𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐄

𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈

You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back
Just like that

𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒚𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒉, taylor swift

"Tell me when it's over," Thalia muttered. Her eyes were shut tight. The statue was holding on to them so they couldn't fall, but still Thalia clutched his arm like it was the most important thing in the world.

"Everything's alright," Selene promised.

"Are... are we very high?"

Selene looked down. Below them, a range of snowy mountains zipped by. She stretched out her foot and kicked snow off one of the peaks.

"Nah," she said. "Well, maybe just a little. Nothing higher than an airplane if it helps."

"We are in the Sierras.'" Zoe yelled. She, Grover and Percy were hanging from the arms of the other statue. "I have hunted here before. At this speed, we should be in San Francisco in a few hours."

"Hey, hey, Frisco!" Selene's angel said. "Yo, Chuck! We could visit those guys at the Mechanics Monument again! They know how to party!"

"Oh, man," the other angel said. "I am so there!"

"You guys have visited San Francisco?" Selene asked.

"We automatons gotta have some fun once in a while, right?" our statue said. "Those mechanics took us over to the de Young Museum and introduced us to these marble lady statues, see. And—"

"Hank!" the other statue Chuck cut in. "They're kids, man."

"Princess Selene isn't!" If bronze statues could blush, Hank did as soon as Selene lifted her head with a wrinkled nose. "Back to flying."

They sped up, so Selene could tell the angels were excited. The mountains fell away into hills, and then they were zipping along over farmland and towns and highways.

Grover played his pipes to pass the time. Zoe got bored and started shooting arrows at random billboards as they flew by. Every time she saw a Target department store—and they passed dozens of them—she would peg the store's sign with a few bulls-eyes at a hundred miles an hour. Percy seemed to be vibing Grover's songs.

Thalia kept her eyes closed the whole way. She muttered to herself a lot, like she was praying.

"You did good back there," Selene told her. "Zeus listened."

"Maybe," she said. "How did you and Seaweed Brain get away from the skeletons in the generator room, anyway? He said they cornered you."

Selene told her about the weird mortal girl, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who seemed to be able to see right through the Mist. She also mentioned the well-deserved punch. She thought Thalia was going to call her crazy, but she just nodded.