The quartet spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain. And surprisingly, they weren't attacked once.
"This feels like the calm before a storm," Percy whispered to Holly one night as they watched the hills roll past outside the window.
"A foreboding sense of dread," Holly nodded in agreement as she snacked on a bag of crisps that a vendor had sold them as she passed by.
"In a fancy term, yes." Percy grabbed a newspaper from the passing trolley and flipped it open, his face paled once he saw what was on the paper.
On the front page, Percy's face stared back at them. It had his name and a photo that a tourist had taken as they got off the Greyhound bus the night of the explosion.
He had a wild look in his eyes, Riptide was a blur in his hands. The caption read: Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers. The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be travelling with three teenage accomplices. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.
"Don't worry," Annabeth told Percy as she eyed the paper. "Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't sound so sure.
He spent the rest of the day pacing the length of the train, but eventually, he fell asleep.
"Is this going to be a problem?" Holly asked Annabeth for her expert opinion, passing over the paper.
It was only her and Annabeth, Grover had left to find a lavatory while Percy was fast asleep on the seat across from them.
"Of course," Annabeth sighed. "As soon as someone sees Percy and alerts the media, our mission will be even harder especially if Hades finds out we're after him."
"Well, it's impossible to assume that he doesn't know already."
"He hardly keeps up with mortal business,"
"Unless it concerns his well being, which with our mission, it does. If we discover that he has the lightning bolt and report it to Zeus, you think he'll let us off with a free pass?"
"No." Annabeth hummed, she stared at the paper again for a few minutes before ripping it apart and getting up to stuff it in a bin.
While she was gone, Holly turned to Percy. He was turning in his sleep again, muttering something that Holly could hardly hear.
Against her better judgement, she got up and kneeled down in front of Percy. She glanced behind her, neither Grover or Annabeth were coming back. She turned back to Percy, leaning closer as he mumbled once more.
"I won't help you," He mumbled, his face scrunching up in a frown. "I won't help you. I won't-"
He took a deep breath, a loose strand fell onto his eyelids, prompting Holly to tuck it away. But as the tip of her finger grazed his forehead, he stirred awake.
Holly was frozen in place, even as Percy opened his eyes drearily and squinted at her.
"Holly?" He asked, looking at a shell shocked Holly. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing." Holly got up and went back to her seat as he sat up, just in time as another vendor passed by.
"Coffee, Tea?" He asked, Holly nodded and grabbed a few coins from her bag in exchange for tea.
"Do you want some?" Holly asked Percy as she blew on the hot liquid.
He rubbed his eyes, "Er- sure, why not."
Holly passed over the cup of tea to Percy who cautiously took a sip, "Do you prefer tea or coffee?" She asked, his silence turning awkward by the second so she felt like she had to do something.
"Neither, my mom doesn't let me drink coffee." Percy got that far away glaze in his eyes whenever he thought of his mom. "I fall asleep instantly, and we don't really drink tea."
"I get that, also why I don't drink coffee." Holly nodded as Percy passed back the cup, then she fiddled her fingers against the paper. "So...who wants your help?"
"What do you mean?" Percy asked, looking up at her as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt.
"When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'I won't help you.' Who were you dreaming about? I mean- if you don't mind."
He took a long time contemplating whether to tell her or now, finally he said, "An evil voice laughing from a dark pit," he shrugged. "I don't know what it means, but I've been dreaming about it since we got on the train."
Holly was quiet for a long time as Percy recounted the rest of his dream, her face scrunching up in concentration and confusion. "That doesn't sound like Hades, he always appears on a black throne and he never laughs."
"He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?"
"If, Help me rise from the Underworld. Meant he wants war with the Olympians, why would he ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?"
Percy shook his head, rubbing his temple as he sighed and slumped back on the seat.
"Percy, you can't barter with Hades. You know that, right? He's deceitful, heartless, and greedy. I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time-"
"This time?" Percy asked. "You mean you've run into them before?"
Holly's hand crept up to her necklace. She fingered a glazed white bead painted with the image of a pine tree, one of her clay end-of-summer tokens. He swore he'd seen that bead before, on one of the other campers at the Hermes Cabin but he can't remember who.
"Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom."
"What would you do if it was your dad?"
"That's easy," she said. "I'd leave him to rot."
"You're not serious?"
"Percy, my father isn't a very good person." She backed up in the corner of their booth and fiddled with her necklace as she rested her head against the wall. "When I was a baby, he... did something and got put in jail. You'd think that after getting me, he'd try to be a better person. But no, he had to leave me to my aunt and uncle. I used to tell people he was dead, and it would've been a whole lot easier if he really is."
"But how...I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital..."
Holly chuckled, "No, I wasn't. I appeared on the doorstep of my father's flat- apartment, in a woven basket wrapped in a white blanket. My mum was kind enough to recount the story once we'd met, she pointedly said that she left a note. It was good to know she cared. But...it still stings a bit, you know? I mean, my Aunt told me he wasn't in a good place when he got me. But, I can't help but think it's my fault; Maybe, if I'd just been a better baby, he would've found a reason to stay..."
Holly sniffed, wiping her eyes with the collar of her shirt.
"My mom married a really awful guy," Percy said. "Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking, leaving you with your aunt."
"He doesn't care about me," Holly scoffed. "My Aunt and Uncle, they're great, but... they like to pretend this side of my family doesn't exist. They tried to make me feel like I belong, but I always knew I was different from them and that...scared them. So, I ran away before I could hurt them or my cousin."
"How old were you?"
"Six."
"How did you get to camp?"
"I spent the first few months alone, but then mum came to me in a dream and guided me to help. I made a couple of friends who took care of me, for a short time anyway. I was seven by the time we reached camp."
"You're the same age as Annabeth when she reached camp?"
Holly nodded, and soon, Annabeth returned.
"Did you guys see the Gateway Arch?" Annabeth asked, an excited glee in her eyes as she took a seat.
"No, why?" Percy asked as Holly got up and slipped out of the booth.
"I'm gonna go find Grover before our layover, you two chat." Holly said, then she turned to Annabeth. "Be nice."
"I'm always nice," Annabeth rolled her eyes but nodded nonetheless.
***
Holly didn't know how Annabeth managed to convince the three of them to spend their only layover in Mississippi to go sightseeing. Well, actually she did know how; Annabeth can be persuasive when she wants to be.
The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. The quartet threaded their way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s.
Annabeth supplied them with facts about how the arch was built, while Grover supplied them with jelly beans.
As they waited in line, Percy leaned towards Grover. "You smell anything?" He murmured to Grover.
He took his nose out of the jelly-bean bag long enough to sniff. "Underground," he said distastefully. "Underground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything."
Percy contemplated whether to ask Holly or not, but she looked neck deep into a magazine to even pay attention.
"Guys," Percy decided to speak up. "You know the gods' symbols of power?"
Annabeth had been in the middle of reading about the construction equipment used to build the Arch, but she looked over. "Yeah?"
"Well, Hade-"
Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place... You mean, our friend downstairs?"
"Um, right," Percy said. "Our friend way downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"
"You mean the Helm of Darkness," Holly said. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."
"He was there?" Percy looked baffled.
She nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus-the darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful than Annabeth's invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true...
"It allows him to become darkness," Grover confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"
"But then... how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" Percy asked.
Annabeth and Holly exchanged looks.
"We don't," Grover said.
"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better," Percy said. "Got any blue jelly beans left?"
Soon the tiny elevator car arrived to take them to the top of the arch, Percy almost froze at the sight of it as passengers loaded inside. The doors were about to close once they'd gotten in when an old lady and her dog- a chihuahua with a rhinestone collar shoehorned them into the car.
Then the elevator lurched and started upwards, Percy sealed his eyelids shut and grabbed on the railings as he they began to ascend in a curve.
"Whoa," Grover hummed as he clutched at his stomach and grabbed onto Percy for support.
Annabeth however was beaming, looking at the different mechanisms that made up their elevator. Holly was hoping she doesn't find a broken piece, or an unscrewed pin that will make this horror show even scarier.
"No parents?" the fat lady asked them. She had beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged so much, she looked like a blue-jean blimp.
"They're below," Holly answered since she was the only one who could. "Scared of heights."
"Oh, the poor darlings."
The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now, sonny. Behave." The dog had beady eyes like its owner, intelligent and vicious.
Percy asked, "Sonny. Is that his name?"
"No," the lady told him. She smiled, as if that cleared everything up.
At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded Holly of an overly silver aeroplane loading bridge. She's seen a fair share of those in her lifetime of travelling. Rows of tiny windows looked out over the city on one side and the river on the other.
Annabeth kept talking about structural supports, and how she would've made the windows bigger, and designed a see-through floor. She probably would've stayed up there for hours, but lucky for the boys, the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.
"It's okay, Annie." Holly patted Annabeth's shoulder as Percy steered them towards the elevator. "We'll come back another time, I promise."
Percy loaded Grover and Annabeth in the elevator, but when it was Holly's turn, they realised there were already two other tourists inside and no room for the two of them.
The park ranger said, "Next car, kids."
"We'll get out," Annabeth said. "We'll wait with you."
"Nah, it's okay." Percy said, putting on a reassuring smile.
"We'll see you guys at the bottom." Holly waved as the elevator doors slid shut and their car disappeared down the ramp.
Holly turned and looked at the remaining tourists on the deck, there were only them, a little boy with his parents, the park ranger and the fat lady with her chihuahua.
Percy smiled uneasily at the fat lady. She smiled back, her forked tongue flickering between her teeth.
Holly grabbed Percy's wrist, he looked down at her questioningly. "Percy..." She said wearily as she stared at the lady, then Percy did a double take as her Chihuahua jumped down and started yapping at him.
"Now, now, sonny," the lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here."
"Doggie!" said the little boy. "Look, a doggie!"
His parents pulled him back.
The Chihuahua bared his teeth at me, foam dripping from his black lips.
"Well, son," the fat lady sighed. "If you insist."
"Er- did you just call the Chihuahua your son?" Percy asked, Holly almost face palmed herself as she reached for her quill.
"Chimera, dear," the fat lady corrected. "Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make."
She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, the two saw that her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were sideways slits, like a reptile's.
The Chihuahua barked louder, and with each bark, it grew. First to the size of a Doberman, then to a lion. The bark became a roar.
The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monster.
The Chimera was now so tall its back rubbed against the roof. It had the head of a lion with a blood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail, a ten-foot-long diamondback growing right out of its shaggy behind. The rhinestone dog collar still hung around its neck, and the plate-sized dog tag was now easy to read: CHIMERA-RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS-IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS-EXT. 954.
The snake lady made a hissing noise that might've been laughter. "Be honoured, Percy Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my broods. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"
Percy was stunned for a moment, before he said; "Isn't that a kind of anteater?"
She howled, her reptilian face turning brown and green with rage. "I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me. For that, Percy Jackson, my son shall destroy you!"
"Percy!" Holly shouted, she brandished her rapier as the Chimera charged.
Percy and Holly leaped aside to dodge the bite, but they ended up next to the family and the park ranger who were all screaming, trying to pry the emergency exit doors
"You handle the mortals," Holly said before she ran the opposite direction, sliding below the chin of the Chimera and ending up at the other end. "Hey, you ugly Chihuahua!" The Chimera turned faster than she would've thought possible, she had a second to contemplate her decision before it opened its mouth, emitting a stench like the world's largest barbecue pit and shot a column of flames straight at Holly.
She dove through the explosion, the carpet bursting into flames behind her. Where she had been standing a moment before was a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges.
"Great! Now Annabeth's going to kill me." Holly groaned as she turned back towards the Chimera only to be met by its maw, and it would've swallowed her whole if Percy hadn't stepped up with Riptide and slashed at its neck.
A fatal mistake that he was late to realise, the blade sparked harmlessly off the dog collar. In retaliation as Percy pulled Holly and pushed her away from the Chimera, it whipped its serpent tail around and sank its fangs into his calf.
"Percy!" Holly shouted once more as she skidded to a stop on the carpet.
"I got it! Get to the doors," Percy shouted back as he tried to jab Riptide into the Chimera's mouth, but the serpent tail wrapped around his ankles and pulled him off balance, and his blade flew out of his hand, spinning out of the hole in the Arch and down toward the Mississippi River.
He managed to stay on his feet as Holly ran towards the emergency exits, he knew he'd lost, he was weaponless and he could feel the poison racing up to his chest. He backed into the wall as the Chimera and Echidna advanced, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Holly trying to pry the doors using her rapier.
"Hold on, Percy!" She called to him, her voice was smooth like honey and he felt her ease his pain.
The snake lady, Echidna, cackled. "They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, son?"
The monster growled.
Holly jabbed at the doors again, glancing over her shoulder as she saw Percy back towards the hole, looking down at the river beneath him.
Holly could see the thoughts forming in his eyes, then he glanced up and made eye contact with her.
"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."
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."
So lost in thought, Percy didn't notice when Holly pried the doors open and the mortals scurried out of it nor when she ran towards him as the Chimera sent a column of flame and tackled him down the hole.
Holly just had enough time to send a prayer to her mother, or to any god who was willing to listen before they plummeted towards the river.
***
When she was six, her cousin, Dora had recruited her in making them a Bucket List that would reach their 20s. They had written silly things like eat 15 booger flavoured Bertie Botts, or play Hide n Seek in the Hogwarts Library. But one thing that Holly hadn't written down on that Bucket List was skydiving off a 630 feet tall Arch.
Somewhere between the observation deck and a quarter of a way down the sky, Holly made peace with death or something along those lines. She's read somewhere that jumping into water from a couple of stories up was like jumping onto solid asphalt. From 600 feet up, she was sure she'd splatter on impact. But she can't deny the feeling, she was scared to literal death as to what awaits her down by the river.
Below her, Percy was falling aimlessly. She couldn't see him, she had shut her eyes closed as she felt the air thinning which made her dizzy, but she could feel his presence.
The sudden splash of water made her open her eyes, only to be met by the water as it came face to face with her. She shut her eyes once more, awaiting deaths' arms.
She waited and waited for what felt like hours until a pair of arms wrapped around her torso and she thought, what a life.
But then she heard Percy's voice, "Open your eyes." he said. He was holding onto her tightly, and Holly reluctantly did.
As she did, she realised two things: One was that she was alive. And two, the two of them were floating in a large water bubble somewhere within the Mississippi river.
"Hey, I got you." Percy said, he looked into her eyes looking very concerned.
Holly nodded as she looked around, "Are we... dead?"
"No," Percy sighed in relief. "My father...He saved us."
Holly sighed too, "Thank the gods."
"Come on, hold tight." Percy said as he tucked his pen back into his pocket, then Holly realised he got Riptide back before he kicked up through the muck and swam for the surface.
They came ashore next to a floating McDonald's. A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead.
A little girl said, "Mama! That boy and girl walked out of the river."
"That's nice, dear," her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.
"But they're dry!"
"That's nice, dear."
"That doesn't look good," Holly remarked as they ducked into an alleyway after hearing a news lady talking to a camera.
"At least the family survived," Percy said as they circled the crowd of reporters.
But one in particular made Percy stop, which prompted Holly who was walking behind him to stop. "... two adolescents- a boy and a girl," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion and keeping a young girl hostage. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities but we have yet to identify the girl taken hostage..."
"That doesn't look good," Holly repeated as they found their way around the police perimeter.
Uniformed officers and news reporters were everywhere, they had almost given up hope of ever finding Annabeth and Grover when a familiar voice bleated, "Perrr-cy! Hollll-ly"
Percy turned around and got tackled by Grover's goat hug. He said, "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"
"We almost did," Holly chuckled as she buried her face into the crook of Annabeth's neck as the blonde gave her a tight hug. "I'm sorry for making you worry."
Annabeth then pulled back and tried her strictest frown, "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"
"I sort of fell." Percy answered.
"Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?"
Behind the four, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher.
Holly and Percy shared a look once they recognized the lady, it was 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 girl pushed the boy out of the hole and the monster disappeared." Then she spotted Holly. "There she is! That's the girl!"
Panicked, Holly turned around and pushed the three into the crowd.
"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"
Percy recounted the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, their circus worthy high-dive, and then about the underwater lady's message.
Apparently, Holly was passed out when that happened. He said the mermaid lady told them to go to Santa Monica per his father's wish, and how gifts awaited them to aid their quest.
"Whoa," said Grover. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."
They passed another reporter, and this one made all four of them freeze in place as he said; "Percy Jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And the boy is believed to be travelling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson."
They ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley. "First things first," Percy whispered. "We've got to get out of town!"
Somehow, they made it back to the Amtrak station in one piece without getting spotted. They got on board just before it pulled out for Denver, the train trundled west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind them.
Holly slumped on their seat in exhaustion, the toll of the day finally weighing down on her before she fell into the deep darkness of sleep.
authors note: it's finally finally finally summer for me! And gods have I missed the quartet, diving back into Holly Black's life has been an emotional rollercoaster and I cannot wait to write down what I have planned for Holly. I hope you're enjoying the story
<3