A/N: Hey guys, as a Christmas present to you, I decided to post another chapter of this story! Thank you for your support as always and I hope you enjoy it!

It's not everyday you find yourself in combat with a bunch of man-eating giants. But when you're the son of a Greek God, it happens. (Oddly, this feels like a reference to something…)

My mortal friend Jake was running away, while I held out my sword, hoping to deter the monsters from chasing after him. I couldn't take on all these monsters by myself even if I summoned a zombie army to help me (plus, summoning a zombie army would drain the life out of me, pun not intended). And best of all, Isabella was missing. Yeah, that happens a lot. Either it's because she's good at running away or I'm a horrible babysitter. Probably both.

"Die, little demigod." the male empousa hissed, leaping towards me. I rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the wall. I scrambled back to my feet, as the empousa leered towards me once again.

"You are a fool," he hissed, towering over me. "Thinking that we would let you live!"

I slashed my sword. He yelped, a searing cut burning across his middle. He laughed.

"Fool!" he bellowed, covering the cut with a clawed hand. "You will burn!"

Something grabbed me, forcing the air out of my lungs. It was a Cyclops, glaring at me with its beady eye. My arms went limp. My lungs felt like they were going to explode. I could hear the monsters cheering all around me.

"Kill him!" they chanted. "Kill him!"

This was the second time this had happened. My life was going fantastically as you can tell. (Demigod standards, I suppose...)

"KILL HIM!" the voices grew louder and more urgent. My vision was going blurry, and my throat was choked.

Is this it? I thought. Sorry, Dad. Guess I'll be... seeing you a little earlier than I thought...

Suddenly, the Cyclops dropped me. The fall knocked the wind out of me.

"Not today!" screamed a familiar voice. Out of nowhere, Jake appeared, slamming a broomstick into the Cyclops. It yet let out an agitated roar, glaring at him. I stared at him with horror.

My voice croaked weakly. "I… I told you…"

"No way," Jake said, shaking his head. "I'm not leaving you here. I know I'm not a demigod or whatever, but... I couldn't just leave you there to die."

He held out his hand. I hesitated for a second. Then, sighing, I grabbed it, and he hoisted me up. I stared into his brown eyes for a moment; he didn't even look scared. He looked quite the opposite. I was at a loss for words. Most mortals weren't this daring.

He wouldn't make for a bad hero, I thought.

I cleared my throat. I was losing my head here. Valiant or not, he was still a mortal, at the end of the day. I didn't want him to lose his life either.

"Seriously," I said, stepping away from him. "This isn't the place for mortals."

"You're mortal, aren't you?" Jake asked.

I frowned. "Yes, but… I mean… this isn't the place for humans. You guys tend to get in the way."

"Are you sure about that?" Jake asked, with a smug smile. His attitude kind of reminded me of Percy.

I tilted my head. "What do you-"

Suddenly, a car crashed through the wall, debris flying everywhere. I covered my face, sound ringing through my ears. When I opened my eyes, I couldn't believe what I saw.

".. Jules-Albert." I said, a small smile surfacing on my face. My zombie chauffeur was mowing over tons of monsters in a big van, with Tartarus' number on the side door. Alarms were blaring, and the sprinklers were going off, covering us with rain. I shook my head. I wasn't really in the mood to deal with water again. Jake helped me up for a second time, a big grin on his face.

"Zombies are so cool," he said, watching as Jules-Albert mowed over two monsters at once.

I almost laughed. "Some mortals aren't so bad, either."

"Not just him," said another familiar voice. "Me too!"

I whipped around, almost falling over for a third time. "Isabella!"

My friend climbed out of my chauffeur's car. She ran over to me, and threw her arms around my waist. I froze up, like a statue. I resisted the urge to push her away. To be fair, we were both covered in water, so it was kind of gross.

"Your chauffeur is so cool," she said, "even if he doesn't talk much."

I gently pulled her off me, but kept a brief hand on her shoulder. "I don't know how you keep getting lost, Bella, but seriously." I took a deep breath. My brain was all mixed up. "Stay. Near. Me."

Bella nodded, still cheerful (and kind of oblivious). "Of course!"

"Guys, I think you should get out of here," Jake said, coming in between us, "those monsters won't stay down forever. And plus, the police will be here anytime."

"Right," I said. Not that the police were any real threat, but I still didn't want to be pulled in for questioning and waste heaps of time. I grabbed Isabella's arm and walked over to my chauffeur. He stared at me with that creepy look only dead people can have.

"Hey," I coughed, digging my hands into my pockets. "Um, sorry about before."

Jules-Albert shrugged. Thankfully, he didn't get angrily very easily.

I nodded. "Can you drive us out of here?"

Jules-Albert returned my nod. I hoisted Isabella into the van.

"What about Jake?" she asked. I clenched my fists. Damn mortals.

"Jake!" I yelled. He was nearby the hole in the wall. The monsters were starting to recover from being mowed over.

"Go!" he replied. "I'll distract them!"

"He's really confident," Isabella said, a small frown on her face. "He'll probably die if he stays here."

"Jake, you'll die if you stay there," I said, taking her advice to heart. "Run away! Get out of here!"

Jake stared at his hands, confidence in his eyes. "No. I'm… coming with you."

"What?!" I asked. Jake ignored my concerns and ran forward, monsters getting up and chasing him. Now the police were here, as well as a lot of screaming guests. The police were shooting monsters, not really doing anything useful. Guns don't work on monsters, trust me.

Jake climbed into the van. The police were now staring at us, and aimed their guns. Unlike monsters, demigods can be shot (Jake as well, for that matter). So I wasn't planning to stick around.

"Jules-Albert," I said, "step on it."

And he did. I sighed in relief, leaning my head against the back of the seat. I closed my eyes, and instantly fell asleep.