We are almost at the end. I would like to thank everyone who has supported this story. I hope you enjoy the new chapter.
For the first time since waking up at the Wilderness School, Reyna felt completely focused. She remembered who her mother was. More importantly, she remembered who she was.
The only thing Reyna wanted to do was make Khione pay for turning Hylla into a statue. It took her a moment to put the anger aside. The other enemies had to be dealt with first. Reyna grabbed the silver pocketknife from her backpack and flicked it open.
A wolf made the mistake of lunging at her. Reyna stepped to the side and stabbed the wolf in skull. She twisted the pocketknife then tore it out. Another wolf was already lunging.
Battle instincts kicked in. Reyna allowed it to take over. Exhaustion was now in the back of her mind. All that mattered was freeing Juno.
Reyna didn't know how much time had passed. She was busy attacking wolves, dodging storm spirits, and tricking Earthborn into hitting each other. Her only weapon was the pocketknife and items she picked up off of the floor. After a few minutes, she looked for her friends.
A glance to her left showed Piper holding her own against the Earthborn. Piper seemed to be glowing with beauty, and the Earthborn were distracted by it. They stood there and smiled until they were stabbed in the back by the daughter of Aphrodite.
Leo was fighting Khione. The goddess was summoning ice daggers, snow, and blasts of winter air. It didn't bother Leo because his body was covered in a red flame. His mere presence kept the room warm, and he was probably the only reason they weren't frozen.
Reyna stabbed her pocketknife into another wolf's neck. The pocketknife broke, and Reyna threw the useless weapon aside. Her right arm was hurting, and blood was starting to soak through the bandage.
When Reyna looked around, she was surprised to see most of the monsters incapacitated. Wolves were either dust or staggering around. Most of the Earthborn had been dispatched by Piper. A few storm spirits were scattered about.
"You three are too late!" Khione hissed. Reyna turned on the goddess in anger. "He is awake. Hera's plan will not work because you will kill each other first."
"It doesn't matter what happens," Reyna hissed. "I'm going to destroy you."
Khione looked at her and sneered. As she opened her mouth, Leo set one of his hammers ablaze and threw it at the goddess. Khione disappeared leaving behind a image of herself in snow that drifted to the ground.
"Everyone okay?" Piper asked. Her breathing was heavy. Reyna and Leo both nodded.
"I'm glad everyone else is okay," Juno said as the snow melted off of her cage. Reyna turned to look at her. "The only problem is that the queen of the heavens is dying over here!"
Reyna jumped into the pool and jogged towards the goddess. Her friends were right behind her. They knelt by the cage.
"Are you getting shorter?" Leo wondered.
"No," Juno hissed. She turned on Leo. "The earth is claiming me."
As Juno was sinking, the earth was rising up to meet her. It was up to her shins. Reyna stared trying to take deep breaths. It wouldn't do to panic.
"We only have seconds," Juno said. Her voice was getting weaker, and she almost sounded scared. "The giant is waking."
"Alright, you need to talk to the cage," Leo ordered as he looked at Piper. "Loosen the tendrils or something. Just slow it down."
"That makes perfect sense," Piper muttered. She knelt by the cage. "Gaea, aren't you still tired? I don't think you've slept enough. Maybe, you should go back to sleep. We would appreciate that."
The words seemed to have an effect. The mud rose slower than before, and it seemed like the tendrils had softened a little. Leo grabbed a circular saw from his belt and looked around.
"Does anyone have anywhere to plug this in?" Leo questioned. Reyna grabbed the saw from of his hands, and she threw it out of the pool. "Hey! What are you doing?"
"You don't need a saw," Reyna said. Leo stared at her. "Leo, you can do this without any tools. Do you remember what we talked about?"
"You threw away my saw," Leo said in shock. Reyna grabbed his shoulder tightly.
"Gaea tried to take you out because of this moment. She fears your power. Anyone can use a stupid saw. You have the power of fire," Reyna whispered. After a moment, Leo nodded determinedly.
There was no time to watch her friend's progress as there was a snapping sound. Reyna turned and stared at the other end of the pool. Pieces of the spire were falling to the ground. Porphyrion was pulling himself out of the earth.
Fear twisted Reyna's stomach around, and she wanted to flee. Porphyrion was much taller than Enceladus was, and there was a certain aura about him that ordered them to pay attention to him. The giant looked around as he brushed dirt off of himself.
Porphyrion wore bronze armor like Enceladus had, and he had the same dragon scales. His were the color of lima beans, and that color matched his braided hair. In his hair, there was an odd assortment of weapons.
Reyna took deep breaths to calm herself. She closed her eyes and opened them again. Porphyrion looked at her and spoke, "I am alive. Praise to Gaea!"
"Guys," Reyna whispered. She looked at her friends unable to raise her voice anymore. "I can give you five minutes, and no more. Hurry."
"Don't," Piper began standing.
"You have a mission," Reyna snapped. "Focus!"
Reyna turned back to the giant who was still looking around. Upon seeing her, he squinted and frowned. Porphyrion spoke, "Who are you? Athena? Artemis?"
"No," Reyna answered. She met the giant's eyes forcing her fear to the side. All she needed was to give her friends five minutes. "I'm a demigod."
Porphyrion instantly started laughing. He looked at her and spoke, "A demigod? Do you really think you can stop me? I was made to destroy Zeus!"
"Really?" Reyna questioned as she looked up at the sky. "It seems like you're pretty bad at your job. Jupiter is still ruling, and you just crawled out of Tartarus. It's too bad that I'm about to put you back down there."
Even though she didn't have a weapon or armor, Reyna sounded way more confident that she felt. It probably helped that Porphyrion was staring at the golden ichor she was covered in. The giant seemed surprised by it.
"Are we boasting then?" Porphyrion questioned. He leaned in close to get a better look. "I shall start then."
"I am Porphyrion, king of the giants, son of Gaea," Porphyrion began. "I once rose from Tartarus and challenged the gods. I stole Zeus' queen to kick start a war. Ah, there is the lovely bridge."
"My husband will destroy you like he did before," Juno promised, but her voice was extremely weak. Porphyrion laughed like the goddess amused him.
"If he destroyed me, why am I standing right here?" Porphyrion wondered. "No puny demigods can help you narrowly inch out victory. Gaea is waking, and our armies are going to shake the earth. We will destroy the Olympians at their roots."
Juno seemed too drained to respond. Piper was still talking to the cage, and Leo was melting something. It was hard for Reyna to see, but it didn't seem to be working.
Porphyrion turned his head and seemed to notice Piper and Leo. His eyes narrowed. Reyna stepped forward and spoke, "What do you mean the roots?"
"The Titans are not as patient as Gaea. They did not think to dig up the elder roots and burn them, so the flame of the Olympians will be extinguished," Porphyrion explained.
"What are you going to do when I stop you?" Reyna wondered. A large part of her regretted the words as soon as she said them. The confidence had just happened.
Porphyrion did not seem amused, and his only response was to hold out his hand. A twenty foot spear shot out of the ground and into his hand. Reyna gulped painfully and involuntarily took a step back. Porphyrion stomped on the ground.
Monsters all around them started to reform. In the background, Reyna could hear her friends talking to Juno. The words didn't register. They were surrounded, and she did not see a way out.
"You are quite a confident girl," Porphyrion said. "Are you a daughter of Ares? They are quite pigheaded. Why don't you tell me your boasts?"
Reyna looked around at her friends. Then, she looked around. Reyna forced herself to look back at the giant and spoke, "I am daughter of Bellona: the Roman goddess of war."
"I am a child of Rome," Reyna said taking a step forward. "I am a consul of demigods, praetor of the Twelfth Legion, attendant of the witch Circe."
Reyna gritted her teeth and tore off his bandage. Even with blood on her arm, it was still easy to see her tattoo. She raised her arm to show the giant. Porphyrion's eyes widened a bit.
"I led the army that destroyed the Titan's base on Mount Othrys," Reyna continued. More of her exploits ran through her head, but her voice stopped working. Her mind suddenly became clear. "I destroyed Enceladus, and you are next."
Even though it was probably the stupidest thing Reyna had even done, she charged the giant. Porphyrion seemed to be taken by surprise. Reyna scrambled up his arm and jumped up his leg. Porphyrion didn't even have the sense to react until she was on his shoulder.
Her eyes darted around at the weapons stuck in the giant's hair. Reyna grabbed a battleaxe, tore it out, and gripped it with both hands. She slammed it into the giant's ear with all of her might.
Porphyrion howled his pain and swatted at her. Reyna easily dodged and jumped off of the giant. She rolled through the landing and looked at herself. Reyna was literally glowing. Her mind was racing and trying to process what she had just done.
"The blessing of Bellona," Porphyrion hissed. He stabbed his spear forward. Reyna dodged to the side. When she turned, lighting slammed into her chest.
Reyna hit the ground hard and was pretty sure that she had blacked out for a few moments. Her entire body ached, and it was a miracle she wasn't dead.
A cruel laughter filled her ears. Porphyrion spoke, "How is that little blessing treating you? Or, is it already gone?"
Reyna couldn't respond. The blessing had saved her life twice in the past minute, but it was fading rapidly. There was no way Reyna could get to her feet. She didn't need to though.
"I got it!" Leo yelled.
"Sleep," Piper ordered. All around them, monsters started to fall asleep. Reyna slowly turned her head. Leo had melted the thickest tendril which seemed to sever the cage's connection to Juno.
Reyna tried to sit up, but she coughed up blood. That as not good. The world suddenly darkened for her. Reyna turned on her side and stared ahead. In one, small moment, she realized that she was dying.
The lightning had done much more damage than she originally thought, and the rest of the blessing was slipping away. It was the only thing keeping her alive. When it was gone, Reyna would be gone as well. She took her mind off of her hopeless predicament by watching Juno.
The goddess was growing in size and power. Juno threw off of her robe to show off a white dress. A golden crown was in her black hair. Juno spoke, "Now, it is time for my revenge!"
Porphyrion snarled at them and backed away. He slammed his spear into the ground and disappeared into the ground. Monsters instantly started to panic and look for an escape. Juno laughed evilly and spoke, "Demigods, cover your eyes!"
Reyna felt her mother's blessing leave her. She laid her head on the ground as her eyes drifted close. She felt heat pass over her, but that was the last thing she felt as everything faded away.