Drew was on watch while her friends geared up for combat – checking their weapons and armour, loading the ballistae and catapults. She was absently counting and categorizing her arrows, and make sure the bands that she had hidden around her waist for her swords were secured. She had a couple of potions from the grimoire that Lea and Medea had worked on together hanging from her belt alongside the vial of physician's cure was still wrapped in its chamois cloth, and she was surprising wearing actual Camp Half-Blood attire, somehow making the orange shirt look as if it belonged on a runway. Then she spotted the snake guys slithering along the docks at the harbour in Peiraieús, on the outskirts of Athênai, winding through crowds of mortal tourists who paid them no attention.

'Um ... Annabeth? Percy?' Drew called.

Annabeth and Percy came to her side.

'Oh, great,' Percy said. 'Dracaenae.'

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. 'I don't think so. At least not like any I've seen. Dracaenae have two serpent trunks for legs. These guys just have one.'

'You're right,' Percy said. 'These look more human on top, too. Not all scaly and green and stuff. So do we talk or fight?'

'Permission to come aboard." said the one in the front, his rasping voice sounded like a straight razor being wiped across a strop. His face was chiselled and bronze, his eyes black as basalt, his curly dark hair glistening with oil. His upper body rippled with muscles, covered only by a Greek chlamys – a white wool cloak loosely wrapped and pinned at the shoulder. From the waist down, his body was one giant serpent trunk – about eight feet of green tail undulating behind him as he moved. In one hand he carried a staff topped with a glowing green jewel. In his other, he carried a platter covered with a silver dome, like a main course for a fancy dinner.

Poseidón scowled at the sight of him while Athḗnē smiled.

The two guys behind him appeared to be guards. They wore bronze breastplates and elaborate helmets topped with horsehair bristles. Their spears were tipped with green stone points. Their oval shields were emblazoned with a large Greek letter K – kappa.

They stopped a few yards from the Argo II.

'Who are you?' Drew demanded, twirling an arrow between her fingers. The threat was clear.

He fixed his dark eyes on her. 'I am Kékrops, the first and eternal king of Athênai. I would welcome you to my city.' He held up the covered platter. 'Also, I brought a Bundt cake.'

Drew glanced at her friends. 'A trick?'

'Probably,' Annabeth said.

'At least he brought dessert.' Percy smiled down at the snake guys. 'Welcome aboard!'

Kékrops agreed to leave his guards above deck with Buford the table, who ordered them to drop and give him twenty push-ups. The guards seemed to take this as a challenge. Meanwhile, the king of Athênai was invited to the mess hall for a 'get to know you' meeting as were the terms of xenia.

'Please take a seat,' Jason offered.

Kékrops wrinkled his nose. 'Snake people do not sit.'

'Please remain standing,' Leo said, cutting the cake and stuffing a piece in his mouth. 'Dang!' He grinned. 'Snake people know how to make Bundt cake. Kind of orangey, with a hint of honey. Needs a glass of milk.'

'Snake people do not drink milk,' Kekrops said. 'We are lactose-intolerant reptiles.'

'King Kekrops, what brings you here?" Medea asked. "How did you know we'd arrived?'

'I know everything that happens in Athênai,' Kekrops said. 'I was the city's founder, its first king, born of the earth. I am the one who judged the dispute between Athḗnē and Poseidón and chose Athḗnē to be the patron of the city.'

'No hard feelings, though,' Percy muttered and his Father's lips twitched. There was a lot of hard feelings. A lot in which Poseidón afflicted the land with drought.

Annabeth elbowed him. 'I've heard of you, Kekrops. You were the first to offer sacrifices to Athena. You built her first shrine on the Acropolis.'

'Correct.' Kékrops sounded bitter, like he regretted his decision. The gods shifted 'My people were the original Athenians – the gemini.'

'Like your zodiac sign?' Percy asked. 'I'm a Leo.'

'No, stupid,' Leo said. 'I'm a Leo. You're a Percy.'

'Will you two stop it?' Medea chided. 'He means gemini like doubled – half man, half snake. That's what his people are called. He's a geminus, singular.'

'Ναί...' Kékrops leaned away from Medea as if she somehow offended him. 'Millennia ago, we were driven underground by the two-legged humans, but I know the ways of the city better than any. I came to warn you. If you try to approach the Akrópolis aboveground, you will be destroyed.'

Jason stopped nibbling his cake. 'You mean ... by you?'

'By Porphuríōn's armies,' said the snake king. 'The Akrópolis is ringed with great siege weapons– onagers.'

'More onagers?' Medea protested. 'Did they have a sale on them or something?'

'The Cyclopes,' Octavian guessed. 'They're supplying both Dodie and the giants.'

Percy grunted. 'Like we needed more proof that Dodie is on the wrong side.'

Octavian snorted. "Even monsters gotta eat. Its capitalism and a bunch of double dealing."

'That is not the only threat,' Kékrops warned. 'The air is filled with storm spirits and gryphons. All roads to the Akrópolis are patrolled by the Earthborn.'

Leo drummed his fingers on the Bundt cake cover. 'So, what, we should just give up? We've come too far for that.'

'I offer you an alternative,' said Kékrops. 'Underground passage to the Akrópolis. For the sake of Athḗnē, for the sake of the gods, I will help you.'

'What's the catch?' Drew asked.

Kékrops turned those inscrutable dark eyes on her. 'Only a small party of demigods – no more than three – could pass undetected by the giants. Otherwise, your scent would give you away. But our underground passages could lead you straight into the ruins of the Acropolis. Once there, you could disable the siege weapons by stealth and allow the rest of your crew to approach. With luck, you could take the giants by surprise. You might be able to disrupt their ceremony.'

'Ceremony?' Leo asked. 'Oh ... like, to wake Gaia.'

'Even now it has begun,' Kékrops warned. 'Can you not feel the earth trembling? We, the gemini, are your best chance.'

Octavian and Drew stared at him with furrowed brows. Of course, the two of them would not trust snakes even if the python was one of Apóllōn's sacred symbols.

Percy looked around the table. 'Any objections?'

'Just a few,' Jason said as Octavian caught Drew's eyes before casting his gaze towards the tarot cards that Apóllōn had given her. 'We're on the enemy's doorstep. We're being asked to split up. Isn't that how people get killed in horror movies?'

'Also,' Percy said as Drew immediately began to shuffle and charged each card, calling upon the oracles of the sea as her Mother was also a sea goddess, 'Gaia wants us to reach the Parthenon. She wants our blood to water the stones and all that other psycho garbage. Won't we be playing right into her hands?'

Annabeth caught Octavian and Drew's eyes as the girl laid her cards out on the table. The snake card gazed up at them.

Octavian smirked bitterly. "King Kékrops. Your highness... did you know that I am a seer. Drew, here, is also learning the art of divination and I know Medea has a bit of shaman training and Jason over there will soon begin his training as a priest, so we have a bit more knowledge of things that come to be."

The old king nodded his head. "Though I believe, that Delphoí was no longer in Apóllōn's control?"

"Tis not," Octavian stated, waving his hand. "But that's not my point. You see, Drew has just pulled the tarot card for The Snake. A little background knowledge about it is that there is no single meaning or universal interpretation. It can have an array of messages because in different cultures these sometimes-insidious creatures have different attitudes. It is considered a seductress, a symbol of evil and darkness, as well as fear. Sometimes snakes mean renewal and regaining something since this animal sheds a layer of skin every year. Most of the time the appearance of a snake during vision work or divination, particularly during the dark moon, suggests deception. It is a wise animal that is considered to have some magical power."

"Do you have a magical power, your majesty?" Drew blinked innocently.

"Όχι." the King stated, shaking his head and not realizing that her charm was already sinking into him.

"Well, that's too bad," Octavian continued. "Because understanding this card may not be a straightforward task. Because if the snake appears to you in an altered state of consciousness, pay careful attention to your intuition. It is worth noting that the card does not always portend serious trouble, danger, or threat, but it clearly indicates that you need to be careful. Do not share your thoughts and plans, be attentive to what you are told."

"What does this have...?" Leo stopped as Drew raised her hand.

"And you've like totally told us so much," she stated cheerfully. "And so have the others on our quest. You see, we know that Gaia needs a boy and a girl to wake, so we know not send a boy and a girl together. But you also told us that we won't be able to fly over so that means we'll need to walk which is impossible right? The Earthborn are covering the pathways, but you... you offer to lead us underground. You offer to lead us under the skin of Gaia, and we already know that she would have no problem taking us for herself considering what she did to Percy on their quest to free Death."

Realization was starting to appear on the others face.

"And you said that you were driven underground by the two-legged humans and that you were born of the earth," Octavian pointed out. "So much bitterness for us mortals."

"But he... he judged the contest between..." Annabeth and Percy looked confused.

"And he and his people were later replaced by bipedal mortals," Medea added. She gave the other four a sharp look. "Be honest, you guys. Are you not suspicious of a seemingly friendly newcomer in our lives? Snakes are associated with the element of water, which is associated with emotions, intuition, and the subconscious mind. They are also associated with the underworld and the spiritual realm and are often seen as messengers of the divine."

Like Gaia, went unsaid.

The King was looking confused and angry, sensing that something had gone wrong but not knowing what. Not yet at least.

"Another thing about this card, sire, is that is has the number 7. Now, this number is associated with the search for truth and the ability to see beyond the faces." Drew's smile was sharp. "And what do you know, my patron, Lord Apóllōn of Delphi, is also one of the patrons of truth and oversees the ability to see beyond facades. And of course, his sacred number is 7 as he was born on the seventh day of the month Thargelion—according to Delian tradition—or of the month Bysios—according to Delphian tradition. The seventh and twentieth, the days of the new and full moon, were ever afterwards held sacred to him."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Oh, everything," Octavian assured. "You see, the card associates itself with a negative connotation, and drawing the snake in a reading can indicate a desire to the point of addiction, sexuality in a manipulative and seductive sense, deception and backstabbing. A rarely used interpretation is that of wisdom; more modern tarot readers take the snake's wisdom to pertain to forbidden knowledge. In the rarely used positive sense, the snake represents desire, determination, and ambition. In some reading techniques and tableaux, the snake can also describe a woman though that may be because the tarot card is represented by an intelligent, authoritative, and powerful woman."

"Powerful like the beings that emerged at the beginning of creation," Medea smiled. "Authoritative like the mother of all beings. Intelligent like the wife that plotted a plan to have her own husband killed and the grandmother that raised children to kill her own grandchildren."

Drew met the snake king's gaze, charm woven deep within her voice. 'So tell us, your Royal Highness, what are your real intentions?'

'To deceive you,' he said in a trance. 'We hope to lead you into the tunnels and destroy you.'

'Why?' Drew asked.

'The Earth Mother has promised us great rewards. If we spill your blood under the Parthenṓn, that will be sufficient to complete her awakening.'

"And why not stay loyal to Athena? You chose her after all. The serpent is still one of her symbols."

Kékrops made a low hiss. 'The goddess abandoned me. Athḗnē replaced me with a two-legged human king. She drove my daughters mad. They leaped to their deaths from the cliffs of the Akrópolis. The original Athenians, the gemini, were driven underground and forgotten. Athḗnē, the goddess of wisdom, turned her back on us, but wisdom comes from the earth as well. We are, first and last, the children of Gaía. The Earth Mother has promised us a place in the sun of the upper world.'

'Gaia is lying,' Drew said. 'She intends to destroy the upper world, not give it to anyone.'

Kékrops bared his fangs. 'Then we will be no worse off than we were under the treacherous gods!'

Poseidón snickered childishly. "Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I would not have abandoned them."

"Is it really the time for this," Athḗnē stated through gritted teeth.

"To prove my superiority to you? Oh, that is everlasting," the god of sea stated, waving his hand dismissively.

He raised his staff, but Drew said: "Freeze." And the king began to frost over.

"The giants' defences," she said as ice began to creep up his waist. "The underground passage to the Acropolis – how much of what you told us is true?'

'All of it,' Kékrops said though his voice was beginning to slur. 'The Akrópolis is heavily defended, just as I described. Any approach aboveground would be impossible.'

'So you could guide us through your tunnels,' Drew said. 'That's also true?'

Kékrops frowned. 'Ναί...'

'And if you ordered your people not to attack us,' she said, 'they would obey?'

'Ναί, but ...' Kékrops shuddered. 'Ναί, they would obey. Three of you at most could go without attracting the attention of the giants.'

Annabeth's eyes darkened. 'Drew, we'd be crazy to try it. He'll kill us at the first opportunity.'

'Ναί,' the snake king agreed. 'Only this girl's voice controls me. I hate it. Please, speak some more.'

Drew sniffed and turned up her nose.

'I should go,' Medea said, 'if it's underground.'

'Never,' Kékrops said. 'A child of the Underworld? My people would find your presence revolting. No charming music would keep them from slaying you.'

"My Mother also holds the sacred symbol of serpents," Medea shot back. "She also has some rulership over earth, sea, and sky. Snakes are also sacred animals in witchcraft."

"I am not—"

Medea's fingers sparked as she began to chant. "In the gardens so lush, where the flowers do grow, Lies a creature so silly, with scales all aglow."

Kékrops stared at her in wonder, and he began to sway.

'Me and Percy,' Annabeth suggested.

'Um ...' Percy raised his hand. 'Just gonna throw this out here again. That's exactly what Gaia wants – you and me, our blood watering the stones, et cetera.'

'I know.' Annabeth's expression was grim. 'But it's the most logical choice. The oldest shrines on the Acropolis are dedicated to Poseidon and Athena. Kekrops, wouldn't that mask our approach?'

'Ναί,' the snake king admitted. 'Your ... your scent would be difficult to discern. The ruins always radiate the power of those two gods.'

"No," Drew said. "Enceladus is supposed to be like the anti-Athena and though he leaves a lot to be desired in regard to that position... it still means that he's their strategist. He's going to assume that you make that choice. You're smarter than that; much smarter than that idiot."

"What do you suggest then?"

Octavian hummed before turning to Medea. "Bring up a silencing spell?"

"Why?" she asked even though she still casted one.

"I didn't get to where I am in life being merciful to my enemies." Octavian said. "A team of three. Why not make it all the girls? Each of you have a connection to snakes to draw upon and it keeps Gaia from getting one boy and one girl. Or we can do a team of us guys. Hephaestus and Zeus both have temples on Acropolis also. Medea, Drew? Can you charm or summon snakeskin to cover any of our scents?"

Medea nodded slowly, tapping her fingers on the table. "Yeah. In magicka, snakes are associated with transformation and renewal, so they are used in spells to bring about desired changes in one's life and since they are often seen as messengers of the divine..."

"Hermes," Percy said and said god raised a brow. "His snakes. George and Martha."

Drew and Annabeth nodded as they remembered that key detail about his little buddies. Said reptiles twirled around his kērū́keion.

"Snakes are used in protection spells to keep one safe from harm and to bring blessings and protection into one's life." Drew said. "Lea told me that, but she stills not fond of snakes that aren't George and Martha though she has one on her rooftop garden that mainly just eats all the birds and frogs that try to steal from her garden."

Percy looked concerned that his sister had a snake on their rooftop and neither he nor his parents knew but Medea spoke up.

"I don't have any snakeskin with me though I can probably make a charm shaped like a snake. Though I do think that I have some white snakeroot. Give it an extra punch. And while finding a snakeskin yourself charges the item with magical energy and leaves the impression of your experience on it, making it intrinsically connected to you... Collecting snakeskins from a friend who keeps a snake is also an excellent option."

"Okay," Annabeth said with a small smile. "Let's do that. A girl's trip."

"A girl's trip is a manipedi and a trip to the spa while maxing out my black card on whatever we want." Drew huffed. "But I suppose kicking ass is also a good substitute."

Jason reached over to squeeze her hand. 'I still hate the idea of splitting up. You sure it shouldn't be us guys?"

"While I do enjoy showing that I am better than every gender," Drew started. "Women are more often than not underestimated so it should be us girls and besides..."

'It's our best shot,' Percy sighed as Medea let the silencing spell fall. 'The three of them sneak in and disable the onagers, cause a distraction. Then the rest of us fly in with ballistae blazing.'

'Ναί,' Kékrops said, 'that plan could work. If I do not kill you first.'

"Oh, sweetheart," Drew drawled. "You couldn't kill me if you tried."

'I've got an idea,' Annabeth said. 'Octavian, Medea, Leo ... let's talk. Drew, can you keep our friend incapacitated and then join us?'

"It will be my pleasure." Drew turned back to the king. "Go to sleep."

Annabeth, Leo, Octavian, Drew and Medea left to talk strategy.

Moments later, the girls followed after Kékrops with Drew, as the 'soulsister' of Lea, sister of Eliza, transformed into the image of Percy through the use of makeup, a bit of manipulation of the quartet's bond, and magicka. She hated every bit of it declaring: "My strap on is more comfortable than this. How do people deal with penises?!"

The others had flushed, except Octavian who only shrugged. "I wouldn't know how to deal without one so."

"This spell itches," she was complaining as they followed the snake men through an iron storm grate at the docks, straight into their underground lair. The cameras came to life one by one though Hḗphaistos cursed and added the need to go through and recalibrate them onto his to-do list. Annabeth shushed her while Medea continued to recite poems infused with magicka though she had given Drew a look that said she was going to have to start charming them soon enough since anytime she stopped for longer than a minute or two, Kékrops and his guards started hissing and looking angry.

'I don't like this place,' Annabeth murmured. 'Reminds me of when I was underneath Rome.'

Kékrops hissed with laughter. 'Our domain is much older. Much, much older.'

Annabeth slipped her hand into Drew's who in turned grabbed Medea's hand also.'

Drew's voice echoed through the tunnels as the daughter of Trivia's magicka settled though she would theoretically be stronger around the earth. It would do no good against the Earth Mother herself, and it was better to just concentrate on keeping Drew disguised. As they travelled further into the lair, more snake people gathered to hear her and the poems she began to recite.

"With a flick of their tail, and a glide on the ground, They slither and slide, with a playful sound."

Soon they had a procession following behind them – dozens of gemini all swaying and slithering. They passed through crude stone chambers littered with bones. They climbed slopes so steep and slippery it was nearly impossible to keep their footing. At one point, they passed a warm cave the size of a gymnasium filled with snake eggs, their tops covered with a layer of silver filaments like slimy Christmas tinsel.

More and more snake people joined their procession. Slithering behind them, they sounded like an army of football players shuffling with sandpaper on their cleats.

Drew shivered.

The sound of a heartbeat began echoing through the corridors, getting louder and louder the deeper they went, resonating through the stone and the air.

I wake. A woman's voice, as clear as Drew's recital.

Annabeth froze. 'Oh, that's not good.'

'It's like Tartarus,' Drew said, sounding as if she was Percy with an edge to her voice. 'You remember ... his heartbeat. When he appeared—"

'Don't,' Annabeth said as she and Medea shivered at the things that Octavian and Percy had shared about their trip. 'Just don't.'

'Sorry.'

The voice of Gaia spoke again, louder: At last.

Drew's brow furrowed before she straightened her spine as determination swam through her eyes, and she charmed a sanshin into reality before she gave to sing a few of the Camp Fire songs from Camp Half-Blood, her voice resonated stronger with the gemini especially as the sanshin was an instrument that carried the voice of the deities.

Finally, they reached the top of a steep slope, where the path ended in a curtain of green goo.

Kékrops faced the demigods. 'Beyond this camouflage is the Akrópolis. You must remain here. I will check that your way is clear.'

"My people," Father intoned, standing to his feet as his armor manifested around him. "Tis time. To your chariots!"

"We will fight alongside them?" Dēmḗtēr checked even as she brandished her armor.

"Ναί," Ζεύς, the God of gods, declared. "For they have proven their valor and virtue. And after all, the Earth is common to us all. Should we not defend it from usurpers?"

There was nothing anyone could say to that, and immediately they began to summon their armor and head for their chariots.

'Wait.' Drew turned to address the crowd of gemini, strumming alongside the instrument as it added even more strength to her charm. 'There is only death above. You will be safer in the tunnels. Hurry back. Forget you saw us. Protect yourselves.'

The snake people, even the guards, turned and slithered into the darkness, leaving only the king.

'Kekrops,' Drew said, 'you're planning to betray us as soon as you step through that goo.'

'Ναί,' he agreed. 'I will alert the giants. They will destroy you.' Then he hissed. 'Why did I tell you that?'

'Because I'm cute now listen to the heartbeat of Gaia,' Drew urged. 'You can sense her rage, can't you?'

Kékrops wavered. The end of his staff glowed dimly. 'I can, ναί. She is angry.'

'She'll destroy everything,' Drew said. 'She'll reduce the Acropolis to a smoking crater. Athens – your city – will be utterly destroyed, your people along with it. You believe me, don't you?'

'I – I do.'

'Whatever hatred you have for humans, for demigods, for Athena, we are the only chance to stop Gaia. So you will not betray us. For your own sake, and your people, you will scout the territory and make sure the way is clear. You will say nothing to the giants. Then you will return.'

'That is ... what I'll do.' Kékrops disappeared through the membrane of goo.

Annabeth shook her head in amazement. 'Drew... Percy that was incredible.'

'We'll see if it works.' Drew sat down on the cool stone floor and the others squatted next to her. Annabeth handed her a canteen of water.

'Thanks.'

Annabeth nodded passing some nectar to Medea. 'You think the charm will last?'

'I'm not sure,' Drew admitted. 'I mean it should. I can sense something hidden within their wriggles."

"Snakes are used in witchcraft," Medea added, swiping her hand against her mouth. "Their wriggles and bites are were they hide their magic though not every snake has any."

"If Kekrops comes back in two minutes with an army of giants, then no.' Drew shrugged while the gods all pulled their chariots to the gates of Ólumpos.

'Do you guys ever think about your families?' Medea asked.

Drew's gaze became unfocused. Her lower lip quivered. 'My foster dad and siblings... heck, my siblings at camp. Lea... my big sister... I... They're all I have, you know. My dad and stepmother were horrible people, and now..." Her voice broke as she trailed off.

'What about you, Annabeth?'

'My dad ... my stepmom and stepbrothers.' She turned her dagger in her lap; the dagger that his Luke had given her so long ago. 'After all I've been through in the past year, it seems stupid that I resented them for so long. And my dad's relatives ... I haven't thought about them in years. I have an uncle and cousin in Boston.'

Drew looked shocked, wearing the face of Percy. 'You, with the Yankees cap? You've got family in Red Sox country?'

Annabeth smiled weakly. 'I never see them. My dad and my uncle don't get along. Some old rivalry. I don't know. It's stupid what keeps people apart.'

Medea nodded. "Lea... I don't get along with most of my family now because of everything that happened with Trent and Lea. And I feel a bit guilty for still loving him. He was my big brother, but... I found a new family. Lea, Percy. You two. Octavian. I... I don't know. It's just... we're here now, and I can't remember the last time I told my grandmother that I loved her. The last time my Uncle gave me a piggyback ride or ruffled my hair. My little cousins have wards that keep me away from places, and here I am in face of the literal end of the world, and I just want to be there being pushed away instead."

Before anyone could say anything else, the top of the tunnel, the green membrane rippled.

The girls grabbed their weapons and rose, prepared for a flood of monsters.

But Kékrops emerged alone.

'The way is clear,' he said. 'But hurry. The ceremony is almost complete.'

Pushing through a curtain of mucus the girls found themselves in a cool, damp pit that seemed to be the basement level of a temple. All around them, uneven ground stretched into darkness under a low ceiling of stone.

Directly above their heads, a rectangular gap was open to the sky. The camouflage membrane had closed behind them and blended into the ground.

Annabeth ran her hand along some marks on the ground – a jagged crow's-foot shape as long as a human body. The area was lumpy and white, like stone scar tissue. 'This is the place,' she said, shooting a look towards Drew. 'Percy, these are the trident marks of Poseidon.'

Hesitantly, Drew touched the scars. 'He must've been using his extra-extra-large trident.'

'This is where he struck the earth,' Annabeth said, 'where he made a saltwater spring appear when he had the contest with my mom to sponsor Athens.'

'So this is where the rivalry started,' Percy said.

'Yeah.'

Drew pulled Annabeth close and kissed her which was well... long enough for it to get really awkward for Medea, though she said nothing.

When Drew pulled away, Annabeth looked like a fish gasping for air.

'The rivalry ends here,' Drew said in Percy's voice. 'I love you, Wise Girl.'

Annabeth made a little sigh, like something in her ribcage had melted.

Drew glanced at Medea. 'Sorry, I had to do that.'

Medea grinned, voice teasing. 'You're a great boyfriend.'

Annabeth made another grunt-whimper before shaking her head as if to clear it. 'Uh ... anyway. We're beneath the Erechtheion. It's a temple to both Athena and Poseidon. The Parthenon should be diagonally to the southeast of here. We'll need to sneak around the perimeter and disable as many siege weapons as we can, make an approach path for the Argo II.'

'It's broad daylight,' Drew said. 'How will we go unnoticed?'

Medea smirked, snapping her fingers and Annabeth covered Drew's mouth as the girl almost shrieked.

Each of them had turned into a hulking, six-armed Earthborn—belly hair, loincloth, stubby legs and oversized feet.

"Remind me to kill both of you and everything that you stand for after this," Drew grimaced, which looked even worse on her newly uglified face. "But wow, Annabeth ... I'm
really glad I kissed you before you changed.'

'Thanks a lot,' she said. 'We should get going. I'll move clockwise around the perimeter. Medea, you move counterclockwise. Percy, you scout the middle –'

'Wait,' Drew said. 'We're walking right into the whole blood-spilling sacrifice trap we've been warned about, and you want to split up even more?'

'We'll cover more ground that way,' Annabeth said. 'We have to hurry. That chanting ...'

Drew looked at the ground and noticed bits of gravel trembling, skittering southeast, as if pulled towards the Parthenṓn.

'Right,' Drew said. 'We'll meet up at the giant's throne.'

At first it was easy.

Monsters were everywhere – hundreds of ogres, Earthborn and Kýklōpes milling through the ruins– but most of them were gathered at the Parthenṓn, watching the ceremony in progress.

Annabeth strolled along the cliffs of the Akrópolis unchallenged. Near the first onager, three Earthborn were sunning themselves on the rocks. Annabeth walked right up to them and smiled. 'Hello.'

Before they could make a sound, she cut them down with her sword. All three melted into slag heaps. She slashed the onager's spring cord to disable the weapon, then kept moving.

Hērmês shifted, his mark heating and cooling rapidly.

Medea skirted a patrol of Kýklōpes. The second onager was surrounded by an encampment of tattooed Laistrygonian ogres, but Medea managed to get to the machine without raising suspicion. She dropped a vial of Greek fire in the sling. With luck, as soon as they tried to load the catapult, it would explode in their faces.

Hērmês' chest began to burn.

The girls kept moving. Gryphons roosted on the colonnade of an old temple. A group of empousai had retreated into a shadowy archway and appeared to be slumbering, their fiery hair flickering dimly, their brass legs glinting.

Whenever they could, the girls slew isolated monsters. They walked past larger groups. Meanwhile the crowd at the Parthenṓn grew larger. The chanting got louder, and the gods shifted uncomfortably as the giants standing in a circle inside the ruins, mumbling and swaying. The ground raised like pimples, and more giants began to crawl from beneath earth as if Gaía had found a new exit to raise her hideous children.

Drew disabled a third siege weapon by sawing through the torsion ropes, which should give the Argo II a clear approach from the north.

Suddenly, the chanting stopped. A BOOM echoed across the hillside. In the Parthenṓn, the giants roared in triumph. Monsters surged towards the sound of celebration. Athḗnē, Diomēdēs and Trivia cursed.

Before Porphuríōn's throne, dozens of giants stood in a loose ring, hollering and shaking their weapons as two of their number paraded around the circle, showing off their prizes.

The princess Periboía held Annabeth by the neck like a feral cat. The giant Enkélados had Medea who had shifted to look like Percy in very quick thinking wrapped in his massive fist.

Annabeth and Medea both struggled helplessly. Their captors displayed them to the cheering horde of monsters, then turned to face King Porphuríōn, who sat in his makeshift throne, his white eyes gleaming with malice.

'Right on time!' the giant king bellowed. 'The blood of Ólumpos to raise the Earth Mother!'

The giant king rose to his full height – almost as tall as the temple columns. His face, green as bile, with a twisted sneer, his seaweed-coloured hair braided with swords and axes taken from dead demigods. He loomed over the captives, watching them wriggle. 'They arrived just as you foresaw, Enkélados! Well done!'

Athḗnē's bane bowed his head, braided bones clattering in his dreadlocks. 'It was simple, my king.' The flame designs gleamed on his armour. His spear burned with purplish fire. He only needed one hand to hold his captive. Trivia growled alongside Poseidón because even if it was not his son, the transformation was too detailed to ignore.

'I knew these two would lead the assault,' Enkélados continued. 'I understand how they think. Athḗnē and Poseidón ... they were just like these children! They both came here thinking to claim this city. Their arrogance has undone them!'

It was a good thing that the children decided to not go that route in the end.

Annabeth tried to say something, but the giantess Periboía shook her by the neck. 'Shut up! None of your silver-tongued trickery!' The princess drew a hunting knife as long as Annabeth's leg. 'Let me do the honours, Uncle!'

'Wait, Princess.' The king stepped back. 'The sacrifice must be done properly. Thoon, destroyer of the Fates, come forward!'

The wizened grey giant shuffled into sight, holding an oversized meat cleaver. He fixed his milky eyes on Annabeth.

Medea shouted just as Drew charmed a geyser of water to shoot in the sky about a hundred yards away. Of course it would do nothing, and the girls sagged just a bit, but it was a reaction that Percy was sure to have.

King Porphuríōn laughed. 'You'll have to do better than that, son of Poseidón. The earth is too powerful here. Even your father wouldn't be able to summon more than a salty spring. But never fear. The only liquid we require from you is your blood!'

Thoon knelt and touched the blade of his cleaver reverently against the earth.

'Mother Gaía ...' His voice was impossibly deep, shaking the ruins. 'In ancient times, blood mixed with your soil to create life. Now, let the blood of these demigods return the favour. We bring you to full wakefulness. We greet you as our eternal mistress!'

Drew snarled, and the universe bent to her will. Two swords; so similar to the ones that she named after her brother, appeared in her hands. Except, Hērmês could read the inscriptions on the side and knew that what she charmed into existence instead were two legendary swords: Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi and Futsunomitama-no-tsurugi.

Drew leaped from the scaffolding, sailing over the heads of the Kýklōpes and ogres, landing in the centre of the courtyard and pushed her way into the circle of giants. As Thoon rose to use his cleaver, Drew slashed upward with her sword. She took off Thoon's hand at the wrist.

The old giant wailed. The cleaver and severed hand lay in the dust at Drew's feet. The magicka burned away from her and Medea, and the daughter of Aphrodite flicked her head, the wig flying away as her hair fell about her shoulders.

She was one girl in the midst of an army of giants, her weapon basically a toothpick compared to theirs in size, and yet... she had the rage to bring them all to her knees.

'WHAT IS THIS?' Porphuríōn thundered. 'How dare this weak, useless creature interrupt?'

She twirled, hand pulling at her bow necklace before throwing an arrow at Enkélados, veering aside without witnessing the results. Enkélados howled in pain, dropping Medea who immediately slammed her hand to the ground, and morphed the earth to spear through the monsters around her.

Several giants ran at Drew at once, but the girl did not let that stop her. Drew dodged between their legs and let them bash their heads together, twirling about so similar to The Tasmanian Devil as she moved. Every now and then, she would order them to run away or to attack one of their brethren while Medea's magicka tore into them from the other side as they fought their way towards Annabeth.

'NO! STOP HER!' Porphuríōn shouted. 'KILL HER!'

A spear almost impaled her, but Drew said: "Bubbles!" and the spear morphed into bubbles that she popped as she ran through.

A huge sword sliced across her path. Drew leaped over the blade and zigzagged towards Annabeth, who was still kicking and writhing in Periboía's grip.

Unfortunately, the giantess seemed to anticipate her plan.

'I think not, demigod!' Periboía yelled. 'This one bleeds!'

The giantess raised her knife.

Drew screamed in charmspeak: 'MISS!'

And Medea screeched: What's theirs is yours ,What's yours is theirs, I offer up this gift to share, Switch the bodies through the air."

At the same time, Annabeth kicked up with her legs to make herself a smaller target. Periboía's knife passed beneath Annabeth's legs and stabbed the giantess's own palm. 'OWWW!'

Periboía dropped the dracanea that had taken Medea's place while the daughter of Athḗnē appeared at Drew's side and pulling out her own weapon.

Drew lunged at the giantess and the Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds pierced the giantess' gut. Her jagged blade suddenly felt ice cold in her hands. The surprised giantess glanced down as Drew yanked out her sword. The giantess toppled backwards – hitting the ground with a thud that was broken into a dozen clouds.

'My daughter!' King Eurumédōn levelled his spear and charged.

As the giant king ran towards Drew, Medea pointed Gambanteinn at the giant, and a blast of magicka lifted him off his feet in an unintentional pole-vault manoeuvre and flipped over onto his back.

Drew snarled as she stood back-to-back with Annabeth. "Who's next? I'm handing out one-way tickets back to Tartara so who wants to run the ones?"

That seemed to hit a nerve. The giants shuffled uneasily, glancing at the dismantled body of Periboía.

Forty feet away, Medea bent over Porphuríōn, who she had also managed to knock to the ground.

But Porphuríōn wasn't as stunned as he let on.

'Fools!' Porphuríōn backhanded Medea like a pesky fly. The daughter of Trivia flew into a column, but she managed to use her magicka so that she landed safely.

Eurumédōn sneered alongside his brother. 'These demigods cannot kill us! They do not have the help of the gods. Remember who you are!'

The giants closed in. A dozen spears were pointed at Drew's chest and the girl laughed in their faces.

Annabeth braced herself to fight as Medea teleported to their side.

'Come on, then!' Drew challenged, eyes filled with determination and hatred. 'I'll destroy you all myself if I have to!'

A metallic smell of storm filled the air.

'The thing is,' said a voice from above, 'you don't have to.'

At the top of the nearest colonnade stood Jason, his sword gleaming gold in the sun. Percy stood at his side, his sword. Octavian sat astride Arion, who reared and whinnied in challenge.

With a deafening blast, a white-hot bolt arced from the sky, straight through Jason's body as he leaped, wreathed in lightning, at the giant king.

Her eyes were watery, teardrops streamed down her face hardening into crystals that pinged against the frozen lands. Blood―rose gold in color―streamed down her arms and exhaustion nipped at her heels. She cast her glance upwards to the sky, bruised and beaten. She couldn't keep doing this.

Shakily, she raised the arrow to her throat.

"Ermís …" She coughed, not seeming to notice the clot of blood that she spew. "Ermís … I'm so… so blessed to have been your blessing. Let's meet again in my next life, okay?" She wheezed, ribs rattling within her chest. "My heart has been yours since the beginning and it will forever be to the end. Ise o erotas tis zois mou!"

It was said that your life flashed you by when you were on death's door.

And as Leaneira remembered her mother's care and the love that she had for her children. Percy—her brother, he was still missing, and she'd never see him again—with his laughter and protectiveness and his smile that was so bright that it could make the sun jealous. Medea and Trent, the first real friends that she had. Trent who had been so incredibly beautiful and loving even as he ripped her heart out. Medea who held on fast to a friendship that had been sailing away from her refusing to give up on it through no fault of her own. Ethan who welcomed her into her new life and the first friend she made within it. Alabaster who never hesitated to teach her spells and potions even when her mageia stores were stronger than his own. Drew with her unshakable faith in Lea, always willing to lend a helping hand. Kirke, who was like a surrogate mother towards her, always willing to give advice whenever she needed it. Her Father whose protection was as deep as the sea that he controlled and really needed to stop filling her mageia room up with weird plants from the bottom of the sea. Apollon who treated her more so as a pet that he found amusing and allowed to play with his own. Annabeth, who treated her as a sister even before her soulmark became known. Magnus who trusted Lea simply for the fact that she got him back to his family and always whispered theories to justify the gods being aliens with her. Eliza with her easy acceptance and how she fit into their dynamics. She thought about Ariadnê and Livia; girls that who cried alone, the girl that was everybody's backbone including her own, who put others first, who was straightforward, never twirled away from morals.

She recalled the fluttery feeling in her chest when she saw Hermes for the first time in her dreams. The curve of his lips a s he smiled at her and how his eyes sparkled like gemstones. How he made her feel so shy and like a kid but also mature when he talked to her because he never downplayed her intelligence… never made her feel lesser. He assured her that they were friends before they were anything else. She remembered the feeling of safety whenever he embraced her. Like millions of tiny universes being born and then dying in the space between his finger and her skin.

They hadn't even had the chance to actually be in a relationship. Everything was so new. They were taking their time with everything, courting properly.

It wasn't fair.

It wasn't.

"Pantes Theoi, psichí mou Egó na esý. From the bones of Mother I return to whence I came!"

Before her, the Twin Archers' facial features stuttered in shock and horror, a dawning realization slowly overcoming them.

She backed away; brows furrowed in pain as she curled into herself. But… no… NO… "'Tis here I stand! 'Tis here I fight! And should destiny decree so―Tis here I shall perish!"

Apóllōn and Artemis rushed her.

Lea's eyes widened in fear.

They reached out to grab her and she wondered if she and Percy ever moved so in sync like that. It reminded her of Hermes' words from so long ago.

"Twins are an intricate part of our pantheon with fates that are so combined that the ends of your threads can't be differed from the beginnings. Twins are the same and the opposite and everything that is in between. They are the beginning and the end. Apóllōn and Ártemis are the sun and moon light. Hḗlios and Selḗnē are the suns and moons. Percy is physical and you dwell within the mystical."

She stepped back; the necklace of ichor cracked and splashed against her face.

The arrow sank into her skin.

Her feet glowed a wispy green.

Black space spangled with stars, the palaces of Mount Ólumpos gleaming silver and gold in the background.

Bright lights of green shone from her pores, streams from her eyes, dripped from her nose, poured out of her ears. Leaneíras screamed, red blood and golden ichor and mageia burning through her mortal coils.

"I'm coming back to you, Ermís even in death," she murmured, blooding spilling from her lips. There was a sad twist to her mouth, and she remembered words that he said to her once before: I cannot live without you, and I know now that I had never been living but surviving before I met you.

A single drop of blood fell from her throat and at the same moment, a single drop of blood fell from Percy's chin, hitting the ground at the same moment, sizzling like water on a frying pan.

The ancient stones were watered by the blood of Ólumpos.

The Acropolis groaned and shifted as the Earth Mother woke.

And as she kept her oath with her final breath...

The world exploded into shades of green.

WORD COUNT: 7911

THINGS TO KNOW:

1) Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi= is a legendary Japanese sword and one of three Imperial Regalia of Japan. It was originally called Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi ("Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds"), but its name was later changed to the more popular Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi ("Grass-Cutting Sword"). In folklore, the sword represents the virtue of valor.

2) Takemikazuchi is a deity in Japanese mythology, considered a god of thunder and a sword god. He also competed in what is considered the first sumo wrestling match recorded in history. The totsuka sword wield by Takemikazuchi in quelling of the Middle Country. This sword is known as Futsunomitama-no-tsurugi, and is the main enshrined dedication in Isonokami Shrine.

3) Gambanteinn (Old Norse 'magic wand') appears in two poems in the Poetic Edda. It only appears in Hárbarðsljóð and Skírnismál.

3A) It doesn't have some big historical context from what I've read, but I am still researching the Norse myths... Anyway, this is rapier that I mentioned back in the SON arc.

TRANSLATIONS:

1) "Pantes Theoi, psichí mou Egó na esý. - Meaning: To all the gods, my soul i give to you.)

2) Pantes Theoi - a special invocation "to All the Gods", irrespectively of sex, etc.; recurrently attested at Knossos (Linear B : 𐀞𐀯𐀳𐀃𐀂, pa-si-te-o-i)

3) "Είσαι ο ερωτάς της ζωής μου" - "Ise o erotas tis zois mou"

3A) That means "you are the love of my life" but "ερωτάς" has a very different meaning from "agapao" and there is no other word in English to translate the word "erotas".

3B) Erotas is like loving someone very patiently and strongly, they usually say that erotas is the flame in the relationship.

COMMENTS FROM THE AUTHOR:

1) She thought about the old rule of Aphrodite's cabin: that to be recognized as a daughter of the love goddess, you had to break someone's heart. Piper had long ago decided to change that rule.

1A) And then she goes on to break Jason's heart in the next series lmfaooo. And hers was worse. Jason died for her.

1B) "But Aphrodite and Hera" there was SIX months between TLH and SON where the two of them could have figured out if a relationship between them was what they truly wanted, but instead, they jump in a relationship THREE days after knowing each other with him still dealing with amnesia on top of it.

1C) I have no sympathy for that relationship. I will make fun of Jason about it too because dude, you have fucking amnesia. Don't you want to sort that out instead of trying a damn relationship?

QUOTES:

1) "That's what it feels like when you touch me. Like millions of tiny universes being born and then dying in the space between your finger and my skin. Sometimes I forget." ― Iain Thomas, I Wrote This For You

2) " 'Tis here I stand! 'Tis here I fight! And should destiny decree so - Tis here I shall perish!" —Thor Vol 2 18