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XVII

They were crammed in a boat that had the letters, SPQR on it. The main colour is purple and the text was gold. The boat was about 3 metres long, so they had enough room to sit down. Each bench was enough for two, so they fitted perfectly. Dakota offered to start rowing.
     Jason looked at the sea and muttered, 'not my preferred choice of transport, but okay.'
     He looked at the others and said, 'I'll push from behind.'
     He jumped overboard and levitated above the water. He drifted towards the back of the boat and pushed it. He flew quite fast, so the boat went fast. After a while, Dakota stopped rowing and Jake volunteered to take over.
     The sun started to bleed into the sky. The clouds formed a beautiful landscape in the sunset. At the speed Jason was going, they would be in Athens in no time. Jason could see land up ahead, but he knew it was only Spain.
Another couple hundred kilometres and we'd be there. Jason thought.
     'How long?' Clarisse asked.
     'Not far.' Jason replied. 'About-'
     He was interrupted by the sound of Jake puking over the side of the boat.
     'Sorry.' He apologised.
     Jason continued. 'About an hour top, if I go fast.'
     Clarisse grew impatient. 'Then fly fast!'

Up ahead, land grew bigger and bigger until they couldn't see any water in front of them. They docked at a quay and tied up the boat. It was around midnight and the cities were dark. Sprinkling the city were thousands of light posts.
     'Athens,' Jason said. 'And it makes sense.'
     Jake nodded. 'To the heart they shall retreat.'
     'Yeah. Athens in the heart of Greece.' Clarisse said stubbornly.
     'I now remember coming here on a quest. Vulcan said I would remember.'
     Dakota looked towards the city. 'Yeah, and I came, too.'
     Jason looked ashamed. 'Right, you did, but we need to go.'

They walked a couple hundred metres until Jason heard a shrieking sound. He stopped abruptly, causing Jake to walk into him.
    'Hey!' Jake said.
    Jason said nothing.
    'You alright there, Jason?' Dakota asked. He suddenly turned his head towards the city. 'What was that?'
     'I heard, or saw, nothing.' Clarisse said
     'Shrieking.' Jason replied. 'Urgent shrieking.'
     He pulled out his coin and flipped it. 'Make flanks!'
     The others rearranged.
     A few seconds later, a satyr jumped out of a bush and landed on his butt, and he shrieked, the same shrieking Jason heard before.
     Jason's grip loosened. 'Hello?'
     The satyr stood up. From his waist up, he was just a normal human with a beard and curly brown hair. From the waist down, he was a goat: goat legs and hooves. A pair of pipes dangled at his side.
     'Hey.' The satyr said.
     'You're a faun.' Jason said dumbfounded. 'What are you doing in Athens in the middle of the night?'
     'Roman, I see? Anyway, first things first, my name is Dom Broashall. I'm a satyr or faun. And I'm running from that thing.'
     Dom pointed towards a chimera. It had a lion's head, goat's body and a serpent's tail that whipped everything in it's path.
     The chimera roared. Everyone covered their ears. Jason dropped his sword and it changed back into a coin.
     'Jason Grace, son of Jupiter.' It said in a mocking tone.
     'Er, hi, lion, goat lady.'
     'I am a chimera. Destroyer of you!' It bellowed.
     'Not likely.' Jason protested and charged.
     Clarisse gripped he spear and threw it. The chimera deflected it.
     Jake picked up some rocks and threw them, and Dakota just ran and hid behind a rock.
     Jason jabbed his sword at it, but it just bounced off harmlessly.
     Okay then. Plan B. He thought.
     He thrust his arms. The wind swirled around the chimera like a tornado going crazy-town-banana-pants. The tornado looked so unstable that it might crumble. Nonetheless, it held up. The chimera swiped at it, but the tornado shocked her. Jason's arms started to weaken, and so did the tornado.
     Clarisse stepped up and pointed her spear at the chimera, and lightning shot out of it, electrocuting it. Jason's strength continued to weaken. The tornado suddenly grew to nothing other than the size of an olive at the chimera's feet. She stepped on it and it shocked her, but it disappeared, and Jason collapsed.
     'No!' Dakota yelled. He stepped in front of his hiding place. He was so angry that his cheeks started to turn red. He charged empty-handed, which was a terrible idea. The chimera just flicked him away.
     Jake charged with his rocks. He was glowing, almost like an aura cocooned him - It was sunlight. He threw a rock, but it bounced off. The chimera attempted to whack Jake, but his aura acted like the tornado. When she touched the sunlight, her hairy goat hand disintegrated.
     'ROAR!' It let out a gigantic scream and it knocked everyone out, including Jake and Dom.
     The chimera picked everyone up and walked away.
     It roared in triumph.