𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐒 - luke castellan.

xiii, a safe sanctuary

a  s a f e  s a n c t u a r y
venus.

━━━━━━━

They ran through the train, Venus's heart beating out of her chest and she wanted to stop and take a huge breath but police officers were following them as if they were the culprits. Annabeth used a chain to lock the door and then they finally stopped when Grover noticed something. 

"Percy," He said, grabbing the stringer from his clothes.

"What is that?" Percy asked.

"It's a stinger," Annabeth answered. "Do you know what kind of monsters have one of those?" She asked the two.

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

"Do you feel okay?" Venus asked Percy.

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

"Open this door, right now!"

"We're not sure," Annabeth said. Suddenly the train shifted on the other side and they turned to look. Horror filled their eyes as they a creature slam into the door and cracks filled the glass.

"We gotta move!" Grover said as they started to run away. 

They ran out of the train before stopping to look. Venus breathed heavily, her throat dry as a desert, and her legs felt weak.

"Why isn't it still chasing us?" Percy asked, also being out of breath like the rest.

"Echidna said whatever she was hiding in that carrier, it was young. It won't venture too far from her mother," Annabeth said. "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 said. 

"We don't need to. We just need a safe place to hole up," Annabeth said as they walked through the streets. 

"Some place safe," Percy said. "Any idea where we might find one of those?"

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

Venus wanted to roll her eyes. A demigod built a sanctuary for Athena? The demigod must love her a lot.

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

"Yes," Annabeth said. "Except it's not all that hidden."

"You're telling me a child built that for its mother who does nothing but ignore them?" Venus asked. looking at the giant temple. 630 feet wide, 630 feet tall, and has no internal support, but each side is perfectly balanced against the other, and the arch is held by symmetry. Annabeth glared at her.

"It's also earthquake-proof," Annabeth said as they walked inside. "so, Poseidon can't ruin it."

"Nice," Percy said as they looked around. 

"This is how you show Athena your love," Annabeth said. "A monument to the power of perfection," She said as they walked through the kids who looked at Venus with their mouths parted.

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

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

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

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

"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." Grover said and then looked at a painting before looking at them, "Just because we're prey, doesn't mean we're helpless," he said and walked away. 

"I'm gonna go look around," Venus said before walking away.

She was reading the museum label, picking out mistakes when a boy walked towards her.  "Hey," she looked away and at the boy, her face blank.

"Hi?" She said.

"You don't go to our school, do you?" He asked, she looked around and at him. He was tall and had chestnut long curly hair, dark brown eyes, and defined facial structures with his jawline sharp and cheeks softly hollow.

"No," she said. 

"What's your name?" He asked, smiling as he tilted his head.

"Sage," she lied because she didn't want to tell him her name.

"Sage," he repeated, still smiling, "I'm Jason," he said, reaching his hand forward. She looked at his hand and then back at him before shaking his hand.

He looked at what she was reading and spoke, "I think humans have made this place something it's not supposed to be," he said and she looked at him. 

"Aren't you a human?" She asked.

"Yes, but I'm educated." He smiled. She smiled back before looking back at the label, forgetting that she was still shaking his hand and he seemed to forget it too.

"Venus!" She looked around to Annabeth seeing her call for her and Percy on his knees. She pulled her hand away and ran towards them.

"What happened?" Venus asked, bending down to look at Percy's pale face. 

"I don't know," Annabeth said when Grover ran to them.

"Hey, what happened?" He asked.

"I think... I think those stringers were poisonous," Percy said being out of breath. Venus's brows furrowed as she looked at Percy's face.

"I have an idea. Come on, help me," Annabeth said and then the two picked up Percy by his arms and Venus followed them outside.

Author's note:

double update!!