Chapter 10: I Break a Few Rocket Ships
Due to the late night the night before, everyone got up rather late the next morning. Surprisingly Percy, Triton, Tyson and Poseidon were the first ones down to breakfast, with the exception of Hestia. The sea God went to sit with his sister while his children all sat together chatting away happily. It pleased him to see Triton getting along with Percy. It was rare for his son to get along with any of his demigod children. He understood at least part of the reason why but Percy had somehow gotten through the distant exterior Triton always kept up. He knew that quite a lot of it had to do with reading these books. Triton didn't really require sleep, same as all immortals, and so had spent most of the night reading the other books. They had spoken about it at some length during the early hours of the morning. By the end of the second book, Triton had been feeling almost as protective of Percy as Poseidon himself.
His musings were broken by the appearance of Hades and his children. Hades looked even grimmer than usual though Poseidon couldn't blame him. At least, for now, he knew Percy would be safe during the readings. His brother would have to read about the death of his daughter. Poseidon honestly had no idea how his brother could handle that. While their demigod children died often, when they had them, Bianca had joined the Hunters. She should have been able to live forever. Instead, just as she gained immortality, she lost it. Also, this reading experience had brought them a lot closer to their children than they had been in the past. They did not have the same distance which was both wonderful and tortuous.
"Morning." Hades grunted as he sat on Hestia's other side.
"Morning." Poseidon greeted. Another thing this reading had done was bring him much closer to his brother. Before this, they hadn't spoken properly in centuries. A few words were maybe exchanged at a Winter Solstice meeting but not a proper conversation. Now, they were almost back to their brotherly bond that had existed when they were first born and swallowed by their father. Their relationship with Zeus had certainly not improved much which did disappoint Poseidon a little. Because his youngest brother had never been swallowed, he had never formed the same bonds that the other five had, even with his marriage to Hera. But they had still had a better relationship than they did now and Poseidon missed it. Still, there was a lot of reading left to do. There was still a chance.
More and more people slowly began to trickle in. The Stolls arrived in naturally dramatic fashion as Travis chased after Connor, who was sporting pink hair, with a long pole that was probably once a broom handle.
"I can't believe you put frog spawn in my bed! You know I hate frogs." Travis was yelling.
"I don't know how it got there." Connor protested but he was laughing too hard for that to be believable. "Maybe it was Chris."
"Hey! Don't blame your mess on me." Chris called as he walked into the room with Clarisse and Hermes.
"You dyed my hair pink, I think we are even." Connor said as he dashed around one of the tables.
"Nowhere even close. You also changed my shower gel for mud!" Travis told him angrily.
"Oh yeah." Connor snickered. That had been his idea. The frog spawn was Annabeth's idea in return for the tarantula they had put in her bed. Travis made a swipe with the broom handle and narrowly missed Percy's head. It actually knocked his hand and forced the pancake he had been about to eat onto the floor. Now Percy got up and joined in the chase, randomly hitting Travis in the back with jets of icy sea water.
"You lost me my pancake!" Percy growled.
"It was an accident!" Travis protested.
"Children! There are people trying to eat. Either sit down or take this outside." Chiron called over the noise as he arrived in the room. With one last jet of water hitting Travis, Percy made his way back to his seat. The Stolls went over to sit with their dad although they kept poking each other every few seconds.
Beckendorf came in with Leo and Hephaestus. He glanced around and didn't spot Silena so he went over to speak with Percy. The two of them went to a secluded corner of the dining room.
"How are you doing?" Percy asked quietly once they were sitting down.
"Alright, I guess." Beckendorf sighed heavily. "We told Aphrodite last night. She was pretty good about it to be honest. Obviously, she was upset but seemed happy enough with an apology."
"That's good. At least Silena will have a few people on her side if it comes out in the books." Percy said. "But how are you actually coping with it?"
"I'm not sure I am." Beckendorf confessed with a grim smile. "I feel hurt and betrayed obviously but she regrets it. But I love her, man. She was tricked and manipulated by Luke." He spat Luke's name furiously. Percy nodded.
"Fair enough. Well, let me know if you guys need anything."
"We will. Thanks, Perc. You're a good friend." Beckendorf smiled. Just then Silena came in with Piper, Drew and Aphrodite. The Goddess had her arm around Silena who looked better than when Percy had seen her last night but her face was still pale and drawn. Beckendorf clapped him on the arm and made his way over to his girlfriend. Percy went over to sit with Apollo and Will who had just sat down by Nico.
Eventually everyone was there and they all managed to finish eating without any more incidents. Once they were all done, they made their way to the throne room. They all resumed their seats from the day before.
"I'll read." Will offered. He picked up the book from the middle of the room and once he was seated, began reading.
I Break a Few Rocket Ships
"You're going to break the museum exhibits?" Athena asked in annoyance.
"Not on purpose." Percy shrugged. "Things happen when there are monsters around. Besides, I didn't actually break all of them."
"Just most of them." Grover laughed. Percy stuck his tongue out at his best friend.
I tore across the Mall, not daring to look behind me. I burst into the Air and Space Museum and took off my invisibility cap once I was through the admissions area. The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Three levels of balconies curled around, so you could look at the exhibits from all different heights. The place wasn't crowded, just a few families and a couple of tour groups of kids, probably doing one of those holiday school trips.
"That is one good thing. Less mortals to get caught in the crossfire." Hestia said.
"Why were you guys even in the museum?" Piper asked.
"We were trying to pick up Artemis' trail and Grover's tracking spell had told us to go to the nearby area. It seemed as good a place as any to start looking for clues." Thalia shrugged.
I wanted to yell at them all to leave, but I figured that would only get me arrested.
"Probably." Triton nodded. "Given your luck with mortal authorities."
I had to find Thalia and Grover and the Hunters. Any minute, the skeleton dudes were going to invade the museum, and I didn't think they would settle for an audio tour. I ran into Thalia—literally. I was barreling up the ramp to the top-floor balcony and slammed into her, knocking her into an Apollo space capsule.
Zeus glared at Percy.
"Yeah, thanks for that." Thalia said grumpily.
"Hey, would you rather I hadn't warned you?" Percy asked with a grin.
"No. I just wish you could have warned us without running into me."
"Picky, picky."
Grover yelped in surprise. Before I could regain my balance, Zoe and Bianca had arrows notched, aimed at my chest. Their bows had just appeared out of nowhere. When Zoe realized who I was, she didn't seem anxious to lower her bow. "You! How dare you show thy face here?"
"Maybe he's just on a trip." Rachel suggested with a laugh.
"Percy!" Grover said. "Thank goodness."
"At least someone was pleased to see me." Percy sighed.
"Given what happened in the summer I'm honestly surprised you didn't expect this, Thalia." Annabeth told her friend.
"I was more annoyed about being knocked over than him actually being there." Thalia shrugged.
Zoe glared at him, and he blushed. "I mean, um, gosh. You're not supposed to be here!"
Everybody chuckled.
"Luke," I said, trying to catch my breath. "He's here." The anger in Thalia's eyes immediately melted. She put her hand on her silver bracelet. "Where?" I told them about the Natural History Museum, Dr. Thorn, Luke, and the General. "The General is here?" Zoe looked stunned. "That is impossible! You lie."
"Why would he lie?" Connor rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"Why would I lie?
"Aw, you think like Percy." Travis told his brother.
"Could be worse." Connor shrugged.
"Thanks. I think." Percy said with a frown. Connor smirked.
Look, there's no time. Skeleton warriors—" "What?" Thalia demanded. "How many?" "Twelve," I said. "And that's not all. That guy, the General, he said he was sending something, a 'playmate,' to distract you over here. A monster." Thalia and Grover exchanged looks. "We were following Artemis's trail," Grover said. "I was pretty sure it led here. Some powerful monster scent… She must've stopped here looking for the mystery monster. But we haven't found anything yet."
Artemis frowned. She wondered why the monster's scent led there. If it was indeed the Ophiotaurus, as she strongly suspected, then it would be found in water not on land.
"Zoe," Bianca said nervously, "if it is the General—" "It cannot be!" Zoe snapped. "Percy must have seen an Iris-message or some other illusion."
"I'm pretty sure Percy can tell the difference." Travis scoffed.
"Anyone could tell the difference." Clarisse corrected.
"Illusions don't crack marble floors," I told her.
"There's that too." Annabeth nodded.
Zoe took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. I didn't know why she was taking it so personally, or how she knew this General guy, but I figured now wasn't the time to ask. "If Percy is telling the truth about the skeleton warriors," she said, "we have no time to argue. They are the worst, the most horrible… We must leave now."
"Where is this other monster?" Ares wanted to know. He wanted more action. "Atlas said he had sent it on ahead of the skeletons."
"Let's hope they don't find out." Hermes muttered.
"Good idea," I said. "I was not including thee, boy," Zoe said. "You are not part of this quest." "Hey, I'm trying to save your lives!" "You shouldn't have come, Percy," Thalia said grimly. "But you're here now. Come on. Let's get back to the van." "That is not thy decision!" Zoe snapped.
"It's not Zoe's either even if it is her quest. The prophecy said five would go and so five will, like it or not." Apollo stated.
Thalia scowled at her. "You're not the boss here, Zoe. I don't care how old you are! You're still a conceited little brat!"
Artemis frowned at her Lieutenant as Thalia grimaced.
"You tell her Thalia." Connor cheered. Nico looked like he wanted to do the same.
"You never had any wisdom when it came to boys," Zoe growled. "You never could leave them behind!"
"That's not a bad thing. Thalia doesn't abandon her friends just because they are male." Annabeth scowled. She felt bad that Zoe had died but her attitude was just so annoying.
Thalia looked like she was about to hit Zoe. Then everyone froze, I heard a growl so loud I thought one of the rocket engines was starting up. Below us, a few adults screamed. A little kid's voice screeched with delight: "Kitty!"
"I can't believe they saw a nice kitty." Percy grumbled.
Something enormous bounded up the ramp. It was the size of a pick-up truck, with silver claws and golden glittering fur.
"That's the Nemean Lion." Poseidon said weakly. Zeus tapped his fingers on the edge of his couch, trying to hide his own worry.
"Yep." Percy nodded.
"Not good. Your weapons won't do anything to it." Apollo frowned, biting his lip in concern.
I'd seen this monster once before. Two years ago, I'd glimpsed it briefly from a train. Now, up close and personal, it looked even bigger. "The Nemean Lion," Thalia said. "Don't move." The lion roared so loud it parted my hair. Its fangs gleamed like stainless steel. "Separate on my mark," Zoe said. "Try to keep it distracted." "Until when?" Grover asked.
"Good question." Will muttered.
"Until I think of a way to kill it. Go!" I uncapped Riptide and rolled to the left. Arrows whistled past me, and Grover played a sharp tweet-tweet cadence on his reed pipes. I turned and saw Zoe and Bianca climbing the Apollo capsule. They were firing arrows, one after another, all shattering harmlessly against the lion's metallic fur. The lion swiped the capsule and tipped it on its side, spilling the Hunters off the back.
"See, it wasn't all my fault that stuff broke." Percy pointed out.
"For once." Grover laughed.
Grover played a frantic, horrible tune, and the lion turned toward him, but Thalia stepped into its path, holding up Aegis, and the lion recoiled. "ROOOAAAR!" "Hi-yah!" Thalia said. "Back!" The lion growled and clawed the air, but it retreated as if the shield were a blazing fire. For a second, I thought Thalia had it under control. Then I saw the lion crouching, its leg muscles tensing. I'd seen enough cat fights in the alleys around my apartment in New York. I knew the lion was going to pounce.
Zeus increased his finger tapping rhythm. He reminded himself that his daughter was fine and sitting right there.
"Hey!" I yelled. I don't know what I was thinking, but I charged the beast. I just wanted to get it away from my friends.
"Don't get yourself killed saving them!" Triton yelped. Percy looked at him in surprise.
"I was fine." He assured his half-brother.
"Percy turn monster into dust." Tyson said confidently.
I slashed with Riptide, a good strike to the flank that should've cut the monster into Meow Mix, but the blade just clanged against its fur in a burst of sparks. The lion raked me with its claws, ripping off a chunk of my coat. I backed against the railing. It sprang at me, one thousand pounds of monster, and I had no choice but to turn and jump. I landed on the wing of an old-fashioned silver airplane, which pitched and almost spilled me to the floor, three stories below.
"That's a long fall." Reyna muttered. "Without water below to fall into."
"Still wouldn't be my worst fall, I don't think." Percy shrugged. Then he regretted it seeing as that comment did nothing to calm anyone down.
An arrow whizzed past my head. The lion jumped onto the aircraft, and the cords holding the plane began to groan. The lion swiped at me, and I dropped onto the next exhibit, a weird-looking spacecraft with blades like a helicopter. I looked up and saw the lion roar—inside its maw, a pink tongue and throat. Its mouth, I thought.
"Good spot." Poseidon praised his son.
"Yeah, thank the Gods Percy was there." Thalia said. "Although I obviously would have come up with that idea myself."
"There is no way anyone would have come up with Percy's idea." Grover stated.
"True." Thalia nodded. "But I meant the part where its mouth was its weakness."
Its fur was completely invulnerable, but if I could strike it in the mouth… The only problem was, the monster moved too quickly. Between its claws and fangs, I couldn't get close without getting sliced to pieces. "Zoe!" I shouted. "Target the mouth!"
"Yes. My Hunters have the best chance of killing it." Artemis nodded.
The monster lunged. An arrow zipped past it, missing completely, and I dropped from the spaceship onto the top of a floor exhibit, a huge model of the earth. I slid down Russia and dropped off the equator. The Nemean Lion growled and steadied itself on the spacecraft, but its weight was too much. One of the cords snapped. As the display swung down like a pendulum, the lion leaped off onto the model earth's North Pole.
"While it's kind of scary, picturing a big lion jumping around on those exhibits is hilarious." Rachel snickered.
"I'm impressed they can support its weight at all." Annabeth stated.
"Grover!" I yelled. "Clear the area!" Groups of kids were running around screaming. Grover tried to corral them away from the monster just as the other cord on the spaceship snapped and the exhibit crashed to the floor. Thalia dropped off the second-floor railing and landed across from me, on the other side of the globe. The lion regarded us both, trying to decide which of us to kill first. Zoe and Bianca were above us, bows ready, but they kept having to move around to get a good angle. "No clear shot!" Zoe yelled. "Get it to open its mouth more!"
"Oh yes, I'm sure it'll do that if you just ask nicely." Chris muttered sarcastically.
"It'll open its mouth right before it tries to eat them." Clarisse offered innocently.
"Yeah, we'd rather not get that close to it." Thalia glared at the daughter of Ares who shrugged.
The lion snarled from the top of the globe. I looked around. Options. I needed… The gift shop. I had a vague memory from my trip here as a little kid. Something I'd made my mom buy me, and I'd regretted it. If they still sold that stuff…
"Another crazy Percy idea." Leo grinned wildly. He loved Percy's ideas.
"Thalia," I said, "keep it occupied." She nodded grimly. "Hi-yah!" She pointed her spear and a spidery arc of blue electricity shot out, zapping the lion in the tail. "ROOOOOOOAR!" The lion turned and pounced. Thalia rolled out of its way, holding up Aegis to keep the monster at bay, and I ran for the gift shop. "This is no time for souvenirs, boy!" Zoe yelled.
"Exactly." Zeus grumbled.
"Oh yes, my mistake. I thought it was the perfect time to go shopping." Percy rolled his eyes.
I dashed into the shop, knocking over rows of T-shirts, jumping over tables full of glowin-the-dark planets and space ooze. The sales lady didn't protest. She was too busy cowering behind her cash register. There! On the far wall—glittery silver packets.
"What on Olympus are you thinking?" Annabeth asked.
"That stuff was disgusting." Percy told her. "I figured the lion would think so too."
"You're insane."
"It worked."
Whole racks of them. I scooped up every kind I could find and ran out of the shop with an armful. Zoe and Bianca were still showering arrows on the monster, but it was no good. The lion seemed to know better than to open its mouth too much. It snapped at Thalia, slashing with its claws. It even kept its eyes narrowed to tiny slits. Thalia jabbed at the monster and backed up. The lion pressed her. "Percy," she called, "whatever you're going to do—" The lion roared and swatted her like a cat toy, sending her flying into the side of a Titan rocket. Her head hit the metal and she slid to the floor.
"No." Zeus growled.
"I was fine. I have a thick skull." Thalia told her father.
"You best hurry up, boy." The God scowled at Percy.
"Hey I wasn't supposed to even be there. They could have had to deal with that thing without me." Percy pointed out.
"We would have been screwed." Grover said.
"Hey!" I yelled at the lion. I was too far away to strike, so I took a risk: I hurled Riptide like a throwing knife. It bounced off the lion's side, but that was enough to get the monster's attention. It turned toward me and snarled. There was only one way to get close enough. I charged,
"Why do all of your plans seem to involve charging at the large monster that could kill you easily?" Poseidon groaned.
"It's generally the only way to get close enough to kill them. Besides, it gives me the element of surprise." Percy explained.
and as the lion leaped to intercept me, I chunked a space food pouch into its maw—a chunk of cellophane-wrapped, freeze-dried strawberry parfait.
"Oh! That's what you were getting. Yeah that stuff is gross." Piper wrinkled her nose.
"Even I couldn't eat it." Percy nodded.
"Wow. That must be pretty bad." Rachel laughed.
"Yeah, I thought Percy would eat anything." Will smirked.
"Almost anything." Percy corrected.
The lion's eyes got wide and it gagged like a cat with a hairball. I couldn't blame it. I remembered feeling the same way when I'd tried to eat space food as a kid. The stuff was just plain nasty.
"Could also be the packaging getting stuck in its throat." Annabeth pointed out.
"Does it really matter? The creature doesn't like it." Beckendorf rolled his eyes. "Nice plan." He told Percy.
"Zoe, get ready!" I yelled. Behind me, I could hear people screaming. Grover was playing another horrible song on his pipes.
Grover sighed but couldn't be bothered to continue to defend his music. His friends just couldn't appreciate good music.
I scrambled away from the lion. It managed to choke down the space food packet and looked at me with pure hate. "Snack time!" I yelled. It made the mistake of roaring at me, and I got an ice-cream sandwich in its throat. Fortunately, I had always been a pretty good pitcher, even though baseball wasn't my game. Before the lion could stop gagging, I shot in two more flavors of ice cream and a freeze-dried spaghetti dinner. The lion's eyes bugged. It opened its mouth wide and reared up on its back paws, trying to get away from me.
"You scared a monster away with space food?" Reyna looked at Percy in bemusement.
"Whatever works." Percy grinned.
"Grover was right." Jason said. "Nobody else would ever have come up with that plan."
"Now!" I yelled. Immediately, arrows pierced the lion's maw—two, four, six. The lion thrashed wildly, turned, and fell backward. And then it was still. Alarms wailed throughout the museum. People were flocking to the exits. Security guards were running around in a panic with no idea what was going on. Grover knelt at Thalia's side and helped her up. She seemed okay, just a little dazed.
Zeus let out a sigh of relief.
Zoe and Bianca dropped from the balcony and landed next to me. Zoe eyed me cautiously. "That was… an interesting strategy."
"You should probably get used to that." Apollo laughed.
"Hey, it worked." She didn't argue. The lion seemed to be melting, the way dead monsters do sometimes, until there was nothing left but its glittering fur coat, and even that seemed to be shrinking to the size of a normal lion's pelt. "Take it," Zoe told me.
"But Zoe and Bianca killed it." Ares frowned. Why would they give away such an awesome spoil of war?
"It was Percy's plan." Artemis pointed out. She also privately suspected that Zoe would not want that particular spoil of war given who had owned it previously.
I stared at her. "What, the lion's fur? Isn't that, like, an animal rights violation or something?"
"No." Annabeth gave him a weird look.
"It is a spoil of war," she told me. "It is rightly thine." "You killed it," I said. She shook her head, almost smiling. "I think thy ice-cream sandwich did that.
"That's not a sentence you hear every day." Gwen chuckled.
"Death by ice cream sandwich." Dakota snorted in amusement. Artemis smiled. It seemed that Percy had won some respect in Zoe's eyes. That was a very difficult thing to do. Although that stunt was not something a typical hero would do. It made Percy stand out as different to most heroes which would endear him to Zoe.
Fair is fair, Percy Jackson. Take the fur." I lifted it up; it was surprisingly light. The fur was smooth and soft. It didn't feel at all like something that could stop a blade. As I watched, the pelt shifted and changed into a coat—a full-length golden-brown duster. "Not exactly my style," I murmured.
"Definitely preferred the Golden Fleece." Percy muttered.
"We have to get out of here," Grover said. "The security guards won't stay confused for long." I noticed for the first time how strange it was that the guards hadn't rushed forward to arrest us. They were scrambling in all directions except ours, like they were madly searching for something. A few were running into the walls or each other. "You did that?" I asked Grover. He nodded, looking a little embarrassed. "A minor confusion song. I played some Barry Manilow. It works every time. But it'll only last a few seconds."
"Does it confuse them or just make them want to get away from you?" Thalia asked in a teasing voice.
"You're so mean." Grover stuck his tongue out.
"That was well done." Chiron told Grover proudly.
"The security guards are not our biggest worry," Zoe said. "Look." Through the glass walls of the museum, I could see a group of men walking across the lawn. Gray men in gray camouflage outfits. They were too far away for us to see their eyes, but I could feel their gaze aimed straight at me. "Go," I said. "They'll be hunting me. I'll distract them."
"No!" Poseidon and Triton said immediately. "There is no way you would be able to escape them."
"Nor will the rest of the group if he goes with them. It's safer if he heads off to distract them while the others complete the quest." Zeus pointed out. He did not want his daughter put in danger because of the sea brat.
"They are only after Percy because he prevented them from getting the scent of the Hunters." Poseidon scowled at his brother. "He is part of that quest now."
"No," Zoe said. "We go together." I stared at her. "But you said—" "You are part of this quest now," Zoe said grudgingly. "I do not like it, but there is no changing fate. You are the fifth quest member. And we are not leaving anyone behind."
Artemis smiled proudly at Zoe's words.
"That's the end of the chapter." Will told the room. "That was pretty short."
"A lot of them have been quite short recently." Nico noticed. That meant they were getting through this book quite quickly which he was not ready for.
"My turn then." Hazel said quietly. Will gave her the book and she began reading.