Happy Monday!
Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HOO
My still injured leg was beginning to throb like crazy, but I couldn't tell Annabeth or Piper because I knew it would only slow the process down, and we only had so much time to do it.
The ground was shaking, and it was as if the entire ground was a heartbeat, and we were in the middle of it. I glanced over my shoulder at Annabeth, and she seemed to be thinking the exact same thing, Tartarus. Now, that was not a soothing thought and put me on even more edge than I already was.
We walked in silence, afraid that saying one word would shatter the entire world, and we would be exposed to the giants. Annabeth's logic with the two of us coming was starting to worry me, even if our scent was covered up well, with the whole Poseidon and Athena rivalry and all in Athens, Greece. It was beginning to get dusty in the corridor where we had entered, since Hazel advised us to walk underground. To me, it appeared to look like one of the catacombs I had seen in pictures while we studied Edgar Allan Poe in english class.
Piper's hands began to tremble, and was muttering to herself, "Everything's going to be okay, everything's going to be just fine," in repeat. I think she put some charmspeak into that since I was actually starting to believe it, despite my lack of optimism about the whole fighting giants thing. I leaned closer to Annabeth, hoping to be of support to her, and she seemed grateful for the comfort, so we trudged on.
We neared the end of our journey to the opening in what we knew would be the beginning of our end, but just then, we heard the most disturbing of noises, the chanting of about a million monsters, giants, and weird two headed ladies, powering the heart of Gaea. Piper gave out a little gasp, but moved the goo aside and stepped through the hole.
Instantly, we turned into men with six arms upon entering the opening; I gave a silent thank you to Hazel and gave one last longing look at Annabeth before we split up. I tried to memorize how beautifully her blonde hair wisped across her face and the intelligence in her startling grey eyes, but I only had a split second, and then she was gone, amidst the crowd of monsters risking her life for the gods. I then to turned around and ran, after giving Piper one last smile and wink for good luck.
We all seemed to be on our own in the clearing. The beating of the heart got louder as I got closer and closer to the front of the temple, slashing at monsters every chance I got with Riptide. I ran for my life, giving everything I had into this last and final battle. Just as I was about to chop the arm off of some weird smelling creature, I felt a giant hand clasp around my entire body, and I gave an ear deafening cry for help. I struggled, and looked and looked for Annabeth, until I saw her. My heart suddenly dropped to the floor as I saw her flailing in the hands of the princess Periboia beside me. I tried to cry out to her, but I was being suffocated by my guy's gigantic thumb, curse Enceladus and his lack of interest for a manicure, his nail beds were horrendous (not that I'd ever gotten one). I instinctively looked for Riptide, but my sword seemed to fail me and did not show. Annabeth's once knowledgable grey eyes soon became fearful.
In the midst of this chaos, I somehow did not realize that I was back to my regular human self, weaponless. The giants seemed to be talking about sacrifice and all of those cheerful events that were supposed to take place, when I heard Piper yell, "STOP!" I could never have been more glad to hear her charmspeak in my life. The princess was just about to stab Annabeth and froze halfway through the process.
They recovered as fast as it happened, King Porphyrion then yelled, "The Blood of Olympus to rise the Earth Mother!" My heart sank even deeper, despite all of my efforts, I could not escape from this hand prison Enceladus has created, and it killed me even more that I could do nothing to save Annabeth.
Over all of my horrible thoughts, I heard Enceladus boom, "I knew these two would lead the assault. I understand how they think. Athena and Poseidon… they were just like these children! They both came here thinking to claim this city. Their arrogance has overdone them!"
As a second attempt to stab Annabeth, the giantess grabbed out her hunting knife, but the destroyer of Fates stepped forward, Thoon. He held in his hand a gigantic meat cleaver, basically the size of Porphyrion. I knew this was weak, but it was all I could do, so I screamed as loud as I could and put all of my power into it. However, I only saw a tiny geyser shoot into the air. It looked as depressing as I thought it did, but I had drained all my energy and slumped against Enceladus's thumb.
Porphyrion then started saying something discouraging about Gaea being more powerful and all of that, but I was too tired and worried to pay much attention, they were going to kill my girlfriend.
Thoon then touched his meat cleaver to the ground and chanted, "Mother Gaea, in ancient times, blood mixed with your soil to create life. Now, let the blood of these demigods return the favor. We bring you to full wakefulness. We greet you as our eternal mistress!"
The heartbeat of the ground felt like it was about to crack my skull in two, but I couldn't concentrate on that. The giantess laid Annabeth down, tears streaming down her face. She desperately looked for me, and then our eyes met. I mouthed I love you to her and gave a final scream, but nothing happened, I couldn't prevent the inevitable. Enceladus then gracefully landed me besides Annabeth, thank the gods, if we were going to die, let us die together. He seemed to be so careful in order for us to die at the proper moment, which was odd since he was such a violent being.
A huge rope then tied us to the ground side by side, like a magic show, except no fireworks or anything. Instead, there was a giant meat cleaver above our heads. I reached for Annabeth's hand, but only grabbed sand. I couldn't move and was helpless against what was going to happen. After all we survived together, I couldn't believe this was how everything was going to end.