5 minutes earlier…

Hazel Levesque sawed through the last of Quincy Clark's ropes with her spatha, letting them slip down his frail, pale arms and pile on the floor. He looked up at her with his big brown eyes and gave her a half-hearted smile.

"Thanks," he whispered hoarsely, stretching his arms out in front of him. Hazel wanted to help him clean the dried blood out of his red hair, but she knew she didn't have time. The two hadn't spoken much since they'd woken from their comas- what do you say to the person who crash-landed on top of you after a giant threw him off stage?

Quincy had only been at Camp Jupiter for a month before he was kidnapped by a Cyclops and brought to live in the dungeons of the Monster HQ, where he ate little more than stale bread and soup for two weeks. Hazel had seen Quincy around a few times at Camp, but she'd never talked to him before. He was a son of Ceres, the Roman equivalent of Demeter, and was part of the Third Cohort. Children of Ceres tended to avoid children of Pluto; the slight scent of death that Nico and Hazel couldn't shake tended to make the plants wilt, so they purposely skirted around any activity involving close-quarters with the tree-hugging Ceres bunch.

Now, Hazel was alone with Quincy on top of a watchtower, the sun baking their skin and burning their hands when they touched the stone. Jason had flown them up there so that they'd be out of sight and out of the way, but Hazel figured he hadn't considered how they'd manage to get down again.

Hazel stood and crossed to the edge of the tower, only knee-high crenellation preventing her from toppling down ten stories and into the battle below.

Well, where there used to be a battle. She looked on in confusion, trying to make sense of the scene before her. The hundreds of monsters stood still, staring at Aralus, Bonoas, Forterae, and Athena. Forterae was holding something in her hand, but Hazel couldn't see what- or who- it was. Why did they stop fighting? Hazel wondered. Did we win? She doubted it.

Suddenly, Athena began to glow, and Hazel yelped before dropping to the ground, eyes shut tight. From down on the field, an explosion of light burst around the battleground as Athena revealed her true form and disappeared.

"What was that?" Quincy asked, shakily standing and walking over to Hazel. Hazel peeked through one eye before deciding all was clear, then turned around to look down at the field again.

"Athena…left," Hazel answered. She pulled Quincy to his knees so that he knelt beside her, hidden from the monsters below. "Why would she leave?"

Forterae began to yell, but Hazel couldn't understand what she said; her voice reverberated around the stone walls of the HQ circling the field, and what Hazel heard was muddled and unintelligible. Occasionally, the monsters would cheer in response to whatever was being declared, and each time Hazel's heart sunk in fear. From the sound of it, the demigods had lost- where were they? She couldn't spot any of them from so far away.

"Isn't that the kid who cut my throat?" Quincy asked, pointing to Forterae's fist.

"You're lucky he didn't cut your head off," grumbled Hazel as she squinted to see better; she gasped. She could barely see the messy black hair of her best friend being squeezed to death in the monster's grip. "Oh no, Percy…" Had Forterae figured out his trick? Had he been caught?

"Wait…Percy? As in, Percy Jackson?" Quincy asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, Percy Jackson," Hazel responded, only half focused on what her partner was saying. "Why?"

"He's that guy that everyone always talks about at Camp. Wasn't he praetor once?"

Hazel didn't reply. She was too busy watching the monsters' strange actions. By now, they had started clearing the field- all except for the giants. The big blue and red ones were traipsing about the field, snatching people from the ground- her friends!

The giants dropped the demigods on the stage and threw a net over everyone but Percy.

"What's going on?" Hazel asked no one in particular. Quincy was just as lost as she was.

"They didn't tell me much in jail," he whispered. "Just that they had a plan to destroy the camps, and it involved me. They failed to mention that I was going to be the sacrifice-"

"Shh!" Hazel interrupted, trying to listen to Forterae's echo-y speech. All of a sudden, Forterae dragged Nico out from under the net and held a sword to his throat.

"We have to help them!" exclaimed Hazel, heart beating faster. She scrambled to her feet and looked around for a ladder, or maybe a trapdoor. She needed to get down there and help.

A bout of shouting erupted from the stage as Forterae and Percy yelled at each other, but Hazel wasn't listening anymore. She knocked on a few stones, trying to see if they'd activate a secret exit.

"'Swear it,'" mumbled Quincy. Then, louder, he told Hazel, "She's telling Percy to swear something."

All of a sudden, Percy screamed, and Hazel rushed back to the edge of the tower. "Is Nico-?"

She sighed from relief as Nico was thrown back under the net. Not hurt, she sighed inwardly.

Aralus scooped up the net and carried the demigods across the field, and Bonoas knocked Percy out.

"Why are they leaving him behind?" Hazel wondered. "I'm guessing they know he's working for us by now, so why haven't they killed him?"

She wanted to leave and follow the red giant, but what about Percy? She couldn't leave him behind. Forterae scooped up the limp body of the son of Poseidon and carried him in the opposite direction from Aralus.

"What now?" Quincy asked, and Hazel sat silently for a good twenty seconds before sighing, "Let's follow the red one."

"You mean Aralus? What about Percy? I mean, I'm not eager to meet the kid who could've killed me, but-"

"He wasn't going to kill you," Hazel shot back, grabbing the cut ropes and holding them up to see how long they were. "Percy can look intimidating, but he's one of the most honorable demigods I know. He would never kill another demigod without a really, really good cause."

"Hey, sorry," Quincy held up his hands in surrender. "Judging from all the stories I've heard about him, I know he's not someone to mess with. I heard that he nearly drowned Akhlys in her own tears and poison once, so you can't blame me for assuming the worst." Hazel didn't answer him; she just kept examining the ropes.

"What are you doing?"

"Do you think we could ties these back together and scale the tower?"

"Definitely not. This thing is, like, a hundred feet tall. At least."

"Do you have any ideas?" Hazel asked, getting a bit exasperated with Quincy's countless questions. She already felt bad about leaving Percy to the giants, but she knew she needed as many of her friends back as possible. The lives of the many outweigh the lives of the few, and as Frank once told her, "It's our duty to help as many lives as we can, and sometimes we have to pay a price to do that." Hazel's head knew that she couldn't defeat Forterae, but her heart knew that if Percy died, it'd be her fault.

Besides, if she went after Aralus, she and Quincy would have three conscious demigods to fight on their side instead of one unconscious demigod. Percy would have to defend himself until she could come back for him.

Quincy peered over the outer edge of the tower and down at the forest below. "I found Aralus!" he announced, waving Hazel over. She dropped the ropes and looked out to see the giant heading for a rushing river snaking its way through the trees. Then, Quincy closed his eyes and held out his hand over the edge of the tower.

"What are you-?"

"Shh!" Quincy's eyebrows furrowed in concentration, and below them, Hazel heard the leaves rustling. Suddenly, a cluster of vines sprung up and crawled along the side of the tower, climbing higher and higher as their leaves and roots clung to the stone and sprawled out in a web of green. Soon, the vines reached the railing, where they fastened themselves tight and wrapped around the crenellation.

Quincy opened his eyes and grinned. "This, however, we can scale down."

"Incredible," breathed Hazel. She brushed her fingertips along the vine. "And it's strong enough to hold us?"

"Of course," Quincy laughed. "Never doubt the work of a child of Ceres." He glanced at her hands, and the prideful smile was replaced by a tight-lipped frown. "Well, it usually can hold us up…"

Hazel looked down and yanked her hand away. The vine had withered under her touch, crinkling and shrinking into flaky remains. "Oh," she gulped.

Quincy grabbed hold of the vines and swung one leg over the tower's crenellation. "Maybe if we go quickly, the vines won't have time to… uh, die."

Hazel gritted her teeth. Sometimes she hated being a child of Pluto. Not only could she summon cursed gems, but she could also kill plants with one touch. Fun. As a child, Hazel didn't know what she was, and for a demigod ignorance is bliss. She could be near plants with little to no effect. Even before her quest to Alaska, it hadn't really happened often. After the Second Great Prophecy, however, she noticed an increase in her power. Maybe her time in the Mediterranean had put her in touch with her "death" side. Piper had mentioned the strength of her Charmspeak increasing after the war, and Nico had little trouble shadow traveling nowadays. In all honesty, it explained the dramatic boost of power Percy had been experiencing. Tartarus had changed him- maybe not personality-wise, but in regards to power…he was different.

Quincy reached out and tapped her arm, his hesitation to touch her not going unnoticed. "Hey, I'll keep the vines alive. You'll be fine."

Hazel reluctantly climbed over and onto the criss-crossing vines on the outside of the wall, and together Quincy and Hazel descended. Quincy dropped from vine to vine like a monkey, despite his weak state, and Hazel caught a glimpse of him smiling. Two weeks devoid of nature starved him from the thing he loved most, and being surrounded by nature refreshed him. Hazel, on the other hand, was feeling the opposite of refreshed. The vines mostly stayed in tact, but as Hazel paused and glanced up, she noticed a trail of withered leaves following her.

She paused too long. The vines she clung to dissolved under her touch, and the one she stood on crumpled under her weight. Hazel shrieked as she fell, fingers scraping the wall, trying to grab another vine. Suddenly, something snaked around her waist and pulled tight. Hazel stopped sliding- even hung a few inches from the wall- because of a thick vine Quincy had sent down to her from a couple feet above. He was breathing hard and looked terrified.

"Are you okay?" he called down, arm outstretched as he controlled the vine.

"Yes, thank you," she breathed. The vine around her waist began to loosen as it deteriorated, but Quincy sent another one just in time. He carried her down the wall, switching vines every so often, and before she knew it she was placed delicately on the ground. Quincy hopped off the wall a few feet above the ground and landed next to Hazel. He stood and, looking at his freckled hand, took a breath and offered it to her with a smile. Hazel's eyes widened. "Look," he began awkwardly. "Ceres kids and Pluto kids don't usually get along, but we aren't going to get anywhere as enemies."

"Agreed," Hazel grinned, and she took his hand. "Although something tells me a handshake isn't going to be enough to fix the rivalry between Aralus and the others," she added. "We should get going." They ran off to the right of the vine wall and headed deeper into the forest, dodging trees and leaping over bushes until they heard the splashing of the river.

"Where's your little fish friend now?" a rough, booming voice laughed.

"Aralus," hissed Quincy, and he pulled Hazel behind one of the larger trees draped in vines. Hazel pushed away a dangling vine and peeked around the left side of the tree, and Quincy the right. Aralus held the net trapping Jason, Piper, and Nico over the river. He leaned closer and sneered at them with his sharp, pointed teeth sticking out like a white picket fence that had been wrecked in a tornado.

Piper shuffled to the front of the net, her leg falling through the holes every other step, until she was face to face with the giant.

"Listen up, Buttercup," she grimaced. "You will le-"

"RARHG!" Aralus roared, and the demigods were shocked into silence. Piper looked taken aback. Then, shaking her head, she continued, "You wi-"

"ROOAAAR!" Aralus boomed, grinning like a madman.

Piper glared at the giant. "Will you just let me-"

"NO!" Aralus yelled. "I will not let a daughter of Aphrodite charmspeak me into helpessness." He shook the net, knocking the demigods into each other and causing Nico to elbow Jason in the gut.

"Time to die, brats." Aralus began to lower the net into the water.

"We need to do something," Hazel gasped. "Now."

"I don't think we can fight him and win," Quincy added pessimistically.

"We need a distraction," Hazel suggested. If Percy were here, we could just drown Aralus, or redirect the river, she thought. Hazel couldn't control the water…but she could control the land underneath the water.

Aralus dunked the net under the water and dropped his heavy hand on top, keeping the three demigods under.

"Hazel, Hazel," Quincy tapped her arm over and over in a panic.

"I've got this," she replied and thrust her hand out towards the river. Then, she jerked her hand upwards, and the bedrock began to shake.

"What the-" Aralus began, and before he could finish, a giant slab of rock erupted from the bottom of the river right underneath the net, sending the water flying into Aralus's face as well as flinging his hand and the net into the air.

"Quincy, catch them!" Hazel demanded, and Quincy launched a vine from the tree out towards the half bloods. The plant wrapped around them and yanked them over to Quincy and Hazel. The three half bloods rolled to a stop, coughing and choking up water.

"Oh my gods," Hazel grinned, hands covering her mouth in relief. "You're okay."

"Define 'okay,'" groaned Nico, shoving Jason off of his legs and tugging the netting out of his hair. Then, spotting Quincy, he asked "Who are you?"

"Quincy Clark, the guy who got thrown into Hazel. Pleasure to meet you."

"Where are my demigods?!" Aralus boomed, punching the slab of riverbed into oblivion and sending showers of rocks everywhere.

"We've got to go," Quincy whimpered. "We can't kill him alone."

"Stall him, then," Hazel ordered, gesturing to Quincy, Nico, and Piper. "Jason, call Tempest. We need to go rescue Percy."

"We don't have time," Jason replied. "We have to get back to Camp Half-Blood before the Giants' army arrives. They're preparing to leave right now."

"What?" Hazel asked incredulously.

"Guys! Make a plan," Piper growled as she stabbed Aralus's foot. She and Nico fought from the front, and Quincy kept tripping him from behind by making the roots of the trees grow farther up and out of the ground.

"We can't just leave him in the hands of the monsters, Jason," Hazel replied.

"I know, and I don't want to leave him, but we have to. He's made it this far, and he'll be able to keep things under control with the monsters- probably."

"Probably?"

"They still need him, so we know he won't die. We need to go prepare the Camp for war. At this point, it's all we can do." Hazel sighed in resignation. "Call Tempest." Jason whistled towards the sky, and Hazel did the same for Arion. It took mere seconds before a chorus of echoing neighs sounded down from the sky.

A beige blur sped through the trees and skidded to a halt at Hazel's side. "Arion," smiled Hazel. "Good to see you, buddy."

"Tempest!" Jason called as his storm cloud horse galloped down from the sky. "Ride's here," he called to the others. "Let's go!"

"See ya, buddy!" Piper yelled to Aralus, giving him a fake salute and sprinting towards Jason. She and Jason climbed aboard Tempest, and Quincy, Nico, and Hazel hopped aboard Arion.

"Where do you think you're going?" growled Aralus, standing up from the last time Quincy tripped him. He winced as his cut and bleeding feet brushed against the grass.

"We're going to whoop your a-" Nico began, but Arion sprinted away before he could finish. Tempest took off into the sky, galloping away into the clouds as Aralus roared after them.

Arion quickly took the lead, speeding ahead of Tempest.

"How is this possible?" yelled Quincy, clinging to Nico in order to keep from falling off of the world's fastest horse.

"Don't ask questions and just enjoy it!" Hazel laughed, smiling as the wind raced by, blowing her hair out of her face and tugging at her hoodie.

The scenery transformed into a blur of greens, blues, and browns, whizzing by in an indescribable mural of speed.

"How do we know where we're going?" Quincy asked. "We don't even know where the HQ was!"

"Arion knows where we're going," she called back. Then, realizing that Arion might not know where he's going, she whispered, "Arion, we're going to Camp Half-Blood, okay?" Arion whinnied loudly in response.

"Did he say 'yes?'" Quincy followed up.

"Honestly, I don't know- but I think it was a 'yes!' Percy's the one who speaks to horses, so I just make my best guess most of the time."

"Percy talks to horses?" he asked.

"It's kind of weird," Nico agreed. "But it's pretty cool at the same time."

"So what happened down in the field?" Hazel shouted back at her half-brother. "Why did Athena leave?"

"Well, everything went wrong all at once," Nico sighed, "After you got knocked out, the disguises went away and we were all discovered, then Athena showed up immediately after. The battle began, we killed half of the giants, and we were about to kill Forterae when she grabbed Percy and Aralus stabbed Athena."

"He stabbed a goddess?"

"Yep, so she had to leave us to fend for ourselves. That's when we got captured and…" Nico trailed off. He rubbed his throat absentmindedly. Hazel turned to see why Nico had stopped talking and saw the fresh cut across his throat, a fresh stream of blood slithering down his neck.

"Nico, what happened to you?"

He looked uncomfortable. "Um... Forterae held a sword to my throat and told Percy that unless he swore on the River Styx, she'd kill me."

"What did she want Percy to swear?" Hazel wasn't sure she wanted the answer.

Nico was quiet for a minute. "He swore that he'd kill a demigod in battle."

Nobody talked for the rest of the ride. Hazel's mouth hung open as she tried to process what Nico had just said. Percy had sworn to kill. Percy Jackson, the demigod that risked his life everyday to save the lives of others. Percy Jackson, the demigod whose fatal flaw was loyalty to those he cared about. How could he swear to kill one of his friends? He knew everybody at Camp.

Then again, the other option was to let Forterae kill Nico. Percy would rather die than watch his friend be killed as he stood idly by. Hazel and Frank both generally followed the "lives of many outweigh the few" motto, but Percy could never live like that. He has never lived like that.

At Arion's incredible speeds, it took only half an hour to reach Camp Half-Blood, which they approached from the north, meaning that the HQ must've been located somewhere in Northern Canada. Arion touched down with steaming hooves in the middle of the strawberry fields, trampling a good portion of the plants. A very surprised satyr scrambled away from the horse before shouting, "Hey everyone! They're back!"

Dozens of campers surrounded the three riders as they disembarked. Arion didn't stick around for the fame and instead took off like a bullet over the hill. Question upon question flooded the three, but before they could begin to answer any, Chiron made his way to the front of the crowd.

"Where are the others? And who have you brought back?"

"I'm Quincy Clark, from Camp Jupiter," Quincy introduced himself, holding out a hand to shake. Chiron took the offer and gave him a firm handshake. "Welcome. And the others?"

"Jason and Piper are riding Tempest over right now," Nico answered.

Chiron tried to keep a straight face, but Hazel could see the worry growing in his ancient eyes. "And where, might I ask, is Percy Jackson?"

"With the army," Hazel swallowed. "They got him."

"They've got Percy Jackson, and they're on their way over now to declare war."


What is this? Another chapter after only a week? Well, what'd'ya know? Next time, we'll get to see what's happened to Percy- who is unconscious yet again- and learn how he's handling his new promise.

I wanted to say thank you for all of the positive feedback from the last chapter. So many of you took the time to review, and those reviews were incredibly thoughtful! Honestly, seeing those made me smile so hard and skip about my room with a giant grin plastered on my face. Also, I noticed that many of you have dark imaginations as to how Percy will deal with his promise- and I like it :) . Angst is never lacking when I write. Anyways, please continue to read and review! Thanks!