Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO series. Nor the kraken. Nor the Greek, Egyptian, or Norse legends or myths. In short, I own nothing but Odessa, celestial steel, and the sword, Forgotten.

Author's Note: Thank you yet again to all my faithful reviewers. Without all of you, I would not have the heart to update as often as I do.

Also, it would be great if you logged in before you review. If you don't I can't reply, as technically I'm not supposed to put it in the Author's Note. Some of you are unable to, so I can't respond, but thanks.

And here is Chapter 10!

The roar of the kraken shook the world. Waves knocked us backwards, sending Odessa and I tumbling backwards, away from Keto. The part of my mind that always was alert in the face of danger wondered if the kraken had done that on purpose, to move us out of the way. The rest of me was screaming.

When the world stopped spinning, a horrible sight greeted us: Keto had been joined by Scylla, and, although she was small, she was faster than almost anything on Earth.

The kraken was being driven back, unable to cope with the furious onslaught. But even more troubling was the reason that Scylla had come.

"She hasn't left the Sea of Monsters for the past thousand years!" Odessa said, obviously shocked.

"Apparently she has," was my dry response. I unclipped Forgotten, but there was nothing I could do that would do anything more than give Keto a hangnail.

But apparently, the kraken thought differently.

The sword! It called. I cannot defeat them –

Keto drew back her colossal head and clamped them deep into the arm holding her. From the other side, Scylla clamped all five sets of teeth into his mantle. More gargantuan arms rose to bat Scylla away like a fly, but she nimble rose to avoid them.

Then the kraken drew back, revealing the fearsome mouth at the bottom of his mantle. It was like a whirlpool, big enough to eat the great palace of Atlantis in one bite. Thousands of teeth ringed around it, disappearing into the dark depths of his mouth.

He lunged, almost as fast as Scylla, and clamped Keto tightly in his mouth. She screamed in agony, but wriggled free and lashed out with her tail, sending the kraken tumbling backwards.

Zoë, she will eat us all if you do not give me the sword. No pleas or begging this time, just a statement. Swimming forward, I put the sword in his waiting tentacle.

Immediately, it changed, growing immense, as big as Scylla herself. The kraken's tentacle wrapped tightly around the long, curved blade that the kraken now clutched. Even I, even though I was not a monster, could feel its radiation as the kraken awoke its true power.

Keto lunged, jaws outstretched. The sword swung around, cutting into her side. The Mother of the Sea bellowed as her essence disintegrated under the force of the celestial steel. All because of a bar of metal at a mortal auction.

Scylla snarled and bit, but without Keto's aid, she could never hope to stand against the kraken. Tentacles lashed out, managing to catch one of her necks. It snapped like a brittle twig.

I closed my eyes as the kraken moved in. There was a long, drawn-out shriek, a chomping noise, and the scream was abruptly cut off. The kraken sighed in relief.

Haven't had a decent meal since the Fall itself.

I decided not to ask. "Fulfill your end of the bargain. Take us back to Greece."

Very well. I will honor it. A tentacle was offered for us to sit on.

Odessa and I cautiously moved forward. The tentacle snatched us up, and, in moments, we were speeding through the water.

Very interesting weapon. I don't suppose you could be persuaded to… let me have it?

"Be content. You'll have it for at least a thousand years, if not more. And I may die without passing it on to another."

You won't pass it on. Not in this lifetime. In the next, perhaps.

A chill ran through me. "What do you know of this?" Then another question occurred to me. "Were you the sleeping guardian?"

No. I have no need for sleep. The Oracle meant something else.

And he left it at that, ignoring my barrage of questions.

We have arrived. Good having a bit of exercise. Oh, and if you ever find out who awoke Keto, I would appreciate knowing. Your sword does not extend to wounds.

The tentacle shot from the water, startling a nearby fisherman. It set us down on the beach, then disappeared into the water.

It was twilight. The sun had just set, and night was falling. This had been the same time that outsiders could enter the garden.

An image of Ladon snapping at me while others ran up the mountain flashed through my mind, and I shook my head to clear it. I was done with the sword. I wanted my thoughts to be my own.

"A futile wish, when I can read it with such ease."

We whipped around to see Aegle standing there, sword in hand. "No weapon anymore," she noticed. "Kind of hard to fight, isn't it, when you no longer have a sword with the power of the heavens."

"Not really," replied Odessa. Her fist shot up with the speed of Scylla, and she punched Aegle full force in the face. Aegle gave an inhuman roar of rage and sent a flare into the air, no doubt to bring her army upon us.

"Run, Zoë!" Odessa yelled, pulling out her bow. She didn't move, and I realized what she was saying.

"I can hold them off. Just go! Every second delayed is a second lost!"

I gave a strangled sob and hugged her. She briefly returned the hug, then handed me her dagger.

"Go!"

I ran, as fast as I could, desperately hoping that she would survive. A snarl came from above, and a hellhound leapt off a small cliff towards me, but a silver arrow sprouted from its neck.

I looked back to see Odessa, lieutenant of the Hunters, face off against a small army of monsters. She shot arrow after arrow as, one by one, they flung themselves at her.

I kept running, until, finally, the sound of Odessa's bow twanging stopped. There was a roar of triumph from behind me, and I glanced back to see the shadowy form of Aegle draw her scimitar out of my friend's body.

There was a whirring noise behind me, and I stabbed with Odessa's knife over my shoulder. Something fell to the ground. I didn't waste time to look back and see what it had been.

I spent the night in hiding, afraid to go out into the night. I needed to find the Hunters again, but I couldn't imagine what I would tell them about the fate their lieutenant had suffered.

I didn't remember falling asleep, but when I woke up, it was mid afternoon. I continued walking, with no particular destination in mind but the Hunters.

A couple hours later, I killed a Stymphilian bird that had swooped at me from the skies. Then an idea struck me. Using the knife, I cut off its head and its legs, then threw them into the fire. It flared up.

"Hermes," I whispered, my throat sore after a day without talking. "Help me, guide me, and let me find the Hunters. Please."

I offered another prayer up to Artemis, beseeching her for guidance. Nothing happened.

I sat down, cradling my head in my hands. I had lost Odessa, lost the Hunters, lost the Garden of Hesperids. All I had left to lose was my life.

This made me sad to write. A word of advice to all fanfiction authors: If the books demand that you must kill off a character, don't make them likable. It's hard to kill them off later.

The next chapter will be my last. Zoë will join the Hunt, then I will give a summary of the rest of her life. Then she has to die. I'm going to have a talk with Rick Riordan sometime.