AN: To address some recent reviews about Percy being too canon/how powerful he'll be, I know it's very canon so far but by the end of the lightning thief when Nyx claims him (in the next few chapters probably) he will be much more powerful. Instead of immediately having Percy be OP right off the bat I tried to do something a wee bit different just to try and be interesting. Over the course of PJO (and hopefully HOO) Percy will be more powerful and I'll try make it less canon.

Chapter 7 Convos & 'coasters

Annabeth POV

To say Grover and I were a little tense on the train ride from St Louis to Denver would be pretty accurate. It felt wrong continuing the journey without one of our members -especially as we had no idea where he was or what state he was in- we just had to trust the mysterious note that we'd be reunited with him in Colorado. I felt stupid for not getting out the elevator at the arch and waiting with Percy, first rule of questing; never split up. I continued to mentally beat myself up all the way through Missouri and into Kansas. If I never wanted us to go to the arch, Percy would still be here. My confidence in the quest had dropped rapidly since losing Percy, despite being camp's newest arrival he'd proven himself as a very capable demigod, he was more knowledgeable than your average newbie, as skilled with a sword as any other camper and had already killed two of the most iconic monsters in greek mythology.

Grover had spent most of the journey nervously chewing on pretty much anything he could, his hoodie strings and the train's informational brochure were his first victims. Neither of us were saying much, preferring to sit in a depressed silence. I had my book on architecture sitting on my lap but I hadn't opened it, instead I was just stuck in my head thinking. Normally I wouldn't mind that but these weren't exactly cheerful or philosophical thoughts, they were mostly revolving around how we'd complete the quest -as we still didn't have a plan to actually get the bolt (if Hades even has it)-, Percy's whereabouts and condition as a chimera bite is always serious, whoever saved Percy and why or feeling guilty about taking us to the arch.

After night fell Grover drifted off to sleep muttering and bleating occasionally quietly under his breath which thankfully none of the other passengers seemed to notice. I remained awake looking out the window as Kansas blurred past us. Despite it still being early in the night the darkness was thick meaning that I couldn't see much other than the reflection of Grover and the other dozing passengers. Although the sky was clear the moon and stars seemed abnormally dim, barely emitting (technically reflecting in the moon's case) any light. I continued absentmindedly gazing out the window going round and round with my thoughts until my eyelids grew heavy and I drifted into Morpheus's realm.

Percy POV

I woke up from a strangely dreamless sleep in the same bed that the mysterious woman had sent me to sleep in. The pain in my leg was nearly nonexistent with nothing more than a slight ache coming from the two red spots where the snake's fangs had pierced my calf. I was surprised to find that my lower half had been stripped down to my boxers but I suppose the woman couldn't have healed me with my jeans still on. I swung myself out of the bed, as comfortable as it was I wanted to get back to Annabeth and Grover as soon as I could. By the edge of the bed were my converse and a new pair of black jeans with riptide sitting on top of them, I put them on and was vaguely surprised that the jeans fit, but then again with everything this woman could do knowing my pants size was the most normal. I stuffed riptide in my back pocket and left the room to try and find the strange woman (and hopefully some answers).

The bedroom door led me into a large hallway, like the other rooms the walls were black with with a high ceiling. I could see several dark doors and every few feet unlit silver candelabras were mounted on the walls. The hallway had dark floorboards with a long narrow silver rug running the length of the room. I tried the first door from the bedroom but I was unable to open it even though I couldn't see a keyhole for it to be locked. After trying another couple doors leading to the same result I got the feeling that the woman didn't want me snooping around her house, Fair enough I suppose.

I chose a direction that felt right and wandered down the hallway. I found myself at the top of a large curved staircase in what seemed to be a massive entrance hall. Giant two story windows lined a massive front door, despite the size of the windows I couldn't make out what was outside. The ceiling in the hall was three, maybe four stories tall with a large extremely ornate chandelier hanging from the ceiling, it was pure silver with gemstones somehow sparkling in the nonexistent light. Why are none of the lights in this place on? I thought realizing that every room contained light sources yet I'd never see any of them lit. I walked down the staircase to the ground floor, continuing to take in the room around me. I hoped that I might find something that would help me identify the woman or why she was so interested in me.

On the ground floor there were various detailed busts and statues of different beings, some looked like fairly hideous monsters while others looked like normal people. I recognized one as the winged guy who I'd been sword fighting in my dream back at camp although instead of a sword he had a scythe resting against his shoulder. From the pattern of the layout of the statues I assumed there was one near the bottom of the staircase but it was covered in a dark sheet which looked like it was made of pure shadows, apart from the fact that I should be able to see through it if it were. Curious as to why only one statue was covered I instinctively grabbed the sheet, finding it was made of a solid material but I couldn't move it off the statue. I moved on from the statue and went through the only open door in the entrance hall.

I entered into the living room that I had spoken with the woman in after being attacked by the hellhound. There was a large silver mirror over the fireplace, two and a half leather couches arranged around a black glass coffee table and two large silver spears were mounted on the wall in an X shape. This woman really likes black and silver, I thought, Not that I'm judging, they're also my favorite colors. The aforementioned woman was lying back on the couch that only had an arm and back on half of it. She was wearing a midnight blue top that left one pale shoulder exposed, black jeans and black boots. If it weren't for her black eyes with a silver ring in them she would've looked like your average trendy mortal model. She had her black hair pulled up in a high ponytail.

"You're awake!" She said as she noticed me walk into the room. "It's good to see you in person again, dreams just aren't the same." She smiled at me.

"Again?" I asked, I didn't remember ever meeting her in person.

"Well, if you count the couple minutes before I put you to sleep," the woman said, I had a little nagging feeling that that wasn't what she originally meant. She gestured to the free couches. "Sit please, it's almost time for you to return to your quest."

I did as she asked, I made a mental note to pay as much attention to the woman and what she said as I could in hopes that I could notice something that would help me or Annabeth identify her. I was going to have to tell Annabeth about the woman now so every detail I could pick up on would be beneficial in figuring out who this woman was and why she was so interested in me.

"I'm glad to see you found your way down to me ok," she said with a slightly raised eyebrow and the hint of a smirk. I got the feeling that she knew I'd tried snooping around but she didn't seem annoyed, almost like she expected it. "How are you feeling?" the woman asked me with concern.

"Considering I was bitten by the chimera and jumped off the St Louis arch, brilliant." I replied.

"I'm glad to hear that," the woman said. "I'll send you back to your friends soon, you'll meet them in Denver, but we have a little time before then." I was glad to hear that Annabeth and Grover had continued the quest, gods know what they must be thinking right now, probably that I'm dead. "You're nearing the end of your quest," she told me, I was interested in how she knew that. "Keep the prophecy -especially the first line- in mind," she warned me cryptically.

"Go to the west coast and face the god who has turned," I recited having gone over the oracle's words dozens of times over the course of the quest. The woman nodded but said nothing more about it.

"As I promised before, once the quest is over all your questions will be answered," she promised me. And remember who you really are in the end, I mentally recited the prophecies last line.

"If the quest is nearly over does it matter that much if you answer them now?" I pleaded with the woman, I was absolutely desperate to make some sense of my confusing life.

"Yes it matters," the woman said to my annoyance. "And why, well you'll just have to wait to find out," she said teasingly. "How about this," she said, seeming able to tell how frustrated I was, "For the next few minutes you can ask me questions, I'll answer those I can for the moment but I'll warn you, all the questions you desperately want answered will have to wait."

"Alright," I said figuring this was the best I was going to get, something about the woman seemed non-negotiable -like a parent- if she didn't want to budge then I wouldn't be able to change her mind. "Who are you?" The woman just shook her head. Alright, I could've guessed that wouldn't be answered. "Why are you so interested in me?" The woman said nothing, "Does Hades really have the bolt?" Again no answer. Fuck, she really wasn't kidding when she said she won't answer questions I actually want to know the answer to. "Fine," I said changing up my strategy, if she won't answer my big questions I'll see what info I can get from small ones. "Why are there so many lights here but they're never lit?" The woman smiled, seeming slightly surprised at the change in direction of my questions.

"They're unnecessary but I like the way they look," the woman finally answered simply.

"How are lights unnecessary?"

"You can see, I can see, why are they necessary?" she countered.

"Speaking of, why can I see in the dark?" I asked.

"Your heritage, it's one of your many powers," she told me.

"What are my others?" I asked, night vision and possibly the ability to kill spirits were the only demigod abilities I'd noticed. All the other kids at camp seemed to have obvious skills or abilities but mine seemed limited.

"You'll find out in time, although you've already used more than you think," the woman told me, I was surprised as I would've thought I'd have noticed other powers. "But I will say that you'll grow in power, a lot. There's never been a demigod like you before. For now you'll probably only be able to discover new ones out of instinct, such as life or death situations but after the quest it'll be easier to understand." Ok, so not the answer I wanted but maybe it's something.

"Why do I seem to have two sets of memories?" I asked. There was my life, with my mom in New York and going to school which was all fuzzy then there were clear snippets of another life that I lived in my dreams, sword fighting, studying greece, being in this mansion none of which made sense but everyone called me Percy and it all felt real.

"Soon you'll know everything," the woman said as I seemed to be getting too deep with my questions again, I sighed. "You have time for one more question before you have to return." I thought about what to ask, it wasn't just what I wanted answered but what the woman might actually tell me.

"Where am I?" I asked, I knew it was a risky question as she might not tell me but I thought I might get some useful information out of it if she did. The woman paused, probably debating on whether or not to tell me.

"My home," she finally said. "A long way from St Louis."

Finally! I thought, while it wasn't a definitive location I knew for sure that I was in her home, and if my dreams were to be trusted then I'd been here before, multiple times, but I still didn't know why.

"I need to get you back to your friends," she told me. "Be careful, we'll speak again soon." A cold chill spread through my body as the woman and room around us faded away and was replaced by a blindingly bright light and a vile smell.

I was standing in a bathroom stall, which was a big shift from where I previously was. I unlocked the door and walked out of the bathroom into a loud diner. Families were talking loudly between bites of burgers and sips of shakes or sodas. I spotted Annabeth and Grover sitting in a booth by the windows. Annabeth had a burger and fries while Grover -as a vegetarian- only had fries but kept looking at the menu, probably not to order anything else more likely he wanted to eat it.

"You guys order me anything?" I asked, announcing my presence to the pair of them causing them both to jump.

"Percy!" they both shouted causing the other diners to look at us. Both of them had slid out of the booth and wrapped me in a group hug before we all let go.

"What the Hades happened?!" Annabeth said punching me in the shoulder. "You blew up the St Louis arch, proceed to jump off it, disappear and then we found out you were bitten by the chimera!" Annabeth said more quietly as announcing to the whole diner that I blew up a national monument probably wouldn't be a good idea.

"I need some food," I said looking at the burger on the table. "There's a lot to explain."

Five minutes later I was sitting next to Grover with a double cheese burger and large fries sitting in front of me as I explained what happened at the arch, how the fat woman and her chihuahua turned into the chimera and the woman telling me to jump.

"So you jumped six hundred feet because a disembodied voice told you to?" Grover asked like I was insane, which to be fair it did probably sound that way.

"Yeah, but let me explain, there's a lot more," I told him. I explained my previous dream interactions with the woman, from after the minotaur and hellhound fights, when I was fighting the winged dude and her telling me that I was able to kill Mormo. I also explained how my memories had been a mess -something they'd both noticed slightly when asking me details. Annabeth seemed a little hurt that I hadn't told her about the woman but I explained that I wanted to try and figure out who she was myself which Annabeth seemed to respect, plus I could tell her curiosity about the woman was through the roof. She kept asking me questions, from how the woman sounded to exactly what she said to what she wore every little detail, none of which seemed to help her identify the woman.

"So you trust this woman?" Annabeth asked me, "I mean you must do to jump from the arch."

"Yeah I guess I do," I said, "Jumping from the arch was mostly a last resort to be honest though, I didn't really have a better option. The woman hasn't done anything to harm me, only to help but I don't know why."

"And she hasn't asked you to do anything for her?" Annabeth asked suspiciously, I shook my head. "I don't like it." She told me, "Gods never just do anything without wanting something in return, I feel like eventually she'll ask you to do something. Unless…" She trailed off obviously thinking.

"Unless what?"

"Back in the ancient days some gods would 'sponsor' mortals or demigods and become their patron, helping and supporting them often in return for favors, recognition or offerings." Annabeth explained.

"So you think she might be my patron?"

"Possibly, however that wouldn't explain your memories or why she won't tell you who she is." Annabeth sighed, evidently the mystery of this woman was annoying her nearly as much as me.

Had we not been interrupted I might have remembered that I forgot to tell them about the nearly equally mysterious Hem woman -the woman who claimed she was my sister. However, before we could continue our conversation all the noise in the diner was drowned out by the roar of the biggest and most obnoxious looking motorcycle I'd ever seen. It was a giant harley style chopper with a red headlight, flames painted on the fuel tank and shotgun holders on either side (complete with guns).

The guy riding the bike was intimidating, tall and heavily muscled. He didn't wear a helmet showing off an oily black crew cut. He wore a red muscle shirt, black leather trousers and a studded leather jacket, he had a large hunting knife strapped to his thigh. On his heavily scarred face he had a pair of sunglasses and a cruel smile. He looked like the type of guy to have a tattoo of barbed wire around his bicep who drinks too much and starts bar fights. The man walked into the diner causing all the conversation to stop before he dismissively waved his hand and everybody resumed their meals. The strange man continued over to our booth before sliding in next to Annabeth, forcing her to jam herself against the window. I don't know why but this guy pissed me off, like seriously, all of a sudden I wanted to punch a wall. Anger, bitterness and rage flowed through my body, this guy struck me as a major dickhead.

"So you're the grim reaper's kid," he said to me with a wicked grin.

"What's it to you?" I responded. I didn't know who he was or how he knew my parentage but it was obvious he wasn't a regular mortal. Annabeth seemed to pale slightly.

"Percy this is-" she was cut off by the man.

"It's alright, a little attitude is good for you," he said. "So long as you remember who's boss. You sure you don't know who I am kid?"

I studied the guy for a second before I figured it out. This guy had the same vicious sneer as some of the kids at Camp, one's that I'd fought during capture the flag.

"You're Ares, god of war," I told him. "Clarisse's dad." He grinned at me.

"Finally got it eh punk. I heard you broke her spear," he said.

"She was asking for it."

"Probably," he shrugged. "That's cool, I don't fight my kids fights for them, if anything, hopefully she learns from it. The rest of them too, I mean five vs one newbie and you wiped the floor with them."

"Are you just here to congratulate me on beating up your kids?" I asked. Maybe I should have been more respectful to the olympian god of war but like his kids he seemed like a dick and I didn't want to deal with him for longer than I had to. To my surprise Ares just chuckled a little.

"You got balls punk," he told me. "Not many people would talk to me like that. But no, I'm not just here for that, I have a proposition for you." I waited for him to continue. "I was on a little date with a girlfriend nearby and left my shield at an amusement park about a mile away, I need you to go and get it for me."

"Why don't you get it yourself?" I didn't want to be doing this guy any favors.

"Why don't I use your blood to paint the rims of my Harley red?" He asked leaning forwards over the table. Ok, maybe I'm pushing my luck a bit. "Because I don't feel like it, and if I don't feel like it then I don't do it. These little quests are why we have you demigods, to do our chores for us." I really wanted to punch Ares, just a swift right hook. While it would be immensely satisfying I felt like that's what he wanted, after all I felt like he was the cause of the rage I was feeling.

"We already have a quest," I told him fighting my internal rage.

"Oh I know all about your little quest punk. Dad's bolt going missing," he licked his lips, "Well, that could be the start of the biggest war since the forties, hopefully even bigger." He was talking about a war between the gods like it would be Christmas. "How about this, you go get my shield and I'll get you three transport to LA."

"We'll-" I started denying Ares only to get cut off by Annabeth.

"Make sure we get your shield, Lord Ares," Annabeth said to my annoyance.

"I'm not surprised that you're the smart one," Ares said looking at Annabeth next to him. "I'll meet you back here when you've got my shield. Don't disappoint me." With that Ares disappeared leaving us alone in the diner, the anger I'd been feeling faded instantly now he'd left.

"Well this isn't good," Grover was the first to say anything. "Ares specifically hunted us down for this."

"Why did you say yes to him?" I asked Annabeth, annoyed that she'd accepted the god's sidequest.

"I hate Ares as much as anybody but you don't say no to gods, especially an olympian and especially Ares," Annabeth told me. "If you ignore gods you get some serious bad fortune, he wasn't joking about the rim paint." I figured she had a point, after all while I knew of the gods she had a much better idea of their personalities.

"Why does he need us?" I asked her. "Surely an olympian can fetch his own shield, especially if it matters to him this much."

"Who knows, you'll be asking why the gods do half the things they do for the rest of your life, welcome to being a demigod," she told me. "Maybe it's a problem that requires brains, Ares has strength but that's about it."

"Well, let's go get this stupid shield then," I sighed.

A short walk later we were standing in front of an old amusement park, gods know how long the place had been deserted but the chain around the large front gates was heavily rusted. We could see various rollercoasters and attractions that wouldn't pass a safety inspection in a million years. Trash and old flyers drifted around the tarmac in the breeze. Overall it didn't seem like a place of family fun (or godly dates) it would've looked more at home in a horror film.

"How're we supposed to get in?" Grover asked as we looked at the chained ten foot tall gates, barbed wire ran the length of the perimeter fence meaning we wouldn't be able to climb our way in. I uncapped riptide and brought it down with all my strength on the chain, splitting it and sending it clattering to the floor.

"That works," Grover muttered as I pushed the gates open with a loud creak, glad that there was no one around to witness my B . I kept riptide as a sword as we entered the theme park, I didn't trust there not to be something that wanted a fight in here.

"How're we supposed to find a shield in an entire amusement park?" I asked frustrated as we passed an old run down donut shack.

"I guess we look for something that seems like Ares's type of ride?" Annabeth guessed.

"And what type of amusement park rides does the ancient greek god of war like? I doubt they have Spartan soldier simulator, Attica attack or the Locris log flume." I muttered sarcastically as we walked past the 'Extreme scream' ride which looked like it was missing half its seats.

"Shut up and keep your eyes open."

We found our way into the center of the park standing next to a large -maybe twenty foot long- bronze statue of a dragon which was part of the 'Dragon's Den' attraction. In front of us was a giant red roller coaster that must've been twice the height and length of any other ride in the park. It had to be about three hundred feet at its highest before it dived nearly vertically down into three loop-the-loops, at the very peak there was a cart stuck at the top. In front of us was a sign that said 'Godspeed, the fastest coaster in CO'. Not at all suspiciously it seemed to be the only thing in the entire park that had power.

"Ten bucks this is it," I said looking at the ride.

"Definitely," Grover agreed.

"I don't like this," Annabeth commented.

"I haven't liked anything since Ares showed up," I said. "But hey, at least there's no line." We walked up to where there was a cart waiting.

"Someone will have to stay down here to man the controls," Annabeth told us, studying the control panel.

"You two stay down here," I told them, "I've got Luke's flying shoes in case anything goes wrong."

"Oh no you don't," Annabeth immediately shut down my idea. "Last time we left you alone atop a high attraction you nearly died before you jumped off it at the suggestion of a random voice and disappeared for a day."

"You two go, I'll hit the button," Grover selflessly volunteered (the satyr preferred to keep his hooves on the ground).

"Alright," Annabeth agreed and began to show him how to control the ride. Whilst they were doing that I put on Luke's shoes just in case something went wrong. Soon Annabeth and I were sitting in the front of the ride and Grover pressed the button sparking life into the rundown ride.

"Annabeth?" I asked as we slowly began climbing, "If the shield is on that cart and we're on this one, how do we get the shield?" I didn't fancy trying to jump from one cart to another a few hundred feet in the air, even with Hermes's magic shoes.

"Easy," Annabeth said obviously having already formulated a plan. "We just ram into the cart, with the help of gravity and the ride's power the drop should bring both carts all the way down or at least to a safer point to try and get across." I love questing with a daughter of Athena sometimes, I thought, Instead of life risking stupid ideas she's got a nice and easy plan, all we've got to do is survive an ancient roller coaster. As if my thought's had cursed our luck the roller coaster let out a large shriek as we shuddered to a halt maybe ten feet from the top.

"Fuck. Now what?" I asked Annabeth.

Before she could reply the ride shuddered back to life and with a few loud creaks we were back underway. There was a small drop, another little climb and then we'd reach the other cart. Thankfully, as we neared the stuck cart we were traveling slowly -I didn't like the idea of a 'godspeed' collision this high in the air.

"Ready?" I asked the daughter of Athena next to me, glancing to my side. Annabeth was holding tightly to the handrail in front of us, she nodded to me. "Here we go then."

We gently tapped into the back of the stuck cart tipping it over the edge of the drop before we crawled up to the edge of the drop. The cart stopped -probably to build suspense- before we started moving there was the loudest series of creaking and clunking yet, only it wasn't coming from our ride. Looking down I saw that the statue of the dragon in the next ride over had begun to move its head.

"Ok that's not good," I said.

"What?" Annabeth asked, I assumed she couldn't see from her seat on the ride.

"That," I answered leaning forwards and pointing to the dragon that had now walked off its pedestal.

"Yeah, I'd say that's definitely not good." She agreed. "This was a trap… Shiiiit!" She yelled as we began to plummet down the ride, I think at the sight of the moving statue we'd both temporarily forgotten that we were still on the roller coaster.

One thing was for sure, they weren't lying when they said it was the fastest ride in Colorado. I had no idea how fast we shot down the ride but I struggled to keep my eyes open in the wind. Just before we got to the bottom I glanced to my side again and unfortunately found out that the ride wasn't the only fast thing in the park. The metal dragon had begun bounding across the central courtyard of the park before ramming through the fence around Godspeed. I wasn't able to keep my eyes on the dragon as we hit the first loop. Annabeth and I were forced into our seats from the G force, we'd barely recovered our wits before we hit the second. There was the skin crawling sound of metal shearing as while we were upside down we saw the dragon tear through the loop we'd just exited.

"Fuck!" Annabeth shouted as we were turned the right way up. I wasn't sure if it was from the ride or the dragon tearing the ride apart but I'd never heard her swear like this before. We hit the third -and thankfully final- loop, when we started going up a voice blared from speakers somewhere in the ride.

"Live to Olympus in one minute… fifty-nine seconds… fifty-eight…"

"A Hephestus trap," Annabeth said before cursing in greek. "He's constantly trying to catch and embarrass Ares and Aphrodite."

The track started going up again which was bad news for us as it slowed our cart down considerably. The dragon was climbing along the track behind us, occasionally losing its footing as the track gave way under its weight. The only remotely good thing was that the dragon's wings seemed purely decorative -it was probably too heavy to fly- but unfortunately it was still faster than the cart.

"We need to do something," I said, at this rate the dragon would be on us before we reached the top of the climb. "You get the shield, I'll distract the dragon." I dug riptide out of my pocket using it to cut myself free from the safety bar. How did Luke say to activate these shoes? I thought to myself. "Maya!" I said, nothing happened. "Maia!" I corrected myself and the wings on the shoes sprung to life. Here goes nothing, I thought standing up on the ride.

"What's your plan?" Annabeth asked me.

"Make it up as I go," I said before kicking my legs and raising into the air. It was a strange feeling floating slightly above the ride but I didn't have time to appreciate it before I started losing altitude, rapidly. With a bit of concentration and equal amounts cursing I managed to regain control of my flight and managed to direct myself towards the dragon.

"Hey! Rust bucket!" I shouted as the dragon and I neared each other.

The dragon opened its mouth and tried to snap at me but I flew over its head. I had planned to land on the dragon's back but I overshot my target slightly and shot past the metal dragon. Thankfully the first (and pretty much only) part of my plan had worked as the dragon stopped crawling along the track leaving Annabeth free to get the shield. Now I had the dragon's attention I now had to figure out how to fight the damn thing. As the dragon tried to turn on the narrow track it missed its footing causing its heavy belly to slam into the track, crumpling it underneath the metal monster. The section of track and the dragon fell to the floor which was good news for me as I'd much rather fight with my feet on the ground.

I followed the dragon to the floor landing much more gently than it had. As the dragon picked itself up I noticed that one of its back legs was bent inwards slightly as a result of the fall. The minor injury didn't seem to slow the dragon down as it charged towards me. I dodged to the side missing the beast's mouth only for it to swipe its tail at me. The tail took me by surprise as it slammed into my stomach sending me flying to the floor. I'm starting to develop a bad habit of forgetting about tails, I thought as I quickly picked myself up. The dragon pounced on me landing a couple feet in front of me and I swung riptide towards the large dragon's neck but depressingly the cut it left was barely more than a large scratch in its thick plating. The dragon swung its head towards me but I kicked my heels and flew ten or so feet in the air over its attack. I plummeted down leaving a cut down one of the dragon's wings. As the dragon wasn't alive it didn't seem to feel any pain from my attacks, which probably meant it would keep fighting until it was completely destroyed.

The dragon and I continued to go back and forth. I struggled to close the distance on the massive metal dragon as each time I tried to get close it would either snap its jaws at me, swipe me with its large claws or swing its long tail at me. Even if I tried to use the flying shoes to get above or behind the statue it was able to follow my movements, once it even knocked me out of the air with its wings. Thankfully the shoes did give me more mobility to evade the dragon's attacks but we were almost locked in a stalemate.

I need to figure out a way to immobilize it, I thought dodging the dragon's claws yet again, Or atleast limit its offensive options.

I backed up, continuing to evade the dragon's attacks until I realized that I only had a few more feet behind me before I would run into the maintenance shack for spare carts. When I entered the shack's shadow something strange happened, I felt something calling to me, wanting me to tell it what to do. I wasn't sure what the feeling was, it was hard to explain, kind of like when you know someone is waiting for you to do something, that sort of expectancy. Before I could figure out what was going on I had to run forwards to evade a leap from the dragon, I swung riptide as I passed it, taking out a slice from it's side. As soon as I'd left the shadow the feeling of expectancy left.

The dragon turned to face me but before it could attack I charged forwards, ducking under a swipe of the dragon's claw I stabbed riptide into the dragon. Only a few inches of my sword managed to piece the dragon's thick metal hide. Now I was back in the building's shadow, the feeling of something wanting me to tell it what to do had returned. I don't know how I knew I was supposed to command something and I don't know how I actually managed to do it but something in my instincts seemed to understand and kick in. With a strange feeling in my gut, almost like I was still on the Godspeed ride the shadows seemed to wrap around the dragon's neck like a lasso and pulled it to the ground. The dragon thrashed against its new restraint but was unable to free itself.

I watched for a moment, slightly confused before seizing my opportunity. While the dragon could still thrash and swipe it's main weapon of its head was immobilized. Taking care to avoid any stray limbs of the dragon I walked up past its head, it tried to take a bite out of my legs but was unable to move its head near enough. I was vaguely aware of reminding myself that it could still try and bite when another shadow tendril materialized and wrapped itself around the dragon's jaw, tying it shut, as if the shadows responded to what I wanted.

Now that the dragon's head was immobilized and its jaw was restrained I felt much more comfortable as I was standing out of range of its tail. I stood next to its head and stabbed riptide down through the top of where its skull would be if it were a real animal. There was a lot of resistance as I pushed riptide down as the sound of metal on metal filled the air. I had really hoped that I could kill this thing like a regular animal but the wound to the head didn't seem to actually do anything to the dragon.

Damn, how'd I kill this thing? Do I have to find its fucking motherboard or something? I'd have thought that whatever controlled the moving statue -wouldn't that be a robot?- was in its head but apparently nooo that would make too much sense. I came to another solution, pulling riptide free I walked to the base of the robot's neck and began swinging riptide down as hard as I could as if it were an ax. About three strikes in I had made a cut about four inches deep. Only about another twenty to go. I continued swinging with all my effort as sweat fell from my forehead and eventually the neck of the monster separated from the body. Exposed wiring sparked from the holes as the dragons body and head finally fell still. I wasn't sure how decapitating it had managed to kill it when a sword through the skull hadn't but as long as it worked I was cool with it.

I let out a large sigh, wiped the sweat from my forehead and looked up to see a shocked looking Annabeth and Grover standing maybe forty feet away with mouths open. Annabeth was holding a shining bronze greek shield in her hands.

"How the Hades did you do that?"

AN: End of chapter 7! Please let me know what you think (the good, the bad & the ugly)!

See you in the next one!