After All This Time...

Chapter 6

They attacked Clytius from every direction—Leo shooting fire at his legs, Frank and Piper jabbing at his chest, Jason flying into the air and kicking him in the face. Hazel was proud to see how well Piper remembered her sword-fighting lessons.

Each time the giant's smoky veil started creeping around one of them, Nico was there, slashing through it, drinking in the darkness with his Stygian blade.

Annabeth wanted to help, but as she stumbled forward she realized that she'd be a liability to her friends. The best strategy was to hang back. Besides, they didn't exactly need her help. The giant was surrounded. So she let herself lean against the cavern wall, while her friends did all the work.

Clytius snarled, turning back and forth as if he couldn't decide which of them to kill first. "Wait! Hold still! No! Ouch!"

The darkness around him dispelled completely, leaving nothing to protect him except his battered armor. Ichor oozed from a dozen wounds. The damage healed almost as fast as it was inflicted, but Annabeth could tell the giant was tiring.

One last time Jason flew at him, kicking him in the chest, and the giant's breastplate shattered. Clytius staggered backward. His sword dropped to the floor. He fell to his knees, and the demigods encircled him.

Only then did Hecate step forward, her torches raised. Mist curled around the giant, hissing and bubbling as it touched his skin.

"And so it ends," Hecate said.

"It does not end." Clytius's voice echoed from somewhere above, muffled and slurred. "My brethren have risen. Gaea waits only for the blood of Olympus. It took all of you together to defeat me. What will you do when the Earth Mother opens her eyes?"

Hecate turned her torches upside down. She thrust them like daggers at Clytius's head. The giant's hair went up faster than dry tinder, spreading down his head and across his body. Clytius fell without a sound, face-first in the rubble of Hades's altar. His body crumbled to ashes.

For a moment, no one spoke. Annabeth could see her friends standing in a daze, breathing heavily as they tried to catch their breath. She took this moment to slip Riptide back into her pocket and stagger over to them.

Hecate turned to face Hazel. "You should go now, Hazel Levesque. Lead your friends out of this place."

Annabeth could see Hazel gritting her teeth, trying to hold in her anger. "Just like that? No 'thank you'? No 'good work'?"

The goddess tilted her head. Gale the weasel chittered—maybe a good-bye, maybe a warning—and disappeared in the folds of her mistress's skirts.

"You look in the wrong place for gratitude," Hecate said. "As for 'good work,' that remains to be seen. Speed your way to Athens. Clytius was not wrong. The giants have risen—all of them, stronger than ever. Gaea is on the very edge of waking. The Feast of Hope will be poorly named unless you arrive to stop her."

The chamber rumbled. Another stela crashed to the floor and shattered.

"The House of Hades is unstable," Hecate said. "Leave now. We shall meet again."

The goddess dissolved. The Mist evaporated.

"She's friendly," Annabeth grumbled.

The others turned to face her, as if just realizing they were there.

"Annabeth!" Jason cheered in surprise.

"Back from Tartarus!" Leo whooped.

Piper threw her arms around Annabeth and cried.

Nico, standing a few feet away, met her eyes tentatively.

"I led them here," He said quietly, "Just like you told me too."