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"What the-what the heck?"

"Stop babbling, Leo, and do the disclaimer. P.S, you are amazing."

"Well... thank you, but who are you, where an I, and I should I get my dag- where's my toolbelt?"

"I had to take that away from you. Now, I'm Myra109, and do the disclaimer."

"Fine, Myra109 owns nothing except her weirdness."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

On the train, the others slept like the dead, but Leo couldn't bring himself to drift off.

He was exhausted; apparently, the physical and mental exhaustion he'd experienced before time travel had followed him to the past, which explained why he slept so much the previous night. He probably could've slept the entire train ride if his mind would let him.

But his mind was filled to the brim with doubts and worries. What if he couldn't save as many people as he needed too? What if his mission failed? What if he was found out; how would he explain everything? Hell, except for Percy's stories on the Argo II, he had no knowledge of anything that would occur. What if those stories weren't enough?

But he was Leo Valdez, and Leo Valdez always spread hope, even when he himself didn't have any. That's what he did, and that's what he would continue to do because if not him, then who would?

"I won't help you," he heard Percy mutter.

At first, Leo was confused as to what that was about until he remembered future Percy telling him that he used to dream about Kronos trying to convince him to help the Titans. Especially during his first quest and in the Labyrinth.

He wanted to wake Percy up, but the boy needed sleep. Yet, he was having a nightmare, so...

Leo shook his shoulder. "Dude, wake up, you're having a nightmare."

"What?" Percy mumbled, sitting up. "How'd you know?"

"You talk in your sleep."

Percy nodded. "Shouldn't you be asleep? You look dead on your feet."

Leo chuckled. "My mind won't let me sleep. And besides, I slept a lot last night."

"Still, dude, you need it. Annabeth told me to sleep while you can on quests," he said with a smile.

Leo laughed. "Yeah, I feel you. I've never been on an official quest, but running from monsters, you learn to survive on minimal sleep."

Percy nodded. "Story of my life since this whole demigod thing began."

"I'm like a monster magnet," Leo challenged. "Been the story of my life since I was eight."

"Basically our lives suck," Percy summed up.

Leo gasped in mock surprise. "What gave you that idea? The monsters? The life threatening quests? The torturous dreams? Yeah, I'd say our lives suck."

Percy laughed. "I like you, Valdez. You got a good sense of humor."

"It is one of my many talents," Leo said in a mock superior voice. "Thanks, though. I try."

"Could you guys be quiet? Some of us are trying to sleep," Annabeth grumbled, adjusting her body so she faced away from them.

"Food," Grover mumbled.

Percy and Leo looked at each other... and promptly burst out laughing.

"Probably the only good thing that comes out of the demigod world," Leo said, "is that you make friends with people you wouldn't if you weren't an demigod." Like Jason, Piper, the rest of the seven, Nyssa... Harley.

Leo's heart constricted when he thought of Harley. Out of all of the deaths during the war, Harley's had hurt him the most.

"Amen, brother," Percy said. "If I weren't a demigod, I wouldn't have met you three."

A heartbeat of silence and Leo said, "Okay, sappy moment over."

The train pulled into the station, not a moment later, and Annabeth, like she hadn't been chastising them for waking her up a minute ago, leaped off of her seat.

"Come on," she said, excitedly, practically punching Grover as she woke him. "Let's go see the arch."

Leo had been to Rome, Greece, California, and everything in between and even he could say that the Arch was mighty impressive.

He remembered Annabeth- future Annabeth- telling him how it represented the Gateway to the West and he must say, it sure did appear to be a gate. It had to be at least 600 feet tall, if not more. He wondered how they'd managed to hide the cables that pulled the elevator up though. Whoever had come up with the idea on how to hide them must have been a brilliant engineer.

"Awesome," Leo voiced and Annabeth nodded in agreement.

"That's one word to describe it."

"Guys," Percy suddenly said. "You know the gods' symbols of power?"

Annabeth had been in the middle of reading about the construction equipment used to build the Arch, but she looked over. "Yeah?"

"Well, Hade-"

Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place... You mean, our friend downstairs?"

"Um, right," he said. "Our friend way downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"

Leo snorted. "Yeah, Percy, I'm sure our friend way downstairs would love to have his mighty helm of darkness compared to an invisibility cap. That's like comparing your father's trident to a gigantic fork."

Percy nodded. "Fair enough, but you gotta admit, it does look like fork."

A slight tremor ran through the earth, almost barely noticeable.

"Okay," Leo said, warily, staring at the ground. "I hope that was your dad laughing, and not like him or our friend downstairs cursing us."

"Anyway, the Helm of Darkness," Annabeth interrupted. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."

"He was there?" Percy asked.

She nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus-the darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true..."

"It allows him to become darkness," Grover confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"

Reminds me of the Nico incident, Leo thought before shivering. Bad thoughts, Leo, bad thoughts.

"But then ... how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" Percy asked.

Annabeth and Grover exchanged looks.

"We don't," Grover said.

"Theoretically," Leo said, "somebody's always watching. If it's not our friend downstairs, it's one of our parents, the King, or one of the other gods. Gods are always watching; I've learned that over the years."

"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better," Percy said, sarcastically. "Got any blue jelly beans left?"

Finally, the quartet were allowed to board an elevator and Leo and Percy immediately had panic attacks.

Sea and fire are alike in many ways. For one, they don't like to be restrained and therefore, Leo and Percy had always been uncomfortable in cramped spaces.

But Leo had also been locked in a burning warehouse and forced to listen to his mother's dying screams, so he wasn't too fond of cramped spaces.

"You two alright?" Grover asked, looking concerned.

"I hate cramped spaces," the two said in unison before glancing at each other and shrugging.

Leo glanced around, hoping to find something to distract himself. And he did, but that wasn't a good thing.

The only other person in the elevator was a fat woman, wearing a green dress that reminded Leo of snake skin. Her eyes glinted yellow, but if Leo wasn't so experienced with seeing through the mist, he would've mistaken them for green. By her feet, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar snarled at them. (I know Echidna didn't really look like this, but this is how I pictured the mother of monsters)

"No parents?" the fat lady asked.

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

"Oh, the poor darlings."

The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now, sonny. Behave."

The dog had beady eyes like its owner, intelligent and vicious.

Percy said, "Sonny. Is that his name?"

"No," the lady told them.

She smiled, as if that cleared everything up.

Finally, the demigods arrived at the top and Annabeth launched into an entire monologue on the Arch and how she would change this and that. Leo threw in some comments here and there about the engineering, but mostly his gaze was focused on the woman and her dog.

Grover had noticed his strange behavior, but hadn't put the pieces together yet and Leo wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

The security guard soon announced that the observation deck would be closing soon, so Grover, Annabeth, and a few others loaded onto the elevator.

When Percy and Leo got ready to step on, the guard told them to wait for the next ride.

Grover and Annabeth prepared to step off, but Leo knew that Echidna would just attack all four of them instead of two. Percy had the water and Leo could take care of himself, but if Grover and Annabeth got injured, saving them would be difficult, maybe impossible.

"You guys go ahead. We'll follow you down," Leo said and the pair, looking worried, allowed for themselves to be carried down by the elevator.

Percy and Leo were left with a mortal family (two parents and a small child).

The Chihuahua suddenly started jumping up and down and started yapping at Leo and Percy.

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

"Doggie!" said the little boy. "Look, a doggie!"

His parents pulled him back.

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

"Well, son," the fat lady sighed. "If you insist."

"Um, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?"

Percy asked, uneasiness radiating from his voice.

"Chimera, dear," the fat lady corrected. "Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make."

She rolled up her sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were side-ways slits, like a reptile's.

The Chihuahua barked louder, and with each bark, it grew. First to the size of a Doberman, then to a lion. The bark became a roar.

The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monster.

The Chimera was now so tall its back rubbed against the roof. It had the head of a lion with a blood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail, a ten-foot-long diamondback growing right out of its shaggy behind. The rhinestone dog collar still hung around its neck, and the plate-sized dog tag was now easy to read: CHIMERA-RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS-IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS-EXT. 954.

Now, Leo had faced Chirmeras before, but that didn't mean they didn't still scare the Hades out of him.

Leo drew a dagger from his belt and got ready to fight the mother of all monsters.

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Trivia:

What is Nyssa's last name?