WHILE PERCY FOUGHT OFF THE CHIMERA, Selena busied herself with the serpent. Her dagger wouldn't do much to the monster unless she was close so all Selena could think to do was use her powers and create illusions.
At least a dozen versions of herself surrounded the reptile and she spun around in confusion. The Echidna hissed and began attacking each form of Selena, "Which one am I?" Each form that was attacked, disappeared. Selena knew she could hold it for much longer, she felt herself growing weaker.
When the Echidna turned her back to the real Selena, she took her knife out and so did the other illusions. Each of them took a step towards the monster. Just as Selena raised her knife to attack, the Echidna used her tail and threw Selena to the floor.
She groaned in pain and looked over to see Percy getting bitten by the Chimera, "No!"
Percy backed into the hole in the wall and Selena felt the fear in her chest rise. The Chimera advanced, growling, smoke curling from its lips. The snake lady, the Echidna, cackled. "They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, son?"
The monster growled. It seemed in no hurry to finish him off now that Percy was beaten. There was no place else to go, so Percy stepped to the edge of the hole. Far, far below, the river glittered, "Percy, no!" Selena screamed and Echidna pulled her against her scaly skin.
Selena struggled against the tail that wrapped around her waist, and she tried to punch it, but the Echidna didn't seem to notice,
"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." Percy looked down at the water before glancing back at Echidna and Selena,
The Chimera's mouth glowed red, heating up for another blast, "You have no faith," Echidna told him, "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 tossed Selena towards Percy.
Selena got back to her feet and stumbled over to Percy. She grabbed onto his face and looked into his eyes, "Percy." She gasped, "just keep your eyes open."
"Die, faithless one, " Echidna rasped, and the Chimera sent a column of flame towards them.
"Father, help me," Percy prayed, grabbing onto Selena and they jumped.
Selena screamed, "What the fuck?! Percy!" as the river raced towards them at the speed of a truck. Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of their vision. Just before they reached the water, Percy reached out and wrapped his arms around her, placing himself under Selena so he would hit the water first.
They hit the water with a smack and sank through the murk. Their impact with the water hadn't hurt. They were falling slowly now, bubbles trickling up through Percy's fingers. They settled on the river bottom soundlessly. A large catfish lurched away into the gloom. Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage-beer bottles, old shoes, plastic bags-swirled up all around the two demi-gods.
At that point, Percy had realized a few things: first, they had not been flattened into a pancake. They had not been barbecued. He couldn't even feel the Chimera poison boiling in his veins anymore. Percy was alive, which was good.
Second realization: He wasn't wet. He could feel the coolness of the water. He could see where the fire on his clothes had been quenched. But when he touched his own shirt, it felt perfectly dry.
But the strangest thought occurred to him only last: he was breathing. He was underwater, and he was breathing normally.
Percy stood up, thigh-deep in mud, their legs shaky. He looked over and spotted Selena, her eyes closed, laying on top of the mud. He quickly went over to her and lifted her up with ease before hearing a voice.
"Um ... Thanks. Thank you ... Father."
No response. Just the dark drift of garbage downriver, the enormous catfish gliding by, the flash of sunset on the water's surface far above, turning everything the color of butterscotch.
Fump-fump-fump. A riverboat's paddlewheel churned above them, swirling the silt around. There, not five feet in front of Percy was his sword, its gleaming bronze hilt sticking up in the mud.
Percy heard that woman's voice again: 'Percy, take the sword. Your father believes in you.' This time, he knew the voice wasn't in his head. He wasn't imagining it. Her words seemed to come from everywhere, rippling through the water like dolphin sonar.
"Where are you?" Percy called aloud.
Then, through the gloom, Percy 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 Percy's.
A lump formed in his throat. Percy 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 ..."Who-how did you-"
'I cannot stay, brave one,' the woman said. She reached out, and Percy felt the current brush his face like a caress. 'You must go to Santa Monica! And, Percy, do not trust the gifts...'Her voice faded.
"Gifts?" Percy asked. "What gifts? Wait!" Percy waded toward Riptide and grabbed it by the hilt. He capped his sword, stuck the ballpoint pen in his pocket. "Thank you, Father," He said again to the dark water. Then he grabbed Selena once again before he kicked up through the muck and swam for the surface.
They came ashore next to a floating McDonald's. Once Selena hit the water's surface, her eyes opened and she gasped for air.
A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded them of Times Square on New Year's Eve.
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."
THE TWO DEMI-GOD CHILDREN quickly tried to find their friends. Soon enough, they heard Grover call out their names and tackled them into a hug, "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 them, "We can't leave you two alone for five minutes! What happened?"
Selena and Percy looked at each other before shrugging, "We sort of fell."
Fell, pushed, same thing for Selena.
"Seriously?! Six hundred and thirty feet?" Annabeth scolded in surprise before wrapping her arms around her best friend,
Behind them, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. Selena and Percy 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 and girl jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." Then she saw the children, "There they are! That's the boy! And the girl!"
Percy turned quickly and pulled Selena, who had grabbed onto Annabeth, who then grabbed Grover, and the four of them disappeared into the crowd, "What's going on?" Annabeth demanded, her eyes on Selena, "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"
They told them the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, Percy's high-dive act, and the underwater lady's message. "Whoa," said Grover. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."
Before Annabeth could respond, they passed another reporter doing a news break, and Percy almost froze in his tracks when 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 traveling 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 told Grover. "We've got to get out of town!"
Somehow, they made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. They got on board the train 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.