After Time

Five

Andromeda

I felt sad, leaving Percy behind at camp. I was also angry that no one invited him, even after Phoebe fell sick and we were missing a person. I was a bit relieved when he told me he was going to go see Mom. It would be good for him to have a distraction. 

Sighing, I looked out the window of the van we were given. Zoe was the only one who had viable driving experience, she ended up in the front seat. Thalia sat next to her, but she seemed incredibly unhappy about it. I was in the back with Bianca. The younger girl looked like she wanted to talk to me, but couldn't find the words. It probably didn't help the girl's nerves that Grover was sitting between us 

Zoe was a crazy driver. She swerved left and right, narrowly dodging cars and people. I hung onto whatever I could in an effort not to be set flying, even with a seatbelt on.

After a few hours of living in that state of perpetual panic, Zoe pulled over at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. She walked to a nearby gas station to refuel the van, then she led us into the museum to get some snacks. Maybe she was human after all. 

We walked over to this coffee shop that was in the museum. We stayed there for a few minutes and went on our way. As we were leaving I heard Thalia grunt. The stumbled back as if she had run into something, but there was nothing there. After a second, Percy pulled the navy-blue Yankees cap(Annabeth's Yankees Cap) off of his head. 

He was panting. "Percy!" we exclaimed. Me and Grover in surprise and joy, Thalia in anger, and Bianca in confusion.

Zoe had her bow drawn in seconds. "Boy! Thou dare show thy face here?" He started signing, but it was too fast, and his hands shook too much for me to read it. "What kind of evil spell are thou attempting to cast?"

I laughed, "It's just sign language." I looked at my brother, "Slow down, please."

He took a deep breath. 'Titan. Luke. Skeletons. They're tracking you. Had a piece of Zoe's uniform.'

I translated, and Zoe paled. "We must go." She said. "Quickly!" She ran off in the opposite direction Percy appeared to have come from. My brother made to follow, but she glared at him. "Not thee."

'I am coming with you.' He stated firmly, I continued to translate.

"It is not thy decision!" Zoe snapped. 

"We can't just leave him here!" Thalia argued with a scowl. 

"No," Zoe stated firmly, before running off. 

"That conceited little brat!" Thalia screamed, before following her. Grover shot Percy an inviting look and did the same.

We caught up to Zoe while she hid in a hallway. What she was hiding from, I didn't know, but she seemed more irritated than anything else. She scowled when she saw Percy. "I told thou to leave them behind!"

Thalia looked like she wanted to murder Zoe. "Look, Nightshade-" 

The daughter of Zeus was cut off as a small boy rushed past with a delighted look on his face. "Kitty!" The boy's mother grabbed his hand and pulled him away, telling him that that wasn't kitty.

I peeked out of the hallway. The woman was right. It wasn't a tiny kitten, it was a lion the size of a semi-truck, with golden glittering fur and a large brown mane. "The Nemean lion. It has impenetrable fur," Zoe said. She turned to us, "You hold off the beast."

"Until when?" Grover asked. His goat legs were quivering.

"Until I can find a way to defeat it! Go!"

Percy didn't seem happy with the order, but we drew our respective weapons and charged the monster. I slashed with Riptide, but it bounced harmlessly off of its fur. Just like Zoe said it would.