XIII

Piper

Piper was just walking into the city of Athens when she realized that there was a problem.

"Hey, guys." She called them all in just as they approached a highway.

They all turned back and looked at her-they'd probably gotten used to her telling them to go and not go at random times a lot. "What?" Jason asked.

"Um, in case you haven't realized," Piper began, "We're supposed to be finding a powerful weapon here. How are we supposed to find it?"

Everyone turned silent.

"Did not think of that." Leo commented. "Well, where do you think a weapon would be hidden in this place?"

Everyone instinctively looked up at the Acropolis.

"Well, go figure." Leo said.

"But what if it's not at the Acropolis?" Annabeth asked.

"We check the various bars, important locations and out-of-place houses in the city." Piper said, coming to Leo's rescue. He looked a little bit annoyed at the fact that his awesome plan was collapsing. "Gods tend to pop up in those places. Let's meet at the base of the Acropolis at sundown to see what we find. How about that?"

Annabeth nodded, satisfied with the plan. Leo opened his mouth to speak up, but then immediately closed it.

Half a day later, Piper and her friends met back at the base of the Acropolis, exhausted from their day of playing "Find the unknown weapon"-checking the various bars and out-of-place houses around the city, searching for any god that was waiting for them to come, saying, "Here's the weapon that I'm going to give you after you do this insanely hard quest that I am very sure you won't be able to do!"

Gods tended to do such things.

Piper and Jason had met some pretty weird people around the city that day. The first time Piper had seen the lady with the hair that looked like a piece of fecal matter, she had been convinced it was a wig.

It turned out it wasn't.

"How many weird people are there in this world?" Frank asked. He looked a bit rattled up, considering he'd heard some pretty scary noises coming from a run-down shack. Turned out to be a random emo guy yelling, moaning and screaming in Italian.

"We've looked all over the city!" Leo exclaimed. "Where else could we find a super powerful weapon?"

Piper went over her mental checklist. Acropolis? Check. Omonia Square? Check. Hadrian's Arch? Check. Olympieion? Check.

Where else could it be?

"We haven't gone underground." Hazel said.

"Oh, no." Leo groaned. "Don't tell me it's another 'city under the city' again." He made finger quotes.

"I'm afraid so, unfortunately." Hazel replied. "The ancient city of Athens is right under here." A tunnel appeared right next to her. "Who's coming?"

They all jumped in. Piper suddenly realized that it was a hole they were jumping into, not a tunnel, and she screamed wildly as she fell. In the end, they tumbled around and landed in a giant pile, each person groaning as they tried to figure out where their feet were and untangling them from the others' heads and arms.

As it turned out, the buried city of Athens was not a very pleasant experience. It was extremely dark, the passageways were rather damp and cobweb-ridden, and Leo's fire would go out once every ten minutes or so, and they would have to wait in the dark as he tried to ignite a new one.

After what seemed like forever, they found themselves in an empty chamber. Dirt covered the floor. Torches covered the walls. In the middle was a giant square of stone and a sacrificial altar.

"This looks recently used." Leo said, examining the footprints in the dust on the ground.

Suddenly, the tunnel they'd come in through caved in. With a huge groan, a giant stone slab followed, blocking off their only exit. Piper immediately slammed into the rock, but it was too heavy to move.

A trap.

A loud roar filled the room. Unfortunately, the acoustics were a little too good, and the roar turned into a messed-up crossover between a screech and a yell that was probably ten times louder than a jet engine.

"You demigods." The voice said, echoing off the walls. "I have waited forever to do these honors. Now, Gaia has given me the seven sacrifices!"

Demigod blood spills here, and Gaia awakens.

The thought crossed Piper's mind the moment she heard it.

"So, we fight." Percy said.

"No!" Piper yelled. "We can't risk it!"

"What?" Percy whipped his head around in disbelief. Everyone followed suit. "Why not?"

"Remember," Piper said, "That as soon as our blood is spilled here, Gaia wakens. If we got hurt and a single drop of blood dripped on the dirt…" she didn't need to finish the thought.

"So what do we do?" Percy asked. "It's not like we're going to be able to talk our way out of this."

The giant suddenly crashed to the ground, sending a miniature earthquake through the cavern. "You've come for the sacrifice, demigods." He bellowed. "Shame you're an entire week early."

What?

"Um, and who exactly are you?" Percy asked.

"I'm Agrios!" he boomed. He walked forward. "What do you think?"

Now that he was in the light, Piper could see him a little clearer. He had snake feet-that was included with all giants- but his clothes were rather ancient. He wore a purple robe, along with a pair of slippers. His face was covered with makeup that made him look weird-Piper assumed he was trying to make himself look older. Topping it all off, he had a piece of grey cloth on his head. He almost looked like an ancient Greek woman.

He scratched his chin. "Very picky, mom. Choosing August first for the sacrifice. How do I keep them alive?" He tilted his head, as if listening to something.

Piper looked nervously around the cavern. She signaled with her hand, Go! Go! They all tried to run around him, but he just slammed his foot down in front of them. He waggled his finger, as if saying, Uh-uh!

Suddenly, every single ounce of energy seemed to drain away from him, making him utterly powerless. "Are you sure?" he whispered intently. "Some things are not to be meddled with!" his face turned as white as chalk. "Okay, okay, fine. But-"

He suddenly covered his ears, like someone was screaming at him and he was trying to block the noise. "Okay, okay! Fine! I'll do it!"

He straightened back up, and regained some of his composure, forcing on a smile.

He grinned. "It's all settled. Some of my friends are going to take care of you for now."

He sank into the ground.

"What the-" Jason rushed forward, but he was already gone.

The entire cave started to rumble. The ceiling opened up, and in rushed the wave of monsters.