Disclaimer: Not mine.

If you haven't finished MoA, turn back.

On the Deck

"Thus on the one hand we have the ability to protect ourselves; on the other, a victory that is complete." Sun Tzu

Frank settled onto the deck across from Hazel and Nico.

The rest of the crew had wandered off deck, trying to distract themselves from what had happened to Percy and Annabeth just hours ago.

He nearly choked up just thinking about it.

There were so many questions Frank wanted to ask Nico about Tartarus – what kind of force Gaea had gathered there, a rough estimate of numbers, the kind of monsters she had at her disposal, and more information on the location they were headed to.

Frank wanted to strategize, to plan out how long it would take them to reach the Doors of Death – and how long Percy and Annabeth could survive down there.

But every time he opened his mouth to ask Nico, he promptly closed it again.

Nico looked like, well, death warmed over.

He was paler than Frank had ever seen him, and he'd been slumped over on the deck for hours. Hazel's care had made Nico a little more alert and more mobile, but he still didn't look like he could make it downstairs to a cabin anytime soon.

"Frank?" Hazel asked.

With a start, Frank realized he had been staring rather hard in their direction. Hazel was peering worriedly at him, and Nico had cracked an eye open.

Frank felt himself flush in embarrassment.

"Oh, nothing. It can wait."

Nico and Hazel glanced at each other.

"Frank, whatever it is, say it," Nico said. He still didn't sound great, but he already sounded better than a couple hours ago.

Frank glanced between them, debating. He really regretted the last time he had decided to save something for later – he had never gotten the chance to talk to Annabeth about his conversation with Mars, about the sacrifice Percy couldn't make without Frank's sense of duty, whatever it could be.

He wondered if he would ever have to make that decision now.

Hurriedly, Frank shook that thought from his head – it wouldn't help anything if he started thinking of them as already lost.

"So I just wanted to clarify a couple of things, I guess," Frank began. "Tartarus is filled with Gaea's forces." He waited for Nico to nod. "And so is this House of Hades we're heading to. But we've got the Athena Parthenos, which is supposed to help us defeat Gaea's forces on this side of the Doors. And since we freed Thanatos, monsters are actually dying again, even if it's not for very long with the doors still open." Nico nodded again.

Frank paused. Something awful had just occurred to him.

"Oh."

"What is it?" Hazel asked.

"It's just," Frank said slowly, his mind spinning. "We're going to have to defeat all of her forces to reach the Doors. With Thanatos free, the monsters aren't reforming right away, which is good for us. But if we kill them, they're going to go straight to Tartarus, where Percy and Annabeth are."

Hazel looked horrified. "Oh no," she murmured. "We'll never reach the Doors if we don't kill them, but if we do…"

Frank glanced at Nico, who was looking grim. Maybe he had already guessed as much. Frank didn't want to upset Hazel further, but he couldn't stop himself from talking.

"Nico. What happens when you kill a monster in Tartarus?"

Nico glared at him, before his gaze flickered to Hazel, clearly urging Frank to stop this train of thought and just shut up already. Frank had wondered before if Nico was holding anything back, and now that he had got his answer, he wished he hadn't.

"The monsters won't die," Hazel whispered. "There's no where for them to go down there. There's no where to run, and they'll be down there for however long it takes us to reach the Doors, and we'll be sending even more monsters down there."

Tears gathered in her gold eyes, and suddenly Frank felt like crying too. Things were already bad, but they seemed so much worse now.

Nico took a deep breath.

"I stand by what I said before," he said. "If anyone can beat the odds, it's Percy and Annabeth."

"Oh Nico!" Hazel exclaimed. "You were only down there for a few days. This is awful. It might be weeks before we can get to the Doors."

Nico frowned. "But I gave up, Hazel. I didn't think anyone was coming to help me, and I was alone. Percy and Annabeth are together, and that makes all the difference. Seriously, you've only known them a few days. Together, I think they can do anything. They'll reach the Doors."

"I hope you're right, Nico."

"I know I am."

Frank didn't comment. Maybe he hadn't known them very long, but Nico was right. If anyone could make it out of Tartarus, it would be Percy and Annabeth. Frank was sure they had more experience than anybody else.

The monster problem would be something Frank would have to mull over. If ever he needed Percy and Annabeth to help him solve a problem, it was now, but he needed to resolve this to help them. Maybe if he and the rest of the crew put their heads together, they could find a way of defeating Gaea's forces without sending them straight towards Percy and Annabeth.

It was time for Frank to step up and do his duty. There were times he had felt the better part of useless on this quest, and that stopped now. Frank had problems to solve and friends to save.

Mark of Athena was excellent, but devastating. Here's hoping that you can kill something in Tartarus, and that Frank studies the Art of War on the way to Greece.

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