~ ☼ ~

By the end of lunch (brunch? I had to admit it was way too early to be lunch, but a brunch where you eat pastrami rather than waffles seemed pretty pathetic to me) I'd totally forgotten about the woman who'd been standing across from us at Primanti Bros. After all, there were lots of weird people in every city, and I doubted Pittsburgh was any different.

But as Kiera led us back into Market Square, pointing out the huge glass-paneled skyscraper and telling us they had a massive Christmas display there every year, I caught sight of her again. She was standing across the street from us once again. Except we were now a different street. And once again, she was staring directly at us.

I turned rapidly.

"You okay?" Lucas asked me.

"Don't look backwards," I whispered, keeping my eyes locked ahead.

Lucas, to my annoyance, did exactly that. Then his eyes crinkled. "Mom?" he whispered.

Mom?!

I spun, but Lucas' expression had already changed. The woman was still staring at us, like she was daring us to recognize her. While Aria and Kiera were focused on the skyscraper, Lucas' eyes were wide.

"That's not my mom," he said.

I narrowed my eyes. "Then who is it?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. But she - she reminds me of my mom. She has the same vibes."

"The same vibes?" I echoed. "What vibes, exactly, does the goddess Athena have?"

I said it so quietly that Kiera and Aria couldn't even hear it, but somehow the woman - the goddess, the crazy Steelers fan, whoever the heck she was - had heard. She squeezed her fists. Then she stormed across the street towards us-

And almost got hit by a car.

I yelped as the car screeched to a stop. The woman threw up her arms as the driver rolled down his window and yelled out, "Get out of the way, lady!"

What did the lady reply with, you might wonder? Something I unfortunately cannot repeat here, as much as I might like to. This is an official transcription to the Camp Half-Blood scribe, and they don't appreciate non-family-friendly content. Just imagine a lot of gestures and waving hands and four-letter words with various add-ons of the suffix "-ing."

The car swerved just as the lady finally got out of its way. It took off down the square, making a sharp right because of how small the street was. Meanwhile, the lady was standing just before us, shaking her head.

"Of course," she said, pointing at the bumper of the car. "Look at his magnet. Browns fan. No wonder!"

She turned to us. All of us were gaping.

"Sorry, kids," she said. "You shouldn't have had to see that."

She came up onto the curb; we moved to let her through. Then she stood there for a moment, wiping the sweat off of her neck as we watched her with jaws dropped. I could see why Lucas might confuse her with his mom. To my understanding, you never knew what a god might look like at any given time. I still didn't know how he saw the great and powerful Athena in this woman's dark ponytail, pale 30-something face, and black track pants.

"Um," I said. "Hello?"

"Hi," she said. She hit a mosquito off her arm. "You're demigods, right?"

I blinked. Lucas just nodded, like he saw it coming.

I tried not to roll my eyes. He still didn't know who she was. None of us did. Aria had come to stand beside me, her face blank. Kiera was on the other side of her, looking majorly miffed that her tour had been cut short.

"Can we help you?" she asked.

"Not really," she said. "Just thought I'd stop by and say hi."

She held out a hand specifically to Kiera. Kiera stared at the hand, then looked slowly back at the woman.

"...hi?"

The woman nodded her chin at her stuck-out hand, shrugging like, aren't you gonna shake it? So Kiera did. I eyed Lucas; he was still scratching his chin.

"I overheard you say you were a Steelers fan," said the goddess to Kiera. "Right?"

"Uh, yeah," said Kiera. "I prefer the Pirates, though."

The woman waved her hand. "I don't worry about them. I try to focus on the Stillers. Penguins, too, once that handsome Monsieur Lemieux came to town..." she clasped her hands together and swooned.

"Yeah," said Lucas. "This is definitely not my mom."

It was so frank I literally burst out laughing. The goddess stopped her swooning over the apparent Parisian who'd saved the Penguins to catch Lucas' eye. She frowned.

"No," she said, "I am most certainly not. If you're Mr. Smarty-pants, can you guess who I am?"

"Nike?" guessed Aria.

The woman shivered. "Gods, no. That woman's crazy."

I wanted to say, And you're not? But I kept my mouth shut.

Before Aria could come up with another guess, Lucas gasped. His eyes went wide first - then wider, from surprise to fear. Immediately I stiffened.

"Pallas," he said. "You're Pallas."

The goddess - Pallas - grinned, bowing. She stuck out one arm as she did so, and a businessman walking by had to swerve to avoid it, glaring at her.

"You'd think you'd know me, right?" Pallas asked. "I should be your godmother. But no..."

Her voice went from joking to sad half-way through the no. I frowned. I had no idea who she was.

Like I've said, my knowledge of Greek mythology is pretty limited.

Was I supposed to know her? Did she have beef with Athena or something? Was she Athena's long lost sister? I had no idea, but now Pallas was glaring at me, like she could tell I was ignorant.

Lucas caught wind of this. He quickly jumped in and said to Pallas, to make her feel better, "You were a Daughter of Triton. You and my mom were best friends, until she accidentally killed you in a sparring match."

"Yeah. Not just best friends but foster sisters."

Pallas looked away, clenching her fists. She didn't look angry at the reminder - more sad than anything. I furrowed my brow.

"If she killed you," I said, "How are you alive?"

"Yeah, I agree," said Aria. "I thought once gods died, they were gone forever."

It had to be true, or else Apollo and Zephyros wouldn't still be fighting about Hyacinthe. But Pallas pursed her lips, waving her hand again.

"We all have our ways," she said. "When I first died, I did a little switcheroo. Hard to explain the details, but basically: there's a titan with the same name as me, and I pretended to be him, scammed a few minor underworld gods... and got out."

"You committed identity fraud to escape the underworld?" Kiera blinked. "That's awesome."

Pallas winked at her. "I knew you and I would be friends."

"I don't understand," said Lucas. "What do you want with us?"

"Oh I don't want anything!" Pallas smiled brightly. "I told you, I just wanted to say hi. Nice to see a fellow Greek appreciating the Steel City. I've been hiding away here for years."

"I don't just appreciate the steel City," said Kiera, now regaining her excitement. "I am the steel city. I was born here."

"Shame you have to live in New York now." Pallas fake gagged herself with a finger. "Nothing compares to Pittsburgh. You know what they say about Pittsburghers-"

That they're obsessed with themselves? I wanted to say.

"- that they're tough as nails?" Kiera finished.

I almost laughed when Pallas said, "Nope. That they love their home city more than any other local of any other city ever."

Yep, I called that.

"Here," said Pallas. "Are yinz in a rush?"

"Nope," said Kiera.

"Kind of," said Aria narrowly. "We're trying to find the sword of Peleus, and it's better found earlier than later."

Pallas ignored her.

"You need to wait for Steelers season," she said. "I promise, it'll be better than last season."

She winked, and Kiera gasped. I was still stuck on her implying we'd stay here, the four of us, until literal football season, when Kiera said, "Wait. Do you..." she waved a hand. "Do you do something? Do you influence the outcomes?"

Pallas smiled slyly. "I... encourage the players to play to their best. That's all I'll say."

Kiera gasped. "That's hilarious."

"How is that hilarious?" I asked. "That means your teams aren't actually good, they're just good because Pallas makes them good."

Both Kiera and Pallas glared at me.

"Don't ever say the Stillers aren't good," said Pallas. "Next season's looking better, I swear. It's just this season."

"That's not-" I sighed, shaking my head. "Whatever."

Lucas was staring at Pallas this whole time. At first, I thought he was still trying to decipher the similarities between Pallas and his mom, but now I realized he had a scowl on his face. I didn't like that.

"Well, Pallas," I said, cutting her off mid-sentence. I knew this summer I was seemingly more angsty than ever, less a coward and more just mean, but I wasn't going to spend this much time here. We hadn't even spend this much time in D.C. last summer, and my afternoon then felt like it had lasted forever.

"We should get on the road," I said. "Sorry. We need to find the sword of Peleus."

"We don't have a time limit," said Kiera.

No, I thought, we don't, but I have friends I'd like to hang out with this summer, and they aren't you. Then I felt bad - hadn't I been so happy with them earlier? I couldn't say it was hanger, because I'd stuffed myself at Primanti's once I took off all the coleslaw. And it wasn't that hot out, either. I was just grumpy.

I put my hands on my hips and said, "I know, but it's probably better found sooner than earlier."

Pallas sighed. "Where are you going?"

"Chicago."

"Chicago!" Pallas exclaimed. "Gods, not Chicago-"

Before she could start on another tirade, I said, "You guys finish up. Lucas and I are going to - um-" I thought of a form of transportation. The first thing I thought of, to my chagrin, was Amtrak. Last time I'd gone on a train, it had not ended well. Still, I blurted out, "We're gonna go get tickets for Chicago at the Amtrak station."

I grabbed Lucas' wrist and dragged him away.

We were a block away when I finally let go, heat flooding my entire body. The two of us stopped, and he smiled at me gratefully.

"Uh, thanks," he said. "She was irritating me."

"No problem," I said. My voice went gruff as I tried not to get bashful. "Come on. This city's tiny. The Amtrak station should be pretty close."

But we had hardly walked another block before there was suddenly the noise of a giant crash. Lucas and I stopped sharply. Then the screaming began.

"What the heck?" I asked, except I didn't say heck.

Lucas's eyes went wide. "Woah."

"What?"

"I can't believe you just said that."

Immediately, embarrassment overtook me. I stood there, looking for something to say, until there was another crash, and Lucas swore too. I scowled.

"Come on," he said. "It's probably a monster."

Luckily we still had our gear - I know you wouldn't think so, because I haven't complained about carrying it once, but I swear, I have matured a little bit since last summer - so I unloaded my sword. Liakada felt warm in my hands as it always did. Immediately, at the sight, I felt a sense of pride. No wonder Lucas had a crush on me, if he did. I was freaking cool with this in hand.

(None of the rest of the time, of course. Let's be real.)

The two of us ran, Lucas' camping gear dragging him down, in the direction of the sound. We had just reached the front of the river when Kiera, Aria, and - to my chagrin - Pallas came running from the opposite direction. I was about to ask them what the heck that was when it suddenly erupted from the river once again. That was the crashing noise - the wave created was so loud that it sounded like a car accident.

It was a giant squid tentacle.

I watched with my heart pounding in my chest as it shot upwards, sending a geyser of river water with it, and reached onto land. There was a huge tangle of interstates and parking lots between us and the actual river, but I still jumped backwards as I saw the thing grab an empty car and drag it into the river.

"What the heck is that?" I asked.

Pallas scowled. "A kraken."

A kraken. I could work with that. I knew what that was. I'd seen Clash of the Titans! "Release the Kraken!" and all that. Except that Kraken had been a weird, lizard thing, and this was a squid. That was obviously a sign I wouldn't be able to defeat it. I only fought reptiles.

I felt my blood rush all over my body as the kraken pulled another tentacle upwards. It felt like it was working towards something. And sure enough, this time, it lifted itself completely to show one giant eye.

It was the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen.

Then the riverfront exploded into chaos. I don't know what exactly it was doing, thrashing its tentacles around or what, but all I saw was water everywhere. Dirty, muddy, silty water, drenching me and blocking out my vision. You know those towers at waterparks that have tons of bridges and walkways and on every one, a million water guns and buckets, making it feel like you're drowning everywhere you walk? Yeah, that was what it was like. Except this water tasted like steel.

"Agh!" I yelled. "Oh my gods!"

I batted away another wave, trying to find my friends. Lucas had disappeared, understandably so, because he had no weapon. I saw Aria at the edge of the interstate, knocking arrows, and Kiera was running around like a chicken with her head cut off, trying to bat away flying debris.

This was all, of course, in between giant bursts of water. It was so overwhelming that I could barely breathe. I had to try not to scream as I looked around for Pallas. Cars were being taken into the river by the minute. Where was she?

Nowhere to be found.

I swore under my breath and ran across the street as best I could to where Aria had stationed herself.

"Hey!" I yelled.

But she was focused. She ignored me, notching more arrows. I held up an arm as one more giant spout of water erupted-

Then it all went flat.

Slowly, surely, I opened my eyes.

The hurricane had ended. Aria was panting. She turned to me and grinned.

"I struck it right in the eye."

That was awesome, but you know what wasn't? What the kraken had done to the poor south side of downtown Pittsburgh. Along with the missing cars, debris had flown everywhere, both things the kraken had taken from land and things he'd taken from under the river. I saw a boat slammed into the ground like Spongebob during his driving test, a giant plank of wood strewn across a nearby street sign, and... one of those old-timey diving suits, like from Scooby-doo.

Pittsburghers were running around everywhere, screaming at the top of their lungs. I didn't know what they saw this as. Maybe a freak storm. Maybe the mist was broken and they saw the kraken. I felt for them really hard.

"It's not dead!" shouted Kiera.

She was standing beside Aria now. I hadn't even noticed her run by. Panic exploded on Aria's face, and she said, "What do you mean?"

"You calmed it down! You didn't kill it!"

I ran up and met them, slimy water covering my face. Sure enough, I could see the kraken just below the surface of the water. I swore I heard a growl, or maybe that sound the Grudge makes, like he was biding his time to rise again.

"Shoot," said Aria. "I- I'm out of arrows."

Sure enough, she was.

Lucas appeared again, thankfully. He was panting, and his Hollister polo was stuck to his chest with the wetness. I ignored how it made him look.

"Oh my Gods," he said. "What the heck was that?"

I stared at him. "A kraken."

"I realize that," he snapped. "I tried to get Pallas to help, but she just gave up!"

He gestured an arm to Pallas, whom I now saw was sitting across the street, looking dejected.

"What?" Kiera exclaimed. "Why wouldn't she help?"

"You know what she told me?" Lucas asked. "She told me, 'There's no point. I always lose. As you would know.'"

I saw the angst in his eyes. Now I was mad at her, not just annoyed. He had no role in what had happened to her.

Aria snarled. "Well, she better help now. That thing's rising again, and unless you or AJ can breathe underwater, you're not going to be able to kill it."

I looked around at the chaos the kraken had thrown Pittsburgh into. Alarms were wailing. It was the worst I'd ever seen. Every other monster I'd fought had just affected my friends and I.

"She has to help," I said. I looked back at Pallas. "Didn't you say she was a daughter of Triton?"

Lucas nodded. "That's probably part of the reason she likes it here."

"Then she can probably breathe underwater!" I threw my hands up. It was an assumption, but it was the best we had.

"We can't make her swim!" said Kiera. "That'd be a death match, going down there by herself. It'd be suicide!"

So be it.

Okay, that was harsh. I guess I'd used all the empathy for today on Darryl, because I was annoyed with Pallas and thought her sacrificing herself to save the entire city she claimed to love so much was worth it. Besides, she could just scam her way out again.

"She said if she returned to the underworld," Said Kiera, like she could read my mind, "She'd probably never get to get out again. They'd be watching her way too closely."

They must've had a really quick subject change the minute Lucas and I left them.

As if to prove it was still a threat, the kraken suddenly shifted. I nearly jumped, but it had not rose yet. In the river below, around its giant bulbous head, there were overturned boats everywhere. Already, emergency services were out on the water rescuing people. It was a ticking timebomb for them to be safe, too.

I looked at Kiera. She met my eyes, then shook her head, frustrated. But I knew she understood.

"This isn't fair," she said. "She didn't deserve to die. She just got screwed over by her supposed best friend."

She glared at Lucas, and he recoiled.

"Okay, first of all," he said, now rightly mad, "1. She did not screw her over, it was an ACCIDENT, and 2. Athena wasn't even at fault! It was Zeus sabotaging the battle so Athena would make the wrong move! So she wouldn't lose!"

It sounded like Zephyros, moving the wind so Apollo's disc would kill Hyacinth. Horrifying. I couldn't imagine the gods messing with their own brethren like that, much less their actual kid. Just for what - for pride? It made me shiver.

Now, Lucas' own pride was blazing. He and Kiera were arguing furiously, while Aria helplessly was still trying to aim her bow in hopes the kraken might pop up again. I caught her eye, and she shut hers like she was pained.

"Go," she said. "It's our only choice."

I sent a silent prayer to Apollo, the only god I had any sort of power over (other than maybe Demeter? would she help in a situation like this? didn't I owe her rather than the other way around?), to help the innocent people down on the river. And I also prayed to Triton to be the only actual father on Olympus and tell his daughter to grow up.

But as I approached the goddess, still sitting there dejectedly on the curb, I suddenly felt sad.

I'd been there before. Feeling hopeless. Honestly, before last summer, I'd felt pretty hopeless. I wasn't depressed-depressed, but I definitely was miserable with my stupid life in Highland Falls. And that was after only 14 years. I could imagine a thousand year-old wound of losing so unfairly would get to a girl.

But it didn't stop my intentions. It was the only way I could think of. I just had to be nicer about it. I couldn't just yell at her to go over to the river and kill herself.

"Hi," I said.

Pallas looked back up at me. She narrowed her eyes.

"No sports talk," I said. I had a plan. "Are you mad at Athena?"

"Athena?"

"Yeah," I said. "You know, Lucas over there's mom."

Pallas sighed.

"No," she said. "I'm not mad at her. it wasn't her fault, and she's done what she could over the years to honor me. I just... I just wish I could've talked to her one last time."

I frowned. "Then why didn't you?"

"Because I was mad at her for a long time," she said. She squinted, the sun getting in her eyes, and brushed a strand of black hair out of her face. "Pride's a funny thing."

I swallowed nervously. "Yeah."

I glanced back at my friends. Lucas and Kiera were still arguing, Kiera swinging her knife in a way I didn't like, while Aria looked at me and mouthed, "Hurry!"

When I looked back at Pallas, I realized she'd been following my gaze. She raised her eyebrows, then said, "What."

"You like winning, right?" I said. "And you still have fondness for Athena?"

She nodded suspiciously.

"Can you breathe underwater?"

Pallas sighed. "You want me to fight it?"

I nodded. Then, quickly, I said, "I'm so sorry. I know it's risky."

Pallas was silent for a moment as she thought it over.

After a long moment, she said, "You like him?"

My cheeks went red. "I do."

"For that, I'll do it," she said. "And for Pittsburgh, of course. But you've inspired me the most."

I wondered how many monsters had attacked Pittsburgh over the years that she'd never fought because I hadn't been there to convince her. My stomach churned for the Steel City. If you're reading this and you're from Pittsburgh, you need a better patron goddess.

Pallas stood, grabbing a spear from the ether. then she said, "I can always appreciate a good friendship."

A good friendship.

I watched as she left, my cheeks red, wondering how she'd just friend zoned Lucas and I without our involvement.

And I watched, unable to move, as Pallas walked across the interstate with no fear. She stopped to say something to Lucas, pulling him aside from his fight with Kiera. he stared after her with jaw dropped as she then walked away. With a salute to her fellow Pittsburgher in the form of Kiera, she stepped up onto the edge of the interstate and leaped, spear at the ready.

I heard a squelching sound immediately. More crashing and more geysers. I lifted my arms up again, falling instinctively to my knees to keep myself safe from the tsunami. Then, when peace suddenly came again, like silence suddenly falling in a loud lunch room, it was uncanny.

I turned slowly knew instinctively that the kraken was dead.

And I think Pallas might've been, too.

Sure enough, as I knelt there for a few more minutes, I watched my compatriots watch the river. But there was nothing. Finally, looking hollow, Lucas was the first to turn and face me. He shook his head.

The danger was gone, but it was only then that I realized what I'd done. Yes, she was a goddess, and yes, she talked a lot. And yes, it was for the greater good. But I'd just convinced someone to risk their life. And it had worked.

I was responsible for that.

I felt like all the wind had been taken out of me.

I found myself sitting down on the curb, tears in my eyes. I hardly reacted when the other three came back over. I cried all the way to the Amtrak station.

~ ☼ ~

A/N: we're fROM THE TOWN WITH THE GREAT FOOTBALL TEAM. *rising beat* WE CHEER THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS! CHUCK NOLL AND ALL HIS FRIENDS ARE ALL ON THE FIELD! GOoo OuT and GET tHEM STEELERS!!!