Blossoming Love (a Frazel Fanfic)

Time in Mytilene

Frank's first day as a soldier was spent mostly on his back. Gleeson was giving them a crash course in fighting. "I've been given three weeks to get you all ready for combat," he said.

Frank swallowed. He was pretty sure the Argives had more time to prepare. He had been given a short sword and he felt awkward wielding it. He was partnered with Octavian and the skinny blonde kept overpowering him. Apparently, stabbing kids' toys was the true path to becoming a warrior.

"Get up Zhang!" Gleeson said after Frank fell on his backside for the umpteenth time that day. "You'll never get better if you don't try."

"I am trying," Frank said.

Gleeson raised an eyebrow and made no comment. By the end of training that day, Frank was sore and dripping with sweat. He and a few others decided to take a bath in a river located near their camp. "Ahh, water," Will said as he slipped into the river.

Nico put a toe into the river. "It's cold!"

"The cold will be good for your sore muscles," Will said.

Nico snorted. "I'm not sure about that."

Will pouted. "Come on in, medic's orders."

"You heard him," Frank told Nico.

Nico crossed his arms over his chest. "Only if you go in first."

"Fine," Frank said.

He took off his dirt-smudged clothes and dipped one foot in. It was freezing cold. "Aren't you going to go all the way in?" Nico asked.

"You are evil," Frank said as he went deeper into the river.

He could feel the current rushing against his legs as he got farther from riverbank. When he was finally chest-deep, he took a deep breath and then submerged completely. It was cold, but when he resurfaced, the water felt nearly freezing cold rather than freezing cold. "Come on in," Frank invited Nico.

Nico dithered a bit until Will splashed him. Then, he ran straight into the river until he was fully submerged. "This better work," Nico grumbled.

Will patted him on the head. "So, training was rough today?"

"Yes," Nico said.

"It was pretty rough," Frank agreed. "Gleeson had us sword fighting, doing running drills, and hand-to-hand combat. He kept calling us 'honey cakes' and told us to toughen it up."

"At least I kept besting this idiot named Bryce," Nico said. "He kept going on and on about how fun it was to kill cats that I finally lost it and hit him on the head with a fallen chicken bone. How was your day, Will?"

"Oh, it was great," Will said. "I met with the head medic — they studied medicine at the Temple of Asclepius — and they told me about the most common injuries. We gathered some herbs and I was able to practice on you guys. Do you know how many people came in with cuts and bruises today? I thought my hands were going to fall off from crushing herbs and making poultices!"

    "Well, it's a good thing your hands are still attached," Nico said. "Otherwise it might be hard for you to do your medic duties."

Will smiled and Frank rolled his eyes. He wasn't an expert on love (even with Grover's advice), but he was pretty sure something was going on between the two youths.

***

"We're here," Nico said.

Frank looked at Mytilene is amazement. This was the first time he's ever been here and he imagined it was usually very different. There weren't many people out as the soldiers entered the city and a lot of windows were boarded up and doors were closed. It was quiet and Frank noticed people peeping out behind curtains to look at them.

Gleeson Hedge took the troops through the city. He ordered them to march and hold their weapons high. Finally, he took them to a temple of Ares and made a sacrifice to the god of war. "Give us victory," he said as poured a libation of wine and honey. "And I shall sacrifice a fleecy ram to you."

When he finished, Gleeson led the army out of the city and to the camp where they met one of the other generals: a man named Chiron. Chiron had brown hair and a marching beard. He had smile lines around his brown eyes and was in charge of a contingent of calvary. The calvary was composed of wealthier individuals, as they had to supply their own horses, and Frank saw Percy among them.

The two groups commingled and Frank headed over to Percy. "How are you?" Frank asked, feeling a little awkward.

"Good enough, I suppose," Percy said, "though I wish we weren't being attacked. My father was finally going to take me on a sea voyage, but now it's not safe. The Argive navy isn't as large as the Athenian one, but they've blocked our ports. They're trying to starve us."

Frank's hands curled in fists. "Do you know what the plan is?"

Percy shook his head. "We've been mostly drilling. Chiron said we're playing defensive, but I fear we won't make headway unless we go offensive. If I was more than a simple calvary soldier, then I'd suggest we do night raids."

"Like Odysseus and Diomedes in The Iliad?" Nico quipped as he joined them.

Percy nodded. "We're outnumbered, but small forces work well for quick raids."

"It's not all about numbers," Frank said. "If you have the right strategy, you can almost guarantee a win."

Percy's gaze flicked towards him. "Have you fought before?"

Frank shook his head. "No, but my father was a great soldier."

He stopped his gaze. "But I'll never live up to him."

Percy clapped him on the back. "Nonsense. You'll do great. You seem to have a good head for strategy. How is sword fighting going?"

Frank laughed. "I can hold a sword correctly now."

"Well, we'll need that for the upcoming battles, eh?" Percy said. "I just hope, I just hope whoever the Argive commander is knows what he's dealing with."

"And what is that?" Nico asked.

Percy smiled. "The greatest army in all the world."

Frank facepalmed. "I think the Spartans could defeat us easily."

"I was trying to be optimistic!" Percy protested.

"Well stop trying," Nico quipped. "We prefer being pessimists."

Despite his words, the three of them were glad to be together.