AN: As I seem to forget I shall enter the disclaimer. I do not own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. They Belong to Rick Riordan and JK Rowling. The only things I own are the changes I made to the plot.
Cassie could only nod looking grim, before Talos started staggering around, almost stepping on them. Realizing that they were still in danger, Cassie used the same levitation charm on Grover as before and they all ran down the highway, Zoe in the lead. "How is Phoebe supposed to get out?" The giant punched himself in the face again, dropping his sword, Talos staggered through a few power lines.
"Look out!" yelled Bianca.
The warning came too late, a live wire wrapped around the giant's ankle, sending blue sparks coursing throughout its body. They had no idea of what was going on inside the giant. Talos careened back into the junkyard, his right hand falling off into a pile of scrap with a huge clang his left arm fell off too; he was falling apart at the joints.
Talos began to run. "Wait!" yelled Zoe as she and Bianca tried to catch up, but the youngest two knew that it was no good, pieces of the robot kept falling off, getting in their way.
Getting to the wreckage, they shouted out Phoebe's name, trying to find her. The two couldn't find anything. They crawled through the hallow parts and its head, nothing. They searched until the sunlight came up, not coming up with anything.
Cassie and Luna sat down on one of the robots legs wondering when the other two were going to notice that they were in the desert. Zoe broke down completely, sitting in the sand and crying.
Grover shook his head sadly, "we won't find her, it's just like in the prophecy 'One shall be lost in the land without rain.'" Why hadn't Bianca and Zoe seen it? They were in the desert, and Phoebe was gone.
Zoe was the first to snap out of the stupor that everyone had found themselves in and walked off. Nobody could bear stopping her. After a few minutes, she came back driving an old truck, "get in, we still need to get to California, and we still might have those skeletons after us." The truck was so old that it looked like it could have been thrown away itself, but it had a tank full of gas and nobody had a better idea so they got in. The front had only two seats so Zoe drove while Bianca grabbed shotgun, still in shock about Phoebe.
That left Luna, Cassie and Grover to ride in the flatbed in the back. The bright morning light and the sand giving them little concern as Zoe navigated them through the desert. Cassie and Grover managed to make themselves comfortable along the back of the truck while Luna rested off to the side, wondering.
Zoe should be more used to it by now, being in the Hunt for thousands of years, but the lieutenant had taken the news the hardest. It was like Zoe really was the biggest sister in their family and she had personally lost her younger sibling. She herself wished she could have saved Phoebe but she knew it had to happen for all of her magic, some things even she couldn't do. She vowed to save Lady Artemis as soon as she could, make sure that Phoebe's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. Cassie looked at Bianca, who looked miserable and was still holding that little god figurine that she had wanted to give to Nico.
They hadn't found Phoebe's body but they were all sure she was gone. It felt like her presence had vanished from the group.
Grover wasn't all right but neither Luna nor Cassie had anything to tell him; ever since New Mexico, when Pan blessed them, Grover seemed a lot more fragile, like he could break if he was given enough pressure. He was so emotional now, that they were afraid to say anything that might upset him.
Cassie wondered how Zoe had dealt with this; odds are she had seen dozens if not hundreds of Hunters fall in combat over the millennia. She promised herself to toughen up, like Phoebe had tried to tell her, if she could move on, she could focus on the quest and rescue Lady Artemis. Cassie sighed, "Phoebe died a hero's death. I hope she finds peace in Elysium." She put her face in her hands and didn't say anything else.
The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well as it was a dead end. Zoe got out and slammed the door shut. Immediately, one of the tires blew out, "Great, now what?"
Everyone looked around but couldn't see much, just desert in all directions with the occasional mountain in the distance. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe only about 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 them.
"There's a path," said Grover. "We could get to the river."
Cassie looked and saw the path that Grover was referring to. "Grover, that's a goat path." With magic she and Luna could probably make it, but that would leave Bianca and Zoe behind.
Grover looked confused, "so?"
"The rest of us aren't goats," said Zoe disgruntled
"We can make it," said Grover. "I think."
They all thought about it. Cliffs weren't that hard but the look on Bianca's face was clear. No heights.
"Come on, a walk won't hurt us." Cassie told him.
Bianca sent a quick thank you look at Cassie that just confirmed hers suspicion that she hated heights. After following the river for about half a mile, they found an easier slope to the water. On the shore was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season. Leaving a few golden galleons, getting Cassie odd looks from Zoe, Bianca, and Grover, and a note saying IOU two canoes, they put the boats in the water.
"We need to go upstream," Bianca said. It was the first time they'd heard her speak since the junkyard and she sounded horrible, like she had the flu. "The rapids are too swift."
"Leave that to me," said Cassie as she pulled out her wand.
She got into the canoe with Luna and Bianca while Zoe was forced to be with Grover.
Cassie was going to use her magic when it turned out she didn't need to. A few naiads were staring at them. Other than the fact that they were underwater, they looked like any other teenage girl one would find at a mall. After a while Cassie was able to convince them to help and they each grabbed a canoe. Within moments, they were speeding up the river, Grover fell on his furry behind, they were moving so fast he righted himself as soon as possible but Cassie and Luna both started giggling.
Grover blushed, "not funny."
Before anyone could say anything else, the naiads got their attention and they could see why. A huge dam right in front of them was blocking the sun.
"Hoover Dam," said Cassie as everyone got out of the canoes along the edge of the river.
The naiads left with a lot of grumbling. While they couldn't understand them, it was obvious that they hated this dam blocking their nice river. The canoes floated back downstream, swirling in the wake of the dam's discharge vents.
Grover sighed, "Largest construction project in the United States."
Zoe stared at him. "How do you know that?" asked Zoe.
"Annabeth," said Grover simply. "She liked architecture. Spouted facts all the time," Grover sniffled, "It was so annoying"
Cassie nodded, "you'll be able to show Annabeth around when you bring her here yourselves," Grover seemed to like that idea.
It took almost an hour walk before they found a path that led up to the road; it came up on the east side of the river. It was cold and windy at the top so Cassie and Luna were forced to use a warming charm on them all. On one side of the path, the dam dropped away like the world's most dangerous skateboard ramp, down to the river seven hundred feet below.
Bianca 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 everyone knew he smelled monsters.
"How close are they?" asked Cassie.
Grover shook his head, "maybe not close. The wind on the dam, the desert all around us…the scent can possibly carry for miles. But it's coming from several directions. I don't like that."
Cassie looked anxious but nodded. Luna didn't like it either. Lady Artemis had to be freed by the winter solstice, which was only two days away. Without her at the meeting Olympus would waste more war-preparation time. Tourists were clustered all around them. They seemed to be looking at the statues' feet.
"What are they doing?" asked Bianca.
"Rubbing the toes," Luna said, "They think it is good luck."
"Why?"
She shook her head. "Mortals get crazy ideas. Anyway, these tourists don't know that these statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them."
Zoe suggested. "We should eat while we can."
Suddenly Luna said, "If we stop now we will be attacked by Skeleton warriors"
That caused them to walk a little faster and not stop at the snack bar. Cassie quickly got them a cab and all five of them got in the same one, "We need to get to San Francisco quickly, so I'll give you an extra two hundred dollar to get us there on top of the normal fee." Those seemed to be the magic words since as soon as the door was closed behind them the driver took off.
All the demigods were crammed into the back seat and probably wouldn't have been able to fit had Cassie and Luna been so small for their age, a comment that Bianca made. That very comment made Cassie and Luna share a knowing look that only Zoe and Bianca caught.
The Drive to San Francisco took two hours and they got out and Cassie ended up paying the driver eight hundred dollars, making Bianca and Zoe look at her like she was even crazier than they thought. Walking around, they came across an old man who looked like an evil Santa Claus, who Luna said was Nereus.
Luna walked up to Nereus and simply asked, "What was the monster that Lady Artemis was hunting before she got taken." Making Nereus point behind her and then disappear.
"Moo!" Turning they saw a half cow – half snake being, The Ophiotaurus.
"I can make a Portkey to one of my properties. It has a pond in front and wards even stronger than the ones at camp." Cassie said, "We can use the Portkey to send the Ophiotaurus there." Cassie made quick work of the Portkey; glad she read and practiced how to make them, while Grover conveyed to the Ophiotaurus what they were going to do.
