𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓! [pjo]

XIX; grandma's house

So close, Frank thought. He wondered if they could sneak around the monsters, but when he looked left and right, he saw more campfires in either direction, as if the ogres had surrounded the property. Frank's fingers dug into the tree bark. His grandmother might be alone inside the house, trapped.

"What are these guys?" he whispered.

"Canadians," Percy said. Cal shook her head at him.

Frank leaned away from him. "Excuse me?"

"Uh, no offense," Percy said. "That's what Annabeth called them when I fought them before. She said they live in the north, in Canada."

"Yeah, well," Frank grumbled, "we're in Canada. I'm Canadian. But I've never seen those things before."

Ella plucked a feather from her wings and turned it in her fingers. "Laistrygonians," she said. "Cannibals. Northern giants. Sasquatch legend. Yep, yep. They're not birds. Not birds of North America."

"That's what they're called," Percy agreed. "Laistry—uh, whatever Ella said."

Frank scowled at the dudes in the clearing. "They could be mistaken for Bigfoot. Maybe that's where the legend came from. Ella, you're pretty smart."

"Ella is smart," she agreed. She shyly offered Frank her feather.

"Oh...thanks." He stuck the feather in his pocket, then noticed Hazel was glaring at him.

"What?" he asked. "Nothing."

Cal rested a hand on Hazel's shoulder, rubbing lightly.

She turned to Percy. "So your memory is coming back? Do you remember how you beat these guys?"

"Sort of," Percy said. "It's still fuzzy. I think I had help. We killed them with Celestial bronze."

"Yeah..yeah I remember that," Cal muttered, eyebrows furrowed.

"Wait, you remember?" Percy turned to her.

"Yeah, kinda. Liliana said it would come back slowly." She shrugged, "I guess it is."

"We need a distraction." Frank decided, "Something to distract them while we make a run for it."

"I wish Arion was here," Hazel muttered. "I could get them to chase me."

Frank shook his head, slinging his spear off his shoulder. "I got a better idea."

"Frank! You cannot seriously be thinking about just charging in there!"

"I'm not." Frank said, "just..nobody scream, ok?"

Then, he jabbed his spear into the ground and the point broke off. Cal let out a delirious laugh.

"Oops," Ella said, "nope nope. Not good."

Then, the ground trembled and a skeletal hand broke the surface. Ella squawked, Percy fumbled for his sword, Cal yelped, and Hazel made a sound like a dying cat.

"It's okay!" Frank said, "he's friendly."

Grey pulled himself out of the ground.

"What the fuck." Cal breathed.

He stood before the four of them, wearing combat boots and camouflage, translucent skin glowing. He was staring at Frank, staring through him.

"Frank, that's a Spartacus." Percy said.

Cal's stomach dropped to her feet. "A skeleton warrior. They're evil. They're killers. They-they came after Percy and I--"

"I know." Frank said bitterly. "Well, I know they're evil. But it's a gift from Mars. Right now that's all I've got. Okay, Gray. Your orders: attack that group of ogres. Lead them off to the west, causing a diversion so we can—"

Unfortunately, Gray lost interest after the word "ogres." Maybe he only understood simple sentences. He charged toward the ogres' campfire.

"Wait!" Frank said, but it was too late. Gray pulled two of his own ribs from his shirt and ran around the fire, stabbing the ogres in the back with such blinding speed they didn't even have time to yell. Six extremely surprised-looking Laistrygonians fell sideways like a circle of dominoes and crumbled into dust. Gray stomped around, kicking their ashes apart as they tried to re-form. When he seemed satisfied that they weren't coming back, Gray stood at attention, saluted smartly in Frank's direction, and sank into the forest floor.

Percy stared at Frank. "How—"

"No Laistrygonians." Ella fluttered down and landed next to them. "Six minus six is zero. Spears are good for subtraction. Yep."

"Not gonna lie, that was kinda cool," Cal muttered. Frank glanced at her, feeling a little better when he saw her grin.

He turned back to glaring at his spear, "Let's go." He said. "My grandmother might be in trouble."

━━━grandma's house

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・