XXXIV Frank

Frank, Hazel, Percy, and Ella reach Frank’s house, finding it surrounded by Laistrygonian campfires but otherwise untouched. Inside, signs of neglect unsettle Frank, and memories of his mother and funeral resurface. They check rooms until they find Frank’s grandmother asleep with a candle burning.

Only Frank can see Mars seated at her bedside. Mars orders the others away and confronts Frank with harsh truths: Gaea is tracking him and wants him dead, he is likely one of the Seven from the Prophecy of Seven, and the ogres will attack in the morning. Mars refuses divine intervention, insisting Frank fight his own battle and master his family gift because his spear is unusable for a day.

Mars outlines the family’s lineage: from the Greek hero Periclymenus and his battle gift, through a Roman ancestor captured at Carrhae, to settlement in China at Li-Jien, where the gift continued—Frank’s mother even said an ancestor “fought dragons.” Mars implies Frank’s power is the key to surviving the siege.

Mars presses themes of duty and sacrifice, warning that Percy’s fatal flaw is excessive loyalty and that Frank’s sense of duty will be crucial to prevent disaster. He predicts Frank’s grandmother will soon die but will offer guidance first, and urges Frank to accept the hard path to win.

After Mars departs and sleep overtakes Frank, morning comes. Frank awakens on the floor as his grandmother calls to him. Pale but resolute, she confirms the ogres have surrounded the house and demands they plan quickly if Frank and his friends are to escape alive.