RED ¹ / Percy Jackson !

12

"WE'LL GET OUT,"ANNABETH SAID. "We'll wait with you."

"Naw, it's okay. We'll see you guys at the bottom."Percy shrugged.

Grover and Annabeth both looked nervous, but they let the elevator door slide shut. Their car
disappeared down the ramp.

Now the only people left on the observation deck were Percy,Viviane,a little boy with his parents, the park ranger, and the fat lady with her Chihuahua.

Percy uneasily smiled at the fat lady and she smiled back with a forked tongue. Viviane froze and shared a look with Percy.

Forked tongue?

"Now, now, sonny," the lady said when the dog started barking at Percy. "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 Viviane now, foam dripping from his black lips."Well, son," the fat lady sighed. "If you insist."

"Urn, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?"

"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 ablood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail, a ten-foot-long diamond back growing right out of its shaggy behind. The rhinestone dog collar still hung around its neck, and the plate-sized dog tag was  easy to read:

CHIMERA-RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS-IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS-EXT. 954.

Viviane took her daggers out and Percy pushed her behind him.

"Be honored, Percy Jackson.Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"The woman hissed.

"Isn't that a kind of anteater?"Percy stared at her.

Stupid idiot!Viviane wanted to yell.

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!"

The Chimera charged, its lion teeth gnashing. Percy managed to leap aside and dodge the bite. He ended up next to the family and the park ranger, who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors.

The Chimera turned to Viviane,ready to attack but Percy reacted.

"Hey, Chihuahua!"Percy yelled loudly,unclasping his sword.The chihuahua ran towards him quickly.

Before he could swing his sword, it opened its mouth, emitting a stench like the world's largest barbecue pit, and shot a column of flame straight at me. Percy dove through the explosion. The carpet burst into flames; the heat was so intense, it nearly seared off his eyebrows.

Where he had been standing a moment before was a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges.

Great, Viviane thought. Percy just blowtorched a national monument.

Riptide was now a shining bronze blade in his hands, and as the Chimera turned, Percy slashed at his neck.

That was a big mistake.

The blade sparked harmlessly off the dog collar. He tried to regain hisbalance, but he was so worried about defending himself and Viviane against the fiery lion's mouth, he completely forgot about the serpent tail until it whipped around and sank its fangs into his calf.

Viviane rushed towards him,her daggers raised. The chimera jumped on her and bit her into her neck. Viviane stumbled forward and Percy caught her gently. He tried pushing riptide into the Chimeras troat but riptide left his hand and fell into the water below them. Percy and Viviane backed up into a hole in a wall.

The Chimera advanced, growling, smoke curling from its lips."They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, son?"The snake lady, Echidna, cackled.

Percy looked towards Viviene who was barely breathing as she clutched her wound with one hand,the other still clutching her daggers.  He noticed tears in her eyes,he didn't know from what,but the sight of her crying made him angry.

"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 river and then back up towards Viviane. She looked at him with a weak,scared expression. Percy connected the dots quicker than  usual.

She didn't trust his father because of the quarell her father has with his. 

"You have no faith," Echidna told Percy. "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."

"I can't swim."Viviane croaked out quietly."Percy,I can't jump down. I-I can't."

"Trust me,Viviane."Percy whispered."Please?"

Viviane nodded and felt Percy take her hand.

"Father, help us,"

Percy turned them and with a tug on Viviane's hand,they both plummeted down into the Missispi river.