Hi gang! It's been a bit, I know. I just don't want to catch up to the end of my backlog just yet. This is a rather eventful chapter though, so I figured it would hopefully be worth the wait.

Thanks bunches to everybody who reviewed last chapter! Enjoy some more action and drama!

XIV
PERCY

Chimeras weren't exactly high on Percy's 'Favorite Monster Hits' playlist. His last encounter with one had ended in his diving from the top of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis while simultaneously on fire and dying of poisonous snake venom. If it hadn't been for his father's blessing, he would've been dead halfway through his first ever quest. Not exactly a happy memory he liked to revisit.

This chimera looked almost identical to the first, though it was missing the oversized dog collar Echidna had fitted to its brother. Just looking at it brought a rush of flashbacks—memories of the scared, twelve-year-old boy who'd just discovered he was half-Greek-god and been forced on a dangerous journey to recover his immortal uncle's lost lightning bolt. It felt like a lifetime ago, and when Percy blinked and shook himself out of the memory it suddenly seemed like it wasn't his—like he was thinking back on the life of someone else entirely. Had things really changed that much since then?

Pushing that uncomfortable thought aside, he gritted his teeth and rushed toward the chimera, which was still standing over Travis Stoll. It opened its mouth and smoke rolled from its jaws, signaling that it was preparing to breathe a cloud of fire. With a groan, Percy muttered, "I know I'm gonna regret this," before letting out a loud yell and charging the beast from the side. He rammed his shoulder into its coarse mane and tackled it, knocking it sideways away from Travis and onto the pavement. Its head whipped around and it shot a column of flames into the sky, and Percy ducked instinctively as he and the monster rolled over one another. When he hit the ground beside it, he noticed the burning heat hadn't altogether faded and realized some of the fire had clung to his jacket sleeve, which was now covered in bright orange flames. With a yelp, he tore the jacket off and threw it on the ground, stamping the fire out.

By then, Connor had run to his brother's side and the chimera had turned its full attention to the arrival of a new challenger, who was both relieved and slightly terrified of the fact. Percy stared into the monster's eyes, backing slowly away from it as his heart started pounding and rushing adrenaline threatened to burst his veins. His eyes darted to the snake-tail, which thrashed around and bared its poisonous teeth. Last time, he hadn't paid the tail enough attention, and it had successfully bitten and disarmed him. This time, he would be sure not to let that happen again.

When the chimera pounced, he was ready. He dove to the side and rolled, coming up in a crouch before spinning around and slicing out with Riptide, deflecting the fangs of the diamondback. The monster stood on its goat hooves and swung its head, visible waves of heat emanating from its glowing mouth, before a blaze of fire streamed from between its teeth. Percy dropped to the ground and lay flat on his stomach, throwing his hands over his head as the flames swept through the air above him, the heat singing the hair on his arms. When the fire vanished, he heard an angry roar and rolled to the side just as the chimera's hooves landed right where he'd been lying.

Percy scrambled to his feet and sidestepped another striking bite from the serpent-tail, swinging Riptide in a downward arc as he did so and throwing all his strength behind the blow. The bronze blade passed straight through the snake with a sickening shlump, severing its head clean off. The body swung like a whip as the head hissed and dropped to the asphalt, thrashing for a few seconds like a fish out of water before disintegrating to dust.

The lion head of the chimera loosed a vicious roar and Percy looked up just in time to be kicked in the chest by the monster's two back hooves. The force lifted him off his feet and sent him flying through the air as the wind was knocked from his lungs. His back slammed into the side of an abandoned car a few yards away and he slid to the ground, rolling onto his hands and knees with a groan.

Gasping as he tried to catch his breath and wincing at the bruises forming on his chest, Percy struggled to his feet, leaning against the car for help. His sword was no longer in his hand, and a quick survey of the street around him didn't reveal its whereabouts. It would come back to him eventually, but the chimera didn't look to be in a patient mood. It was glaring at him with its teeth bared, smoke pouring from its mouth and hooves beating the asphalt. Evidently it had rather liked its snake-tail and was displeased with Percy for beheading it.

He needed a plan. Going against a monster like the chimera without a weapon would undoubtedly be filed in the dictionary under 'suicide', and while Percy wasn't afraid of a challenge he also didn't have a death wish. Looking around frantically, his gaze landed on a manhole a few feet to his right and he got an idea. Eyeing the chimera to make sure it didn't leap at him, he edged toward the manhole and dropped to a crouch, resting a hand against the pavement and hoping for a stroke of luck. Sure enough, he could feel a shallow stream of water below him—sewer water, but it would have to do. A weapon was a weapon, after all, no matter how unpleasant.

Percy stood slowly, eyes trained on the monster and a hand resting in the air above the manhole. The chimera was glaring at him, lips curled in a snarl, crouching low and stepping slowly to the side as though stalking prey. He pulled his hand upward, feeling resistance as the sewer water began to rise underneath the street, and the instant the chimera lunged he braced one hand against the car and formed a fist with the other, thrusting it forward with a loud yell. The metal cover sprang from the manhole as gallons of dirty water rushed out at once, forming a geyser that bent midair and hurtled straight for the monster. Already mid-leap, the chimera was helpless to defend itself, and the stream slammed into it with all the force of a speeding subway car. It roared in anger as it was thrown onto the pavement, and when Percy lowered his arm and the geyser dropped, the chimera was gone.

He leaned back against the car and breathed heavily, the effort of calling so much water from that distance having drained him. Not to mention the fact that his head still ached from where Hedge had mistaken him for a monster. Looking around, he saw the Stoll brothers in the middle of the street a few yards from where he stood, Travis still lying on the ground and Connor crouching over him. Rolling his shoulders and grimacing at the dull pain in his chest, Percy pushed off of the car and strode toward them, shoes sloshing through the discolored city sewer water pooling across the asphalt.

"Thanks, Percy," Connor said to him, looking up as he approached and dropped to one knee. "Man, I thought we were dead meat for sure. Remind me not to go after any horrific monsters again without our resident superhero for backup." He laughed weakly, sounding as though the humor was obviously forced. The look in his eyes was desperate.

"Is he okay?" Percy asked, glancing down at Travis. The older Stoll brother was conscious, but by the look of it, barely. His shoulder and the right side of his chest were covered in blood, his shirt and jacket torn by ugly-looking slash marks. His eyes were squeezed shut, his expression twitching between sharp pain and weak exhaustion as his chest moved with uneven breaths.

"I don't know," Connor admitted, looking miserable as his eyes fell back to his brother. "It was the head that bit him, not the tail, so I don't think it's poisoned, but…"

Percy's throat tightened as he inspected the damage with his eyes. It didn't look good. He raised his head and did a quick survey of the area, noting that things seemed to be quieting down for now. At least until the monsters started to reform. With luck, though, they'd have some time before that happened. "Let's get back to camp," he decided. With an anxious look at Travis, he added, "Fast."

-ψ-ψ-ψ-

The camp infirmary was much more crowded after the recent battle. The majority of the beds were now occupied by people in various states of injury and Greek and Roman healers were bustling about the tent, carrying supplies to one station or another. Travis was pulled from Percy and Connor's grasp almost immediately and taken to a bed, while no fewer than five campers busied themselves over him. Connor followed them and tried to stay close by while another healer offered to bandage the side of Percy's head where Hedge had hit him. He ignored the person as his gaze landed on his girlfriend, who was sitting on the edge of a bed near the back of the tent and talking to a girl from the Apollo cabin, an agitated look on her face.

With a frown, Percy pushed through the crowd until he reached the bed. "What are you doing here?" he asked Annabeth seriously. "You were out there? You're not hurt, are you?"

"'Hello' to you, too, Seaweed Brain," she replied sarcastically as the other girl took one look at Percy and edged around him with some half-hearted excuse about checking on another patient. "And to answer your questions, yes, I was out there, and no, I'm fine. I just twisted my wrist, is all. I told these guys they have more important injuries to deal with, but they're insisting everything be treated." She frowned and wrinkled her nose, then added, "Ugh, why do you smell like a sewer?"

"Long story."

"And what happened to your head? I didn't know you were in the battle, too."

"Blackjack got a distress call from some of the other pegasi," Percy explained, dodging his girlfriend's arm as she reached for him with a frown. "Don't worry, I'm fine, too. It wasn't even a monster that did this."

Annabeth looked confused. "Wasn't even—?"

"Brother!" a familiar voice interrupted as an iron grip snatched Percy by the arm and pulled him sideways into an actual-sized bear hug. He stumbled in surprise, not needing to guess who had attacked him.

"Tyson—when did you get here?" he asked with a grin, pulling himself from the arms of his Cyclops half-brother.

Tyson beamed down at him, his single eye bright between growing curtains of thick brown hair. "Half hour ago," he replied. "Message from camp asked for supplies from the forges. I came to deliver them so I could see you!"

Percy laughed as Tyson turned to give Annabeth a smothering hug. For a while now, Tyson had been living with the rest of the gods' Cyclops allies in Poseidon's underwater kingdom. When the gods disappeared at the start of the war, things down there had gotten difficult without Poseidon and Amphitrite—even Triton, their immortal son—to lead them, and Tyson and the others were doing their best to keep order in the seas. The Cyclops forges still supplied Camp Half-Blood with materials and equipment, and contact lines between the camp and the forge were always open. But visits were few and far between. Percy knew his brother was always busy, so seeing him every once in a while was something he looked forward to. Even if he wouldn't be able to stay long.

"How's everything down below?" Percy asked.

"Hard," Tyson answered, shaking his head sadly. "Everybody wants to know where Daddy is, why he left us. I tell them, 'Daddy has a reason. Trust him.' But do they listen? No. War makes people crazy."

"You can say that again," Percy agreed with a sigh. "Just hang in there, big guy. We're working on a way to get the gods back."

"Really?" Tyson said, seeming to perk up. "I knew brother would help! You will save us!"

Unexpectedly, Percy thought of their last prophecy, of the line he knew was meant for him or his brother: Son of the Storm-bringer, doomed to fail. A heavy shadow seemed to settle over him at the thought and he tried to keep his smile from fading. He must not have completely succeeded, though, because Annabeth reached over and gently touched his hand, smiling when he looked toward her. Was she reading his mind, like she sometimes seemed to be able to do? Either way, he felt the dark weight lift a little and he gave her a weak smile; she was the only one who always had that effect on him.

"Is… Ella here?" Tyson asked, touching his fingers together and shuffling his feet a bit awkwardly.

Annabeth looked like she was trying not to smile when she pointed over her shoulder and answered, "She's probably with Rachel. Hardly ever leaves her bedside." As Tyson nodded and started toward the back of the tent, Percy decided to follow him. Annabeth hopped down from her bed and went along as they all pushed through the bustle of people.

"Hello, Ella," Tyson greeted the crimson harpy, who was perched on a chair beside the bed on which Rachel Dare lay sleeping.

"Tyson," Ella said, looking up and blinking as though waking from a dream. "Tyson is back. Ella is happy." She smiled shyly and shifted on her chair, momentarily hiding her head beneath a wing.

As Tyson blushed and moved to stand by the harpy, Percy and Annabeth stepped up to the other side of Rachel's bed, looking down at her. Rachel had always been one of the liveliest people Percy had known. All of his memories of her showed her smiling, laughing, yelling, glaring—being expressive, no matter what emotion that entailed. It was strange to see her so quiet and still, trapped in a sort of coma and frowning in her sleep as though in pain. He wished there were something they could do to help her, but according to the healers, they were out of ideas.

"I hate seeing her like this," Annabeth whispered, as though she were sharing Percy's thoughts. "We have to beat Erebos. It might be the only way to save her."

"I know," Percy agreed. He reached out and touched Rachel's arm, flinching at the coldness of her skin. He had to focus on her breathing to convince himself she was still alive, though it didn't do much to quell the worry. He was reminded sickeningly of the last Oracle host—a decades-old mummy that had lived in the dusty attic of the Big House. He tried not to compare Rachel to her undead predecessor, but her current condition certainly wasn't helping matters.

As Percy retracted his hand, Rachel's eyes suddenly snapped open and her arm shot out, fingers closing around his wrist in an iron, vice-like grip. He staggered as his heart almost stopped in surprise and Annabeth gasped. He tried reflexively to wrench his arm from the girl's grasp, but her hold was like a welded shackle. She lifted her head and looked right at Percy, her eyes glowing solid green—just like when the Oracle possessed her to give a prophecy. When she opened her mouth, thin wisps of emerald smoke brushed out from between her lips.

"Ocean's son," she said in a hoarse, raspy voice that sounded like twenty people talking at once, "of this I warn: in you, I see a darkness born."

"What's going on?" a voice asked urgently as Will Solace suddenly appeared on Annabeth's other side.

No one answered. Percy was staring at Rachel—at the Oracle—with wide eyes, her impossibly firm grip on his wrist sending thin spikes of pain up his forearm. It was like the coldness of her skin had frozen him in place; he didn't think he could have moved if he'd tried.

"The blood-stained bond your light must break," Rachel went on in that same horrible voice, dead eyes burning into Percy's. "A death through death the sun to wake."

Then her grip vanished, her eyes closed, and her head fell back as though she'd never stirred at all.

My, oh, my! What could this mean? Nothing good, as I'm sure you can guess. But we all know more danger equals more fun, so why stop now? Bring on the drama!

So get speculating, drop me a review, and I'll see you guys sometime next week! Later days!

-oMM