invisible string | f. zhang

xvii. once a traitor . . .

"Mari —" Frank pulls away, and she squeezes her eyes shut, resting her forehead against his.

"I don't want to talk about him or . . . the other him," Maribelle tells him quietly, "Please. Just, distract me."

"Okay," Frank says and her head follows along as he nods his head. "Okay. Um . . . how should I distract —"

Maribelle giggles and Frank's cheeks turn a bit red.

"Kiss me," She says and Frank stutters for a minute before kissing her. Maribelle's stomach swoops as she scoots closer to him, his hands coming to rest stiffly at her waist.

A large boom! causes the two to jump apart. "What was that?" Maribelle says, eyes wide as she looks around.

Frank's hands tighten where they rest on her waist, "I'm not sure."

Another loud boom! and the Romans around them take off running. Maribelle rises to her feet, watching as the Argo II open fires below.

"The ship!" Maribelle shouts. Her and Frank take off running towards it together.

She wasn't sure what was happening, Jason would never bring traitors back to camp. (But he'd brought her back. He'd saved her). He wouldn't turn his back on Rome. (Not after what she did to him). Surely Annabeth wouldn't do this, not after everything Percy told her about the girl.

"Romans, kill the invaders!"

Maribelle grabs hold of Frank's hand as they push their way through the crowd. They find Percy, Annabeth, and Hazel standing near the front, looking at the crowd with frightened eyes.

"We have to leave. Now," Annabeth says.

Percy nods, "Belle, Hazel, Frank, you've got to make a choice. Are you coming?"

Hazel glances at Maribelle terrified, but she puts on her cavalry helmet and nods, "Of course we are. But you'll never make it to the ship unless we buy you some time."

"How?" Annabeth asks. 

Hazel whistles. Instantly, a blur of beige shot across the forum. A majestic horse materializes next to the fountain. He reared, whinnying and scattering the mob. Hazel climbs on his back and unsheathes her golden blade, "Send me an Iris-message when you're safely away, and we'll rendezvous," She informs them, "Arion, ride!"

The horse zips through the crowd with incredible speed, pushing back Romans and causing mass panic.

"Romans!" Maribelle hears Jason beg, "Please!"

Maribelle glances to find that Piper and Jason were being pelted with plates and stones. Jason tries his best to shield Piper, but a brick catches him above the eye. He crumples, and the crowd surges forward.

"Get back!" Piper screams. Her charmspeak rolled over the mob, making them hesitate.

Maribelle wants to run to help. But she couldn't.

"Frank," Percy says, "It's up to you. Can you help them?"

"Oh, gods," He murmurs, Maribelle squeezes his hand reassuringly. "Okay, sure. Just get up the ropes. Now." Frank glances at Maribelle, squeezes her hand once more and then takes off.

"Let's go!" Percy says, grabbing her wrist and dragging her behind him and Annabeth.

They lunged for the ladder. Octavian was still clinging to the bottom, but Percy yanks him off and throws him into the mob. The trio begin to climb as armed legionnaires flooded into the forum.

Before Maribelle can climb any higher, somebody grips her ankle tightly. She shouts in protest, causing Percy to stop where he was. Maribelle glances down to find Octavian clinging to her, "Your fault!"

Maribelle shakes her head.

"Once a traitor! Always a traitor!" He sneers, "We should've never let you stay!"

Maribelle huffs, kicking her leg, "Let go!"

"I'm sure you were conspiring with them again! Just like I said, but no! Jason always saw something in you that no one else did!"

Maribelle's lip wobbles as her eyes fill with tears, she screams and kicks her foot again, finally kicking the smaller boy off. Taking deep breaths she continues to climb, ignoring the way her arms were burning and her chest was heaving as tears spilled down her face.

Halfway up, Maribelle hears a roar below and glances down. Romans scream and scatter as a full-sized dragon charges through the forum. Maribelle grins, recognizing it as Frank immediately. It had rough gray skin like a Komodo lizard's and leathery bat wings, beautiful in its own way. Arrows and rocks bounce harmlessly off its hide as it lumbers towards Piper and Jason, grabbing them with its front claws, and vaulting into the air.

"Is that . . . ?" Annabeth trails off.

"Frank," Percy confirms.

"He has a few special talents," Maribelle speaks up proudly.

"Understatement," Annabeth mutters, then turns to keep going, "Keep climbing!"

Without the dragon and Hazel's horse to distract the archers, they never would have made it up the ladder. Finally, though they make it above. Maribelle's eyes widen as she takes in the scene. The rigging was on fire. The foresail was ripped down the middle, and the ship listed badly to starboard.

"Leo!" Annabeth screams at the curly haired boy, "What are you doing?"

"Destroy them . . ." He faces Annabeth. His eyes were glazed, and his movements like a robot's, "Destroy them all."

Maribelle felt frozen in fear at the familiar movements of the boy.

He turns back to the ballista, but Percy tackles him. Leo's head hits the deck hard, and his eyes roll up so that only the whites showed.

The gray dragon soars into view. It circles the ship once and lands at the bow, depositing Jason and Piper, who both collapse.

"Go!" Percy yells, "Get us out of here!"

Maribelle watches as Annabeth runs for the helm. She felt helpless as she stares at Leo, slumped over. She couldn't get his voice out of her head.

"Hey," Percy rises from where he was sitting beside Leo, "Are you okay?"

Maribelle nods. She needed to pull it together. She couldn't be having a breakdown every five seconds, she was on a real quest now. A good quest, to prove she was on their side. To prove she was good. (That was hard to do after she willingly got on a ship that tried to blow up New Rome . . . just like before).

"Don't listen to Octavian," Percy tells her, "You know he was just saying that to upset you. None of this was your fault, Belle."

She nods, "I know."

Percy pulls her in for a hug before rushing off to help Annabeth. Maribelle sighs deeply, and glances up at Frank who was still flying around as a dragon. She nods to herself and ignores the shouting from below, it becomes a distant whisper as Annabeth finally gets the Argo II up and away.

—

LONG TIME NO SEE HELLO