Okay, sorry for being so moody yesterday, I was in a bit of a bad place.
But today's better, and I'm really glad because I have the rest of the story lined out,
and I think it's going to be good. Or at least, I hope. :D
Exciting chapter for you here!
I really hope you enjoy this :)
I'm not Uncle Rick (surprise, surprise)
Read on!

Chapter sixty-seven: The Blood of the World
~Percy's POV~

They barely survived the avalanche.
If it hadn't been for Frank, who turned into a huge dragon, and Jason, who picked up both Piper and Hazel, all of them would now be crushed to demigod mush underneath a pile of boulders.
As it was, they flew into the sky, Percy and Annabeth perched on Frank's back, with the other three flying beside them.
"What now?" Jason yelled, the rumbling of the falling stones still loud in the background. Percy could only hope the citizens of Athens would be able to get out of the way quickly enough.
"We go straight to the temple" Percy yelled back. "If Gaia really has risen, we have to fight her before all of the giants gather by her side!"
It was something Percy had learned in a dream only a few nights ago. If the earth mother could rise, she still had to wait for all of her children to return to her before she could unleash the rest of her immense power. Now was their only chance to stop that from happening .
"How could she have reawoken though?" Piper asked, and everybody looked at Annabeth, so used to her having the answers.
Percy looked at his girlfriend as well, who had a troubled expression on her face.
"She must have captured another demigod. And a powerful one."
A horrible feeling spread inside Percy. If that was true what Annabeth was saying, he'd failed to save yet another person. His shoulders sagged, but he tried to hide his shame, as the others looked to him for further instructions.
"We get to the temple." Percy said. "And then we fight. Try to weaken Gaia. Stop the giants from reaching the inside of the temple. Okay?"
All of them nodded, Frank spewed some smoke to show he understood as well, and then aimed downward, followed closely by Jason.
They hit the ground with a loud crash, but being stealthy would no longer help them so it didn't really matter.
From where they stood, Percy could see three giants pretty close, his old nemesis Polybotes among them. The giant roared as he smelled Percy, raising his spear high.
Well, this was going to be fun.
"Alright!" Percy shouted. He had to, as there came a rumbling from within the temple, which was no longer a ruin but had reformed in all its previous glory. The sound was like the avalanche, and it made his skin crawl but he held it together.
"Hazel, Frank, Piper, you keep this side under control. Annabeth, Jason and me will be taking the other one. We need to knock some giants down before we can go face Gaia. All clear?"
The others took up their positions, poised for fight. Frank turned into a truly gigantic bear, and started to lift up massive rocks and chuck them at the giants. One of the boulders caught Enceladus on the shoulder and made him fall backwards.
"Way to go!" Percy yelled, as Jason, Annabeth and himself sprinted away to the other side of the temple.
When they arrived, they saw Ephialtes, who looked pretty enraged, storming up the hill. The size of the giant, slightly smaller than his siblings', was actually to their disadvantage, as it made it easier for him to master the steep climb.
When he was almost at the peak, both Annabeth and Percy launched themselves against him, and all three of them went scrambling back down the mountainside.
"Guys, let go!" a voice came from behind and they both did so, leaving the giant to tumble screaming down the slope like his brother before him, while Jason grabbed them both and helped them back up to the top.
"None of the others seem to be trying this side!" Annabeth shouted, as the rumbling behind them became even louder. It sounded like Gaia was gathering strength even without her kids.
At that moment, Percy locked eyes with Jason, and a strong agreement passed between them.
Percy turned to his girlfriend. "Annabeth, you need to go back to the others. Help them stop any of the giants from reaching Gaia. We're going to fight her."
She started to protest but Percy cut across her.
"It was always supposed to be us, Annie. To storm or fire the world must fall. Well, fire's no longer with us, and so it has to be us. Understand?" his voice was full of conviction, and for a moment he could see awe in those grey eyes he loved so much. Then worry returned, but Annabeth still nodded.
"Okay." she said, and he kissed her, hard.
"Be careful." he said, and she smiled. "You too, Seaweed Brain."
With that, she turned around and ran back to the other side of the temple, her blonde ponytail whipping in the wind.
Percy looked after her for a second, longingly, before Jason gripped his shoulder.
"You ready?" he asked, and Percy nodded.
"Let's show Gaia what a real storm looks like."
And together, they entered the temple.

What they found inside made Percy stop abruptly. The air was swirling with dirt and dark energy, protruding from the mouth of a huge woman, who was standing in the middle of the chamber, her eyes closed. At the feet of her lay a dark figure. A very familiar dark figure.
"Nico!" Percy yelled, and started forward without thinking. Jason pulled him back, just at the right time. "Careful!"
Suddenly, a huge chunk of dirt landed where Percy would have been had Jason not tugged him out of the way.
Percy's eyes were fixed on the apparently lifeless form of Nico di Angelo, horrified. Nico was supposed to be transporting the Athena Parthenos back to Camp Half-Blood. What was he doing here? Did this mean Gaia had the statue? If so, that was bad news for them.
Suddenly there was a noise like stone scratching against stone, and the goddess's eyes opened.
Both Percy and Jason cried out, backing away.
The eyes were like bottomless pits, as if they would swallow you up should you come too near them. They reminded Percy horribly of Tartarus, and he felt his sides aching, where the curses had wounded him.
Hello, heroes. Gaia said, but her mouth didn't stop spewing out dirt and dark swirls.
Come to die.
She raised her hands, and they launched themselves to the sides, just in time. Dark bolts of dirt and energy shot at them, missing them by inches.
Percy rolled forward, Riptide gripped tightly in his hand. He managed to near the ground at Gaia's feet and get hold of Nico's arm. Jason was shooting bolts of electricity at Gaia, keeping her occupied. They didn't seem to do much damage, but at least it gave Percy time to get Nico out of the way.
He carried the son of Hades to a far corner as quickly as he could, and laid him down, checking for signs of life. Thankfully, Nico's eyelids fluttered, and he focused on Percy with difficulty.
"Nico, what are you doing here?!" Percy hissed, and Nico muttered "Had to help..dream..you were in danger."
"That was Gaia, playing with your mind. Nico, she used you to reawaken. And what about the Parthenos?"
The dark haired boy grimaced.
"It's safe. Mrs O'Leary..helped Reyna. Listen, Percy." apparently forming words was difficult for him. "You need to..stab the heart. The blood..it can help-"
A huge crash cut through the din and Percy whipped around to see Jason flying through the air, knocked back by a blast of power.
"Go and hide, Nico!" Percy told the younger boy, but Nico gripped his arm. "You need to stab the heart, okay? Get the blood."
Percy had no idea why Nico said this, but he nodded.
Then he turned around and charged at the goddess of the earth.
He slashed and stabbed, Riptide barely more than a streak of celestial bronze, but Gaia was too fast and too powerful. She knocked his blade back, again and again. Every time Percy got in close, she would shoot dark bolts at him, singing his hair and scorching his skin.
But Percy was oblivious to the pain. This was nothing compared to Tartarus.
Suddenly, Jason was by his side, and they looked at each other for a second, then acted in perfect synchronism: At the same time, they crossed swords, and concentrated on the air around them, which grew humid and filled with static energy, just like the air of a storm.
Gaia laughed coldly and tried to shoot them with bolts, but each time she tried, a white bolt of their own would erupt from the ceiling, which had filled with dark clouds.
Impossible! The goddess cried You cannot have powers like this!
Wrong, Percy thought, and he summoned all of his strength, the whole might of the ocean, and let it loose into the storm Jason and he had created.
A roar of water and lightning combined to fill the air around them, and the power inside was such that Percy felt sure the entire temple would explode.
A terrible cry came from Gaia's mouth, which had stopped issuing her dark power. Instead, she was washing down, literally washing down, as the water soaked her earthen body, and the lightning blasted off parts of it.
Help me my children! The goddess cried, but no aid from the giants came.
Percy's chest swelled with pride at the image of his friends fighting Gaia's evil spawn.
"Ready for a final blow?" Jason yelled to him, and Percy nodded, but then remembered what Nico had told him. "Wait!" he cried, and wrenched his sword from their connection.
"Percy, what are you-" Jason called, but Percy was already by Gaia's side. He fumbled in his pockets for some kind of container, and to his own amazement found a vial which he could swear hadn't been there before. But he didn't question this, and instead raised Riptide and summoned a wave of water to lift him up.
The liquid obeyed, and he was lifted higher and higher until he was right in front of the goddesses foul chest.
NO! She yelled, and he felt a powerful force knock against him, but at the same time a wall of air stabilised him from the back. Jason was pushing against Gaia.
"Hurry, Percy!" he heard Jason's strained shout, and he took aim with Riptide before driving it into the earthy chest with all his force, a horrible yell accompanying his thrust.
The blade pierced the body, right where Gaia's heart should be and she let out a scream of rage, which exploded around him, making his ears ring painfully.
Percy had to hold onto Riptide to stay in front of the goddess, creating a ball of water around himself to shield him from the chunks of earth Gaia threw at him.
With one hand, Percy collected some drops of golden liquid, but before he could gather more, his protective shield broke and he was sent flying backwards, barely able to seal the vial before he crashed into a pillar, and slid to the ground, numb with pain. His right shoulder felt like someone had trampled it, and he was almost sure his left ankle was broken.
Between the haze of pain, he was only just aware of a hair-raising sucking sound, like a giant plug-hole being drawn, before Gaia's voice filled his ears once more.
I curse you, sons of the Olympians. I curse you with all my might!
But something had changed in the tone, and when Percy opened his eyes he could see the body of the goddess sinking through a gigantic crack in the ground, her eyes closed yet again .
Apparently, the stab in the heart had acted like a sleeping pill on her. Go figure.
With a last strangled cry of protest, Gaia's head disappeared inside the abyss, which sealed itself after her.
The whole ground shook violently, and Percy was pulled to his feet by Jason.
"Come on, we need to get outta here!" the blonde boy yelled, and he half dragged, half carried Percy outside, where they both collapsed onto the ground before the whole building caved in behind them, its splendid ceiling burrowing everything beneath it.
For a while, all they could do was lie there, gasping for breath, as the crashing sounds eventually died, followed by an eerie silence.
No more giants roared in the distance, the wind had slowed to a cool breeze, and the ground was still.
Jason and Percy looked at each other, shock in both their faces.
"We did it." Jason muttered, his face bleeding badly and his voice cracked from inhaling so much dirt.
Percy nodded. "We did."
His whole body hurt, and he felt more drained than he had after making St. Helen's erupt way back in the days of the Titan War, and Jason looked no better.
Still, they had survived.
He thought of Annabeth, hoping she was okay and then checked the vial in his hand.
It was filled with thick golden liquid, the blood of the world.
What had Nico said? It could help them. The question was, with what?
Percy's thoughts faded and he barely noticed the distant yells of people before everything went black, and he fainted from exhaustion.