One shall be lost in the land without rain.
They'd searched for hours, until the sun rose, but they hadn't even found a body. The only sign that Perseus had ever been there was the crimson blood splattered across the desert sand, a few feet away from his discarded shoes and socks. He was supposed to be invulnerable. Those Cursed by the Styx did not simply bleed. It was a conundrum, but the curiosity was overshadowed by the fact that Perseus was gone.
Tears stung the corner of Zoe's eyes, and she wiped them away with extreme prejudice. Her, the Lieutenant of the Hunt, who had spent over two thousand years at her Lady's side, crying over the loss of a mere boy? What a joke! She ignored the vicious beast in her heart that begged to tear the fool Satyr apart- for it was his gluttony that led to this disaster- and instead dragged her quest members away from the scarred earth. Perseus had sacrificed himself to save them; it would be better to leave while they could, instead of further tempting Fate. They found a tow truck at the edge of the Junkyard. It looked ancient, but the engine turned on, and it had a full tank of gas. Zoe hopped in the driver's seat, and they were off.
The ride was silent. Thalia sat in the back seat, dazed with grief. The Daughter of Zeus was confused by the depths of her feelings. She'd only known her cousin for a few days- it hadn't even been a full week yet since he'd interrupted their search-and-rescue mission for the di Angelos- but they'd gotten along. There was a bit of a rocky start, sure, but they'd gotten past that. But now, he was simply… Gone. Just like her shitty father. Just like her shitty mother. Just like Luke.
Just like…
She mourned her cousin, but she also mourned the lost opportunity to become more, to truly become family instead of strangers that happened to be cousins. Was she destined to be alone? To never be able to keep her family whole? Was this a curse from Hera, as punishment for simply being born?
Annabeth had an arm around the older girl's shoulder, silently comforting her. She was pensive, unable to quite wrap her head around the situation. Judging by the massive scar in the earth they'd seen, and the noticeable lack of the Talos prototype, Percy had presumably dropped the giant robot into a fissure. But that didn't explain where he was. Unless, and it was slightly ridiculous to think about, he accidentally fell into the chasm he himself created?
That didn't make sense, though; the trace amounts of blood they'd seen in the sand was a fair distance away from the scarred earth, and most likely marked where Percy had been standing (how the blood got there in the first place was a different matter altogether. The Curse of Achilles prevented any external injuries, except for where their mortal anchor was located. So either his anchor had been pierced, which wasn't likely since there would've been way more blood spilled, or it was internal bleeding), so he would've had to bodily thrown himself into the pit. Percy may not have been a child of Athena, but he'd exhibited a certain wisdom, the kind that came from experience with difficult situations. It was hard to believe he'd do something like that without good reason, and Annabeth couldn't think of one that would justify throwing oneself into the abyss. Not to say it was impossible that something important enough happened that would goad Percy into doing so, Annabeth just couldn't imagine what it would be.
Grover sat in the passenger seat, nibbling on the mangled corner of his reed pipes mournfully. He'd apologized a few times, but received no response, save for a growl from Zoe, and a few unreadable looks from Annabeth. It was like Thalia all over again; his failure to protect the Daughter of Zeus resulted in her being turned into a tree. And yeah, she was alive now thanks to the Golden Fleece, but everyone had thought her dead. And it was because he'd gotten turned around on their way to camp, led them the wrong way. If he'd just been faster…
Or like with Orion, and the disaster that was the fight with the Minotaur on Half-Blood Hill. He'd been functionally useless during that debacle, knocked out from the lightning that hit the car they were in. As a result, he had been unable to keep Orion's mother from being kidnapped- or killed, as they thought at the time- and had to be dragged into camp unconscious by the very demigod he was supposed to be protecting.
And now, he'd gotten Percy killed. He was so, so stupid! Zoe had explicitly warned them that the things thrown away in the Junkyard of the Gods were cursed, and then he went and took a bite out of one of them! It was definitely up there with some of his more goat-brained moments, and honestly, he was lucky that all it resulted in was the Talos prototype waking up. He could've been immolated instantly, or been stuck writhing in immense pain for the rest of his life, or, or…
If you factored in the di Angelos, who never even made it to camp on account of being kidnapped (rescued?) by their older brother, Grover probably had the worst track record with kids of the Big Three in history. Which was saying something, considering Big Three kids were pretty much the driving force behind World War Two.
Hours passed as they followed a river upstream, and the truck finally ran out of gas a mile or two away from a structure so massive, they could see it from where they were.
"Hoover Dam," Annabeth muttered, a bit of the light returning to her stormy gray eyes. "That puts us between Arizona and Nevada." The teens stepped out of the vehicle, staring up the curved concrete monstrosity. "700 feet tall, built in the 1930s, it's the largest construction project in the United States. It holds back five million cubic acres of water," the blonde breathed, starry-eyed. Grover and Thalia shared fond smirks, but Zoe simply stared at the dam warily. It would be just their luck if something happened to break it while they were here.
"Do you smell any monsters, Satyr?" Zoe asked, perhaps a touch more harshly than necessary.
Grover shivered a bit, then began snuffling. "Yeah, but…"
"But?"
"I can't tell if it's close. The wind from the dam, and the desert all around us- the scent can carry for miles. I don't like how it's coming from multiple directions, though."
Zoe grimaced. "We must move quickly- it is already Wednesday. The Winter Solstice is in two days."
Thala placed a hand over her stomach, feeling a bit of hunger. "We can stop for a snack, though. There's a visitor center with a snack bar."
The Huntress glanced up, noticing the parking garage at the top of the gorge they were in. "We will have to go up anyways," she said, pointing at the road leading out of the garage. "We can stop on the way."
It took a while to find a path, but eventually, they ended up on top of the dam after climbing dozens of stairs, leaving everyone except Zoe slightly out of breath.
"Now, where is the dam snack bar?" Zoe muttered to herself. Behind her, her remaining questmates began cracking up.
"The dam snack bar?" the Satyr repeated. Zoe frowned.
"Yes. That is our objective, is it not?"
"Yeah, course. I could totally use some dam french fries."
"And I need to use the dam restroom," Thalia interjected, giggling.
"Maybe we should check out the dam gift shop?" Annabeth asked, not immune to the hilarity. Zoe, not understanding the joke, stayed quiet.
Thalia took the lead, having been here once before. It wasn't long before their hunger was sated, and they began to plan their next move.
"Perseus…" Zoe trailed off for a moment, before rallying herself. "Perseus received a note from Lord Apollo, telling him to seek Nereus, the Old Man of the sea, in San Francisco."
"Nereus? He's the guy who answers any question someone asks if they catch him, right? He had prophetic visions?" Annabeth asked.
"Indeed. He may be able to tell us what the Bane of Olympus that the prophecy referred to is."
"Don't you think it's weird that this supposed bane is supposed to show the trail, but we haven't seen it during this entire quest?" Thalia asked. The group fell silent at that, unable to think of anything to say. Zoe pondered that.
From Camp Half-Blood, they went to Washington D.C, following Grover's tracking spell. Then, they took Sun West Lines, provided to them by Apollo. Perseus drove them to the Junkyard of the Gods, located in Arizona. From there, Zoe drove to their current location, Hoover Dam, on the border of Arizona and Nevada. Now, Apollo was telling them to head to San Francisco to find Nereus.
However, both Zoe and Perseus have known from the beginning that they would need to head to San Francisco, because Mount Tamalpais- where Mount Othrys had relocated with the shift of the Heart of Western Civilization- was on its outskirts. There, they would find Atlas and Lady Artemis, which left only a few choices in Zoe's mind.
There was the possibility that it was referring to Lady Artemis, but Zoe disregarded that train of thought instantly. Lady Artemis was loyal to Olympus- how could she be its bane? A ridiculous notion. Atlas? Well, he was the General of Kronos' forces in the Titanomachy, and therefore a treacherous foe. But despite the close call in D.C, the questing party had not interacted with him, meaning he could not have shown them the trail. And while he was certainly a formidable enemy, he was not a bigger threat than the likes of Typhon the Storm Giant, or Kronos himself, and therefore unlikely to be granted the title of Bane of Olympus.
Zoe had dreamed that Lady Artemis was in peril, and she was the leader of this quest, the one whom the Oracle had given the prophecy to. But, even she hadn't known the exact circumstances of her Mistress' imprisonment, beyond the fact that she was in trouble, until…
But then-
Wouldn't that mean…?
"Trouble on your six," Thalia whispered. Zoe barely heard her over the clamor of the food court. She turned her head to glance over her shoulder, and caught sight of the transparent gray flesh of a Spartoi. There were two of them- the two that Perseus had not been able to destroy in his rash blitz. They were dressed like park rangers; they must have killed some of the mortals patrolling this place and stolen their clothes to use as disguises.
"They have guns," Annabeth muttered, eying the skeletons' belts. That was not good; while the Nemean Lion's pelt would keep Zoe safe, it was far from large enough to protect them all. Since they couldn't destroy the Spartoi, their only choice was to run. "We need to distract them and run."
For a moment, the questers were still, unsure exactly how to go about it. In that time, one of the skeletons caught sight of them, drawing its gun from its waistband. Panicked, Grover lifted the half-eaten burrito in his hand, and slung it straight at the Spartoi. It beaned it straight in the head, taking its skull off.
"Food fight!" Grover shouted, triggering a burrito brawl as the numerous children in the snack bar began throwing their own meals with wild abandon. In the cover of the chaos, Zoe drew her bow and shot an arrow at the second intact Spartoi, knocking its head off as well. That'd slow them down a bit.
The four of them raced down the stairs leading outside the snack bar, and crossed the street to put some distance. They stood in front of the two bronze angel statues. Zoe knew of them; they were dedicated to Zeus by Athena when the construction of the Hoover Dam was completed. Mortals, for some reason, believed that rubbing the toes of the statue would grant good luck, and as a result the bronze toes were incredibly shiny.
They could use some luck right now.
"Thalia, pray to your father and ask for aid! These statues may be able to help," Zoe ordered. Thalia's face twisted, and for a moment it looked as if she would refuse just on principle, but thankfully, she didn't argue. The Daughter of Zeus closed her eyes, lips moving in a silent plea towards her father.
At that time, the Spartoi stumbled out onto the street, dripping with condiments. One of them had a burrito lodged firmly in its ribcage. They raised their guns and fired, but massive bronze wings slammed down between the demigods and the skeletons, blocking the bullets.
"Man, been a while since I've moved!" one statue cried, voice creaking like a rusted joint. It involuntarily reminded Zoe of the Talos prototype, and she clenched a fist.
"Dude, my toes!" the other complained. "The hell is wrong with mortals these days?"
"Can you guys get us outta here!?" Thalia interrupted.
The statues looked at her in unison. "Zeus' kid?"
"Yes! Let's go!"
One of the angels shrugged. "Sure, what the heck?"
"Ain't stretched in decades," the other agreed. One angel grabbed Thalia and Annabeth, while his friend scooped up Zoe and Grover. Ignoring the bullets pinging off their metal bodies, the statues flared the wings and leaped into the air, flapping powerfully and ascending at ludicrous speeds. Within moments, they'd left Hoover Dam and the Spartoi behind.
"We need to go to San Francisco!" Zoe called over the rushing wind.
"Hey, Chuck, ya hear? We're goin' to Frisco!" one angel yelled. The other, Chuck, whooped excitedly, and the statues sped up.
When they finally reached their destination, a few hours later, Hank and Chuck dropped the questers next to the Embarcadero Building, which sat close to the waterfront. The angels went on their way to party, leaving the four teens alone.
"Why here?" Annabeth asked.
"If we're looking for Old Nereus, then we'll need to search near the water. He never goes far from the sea. Now, all that's left…" Zoe grimaced, "Is to follow the scent."
Between her and Grover, they were eventually able to find a trail. It was the same disgusting smell that Zoe remembered; rotting fish, brine, pollution- some of the worst scents the ocean could produce. They reluctantly tracked down the source, until they stood behind a fat man with an unkempt white beard, wearing dingy clothes and a tattered bathrobe.
"Nereus," Zoe greeted flatly. The Old Man of the Sea didn't even bother to act startled, merely turning around to eye her.
"I thought I recognized that aura," Nereus mumbled. "One of Pleione's girls, hm? The disgraced one?"
Zoe bristled. "I have gained honor far beyond my sisters in service of my Mistress."
Nereus grinned widely, showing off his numerous missing teeth. The ones that remained were disgustingly yellow and chipped, twisted in all directions. It was an orthodontist's nightmare. "Of course, of course. Honor in servitude. How quaint."
She was not going to have this conversation- her choices were her own, and she had the freedom to make them, despite what Nereus was implying. "We have more important things to discuss. I've a question; will you answer me while I'm being nice, or will I have to beat it out of you?" She ripped a knife out of her thigh holster to emphasize her point.
Nereus raised a brow. "Is that the question you wanted to ask?"
Zoe growled. "Do not play games, Nereus. It will not end well for you."
"Forgive an old man his jokes. It gets terribly boring around here, you know, just sitting around and waiting for the next demigod to come harass me. So, what do you want to know, my dear?"
"Hold on," Annabeth interrupted, "I thought we were supposed to catch you or something before you answered a question for us?"
Nereus shrugged. "Of course- if you're a demigod. If you had been the one asking questions," he jutted his chin out at Annabeth, "I would've been long gone by now."
Zoe's questmates seemed confused. "Wait, so if you're not a demigod, then what are you?" Thalia asked.
"That is not important right now," Zoe said firmly. "Nereus, what exactly was the Oracle of Delphi referring to when it mentioned the Bane of Olympus?"
The old man stared at her blankly for a moment. His gaze passed over the rest of the teens. "Not here, huh?" Nereus shrugged. "Well, you'll probably see him soon enough."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Zoe demanded. "Speak sense!"
"What it means is that you already know the answer to your own question, child. Now, shoo." He waved them away and turned back to the sea. Zoe growled, unsheathing her hunting knife, but managed to compose herself before she slammed it hilt-deep into his skull.
She already knew the answer? Balderdash! If she did, then she wouldn't have needed to ask Nereus! Before she could change her mind and attack him, the huntress whirled around- and found themselves in the midst of an ambush.
All…
…?
They Must-
What…?
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