Daughter of the Sea (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Chapter 10

ALL RIGHTS TO THE CHARACTERS (except Celeste, she's mine.) BELONG TO THE AMAZING RICK RIORDAN. I DO NOT OWN THE PJO/HoO SERIES!!!

Chapter 10 - Frank

Frank was sitting in his room when Hazel walked in. Her face was sickly pale, causing Frank to jump up.

"Hazel! What happened!?" He yelled.

Hazel stumbled into his arms. Her skin felt warm and feverish against him.

What had happened to her?

"Hazel. Tell me what's wrong." Frank said. Her cinnamon curls fell over her shoulders as she looked up at him. Her eyes were streaked with tears.

"I-I have to keep a-a secret." She stuttered. "But-but I don't think-think I can." Her lip trembled. She cried harder.

Frank gave her a confused look. "A secret? Whose secret? Cause Hazel, you can trust me with any secret of yours." He said.

Hazel gave him a wary smile. "No, it's not my secret to tell. I just, it's so terrible, I feel terrible. How can someone live with that burden on their shoulder?" She said.

Frank sighed. "Hazel, can you at least tell me whose secret it is?" He asked.

She fumbled with her fingers. "I-Frank I-I shouldn't-"

"Hazel." Frank interrupted. "Please."

Her head fell into his shoulder as she weeped even harder. Frank's shirt became soaked with tears, but he didn't care.

Finally, Hazel wiped her eyes and blinked. "Celeste. It was Celeste's secret." She muttered.

Frank wasn't surprised. He had noticed that Celeste was a very secretive type of girl.

"Well, I understand if it's not your secret to tell but-" Frank started.

"Thank you Frank." Hazel interrupted.

She gave him a hug, making Frank feel terrible. Why out of all the people on the ship did Celeste trust Hazel with her secret?

Not that Hazel wasn't a trustworthy person, she was very trustworthy, but it just seemed so random. Celeste barely knew anyone on the ship and she just decided to tell her deepest darkest secret to someone she didn't know?

Frank snapped out of his thinking as Hazel nestled closer to him. "Sorry. I just needed someone to talk to. I'll leave you alone now." She said. She began to walk out, but Frank pulled her back.

"Hazel, no. You're not bothering me. Stay if you want." He said.

Hazel smiled. "Thanks Frank."

Just then, Celeste walked in. She froze when she saw Hazel and Frank.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I thought this was my room." Celeste said, staring at Hazel.

Celeste started to leave, but Hazel grabbed her by the arm and whispered something that Frank couldn't make out.

Celeste tensed when Hazel spoke, but she nodded and left the room in silence.

Hazel turned back to meet Frank's gaze.

"What was that about?" Frank asked. Hazel smiled.

"Celeste is probably just worried that I was telling you what she told me. That's all." She said.

Frank nodded and a lamp on the table fell. They both jumped.

"Sorry!" A familiar voice yelled. But there was no one else in the room.

Suddenly, the air shimmered, and Annabeth was standing there, staring at the broken lamp.

"I wasn't eavesdropping, I swear." She said quickly.

Hazel and Frank's eyes were wide.

"Where did you come from?" Hazel said.

Annabeth smiled weakly, holding up a Yankees baseball cap.

"Invisibility cap. Gift from my mom." She said.

Frank gave Hazel a look of surprise. "Of course. That makes sense...I think." Frank said.

Annabeth twisted her hair nervously. "I didn't mean to come in here. I was actually going to take a nap but I saw Celeste come in here and I just, yeah." She said, sighing. "I'll just go."

Annabeth left in a hurry, making no more comments. Hazel looked over at Frank. Her smile of amusement made him feel happy. It was good to be able to smile in the time of war.

"I should be going too." Hazel said, kissing Frank lightly on the cheek. The kiss made him feel warmer and much better. Hazel always cheered him up.

"Hazel, don't worry about the secret okay? Don't let it stress you." Frank said before she could leave. She stopped in the doorway and turned to him.

"Yeah. Thanks." She said.

Once she had gone, Frank pulled out the pouch with his firewood in it. The pouch felt warm, which scared him, but it was just the cool touch of his fingers.

Even though Leo had made him the fire-proof pouch, Frank still felt nervous about it. He especially felt bad, thinking he had hurt Hazel's feelings when he said she shouldn't hold it anymore. Her holding his firewood showed that they could trust each other, and now that was gone.

Now, Hazel's been trusted yet again, but this time, by someone she barely knows. Frank's mind felt like a roller coaster which gave him a throbbing headache. He sometimes wished the fighting voices of Mars and Ares would pop back into his head so he could at least distract himself from the problems of reality.

Frank stuffed the pouch back in his pocket and sighed. Suddenly, his mind jumped to a memory. The blessing Frank had gotten from his dad, making him much more bulkier and taller than usual. It made Frank uncomfortable.

Even Hazel had to stand on her tiptoes to kiss him. It was embarrassing.

But his friends didn't pester him about it. That's what made them his friends.

Another memory struck his mind again. Jason making him praetor.

Frank remembered how shocked he was when Reyna said he could keep the position. Frank had never thought of himself as a praetor before. He wondered what the other campers at Camp Jupiter would think.

Blinking, Frank made the memories dissolve out of his brain. He wasn't in the mood for thinking.

He settled down in his bed. Annabeth had mentioned the word "nap" and it made Frank tired.

His eyelids were almost fully closed when he heard Leo's voice cry out.

"We're being attacked!!!"