"let us find the dam snack bar"
Cassandra refused to drop the figurine. Bianca had died for it. She wasn't letting it go until she gave it to Nico.
At the edge of the dump, the group found a tow truck so old it might've been thrown away itself. But the engine started, an it had a full tank of gas, so hey decided to borrow it.
Thalia drove. She didn't seem to be as stunned as Zoe or Grover or Percy.
Cassandra offered but Zoe said that she needed to rest.
"The skeletons are still there" Thalia reminded them. "We need to keep moving."
She navigated them through the desert, under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look. Zoe sat up front with Thalia. Grover and Percy were in the pickup bed, leaning against the tow wench. Cassandra was sitting on the opposite side of the staring into space. The air was cool and dry, but the nice weather just seemed like an insult after loosing Bianca.
She still couldn't tell what god the figurine was. She had spent some time trying to figure it out but it just made her want to cry, forcing her to look away.
Nico would know, she told herself.
Her breath hitched and Percy looked at her with worry. How was she going to tell Nico?
"It should've been me" Percy said seeing how sad the blonde looked. "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..." He sniffled. "Do you think anybody else would be my best friend?"
"Ah, Grover..."
He wiped under his eyes with an oily cloth that left his face grimy, like he had war paint on. "I'm...I'm okay"
But Cassandra could tell he wasn't okay. Ever since the encounter in New Mexico, he seemed really fragile, even more emotional than usual.
Cassandra realized she needed to move on from Bianca. It was a shame to her memory to stay sad and depressed about her death.
She glanced over at Percy who was staring at her with worry. "I'm fine. Really."
"Oh... uh, are you sure?"
Cassandra nodded. "And even if I'm not, I will be. Eventually."
They sunk into silence for the rest of the ride.
The truck ran out of gas at the end of a river canyon. That was just as well, because the road dead-ended.
Thalia slammed the door and immediately one of the tires blew. "Great. What now?"
Cassandra scanned the horizon. There wasn't much to see.
Desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains here and there. The canyon was the only interesting thing. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it curved like a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below them.
"There's a path" Grover said "We could get to the river."
Cassandra rolled her eyes at the path he was talking about. A tiny ledge winding down the cliff face. "That's a goat path."
"So?" He asked.
"The rest of us aren't goats, Grover" Percy said.
"We can make it." He said "I think."
"No" Percy said "I, uh, think we should go farther upstream."
"But—" Grover said.
"Come on" Percy said "A walk won't hurt us."
They followed the river about half a mile before coming to an easier slope that led down to the water. On the shore was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season, but Percy left a stack of golden drachmas on the counter and a note saying IOU two canoes.
"We need to go upstream" Zoe said. She sounded like she had the flu. Cassandra realized it was the first time she had spoken since the junkyard.
"Leave that to me" Percy said. The put the canoes in the water. Well everyone besides Cassandra did as her wrist was still broken and the ambrosia she had taken, hadn't worked it's magic yet. Thalia and Grover got in one, while Percy somehow managed to get the other two Hunters in his.
As it turned out, Percy didn't need to control the currents. As soon as they got into the river, Cassandra looked over the edge of the boat and found a couple of naiads staring at her.
The naiads chose a canoe and began pushing them up river. They started so fast Grover fell into his canoe with his hooves sticking up in the air.
"I hate naiads" Zoe grumbled.
A stream of water squirted from the back of the boat, hitting Zoe in the face.
"She-devils" Zoe reached for her bow.
"Whoa" Percy said. "They're just playing."
"Curse water spirits. They've never forgiven me."
"Forgiven you for what?"
Zoe slung her bow back over her shoulder "It was a long time ago. Never mind." Cassandra reached to pat her shoulder in comfort.
They sped up the river, the cliffs looming up on either side of them.
"What happened to Bianca wasn't your guy's fault" He told the girls. "It was my fault. I let her go."
"I made the plan. I should've stopped her" Cassandra said.
Zoe's shoulders slumped. "No, Percy, Cassandra, I pushed her into going on the quest. I was too anxious. She was a powerful half-blood. She had a kind heart, as well. I... I thought she would be the next lieutenant."
"But you two are the lieutenant's" Percy pointed out.
Zoe gripped the strap of her quiver and Cassandra played with the ends of her braids. They both looked exhausted. "Nothing can last forever, Percy. Over two thousand years we have led the Hunt, and my wisdom has not improved. Now Artemis herself is in danger."
"Don't blame yourself, Zoe" Cassandra said to Zoe. "I'm blessed by Athena, and well..."
"If I had insisted on going with her—" She started.
"You think you could've fought something powerful enough to kidnap Artemis? There's nothing you could've done" Percy told her.
Zoe didn't answer.
The cliffs along the river were getting taller. Long shadows fell across the water making it a lot colder, even though the day was bright.
Percy took Riptide out of his pocket. Zoe looked at it with a pained expression
"You made this" He said.
"Who told thee?" She asked.
"I had a dream about it."
She studied the boy before sighing "It was a gift. And a mistake." She said bitterly. Cassandra though back to her own past. Her own mistake.
"Who was the hero?" He asked and Cassandra pulled her dagger out twirling it in her hands. A silent threat.
Zoe shook her head "Do not make me say his name. I swore to never speak it again." The blonde girl reached her hand out and grabbed Zoe's giving it a squeeze before going back to twirling her silver dagger.
"You act like I should know him" Percy said and Cassandra rolled her eyes.
"I am sure you do. Don't all you boys want to be like him?" Cassandra said bitterly.
No one hurt her best friend and got away with it. No one.
"Your mother was a water goddess?" He asked.
"Yes. Pleione. She had five daughters. My sister's and I. The Hesperides."
"Those were the girls who lived in a garden at the edge of the West. With the golden apple tree and a dragon guarding it." Percy said.
"Yes" Zoe said wistfully. "Ladon."
"But weren't there only four sisters?" Cassandra gripped her dagger tighter, her knuckles turning white.
"There are now. I was exiled. Forgotten. Blotted out as if I never existed."
"Why?"
Zoe pointed to the pen he was holding "Because I betrayed my family and helped a hero. You won't find that in the legend either. He never spoke of me. After his direct assault on Ladon failed, I gave him the idea of how to steal the apples, how to trick my father, but he took all the credit."
"But—"
He paused.
The canoe was slowing down. Cassandra looked ahead to see why. The river was blocked. A dam the size of a football stadium stood in their path.
"Hoover Dam" Thalia said. "It's huge."
They stood at the rivers edge, looking up at the curve of concrete that looked between the cliffs. People were walking along the top of the dam. They were so tiny they looked like fleas.
The naiads had left with a lot of grumbling— not in words they could understand, but it was obvious that they hated this dam blocking their nice river. Their canoes floated back downstream, swirling in the wake from the dam's discharge vents.
"Seven hundred feet tall" Percy said. "Built in the 1930's"
"Five million cubic acres of water." Thalia said.
Grover sighed "Largest construction project in the United States."
Cassandra stared at them. "How do you know all of that?" She asked.
"Annabeth" Percy replied. "She liked architecture."
"She was nuts about monuments" Thalia said.
"Sprouted facts all the time" Grover said sniffling. "So annoying."
"I wished she were here" Percy said and the others nodded. Cassandra and Zoe still gave them weird looks but if they noticed, they chose to ignore it.
"We should go up there" Percy said. "For her sake. Just to say we've been."
"You three are crazy" Cassandra commented. "But that's where the road is" She pointed to a huge parking garage next to the top of the dam. "So I guess we're going sightseeing."
They walked for almost an hour before they found a path that led up to the road. It came up on the east side of the river before straggling back towards the dam.
It was cold and windy on top. On one side, a big lake spread out, ringed by barren desert mountains. On the other side, the dam dropped away like the world's most dangerous skateboard ramp, down to the river seven hundred feet below, and water that churned from the dam's vents.
Thalia walked in the middle of the road, far away the edges. Grover kept sniffing the wind and looking nervous. He didn't say anything, but Cassandra assumed he smelled monsters.
"How close are they?" Percy asked.
He shook his head. "Maybe not close. The wind on he dam, the desert all around... the scent can probably carry for miles. But it's coming from several directions. I don't like that."
Cassandra didn't either. It was already Wednesday, only two more days until the winter solstice, and they had a long way to go. They didn't need any more monsters.
"There's a snack bar in the visitor center" Thalia said.
"You've been here before?" Percy asked.
"Once. To see the guardians." She pointed to the far end of dam.
Carved into the side of the cliff was a little place with two big bronze statues. They kind of looked like Oscar statues with wings.
"They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built" Thalia said.
"A gift from Athena" Cassandra added.
There were tourists cluttered all around them and they seemed to be looking at the statues feet.
"What are they doing?" Percy asked.
"Rubbing the toes" Thalia said. "They think it's good luck."
"Why?"
Cassandra shook her head. "Mortals get crazy ideas. They don't know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them" She explained.
"While you were here last" Percy said looking at Thalia, "did they talk to you or anything?"
Thalia's expression darkened. She must've been hoping for that when she came the last time- some kind of sign from her dad. A connection. "No. They don't do anything. They're just big metal statues."
"Let us find the dam snack bar" Zoe said. "We should eat while we can."
Grover cracked a smile "The dam snack bar?"
Zoe blinked. "Yes. What is so funny?"
"Nothing" Grover said while trying to keep a straight face. "I could use some dam french fries."
Even Thalia smiled at that. "And I need to use the dam restroom."
Maybe it because they were so tired an emotionally drained, but Percy started cracking up and Cassandra laughed slightly, a smile appearing on her face, with Thalia and Grover following soon after. Zoe looked at them. "I do not understand." She said looking to Cassandra for help but she was to busy laughing.
"I want to get a drink from the dam water fountain." Cassandra said still chuckling.
"And..." Thalia said trying to catch her breath. "I want to buy a dam t-shirt."
Cassandra doubled over, holding her stomach, laughing more at Zoe's confused expression. They might've laughed all day if it weren't for the smiles to wash off of Grover and Percy's faces. She stopped laughing and stood up, raising an eyebrow.
Grover looked around in confusion. "Did I just hear a cow?"
"A dam cow?" Thalia laughed.
"No" Grover said. "I'm serious."
"No, you're Grover" Cassandra joked.
Zoe listened, "I hear nothing."
Cassandra looked at Percy. "You okay, Barnacle Brain?" She asked.
"Yeah" He said." You guys go ahead. I'll be right in."
"What's wrong?" Grover asked.
"Nothing." Percy said looking to Cassandra with a confused expression at the nickname she had given him. "I... I just need a minute. To think."
They all hesitated, but he looked insistent, so they went into the visitor center without him.
╰┈ ⋆｡˚ ❀ *· 🌬 ࿐ ࿔ ˚:⋆ ✧･ﾟ
Percy came running into the dam snack bar, huffing and puffing.
"We need to leave," Percy gasped. "Now!"
"But we just got our burritos!" Cassandra protested.
Zoe stood up from the table, muttering a curse in Ancient Greek. "He's right! Look."
The café windows wrapped all the way around the observation floor, giving them a beautiful panoramic view of the skeleton army that had come to kill them.
Cassandra counted two on the east side of the road, blocking the way to Arizona, and three more on the west side, guarding Nevada. All of them armed with batons and pistols.
But their immediate problem was much closer. Three skeletons who had been chasing Percy appeared on the stairs. They saw him from across the cafeteria and clattered their teeth.
"Elevator!" Grover said. They bolted in that direction, but the doors opened with a pleasant ding, and three more skeletons stepped out. All of them were accounted for, except the one Bianca had turned to flames in New Mexico. They were completely surrounded.
"Burrito fight!" Grover yelled and flung his at the nearest skeleton.
Grover's burrito hit the skeleton and knocked his skull clean off his shoulders. Cassandra was unsure what the other kids in the café saw, but they went crazy and began throwing their burritos and baskets of chips and soda at each other, shrieking and screaming with delight.
The skeletons tried to aim their guns, but it was hopeless. Bodies, food, and drinks were flying everywhere.
In the chaos, Thalia and Percy tackled the other two skeletons on the stairs and sent them flying into the condiment table. Then they all raced down the stairs, burritos whizzing past their heads.
"What now?" Grover asked as they burst outside.
None of them had an and answer. The warriors on the road were closing in from the other direction. They ran across the street to the pavilion with the winged, bronze statues, but that just put their backs to the mountain.
The skeletons moved forward, forming a crescent around the group. Their brethren from the café were running to join them. One was still putting its skull back on its shoulders. Another was covered in ketchup in mustard. Two more had burritos lodged in their rib cages, and they didn't look very happy about it. They drew their batons and advanced.
"Five against eleven." Zoe muttered
"And they can't die" Cassandra added gripping the dagger in her pocket.
"It's been nice adventuring with you guys" Grover said, his voice trembling.
"Whoa" Percy said, glancing between them and the statues feet. "Their toes are really bright."
"Percy, now is not the time for your foot fetish" Cassandra snapped.
"Thalia" He said. "Pray to your dad."
She glared at him. "He never answers."
"Just this once" He pleaded. "Ask for help. I think... I think the statues can give us some good luck."
"And Cassandra pray to Athena" He instructed.
Six skeletons raised their guns. The other five came forward with batons. Fifty feet away, forty feet.
"Do it!" Cassandra yelled thinking about one of the skeletons freezing to ice but she was too distracted so it didn't work (plus, since they were technically dead it would take almost all her strength to freeze one, even for a few minutes).
"No!" Thalia said. "He won't answer me."
"This time is different!" Percy said.
"Who says?"
He hesitated "Athena, I think."
Thalia scowled like she was sure he'd gone crazy.
"Try it," Grover pleaded.
Thalia closed her eyes. Her lips moved in a silent prayer. Cassandra gave her own prayer to Athena.
And nothing happened.
The six skeletons closed in. Cassandra tapped her bracelet and her sword appeared in her hand, while Percy raised Riptide. Zoe pushed Grover behind her and aimed an arrow at a skeleton's head.
A shadow fell over them. Cassandra didn't know what it was for a few seconds, but after looking for a second, she noticed it was the shadow of an enormous wing. The skeletons looked up too late. A flash of bronze, and all five of the baton-wielding warriors were swept aside.
The other skeletons opened fire. Percy raised his lion coat for protection and Cassandra raised her sword to shield herself, the best she could, but they didn't need to. The bronze angels stepped in front of them and folded their wings like shields. Bullets pinged off of them like rain corrugated roof. Both angels slashed outward, and the skeletons went flying across the road.
"Man, it feels good to stand up!" The first angel said. His voice sounded tinny and rusty, as if he hadn't had a drink since he'd been built.
"Will ya look at my toes?" The other said. "Holy Zeus what were those tourists thinking?"
As stunned as Cassandra was by the angels, she was focusing on the skeletons. A few of them were getting up again, bone hands grabbing for their weapons.
"Trouble!" Percy said.
"Get us out of here!" Thalia yelled.
Both angels looked down at her. "Zeus's kid?"
"Yes!"
"Could I get a please, Miss Zeus's kid?" An angel asked.
"Please!"
"If it helps, I'm blessed by Athena" Cassandra added. "And I'd really appreciate it."
The angels looked at each other and shrugged.
"Could use a stretch" One decided.
And the next thing Cassandra knew one of the grabbed her, Thalia, and Percy, while the other one grabbed Zoe and Grover. They flew straight up, and over the dam and river. The skeleton warriors shrinking to tiny specks below then and the sound of gunfire echoing off the sides of the mountains.