I do not own Percy Jackson nor Heroes of Olympus, they belong to Rick Riordan.

Chapter Seventeen - Alyx

"That's a twenty three hour drive, plus traffic and accidents."

"There's a reason hotels and gas stations were built, sir."

"Ma'am, who would even drive? He's a minor and you seem to not have an ID on you."

"This one of course." She pointed to Liam, who nodded and pulled out his wallet, handing him his driver's license. The dealer looked at the license, then back at Liam before turning to his computer, typing in his date of birth and ID number. He handed the license back.

"Just the three of you?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Okay…" He handed a Chevy key to her. "Please keep it in good condition."

"Will do, sir."

He led them outside to the lot, and gestured to a nice red new year Chevy Sonic.

"It's small, but since there are only three of you, I figured it's practical."

"It's perfect, thank you." She said. The man nodded and headed back inside. Liam pressed unlock and opened the trunk. They put their bags in the back, Alyx grabbing some snacks and drinks before climbing in the front seat, much to Carlos's dismay.

"Aww, I wanted to DJ."

"Not today." She sung, pulling off her sweater. He pouted but took off his sweater. Liam did the same. She stretched and buckled in, crossing her legs. She decided to wear normal shoes instead of her boots, to not attract attention if they were at a gas station or hotel.

They drove for around three hours until they arrived in Prescott, Arkansas. Prescott was a neat little town, population 3,000. They stopped at a gas station to fuel, a junkyard not far away.

"Hmmm…" She thought. "Hey, Carlos, want to go see if there are some cool things in the junkyard?"

"You're like a cat." He said, glaring. "You're so curious. No, I don't want to go see if there are cool things in the junkyard."

"Why?" He looked nervous and jumpy.

"Because the last story I heard about a junkyard was Percy Jackson." She raised her eyebrow.

"Your point?"

"Someone died because someone took something from the junkyard. It was Hephaestus's junkyard, so it was magical."

"I doubt this one is magic, Carlos. Come on." Liam opened his door and got back in, starting the car. "Want to go to the junkyard?"

"Alyx." Liam looked to where she was pointed and frowned before shaking his head.

"Why not?" He pulled out his pocket sized notebook and wrote something on it, then handed it to her.

"Bad things happen in junkyard." She frowned, pouting.

"But I want to see it!"

"You're acting like a child, Alyx." Carlos said, buckling himself in.

"Just a peak…?" She begged, giving him her puppy dog eyes. She knew this was his weakness. He recoiled, wrinkling his nose.

"Fine! Liam, take us to the junkyard." Liam looked a bit worried, but he nodded and they drove across the street. The junkyard was Scrap'n'Junk, and mountains of scrapped metal and machines shone in the light. They parked near the entrance, a teller coming out from his booth.

"What are kids doing here at this time?" He yawned, scratching his chest.

"We're here to look around for some metal." She said before Carlos could. He raised his eyebrow like he didn't believe it. "What, girls can't be mechanics?"

"I didn't say that…" He said. "But you guys seem like minors."

"He's twenty two." She said. "We're relatives." He frowned deeply.

"Fine, go ahead in."

"Okay." She reached into her pocket to pay.

"No fee."

"What?"

"No fee." She looked at the two, and they shrugged. "You have until eight."

"Thank you." They headed inside, the man grumbling about weird people and heading back to his booth.

She had such a spree. Bolting from one pile to another, picking up strange pieces of metal and sometimes objects that looked like microwaves or toasters.

"Alyx, get your head in the game. Don't take anything and put the objects back where they came from." Carlos said. "This junkyard might be magic." She pouted, setting down an old flip phone.

"Fine." She said, looking around. "Let's go deeper."

They walked down dirt paths through a winding maze of piles of metal. As they went deeper, Celestial Bronze weapons and metal scraps begin to show up. Even some earrings or necklaces were found.

"Man, this stuff would make my dad so happy." Carlos said, looking at a sword that melded together with a dagger. "He could make some use of this."

"Knowing your dad I'm pretty sure he'd be ecstatic." She said. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned, seeing Liam pointing to a glowing object a few feet away. She followed him to it, Carlos hopping over. It was a small clay statue, shaped in the form of an Egyptian sarcophagus. It was poor in detail, but it gave off the message that it was carved years ago, and it gave off a pale yellow light.

"What is that?" Carlos asked. Liam made some hand signals, but they stared at him in confusion. He frowned deeply and stomped his foot.

"Um, yeah. I have no idea what you're saying." She reached to pick it up. Carlos grabbed her wrist.

"Don't take anything and don't touch it! It could be really bad!" She frowned.

"I'm pretty sure it's harmless, Carlos." She said. He frowned, but let go. She picked it up, smiling.

"See? Harmless."

Then the burning started.

"Aww! She looks just like you two!"

"Doesn't she?"

"Hey, come here, cutie."

"Carter, I advise you not to scare her anymore then you already have."

"I didn't scare her!"

"It must have been your face, dear brother."

"And some things never change."

"Anyway. Dear, come out and say hi. They're magicians."

"Should you really be telling our six year old daughter they can harness magic?"

"She's like me. She can learn things early."

"Come here, dearie. We won't hurt you."

"Is it true you can use magic…?"

"Yup! And we can show you a few spells!"

"Cool!"

She threw the statue as far away as she could, hearing a clang as it landed, trembling violently.

"Are you okay?" Carlos asked, gently laying his hands on hers.

"I-I heard voices." They raised their eyebrows, not really believing it.

"Are you sure?"

"Y-Yes! Three women and two men, plus a child's." She looked at her hand where she held the statue. Her glove or skin wasn't burnt, yet she felt hot. Liam walked away, disappearing before coming back with the statue. He extended it toward her.

"It might have information about your past." Carlos said. "Use it." She frowned deeply, but took it. The burning started again.

~Flashback, eleven years ago~

A little girl and a man sat on a couch, the girl in his lap. The man had dark skin, dark brown curls and dark brown eyes and wore a simple t-shirt and jeans. The girl had black curls in a ponytail, startling grey eyes and olive skin. The man had flames bouncing around on his fingertips.

"Cool…" The girl said in amazement. "It's so pretty!"

"I can teach you it. We can all teach you it."

"But only if it's okay with her parents." A beautiful woman came in view with Arabian features, dark skin, golden eyes and shoulder length black hair sat down with them, her belly big.

"Well duh." The man said, the flames dying and then he straightened the girl's hair nervously. "Where are they anyway?"

"Having tea with Amos."

"Ah." He gently ran his fingers through the girl's curls, and she crawled to the woman, laying her head on her belly gently.

"Are you really going to have a baby, Mrs. Kane?"

"Yes." The woman smiled and rubbed her back. "She or he will be happy to know that they have a good role model to look up to in the near future." The girl giggled and happily kicked her feet.

"I'm going to be a good cousin!" She jumped off the couch and ran around.

"Alyx!" She jumped, the statue falling. Carlos grabbed it and pulled her behind him.

"We have a big problem!" She turned and paled.

Standing there, right behind them, was a ten foot giant.

To Be Continued...