Piper was still poisoned. We had to do something to save her, but what?

"Well, maybe if we found someone who can draw the poison out of her, we could save her..." Khione suggested.

"But where are we going to find someone who can do that?" Frank asked.

Suddenly my mind flashed back to when me and Percy fought Akhlys. She betrayed us after taking us to the Mansion of Night, but Percy turned the tables by using her poison against her.

"Percy!" I exclaimed.

"Huh?" Jason asked.

"Percy! He can manipulate poison! He hasn't done it in a long time, but he managed to do it while we were in Tartarus!"

"You two were in Tartarus?" Khione asked, shaking with fear.

"Yes, but that's not the point," a voice answered. We turned and saw Percy, who was exhausted. He yawned loudly.

"Dude, you look like you need a siesta." Leo commented. "What happened?"

"Marcus fell under the control of the evil maiden. He didn't kill anyone, but he and Nathan, who he had released from his bone jail, gave a message to the people of Camp Jupiter. They told everyone that me, Frank, and Gwen lied about Nathan's whereabouts, about Reyna's death, and that Gwen is an evil witch who betrayed the camp. I managed to convince most of them that Marcus and Nathan were under influence and Michael helped me imprison them in a tougher prison, guarded day and night by the toughest campers. But there's bad news. The bad news is that everyone's in a panic and scared that themselves or their friends and loved ones will fall under the evil influence. What's worse is that a few people believe Nathan and Marcus are right about everything they said. And the worst part, is that, according to Nathan, Camp Jupiter may be cursed forever."

"So Camp Jupiter is now divided against itself." Hazel said. "Oh joy."

"So, I'm guessing your guys' day has been much better than mine." Percy said.

We looked at each other, fear and sadness in our eyes. "I wouldn't say that..." Jason said.

Percy widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows in fear. "Oh no, what happened?"

We described to him how we went to Death Valley, and everything that happened during this time.

"That's why we need you to remove the poison from Piper." I finished.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Percy asked.

Jason got down on his knees. "Yes.. Please... Heal Piper. You're the only one that can help us."

Percy looked down. "I know nothing about drawing toxins. What if I can't do it fast enough?"

I looked at the ice goddess. "Khione, do you think it might be possible to unfreeze Piper at a slower pace than unfreezing her at once?"

"I could. It might be slower or faster than you expect. Do you might if I borrow one of you as a test subject so that Percy can get an idea of how slow it will be?"

"I'll do it." Jason said. "Freeze away!"

She instantly froze him. Then she slowly unfroze him. White energy swarmed downward, unfreezing his head in two seconds, then his torso was unfrozen in five more seconds and his legs were unfrozen in seven seconds.

"Once her head is unfrozen, Percy must start drawing out the venom in Piper's body." Khione said.

"You can do it, Percy." I said. "I believe in you."

"Do you think that we could save Reyna using this method?" Frank asked.

"Won't do any good. Pylosian Mint is one of the few poisons that can't be drawn out with toxikinesis." I said.

"How do you know that?" Piper said.

"I read about it in an ancient scroll." I said.

Later, Piper's ice statue was partially submerged in cold water. Leo, Jason, Hazel and I stood back from Percy. Frank stood to the side with two vials in his hands.

"Are you ready?" Khione asked.

He breathed in deeply then exhaled to calm himself. "I'm ready."

Khione started to unfreeze Piper, and Percy started drawing out the venom from her system. He held the purple substance above the water. Piper was partially unfrozen. He had only seven seconds remaining. He clenched his fist and drew out even more venom. As Piper fell back into the water (which was not very deep), Percy held a basketball sized sphere of venom.

Frank opened the vials and Percy divided the venom sphere into them.

"Did it work?" he asked.

Piper was unconscious. Had we failed? It seemed like we had failed, but a few moments later, Piper woke up. Percy extended his hand and helped her up.

"Oh... What happened? Where am I?" she asked.

"Piper!" Jason exclaimed. He threw his arms around her. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"Yes! I knew you could do it, Seaweed Brain!" I kissed him on the cheek and then he kissed me on the lips. We backed away and saw Piper, who was really confused.

"What happened? All I remember is battling the Chimera so that Annabeth wouldn't have to face her... What's Khione doing here?" she asked.

"Long story." Jason answered.

While eating dinner, we filled Piper in on what happened.

"So this mission was a total failure..." she said, eating a tofu burger.

"Not entirely." I stated. "We know that the evil maiden has a faction of allies, which is only increasing. She, Eris and Enyo are trying to find Clytius, the only evil giant who didn't join his brothers and sisters after Gaea's resurrection."

"But doesn't the evil maiden use magic? And Clytius is anti-magic... So?" Leo asked.

"That's what Hercules told her, but she doubts he will hurt her as long as she doesn't hurt him." I answered.

"Who are her other allies?" Hazel asked, stirring her gumbo.

"In addition to those allies already mentioned, there's Phobos, Deimos, Janus, Keto, Phorycs and Atlas." I answered.

"That's a good number. She already has over a dozen allies, most of them being gods or titans." Jason said.

"Which means we'll most likely encounter them. How will we face them?" Percy asked.

"I don't know. But it's not inevitable that we will face them." Frank said.

"We may face some of them." Leo said, eating some chicken kabobs.

"He's right unfortunately." I said.

"Looks like you guys have your work cut out for you." Khione said, sipping on cold coffee.

"I'm surprised the maiden didn't try to mind-control you." Frank said, eating another bite of his quiche.

"Her mind-control ability mainly works on mortals. Demigods have some resistance, and gods are almost impossible to corrupt." Khione said. "I'm amazed and terrified how she corrupted Athena."

"Are the other gods aware of what's happening?" Percy asked.

"Not entirely. In the world of the gods, things aren't going very well. Mount Olympus is in shambles. Hera and Zeus are getting into major arguments, much to everyone's dismay. Demeter is more depressed than usual. Why, no one really knows. Apollo is searching for his sister Artemis, completely oblivious that she is now suffering Atlas's curse. Hephaestus and Dionysus are very worried, the former about Athena's condition, the latter about Dakota and Pollux. Hermes is trying to figure out the truth behind Athena's corruption, with no luck. No one knows who's responsible or entirely what's going on. What's worse is that some ignorant gods are trying to pin the blame on someone. For instance, Pheme started a rumor that Poseidon is at fault, and now, Persephone, Hebe and Zephyros now believe her.

Leo looked at Khione like she was speaking a foreign language. "Theme?"

"Pheme. P-H-E-M-E. Goddess of gossip." Khione answered. "She isn't mentioned very much."

"No wonder." Percy said.

My phone vibrated. I had finished my dinner and went to check the message.

"Who's it from?" Khione asked.

"It's from Magnus." I answered. "It says, I have seen a black-haired, blue-eyed girl with two other women strolling through the city of Boston. I couldn't hear all of their conversation, but one of them mentioned something about melting some ice and finding the bane of Hecate. Isn't Hecate the goddess of magic?"

I texted back, Yes. In Greek Mythology, Hecate is the goddess of magic, the moon, darkness, death, wisdom and crossroads. If they're really looking for the guy I'm thinking of it can't be good.

"Melting some ice?" Jason asked.

"Probably referring to making Khione powerless to escape Death Valley." I said.

Another vibration. Magnus sent me this message; Remind me, the bane of Hecate... His name is Clytius, isn't it?

It is. But something doesn't make sense. In the first Giant War, it took thousands of years for the Gigantes to rise. Clytius was defeated six years ago. How could he be back already?

I don't really know.

"Does Magnus know you're a demigod?" Jason asked.

I smiled. "Oh he knows, and he's perfectly fine knowing all of the craziness in my life."

Jason looked like he was about to say something, but he didn't.

"Well, I should probably get back to my suite, but before I do so, I want to give you this." She handed us an ice medallion. "It's a stygian ice medallion. If you ever need my assistance, hold the medallion in your hand and think or say, 'Goddess of snow, hear my cry.' After this, the ice will shatter into a million pieces and I will come to your aid. Think of it as like a thanks for saving me. You can only use it once, so use it wisely."

"Thank you, Khione." Leo said.

"Goodbye young heroes, and good luck." she said.

Khione disappeared in a flurry of snow.

"So who's going to carry the ice medallion?" Frank asked.

"Maybe we should vote?" I asked.

"I say Annabeth should get it. That way, if Annabeth runs off on her own or ever finds herself in a bad situation, she can call for backup." Percy said.

I blinked twice. "Really?"

"Annabeth... I remember you running away on the night of the Winter Solstice. When I find out you were missing, I was scared out of my mind." Percy told me.

"I didn't mean to scare anyone. I just... I didn't want to give up."

"You're really stubborn, Wise Girl. But I love you for that." He smiled and then raised his hand. "All in favor of Annabeth receiving the medallion, say I!"

"I!" the other five demigods exclaimed in unison.

"It's settled then." Percy stated.

Leo handed the medallion to me. It felt cold, yet it wasn't necessarily a bad chill.