The demigods heard yelling from behind them and turned to see an Iris Message in the air.

"Annabeth! We were trying to get to the cave but his army cut us off. My Hunters and I will do the best we can to disperse the army. You guys handle the big guy," Thalia yelled from the other side. Annabeth nodded and was about to cut the connection when she got an idea.

"Thalia! Go get Luke! We need him here. He may be our only hope," she said grimly and cut the connection.

Emma knitted her eyebrows. "Why is he our only hope?"

"Because he can stop time!" Percy answered. Annabeth elbowed him. "And because of the reason he can stop time…" Percy finished, slightly miffed. Emma still looked confused.

"Luke-" Annabeth was cut off as Antaeus bellowed in rage.

"Enough! Such hope in you! Too bad your plan will never be carried out," Antaeus faked sympathy. He growled and grabbed Hazel. She screamed and kicked with no luck. Frank turned into a hawk and began pecking at the giant's meaty hands but Antaeus swatted him into the wall.

"Frank!" Hazel screamed. She stopped struggling and closed her eyes. Much to Antaeus's surprise, she took a deep breath, balled her fists, and dissolved into shadows. She reappeared next to Frank, now in human form, and helped him up.

"Hazel!" Piper exclaimed. "Since when-?"

Hazel just shrugged. "I've been practicing."

"Piper, Hazel, Frank, Rikki! Keep him busy. I've got a plan," Annabeth ordered.

"Of course you do," Percy said with a chuckle. Annabeth glared at him. She gathered Cleo, Emma, Percy, and Jason and told them the plan. They all got in their positions.

"How sure are you that this is going to work?" Emma asked Annabeth wearily.

Annabeth frowned. "Look, I am the daughter of the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. I'd think my plan would be sufficient."

"So how sure?" Percy asked, smirking.

"Not very," Annabeth admitted. "NOW!" The plan was set into motion. Percy joined Hazel, Frank, Piper, and Rikki in fighting Antaeus.

"Hey, Fish Sticks!" Percy yelled. Antaeus sent a wall of water towards Percy without even looking away from the seal with a sword he was fighting. Percy stopped the water and threw it back at him. Antaeus, too focused on trying to not let the seal (Frank) slip out of his hands or stab him, had his mouth open and breathed in the wall of water. Frank slipped out of the giant's hands as Antaeus coughed and sputtered. Water began wrapping around him without him noticing.

"Stupid excuse for a demigod! How dare you!" Antaeus bellowed and lunged at Percy, to find his arms were trapped at his sides in the whirlpool swimming around him.

"Now, Emma!" Cleo yelled, desperately trying to keep the hold on Antaeus. Emma extended her arm and the water around Antaeus froze. The giant fought and fought, heating the water around him, only for it to freeze again.

"Hurry, Jason!" Emma groaned, using all of her willpower to keep the water frozen. Jason flew above Antaeus and Percy used the water remaining in the pool to lift Antaeus towards the opening in the ceiling. Once he was high enough, Jason used the winds to carry him up and out of the volcano. It was a crazy sight. A giant with a mermaid tail flying through the sky.

Everyone swam out of the moon pool and found their way to the beach. Cleo was very distraught, seeing as she hadn't actually swum in years. Percy helped her onto the shore.

"You guys all find the hunters and help them. Jason and I got this," Percy ordered and turned to look at a tiny black dot in the sky. Antaeus and Jason.

Meanwhile, in the sky…

Jason was struggling to keep them both aloft. He was going to have to drop him soon. But he needed to give Percy enough time to get everyone else out of the way. Once Antaeus hit the water he was going to create a tidal wave and he would rather his friends not drown.

Antaeus coughed. "Puny Sky Spawn. You and Jackson cannot defeat me. My mother has made sure of that much. You deserve to die for killing my mother!" The giant's tail shimmered and returned to legs.
Jason smirked. "Well, for your information, we didn't kill her. She just fell asleep." Then Jason let loose the wind from under Antaeus. The giant hurtled towards the ocean below, screaming. With a jolt, Jason realized Antaeus was heading straight for the little black dot in the ocean he knew to be Percy. He dived straight down as he could, screaming Percy's name. But it was too late. The giant landed in the ocean with a huge splash. Jason stopped so quickly it gave him vertigo. He was still feet above the water but was narrowly avoiding the giant's splashes.

But what surprised Jason was Antaeus wasn't turning into a merman. Somehow, he realized, Percy must be keeping a hand on him. All of a sudden, the water reached up and grabbed him. The next thing he knew he was underwater in a bubble, watching Percy struggle to keep his hand on the thrashing giant. Somehow Antaeus could breathe but he still seemed disorientated from falling at least a hundred feet from the sky.

"I don't know why you try, little demigods," the giant sneered. "All of this could have been avoided if you would've just realized you can't defeat me. My mother made sure only a-"

"Only a Titan could kill you. Yes, get it," Percy imitated. "You know, you would think you would keep something like that a little quieter."

Antaeus huffed in annoyance. "It doesn't matter because there is nothing you can do about it." He reached over and grabbed Jason, popping his bubble. Jason didn't even get a chance to take a breath. Percy yelled in defiance and uncapped Riptide with his mouth, careful not to let go of the giant. Percy stabbed Antaeus in the hand he was holding onto, not the smartest move because the giant howled in pain and whipped his hand around. It took all Percy had to keep from letting go. Jason floated aimlessly, forgotten by the giant. Percy flicked his finger and pushed Jason to the surface. He hoped to all of the gods he would take a breath.

Percy felt a shadow fall over him. He looked up to see the bottom of a boat. Someone on the boat lifted Jason into it as someone else dropped into the water. Luke.

The boat sped off towards shore as Luke made his way to Percy and Antaeus. Percy briefly thought about giving Luke an air bubble when he suddenly felt a hand around him. His arms were trapped at his sides, Riptide included. Luke was groggily sparing with Antaeus but his moves were slow as if he were underwater. Oh wait, Percy thought. He is.

"No more games!" Antaeus bellowed and Luke shot back as if an invisible force pulled him.

"Oh, that's right. You have powers now," Percy mumbled to himself. Antaeus threw him backward and Percy had no choice but to break contact with him. The giant's legs shimmered and turned into a tail. Antaeus laughed.

"Your little girlfriend's plan failed, Jackson. As I told you before, nothing can stop me!" Antaeus cackled. That got Percy going. No one insults Annabeth! He charged the giant and tried to strike with Riptide. Antaeus dodged. His tail was making him faster. Antaeus took a punch at him. Percy used it as an opening and slashed the giant's fingers. Antaeus growled.

"Luke? I could really use your help here!" Percy shouted. He risked a glance back and saw Luke was turning purple. Percy's eyes widened. He made the water shoot him backward towards Luke, leaving Antaeus stunned. Percy made an air bubble around Luke's head and he took a deep breath. Luke snapped his fingers and stopped time.

"Percy, I was thinking and I think I only have so much of Kronos's power in me. I think I'm almost out. I can't risk stopping time again-" Luke explained. He stopped abruptly when he noticed Antaeus surging towards them. Time had started again.

Percy pushed Luke off to the left of Antaeus and himself to his right, but Antaeus brought Percy toward himself.

"I WILL have my revenge, Jackson! All you are doing is delaying the inevitable!" Antaeus bellowed in anger.

"Less talky more stab-y," Percy snickered and stabbed Riptide into the giant's arm. Suddenly he felt a sudden pain in his head and was thrown away from Antaeus. The giant had punched him in the head. His vision went blurry and he struggled to stay conscious. All he saw was a huge dark blob he realized was Antaeus and a smaller blob that was Luke. There was something shiny sticking out of the large blob's arm that Percy later realized was Riptide. The smaller blob started glowing and golden sparks of power fizzled around him. The golden stuff beamed at the larger blob until the small blob went limp and the larger blob dissolved into golden flecks floating in the water. (from Percy's perspective. Sorry that it was so vague. It was a bad attempt to make a joke lol)

Percy was so dazed we barely noticed when the shadow from the boat fell over him again. He barely noticed being dragged out of the water and plopped down on the hard metal floor of the boat. He did notice, however, the sound of Annabeth sobbing. Percy jolted awake, ignoring the aching pain in his head.

"What's wrong?" he questioned frantically to no one in particular. He looked around and found Annabeth kneeling over someone. He hurried over to find it was Luke. And he wasn't moving.

"What happened?" Percy asked, kneeling next to Annabeth.

Annabeth took a shaky breath. "We found him i-in the w-water like this," she broke out into another sob. Percy could tell she was trying to hold it back but was failing.

Thalia put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay," she whispered to Annabeth. Then she turned to Percy. "I think he d-drowned." Percy's heart dropped. How was this possible?

"B-but I put a bubble around his head! There's n-no way…" Percy trailed off. Could it be possible the bubble popped when Luke was fighting Antaeus?

"Hey," someone said. It sounded like… but it wasn't possible…

"Luke?" Annabeth choked. Percy looked up to see an Iris Message with Luke looking at him from the other side. "How-"

"I only get a few minutes," Luke said.

"So are y-you really…" Annabeth trailed off.

Luke nodded. "I had to. I made it into Elysium," he said grinning. Percy grinned right back.

"Percy, it isn't your fault. I had to go back to the underworld. Don't blame yourself. Goodbye," Luke smiled and cut the connection. Annabeth had stopped sobbing but was still crying, not even bothering to wipe the tears from her eyes. Thalia turned away, trying to hide her tears. Even Percy felt the tears swell up in his eyes. He moved over and put his arms around Annabeth. They had just gotten Luke back and now he was gone again.

Everyone gathered around them in solemn silence. They had all come to know and love Luke. Jason held Piper, who was crying silently; Frank and Hazel held hands, respectful of the others since they didn't know him; Emma, Cleo, and Rikki had their arms around each other, tears falling down their faces; and all of the Hunters stood with their heads bowed in respect.

After a few minutes of silence, Annabeth stood and wiped her face. "It's sad he isn't with us anymore but… but it has to be. He wasn't truly a-alive anyway. He achieved Elysium so he succeeded. We should be celebrating!" she sniffed and wiped her eyes again, slightly forcing a smile. "We just won a war! We can go home…" her voice faltered as she looked at Percy then at Piper and Jason. Everyone was smiling but there was still a hint of sadness in the air.

Taking Annabeth's hand, Percy smiled warmly and said, "Let's go home."

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