Zoe panted in exhaustion. She knew exactly how to defeat the lion, but no opportunity presented itself to the huntress. She remembered how they had managed to defeat the beast the last time around. Percy had shown a surprising level of thoughtfulness with him figuring out that the lion's weak point was the inside of its mouth.
The problem was, Percy was rather busy trying not to die as nine heads snapped at him, threatening to bite him in half.
Bianca fired arrow after arrow at the beast, but of course, that did nothing but anger the lion.
Thalia stabbed at the lion with her spear, but that too, did not much.
"Zoe!" Annabeth shouted. "Target the mouth!"
Seemed like the daughter of Athena had started using her brain.
The monster lunged at her. An arrow zipped past it, missing completely, and she was backed into a corner. The Nemean Lion growled and steadied itself on the spacecraft, but its weight was too much. One of the cords snapped. As the display swung down like a pendulum, the lion leaped off onto the model earth's North Pole.
Zoe took the opportunity to distract the lion with an arrow to the eye. It bounced off the lion's impenetrable skin, but the arrow had the desired effect. Zoe charged at the lion, brandishing her hunting knives.
"Annabeth!" Zoe yelled. "Clear the area!"
The blonde demigod scampered away from the wall, leaving the lion alone with Zoe.
Groups of kids were running around screaming. Annabeth tried to corral them away from the monster just as the other cord on the spaceship snapped and the exhibit crashed to the floor. Thalia dropped off the second-floor railing and landed across from me, on the other side of the globe. The lion regarded them both, trying to decide which of them to kill first.
Bianca was above the two of them, bows ready, but they kept having to move around to get a good angle.
"No clear shot!" The daughter of Hades yelled. "Get it to open its mouth more!"
The lion snarled from the top of the globe.
She looked around. Options. She needed...
The gift shop. Percy had used some item in a silvery packing material to get to lion to keep its jaw open.
"Thalia!" she called, "Keep it occupied."
She nodded grimly.
"Hi-yah!" She pointed her spear and a spidery arc of blue electricity shot out, zapping the lion in the tail.
"ROOOOOOOAR!" The lion turned and pounced. Thalia rolled out of its way, holding up Aegis to keep the monster at bay, and she ran for the gift shop.
"Where are you going Zoe!" Bianca yelled.
The older huntress dashed into the shop, knocking over rows of T-shirts, jumping over tables full of glow-in-the-dark planets and space ooze. The sales lady didn't protest. She was too busy cowering behind her cash register.
There! On the far wall—glittery silver packets. Whole racks of them. She scooped up every kind she could find and ran out of the shop with an armful.
Zoe and Bianca were still showering arrows on the monster, but it was no good. The lion seemed to know better than to open its mouth too much. It snapped at Thalia, slashing with its claws. It even kept its eyes narrowed to tiny slits.
Thalia jabbed at the monster and backed up. The lion pressed her.
"Zoe," she called, "Whatever you're going to do—"
The lion roared and swatted her like a cat toy, sending her flying into the side of a Titan rocket. Her head hit the metal and she slid to the floor.
"Hey!" Zoe yelled at the lion. She was too far away to strike, so she hurled one of her hinting knives like a throwing knife. It bounced off the lion's side, but that was enough to get the monster's attention. It turned toward her and snarled. She remembered the son of Poseidon doing something similar the last time.
There was only one way to get close enough. she charged, and as the lion leaped to intercept her, she chucked a space food pouch into its maw—a chunk of cellophane-wrapped, freeze-dried strawberry parfait.
The lion's eyes got wide and it gagged like a cat with a hairball.
"Bianca, get ready!" she yelled.
Behind her, she could hear people screaming. Percy seemed to not be having too much of a problem facing off against the hydra. But the demigod wasn't fairing too well either. Annabeth was helping him keep the monster at bay. The Hydra was missing five heads, burnt stumps reminding it of the loss. But the four heads that remained snarled viciously and attacked the two, occasionally spitting venom that the two would barely avoid.
Zoe's breath hitched as she got a brief flashback to Heracles. The lion and the hydra were two of his labors. It was almost s though her past demons were trying to catch up with her.
She scrambled away from the lion. It managed to choke down the space food packet and looked at her with pure hate.
"Snack time!" She wanted to yell, but she held her mouth. She wasn't going to end up copying every single thing the boy had done. But the knowledge was rather useful.
It made the mistake of roaring at her, and she got an ice-cream sandwich in its throat. Fortunately, her accuracy was spot-on. Before the lion could stop gagging, She shot in two more flavors of ice cream and a freeze-dried spaghetti dinner.
The lion's eyes bugged. It opened its mouth wide and reared up on its back paws, trying to get away from her.
"Now!" she yelled.
Immediately, arrows pierced the lion's maw—two, four, six. The lion thrashed wildly, turned, and fell backward. And then it was still.
Alarms wailed throughout the museum. People were flocking to the exits. Security guards were running around in a panic with no idea what was going on.
Zoe knelt at Thalia's side and helped her up. She seemed okay, just a little dazed. Bianca dropped from the balcony and landed next to Zoe.
Zoe was rather surprised at herself for taking the lion on at close range. She, much like most of the hunt preferred to pelt their foes in a flurry of arrows.
She lifted the pelt up; it was surprisingly light. The fur was smooth and soft. It didn't feel at all like something that could stop a blade. As she watched, the pelt shifted and changed into a coat—a full-length golden-brown duster.
Thalia eyed her cautiously. "That was... an interesting strategy."
"It worked."
She didn't argue.
Zoe then turned to face said demigod, who slashed yet again at one of the hydra's heads, lobbing it right off.
Zoe decided to show off a little bit and fired an arrow straight to the lighter that Annabeth held in her fight hand. The arrow set itself on fire by flying straight through the open flame and pierced itself into the stump of the hydra's head.
The burning arrow burnt the open wound before anyone could react.
Turning towards her, Percy playfully rolled his eyes.
"Show off," he muttered under his breath. He turned back around to face the hydra.
The beast had two heads still snapping at anyone or anything that got too close.
Percy hacked and slashed at the three headed serpent. He blocked and parried with the grace of a dancer, while he struck and swung with the force of a freight train.
Zoe would have been lying if she told anyone that she wasn't absolutely mesmerized by the sight.
By the time Zoe had finished staring at the boy, he had somehow managed to defeat the hydra. The monster dissolved into a flurry of golden dust.
Percy walked up to her. Leaning in close to her ears, he whispered.
"You stole my idea."
Zoe burst out laughing, shocking everyone around her at the spontaneous laughter.
"We have to get out of here," Annabeth said. "The security guards won't stay confused for long."
"The security guards are not our biggest worry," Zoe said. "Look."
Through the glass walls of the museum, she could see a group of men walking across the lawn. Gray men in gray camouflage outfits. They were too far away for us to see their eyes, but she could feel their gaze aimed straight at her.
"Go," Percy said. "They'll be hunting me. I'll distract them."
"No," Zoe said. "We go together."
Percy sighed and ran after them.