Ch. 10

Aeolus turned his attention to Zoe, "Because you already have someone who knows the w…" He said before suddenly his face went slack. He bent over and tapped his earpiece as if it were malfunctioning. When he straightened again, his eyes were wild. Despite the makeup, he looked like an old man—an old, very frightened man. "She hasn't spoken to me for centuries. I can't—yes, yes I understand."

He swallowed, regarding Jason as if he had suddenly turned into a giant cockroach. "I am sorry son of Jupiter, new orders. You all have to die. There are some orders that transcend even the wishes of the gods, especially when it comes to the forces of nature."

"Whose orders?" Jason asked nervously. "My father will be angry for killing the quest to rescue his wife.

"I doubt it," Aeolus said as he flicked his wrist, and far below them, a cell door opened in the pit. They could hear storm spirits screaming out of it, spiraling up toward them, howling for blood.

"Even Zeus understands the order of things," Aeolus said. "And if she is waking—by all the gods—she cannot be denied. Good-bye, heroes. I am terribly sorry."

Jason summoned his sword. Coach Hedge pulled out his club and Mellie yelled, "No!"

She dived at their feet just as the storm spirits hit with hurricane force, blasting the floor to pieces, shredding the carpet samples and marble and linoleum into what should've been lethal projectiles had Mellie's robes not spread out like a shield and absorbed the brunt of the impact. The six of them fell into the pit, and Aeolus screamed above them, "Mellie, you are so fired!"

"Quick," Mellie yelled. "Son of Zeus, do you have any power over the air?"

"Um, a little!" Jason said nervously.

"Then help me, or you're all dead!" Mellie grabbed his hand, and an electric charge went through Jason's arm. He understood what she needed. They had to control their fall and head for one of the open tunnels. The storm spirits were following them down, closing rapidly, bringing with them a cloud of deadly shrapnel.

Jason grabbed Annabeth's hand. "Group hug!"

Hedge, Leo, Zoe and Annabeth tried to huddle together, hanging on to Jason and Mellie as they fell.

"This is NOT GOOD!" Leo yelled.

"Bring it on, gas bags!" Hedge yelled up at the storm spirits. "I'll pulverize you!"

"He's magnificent," Mellie sighed.

"Concentrate?" Jason prompted.

"Right!" she said.

They channeled the wind so their fall became more of a tumble into the nearest open chute. Still, they slammed into the tunnel at painful speed and went rolling over each other down a steep vent that was not designed for people. There was no way they could stop.

Mellie's robes billowed around her. Jason and the others clung to her desperately, and they began to slow down, but the storm spirits were screaming into the tunnel behind them.

"Can't…hold…long," Mellie warned. "Stay together! When the winds hit…"

"You're doing great Mellie," Hedge said. "My own mama was an aura, you know. She couldn't have done better herself."

"Iris-message me?" Mellie pleaded.

Hedge winked.

"Could you guys plan your date later?" Zoe screamed. "Look!"

Behind them, the tunnel was turning dark. Jason could feel his ears pop as the pressure built.

"Can't hold them," Mellie warned. "But I'll try to shield you, do you one more favor."

"Thanks, Mellie," Jason said. "I hope you get a new job."

She smiled, and then dissolved, wrapping them in a warm gentle breeze. Then the real winds hit, shooting them into the sky so fast, Jason blacked out.

Zoe watched the son of Jupiter pass out after the winds had hit them but she and her other two companions held on to him so he wouldn't get separated.

She prayed to Artemis, pleading for her to step in just this once to save them. She knew this would most likely be breaking the ancient laws but Artemis had never been one for following rules.

Before she could think about it anymore, she saw her other four companions dissolve into a silver light making Zoe smile before she followed suit.

They reappeared in a wooded area; Jason was still unconscious while Annabeth, Leo and Hedge just seemed confused.

'You are about a half-mile south of the Wolf House. The hunters are already there engaging Lycaon's pack along with a number of Gaia's minions. I will always be there when you need me Zoe.' A familiar voice said in her mind.

'Thank you my lady,' Zoe thought back gratefully before turning to her companions.

"We need to wake Jason up; we're a half-mile away from the Wolf House where the hunters are already holding back the enemy. They have found Hera but we need to get there to help them." Zoe said quickly to her companions.

"How did we get here?" Annabeth asked confused.

"I prayed to Artemis for help. She told me we are a half-mile south of the Wolf-House but need to hurry up to help the hunters." She explained.

Annabeth nodded as her attention turned to Jason. She tried to shake him but he refused to wake up.

Zoe groaned with frustration at Jason not waking up and looked towards the south. As she looked, she noticed a rather large puddle about five feet in front of her before an evil grin crept onto her face.

With a quick flick of her wrist, the water shot out of the puddle and straight into Jason's face causing him to shoot up in an absolute panic.

Annabeth began to laugh at his face while Leo just looked at Zoe in shock.

"Since when did you have that power?" He asked still shocked.

Zoe smirked but didn't reply, instead looking at Jason, "We need to get moving Jason, Thalia and the hunters are already at the Wolf House holding back the enemy but they need help."

Jason's eyes widened as he looked around confused but at hearing his sister was in trouble, he decided to ask how they got there later. He also couldn't shake the feeling this place seemed so familiar to him.

"What are we waiting for? Lead the way Zoe." Jason said climbing to his feet.

The former huntress nodded before running off into the woods with her four companions hot on her trail.

After a short five minute run, the sound of metal clashing and the familiar twang of bow strings reached Zoe's ears before she broke through the edge of the wilderness where she could make out the hunters doing what they could to hold back a large force of Lycaon's wolves and Earthborn through the fog and mist.

Thalia appeared from the fog, her parka caked with snow. Her bow was in her hand, and her quiver was almost empty. She ran toward them, but made it only a few steps before a six-armed ogre—one of the Earthborn—burst out of the storm behind her, a raised club in each hand.

"Look out!" Leo yelled. He rushed forward to help, but Thalia had it under control. She launched herself into a flip, notching an arrow as she pivoted like a gymnast and landed in a kneeling position. The ogre got a silver arrow right between the eyes and melted into a pile of clay.

Thalia stood and retrieved her arrow, but the point had snapped off. "That was my last one." She kicked the pile of clay resentfully. "Stupid monster."

Zoe smiled as she walked up to Thalia, reaching into her own quiver and pulling a dozen or so arrows out and tucking them into Thalia's.

Thalia smiled, "Thanks Zoe. Thank the gods you guys made it, Hera is inside. We tried to free her but couldn't figure out how. We've been holding them back until you got here but we will be overrun any minute."

"What are we up against?" Annabeth asked.

"For a while, the monsters kept re-forming almost as fast as we can kill them. But lately they've been staying dead, at least for longer, mostly just werewolves and Earthborn. We took the Wolf House with no problem; surprised the guards and sent them straight to Tartarus. But then this freak snowstorm blew in and wave after wave of monsters started attacking. Now we're surrounded. I don't know who or what is leading the assault, but I think they planned this. It was a trap to kill anyone who tried to rescue Hera." Thalia explained.

"Where is Hera?" Jason asked.

"Inside," Thalia said. "We tried to free her, but we can't figure out how to break the cage. It's only a few minutes until the sun goes down. Hera thinks that's the moment when Porphyrion will be reborn. Plus, most monsters are stronger at night."

They followed Thalia towards the Wolf House when another Earthborn rose out of the ground. Before anyone could react, Hedge barreled forward and smashed the monster in the knee with his club, snapping it clean in two.

"You like that cupcake?" Hedge taunted before the ground rose up and repaired the severed leg.

Hedge ran towards the monster again. Leo started to follow but Zoe grabbed him by the collar, "No, he'll be fine. We need you to free Hera or we'll all die here."

Leo nodded and resumed following the group into the Wolf House.

As soon as Jason stepped over the threshold he immediately collapsed.

"Hey!" Leo caught him. "None of that, man. What's wrong?"

"This place …"Jason shook his head. "Sorry … It came rushing back to me."

"So you remember having been here?" Annabeth asked.

"We both have been here." Thalia said. Her expression was grim, like she was reliving someone's death. "This is where my mom took us when Jason was a child. She left him here, told me he was dead. He just disappeared."

"She gave me to the wolves," Jason murmured. "At Hera's insistence, she gave me to Lupa."

"That part I didn't know." Thalia frowned.

An explosion shook the building. Just outside, a blue mushroom cloud billowed up, raining snowflakes and ice like a nuclear blast made of cold instead of heat.

"Maybe this isn't the best time for a trip down memory lane," Leo suggested. "Show us to the goddess."

Once inside, Jason seemed to get his bearings. The house was built in a giant U, and Jason led them between the two wings to an outside courtyard with an empty reflecting pool. At the bottom of the pool, two spires of rock and root tendrils had cracked through the foundation. One of the spires was much bigger—a solid dark mass about twenty feet high and it looked like a stone body bag. Underneath the mass of fused tendrils he could make out the shape of a head, wide shoulders, a massive chest and arms, like the creature was stuck waist deep in the earth. No, not stuck—rising.

On the opposite end of the pool, the other spire was smaller and more loosely woven. Each tendril was as thick as a telephone pole but they could see inside. In the center of the cage stood the Queen of the Gods herself, Hera.

Leo walked over and stood in front of the cage eyeing it closely and making Hera's frustrations grow.

She crossed her arms and sighed in exasperation. "Don't inspect me like I'm one of your machines, Leo Valdez. Get me out of here!"

Thalia stepped next to him and looked at the cage with distaste—or maybe she was looking at the goddess. "We tried everything we could think of, Leo, but maybe my heart wasn't in it. If it was up to me, I'd just leave her in there."

"Thalia Grace," the goddess growled. "When I get out of here, you'll be sorry you were ever born."

"Save it!" Thalia snapped. "You've been nothing but a curse to every child of Zeus for ages. As if it were actually our fault your husband cheats on you."

"Why you disrespectful little brat," Hera growled.

"You took my brother!" Thalia's voice cracked with emotion. "Here, on this spot, you ruined our lives. We should leave you to Gaia!"

"Hey," Jason intervened. "Thalia, I know. But this isn't the time. You should help your hunters."

Thalia clenched her jaw. "Fine. For you, Jason. But if you ask me, she isn't worth it."

Thalia turned, leaped out of the pool, and stormed from the building.

"Well aren't you the beloved stepmother." Leo said dryly.

"Focus on the cage, Leo," Hera grumbled. "And Jason—you are wiser than your sister. I chose my champion well."

"I'm not your champion, lady," Jason spat back. "I'm only helping you because you stole my memories and you're better than the alternative. Speaking of which, what's going on with that?"

He nodded to the other spire that looked like the king-size granite body bag.

"That, Jason," Hera said, "is the king of the giants being reborn."

"That is not good." Annabeth said.

"Indeed," Hera said. "Porphyrion, the strongest of his kind. Gaia needed a great deal of power to raise him again —my power. For weeks I've grown weaker as my essence was used to grow him a new form."

"So you're like a heat lamp," Leo guessed. "Or fertilizer."

"Joke all you wish," Hera said in a clipped tone. "But at sundown, it will be too late. The giant will awake. He will offer me a choice; marry him, or be consumed by the earth. And I cannot marry him. We will all be destroyed and as we die, Gaia will awaken."

Leo frowned at the giant's spire. "Can't we blow it up or something?"

"Without me, you do not have the power," Hera said. "You might as well try to destroy a mountain."

"Well if you hadn't kidnapped my boyfriend then that wouldn't be a problem." Zoe said bitterly, "I believe he has already blown up a mountain."

Hera glared at her, "If I didn't take him then the Doors of Death would still be open. Perseus has already succeeded in Alaska, slaying the giant Alcyoneus and freeing Thanatos. He is needed in New Rome right now or else Camp Jupiter will be overrun."

Zoe glared harshly at the goddess, "Doesn't mean you had to kidnap him. As if he would stand by when Olympus needed him, all you had to do was ask." She hissed.

Hera glared right back at her, "Be as angry as you want but if you don't free me soon, all of us will die and Percy and Camp Jupiter will follow shortly afterward."

Zoe growled under her breath, "I swear to the gods Hera if you get him killed I'll hand you over to Gaia myself." She spat before running out to help the hunters hold off the enemy.

Hera watched Zoe run off with a bit of sympathy on her face before she turned back to the three remaining demigods, "Just hurry up and let me out!" She demanded.

Jason scratched his head. "Leo, can you do it?"

"I don't know." Leo tried not to panic. "Besides, if she's a goddess, why hasn't she busted herself out?"

Hera paced furiously around her cage, cursing loudly in Ancient Greek. "Use your brain, Leo Valdez. I picked you because you're intelligent. Once trapped, a god's power is useless. Your own father trapped me once in a golden chair. It was humiliating! I had to beg—beg him for my freedom and apologize for throwing him off Olympus."

"Sounds fair," Leo said.

Hera gave him the godly stink-eye, "I've watched you since you were a child, son of Hephaestus, because I knew you could aid me at this moment. If anyone can find a way to destroy this abomination, it is you."

"But it's not a machine. It's like Gaia thrust her hand out of the ground and…" Leo felt dizzy. The line of their prophecy came back to him: The forge and owl shall break the cage. "Hold on. I do have an idea. Annabeth, I'm going to need your help and we're going to need time."

The air turned brittle with cold. The temperature dropped so fast, Leo's lips cracked and his breath changed to mist. Frost coated the walls of the Wolf House. Venti rushed in —but instead of winged men, these were shaped like horses, with dark storm-cloud bodies and manes that crackled with lightning. Some had silver arrows sticking out of their flanks. Behind them came red-eyed wolves and the six-armed Earthborn.

One of the wolves padded forward. It was dragging a human-size statue by the leg. At the edge of the pool, the wolf opened its maw and dropped the statue for them to see—an ice sculpture of a girl, an archer with short spiky hair and a surprised look on her face.

"Thalia!" Jason rushed forward, but Annabeth and Leo pulled him back. The ground around Thalia's statue was already webbed with ice. Leo feared if Jason touched her, he might freeze too.

"Who did this?" Jason yelled as his body crackled with electricity. "I'll kill you myself!"

From somewhere behind the monsters, they heard a girl's laughter, clear and cold. She stepped out of the mist in her snowy white dress, a silver crown atop her long black hair.

"That would be me little hero," said Khione, the goddess of snow. She gave Leo a frosty smile. "Alas, son of Hephaestus, you say you need time? I'm afraid time is one tool you do not have."

"What've you done?" Jason demanded.

"Oh, so many things," the snow goddess purred. "Your sister's not dead, if that's what you mean. She and her Hunters will make fine toys for our wolves. I thought we'd defrost them one at a time and hunt them down for amusement. Let them be the prey for once."

The wolves snarled appreciatively.

"Yes, my dears." Khione kept her eyes on Jason. "Your sister almost killed their king, you know. Lycaon's off in a cave somewhere, no doubt licking his wounds, but his minions have joined us to take revenge for their master. And soon Porphyrion will arise, and we shall rule the world."

"Traitor!" Hera shouted. "You meddlesome, D-list goddess! You aren't worthy to pour my wine, much less rule the world."

Khione sighed, "Tiresome as ever, Queen Hera. I've been wanting to shut you up for millennia."

Khione waved her hand and ice encased the prison, sealing in the spaces between the earthen tendrils.

"That's better," the snow goddess said. "Now, demigods, about your death…" She began before she cried out in pain. Khione stumbled forward, two silver arrows sticking out of her back.

Suddenly another volley of silver arrows flew into the monster ranks, tearing the werewolves and Earthborn to pieces as Zoe with a half dozen hunters poured into the room.

"You talk too much you icy bitch." Zoe growled.

"Attack them! Kill them all!" Khione screamed as ichor leaked from her wounds.

The room soon erupted into absolute chaos as a full-fledged battle erupted around them.

One of the storm spirits charged at Jason but at the last second he sidestepped and but managed to grab ahold of the ventus' neck pulling himself atop it.

"You're mine now," Jason said.

The horse bucked, but Jason held fast. Its mane flickered as it circled around the empty pool, its hooves causing miniature thunderstorms—tempests—whenever they touched.

"Tempest?" Jason said. "Is that your name?"

The horse spirit shook its mane, evidently pleased to be recognized.

"Fine," Jason said. "Now, let's fight."

He charged into battle, swinging imperial gold gladius, knocking aside wolves and plunging straight through other venti. Tempest was a strong spirit, and every time he plowed through one of his brethren, he discharged so much electricity, the other spirit vaporized into a harmless cloud of mist.

Through the chaos, Jason caught glimpses of his friends. Annabeth was surrounded by Earthborn, but she seemed to be holding her own. She was so impressive-looking as she fought that Jason couldn't help but smile at how beautiful she looked in battle.

Zoe was ruthless with her silver hunting knives, slicing through the throat of a werewolf before she dropped to a knee just as a hunter fired an arrow where she had been standing and impaling an Earthborn through the forehead. In less than a second, the hunter had pulled an arrow out of Zoe's quiver as fired it straight into the forehead of one of the wolves.

It was obvious Zoe was a former huntress as she fought with her former sisters with the fluidity and precision that could only be achieved through centuries of fighting together.

Jason made a mental note to not get on Zoe's bad side as while Annabeth was impressive, Zoe was ruthless which combined with her speed and skill made her downright scary in battle.

Leo had taken on Khione herself. While fighting a goddess should've been suicide, Leo was the right man for the job. She kept summoning ice daggers to throw at him, blasts of winter air, tornadoes of snow. Leo burned through all of it. His whole body flickered with red tongues of flame like he'd been doused with gasoline. He advanced on the goddess, using two silver-tipped ball-peen hammers to smash any monsters that got in his way.

Leo was the only reason they were still alive. His fiery aura was heating up the whole courtyard, countering Khione's winter magic. Without him, they would've been frozen like the Thalia long ago. Wherever Leo went, ice melted off the stones. Even Thalia started to defrost a little when Leo stepped near her.

Khione slowly backed away. Her expression went from enraged to shocked to slightly panicked as Leo got closer.

Jason was running out of enemies. Wolves lay in dazed heaps. Some slunk away into the ruins, yelping from their wounds. Zoe ran forward and stabbed the last Earthborn, who toppled to the ground in a pile of sludge before she spun on her heel and drove her hunting knife through the top of the head of a lunging wolf. She kicked the dissolving monster off her blade with a look of disgust.

Jason rode Tempest through the last ventus, breaking it into vapor. Then he wheeled around and saw Leo bearing down on the goddess of snow.

"You're too late," Khione snarled. "He's awake! And don't think you've won anything here, demigods. Hera's plan will never work. You'll be at each other's throats before you can ever stop us."

Leo set his hammers ablaze and threw them at the goddess, but she turned into snow—a white powdery image of herself. Leo's hammers slammed into the snow woman, breaking it into a steaming mound of mush.

Annabeth was breathing hard, but she smiled up at Jason. "Nice horse."

Tempest reared on his hind legs, arcing electricity across his hooves.

Then Jason heard a cracking sound behind him. The melting ice on Hera's cage sloughed off in a curtain of slush, and the goddess called, "Oh, don't mind me! Just the queen of the heavens dying over here!"

Leo frowned. "Uh, are you getting shorter?"

"No, you dumbass! The earth is claiming me. Hurry up!" She hissed.

As much as everyone there disliked Hera, what they saw inside the cage alarmed them. Not only was Hera sinking, the ground was rising around her like water in a tank. Liquid rock had already covered her shins. "The giant wakes!" Hera warned. "You only have seconds!"

"On it!" Leo said as he lit his hands on fire, turning up the temperature to the max. "Annabeth, where is the weakest point on this thing?"

Annabeth studied the cage closely until she pointed a place up the side where the earth was the thinnest.

"Get ready to smash this thing when I say they word," Leo said as he put his flaming hands to the cage until the flames turned white hot.

Zoe looked over to see the place where the giant was being resurrected began to tremble and shake. Her face paled at the sight as the giant shook off his earthen shell.

The giant king was humanoid from the waist up, clad in bronze armor, and from the waist down he had scaly dragon's legs; but his skin was the color of lima beans. His hair was green as summer leaves, braided in long locks and decorated with weapons—daggers, axes, and full-size swords, some of them bent and bloody—maybe trophies taken from demigods eons before. When the giant opened his eyes, they were blank white, like polished marble. He took a deep breath.

"Alive!" he bellowed. "Praise to Gaia!"

"Leo," Jason said nervously.

"Huh?" Leo's mouth was wide open. Even Zoe seemed dazed.

"You guys keep working," Jason said. "Get Hera free!"

"What are you going to do?" Annabeth asked. "You can't seriously…."

"Entertain a giant?" Jason said.

"We've got no choice." Zoe finished for him.

"Excellent!" The giant roared as Jason and Zoe approached. "An appetizer! Who are you…Hermes? Artemis?"

Zoe and Jason exchanged a look, neither seemed to have any idea what to do.

"I'm Jason Grace," he said. "Son of Jupiter."

Those white eyes bored into him. Porphyrion threw back his head and laughed. "Outstanding!" He looked up at the cloudy night sky. "So Zeus, you sacrifice a son to me? The gesture is appreciated, but it will not save you."

The sky didn't even rumble. No help from above. They were on their own.

Jason glanced at Zoe again, giving her a look that said; just follow my lead, please.

Zoe gave him a nervous nod.

Jason dropped his gladius and steeled his nerves while Zoe watched him nervously.

"If you knew who I was," Jason yelled up at the giant, "you'd be worried about me, not my father. I hope you enjoyed your two and a half minutes of rebirth, giant, because I'm going to send you right back to Tartarus."

The giant's eyes narrowed. He planted one foot outside the pool and crouched down to get a better look at his opponent. "So … we'll start by boasting, will we? Just like old times! Very well, demigod. I am Porphyrion, king of the giants, son of Gaia. In olden times, I rose from Tartarus, the abyss of my father, to challenge the gods. To start the war, I stole Zeus' queen." He grinned at the goddess's cage. "Hello, Hera."

"My husband destroyed you once, monster!" Hera said. "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. Gaia is waking. She has provisioned us with many fine servants. Our armies will shake the earth—and we will destroy you at the roots."

"You wouldn't dare," Hera said, but she was weakening. They could hear it in her voice.

"Oh, yes," the giant said. "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 frowned at Annabeth and Leo, as if he'd just noticed them working at the cage. Zoe stepped forward and yelled to get back Porphyrion's attention.

"You said a demigod killed you?" She shouted, "How, if you're so powerful?"

"Ha! You think I would explain it to you? I was created to be Zeus's replacement, born to destroy the lord of the sky. I shall take his throne. I shall take his wife—or, if she will not have me, I will let the earth consume her life force. What you see before you, child is only my weakened form. I will grow stronger by the hour, until I am invincible. But I am already quite capable of smashing you to a grease spot!"

He rose to his full height and held out his hand. A ten-foot spear shot from the earth. He grasped it, then stomped the ground with his dragon's feet. The ruins shook. All around the courtyard, monsters started to re-gather; storm spirits, wolves, and Earthborn, all answering the giant king's call.

"Great," Leo muttered. "We needed more enemies."

"Hurry," Hera said.

"I know!" Leo snapped.

Porphyrion raked his spear across the top of the ruins, destroying a chimney and spraying wood and stone across the courtyard. "So, child of Zeus, I have finished my boasting. Now it's your turn. What were you saying about destroying me?"

Jason looked unsure of what to do. He looked over a Zoe who nodded encouragingly, telling him to buy them a little more time.

"I am the son of Jupiter!" Jason shouted, and just for effect, he summoned the winds, rising a few feet off the ground. "I'm a child of Rome, consul to demigods, praetor of the First Legion." All of Jason's memories were flooding back into his mind, remembering the accomplishments he did have. He held out his arms, showing the tattoo of the eagle and SPQR, and to his surprise the giant seemed to recognize it.

For a moment, Porphyrion actually looked uneasy.

"I slew the Trojan sea monster," Jason continued. "I toppled the black throne of Saturn, and destroyed the Titan Krios with my own hands!" He bellowed.

"Now!" Leo yelled.

Without hesitating, Annabeth slammed the butt of her dagger into the cage causing it to crack before she did it again, this time breaking that part of the cage apart. The rest of it crumbled to pieces as it lost its connection to Gaia. The mud around Hera disintegrated. The goddess grew in size, glowing with power.

"Yes!" the goddess said. She threw off her black robes to reveal a white gown, her arms bedecked with golden jewelry. Her face was both terrible and beautiful, and a golden crown glowed in her long black hair. "Now I shall have my revenge!"

The giant Porphyrion backed away. He said nothing, but he gave Jason one last look of hatred. His message was clear: Another time. Then he slammed his spear against the earth, and the giant disappeared into the ground like he'd dropped down a chute.

Around the courtyard, monsters began to panic and retreat, but there was no escape for them.

Hera glowed brighter before she shouted, "Cover your eyes, my heroes!"

Zoe was about to close her eyes but noticed Jason seemed to still be in a daze. Hera was releasing her true form. Zoe tackled Jason to the ground and covered his eyes with her hand while shutting her own. Even as she closed her eyes, it was close, too close. The light blinded her and she collapsed.

Hera turned into a supernova, exploding in a ring of force that vaporized every monster instantly. Zoe cried out in pain, light searing into her mind, and her last thought was that her body was burning.

"Zoe!" Annabeth cried as she saw her friend lay motionless on the ground while the others quickly gathered around.

"It's no use, child." Hera said sadly as she stood over them in her simple black robes and shawl.

Every vestige of winter was gone from the valley. No signs of battle, either. The monsters had been vaporized. The ruins had been restored to what they were before—still ruins, but with no evidence that they'd been overrun by a horde of wolves, storm spirits, and six-armed ogres.

Even the Hunters had been revived. They quickly gathered around Zoe, most with tears in their eyes at their former lieutenant's limp body.

Thalia glared up at the goddess, "This is your fault. Do something!"

"Do not address me that way, girl. I am the queen…" Hera began.

"Fix her!" Thalia screamed.

Hera's eyes flickered with power. "I did warn her. I would never intentionally hurt her. I told them to close their eyes before I revealed my true form." Her implication was clear; she would have no issue with harming Thalia or most other people.

"Um …" Leo frowned. "True form is bad, right? So why did you do it?"

"I unleashed my power to help you, fool!" Hera cried. "I became pure energy so I could disintegrate the monsters, restore this place, and even save these miserable hunters from the ice."

"But mortals can't look upon you in that form!" Thalia shouted. "You've killed her!"

Leo shook his head in dismay. ―That's what our prophecy meant. Death unleash, through Hera's rage.

"Stop yelling Thalia… You're making this headache a million times worse." Zoe said as she tried to open her eyes but all she saw was darkness. "I swear to the gods Hera that if I'm blind, I will find a way to kill you." She growled.

"Impossible," Hera said. "No mortal has ever…"

"I closed them a little later than I should have… but a little more notice would have been nice." Zoe growled as her vision slowly returned to her.

Zoe was immediately crushed in hugs from all of the hunters and Annabeth. Once she finally got them off of her, she turned to Jason with a glare.

"What were you thinking?" She growled.

Jason just stared at her in shock, "Y…You saved me. Why?"

Zoe rolled her eyes, "I don't like men but you don't seem that bad. And you are Thalia's brother, so I suppose that helps."

Jason slowly smiled at her, "Thank you Zoe… You saved my life."

Zoe nodded her head, giving him a very-very small smile in return.

"Smooth move Hera… You almost just lost the entire war for us before it even started." Thalia said bitterly to the goddess.

Hera glared then raised an eyebrow confused.

Thalia gave a humorless laugh, "If you killed Zoe, Percy would have torn Olympus down to get to you. I don't think you realize how close you just came to dooming us all before the war even started."

Hera huffed indignantly but her face gave away her fear of what would happen had she lost Percy as one of the demigods fighting for Olympus.

Zoe smiled at Thalia's words but then turned to Hera with a glare, "I've done what you wanted Hera; now I'm going to find Percy and I'm going to do it right now."

Hera's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to reply….