The drive was relatively silent. Grover was still nursing his wounds and Bianca curled into a small ball in the back seat as she mourned the loss of her mentor. She hadn't known Zoë for all that long, but the lieutenant of the Hunt had already begun to feel like an older sister to the demigod, and the young Hunter felt lost without her superior watching over her.
Up front, the truck was still rather quiet. Thalia focused on the road, her hands keeping on the nine-and-three grip and her eyes focused forwards. She hadn't been too terribly affected by what had happened to Zoë, but she was still felt the shock of losing a comrade. The pain of losing an ally in battle was always terrible, regardless of her personal feelings toward said ally.
Percy leaned back into his chair, feeling each of the cramps and pains in his back ease as he relaxed for the first time in many days. Since getting off the train, they had been chased across the United States, and only while driving westwards in a dilapidated truck, he finally felt as if he could let himself unwind.
"Do you have any idea where to go?" Percy whispered, looking at the girl driving the truck. Thalia briefly turned to look at her front passenger before returning her eyes to the road.
"I think our best bet is to try to get on the highway and stay on it for as long as can. It's probably the fastest way to go west."
Percy silently nodded his head, focusing his eyes at the seemingly never-ending road that stretched out before them. The American West was truly massive, and for the weary and tired demigods, there was no end in sight.
Sighing, he rubbed his head. "How are you feeling, Thalia?" His voice was forlorn, dejected and almost devoid of strength. It wasn't exactly an indication of Percy's conviction, but rather of his emotional and mental state – frazzled and distressed after the multiple high-tension events he had gone through in quick succession.
The girl in question blinked in surprise as she took in her friend's tone. It was unlike anything she was used to from the son of Poseidon, who had so often represented a bastion of determination against all odds. From what he had heard from Annabeth, Percy was stubborn to the point of death – the brink was not enough to scare him, as proven by his previous victories in the prior summers before her 'rebirth'.
"I'm– I'm alright, I think. What do you mean?"
Percy vaguely gestured in the air even though he knew she wouldn't see it. "I mean, the whole Zoë thing and this quest. It's gone pretty badly so far, I think…"
Thalia let out a long breath, her shoulders shaking with the loss of tension.
"I'm not sure. I mean," she paused briefly, to look back at her passengers – Bianca was now curled into her seat, her eyes closed and her breathing soft and rhythmic, while Grover openly snored, albeit quietly – before continuing, "Zoë and I never really got along, but… she was a comrade-in-arms. An ally. And even though I didn't feel much in connection with her, I felt like she was a, I don't know, a constant. I didn't think she would fall there, of all places. She didn't deserve that – she deserved better than that."
Silence reigned once more, the two front-seat occupants of the truck quiet as they contemplated those words and their collective situation. Percy found himself agreeing with much of what Thalia had said; like her, he didn't really find much to connect with the older Hunter, but regardless of what he personally felt toward Zoë, she was still someone that had fought beside him and had been willing to give everything in the course of this quest.
And she had. Percy was not willing to dishonor her after she had valiantly fought with them. Neither was Thalia. Thus, they collectively, if silently, agreed to honor her memory with what good they had to say.
"What," Thalia suddenly spoke, causing Percy to blink and straighten up, "do you think Aphrodite was trying to play at? Showing up with Ares and talking to you? It's all very strange, and I can't say I've heard of this happening before, in myths or in life."
"I'm really not sure," Percy slowly replied, processing through that particular meeting. In hindsight, it only grew stranger. Was he really so important to warrant the goddess of love, and, by extension, the god of war to travel out to the middle of nowhere? This was, while not perhaps out-of-character, a stunning level of commitment for two Olympians.
"What I do know," Percy growled, his voice darkening as he thought about the specifics of Aphrodite's words, "is that I'm not happy about what she tried to pull. Trying to influence my emotions… I don't like that."
Thalia nodded, agreeing with the sentiment. No one wanted their feelings messed with, especially not by the goddess of love herself. It was a level of intrusion that was simply not acceptable.
Percy fell silent, and turned to look at his companion. He took in her features, the ones that he had seen so clearly on Aphrodite's face. Even as she drove, she carried an intense determination that carried into everything she did – a reason for her excellence. He felt his own cheeks flush.
"Thalia, I…" he trailed off. Thalia turned to look at him, an almost familiar expectant look on her.
"I–" Percy never got to finish his sentence, as the front left tire of the old truck blew, forcing the daughter of Zeus to grip tightly on the wheel as she slammed on the breaks. The truck skidded to a stop some yards away from the road, and they came to a stop facing a river canyon.
"Damn," Thalia muttered, quickly exiting the truck to check on the wheel. Percy sighed and leaned back into his seat, still flushed red.
Neither person saw their two backseat passengers each crack open an eye. Neither had been sleeping.
"Well, looks like this truck's toast," Thalia reported, leaning on the front driver door. "We don't have a spare. Just as well, because we were just about outta gas as well."
Grover stretched out his legs, stomping on the ground as he peered over the edge of the cliff.
"It looks like there's a path we can go down here," the satyr pointed. It was a narrow, rocky path, and one that looked like a person would have about a fifty-fifty chance of making safely. The drop onto a rocky – or watery and rocky – surface was rather far.
Percy glanced at Thalia. The daughter of Zeus had paled at the sight of the path. Remembering that she had a distinct fear of heights, Percy turned around to face his nature-loving friend.
"That's a goat path."
"So?"
"We're not all goats here."
Grover looked miffed at the sentiment, eyeing the path once more. "I think we can-"
He was cut off by Percy reiterating his point. "I think we should find a better place somewhere more upstream. A little walk won't hurt us." Percy looked at Thalia, whose eyes sent a silent 'thank you' to the son of Poseidon.
Returning the sentiment with a small nod and smile, Percy strode off upstream, quickly followed by Bianca and Thalia. Grover simply sighed and gave a small chuckle before heading off after his friends, having clearly lost the vote.
He eyed his two friends as they walked beside one another. They were close to one another, yet still far enough to where their hands didn't quite brush against one another as they swung.
It was to be an interesting journey, Grover concluded. He simply continued walking, enjoying the nature around them and listening to the talk and banter of those in front of him with amusement.
The walk didn't take as long as they would've expected. About a half a mile walk later, Percy found a small path – one more suitable for humans – that took them to a small, closed canoe rental shack by the river. After realizing that none of them had any mortal currency on them, or at least not enough to actually matter, Percy left a stack of golden drachmas before breaking in and taking two canoes.
"Is this actually going to work?" Bianca worriedly asked, eyeing the rapid currents with a look of fear.
"I can control it," Percy said confidently. "I think."
Each canoe was fit for two, so Percy slid into one with Grover right behind, while Thalia took the front of the other with Bianca sitting behind. Both canoes slipped into the river, and before Percy could actually summon his powers, two naiads popped out.
"Uh, hey?" Percy asked, not sure how to proceed. The two naiads simply giggled in response.
"Look, we're going upstream, so-" he cut off as each naiad went behind a canoe and pushed it, accelerating much faster than they could've done with just paddles.
Having nothing to do other than just sit, Percy and Grover admired the sights. Finally, Grover coughed and tapped on Percy's shoulder, causing the demigod to turn around. The satyr had a knowing look on his face.
"So," he began, his voice slow, "Thalia?"
Percy felt his throat constrict a little. "Yeah, what about her?"
Grover chuckled. "Come on, Perce, I know. It's pretty obvious, honestly."
Percy closed his eyes. "Seriously?"
"Yeah. You wear your emotions on your sleeve. Not that it's a bad thing," Grover clarified, "but it means that you're easy to read sometimes."
Percy was silent at this.
"Look, if you need some advice, I can help."
"What advice?"
Grover sighed, leaning back in the canoe. "You just gotta go for it, man. You can't keep waiting forever. It's not a stable situation. If you really feel that much for her, you have to do something. Do something and make your peace with it. Only then will you feel content."
Percy looked taken aback. "Woah. That's… actually some pretty solid advice, G-man. Thanks."
The satyr in question looked mock-offended. "What, you think I got a girlfriend through luck? I've been around this place a few times, dude." They both laughed at the false-indignant tone.
To the boys' canoe's right and some distance behind, Thalia and Bianca sat in their own canoe, relaxing as they were powered by a naiad through the water.
"So… what's going on between you and Percy?" Bianca suddenly asked. Thalia, who had been taking a swig of water, promptly spat it out, her eyes wide as she quickly closed the lid on her bottle.
"What?!" Thalia nearly yelled, turning around. "I mean, nothing. There's nothing. We're just friends."
Bianca looked shocked at Thalia's response, but slowly smiled as she realized that it merely reinforced her assumptions.
"Well, looks like there are some pretty strong feelings there. Sure 'bout that?"
Thalia deflated, her energetic reply falling apart as she realized that she was only confirming for Bianca what the other girl had already thought. And, ultimately, what she herself knew to be true.
"Look," Bianca continued, softening her voice as she reached out and took the older girl's hand, "you should do something about it. Obviously, Percy's got feelings for you. You need to either confirm them or deny them. Don't leave him hanging here."
Thalia stared at the water rippling across their canoe. "You really think he likes me? In a romantic way?"
"If I didn't know any better, I would say that he was on the verge of saying so before the tire blew."
Thalia closed her eyes at this, processing all the information she had just taken in. It wasn't as if any of it were new to her, if she were to be truly honest with herself, but it was one thing to think about it, and a whole other thing to talk about it out loud.
"I see," Thalia spoke softly, and turned back around.
The two canoes pulled closer to one another, until they both came to a full stop. Percy stared at the reason they stopped, imposing as it was.
"The Hoover Dam," Thalia whispered. "It's huge."
"Seven hundred feet tall. Built in the 1930s." Percy.
"Five million cubic acres of water." Thalia.
"Largest construction project in the United States." Grover.
Bianca looked at her three friends with a confused look. "How do you guys know all that?"
"Annabeth. She liked architecture." Percy.
"She was nuts about monuments." Thalia.
"Sprouted facts all the time." Grover.
The three simultaneously sighed, before getting out of the canoes, Bianca following close behind. The naiads had pushed them to the riverbank before disappearing, so Percy assumed that they weren't willing to try and face the Hoover Dam.
Finding a small path, the four climbed back up to surface level. Along the way, Grover continually sniffed the air, as if sensing imminent danger.
"How close?" Percy whispered.
"I'm not sure," Grover admitted. "Maybe not close. Maybe close. Our scent is spread thinly now, but I can smell something from multiple directions. I don't like it."
Percy agreed. They had only two days until the winter solstice, and hundreds of miles left to traverse. It was going to be close. Then again, it always was. The life of a demigod, indeed.
"There's a snack bar in the visitor center," Thalia spoke up, as if she knew that everyone was at least somewhat hungry. She pointed in the general direction of the front entrance of the dam.
"You've been here before?" Percy asked.
"Once," she replied. "To see the guardians." She pointed to two big bronze statues. They looked like Oscars statuettes with wings.
"They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built," she continued. "A gift from Athena."
Tourists were huddled around the statues, and many rubbed the toes of them as moved by.
"Why are they rubbing the toes of those statues?" Percy asked, curious.
Thalia shrugged. "Good luck, I guess. They know something is special about them, even if they don't know the truth."
The group moved closer to the Hoover Dam's entrance, looking around like they were any other group of tourists there. Suddenly, Percy heard a 'mooing' sound – one he had heard before.
"You guys go on ahead, I'm gonna check something out," Percy distractedly said, before turning and jogging towards the north edge of the dam. Grover shrugged and nodded, and he and Bianca continued on. Thalia looked conflicted, and after quickly telling Grover and Bianca to go on without her as well, she ran after Percy.
Thalia caught up after Percy stopped running. He was staring off the edge and into the lake some thirty feet below, where there was a large fish-cow-serpent mixture swimming below, mooing.
"What are you doing here?" Percy asked, not seeing Thalia.
"Moo!"
"Percy!" Thalia yelled, getting her friend's attention. "What are you doing?"
Percy looked confused for a second, before understanding. "Oh, Thalia, this is Bessie. I met her around Long Island."
"Bessie? Long Island? What?" Thalia was even more confused.
"Moo!" Bessie mooed again, more urgently, before disappearing.
Percy stopped, hesitating. Something was wrong.
He turned to see two men walk towards him. Both were wearing gray camouflage. Their faces flickered and turned skeletal. Past them, a black van swerved up, and more skeleton soldiers in gray camo jumped out, weapons at the ready.
Beside him, Thalia tensed up, pulling out her shield. Percy pulled out Riptide.
They were surrounded. They had a fight on their hands.
There was no better team to fight them than a son of Poseidon and a daughter of Zeus.