𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐋¹ || 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐘 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍

𝐋𝐕

✦ 𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐘𝐒 ✦

"WE'LL NEVER MAKE IT," ZOË SAID, "WE ARE MOVING TOO SLOWLY. BUT WE CANNOT LEAVE THE OPHIOTAURUS."

"Mooo," Bessie said.

He swam next to Percy as they jogged along the waterfront. They had left the shopping center pier far behind. They were heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was a lot further than he'd realized. The sun was already dipping in the west.

"I don't get it," Percy said. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"

"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," Zoë said. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to night."

"What happens if we miss it?"

"Tomorrow is Winter Solstice. If we miss the sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."

"We need a car," Aurora said.

"But what about Bessie?" Percy asked.

Grover stopped in his tracks, "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"

"Well, yeah," Percy said. "I mean, he was in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped into the water at Hoover Dam. And now he's here."

"So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound," Grover said. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."

"But he was following me," Percy said. "If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"

"Moo," Bessie said forlornly.

"I... I can show him," Grover said. "I'll go with him."

Percy stared at him. Grover was no fan of the water. He'd almost drowned last summer in the Sea of Monsters, and he couldn't swim very well with his goat hooves.

"I'm the only one who can talk to him," Grover said. "It makes sense." He bent down and said something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound.

"The blessing of the Wild," Grover said. "That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he will grant us safe passage through the seas."

Percy didn't understand how they could possibly swim back to Long Island from California. Then again, monsters didn't travel the same way as humans. He'd seen plenty of evidence of that. Percy tried to concentrate on the waves, the smell of the ocean, and the sound of the tide.

"Dad," he said. "Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to Camp. Protect them at sea."

"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice," Thalia said. "Something big."