Thalia was, well, confused.

Percy was back to life, which was good. Except he might not be back for that long - not only did they still have to finish Thanatos's quest (though all that remained for that was to trick Akheron, as they had already killed all the skeletons), but there was the very real chance that he would die on the remainder of the quest. Furthermore, he had some weird new magic purple flame powers (sick, Thalia was jealous - would have been a totally badass power for a punk like her) and apparently some new hot chick to talk to (annoying).

And they had only thirty-six hours to complete the quest, save Artemis, have two more people die, save Annabeth, destroy this monster which would kill Olympus, and do it all after reaching L.A.

Dandy.

Well, regardless, they had to get down to business. Akheron was… somewhere, about two hundred feet below their current position in the turbine hall. At least they didn't have to go back to the top - Thalia had refused to go to the downriver side of the road over the dam. Just the thought of a seven-hundred-foot drop within feet of her made her queasy, nevermind the sight of it. Fortunately, nobody had noticed her unease and by the time they got to the lower levels, they had bigger issues to deal with, like their resurrected comrade and undead pursuers.

"So, uh, this Akheron guy," Prcy said. "What are we supposed to… do… again, exactly?"

Zoe gave an exasperated sigh. "We must trade him Thanatos's torch for the scythe, or steal the torch away another way. This is what we must do in exchange for Thanatos securing your survival."

"Right, no, it's not like I'm not grateful," said Percy, "but do you have like, any ideas for how to do that? Cause all I know about Akheron is that it's a river in the Underworld."

"Actually, I had an idea," Thalia interjected. "What if we just act like we're gonna fight him for it and then let us talk him into trading the scythe for it? That way we don't fight an immortal river god in his own river and also don't risk getting carried down to Tartarus."

Zoe and Bianca seemed to like that idea. "A trick would save time," Zoe agreed, "and we would not have to fight. Besides, we would retain the option for combat." Grover nodded his agreement as he scarfed down the burrito he'd grabbed from the mess hall. "And it would allow us to protect those non-combatants amongst us."

"So it's settled then." Percy stood up, pulling on his lion-skin coat. "We find Mr. Akheron, pretend we're going to fight him, and instead trade him the scythe. I think… I may even be able to get us there."

Percy turned to the wall, then stood there awkwardly, reaching his hand out for a door handle that wasn't there. Thalia wasn't really sure what he was doing - his eyes were scrunched up with concentration, his brow sweating, his muscles flexing as he fought something, hand almost clawing at the concrete of the tunnel -

Thalia gasped. Grover blanched. Zoe and Bianca looked suitably impressed. Rachel, for her part, seemed nonplussed - perhaps the whole "gods are real" thing had left her numb for now. There before them, brass handle in Percy's hand, was a partway-opened door. The doorway fit rather well with the rest of their surroundings, in the same art deco style of the rest of the dam. Its arched top was crested with a southwestern-style motif, a saddle blanket pattern in relief.

Percy sent Thalia a cocky grin, then stepped through the doorway.

"HA! You think I would ever give up this torch? You'll have to pry it from my dead hands, demigod - and I'm immortal!"

"Psst, Thals," Percy whispered. "What's the backup plan if he doesn't take this plan?"

She answered him with a glare.

"Right, just double checking," he grumbled to himself. Then, to the great mass of polluted water that was apparently brother to the river Styx, he spoke up. "Hey, uh, Akheron. What's with all the trash floating around, man?"

The god turned furious eyes on Percy, though the effect was somewhat diminished by the empty bag of chips that floated across its face. "You filthy mortals caused this! When I was a young river, freshly turned, I was beautiful, clear. You could practically see right through me. Now, though…" a watery hand gestured at itself. "Mortals throw their hopes and dreams away so quickly when they die that I get filled. Lemme tell you, after a few millennia, you get really piled up. And there's only so much trash I can dump in Texas."

"Texas?" Percy asked. "I thought you ran into Tartarus?"

The deity laughed. "Ah, Tartarus! Great place. Lots of friends there! You see, the gods cursed me to this form when I gave the Titans some drinks once, during the war. So yes, I do run into Tartarus, but it's not so bad, really. Unlike Texas, the mortal version."

Thalia jumped in. "Well, I mean, if you have all these Titan friends, what do you need that torch for? We'd love to take it off your hands."

The god turned to her. "Ah, a daughter of Zeus. Fitting that you would be so impertinent. Your father is the reason I'm here, suffering," he muttered. "Well, you see. This torch is a symbol of Thanatos's power, that much is true. It represents the continuance of the soul's flame, down in the underworld. This torch gives me the power to demand Thanatos and Charon bring the souls only over the Styx, keeping me much cleaner. I may be littered with garbage now, but you have no idea how disgusting I was in the 90s!"

Thalia almost felt bad for the guy. It had to suck to be filled with toxic garbage for decades. But at the same time… she had a job to do.

"Well, Mr. Akheron, uh. We really need that torch. There's this quest, and… we need it. Please," Thalia said. "We'd hate to have to fight you for it."

Akheron growled. "You may need it for your pathetic mortal endeavors, but it is essential to my continued health. I cannot part with it."

"But don't those discarded dreams give you power, too?" Asked Percy suddenly. "Dreams are powerful things. Maybe if you used them for good, you could keep yourself cleaner and maintain some of the power that torch brings you?"

Akheron seemed to ponder it for a moment. Then he scoffed, though it was with markedly less conviction. "Bah! Puny human dreams have little power. They mean nothing to me, and can only pollute my waters. I must protect myself, mortal! This torch allows me to keep mortals off my waters and nothing could matter more."

Bianca seemed to catch onto what Percy was saying though. "But surely, if you took control of those dreams, like the Styx, you could protect yourself from the trash? Dreams are some of the strongest things in human life - after all, most of them last until we die."

The river god nodded. "This is true, young one. But I cannot use trash to clean up trash!"

Percy shrugged. "What if I cleaned up your river for you? Just this once. Then, when more dreams come along, you can make use of them - transform them into protections, like plants to line your shores. This would help keep the river clean and filter out the dreams, right?"

"Like Herc… The son of Zeus, we can clean your river as he cleaned Augeas's stables. We bring with us a son of Poseidon. He can clean it quickly, and we will accept the torch in repayment. Then, we can speak to Thanatos about perhaps banning passengers from discarding negative dreams - only giving you the benefits of positive, powerful dreams."

Akheron looked almost sold. Thalia was very surprised but secretly hopeful that she might get to keep the scythe - it was pretty kickass and matched her leather jacket very well. More importantly, though, the sooner this part was over, the closer they were to rescuing her friend Annabeth (and saving the world too, she supposed). That in mind, she stepped forwards. "Please, Akheron. We'll be fast, we'll do it right. We just need the torch to make sure that we can get to L.A. as fast as we can."

That did it. He was convinced. "So long as you complete it before noon," the river deity blustered, "I shall give up my torch." After some very muted celebrations, the questers got down to business.

"So, how can we do this?" Thalia asked. Zoe and Bianca looked at Percy for an answer. Grover had grabbed a tin can out of the river (who dreams about tin cans?) and chewed nervously.

"Alright. I can bring the majority of the waste to us, I think, and I can talk to the Naiads to ask them to help us out, too - they hate the pollution just as much as Akheron." Percy chewed his lip in thought. "Grover, I know you've got some nature music that can help us out. Thalia, maybe you could, uh… burn the trash we collect?"

Bianca and Zoe glanced at each other. Zoe shrugged. "The… man who cleaned Augeas's stalls routed two rivers into the pens to flush them clear. That won't work for us."

Bianca thought hard. "What if we could?"

Everybody looked at her.

"Well, I mean…" she started awkwardly. "What if we routed the river into, like, a filter? It comes out from the Hoover Dam, so… what if we just built a net in the outlet? That way, all the dreams get caught, and while Percy and Thalia are cleaning up the stuff that's already there, Zoe and I can weave together our hunting nets to create a trash net."

Grover bleated in support. "I can weave! I'm real good at it. Plus, I think Pan… I think he'd like this. Maybe he'll send us another sign."

And so, meager plan established, they set to work. Thalia prayed real hard to Zeus that her lightning bolts would do what she wanted. Percy, for his part, worked to divert the flow of the river around a strategic oxbow that would collect the trash in the nets. The Naiads flitted about up and down the river, spraying water at the heroes occasionally in flirtation or in jest.

Zoe, after being hit by a particularly strong jet, sputtered. "Filthy, despicable creatures."

Thalia looked over from where she was working on the already staggeringly large pile of trash, which was burning quite nicely on the shore. "What's wrong, Zoe?"

"Cursed she-devils. They have never forgiven me."

"... Forgiven you for what?" Thalia asked, unable to help her curiosity. Zoe turned towards the demigod, side-eyeing her for a moment, before she stood up from her position weaving and walked over to stand next to Thalia.

"I was, once, family. My mother, Pleione, and my four sisters, were water nymphs of a sort. The Hesperides."

Thalia recognized the names. Annabeth had told her all about them, their role in Luke's quest, and the beast which had given him his distinctive scar crossing his eye. "I thought there were only four sisters," she said, "who cared for Ladon and protected the golden apples."

"Aye, there are now but four. Once, there were five. When a hero… the hero who originally wielded your boyfriend's blade… when he came to seize an apple, he could not do it by strength alone. I gave him the plan, the guidance, the help he needed to complete his quest."

Thalia stammered. "Boyfriend? I don't- who- what- I don't think of Percy like that!"

Zoe cracked a smile. "I speak in jest, of course, my friend. But you could do worse than him, certainly. For instance, the one whom you traveled with when we first met."

Thalia fought a blush down at the same moment as she wondered why she wasn't more offended by the jab at Luke. "So you helped a hero? And all naiads hate you forever?"

"I betrayed my family, betrayed nature," answered the huntress. "They cannot forgive that, and they should not. I have made my peace with it. It was very long ago, and I was a different person."

Thalia nodded slowly. She could certainly understand both sentiments.

Zoe turned to walk away, smiling wistfully, before a sneaking glint came into her eye. "So embarrassed by talk of boyfriends? I never mentioned any names, after all."

Thalia sent a small electric shock after the retreating huntress, but her mind was whirling. They didn't have much time to think about it, though. Noon was only an hour away, and the river was still full of tires, plastic, batteries and fast food wrappers, of toy cars and some more esoteric dreams too - roses, wedding cakes, a key and empty shackles as though someone had broken free. It seemed that the more they cleaned, the more they uncovered, traveling deeper into the needs of the human psyche. Money, love, habitat gave way to freedom, security, happiness, health. It was beautiful in a sense, but haunting. Thalia saw far too many of her own dreams there, tossed aside as their owners realized just how ephemeral their lives had been. Would her own fate be the same? Cut down before she could reach all of, any of, her goals?

The scythe on her back felt enormously heavy. How many souls had it reaped that left their treasures buried in this riverbed?

Three minutes before noon, Thalia burnt the last piece of trash.

Akheron harrumphed. "It will not stay clean like this forever!"

"No," Percy agreed. "But we'll talk to Thanatos about how cool you are. He's a pretty chill guy, I think he'll be willing to help."

Bianca nodded. "And, in the meantime, you can collect the trash in these nets. Then all you have to do is carry it down in the nets and dump it in Tartarus - maybe you can visit your friends while you're there?"

Akheron seemed happy with this solution, admiring the nets and then pausing to admire the clean, clear hands of his form instead. "I owe you a debt of gratitude, half-bloods. You have cleaned my river, if temporarily, and I feel cleaner in my soul. I shall give you the torch you seek - and have my blessing. May you run your course quickly and true, never faltering in your quest."

Zoe stepped forwards. "We thank you, Lord Akheron. I wish you good luck and clean waters. Now, we must be off - our friends need us."

The god held out a glowing bronze torch, purple flames like the ones Percy's sword had produced licking downwards as though it was the world which were upside down rather than the flames and torch. After Bianca had stepped forward to accept it, the river god stepped backwards and faded into his river, a pile of water losing its shape and getting carried away into the torrent.

"Well done, young heroes."

The group turned to see Thanatos, black cloak billowing freely in a wind that wasn't even there. He smiled at Bianca as she offered him the torch. "Rather fitting that you might be the one to collect it… but nevermind. You have fulfilled your quest, just in time for me to finish mine. The Fates have agreed to, well, turn the other way, for now, Perseus. I would advise, in the future, that you stick closer to what feels right than what feels like their plan for you."

Percy looked suitably chastised, even if Thalia had no clue what the two of them were talking about. When Thanatos turned to her, she couldn't help but shiver slightly. Facing death down was one thing - facing down the smiling face of the literal embodiment of Death was another entirely. Instead of whisking her away for escaping death as a tree, though, he simply held out his hand. "My scythe, if you would, pretty one." Reluctantly, she walked towards him, holding it out in front of her. While she was sad to lose a kick-ass weapon, she felt significantly lighter when she handed it over, as though it were a burden she hadn't realized she was carrying.

Before he could take it, Thalia paused. "Hey, by the way, we kind of made this deal with Akheron-"

"I am aware," Thanatos said. "Much as it pains me to make such a concession to the man who held my symbol hostage, I sympathize with his plight. I will honor your deal, Ms. Grace."

"Thank you," Thalia said appreciatively. She handed him the scythe, and he took it appreciatively, tucking it away behind him - clearly, he preferred the torch.

"And now, I must go," said Thanatos. "Perseus will remain alive. You must go quickly to San Francisco. Daughter of Zeus, I believe your father has provided a way there if you are clever enough to find it." The man paused. "I hope I shall not meet any of you soon. But if I do, I will do my best to make your journeys painless. It has been a long time since anyone has… done anything but run away from me."

With that, he sank into the shadows.

Thalia turned to the others. "So, uh… does anybody understand what he meant by the whole 'father' thing? I don't see any giant eagles."

Surprisingly, Rachel spoke up, almost startling the rest of the group - they'd nearly forgotten she was there, as she had sat and sketched a scene while they were cleaning the river. Thalia didn't know really where she'd managed to hide the notebook and pencils, but she'd been rather caught up with other details at that point. "What about those statues on top of the dam? They had some inscription about Zeus, who's your dad, right? They had wings and kept arguing with each other. Maybe they'd be willing to help us?"

Zoe shrugged. "It is worth an attempt. Failing that, perhaps Perseus can summon another doorway?"

Percy looked exhausted, but shrugged. "I can try."

They all looked at Bianca and Grover to see if they had any thoughts - but they weren't there. Instead, Bianca was cradling Grover's head as the satyr lay babbling on the river's shore. "P… Pan… he was… he was here! I have to go!"

Bianca looked desperately up at the rest of the group. "He just ran over here, when Thanatos came, and then fainted! I don't know what to do."

Zoe pondered, then seemed to come to a decision. "Grover must seek Pan on his own. Perhaps this is the peace which the prophecy spoke of."

Bianca looked down at the drooling goat-boy in her lap. "How can he do that if he gets like this every time Pan is near?"

Percy and Thalia exchanged glances. "He has to do this, Bianca," Thalia said. "He'll get better, but… this is all he's ever wanted. We can't stand between him and his dreams - the same way all those mortals threw their dreams into Akheron, we can't ask Grover to throw his away."

Rachel butted in. "Why do I have to go?"

Zoe turned to her. "We're on our way to rescue a goddess and perhaps the world. However capable you might be, we cannot be burdened by you on our quest. I am sorry."

Rachel seemed to accept that reason, but turned to Percy. "Will I… where…"

"Bianca will take you to Camp Half-Blood, in New York," Percy said. "If you choose, you can stay there, or you can simply go home from there." He blinked. "I guess if you stay at Camp I'll see you again?"

Thalia ignored the fury that boiled in her stomach when Rachel burst into a smile at that, fluttering her perfectly made up eyelashes at Percy, who of course didn't notice the flirting.

"Or," Zoe said, "You could join the Hunters with Bianca and me. I am sure Bianca will tell you all about it on your journey." The lieutenant of the Hunters turned to her young compatriot. "Bianca, I trust that you will be able to get her safely to Camp and let her make her decision there. You have done well, young one."

Bianca looked distinctly put out to be being left behind, but nodded firmly. "I understand, Zoe. I won't let you down."

Zoe smiled at the girl. "I know."

Thalia shut her eyes and tried not to scream. They were racing over snow-capped peaks, the statues jostling each other around as they argued about who was better looking and who got more babes. Percy was in the statue's other arm, Zoe with the other one.

"Are we up high?" Thalia managed to ask Percy.

"Nah, not really," came the easy reply. Trusting him, she dared to open her eyes - and immediately shut them again. Percy hadn't lied - they weren't high up - but they were just inches above the treetops as the statues carried them over the Sierra Nevada mountains. "But hey, look at it this way, Thals: only a few more hours to San Francisco."

"Hey, hey! Frisco! Love that place," said Zoe's statue. "Yo, Hank, we have got to visit those guys at the Mechanics Monument again! They know how to par-tay!"

Thalia's statue chuckled, and though her eyes were still shut, she could feel the reverberations in her spine. "Wait, you guys have been to San Francisco?" she asked.

The statue now identified as Hank answered her. "Hell yeah, sister. We gotta have fun sometimes! Those mechanics took us down to the de Young museum, see, and there were these marble lady statues-"

"Yo, Frank! They're kids, man."

The statue stopped talking about the lady statues and apologized. "Thanks, Chuck. Sorry, folks. Back to flying."

Slowly, Thalia managed to open her eyes, and when she did she found Percy watching her. He looked away when she caught his eyes, but turned back after a second. "You did good, back there," Percy said. "Talking to Zoe… I know you guys have a difficult history. It's important that we support each other, have each other's backs."

Thalia blushed. "You… you heard that?"

Percy looked somewhat confused. "What, when you and Zoe were talking about the naiads? Yeah, but I left when it got serious, because I didn't want to intrude or anything."

Thalia felt a surprisingly huge sense of relief. "Oh, okay. Yeah, I guess. She's not so bad, really, just… prickly. Anyways, how did you do that kickass purple fire and doorway thing?" Percy gave her a crooked half grin and she knew he wasn't going to tell her - so she sent a light electric shock after him through the chest of Hank.

Things took on a lighter mood, and by the time they were in San Francisco, Thalia had almost forgotten that she was flying. That made it particularly unpleasant when they entered a dense cloud bank. Thalia had thought that flying was bad when she could see the ground. It was worse when she couldn't.

Then it began to hail. Zoe was okay - Chuck managed to shelter her pretty well with his body - but Percy and Thalia were stuck out in the open, no room for either of them to hide beneath Hank's body because of the way he had them bundled up in his arms. Percy was fairly used to unpleasant weather, but Thalia could tell that the softball-sized hailstones smacking into him were beginning to get to him.

Thalia, for her part, was miserable.

Then, Hank screamed. A massive, blackened bolt of lightning was rocketing towards them out of the mist, vaporizing the hailstones near it as it traveled. Intellectually, Thalia knew that lightning traveled incredibly quickly, but now - her ADHD brain was working overtime, searching for an escape. Hank was attempting to divert, but somehow Thalia's brain instantly calculated that he couldn't make it far enough clear to protect her or Percy. Percy, for his part, was clearly trying to do something himself - his brow was furrowed with concentration, hand outstretched - but Thalia knew that it wouldn't work in time either. Instead, it was down to her.

She closed her eyes and prayed. Then, she focused.

A bolt of lightning streaked down perpendicular to the approaching black streak, itself brilliant white. As their paths converged, Thalia did her best to summon a gust of wind - a feat she'd only managed a few times, crossing the river back at Camp most recently - which might blow them off course and help fill Hank's brass wings enough to let him carry them further away from the lightning.

Her bolt crashed into the black streak, which splintered into several small bolts and crashed into both Hank and Chuck.

Thalia began plummeting to earth, but she passed out before she broke out of the cloud bank.

Sorry for the delay, and that this chapter maybe isn't as good as others - it covers a lot of ground quickly, I know, but I think this whole Thanatos quest wasn't really working out and I wanted to get into the meatier parts of the narrative again. We're in San Fran, Percy's alive, we're down to the romantic duo and Zoe... Things should be a little easier to write and a lot simpler to deal with from now on, which doesn't mean they'll come faster but does mean they should be slightly better.

Thanks for reading and all the support/time. Appreciate the reviews. As always, feel free to tell me what you think - good, bad, terrible, amazing, whatever. I like to hear it.