dragon thing up forever, though; it required too much effort to maintain. But an elephant was almost as good. He still felt powerful, unstoppable.

And then Leo had done his little trick with the Argo II, firing every weapon the ship had at once. When the dust settled, Frank—back in human form because it made him less of a target—looked around and realized that very few of the monsters were left. The ones that had escaped the Argo II's bombardment were still shakily getting back to their feet, looking dazed. Most hadn't even gathered their weapons back up yet. Frank was trying to decide between turning into a grizzly bear or a lion—he'd almost settled on the grizzly—when Arion thundered up to him, Hazel and Percy on his back. Both of them slid off of the horse and when he saw their faces, Frank knew something was very wrong.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"The Eleusinian torches," Hazel said shakily, then stopped, as if she couldn't get the rest of the words out. She looked at Percy, who turned to Frank, grim-faced.

"The torches can only be lit by the fire of life. I'm sorry, man."

Frank felt like ice was cascading down his throat, into his stomach, freezing him from the inside out. He was shivering like he was standing on the Hubbard Glacier in Alaska again. Suddenly, a whole lot of things fell into place. Mars telling him about his mother, how she put her duty first, even over her own life, and then telling Frank that a big sacrifice was coming. He could almost hear the war god's voice in his head again.

"Without you, Frank—without your sense of duty…the whole war will go sideways, and Gaea will destroy our world."

He realized that this was why Juno had saved him when he was a baby, so that he could be here now, the final piece that was needed to defeat Gaea.

Maybe Frank should have felt resentful to the goddess for that, but instead, as the shivering died down, he felt only a calm acceptance. His friends needed him. Sure, hopefully he could help save the world, too, but as he looked at Hazel and Percy, Frank suddenly understood why his mother had done what she did in Afghanistan. She'd died saving her friends. If Frank could help his friends to survive this fight with Gaea, then that was worth it to him.

Frank remembered something else Mars had told him.

"Duty. Sacrifice. They mean something."

But when Frank heard the words this time, they weren't in the voice of the war god. Instead, he heard his mother's voice. And that gave him the courage he needed.

Frank squared his shoulders. "Alright. Where are the torches?"

"Annabeth and Piper have them, over by the drill," Percy said. "But Frank—"

"It's okay," Frank said. He looked at Hazel. There were a lot of things he wanted to say to her, but he didn't want her to think he was saying them only because he was about to die. So instead, he kissed her. When he pulled back, he saw that her golden eyes were glittering fiercely with an emotion Frank couldn't quite identify. Maybe pride, or anger, or something else. But Frank decided that if his sacrifice meant Hazel got to live a full second life, then it was worth it.

Around them, the monsters were getting back to their feet, finally shaking off their confusion and gathering their weapons. The dust was settling. Near the drill, Frank could see that Gaea, Porphyrion, and Enceladus were getting back to their feet. And they looked mad. Time to go.

"We'll cover you," Percy said. He squeezed Frank's shoulder. "Just—just do what you need to do, man."

Hazel swung up onto Arion. With her sword in her hand, she looked both terrifying and beautiful. She looked down at Frank. "You're still my best friend, Frank," she said, echoing what she had told him in Alaska, as they'd prepared to attack Alcyoneus and free Thanatos. "Good luck."

"You too," he managed.

The remaining Cyclopes, dracaenae, Earthborn, and other monsters were preparing to attack. Hazel and Percy charged to meet them. Frank, his heart like a stone in his chest, turned and sprinted in the other direction.

Frank saw Enceladus swat Leo halfway across the mountain. Porphyrion was back at the controls of the drill, desperately drilling into the heart of Mount Olympus. He could see Piper and Annabeth, swords in one hand, torches in the other, ducking behind piles of dirt and stacks of boulders, trying to stay out of Gaea's view. The goddess herself was growling in frustration, her pit-dark eyes narrowed.

"I am the goddess of the earth itself! You cannot hide from me behind dirt and stones!" Gaea shrieked and a massive earthquake shook the entire mountain.

Frank turned into an eagle to avoid being thrown off his feet. He debated attacking Gaea's face with his talons, but he knew that wasn't the real solution. He had to get to Piper, Annabeth, and the torches.

He found the girls with their backs pressed against a house-sized boulder as the earth continued to rumble beneath their feet. He landed next to Annabeth and turned back into himself. She jumped, then looked relieved. "Frank! Thank the gods. Percy and Hazel said you would know a way to light the torches."

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." Frank undid the small fireproof pouch Leo had given him and took out his charred piece of driftwood. His hands were shaking, but he fought to keep his voice calm. He was a praetor of Rome. He could do this. "Hold out the torches."

Piper held out her torch, but she looked confused. "What does that stick have to do with the fire of life Demeter told us about?"

Annabeth's eyes flickered from the stick, to Frank, and back again. He could almost see her mind putting the pieces together. Her eyes widened. "Oh, Frank, no!"

"It's okay," he said. He looked at Piper. "The fire of life is my life, which is tied to this piece of wood. I used this stick to free Thanatos in Alaska. It'll work on the torches, too."

Piper looked horrified. "But does that mean, if the wood burns—?"

"It's okay," Frank repeated, even though he knew it wasn't. "We have to stop Gaea. Nothing else matters. Now, hold out the torches. Please."

Wordlessly, Piper and Annabeth held the torches up. Frank tried to keep his hands steady as he held the charred wood against Annabeth's torch. He thought of flames and immediately his stick ignited. Searing pain shot through his body, but Frank kept his hand steady until the torch caught. The torch blazed with a golden light that washed the three of them in warmth and the smell of summer air. Frank quickly transferred his burning lifeline to Piper's torch. He was alarmed to see how quickly his piece of driftwood was being consumed. His blood felt like it was boiling in his veins.

Piper's torch caught. But before Frank could put out his fire, the ground exploded. He, Piper, and Annabeth were blasted backwards. The piece of wood flew out of Frank's hand, landing on the ground fifteen feet away, near the foot of the hydraulic drill. He could hear Gaea screaming something, but he couldn't understand her words. Nothing was registering but the pain. Frank's vision was beginning to go black, but he got to his knees and crawled towards his burning stick. He remembered the rainbow goddess, Iris, telling him that he would die holding that stick, watching it burn. Irrationally, he thought, I have to get to it. I'm supposed to die holding it.

His muscles were beginning to seize up. It felt as if a blowtorch had been lit inside his chest. Frank gritted his teeth and fought to keep moving, to reach the fire, but his body didn't want to obey. His vision was fuzzy. The only thing he could focus on was the flame of his life, burning away.

He heard a yell. The ground shook in another explosion. There was more yelling, some screams, but it all seemed very distant from Frank.

He collapsed. Dimly, he registered the patter of what felt like rain on his face. The burning pain was subsiding. As he passed out, Frank wondered if his mother would be waiting for him in the Underworld.