Catch Fire || P. Jackson

𝟏.𝟏𝟒

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 the ridge, Hazel couldn't quite believe her eyes. He was taller than the siege tower—thirty feet, at least—with scaly reptilian legs like a Komodo dragon from the waist down and green-blue armour from the waist up. His breastplate was shaped like rows of hungry monstrous faces, their mouths open as if demanding food. His face was human, but his hair was wild and green, like a mop of seaweed. As he turned his head from side to side, snakes dropped from his dreadlocks. Viper dandruff—gross. He was armed with a massive trident and a weighted net.

"Who is he?" Frank's voice quivered.

"Who is who?" Lea squirmed underneath Percy. "This rock is going to kill me." While her words weren't directed at anyone in particular, Frank grimaced sympathetically. He gifted her an awkward shoulder pat for comfort.

Lea's grumblings seemed to restart Percy's brain. Whatever had sent him into his haze seemed to clear from his eyes as he glanced down at the girl beneath him. "There's a really big giant," Percy answered, shifting his weight onto his hands.

The blonde girl scoffed. "Well, yes. Giants tend to be pretty big Percy."

"That's not what I meant and you know it." The son of Neptune shot Lea an eye roll. "I'm sorry there's a rock in your back but get better priorities."

"I'm gonna hit you with this rock as soon as I can stand."

"Feel free."

"Is that—" Frank interrupted the arguing demigods.

"Not Alcyoneus," Hazel said weakly. "One of his brothers, I think. The one Terminus mentioned. The grain spirit mentioned him, too. That's Polybotes." This giant was another child of Gaea—a creature of the earth so malevolent and powerful, that he radiated his own gravitational field.

Hazel knew they should leave. Their hiding place on top of the rock would be in plain sight to a creature that tall if he chose to look in their direction. But she sensed something important was about to happen. She and her friends crept a little farther down the schist and kept watching.

"You smell like seaweed."

"I wonder why that is."

Lea bit her lip to stop herself from snorting. "It wasn't an insult, Percy."

"Sorry... I have no idea why I got so defensive." Percy rubbed the back of his neck with a breathy laugh. "That's so weird."

"Maybe in your past life, seaweed killed your pet."

"That slimy pig."

"Shut up!" Hazel hissed, slapping Percy's elbow. "They're talking."

As the giant got close, a Cyclops woman broke ranks and ran back to speak with him. She was enormous, fat, and horribly ugly, wearing a chain-mail dress like a muumuu—but next to the giant, she looked like a child.

She pointed to the closed-up convenience store on top of the nearest hill and muttered something about food. The giant snapped back an answer as if he was annoyed. The female Cyclopes barked an order to her kindred, and three of them followed her up the hill. When they were halfway to the store, a searing light turned night into day. Hazel was blinded. Below her, the enemy army dissolved into chaos, monsters screaming in pain and outrage.

Hazel squinted.

"Thank the gods." The demigod girl gave Percy a firm shove, rolling over so she was no longer lying on top of the pointed assailant. "This is what Elysium feels like." The newly un-torchlike girl flashed Percy a thankful smile but quickly found more interesting subject matter in finally being able to see the monsters below her.