•as the world caves in•

•we kill a lion•

I hated this. The whole car ride, and the rest stop, was Thalia and Zoë arguing endlessly. I wished Percy came along so I had someone to talk to. Grover was fun, but he was busy doing tracking spells.

We wandered into a random building in DC, I think it's the air and space museum. We slipped in and wandered about.

While looking at an Apollo space capsule, I got slammed into it. I groaned before I opened my eyes and was met with a pleasant surprise.

"Percy!" I squealed, and hugged him, even if we were cramped into the capsule with his entire weight on me. "How'd you get here? When?"

He allowed me to keep my arms around his neck as he pulled us out and looked at everyone else. He had a smile before, but it faded, and I opted to remove my arms and just stand in close proximity.

"Luke," he breathed. "He's here."

And suddenly my joy was gone. I had seen him so many times since his betrayal. Seen him try to win Annabeth and I back, and here, I'd have to face him without Annabeth. Percy was here, and he'd support me, but I needed Annabeth.

"We need to leave, now." Zoë said. "But not thee boy."

"Percy is coming." I said, grabbing his hand for extra emphasis. "We need him."

Zoë was ready to argue, but a loud growl stopped her.

Thalia looked behind me. "The Nemean Lion. Don't move."

I slowly grabbed my ring as Zoë notched an arrow. "Keep it distracted until I think of a way to kill it. Go!"

I let go of Percy's hand as I dove to the right, arrows flying by me. I watched Thalia run towards the lion, fending it off. She seemed to be, until it was ready to pounce.

Something came over me, I had no clue what it was, but I leaped forwards and and slashed at the lion, which should've killed it, but nothing happened.

"Zoë!" Percy shouted before I had the chance. "Aim for the mouth!"

The lion returned a slash at me until I only had the railing to support me. Percy was below and I could see the panic in his eyes as my grip started to slip.

"Coriane," Percy shouted. "I got you! Trust me!"

I wanted to, I really did, but I couldn't make myself let fall. I looked to see Grover helping tiny children escape and Zoë attempt to shoot the lion.

I closed my eyes and let my grip release, and I knew I was screaming like I was a five year old, but it was such a high drop.

Instead of feeling the hard tile, I was caught in someone's arms. Percy's arms.

I smiled at him. "Thanks!"

He carefully set me down. "I told you I had you."

Percy dashed off to the gift shop, leaving me to hide behind cover besides Zoë. Percy came out with food and started throwing it at the lion.

"He's an idiot!" Zoë groaned.

"No," I grinned. "He's a genius! Now's your chance!"

Zoë and Bianca aimed in, and with its mouth wide open, they fired arrows into the Lion. Finally, nothing was left but a pelt. We all rushed to Percy.

Zoë looked at the pelt. "Take the pelt, Percy Jackson. You helped to kill it."

I smiled at him as he picked it up. "That would make a nice blanket."

He chuckled. "Probably big enough it could fit two people."

We started to head back to our van, until we saw the helicopter. Like the one at Westover Hall.

Bianca led us to a subway station and we took the first train to Alexandria. "When Nico and I lived here, there wasn't a subway at all."

I frowned. I'd only been here once with Annabeth, but I knew that there had been a subway for quite some time.

We all exchanged looks with each other, apart from Bianca, who didn't see anything wrong with the statement.

Finally, we reached the end of the line. We were somewhere with a ton more snow than DC, so it was chilly as we walked through a train yard.

Percy offered his new blanket, so we were bundled up in that as we walked. With the fur of the blanket and our body heat staying enclosed within the blanket, it was actually a really nice walk.

After meeting a fairly convenient homeless man, who guided us to a train with luxury cars, I found myself in the driver seat of a Porsche Cayenne. I had the seat reclined all the way back with the blanket wrapped around me, listening to the radio. I dozed off into a peaceful sleep in demigod standards, praying we found Annabeth and Artemis.