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chapter seven.
( titan's curse )
❝ dead girl goes anyway! ❞

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Percy told me about the conversation between Zoë and Bianca, and scaring little Nico out of his wits.

The prank from the Stoll Brothers worked its magic a bit too well. Phoebe was in the infirmary, and unable to go on the quest, which left Zoë with four people, not five. Zoë refused to bring anyone else along, saying that they had to go with who they had ... blah blah blah, all of that. If anything, I'm more worried for Nico who nearly wet his pants when Percy just 'appeared' behind him.

It was very awkward sitting behind Percy on Blackjack as they flew. As the son of Poseidon, Percy could understand what the pegasus was saying. I couldn't, so I would just randomly hear Percy's side of the conversation, and out of context, it sounded very troubling. There also wasn't a saddle, so I was also in an awkward position, sitting rather close to Percy and holding onto him for dear life otherwise there would be no room and I'd fall off. This was better than swimming and going on a boat, but even then, the ground was a long way down.

We lost the van twice, but Percy picked up their trail easily. He was a New York native, he knew where they would most likely pass through, and he easily found them again in Manhattan. It was so slow too--they didn't reach Manhattan until mid morning. Percy landed Blackjack onto of the Chrysler Building and together, we watched the white camp van, thinking it would pull into the Greyhound station, but it kept driving.

"That's weird," I muttered. "Argus always stops people there."

Percy frowned. "Where's Argus taking them?"

I went to say, Well, how would I know when I realised he was talking to Blackjack, and I couldn't believe I was being pushed to the side by a horse with wings.

"Which girl?" Percy continued, his eyes on the horse's face. Blackjack snorted. "Zoë?" Blackjack neighed. "No, we can't go through drive-through for donuts. You're a pegasus, remember, Blackjack? You'll freak everyone out."

I'm really third-wheeling here.

"Well," Percy fixed up his hold, and checked to see whether I was good. I nodded. "Let's get after them."

We were about to leap off the Chrysler Building when Blackjack whinnied in alarm and kicked his back legs. We went forward, and I gasped and threw my arms around Percy desperately trying to stay on. Something was slithering around our legs—a snake. Immediately, I pulled my legs up with a small squeal, only making things worse for Percy who was trying to reach for his sword. It was then I realised that it wasn't a snake. Vines—grapevines—had sprouted from the cracks between the stones of the building, wrapping themselves around blackjack's legs and entangling around Percy and I's, making us unable to move.

"Going somewhere?" Mr D asked.

Mr D was floating in mid-air, leaning against the building. He looked like he usually did—irritated and unbothered, but this time, I saw an anger swirling in his purple eyes. Blackjack whinnied again and he sighed in exasperation. "The next person, or horse who calls me 'the wine dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot!"

"Mr D," Percy said, trying to keep calm as the vines continued to wrap around our legs. "What do you want?"

"Oh, what do I want? You thought, perhaps, that the immortal, all-powerful director of camp would not notice two demigods leaving without permission."

"Well ... maybe."

I gave Percy a look.

"I should throw you off this building, minus the flying horse, and see how heroic you sound on the way down."

"Mr D," I spoke, giving Percy another look as he looked ready to throw Mr D off the building himself. "We have to go on this quest. Annabeth is in danger."

"There are four others who will bring Annabelle back," said Mr D, shrugging. "You're not needed in the mix."

Maybe it was how Mr D mispronounced Annabeth's name that made Percy loose his temper, but either way, our cause was lost as soon as he opened his mouth. "Why do you hate us so much?! What did we ever do to you?"

Purple flames flickered in the god's eyes. "You're heroes, boy. I need no other reason."

"We have to go on this quest! We've got to help our friends! That's something you wouldn't understand!"

And like that, we're going to die. All thanks to Percy.

The grapevines coiled tighter, and below, the white van was getting further and further away. Soon it would be out of sight.

"Did I ever tell you about Ariadne?" Mr D asked. "Beautiful young princess of Crete? She liked helping her friends, too. In fact, she helped a young hero named Theseus, also a son of Poseidon. She gave him a ball of magical thread that let him find his way out of the Labyrinth. And do you know how Theseus rewarded her?"

"They got married," Percy said through gritted teeth. "Happily ever after. The end."

Mr D sneered. "Not quite. Theseus said he would marry her. He took her aboard his ship and sailed for Athens. Halfway back, on the little island called Naxos, he—what's the word you mortals use today?—he dumped her. I found her there, you know. Alone. Heartbroken. Crying her eyes out. She had given up everything, left everything she knew behind, to help a dashing young hero who tossed her away like a broken sandal."

"That's wrong," Percy said. "But that was thousands of years ago. What's that got to do with us?"

Mr D regarded him coldly. "I fell in love with Ariadne, boy. I healed her broken heart. And, when she died, I made her my immortal wife in Olympus. She waits for me even now. I shall go back to her when I'm done with this infernal century of punishment at your ridiculous camp."

I frowned, "You're married?" I asked. "But didn't you get kicked off Olympus for chasing a wood nymph—?"

He cut me off, "My point is you heroes never change. You accuse us gods of being vain. You should look at yourselves. You take what you want, use whoever you have to, and then you betray everyone around you. So you'll excuse me if I have no love for heroes. They are selfish, ungrateful lot. Ask Ariadne. Or Medea. For that matter, ask Zoë Nightshade."

"What do you mean, ask Zoë?" Percy scoffed.

Mr D waved his hand dismissively. "Go. Follow your silly friends."

The vines uncurled. I sat there dumbfounded for a second. I was glad it was Percy that spoke because I was too busy gaping at Mr D. He was letting us go?

"The prophecy says at least two of you will die. Perhaps I'll get lucky and you'll be one of them—or both. But mark my words, Son of Poseidon, you will prove no better than the other heroes." And with that, he snapped his fingers and his image folded up like a paper display. In a pop, he was gone, leaving a faint scent of grapes that was quickly blown away by the wind.

"Well ..." I managed to say. "That was interesting."

Percy gave me a glance, and nodded. He turned back to the pegasus, and said. "Come on, Blackjack. I'll buy you some doughnuts in New Jersey."

° ° °

Percy didn't buy Blackjack doughnuts. How rude.

Zoë finally came to a stop in Maryland at a service station. Blackjack had nearly tumbled out of the sky by then—he was so tired.

We landed a little while away, and I was glad to be off. Percy gave Blackjack a pat on the flank. "Stay here," he told him. He turned to me. "Stay with him, I'm going to scout."

I went to protest. I don't want to stay here. But Percy gave me a look and then placed on Annabeth's cap, and he disappeared. So I had to stay there, petting Blackjack and making sure he could have some water. I gave him the water from Percy's bottle. I don't care how annoyed he'd be, he left me here and Blackjack is his pegasus. He can deal with it.

But I will admit. Sitting here with Blackjack waiting for Percy to return was almost comforting. I ended up braiding Blackjack's hair, and he seemed to like it. We were having a full-on bonding moment when Percy returned, looking grave. I was about to ask what happened, but the look was soon gone when he saw Blackjack and I. He gave me a confused look.

"Why did you braid his hair?"

I crossed my arms. "You left me here, I had to do something. And you know what? I think Blackjack likes it!" He neighed, and I took it as a neigh of agreement, even if Percy knew perfectly what he was saying.

The Son of Poseidon shook his head with a tiny smile. The smile made me go red, and I hated it.

So yeah, I admit, since dying and coming back, being around Percy seemed different on my end. Like I never used to get this flustered by a smile. But he had small dimples! It's not a crush! Hell no ... but like ... how could I have not noticed those dimples until now? See what I mean? Its just a casual appreciation of his dimples—I need to stop thinking about his stupid dimples!

We continued south, following Zoë and the others as they made their way to D.C (as Percy told me). As we got closer, Blackjack got worse and worse. I knew Percy was worried, he kept placing his hand gently on the horse's flank as if checking whether his friend was okay, only to purse his lips and return his gaze forward.

Fortunately, before Blackjack could tumble out of the sky in exhaustion, Zoë's driving slowed down. It crossed the Potomac river into Central Washington. Percy gave a nervous glance at the sky, before deciding. "Set us down there. That's close enough."

Blackjack obliged. He dropped towards the Washington Monument and set us on the grass. The van was only a few blocks away. Zoë had parked at the kerb.

Percy turned to his pegasus "I want you to go back to camp. Get some rest. Graze. We'll be fine." Blackjack cocked his head sceptically, and I imagine in him saying you sure? "You've done enough already. We'll be fine. And thanks a ton."

I gave Blackjack a nice pet goodbye before he flew off back to Camp, and Percy and I were left without a way of traveling.

Over by the van, everybody was getting out. Grover pointed towards one of the big buildings lining the mall. Thalia nodded, and the four of them trudged off into the cold wind. I started to follow, but Percy suddenly grabbed my arm in a way I knew meant freeze.

"What?" I asked him in a whisper.

He nodded to a block away, where the door of a black sedan opened. A man with a grey military haircut got out. He was wearing dark shades and a black overcoat. He seemed shady. The guy took out his cellphone and said something into it. Then he looked around, like he was making sure the coast was clear, and started walking down the mall in the direction of another dude. Percy's grip tightened.

"What?" I asked him again.

"That guy's the manticore that attacked us at Westover Hall," he gestured to the guy that the other dude was walking to. "He took Annabeth."

And suddenly, I wanted to pulverise this dude.

"Right," I muttered. "So, you hold, I punch?"

"I don't know who that guy is," said Percy about the man in the black overcoat. "But he's obviously working with him." He grabbed out Annabeth's cap and placed it on his head. Now that I couldn't see him, I felt awkward just standing there in front of this mall.

Percy whispered to me, "You're gonna lead us in there. He doesn't know you, hopefully he'll think you're just a tourist."

I turned to where I thought he was. "But he'll smell us, won't he?"

"Uh, keep a distance?"

I rolled my eyes. "This isn't going to work." I heard him scoff. "Whatever. Just take my hand so I know you're there."

After slight hesitation, Percy grabbed my hand, and I looked away in hope he wouldn't see me blushing.

And so, I led Percy into the mall, following Dr Thorn and the other dude at a safe distance. It was hard to seem like I was a normal tourist and not following them. I mean, I'm surprised no one has come up to me and asked me why a random thirteen-year-old was just walking around the mall by herself. But so far, we were lucky.

Dr Thorn followed our friends at a safe distance too. It seemed we had the same idea. Finally, Grover stopped in front of a big building that said AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM. Or the Smithsonian. Thalia checked the door, it was open. But there wasn't many people that were going in. It was to cold, and it was school holidays. They slipped inside.

However, Thorn didn't go into the museum. He hesitated, before turning and heading across the mall. Percy quickly whispered to me, "Follow him!"

"I am!" I whispered back and changed my course.

Thorn crossed the street and climbed the steps of the Museum of Natural History. There was a big sign on the door that must've said closed for private event, because I'm pretty sure there aren't pirate events in a Natural Museum.

Percy tugged my hand, "Stay here," he said before letting go and—what I'm guessing—slipped through the open door. I stood there annoyed. Now I don't know what's happening because I can't be invisible to sneak into things! I just wanted to turn invisible like Percy. Something important was happening in there, and I had to see it!

I didn't realise how much I really liked having my powers until that they're gone.

I'm so useless now. No wonder Percy didn't want me to follow him.

So I sat down against the white tiled wall by the bathroom. I glared at my shoes. Dad said I get to choose my destiny, but at the moment, it feels like I have no chance for choice. I can't choose to do the things I used to. All I'm left to do is to stay behind. I have no choice but to be a useless, powerless, boring demigod.

Just then, someone walked out of the mens' room. They were dressed in a black coat with a equally black fedora. Out of his pocket, the man pulled out some hand sanitiser and rubbed it all over his hands. He came to a stop in front of me.

"What are you doing, kid? You look miserable."

I recognised the voice immediately.

I crossed my arms. "Well, I wouldn't be miserable if I wasn't trapped by being absolutely controlled under your stupid domain."

Hades smirked underneath the hat. "It's amusing, isn't it? How uncomfortable mortals feel being in the one position that is opposite to what they're used to."

I just sent him a glare. Hades just chuckled. "I see you're here to look after Bianca."

"She just so happens to be on a quest that leads to Annabeth." A thought crossed my mind, and it was completely off topic, but I needed to ask him. "Lord Hades," he hummed in acknowledgment. "What is the monster that is the Bane of Olympus? And the prophecy, my father said that neither Thalia or Percy are the hero of the prophecy. Is ... is it Nico? Is Nico the bane of Olympus?"

Hades shook his head. "Nico is not the monster Artemis was hunting. And whether he is the child of the prophecy? I can't say, I'm not one with prophecies. I only see the aftermath."

I frowned, "But ... then what is the monster?"

He didn't answer. Instead, Hades turned to the door that Percy and Dr Thorn were behind. "You can get in there without being noticed, you know?"

Miffed about him not answering my question, I scoffed. "How? I can't turn invisible anymore. I can't control the light."

Hades laughed this time, shaking his head. His laughter was chilling, as if just by laughing he was dooming me to the underworld for eternity. "Apollo brags you're smart, I beg to differ. Alas, you will figure it out some time—and hopefully soon."

I frowned, "Find out what?"

"There are two sides of the sun, Claire Moore, as there are two sides of the moon. Just like there are two sides of a coin and two sides of the Earth. One in night, and one in light, but they are always connected."

"How does that have to do with me?"

Hades sighed, exasperated. "Pity," he said. "Oh well, I guess I must have to go onto the next thing I wish to talk to you about. Here."

He passed me the hand sanitiser bottle. I took it with a frown. Is he trying to say something? Are my hands really that dirty? "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Smear it on your dagger," Hades sounded grave. "It will kill those grown up from the underworld. They are a disease, this will send them back to where they belong."

"Why would I need it?"

Once again, Hades glanced at the door. "Use it. Be thankful I'm giving it to you. I only have two left now."

I frowned, "Thank you...?"

He walked off down the mall hallway. Hades went towards a random corner, and amongst the shadows, he disappeared, turning into the shadow himself. I glanced down at the bottle of hand sanitiser in my hand. What a useless gift. Yeah, thank you Hades. I slipped it into my back pocket anyway. It was unwise to not accept a gift from a god, and since Hades holds my life in his hands, I feel like keeping him happy is especially important for me right now.

Okay, Percy is taking a seriously long time now. I was beginning to get scared that he got hurt or captured or something. Manticore's are strong monsters, and Percy had a very strong demigod scent. It was stupid of him to go in there alone, but what else were we supposed to do?

I stood up and started to make my way back to the door, thinking of a way I could get in unrecognised. Hades said I could, but how? I can't turn invisible anymore, and the door was closed! All I could do was stand out here uselessly, stressing about something I can't do anything about—

The door burst open.

Percy came running towards me. Annabeth's cap was off, and he had a wild look on his face. I didn't have time to ask him what happened before he grabbed my hand and dragged me along with him, shouting, "Go, go, go, go!"

"What's happening?" I asked as we sprinted together down the hall.

"Luke!" he said, out of breath. "Luke's here!"

My blood went cold.

I didn't say anything, and just continued to run. We tore across the mall, and I dared not look behind me. I don't want to know what we were running from, and we were running so fast there was no time to look. Together, we burst into the Air and Space Museum and sped through the admissions area.

The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and aeroplanes hanging from the ceiling. I've never been here before in my life, but a small part of me—despite everything that was happening at the moment—sadly realised that Annabeth would love this place. Three levels of balconies curled around, allowing you to look at the exhibits from different heights. It wasn't crowded, which was probably a good thing, but at the same time, it made it hard for Percy and I to hide amongst people to confuse the scent.

We ran into Thalia—quite literally. We were barrelling up the ramp to the top-floor balcony when we slammed into her, knocking her into an Apollo space capsule.

Grover yelped in surprise.

Before I could apologise for barging into Thalia, Zoë and Bianca had arrows notched, each aimed at either of our chests. I held my hands up, surprised at how their bows just appeared out of nowhere. When Bianca realised it was me, she lowered her bow, and I could breathe.

When Zoë realised, however, she wasn't so kind. "You!" she growled at Percy. "How dare you show thy face here?"

"Percy! Claire!" Grover said. "Thank goodness!" Zoë glared at him, and he blushed. "I mean, um, gosh. You're not supposed to be here!"

I stepped forward to Thalia, pulling her back up. "Luke," I told her. "Luke is here."

The anger in Thalia's eyes immediately melted. She put her hand on her silver bracelet. "Where?"

Percy told us about the Natural History Museum, Dr Thorn, Luke and the General. At the mention of the 'skeleton warriors', the bottle Hades gave me seemed to burn in my pocket.

"The General is here?" Zoë looked stunned. "That is impossible! You lie."

"Why would I lie? Look, there's no time. Skeleton warriors—"

"What?" Thalia demanded. "How many?"

"Twelve," said Percy. "And that's not all. That guy, the General, he said he has something, a 'playmate', to distract you over here. A monster."

Thalia and Grover exchanged looks.

"We were following Artemis's trail," Grover said. "I was pretty sure it led here. Some powerful monster scent ... She must've stopped here looking for the mystery monster. But we haven't found anything yet."

"Zoë," Bianca said nervously, "if it is the General—"

"It cannot be!" Zoë snapped. "Percy must have seen an Iris-message or some other illusion."

"Illusions don't crack marble floors," he told her.

Zoë took a sharp breath, trying to calm herself. I don't know why this was bothering her so much, but it wasn't the time to talk. "If Percy is telling the truth about the skeleton warriors," she said, "we have no time to argue. They are the worst, the most horrible ... We must leave now."

"Good idea," said Percy.

"I was not including thee, boy," Zoë said. "You are not part of this quest." Her eyes landed on me. She considered something. "The prophecy said five. You are welcome to join."

Percy gaped, "What? Claire's allowed to go but not me? Hey, I'm trying to save your lives!"

"We're a package deal, Zoë," I said, standing beside him. "We're in this together."

Zoë looked angry. She really didn't want Percy to come along.

"You guys shouldn't have come," Thalia said grimly. "But you're here now. Come on. Let's get back to the van."

"That is not thy decision!" Zoë snapped.

Thalia scowled at her, "You're not the boss, Zoë. I don't care how old you are! You're still a conceited little brat!"

"You never had any wisdom when it came to boys," Zoë growled. "You never could leave them behind!"

My breath hitched. I knew the story. I was there. Thalia was offered to be apart of the Hunters, and she turned them down because she didn't want to leave Luke, who now has betrayed all of us. I didn't realise how much Zoë was hurt from the ordeal.

Thalia looked like she was about to hit Zoë, then everyone froze. A growl echoed the museum, so loud that it shook the exhibits hanging from the ceiling.

Below us, adults screamed. A little kid's voice screeched with delight: "Kitty!"

A monster the size of a pick-up truck bounded up the ramp. It looked to be a lion, with silver claws and a golden glittering coat. I knew it immediately, and it took a lot not to quicker in my boots.

"The Nemean Lion," I said. "Don't move."

The lion roared, and the exhibits shook once more. His fangs gleamed like stainless steel.

"Separate on my mark," Zoë said. "Try to keep it distracted."

"Until when?" Grover asked.

"Until I think of a way to kill it. Go!"

Percy uncapped Riptide and rolled to the left. I ducked and jumped to the right as arrows whistled past. Grover played a sharp tweet-tweet cadence on his reed pipes. When I regained my balance, I went to grab my key, but then thought better of it. Arrows would do no good against the coat of the Nemean Lion. Hercules's arrows had been useless, and so will ours. Hercules choked the lion with his bare hands, but I don't think we'll be able to do that. If we only had arrows, we had to aim for the inside. They had to go in through his mouth.

Zoë and Bianca were climbing the Apollo capsule to get a better range. They were firing arrows one after the other, all shattering harmlessly against the lion's fur. The lion swiped the capsule and tupped it on its side, spilling the Hunters off the back. Grover played a frantic, horrible tune, and the lion turned towards him, but Thalia stepped into its path, holding up Aegis. The lion recoiled. "ROOOAAARRR!"

"Hi-yah!" Thalia said. "Back!"

For a second, I thought she had it under control. But the lion was crouching, its leg muscles tensing. It was going to pounce.

Percy and I shared a glance, and I nodded.

"Hey!" I shouted at it and stood up.

The lion's ears twitched and it turned towards me.

"You hungry?" I threw my hands out. "Come and get me!"

It growled and readied to pounce at me. Realising what it was about to do, I cursed and started running. I don't know what I was expecting, but I hadn't thought past of get it away from my friends!

I used the railing as a stepping stone and jumped. I reached for the wire holding up a US Space Shuttle. The plane swung, and so did I. As the lion readied to jump after me, I got an idea. I kept on swinging, pushing the momentum. Above me, the screws were trembling. I couldn't keep it up for much longer, but I didn't need to. As the lion jumped, on the up swing, I ran and leapt off the plane. I slipped of my necklace and flipped it in mid-air. I don't know whether I could still do it, but I notched the arrow and aimed it at the lion's eye as I flipped over. I remembered that I had killed the hellhound by doing this—maybe it was the same for the Nemean Lion. I let the arrow loose, and watched with bated breath as it flew towards its right eye. It stuck, and the lion roared in anger. He crashed sideways into the shuttle, and I fell down onto the next exhibit. My back seared with pain, and I rolled over, clenching my teeth. I don't know what I landed on, but it sure screwed up my spine. The exhibit tipped sideways, and I nearly fell but I grabbed hold of one of the weird blades that made the thing look like a helicopter.

The Lion continued to roar, swatting and breaking the arrow off from its eye. But it did its work—I mean, it wasn't dead, but it was half-blinded, so I guess I helped somehow.

This seemed to give Percy an idea, for he shouted. "Zoë! Target the mouth!"

Percy jumped as well, taking a bet with life and sliding down from the other wing on the shuttle and just managed to escape the lion's grasp as he jumped down and rolled onto the spacecraft where I was. He steadied himself, and with a nervous glance above us at the lion that was starting to get over the pain in its eye, he held out his hand and pulled me back up.

"You okay?" he asked.

I nodded, "Yeah. I'm fine. Just a bruise."

"Well, good, 'cause we're gonna have to jump again."

I noticed the lion getting ready to pounce. "Yup—great."

"Ready?" Percy asked, and I nodded. "Okay, one, two, three!"

Just as the lion lunged, we dropped from the spaceship onto the top of a floor exhibit; a huge model of the earth. We slid down Russia and dropped off the equator.

The Nemean Lion growled and steadied itself on the spacecraft, but its weight was too much. One of the cords snapped. As the display swung down like a pendulum, the lion leaped off onto the model Earth's North Pole.

"Grover!" Percy yelled. "Clear the area!"

Groups of kids were running around screaming. Grover tried to coral them away from the monster just as the other chord of the spaceship snapped and the exhibit crashed to the floor. Thalia dropped off the second-floor railing and landed across from us on the other side of the glove. The lion regarded all of us, trying to decide which one of us to kill first.

Zoë and Bianca were above us, bows ready, but they kept having to move around to get a good angle.

"No clear shot!" Zoë yelled. "Get it to open its mouth more!"

The lion snarled from the top of the globe. I looked around for options, but what could we get that would keep its mouth open long enough? There wasn't anything big enough.

Percy seemed to have a idea. "Guys!" he said to Thalia and I. "Keep it occupied."

We shared a glance before nodding grimly.

"Hi-yah!" Thalia pointed her spear and a spidery arc of blue electricity shot out, zapping the lion in the tail.

"ROOOOAAAAARRRR!" The lion turned and pounced. Thalia rolled out of its way, holding up Aegis to keep the monster at bay, and Percy ran for the gift shop.

I only had a bow and a dagger, useless against a Nemean Lion. But Zoë had me covered. She shouted my name up from above and dropped down a short sword. I caught it and unsheathed it. I spun it around in my hand and yelled, "Hey, Simba! Over here!"

I have a feeling this guy doesn't like being called Simba. The lion growled and ran over bounded over towards me. I rolled out of the way and sliced the sword against its leg. It didn't do anything, but it kept the lions attention away from everyone else.

Bianca and Zoë were still showering the lion with arrows. But none could get into its mouth. The Lion knew to keep its mouth shut, and after my fiasco, it even kept its good eye in a narrow slit.

Percy reappeared, carrying a bunch of space-food packets in his arms. Thalia jabbed at the monster and backed up. The lion pressed her. "Percy!" she called, "Whatever you're going to do--"

The lion roared and swatted her like a cat toy. Thalia flew to the side of a Titan rocket. Her head hit the metal and she slid to the floor.

"Hey!" Percy shouted at the lion as I ran to Thalia. He was too far away to strike, so he did something terribly stupid—you know, the usual Percy choice. He hurled Riptide like a throwing knife. It bounced off the lions side, but that was enough to get its attention.

Percy charged and, as the lion leaped to intercept him, he chucked a space-food pouch into its maw.

The lion's eyes got wide, and it gagged like a cat with a fur ball.

"Zoë!" Percy shouted. "Get ready!"

People were still screaming. Grover tried to calm them with some music, but his nature spell wasn't working. Percy scrambled away from the beast. It managed to choke down the space-food packet and looked at him with pure hatred.

"Snack time!" the Son of Poseidon yelled.

It made the mistake of roaring at him, and got more packets stuck in its throat. As it tried to cough it out, Percy shot three more. The lion's eyes bulged. It opened its mouth wide and reared up on its back legs, trying to get away from Percy.

"NOW!" He yelled.

Immediately, arrows sprouted from the lions maw—two, four, six. The beast thrashed around widely, turned and fell backwards.

It was still.

Thalia groaned and her eyes fluttered open. I helped her sit up, and Grover came over to bring to her to her feet. She looked okay, a little dazed, but okay. Zoë and Bianca dropped from the balcony and landed next to Percy.

Zoë eyed him cautiously. "That was ... an interesting strategy."

"Hey, it worked."

She didn't argue.

The lion seemed to be melting, the way dead monsters do sometimes. Right until there was nothing left but its glistening fur coat. Even that shrank to the size of a lion's pelt.

"Take it," said Zoë to Percy.

He stared at her. "What, the lion's fur? Isn't that, like, an animal-rights violation."

"It's a spoil of war," she told him. "It's rightfully thine."

"You killed it," Percy said.

Zoë shook her head, almost smiling. "I think thy ice-cream sandwich did that. Fair is fair, Percy Jackson. Take the fur."

He lifted it up. As soon as it touched his skin, it morphed into a full-length golden-brown coat. Percy arched a brow and shared a glance at me. "Not exactly my style."

"It'll keep you safe, though," I said. "That skin is impeachable. Wear it, and nothing can hit you there."

That seemed to make Percy feel a little better. He looked at it and threw it on. He showed it off to me and Thalia, as if saying, I got the invincible coat. And I rolled my eyes.

"We have to get out of here," Grover then said. "The security guards won't stay confused for long."

Percy seemed surprised. He grinned, proud. "You did that?"

Grover blushed, "A minor confusion song. I played some Barry Manilow. It works every time. But it'll only last a few seconds."

"The security guards are not our biggest worry," Zoë said. "Look."

We followed her gaze. Through the glass walls of the museum, there was a group of men walking across the lawn. Grey men in grey camouflage outfits. They were too far away for us to see their eyes, but I had a feeling they were coming for us.

"Go," Percy said. "They'll be hunting me, I'll distract him."

"No," I said straight away.

He gave me a look, "Claire, I'm serious."

"So am I," I crossed my arms. "If you're staying then so am I. We're in this together."

"Neither of thee are staying," said Zoë. "We go together."

Percy stared at her. "But you said—"

"You are apart of this quest now," Zoë said grudgingly. "I do not like it, but there is no changing fate. You are the fifth quest member, and here is your ghost," she pointed at me. "And we are not leaving anyone behind."

° ° °

okay, I wanna clear some things up.

one; I changed the timeline. This happens the winter AFTER sea of monsters. so only a few months after, which is why they are thirteen and not fourteen. which also means there will be a time gap between this part and the next part. More than a year lol.

two; If you are confused about how Claire fits in with the prophecy, and why there are five members not six; Claire is not fully alive, she is not counted as a 'live entity' in a quest, and therefore she is a ghost. Ghosts aren't fully 'there' per say, and follow other people and souls. She isn't like really a ghost, but it's more of a symbol of her death and her return. That is why the prophecy says five and not six. (I just thought I should say that in case people are confused. All though, you probs are all confused by that explanation too. soz...)

      five; is it a me chapter if I don't say I hate it at the end? Like I hate how I incorporated Claire into the fight. I hate like changing stuff but at the same time like I don't want her doing nothing either, that's not who she is. Originally I didn't want her to use her bow at all, and she won't be using it much this part, but still UGH I feel like I'm contradicting myself and I hate itttttt.

     Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed the chapter.