This took so long, and I'm so busy for literally all of April! I hate to say that updates will be very infrequent for a while, but they will. I will hopefully doing a lot of writing, as I'm going on vacation (literally leaving in like three hours)! I cannot promise anything though, because I plan to be reading for most of it. I know that I will have zero free time and I want to get ahead of all of my reading time. So please, enjoy!
And this is unedited. I'm lazy, it's bad.
Zoë watched as green blobs whizzed in front of her eyes, unable to focus on a single aspect of the nature surrounding the car. Her mind kept going back to him and his death. It was extraordinarily painful, knowing that the only male she could call a friend had died.
She attempted to push away all thoughts of him, but it was fruitless. It had been a blissfully long period in which she didn't have to feel grief, and now it was all coming back.
The dreadful gut wrenching pain and the inexplicable feeling of being empty. Zoë had even started to get along with Thalia and Annabeth, who were experiencing the same grief she was.
"Um…" Phoebe stuttered as she slowed the car to a stop.
Annabeth perked up when she looked up. "Oh my gods!" She gripped Thalia's hand tightly. "1,244 feet long." She breathed. "Began in 1931 and finished in 1936—two years ahead of schedule."
Thalia sighed. "The Hoover Dam." She had heard Annabeth rant about the magnificence of the structure many times.
"We have to stop!" Annabeth shouted, and Phoebe reluctantly halted. Annabeth got out of the car and peered happily up at the dam in front of her, pulling Thalia with her. Zoë and Phoebe followed, leaning against the car.
"Come on, we've got to go further upstream." Annabeth said, and they all groaned but followed. "What, do you want to take the path that's only fit for a satyr?"
They quickly followed, until they came upon a smaller slope leading them to the water. They approached the stream, glad to have finally reached their destination after a half mile of walking.
A girl with sparkling eyes swam up to them, golden hair glittering in the sunlight. Her slightly grim expression was matched by the three girls swimming up behind her.
You are the son of Poseidon's friend? She asked, in a language that only Zoë could understand. A daughter of Pleione?
The hunter ignored her, but nodded. We need help to make it up the river. She spoke back, and the naiads immediately pulled them into the water.
Annabeth turned to her in confusion. "How can you speak to them?"
Thalia screamed. Her uncle was known to be nice, but she could not imagine that he would be pleased with her being in his domain.
The naiads spoke and Zoë relayed their message. "Thalia, you will not be harmed by Lord Poseidon." Thalia seemed relieved but did not cease her shaking.
Despite being pushed up the river by a naiad, Annabeth didn't stop her questioning. "How can you speak to them?"
Zoë sighed. "My mother was a water deity." She replied simply, giving the daughter of Athena no room for questioning.
They arrived at the top of the dam, as far as the naiads could take them, and were unceremoniously thrown out of the water by the naiads. Three of the naiads left, leaving just one, who looked at Zoë with a sad smile. All hope is not lost; the boy resides with the light.
Before Zoë could get a word out the naiad dived back into the water. She sat there confused for a moment, but Phoebe pulled her up.
"Zoë, what did they say?" She asked, but Zoë shook her head.
She matched her pace to Thalia and Annabeth's, who were following the stone path. They walked for about an hour before they reached the visitor's center. Thalia made sure to keep to the middle of the path, and nobody made a comment about it.
"The guardians!" Annabeth exclaimed as they made it to the top. "Gifts from Athena to Zeus when the dam was built."
Phoebe looked at the mortals rubbing the statues' feet. "What are they doing?"
"Rubbing the statues' feet." Thalia chimed in. "They think it's good luck."
The hunter rolled her eyes. "Mortals."
"Let us find the dam snack bar." Zoë suggested, and Thalia burst into fits of laughter, Annabeth following soon after.
Phoebe was just as perplexed as Zoë. "What? She is right. We should find the dam snack bar. We probably won't be able to grab food for a while."
Annabeth burst into laughter once again, while Thalia could stifle her giggles this time. "I need to use the dam restroom."
That set Thalia off, and she collapsed into a fit of giggles. "I need to get a dam t-shirt!"
"Moo," Zoë heard in the distance, and her head snapped behind her, looking for the source of the noise.
"What was that?" Zoë asked, her eyebrows furrowed. "A cow?"
Annabeth's laughter quieted. "A dam cow?"
Zoë shook her head. "Never mind." She said. "Just go inside."
Phoebe opened her mouth but quickly shut it when she saw Zoë's faraway look. She knew her sister better than to think she would tell her what was the matter. She simply nodded and pulled Annabeth and Thalia inside.
Zoë heard the moo again and finally saw it. Floating in the water was a sea-serpent, some sort of cow creature. Its name—and its importance—was on the tip of her tongue but she couldn't remember. She cursed and approached.
It gave an urgent moo and swam in circles. The creature seemed sad, as if it had been just given terrible news. Zoë dipped her hand in the water and the animal brushed up against it. It gave a soft and sad moo, as if trying to tell her something.
"I'm sorry, I cannot understand you." She apologized, feeling an odd connection with the creature. The creature resigned and disappeared into the water again.
Zoë sighed and stood up, turning back towards the visitor's center. She slipped into a defensive stance as she heard the clattering of bones and cursed. She ran towards the building and sprinted into the entrance, past the metal detectors and security guards who yelled after her. She made it to the elevator just before the doors closed.
"Does this go to the snack bar?" Zoë asked, and a couple tourists had the audacity to laugh.
"Weren't you listening to my presentation?" The tour guide asked, a mischievous smile plastered on his face, like he knew something she did not. Zoë frowned, but figured it was not the best time to be castrating males. "We're headed for the turbines."
The doors opened and the group piled out, leaving Zoë no choice but to follow. "And miss," The guide said, and Zoë turned. "He's waiting."
Before Zoë could say anything, the doors closed in front of her. She sprinted towards the café, following the twists and turns of the building when she ran into someone.
Zoë immediately had her dagger out and the girl looked at it with wonder. "That's a knife." She said bluntly, sneezing.
"You did not see anything." Zoë said, manipulating the Mist to make the mortal forget what she had seen with a snap of her fingers.
The girl scoffed and snapped her fingers in front of Zoë's face. "Uh… No. I did. Who are you anyway?"
Zoë rolled her eyes but the girl quickly pushed her into the bathroom. "Hide." Zoë was stunned into silence until the girl spoke again.
"Help! There was this girl with a dagger, she was crazy! You need to find her!" The mortal pleaded, and Zoë peeked out to see a Sparti running away. The girl pulled her out of the bathroom with a steely look in her eyes.
"What the hell is going on?" The mortal asked, but Zoë didn't answer.
"Who are you?" She asked instead, and the girl straightened.
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare."
Zoë rolled her eyes. "I cannot stay and chat, but thank you for saving my life."
"What were those things anyway? They looked like…"
"Skeletons?" Zoë suggested, and Rachel nodded. "They were—"
Zoë's eyes bulged. "What?" The mortal asked, but immediately pulled out a Sharpie. "Whatever," She said, grabbing Zoë's arm in a vice grip and writing a phone number. "They're nearing, go!"
The hunter didn't hesitate and took off towards the café. Annabeth, Thalia and Phoebe were just sitting down with their burritos when Zoë ran over. "We've got to go, they're here."
The group nodded seriously and sadly rewrapped their burritos. They sped up the second they heard the clattering of the Sparti.
Outside of the café, they were back to where they started from. The guardians stood in front of them, no escape. "Thalia, pray to your dad." Annabeth suggested, and her friend looked at her curiously.
"What?" She asked.
Annabeth nodded. "The lady at the cafeteria, she was my mom. She said 'there is a way out for those clever enough to find it.' That's the way, your dad will listen."
Thalia rolled her eyes but did so anyway, the skeletons nearing them far too quickly.
The statues sprang to life, abruptly grabbing the quest members and flying into the air. "Ay! Feels good to be back, thanks!" One of them said.
"I needed this." The other remarked. "Now come on, we're heading west."
Percy's eyes fluttered open and he groaned. Everything around him was so bright and his energy still hadn't recovered.
Apollo stood over him with a sly grin on his face. "Hey kid."
Percy rubbed his temples. "What? Apollo?"
The god smiled. "Yup. You almost died, kid."
"Do they think I'm dead?" The son of Hestia asked nervously, sitting up in bed.
Apollo nodded. "Zoë has been given many hints as to the fact that you're not; I believe that she questions it."
The demigod grinned. He didn't want her to think that he was dead. "So when can I get back?"
The god chuckled with a smile, putting a hand to Percy's head and instantly replenishing his powers. "I mean, I don't know where the quest is headed." He said with a wide grin. "But if you tell me where you want to go, well, I'll flash you there."
Percy grinned wildly, catching the god's path of logic. "San Francisco, please." He replied, recalling what the god had told him.
The god smiled and with a flick of his hand Percy disappeared in a flash of gold.
"Nice to be back." Percy said, seeing his quest mates flying above. "Really nice."