Chapter 37

Thalia honestly was a bit annoyed as before they could even get to Frank's grandmother's house, where a hot shower was waiting for her to wash off the sweat and grime of the last few days, they had to quickly take cover when they almost walked into a camp of ogre looking monsters.

It was getting late, the sun had set not too long ago and she desperately wanted and needed a shower.

"Bad. This is bad for harpies" Ella muttered as she scooted closer to Thalia while they watched the ogres sit around the fire.

The ogres were roughly eight feet tall from what they could see of them sitting with sunstroke red skin that was covered in tattoos of dragons, hearts and bikini clad women and were wearing only knee length surfer shorts.

They were busy eating chunks off of the skinned animal that was cooking on a spit over the fire with their claw like fingernails, laughing and talking as they ate with what looked like cannons and cannonballs made out of bronze scattered around them.

Thalia could see, only about 200 yards beyond the camp, what she figured to be Frank's house as the lights inside glowed out, almost calling her towards it with the promise of a hot shower.

"What are these guys?" Frank asked unsure of what kind of monsters these were since he'd never seen them.

"Canadians…I think" Percy said as Frank leaned away from him with a slight offended look on his face.

"No offense but that's what I think Annabeth called them a long time ago" Percy said as Thalia smirked. "She said they were from the north, in Canada" he quickly added as Frank frowned and crossed his arms.

"Yeah well we're in Canada. I'm Canadian and I've never seen those things before" Frank grumbled as Ella plucked a feather from her wing and turned it around in her fingers before handing it to Thalia, who accepted it.

"Laistrygonians. Cannibals. Northern Giants. Sasquatch legend. Yep, yep. They're not birds. Not birds of North America" Ella said as Thalia patted the harpy's head and slipped her feather into her pocket.

"Well now that we know what they are maybe we can take care of them or something. There are probably other camps around so we can't make too much of a scene. Plus with the whole 'Death is captured' thing makes it hard to keep them dead or kill them all that easily" Thalia said as she rubbed her chin, trying to think up some ideas to deal with them all.

"I think I can get a distraction for us so we can get through" Frank said nervously as he pulled out the spear that Mars had given him from his quiver and held it carefully in his hands.

"Frank! You can't charge out there! That's suicide" Hazel said nervously as Frank held his hand out to calm her.

"I'm not charging. I somewhat have a friend that can help just don't scream" Frank said as he jabbed the spear into the ground and made the point break off.

"Oops. No spear point. Nope, nope" Ella muttered as she stared down at the point before it sunk into the ground, making it tremble a bit before a skeletal hand shot out, causing her to quickly hop over to Thalia side for protection.

"It's okay! He's under control!" Frank said quickly as a skeleton burst out of the ground. Thalia was quickly on guard as she moved Ella behind her and summoned her swords while Percy tried to bring his out and Hazel, from shock and slight fear, made an odd noise that reminded her of a cat with a hairball.

"Frank that's a spartus! An evil skeleton warrior. They are evil and killers" Percy warned as he kept his eyes on the skeleton soldier that stood blankly in front of Frank.

"I know but it's a gift from Mars and right now it's the best I've got" Frank said before he turned towards the skeleton. "Okay Grey. Your orders are to attack the group of ogres. Lead them off to the west, causing a diversion so we can-" Frank said, trying to say more but Grey, the spartus, seemed to lose interest as it rushed off after the word 'ogres'.

Frank groaned as he watched Grey rush into the camp, pulling out two of his ribs from his shirt and went around the fire quickly killing ogres with such speed that they didn't have time to react or even yell.

They all watched in slight shock as six Laistrygonians fell sideways like a circle of dominos and crumbled into dust. Grey didn't seem to stop after they disintegrated as he stomped around, kicking their ashes apart as they tried to reform until he was satisfied they weren't coming back.

After making sure he had done his job Grey stood at attention and saluted towards Frank before sinking into the forest floor.

"No Laistrygonians. Six minus six is zero. Spears are good for subtraction. Yep" Ella muttered as she hopped into the empty camp as Thalia followed her.

"Yes I guess they are" Thalia said as the spartus didn't affect her too much once she realized it was under Frank's control. She smirked as she saw the mesh bags full of steaming cannon balls and quickly sealed them into her wrist seals, figuring they might be useful.

"Look let's just get to my grandmother's house. It's safer there" Frank said as he briskly walked through the camp and towards the house as Percy, having shaked off the surprise, followed while Hazel more nervously followed.

As they walked up to the house Thalia narrowed her eyes a bit with a frown at the other visible campfires around the house in the forest. The Laistrygonians seemed to have the house entirely surrounded.

"Is something wrong Frank?" Thalia asked as she noticed Frank was frozen in front of the front door with a key in his hand.

"Ella is nervous. The elephant – the elephant is looking at Ella" Ella muttered from her perch on the railing as she was having a stare off with the stone elephant beside the front door.

"It'll be fine, just stay together" Frank said as he shakily opened the door.

As they walked in Thalia frowned a bit at all the cobwebs and dust in the house before following Frank up the stairs and towards the second story, Frank visiting his old room before leading them to the last room, the only one with a light on.

"Mars?" Frank said confused after he had opened the door and peered in.

"Frank? What do you mean Mars? Is your grandmother…is she okay?" Hazel asked worriedly as she worried for her friend.

"You don't see him?" Frank asked as Thalia peered inside and narrowed her eyes a bit, activating her Sharingan to see an accumulation of energy in the shape of a person, sitting on the seat beside the bed.

"No but my Sharingan can see his outline. I think this is a father and son thing" she said as Frank sent her a thankful look. "Hazel and I will take one room, Percy the other and Frank can have his room of course" she said as Ella tapped her shoulder, trying to get her attention.

"Roof. Roofs are good for harpies" Ella said as Thalia nodded.

"Okay but stay hidden up there since enemies have the place surrounded" she said as Ella nodded, nuzzling against her before fluttering over to a window in the hallway, opening it and flying up to the roof.

"Come on guys, I feel tomorrow is going to be real difficult for us" Thalia said with a frown as she could feel it in her gut.

At least she could get a shower before it all went down.

-Next Day-

Thalia frowned as she sat in the attic after Frank's grandmother had told them to head up there to get ready for the ogre assault and because the attic was supposedly stocked with weapons.

And stocked it was.

The walls were decorated with shields, spears, and quivers of arrows. There was even a scorpion crossbow mounted, aimed out one of the windows and ready to fire. The attic ended up being nearly as stocked as Camp Jupiter's armory. Frank's grandma told them to take whatever they needed as after this she said she doubted she'd need them.

"Ella you okay there?" Thalia asked as Ella had nested herself between two old steamer trunks, sitting in a pile of Chinese scrolls, reading seven or eight at once. The others were up on the roof to scout the situation before Frank returned.

"Ella doesn't like ogres. Ella likes words and Thalia. Thalia better than ogres" Ella muttered as she looked back and forth between the scrolls and her several times.

"Thalia? Where are the others?" Frank asked as he had entered the attic, clean and in new clothes.

"Up on the roof scouting. I'm down here cause with my vision I'm best to aim the crossbow and the potato Gatling gun" she said pointing to the eight barreled spud firing gun.

"They have cannonballs and we have spuds?" Frank said confused as Ella looked up.

"Starch. Starch is bad for ogres. Ella doesn't like potatoes" Ella said with a shudder before going back to reading.

"Well I have some cannonballs but to lob them I'd need a clear space and to wipe out some of them first since what I have in mind would make me a big target" she said as Frank frowned.

"There is an airstrip nearby. We need to get there so we can fly to Alaska. Is Ella coming with us?" Frank asked as Ella perked up.

"Alaska. 626,425 square miles. State mammal is the moose" Ella said before she frowned and rubbed her head and switched to Latin. "To the north, beyond the gods, lies the legion's crown. Falling from ice, the son of Neptune shall drown" she said before she stopped and scratched her head. "Hmm. Burnt. The rest is burnt" she muttered as Frank and Thalia widened their eyes.

"Ella was that a prophecy? Where did you read that?" Frank asked as the house shook.

"Moose. Moose. Moose" Ella said, almost savoring the word as Thalia pet her head, making her smile as she continued to read.

"We'll figure that out later when ogres aren't breathing down our necks" Thalia said as she was interested about it all as well. She was moderately sure she could get Ella to either repeat or tell her more about where she read it.

"Frank Zhang! Show yourself!" an ogre outside bellowed as Ella shook her head.

"Nope. Frank shouldn't Nope" Ella said as Thalia smiled softly.

"Frank will be okay" Thalia said as she turned towards Frank. "Look I'll be ready to take aim and give a distraction. If we need to get to the airstrip I think I have a way to get there but we need to be fast. Tell Percy to be ready to shield us for a minute when I get up there after I use these spuds" she said as Frank nodded and headed up to the roof.

"Ella how are you with riding on an eagle?" he asked as the small harpy looked up at her confused.

"Bald eagles. Not bald. Scientific name of Haliaeetus Ieucocephalus. 5.9 to 7.5 foot wingspan. 75 to 99 miles per hour. Ella is good with birds just like friend Thalia" Ella said as she hopped from her nest and sat next to her next to the spud gun.

"Good cause I think I can get us a ride since I don't think I like cramped planes all that well" she said from what she could remember she always enjoyed it better when she was in the air without being squished into a tight space.

She smiled, a bit sadly, at the memory of trying to take a plane with Annabeth and her family to go on vacation, only to suffer a mild panic attack from being cramped in a plane.

'Good thing my memories are returning, I doubt me suffering a panic attack from my flight based claustrophobia would be a good thing right now' she thought as she watched Percy use walls of water to shield the house from cannonballs.

She didn't waste any time aiming the spud cannon towards the ogres, summoning her Sharingan to give her a better aim before firing, aiming it so she was able to fire each spud into the head of a separate ogre.

"Thalia! Get up here we need to go!" Percy yelled as she frowned and quickly shot the loaded arrow in the scorpion crossbow at head of another ogre before quickly running up the ladder, Ella following close behind her.

"Okay so what is this ride you said you had?" Frank said, a bit nervous as Percy struggled to keep the wall of water shielding them.

"We'll have to be fast and I'll have to run interference so it can take off so you'll have to go ahead of me" Thalia said as she bit her thumb and wiped it across her palm before running through the hand seals of a technique she finally remembered.

"Summoning jutsu!" she yelled, slamming her hand down on the roof before a cloud of smoke covered them.

"So you finally remember" a deep voice spoke from in front of her as smirked. "It's about time summoner" it said before the smoke as blown away to reveal a massive eagle perched in front of them.

The eagle was easily as big as a four door car, if not larger as its claws dug into the roof while it looked down at her with intense emerald green eyes, its wings outstretched before bringing them back in.

"Holy crap! It-it-it's a massive talking bird!" Frank said as he almost fell off the roof until Hazel grabbed him.

"I am an eagle little boy and my name is Hio, you will do well to remember it or else I might accidently drop you" Hio said as he narrowed his eyes towards Frank before turning to Thalia.

"Sorry 'bout him Hio but we really need to get going. There are ogres beyond Percy's water wall that are trying to blow us up with cannonballs and eat Frank. There is an airstrip a few miles from here, can you get the others to it while I take care of these guys" Thalia said as Hio almost frowned before nodding.

"Fine. I will be fast dropping them off before coming back to help you. I expect you won't be joining them in the plane?" Hio asked as apparently the eagle knew about her condition as well.

"Yeah just hurry and get them out of here" Thalia said as she helped Ella up onto the back of Hio, who the little harpy quickly hugged and held onto, muttering about soft feathers before the others got on as well.

"Are you sure we will be able to fly? Neptune doesn't do well in the air" Percy said as Thalia smirked.

"With Jupiter no longer in power you should be fine. Just get going and I'll catch up on Hio or another summon" she said as Percy frowned at her before groaning and nodding.

"Fine just stay safe! Annabeth would kill me if I let you get hurt!" Percy yelled as Hio quickly took off into the air, soaring off towards the airstrip, going up and out of range of the cannon balls just as the water wall fell down.

"Zhang is gone! Was a distraction!" the ogres yelled as Thalia smirked, summoning her Sharingan as she pushed it into Eternal Mangekyo form.

"Yeah and now you are stuck with me! I almost feel bad for you all. Almost" she said as her Susanoo's green spine and ribcage formed around her.

"You! You one Earth warned about! The one Earth wants personally" one ogre yelled as Thalia smirked, forming two skeletal arms while she unsealed the sacks of cannon balls that she had grabbed from the camp they destroyed to get to Frank's house.

"Well tell your boss the only time I will see her is when my dad and I kick her ass!" she yelled as a second pair of arms sprouted below the first. She didn't waste any time, using the Laistrygonian's shock from seeing her to her advantage, as she quickly started scooping up cannonballs from the mesh sack and began throwing them as hard as she could at them and their camps.

She smirked as explosion after explosion rang out in front of her as she finished up lobbing the last of the 30-ish cannonballs that she had stolen from ogre camp, only keeping two left, one in each of the main hands as she had a final idea of what to do with them.

"Come on! I thought you would be more difficult to wipe out than this!" Thalia yelled as she had one of her empty arms effortlessly swat away a cannonball that had been fired at her, making it detonate a safe distance away from her.

She frowned as she saw Hio getting closer in the distance. 'Okay got to make this big and destructive I guess' she thought as she brought the two last remaining cannonballs down to her eye level.

"Amaterasu" she whispered as the two bronze cannonballs were now covered in the black flames of her great-grandmother. She knew she had to make a big boom to give her time to fly off on Hio so she could keep up with the others.

A large smirk grew on her face as she noticed two groups of ogres bringing in two large crates full of cannonballs. "Well as fun as it is to mess around with you all I have to go!" she said as her arms fired off the two cannonballs with a strong flick of their fingers into the crates of cannonballs.

The explosion was rather impressive as the black flames quickly spread onto each piece of shrapnel that came from the crates and spread out to all the monsters, even sticking around on their ashes to keep them dead for at least seven days.

"Thalia! The others took off on the plane" Hio said as he landed on the roof next to her before Ella, who had been still hugging onto his back, jumped off and hugged onto her.

"Eagle fast. Faster than Ella. Friend Thalia come this time?" Ella asked as her hair was a bit wild from Hio's fast speed before Thalia chuckled and brushed it down for her.

"Yes I'm coming this time but as fast as Hio is I don't think you are best at long distances are you?" she asked as she was still a bit unsure about it all since she couldn't fully remember.

Even though her memories were coming back to her she still had a lot she couldn't remember. It apparently was still enough to muddle up any Iris message attempt that she made to call Annabeth.

"No but boss is and I think he'd be more than happy to help" Hio said as he nodded and somewhat smiled at Thalia. "It is good to see you again, stay safe" he said before he dispelled.

"Bird disappear. Not normal eagle" Ella muttered as Thalia patted Ella's head and made her Susanoo disappear around her.

"Yeah. Do you want to meet another eagle? I think you'll like her. She's big and very nice" Thalia said as she smirked at the almost literal stars in Ella's eyes before running through the hand signs.

They were on a time limit and the boss of the eagles could definitely get them to Alaska quickly. Plus she wanted to see if she could beat the others, call it a competitive streak of hers when it came to speed.