Chapter 11 (Written by Chomper, Beta'd by Chomper):
3rd Person POV
"She's gone." Percy said dully. "She was the one lost in the land without rain. It should have been me that went after Talos, not her."
"Don't say that!" Zoe said, sort of gently, "What would we do without you?" He didn't respond.
After talking about the sad subject a little more they dropped it. They all decided to continue moving past the junkyard and to a road they saw far in the distance (deserts are very flat so you can see for miles). Once they reached it they started walking, until they saw someone in a pickup driving towards them.
"We should try to see if they'll give us a ride." Thalia said, the first words she had spoken since Bianca's death. "We have no other way of getting through this desert." But as the pickup got closer they all realized;
"That car is being driven by Sparti!" Maddy said with a gasp.
"Where the hell did skeletons grown in a museum under a week ago learn to drive a pickup?" Asked Thalia very unhelpfully.
"Now is not the time! Just get ready!" Percy spoke as he drew his sword.
They were on them in seconds. As soon as the was driving past them all the Sparti jumped out, immidialaty bursting into piles of bones, the pickup still moving forward, coasting from its momentum.
"Wow. I thought that was gonna be a lot cooler than just killing themselves." Thalia stated.
Then, before their very eyes the Sparti reformed and charged them.
"I guess thats a bit cooler." She said meekly. "How do we kill them?"
"Just fight them. If you kill them I will be able to restrain the bones with energy." Percy said, knowing he could as a god.
The Sparti each chose a different target and charged. The one in front of Thalia raised its gun but before it could fire was met with her spear taking its arm off. Before the arm could reform she had already stepped to the side and impaled it through the rib cage making it crumble into bones, that were immediately held down with tendrils of energy. The one in front of Maddy managed to get a shot off while she tried to shoot it with arrows, which clattered harmlessly through its bones. The shot got her in the leg where she collapsed before Thalia finished off the skeleton from behind. Percy and Zoe charged their skeletons together and demolished them with swords before rushing to Maddy's side to treat the wound.
"Have you removed the bullet?" Zoe asked Thalia.
"No, I don't know much about healing."
"Alright, I'll treat her wound. You go over to the pickup and drive it back here to us."
Once Thalia left Zoe sent a few black and red pulses of energy into Maddy's wound dissolving the bullet and healing the wound.
"What did you do?" Asked Maddy in surprise.
"Just something that I've picked up in the past few thousand years. Percy can do it as well. But we still need to wrap your wound in something, It may reopen. You can tell Thalia how we healed it, she knows we are immortal.
"Alright. I have some bandages in the pack on my back in the front pocket. Use those."
After they had wrapped the wound they waited a few minutes and Thalia came back driving the truck. They all got in, with Maddy being a little careful of her leg, and started driving west. After they were a mile away Percy released the skeletons from their binds, because he wasn't able to kill them, as he was not a child of Hades.
Line Break
After a long time driving on the road the truck ran out of gas. Thankfully they had just passed a sign that said they were only 3 miles from the Hoover Dam. After taking a half hour to jog to the Dam they decided to go to the snack bar as they hadn't eaten for almost the whole day.
"You guys go ahead, I've got to go to the bathroom then I'll catch up." Percy said casually.
"As do I." Zoe said, sensing the same thing Percy did. "We will meet you at the snack bar."
Thalia and Maddy nodded and the quest split up.
"You sensed the presence downstairs?" Zoe asked, once Thalia and Maddy were out of earshot.
"Yes. It is Athena, come to check on the quest." Percy replied. "Luckily I have kept my godly aura hidden or we would have been found out." Now come," he continued, holding out his hand, "We must go say hello to the esteemed Athena."
As they walked hand in hand he changed his appearance as he had with Apollo (I know I didn't write that he did, but lets just assume he did because its common sense), so that Athena would not recognize him and possibly start to remember him.
When they reached the elevator door they both saw Athena in the front of the elevator, leading a tour for some mortals. They both stepped in and the elevator started heading down to the turbines. When they reached the bottom they both stayed in the elevator as the tour group moved to the next station in the tour.
"Hello Athena." Zoe said, very casually. "What are you doing here today?"
If Athena seemed shocked to be recognized by a 'mere demigod' she hid it will and replied with; "I am here to offer your quest some assistance with transportation. As you may have noticed you are stuck in the middle of the desert." She paused. "I can have the two statues I got for Zeus that are outside the Dam fly you to San Francisco. Just pray to me when you need them to wake. They will answer your call."
"Thank you Lady Athena." Percy said. "The help is much appreciated."
She nodded, then turned into an owl and flew off the viewing platforms and strait towards the turbines.
"Did she just turn into an owl and commit suicide?" Percy asked stupidly.
Zoe just laughed and pressed the button on the elevator that would bring them back up to the snack bar. Once the elevator stopped Percy changed his appearance back and they got out. They walked into the snack bar where, surprisingly, they found Thalia and Maddy talking to a mortal girl with a lot of freckles.
"Percy and Zoe, meet Rachel the clear sighted-
"Is that a sword!?" Rachel said excitedly, pointing at Percy's leg where he had riptide in his pocket.
"As I was saying… She is a clear sighted mortal. Rachel, this is Percy and his Girlfriend Zoe." Thalia continued.
"Wait, you guys are dating?" Maddy said.
Percy groaned. "Does nobody know this? I swear we've told you this before. I know we've told Thalia at least twice and she still brings it up whenever she can."
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Thalia said. "Anyway, Rachel here said she saw some skeletons downstairs near the turbines, so we need to move quickly."
"Speaking of skeletons," Rachel said, They're right there!" She pointed towards the far entrance to the snack bar just as a Sparti walked though. She continued speaking; "It's been nice talking to you guys but I'll be going before I get killed by a skeleton from hell. Bye!" Then she ran towards the opposite end of the snack bar to another door.
"Well she certainly was a strange girl." Maddy said. "Percy, can you restrain those skeletons while we come up with a plan to get out of here?"
"I can restrain them, yes, but the planning part won't be necessary. Just head out to the bronze statues in the courtyard and pray to Athena." When Maddy and Thalia looked at him questioningly he continued. "Just go! I'll explain later."
He followed them out of the building, making sure to keep the skeletons restrained with light, and prayed to Athena on the way. Now would be a good time for those statues. Surprising, almost as soon as he had finished the though the statues moved.
"Wow! Its been a while since I've been able to stretch my wings. Whaddya think Chuck?" One of the statues said.
"You got that right Hank!" The other statue, apparently named Chuck, said. They both looked down and saw the quest members. "Well I assume you guys are the reason Athena woke us up?" Chuck said.
"Yes," Percy replied. "We need a way to San Francisco. Do you think you could give us a ride?"
"Yeah, probably. We could use the stretch. What do you think Hank?"
"Sure, why not." He replied. "Next stop: San Francisco!"
Line Break
3rd Person POV Centered Around… Bianca (Surprise!)
Bianca thought she was dead. But she didn't know why it hurt so much. She opened her eyes and sat up with a jerk. Talos. The last thing she remembered was falling unconscious when a piece of metal hit her on the head while Talos was running.
"Relax my daughter, you are not dead, although you should be."
"Father?"
"Yes, it is I, Hades. Now I have a proposition for you…"
A/N
I know. I'm sorry. I said the longest wait would be up to seven days and I took what? 12-13? Life's been busy, shit happened. I moved houses and between unpacking and getting ready for the start of school, I just haven't found any time to write. I'm really sorry about that. I tried to make up for it with the length of this chapter, which is the longest of the story, but still. On a higher note, this Story has reached 10,000 views! Woohoo! We also have 99 Follows and 74 Favs which is better than I ever expected to get. Now please review to show your support and I just might be able to get another chapter out before school starts (~2 Days). Last chapter only got 2 reviews so if you didn't like it tell me why, and please review this one. I don't like begging for reviews but it really does help motivate an author to continue writing. Thanks Again, and I'll see you next time. - Chomper
