The Mark of Athena (Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 7- Frank

Chapter 7

Frank

     Camp Half-Blood was really like a camp. Frank liked how small it was. The campers missed Percy by their screams. It made Frank want to shove cotton in his ears.

     The meeting was in the rec room on the Ping-Pong table. Frank met many people- Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter. Connor and Travis Stoll introduced themselves as the sons of Hermes. There was a big girl named Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares, so that meant she was somehow related to Frank. That wasn’t exactly reassuring.

     Chiron was a centaur, and at Camp Jupiter Frank was taught that centaurs were evil. But everyone seemed at ease. A faun (satyr) was handing out nachos. The meeting so far was more like a friendly gathering.

     Frank was next to Hazel. They talked for a few seconds until Chiron stomped his hooves on the ground.

     “Campers,” Chiron began. “So the seven are assembled, and they are going to Rome today or tomorrow. But Ella, the harpy, issued a prophecy.” He gestured to Percy. “Percy, will you continue?”

     Percy cleared his throat before reciting:

     “The seven in Rome will fight for days,

     They shall decide to leave and go their own ways.

     Wisdom’s daughter walks alone,

     The Mark of Athena burns through Rome.

     The dove will vanish in the evening’s fire,

     The rest shall come back to work until tire.”

     The Greeks sat in stone silence. Travis Stoll muttered, “That’s not good.”

     “Of course it isn’t,” Katie Gardner said. “The Mark of Athena burning through Rome? And the seven will go their separate ways?”

     Everyone’s eyes were on either Annabeth or Piper.

     “The dove has to be Piper,” Connor Stoll mumbled. “And wisdom’s daughter has to be Annabeth.”

     Piper’s face was calm. “I’ve already discussed this. I know I’m going to go missing. But that doesn’t mean I won’t stay missing.”

     “True,” Leo pointed out. “But the thing about fire…” He held out his palm so fire danced upon it. Some campers barely glanced down at his hand. Others leaped back. “Oh, yeah, I’m a fire user. Could that mean I’m going to burn down Rome?”

     Hazel shook her head. “No. The prophecy said nothing about burning down Rome. It just said it will burn through Rome.”

     Chiron was silent until now. “We must not dwell on the prophecy. I know Percy must go with Annabeth to see his mother. How about a game of capture-the-flag to show our Roman friends how we play?”

     The campers cheered. Hazel caught Frank’s eye. Percy said he liked capture-the-flag back at Camp Jupiter. Thank the gods Percy wasn’t playing. Frank saw what Percy could do.

     Percy waved everyone goodbye, and he left with Annabeth.

     Chiron was smiling at his excited campers. “Okay, how about Ares, Hermes, Hecate, Athena, Iris, and the Romans against everybody else?”

     The campers nodded in agreement before running out the door. Frank and Hazel went to get their armor and weapons from the Argo II. They followed Leo to the pile of rocks called Zeus’s Fist. Frank thought it looked like a pile of deer droppings, not a fist.