chapter twenty-four

─── i need to update my cv

          𝕹ow I might have only known my sister for all of about ten minutes (that would be funny if I was joking), I wasn't a massive fan of her being frozen into a Thali-cicle. I didn't have my sword, I had a plank of wood and the king of the gods was about to make his grand reappearance.

I'd called down lightning when I fought Enceladus, and I don't think that my father would let me do that again, nor that I had the strength to do it. That meant, my only assets were my step-mother, two of my close friends and a load of ice statues.

On top of all of this, in a helpful sort of manner, my memories were starting to come back and I now had a splitting migraine. I'd done dangerous things in my life before, that I knew, but this was getting close to it.

"What have you done?" Khione smiled, her dark eyes glittering as a dagger of ice grew in her hand. That was unfair. Where was my powers like that? At least I'd have a weapon instead of a plank of wood.

"So many things." That sounded vaguely sexual. I pulled a face of disgust as Khione scowled. "Your sister isn't dead. She and her Hunters will make fine toys for our wolves. I thought we'd defrost them one at a time and hunt them for our amusement."

The wolves snarled, as I rolled my eyes.

"Your sister almost killed their king, you know."

"Yay!" I cheered as Khione scowled further. "She did a good job then!"

"Porphyrion will arise and we shall rule the world!"

"Traitor!" Hera hollered back at Khione's words. "You are a meddlesome, D-list goddess! You aren't worthy to pour my wine, let alone rule the world."

"She's right."

"Tiresome as ever. I've been wanting to shut you up for hundreds of years." Khione hissed. She waved her hand, ice encasing the prison and sealing in the spaces between the bars. "Much better. Now, demigods, about your death-"

"Gods above, do you ever shut up?" Leo and Piper both looked at me as I scowled. "You lured Hera here, you tricked my father, you ordered Aeolus, blah, blah, blah, I don't care! Every villain always has their little 'here's what I did, throw me a party' speech and I just don't give two shits."

"And!" Leo piped up, dodging out from behind me to point at Khione. "You froze Festus' wires, you're gonna pay for that!"

"And you told Enceladus about us!" Piper agreed. "We've been plagued with snow storms the whole trip!"

"Yes, yes, I did that!" Khione snapped, annoyed that we were putting words in her mouth. "I needed Cressida's blood spilled on sacred ground, tainting it for generations to come. Your demigod brethren will be outraged, especially when they find the bodies of these two from Camp Half-Blood. They'll believe the Greeks had conspired with giants, it'll be delicious."

I wanted to say that it wouldn't happen, that my friends wouldn't believe a story but I knew they would. If Octavian found me dead, here, surrounded by two Greeks with no sword and my toy bird with Leo instead of me, he would assume from that image, that I had been killed by two Greeks and he would have a duty to avenge me, as would the others that I knew, Reyna and the faceless ones who's names eluded me still.

"You'd set demigod against demigod." I shook my head.

"It's so easy!" Khione beamed, the first true emotion on her face. "I only encourage what you would do anyway."

"Why?" Piper hissed, voice trembling as she clutched onto her dagger. "The giants will destroy everything. There'll be nothing left!"

"Your words have no effect on me, girl." Khione shot her a scornful look. "I am a goddess, a creature bound by no natural law. I have my sights set on higher goals. The mortals, they never honoured me, even in the ancient times. They have ruined this planet, corrupting all that they touch and I will cool them down. I have no choice but to. We will retake the ancient places-"

"Ancient places?" Leo cut into her speech, eyes wide. "The roots of the gods. Greece? You wish to destroy Greece?"

"Join me, son of Hephaestus." Khione held her hand out to Leo. "I know you find me beautiful. It would be enough for my plan for the two to die. Reject this path that the Fates have determined for you. Live and be my champion instead. Your skills would prove useful."

Leo looked stunned, glancing around as if to look for a camera, before doubling over in laughter. I had never doubted that he would, knowing Leo about as well as any amnesiac could, and trusting that he knew what decision was best.

"Join you? Right, until you get bored of me." Leo spat. "You destroyed something of mine, and I don't forgive things like that. I can't believe I thought you were hot."

"Hot? You dare insult me so?" Khione scowled. "I am cold, Leo Valdez, very, very cold." She shot a blast of wintry sleet at the demigods as Leo brought his hand up to his face. I could feel his body raising in temperature, Piper and I ducking behind him as the snow dissolved into a cloud of steam.

"Fire and snow equals steam, anyone with two braincells to rub together can work that one out." Leo grinned sardonically.

"Enough! Hera is failing. Porphyrion is rising. Kill the demigods. Let them be our king's first meal!" I hefted the wooden plank up, scowling at is as a wolf launched itself at me. I couldn't kill it, I had no silver, but a decent whack with a plank of solid wood was sure to send it flying.

I did feel a bit guilty about the animal abuse.

The sound of hooves filled my ears, and I only had a moment before a venti in the form of a horse was bearing down at me. I concentrated, feeling the wind currents and drawing them to me so that I could launch into the air, dodging the spirit. Grabbing the mane, I span until I sat on it's back.

It must have felt the weight because as soon as I sat back, it began to rear and buck, seeking to unseat me, and raging against me. It was chaos, all bottled into a horse like shape, and by the gods, it did not want me on its back.

"Come on, come on, work with me here." I muttered, holding on tighter as the horse bucked. "You're mine now."

It didn't seem to like that, taking me on a little trip around the pool, miniature thunderstorms crackling beneath it's feet. 

"Alright, tempestuous beast." I gritted my teeth, dodging the bite that was aimed at my foot. "That should be your name. Tempest."

The horse seemed to prance for a moment at that, puffing his chest and shaking his mane.

"Alright, Tempest. You want to fight? We'll fight!" I urged the horse on, steering him towards his own ranks as we knocked aside wolves and other venti. Tempest was a strong spirit, and a big one, ploughing through the others in his ranks with no care, discharging electricity and anything that got too close, with enough strength to vaporise it.

I wanted to keep an eye on the others, to make sure that they were alright, but it was hard enough to stay on and fight the monsters surrounding me, let alone work out where the others were, but no one had screamed, so I hoped they were alright.

A wave of warmth washed over me every so often, and I knew that Leo was the only reason that we were all still alive. He'd found the culprit for Festus' destruction, and the anger inside of him was causing his flames and heat to be far more unstable. It was keeping us alive though, so I wasn't complaining. 

Tempest and I were coming to the end of our rampage, and we were running out of enemies to kill, which was annoying both of us. The wolves had slunk off, and Tempest bit the last Ventus until it ran away and dissolved. Piper had dealt with all the Earthborn, and I wheeled Tempest around to point him at the goddess of snow.

"You're too late!" Khione snarled, stopping Leo in his tracks. The younger teenager was smoking, a hammer in each hand, and a smattering of dust around his feet. "He's awake! And don't think you've won anything here, demigods. Hera's plan will never work. You'll be at each other's throats before you can even stop us."

Leo launched a hammer at the woman, but she turned into a snow man, and thus, it went straight through it.

"Nice horse." I turned, finding Piper standing beside me as I yanked Tempest's mouth away from the side of her jacket. He snapped his teeth close as I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, don't mind me!" Piper and I both jumped, finding Hera coughing behind us in her now defrosted cage. "Just the queen of the gods, dying over here."

"Stay put." I told Tempest, getting off of him. He made to run as I pulled him back. "Don't do it! Stay put."

He huffed, before standing still as I joined the others at Hera's cage.

"The giant wakes!" Hera turned to me, as my eyes went wide. She was sinking into the ground, as if it was eating her to power the other cage's growth. "You have seconds, you must hurry!"

"On it." Leo said. "Piper, I need your help. I think this cage is almost alive, so I need you to talk to it, get it to release her."

"Right!" Piper nodded, lowering her voice and beginning to whisper to the cage as I kept a cautious eye on the other cage, wondering what I could do. Everything started to slow around Hera, but I could see Piper weakening, sweat breading across her brow and hands trembling. She'd be in no position to fight if we continued like this.

"I don't have anywhere to plug it in!" I turned, finding Leo holding a plug and groaning in annoyance.

"I can help with that." I called Tempest over, the horse prancing over. "Okay, electric horse and electricity, easy!"

I took the plug from Leo just in case, considering I was a bit more electric proof than he was. Lightning sparked from the horse's flank, connecting with the prongs of the plug as the saw whirred to life.

"Sweet!" Leo grinned. "That's cool!"

Our good mood didn't last. On the other side of the pool, the giant's spire crumbled accompanied by the sound of trees being yanked out by their roots. Stone and wood shards were shook free, launching at us and the house as fast as a baseball pitch, the giant shaking himself free.

I'm sure I'd been scared many times in my life, but this was definitely one of the scariest. Porphyrion was far taller than me, and there was something terrible about him but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was like a kind of strength, as if he had his own gravitational field. When the giant's eyes snapped open, they were white, like polished marble and one part of me wanted to step back, but I stood my ground.

"Alive!" He bellowed, and the trees seem to shy away from him. I reached for the bird toy in my pocket, but it wasn't there and my hands began to shake. I didn't want to die like this, not before I'd told my friends that I was alive.

"Leo." I nudged my friends, both of whom were horrified. "Get Hera free."

"What are you going to do?" Piper tried to grab me. "You can't seriously-"

"Entertain a giant?" I shrugged, gulping. "Why not?"

"Excellent!" The giant roared, as I approached. "An appetiser! Who are you-Artemis? Athena? Aphrodite?"

I almost wanted to say yes, but I had my own name, the one that had stayed with me even when my memory was taken. I had my name and I had my parentage and that was mine. That was mine and they hadn't taken that from me and if I was to die, I'd die with my own name.

"I'm Cressida Grace." I squared my shoulders. "Daughter of Jupiter."

Those white eyes watched me, trained on me as if looking for weakness of which there were many. But it was good as long as he wasn't looking at the others.

"Outstanding!" Porphyrion laughed. "So, Jupiter, you sacrifice a measly little daughter for me? The gesture is accepted but not happily. It will not save you."

There was no rumble of the sky, no help from above and I knew what that meant. I was on my own.

Throwing the club to the side, I dusted my hands free. I had to buy Leo and Piper some time, and I couldn't do that without a proper weapon but I needed to be more confident than I felt. I needed to be the me that was hidden somewhere in my memories.

"If you knew who I was, you'd be more worried about me, not my father." I grinned, stretching slightly as I walked closer. "I hope you enjoyed your two and a half minutes of rebirth, because I'm going to send you straight back, crying. Maybe they told you stories of me."

The giant's eyes narrowed, crouching to get a better look at me.

"So...we'll start by boasting, will me? Just like old time!" Porphyrion grinned. "Very well, child, I am Porphyrion, king of the giants, son of Gaea. In olden times, I rose from the abyss of my father to challenge the gods, I stole Zeus' queen. Hello sweetheart."

"Rot!" Hera shouted back, and she earned some points from that with me.

"Zeus was not powerful enough to kill me the first time, he needed a demigod to do that, what makes you think that would happen now? We almost won."

"Key word. Almost." I grinned. "You still lost."

"Our armies, child, will shake the earth and we will destroy you at the roots." Porphyrion grinned once more. Hera merely rolled her eyes, growing too weak to do anything as the ground continued to eat her. "The Titans sought to attack one of your strongholds, but we...? We are the greatest challengers and we know, that to destroy rotten trees, your eldest roots must be torn out and burnt!"

"You said a demigod killed you. How if we're so puny?" I kept his attention on me so that he stopped looking at Hera, and Leo and Piper by extension.

"Ha! You think I would explain it to you, girl?" He spat my gender like it was an insult, but something told me I was used to that. "I was created to replace Zeus, to destroy him, I shall take his throne and his wife. This weakened form will only grow stronger until I am invincible, but that does not mean I will not kill you now!"

He rose to his full heigh, a 20 foot spear appearing from the earth as he stomped towards me, the ruins shaking. All around us, monsters started to regather, as if all answering his all.

"Great, like we needed more enemies!" Leo snarked, as Tempest squealed and shook his head.

"Hurry!" Hera snapped.

"I know that!" Leo shot right back as Porphyrion raked his spear across the top of the ruins, spraying wood and stone into the courtyard and all around us.

"So, child of Zeus! I have finished my boasting. Now, it is your turn." Porphyrion grinned. "What were you saying about destroying me?"

I couldn't let them get to me, I had to think smart and fight even smarter.

"I am the daughter of Jupiter!" I had to give my friends hope, help them to stop the cage and save Hera before she could be consumed. The wind snapped around me, drawing me up from the earth as I tried to remember anything that I had done in my life that would make me more of a threat.

For a moment, nothing, and then, something came to me, as if I had introduced myself like this before.

"I am a child of Rome, consul to demigods, praetor of the First Legion." I yanked my windbreaker up, showing my tattoo of the eagle and SPQR. To my surprise, the giant seemed to recognise it, looking uneasy. "I slew the Trojan sea monster and brought his skull home to rest on our spoils. I topped the black throne of Kronos and destroyed the Titan Krios with my bare hands. Now, I am going to destroy you, and I will slice you to pieces and feed you to your dogs. Is that boasting enough for you?"

"Where did that come from, Cress?" Leo muttered and I had to admit, I wanted to know that too. The idea of fighting a giant, bare knuckles was ridiculous, but it was so mad that even the giant seemed surprised.

I didn't give him a moment to think properly, launching myself at him before he could regain himself. I landed on his knee, scrabbling up his armour to where I'd seen weapons lodged in his shoulder and hair.

"You dare?" The giant bellowed as I yanked a sword free, finding that it fit well enough. Pins and needles began to race up and down my arm, as I held tightly onto the sword.

"I do." I hissed, as his eyes found me. "For Rome!"

I drove the sword deep into the giant's ear, a strike of lightning arcing down from the sky and through the sword. I was blasted free, slamming into a wall and rolling when I hit the ground. My back burned as I looked at the giant, who was staggering. His hair was on fire, half of his face covered in soot and lightning scars. The sword had splintered in his ear, gold ichor running down his jaw as he stumbled and almost fell. 

The circle of monsters attempted to move in, but Porphyrion held out his hand.

"No!" He regained his balance, glaring at me. "I will kill this bug myself."

He raised his spear and it began to glow.

"Oh fuck." I hissed.

"You want to play with lightning, girl? I am the bane of Zeus! I was created to destroy your father!" Porphyrion howled as I continued to curse. "I know exactly what will kill you."

Well, I'd had a good run. 

I'd never get to go home it would seem. There was no way I could deflect this, no possible way to outrun it, and I knew, I needed to pray to a god, any god, that a message got back to Octavian-no, Tav, and told him that I was dead and it wasn't his fault.

"Got it!" Leo thundered as the stone and wood cage crumbled, tendrils turning to dust. Hera seemed to wake up, glowing with power as she grew to her full height.

"Yes!" The goddess smiled, throwing off her black robes to reveal a white gown, her arms bedecked with jewellery. Her face was both terrible and beautiful simultaneously, a golden crown laced into her dark hair. "Now, I will have my revenge."

The giant began to back away, obviously realising the mistake he'd made. He said nothing, shooting me another look of hatred that clearly read 'we have unfinished business', before slamming his spear against the earth. It swallowed him whole as the monsters began to panic and retreat, but there was no escape for them. Hera glowed bright.

"Cover your eyes, my heroes!" My ears were still ringing, and I didn't hear, but when it process, it was already too late. My eyes had been transfixed on Hera, and I watched as light blasted out of her, a ring of force, vaporising every monster nearby. It pierced my skull, searing into my mind and my body felt like it was on fire.

I felt myself fall backwards, everything in me protesting, before it all went black. The last thing on my mind. Octavian.

∘☽༓☾∘

Hiya,

So, I can't actually wait to get to act two because im an impatient gal and i'm very excited for it, so, guess what, you can have more chapters now to start act on saturday! fun times, anyway, cress is remembering stuff, tav is on her mind, she's got some of her titles back and hera's become a little different in a sense.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx