Plexure (leo Valdez x male reader)

32) Piper's dad

THE PLAN WENT WRONG ALMOST immediately. Piper scrambled along the ridge, trying to keep her head down, while Leo, Jason, Hedge and I walked straight into the clearing.
Jason summoned his golden lance. He brandished it over his head and yelled, "Giant!" Which sounded pretty good, and a lot more confident than I could've managed. I was thinking more along the lines of, "We are pathetic ants! Don't kill us!"
I ripped my necklace. My sword appeared in my hand, I swung it around my hand getting ready.
Enceladus stopped chanting at the flames. He turned toward us and grinned, revealing fangs like a saber-toothed tiger's.
"Well," the giant rumbled. "What a nice surprise."
I didn't like the sound of that. His hand closed on his windup gadget. He stepped sideways, edging his way toward the bulldozer.
Coach Hedge shouted, "Let the movie star go, you big ugly cupcake! Or I'm gonna plant my hoof right up your—"
"Coach," Jason said. "Shut up."
I snort shaking my head.
Enceladus roared with laughter. "I've forgotten how funny satyrs are. When we rule the world, I think I'll keep your kind around. You can entertain me while I eat all the other mortals."
"Is that a compliment?" Hedge frowned at Leo. "I don't think that was a compliment."
Enceladus opened his mouth wide, and his teeth began to glow.
       "Scatter!" Leo yelled.
Jason, Hedge and I dove to the left as the giant blew fire—a furnace blast so hot even Festus would've been jealous.
Jason and I looked at each other. A plan getting made just by a look. Then Jason rose and charge the giant. Coach Hedge ripped off his canary yellow jacket, which was now on fire, and bleated angrily. "I liked that outfit!" Then he raised his club and charged, too.
I was about to get up and continue the plan, but before we could get very far, Enceladus slammed his spear against the ground. The entire mountain shook.
The shockwave sent me sprawling. I blinked, momentarily stunned. Through a haze of grassfire and bitter smoke, I saw Jason staggering to his feet on the other side of the clearing. Coach Hedge was knocked out cold. He'd fallen forward and hit his head on a log. His furry hindquarters were sticking straight up, with his canary yellow pants around his knees—a view I really didn't need.
The giant bellowed, "I see you, Piper McLean!" He turned and blew fire at a line of bushes to Leo's right. Piper ran into the clearing like a flushed quail, the underbrush burning behind her.
Enceladus laughed. "I'm happy you've arrived. And you brought me my prizes!"
My gut twisted. This was the moment Piper had warned us about. We played right into Enceladus's hands.
The giant must've read Leo's expression, because he laughed even louder. "That's right, son of Hephaestus. I didn't expect you all to stay alive this long, but it doesn't matter. By bringing you here, Piper McLean has sealed the deal. If she betrays you, I'm as good as my word. She can take her father and go. What do I care about a movie star?"
I could see Piper's dad more clearly now. He wore a ragged dress shirt and torn slacks. His bare feet were caked with mud. He wasn't completely unconscious, because he lifted his head and groaned. But he had a nasty cut down the side of his face, and he looked thin and sickly—not heroic at all.
"Dad!" Piper yelled.
Mr. McLean blinked, trying to focus. "Pipes ... ? Where ..."
Piper drew her dagger and faced Enceladus. "Let him go!"
"Of course, dear," the giant rumbled. "Swear your loyalty to me, and we have no problem. Only these others must die."
Piper looked back and forth between Leo and her dad. "He'll kill you," Leo warned. "Don't trust him!"
"Oh, come now," Enceladus bellowed. "You know I was born to fight Athena herself? Mother Gaea made each of us giants with a specific purpose, designed to fight and destroy a particular god. I was Athena's nemesis, the anti-Athena, you might say. Compared to some of my brethren—I am small! But I am clever. And I keep my bargain with you, Piper McLean. It's part of my plan!"
Jason was on his feet now, lance ready; but before he could act, Enceladus roared—a call so loud it echoed down the valley and was probably heard all the way to San Francisco.
At the edge the woods, half a dozen ogre-like creatures rose up. I realized with nauseating certainty that they hadn't simply been hiding there. They'd risen straight out of the earth.
The ogres shuffled forward. They were small compared to Enceladus, about seven feet tall. Each one of them had six arms—one pair in the regular spot, then an extra pair sprouting out the top of their shoulders, and another set shooting from the sides of their rib cages. They wore only ragged leather loincloths, and even across the clearing, I could smell them. Six guys who never bathed, with six armpits each. I decided if I survived this day, I have to take a three-hour shower just to forget the stench.
Leo stepped toward Piper. "What—what are those?"
Her blade reflected the purple light of the bonfire. "Gegenees."
"In English?" Leo asked.
"The Earthborn," she said. "Six-armed giants who fought Jason—the first Jason."
"Very good, my dear!" Enceladus sounded delighted. "They used to live on a miserable place in Greece called Bear Mountain. Mount Diablo is much nicer! They are lesser children of Mother Earth, but they serve their purpose. They're good with construction equipment—"
"Vroom, vroom!" one of the Earthborn bellowed, and the others took up the chant, each moving his six hands as though driving a car, as if it were some kind of weird religious ritual. "Vroom, vroom!"
"Yes, thank you, boys," Encedalus said. "They also have a score to settle with heroes. Especially anyone named Jason."
"Yay-son!" the Earthborn screamed. They all picked up clumps of earth, which solidified in their hands, turning to nasty pointed stones. "Where Yay-son? Kill Yay-son!"
Enceladus smiled. "You see, Piper, you have a choice. Save your father, or ah, try to save your friends and face certain death."
Piper stepped forward. Her eyes blazed with such rage, even the Earthborn backed away. She radiated power and beauty, but it had nothing to do with her clothes or her makeup.
"You will not take the people I love," she said. "None of them."
Her words rippled across the clearing with such force, the Earthborn muttered, "Okay. Okay, sorry," and began to retreat.
"Stand your ground, fools!" Enceladus bellowed. He snarled at Piper. "This is why we wanted you alive, my dear. You could have been so useful to us. But as you wish. Earth- born! I will show you Jason."
My heart sank. But the giant didn't point to Jason. He pointed to the other side of the bonfire, where Tristan McLean hung helpless and half conscious.
"There is Jason," Enceladus said with pleasure. "Tear him apart!"
All three of us looked at each other and a plan was made.
Jason and I charged Enceladus, while Piper rushed to her father, and Leo dashed for the tree harvester, which stood between Mr. McLean and the Earthborn.
On the other side of the clearing, Jason and I fought the giant, somehow managing to dodge his massive spear and blasts of fire breath. Coach Hedge was still heroically passed out with his goat tail sticking up in the air.
Jason and I were still fighting the giant Enceladus—and it wasn't going well.