Chapter 15 Hydra

Lucian woke up pretty early, earlier than the two other guys. They were still knocked out on their beds as Lucian went and washed his face. He sighed as he looked at his wet face in the mirror. He grabbed a towel to dry himself then went outside the room.

Lucian breathed in the fresh morning air and let out another sigh. He looked to his right and saw that Annabeth was also awake and getting some air. "A-are Percy and Grover still sleeping?" Annabeth asked nervously, avoiding eye contact. Lucian nodded without saying anything and just stared at the way Annabeth was awkwardly standing, uncomfortable.

"Do you hate me?" Lucian asked at what has been gnawing in the back of his mind. Although he asked this, he was scared to hear the answer. Annabeth did not know what to say. She tried to think of a way to answer him, to ease his mind. Although she did not want him to think she hated him, could she honestly say she didn't? And if it wasn't hate, could she say she wasn't scared of him?

They stood there waiting for her answer, but in the end Lucian smiled bitterly and went back into his room, leaving Annabeth outside. Lucian woke up the sleeping boys and told them they should leave early. They groaned, but listened anyway and packed their things in the truck. Annabeth sat the farthest from Lucian, who was sitting in between Grover who was driving and Percy who was sitting next to Annabeth.

The atmosphere was still awkward and no one said anything. They drove for a couple of more hours and reached their location around the afternoon. There were many families playing in the vast land of grass. It was really a positive atmosphere that they were giving out. "Wow, there really is a complete replica of the parthenon in Nashville." Annabeth expressed her thoughts of the huge Greek looking building. "Alright guys, let's go get the pearl." Grover said as we headed inside the building through its gigantic doors.

What we saw was a giant marble statue of a woman in the back of the room. Under the statue was a plaque that said Athena in greek. "Athena, that's your mom." Percy said to Annabeth who was just looking at the statues face. "I wonder if she really looks like that." She said in almost a whisper. "We'll find out, I'm sure you'll see your mother soon." I said to Annabeth in hopes of comforting her. She looked toward me and smiled a little, but then it disappeared as quick as it came and turned back to the statue.

"Guys look, the pearl." Grover pointed at the top of the statues head, there was a crown with a green pearl in the center. "Great, we should just come back when this place is closed to make it easier for us to grab." Lucian suggested. "That's what I was thinking too." Percy agreed and they started to walk toward the bathrooms to wait for closing time. "Or I could just throw my crutch up there, seriously it's not a bad idea." Grover suggested but we all ignored him.

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|9:00 PM|

It was now 9 PM, meaning that the place has been closed for an hour. There shouldn't be any people around to mess with our plan in getting the pearl. We exited the bathroom while Percy explained to us his plan on getting the pearl, but he was so focused on explaining he wasn't focused in what's in front of him. I quickly pull his backpack and pull him behind a marble pillar to hide. He was going to question why I did this untill I gave him the world wide symbol of be quiet. I pointed to the four janitors that were waxing the floor and the one cleaning the statue on a ladder.

"What do we do now?" Percy asked in a whisper. "Dont worry guys, I got this." Annabeth said as she took out a mini crossbow. "Woah your going to kill the janitors?! Those are working class Americans!" Grover did not agree with this sudden plan. "Chill." Is all Annabeth said as she went off and got rid of each janitor one by one. Lucian smiled to himself, she really was a badass.

"Why did you do that?!" Asked Grover. "They're not dead, they're unconscious. Now come on, we got 30 minutes." Grover quickly piled the bodys in one location as Percy put on the shoes Luke gave them. Annabeth called Luke through her Laptop to ask how to use the shoes. He said that he had to build up speed and that it would take some practice. Percy heard the first part and started sprinting. He flew up but he was clearly unbalanced.

"Its going to take some practice Percy!" I shouted out to the idiotic kid. Percy was an inch from getting the pearl but fell short and plummeted from the air. He was able to grab on to the statue and climb his way back up to the pearl. Percy pulled out the pearl along with a part of the crown.

He flew back down and showed us the second Pearl. "I got it!" Percy celebrated as Grover gave his congrats and Annabeth happily hugged him. Percy seemed really happy for the hug and held her with a smile. I notice this but I don't say anything, l noticed that Percy has liked Annabeth since the moment he saw her. What right do I have to get in the way of that when I dont even know how I feel, and even If I did like her she seems to hate me now.

"Um Guys!" Percy said and pointed toward the security guys who have woken up. They stood in a row next to each other. "Dont worry guys, I got this." Grover whispered to us. "Hey guys, I'm from Park recreational services. You guys have been caught sleeping on the job, you better be happy I'm not writing your guys up okay? This is the last time!" Grover said trying to sound convincing, but honestly that couldn't even convince a child.

"We have been expecting you Mr. Jackson, Just give us the lightning bolt and we will let you go." The janitors spoke at the same time. Lucian raised an eyebrow and knew that things were going to get ugly. "I dont have the Lightning Bolt!" Percy said. One of the Janitors coughed fire as they started to merge. A few seconds later a giant dragon looking thing with 5 heads popped out. "HYDRA!" Annabeth yelled as she pulled us along behind the Marble columns.

"WATCH OUT, THE MIDDLE ONE SPEWS FIRE!" Not long after she was done saying this, the middle head started to spit fire at us like a huge flamethrower. Percy's right sleeve caught fire which ended up making him drop the pearl. Percy quickly pulled out his sword and shield and batted the heads with the shield. He was about to head out to fight the heads when I quickly jumped over to his pillar and pulled him back.

"What do you think your doing?!" I asked him. Percy looked at me like I was an idiot and said. "I'm going to go kill that thing!" I rolled my eyes. "And how were you planning to do that?" Percy really thought I lost some brain cells. "By cutting off its heads of course!"

"Wrong! That will only make two more grow back in its place. You cant kill it like that." Percy looked ashamed and felt stupid for what he was going to do. Just then the Pillar Annabeth was hiding behind exploded into pieces because the hydra smashed it with its head. Annabeth screamed as she jumped out of the way from the Hydras Jaws.

"Percy go look for the pearl!" Percy looked toward Annabeth. "What about Annabeth?!" He asked wanting to go help her. "I'll help Annabeth, you need to find the pearl before we lose it. We need it to save your mother!" Percy looked convinced and headed toward the direction it fell to. Lucian quickly ran toward Annabeth who was about to get eaten by one of the heads. Lucian quickly jumped in front of Annabeth and held the Hydras Jaws open.

"Lucian!" Annabeth screamed in worry. She did not want him to die, especially when he was saving her. "GO!!" Lucian shouted. Annabeth knew that he was protecting her, so she quickly ran toward Grover. Lucian used his strength to push down the Hydras head, causing a small crater to appear on the floor. He let go of the head allowing it to slowly raise its head, then pulled back his hand and punched it. The Hydra roared in pain and anger as it got ready to breath fire at Lucian.

Lucian quickly rolled to the last pillar on the left and shielded himself from the fire. "Lucian! Are you ok?!" Annabeth screamed out, she sounded almost desperate to receive a positive answer. Oh now she's worried? What happened to ignoring me and avoiding all eye contact, like I was the spawn of the devil?! For some reason Lucian was feeling pissed, even though he did not blame Annabeth. He was feeling a bunch of negative emotions, as the unbearable rage settled in. He has felt this once before, and that was when he was young and first heard about the story of Medusa.

Lucian felt great pain in his hands, almost like if they were being stabbed by a bunch of needles over and over again. He looked toward his hands and saw that they looked to be on fire. "ARGHHHHHHH" Lucian screamed out as he ran out behind the pillar as soon as the fire stopped. He ran toward the Hydra and punch its enormous body sending it flying across the room. "PERCY! THE SWORD!" Percy nodded and threw the sword at the Hydra, stabbing it into its body. Lucian ran up and pulled out the sword, earning a roar of pain from the Hydra.

The moment Lucian grabbed the sword, it started to turn red from the heat his hands were emitting. The hydra sent one of its heads to swallow Lucian, but Lucian just swung his sword decapitating it. "Lucian! You said not to cut its head!" Percy screamed out. "No look! Look at its neck." Annabeth pointed at the head Lucian just cut, It was not growing back. They looked closer and noticed that its neck was sealed shut, probably because of the heat from the blade.

The Hydra was roaring in pain as it sent two more heads, hoping to overwhelm Lucian. One of the heads attacked, but Lucian pivoted to the left and cut its neck. The other head followed the same fate of the last one and fell to the floor. Now there were only two heads left. Lucian sprinted toward the Hydra and climbed up with a big leap. He stabbed the sword at the base of the neck for one of the heads and sliced it off. Lucian then jumped off of the head with a backflip and landed perfectly. The last head looked terrified as it backed against the wall. It used its last effort and spat fire at Lucian desperately.

Lucian didn't even move and let the fire hit him. "LUCIAN!!" Annabeth called out desperately, madly. Percy quickly controlled the water from the fountain and threw it at the fire putting it out. They were shocked to see what stood there drenched in water was none other than Lucian, completely unharmed. The only fire that remained was the fire on Lucians hands, although it looked dimmer from when he started fighting the Hydra.

Lucian seemed to still be out of it, as he has not talked or even looked at any of his friends, and seemed to be in pure battle mode. Lucian held the sword at the hilt like it was a spear and threw it at the last heads neck. The sword went through its neck and stabbed through the marble wall. The Hydra seemed to still be alive as it struggled helplessly, but the sword was holding it in place. Lucian slowly climbed up the Hydra to its neck like if its body was a flight of stairs. Lucian grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it out then delivered a clean slice, dropping the last head.

Lucian climbed off its body and walked toward his friends. He was almost there, but lost consciousness when he was in front of Annabeth. Annabeth was hurry to catch him and cradled his head in her arms. She looked toward his hands that were completely back to normal, and couldn't help but wonder what that power was. The room was quiet now as they looked at the unconscious boy and the dissolving body of the Hydra he has just slain.