Answers to reviews:

Direbeast37: I am planning on bringing back many old stories that were favourited a lot and had potential like A Betrayed Dragon, The Dragon God of Destruction, my son of Death and an Olympian Goddess story, and so on. And I MAY bring back my old Supergirl/Godzilla story.

Lupus: DMC 5 hasn't happened yet.

Light Hero Kaiser: Well, here you go.

RedReaper121: Thanks.

Disclaimer: I do not own Devil May Cry or Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I only own the OC Damian Redgrave.

They were doing pretty okay that night.

They camped out in the woods, a hundred yards from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties. The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers.

There was talk about lighting a fire but that was quickly shot down since the light from the fire and the smoke might attract more monsters. After the day that they all had, they did not need any more of that type of excitement for one night.

The ground was soft underneath their make shift shelter which would be fine for sleeping on. Annabeth immediately lay down on the soft earth and used her jacket as a pillow while she covered herself in a blanket. Within a few minutes, Damian could here small soft snores coming from the blonde haired girl, signalling that she was asleep.

"She didn't take long to fall asleep." Percy said since he was a little hesitant to sleep, not wanting a monster to attack them during the night.

"Can you blame her? It's been a long day and we were attacked by the kindly ones and Medusa. Anyone who had never been on a quest before is going to be pretty drained." Damian explained with Grover nodding. Although he was not as experienced as Damian, Grover went on a fair few mission to pick up demigods and bring them to camp.

Percy, meanwhile, was struggling to keep his eyes open. He was in the same boat as Annabeth. He was pretty much drained and just wanted to fall asleep but the thought of monsters was just keeping him up.

"I'll take first watch." He offered.

"No I will." Damian shook his head. "I'm not even tired yet, so I can keep watch."

"You know, it makes me sad, guys." Grover said, looking at the sky.

"What does? The fact that you signed up for this stupid quest?" Percy asked, thinking that's what Grover meant but the Satyr shook his head.

"No. This makes me sad. " He pointed at all the garbage on the ground. "And the sky. You cant even see the stars. They've polluted the sky. This is a terrible time to be a satyr. "

"That's humanity for you." Damian said with a sigh. "Sometimes I doubt even the gods influence them to cause pollution, war, chaos, overpopulation. They do it themselves. But... that's the way humanity is."

"Oh, yeah. I guess you'd be an environmentalist, Grover " Percy said.

Grover glared at Percy for that. "Only a human wouldn't be. Your species is clogging up the world so fast... ah, never mind. It's useless to lecture a human. At the rate things are going, I'll never find Pan. "

"Pam? Like the cooking spray?"

"Oh gods, Percy." Damian facepalmed.

"Pan!" Grover cried indignantly. "P-A-N. The great god Pan! What do you think I want a searchers license for?"

A strange breeze rustled through the clearing, temporarily overpowering the stink of trash and muck. It brought the smell of berries and wildflowers and clean rainwater, things that might've once been in these woods.

"Tell me about the search," the son of the sea said.

Grover looked at Percy cautiously, as if he were afraid the boy was just making fun of him.

"The God of Wild Places disappeared two thousand years ago," He said. "A sailor off the coast of Ephesos heard a mysterious voice crying out from the shore, Tell them that the great god Pan has died! When humans heard the news, they believed it. They've been pillaging Pan's kingdom ever since. But for the satyrs, Pan was our lord and master. He protected us and the wild places of the earth. We refuse to believe that he died. In every generation, the bravest satyrs pledge their lives to finding Pan. They search the earth, exploring all the wildest places, hoping to find where he is hidden, and wake him from his sleep. "

"And you want to be a searcher." Damian stated

"Its my life's dream," Grover said. "My father was a searcher. And my Uncle Ferdinand... the statue you saw back there—"

"Oh, right, sorry. " Percy winced.

Grover shook his head. "Uncle Ferdinand knew the risks. So did my dad. But I'll succeed. I'll be the first searcher to return alive. "

"Hang on—the first?" Percy asked.

Grover took his reed pipes out of his pocket. "No searcher has ever come back. Once they set out, they disappear. They're never seen alive again. "

"Not once in two thousand years?" Damian asked.

"No. "

"And your dad? You have no idea what happened to him?" Percy asked.

"None. "

"But you still want to go," Percy said, amazed. "I mean, you really think you'll be the one to find Pan?"

"I have to believe that, Percy. Every searcher does. Its the only thing that keeps us from despair when we look at what humans have done to the world. I have to believe Pan can still be awakened. "

"You'll find him." Damian said. "Hold onto that hope that you will find him. As long as you stay true to your dream and you keep that kind of determination with you then I know you will be the one to find Pan. Sometimes in life all you need is a little bit of hope and determination. You would be surprised at what you can accomplish with that."

"Damian's right. You'll defiantly find him." Percy said, further encouraging and believing in Grover.

Grover was looking at his friends in happiness that they believed in him. In Satyr terms he was a very late bloomer and many of the older Satyrs saw Grover as a bit of a disappointment. While many others discouraged the young Satyr, there were those that did believe in him, those being Annabeth, Chiron, and Luke at times.

"Guys, thank you. You don't know how much it means to be to hear that." Grover said, wiping way a stray teat happy to know that his two best friends believed in him.

"Anytime G-man." Percy said, smiling while Damian gave him a thumbs up.

"We got your back, dude."

The three boys fell into a comfortable silence looking up at the sky. Grover thinking about his long awaited search for Pan, Percy was thinking about getting to his mom more than anything else while Damian only had one thought on his mind.

'Mom? Are you looking down at me?' He thought as he stared at the full moon in the sky that had come out from behind the clouds.

Eventually Percy fell asleep while Damian kept watch. However, the call of sleep came to him a few hours into the watch and he was about to doze off when he heard a shivering sound and looked over to see Annabeth was shivering, her blanket not long enough to keep her warm from the cold.

Damian stood and took off his coat before he draped it over Annabeth, who stopped shivering and now had a small smile on her face. Damian smiled softly before sitting back down and rested his arms on his bent knees before he felt his eyes closing and sleep claimed him.

However, not long after he fell asleep, a woman approached him and crouched down to her knees, revealing her in the moonlight to be Hestia, Damian's Godmother.

Hestia smiled before she placed a large brown blanket over Damian to keep him warm. Hestia leaned over and placed a kiss down on his forehead, sending a surge of warmth through his body that'll keep him more warm.

"Goodnight, Damian." Hestia smiled before she disappeared back to Olympus.

Olympus

Hestia appeared back on Olympus and walked over to the Hearth in the main throne room. All the Okympians were there as Zeus had called a meeting, which had spiralled down into what they all expected... Zeus and Poseidon arguing over Zeus' Lightning bolt being stolen.

"I know you have it so give it back! This is because Mother liked me best, isn't it?!" Zeus shouted at his brother.

"Oh will you quit with that nonsense?!" Poseidon shouted back. "I don't have your stupid toy!"

"IT IS NOT A TOY!"

Hestia sighed and shook her head. Her brothers had always been the same since the beginning after their father's defeat and the rule of Zeus began. It's usually worse when Hades has his visit and the three brothers just seem to want to rile each other up

'Why can't they all get along like normal brothers?' Hestia thought with a shake of her head. Whenever an argument between the Big Three gets too out of control, Hestia, Hera and Demeter are quick to calm their brothers down before a catastrophe can happen.

Zeus looked over upon noticing his sister at her usual place. "Hestia, where did you go?" Zeus asked curiously.

"I was checking on how Perseus Jackson and his friends are doing in their quest to find your Master Bolt, brother." Hestia said calmly as she poked a stick into the hearth.

"A quest was given?" Hephaestus asked in surprise. "Been a couple of years since the last one that Hermes' son went on. Who's on this one?"

"Well, there's Poseidon son, Percy Jackson." Hestia said, causing Poseidon to have a smile on his face at the mention of his son though Zeus glared at him for 'breaking the oath they made'. Poseidon would just bring up Thalia Grace and Zeus would go silent.

"There is also Athena's daughter, Annabeth Chase." Hestia continued, causing Athena to smile at the mention of her daughter before she realized her daughter was on this quest with one of Poseidon's spawn and she glared at the God of the Sea.

"There is also the Satyr Grover Underwood. And finally, my Godson and Artemis' son, Damian Redgrave." Hestia said. Artemis had a look of pride on her face.

"Is he okay?" Artemis asked worriedly, concerned for her son. The other gods gave her strange looks. It was still weird to know she had a son and she cared for him greatly, despite the fact she didn't have the best opinion on men.

"He's fine." Hestia smiled at her niece. "He gave his coat to Athena's daughter when he noticed she was cold. I didn't want him to get cold so I placed a blanket over him just to make sure he was comfortable."

"Thank you, aunt Tia, for looking after him." Artemis said with a grateful smile. Athena also smiled at hearing how Artemis' son made sure Annabeth was kept warm. She was thankful for that.

"From what i heard, they battled the Furies and Medusa." Apollo spoke up, causing Artemis' head to whip around and she glared at him.

"And you are just telling me this now?!" She shouted at her little brother. Athena glared at Poseidon at the mention of Medusa, but the god of the sea just rolled his eyes at her. He wasn't going to open up that can of worms.

"Hey!" Hermes said, calling out from his throne, getting looks form the others gods. "I just remembered, I got a package for Olympus earlier." He snapped his fingers and the package Percy had sent off earlier had now appeared in front of them.

"It's from Poseidon's son." He said as he unsealed the box and opened it wide.

"Eww..." He said as he pulled the head of Medusa out of the box and showed it to the other gods. "I'm guessing he is not too happy with us."

"HE DARES INSULT US LIKE THIS?!" Zeus stormed while Poseidon rolled his eyes.

"Can you blame him? Anyone who was attacked by the Furies and the Gorgon sisters would be a little angry. He just lost his temper that's all." Poseidon said with a few of the others agreeing. They were willing to let this go if he actually managed to get the bolt since it would stop Zeus from being so bipolar all the time.

"What's this?" Hermes asked, making everyone look at him. He pulled out a note and began reading it. He had an unreadable expression on his face before he looked back down into the box. As soon as he did, Hermes burst out laughing surprising everyone as he had to hold his sides.

"HAHA! HE IS A GENIUS!" Hermes laughed, while the other gods looked at him as if he went mad.

"What did the sea spawn do this time?" Athena asked.

"Oh it was not Poseidon's son." He said between breaths before he picked the note up and read what it said out.

Dear Zeus

Since we are on a mission for your Master Bolt I'm guessing you a little glum about not having your favourite toy. Well problem solved until you get your bolt back. I hope you enjoy.

From

Your grandson, Damian Redgrave.

"What did the son of Artemis send us?" Hera asked now a lttle intrigued as was everyone else.

Hermes was still giggling as he put his hand in the box and pulled out a bright yellow beanie toy shaped like a lightning bolt. He threw it to Zeus who caught it and had an angry look on his face.

"IS THIS A JOKE?!" He roared out but got no answer when he saw all the gods had their hands clamped over their mouths and others biting their lips trying not to burst out laughing. Apollo and Aphrodite looked close to breaking but somehow managed to hold on.

Zeus then inadvertently squished the toy which made a zapping noise that sounded out throughout the silent throne room. That was the breaking point.

Apollo, Aphrodite and Hermes fell to the ground laughing while Ares and Hephaestus were gripping their thrones trying not to fall down from laughing. Poseidon had let out a bellow of laughter while Artemis, Demeter, Hera, Athena, and Hestia giggled.

"I've never met the kid, and I already like him!" Poseidon laughed, getting sounds of agreement from the other gods while Zeus pouted like a child.

"I hate this kid already." He muttered.

Damian groaned as he woke up and opened his eyes to see it was daylight, early morning perhaps. Annabeth was shaking him awake.

"Good morning." She said before hugging him. "Thanks for the coat by the way."

"Anytime, Bethy." Damian said, getting an annoyed groan from the daughter of Athena who gave him back his coat which Damian put on. Annabeth then got to work on breakfast as Damian stood and stretched before he paused when he saw a very odd sight.

Grover sitting down... with a pink poodle.

"Grover... why is there a dog there?" Damian asked.

"Oh right this is Gladiola. He is missing and it turns out there is a reward for him. We could use the money to help pay the way through the quest. Say hi." He said.

Damian looked at him before shrugging. "Sup dawg?"

"Wassup human?" The dog... actually spoke back.

"Did you just talk?" Damian asked in surprise, getting a look of surprise from Grover.

"You can understand me? Huh, you know, most humans would probably be scared at being able to understand dogs."

"I've encountered far stranger and weirder things than understanding a dog." Damian said.

"You must really get around then."

"it's probably because you are Artemis' son that you can understand animals." Grover explained, getting a nod from Damian. That made much sense to him.

Soon Percy woke up.

"Well," Annabeth said, "the zombie lives."

Percy sat up still a little groggy and wiped his eyes. His gaze started at Damian before it drifted over to Grover and then at Gladiola.

Grover quickly explained to him and told him to say hello but Percy believed it was stupid to talk to a dog since they couldn't understand them.

"Stupid money, say hello to me!" Gladiola growled, causing Damian to snort in amusement.

Percy stared at Annabeth, figuring she'd crack up at this practical joke they were playing on him, but she looked deadly serious.

"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle," he said. "Forget it."

"Percy," Annabeth said. "I said hello to the poodle. Damian said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle."

The poodle growled.

Percy said hello to the poodle.

It was not long before the group began to pack up and be on their way. The first stop was at Gladiola's owner's house which was about half an hour walk away. It was a very fancy house to say this least. Somewhere between being a house and a mansion.

The owner is a giant fat woman who looked to be in her mid forties but was wearing so much make up it made her look like the honey monster. Damian could now understand why Gladiola ran away in the first place, he'd do the same in the dog's shoes... or paws.

Anyway, the lady paid Annabeth. They got about two hundred dollars out of it which would great help them in the long run.

Damian stared out of the window and looked at the scenery as the train made its way to St Louis.

They weren't attacked once, but the group didn't relax. Who knew where an attack could come from?

Damian and Percy had to keep a low cover because Gave had filed Sally as a missing person and blamed it on Percy and Damian. The fool had even managed to gather media attention that the two boys were delinquents and would do nothing but cause harm to other. Gabe even told them how Damian had threatened him since Gabe no doubt believed Damian could not do anything with the police now being involved.

Oh, Damian was going to keep to his word and was already planning on hurting gave badly the next time they see each other. Maybe Damian will give the fat shit to the Hunters of Artemis as a brother's gift.

Give them new target practice.

Right now, Damian was flipping through a Sports Illustrated. Annabeth was beside him with her head on his shoulder, asleep. Annabeth had bonded a bit more with Damian and even told him her history, how she came to be on the streets at the age of seven. To put it short, her dad married a woman who had two boys, and the stepmother was such a bitch and basically wanted Annabeth out because she was putting the stepmother and her sons in danger. Annabeth's dad... well, he forgot about her.

Now Damian made a mental note to pay the Chase family a visit the next time he's in San Francisco.

Damian reassured her that she had a new, better family with the campers at camp and she had a home at Camp Half-Blood.

"She's taken a real liking to you, Damian." Grover said causing the son of Artemis to look up from his magazine and then glance at the still sleeping Annabeth. "She's never really trusted anyone so quick since... Thalia."

Damian paused at that. Thalia was a sore subject for Annabeth, Grover and Luke, but not talking about her doesn't really help the issue.

"What was she like?" Damian asked, getting Grover to look at him. "Thalia."

Grover let out a exhale. "Thalia... she, well, the best word to describe her would be fierce. She was an amazing fighter, especially with her spear and her shield, Aegis. A scary combo. She was fierce when protecting those she cared about and valued everyone's friendship. Hell she saved mine and Luke's lives on a number of occasions. She would fight with everything she had and would not stop until she was so exhausted she couldn't get up."

Grover snorted. "Hell, the first time I met her she thought I was the enemy and tried to take my head off. I almost crapped myself when I saw her coming at me with that angry and powerful expression on her face."

"She was always strong and not just for herself. She was strong for others and she looked after them. Heck, she pretty much raised Annabeth for a good six months before I found them. She was a big sister to Annabeth and she always had a special place for Annabeth in her heart."

"She was the best." Came a whisper, making them both look over to see Annabeth with her eyes open but her head still against Damian's shoulder. "I still miss her."

"Good. If you miss someone, it means you truly cared for them." Damian said.

"Really?" She asked, getting a nod from Damian. "What about you? Is there anyone you lost who you miss?"

Damian inhaled then exhaled. "My uncle Vergil. I never met him, but my dad told me about him. See, my dad and uncle were the sons of a demon named Sparda, who rebelled against his demon brethren to protect humanity about 2,000 years ago. Sparda battled the Dark Emperor, Mundus, and sealed him, his legions and the demon world away with the use of his Devil's blood and the blood of a mortal priestess. During his time on Earth, Sparda met my grandmother, Eva, fell in love with her, married her and they had two twin boys, Vergil and Dante. Vergil was the older twin, Dante the younger. My dad told me that while he despised his demonic side, Vergil embraced it and refused his human side. One night, after my grandfather had left, the house was attacked by demons, which resulted in the disappearance of Vergil and the death of my grandmother, leaving only my dad."

"And that's how he became a Demon Hunter, right?" Grover asked, getting a nod.

"Correct. My dad grew up battling demons but refused his demon side because he blamed grandpa for what happened. He believed Vergil was dead, but they encountered one another, now older. Vergil had stuck to his demon side and saw his human one as weakness. All Vergil cared about was gaining so much power that he could surpass Sparda. During an incident involving a tower called the Temen-Ni-Gru, which was a tower that hid the door to the demon world. the brothers met and battled, and that fight resulted in my dad awakening his Devil side after being stabbed through the chest with his own sword."

"He got stabbed with his owns word?" Annabeth asked in shock.

"Meh, it's happened quite a lot over the years since." Damian said with a bit of a smile. "Dad would just shake it off and make a quip about it. Anyway, my dad's Devil side has awakened and he was stronger, faster, and could now equal Vergil in fighting. But, the events had been manipulated by a man named Arkham, who was the father of my adoptive aunt. Lady, he wanted the power of Sparda so he could become a god, but Dad and Vergil worked together to defeat him... then battled each other once more, ending with Dad dealing the fatal blow and Vergil choosing to fall into the demon world before the portal sealed itself. However, Vergil was corruped and enslaved by the Dark Emperor himself, and turned into a demon named Nelo Angelo, who my dad battled and defeated, apparently killing Vergil was well. My dad believed Vergil was dead from then on. I can tell he misses him, wishes they had a more better brotherly bond than what they have."

The cart was silent as Grover and Annabeth thought about what they just learned. Their friend was the grandson of a powerful demon, his family on his dad's side all resulted around demons, while his mother's side resulted around gods. Sounds like something out of a book or movie.

"You want to see a picture of Thalia?" Annabeth asked, surprising Damian as Annabeth sat up a little before digging her hand into her pocket. In her hand was an old photo that looked like it had seen better days and had a few tears on the side and was a bit crumbled up.

"I always keep this with me. Sort of like a keepsake I guess." She said as she held it in front of Damian.

Damian scanned the picture and first saw who must have been a younger Annabeth. She must have been about seven years old when it was taken. She was very adorable.

Next to her, with a hand on her shoulder and with a big smile on his face had to have been Luke if the elfish feature were anything to go by. He looked happy. The biggest difference was of course he didn't have the scar on his face.

Then his eyes went to the girl standing next to them. She had black shoulder length hair that spiked at the end. She had electric blue eyes with freckle across her nose and under her eyes. She was wearing all black punk style clothes. Black shirt, black jacket, black jeans and wore dark blue lipstick. She was smiling while her gaze had drifted to Annabeth who she looked like she was keeping close to her.

Damian smiled. They looked like a little family and he couldn't help but blush a little at Thalia. She was very pretty.

"She's very beautiful." He said with a tint of red in his cheeks which caused Annabeth and Grover to both smile at.

"She would have liked you. She always liked strong people who had kind hearts. You both would have gotten on well." Annabeth said.

Damian's attention turned over to Percy and grinned when he saw Percy was beginning to drool even more.

"I guess you were right." Damian said to Annabeth who had a confused look on her face. "Percy really does drool in his sleep." He said causing her to snort with laughter which made Percy stir.

"He is the son of the sea god so it's makes sense." Annabeth said causing him to bark with laughter.

This made the whole cabin laugh which broke Percy out of his sleep and stare at them in confusion.

"What?" He asked, unconsciously wiping the drool of his face making them all laugh harder.

Toward the end of their second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, they passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. As they approached the city, Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch.

"I want to do that," she sighed wistfully.

"What?" Percy asked as he stared at the giant bag handle stabbed into the ground.

"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?"

"Only in pictures."

"Same here," Damian added.

"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years."

Percy laughed. "You? An architect?"

"I can see it, Brainy Bethy…tee-shirt that one." Damian winked to the blonde.

Her cheeks flushed. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention."

"And here we go again." Damian sighed as Percy had a broody look while watching the churning brown water of the Mississippi below.

"Sorry," Annabeth said. "That was mean."

"Can't we work together a little?" He pleaded. "I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?"

Annabeth had to think about it. "I guess... the chariot," she said tentatively. "My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete. "

"Then we can cooperate, too. Right?"

The train finally arrived at St Louis in the Amtack station and in single file the group got off the train and kept their eyes and ear open for any sign of the supposed monster in the area.

Grover led the group at the front with Percy behind him, then Annabeth and then Damian watching the back. The last thing they needed was something jumping at them from behind.

The tannoy system overhead told them they had three hours before the train would head off to Denver.

"Okay, we have a few hours to kill while we are in St. Louis. We can't risk splitting up so we stay as a group no matter what. If we have to go off for whatever reason you go in pairs. Never alone okay?" Damian said to them getting confirmed nods. "Okay so while we are here what do you want to do?"

"We get some more food-" Grover cried out but was quickly shot down by Annabeth.

"No, we are going sightseeing." She said firmly.

"You just want to see the Arch, don't you?" Damian said, getting happy nods from Annabeth. "Alright let's go but everyone be on the lookout. One slip up and that could be it."

"Lighten up, Damian. St. Louis is a big place. What are the chances that we get found by this monster," Percy asked, getting a deadpanned look from the son of Artemis.

"And you just jinxed us." Damian said.

"Do you think there is a snack bar at the arch," Grover asked getting odd looks from the group.

The group didn't have to walk far since the arch was only a mile away from the train station so they could make a hasty run back if necessary.

When they arrived at the great arch, instead of immediately going up Annabeth decided to give them a whole tour of the underground museum, much to the three boys' dismay as she spoke about how it was built and other interesting facts about it.

Grover was too hungry to listen, despite only eating al little while ago, Percy looked like he was falling asleep if the drool was anything to go by and Damian was both listening and looking out. There was some kind of faint scent around but it kept coming and going.

"You smell anything Grover?" Damian asked, getting a shaking head from Grover.

"Not really. Usually places underground like this smell of monsters so I'm not surprised if we catch a scent down here. If we do, then whatever it was is most likely long gone." He said, getting a nod from Damian but he was not planning on taking any chances.

"Hey, doesn't Hades have a have a hat like Annabeth?" Percy suddenly asked getting a yelp from Grover and worried look from Annabeth. Damian meanwhile had to face palm. Percy still didn't quite get that names have power.

"I think you mean our pal way downstairs," Grover said while looking down at ground like it was going to swallow him up.

"You mean the Helm of Darkness," Annabeth said getting a nod from Percy. "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, surprised since he thought Hades was not welcomed on Olympus.

Annabeth 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."

"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?"

"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 stated.

"I doubt he would, he'd probably have something better to do than watch us." Damian said with a roll of his eyes. "Shall we head up to the top of the arch now?"

For the ride up to the viewing deck, they got shoehorned into the car with this massively rotund lady and her diminutive dog: a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar. Percy figured maybe the dog was a seeing-eye Chihuahua, because none of the guards said a word about it as the elevator went up its curved slope.

"No parents?" The fat lady asked them, her tone dripping concern.

She had black beady eyes, pointy, coffee-stained teeth, a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged so much, she looked like a blue-jean blimp.

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

"Oh, the poor darlings."

The Chihuahua growled, "Now, now, sonny. Behave." The woman chastised; the dog had beady eyes like its owner: intelligent and vicious.

"Sonny. Is that his name?" Percy asked, peering at the dog; those eyes...

"No," the lady told him flatly, she smiled, as if that cleared everything up. Damian narrowed his eyes, smelling something off with this woman and that damn dog with her.

For one thing, he couldn't understand it.

At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded Damian of a tin can with carpeting. Rows of tiny windows looked out over the city on one side and the river on the other. Annabeth kept babbling on about structural supports, and how she would've made the windows bigger, and designed a see-through floor. She probably could've stayed up there for hours, but luckily for Percy, the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.

Percy literally dragged Damian, Grover, and Annabeth toward the exit; after loading the latter two into the elevator, he and Damian were about to get in but two other tourists were already in there, so there was no more room.

"Next car, kids." The park ranger announced, seeing the issue.

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

But that would just mess things up for everybody and take even more time, so Percy replied with, "Naw, it's okay. We'll see you guys at the bottom."

"We'll be okay." Damian reassured them.

Grover and Annabeth both looked nervous, but they let the elevator door slide shut. Their car disappeared down the ramp.

Now the only people left on the observation deck were Damian, Percy, a little boy with his parents, the park ranger, and the fat lady with her Chihuahua.

Percy smiled uneasily at the fat lady. She smiled back, her forked tongue flickering between her teeth.

Wait a minute.

She had a forked tongue?

"I knew it." Damian sighed as he summoned Judgement and unsheathed it. Immediately, the mortals began screaming about the boy with a shotgun... that would be a scary sight actually. The lady's Chihuahua jumped down and started yapping at the two demigods.

"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 Percy and Damian, foam dripping from his black lips.

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

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

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

"Oh great, first the Furies, then Medusa, now the wife of Typhoon and mother of monsters." Damian said with a roll of his eyes. "What's next, the Nemean Lion? The Hydra?"

"Please don't jinx us with either of them." Percy pleaded,

"My bad." Damian looked at Echidna. "So, tubby, you're Echidna... thought you'd be much more uglier and taller."

The fat lady started hissing and screaming, going red in the face as she raged at the son of the moon.

"Are you trying to piss her off?" Percy asked his friend.

"It's a thing in my family." Damian smirked. "Dad and I always love taunting and pissing off demons. It's a lot fun when they talk back."

The monster woman rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, they could see her fangs glisten in the light. The pupils of her eyes had thinned to mere vertical 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. At which point, the bark became a roar.

The little boy screamed. His father grabbed him and bodily slung him over his shoulder as they ran for the exit; straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monster.

The Chimera bared its gaping maw at the demigods, showing yellowed teeth the size of Damian's hand and bathing them with the stench of rotting flesh. Its lionesque head had old blood caked around its lips and staining its mane an uneven crimson; small patches of vivid orange glared at them from where the blood failed to coat. Lowering its head, a vicious diamondback around ten feet long writhed and hissed at them as its hulking goatlike body tensed. The room groaned and shook and the glass panes rattled ominously as the Chimera roared. Taking an unconscious step back, Percy's eyes darted around, analyzing the monster; a quick flash caught her attention: it was the dog collar, still desperately hanging onto its neck. The plate read: CHIMERA — RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS — IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS – EXT. 954

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

Percy stared at the monstrous woman long and hard, but all he could come up with was "Isn't that a kind of anteater?"

She howled, her reptilian face turning brown and green with rage. "I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me. For that, Perseus Jackson, my son shall destroy you!"

"You can't blame him for the Aussies." Damian chided to the mother of monsters, disapproval in his eyes.

"Sonny, kill them. Now!"

"Crikey! Someone's just a sourpuss!" Damian said in a Australian accent , a smirk on his face.

"Start with the son of Artemis! Strip his flesh and pulverize his bones!"

"Joy, a right ray of sunshine, you are." Damian rolled his eyes again. "Percy, it breathes fire and has poison in its fangs; also, watch out for the tail, poison, too." He told him as Percy brought up his sword defensively.

"Right."

The Chimera charged, its fangs poised to skewer them. They leaped in opposite directions to avoid the bite.

Percy ended up next to the family and the park ranger, who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors.

He couldn't let them get hurt. Sword raised and the small amount of water he had coiling around his sword arm, Percy ran to the other side of the deck, and yelled, "Hey, Chihuahua!" The Chimera turned faster than he would've thought possible.

It opened its mouth, emitting a stench like the world's largest barbecue pit, and shot a column of flame straight at him.

Percy dove through the explosion, using the water as a shield. The carpet burst into flames and all the water he had evaporated; the heat was so intense.

Where he had been standing a moment before was a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges.

'Great,' Percy thought. 'We just blowtorched a national monument.'

Damian whipped out Dawn and fired off a single shot, striking the Chimera square in its right eye, blinding it. The beast let out a cry of agony at the blow.

"Sonny!" its mother cried out in worry.

The beast turned and fired a wide gout of flames at the child of Artemis.

"Woah!" Damian rolled out the way, dropping his sword and gun in the process so he landed on a knee, whirled around, bow in hand with an arrow drawn on the bowstring, and fired.

The shot curved like it was homing in on the Chimera and sliced the base of the tail off.

"I think you pissed it off more." Percy told him as Damian maneuvered to his right, grabbing Judgement and Dawn.

"It can't be that bad."

Percy pulled him down with him to avoid another spout of fire from the Chimera's mouth.

"I think it is."

"This thing is as stingy as demons. We need to kill this thing at the same time, then deal with it's mother." Damian said before seeing she Chimera running at them. "Incoming!"

They jumped out the way and Damian ran, leaped onto it's back and the creature started bucking to try and get him off.

"Giddyap horse!" Damian laughed before Percy ran fourth, seeing the creature distracted. At the same time, Damian and Percy raised their swords for the kill.

"Sonny, watch out!"

Too late.

Judgement was stabbed through the Chimera's skull while Riptide was stabbed into it's back. The Chimera let out a roar of pain as it fell to dust, leaving behind a white horn with a tuft of bloody crimson fur.

Percy and Damian both breathed out in relief only to hear the hissing of the mother of monsters. They turned to see her with the lower body of a snake with the top half of a woman, all her skin had turned green as she stood about ten feet tall and that was when she was coiled.

"You dare!" she shouted at them, her fangs and clawed hands shining in the sun. "You will pay for that, son of Artemis! I'll be sure to send your head to your filthy mother and her hunters! She will know the pain I feel when they hunt my children!"

"Don't say a word against my mother." Damian growled.

"Or what? What are you going to do, cry like a little-"

BANG!

In the blink of an eye, Damian had whipped out Dawn and fired off a single shot, getting Echidna in the forehead when caused her to explode into golden dust with a scream.

"I think that look suit you better." Damian remarked coldly while holstering his gun.

They heard sirens screaming towards the Arch as the adrenaline faded from them. Percy put Riptide away and grabbed the fallen horn as Damian sheathed Judgement across his back and the sword disappeared in a silver light. They looked over the hole that was made towards the Mississippi and stared over the edge.

"Hey Percy, think you could make that-?"

"No," the son of the sea said, "You'd have to be pretty stupid to jump from here."

Damian sighed. "We may have no choice but to jump, unless you want to take the elevator down and run into the cops and explain everything to them in a way they'll make sense of it."

Percy sighed but nodded. "Together then?"

"Yep." Damian said before they looked at one another and nodded, then jumped out at the same time. They hit the river that is the Mississippi.

Damian resurfaced first and spat water out his mouth before he swam to land and shook water out his hair before meeting up with Annabeth and Grover.

"What did you two do?" Annabeth said demandingly.

"Wasn't us!" Damian immediately denied it. "We ran into Echidna and the Chimera."

"Echidna and the Chimera?!" Grover sputtered.

"Yeah, dealt with them... and then decided to take a jump seeing as authorities will be arriving." Damian said, looking around.

"Percy still in there?" Annabeth asked, looking at the river.

"He should've resurfaced by now." Damian said with crossed arms.

A few minutes passed before Percy surface and began walking out of the river. The three took a sigh of relief before they went over to him and hugged Percy, being glad he was okay. Even Annabeth gave him a path on the back.

When the checking each other over for injuries was over, Percy explained what happened while he down in the river. He told them about the weird spirit lady in the river that looked like a ghost. She had told him to go to Santa Monica bay and that his father wanted to relay a message and give him something.

"Whoa," said Grover. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."

"Grover is right. If your dad has summoned you then it is for a good reason," Annabeth said as Damian just nodded along.

"Come on we better get out of here," Damian said, getting their attention. "You are forgetting me and Percy are technically wanted criminals. We better not stay here much longer since news like two boys being potential kidnappers can spread pretty quickly."

"Let's go," Annabeth said before the four quickly and quietly made their way back to Amtrak station this time trying their luck with no running into trouble...

And that's it for this chapter everyone. I hope you all enjoyed it.