Chapter 12: Jumping off to my death

"My Cabbages!"

Cabbage guy
Avatar the Last Airbender

They spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, and past amber waves of grain.

They weren't attacked once, but he didn't relax. He felt that he was travelling around in a display case, being watched from above and maybe from below, that something was waiting for the right opportunity.

Percy tried to keep a low profile because his 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 he got off the Greyhound bus. He had a wild look in my eyes. His spear was a metallic blur in his 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.

"Don't worry," Annabeth told him. "Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't sound so sure.

The rest of the day, he spent alternately pacing the length of the train (because he had a really hard time sitting still) or looking out the windows.

Once, Percy 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. He looked around the passenger car, but nobody else had noticed. The adult riders all had their faces buried in laptop computers or magazines.

Another time, toward evening, he saw something huge moving through the woods. He could've sworn it was a lion, except that lions don't live wild in America, and this thing was the size of a Hummer. Its fur glinted gold in the evening light. Then it leapt through the trees and was gone.

Their reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver. They couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so they dozed in their seats. His neck got stiff. He tried not to drool since Annabeth was sitting right next to him.

Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking him up. Once, he shuffled around, and his fake foot fell off. Annabeth and Percy had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed.

"So," Annabeth asked him, once they'd gotten Grover's sneaker 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?"

Percy was reluctant to say anything. It was the second time he'd dreamed about the evil voice from the pit. But it bothered him so much that he 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."

"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?"

Percy shook my head, wishing he knew the answer. He thought about what Grover had told him, that the Furies on the bus seemed to have been looking for something.

Where is it? Where?

Maybe Grover sensed his 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—"

"This time?" he 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."

"You're not serious?"

Annabeth's grey eyes fixed on him. 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."

Percy stared out the train window. The lights of a sleeping town were drifting by. He wanted to make Annabeth feel better, but he didn't know how.

"My mom married a really awful guy," Percy 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 about her necklace. She was pinching the gold college ring that hung with the beads. It occurred to him that the ring must be her father's. Percy 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."

"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. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway."

Percy wanted to ask what happened, but Annabeth seemed lost in sad memories. So he listened to the sound of Grover snoring and gazed out the train windows as the dark fields of Ohio raced by.

Toward the end of their second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, they passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch, which looked to me like a huge shopping bag handle stuck on the city.

"I want to do that," she sighed.

"What?" Percy 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."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "You? An architect?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things. What's so funny about that?"

Percy shook his head. "Nothing funny about it. I just find it hard to imagine you trying to sit quietly and just draw on a piece of paper all day. You know… with the ADHD?"

Annabeth thought about that for a moment. "Guess I never saw it that way. But, the idea of building something? It's what all children of Athena aspire for."

Percy decided to finally ask her the question that was burning on his mind.

"About earlier," Percy started. "The whole thing about me abandoning you and Grover."

"Yeah?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "You already apologised for that. It's in the past."

Percy shook his head. "Not just that. I… You say you were called a freak by your family. You know how that feels. So why treat me the same way at camp? Why did everyone look at me like I was an outcast?"

"Percy," Annabeth sighed. "Look, I'm not saying what we did was right. It was unfair to treat you that way, especially since you had no idea of what was happening either."

"So why?" Percy pressed on. "Just because I'm the child of some crazy cannibal, doesn't make me like him."

"It wasn't about you Percy," Annabeth said quickly, almost like she was trying to avoid Percy's temper flaring. "It was about what you represented."

"What?" Percy asked, puzzled.

Annabeth clasped her hands together, trying to find the right words. "Look, just like you, most demigods come into camp not knowing about the existence of the gods till we teach it. And many of them originally, just like you, thought that the greek myths were just… well fairy tale stories told to teach some lessons. Learning that all of it is true is overwhelming for a lot of demigods but they learn to adapt. But we learn ancient history right? We learnt about what it was like during the rule of your father. The horror he inspired. The viciousness he took part in to solidify his claim to his throne. And, in more detail than just the myths, we also learnt the struggles that the gods went through to challenge the titans to overthrow them. These stories taught us to fear him and what he was capable of. Knowing that all those stories were real? It inspired terror for many of us at what he was capable of."

"And then I came along out of nowhere," Percy said, seeing where she was going with this. She nodded.

"And even more so, none of the gods even knew about you. Well none except Poseidon. And it made things worse knowing that he swore to protect you. You can imagine the kind of problems it created between the cabins. It just seemed impossible. A being who should be in the depths of Tartarus, all of a sudden, has a child? You can understand why people were so afraid of you. I'm not saying it's right Percy. I wasn't either. But just that fact alone send chills down everyone. Because it could mean that all of us are under the danger of facing a kind of world where the Crooked One ruled. Humans were nothing but cheap entertainment for him and lived in that kind of savagery. It scares all the demigods. And now, Zeus' bolt has been stolen? Well, it doesn't exactly add up well for anyone."

"Until Chiron cleared the fact that it was impossible for my father to actually be on alive without the gods realising."

"Exactly," Annabeth said. "So blame fell on you. People started thinking you were doing your father's bidding to try and bring him back."

"Could it still not be my father? Who stole the bolt?"

Annabeth shook her head. "You heard Chiron. It's impossible for him to be on Olympus without the gods knowing. The kind of magic they placed? The security? It's practically inaccessible to any of their enemies."

"But what if he used some other demigod?"

"You remember what I said? Demigods learnt to fear what your father was capable of. No half-blood in their right mind would ever work for your father."

"So then how am I born?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Immortals are capable of things we can't imagine. Their blood, ichor? It has immense magic. Look at Grover. The Kindly Ones. Satyrs, other nature spirits were born from the ichor spilt from Ouranos when your father killed him. There's hundreds, if not thousands, of ways you could be his son."

It didn't quite reassure Percy, but he didn't have much else to respond.

They pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told them they'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?"

"The Gateway Arch," she said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"

Grover and Percy exchanged looks.

He wanted to say no, but Percy figured that if Annabeth was going, they couldn't very well let her go alone.

Grover shrugged. "As long as there's a snack bar without monsters."

The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. They threaded their 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 them interesting facts about how the Arch was built, and Grover kept passing him jelly beans, so he was okay. Plus, he had to admit, Annabeth had a way of telling the facts in an interesting way to keep him engaged. If only his school teachers could be just as interesting.

He kept looking around, though, at the other people in line. "You smell anything?" Percy murmured to Grover.

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 him. He had a feeling they shouldn't be here.

"Guys," he 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," Percy 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?" Percy asked.

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..."

"It allows him to become darkness," Grover confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"

"But then ... how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" he asked.

Annabeth and Grover exchanged looks.

"We don't," Grover said.

"I'm pretty sure the Lord of the Dead has better problems than watching a bunch of teenagers straggle around," Annabeth said.

"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better," Percy said. "Got any blue jelly beans left?"

He'd almost mastered my jumpy nerves when he saw the tiny little elevator car they were going to ride to the top of the Arch, and Percy knew he was in trouble. Percy hated confined places. They make him go absolutely nuts.

They got shoehorned into the car with this big fat lady and her dog, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar. Percy figured maybe the dog was a seeing-eye Chihuahua because none of the guards said a word about it.

They started going up inside the Arch. He'd never been in an elevator that went in a curve, and his 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.

Percy said, "Sonny. Is that his name?"

"No," the lady told him.

She smiled as if that cleared everything up. He narrowed his eyes. That alone was an indication that something wasn't right about the woman.

At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded him 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 he liked less than a confined space, it's a confined space six hundred feet in the air. He felt slightly better knowing that his sky abilities were only a moment's notice away should he be in danger. Even if he didn't know how to use them properly.

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 them, the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.

Percy realised something about the observation deck. It represented his powers in a weird way.

Just a few feet above them was the sky. Right across them was the river glittering. And below them was the route going underground. He mentioned this to Grover and Annabeth quietly.

"A lot of things in the US are. You'll see many things represent the greek myths, one way or another. This is one of them. Good observation though," she said, looking impressed.

He steered Grover and Annabeth toward the exit, loaded them into the elevator, and he was about to get in himself when he realised there were already two other tourists inside. No room for him.

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."

Annabeth ignored him, pushing past Grover and the other tourist to stand next to him.

"Seriously?" Percy said, looking at her. She rolled her eyes.

"Leaving you alone will only lead to major problems. I'm not abandoning you again. Not this time."

Despite trying to sound harsh, he could see the smile forming on her face. She glanced at him and turned away in a huff.

"You know what I think?" Percy said, a slight smirk on his face. "I think you're starting to like me secretly."

"In your dreams Percy," she replied sticking her tongue out at him.

Now the only people left on the observation deck were him, Annabeth, a little boy with his parents, the park ranger, and the fat lady with her Chihuahua. Annabeth narrowed her eyes at the fat lady.

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

Wait a minute.

Forked tongue?

Before he could decide if he'd really seen that, her Chihuahua jumped down and started yapping at him.

"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 him, foam dripping from his black lips.

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

"Percy," Annabeth said in a panicked voice. She held her arm out, gesturing for him to move back.

Ice started forming in his stomach as alarm bells started ringing in the back of his head. "Um, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?"

"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, he saw that her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were sideways slits, like a reptile's. Annabeth gasped. She instantly pulled out her dagger.

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.

The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood paralyzed, gaping at the monster.

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. 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.

Percy realised he hadn't even uncapped his sword. His hands were numb. He was ten feet away from the Chimera's bloody maw, and he knew that as soon as I moved, the creature would lunge.

The snake lady made a hissing noise that might've been laughter. "Be honored, Percy Jackson. It's been many eons since someone has called me in for a favour against a hero. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"

Percy stared at her. All he could think to say was: "Isn't that a kind of anteater?"

Annabeth groaned, face palming next to him. "Why would you say that, you idiot."

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!"

The Chimera charged, its lion teeth gnashing. He managed to leap aside and dodge the bite while Annabeth tackled it down. He had to admit, she had guts fighting it head first.

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

He couldn't let them get hurt. And he needed to help Annabeth. He uncapped his sword, ran towards the Chimera and lunged for its midsection. It shook its torso with such force that Annabeth was flung to the side.

Before he could swing his sword, it opened its mouth, emitting a stench like the world's largest barbecue pit, and shot a column of flame straight at him.

He dove through the explosion. The carpet burst into flames; the heat was so intense, it nearly seared off his eyebrows.

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

Great, he thought. They just blowtorched a national monument.

Riptide was now a shining bronze blade in his hands, and as the Chimera turned, he slashed at its neck.

That was his fatal mistake. The blade sparked harmlessly off the dog collar. He tried to regain his balance, but he was so worried about defending himself against the fiery lion's mouth he completely forgot about the serpent's tail until it whipped around and sank its fangs into his calf.

Annabeth came through. She was silently moving behind, trying to adjust in the cramped space, and when she was no longer in the Chimera's line of sight, she shot forward, sinking the blade into its neck.

The Chimera roared with such anger it was a miracle Percy's skin hadn't melted off. It whipped its head against her so quickly that she let out a shout of pain as she landed against the edge of the hole.

Despite being a few inches away from a one-way 630 feet trip to the underworld, she yelled, "Percy, the sky!" She gestured towards the clouds above.

He understood what she was trying to say. But he didn't even understand how to summon lightning. The first time his life had been in extreme danger (very much like he was in now), and the second time was because he was too angry to think straight.

Then something strange happened. A cold breeze swept past his face. Much unlike the fiery hot flames around him. He could hear the thunder inside his head. He looked above. The clouds were far more visible, looming right above his head as though waiting for his command.

What was it that he used to summon his powers? A tugging in his gut.

He focused, letting his breath slow. The rush of the wind seemed to echo in his ears.

He could remember the sensation of lightning both times. How it electrified the air around him, a strange buzzing in his ears and a metallic scent on his tongue. Almost like a charge of energy bursting through at his command.

A voice whispered through the winds.

Yes, Perseus. Call upon it. The sky. It'll answer you. The lightning will respond to your will instantly. All you must do is guide it.

Guide it? Fine. He wanted the lightning to hit the Chimera.

The sky roared in retaliation. He felt the same buzzing in his ears, the ozone thickening around him. And then it hit. The violent charge of lightning, branching from the clouds, right to the Chimera with a sharpness that could've split the earth in half. It howled in pain before disintegrating.

"My child!" Echidna roared. He had completely forgotten about the Australian anteater. "You dare!" She advanced on him. He glanced behind him. Annabeth had fallen unconscious after saving him from the Chimera's next barbeque. His spine straightened in fear as he realised how close she was to falling down. Not that he was any better.

He tried to jab his sword against Echidna, but she moved far faster than a woman her size should be capable of and threw it down the hole right into the river below them.

He managed to get to his feet, but he knew he had lost. He was weaponless. He could feel deadly poison racing up to his chest. He remembered Chiron saying that Anaklusmos would always return to him, but there was no pen in his pocket. Maybe it had fallen too far away. Maybe it only returned when it was in pen form. Percy didn't know, and he wasn't going to live long enough to figure it out.

He backed into the hole right next to Annabeth. The snake lady cackled. "They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, son?"

She seemed in no hurry to finish him off, knowing that he had been poisoned. Then she glanced at his finger.

His ring.

His spear, how could he forget? But then, he glanced at the park ranger and the family. Mortals. They could be hurt by the weapon. The little boy was hiding behind his father's legs. He had to protect these people. More importantly, he had to protect Annabeth at all costs. He couldn't just ... die. He tried to think, but his whole body was on fire. His head felt dizzy. He was facing a massive mother of all monsters. And he didn't want to admit it, but he was scared.

"That ring?" she said, narrowing her eyes against him. "Where did you get it from?"

"What… what are you talking about?" Percy stammered, still trying to find ways to get out.

"We've met before haven't we?" she demanded, her demeanour changing. "Hundreds of years ago? You were the one protecting the stupid village and killed my army!"

"Hundreds of years ago?" Percy replied with confusion. "Woman, I was born 12 years ago. I-"

"I know that ring!" she roared in response. "I would recognise it anywhere considering you killed me with that damn spear. Tell me the truth!"

Percy had no idea what she was talking about, nor did he care to understand. He was more focused on the mortals and Annabeth. There was no place else to go, so he stepped to the edge of the hole. Far, far below, the river glittered.

If he died, would the monsters go away? Would they leave the humans alone?

"Ah the river," Echidna hissed, "Yes, as the child of Kronos, you have its sanctuary. And you have the mark of Poseidon. 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, he thought. He'd read somewhere that jumping into the water from a couple of stories up was like jumping onto solid asphalt. From here, he'd splatter on impact.

She slowly advanced on him.

"You have no faith," Echidna told him. "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: he was dying. He could feel my breath slowing down. Nobody could save him, not even the gods. But there was Annabeth. He needed to get her to safety above anything else.

He backed up and looked down at the water. He remembered the warm glow of a man's smile when he was a baby. Poseidon. He must have seen him. He must have visited him when he was in his cradle. His mother said that Poseidon had sworn to protect him and that he did care about Percy.

He remembered his dreams, how the horse stood before him, defending him against the eagle. How his body had healed when he was shot in the creek by Clarisse. Poseidon had given him some protection, after all.

But this wasn't the sea. This was the Mississippi, the dead centre of the USA. There was no Sea God here.

He remembered seeing the young girl in his cradle. She gently carried him in her arms, tickling him as she kissed him lightly on his forehead, her eyes shining with pride and warmth. He remembered her voice. "Family always looks out for one another. When you need me most little one, I'll be there for you. All you have to do is ask." He had giggled as he held her finger with both of his tiny hands, and she had laughed, holding him tighter.

"I love you little brother," she had told him. At that moment, he was sure that girl was Hestia. She had known all along, before the rest of the gods. She knew he was her brother and came to see him as a baby.

"Die, faithless one," Echidna rasped as she readied to attack him.

"Lord Poseidon. I'm sorry for what I've said about you. Please, help me. Save me and Annabeth. I promise I'll clear your name. Please, Hestia, Poseidon, please save me," he prayed.

He turned, grabbed Annabeth, put her over his shoulders and jumped. His clothes were on fire, poison coursing through his veins, and he plummeted toward the river.

Author's Note: So I wrote out this entire Author's note. Then I lost it all. Now I have to rewrite this entire damn thing, and I'm pissed. Sometimes, I really want to hit myself XD

5379 words. Not bad, considering the last chapter, you guys get some more. I'll try to get another chapter in the next few days, depending on whether I have time tomorrow or not. But you guys get some subtle changes. I used the conversation between Annabeth and Percy to give an explanation about Percy being the son of Kronos and why the others fear him. And also, there are subtle changes I've made throughout this chapter. I love them because the smallest changes lead to the best character development if used rightly. And this time, Annabeth decides to stay with Percy, saves him, and then he saves her. And I've given you all something to think about. What was Echidna talking about to Percy? Something to keep you all occupied.

Keep reviewing, let me know what you all think about the chapter. It's good motivation for me. Now to get to all of your previous reviews.

KashundraOtsutsuki: First off, long review, absolutely love reading long reviews. They honestly give me the best feedback. Now for your response. I absolutely agree with what you've said about both of them. This chapter was to show Annabeth some of her errors and how she perceives Percy. She needs to understand that blaming Percy for getting into trouble isn't the best way of keeping him safe, but instead, sticking by him is what will help. And she won't admit it yet, but that's actually why she stays on the Arch with Percy this time because she's learning to be more level-headed and is starting to care for him. And yes, her attitude will get her killed, and this will be something that really wakes her up later in this book, but it'll be much more of a reality check in the next book. Both Percy and Annabeth are at fault for a lot of problems that occurred previously and also going forward, but it's part of what they'll need to learn. Annabeth will have to understand that Percy has the worse end of the deal with the responsibility he shoulders, and Percy will have to learn that he isn't the only person who's suffering and that he needs to rely on others. And this is the reason Annabeth will have a bigger role in the coming books.
Also good mention of Percy's fatal flaw. I think I've made a very good twist on it in this version of Percy and I hope you'll like it.
Also reference to Nico, yup I know Hades is the god of the Underworld and Thanatos is the actual god of death. I was just trying to compare the fact that Nico's powers are on a different level because Hades is called the Lord of the Dead. Wrong writing, my bad XD

UU TWO: Yes, Kronos isn't exactly being 'patient' per say. But Chiron will explain why later in this book. There's a lot more in the background that I haven't revealed and there's a good reason as to why Kronos is doing what he's doing. Glad you're enjoying it so far.

PhantomFuryJP: Thank you. Hope you're liking the book so far :)

Anaklusmos404: Yes, I felt like Grover's environmentalist aspect wasn't really touched on till Battle of the Labyrinth so I saw Percy's powers as an opportunity to further that in this book, and in the coming chapters.

Chimera629: Welcome to the book, I saw a lot of reviews from you. Your final review was on Chapter 7, so I'm not sure whether you made it here or not. But I'll put the response here for when you get here. Yes Percy will show some kind of powers that Demeter's children do, but not to the extent they can, and in a much different manner. And yeah, Chiron is a son of Kronos. We'll get to that later on. Chiron inherited Kronos' level of patience but not much else. Remember, there's a difference between Chiron and the rest of his siblings. Chiron is a different species. He's a centaur, born when Kronos took on the form of a horse. The gods (and Percy) were born from Kronos' natural form and inherited his 'essence' more so than Chiron, so Kronos's traits are more prominent in them than Chiron.

Lord Kronos1950: Thanks man, I appreciate it a lot. Happy to hear you think it's a great story.

Death Fury: No worries, like I said partially true. There are just a lot more events to that line of the prophecy than just that one conversation with the snake.

Guest: "Huh, Grover's suggestion about Percy's powers possibly healing the pollution done to the three spheres of influence was something I never thought about before. Keep up the great work and stay safe from the coronavirus"

Yeah, I wanted to explore more on Grover's love for nature and show Percy's powers being used for more than just combat. This is the perfect start to it. Also fun thing, I thought I had corona, turned out it was just a minor cold. Love how most symptoms now just reflect corona XD. Stay safe, hope you enjoyed the chapter.

JoJo 'Perlia' Jesus: Thank you my friend. I shall hopefully be available on discord tomorrow. Hope you're doing well yourself.

And that's it for this one. I'm tired, I really can't be bothered to rewrite everything today so I'll just leave it here for now.

Please review :)

Discord Server: VUMM3Sb

SpiritsOfTheWorld