Percy's POV
I stood there stunned as I gripped my sword. I tried to slash it, stab it, anything. But nothing worked. And I could do nothing as I watched my friend get thrown out the gaping hole in the Arch. I tried to rush forward and grab his quickly retreating form. But he was already too far gone. Plummeting out of my reach as he fell to the ground below. I fell to my knees as I turned my head. Refusing to look at the sight below. At the image that assuredly lied upon the earth.
A laugh filled the room from behind me as Echidna spoke. "One down one to go."
My body trembled as I convulsed. But I was not moving with feelings of dread and distraught. Instead, I was filed with anger. Anger for my friend.
The Chimera roared in triumph as it lunged at me. I dodge under it as I stood back up. Blade in hand as I yelled out in rage.
"I'll kill you! I'll turn you to dust! I'll make sure your sent back to the depths of Tartarus for a hundred years!"
Echidna gnashed her teeth as the Chimere turned preparing another charge.
"Do not worry Perseus Jackson. You will be joining him soon enough."
I gripped my sword as I stared down 800 pounds of sheer monstrosity. Poisonous tail whipping about claws glistening menacingly in the light. It growled aggressively at me. A sound that would put any sane person retreating in fear. But in that moment, I didn't care what it was. It had killed my friend and I would return the favor.
I raised my sword as I let out a deep breath. The Chimera crouching down and suddenly springing forward. Charging at me like a furry one cart locomotive. Its speed was intimidating to say the least but this time I was ready. I side stepped as the monster rushed past me. Swiping my blade along its side as it flew by. A long thin line of red appearing across its hide. It hadn't gone deep enough to do any real damage but frankly I didn't care. Even that small victory invigorated me to continue the fight.
The Chimera came to a stop. Turning back towards me as it prepared a second charge. I raised my blade in response. Fully prepared for the ensuing dash. But this time as it crouched its legs and sprung up into the air. Its back grazing the top of the ceiling as it came down on me. I glanced left and right to dodge. But its dragon like wings were there to meet me. Spread out and prepared to ensnare me on either side.
With no other choice I did something stupid. I rushed forward. Sliding under its belly as its claws came down on me. I ducked as low as my body allowed continuing to move forward. Its paws barely missing my head as I came out on its back side. Bolting up as I raised my sword. Ready to score another hit on this murderous monster.
But as I held my blade my weapon seemed to tremble in my hands. A fiery withering pain creeping up my leg as I struggled to hold my weapon. And I looked down to see the head of its long serpent tail with its fangs burrowed deep in my calf.
My whole leg was on fire. I tried to jab Riptide into the Chimera's mouth, but the serpent tail wrapped around my ankle and pulled me off balance, and my blade flew out of my hand, spinning out of the hole in the Arch where my friend had just been thrown.
I managed to get to my feet, but I knew I had lost. I was weaponless. I could feel deadly poison racing up to my chest. I remembered Chiron saying that Anaklusmos would always return to me, but there was no pen in my pocket. Maybe it had fallen too far away. Maybe it only returned when it was in pen form. I didn't know, and I wasn't going to live long enough to figure it out.
The irrational part of me told me to keep fighting. Barehanded if I had to. That rageful fire within me still blazing with heat. Telling me to avenge me friend. But the rational part of me knew it was hopeless. And if Y/n was still here he wouldn't want me to throw away my life because of him.
But there wasn't much for me to do. So, I backed into the hole in the wall. The Chimera advanced, growling, smoke curling from its lips. The snake lady, Echidna cackled. "They don't make heroes like they used to, eh son?"
The monster growled. It seemed in no hurry to finish me off now that I was beaten.
I glanced at the park ranger and the family. The little boy was hiding behind his father's legs. I had to protect these people. I had failed to save Y/n, but I could still save them. I couldn't just . . . die. I tried to think, but my whole body was on fire. My head felt dizzy. I had no sword. I was facing a massive, fire-breathing monster and its mother. And I was scared.
There was no place else to go, so I stepped to the edge of the hole. Far, far below the river glittered. If I died would the monsters go away? Would they leave the humans alone?
"If you are the son of Poseidon," Echidna hissed, "you would not fear water. Jump, Percy Jackson. Show me that water will not harm you. Jump and retrieve your sword. Prove your bloodline."
Yeah, right, I thought. I'd read somewhere that jumping into water from a couple of stories up was like jumping onto solid asphalt. And if I somehow missed the water, my chances against the hard ground didn't fair any better. Y/n couldn't have survived, and neither would I.
The Chimera's mouth glowed red, heating up for another blast.
"You have no faith," Echidna told me. "You do not trust the gods. I cannot blame you, little coward. Better you die now. The gods are faithless. The poison is in your heart."
She was right: I was dying. I could feel my breath slowing down. Nobody could save me, not even the gods.
I backed up and looked down at the water. I remembered the swirling green trident that had appeared above my head the night of capture the flag, when Poseidon had claimed me as his son.
But this wasn't the sea. This was the Mississippi, dead center of the USA. There was no Sea God here.
"Die faithless one," Echidna rasped and the Chimera sent a column of flame toward my face.
"Father help me," I prayed.
I turned and jumped. My clothes on fire, poison coursing through my veins, I plummeted toward the river.
I wish I could tell you I had some deep revelation on my way down, that I came to terms with my own mortality, laughed in the face of death, et cetera.
The truth? My only though was Aaaggghhhh!
The river raced toward me at the speed of a truck. And I barely cleared the mainland as I dived into the murky depths.
But my impact with the water hadn't hurt. I was falling slowly now. Bubbles rose up and clouds of silt and disgusting garbage swirled up all around me.
At that point, I realized a few things: first, I had not been flattened into a pancake. I had not been barbecued. I couldn't even feel the Chimera poison boiling in my veins anymore. I was alive, which was good.
Second realization: I had just gotten my friend killed. And then ran away like a scared kid.
I should have been dead. The impact should have killed me. I should have been drowning. But I wasn't. I had been saved but why had I been? I'd gotten lucky a few times before. But against a thing like the Chimera, I had never stood a chance. Those poor people in the Arch were probably toast. And one of my closest friends had met his end because of me. I couldn't save them. I was no hero. Maybe I should just stay down here with the catfish, join the bottom feeders.
I heard a woman's voice ring out inside my head. It sounded like my mother. It spoke: Percy, take the sword. Your father believes in you.
This time I knew the voice wasn't in my head. I wasn't imagining it. Her words seemed to come from everywhere, rippling through the water like dolphin sonar,
"Where are you?" I called aloud.
Then, through the gloom, I saw her-a woman the color of the water, a ghost in the current, floating just above the sword. She had long billowing hair, and her eyes, barely visible, were green like mine.
A lump formed in my throat. I said, "Mom?"
"No child only a messenger though your mother's fate is not as hopeless as you believe. Go to the beach in Santa Monica."
"What?"
"It is your father's will. Before you descend into the Underworld, you must go to Santa Monica. Please Percy, I cannot stay long. The river here is too foul for my presence.
"But . . ." I was sure this woman was my mother or a vision of her, away "Who-how did you-"
There was so much I wanted to ask, but the words jammed up in my throat.
"I cannot stay, brave one," the woman said. She reached out, and I felt the current brush my face like a caress. "You must go to Santa Monica! And Percy, do not trust the gifts. . ."
Her voice faded.
"Gifts?" I asked. "What gifts? Wait!"
She made one more attempt to speak, but the sound was gone. Her image melted away. If it was my mother, I had lost her again.
I felt like drowning myself. The only problem: I was immune to drowning.
"You father believes in you," she had said.
She'd also called me brave . . . unless she was talking to the catfish.
I waded toward Riptide and grabbed it by the hilt. The Chimera might still be up there with its snaky, fat mother, waiting to finish me off. At the very least, the mortal police would be arriving, trying to figure out who had blown a hole in the Arch. If they found me, they'd have some questions.
I capped my sword, stuck the ballpoint pen in my pocket. "Thank you, Father," I said again to the dark water.
Then I kicked up through the much and swam for the surface.
I came shore next to a floating McDonald's
A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded me of Times Square on New Year's Eve.
A news lady was talking for the camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. There are even some eyewitness reports of someone possibly two people falling from the Arch."
I tried to push through the crowd to see what was going on inside the police line.
". . . . two adolescent boys," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show two adolescent boys going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities . . ."
I backed away, trying to keep my head down. I had to go a long way around the police perimeter. Uniformed officers and news reporters were everywhere.
Part of me wanted to search the area until I found Y/n. Maybe I could still save him. Maybe he had survived. But the other part of me relented. Because I knew I wouldn't be able to take the sight when I came upon him. I couldn't handle seeing him like that.
So, I turned to search for the others. I'd almost lost hope of ever finding them in the sea of people when I heard a familiar voice bleat, "Perrr-cy!"
I turned and got tackled by Grover's bear hug-or goat hug. He said, "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"
Annabeth stood behind him trying to look angry but even she seemed relieved to see me. "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"
"I sort of fell."
"Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?"
Behind us a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. I recognized her immediately as the mother of the little boy who'd been on the observation deck. She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua-"
"Okay ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."
"I'm not crazy! This boy he got thrown out the hole by it. And then the other boy he jumped out and the monster disappeared." Then she saw me. "There he is! That's the boy!"
I turned quickly and pulled Annabeth and Grover after me. We disappeared into the crowd. The womans words ringing in my head. "This boy he got thrown out the hole by it." Y/n was gone. No way I looked at it allowed him room for survival. He couldn't have survived that fall. And it was all my fault. Suddenly Annabeth's voice brought me back to reality.
"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"
And then a stark realization washed over her. As she began looking around as if expecting him to come rushing up any moment.
"Wait where's Y/n?"
And I couldn't take it anymore. I fell to my knee's tears streaking down my face as I collapsed. It was all my fault.
Annabeth and Grover helped me to my feet. Demanding to know what happened. So, I told them. I told them everything. Echidna and the Chimera. Y/n becoming a shadowy ghost. And beating the monster back. And as I continued it became harder and harder to speak.
"And then it jumped back on him. Clawing at him. Tearing him apart." I choked as I tried to speak. "I tried to help. I tried to save him. But I couldn't do anything. I couldn't stop it."
Annabeth covered her mouth as a tear fell from her eye. Stifling a sob as I tried to explain. Grover quivering as he held back his own flood of water.
"It picked him up and threw him out the Arch. There was nothing for me to do."
I quickly finished the rest of my story. The dive into the river and the encounter with the water apparition. The two of them looking at me stunned silent as they tried to form the words to respond.
"Maybe he. Maybe he survived the fall too. He could have jumped into the river. Right Percy? Right?" Annabeth said almost pleadingly.
There was no answer I could give but to shake my head. I had survived that fall because I was made for the water. But Y/n wasn't like me. Even if he had cleared the gap and made it into the water. He might as well have been falling on to concrete.
"Are you sure Percy. That he didn't. That. That he didn't make it out?" Grover asked.
"I saw him fall. I wish I believed he did. But I don't know how he could have."
The three of us stood there in silent distraught as we thought over what had just happened. It didn't feel real. We knew this quest would be dangerous. But it had never felt so true to me until now. Every step of this journey could be our last. And it took the loss of my friend to realize that. But I had to hold out hope. I refused to accept it.
"I don't know. Maybe he-"
But I was cut off as a gasped escaped Annabeth's mouth. I stared back at her following her line of sight. Until my gaze eventually rested on the patch of grass beside me. The very earth seeming to shift and morph. The grass and rock being displaced as suddenly the familiar image of Y/n emerged from the ground.
Roots and grass wrapping around him protectively as tentacles of shadow continued to encompass his body. Wrapping around him like a ghastly spirit. But even beneath the darkness I could still see the blood. Deep claw marks across his body creating streaks of dark crimson as they mixed with the encompassing shadow. Wherever there was blood the shadow moved to cover it. Mixing in with it like some dark healing salve. He was hurt but he was alive.
Relief, shock, and joy flooded through me. The three of us not missing a beat as we all dashed to his side. Kneeling down next to him as we stared down at his motionless body. Annabeth was the first to move. Placing two fingers on his neck as she leaned in close.
"I can still feel a pulse!" she said overjoyed.
And I couldn't help but laugh with relief. I hadn't failed. I hadn't lost my friend.
Annabeth began to retract her hand. Tendrils of shadow wrapping around her fingertips as she moved away from Y/n's neck. The dark taint releasing its grip as she pulled away.
"What is this?"
Annebeth looked at the quickly dispersing darkness on her fingertips. Analyzing it intently as it slowly dissipated.
I looked between her, Grover, and Y/n. I had no idea what was happening or what that stuff was. But frankly I didn't care right now. The only thing that mattered right now was keeping him alive.
"What do we do now?" Grover asked.
"We keep going." I said determinedly.
Annabeth looked back at me slightly taken a back.
"Percy, we can't just bring him with us like this. We have no idea what's going on with him. We have to think about this rationally."
"There is nothing to think about! If we don't move soon. Monsters will be on us along with the police. Because if you haven't forgotten now there looking for me and Y/n." I said, "We have to move and we're not leaving him behind."
I didn't allow for anymore debate as I leaned in closer to Y/n's unconscious form. Snaking my arms under him as I hoisted him up. The soil and grass clinging to him but eventually releasing as I pulled him away. I felt the shadow tendrils climb off of Y/n's skin as they snaked their way across my arms. Sending a shiver up my back as they tightened their grip. It was like being clung to by a corpse. Lacking warmth or light of any kind. Annabeth looked over at me in concern. But I didn't complain, and she didn't comment. And without another word we continued.
Somehow, we made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. We got on board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. The train trundled west as darkness fell, police light still pushing against the St. Louis skyline behind us.
Author Note
Hey just me here to say a few things. Firstly, thank you so much for reading this. And for 2.6k reads truly it is a blessing to see that number grow so much past my expectations. Secondly, I wasn't able to post any chapters for a bit because I was feeling pretty sick and didn't have the mental capacity to write. But I'm back now and chapters should continue as normal. Thirdly I check my Wattpad notifications every day specifically the comments and it has been rather interesting to see the guesses being thrown around regarding the identity of your godly parent. And without a doubt it seems to have reached the consensus of a certain earthly immortal. But I'll be the first to say there is more to this story than meets the eye. And a particular shadowy being is at the center of it all. I won't be giving any spoilers though. We'll have to wait and see how everything unfolds. So that is it for now. I hope you enjoyed and have a good day/night whatever time it may be for you. I tip my hat to you dear reader and I shall take my leave. Thank you.
- Machine Herald