The House of Hades (Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Frank

There were so many dreams. A cavern wall collapsing, Annabeth screaming, Percy missing…

Frank almost felt like he was in Tartarus himself. He awoke to a small thudding, like a hammer. Some kind of tool was in work.

He stood and walked out of his room. He found Leo in the hall, the ceiling already fixed, now was fixing the wall. The hallway was spotless. It was like the explosion last night had not happened.

“Hey, Leo, have you gotten some sleep?” Frank asked. He could feel his disrespect for Leo melt away as the concern kicked in.

“I woke up a few hours ago,” Leo muttered. “Coach went to bed early, so I decided I would fix this…”

“You need sleep.”

“I need to fix my ship. Listen, I finished the spheres.”

Frank nearly lost his balance. “Leo, this is great! Which one is done?”

“All of them.” Leo held up a small bag that looked full. “I already installed the upgrade for the ship. We’re going to go faster than ever and our security is improved. I just need to send Buford to Camp Half-Blood.”

“This is great,” Frank repeated. “What do the spheres you’re sending to camp do?”

“Ah.” Leo smiled. “That is my secret, Frank Zhang. It’s quite risky. Jason and Hedge will veto my idea instantly. So you must stay silent. For me, man, please.”

“Okay.” Frank nodded. “But you’re still not going to tell me.”

“No way,” Leo agreed. “This is way too important. If I tell someone, I’ll probably change my mind about this. I need the courage before I tell you guys.”

Someone yawned. Jason. “What are you guys talking about?” he asked, sounding tired and groggy.

“Nothing, Superman,” Leo said. “We’re discussing how the spheres for the ship are done.”

Jason’s face lit up. “Nice. And you fixed the ceiling? What would I do without you, Leo?”

“Nobody else can drive this ship,” Leo said, cracking a grin. “So we would be stuck here, unable to get to Greece and save the day.”

“When are we going to start heading to Greece?” Jason asked, crouching down next to Leo.

“After all these repairs are done. Ice princess jacked up our engine.” Leo jerked his chin to the engine room. “I’m almost done with the repairs. I just need to make sure the engine runs smoothly and, um, won’t explode if we start flying or anything.”

“That wouldn’t be good.” Frank frowned. “Do we even know where the House of Hades is?”

“No,” Leo said with a small shake of his head. “We know it’s in Epirus. Festus can easily find where that is. Maybe Nico will know.”

“Yes, maybe Nico does know.”

Frank looked up. Still looking half-alive, Nico hobbled down the hall and glanced down.

“You know where the House of Hades is?” Leo asked, sounding surprised. “But you said it was an underground temple.”

“I don’t know the exact location,” Nico said. “I’ll probably be able to sense it, you know, being the son of Hades. The entrance may be in a secret location.”

“Have we told everybody about Percy and Annabeth?” Leo asked. He lowered his voice.

“I told Thalia,” Jason said. “Chiron sent me a dream message last night, saying that he told Sally. Annabeth’s dad knows. Tyson and Grover know. That’s a lot of people.”