While Piper and I work to break into the cage, Theo seems to be frozen against the spire, in a sort of trance. What really scares me is that her eyes are glowing white, the way Enceladus's eyes did.
Meanwhile, stone is crumbling off the spire at an alarming rate. An arm frees itself. A chest. A head. But his legs remain trapped. Theo is shaking, but she is doing her best to slow him down. It's working, mostly, I think?
"Alive!" The giant bellows. "Praise to Gaea!"
"Leo." Jason's voice quavers. I realize my mouth is hanging open in alarm. "You guys keep working. Get Hera free!"
"What are you going to do?" Piper asks. "He's trapped, for now."
The giant tries to free himself from the stone, but Theo holds tight.
"Entertain a giant?" Jason offers. "I've got no choice. If Theo can't keep him under control, you guys are going to need more time."
I keep looking towards Theo. She is trembling with the effort. I don't think she even knows what's going on around her.
"Excellent!" The giant roars as Jason approaches. "An appetizer! Who are you? Hermes? Ares?"
"I'm Jason Grace, son of Jupiter."
I keep working on the spire. The circular saw struggles to cut through the root tendrils, but Piper's voice is making it a bit easier.
"Porphyrion laughs. "So, Zeus, you sacrifice a son to me? The gesture is appreciated, but it will not save you!"
"You're not free yet. You're trapped." Jason tells him.
The giant looks down, noticing Theo. "Ahh, for now, but not for much longer. No matter. My sister is struggling. She battles our mother at this very moment. Mother says she is not yet strong enough to defeat her. Besides, why should I worry about her when I have such a tasty snack right here in front of me?
"If you knew who I was," Jason yells. "you'd be worried about me, not my father. I hope you enjoyed your two minutes of rebirth, giant, because I'm going to send you right back to Tartarus!"
The giant narrows his eyes. He leans down the best he can to look at Jason. "So... we'll start by boasting, shall we? Just like old times! Very well, demigod. I am Porphyrion, 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 grins at the cage. "Hello, Hera."
"My husband destroyed you one, monster!" Hera yells. "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. Your champion will soon be one of them. Our armies will shake the earth, and we will destroy you at the roots."
"You wouldn't dare." Hera says, but her voice sounds weaker.
I saw harder at the roots.
"Oh, yes." The giant smiles. "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 frowns at Piper and I, as if just noticing us working on the cage.
"You said a demigod killed you." Jason steps forward, drawing attention back on himself. "How, if we're so puny?"
