Disclaimer: Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto and Percy Jackson is property of Rick Riordan. I don't own this in anyway so please don't sue me.
Chapter 6: I make a new Landmark
We rode the boar until sunset, which was about as much as my back end could take. Imagine riding a giant steel brush over a bed of gravel all day. That's about how comfortable boar-riding was. I have no idea how many miles we covered, but the mountains faded into the distance and were replaced by miles of flat, dry land. The grass and scrub brush got sparser until we were galloping (do boars gallop?) across the desert. As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.
"This is as far as he'll go," Grover said. "We need to get off while he's eating." No one needed convincing, we slipped of the boar's back I used Hashirama's Healing prowess and Kurama's chakra to regenerate the damage from my saddle sores, I shared a bit of Kurama's Chakra to the others to heal them which they all expressed gratitude for. (Even Zoe.) After the third saguaro and another drink of muddy water, the boar squealed and belched, then whirled around and galloped back to the east.
"It Likes the mountains better," I said shrugging
"Can't say I blame it." Thalia replied "Look." Ahead of us was a two-lane road have covered with sand, on the other side of the road was a cluster of building too small to be a tow, a boarded up house, a taco shoop that looked like it hadn't been open since before Zoe was born, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said Gila Claw, Arizona hanging crooked over the door. Beyond that was a range hills that after closer inspection it was a gigantic junkyard that seems to go on forever.
"Neat." I pointed at all the stuff
"Don't suppose we'll find a car rental, wouldn't have another boar up your sleeve." Thalia asked Grover he didn't respond he was sniffing the wind looking nervous. He threw some acorns out of his pocket onto the dand and played a little tune and the acorns rearranged to a pattern that made no sense to me, but Grover looked concerned.
"That's us." He said "Those five nuts right there."
I think Percy is the little deformed one." Zoe said. I made a hand sign and the acorn sprung to life and formed a small tree that tried to strangle Zoe who tried to fight it off while I laughed.
"That cluster over there means danger." Grover said
"Monsters?" Thalia asked
"I don't smell anything but the acorns never lie, our next challenge…" He point to the junkyard, with the sun going down the junkyard looked like an alien planet. We diced to set up camp for the night and try the junkyard in the morning as no one wanted to dumpster dive in the dark.
"Hey," I said gaining everyones' attention. "wanna see something cool?"
"Sure." Bianca said I Weaved signs
"Mokuton: Shichūka no Jutsu!" I slammed my palms on the ground soon a wooden house sprung to life
"How?" Zoe asked her eyes widened in shock
"By mixing earth chakra in one hand and water chakra in the other then adding Yang chakra I can create whole forests and breath life into them as if they were growing for 100 years."
"Thee can create whole forests?"
"You." Thalia corrected "Not thee."
"But you use you for the beginning of a sentence."
"And the end, no thou, no thee just you."
"I HATE THIS LANGUAGE!" Zoe threw her hands in the air "It changes too often!"
"Nice night out, great view of the stars." I said looking up through the sky dome that was there.
"Amazing, I've never seen the Milky Way before." Bianca said
"This is nothing, in old days there were more, whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution." I looked at the sky with my Sharingan taking in the view commiting it all to memory. "How did you unlock the Mangekyo sharingan, thy mother unlocked it during World War One."
"Fighting the Minotaur and through intense training with my sensei."
"How did the sky look back then Zoe?" Bianca asked
"Like a diamond mine."
"If only Pan were here," Grover sighed "he would set things right." Zoe nodded saidly "Maybe it was the coffee, I was drinking coffee when the wind came maybe if I drink more coffee."
"I wonder how he would react to the Shinju?" Kurama asked
"He'd either try to hump it or you know I don't want to know." I said back
"What I want to know," Thalia said looking at Bianca, Is how you destroyed one of those zombies, they're still out there and we need to know how to fight them." Bianca shook her head
"I don't know, I just stabbed it and it burst into flames."
"Never mind," Zoe told her "we will find the answer, in the meantime we should plan our next move. If we can find the road we might be able to hitchhike to the nearest city, I think it might be Las Vegas."
"NO!" Bianca shouted beating me to it. "Not there!"
"Why?"
'Nico and I stayed there for a while, I think we were traveling for a while and the, I can't remember." I had a very bad thought about the hotel that Annabeth, Grover and I, I looked at Grover who had the same look on his face.
"Bianca, the hotel you stayed at," I started "it wouldn't be called the Lotus Hotel and Casino would it?" Bianca eyes widened.
"How did you know that?"
"Shit." I swore
"Wait," Thalia asked "What is the lotus Hotel and Casino?"
"A couple of years ago," Is tared "Grover, Annabeth and I got trapped three it's designed so you never want to leave, we stayed for an hour or so, when we came out, five days had passed, it makes time speed up or stand still I'm not sure."
"No," Bianca said, "no, it's not possible."
"You said that someone came and got you out." I remembered
"Yes."
"What did he look like? What did he say?"
"I...I don't remember, please, I really don't want to talk about it." Zoe sat forward he eyes knit with concern
"You said that Washington D.C. had changed when you went back last summer you didn't remember the subway teign ther."
"Yes but-"
"Bicanna," Zoe said "Can you tell me the name of the president of the United States?"
"Barack Obama, don't be silly."
"And who is the president before that?" Bianca thought for a while
"Roosevelt." Zoe swallowed hard
"Franklin or Theodore?"
"Franklin, like F.D.R. Drive."
"Bianca," I started. "F.D.R. was not the last president, that was about 70 years ago."
"That's impossible." Bianca said, "I-I'm not that old." She started at her hands as if to make sure they weren't wrinkled. Thalia's eyes turned sad, I guess she knew what it was like being pulled out of time for a while.
"It's okay Bianca, the important thing is that you and Nico are safe, you made it out." Thalia said
"But that's what I'd like to know." I said "how did you do it, Grover, Annabeth and I barely escaped, and we were only there for an hour, how did you escape after being there so long?"
"I told you." Bianca said, she looked ready to cry "A man came and said it was time to go and-"
"But who, why did he do it?" Before she could respond a blazing light appeared outside and two hure powers entered my sensory range, one was very familiar, the other was unknown but still powerful, and I knew that spelled trouble. I donned my armor and jumped out the window phasing through it, I landed on the ground looking at the lights, then I heard the sound of a car engine I moved out of the way as a white limo slid to a stop in front of me. The others opened the door and joined me weapons at the read, the door opened and I jumped back as a sword jutted out and I landed on the roof as the owner of the sword laughed.
"Looks like you're still a warrior at heart, punk." A Familiar voice ssid
"Ares." I growled uncapping my blade, and everyone drew their weapons and pointed them at him
"At ease." My sword and everyone else's weapons were blasted out of our hands. "THis is a peaceful meeting." He glared at me and I activated my Sharingan "Of course I'd like to take your head as a trophy."
"Come and get it, if you have the balls," I tuanteted "or maybe you'd like another high temperature tanning session."
"While I'd love to put you in your place, but there is someone who wants to talk to you, and I never behead an enemy in front of a lady."
"What lady?" Thalia asked. Ares looked over at her.
"Well, well. I heard you were back." He lowered his sword. "Thalia, daughter of Zeus," Ares mused. "You're not hanging out with very good company."
"What's your business, Ares?" she said. "Who's in the car?" Ares smiled, enjoying the attention.
"Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin toward Zoe and Bianca. "Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes."
"A shockingly similar comparison of your sexlife." I said laughing at Ares who growled and turned to me
"At least I've had sex." He smiled "And I'm not pinning after some lousy daughter of Athena, my girl's a 20 out of 10."
"I highly doubt if I got lucky with Aphrodite that she'd stay with you, she'd dump you in a heartbeat."
"Yeah right." I laughed at Ares' expression then channeled chakra into a storage seal and a small Picture popped out. I tossed it at at Ares who caught it, his face went blood red with fury. The picture was of Aphrodite winking at the camera with a hand written note 'Iris-Message me' Ares growled at me "How did you get this?"
"She offered a threesome with Annabeth, do you think I'm gonna turn that down?" I swear Ares was going to bust a vein and I saw Grover had a slight nose bleed. Ares snapped his fingers and the taco stand opened up and glared at me,
"Get inside and if you try anything I'll kill you."
"Sure you will." I laughed jumping down and phased through Ares and walked into the car, when I got in the car I saw the very goddess Ares and I were talking about.
"Hello, Percy." Aphrodite smiled at me
"Lady Aphrodite." I said
"Please Percy,"she said "no need to be so formal, with me."
"Would you rather I greet you with a kiss?" I said raising an eyebrow
"Percy you're playing with fire." Aphrodite said in a sensual voice running a finger down my chestplate, "you don't try and out flirt the Goddess of Love." I smiled a bit
"Such stunning beauty should be worshiped, you have rightfully earned your title." I said brushing my hand against Aphrodite's cheek causing her to blush. I leaned in my face inches from hers, Unknown to her the those who were transmigants of Indra had a second Kekkei genkai, the charm of the Uchiha, it was something that made most women weak at the knees just by getting close to us, I was using it now to gain the upper hand and get Ares pissed at me, which judging by the rage I could feel from outside was working.
"Such a flirt," Aphrodite said.
"I learned from the best."
"Now onto the reason why I'm here."
"To tell me where Annabeth is?"
"No, I leave those details up to you."
"Oh well," I shrugged my shoulders,
"It's been too long since we've had a tragic love story."
"Hold up tragic, if anything happens to her I'll…!" I unleashed my chakra as my rage grew making the car shudder and I glared at Aphrodite.
"Take it easy, Percy, I'm on your side."
"I'm sorry, but I don't take kindly to threats against Annabeth."
"Love conquers all, Look at Helen and Paris, did they let anything get between them?"
"Didn't they start the Trojan War and get hundreds of people killed?"
"Pft, that's not the point, follow your heart Percy."
"That's the hard part, My heart and My mind agree on things and disagree on others. My heart says to save Annabeth and forget everyone else while my mind says I need to save Olympus and Save Annabeth."
"Well I agree that both are important let the Olympians take care of Olympus, focus on Annabeth."
"Well any advice on that matter?"
"Be careful in my Husband's junkyard."
"Wait what?" Just then Ares dragged me out by the back of my Armor, my audience with the Goddess of Love was over.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't gut you right here and now?" Ares growled at me
"If you think you're man enough to come and try then please. Be. My. Guest." I taunted my sharingan flaring to life and I unleashed my Killer Intent, my chakra responding in accord. I started laughing like a madman and even Ares looked quite unnerved at my overwhelming confidence in my strength. The others had come out to see me ready to attack the War God for a second time and even started backing up in fear at my laughter. "I've been Itching for an excuse to cut loose for DAYS now if you're going to try something DO IT! COME AT ME! TRY TO STRIKE ME DOWN! I haven't got all day!" Ares actually backed up, something I found odd, and it was only then that I saw Kurama's image behind me, he was mimicking my pose, my laugh, everything and for the first time Ares knew true fear. Ares and the car vanished in a swirl of fire and I was left with my dwindling insanity as I slowly stopped laughing and calmed down. I looked at the others who were rooted to the spot, eyes widened in fear. "Sorry you had to see that."
"That. was TERRIFYING!" Zoe said the first to regain her voice "I never want to see that again for as long as I live."
"For once," Thalia said "Zoe and I agree on something."
"What did she want?" Grover asked
"She warned us about touching anything in her husband's junkyard and, some other things."
"I doubt the Goddess of Love would make a special trip all the way to see thee." Zoe said
"Well it's the truth so just shut up and let's focus on getting out of here. Which way do we go?"
"That way." She pointed "that way is west."
"And you know this because?" Zoe rolled her eyes at me "Ursa Major is in the north so that way must be west." I shrugged my shoulders and turned to the direction Zoe pointed.
"Guys," Grover broke in. "Look!" We'd reached the crest of a junk mountain. Piles of metal objects glinted in the moonlight broken heads of bronze horses, metal legs from human statues, smashed chariots, tons of shields and swords and other weapons, along with more modern stuff, like cars that gleamed gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines, and computer monitors.
"Whoa," Bianca said. "That stuff... Some of it looks like real gold."
"It is, " Thalia said grimly. "Like Percy said, don't touch anything. This is the junkyard of the gods. "
"Junk?" Grover picked up a beautiful crown made of gold, silver, and jewels. It was broken on one side, as if it had been split by an axe. "You call this junk?" He bit off a point and began to chew. "It's delicious!" Thalia swatted the crown out of his hands.
"I'm serious!"
"Look!" Bianca said. She raced down the hill, tripping over bronze coils and golden plates, she picked up a bow that glowed silver in moonlight. "A Hunter's bow!" She yelped in surprise as the bow began to shrink, and became a hair clip shaped like a crescent moon. "It's just like Percy's sword!" Zoe's face was grim.
"Leave it, Bianca. "
"But-"
"It is here for a reason. Anything thrown away in this junkyard must stay in this yard. It is defective. Or cursed." Bianca reluctantly set the hair clip down.
"I don't like this place," Thalia said. She gripped the shaft of her spear.
"You think we're going to get attacked by killer refrigerators?" I asked, she gave me a hard look. "Zoe is right, Percy. Things get thrown away here for a reason. now come on, let's get across the yard."
"That's the second time you've agreed with Zoe, " I muttered, but Thalia ignored me. We started picking our way through the hills and valleys of junk. The stuff seemed to go on forever, and if it hadn't been for Ursa Major, we would've gotten lost. All the hills pretty much looked the same to me. I'd like to say we left stuff alone, but there was too much cool stuff not to check out, I found an electric guitar, I had to remind myself not to seal it into my pocket dimension. Finally, we saw the edge of the graveyard about half a mile ahead of us, the lights of a highway stretching through the desert, but between us and the road was….
"Are those….TOES?!" Kurama asked
"I think so."
Let's go around," Thalia said "Far around."
"I could carry us all over...provided you wanna see my perfect Susanoo." Thalia paled slightly at my mentioning the perfect Susanoo.
"That's, not a bad Idea." Bianca said there was a loud 'Ping!' Thalia hefter her spear, Zoe drew her bow and I formed a blade out of a gedo dama, then I realized it was only Grover, he had throw a piece of scrap metal at the toes and hit one, making a deep echo, as if the column were hollow.
"Why did you do that?" Zoe demanded and Grover cringed.
"I don't like fake feet?"
"Come on." Thalia looked at me "Around."
"Okay." I shrugged as we walked around the gigantic toes, after a few minutes of walking, we finally stepped onto the highway, an abandoned but well-lit stretch of black asphalt.
"We made it out," Zoe said "thank the gods." Apparently the gods didn't want to be thanked, as at that moment, I heard a sound like a thousand trash compactors crushing metal. I spun around, behind us, the scrap mountain was boiling, rising ut. The ten toes tiled over and I saw they were actually real toes, the thing rose up was abronz gigant in full Greek battle armor. He was very tall, he gleamed wickedly in the moonlight, he looked down at us, as his face was deformed, the left side was partly melted off, his jointes creaked with rust, and across his armored chest was 'Wash me' "Talos!" Zoe gasped
"Not good." I said
"This can be the original, it's too small, a prototype, or defective model maybe." Talos apparently didn't like that word, he moved his hand to his sword belt and unsheathed his sword, the sound was horrible the blade was a hundred feet long, easy. It looked rusty and dull but I didn't figure that matter.
"Someone took something." Zoe said "Who took something?" She stared accusingly at me.
"Nope." Bianca didn't say anything, she looked guilty but that didn't matter as Talos took one step forward closing half the distance between us making the ground shake.
"RUN!" Grover yelped,
"Great idea." I thought as I rolled my eyes, "Susanoo!" I entered the Susanoo that still had the two faces and four arms, but it wasn't my perfect Susanoo, the others split up. Thalia drew her shield and held it up as she ran down the highway. The giant swung his sword and took out a row of power lines, which exploded in sparks and scattered across Thalia's path. Zoe's arrows whistled toward the creature's face but shattered harmlessly against the metal. Grover brayed like a baby goat and went climbing up a mountain of metal. I punched Talos in the chest with my Susanoo, my attacks dented the thing and caused it to fall backwards. "Time to burn things up," I started weaving handsigns "Katon: Gouka Messitsu!" I spat out a wave of fire at Talos melting the bronze on his skin and most of his body where the flames licked it.
"Great!" Zoe shouted genuinely happy "Keep burning it!" I stopped my jutsu in order to gain my breath back, Talos' breastplate was melting and it turned on me clearly pissed of. It drew its sword back and slashed at me but I counted with my own Susanoo's blade, Talos drew his hand back and Punched my Susanoo causing me to slide backwards with the force of the blow, there were large cracks in the Susanoo and I shook off the blow and stood back up.
"Yasaka Magatama!" I tossed the Susanoo beads at Talos and they exploded blowing Talos backwards.
"Nice shot Percy!" Bianca called out, I formed a crossbow and arrow and fired it at the giant ripping right through the weaken armor like a ballista. I clenched my fist my chakra flaring up.
"Enough of these childish games." My susanoo transformed into its Perfect form, I formed a hand sign with My Susanoo "Katon: Gouka Mekkyaku." The Susanoo inhaled and the unleashed a typhoon of flames, Talos was melting from the intense heat and I smiled sickly. "Burn out." after a few seconds later I canceled out the flames, Talos was almost a pile of melted bronze, "Time to die." The Susanoo formed two more hands and I weaved three simultaneous handsigns "Tengai Shinsei!" A huge shadow started cover the moon as a Huge meteorite fell to earth, I moved over towards my friends and then I draped my Susanoo around them and looked towards Talos "Stay in the Susanoo, It will protect you from the blast wave."
"Blast wa-?" Zoe started then the meteor made impact, shaking the ground with a mighty tremor, a wave of dust blew over us. When the dust settled the junkyard was in complete disarray, Talos was crushed under the rock and sparking and sputtering, as the others looked at the devastation. "Holy Crap." Zoe said the first to regain her voice, "remind me to never piss thee off again,"
"I agree." Thalia said, she looked around, "Wait, where is Bianca?" Everyone looked around and we didn't see Bianca.
"Way to go Jackson!" Zoe shouted "thou cost Lady Artemis another hunter!"
"Don't try and pull that on me!" I looked around extending my sensory range to sense Bianca and I couldn't find anything. I dismissed my Susanoo and landed on the ground, I found a small figurine on the ground, I picked it up and sealed it into a storage seal as I could sense traces of Bianca's chakra on it. I looked around and found a small lock of her hair and made a Kage Bunshin. "I think I can bring her back."
"What do you mean?"
"There is a Kinjutsu that I learned from one of my teachers called Edo Tensei."
"Edo tensei?"
"Translated into english is means Impure World Reincarnation, with the cost of a living vessal I can summon a dead soul back to the world of the living, after that I can use a different technique to revive her completely."
"Impossible, no one can revive the dead."
"Watch me." I weaved some signs and clapped my hands. "Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei." Nothing happened
"HA!" Zoe laughed "I told thee that summoning the dead is impossible."
"Did I do the Jutsu right Kurama?"
"From what I saw from Mito's memories when Tobirama created the Jutsu and what Sasuke saw with his sharingan you did it perfectly." Kurama responded
"Then why didn't it work."
"One: Thanatos takes his job very seriously," I laughed a bit at that "Two: Her soul is isn't in the pure realm or the afterlife, Three, she's still alive."
"How should I make sure Edo Tensei still works?"
"Uhh," Kurama seemed to be searching for something, "Found it!" Kurama's claw reached through the air and handed me a strain of Madara's hair. "Test it on Madara."
"Okay."
"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!" Thalia screamed as she saw the claw appear in thin air.
"Not important." I weaved the signs again and clapped my hands. "Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei." Dust and earth rose up and soon Madara was back in the world of the living.
"Huh?" Madara said as he looked around, "Why am I back?" He looked at his cracked skin and then looked up "Edo Tensei, again? Who-Percy?!"
"Hi sensei."
"Why did you summon me with Edo Tensei?"
"Just wanted to test if Edo Tensei was still working."
"Why me of all people?"
"Didn't have anyone else to test it on."
"Hold on!" Zoe shouted looked back and forth between me and Madara. "What is going on?"
"Oh, a hunter of Artemis, Joy." Madara said as he rolled his eyes.
"So you've been dead?"
"Yes, I've been dead for thousands of years and now I'm here, and I want to go back to the afterlife."
"Fine I was just testing it," I said "see ya sensei."
"Goodbye Percy."
"Edo Tensei: Release." the dust fell off Madara and my Kage Bunshin was standing there again.
"Are thee Madara still?" Zoe asked
"No." My clone said, "I'm Percy."
"I still don't believe thee."
"Got anyone else you'd like me to test it on?" I said, Zoe fished into her backpack and held out a strand of hair.
"This is from a hunter that passed away several years ago, if thee can truly summon the dead, then Prove it."
"Okay." I weaved the signs again "Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei." The dust rose up again and my armor transformed into a modern day girls clothes, the hair shortened and my green eyes turned brown her skin was tan. She looked around very confused and scratched her head,
"Where am I?" the girl asked, "the last thing I remember was that bastard Orion shooting me in the chest, then nothing."
"R-Rosa?!" Zoe asked shocked "Is that truly you, Rosa?"
"Zoe?!" the now identified Rosa turned to her. "Zoe it is you!" Rosa hugged Zoe and Zoe started crying as she was embraced by her friend.
"R-Rosa, I'm so sorry." Zoe said through tears "I tried to save thee, but I couldn't."
"Oh, Zoe." Rosa looked at Zoe, "I never blamed you for my death, I knew you wanted to, and tried to save me but, the fates cut my cord and Thanatos came for me."
"Th-thou don't blame me?"
"No, but Zoe, you need to let the past go, horror my memory by being the best hunter you can be." Rosa held Zoe's hands in her own "Be strong, and remember...I will always be with you, in your heart."
"Okay Rosa." Rosa turned to the rest of us.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Thalia, daughter of Zeus," Thalia said Rosa's eyes widened
"Lord Zeus broke his oath?!"
"In his defense, so did Poseidon." I said
"How do you know?"
"Because I'm his son."
"You look kinda familiar, have we met before?"
"No, but you might know my mother, Sally Jackson."
"You're Sally's son?! Oh man did she know how to please a woman!"
"LALALALALALALALA!" I stuck my fingers in my ears, "I'm not hearing this LALALALALALALA!" I could tell everyone was laughing at me, after I unplugged my ears and looked at Rosa. "My Edo Tensei won't last much longer, you should say your goodbyes." Rosa looked at Zoe,
"Goodbye Zoe, I will always remember you."
"Goodbye Rosa." Zoe said and shed one last tear as the clone vanished and Rosa returned to the afterlife Zoe looked at me, "Consider me convinced Percy, and for the record I'm sorry thee had to hear those things about thy mother."
"That part of this conversation dies here." I snapped, and turned on my heel at the edge of the dump, we found a tow truck so old it might've been thrown away itself, but the engine started, and it had a full tank of gas, so we decided to borrow it. Thalia drove,
"The skeletons are still out there, " Thalia said. "We need to keep moving." She navigated us through the desert, under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look at. Zoe sat up front with Thalia. Grover and I sat in the pickup bed, leaning against the tow winch. The air was cool and dry, but the nice weather just seemed like an insult after losing Bianca, I unsealed the little figurine that had cost her life. I still couldn't even tell what god it was supposed to be. Nico would know. Oh, gods... What was I going to tell Nico? Kid was probably gonna try and kill me, and Gods know I deserved it.
"I shouldn't have used Tengai Shinsei." I said "It's a dangerous technique and I used it anyway."
"Don't beat yourself up about it Percy," Grover said "she could still be out there, your Edo Tensei proved she isn't dead,"
"Yeah but even though she isn't dead we left her in the desert."
"Time isn't our friend if we searched for her we would have lost time in finding Artemis and Annabeth." I chuckled weakly, "If she's out there we'll find her one day."
"Assuming she doesn't want to kill us for abandoning her." I sealed the figurine back into the storage seal, The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well, because the road dead-ended, Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew. "Great. What now?" I scanned the horizon. There wasn't much to see. Desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below us.
"There's a path," Grover said. "We could get to the river." I tried to see what he was talking about, and finally noticed a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face.
"That's a goat path, " I said.
"So?" he asked.
"The rest of us aren't goats."
"We can make it," Grover said. "I think." I thought about that. I'd done cliffs before, but I didn't like them. Then I looked over at Thalia and saw how pale she'd gotten. Her problem with heights... She'd never be able to do
"No," I said. "I, think we should go farther upstream. "
"But-" Grover said,
"Come on," I said. "A walk won't hurt us." I glanced at Thalia. Her eyes said a quick Thank you, we followed the river about half a mile before coming to an easier slope that led down to the water. On the shore was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season, but I left a stack of golden drachmas on the counter and a note saying IOU two canoes.
"We need to go upstream," Zoe said. It was the first time I'd heard her speak since the junkyard, and I was worried about how bad she sounded, like somebody with the flu. "The rapids are too swift."
"Leave that to me," I said. We put the canoes in the water, Thalia pulled me aside as we were getting the oars.
"Thanks for back there."
"Don't mention it."
"Would you take Zoe?" she asked. "I think, ah, maybe you can talk to her. "
"Are you nuts?" I asked, "She'll kill me before she gets in a boat before me.
"Please? I don't know if I can stand being in the same boat with her. She's... She's starting to worry me." It was about the last thing I wanted to do, but I nodded, Thalia's shoulders relaxed.
"I owe you one."
"Two."
"One and a half, " Thalia said. she smiled, She turned and helped Grover get their canoe into the water. As it turned out, I didn't even need to control the currents. As soon as we got in the river, I looked over the edge of the boat and found a couple of naiads staring at me, they looked like regular teenage girls, the kind you'd see in any mall, except for the fact that they were underwater.
"Hey," I said. they made a bubbling sound that may have been giggling. I wasn't sure. I had a hard time understanding naiads. "We're heading upstream, I told them. Do you think you could-" Before I could even finish, the naiads each chose a canoe and began pushing us up the river. We started so fast Grover fell into his canoe with his hooves sticking up in the air.
"I hate naiads, " Zoe grumbled. A stream of water squirted up from the back of the boat and hit Zoe in the face. "She-devils!" Zoe went for her bow.
"Whoa, " I said. "They're just playing. "
"Cursed water spirits. They've never forgiven me."
"Forgiven you for what?" She slung her bow back over her shoulder.
"It was a long time ago. Never mind." We sped up the river, the cliffs looming up on either side of us.
"What happened to Bianca wasn't your fault, " I told her. "It was my fault. I used a dangerous technique." I figured this would give Zoe an excuse to start yelling at me. At least that might shake her out of feeling depressed, instead, her shoulders slumped.
"No, Percy. I pushed her into going on the quest. I was too anxious. She was a powerful half-blood. She had a kind heart, as well. I... I thought she would be the next lieutenant."
"But you're the lieutenant." She gripped the strap of her quiver. She looked more tired than I'd ever seen her. "Nothing can last forever, Percy. Over two thousand years I have led the Hunt, and my wisdom has not improved. Now Artemis herself is in danger. "
"Look, you can't blame yourself for that. "
"If I had insisted on going with her-"
"You think you could've fought something powerful enough to kidnap Artemis? There's nothing you could have done, now me on the other hand, I would opened a can of whoop ass." Zoe chuckled weakly The cliffs along the river were getting taller. Long shadows fell across the water, making it a lot colder, even though the day was bright. Without thinking about it, I took Riptide out of my pocket. Zoe looked at the pen, and her expression was pained.
"You made this," I said.
"Who told thee?"
"I had a dream about it." She studied me. I was sure she was going to call me crazy, but she just sighed.
"It was a gift. And a mistake."
"Who was the hero?" I shook her head.
"Do not make me say his name. I swore never to speak it again."
"You act like I should know him."
"I am sure you do, hero. Don't all you boys want to be just like him?" Her voice was so bitter, I decided not to ask what she meant. I looked down at Riptide, and for the first time, I wondered if it was cursed.
"Your mother was a water goddess?" I asked.
"Yes, Pleione. She had five daughters. My sisters and I. The Hesperides. "
"Those were the girls who lived in a garden at the edge of the West. With the golden apple tree and a dragon guarding it. "
"Yes, " Zoe said wistfully. "Ladon."
"But weren't there only four sisters'?"
"There are now. I was exiled. Forgotten. Blotted out as if I never existed."
"Why?" Zoe pointed to my pen,
"Because I betrayed my family and helped a hero, you won't find that in the legend either, he never spoke of me, after his direct assault on Ladon failed, I have him the idea of how to steal the apples, how to trick my father, but he took all the credit."
"But."
"Gurgle, gurgle," the naiad spoke in my mind the canoe was slowing down, I looked ahead, and I saw why. This was as far as they could take us, the river was blocked, a dam the size of a football stadium stood in our path.
"Hoover Dam," Thalia said. "It's huge." We stood at the river's edge, looking up at a curve of concrete that loomed between the cliffs, people were walking along the top of the dam, they were so tiny they looked like fleas. The naiads had left with a lot of grumbling-not in words I could understand, but it was obvious they hated this dam blocking up their nice river. Our canoes floated back downstream, swirling in the wake from the dam's discharge vents.
"Seven hundred feet tall, " I said. "Built in the 1930s."
"Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia said.
"Largest construction project in the United States." Grover sighed Zoe stared at us.
"How do you know all that?"
"Annabeth, " I said. "She liked architecture."
"She was nuts about monuments," Thalia said
"Spouted facts all the time." Grover sniffled, "So Annoying."
"I wish she was here."
"For more than one reason." Kurama said
"SHUT IT!" It seemed like cruel fate that we'd come to Hoover Dam, one of Annabeth's personal favorites, and she wasn't here to see it. "We should go up there," I said. "For her sake. Just to say we've been."
"You are mad, " Zoe decided. "But that's where the road is. " She pointed to a huge parking garage next to the top of the dam. "And so, sightseeing it is." We had to walk for almost an hour before we found a path that led up to the road. It came up on the east side of the river. Then we straggled back toward the dam. It was cold and windy on top. On one side, a big lake spread out, ringed by barren desert mountains. On the other side, the dam dropped away like the world's most dangerous skateboard ramp, down to the river seven hundred feet below, and water that churned from the dam's vents. Thalia walked in the middle of the road, far away from the edges. Grover kept sniffing the wind and looking nervous. He didn't say anything, but I knew he smelled monsters.
"How close are they?" I asked him. He shook his head.
"Maybe not close. The wind on the dam, the desert all around us... The scent can probably carry for miles. But it's coming from several directions. I don't like that." I didn't either, it was already Wednesday, only two days until winter solstice, and we still had a long way to go, we didn't need any more monsters,
"There's a snack bar in the visitor center," Thalia said.
"You've been here before?" I asked.
"Once. To see the guardians." She pointed to the far end of the dam. carved into the side of the cliff was a little plaza with two big bronze statues, they looked kind of like Oscar statues with wings.
"They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built, " Thalia said. "A gift from Athena." Tourists were clustered all around them. They seemed to be looking at the statues' feet.
"What are they doing?" I asked.
"Rubbing the toes, " Thalia said. "They think it's good luck."
"Why?" She shook her head. "Mortals get crazy ideas. They don't know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them."
"When you were here last, did they talk to you or anything?" Thalia's expression darkened. I could tell that she'd come here before hoping for exactly that-some kind of sign from her dad, some connection.
"No. They don't do anything. They're just big metal statues."
"Let us find the dam snack bar, " Zoe said. "We should eat while we can. " Grover cracked a smile.
"The dam snack bar?" He said snickering Zoe blinked.
"Yes. What is funny?"
"Nothing, " Grover said, trying to keep a straight face. "I could use some dam french fries. " Even Thalia smiled at that.
"And I need to use the dam restroom." Maybe it was the fact that we were so tired and strung out emotionally, but I started cracking up, and Thalia and Grover joined in, while Zoe just looked at us.
"I do not understand."
"I want to use the dam water fountain, " Grover said.
"And..." Thalia tried to catch her breath. "I want to buy a dam T-shirt." I busted up, and I probably would've kept laughing all day, but then I heard a noise:
"Moooo." The smile melted off my face. I wondered if the noise was just in my head,
"Again with the cow?!" Kurama said "Why does this dam cow keep showing up?"
"Please tell me that was on purpose." I said to the biju, Grover had stopped laughing too. He was looking around, confused.
"Did I just hear a cow?" he asked
"A dam cow?" Thalia laughed.
"Hey," Kurama protested, "she stole my joke."
"No, " Grover said. "I'm serious." Zoe listened.
"I hear nothing." Zoe said, Thalia was looking at me.
"Percy, are you okay?" She asked
"Yeah, " I said. "You guys go ahead. I'll be right in."
"What's wrong?" Grover asked.
"Nothing, " I said. "I... I just need a minute. To think." They hesitated, but I guess I must've looked upset, because they finally went into the visitor center without me. As soon as they were gone, I jogged to the north edge of the dam and looked over.
"Moo. " She was about thirty feet below in the lake, but I could see her clearly: my friend from Long Island Sound, Bessie the cow serpent, I looked around, there were groups of kids running along the dam. A lot of senior citizens. some families, but nobody seemed to be paying Bessie any attention yet.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her.
"Moo!" Her voice was urgent, like she was trying to warn me of something.
"How did you get here?" I asked. We were thousands of miles from Long Island, hundreds of miles inland. There was no way she could have swum all the way here, and yet, here she was. Bessie swam in a circle and butted her head against the side of the dam.
"Moo!" She wanted me to come with her. She was telling me to hurry.
"I can't, " I told her. "My friends are inside." She looked at me with her sad brown eyes. Then she gave one more urgent
"Mooo!, " did a flip, and disappeared into the water, I hesitated, something was wrong. She was trying to tell me that. I considered jumping over the side and following her, but then I tensed, the hairs on my arms bristled and 10 dark signatures enter my sensory range. I looked down the dam road to the east and I saw two men walking slowly toward me. They wore gray camouflage outfits that flickered over skeletal bodies, they passed through a group of kids and pushed them aside. A kid yelled,
"Hey!" One of the warriors turned, his face changing momentarily into a skull. "Ah!" the kid yelled, and his whole group backed away, I ran for the visitor center, I was almost to the stairs when I heard tires squeal. On the west side of the dam, a black van swerved to a stop in the middle of the road, nearly plowing into some old people, the van doors opened and more skeleton warriors piled out. I was surrounded, I bolted down the stairs and through the museum entrance. The security guard at the metal detector yelled,
"Hey, kid!" But I didn't stop,I ran through the exhibits and ducked behind a tour group. I looked for my friends, but I couldn't see them anywhere,
"Where was the dam snack bar."
"Stop!" The metal-detector guy yelled. there was no place to go but into an elevator with the tour group, I ducked inside just as the door closed.
"We'll be going down seven hundred feet," our tour guide said cheerfully. She was a park ranger, with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail and tinted glasses. I guess she hadn't noticed that I was being chased. "Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen, the elevator hardly ever breaks."
"Does this go to the snack bar?" I asked her, a few people behind me chuckled, the tour guide looked at me, something about her gaze made my skin tingle out of reflex I activated my sharingan and had to bite my cheek to stop myself from gasping, She glowed solid gold, she was a goddess
"To the turbines, young man, " the Goddess said. "Weren't you listening to my fascinating presentation upstairs?"
"Oh, uh, sure. Is there another way out of the dam?"
"It's a dead end," a tourist behind me said. "For heaven's sake. The only way out is the other elevator." The doors opened,
"Go right ahead, folks, " the tour guide told us. "Another ranger is waiting for you at the end of the corridor." I didn't have much choice but to go out with the group, "And young man, " the tour guide called. I looked back, she'd taken off her glasses, her eyes were startlingly gray, like storm clouds. "There is always a way out for those clever enough to find it."
"Athena." I mouthed as the door closed I swear I saw her smile.
"Well that went well." Kurama said 'Great first impression with your future mother-in-law."
"THAT'S IT!"
"What are you MMPH!" I gagged the Biju and chained him to the wall of my mindscape
"Stupid Biju." I muttered as I ran from the second Elevator ding and heard the sound of clattering skeleton teeth.