I ended up standing beside Percy as the eight of us were drawn into a defensive ring in the center of the battle field. The giants surrounded us. My grip on the large hunting knife tightened and I suddenly missed my weapons and magical necklace. I hoped I could find it after this battle, if I made it out alive, but the odds of it being found and not broken was slim to none.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Jason gaping at the sky. Following his gaze a grin took over my face. A black space spangled with stars showed Olympus gleaming sliver and gold in the background. An army of gods charged down to come and help us. My eyes quickly scanned to see which gods came to the battle.

Zeus came riding in a golden chariot, a lightning bolt the size of a telephone pole crackling in one hand. Pulling his chariot were four horses made of wind-the four wind gods. On the underbelly of the Argo II, the glass bay doors split open. Nike tumbled out, free of her golden net. She spread her glittering wings and soared to Zeus's side, taking her rightful place as his charioteer.

"MY MIND IS RESTORED!" She roared. "VICTORY TO THE GODS!"

At Zeus's left flank rode Hera, her chariot pulled by enormous peacocks. Ares bellowed with glee as he thundered down on the back of a fire breathing horse. His spear glistening red. I didn't have time to see all of the gods coming to help when they seemed to displace themselves, like they'd jumped through hyperspace. The chariots disappeared. Suddenly us demigods were surrounded by the Olympians. They were human sized, but glowing with power.

My smile grew when I saw my father, the Greek version, standing beside me. Poseidon was on the other side of Percy. Poseidon gave me a nod of acknowledgment. My dad only grumbled a greeting to Percy, calling him by the wrong name once again. Percy only looked at me with annoyance as he glanced back at my dad basically telling me it's my dad who starts it.

There was no time for small talk. Jason shouted and charged at Porphyion. Then we all charged at the giants. The fighting ranged all over the Parthenon.

Annabeth and Athena fought Enceladus. The goddess thirst her spear at the giant, then brandished her shield with the fearsome bronzed visage of Medusa. They both drove Enceladus back into the nearest wall of metal scaffolding, which collapsed on top of him.

Frank and Ares smashed through an entire phalanx of giants- Ares with his spear and shield, Frank (as an African elephant) with his trunk and feet. The war god laughed and stabbed and disemboweled like a kid destroying piñatas.

Hazel raced through the battle on Arion's back, disappearing in the Mist whenever a giant came close, then appearing behind him and stabbing him in the back. Hecate danced in her wake, setting fire to their enemies with two blazing torches. I couldn't see Hades, but whenever a giant stumbled and fell, the ground broke open and the giant was snapped up and swallowed.

Piper fenced with Periboia sword against sword. Aphrodite floated around them on a small white cloud, strewing rose petals on the giantess's eyes. The goddess would be calling out to Piper with encouragement.

"Lovely, my dear. Yes, good. Hit her again!"

Leo raced across the deck of the Argo II, shooting ballistae, dropping hammers on the giants' heads, and blowtorching loincloths. Hephaestus was tinkering with the controls, furiously trying to keep the ship aloft. Then there was the three Fates beating up Thoon. He was greeting bludgeoned to death by the three old ladies with brass clubs.

Zeus blasted the throne to rubble. The giant king flew backward out of the temple. Jason and Zeus backed Porphyion to the she of the cliffs with the Jorden Athens below them. Jason advanced. Porphyion lashed his spear wildily at Jason, but Jason cut the spear in half. He charged and jabbed his sword through the breastplate. Winds blasted Porphyion off the cliffs as Zeus pointed his lighting at the falling giant.

Percy and I battled the twin giants, Otis and Ephialtes, along side Poseidon and Dionysus. Vines finally broke through the ground and I grinned. I willed them to machine gun grapes at the giants. The twin giants stumbled, flinching and yelling at me to stop every time a grape hit them. Poseidon's trident morphed into a fire hose, and the god sprayed the giants out of the Parthenon with a high power blast in the shape of wild horses.

Both my father and I controlled the vines to quickly wrap around the giants securely and pull them toward the ground. Percy went to Ephialtes while my father went toward Otis. My father swung his thyrsus and whacked Otis in the face. Percy stabbed Ephialtes in the chest with Riptide. The twin giants disintegrated.

I scanned around to see everyone had defeated the giants. Nothing was left of the giants except heaps of ash, a few spears, and some burning dreadlocks. Some of the heaviness lifted off my shoulders. The Argo II was still aloft, barely, moored to the top of the Parthenon. Half the ship's oars were broken off or tangled. Smoke streamed from several large splits in the hull. The sails were peppered with burning holes.

Everyone started to gather toward the center. Percy helped me walk, placing one of my arms around his shoulders as he wrapped an arm around my waist. The back of my thigh was burning with each step I took and putting my full weight on the leg made it worse. The demigods grouped together as the gods fanned out into a semicircle. None of the gods looked joyful about the victory against the giants.

Apollo and Artemis stood together in the shadow of a column, as if trying to hide. Hera and Poseidon were having an intense discuss with Demeter. Nike tried to put a golden laurel wreath on Hecate's head, but the goddess of magic swatted it away. Dad had switched his thyrsus for a Diet Coke, squeezing a slice of lime into it. When he saw that I was watching, he gave me a wink.

Hermes sneaked close to Athena, attempting to put his arm around her. Athena turned her aegis shield his way and Hermes scuffled off. The only Olympian in a good mood was Ares. He laughed and pantomimed gutting an enemy while Frank listened, his expression polite but uneasy.

"Brethren," Zeus said, "we are healed, thanks to the work of these demigods. The Athena Parthenos, which once stood in this temple, now stands at Camp Half-Blood. It has united our offspring, and thus our essence."

"Lord Zeus," Piper spoke up, "is Reyna okay? Nico and Coach Hedge?"

"They succeeded in their mission." Zeus knit his cloud colored eyebrows. "As if this moment they are alive. Whether or not they are okay-"

"There is still work to be done." Hera interrupted. She spread her arms like she wanted a group hug. I scowled at her. "But my heroes...you have triumphed over giants as I knew you would. My plan succeeded beautifully."

I bit my tongue from saying anything. Percy, Annabeth, and I exchanged irritated looks. Poseidon saw and gave a simple shake of his head. My dad on the other hand was slowly nodding along with us in agreement. Poseidon nudged his arm and Dad simply shrugged.

"Hera, do not dare to take credit!" Zeus turned on his wife. Thunder shook the Acropolis. "You have caused at least as many problems as you fixed!"

"Husband," Hera blanched, "surely you see now-this was the only way."

"There is never only one way!" Zeus bellowed. "That is why there are three Fates, not one. Is this not so?"

By the ruins of the giant king's throne, the three Fates silently bowed their heads in recognition. I noticed how the other gods made sure there was distance between them and the Fates. The old ladies were holding onto their brass clubs and even I didn't wasn't to be near them. Seeing them whack a giant with those things was honestly terrifying.

"Please, husband." Hera tried to smile, but it was clear she was frightened. "I only did what I-"

"Silence!" Zeus snapped. "You disobeyed my orders. Nonetheless...I recognize that you acted with honest intentions. The valor of these eight heroes has proven that you were not entirely without wisdom."

Hera looked like she wanted to argue, bus she kept her mouth shut. I shifted my weight slightly and winced when I placed too much on my bad leg.

"Apollo, however..." Zeus glared into the shadows where the twins were standing. "My son, come here."

Apollo inched forward like he was walking the plank. He looked so much like a teenage demigod it was unnerving- no more than seventeen, wearing jeans and a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, with a bow over his shoulder and a sword at his belt. His blonde hair was tousled and I could see fear in his blue eyes. The Three Fates gathered around the god, circling him, their withered hands raised.

"Twice you have defied me." Zeus said.

"My-my lord-"

"You neglected your duties." Zeus continued, cutting Apollo off. "You succumbed to flattery and vanity. You encouraged your descendant Octavian to follow his dangerous path, and you prematurely revealed a prophecy that may yet destroy us all."

"But-"

"Enough!" Zeus boomed. "We will speak of your punishment later. For now, you will wait on Olympus."

Zeus flicked his hand, and Apollo turned into a cloud of glitter. The Fates swirled around him, dissolving into air, and the glittering wind shot into the sky.

"What will happen to him?" Jason asked.

The gods stared at him. I gave Jason a warning look.

"It is not your concern." Zeus said. "We have other problems to address."

An uncomfortable silence fell upon us. I could tell Jason didn't really like the answer to that.

"Father," Jason said, "I made a vow to honor all the gods. I promised Kymopoleia that once this war was over, none of the gods hold be without shrines at the camps."

"That is fine. But...Kym who?" Zeus scowled.

"She's one of mine." Poseidon coughed into his fist.

"My point is that blaming each other isn't going to solve anything. That's how the Romans and Greeks got divided in the first place." Jason stated. The air became dangerously ionized. "Apollo wasn't the problem. To punish him for Gaea waking is-unwise."

"Unwise." Zeus's voice was almost a whisper. "Before the assembled gods, you would call me unwise."

I gripped my weapon and shifted my weight to be prepared to spring into action to help Jason. Percy looked like he was ready to jump in and fight as well. The others were on full alert. My father gave me a warning look to not intervene.

"Father," Artemis stepped out of the shadows, "this hero had fought long and hard for our cause. His nerves are frayed. We should take that into account."

Jason started to protest, but Artemis stopped him with a glance. It was a mix of appreciation and warning. Jason stopped and allowed Artemis to continue.

"Surely, Father, we should attend to our more pressing problems, as you pointed out."

"Gaea." Annabeth chimed in, clearly anxious to change the topic. "She's awake isn't she?"

"That is correct." Zeus turned toward her. Anger and guilt hummed in my veins. The back of my thigh stung as I felt the blood trail down my leg starting to dry against my skin. "The blood of Olympus was spilled. She is fully conscious."

"Oh, come on!" Percy complained. He glanced at me and frowned when he saw my expression. His grip around my waist tightened slightly. "I get a little nose bleed and I wake up the entire earth? That's not fair!"

"Complaining of unfairness is like assigning blame, Percy Jackson. It's does no one any good." Athena shouldered her aegis. She gave Jason an approving glance. "No you must move quickly. Gaea rises to destroy your camp."

"For once, Athena is right." Poseidon leaned against his trident.

"For once?" Athena protested.

"Why would Gaea be back at camp? Leo asked. "Percy's nosebleed was here."

"Dude, first off, you heard Athena- don't blame my nose. Second, Gaea's the earth. She can pop anywhere she wants. Besides," Percy momentarily caught my eye as we thought about our dreams, "she told us she was going to do this. She said the first thing on her to-do list was destroy our camp. Question is, how do we stop her?"

"Yeah, we're here in Greece while she's back in New York. There no way the Argo II could take us there fast enough to stop her." I frowned.

"Um, sir, Your Majesty, can't you gods just pop over there with us?" Frank looked at Zeus. "You've got the chariots and magic powers and whatnot."

"Yes!" Hazel agreed. "We defeated the giants together in two seconds. Let's all go-"

"No." Zeus said flatly.

"No?" Jason asked. "But, Father-"

Zeus's eyes sparked with power and Jason stopped talking.

"That's the problem with prophecies," Zeus growled. "When Apollo allowed the Prophecy of Eight to be spoken, and when Hera took it upon herself to interpret the words, the Fates wove the future in such a way that it had only so many posible outcomes, so many solutions. You eight, the demigods, are destined to defeat Gaea. We, the gods, cannot."

"I don't get it." Piper said. "What's the point of being gods if you have to rely on punt mortals o do your bidding?"

All the gods exchanged dark looks. My father grumbled under his breath and took a sip from his Diet Coke. Aphrodite, however, laughed gently and kissed her daughter.

"My dear Piper, don't you think we've been asking ourselves that question for thousands of years? But it is what binds us together, keep us eternal. We need mortals as much as you need us. Annoying as that may be, it's the truth."

"So how can we possibly get to Camp Half-Blood in time to save it?" Frank shuffled uncomfortably. "Like Ivy said, it took us months to reach Greece."

"The winds." Jason said. "Father, can't you unleash the winds to send our ship back?"

"I could slap you back to Long Island." Zeus glowered.

"Um, was that a joke, or a threat, or-"

"No, I mean it quite literally." Zeus stated. "I could slap your ship back to Camp Half-Blood, but the force involved..."

"My boy Leo built a good ship, but it won't sustain that kind of stress. It would break apart as soon as it arrived, maybe sooner." Hephaestus shook his head.

"The Argo II can make it." Leo straightened his tool belt. "It only has to stay in one piece long enough to get us back home. Once there, we can abandon ship."

"Dangerous." Hephaestus warned. "Perhaps fatal."

"Victory is always dangerous." Nike twirled a laurel wreath on her finger. "And it often requires sacrifice. Leo and I have discussed this."

The goddess stared pointedly at Leo. I furrowed my brows and looked at him. This isn't the first time someone has brought it up or acted weird around Leo.

"Leo, what is Nike talking about?" Annabeth asked.

"The usual." Leo waved off the question. Something in me said not to believe it. I opened my mouth to call him out, but he shot me a look. "Victory. Sacrifice. Blah, blah, blah. Doesn't matter. We can do this, guys. We have to do this."

"Leo's right." Jason stated. "All aboard for one last trip."

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