I AM ALIVE, people.

Sorry again for disappearing . . . last minute science project . . . just like me!

Anyway, this is chapter 11! Which is actually 6,000+ words! THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER I'VE EVER WRITTEN.

I've been writing it all week . . . so . . .

ENJOY!

Review Replies:

Nanu Kitty (TJ): I know, but I was just in that mood . . . cliff hangers are bad, aren't they? LOOK AT THE MoA! Yeah, I looked at your story - love it!

Ikb-god-of-turkeys: thanks, dude.

Yeah . . . I've been writing 'dude's all week . . . *sigh*

I read the MoA for a 20th time . . . yeah, I can't get over it.

ITS NOT EVEN THE END OF OCTOBER AND I'VE READ IT THAT MANY TIMES!

I apologize for my insanity.

I WANT THE HOUSE OF HADES!

Rick is the King of Trolling, and he knows it - he LIVES for it. And it DRIVES US MAD.

Please enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and my words

Chapter 11: Junkyard for Them . . . and a Junkyard from Up High for Me

POOOF! was the noise I heard as the ground zoomed towards me. Then . . . cold. Icy cold? Like, snow?

You are a foolish Pegasus, came a voice. I couldn't think straight. There was one thing I knew: cold. Cold around me, pressing down painfully on my wings. Uh . . . thanks?

The cold pressed tighter around me. I guess I must be alive . . . guess that was a bit of a bummer, in a way. Then I cured myself for thinking like that. I was still keeping my promise with Opal.

I forced my eyes open, expecting to see snow.

I don't know what was the bigger shock—seeing Nyx or not actually seeing snow at all.

I was standing in a temple-like building with a high roof and black stone pillars holding it up. Nyx was seated on a marble pedestal, her dark blue chilton spilled over the edges. She was propped up by one elbow, her other hand twirling a black sphere of dark matter around her fingers.

I couldn't feel the cold anymore. My wings weren't hurting. "Where . . . where am I?"

Nyx smiled and made her sphere evaporate. She sat up. "You're in my temple. The one I was trapped away from in Tartarus."

I shook myself, just to make sure I was in one piece. "Well, looks like you have it back."

"Do you want to know?" she asked. "You could be dead."

I shrugged. "I could, but would that make me happy? No—I have a promise to keep."

"Ah, the Sun Filly," Nyx said. "I hate to agree with Apollo, but I advise you to be wary of her."

"What?" I yelled. "Why? What's wrong with Opal?"

Nyx looked at me sadly. "She will cause you great pain."

I rolled my eyes. "Here we go again."

Nyx looked at me serious. "You want to corrupt the Fates? You want to screw up the very foundations of the Western Civilization?"

"No."

"Then take my advice seriously!" she snapped. "I could let you die. You're lying in the snow at the bottom of the gorge. The half-bloods left a few minutes ago."

"Then why let me live, if I could be killed so many times?"

"Because you said so yourself; Pegasi enjoy their vulnerability, their lives revolve around it. Without that vulnerability, they aren't pegasi anymore."

I let my wings fall to the ground. I realised that that was a hard thing. "Then what do I have to do?"

Nyx smiled. "I sincerely hope you find out."

Then it all disappeared.

I groaned and opened my eyes. I was lying on the snow. My wings were pinned painfully in the stuff. I looked up groggily and then fell back. I rolled over and got the weight off my wings. My legs were numb. The snow around me was as cold as ever, except now I was alone.

Where had they gone? Where was I meant to go? What had Nyx said? I hope you find out, no offence, but that's not much.

The night's blessed must fly west on their tail.

At last! I use my brain!

Usually when they say west, they mean to San Francisco.

A cold feeling settled over me; colder than the snow. Camp Jupiter . . .

I shook myself and got to my feet. I couldn't think about that now, or I'd do nothing at all. I had to keep moving. I thought I was over it, but I had to keep the memories from catching up, just now it was more of my dad's sad face when he was dying, that he was sorry that he was leaving Honey behind.

Camp Jupiter was my dad's home. Why should I dread going there?

I opened out my wings and jumped into the sky. I had to follow them; it was my job. That's what the prophecy said. I knew from experience that you can't try and beat prophecies.

I caught a breeze quite low for a change. I headed west, looking for two campers, a satyr and two Hunters.

I found them at nightfall. They were sitting around a fire on a barren landscape. Just seeing them was such a relief I nearly fell out of the sky when I let out an exasperated sigh.

I tumbled onto the ground and then promptly collapsed on my back. I'd found them. Thank gods for that. I looked up at the sky and noticed how many stars were out. "The stars are out," Zoë said. I froze for a second, then I realised that she was talking to the others at the fire—must get used to awesome upgrades at night time.

"Amazing," the other Hunter girl said. "I've never actually seen the milky way."

"This is nothing," Zoë says again. I know more than most that the stars mean a lot to her. "In the old days there was more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"You talk like you're not human," boss said. I honestly thought he would've put it together by now. I mean, the wine—Dionysus, I mean—asked him to ask her for the worth of heroes, she talk like thee and thy, and the stars mean heaps to her. I could honestly say that I was disappointed.

[Put that sword away!]

"I am a Hunter," Zoë said. "I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can I say the same for thee?"

"You," Thalia corrected. "Not thee."

"But you use you for the beginning of the sentence."

"And the end," Thalia said. "Not thou. Not thee. Just you."

"I hate this language. It changes too often!"

Too right, I thought. I wouldn't like to non-human to start with. Well . . . I am a horse . . . man, this just gets too confusing!

"If only Pan were here, he would set things right," Grover said. I'd never had anything to do with Pan, but looking at the stars . . . it did feel like we'd put up a barrier between us and the real night. That made me sad.

"Maybe it was the coffee," Grover said—hang on, did we just change subject? Oh yeah . . . sorry—there was a slight silence, like everyone was going through the same dilemma as me, for slightly longer, I might add. "I was drinking coffee, and the wind came. Maybe if I drank more coffee . . ."

Sorry, and this may sound mean, but I was pretty sure that coffee had nothing to do with the wind. I just thought . . . maybe Pan was fed up with waiting, or maybe his waiting had finally paid off. I don't know, but whatever it was, I didn't think it was caused by coffee.

"Grover, do you really think it was Pan? I mean, I know you want it to be," boss said.

Well, he has a point.

"He sent us help," Grover insisted. "I don't know how or why, but it was his presence. After this quest is done, I'm going back to New Mexico and drinking a lot of coffee. It's the best lead we've got in two thousand years. I was so close."

If they had known I was there, I probably would've given him a pitying look. He didn't know if he was going to survive this quest, so why start planning a quest of his own to find Pan? I didn't have the heart to tell him.

"What I want to know," Thalia said, "is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them."

"I don't know," the Hunter girl said—I should really find out her name—"I just stabbed it and it went up in flames."

"Maybe there's something special about your knife," boss offered.

"It is the same as mine," Zoë said. "Celestial bronze, yes. But mine did not affect the warriors that way."

"Maybe you have to hit the skeleton in a certain spot," boss said.

There was a silence. I got up and walked over, staying hidden in the night. The Hunter girl looked uncomfortable with all the attention on her. I could mention that I killed one, but no one cares about the horse, do they?

"Never mind," Zoë told her. "We will find the answer. In the meantime, we should plan our next move. When we get through the junkyard, we must continue west. If we find can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas."

I was about to jump in and make a comment that I had a bad experience with that place, but the Hunter girl beat me to it. "No!" she cried. "Not there!"

She looked really freaked out, like she'd just come of my back after I went for some stunts. Zoë frowned. "Why?"

The girl took a shaky breath. "I . . . I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were travelling. And then, I can't remember . . ."

Boss's face took the expression like he's just had a really, really bad thought. I had a feeling I knew what that thought was. "Bianca," he said—Yes! That's her name!—"This hotel you stayed at. Was it possibly called the Lotus Casino?"

Her eyes widened. "How could you know that?"

"Oh, great," he said.

"Wait," Thalia said. "What is the Lotus Casino?"

"A couple of years ago," boss said, "Grover, Annabeth and I"—he seemed to internally wince, like he missed being corrected by her—"got trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave. We stayed for a couple of hours. When we came out, five days had passed. It makes time speed up."

Jade, I thought. Jade was trapped making that time stop reaching that place—that monolith.

"No," Bianca said. "No, that's not possible."

"You said someone came to get you out," boss said, he seemed a lot more interested now.

"Yes."

"What did he look like? What did he say?"

"I . . . I don't remember. Please, I really don't want to talk about this."

Zoë sat forward, her eyebrows knitted in concern. "You said that Washington, D.C. had changed when you went back last summer. You didn't remember the subway being there."

"Yes, but—"

"Bianca," Zoë said, "Can you tell me the name of the president of the United States right now?"

"Don't be silly," Bianca said. She told them the correct name of the president.

"And who was the president before that?"

Bianca thought for a while. I didn't like where this was going.

"Roosevelt."

Zoë swallowed. Dread began to settle over me. "Theodore or Franklin?"

"Franklin," Bianca said. "F.D.R."

"Like F.D.R. Drive?" boss asked. I had a feeling that was all he knew about that. [What the— You can't deny the truth, man!]

"Bianca," Zoë said. "F.D.R. was not the last president. That was seventy years ago."

Seventy. That was a big number. Seven decades.

And soon he shall witness none but the seven's.

Gee, what a lovely thought.

"That's impossible," Bianca said. "I . . . I'm not that old."

She stared at her hands as if to make sure they weren't wrinkle or laced with liver spots.

Thalia's eyes saddened. I guess she knew what it was like to be pulled out of something that ran on its own course, completely different to the reality most of us live in. "It's okay, Bianca. The important thing is that you and Nico are safe. You made it out."

"But how?" boss asked. Gee, what a comforter. Have I said that a lot? [You see!] "We were barely in there for an hour and we barely escaped. How could you have escaped after being in there for so long?"

"I told you," Bianca said. She looked like she was ready to cry. I guess it's kinda odd, but the thing I see clearest in human expressions is the way their eyebrows change. I guess that's because horses don't have eyebrows. Bianca's became slightly upturned and creased.

"A man came and said it was time for us to leave. And—"

"But who? Why did he do it?"

Before she could answer, we were all hit by a blazing light. I don't recognise many things, but the feeling that came with that light . . . I never wanted to see him again, after what he did to me.

The kids got their sleeping bags and moved away as the limo purred forward. Me? I opened my wings out slightly as the feathers turned to daggers. I narrowed by eyes and my own bubble of undisturbed darkness appeared. Ares would be sorry for coming back. I wasn't the same, weak Pegasus he git captured.

The back door slid open and a sword appeared, touching boss's throat. I nearly exploded right there. Ares had better—

The look of boss's face told me to stay calm . . . ish. Boss backed up very slowly as the owner of the blade slowly stepped out of the car. As I expected, it was Ares-I-Like-Being-Sadistic-And-Getting-Innocents-Captured-Because-I-Can-I-Want-To-Date-Myself-But-I-Can't-Figure-Out-How-So-Aphrodite-Will-Have-To-Do.

In other words, I wasn't pleased to see him. At all.

Zoë and Bianca readied their bows at him. Zoë was glaring at him so harshly even I stopped. Bianca was much the same, but no one can come close to rivalling Zoë's glare. It was my firm belief that she'd spent the last two millennia perfecting it.

Ares smiled cruelly with his sword to boss's neck. "Not so fast now, are you, punk?"

"Ares," boss growled.

Ares looked out at everyone else. "At ease, people," he snapped his fingers, and their weapons fell to the ground. Zoë's glare went icy cold. "

"This is a friendly meeting," he said. For a second he glanced at me through his wrap-around shades as if to say, nearly. "Of course, I'd like to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."

"What lady?" Thalia asked.

The lady, I thought, the one that the image of beauty was based on. Ares's girlfriend.

Yuck.

He lowered his sword and pushed boss away. "Thalia, daughter of Zeus," he mused. "You're not hanging out with very good company."

"What's your business, Ares?" she said. "Who's in that car?"

Ares smiled, enjoying all the attention. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you, particularly not them." He jutted his chin towards Zoë and Bianca. "Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes."

"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares," Zoë said.

"Besides," Grover managed, "the taco place is closed."

Ares snapped his fingers and the taco place that I hadn't noticed sudden;t burst to life. The boarded up windows and doors suddenly disappeared, the old probably century-old stains disappeared and the lights burst on. The sign flipped from closed to open.

"You were saying, goat boy?" Ares said, almost cruelly. He was cruel, period.

"Go on," boss said to them. "I'll handle this."

Boss did a pretty good try of trying to sound more confident than he was, but it was easy to see through. "You head the boy," Ares said. "He's big and strong. He's got things under control."

The others reluctantly headed over to the taco restaurant. Ares regarded boss with loathing and opened the door like a chauffeur for him. "Get inside, punk," he said. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am."

As boss climbed in, Ares sent me a glance, and I knew what he meant.

Hello again. Come to play?

No, I'd come to get even.

At first Ares tried the sly style. He leaned back against the closed door. "How's your wing?"

I could barely stop myself from changing the feathers. "Better than before," I said through gritted teeth.

Ares cocked his head. "Oh, not very friendly."

"What? You expect me to be?" I nearly screamed. "You break my wing—more than once, on the same night—then you hand me over to the Titans. And you expect me to be friendly?"

Ares bared his teeth. "Oh, you're asking for it."

"You really have no idea, don't you?" I asked, my anger rising to almost unbearable. "You've never even met Kronos!"

Ares drew his sword. "You are so asking for it."

I swung my wing and a feather hit the hilt, making him drop the sword. "Don't try that with me. I spend a year trapped on that ship with a broken infected wing that nearly killed me, with a rising Titan lord, a nearly-as-sadistic-as-you goddess, and you think those threats are going to scare me? I'm not afraid of death, you should know that."

Ares regarded me and took off his shades. His glowing, fiery eyes bored into me. "I know that, but you're afraid of something so insignificant. You're afraid of breaking a promise. You don't care about dying, you care about that. You ridiculous Pegasus!"

"Don't you dare say that!" I yelled. The light from the limo dimmed considerably. Its glowing white aura became fainter. Ares balled a fist next to his face while baring his teeth at me. "Do you want to die?"

"All my life that's never been something I've been asked," I said. "Because people have enough brains not to ask it!"

Ares swung his fist at me, but I wasn't there. I looked down at him from above the limo. "A bit slow, moron."

He swung around and tried to grab my wing, like he hand before, and he nearly did. But my feathers were still daggers, and as he tried to grab it I swiped them across his exposed arm. Ichor spilled from the wound.

He grimaced and pressed a hand to his arm. Within seconds, the ichor was gone. He cursed. "Stygian Iron . . . freaking Nyx and her obsessions . . ."

"What? Has Ares realised that great-aunt is smarter than him?"

Ares glared up at me. "You have a big mouth and nothing to shut it with," an evil smile crossed his face. "But something will, trust me."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why do you threaten me? It doesn't work. I'm not afraid of you."

"No, you're mad at me. You blame me for your pain."

"Because you are the one who is to blame!"

He smiled. "Yeah, blame war, blame conflict. That's it."

"I'm not talking about what you're the god of," I snarled. "You grabbed and broke my arm. You dragged me through that portal. You dumped me with the Titans. And what's your punishment? I'm too insignificant for Zeus to recognise. You just get blamed for his master bolt, and that's all in the past now. Some scars never fade, Ares. The ones that you were responsible for don't."

"Name one that I gave you."

I opened out my left wing and showed the long scar on the underside of my wing arm. "You did that."

He glared at me. "You are nothing but a raven, Night Pegasus."

"A raven-black Night Pegasus," I corrected. "One that isn't afraid of stupid war gods."

Ares's aura began to glow red. I wasn't scared in any way, though. He was the god, I was the smart aleck. Usually they die, but anyway.

"Watch where—"

"My tongue gets me. Gee, what an original line."

I jumped off the roof and pressed my face to his, glaring at him. He grabbed my muzzle, but I didn't move. "I've seen much more than you ever will, Ares."

He shoved my face away. "Artemis was right about you. Two-sided, yet the same both ways. You know what your fatal flaw is?"

"No. And I don't intend to, either, until it kills me."

Ares laughed. "It will, raven. It will."

Then he gave me a shove in the shoulder, making me stumble backwards. He opened the door and the kids started walking back. My time was up.

I watched as Ares bent down and grabbed boss's shoulder from inside the car, yanking him out. "You're lucky, punk," he said, closing the door and pushing him away from the limo. "Be grateful."

"For what?" boss shot back. I slowly walked up behind him. I hadn't realised just how tall I'd git. I was taller than Ares.

"For being so nice," Ares growled. "If it were up to me—"

"So why haven't you killed me?" boss asked acidly.

Ares nodded, like he'd said something intelligent. Then his covered eyes met mine, and he looked away. He knew that I actually wasn't afraid of him killing me. Death was one thing. You don't feel the pain of death. You just die. That wasn't something to be afraid of; you get eternity of peace afterwards.

"I'd love to kill you, seriously," Ares said. "But, see, I got a situation. Word on Olympus is that you might start the biggest war in history. I can't risk messing that up. Besides, Aphrodite thinks you're some kinda soap-opera star or something. I kill you, that makes me look bad with her. But don't worry. I haven't forgotten my promise. Some day soon, kid—real soon—you're going to raise your sword to fight, and you're going to remember the wrath of Ares."

"Why wait? I beat you once. How's that ankle healing up?"

Ares smiled crookedly. "Not bad, punk. But you got nothing on the master of taunts. I'll start the fight when I'm good and ready. Until then . . . Get lost."

He snapped his fingers, but in that second he sent me a final look that said, I am cruel, expect worse from me. And then the world did a three-sixty, and I was spraled on my back, groaning and getting to my feet. Boss's friends had caught up, the limo was gone, the taco shop was what it had looked like before, and the place was deserted.

My audience with the god of war was over. I still wasn't even.

"What did she want with you?" Bianca asked, once boss had told them about Aphrodite. I walked alongside them as they made their way to the junkyard.

"Oh, uh, not sure," boss lied—get some lessons from the Stolls, man—"She said to be careful in her husband's junkyard. She said not to pick anything up."

I saw Zoë narrow her eyes at boss from the corner of my eye. "The goddess of love would not make a special trip to tell thee that. Be careful, Percy. Aphrodite has led many heroes astray."

"For once, I agree with Zoë," Thalia said. "You can't trust Aphrodite."

I heard an underlying tone of bitterness in her voice—maybe disappointment? Sadness?

"So," boss said, eager to change the subject—like a boss, I might add [You see? At last you see! Don't point that pen at me!]—"how do we get out of here?"

"That way," Zoë said, pointing. "That way is west."

"How can you tell?"

Well, I could explain . . .

"Ursa Major is in the north," she said, "which means that must be west."

"Oh, yeah," boss said. "The bear thing."

I could just see Zoë's offended face. "Show some respect. It was a fine bear. A worthy opponent."

"You act like it was real."

"Guys," Grover cut in. "Look!"

We'd reached the crest of a junk mountain. Piles of metal objects glinted in the moonlight: broken heads of bronze horses—particularly creepy for me—metal legs from human statues, smashed chariots, tons of shields and swords and other weapons , along with more modern stuff, like gears that gleamed gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines and computer monitors.

"Whoa," Bianca said. "That stuff . . . some of it looks like real gold."

But I had a feeling she meant something else. It did look like Imperial Gold.

"It is," Thalia said grimly. "Like Percy said, don't touch anything. This is the junkyard of the gods."

That was my cue to fly.

I jumped into the dark sky, soaring higher and higher until I couldn't see the kids beneath me. It was just me, the wind, the stars, and the night.

And then he shall stay, to the stars he must see.

I'm seeing the stars right now, I thought. But I had a feeling that meant something else.

Then something bright flashed in front of me. I was thrown backwards, and when my vision cleared, I could see a guy hovering in front of me. He was wearing a business suit, shirt and tie, but with leather pants and then Roman sandals.

Odd.

"Greetings, Night Pegasus."

He did a salute. His hair was grey and messy. I couldn't tell what his eyes looked like.

"Ah, Mother has blessed one at last."

"What?" I asked. "Who . . ." I looked closer at him. I saw a tattoo across his hand. It read, BLAME.

"Momus," I said. The god nodded.

"Son of Nyx," he finished. "God of blame, mockery, complaint, scorn and stinging criticism. But I haven't come for that tonight. I have no powers over it, unlike you. My mother must've been desperate . . ."

"I thought you said you weren't here for criticism."

He gave a wicked grin. "True. No, what I am here for is to give advice."

"Another one," I muttered.

"You blame Ares for your pain, and that is partly true, but the main factor is Kronos. He caused all of your pain . . . and another creature will cause you so much more."

"Mockery?"

"No, but that's a good thought, yes."

I looked down at the junkyard beneath me. Momus was idly floating there, basking in the fact that I wasn't liking this. Is it just me, or do the gods annoy me so much? Every time I meet one: you will have great pain in your future.

Why? Why am I going to experience so much pain?

"What type of pain?" I asked him.

Momus leaned back leisurely, now knowing that he would annoy me. "What pain have you experienced?"

What was he playing at? But I ignored it and answered. "Physical . . . mental."

"Mental? I would say more for a broken spirit."

I ground my teeth. Those words made me feel bad in front of him. One time on a titan ship and my spirit shatters. It made me feel weak under his gaze.

"Do not be ashamed, I enjoy it when people give others blame."

"The only one I can blame for a broken spirit is myself."

Momus sat forward, raising his knee and leaning on it, even if he was floating in the sky, he looked intrigued. "Oh yeah? Hmm, that's new."

"But it's true! If I had been stronger, I could've been okay, if I—"

"Regrets don't make anyone happy, Night Pegasus."

"I know that," I said. I looked down at the ground far, far beneath me. "It's just that I have so many."

Momus shifted his posture. He crossed his legs in a meditating position and sat forward again. He scoffed. "You'd be surprised how few people can say that."

"I'm not a person," I corrected him, "I'm a horse."

"Or are you?" he said, his brow creasing and a smile curling his lips. "You said yourself that you hate being compared to a mortal horse—what sets you apart from others?"

I sighed. "I'm a Pegasus. I have wings. My strength is my vulnerability. The horse was created by the sea to be an earth creature, and eagles were made for the sky. My vulnerability is my passion. It's my life."

I hate giving philosophical responses, but I figured that Momus wouldn't go away until I gave him one. Momus nodded. "Correct. Both Zeus and Poseidon, Jupiter and Neptune, worked together to own the Pegasus. Pegasi are different because they are what they are. Just so few of them consider themselves as you do, Night Pegasus. My mother chose wisely."

"Why does everyone doubt Nyx?" I looked back at his cunning eyes. "Oh," he said idly. "Nyx was renowned for her beauty, not her realm. Some say it influenced her decisions. But I can see why she chose you above others. Half Roman . . . Half Greek . . . tied with the sun . . . so much potential."

"Why does everyone know my future but me?"

"Because," Momus said, his form beginning to glow. "It is inevitable that you will try to change it. That is why it is hidden in the riddles of a prophecy . . . giving questers a great reason to complain and lay blame."

And then he glowed, to show his true form, and I looked away. Soon the glow died, and I was alone in the night.

Then I looked below, and a giant was chasing the kids.

They'd taken something.

"Run!" Grover yelped as I dove down towards them. Zoë may hate me for being here, but she would appreciate help. They split up. Boss ended up with Bianca and Zoë, Grover and Thalia went the other way. Thalia raised her shield, and the giant swung his sword, narrowly missing me as I swerved towards the power lines to escape it. Then the sword cut the power lines in half, sending a shower of sparks and again nearly hitting me.

I catapulted backwards for a few seconds, disorientated. When I finally got my bearings and saw boss and Bianca running through the junk. Zoë shot some arrows at the huge giant but the bounced off the metal creep's face, once again—surprise, surprise—nearly hitting me.

[Look, how would you like to be in that situation? Hey, just because you were doesn't mean that you— you were on the ground, safely away from all the arrows and swords and arrows and stuff. Just keep writing!]

Boss and Bianca crouched down behind a broken chariot. I knew that wouldn't last long. Something that big would see them soon enough.

Then I remembered their prophecy. One shall be lost in the land without rain. We were in a desert. One shall lead them high to the heavens. Dread settled over me. Could I . . . ?

But it wasn't me. The giant loomed over boss and Bianca. "Move!" boss yelled. And they tore down the trash hill. The giant's foot smashed a crater where they'd just been.

I couldn't let them die. How could I let them? Time for Blackjack to . . . appear? Man, that sounded cheesy.

[Fine, it is cheesy.]

"Hey, Talos!" Grover yelled. Talos? As in, the Talos? Oh, great. This must be his prototype. Lovely. But Talos's sword was poised above them, ready to strike.

Grover played a rapid melody on his pipes. The fallen power lines began to dance. Then they shot out, wrapping around Talos's legs and shot a blast of electricity up his metal backside.

Youch.

Talos whirled round, creaking and sparking. Grover had bought them a few seconds.

I tucked in my wings and dove down. The wind whistled in my ears. This was the night, I could do this.

Then there was a blast of hot, dry wing—the same heat that surrounded Ares.

It was the smug head. Next time I saw him, I was going to kill him. Even if he was a god.

I lost my bearings, and crashed into a junk pile. If there's one thing that's freaking painful, it's landing in metal.

I groaned and began to climb out of the heavy stuff. When I looked out, I saw a hole on the bottom of the giant's foot. Written on it were the words For Maintenance Only.

"Crazy-idea time," boss's voice said. I looked around and saw him right there. Thank gods he didn't see me. Bianca looked at him nervously. "Anything."

Boss told her about the maintenance hole. "There may be a way to control the thing. Switches or something. I'm going to get inside."

"How? You'll have to stand under its foot! You'll be crushed."

"Distract it," he said. "I'll have to time this just right."

Bianca's jaw tightened. Boss was going to try and get in. Idiots!

I tried to get out of the junk, but it seemed to be holding me in. I had to stop them. Bosswould probably die in there—his luck had to run out at some point. And . . . he was going after Annabeth. I had a feeling that he'd promised himself that he'd find her. I'd made a promise too. I didn't want him to have to live with the pain of failing to keep it.

I gave such a shove that I burst from the trash, summersaulted and then came up in the air. "No," Bianca said. It jolted me into sense. "I'll go."

What? Why? She had a life! Why would she lose it so easily? She should live. If anyone shouldn't, I shouldn't. Nemesis was right. I was too lucky.

"You can't. You're new at this. You'll die."

"It's my fault the monster came after us," she said. "It's my responsibility. Here." She picked something up off the ground and pressed it into boss's hand. "If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him . . . tell him I'm sorry."

No! I thought, and flew forward as fast as I could. I had to get there first. Opal would help me forever . . . but she would understand. I hated it, but it was right.

"Bianca, no!" boss yelled from behind me. Bianca had started running. Okay, Blackjack, you dolt, do what you're meant to.

"What are you doing?" Zoë yelled. But not at me. Never at me. I was in debt to her. Maybe this was the way to pay her back.

"Get it to raise its foot!" Bianca yelled.

Zoë fired some arrows, and with those arrows, my plan became undone. I swerved to avoid one, which I shouldn't have done anyway, seeing as I was trying to go to my death, but I did. "Hey, Junk Boy!" boss yelled.

I lost track of Bianca. She couldn't have jumped—no way could she have.

Boss cut a gash in the bronze of the giant's foot. The giant looked down and raised his foot like to squash him like a bug. Boss had to turn and run. At last, I got to work.

Bianca couldn't have done it. So I dove down after boss to get him away from the foot. Sadly the foot managed to hit me with a force like a kick, so I then managed to get boss with the momentum of the kick and we tumbled into the trash again.

I sat up groggily. Then I saw Bianca.

She jumped into the giant's foot.

"No!" I screamed, but no sound came out. I couldn't make a noise. How could I have let her do that? How could I have let an innocent person that should be alive take the place of a horse that really shouldn't.

The monster turned to finish boss off. I got to my feet. I was not letting anyone else go. Never.

Grover managed to dig himself out of the trash pile. He began to play his pipes, but he looked knackered. I guess I would've been, too.

The music sent the power line pole forward, whacking Talos in the leg. The monster turned. Grover should've run, but he was too exhausted. He took to steps and then fell back.

"Grover!" Thalia and boss began to run towards him. I turned to the giant. "No one kills my friends and gets away with it," I muttered.

The monster raised its sword to smash Grover. I jumped into the sky, ready to get mad. Then the monster stopped. He cocked his head to one side as if hearing some strange new music. He started moving his arms and legs in some strange dance thing—boss called it the Funky Chicken, but I wouldn't know—then he made a fist and punched himself in the face.

"Go, Bianca!" boss yelled. He didn't get it. Once you're in . . . it never lets you out . . .

Zoë did, though. "She is inside?"

The monster staggered around, and boss looked like he'd realised that they were still in danger. Thalia and boss grabbed Grover and helped him as they ran to the highway. Zoë was ahead of them. "How will Bianca get out?" she seemed more upset than worried. She already knew. She knew there was no way out.

The giant hit itself in the head again and a shudder went through its whole body. I gave it a wide berth so I wasn't killed. That made me feel sick. I'd let Bianca do this.

It staggered towards the power lines. "Look out!" boss yelled, but it was too late, yet again.

Talos's ankle snared the lines, and blue and white sparks of electricity shot through the huge, metal giant. The monster careened back to the junkyard, and his right hand fell off and hit the ground with a horrible CLANG!

His left arm came loose too. He was falling apart at the joints.

Talos began to run.

"Wait!" Zoë yelled, but it was no use. No way could we keep up with the thing. I flew after it as fast as I could, but it was useless. I was too slow.

Pieces of it kept falling off as it ran. Arms, legs, everything. The giant collapsed from the top down. His head, torso, legs and so on. When the kids reached the wreckage they searched frantically, but we all knew it was no use. Zoë fell to her knees and wept. I was stunned to see her cry.

Thalia screamed in rage and impaled her spear through the giant's head. Me? I went up and stood behind Zoë. Zoë acknowledged me, but she didn't care. They had done the worst they possibly could to her. She knew I was here when I wasn't mean to, but that wasn't a problem. They'd taken Bianca.

"We can keep searching," boss said. "It's light now. We'll find her."

No you can't, I thought. Even in the darkness of night I couldn't see her. She wasn't here.

"No we won't," Grover said miserably. "It happened just as it was supposed to."

"What are you talking about?" boss demanded. But he knew now, too. We all did.

"The prophecy," Grover said to him. "One shall be lost in the land without rain."

I should've known. I should've, I should've, I should've!

But I hadn't.

I'd failed.

We were in a desert. And Bianca was gone.

The sun rose again, except this time Opal wasn't in front of it.

It was the second day of the quest.

Bianca had died on the first day.

...

Yeah, depressing.

When I read that, I was like, Rick isn't that bad, he'll look after her.

What I had failed to realise is that the story has to develop, and it did, so it got more and more violent.

WHICH IS WHY I RATED THIS T.

So . . . yeah.

Sorry about my outburst in the first A/N . . . I just really want it!

Oh, and it's the 1st of November . . . so I was kind of incorrect . . . but you get the point - I read it on Halloween, so it doesn't count.

Until the next chapter,

Please R&R,

-Owl