ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ : ᴘᴇʀᴄʏ, ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴅᴏ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ!

My old babysitter was a monster?

"Oh!" Echidna yelps, shushing her pet. "Monster. It's an odd word, considering my grandmother is your great-grandmother and this has always been a family story. But, to my eye, the demigod is the more dangerous creature." Echidna looks at each of us.

"Disruptive," she says to Percy.

"Short-tempered," Echidna states to me. "If I exist for anything, it is to stand in the way of monsters like you. My little one here. She's just a pup now. Bless her heart." She chuckles at the cage, and I clutch my sword tightly.

"Today," Echidna starts, turning to look at us, "you will be her prey." Echidna stands up, still smiling. I want to wipe the smile off of her smug face.

"Are you afraid yet? Oh, it's all right. Fear is natural. It's also essential to the hunt. Your fear, your doubt, your confusion," she states, the creature growling in the background. "I needed you to understand what was happening so that she could track the scent." The cage starts rattling and shaking. I see Percy's eyes widen in fear. Maybe I can switch places so he won't get hurt.

"So that she could learn and grow, because that's what a good mother does for her children. Not that you would know, you're type only know beauty," Echidna says, looking at me specifically. Okay, no way she just dissed my mom. The zipper for the cage starts to move. Whatever monster or creature it is, it will kill us if we don't figure out how to get out. Its growling intensifies. The animal starts roaring (or something, growling? Probably. What would I know, I'm dyslexic.) The cage is almost unzipped.

"You should run now." The cage fully unzips and attacks Percy. It stings him, and I audibly gasp. It lifts me up, and I take my sword and stab it. Percy looks over at me, worried that I'll die.

"Oh, sweetheart!" Echidna exclaims, comforting the monster. The three of us take off running out of the booth and down the narrow hallways.

"You, stop!" A police officer shouts, following us. Percy, Grover and I run through the doors and into the tiny hallways. The policemen are catching up, so Grover urges Percy to speed up. He does, and we all try not to slow down. As we run through an emergency exit door, I barricade it by putting the chains used to lock the door through the door handle, which leaves the policemen stuck. I catch up to the guys and see Grover pulling something out of Percy's shirt. It's a stinger.

"What is that?" Percy wonders aloud.

"Oh my gods, it's a stinger. Grover, do you know what type of monsters have one of those?" I question, starting to stress.

"I don't know, I mean, nothing good probably," Grover replies.

"Does it hurt? Do you feel okay?" I interrogate.

"I think so. Why? You think it's poisonous or something?" Percy asks.

"Open the door now, little girl!" A male officer shouts.

"What is up with them calling me a little girl?" The train halts to a stop, and the lights shut off. There is shaking noises, and everyone turns to find the noise. The policemen look behind them to see the commotion. The train starts breaking down.

"Come on, we gotta leave!" I exclaim. The three of us run out of the train as the door behind us breaks down. As we get out into the sunlight, we run on the empty train tracks. I hear growling noises as we turn back to look at the train.

"Why isn't it chasing us?" Percy asks. I turn towards him.

"Echidna said whatever she was hiding in that carrier, it's young. It won't venture too far from her mother. She's learning to hunt, and this seems like the hunting part."

~

"We aren't gonna be able to outrun them for very long," Grover notes. We're walking in downtown St. Louis, and we need a spot to hide.

"We don't need to. We just need a safe place to hole up," I say.

"Some safe place. Any ideas where we might find one of those?" Grover inquires, mostly being sarcastic. Then, the worst thing pops into my head. I don't want to go there, but I don't want to fucking die.

"I do. A sanctuary, dedicated to Athena, built by one of her kids awhile ago," I explain. I lead the two guys to the Gateway Arch, its reflection glistening in the sun.

"Listen, I bet Annabeth could tell you more, but all I see is beauty. Oh, it's earthquake proof, so Poseidon can't ruin it," I add unenthusiastically, saying the last part while looking at Percy. We say excuse me multiple times while moving through a crowd of humans.

"You sure this is a monument to Athena?" Grover asks me, pointing to the statues and artifacts.

"This is what some humans use it for. In my opinion, it's better than whatever Athena was thinking of," I say, muttering the last part.

"Whatever. We're safe here, right?"

"No monsters can enter. Not even Echidna, we're definitely safe," I reassure.

"Great. Well, since our train exploded, I'm gonna see if there's another one we can get tickets on. We can't stay here forever. Just because we're prey doesn't mean we need to be helpless," Grover replies. I nod. Yeah, I don't want to stay in a temple dedicated to my least favorite goddess. Grover walks away, clearly fumed.

"He doesn't like it when people mess with animals," Percy explains, walking next to me.

"Yeah, I know. I shouldn't have snapped at him, I just-" I don't know how to finish my sentence. "I know."

"So, this is Athena's place?" Percy questions. I nod. "I know you and your mom have like, serious beef with Athena."

"Yeah, I couldn't think of anywhere else to go. I can't think of a temple dedicated to Aphrodite or any other god in St. Louis," I justify.

"Wonder if your mom is listening to you right now," Percy adds. "Be right down! Just going to the potty!" I turn to Percy and quietly chuckle. He grins.

"You finally laughed at my jokes!" He exclaims, seeming really happy. I can't help but smile.

"Yeah, guess you had me break character," I say, lightly laughing. We look at each other.

"I guess you were right, by the way. We needed a safe place, and you had one ready in your brain. Pretty lucky we have a smart girl like you for the job," Percy compliments. I feel extremely flattered. This has never happened before, someone complimenting me on my smarts and not just my beauty.

"I know you think all of this shit is in my head. Telling myself that my mom cares, even though she hasn't talked to me ever," I note.

"I didn't say that," Percy reassures. "Look, I've only been a demigod since, what, last Saturday. You shouldn't listen to me." I think back to what Percy said earlier.

"Technically, it is Athena's place, but a temple is a temple. We can probably both talk to our parents," I remark. I do want to see of my mom will be any help with my new goal for my "friend," finding Summer.

"No thanks. Your thing with your mom, I get it. It's different. It works for you. But my father, I don't want anything from him. He's had his chances. Honestly, you've done more for me in the past few days then my father has done in my entire life. If I have to stick with someone, I..." Percy's voice trails off.

"Wow, I think you were about to call me a friend," I reply. "Somewhere around here the Oracle is laughing at us, and you know-" Percy almost collapses on the floor, but I grab his waist to hold onto him. My stomach starts swishing in an odd way. What is going on?

"Hey, what happened?" Grover interrogates frantically.

"I think...the stinger...things were...poisonous," Percy states, taking sharp breaths in between words.

"I have an idea," I say. "Grover, come with me."

~

Okay, I know what you are thinking. We probably look ridiculously stupid splashing water on a blond kid in a fountain in the middle of downtown St. Louis. But, if it works, then who cares! People are pointing and laughing at us, but I don't really care.

"The water cured him back at camp, it should work for poison?" I say, asking the last part.

"You know, I think it's working. This was a great call," Percy agrees. He tried to stand up, but ends up falling down. I feel bad for the kid. He's super weak, his own dad isn't helping, and we don't have anyone to help us.

"Or not."

"Maybe it needs to be naturally running water for Poseidon to heal him," I add. I hear tires screeching and glass breaking. I turn to see a car crashing and flipping over.

"Okay, let's get inside," I say, fearing that Echidna is behind this. Grover shakes his head.

"No, we need to keep trying," the satyr disagrees.

"Hell no. This isn't working. And she's coming!" I exclaim, turning to see Echidna coming for us. " Okay, look, we'll take Percy inside, and we'll go to the temple's alter."

"Altar? Where is there an altar?" Grover questions. I explain it's at the highest point. "Okay, but what good is that even gonna do us?" I take a sharp breath.

"We're gonna get to the altar and we're going to see if my mom will help," I explain. Percy looks up at me in confusion.

"I thought we didn't ask for help," Percy recalls. I sigh and see Echidna catching up. "Alright guys, let's go!" We support Percy by holding his shoulders for stability. I pause and hear Echidna whispering at me.

"Did y'all hear that?" I question, jogging back to the group. They shake their head in confusion, so I ignore it. We take Percy inside and speed walk to the trams. We walk inside the little capsules and sit down.

"What was back there? What did you here?" Percy asks. I stay silent. "She spoke to you. Alecto did that with me back in the museum in New York. What did she say?" I turn to see the capsule doors closing, Echidna standing and watching us.

"Was that the Chimera?" Grover wonders. "I think that was the Chimera! How did the Chimera get inside here? How did any monster get inside here?"

"Serena?"

"We're in a sanctuary," Grover continues. "Athena would have had to let her in, but why would she do that?"

"Serie! What did Echidna say to you?" Percy interrogates. I sigh.

"The Judgement of Paris. Athena is still bitter over my mom winning. This contest was the reason for the Trojan War. Echidna said I have to pay for Aphrodite's mistakes. When in reality, Athena just hates me and my mother," I ramble. "I'm sorry. If you didn't choose me, we wouldn't have to worry about this situation. But now, Athena is envious and angry of a demigod, and she wants revenge. She isn't gonna help us get to the top to save Percy, and she won't let me talk to my mom," I look down at my ring, still wondering what it does.

"It's not your fault, though. You did nothing wrong! Plus, if I didn't choose you, I doubt we would even be alive right now. No offense, Grover," Percy says, apologizing to Grover. He shrugs.

"Well, what will we do with the Chimera and Echidna? They're gonna be right behind us," Grover worries. I nod. We get off and walk away.

"We don't have much time. They'll be up here any minute. And if my mom can't protect us, then we'll just have to fight it out up here," I explain. This plan is last resort, but it will hopefully work. One thing I forgot was that other people are here. They are looking down through the windows and taking selfies.

"Oh no, we gotta get everybody outta here,". Grover expresses. I turn to look around for a distraction when I see a fire alarm. I smirk and pull it secretly. The alarm starts blaring, and a voice speaks over the PA.

"Okay, you guys go and follow them down," I say. Listen, this isn't the way I want to die. But, I want to save Percy and Grover.

"What? No, no no. We're not splitting up," Grover says. I try to push them toward the emergency exit.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, we're all getting out of here together," Percy shouts over the alarm, trying to grab my shoulder.

"We won't make it. The Chimera is basically the demigod-killer. Someone has to stay back to slow her down and buy everyone some time," I express. I walk them to the exit, tears running down my cheek.

"Okay, help him down the stairs and get him to the river. And don't stop. Not till you get to Hades, not till you have the bolt, okay?" I say to the guys. Percy grabs my shoulder and shakes his head. I squeeze his and try to squirm away so I can kill this monster. "Okay, go!"

"Wait," Percy shouts. He pulls his sword out and holds his hand out to give it to me. I lightly smile and grab it. Then, he pulls me to Grover and switches places with me. He slams the door.

"Hey, wait, no, Percy!" I yell, banging on the door. Grover joins in.

"Percy, open the door!" Grover shouts.

"Percy, don't do this to me!" I exclaim, trying to pry the door open with my sword. Now, I really start to cry. My tears are burning against my face, especially since some are running down on my cuts. Grover pats my shoulder as I still try to open it.

"Poseidon's never helped me. He wasn't gonna start now. I would've never made it to Hades, but you can, and you will now," I hear Percy say through the door.

"Percy, please! I'll do it, it's safer!" I shout.

"I'm sorry, Serena. I don't want you to get hurt." This breaks my heart. I hear Echidna saying something, but it's muffled. The Chimera growls, and I hear Percy grunt.

"We have to go. He's buying us time like you said," Grover whispers.

"Seriously? He's risking his life for us, we have to help-"

"Serena, we have to get the bolt. Or else, Zeus will start a war. C'mon, let's get outside." Grover drags me down the hallway back to the trams, where we sit in silence. If Percy had risked his life on the bus, I wouldn't have cared. Now, I do care. Is this what friends feel like?

We get out of the trams and see people still in the museum, knowing that it was a false alarm. Grover and I run out into the blaring daylight and take a breath. What does one do after their friend dies for them?

𝔄/𝔫 - 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔟𝔲𝔯𝔫 𝔦𝔰 𝔰𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔟𝔲𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔥𝔬𝔭𝔢𝔣𝔲𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔢𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔓𝔢𝔯𝔠𝔶 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔖𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔞 𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔰𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔟𝔲𝔯𝔫𝔰 😭

𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔰 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 🫶