{1} Princess - P. Jackson 🔱

"Was it necessary to slap the burrito?"

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I woke up inside a car. It was old and noisy, but I was so tired I didn't mind.

I was sitting in the middle, between Grover's and Percy's spread legs. This time Thalia was the one driving, seeing how bad Zoë was.

Turning my head to look out the window, I heard Percy say. "Sleep Beauty decided to wake up?"

I looked at him, "Where are we?"

"Going west. We found this truck and it worked, so..." he trailed off and I nodded.

"Are you okay, blondie?" Thalia asked in the front.

"Yeah, I'm... ok." I itched my arm. "I'm sorry for what happened in the junk. I should have helped more, but I just couldn't"

"It's fine, it's not your fault." Percy said.

"What happened back there, Maria?" Grover sniffed.

I saw Thalia give a quick glance at me from the rearview mirror.

"Remember when I said my mom wanted to talk to me about power stuff? She gave me this new thing called Amokensis, where I can control other people's emotions." No one said anything so I kept going.

"But before I can do that, I have to learn how to not let your emotions affect me. Which is something I don't know how to do yet, so it led to me having that panic attack or whatever that was. It felt overwhelming to the point I couldn't take it anymore... When we didn't find Bianca," My voice cracked. "I guess my body gave out."

"It's happening just like in the prophecy." Zoë said, her voice sounded hard but pained. "One shall be lost in the land without rain, that was Bianca and The Princess the crown shall lose, And emotions shall combust. It means how thou lost control and thou let the emotions form that pink thing that threw him down."

I stayed silent, processing what happened that night.

Thalia navigated us through the desert, under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look at. The air was cool and dry, but the nice weather just seemed like an insult after losing Bianca.

I saw Percy's hand close around the little figurine that had cost her life. I still couldn't even tell what god it was supposed to be. Nico would know.

Oh, gods...what was I going to tell Nico?

I wanted to believe that Bianca was still alive somewhere. But I had a bad feeling that she was gone for good.

"It should've been me," he said. "I should've gone into the giant."

"Don't say that!" Grover panicked. "It's bad enough Annabeth is gone, and now Bianca. Do you think I could stand it if..." He sniffled. "If I lost another one?"

"Ah, Grover..."

He wiped under his eyes with an oily cloth that left his face grimy, like he had on war paint. "I'm... I'm okay."

But he wasn't okay. Ever since the encounter in New Mexico—whatever had happened when that wild wind blew through—he seemed really fragile, even more emotional than usual. I was afraid to talk to him about it, because he might start bawling. I held Grover's hand, caressing it to show him comfort. He laid his head on my shoulder for the rest of the car trip.

I hesitated for a moment, but then I held out my hand to Percy. Even not liking him, everyone needs support during these times, especially him who thought it was his fault. He stared at it for what seemed like years but then intertwined his fingers with mine, his hand covering mine completely. He gave two squeezes and rested our hands on his thigh.