Chapter Text
The Amtrak ride was somehow both more fun and more boring than Percy had expected.
On the one hand, he got to see so many amazing sights on the way to Denver. He’d later learned that Medusa’s spot was somewhere in New Jersey, so he had a decently long trip to look forward to. He saw large fields of grain, hills in the distance, and even more of the real world that he’d missed while at camp.
He even managed to catch sight of a herd of centaurs. He brought them to Luke and Thalia’s attention, and the youngest centaur waved back at them. They waved back as the herd moved, seemingly hunting. No one else on the Amtrak noticed.
He even caught the sight of a massive lion in the distance, though it disappeared before Percy could show it to his friends.
On the other hand, there wasn’t much to do but wait. He tried to amuse himself on the road, but it wasn’t easy. Sitting still had never been possible for him, and being cooped up on a long trip like this didn’t help.
They’d spent about a day and a half or so on the train before it stopped in St. Louis. The conductor said they’d be staying there for about three hours as Luke shook Thalia awake.
He turned to Percy then. “More nightmares?”
Percy nodded. The Voice had come back to his dreams again, with more promises of the same. This time though, it reminded him of the prophecy’s line about a friend betraying him. He didn’t want to think either one of them would turn on him, but he couldn’t help his worry.
Thalia was still sleeping. From experience, Percy knew that she could be a deep sleeper, but it was getting almost comical. Luke was shaking her but she didn’t even budge. He sighed and turned to Percy.
“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this.”
He looked around to make sure everyone had stepped off the Amtrak before turning to Percy. “Might want to move to the other side, Percy. This isn’t going to go too smoothly.”
Percy obliged and moved around to the other side. Luke then put a hand on Thalia’s shoulder before speaking, clear as day. “Thalia, you need to get up; Hedge needs help delivering another satyr baby.”
Speeding like a bolt of lightning, Thalia got up and ran out of the train before Percy could process what had happened. He turned to Luke. “Should we-”
“Give it a minute.” Was all Luke said.
Sure enough, soon after, Thalia stomped her way back to Luke and aggressively jabbed a finger at his chest. “You piece of sh*t.”
Luke just smiled. “And?”
Thalia sighed. “You know I’ll get back at you for this, right?”
Luke shrugged and Thalia just shook her head with a smile. “Idiot.” She turned to Percy. “Can you believe this guy?”
“Hey, don’t try to turn him against me.”
“Who’s trying? Give me a week and he’ll forget all about you.”
Percy thought it would be a good idea to leave the train at that point.
They made their way to the city as they discussed what they should do next. They had three hours in St. Louis and none of them wanted to stay on the train for that time.
Percy saw the Arch in the distance. “Kind of looks like a shopping bag handle.”
Thalia looked at it and snorted. “You know what, you got a point.”
Luke shook his head. “What, you want to go check it out?”
“No,” Thalia’s response was short and tense. Luke grimaced and seemed to squeeze Thalia’s hand in apology who nodded back. Percy wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
“So, no Arch.” Percy looked around hoping to find something interesting. “Is there a park around here we could go to?”
Luke nodded. “The Citygarden Sculpture Park. I don’t think it’s too far from here, we should be able to go there and make it back here in time for the Amtrak to leave.”
He led the two of them to the park as Percy kept glancing at Thalia. The way she’d refused to go on the Arch was odd. He didn’t particularly like the idea of going up the Arch in the first place, he imagined it was pretty cramped at the top and the idea of being that high up in the air didn’t appeal to him all that much in the first place. It appealed even less after Chiron told him it’d be a bad idea to go into Zeus’s domain at the moment.
But he didn’t get why Thalia was so vehement against going up the Arch. Evidently, he wasn’t as subtle as he thought he was, because Thalia shot him a smile.
“Don’t worry about it too much, Percy. I’m just not a big fan of heights.”
Percy slowly nodded even though that didn’t make too much sense at first. He figured she’d have had a reason for that, so he didn’t ask.
They reached the Park soon after, and after getting in, Percy was practically set loose to explore everything he could find.
He spent some time at the fountains, wondering if he could control the water a bit. He decided to give it a try as he willed the fountain to go higher. It worked quite well, though Luke later would say it worked too well as he was splashed head to toe. Thalia laughed the whole way as one of the Park’s security came to check up on Luke.
They assured him that something like this had never happened before and that they’d ensure it never happened again. They offered him a change of clothes and a towel as Thalia and Percy were holding back their laughter at Luke’s clear irritation with the guards.
Other than that, Percy found himself admiring the sculptures. He figured if his mom had been with him, she’d have told him about each one’s significance and history. He had a feeling Annabeth would’ve known as well, maybe even knowing some secret history about each one.
It was while he was admiring these sculptures that this older lady appeared near him. “Enjoying your time, dear?”
Percy nodded, turning to look at her. She was a tall woman, with beady eyes and a little chihuahua in her arms that snarled at him. It quickly started barking and growling at him.
“Hush now, Sonny. No need to be angry at this fine young man.”
“Sonny. Is that his name?” Percy tilted his head.
“No,” The lady answered, leaving him more confused than before.
They stood in silence for a bit longer, only the growls of the dog breaking it. Finally, she broke the silence. “It’s not often that one as young as you appreciates art such as this.”
“My mom talked a lot about sculptures. I figured I should check them out.” Percy was starting to get worried. He looked around for Luke or Thalia, but they were nowhere to be found.
“Such devotion to your parent.” The lady cooed. “I’m sure you are a child anyone can be proud of.”
Percy turned back to her as the dog barked even louder. “Is he alright?”
She smiled and nodded. “Oh, he’s perfectly fine, dear. Simply hungry.” She turned to the dog and spoke to it gently. “Hush now, dearest. You’ll get your lunch soon enough, don’t worry.”
But the dog kept growling. It never stopped staring at Percy either. Its eyes were too intelligent for a normal chihuahua too.
“Fine, son. If you insist.” The lady set the dog down.
“Uh, did you just call that chihuahua your son?” Percy stepped back slowly.
“Chimera, dear. It’s an easy mistake to make.” The lady smiled. “You should be honored, Percy Jackson. It is not often that Lord Zeus allows me to test a new hero with one of my brood.” She tilted her head at him. “You might want to run now, dear.”
He took another step back as the dog started to grow. First to the size of a Doberman, then to the size of a lion, then an elephant, then even bigger. It was a massive beast, looking to be about the height of a dinosaur skeleton while being as wide as a barn door. It had the body of a lion with a goat’s head popping out from behind it, spewing flames as it breathed. Its tail was a snake that had its sights set directly on Percy.
The lion head snarled at him, showing its fangs, each maybe the size of Riptide. Its claws looked more like daggers, ready to rip him to shreds. This monster made the hellhound that almost killed him look like a puppy.
The lady smirked at him. “Well, I will leave you two to get acquainted with each other. Try not to cause too much of a mess, will you dear?”
The lion head growled and the goat head blasted a column of fire into the air, startling a few people around them. Percy thought he saw a few people staring in terror as if they knew what they were looking at.
“Good boy.” She patted the monster on its side and turned to Percy. “No need to worry about your friends, I’m sure they’ll manage just fine without you. After all, you aren’t the first friend whose death they’ll have gotten over..”
Percy didn’t know what she meant by that but she didn’t leave him a moment to think. “Well then, I must be off now. Have fun, darling.” She turned and left the two as the Chimera lept at Percy. He rolled under it and started running. There was no way he could fight this thing on his own. He couldn’t think about what she said. He needed to find Luke and Thalia.
As he ran, the monster cut him off at every turn, either by jumping over him or breathing a column of fire his way. The fire burned some of the trees down, but Percy couldn’t focus on that. He had to find his friends if he was going to survive.
Before he could make it too far, the snake tail wrapped itself around his leg and threw him over to the fountain. He landed hard on his back in the middle of the water, which brought him to his feet almost immediately. He stood and looked at the monster again. He wasn’t going to be able to find help, so he’d have to find a way to survive.
He stayed in the fountain. The water was his only advantage at the moment. Whatever the mortals saw, it seemed like it made them decide to leave, as he was alone with the monster now. That made his fight easier. He didn’t want to have to worry about everyone around him.
The monster lept at him again and he rolled under it, aiming a slash at its stomach. The cut didn’t do much besides anger the monster though, as it sent another volley of fire at Percy. He jumped away from the blast, but that sent him back to the ground. He was cut off from the water.
He felt his energy sap away as he struggled to his feet. The monster was too strong. He couldn’t beat it. He couldn’t even survive against it. This was the end for him.
It seemed to know that as well, approaching him slowly as if it were savoring its victory. He hadn’t noticed the scaly legs before, but it made the beast even more intimidating than ever.
There wasn’t much Percy could do now. He raised Riptide and pulled out the dagger Annabeth had given him, hoping to at least hurt the Chimera in his final stand.
That was when Percy noticed storm clouds gathering above them. The Chimera didn’t seem to notice as the goat head turned to him ready to spew flames again. Before it managed, a bolt of lightning arched its way down to blast it away from him, knocking it several feet back.
“Percy! Run!” Thalia had jumped in from behind him ready to fight. The monster let out a deafening roar as it got back to its feet. It did flinch away from Thalia’s shield but that didn’t stop its charge.
Percy figured it’d be a good idea to follow Thalia’s advice. He looked around for Luke only to find him in the air, looking like he was shadow-fighting. He didn’t have much time to think about that.
He bolted from the fight. If he had to guess, the Chimera was another level-ten threat. It seemed even more dangerous than Medusa was, though it was hard to compare the two.
He couldn’t get two steps away without getting a blast of fire his way though. As much as Thalia tried to keep the monster busy, it always managed to break out and find its way to him, either with a volley of fire or a swipe of its tail. It was destroying the park with every movement, either burning the trees down, breaking the sculptures, or ripping through the hedges. It seemed laser-focused on him.
The few times he turned back to see the fight, he noticed that it seemed to mostly ignore Thalia, who was looking back at Luke worriedly, only batting her away for the most part. That was, at least, until Thalia managed to cut off the Chimera’s tail before hitting the goat's head with a bolt of lightning.
“I think you made it mad!” Percy yelled back as he took in the destruction. The park had been flattened, becoming unrecognizable from what it was before. The trees were all on fire, and smoke beginning to fill the area. Percy had a feeling the fire department would be called soon. At least, he hoped so.
They needed to get out of the park if they were going to stay conscious enough to fight it.
Even among that, Luke was still not paying any attention to the fight. With half a moment to breathe, Percy wondered what Luke was doing at the moment. He was still wildly swinging his sword as he zoomed through the air, going through nothing, looking terrified about something. He looked back at the Chimera and went back to running.
The Chimera hadn’t slowed down, still barrelling towards him, though it started paying more attention to Thalia as it did. Losing its tail didn’t seem to lessen how deadly it was, as it still tore the entire park apart doing so while also cutting off her offense.
Percy kept running. He couldn’t stop. If he did, then they were done for. For one, the Chimera would rip him to shreds, and two, it’d focus completely on fighting at that point, which would make the fight even harder than before.
Reaching the end of the park, he ran into the street. Hopefully, the mortals around would slow the Chimera down.
“What the f*ck is that!” Apparently not. He didn’t dare turn around to see what was going on. Not when the screams reached his ears, not when the smoke hit his nose, not even when he heard a building fall. He kept his eyes trained on the Arch. He remembered there being a river nearby. Maybe he could use that to his advantage.
The beast’s roar chilled him to the bone, but he didn’t stop. He kept running until he got to his destination. The Arch was a lot bigger up close than he’d expected, seeming to reach up to the sky. It was like Olympus had designed it so that Zeus could pull St. Louis out of the country easily should the need arise.
Another roar deafened him and he couldn’t help but turn to look. This time, the monster was charging straight at Luke who was still fighting his imaginary foe. Luke managed to get out of the way, but the building behind him, the Old Courthouse if the screaming mortals were anything to go by, didn’t get so lucky.
The Chimera barrelled into it with reckless abandon, leaving nothing of it intact. Percy saw the debris flying all over the place, barely missing everyone around it if they were lucky. The streets had been mostly cleared, thankfully, though that likely meant that the police were on their way, and Percy really didn’t want to be a part of that when it happened.
He decided he’d run enough. If he kept going, the monster would just keep destroying the city, and it’d already done enough of that. He could just about feel the river behind him, having made it halfway between the Arch and it. He’d stand his ground here.
The Chimera seemed to have noticed that as it turned to run towards him. Thalia called a lightning bolt at it which distracted it for a moment. Turning to the daughter of Zeus, it set off another column of fire that Thalia dodged as the Chimera kept trying to hit her with it. During all that, the Chimera managed to tear through the bottom of the Arch, breaking a hole through the side.
It gave up on that as it charged straight at Thalia, making the hole through the foot of the Arch even bigger. Percy watched in horror as it started swaying back and forth, seemingly about to topple.
Thalia noticed that as well as she seemed to gather up all her power for one massive attack. With a defiant yell, she called a bolt of lightning to strike the Chimera with all she had. The beast was singed and battered but still somehow standing, just barely, which was more than what could be said for Thalia.
She collapsed right after, so she’d be out of the fight. The Chimera seemed to notice that as it slowly approached her, seeming ready to end its fight. He couldn’t let that happen.
“Hey! Sonny!” He’d hoped the Chimera’s hearing was better than a human’s so that would get its attention. Either it did or seemed to think that Thalia wasn’t as appetizing a snack, but it turned to glare at him, deciding that Thalia could wait.
Father, help me.
Percy began trying to call the river to help him. It’d be the first time he intentionally tried something like this, so he hoped it worked. He imagined the whole river answering his call. He briefly wondered what this must have looked like to the mortals around him. Going from a clear, cloudless day, to bolts of lightning dropping suddenly, to the river itself now rising to swallow parts of the city.
Wait… the river’s rising?
Turning back, sure enough, the river had risen high up and was barrelling towards him. The Chimera noticed this as well, seemingly going wide-eyed at the prospect of having to deal with a sudden tidal wave. The last thing Percy saw before the wave hit them was Luke deciding to break off from whatever he was fighting to grab Thalia and fly as high as he could to avoid the wave. After that, the river swallowed both him and the Chimera.
Percy saw the Chimera take a massive blow from the wave. It seemed to get absolutely battered as it got thrown around by the torrent. The wave pulled them both into the river as it continuously fought against the monster, dragging it downstream, far away from Percy.
He settled at the bottom of the river as he tried to catch his breath. The first thing he noticed was that he was that the river didn’t seem to be fighting him like it did the Chimera. He could feel the water ebbing and flowing around him as it seemed to welcome him in its embrace.
The second thing he noticed was that he was completely dry. It was like the river didn’t touch him at all.
The third thing he noticed was that he was breathing. That probably should have been the first thing he noticed, but he was a bit too busy to pay attention to that. It seemed like a minor issue at first, but thinking about it, it was probably a good thing.
He got up and looked around. There was no sign of the Chimera left, which was good. He wasn’t sure if it was still alive or not, but at least he wouldn’t have to worry about it. He then thought about what happened during the fight. He didn’t catch much of it, but what he did notice didn’t look good.
One fight had leveled an entire chunk of the city. The park was burned to ashes, likely even more wrecked than he realized. He didn’t even want to think about what happened to the Arch after that tidal wave. It was already in a bad way before that happened, and it was massive. Although, strictly speaking, the wave alone would’ve been bad enough without the Arch already being damaged.
Percy sat down, dejected. They’d leveled a decent chunk of the city, destroying a national monument while endangering who knows how many lives. What was the point if all they’d lead to was death and destruction? How can they call themselves heroes after this?
“You need not fret, young one.” A gentle voice called to him from the side. When he turned, he saw a breathtaking woman with long flowing black hair and some sort of crab claws as horns. “You have done an admirable job with what you were given.”
She radiated a calm grace, looking more regal than anyone Percy had ever met. He bowed, figuring he was dealing with a queen of some kind, so he’d best play his cards right.
“You may rise, dear one.” When he looked up, he thought he saw a hint of a smile. “My time here is short, young one. With the level of pollution this river is at, I can not stay long. Meet me at Santa Monica Beach. I have a message from your father. And remember, beware the gifts.”
She left immediately, leaving Percy alone with a catfish about the size of Gabe. She’d said he did an admirable job with what he was given, but he didn’t know whether he believed that. Even then, it did give him some confidence back, enough to at least leave the river.
As he emerged, his heart sank. The Arch had fallen over onto the city behind it, crushing many buildings below. He didn’t know what the casualties would have looked like as a result. He only hoped that the civilians had evacuated during the fight.
He didn’t find anyone around him, so that gave him some hope that there might have been few casualties. Human lives at the very least, considering the fact that he could count how many buildings were left unharmed on one hand. He moved forward, stepping over the broken glass from all the windows shattered, staring in horror at the rising fire in the distance. The entire park had been turned into a raging inferno, with very few trees being unburned. They were, of course, ripped from their roots and seemingly thrown aside, almost like they were used as battering rams.
He noticed what looked like law enforcement in the distance making their way to the scene and he bolted. He couldn’t be seen around this wreckage. With his luck, he’d be blamed for it just like with the canon back in fifth grade.
He wasn’t sure which way he was going until he ran straight past a destroyed building on the way he’d come to the Arch. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it looked important.
Turning another way, he kept running until he ran straight into someone. He was about to apologize when a familiar voice called.
“Percy!” Luke grabbed him and pulled him into an alleyway close by. Percy was too relieved to question what was going on. He trusted Luke. Even after seeing him fighting nothing, he couldn’t shake his trust in Luke. He had a feeling there was a reason behind that; he’d ask about it later.
Luke led Percy to where Thalia was sitting down. She looked tired but conscious again, so that was a plus.
“Hey, Kelpy. Doing alright?” She sounded incredibly tired, almost like each word took everything she had to say.
Percy nodded, sitting right beside her and leaning his head on her shoulder. With Luke saying he needed to go scout ahead, he figured he’d keep Thalia some company.
“So, what’d you think of your first level ten?” Thalia asked him as she dropped her head on his.
“I think I’d rather be in school.” She laughed as she slung an arm around his shoulder.
“Well, that is generally what a level ten feels like.” Her voice turned serious after that. “Luke told me about the big tidal wave that hit. Wanna tell me what happened?”
Percy shrugged. “I’m not sure. I know I called a bit of water, but I didn’t think that much would show up. I didn’t even feel anything like that when it showed up. It was almost like someone else had called it.”
Thalia hummed. “We’ll talk about it later then. For now, we should get ready to move. The Amtrak leaves soon, and we need to get back on track for the quest.”
Percy nodded. It’d been somewhere between two and a half to three days since they’d left camp as far as he knew. Assuming the three-hour wait the Amtrak was giving them was almost over, they’d be in Denver by the next day, which would be the fifteenth of the month, giving them six days to make it to the Underworld, retrieve the Bolt, and get it back to Zeus. He wasn’t sure if that was enough time, but they’d have to make it work.
When Luke came by to tell them the coast was clear, Thalia seemed to have recovered enough to get moving. They had to keep their heads down and make it quickly to make sure they didn’t get caught, which was harder than they’d made it look. Along the way, Percy heard that one of the buildings knocked over was the Wainwright Building, whatever that was.
They finally made it to the Amtrak where Percy explained more about what happened with his fight with the Chimera. By the end of it, they both agreed it’d be a good idea to see what Poseidon wanted.
“Santa Monica isn’t too far out of our way,” Luke reasoned. “We should manage to get there and make it to the Underworld in time.”
And with that, the Amtrak got moving as they went far from St. Louis. Percy had a feeling they’d need to keep their heads low after that. At least until they figured out a way to keep from being wanted criminals.
As it stood though, they needed to get to Denver first. He just hoped they’d be able to make it there without much issue.
