Hey

Thnx to everyone who has reviewed this story so far, there were a lot more reviews than I expected so keep it up. Apologies for not updating any of my stories for the past several weeks (well I did update Light of Aqua last week but no reviews so far, sigh wonder why?) Any way you can blame my absence on the dreaded home work and exams. (I've got them this week, darn) any way enough of me blabbing on, go ahead and enjoy this chpt!

Luv Aussie Heroine

________________________________________XJAYX________________________________________________

I sighed as I looked out over the ocean bay. Even from here I could pick up the faint scent of salt and seaweed. My yacht lay abandoned on the beach and looked like a tiny dot from here. Beside me Atlanta shifted her weight from one leg to the other. Her hazel eyes kept darting over to where Archie lay slumped against a near by rock talking to Herry. Finally she cracked.

"Why is it whenever we get a day off Cronus has to try and destroy the world," She shouted. I knew what she was talking about. Everyone accused me of being paranoid about capturing Cronus and granted I did train them hard but even I wanted just wanted today to relax.

"Properly because he has no life of his own," Herry mumbled in between bites of his sandwich. Archie made a face and slithered back to join Atlanta and I.

"Yeah but still, didn't the gods say they were going to handle saving the world today?" he asked giving Atlanta a sceptical look.

"I guess this is their way of dealing with it, getting us," she hissed. I shrugged.

"I'm just as annoyed as you but Hermes said this was big," I reminded her. Atlanta just glared at me.

"One day of hiking with out being attacked by ancient monsters, is that to much to ask," Archie grumbled. I had to agree with them, Atlanta, Archie and Herry had been planning this hiking trip for weeks.

"Hey where did Hermes go anyway? You would think if this thing with Cronus was so important he wouldn't tell us to wait," Herry added in.

"I think he went to go and pick up Neil, Odie and Theresa," I replied. Archie's eyes narrowed.

"Where are they any way?" He asked. I shrugged.

"Neil and Theresa properly went shopping and Odie we all know will be hold up in the basement doing who knows what," I said wincing slightly. I had asked Theresa if she had wanted to go sailing today but she had declined. I wish she had come; it would have been nice just to be next to her, worlds away from the gods and Cronus. I frowned.

"Come to think of it, I didn't see Theresa or Neil this morning?"

"It will be funny to see Neil's reaction when Hermes pulls him away from shopping," Herry laughed. Archie smirked.

"Don't you mean whether Hermes survives or not? Not even a god can stop Neil when it comes to shopping!" This earned a smile from Atlanta. I couldn't help chuckling at the thought of Hermes trying to drag Neil out of an air conditioned mall.

Suddenly there was a loud screeching over head. A grey griffon suddenly appeared out of the sky and started to fall back to earth. I squinted and could just make out Neil and Odie on its back. They clung to each other and screamed as the griffon opened its wings and landed. The landing was anything but successful though because at the last minute, Neil leaned side ways, cause the griffon to loose its balance and crash in to a near by tree. The griffon got up screeching and cuffed Neil and Odie over the back of the head with its tail. The guys got shakily to their feet and started to make their way over to us.

"I never travel by griffon again!" exclaimed Odie before running off to the nearest bush to throw up.

"Where's Theresa?" I asked Neil when he finally managed to walk over to us.

"Up," he said pointing to the clouds. My eyes narrowed as I picked up a small black speck shooting across the clouds. A black griffon circled around us before dropping into an almost vertical dive. As it came plummeting back to earth I could see Theresa pushed up against its sleek body. I wanted to shout a warning to her but at the last minute she gave a tug on the griffon's feathers and its wings shot out. The creature landed gracefully around several metres in front of us. Theresa stroked the griffon's neck before turning around to slide off the beast. As she slid down, I noticed that the whole of her back visible in the top she was wearing. The hot sun beat down highlighting the beads of sweat running down it. I felt my jaw drop open slightly.

She looked beautiful! It had been a while since I had seen her in anything that wasn't practical and secretly I liked it. As she walked up to me I could see that the top was a halter neck in a similar shade or green to her eyes.

'Hey," she murmured shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other like she knew I was staring at her. I shook my head and said the stupidest thing.

"Are you going to be able to fight in that?" Great, real smooth! Theresa's eyes filled with hurt as she looked away.

"Yeah I guess I can, Hermes hijacked my car so I couldn't go and change."

"Don't forget the part about him nearly crashing us into that wall!" Neil exclaimed pretending to faint.

"What!" I shouted but Theresa cut me off.

"Can we get this over with already? Where is Cronus?"

"In the south wood," Atlanta reported adjusting her laser blaster. Archie pulled out his whip and looked toward me.

"Let's go then!" I yelled unsheathing my sword and stepping forward. I didn't need to check if the others were behind me, I knew they would follow. We hiked through the forest but our progress was slow thanks to the dead trees and rocks jutting out at all angles. A couple of times I stopped, remembering that Theresa was only wearing sandals. I wished Hermes had let her change but she would walk right passed me without slowing. I don't know whether she was focused on getting this mission over and done with or if she was angry at me but the whole time she wouldn't talk to me.

We reached a deserted clearing when I heard some one stop. Atlanta held Theresa's shoulder as she stared off into the distance. I ran over and grabbed her hand, calling her name over and over again. Eventually, she blinked and seemed to refocus.

"What did you see," I breathed anxiously. She looked at me puzzled.

"Nothing?" She muttered frowning. "I only saw black."

I was about to ask if she needed to sit down when Atlanta cut me off.

"Hear that?" She whispered. I tensed and cast my hearing out over the forest. At first all I could hear was the wind rustling the autumn leaves but soon the rustling go louder and louder.

"Weapons!" I ordered, unsheathing my sword. Agnon and his band of giants suddenly burst through the trees. My team split up, each taking on a giant. To my left, Atlanta launched a round of bullets at a large blue giant. Archie raised his whip and bought it down on the giant's wrist, cutting deep into the flesh. To my right, Theresa leapt into the air and kicked out at the giant's face while Herry tackled him to the ground. Odie had grabbed a tree branch and was swinging it in a wide arch around him. This wasn't actually doing anything but at least he was safe. Neil hid behind a bush yelling insults at the closest giant. Satisfied that my team had everything under control, I started to scout around for Cronus. He wasn't hard to find.

"Jay, what a surprise to see you here though not a pleasant one. You weren't suppose to find me yet," He hissed, summoning his scythe.

"It was kind of hard to ignore the smell," I shouted back, launching forward. Our blades met as our dance began. It was a routine that was burned into my brain from countless battles before. Cronus would rush forward and I would bloke him followed by my attack that was blocked with equal skill. Our game of cat and mouse raged on still when Cronus started to hurl fire balls at me. I pushed on, adrenaline blocking out the fatigue.

"Enough!" Cronus shouted backing away for me. Stupidly I stepped forward to pursue him. I was completely oblivious to what was happening behind me.

"Jay!" I heard some one shout before tackling me to the ground. My head smashed against the forest floor causing my vision to swim. I turned around excepting to see Herry or Archie next to me but instead I saw Theresa. She looked down at me concern filling her eyes.

"Are you okay?" She whispered. I nodded as she looked up above me.

"What's wrong?" I asked trying to get to my feet. Blushing Theresa jumped off me and helped me up, though her gaze remained on whatever was behind me. Snapping around on my heals, I came face to face with something that would have Cronus's giants running back to Tartarous. Behind me loomed a creature that looked humanoid but was around fifty times my size. Instead of just one set of arms, this creature's entire middle section was sprouting arms. They waved back and forth, not one remaining still. Even with them moving back and forth I counted around 100 arms! The creature's eyes were a deep blood red like Cronus's, in fact except for the height and obviously the number of arms he could have been Cronus's brother.

"Odie," I heard Herry call over the clearing. "What is that thing?"

"Hang on while I find out," Odie yelled back while typing. The creature roared and lunged forward.

"No time!" I shouted taking on a defensive position. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the others taking up similar stances. One arm came down to swat me aside but I sank my sword into the wrist. The creature groaned but otherwise seemed unhurt.

"Duck!" Atlanta ordered as she sent a volley of bullets into the creature's chest. He stepped back stunned but like my attack, it did nothing but slow him down.

"Odie do you know what this thing is yet?" Archie yelled. Odie looked up from his laptop.

"One hundred handed giant," He replied. Archie grunted as he was knocked to the ground by an arm.

"We know his big with lots of arms Odie but what's his name!" Archie screeched as the giant reached down to pick him up.

Odie groaned.

"That is its name idiot! The Hundred handed giants were Cronus's step brothers. He locked them in Tartarous prison just like the Cyclopes."

"So why is he helping Cronus?" Atlanta shouted, sending another round of bullets over our heads. This time they hit him in the face but still hade no effect. The giant roared and continued his attack. I ran forward, dodging his flailing arms and sunk my sword into his leg. Pulling it out, I stepped back as black blood began to spurt out.

This only made him angrier and things worse for us. The giant squatted down and began to pick up rocks and ditch them at us. He may have been clumsy on his feet, but his aim wasn't. As the deadly rocks began rain down on us, I raced to the cover of the forest. Without hesitation, the others followed. Theresa sank to the ground beside me, breathing heavily.

"What do we do?" She gasped. I closed my eyes and signed.

"Retreat for now, we'll come back and finish him off when we have more of a chance." Theresa merely nodded before yelling my order across to Herry. I turned to Odie, tossing him my PMR.

"Call Hermes," I yelled.

"On it," he replied ducking under the bush. The hundred handed giant looked back and forth, roaring in frustration. Without warning, he seized the tree next to where Neil had been standing and ripped it out of the ground. He continued, ripping his way closer to us.

"Run!" I cried, sprinting as hard as I could deeper into the forest. I felt a familiar rush of wind as Atlanta passed me, followed by Archie. Suddenly a blue light flashed through the forest. About half a kilomentre in front of us, a porthole opened. Squinting, I could just make out Hermes figure on the other side.

"Head for the portal!" I shouted, hoping the others could hear me. They did. I watched as Atlanta and Archie passed through to the other side, followed by Herry and Neil. Theresa was about 10 metres from the portal when she suddenly stopped. I heard a loud crash behind me and turned to see Odie lying on the ground with the giant looming over him. Theresa, shot a glance back at the portal then ran towards the giant. Pulling out her nun chucks, she landed a series of blows on the giant's leg. I ran over and seized Odie by the shoulders, forcing him to his feet.

"Are you okay?" I asked, glancing between Odie and Theresa. Odie nodded.

"Fine, go," He replied heading for the portal. As he passed over to the other side, I returned my attention to Theresa. Racing up, I took a swing at the giant. His hand came down to slap me but I dove out of the way and ended up fighting back to back with Theresa.

"Is Odie safe?" Theresa shouted as she dodged out of the way.

"Yeah, lets go," I yelled back grapping her arm. We both ran towards the portal where Hermes stood frantically waving to us.

"Hurry, I can't keep it open much longer!" He cried. My hand tightened on Theresa's as I pushed my body those last few metres. Suddenly her hand slipped from mine.

"Jay!" she screamed, as the giant grabbed her waist. I skidded to a halt. Hermes image was beginning to shimmer and fade. If the portal disappeared, I'd be stuck out here but at the same time I couldn't leave Theresa.

"Hold on Theresa!" I murmured, digging my heels in and charging towards the giant once more. As I got close to him, he swung at me. I managed to dodge the first arm, but the second one caught me by surprise. The hand clamped around my waist like a iron fist and sent me flying. I crashed into a tree, my head smashing against the hard ground. Immediately dark patches clouded my vision, slowly growing larger until I couldn't see anymore. A burning feeling raced through my body, followed by a strange numbness. I tried to fight it but I knew I couldn't win. The last thing I remember before losing conciousness was Theresa's terrified screams.

As usual plz review and let me know what you think. Also wish me luck in the exams!

Plz'n'thnx luv Aussie Heroine!