Chapter Two

Percy's P.O.V.

"Annabeth, are you kidding me?" I cried. "If I go out there, monsters are going to find me!" I know Athena always has a plan, but this one wasn't as clever.

"Relax, Percy. You just destroyed half Chiron's Ancient Greek textbooks. To repay him, you buy him new ones in the closest bookstore. Simple," Annabeth said. Well, she was right. Learning and sitting near the campfire at the same time didn't go well together. Especially with Clarisse at camp. Chiron was not happy.

I sighed and wanted to protest, but Annabeth cut in before I could say anything, "Just fix your own mess, okay?" Then, she walked back to the Athena cabin to prepare for archery practice.

"Fine," I grumbled. I calculated about two hours to the most to get to the city, buy the books, and get back. I went to Argus and asked, "Can you give me a ride to the city?"

* * * * *

"Drop me off here," I said. Argus stopped momentarily. I wearily got out of the car. In the agonizing ride, I fell asleep. And I was so wide awake. Not.

"I'll park in the next block," Argus said. "Come and find me when you're done." And just like that, he drove away. I turned back and tried to remember the route to the bookstore. I walked around, walked on crosswalks, and tried to stumble my way around. I swore my feet were getting blisters at the fifth block over. At that pace, I was never going to make it back to camp in time for lunch……

I was vaguely aware of someone running into me. I came back to my senses and caught the person before they tumbled onto the street.

"Are you okay?" I asked, helping the person up. It was a girl, probably a little younger than me, shorter than me by a head, with tangled chestnut brown hair covered by a gray and blue Penn State baseball cap.

"Sorry," she said, as soon as she was back on her feet. She readjusted her cap, and tried to smooth down the wrinkles and creases on her dirt-streaked baggy t-shirt and frayed denim short. When she looked at me, I felt like I knew her. The way her face was built looked strangely familiar: dangerous, stern, and beautiful. I couldn't place it.

"I'm sorry, too," I said, quickly. But she wasn't listening to me. She was looking around at the air, as if she was looking for something. "Umm… did you lose something?"

"Oh!" she came back to Earth. "I guess so. I think it blew away." Huh? Blew away? This girl is weird, I thought. "Well," she cut into my thoughts. "I gotta go back and find my dad at the bookstore…" The bookstore? Maybe she can give me directions, I thought.

"Excuse me, where's the bookstore?" I asked her. Suddenly, her warm brown eyes widened, as if she remembered something.

"No, don't go to the bookstore," she swallowed. Her voice was shaking. "There's a monster."

A monster? After a half-blood? I haven't even gotten there yet, I thought.

"Lead me there," I said, bravely. I could've run, but leaving helpless people there wasn't really safe.

She looked at me as if I were crazy. "Are you sure?" she asked, cautiously. She nervously put a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well, you can't just leave helpless mortals out there! What were you thinking?" I exploded at her, though I hardly knew her. She didn't even flinch, she just looked at me coolly

"I didn't mean to. Someone, or something, told me she was a monster and that I should escape. So I did. Is it a crime to follow instructions?" she stated.

"Fine, whatever," I said. Strange, I thought, she should've been attacked by the monster. Unless she wasn't half-blood.

"Let's go," I said. I was ready, Riptide in my pocket.

"Okay," she nodded, a dangerous, fierce look in her eyes. "It's a couple blocks away." She started running toward the direction she had come from.

I winced. I wasn't ready for that.

* * * * *

She finally stopped running. I was athletic and all, but this girl ran like the wind for three straight blocks.

"Here," she said, entering the shop. I followed her. At first, I was distracted by the smell of books, a sickening smell to me. I searched around for some monster. After a while, my eyes hit the fat cashier lady. She looked familiar with her beady eyes. The lady looked at me and her eyes glittered dangerously. She walked toward our direction.

"That's her," the girl said, her voice barely a whisper. She looked incredibly confident, even though she could die facing the monster.

The lady was coming closer. We backed up a little, hitting our backs against a bookshelf. No escape route. The lady rolled up her long sleeves and I saw her skin was scaly and green. I swallowed hard, remembering that I couldn't defeat this monster before. I clearly remembered this monster, who I barely escaped from.

Echidna.

Author's Talk

How's that? sorry if it's too short.... sorry if u waited a while for this chapter! i'll try to update every week or two, so look for my story!

Plz,plz,plz review! and if u have any ideas or charcters u would like 2 submit, i'd be glad! i need some characters for the part i'm writing right now. Thanx 4 ur reviews ppl! I am soooo incredibly grateful u review! i bow down 2 those who review. my other story wasn't a huge hit, so i'm probably not going to finish it...

ur reviews make me smile (seriously)

well, thanx 4 reading this chapter!

P.S. i really think i should change the title... but 4 now oh well!