FRANK
To say Frank was nervous was an understatement.
Wandering in circles around the city of Pylos wasn't fun, even with two companions.
He only allowed Piper and Nyx to come. Piper for charmspeaking, obviously. It was too good of an ability to not have when walking around a modern day village cointaining his lost relatives. And Nyx... well, the primordial made him nervous just by her presence, but not as much as Hemera. Light, fire, it was too similar to comfort. Plus the look Hemera gave him when he talked to Nike... better off with the dark one.
And to meet his cousins... and that was the closest thing that he could call them... was not comforting either. Even with everything that happened in the last months, he did not know how they would react to him, if they would accept him or cast him for his origins.
Right now, they were walking in the direction of the city's bakery. After they just killed a giant warthog in the public square, which caught him by surprise and ruined his old clothing, forcing them into making emergency shopping. Now he wore new black jeans, soft leather boots and a dark green Henley shirt that fitted him snugly. He'd been self-conscious about the shirt. He was used to hiding his bulk in baggy clothes, but Piper assured him he didn't have to worry about that any more.
"Do you think they have cookies?" asked Nyx. Frank and Piper looked at her with curiosity.
"What? Just because I'm an... overpowered force of nature, as Annabeth said, does not mean I can't eat my cookies." she explained while entering the bakery. However, Frank noticed a problem as soon as they stepped in.
"I think the cookies will have to wait." he said and looked at the Laistrygonian ogre sitting comfortably at a chair, while drinking some coffee. When he looked at the three standing at the door, he screamed and looked around for exits. There were none.
The last days were surely the most weird ones in the entire quest. Now not a single monster attacked the Argo II directly, and on land they were too terrified to fight. Only beasts like the warthorn were foolish enough to face them.
Nyx grinned widely. Frank guessed that killing monsters was even better for her than cookies. She conjured her black dagger, and just looking at it made Frank break into a cold sweat. The Laistrygonian, already knowing his fate, shook his head and charged at them, perhaps trying to die in glory. It only took Nyx one flashing and one stab to send the creature back to Tartarus.
"You know, we might actually get rusty like this, if you and your daughter keep killing everything." Piper commented, but she didn't sound very worried at all of them having two super powered bodyguards. Frank agreed with that.
"Oh, don't worry, I think you're gonna have a challenge." Nyx responded, and outside of the bakery, Frank heard birds. They didn't sound like normal birds, so it could be more monsters.
"Stymphalian birds?" tried Piper, and Nyx nodded. Frank's backpack turned into his bow and quiver, while Piper got the Cornucopia out. They both ran outside and saw the pigeon-like monsters flying, and began shooting at them. Frank with arrows, Piper with cabbages and cucumbers. In seconds, the birds were turned into golden dust.
Nyx soon joined them, three cookies on her hands. She gave two to the demigods.
"Nice job." she said and bit her cookie. "Let's keep walking, I sense that there's something that can help us ahead."
The three walked for half an hour, and arrived at a Laundromat. They got inside and soon the reason for it was made clear to Frank. There stood an Ancient Greek ghost minding his business. When he saw the group. His jaw dropped, and his eyes showed panic. Nyx looked at Piper, her eyes telling the daughter of Aphrodite that it was "charmspeaking time" or something like, and she approached the ghost.
"Hello, good sir!" she greeted him with enthusiasm. "We are looking for a certain location."
"Where the descendants of Periclymenus are located." Frank said.
"Exactly! We would be very happy to know where we can find it!" Piper asked, with a lot of charmspeak in her words.
"Well, nice lady, you can find the descendants of Periclymenus at Nestor's Cave. Periclymenus himself had stashed his treasure there in times of crisis. Hermes once hid the stolen cattle of Apollo in the cave."
Frank could see that Piper had shuddered, and he remembered that she was a vegetarian, so cows were probably a sensitive topic. Nonetheless, she nodded and thanked the ghost, who went back to doing laundry.
Frank shook his head. It was not the weirdest thing that ever happened in this quest. Not even close.
He, Piper and Nyx kept trudging across the island in the afternoon heat, they found the cave perched halfway up a beachside cliff.
"This is it." Piper stated.
"Indeed. I think... you two should stay." suggested Frank.
"What? Frank, are you sure?" debated the daughter of Aphrodite.
"He's right." said Nyx in a serious tone. "Don't worry too much, Frank, it's not like you're going to the dentist or something. In and out. If you get into trouble, just turn into something really big and we will rescue you."
Frank felt more reassured knowing that if things didn't turn out well, a primordial would be there to back him up. He nodded, and although Piper didn't seem very happy, she too agreed with Nyx's plan. Frank entered the cave.
For the first section, it looked like a regular cave, but after a few steps, what he saw made his jaw drop to the floor.
It was like it wasn't a cave, but instead it was a normal condo. Several people were doing random stuff, like eating, playing chess, ping-pong, and even watching the movie that Piper's dad was starring. One of the older guys who was watching the movie seemed to notice Frank's appearence and came to him.
"Hello, young one, may I help you? Did you stumble here by accident?"
Frank tensed a little bit.
"No, I don't think so. I'm looking for the descendants of Periclymenus, the Argonaut. I'm also one of them."
The man's attitude seemed to lighten up a bit.
"Alright! Are you here to stay?" the man, who was tall grey-haired, in a white linen suit and a pale yellow tie, asked.
"Uh..." he looked around the place. It sure was tempting to join his (kind of) family. It seemed like a better prospect than fighting the Earth. "No, unfortunately. I am in need of something however, and I have been advised to come here."
The man nodded. "I understand. I am Erastus. I'd like to hear your story, you seem very seasoned. Everyone, gather around!" all of the descendants stopped doing their random tasks and gathered around the dining table, except the ones that were playing ping-pong.
"Don't mind them." Erastus reassured. "They don't stop their games for nothing."
Frank sat, feeling quite nervous.
"Well, hello. I'm Frank Zhang, also a descendant of Periclymenus, and legacy of Lord Poseidon." he decided to be as formal as possible in regards to the Greek side of the family, and then told his full story. How his part of the family went from Greece to Rome, then to China, and then to Canada. That he was a son of Mars and praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata, the last remnant of the old Rome, that now resided in the United States. When he said he was a son of Mars, some of them seemed upset, but Erastus himself looked like he was fine with it. He announced that he wouldn't stay, which made them calmer.
"Nothing actually personal, Frank, it's just that we are kind of running out of space to build rooms." said Erastus with a smile.
Frank finished the story, telling about the struggle against Gaea and what the goddess Nike had told him about the ingredients for the Physician's Cure, and what the legionnaire ghost Frank saw at the House of Hades said, urging him to come to Pylos.
None of them seemed very surprised. A short man that resembled a bit Frank before his transformation was the first one to speak. "It isn't rare for lost relatives to appear. However your circustances are sure enough very peculiar, son of Mars."
"Indeed." agreed Erastus. "For your journey, we can help you. Follow me."
Frank did so, and Erastus brought him to a garden. From there the older man took a metallic vial no bigger than an eyedropper from a shelf and gave it to Frank. Frank noticed that close by there were plants that resembled the leaf in his country's flag. He decided not to ask about that.
"It's the Pylosian Mint. Do not open it until you can make the Physician's Cure. As you know, it is poison." adviced Erastus.
Frank nodded. The two of them went to the exit, and when they reached outside, Erastus seemed to have something to say.
"Also, for the chained god you're looking for in Sparta, said god is Ares. The Spartans kept a statue of him chained up in their city, so the spirit of war would never leave them. That should clarify things for you."
"Thank you very much."
"Now if you excuse me, I need to go to the grocery story. If you ever pass by, know that you're welcome, althought you will have to sleep on the couch. Or bring a tent."
Frank once again nodded, and Erastus turned into a seagull, flying away. He walked to Piper and Nyx who were waiting for him.
"I found them." he said.
"I noticed. You okay?" asked Piper.
Frank stared at the seagull as it flew towards the horizon. He shrugged.
"Yeah, I think. "My, uh … cousins, I guess you'd call them... they've been living here for generations, all descended from Periclymenus the Argonaut. I told them my story, how the Zhang family had gone from Greece to Rome to China to Canada. I told them about the legionnaire ghost I saw in the House of Hades, urging me to come to Pylos. They... they didn't seem surprised. They said it's happened before, long-lost relatives coming home."
Piper seemed troubled. "You were expecting something different."
He shrugged again. "A bigger welcome. Some party balloons. I'm not sure. My grandmother told me I would close the circle - bring our family honour and all that. But my cousins here... they acted indifferent. They were cool, they even invited me to pass by sometime. But... I don't know..."
Piper glared into the sky.
"I must say I was expecting worse."
Frank shuffled from foot to foot. "They got a little more friendly when I told them I was just passing through. Something about not having enough rooms. They gave me a going-away present." He opened his hand to show the vial. Piper seemed like she wanted to step away.
"Is that the poison?"
Frank nodded. "They call it Pylosian mint. Apparently the plant sprang from the blood of a nymph who died on a mountain near here, back in ancient times. I didn't ask for details."
"Let's just say that Persephone knows how to be cruel." Nyx commented.
"I wish Vitellius Reticulus were here." Piper smirked.
"Ridiculous who?"
A smile flickered across his own mouth.
"Gaius Vitellius Reticulus, although we did call him Ridiculous sometimes. He was one of the Lares of the Fifth Cohort. Kind of a goofball, but he was the son of Aesculapius, the healing god, the same guy Nike mentioned. If anyone would know... it would be him."
"A healing god would be nice." Piper mused. "So your cousins... did they have any advice about what comes next? This chained god we're supposed to find in Sparta?"
Frank's expression darkened.
"Yeah. I'm afraid they had some thoughts on that. Let's get back to the ship and I'll tell you about it."
"Do you think you could turn into an eagle and carry me?" Piper asked. Frank presumed her feet were probably hurt. His own feet were making him want to just drop into the sand and don't move a centimeter. However before Frank could even answer, Nyx held him and Piper by the wrists and walked into a shadow. In a second, they were at the Argo II.
"You could do that the entire time." Piper didn't even ask, she just stated, exasperated.
"As you said earlier, you are gonna get rusty if you don't make exercise. Come on." She simply said and walked away.
Frank smiled at Piper awkwardly. 'Well... nice killing giant warthogs with you.'
Piper laughed. 'You too, Mr Zhang.' She gave him a hug, which flustered Frank, he couldn't not like Piper. She knew she was grateful for him taking Jason's position as praetor and giving the son of Jupiter a chance in having a moderately normal life with her. maybe at Camp Half-Blood, or not. And she liked how he treated Hazel.
The crew gathered for a hurried meeting on the foredeck – mostly because Percy was keeping an eye on a giant red sea serpent swimming off the port side.
"That thing is really red." Percy muttered. "I wonder if it's cherry-flavoured."
"Why don't you swim over and find out?" Annabeth asked.
"How about no."
"Anyway," Frank said, "according to my Pylos cousins, the chained god we're looking for in Sparta is my dad... uh, I mean Ares, not Mars. Apparently the Spartans kept a statue of him chained up in their city so the spirit of war would never leave them."
"Oo-kay," Leo said. "The Spartans were freaks."
"Not really a bold claim, I think." Hemera muttered.
Jason leaned against the forward ballista. "On to Sparta, then. But how does a chained god's heartbeat help us find a cure for dying?"
"What about your visions, Piper?" Hazel prompted. 'Did you see anything at all?"
"Uh... right." Piper unsheathed Katoptris, seeming a bit reluctant in doing so. "I don't see anything right now. But one vision kept popping up. Annabeth and I are exploring some ruins –"
"Ruins!" Leo rubbed his hands. "Now we're talking. How many ruins can there be in Greece?"
"Quiet, Leo." Annabeth scolded. Nyx giggled at that. "Piper, do you think it was Sparta?"
"Maybe. We are also followed by a shadowy figure." Piper said. "Suddenly we're in this dark place like a cave. We're staring at this bronze warrior statue. In the vision I touch the statue's face and flames start swirling around us. That's all I saw."
"Flames." Frank scowled. His experiences with fire made him more fearful than anything in the world. "I don't like that vision."
"Me neither." Percy kept one eye on the red sea serpent, which was still slithering through the waves about a hundred yards to port. "If the statue engulfs people in fire, we should send Leo."
"I love you too, man."
"You know what I mean. You're immune. Or, heck, give me some of those nice water grenades and I'll go. Ares and I have tangled before."
"Hemera could go if it envolves flames. She's lighty and all."
Day shrugged. "Maybe. But don't call me lighty ever again." She threatened, but she had a smile on her face. Nyx slapped her wrist.
"I wonder when did I fail as a mother for none of my children to have manners." she said, rolling her eyes. Hemera's grin became even wider.
Annabeth stared at the coastline of Pylos, now retreating in the distance. "If Piper saw the two of us going after the statue, then that's who should go. Plus if she saw a shadowy figure, it could easily be Nyx. What other shadowy figures are there right now?" Night smiled at that. "We'll be all right. There's always a way to survive."
"Not always." Hazel warned. Since she was the only one in the group who had actually died and come back to life, her observation sort of killed the mood. Frank held out the vial of Pylosian mint. He wondered what could be done with it. If the flames engulfed him...
"What about this stuff? After the House of Hades, I kind of hoped we were done drinking poison."
"Store it securely in the hold." Annabeth said. "For now, that's all we can do. Once we figure out this chained god situation, we'll head to the island of Delos."
"The curse of Delos." Hazel remembered. "That sounds fun."
"Hopefully Apollo will be there," Annabeth said. "Delos was his home island. He's the god of medicine. He should be able to advise us."
They all remained in silence for a bit, all of them lost in their thoughts. Frank's mind was questioning what would happen when the moment to use the cure presented itself. If they actually get the cure, to begin with.
"Yeah, it's definitely checking us out,' Percy decided. 'Maybe we should take to the air for a while.'
"Airborne it is!' Leo said. "Festus, do the honours!" The bronze dragon figurehead creaked and clacked. The ship's engine hummed. The oars lifted, expanding into aerial blades with a sound like ninety umbrellas opening at once, and the Argo II rose into the sky.
"We should reach Sparta by morning." Leo announced. "And remember to come by the mess hall tonight, folks, 'cause Chef Leo is making his famous three-alarm tofu tacos!"