So I think I may have terrified you guys. I didn't get a ton of reviews, but can I tell you guys to trust me? There's still about another five to ten chapters to go. Have faith in me! Sorry this isn't as long as I normally go, but it had to end here for reasons.

-Percy-

I wasn't exactly sure what we were in for.

When we came upon the army, I knew there was going to be a chance people would get hurt, but I had to hold that feeling down. If Gaia rose, then it wouldn't matter. We'd all die anyways.

Apollo and Artemis had left to go get Addie, and we, along with the Hunters, would take care of the army. I looked around at the others, studying their expressions. Most of them had a look of fierce determination on their faces, all except one. Piper was looking into her knife, studying it with a horrified expression. She looked up and her expression became unreadable.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," she said forcefully. I nodded my head and didn't worry about it any longer. We came into the view of the army, and I'll admit that I was just as scared as when we faced down Kronos. Giants stood at the bottom of the hill, hundreds of monsters surrounding them. They leered at us, raising their weapons. The remaining giants cracked their knuckles, looking at us with smug smiles.

"This is really it," Piper whispered from behind me.

"We fight until the death," Jason said firmly. "What giants are left?"

"Alcyoneus, the Bane of Hades, Gration, the Bane of Artemis, Mimas, the Bane of Hephastus, and Hippolytus, the Bane of Hermes," Annabeth explained. We all looked at her, and she responded with a shrug of her shoulders. "What? I looked up who was left."

"I don't see Polybotes," I muttered.

"Or Porphyrion," Leo added. "They must be with Addie."

"I'll take Alcyoneus," Nico said firmly.

"I think Gration deserves to have the Hunters kick his ass," Thalia said with a wink.

"I'll take Hippolytus," Annabeth offered.

"And I will help," Piper added with a smile. Annabeth grasped her hand, giving it a quick squeeze.

"Mimas is mine," Leo grunted.

"Whatever happens," Piper said firmly. "You are the best friends I have ever had. Win or lose, I love you all. We can do this. No one is dying, okay?"

Piper's words were strong, and everyone nodded their heads. It instilled a little bit of hope in me. We would fight for the world and for each other. We all drew our weapons, and we ran to meet the army.

Fighting for a demigod was strange. Everything was slowed down. I saw everything: the glimmer from the draconae's scales, the hiss from monsters, the low thuds that echoed around as the others fought. I saw Leo send a barrage of flames towards a giant, and Hephaestus following with a thud of his hammer. The gods had arrived, and I slashed and worked my way towards the Parthenon. I saw a gleam of silver on the side of the column. It was one of Artemis's arrows, firmly stuck in the stone. I followed the path, and I stopped.

Apollo clutched a body to him, and I recognized the mess of brown hair. I fell against the column, trying to keep it together.

Addie couldn't be dead. She was like the gods in that way. There couldn't be a world without her in it.

"Don't look, Percy," a voice said from beside me.

I closed my eyes, and the flash of bright light lit up the space around me. She was at least hurt, and if I had to judge by Apollo's reaction, I would say that she was…. My fists pounded into the wall, rage taking over. I had seen death before. It was nothing new to me. I'd seen people fight for what they believed in, for a cause, but Addie's was just so…pointless. She didn't die fighting. She didn't go out saving others. She died for no reason, other than a stupid goddess's wish to rise once again. It was so undeserved. After all she had been through….

Someone grabbed my hands, pulling them off the stone. I looked up, into a pair of dark eyes. Nico had grabbed me, and I could feel the ruined skin on my knuckles.

"Let me go, Nico!"

"Percy, there's nothing you can do for her now-"

"No! She can't be dead, she can't-"

I pushed him away, trying to move towards her, but Nico grabbed me pushing me into the column with surprising strength.

"She's gone, Percy," he shouted. His face melted from his fierce expression to one completely and utter broken. I remembered that Nico had lost a sibling, too. I wasn't the only one who had lost a family member.

"She's gone?" I repeated in a dead tone. "She's dead?" Nico nodded his head, and he squeezed my shoulders.

"I know it hurts, Percy. I get it, I truly do, and there will be time to mourn her. Right now, make sure she didn't die in vain. If the seven succeed because Addie met death, then we will have to do our part. Let's defeat Gaia, make sure her death will not be in vain. It's what she would have wanted."

I wiped what I thought was sweat off my cheek, but I realized that it was a fallen tear. I nodded my head, gripping riptide in my hands.

I fought like I had never fought before. A hurricane formed around me, and I charged the army. Every stab, every slice, reminded me of a memory. So many lives had been lost in the short time I had been alive. So many lives depended on what I did now. I cut through the army, Nico at my side. It was dark, well past midnight. An eerie and sinister light lit up our surroundings. It was a mix of the silver light from the moon, and the warm bask created by the various fires. Sound was completely drowned out. I knew I should be hearing yells and screams, the clash of metal against metal, but all I heard was a high pitch squeal in my ears. All I saw was the blood, and my half- sister's face. I didn't see the faces of the monsters. I fought like a machine, the fury and hurt fueling me like nothing had before. Even the city around us seemed dead and muted, like everything was frozen in time. It felt like the actual earth was dying, just like in my dreams.

A shadow loomed over me, and I looked up into the face of a familiar giant.

"I wanted to chain you at my feet, Son of Poseidon, but your half-siblings did just as nicely," Polybotes jeered. "It was a delight to watch them die."

"I defeated you once. I can do it again."

"That so? Your father is not here to help you, boy. Your siblings are dead, and the earth mother will rise at any moment. It's too late to stop her from achieving a corporal form. Once she is here, you all are done for. No god will be able to oppose her, and demigods will be of no use."

"This coming from the giant who was already beaten by a demigod and a stone statue of a god with no arms! I'm shaking in fear," I remarked sarcastically.

Polybotes scowled, and his trident arched down at me. I dodged out of the way, and he bellowed in rage.

"I will have your head, boy!"

"Not if I can help it!" I shouted back. I felt a surge of strength roll through me, and a water line about thirty feet away busted, sending a torrent of water into the sky. I hit him with a jet to his face, and he stumbled back. I darted forward, slicing at his ankles. He swung his trident down at me, and I parried it, but it knocked me to the ground. The air came out of my lungs in a harsh whoosh, and my eyes watered from the pain.

Polybotes stabbed down with his trident, just missing me as it sunk into the ground. He leaned down, so I grabbed on to the shaft, swinging around to kick him in the jaw. He recoiled, and I felt something stir inside me.

I didn't know what it was. Maybe it was the rage and grief, maybe it was my father, or maybe it was something that was always there inside of me. I reached towards the giant, and the water followed my command, creating a swirling vortex around him. Polybotes couldn't move, and he was cursing and yelling at me. I lifted him up in the air, making the water hold him up sideways. No monster or giant dared approach me with the storm raging around me. I took Riptide, which was now glowing blue-green with the water around it, and plunged it into Polybotes' chest.

He let out a strangled roar, the water leaving the area around us in a blast. I fell back, hoping the wound would buy me enough time to get help from a god. I prayed to my father, asking him for help.

Dad, if you can hear me, if you ever cared about me or Addie, help me kill him. Help me send him back to Tartarus, for Addie's sake.

Polybotes stood up, Riptide still lodged into his chest. He ripped it from him and threw it across the battlefield.

"FOOLISH BOY! I am a GIANT, a son of GAIA! I am the Bane of your father, second in line! Did you honestly think that puny weapon would end me! You need a god's help to defeat me!"

I scrambled up, thinking that now would be a great time for my dad to show up and help me unless he wanted three of his children to die in one day. A blue light shimmered in front of me, a dark bronze trident appearing before me. My hands closed around it, as a tiny voice whispered in my head, my father's voice.

Together then. For Euadne.

A blue glow surrounded me, and Polybotes's eyes widened substantially. I glanced at the trident, and then smirked back at the giant.

"I think this might do it."

With strength from my father, I threw the trident, and it plunged into the giant's chest. A scream of rage left him, and he disintegrated into sulfuric ash.

The blue glow around me began to fade, and my father stepped from behind me, summoning his trident from the ground. I felt around in my pocket, pulling Riptide back out and changing it back into sword form. My father walked up to me, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"Can you keep the army back while we deal with Gaia?"

I looked up. His face was completely blank, a mask that any general or god would wear. It was fierce and determined. I briefly wondered if he even cared, but I realized that gods were not impervious to emotions. My father's eyes were watery, and they looked sadder than I had ever seen them.

"You can count on me," I assured him.

"Be safe, Perseus."

I turned, heading back into the battle. I saw all of the others. They looked a little roughed-up, but no one looked gravely injured. Most of the giants were gone, and flashes of light and loud booms echoed from the Parthenon. Suddenly, the ground gave a shake, and I fell to my knees.

What was going on up there?

I saw Nico fighting a giant scorpion, and he was doing very well. What he didn't see was the Laistrygonian giant walking up behind him.

"Nico!"

He turned as he pulled his sword from the scorpion, but it was going to be too late. The Laistrygonian was already swinging his club, and no matter how hard I ran, there was no way I was going to make it there in time.

Nico looked up, his eyes wide with fear, but something hit him from the side, sending him to the ground. The giant's club had just missed him. I made it over, stabbing Riptide into the giant's back. He disintegrated into dust, coating me and Nico in the ashy mess.

Nico looked around, fear on his face. I held out my hand, pulling him up beside me.

"Did you knock me down?" he asked, disbelief coloring his tone.

"No, I thought you jumped out of the way."

He looked around frantically, and his eyes locked on something behind me. They widened in fear, and his jaw dropped. I had never seen Nico truly scared or frightened, but he looked it now. I turned, readying my sword, but there was nothing behind us.

"Nico, what is it?"

"Holy Hera. It's not possible. It can't be."

"Did you hit your head? There's nothing there, Nico," I exclaimed, giving him a little shake. His eyes were still focused on something behind me.

"What do you mean?" he shouted, moving out of my hold. I turned, completely out of my element. Maybe Nico had a spell put on him. Maybe the fall was harder than I thought.

"Nico, let's get you some nectar," I said taking a step towards him. He shook his head, brushing me away.

"Percy, I can't talk to both of you at the same time!"

"Talk to who, Nico? No one is around us!"

In that instant, I felt a cold pressure on my shoulder, like someone had pressed a bag of ice there. I flinched away, looking at where I stood. There was nothing there. I noticed that it was the same spot Nico was staring at.

"Nico…what's going on? Who do you see?"

He ignored me completely, and his face breaking out in a small smile of disbelief.

"You are dead. You're supposed to be dead."

Hmmm...any theories?

I will try to update soon. I hate to leave you guys hanging but it will be at least a day I think.

Leave a review my awesome readers! :D