Bonjour, c'est la première chose que j'aurais voulu dire à mes amis en me réveillant de mon sommeil non réparateur, mais à la place j'ai simplement laissé échapper :

"Qu'est-ce que cette boule de poils fait ici ?"

Oui, il y avait une sorte de... caniche rose devant moi, et quand il m'a vu, il a poussé un petit cri.

Grover le regarda et dit : "Ne t'inquiète pas, elle est plus gentille qu'elle n'en a l'air, et oui, je te l'accorde, elle est complètement échevelée."

Grover m'a regardé avec un sourire d'excuse.

"Est-ce que tu viens de parler à cette créature et est-ce qu'elle vient de dire que j'étais échevelé ?"

"Non, non, il a dit que tu avais l'air complètement fou..." Il fit une pause, "Si je te dis qu'il n'a rien dit de tout ça, tu ne seras plus en colère ?"

"Non J'ai dit

"Mais je ne t'ai pas présenté, Kassi dit bonjour à Gladiola."

"Je ne dirais pas bonjour au caniche qui me manque de respect." J'ai argumenté: "Jamais."

"KC" dit Percy plus loin à côté de moi, "J'ai dit bonjour au caniche alors j'ai aussi fait ce sacrifice."

J'ai serré les dents, mais ils m'ont expliqué que le caniche était important pour la quête donc j'ai fini par lui dire bonjour puis nous l'avons ramené chez sa maîtresse qui nous a bien récompensé de l'avoir retrouvé, finalement, nous avons réussi à prendre le train pour Le pays de l'Ouest.

Notre voyage a duré deux jours, traversant des collines, des rivières et des paysages magnifiques, et nous n'avions pas été attaqués depuis l'affaire Méduse.

Mon seul problème était de faire profil bas, car Percy et moi étions dans la ligne de mire des médias. Une nuit, j'ai sorti le téléphone qui était caché dans ma poche depuis plusieurs jours ; l'écran était fissuré, mais sinon il fonctionnait toujours. Vous auriez dû voir les noms des articles sur moi et Percy, fille d'un milliardaire complice d'un jeune criminel ou Kassandra Knight ou jeune fille à l'instabilité apparente. A chaque fois, il y avait ma photo pour illustrer les articles, moi tenant ma lance qui se balançait tantôt comme une batte de baseball et tantôt comme un fusil d'assaut.

Je passais mon temps à arpenter les couloirs du train, essayant d'avoir une conversation aussi normale que possible avec Percy, Annabeth et Grover, ou regardant par la fenêtre.

J'ai vu beaucoup de monstres par la fenêtre, de longues créatures qui ressemblaient à des dragons sans ailes, des bébés potelés dans les champs, en fait j'ai réalisé que les Etats-Unis étaient peuplés de monstres mais que personne ne les voyait vraiment, ce qui était encore plus effrayant c'était le pouvoir de cette brume capable de masquer la vérité à des millions... non... des milliards de personnes.

L'argent que nous avions gagné en sauvant le caniche nous avait permis d'aller au moins jusqu'à Denver. Nous avons dormi dans un espace attribué. Mon dos me faisait mal et j'étais sûr que j'aurais la nuque raide si je continuais comme ça. Percy à côté de moi bavait dans son sommeil.

Grover n'arrêtait pas de me réveiller, il n'arrêtait pas de ronfler et ses bêlements étaient insupportables.

J'ai gardé les yeux fermés et j'ai demandé : « Percy, tu dors ?

"Non, comment espérez-vous dormir avec Grover qui ronfle et que vous dormiez ensuite ?" répondit-il silencieusement.

"Vous voyez, ce n'est pas le cas."

Nous avons tous les deux ri en silence.

"Percy, qu'est-ce que tu vas faire quand tout sera fini ?"

"Tu veux dire à part dormir dans mon lit ?"

"Ouais, juste après la quête."

"Je vais manger beaucoup de nourriture bleue, essayer de faire expulser Gabe de la maison et peut-être aller au cinéma", a-t-il dit, "J'espère que tu feras tout ça avec moi."

"Pour expulser Gabe, j'irais avec toi jusqu'au bout du monde."

Nous avons ri et soudain Grover a changé de position et un de ses faux pieds est tombé, nous avons dû le remettre rapidement avant que les autres passagers ne le voient.

"Alors, qu'est-ce qui vous dérange, les amis ?" Annabeth nous a demandé.

"Que veux-tu dire?" » demanda Percy.

« Vous parliez tous les deux dans votre sommeil, vous Kassandra vous parliez d'une sorte de vérité et Percy, j'aimerais savoir qui a besoin de votre aide ?

The voice from my dream worried me. But no matter, whether it was Percy or me we told Annabeth everything. Percy tried to reassure me when I told him that the voice had told me he was going to bench me and that he wasn't going to betray me. As for Annabeth, she remained silent for a very long time.

"That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."

"He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?"

"I guess... if he meant 'Help me rise from the Underworld'. If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it? And how come he knows "a truth" about Kassi when hardly anyone knew of its existence a few days ago?

This story was getting more and more complex, Grover snorted in his sleep and turning his head Annabeth had to adjust her cap for him.

"In short you can't negotiate with Hades, any of you. He's deceitful, heartless and greedy. I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time..."

"What do you mean this time?" I asked, "Do you have any past history?"

Her hand slid to her necklace. She touched a glazed white bead painted with the image of a pine tree, one of her end-of-summer clay tokens.

"Let's just say I've no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom, Percy."

"What would you do if it were your father?"

"That's easy," she said. "I'd leave him to rot."

"You're not serious?"

Annabeth's gray eyes fixed on Percy. "My dad's resented me since the day I was born, Percy," she said. "He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parents".

"But how... I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital..."Percy seemed embarrassed as he said this, the circumstances of Annabeth's birth seemed rather surprising.

"I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or something. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist."

"Don't say that." Annabeth to look in my astonished direction. "You shouldn't say that about your father, a father is important."

"I'm not important to him why do you want him to be important to me?"

Honestly, Annabeth's words irritated me to no end.

"Annabeth, I lost my father in an accident five years ago and I'd move heaven and earth just to see him again for a short while, if I could get him out of the underworld I would, so don't talk about leaving your father to rot away down there." I pointed to the ring she'd hung in her camp collar." Besides, he couldn't care less that he sent you that ring and you're keeping it, so in a way he still means something to you".

She hid it in her hands, but deep down I saw that she still regretted her words.

"Since I'm telling you he doesn't care about me," she said. "His wife - my stepmom - treated me like a freak. She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened - you know, something with monsters - they would both look at me with resentfully, like, 'How dare you put our family at risk?' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away."

I was about to reply, but Percy interrupted.

"How old were you?" Percy asked.

" Same age as when I started camp. Seven."

"You couldn't have done this on your own," I declared.

Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me toward help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway."

I wanted to ask what had happened, but Annabeth seemed lost in sad memories and we were sad enough as it was. So I listened to Grover's snoring and looked out the train windows, the dark fields of Ohio speeding by.

Toward the end of our second day on the train, on June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, we passed through golden hills and crossed the Mississippi at St. Louis.
Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch, which seemed to me like a huge handful of shopping bags stuck on the city.

"I want to do that," she sighed.

"What?" asked Percy.

"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?"

"Only in pictures."

"I have," I said.

She gave me an envious look "what was it like?"

"Um, like ruins, you know the Parthenon is in ruins Annabeth, that's because..."

"Yes, I know... because of the Turkish explosives, but one day I'll see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods of all time. Something that'll last a thousand years."

Percy laughed, "You? An architect?"

I punched him in the ribs, which surprised him at first, then he looked at me and lowered his eyes he must have realized he couldn't laugh at Annabeth's dream.

The blonde's cheeks flushed red. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could name.

"Hey, peace, guys, peace," I told them.

"Sorry," Annabeth said. "That was mean."

"Can't we work together a little?" Percy begged. "I mean didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?"

Annabeth had to think about it. "I guess... the chariot," she said tentatively. "My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses from the crest of the waves. So they had to work together to make it complete."

"Then we can cooperate too. Right?"

We entered the city, Annabeth watching the arch disappear behind a hotel.

"I suppose," she said at last.

We entered the downtown Amtrak station. The intercom told us we'd have three hours before heading back to Denver.

Grover stretches. Before he's even fully awake, he says, "Food."

"Come on, goat boy," Annabeth says. "Sightseeing."

"Sightseeing?"

"The Gateway Arch," she says. ""This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?" I wanted to say no, but we couldn't leave her alone.

Grover shrugged.

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

The arch was about a mile from the station. At the end of the day, the lines to get in weren't very long. We snuck into the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other artifacts dating back to the 1800s. It wasn't very exciting, but Annabeth kept telling us interesting facts about the construction of the arch and Grover kept passing us candy, so it wasn't bad.

I kept looking at the other people in line.

" You smell anything? Percy asked Grover.

He pulled his nose out of the bag of candy long enough to sniff it.

"Underground," he said with disgust. "Underground air always smells like monsters. It probably doesn't mean anything."

"I've learned something these days, everything means something."

Something told me this was going to go badly. We shouldn't be here.

"Guys," Percy said. " You know the gods'symbols of power?"

Annabeth was reading an article about ark-building materials, but she turned away. "Yeah?," she turned back to him.

"Well, Hade..."

Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place...You mean, our friend downstairs?"

"Uh, that's right," I said. "Our friend downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"

"You mean the helmet of darkness," said Annabeth. "Yes, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting.

" He was there?" I asked. "I thought he only stayed in the underworld."

She nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed on Olympus, the darkest day of the year. But his helmet is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true..."

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

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

Annabeth and Grover exchanged a look.

"We don't," said Grover.

"Thanks, I feel much better," says Percy next to me, "Are there any blue candies left?

"Blue candy really is your stress ball, isn't it?"

I saw the elevator car we were going to take up to the top of the Arch.

We got into the car with a fat lady and her dog, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar. I'd never taken a curved elevator.
I'd never taken a curved elevator, and my stomach wasn't very happy.

"No parents?" asked the fat lady.

She had beady eyes, sharp, coffee-stained teeth, a denim hat and a denim dress so baggy it was ridiculous.

"They're below," Annabeth told her. " Scared of heights."

"Oh, the poor darlings."

The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now, sonny. Behave."

The dog had beady eyes like his mistress, smart and vicious.

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

"No," the lady told me.

She smiled, as if all was clear.

At the top of the arch, the observation deck reminded me of a tin can with carpeting.

Rows of small windows overlooked the city on one side and the river on the other. The view was good, but I was ready to leave pretty soon. Annabeth kept talking about structural supports and how she would have enlarged the windows and designed a transparent floor. She probably could have stayed up there for hours, but luckily for me, the ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.

We headed for the exit, Annabeth and Grover son get on the elevator, I realized there were already two other tourists inside so there was no room for either me or Percy.

The ranger said, "Next car, sir, you too, ma'am."

"We'll get out," says Annabeth. "We'll wait with you."

But that would confuse everyone and take even longer, so I said, "No, that's okay. I'll see you downstairs."

Grover and Annabeth looked nervous, but they left the elevator door. Their car disappeared down the ramp. It was just us on the observation deck, a little boy with his parents, the park ranger and the fat lady with her Chihuahua.

I looked uncomfortably at the fat lady and her tongue was forked between her teeth.

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

A forked tongue?

Before I could decide if I'd really seen that, her Chihuahua jumped to the ground and started yapping at Percy.
"Now, now, sonny," said the lady. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here."

The little boy's parents pulled him back and the dog growled at me.

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

My blood froze on the spot; this woman was a monster, there was no doubt.

"You called the Chihuahua your son?" I said, backing away.

"Chimera, my dear. " she corrected me. "Not chihuahua. But it's an easy mistake to make."

She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealed arms covered in green scales, her teeth were fangs and her pupils slit like a crocodile or snake.

The dog barked even louder, and the more he barked, the bigger he got until he was the size of a lion, which is what he ended up looking like. He had the head of a lion, the body and hooves of a goat, and a snake for a tail. At least he still had his Chihuahua collar that said:

CHIMERA-RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS-IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS-EXT. 954.

I summoned my sword ready to attack but Percy stopped me with his hand, he was much too close to the Chimera if either of us made a single move, we'd be torn apart without warning.

The snake-woman laughed, or at least I think it was a laugh.

"Be honored Kassandra Knight, you too Percy Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test heroes with one of my brood. For I am the mother of monsters, the terrible Echidna!"

Yes, it had to be another blow from Zeus, my stepfather so dear to my heart.

"Isn't that a kind of anteater?" Percy just tossed this sentence to the mother of all monsters.

She screamed, her reptilian face turning brown and green with rage. "I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming this ridiculous animal after me. For that, Percy Jackson, my son will destroy you first!"

The chimera launched the assault, before it reached him Percy leaped to the side, I charged the creature and struck it with a sword blow to the snout, which slightly but really very slightly injured it. In response, she swung her paw at me.

I fell to the ground, and before I'd even had time to get up, she was bringing her paws down on me again, one after the other. Backing away was my only option, but in the end, I found myself cornered, Echidna was a few metres behind me and I quickly got to my feet. I knew what was going to happen - I was going to end up barbecued. I closed my eyes and put my sword in front of me to protect myself.

I was expecting to burst into flames and end up as creme brulée, but when I opened my eyes again, nothing, nothing had happened to me, not a single scratch, but in front of me instead of the sword was a shield, rectangular in shape and somewhat curved and quite long, which had enabled it to protect my entire body. Flames were now burning the ground beside me.

"Hey, Chihuahua! Who gave you permission to try to burn my best friend?!" I heard Percy shout.

Chimère se tourna à une vitesse vertigineuse, mais il ne me laissa pas un instant de répit. Même s'il se concentrait sur Percy, sa queue en forme de tête de serpent m'attaquait. Je me suis caché derrière le bouclier. Percy combattit la Chimère avec le contre-courant, mais c'était trop fort pour lui. Soudain, le serpent a arrêté sa salve d'attaques sur moi, j'ai levé la tête et le serpent a mordu Percy. Il était maintenant sûrement empoisonné, désarmé et derrière lui un trou qui mènerait sûrement à sa mort prématurée.

Il n'y avait qu'un seul moyen de l'atteindre : distraire la chimère suffisamment longtemps pour le dépasser, mais dans un endroit aussi exigu que l'arche, cela était impossible.

La bête ne se souciait pas de moi, pas même la tête de serpent, qui était également concentrée sur Percy. Je m'en approchai le plus doucement possible et touchai son arrière-train poilu. Certes, ce n'est pas le meilleur endroit pour atteindre l'esprit de quelque chose, mais cela a fonctionné, et tout ce que j'avais à faire était d'envoyer le message :

"Dors s'il te plaît."

La bête vacilla mais ne s'endormit pas, donc je savais que cela ne durerait pas longtemps. Je me suis précipité vers Percy et nous ai mis sous le bouclier pour que nous ayons un minimum de protection.

"Alors que faisons-nous?" J'ai demandé.

"Je ne sais pas, je pensais que tu aurais une idée."

"Non ! Je ne le fais pas !"

Il regarda par-dessus le bouclier, il était pâle, le poison de Chimère faisait effet.

"Comment lui as-tu fait ça?" m'a-t-il demandé en désignant la Chimère luttant contre le sommeil.

"Je t'expliquerais plus tard."

"Dommage, pour toi il n'y en aura pas plus tard, eh bien joue le tour du sommeil, tu utilises brillamment les bénédictions de ta mère, mais les héros ne sont plus ce qu'ils étaient, tu te réveilles fiston ?" dit Echidna

Sous les ordres de sa mère, Chimère reprit ses esprits et nous rugit dessus, prête à nous éliminer. Nous avons reculé, mais nous étions déjà au bord du trou.

"Si vous êtes le fils de Poséidon," siffla Echidna, "vous ne craindriez pas l'eau. Sautez, Percy Jackson, laissez votre ami ici. Montrez-moi que l'eau ne vous fera pas de mal. Sautez et récupérez votre épée. Prouvez votre lignée."

La bouche de la Chimère s'éclaira en rouge, se réchauffant pour une autre attaque.

"Vous n'avez aucune foi", a déclaré Echidna. "Tu ne fais pas confiance aux dieux. Je ne peux pas t'en vouloir, petit lâche. Mieux vaut mourir maintenant. Les dieux sont infidèles. Le poison est dans ton cœur."

Elle avait raison : Percy était en train de mourir et je ne pouvais rien faire pour l'aider.

"Kassi, tu me fais confiance ?" m'a-t-il demandé d'une voix épuisée.

"Nous deux contre le monde, n'est-ce pas ?" J'ai simplement répondu.

"Meurs, infidèle", grinça Echidna, et la Chimère envoya une colonne de flammes vers mon visage.

"Père, aide-moi," pria silencieusement Percy.

Percy m'a pris par la taille et nous avons sauté. Le bouclier avait disparu et nous sommes tombés ensemble vers la rivière.

c'est tout pour aujourd'hui, j'ai vraiment aimé écrire ce chapitre, j'adore la chimère. Le prochain chapitre sera du point de vue de Percy POUR LA PREMIÈRE FOIS. prenez soin de votre avenir.