Frank and the others were allowed to sleep in the next day, so he didn't get up until noon. It was hunger that finally woke him. Training took a lot of energy, but with food supplies running low, he knew he would not be able to eat until dinner. Lunch had been scrapped to conserve what remained and he had slept through breakfast.

Frank got up and stretched. Nico was still asleep with Will's cloak spread over him, so he looked like a raven with a head tucked under its wing. Percy was blinking though and Luke was already gone, so Frank suspected he had woken awhile ago.

Percy got up to stand and grinned. "Hey, we did it," he said.

Frank returned his smile, wishing he could share Percy's optimism. Sure, they'd raised the Argive camp, but what difference had it made? "Let's go check it out," Percy said, as if he sensed Frank's thoughts. "We can see what damage we did."

Frank nodded and followed Percy out of the tent they were sleeping in. The tents had been set up all across the city. Some of them were in private gardens, while others were in the streets or empty plots of land. As they walked, Percy told Frank about how his mother was going to give him a new cloak if he survived the war. "Blue," he said. "My favorite color. She bought the cloth a couple months ago and she's been working on it since I was enlisted."

Frank nodded. Cloaks took a long time to make, but then again, the siege might last long enough for Percy's mother to finish it in time. Frank hoped she wasn't laboring in vain. "Is your mother making anything for you?" Percy asked.

Frank shrugged. "We do not have as much money, but she'll probably make a good dinner if I return alive."

Percy patted him on the back. "Maybe Hazel is doing something for you," he said. "My sweetheart, Annabeth, is weaving a new tunic for me."

His eyes lit up when he spoke of Annabeth, causing Frank to smile. "You really like her, don't you?"

"We've known each other since we were children," Percy explained.

Fran nodded in understanding. "Hazel and I are like that, but it wasn't until she kissed me that I fell in love."

Percy's eyes sparkled. "Do tell."

Frank blushed and recounted the tale of how Leo and him had competed in a beauty contest. "Leo the son of Hephaestus the blacksmith?" Percy queried.

Frank nodded. "That's the one."

"Oh, he's great," Percy said. "He's been making weapons for the army. I think he has his eye on this girl named Calypso."

"He mentioned her before moving to Mytilene," Frank recounted.

"She's the daughter of a wealthy merchant named Atlas," Percy said.

He paused. "I was once betrothed to her, but things happened. My mother and him had a falling out. I don't care how anyway because I like Annabeth, but I don't think her mother would approve."

"Perhaps if you fight well she will," Frank suggested.

    Percy smiled. "Annabeth calls me a Seaweed Brain, but I know she cares about me."

   He paused. "Before I went off to training, she said goodbye to me. She was furious about my enlistment. I thought she was going to punch me or something, but then she pulled me in for a kiss."

     His sea-green eyes grew luminous. "I think she's the one; I can see myself spending the rest of my life with."

    "Have you told her any of this?" Frank asked.

     Percy shuffled, suddenly looking awkward. "No. She's usually the one who has all the plans."

    "You should tell her," Frank suggested.

     Percy met his gaze and grinned. "I'm not known as a Seaweed Brain for something. I suppose I will."

     "Seaweed Brain?" Frank echoed. "Where did that come from?"

    Percy smiled. "It's a nickname Annabeth gave me. She said I was just like my father and that my head was stuffed with seaweed."

   He sighed. "I tried to get even with her by calling he Wise Girl. It did not work."

   Frank found himself laughing. "You two are cute together."

    Percy shrugged. "What about you and Hazel? I've seen the way you look at each other. Are you betrothed yet?"

    "No," Frank said, shaking his head.

      "You will be one day," Percy said firmly. "Ahhh, one huge wall coming right up."

    They had reached the wall. Travis was the one stationed at this section of the wall and he looked bored. "Any good gossip?" he asked.

     "We're here to see how our raid last night went," Frank told him.

The sun was even brighter once he was atop the wall and he squinted some of it away. His gaze travelled from the land near the wall where a road cut through grass, and to the Argive camp. It was in disarray. Tents had been slashed. Some stood, the wind making the cloth flutter like wings, while others had been taken down to be repaired.

Argive soldiers milled around the camp like ants over an anthill. Few of the them looked injured and even from a distance, Frank could sense an atmosphere of tension caused by mingled anger and fear. "The attack didn't do that much," Frank said, his voice small.

"It sent them a message," Percy said.

"What message?" Frank said. "That we can only attack at night and not even win then?"

Travis shook his head. "That you are not giving up."

Frank met his gaze. For once, the jokester looked deadly serious. "The Argive army is superior to our own," Travis admitted, "and they outnumber us, but by attacking, we told them we won't just sit and let them starve us."

Frank chewed his bottom lip. "But the raid changed nothing. We have no more food and the Argives are still here."

"War is not about individual battles, but about the entirety of it all," General Hedge said, striding up to them. "You did well, Frank, but you're right: one raid won't change the war. That's why we have to try something else."