CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
PRIZE OF WAR

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THE TASTE OF BLOOD was pungent on Annais' tongue. Her arm burned relentlessly, fresh crimson seeping through her ripped sleeve as she tore open the scab from repeated use. Again and again, she struck Khione, dodging sleets of snow as she backed the Goddess into a corner. With every hit, her arm would throb in agony, begging for rest, but she kept on going even when her vision tunneled.

To her left was Ezra Min, frozen like the statues back in Quebec, a dying laugh caught on her face. Leo was kneeling in front of her, trying his best to defrost the ice around her without burning her in the process. It was working to an extent, but it was clear he was only running on borrowed time. Melanie tried to watch his back but she was soon overpowered by a mass of wolves and Earthborn, forcing him to leave Ezra behind to save her. Annais found herself watching them, eyes darting between Khione and Mel continuously, and it was this that would inevitably have her failing.

Not even five minutes into the fight, Khione mustered up every last bit of her strength and struck Annais hard with a cut of ice. The girl stumbled back, gasping for air when the Goddess wrapped her pretty but wicked hands around Annais' throat and squeezed.

"You are a fool, Annais Min," she crowed, sure that her voice would be the last that the gasping girl would ever hear. "A fool for believing you could beat me."

In the distance, Annais heard another voice. It was warm and soft, reminding her of baked cookies eaten during a sunny afternoon. Her mum. The woman who wanted to die who fell in love with Death himself. She was standing behind Khione, smiling at the sight of her daughter's dying breaths. They were going to be together again, at last. Just them and an eternity in the Underworld.

Slowly, Annais' eyes slid shut. Her body stopped fighting. For a split second, she heard nothing, then Khione's weight was knocked away and her senses came slamming back. She sat up with a sharp gasp, fingers ghosting over her throat. She couldn't believe her lungs were expanding again. She forced her head to lift, only to find an empty space where her mum had been standing. Her ghost was long gone. In her place was Ezra Min, hair wet and bedraggled but her face blazed with pure fury.

"You're too late," Khione exclaimed as Annais moved to stand at Ezra's side. The two girls loomed over her, the tip of Kronos' scythe just a hair's breadth away from impaling itself between her eyes. "He's awake! 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 ever stop us."

"I'm tired of hearing you talk," Ezra sneered. "Don't you agree, Annais?"

"I do, Ezra," Annais nodded, ignoring the pain that came along with each tiny movement. 

And so Ezra lashed out. The scythe swung through Khione's neck, spraying ichor, and the Goddess crumbled into dust. All that remained was scattered snow which Leo made sure to burn.

"Are you alright?" he exclaimed as he threw his arms around Annais. She flinched at the sudden pressure of his body against hers but she didn't hesitate to hug him back. As annoying as he was, she would've missed him if she died. "Never scare us like that again, Annie."

A sudden series of loud coughs interrupted the moment, prompting the worn out group to turn in Hera's direction. The slats of her cage had melted, allowing them to see her again through the carnage of wolf carcasses and crumbled dirt piles. "Oh, don't mind me! Just the Queen of the Heavens, dying over here!"

Leo frowned, releasing Annais to make his way over to her. "Uh, Tía Callida, are you getting shorter?"

"No, you dolt, the earth is claiming me!"

"Oh."

They were running out of time, and as much as Annais hated to admit it, watching Porphyrion return would be far worse than freeing Hera. So she rushed over to the cage, attempting to slow the bleeding of her arm with her hand. 

"The giant wakes," Hera warned them, her eyes grazing over Annais' arm. "You only have seconds."

"On it," Leo declared, with as much false confidence as he could muster. He kneeled in front of the cage, gesturing for Piper to join him while Mel fussed over Ezra. "Piper, I need your help. Talk to the cage."

"What?" 

"Talk to it," he repeated firmly. He knew what they needed to do. "Use everything you've got. Convince Gaea to sleep, lull her into a daze. Just slow her down, try to get the tendrils to loosen while I—"

"Leo," Annais exclaimed before he could lose himself on a tangent. Her bloodied hands reached up to shake his shoulders. "We get it."

"Right, right."

Slowly, Piper approached the cage, shooting Hera one last wary grimace before she cleared her throat to say, "Uh, hey, Gaea. Nice night, huh? Boy, I'm tired. How about you? You ready for some sleep?"

While she worked, Annais and the others stood guard. Porphyrion's eyes were beginning to crack open, features taking shape with every second. Piper's gift was working. Annais could feel the heaviness of her body now more than ever, the urge to rest for days. But she fought it off, standing at Jason's side with Ezra and Melanie opposite them.

"I don't have anywhere to plug it in," Leo suddenly exclaimed.

She found him gripping a circular saw, looking clueless as he held up the attached power cord. Annais snorted, though quickly fell silent when a spirit horse she hadn't noticed in the corner sprang towards them.

"What the hell was that?" Ezra gasped when the blur of electricity brushed past her shoulder.

"That's Tempest," Jason said with a hint of pride in his voice.

Ezra's nose scrunched up in distaste. "Tempest? What, you've got a pet now, Grace?"

"Something like that."

Everyone waited dubiously while Tempest the spirit horse trotted towards Leo, holding out one of his legs that Leo just frowned at. A gust of wind came roaring from outside, and Leo's hand subconsciously moved with it, eyes widening when the plug connected itself into the horse's flank.

"Oh, my God," Annais scoffed as the saw whirred to life, almost cutting Leo's hand off in the process.

"Sweet!" he exclaimed, momentarily distracted from the frustrated Goddess waiting for them. His eyes gleamed with the urge to dissect Jason's new friend, to pick him apart and discover how he worked. "Dude, your horse comes with AC outlets."

"Eddie's still better," Ezra grumbled to Melanie, though everyone — Jason— could hear her.

Jason's answering laughter was warm and dizzying. "I don't know, Ez. I think he might have some competition."

"Can we please focus?" Hera snarled. "You're wasting time."

Unfortunately, she just had to be right. On the other side of the pool, the ground splintered apart as Porphyrion's limbs stretched to break himself free. Annais' heart dropped as he threw his head back and cackled, looming even taller than Enceladus had been. He was strong and he knew it. Where Enceladus was just plain cocky, Porphyrion looked like he could take down armies simply by breathing in their direction. 

With everyone frozen in terror, he raised one of his bronze axes — blood glinting on the blade— and bellowed, "Alive! Praise to Gaea."

"Oh, shit."

"What do we do?"

Jason tensed beside Annais, and it was then she knew he was about to do something very stupid.

"You guys keep working. Get Hera free."

"Why do I have the feeling you're about to play the hero, Grace?"

"I've got no choice," he told a frowning Ezra. "Someone has to entertain him."

"We can help," Annais protested, gesturing to herself, Melanie and Ezra. "It's what we're meant to do, Jason."

"No," he shook his head, worried eyes catching hers beseechingly. "I can do this, okay? Don't step in unless you have to."

"Jason, please—"

But he was already turning away, prompting Porphyrion to roar in delight. "Excellent! An appetiser. Who are you — Hermes? Ares?"

Annais anxiously fixed her lower lip between her teeth as Jason stood only metres away from the giant. With just one swing of his axe, Porphyrion could've easily defeated him. But he waited, wanting to watch the boy suffer for just a little longer. It took everything in Annais not to join him, to sneer at the giant's words. But she knew it would only upset him. So she waited too, sword raised to protect Leo and Piper as they forced their focus back on Hera and her cage. Just as Jason asked of her.

"I'm Jason Grace," the boy in question declared, head held high. "Son of Jupiter."

For a moment, the giant was stunned into silence. Then he grinned, showing off several missing teeth. "Outstanding! So, Zeus, you sacrifice a son to me? The gesture is appreciated, but it will not save you."

The sky was silent but that didn't bother Porphyrion. He simply raised his axe again, like fighting Jason was nothing for him. Annais tensed, gripping her sword for dear life as she watched Jason discard his weapon, leaving himself empty-handed.

"Are you an idiot?" she hissed at his back, but Jason refused to look at her.

Instead, he angled his head to meet the giant's white eyes and shouted, "If you knew who I was, you'd be worried about me, not my father. I hope you enjoyed your two and a half minutes of rebirth, giant, because I'm going to send you right back to Tartarus."

He sounded so confident.

Was now a bad time for Annais to admit she found it attractive? From an objective point of view, of course...

"So, we'll start by boasting, will we?" Porphyrion scoffed. "Just like old times, I see. Very well, demigod. I am Porphyrion, King of the Giants, son of Gaea. In the olden times, I rose from Tartarus — the abyss of my father — to challenge the Gods. To start the war, I stole Zeus' queen."

And now history was repeating itself. Funny how that worked out.

"My husband destroyed you once, monster," Hera spat. "And he'll do it again."

Wise words for someone still trapped in a cage, knee deep in mud.

Porphyrion merely laughed. "But he didn't, my dear. Zeus wasn't powerful enough to kill me. He had to rely on a puny demigod to help, and even then, we almost won. This time, we will complete what we started. Gaea is waking. She has provided us with many fine servants. Our armies will shake the earth and we'll destroy you at the roots."

"You wouldn't dare," Hera hissed, but there was no doubt that he would. Her cage was proof enough.

"The Titans sought to attack your new home in New York. Bold, but ineffective. Gaea is wiser and more patient. And we, her greatest children, are much stronger than Kronos. We know how to kill you Olympians once and for all. You must be dug up completely like rotten trees, your eldest roots torn out and burned."

The mention of Kronos and New York set the Mins off like dominos. Ezra was the first to move — to raise Penelope's dagger, a striking reminder. The glint of the bronze blade followed by Melanie gripping her arm to shove her back was quick to catch Porphyrion's attention. His lips curled — he knew exactly who they were — but he was interrupted by Jason stepping in front of Annais.

"You said a demigod killed you," he prompted. "How, if we're so puny?"

It was a decent attempt but the giant remained alert. "You think I would explain it to you? I was created to be Zeus's replacement, born to destroy the Lord of the Sky. I shall take his throne, I shall take his wife — or, if she will not have me, I let the earth consume her life force. What you see before you, child, is only my weakened form. I will grow stronger by the hour until I am invincible. But I am already quite capable of smashing you to a grease spot!"

A spear half the size of Porphyrion rose out of the earth and into his waiting hands. At the same time, summoned by the display of his power, dozens of monsters — double what had accompanied Khione — filtered into the room. Wolves snarling with hackles raised, Earthborn clutching clubs made of metal and mud. The Mins knew it was up to them now. With Jason facing Porphyrion, and Leo and Piper slowly but surely working on the cage... in Jason's own words, there was no other choice.

"So, child of Zeus," Porphyrion goaded Jason. "I have finished my boasting. Now it's your turn. What were you saying about destroying me?"

Annais had to give him credit, Jason knew how to hide his fear. With a light pop of his shoulders in a shrug, he surveyed the tight ring of monsters, then hardened his eyes into an expression Annais was familiar with.

"I'm the son of Jupiter," he began at the same time as a gust of wind rolled through. Jason allowed the breeze to lift him, gaze now aligned with the giant's bemused glare. "I'm a child of Rome, consul to demigods, praetor of the First Legion." 

He raised his arm and showed off his tattoo. Annais shifted uneasily, hearing Melanie and Ezra muttering in confusion. 

"I slew the Trojan sea monster," Jason continued, rattling off the words like he couldn't say them fast enough. "I toppled the black throne of Kronos and destroyed the Titan, Krios, with my own hands. And now I'm going to destroy you, Porphyrion, and feed you to your own wolves."

Okay, Annais couldn't hold it in any longer. That was definitely attractive. She let out a shocked laugh as Jason flung himself at the giant, clinging onto his knee like a spider in a web. Porphyrion gasped when he realised, and started flinging himself around in horror. 

"You dare?" he bellowed but the sound was faltering — he hadn't expected Jason to be so forward.

But Jason Grace was nothing if not determined. In a move far too quick to catch, he raised a sword he'd snatched from the giant's belt and stabbed it in his ear with a Roman war-cry. Lightning stuck at the same time, flinging Jason to the ground and leaving Porphyrion's hair smouldering.

Zeus. Or was it Jupiter who'd answered Jason's declaration? It didn't matter in the end, for the wolves and Earthborn were already prepared to strike. But Porphyrion stopped them with a stubborn shriek.

"No! I'll kill him myself." Jason just chuckled at that, spurring on the giant's anger. "You want to play with lightning, boy? You forget, I am the bane of Zeus. I was created to destroy your father, which means I know exactly what can kill you."

"You guys take the Earthborn," Mel whispered to Ezra and Annais. "I've had my fair share of them already."

"You got it."

At Porphyrion's declaration, the animals struck. But in the nick of time, a groan sounded from behind them, followed by a shout of glee from Hera as the cage crumbled into nothing except for a pile of broken winding limbs.

"Yes," Hera shouted. "Now I can have my revenge!"

At that, the air shifted and expanded. Porphyrion paused, forcing his monsters to do the same, and eyed the scene for a moment. He knew the fight had suddenly changed the odds, that it was in their favour now that a Goddess was on their side, and Hera wouldn't hesitate to make his death painful. So he backed away, disappearing into the shadows just as she began to glow.

"Cover your eyes, my heroes," she ordered.

Annais obeyed, knowing what was coming. She faced away from the Goddess, dropping her sword to hold her hands over her eyes for good measure. Behind her, the air sizzled as Hera released her inner power. A golden light was visible even with her palms pressed to her face. She waited, and it was only once the silence came that she slowly looked up.

Only to find Jason Grace dead on the floor.

"No!" she screamed, the sound tearing through her throat on instinct. Gasps erupted from the others but Annais paid them no mind, falling to her knees beside the unconscious boy. His skin was waxen and soft to the touch, though Annais didn't care. She just pulled him into her arms, the first sign of tears glistening in her eyes, her heart racing so fast that her head started spinning. "Jason, wake up... You can't do this."

Nothing made sense with him dead. His chest wasn't rising with evident signs of life. No longer could she see the stunning blue of his eyes. His warmth was gone, and Annais Min was cold.

"Jason!" she sobbed, clinging tighter to his shirt. She could feel Mel's hands on her back trying to guide her away, heard Thalia screaming as she regained consciousness only to find her brother gone again, but she couldn't bring herself to move. There were so many possibilities right there in her arms. She only held on tighter, glowering when Mel's hands touched her shoulders again. "Get off me, Mel."

"Annais, come on."

"No!" she snarled, then turned back to gaze at Jason. "He's not dead."

"It's no use, child," Hera informed her, face void of any emotion. 

Thalia's painfully familiar eyes flared as she sneered at the Goddess. "This is your fault, you know. Do something."

"Excuse me? Do not address me that way, girl, I am the Queen—"

"Mother, please," Ezra huffed from somewhere to Annais' right. A moment later, she felt the girl's hand landing on her good arm, but she didn't try and pull away. Ezra waited, stabilising Annais. She knew just how it felt to have someone you cared about dead in your arms. "If you can do this, you can also bring him back."

"I did warn him," Hera argued. "I would never intentionally hurt the boy. He was to be my champion. I told them to close their eyes before I revealed my true form."

"And that makes it okay?" 

"Isn't true form bad?" Leo added with a frown. "So why did you do it?"

Hera rolled her eyes. "I unleashed my power to help you, fool. I became pure energy so I could disintegrate the monsters, restore this place, and even save these miserable Hunters from the ice."

"But mortals can't look upon you in that form," Thalia sobbed. "You've killed him."

Vaguely, Annais heard Leo mentioning the prophecy, but she couldn't bring herself to listen to those words anymore. Her eyes were locked on Piper as the solemn girl kneeled beside Jason's legs, hand slowly moving to rest on Jason's motionless chest. Annais didn't stop her. She couldn't form the words, even when Piper gasped and shouted, "He's breathing!"

"Impossible," Hera shook her head. "I wish it were true, child, but no mortal has ever—"

"Piper," Annais cut in, voice quiet and subdued. "Piper, bring him back."

"Healing isn't a power of Aphrodite," Hera said in displeasure, like Annais wouldn't have known that already. "Even I cannot fix this, Daughter of Death. His mortal spirit—"

"I wasn't talking to you," Annais snapped, ignoring the dangerous glint of the woman's eyes as she turned back to an uncertain Piper. "Please, Pipes, I know you can do this. Even if it fails, we have to try. I can't lose—"

The words trailed away but the meaning remained. Piper just stared at her for a moment, eyes glistening with tears, then nodded. She inhaled sharply, hand pressed harder against Jason's chest like she could convince his heart to pump again. "Jason, listen to me. You're going to be fine."

"Girls—"

"Mother, just stop," Ezra snapped, attentively listening to the hum of Piper's words.

"Jason," she repeated, watching closely while Annais looked on with hope. "Come back. Wake up."

For a moment, nothing happened. Annais sobbed again, willing the tears to stop but they kept on falling. His warmth was fading, fading... until it wasn't. With a gasp, blue eyes met hers, like the tide coming back to shore, and Jason Grace was alive once more. Annais could've screamed with relief but she kept quiet, moving to fling her arms around his neck instead as he groaned in confusion.

"You've alive," she said, relishing in the way that he wrapped his arms around her back and held on tight. He could do that. He wasn't dead. She wasn't alone. "You're alive..."

Call it what you want — emotions running high from constant near death experiences, pure exhaustion, even the beginnings of a crush. But at that moment, Annais Min never wanted to let Jason Grace slip away from her again. The cold had made a home in her chest out of grief and what ifs, waiting to slither back in when she least expected it. And Annais wasn't so sure she could fight it off the next time.