𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐖.
thalia was driving a tow truck they'd found at the edge of the dump.
it was difficult to try to comfort when the most enthusiastic person in the car was now the most upset.
nobody heard a thing besides zoe and cherry speaking quietly. they planned out things to do in memory of the girl.
cherry reassured her that bianca would reach some sort of peace, and that thought alone made zoe want to cry again.
peace was what she deserved. it's what she always wanted.
cherry wished there was another way in which she could've had it.
"the skeletons are still out there." thalia reminded, her voice unusually soft. "we need to keep moving."
she navigated through the desert, under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look at.
grover and percy sat in the pickup bed, leaning against the tow wench.
the air was cool and dry, but the nice weather just seemed like an insult after losing bianca.
percy was holding a little figurine in his hand. it was for nico.
what would he tell nico?
cherry couldn't help but imagine annabeth meeting the same fate.
her stomach twisted and tied into bow shaped knots.
she would make sure not to lose anybody else.
but death was not the only way to lose someone.
« ───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ───── »
the tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. that was just as well, because the road dead-ended.
thalia got out and slammed the door.
immediately, one of the tires blew.
"wow." cherry huffed.
"great. what now?" thalia spoke, with the same tone.
percy scanned the horizon.
there wasn't much to see. desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there.
the canyon was the only thing interesting. the river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert.
the rock cliffs dropped away below.
"there's a path," grover said. "we could get to the river."
"the goat path? we're not goats though. but we can try!" cherry shrugged, her voice forcing itself to remain upbeat.
"we can make it," grover agreed. "i think."
thalia grew pale.
cherry noticed, and sat up.
percy looked over at her.
"maybe not." cherry shook her head.
"yeah, i think we should go farther upstream." percy agreed.
"but-" grover began.
"it's kinda pretty here. a walk would be nice, right?" cherry looked over at her friends.
"yeah. a walk won't hurt us." percy glanced at thalia, who's eyes seemed to thank him.
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.
percy left a stack of golden drachmas on the counter and a note saying two canoes.
"we need to go upstream," zoe said. "the rapids are too swift."
"leave that to me." percy said.
the sand morphed itself into tiny beings, almost like ants. they carried the canoes on top of themselves and dragged them into the water.
cherry waved and smiled at them, whispering a thank you.
the sand returned to its original place, as it'd always been.
"wow. you sure are good at avoiding labor." grover commented, with a grin.
"it's a blessing and a curse." cherry agreed.
perc and zoe took one canoe.
grover, cherry, and thalia took another.
percy didn't even need to control the currents. as soon as they got in the river, a couple of naiads began staring at percy.
they looked like regular teenage girls, except for the fact that they were underwater.
percy greeted them, and they made a bubbling sound that may have been giggling.
cherry frowned, ignoring all of the words her friends were speaking to her.
the sudden urge to ask the sun to come down and dry up the river grew heavy.
almost instantly, cherry's eyes widened.
she loved naiads!
why would she ever consider doing such a thing?
the naiads each chose a canoe and began pushing them up the river the halfway through percy's request.
grover fell into his canoe with his hooves sticking up in the air.
cherry tried not to laugh, and helped him up.
"this water is so nice." cherry looked around.
"do you ever get depressed?" thalia asked.
"what kind of question is that?"
"i'm genuinely wondering."
"uh.. obviously."
"oh."
grover hated thinking about cherry being upset.
he hated thinking about any of his friends being upset.
zoe made eye contact with cherry, and the redheads thoughts were seemingly over-crowded with the sound of waves.
cherry remembered a conversation she'd had with zoe early on.
"women are always blamed for men's faults." cherry had spoken, her head buried in her knees as she tried to fall asleep.
"you would make a great hunter." zoe muttered back, eyes almost shutting.
"definitely not." cherry decided, the second she looked at percy.
why was she so against it?
because she was the goddess of love?
because she valued romantic love?
cherry had a hard time understanding herself.
the way she acted and thought, or the way she felt.
as she looked at the blue eyed boy just feet away, and remembered how he spoke he about annabeth, cherry realized.. that she was upset.
not upset.
she was angry.
or, sick, maybe.
there was something wrong with her.
no.
not sick.
she was in love.
she was in love with percy jackson and he was not in love with her.
she was so in love with him that she decided right then and there that if he asked her to cease to exist she would disappear in a second.
she was so in love with him that it made her heart hurt.
her soul has no purpose, her life has none either. she was not interested in a life without him.
he was the earths greatest treasure.
cherry understood, as she admired all his features, that she would let the earth burn to ashes if he simply asked her too.
was that irresponsible?
absolutely.
the light of the world would fade and she would let it, if only that meant a single touch and a spoken word. his voice is all she had, it was all her thoughts, he took up her mind and she didn't care.
no amount of power or godhood would change that she was a teenage girl desperately and pathetically in love.
the way she loved was cruel and violent, but she couldn't help herself.
percy consumed every waking second of her existence. she didn't fear her love, but she feared what the effect of it would be.
she knew he could not love her the way she loved him.
she carried the entire worlds love because she was its producer, its controller.
she was not meant to be loved.
but percy was himself, of course he would try and try until the day he died.
he would die without her. he was a human being.
he cannot love a girl who's heart is too big for her body.
she would never forget him, not when his body floated up a stream and was never seen again, not when he was in love with somebody else.
cherry could twist fate, she could make herself what percy wanted.
but it wasn't real.
whatever love anyone else felt for her never seemed real enough.
it was forced, it was the result of her own existence.
percy thought that she was the prettiest thing to ever exist, and she always would be.
his spirit begged for hers, but it was too late for them.
percy outstretched a hand to the redhead.
she couldn't bring herself to take it. she didn't want to move, to speak, or to breath ever again.
the canoe had slowed down, because the naiads couldn't take them any further. the river was blocked. a dam the size of a football stadium stood in their path.
it was the hoover dam.
thalia smacked percy's hand away, and helped cherry out of the boat.
when she reached solid ground, the trees seemed to speak to her, pulling her out of whatever trance she was in.
the group stood at the river's edge, looking up at a curve of concrete that loomed between the cliffs. people were walking along the top of the dam.
they all appeared like little dots.
the naiads had left with a lot of grumbling, obviously mot enjoyed the dam that blocked the river.
the canoes floated back downstream.
"seven hundred feet tall." percy looked up.
"built in the 1930s." cherry added, her voice barely audible.
"five million cubic acres of water," thalia said.
graver sighed. "largest construction project in the united states."
zoe stared at them. "how do you know all that?"
"annabeth." percy said. "she liked architecture."
the mere mention of the girls name made cherry feel strange.
her love for percy twisted all of her morals, and she had no idea how to function anymore.
"likes." cherry corrected.
percy met her eyes.
he felt his heart sink into his body as he took in the strange look they captured.
why had she been so weird?
she was his friend.
did she not want to be his friend?
"she's nuts about monuments." thalia counted.
"spouts facts all the time." grover sniffled. "so annoying."
"i wish she were here." percy said.
the others nodded.
zoe continued to look at them strangely.
it seemed like cruel fate that the group had come to hoover dam, one of annabeth's personal favorites, and she wasn't there to see it.
"we should go up there," percy said. "for her sake. just to say we've been."
"you are mad," zoe decided, and pointed to a huge parking garage. "but that's where the road is. and so, sightseeing it is."
« ───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ───── »
cherry muttered complaints as they finally got to the top.
percy had tried multiple times to speak to the redhead, and the girl just covered her ears.
thalia giggled each time she did so.
grover wondered what was wrong.
zoe knew exactly what was wrong, and she didn't want to ask.
"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 the dam.
carved into the side of the cliff was a little plaza with two big bronze statues.
they looked kind of like oscar statues with wings.
"they were dedicated to zeus when the dam was built." thalia said. "a gift from athena."
tourists were clustered all around them. they seemed to be looking at the statues' feet.
"ew. what are they doing?" cherry asked, making a face.
"rubbing the toes," thalia said. "they think it's good luck."
"i bet percy wants to do that." cherry commented.
percy almost broke his neck with the speed he looked up at the mere sound of her voice.
she'd spoken his name multiple times before.
maybe she was insulting him, but at least she was speaking to him again after a couple hours, which was a step up.
"we can go do it together." percy pointed at a pair who were posing next the veey.
"definitely not." cherry shook her head.
it was so easy to speak to him.
"let us find the dam snack bar," zoe said. "we should eat while we can."
cherry giggled, her eyes meeting grover's.
grover cracked a smile. "the dam snack bar?"
zoe blinked. "yes. what is funny?"
"nothing," grover said, 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."
percy also giggled.
"that's not funny." cherry shook her head, still laughing at how stupid everything was.
"i do not understand." zoe frowned.
"i want to use the dam water fountain," grover said.
"and.." thalia tried to catch her breath. "i want to buy a dam t-shirt."
a loud moo erupted out of nowhere.
cherry looked around.
grover had stopped laughing too.
"did i just hear a cow?" he asked.
"a dam cow?" thalia laughed.
"no," grover said. "i'm serious."
zoe listened. "i hear nothing."
"wait, shh." cherry tried to hear again.
"are you guys okay?" thalia questioned.
"you guys go ahead. i'll be right in." percy waved them off.
"what's wrong?" grover asked.
"nothing." percy said. "i.. i just need a minute. to think."
everybody hesitated.
was it the smartest idea to just let him be?
"okay." cherry nodded. "we'll see you in a bit, perce."
« ───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ───── »
cherry looked around.
a red pair of heart-shapes sunglasses from the gift shop rested on top of her head.
every time she went on a quest, she had to throw away her phone, so they wouldn't be tracked, which meant she couldn't take a picture.
grover posed next to her, and thalia pretended to click a digital camera.
zoe didn't get what they were doing.
the cafe was packed with kids enjoying the best part of the tour, the lunch.
thalia and cherry sat on one side of the table, while grover and zoe sat on the other.
cherry made pointless conversation about nothing relevant as everybody ate.
a horrified percy ran up to them.
"ooh, hi!" cherry waved, and extended her plate. "do you want some.
"that looks really good, but no. we need to leave, now!" percy gasped
"but we just got our burritos!" thalia complained.
"yeah. at least give me a minute. me and grover can share." cherry held up the foil wrapped food.
zoe stood up, muttering an ancient greek curse. "he's right! look."
the cafe windows wrapped all the way around the observation floor, which gave us a beautiful panoramic view of the skeletal army that had come to kill us.
two on the east side of the dam road, blocking the way to arizona. three more on the west side, guarding nevada. all of them were armed with batons and pistols.
three skeletal warriors now appeared on the stairs.
they clattered their teeth.
"elevator!" grover said.
they all bolted that direction.
cherry was the last out of all of them, because she'd mourned her burrito for a little bit, and then abandoned it on the table.
the red-head joined her friends outside of the elevator, where three more warriors stepped out.
every warrior was accounted for, minus the one bianca had blasted to flames in new mexico.
they were completely surrounded.
then grover had a brilliant, totally grover-like idea.
"burrito fight!" grover yelled, and flung his guacamole grande at the nearest skeleton.
"i lost mine!" cherry huffed.
grover's lunch hit the skeleton and knocked his skull
clean off his shoulders.
the other kids in the cafe started throwing their burritos and baskets of chips and sodas at each other, shrieking and screaming.
the skeletons tried to aim their guns, but it was hopeless.
bodies and food and drinks were flying everywhere.
cherry returned to the table for her burrito, and then took a seat on the floor somewhere.
she ate it slowly, observing everybody else.
in that moment, she really didn't care wether or not she was being useful.
thalia and percy tackled the other two skeletons on the stairs and sent them flying into the condiment table.
percy called out her name.
cherry got up off the ground, and rushed over to her friends. percy took a bite of the burrito, and then launched it at one of the skeletons.
all of the kids raced downstairs, guacamole grandes whizzing past their heads.
"what now?" grover asked.
the warriors on the road were closing in from either 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 them. their brethren from the cafe were running up to join them. one was still putting its skull back on its shoulders.
another was covered in ketchup and mustard. two more had burritos lodged in their rib cages.
they didn't look happy about it.
they drew batons and advanced.
"five against eleven," zoe muttered. "and they cannot die."
"it's been nice adventuring with you guys." grover said, his voice trembling.
"you guys should be more hopeful." cherry encouraged, with a frown.
something shiny caught the corner of percy's eye.
he glanced behind himself at the statue's feet. "whoa. their toes really are bright."
"if that's what makes you happy.." cherry trailed off, not understanding his point.
"this isn't the time!" thalia told him.
percy thought for a moment.
cherry tried to acknowledge the thoughts racing in his head.
"thalia." percy said. "pray to your dad."
thalia glared at him. "he never answers."
"just this once, ask for help. i think.. i think the statues can give us some luck."
"no! he won't answer me."
"this time is different!"
"who says?"
"athena, i think."
grover encouraged her.
the skeletons moved closer and closer.
cherry whispered something into the girls ear, and suddenly, thalia closed her eyes.
her lips moved in a silent prayer.
percy put in his own prayer to annabeth's mom.
nothing happened.
the skeletons closed in.
percy raised riptide to defend himself. thalia held up her shield. zoe pushed grover behind her and aimed an arrow at a skeleton's head. cherry looked up at the sky, silently admiring the shade of blue as the others panicked.
a shadow fell over percy.
it was the shadow of an enormous wing. the skeletons looked up too late.
a flash of bronze, and all five of the baton-wielders were swept aside.
the other skeletons opened fire. percy raised his lion coat for protection, but he didn't need it. the bronze angels stepped in front of the group and folded their wings like shields.
bullets pinged off of them like rain off a 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, like 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 percy was by the angels, he was more concerned with the skeletons. a few of the skeletons were getting up again, reassembling, bony hands groping for their weapons.
cherry laughed at the conversation.
she stopped laughing when the skeletons approached her.
"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?"
"please!"
"could use a stretch."
one of them grabbed thalia, percy, and cherry, the other grabbed zoe and grover.
they flew straight up, over the dam and the river, the skeleton warriors shrinking to tiny specks and the sound of gunfire echoing off the sides of the mountain.
"this is so cool! i'm kinda scared!" cherry looked down.