They had advantages; they were small, quick, and after being friends with Cressida for so long, Piper and Percy were comfortable enough to say that they were completely insane.
Piper drew Katoptris and threw it at Periboia, hoping not to hit Annabeth.
Several giants ran at her at once. Piper dodged between their legs and let them bash their heads together. She wove through the crowd, jabbing her sword into dragon-scale feet at every opportunity and yelling, "RUN! RUN AWAY!" to sow confusion.
"NO! STOP HER!" Porphyrion shouted. "KILL HER! AND BRING ME CRESSIDA LYNN AND PERCY JACKSON!"
Percy had Riptide out and he was fighting his way towards Cressida as he swiped at the giant's ankles while Cressida was cutting down weapons from their enemies' hands with her own sword.
Piper was taking care of getting Annabeth free, and Cressida and Percy were working on keeping the other giants occupied.
But while Piper got Periboia to drop Annabeth, she wasn't unscathed. Periboia's dagger had sliced a nasty gash across the back of her thigh. As Annabeth rolled away, her blood soaked into the earth.
The blood of Olympus.
Piper lunged at the giantess. Her jagged blade suddenly felt ice cold in her hands. The surprised giantess glanced down as the sword of the Boread pierced her gut. Frost spread across her bronze breastplate. Piper yanked out her sword. The giantess toppled backwards – steaming white and frozen solid. Periboia hit the ground with a thud.
"My daughter!" King Porphyrion levelled his spear and charged.
"Not today!" Cressida called as Percy reached her, his hands cupped together as he boosted her into the air with whatever strength he had left. "We meet again Porphyrion," she snarled as she used her sword as an anchor point to climb up onto his shoulders as the giant groaned.
"Daughter of Dionysus," he growled as he tried to grab at her, but she was too fast for him as her unarmed boyfriend grabbed Porphyrion's spear and forced it down to the ground. The giant's own momentum lifted him off his feet in an unintentional pole-vault manoeuvre and he flipped over onto his back.
Cressida was grabbing into his weapon-laced braids as the impact rattled her and she tumbled onto the giant's stomach.
Meanwhile, Annabeth dragged herself across the ground. Piper ran to her side. She stood over her friend, sweeping her blade back and forth to keep the giants at bay. Cold blue steam now wreathed her blade. "Who wants to be the next popsicle?!" she yelled, channelling her anger into her charmspeak.
Cressida stood atop Porphyrion as her sword ignited. "WHO WANTS TO GO BACK TO TARTARUS?!" she screamed, her voice echoing off the acropolis before she sank her blade into the giant's skin. And similarly, to when she imparted strength into her friends, she gave Porphyrion some of her pain as he wailed. And if anything, it made her stronger, as it should. Especially because she felt like she did Damasen justice as she bombarded the king with memories of his brother and how he'd valiantly fought the Pit. But she wasn't done yet.
Her father may have been one of the younger Olympians, but he was a formidable opponent. He'd fought in the first giant war, and it seemed fitting that his daughter now fought in the second. His daughter who could shatter someone's identity, who could deny them the basic pleasure of not being able to distinguish fantasy from reality, who could make you believe you were drowning when you were standing on dry land. And her powers were a mere fraction of her father's.
Even more so was her last name. Her last name was her mother's last name, and it was a reminder of everything she had survived before she even picked up a sword for the first time. Lynn was her mother's last name, but now it was hers, now it was Cressida's and now it struck fear into the hearts of her enemies.
Though her magic on Porphyrion quickly ceased when she watched Enceladus backhand Percy like he was nothing more than a pesky fly. And her boyfriend flew into a column with a sickening crunch before he fell limp to the floor.
And Cressida's eyes burst into flames out of pure rage and debilitating fear as she let out a scream that shook the entire Parthenon and even had some of the giants and monsters covering their ears.
It was everything.
Every bit of fear, of anger, worry, concern and pure fury that she felt over the last five years every time someone tried to take Percy away from her. It was every bit of pain and every bit of love she felt for him both times he was taken away from her.
And later, when they would regale Coach, Reyna and Nico with the tale, the trio would reveal the way Nico had done something similar when he turned Byrce Lawrence back into a ghost. He'd shown them all his pain, every bit of it. And now Cressida did the same, but with more of a dramatic flare, naturally.
Because this was also everything she felt as she worried that Percy had been taken from her now, permanently, for the last time.
There was no fire. There was no purple light. It was just her eyes as Enceladus was forced to the ground as he felt everything she wanted him to feel - actually, that was a lie. There was purple fire but it was around Cressida's head this time. A crown of purple flames sat atop her head, her father's blessing, as her scream subsided, the giant still paralysed with pain. It was almost like Hades' helm, for looking at the flames that burned around Cressida's brow made your body hollow with panic and your vision dance with things that weren't there as the flames swirled with scenes of madness. Cressida then jumped, using Porphyrion's stomach as a springboard to dodge his giant hand before she backflipped off him and tumbled away as the giant king staggered to his feet.
"These demigods cannot kill us! They do not have the help of the gods. Remember who you are!"
The giants closed in. A dozen spears were pointed at Piper's chest and probably three times as many at Cressida's. Annabeth struggled to her feet. She retrieved Periboia's hunting knife, but she could barely stand upright, much less fight. Each time a drop of her blood hit the ground it bubbled, turning from red to gold. Percy tried to stand, but he was obviously dazed. He wouldn't be able to defend himself and Cressida was too far away from him.
Piper's only choice was to remember Cressida's acting advice. Keep all attention on her.
"Come on, then!" she yelled. "I'll destroy you all myself if I have to!"
Cressida held her sword in one hand as purple fire danced along the blade and the thyrsus shimmered in the other hand as she banged it on the stone floor that cracked beneath it, her crown still blazing. "I came back from Tartarus," she shouted, more ancient stone dust showering around them, her voice so loud and so full of power that the giants almost looked scared. And they should be. "I tricked Nyx and ran the halls of her mansion. I outwitted Tartarus himself. You are NOTHING compared to that! I WILL TEAR YOU APART BEFORE I SEND YOU BACK TO THE PIT!"
Piper was really glad she went first because there was no way she could follow that act before the metallic smell of storm filled the air and the hairs on their arms began to stand up.
"Please," said a voice from above. "Let us help you with that."
At the top of the nearest colonnade stood Jason, his sword gleaming gold in the sun. Frank stood at his side, his bow ready. Hazel sat astride Arion, who reared and whinnied in challenge. With a deafening blast, a white-hot bolt arced from the sky, straight through Jason's body as he leapt, wreathed in lightning, at the giant king.