My dad used to say that being in the airport didn't count as visiting a city. I felt the same way about sewers.

From the port to the Acropolis, I didn't see anything of Athens except dark, putrid tunnels. The snake men led them through an iron storm grate at the docks, straight into their underground lair, which smelled of rotting fish, mould and snakeskin.

The atmosphere made it hard to sing about summertime and easy living, but I kept it up. If I stopped for longer than a minute or two, Kekrops and his guards started hissing and looking angry. 

I honestly didn't know how I was keeping this up. 

I was in the dark surrounded by snake people. My two irrational fears thanks to my wonderful father Apollo.

"I don't like this place," Annabeth murmured. "Reminds me of when I was underneath Rome."

Kekrops hissed with laughter. "Our domain is much older. Much, much older."

Annabeth slipped her hand into Percy's, which made me feel downhearted. I wished Jasper were with me. Heck, I'd even settle for Leo, I'd grown close to him over the past few days... though maybe I wouldn't have held his hand. Leo's hands tended to burst into flames when he was nervous.

My voice echoed through the tunnels. As we traveled further into the lair, more snake people gathered to hear me. Soon we had a procession following behind them – dozens of gemini all swaying and slithering.

Just keep singing, I told myself. Don't worry about the creepy snake people behind you

We passed through crude stone chambers littered with bones. We climbed slopes so steep and slippery it was nearly impossible to keep our footing. At one point, we passed a warm cave the size of a gymnasium filled with snake eggs, their tops covered with a layer of silver filaments like slimy Christmas tinsel.

More and more snake people joined their procession. Slithering behind me, they sounded like an army of football players shuffling with sandpaper on their cleats.

I wondered how many gemini lived down here. Hundreds, maybe thousands.

Why did every Greek myth have to deal with snakes? I thought miserably. 

I thought I heard her own heartbeat echoing through the corridors, getting louder and louder the deeper they went. Then I realized the persistent boom ba-boom was all around them, resonating through the stone and the air.I wake. A woman's voice, as clear as my singing.

Annabeth froze. "Oh, that's not good."

"It's like Tartarus," Percy said, his voice edgy. "You remember ... his heartbeat. When he appeared–"

"Don't," Annabeth said. "Just don't."

"Sorry." In the light of his sword, Percy's face was like a large firefly – a hovering, momentary smudge of brightness in the dark.

The voice of Gaia spoke again, louder: At last.

My singing wavered.

Fear washed over me, but after all that I'd been through this summer. Fear was a constant thing. I let it turn into adrenaline.  I felt the fear burn inside me like fuel, making my voice even stronger. I sang for the snake people, for her friends' safety. Why not for Gaia, too?

Finally we reached the top of a steep slope, where the path ended in a curtain of green goo.

Kekrops faced the demigods. "Beyond this camouflage is the Acropolis. You must remain here. I will check that your way is clear."

"Wait." I turned to address the crowd of gemini. I couldn't believe I was about to help snakes. "There is only death above. You will be safer in the tunnels. Hurry back. Forget you saw us. Protect yourselves."

The snake people, even the guards, turned and slithered into the darkness, leaving only the king.

"Kekrops," I said, "you're planning to betray us as soon as you step through that goo."

"Yes," he agreed. "I will alert the giants. They will destroy you." Then he hissed. "Why did I tell you that?"

"Listen to the heartbeat of Gaia," I urged. "You can sense her rage, can't you?"

Kekrops wavered. The end of his staff glowed dimly. "I can, yes. She is angry."

"She'll destroy everything," I said. "She'll reduce the Acropolis to a smoking crater. Athens – your city – will be utterly destroyed, your people along with it. You believe me, don't you?"

"I – I do."

"Whatever hatred you have for humans, for demigods, for Athena, we are the only chance to stop Gaia. So you will not betray us. For your own sake, and your people, you will scout the territory and make sure the way is clear. You will say nothing to the giants. Then you will return."

"That is ... what I'll do." Kekrops disappeared through the membrane of goo.

Annabeth shook her head in amazement. "Eliana, that was incredible."

"We'll see if it works." I sat down on the cool stone floor. I figured I might as well rest while I could.

The others squatted next to me. Percy handed me a canteen of water.

Until I took a drink, I hadn't realized how dry my throat was. "Thanks."

"How'd you know the singing would work?" Annabeth asked.

"My siblings at camp," I explained. "Whenever they want to heal someone they sing a hymn to our father. I was just hoping that singing might apply to other things...like getting him to tell the truth."

Percy nodded. "You think it will last?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "If Kekrops comes back in two minutes with an army of giants, then no."

The heartbeat of Gaia echoed through the floor.I thought about my family. I wondered what my dad was doing right now. It would be the middle of the night in Kentucky. Maybe he was asleep, or staying up watching TV. I hoped he was in hisfavorite spot: the porch off the living room, watching the stars over the hills, enjoying some quiettime. 

I wanted to think he was happy and content right now ... in case we failed.

I thought about my siblings at Camp Half-Blood. Austin, Kayla, Will, Jerry and so many more. I wished I spent more time with them.I wish I'd taken more advantage of my life, and appreciated things more. I would always begrateful for her family aboard the Argo II – but I had so many other friends and relatives II wished I could see one last time.

"Do you guys ever think about your families?" I asked.

It was a silly question, especially on the cusp of a battle. I should have been focused on our quest, not distracting my friends.

But they didn't chide me.

Percy's gaze became unfocused. His lower lip quivered. "My mom ... I – I haven't even seen her since Hera made me disappear. I called her from Alaska. I gave Coach Hedge some letters to deliver to her. I ..." His voice broke. "She's all I've got. Her and my stepdad, Paul."

"And Tyson," Annabeth reminded him. "And Grover. And –"

"Yeah, of course," Percy said. "Thanks. I feel much better."

I probably shouldn't have laughed, but I was too full of nervousness and melancholy to hold it in. "What about you, Annabeth?"

"My dad ... my stepmom and stepbrothers." She turned the drakon-bone blade in her lap. "After all I've been through in the past year, it seems stupid that I resented them for so long. And my dad's relatives ... I haven't thought about them in years. I have an uncle and cousin in Boston."

Percy looked shocked. "You, with the Yankees cap? You've got family in Red Sox country?"

Annabeth smiled weakly. "I never see them. My dad and my uncle don't get along. Some old rivalry. I don't know. It's stupid what keeps people apart."

I nodded. I wished my healing powers worked like Asclepius's. I wish I could look at people and see what was hurting them, then whip out my prescription pad and make everything better.

But I guess there was a reason Zeus kept Asclepius locked away in his underground temple.

Some pain shouldn't be wished away so easily. It had to be dealt with, even embraced. Without the agony of the last few months, I never would have found my best friends, or Jasper. 

I never would've discovered my own courage. I certainly wouldn't have had the guts to singsongs to the snake people under Athens.

"What about you?" Annabeth asked. 

"It's been just me and my dad since my mom died..." I said. "I had Cyprian but he's gone now so...it's really just you guys and my siblings back at camp." 

Annabeth nodded. 

At the top of the tunnel, the green membrane rippled.I grabbed her dagger and rose, prepared for a flood of monsters.

But Kekrops emerged alone.

"The way is clear," he said. "But hurry. The ceremony is almost complete."

Pushing through a curtain of mucus was almost as fun as I imagined.

I emerged feeling like I'd just rolled through a giant's nostril. Fortunately, none of the gunk stuck to me, but still my skin tingled with revulsion.

Percy, Annabeth and I found ourselves in a cool, damp pit that seemed to be the basement level of a temple. All around us, uneven ground stretched into darkness under a low ceiling of stone.

Directly above our heads, a rectangular gap was open to the sky. I could see the edges of the walls and the tops of columns, but no monsters ... yet.

The camouflage membrane had closed behind us and blended into the ground. O pressed my hand against it. The area seemed to be solid rock. They wouldn't be leaving the way they'd come.

Annabeth ran her hand along some marks on the ground – a jagged crow's-foot shape as long as a human body. The area was lumpy and white, like stone scar tissue. 

"This is the place," she said.

"Percy, these are the trident marks of Poseidon."

Hesitantly, Percy touched the scars. "He must've been using his extra-extra-large trident."

"This is where he struck the earth," Annabeth said, "where he made a saltwater spring appear when he had the contest with my mom to sponsor Athens."

"So this is where the rivalry started," Percy said.

"Yeah."

Percy pulled Annabeth close and kissed her ... long enough for it to get really awkward for me, though I said nothing. I thought about Jasper. I wondered what he was doing right now. If he was safe with the others. I twisted my silver ring that he had given me. When I thought back now, I could see how it was obvious that he had liked me. Despite arguing with me a lot he always stood by my side and made sure I was okay. I wish he was here right now. He would know what to say to ease my worries.

I then thought about Nico. 

He cared so much for Percy but he couldn't have him. I prayed that Nico would find someone that would love him like he deserves. 

When Percy pulled away, Annabeth looked like a fish gasping for air.

"The rivalry ends here," Percy said. "I love you, Wise Girl."

Annabeth made a little sigh, like something in her ribcage had melted.

Percy glanced at me. "Sorry, I had to do that."

I smiled. "It's fine. You're a great boyfriend."

Annabeth made another grunt-whimper. "Uh ... anyway. We're beneath the Erechtheion. It's a temple to both Athena and Poseidon. The Parthenon should be diagonally to the southeast of here. We'll need to sneak around the perimeter and disable as many siege weapons as we can, make an approach path for the Argo II."

"It's broad daylight," I said. "How will we go unnoticed?"

Annabeth scanned the sky. "That's why I made a plan with Frank and Hazel. Hopefully ... ah. Look."

A bee zipped overhead. Dozens more followed. They swarmed around a column, then hovered over the opening of the pit.

"Say hi to Frank, everybody," Annabeth said.

I waved. The cloud of bees zipped away.

"How does that even work?" Percy said. "Like ... one bee is a finger? Two bees are his eyes?"

"I don't know," Annabeth admitted. "But he's our go-between. As soon as he gives Hazel the word, she will –"

"Gah!" Percy yelped.

Annabeth clamped her hand over his mouth.

Which looked strange, because suddenly each of us had turned into a hulking, six-armed Earthborn.

"Hazel's Mist." My voice sounded deep and gravelly. I looked down and realized that I,too, now had a lovely Neanderthal body – belly hair, loincloth, stubby legs and over sized feet. If I concentrated, I could see my normal arms, but when I moved them they rippled like mirages,separating into three different sets of muscular Earthborn arms.

Percy grimaced, which looked even worse on his newly uglified face. "Wow, Annabeth ... I'm really glad I kissed you before you changed."

"Thanks a lot," she said. "We should get going. I'll move clockwise around the perimeter. Eliana,you move counterclockwise. Percy, you scout the middle –"

"Wait," Percy said. "We're walking right into the whole blood-spilling sacrifice trap we've been warned about, and you want to split up even more?"

"We'll cover more ground that way," Annabeth said. "We have to hurry. That chanting ..."

I hadn't noticed it until then, but now I heard it: an ominous drone in the distance, like a hundred forklifts idling. I looked at the ground and noticed bits of gravel trembling, skittering southeast, as if pulled towards the Parthenon.

"Right," I said. "We'll meet up at the giant's throne."

At first it was easy.

Monsters were everywhere – hundreds of ogres, Earthborn and Cyclopes milling through the ruins – but most of them were gathered at the Parthenon, watching the ceremony in progress. I strolled along the cliffs of the Acropolis unchallenged.

Near the first onager, three Earthborn were sunning themselves on the rocks. I walked right up to them and smiled. "Hello."

Before they could make a sound, I stabbed and slashed them with my dagger.  All three melted into slag heaps. I slashed the onager's spring cord to disable the weapon, then kept moving. 

I was committed now. I had to do as much damage as possible before the sabotage was discovered.

I skirted a patrol of Cyclopes. The second onager was surrounded by an encampment of tattooed Laistrygonian ogres, but I managed to get to the machine without raising suspicion. I dropped a vial of Greek fire in the sling. With luck, as soon as they tried to load the catapult, it would explode in their faces.

I kept moving. Gryphons roosted on the colonnade of an old temple. A group of empousai had retreated into a shadowy archway and appeared to be slumbering, their fiery hair flickering dimly, their brass legs glinting. Hopefully the sunlight would make them sluggish if they had to fight.

Whenever I could, I slew isolated monsters. I walked past larger groups. Meanwhile the crowd at the Parthenon grew larger. The chanting got louder. I couldn't see what was happening inside the ruins – just the heads of twenty or thirty giants standing in a circle, mumbling and swaying, maybe doing the evil monster version of 'Kumbayah'.

I disabled a third siege weapon by sawing through the torsion ropes, which should give the Argo II a clear approach from the north.

I hoped Frank was watching my progress. I wondered how long it would take for the ship to arrive.

Suddenly, the chanting stopped. A BOOM echoed across the hillside. In the Parthenon, the giants roared in triumph. All around me, monsters surged towards the sound of celebration.That couldn't be good. I blended into a crowd of sour-smelling Earthborn. I bounded up the main steps of the temple, then climbed a section of metal scaffolding so I could see above the heads of the ogres and Cyclopes.

The scene in the ruins almost made me cry aloud.

Before Porphyrion's throne, dozens of giants stood in a loose ring, hollering and shaking their weapons as two of their numbers paraded around the circle, showing off their prizes. The princess Periboia held Annabeth by the neck like a feral cat. The giant Enceladus had Percy wrapped in his massive fist.

Annabeth and Percy both struggled helplessly. Their captors displayed them to the cheering horde of monsters, then turned to face King Porphyrion, who sat in his makeshift throne, his white eyes gleaming with malice.

"Right on time!" the giant king bellowed. "The blood of Olympus to raise the Earth Mother!"