A BLACK HEART

SAN FRANCISCO!

 A BLACK HEART CHAPTER 6
A/N:- So... here's the sixth chapter! Hope you all are liking the fic so far! On with the story!

"Go," Percy said, emptying yet another glass of water. "They will be hunting you Zoe, I'll distract them."

"No," Bianca said firmly, grabbing his hand. "You are injured, you should rest, we will take care of them."

Percy shook his head. "You won't be able to."

But after seeing the girls' stern looks of disapproval, Percy sighed. "Fine then, let's go. But, before that."

The son of Hades stomped on the ground as multiple cracks appeared and skeletal hands grasped at the openings. Right in front of their eyes, a dozen red-coat skeletons appeared, armed and ready to fight at their master's command.

Percy simply left them with a single message, "Deal with them."

Hector was just looking at the demigod in awe as the son of Hades said, "Gather along, everybody!"

----------------------------------TIME-SKIP-----------------------------

Zoe was driving the van in which Percy had shadow-traveled them all when suddenly, they saw a big black helicopter, just like the one they had seen in the Westover Hall, their guns armed and ready.

"They know the van! We have to leave it and find another mode of transport!" Hector said franticly.

"There!" Bianca said. "That parking lot!"

"We'll be trapped," Zoe said.

"Trust me," Bianca said.

Zoe sighed and reluctantly shot across two lanes of traffic and into a mall parking lot on the south bank of the river.

Soon, they left the van and followed Bianca down some steps, but not before Thalia sent a few sparks up the vehicle's fuel tank.

"Subway entrance," Bianca said as they ran forward. "Let's go south. Alexandria."

"Anything," Thalia agreed.

As soon as they got into the subway, they saw the only train leaving.

"Well, fuck that! There goes the train!" Phoebe said.

"What should we do now?" Hector asked as he rubbed his hands together to generate warmth.

"Wait," Percy said who had been redoing his bandages with a spare roll from Phoebe's magical huntress pouch.

"Fuck," Bianca said as her teeth chattered as she wrapped herself in her huntress blanket.

It was freezing cold, with piles and heaps of snow everywhere. It was a kind of a railway yard, without any other passenger trains, just freight trains, that didn't look like they had traveled in years.

After walking some distance, they finally saw a light, a sign of humans. The all ran towards it, to find out that it was in fact a fire crackling.

Sitting around it was a homeless man, who wore a torn jacket over another one, with several holes patched and a beanie over his head, with tufts of blond sandy hair coming out from beneath. He donned Christmas socks, with black boots. His eyes however were sapphire in color and were sparkling, and his name tag read 'Fred.'

Seeing the demigods, Fred gave them a toothless grin, and his teeth, the remaining ones, were as bright as the sun.

"You guys look a little roughed up! Do you want to get warmed up?" He asked.

"Uh... Y-Y-Y-Y-e-a-aah—h, s-ur-e." Thalia said, and they all huddled around the fire with Fred.

When Percy looked back, he saw that Bianca's and Thalia's teeth were chattering, and Hector was shivering badly. Zoe and Phoebe seemed to be unfazed by the cold. And of course, Percy didn't have any objections to the freezing temperatures.

"This is great!" Hector said, his shivering gone down a little.

"Yeah! My feet were freezing, but now it's better!" Thalia said.

"You know," the homeless man said, "you're never completely without friends."

His expression seemed kind. "You kids need a train going west?"

"Yes, sir," Percy said, putting two and two together as he looked at him with wide eyes. "You know of any?"

The god noticed and winked as he pointed with one greasy hand.

Suddenly there was a freight train, gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those automobile-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE.

Percy just gave him a look that said, 'Bruh, really?'

To which Fred just nodded with another wink.

"That's... convenient," Thalia said. "Thanks, uh..."

She turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone, nowhere to be seen. The environment had returned to cold and freezing, as if he'd taken the flames with him.

An hour later they were all rumbling west.

Zoe and Bianca were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck. Hector was playing race car driver behind the wheel of a Lamborghini and Thalia had configured the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she could pick up the alt-rock stations from D.C. Phoebe the huntress was relaxing comfortably in a BMW 8 series convertible.

Percy himself was lying in a Dodge Viper which was completely black in color. Out of the window, he saw Hector talking to Thalia.

Percy sighed, he didn't have anybody to talk to, except himself, of course.

But, just as he thought that, he heard a really cheerful "HEY THERE!"

Percy turned around to see Fred, not looking homeless at all anymore, He was wearing a hot red leather jacket over a bright yellow sweatshirt. His sandy blond hairs were free of the beanie, and completely black sunglasses covered his eyes.

"Apollo?" Percy asked.

"Shhhh!" Apollo said with a finger on his mouth, but his lips were curled up into a smile. "I'm incognito right now! So call me Fred only."

"But why are you here?"

"Eh, my sister was kidnapped, don't you think I should atleast make sure that the people going to save my sis are safe!"

"Oh, Thanks then."

"Now, tell me, what do you want to talk about."

"Well, I am confused, I am a son of Hades, tasked to only rescue my siblings and bring them back, but till now, I haven't done anything. I just took them and came to camp, not sending them to my father. Then, Annabeth and Artemis get captured, and even when they are not my responsibility, like I don't know them at all, yet still I went on this quest. And now Bianca, my sister, doesn't want to talk to me at all, just because she became a hunter, and I am a male. I just don't know why am I doing this!" When Percy finished his rant, he looked at Apollo who was in deep thought.

"See Perce, you have a deep past, and a deep ancestry, that goes far back before you became Uncle H's adopted son. You are special. It's your ancestry that makes you attached to anyone you meet, and you will do anything to make sure they survive, but listen to me." Apollo said. "Dying to win, and winning to die are completely different things. You have a lot of potential and abilities, but the only thing holding you back is your mindset. You don't understand how to give your best. You are great at teamplay, but remember, life isn't a teamsport, it's an individual sport."

"But isn't working with other people with cooperation good and necessary?" Percy asked.

"It is, but when you die, you will always be completely alone. You believe that in the worst-case scenario, you can solve anything with the cost of your life. Like right now, I can see that you are thinking of sacrificing your life to save whoever is going to die. You want it to be you so that someone else can live. While that is good, you should understand that what would happen after you, what would happen if you did die, what would happen to the people and the family you leave behind? Think about that, and you can go far more ahead than you are right now." With that Apollo completed his speech.

"Whoah! Didn't know you were capable of that Ap— Fred!" Percy said. "Thanks!"

Apollo just smiled.

"Anyway, do you know where Artemis is being held?"
Fred's cheerful demeanor darkened,

"I know a lot, and I see a lot. But even I don't know that. She's... clouded from me. I don't like it."

"Fine, do you know which monster your sister was hunting?" Percy asked.

"No," Apollo said. "But there is one who might. If you haven't yet found the monster when you reach San Francisco, seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. He has a long memory and a sharp eye. He has the gift of knowledge sometimes kept obscure from my Oracle."

Then he checked a non-existent watch,

"Ah, look at the time! I have to run. I doubt I can risk helping you again, Percy, but remember what I said! Get some sleep! And when you return, I expect a good haiku about your journey!"

Percy nodded and said, "Bye Fred!"

Apollo waved his hand, and then vanished in a golden flash of light.

Percy just sighed and reclined back on his seat and fell asleep.

When he fell asleep, he immediately slipped into a dream.

In his dream, he was somebody else, wearing an old-fashioned Greek tunic, which was a little too breezy downstairs, and laced leather sandals.

The Nemean Lion's skin, which he was pretty sure he had given to Hector, was wrapped around his back like a cape. He was running somewhere, being pulled along by a girl who was tightly gripping his hand.

"Hurry!" she said. It was too dark to see her face clearly, but he could hear the fear in her voice. "He will find us!" It was nighttime. A million stars blazed above.

They were running through tall grass, and the scent of a thousand different flowers made the air intoxicating. It was a beautiful garden, and yet the girl was leading Percy through it, as if they both were about to die.

"I'm not afraid," He tried to tell her.

"You should be!" she said, pulling Percy along.

She had long dark hair braided down her back. Her silk robes glowed faintly in the starlight.

They raced up the side of the hill. She pulled Percy behind a thorn bush and they collapsed, both breathing heavily.

He didn't know why the girl was scared. The garden seemed peaceful, without any sign of danger. And Percy felt strong, Stronger than before.

"There is no need to run," He told her. "I have bested a thousand monsters with my bare hands."

"Not this one," the girl said. "Ladon is too strong. You must go around, up the mountain to my father. It is the only way." The hurt in her voice was surprising. She was really concerned.

"I don't trust your father," Percy said, in a stronger voice.
"You should not," the girl agreed. "You will have to trick him. But you cannot take the prize directly. You will die."

Percy chuckled. "Then why don't you help me, pretty one?"

"I... I am afraid. Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out... they would disown me."

"Then there's nothing for it." He stood up, rubbing his hands together.

"Wait.'" the girl said. She seemed to be agonizing over a decision.

Then, her fingers trembling, she reached up and plucked a long white brooch from her hair. "If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleione, gave it to me. She was a daughter of the ocean, and the ocean's power is within it. My immortal power."

The girl breathed on the pin and it glowed faintly. It gleamed in the starlight like polished abalone.

"Take it," she said. "And make of it a weapon."

Percy laughed.

"A hairpin? How will this slay Ladon, pretty one?"

"It may not," she admitted. "But it is all I can offer, if you insist on being stubborn."

The girl's voice softened his heart and he reached down and took the hairpin. As he did, it grew longer and heavier in his hand, until he held a familiar bronze sword, it was Hector's sword, Riptide!

"Well balanced," Percy said.

"Though I usually prefer to use my bare hands. What shall I name this blade?"

"Anaklusmos," the girl said sadly. "The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it, you have been swept out to sea."

Before Percy could thank her, there was a trampling sound in the grass, a hiss like air escaping a tire, and the girl said, "Too late! He is here!"

-----------------------------------DREAM-ENDED------------------------

"AAHH!" Percy woke up screaming, he was totally drenched in sweat from head to toe.

Hector was looking at him weirdly, when Percy looked at him, he screamed out even more and jumped back.

"Hey, man don't worry, I won't hurt you, what happened?"

"Nothing, nightmare, your sword..." Percy said pointing to Hector's pocket, breathing heavily.

"Oh, ok, anyway, let's go, I was coming to wake you up, it's morning, the train stopped. Come on!"

"Oh, fine, I am coming," Percy said with a smile.

Percy shook off the drowsiness and followed behind Hector, he was pretty sure that the girl he had seen was Zoe, but he didn't say anything about it.

Outside were snowy mountains with Pine Trees, and the red sun rising in between of them. They'd arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said 'WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO.' The air was cold and thin.

The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.

Hector was freezing by the time they had reached the main street. As they walked, Percy told Hector and Thalia about the conversation with Apollo, only telling them about the Nereus part, omitting the rest.

"First of all, that's great that you got a visit from a god." Hector said.

"That's good about Nereus and all, But keep in mind, that we have to get there first." Thalia said.

They stopped in the middle of town. One could see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store.

"Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."

"There's a coffee shop!" said Phoebe.

"Yes," Zoe said. "Coffee is good."

"And pastries," Phoebe said.

Thalia sighed. "Fine. How about you two go get us some food. Hector, Percy, Bianca, and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions."

They agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable coming with them, but she did.

Inside the store, they found out a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and there was no easy way in or out of town unless you had your own car.

"You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk said doubtfully. "That's down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars."

The clerk looked really lonely, so Percy bought a rubber rat and talked with him about the weather and the snow for a few minutes.

Before heading back, Percy gave him a wad of few thousand dollars and winked.

"Why?" The man asked, bewildered.

"Consider it a gift from god."

Once out, Bianca playfully asked, "How much money do you have, bro?"

"Million time's the wealthiest billionaire's net worth," Percy said nonchalantly as he finished his ice cream.

Hector and Thalia just stared at him open-mouthed.

Soon, they headed back outside and stood on the porch.

"Wonderful," Thalia grumped. "I'm going to walk down the street, see if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion."

"But the clerk said—" Hector was cut in the middle.

"I know," she said. "I'm checking anyway."

"I am going with you!" Hector said franticly and stood up.

Thalia shrugged, and they both went down the street. Bianca and Percy were now standing alone.

"Nice rat," she said.

"Thanks, So... how do you like being a Hunter so far?" Percy asked.

She pursed her lips. "You're not still mad at me for joining, are you?"

"Nah. Long as, you know... you're happy."

"Thanks Percy, being a Hunter is definitely cool. I feel calmer somehow. Everything seems to have slowed down around me. I guess that's the immortality."

Percy glanced at Bianca, she seemed better than before, she glowed in the dark, like the moon, and her silver parka shimmered in the moonlight. Percy suddenly realized, that he would soon die and mix with the soil, but Bianca, his sister, would never age and look like the same powerful 14 year old.

"You know, I gave Nico a gift before I came on this quest, I just realized that I didn't give you anything, and I don't know if it is ok to give it to you now, now that you are a hunter and are supposed to stay away from males, but still, take this."

Percy dipped his hand into a shadow, and brought out two daggers, half stygian iron, and half silver.

"Here, I made these for your birthday, but I just figured that I should give them right now."

Bianca took them in her hands and twirled them around to take a better look at it, it fit perfectly in her fist.

"Thank you Perce!" Bianca said. "I would totally hug you right now, but let's just settle for this." She said, giving Percy a side bear hug.

"Thanks sis." Percy said as they entangled.

Just then Zoe and Phoebe returned.

"We have to leave." Zoe said.

"Why what happened?" Percy asked.

"That." Phoebe said, pointing towards 4 spartus coming their way.

"Shit!" Bianca said. "We are only four, how can we fight against four skeletons?"

"Don't worry! You guys are not alone!" Hector said, as he was running up the street with Thalia.

"It's 6 against four now." But just as Thalia said that, four more Spartii came from behind a bush.

They were surrounded, but Percy wondered where the other 6 Spartus were, because he had seen 12 at the Smithsonian.

"We have to get over with this quickly," Zoe said.

"Actually I have an idea," Percy said.

Everyone turned towards him, but he just smiled and slammed his foot on the ground, making it shake and crack.

Out of the crack in the ground, came out 3 big skeletons, they once belonged to US Confederate Soldiers, and even had rifles and other weapons.

"Help us," Percy commanded, and they got in positions.

Thalia smiled, while Hector said, "Just three this time?"

"I mean, we have to fight as well, don't we? We can't just let the dead do all the work for us." Percy replied.

The first spartus fired at them, and Percy acted quickly, twisting his ring to bring out his sword, and sliced the bullet cleanly in half.

Seeing that, the rest were surprised, but they also brandished their weapons, as the skeletal warriors shot at the spartii. The dead rushed forward, but were destroyed in a matter of few seconds by the Spartus.

Percy was shocked, but he rushed forward as well and brought his weapon down, and stabbed the spartus right in the middle, who then burst into flames and disintegrated.

The other bad skeletons grew wary of him, and avoided his blade.

"How did thou do that?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know!"

"Well, do it again, because it worked." Bianca said, as she thrusted the twin daggers that Percy gave her into the chest of another Skeleton, which also, burst into flames.

"You too?!" Thalia asked. "Why aren't our attacks working on them?" She asked as she stabbed a skeleton with her spear. The bones unknitted and clattered to the ground, but then just rearranged itself back.

"Yeah, I guess it only works with children of Hades." Bianca said as she shot an arrow into the skull of the spartus Thalia was fighting.

Actually, everyone except for Percy and Bianca were having a hard time-fighting. They quickly retreated back.

"This isn't working, only Perce and Bianca are able to kill these things, and they are getting exhausted." Hector said.

"We need to run now." Zoe said.

"And go where?" Percy asked. "They know your scent, so they will follow you until you kill them, and you can't kill them."

"Then what will we do?" Phoebe asked.

"I have an idea!" Percy said.

"Go on." Bianca said.

Percy whistled loudly, like a taxi-cab whistle, and waited.
Everyone looked around confused, even the skeleton warriors, while Percy just smiled.

Soon, the trees behind the spartus rustled, and out came a big Hellhound. Completely black in color, with red eyes.
Instead of looking like a hellhound, it looked like a Large sized New Foundland Dog breed.

"WOOOOOFFFFFFFF" The dog barked, and then took three skeletons into its mouth and chewed on them. Then the hellhound turned towards the half-bloods.

"Mrs O'Leary!" Percy said and went near the dog to pet it, as the others watched over in horror. "Oh, how I missed you girl."

Mrs O'Leary licked Percy's face and wagged her tail.

"You have a hellhound named Mrs O'Leary?" Thalia asked.

"She is a gift from my dad, don't be rude to her. Come on, let's hop on." Percy said, and everyone climbed on the big dog. Thalia sat right behind Percy, behind whom sat Hector, behind whom sat Bianca followed by Phoebe and finally Zoe.

"Good, girl, now let's get out of this place, and if you find any bad skeleton, you are free to munch on it." Percy said.
Mrs. O'Leary nodded and then bounded off, occasionally eating a few spartii.

They rode on Mrs O'Leary until sunset, Percy wasn't sure how much they had travelled, but the mountains had faded into the distance, and were replaced by miles of flat, dry land. There was nothing there except for a few shrubs and cacti. It was entirely a desert.

"This is it, our next stop, Arizona. Or the land without rain." Percy said, as everybody slipped down from the dog's back.
Percy quickly summoned a bone for Mrs O'Leary to chew on and said, "Go, rest well, bye! We will meet again girl." And the dog nodded and bounded off.

Ahead of them was a two-lane road half covered with sand.
On one side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop that looked like it hadn't been open since before Zoe Nightshade was born, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging crooked above the door.

Beyond that was a range of hills, but they weren't regular hills. The countryside was way too flat for that. The hills were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

"Whoa," Percy said.

"Something tells me, that this place is no good." Thalia said.

Hector nodded, "This just gives off a bad vibe to me."

"Yes, thou are right." Zoe said.

"Anyway, let's set up camp for tonight, it's getting dark." Phoebe said.

Sure enough, the sun was setting, making the hills of metal look like something on an alien planet.

Zoe, Bianca, and Phoebe produced six sleeping bags and foam mattresses out of their backpacks for them to sleep on.

The night got chilly fast, so Hector and Percy collected old wooden boards from the ruined house, and Thalia zapped them with an electric shock to start a campfire.

Pretty soon they were getting ready to sleep in a rundown ghost town in the middle of nowhere.

"The stars are out," Zoe said, as they lay down on their mattresses, Phoebe had already gone to sleep, while the rest were still awake, thinking about what to do.

"Amazing," Bianca said. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

"This is nothing," Zoe said. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"You talk like you're not human," Hector said.

Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I am a Hunter. I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can the same be said for thee?"

"Well... actually no..."

Zoe wore a 'Duh' expression.

Just then, they were hit with a blazing light from down the road. The headlights of a car appeared out of nowhere.

Everyone grabbed their sleeping bags and got out of the way as a deathly white limousine slid to a stop in front of them.

The back door of the limo opened right next to Hector and Percy, but before Hector could step away, the point of a sword touched his throat.

Percy quickly place his fist at the throat of the owner of the sword, who was coming out of the car.

Zoe and Bianca drew their bows, while Phoebe and Thalia brought out their hunting knives and spear.

A man came out, he was a big man with a crew cut, a black leather biker's jacket, black jeans, a white muscle shirt, and combat boots. Wraparound shades hid his eyes, but hollow sockets filled with flames were visible through them. Something about his eyes filled Percy with anger.

"Who are you?" Percy growled out.

"I am Ares, the god of war. Now step aside boy."

"Isn't that Kratos?" Percy asked.

"Don't be foolish! That video game is an insult to our existence!" Ares said, the flames in his eyes growing in size.

Percy stepped back slowly, but his hands were still tense.

The war god glanced at the rest. "At ease, people."

He snapped his fingers, and everyone's weapons fell to the ground.

"This is a friendly meeting." He dug the point of his blade a little farther under Hector's chin.

"Then why are you treating me so hostilely?"

"Don't worry, of course I'd like to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see your friend here. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."

"What lady?" Thalia asked.

Ares looked over at her. "Well, well. I heard you were back, little sister." Ares sneered the last part as he lowered his sword and pushed Hector away.

"Thalia Grace," Ares mused. "You're not hanging out with very good company."

"What's your business, Ares?" she said. "Who's in the car?"

Ares smiled. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin toward Zoe and Phoebe, who were standing next to Bianca.

"Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? I will only take Percy for a few minutes."

"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares," Zoe said.

"Besides," Phoebe said, "the taco place is closed."

Ares snapped his fingers again and the lights inside the taqueria suddenly blazed to life. The boards flew off the door and the CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN.

"You were saying, little huntress?"

"Go on," Percy told his friends. "I'll handle this, also, save some tacos for me."

"You heard the boy," Ares said. "He's big and strong. He's got things under control."

Percy got inside the limousine, as the door snapped shut behind him.

Sitting inside, was a woman who was wearing a red satin dress. Her hair was curled in a cascade of ringlets.
Her face was covered in makeup, she had eyes of a seductress, and dazzling white teeth.

She may have been beautiful to many men, but she wasn't really Percy's type.

When Percy actually looked at her again, he saw an obsidian black and brown-eyed demigod, about his age, with completely black hair wearing a completely red sleeveless bodycon. (A/N:- Guess who?)

"Ah, there you are, Percy," the goddess said. "I am Aphrodite."

"What do you want?"

"Want," Aphrodite said checking her makeup. "Such a trivial thing, yet a need of many."

"What the fuck do you mean?"

"I mean that everybody wants something," She said and then poked Percy's chest with a well and freshly manicured finger. "Even you."

"And you know what I want?" Percy asked incredulously. "If you do, please tell me as well."

Aphrodite laughed heartily as Percy just stared at her. "You're funny. Well... right now... the only thing you want is to get off this car. Which... won't be that pleasant, right?"

Percy didn't say anything and just blocked his nose to avoid the scent of perfume entering his nose.

"But the thing you suffer from," The goddess said sadly. "Is a broken heart. And nothing is capable of mending one. Especially when you know that the one whom you loved is gone, forever."

"Shut up, Aphrodite," Percy said and then gasped. "I mean, Lady Aphrodite."

"No worries, my dear Percy," The goddess said sweetly. "You don't need to use such formalities. Let me just tell you one thing. The one you're looking for... might be quite similar to the one you lost."

"What?" Percy asked incredulously. "What do you mean?"

"You'll find out soon enough!" Aphrodite said, laughing loudly weirding the son of Hades out.

"Oh, ok," Percy said. "Can I go now?"

"Sure, sure! Best of luck!" Aphrodite said. "Just remember, you have the blessing of love over you! Oh, and be careful in my husband's junkyard!"

When the audience with the goddess was over, Percy came out of the Limo.

He waved at Ares and said, "Bye, War God, until next time. I wanted to fight you, but too bad."

"I would love to fight you once too kid, just to wipe the smugness off of you. You got spunk and I like that. But until that, Farewell."

Ares snapped his fingers and the world did a three-sixty, spinning in a cloud of red dust. Percy fell to the ground. When he stood up again, the limousine was gone.

The road, the taco restaurant, the whole town of Gila Claw was gone. Percy's friends were standing in the middle of the junkyard, mountains of scrap metal stretched out in every direction.

"What did she want with you?" Bianca asked, once Percy told them about Aphrodite.

"Oh, uh, not sure," He lied. "She said to be careful in her husband's junkyard and to not to pick anything up."


Zoe narrowed her eyes. "The goddess of love would not make a special trip to tell thee that. Be careful, Perseus. Aphrodite has led many heroes astray."

"For once I agree with Zoe," Thalia said.

"Yes, you can't trust Aphrodite," Phoebe said, yawning, with a taco in her hands.

"So," Percy said, anxious to change the subject, "how do we get out of here? Oh and also... did you save me some tacos?"

"That way," Zoe said, handing him a paper-wrapped snack. "That is west."

"How can you tell?" Hector asked. In the light of the full moon, everyone was clearly able to see her roll her eyes.

"Ursa Major is in the north," she said, "which means that must be west." She pointed west, then at the northern constellation. "Oh, yeah," Hector said. "The bear thing."

Zoe looked offended. "Show some respect. It was a fine bear. A worthy opponent."

"You act like it was real."

"Guys," Percy broke in between them. "Look!"

They'd reached the crest of a junk mountain. Piles of metal objects glinted in the moonlight: broken heads of bronze horses, metal legs from human statues, smashed chariots, tons of shields and swords and other weapons, along with more modern stuff, like cars that gleamed gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines, and computer monitors.

"Whoa," Bianca said. "That stuff... some of it looks like real gold."

"That's probably because it is." Hector said.

"Like Percy said, don't touch anything. This is the junkyard of the gods." Thalia said.

"Junk?" Hector picked up a beautiful crown made of gold, silver, and jewels. It was broken on one side, as if it had been split by an axe. "You call this junk? It's beautiful!" He said, putting it on his head to test it out.

Thalia swatted the crown out of his hands. "I'm serious!"

"Look!" Bianca said. She raced down the hill, tripping over bronze coils and golden plates. She picked up a bow that glowed silver in moonlight. "A Hunter's bow!"

She yelped in surprise as the bow began to shrink, and became a hair clip shaped like a crescent moon. "It's just like Hector's and Percy's sword!"

Zoe's face was grim, like she knew who owned the bow. "Leave it, Bianca."

"But—"

"It is here for a reason. Anything thrown away in this junkyard must stay in this yard. It is defective. Or cursed."

Bianca reluctantly set the hair clip down.

"I don't like this place," Thalia said. She gripped the shaft of her spear.

"You think we're going to get attacked by killer refrigerators?" Hector asked.

She gave him a hard look.

"Zoe is right, Hector. Things get thrown away here for a reason. Now come on, let's get across the yard." Percy said.

They started picking their way through the hills and valleys of junk. The stuff seemed to go on forever, and if it hadn't been for Ursa Major, they would've gotten lost. Because all the hills pretty much looked the same.
Percy found an electric guitar shaped like Apollo's lyre, and Hector found a broken tree made out of metal. It had been chopped to pieces, but some of the branches still had golden birds in them, and they whirred around when Hector picked the tree up, trying to flap their wings.

Finally, they saw the edge of the junkyard about half a mile ahead of them, the lights of a highway stretching through the desert.

But between the demigods and the road was...
"What is that?" Bianca gasped.

Ahead of her was a hill much bigger and longer than the others. It was like a metal mesa, the length of a football field and as tall as goalposts. At one end of the mesa was a row of ten thick metal columns, wedged tightly together.

Phoebe frowned. "They look like—"

"Toes," Hector completed her sentence.

Bianca nodded. "Really, really large toes."

Zoe and Thalia exchanged nervous looks.

"Let's go around," Thalia said. "Far around."

"But the road is right over there," Hector protested. "Quicker to climb over."

"Come on." Phoebe looked at everyone. "Around."
No one argued as the toes were starting to freak them out.

After several minutes of walking, they finally stepped onto the highway, an abandoned but well-lit stretch of black asphalt.

"We made it out," Zoe said. "Thank the gods."

But apparently the gods didn't want to be thanked. At that moment, Percy heard a sound like a thousand trash compactors crushing metal. He whirled around, "What was that?"

Behind them, the scrap mountain was boiling and rising up. The ten toes tilted over, and a bronze giant in full Greek battle armor, He was impossibly tall—a skyscraper with legs and arms an he gleamed wickedly in the moonlight.

He looked down, and everyone got a good look at his face, which was deformed. The left side was partially melted off.

His joints creaked with rust, and across his armored chest, written in thick dust by some giant finger, were the words WASH ME.

"Talos!" Zoe gasped.

"Who—who's Talos?" Hector stuttered.

"One of Hephaestus's creations," Percy said.

"But that can't be the original. It's too small. A prototype, maybe. A defective model." Phoebe said, as Bianca and Hector just looked confused not even knowing how the actual Talos looked like.

The metal giant didn't like the word defective. He moved one hand to his sword belt and drew his weapon. The sound of it coming out of its sheath was horrible, metal screeching against metal. The blade was a hundred feet long which looked rusty and dull, but that didn't matter.

"Someone took something," Zoe said. "Who took something?" She stared accusingly at Hector, who shook his head. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a thief."

Percy didn't say anything as he looked around, his eyes narrowed.

The giant defective Talos took one step toward them, closing half the distance and making the ground shake.
"Run!" Zoe yelped.

They split up, Thalia drew her shield and held it up as she ran down the highway, though, the giant didn't seem to be fazed by it. He swung his giant sword and took out a row of power lines, which exploded in sparks and scattered across Thalia's path.

Zoe's arrows whistled toward the creature's face but shattered harmlessly against the metal.
Hector unsheathed Riptide and then ran along with Phoebe up a mountain of metal to hide from the attacks.

Bianca and Percy ended up next to each other, hiding behind a broken chariot.

"You took something," Bianca said. "What did you take?" "Nothing!" Percy said, but his voice was quivering.

"Give it back!" She said. "Throw it down!"

"I... I didn't take anything! Besides, it's too late."
Bianca didn't have anytime to answer as the giant's foot smashed a crater in the ground where they'd been hiding.

"Hey, Defective Talos!" Hector yelled and threw Riptide with enough force to dent the giant. Thalia then sent a jolt of electricity up the giant's backside. Talos whirled around, creaking and sparking.

The giant ran after Thalia and Hector, when Zoe and Phoebe shot a volley of arrows at the metal giant.

He raised his foot to stomp them, but that's when Percy saw that his sole had a large hole in his heel, like a large manhole.

"I got an Idea, it's crazy, but it's worth it." Percy said.
Bianca looked at him nervously. "What is it?"
He told her about the hole.

"There may be a way to control the thing. Switches or something. I'm going to get inside."

"How? You'll have to stand under its foot! You'll be crushed"

"You will have to distract it," He said. "I'll just have to time it right."

"No! You'll die!" Bianca said.

"Don't worry about me. Besides, I am the reason he came after us, so I guess, I should end this." Percy said, bringing something out of his pocket, it was a tiny Hades statue from Nico's Mythomagic card game. "Give this to Nico, it's the only figurine he doesn't have."

"Percy no, you can't do this." Bianca's eyes were tearing up.

"Don't worry little sis, you guys are the only other family I have, I am going to do anything to protect you, even if it means dying, now go help the others." Percy said dashing off for Talos's left foot.

He got right next to the giant's foot, as Thalia yelled, "What are you doing?"

"Get it to raise its foot!" Percy said.

Zoe shot an arrow toward the monster's face and it flew straight into one nostril. The giant straightened and shook its head. Bianca shot an arrow in the other nostril, and Phoebe shot it's chest plate, with each arrow creating a heavy dent in the bronze.

"Hey, Junk Boy!" Hector yelled. "Down here." He ran up to its big toe and stabbed it with Riptide. The magic blade cut a gash in the metal. Talos looked down at him and raised his foot to squash him and Hector turned and ran.

The foot came down and missed him, but the force was enough to send him flying into the air.

The monster was about to finish him off, but Phoebe pulled him out of the way of the giant sword as Zoe shot an arrow, which exploded on contact with the chest plate, dazing the monster for a few seconds.

The giant raised his sword again, but then he froze.

Talos cocked his head to one side, like he was hearing strange new music and started moving his arms and legs in weird ways, doing the Floss.

Then he made a fist and punched himself in the face.

"Go, Percy!" Bianca yelled, with the figurine in her hand.

Hector looked horrified. "He is inside?"
Bianca nodded.

Thalia and Hector ran towards the highway.
Zoe was already ahead of them.