XXXV Frank

At dawn, Frank sees Laistrygonians preparing to storm his grandmother’s house, celebrating as if for a feast with Frank as the main course. His grandmother sends Hazel and Percy to the attic for weapons and orders Frank to eat and prepare, noting Hazel cared for him overnight.

Grandmother briefs Frank: the ogres have surrounded the property for days, waiting for him. She provides an envelope for a loyal pilot at the nearby airfield and instructs Frank to use Reyna’s letters to secure passage north, emphasizing that reaching the airfield is critical.

As explosions rattle the house, she demands Frank grasp his powers. Prompted, Frank recounts Mars’s revelation about their ancestor Periclymenus. Grandmother confirms the lineage, explains Shen Lun was wrongly blamed for the 1906 disaster amid anti-Chinese prejudice, and stresses that their true legacy is stranger: a unique ability bestowed by Poseidon’s line.

Grandmother defines the gift—shapeshifting into living creatures, easier under pressure and with familiar forms—while warning it can be a curse and did not save Frank’s mother. Outside, the ogres call Frank’s name, forcing a decision.

She urges immediate departure, citing the approaching Feast of Fortuna and Mars’s charge to free Death in Alaska. Frank promises to make her proud, and they share a brief, emotional farewell before he goes to prepare, leaving her resolute to face the siege on her own terms.