I like the end of this chapter- just saying.
Replies:
Undeath9087: Yeah, Bianca has a lot of issues rooted in her own self esteem and what she thinks of herself- and obviously that doesn't mean others agree but yeah, she has issues. Poor thing.
Jubby1905: I hope so! :) Also, just picture Jason trying to stealthily get them some alone time.
Drizzle: Reyna definitely has feelings for Bianca- but neither of them realise- sort of like Will and Nico a while back, they both don't believe the other's interested.
Guest: I mean, it's never stated in canon but I feel like it'd make sense. Explain her devotion, her willingness to die for Artemis.
DrizzleRain: She's already left the hunters at this stage- but her and Reyna getting together- we'll have to see their relationship progress which is fun. And yeah, Percy does very much need help- but it's never easy.
MKDemiGodzille-Warrior: Well you'll have to wait and see- but it will be fun to see how things go- honestly the Reyna Bianca stuff is gonna be some of the funnest to write.

Leo wasn't sure how long it had taken for Bob to get them where they needed to go- they'd left the Phlegethon behind, which wasn't a good thing because Leo was feeling the effects of the toxic air, he and Nico were clinging to one another as they made their way though Tartarus, keeping as close as they could to Bob, who had Percy tucked against his chest- and gods but Leo wished that his sister would wake up. He wanted to hear her voice, to know that she was okay. That she'd be just fine but- but there was no sign of it- and he could see the blisters starting to form on his sisters skin, matching his and Nico's.

It felt like they'd been walking for a lifetime- the landscape kept changing- they were going downhill now Leo was sure, and the air stank of sewage. The darkness maybe wasn't quite as intense, but he could only see Bob because of the glint of his white hair and the point of his spear.

And then Bob stopped- it was a sudden thing and Leo nearly tripped when the Titan said, "Look!"

And He peered ahead into the gloom. The terrain levelled out into a black swamp. Sulfur-yellow mist hung in the air. Even without sunlight, there were actual plants—clumps of reeds, scrawny leafless trees, even a few sickly-looking flowers blooming in the muck. Mossy trails wound between bubbling tar pits. Directly in front of them, sunk into the bog, were footprints the size of trash-can lids, with long, pointed toes.

Leo swallowed hard, "Drakon?" his voice wobbled slightly- after all the last time he'd come face to face with a Drakon he'd had Festus there, and Clarisse had arrived in time to kick some monster ass. This time that was highly unlikely.

"Yes." Bob grinned at them, "That is good."

"It is?" Nico frowned, and Leo was glad when he gripped his arm a touch tighter, it was comforting.

"How is a drakon good?" Leo's voice was incredulous.

"Because we are close."

Bob marched into the swamp.

Nico and Leo didn't have much choice but to follow him, though Leo was willing to admit that he really, really didn't want to. Sure he'd fought a drakon before but it had been a pretty terrifying experience. And- Bob was remembering things now, that didn't feel like a good sign. He wasn't healing Percy because he was starting to remember. What if he got his memories back fully and decided he wanted to kill them?

It was hard to imagine- since Bob seemed so nice, but... it was a terrifying possibility given what Leo knew about how the Titan used to be.

After what felt like a lifetime of trudging along beside the Titan the yellow mist parted, revealing a muddy clearing like an island in the muck. The ground was dotted with stunted trees and wart mounds. In the center loomed a large, domed hut made of bones and greenish leather. Smoke rose from a hole in the top. The entrance was covered with curtains of scaly reptile skin, and flanking the entrance, two torches made from colossal femur bones burned bright yellow.

Leo blinked rapidly as he saw the drakon skull. Fifty yards into the clearing, about halfway to the hut, a massive oak tree jutted from the ground at a forty-five-degree angle. The jaws of a drakon skull encircled the trunk, as if the oak tree were the dead monster's tongue.

Then there was a might roar that echoed through the swamp from behind them- and Leo considered himself very brave for not wetting himself from fear at that noise- it sounded exactly like the drakon from the battle.

Nico and Leo turned around in unison- and they saw the drakon as it charged toward them.

It's hide was dappled green and yellow, like sunlight through a forest canopy. Its reptilian eyes were sea green- which was a ridiculous thing to notice but impossible not to.

It was easily as long as a subway train. Its massive talons dug into the mud as it pulled itself forward, its tail whipping from side to side. The drakon hissed, spitting jets of green poison that smoked on the mossy ground and set tar pits on fire, filling the air with the scent of fresh pine and ginger. The monster even smelled good. Like most drakons, it was wingless, longer, and more snakelike than a dragon, and it looked hungry.

"Oh no." Leo groaned, "I hate drakons-"

"It's not the one Clarisse beat." Nico said quickly, "What is it?"

"Maeonian drakon," Bob said. "From Maeonia."

"Any chance we can kill it?" Nico asked, gripping his sword with his free hand.

"Us?" Bob said. "No."

The drakon roared as if to accentuate the point, filling the air with more pine-ginger poison, which would have made an excellent car-freshener scent.

"So we're gonna die then." Leo pulled a face, "Calypso is gonna be so mad."

"No." Bob declared, "No dying. Any minute-"

"ROOOOOAAAR!"

And that was a giant- Leo turned and gaped at him.

He was about twenty feet tall—typical giant height—with a humanoid upper body, and scaly reptilian legs, like a bipedal dinosaur. He held no weapon. Instead of armor, he wore only a shirt stitched together from sheep hides and green-spotted leather. His skin was cherry red; his beard and hair the color of iron rust, braided with tufts of grass, leaves, and swamp flowers.

He shouted in challenge, but thankfully he wasn't looking at them. Bob pushed Nico and Leo out of the way as the giant stormed toward the drakon. They clashed like some sort of weird Christmas combat scene—the red versus the green. The drakon spewed poison. The giant lunged to one side. He grabbed the oak tree and pulled it from the ground, roots and all. The old skull crumbled to dust as the giant hefted the tree like a baseball bat.

The drakon's tail lashed around the giant's waist, dragging him closer to its gnashing teeth. But as soon as the giant was in range, he shoved the tree straight down the monster's throat.

The tree pierced the drakon's gullet and impaled it to the ground. The roots began to move, digging deeper as they touched the earth, anchoring the oak until it looked like it had stood in that spot for centuries. The drakon shook and thrashed, but it was pinned fast.

The giant brought his fist down on the drakon's neck. CRACK. The monster went limp. It began to dissolve, leaving only scraps of bone, meat, hide, and a new drakon skull whose open jaws ringed the oak tree.

Bob grunted. "Good one."

The kitten, resting on Percy's chest, purred in agreement and started cleaning his paws.

The giant kicked at the drakon's remains, examining them critically. "No good bones," he complained. "I wanted a new walking stick. Hmpf. Some good skin for the outhouse, though."

He ripped some soft hide from the drakon's frills and tucked it in his belt.

"Uh…" But Nico clearly knew Leo well because his hand snapped out and slapped over Leo's mouth before he could ask if that meant
that the drakon hide was the giants toilet paper- a perfectly reasonable question in his opinion.

"Hello." Nico let go of Leo's arm and lowered his hand, stepping forward, "Uh, I'm Nico, this is my brother Leo and Bob's holding my sister there. He promised us some help?"

"Promise?" The giant glanced over from his work. His eyes narrowed under his bushy red brows. "A big thing, a promise. Why would Bob promise my help?"

Bob shifted his weight-and it was striking, how small he looked next to the giant.

"Damasen is a good giant," Bob said. "He is peaceful. He can heal."

Damsen didn't look all that peaceful as he ripped chunks of bloody meat from the drakon carcass with his bare hands.

"Sure." Leo muttered the word, shooting Nico a sidelong glance, and Nico gave a small shrug in response.

"You can heal?" Nico shifted slightly, "Because my sister is really hurt."

"Good meat for dinner." Damsen stood straight before turning to study them- and Leo swallowed hard. The only giants he had experience with had wanted him dead, he couldn't be blamed for feeling nervous.

Then the Titan was speaking again. "Come inside. We will have stew. Then we will see about this promise."

And Leo was almost in a daze as they made their way into the giants hut.

The inside of the hut was as big as a planetarium- constructed of bones, mud and drakon skin. And somehow it felt almost cosy.
In the center blazed a bonfire made of pitch and bone; yet the smoke was white and odourless, rising through the hole in the middle of the ceiling. The floor was covered with dry marsh grass and gray wool rugs. At one end lay a massive bed of sheepskins and drakon leather. At the other end, freestanding racks were hung with drying plants, cured leather, and what looked like strips of drakon jerky. The whole place smelled of stew, smoke, basil, and thyme.

Bob moved quickly, setting Percy down in the giants huge bed- and she almost seemed to disappear amongst the wool and leather. Small Bob hopped off Percy and kneaded the blankets, purring so strongly the bed rattled like a Thousand-Finger Massage.

Damasen plodded to the bonfire. He tossed his drakon meat into a hanging pot that seemed to be made from an old monster skull, then picked up a ladle and began to stir.

Nico moved automatically to Percy's side- a determined look on his face- out of the two of them he definitely knew more than Leo did about healing, given how much time he spent in the infirmary with Will. And Leo stared at the giant.

"Our sister is hurt." his voice was stronger than he expected, "I don't know how but she's really hurt. Can you help her? Bob said you could. And- and she's our sister. We lost her once we're not losing her again."

"She's-" Nico's voice was tight. "She's got a broken ankle- a lot of claw wounds from the arai... she- oh gods it looks like someone ran her through with something- an arrow maybe- broken ribs too I think and... and there's blood around her eyes.. a wound in her shoulder too." he sounded like he wanted to puke and Leo really couldn't blame him.

What had happened to their big sister? How much of that had been from attacks and how much of it was from Alabaster?

"Your sister is very hurt." Damsen said, watching them carefully, "You think you know healing?"

"I know some." Nico didn't hesitate, "My boyfriend is a son of Apollo. I've picked up some tricks but I don't have anything I can use to help her really."

"Hmph." The giant looked like he was considering it for just a second before he handed Bob the ladle. "Stir."

As Bob tended the stew, Damasen perused his drying racks, plucking various leaves and roots. He popped a fistful of plant material into his mouth, chewed it up, then spat it into a clump of wool.

"Cup of broth," Damasen ordered.

Bob ladled some stew juice into a hollow gourd. He handed it to Damasen, who dunked the chewed-up gunk ball and stirred it with his finger.

"Lots of wounds, but nothing beyond my talents."

He lumbered to the bedside and propped up Percy with one hand. Small Bob the kitten sniffed the broth and hissed. He scratched the sheets with his paws like he wanted to bury it.

Leo pulled a face, "Didn't you just- she has to drink that?"

The giant glared at him. "Who is the healer here? You?"

"You have a point." Leo held up his hands quickly, and Nico shifted out of the way so that he could have more space as the giant made Percy sip the broth. Damasen handled her with surprising gentleness, murmuring words of encouragement that Leo couldn't quite catch.

With each sip Percy's color improved- and Leo could see the wounds starting to look much older as she drained the cup, and her eyes fluttered open.

She looked around with a dazed expression, eyes flitting from Nico to Leo, she gave an almost drunk looking smile. "Found you. Bye bye Bas." then her eyes rolled up into her head, she fell back in the bed and began to snore.

"Did she just-" Nico's expression was incredulous and Leo nodded, unable to stifle a laugh.

"Yeah, yeah she did. Bye bye Bas.." he shook his head, unable to fight down his smile.

Because she was gonna be okay.