invisible string | f. zhang

ii. breaking a heel & declaring war

The cohort cheers half heartedly and broke ranks. Maribelle stays put next to the trio, admiring her new manicure as she waits for whatever they were going to do.

Percy frowns, "Do whatever?"

"Yeah," Hazel sighs, "Big vote of confidence."

"What's the Mural Crown?"

"Military medal," Frank says.

"It's, like, a big honor for the first soldier to breach an enemy fort," Maribelle explains, "Not to brag, but I have one!"

"You do?" Hazel and Frank both ask.

Maribelle grins, "Of course!"

"You'll notice nobody in the Fifth is wearing one. Usually we don't even get into the fort because we're burning or drowning or . . ." Frank continues.

He falters, and looks at Percy, "Water cannons."

"What?" Percy asks.

"The cannons on the walls," Frank says, "They draw water from the aqueduct. There's a pump system — heck, I don't know how they work, but they're under a lot of pressure. If you could control them, like you controlled the river — "

"Frank!" Maribelle says enthusiastically, "That's brilliant!"

"I don't know how I did that at the river. I'm not sure I can control the cannons from this far away," Percy says.

"We'll get you closer." Frank points to the eastern wall of the fort, "That's where the defense will be weakest. They'll never take three kids seriously. I think we can sneak up pretty close before they see us."

"Sneak up how?" Percy asks.

"Oh! We could —" Maribelle begins but Frank cuts her off.

"Can you do that thing again?" Frank asks Hazel.

She punches him in the chest, "You said you wouldn't tell anybody! Never mind. It's fine — Percy, he's talking about the trenches. The Field of Mars is riddled with tunnels from over the years. Some are collapsed, or buried deep, but a lot of them are still passable. I'm pretty good at finding them and using them. I can even collapse them if I have to."

"Like you did with the gorgons," Percy says, "To slow them down."

"I told you Pluto was cool. He's the god of everything under the earth. Hazel can find caves, tunnels, trapdoors . . ." Frank beams.

"And it was our secret," She grumbles.

Maribelle shifts on her feet, the unwanted feeling of jealousy creeping into her bones. Jealousy was a feeling Maribelle was all too familiar with.

"Yeah, sorry. But if we can get close — "

"And if I can knock out the water cannons . . . what do we do then?"

"The rest is up to me," Frank takes charge, "Let's go."

"I'm going back to my cohort," Maribelle says, eyeing the string between Hazel and Frank.