The Exiled

Ch. 11

Ch. 11

They only stopped a few times on the drive from New Mexico to California. To use the bathroom, change drivers and to eat. Otherwise, they just drove, trying to put New Mexico and the junkyard of Hephaestus behind them. It took them almost a full day but as the sun began to rise, the city of San Fransisco appeared ahead of them.

They stopped inside the city and found a YMCA where they were able to shower and change their clothes, something they all were in dire need of after being on the move non-stop for nearly four days.

As they gathered around the pick up truck waiting for Phoebe, the mood was tense. They all knew they were close to the end of their journey but none had any idea what lay ahead.

"So," Thalia began. "Anyone have the prophecy figured out yet?"

"Well," Annabeth said, a look of sadness covering her face, "the one lost in the land without rain..." She didn't need to finish. Thalia realized how foolish her question had been, that was quite obvious.

"The hero, traitor and a fealty revealed," Zoe continued. "The traitor might be Hades, or that could be the fealty. Or maybe one refers to his kids and the other to him."

"Wait, a fealty?" Thalia asked. "I forgot that one. What's a fealty?"

"Loyalty," Annabeth said like it should be obvious. "It means allegiance."

"Yes," Zoe continued. "Like an allegiance to the Titans, meaning Hades. That is going to be a blow to the gods. They had probably assumed he'd just stay out of it. But one of the Big Three joining Kronos is bad."

"It seems like it fits the prophecy." Annabeth agreed. "Though I'm not sure who the hero they're referring to is."

"And we still don't know what secret was concealed." Thalia added, eyeing Zoe had averted her eyes to avoid Thalia's questioning gaze. Before Thalia could press her about it, Phoebe came walking from up the street. She held three bags of McDonalds in her hands, which immediately ended the discussion about the prophecy.

They devoured the fast food in minutes, their diet of gas station sandwiches and bottled water over the past couple days had left them desperate for something more substantial, even if McDonalds only loosely qualified.

As they nibbled the last of their fries, they all knew what was next.

"How far to Mount Othrys?" Annabeth finally asked, tired of watching everyone stall and try to put off the inevitable.

"Maybe a couple hours," Zoe said hesitantly. "We can drive most of the way but we'll need to go by foot to get to the mountain."

Thalia crumpled up one of the brown bags and tossed it into the bed of the truck, "Well, putting it off isn't going to change the fact we're probably all about to die. Let's just do it."

No one argued with her. They got into the truck, Phoebe and Zoe up front with Thalia and Annabeth in the back.

With the traffic, it was nearly four hours to get to the mountain, even with Zoe's insanely suicidal driving. The continued on an overgrown road for a while when the way became impassable, forcing them to ditch the truck and continue on foot. The sun was beginning its decent and Zoe was moving fast, urging them to keep up.

"Why are we hurrying?" Thalia complained.

"We can only enter in the hour of dusk," Phoebe answered.

"Enter where?" Annabeth asked trying to keep sight of Zoe who was becoming harder to see as the mist thickened in front of them.

"Here," Zoe replied as she stopped a few feet ahead of them. As they caught up with her, Thalia felt her breath catch.