𝐒𝐰𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 // 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑦 𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠𝑜𝑛 ＆𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑙𝑦𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐗𝐗.

－ • ꕥ • －

"𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑠
𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒"
— 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧

－ • ꕥ • －

𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐇 𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 quartet into the base of the St. Louis Arch, spewing facts as they went. "It's 630 feet wide, 630 feet tall, both to within an inch. It's got no internal support. Each side is balanced perfectly against the other. The arch is held up by symmetry. It's held up by math. And it's Earthquake-proof, so Poseidon can't ruin it." Annabeth explained. Evangeline knew how much she loved architecture and was glad she finally got to experience incredible feats of it.

"Nice." Percy muttered, walking between Evangeline and Grover as Annabeth waded through the crowd of people.

"This is how you show Athena your love. A monument to the power of perfection." Annabeth said.

Evangeline frowned, looking around the Arch. She wondered if Aphrodite had ways she liked to be worshipped. "It's a monument to some other stuff, too." Grover added, referring to the artifacts displayed all around.

"You're talking about what some humans want this place to be about. I'm talking about what it actually is." Annabeth corrected their satyr friend.

"Whatever," Grover rolled his eyes. "We're safe here, right?"

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

"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 said, walking away after eyeing animal skulls littered around the Arch.

Evangeline's eyes followed him before turning to Annabeth and Percy. "I'll talk to him. Don't go anywhere, please." she said quietly, following after Grover, beginning to leave Annabeth and Percy to have another deep conversation.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth had noticed how shaken up she had been since encountering Echinda.

Evangeline just nodded. She found Grover realizing he didn't get any money from her as he looked at the train schedule. "Need some help?" she fished the cash they had from her backpack and handed it to Grover.

He took it into his hand, going back to the train schedule. "Thanks." Grover said quietly, his mind elsewhere.

Gently, Evangeline placed her hand on Grover's back. "I'm sorry about what happened to the centaurs, and your uncle. I bet he was really proud of you for being a Protector." the blonde girl said in hopes of raising Grover's mood.

Grover smiled slightly. "Yeah, I think he was," Evangeline removed her hand and stared at the train schedule as well. "What do you think happened to Arlo? Everyone's always wondered it, but no one's ever asked you. You knew him better than me, Eva." Grover asked.

Evangeline sighed. "I really don't know. I didn't think he was the type to just leave when we were both really injured. I mean, after that night, what we saw, I don't get how he could leave." the night that Noah, Evangeline and Arlo were chased by Echidna and the Chimera lived freely in Evangeline's mind. The car crash, the river, all the blood, the fires, the wind, it never left her, and it never would.

"I don't think he would leave you if he had a choice. You meant so much more to him than he let you believe." Grover said confidently and Evangeline nodded.