The Nemean Lion

"Hold on!" Y/N shouted putting her hand on Zoe's shoulder.

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

He stared at Y/N for some time, remembering her last actions. For a moment he wondered if Harris had any idea about what she did for him. He should.

When Y/N left along with the others for the quest, Percy followed them with the help of Blackjack, the black pegasus but was caught by Mr. D on the way. Although he didn't expect him to actually let him leave, he strangely did. One thing happened after another, Percy ran into Luke and that's what led him to this moment.

"Percy!" Grover said, breaking his train of thoughts. "Thank goodness."

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

"Luke," Percy said, trying to catch his breath. "He's here."

The anger in Thalia's eyes immediately melted. She put her hand on her silver bracelet. "Where?"

Y/N really wanted to break the little hope Thalia was hanging onto a little hope about how Luke would listen to her words. He stepped into a dangerous zone and no amount of words will be enough to make him turn back from whatever decision he has taken. Besides, even if he did come back, it's not hard to imagine what kind of awful punishment must be waiting for him for all the things he already did before.

Percy told them about the Natural History Museum, Dr. Thorn, Luke, and the General.

"The General is here?" Zoe 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."

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

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

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

Zoe took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. He didn't know why she was taking it so personally, or how she knew this General guy but he 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!" He said.

"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.

"Oh? And who made you the leader here?" Y/N argued.

Thalia scowled at Zoe, "Exactly, you're not the boss here, Zoe. 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," Zoe growled. "You never could leave them behind!"

Y/N flinched hearing it. Now she has started to make it personal. Well then.

"Maybe doing something inhumane like leaving a person behind during times of danger is in your dictionary but it sure as heck isn't in ours. How about you stop being so insensitive just because a gender is enough to hurt your ego? MOVE!"

Zoe looked like she was about to hit Y/N. Then everyone froze as they heard a loud growl. Below them, 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 Percy's hair. Its fangs gleamed like stainless steel.

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

"Until when?" Grover asked. Y/N slowly took out her special bow and arrow, being aware of her surroundings.

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

Percy uncapped Riptide and rolled to the left while Y/N jumped to the right. Arrows whistled past me, and Grover played a sharp tweet-tweet cadence on his reed pipes. Zoe and Bianca were climbing the Apollo capsule. They were firing arrows, one after another, all shattering harmlessly against the lion's 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!"

"I can shout too kitty!" Y/N shouted, "Move!". Zoe quickly retreated from the lion's path as they felt vibrations throughout their body. They saw the lion slide backward due to the huge pressure coming towards him. When they felt the shockwave stopped, they went back to their stances. The ground shook as the lion fell for a moment. It gave enough time to the others to attack.

"Hi-yah!" Thalia said. "Back!"

The lion growled and clawed the air, but it retreated as if the shield were a blazing fire. The lion crouched along with its leg muscles tensing. It was going to pounce.

"Hey!" Percy yelled and charged the beast. He just wanted to get it away from his friends. Last time Y/N was wounded badly and he knew there would be no one to actually heal her if she took a huge blow. He slashed with Riptide, a good strike to the flank that should've cut the monster into Meow Mix, but the blade just clanged against its fur in a burst of sparks.

The lion raked him with its claws, ripping off a chunk of his coat. Percy was backed against the railing.

It was probably the right time to use her new move. It wasn't gonna last long but it would be enough to let Percy move away. He was ready to jump off when he heard a whizzing sound along with strong heat approaching him. He watched as an arrow got stuck on the lion's back.

An arrow with fire.

"You need to trust me on this guys," Y/N shouted.

[ TIME SKIP ]

"When did you get the time to learn all of that?" Percy asked looking at her as Y/N concentrated on healing Thalia. Y/N learned how to create a small protective dome of bright light and heat around herself. She used it to come closer to the lion and once she was near, the lion was scrambling away while trying to move her away using its paw. If only she could come near it enough to make it look into her eyes, she would've used the intense beams of light from her eyes which are capable of burning through objects and melting through regular metals. It would've been a huge blow and gave a lot of openings to the others. But Percy came up with another plan pretty quickly.

"Clearly when you were busy moping around about Annabeth and blaming her," Thalia whispered.

"I'm not talking to you," he spat at Thalia and looked back at Y/N's face. Her brows were slightly furrowed as she focused on healing her. He didn't want her to go that close to that monster. Somewhere her life could've ended at any second when they had no idea how long she could keep making the dome.

And he really did trust her, like she said to do before attacking the lion. But...he just couldn't take the risk. Besides, the fire alarm started ringing. It was almost time for the water sprinkler to start.

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

"Hey, it worked," he said. "Y/N gave me enough time to do it."

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 normal lion's pelt.

"Take it," Zoe told him.

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

"Not exactly my style," Percy murmured. He looked at Y/N who was finally done with Thalia.

She looked at him for a moment and smiled. "I don't have much energy to heal the rest of you but I can sing a hymn and help the rest of you recover."

"But...you don't sing for everyone," Percy said.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," she chuckled, "I can't keep doing that."

Somehow it made Percy's heart drop. It felt like Y/N was abandoning something that she cherished. Besides, he was yet to experience it properly. The most memorable time he remembered of it was when...they were on that ship.

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

It was strange how the guards hadn't rushed forward to arrest them. They were scrambling in all directions except theirs like they were madly searching for something. A few were running into the walls or each other.

"You did that?" Percy asked Grover.

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, they could see a group of men walking across the lawn. Gray men in gray camouflage outfits. They were too far away for them to see their eyes, but Percy could feel their gaze aimed straight at him.

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

"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. And we are not leaving anyone behind."

A small amused smile crept up on Y/N's face. "And it's not because of you," Y/N heard her say.

It was definitely directed at her.