❦𝓕𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓻𝓲𝓶𝓮❦ - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓬𝔂 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓸𝓷

𝒳𝐼𝒱. 𝐼𝑀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒞𝐻𝐵

𝒵𝑜𝑒 screamed as they plummeted towards the river, Percy's arms wrapped around her waist to keep them together. They sped towards the water, and Percy hit first, white bubbles surrounding them. Zoe must have blacked out because next thing she knows, Percy is pulling her out of the water, her arm wrapped around his neck to keep her up. She brought her hand up to check for her hair clip, finding it in her hair.

"Mama!" A little girl said. "That boy and girl walked out of the river!

"That's nice, dear," The mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.

"But the boy's dry!"

"That's nice, dear."

A news lady was talking to a camera, "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, bit it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eye witness reports of someone falling from the Arch."

Percy and Zoe shared a look that conveyed their relief at the word survivors. Percy (still dragging Zoe), tried to push through the crowd to see what was going on inside the police line.

"...an adolescent boy and girl," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy and girl going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities..."

They backed away, trying to keep their heads down. They had to go a long way around the police perimeter. Uniformed officers and news reporters were everywhere.

"Perrr-cy! Zoe!" A familiar voice bleated.

They turned and got tackled by Grover and Annabeth's hugs. After a soft pink glow appeared, Annabeth let go of Zoe but Grover squeezed Percy into a bear hug-or goat hug for a few more seconds.

"We thought you went to Hades the hard way!" Grover said.

"Well, it depends on how you look at it," Zoe said. "It could also be considered the easy way, so..."

Annabeth was trying to look angry but the brunette could see the relief in the blond's eyes. "We can't leave you two alone for five minutes! Zoe, you said you would be responsible."

"No, I said I'd keep him out of trouble. There's a difference."

"Well, obviously, you did neither," Annabeth snarked. "What happened?"

"We sorta fell." Percy mumbled.

"Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?"

Behind them, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling the mom from the observation deck on a stretcher. She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua-"

"Okay, ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."

"I'm not crazy! These kids, a boy and a girl, jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." Then she saw Zoe and Percy. "There they are! Those are the kids!"

Percy turned quickly, pulling the other three with him, weaving into the crowd.

"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua in the elevator?"

Percy told them the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, their high-dive act, and the underwater lady's message.

"I passed out at that point-I think. I just remember hitting the water, and then Percy was helping me out of the water. Although, for the record, I saved his ass at least three times up in the Arch."