"Excuse me, what?" Poseidon squeaked in the most pathetic tone that anyone had ever heard from him, and Amphitrite gently clutched his arm, trying her best to reassure her husband, "Look now, Perseus is right here, with his girlfriend. He's fine."
"I know he prayed to me, asking me to help him... but I thought he just needed help dealing with the Underworld issue!" Poseidon turned to Percy worriedly, "Nothing about dying! You kids were only near the Mississippi River! Where did you even jump or fall from?! And how -"
Athena just frowned. As far as she knew, the Gateway Arch was near one of the stations that was on the way to Denver, and it was near the Mississippi River... She did recall that there had been some kind of explosion at the Arch around six years ago... but surely the boy wasn't involved in that, right?
"YES! ACTION!" Ares roared, interrupting Poseidon's rant, having finally managed to get himself free from Dionysus' vines, "Too bad you're not dead yet, though!"
Usually, Triton would be jealous that Poseidon was worrying over Percy, but after reading about just how bad his luck was two weeks into his career as a demigod, Triton couldn't blame his father for worrying. In fact, he himself was also getting worried for his demigod half-brother.
After all, Triton was a god, and he couldn't die, but Percy? The guy was getting into trouble every other day, facing all sorts of monster that any regular twelve year old half-blood would die from. It was no wonder that Poseidon would get worried about his mortal demigod son, if this was considered the easiest quest he'd ever been on.
Percy glared at Ares, "You know very well that we're not dead yet."
Ares tried, and failed, to crack his knuckles that were still entangled in vines, "You want to go, punk!?"
"You will not be fighting my son!" Poseidon interjected, and turned to Percy, "What happened!?"
"Spoilers, but it really wasn't that dramatic, really. The title is exaggerating." Percy winced pathetically, and Thalia laughed, "Big word there, Kelp Head!"
The tension amongst the demigods immediately dissolved, but Poseidon couldn't help but glance at Percy's laughing form worriedly, making sure that he was still there, alive and well.
Travis started reading.
We spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain.
Demeter smiled at the "amber waves of grain" comment, while Artemis nodded, "That's good! Two days on a train should give you plenty of time to rest and recover from your fight with Medusa."
"And you're constantly moving, so it should throw any monsters off, especially at the speed you're going." Hermes nodded, "Did you pick anyone's pockets though?"
"Hermes!" Poseidon groaned exasperatedly, "Stop suggesting that my son steal things! Especially when he's wanted by the police for supposedly kidnapping his mother!"
"So when he's not wanted by the police... we can tell him to steal?" Connor smiled, faux innocence plastered all over his face.
"No." Katie shook her head, "The entire Hermes Cabin steals enough for the entire camp. And we're not even counting the Mercury kids and legacies whenever they stay over temporarily."
Hermes, Chris, Connor and Travis all grinned cheekily.
We weren't attacked once, but I didn't relax.
"Good." Jason nodded, "Never let your guard down, especially when taking public transport."
"Unless we're taking the Argo II, a spanking hot war machine, built by yours truly!" Leo grinned, his shoulders lighting up in his excitement. Calypso shook her head a with a small smile on her face.
Beckendorf grinned at his half-brother, "I've heard about that from Jason. Pity I couldn't have seen the ship... though I'm fairly sure it doesn't count as public transport."
"Ah, true that." Leo nodded, remembering that Jason had died before they even got to meet after Leo's own "death", and his anguish extinguished his own flames.
I felt that we were traveling around in a display case, being watched from above and maybe from below,
"I'm fairly sure that Father was stalking you guys." Apollo groaned, "Not sure about Uncle Hades, though."
Persephone rolled her eyes, "I'm sure my husband has more important things to attend to, rather than stalk two demigods and a satyr."
that something was waiting for the right opportunity.
"Pretty sure that Zeus was looking for the right opportunity to blast you and your train." Triton grumbled.
I tried to keep a low profile because my name and picture were splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers.
Athena frowned, "That's even worse. Now you're stuck on the train until you reach the next station. Plenty of opportunities for the commuters to recognize you and jeopardize the quest for Father's bolt."
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.
Amphitrite huffed, "You were fending off the Furies. I'm not surprised."
My sword was a metallic blur in my hands. It might've been a baseball bat or a lacrosse stick.
"Aren't baseball bats and lacrosse sticks made of wood? How could they be metallic?" Leo frowned. He might have seen a baseball game or two while in foster care, but he was fairly sure that wooden bats were used.
"Some bats are made of metal. Also... maybe it could be metallic paint?" Grover shrugged, "Who knows how the Mist works."
The picture's caption read:
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago,
"This is just dumb." Apollo shook his head, "He was a child. It's pretty much impossible for him to be the reason his mom disappeared."
is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers.
"So they really did think that Percy is some kind of terrorist... towards three old ladies. Chris was right about that!" Leo joked
Chris just shook his head, "I was being sarcastic, idiot."
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 traveling with two teenage accomplices.
Dionysus and Athena glared at Percy, upset that they've gotten Grover and Annabeth respectively roped into his mess, but Demeter, surprisingly, defended Percy, "If anything, blame Hades for sending the Furies, or Zeus for the lighting. They were just twelve. What else did you expect them to do!? You need to eat more cereal to clear your mind!"
Percy sent a silent "thank you" prayer to Demeter, and judging from the small smile Demeter shot at him, she had received his message.
What he didn't know, was that while she was staying with Persephone in the Underground during the Second Titan War, she had heard about Percy beating Hades' army, and Demeter was immensely amused by that; Percy had immediately gotten into her good books for that.
His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.
The demigods started protesting at that, and Percy shrunk down even more into his bean bag, unsure of how to react. Annabeth just stayed silent, giving him a small smile, until Hera frowned and groaned, "Can we please continue this reading instead of complaining? I don't want to hear any more about this vile mortal!"
Everyone agreed with Hera, and Travis continued.
"Don't worry," Annabeth told me. "Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't sound so sure.
"Of course she won't be sure. She hasn't been in the mortal world since she was seven." Silena grumbled silently.
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.
All the demigods laughed. They were fairly sure they would have the same thing, given their ADHD; they were just way too restless to sit still for such a long period of time.
Once, I spotted a family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field, bows at the ready, as they hunted lunch.
"Party Ponies?" Clarisse asked.
Percy shook his head, "Nope. They were definitely sober. Probably a wild herd or something."
The little boy centaur, who was the size of a second-grader on a pony, caught my eye and waved.
Silena, Aphrodite and Piper cooed at how adorable that was.
Chiron smiled, "You were very lucky, Percy. Most centaur families wouldn't even let you even catch a glimpse of their herd, let alone a young child."
"Well, Percy was only twelve." Persephone reasoned, "And he was stuck on a train. They probably didn't think he was too much of a threat."
I looked around the passenger car, but nobody else had noticed.
Hazel let out a small grin, "The Mist probably covered them up. Maybe made them look like a wild horses or something."
The adult riders all had their faces buried in laptop computers or magazines.
Hazel's face fell slightly, as Nico teased his sister, "Or perhaps they were busy."
Chiron shook his head, "Mortals just don't want to accept magic. They prefer their science. But it does help make the Mist more effective."
Another time, toward evening, I saw something huge moving through the woods. I could've sworn it was a lion,
Artemis frowned, "Lions don't live wild in America."
except that lions don't live wild in America,
Apollo and Hermes practically doubled over in laughter, and the God of the Sun grinned, "Looks like you think like Percy, Arty!"
Better him than some other immature males." Artemis rolled her eyes, her tone clearly suggesting that she meant her brother and his best friend of a half-brother, " And don't call me Arty!"
and this thing was the size of a tank.
Thalia, Zoe and Grover paused, blinking in recognition.
Its fur glinted gold in the evening light.
"You saw the Nemean Lion then!? And you didn't tell us!?" Annabeth's eyes widened in curiosity, "I've always wanted to see it!"
Grover winced, "I'm fairly sure we've seen enough of the Nemean Lion to last a lifetime."
"Yeah. More specifically... the inside of its mouth." Percy grumbled.
"You guys fought the Nemean Lion!?" Reyna asked incredulously.
Thalia, Percy and Grover turned to Zoe, and the dead Hunter tilted her head, considering her words, before stating, "I believe thou would all say "Spoilers"."
"Atta girl!" Thalia grinned up at Zoe, and she shot a faint smile towards the Daughter of Zeus.
Then it leaped through the trees and was gone.
Our reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver.
"HA! I was right!" Hermes cheered, and Apollo clapped him on the back while Artemis and Athena rolled their eyes.
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.
The demigods all snickered.
"At least you tried." Annabeth chuckled.
"Was it effective?" Silena asked, stifling her own laughter, and Annabeth grinned, "Not really. He still drooled, but I will admit that it's less than when he was in the infirmary."
"That's adorable!" Aphrodite cooed, "You kept track of how much he drooled even then!"
"I did not!" Annabeth turned red, "I only noticed because I had to feed him nectar!"
"Keep telling yourself that, dear." Aphrodite winked at her, "Oh, your relationship with Perseus is a complete masterpiece! A fine work of art, if I say so myself!"
Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking me up.
"Sorry, Perce." Grover apologized, but Malcolm shrugged, "That's good, I suppose. Percy's usually a pretty heavy sleeper, but sleeping light on a quest is a good thing."
Once, he shuffled around and his fake foot fell off.
Everyone, including some of the gods, chuckled.
Annabeth and I had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed.
"Would the Mist have covered it up or something?" Frank asked, and Hazel shrugged, "Probably. But it would probably be safer just to appear like normal teenagers, in case a confused demigod or a weaker monster happens to be on the train, looking for something else."
"Or, you know, a clear sighted mortal boards the train." Rachel sighed. She knew just how she had bombarded Percy with questions when she saw his sword, and the encounter with the skeleton monsters. The last thing they needed was to be stuck on a train with a person who was convinced that they needed an insane asylum firing off question after question at them.
"So," Annabeth asked me, once we'd gotten Grover's sneaker readjusted. "Who wants your help?"
"Huh?" Travis frowned at the book in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'I won't help you.' Who were you dreaming about?"
"Oh... so Percy talks in his sleep." Jake grinned, and Leo smiled at his half-brother, "Yep. There was once on the Argo where he just fell asleep in the dining room, and was muttering some thing that I couldn't understand."
"So you were just watching me?!" Percy demanded, but Leo grinned, "Nah. I was trying to have lunch, man! Ya boy's gotta eat, ya know?"
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.
"Good. She can probably help you make some sense of that dream." Thalia nodded.
Annabeth was quiet for a long time. "That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."
"I do laugh! Sometimes!" Hades protested, and Persephone placed her hand on his arm, "Dear, you do realize that the demigods only saw you during the Winter Solstice, and they probably thought you were very strict and gloomy due to your status as the God of the Dead."
"Apologies, Lord Hades." Annabeth apologized, but Hades just sighed and waved her off.
"He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?"
"Fair enough." Juniper stated, "He thought his mother was dead, and naturally, that would fall under Lord Hades' realm."
"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?"
"Which means my father doesn't have the bolt." Nico huffed. Will just smiled at him, "We all know that, okay? But they didn't have the benefit of hindsight at the time."
I shook my head, wishing I knew the answer.
"Trust me, we all wished we knew just what was going on. Nothing was making any sense at the time." Annabeth complained.
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?
"So what was Uncle looking for?" Hermes asked, confused.
"Probably something important. Something other than the bolt." Apollo shrugged, "Maybe some other demigod snuck into the Underworld and took something."
Hades just scowled, and Travis continued reading nervously, praying that he wouldn't be smited.
Maybe Grover sensed my emotions. He snorted in his sleep, muttered something about vegetables, and turned his head.
Everyone blinked.
"So..." Connor grinned, "Lord Hades was looking for vegetables."
"I was not!" Hades fumed, and Persephone glared at him, "One more dumb comment from you, demigod, and I'll turn you into a sunflower."
Nico shuddered at the memory of being a dandelion, as Connor quickly paled, and squeaked out a small "sorry".
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.
"Really?" Hazel deadpanned at Annabeth, and the Daughter of Athena winced, "Sorry. I was being prejudiced... and all I knew about Lord Hades were the myths and beliefs of other campers. And... you know... he was kind of the reason why Thalia..."
The Greek campers all shot Annabeth sympathetic looks, while the Romans, as well as the newer Greek demigods, looked confused, but didn't ask more.
"She isn't wrong, though." Demeter rolled her eyes and glared at Hades, "You kidnapped my poor Persephone, and forced her to remain in the Underworld for half the year! And -"
"Mother! I enjoy spending time in the Underworld!" Persephone interjected, and Hestia gestured for poor Travis to continued reading before they continued arguing.
I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time—"
"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.
"That's... fair enough... I suppose..." Hades sighed. He still regretted what he did to Thalia. Not because he was fond of his brother's children, but because that was exactly what Zeus had tried to do to Bianca and Nico.
Just thinking about Maria's death made him sad all over again.
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."
"Annabeth!" Athena looked at her daughter with worry, "But I thought..."
Most of the demigods blinked, and glanced at Annabeth in confusion. The girl just turned red, and tried to bury her face in Percy's chest, "That was years ago. We've gotten better now, but it took some time... especially with my step-mother."
"You're not serious?"
Annabeth's gray 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.
"No... Fredrick didn't..." Athena frowned.
When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work.
"I'd admit. That's one brave mortal, standing up to you like that." Hera sighed begrudgingly, "But not wanting a child of the gods?! For work?!"
"She did just dump a child on a mortal man, without giving him any warning that he would have to take care of a kid." Hermes pointed out, "He probably wasn't too sure how to juggle a kid along with his work."
"Frederick didn't ever not want Annabeth." Athena protested, "He just wanted help talking care of a newborn... help that I cannot give, with all the Ancient Laws!"
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.
"I don't know, Athena, you couldn't have just given him the child yourself? You had to get Zephyr to do it for you?" Apollo raised an eyebrow at the Wisdom Goddess, but she just scowled back, "Like I said, Ancient Laws. I would have offered help, but Father would never have allowed it."
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.
Percy grumbled under his breath, and tightened his grip on Annabeth. He's met Annabeth's parents before, and Annabeth herself was getting along fine with her step-mother and her step-siblings, but Percy was still upset at the notion that Frederick had made Annabeth feel unwanted, even if he hadn't meant it.
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."
"That's just... cruel..." Piper frowned. Sure, her father might not have time for her, but at least he always tried to find a bit of time to hang with Piper and surf. And now, after the entire situation with the Triumvirate Holdings... her dad had adjusted well to Oklahoma, and now, they were getting along just fine.
"At the time, I wasn't sure how to think..." Annabeth shook her head, "Now, I know better. He just wanted to try and give me a normal life... but you know..."
"Demigod lives are never normal." Thalia rolled her eyes.
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.
"That's adorable! He's trying to make you feel better even though you barely knew each other! Young love is so cute!" Aphrodite cooed, and Zeus rolled his eyes.
And as much as Ares liked Aphrodite, even he was getting sick of all the constant interruptions.
"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."
"Thanks for telling me something so personal. It... did help... a little." Annabeth smiled at Percy.
Annabeth kept worrying at her necklace. She was pinching the gold college ring that hung with the beads.
Grover frowned, "You know... I never noticed it... but now that you mention it..."
Katie nodded in agreement, "Yeah. She used to do that a lot..."
It occurred to me that the ring must be her father's. I wondered why she wore it if she hated him so much.
"You and your stupid sense of observation." Annabeth let out a dry laugh, and Percy smiled back.
"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.
"That's mean! And even if you tell me it wasn't intentional -" Reyna silenced Thalia, as Annabeth sighed, and tried to explain, "It was a misunderstanding. Bobby and Mathew were so much younger than me... they didn't want me to hurt them by accident. And... you know... I wasn't about to be caught playing with baby toys."
Not to mention, her screaming for her parents during the nightly spider attacks probably did scare her younger step-brothers, and made her step-mothing think that there was genuinely something wrong 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.'
Annabeth sighed. She had totally misread the entire situation with her mortal family. She was just glad that her step-mother still welcomed her back into the family after she ran away, and after she went back, they had managed to clear the air between them for a fresh start.
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... ran away when you were seven?" Leo asked, slowly, without his usual joking tone. He had lost his mother at the age of eight... and he still hadn't really gotten over it. But he did understand the feeling of no one wanting him, and running away. He had been doing just that for pretty much half his life.
"But… you couldn't have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself."
"Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me toward help.
"Athena." Zeus glared at Athena, but the Goddess of Wisdom just glared back at him, "She was seven! And I didn't complain about that ram! So you don't get to say anything either! You can't expect me to go by the rules all the time when you yourself breaks them on occasion!"
I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway."
Athena glanced at Hermes, and gave him an approving nod, as Hermes slumped sadly into his seat, clearly feeling depressed.
Luke, poor Luke had still been good at that point of time. No Kronos whispering thoughts of overthrowing the Olympians into his head, Luke was just a kind older brother towards Annabeth, as he and Thalia tried to take care of a seven year old while making their way towards Camp Half-Blood.
I wanted to ask what happened, but Annabeth seemed lost in sad memories. So I listened to the sound of Grover snoring
The demigods all snickered, as Grover turned red.
and gazed out the train windows as the dark fields of Ohio raced by.
Toward 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.
Poseidon let out a small whimper. This was where he had heard Percy praying for his help, and presumably, from the chapter's title... he plunged to his not-so death.
Percy might not be dead, but that didn't stop Poseidon from worrying about everything that might have happened to his son.
Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch, which looked to me like a huge shopping bag handle stuck on the city.
Jake, Beckendorf and Hephaestus weren't too sure whether to be amused by Percy's line of thinking, or utterly offended, because some of the builders of the Arch had been kids of Hephaestus.
Leo, on the other hand, was just laughing his butt off, "Percy! You're the best, man!"
Annabeth and Athena just looked offended, but the goddess was the only one who said anything about it, "What!? How dare you call architecture like that a "shopping bag handle"!?"
"To be fair, don't all arches look like shopping bag handles?" Triton asked, clearly amused, "They're literally the same shape."
"You sea people clearly don't understand the magnificence of such architecture!" Athena started ranting, but Aphrodite interrupted, "They do look like shopping bad handles!"
"All of you are insufferable!" Athena growled, "You can't just -"
She was promptly interrupted by Hestia, who was trying her best to keep everyone from arguing, "Athena, may I remind you that the boy was only twelve, and had just lost his mother, while being accused of stealing my brother's master bolt. Perhaps you could be a little more understanding. In addition, he didn't say it out loud. He's allowed to think however he likes."
Athena couldn't find it in herself to be mad at Hestia, and she just slumped back into her chair. Percy shot a grateful look towards the Goddess of the Hearth, and Travis continued reading.
"I want to do that," she sighed.
"What?" I asked.
"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?"
Annabeth sighed, "I would still like to visit it someday. You know... when we're not fighting giants or having a war or something."
"We can still go there... hopefully..." Percy frowned, "But wasn't it like... destroyed? Or at least, some part of Athens..."
"I don't think the Parthenon was destroyed. We were fighting at the Acropolis, but I don't think we hit the Parthenon " Annabeth shook her head, "But I might be wrong. I'm not too sure."
"But won't there be tons of monsters? Since it was the place the giants decided to rise there." Percy asked, "They won't be a problem... but I don't think any of us are really keen to... you know... fight stuff."
"I'd like to go too." Rachel added, "It's a represents the epitome of Ancient Greece! It's the most famous landmark in the country! Maybe my dad would let me go on a trip there, and you two could tag along!"
"The Parthenon is important to Greek History. I'm sure other campers would like to visit it." Chiron mused, "But it is rather far away. And Percy brings up a good point about the monsters."
"We can arrange something, even if the place might be a little destroyed due to the giants." Athena glared at the other gods, as if daring them to oppose her, "I'm sure we can erect some kind of magic to keep the monsters away for a short period of time, especially if we call in Hecate."
"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."
"And that you did." Athena eyes gleamed proudly at Annabeth. She was continuing her work of redesigning Olympus, and it was clear that everyone, even the gods themselves, liked her work immensely. Ever since she had gotten back from their quest to Greece, some of the gods who's places hadn't been renovated had been pestering Annabeth with things that they would like incorporated into their own temples.
I laughed. "You? An architect?"
Annabeth raised an eyebrow at Percy.
She remembered this conversation, and originally, she didn't know why he had found that amusing.
I don't know why, but I found it funny. Just the idea of Annabeth trying to sit quietly and draw all day.
Jake nodded, "Yeah... that makes sense..."
He had been with Leo as the boy had tried to make his own blueprints and plans for additions to the Argo II... and the fire-user just couldn't sit still and draw. He was always babbling about some weapon or another, scribbling on one piece of paper, and a minute later, he would be pulling materials out of his tool belt and fiddling with some gears.
Annabeth shook her head, "Yeah, with our ADHD... I suppose you'd find that a little weird. And honestly, I can't really sit still. I just pace around with a clipboard in hand, writing things down and planning designs and stuff like that."
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."
"Honestly, with the way you two were ripping into each other, I'm not surprised it took so long for you to get together." Silena laughed.
I watched the churning brown water of the Mississippi below.
"Sorry," Annabeth said. "That was mean."
"I don't destroy things all the time." Poseidon muttered.
"Earthquakes and tsunamis." Athena deadpanned, and Hera added, "You flooded Argos. And then you created a drought."
"Can't we work together a little?" I pleaded. "I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?"
"Nope." Athena growled, and Poseidon shook his heads, "I'll never work with her."
"What about wars?" Percy asked, slightly confused.
"We'd never work with each other willingly on trivial matters." Athena huffed, "And if a war threatens our existence as a whole, we'd work together to defeat a common enemy. But nothing else."
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."
Hephaestus grumbled, "More like Poseidon made an engine, and Athena put it into her car. That's not working together. It's just like two parts of a supply chain."
"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.
"You suppose!" Chris grinned, "And then you guys ended up together!"
"How ironic." Clarisse snickered, and all the other Greek demigods burst into laughter, remembering how Percy and Annabeth had danced around each other for a better part of four years.
We pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told us we'd have a three-hour layover before departing for Denver.
Grover stretched. Before he was even fully awake, he said, "Food."
"Come on, goat boy," Annabeth said. "Sightseeing."
"Sightseeing? On a quest?" Jason raised an eyebrow, "I'm not sure that's a good idea..."
"Well... they'd be stuck there for three hours." Malcolm stated, "Better to move around, rather than be stuck in one place and draw all the monsters to the train station right before they depart. The last thing they'd want is for a monster attack on the train."
"Sightseeing?"
"The Gateway Arch," she said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"
"Er..." Amphitrite blinked at Annabeth in confusion, "Child of the sea? On a monument six hundred and thirty feet above the ground?"
"I don't think Zeus would blast him for being on a monument." Hades shook his head, "Since he's still technically on land, not in Zeus' domain."
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.
Annabeth sighed, "Really, Seaweed Brain... you're way too loyal for your own good! You thought I hated you, and yet you're still trying to protect me."
"It was a good thing." Percy tried to argue, as Apollo, being the God of Logic and Reason, put two and two together, "I don't see how it's a good thing if you -"
"Spoilers!" Percy interrupted Apollo, and the Sun God looked at Percy weirdly.
You really did jump out of the Gateway Arch?
Percy blinked as he heard Apollo's voice in his head, and he nodded at the Sun God. Apollo winced, and settled back into his seat, wrapping an arm around Michael tightly. He wished he hadn't come to that conclusion so quickly.
Grover shrugged. "As long as there's a snack bar without monsters."
"Yeah. A dam snack bar." Thalia snickered.
"There wasn't a dam snack bar." Percy rolled his eyes, "We weren't even at a dam."
"That's why there wasn't a dam snack bar." Grover laughed.
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's not junk." Annabeth huffed.
"Considered how old they were, and we had other priorities on the quest... I'm not surprised." Grover shook his head.
It wasn't all that thrilling, but Annabeth kept telling us interesting facts about how the Arch was built,
"She kept saying things about a guy called Eero Saarinen, who built the Arch, and it was about this Thomas guy." Percy shrugged, "And it's the tallest monument in Missouri."
"So you do listen to me, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth teased, and gave Percy a kiss on the cheek.
and Grover kept passing me jelly beans, so I was okay.
"Where did you guys get the jelly beans?" Thalia asked, curiously.
"The gift shop, I believe." Grover shrugged, "We needed the sugar boost."
I kept looking around, though, at the other people in line. "You smell anything?" I murmured to Grover.
"There's a monster there." Zoe frowned, "What was it?"
"How did you know?" Calypso asked her half-sister, and Zoe turned to her, "Percy brought it up. It probably means that there's a monster or something."
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."
"That's not good." Pollux winced, "You guys should probably get out of there as soon as possible."
But something felt wrong to me. I had a feeling we shouldn't be here.
"Percy does have very good instincts. He just doesn't listen to them." Annabeth nodded, "Usually because he's concerned about other people... or other matters."
"Or... you know... it's kind of impossible to drag you away from national monuments after you've been cooped up in camp for so long." Thalia grinned.
Annabeth promptly turned red, "That's... a fair point..."
"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—"
"Names have power, Perry." Dionysus rolled his eyes.
Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place... You mean, our friend downstairs?"
The demigods all burst into laughter.
"Um, right," I said. "Our friend way downstairs.
Everyone laughed even harder.
Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"
"It's not a hat! And my Helm is much more powerful than that silly invisibility cap." Hades grumbled, as Athena rolled her eyes, "At least he's aware of your symbol of power."
"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.
"Well, at least that got changed." Hades glanced gratefully at Percy, and the Son of Poseidon grinned up at his uncle.
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..."
"Of course it's more powerful." Nico rolled his eyes, "If your hat were as powerful as my dad's helm, you wouldn't even be able to wear it!"
"We all know that, Nico." Percy grinned, "But that wasn't the point of the conversation. We were talking about the invisibility aspect of the Helm and Annabeth's 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?"
Connor shuddered, "Okay... that just sounds absolutely terrifying."
Hades puffed his chest out in pride, while Zeus and Poseidon rolled their eyes at their older brother, though Poseidon was far more amused than the youngest of the eldest gods.
"But then… how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" I asked.
Annabeth and Grover exchanged looks.
"Like I'd have the time to stalk two demigods and a satyr." Hades snarkily replied, as Athena grumbled, "You sent three Furies after them!"
"Well, it's not like I knew where they were!" Hades defended himself, "I just told them to go after my nephew! They were the ones that figured out where the trio were."
"You got that one Fury to stalk Percy for almost a year in Yancy, though." Amphitrite pointed out, and Hades frowned, "Alecto must have had her suspicions and infiltrated the school all on her own."
"We don't," Grover said.
"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better," I said. "Got any blue jelly beans left?"
"Boys and their food." Thalia and Zoe snickered, while Artemis and Reyna rolled their eyes jokingly.
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.
"You're claustrophobic?" Clarisse raised an eyebrow, and Percy shrugged, "I wouldn't exactly say that I'm scared of enclosed spaces... I just really don't like it."
"Most demigods don't like enclosed spaces. ADHD." Malcolm pointed out.
"Children of the sea have it worse." Triton patted Percy's back, "It's in our blood. The sea doesn't like to be restrained."
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'm sure it's not a seeing-eye chihuahua." Rachel deadpanned, "Because one, that doesn't make much sense either. And two... well... if you noticed something weird, and it's explicitly stated in the book... I'm fairly sure that means it's a monster of some sort."
"To be fair... I didn't think much of the chihuahua either." Annabeth admitted, as Grover winced, "I don't like chihuahuas in general."
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.
"I don't know... I thought it was pretty interesting." Grover tilted his head, as Percy turned slightly pale, "Well, you don't have an uncle that would blast you out of the sky just for being in his domain."
"Fair enough." The satyr agreed.
"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.
Several gods frowned at that description. She seemed familiar...
"They're below," Annabeth told her. "Scared of heights."
"Now that's a good lie. Simple, to the point, and no additional, extra details." Hermes nodded approvingly, and his three children, as well as Leo, nodded.
"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?"
"That's a weird name for a dog... but mortals are always weird." Connor shrugged.
"Hey!" Rachel frowned, "But I don't know, some people like to treat their pets as their children..."
"I don't think it's just... Oh." Artemis blinked, "Oh us."
"What is it?" Apollo asked in concern, as Artemis' brows furrowed, mentally scrolling through all the monsters, as well as their mothers, "I... I think I might know who this is..."
"Who?" Hermes prodded, but Artemis just shook her head, "I might be wrong. I'm hoping I'm wrong. Please continue reading."
"No," the lady told me.
She smiled, as if that cleared everything up.
"Definitely a monster." Reyna muttered, as the gods, who were used to Zeus' shenanigans, slowly figured out who this lady was.
"ZEUS!" Poseidon roared, "YOU SENT HER AFTER MY SON WHEN HE WAS ONLY TWELVE!?"
"He's still alive, isn't he?" Zeus grumbled, as if he wasn't too happy about that fact (he definitely wasn't happy that Percy wasn't dead yet).
"That's besides the point!" Poseidon snarled, "You sent her! And if I'm right and the Mist is disguising that as a chihuahua -"
"Can we please continue reading?" Percy blurted out, interrupting his father's rant. Poseidon just glared at Zeus, but heeded his son's words, and sank back down into his chair, cursing in Ancient Greek under his breath.
At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded me of a tin can with carpeting.
"You have no appreciation for architecture." Athena grumbled.
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, it's a confined space two hundred metres in the air. I was ready to go pretty quick.
Chris grumbled, "You're stuck in an enclosed space with a monster, even if you didn't realize it. Anyone would be ready to get out of there as fast as possible."
Annabeth kept talking about structural supports, and how she would've made the windows bigger, and designed a see-through floor.
Athena and Annabeth shared a small smile, but that didn't do anything to dampen the tension in the Throne Room.
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.
"Good." Apollo grumbled, "Get out of there."
"I agree with my brother." Artemis glared at their father. Even if he didn't like Percy's existence, sending her after a half-blood who was on a quest for Zeus himself was completely uncalled for.
It wasn't even the fact that Percy, the only male she was fond of at the moment, was the one in danger; if it had been any other male demigod in that position, Artemis would be upset... probably to a lesser extent, but still upset nonetheless.
I steered Grover and Annabeth toward 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.
Amphitrite frowned, "The satyr and the girl should get out. Even if there isn't a monster, you guys should stick together as a group."
Annabeth and Grover looked down at the floor, ashamed that they had left Percy behind.
"It's not your fault." Percy tried to reassure them, "It was a good thing, anyways. She might have turned her attention to you two instead."
And you didn't have to see how utterly useless I truly am.
The park ranger said, "Next car, sir."
"We'll get out," Annabeth said. "We'll 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."
"See, you wanted to wait for me." Percy shook his head, "It's my fault."
"Perseus."
Percy looked up, surprised to see that Athena was the one addressing him, "While your decision to let the other two go on ahead was unwise... you should really stop blaming yourself for things you have no control over."
Chiron nodded, "You were only aware of your heritage for two weeks, Percy. You couldn't have possibly known about the monsters."
Percy just nodded, not really convinced. He sighed, and gripped onto his arm tightly.
Grover and Annabeth both looked nervous, but they let the elevator door slide shut. Their car disappeared down the ramp.
"Not to point fingers or anything, but that's on Grover and Annabeth. They're the ones with the experience and knowledge. And even that's pushing it." Thalia shook his head, and leveled her glare at her father, "The one truly at fault is my father, for apparently, sending this lady and her pet monster in the first place!"
"Thalia -"
The Daughter of Zeus cut her father off, "No! They're trying to get your bolt back for you! They're doing you a favor! Why are you trying to hinder them from getting your bolt back!?"
"You are spending too much time with Poseidon's son." Zeus growled at his daughter, but Athena and Artemis stepped in to protect Thalia.
"Your logic doesn't make sense. You're just decreasing your own chances of getting the bolt back, especially since the bolt is presumably in the Underworld, which we do not have access to, being gods. " Athena questioned, "Even if you hated him, you couldn't have waited until after he got the bolt back to make things difficult!?"
"Not that you should even be doing that in the first place." Artemis hissed.
"As much as I'd like to see you two scold my youngest brother for his rash actions." Hestia interjected, looking at Zeus with what looked like disappointment, "I'd like to finish this chapter, so the children may have some lunch."
Zeus felt guilt bubbling up within him; it took a lot to make Hestia disappointed. The goddess turned back to Travis, a kind smile on her face, and gently urged him to continue reading.
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.
"Okay, who is this lady?!" Connor demanded, "Like... what kind of monster is she!? Surely you would have noticed that, Perce."
Wait a minute.
Forked tongue?
Before I could decide if I'd really seen that, her Chihuahua jumped down and started yapping at me.
"I really don't like chihuahuas." Grover whimpered, "Monster or not. But I don't like that chihuahua is particular."
"Now, now, sonny," the lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here."
"That's good? She wouldn't take such drastic action with mortals around... right?" Rachel asked, but the look of anger on the other gods faces said otherwise.
"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.
"Okay, this dog definitely has rabies." Leo joked, but clearly, no one found him funny.
"Leo... it's a monster. I think rabies is the least of their problems." Beckendorf tried to cheer his half-brother up by acknowledging his joke.
"Well, son," the fat lady sighed. "If you insist."
Poseidon, Amphitrite and Triton glared venomously at Zeus.
Ice started forming in my stomach. "Um, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?"
"Chimera, dear," the fat lady corrected.
"You were facing a Chimera?!" Juniper squeaked, "When you were twelve!?"
"Six hundred feet in the air, with two weeks of sword training and no access to any water?!" Thalia asked worriedly.
"And you killed it?" Pollux asked, eyes wide, as Percy shook his head, "There's no way I'd be able to defeat the Chimera back then."
Because you ran away.
"Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make."
"I don't see how it's an easy mistake." Will pointed out, trying to relieve the tension in the room.
"Yeah. The word "Chimera" means "she-goat". A Chihuahua is a small yappy dog." Connor added.
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.
Zoe growled, "She's Echidna, Mother of Monsters."
Once again, the gods (minus Ares, who couldn't really care less) glared at Zeus for sending Echidna and a Chimera after Percy.
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.
"Is the elevator there yet?" Dakota asked worriedly.
The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monster.
"What do you think the mortals saw? I don't think the Mist could cover up something as large as the Chimera, especially at such close range." Hazel asked, getting more and more worried for her friend.
Percy tilted his head, "I think I heard the mother of the kid talking about a huge fire-breathing Chihuahua or something like that... but I'm pretty sure no one believed her."
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.
"That... sounds terrifying." Piper admitted, already in shock at just the mere description of the Chimera. She couldn't imagine being a twelve year old, stuck six hundred feet in the air on a national monument, facing such a beast with nothing but a sword.
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.
The demigods all shivered at the name.
"So..." Connor let out a dry grin, "Shall we prank call Tartar Sauce?"
"Tartar Sauce?" Hephaestus blinked, momentarily confused, as Chris lobbed a pillow at him, "Don't be stupid. You shouldn't even think of doing something like that!"
"But it would be funny!"
"No it wouldn't be funny." Nico snapped, "And I'm sure you won't be prank calling Tartar Sauce anyways. You'd probably end up calling my dad, and then you'd really be dead."
I realized I hadn't even uncapped my sword. My hands were numb. I was three metres away from the Chimera's bloody maw, and I knew that as soon as I moved, the creature would lunge.
"Wimp." Ares snorted, knowing fully well that Percy had ran away from the Chimera.
Poseidon growled at the War God, and once again, doused him in freezing arctic water, hissing coldly, "Shut up!"
The snake lady made a hissing noise that might've been laughter. "Be honored, Percy Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood.
"He wasn't allowing you to test him." Clarisse gritted her teeth, "He wanted you to kill him."
"Do you want a war, brother!?" Poseidon growled, unable to control his temper at the identity of the lady finally being confirmed, "Because you keep trying to kill my son for no good reason!"
"I truly believed that he had stolen the bolt as your hero!" Zeus thundered back, "Of course I would send Echidna after him!"
"Why would he be trying to get the bolt back if he stole the damn thing!?" Poseidon nearly lunged at Zeus, had Amphitrite and Triton not held him back, as Zeus stood up unopposed, and snarled, "His existence is a mistake!"
Percy flinched at the harsh phrasing.
"Oh yeah?! So Jason and I are mistakes too, right, by your own logic!?" Thalia stood up, but Artemis pulled her back, not wanting her to get involved in the argument between the two angry gods. Jason frowned; he did not liking being called a mistake.
Demeter rolled her eyes, and lifted her hand, growing a multitude of vines to grab hold of her younger brothers and lashing them down to their couches, "Enough. We've already heard this argument once, the first time the bolt was stolen. We don't need to hear you two bickering like children again."
"Well, I didn't know he sent Echidna of all monsters after my son! While he was on a quest for him!" Poseidon spat, as he struggled against the vines, as Zeus grumbled, "I'm not acting like a child."
"One more word, and I'll gag you two as well." Demeter threatened, and both gods fell silent, still tied up in vines.
After a few minutes, Travis whistled, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "Your mother's a badass, Katie."
The Daughter of Demeter puffed her chest out in pride, "Of course!"
For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"
Leo blinked, "Uh... isn't that a kind of anteater?"
I stared at her. All I could think to say was: "Isn't that a kind of anteater?"
"Oh no! My Percititis is getting worse! Somebody save me!" Leo groaned dramatically, "I need a doctor! Will! You need to cure me!"
"Sorry. I can't cure Percititis. It's far too serious for someone of my calibre." Will shook his head, an amused grin on his face, and everyone, including Percy, burst out laughing.
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.
Annabeth snorted, "She deserved it."
For that, Percy Jackson, my son shall destroy you!"
Dionysus rolled his eyes as he continued flipping through his wine magazine idly, "Ah, yes, because you weren't going to kill Paprika Jalapeno if he didn't call you an anteater."
"Why am I named after herbs now!?" Percy demanded, as he caught a small glimpse of a smirk on the Wine God's face that was quickly replaced by annoyance.
"It's not Percy's fault that some Australians named an anteater after her." Connor frowned, confused, as Malcolm rolled his eyes, "She's mad that Percy brought it up. Not the naming issue."
"Oh. I see."
The Chimera charged, its lion teeth gnashing. I managed to leap aside and dodge the bite.
Poseidon looked like he wanted to bite his fingernails in nervousness, except that he was still tied down to his couch by Demeter's vines, and instead, was just squirming in place like an eel that had been skinned alive.
I ended up next to the family and the park ranger, who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors.
"Were the mortals alright?" Rachel asked, "Since we know that Percy, Annabeth and Grover are fine."
"They all got out alive, as far as I know... though I think the mom was on meds for a while for seeing a "fire-breathing Chihuahua"." Percy replied.
At least they hadn't gotten hurt; Percy didn't need even more deaths on his conscience.
I couldn't let them get hurt. I uncapped my sword, ran to the other side of the deck, and yelled, "Hey, Chihuahua!"The Chimera turned faster than I would've thought possible.
"You couldn't have found a less risky way of protecting the mortals?" Triton winced, "Instead of just... yelling at the Chimera?"
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 should have been there." Leo grinned, puffing his chest out, "I'm fireproof!"
"Fire Breath is one thing. The Chimera's snake tail also has a pretty venomous bite. And it's really strong." Annabeth stated, and Leo paled, "Maybe I don't want to be there."
I dived through the explosion. The carpet burst into flames; the heat was so intense, it nearly seared off my eyebrows.
"Your eyebrows? Really, Kelp Head?" Thalia rolled her eyes mockingly at Percy.
"Hey! My eyebrows are important!" Percy pouted, as the other demigods laughed at the friendly banter.
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.
"Dang... that's some firepower, alright." Leo let out a dry laugh, and some demigods snickered at the bad pun, but otherwise, they didn't relax.
Great, I thought. We just blowtorched a national monument.
"In your defense, the Chimera was the one that blowtorched the national monument, not you." Malcolm sighed, "But with your luck... I'm sure you'd be blamed anyways, since the Mist would most likely cover up Echidna and the Chimera."
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 let a pitiful whine escape from his throat, and nobody commented on it. None of them could even imagine thinking of their twelve year old children facing off against a Chimera, let alone understand how Poseidon was feeling, being somewhat aware of the situation at the time, but not aware enough to know that his child could have been killed before he was even a teenager.
The blade sparked harmlessly off the dog collar.
"Uh oh." Pollux gulped, and Dionysus pulled him and Dakota closer towards him, with the only indication that he was paying attention being the narrowing of his eyes at the book in Travis' hand.
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.
"Perseus Jackson!" Annabeth glared at Percy, who pouted back at her, "You didn't tell us that you got bitten by the Chimera!"
"It slipped my mind!" Percy argued, "And we had more important things to worry about!"
"How can you forget about something like that!?" Poseidon asked worriedly, vibrating in his seat nervously, "Chimera poison is deadly! It would only take a minute or two, at the maximum, for the poison to spread throughout your entire system and kill you!"
The demigods all fell silent, realization creeping into them. Percy could have died on this quest, which meant that they might have not been able to save Thalia from Luke's poison, since the questers already barely made it through the Sea of Monsters with the help of the Son of Poseidon.
They weren't too sure of the circumstances regarding Nico, but they were fairly sure that without Percy, it was very possible that Nico and Bianca could have been kidnapped by the Manticore without Thalia and Percy's intervention.
Without either of the di Angelo siblings, Hazel wouldn't have been brought out of the Underworld, which left Jason as the only child of eldest gods that could fulfill the prophecy, and that was provided they were lucky and Romans were being considered in the prophecy as well, and that they would have to hold out for an additional two years against Kronos, which was very unlikely.
In short, Zeus sending Echidna after Percy and killing him there and then could have very well spelt their doom.
My whole leg was on fire. I tried to jab Riptide into the Chimera's mouth,
"If only you had tried to do that earlier. I'm sure Bellerophon killed the Chimera by stuffing a lead ball into its mouth." Annabeth muttered, "It might not have worked, but I don't think the Chimera would like you stuffing things in it'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 toward the Mississippi River.
"Oh us..." Apollo gasped. He had been busy searching for the master bolt on his father's orders... but he wished that he could have offered some help, even if he didn't know who Percy was at the time. He wouldn't want any demigod to be facing the Chimera.
I managed to get to my feet, but I knew I had lost.
Everyone winced.
I was weaponless.
"Even if you had a weapon, you wouldn't be able to do a thing against the Chimera..." Jason muttered, "You didn't even know how to fight it."
I could feel deadly poison racing up to my chest.
"How did you live through this!? And don't tell me you were lucky, because even if you were super lucky and blessed by Tyche... I don't see how you could get out of this." Hermes stated, fiddling with his caduceus, in cell-phone form, nervously.
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.
Grover frowned, "I'm not too sure about how far Percy loses his sword or details like that... but it just feels like Riptide returns faster nowadays. But it might just be me..."
"Anaklusmos was made from my immortal powers. It's enchanted, and thou can say that... it has a mind of its own." Zoe looked down at the floor, It would take some time for Anaklusmos to get used to Percy as its new wielder, and some of my own hatred for heroes might have carried over into it... at least, until I met Percy for myself."
I didn't know, and I wasn't going to live long enough to figure it out.
"You should really stop thinking so pessimistically." Nico muttered, but everyone knew that Percy really couldn't think of anything else because he was literally dying of Chimera poison at that point in time.
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?"
All the demigods promptly looked offended at that.
Amphitrite snarled, "Percy barely had any experience compared to the heroes of the old! And I'd say he's done a really good job so far!"
Triton nodded in agreement, "Not many heroes have survived an encounter with a Chimera, even if they weren't an active target. Should I mention that he's twelve as well?"
The monster growled. It seemed in no hurry to finish me off now that I was beaten.
"I hate it when they do that." Thalia curled in on herself, remembering how she had been mauled by hellhounds.
She was thankful, at the very least, that when Zeus turned her into a tree and she got revived by the Golden Fleece, all the wounds and injuries had been healed up. Otherwise... the reunion with the other campers would have been super bloody.
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.
"You're far too selfless, Percy." Piper sighed in worry. During their time on the Argo II, there had been far too many things going on at the time to process it, but Percy was reckless, always trying his best to protect everyone else.
Annabeth shifted her position, and wrapped her arms around Percy's waist, resting her head on his shoulder. she couldn't help but remember how he faced down the Protogenos of Misery for her.
She would admit that she had been terrified. But not terrified of Percy, she knew that Percy would never do hurt her, or their friends.
No... she was terrified of how far Percy would go. There was no doubt that Percy would do anything to protect them, asking for nothing in return... even if it tore himself apart, physically or mentally.
He took on the burden of the Great Prophecy to protect Nico, and all he got was the mental trauma of accidentally killing both ally and enemy demigods. He fell into Tartarus for her... and now, they would forever be haunted by the memories of the pit.
Percy pressed a small kiss to her forehead.
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.
"Anyone would be scared, Prissy." Clarisse said with a softness that no one (except Chris) expected from her, "You'd probably have a mental problem if you weren't scared."
There was no place else to go, so I stepped to the edge of the hole. Far, far below, the river glittered.
"Oh... that's how he survived. The water would cure the poison." Athena mused.
"It's not salt water, though. It's freshwater. Would that help?" Apollo winced.
"It should." Poseidon nodded, though he was still shaking with worry for his son, "It's still water, and as long as the naiads of the river hold no ill will towards Percy, they wouldn't hinder his abilities."
If I died, would the monsters go away? Would they leave the humans alone?
"Yes. Definitely." Zeus confirmed, "I only sent Echidna after you. She wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else without answering to me."
"That's good, I suppose." Percy muttered.
"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.
"Lord Zeus won't like... strike him down in mid-air... right?" Michael asked worriedly.
"He didn't..." Grover shook his head, "But..."
"If Zeus sent Echidna... he probably wouldn't be paying too much attention to the fight. He'd probably be bickering with Poseidon, or grilling the other gods about finding his bolt." Hera grumbled.
Jump and retrieve your sword. Prove your bloodline."
"Okay... provided that he did jump and gotten Riptide back... what was he supposed to do? Take the elevator up six hundred feet to face the Chimera again?" Leo frowned, "Or was she going to jump into the river to continue fighting Percy? Because he could just like... jump and not get his sword back."
"That's a stupid question and you know it." Calypso shook her head, "She wouldn't be expecting Percy to jump in the first place."
Yeah, right, I thought. I'd read somewhere that jumping into water from a couple of stories up was like jumping onto solid asphalt. From here, I'd splatter on impact.
"I'm surprised you knew about that." Travis tried to joke, and Katie shot him a small smile, "It's a fact about water. He would know about it, even if it didn't apply to him."
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.
"I don't blame him either, but he's no coward." Nico huffed.
"Excuse me?!" Zeus growled, but Hestia shot him a look.
"What do you mean, you don't blame him?" Hestia asked softly, turning back to Nico, wanting to understand what the Son of Hades meant, rather than being angry at him, because she herself also didn't blame Percy for not trusting the gods.
"Well... for one... he just learnt that the gods are real." Nico eyed Zeus warily, but the King of the Gods made no move to smite him, though that was probably because he was still tied up in Demeter's vines.
Nico was also fairly sure that his father wouldn't let Zeus hurt him either, "And... well... two major gods, one being the very god that Percy's on this quest to help, want to kill him, and Mr D threatened to turn him into a dolphin. And in his perspective, his father practically abandoned him."
Poseidon just looked at the ground in shame, as Zeus pondered Nico's words, though outwardly, he still looked like he wanted to kill his nephew.
Better you die now. The gods are faithless. The poison is in your heart."
"Jump. Please, just jump. Get out of there." Poseidon begged, even though he knew for a fact that the Nereid he had sent to give Percy the pearls had met him first at the Mississippi River.
But Percy was no longer listening.
He could remember the feeling of poison rushing through his veins, getting spread even further through his entire being with every beat of his heart. His body felt like it was on fire, not just from Chimera poison... but also from Gorgon's blood.
He could hear his own heartbeat as it drowned out all the other sounds of his surroundings.
And almost immediately, he could hear faint series of ba-dump, ba-dump, not just from himself, but from all over the Throne Room. Each series of ba-dumps were slightly different, some beating harder, some beating faster, but each set of beats blended together into a discordant, cacophonic melody.
He was suddenly very aware of the heartbeats of his friends, echoing all around him. Akhlys' poison had some water in it, but made up of around ninety percent water.
The very thought just made Percy sick to his stomach.
She was right: I was dying. I could feel my breath slowing down. Nobody could save me, not even the gods.
"And one of them is the very reason why she's there in the first place." Frank grumbled under his breath. He knew that as a Roman, he shouldn't disrespect the gods, but he was really getting tired of running into trouble because of the immortal beings they were supposed to respect.
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.
Zeus glared at Poseidon, though he wasn't very menacing looking due to looking like a vine burrito, as the Sea God stuck his tongue out angrily, "I was merely visiting. I wasn't interfering at all."
Seeing as Poseidon wasn't going to kill Zeus anytime soon, Demeter released him from her vines.
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.
"Come on, Percy. Just jump, before we find out whether gods can really get heart attacks or not." Triton muttered under his breath.
But this wasn't the sea. This was the Mississippi, dead center of the USA. There was no Sea God here.
"No. All water originated from the ocean at some point. Wherever there is water, Lord Poseidon will have power over it, though his level of control would fluctuate depending on how close to the ocean they are." Amphitrite stated, "As for Percy, his level of control would fluctuate due to the naiads."
"Die, faithless one," Echidna rasped, and the Chimera sent a column of flame toward my face.
"Father, help me," I prayed.
Poseidon turned pale as he gripped the armrest of the couch, his knuckles turning white.
"Please just jump. You'll be okay, the water would heal you. Come on, please..." Poseidon prayed.
I turned and jumped. My clothes on fire, poison coursing through my veins, I plummeted toward the river.
"He was okay... right? I mean..." Pollux trailed off, and everyone heaved a sigh of relief when Annabeth and Grover both nodded.
"Yeah. We found Percy when he came out of the water, and he seemed fine for the rest of the quest, so I think he was cured of the Chimera poison." Annabeth stated, feeling Percy trembling slightly. She wasn't too sure what he was thinking about at the moment, but she was fairly sure it wasn't just the Chimera poison and falling from the Gateway Arch.
Travis put the book down, shaking slightly, as Hestia forced a gentle smile onto her face, "Well... we're done with this chapter. I suppose we should have lunch now, and have a break later if we need to."
Demeter slowly undid the vines around Zeus, as the demigods all started standing up, and headed towards the dining room slowly, none of them in the mood to talk after such a depressing chapter.
Percy was still lost in his own thoughts when he felt Annabeth shift, and his head jolted upwards, just noticing that Annabeth was standing up in front of him, looking down at him with worry. She reached a hand out to pull him up, "Are you okay, Percy?"
The Son of Poseidon just stared at Annabeth's outstretched hand. He could hear the sound of blood roaring in his ears, and he didn't mean it as a figure of speech. He could literally hear Annabeth's blood coursing through her veins, completely in sync with her heart beat. He could feel the ninety percent of water that made up her blood plasma.
If you can control poisons... why not blood?
Percy shot to his feet, turning even paler, if that was even possible, and raced out of the Throne Room at breakneck speed, accidentally shoving past some of his friends.
"Percy!" Poseidon just looked at Percy, worry clouding his eyes, "Where are you -"
"Don't go after him! I'll deal with it!" Annabeth called out to him as she chased after Percy.
"Do you need help-" Katie was cut off as Annabeth shook her head, "No. Don't. More people would make it worse. I'll be fine on my own."
The demigods and the other gods just looked on, helplessly, as Annabeth disappeared around the corner.
"What... happened...?" Athena looked pained, but no one could tell if she was concerned, or she just didn't like not knowing what was going on.
"Don't be insensitive, Athena." Hestia chided softly, as she gently escorted the remaining demigods out of the Throne Room.
Poseidon immediately turned his attention back to Zeus, and Demeter stepped out of the way, "You two will settle your issues right here, right now. Fight it out, argue, just leave the demigods out of your issues. They've been through enough, with two wars almost back to back."
Hades just settled down in a shadowy corner of the Throne Room, wanting to see what would happen, but also not wanting to get involved. The other gods all either found their own corners of the Throne Room to watch the proceedings, or just phased away.
Athena paused, before she flashed herself towards the dining room. Perhaps she could ask Malcolm what was going on, or maybe the other members of the Seven.
