Grimacing Zeus takes the book from the vine and slumps onto his throne. Opening the book to the next chapter, he reads the chapter title aloud.
"Excuse me? What does that mean?" Poseidon asked his son worried.
Percy looked back at him and grimaced a little knowing that his dad was going to freak out later on in the chapter.
(We spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain. We weren't attacked once, but I didn't relax. I felt that we were travelling around in a display case, being watched from above and maybe from below, that something was waiting for the right opportunity.)
"There was." Percy muttered but loud enough that everyone heard him.
( I tried to keep a low profile because my name and picture were splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. The Trenton Register-News showed a photo taken by a tourist as I got off the Greyhound bus. I had a wild look in my eyes. My sword was a metallic blur in my hands. It might've been a baseball bat or a lacrosse stick. The picture's caption read: Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers. The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be travelling with two teenage accomplices. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture. )
"Your stepfather is a despicable man." Artemis snarled.
"Yeah, he was." Percy said to her.
Everyone noticed how Percy had used past tense regarding his stepfather.
('Don't worry,' Annabeth told me. 'Mortal police could never find us.' But she didn't sound so sure. The rest of the day I spent alternately pacing the length of the train (because I had a really hard time sitting still), or looking out the windows. Once, I spotted a family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field, bows at the ready, as they hunted lunch. The little boy centaur, who was the size of a second-grader on a pony, caught my eye and waved. I looked around the passenger car, but nobody else had noticed. The adult riders all had their faces buried in laptop computers or magazines.)
"They wouldn't have. They were employing The Mist to get around." Apollo told the demigods.
"They were probably taking the child on his first hunt." Dionysus told them.
( Another time, towards evening, I saw something huge moving through the woods. I could've sworn it was a lion, except that lions don't live wild in America, and this thing was the size of a tank. Its fur glinted gold in the evening light. Then it leaped through the trees and was gone. )
"You saw one even before...?" Thalia asked Percy, shocked.
"Yup. I think it might have even been the same one." Percy told her.
Thalia shakes her head at him.
(Our reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver. We couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so we dozed in our seats. My neck got stiff. I tried not to drool in my sleep, since Annabeth was sitting right next to me. )
"You did." Annabeth told Percy.
"What?" Percy asked.
"You drooled, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth rolled her eyes at him, fondly.
(Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking me up. Once, he shuffled around and his fake foot fell off. Annabeth and I had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed. 'So,' Annabeth asked me, once we'd got Grover's trainer readjusted. 'Who wants your help?' 'What do you mean?' 'When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, "I won't help you." Who were you dreaming about?' I was reluctant to say anything. It was the second time I'd dreamed about the evil voice from the pit. But it bothered me so much I finally told her. Annabeth was quiet for a long time. 'That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs.')
Hades looked affronted.
"I do laugh." Hades told her.
"Not really, Dad." Nico said to his father. "I mean, you do laugh but only really at the misery of others."
Hades crosses his arms and leans back on his throne. He swears he's not pouting.
('He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?' 'I guess… if he meant, "Help me rise from the Underworld." If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?' I shook my head, wishing I knew the answer. I thought about what Grover had told me, that the Furies on the bus seemed to have been looking for something. Where is it? Where? )
"That is an excellent question." Athena mutters.
(Maybe Grover sensed my emotions. He snorted in his sleep, muttered something about vegetables and turned his head. Annabeth readjusted his cap so it covered his horns. 'Percy, you can't barter with Hades. You know that, right? He's deceitful, heartless and greedy. I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time –' )
Hades glares at Annabeth.
"I don't mean that now." Annabeth assured Hades. "I was very naïve and prideful back then."
"You're still prideful. Not as often but still." Will told her.
('This time?' I asked. 'You mean you've run into 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 clay 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' 'What would you do if it was your dad?' 'That's easy,' she said. 'I'd leave him to rot.' )
Athena frowned, not liking how her daughter was talking about her father.
"I don't think like that now." Annabeth said to her mom.
('You're not serious?' Annabeth's grey eyes fixed on me. She wore the same expression she'd worn in the woods at camp, the moment she drew her sword against the hellhound. 'My dad's resented me since the day I was born, Percy,' she said. 'He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent.' 'But how… I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital…' 'I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or something. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a "regular" mortal wife, and had two "regular" mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist.' )
Athena was frowning harder now, wondering if she had chosen the wrong father for Annabeth.
(I stared out the train window. The lights of a sleeping town were drifting by. I wanted to make Annabeth feel better, but I didn't know how. 'My mom married a really awful guy,' I told her. 'Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking.' Annabeth kept worrying at her necklace. She was pinching the gold college ring that hung with the beads. It occurred to me that the ring must be her father's. I wondered why she wore it if she hated him so much. 'He doesn't care about me,' she said. 'His wife – my stepmom – treated me like a freak. She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened – you know, something with monsters – they would both look at me resentfully, like, "How dare you put our family at risk!" Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away.' 'How old were you?' 'Same age as when I started camp. Seven.' )
"You were seven when you showed up at camp?" Piper asked Annabeth, horrified.
"Basically." Annabeth said shrugging.
('But… you couldn't have got all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself' 'Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me towards help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway.' I wanted to ask what happened, but Annabeth seemed lost in sad memories. So I listened to the sound of Grover snoring and gazed out the train windows as the dark fields of Ohio raced by. Towards the end of our second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, we passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch, which looked to me like a huge shopping-bag handle stuck on the city. )
"Really, Percy?" Annabeth asked Percy as she and Athena gave him affronted looks.
"I can't help it. That's what it looked like to me." Percy said pleadingly.
"Hmm." Annabeth said, looking at him through narrowed eyes.
('I want to do that,' she sighed. 'What?' I asked. 'Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?' 'Only in pictures.' '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.' I laughed. 'You? An architect?' )
"That was not what I meant." Percy said, starting to believe that this chapter would kill him before the end. "I'm sure it explains why; if Zeus would keep reading."
Zeus glared at him but continued reading.
(I don't know why, but I found it funny. Just the idea of Annabeth trying to sit quietly and draw all day. 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.' I watched the churning brown water of the Mississippi below. 'Sorry,' Annabeth said. 'That was mean.' 'Can't we work together a little?' I pleaded. 'I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?' )
"I mean, not really." Hermes said thoughtfully.
(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?' We rode into the city, Annabeth watching as the Arch disappeared behind a hotel. 'I suppose,' she said at last. We pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told us we'd have a three-hour stopover before departing for Denver. Grover stretched. Before he was even fully awake, he said, 'Food.' 'Come on, goat boy,' Annabeth said. 'Sightseeing.' 'Sightseeing?' )
"You want to go sightseeing when my bolt is missing?" Zeus asks the three demigods.
The three shared a look, not really sure what they should say.
"Please, Zeus. They have a three-hour wait for their train to arrive." Demeter told him. "I mean, really you can't think three demigods are just going to sit around and do nothing."
Zeus glared at her for making a point and went back to reading.
('The Gateway Arch,' she said. 'This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?' Grover and I exchanged looks. I wanted to say no, but I figured that if Annabeth was going, we couldn't very well let her go alone. Grover shrugged. 'As long as there's a snack bar without monsters.' )
The three demigods snorted.
"I would have taken a monster in a snack bar compared to what happened." Percy said to the other two.
The others in the room wondered what was about to happen.
(The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. We threaded our way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s. It wasn't all that thrilling, but Annabeth kept telling us interesting facts about how the Arch was built, and Grover kept passing me jelly beans, so I was okay. I kept looking around, though, at the other people in line. 'You smell anything?' I murmured to Grover.)
"Lesson number four of questing is to always trust instincts." Percy tells the other demigods. "Cause even the non-human member can overlook a monster in the right conditions."
The demigods nodded. Some had even grabbed some paper that was laying around and started taking notes.
(He took his nose out of the jelly-bean bag long enough to sniff. 'Underground,' he said distastefully. 'Underground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything.' But something felt wrong to me. I had a feeling we shouldn't be here. )
"Yeah, there's definitely something wrong." Clarisse said.
The Gods and Romans looked at her confused.
"The Punk has the best instincts. When he says something is wrong that means you need to leave." She explained to them.
('Guys,' I 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,' I said. 'Our friend way downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?' 'You mean the Helm of Darkness,' Annabeth said. 'Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting.' 'He was there?' I asked. )
Athena and a few other Gods had a look of astonishment as they figured out what Hades was looking for.
They shared a look and decided to discuss it at the end of the chapter.
(She nodded. 'It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus – the darkest day of the year. But his helmet 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?' )
Hades smirked smugly.
Nico just rolled his eyes at his father.
('But then… how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?' I asked. Annabeth and Grover exchanged looks. 'We don't,' Grover said. 'Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better,' said. 'Got any blue jelly beans left?' I'd almost mastered my jumpy nerves when I saw the tiny little elevator car we were going to ride to the top of the Arch, and I knew I was in trouble. I hate confined places. They make me nuts. )
"They make all demigods nuts. Unless, of course, you were able to distract yourself from it." Poseidon explained to Percy.
"It's the ADHD." Apollo told them.
(We got shoehorned into the car with this big fat lady and her dog, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar. I figured maybe the dog was a seeing-eye Chihuahua, because none of the guards said a word about it. )
"I didn't see a Chihuahua. Did you, Grover?" Annabeth asked Grover, who shook his head.
"No, I didn't."
(We started going up, inside the Arch. I'd never been in an elevator that went in a curve, and my stomach wasn't too happy about it. 'No parents?' the fat lady asked us. She had 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. The woman said, 'Now, now, sonny. Behave.' The dog had beady eyes like its owner, intelligent and vicious. I said, 'Sonny. Is that his name?' 'No,' the lady told me. She smiled, as if that cleared everything up. )
"It didn't clear anything up." Leo said from his spot on the floor.
(At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded me of a tin can with carpeting. Rows of tiny windows looked out over the city on one side and the river on the other. The view was okay, but if there's anything I like less than a confined space, its a confined space two hundred metres in the air. I was ready to go pretty quick. )
"I didn't even think of that." Annabeth said horrified.
"It's fine." Percy reassures her.
(Annabeth kept talking 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 me the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes. I steered Grover and Annabeth towards the exit, loaded them into the elevator and I was about to get in myself when I realized there were already two other tourists inside. No room for me. )
"Oh, don't separate." Clarisse groaned. "Lesson five of questing; only separate if you have no choice or if it will give you an advantage."
Athena, Artemis, and Ares nodded at that piece of advice.
(The park ranger said, 'Next car, sir.' 'We'll get out,' Annabeth said. 'Well wait with you.' But that was going to mess everybody up and take even more time, so I said, 'Naw, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom.' 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 me, a little boy with his parents, the park ranger and the fat lady with her Chihuahua. I smiled uneasily at the fat lady. She smiled back, her forked tongue flickering between her teeth. Wait a minute. Forked tongue? )
"Oh Gods, what's attacking you, now?" Gwen moaned in despair.
(Before I could decide if I'd really seen that, her Chihuahua jumped down and started yapping at me. '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 me, foam dripping from his black lips. 'Well, son,' the fat lady sighed. 'If you insist.' Ice started forming in my stomach. 'Um, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?')
Everyone but a few Gods had a look of horror on their faces as they mentally figured out which monster was attacking Percy.
('Chimera, dear,' the fat lady corrected. 'Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make.' She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, I saw that her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were sideways slits, like a reptile's. The Chihuahua barked louder, and with each bark, it grew. First to the size of a Dobermann, then to a lion. The bark became a roar. The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back towards the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralysed, gaping at the monster. )
"The mother of monsters and a Chimera" Chris muttered, his face pale.
"Only you, Percy." Nico said weakly.
(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 three-metre-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.)
"Hey, has anyone tried to call that number?" Leo asked the others.
"Why in the name of Hades, sorry Lord Hades, would anyone call that number?" Annabeth asked Leo in disbelief.
( I realized I hadn't even uncapped my sword. My hands were numb. I was three metres away from the Chimeras bloody maw, and I knew that as soon as I moved, the creature would lunge. The snake lady made a hissing noise that might've been laughter. 'Be honoured, Percy 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!' )
"YOU SENT ECHIDNA AFTER MY SON!" Poseidon roared at Zeus.
"That was another dumb movie, brother. You'd think you would want the hero tasked with retrieving your bolt to succeed." Hestia said to Zeus, her face disapproving.
(I stared at her. All I could think to say was: 'Isn't that a kind of anteater?' )
"Ooo, you shouldn't have said that." Hermes said, grimacing.
(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, Percy Jackson, my son shall destroy you!' )
"When are monsters going to get sick of saying 'we will destroy you'." Clarisse remarks.
"I know, right? They need to get new source material." Percy said, high-fiving her.
(The Chimera charged, its lion teeth gnashing. I managed to leap aside and dodge the bite. I ended up next to the family and the park ranger, who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors. I couldn't let them get hurt. I uncapped my sword, ran to the other side of the deck, and yelled, 'Hey, Chihuahua!' )
"Percy also needs to get better insulting nicknames." Nico snickers.
"I get better." Percy mutters.
(The Chimera turned faster than I would've thought possible. Before I could swing my sword, it opened its mouth, emitting a stench like the world's largest barbecue pit, and shot a column of flame straight at me. I dived through the explosion. The carpet burst into flames; the heat was so intense, it seared off my eyebrows. )
"Always my eyebrows." Percy says as he starts muttering about the number of times he's regrown them.
(Where I had been standing a moment before was a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges. Great, I thought. We just blowtorched a national monument.)
Everyone started snickering.
( Riptide was now a shining bronze blade in my hands, and as the Chimera turned, I slashed at its neck. That was my fatal mistake. )
Poseidon whimpered, looking to his son to make sure he was still there.
(The blade sparked harmlessly off the dog collar. I tried to regain my balance, but I was so worried about defending myself against the fiery lion's mouth, I completely forgot about the serpent tail until it whipped around and sank its fangs into my calf. )
"You didn't tell us you got poisoned!" Annabeth yelled at Percy, who sunk in his seat.
"It healed. So, there wasn't really a need to tell you." Percy weakly pointed out.
Annabeth glared at him.
(My whole leg was on fire. I tried to jab Riptide into the Chimera's mouth, but the serpent tail wrapped around my ankles and pulled me off balance, and my blade flew out of my hand, spinning out of the hole in the Arch and down towards the Mississippi River. )
"Well, it will come back." Poseidon said to himself, not noticing how Percy was grimacing.
(I managed to get to my feet, but I knew I had lost. I was weaponless. I could feel deadly poison racing up to my chest. I remembered Chiron saying that Anaklusmos would always return to me, but there was no pen in my pocket. Maybe it had fallen too far away. Maybe it only returned when it was in pen form. I didn't know, and I wasn't going to live long enough to figure it out. )
"Why didn't it come back? It's enchanted to come back no matter what." Poseidon wonders worriedly.
(I backed into the hole in the wall. The Chimera advanced, growling, smoke curling from its lips. The snake lady, Echidna, cackled. 'They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, son?' )
"No, they make them better." Rachel said grinning at Percy.
(The monster growled. It seemed in no hurry to finish me off now that I was beaten. I glanced at the park ranger and the family. The little boy was hiding behind his father's legs. I had to protect these people. I couldn't just… die. I tried to think, but my whole body was on fire. My head felt dizzy. I had no sword. I was facing a massive, fire-breathing monster and its mother. And I was scared. There was no place else to go, so I stepped to the edge of the hole. Far, far below, the river glittered. )
"Yes. Just jump." Poseidon muttered to himself.
(If I died, would the monsters go away? Would they leave the humans alone? 'If you are the son of Poseidon,' Echidna hissed, 'you would not fear water. Jump, Percy Jackson. Show me that water will not harm you. Jump and retrieve your sword. Prove your bloodline.' Yeah, right, I thought. I'd read somewhere that jumping into water from a couple of stories up was like jumping onto solid tar. From here, I'd splatter on impact. )
"No, you wouldn't. You're my son." Poseidon said.
"To be fair, I had no idea what being your son entailed." Percy told his dad, sheepishly.
(The Chimera's mouth glowed red, heating up for another blast. 'You have no faith,' Echidna told me. 'You do not trust the gods. I cannot blame you, little coward. Better you die now. The gods are faithless. The poison is in your heart.' She was right: I was dying. I could feel my breath slowing down. Nobody could save me, not even the gods.)
"Just jump already." Ares snarled as he was getting impatient.
( I backed up and looked down at the water. I remembered the warm glow of my father's smile when I was a baby. He must have seen me. He must have visited me when I was in my cradle. I remembered the swirling green trident that had appeared above my head the night of capture the flag, when Poseidon had claimed me as his son. But this wasn't the sea. This was the Mississippi, dead centre of the USA. There was no sea god here.)
"The Mississippi river connects to the ocean, so actually I could help." Poseidon told Percy, who smiled.
The other demigods were a little upset that their parents weren't as friendly with them, but they knew Percy deserved to have some good in his life since he seems to keep getting the short end of the stick.
( 'Die, faithless one,' Echidna rasped, and the Chimera sent a column of flame towards my face. 'Father, help me,' I prayed. I turned and jumped. My clothes on fire, poison coursing through my veins, I plummeted towards the river. )
"Finally." Ares said, rolling his eyes. "Did you have to be so melodramatic?"
Percy and Poseidon both glared at Ares.
"We think we know what Hades is looking for." Athena announced to the other Gods to stop the fight between Ares and Poseidon.
The Gods look to Athena, Hermes, and Apollo.
"It said that you were at the winter solstice and you had your helm." Athena told Hades.
"When we have solstice meetings, you three bring your items of power." Hermes added.
"Zeus and Hades usually sit their items down somewhere in the room. While Poseidon can usually be seen holding it." Apollo told them.
"It would be a logical deduction that Hades is looking for his helm. That was taken at the same time as the bolt." Athena deduces. "I think the only reason that Poseidon's wasn't taken was cause he was holding it and it would put you three against each other."
The Greek demigods in the know were stunned that the Gods had worked it out so quickly. Though, the Gods didn't get days between the snatches of info they were given. They were basically given it in a few hours.
"Well, If you want to find out if you're right then we're gonna have to keep reading." Percy informed the Gods.
"Hephaestus, you're the only one who hasn't read yet." Zeus said as he tossed the book to his son.