The giant loomed over a severely-injured Percy Jackson, who laid in the corner of two large boulders, clutching his side as it bled heavily. He swung Riptide helplessly as the giant bellowed with laughter.

"Ah, what a sweet sight! The almighty Perseus Jackson, reduced to this."

"I-.." Percy struggled to form a sentence, a phrase, anything, but his voice failed him.

The monstrous humanoid raised a scaly leg, its mud-caked foot looming over the son of Poseidon. Just as this happened, Annabeth Chase, Piper Mclean, and Hazel Levesque scrambled over the boulders on the opposite side of the "arena", so to speak. The giant had set up an area for the battle, using boulders from the mountain that coated them in shadow. Piper was the first to spot the scene, so she immediately threw her arms around Annabeth, knowing what would happen if she were loose when she saw what was happening.

Piper underestimated the situation.

When the daughter of Athena laid her eyes on her boyfriend at the mercy of a giant, she instantly went hysterical. But Piper held fast, knowing there was nothing that could be done, because the oversized foot was already stomping down, but it seemed to be going in slow motion. In fact, everything seemed to slow down. But Piper knew it was shock hitting her as Annabeth shoved her face into Piper's shoulder just as the giant's foot reached its target with a sickening crunch, splattering blood everywhere.

That was it.

Percy Jackson was dead.

Annabeth screamed and sobbed into Piper's shoulder, the latter staring dumfounded at the giant's scaly foot, now covered in blood. Hazel, standing a few feet behind the two other girls, choked back a sob. Their shock was soon interrupted by a battle cry ringing behind them. The girls whirled to find a furious Jason Grace charging straight at the giant, leaping onto the creature's back, hacking and slashing at its neck. The blond boy was a whirlwind- literally. Dust and wind swirled all around him as he severed limbs, stabbed the places where vital organs should be, assuming giants had them, and sliced the giant's face open, gaping and terrifying. But Jason didn't care. He had lost all self control once he'd seen this big hunk of meat squish his best friend.

Once the giant's head was detached and its body crumbled to dust, Jason raised his sword to the stormy sky. "JUPITER!" the boy yelled. Two seconds later, a bolt of lightning struck from the clouds, connecting with Jason's golden sword, which directed the electricity to the already reforming remains of the giant. The dust immediately dissipated, never to be seen again.

Jason dropped his sword to the rocky ground, the clang resonating in the silent valley of rocks.

They had won. It was over.

But the feeling of victory wasn't there.