Amoriel woke at a table at a sidewalk cafe.

For a second, she thought she was still dreaming. It was a sunny morning. The air was brisk but not unpleasant for sitting outside. At the other tables, a mix of bicyclists, business people, and college kids sat chatting and drinking coffee.

She could smell the eucalyptus trees. Lots of foot traffic passed in front of quaint little shops. The street was lined with bottle-brush trees and blooming azaleas as if winter was a foreign concept.

In other words: Amoriel was in California. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Her friends sat in chairs around her—all of them with their hands calmly folded across their chests, dozing pleasantly, apart from Piper, who was sitting in her chair, grumbling. And they all had new clothes on. She looked down at her own outfit and gasped.

"Santa mierda!" (Holy shit!)

She yelled louder than she meant. Jason flinched, bumping the table with his knees, which woke Leo and Hedge up.

"What?" Hedge demanded. "Fight who? Where?"

"Falling!" Leo grabbed the table. "No—not falling. Where are we?"

Jason blinked, looking around. He then focused on Piper and made a little choking sound. "What are you wearing?"

Piper blushed. She was wearing a pretty turquoise dress, with black leggings and black leather boots. She had on a silver charm bracelet, and an old snowboarding jacket, which amazingly went with the outfit pretty well. "It's nothing," she said. "It's my—It's nothing."

Amoriel hadn't been left out. She was now wearing an adorable black baseball tee that said No 1 Love Angel with golden letters and a black leather jacket, with ombre wisteria pants, black converses that had golden details, her ring and charm bracelet was still in place but there was a new feathery heart-shaped locket around her neck and her raven hair had been fashioned into cute space buns. "I look so cute!" Amoriel said. Then she turned to Leo, who was sitting next to her. "Look at me, Aren't I look adorable?"

"You always look heavenly, mi amore." He said with a hazy smile, then he leaned down and kissed her cheek making Amoriel giggle.

Piper pulled out her knife, checking her reflection in the blade before handing it to Amoriel who did the same. Apparently, she only got a plum lipstick because she didn't need any improvements, her face was already perfect. Amoriel had a feeling that her makeover was from her father and not Aphrodite.

Leo grinned. "Aphrodite strikes again, huh? You're gonna be the best-dressed warriors in town, ladies."

"Repair boy, I'm the best-dressed warrior in everywhere," Amoriel answered.

"True."

"Hey, Leo. " Jason nudged his arm. "You look at yourself recently?"

"What ... oh."

He had been given a makeover too. Leo was wearing pinstriped pants, black leather shoes, a white collarless shirt with suspenders, and his tool belt, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and a porkpie hat.

"Well, aren't you looking handsome, hotstuff." Amoriel said to him, leaning closer to him and giving him an Eskimo kiss. Turning the boy into a tomato.

"God, Leo. " Piper interrupted their moment. "I think my dad wore that to his last premiere, minus the tool belt."

"Hey, shut up!"

"I think he looks good," said Coach Hedge. "Course, I look better. "

The satyr was a pastel nightmare. Aphrodite had given him a baggy canary yellow zoot suit with two-tone shoes that fit over his hooves. He had a matching yellow broad-brimmed hat, a rose-colored shirt, a baby blue tie, and a blue carnation in his lapel, which Hedge sniffed and then ate.

"Well," Jason said, "at least your mom overlooked me."

"Well, Jay-Jay apparently even Aphrodite couldn't help your face. It's not the goddess' fault that the material was bad." Amoriel joked. She and Leo and Coach Hedge laughed while Jason glared at them.

"Anyway," Piper said. "how did we get here?"

"Oh, that would be Mellie," Hedge said, chewing happily on his carnation. "Those winds shot us halfway across the country, I'd guess. We would've been smashed flat on impact, but Mellie's last gift—a nice soft breeze—cushioned our fall."

"And she got fired for us," Leo said. "Man, we suck. "

"Ah, she'll be fine," Hedge said. "Besides, she couldn't help herself. I've got that effect on nymphs. I'll send her a message when we're through with this quest and help her figure something out. That is one aura I could settle down with and raise a herd of baby goats. "

"Name her Amoriel two if it's a girl," Amoriel suggested with a grin.

"I'm going to be sick," Piper said. "Anyone else want coffee?"

"Coffee!" Hedge's grin was stained blue from the flower. "I love coffee!"

"Um," Jason said, "but—money? Our packs?"

Amoriel looked down. Their packs were at their feet, and everything seemed to still be there. Piper reached into her coat pocket, felt about for something. So did Amoriel but while Piper pulled out a wad of cash, she pulled out something entirely different.

Leo whistled. "Allowance? Piper, your mom rocks!"

"Leo if her mom's rocks, what does my father do?" She asked while she showed them what was in her pocket and shocked the demigods.

An American Express Centurion Card.

"Is that?" Piper asked in shock.

"Yup," Amoriel answered equally in shock. "I don't know about you guys but I'm gonna get a caramel macchiato."

"Waitress!" Hedge called. "Six double espressos, and whatever these guys want. Put it on the girl's tab. "

It didn't take them long to figure out where they were. The menus said. "Café Verve, Walnut Creek, CA." And according to the waitress, it was 9 a. m. on December 21, the winter solstice, which gave them three hours until Enceladus's deadline.

They didn't have to wonder where Mount Diablo was, either. They could see it on the horizon, right at the end of the street. After the Rockies, Mount Diablo didn't look very large, nor was it covered in snow. It seemed downright peaceful, its golden creases marbled with gray-green trees. But size was deceptive with mountains. It was probably much bigger up close. And appearances were deceptive too. Here they were—back in California with sunny skies, mild weather, laid-back people, and a plate of chocolate chip scones with coffee. And only a few miles away, somewhere on that peaceful mountain, a superpowerful, super-evil giant was about to have Piper's dad for lunch.

Leo pulled something out of his pocket—the old crayon drawing Aeolus had given him. Aphrodite must've thought it was important if she'd magically transferred it to his new outfit.

"What is that?" Amoriel asked.

Leo folded it up gingerly again and put it away. "Nothing. You don't want to see my kindergarten artwork. "

"It's more than that," Jason guessed. "Aeolus said it was the key to our success. "

Leo shook his head. "Not today. He was talking about... later. "

"How can you be sure?" Piper asked.

"Trust me," Leo said. "Now—what's our game plan?"

Coach Hedge belched. He'd already had three espressos and a plate of doughnuts, along with two napkins and another flower from the vase on the table. He would've eaten the silverware, except Piper, had slapped his hand.

"Climb the mountain," Hedge said. "Kill everything except Piper's dad. Leave. "

Amoriel laughed at the old goat. He knew how to break the tension.

"Thank you, General Eisenhower," Jason grumbled.

"Hey, I'm just saying!"

"Guys," Piper said. "There's more you need to know. "

Piper seemed to be struggling for words, but in the end, she told them their true enemy: Gaea and how she's bringing people back to life.

"Gaea?" Leo shook his head. "Isn't that Mother Nature? She's supposed to have, like, flowers in her hair and birds singing around her and deer and rabbits doing her laundry. "

"Leo, that's me," Amoriel said.

"Okay, but—"

"Listen, cupcake. " Coach Hedge dabbed the espresso out of his goatee. "Piper's telling us some serious stuff, here. Gaea's no softie. I'm not even sure I could take her. "

Leo whistled. "Really?"

Hedge nodded. "This earth lady—she and her old man the sky were nasty customers. "

"Ouranos," Piper said. Amoriel couldn't help looking up at the blue sky, wondering if it had eyes.

"Right," Hedge said. "So Ouranos, he's not the best dad. He throws their first kids, the Cyclopes, into Tartarus. That makes Gaea mad, but she bides her time. Then they have another set of kids—the twelve Titans—and Gaea is afraid they'll get thrown into prison too. So she goes up to her son Kronos—"

"The big bad dude," Leo said. "The one they defeated last summer. "

"Right. And Gaea's the one who gives him the scythe, and tells him, 'Hey, why don't I call your dad down here? And while he's talking to me, distracted, you can cut him to pieces. Then you can take over the world. Wouldn't that be great?'"

Nobody said anything. Amoriel's chocolate chip scone didn't look so appetizing anymore. Even though she'd heard the story before, she still couldn't quite get her mind around it. She tried to imagine a kid so messed up, he would kill his own dad just for power. Then she imagined a mom so messed up, she would convince her son to do it.

"Definitely not Snow White," Piper decided.

"Nah, Kronos was a bad guy," Hedge said. "But Gaea is literally the mother of all bad guys. She's so old and powerful, so huge, that it's hard for her to be fully conscious. Most of the time, she sleeps, and that's the way we like her—snoring. "But she talked to me and Amorie," Leo said. "How can she be asleep?"

Gleeson brushed crumbs off his canary yellow lapel. He was on his sixth espresso now, and his pupils were as big as quarters. "Even in her sleep, part of her consciousness is active—dreaming, keeping watch, doing little things like causing volcanoes to explode and monsters to rise. Even now, she's not fully awake. Believe me, you don't want to see her fully awake. "

"But she's getting more powerful," Piper said. "She's causing the giants to rise. And if their king comes back—this guy Porphyrion—"

"He'll raise an army to destroy the gods," Jason put in. "Starting with Hera. It'll be another war. And Gaea will wake up fully. "

Gleeson nodded. "Which is why it's a good idea for us to stay off the ground as much as possible. "

Leo looked warily at Mount Diablo. "So ... climbing a mountain. That would be bad. "

Piper's face darkened, and she looked down. Amoriel could understand why. First, she'd been asked to betray them. Now they were trying to help her rescue her dad even though they knew they were walking into a trap. The idea of fighting a giant had been scary enough. But the idea that Gaea was behind it—a force more powerful than a god or Titan ...

"Guys, I can't ask you to do this," Piper said. "This is too dangerous. "

"You kidding?" Gleeson belched and showed them his blue carnation smile. "Who's ready to beat stuff up?"

Amoriel took Piper's hand across the table, giving the girl a warm smile. "We're going to save your dad, Piper. You would do the same for us. You're our friend. We're not going to let your dad die."

"Amoriel's right, Beauty Queen," Leo backed up his girlfriend. "As long as your dad gives me an autograph."

Amoriel lightly shoved Leo but laughed along.

"Seriously though, Piper," Jason said. "You don't have to face things alone."

"Thank you, guys." Piper's voice was shaky as she squeezed Amoriel's hand, her heart warm from the affection and reassurance her friends were giving her.

"Now," Amoriel said getting up from her chair. "Like Coach said: Who's ready to beat stuff up?"

Amoriel knew that the taxi couldn't take them all the way to the top nor did she hope it would. She doesn't want to bring a mortal who'll most likely die into the demigods' affairs. She didn't have to worry when the taxi made lurching, grinding sounds as it ascended the mountain road, and the way up they found the ranger's station shut, a chain blocking the way.

"Far as I can go," the cabbie said. "You sure about this? Gonna be a long walk back, and my car's acting funny. I can't wait for you. "

"We're sure. " Amoriel was the first one out, with Leo in a close second. She had a bad feeling about the whole place. When she tried to figure out what was wrong with the taxi, she saw that the wheels were sinking into the road like it was made of quicksand. Not fast—just enough to make the driver think he had a transmission problem or a bad axle—but the demigods knew different.

The road was hard-packed dirt. No reason at all it should have been soft, but already their shoes were starting to sink. Gaea doesn't want them here and she's not hiding it either. Thankfully, the shoes that her father gave her was comfortable.

While the rest of us got out, Leo paid the cabbie. He was generous—heck, why not? It was Aphrodite's money. Plus, they might never be coming off this mountain.

"Keep the change," he said. "And get out of here. Quick. "

The driver didn't argue. Soon all all could see was his dust trail.

The view from the mountain was pretty amazing. The whole inland valley around Mount Diablo was a patchwork of towns—grids of tree-lined streets and nice middle-class suburbs, shops, and schools. All these normal people living normal lives—the kind I had never known.

"That's Concord," Jason said, pointing to the north. "Walnut Creek below us. To the south, Danville, past those hills. And that way ..."

Amoriel pointed west, where a ridge of golden hills held back a layer of fog, like the rim of a bowl. "That's the Berkeley Hills. The East Bay. Past that, San Francisco. "

"Guys?" Piper touched Jason's arm. "You remember something? You two have been here?"

"Yes ... no. "Both he and Amoriel gave her an anguished look. "It just seems important. "

"That's Titan land. " Coach Hedge nodded toward the west. "Bad place, Jason. Trust me, this is as close to 'Frisco as we want to get. "

But Amoriel looked toward the foggy basin with such longing that Leo felt uneasy. Why did Amoriel seem so connected with that place—a place Hedge said was evil, full of bad magic and old enemies? The thought came ridiculous, his Amorie couldn't be bad.

Amoriel noticed her feet almost completely embedded in the dirt, but thankfully none sipped slipped through her converses.

"Hey, guys," Leo said. "Let's keep moving. "

The others noticed the problem.

"Gaea is stronger here," Hedge grumbled. He popped his hooves free from his shoes, then handed the shoes to Leo. "Keep those for me, Valdez. They're nice. "

Leo snorted. "Yes, sir, Coach. Would you like them polished?"

"That's varsity thinking, Valdez. " Hedge nodded approvingly. "But first, we'd better hike up this mountain while we still can. "

"How do we know where the giant is?" Piper asked.

Amoriel pointed toward the peak. Drifting across the summit was a plume of smoke. From a distance, it looked like nothing but harmless clouds, but it wasn't. Something was burning.

"Smoke equals fire," Amoriel said. "And I don't think anyone's chilling at this creepy mountain right now so it can only be Enceladus."

Climbing a mountain is hard. But climbing a mountain when the earth was trying to swallow your feet was a whole different level of hard. Amoriel felt like the ground was pulling her down.

Sometime along the trek, Amoriel and Piper had found each other's hands. The two held on to each other in comfort and occasionally to pull each other when the other is starting to slow down or having a hard time walking. The girl's hand was clammy and sweaty and Amoriel knew how stressed she was with her father's life on the line she tried to comfort her as much as she could.

She missed her purple shirt. Even more than that, she missed Festus. They could use a fire-breathing bronze dragon right now. But she knew Festus would not be coming back.

Amoriel looked at Leo, who had pulled out the dubbed 'Crayon drawing of destiny.' She wondered what it meant, what it had to do with their future.

First things first, she told herself. Survive today. Figure out the crayon drawing of destiny later.

Finally, Jason crouched behind a wall of rock. He gestured for the rest of us to do the same. Leo crawled up next to him, followed by Amoriel. Piper had to pull Coach Hedge down.

"I don't want to get my outfit dirty!" Hedge complained.

"Shhh!" Piper said.

Reluctantly, the satyr knelt.

Just over the ridge where they were hiding, in the shadow of the mountain's final crest, was a forested depression about the size of a football field, where the giant Enceladus had set up camp.

Trees had been cut down to make a towering purple bonfire. The outer rim of the clearing was littered with extra logs and construction equipment—an earthmover; a big crane thing with rotating blades at the end like an electric shaver—must be a tree harvester, Amoriel thought—and a long metal column with an ax blade, like a sideways guillotine—a hydraulic ax.

Why a giant needed construction equipment, Amoriel wasn't sure. She didn't see how the creature in front of her could even fit in the driver's seat. The giant Enceladus was so large, so horrible, she didn't want to look at him.

But she forced herself to focus on the monster.

To start with, he was thirty feet tall—easily as tall as the treetops. Amoriel was sure the giant could've seen them behind their ridge, but he seemed intent on the weird purple bonfire, circling it and chanting under his breath. From the waist up, the giant appeared humanoid, his muscular chest clad in bronze armor, decorated with flame designs. His arms were completely ripped. Each of his biceps was bigger than her. His skin was bronze but sooty with ash. His face was crudely shaped, like a half-finished clay figure, but his eyes glowed white, and his hair was matted in shaggy dreadlocks down to his shoulders, braided with bones.

From the waist down, he was even more terrifying. His legs were scaly green, with claws instead of feet—like the forelegs of a dragon. In his hand, Enceladus held a spear the size of a flagpole. Every so often he dipped its tip in the fire, turning the metal molten red.

"Okay," Coach Hedge whispered. "Here's the plan—"

Leo elbowed him. "You're not charging him alone!"

"Aw, c'mon. "

"I'll go with him," Amoriel said.

Leo slapped her arm. "No. There's no way you'll survive that."

"Yeah, Amorie. He'll kill you." Jason agreed, watching the girl warily.

Amoriel scoffed. "Oh, so because I'm a girl you don't think I'm not a good enough warrior? Is that it, huh?"

The boys spluttered. "W-What? No! That's not it at—"

Amoriel laughed at their horrified faces. " I'm just joking. I'm not going to charge him now."

The two seem to relax a little until they realized what she said. "Now? Amorie—"

Piper choked back a sob, interesting Leo. "Look. "

Just visible on the other side of the bonfire was a man tied to a post. His head slumped like he was unconscious, so Amoriel couldn't make out his face, but Piper didn't seem to have any doubts.

"Dad," she said.

Amoriel wished this was a Tristan McLean movie. Then Piper's dad would be faking unconsciousness. He'd untie his bonds and knock out the giant with some cleverly hidden anti-giant gas. Heroic music would start to play, and Tristan McLean would make his amazing escape, running away in slow motion while the mountainside exploded behind him.

But this wasn't a movie. Tristan McLean was half dead and about to be eaten. The only people who could stop it—four fashionably dressed teenaged demigods and a megalomaniac goat.

"There's five of us," Hedge whispered urgently. "And only one of him. "

"Did you miss the fact that he's thirty feet tall?" Leo asked.

"Okay," Hedge said. "So you, me, Amoriel and Jason distract him. Piper sneaks around and frees her dad. "

"It's not a completely horrible plan," Amoriel said thoughtfully before turning to Jason. Even Piper and Leo did, to ask him for confirmation.

They all looked at Jason.

"What?" Jason asked. "I'm not the leader. "

"Yes," Piper said. "You are. "

"Why isn't Amorie the leader? She's been on quests too."

"Because this is your quest and I'm only here to make sure you don't get yourself killed while whatever you're doing, dumbass. I follow and add a few inputs here but that's it." Amoriel said,

"Okay." Jason took a deep breath. "Okay."

They never really talked about it, but no one disagreed, not even Hedge. Coming this far had been a team effort, but when it came to a life-and-death decision, they knew Jason or Amoriel was the ones to ask. Even if they had no memory, the two had a kind of balance to them. You could just tell they'd been in battles before, and they knew how to keep their cool. And if Amoriel didn't want to be the leader this time that only left Jason.

"I hate to say it," Jason sighed, "but Coach Hedge is right. A distraction is Piper's best chance. "

Not a good chance, Amoriel thought. Not even a survivable chance. Just their best chance.

They couldn't sit there all day and talk about it, though. It had to be close to noon—the giant's deadline—and the ground was still trying to pull them down. Amoriel's knees had already sunk two inches into the dirt.

Leo looked at the construction equipment and then nudged my shoulder. He brought out a little toy he'd made on the climb, and Amoriel realized what it could do—if they were lucky, which they almost never were.

"Let's boogie," he said. "Before I come to my senses. "

The plan went wrong almost immediately, not that it surprised Amoriel that it did. Piper scrambled along the ridge, trying to keep her head down, while Amoriel, Leo, Jason, and Coach Hedge walked straight into the clearing.

Jason summoned his golden lance. He brandished it over his head and yelled, "Giant!" Which sounded pretty good, and a lot more confident. I was thinking more along the lines of, "your so ugly, your mom could sell you to a modern art museum!" Which admittedly, is not a good idea seeing as his mom is Gaea who wants her and her friends dead.

Enceladus stopped chanting at the flames. He turned toward them and grinned, revealing fangs like a saber-toothed tiger's.

"Well," the giant rumbled. "What a nice surprise. "

Amoriel didn't like the sound of that. She nudged Leo, and his hand closed on his windup gadget. He stepped sideways, edging his way toward the bulldozer.

Coach Hedge shouted, "Let the movie star go, you big ugly cupcake! Or I'm gonna plant my hoof right up your—"

"Coach," Jason said. "Shut up. "

Enceladus roared with laughter. "I've forgotten how funny satyrs are. When we rule the world, I think I'll keep your kind around. You can entertain me while I eat all the other mortals. "

"Is that a compliment?" Hedge frowned at Amoriel. "I don't think that was a compliment. "

"It's sort of a compliment with a hint of a death threat," Amoriel told him.

Enceladus opened his mouth wide, and his teeth began to glow.

"Scatter!" Leo yelled.

Jason and Hedge dove to the left as the giant blew fire, and Amoriel ducked right—a furnace blast so hot even Festus would've been jealous. Leo dodged behind the bulldozer, wound up his homemade device, and dropped it into the driver's seat. Then he ran to the right, heading for the tree harvester.

Jason stood and charge the giant. Amoriel did the same, giving giant a terrifying glare as she bolted towards him with a kind of power in her steps. Coach Hedge ripped off his canary yellow jacket, which was now on fire, and bleated angrily. "I liked that outfit!" Then he raised his club and charged, too.

Before they could get very far, Enceladus slammed his spear against the ground. The entire mountain shook.

The shockwave sent Leo sprawling. Coach Hedge was knocked out cold. He'd fallen forward and hit his head on a log. His furry hindquarters were sticking straight up. At the corner of her eyes, Amoriel saw Jason staggering to his feet. She had been the only one who had managed to stay standing.

The giant bellowed, "I see you, Piper McLean!" He turned and blew fire at a line of bushes to Leo's right. Piper ran into the clearing like a flushed quail, the underbrush burning behind her.

Enceladus laughed. "I'm happy you've arrived. And you brought me my prizes!"

Amoriel wanted to empty an entire quiver full of arrows to his chest, but she knew it would do nothing. This was the moment Piper had warned them about. They'd played right into Enceladus's hands.

The giant laughed at Leo, seeing the look on his face. "That's right, son of Hephaestus. I didn't expect you all to stay alive this long, but it doesn't matter. By bringing you here, Piper McLean has sealed the deal. If she betrays you, I'm as good as my word. She can take her father and go. What do I care about a movie star?"

Amoriel could see Piper's dad more clearly now. He wore a ragged dress shirt and torn slacks. His bare feet were caked with mud. He wasn't completely unconscious, because he lifted his head and groaned—yep, Tristan McLean all right. But he had a nasty cut down the side of his face, and he looked thin and sickly—not heroic at all.

"Dad!" Piper yelled.

Mr. McLean blinked, trying to focus. "Pipes ...? Where ..."

Piper drew her dagger and faced Enceladus. "Let him go!"

"Of course, dear," the giant rumbled. "Swear your loyalty to me, and we have no problem. Only these others must die. "

Piper looked back and forth between Leo and her dad.

"He'll kill you," Leo warned. "Don't trust him!"

"Oh, come now," Enceladus bellowed. "You know I was born to fight Athena herself? Mother Gaea made each of us giants with a specific purpose, designed to fight and destroy a particular god. I was Athena's nemesis, the anti-Athena, you might say. Compared to some of my brethren—I am small! But I am clever. And I keep my bargain with you, Piper McLean. It's part of my plan!"

"Don't listen to him, Piper!" Amoriel screamed.

Jason was on his feet now, lance ready; but before he could act, Enceladus roared—a call so loud it echoed down the valley and was probably heard all the way to San Francisco.

At the edge, the woods, half a dozen ogre-like creatures rose up. Amoriel grimaced. "Oh great. Now there's them."