I love you guys so much! you're so sweet! and thanks to joseph for the advice.
Yay, I've reached chapter 20! Happy reading!
Chapter XX
Frank
A ray of sun shines through the window onto Frank's face. He opens his eyes and then squints at the brightness of the sun, raising a hand to shade his face.
He sits up and swings his legs to the floor.
Today is the third day.
He stumbles to the bathroom for a quick shower before heading to the mess hall. Annabeth is the only one there.
"Morning, Frank." She greets him.
"Morning, Annabeth." He replies. She seems a bit distracted to him, staring off into space as she absentmindedly sips from the cup of coffee in her hand. He shrugs. Whatever it is, he's sure she'll figure out what to do about it.
He sits down at his regular seat and sets to eating the poached eggs and bacon on toast that appear on his plate. His favorite breakfast.
As he eats, Leo and Jason join them in the mess hall. Not long after they arrive, Hazel walks through the doorway with a troubled look on her face.
"What's wrong, Hazel?" Frank asks her. She glaces up at him, then shuffles over to sit beside him and looks down at her plate.
"It's nothing." She mumbles. Frank gives her a skeptical look. She sighs. "I'll tell you later." She promises.
When Piper finally shows up, she's still in her pajamas. She has the craziest bedhead Frank has ever seen, and the dark bags under her eyes just serve to make her exhaustion even more pronounced. She stumbles over to her seat next to Jason, and he puts an arm around her shoulders. She leans into him, closing her eyes. Frank wonders if she's going to fall back asleep. But she doesn't. After a few seconds, she sits up straight and starts eating her own food, just like everyone else.
Frank looks around and realizes someone's missing.
"Where's Percy?" He asks. The others all look around too, except for Annabeth, and seem surprised when they don't see him anywhere.
Annabeth sets her coffee down. "Percy," she says, "is resting." Something in her tone warns Frank that there's more going on.
"What, didn't he get enough sleep last night? He went to bed earlier than any of the rest of us." Leo asks.
"Not really, no." Annabeth answers. She doesn't elaborate.
"Why not?" Frank says. Annabeth and Piper share a look. This time, it's Piper who answers.
"Percy was being stupid." She tells them.
"Surprise, surprise." Annabeth comments dryly.
"What do you mean?" It's Jason this time.
Annabeth hesitates. Then she takes a deep breath and starts talking. "When Percy fought Pontus, Pontus cut him across his back. Really bad. He didn't want to tell anyone because he didn't want to worry you guys. He told me, but he forgot to mention that the ambrosia and nectar I gave him weren't working."
"Why didn't the water heal him?" Frank asks.
"Because we're in the Ionian, and Thalassa is controlling the water here. That's Percy's theory, anyway." Annabeth answers.
"Annabeth had to stitch up the cut." Piper shudders visibly. "I helped."
Frank's stomach churns at the thought of it.
"Is he okay now?" Hazel asks.
"Yeah, he'll be fine. Actually, he'll probably be up in the next few minutes. He hasn't been sleeping very well. Try not to stare at him like he's about to drop dead, please." Annabeth says.
"Did he sleep in the infirmary last night?" Frank asks.
"No, he went back to his room. Didn't want people gawking at his back."
"As if we would." Leo scoffs.
Just then, Percy walks in.
Everyone stares at him.
Percy takes his seat beside Annabeth, oblivious to the fact that everyone's looking at him.
"Good morning." He says cheerily.
"Morning." Comes the general reply. He glances up suspiciously, seeming to sense that something's off, and everyone hurriedly returns their gaze to their food. He shrugs and digs in to a giant pile of blue waffles. As if that's any surprise.
"So." Annabeth says. "Anyone have any dreams or visions they'd like to share? Piper, have you seen anything in Katoptris recently?"
"Nothing new." Piper replies. "Just the usual things. You know, the Romans gathering forces to attack camp. That's pretty much it."
Annabeth nods, the look on her face grim. "I hope Nico, Reyna, and Coach Hedge get the statue to camp in time."
"Actually, I wanted to talk about that." Hazel interjects. Everyone looks to her. She looks a little uncomfortable at the attention, but she continues. "I sort of had a dream last night. Except, well, it was really weird..."
When she finishes describing what happened in her dream, the mess hall is completely silent.
"I wonder..." Annabeth says. "Why do you think you could actually physically do something? Do you think it was real?"
"Oh, I'm pretty sure it was real. I could tell that much. I'm not sure why I could do what I did, though. Maybe it's just something that comes with being able to manipulate the Mist...?" Hazel trails off.
Frank notices her discomfort. "Well, whatever it is, it's pretty cool. You managed to communicate with someone who's all the way across the world. In your dreams. That's pretty amazing." He assures her.
"Yeah, I guess..." Hazel says.
"Well, considering you probably saved Nico and Reyna and Coach Hedge, yeah, I'd say it's pretty amazing." Annabeth says. "You know, we really should get in touch with camp and tell them ahead of time, so that they don't freak out when the Athena Parthenos appears in the middle of camp."
"That'd probably be a good idea." Percy agrees. "Although it'd be kind of funny to see their reactions."
Annabeth shoots her boyfriend a look. He ignores it and continues eating.
"Well, now that we've had our daily morning weirdness, I'm going to go work on a few upgrades for the ship." Leo says, abruptly changing the subject. He heads down to the engine room.
After that, the mess hall starts to clear out. Piper goes with Jason for a sword lesson. Annabeth and Percy follow them up on deck, hand in hand.
Frank and Hazel are left alone.
"Are you okay, Hazel?" Frank asks. She looks at him.
"I'm just worried about Nico, that's all." She admits.
"He'll be fine, Hazel. He might not have been thinking things through, but he's not stupid. He'll get everyone to camp safely, including himself." He reassures her. She smiles up at him and takes his hand.
"Thanks, Frank. That means a lot." She leans forward and kisses him, just once, on the lips. Then they sit there in companionable silence, happy with finally being able to get some time alone with each other.
Then the silence is shattered by the sounds of fighting up on deck, followed by a string of curses that makes Hazel's eyes widen.
"Monsters?" She asks.
"Monsters." Frank sighs resignedly. Then they both draw their weapons and race upstairs to join the fight.
Finally, I got some Frazel in there.
Smileyfaces!