The Blood of Olympus

Chapter 18: Frank

Drumroll please...you'll read it, you'll love it (hopefully XD), you've known it's been coming this whole time: Chapter 18!

*Applause*

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Chapter 18: Frank

Naturally the first thing Frank heard was Annabeth's scream. 

"P - Percy!" she screamed, "a sp - sp - sp - "

"Calm down Annabeth," Frank heard Percy say soothingly, "you beat Arachne, this is just a normal spider, not a talking, evil - "

"Normal spiders aren't the size of a minivan!" she shrieked, clinging to Percy. Frank exchanged uneasy looks with Leo. Neither of them had ever seen Annabeth lose control like this before. In front of them, the spider cocked it's ugly head, clicking it's pincers curiously as if it were saying Woah, am I really that scary? And next to them the Greek ghost watched Annabeth in amusement.

"What the heck is going on?" Frank asked angrily, "We came to meet Periclymus, not Arachne's first cousin."

"All in good time," he replied smoothly, jiggling his helmet, "but first, you must be tested."

Leo's eye twitched, "Test? Is there a second option? 'Cause I'm kinda allergic -"

"What kind of test?" Frank interrupted Leo. Percy was talking in a low voice to Annabeth now, rubbing soothing circles on her back, but they didn't have time for this.

"To prove you are who you are."

"Oh!" Frank suddenly remembered the scroll in his pocket, "we have - " But at that moment the spider seemed to get tired of waiting and scuttled forward, causing the group of five to scatter.

"One test for each person!" The spirit yelled as he started to disappear, "you will know when it is your turn! And you must not have help from anyone else!" A flash of light and he was gone. Frank's heart sank. Great, just great. Now they were alone again - except  of course for the giant spider. Couldn't forget that.

The spider in question clicked it's pincers, gazing at them all with malevolent black eyes, and Annabeth squared her shoulders.

"This is me." she announced, and Frank couldn't help being impressed that her voice was steady, considering the panic attack she had been having just thirty seconds ago.

Drawing her white sword she faced the spider, and Frank saw Percy tense, his face almost as pale as hers. The spider came forward, hissing and clicking like there was no tomorrow, and Annabeth backed up quickly. Frank winced. Despite keeping an expressionless face, she was clearly scared half to death.

But he soon saw he underestimated her. Annabeth bent her knees slightly, and when the spider attacked she jumped up. Scrambling up its head, she plunged her sword into its hairy back and the spider hissed and clicked furiously, waving its front legs around. Frank guessed that if it could talk, it would be screaming in agony.

"Come on Annabeth," he heard Percy mutter, "You can do this..."

Annabeth jumped off the spider's back, slashing at its head on the way down, and stood defiantly in front of it. This time when it attacked she hit the floor like a baseball player and came up kneeling underneath it, jabbing her sword up into its belly. An intelligent and strategic manuever; Frank couldn't have done it better himself. Except for one problem. As the spider's mouth foamed and it rolled over, jerking and writhing as Annabeth clung to her sword it bucked aroud and finally caused her to fall off, leaving her sword stuck in its stomach, but Annabeth on the ground.