Oh my GOD. I cannot believe how short this chapter is. I am so horrendously sorry! And for not posting last week! But term has finally ended which means longer chapters coming your way! (Hel will leave the UK in the next chapter, guaranteed!)

ALSO ALSO ALSO. This story now has a cover! Courtesy of the oh so talented and generally amazing PiecesInTheirGames! A full version of this can be seen on my tumblr at b-abbity :)

Chapter Four

John wasn't lying about the fire-breathing cow. Well. What I'm presuming he saw as a fire-breathing cow, but what I saw was a fully grown and seriously pissed off chimera. In my goddamn front garden. See what I mean? Demigods = trouble.

The boy was whacking at it with his sword but the creature was lightning-fast, somehow managing to dodge most of his blows.

I parked on the curb and jumped out, running up to where the girl was standing, hand tight around her dagger, clearly poised to join the fight. "Annabell, right?"

"Annabeth. He's Percy." She spared me a brief, amused glance. "Can you fight?"

"Christ, I'm Aphrodite's daughter, not Malibu Barbie." Though, to be fair, they are often the same thing.

Percy abruptly rolled back next to us, slightly blacked and with a nasty burn on his sword arm that clearly made it harder for him to hold his blade. "It's quick. Annabeth?"

"Got it." They faced the monster together, moving with the kind of synchronicity I envied. He slashed, she ducked and attacked the legs. He went left, she went right. Figuring they had it sorted, I edged past and went in through the back door, where I was promptly attacked by my cricket-bat wielding younger brother.

"Alex, Alex, it's me!"

"Hel! Have you seen what's going on outside! What are they doing!"

"I'll explain later, where's John?"

"On the phone to Andy, he's going to call the police, or the RSPCA!"

I hurried through the kitchen, finding John in the lounge on the phone. I snatched it from him and hung up, ignoring his furious glare.

"No police, no nobody. Ok? I'm dealing with it and I'll explain later. For now, can you please just trust me?" He looked seriously unhappy, folding his arms and frowning. I reached up and pushed the creases away from his forehead with my thumb, the way I used to do when I was little. "Ok?" I asked again, more softly.

He nodded, sighing, before hugging me abruptly. "I worry about you, you know that?"

"I know."

A sudden roar from outside and I ran to the window, seeing Percy lying immobile smack in the middle of the begonias. Domica was going to be pissed. Annabeth was fending for herself, barely, darting back and forth, attempting to distract it from eating Percy.

I turned and ran upstairs, flying into my room and over to my bed. Falling to my knees, I reached under my bed and pulled out the only gift my mother had ever given me. Wrapped in a dusty old sheet, it didn't look like much, but when I pulled away the cloth the sword still shone with the same gleam it had on the first day it had turned up on my doorstep.

It was not a Greek sword, which is why I wasn't sure it was from my mother to begin with, but who else would post a sword to a teenage girl? It wasore like a scimitar than anything else, it was long and curved with a wicked sharp edge – beautiful. The grip was plain black leather with a tiny circular inscription inlaid in red enamel on the pommel. To this day I've never been able to figure out what it says and, after several fruitless attempts, I gave up trying. I grasped it now, drawing it from its wrappings, testing the point, expecting it to be blunt after four years under my bed. To my surprise, and satisfaction, it drew blood straight away.

I ran back downstairs, taking them two at a time. John was at the bottom looking concerned, pretty much his constant facial expression since this demigod shit had started I thought with a wince, but his worry quickly turned to anger when he saw me and my weapon.

"Hel, what the fuck!"

"Later, John, you have trust me now."

He removed his arm from where it had been blocking my route to the door, something in my eyes clearly affecting him. "Be careful," He said, "any sign that you're in trouble and I'm coming out, ok?"

I knew him too well to be able to change his mind in the minuscule time frame I had, wasting precious seconds even now talking to him. He let me past and I ran outside, taking in the scene at a glance.