Getting a chapter early because I got a 100 on my end of the year project for a class! (When I do good you guys get extra chapters :))

You guys will never appreciate the amount of research I did for this chapter. I can tell you way too many facts about the arch and the Chimera (I researched snakes forever to figure out what kind of snake the snake on the Chimera is, it was a pain, then I trashed half the research so like, I suffered). Also! Fun fact, Rick Riordan did NOT look at a picture of the Arch when he wrote this chapter. I can tell you cause I did and it's a big problem! The river is NOT under the Arch. it's over 400 ft. behind the Arch.

Anyways, thank you for the well wishes, I really appreciate them. My mom will be going up for my Uncle's funeral, she's his listed person for those things (executor of the will, medical representative, that sort of thing) but I can't go due to a compromised immune system so...

Come yell at me on tumblr: Percabeth4L1fe

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

We spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain.

Grover was having trouble hiding his way of walking without his crutches, we hadn't realized before, but they were left on the bus too.

I kept my head down, my name and picture is pasted all over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. Unfortunately, my hair is pretty distinct, it being blue and all, so I had to borrow Grover's Rasta cap to hide it.

It's not my style at all.

The newspapers weren't showing us in a good light, though mainly me.

I'm wanted for questioning and that picture of me with my trident (which looks like a blurry staff in the picture that was taken) is making rounds. Doesn't help that the bus blew up right after.

I wonder if there's a way to manipulate this mist thing?

Annabeth reassured me that mortal police wouldn't be able to find us but even she didn't sound confident about it.

I ended up sleeping for a lot of the ride.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I was in the water, next to a girl.

Lara.

She was unconscious, drifting in the water, two dolphins guiding her body to an island nearby.

The dolphins chattered softly, chiding each other for being too rough.

"Lord Poseidon said to be sure that she reaches land safely! Be gentler asshole."

"Me be gentler? You're the one that nearly hit her on a damned rock!"

"I did not you motherfu-"

They kept bickering over who's fault various mishaps were as they reached the island, pulling away as she washed up on land.

They left, and I was alone with the unconscious Lara.

"And who is this," murmured a voice as my body seemed to stiffen.

I looked up and blanched, a figure with dark skin, twisting green and black snakes for hair, the eyes were the scariest, a spiraling grey brown that made me feel frozen, until her gaze moved down to Lara.

Medusa.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I was back at the pit, the unknown Titan that feels like shifting sands there once more.

"Who are you?" I asked again.

The voice chuckled, "You will know in time, Little Percy. Have patience."

I scowled, I want to know who he is!

"Bring me the bolt," He crooned. "Help me rise."

"I won't help you rise if you don't tell me who you are!"

The voice murmured, other presences there as well, pinpricks of warmth, a heat from my bones, "In time little hero, aid me and you will have all the answers you could ever wish for."

I glared at the pit, that's not nice! He wants me to help without knowing who he is!?

"You're either Kronos, Koios, or Iapetus," I said stubbornly. "So which one!?"

The voice hummed, and I heard an outright laugh from another, my fingers prickled like needles were poking them.

"You shall simply have to guess little hero."

I huffed, ignoring the snickers from the prickling needles. That's not fair! All I have to go on is gold eyes and shifting sands. And that he agreed to kill Uranus, but like… five Titans did that.

"You'll just say no, no matter who I say!"

"He's got you there," snickered prickling needles.

"Shut up. You need not know who I am right now, little hero, sim-"

"But that's not fair! If you're asking for my help, then I should know who I'm helping shouldn't I?"

"Life isn't fair."

"That's not how this works!"

"Yeah that's cold K-"

"Shush."

Ha! It starts with a K! That means Koios or Kronos. Ugh, Koios is intelligence and the heavenly axis (not sure what that is but…) and Kronos is time and agriculture.

"So you're Kronos or Koios!"

"Ha- OW!"

"Moving on," Shifting sands said smoothly. "You simply need to bring me the bolt. If you still hold questions then, I will answer them."

"And return my mom?" I asked suspiciously, "Because I'm pretty sure Hades took her. And I dunno how you'd get her then. And wasn't something of Hades taken?"

There was a beat of silence.

"Your mother will be returned to you. All I need is the bolt."

Sounds suspicious, the voice is nice… but still…

"Well, I don't have the bolt. Sorry."

"You need not worry, you will have it in time." The voice almost sounded amused.

I frowned, but the prophecy said that I would 'find what was stolen and see it safely returned'. Which means that I won't be giving it to the still unknown Titan. Besides, I can't risk there being a war.

"I don't think that's gonna work out."

I woke.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

The money was only enough to get us as far as Denver, and after some debate we decided to save my extra stash, to be sure that we have backup. Just in case.

Plus, none of us are comfortable being in one place for longer than necessary. Even if that place is a moving place like the train.

I looked out the window, noticing a family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field, a young boy centaur caught my eye and waved.

I waved back.

None of the mortals seemed to notice, and the buzzing was hovering lightly around them all.

I thought of the dreams, the dolphins carrying the girl, Lara (the same Lara that Medusa mentioned), Medusa herself. Why am I having these dreams? I'm used to the pit ones, I've had those all year, but these are new.

They're showing me the past… Didn't Tethys mention it? She explained the different kinds of prophetic abilities, I know the book on sea magics mentioned dreams were the easiest for that kind of power.

Dreaming of the past was called… Amuritereira… I think… I'll need to read more on it, figure out why I'm having these dreams.

Grover suddenly kicked off his fake foot in his sleep and Annabeth and I had to scramble to stick it back on before anyone could notice. I'm not sure what the buzzing mist would show them.

"So," Annabeth asked me, once we'd gotten Grover's sneaker readjusted. "Who wants your help?"

I blinked, "What?"

"When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'I won't help you.' Who were you dreaming about?"

I didn't particularly want to share my dreams, about the pit and the Titan(s?) in it, and definitely not the one's about Lara, but the pit dreams seem to be related to the quest… it's not right to keep those details from a quest member.

I sighed, and told her of the pit, and the voice that was requesting the bolt to rise in exchange for my mother.

Annabeth was quiet for a minute, "That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."

"Well, I'm pretty sure it's a Titan, either Kronos or Koios based on the conversation… wait have you had dreams of Hades before to know that?"

She flushed, "No I haven't dreamed it but… someone else did. Anyways, why would the Titan's want the bolt? They haven't been active in… forever."

I shrugged, "The voice said to help him rise, so maybe they want to escape the pit, it's Tartarus, right?"

She pursed her lips, "Probably. Whoever it is, you have to be careful not to make a deal either way. The Titan's are evil, cruel and vicious and merciless. And Hades isn't much better either, on the off chance this is Hades we're talking about."

"So, does that mean that Hades does have the bolt? Or that he doesn't? Cause I still think something of his was taken." She's pretty mean to them, both Hades and the Titans. They haven't been cruel, to me at all though. But she seems to have interacted with Hades's forces before…

She shook her head, "I'm not sure… The Kindly Ones were less aggressive this time, and that might be because they wanted the bolt, or something of his was taken and they were looking for it… I just don't have all the facts."

I raised an eyebrow, "This time? You've met them before?"

Her hand crept up to her necklace. She fingered a glazed white bead painted with the image of a pine tree, one of her end-of-summer tokens. "Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom."

I frowned. Regardless of who it is, I'm absolutely planning to try and make a deal for my mom. Or at least plead for him to hear me out. Besides, that's… so cold to say.

But then… if she was on the run so young… that must mean that her family didn't see her as a child and protect her…

"What about your dad? What would you do if it were him in front of you?"

She raised her chin, her grey eyes hard. "That's easy. I'd leave him to rot."

I stared at her, taking in her expression. She really does hate her dad. What did he do? But if he's anything like Gabe… Yeah, I'd leave him to rot too.

I nodded, "Okay, I'm sorry your dad hurt you. But my mom isn't like that. She risked everything to keep me safe, I won't leave her behind. She matters more than anything else to me."

She shook her head, "My dad didn't want me, maybe your mom wanted you but…" she took a deep breath. "My dad got his 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular mortal kids, and he decided that it was best if I didn't exist anymore. I was there, but they never cared."

She looked at me, and seemed so vulnerable suddenly, "I'm sorry about your mom, but this is bigger than her. You've got to consider the world as a whole… what kind of world would you bring her back to if you put her before the quest? Would you be willing to doom the world to save your mom… would she want that?"

I looked away. I don't want to put her before the quest, I have to stop the war, for Triton and my merfriends… for the sea as a whole… but I don't want to leave my mom either. If it comes down to it… I'm not sure I could leave her behind. I changed the subject. I don't want to talk about this anymore.

"Why did you leave home?" I asked.

She grimaced but eyed me, she seemed to know what I was doing. She answered anyways.

"My dad's wife always treated me like some freak, wouldn't let me play with her children, or be around them much at all. My dad always went along with her. He didn't want me, his 'regular' mortal wife and him always made it clear they blamed me for all the monster attacks. I took a hint, told my cousin ahead of time and then I ran away."

"How old were you?"

"Seven."

I considered it with a frown, "How did you reach camp? If you already had monsters trailing you…"

"Athena watched over me, she guided me to help. I made a couple friends that looked out for me, made sure I was safe. For a time anyways…"

She stared out the window, her expression sad. She seemed far away suddenly.

I looked away. Athena helped her get to safety then, I'm glad her mom tried to look out for her (did her mom see her as her child then, try to protect her? Did she have less monsters attacking then because of it? Is that why she was safe then?)

I stared out the window in silence.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I stood on what looked like the aftermath of a great battle.

It was night time, the sky scattered with more stars than I've ever seen.

Figures seemed to materialize.

"They used an Adamantine blade to cut him to bits!" Snapped a figure of swirling currents, ancient depths, the monsters in the deep.

"Oh, boo hoo, sucks to be him." Drawled a figure of dripping shadows.

"They scattered his body in my waters!"

A figure of burning, fire and pain and sharp edges huffed, "I don't see the issue here, other than someone needing to keep his corpse from crushing the Earth."

"Yeah, wouldn't want your girlfriend to get crushed," muttered stardust and galaxy's, cool shadows and winged darkness.

"Jealous?" questioned shining light, burning eyes of brilliance, too bright to see.

"This is an affront and an attack on all of us!" swirling currents interrupted. "If she's willing to do this to one of us, who's to say she wouldn't do it to others. It will take him an eon to recover!"

"Oh, thank chaos, some peace and quiet." Muttered dripping shadows.

"Peace and quiet is overrated, he worked with me on many projects. We are weaker as a whole with him sleeping to recover." said rising sun, spinning light, green grasses.

"Maybe if we're lucky he'll never recover!" said burning fire and pain cheerfully, I don't think he's normally cheerful.

"Maybe I'll drown your pit," snarled swirling currents.

"lets all calm down, take deep breaths—"

"I don't breathe."

"None of us do," grumbled burning brilliance.

"It's a figure of speech!" stardust and winged darkness snapped.

"It's a dumb one."

"You know what-"

"I'll end yo-"

"Enough children," a new figure said appearing and I staggered, endless spinning, a space blank and empty and devouring all things, yet new beginnings. This was too much.

"We're not children," pointed out swirling currents.

I struggled to breathe, the first ones were fine, the dream seemed almost muted, I have a feeling that seeing them in person would be very different, but this figure was far beyond that, my skin was crawling, I couldn't get air that I didn't need in this dream, it was like this being was pulling at me, trying to draw me in and tear me apart and put me back together again.

"He has been cut to pieces! Am I supposed to be happy about it?" swirling currents stepped forward, tall and angry.

"The fall of the sky, a great tragedy, we need not say goodbye, time heals all wounds, even those it has given."

"When we he heal?" asked a figure that had yet to speak, rocky, tall, standing firm.

"War will bleed at the Siren's call. The Earth will lead, and the shadows crawl. The sea will speak, and the sky will creak. Champions will return to eternities roots." The voice was solemn, serious, all consuming.

"So, it's Pontus's fault that he returns." said burning fire and pain.

"It is said and so it will become."

I wanted to shout a warning, burning fire and pain was eyeing swirling currents (Pontus? As in the Pontus?), he looked ready to attack, but I couldn't speak

"I will do as I must to aid Uranus." Said the swirling currents, fierce and firm.

I watched as the dripping shadows shared a look with burning brilliance, a horrible feeling filling me.

The blank and empty seemed to suddenly pull me in and I fell, nothingness surrounding me.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I opened my eyes in a cave.

Lara was there, staring past me. Her hair was black, and her eyes a striking sea green.

I think she's like… sixteen? Or around there.

A voice came from behind me, a familiar feeling, stiffness, itchy hum.

"How are you feeling?"

I turned, Medusa. Behind her were her two sisters, similar yet different from her. They had tusks where she didn't, and their snake hair wasn't nearly as bright, her's were a bright green and black, theirs' were a dull yellow and brown.

"I'm feeling much better," Lara said softly. "Thank you for the help."

"Of course," Medusa moved forward.

"When do I need to leave?" Lara asked softly. "I don't want to be a burden."

Medusa studied her, meeting her eyes, I watched with bated breath, "You may stay as long as you need. This is a safe place, no one can hurt you here."

Lara clutched her necklace, the shell cutting into her hand, "Thank you."

Medusa nodded, "We brought food, come eat."

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I watched the window, eyeing the big lion leaping past. That looks dangerous, and feels… iron, soft, wild. The fact that I can feel it from here…

It disappeared into the brush.

Lara could look Medusa in the eye. Medusa said she's blind, those villagers said the same…

Poseidon had his dolphins bring her to the island, did he say Medusa's island? Or just an island? It seems like he looked out for her, but…

Medusa said he abandoned Lara, the dreams show he tried to help her, just not much… I'm not sure what to think.

And that other dream, with the figures made of so much… I rubbed my arms, I can still feel that faint pull from the final figure to appear.

And the things he said… that almost sounded like a prophecy, but… I don't know, I need more information.

I'll ask Triton when I see him again, that dream has to mean something.

I glanced out the window again, we're reaching our next stop soon, St. Louis. Annabeth said earlier she wants to take a look at the Gateway Arch. That shouldn't take too long, and we can buy decent food.

I do wonder what it's a gateway to though.

"Percy."

I turned at Annabeth's voice, "Yeah?"

She chewed her lip, "How… How do you know so much about your powers?"

"I told Grover, did he not tell you?"

She shrugged, "He said that you met Triton, and that he taught you things, but didn't know much else."

I shifted, "Well, I figured out I could control water on accident." I blushed, "I was trying to copy Katara from Avatar."

Her lips twitched, "Seriously?"

"Don't judge! She's cool!"

She put her hands up, and actual smile appearing, "Okay, okay, so then what?"

"Then I started experimenting, trying to do all the things she could. Triton ended up finding out about me, probably through the fish, they're huge gossips."

"Fish gossip?"

I nodded, "Oh yeah, all the time. You can learn all kinds of things from them."

"Huh, wait does that mean you can understand them?"

"Yeah, as far as I can tell I can understand any sea creature, though I can also understand seagulls and pelicans… and horses… I'm not sure what the limits are, though I can't understand cats and dogs… or guinea pigs, I know that much."

She considered that, "How strange."

I studied her, "Can you not understand owls?"

She faltered, "I've never tried."

"You should try sometime. Zoo's sometimes have owls, right? We could go to one sometime and you could see."

She nodded slowly, "I'll do that. Back on focus, why didn't you say something?"

"Triton told me not to. He said to keep my head down and stay safe, to not use my powers if I didn't absolutely have to. I didn't realize it was because of an oath though, nor did I know who my dad was, I… had other theories."

She leaned forward, "What other theories?"

I waved my hand, "Dumb ones, not important." Nope, nope, nope, never admitting I thought Oceanus was my dad to anyone else.

She pursed her lips but moved on.

"How come you didn't know your dad was Poseidon? Surely that would be obvious?"

I sighed, why does everyone think that?

"There are lots of sea deities! Have you read the myths? Sure, there's Theseus, who killed the minotaur, and Orion, who hunted beside Lady Artemis, and Bellerophon, who killed the Chimera, but there's also Achilles, who was the son of Thetis, many Amazons were the children of Harmonia, and Homer, who was the son of Meles, even Medusa was the daughter of Phorcys."

Annabeth blinked, "Oh, I suppose that makes sense. Poseidon is usually the go-to, I'm not… I'm not entirely sure why." She frowned as she thought.

"Because most sea deities don't go on land much, but there's enough of them that they still have a lot of kids through history, their kids also don't get much attention, or the parents history is skipped over when they get famous."

She hummed, "Yeah, I guess."

We sat quietly for a few minutes.

"So then… you were raised by Triton?"

"No, but he did help me learn a lot. He's a really good brother."

She nodded, looking deep in thought.

There was a brief static sound, then the intercom spoke, "We have arrived at St. Louis. We will have a three-hour layover before leaving for Kansas City. Enjoy your time in St. Louis."

"Come on," Annabeth said, shoving Grover to get him to wake up.

I grabbed the seed packets the Demeter kids gave me (shoved them in my pocket) and made sure to grab my waterskin. I left my backpack behind though.

"urbg, Enchiladas, wha-"

"Let's go see the arch. We might as well get some sightseeing done."

"And buy food," I reminded her, pressing Grover's rasta cap further down on my head. "I really want a burger."

"Yeah, yeah, and food, after the arch."

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

We reached the arch after a fun thirty-minute walk from the station. It was only a mile and a half but we got lost three times, had to ask for directions seven times, and saw a whole bunch of posters for a corn festival of all things.

25th July – 27th July

Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday

Sweet Corn Festival

10am=4pm

Take a stroll to our sweetcorn field and harvest your own corn

Looks fun I guess, shame we won't be in town then.

We bought some snacks from the snack bar at the arch and looked around at the museum.

It was very hot, and thankfully there wasn't much of a line.

Annabeth kept telling us interesting facts about how the Arch was built (and it's called the Gateway Arch cause it was considered the gateway to the West, which seems dumb) and me and Grover traded snacks (I kept all the blue, and he passed me them).

But I eyed my surroundings, there's a strange feeling, like brushing scales and warmth. It's so faint I could almost ignore it, but it made me wary.

I eyed Grover who sniffed the air every now and then. He did mention he could smell a monster when we got near Medusa, maybe he can smell monsters in general?

"You smell anything?" I murmured to Grover.

He shrugged, "Underground," he said distastefully. "Underground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything."

I chewed my lip, something is wrong.

The scales felt firmer, the warmth growing, worse a buzz was starting.

I really did not like the tiny area that was the elevator, I wouldn't be able to use my trident if it came to it and fighting at all would be hard with so many people.

We ended up stuck right next to this middle-aged lady in a jean dress (that was long sleeved with jeans underneath and I'm… it's so hot already?" and her Chihuahua with a rhinestone color.

I swallowed and scratched at my arms, the scales were less brushing and more pressing now, and I felt feverish, though I know I'm not.

There was a strong buzz as well, the strongest I've felt yet.

I am very uncomfortable, these sensations are coming from the lady and her dog, the dog worst of all though.

We started going up, inside the Arch.

It's very, very strange going up a curved elevator.

"No parents?" the lady asked.

She had sharp eyes, and when she smiled I could see coffee stained teeth, teeth that seemed just slightly too sharp.

"They're below," Annabeth told her. "Scared of heights."

"Oh, the poor darlings."

It was way too hot for me, and the pressing scales were almost hurting, the buzzing wasn't helping either.

The Chihuahua growled. The woman chided it, "Now, now, sonny. Behave."

The dogs eyes were narrow, glittering black with a flicker… they looked red for a second there.

So, these two are definitely monsters, but I can't for the life of me figure out which ones.

I gave her a polite smile and tried to hide my panic.

This is not good, we'll be in a confined place with no way out.

We reached the top.

The top reminded me of a tin can with carpeting, wasn't very stylish and seemed to serve no real function besides a high view. I could see the river out the windows (the east side according to Annabeth), it almost seemed below us, but I know it's almost a hundred and fifty meters away (also from Annabeth).

Annabeth kept talking about the structure, how she would've made the windows bigger and designed a see-through floor and made a few seats and a better emergency exit.

I eyed the lady and the dog all through it, nodding along as Annabeth talked.

"Hey Grover," I murmured. "Are you sure you don't smell a monster?"

Grover looked at me, worried, before he followed my gaze.

"I… I mean… I don't smell anything beyond the usual smell of underground."

I swallowed, but we're not underground anymore.

I was about to point that out, and maybe hurry us to the emergency exit, but the park ranger told us that the observation deck would be closing.

I hurried to steer them to the exit, loading them on the elevator, when I realized that there were already two other tourists on it.

My stomach dropped.

"Next car, sir." The park ranger said.

"We'll get out," Annabeth said, Grover nodding quickly. "We'll wait with you."

But that wouldn't be good, they need to get out, on the odd chance that the monster wasn't after me. Besides, the less people here the less I have to worry about if the monster does attack, and it's too confined for us to easily work together against these unknown monsters.

I swallowed and plastered on my princely smile, "Don't worry, it's fine. I'll meet you guys at the bottom."

Neither of them seemed happy, and Grover looked ready to get off and wait anyways, but they both let the doors close and the car disappeared.

Now the only ones left are a little boy with his parents, the park ranger, and the lady with the Chihuahua (aka the monsters).

I sent her a bright smile, hoping to delay, maybe I'll get lucky and she's just sightseeing, monsters can sightsee too right? (and when did I start calling them monsters? Nope, nope, nope, will not do that. Mythological beings, they're mythological beings, not monsters).

She smiled back at me, her forked tongue flickering between her teeth.

…

…

Awesome.

I absolutely love confirmation that she's one hundred percent not human.

Makes my day.

The Chihuahua (aka second unknown being) jumped towards me and started yapping.

"Now, now, sonny," the lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here."

"Doggie!" the little boy cried excitedly. "Look, a doggie!"

His parents pulled him back.

The Chihuahua bared his teeth at me, foam dripping from his black lips.

"Well, son," she sighed. "If you insist."

I paled rapidly as the Chihuahua barked, louder and louder, with each bark it grew. It took only a few seconds before it could barely fit in the observation deck, it's true form revealed.

I have no idea what the mortals saw, the boy screamed and the adults seemed frozen in horror.

"The Chimera," I whispered.

She grinned at me, her teeth clearly fangs now as she rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing the skin on her arms was scaly and green.

"Very good, my dear son The Chimera."

The Chimera stood so tall it's back rubbed the roof, it's lion head had a blood-caked mane, as if it just came back from an all-you-can-eat human ribs buffet, without a bib. It's body and hooves were that of goat, a very furry, very hard-hooved, goat. It's tail that was, frankly, terrifying, a snake, that I recognize as a gagamure ophi... The only reason I recognize it is cause it's in that medical book that Lagi gave me.

The only problem is it's listed under 'EXTINCT' and was used as a medical example, an example of what must be treated in under ten minutes or you're dead.

It's name literally means eternal death viper. Not really inspiring confidence.

I eyed the over ten-foot-long, black with purple and blue overlapping diamonds. That's the most dangerous part.

There was still a rhinestone dog dollar around its neck, the plate size dog tag now easy to read in Greek: CHIMERA—RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS—IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS—EXT. 954.

I swallowed hard.

The Chimera has never actually been defeated in real combat, and certainly not alone. Bellerophon killed it yes, but he did that by dropping lead down it's throat and basically tricking it into killing itself. He had the field advantage, a Pegasus, and a plan ahead of time.

I have none of that.

The snake lady made a hissing noise that might've been laughter. "Be honored, Perseus Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"

I felt numb, "I'm on a quest for Zeus. Killing me seems counter-intuitive."

She laughed, "What should I care? Your scent is fainter than expected, and you have the child's protection far more than expected, but you are old enough, and the protection weak enough, that we won't suffer much backlash at all."

I made note of that, Medusa had mentioned it too. Oceanus had said that my protections were weaker, but that they might still hold if Triton protects me. Just not as strong.

She grinned, "It'll be well worth it to kill one of the blasted children of Poseidon."

Oh yay, love this, best situation, wanting me dead for my dad.

I'm beginning to see a pattern.

"Now then! Kill him!"

The Chimera charged the whole ten feet to reach me, I dove to the side, drawing my knife.

I can't really use my trident here effectively, it's too enclosed.

I flicked the lid off my ever-present waterskin, how am I supposed to survive this?

The family and park ranger were screaming behind me, trying to pry open the emergency exit.

I bolted to the side, flicking water out, I have no idea how to fight this thing, but I can let the mortals get hurt.

"Is this really necessary?" I called, "We can't just talk it-"

I yelped, wrapping the water around me in a protective shield as the Chimera whipped around faster than expected (and what I would think possible in this small space) and breathes a column of flame right at me.

The water shielded me, and the fire melted the side of the Arch, a large raged hole destroying those East windows I'd been looking out of earlier. The carpet was on fire as well.

Great, we just blowtorched a national monument.

Triton will be so proud.

I swept the water out, sending arcing blades that I froze mid-air to attack the Chimera, and sent a thin film of water to put out the fiery carpet.

"You will die here Perseus Jackson, there will be no begging for mercy, Zeus would not grant it." Echidna sounded far too gleeful.

The Chimera breathed fire again and I wrapped the water around me once more, my ice blades didn't seem to do much (if any) damage.

I pulled more water out, I'm limited by how much I can pull out at once, and it's fire breath is turning it to steam really fast.

"I wouldn't be praying to Zeus, I'd be praying to the sea." I snapped, who cares about the guy who's tried to kill me twice now on this stupid quest I'm doing for him?

I slipped to the west side.

Thank goodness the Chimera has some trouble maneuvering, turning to the side is quick, but it takes a second longer to turn in an opposite direction.

I snapped the water out as I darted to the east (avoiding a third breath attack) more, ending up in front of the big hole as I sent shards of ice at Echidna and a ball of water at the Chimera's lion mouth.

Echidna screeched, the ice didn't seem to do much (I guess those scales aren't just for show) but one hit her face and she didn't seem happy.

"You dare! You will pay for that Perseus Jackson!"

I shoved more water at the Chimera's lion mouth and sent another arc at Echidna, trying to call out as much water as I could while still attacking, planting my feet as I focused hard on manipulating the water.

I made a horrible mistake though, I stopped watching the snake.

The Chimera's lion head may have been struggling with the water, but the snake head had no such issue.

It snapped around and buried it's fangs in my leg as I was distracted with the water.

I tried to stab at it with my knife, even with the burning spreading up my leg, it was like my leg was on fire.

Needs treatment in ten minutes, but it's extinct, the book didn't way what the treatment is.

The serpent tail yanked, it's fangs still in my leg, and I tumbled over, my focus on the water breaking. The water splashed to the ground and my knife tumbled out of my hand, skidding to the edge of the hole.

The snake let go, pulling back, and I struggled to my feet.

Fire seemed to burn through my veins, the leg changing color through my torn pants, pain spread quickly, and I could barely put any weight on my leg.

This isn't good, I breathed harshly, my head spinning already.

I stumbled back as the Chimera roared, weakly pulling for water, just, maybe water, maybe it could help me.

"The Chimera advanced now, growling while Echidna cackled. "They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, son?"

No, they don't, the heroes of old didn't have the gods sending them on quests trying to kill them.

My hand slipped into my pocket, where I'd shoved the seed packets, and I ripped open one, my vision too blurry to see.

I might not have my ocarina, but I do have the sun, and the water, and the seeds are powered by the cabin.

I have faith in them.

They surged, the area winding with vines, ah, trumpet vine, fast growing though not particularly dangerous.

But they did enough.

The mortals finally pushed the door open and fled, the Chimera reared back, breathing fire on the vines, but I yanked, stumbling back, I drenched the vines in water, countering the flames.

They kept growing.

Winding rapidly until the Chimera seemed completely wrapped up, it's fire countered by my water. Echidna screeched in fury.

My vision was going black, my body was burning, my chest hurt, how long has it been? Two minutes? I'm already in such bad shape. I need… I need to get out. I managed to snatch up my knife, almost falling over.

I leaned on the edge of the hole, clutching one of the trumpet vines, ignoring the additional burning. There is no water beneath me, the bag isn't enough.

There are no sea gods here.

There is only the river, and it's too far to help.

I prayed though.

I prayed to the only immortal that could possibly reach me.

I prayed to Tethys-ran.

Please.

"Die child of the sea, die and know no god would save you."

My eyes were fluttering shut, the Chimera roared, something, the snake? Slammed into my chest and I went flying out of the hole, a tug in my gut.

I closed my eyes and fell into darkness, a roar filling my ears.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I was having a perfectly lovely day, I mean other than the stress of finishing sending out the last announcements, and dealing with Percy's friends, and handling Father's panic and franticness, and Mother's growing stress.

Ignoring all that, I was having a lovely day.

I got my favorite food for lunch, I got some delicious snacks, I found a present for Percy's birthday, everything was going smoothly.

And then the conch pin blazed, and I panicked.

He's dying, he's got minutes left.

Snake bite, strong venom, the hairpin won't work on venom, only poison.

I bolted, can I reach him in time? He isn't near the sea, it'll take precious minutes to reach the edge of the sea, and another few to reach the area that he's at.

Does he have that long?

I can't wait to find out.

I was almost at the edge of the sea when he hit water, the poison registering as fading.

That's not going to be enough, just water can't heal that venom, I can tell.

Just a little longer, hang on-

Mother stood in front of me, a grimace on her face.

"You cannot."

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

"Please."

I reached.

"Of course," I murmured.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Thanks for reading, don't forget to Review! They feed my soul.

This chapter also has foreshadowing for my plans for HOO, which are going to be rather different than canon HOO. Let me know what you think of it :)

Also, I am still open to requests for particular representation and if you are requesting the rep for yourself I welcome you to join my discord so I have someone to speak to to make sure the rep is accurate. I'm struggling to find people that are some of the requested reps, so I'm trying to find info online but I'm not sure how accurate it all is. I prefer having people to look it over to make sure I'm not screwing it up majorly.

Already requested (so you know):
Sexualities: aroace, grey-aro, ace, demi-sexual, pan (sexual and romantic), omni, non-binary, and genderfluid
Races: Black, Asian (East and South East), Middle Eastern

What do you think of his dream? What do you think of his fight? What did you think of the kids conversations?