Green Eyes (Octavian-Rachel)

Bonus Chapter:

Hey guys I just want to post this. I mean, I know this is an Octavian-Rachel story, but I just really want you guys to read this. I might have cried while writing this. It exists because I've been writing a short book that continues the Blood of Olympus series... basically because Uncle Rick left us hanging dangerously over the cliffs of Tartarus.

Thanks for the votes and reads and comments! Chiron approves. (Thumbs up)

:) x

Hannibal was having diarrhea again.

Frank groaned as he looked at the buckets of peanuts in his hand. It wasn't his duty anymore but Frank still took it as a reminder of where he came from.

And now the elephant has loose bowel movement. It is a reminder.

"C'mon, Hannibal." Frank soothed the crying- can elephants cry? - elephant.

"I'm sorry. I must have been spacing out."

"Praetor!"

Frank jumped. "Jeez, Reyna. You scared me." He got up and faced his fellow praetor. "You look angry."

"Venus showed up in my office."

"Oh." Frank felt awkward. What does he say? Venus probably gave out love advices to Reyna. What does Frank know about her love life anyway? Well, aside from rumors about her and Nico but...

"Is Hannibal...?"

"Yeah." he felt really stupid.

Reyna took the bucket from him. "I'll handle this. I need to get my mind off Venus and actually do stuff."

He shooed himself away and crossed the Pomerian Line to New Rome. If Hazel was there, she and Frank would go to the Bakery and get frosted cupcakes, or just sit by the fountain and watch the world pass.

Sadly, Frank thought, Hazel was in Camp Half-Blood, redecorating the Hades Cabin. Nevertheless, Frank sat down on a bench by the fountain, staring into nothing. He didn't know when he drifted off into sleep, but a tap woke him up.

Frank saw Leo. He blinked once, twice, trying to get his bearings. What?

"Mister!" Leo squealed, and Frank realized it wasn't really the pyroclastic son of Hephaestus but a little kid who looked so much like him. The kid's brown curly hair was a mess, and his big brown eyes were staring at Frank with so much humor. Leo.

Although Frank had had enough of his stupid jokes, the son of Mars missed Leo. Frank's conscience has been eating him alive the past days. If he hadn't agreed to Leo's stupid plan, Leo might still be alive.

Guilt was eating him alive and it was worse than the feeling he had when he had motion sickness on the Argo II.

"Mister!" little Leo squealed again, now holding a strawberry lollipop, still packaged. He handed it to Frank. "For you mister! For protecting New Rome from bad guys!"

A warm feeling settled in his gut as he took the lollipop and returned the smile half-heartedly. Their quest succeeded, but there was no guarantee that Gaea would stay down even for just Frank's lifetime.

And truthfully, Frank was a little too tired to fight the baddies by now. Can't a guy just spend the rest of his life with the girl he loves in peace? Jeez.

Little Leo somehow managed to jump onto the space beside Frank even if it was high and was already sucking on a lollipop. Little Leo's hands were occupied with making a paper airplane, and he was babbling about how scared he was when he heard about the monsters. Frank wondered if it was okay for the kid to have more sugar from the lolli. The kid looked like he was going to instantainously jump around until he dies.

"But daddy said, 'Don't worry! We will be saved!'" Little Leo was saying. "I believed Daddy, but I haven't seen him yet. Maybe the Greeks were really happy with him and stopped him from going home. And Daddy's friends wouldn't say anything! I know Daddy's fine, though."

"The Greeks must really like him." Frank forced a smile. He wondered what really happened. Were there casualties they weren't informed of?

The Bakery window had a display of a cake with an airplane, and an idea popped into his mind. "Do you want to fly when you grow up?"

"Yep! I want to ride that big dragon that came here some time ago! It was so cool! Do you think I can get one?" Little Leo started bouncing in his seat. The memory of Festus made Frank want to crawl into his bunk, lay down, and cry. Frank motioned for him to follow and he ordered the airplane cake.

As Little Leo started to dig in, Frank said, "Listen, buddy, the owner of that dragon is a hero. He was my friend and he was really great. You want to have a dragon like him? You have to build one."

"I will! I will!" Little Leo bobbed his head up and down. "And I will be a hero too! I'll make my Mommy proud! And you too, Mister! I'll fight the baddies too! Can I meet your friend with the dragon?" Frank could only manage a small, forced smile.