Do-over (A Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

24. I have a few talks

With the invisibility hat still on my head, I rushed out of the building and into the Smithsonian in search of my friends. I scanned the building, trying to look past the spaceships and aircraft all over the place to see if I could just catch a glimpse of my friends.

I ripped off the invisibility cap like the invisibility was making me vision impaired or something. I ran up the ramp to the next floor and tried to ignore the multitude of aircraft hanging from the ceiling on metal wires.

I wanted to yell out but I knew the "little playmate" was nearby. I didn't want to attract any unwanted attention.

I wracked my brain to try and remember where my friends would be but I just couldn't seem to remember. I cursed myself. Maybe I should write everything I do remember in a book or something. My lousy memory could end up getting someone killed.

As I sprinted up the ramp to the top floor, I ran into something and for a brief second, I thought it was the killer skeletons. Fortunately, the colourful Ancient Greek cuss words told me otherwise.

I raised my hands in a surrender motion as two arrows lined up with my chest. Thalia, who was picking herself up from the edge of an Apollo space capsule, looked up and stared at me in relief. Zoë and Bianca lowered their bows and before my eyes, they vanished into thin air. I took that as a cue to lower my hands.

'Percy!' Grover bleated happily. 'You're-'

'Not now, Grover,' I cut him off, still catching my breath from my escape. 'Sorry for disappearing on you guys, but we need to go. Like, right now.'

'Where have thou been?' Zoë, surprisingly, asked me with an annoyed look on her face. 'We were looking everywhere for thee.'

'I'll tell you later,' I assured them. 'But right now, we need to get back to the van.'

'Why?'

As quickly as I could, I explained what I saw. From Dr Thorn, to Luke and finally, the General. I didn't dare mention his name just yet, not with him so close.

'The General is here?' Zoë exclaimed in shock. 'That is impossible! You lie.'

'Do I look like I'm lying?' I challenged her. 'Look, we need to go right now.'

Just as I finished my sentence, a growl sounded off somewhere below us. It was so loud, the planes and spaceships hanging from the ceiling shook on their wires. The sound shook me down to my bones.

I looked over the balcony to see adults running towards the exit screaming. The voice of a little girl screeched: 'Kitty!'

I backed up just as a large shape bounded up the ramp. Being the size of a pickup truck and having gold glittering fur, it was kind of hard to miss. Its beady eyes narrowed in our direction, gleaming silver claws and razor-sharp fangs itching to tear us apart. As it stalked closer and closer, my urge to uncap Riptide was getting stronger and stronger.

Oh, boy. This was going to be fun.

'The Nemean Lion,' Thalia said softly. 'Don't move.'

The lion roared and I took a cautious step back, getting into a stance for the upcoming fight.

'Separate on my mark,' Zoë said, her bow already in her hand. 'Try to keep it distracted.'

'Until when?' Grover asked nervously.

'Until I think of a way to kill it. Go!'

Riptide sparing into full length as I dashed left. Arrows flew past me and found their mark in the lion's hide. At least, that's what would have happened if it didn't have indestructible skin. Instead, the silver arrows shattered harmlessly off its fur.