The Blood of Olympus

Chapter 17: Frank

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for supporting me and putting up with me over seventeen chapters! And there's a lot more to come!  Oooh, and by the way, did any of you know that Ricky said on twitter (I  don't have a twitter, I just read this online) that Nico and Reyna are going to have PoVs in BoO?

_____________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 17: Frank

Frank was expecting something more than a couple of carnivorous birds.

He wasn't completely sure what he had been expecting, maybe something along the lines of a giant sign that said "WELCOME HOME!" Or a couple of balloons, maybe even a cake to welcome him back to his ancestral home.

But naturally, their only greeting was a couple of not-so-innocent seabirds who, the moment the Argo II docked at the port in Pylos, swooped down from the sky and started attacking them, shrieking and clawing at every inch of skin they could find. It took a couple fireballs, an impromptu wave, a bolt of lighting, and three arrows to finish them off.

Not Frank's ideal welcome home party.

"So," Percy said conversationally as they prepared to leave the ship, "where is the Megatron again?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes,"The Megaron, Percy. Basically, the entire city of Pylos is built around and up this huge hill, and at the top - she pointed east, and Frank got a glimpse of a ruined palace, "is the Megaron."

"Must have been hard on the royal people if they had to climb a big hill every time they went outside for some fresh air,." Leo commented.

"Actually," Annabeth lectured, "the royalty who lived in the palace had slaves to carry them up."

"They were pretty lazy then." Frank observed, wondering if Periclymus would turn out to be really fat because he was carried everywhere. 

Hazel rolled her eyes from next to Frank.

"Good luck, Frank," she said affectionately, giving him a kiss, "don't worry about this...mini quest, whatever you want to call it. I mean, he's your ancestor, it's not like he's going to try and kill you, right?"

Frank shrugged, "There's no telling what thousand-year-old spirits will do. I mean, remember Adonis? He helped us, but he wasn't exactly friendly at the beginning."

Hazel laughed, "Just try not to die, ok?"

Frank agreed, but in the back of his mind, he was starting to think that was something that was getting increasingly hard to do.

If Frank was being honest, the  city of Pylos felt a little like a hot mess, though not exactly in a bad way. Everything seemed kind of cluttered, there were big wide open spaces in some places, and in others, buildings, shops, and homes were crammed into the tiniest spaces. Random ancient Greek, and even some Roman architecture would show up on some houses, while others looked like they had been plucked out of Frank's old neighborhood in Canada. And it all spiraled upwards.

After what felt like hours, Annabeth, Frank, Leo, and Percy managed to navigate through the twisted streets, and stand in front of the Megaron.

It was a huge palace, and probably would have been beautiful if it hadn't been crumbling to pieces for the past few centuries. Everything about it was big, like a hyberborean giant used to live there as opposed to Frank's ancestors. Maybe Periclymus only lived there when he was in dragon form.

"Woah," Leo said, his eyes wide as dinner plates, "that is one big castle. Frank, your relatives were seriously rich."

"It's awesome," Percy agreed, "but how are we going to find just one shrine, and it's a secret shrine, in a palace that looks bigger than Mount Olympus?"