ONLY ONE MONTH UNTIL THE HOUSE OF HADES! And only three reviews away from 50!

You guys . . . ! THIS IS SO EXCITING! XD

In celebration, have a chapter! You guys definitely deserve it. :)

Although, sorry to say, this is the last of the pre-written chapters, so I apologize for the most-likely-very-slow future updates. I don't like how busy school makes me. . . . ):

Oh well. Can't be helped. At least my chapters are long, right? ;)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: "Hello, dearest readers. I do not own PJO. I am not Rick Riordan. Not male. Don't have gray hair. Don't have a book published. I claim rights to nothing except the plot." *pause* "This message will be repeated for each chapter. Please leave a message after the tone."

Part IV

She stared back, hatred burning through her dark irises and searing into Leo's heart. It wasn't me! he wanted to say. I didn't fire on your camp! It was Gaea! It was the eidolons! Don't hate me! But he couldn't seem to get a word out. Instead, he studied her. Reyna was gagged and chained, but otherwise looked mostly unhurt, which told Leo that she had been taken by surprise – the ground had opened up and just swallowed her, most likely – because if there was one thing he knew about the daughter of Bellona, it was that she would never have gone down without a fight.

Gaea's face turned towards Reyna too, shifting the earth around her as she moved. Yes, you will make a lovely sacrifice, she mused. Both of you. The son of the god of the forge, and the daughter of the goddess of war. One who builds, and one who destroys. A Greek, and a Roman. You will balance each other out. I will awaken more powerful than ever before. Once again, Gaea's laugh shook all of Tartarus, from the ground to the ceiling. Leo was used to it by now (and anyway, he still couldn't move), but Reyna stumbled. The Cyclopes made no move to help her, and she landed on her side, unable to use her chained hands to break her fall. Leo winced and looked away in sympathy, so she didn't have to be embarrassed as she struggled to get up.

Eventually, Gaea's chuckles subsided, and she continued. You should be happy, demigods. Your deaths will give rise to a new era! She kept rambling about her future victory, but Leo ignored her. His thoughts were whirling. With Reyna gone, Octavian would be put in charge of the Romans, and Leo shuddered to think about what that would mean for his home. Leo had already been thinking of ways to get back to the surface, but now he planned even more frantically. Now he had bigger problems than his own life to worry about. If he couldn't find a way out of here, the pointless deaths of hundreds of demigods, the rise of Gaea, and the end of Western civilization would all be on his hands.

No pressure or anything.

Annabeth stood behind Leo's fancy new machine, which she had dragged out of his room and set up at the back of the ship. She kept one eye in the scope, looking out for any flying monsters.

Gods of Olympus, did she find some.

"They're here!" she yelled. "Oh, Styx," she added in a mutter. "No wonder Festus sounded confused. . . ."

The monsters weren't really flying – at least, most of them weren't. Instead, they were riding chariots propped up by storm spirits and pulled onward by gryphons. There were five monsters in each chariot – not including the storm spirits and gryphons – and twenty chariots. Annabeth cursed. Even with Leo's machines, the fight was going to be extremely hard to win.

"Annabeth!" Piper shouted, bursting out onto the deck and sprinting towards her. "Hazel and Nico are ready downstairs. We're just waiting for your signal. . . ." She caught sight of the army coming towards them. "Oh," she said in a small voice. "That's . . . That's a lot of monsters."

Annabeth nodded, keeping a steady watch on the monsters. "Listen, Piper, tell Frank, Jason, and Percy about the situation, so they're ready to play their parts. Then check on Coach Hedge up at the helm – I wouldn't put it past that crazy satyr to try and change the plan, but make sure he doesn't. After that, you can go back to your position by Nico and Hazel. Use the oar openings to see, and fire at will."

"Okay," Piper said. Then she hesitated. "Are you sure you'll be all right over here? On your own? Gaea still wants a girl sacrifice. . . ."

Annabeth shook her head. "I'll be fine, Piper. The boys will be heading over here soon enough, anyway. And I need you downstairs. Now go!"

Annabeth heard the sound of Piper's sneakers as she ran off to follow Annabeth's instructions. She sighed and prayed that she hadn't been lying to Piper when she said she would be fine. Then the first Laistrygonians started chucking bronze cannonballs, and Annabeth was too busy to think about praying.

She flicked a couple switches on the machine, and a missile shot out of it, draping a net over the gryphons pulling the first chariot. For a second, the storm spirits struggled to keep it aloft, and then they gave up and moved to the side. The chariot plummeted like – well, like any chariot filled with bloodthirsty monsters would plummet – fast and sudden, with a lot of cursing.

She shot another net at the next chariot, but those gryphons were smarter. They veered away so that only one of them got tangled in the net, and then one of the dracaenae in the chariot cut that gryphon loose. She had only taken one monster down, instead of ten. Annabeth decided to adopt a new strategy.

She quickly switched out the ammunition and shot a new missile at a chariot. It opened like a hydra arrow, so that several coils of Celestial bronze sprang out and wrapped around the drivers of the chariot and the reins. Confused, the gryphons tried to fly in a thousand different directions, and the chariot ended up flipping upside down, sending all the monsters inside spinning to their deaths. Annabeth winced – that was a nasty way to go – but she didn't feel too bad. After all, they had been planning on killing her. She shoved a new missile inside the machine and fired that. It locked onto the out-of-control chariot and followed its erratic movements until it caught up to the gryphons. The result was nothing too special – just an average explosion that took down whatever had been left of that chariot.

Annabeth smiled grimly. Two chariots down, eighteen to go.

Then, naturally, it all went wrong.

She fired another hydra missile at a new chariot, but the missile malfunctioned, opening inside the machine and clogging all the gears. Annabeth could probably fix it, but it would take her time – something she didn't have right now. She cursed and abandoned the contraption. "All right, guys!" she shouted. "You're up!"

As she yelled, she ran back to the ballistae. She hadn't used them originally because they were running a little low on Greek fire, but now it looked like she didn't have another choice. She spun one around and fired multiple blasts. A couple monsters went down here and there, but the rest dodged. Annabeth loaded a new round of Greek fire and swung the machine towards a new target. She was about to fire. . . . But then something made her hesitate.

The monsters were looked terrified, and Annabeth wasn't sure why. It wasn't like she was a threat against so many. . . . Suddenly, she realized that she was standing in a massive shadow and turned around slowly. What she saw took her breath away.

A massive wall of water was rising up behind her, and at its center was Percy, holding his arms up and frowning in concentration. She had told him to use the clouds to gather water to fight with, but she hadn't been expecting this much power. Then again, she shouldn't be surprised. After all, this was Percy she was thinking about.

"Ready, Jason?" Percy shouted.

"Definitely!"

Percy grinned and thrust his arms forward. The water crashed into the monster army, knocking several monsters off the backs of the chariots, but Percy didn't let the water fall to the ground or turn back into clouds. Instead, he held the water around the chariots. Annabeth raised her eyebrows. What was he waiting for?

It became clear soon enough. Whatever clouds hadn't been condensed into water quickly grouped together and turned stormy gray, matching Annabeth's own eyes in their color and intensity. Suddenly, lightning crackled out of the clouds and headed straight for the monsters encased in water.

Percy had managed to trap four chariots in his condensed clouds.

Water was a fantastic conductor of electricity.

Gold was a good one too.

Electricity coursed through twenty regular monsters, thirty-two gryphons, and about fifty storm spirits.

The chariots plummeted, trailing dissolving monsters and gryphons in their wake.

The storm spirits weren't dead yet, but the lightning and water had still disoriented them. It was a simple matter for Annabeth to take them out with the ballistae.

"Yeah!" Percy yelled, pumped up on adrenaline. "Take that, Gaea!" He pumped his fist in the air, and leftover droplets of water swirled around him, forming another one of his specialty hurricanes. He landed lightly on the ground next to Annabeth and grinned. His hurricane widened to encircle both of them, and Annabeth shivered at the amount of force whistling around her. Her boyfriend was powerful. "How was that?" he asked her.

Of course, she would never admit that to his face. She shrugged. "Only four chariots, Jackson? I expected at least six from you."

He laughed and pulled Riptide out of his pocket. "You know you were impressed," he said.

At that moment, ten cannonballs whistled out of the side of the Argo II, hurtling into two chariots and completely destroying all of the monsters around them. Percy whistled in appreciation. "Those are about three times cooler than regular cannonballs," he said. "Leo makes some awesome toys."

Annabeth nodded sadly. "I just wish he was here to pilot them. He would have loved to see these inventions in action."

Percy brushed his fingers against Annabeth's hand. "I know, Wise Girl," he said. "But we can't worry about him right now. We've got a battle to win. We owe it to Leo to kick some monster butt, right?"

In response, Annabeth grinned and drew her bronze dagger out of her belt. "For once, Seaweed Brain, you've got a point. Let's take them down."

Leo took a deep breath. "Hey!" he shouted towards the empousae guarding both him and the scary praetor. "Can I get a bathroom break now?"

"What?" they growled.

"Well, you don't expect me to pee my pants, do you?" Leo asked innocently, trying not to turn too red. He couldn't believe he was speaking like this in front of Reyna. But he couldn't go back now. The best he could do was avoid looking at her (probably disgusted) expression."Come on, ladies. If you're not going to give me a change of clothes, you could at least let me use the bathroom. Otherwise, I'll really start to stink."

They hesitated for a bit longer, but Leo pleaded until the annoyed monsters finally gave in. While one stayed behind with Reyna, the other unlocked the chains around Leo, who mentally cheered as he was led out of the clearing and to a deserted area of the monsters' camp. It smelled awful – Leo suspected that the entire army went to the bathroom here – but he tried not to pay too much attention to the smell. He could move again, and that was all that mattered. Now he could put Phase One of his plan into action.

Leo stood there as the empousa stared at him, obviously waiting for him to get started. Leo stared right back. "Well?" he asked. "Aren't you going to unlock my hands? Unless you want to undo my fly for me. . . ." He left the sentence hanging in the air, and the empousa shivered in obvious repulsion.

"Fine," she said, holding her nose up in disgust. "But I'm going to lock one end of this chain around your waist and the other around this boulder, so you can't wander off too far. And no funny business, or you will feel the wrath of my goddess's entire army." She smiled, exposing her vampire fangs. "And I promise that wouldn't be pleasant for you."

Leo suppressed a shiver and waited patiently as the empousa took off the chains around his hands and secured the chain around his waist, like she'd promised. Then he ran around the corner from her, claiming that he needed privacy to do his business. As soon as he was hidden from sight, he burned through one of the chain-links, and then caught the disconnected links before they could clatter to the ground. He carefully lowered them to the ground, fighting hard to hold in his laughter. The vampire-lady should have known better than to secure a fire-user with something as pitiful as an old metal chain.

As soon as he was done, he used the bathroom – because he really did have to go – and hurried off to find the tallest stalagmite around.

Eventually, he came to one that towered at least fifteen feet above the ground. Knowing that the empousa would come looking for him any minute, Leo quickly reached into his tool belt and pulled out a couple of parts, a few screws, some wire, and a screwdriver. He twisted wires and screwed together some of the parts and pulled random bits and pieces out of his belt, adding them into the contraption, his brow furrowed in concentration. Luckily, while he had been working on the Argo II, Leo had taken to sticking extra bits and pieces in his tool belt, just in case he had to make repairs in the future. A few of those bits had actually been used for repairs, but many of the rest were still tucked away in his belt's magical components. Leo was calling on those now, so that he could build his escape contraption.

However, before he could finish, he heard the empousa call, "Are you done yet, boy?" If she caught him free from his bonds and fiddling with a machine, Leo wasn't sure what would happen – but he knew it would be bad. Fortunately, he had planned for this. He pulled a nylon rope out of his belt, tied it to his unfinished contraption securely, and tied the other end into a lasso. He tossed the lasso over the stalagmite, pulled it tight, and then hoisted the contraption up into the air. He prayed that since it wasn't technically resting on the ground, Gaea wouldn't find it, but he didn't really have any other options. The contraption was already too big to fit in his tool belt, and it would get plenty bigger before he was done. I'll just have to be distracting enough that the Lady Dirt Face doesn't notice something as small as a dangling metal contraption, he thought. A slow grin spread across his face as he ran back to his metal chain and welded it back to the links around his waist (but weakly, so that it would be easy to break again). Luckily, I'm good at being distracting.

Unfortunately, he didn't get a chance. Reyna decided to be distracting first.

The empousa had led Leo back to the clearing without a second glance, simply rolling her eyes when Leo explained that he had a shy bladder. She had fastened his chain around the boulder and pulled him tightly against it, but Leo hardly noticed. Reyna and he were one step closer to freedom.

It was about then that Leo realized that said praetor was no longer in the same clearing as him. At first, he just assumed that they had moved her to another space. That made his plans a tad more complicated – he would have to find Reyna before they could escape – but he didn't worry too much. Everything would work out. It had to. They would be fine.

Suddenly, an angry shout pierced the air. Leo's head jerked up. Who had a reason to sound that upset? Only one person came to mind.

"You knocked out your guard!" The voice came from somewhere in the darkness. "You escaped from your chains. You set a tripwire for my kin who tried to follow you. But it doesn't matter. We got you back, and now Gaea will deal with you."

Right on cue, a few Laistrygonians walked into the clearing, carrying a bruised and furious praetor between them. Leo muttered a string of curses under his breath. He hadn't been able to tell Reyna about his escape plan with all the guards around, and she probably didn't think he was bright enough to come up with one. She had tried to escape at the first opportunity. And obviously, she had gotten caught.

The Laistrygonians dropped Reyna on the ground, but before she could struggle to her feet, earthen tendrils curled around her calves and forearms. The mighty praetor was forced onto her knees and elbows, and she was not happy about it. She cursed the ground angrily, but the only reaction from Mother Nature was an amused chuckle that seemed to bounce off of every object in Tartarus.

My dear sacrifice, Gaea said mockingly, did you really think you would be able to escape? Your plan was half-formed, Reyna Concessi. I see all that touches the ground here. I noticed the second you undid your bonds, and my army was able to track you down immediately. You had no chance.

Reyna spat on the dirt in front of her. Leo was impressed by the bold move, but it was futile. All Reyna got for her trouble was a stalagmite that erupted from the ground and smashed into her ribs. She barely stifled a moan. The stalagmite sank back into the earth.

We could be cordial about your fate, Gaea said. You could wait quietly for August 1st and not cause any trouble, and in turn, I could keep you from feeling . . . unnecessary pain. She smiled, and even from this distance, the sight disgusted Leo. However, you have already tried to escape, and you have already insulted me, and you have barely been here a day. I think that a lesson is the only way to make you behave. This pain is most certainly necessary.

Leo gulped, worried for Reyna. That did not sound good.

A dracaena stepped out of the shadows. Instead of her usual trident and net, she carried a coil of something under her arm. A rope?

"What are you going to do, then?" Reyna yelled. "You're planning on killing me anyway."

Leo's eyebrows raised in surprise. He had said almost the exact same thing when Gaea had asked him to betray his friends. Was it possible—? Could he and the praetor actually have something in common? But his raised eyebrows quickly furrowed together as he remembered what exactly had happened after his defiance. He frowned. There was no way this would be good.

There are other punishments besides death, Gaea said quietly. I think you are quite familiar with one of them, at least.

Before Leo could react, the dracaena unfurled the coil and brought it whistling down towards Reyna. It met her back with a sickening wet thud, and Leo realized that it wasn't a rope after all. It was a whip.

The strike must have taken Reyna by surprise, but she didn't scream. She barely even flinched. Leo couldn't help but feel impressed – but then the whip cracked across Reyna's back again, and the praetor unconsciously arched her back, fighting futilely again her earthen bonds.

Gaea's laugh rumbled through Tartarus. The dracaena raised the whip again. Leo spoke without thinking.

"It wasn't her!"

The whip froze suspended in the air, and all its momentum was lost. It drooped listlessly.

Gaea turned towards Leo. Even though her eyes were closed, he could have sworn that she was glaring. What did you say?

Leo steeled himself for pain and torture and the worst day of his life. But he couldn't let Reyna get hurt any longer. It wasn't right.

"I said, it wasn't her," Leo told Gaea calmly. "It was my idea." He took a deep breath. "While I was pretending to be going to the bathroom, I ran back here and picked the lock on Reyna's chains. Her guard didn't notice. I was quiet, and I was fast." Reyna twisted around to stare at him incredulously, but Leo glared at her, willing her to stay silent. If she spoke, they would both be in trouble. "Then I knocked out the empousa on guard." He tried to remember what else the Laistrygonians had said Reyna had done. "I set a trap for anyone who tried to follow her – a tripwire." He hesitated. "Then I stayed behind, hoping I could distract everyone while she escaped. Hoping I could give her a decent head start. But you caught her too soon."

Gaea smiled, but there was no humor in her expression. You willingly let her escape without you? Why, Leo Valdez? Don't you want to be free too?

"It's more important for Reyna to escape than for me to," Leo found himself saying. Incredibly, he knew that every word was true. "She's the only one that could keep our camps from killing each other. Without her there, Octavian will stir up a war. Countless lives will be wasted. Reyna has to get up to the surface."

How . . . noble of you, Gaea said, her lips pulled back in a sneer. Leo suppressed a shudder. But you do realize that if what you say is true, you will be punished in Reyna's stead? She paused to let the thought sink in. Actually, you have been an annoyance ever since I brought you here. You insulted me, you circumvented my plans for you, and now this. You need to learn a lesson even more than Reyna does. I think I will make your pain worse.

To punctuate that thought, a small boulder came out of nowhere and whacked Leo in his injured skull. He wished she would stop doing that. He was going to get permanent brain damage – assuming he could survive long enough for permanent brain damage to affect him.

As if she thought that wasn't enough, a succession of projectiles ranging from small pebbles to massive rocks rained down on Leo's head. The pain spread throughout his entire body, nearly as bad as being stretched in Procrustes's water bed. His vision blurred out of focus, and Leo slumped forward against his chains. They were rusty and scraped his arms, but he barely noticed. He had bigger problems.

I could stop here, Leo Valdez. Just admit that Reyna acted without your help. Why be punished for something you didn't do?

The thought was enticing. He was already aching all over. Did he really need to be whipped too?

He stopped himself before he could open his mouth, knowing that if he did, he would admit to the lie. Think of it this way, Valdez, he told himself. You're already aching all over. How bad could a whipping be?

Leo looked straight at Gaea's hideous face. "But I did do it," he told her.

The Lady Dirt Face sighed. Very well, Valdez. If you insist on being so stubborn, then I have no choice but to punish you.

At her command, the empousa undid his chains. Leo landed hard on the ground, too weak to use his arms to break his fall. His eyesight dulled into vague impressions of colors.

"At least let me take my shirt off first," he found himself mumbling. "I'd prefer it if it didn't get ruined. I've only got the one."

Gaea chuckled. A few more pebbles found their way to Leo's head. He wondered if it looked like a bloody mess by now. Amusing as always, Leo Valdez. Her voice sounded strange and distorted. Leo figured that it was probably due to his massive concussion. Go ahead.

It took way too much effort, but Leo managed to roll onto his side, find the hem of his camp t-shirt, and yank it over his head, sending fresh pain rocketing through his skull. He wasn't even sure why he had asked, other than he thought it would be easier to soak up his blood if the shirt was whole. If it was in tatters, the bits might get stuck in the holes in his back.

Just remember, Leo Valdez. The pain you feel is your own fault. Leo was too exhausted to reply. The empousa kicked him back onto his stomach, and he felt dirt encircle his forearms and calves the same way they had Reyna's. He wondered if he was supposed to get onto his knees too, but decided against it. His muscles were rubber. He would just collapse again.

Suddenly, a sharp pain burned in a line across his back. Leo hadn't thought he was capable of speaking, but a groan escaped his lips anyway.

Gaea's laugh melted into a sound like a roaring engine, and Leo thought wistfully of the Argo II. If he hadn't jumped into Tartarus in Percy's and Annabeth's place, he could be standing on the deck right now, completely unharmed. If you hadn't jumped into Tartarus in Percy's and Annabeth's place, two of your friends would be dead right now. The voice in Leo's head had come from nowhere. Leo had never heard it before. You did a good thing. A brave thing. Your mother would be proud.

Leo decided he rather liked the voice. He clung to that thought as the whip cracked over him again and again, searing his false confession into his back. He would have scars from this punishment for the rest of his life – not that the rest of his life would last very long if he kept this up.

Leo felt like he had been steamrolled by an Army tank, then crushed under his beloved warship, then dragged behind a chariot on a rocky surface for ten miles, and now he was being repeatedly chopped in half with an ax. There was a low hum that roared in his ears every time the whip touched him. Leo realized vaguely that the noise belonged to him. He was moaning – sometimes even crying out. But he couldn't bring himself to care. The pain was too intense. He couldn't bring himself to care about much of anything.

Your mother would be proud.

The voice was back. Leo grabbed onto that thought, trying and failing to use it to push back the pain.

Your mother would be proud.

Black spots appeared in Leo's already-fuzzy vision. They slowly widened to cover the entire scene.

Your mother would be proud.

It was the last thing Leo thought as he fell into blissful darkness.

And this is the last pre-written chapter, too. . . . I can't even . . . Why do I do this? D:

. . . Poor Leo . . .

Review, please? ;)