²Olden Crown, heroes of olympus

004.

OLDEN CROWN
━━ chapter four

━━ AS THEY MARCHED forward, heading closer to the War Game, the more Frank thought. Typically, as they marched on, he kept repeating mantras over in his mind—Don't get shot with acid during Deathball, don't let anyone hit Abilene during Deathball; Don't fall off the chariot during Gladiator Fighting, don't get poked during Gladiator Fighting. Stuff like that. For the most part, those mantras worked—most of the time. But now he kept replaying the day over in his head—even the lousy part of counting inventory, where he couldn't stop thinking about Abilene. Most of all, what kept playing in his head most was nearly dying to a couple of gorgons.

               That morning on sentry duty, before Percy showed up, Frank had almost told Abilene and Hazel his secret. The three of them had been standing for hours in the chilly fog, watching the commuter traffic on Highway 24. Hazel had been complaining about the cold.

               "I'd give anything to be warm," Hazel admitted, her knees practically knocking together. "I wish we had a fire."

               Abilene's teeth chattered inside her head. "I'd give this over cleaning up after Hannibal."

               Frank grinned slightly. Abilene skipped out on cleaning duty for Hannibal's enclosure, promising Reyna she would protect Camp Jupiter "wonderfully" if it meant she didn't have to clean. Reyna sighed, and waved Abilene off, letting the daughter of Ceres freeze instead of clean.

               Even with her armor on, she looked great. Frank liked the way the top of her right cheek would dimple slightly when she smiled too hard, or the way she'd curl her lips down when she focused on something. She wasn't short, but compared to Frank ( who felt like an ox when beside her ), she was so cute. He'd never tell her that—Abilene would probably frown at him and shove him away.

               "I guess some heat would be nice," admitted Abilene, squaring her shoulders from the cold. "Some fire, maybe ..."

               Frank's placid smile dropped. I could make an impressive fire, he thought bitterly. Only, it would burn for a few minutes, then ...

               It was scary that Frank even considered it; Abilene had that effect on him. Whenever she wanted something, he had the irrational urge to provide it. He wanted to be the old-fashioned knight riding to her rescue, which was stupid, as she was way more capable at everything than he was. Abilene could grow anything—any flowers Frank could even think of giving Abilene, she could easily get them for herself. Did she want shade from a tree? Could probably grow it herself. Anything Frank could get from a store? Abilene could go a mile further and really self-sustain—vegetables, spices, grain, anything you could think of. Abilene didn't need Frank, but he still wanted to help her.

               Frank could hear his grandmother, now: Frank Zhang, you want to help? Bah! You'd kill the girl before you helped her. You'd buy the wrong thing—something she was allergic to! Dead, she would be dead!

               ( Of course, Frank didn't know if Abilene was allergic to anything, but it'd be just his luck he would give her the very thing she was allergic to. That's even saying he'd find anything worthy of giving her ... )

               It was hard to believe it had been only six weeks since Frank had left his grandmother's house— six weeks since his mom's funeral. It seemed everything that could happen, had happened in those weeks: wolves arriving at his grandmother's door, the journey to Camp Jupiter, the weeks he'd spent in the Fifth Cohort trying not to be a complete failure. Through it all, he'd kept the half-burned piece of firewood wrapped in a cloth in his coat pocket. Keep it close, his grandmother had warned. As long as it is safe, you are safe.