𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚊 (𝙇𝙚𝙤 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙯 𝙓 𝙊𝙘)

δεκαέξι

***

Jason made a heroic little whimpering sound Elena could hear. He was very sure no demigod could solo this guy. Porphyrion could lift mountains. He could crush Jason with one finger. Elena patted his back supportively as if to say, we're all gonna die together at least.

"Leo," Jason said.

"Huh?" Leo's mouth was wide open. Even Piper seemed dazed.

"You guys keep working," Jason said. 

"Get Hera free!"

"What are you going to do?" Piper asked. "You can't seriously—"

"Entertain a giant?" Jason said. "I've got no choice."

"I'll help as well." Elena said looking braver than Jason felt.

"Excellent!" the giant roared as Jason approached.

 "An appetiser! Who are you—Hermes? Ares? And the lady you are? Athena perhaps or Artemis?"Jason thought about going with that idea, but something told him not to.

"I'm Jason Grace," he said. "Son of Jupiter."

"Elena Jackson, daughter of-," Elena, her introduction was interrupted.

Porphyrion threw back his head and laughed. "Outstanding!" He looked up at the cloudy night sky. "So, Zeus, you sacrifice a son to me? The gesture is appreciated, but it will not save you. But you... daughter of a minor god, what good are you to me?"

"Rude."Those white eyes bored into him, ignoring Elena's presence. Behind him, Leo's circular saw whirred, and Piper talked to the cage in soothing tones, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. Elena shook her head saying nothing and her lips formed a soundless word. The Eldest Prophecy. What could that mean? Jason didn't have time to ask, he needed a god. The sky didn't even rumble. No help from above. Jason was on his own. He dropped his makeshift club. His hands were covered in splinters, but that didn't matter now. He had to buy Leo and Piper some time, and he couldn't do that without a proper weapon.It was time to act a whole lot more confident than he felt.

"If you knew who I was," Jason yelled up at the giant, "you'd be worried about me, not my father. I hope you enjoyed your two and a half minutes of rebirth, giant, because I'm going to send you right back to Tartarus."The giant's eyes narrowed. He planted one foot outside the pool and crouched to get a better look at his opponent. 

"So ... we'll start by boasting, will we? Just like old times! Very well, demigod. I am Porphryion, king of the giants, son of Gaea. In olden times, I rose from Tartarus, the abyss of my father, to challenge the gods. To start the war, I stole Zeus's queen." He grinned at the goddess's cage. "Hello, Hera."

"My husband destroyed you once, monster!" Hera said. "He'll do it again!""But he didn't, my dear! Zeus wasn't powerful enough to kill me. He had to rely on a puny demigod to help, and even then, we almost won. This time, we will complete what we started. Gaea is waking. She has provisioned us with many fine servants. Our armies will shake the earth—and we will destroy you at the roots."

"You wouldn't dare," Hera said, but she was weakening. Jason could hear it in her voice. Piper kept whispering to the cage, and Leo kept sawing, but the earth was still rising inside Hera's prison, covering her up to her waist.

"Oh, yes," the giant said. "The Titans sought to attack your new home in New York. Bold, but ineffective. Gaea is wiser and more patient. And we, her greatest children, are much, much stronger than Kronos. We know how to kill you Olympians once and for all. You must be dug up completely like rotten trees—your eldest roots torn out and burned."The giant frowned at Piper and Leo, as if he'd just noticed them working at the cage. Jason stepped forward and yelled to get back Porphyrion's attention.