II

FRANK

"Well done, Frank Zhang. That's exactly how people beat Chinese Handcuffs. They turn into iguanas."

Frank turned the handcuffs over in his hands. He could hear it, over and over.

Well done, Frank Zhang. They turn into iguanas. Well done. Iguanas. Handcuffs. Exactly how. Frank Zhang.

He twisted the handcuffs miserably. He looked at the twisted braid of paper, and in instinct he slid his hands through the openings, and attempted to pull them out with force. Nothing happened. Then he slid them out neatly, the way Annabeth had taught him. Maybe Frank hadn't been the only one listening in.

Leo had planned for his own death. He knew someone was going to die and he made arrangements so it would be him. Frank had had his differences with Leo, but the annoying graecus had turned out to be much more resourceful than anyone had expected.

You don't pull your hands out. You push them further in. To loosen the straps.

Leo hadn't tried full-out to keep everyone out of the way. He had slipped in, allowed them all to feel confident, and then he had the audacity to die. Like it was some great honour that he was willing to fight dirty to get. He had tricked Frank and Hazel into helping him, but Frank wasn't stupid. Not even Leo the Fireproof could have survived that explosion. It was so laced with Imperial Gold that even if he had survived the initial blast, the godly metal would have poisoned him like arsenic. They had seen what that stab wound had done to Jason, and that wound had been doused with nectar right away.

Frank felt like he had been handcuffed. He was stuck, lashed to a post made of guilt. He should have seen it coming. If he hadn't been so… so stupid, so reckless, so naïve, Leo might still be alive. It was so difficult to comprehend. One of the Seven was dead. They had gone through so much together, fought so many battles, won so many battles, but in the end Gaia had gotten the trumps on them all. She had managed to take one of them with her into oblivion.

And that scheming, foul, evil Octavian had sealed Leo's fate. If there hadn't been that much Imperial Gold in the explosion, maybe Leo would have been… in enough of one piece to take the Physician's Cure. The poor demigod was practically vaporised… and Frank hated it. He had thought it was bad when his mother had been killed in war. He had thought it was bad when Gwen, one of the centurions, had died in front of his eyes. He thought it was bad when Percy and Annabeth had fallen into freaking Tartarus. But the fact that he didn't even get to say goodbye, or good luck or even thank you was worse than all that. When he thought about it, his mother had lived her life. Gwen had come back. Percy and Annabeth had made it, scarred but alive. But Leo… he had died young, a child really. Frank knew it was one of the cold facts of a demigod's existence; most didn't live past twenty. But Leo had been killed in the only place he had dared to call home, on the back of his best friend, having just saved the people he loved. It was nothing short of cruel. Frank wanted to give the three Fates a good smack. As long as they weren't holding their brass clubs…

Frank had never thought he would miss the sounds of Mars/Ares in his head, but right now he did. Because in their place was Leo Valdez, smirking, winking, making tacos and hammering away at something.

Surrender! You are surrounded by one spanking hot war machine!

No, stupid. You're a Percy. I'm a Leo.

Oo-kay. The Spartans were freaks. Of course, we've got Victory tied up downstairs, so I guess we can't talk.

Thank the gods and pass the hot sauce.

It means pass the hot sauce, Zhang. I'm hungry.

Frank looked up.

"Oh, gods, why did Leo have to die?" he murmured miserably. However much Leo had been irritating, infuriating, rude, and just plain stupid, the kid was amazing.

"Because that's war for you," a voice said behind him. Frank spun.

Striding towards him like it was a walk in the park was Mars. Frank was never sure how to react to that. Was he meant to say 'Hey, dad!' or genuflect? He took option three; neither.

"Well, don't just stand there," Mars said crossly. Frank feebly raised a hand.

"Anyway. You asked, I'll answer. That kid died because he was willing."

"Don't be-" Frank cut himself off. It probably wasn't a good idea to insult his immortal warrior ninja father.

"Stupid?" Mars suggested helpfully.

"Um… yeah," Frank said awkwardly. Mars crossed his arms and tilted his head, like; Carry on. "No-one's ever willing to die. Not even you… no offense."

"None taken, kid. But that's what made your friend special. Not many mortals I've ever seen were accepting of Death. You wouldn't believe how many times Thanatos' nose has been broken thanks to struggling spirits. Your boy was calmer than most. Falling in the middle of a blazing firestorm, on the back of a dragon, having just vanquished the greatest evil imaginable… he did a pretty good job, all things considered."

Frank raised an eyebrow.

"Are you saying that… did you just say Leo was braver than you?"

Mars scowled.

"Repeat it and I will incinerate you, son or no. Especially, especially to Jackson. Not a word."

Frank smiled. Maybe that had been his problem all along. Leo had been too brave. Even for the god of war. But there was nothing wrong with being brave. Leo was brave.

Braver than the god of war. Braver than Gaia. Braver than all the gods.

Braver than Frank.