Arsonist's Lullabye ──── Leo Valdez

𝟒𝟐: 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐚'𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞

─────𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭-𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥 with nothing more than a bronze sword and a blond friend without a weapon was so ridiculous, even the giant seemed surprised.

Vincent didn't waste the element of surprise. 

He had scaled the lava wall in Camp enough times to know exactly what footholds would hold his weight, how he could climb a 90 degree slope, how he could haul himself up. 

Everytime his foot hit the earth, it seemed to echo in his mind. Something like pure fear radiated out of him. For a moment, even Jason faltered. He fell back to the earth, no longer floating. Vincent didn't pay him much mind. 

He poured all his fear and anger into the air around him. 

It was like a fog of emotion following him and even Porphyrion didn't seem to be above human emotions like fear. He trembled slightly and Vincent leapt ten feet into the air, which should have been humanely impossible. 

It was almost as if the giant's fear was fueling him, giving him extra strength. 

Vincent was halfway up the giant's knee, climbing up his arm before Porphyrion even realized what had happened. Once he got the hang of it, climbing a giant was ridiculously easy. 

"You dare?" the giant bellowed.

Vincent reached his shoulder and looked down at his friends. Jason was too stunned to move, Leo and Piper still working on the cage. He channeled all his anger, all his panic. 

He wanted to stay alive, he didn't want to lose Leo again, he wanted to enjoy time with his new friends. There was so much he wanted to do and this stupid, pathetic excuse of a Spider-Man villain was standing between him and those goals. 

He drove his sword into the nearest convenient target—the giant's massive ear.

Lightning streaked out of the sky and blasted the sword, throwing Vincent free, no doubt Jason aiding him the best he could. Thankfully, the lightning didn't do much harm to Vincent. He rolled when he hit the ground. When he looked up, the giant was staggering. His hair was on fire, and the side of his face was blackened from lightning. The sword had splintered in his ear. Golden ichor ran down his jaw. The other weapons were sparking and smoldering in his braids.

Porphyrion almost fell. The circle of monsters let out a collective growl and moved forward—wolves and ogres fixing their eyes on Vincent.

"No!" Porphyrion yelled. He regained his balance and glared at the demigod. "I will kill him myself."

The giant raised his spear and it began to glow. "You want to play with my fear? I will show you what true fear is."

Something in Porphyrion's voice told Vincent he wasn't bluffing.

Vincent and his friends had had a good run. The four of them had done amazing things. Yeah, even heroic things. But as the giant raised his spear, Vincent knew there was no way he could deflect this strike.

This was the end.

"Got it!" Leo yelled.

"Sleep!" Piper screamed, so forcefully, the nearest wolves fell to the ground and began snoring. Her voice was raw with emotion and Vincent could almost hear every vibration of her vocal cords. 

He knew Charmspeak was powerful, but he'd never seen Piper attempt something like this.

The stone and wood cage crumbled. Leo had sawed through the base of the thickest tendril and apparently cut off the cage's connection to Gaea. The tendrils turned to dust. The mud around Hera disintegrated. The goddess grew in size, glowing with power.