Their plan went wrong almost immediately. Piper scrambled along the ridge, trying to keep her head down, while Leo, Estella, Jason, and Coach Hedge walked straight into the clearing.
ason summoned his golden lance. He brandished it over his head and yelled, "Giant!" Which sounded pretty good, and a lot more confident than Leo could've managed. He was thinking more along the lines of, "We are pathetic ants! Don't kill us!"
Enceladus stopped chanting at the flames. He turned toward them and grinned, revealing fangs like a saber-toothed tiger's.
"Well," the giant rumbled. "What a nice surprise."
Leo didn't like the sound of that. His hand closed on his windup gadget. He stepped sideways, edging his way toward the bulldozer.
Coach Hedge shouted, "Let the movie star go, you big ugly cupcake! Or I'm gonna plant my hoof right up your—"
"Coach," Jason said. "Shut up."
Enceladus roared with laughter. "I've forgotten how funny satyrs are. When we rule the world, I think I'll keep your kind around. You can entertain me while I eat all the other mortals."
"Is that a compliment?" Hedge frowned at Leo and Estella. "I don't think that was a compliment."
Enceladus opened his mouth wide, and his teeth began to glow.
"Scatter!" Leo yelled.
Jason grabbed Estella's hand and both of them and Hedge dove to the left as the giant blew fire—a furnace blast so hot even Festus would've been jealous. Leo dodged behind the bulldozer, wound up his homemade device, and dropped it into the driver's seat. Then he ran to the right, heading for the tree harvester.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jason rise and charge the giant. Coach Hedge ripped off his canary yellow jacket, which was now on fire, and bleated angrily. "I liked that outfit!" Then he raised his club and charged, too. Estella gulped, pulling out her knife—though leo wasn't sure how useful that'd be against a giant, but he had to give her some credit for charging the giant, too.
Before they could get very far, Enceladus slammed his spear against the ground. The entire mountain shook.
The shockwave sent Leo sprawling. He blinked, momentarily stunned. Through a haze of grassfire and bitter smoke, he saw Jason staggering to his feet on the other side of the clearing. Coach Hedge was knocked out cold. He'd fallen forward and hit his head on a log. His furry hindquarters were sticking straight up, with his canary yellow pants around his knees—a view Leo really didn't need.
Estella, too was knocked out—but to Leo's horror, she had started bleeding really badly.
The giant bellowed, "I see you, Piper McLean!" He turned and blew fire at a line of bushes to Leo's right. Piper ran into the clearing like a flushed quail, the underbrush burning behind her.
Enceladus laughed. "I'm happy you've arrived. And you brought me my prizes!"
Leo's gut twisted. This was the moment Piper had warned them about. They'd played right into Enceladus's hands.
The giant must've read Leo's expression, because he laughed even louder. "That's right, son of Hephaestus. I didn't expect you all to stay alive this long, but it doesn't matter. By bringing you here, Piper McLean has sealed the deal. If she betrays you, I'm as good as my word. She can take her father and go. What do I care about a movie star?"
Leo could see Piper's dad more clearly now. He wore a ragged dress shirt and torn slacks. His bare feet were caked with mud. He wasn't completely unconscious, because he lifted his head and groaned—yep, Tristan McLean all right. Leo had seen that face in enough movies. But he had a nasty cut down the side of his face, and he looked thin and sickly—not heroic at all.
"Dad!" Piper yelled.
Mr. McLean blinked, trying to focus. "Pipes ... ? Where ..."
Piper drew her dagger and faced Enceladus. "Let him go!"
"Of course, dear," the giant rumbled. "Swear your loyalty to me, and we have no problem. Only these others must die."
Piper looked back and forth between Leo and her dad.
"He'll kill you," Leo warned. "Don't trust him!"
"Oh, come now," Enceladus bellowed. "You know I was born to fight Athena herself? Mother Gaea made each of us giants with a specific purpose, designed to fight and destroy a particular god. I was Athena's nemesis, the anti-Athena, you might say. Compared to some of my brethren—I am small! But I am clever. And I keep my bargain with you, Piper McLean. It's part of my plan!"
Jason was on his feet now, lance ready; but before he could act, Enceladus roared—a call so loud it echoed down the valley and was probably heard all the way to San Francisco.
At the edge the woods, half a dozen ogre-like creatures rose up. Leo realized with nauseating certainty that they hadn't simply been hiding there. They'd risen straight out of the earth.
This is going to suck.
•••
Estella was dreaming.
Everything was so bright, Estella had to squint her eyes.
"Hey there!"
Estella realized that she wasn't alone. Before her, stood a man—looking around twenty-one, with blonde hair and a big goofy grin plastered to his face.
"Who are you?" Estella asked. His skin was practically glowing.
"Don't tell me you don't recognize your own father, pal!"
Estella suddenly realized that this was Apollo. Her father.
Estella had a ton of questions, but she settled to ask, "Why didn't you claim me?"
"Because, kid, you needed to be on that quest, and you could only be if you weren't claimed," Apollo answered, "I know what I'm talking about. After all, I'm the god of prophecy."
Estella hasn't even done anything important.
Estella nodded as if she understood. "Why are you here?"
Apollo narrowed his eyes. "I know we're supposed to be silent and all but," he started, "I'm coming here for an intervention."
Estella blinked.
"What do you mean?"
Apollo snapped his fingers and suddenly Estella's jacket and leggings were gone, leaving her with her blouse and mini skirt. Exposing her cuts. An embarrassed blush appeared on Estella's cheeks.
Apollo walked closer to Estella. "Why would you do this?" Estella wanted to ask why Apollo would even care, since he's a god with many children—all of whom he isn't close to. Apollo has never been in Estella's life. He shouldn't be acting this way.
"It's just..." Estella started to say but stopped. "I just—I don't know? Doesn't matter."
Apollo sent her a glare. "My daughter, normally I am present and nice, and never serious—but this is a different case. I want you to stop."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me," Apollo says. "And if you don't, there will be consequences."
Consequences?
Estella opened her mouth to ask what Apollo meant, but Apollo kept talking.
"When you wake up, the battle will be over. Goodbye."
"Wait! Will my jacket still—"
"Yes, in the real world you still have your jacket," Apollo says, "but I can snap it off with the flick of my finger, so remember that the next time you pick up a razor."
Estella gulped.
"Yeah..."
•••
It was like time slowed down, which was frustrating, since Jason couldn't move. He felt himself sinking into the earth like the ground was a waterbed—comfortable, urging him to relax and give up. He wondered if the stories of the Underworld were true. Would he end up in the Fields of Punishment or Elysium? If he couldn't remember any of his deeds, would they still count? He wondered if the judges would take that into consideration, or if his dad, Zeus, would write him a note: "Please excuse Jason from eternal damnation. He has had amnesia."
Jason couldn't feel his arms. He could see the tip of the spear coming toward his chest in slow motion. He knew he should move, but he couldn't seem to do it. Funny, he thought. All that effort to stay alive, and then, boom. You just lie there helplessly while a fire-breathing giant impales you.
Leo's voice yelled, "Heads up!"
A large black metal wedge slammed into Enceladus with a massive thunk! The giant toppled over and slid into the pit.
"Jason, get up!" Piper called. Her voice energized him, shook him out of his stupor. He sat up, his head groggy, while Piper grabbed him under his arms and hauled him to his feet.
"Don't die on me," she ordered. "You are not dying on me."
"Yes, ma'am." He felt light-headed. He hoped Estella was okay.
About a hundred feet behind Piper, Leo was standing over a piece of construction equipment—a long cannonlike thing with a single massive piston, the edge broken clean off.
Then Jason looked down in the crater and saw where the other end of the hydraulic ax had gone. Enceladus was struggling to rise, an ax blade the size of a washing machine stuck in his breastplate.
Amazingly, the giant managed to pull the ax blade free. He yelled in pain and the mountain trembled. Golden ichor soaked the front of his armor, but Enceladus stood.
Shakily, he bent down and retrieved his spear.
"Good try." The giant winced. "But I cannot be beaten."
As they watched, the giant's armor mended itself, and the ichor stopped flowing. Even the cuts on his dragon-scale legs, which Jason had worked so hard to make, were now just pale scars.
Leo ran up to them, saw the giant, and cursed. "What is it with this guy? Die, already!"
"My fate is preordained," Enceladus said. "Giants cannot be killed by gods or heroes."
"Only by both," Jason said. The giant's smile faltered, and Jason saw in his eyes something like fear. "It's true, isn't it? Gods and demigods have to work together to kill you."
"You will not live long enough to try!" The giant started stumbling up the crater's slope, slipping on the glassy sides.
"Anyone have a god handy?" Leo asked.
Jason's heart filled with dread. He looked at the giant below them, struggling to get out of the pit, and he knew what had to happen.
"Leo," he said, "if you've got a rope in that tool belt, get it ready."
He leaped at the giant with no weapon but his bare hands.
"Enceladus!" Piper yelled. "Look behind you!"
It was an obvious trick, but her voice was so compelling, even Jason bought it. The giant said, "What?" and turned like there was an enormous spider on his back.
Jason tackled his legs at just the right moment. The giant lost his balance. Enceladus slammed into the crater and slid to the bottom. While he tried to rise, Jason put his arms around the giant's neck. When Enceladus struggled to his feet, Jason was riding his shoulders.
"Get off!" Enceladus screamed. He tried to grab Jason's legs, but Jason scrabbled around, squirming and climbing over the giant's hair.
Father, Jason thought. If I've ever done anything good, anything you approved of, help me now. I offer my own life—just save my friends.
Suddenly he could smell the metallic scent of a storm. Darkness swallowed the sun. The giant froze, sensing it too.
Jason yelled to his friends, "Hit the deck!"
And every hair on his head stood straight up.
Crack!
Lightning surged through Jason's body, straight through Enceladus, and into the ground. The giant's back stiffened, and Jason was thrown clear. When he regained his bearings, he was slipping down the side of the crater, and the crater was cracking open. The lightning bolt had split the mountain itself. The earth rumbled and tore apart, and Enceladus's legs slid into the chasm. He clawed helplessly at the glassy sides of the pit, and just for a moment managed to hold on to the edge, his hands trembling.
He fixed Jason with a look of hatred. "You've won nothing, boy. My brothers are rising, and they are ten times as strong as I. We will destroy the gods at their roots! You will die, and Olympus will die with—"
The giant lost his grip and fell into the crevice.
The earth shook. Jason fell toward the rift.
"Grab hold!" Leo yelled.
Jason's feet were at the edge of the chasm when he grabbed the rope, and Leo and Piper pulled him up.
They stood together, exhausted and terrified, as the chasm closed like an angry mouth. The ground stopped pulling at their feet.
For now, Gaea was gone.
The mountainside was on fire. Smoke billowed hundreds of feet into the air. Jason spotted a helicopter—maybe firefighters or reporters—coming toward them.
All around them was carnage. The Earthborn had melted into piles of clay, leaving behind only their rock missiles and some nasty bits of loincloth, but Jason figured they would re-form soon enough. Construction equipment lay in ruins. The ground was scarred and blackened.
Coach Hedge started to move. He sat up with a groan and rubbed his head. His canary yellow pants were now the color of Dijon mustard mixed with mud.
He blinked and looked around him at the battle scene. "Did I do this?"
Before Jason could reply, Hedge picked up his club and got shakily to his feet. "Yeah, you wanted some hoof? I gave you some hoof, cupcakes! Who's the goat, huh?"
He did a little dance, accidental kicking Estella in the process.
Estella opened her eyes, groaning. She sat up and glanced around. She then hurriedly looked at the jacket that she was wearing and sighed in relief—which only reminded Jason of her.
Leo cracked a smile, and Jason couldn't help it—he started to laugh. It probably sounded a little hysterical, but it was such a relief to be alive, he didn't care.
Then a man stood up across the clearing. Tristan McLean staggered forward. His eyes were hollow, shell-shocked, like someone who'd just walked through a nuclear wasteland.
"Piper?" he called. His voice cracked. "Pipes, what—what is—"
He couldn't complete the thought. Piper ran over to him and hugged him tightly, but he almost didn't seem to know her.
Jason had felt a similar way—that morning at the Grand Canyon, when he woke with no memory. But Mr. McLean had the opposite problem. He had too many memories, too much trauma his mind just couldn't handle. He was coming apart.
"We need to get him out of here," Jason said.
"Yeah, but how?" Leo said. "He's in no shape to walk."
Jason glanced up at the helicopter, which was now circling directly overhead. "Can you make us a bullhorn or something?" he asked Leo. "Piper has some talking to do."