Hello! Tried to finish this off as well and as quickly as I could. Hope you guys like it!

Review replies:

The Son Of Hades123: Thank you! Will definitely take into consideration.

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17blanceri: I try not to, sorry. Writing is a bit hard for me, especially since I haven't thought out all of the plot yet. Thank you so much for your kind words, here's the next chapter!

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Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO

The Earth's Possession

Chapter 11: Mother of Monsters

PERCY

Percy stared at the letter in shock. Jason and Piper were gone and not even with Gaea herself. That didn't help things, especially since they had no idea who this ally of Gaea was. He looked up at the sky and offered a silent plea. I know you guys are out there. Can you send us a sign or something?

JASON

Jason woke up to a huge pain in his head, as well as his thigh. His thigh, he could understand, but why was his head hurting? Sitting up slowly, he observed his surroundings. It looked like he was in a cave of some sort. Water dripped from the stalactites, falling onto his blond hair. Suddenly, he heard a groan come from behind him. Looking over to his side, he found Piper stirring.

"Easy, Pipes. You ok?" he asked, as he helped her sit up. Piper nodded.

"Yeah. Do you remember what happened?" she asked him, while he gave her a negative response. Just as Jason was about to say something, a voice interrupted.

"Well well, it looks like our guests have awoken." Jason hastily moved in front of Piper, to shield her from the unseen enemy.

"Show yourself!" he demanded. His command was unheeded as an invisible force caused Piper to cry out in pain. "Pipes!" he cried out, rushing to her side immediately. Blood trickled down the side of her arm, soaking her sleeve in crimson. Jason's face was laced with worry. Ripping off some of his shirt, he made a makeshift bandage for his girlfriend's injury.

"Don't worry about me. Focus on killing that... thing!" she told him. Spinning to face forward, Jason let out a growl.

"Show yourself!" he demanded again. Menacing laughter filled the cave as a monster materialised itself in front of the two heroes.

In a word, she was horrible. Her green, scaly skin made Jason's stomach turn. Her eyes, dilated like a cat, watched his every move, examining the best way to kill him. Jason didn't dare look at her body because if he did, he knew that he would probably be unable to move at all. She smiled and Jason saw her fangs with alarming clarity.

"I am Echidna, mother of monsters. Bow down and fear me, mortals!" No need to say that, Jason thought. Piper scowled.

"The only thing I should fear is if my skin was as bad as yours!" Echidna frowned.

"Oh, so we have a snappy one here. No matter, those ones are always the most fun to kill," as he maniac smile returned. Jason couldn't believe Piper was doing this! Why was she sassing Echidna? Just then, when he glanced over at her, he saw something in her eyes that told him to trust her. He moved slowly to the side, sitting next to her, watching her next move.

PIPER

Piper was taking a risk, and she knew it. The chances of her plan working were slim to none. When she made eye contact with Jason, she was hoping that he understood. Looking up at Echidna, she made another insulting comment.

"And your teeth, geez! Don't you ever brush them after eating heroes like us? I would think that the 'mother of all monsters' would be better than that! Don't you think so too, Jason?" Both girls turned to Jason and watched him nod nervously. Piper poked him again, prompting him to shuffle farther. But Echidna appeared not to notice. She was too preoccupied with Piper, which was exactly what she wanted.

"Silence! Shut your mouth, you ingrate! I'll eat you first!" the monster screamed. Jason shuffled farther, sitting at the left side of the monster, but farther. Piper refused to back down.

"Didn't you say you had kids? Where are they? Why aren't they here? It's probably because they couldn't stand to see your face!" she laughed haughtily.

Echidna's face was full of rage. She leapt towards Piper with her mouth open, ready to attack. Seeing as how Jason wasn't quite ready yet, Piper rolled out of the way, wincing a bit at the pain in her arm while doing so and unsheathed Katoptris, holding it in front of her. Echidna advanced, her claws extended.

"I'm going to kill you very, VERY slowly," she promised as she leapt forward again. Gritting her teeth as she fought back the pain in her arm, Piper ducked down and managed to stab the monster in the gut. Shocked, Echidna gagged and tried to claw at Piper only to be surprised again when she felt a pain in her back. Looking back, she saw Jason with his sword in her heart. Growling, the monster promised, "You will die next time," before disintegrating into dust. Jason looked up and gave Piper a smile.

"Great job, Pipes!" Piper gave a blush and kissed the boy on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said. "Now let's try to find Leo and the others." Jason nodded as the two ran out of the cave, only to find that they were on an island. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a drachma. Jason caused a gust of wind and allowed some water to splash up, which, combined with the sunlight, caused a rainbow. Quickly tossing the coin into the rainbow, Piper chanted, "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering and show me Leo Valdez."

The picture fogged up before clearing and showed the son of Hephaestus driving the Argo II, a determined look on his face. Piper called out,

"Leo!" The boy jumped before looking behind him and seeing his friends.

"Piper! Jason! Man, you don't know how happy I am to see you guys!" Jason smiled.

"Yeah, we missed you too, man. Hey, umm... we're kind of stuck on an island, could you swing by and pick us up?" Leo appeared thoughtful.

"Well, I probably could if you guys sent up some sort of signal to us, like a lightning bolt or something; something that can be seen from far away." Jason grimaced.

"I'll do my best," he said as he severed the connection. Piper stood back as Jason closed his eyes and prayed. With a cry, he raised his sword into the air and lightning shook the ground. The bolt wasn't big but it was enough to make Piper's hair stand on an end, just from being so close to it. Within minutes, the ship arrived and a ladder was thrown down. Up above, Leo grinned down at them.

"Did someone request a pick-up?"

TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 12

And done! Hope you guys liked it! Drop a review if you have time! I won't know how long the next update will take but I'll try to fit in another during the summer. Until next time!