I'd like to start with a short reply to guest reviewer Riri.

Whereas I generally enjoy reviews, especially long ones I can't help but disagree with basically everything you said.

First of all (considering their general behaviour) I find it hard to see the Greek gods as anything but extremely powerful humans.

Secondly, apart from the fact that I intended Persephone, Jason and quite a few others to be veterans and therefore, very good in war and the directly related activities (like training others), I do think you're looking at Persephone with a far too rose tinted pair of glasses.

About her easily solving all her problems, you do remember she has been working upon bringing the Fifth up to proper standards and reincorporating it in the legion for months and she still isn't finished? Upon a related note, her first actions in those regards literally came down upon searching for help (Reyna, Drew, Nico to name the most important and enduring members of this project of her) and that it was only a few chapters ago that she escaped a double attempt to getting murdered due to Bryce, a now very former and very not missed member of the Fifth cohort?

As for her having no flaws except for a temper and that even that merely gives her a reputation for getting things done? This is the girl who was made to desert Camp Half-Blood and literally taught her horsemen to mutilate the faces of their enemies to put more fear in their hearts! And that was just one of the many complains about her training. I think it's safe to say she has a very poorly hidden dark side and struggles against some of the connected traits like harshness, violence and cruelty (cough... Medea?).

I am willing to discuss this more in-depth through PM but I am not really worried about her becoming an all powerful Mary sue.

I don't have any right upon the Percy Jackson-series, I do own Lord Protector Corvo Attano my gratitude for being the beta for this story.

The snow had already begun to fall at the border between Canada and Alaska when the two figures appeared.

The smallest of both figures paused for a moment and stared at the nearby glacier with an almost wistfully gaze, as if she had suddenly been trapped in an ancient memory which left her with a remarkable bittersweet aftertaste.

The second, far taller figure ignored his companion whilst continuing to trudge onwards through the snow. His approach had not gone unnoticed though; several large creatures raised their heads up and pointed their long, sharp beaks at the strangers who had intruded upon their hunting ground.

Their beady red eyes were hard and their owners gave a loud and remarkable low screech before chasing forward with a mixture of jumping and gliding with their extended wings.

Only at the last moment did both creatures turn away from the Giant and shook the cold air with a few loud smacks of their wings. Both gryphons took a position upon a high rock and then stared down upon the pair with an obvious anger.

The first figure growled softly at their approach after being awoken from her daze before she clawed her hands which called several large spikes of opaque ice forth from the snow which had gathered around both intruders.

"Leave them, Khione." Ordered the second figure with a powerful, but seemingly entertained voice. "They thought we were scavengers, here to steal their meal, but they corrected their mistake in time."

Khione stared at the deceptively small looking creatures; it was little more than an optical illusion. The beasts were slender and sleek whilst their natural weapons were remarkably long and extremely sharp. "Little more than beaks and claws", that was how her brothers once had called them. She hadn't objected at their description then and she wouldn't do it now either. Monsters which are almost twice the size of lions and yet appear barely taller than a dog until they're close enough to jump you did not deserve another description.

"Do you control them?" Khione asked before adding a quick "My lord." after those words.

"I don't." Grumbled Porphyrion, obviously not too pleased with this limitation of his power. "But I like them well enough."

The Giant turned his head towards her. "They're rarely this low or as far too the north though." He continued whilst lowering himself on one knee and reaching down for something which was hidden from Khione's eyes behind a small hill.

The Giant raised himself up again and threw two objects at the griffins which like trained animals shot after the things and captured them in midair whilst performing an impressive looking spiral.

Khione ignored the crimson splatters of meat and dried blood which fell down and stained the previously unblemished white of the snow.

Both animals had retaken their position upon the rocks and were now tearing the meat to shreds with mighty slashes from their claws or by grabbing it with their beaks and then pulling it off with a motion of their necks.

"A horse?" Khione asked, although she already suspected the answer.

Porphyrion chuckled softly. "It is curious, no? How these beast kept remembering the horse riding Arimaspi and the attempts of those archers to pillage their nests."

If someone else would have asked her, Khione would most likely have admitted that she did not care about the habits and memories of these animals, but considering it was the king of the Giants who had asked her, she elected to give a more tactful answer in return.

"What reason would your mother have to send them here?" Khione asked him instead.

"Most likely she wanted them to defend the border of Alcyoneus' domain." Porphyrion suggested. "After the original attempt to resurrect him was botched, he did awake but he wouldn't have been capable of defeating so much as a single kitten."

The Giant King chuckled softly at that thought.

"I imagine they might have been useful during the attack of that expedition from the Roman camp." He added thoughtfully.

Khione smirked after that remark. "I imagine they were." She admitted. "A shame they'll be no more than a deterrent in this war."

The Goddess pointed her eyes at a small heap of snow and the raised her hand slowly in a gesture that was rife with magical power. The small heap of snow rose up in reaction to her gesture like an erupting volcano. A small wave of ice, half frozen water and snow flowed out like lava and then began whirling around like a maelstrom. Two clawed feet appeared from the gathering of ice and water, then a long, sharp beak peeked from the puddle. This head was soon followed by a sleek body which carried a pair of massive wings.

Khione stared at her latest creation before turning her head back to the originals and narrowing her eyes whilst alternating her gaze between the opaque monster and the living animals.

"It's...adequate." she eventually muttered.

"An impressive creation." Porphyrion corrected with something akin to admiration. "Your new mount and bodyguard?"

"I don't see why not." Khione admitted. In reality, the creature had been far more intended as something to capture the king's attention and some more of his favour than anything else, but it was good suggestion.

She mounted the animal like an Amazon and led it further towards the king.

"Will it take much longer before the others arrive here as well?" She asked the Giant King.

"I doubt it." Muttered Porphyrion, he chuckled momentarily. "I am not know for my patience and it is not as if most of them have something important to do."

A soft, somewhat human sounding growl came from them. "It requires time and inspiration to create marvels, brother."

The owner of this voice was a (for a giant) fairly small figure. He was only twelve feet tall and had legs which consisted out of a pair yellow-eyed snakes which were mostly concealed by a pair of black pants. Like Porphyrion, he had green hair, but unlike the numerous weapons which had been scattered in his brother's hair, his was braided with numerous silver coins. Khione noted that each of these coins was marked with the image of an owl.

"So the stories are true." She muttered with a fairly limited interest.

The smaller giant stared at his king and brother with a fairly obvious anger, then the giant made a small, but respectful bow.

"Ephialtes." Porphyrion muttered, before chuckling softly and placing one hand upon his much smaller brother's shoulder. "It is good to see you again."

Ephialtes retained his earlier angry expression for a few more moments, then he too chuckled.

"It is likewise good to see you again." He admitted. "It is hard to arrange a feast in your honour when the recipient is missing."

Porphyrion chuckled again. "Where is Otis? It is strange to see only one half of a pair of twins."

"He's back in Italy." Ephialtes explained. "Someone needed to keep an eye upon Arachne."

The Giant shuddered momentarily after those words. "Useful as she is, I sincerely wish that Mother never found that she-thing within the bowels of Tartarus."

"It is only a matter of time now, brother." Porphyrion reminded his brother with a soothing voice.

"I doubt she will allow herself to be so easily removed." Muttered a cold, dispassionate voice.

"Clytius." Muttered Ephialtes with some obvious annoyance.

Said giant was far taller than the first half of the set of twins. Not unlike Porphyrion, Clytius' legs appeared dragon-like however unlike his king, Hecate's opposite's appearance barely contained any colour at all. Dark and black or even encased in shadows was how anyone would describe him. Whether it was his skin, the colour of his legs or the armour which he had hidden beneath his robes, everything about him was black. The only exception to this rule were his eyes, these were of an unusually bright blue colour, however this was not the colour of a warm, tropical sea, instead it was a colour which instinctively would remind everyone of ice. If Porphyrion resembled a warlord, then this brother was the dark, magical overlord of a particularly grim world.

Khione had felt small and powerless at the appearance of even a weakened Porphyrion, but this Giant scared her far more. Porphyrion was powerful and imposing and according to the stories he had been more than able of being cruel or unpredictable, but despite that Porphyrion had seemed reasonable, a being that would rule or rather lord over them. Clytius on the other hand seemed far colder and despite his obvious intelligence, the Giant seemed far less reasonable than the others. He was like a fanatic who would broke no compromise or appeasement. He would either get his way or would rather see the entire world destroyed rather than reshaped in accord to anything less than his own perfect standards.

Khione instantly feared him and she suspected that she wasn't the only one.

Even Porphyrion's posture betrayed a hint of nervousness.

"You brought a Goddess here." He muttered whilst pointing his cold eyes at Khione. "Why?"

Khione took a deep breath, somehow she suspected, she was in far more danger from him than she had ever been from Porphyrion.

"She helped mother awakening me and saved my life!" growled Porphyrion.

"She..." Clytius began until Porphyrion cut him off.

"She...saved...my...life!" Porphyrion repeated threateningly, whilst carefully pronouncing every word.

For a single moment both Giants were staring at each other with a clear indication of future violence in their eyes, than Clytius looked away. Still Khione could tell that the conflict between them hadn't been resolved, it was merely postponed. Both giants knew that neither of them could rule nor see his vision made reality without breaking the power of the other one. At this moment, the two of them needed each other, but if that need would disappear...

Khione was very much hoping that Porphyrion would be victor of that conflict and if she judged Clytius correctly, she doubted she would be the only one.

"My, my, do these eyes of mine deceive me? Or am I really seeing so many of my brothers after all this time?" A male and rather soft voice asked with an unusually soothing quality to his words.

Khione turned her head to the voice and blinked in surprise. There, at a little over hundred feet away from them stood another massive, male figure. This giant's body was made of metallic gold-like material that was further adorned with numerous jewels. His own dragon-like legs had obtained the red colour of rusted iron. Lastly the giant had a brass skin and red braided hair which seemed stained with numerous jewels as if they had fallen from the sky like snowflakes.

Alcyoneus stared at the small gathering and then pointed at the ground near him.

"Join me, brothers." He told the Giants with a loud voice which had an unusual echo as if every word he said was spoken through a hollow, metallic barrel.

"It seems we now know where the border is." Porphyrion muttered with a hint of humour in his voice.

Khione hesitated for a moment before following the Giants. She did make it a point to keep either Porphyrion or Ephialtes between her and Clytius.

"Alcyoneus." Porphyrion prompted whilst placing both his hands upon the shoulders of the second tallest son of Gaia.

"It is good to see you again," Alcyoneus whispered before adding "young one" with a teasing undertone in his voice.

Porphyrion chuckled softly in return before strengthening his grip upon the older Giant's shoulder.

Alcyoneus stared back into the younger giants eyes in defiance until a momentarily hint of pain shot over his features. But short as it was, it had obviously been there in the eyes of all.

That momentarily admission of his weakness was enough for Porphyrion and he released his brother's shoulders again.

"Where are the others?" Asked the king, "I know I heard Orion's voice mere moments ago."

A mere second later a single arrow the size of a javelin shot past the head of Porphyrion and Alcyoneus.

"The two of you should take care to keep your guard up." Replied the same friendly male voice as before. "Even if Alcyoneus retains his immortality upon this ground."

There was a soft rustling of leaves and branches and then a tall man in a camouflage-outfit appeared from between the trees. Even after seeing him appear, Khione could barely say where it was that he had hidden himself earlier.

"If I was Artemis or one of her Hunters," Orion continued upon the same friendly tone which was now accompanied by a dazzling smile, "some of you might have been returned to Tartarus."

Alcyoneus however seemed less than impressed with Orion's smile.

"That is why I asked you and your mutts to scout the area." He reminded the hunter. "To protect us from assassins and scouts, not to take pot-shots at us!"

Orion simply gave another smile in return.

However the smallest and most human looking member of the Giant-family then turned his eyes upon Khione and once again, the Goddess found herself take an involuntary step backwards, to the protection which was provided by Porphyrion's presence.

Orion snorted in return and pointed his brass, mechanical eyes at the king momentarily before pointing them back at the Goddess. She could see the focusing rings upon his bronze sclera spin around and then click whilst the targeting lasers flashed from red to green.

Orion slowly brushed his hand over his black bow whilst seating himself down, it was slow and soothing motion, almost akin to the way you brush your hand through the coat of a dog in an attempt to calm the animal down whilst it is preparing to attack.

It hadn't been often the case over the years, but with both Clytius and Orion so close to her, Khione felt a remarkably and uncomfortably warmth. It was not a feeling she liked, far from it.

Then in a reply to that uncomfortable feeling she slid from her griffin and seated herself upon a rather low icy throne whilst keeping the creature between herself and the archer.

"I had Lycaon and his own pack flush the periphery out." Orion told Alcyoneus with a soothing voice. "Over thirty of his oldest, strongest followers and the majority of his forty-nine remaining sons."

The giant smirked softly. "I can't wait to face Artemis and her Huntresses with this pack."

He paused for a moment "or Lupa." He muttered softly, as if only just realising the possibility. "Yes, Lupa." He repeated with his customary smile.

He blinked for a moment when he realised that everyone was staring at him.

"What?" He asked them in return with a notable hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Polybotes? Did you see any trace of him or the messenger from the Titans and the others?" Porphyrion asked him with a tired voice.

"He'll be here in a few moments." Orion replied with a calm and seemingly uncaring voice before showing them an obvious smirk. "It was highly entertaining to see their interpretation of stealth though."

Porphyrion smirked and nodded at Alcyoneus who raised a single arm up which led to several throne shaped stones rising up from the earth.

Each of the Giants took his seat whilst waiting for the approach of their last brother who was currently walking upon the earth and those which would accompany him.

Like Orion had told them earlier, it did not take long before a small column headed by two massive figures arrived.

The first and by far the taller of the two was Polybotes.

This Giant showed a great resemblance to his brothers, Alcyoneus and Porphyrion. However unlike these two his green hair contained no weaponry or jewels, but living basilisks which were hissing and slithering as if he was the hitherto unknown father of the Gorgons.

The other however was not wearing a breastplate (which was adorned with numerous monstrous faces) or carrying a weapon like his companion's trident.

Instead this inhumanly tall man wore an expensive looking tuxedo which stood in clear contrasted with the long ponytail in his dark hair or the numerous scars upon his face.

"A pleasant evening, uncles." He said with a kind and patient sounding voice whilst making a small bow which was just deep enough to be genuinely respectful.

Then he pointed his eyes at Khione and smiled again. "I am sorry, my dear." He muttered whilst making another small bow and reaching for her hand upon which he pressed a swift kiss. "I hadn't noticed you or otherwise I would have greeted the only lady in this company as first."

"Prometheus." Khione growled between her teeth whilst making an obvious effort to wipe her hand off to her dress.

Prometheus nodded momentarily after witnessing her reaction but he otherwise showed not so much of a hint of either surprise, hurt or entertainment afterwards.

"It is good to see you again, cousin." Porphyrion muttered whilst adding a threatening tone to his words during this exclamation of kinship.

Prometheus ignored the obvious threat in Porphyrion's voice and smiled softly. "I bring you my regards, as well as those belonging to Oceanus, Aigaios, Epimetheus, Lelantos, Melione, Pomona, Janus and the others."

"It is quite obvious why you don't mention the regards of some of those others like Atlas, Iapetus, Hyperion, Krios, or Koios." Growled Porphyrion.

"You sound disappointed, uncle." Prometheus mentioned whilst sounding rather casually. "As if we surprised you."

"You betrayed us, you cost us part of our army and worse you might have cost us the advantage of surprise!" continued Porphyrion. "If it wouldn't have been for the betrayal of the Titans we would have had the majority of both the Gods and the monsters at our side during the assault upon the unaware Olympians."

"Would you have done differently than we had, if you were in our position?" The Titan asked him calmly.

"Perhaps not," admitted Porphyrion, "but we were not in your position!"

Prometheus smiled as if he had just gained a victory. "Indeed, but more importantly there aren't many gods who would have been willing to support us if Gaia would have made her appearance."

Prometheus smiled momentarily whilst raising his hands in surrender before he continued talking. "It is true that we rose up prematurely, contrary to our agreement, but war itself is far more impetuous and reckless by its very own nature than it is calm or obedient."

After those words Prometheus smile disappeared. "We did not rise up and shed our blood in war to replace the unjust reign of the Olympians with the ever-present crushing nature of Gaia's." He growled angrily before staring the King of the Giants in the eyes.

"Did I misinterpret our agreement all those years ago?" He asked upon the same tone of voice. "Would we rise up to become mere servants or even toys to your mother, rather than become the rulers we were meant to be?"

Porphyrion snorted. "I doubt there is so much as a single soul here who would wish for such a fate." The King muttered before pointing his eyes Clytius. "Even you would not wish such a fate, is it not brother?"

Clytius stared at his younger brother with a cold gaze which made the King smirk due to his own interpretation of that look.

Porphyrion's smile had brightened a bit when he stared back at Prometheus.

"Thus you and the others began our revolt early in the hopes of not needing Gaia's aid?" He asked the Titan without lending credit to that possibility for so much as a single second.

"So we wouldn't be in need of her aid and could prepare for a confrontation with her and her own allies if that was necessary." Prometheus corrected him.

A small indication of Porphyrion's cruelty seeped into the Giant's smile.

"At least that last sentence contained some truth," he thought, "especially since he and Kronos would most likely have made it so it would have been the Giants who would have formed the majority of Gaia's more powerful allies."

Still Prometheus was right about at least one thing, neither he nor the majority of the remaining Giants was eager to discover what kind of future Gaia envisioned for the world, nor what their place would be in this "paradise".

However with the current lack of numbers of Titans at this side of the doors, he couldn't afford to make a proper example from the Titan of Forethought, nor any other Titan.

Thus the Giant resisted his urge to lash out and instead decided to show himself magnanimous.

He made a great show of sighing and shaking his head before straightening his back against the rear of his throne.

"At least you had the courage to look me in the eyes after your mistake in judgement." Porphyrion told the titan whilst absentmindedly removing the blade of a spear from his hair.

He pointed his eyes back at the Titan whilst standing up from his throne, then the king took a first step towards Prometheus. After that the giant shrunk with every other step until he was the size of Prometheus.

"You made a mistake." Porphyrion repeated whilst holding the speartip like a small dagger. "Tell me Titan of Forethought, do you know the difference between a mistake and an error?"

Prometheus blinked momentarily.

"I do." He admitted.

"Then tell me, did to Oceanus, Aigaios and the others make a mistake or an error when they refused to come here and send you in their stead?" Porphyrion asked him and this time he did allow some of the anger he actually felt to seep into his voice.

Prometheus took a deep breath and paused whilst staring at the Giant who seemed to test the sharpness of the blade upon the palm of his left hand.

Then Prometheus lowered his head.

"They too made a mistake..." He whispered whilst bowing again, "my lord."

Porphyrion hid his actual glee and instead dropped the blade just before the head of the Titan where it hit the dirt.

"I am not going to punish you for your actions, Prometheus." Porphyrion muttered whilst returning to his throne. "Nor the others, no matter how much you would deserve these."

He seated himself and smirked. "Besides considering the rumours I heard, there is not a lot I could do that you and your relatives haven't already brought down upon yourselves."

"Two killed, one back to his punishment underneath the burden of the sky, one trapped in a maple tree and another robbed of his memory and brought into the service of Hades before he could even leave the underworld!" Porphyrion reminded him.

Prometheus sighed in return.

"I trust there is no need to reminisce upon those mistakes." Porphyrion suggested.

"I ...would...prefer...that." Prometheus admitted grudgingly.

The Giant stared down upon the Titan and smirked. "Then relax, Prometheus. "He said. "Everyone is allowed to make a mistake once."

"There will be no second time!" Prometheus added rapidly. "Our actions were a mistake, not an error!"

"Good. " Porphyrion muttered whilst leaning back into his throne.

The Giant King pointed his eyes back at every single member of his companions.

"Then tell me, what has been salvaged from our original plan and what has been learned from the previous War between the Gods and the Titans?" He asked before letting his gaze rest upon the sole Titan.

"What is the state of your remaining forces?" He began his questions.

"King Antiphates has returned to the majority of his own forces which have been gathering at the coast of the Sea of Monsters since the call went out for him to assemble the forces of Lamos." Prometheus said whilst he pointed at a few rough looking humanoids who had accompanied him.

"Our king's horde has been growing since his return to the mainland." The ogre answered with a rough voice which would have sounded aggressive and uncouth to a human's ears.

"More ships arrive every day from the islands to renew their pledge of loyalty to the great king." He growled before kneeling in front of Porphyrion. This example was instantly followed by the other Laistrygonians who had accompanied him. "He sends us to offer his own pledge and that of the other Laistrygonians who follow him to the greatest lord.

Porphyrion smiled at that. "And I accept both gladly." He replied whilst removing several swords from his hair strands.

"Take these, give one to your king and accept the others as a gift from your true lord. They carry the blood of the demigods who once wielded them. It is time that their taste for this blood gets rekindled."

Several surprised and obviously pleased grunts and growls rose from the small number of Laistrygonians whilst these reached for the high quality weapons which had been handed to them.

"How many of these Laistrygonians are there under Antiphates' command?" Porphyrion asked Prometheus.

The Titan took a deep breath. "Honestly, I don't think anyone except for your mother can know the answer upon that question." He admitted. "There are maybe twenty camps containing up to nearly a thousand of them but there is at least twice that number of smaller camps."

"Furthermore," continued Prometheus. "There are hundreds of smaller and larger bands of Laistrygonians roving through the States. Currently we are trying to coordinate these into keeping the demigods locked up into their own camps."

Prometheus smiled softly. "It is fair to say that despite their casualties during the Second Titan War, the Laistrygonians have never been stronger or more united than since your arrival."

Prometheus allowed his smile to expand momentarily. "I think it is reasonable to say that Gods and their allies will find themselves greatly surprised by the numbers of the Laistrygonians if they believe them defeated after the setback of the previous war."

"That is good." Porphyrion admitted with some surprise whilst he pointed his eyes at Alcyoneus and Khione in a silent attempt to seek their council.

Both nodded with a hint of a small smile upon their faces which reassured the Giant King.

"What about the others? The Dracaenae, Hyperboreans, Empousai, Telekhines, Centaurs and Cyclopes?" He asked.

"The Hyperborean giants escaped the confrontations with very limited losses," Prometheus started. "The losses of the Centaurs and Empousai were far more severe but not to the amount that it will cripple their efforts." Prometheus continued whilst pointing to a few representatives of these species. "Most of them have joined the bands of Laistrygonians who are wandering through the states."

"The Telekhines on the other hand have mostly returned to the ocean; however Oceanus and Aigaios have ordered a few schools of Telekhines to remain in the area of the Camps." Prometheus smiled momentarily whilst fixing his gaze upon the frozen lake, however this time no representatives of this species appeared and the Titan sighed once.

"And which species did receive heavy loses?" Porphyrion asked them, already having noticed the trend in the summary.

"The majority of the most ancient sea monsters were defeated and killed to obtain the victory at Atlantis." Prometheus admitted. "Whilst they have continued fighting Poseidon and his allies ever since, it is fairly unlikely that their efforts will decide this war."

"With other words," Porphyrion muttered, "until the gates of Tartarus are opened. There is no way to contest the control over the seas and even afterwards it might take us years to retake everything that was lost due to your haste."

"I believe that it ought to be my right to complain about the effort to retake what will be my domain." Polybotes interrupted his younger brother. "And yet I don't."

Porphyrion stared momentarily at his older brother whilst hiding his own annoyance.

"As tempting and satisfying it might be to strangle Poseidon, his children and their allies slowly," Porphyrion reminded him, "Do not forget what fate wrought for us to make us pay for our arrogance and overconfidence three thousand years ago."

Polybotes nodded in return although the Giant King doubted his words would be taken by heart.

"The Cyclopes?" Porphyrion asked, continuing his interrogation.

"The northern Cyclopes have suffered rather heavy loses thus far but not in such numbers that it might impede their contributions and whilst it might take some time to gather them again in large numbers, this is greatly augmented by the fact that most of their kind are currently focused in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois." Prometheus continued calmly. "We withheld the southern cyclopes from participating until now. These will provide us with the necessary muscle for the war."

Porphyrion ignored his explanation about the why they choose to keep the southern Cyclopes out of their own war, the real reason was far more mundane: Those Cyclopes were far wilder and wouldn't have obeyed the Titans, Gods or their representatives unless they kept a continual (and extremely powerful) eye upon them. Whereas they would be willing to obey a Giant, there was no way that the more civilized, less monster-like Titans would receive the same respect.

"What have you and the other Titans and Deities done in expectation of this meeting?" Porphyrion asked the Titan.

"The majority of our own current efforts has gone to our goal to reunite the Dracaenae who scattered after the dead of Queen Sess." Prometheus told him. "We believe we found several candidates for the duty of leading them although none of them is singlehandedly capable of replacing Sess at the moment."

"Who's the most important of them?" Porphyrion asked him.

"Naga." Prometheus said. "She's one of the oldest members of her kind."

"She was the one who followed Alexander's army to India, is it not?" Khione remarked with some curiosity.

"I can't recall that name." Porphyrion muttered curiously. "You know of her?"

"I know of her." Khione admitted. "She's quite famous amongst her kind."

The Goddess chuckled for a moment. "And rather infamous amongst demigods."

"Why?" Porphryion asked her.

Khione pointed her gaze momentarily at Prometheus who smiled at her in return.

"Naga is one of those types who keeps rising to the top whenever the world is in turmoil." Prometheus explained. "She commands a war band of several hundred dracaena with which she tends to establish a small realm of her own. Whenever there is turmoil, she opens up the gates of her kingdom and sets out for war. She's ruthless, cold and calculating, but more importantly she is a gifted killer and a leader who has only visited Tartarus a few times since her birth."

Prometheus paused to smile. "If I am honest, I admired her far more than Sess, she would have made a far better queen and I have no doubt that unless Sess returns soon, she actually might find her throne taken from her."

Porphyrion nodded. "How long do you think we would need to gather the majority of our forces for a confrontation?" He asked them.

"Three months at the very least," Prometheus guessed, "More if we want to march at full strength."

Porphyrion growled. "That is too long, far too long if the Gods use this time wisely!"

"Three months would make us strike around the feast of Fortuna," Alcyoneus remarked whilst sounding rather pleased. The Giant exchanged a look with Polybotes. "That matches Medea's earlier prophecy about the threat to Rome."

"Medea is dead!" growled Prometheus who, for the first time, actually sounded agitated. "I wouldn't rely upon her prophecy just because it suits your plans."

"Medea has been resurrected by mother and Tartarus." Alcyoneus corrected Prometheus with a rather smug expression.

The Titan however had schooled his features and showed no hint of this earlier aggravation when replied.

"I know that, uncle," Prometheus muttered. "She owned a store named M's in Chicago."

Alcyoneus stared at the Titan. "Than what is your point?" He asked him.

"I was speaking in the past tense for a reason, uncle!" Prometheus replied. "She's death, killed by the four heroes and their pets who bested your brother as well!"

Alcyoneus and the majority of the other giants stared at Prometheus momentarily, obviously taken aback by this information.

"Mother will have her rise from the dust again soon enough." Muttered Alcyoneus rather careless.

"That won't be happening either." Prometheus replied which made everyone in the premises stare at him with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity. "I had some of the monsters under my command go through the rubble that remained from her store."

That remark about rubble was one more detail which made the gathered monsters, Giants and Goddess wonder about the extent of that particular confrontation.

"It seems like the demigods had her sit down upon the throne which Hephaestus designed to capture Hera when they killed her with her own poison." Prometheus continued with something of admiration in his voice. "She won't be rising up until either that throne is destroyed or she goes through the entire circle of rebirth within the confines of Tartarus and passes through the gates of Death again.

Prometheus stared at the others. "Naturally, she won't be gifting anyone with another spell or prophecy for what might be centuries." He confirmed.

Prometheus took a deep sigh. "If I am honest I can't say I mind it that much. I have seen what happens when someone follows a prophecy blindly. If your mother does so, it is at her own peril, but I am not willing to take that particular risk."

"If what he says is right than we should get in contact with Pasiphae and Phineas instantly." Muttered Polybotes clearly audible to Porphyrion which did make Prometheus narrow his eyes momentarily.

"Perhaps." Porphyrion admitted whilst giving the Titan a quick look-over. "But I tend to agree with our cousin, as useful as those prophecies might be, I'd prefer to create my own chances and opportunities rather than merely wait for the future to unfold."

Porphyrion closed his fist with a notable crunch which gave indication of his own anger. "Remember? Three thousand years ago, the confrontation between Gods and Giants which would break the power of a great family?" He asked them. After those words each and every member of the Giants growled in agreement.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Orion asked in return.

"We keep to Mother's plan for now." Porphyrion ordered, "Even if it would be only to pretend we are her loyal followers."

"As for the rest, it will depend upon how the Gods and their own followers react." Porphyrion decided.

He pointed his eyes at the Goddess next to his throne.

"You and Prometheus have the most experience with them. What do you think is going to happen?" He asked them.

It was Khione who took the opportunity to re-establish her own influence upon the Giants first.

"Most likely far less than what you fear, my lord." She said.

Porphyrion showed her a small smile as if he wondered to what amount she could know his fears but he said no word.

"Most of the Gods are confident in their power, to the point of arrogance. They have known of the presence of some of your brothers and so many monsters for the past centuries and did nothing at all." She started. "Most of them will dismiss the possibility of a threat if they can be given an excuse to do so." She pointed her eyes at Prometheus. "Furthermore, the recent experience of the Titan war left them paranoid about treason; it is a very fertile ground to plant another seed of those."

She took a deep breath and pointed her own eyes at Orion. "Hera, Ares and Artemis will argue about the threat, but the second is generally ignored whilst the latter will most likely be more interested in revenge upon Orion if an indication of his presence can be found, rather than make a sincere effort to wage a war."

She licked her lips momentarily. "There is the possibility that Athena will argue for a war though." She admitted with a hint of worry.

At that point Ephialtes chuckled rather smugly.

"She won't." He said whilst reaching for one of the coins in his hair. "She has already ordered another of her spawn to go searching for her dummy."

The Giant's laugh gained a cruel edge. "I doubt she'll be thinking clearly before The War has ended."

Prometheus nodded. "If there is anything which we discovered throughout the previous war." He said. "Then it was that most of the Gods are no longer the fearsome warriors they once were."

"Their half-breeds," he continued instantly, as if he was afraid that someone would ask why it was that they had lost the Second Titan War, "have become all the more so though."

"What do you suggest we do about them?" Porphyrion asked him. "What ways did you find to fight them efficiently which you lacked throughout your own war?"

"We should start with isolating them!" Prometheus said, putting a lot of emphasis upon the second to last word.

"Turn them upon each other and sit back whilst the Olympus will tear itself apart." Prometheus continued. "Whilst our original plans failed at doing so at the time, it was highly effective and there are other opportunities and possibilities."

"And what would you suggest to start with?" Porphyrion asked whilst withholding a smirk of his own.

"We would need to shift our targets temporary." Prometheus began. "It aren't the battle hardened Greeks or the well trained Romains which we can manipulate at the moment. Instead we should focus upon the most vulnerable faction."

"The Atlanteans?" suggested Polybotes. "It should be an easy to create malcontents if its capital has been turned into ruins and so many of their kind were killed."

Both his most powerful brothers, as well as the Titan shook their heads in return to this remark.

"The Amazons, brother." Orion corrected him, whilst simultaneously giving his bowstring a lazy pull.

Then he cocked his head momentarily. "I guess that's why Mother forbade me from attacking them for the past fifty years."

Prometheus nodded in return. Once again the Titan showed not so much as a single hint of surprise. "The residents of New Themiscyra are far more numerous than those at Camp Jupiter or Camp Half-Blood." Prometheus continued. "But unlike either of these, they played no role of notice in the Titan War. Whilst some of their warriors are well trained and battle hardened, the majority are inexperienced, arrogant and far more familiar with their own propaganda than actual war. It should not be difficult to entice them into beginning a conflict. Furthermore their queen is young, rather new to her task and therefore she lacks the support and reverence which her predecessors had."

"I agree." Alcyoneus muttered whilst he stared off into the direction of Themiscyra. "It is rather unsettling no?"

"What is unsettling?" Asked Porphyrion whilst turning his head towards his oldest brother.

"Pasiphae's current bodyguard," Alcyoneus growled, "is Otrera, the former queen and founder of the Amazons."

Porphryion nodded in return. "Fate, preparation or mere coincidence?" He asked whilst musing over the possibilities. "It makes you wonder how much Mother has planned in preparation of this day."

Then the Giant shook his head in anger.

"We should not allow ourselves to get overawed." Growled Porphyrion, "Mother made mistakes too, she can be deceived, outwitted or misunderstand things. That's why we involve others as well, there is no way she can prepare for everything and every possibilty!"

"Indeed it is," muttered Clytius with a cold, almost distracted voice, "but there is no reason to underestimate her."

"What are your orders for the remaining camps of Demigods?" Khione asked Porphyrion.

Porphyrion stared of in the distance for a while. "Isolate and lock them off for the moment." He ordered eventually.

"We will follow Mother's directions for now," Porphryion admitted. "Give Otrera access to the means she deems necessary until we judge otherwise. If possible, I'd let the Amazons initiate a conflict with the Romans before we have to risk an assault upon their Camp with our own followers."

"Keeping even a mere two camps isolated will require a lot of bloodshed." Alcyoneus mentioned almost casually, "a full assault will demand even more."

"You want to unlock the Doors of Death completely?" Porphyrion asked him calmly.

The Giant King paused momentarily and then threw his gaze upon the glacier.

"Under how much pressure are Oceanus and Aigaios?" Asked Porphyrion before eying Polybotes.

"After Hades, Zeus, Ares and Enyo came to Poseidon's aid in the aftermath of Typhon's fall?" Prometheus admitted grudgingly. "The gates to their own realms are almost open and the majority of their army is either retreating or locked in rearguard operations."

Porphyrion knew Poseidon wasn't powerful enough to take the domains of the two Titans over, but unless Prometheus was severely exaggerating their troubles, another three months might allow the Earthshaker to do enough damage to knock both of them out of the War. That would free the Atlantean forces again and that could tip the odds back into the favour of the Olympians.

Porphyrion sighed and pointed his eyes back at Alcyoneus.

"Prepare to open the doors of Death a bit more, but don't draw the attention of the Gods for at least another two months. The previous war was lost due to haste. We will act when we are ready, not when our enemies are so."

Porphyrion took a deep breath. "The major sea creatures will be given precedence so they can reinforce Oceanus and Aigaios. Our remaining followers will be allowed to return at a slower pace compared to them so this gives no indication of the extent of our plans and means to our enemies."

He pointed his eyes at Polybotes. "I know you're eager to face Poseidon, brother." Porphyrion admitted. "But satisfy yourself with the Roman Camp until the time comes to face Poseidon."

Then he pointed his gaze upon the former humans and Demigods who had returned when the Giants had created the first opening between the Gates of Death.

"Go back with Prometheus and Polybotes, and find a way to prove yourself worthy of this new existence." He growled at the hooded humans who had accompanied Prometheus.

He turned his back at another group of monsters, the Venti. "Find Iris and capture her or lock her up into her own domain. Withhold her from performing her duties!" He smirked momentarily. "We'll see how well the Gods and their servants are capable of working together if they can't contact each other."

"What are your first orders in regard to the Olympians?" Prometheus asked him.

Porphyrion pointed his eyes first at Khione and then at Orion.

"See to it that the majority of the Olympians fail to believe in my rebirth for now, but make certain plenty of rumours about it start spreading." He ordered them whilst rising from his throne. "If you deem it necessary, make it seem like an aftermath from their war against the Titans which was constructed with the help of Hecate, Prometheus, Enceladus and Orion with the aid of Boreas and some monsters. Encourage their rashness or insecurity so they can't unite and act against us until we are ready!"

Then he growled. This was a loud, monster-like sound that contrasted with his earlier calm, almost human like behaviour.

"Do you understand?! All of you, you will work to divide them, to weaken their commitment, to rattle their nerves! You will circle around them and stick to their flanks, confront them with the death of thousand cuts and then only then when they are divided, when their hope is gone and their morale is approaching the breaking point, then we will strike and destroy them like we should have done three thousand years ago!"

At the council of the Olympians, their king was far less pleased than the Ruler of the Giants.

The lord of the sky slammed a fist down upon the gilded table around which the majority of the Olympians had gathered.

"I have told you all before and I will remind you again!" thundered the King of the Olympians whilst the winds which surrounded him began to howl. "Olympus will remain closed off!"

"If some of you need to leave to perform your duties then you'll have to do so at a later time, because I will allow no more interventions in the affairs of the mortals!" He continued whilst disregarding the disgusted gaze of numerous deities.

"I lost nearly a dozen of my Huntresses due to that order!" Artemis yelled back at him whilst scratching her nails over the desk of the table.

Zeus looked scathely at her after those words. "If those girls of yours can't survive for few months without a Goddess watching their backs you should have kept them safely within the borders of Camp Half-Blood." He growled back.

"My girls wouldn't have been out there," Artemis returned upon a much softer, but no less angry tone of voice, "if it wouldn't have been for your wife!"

Zeus snorted. "An excellent example of why every one of you should accept this temporary isolation." He concluded with a calm, almost sage-like voice.

"There is little we can do about Gaia's stirring, but she has stirred before." Zeus reminded them before he continued speaking with a mixture of annoyance and resignation. "It happens around every conflict of note and it fades away, eventually."

The doors of the hall were thrown open by a violent force and the gathered deities pointed their eyes at the cause of said intrusion.

Two more deities entered the hall. The first was a tall goddess with dark hair that had a, for a Goddess, remarkable ragged appearance, as if it had been cut by a knife during a short, spare moment. Like her mother whom she currently preceded, her eyes were brown in colour, but hers appeared to be of a far lighter hue and seemed to contain a literal fire. Again unlike her mother she sported a notable tan which could only have been attained by spending the majority of her time outdoors.

The last contrast with everyone else in the room with the exception of her brother, Ares, was that Enyo was marching into the room whilst wearing the majority of her war gear.

These were, in particular for a Goddess, remarkably utilitarian pieces of equipment. Pauldrons, a cuirass, greaves, gauntlets and sleeves of mail from simple bronze which despite their obvious high quality were virtually unadorned with embellishments. Likewise the pteruges which covered her lower body were made of black leather which was far finer and sturdier than a mortal animal could have produced but even the brass studs which weighed the strips of leather down were left unadorned of figures or symbols.

A tattered looking cloak with a black colour and numerous grisly looking stains had been wrapped around her shoulders and covered the majority of her back.

Furthermore there was a rather short, leaf-shaped sword which hung upon her left hip whilst a long whip had been wrapped around her belt at her right.

The last piece of her equipment was a Corinthian hoplite helmet which lacked a crest, said piece of armour had been propped under her arm by the Goddess whilst entering the hall.

Like all Goddess, Enyo generally appeared in the guise of a particularly beautiful woman, although unlike the majority of them, it was rare for her to emphasise her appearance, her interest lay in other areas.

It was as such that none of the Olympians showed so much as a hint of surprise about the fact that Enyo, the destroyer of cities, entered the hall with features which were still stained with dust, ash and blood or hair that was caked together due to sweat. What did surprise the other deities was that she entered the hall at all. Her domain and attitude made her a Goddess to whom few showed much liking, her refusal to come to the defence of the Olympians during the battle with Typhon had made her even less likely to receive any affection. However despite proclaiming that she had done so due to her own delight in the conflict and her desire to prolong it for as long as possible, her mother and favourite brother had been aware of the sudden appearance of a female legionary named Duella during the siege of Orthrys.

The Goddess was openly smirking at the looks which some of the gathered Gods and Goddess threw at her whilst walking forward.

A smirk which grew a little wider when she felt the hand of her mother upon her shoulder whilst accompanying said Queen to her seat.

Unlike her daughter, Hera looked as poised, regal and unapproachable as she generally did. There was not so much as a single clue about the possibility that she had edged the border of Tartarus during her imprisonment or a visible indication of the fact that she been robbed from most of her powers to the point that only Hebe, the weakest of her immortal children wasn't stronger than her.

"I see you all decided to start this discussion without me." The Goddess noticed calmly whilst making a waving motion with her hand which made a throne rise up in the space between Zeus and Ares.

Most of the Gods were staring at the Queen with a very humanlike fascination due their expectations of a rather nasty outburst.

Seemingly unaware of that idea, Hera walked calmly to her throne and seated herself whilst Enyo positioned herself only a few feet behind her mother. The woman had placed her helmet next to her feet and crossed her arms in front of her chest whilst leaning against the wall as if she was Hera's bodyguard. She had a small smile upon her own lips and it was rather obvious that she was daring anyone to speak up and to question her presence there. Not too unlike his favourite sister, Ares sported a very similar smirk as well whilst gazing at the remaining Gods and Goddesses in the hall. It was obvious that he was looking forward to the outbreak of a conflict caused by his sister's presence or his mother's arrival and her most recent adventure with an undisguised glee.

Simultaneously however, the smile which he had given both new arrivals made it obvious whose side he would support if someone dared to react.

None did though.

"Please," Hera began, "tell me what you are planning to do against Porphyrion?"

"The Giant King is dead!" Zeus growled whilst the winds grew stronger, "Me and Heracles killed him three millennia ago!"

"I saw him rise with my own eyes," Hera objected calmly, after all those millennia she was no less aware of her husband's temper then she was of her own. "So did your son Jason, his sister, his girlfriend and... Leo Valdez."

Nobody missed her clipped tone when she mentioned Thalia.

"Incidentally," She continued with a far more kind voice whilst turning her head towards Aphrodite and Hephaestus. "They're good kids, you two might want to keep an eye out for them... although I would advise against listening to them unless Valdez learns to keep his mouth closed."

Her smile disappeared when she aimed an undisguised glare at Zeus.

"And please," She asked him, "how would you explain what we saw then?"

"What did you see, Hera?" Zeus asked her in return whilst the wind seemed to die down. "From what I assume you have seen, you and the majority of those children were trapped in an area which was beyond our power. A construct erected by magic from a Godly and Titan origin. "

Despite the rather reasonable tone which the King of the Gods had employed to make this remark, the scoff with which he succeeded that sentence robbed his words from their earlier reconciliatory sentiments.

Zeus sighed. "I doubt you're lying when you're telling us you saw Porphyrion's resurrection. But it is impossible. They simply casted an illusion to take our attention away from the real threat, Gaia or just to set us upon the wrong track."

"Unlike most monsters, Titans, Gods or even Giants, it requires specific rituals to do so much as to influence her dreams, Zeus!" Hera countered whilst showing a hint of the annoyance she actually felt.

"Gaia hasn't risen, she is not even close to rising at our current point, but she might become so if we don't act! Ignoring the problem or shutting us away from it, will not be able of solving it. We've done so for years only to cower again and again in the hopes of nothing happening!"

Hera had not intended to shout, she had honestly wanted to present her case calm and dispassionately whilst letting her arguments do the work for her but somehow she had started screaming after that first sentence."

There was a soft, ice cold voice whispering in the back of her mind which spun stories of her failure and its consequences. And Hera acted like she always had when confronted with her fear or by resistance in general... by either verbally or physically curb stomping it.

She heard Zeus counter it by emphasising the magic which had temporary locked the Wolf House off from the rest of the world. The God argued about the Demigods who sided with the Titans and the help which the Giants had provided at times.

When Hera tried to use these last attempts to support her case, Zeus argued about how inconsequential these actions had been and how easily he – and his son Jason- had bested Enceladus. He temporarily forgot the hypocrisy of this action- he had forbidden everyone from leaving the Olympus, just like he forgot that, in Jason's opinion, this victory had been far from easy or a certainty.

The remaining Gods sat there, torn between shuffling rather uncomfortably due to their witnessing of this spousal dispute and supporting either of the two, this last was either out of the desire to get away from the Olympus, their belief in the arguments of one of the two arguing deities or and that was at least as important, merely their dislike of the King or Queen from the Olympians.

It did not take long before the argument about Porphyrion's existence expanded far beyond this question and went on towards Zeus opinion that Hera's imprisonment was merely a remnant of the previous War against Titans, one that was sprung by one of the remaining rebels or even one of the "previously treacherous deities" and the way he kept hammering upon the word witchcraft made it rather obvious he was actually talking about Hecate.

When she brought the intervention of Khione up, Zeus simply replied that he himself would take care of the lords of the Wind and their spawn, since they were his domain!

In the end, the most spectacular decision which was taken were his orders to refocus the attention of the Hunt upon Orion and Lycaon whilst Poseidon was given permission to leave the Olympus to take control of the war within the confines of the Oceans. Artemis would also be given leave to rejoin the Hunt if they found the Giant Hunter or if they required her aid. The Titans and Gods who had taken the side of Kronos and his followers would be made aware of his displeasure, but no action would be undertaken. It was a poor solution which made nobody happy, not Zeus for the concessions he had made and certainly not the others who rightfully noted that except for Poseidon nothing had changed. Hera was the least pleased of all. She had been imprisoned, come close to dying and had lost most of her strength and for what? To be disbelieved as if she was merely a hysteric madwoman, to be locked up in the golden cage which was the Olympus?!

She threw Zeus her most furious glare when she stood up and left at the ending of the meeting.

"I take that it didn't go as you imagined?" Aphrodite remarked upon an almost casual tone after Hera had left the hall.

Hera bit back a snarl when she turned her head towards the Goddess of Love and Beauty.

Aphrodite's current appearance seemed to mirror Hera's own looks greatly, which gave her a pale complexion and long, dark hair which fell in down in a cascade of ringlets. However unlike the other Goddess, Aphrodite seemed younger and lacked the innate strictness which was so typical of Hera. As she currently appeared, Hera was the strict queen whilst Aphrodite resembled the far kinder princess who was most likely the love-interest or the poor, imprisoned victim of the fairytale.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Hera asked coldly although neither her tone nor her anger was actually aimed at the other Goddess.

Aphrodite narrowed her eyes momentarily, then she smiled coldly. "A thank you for sending my daughter and the others out for you would be appreciated." She said with a rather obvious glee.

Hera's glare became far more personal in a matter of moments.

The other Goddess observed Hera carefully whilst Enyo placed a cautionary hand upon her mother's shoulder.

Then she turned her head to one of the nearby corners behind Hera and her daughter.

"If you would, sweetie?" She asked seemingly to nobody in particular.

Merely a moment later, Hera felt a wave of hot air strike her back.

She whirled around instantly whilst Enyo did the same.

The cause of this warm breeze was a huge, deformed man who was leaning against the walls from the corner of the hallway. A few traces from the flames which had caused the earlier warmth were lingering in the bush of his beard. After a moment of staring at his mother with dark and rather angry eyes the God attempted to straighten his back, something which seemed physically impossible due to his deformed physique.

Then he turned around and walked away again whilst accompanied by the creaking sound of his leg braces and a brass automaton in the shape of a woman who provided him with the necessary support to walk.

"What?" Hera asked her curiously whilst Aphrodite made a motion with her hand which closed each of the windows in the hall.

"You might not feel so angry or afraid, after that."

Hera stared at Aphrodite for a moment.

"Why would that be the case?" She asked whilst torn between feeling irritated and curious.

"I felt a cold wind throughout the meeting." Aphrodite told her in return. "Usually that wouldn't bother me too much, since your husband is the Lord of the Sky, but there have been too much meetings between my daughter and the winds of the north for me to trust in a mere coincidence."

"You think Khione influenced me?" Hera muttered annoyed.

Aphrodite raised her hands up in surrender. "Considering the way the wind seemed to sway at the tone of your confrontation with your beloved husband, I am certain it influenced it in some ways."

The Goddess of Love fixed her eyes at the pair of deities. "Can you say for certain it did not?"

Hera's first reflex was to deny, a second, more careful thought made her hesitate to do so.

"I am not certain." She admitted eventually with an obvious unwillingness. "Although that would explain quite a bit of my husband's behaviour."

Aphrodite sighed, but nodded nonetheless, whilst she doubted that Hera was honest in claiming that wasn't certain about being influenced by another deity, she was quite certain that the Queen would be upon her guard against another attempt like that.

Hera pursed her lips momentarily. "I'd guess I own you some gratitude for sending your daughter... and mine to my aid."

Aphrodite smiled, obviously pleased by the admittance but then waved the gratitude away.

"Don't mention it," she said, "It is not as if I had no reason to aid you ... Especially since I asked your daughter for help to protect my own girl rather than to help you specifically."

"Perhaps, but it is not as if it didn't help us both."

Aphrodite smiled.

"Then perhaps you could do me another favour?" Hera asked her which made both Aphrodite as well as Enyo smile due to the poor attempt at manipulation.

"What favour?" the Goddess of beauty and pleasure asked her in return whilst raising a single eyebrow in return to the question.

"Nothing too dangerous or painful." Hera reassured her. "Just give Hephaestus my gratitude for allowing Leo to go... and for helping with his fire."

Aphrodite paused for a moment. "That," she said, "is something you ought to do yourself."

"Besides," She said added with a hint of resentment. "I try to evade his company whenever possible."

Hera sighed in return.

"You could do me another favour," Hera offered then, whilst showing a rather austere smile. "This one might have a lot more severe consequences if you're caught."

"You do know how to entice a woman." Aphrodite muttered depreciatingly before sporting a rather mischievous smile.

"It will involve breaking some rules for me, and then me tearing even more orders from Zeus to shreds." Hera explained.

"You do know how to entice a woman." Aphrodite repeated, this time sounding far more intrigued.

Hera chuckled softly. "I need you to borrow something from Athena whilst I have Ares ...distracting her."

"Distracting her?" Aphrodite asked curiously and with a hint of entertainment in her voice which made clear that her thoughts had gone into a direction for which Athena would be willing to bash her head in.

"You've seen her eyes, she's once again obsessing over her bauble." Hera reminded her. "I might have asked Ares to make a few remarks about burning wooden statues and monkeys wearing golden rings and the like."

Aphrodite chuckled in return. "Chaos, I hope Hephaestus is taping that!"

"He has just posted a preview," whispered Enyo conspiratorially and with an obvious glee, "and thus far it seems as if my brother is dominating the confrontation."

"What do you need and will it help you regain some of your power?"

Hera smiled in return. "Just a little something my husband's bastard-daughter reminded me of." She paused momentarily. "And to do something my adopted daughter is going to love me for."

"Cold!" Was the first word which Leo shouted when his head reached the surface of the lake.

It took only moments before Jason and Piper likewise reappeared from the depths.

At the edge of the pool he noticed several teenagers wearing orange T-shirts and he paused for a moment to stare at them. They gaped back in return until Leo felt a quick slap against the back of his head. It wasn't a hard one, at least not hard enough to hurt but it did succeed into waking them up from his temporary stupor.

"Jason," Leo told the Roman boy with a calm voice whilst staring at his face, "I really don't like your patron."

He shivered momentarily. "Nor her sense of humour." He added.

"She might not have intended for us to be dropped into this pool." Piper suggested which made both boys stare at her with wide eyes.

"She might have," Piper repeated but it was rather obvious that nobody, least of all she herself believed her words.

The three former Dragon riders swam to shore whilst more demigods came running from the nearby building.

"Tell me," were the words which Chris muttered as he offered Leo, who climbed out of the water the first towel, "will you always be going for a swim whenever you enter the camp?"

Leo angrily muttered something that nobody but himself could understand and started walking towards the Arena.

After that, Chris grabbed the shoulder of one of the nearby children of War and told him to gather the other leaders in the Arena.

Then he reached for another towel which he handed over to Jason. Said boy accepted the towel before passing it along to Piper and using the remaining towel for himself.

"Since you three fell into the lake after appearing out of nowhere I take it that you succeeded in your mission." Chris muttered half amused.

Jason nodded in return.

"Right, then before you tell everyone about it, did you find your memory, Persephone... or Clarisse?" he asked him in return.

"We met Persephone," Jason confirmed, before he smiled, "and I remember everything ... even my sister."

"Your sister?" Chris repeated with an obvious surprise and some joy in his voice.

"Congratulations." He said whilst giving him a friendly slap upon the shoulder.

"And Clarisse?" He asked with a much softer voice, obviously asking the question of which he desired the answer most of all whilst he was simultaneously terrified for what a confirmation would lead to."

Jason shook his head. "No, I still don't. I know barely a thing about her, nothing recent at least. I am sorry."

Chris sighed and shook his head in return before turning his back upon Jason and walking to the Arena with slumped shoulders.

Jason stared at the boy for a moment whilst instinctively reaching for Piper with his most nearby arm and pulling her by his side before nudging her cheek with his head.

"Jason?" the girl asked, surprised but obviously pleased by his administration.

"I am just so happy that you're still with me," Jason muttered, "when I see what he goes through."

...

...

The three Dragon riders entered the centre of the Arena.

Jason couldn't help but mentally scoff at the name though.

The Arena was a large place, but unlike the massive building back in the Roman camp which dominated the city, the Greek amphitheatre was far less impressive. A cleared, flat piece of land which was more or less circular and which was merely surrounded by several, rising tiers of stone benches. Not even a proper wall which would allow the fighters the chance of taking on animals or captured monsters without endangering their spectators.

He sighed. "No wonder," he couldn't help but think, "that Persephone had liked to face some opponents in their own arena that much."

He doubted that the Greeks ever had been willing or able to throw some proper games in this rather sad excuse for an amphitheatre. Supposedly, if he recalled some history lessons from high school correctly, the concept of an arena had been created by simply doubling the original semicircular theatre. If that was true (and he doubted most of what that idiot had ever told him about basically everything that hadn't been about him not wanting to teach them), it was quite obvious that Camp Half-Blood had never evolved beyond that primitive stage.

He shook his head after the thought. Whatever he was supposed to do, verbally expressing or even thinking those thoughts was not going to help him, especially not if his girlfriend was a Grecian herself.

"So what happened?" Asked Annabeth, one of the few demigods who had not taken a seat upon the stone slabs. Next to her, Chiron was trotting up and down the length of the lowest benches.

"Well," Leo started with his usual, impish grin, "we left the camp, kicked some Giant ass and freed Hera, and thus...we won."

Piper and Jason had the decency to look sheepish. The trio of arrows which struck the dust in front of Leo's feet made it rather obviously what some of the children of Apollo were thinking of his storytelling skills.

"I regained my memory and we met up with Persephone twice," Jason added rapidly whilst giving Leo a little slap at the back of his head to signify his own annoyance.

"The long version is a lot longer and more complicated." He continued calmly. "You will want something comfortable to sit down."

Jason threw a calm look at the surrounding Demigods. "I know I want so for myself and the others as well as something to drink."

A soft chuckle rose up from the majority of the Demigods, although this laugh was rather acrid for some of their audience. A minority of the Demigods was looking at Jason with a renewed interest. This Jason behaved rather different from the more confused and demure teenager who had entered the Camp for the first time. Unlike then, this Jason was showing confidence and seemed to project himself to the front instinctively and if they judged him correctly, not without some familiarity to such attention. Even the little joke was a useful addition to what was basically making certain that the meeting took place upon his conditions and to take the worst sting out of his demand.

None of these more aware members had missed the fact that he positioned himself rather closely to exit either or that throughout Leo's and his words he had kept his body pointed in this direction as if to prepare for the necessity of making a quick retreat.

Especially the representatives of the Athena cabin were looking at Jason with an obvious suspicion.

It was Jason who told the majority of their story, only switching to Leo or Piper when it was their part of the story to tell, not that either of them protested. It was only when Piper mentioned the appearance of a demigoddess in Medea's store and her revelation of a purple shirt akin to Jason's that there was a notable reaction: the majority of the demigods were instinctively tensing. However it was a moment later when Piper revealed that said girl had told her that the witch was the legendary Medea that distrust turned into a loud disbelief.

It was Jason who silenced the gathered demigods by calling a quick, loud wind down before any of the other Greeks or Chiron could intervene.

Again this disturbance was nothing in comparison to the racket when Piper revealed that Medea had claimed Gaia as her patron and the cause of her return.

However after Jason had taken over and resumed the story at the point that Medea had fallen down with a sword in her back and the swearing demigoddess had joined them that an instant silence fell.

It was Annabeth who spoke up first, exclaiming the name which some of the other demigods had only dared to hope for. "Persephone," she said whispering but somehow audible to all whilst pointing her eyes at Jason with a mixture of hope, pleasure, obvious confusion and shame.

Jason nodded in return and continued their story.

He could feel everyone gaze upon him when his words revealed that Persephone had been familiar with the then amnesiac boy.

A silence fell and it became rather obvious that every single one of the demigods was torn between jumping up and calling him a liar and demanding a proper, very extensive explanation from him, and having him continue the story.

It was Leo who spoke up whilst Jason took a sip of water.

"You know," he said, "the next part is even better. Massive spoiler, it's got Dragons."

Some people laughed nervously, but everyone kept staring at Jason.

Jason stared back and for a single moment showed a half-entertained smile.

"Well," he said, "it does." Then he continued their story.

"It was Persephone, all right." Muttered Annabeth whilst smiling sadly, seemingly reminiscing about their shared past. "I was there with her when we entered the underworld to save her mom."

Next to her, Luke was shuffling rather uncomfortable upon their shared stone slab.

However it was the revelation of "Persephone's" newfound, adopted mother that did baffle the gathered campers whom Nico had never made aware of the identity of Persephone's patron.

"Gods," Annabeth muttered, "unless he's mistaken, Thalia will whip up the storm of the century when she finds out."

"My sister is already aware, Annabeth." Jason replied with a tired voice, "and trust me, she wasn't happy about it."

The majority of the older campers who were more than familiar with Thalia and her renowned temper and equally renowned disdain for the Queen of the Gods sniggered loudly in return.

Annabeth's own expression was not that much more pleased than Thalia's had been, the daughter of Athena had her own issues with the Olympian Goddess. Fortunately for the messenger though, unlike Thalia, Annabeth was not capable of calling a lightning storm down upon the latest object of her ire.

"How the Hades is it possible that it is Hera of all goddesses who picked up Persephone?" She openly wondered. Annabeth raised her hands up in a frustrated gesture. "And of all the possible Deities, why her?"

Jason on the other hand made careful notice of this reaction and if he was honest, the Roman was more than a little bit surprised about the amount of disdain both his sister and now Annabeth, as well a few of the other Greeks were demonstrating towards Juno. Agreed, she rated rather low upon his own list with people and immortals which he liked and she hadn't been that loved by the Romans either, but even so the Romans held her quite obviously in a far higher regard than these Greeks did.

"Am I missing something?" Jason asked Piper.

It was Chiron who answered him instead.

"As the protector of marriage, Hera has never been very popular among demigods to whom she often refers as bastards or crimes against her domain or the marital oaths from their parents." Chiron told him.

"Furthermore over the centuries she has taken it upon herself to punish some of these children for their parent's lack of loyalty." He continued.

Then he pointed at the nearby daughter of Athena. "Annabeth, Persephone, Thalia, Nico, Grover and Tyson all met her at least once." He said whilst sounding thoughtful. "I wouldn't have thought that any of them left the Labyrinth with a good impression from Her."

Jason shook his head in return. "If that was the case, it has thoroughly changed for Persephone." He replied. "I've seen how they interact. Trust me if I tell you that Persephone cares greatly for her."

He paused momentarily. "And so does Juno, she cares enough to restrain herself ... somewhat when talking with the Demigods of even her own husband."

Chiron stared forward in silence, trying to imagine what Jason had told him. It was hard to do so although her affection for her own natural daughters and Ares was well known.

Then he decided to dismiss the ideas for now, although he sincerely hoped for Persephone's sake Jason was right.

The immortal centaur sighed and then he nocked an arrow with a gap though its head upon his bow and aimed that at the sky, away from any nearby campers.

A sharp, high-pitched sound shot through the arena which, despite Jason's opinion of its state, had been designed to allow the spectators to see and hear almost anything. As a result the majority of the demigods winced instinctively although this was more a force of habit rather than an actual result of pain.

Still the centaur made it a point to search his own quiver for another of the signal arrows before letting it demonstratively slide back.

"...Shall we continue listening to their story?" Chiron asked with a far too friendly tone of voice for someone who had just had unleashed the ancient equivalent of a firecracker upon their ears.

Everyone, including the three dragon riders nodded whilst staring at the signal arrow with some obvious wariness.

Jason took another slow sip of his drink and then continued his tale, well he told them most of it. Minor details like the why of Piper's dad (or his identity for that matter) being captured by Enceladus were wisely kept unsaid. The boy did not doubt that some of the older, more experienced or simply the more cruel and cunning campers would easily see through his omission though.

Even Chiron seemed to rest his gaze upon Jason and Piper for a few moments after the jump from Enceladus to the House of Wolves. Still neither of the two showed so much as a single hint of uncertainty under his gaze, nor underneath the eyes of the others. By contrast when some of the other, more impressive looking campers pointed their gaze upon Leo who, small and cheerful as he was looked like he would be a far easier target to crack, the boy showed them a bright smile in return. A moment later he began juggling with small fiery orbs.

That in combination with the more personal nature of this absence for Piper and the impression of carefully controlled anger and violence which went out from Jason was enough to make the most of them realise that the answer was not worth the danger of asking the question.

Jason could read the eyes of the majority of the Campers like others would read a book.

War! They had already known it was coming; now they had it confirmed. Some of the older ones were almost looking relieved although this relief contained little happiness, just the tired resignation of people who knew a disaster had been approaching and which has been finally revealed, others sighed with a silent, disappointed acceptance of the fact. Lastly there was a small minority, generally the representatives of the youngest and newest campers who were obviously torn, numerous emotions shot through their eyes: fear, curiosity and even excitement.

It was so incredibly easy to see the lines which divided camp Half-Blood.

He sighed, Hera – no, not Hera! Juno- had sent him here for a reason, and whether he liked it or not, he did believe she was right.

"I'll admit I don't know where Clarisse is at the moment." He began, "but I know for certain that Lady Juno did send me here for a reason."

Jason paused for a moment.

"You already know I am no Greek." Jason reminded them whilst exposing the mark which had been burned in his lower arm.

"However I do serve the same gods, although with other priorities."

He took another deep breath and then made small bow. "With my full memory restored to me, I would like to introduce myself again and officially now." He said.

"My name is Jason Grace, son of Jupiter the lord of the Sky and champion of Juno, which are better known to you as Zeus and Hera." Jason began. "My official ranks were centurion of the Fourth cohort and Praetor of the Twelfth Legion."

He fixed his eyes upon some of the most distrusting members of the Greek Camp. "To my enemies," he continued with a cold tone of voice, "I am the Slayer of the Trojan Sea monster, Bane of Krios, Defeater of Enceladus and Conqueror of Orthrys."

After those words he smirked with an obvious self-confidence, then his eyes lost this earlier challenge and hardness.

"To my friends," he said with an obvious smile, "I am merely Jason, the Lightning Boy."

"Superman is fine too." Leo interjected after which he was promptly punished by having the earlier mentioned Lightning Boy zap him relentlessly and like Leo soon discovered, the arena wasn't big enough to get out of the other boy's range. His (half-amused) cries for mercy were ignored by all.

"I see." Chiron said eventually whilst staring at Jason and Piper. "I know why Piper and Leo are in the camp, they belong here. But why are you still here as well?"

The immortal centaur paused momentarily whilst most of the demigods were staring at him.

Chiron opened his mouth to say something, then he changed his mind and closed his mouth again as if he had tried to imitate a fish.

"I am sorry." Chiron said eventually whilst bowing his head to Jason. "That came out wrong; despite the history of the Greeks and the Romans I have no desire for another conflict between the two Camps, small scale or not."

These words made several Greeks stare at Chiron in wonder, before they narrowed their eyes at Jason again.

Jason simply chuckled in return. "None taken..." he paused momentarily and stared the centaur in the eyes. "It is strange, no?"

Chiron showed a sad smile in return. "It is." He admitted.

"Why were you send back to Camp Half-Blood?" Chiron asked him after a few moments.

"The Giants are rising and Juno knows that we Romans don't have the strength to beat them on our own." Jason admitted after a few moments and his expression made it obvious that this confession was hard to make, especially in front of the Greek demigods.

He pointed his eyes at the Greeks who had encircled him. "Is there even a single one of you who believes that it is different for the Greeks?"

There were plenty of denials... at first, but then these outcries quickly quietened down. There had been too many battles with monsters since the end of the Titan War, to many struggles, too many conflicts in the camp itself and far too little changes to hope for better. They had already discovered that Orthrys hadn't collapsed upon its own due to Kronos conveniently being a load-bearing boss, thus why continue to proclaim what you don't even believe in yourself.

There had been plenty of denials, but most of these had been little more than outbursts to sooth their own wounded pride and there was very little heat in these words.

"Why were you sent to Camp Half-Blood?" Chiron asked Jason, repeated his earlier question.

Jason took another deep breath. "To ask for an alliance." The Roman admitted. "Even if it would be only for this one war."

"Do you even have the power to offer such a thing?" Chiron asked him whilst the remaining demigods were listening intently.

Jason nodded. "There are only two demigods in the entire Camp Jupiter who have this power, these are the praetors." He said. "And unless this changed during my absence I still am one of them."

"How will your campers react upon this alliance?" Annabeth asked in return. "I know us Greeks were in several wars in the past."

The daughter of Athena pointed her eyes momentarily at Chiron and glared at him through narrowed eyes. "Wars which were fought against more than merely monsters and which did not involve the Amazons."

Another wave of chattering rose up above the stone seats.

Jason paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "Only the highest officers have the right to decide over peace, war and accepting or denying an alliance. Unless a deity deems it fit to intervene by himself or herself, this gives me as a praetor the last word over these decisions."

Jason paused for a moment.

"Reyna, my fellow praetor, is the only one who can go against me in this..." Jason told them before pausing before another moment. "And I do believe she trusts my judgement enough to give it a chance."

Although," he added almost like an afterthought, "there are those who will be giving us both as much grief over this offer as they possibly can."

"If Clarisse end up being found by those legionaries of yours," Chris asked him with a deceptively calm voice, "what will happen?"

Jason took a deep breath and waited for a few more moments before answering that question.

"Honestly, if that happens before I can make this alliance official," Jason admitted with far softer voice, "there are several possibilities but only a few of them are good for her."

He took another breath. "We've met up with a few isolated bands of demigods throughout the war with the Titans. Most of those attacked us upon sight and we returned the courtesy in return."

These words crushed the chattering of the Greeks almost instantly.

"And the good options?" Chris asked him in return, retaining that deceptively calm tone of voice.

"She needs something or someone to defend her, something which makes clear upon the spot that she isn't an enemy." Jason told them. "Her best bet is either Persephone, Juno or her father intervening before she reaches the camp."

Jason paused for another moment. "Or she needs to be found in a state that makes it obvious that she can't be a threat for a while."

"Reyna is unlike to intervene to save her." Jason continued. "Not without a good reason, not merely for a stranger." He pointed his eyes at Chris. "How far do you think will Persephone go to save her?"

Chris smiled bitter in return but it was Annabeth who replied. "For one of her best friends? She'll slaughter her way through every single legionary Rome once fielded and laugh at their suffering whilst doing so."

Annabeth shook her head. "Persephone is many things, but even remotely reasonable when those she cares about are threatened is not one of them."

"Few people are." Jason interjected calmly whilst staring at Chris.

Said boy returned Jason gaze with an equal calm before closing his eyes and smiling softly, almost dreamingly.

"I am willing to accept this alliance." He told Jason. "I believe you if you claim that neither of the Camps can survive facing the Giants or Gaia in open conflict."

He opened his eyes again. "I will fight side by side with your legionaries, save as many of them as I can and kill monsters in numbers you haven't even witnessed before." He said with the same calm in his voice. "But if Clarisse has been killed by a Roman hand and this war ends, no matter what happens or has happened, I swear to you that I will kill...every...Roman...legionary...for as long as I live."

Chris gave him a kind smile after those words.

"And just so we're clear, I am quite certain I am not the only one thinking like that."

Several of the Children of War grinned cruelly or nodded in return whilst gazing at Jason.

"Aren't you Greeks supposed to be peaceful artisans and philosophers?" Jason asked him, only half sarcastic.

Again it was Annabeth who replied. "There is not a single coast in the Mediterranean which did not receive Greek colonists or had hoplites, pirates and raiders wage a war there and therefore knows our blood. Trust me when I say that Greeks don't fight like heroes, heroes merely imitate Greeks."

Jason merely chuckled in return. "Let's hope you do." After those words he found his smile disappearing, "because I have seen the opposition and I am not looking forward to the confrontation."

It was Chiron who intervened to steer the conversation back into the right direction.

"The Gods made it so that Greeks couldn't send an Iris-message to Romans." He paused for a moment. "And considering our inability to contact Persephone with such, it seems rather likely that she is now considered one of these."

"You want me to use one of those Iris-messages to contact Reyna and Persephone?" Jason suggested, more than a little bit intrigued by the Greek way messaging.

"Unless you have a more sure Roman way of contacting them," Annabeth said rather mockingly. "I suggest you get used to doing things the Greek way."

Jason ignored Annabeth's tone. Like her he remembered a lot of stories about battles between demigods and other demigods, it was for that reason that he distrusted her. It had a reason why Minerva was a mere goddess of crafts in a society obsessed by war and strength whilst the Greeks worshipped Athena as a deity of wisdom and war. There were too many stories about the so-called children of this goddess to trust her and Jason couldn't help but wonder whether he had made a mistake in giving her and her siblings a way to access to his Camp.

"Whether that works or not," Chris commented whilst Chiron handed a golden coin to the Roman demigod, "How are we going to get to your camp? There are hundreds if not thousands of monsters around the border and far more will be travelling throughout the states, furthermore only the Gods know how many of those will be surrounding your Camp."

Chris tapped the hilt of his sword whilst looking at the teenager. "We'll require an entire army just to travel to your camp and we'll risk losing half of them in the journey alone."

He paused for a moment to stare into the direction of the stables. "Depending upon the distance we might be capable of sending a number of Pegasi-riders though, Kymopoleia's Raiders might do the trick, even more so if Persephone is indeed with the Romans."

"Kymopoleia's Raiders?" Jason asked him.

Chris made a negligent motion with her hand. "Persephone named them after one of her half-sisters, they're among the best horsemen and swordsmen in the Camp." He smiled momentarily. "A band of madmen and –women who served as Persephone's own bodyguard and personal strike-force throughout the war."

Jason shook his head in return. "Trust me, the Roman Camp is too far for them to reach it in one go."

"It is worth a shot." Muttered Sherman, one of Clarisse brothers and nowadays one of the main-leaders from the Children of War.

"Your sister trusted me with your safety, Sherman." Chris reminded the teenager harshly. "Your safety and that of your siblings, as well as the rest of the Children of War. I won't be going to explain to her why you're dead without offering her a damn good reason why. Impatience is not one!"

The massive Titan stared down upon the Goddess.

"Hello, Atlas." Hera said. "It has been a long time, has it not?"

"Hera!" growled the General. "If only I had the chance to wrap my hands around your neck."

He spat upon the ground, his spittle hitting the earth only a few feet of the Goddess' sandals.

"How...charming." muttered Hera dryly. "I see those years of imprisonment have done no favours to your manners."

"What do you want from me?" He asked her whilst ignoring her words.

"Quite a bit, frankly." She admitted. "The Giants are rising, Porphyrion awoke not even a full day ago."

Atlas chuckled roughly. "What of it? You expect me to help you in return? Let them, they're more inclined to get me from underneath this pain in my neck then you are!"

"I assume you knew that this would happen if you're own attacks failed?" Hera asked him in return.

The Goddess paused momentarily. "Why else," she continued, "did your relatives put such an emphasis upon gathering the support of demigods?"

Atlas shrugged or at least he somehow succeeded in raising his shoulders a bit despite the weight pressing down upon him.

"What if we did? What if we didn't?" He said in return with some obvious glee in his voice.

He chuckled again. "Tell me who do you think is more suitable for carrying the Heavens? Artemis, Heracles or Athena?"

"What makes you think your allies can win this war when they failed to do so a year ago?" Hera asked him in return.

"I am not the Titan of Endurance and Strength, The General of the armies of Lord Kronos himself for no reason." Atlas reminded her. "Unlike the fools which you call son and daughter, I know all about war."

"You're here for a reason, Goddess and the Apples won't be it, they might return some strength to you but even a thousand apples won't give you the strength worthy of a true queen." Atlas told her arrogantly.

"Thus tell me, Goddess?" Asked Atlas. "What are you offering, what is now worthy of your life and remains so when the war has ended and you have lost everything that matters?"

Hera shook her head. "You are right about my own power," She admitted, "but wrong about everything else."

The Goddess smiled and started to change. She was visibly shrinking and de-aging whilst her skin gained a Mediterranean complexion and her hair grew in length whilst becoming more and more dishevelled.

"What?" Asked Atlas in surprise.

"No, you weren't wrong, Atlas." Hera said whilst retaining her own voice. "I am still Hera the Queen of the Olympus and not the Monster slayer.

Hera lips curled into a smile which was far crueller than anything the original Persephone could have shown to Atlas during their own confrontation. Nowadays however, there were a great deal of residents of Tartarus who were aware that Persephone's smile could be just as sadistic and cruel.

"I want you to look at me carefully!" She told the titan, "I want you to realise that for the next fifty years the picture of my daughter will be tattooed upon the back from your eyelids."

"There will be no negotiations, whether we win or not, you won't be the one to profit from this conflict." Hera continued. "This is for your own daughter which you killed and every tear and sleepless night the act brought forth."

"What are you ..." Atlas started obviously panicking whilst struggling against the weight of his burden as if he tried to escape.

Hera slowly raised her left arm up and exposed a single large bangle which adorned her wrist. This bangle was made from gold and the soft metal had been inscribed with numerous curling lines.

"No!" Whispered Atlas when he recognised the jewel for what it was.

"Yes!" Replied Hera whilst the gold began to expand and revealed numerous layers of gilded brass and oak.

Atlas squeezed his eyes shut before the sight could paralyse him but he knew that there would be no escape.

He felt something sharp and curved pierce the skin of his face and he sighed before biting down when the curved beak of the bird and its claws began carving into his cheek.

There was no escape and he swore loudly whilst opening his eyes. He caught a glimpse of a large vulture and then far below the animal there was a green, scaled face with large tusks which were surrounded by numerous, writhing snakes.

Hera smiled whilst tapping upon the rim of the original Aegis before she began to prepare for sapping the Titan's strength. This was at least one Titan who wouldn't be able of coming to the aid of Gaia or the Giants. It had taken her a month to lose the majority of her strength, it would take the same amount of time to regain not even a third of it, but it was a start even if it might take her years before she would be back at her old level.

For those who wonder about Annabeth's remark, this is her paraphrasing a comment from Churchill about the Greek resistance during the invasion from the Italians and later the Germans.

Sadly no actual appearance from Persephone this time, but she'll be back in the next chapter. (*Chuckle*, even main-characters deserve a break)