CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
FINLEY                        BRIGGS

It shouldn't be surprising that, after her reminiscent nightmare, Finn couldn't get back to sleep last night.

When the sun began peeking into the sky, Finn officially gave up and started getting ready. It was sort of boring waiting for everyone else to wake up, but she was also a teenager with ADHD, so it was pretty easy to keep herself occupied. Eating, drinking, more drinking, meeting Frank's grandmother, drinking again.

Then Percy and Hazel woke up around the same time, deciding to let Frank rest for a little longer. Being here clearly put him through a lot, and his grandmother seemed to be going through even more, so it was the least they could do for him. Hazel even made breakfast for Frank's grandmother (although Finn had a feeling that had a lot more to do with "pleasing the fam" than anything).

Afterwards, Finn, Percy, and Hazel were sent to the attack.

It was an interesting demand, but they finally saw the reasoning when they climbed above the top floor of the Frank mansion.

The attic was full of weapons. The Zhang family had collected enough ancient armaments to supply an armory. Shields, spears, and quivers of arrows hung along one wall—almost as many as in the Camp Jupiter armory. At the back window, a scorpion crossbow was mounted and loaded, ready for action. At the front window stood something that looked like a machine gun with a cluster of barrels.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a gun. Or a rocket launcher. It was actually just a potato launcher, so Finn didn't touch it.

"I don't think there's much for us in here," said Hazel. "We already have our own weapons."

Finn nodded. "We should go up to the roof. That way we can watch the Lais... the Lacietrojans...? No. Uh, the ogre things."

"Nope, nope," said a voice from the corner. "Ella doesn't like ogres. Potatoes."

The harpy had made a nest for herself between two old steamer trunks. She was sitting in a pile of Chinese scrolls, reading seven or eight at once.

"Ella," Percy said, "you can stay in here while we go scout on the roof. When Frank comes up here, could you tell him where we are? His grandmother said she would send him up here, too."

Ella ruffled her wings gratefully. "Yep, yep," she said. "Ella doesn't like ogres. Ella likes her word nest. Ella will tell Frank where his friends are. They are Ella's friends, too."

"Sure we are, Ella," Finn agreed. She rubbed a tired hand along her face, then signaled for her friends (Percy and Hazel, at least) to follow her up onto the roof.

Down in the yard, the ogres were milling around, shoving each other, occasionally yelling at the house, and throwing bronze cannonballs that exploded in midair. It made the house shake, and Finn had to grip the edge of the roof so she didn't fall over and/or get egregiously nauseous.

Percy started using his own abilities every time the giants sent up a cannonball. He would summon a high-powered blast of water and detonate the sphere in midair. Hazel patrolled the window's walk between the two attic gables. Finn kept shooting off the ogres with her gun from afar (So now it wouldn't run out of bullets?), but there were far too many for just her bullets alone to put a dent in their numbers.

Eventually, Frank came up onto the roof in the clothes Hazel had set out for him—an olive-green shirt with beige cargo pants. Hazel herself wore jeans, a cream-colored jacket, and a white shirt that made her skin look warmer. Percy only had one outfit, so he'd just washed the clothes he wore the day before (jeans, his purple T-shirt, and Polartec jacket). Like usual, Finn had on denim shorts, but these were baggy and the material was breezier than thick denim. She paired it with a loose, white T-shirt, and then a button-up picnic-table-print over that.

"Morning," Percy said grimly. "Beautiful day, huh?"

"Why the sarcasm, skipper? Don't you feel the breeze in your hair?" Finn grinned. "It's perfect weather for being ambushed by an army of ogres."

Percy sent her an unamused look. "Try saying their actual name again, why don't you?"

Finn stared at him too. Except, her look made a deep unsettlement stir in Percy's bones. He shuddered and averted his gaze from Finn. She smiled again, this time victorious, and went back to shooting at the ogres.

See? Sometimes deeply traumatizing backstories could make a person really fun.

"Are you okay?" she heard Hazel ask. Finn glanced to see Hazel was gripping her sword and looking at Frank with concern. "Why are you smiling?"

"Oh, uh, nothing," he managed. "Thanks for breakfast. And the clothes. And... not hating me."

Finn rolled her eyes. It didn't take a child of Venus to know they were hopeless.

"Why would I hate you?" Hazel asked, baffled.

Frank's face burned more red. Finn didn't even know that was possible.

"It's just... last night," he stammered. "When I summoned the skeleton. I thought... I thought that you thought... I was repulsive... or something."

Hazel raised her eyebrows, and Finn found that she was doing the same. "Frank, maybe I was surprised. Maybe I was scared of that thing. But repulsed?" She shook her head in dismay. "The way you commanded it, so confident and everything. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't repulsed, Frank. I was impressed."

Frank blinked, even more astounded than Hazel had been. "You were... impressed... by me?"

"I'm pretty sure we all were," Finn snorted. "You just saved our collective asses like, Oh, by the way, guys, I have this all-powerful spartus we can use!"

Percy laughed. "Yeah, dude. It was pretty amazing."

"Honest?" Frank asked.

"Honest," Hazel promised. "But right now, we have other problems to worry about. Okay?"

She gestured at the army of ogres, who were getting increasingly bold, shuffling closer and closer to the house.

Percy readied the garden hose. "I've got one more trick up my sleeve. Your lawn has a sprinkler system. I can blow it up and cause some confusion down there, but that'll destroy your water pressure. No pressure, no hose, and those cannonballs are going to plow right into the house."

"It'll be epic, though," Finn added, hoping Frank wouldn't get as upset that way.

Frank went silent for a few moments, mulling it over. At least, that's what Finn assumed he was doing. She was a little drunk and a lot sleep-deprived. Maybe he was still speaking, and it was all getting blurred out for her.

"Guys, I've got an escape plan," Frank said, snapping Finn's mind back into focus. He told his friends about a plane waiting at the airfield they could fly away on, and the note his grandmother had for the pilot. "He's a legion veteran. He'll help us."

"But Arion's not back," Hazel said. "And what about your grandmother? We can't just leave her."

Frank choked back a sob. "Maybe—Maybe Arion will find us. As for my grandmother... she was pretty clear. She said she'd be okay."

It didn't exactly sound like the truth, but they weren't about to force Frank to talk about it more than he could.

"There's another problem," Percy said. "I'm not good with air travel. It's dangerous for a son of Neptune."

"You'll have to risk it... and so will I," Frank said. "By the way, we're related."

Percy would've stumbled off the roof if Finn hadn't stopped him. "What?"

To make a long story short, Frank said, "Periclymenus. Ancestor on my mom's side. Argonaut. Grandson of Poseidon."

Finn's mouth fell open. "You're a—a descendant of Poseidon? Frank, that's—"

"Crazy? Yeah. And there's this ability my family has, supposedly. But I don't know how to use it. If I can't figure it out—"

Another massive cheer went up from the ogres. Now that Frank was here, they were staring up at him, pointing and waving and laughing. They had spotted their breakfast.

"Zhang!" they yelled. "Zhang!"

Hazel stepped closer to him. "They keep doing that. Why are they yelling your name?"

"Never mind," Frank said. "Listen, we've got to protect Ella, take her with us."

"Of course," Hazel said. "The poor thing needs our help."

"No," Frank said. "I mean yes, but it's not just that. She recited a prophecy downstairs. I think... I think it was about this quest."

Frank didn't seem to want to relay the contents of it, but he did so anyway:

"All she said was, To the north, beyond the gods, lies the legion's crown. Falling from ice, the son of Neptune shall drown."

"Well," Finn mumbled. "I see now why you didn't want to share."

Percy's jaw tightened. "I don't know how a son of Neptune can drown. I can breathe underwater. But the crown of the legion—"

"That's got to be the eagle," Hazel said.

Percy nodded. "And Ella recited something like this once before, in Portland—a line from the old Great Prophecy."

"The what?" Frank asked.

"Tell you later."

Finn groaned, throwing her head back. "It's always 'tell you later' between us. Why do we never tell each other things now?"

No one answered. Percy turned his garden hose and shot another cannonball out of the sky.

It exploded in an orange fireball. The ogres clapped with appreciation and yelled, "Pretty! Pretty!"

"The thing is," Frank said, "Ella remembers everything she reads. She said something about the page being burned, like she'd read a damaged text of prophecies."

Finn's eyes widened miserably. "Burned books of prophecy? You don't—No. There's no way! I refuse to let him be right!"

"The books Octavian wanted, back at camp?" Percy guessed.

Hazel whistled under her breath. "The lost Sibylline books that outlined the entire destiny of Rome. If Ella actually read a copy somehow, and memorized it—"

"Then she's the most valuable harpy in the world," Frank said. "No wonder Phineas wanted to capture her."

"Frank Zhang!" an ogre shouted from below. He was bigger than the rest, wearing a lion's cape like a Roman standard bearer and a plastic bib with a lobster on it. "Come down, son of Mars! We've been waiting for you. Come, be our honored guest!"

Hazel gripped Frank's arm. "Why do I get the feeling that 'honored quest' means the same thing as 'dinner'?"

Frank sighed. He turned and looked at Percy. "Can you drive?'

"I can drive," Finn said.

"I'm not letting you drive," he told her. "Percy, you?"

"Sure. Why?"

"Grandmother's car is in the garage. It's an old Cadillac. The thing is like a tank. If you can get it started—"

"We'll still have to break through a line of ogres," Hazel said.

"The sprinklers system," Percy said. "Use it as a distraction?"

"Exactly," Frank said. "I'll buy you as much time as I can. Get Ella, and get in the car. I'll try to meet you in the garage, but don't wait for me."

Percy frowned. "Frank—"

"Sounds good to me!" Finn nodded. She pat Frank on the shoulder as a form of thanking him.

"Give us your answer, Frank Zhang!" the ogre yelled up. "Come down, and we will spare the others—your friends, your poor old granny. We only want you!"

"They're lying," Percy muttered.

"You think?" Finn asked him, sarcastically.

"Just go!" ordered Frank.

He didn't have to tell Finn twice. She'd been itching to run ever since he said old Cadillac. She was the first one down the stairs, despite how clumsy her sprinting was. She tripped down about five total, but that didn't really matter. Finn, Percy, Hazel, and Ella (who they snatched from the attic) stopped at Frank's grandmother's room to quickly say goodbye to her, but they all faltered when they truly saw her condition.

If Finn knew one thing, it was that Frank really was lying. She wasn't okay, and she wouldn't survive their defense against the ogres. They were never going to see this woman again, and not just because the house was about to be destroyed.

Finn's nausea swirled. She hated feeling guilty. It was a stupid, emotional feeling—Finn tried running from those just as fast as she ran for the Cadillac. Whatever Frank was doing right now, it was causing mass destruction. The whole house groaned. It was disintegrating from the top down, in pounds of smoke and fire.

Although debris from above was starting to rain down on the garage, it was still mostly intact. Or, the Cadillac was, at least. Percy unlocked it with the keys that Frank's grandmother provided. The four of them jumped in, with Percy in the driver's seat, Finn in the passenger's seat, Ella curled up in the front with them, and Hazel in the back.

"Frank should be here by now!" Hazel panicked.

Percy shoved the keys into the ignition to start the car, and luckily it revved up. No one responded to Hazel, because it was an obvious statement. Frank should be there. The house was actively crumbling, and if they didn't floor it out of the garage soon, they'd be crushed by the foundation before the ogres could even touch them.

"I say we all down a flask of wine before we die!" Finn suggested.

"Wine?!" questioned Hazel. "You said that was water!"

Finn swallowed. Right. "Uh," she side-eyed Percy, "I lied!"

"Of course you did." Hazel groaned. "Doesn't matter! Frank needs to get over here!"

"We're not leaving without him," Percy agreed. Finn and Ella nodded.

Then, as if they manifested his appearance, Frank burst into the garage.

By now, the Cadillac's headlights were on. The engine was running. The garage door was opening.

"Get in!" Finn yelled.

Frank dove in the back next to Hazel. His force shook the car, startling Ella, whose head was tucked under her wings. "Yikes," she muttered. "Yikes. Yikes."

Percy gunned the engine. They shot out of the garage before it was fully open, leaving a Cadillac-shaped hole of splintered wood.

The ogres ran to intercept, but Percy shouted at the top of his lungs, and the irrigation system exploded. A hundred geysers shot into the air along with clods of dirt, pieces of pipe, and very heavy sprinkler heads.

The Cadillac was going about forty when they hit the first ogre, who disintegrated on impact. By the time the other monsters overcame their confusion, the Cadillac was half a mile down the road. Flaming cannonballs burst behind them.

Finn glanced back and saw the Zhang mansion on fire, the walls collapsing inward and smoke billowing into the sky. She saw a large black speck—maybe a buzzard—circling up from the fire. It might've been Finn's drunken mind, but she thought it had flown out of Frank's grandmother's window.

They drove through the woods and headed north.

"About three miles!" Frank said. "You can't miss it!"

Behind them, more explosions rippled through the forest. Smoke boiled into the sky.

"How fast can Laistrygonians run?" Hazel asked.

"You wanna find out?" Finn asked, in response.

No. No, Hazel did not.

The gates of the airfield appeared before them—only a few hundred yards away. A private jet idled on the runway. Its stairs were down.

The Cadillac hit a pothole and went airborne. Finn's head slammed into the ceiling. When the wheels touched the ground, Percy floored the brakes, and they swerved to a stop just inside the gates.

Finn climbed out and drew her gun. "Get to the plane! They're coming!"

The Laistrygonians were closing in with alarming speed. The first line of ogres burst out of the woods and barreled toward the airfield—five hundred yards away, four hundred yards...

Percy, Hazel, and Frank managed to get Ella out of the Cadillac, but as soon as the harpy saw the airplane, she began to shriek.

"N-N-No!" she yelped. "Fly with wings! N-N-No airplanes."

"It's okay," Hazel promised. "We'll protect you!"

Ella made a horrible, painful wail like she was being burned.

Percy held up his hands in exasperation. "What do we do? We can't force her."

"No," Frank agreed.

The ogres were three hundred yards out. Finn's gun was out of bullets. She refused to say that aloud.

"She's too valuable to leave behind," Hazel said. Then she winced at her own words. "Gods, I'm sorry, Ella. I sound as bad as Phineas. You're a living thing, not a treasure."

"No planes. N-N-No planes." Ella was hyperventilating.

The ogres were almost in throwing distance.

"Okay, guys, you gotta figure something out soon," Finn panicked.

Percy's eyes lit up. "I've got an idea." If that wasn't soon enough for Finn, then she didn't know what was. "Ella, can you hide in the woods? Will you be safe from the ogres?"

"Hide," she agreed. "Safe. Hiding is good for harpies. Ella is quick. And small. And fast."

"Okay," Percy said. "Just stay around this area. I can send a friend to meet you and take you to Camp Jupiter."

Finn held up her gun and aimed it. "A friend?"

Percy waved his hand in a tell you later gesture. Of course. "Ella, would you like that? Would you like my friend to take you to Camp Jupiter and show you their home?"

"Camp," Ella muttered. Then in Latin: "'Harvest's daughter walks alone, the Echo of Demeter grows through Rome.'"

"Uh, right," Percy said. "That sounds important, but we can talk about that later. You'll be safe at camp. All the books and food you want."

"No planes," she insisted.

"No planes," Percy agreed.

"Ella will hide now." 

Just like that, she was gone—a red streak disappearing into the woods.

"I'll miss her," Hazel said sadly.

"We'll see her again," Percy promised, but he frowned uneasily, as if he were really troubled by that last bit of prophecy—the thing about Demeter.

An explosion sent the airfield's gate spinning into the air.

Finn nodded at Frank's grandmother's letter. "Go show that to the pilot. Percy, show your letter from Reyna too. We've got to take off now."

Percy nodded. He, Hazel, and Frank ran for the plane.

Finn took cover behind the Cadillac and started firing at the ogres. She targeted the largest clump of enemies and pulled the trigger on her gun. Just as she'd feared, it was all out of bullets.

Finn heard the plane's engines rev.

"Dad," Finn mumbled. "Now would be a great time to grant me more bullets."

She pulled the trigger three more times, but nothing happened. She realized that the ogres were now within hurling range.

"Come on! Seriously?!" she called louder, now looking up into the sky.

"Finley!" Frank shouted. "Come on!"

A fiery cannonball hurtled toward her in a slow arc. Finn knew instantly it was going to hit the plane. She re-aimed her gun. Please, she thought, hoping the message carried to her father. She was too prideful to utter the word aloud.

This time, when Finn desperately pulled the trigger, an Imperial bullet flew.

It intercepted the cannonball midair, detonating a massive fireball. Another two cannonballs sailed toward her. Finn ran.

Behind her, metal groaned as the Cadillac exploded. She dove into the plane just as the stairs started to rise.

The pilot must've understood the situation just fine. There as no safety announcement, no pre-flight drink, and no waiting for clearance. He pushed the throttle, and the plane shot down the runway. Another blast ripped through the runway behind them, but then they were in the air.

Finn looked down and saw the airstrip riddled with craters like a piece of burning Swiss cheese. Swaths of Lynn Canyon Park were on fire. A few miles to the south, a swirling pyre of flames and black smoke was all that remained of the Zhang family mansion.

When Vancouver disappeared in the clouds below, Frank buried his head in his hands and started to cry.

The plane banked to the left.

Over the intercom, the pilot's voice said, "Senatus Populusque Romanus, my friends. Welcome aboard. Next stop: Anchorage, Alaska."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

BAILEY YAPS...

Mannn Ella's ass yapping fr!!

(That was your Act 2 teaser. If you spotted it.)

Finn did something cool and I love her. I always love her. But I love her even more with every passing chapter. Finley Briggs you will always be under my protection and care

(That's a joke)

Her outfit btw If this is anything: