For the sake of his own sanity and the fact that not even Father would challenge Aphrodítē when she got that look in her eyes (they all remembered the crickets), Hērmês led her down to demos oneiroi, passing through the shades one after another until they came across Drew's dreams.

"How do I change it?" his sister asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I don't want her to see this?" the goddess waved her hands to the blackened sands around her. "I want it look better than this."

Hērmês hummed. "Well, dreams are a state of consciousness characterized by sensory, cognitive and emotional occurrences during sleep. The dreamer has reduced control over the content, visual images and activation of the memory. Some people go through the notion of repressed longing—the idea that dreaming allows us to sort through unresolved, repressed wishes." He waved his hand at her dream of iceskating with Ethan under the stars while Lea and Alabaster cheered from the sidelines. "As I said before, the dreamer does have a bit of control over them. Bellōna's daughter, the one matched with your child and Hḗphaistos' son, is a good example. My son, Connor, tends to change his dreams even the prophetic demidivine dreams. Why, as the war approached this past summer, he changed all the monsters into chihuahuas without teeth and oinked like pigs so his dreams wouldn't be so scary. Apollō's daughter, Krisa, refuses to dream all together. I think out of all of her seventeen years of life, she may have had only four dreams and all of them about her becoming a singer famous enough to rival Michael Jackson."

"Big dreams."

"She has the drive for it," he nodded. "But anyway, an easier way to manipulate is by bringing them to somewhere familiar and recent."

Aphrodítē hummed. "Change it into Mēdeia's mall. It's recent and I have already put in a request to gain ownership of it. The mortals love things like that and besides, demigods need more things for themselves." He waved her words off. There was no need to explain it to him.

And with ease that belied his skill, he waved his kērū́keion, connect the actual mall to the Land of Dreams and pulling Drew into it right as she was completing a triple axel somersault. Hilarious since the girl was not a figure skater at all.

He makes himself sparse, flying to the upper levels were some of the princess's potions managed to survive. Truthfully, he was looking for her potion book. Lea would love it for a christmas gift, but he kept his ear for Aphrodítē and Drew.

"Όχι, dear," said Aphrodítē. "No punishment."

He peeked down to see that she was in the form that she preferred for Drew, how resplendent she looked in her sea-green dress. She had this air about herself which always shone bright and blinded whoever looked at her, an air which would quite befit a powerful queen and bring everyone to bow their head before her.

It was something that reminded him of his Leaneíras very much and placed a seed of truth that mortals were made in "God's image" except more so in her image.

"Mother," Drew breathed.

The goddess smiled. "You're only dreaming, louloudi mou. Hērmês brought me but if anyone wonders, I wasn't here. Okay?"

Aphrodítē held up a turquoise dress. Drew made a face one that her Mother mimicked. "This isn't my color, is it? Pity, it's cute. Mēdeia really does have some lovely things here. Maybe we can get some of Ángela designs in here."

"This—this building exploded," Drew stammered. "I saw it."

"Ναί," Aphrodítē agreed. "I suppose that's why everything's on sale. Just a memory, now. And I'm sorry to pull you out of your other dream. Much more pleasant, I know."

"Why am I remembering that?"

Aphrodítē smiled. "Because you are my daughter, Aeri. And well, Apóllōn's champion, but I'm the more important one of course." She winked as she walked around, her daughter following her around dutifully. "Either way, my little dove, you can see it because of your ability to speak things into existence. You always have always seen things much more vividly than others. If you so willed it, those simple times with your friends can happened again. Unfortunately—" The goddess gestured around the department store. "You have other trials to face, first. There will be many other enemies, some that may not even affect you. Alongside the fact that, the Doors of Death have opened."

"Matêr Pantôn. She's letting the dead back into the world. She was invoked when offerings were made to the dead."

"You're a smart one, Drew." Aphrodítē winked at her. "Mmm. And not just any dead. The worst, the most powerful, the ones most likely to hate the gods."

"The monsters are coming back from Tartara the same way," Drew guessed. "That's why they don't stay disintegrated."

"Ναί. Their patron, as they call her, has a special relationship with Tartarus, the spirit of the pit." Aphrodítē held up a gold sequined top. "Όχι... this would make me look ridiculous."

Drew eyed it. "You can make it work, of course. You can't look anything but perfect. But it doesn't fit the aura you give off right now."

"You're sweet," Aphrodítē said. "Beauty is about finding the right fit, the most natural fit. To be perfect, you have to feel perfect about yourself —avoid trying to be something you're not. Or well, someone. For a goddess, that's especially hard. We can change so easily."

"Silena was perfect," Drew's voice quavered. "Everyone thought so."

Aphrodite's gaze became distant; no doubt thinking of her daughter that was resting in Elysium at the moment. "Ναί ... Silena. Oh, she was amazing. So caring, healing, compassionate, nurturing, idealistic. Yet she had so much sadness inside. She was named after the moon goddess, Selḗnē. Beautiful, but there was a darkness to her that none could see. She was my moonbeam."

"And me?"

"My sunshine."

"Is it because of Apollo being my patron?"

"Of course not." Aphrodítē sounded offended. "You are my child. You burn so brightly, Drew. A guiding light to most that can warm any that come across you, but you have a fierce rage in your heart that can burn all that you swear vengeance upon. He chose you on his own against my better wishes at that." She shook her head, turning to a clothes rack and holding out a beautiful chocolate brown sweater dress. "I am of the sea and the sky, Drew. The possibilities that I see are endless as I learn from Eros Protogeneia, who overcomes the mind and wise counsels of all gods and all men within them. And you, my darling daughter, you see just as much as I. You remind me very much of Percy."

"Do you know where he is?"

"You know," her Mother smiled. "You've seen it before. Ask your friend Jason—lovely boy, by the way. His poor mother was destroyed when she found out she'd fallen in love with Ζεύς. Which brings me to an important matter ..." She opened her hand, showing Drew a blood red vial—a simple test tube with a cork stopper. "Ναί, this is one of Mēdeia's kinder mixtures. You will give this to Jason."

"What? Why? Why not give it to Ethan?"

Aphrodítē smiled a bit sadly. "Love is a healing thing in itself. Ethan will survive. I assure you of that. And a small word of advice, my sweet, is that well... I know you have struggled with forgiving him for his actions and wondering if things would ever be well between the two of you again." She walked over to her daughter, grasping her hands. "My Drewdrop, no one can truly give you an answer for this but your partner. When he looks at you as if you were the sun itself then you'll know. The love cannot be destroyed even if the trust is fractured. They only way it won't work is if neither of you work for it. You two are suppose to be two halves of a whole. If you two are not bettering each other and making spiritual connections that's unbendable then you do not need to be together. Your inner you. Your spirit will let you know if its not right. It will drain you dry. Only the two of you can make that decision don't confuse toxicity for love." She brushed a few strands of her hair from her face. "But my dear, if you don't heal what you, you'll bleed on people who didn't cut you. His actions alongside your sister have hurt you deeply. Take this chance, my love, to realize that the world was not out to get you and become the sibling that Anthony had been to you."

The girl flinched at the mention of her late brother, nodding her head slowly.

Her Mother pressed a kiss to her forehead, moving away to the racks once more. "As for Jason... he is walking a fine line between two worlds. He is like a leaf in the wind and without his memories, he will never land. And they hold no good things for Camp Half-Blood. That's what our enemy hopes for. Hḗrē may have taken his memories, but she wishes to break him and thus break everything apart."

Drew pursed her lips even as she reached for the vial.

Aphrodítē pursed her lips sadly. She moved to the next rack, which held battered armor and ripped togas, but Aphrodítē looked through them as if they were designer outfits.

"You have a strong will," she mused. "I'm never given much credit among the gods. My children are laughed at. They're dismissed as conceited and shallow."

"Some of us are."

Aphrodítē laughed. "Granted. Perhaps I'm conceited and shallow, too, sometimes. A girl has to indulge. Oh, this is nice." She picked up a burned and stained bronze breastplate and held it up for Drew to see. "Όχι?"

"No," Drew said. "Where are you going with this?"

"Patience, my sweet," the goddess said. "My point is that love is the most powerful motivator in the world. It spurs mortals to greatness. Their noblest, bravest acts are done for love."

"Like Helénē starting the Trojan War?"

"Ah, I get so much flack for that war as if it had been prophesied to happen regardless of machinations." Aphrodítē smiled. "And honestly, Paris and Helénē were a cute couple. Her attempts at Mariticide, notwithstanding. Truthfully, it broke my heart to manipulate her khaos-mark so, but alas, I swore an oath. And it would have been a civil war if Ankhísēs' daughter, Ariadnê, was chosen—" She cut herself off." Either way, the heroes of that war are immortal now—at least in the memories of men. Love is powerful, Drew. It can bring even the gods to their knees. I told this to my son, Aineíās when he escaped from Troy. He thought he had failed. He thought he was a loser! But he traveled to Italy—"

"And became the forebear of Rome."

"Exactly. You see, Drew, my children can be quite powerful. You can be quite powerful, because my lineage is unique. I am closer to the beginning of creation than any other Olympian. I rose from the sea. The first beings to rise from Khaos were the Earth and Sky—Gaea and Ouranos. When their son the Titan Krónos killed Ouranos—"

"By chopping him to pieces with a scythe," Drew remembered.

Aphrodítē wrinkled her nose. "Ναί. The pieces of Ouranos fell into the sea. His immortal essence mixed with Thalassa creating sea foam. And from that foam—"

"You were born. I remember now. So, you're—"

"The last child of Ouranos, who was greater than the gods or the Titans. So, in a strange way, I'm the eldest Olympian god. As I said, love is a powerful force. And you, my daughter, are much more than a pretty face. Which is why you had already known who was waking the giants, and who has the power to open doors into the deepest parts of the earth." Aphrodítē kept her eyes on the rack of tattered armor. "She has slumbered for eons, but she is slowly waking. Even asleep, she is powerful, but once she wakes ... we will be doomed. You must defeat the giants before that happens, and lull Gaea back into her slumber. Otherwise, the rebellion has only begun. The dead will continue to rise. Monsters will regenerate with even greater speed. The giants will lay waste to the birthplace of the gods. And if they do that, all civilization will burn."

"How powerful are we talking?"

"Do not underestimate her," Aphrodítē warned. "She is a cruel deity. She orchestrated Ouranos's death. She gave Krónos the sickle and urged him to kill his own father. While the Titans ruled the world, she slumbered in peace and a part of her helped plot the downfall of them. But when the gods overthrew them, Gaea completely awaken again in all her anger and gave birth to a new race—the giants—to destroy Olympos once and for all."

"And it's happening again," Drew said. "The rise of the giants."

Aphrodítē nodded. "Now you know. What will you do?"

"What am I supposed to do? Put on a pretty dress and sweet-talk Gaea into going back to sleep with a couple hundred explosive arrows?"

"I wish that would work," Aphrodítē said as Hērmês finally found the potions' book between the floorboards. "But no, you will have to find your own strengths, and fight for what you love. Like my favored ones, Helénē and Paris. Like Hektōr and Menelaos. Like my son Aineías and his sister, Ariadnê."

"Helénē and Aléxandros died," Drew said. Hērmês thumped his kērū́keion against the ground as a warning that they needed to leave.

"And Aineíās became a hero," the goddess countered, nodding her head in Hērmês' direction. The power mixed together as Zéphuros caught the quartet on the earthly plane. Hērmês guided them not too far from Mount Diablo and Aphrodítē changed their tattered and burnt clothes into something a bit better. "The first great hero of Roma. The result will depend on you, Drew, but I will tell you this: The seven greatest demigods must be gathered to defeat the giants, and that effort will not succeed without you. When the two sides meet ... you will be the mediator. You will determine whether there is friendship or bloodshed. Give Jason the vial after you all have met."

"What two sides?"

Drew's vision began to dim.

"You must wake soon, my child," said the goddess. "I do not always agree with Hḗrē, but she's taken a bold risk, and I agree it must be done. Ζεύς has kept the two sides apart for too long. Only together will you have the power to save Olympos. Now, wake, and I hope you like the clothes I picked out."

"What two sides?" Drew demanded, but Hērmês threw her from the Land of Dreams.

Turning to look at his sister, he could not help but to raise a brow.

"What," she sniffed, turning back to thumb through the clothes.

By the time Hērmês and Aphrodítē made their way back to the throne room, the quartet had made it to the top of Mount Diablo. Or well, Tuyshtak which was one of its oldest recorded names from the native that lived there; the čočeño-speaking Ohlone from Mission San Jose and the East Bay area.

Apóllōn kept his golden eyes trained on the trio. "I have a feeling that Enkélados does not know just what he has gotten into."

The ominous words rang out within the throne room; everyone's eyes on the screen. Hērmês glanced around, quickly. Athḗnē was weaving a blanket on her throne, sneering as her eyes landed on Enkélados. Aphrodítē was fixing her makeup in her mirror which once more looked like a battle map of the entire North America continent. And the lipstick marks look terrifyingly like streaks of blood. Flōra was weaving flowers into what started as a crown, but looked more like a giant ball.

Hērmês turned back to the screens, inwardly growling at what he saw.

Trees had been cut down to make a towering purple bonfire. The outer rim of the clearing was littered with extra logs and construction equipment —an earthmover; a big crane thing with rotating blades at the end like an electric shaver and a long metal column with an ax blade, like a sideways guillotine—a hydraulic ax.

Enkélados was thirty feet tall—clearly, not at full strength since Hērmês remembered him as taller than that. Some things were the same though. He still appeared as humanoid as the gods themselves, his muscular chest clad in bronze armor, decorated with flame designs. Hilarious considering that he was defeated by throwing an actual volcano on top of him.

His arms were completely ripped. Each of his biceps was bigger than her. His skin was bronze but sooty with ash. His face was crudely shaped, like a half-finished clay figure—maybe from when Athḗnē smashed Aetna on his head—, but his eyes glowed white, and his hair was matted in shaggy dreadlocks down to his shoulders, braided with bones. His legs were scaly green, with claws instead of feet—like the forelegs of a dragon. In his hand, Enkélados held a spear the size of a flagpole. Every so often he dipped its tip in the fire, turning the metal molten red.

Drew didn't seem to notice, eyes focusing with a startling intensity onto her blessing. The sword named after Deimos was clutched in her hand, still covered in blood while she summoned her bow named after Lētṓ. Ethan Nakamura's head slumped like he was unconscious as he was tied to a post on the other side.

Drew scrambled along the ridge, trying to keep her head down, which was hard as a child of Aphrodítē, they naturally drew attention to themselves while Leo, Jason, and Gleeson walked straight into the clearing.

Jason summoned his golden lance. He brandished it over his head and yelled, "Giant!"

"Isn't he bold?," Veritas sighed dreamily. "No one braver."

She pulled out a mini flag with Jason's face on it to wave around.

Enkélados stopped chanting at the flames. He turned toward them and grinned, revealing fangs like a saber-toothed tiger.

"Well," the giant rumbled. "What a nice surprise."

Coach Hedge shouted, "Let the boy go, you big ugly cupcake! Or I'm gonna plant my hoof right up your—"

"Coach," Jason said. "Shut up."

Enkélados roared with laughter. "I've forgotten how funny satyrs are. When we rule the world, I think I'll keep your kind around. You can entertain me while I eat all the other mortals."

"Is that a compliment?" Hedge frowned at Leo. "I don't think that was a compliment."

Enkélados opened his mouth wide, and his teeth began to glow.

"Scatter!" Leo yelled.

The giant blew fire before abrupt choking as Drew shot one of her trick arrows; one that Lea made for her that had a ball tip containing a highly reactive, fast drying, industrial polymer, directly into his mouth. He tried to roar, but the glue grew even more. Instead, he growled as Jason rose to charge and Gleeson ripped off his jacket, which was now on fire, and bleated angrily. "I liked that outfit!" Then he raised his club and charged, too. Enkélados slammed his spear against the ground, ripping the glue away from his face and out of his mouth to throw on the ground. The entire mountain shook. He gagged a bit, spitting the glue out to glare in direction of Drew who had rolled with the shockwave, landing behind a line of bushes, four more arrows already knocked.

The giant bellowed, "I see you, Drew Tanaka!" He turned and blew fire at a line of bushes except the fire was met by the arrows which Hērmês wasn't all that surprised to be the Lea's mageia arrows for her that let snow storms escape. Steam rose up which Drew took as the cover to move closer to Ethan.

"I'm happy you've arrived. And you brought me my prizes!" Enkélados laughed, swinging his staff through the air to clear the steam. "That's right, son of Hḗphaistos. I didn't expect you all to stay alive this long, but it doesn't matter. By bringing you here, Drew Tanaka has sealed the deal. If she betrays you, I'm as good as my word. She can take her sister and her father and go. What do I care about a traitor to his people?"

Ethan was dressed in ragged sweatshirt, torn sweatpants, his bare feet were caked with mud and when he raised his head, blood was streaming from a nasty cut down the side of his face. He blinked, trying to focus. "Drewberry...? Where..."

Her hands cradled his face before she snarled, turning to Enkélados with her arrows knocked. "Let him go," she murmured so softly yet filled with so much warning.

"Of course, dear," the giant rumbled. "Swear your loyalty to me, and we have no problem. Only these others must die."

"No pressure, no diamonds," she murmured, lowering her bow to fiddle with something around her waist.

"He'll kill you," Leo warned but Drew ignored him, eyes focused on the giant. "Don't trust him!"

"Oh, come now," Enkélados bellowed. "You know I was born to fight Athḗnē herself? Mother Gaea made each of us giants with a specific purpose, designed to fight and destroy a particular god. I was Athḗnē's nemesis, the anti-Athḗnē, you might say. Compared to some of my brethren—I am small! But I am clever. And I keep my bargain with you, Drew Tanaka. It's part of my plan!"

"Your plan failed," she drawled, voice still filled with so much warning that Leo and Jason froze in their places. She dropped whatever she had been missing with to heft her bow back upwards and move closer. "The moment that you used my friends against me. When you tried to use my Ethan against me. Not even the Gods above can separate the two of us."

Enkélados roared—a call so loud it echoed down the valley and all the way to San Francisco. The children at the latin camp stilled, pulling out weapons and making makeshift weapons for every spot that they stood. Their eyes all fluttered in the direction of the sound, muscles tensed with anticipation and drawing all the Saturnalia celebrations to a halt.

How ironic that their own leader, one that they thought was missing and one who didn't even know his own history, stood on his feet before an enemy that they knew naught about with his lance drawn to attack.

At the edge the woods, half a dozen ogre-like creatures rose straight out of the earth.

The ogres shuffled forward. They were small compared to Enkélados, about seven feet tall. Each one of them had six arms—one pair in the regular spot, then an extra pair sprouting out the top of their shoulders, and another set shooting from the sides of their rib cages. They wore only ragged leather loincloths.

Leo stepped toward Drew. "What—what are those?"

Her bow never wavered. "Gegenees."

"In English?" Leo asked.

"The Earthborn," she said. "Six-armed giants who fought Jason—the first Jason."

"Very good, my dear!" Enkélados sounded delighted. "They used to live on a miserable place in Greece called Bear Mountain. Mount Diablo is much nicer! They are lesser children of Mother Earth, but they serve their purpose. They're good with construction equipment—"

"Vroom, vroom!" one of the Gēgenēs bellowed, and the others took up the chant, each moving his six hands as though driving a car, as if it were some kind of weird religious ritual. "Vroom, vroom!"

"Yes, thank you, boys," Enkélados said. "They also have a score to settle with heroes. Especially anyone named Jason."

"Yay-son!" the Gēgenēs screamed. They all picked up clumps of earth, which solidified in their hands, turning to nasty pointed stones. "Where Yay- son? Kill Yay-son!"

Enkélados smiled. "You see, Aeri, you have a choice. Save your sister and her Father, or ah, try to save your friends and face certain death."

"Toxic, psychic hate, devoid of all emotion," Drew sneered as she stepped forward, eyes blazing with rage and power just as she did when facing Lukáо̄n. She started to glow just a bit, smirks appearing on the face of both Apóllōn and Aphrodítē. "I've always loved a challenge. You will not take the people I love. None of them."

Her words rippled across the clearing with such force, the Earthborn muttered, "Okay. Okay, sorry," and retreated.

"Stand your ground, fools!" Enkélados bellowed, shifting as he forced himself to stay in place. He snarled at Drew; eyes suddenly wary. "This is why we wanted you alive, my dear. You could have been so useful to us. But as you wish. Earth-born! I will show you Jason."

The gods watched with wide eyes as the giant didn't point to Jason. He pointed to the other side of the bonfire, where Ethan hung helpless and half conscious.

"There is Jason," Enkélados said with pleasure. "Tear him apart!"

"Saw that coming," Apóllōn murmured.

Drew snarled.

The giant focused his gaze back onto Drew. "I will break you."

"No," she said decisively, the browns of her eyes glowing… a beautiful mix of rose gold as Aphrodítē and Apóllōn both imbued her with their blessings. "YOᑌ ᗯIᒪᒪ ᒪOᐯE ᗰE."

Jason let the lightning strike, bright flares of electricity pierce the earthborn the faster they drew near. Leo dashed for the tree harvester.

And Drew?

Drew charged Enkélados.

Aphrodítē screeched, but Hērmês knew instantly that it wasn't from fear. Όχι, this was pure pleasure. Her lust for blood covered the entire mountain, leaving the others baying for strife though admittedly, it didn't take much to rouse Theoi tou Polemikoi.

The Gēgenēs were fast, but Leo ran like a storm spirit. He leaped toward the harvester from five feet away and slammed into the driver's seat. His hands flew across the controls, and the machine responded with unnatural speed. His Father nodded his head approvingly as Leo swung the crane arm through the bonfire, toppling burning logs onto the gēgenēs and spraying sparks everywhere. Two giants went down under a fiery avalanche and melted back into the earth.

The other four ogres stumbled across burning logs and hot coals while Leo brought the harvester around. He smashed a button, and on the end of the crane arm the wicked rotating blades began to whir.

Meanwhile, the earth covered Enkélados attempting to break the hold that Drew had over his mind but she only yelled louder. Her arrows just one right after another, blowing open the dirt that kept him away, but each time she yelled out a command that had him striking the ground.

The earth stopped trying to guard Enkélados, instead wrapping tendons around her arms to pull her back. She snarled, "Get off of me." and the dirt rushed to back to the ground. She put her bow up to slice through that sprung up between her and Enkélados.

"How cruel can nature be, that age denies you wisdom as youth denied you beauty," she sneered, dodging his massive spear and blasts of fire breath. The whole side of the mountain would soon be ablaze. "And you call yourself, the nemesis of Athena? A toddler is more wise than you."

Jason managed to cut Ethan free. An ear to his chest to check if his heart was still beating. His eyes were sparking with electricity, the sparks seeping off his hands to strike the earth that was attempting to cover them both.

"Just about enough intelligence to open your mouth when you want to eat, but certainly no more." Drew said, an arrow with a ball tip filled with acid that tore into Enkélados' flesh. "You will serve me. My feet you will kiss!"

Enkélados clearly took offense to her words, cradling his head as he backed away from her. He snarled, turning his attention to Jason and Ethan, leaving himself open to Drew's sword piercing the thick dragon hide that he called an angle. Golden ichor—the blood of immortals—trickled down the giant's clawed foot. Enkélados bellowed in pain and blasted her with fire. Drew didn't even seem to notice, glowing a rose gold as she rolled behind the giant and tapped an arrow so deep into the back of his knee that his leg buckled. She grabbed onto his hair, using them as climbing rope.

Leo was still fighting the other earthborn. One of the gēgenēs—apparently not the most intelligent one—charged the tree harvester, and Leo swung the crane arm in his direction. As soon as the blades touched the ogre, he dissolved like wet clay and splattered all over the clearing. Most of him flew into Leo's face.

He spit clay out of his mouth and turned the harvester toward the three remaining gēgenēs, who backed up quickly.

"Bad vroom-vroom!" one yelled.

"Yeah, that's right!" Leo yelled at them. "You want some bad vroom-vroom? Come on!"

Unfortunately, they did. Three ogres with six arms, each throwing large, hard rocks at super speed. Somehow, he launched himself in a backward somersault off the harvester half a second before a boulder demolished the driver's seat. Rocks slammed into metal. By the time Leo stumbled to his feet, the harvester looked like a crushed soda can, sinking in the mud.

"Dozer!" Leo yelled.

The ogres were picking up more clumps of earth, but this time they were glaring in Jason and Ethan's direction. The son of Iovis was blasting the giant back further and further. The giant snarled, his spear missing the boys on the ground by a millimeter as Jason rolled them out of the way. Drew screeched, slicing right through his hair and down to his scalp. Thirty feet away, the bulldozer roared to life. Leo's makeshift gadget had done its job, burrowing into the earthmover's controls and giving it a temporary life of its own. It roared toward the enemy.

"I'm not some minor monster," Enkélados bellowed. "I am a giant, born to destroy gods! Your little gold toothpicks can't kill me!"

"𝙎𝙃𝙐𝙏 𝙐𝙋!" Drew yelled, voice filled with so much power that more than one mouth snapped shut within the Throne Room.

Jason retreated, holding onto Ethan. Enkélados could sense his weariness for he smiled, baring his fangs though the smile dropped off his face when Drew drove another arrow into his skull, flipping off his body and letting the arrow explode as she landed on her feet.

The giants launched their second volley of stones. The dozer swiveled in the mud,skidding to intercept, and most of the rocks slammed into its shovel. The force was so great it pushed the dozer back. Two rocks ricocheted and struck their throwers. Two more gēgenēs melted into clay. Unfortunately, one rock hit the dozer's engine, sending up a cloud of oily smoke, and the dozer groaned to a stop.

Ethan started to fall below the ridge, the last gēgenēs charged after him. Leo ran forward, straight through the flames, and grabbing a screwdriver from his tool belt. "Hey, stupid!" he yelled, and threw a screwdriver at the gēgenēs.

It didn't kill the ogre, but it sure got his attention. The screwdriver sank hilt-deep into the gēgenēs' forehead like he was made of Play-Doh.

The gēgenēs yelped in pain and skittered to a halt. He pulled out the screwdriver, turned and glared at Leo. Sadly, this last ogre looked like the biggest and nastiest of the bunch. Gaea had really gone all out creating him—with extra muscle upgrades, deluxe ugly face, the whole package.

"You die!" the gēgenēs roared. "Friend of Yay-son dies!"

Leo burst into flames, yelled, "Hephaestus!" and charged at the ogre barehanded.

"Oh Father, no," Hḗphaistos yelped.

He never got there.

A gleaming bronze blade sliced up one side of the gēgenēs and down the other.

Six large arms dropped to the ground, boulders rolling out of their useless hands. The gēgenēs looked down, very surprised. He mumbled, "Arms go bye-bye."

Then he melted into the ground.

Ethan stood there, an arm cradling his stomach with a ferocious expression though his eye was still unfocused. He turned his head in Drew's direction as if he could see her even though Hermes could tell that he had a very bad concussion. "Drew..."

"The mighty Jason Grace," Enkélados taunted. "Yes, we know about you, son of Iūpiter. The one who led the assault on Mount Othrys. The one who single-handedly slew the Titan Kreios and toppled the black throne."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"NO!" Veritas yelled as Enkélados breathed fire. Distracted, Jason moved too slowly. The blast missed him, but heat blistered his back. He slammed into the ground, his clothes smoldering. He was blinded from ash and smoke, choking as he tried to breathe.

Jason scrambled back as the giant's spear cleaved the ground between his feet, managing to stand to his feet as he moved backwards.

"No," Drew murmured. "No. No. 𝙉𝙊!"

She screamed.

And she screamed loudly.

"I SAID 𝙉𝙊!"

Enkélados stood still.

"YOU WILL SERVE ME!"

"I—Yes. Of course."

"That would make you happy? To serve me, be my loyal dog," she sneered. "Perhaps I will keep you as a toy then. Lea already has one pet titan."

Pet was being generous. Koîos was a bit terrified of Leaneíras mainly because her spell lingered a bit and even now he spoke more so through sounds than words.

"Anything to be near you."

"Then stay right there."

"Gross," Árēs grumbled, like the protective stepfather that he was.

Drew waved her hand in Leo's direction then suddenly, a large black metal wedge slammed into Enkélados with a massive thunk! The giant toppled over and slid into the pit. About a hundred feet behind them, Leo was standing over a piece of construction equipment—a long cannonlike thing with a single massive piston, the edge broken clean off.

Down in the crater, Enkélados was struggling to rise, an ax blade the size of a washing machine stuck in his breastplate.

Drew turned away, looking at Jason. "All yours. You might want to call down some help from Father Zeus though."

All around Enkélados, in his head and his ankles were sticks of arrows — arrows made from aluminum and carbon fiber.

Amazingly, the giant managed to pull the ax blade free. He yelled in pain and the mountain trembled. Golden ichor soaked the front of his armor, but Enkélados stood.

Shakily, he bent down and retrieved his spear.

"Good try." The giant winced. "But I cannot be beaten."

As they watched, the giant's armor mended itself, and the ichor stopped flowing.

Leo ran up to them, saw the giant, and cursed. "What is it with this guy? Die, already!"

"My fate is preordained," Enkélados said. "Giants cannot be killed by gods or heroes."

"Only by both," Jason said. The giant's smile faltered, and there was fear in his eyes. "It's true, isn't it? Gods and demigods have to work together to kill you."

"You will not live long enough to try!" The giant started stumbling up the crater's slope, slipping on the glassy sides.

Jason raised his hand to the sky, electricity sparking off his finger.

Iovis startled in his seat, a grim expression on his face.

"Enceladus, dear, be still!" Drew smirked, rage still clouding her eyes. "It's our first sacrifice to Gaea after all."

The giant froze just as Iovis grabbed the master bolt in hand. There was a metallic scent of a storm. Darkness swallowed the sun. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!

Lightning surged through Jason's body, straight through Enkélados, and into the ground. It surged through each arrow, adding on to the intensity of the bolt. The lightning bolt had split the mountain itself. The earth rumbled and tore apart, and Enkélados's legs slid into the chasm. He clawed helplessly at the glassy sides of the pit, and just for a moment managed to hold on to the edge, his hands trembling.

He fixed Jason with a look of hatred. "You've won nothing, boy. My brothers are rising, and they are ten times as strong as I. We will destroy the gods at their roots! You will die, and Olympos will die with—" The giant lost his grip and fell into the crevice.

The earth shook. Jason fell toward the rift.

"Grab hold!" Leo yelled.

Jason's feet were at the edge of the chasm when he grabbed the rope, and Leo and Drew pulled him up.

They stood together, exhausted and terrified, as the chasm closed like an angry mouth. The ground stopped pulling at their feet.

The mountainside was on fire. Smoke billowed hundreds of feet into the air. Mortals flew towards them in helicopters. All around them was carnage. The gēgenēs had melted into piles of clay, leaving behind only their rock missiles and some nasty bits of loincloth. Construction equipment lay in ruins. The ground was scarred and blackened.

Coach Hedge started to move. He sat up with a groan and rubbed his head. His canary yellow pants were now the color of Dijon mustard mixed with mud.

He blinked and looked around him at the battle scene. "Did I do this?" Hedge picked up his club and got shakily to his feet. "Yeah, you wanted some hoof? I gave you some hoof, cupcakes! Who's the goat, huh?"

Diónysos sighed.

Then Ethan stood up across the clearing, staggering forward. His eye was shallow, shell-shocked, like someone who'd just walked through a nuclear wasteland.

"Drew..." His voice cracked. "Drew... Aeri..."

Drew threw down her weapons, walking over to him determinedly. From inside the fanny pack around her waist, and Hērmês had only just paid attention to the black and brown outfit that she wore that was now covered in mud; she pulled out a bottle of nectar, poured some into her own mouth before she reached out for Ethan, wrapping her arms around him and pressed him against the wall. She pressed their lips together, breathing heavily together as she poured all of her amorous feelings into him. His arms; though weak, gained strength to hold her tightly to him as they held on tightly to each other.

The other three awkwardly turned away, but the couple didn't even seem to notice.

"We need to get him out of here," Jason said.

"Yeah, but how?" Leo said. "He's in no shape to walk."

Jason glanced up at the helicopter, which was now circling directly overhead. "Can you make us a bullhorn or something?" he asked Leo. "Drew has some talking to do."

"Impressive," Father murmured as he looked over the trio.

For now, Gaea was gone.

And all that was left was to rescue the Queen of the Heavens.

WORD COUNT: 6650

GODS NAMED:

1) Flōra - Roman goddess of flowers and spring and the wife of Favonius whose greek equivalent is Zéphuros. You'll find her also named as Khlōrís. They'll say that she's a greek figure, but her story was written completely by Ovid so she's a roman figure. She's Favonius' wife while Îris is the wife of Zéphuros.

WORDS TO KNOW:

1) Theoi tou Polemikoi - the war gods

THINGS TO KNOW:

1) According to Miwok mythology and Ohlone mythology, Mount Diablo was the point of creation. The local peoples of the area traditionally had a variety of creation narratives associated with the mountain. In one surviving narrative fragment, Mount Diablo and Reed's Peak (Mount Tamalpais) were surrounded by water; from these two islands the creator Coyote and his assistant Eagle-man made Native American people and the world.

1A) If Piper was Bay Miwok or Ohlone, that would have been so seamless to her storyline.

COMMENTS FROM THE AUTHOR:

1) and now, we have the third Lost Hero because Jason and Percy are both Lost Heroes.

2) MWAHAHAHAH JASON GETS TO KEEP IVLIVS

2A) Starting to think that Rick just doesn't like Jayboy. Takes his memories, takes his weapon, takes his mother, takes his titles, his girlfriend leaves him, and then takes his life.

2B) Jason, fight back.

3) So a few chapters back I commented and said that I feel like canonically Drew may have been a seer. Its not one of Aphrodítē's domains, but there are a lot of people in greek mythology who were seers and were not related to the gods. As I was looking between this and MLNW, trying to make sure that I didn't use the same things, but something that I noted was how in one meaning of Drew's name: it meant "descendant of the druid". In Irish Folklore, druids had the gift of prophecy and other assorted mystical abilities.

3A) Like in MLNW, it was suppose to be because of her charmspeak and katrapon. And you know even there, I have her as Apóllōn's champion.

3B) But now, I'm connecting it canon. Like I KNOW that Rick didn't intend for it to be like that, but it's a thought and I like it a lot especially considering the way that I characterize her.

3C) (Apologies Piper fans. I'll always supplant her with Drew as the "better Aphrodítē kid".)

4) As much as it pains me to admit this, I wished that Tristan McLean had a moment that he realized that the gods and spirits actually existed. Its says in TLH "He's worked his whole life to deny the old stories about gods and spirits, yet he fears those stories might be real. He fears that he's shut off an important part of himself, and someday it will destroy him." Like that little part in TLH and how it shattered him was sad, but him, realizing that they were real, watching him shatter, and then building himself back up again. Like it would have been a good story about growth and dealing with his own inner demons.

4A) A STORY THAT DEALT AROUND THE PARENTS! OH EM GEE! YALL WHAT IF I WROTE A PRE-CANON FIC RIGHT, WHERE THE PARENTS (except Maria and Marie for obvious reasons) ALL COME TOGETHER AND GO ON THEIR OWN ADVENTURE.

4B) Like Sally, Esperanza, Frederick, Tristan, Beryl, Emily, May, Julian Ramírez-Arellano, Silena's dad, even Rachel's dad... all of them getting together, a group of people that have no business being together and just going: "Not my child!" - (and yk, my OC parents like Drew's dad, Octavian's parents.)

5) Mount Etna erupted a few days ago. Enkélados' trying to get free again.