THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES [J. GRACE]

FORTY

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES ༉‧₊˚.[THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS]

c h a n d l e r 

chapter forty: insert lyrics from the song victorious by panic! at the disco 

TIME SEEMED to slow down, which was really frustrating, since chandler still couldn't move.

she felt herself sinking into the earth like the ground was a waterbed, comfortable, urging her to relax and just give up. she wondered if charon would remember her saying she drowned in a giant bath tub. would she get down there for free because she'd mentioned his pay raise to hades? would she end up in elysium?

chandler couldn't feel her arms. she could see the tip of the spear coming toward her chest in slow motion. she could see jason lying close by, and felt a small flush of relief. she wished she'd survive to see percy, but it was okay, wasn't it? she was going to elysium. percy didn't need her. she was just someone who tagged along on his adventures. she was sure his story would go the same without her. she wasn't valuable. she knew she should move, but she couldn't seem to do it. she wasn't needed, so why did it matter if she died? sure, they'd miss her, but they'd get over it. they'd get over her death. funny, she thought. all that effort to stay alive, and then, boom. you just lie there helplessly while a fire-breathing giant impales you.

leo's voice yelled, "heads up!" a large black metal wedge slammed into enceladus with a massive thunk! the giant toppled over and slid into the pit.

"chandler, jason, get up!" piper shouted at them, her voice was filled with magic as it energized the hephaestus demigoddess out of her stupor of self-doubt. the doubt that always lingered under the crusts of her personality that she tried so hard to keep shoved down, and unacknowledged. she sat up, her palm coming up groggily to cradle her head while jason holsted her to her feet by underneath her arm pits.

"don't die on me," he ordered, his tone sounding firm, and unrelenting, but chandler could hear the underlying fear. "we got straddled by a giant together, you can't die on me."

"sir, yes, sir," chandler replied weakly, a smile tugging at her lips, a rare occurrence. she felt light-headed gazing into his blue eyes. he was just about the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. his honey blonde hair was smoldering, face smudged with soot. he had a bruise on his cheek, and his shirt was torn. absolutely beautiful as he gave her that dimpled grin.

around a hundred feet behind him, leo was standing over a piece of construction equipment, a long, cannon-like thing with a single, massive piston with the edge broken clean off. inside the crater, the other end of the hydraulic ax had gone down with the giant. enceladus was struggling to rise, an ax the size of a washing machine stuck in his breastplate.

amazingly, he still managed to pull the ax blade free. he yelled in pain, and the mountain trembled. golden ichor soaked the front of his armor, but enceladus stood. he shakily bent down, and retrieved his spear. "good try," he winced, "but i cannot be beaten." as they watched, the giant's armor mended itself, and the ichor stopped flowing. even the cuts on his dragon-scaled legs, which chandler, and jason had worked so hard to make, were healed into pale scars.

leo ran up to them, took one look at the giant, and cursed loudly, "what is it with this guy?" he shouted, "die already!"

"my fate is preordained," enceladus said, spreading his hands slowly. "giants cannot be killed by gods or heroes."

"only by both," chandler finished for him, a sureness in her voice that made the giant stop, his easy-going smile faltering. something like fear bloomed in his eyes. "it's true, isn't it? gods, and demigods have to work together to kill you."