At first it was easy. Monsters were everywhere – hundreds of ogres, Earthborn and Cyclopes milling through the ruins – but most of them were gathered at the Parthenon, watching the ceremony in progress.
Cressida and Piper strolled along the cliffs of the Acropolis unchallenged. Piper was very glad to have her friend with her even if they were disguised as filthy earthborn.
Near the first onager, three Earthborn were sunning themselves on the rocks.
Cressida was to take care of the earthborn while Piper disabled the onager.
"Hello," Cressida sang in Greek, her sword balanced on her shoulders as she beamed. "Goodbye."
And they were cut down to dust as Piper slashed the onagers spring cord.
The two girls high-fived before they moved on to the next one, this one guarded by a legion of Laistrygonian ogres. Cressida pulled a vial of Greek fire out of her shoe as she tossed it to Piper who slipped it into the sling. They were very much looking forward to when they'd try to load the catapult only for it to explode in their faces.
Cressida was really enjoying the fact that with their disguise, they could stroll right up to unsuspecting monsters before slashing them to dust. Piper had to admit that it actually was kinda fun.
They did leave the larger groups alone though as the crowd at the Parthenon grew larger and the chanting got louder.
They then disabled the torsion ropes on the third siege weapon, giving their ship a clear path from the north. They could only hope Frank had eyes on them and how long the ship would take to get there.
Suddenly, the chanting stopped. A BOOM echoed across the hillside. In the Parthenon, the giants roared in triumph. All around Piper, monsters surged towards the sound of celebration.
"Oh, that can't be good," Cressida whispered.
"Not in the slightest."
The two girls swallowed their fears as they blended into a crowd of sour-smelling earthborn and walked up the main steps of the temple.
They were kind of glad they had so many arms because no one could see as the two of them reached for each other because the scene inside the ruins almost made them want to cry and any hope Cressida had of surviving a single day as a seventeen-year-old was drained away.
Before Porphyrion's throne, dozens of giants stood in a loose ring, hollering and shaking their weapons as two of their number paraded around the circle, showing off their prizes. The princess Periboia held Annabeth by the neck like a feral cat. The giant Enceladus had Percy wrapped in his massive fist.
Annabeth and Percy both struggled helplessly. Their captors displayed them to the cheering horde of monsters, then turned to face King Porphyrion, who sat in his makeshift throne, his white eyes gleaming with malice.
"Right on time!" the giant king bellowed. "The blood of Olympus to raise the Earth Mother!"
And Cressida cried out as she began to hug her stomach, the sound emanating a lot of pain.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Piper asked worriedly.
"Our oath," Cressida groaned. "They took Percy and not me. They - they separated us."
"But I thought only Percy made the oath? Shouldn't it just be him? Why are you in pain?"
"I swore," she explained, on her knees now as she clutched her sides, her insides feeling as if they were being bathed in the liquid fire of the Phlegethon. "In Tartarus."
"Oh gods. What do we do?!"
"I don't know. I should already be dead!"
Meanwhile, Percy was wriggling in the giant's grip as the giant king rose to his full height.
"They arrived just as you foresaw, Enceladus! Well done!"
"It was simple, my king. I knew these two would lead the assault," Enceladus continued. "I understand how they think. Athena and Poseidon ... they were just like these children! They both came here thinking to claim this city. Their arrogance has undone them!"
The crowd roared.
Annabeth tried to say something, but the giantess Periboia shook her by the neck. "Shut up! None of your silver-tongued trickery!" The princess drew a hunting knife as long as Piper's sword. "Let me do the honours, Father!"
"Wait, Daughter." The king stepped back. "The sacrifice must be done properly. Thoon, destroyer of the Fates, come forward!"
The wizened grey giant shuffled into sight, holding an oversized meat cleaver.
Percy then cried out as he writhed, looking to be in the same amount of pain as Cressida was.
"What is happening?!" Porphyrion demanded. "What trick is this?!"
"No, trick," Annabeth said sadly.
"Explain yourself, useless demigod!" Periboia ordered, her blade at Annabeth's throat.
"He swore an oath on the River Styx. You separated him from Dionysus's daughter, now he's going to die."
Prophyrion growled angrily. "Do it quickly, Thoon! Praise Gaia he isn't dead already."
That must've been it. Gaia's magic was so strong here that it was delaying the oath of the Styx. The Styx was ancient magic though, who knows how much longer Gaia could keep it at bay? Who knows how much time Percy and Cressida had left if they weren't reunited soon?
Thoon knelt and touched the blade of his cleaver reverently against the earth. "Mother Gaia ..." His voice was impossibly deep, shaking the ruins. "In ancient times, blood mixed with your soil to create life. Now, let the blood of these demigods return the favour. We bring you to full wakefulness. We greet you as our eternal mistress!"
"Cressida, hey, Cress, look at me!" Piper urged. "Think you can manage a dramatic entrance? We're going to save Percy, ok? You're both going to be ok."
And Piper grabbed her hand as they leapt from the scaffolding.
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They leapt over the heads of the Cyclopes and ogres and landed in the centre of the courtyard in a burst of purple fire that burned away their Mist disguises.
Piper ran at Thoon while Cressida fought through her agony and sent her spear flying through the air before she was on her knees again, barely able to see straight, barely able to breathe.
Piper slashed upward with her sword. She took off Thoon's hand at the wrist. The old giant wailed. The cleaver and severed hand lay in the dust at Piper's feet.
Enceladus cried out as well as Cressida's spear nailed his wrist and Percy fell to the ground, a god of some sort on her side. It took a second before their pain faded and their oath was upheld before they were hit with déjà vu. They'd been here before, many times. Just a couple of demigods, surrounded by an army of monsters and giants.
"WHAT IS THIS?" Porphyrion thundered. "How dare this weak, useless creature interrupt?"
And just like then, they were left with no choice but to push down their pain and their fear and their hopelessness and attack.