Lav's POV
Bob was leading us to see a giant. I was a little unsure about going to see a giant since we're kind of fighting in a war against them, but Bob assured me the giant was nice. Percy was to out of it to really care. He was leaning heavily against me and looked dead.
Bob was leading us through what looked like a dessert. The scary part? There were drakon skulls all over. Bob wasn't freaked out at all. Then again, he is a titan. Suddenly, a roar filled the air. I turned my head to see a drakon charging towards us. "Bob?" I asked. "What type of drakon is that?" I had never seen one with green and yellow scales before.
"Maeonian drakon," Bob said. "From Maeonia."
No, really?I cleared my mind of sarcastic comments. "Any way we can kill it?" I asked hopefully. There had to be some way, right?
"Us? No." Bob didn't seem afraid. He was calmly staring at the drakon. I, on the other hand, was terrified. "But don't worry."
"ROOOOOAAAR!" someone, or thing, yelled from behind us. I turned around to see a huge giant running towards us. The drakon charged at the giant. The giant didn't seem phased in the slightest though. He just picked up a tree trunk and threw it like a javelin towards the drakon. The tree trunk speared the drakon through the heart, and it collapsed, immediately dissolving into ashes.
I took a good look at the drakon. He seriously clashed. His skin was the color of Ron Weasley's hair, and his hair was the color of rust. His clothes were dark green. It looked like Christmas threw up all over him.
The drakon had finished dissolving. All that was left was the meat, bones, and hide. I shivered. I was terrified of drakons ever since one almost killed Silena in the Battle of Manhattan.
The giant kicked at the remains. "No good," he frowned. "I wanted a new walking stick." Who goes walking in Tartarus for fun? I thought. "Good hide for the outhouse, though," the giant said. I shuddered.
"Bob?" I asked. "Do you want to introduce us?"
"Lavender..." Bob patted Percy's legs. "This is Percy."
"I meant to the giant," I groaned. "You promised he could help."
"Promise?" the giant asked, turning towards us. "That is a big thing. Why would Bob promise my help?"
"Dameson is a good giant," Bob said decisively. "He is peaceful. He can cure poisons."
"Very peaceful," I said, glancing at the drakon bones. I gulped.
Dameson led us into his hut. It was actually pretty cozy. I sat on the huge bed where Dameson had laid Percy down. Small Bob was curled up next to Percy.
"Can you cure Percy?" I asked Dameson, holding Percy's hand tightly in my own. I always thought of him as invincible. No matter what the enemy threw at him, he always bounced back. To see him like this was really hard for me. "Please, I love him."
"You don't hear words like those in Tartarus," Dameson frowned as he leaned over a large pot in his fireplace. "Promise, love."
"How about Gorgon's blood?" I demanded. "Can you cure it?"
"Hmph," Dameson frowned. "Stir," he told Bob, handing him the ladle. Dameson looked over a shelf of dry herbs. I wondered how he got them. He popped a fistful of an orangey red root into his mouth a started chewing it. He spit it out onto a clump of wool. "Cup of broth," he ordered. Bob handed Dameson a gourd filled with the broth. "Hardly a challenge." Dameson dunked the wool and stirred with his finger.
Dameson lifted Percy up with one hand and started feeding him the broth. With each sip, Percy's color began to return. When the gourd was empty, Percy's eyes fluttered open. He looked around in confusion. "Where are we?" he muttered.
"Welcome to my home, Percy Jackson," Dameson thundered. "Sleep now. You will need it for your journey."
Percy nodded and lay back down. "Thank you," I murmured as I lay down next to Percy. He wrapped an arm around my waist.
"Sleep," Dameson ordered. Percy and I obeyed.
I yawned when I woke up. Percy was staring down at me. He handed me a sack. "We need to go. Bob is waiting for us outside." I sat up, and Percy and I jumped off the bed. It was almost as tall as them.
"We must go," Bob said urgently when we got outside.
I looked up at Dameson to say goodbye when a thought occurred to me.
The Prophecy of Seven. Dameson, you need to come with us."
"Of course," Percy gasped. "Foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. A titan, a giant, and two demigods.
"No, children," Dameson. "I have been cursed to be forever plagued by this drakon. " must stay here. You need to go. The others are following."
"THE SEA GOD'S SON! HE IS CLOSE!" A voice shouted.
Percy shuddered. "Polybotes," he muttered. "Lav, we need to go."
"One last gift," Dameson said. He handed me a broad sword made of drakon bone in a sheath. "Go, now! Let this protect you. Hurry before it's too late."
Percy helped me put on the sheath before we took off, following Bob. I didn't look back at the swamp as we took off running. I heard the drakon roar. He had been reborn.
Nina's POV
I shivered as the deck of the Argo II froze. Something was wrong. Nico glanced at me before running downstairs to tell Apollo. My boyfriend rushed up to the deck, closely followed by Freya. He gasped as he feet froze to the ground. Freya screamed as she slid across the deck to where I was. I crouched and caught her in my arms. She wrapped her arms around my neck tightly.
The waves got rocky. Hazel clutched her stomach and ran below deck. Frank ran after her. I felt bad. I tried to calm the waves down for her. I knew how seasick she got. We had come to an understanding since we talked to Aphrodite, and we formed a tentative friendship. Piper, Jason, Leo, Freya, Apollo, and I were the only ones on deck right now.
Jason, Leo, and Frank had changed. Jason had seemed to cool off almost. He was no longer high strung, and he was more relaxed. Leo didn't joke as much anymore. Don't get me wrong, he still took every chance he got to pull a joke, but it was like he wasn't as into it anymore. Piper was just different. She was fuller. She seemed like she was all there. What was there before was just a shadow of herself.
I groaned as the deck rocked again. Something was wrong on a godly level. "Khione," Apollo hissed. "I can sense her magic." He shivered. The cold always affected him badly. He thrived off of heat. The cold weakened him. The ice was spreading across the deck. My feet were stuck to the deck now too. I struggled to melt the ice, but it wouldn't listen to me.
Apollo's lips were turning blue, and he was shaking violently. "Daddy?" Freya asked softly. The ice was spreading up our bodies. It had completely covered Jason. Freya quickly jumped out of my arms and started running to Apollo, who was completely frozen over too. The ice stopped at my waist.
Leo grabbed the Archimedes sphere from the control console and started pressing buttons frantically. A funnel cloud of sleet appeared and lifted him and Freya off the deck. "NO!" I shouted. I struggled harder, but it was no use.
"Mommy!" Freya screamed. She started wiggling. Leo grabbed on to her to keep her with him and prevent her from floating away. He kicked his legs, trying to get them back down to the ship.
"Let them go!" Piper shouted. Piper was running towards them.
"I'll let them go permanently," Khione smirked as she appeared in thin air. Leo and Freya disappeared.
"NO!" I screamed again as tears began pouring down my cheeks. They froze on my face. Khione floated down to the deck to my frozen boyfriend. She ran a finger down his icy cheek.
"So weak, Apollo," Khione said. She scratched at his face with her sharp fingernail, breaking off a piece of the ice. "How did you ever become an Olympian?" Khione turned to Piper and me. "It's time for an icy reunion."
"Sounds like fun," a man laughed as he appeared in the air along with another man. "Hello, Christina Jackson. I don't believe we've met yet. I'm Zethes. This is my brother Calius. You can call him Cal. Feel free to call me whatever you'd like." The scrawny man winked at me, running his fingers through his greasy hair.
"Okay, pansy," I said. Zethes glared at me. I glared back. "Give me my daughter back, pansy."
"No can do, Jackson," Khione said. "You won't be seeing her ever again."
"What did you do to her?" I growled. Khione just smirked and ignored me.
"My father has put me in charge," Khione said. "I've decided to kill you."
I flicked my wrist and my wand dropped into it. "This is for my daughter, Khione," I snarled. I pointed my wand at her and shouted, "Incendio!" A burst of white flame shot out of my wand towards Khione. Her eyes widened and she disappeared. Calius and Zethes followed after their sister. The ice began melting. Jason and I were almost instantly freed, but Apollo was taking much longer.
Sirius, Cassie, Remus, Tonks, and Coach Hedge ran up on deck. "What happened?" Sirius demanded. "Where's Freya?"
I started sobbing and collapsed in front of Apollo. He was unfrozen down to his waist at that point. He reached down to hold my shoulder as he continued defrosting. "Sparkles?" he asked softly, his teeth still chattering.
"Khione took Freya and Leo," Piper said solemnly. She knelt down next to me and hugged me. I gladly accepted the comfort as Apollo was still half frozen.
"What do we do now?" Tonks asked as she grabbed Remus' hand.
"We keep going to Epirus," Jason said. "There's no use looking for them. They could be anywhere."
"That's my daughter your talking about, Grace," Apollo growled.
"He's right, Apollo," I sighed, wiping my eyes. "Khione c-could have sent them a-anywhere. There's n-not enough t-time to find them and k-kill Gaia." Apollo sighed in defeat. He wiggled his feet as they finally unfroze.
"Let's get you all below deck," Cassie sighed. "Remus, Sirius, Gleeson, steer the ship please." Sirius nodded and sat at the controls. Remus stood behind him. They both had a little frost in their hair. Cassie and Tonks helped Jason, Piper, Apollo, and me down the stairs below deck.
Percy's POV
Bob led us to a sobbing ghoul called Akhlys. She creeped me out. She was covered in warts. She looked like a giant wart! Apparently, she was the goddess of misery. It wasn't hard to believe.
"Akhlys controls the Death Mist," Bob explained. "You are going to need it if you want to survive. Akhlys, they need the Death Mist so they can reach the Doors of Death."
"They'll be killed by the army of Tartarus," Akhlys argued.
"Not if you hide us," Lavender said. She was leaning against her drakon bone sword. "But then again, some minor goddess like you wouldn't be able to handle it."
"Please girl," Akhlys sneered. "I was old before the titans were born. I was old before Gaea first woke. I am no minor goddess."
"Then hide us," Lav said simply. She smirked at Akhlys. "You can't hide us. You're too weak to do it."
Akhlys growled and snapped her fingers. I waited for us to spontaneously combust. It didn't happen. I looked at Lavender. She looked dead. Her skin was wrinkled and decaying. Her hair was white and thin. This is the only time I have ever seen my girlfriend not look good.
"Percy..." Lavender whispered. "You look...dead."
"So do you," I said. Lavender looked down at her hands and shivered.
I turned around to see Bob had disappeared. Akhlys saw my look. "Your friend must go another way, demigod. Now go. Journey into the depths of Tartarus. I grabbed Lav's hand, and we started walking. Before we could get far, Akhlys charged us. I tried to move, but it was hard.
"Try to fight me, demigods." She charged and clawed at Lavender. Lav gasped and fell back. Anger welled up inside of me.
"Hey, Happy!" I yelled. Akhlys gasped and clutched her chest. She had started dissolving. "Pleasant! Delightful!"
"Joyful!" Lavender shouted, catching on. "Jovial! Exciting! Fun! Cuddly!"
"Warm!" I continued. "Fuzzy! Huggable!"
"You will die!" Akhlys shrieked. She snapped her fingers, and a thousand colorful flowers surrounded us. Their fumes made me light-headed, and I stumbled slightly.
"Percy!" Lav yelled. "Um...Wonderful! Cheerful! Grins!" The goddess ignored Lav and focused on me. She started walking towards me. Poisonous ichor was flowing all around me. My backpack fell and dissolved instantly. I gulped and stepped closer to the center of the small circle the poison had created around me. It flowed in little streams and lakes around me. Water!
I slowly raised my arm, the poison clouding my brain. I sent the poison to Akhlys. Akhlys started sobbing. I imagined her tears flooding her throat and nose. She screeched as the poison touched her, and she dissolved. "Percy?" Lavender called. I turned around. She sounded terrified even though all the poison had vanished with Akhlys. I rushed to her and pulled her into my arms. "How did you do that?"
"I have no idea," I said. "Did it scare you?"
"A-A little bit. But I know you only did it because you had to. You would only do something like that if there was no other way."
I smiled at Lav. "Let's get out of here, Lav." Lav nodded and grabbed my hand. We turned around to see a huge person made out of the darkness. "Who are you?" I asked.
"I am Night," the person smirked.
Leo's POV
I held on tightly to Freya as we flew through the air. Over the months I'd known the girl, I'd gotten pretty close to her. I didn't want her getting hurt. I didn't want her parents to kill me if they found out she got hurt, either. The clouds parted around Freya and I as we went sailing towards the ground. All I could think about was how much this was going to hurt.
"Freya!" I shouted over the whistling in my ear. "Grab some duct tape out of my belt!" Freya did as told and handed me the duct tape. I quickly strapped the Archimedes Sphere to my chest and began fiddling with it. I strapped Freya to my chest too so I would have both hands free. She wrapped her arms around me for extra support. I quickly began working, forming a makeshift hang glider. It slowed our fall enough so we weren't killed on impact.
"Uncle Leo!" Freya screeched as we hit the ground hard. I just managed to twist my body so she landed on top of me. We were in the middle of a ten-foot crater. Freya was crying and clinging to me. The duct tape the had connected us was gone. So was my sphere. My poor baby!
"It's okay, Freya," I reassured her. "We're both going to be fine." I helped her stand and looked around for my baby. I found the sphere in the middle of the smoking wreckage of my hang glider and ran to grab it. I helped Freya out of the ditch. I looked around to see a smoking pile of what used to be a table and a tea set. Uh oh.
"What are you doing?" a girl shrieked. She was coming straight towards Freya and me. I put the blond six-year old behind me and tried to block her from view. "You blew up my dining table!" the girl shouted at me.
The girl was wearing a Greek chiton. She was goddess-level pretty. Her hair was long, straight, and golden brown. She looked like one of those girls who always made fun of me and thought they were so superior. She was beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as Parvati. Parvati was stunning. I hated this girl instantly.
"I am sooo sorry," I said sarcastically. "I just kind of fell out of the sky with a six-year old, you know. We barely survived, and keep in mind said six-year old has a very protective Olympian as a daddy. But yes, let us talk about your dining table!" I picked up a half-melted goblet. "Who eats lunch on the sand anyways where innocent demigods can crash? I mean really, lady!"
"I hate you!" the girl screamed at the sky. "You just had to make my curse even worse, Hephaestus!"
I frowned. There was no need to talk bad about my dad. "Khione is the one who sent us here, so yell at her."
The girl scowled at me. "Come so I can get you off my island." I grabbed Freya's hand and followed the crazy lady. The girl walked over to a spot on the beach. She turned to Freya and me. "Tell me you want to leave!" she commanded.
"What?" I asked. My brain was still a little muddled from the crash.
"I want to leave!" Freya said loudly. "I don't like you. Mommy is much nicer. She doesn't yell at Uncle Leo when he makes a mistake. He didn't mean to blow up your dining table, so you shouldn't yell at him. Willie says yelling isn't nice!"
"Yeah," I said. I can't believe a six-year old just told this lady off. Freya was the best kid ever.
The lady rolled her eyes. "Where is that raft?" she muttered. I was seriously confused. "Where is it?" she grumbled. "Argh!" she shouted and ran off.
I looked at Freya and shrugged. "Shall we follow her? Freya nodded eagerly. She jumped on my back, and I took off after the girl. We followed the girl up to a beautiful garden. The girl was digging in the dirt with a spade.
"First Percy, now him?" the girl was crying. "Really, Zeus?"
"Wait, Percy Jackson?" I asked. The girl turned to glare at me, but nodded. "You're Calypso," I said, remembering the story Lavender told Piper, Jason, and me about how percy was sent here and Calypso fell in love with him.
"Yes, and now the gods insult me by sending you." Calypso glared harder at me. "I could never fall for someone like you. That means you'll be stuck here."
"Uncle Leo loves Aunt Vati," Freya snapped. Wow, she really doesn't like Calypso. The only person I've seen her snap at is Drew. "Why would he love someone like you." Calypso gasped and looked like she had just been slapped.
"Apologize, Freya," I sighed. "That wasn't nice."
"Sorry," Freya grumbled.
"Go away," Calypso growled.
The first few days were the worst. Freya and I slept cuddled together on a bed of drop cloths. That girl was seriously adorable when she was asleep. Calypso was no help either. When I asked her how long it had been for my friends. All she said was that time is different here. For all I knew, a millennium could have flown by in the real world! At least Calypso sent us food. She even sent us clothes. They fit perfectly. Freya got cotton dresses, and I got cotton pants and shirts.
I built myself a driftwood work table and bench and started fixing the Archimedes Sphere. One day, I found a large piece of Celestial Bronze. The days passed quickly after that. I built myself a forge out of mud bricks that i baked with my hands. Freya was a huge help. She always loved helping me in Bunker Nine too. She was the only other person I let in there most days. Piper often sent her in with food for me.
"What are you doing?" Calypso asked me one day, scowling.
"Trying to get off this island," I snapped. I accepted the nail Freya handed me.
Calypso sighed. "Valdez, you haven't eaten in two days. Freya has, but you haven't." I looked up shocked. It had really been that long? She actually cared? Calypso tossed me an apple. "Take a break and eat." She turned around and left.
"Thanks," I muttered to her back gratefully. For once, I wasn't being sarcastic.
Calypso came back a few days later with new clothes. "You both keep burning through the clothes I give you," she sighed. "These are fireproof." There was a new dress for Freya, and a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and my old army jacket, resized to fit me.
"How?" I asked.
"I do have a little magic," Calypso smirked.
"Thank you, Calypso," Freya smiled. She has started to actually like Calypso and be nice to her. They had even gardened together a little.
"Thanks," I said, grinned at Calypso. I wondered if this was what having a family would be like. Me working with my daughter and my wife doing nice things for us. It made me miss Vati even more. It had been so long since I'd seen her. I wondered if we would ever get the chance to have a family. I wondered if I would ever get the chance to see her again.
"Your welcome," Calypso said before turning and leaving.
"Is the mirror done, Uncle Leo?" Freya asked me.
"Should be, kiddo," I grinned crazily. "Let's try it out." I plugged two wires into the Archimedes Sphere that were attached to the mirror we had been building. It sparked and...caught fire. I quickly snuffed out the fire that had started on my shirt sleeve. It was badly singed. Calypso was right. I did keep burning the clothes she made Freya and me.
Freya started giggling. "Not a word to anyone when we get back, kid, or else," I said mock seriously. Freya kept giggling, but nodded her head slightly.
"Maybe if you plugged the wires in the other way," Freya giggled. I raised an eyebrow at her and switched the wires. The mirror started to work. I gaped at the child, open-mouthed. Freya shrugged. "That's what Uncle Percy did when the TV stopped working. It got fixed."
"That guy is a genius," I grinned. The mirror showed us a scene in the middle of Camp Half-Blood. Clarisse was yelling orders at the campers, forming them into lines. Nyssa and everyone else was running around putting armor on people and giving them weapons. Even Chiron was dressed for war.
"What's happening?" Freya asked softly. I sought out Vati in the crowd. She was standing between Lacy and Mitchell.
"Watch," I whispered hoarsely. I was praying to every god I knew that Vati would be okay. I needed her in my life. The scene changed to show the Romans. Octavian was leading them. They were outside the Goldsmith Winery. That wasn't far from Camp. Suddenly, the Romans scattered. Two little fur balls were running through them.
"It's the dwarves!" Freya said excitedly. "They're helping!" The scene shifted again to show Reyna flying across the ocean. Her face and arms were bleeding, but she kept flying. "Who's that?"
"That's Reyna," I grinned. "She's going to the ship to help the others."
"I like her," Freya said. "She's really brave."
"Yeah, she is," I agreed.
Calypso reappeared behind me. "Your friends are in trouble, Leo Valdez. I will help you."
I turned to grin at her. "We got some work to do, then, Calypso."
"Let's go!" Freya shouted excitedly. "I want to see Mommy and Daddy!" She grabbed her tiny screwdriver I had summoned her about a week ago.
We worked hard for the next few weeks. Calypso and I had formed a fast friendship. Freya was calling her Auntie Cay. I cared for Calypso the way I would care for a sister, and she returned the sentiments, only she thought of me as a brother instead of a sister. I am all man. Together, we built a raft. Freya helped as much as she could. She would hammer in a bunch of nails for us.
I was sad when it was time to go. I would miss Calypso, but I needed to get back to the others, to Parvati. Calypso gave me a hug before Freya and I left. "I'll miss you little brother," she said softly. "I'll miss you too, Freya."
"Bye bye, Auntie Cay!" Freya cried, clinging to Calypso.
"I'll come back for you, Calypso," I promised. "I'll introduce you to Parvati. I swear it on the River Styx." Thunder rumbled in the distance even though the day was cloudless. The raft set sail before my new sister could reply.