Hi! First off, let me apologize for the long, long hiatus. Things have been very busy lately. I'm gonna try and keep a schedule, but I can't make any promises. But so far, the plan is to finish this, then Red Pyramid. Anyway, enjoy the read!

"So… what exactly did she want with you?" Bianca asked.

"Oh, uh, not sure," Gohan lied. Quite frankly, he was in no mood to talk about the emotional roller coaster that the love goddess had just put him through. "She said to be careful in her husband's junkyard. She said not to pick anything up." Percy frowned. It was pretty obvious he knew Gohan was lying. That made Gohan wonder: just what had Aphrodite said to Percy?

Zoe narrowed her eyes. "The goddess of love would not make a special trip to tell thee that. Be careful. Aphrodite has led many heroes astray." Gohan smirked.

"Well, I'm not exactly a typical hero, am I?" Gohan countered. Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Typical male arrogance."

"For once I agree with Zoe," Thalia said. "You can't trust Aphrodite. And if you think you're immune from her charms, you're a bigger idiot than even I gave you credit for. Which I didn't think was possible." Gohan's face flushed as Thalia smirked at him, her blue eyes twinkling in amusement. It was like she was daring him to start a fight.

"Guys…" Percy shifted nervously.

"Look me in the eye and say you felt nothing while you were with her. Do it." Thalia poked Gohan in the chest. Gohan was silent.

"Thought so." she smirked.

"Maybe we should rest. Pick up at dawn when we have light?" Bianca suggested.

"No way." Gohan, Percy and Thalia said in unison.

"Every second we spend out here is another they have Annabeth."

"As well as Lady Artemis." Zoe added.

"Right…" Percy said, "how do we get out of here?" Zoe grumbled, looking up.

"I would suggest we follow the stars." Gohan looked up, following her gaze.

"That way," Zoe pointed. "That is west." She paused.

"I think."

"How can you tell?"

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

She pointed west, then at the northern constellation, which was hard to make out because there were so many other stars.

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

Zoe looked offended. "Show some respect. It was a fine bear. A worthy opponent." "You act like it was real."

Gohan wasn't listening. He drummed his fingers on his waist as Aphrodite's words rang through his head.

"Remember, follow your heart's desire. That's the key."

"The heck does that mean?" Gohan muttered.

"Hey!" Thalia snapped her fingers in front of Gohan's face, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Snap out of whatever perverted fantasy you were thinking about and get a move on!"

"Okay, really? Why is that the first thing you accuse me of?" Gohan grumbled, trudging after her.

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

They'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.

"Wow." Gohan breathed.

"Some of it looks like real gold." Bianca whispered.

"It is," Thalia said grimly. "Like Gohan 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! Spit that out!"

"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!" Out of curiosity, Gohan lifted a golden wristband. Then, it sprang into a gleaming golden shield.

"Okay, that's neat." Gohan jabbed forward several times, the shield whistling through the air.

"Nice, Captain America." Percy smirked.

Zoe's face was grim. "Drop it."

"But—"

"They are 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. Gohan pulled the shield off and tossed it, sending it spinning like a frisbee. It vanished into the darkness, followed by a faint clanging.

"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?" Percy joked.

"We've seen crazier things.'" Gohan shrugged.

Thalia gave him a hard look. "If I have to fight another robot, I swear…" she shook her head.

"Just saying."

"Zoe is right, Percy. Things get thrown away here for a reason. Now come on, let's get across this yard."

"That's the second time you've agreed with Zoe," he muttered, but Thalia ignored him. She activated her shield and placed it on the ground. Then, she sat down on it and pushed off, sliding down the side of the pile with a loud

They started picking their way through the hills and valleys of junk. The stuff seemed to go on forever, and if it hadn't been for Ursa Major, they would've gotten lost. All the hills pretty much looked the same.

Percy found an electric guitar shaped like Apollo's lyre that was so sweet he had to pick it up. Grover found a broken tree made out of metal. It had been chopped to pieces, but some of the branches still had golden birds in them, and they whirred around when Grover picked them up, trying to flap their wings. Every now and then, Zoe would look over her shoulder, a curious expression on her face.

"You know, if we could somehow get all this back to camp, the Hepheastus cabin could probably melt it all down and make enough Celestial bronze weapons for everyone four times over." Gohan observed, kicking what looked like a gold saddle aside. Zoe turned towards him, a condescending look on her face.

"No. Even if melted down, this metal is cursed. Anything forged from it would be doomed to fail. Swords would break in battle. Arrows would fail to hit their targets. Automatons would malfunction." Gohan sighed.

"Shame." Then, a shout made him turned to see Bianca stumble, slipping forward as a golden plate shot out from under her foot. He shot forward, catching her by the shoulders. Bianca yelped in surprise before regaining her composure. Zoe's eyes blazed.

"You okay?" Bianca blinked in surprise, then shoved Gohan back.

"Now you're nice to me?" her eyes blazed.

"Come on guys, knock it off." Thalia grumbled. Bianca glared at Gohan before stomping after Zoe. He looked at Percy, who simply shook his head.

"Girls." Gohan grumbled, running a hand across his face.

"Normally I'd agree with you, but this time I agree with her."

"Oh, come on." Gohan sighed.

"Look, just go apologize to her."

"Why should I have to apologize?"

"Because you're the one acting like an asshole." Gohan glared at Percy, but the demigod didn't even flinch.

"Are you trying to pull an Annabeth right now?" Percy smirked.

"If I was trying to pull an Annabeth, I'd smack you upside the head, drag you over to Bianca by your ear and wouldn't let go until you made up with Bianca." The boys glared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Plus she'd be giving me her classic angry stare the whole time." Gohan laughed, wiping away a tear.

Then, he took off into the air and landed next to Bianca. If she registered his presence, she didn't show it. Gohan sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. He really needed a haircut one of these days.

"Look, I…" Before he could continue, Bianca turned towards him, her eyes filled with a mixture of frustration and... something Gohan wasn't sure of. Understanding other's emotions was something he was still struggling with. One thing that his childhood adventures had failed to teach him was social skills.

"Look, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. You were just trying to keep me from falling flat on my face."

"Yeah… but I haven't exactly been acting like a teammate lately." Bianca snorted.

"You think?" Gohan's face reddened as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Look, I- "

"Last I checked, you think I'm selfish for becoming a Hunter and leaving Nico. Sound about right?" Gohan was silent.

"Back in Cloudcroft, you said that he didn't understand your decision. Did you… even stop to think about he felt?" Bianca stopped and stared at Gohan.

"How dare you…"

"There wasn't any rush, you know." Now it was Bianca's turn to be silent, glaring daggers at Gohan.

"Excuse me?"

"You didn't have to decide right then and there."

"Meaning?"

"There was no rush. You could have waited a few days, really thought it over. The Hunters were coming to camp with us, so you could have just gone to them whenever you wanted."

Bianca still didn't speak.

"One of the most, no, the most important decision of your life, and you didn't even think it over a full day." Bianca's face flushed.

"Maybe you should have talked to Nico to get his opinion first? Or did you just care that little about-"

She slapped him. The others froze, staring at the scene in surprise and shock.

"Ouch." Thalia whispered, her eyes wide.

"More for her than him." Percy remarked. Zoe snarled as she advanced towards the Hunter and Saiyan, but Thalia grabbed her hand.

"Release me!" she hissed.

"No, about time we let them sort this out once and for all." Grover shifted nervously. Gohan was still, blinking in surprise. Bianca winched as she rubbed her hand.

"You don't get to judge me." She hissed, her dark eyes blazing. The glow around her seemed to intensify. Gohan glared right back at her, several blue sparks dancing across his body. The air grew so still that you could have cut the tension with Annabeth's knife.

"Do you have siblings?" Gohan didn't answer.

"Thought so."

"Your point?" Bianca folded her arms together.

"I've spent my entire life taking care of Nico- which apparently has been for the past seventy years. And I couldn't coddle him forever. I'm sure that's something you can understand." Now Gohan was the stumped one.

"Look, it's just that…"

"I remind you of your dad." Gohan froze, his mouth hanging open.

"Percy mentioned it back in Cloudcroft." He pressed his lips together.

"Did he now…" Gohan paused as he looked back at Percy.

"He's glaring at me, isn't he?"

"Yep."

"Look." Bianca poked Gohan in the chest.

"I get that you've seen and been through some really bad stuff. But that does not give you the right to take your abandonment issues out on me. Okay?"

"Ah… er…" Gohan's face blushed.

"Hah, he looks like a tomato." Thalia grinned.

"Only other person I've ever seen made him sputter like that is Annabeth." Percy observed.

"Shocker." Thalia smirked, leaning on her spear.

"Okay…" Bianca sighed deeply, drumming her fingers on her waist. She looked like she would rather be anywhere else but standing next to Gohan.

"Look, I love my brother. I will defend that fact to the death. And I wouldn't have decided to join the Hunters if I didn't know that I was leaving Nico with people who could take care of him and help him become better."

"Okay."

"Is that all you're gonna keep saying?"

"Ummm…" Bianca sighed as she covered her face.

"For someone so smart, you can be really dumb."

"Hey!" Bianca sighed, rolling her eyes as she tapped her foot impatiently.

"You know, Nico really likes you. He looks up to you."

"Yeah, I like Nico too. He's a nice kid."

"No, I mean that…" Bianca trailed off.

"What?"

"No, it's not my place."

"Wait, what isn't?" Bianca shook her head.

"Look, let's be blunt. You think I made an impulsive decision. And yeah, you're right. Maybe I could have thought it over an extra day or two. I definitely should have talked to Nico first, you're right to call me out on that. As much as it annoys me to admit."

"Thank you."

"But that doesn't excuse the idiotic way you've been acting either. I messed up, you messed up. Let's just put this behind us and get on. Okay?"

"O…kay." Gohan sighed.

"Good." Bianca turned and marched off, leaving Gohan.

"Thank gods that's over." Thalia grumbled as she shoved past Gohan.

"You good?" Percy asked. Gohan nodded.

"Say, how about you tell us one of your past adventures to pass the time?" he asked. Gohan brightened.

"Sure! Did I ever tell you guys about the Ginyu Force?"

Finally, they saw the edge of the junkyard about half a mile ahead of them, the lights of a highway stretching through the desert.

"Oh thank gods." Grover sighed. Meanwhile, Thalia and Bianca was bombarding Gohan with questions.

"So, let me get this straight. This Ginyu guy could steal other people's bodies?"

"Yep. The body change technique."

"And you… trapped him in a frog's body?"

"No, my dad did. By throwing the frog into the beam's path before it hit Vegeta."

"And… he's still hopping around as a frog?" Bianca asked/

"As far as I know, yeah."

"Damn… talk about a fate worse than death."

"And what was the point of the dumb poses?" Thalia asked.

"Ummm…" Gohan scratched his head. "It was their thing, I guess." Thalia snorted.

"You'd never see me doing a stupid pose before a battle. The monster would kill me before that happened."

Zoe looked behind her shoulder, a frown on her face. Gohan cocked his head.

"Okay, what's wrong?" The group stopped.

"What?" Thalia asked.

"Zoe. You've been looking over your shoulder this entire time." Bianca frowned at her.

"What?" The Hunter sighed, leaning against a gold pillar.

"Something feels… off."

"What does that mean?"

"I think thy arst being observed."

"And you're just mentioning this now?" Thalia hefted her spear as Bianca notched an arrow and grumbled.

"Oh, perfect. Is it those guys from Cloudcroft? Or those skeletons?" Percy asked, an alert expression on his face as he drew Riptide.

"I… don't think so. Whatever this is, it doesn't feel malevolent. More like… curious? Observant?"

"And that's supposed to be any better?"

"If it was them, I am certain they would have attacked us by now."

"You sure about that?" Zoe frowned as she panned over the area again.

"The sooner we leave, the better." She decided.

"Agreed." Thalia turned towards Gohan.

"Hey, do that flying thing, scout ahead. Make sure we're clear." Gohan nodded, a blue aura surrounding his body as he took off into the air. He frowned as he looked down. From the air, the yark was remarkable. Like a gold oasis. He narrowed his eyes, letting his well-trained sight sweep over the junkyard. Then, he froze.

"Hello there." He grinned.

"Man, I never get tired of that." Percy marveled.

"I wish I could fly." Bianca sighed. She looked at Percy and Thalia.

"I will admit, I did fantasize about flying when I was little, everyone who read Superman did. But Zeus would blast me out of the sky if I even set foot on a plane." Bianca glanced at Thalia

"Say Thalia, you're the daughter of Zeus. Lord of the sky. Can you fly?" Thalia shifted nervously. Before anyone could answer, Gohan landed back in front of them, a curious expression on his face.

"What?"

"You gotta see this." Gohan grinned. He turned and took off, leaving the others dumbfounded.

"What is that?" Bianca gasped.

Ahead of them was a hill much bigger and longer than the others. It was like a metal mesa, the length of a football field and as tall as goalposts. At one end of the mesa was a row of ten thick metal columns, wedged tightly together.

Bianca frowned. "They look like—"

"Toes," Gohan said. He raised his hand. A second later, a bright glowing yellow ki ball formed in his hand, illuminating the hill. Bianca nodded. "Really, really large toes." Zoe and Thalia exchanged nervous looks.

"Gohan… what exactly did you see?"

"Ummm… it looks like a giant statue?"

"What kind of statue?"

"Mmmmm… a humanoid one? Looks like one of those statues from a museum. I squiggled on its chest." Thalia swallowed nervously.

"You did… what now?" she hissed.
"Let's go around," Zoe said. "Far around."

"Oh, come on!"

"But the road is right over there," Percy protested. "Quicker to climb over." Ping. Zoe drew her bow, but it was only Grover. He had thrown 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.

Grover cringed. "I don't know. I, uh, don't like fake feet?" Thalia facepalmed.

"Idiots! No squiggling, no tossing! Just leave it alone!"

After several minutes of walking, they finally stepped onto the highway, an abandoned but well-lit stretch of black asphalt.

"We made it out," Zoe said. "Thank the gods."

But apparently the gods didn't want to be thanked. At that moment, a sound filled the air, like a thousand trash compactors crushing metal.

They whirled around. Behind them, the scrap mountain was boiling, rising up. The ten toes tilted over, and the thing that rose up from the metal was a bronze giant in full Greek battle armor.

"Oh boy." Gohan breathed, stepping into a combat position as Percy, Thalia, Bianca and Zoe drew their weapons