Welcome to the Hunt.

Chapter 41

Percy POV
Athens was dark. The sky's color was a dark orange, and chills shuddered down my spine. I looked at Artemis and she looked into my eyes.
Her grey eyes were sharp. I nodded and we sprinted towards the Giants.
When we approached, the tension in the air seemed to rise.
Butterfly's in my chest fluttered like a caged bird, eager to escape.
Porphyrion roared over the abyss and Artemis smiled. "The final fight." I told her.
"OLYMLIANS! YOU ARE BRAVE. YOU WILL DIE A WONDERFUL DEATH." He screamed and I ran into the courtyard.
"Cousin. I knew that you weren't here to stay. Gaea told me the way to killing you." He smiled. He unsheathed his scythe and I grinned.
I summoned my trident and it steamed in the cold air.
"Let's go." I glared and Artemis was already fighting giants.
Porphyrion screamed and charged me. He slashed his scythe and I blocked it with my trident and jumped over him. I slashed his back and he screamed. He smiled at me and we fought. Trident and scythe met in the middle and we slashed at eachother.
For a few minutes, it was going well. I met his strikes equally and he hadn't even touched me.
Then I felt something in my back.
"Perseus, stand down!" The giants yelled.
A golden spear stuck out my back and I screamed. I turned around and threw my trident. It hit one giant and pinned him against the wall. He struggled before believe it or not, Jason Grace stabbed his leg. He faded away into the air.
Porphyrion laughed. I grabbed my trident and the two of us were back to fighting.
I spotted Reyna slashing alongside Artemis. Everything looked like it was going great, and then Porphyrion slashed my leg. I screamed and he laughed.
Blood and sweat drenched my body, and I screamed out. My whole body stung, and although we were defeating the giants, if I couldn't defeat Porphyrion then we stood no chance.
He grabbed me and slammed me into the ground multiple times. Blood dropped onto the floor, and it sizzled.
"The girls blood, and mother is awake." He smiled and punched me.
My eyes were dotted with black dots and I screamed. I was dying.
I suddenly felt something. The water in the sky started to fall, and new strength jolted through me.
I punched him in the face and slammed him to the floor, bashing his face far into the ground. Blood seeped from my fists but the rain made me stronger. I punched his face over and over and me smiled at me. He threw me aside and got up. I got to my feet and he ran towards me. I summoned the earth to grab his foot and he tippped over, falling into the damp ground.
The earth slowly devoured him, and he screamed in fear.
I punched his face and he flew into the earth. The earth shook for a few seconds before stopping.
A sigh of relief flew past me and I smiled.
Artemis walked up to me and I wrapped my arms around her. She smiled and I kissed her softly. Our bloodied and tattered bodies proved the work we had accomplished. Artemis smiled and I brushed her hair aside.
A single drop of blood flew from her hair, and my mind froze.
The blood sizzled and I looked in horror as the earth seemed to move beneath us.
"Gaea." I muttered.
When I said her name, she bursted out of the ground, sending Reyna flying.
Jason caught her and looked at me.
"Get the group and run! Stay in the air and RUN!" I shouted and Gaea laughed.
"What a mistake of a child. How do you have so many powers, and your cuter than your father." She smiled and I looked at her.
"Uh, that's known as incest." Artemis laughed.
"You." She spat. "Corrupting this boy. Breaking his heart. Oh I've been watching." Gaea smiled.
Then a hand launched out of the earth and swatted Artemis away. She flew into the sky, and I don't know where she landed.
"Just me and you now, son." She smiled.
"Let's dance. And by dance I mean fight. And by fight I mean kill eachother." I shouted and ran at her. I slashed at her and she crumpled into dirt.
She appeared behind me and smashed my head with a rock.
"I'm the earth. You can't kill me." She smiled.
The earth beneath my feet began to move. She smiled and it grabbed my feet. I started sinking.
"Now you have a choice. You can die here, or you can join me and we can rule the world." She smiled and I struggled to get out. I sank deeper and deeper each time.
"Fine. I'll make it for you." She hit me over the head with a rock and I blacked out.
In my dreams I saw Artemis, chained up, being tortured by Gaea. The gods dead, their heads at her feet.
Camp Half-Blood was destroyed.
My eyes shot open and I launched out of the earth.
"He has awaken!" Someone shouted.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Lord Perseus, Gaea has chained up the gods. Captured most. Ones like Zeus and Poseidon have gone into hiding. She controls the demigod camps. My name is Jackie, and we have been waiting for you to awake. It has been months since she rose." The curly headed girl spoke.
"Thought you'd be back soon." Leo Valdez smiled sheepishly.
"We are the last hope. For the gods. For the world." Reyna walked out of the shadows.
"And you need to lead us. You need to save Olympus." Calypso pointed at me.
I nodded, understanding what was happening.
"Let's go fight my mom." I glared.