Hero’s quests are world-defining events.
They have made and broken empires.
Altered the course of human civilization.
A quest is a sacred thing.
And to be charged with one is to be in conversation
with the gods themselves.
Monsters can't be avoided entirely.
They're more common than you think.
The trick is to spot them first,
before they spot you.
It's a pleasure to meet you, son of Poseidon. I'm Medusa.
Medusa offered to help me save my mom
if I turned on the two of you.
- What'd you say? - I cut off her head.
Percy, you can't ship Medusa's head to Olympus.
Why not?
Because the gods won't like it.
Ready?
- You have to let go, Percy. - I can't.
Yep. You really can. You just have to try.
- I did try. - No, you didn't.
We have been in the same position for 15 minutes.
Please. Come on. Just do it once with me.
- Can we go home now? - Percy, we paid for this class.
You know I wouldn't ask you to do this if it wasn't safe, right?
Percy, it could be dangerous for you if you don't know how to do this.
One day, it could be really, really important,
and I may not be there to help you
when that happens, so I need to make sure you can do it.
- Breathe. - What?
Just breathe, Mommy.
That's what you always tell me to do.
You'll always be here.
Mom?
Mom!
Hello again, little hero.
What sort of trouble are you up to now? Hmm?
A forbidden child attracts attention.
A forbidden hero? Well...
They attract doom.
She is coming.
Hey, you asleep?
Yes.
You and Thalia were really close, right?
Yeah.
What was she like?
Why?
She was the last forbidden kid before me, right?
She must've dealt with the same kind of stuff.
She was tough.
I mean, she knew she was a forbidden kid, she just didn't care.
When Luke and Thalia found me, Luke cared for me right away.
But Thalia...
she made me earn it.
Is that why you give me a hard time?
I gotta earn it with you too?
Yeah. Maybe.
I gotta say, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
What doesn't make sense to you?
The way you guys all talk.
The way the gods want us to think.
Gotta burn an offering to get a parent's attention.
Gotta beat up on Clarisse
just to get my father to admit he's my father.
It isn't supposed to work that way.
People who are close to you aren't supposed to treat you that way.
You wanna know how I ended up alone on the road in the first place?
I started out as a gift to my father.
That's how it works with Athena.
We're born from a thought in her mind,
and then given to a partner she feels connected to.
And for a while, I was treated like a gift.
My father cared for me.
He loved me.
I knew it.
Then he met a woman.
They had their own kids.
And to her, I-- I wasn't a gift.
I was a problem.
So I left.
I was seven.
It isn't the gods who think that way.
It's everybody.
But at least with the gods you know the rules.
Show them respect and they'll be in your corner,
no matter what.
You awake?
Well, I am now. Thanks.
Are you okay?
He's super grouchy when he doesn't get enough sleep.
"He's super grouchy when he doesn't get enough..." Nah!
Wow.
You've never been on the road with him before.
A little different than a froofy boarding school.
Who's froofy? You're froofy. What's froofy?
I think I need to eat.
Two days until we reach Los Angeles.
Plenty of time before our deadline to reach the Underworld.
Can I ask a dumb question?
It's like you need me to make fun of you.
Shoot.
I've never been to Los Angeles before.
I'm guessing neither of you have been to Los Angeles.
So, how will we have any idea where we're going?
No idea.
But that's like step 37, and we're still on step four.
Cross that bridge when we get there.
- Follow-up stupid question. - Dude.
"And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end."
Back in Jersey, I told you the Oracle said this quest would fail.
And no one's mentioned it since.
Seems like something we oughta be taking a little more seriously.
Hey.
Look at that.
- Are those... - Centaurs.
No one even knows they're there.
There used to be herds of them everywhere.
What happened to them?
Humans.
A few thousand years ago, the god of the wild, Pan, disappeared.
And ever since, without Pan to protect the natural world,
humans have been trying really hard to chip away at it.
The bravest satyrs volunteer to become Searchers,
trying to find Pan.
None have ever returned.
Your uncle we found in Medusa's, Ferdinand.
He was a Searcher?
The Oracle didn't say the quest would fail.
"Fail to save what matters most." That could mean a lot of things.
That's how prophecies work, that's how fate works.
It could mean a lot of things.
The harder you work to understand, the harder it gets to understand.
Sometimes, you've just gotta let it come to you when it's ready.
Excuse me. Can I see your tickets, please?
You're in Cabin 17B?
You wanna explain?
Wait. Wait, you think we did this?
- Did you? - I mean... How? And why?
Sir, when we left to get breakfast, everything was intact.
We don't know how this happened.
We got a witness here, says she heard the window smash,
- and then heard children's voices. - Oh, come on.
Can you tell me what time you left the cabin?
Are we under arrest?
I don't think you wanna take that tone with me, little girl.
Are we under arrest?
So we're just killing time
'til we find out that guy's like a werewolf or something, right?
The train is arriving at St. Louis Gateway station
- in ten minutes. - I don't think he's a monster.
Hard to say.
Well, if he's not a monster, what's going on here?
Why would anyone tear our room apart?
Maybe they were looking for something.
We don't have anything.
The people who think you stole Zeus's master bolt might disagree.
Right.
Well, look, they're not gonna find something we don't have.
Either way, we aren't spending the day answering questions
in the St. Louis police station.
We need to get out of this before we get delayed.
D-- Do you mind if I sit?
You poor dears.
Your parents aren't here, are they?
Isn't that right, precious?
Don't children get scared when they're all alone?
It's okay. I'm a mom. I know how scared you must be.
Excuse me. Would you mind giving us a little space?
I think...
I think you're making them nervous.
I want you to know...
I don't actually think that you made that mess back there.
I just wanted a moment alone with you.
There are some things I need you to understand--
You have something on your jacket.
It looks like...
It looks like glass.
No one smashed out the windows from inside our cabin.
Someone smashed them in from the outside.
Hm. Oh!
Yes, sweetheart.
I know, I know.
You're impatient.
Oh!
But we're almost there.
This isn't your fault.
But sadly,
you're going to have to bear the burden of your parents' mistakes today.
Listen, lady.
I don't know who you are, but I think I know what you are.
We've run across a few monsters like you and we've sent them all packing.
Monsters like me?
Well...
of course they're like me.
They were my children.
Children?
What does that mean?
The Mother of Monsters.
Echidna.
Oh!
Monster.
It’s an odd word,
considering my grandmother is your great-grandmother,
and this has always been a family story.
But... to my eye,
the demigod is the more dangerous creature.
Disruptive.
Violent.
If I exist for anything,
it is to stand in the way of monsters
like you.
My little one here. She's just a pup now.
Bless her heart.
Today...
you will be her prey.
Are you afraid yet?
Oh. It's all right. Fear is natural.
It's also essential to the hunt.
Your fear. Your doubt.
Your confusion.
I needed you to understand what was happening
so that she could track the scent.
So that she could learn and grow, because...
that's what a good mother does for her children.
Not that you would know.
You should run now.
- No, sweetheart! - Go!
You! Stop!
Stop!
Silly girl.
You got ahead of yourself.
We'll work on that.
Stop!
Hey!
- Percy. - Open this door!
Come back here and open this door!
What is that?
It's a stinger.
Grover, do you know what kind of monster has one of those?
I don't know. I mean, nothing good probably.
- Do you feel okay? - I think so. Why?
Do you think it's poisonous or something?
Open this door, right now!
- I'm not sure. - Come on.
Hey!
We gotta move.
This train is making an unplanned stop.
Please remain seated for your--
Why isn't it still chasing us?
Echidna said whatever she was hiding in that carrier, it's young.
It won't venture too far from her mother.
She's learning to hunt...
and this seems like the hunting part.
We aren't gonna be able to outrun them for very long.
We don't need to. We just need a safe place to hole up.
Some place safe.
Any ideas where we might find one of those?
I do.
A sanctuary, dedicated to Athena,
built by one of her demigod children a long time ago.
There is an Athenian temple hidden somewhere
in the middle of downtown St. Louis?
Yes.
Except it's not all that hidden.
It's 630 feet wide, 630 feet tall, both to within an inch.
It's got no internal support.
Each side is balanced perfectly against the other.
The arch is held up by symmetry.
It's held up by math.
And it's earthquake-proof,
so Poseidon can't ruin it.
- Nice. - Excuse me.
This is how you show Athena your love.
A monument to the power of perfection.
It's a monument to some other stuff, too.
You're talking about what some humans
want this place to be about.
I'm talking about what it actually is.
Whatever.
We're safe here, right?
No monsters can enter. Not even Echidna.
- We're safe. - Great.
Well, since our train exploded,
I'm gonna see if there's another one we can get tickets on.
We can't stay here forever.
Just because we're prey, doesn't mean we need to be helpless.
He doesn't like it when people mess with animals.
Yeah.
I know.
I shouldn't have s-- snapped at him, I just...
I know.
So, this is your mom's place?
Wonder if she's around.
Be right down! Just going to the potty!
- Nice. - I have a gift.
I guess you were right, by the way.
We needed a safe place, and your mom had one waiting.
Pretty lucky we happened to be in the right city for it.
Luck or fate?
I know you think it's all just in my head.
That... That I tell myself my mother cares because it's easier that way.
I didn't say that.
Look, I've only been a demigod since...
last Saturday.
You shouldn't listen to me.
You know, this is my mother's place, but a temple is a temple.
Maybe you could say hi to your dad while we're here.
No thanks.
What could it hurt?
Your thing with your mom...
I get it. It's different. It works for you. But my father...
I don't want anything from him. He's had his chances.
Honestly, you've done more for me in the past few days
than my father has done in my entire life.
If I have to stick with someone, I--
Careful.
I think you were about to call me a friend.
Somewhere around here the Oracle is laughing at us,
but you know-- Whoa!
Percy!
Hey! What happened?
I think... I think those stinger things were poisonous.
I have an idea. Come on, help me.
Okay.
The water cured him back at camp,
it should work for poison too, right?
You know, I think it's-- I think it's working.
This was a great call.
- Or not. - Maybe it needs to be
naturally running water for Poseidon to be able to heal him.
- Okay. We need to get back inside. - No, we need to keep trying.
This isn't working. And she's coming.
Okay, look, we'll take Percy inside, and we'll go the temple's altar.
Altar? Where is there an altar?
The highest point, the best view.
Okay, but what good is that even gonna do us?
We're gonna get to the altar and we're going to ask my mom for help.
I thought we don't ask for help.
Come on, let's get moving.
Guys, d-- did you hear that?
Hear what?
Never mind. Come on.
Please take your seats. The trams are about to depart.
What was that back there? What did you hear?
She spoke to you.
Alecto did that with me back in the museum in New York.
What did she say?
Was that the Chimera?
I think... I think that was the Chimera.
How did the Chimera even get inside here?
- How did any monster get inside here? - Annabeth?
We're in a sanctuary. Athena would have had to let her in,
- but why would she do that? - Annabeth!
What did Echidna say to you?
She said my impertinence wounded my mother's pride.
And that that will be my doom.
Impertinence? What kind of--
Medusa's head.
I embarrassed my mother.
But I'm the one who sent the head to Olympus.
- I signed the note. - And I went along with it.
It embarrassed her.
Now, she's angry.
Guys, what are we gonna do?
She isn't gonna help us when we get to the top to save Percy.
No, I meant, what are we gonna do about Echidna and Chimera?
They're gonna be right behind us.
We're not gonna have much time.
They'll be up here any minute.
And if my mother isn't going to protect us,
then we'll just have to fight it out up here.
Oh, no.
We gotta get everybody outta here.
Attention. Attention.
- Everyone, let's line up. - You and Percy follow them down.
What? No, no, no. W-- We're not splitting up.
Grover, come on.
No. No, no, no, no, no, we're all getting out of here together.
We won't make it. The Chimera is the demigod-killer.
Someone has to stay back to slow her down and buy everyone some time.
Come on.
Okay, help him down the stairs and get him to the river.
And don't stop. Not till you get to Hades,
not till you have the bolt, do you hear me?
Okay, go.
Wait.
Take this.
Wait!
Hey! Percy!
Percy, please!
Percy, no! Don't do this. They'll kill you.
Poseidon's never helped me before.
- He wasn't gonna start now. - Percy!
I would've never made it to Hades.
Percy? Percy, please.
But you can.
And now you will.
Percy!
Percy, do you hear me?
Percy, you can't do this on your own.
This is the end, sweetheart.
Don't fight it.
You'll just make her angry.
So unfair. You never had a chance, did you?
If only someone'd cared enough for you to provide you with one.
You are frightened.
It's all right, Percy.
Your father sent me to tell you,
it's all right.
Just breathe.
Your father is here.
He's always been here.
It is so hard for him to stand back.
To see you struggle.
It is so hard for us all.
But he's here.
And he's so very proud.
Trust him.
Trust yourself.
Just...
breathe.
My mom told me these stories all the time.
Percy, stand up. I mean it.
She said this is what the gods are like to each other.
This is the kind of family they are.