We're back again. Hope this one isn't too late, I think if I can slowly close the gap between chapters down to a week, I'll be solid. Most of the time it's me rereading chapters, going back and editing them, or me just changing my mind about something. Or sometimes it's just plain old writers block. Which always sucks.

But it's here! So I hope you all enjoy this installment!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes Of Olympus, or Trials Of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.

7. We Crash A "Giant" Party

Harper

I pushed the Blade of Eros around from hand to hand, absentmindedly admiring the sword.

I had the tip of it's metal propped up on the ground, the hilt teetering back and forth between my palms. Whenever it would touch my right hand, I'd push it to my left, so on and so forth. It was a time killer, like watching your pencil roll around on your desk in school. Dumb fun.

We were bored, anxious, adrenaline filled.

Or at least, I was. I don't know about the others. They seemed a little tired if I'm being honest.

After Aphrodite left, we thought about what she said. Two things. One, the fact that Malachi was dying from this disease, and two, the fact that she told him to rest for the night.

That left us in a bit of a bind. First of all, Malachi dying sucked, for obvious reasons. He was a good friend to me, best friend to Talon, and boyfriend to Sera. That's not exactly cheer up material. Malachi himself was adamant about moving on, but I knew he was being stubborn. Despite Aphrodite's temporary healing fix, he still looked awful. His eyes were droopy, his skin was paler than normal, and he looked like he was constantly about to throw up.

I'd always heard about the effects that overeating ambrosia could have on demigods, but I'd never actually seen it in person. Even with it all long gone from his system, the overload left this much of an impact. I have no doubt that if Malachi wasn't who he was, the son of Ouranos, he would be dead.

So that's how we ended up here, on the hill behind the Hollywood sign, high up and overlooking the city. We decided to take it easy for the night and rest. Tomorrow, we would enter the underworld and begin our real mission.

The sun had set a couple of hours ago, Talon made a campfire from wood, lighter fluid, and matches he generated with his weird powers, giving us light to stare at, and warmth to feel. For several minutes, we didn't talk, we just sat in a square and watched the fire dance. Talon had also made Malachi a thick, wool blanket. He and Sera were huddled up under it, close together with nothing but their heads poking out of the fabric.

Talon's last power use was generating a big bottle of whiskey. I wasn't sure why, but he decided to pop it open and start drinking. Malachi and Sera shot him a strange look, but just passed it off as nothing. We hadn't, or I hadn't, seen him drink at all since those two had been missing, where he drowned every sorrow he could in alcohol. Sure, I had no doubt he'd drunk a can here and there, but this seemed to be for a different reason than just habit. And I really wondered if it had something to do with him seeing Mary's face on Aphrodite.

And when I said Jack Colter's name at the hospital. That...probably didn't help either. Man, what was I thinking? Any other cover name, literally any other cover name, and that's the one I choose. The one that's going to cause him the most pain. I was there when he died, and I saw how it affected him. It was actually the only time I've seen Talon cry, even since, he hasn't. But that broke him. I imagined it hit him the same way it hit me when Levi died. Role model figures leaving our lives.

After a long, long silence, it was Malachi that decided to break it.

He weakly pointed at the sword. "Do you think it'll help us? I honestly don't sense that great of an aura inside it."

I looked down at the ruby in the hilt, noting how entrancing it was, contrasting to the orange fire. "Aphrodite said it was the real deal. Zeus insisted on letting us use it, so I'd say it'll help."

"Maybe it just needs...proper activation." Sera offered hopefully, "Perhaps it is fueled by love?"

I scoffed. That sounded pretty lame, if I'm being honest. As cool as it looked, that idea was a little too...prissy, for my taste. "Doubt it. Just has the power of a Primordial stored inside it, that's all. It's kind of like Viribus for Matt, I'm guessing."

Talon took a swig of his whiskey, making an audible swishing sound in the bottle as he did. "Well, at least they gave us something. Bout' damn time."

"Yeah," I agreed, "We'll see how useful it is when the time comes."

A second passed, and then I heard Malachi speak again, this time an underlying hint of bitterness in his voice.

"That makes two of us."

We all looked at him, "What are you talking about?"

"The Blade and I. We shall see how useful we are when the time comes." He practically spat the words, and his face darkened about ten shades. It was practically invisible in the night.

"Don't say that, Kai." Sera said, rubbing his back comfortingly. "You are very useful. Do not blame yourself for something your father did to you."

Malachi shook his head, glaring at the air next to me. "I hate being weak. I hate knowing what I can be and not being able to access even a sixteenth of that power when the time needs it."

Talon sighed, "Take it easy, man. Everything'll work out, I'm sure."

"No, Talon. It won't." Malachi snapped, "I'm dying. Dying from something I should've been strong enough to resist in the first place. I shouldn't have been captured, I shouldn't have been possessed by my father in Scandinavia, or at all for that matter. I shouldn't have-" He stopped, and beat his fist once against the ground, his hand momentarily coming out of the blanket and revealing itself. "There are so many things I shouldn't have done, and so many things that I should've. I've made all the wrong choices, all the mistakes."

Sera looked hurt at his self-loathing. "Those weren't choices, Kai. Those actions were forced upon you." A hint of guilt flashed on her face, "I am sorry It took me so long to realize that. I should've never pushed you away on that mountain, it wasn't the right thing to do. Your father is at fault for everything. You have to stop blaming yourself."

Malachi looked at her, briefly, and his face softened. But just as quickly, it hardened again, and he turned back around, slumping into his previous position. "No, you were right to push me away. I became an utter monster." His eyebrows drooped, "I...still am."

"Would you stop with that already?" I said, unable to stay neutral for much longer. "You and Matt, always with the same stupid doubt, blaming yourselves, not thinking your good enough. Just shut up for one second and accept that what's happening to you is something you can't help, and something you weren't at fault for."

"I don't blame myself for how I got the disease, but for what will happen in the coming days. If this continues...I won't be able to help Matt."

I looked at him incredulously, "How can you even say that? Just you being there will help him. Seeing all of us coming together to find him, to help him, it's going to mean the world to him. He'd do the same for us."

For the first time in the conversation, he raised his voice, and looked like he wanted to get up from the ground and yell at me, but his weak state disabled him for such a thing. "That all means nothing if we don't have the strength to back it up! He's going to need more than just moral support to live! To survive! If we can't save him..." He trailed off, and grimaced at the thought of a failure. "I was...weak once before, on the Island. You two remember, don't you?"

He looked to Talon and Sera, who nodded without words.

"It was only until the very end of our time there that I had access to my old power. Years I spent, watching my friends get beaten, spit on, abused, killed, for nothing. By scum lower than the maggots that crawl on waste. I was helpless to save them, helpless to save Sera from my father, the other Incendiaries from what happened!"

I was a bit lost on what he was saying. Incendiaries? Was that his group back on the Cursed Island or something?

Talon glared at him, "Bullshit, man. You saved their asses, my ass, plenty of times. Who the hell was it that killed Timoros at the end of it all? Who held off that bastard Castellan?"

Malachi pointed at everyone, excluding me. "We all did both. It wasn't just me, you guys played as big, if not bigger parts than I did."

Talon snorted and took another big sip of his bottle. "Sure. All I did was tuck tail and sail off, leaving you both in that hell."

Sera sighed in frustration, "Not you too! Will you stop blaming yourself for that! You have to let it go, Talon. It's been years at this point!"

"Don't matter," He mumbled, "I ain't forgetting it. I ain't gonna stop thinking about what would've happened if I had just stayed a little longer."

"You would've been captured by my father like the both of us." Malachi scolded, "You never would've met Matt and the others, and you never would've freed us."

Sera nodded, "He's right. Be happy things happened the way they did." She spread her arms to her side, "We are all together now. Is that not what matters?"

Neither responded. I just found myself bobbing my head back and forth to listen to the next person talk, mostly lost on the context. I knew a little about their past together, and the fact that Talon ended up escaping by himself, and that he feels guilty about it. But some of the fine details were a bit foreign to me. Like Timoros, which means "Punisher" in Greek. I'm guessing it's a person. And the mention of Luke Castellan, who I'm guessing appeared at one point in time. Out of my league here, I just decided to stay quiet.

Finally, Malachi scooted back and positioned himself to lie down. "I am going to get some rest. Love goddess's orders." He laid down on his side, and rose his head up just enough to comment, "Perhaps I'll be somewhat stronger in the morning."

Sera just shook her head sadly at him, and Talon got up altogether, walking over to the cliff on our left that overlooked the city. I decided now would be the best time to have a one on one talk with him. Maybe I could get to the bottom of some things, but most importantly, I could apologize for that stupid Jack Colter stunt earlier.

Before I walked over, I reached over and patted Sera on the shoulder. "It's gonna be okay."

She briefly put her hand over mine, and smiled up at me. "I hope so."

I took my hand off and slowly made my way to the shadow at the cliff, now a little unsure if I should be doing this. He seemed in a different mood than before. Off, is the way I would put it.

Standing against the distant city lights and the moon above, he looked like a wandering gunslinger in a barren desert. Drifting from town to town, with some mysterious goal in mind, an enemy in his sights maybe, yearning for that final duel.

At least, that's what it makes me think of. Talon was a bit like that. He was a mystery, if nothing else. He's blunt and rather boisterous, but really, he holds more secrets than any of us. At least, secrets on things like his father, his abilities, his goals. The shadow of his hat, his shape, gave me the weird feeling that I wasn't looking at a regular man, a demigod, even. And suddenly I felt a bit more anxious at the idea of talking to him.

But I managed to sneak myself by his side. I didn't look at him, however, that gaze was directed to the vast array of small lights, all spread throughout California.

"Sera's right, you know." I said, light enough to be considered a half-whisper. "You can't blame yourself for something they've already forgiven you of."

He didn't turn to me, or even flinch in acknowledgement, he just took another sip from his bottle, which was almost empty at this point. How much had he drunk? I could've sworn it was half-full by the campfire not five minutes ago.

"Yeah, I know."

"I used to blame myself for what happened to my dad, for what happened to Levi." I exhaled sharply, "It's easier said than done, but letting go of all that blame, all that doubt, it...helps."

It was then that he turned to me, his eyes hidden behind the trademark sunglasses, but I could tell his stare was a curious one.

"You're something else, goth girl."

I scoffed and folded my arms. Had he just completely ignored what I said? "Why do you say that?"

He shrugged and inhaled a breath of chilly air. "I remember the last time that kid went missing, you were crying your eyes out. Wouldn't come out of your cabin for days, like a depressed little puppy." He chuckled, "It was pretty pathetic."

Anger flared in my chest, and I hit him hard on the shoulder, knocking him a couple of steps to the side. And of course, he just kept laughing, insensitively. I come over here trying to apologize and be helpful, and he pulls this crap?

"I'll show you pathetic here in a minute if you don't shut up." I growled.

He hissed in mock frustration, "Jeez, woman. I was about to compliment you, but if you don't wanna let me finish, then I guess I'll keep it to myself."

My interest went up a little, but I didn't want to let him know that. I refolded my arms, "I don't need your compliments."

He smirked, "I was gonna say I'm proud of you."

My eyes went wide. Did I just hear him right, or was that a trick of the wind?

"You really are drunk."

He waved a dismissive hand, "Nah, not that drunk, I promise. Alchohol ain't even kicked in yet."

I got a little warm in the ears. Talon never said things like that, so what was bringing it on now?

"What's there to be proud of? I haven't done anything special on this little quest."

"Sure you have. When the kid went missing, you didn't hide in your cabin and sulk, you kept your head high and acted, right then. Even with what happened to your brother on top of that, you didn't let any of it weigh you down, or hell, even distract you." He raised a matter of fact finger, "And if I've been seeing things right, you haven't shed one tear yet."

"Guess that's the optimist in me."

He snickered, "Never took you for one."

A shooting star flashed in the night sky. It was so quick that with one blink, I would've missed it. But I didn't, I saw it's temporary white line inhabit my vision for just one moment, one pause that took up the small silence between us.

Even with that small moment, I didn't have to think on my next words. "Guess I don't look on my past as much as I used to. Or at least, with the same feelings."

"Wish I could do the same."

I thought back to earlier, my memory of that horrible night when my dad lost control. He thought...it was mom, it was Nemesis. How much hatred did he really have for her? Was it just sadness?

"My dad...hit Levi and I a lot. Well, mostly Levi, because he'd always take the focus away from me."

I hadn't really opened up about this stuff to anybody, besides Chiron and Annabeth, and a little to Matt, I guess. Talon was the last person I expected to talk about this to, but in this moment, it felt right. It felt like I needed to.

I continued, "Only now do I feel nothing. No thirst for revenge from anybody. It's so...weird, because for most of my life, that's the thing that kept me going. That was the purpose. I didn't even know what I would do after I got it, I just knew that once I enacted it, I would feel better."

Another silence.

"But I was wrong. Dad and Levi did some horrible things, but...they were going through stuff too. Not saying that makes it right, but it does help me understand a bit. Maybe that's why I don't feel anything. I'm just...focused." I glanced at him, seeing no reaction, I shrugged. "That or numb."

"Nah, you ain't numb. That's the best thing you can do. Move on." He shook his head, almost shamefully, "I suppose I haven't, yet."

"What do you mean?"

He turned his shoulder without moving his feet and gestured down the hill, where we met Aphrodite earlier. "I used to hear in old myths that when a mortal lays eyes on Aphrodite's face, they see the one they love the most. Dead or alive."

I nodded. So he definitely saw Mary in Aphrodite. The one you love most...and I saw Matt. So that would mean, well, that would mean exactly what I think it means.

"I saw Mary." He said, rather quickly. "I thought by this point I'd have moved on from her, but I guess not."

"Well you loved her, right?"

"I did." He nodded, "But she wasn't always just some girl I liked, she was my best friend before Malachi and Sera, she was the one person who truly understood me. She didn't care how much of a handful I was. She saw something in me that I reckon nobody else did."

I looked down at the bottle of whiskey, now empty. I listened to every word, but I couldn't help wondering how much of these were alchohol laced, and out of his control. He'd never told me this kind of thing before, for this long.

"Her memory is tied to that damn mistake. That mistake I made in not saving her, not jumping in her way in time." He laughed humorlessly, "Can't get hurt, yet I didn't even think about shielding her body."

"Hey, you couldn't have known that-" I started, but he was on a roll.

"I see her in my dreams, a lot." His chin was raised up, and he seemed to be staring at the sky, his mouth partly agape, like a trance. "I see a lot of shit in my dreams, kid."

"What do you see?"

"Gold."

"Gold?"

"Heh, lots of damn gold. Bamboo, and a big secret temple, with some kind of woman out in front. She ain't naked though, not like the Greek statues." He grumbled, "Kinda disappointing."

I found my eyebrow had rose all the way to my hairline. It seemed like the drink was finally starting to have a real effect on him. He was slurring his words, swaying back and forth on his feet, and his head bobbed around a little bit, like it was about to fall off from his body.

I reached out and grabbed his arm to keep him upright, "You probably need to lay down."

To my surprise, he matched the grip I had on his arm with my own, wrapping his hand around my bicep and grabbing my opposite shoulder with his other hand, leaning for support.

"Talon-"

"Listen, kid." He said, his weight coming full force against me, but I managed to stay footed. "I need to say this. I've held it in for too long, too damn long. I...ain't good with secrets, never was."

I was lost, "Talon, what are you talking about?"

"Nikandreos," He said, "The truth."

Matt

Tartarus is infinite.

I mean, I figured. But I didn't truly find out until I reached out with my aura sense.

Trying to find Percy and Annabeth, I stood still and outspread my aura as far as it could possibly go. I train this constantly, back home I would even get it to where I could reach all over the world with ease, feeling the energies of the gods, and pretty much every human inhabitant. The quantity was no issue either. Used to, such a thing would overwhelm me, but now it's a piece of cake.

This wasn't. It went so far, I know you could measure it in lightyears. I sensed hundreds of monsters, but no Percy and Annabeth. Wherever they were, it was far, far away.

"Still no luck?"

Yuri had propped herself up on the rock wall behind us, her arms crossed and looking mildly bored with everything. I could relate.

I sighed and released it. "Nothing. I still can't find them."

"Are you sure they're down here? Tartarus loves to play tricks."

"I'm well aware," I mumbled. "It seemed real to me. Either way, I'm not going to ignore the chance. If he captured them personally, they're in serious danger."

I closed my eyes again and concentrated my aura. This was it, find them now.

I felt it leave my body once again, and I pushed it with all I could muster, my body strained, my muscles tightened. Every fiber was on fire at the pressure. It went and went...and...

Nothing.

The glow faded around me, and I nearly fell to my knees. I'd been at this for a good hour, and there had been no success whatsoever. It was starting to tire me, reaching out to my limit like that.

Yuri leaned off the rock and came over to me. "They must be far."

"I'd guess." I took in a deep breath, "Or maybe they just aren't here at all, like you said."

She looked up at the stalagmite covered roof, "Anything is possible in this place. Tartarus itself is made of chaos, and chaos is infinite, so naturally this is the same." She then directed her gaze down at me, "You might as well be searching through the multiverse itself."

"You know about that?" I said, taken out of the task at hand for a moment. I'd had a pretty...interesting experience with alternate realities myself. Along with my son of Zeus buddy Zane Williams, we'd gotten into quite the troublesome adventure a couple of months ago.

"I know of it, yes." Yuri said, and didn't elaborate further. She extended her hand for me to take.

I grabbed it, and she pulled me up.

"We can try something else." She offered, "Now I don't know how much this will affect it, but if I add my own aura sense to yours, it will reach even farther. Perhaps far enough to locate your friends."

When I processed what she was saying, I broke out into a smile. "You can really do that?"

"Oh yes. Again, I don't know how much it will help."

"No, no, it's fine. I'm willing to try anything." I was taken back. I'd never thought about combining aura sensing abilities together to make it even more powerful. Could this mean that you'd be able to detect suppressed and hidden auras too? That was an interesting question. I guess the only reason I never thought of it was because the only other person I hang around with that has the ability is Malachi. And I guess Percy, since his recent training.

Yuri gently turned me around and stood behind me, placing her hands on my shoulders, she gave a moderate grip.

"As long as we have physical contact, the bind will not break. But we must enact our senses at the same time. Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

The nanosecond I felt her aura flare, I amped mine up to the same level. Pretty soon, both of ours was in full blast, full effect, reaching out for thousands and thousands of miles. Blue and red mixed perfectly together, like two friends that hadn't seen each other in years, finally reunited. It was such a powerful feeling, having hers interlaced with mine, and it was also...strange. The sensation of it was almost freeing, like her personality, her entire being had entered me, or something. As weird as that sounds, my normal pressure of anger and rage, what my aura is built on, was replaced by a calming looseness and buoyancy. It felt like I was standing at the bottom of a swimming pool. Weightless.

I opened my eyes for a second to look at the auras. They funneled above us and danced together, coating the landscape with a great shade of blue and red. I gasped at the sight; it was...amazing.

"Yuri..."

She gave my shoulders a firm squeeze. "Focus, Matt. You want to find your friends, right?"

I shook my head and snapped out of it, "Y-Yeah, sorry." I closed my eyes again and focused.

I could suddenly see the tip of our auras making their way through Tartarus, as fast as light, zipping around rivers, lakes of fire, monsters and caves, weaving in and out. I didn't think it would ever end.

That is, until a strange spot came into the thermal-like view.

It was a wide open, deep cave. That much I could tell. As far as how deep it was, I had no idea. But the wide array of huge auras inside caught my attention.

Five of them. Two faint, and three wide awake. The two felt really familiar, and I knew it was them, it had to be.

"I found them!"

Yuri didn't even have to let me go, I practically spun around and faced her, excited. "I-I found them!" I couldn't believe it, they were down here, and I found them.

But those other three...

"Yeah," Yuri already knew what I was thinking. "Did you recognize them?"

I reared my head back, "No, not really. They were strong, but..."

Her eyes were filled with caution. "I recognize them, Matt."

"Yeah? Well, what are they?"

"Giants." She said, "And that's not all. One of them is Antaeus."

Harper

"The truth? Hold on, hold on, I think you need to sit down."

Talon's eyes were opening and closing rapidly, like he was trying his best not to fall asleep. "Hold on, nothing. I gotta say this stuff, you hear me?"

"Say it then, but say it sitting down, okay?"

He nodded and lowered himself to the ground, slamming his palm on the grass to stop from tumbling over completely.

"World's spinning all over the place, heh heh."

I sat down next to him, "Just take it slow. What are you trying to tell me?"

He took a moment to gather his words, lying back flat on the ground and facing the stars. I figured he was about to put it all on the table, and I found myself leaning on one of my palms, my shoulders turned to see him.

But he just rose an eyebrow, "Hey, you know how to play guitar, right?"

The question took me so off guard I couldn't even be annoyed by it. "What?"

"Guitar? Don't you play?"

I shook my head quickly, "I mean, I know how to play, but it's been a while since-"

"Here." He interrupted, his hands flashing a sudden golden light. It was a quick, silent strobe that lasted as long as a camera flash. In an instant, he had an acoustic guitar in hand, and he was trying to give it to me. "Play a tune."

I looked at the instrument, completely baffled. I wanted to get loud with him and hit him on the arm or something, but I needed to remember that he was probably drunk right now, and not in the best mindset. I mean, he just saw the face of his dead girlfriend, probably for the first time in years. I needed to cut him some slack.

So I settled for a stern head tilt, like talking to a child. "Talon, I thought we were talking about something else."

He groaned, "I know, but I wanna hear a tune. Ain't heard a good player since..." He stopped, and his mouth parted ever so slightly. His face was completely blank, like he'd seen a UFO fly right over us. "Since..."

Gently, I took the guitar out of his hand and set it to the side, on the grass. "I'll play something in a minute, when you finish telling me what you were going to say."

His head rolled over to look at the now dormant guitar, and it seemed like he almost wanted to reach out to it. Not to grab it, but to just touch it.

"Master."

"W-What?"

"Master used to play guitar." He said, and smiled a wistful smile. "He was good. I ain't heard anyone as good since."

My eyebrows drooped. There was a longing in his voice, a longing for things to go back to the way they were before, when life was at it's best. I knew the feeling, I had the same tone whenever I talked about Levi.

He continued, "He'd play for me when I was little. Songs about the wild west, all those gunslingers from legend. Hell, I just liked how deep his voice could go, and how strings could make something sound so...good. I never even paid attention to the lyrics."

"I know what you mean. Levi used to show me stuff all the time. I practically adopted my outfit style from the music he'd let me listen to."

Talon's lips flickered a smile, then it fell, just as quickly. Reaching up with his right hand, he pulled off his hat, revealing a mess of dirty blonde hair.

He held it up over his face and stared at it. Or I guessed that's what he was doing. I couldn't tell with the sunglasses, he always had them on. They might've been closed, flickering back and forth, or maybe he was just tracing the fabric. It sort of puzzled me more than it bothered me. I'm used to being able to read a person simply by their eyes. You can find out just about whatever you want from it, depending on the person, of course.

Talon's next words were spoken delicately, like he didn't want me to miss a beat. "He gave me this hat. Gave me the sunglasses, taught me how to fight, put a roof over my head...damn near everything."

The words were on the tip of my tongue, another Levi comment. 'He taught me how to fight too.' But he already knows that, and this is about him right now. It would probably sound selfish.

So I went with, "I-I know."

"We didn't always see eye to eye, he and I. But I don't take for granted anything he taught me, no matter how tough he was."

He sighed, and let the hat fall to his chest, with his hand still on it. "It ain't easy talking about it, you know? The weird shit. The Nikandreos shit. I still don't understand what any of it means."

"I know it's not easy. Just...how about you tell me what you see, not what you think it means. Like that temple you mentioned eariler."

"Yeah, I see that sometimes. It's like I'm watching a movie, and I keep getting closer to this crazy ass temple, with a bunch of rooms and statues. But every time, there's this golden light in the middle that I'm drawn to. And whenever I get just close enough to see it, the vision's gone."

Golden light? "Like the light you use whenever you...you know? You think it could be him?"

"Maybe. I don't know. I mean, I'm not even sure where It's at. The temple looked like an Asian one, but that's just a guess."

I wanted to cup my hands around my ears, or record this conversation, just so I could remember everything. This was the first time he was opening up about this sort of thing, and it could be crucial.

"What else do you see?"

His finger rubbed over the brim of his hat absentmindedly, I could see the gears turning in his head. Was he trying to sift through what he wanted to tell me? Or was he about to fall asleep? See, that's the thing. If I could see his eyes, I could tell.

Thinking about it, I kind of felt guilty doing this. He was obviously drunk, at least a little, so was I in the wrong for questioning him? Did he even know that he was revealing this information? I hated the fact that I was somewhat forcing him to tell me, but then again, he kind of pushed the matter himself. He wanted to say it. But how much of that was the whiskey talking?

It was too late to stop him now. He was already saying something else. "Most of it's vague, and pretty mysterious. But another thing I can clearly remember, is seeing this guy. About mid thirties, on this farm with his wife and kids."

"Is this a memory?" I interjected.

"Probably. The houses look old, like the lower class of an Ancient Greek village. Anyway, it cuts from him being with his family, to him fighting with his army, against another army. He's wearing armor, holding a sword, and doing pretty damn good in the fight. It's like a completely different person."

What did this have to do with Nikandreos? "Who is he?"

He turned and looked at me, "I think it's him. Nikandreos."

"You think so?"

"Well, that's the only guess I've got. The memories ain't mine, not one of them. And you remember the story master told you guys, how Nikandreos fought against invaders of his city, and found out later that it was the gods who sent them." He gestured for emphasis, "That's what sent him on his whole quest to basically kick their asses and teach them a lesson."

Parts of it replayed in my mind. I remembered portions of it, on that first quest when Jack Colter basically told us the summarized version of the Nikandreos backstory. It seemed unimportant then, but now, hearing that Talon's been seeing these memories, only makes me more confused.

"Do you think he's sending you these visions? Your father? I mean, if he is, why? Why wouldn't he just talk to you, or give you some advice?"

He looked just as confused as I was, "That's the thing, though. I think there's a meaning behind that stuff. Because the weird thing is, he looks like me. And I don't mean similar, or any of that father-son resemblance stuff. I mean exactly like me. And when I look at his farm, his family...I don't know, it doesn't feel like it happened to me or anything, but at the same time, it does. It feels familiar."

"Like deja vu?"

His face scrunched, "What's that, some kind of French food?"

I rolled my eyes, "No idiot, it's a feeling. It's when something you think is new feels familiar."

"Oh well, yeah, it's that."

A familiar feeling. I guess I could feel the same way if I saw one of my mom's memories, but I don't know. For it to feel like my own, that would be pretty strange. I wasn't sure why Talon was feeling like that. Maybe Nikandreos was just trying to show him where he came from? Or maybe there's something deeper to the story that Jack Colter never told us.

"Is there anything else?"

He shook his head, "Nah, that's it. On repeat. Freaks me out."

A silence fell. The wind sighed a breath of relief it had been holding in, and the grass didn't sway, because it was near frozen with the temperature, but tiny loose strands of hair got in my face, tickling my nose. I had to cover it to prevent from sneezing.

"Sorry about your brother, kid."

I almost didn't catch it. His voice and the wind had an equal volume. It finally softened enough to where I gained the resolve to speak. "Oh...no need to say that. It's just the way it is."

"I know, but still...sorry. I know he was trying to change, and you had your hopes high. It's a shame, what happened."

I looked at the ground and found that my finger had started playing with the grass. Like a nervous tick. "Yeah..."

"And I gotta admit, I thought you were batshit crazy for not killing that titan. I mean, guy killed your brother, doesn't show any remorse, and you just let him go? But then I thought about it, and what you said a few minutes ago, about how revenge was your purpose, and the very thing that kept you going. It...made sense, why you did it. You're probably right when you say it's better to let go of all that hate."

"It is." I confirmed, "I wanted to kill him, don't get me wrong. But I was just so tired of that emotion. I'd felt it long enough, and I knew that I was going in a never-ending cycle. First it was my mom, then it was Levi, and it could've been Atlas, but I stopped it."

"Takes a lot of will." He let out an amused breath, and he smirked. "Guess I gotta stop calling you goth girl now and change it to goth woman."

A vein popped on my forehead, but on the inside, I was all warm. For some stupid reason, I actually value what this idiot thinks of me.

"You don't need to call me goth anything, moron." I raised my chin, "Ms. Pierce will do."

He snickered, "What is this, Sunday school? I'll pass. The minute you and I start calling each other by our real names, that's when you know the world's gone to shit."

"Well, the world's gone to shit, Talon."

He laughed, and reached over to pick up his empty bottle of whiskey. When he did, he rose it to my hand level, as if to toast. "It has. But at least we got each other, right? Our little band of misfits." He looked over at Malachi and Sera fondly, who were all snuggled up under the blanket he'd given them, fast asleep. "I mean, we're cooler than them, but we don't have to tell them that."

I nodded and toasted his bottle with my invisible glass. "Totally."

He set it back down and laid flat on his back again, putting his hat over his face instead of his head.

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for saying his name, back at the hospital. That was stupid."

I'd gotten it out, finally. It took the entire conversation to do so, but he finally heard me. It felt like I'd just lifted a car off my chest, a guilty burden I held had been lifted.

And of course, he just waved a dismissive, uncaring hand. "I don't even know what you're talking about." He nudged the guitar that had been sitting next to us the whole time. "Now if you don't mind, play a tune."

I shook my head and smiled. He was alright, for an idiot.

Taking the guitar in my lap, I let my fingers touch the strings, and I played something that would remind him of home.

Matt

"Oh yeah, that's where they are."

"You sense them?" Yuri asked.

I scoffed, "I can see them! Not exactly like those big idiots are trying to hide it."

I don't even want to begin to describe the distance we had to travel to get here. You remember how I said our sensing stretched across worlds? Lightyears, even? Yeah, well imagine for yourselves. Yuri and I got a good running start, and I may or may not have tripped halfway through the run. Moving at speeds that would make light seem incredibly slow, it kind of hurts when you fall on rock going that fast.

But nether the less, we somehow made it. And now were were camped outside of the giant's cave, on our stomachs, doing a bit of scouting. There was an abyss of bright fire below us, deep in a chasm that spread out over fifty feet, with no bridge, of course. It didn't really matter, but if a big fight broke out, and we fall down there? It's gonna be a pain to get back up, especially if I've got a literal giant hanging on the end of my leg.

I sensed the familiar aura of Antaeus. He was in there, along with two other, very powerful auras, that actually surpassed his. I could tell they were also giants, and probably older ones at that. The identities though, were lost on me. I suck at mythological knowledge, as most of you know. I knew about the war with the giants from a few years ago, the one that the old Seven were involved in, but that was about it. I didn't know any of their names. Heck, I didn't even know who Antaeus was, and he fought my father at some point.

Right now, one of their legs poked out of the cave's shadow. I could tell they were sitting around something, in a circle. Likely a fire they had crafted to boil my friends and eat them with.

"What do you have in mind, Matt?"

"Best option is to sneak in and take them by surprise." I tilted my head to look at her, which was kind of hard to do, since my position might remind you of how people lay on the beach when they're trying to get a tan. It doesn't help that Yuri is taller than me, and has longer arms, so I had to sort of break my neck to look up at her. "You think that's a good idea? I mean, did you know the giants? They're technically cousins to the titans, right?"

"Our half-siblings." She corrected, "They came later on, so I don't have as much experience with them as Kronos, per say. But I do know that they are virtually unmatched in raw physical strength, and durability. They can take hits, and give hits. But what they have in those categories, they lack in speed and agility." She cocked her head, "Also, if I had to guess, I'd say we're smarter than them."

I nodded, taking in as much info as I could. I don't remember fighting a giant, so I wanted to know my enemy before I just barge in and declare a fight with some of our world's strongest creatures. "They're strong and tough, but slow and dumb, got it."

"I wouldn't say dumb. From what I hear, there are quite a few formiddable foes in that department as well. See, each Giant is an opposing force to an Olympian. Their counterparts, if you will."

"I thought the titans were their counterparts?"

She shook her head, "We came before both. The giants were born around the same time the gods were, so if anyone is their true rivals, it would be them. And Gaea specifically created each one to be a literal opposition to a specific god. An anti-god, you could say. For example, Poriphyron is the anti-Zeus, Orion is the anti-Artemis, Polybotes is the anti-Poseidon, so on and so forth."

"Is Antaeus the anti-Hercules?" I asked.

"Perhaps. I'm not sure."

I was amazed at the information. I never really knew any of that. I mean, I heard some stuff about the war from Percy and Annabeth, but I never knew it wen that deep. The thought of an anti-god, literally made to fight, or even kill an Olympian, was mindblowing, and a little scary.

"That Poriphyron. He must be the Giant King, right?"

"Yes. From what I've heard, he is very powerful. I think you would know if it were him inside that cave." Her tone was grim with that last sentence.

Another thought came to me, and I furrowed my eyebrows. "I think I remember Percy and Annabeth telling me something about the giants. Something like, it takes both a god and a demigod to beat them. Is that true?"

She nodded, "Partly. An immortal can challenge a giant by themselves, if they want. That's how it was back in the war, when it was a simple god vs giant battle. But if a demigod wishes to fight a giant, the natural laws are clear that they cannot kill it, no matter how strong they are. They must have a god's help, even if it as simple as them flicking a finger at the giant. You even, for instance, could not by yourself."

I reared my head back. So it was true. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. If I went in there right now and whooped Antaeus's ass, I still wouldn't be able to kill him?"

"No."

"That's so stupid. Why?"

She shrugged, "I do not understand Fate's intentions either, Matt. I suppose it has to do with the fact that the giants were solely born to kill the gods. It's their fight, in a way. That's how fate intended it."

I shook my head, "Okay whatever. The dumb rule applies. Does that mean that we'll be able to kill them? I mean, a demigod and a titan, instead of a god? Would that work?"

That one puzzled her. She took a minute before answering, "I...do not know. I can't see why it wouldn't work, after all, titans are technically just older gods that go by a different name." She looked at me and shrugged, "I suppose it would work."

I didn't like the uncertainty in her voice. But either way, if I could manage, and that's a big could, to take out all these giants, I'd just beat them to near-death, and that should be enough. I don't have to kill them, I just have to get Percy and Annabeth out of there.

"Alright, I guess we're about to find out. You've got your aura suppressed right?"

She nodded, "Has been this entire time. You?"

"Yeah. You and I are gonna jump across, quietly, and sneak in. Once we do, we'll get a clear view of where Percy and Annabeth are, if there's any traps, and just who we're dealing with. Who knows? the Giant King might actually be in there."

She understood, "I am with you. But Matt, promise me you won't fight alone against them."

Crap, she'd caught my intentions, hadn't she? How did she do it?

I sighed, and locked eyes with her, a desperate plea in mine. "Yuri, I can't have them dying here. I just...can't. I need you to rescue them and get them out as quick as possible. All I need to do is hold them off long enough for you to do so. I don't have to beat them!"

She stepped back and put her hands on her hips, shaking her head vigorously. She had a very upset look in her eyes, like I'd made her genuinely angry.

"Matt, you are amazing. But three giants at once? Let me help you. Better yet, let your friends help too."

I gestured to the cave, thrusting my hand wildly. "Their auras were faint. Who knows what those big freaks have done to them! They don't need to be involved in this one, no way. I'm trusting you to get them out."

She glared at me, "You don't get to risk your life like that. Not for me. That's my job, remember? I'm the one that made the promise. I would get you back to your friends, back to the surface world, even if it kills me!"

I felt a ping of anger rise in my chest. I reached out and grabbed onto her arms, a tight grip. "Well maybe I don't want that to happen!"

She fell silent really quick, her eyes wide at my sudden outburst.

I realized that I had quite the hold on her, and I immediately felt guilty. She didn't show any signs of pain, but I still should've been able to control myself. Less lashing out, and more talking it out. That's how I operate now. I can't keep yelling and stomping my foot like that. It's just not the way to do things.

So I softened my hold, but still kept my hands on her arms. "Look...you can't just enter someone's life and talk about your own so...carelessly like that." I averted my gaze and looked down at the ground, "Believe me, I've been through it before."

"But I meant what I said. I still do."

My head snapped back up, and I once again, focused on the crystal blue orbs staring at me. "I know you do. But...trust me on this one. Get them out for me."

She was hesitant, "Matt-"

"Please, Yuri."

I held our gaze, and I saw her entire structure, her poise crumble. She apparently couldn't resist any longer, and sighed. "Fine. I will get them out first. But I am coming back to help you."

I smiled, and patted her arms quickly in appreciation before stepping back. "Thank you. I promise I won't do anything crazy. Besides, I've gotten a little smarter over the years. I won't make any mistakes."

She didn't look fully convinced, but I gave her no time to change her mind. With a swift press of my legs on the ground, I jumped in the air and propelled myself to the other side of the chasm.

Yuri followed suit, swiftly landing behind me and joining me on the rock's ledge. It only spanned about two feet out, so we had to be careful not to lose our balance.

I silently gave her a signal to follow my lead, and together, we shuffled slowly to the entrance of the giant's hideout. In front of it, sat a small platform, coming out of the rock and meeting the middle of our ledge, and the opposite ledge. It was like an extension of the cave, and completely flat. If I could just stall them there...

I stopped when I saw that I no longer had cover. Carefully, I craned my neck and peeked inside, getting a much better view than before.

The leg that I saw earlier belonged to Antaeus. He was sitting the closest to the opening, along with two other giants of surprisingly bigger size. Not by much, maybe a few feet or so, but it was still shocking. They all had rough, leathery skin, with scarce fur pelts for clothing, wrapped around their wide waists just enough to not give us any...well, view of something we don't want to see.

They weren't as physically impressive as you might think. Yeah, they were huge, but they weren't ripped or anything. To me, they looked a lot like sumo wrestlers. Beefy bodies that can take a lot of punishment. But I wasn't about to underestimate any of them because they were on the chubbier side.

What I saw next angered me. In the middle, was a campfire, and just above it, they had tied Percy and Annabeth by their torsos and hung them up. Cooking them, literally.

"They're about to put them in a pot, I'm sure of it."

Yuri pressed her body to my back and practically placed her chin on top of my head to see what was going on. "We came just in time. Judging by the looks of their skin, they haven't suffered any serious burns."

"But they're unconscious." I whispered dreadfully. That was going to make it even harder. Yuri would have no way of defending herself if she's carrying both of my friends, dead weight. I'd really have to hold these guys off while she gets them to safety.

But I was fully prepared to do so. Even if Percy and Annabeth hadn't been cooked alive yet, they still didn't look good. I could tell Tartarus, or these guys had roughed them up. Percy looked the worst, with dried blood all over his forehead and arms, his blue t-shirt ripped in several places, along with his jeans. I could tell he'd been hit with a lot of force, the way his head was lolling about, he was out of it. Annabeth on the other hand, had a few small cuts here and there, but nothing serious. The only worrying thing for her was the bruise on her cheek. Someone had knocked her out with a killer cross, one hit.

I shook my head and fought down the will to just go crazy. I needed to play this smart. They would be okay.

"Alright, Yuri. I'm gonna charge in and hit Antaeus first. You go behind me, cut those two free, grab them, and go out in the direction that has the clearest opening." I pointed to Antaeus's position, "Which would be the right side."

I could tell she nodded by the sensation of her hair tickling my forehead. "Yes. And when I get them to safety, I am coming to help you."

"Okay." I said, reluctantly. Truth is, I didn't really want to fight these guys for that long. I didn't want to reach out with my aura sense, because they would detect me in a heartbeat. But just sitting here, I could tell these guys were strong, and they came from the same family, which meant I would be fighting a team that could work well together. Not saying Yuri and I don't, but if I make even one wrong move and give even the slightest bit of slack, I'm a goner. I have to be alert at all times.

I took a deep breath and raised my hand above my head so she could see it. I gave a count of three, lowering my fingers with each second. When it got to the last second, I went in.

I wasted no time. The red aura was around me in a flash, covering me with it's warmth and power. I pressed off the ground and reappeared right next to Antaeus's head, rearing my fist back and slamming the brunt of it to his temple.

All of my power at that moment was condensed into a one inch space of my fist, and it sent his head recoiling. His entire body curved into a C-shape and Antaeus flew into the backside of their little hideout, crashing through thick layers of stone and rubble.

"Now, Yuri!"

Yuri had already cut Percy and Annabeth free before I even shouted at her. The giants weren't dumb. They sensed an aura and immediately struck, not wondering who it was, or even wasting time with speaking. They saw Yuri and tried to clobber her, two pairs of fists slamming into the campfire and destroying it completely, sending blazes of orange heat and embers all over the place, nearly blinding me.

Yuri was so quick though, she sidestepped each blow and moved around like a light-speed rabbit. The giants didn't even come close to hitting her. She sheathed her sword and scooped up both Percy and Annabeth in the crooks of her arms, following the plan. I smiled as she took two wide strides and leapt off into the distance, cracking the ground and sending a big shockwave behind her. She was gone.

I pumped my fist silently in celebration. She's so awesome. That was much quicker than I thought it was gonna be!

"BRAT!"

Just as I turned around, I saw a massive set of knuckles booming towards my face. I had just enough time to bring up my forearm and let it take the brunt of the damage.

It stung in a wave of pain, and I tucked my body in a fetal position as I hit the ground and flipped over. I quickly kipped up and shifted my legs in a fighting stance. They'd caught on, they were much faster than Yuri's explanation had me thinking.

Standing in front of me, were three towering, intimidating, shadowed figures with glowing eyes. I could see their horrible breath; I could see their auras begging to be released. This was about to be a tough one.

Antaeus was the one who hit me, as his fist was still out in front of him. He smirked when he looked down at me, and lowered his fist.

"Well well, the son of Heracles has come back to play." His voice boomed and shook the cave with its bass-like sound. "And it looks like he's in good shape this time."

My eyes were spinning back and forth between the three of them. I'm used to keeping my eyes on one opponent, this was a bit different for me. I had to make sure no one was going for my side or considering a surprise attack. I had to guard three fronts.

"Yeah, good enough shape to take you out."

Antaeus laughed, "Take us out? I'll bathe the underworld with your blood, demigod! Even your daddy will get a taste! KILL HIM!"

The giant to the far left punched the roof of the cave, destroying it completely and breaking any hold the rocks had on each other. They began to fall down on us in a huge clump of boulders.

I flexed my aura and burned each of them that came by. As they fell on my little dome, they couldn't withstand the pressure.

But then through the dust, two fists simultaneously hit my dome and shattered it, hitting me on both sides of my body.

The force sent me skidding and tumbling out in the open. I ended up on my stomach, sliding backwards towards the very edge of the little platform I mentioned earlier.

I didn't even have a chance to thrust my fingers into the ground to stop myself, one of the giants was in the air, his foot the only thing that I could see, his leg was straightened out. I knew he was about to spear the ground.

He did. He went through the thick platform like an arrow, creating a massive hole in the middle that caused an outspread of cracks, weakening the entire foundation.

He rushed forward with a stupid, sinister smile on his face and grabbed me by my head, squeezing with his index finger and thumb, threatening to break my skull in two.

"AGHHH!" I screamed, and beat uselessly on his fingers with my fists. Even with the Red Aura, my blows, to his fingers no less, were like mosquito bites.

He yanked me from my position and pitched me down into the abyss of fire that I mentioned earlier, in between the two spaces of land. It was far, far down, thousands of feet of distance, and little room for width. Basically, If I wanted to get out, I needed to go up.

The wind rushed in my ears; my hair blew wildly in front of my face. I could hardly see a thing, so I felt around for Viribus on my neck and pulled it off, not caring if I broke the string keeping it attached. It would repair itself anyway.

Just as I unsheathed the club, I could see the blurry silhouette of another giant throwing himself off of the ridge, now hundreds of feet away from me. He quickly caught up with the other giant, and they clasped hands. The one that threw me down here twisted his round body violently in mid-air so he could gain momentum. He spun so fast that I could no longer even make out his form, or the other giant's. When the pressure reached it's peak, he let go, and the other giant came zooming at me, a headfirst charge.

My eyes widened, and I began to panic. He was coming at me fast! I did the only thing I could think of, I roared in effort and attached my aura to Viribus, giving it a bright red glow of its own. I spun my arm around on the ball muscle of my shoulder and quickly threw it at the giant's head.

Matching my expectations, it did nothing but bounce off his arm. The giant swatted it away to the side of the chasm, and Viribus was out of my sights.

My brain was on overdrive. My weapon, gone, what the hell do I do now?! I'm falling down a pit of fire at two hundred miles an hour, weaponless, with a literal giant coming towards me, his fist ready to launch into my bone structure.

Pure instinct is what came next. I remembered the desperate move I used to do when I wanted to get out of a tight pinch. It was sloppy, but I managed to throw my arm over my chest, allowing me to spin around and do a one-eighty. When I was facing the bottom of the orange pit, I pulled my arms back and slammed my palms together.

The red aura sparked out in a big circle at the impact, like it had been flexed in that one single area, which it had. The new force of my clap overwhelmed the force of me falling easily, and I was sent the opposite way.

My back slammed into the giant's stomach, and I heard him groan in surprise, his body doubling over. I took the chance to reach behind me and grab on to whatever skin I could find. I found something somewhat attainable and pulled myself up on his back. Squatting down, I pressed off of him and jumped up, clearing over half of the distance that I fell.

But of course, the other two giants had already joined in themselves.

They had inserted their arms in the sides of the chasms, and slid down both, dragging down huge pieces of rock and rubble with them, creating a hailing storm of debris. It basically covered any view I had of above, and it was a good cornering technique.

A sitting duck in midair, the giants kicked off the flat walls and came at me from both sides, just like I did to their friend a few seconds ago. With their auras spiked, and fists coming at me like torpedoes, I braced myself for the onslaught.

(000)

This was a fun one to write. Feels like it's been a bit since I wrote a longer, more epic fight scene. There have been small ones here and there throughout Book Four, but this feels like the first real one. And yes, next chapter, I think you'll all like it.

So I hope you all liked the conversation between Harper and Talon. I love their dynamic, and I find those parts to be some of the most interesting. They bounce off each other in a natural way that I've honestly come to love. This one in specific though, was a long time coming. Talon finally revealed some of the stuff he's been seeing. Now I know, it wasn't very groundbreaking, but I think some of it does give away a few details. For instance, the location of where Nikandreos is, perhaps? And two, the fact that he's seeing his memories, but it feels familiar. Strange things indeed, and don't worry, all will be explained eventually.

But for now, just keep reading and stay tuned! Don't forget to leave a review!

Until Next Time.