Wildfire (Leo Valdez x OC) (1)

I get knocked out more than Percy gets hit on

"On it." Leo said. "Piper, I need your help. Talk to the cage."

"What?" Piper glanced at Leo as if he'd gone mad.

"I think he means use your charmspeak." I muttered, staring at the earthen tendrils. "Try and force Gaia to loosen her hold."

"Right." Piper cleared her throat. "Hey, Gaia. Nice night, huh? Boy, I'm tired. How about you? Ready for some sleep?"

The more she talked the more I could feel my eyelids drooping, I had to force myself not to focus on her words.

I nudged Jason and Leo who seemed to be falling asleep on the spot.

Piper continued speaking softly, muttering words of comfort to the cage. It seemed to be working as the mud inside the cage was rising slower and the tendrils began to soften and lessen their grip.

Leo pulled a circular saw from his tool belt, how it fitted in there, I would never know, then Leo looked at the cord and huffed. "I don't have anywhere to plug it in."

The storm spirit that had been following Jason leapt into the pit and snorted. I can power it.

"Really?" Jason asked.

I frowned. "You can understand her?"

"It's a her?" Jason furrowed his brows.

Watch who you're calling it, windy.

I snorted. "I like her." Jason looked offended.

The horse dipped her head and trotted over to Leo. Leo looked dubious but he held up the plug and a breeze whisked it into the horse's side. Lightning sparked, connecting with the prongs of the plug and the circular saw whirred to life.

"Sweet!" Leo grinned. "Your horse comes with AC outlets!"

I glanced to the storm spirit and let out a sound between a snort and a huff. Doesn't it hurt?

The storm spirit shook her mane. It feels like being tickled, although I get tired after.

Jason and Leo were looking at me perplexed and I caught Piper shooting me an odd glance before continuing to speak to the cage.

"What?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You speak horse." Jason frowned.

I blinked. "I thought we already established I can talk to animals. We talked about it like..." I frowned. "Was it yesterday? Gods, I don't know time anymore, how-"

"We knew you could understand them, you never told us you could speak in... in animal?" Leo interrupted.

I squinted at them. "I would argue but I genuinely don't remember how this conversation started let alone what I've told you in the past."

Jason opened his mouth to reply but I held up a hand. "You can't get distracted. It's my one weakness, other than dying." I pointed to Leo. "Use the dam saw before it gives me a headache."

Leo blinked and turned back to the cage, beginning to slowly cut through the tendrils.

Suddenly, on the other side of the pool, the giant's spire crumbled with a sound like a tree snapping in half. It's outer shell tendrils exploded from the top down, raining stone and wood shards as the giant shook himself free and climbed out of the earth.

I'd seen plenty of terrifying things in my time as a demigod. I'd battled frost giants, empousa, titans even enraged spirits when helping Nico with a quest from his father. I'd thought that Enceladus was the scariest the giants would get.

I was wrong.

Porphyrion was even taller and even more ripped. He didn't radiate heat or show any signs of breathing fire but there was something more terrible about him – a kind of strength, even magnetism, as if the giant had his own gravitational field.