Walt felt heroic flying into the giants' flaming lair with ballistae blazing.
As they were debating how to get into the lair, Festus had torched the alley, making it simple to just break in through the ceiling.
Walt touched the Argo II down in the huge room. The sails were sticking out of the gaping hole they had created, but Walt decided to let the mortals wonder why a ship was sticking out of a hole that hadn't been there a few minutes before.
The giants looked up at the ceiling, then back down to the Argo II. They completely forgot about their prisoners, who were dangling over the pot of water, and charged at the ship. Walt grabbed his wand and was preparing a nasty spell when Zia yelled, "No! You can't use magic here!" Confused, Walt decided to draw a sword and asked questions once the giants were dust.
"You get the others, we'll hold them off!" he yelled at Jason, who flew off to lift their friends away from the Pot of Death.
Walt swung the sword that he'd borrowed from the ship's armoury. The giants, Mimas and Hippolytus, Piper had said, backed away cautiously, but didn't look too frightened. They probably recognized that Walt was only beginning swordplay, as he had never studied it. It wasn't exactly one of the electives his school offered.
Mimas turned to his brother. "There really is no point to a fight, as it would be very one-sided. They would need a god to defeat us," he reasoned, looking around. "I see five weak demigods and three puny magicians, but no gods!"
"Quite the contrary," said a voice Walt now knew well, although Piper did jump a little, probably because the voice came from right behind her.
"Well, it looks like I'm going to get a fight after all," Aether said, flexing his fingers.
**********************************************************
As it turned out, Aether's idea of 'fighting' was sitting in a chair while they worked hard trying to destroy the giants.
"Why are all gods so lazy?" Piper complained.
"I'd like to read their résumés and see what they're supposed to do, but often 'forget,'" muttered Percy, who had just been flown away from the pot by Jason. Jason was currently helping Carter down, with Zia still hanging on.
Percy looked at the giants, who were walking towards them. He swung his sword at them in a more professional way than how Walt did it, then swung it over his head intimidatingly, a move that, if Walt tried it, he would end up decapitating himself. Mimas and Hippolytus took a step back before continuing their walk, a little slower than before. It was quite obvious that they were afraid of the Hero of Olympus, no matter how much they tried to hide it.
"Hey, dumb blonde!" Hippolytus called to Annabeth, who froze. "What's two plus two?"
Annabeth turned to them slowly, fuming. "I. Am not. DUMB!" she yelled, scaring Walt, even though he wasn't the one Annabeth was mad at.
Annabeth drew her sword and charged Hippolytus. In a few seconds, Hippolytus was a pile of mush on the ground trying to reform, and Mimas was kneeling on the ground, golden ichor pouring from a dozen wounds.
"Here's some math for you," Percy said, coming up behind Mimas. "Two giants plus one angry Annabeth equals two dead giants and a victorious Annabeth with a weapon." With that, he plunged the sword deep into Mimas's back. He melted into a pile of mush.
"Yuck," Walt said, looking at the piles of mush on the ground. "Now I see why you call Otis Otismeal."
"Great," Zia said. "Now you guys have ruined oatmeal for me."
While they were talking, Aether had dropped a knife on each partially-reformed giant, causing them both to explode into golden dust. He then turned to the demigods and said, "I will see you in Athens." Then, as an afterthought, he added, "Percy, remember this. Sometimes you need to put the world before the ones you love." Aether flashed out.
"Where to now?" Carter asked.
"Athens, obviously," Piper answered in a 'duh' tone. They all climbed on board the ship and lifted off.
After a few minutes of flying away from Thebes, Walt noticed the absense of something. "Hey, where's the other group?"
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Yo, wassup ma peeps! Imma gangsta!
Okay, enough of that randomness. Now for an interview with the one and only, Annabeth Chase!
Annabeth: How did I get here?
Me: I wrote you here!
Annabeth: Okay.........
Me: So, first question! Have you ever been to an anger management class?
Annabeth: Are you suggesting that I have anger issues?! Because I don't!
Me: Now, Annabeth, at interviews, people don't usually lie.
Annabeth: I'm not lying!
Me: What did you do to Mimas and Hippolytus?
Annabeth: You wrote that, you b-
Me: Okay, let's keep this family friendly. No swearing.
Me: Okay, in the comments, I want you to tell me if you think Annabeth has anger issues! Remember, you can be honest because Annabeth doesn't know where you live, so she can't go kill you in your sleep! Goodbye my royal subjects! Until we meet again!
Annabeth: ...control freak.
