ATN 3: THE JAR IN THE MAZE

PACK UP OF THE GIGANTES

I had ridden the Pegasus, and other pegasi, but the griffin was something different. He was  faster than Peg, and was very screechy. Despite my heavy heart, I found a reason to smile.

I also found a reason to hope. I genuinely felt stronger, physically, mentally and magically. I was enjoying the ride, and preparing myself for battle.

It took us about fifteen minutes to reach Themiscyra, since Mom had done some kind of magic I had no idea about (She told me this later). And when I could see the battlefield, I put my helmet on, ready to fight.

As the griffin flew downwards, towards the battle, where my and Tina's recruitments had left, and my friends and the gods were still fighting, everyone stopped for a moment. The gods, the gigantes, and my friends. They had to look closer to take it in. I knew it was a lot to take in. Even I hadn't wrapped my head around it. But I knew what I had to do.

Still flying up high, just out of reach of Porphyrion, I made sense of the most confusing line in the Prophecy. I looked at the gigante king, and shouted, "Up, two kings fight a king. Here we are, Porphyrion. What now?"

Porphyrion picked up his scythe, and threw it at me. I flicked my fingers and removed it out of my way. Now weaponless, Porphyrion spread his hand to pick up his weapon. But I acted. I picked up a sword by telekinesis, and chopped off Porphyrion's arm.

The demigods and werewolves shouted, even more so than Ares, and the fight started again. With the other match ups still the same, I took my late friend Trent's place with Zeus against Porphyrion.

Believe me, it felt like an honor, despite knowing what Zeus was like. He was an excellent warrior. We fought Porphyrion from high up the sky. Zeus flew all by himself, while I rode my griffin.

Beside the two kings (yes, I am a king now), the rest fought viciously. Polybotes had been humiliated and dropped already, so Poseidon was busy consoling Rhian. Riya joined Lucy and Dionysus to take on Ephialtes, which didn't last long either. Dionysus snapped his fingers, and to the horror, Ephialtes got affected. He couldn't move, couldn't walk, and couldn't properly talk. Riya and Lucy jabbed their weapons down his eyes, as Dionysus suddenly grew twenty feet tall, and snapped his neck. Ephialtes turned to black smoke.

Athena and Enyo were not supposed to be good partners, because the two were not fond of each other. But Urwa was acting as a bridge between the two. Enyo slashed her sword viciously at Enceladus, who was not too bad either. It lasted long enough, and despite all their efforts, Enceladus was not backing down. Not until Urwa took her mother's viciousness out, and stabbed her spear under Enceladus's neck. Before the gigante could react, Athena and Urwa attacked. More slashing and stabbing followed. And as soon as the mother daughter combo brought Enceladus to his knees, Athena went twenty feet, and lifted up the only hill in Themiscyra. Enyo went twenty feet, lifted Enceladus and threw him under the hill, before Athena brought it down on him. Enceladus turned to smoke.

Ares and his daughters were constantly hitting Theodamus now. The gigante could rarely move. He couldn't pick up his axe properly, and Ares was on his neck. Tina had cut off nearly all his fingers, while Delilah was at his feet. Theodamus tried his best to shake the girls off, but he couldn't do it with the expert of battles on his neck. And just as it was about to happen, Tina used her special sword to bring the gigante on to his knees. Delilah stabbed him through the heart so viciously with her spear, that she nearly bathed herself in golden ichor. Finally, the finishing touch was given by Ares, who jabbed his spear through Theodamus's neck, and twisted it. Theodamus made some sounds that you make when your neck has been pierced by a spear blade, and turned to smoke.

Against Hades and my brothers, Alcyoneus lasted very little. Abhro's constant change of looks confused the big giant, and Dadai took full advantage of that. Hades rarely attacked, but whenever he did, he broke the giant's limbs. I had been away for over forty five minutes, and these guys couldn't take these overgrown idiots out. Now that I had returned as the true heir, they were bullying these idiots. The Prophecy was coming true. As soon as Dadai brought Alcyoneus down to his broken knees, Hades struck his pitchfork on the ground. Many chasms opened on the ground around the giant, and hundreds of skeletal hands came out, pulling him in. It took a while, as the skeletons pulled Alcyoneus's lifeless body down.

Thousands of arrows had been keeping Aristaius from attacking. Apollo's quiver of unlimited arrows were working a treat now. I was astounded. Just like Gordon Ramsay came to broken restaurants and changed its fate, I had returned to the war and changed its fate. Aristaius couldn't properly fire. And despite him killing one werewolf, Actaeon had bitten off chunks of flesh out of the gigante. Aristaius's back was full of arrows, golden ichor flowing out of everywhere. And clearly, he wasn't going to hold on for long. Hiya lifted her hand, and struck the gigante with waves. On top of that, Apollo pulled out a special arrow. "This to finish it off." He said. The arrow was silver made, and was too strong for anyone to take. I had no idea how special it was, but when it ran through the heart of Aristaius, he instantly turned to smoke.

Gration was taking on Artemis and the huntresses. And just like Aristaius, he was not going to stay for long. Five huntresses had formed a shield. Artemis was up, firing from a tree. One of the huntresses was fighting with hunting knives, slashing and stabbing at Gration's feet. Two of Artemis's arrows blinded Gration, who was pulled down to his knees, finally. Then, Artemis jumped at him. She put her hand on his face, and said something in ancient Greek, which sucked out all the life force out of him, ending Gration.

Gerard was doing well, with Persephone guiding him. She had made it clear that she was no fighter, and so, she covered up with guiding Gerard. Gerard's sword was working a treat, as with Persephone flying high, Gerard had left no place on Phoitos's face unstabbed. Meanwhile, Demeter was not letting Phoitos move, with the wild vines around tying him to one place. Hera was in a different mood altogether. She must have been in a good mood actually, given that a demigod son of Zeus had died. However, Hera was torturing an unmoving Phoitos. Smashing him with her stuff, kicks on faces, certain pain inducing magic, and many more. The whole environment had been filled with Phoitos's screams. He had lost his weapon, and was losing this battle. Then, finally, Persephone directed Gerard, who decapitated the gigante.

Hippolytus had done some serious damage. With Hermes escaping his attack with speed, and then coming at him and kicking him with double speed, the gigante went for those who helped him. And given that nearly fifteen people had been helping, I could see five Amazons fallen. And Hermes was pissed. He took out his caduceus, and ran his fingers around it. Suddenly, the staff started to fly with its wings. It's other end turned into a spear blade, and then, it started to tear Hippolytus apart, bit by bit. Everytime Hippolytus tried to avoid it, either Hermes would kick him in the groin, or the Amazons would stab his knees. When the caduceus stopped after a minute, all that was left was a huge pool of ichor. Everything else was gone.

The best way to kill a giant was to bring in a huge device on a truck, like Hephaestus did. He and Rahul activated it, and then turned it towards Mimas. "What monstrosity is this?" Mimas asked. "You'll see, monster." Rahul said. Then, he pressed a red button on it. And as you wouldn't believe it, the gigante dropped his hammer, and was absorbed, literally absorbed inside this device. He tried to break away, and get out, by punching on the walls. Rahul screamed, "Your turn, Father!" Behind the device, Hephaestus pulled a lever, and the device made a weird sound. After five seconds, there was nothing inside it. Rahul asked Hephaestus, "He dead?" Hephaestus gave him a smile, a rare one for the smith god, and said, "Reduced to atoms, my son."

My fight with Zeus against Porphyrion lasted the longest. Porphyrion, as it was said, was the eldest gigante. And so, he couldn't be killed and placed on land, because of Gaia's boon. My pain spell was not working. My earth shaking was not working either. None of my spells worked. And after nearly twenty minutes of magic and lightning bolts, we could only tire him out. I was getting anxious, with my mind also thinking about Jared. And when the anger and the anxiety  gave in, I jumped off the griffin, and my devastating scream came out. It was so intent, even Zeus, Poseidon and Hades shook a little. The demigods, now free and watching, sat down holding their ears. The werewolves howled. And Porphyrion? He lost his colour. His scythe's blade broke to pieces, and he started panting. Then, I unleashed my masterstroke. "My lord!" I called Zeus, "I am going to take the help from the elements." Zeus nodded. 

I jumped on my griffin, and spread my hands. Around me, water started to rise, and so did the earth. Waves came from the sea, the soil rose up, the air's force increased, lightning flashed in the sky, and fire ignited on my hands. Water, fire, earth and air, accumulated in one place. All that was needed was the help from the sky. Zeus took the hint, swallowed his pride for once, and for once, let me lead. He raised his bolt, and summoned lightning. As soon as the lightning touched the other elements, the power around increased the intensity of the air. I directed the elements at Porphyrion. Zeus grew up to twenty feet, and lifted Porphyrion on the sky. The elements hit the gigante king, and he turned to golden smoke.

The giants had been packed up. We had won half the war.