Piper

It's always a reassuring thought as you're drowning that your pet dragons aren't there as well.

Well, that's what I'm thinking as we come closer and closer to the ceiling. Treading the murky, poisonous water that is filling the nymphaeum.

We killed the army easily, they were forced to come at in waves, because of the cramped tunnels. Hyperion fled when it became clear that he wasn't going to win the battle.

Then we ended up here, courtesy of Hagno, the nymph.

I already can feel my energy sapping and I can see the weariness in Jason and Percy's eyes too.

"How ironic," Percy coughs out. "The son of Poseidon, drowning."

"Shut up Percy," I say, using a small bit of charmspeak. "You're not going to die."

Percy looks at me tiredly as he starts to sink. Percy catches himself and kicks harder, managing to get himself at a reasonable height in the water.

I hear cackling in the background.

"Stupid nymphs," Jason says weakly.

"Couldn't they at least not let their stupid laughing be the soundtrack to our deaths?" Percy agrees.

"Stop whining," I order. "I'm trying to think of a way out."

I pause in my train of thought, "Jason, have you got any nectar?"

Jason fumbles weakly at the bag on his back and I swim behind him. I unzip the bag and pull out two flasks of nectar.

"Thank the gods," I say gratefully.

Percy and Jason exchange confused looks, not knowing what I'm talking about.

"Percy can you control liquids other than water?" I ask carefully.

This is the vital part of my plan. If Percy can't do this, we're all doomed.

"I'm not sure," Percy says nervously. "I could try. Not this stuff, though, I've already tried. Why?"

"Nectar is the drink of the gods. It's holy and pure," I explain, fumbling to unscrew one of the flasks' lids.

"And if you can control it and spread it throughout all of the water, it should purify it," I say, carefully gauging their reactions.

Jason weakly grabs my hand, his fingers cold and unfeeling, "Great idea, Pipes."

"Yeah," Percy agrees. "If I can pull this off."

I flash a smile at him, "Just don't mess up."

"Start by just keeping the nectar in the air," Jason suggests.

Percy nods at me and I tip some of the nectar into the air.

I hold my breath as the drink of the gods starts to fall, but after a second it jolts back up and Percy gives me a pained grin.

I pour the rest of the nectar out quickly and uncap the other flask. On Percy's cue, I pour that out as well.

I glance over at Jason as he gives my hand a squeeze.

Jason's face is steadily paling and his kicks are becoming sluggish.

"Percy!" I say urgently. "Hurry it up!"

The nectar spreads into a thin layer on top of the water. Percy's screws up his face in concentration, a bead of sweat falling down his face.

I give Percy a nod and the nectar plunges into the water, somehow retaining its form.

As I watch, the nectar goes further into the water, leaving clean and glistening water in its wake.

Soon I can clearly see the bottom of the nymphaeum. The second I can clearly see it, a drain opens up directly below me, and the water begins to disappear rapidly.

Suddenly, the pull downwards feels greater than ever.

"Don't let yourself be pulled down," Percy warns. "We're gonna be feeling the pull badly in a few seconds. So make sure you stay above the water."

"Right, stay above the water," Jason murmurs distantly before he starts to sink.

"Percy!" I yelp as I get pulled down by Jason's weight.

"On it," Percy replies, grabbing me and Jason by the arms.

A large bubble of air appears around us and we float gently to the bottom of the water.

Percy places a hand on Jason's chest and Jason coughs up a small amount of water.

Jason sits up and his hand immediately goes to his pocket, "What's Hago doing here?"

I spin around to find Hagno standing there calmly.

But she looks different. No longer like a Hago. She is younger and beautiful. Much like the eight nymphs behind her, she wears a blue gown.

"Hagno?" I question, my own hand drifting to rest on my dagger hilt.

"My dear," Hagno says, her voice now clear and beautiful. "You have cleansed us. Freed us."

"Um," Percy says. "Okay?"

Hagno smiles at him, "My sisters and I will seek new homes now. Perhaps a mountain stream, or a lake."

I decide not to tell her about how much the world has changed in the last few thousand years.

Hagno points at a wall and a tunnel appears, "That is the way to the Giants. You must hurry, your friends are in need of your aid. The daughter of Athena will soon be dead without your help."

The nymph smiles once more before she vaporises, leaving behind only a trail of water vapour.

"That was unexpected," Jason says, standing up.

"Agreed," I say.

Percy turns towards the doorway, "Well, we'd better go save our friends' butts."

It takes us fifteen minutes of stumbling down different paths before we come to the bunker.

The door is wide open when we walk through. Around the room are at least five automations crumpled on the floor. The room is dimly lit by a few weak lights and the floor gives off a dull hum of energy.

"Look," Jason says, kneeling down to the floor.

Everything in the room is covered with a thin layer of dust. Everything but the floor that Jason is kneeling next to. There is one shape that must be a human and a larger shape that looks like two humans closely combined.

"Do you reckon Calypso, Leo, Hazel and Frank were here?" Percy asks.

"Maybe," I say, drifting towards the table in the middle of the room.

Something catches my eye and I quickly go towards it. I examine the broken piece of string carefully, following it's path with my eyes.

"I think they activated some sort of trap," I say thoughtfully. "This was connected to this metal basketball thing, it seems like the sort of thing that Leo wouldn't be able to keep his hands off."

"But where are they?" Jason wonders.

There are two obvious options. They escaped and are on their way to face the Giants. Or they were captured and are being brought to the Giants.

I voice my thoughts and Jason nods, "We've got to get to the Giants."

I turn to the only other exit from the room other than the door, "They must've gone this way."

Jason flips his coin into the air and catches it as a sword. He moves towards the tunnel and then turns back to us, "Are you coming?"

I unsheathe my dagger, "Let's go giant hunting "

The tunnel is shorter than any of the previous ones, and it only goes in one direction. It takes a while until we see a dim light at the end of the tunnel, just after a corner.

I rush towards the opening and Jason and Percy's footsteps follow me.

Already, I can hear the clashing of metal.

I emerge from the tunnel and survey the gigantic area I am in.

I immediately spot the two Giants. Leo and Frank are fighting Otis together while Calypso is fighting Ephialtes by herself ten metres to their left.

I scan the room for Hazel and I spot her dragging a black-haired girl in silver clothing behind a giant crate.

Zoé.

I look at Percy and Jason quickly before running towards Otis and Ephialtes, "Come on!"

Calypso is my first concern. She is clearly having trouble fighting the stronger of the Giants by herself and seems to be tiring.

The spear catches Calypso in the chest and sends her flying backwards.

Ephialtes roars in triumph and rushes forward but before he can deliver the final blow to Calypso, I'm there in her place, swiping at his legs with Katoptris.

"Gah!" Ephialtes growls, stumbling back. "What is this?!"

I hold the giant's gaze, "My name is Piper, and you just attacked my friend."

I charge towards Ephialtes, rolling beneath a sweeping strike and continuing to run without breaking stride. I dive to the side as Ephialtes drives his sword into the spot where I had previously been occupying, and perform another roll to stop myself from hitting the ground. I stab my dagger into Ephialtes' left leg and quickly move out of the way of the stumbling giant.

Calypso reappears at my side, looking slighting winded.

"Hey," Calypso says, shifting from foot to foot, ready to move out of the way of any strikes. "Did you get Hyperion?"

"No," I reply as Ephialtes advances. "He disappeared when most of his army was killed."

"Shame," Calypso sighs, her eyes on the incoming Giant. "We had a little argument before. At least now I can be the one to kill him."

I decide that there's no point in waiting for Ephialtes to come to us and I change him, wielding Katoptris with a wild ferocity. I slash at his right leg, gaining a deep gash and a howl of pain. I try to slash at his other leg but a spear closely sinks into the ground a few inches away from me and I attempt to back away.

Take note: attempt.

Ephialtes kicks me in the chest and my dagger goes flying, but where I normally would have gone flying back, due to a small crate, my legs get caught and I fall to the ground only a few feet away from Ephialtes.

Ephialtes levels his spear at my chest and my hand scrambles around in the dirt, trying to find Katoptris while I keep my eyes on the spear.

"Piper!" I hear, and Jason flys over my head and impales Ephialtes in the stomach with his sword. Ephialtes roars in pain and stumbles back.

I look around quickly and snatch up my dagger. Jason lands beside me and holds out his hand. I take it and he pulls me up.

"Thanks Jason," I say, smiling.

"Watch out," Calypso warns, coming to stand beside us as Ephialtes strides towards us.

"What is your plan, demigods? You cannot defeat me without the aid of a god," Ephialtes leers, pulling out the sword from his stomach and throwing it away.

Ephialtes is right. Without the help of a god, we're doomed.

"You ha-" Ephialtes is suddenly blasted onto his back with a stream of black energy. The room gets colder and darker.

I look around in confusion, but Calypso wastes no time and sprints forward. Calypso reaches the unconscious giant's head and raises her knives, impaling both in Ephialtes' head.

Finally my eyes land on where the energy blast came from. A pale man with pure black eyes is regarding the disintegrating giant with distaste. He is holding a tall staff and is wearing black robes.

Risking getting killed by the strange man, I quickly look to where Frank, Leo, Percy and Hazel had been fighting. Percy waves at me as he, Frank and Leo walk towards us, and other than a few scrapes, they seem to be unharmed. Behind them I can see Hazel with her arm around Zoé, helping her limp towards us.

They reach us and Hazel bows to the man, "Father."

I let out a quiet gasp and Jason, Leo, Frank and I follow Hazel's example, Percy grudgingly bowing too.

Calypso merely nods her head in respect, "Pluto."

Zoé and Calypso smile at each other but I can tell they know it's not the time for their reunion.

Pluto looks at each of us, his face blank but his eyes glaring. Pluto's gaze hover a little longer on Percy and his glare intensifies before he moves on. Pluto's eyes soften when they come to Hazel.

"You may rise," Pluto says.

After a long silence, Pluto addresses Calypso first, "Diana wishes me to tell you that she can no longer aid your quest. Jupiter was rather...upset about the Wolf House."

"Thank you," Calypso says.

Pluto turns to Hazel, "My daughter. I would like a word." His gaze turns to us, "If you would excuse us."

Pluto doesn't need to ask twice.

After checking with Hazel, Calypso takes Zoé from her and walks away without looking back. The rest of us don't hesitate to follow her.

Calypso and Zoé hug briefly and exchange a flurry of words.

We give them some privacy too.

After a while, Calypso and Zoé join us, Zoé no longer sporting her previous limp. Hazel glances at us and says something to Pluto. Pluto nods and gives her a quick hug, which gains many shocked looks, before melting into the shadows.

Hazel comes over to us with blotchy eyes but a radiant smile.

"Dad said to try the Emmanuel Building carpark. And something about breaking through," Hazel says, still smiling happily.

"Wonderful," Calypso says. "Leo, did you work on that ballistae I told you to make?"

-Stars