Oh, look at that: Frank chapter. Featuring Thalia. A super extra long Frank chapter, featuring Thalia. You guys should totally love me right now.
Last night, when I checked my reviews, I'd only gotten, like, ten. And then I woke up this morning and I had closer to 100 than 10. I love you guys. You're great.
Meghan Elizabeth (guest): Is your middle name really Elizabeth? If it is, that's so cool; mine is too! Anyway-thanks. I'm glad to hear that you'll be with me till the end.
Cherriesawesome: Reyna, like Nico, is having trouble realizing her feelings. She knows she likes him, but she's trying to keep her feelings locked away, because she doesn't think he likes her back and she keeps telling herself that she didn't go to Greece to find romance. Also, she's still a little in love with Jason, like Nico is in love with Percy. But I agree, your idea is pretty great. Maybe I'll use it-it depends on if I can fit it in or not.
warisk8: Awwww, thanks! You're so sweet, really! And you made me smile, because you called me nuts, loony, loco, and a creative genius all in one review. So here are some cookies for you. (::) (::) (::)
1questingdreamer: That's cool that you got an account. And those are all great ideas-and the Reyna challenge isn't too far off what I have planned. Just a hint. As for the Rachel chapter-I might do that. It'd be a once-only, special-edition chapter-but I'm planning on doing a group of those anyway, so why not add another?
Badwolfguest (guest): Well, this chapter is super long because I wanted them to start heading back to the Argo during it, although they don't actually get back...but they will, soon, I promise.
BunnyBo: Love ya, BunnyBo. And I'm totally open for constructive criticism-I welcome it. I know some of the chapters are kind of slow; I'm attempting to start speeding them up a bit. And I'm glad you liked what I wrote. I figured you would. ;)
Mythology Girl (guest): I'm actually not entirely sure if I'm going to kill anyone yet...it'd make the story better, but I don't want them to die. :'( And yes, I'm sure I'm not Ricki in disguise. I am a 15 year old girl. I am not a man.
Wild-at-Heart14: Oh, oh, I figured out what day-just for you. But I'm putting it at the bottom so that others interested will see it too.
KingmakerN (guest): You know, I've been told I have too much fluff already. But, yeah, there will be some good Percabeth coming up soon, I promise. And, you know, thank you, for agreeing that the voices are normal. I am not a certifiable looney-tune that belongs in the asylum. Besides, if I got locked up in the looney bin, I wouldn't be able to write this story anymore. So, yeah.
DaugheroftheTrident: I really wish I could see some people's reactions...according to what they tell me, it'd be hilarious to watch. :)
drinkingthestarswithbob: And when is your next chapter, missy? Hmmm? Impatiently waiting for the update here! ;D
HoOisawesome (guest): Veeeery dangerous. And of course there's another chapter! I am finishing this-and that's a promise. :D
DemigodDNA (guest): You know, I love how you guys can catch the little stuff, like the tiny references, but not the big stuff, like who's curse Frank is going to break. Really, that one was so obvious, I figured half of you would guess it on the first try. But no one did. And then you guys immediately notice when I reference some other story...such as TFIOS. And, yes, that was a TFIOS reference. Okay is another of my phrases now.
So, enjoy this EXTRA LONG chapter I wrote for you...Oh, and for those of you who were scared off by Five Ways to Die's rating, I changed it. I only made it what it was because I wasn't sure how graphic a *DEATHFIC* should be rated as. It wasn't exactly in any of the ratings' descriptions. But it isn't sexually inappropriate, or anything, and after reading about Tartarus in Ricki's books, you guys should do fine with it.
NOTE AT BOTTOM.
Chapter LXXX
Frank
Jason's sister scares Frank. With her spiky, dark, punk-style haircut, the dark eyeliner, and the intimidating glare-and her Death to Barbie t-shirt-she just freaks him out. Just a little.
But the weirdest thing isn't that-it's how he still feels perfectly comfortable around her, despite the fear. She's like Reyna, or Annabeth-intimidating, and a little scary-definitely someone you do not want to mess with-but a good person all the same.
At least that's the vibe he's getting. But his first impressions of people are usually right.
Percy mostly takes charge of explaining their mini quest to Thalia, which Frank is fine with. He doesn't really want to talk right now, and Percy must sense that, because he doesn't try to get Frank to take a more active part in the conversation.
He actually seems pretty distracted himself-and after seeing him grimace earlier, Frank has to wonder what's going on with him.
Maybe it's just Tartarus. Him and Annabeth obviously went through a lot down there. Frank thinks. But then again, Annabeth doesn't seem to be having the same problems as Percy. I've never seen her just randomly wince in pain and then try to cover it up like it never happened. Whatever it is, it seems more personal. Although it very well could still be Tartarus related.
Frank knows he's trying to distract himself by thinking about Percy's problems instead of his own. And, for the most part, it's working. But he can't avoid the memories of what happened in the tunnels forever.
I should've asked Periclymenus if they were real. Frank berates himself. I should've asked him if they showed the future.
The image of Hazel getting stabbed in the back swims to the front of his mind, and his fist clenches tighter around his bow. It's a good thing it's enchanted, or he would've broken it.
No. Frank thinks to himself stubbornly, setting his jaw. I won't let it be the future. I won't let that happen. No one is going to die.
He must have a strange expression on his face, because Jason nudges him with his elbow. "Hey." He says, looking at Frank with cautious concern. "You okay?"
"It's nothing." Frank replies. Before Jason can ask anything else, he hurries to change the subject. "Percy and Thalia seem really close, don't they?"
Jason nods thoughtfully, looking back at his sister where she's relentlessly teasing Percy about his idiocy for charging back into battle unarmed. "Yeah." He answers. "They do. They've known each other for awhile, I guess."
"It's kind of weird, isn't it?" Frank asks.
"Kind of." Jason admits. "It's weird realizing that he knows my own sister better than I do. But that's not anyone's fault."
His unspoken words hang in the air, as clearly as if he had said them. Except maybe for Juno's. It was Hera's fault any of this happened. The whole quest is her doing.
Still, Frank feels a grudging sense of gratitude towards the goddess, because without her, a lot of things would be different. He might not have ever met Hazel, and he almost definitely would never have met Percy, or Annabeth, or any of the Seven.
Thalia glances over and notices them standing off to the side, a little awkwardly. "Come on, little brother! Get over here!"
She wraps her arm around Jason's shoulder and affectionately wrestles him over to where she'd been standing with Percy, grinning happily. Jason laughs too, obviously at ease, and Frank walks closer.
"You know, Thalia," Percy starts in a conversational tone, "technically Jason is older than you now, since you chose to never turn sixteen and Jason recently celebrated his sixteenth birthday."
Thalia punches Percy in the shoulder. "Shove off, Jackson." She tells him, but she smiles as she says it.
"And, by that logic, I'm older than you too, since I'm almost seventeen now. Which means that I've been technically older than you for almost a year." Percy continues, not at all dissuaded by Thalia's glare. She shoves him over, and he stumbles sideways, grinning. "Oh, touchy subject, huh, Thals?"
"Be quiet, Kelp Head." She orders. "Before I put an arrow through your nonexistant brain."
Percy slowly shakes his head at her. "Tsk, tsk. Violence isn't the answer, Miss Grace. We've been over this before." Then he ducks when Thalia swings her bow at his head, laughing. "Missed me, missed me." He taunts.
"What is this, kindergarten?" Thalia asks in exasperation, but there's an amused light in her eyes and a smile playing on her lips. To anyone with a brain, it's obvious they're really good friends.
"So, anyway." Percy starts, as if the whole incident never happened. "What's been going on with you, Thals? Why are the Hunters at Pylos?"
Thalia's smile disappears, and a shadow crosses her expression. "It's a long story. But come on; I'll tell you. Let's just get comfortable first."
She leads the way to one of the silver tents and disappears inside, and Frank and the others follow her into an interior that seems way bigger than what the outside would have you believe. There isn't much inside-a silver sleeping bag, a backpack, an extra quiver of arrows, some furs.
Thalia sits down cross-legged on her sleeping bag, gesturing for them to do the same.
Frank takes a seat between Percy and Jason, and settles in for Thalia's story, laying his bow across his lap.
"A couple of weeks ago, I got a dream vision from Artemis." Thalia starts, her electic blue eyes flashing with memories. "She's been sneaking orders out to us from Mount Olympus ever since Zeus closed it-she thinks he's being stupid, and I agree."
If Jason's surprised by the way Thalia talks about their dad, he doesn't show it.
"Mostly she's been communicating through dreams, or sending messages through animals. But this time it was different. She seemed distracted, not quite herself-she didn't make much sense. But when she was acting normal, she managed to tell me that I needed to lead the Hunters to Greece-here, actually. She said that we had to wait here-for what, she never had a chance to say, but she said something about us being the second factor of success." Thalia explains.
Her eyes darken. "It was nearly impossible to get here. There were more monsters just on the way than all of North America combined, I swear. We didn't have to fight all of them, luckily, since we go with the blessing of Artemis and most monsters know not to mess with us."
"Lucky." Percy mutters. "I'm close to a celebrity in the monster world, since I've killed so many of them, but the only thing that does is make them more determined to kill me."
They all laugh. "That's because you're persistantly stubborn and irritating." Thalia tells him. "Monsters can't help but want to kill you."
"Gee, thanks, Thals." Percy says sarcastically.
"No problem." She replies brightly. "Anyway, we finally got here about a week ago, and we've been camped out here ever since. Not much has happened, and the most communication I've gotten from Artemis were a few dreams that made pretty much no sense at all."
"Told you my adventures are more exciting than yours." Percy teases.
"I'm not going to believe that until you tell me your story-I bet all you did was sit around in the mess hall and eat chocolate chip cookies." Thalia teases back.
Percy's expression gets ominously dark, and the amused twinkle in his eyes disappears. "I wish."
Thalia's smile disappears, and she looks questioningly over at Jason and Frank.
"Another long story." Jason answers. "And not a pleasant one."
Percy stands abruptly. "I'm going to...go. Outside." He gestures pointlessly to the tent flap and then steps outside, leaving without any more of an explanation.
Thalia looks like she might go after him, but Frank shakes his head. "Leave him alone for a few minutes. Then I'll go talk to him-it's probably better that way."
"What happened?" Thalia asks, settling back onto her sleeping bag.
Jason sighs. "A lot."
He launches into an explanation of all that's happened since leaving Camp Half-Blood in the Argo II-a summarized version, but it's still obvious that it's going to take awhile.
Somewhere around Camp Fish-Blood, Frank leaves to find Percy-which isn't really all that hard. One of the Hunters points him in the right direction.
Percy's standing just outside the clearing, in the trees, leaning with his back against one and staring off into space, his eyes dark, obviously lost in unpleasant memories. He's twirling Riptide-in pen form-between his fingers, one arm crossed against his chest. He glances up at Frank's arrival, but his eyes don't hold any of their usual mirth and mischeviousness.
"You planning on coming back anytime soon?" Frank asks. He already knows the answer, but he has to start a conversation somehow, right.
"Not really." Percy replies. "Maybe after Jason's finished with storytime."
"Memories?" Frank says.
Percy nods. "It's worse when I'm not..." He trails off, looking uncomfortable.
"When you're not with Annabeth." Frank finishes for him.
Percy just nods again.
"I won't pretend I understand what you went through." Frank tells him. "But I do understand being unable to forget something."
Percy glances over at him. "What happened in the tunnels, Frank?"
"A lot." Frank answers simply. "Oh, by the way-I'm Egyptian. Do you know someone named Carter Kane?"
Percy almost drops his pen. "How do you-never mind. Yeah, I do, why?"
"Apparently he's my cousin." Frank replies.
"Wow." Percy says. "Geez, Frank, you're related to everybody."
"Seems like it." Frank admits.
"So now you're Chinese, Canadian, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian?" Percy asks.
"A mutt, basically." Frank confirms. Normally, he wouldn't refer to himself as a 'mutt'-that's Leo's job-but if it raises Percy's mood, he's all for it.
"Goes with your superpowers then." Percy comments, smirking.
"Last time I checked, I wasn't a superhero." Frank replies. "Of course, thing might've changed, you never know. Maybe I was bitten by a radioactive spider in my sleep."
Percy's eyes darken again, and he looks aways. "I hope not. Spiders suck."
"Let's go with the evil scientist theory, then." Frank quickly says, trying to fix his mistake. He should've known not to mention spiders; Arachne was the one that pulled them into Tartarus.
"Mad scientists are much cooler." Percy agrees.
Frank doesn't know if he's genuinely cheered up or faking it for everyone else's benefit, but Percy turns back to him and manages a half-grin.
"Thanks, Frank." He says, with genuine gratitude. "I just couldn't deal with...that. And I didn't want to see her initial reaction-because it probably would've been pity. And I don't want her to feel sorry for me."
"I don't think she feels sorry for you, I think she feels bad for you." Frank tells him.
Percy raises an eyebrow. "There's a difference?"
Frank nods emphatically. "A very big difference."
Just as Percy opens his mouth to reply, Jason pushes his way through the bushes separating the clearing from them. "Hey, guys, Thalia wants to talk to all of us about something."
"Are you finished with storytime?" Percy asks teasingly. But Frank knows that he's serious, even if he tries to pass it off lightly.
Jason nods. "Storytime is finished. Oh, and you might want to brace yourself-I think Thalia's mad at you."
Percy furrows his brow. "What? Why?"
"Well, I don't know her very well-ironic, considering I'm her brother-but I think stomping around and muttering curses under her breath are definitely signs of anger-also, she shocked me when I touched her on the shoulder to get her attention." Jason explains.
"She does, that, yeah." Percy admits, sounding as if there's a lot more to the story. "But why is she mad?"
"Something about no one ever telling her anything, I think. Hard to tell, since every other word is a curse." Jason answers.
"I'll be sure to watch my step." Percy promises. "But we better hurry; we should've headed back ages ago."
Frank looks up at the darkening sky. "Yeah, I think we may have signed our death warrants by waiting. The girls are going to kill us."
"Terrific." Jason says sarcastically.
"Don't worry, Superman, Piper can't fly. Just be sure to cover your ears." Percy reassures him.
"You should be the one worrying, Percy. Annabeth's going to murder you." Frank says.
"Nah." Percy replies. "She doesn't expect me back until midnight, at the latest. She knows me too well."
"Doesn't mean she won't kill you." Jason points out.
"Good point." Percy admits. "Come on then, time to get down to business."
Together, they step through the trees to confront an angry Thalia. Her eyes are flashing stormily, and the dark eyeliner around them just makes her all the more intimidating and downright scary. She doesn't attack them, though, which is a very good thing, and gets right to the point, which Frank appreciates.
"Okay." She starts briskly. "I think I know what Artemis meant now. We were waiting for you-there's not really anything else we could've been waiting for-and I think we have a part to play in your quest's success. I think we're supposed to go to Mount Olympus with you."
They're all quiet, thinking about her words. "It makes sense." Frank finally says.
The others all look at him.
"Well, think about it. In the first Giant War, there were hundreds of giants, not just the enemies of the twelve major gods, and Gaea has already proved that she has numerous monster minions on her side. No doubt there's an army waiting for us, either at Athens or Mount Olympus, and the seven of us on our own have no way to beat that." Frank explains. "The Hunters would help a lot with that.
"But the thing that bothers me," Frank continues, "is that she called you guys the second factor of success. We're the first, I guess, but the way she worded it implied that there was another factor. And in Greek mythology, it seems like everything comes in threes."
They're silent again, until Percy shifts slightly, calling their attention to him. "We don't have time to worry about that now. But, Thalia, we can't exactly fit-what, thirty girls? Forty?-on a warship with rooms for eight. We have the room, I guess, but it'd be pretty uncomfortable."
"Don't worry about that, Kelp Head." Thalia tells him, rolling her eyes. "We're going to walk. We'll meet you again at Athens-we'll figure out everything else from there."
"That sounds okay." Percy admits. He glances up at the sky. "Thals, we really need to go."
Thalia blows out a breath. "I know." She looks up at the sky too, her eyes impossibly lonely. "Tell Annabeth I said hi, okay? And tell her that things will work out better this time."
"I will." Percy promises, his voice soft.
Jason hugs his sisters tightly, and she ruffles his hair when he pulls away. "Be careful, Jase. We have a lot of catching up to do after all this is over."
"Don't worry; saving the world can't be too much trouble, right?" Jason grins. "Love you, sis."
"Love you too." Thalia replies, smiling.
Frank steps forward to shake her hand. "Nice meeting you, Thalia."
"Try to keep my brother and Kelp Head over here out of trouble, okay?" She asks.
"Not an easy task, that." Frank muses. "But I'll do my best."
Finally, Percy steps forward and embraces Thalia. She punches him in the gut once before returning his embrace. "I can't believe you didn't tell me." She mutters.
"You're my best friend, Thals." Percy tells her. "That'll never change. But it's not something that's easy to talk about."
"No, I guess not." Thalia admits. She steps back. "After this is over, though, Kelp Head, we're going to have a serious talk."
Percy grins. "Bring it on, Pinecone Face."
Thalia laughs, although Frank could swear her eyes are a little teary. "I'll see you at Athens. Now get going before Annabeth comes after you."
"Bye." They all chorus, and then get ready to leave. Frank changes into a giant bird again-the look on Thalia's face is pretty satisfying-and as soon as Percy is safely seated, he lifts into the air with Jason flying next to them, heading back to the Argo II.
Back to Hazel.
Awww, Frank, you're so sweet. *sigh*
Oh, guys, guys, guys, guess what? I found out what day Iris day is! According to what I've discovered, it is on June 14-because June is the month all the colors come out, and the Iris cabin is 14. I'm totally going to do it-who else is in? But seriously, GO NUTS. :P
I love you, play Mythomagic (hey, guys, we should totally create that for real), name pink poodles Gladiola, and whatever you do, DON'T EAT ANY CRISPY CHEESE 'N WEINERS!
Cheers!