Return of the Disgraced Archangel

Talks About The Fam

     It was dark inside the house. The house was relatively clean, besides the dirty dishes in the sink. That wasn't right, since Frank's grandma's maid came by every day. Maybe she was scared off by the monsters.

     "Or eaten." Frank thought. He decided not to dwell on that.

     The Buddah statues were still in the living room, smiling at them like killer clowns. They still gave him the creeps, even after all of these years. His grandma's vases were collecting spider webs. That was strange. His grandma had them dusted everyday.

     They went upstairs. They checked every room that wasn't his grandmother's first. Then Frank knocked on her door.

     "Come in." A male voice said.

     Frank opened the door slowly. His grandma laid in her bed, not looking good. She looked about two minutes away from being a corpse. A single candle flickered on her nightstand. At her beside sat a large man in Canadian Forces fatigues. He wore dark sunglasses with red light glowing behind the lenses.

     "Mars." Frank said.

     Mars looked up impassively. "Hey kid, come on in. Tell your friends to leave."

     "Frank?" Hazel whispered. "What do you mean, Mars? Is your grandmother... is she okay?"

     Frank looked at his friends. "Can you not see him?"

     Percy raised his hand. "I can." He turned to look at the god. "Hi Mars."

     "Hi Percy." Mars said quietly, with a hint of humor. Kind of like he was entertaining a small child. He looked at Frank. "She can't see me, kid. Percy wouldn't be able to either, but I can't really affect an archangel, no matter how hard I try."

     "I'm gonna go smoke. Hazel, leave Frank for now. It's Father-Son bonding time." Percy said.

      "You can take the middle bedrooms." Frank told them both.

     Percy walked downstairs reaching into the jacket of his suit. Frank didn't see what it was, as the Devil's head disappeared down the stairs right after.

     Frank stepped into the room. "You're really here? You're not an illusion or something?"

     "You'd prefer it if it wasn't me?"

     "Yeah, pretty much."

     "God, Percy's rubbing off on you." Mars muttered. "Can't blame you. No one welcomes war, not if they're smart. But war finds everyone sooner or later. It's inevitable."

     "That's stupid. War isn't inevitable. It kills people. It-"

     "-took your mom." Mars finished.

      Frank wanted to punch him. He held himself back, telling himself it was just the gods' aura making him feel like getting in a fight. He looked at his grandmother. He wished she would wake up. If anyone could take on a war god, it was her.

     "She's ready to die." Mars said. "Has been for weeks. But she's waiting for you."

     "For me?" Frank asked. He was surprised. "Why? How could she have known I was coming here. I didn't even know!"

     "The Laistrygonians knew. I imagine Gaia told them. She's probably been keeping track of you. I think you worry her more than Percy or Jason or any of the seven."

      "The seven?"

     "You know, 'Seven will answer the call/ To fire the world will fall... And all that?"