The Return of Leo Valdez (After Blood of Olympus)

7- Frank

"Romani progrediendum!" Reyna shouted over the crowd of restless Romans.

Frank watched as the campers marched almost in perfect sync. Frank peaked over some Romans and saw a long river in view.

"Where almost to the Mississippi!" Frank yelled.

"BOO!" Someone called out that made Frank jump.

"Hey," someone said from behind Frank. "Getting scared by your girlfriend might cost your praetor ship."

Frank turned around and saw Mitchell Lee. The person who was supposed to become praetor after Jason disappeared. Frank figured out that he was literally obsessed with becoming praetor and literally hated Frank.

"Shut up Mitchell," Frank replied and turned back around.

"So," Hazel said as she kissed Frank on the cheek. "How's my praetor doing?"

"Good," Frank said.

"This is my first time seeing the Mississippi since the 1930's," Hazel said. "This brings back so many...memories."

Frank knew that the memories Hazel was talking about, weren't good memories.

"We will be over the river before you know it okay?" Frank said.

"Ok," Hazel said.

"Praetor Zhang," Reyna called out from the front of the line. "I need you."

"Gotta go Hazel. See you at the next rest stop," Frank said as he hustled up to the front.

"You can't keep disappearing into the crowd like that," Reyna said.

"Sorry," Frank said blushing.

"Romani restiterunt!" Reyna bellowed.

The Romans came to a stop and became silent.

Reyna turned around.

"We need a boat," Reyna said, her back facing the Mississippi Riverbank. "Children of Vulcan, step forward."

The crowd then parted and 5 teenagers in purple t-shirts stepped forward.

"What is the quickest way to make a boat?" Reyna said to the children of Vulcan.

"We could use the old dinghies over there," a camper said as she pointed to 10 old, rusty, large dinghies sitting on the side of the river bank.

"20 to a boat!" Reyna shouted to the campers. "We will load on to the boats in an orderly fashion do you understand?"

"Yes!" Everyone cried out.

"Go!" Reyna yelled.

Frank missed his times with the Greeks. Back at Camp Half-Blood everyone was so unorganized and treated everyone like family. With the Romans, everything felt too serious. When Frank first got to Camp Jupiter, he loved the camp, but when he saw Camp Half-Blood, he liked that a whole lot more.

Frank and 3 other campers loaded the boats into the water and then everyone climbed in them.

Frank didn't think it was very Roman to steal someone's boats, but it's the only way everyone could get across the river.

The river water was smooth, it looked like an easy path to get across, but of course, Frank was wrong.

Frank and Reyna ended up on the same boat. Hazel was on a different boat than them, which was okay with Frank.

Everyone rowed the boats using driftwood, old ores, swords, pretty much anything people could find. The only people who weren't rowing was Reyna and Frank. Which Frank was fine with.

Then Frank saw something. A small figure was coming towards him, causing a wake.

"Hey Reyna," Frank said tapping her shoulder. "What is that up there?"

Reyna's eyes widened. "Romans!" Reyna shouted. "We have a monster headed towards us! Man your positions. We aren't getting past this thing without a fight!"

The Romans stopped paddling and stood up, weapons ready.

"Archers!" Reyna yelled. "Fire!"

The archers shot at the monster, but it just kept on coming.

Frank began to get an uneasy feeling about this monster. "Hey Reyna," Frank whispered. "I think this monster is bigger than we intended."

Reyna nodded. "Romans!" She shouted again. "This monster is-"

Reyna was cut short when the monster arose from the sea, spraying water everywhere.

The Romans were face to face with a 20-foot tall sea serpent, with beady red eyes and shinny, green skin.

"Reyna," Frank said. "What kind of monster is this?"

"It's python, he used to be the oracle of Delphi before Apollo killed him and took his spot as the god of oracles and prophecies."

"So this is a Greek monster?"

"Yes."

"So how do we defeat it?"

"I'm not sure."

The serpent hissed as campers threw arrows and spears at his scales. It didn't seem to do much damage because all it did was bounce off harmlessly.

Frank picked up a nearby bow and arrow.

"Frank what are you doing?" Reyna asked.

"I remember something Percy told me, when he was 14, he encountered a Nemean Lion. He made the lion open up his mouth and then shot arrows into his mouth killing him. That strategy could work for us."

"Praetor Zhang," Reyna said. "I admire your battle strategy."

That made Frank blush.

"But how will we be able to open his mouth up?" Reyna asked.

"When he hisses, he opens up his mouth, we just need to make him hiss."

Reyna smiled. "I have just the idea."

Reyna picked up another bow and arrow.

"Hey rat breath!" Reyna yelled. "You haven't gotten the feel of real Roman fighting! Because your Graecus scum! I'd like to see you try and be Roman! But you'll never be as poised, brave, talented, and crafty as real warriors! Coming to get a taste of us, big mistake! Now! Archers! To the mouth!"

Frank fired arrows rapidly into the monsters mouth, making it choke and sputter. It began to flail around. It finally sunk into the ground, water sprayed everywhere, it was like a tsunami.

The waves towered over the boats, and everything went black.