child of war.

(     And it’s tough to tell whether it will ever be.               Tartarus skews his judgement and batters it with blood.     )

There’s always the chance that these are isolated incidents, and Annabeth made it out safely because she’s still the genius he knows her to be. Not to mention the charmspeak that might’ve (unintentionally?) had an influence in the matter. He factors in the terror, the gap between what she doesn’t find morally acceptable in emergencies and what he absolutely does, and his knees threaten to buckle. The best he can do is start walking again— water will help.

But his throat’s never been more dry. All too predictably, his voice cracks when he musters up the next few words and says, “Yeah. Our minds, our bodies… whatever they can get their hands on.” 

His expression twists to one of loathing, directed both at himself and at the scientists that have taken everything. Most of all, his understanding of reality. Frank’s point has Percy’s hands curling into fists and his stride picking up in speed.

“Look, I don’t want to believe she’d go without me either. But things happened when we went… you know. And it’s not the same. It hasn’t been. All I’m saying is— gods. Maybe she wanted to be somewhere safer and think things through. She’s always been good on her own.” It just so happens that this time, Piper is a second addition. An extension of the clarity Annabeth had before — someone that makes her an even better version of herself.

When he furrows his brows, he thinks of all the times that Jason’s grounded him. How he helps him back to his feet when he doesn’t need to and makes him feel real when nothing else can. Urges him to come to and look at their situation from a different angle. And… without having to say much at all, makes Percy his best self.

He steels himself for the next bit, as the water’s close proximity lends him strength and courage to speak freely. At the very least, Frank deserves to know. “Me and Jason… did a lot of catching up by the time they left. And after that— I don’t know.” His shoulders heave when he breathes in the balance of this untold truth. “We really had to stick together. And it’s made me stronger, he’s–” 

Everything? Gee, he sure is dramatic. 

  He had some regrets in his life but that life-changing choice was not one of them. 

  Sometimes people experience that feeling when they think how someone is doing after not seeing them for a long time. That’s one Frank is experiencing right now. Ever since he came here, he’s been deprived from contact with the others. This city just loved to strip away every small piece of him bit by bit. First his powers, then his weapons-- then... everything else.

  He's aware that it was taking Percy’s toll and seeing him like this wasn’t a sight to behold. ❝We’re just that irresistible, they just can’t get their hands off us.❞

  A look of understanding formed on his face, he didn’t want to plunge this conversation deeper into the cold water. ❝I understand. I know I’m in no place to tell you what’s true or what’s not. I haven’t experienced the things you’ve been through. We don’t know what goes through her mind nor do we know her intentions. But for one thing for sure it’s Annabeth we’re talking about here. She’s up to all kinds of things-- she’s filled with surprises.❞ The thought of bringing up the topic of the chinese handcuffs sprung up but he didn’t want remind himself of that embarrassing moment. 

  Iguanas, huh.

  As the topic slightly shifted onto a different subject, his eyes flickered with curiosity whilst his eyebrows raised upwards to perfect the image. Frank wasn’t sure whether what he was trying to say was what he’s thinking but he didn’t want to jump to conclusions, not just yet. ❝Are you trying to say you guys are...?❞ Hands raised in front of him, only a single digit was left aloft on each pair. Followed by the motion of both fingers meeting each other as it sums to two. 

Huh his world seems rougher then his. From his knowledge Hermes is always there. School, the beach, on a date. He;’s there. It’s as if a deity of a religion long forgotten has nothing else to do. “That’s rough buddy. ” He said, not entirely sure as to what to say. “At least he claimed you. Right? Some people will probably never know who parentage is. I’m assuming.” Now surprised to hear about Hades having a daughter. “Really now? I thought he was one of the more monogamous one.” He retorted, wondering whatever more difference their worlds has. 

  His childhood was a normal one. No gods. No demigod. No shapeshifting. It was a rather sweet and mellow life. But he wouldn’t go back to a life like that after everything he’s been through. This whole ‘transition’ made him to what he is now. ❝Yeah, that’s the main thing. Most demigods get claimed once they reach camp but otherwise I dunno. I’ve never heard of a demigod that hasn’t been claimed.❞ Frank shrugged his shoulders. ❝I know where you’re getting at but you could say ‘things’ just miraculously happen. He actually has a son too, he’s frightening but... nice in a way.❞

“Yeah he’s totes my best godfriend. For a mischievous god of thieves he can be pretty strict. So with him being a messager god he delivers all the dead and when you get past the rocky outgrowths, dead trees, hella rivers, smell of death, its not as danky as you think. Hades is pretty cool guy. Lonely but nice.” He said, thinking back to his days being a pseudo-psychopomp. Finding what the other said to be laughable. 

 ❝Gods don’t tend to hang around demigods, or even their children, sometimes they just abandon them. It’s cool to know that some of them took a liking with you. Like it took sixteen years for my father to finally notice me, or... ‘claim’ me. Never met Hades personally. He’s actually my girlfriend’s dad-- well, not sure if she’s my girlfriend anymore. Haven’t seen her in like a few months, but things are complicated.❞ A small frown formed on his face. Maybe now wasn’t the time to think about Hazel.

Put someplace safe that Percy called home not more than a year ago by another impossible ploy? At least for the duration of the last one, the gods were somewhat aware of his location. Inside Hive City, no one’s godly parents can receive iris messages, and that means no communication. Even in at his lowest (save for Tartarus, but he tries not to let those thoughts bubble up in the middle of light conversations - if you could call this ‘light’), he could hear his father in the back of his mind.

A feeling… a security. Here, he doesn’t have that. No father, no mother, no lifelong best friend turned significant other. But as they grow a little closer to their next destination, that thought begs the question: what if Annabeth didn’t choose to leave, either? What if whoever decided that Frank was enough of a model guinea pig (no pun intended) figured Annabeth would be a good candidate for the same thing?

“I believe you, man… I do. It’s just hard, piecing it all together now.” The doubts that creep up his throat leave rot on his tongue and nausea drops over his head like a brick.

He’ll never forgive himself if he could’ve looked for her and chose not to because of some pathetic insecurity. “Listen, I—“ his breath catches and he halts in his place, eyes falling on Frank’s back until time slows. “Annabeth and Piper are gone, too. And when everything happened, after she—“

His stomach is doing gymnastics. This is so stupid.

  Then this encounter with Percy had spiraled so... so fast. Jokes and puns were being thrown out at every willing moment to begin with then subsequently turned into this. He was more than happy to be able to finally talk to someone about his return but it brought sorrow and melancholy into the air around the pair. No matter the circumstances, he grew a stronger dislike towards the overseers whom ‘looked after’ the city.

  Didn’t they just give him the boot? Why would they want to bring him back? 

  ❝I’m relieved... I really am but take as long as you need. I know it must be hard... to swallow all this down.❞ And as if it was queued, what felt like a burden toppled off his shoulders. A sense of relief.

  Optics widened in surprise, that’s news to him. ❝They are...? I mean-- I didn’t hear from them when I went back to camp... actually, did I even go back to camp--?❞ He shook his head in building irritation. ❝They just love playing with our minds, don’t they?❞

She’s always been a genius, after all. If anyone, why not her? 

So he gives Frank the benefit of the doubt when he shows up once after their adventure at the breakfast bar, not bothering with suspicion. The questions do cost him a bit of a tense posture as they embark on their journey, but Percy loosens up sooner than later. Being uncomfortable around his cousin is beyond useless, and he knows it. He might as well cough up what’s making his throat itch before he looks like an even bigger idiot. 

“What?” Percy feigns offense before cracking a grin and giving way. “It’ll be grand, all right.” Grand as the Grand Ole Opry, on the Monopoly board that pops into his head.

  You don’t need to be a god to realize that. Oh wait, he’s a demigod. That works out. 

  He never intended to leave Percy in the dust. He never wanted to. He wanted to be with him, to spend time with him. But things happen and one thing lead to another then his disappearance happened. Now, he’s back. For what reason? Who knew. It’s a surprise itself when the other didn’t straight up ask where he’d been during all this time since the breakfast bar incident. Maybe that was why... no, it couldn’t be. 

  ❝Good. I expect a complimentary goody-bag at the end of this tour.❞ Frank jokingly remarked. Oh how good it was to be talking with him again.

“Wait wait what? What’s with all these camps?” Something did not seem right. “No offense, actually one of my best friends back home is Italian. His dad has a collection of some roman stuff. Then again I know some guys with the real deal.” He said with a shrug, knowing that Bellona would kick his ass if she started bragging. Shuddering at the thought of it. 

“So you seriously haven’t seen Regia yet?” 

Okay. In all fairness, the ocean is always going to be more his thing than anyone else’s, and it probably makes sense – in some way that he can’t possibly comprehend – that Frank’s first move wasn’t to investigate if there’s someplace around here related or connected directly to the ocean. As a matter of fact, Percy doesn’t really care where he’s gone because he’s back. 

Unfortunately, he’s too unnerved to ask Frank about whether or not he actually left… or if he saw the others back at Camp Jupiter, or if he heard news– it’s just too much. It won’t go well and he knows it. Better to wait until his cousin feels like bringing it up or explains what happened while he was away, or in the span of time they didn’t catch up due to all the catastrophes that struck him at once. 

Not to mention the situation with a certain son of Jupiter that is probably better explained once they’re sitting down someplace quiet… or at least semi-private. 

  When someone returns to their home, they would say it’s good to be home. But in Frank’s case, was this place really his home? He had resided here for a small duration previously and in that small duration, he found comfort and... joy. To mysteriously embark into an unintended adventure into a mysterious metropolis filled with countless of endeavors awaiting to be discovered. What more could you ask for? As a person seeking for adventure himself, Frank couldn’t ask for more. 

  Putting that aside, he had missed the bigger picture here; why was he brought back after being... gone. He never necessarily asked to leave nor did he ask to come, everything happened too fast. One moment he was at Camp Jupiter... the next he’s here, then back to the camp... then back to here. All of this begins to strain his mind when its brought up. Maybe it would be better to talk to someone about it. 

  But would anyone believe in what he says? 

incandeo

Now this was odd. He felt this only a few times before. Usually when in the presence of Hermes, Dio, or…Apollo. He groaned at the male before him, shivering at the thought of tall, bronze, and annoying. Was the guy a god or something entirely different. He looked normal enough, kinda like a linebacker but with a sense of pacifism. Maybe he wouldn’t be all bad. 

       Surely, at some point, she could allow herself a moment to be selfish. The sight of an ice cream cart must have been a gift from someone more gracious than her mother. Piper was quick to spoil herself, and asked for a simple cone. The cart owner that passed her the treat was careful; they had probably been witness to tons of individuals dropping what they’d only just paid for. The demigod girl passed over some of the only money she had in her pocket — one single golden drachma. Surely it being gold would be enough, especially with the very,very different individuals she’d seen wondering around. Whatever opportunity she might’ve had to spend it in the future was gone, because the cart owner seemed satisfied with that. 

       And off she went, treat to brighten her otherwise downcast day in hand and newly, nearly poor. A tiny part of her considered the fact she that she’d made a mistake, and the only thing that convinced her for certain was when she tripped and the vanilla dessert was smeared onto the pants of some unlucky citizen. “Ah—” Wait…

   Now would be a great time for his grandmother to appear out of thin air, or even turn into a bird and drop from the sky and scold him in distaste for upholding a horrible standard (or, appearance) for the Zhang family. There were a lot of things he missed dearly but reminiscing whilst trying to seriously scold an other didn’t quite fit two and two together. Regardless it was still a soothing sight to see someone he was well-acquainted with, even if it was McLean out of all people. 

   With the folding of his arms, shortly after adding a small ‘hmph’ to maintain the visage of a frustrated individual. But in all seriousness, his actions were forced and in truth he appeared to be akin to a child trying too seemingly hard to get a role in an audition. Frank was never cut for drama to begin with, nor will that ever change. His personality repels against that altogether. 

   ❝This could just be a trick of yours to ploy me into feeling bad for you! And sorry for making you waste your money then! After everything we’ve been through, do you really think I think of you that lowly?!❞ A crack of smile appeared from his face as his comrade did the same.

“It was all you, Frank,” Annabeth says, though she’s still feeling a bit of pride from the fact that she did give him the hints that lead to him figuring it out. “Now you know for next time.” A funny thought she thinks, because she’s not sure how there could be a third time. Then again there was a second, so you never know, she supposes.

   ❝With the help of the one and only Annabeth Chase!❞ And then he would’ve grabbed the others wrist and raise it up the air as if she was the victor as well, but Frank didn’t want to risk a slap across his face for sudden contact. ❝Let us hope there isn’t a next time. Maybe by then I could shape-shift again and turn into an Iguana!❞

Karma ducked down, holding his temple with both hands and dropping his strawberry gelato on the ground, which he hadn’t even gotten to eat mind you. In frustration and pain and angry “FUCK!” escaped his lips. He didn’t care if he was cursing, that hurt.

He began looking around for the culprit and snatched up the frisbee angrily, when he was approached.

   Wincing at the sudden curse, forgetting that this city is filled with odd characters who prefer to use the darker side of words. Running that aside, the slightly larger male continued to apologize profusely. While it wasn’t a rare sight for him to leave a bump on someone’s head, his natural instincts to beg for forgiveness always kicked in.