✶ ✶ ✶

Unsurprisingly, the officers didn't comply with Annabeth's demanding question and only answered her by claiming that they were temporarily 'detained'.

They were back at their original table, sat and watching as one officer questioned the woman claiming to be a witness while another patrolled the aisle. Nobody said anything for a while until Percy decided he should speak up.

"So we're just killing time 'till we found out that guy's like a werewolf or something, right?"

Looking behind her to find the officer staring back at them, Annabeth denied, "I don't think he's a monster."

"Hard to say."

"Smelt like it." Drea commented.

"Well, if he's not a monster, what's going on here? Why would anyone tear our room apart?"

"Maybe they were looking for something."

"We don't have anything.."

"The people who think you stole Zeus's master bolt might disagree." Annabeth sassed Percy.

"Right.."

"Well, it's not like they found what they were looking for." stated Drea.

"Yeah! They're not gonna find something we don't have." Grover smiled at her.

"Either way, we aren't spending the day answering questions in the St. Louis police station. We need to get out of this before we get delayed.." Just then, a woman walked up behind Annabeth and gently tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. Annabeth judgingly looked her up and down.

She stuttered a bit, "Do you mind if I sit?" Not really listening for any answer she set down a doggy bag in the table next to them, and squished in next to Percy and Drea.

"Scoot!" Drea whispered shouted at him, basically forcing him to move over in his spot. He looked offended.

"You poor dears." She groaned. "Your parents aren't here, are they?"

No, they're definitely not.

Her carrier began to emit a howling and whining sound of a dog. She faced the bag and spoke to it, "Isn't that right, precious? Don't children get scared when they're all alone?"

Turning back around to look at them, she attempted to appear more relatable by adding, "It's okay. I'm a mom. I know how scared you must be." Offering a grin to the police officer that was still guarding the teens, she asked, "Excuse me. Would you mind giving us a little space? ..I think.. I think you're making them nervous."

The cop reluctantly agreed and walked away, leaving them alone with her at the table. Even then Drea wasn't focused on the woman, but rather how much she liked the clip in her hair.

She turned around again, and with a now creepy grin, she admitted, "I want you to know.. I don't actually that you made that mess back there."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Drea spat.

From underneath the table, Annabeth aggressively kicked at Drea's foot. A loud thud could be heard from the reaction while Drea made a disturbed face.

This woman had randomly decided to pin a crime on them and waste their time. Of course she was pissed.

The woman only laughed her off and spoke again, "I just wanted a moment alone with you."

Drea wasn't even focused on her anymore but rather Grover who seemed to be heavily distracted by the woman's coat. It then also caught her attention.

"There are some things I need you to understand-"

"You have something on your jacket." The lady was so close to Drea that she was able to turn towards her and pluck off something from her coat. She held it up in her fingers for everyone to see at the table.

"It looks like.."

"Looks like glass to me." Drea finished for Grover with a smug expression.

"No one smashed out the windows from inside our cabin. Someone smashed them in from the outside."

She didn't seem to have an answer for Grover until her pup began to growl and shriek inside of its carrier again. She quickly stood to comfort it.

"Yes, sweetheart. I know, I know. You're impatient... Oh! But we're almost there.."

Oh this woman is a nut case.

Standing up to face the table she was once sat at, she menacingly stared into their souls with a grueling look in her eyes. Even though she had gotten up from the seat, Drea and Percy were still close together against the window.

"This isn't your fault. But sadly, you're going to have to bear the burden of your parents' mistakes today."

"Listen, lady." Percy randomly piped in. "I don't know who you are, but I think I know what you are. We've run across a few monsters like you and we've sent them all packing."

Drea's face flushed at his outburst.

She scoffed and answered, "Monsters like me? Well... of course they're like me. They were my children."

The tension in the air heavily thickened. Drea's heart dropped far down her body and was probably somewhere back on the train tracks.

"Children?.. What does that mean?"

"The Mother of Monsters.."

"Echidna."

She only smirked as her carrier rumbled yet again. Echidna hushed her child as everyone began to wonder what could actually lie inside that bag.

"Monster. It's an odd word.. considering my grandmother is your great-grandmother, and this has always been a family story."

Percy couldn't comprehend that he was somehow related to the being in front of him.

"But.. to my eye, the demigod is the more dangerous creature. Disruptive. Violent." The woman sighed in content, "If I exist for anything, it is to stand in the way of monsters like you."

Drea was debating on what to do.

Should she attack? Should she usher everyone away? Why was this woman talking on and on and on?

"My little one here, she's just a pup now. Bless her heart." Echidna knelt down face to face with the carrier. "Today.. you will be her prey."

Like hell.

"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." Her monster continued to growl within its bag.

Annabeth began to unsheathe her dagger from her pocket while Drea was still internally panicking.

"I needed you to understand what was happening so that she could track the scent."

Of course.

She'd been wasting their time to allow her child to memorize their musk to track them down if needed.

"So that she could learn and grow, because.." The zipper of the pouch began to slowly unzip itself. "That's what's a good parent does for their children."

The woman stared into Drea's soul while she spoke, "Not that you would know."

Drea had had it.

The flap of the bag came down as she spoke, "You should run now."

Drea pounced at Echidna using the glass shard to slightly slice a spot on her face. She then held it to hold up to her throat, essentially keeping her in place. Meanwhile, the monster had unleashed a leg to attack Percy and sting him right in his chest.

Echidna had fallen further into her seat from Drea's attack, but she stood at the sound of Percy's distress, worried. She found Annabeth being lifted into the air as she gripped onto the leg and pierced it with her dagger.

"No, sweetheart!" Echidna cried for her child.

"Go!" Annabeth exclaimed.

The kids all shuffled away from the tables and into the hallway again. Sounds of the monster screeching could be heard while the officers chased after them but they continued past the rooms.

After passing a few halls, Annabeth locked an exit door behind them so that the cops couldn't continue to follow them.

Stopping their run, Drea noticed a stinger left in Percy's chest. She plucked it out and murmured, "Percy.."

"What is that?"

Annabeth came closer and inspected it for a second, then asking Grover, "It's a stinger. Grover, do you know what kind of monster has one of those?"

"I don't know. I mean.. nothing good probably.."

"Are you okay? Do you feel weird?" Drea frantically asked him.

"I think so. Why?.. Do you think it's poisonous or something?"

Drea couldn't fathom to answer so Annabeth finished, "..I'm not sure."

The officers were still banging on the door and yelling for them to come back as the train suddenly shifted and the lights flickered. They all paused in anticipation.

The group turned to see the cops looking for a source of trouble. Just then, the door just behind them began to develop severe dents and cracks in its structure. A big figure could be seen behind the window.

"We gotta move!" Grover urged for them to keep going. The conductor had announced a stop of the train.

Making it outside onto the train tracks, they stopped once they were far out and stared back at the train. Nothing approached them.

"Why isn't it still chasing us?" Percy asked while everyone was still panting.

"What, like you want it to?" Drea looked to him.

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

ϟ

The group continued to venture away from the train in an attempt to keep getting away. Ending up in an alleyway, they weren't entirely sure what their next move was.

"We aren't gonna be able to outrun them for very long." 

"No need. We just need to find somewhere we can stay in for a while until they pass us up." Drea reassured Grover.

"Some place safe. Any ideas where we might find one of those?"

"I do." Annabeth spoke up. "A sanctuary, dedicated to Athena, built by one of her demigod children a long time ago."

"There is an Athenian temple hidden somewhere in the middle of downtown St. Louis?"

"Yes.. except it's not all that hidden." Annabeth replied as they neared the infamous St. Louis arch.

ϟ

As they entered the temple, Annabeth began to go on and on about the perfection of the arch. The architectural style, the precise math that keeps the entire thing in place, and more. It made Drea happy to see her talk about something she's so passionate about.

For a moment, it reminded her of when they were back at the train and she was insistent with Percy about how prophecy's are never clear and to not dwell too much on them. Drea was still wondering why she'd made it such a point to add.

Wandering through a group of kids on a fieldtrip Annabeth was still saying, "This is how you show Athena your love. A monument to the power of perfection."

"It's a monument to some other stuff, too."

Drea cringed on behalf of Grover as she spotted all of the animal bones and cruelty paintings displayed for viewing.

"You're talking about what some humans want this place to be about. I'm talking about what it actually is." Annabeth harshly answered him.

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

"No monsters can enter. Not even Echidna. We're safe."

"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." He stared over at a gleaming painting of travelers attacking a bull, a representation of the manifest destiny time period. "Just because we're prey, doesn't mean we need to be helpless."

The three watched as Grover wandered away. The silence was heavy. "He doesn't like it when people mess with animals." Percy spoke.

"Yeah, I know.. I shouldn't have snapped at him, I just.. I know." Annabeth sighed.

Drea watched her solemn look grow more obvious while she looked to Grover. She knew how much their friendship meant to one another.

Changing topics, Percy asked, "So, this is your mom's place? Wonder if she's around." He looked around like he was clueless and pulled his lips the side to pull a funny 'feminine' voice and say, "Be right down, just going to the potty!"

Drea giggled at his impression while Annabeth just smirked at him. Percy turned around as if he was searching for the source of the voice, but then he smiled back.

"Nice."

"I have a gift."

"Had me fooled." Drea joked.

"I guess you were right. We needed a safe place, and your mom had one waiting. Pretty lucky we happened to be in the right city for it."

Annabeth's face fell a bit as she commented, "Luck or fate?"

At the mention of fate, Drea figured it'd be a good time to ask something that'd been floating in her mind. "Speaking of fate, I had a question."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows in anticipation. "How come you were so persistent that the prophecy wasn't what we thought?" Drea asked.

Annabeth's mood immediately changed into one of avoidance. Her vision shifted all around until she cleared her throat and replied, "I'm gonna go say sorry to Grover." and quickly shuffled away.

Drea watched her walk away and wondered what had bothered her. Percy was oblivious to the conversation. "Was it something I said about her mom?"

She grinned at his consideration. "It wasn't you Percy." But it was. Just not in that way.

The two were always on the same wave length, so Drea was confused as to why she couldn't figure out what was wrong.

"I think she's just.. she knows what you think of us, how we behave when it comes to our parents."

"What?"

"You think we're making things up, don't you? That we're crazy for having so much faith in our parents."

"I didn't say that."

She gave him a knowing look of 'really?' He'd said a lot without actually saying anything.

"Look, you guys are way better at this than me. I haven't even been a demigod for longer than a week, why listen to me?"

"You've been a demigod your whole life, Percy. You were just never in the right place to let yourself.. be."

He sighed, "My point is that I don't know what I'm talking about. You know everything."

"That's because you have algae where your brain should be." Drea snorted. Percy playfully rolled his eyes at her remark.

Both were quiet for a second before Drea added, "If you wanted, you could say something to your dad if you wanted. This is a temple after all."

Percy made a sour expression and denied, "No thanks."

"How come?"

"My dad.. I don't want anything from him. He's had his chances to be around and he just.. hasn't."

Drea felt the feeling creep in again. The feeling that they were the same even though their situations were different.

"You've honestly done so much for me since the moment we met. It's more than my father's ever done for me since the moment I was born. I mean you've.." Percy paused in his words.

"What? Made you a bracelet?" she joked. "The oracle was wrong, you know. I'm not your enemy-"

Just then Percy's body seemed to go limp as he collapsed to the floor, just barely being caught into Drea's arms.

"Percy!" Drea yelped. He was able to put down his knee so that Drea didn't have to hold his entire weight up. Within a moment both Grover and Annabeth returned at the sound of concern.

"Hey! What happened?" Grover shouted.

Percy was able to mumble out, "I think.. I think those stinger things were poisonous."

"I have an idea."

ϟ

There they were, splashing every inch of Percy's body with water that emitted from the fountain in front of the monument. He was drenched head to toe but didn't look to be getting better.

They were garnering a lot of attention from people passing by, but it didn't stop them.

"The water cured him back at camp, it should work for poison too, right?"

Grover wasn't so hopeful.

"You know, I think it's-" Drea splashed more water into Percy's face, accidentally cutting him off.

"Oops."

"I think it's working. This was a great call." He gasped. Then trying to stand he quickly fumbled back down. "Or not."

"Maybe it needs to be naturally running water for Poseidon to be able to heal him."

"Is he not the god of all water?" Drea dryly asked.

Suddenly, several car's obnoxious horns and honks began to ring from the street. Many car crashes were happening just at the end of the lawn. She was approaching.

"We need to get back inside!"

"What? No, we need to keep trying." Drea insisted while she continued to use handfuls of water to cover Percy's back.

"This isn't working and she's coming."

With another look of the street, they saw that Echidna was there. She was walking on the front lawn at a creepily slow pace with the ominous view of crashes behind her. Drea remained sat next to Percy while Annabeth and Grover stood up.

"Okay, look, we'll take Percy inside, and we'll go the temple's altar."

"Altar? Where is there an altar?"

"The highest point, the best view."

"I'm sorry.." Drea murmured.

"What?" Percy gently asked.

Grover loudly questioned Annabeth, "Okay, but what good is that even gonna do us?"

"We're gonna get to the altar and we're going to ask my mom for help."

Everyone seemed surprised at her suggestion.

From below Percy said, "I thought we don't ask for help.."

Turning again, Annabeth only saw Echidna growing closer and closer. "Come on, let's get moving." Drea and Grover helped him stand and let him use them as a way to keep himself stood.

Annabeth began to lag behind and suddenly stopped at the sound of eerie whispers that nobody else could hear. Echidna spoke to her.

"Guys, d-did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"..Never mind. Come on." They continued rushing inside the arch.

ϟ

Rushing past crowds of people also shuffling into pods that went up to the top of the arch, the group found an empty tram and quickly moved inside. As they sat down, Percy questioned Annabeth.

"What was that back there? What did you hear?.. She spoke to you." He put together. Annabeth didn't respond. "Alecto did that with me back in the museum in New York. What did she say?"

At the sound of hissing their attention turned to the figure of a woman nearing the pods. Echidna. From behind her appeared the shadow of a large creature. The pods just barely shut their doors, signaling their way up had begun.

"..was that the Chimera?" Grover's voice shakily asked. "I think.. I think that was the Chimera!"

Something seemed to click for Percy.

"How did the Chimera even get inside here? How did any monster get inside here?"

"Why are you asking me?" Drea replied.

"Annabeth."

She didn't look over. Her eyes were glued to the floor.

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

"Grover if you don't calm down.."

"Annabeth!" Percy desperately called for her attention. She finally looked at him.

"What did Echidna say to you?"

"..She said my impertinence wounded my mother's pride. And that that will be my doom."

"Impertinence? What kind of.. Medusa's head." Percy suddenly understood.

"I embarrassed my mother." Annabeth declared. After so many of years of endlessly devoting herself to her mother, one slip up had costed her everything.

"But I'm the one who sent the head to Olympus. I signed the note."

"And I went along with it." Annabeth loudly corrected Percy. "It embarrassed her. Now, she's angry."

Drea had been sat quietly. A thought was bubbling in her thoughts but she was almost too embarrassed to voice it.

"Guys, what are we gonna do?"

"She isn't gonna help us when we get to the top to save Percy."

"No, I meant what are we gonna do about Echidna and Chimera?"

"I'll ask my dad for help." Drea bursted out. It was even more surprising to hear than Annabeth admitting she wanted help from Athena. Drea had never done that, not in years.

"You can't-"

"I'll make him!" Drea swore.

"Echidna.. she said some things about your dad too."

"Of course she did." she grumbled. She didn't need to know more.

Why would she expect anything different? Before there was a slight chance of him even responding, but now? After she'd fully supported Percy's reckless decision? She would be surprised if her father ever acknowledged her again.

She felt so foolish for believing her father would dare to give her a helping hand.

Just then, the doors to the pod opened and they were on top of the great arch. They were on top of the arch with no options left and a monster quickly following after them.

Drea was struggling to remember why she'd want to be on a quest so badly.

✬ ✶ ✫

Ellie Speaks!

yesyes i finally updated

i start school in a week so we'll see how the writing goes from here..

can anyone guess where i got the chapter title from (it's literally the title)