invisible string | f. zhang

xvi. jason grace

Patient and kind Frank. Frank who didn't hesitate to stand for Percy when he was being accepted into the legion despite still being on probatio. Frank who trusted her with his life, literally. Frank who helped Hazel overcome her blackouts. Frank who didn't see her any different after he found out what she had done.

Frank was too good for her and always would be.

"I'm ready," Maribelle then says, she couldn't stay here and hide forever. She grabs his hand, trying not to overthink it, and off they go towards the others.

Sets of couches and low tables were brought into the forum until it resembled a furniture showroom. Romans lounged together in groups of ten or twenty, talking and laughing while wind spirits swirl overhead, bringing an endless assortment of pizzas, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, and fresh-baked cookies. Lares drift around the crowds and the fauna were busy panhandling for food and spare change.

Frank and Maribelle approach Percy and Hazel who were waiting for them outside and watching them worriedly.

"Alright?" Percy asks her.

"Fine," She forces a smile.

"I can't wait for you to meet Annabeth," Percy babbles as he leads them inside. Annabeth had been swept away by Reyna.

Percy guides them to where Annabeth was stuck with Octavian and Reyna, he moves rather quickly to sit at her side. Maribelle, Hazel, and Frank follow to sit across from the couple.

Percy was whispering to Annabeth as Reyna calls for a toast. Then, they all begin sharing their stories. Jason starts with how he'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood without his memory, and how he'd gone on a quest with Piper and Leo to rescue the goddess Hera (or Juno) from imprisonment at the Wolf House in northern California.

Maribelle found it hard to watch Jason, instead she stared back and forth between the girl and boy beside him who occasionally interjected with their own side of things. She noticed the girl, Piper, froze every time Jason accidentally bumped her or looked at her. The boy was grinning from ear to ear but Maribelle could tell something was off, the way he kept looking at Jason as if in a daze before coming back to reality. Piper and Leo wouldn't even glance in each other's direction.

"Impossible!" Octavian interrupts, "That's our most sacred place. If the giants had imprisoned a goddess there—"

"They would've destroyed her," Piper speaks up, "And blamed it on the Greeks, and started a war between the camps. Now, be quiet and let Jason finish."

Maribelle grins at the girl, but she doesn't notice.

"So," Jason continues, "That's how we found out about the earth goddess Gaea. She's still half asleep, but she's the one freeing the monsters from Tartarus and raising the giants. Porphyrion, the big leader dude we fought at the Wolf House: he said he was retreating to the ancient lands—Greece itself. He plans on awakening Gaea and destroying the gods by . . . what did he call it? Pulling up their roots."

Percy nods thoughtfully, "Gaea's been busy over here, too. We had our own encounter with Queen Dirt Face."

Percy recounts his side of the story. He talks about waking up at the Wolf House with no memories except for one name—Annabeth. Percy tells them how he'd traveled to Alaska with Maribelle, Frank, and Hazel— how they'd defeated the giant Alcyoneus, freed the death god Thanatos, and returned with the lost golden eagle standard of the Roman camp to repel an attack by the giants' army.

When Percy had finished, Jason whistles appreciatively, "No wonder they made you praetor."

Octavian snorts, "Which means we now have three praetors! The rules clearly state we can only have two!"