(Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. I'm really sorry for the long wait. This should have been out sooner, but you know how I am with deadlines and how great I am at procrastinating. So here's chapter 7. I also had some reviewers tell me that I shouldn't have the characters cuss so much, but what I consider offensive may be different from what you consider offensive. For instance, I'm not offended at all by words like crap, damn, and arse, but that doesn't work for everybody. So please leave a review telling me which cuss words I should leave out. )

It was just like his dream. Lamia's tongue was wrapped around his neck. He dropped his broken sword, and his hands grabbed on to her tongue. Jason tried to undo it, his fingers tried to pry the tongue away from his neck, but it didn't help at all, Lamia's grip just got tighter and tighter, while Jason's vision got blurrier and blurrier. And just like his dream, he could hear hissing, as if the other snakes in the dungeon were celebrating his dying moment.

Leo knew that he had to act quickly, or else Jason would suffocate. He put his fire out, and he wiped his hands (which was wet with melted ice-water) on his pants. He then summoned more fire to his hands. Now that they were no longer wet, the fire was stronger and they burned more brightly.

Don't worry, Jason! He thought. I'm coming!

He rushed at Lamia, who had no way of avoiding the attack since a lot of her tongue was coiled around Jason, and she didn't have enough time to uncoil it. Leo plunged his fiery hand into her side.

"Let him go, you filth!" he shouted. "Or it'll get a lot worse! Let him go, or I'll burn you alive! Right here and right now!"

Lamia loosed her grip, and the tip of tongue started to unravel, followed by the rest of it, and the tongue retreated back into her mouth.

Ugh! How does she even have enough room in her mouth to store that? Leo wondered.

The monster turned to him, and Leo raised his other hand, knowing that fire would keep her back.

"You! Son of Hephaestus!" she snarled. "I haven't forgotten about you! Jason might be my main target, but I'll get you too! You might not be as important as the champion of Hera, but she still babysat for you! I'll kill both of you, and get back at Hera for all the crap she pulled on me!"

Leo opened his mouth, but before he could fire back at her, he heard a groaning sound, coming from across the room. He turned his attention Jason, who was now standing on all fours, after falling to the floor when Lamia released him. Leo leapt back, and ran to Jason.

"Are you all right?" Leo asked.

"Better, now that I can breathe again," Jason answered, as he slowly got up.

Leo glared daggers at Lamia. "Sorry to disappoint you, but you won't be getting your revenge today. Instead of you killing us, it's gonna be the other way around."

Lamia smirked. "Ooh, a threat."

Leo gritted his teeth. This monster wasn't even taking him seriously. She was just acting like he was some bratty little kid who didn't have the skills to back up his boast, like he was someone not even worthy of her attention. She even said it herself, he wasn't even important. She was treating him like some newbie she could kill in a second.

"You have something in common with Porphyrion, Enceladus, Otis, Ephialtes and everything else we'll meet from here to Epirus," Leo told her. "You're just an obstacle, and like every obstacle, we'll smash through you! If you don't believe me, well…then you'll believe it when you die!"

"Bring it on, kid!" challenged Lamia.

"I will!" Leo replied.

Frank and Nico faced the ice warriors, which were circled around them, and they were closing in. Both of them were injured. Nico's shoulder was bleeding, his arms and legs had gashes on them, and there was blood streaming down his face, and Frank had slashes all over his back, arms, legs and face, although his tough reptilian skin protected him from critical damage.

"Hey, you can turn into animals right?" Nico said. "How about turning into a phoenix?"

Frank turned around, opened his mouth (exposing his sharp raptor teeth), gave Nico a menacing glare, and made a sound that was a cross between a hiss and a growl. Nico was pretty sure that was a 'no.'

"Well…can you turn into something stronger?" Nico asked. "Something that could kill these guys with a quick powerful blow?"

Frank paused to think, and then he got it. He thought of a big powerful creature with was adapted to the cold, this creature could also hold its breath for a very long time and it could also kill seals and walruses. Then his body started to change, he grew larger and taller, fur appeared on his body, his snout changed into a different shape, and his tail became very short and stubby.

Standing on his two legs, Frank roared, intimidating every ice warrior around him. A second later, he got back to standing on all fours.

"Nice! A polar bear!" Nico said. "But wait! Can you lower yourself to the ground?"

Frank bent his legs, lowering his body. Nico placed the handle of the ice sword between his teeth, and climbed onto Frank's back. He took the sword out of his mouth, and held the sword straight up, so that its blade was pointing at the ceiling.

"Let's do this!"

The ice warriors must've felt the same way because they quickly rushed at Frank and Nico, all at once. The ice warriors thrusted their weapons at Frank, who reacted by swiping his paw at ice warriors in the front, breaking their swords of ice. Frank swiped his paw at them again, but this time he went for the head. The ice warriors weren't quick enough to dodge, and Frank took out a large chunk of their ice flesh after he was done, which was enough damage to keep them down. He then turned to the ice warriors behind him, and did the same thing to them, when they tried to charge.

While Frank dealt with the ice warrior with his bear powers, two ice warriors jumped into the air, and they tried to stab him in the back, while he was occupied with the warriors on the ground, but Nico turned to his left, where the ice warrior that was closest to him was. He sliced off the first one's hand, and then he cut off the ice warrior's head.

He turned to the right, where another one was. He reached out his hand, and he stabbed him in the forehead. He then pulled his sword out, and the ice warrior fell to the ground.

Three more ice warriors jumped into the air and onto Frank's back, where one of them tried to stab Nico, but Nico knocked the sword out of his hands, and then he stabbed him in the right eye. The ice warrior fell off Frank's back, and Nico turned his attention to another one, who was about to sink the tip of his blade into Frank's back. Nico reached forward again, and he stabbed the ice warrior in the mouth. Nico turned to the third one, who swung his sword at him, aiming for his head, but Nico ducked, he thrusted his sword out, and he stabbed him in the heart.

Nico turned his attention back to the front. Another ice warrior leapt into the air, he was holding his sword in reverse grip, and he swung his sword at Nico's throat, but Nico was quick enough to parry the blow with his own ice sword. Nico knocked the sword out of his enemy's hand, and then he swung his sword right through the ice warrior's neck. And then from the corner of his eyes, Nico saw another attack coming in from the side, but this time he saw something different about the ice warrior-he had Nico's Stygian iron sword in his hands. When our heroes stepped out of their airship, and into the underground dungeon, the ice mage took away their weapons, and gave each of them to a separate ice warrior.

So he's the guy who got my sword! Nico turned to him, he quickly thrusted his ice sword at him, effectively stabbing in the chest. Nico took his own sword back, and he grabbed onto the ice sword, and pulled it out of the fallen warrior's chest, just as the ice warrior fell off.

Nico threw the ice sword at an ice warrior on the ground, and it went through his eye.

"Frank! Keep an eye out for the other guys who took our stuff!" Nico said.

Frank bit on another ice warrior's sword, breaking it in two. Then he chewed his way through the ice warrior's neck, and his eyes scanned the room for the ice warriors who got their weapons.

His eyes caught the glint of a gladius made of imperial gold, and he ran towards the ice warrior who was holding it.

Lamia opened her mouth, and she brought the tip of the spear to it, right to the point where it touched her fangs. Leo could see some sort of clear liquid dripping from her fangs to the tip.

Poison! He realized I can't let that thing touch me!

He glanced back to the pile of human bones and he ran to them while Lamia chased behind.

"Come back here!" she yelled. "You can't run from me! Sooner or later you'll have to face your own death!"

Leo ducked behind the bones. "Sooner or later? I think you meant to say never."

His hand grabbed onto a bone-a radius, and it instantly caught on fire. He threw the burning radius at Lamia, who dodged. She slithered towards him again, he picked up another piece of bone, and it was a humerus this time. It caught on fire as well, and he threw it again at Lamia, who ducked. She was getting closer, so Leo picked up a skull, which quickly became a flaming skull in his hands. He threw it at her, but once again, she avoided his attack by dodging.

Leo gritted his teeth. He could see Jason battling the snakes across the room. They were trying to wrap themselves around his legs, but Jason was unravelling them starting from the tip. Leo picked up a ribcage, and the fire spread from his hands to the bones the moment he touched it. He threw it at Lamia, and she ducked, but she wasn't quick enough. A bit of the burning ribcage touched her shoulder and the fire spread there.

"Heh. Gotcha," Leo said.

Lamia didn't reply. She was really close now, and she thrusted the spear at him, aiming for his shoulder, but Leo got into a crouch and managed to avoid the blow. He he grabbed a hand, and he bent all of the skeletal fingers forwards, except for the index finger, so they all curled into the palm.

Leo held the hand by the wrist, his arm reached forward, and he stuck the finger into Lamia's right eye.

"AAAAAAARRRGHH!"

Pain was all Lamia felt for a moment, and then it was followed by rage. She grabbed on to Leo's wrist, which was still holding on to the skeletal hand. She brought it close to her mouth, and she sunk her fangs into his hand, even though it was burning.

"AAAAAAGHH!"

Leo's scream made all of our heroes' eyes widen. Frank and Nico turned to him, and Jason gritted his teeth in anger. First Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus, and now Leo was bitten by Lamia. He was tired of all this crap being pulled on them by Gaea.

"You take care of the ice warriors!" Jason shouted. "I'll kill Lamia!"

The anger filled him with adrenaline, and he felt a surge of energy. He picked up the broken sword, and he directed all of his energy into his hand, and at the same time, he thought his hardest about summoning lightning.

Unlike the previous times, a thin blade of white lightning appeared at the blade used to be.

It's not my best work, Jason thought. But it'll have to do.

The snakes hissed at him, and they tried to strike, but Jason slashed their heads off, he then ran towards Lamia, and when he got close, he plunged the lightning blade into her back.

Lamia coughed up blood, and her eyes grew wide when she saw the blade of lightning sticking out from her chest. She turned her head back, and at the same time, Jason pulled the lightning blade out. The last thing Lamia saw was a blur of white before her head fell to the ground and blood gushed out of her neck.

"Leo! Leo! Are you all right?" Jason cried, as Lamia's body collapsed to the ground and he rushed to his friend's side. "Leo...!"

The fire on his hands was out, and Leo's face was contorted in pain. His eyes were vacant, as if he was somewhere else. He didn't even seem to know that Jason was there.

Jason examined Leo's bitten hand, and saw blood streaming out of two holes on his hand. He remembered some of the first aid he learned while he was in Camp Jupiter, before Juno made the switch.

Gotta prevent the poison from infecting the rest of his body! He thought. Gotta cut off the circulation!

He took off his shirt, and he tied it around Leo\s wrist as tightly as he could. Jason then took Leo into his arms, and tried to carry him.

"Guys we have to leave!" he shouted to Nico and Frank.

"Not so fast," an ancient voice, the same voice from Jason's nightmare said. "You may have killed Lamia, but you're still in my domain. You're still underground, where I control everything, and I'll make sure that you won't get out of here alive. My earth warriors will finish you off."

And lined up against the left wall of the entrance, a group of something that reminded Jason of earth statues opened their glowing golden eyes.

That's all for now, folks!