You will get another chapter tomorrow (or later today, depending on when you read this), this was for last Sunday's update, which was so late, very sorry, testing sucks, especially when it takes you up to 6 or more hours which you have to space out across your week...

Chapter 27: Percy Jackson

Nico was steering us wildly through the city, trying to keep up with Percy and Annabeth from a distance.

We finally found them cornered in an alley, the- the Manticore, Rachel had called it- towering over them.

"What do I do, they're cornered Rach!" Nico was shouting, the others were still screaming, it was worse than Hermione's blood-rattling ones at Malfoy Manor.

At least there, we had a sort of a plan.

At least there, I knew what was going on.

At least there, I knew we would be okay.

At least there, I had Ron.

At least there, we had hope.

At least there, I knew what was happening.

At least there, I could help them.

Hermione called it my "saving peoples" thing.

Maybe that's why I like Percy, I can see myself in him.

But better.

He would be a better leader, he wouldn't shy away from taking risks, and he would be strong through the pain.

Not like me.

The car jolts and I see that they're gone, the door in the alley slammed shut again. Rachel finally snaps at the others to "shut up, they'll be fine."

As we turn the corner, the sun shines in my eyes, not bright sunlight, but more a silvery gleam, like the stars and the moon.

Maybe realizing that Greek Mythology's monsters existed had done something to my brain, but I would swear that the shadows brightened in their gloomy glare and that the sunlight dimmed, the warm glow turning silver.

From the shadows, twenty or so girls crept, if I had to give an age range, I would say the youngest was ten or eleven and the oldest about twenty. Half slunk inside, and the others taking up positions around the exits.

Suddenly, from inside the building, a lion's roar echoed. Birds took to the sky and spiders crawled out from the cracks and crevices. Rats scurried from the gutters.

And from the roof of the dome, birds flocked to the sky, from a distance I though they were geese but as they flew down, I realized that they were half human, half bird.

They screeched as they flew down from the sky, talons out, their drab feathers ruffled, making their glide more and more like a steep fall.

The eldest, a girl with short, spiky black hair and a silver cuff around her forearm shouted a command, I didn't understand what she was saying, but the others drew their bows back into position.

Storm clouds began gathering around us, the pedestrians left on the streets rushing into buildings to take cover from the approaching storm. As the birds dove towards us, they fired, arrows launching into the air. Several were taken down, but still others remained.

The birds balked, retreating into the air again before diving. This time, a bolt of lightning hit them, the air around us crackling with electricity. Alone, the last hybrid fled.

The leader looked towards us, asking something, to which Nico replied to after looking at Rachel. The girl approached us, two other girls broke off as well, following her lead.

"Don't. Scream." Her hand reached around the backs of our heads to around our mouths, muffling any scream I would've made. Nico and Rachel both lowered their weapons, and we held each other tightly as we were wrapped in shadows once again.

An ice-cold blast of air hit me and then we were back in the sunlight. Percy and Annabeth were both laying next to each other, thin mats beneath them.

A silence draped over the group, awkward and tense. Nico's head rested on my shoulder, his eyes closing, surrendering to sleep.

Wherever we were, it was far away from the monsters and cold.

But it was safe.

Many questions were running through my head, but one stood at the forefront of them all.

What were those?