After Percy sent the 'care package' the quartet left the place quickly. They walked for a while longer until it got too dark and they decided to camp for the night. Fortunately, Harry brought some tents with him and had learned how to pitch them. Being with the Hunters, he had to know how to set up camp.

Percy and Grover volunteered to take first watch for the night, so Annabeth and Harry turned in. That very night, Harry had a strange dream. He was standing in a throne room, but it was definitely not the Underworld. It was mostly dim, and the only source of light were a series of lit torches on either side of the room. In front of him were two figures, the first was a tall woman in black robes, standing in front of her throne. The woman sported dark shoulder-length hair and had black eyes. Next to her was a house elf, who looked pretty bedraggled.

Harry bowed, "Lady Hecate… I am honoured that you have visited me. Is it time for more of our lessons?"

She shook her head, "Nay, son of the Moon, I have taught you all that I could. However, this little fellow here with me has a message for you."

Harry approached and crouched in front of the elf, "Hello young house elf, what did you want to speak to me about?"

The elf nodded excitedly, "Harry Potter! So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir! Such an honour it is. Dobby has come to tell you, sir… It is difficult. Dobby doesn't know where to begin. Dobby's initially be thinking of warning the Great Harry Potter to not return to Hogwarts because of great danger. However, as Dobby came to warn you, Mistress Magic appeared before Dobby. She's be telling Dobby about the Great Harry Potter's true heritage as the son of the Moon goddess. That is when Dobby's deciding to change his approach. Harry Potter must protect Hogwarts and her students. Great danger lies ahead."

Harry asked, "What kind of danger is it, Dobby?"

Dobby shook his bat-like ears, "Dobby's not be knowing, sir. But there is a plot. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts. Dobby has known of the plot for months, but not know the details."

Harry was about to ask if he knew who was behind the plot. However, Lady Hecate interrupted, "Dobby's master is the one behind it, but the house elf is forbidden from revealing his master's identity. Just know that this will be a difficult quest. Also, for the record, I am aware of this 'Trace' on your wand that detects magic use in non-magical areas. However, I am allowing you to use your magic and I am removing the Trace. I do control the Mist after all and the mortals will be none-the-wiser. My only warning is that you should not abuse this boon."

Harry bowed, "Thank you, my lady. Also, thank you for the warning, Dobby. Rest assured, I will handle the threat."

Hecate nodded, "Very well… Now young hero, it is time to wake. I shall see you soon. Also, young Dobby had intercepted your letters in his misguided bid to keep you away from Hogwarts. You will find them in your backpack."

The next thing Harry knew, Percy was shaking him awake. He spoke, "Hey dude, it's yours and Annabeth's turn to keep watch."

Harry got up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "Alright Jackson, go get some shut-eye. Beth and I will keep watch."

Close to dawn, Harry and Annabeth sat outside the tents, keeping watch. He was just going through the letters when she broke the silence, "Hey Harry, I guess it sort of slipped my mind in all this madness, but I forgot to ask, how was magic school?"

He perked up, "It was great! Remember I told you about Ron and Hermione? Ron and I hit it off pretty well, though Hermione was a bit uptight. I'm glad I wrote to you for advice on how to befriend her."

She smiled at him, "You're one of my best friends, Harry. Of course I'd help you. I'm sure Percy and Grover would love to meet them as well. They weren't here during Christmas because Grover was busy watching out for Percy"

"Yeah, speaking of which, Ron's invited me to his house later on. Of course, we'll finish this quest and hopefully not die. Do you, Grover and Jackson want to tag along?"

"Absolutely!"

Harry continued, "Anyway, during the school year, headmaster Dumbledore and I were pretty much working together. He suspected that the Dark Lord who was after me was not destroyed. So, he used a trinket called the Philosopher's Stone as bait. The first line of defence was a magically locked door housing one of Cerberus' children. The dog was guarding a trapdoor to the next room. That room was full of vines from a plant called Devil's Snare. The next room had a bunch of flying keys and one of them would open the door to the next room. Apparently, the Dark Lord played it smart and took the key with him. But I was able to pick the lock. The next room had a room-size chessboard with life-size pieces. After that, there was supposed to be a troll in the next room."

She tilted her head curiously, "Supposed to be?"

"A cyclops snuck in and killed the troll. Damn nearly fooled everyone with its mimicry skills. In the end, I managed to kill it and we entered the penultimate room. This room had a table with a bunch of potion vials and a logic puzzle. When we entered, the whole room was surrounded by fire, and one would let us pass through the flames. The other would bring us back to the previous room. There was only enough potion left for me, so I entered and confronted our Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, who was hosting the Dark Lord's spirit. Eventually, we had a fierce fight and I managed to kill him."

She was struck dumb, "Wow! That sounds like a really cool adventure."

He looked up at the sky, "Hey, why don't you wake those two. I'll ask Hedwig to scout ahead and see how we can get out of here."

She nodded and disappeared into the tents, while he hooted. On cue, Hedwig came fluttering down and perched on his arm. He hooted and barked at her, "Hey Hedwig, can you do me a favour? Could you find the closest public transport area."

She hooted back, "Yes Harry, I'll be right back."

After she flew off, he got started on making breakfast. When Annabeth returned with the other two, he had already begun plating some scrambled eggs and toast. Once again, this was a skill that he had learned with the Hunters, as everyone used to take turns cooking.

Just as they finished, Hedwig's familiar snowy white form fluttered down and perched on his shoulder. She gently hooted in his ear, "There is an Amtrak station around half a mile to the west. I read the signs and the next train leaves in two hours, only as far as St. Louis. The last train to Los Angeles left a hour ago and there won't be another until tomorrow."

Grover overheard the conversation and bleated, "We can't afford to wait until tomorrow. We'll freshen up and then get going."

Percy was puzzled, "Go where?"

Harry replied, "While Annabeth was waking you two up, I sent Hedwig to scout ahead. According to her, there's an Amtrak station about half a mile west of here. The next train towards the west leaves in two hours, but it goes only as far as Denver. We missed the direct train to Los Angeles by an hour and there won't be another until tomorrow. Oh and before you ask, I can talk to animals, it's a child of Artemis thing."

Soon, they were on the train, west-bound towards Denver. As he sat, he read through Ron's letter again. The redhead wrote,

"Hey Harry,

It's Ron here. I don't know why you haven't been replying to my last couple of letters. Anyway, I was hoping that sometime in August you could come over to The Burrow. I've already sent a letter to Hermione and invited Neville. By the way, a word of warning, my little sister Ginny is obsessed with The Boy Who Lived. I know you hate that moniker and hate fangirls. Especially after that Seventh Year tried to potion you. Just prepare for Ginny to be really awkward around you for a bit. I was also kind of hoping you would maybe talk to her and get her out of that phase. I'll see you soon, mate."

Harry quickly penned his reply, explaining that a house elf had blocked his mail. He also explained that he was on a quest, so replies would be less frequent, however, he did promise to visit the Burrow. When the train slowed a bit, he quickly sent Hedwig with the letter. The others were asleep and he was the only one keeping watch. On a couple of occasions, Grover's fake feet nearly fell off, but Harry quickly solved it with a Sticking Charm.

He was then startled by Percy mumbling in his sleep, "I won't help you! I won't!"

Harry reached over and shook him awake, "You alright, mate? You were talking in your sleep."

He looked at Harry, bleary-eyed, before blinking his sleep away. Percy grumped, "Great… Anything else I do in my sleep? First, Annabeth points out that I drool and now you say that I talk."

Harry shrugged, "Could be worse, my friend Ron snores and we usually have to put up Silencing Charms around his bed to block out the noise. Anyway, you were saying something about not helping someone. What were you talking about."

Hesitantly, Percy revealed that there was some evil voice coming from a deep, dark pit. In the middle of the story, Annabeth and Grover also woke up. She mused, "That doesn't sound like Hades. He is usually seen sitting on a black throne and never laughs."

"He offered my mom in trade. But I don't understand why."

Harry adopted a thinking pose, "Doesn't make sense. Why is he asking you for the lightning bolt if he supposedly has it. Maybe another god is involved and Lord Hades wants to find it as well, so that he can get back in the good graces of his brothers?"

Annabeth pleaded, "Look, you can't barter with Hades. Even if his Kindly Ones were holding back-"

"Holding back? You've met them before?"

She instinctively fingered her necklace, "Once… But my point is, you can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom. If it was my dad, I'd leave him there to rot."

Percy was beginning to look angry, when Harry jumped in. He got in between them and said, "Look Beth… I understand that your home life wasn't the best. But not all demigods had wretched childhoods. Out of the three of us, Jackson is the luckiest, because his mum was understanding. I never knew my own mortal parents so I really can't side with either of you."

Afterwards, everyone was silent for the rest of the trip. Finally on the second day, the train pulled into St. Louis. Annabeth gazed longingly at the Gateway Arch and sighed, "I want to do that one day."

Percy glanced at her with an questioning expression, "Do what?"

She replied, "Build something like the Arch. I want to build something for the Gods. Something that will last for centuries."

He was struck dumb, "Wow! I didn't know you wanted to be an architect."

She flushed slightly, "Yeah, I do. My mother expects her children to create things, not destroy them like a certain God of earthquakes."

Harry smacked her shoulder, "Oi! Since when were you diagnosed with Foot-in-Mouth Syndrome"

She got the message and blushed in shame she said, "Sorry… That was mean and you didn't deserve that."

Percy pleaded, "Can't we work together somehow? I'm sure Athena and Poseidon cooperated on a few occasions."

Grover helpfully quipped, "There's the chariot. It was Athena's invention, but Poseidon created the horses to pull it."

Finally, the train ground to a halt at the station. Annabeth got up, "Come on, let's go sightseeing. This may be my last chance to ride to the top of the Arch."

On the way to the Arch, the daughter of Athena kept rambling away and spouting facts. Meanwhile, Grover and Percy were snacking on jelly beans, with the latter mostly eating blue ones. Suddenly, the boy stopped in his tracks, everyone else also paused. He stammered, "Guys, I had a thought about our friend downstairs-"

"Hold that thought", Harry stopped him and stealthily took out his wand. He quietly cast a Notice-Me-Not charm, "Okay, you can speak freely now."

Percy nodded gratefully, "As I was saying, Hades has a symbol of power right? His Helm of Darkness? How do we know that he isn't invisible right now, and watching us?"

The others thought about it, then Harry spoke, "We don't know that, mate. We'll just have to risk it."

Finally, they reached the Arch with half an hour left until closing time. As they waited for the elevator, Harry and Percy looked around them. Along with them was an obese lady and her Chihuahua. There was also two families, one of them was a family of four, who were just entering the elevator. The second family had three members consisting of the parents and a girl with black ratty-looking hair. The girl looked like she was his age.

Harry also couldn't help noticing that she looked a little familiar, but couldn't quite place her name. It also didn't help that her face was mostly turned away from him. Finally, the four of them and the dog lady entered the elevator when it was their turn, and it was a slight squeeze. The woman had beady eyes and was dressed in a floppy denim hat and a denim dress. She politely asked, "Hello children, where are your parents?"

Harry took the lead and stuck with the story they told Medusa, "We're actually part of a school trip. Unfortunately, I left something behind on top and my friends here decided to accompany me."

Strangely enough, the chihuahua growled menacingly. They lady chided her pet, "Now Sonny, behave!"

Finally, they reached the top and they all stepped out onto the observation deck. An excited Annabeth scampered out and began looking around. Then, she dragged the three of them and began yammering about the Arch. Harry once again noticed the family with the familiar-looking girl and quietly slipped away to observe them.

Then the girl turned around and recognised him, "Potter? What are you doing here?"

It took him a second to recognise her, "Wait… Parkinson? What are you doing here? Vacation?"

She replied back cordially, "Yes, it's a vacation, and I believe I asked first."

He shrugged noncommittally, "I'm on vacation too, and I'm here with some friends. Annabeth over there is a big lover of architecture."

Then Pansy Parkinson's parents noticed him and her father said, "Hello, Harry Potter, is it? We've heard a fair bit about you."

He smoothly replied back, "Greetings Lord Parkinson. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"We'll leave you two to catch up.", her mother also spoke up and the couple moved away. As they looked out at the horizon, she said, "So Potter, I'm surprised that you're talking to me. I figured that you hated all Slytherins on principle."

He snorted, "The only person who I have any beef with, is Draco Malfoy. Even still, he is merely an annoyance and I am good at ignoring him. Neither you, nor the rest of your year mates have been overly antagonistic. So I have nothing against you lot."

She blinked, "Fair enough. However, you do realise that when we are back in school, I cannot afford to have much interaction with you. Malfoy has a lot of power within Slytherin, especially since his father is in the Board of Governors."

Her face soured, "One thing you need to know about us Purebloods is that when we start Hogwarts, we are expected to make alliances. My family had close ties with the Malfoys, so I tried to get close to him. Unfortunately for me, Snyde and Murk got to him first. The prat even had the audacity to insult me when I approached him to hopefully start an alliance. Father was furious at his disrespect and cut all ties with the Malfoy family. Since then, we have been allied to the Greengrass family. Daphne has a fair bit of political sway in the House."

Harry nodded along, "Right, right… Greengrass and Vole have been teaching me about my future lordship duties as well. I wasn't exactly raised in the wizarding world."

Just then, a park ranger announced that they were closing soon. The first family filed into the elevator, along with Annabeth and Grover. They were about to get out when Percy convinced them to go on ahead. He and Harry would catch up with them. The only people left on the deck were the Parkinsons, Harry, Percy and the lady with her chihuahua.

The woman smiled at them, offering a glimpse of a forked tongue. Then, the chihuahua began to act up a little, jumping up and down, yapping away. His owner scolded once again, "Now, now sonny. Does this look like a good time? In front of all these people?"

The dog bared its black lips in a snarl and she sighed, "Oh well son, if you insist."

Percy blurted, "Umm… did you call that chihuahua your son?"

She gently corrected, "Chimera dear, not chihuahua, it's an easy mistake to make."

With that, she rolled back her sleeve to reveal green scaly arms. She smiled again and this time, everyone could see that her teeth were like fangs and her eyes were transformed to look like slits of a reptile. Meanwhile, the dog continued barking, but with each bark, transformed into a hideous creature.

The Parkinson parents yelled in shock and reached for their pockets. However, their hands came up empty and Mr. Parkinson cursed, "Merlin's beard! I forgot that we left them down with security!"

The now-named Chimera finished its transformation. The end result was a large creature with a lion's head, body and hooves of a goat, and a serpent's tail. Harry immediately went to shield the Parkinson trio. A terrified Pansy stuttered, "P-P-P-Potter? W-What in Merlin's name is that!"

The snake lady hissed with laughter, "Be honoured Percy Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood. Your friend and the others need not die. As for who I am, I am the Mother of Monsters! I am the terrible Echidna."

Harry slowly removed his rings and turned them into their bow and arrow form. Meanwhile, Percy looked at her in confusion, "Isn't that some kind of anteater?"

Harry fought down a snicker, but Echidna had a different reaction. She raged, "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 and everyone here!"

The Chimera charged, but the two demigods dodged. Percy uncapped his sword and brandished it threateningly. Harry once again positioned himself in front of Pansy and her parents. He spoke, "Stay behind me… My friend and I can handle it. I promise you that we will get out of this alive and I will explain everything."

The monster opened its mouth and everyone got a strong whiff of smoke. Harry's eyes widened, "Get down!".

Percy dived away, while Harry tackled Pansy and her parents to the ground, as a sheet of flame blasted above them. The creature then burned a massive hole through the wall. Recovering, the son of Poseidon swung his sword, but it clanged against the Chimera's collar. Then, the tail serpent sprang out and sank its fangs into his calf. Almost immediately, Harry fired an arrow and killed the snake.

Percy then positioned himself in front of the gaping hole, limping as he did. Echidna taunted, "I guess they don't make heroes like they used to."

Percy then caught Harry's eye and they came to an understanding. The demigod keeled over backwards, falling out of the hole and down into the Mississippi river. Harry fired more arrows, this time he managed to kill it with three arrows through the heart and it dissolved into dust. Then he brought out his daggers and turned to attack Echidna. However, the Mother of Monsters swatted aside his first attack and grabbed Pansy by the neck. She snarled, "Back off, hero! Or your friend will be on my menu."

Suddenly, he gave a piercing whistle and in the next moment, a small feathery white blur shot in and began clawing at her face. With a screech, she let go of Pansy, who Harry promptly pulled away from the monster. He straddled the distracted monster's back as she tried to bat Hedwig and shake him off. Then he plunged both daggers into her neck. With a scream, she too dissolved into dust.

After a few moments, a visibly bleeding Harry ushered the shellshocked Parkinson family to the elevator and they rode down in silence. Then, Pansy hugged him and stammered, "Th-thank you Potter. You saved my life from whatever that thing was. I owe you a lot."

He tried to brush it off, "It was nothing Pansy, can I call you Pansy?"

Her father interrupted, "It wasn't nothing, Mr. Potter. We are grateful that you have risked your life to protect us. My daughter now owes you a Life Debt."

With this being the first he ever heard of it, he asked, "Lord Parkinson, what does that entail?"

The man replied, "It is a magical bond created between the saviour and the person they saved. As such, my daughter may feel a compulsion to repay you by doing something that may benefit you in the future."

He tried to protest, "But sir, I was just doing what I thought was right."

Her father smiled, "Nevertheless, there is no way of breaking such a magical bond without harming either party."

Harry paused and said, "Thank you Lord Parkinson. I acknowledge the Life Debt and I shall call on her to honour it someday. Anyway, I promised that I would explain, but I need something from all of you. I need you to promise to never reveal to anyone what I am about to tell you. The wizarding world at large is not ready to learn of this, Honestly speaking, I was more than happy to not reveal this to anyone, but the situation forced my hand."

The three Parkinsons finally collected their wands and Mrs Parkinson quickly healed him before anyone could notice. Then, they all took a Magical Oath to never reveal the information about Harry's origins. Soon, they said their goodbyes and Mr Parkinson promised to run interference with the media.

After they left, a frantic Annabeth and Grover rushed up. Grover bleated, "What happened! Where's Percy! We heard an explosion earlier."

Harry led them away, "Turns out, the lady and her chihuahua were actually Echidna and her son, the Chimera. Jackson got bitten by the snake head during the attack. After the Chimera blew a hole, Jackson jumped out of the hole and down into the river."

The girl looked worried, "He will be okay, right? I mean a fall like that…"

Harry wrapped an arm around her, "I'm sure he'll be okay. He is a son of Poseidon after all. To the water will protect him. Let's go and try to find him."

After half an hour, they finally saw him wading out of the river, and completely bone dry. Grover bro-hugged him and bleated, "You scared me, man! I'm just glad that you're okay."

Percy turned to Harry, "What happened to your friend's family?"

Harry smiled, "The Parkinsons are okay. Mr. Parkinson has already promised to run interference and get some heat off our backs. Let's get out of here, mate."

The son of Poseidon interrupted, "Santa Monica! We need to go there! I met someone under the water. She said that she was a messenger from my dad. According to her, it was my dad's will and we must go to Santa Monica before he go to the Underworld."

Somehow, they managed to get back to the Amtrak station and hitch a ride to Denver.