11. The Battlefield

The heroes ran up the mountain toward the sound of clanging swords and clapping thunder. As they drew nearer to the battle that was now raging between the gods and the giants, they could begin to smell the smoke from several burning trees and feel the earth tremor beneath their feet. The terrain was getting steeper and more rocky, and the thick pine forest was starting to thin into random patches of tall pines mingled with saplings. The increasing altitude brought with it cooler temperatures, a cascading fog from the low hanging clouds, and progressively thinner air. Not only was the air thin and more difficult to breathe, it was also charged with static electricity, which was nothing if not annoying. As the forest became less dense, the heroes could begin to see the battle. The gods and giants were engaged in head-to-head combat spread out across a vast area on the side of Mount Olympus. The heroes stopped at the edge of a patch of trees and looked out toward the battlefield.

"They've scattered apart," Percy said observing the sizable distance between the individual fights.

Dakota nodded, "It's a battle tactic to prevent the giants from allying with one another. It creates a weaker opponent."

"Divide and conquer," Annabeth said.

"Exactly," Dakota confirmed.

"I guess this means we'll have to separate," Jason deduced.

"Looks like it," Reyna nodded. "Well, no time like the present. Be careful out there, guys."

Reyna took off out of the patch of trees and began running toward the giant, Ephialtes, and her father.

"Alright then," Percy said. "Let's go kill some giants."

Everyone disbanded from the patch of trees and onto the battlefield to join their parents.

Leo was about to make his exit when the sound of a woman's voice stopped him, "Leo Valdez."

Leo turned around to see the, now all too familiar, Fates.

"Oh, look, it's my stalkers," Leo smiled, but his tone was seething with sarcasm. "Good morning, ladies, or is it afternoon…what time is it? Oh, Hades, it doesn't matter-"

"Leo," one of the Fates cut him off. "You must remember, Leo. You must delay the deadly blow until the time is right."

"Yes, I know," Leo grumbled. "You've already told me that."

"We are trying to guide you to victory, Leo."

"Why me?" Leo asked. "Why am I the one you chose to…trust?"

"Because it is your fate, your destiny that is intertwined with the key to victory."

Leo shook his head, "I have no idea what you just said."

"Only you will know when the time is right," one of the Fates clarified. "Only you will get the signal."

"Listen, I don't know where your certainty in me comes from, but I'm not some great hero," Leo shook his head. "You know I'm just going to mess this up, right? I'm not brave and heroic like the other guys; I'm just the comic relief."

The Fates smiled, "You don't give yourself enough credit, Leo. Do you know where your name comes from?"

Leo was confused, "My name?"

"Leo, short for Leonidas, the great Spartan hero who led the three hundred Spartan warriors into battle at Thermopylae."

"Didn't the Spartans lose that battle?" Leo asked not feeling very encouraged.

"They did, but Leonidas' sacrifice bought the Greek army enough time to retreat and evacuate Athens before Xerxes burned the city to the ground. It also allowed Themistocles to organize a naval ambush and drive the Persians back to Asia. So you see Leo, even great heroes don't win every battle. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made to win the war, and most heroes are remembered for their sacrifices as much or more than their victories."

"Remembered for sacrifices, huh?" Leo grumbled. "That doesn't instill much hope, you know?"

"But when the time comes, perhaps those words will give you comfort."

The Fates disappeared into the fog before Leo could ask them what they meant. He shook the thought from his mind then ran out onto the battlefield to join the fight.

…

Reyna was the first to reach the fight. She had already drawn her bow and was firing arrows at Ephialtes when Apollo noticed she had joined him.

"About time you showed up," Apollo teased as he blocked a strike from the giant's sword with his gleaming gold shield.

Reyna looked up at Apollo who towered over her, "What, you can't handle the giant on your own?"

"Sure, I can," Apollo smiled as he continued his swordfight with Ephialtes. "But I was getting lonely."

Reyna shook her head, "You're so full of it."

Apollo grinned, "Full of charm, full of magnetism…oh, I think I feel a haiku coming on."

"Oh, for the love of the gods, please don't," Reyna begged.

Apollo ducked a strike from the giant spinning on his heel and bringing his elbow back making solid contact with the giants face. Golden ichor splattered from the giants jaw, and Reyna made a quick dash to avoid coming into contact with the giant's poisonous blood.

"You don't like my poetry?" Apollo continued.

"If it wasn't so self-absorbed, it might be alright," Reyna said to her father as she circled behind the giant and fired arrows into the chinks of the monster's armor.

"Self-absorbed? Me?"

"Yes, you," Reyna confirmed.

…

Annabeth ran toward Enceladus who was attempting to block Athena's javelin strikes with an uprooted pine tree. Annabeth couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous the giant looked with his makeshift spear.

"Are you laughing at the great Enceladus?" the giant sneered at Annabeth when he saw her.

"You look so absurd," Annabeth chuckled.

"I'll show you absurd," the giant said as he swung the enormous tree at Annabeth.

Annabeth dove out of the path of the incoming root wad, and Athena seized the moment to slam her javelin into the giant's back. Enceladus stumbled from the violent hit to his back, and Annabeth got to her feet.

"Nice distraction," Athena praised looking down at her daughter.

"Nice hit," Annabeth returned the compliment.

Enceladus regained his composure enough to block the next strike from Athena, meanwhile, Annabeth had managed to climb atop the giant's claw foot, and she drove her dagger hilt-deep into the scales. The giant whaled and instinctively kicked his foot slinging Annabeth hard to the ground and leaving her dagger buried in his foot.

Annabeth slowly got to her feet, and Athena asked, "Are you injured, Annabeth?"

"I'm alright," Annabeth assured her mother as she drew her bow from her back. "Now I have to get my dagger back."

Annabeth fired arrows at Enceladus while Athena continued to battle him with her javelin against his tree. Annabeth slowly began making her way toward the giant's foot where her dagger was still impaled. Athena's javelin made violent contact with the armor covering the giant's chest. Enceladus stumbled from the blow, and Annabeth used the distraction to jump back upon his foot. She pulled her dagger from Enceladus' foot, and the giant whaled again. He kicked his foot to remove Annabeth, but this time she was able to hold on and bury her dagger into his foot once again.

…

Mars and Mimon were engaged in a fierce spear fight, so Dakota used the opportunity to sneak up on Mimon. Dakota, armed with his spear and shield, carefully snuck in between the giant's two shuffling feet, and when the timing was right and the giant lifted his foot slightly, Dakota stabbed his spear into the exposed underside of the claw foot. Mimon cried out in pain and surprise. Mars struck the disoriented giant across the face with his spear causing Mimon to stumble and put his foot down. When he did, it drove Dakota's spear all the way through his claw foot resulting in the tip of Dakota's spear sticking out the top of the giant's foot. Mimon hobbled and limped on his impaled foot, and Mars took advantage of his pained reaction by slamming his shield into the giant and pushing him backward forcing him to put his weight on his painfully injured foot. The giant roared in pain and continued to stumble. Dakota drew his sword and leaped onto the giant's uninjured foot. Dakota raised his sword and drove it into the scales on the top of the huge claw foot. Mimon roared again, and now, with two injured feet, he staggered even more, and with one swift blow from his spear, Mars sent the giant crashing to the ground.

…

Percy, with Riptide in hand, approached the fight between his father and Polybotes.

The giant noticed Percy and chuckled, "Come to die, have you, boy?"

"You're the one that's going to die!" Percy yelled up to the giant.

The giant blocked a strike from Poseidon's trident with his colossal spear as he tried to stomp Percy with his foot. Percy easily spun out of the path of the giant's foot slashing his sword into Polybotes' heel in the process.

"Percy," Poseidon smiled as he slammed his trident against the giant's shield. "Glad you could make it. What took you so long?"

"The boat sank, fifty earth-born monsters ambushed us, and I had to break another bridge," Percy answered.

"You…wait, what? You broke a bridge?"

"The one across the moat," Percy said.

"Oh, right," Poseidon nodded. "I forgot about the moat…that bridge was a piece of crap anyway."

Percy laughed at his father's words as he slashed at the giant's legs and feet with Riptide.

"Can we kill this thing, yet?" Percy asked his father.

"The time isn't yet right," Poseidon answered as he blocked a strike from Polybotes with his trident. "Right now, we just have to keep the giants from ascending any further up the mountain."

Percy drove his sword into the giant's leg and removed it swiftly, "Nico and Thalia need to hurry up with whatever it is they're doing in the Underworld."

…

When Jason reached the fight between his father and Porphyrion, he noticed the top of the giant's head was smoldering. His hair, or what could only be loosely defined as hair, was burnt to a crisp thanks to one of Jupiter's lightning bolts, no doubt.

Jason had his sword drawn and his shield up as he circled the giant who was engaged in a fierce battle with Jupiter, spear versus lightning bolt. White hot sparks rained down with each blow, and the air was charged with so much electricity that Jason's gold armor, a perfect conductor, had visible currents of bright blue electricity flowing through it. Jason's hair was even trying to stand on end beneath his helm. When Jason made his first strike, a blow to the giant's heel, a current of electricity flowed from his sword and into the giant giving Porphyrion an unexpected jolt.

"Agh!" the giant yelled as he looked down to see where the shock had come from.

"You want some more?" Jason yelled up to Porphyrion.

"I will kill you!" the giant yelled in rage as he swung his spear down toward Jason.

Jason leaped out of the path of the giant's colossal spear which came crashing into the ground right where Jason had been standing. Before Porphyrion could raise his spear up in defense, Jupiter struck a blow to the giant's back with his lightning bolt, and thunder echoed across the mountainside.

Jason looked up at his father and said, "I think he's still mad at me."

"Anger breeds carelessness," Jupiter said to Jason. "In this case, that's a good thing."

…

Piper twirled her sword in one hand and held her dagger in the other as she quietly approached Alcyoneus from behind. Aphrodite was holding her own against the eldest of the giants. Her gleaming silver sword with elegant engravings on the blade was a thing of beauty when is slammed into the giant's sword. The goddess, herself, was the epitome of grace and style even in the heat of battle. She was ravishing in her armor and balletic in her maneuvers, and it made Piper want to puke. Aphrodite held the giants attention as Piper snuck up on him. She leaped onto his foot, but he was so focused on Aphrodite that he didn't even notice her. Piper began to carefully climb up the rugged scales on Alcyoneus' leg, and still, he didn't notice her; it was like he had tunnel vision, like he was so captivated by the goddess and his swordfight with her that nothing else in the world mattered. Piper had climbed up to the giant's hip when she found a perfect chink in his armor to drive her sword into his abdomen, and that's exactly what she did. The stabbing pain in the giant's stomach brought Alcyoneus out of his trance and he flailed about trying to knock Piper off himself, but she held on as she pulled her sword from the bleeding wound, careful not to let the giant's blood come into contact with her skin, then she stabbed her sword into him again.

…

Leo, wielding his molten metal sword, ran up to Hephaestus and Mimas, who were, again, engaged in a sword fight with their blazing hot blades.

Hephaestus saw Leo approaching and let out a chuckle, "Last one to join the party."

"I'm only fashionably late," Leo said as he sliced the inside of Mimas' right leg then made a dash out from between the giant's legs before he could get crushed by his enormous feet.

Hephaestus spun around slamming his sword into the back-plate of the giant's armor, and molten slag rained down to the ground. Hephaestus spun again, this time slamming the breast-plate of the giant's armor.

Mimas stumbled backward and Hephaestus looked down at Leo, "Did you use that toy I made you?"

"Toy?" Leo raised an eyebrow. "It was a twenty foot tall, ten ton spider."

"Ah, so you did use it," Hephaestus smiled as he blocked a strike from Mimas.

Leo continued to weave around the giant's feet, slashing his fiery sword at his legs, "Yeah, I used it. It came in pretty handy."

"Very good," Hephaestus nodded. "So, you're supposed to get a signal from the Fates telling us when to go in for the kill, is that right?"

"Yeah, that's right…I think," Leo said as he darted out from between the giant's legs, between Hephaestus' legs, and circled around behind his father.

Leo was about to make another pass by Mimas when he got a cold chill up his spine and stopped dead in his tracks. Leo began to feel dizzy and light headed, and his vision was beginning to blur.

"Leo? Leo, son, are you alright?" Hephaestus asked, but Leo couldn't make out what his father was saying; it was like he had water in his ears.

Leo's head began to throb, and he put his hands to his face; that's when his vision went black.