Chapter 22: Gateway Arch

A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

The Gateway Arch~

-x-X-x

“Amazing…”

“Isn’t it?!”

Pulling back from the small viewport he’d been looking out of, Percy gives Annabeth an amused glance. The blonde demigod isn’t looking out of a small window of her own, after all… but rather, she’s standing in the center of the admittedly cramped observation deck, slowly turning around and marveling at it.

He supposes he really shouldn’t be surprised, all things considered. This was… well, this was like a dream come true for Annabeth from what Percy could tell. Ever since they’d arrived, she’d been regaling him, Clarisse, and Grover with tales of the St. Louis Arch and its history. Commonly known as the Gateway to the West, it had been built over half a century ago, which Percy had to admit was quite impressive.

Annabeth claimed it was not just the tallest arch in the world, but also the tallest human-made monument in the entirety of the West. That was very impressive, Percy had to admit… though there was just one problem from where he was standing. He disliked confined spaces. He disliked them quite a lot.

Unfortunately, the small little tram car they had to ride to get up here in the first place was the definition of a confined space. The only upside was that because there were four of them and only five seats to a tram car, they got one all to themselves.

There had been an incredibly large woman with a chihuahua that had had to wait because of this. She’d looked incredibly cross for the single moment that Percy had laid eyes on her before the car had made its way on. But Percy couldn’t bring himself to feel bad over it to be honest. Just the idea of having to share that small tram car with a stranger of THAT size unsettled his stomach something fierce.

Alas, things only got marginally better up at the top. The observation deck of the St. Louis Arch was effectively a long carpeted strip with a bunch of tiny slits for windows. It was still very confining, and Percy… Percy could only shudder at the thought of how bad it would be once that obese woman made her way up here with her dog.

But then… they didn’t really have to be HERE when she got here, right? At least, he and Annabeth didn’t have to…

Moving over to the blonde’s side, Percy nudges her with a slight grin.

“Hey.”

When Annabeth looks at him, it’s with an almost euphoric expression on her face. She’s already as happy as can be to be in this place. But…

“I know you enough to know you wouldn’t have suggested what you suggested or come here without some sort of plan, Wise Girl.”

Annabeth blushes, though whether it’s at his insinuation or the affectionate nickname, he doesn’t know. Either way, she looks around for a moment surreptitiously before nodding and taking him by the hand.

“Not here.”

They meet up with Grover and Clarisse a moment later and Annabeth considers the two of them for a long second before smiling at Grover.

“Hey Grover, can you head back down and see about getting us our next set of train tickets? The three of us will be right behind you.”

Both Grover and Clarisse react with surprise at that, but for very different reasons. Percy has to admit, he’s a little shocked too. Annabeth willingly including Clarisse in something? Had hell frozen over when Percy wasn’t looking? Actually, probably best not to joke about that sort of thing now that he knew places like the Underworld had to be real…

“Err… sure, yeah I can do that. Seen all there was to see up here anyways. You three stay safe, you hear?”

Annabeth just smiles sweetly at that and nods, prompting Grover to turn and make his way towards one of the Arch’s exits. Once he’s no longer looking their way. Annabeth grabs Clarisse by the hand as well, startling the taller girl as she pulls them along.

“C’mon, both of you. And don’t read too much into this, Clarisse. You’re just the lookout, got it?”

“I… yeah, got it.”

Percy, amused as all hell, allows himself to be pulled along in Annabeth’s wake. Before he and Clarisse really know what’s happening… they’re on the outside of the Arch. Specifically, they’re on the top of the Arch. Not quite on the actual top, but definitely on some sort of maintenance platform. Percy doesn’t know how Annabeth knew about it, but she’s undeniably smug as she clasps a railing and looks out over the Mississippi River down below.

“You’re right, Percy. I always have a plan~”

Chuckling as Annabeth waves her ass at him enticingly, Percy moves forward and grabs her by her hips. He pulls her back to his crotch and she bends over further to accommodate him, moaning as she grips the railing. The maintenance platform is actually pretty masterfully hidden from what Percy can see. It definitely doesn’t give the best view or anything like that either.

Though, if someone were in just the right spot and looking up from below… yeah, they might see them. At the very least, they’d see Annabeth. But the Daughter of Athena doesn’t seem to care about that possibility anymore than she cared back in the car. Or the train station. Or hell, all the way back behind that cabin! Hang on a second… did Annabeth Chase have an exhibitionism kink?!

Well, now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that, really. After positioning Annabeth how he wants her, Percy slides his hands from her hips around to the front of her jeans. He quickly manages to unbutton and unzip them, pulling both her pants and her panties down to her knees. Annabeth moans as the air, colder up here six hundred feet high, ghosts across her already dripping pussy.

Feats of Architecture turned Annabeth Chase on immensely. Noted. Freeing his cock from his confines quickly, Percy slides himself into Annabeth before either of them can get any colder. Better to make their own heat, in the end… and that’s precisely what he proceeds to do, fucking Annabeth from behind with short, sharp thrusts that soon have her moaning up a storm as she pushes her hips back into him, her hands gripping down on the railing.

Clarisse watches from nearby, her spear still wrapped up and on her back. When Percy makes eye contact with the other girl, he gives her a grin and a permissive nod. Blushing profusely, the Daughter of Ares begins to touch herself as she leans back against the wall behind her, running her hands over her body and disappearing one down into the front of her pants.

Man, Percy was kind of living a really… lewd life, wasn’t he? Still, after what he’d made Annabeth do with ‘Em’, he felt like she’d earned this. He was happy she’d given him a way to make things up to her, in the end.

As if reading his mind, Annabeth suddenly speaks up, grunting as he continues to fuck her from behind.

“I’m really… not mad about what happened with Medusa, Percy… if our positions had been… reversed, I would have done the exact same thing.”

Percy blinks at that, imagining it for a second. Yeah, that did sound like Annabeth. And honestly, if their positions were reversed he’s not sure he would have been all that upset either. A weight he hadn’t even truly noticed lifts off his chest at that realization, and he smiles slightly as he hugs Annabeth from behind, continuing to thrust up into her as she mewls.

“I’m glad, Annabeth. I never want to hurt you.”

A shuddering breath leaves Annabeth’s lips and she’s quiet for a moment. Then, she speaks.

“You know… I wanted to be an architect when I grew up, originally.”

Percy furrows his brow at that. He knows Annabeth is older than him, obviously. But…

“Why didn’t you?”

Letting out a quiet laugh, Annabeth shakes her head.

“Been on the run ever since I turned eighteen. All my plans, up in smoke. Full Ride to Uni, rescinded because of my tardiness. Can’t exactly go to college when the Monsters are on my tail… on everyone’s tail. The only place we demigods are safe after we reach adulthood is Camp Half-Blood, Percy. And as much as Hestia tries her best… she’s the Goddess of the Hearth, not the Goddess of Knowledge. Her Domain allows her to make a safe home for all of us. But that comes with… limitations.”

He can see what Annabeth means. Even as he continues to fill her with his cock, her words are having a… sobering effect on Percy. Even for him, his life was over. He just hadn’t fully accepted it yet. His mom… well, he didn’t want to think about her. Meanwhile, the potential for him to become a professional swimmer… it was gone, wasn’t it? He definitely wasn’t going to get a swimming scholarship to a good college or something like that now, was he?

It hadn’t really sunk in for him until now, but Annabeth is right. Camp Half-Blood is their safe haven… and they only seem to really leave the camp when they have a quest. Is that really all life is for demigods? Playing Capture the Flag every Friday and waiting for some sort of mummified Oracle to tell them their next divine task?

Percy’s lips thin out as he considers the problem. In the end, it all comes down to monsters, doesn’t it? The reason that demigods are by and large confined to Camp Half-Blood is because they’re constantly hunted by monsters.

“Annabeth… dumb question, I know… but where do monsters come from?”

Blinking, Annabeth looks back over her shoulder at him for a moment before biting her lower lip and responding.

“T-Tartarus. They come from… Tartarus. That’s where its said the gods have imprisoned all of their enemies. And when you kill a monster… it doesn’t die for good. It reforms in… Tartarus.”

Percy narrows his eyes at that. That doesn’t make all that much sense, actually.

“But wait… if the default is that the monsters reform back in a cage… how do they get back out again?”

Annabeth lets out a shuddering breath, his cock still sliding in and out of her, almost on autopilot at this point.

“Sometimes… s-sometimes the gods let them out. If the monsters s-swear to do their bidding.”

Percy blinks, his mind immediately going to the Furies. That’s right. They were after him on behalf of Zeus himself, weren’t they? Fuck… so the Greek Gods were actually the ones keeping their children from having real lives?

“But also… Tartarus isn’t… a perfect prison. Sometimes some monsters j-just seem to… slip through the cracks. And then they inevitably hunt demigods because… well, most monsters hate the gods with all their souls. But they can’t attack divinity. So they go after the next best thing… their children.”

Well that sounds like bullshit. Not that Percy thinks Annabeth is lying to him, but still… that’s seriously fucked up. You’ve got the gods up on Mount Olympus picking and choosing what terrible beasties to pull out of their mythological prison in order to send them after their own kids… or in Zeus’ case, his brother’s kid. And then you’ve got some monsters just running rampant, hunting demigods solely because they’re easier prey.

What utter bullshit. The more Percy learns about this life, the more he thinks he just might hate it. But… he’s not sure what someone like him can do. He’s just a guy with some seriously cool water powers and an awesome pen sword. But he’s starting to think he might have to take on the gods themselves at some point and he’s not sure how that’s going to go for him.

“P-Percy…”

Blinking, Percy realizes he’s stopped fucking Annabeth altogether. Snugly inside of her still, he flushes, ready to begin thrusting again. Only, before that can happen… the hatch they’d snuck out of to get to this platform in the first place suddenly slams open and a lion suddenly begins to drag itself out.

Letting out a curse, Clarisse quickly pulls her hands back from her body and gets her spear out. Meanwhile, Percy and Annabeth are also very quick to pull away from each other. Fortunately, the lion is… large and struggles to make its way out of the hatch, giving them all enough time to fix their clothing and in Percy and Clarisse’s cases, draw their weapons.

Unfortunately, that hatch is also the only way back into the Arch and thus the only way back down to the ground, so they’re forced to stay put. In the end… Percy quickly realizes that it’s not just a lion they’re facing but something far, far worse.

“The Chimera…”

Annabeth’s whispered tone of horror is more than appropriate given the monster in front of them. Head of a lion, body of a goat, blood-caked mane and a massive snake-headed tail that looks like it has to be at least ten feet long. Standing between them and the hatch, the Chimera growls at them all… but doesn’t attack.

That’s when Percy notices the rhinestone dog collar the damn thing is wearing, along with the plate-sized dog tag hanging off of it.

CHIMERA

RABID, FIRE BREATHING, POISONOUS

IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS

EXT. 954

… Seriously? Percy blinks rapidly at the sight… and then also notices the leash attached to said collar as well. Then, the leash’s holder starts to come out of the hatch too.

“Give me a second, kiddies! Oh, you little heroes… always being such a PAIN IN MY ASS!”

It’s the fat woman from before and she definitely struggles with getting that aforementioned ass out of the hatch. But against all odds and everything they’re witnessing with their own two eyes, she somehow sucks her form through the hatch and climbs up onto the maintenance platform, a wide grin on her face. Her sleeves are rolled up, revealing scaled arms and as she licks her lips, Percy can’t help but noticing that her tongue is… forked.

“Alright. Here we are at long last. You lot ran off on me and my darling boy here. But your scent was still so close by, so I knew you hadn’t left the Arch! Pah! Decided to make me work for it, aren’t you? Just a poor mother, struggling to make ends meet for her children.”

“… Echidna. Mother of Monsters.”

Annabeth’s voice is still filled with fear, but she can’t seem to help herself when it comes to expositing. Still, good to know. Holding Riptide aloft while Clarisse holds her spear up alongside him, Percy grits his teeth as Echidna blinks at them all and then laughs.

“Oho! Even knowing who I am, you’re all so ready to fight. But you don’t need to, children. All Lord Zeus needs is the boy. Give me the boy and you two can go free. Simple as can be.”

Clarisse and Annabeth stiffen up at that.

“Never!”

“Not on your life, bitch!”

Echidna hisses but Percy… Percy is considering it. She’s right that they don’t need to fight, necessarily. In fact… he might even have a plan, as much as plans are Annabeth’s thing.

… But on the other hand, he’d just gotten done talking with Annabeth about monsters. And now the Mother of Monsters and the Chimera were in front of him. How many demigods have they slain, the two of them? How many dead over the centuries, or even the millennia?

Percy isn’t sure it’s a good impulse, but he suddenly has the desire to stand and fight… and kill. In defense of not just himself and his friends, but every demigod out there right now. Probably a bad idea though. Unless…

[ ] Stand his ground and fight Echidna and the Chimera with the intent to remove them from the board for now - 19%

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