CHARTER EIGHT:
PERCY CRASHES THE PARTY

      I've have known Percy all fourteen years of my life, I've barely spent more then an hour away from him, I swear sometimes we are on the same brain wave, yet somehow he still manages to surprise me.

      After 6 fights (2 between me and Thalia, 1 with me and Zoë, and 3 with Thalia and Zoë), multiple lost items (mainly thrown out a window during one of the fights), a broken window (thanks to Grover's paniced calming song—which didn't calm anyone) and 3 missed exits (thank you Zoë) I was hoping our troubles would be over for the day. But of course, about 10 minutes after we got to the museum, I was calmly staring at one of the displays when an annoying, 5'7 (ish), black haired, sea green eyed, boy with extreme ADHD and dyslexia, ran into the side of me and almost sent me over the railing.

      The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Three levels of balconies curled around, so you could look at the exhibits from all different heights. The place wasn't crowded, just a few families and a couple of tour groups of kids, probably doing one of those holiday school trips.

      Grover yelped in surprise. Zoë and Bianca had arrows notched, aimed at his chest, and Thalia had her shield out.

      When Zoë realized who it was, she didn't seem anxious to lower her bow. "You! How dare you show thy face here?"

      "Percy!" Grover said. "Thank goodness."

      "Aella?" I felt like i was the only person who noticed that she had stumbled in after Percy.

      Zoe glared at him, and he blushed. "I mean, um, gosh. You're not supposed to be here!"

      "Luke," Percy said, catching everyone's attention. "He's here."

      The anger in Thalia's eyes immediately melted. "Where?"

      He told us about the Natural History Museum, Dr. Thorn, Luke, and the General.

      "The General is here?" Zoë looked stunned. "That is impossible! You lie."

      "Why would I lie? Look, there's no time. Skeleton warriors—"

      "What?" Thalia demanded. "How many?"

      "Twelve," he said. "And that's not all. That guy, the General, he said he was sending something, a 'playmate,' to distract you over here. A monster."

      Thalia and Grover exchanged looks.

      "We were following Artemis's trail," Grover said. "I was pretty sure it led here. Some powerful monster scent...She must've stopped here looking for the mystery monster. But we haven't found anything yet."

      "Zoë," Bianca said nervously, "if it is the General—"

      "It cannot be!" Zoë snapped. "Percy must have seen an Iris-message or some other illusion."

      I'm not sure why she was so obsessed with the fact that everything Percy said was a lie, like only 65% is.

      "Illusions don't crack marble floors," he told her.

      Zoë took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. I didn't know why she was taking it so personally, or how she knew this General guy, but I figured now wasn't the time to ask. "If Percy is telling the truth about the skeleton warriors," she said, "we have no time to argue They are the worst, the most horrible...We must leave now"

      "Good idea." Percy said.

      "I was not including thee, boy," Zoe said. "You are not part of this quest."

      "Hey, I'm trying to save your lives!"

      "You shouldn't have come, Percy," Thalia said grimly. "But you're here now. Come on. Let's get back to the van."

      "That is not thy decision!" Zoe snapped.

      "Well it's not yours either" I went to step forward, probably to cause the 7th fight of the hour, but Thalia spoke up. "You're not the boss here, Zoë. I don't care how old you are! You're still a conceited little brat!"

      "You never had any wisdom when it came to boys," Zoë growled. "You never could leave them behind!"

      Thalia looked like she was about to hit Zoë (relatable). Then everyone froze, we heard a growl so loud I thought one of the rocket engines was starting up.

      Below us, a few adults screamed. A little kid's voice screeched with delight: "Kitty!"

      Something enormous bounded up the ramp. It was the size of a pick-up truck, with silver claws and golden glittering fur.

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

      The lion roared so loud it parted my hair. Its fangs gleamed like stainless steel.

      "Separate on my mark," Zoë said. "Try to keep it distracted."

      "Until when?" Grover asked.

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

      Percy uncapped Riptide and rolled to the left. Aella and I formed our swords in sync and ran behind a rocket. Arrows whistled past us, and Grover played a sharp tweet-tweet cadence on his reed pipes. I turned and saw Zoë and Bianca climbing the Apollo capsule. They were firing arrows, one after another, all shattering harmlessly against the lions metallic fur. The lion swiped the capsule and tipped it on its side, spilling the Hunters off the back. Grover played a frantic, horrible tune, and the lion turned toward him, but Thalia stepped into its path, holding up Aegis, and the lion recoiled. "ROOOAAAR!"

      "Hi-yah!" Thalia said. "Back!"

      The lion growled and clawed the air, but it retreated as if the shield were a blazing fire.

      For a second, I thought Thalia had it under control. Then I saw the lion crouching, its leg muscles tensing. I'd seen enough cat fights in the alleys around my apartment in New York. I knew the lion was going to pounce.

      "Hey!" Percy yelled from across the room. I don't know what he was thinking, but he charged the beast. I just wanted to get it away from my friends.

      "Son of a bitch" I grumbled, then without another second I charged the lion. There is no way I was gonna let Percy fight an ancient lion alone.

      The lion raked Percy with its claws, ripping off a chunk of his coat. Percy backed against the railing. I ran up behind it going to cut off it's tail with my sword, only nothing happened. I didn't stop though, I spun around the lion going for another swipe at its stomach, but once again it did nothing "what the duck is this thing" I said probably louder the appropriate.

      While I was distracted the lion wacked me so hard to the side it caused me to practically fly to the other side of the room.

      I hit the floor with a thud and a loud groan. Hitting solid tile floor hurt a lot more then I'm willing to admit. I was sure for a moment I had shattered my hip.

      "River" the panicked voice of Aella said inches from my face.

      My head hurt so badly from the impact and it was making my vision a little blurry. I tried to tell her I was okay (or at least going to be) but the sounds that came out of my mouth didn't even rhyme with it.

      Aella looked confused from what I could tell "I'll remember you said that" she said, clearly making fun of me.

      "Mmfk" I mumbled rolling onto my knees. "My brain hurts"

      "What brain?"

      I snapped my head towards her to send her a glare "stop being mean" I said, but in all honesty, I didn't really mind it.

      "Zoe!" Percy shouted from wherever he has ran to. "Target the mouth!"

      The monster lunged. An arrow zipped past it, missing completely, and Percy dropped from a spaceship onto the top of a floor exhibit, a huge model of the earth. He slid down Russia and dropped off the equator.

      Didn't know that he was planning on traveling this winter.

      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.

      "Grover!" Percy yelled. "Clear the area!"

      Groups of kids were running around screaming. Grover 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 Percy, on the other side of the globe. The lion regarded both of them, trying to decide which of them to kill first.

      Zoe and Bianca were above them, bows ready, but they kept having to move around to get a good angle.

      "No clear shot!" Zoe yelled. "Get it to open its mouth more!"

      The lion snarled from the top of the globe.

      Percy looked around, cluelessly (which is pretty normal)

      His eyes landed on the gift shop. I had a vague memory from our trip here as little kids. Something Percy made mom buy him, and he regretted it moments later.

      "Thalia," Percy said, "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.

      "RO000000AR!" The lion turned and pounced. Thalia rolled out of its way, holding up Aegis to keep the monster at bay, and Percy ran for the gift shop.

      "This is no time for souvenirs, boy!" Zoe yelled.

      "Give me your ring" Aella turned to me with wide eyes "now"

      I furrowed my eyebrows "wha—why?" I was beyond confused.

      "Just give me the damn ring" I slid off my ring and handed it to the angrier by the second brunette.

      Percy finally ran out of the gift shop. 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.

      "Percy," 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!" Percy yelled at the lion. I don't know his exact plan but he hurled Riptide like a throwing knife. It bounced off the lion's side, but that was enough to get the monster's attention. It turned toward him and snarled.

      "Please help me mother" I heard Aella whisper from beside me. Still confused I looked back at her just in time to watch as the two rings that were previously on our fingers formed into a large bow and arrow.

      "How—wha—how!" I had no idea that she could do that. I'm pretty that was one of the many things she told me the rings couldn't do.

      She swung her hand out about a foot in front of my face while shushing me.

      Percy charged, and as the lion leaped to intercept him, he chuncked something into its maw—a chunk of cellophane-wrapped, freeze-dried strawberry partait?

      The lion's eyes got wide and it gagged like a cat with a hairball.

      I couldn't blame it. I remembered feeling the same way when I'd tried to eat space food as a kid. The stuff was just plain nasty.

      "Get ready!" Percy yelled.

      Behind me, I could hear people screaming. Grover was playing another horrible song on his pipes. Percy scrambled away from the lion. It managed to choke down the space food packet and looked at me with pure hate.

      "Snack time!" Percy yelled.

      It made the mistake of roaring at him, and he threw another sandwich-thingy in its throat.

      Fortunately, he had always been a pretty good pitcher, even though baseball wasn't his game. Before the lion could stop gagging, Percy shot in two more.

      The lion's eyes bugged. It opened its mouth wide and reared up on its back paws, trying to get away from me.

      "Now!" He yelled.

      Immediately, arrows pierced the lion's maw-two, four, six. The lion thrashed wildly, turned. and fell backward. And then it was still.

      I wasn't sure which Arrow got the kill but the important part was that it was down.

      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.

      Grover knelt at Thalia's side and helped her up. She seemed okay, just a little dazed.

      Zoë and Bianca dropped from the balcony and landed next to Percy.

      Zoë eyed Percy cautiously. "That was...an interesting strategy."

      "Hey, it worked."

      She didn't argue.

      The lion seemed to be melting, the way dead monsters do sometimes, until there was nothing left but its glittering fur coat, and even that seemed to be shrinking to the size of a
norma ion's belt.

      Aella walked towards the lump of lion fur and pulled a blue arrow from where is mouth was, she then turned to me and tossed it my way. By the time it had landed in my hand, it was back to a ring.

      "Take it," Zoe told Percy, referring to the lion skin.

      He stared at her. "What, the lion's fur? Isn't that, like, an animal rights violation or something?"

      "It is a spoil of war," she told him. "It is rightly thine."

      "You guys killed it," he said.

      She shook her head, almost smiling. "I think thy ice-cream sandwich did that. Fair is fair, Percy Jackson. Take the fur."

      He lifted it up. The fur was smooth and soft. It didn't feel at all like something that could stop a blade. As we watched, the pelt shifted and changed into a coat-a full-length golden-brown duster.

      "Not exactly my style," he murmured.

      "We have to get out of here," Grover said. "The security guards won't stay confused for long"

      I noticed for the first time how strange it was that the guards hadn't rushed forward to arrest us. They were scrambling in all directions except ours, like they were madly searching for something. A few were running into the walls or each other.

      "You did that?" Percy and I asked Grover, then sending each other a glare for stealing each others words.

      He nodded, looking a little embarrassed. "A minor confusion song. I played some Barry Manilow. It works every time. But it'll only last a few seconds."

      "The security guards are not our biggest worry," Zoe said. "Look."

      Through the glass walls of the museum, I 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 I could feel their gaze aimed straight at me.

      "Go," Percy said. "They'll be hunting me. I'll distract them."

      "Absolutely not" I said as if it was the worst idea in the world (it probably was)

      "No," Zoe said. "We go together."

      He stared at her. "But, you said—"

      "You are part of this quest now," Zoe said grudgingly. "I do not like it, but there is no changing fate. You are the sixth quest member."—She glanced at Aella, clearly thinking what I was thinking—"And we are not leaving anyone behind."

AUTHOR TALKS!!
Act three is all about River hurting herself and automatically assuming she broke something.