Shattered

Space

Zoe panted in exhaustion. She knew exactly how to defeat the lion, but no opportunity presented itself to the huntress. She remembered how they had managed to defeat the beast the last time around. Percy had shown a surprising level of thoughtfulness with him figuring out that the lion's weak point was the inside of its mouth.

The problem was, Percy was rather busy trying not to die as nine heads snapped at him, threatening to bite him in half.

Bianca fired arrow after arrow at the beast, but of course, that did nothing but anger the lion.

Thalia stabbed at the lion with her spear, but that too, did not much.

"Zoe!" Annabeth shouted. "Target the mouth!"

Seemed like the daughter of Athena had started using her brain.

The monster lunged at her. An arrow zipped past it, missing completely, and she was backed into a corner. 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.

Zoe took the opportunity to distract the lion with an arrow to the eye. It bounced off the lion's impenetrable skin, but the arrow had the desired effect. Zoe charged at the lion, brandishing her hunting knives.

"Annabeth!" Zoe yelled. "Clear the area!"

The blonde demigod scampered away from the wall, leaving the lion alone with Zoe.

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

Bianca was above the two of them, bows ready, but they kept having to move around to get a good angle.

"No clear shot!" The daughter of Hades yelled. "Get it to open its mouth more!"

The lion snarled from the top of the globe.

She looked around. Options. She needed...

The gift shop. Percy had used some item in a silvery packing material to get to lion to keep its jaw open.

"Thalia!" she called, "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.

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

"Where are you going Zoe!" Bianca yelled.

The older huntress dashed into the shop, knocking over rows of T-shirts, jumping over tables full of glow-in-the-dark planets and space ooze. The sales lady didn't protest. She was too busy cowering behind her cash register.

There! On the far wall—glittery silver packets. Whole racks of them. She scooped up every kind she could find and ran out of the shop with an armful.

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.

"Zoe," she called, "Whatever you're going to do—"