𝓟𝓻𝓪𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓪 - (𝓟.𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓸𝓷)

11.

vol ii
➵ chapter eleven ➵

The solemn companions sit in a dilapidated tow truck they found at the edge of the dump.
The least stunned of the five, Thalia, is in the driver's seat.
"The skeletons are still out there," she reminds. "We need to keep moving."
The daughter of Zeus leads the group through the desert, where, under clear blue skies, the sand is so bright that it hurts to look at. Grover and Zoe join her, navigating up front.

Helia and Percy sit in the pickup bed, leaning against the tow wench.
The air is cool and dry, but the nice weather just seems like an insult after losing Bianca.

The boy's hand closes around the little figurine that had cost her life.
He still can't even tell what god it's supposed to be. Nico will know.
Oh, gods... what is he going to tell Nico?
He wants to believe that Bianca is still alive somewhere. But he has a bad feeling that she's gone for good.

"Don't you dare utter the words I know you're going to." Helia warns.
Percy huffs. "But it should've been me. I should've gone into the giant."
"Bianca made her choice. There's nothing you could have done to change that."
"But I promised—"
"Promised what?"
"I promised Nico, Lia. I promised him I'd look out for her.

"Oh, Perc," she sighs, her heart aching for the boy. His loyal nature was truly overwhelming. "It isn't your fault."
"Nico won't see it that way."
Helia winces, knowing he's right. The young Di Angelo boy has lost his last remaining family member.
If only they could have done more...if only she could have done more.
"If anything, I'm more at fault," she says, balling her fists. "I should have held it longer. I could have worn it down—destroyed it, even. But I'm too weak."

"You're not." Percy assures. "You're anything but, Lia. I felt the insane amount of heat you were producing. You've never done anything close to that before. And who knows what that thing's really made out of? It's Hephaestus' creation. You gave us our best chance back there."

She sighs dejectedly, looking towards the figure hunched in the passenger seat. "I hate to think how Zoe is feeling right now."
Percy analyses the girl carefully, hesitating before his next words. "How long have you really known her?"

It's a question that has long gone unasked between the pair. From the moment the hunters burst through the clearing in Westover Hall, it was obvious that they personally knew the daughter of Apollo. Though the boy had never found the right moment to ask about it.

Helia takes a deep breath. "I first met Artemis and her eternal maidens the night of my mother's death."
"Lia, you don't have to—"
"My scent was always overwhelmingly strong to monsters, a curse of my own bloodline. Even at six, I had to move so often that we never really settled anywhere for long. I never really had a home. But as long as me and Mom were together, I didn't mind. She was all I needed."
Percy feels his heart ache at her words.

A pained expression transpires on her face. "We had a few runs in, but they were never serious. She always dealt with them."
Percy pauses at her words, mind racing, "Was your mom a—"
"Half-blood. Yes. She was."
"I'm sorry, I should have assumed, with your bloodline and all—"
"No. Not all of my ancestors have been. Many of them have been ordinary mortals. But we're a line that has more heroes than most."

"Who was her parent?" Percy questions.
Helia looks downcast. "That's just it, Perc. I don't know. She never openly spoke about her mother, no matter how curious I was or how much I pried. She always thought I was too young to be fully introduced into this world. She wanted to shield me from it as long as she could, knowing that it was only a matter of time before fate pulled another Kyrillos in."