We stopped in a small town in New Mexico. We decided it was a good time to stock up on food.
"Grover and I will search the area," Zoe decided, "Thalia and Percy will grab some food for our journey. Bianca and Elena you two stay here."
I nodded but Bianca looked a little nervous to be stuck with me. Zoe and Grover rushed off, Thalia walked inside the store Percy followed after giving me a soft kiss. I turned to Bianca who didn't want to meet my eyes.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
She nodded, "yeah, completely fine."
"Liar, what's going on?"
She sighed, "You hate me, don't you?"
I gaped at her then sighed "No I don't hate you. I don't agree with what you did but I don't hate you. I never did."
"I've been taking care of Nico for as long as I can remember, I just wanted a break."
"You can't just bail on being a big sister, you know that right?"
She nodded, "Of course I know that, but I wanted to do something for me, for once in my life. I don't expect you to understand."
"You're right...I don't understand. I don't get how you can just abandon your own family. Bianca...listen to me. He's only ten years old, do you really want to give him trust issues, depression, and anxiety at such a young age?"
She shook her head, "He won't get those things."
"You don't know that. I have those things. I thought I was such a burden on my adoptive family when I was sick. On top of that I felt like I wasn't worth it because my real parents didn't want me. My mind was and still is my worst enemy, the only person who keeps me afloat and stable is Percy. He wasn't in my life until a couple years ago. For so long I felt alone and scared. You were Nico's anchor and you just left him. Do you have an idea how that makes him feel right now?"
Tears ran down her face as she shook her head, "It makes him feel alone, like he's just gonna drown in his own sadness. I went to him when I saw this very soul breaking and cracking beneath the surface. I became his anchor when you left him. Did you know he didn't know how to swim?" I asked.
She shook her head, "Well he doesn't but he told me that because he can confide in someone. That's me now, not you. I'm sorry for being harsh but that's how it needs to be when you do something like this. I understand you felt like he was your responsibility and you wanted to get away, but that's the job of a big sister. You protect those you love, no matter how boring or hard it is. You stick it out and don't drop it on someone else. What if I didn't go to him when he needed someone? Do you want to know what I think would've happened?"
She didn't answer, tears ran down her face more now, "I think he would've run off, and missed the ride to camp. He probably would've died out there if I didn't bring him back. Is that what you wanted then? For your little brother to die at the age of ten?"
"N-no." she sobbed out.
"Good that means you care. I just wish you cared enough to not abandon him."
By that time everyone had arrived. Zoe saw Bianca crying and stormed up to me, "What did you do?"
"I told her the truth, about what she did. Because you didn't want to because of your stupid hunting cult." I snarled and walked off.
"Don't...I'll go." a voice said. I heard walking pick up behind me. I sat down on a log and looked off into the woods. Someone sat down next to me, I turned and shock appeared on my face as I saw it was Thalia.
"Hey." she said not looking at me.
"Coming to check on me?" I asked.
"Sort of."
"I'm guessing the person you stopped was Percy."
I saw her nod, "yeah I wanted to talk to you because...I understand why you're so aggravated with Bianca's decision. Hades I hate what she did too."
"Why?"
She sighed, "Because I had a younger brother. His name was Jason. He disappeared on my watch and I still feel guilty. He's probably dead. My mother didn't do shit which is why I ran away."
"Oh...I'm sorry Thalia."
She took a shaky breath, "yeah well we've all got fucked up shit in our past right?"
I laughed, "yeah we sure do."
She looked at me, "Why do you care about her decision so much? I mean I get the whole adopted thing but..."
I looked at her confused on how she knew that, "Percy and I heard the whole conversation. He seemed pretty sad when you brought up having those mental problems."
I sighed, "yeah well, not something I like talking about. As for why I care...there was this kid. He was really young probably around Nico's age at the time. His name was Josh and he was so innocent I just wanted to protect him from the world. I took the responsibility of looking after him at school. He tended to get bullied a lot, he was autistic and the kids at my school well...they are assholes to put in bluntly. One day he didn't come to school, I called round and asked around trying to find out what happened. Turns out he...killed himself. Shot a bullet in his own head because of the shit my school put him through. And no matter how many times I protected him during school I couldn't do shit for what happened after. He was jumped almost everyday and when I got stuck at homeschooling I wasn't there to keep him safe." I started crying, "I couldn't save him Thalia."
"Hey...Elena look at me."
I locked eyes with her, "there is nothing you could have done to change things. That poor kid was going through a lot. It doesn't matter that you tried protecting him, he lost his own battle with the demons."
"I know but...I just thought that if I couldn't protect him. I can still protect Nico and care for him. So when his own sister abandoned him like that, I thought Nico would do the same thing that Josh did and I...I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happened. I know I was being a bitch to Bianca about it and I feel terrible the poor girl is only like twelve but...I needed her to see that what she did will have major consequences."
Thalia nodded, "I know trust me I know...what she did will never be forgiven anytime soon. You were right about everything you said. Sure it came out bitchy but every once in a while you need to be."
I laughed, "yeah you're right-"
That's when we heard the screams of our friends. Thalia and I looked at each other and ran back to the front of the store. I saw that they were surrounded by the skeletons, Grover was on the floor, he was awake but he looked delirious. I ripped off my necklace and Thalia drew her shield. We ran into the circle and started slashing at the skeletons. I stood next to Percy, who had Riptide glimmering in his hand.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yep totally fine." I said slashing at another skeleton to stay back.
"Are you sure I mean-"
"Percy I love you very much, but can we continue this conversation when we're not fighting for our lives?" I asked.
His face went red, "Y-yeah we can do that." he stuttered out.
I smirked and stabbed a skeleton, it's bones fell to the ground. I stood there satisfied before it started to reform.
"Shit!" I yelled and backed up, "they can't be killed! They're reforming!" I yelled to the group.
"Oh great." Thalia grumbled.
I saw Bianca whip out her dagger and stab a skeleton. It bursted into flames and there fell a pile of ash.
"Bianca...how?" Percy asked.
"I-I don't know." She said.
"Well whatever it was you need to keep doing it," I said walking over "What's wrong with Grover?"
"I don't know he collapsed and then claimed Pan was here." Zoe answered.
That's when we heard the roar of something. I raised my sword and was ready to summon my wings when I saw a gigantic boar run through the trees. I started to get into battle stance when Grover shot up and ran in front of me, "No! It's here to help."
"Huh?" I asked.
"Quick! It was sent from Pan to help us. We need to get on before it kills us."
The boar roared again. I looked at everyone, "I vote getting on before dying."
"Agreed." Thalia said.
We all rushed to climb on, the skeletons had retreated when they saw one of their own burst into flames. Let me just say riding a gigantic boar is not fun at all! It felt as if my face was gonna be peeled off. I clung to Percy and buried my face in his shoulder. The boar suddenly stopped, "We should get off before he thinks we're it's next meal." Grover said behind me.
I had no clue how much time had passed or how far we went but I was thankful to get off that thing. I watched as the animal ate a cactus whole, I gagged and looked away. The boar then ran off somewhere else leaving us stranded in Zeus' knows where. I looked around and saw nothing but desert. I mean there were a few buildings but they were abandoned and falling apart.
"So this sucks." I muttered.
Before anyone could answer we heard the rumble of a vehicle. We all tuned and there stood a limo right behind us. A man came out and walked over, I felt his power radiating off of him. He was wearing a leather jacket with biker patches everywhere. Sunglasses covered his eyes, I saw a hint of fire instead of them however. Percy's hand gripped mine as his body went rigid with anger.
"Ares." Percy snarled.
I was shocked I'd heard of their little history together. Percy defeated Ares at just twelve years old. I guess the two still have unfinished business.
"I see you still lack respect, kid. Do I need to teach you another lesson?"
"Wasn't much of a lesson, how's your ankle? Still limping from the blow?"
Ares's face turned into a crooked glare, "Now listen here punk, the only reason I haven't pulverized you yet..is because my lady wants an audience with you two." he gestured in between Percy and I.
"Who's your lady?" I asked.
Ares turned to me, a crooked grin on his face. It made me feel uneasy, I gripped Percy's hand tightly. I was shaking, Percy noticed and pulled me up against his side.
"That's for me to know and you to find out, niece." He then turned to the rest of our group, "They need to be alone." he said.
Zoe raised her bow, "We're not leaving our friends."
Ares snapped his fingers, Zoe and Bianca's bows fell to the ground, "Like I said alone." he said more sternly.
"We have nowhere to-" Grover was interrupted by another one of Ares's snaps. I turned and saw that the once abandoned taco shop was up and running as smoothly as ever, "They'll only be a minute, go and enjoy yourselves." Ares commanded in a sweet but demanding tone.
Percy turned to the group, "It's okay guys, we'll be fine. Go."
The group reluctantly headed for the door, Percy and I turned back to Ares. He had the limo door open, we gave each other a worried look before climbing inside. Inside there was a woman who looked like the girl version of Percy, same sea green eyes, and black hair.
"Hey Elena?" Percy asked.
"Yeah?"
"Do you have a doppelganger?"
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, "No why?"
"N-nothing it's just she looks like you." he stuttered out pointing to the woman who looked like a goddess.
"No she doesn't, she looks like you." I countered.
The woman laughed and turned to us, "Well I sure hope I looked like each other to the two of you. That would be very awkward."
She gestured for us to sit down, and we did. I was still shaking in fear. Ares was outside the limo door, I knew him and Percy didn't exactly see eye to eye. I wasn't scared for me, I was scared for Percy. We just got over one of our biggest fights. I didn't want him to get hurt, or worse I'd lose him.
"If you don't mind me asking...who are you?" I asked warily.
The woman smiled, her green eyes gleaming, "Why Elena, I thought you'd be smart enough to figure that part out."
I thought for a moment and remembered how Ares called her "his lady". I thought back to the ancient legend of who Ares had been with for a long period of time.
"You're Aphrodite." I realized.
Aphrodite smiled, "Of course I am."
"With all due respect Lady Aphrodite, why are you here?" Percy asked.
She smiled, "Well I wanted to visit my favorite couple. I do love soulmates, being the goddess of love after all."
I blushed, "Thank you Lady Aphrodite."
She nodded, "Percy I do have a question for you."
Percy turned his attention to the goddess, "Why did you come on this quest?" she asked.
"Because we needed to. With the General and the Monster Stirring-"
"No, no that's not all. Part of it but not all. So tell me, what's the main reason why you came?"
Percy became flustered, but I felt him grab my hand. I looked up at him a little confused, "I came because...I wanted to protect Elena."
If it was possible my face went more red. Aphrodite giggled and clapped her hands together, "Yes! Exactly! That's what I wanted to hear. Now, you two must be off, back to your quest. I do promise an exciting love life!"
Then Ares opened the door from the outside, Percy and I climbed out.
"Don't forget my promise punk." Ares seethed before getting into the limo and in a flash of light the car was gone.
The rest of the group came out, Percy and I explained everything. Bianca was very quiet, I didn't blame her, I completely yelled at her. The two hunters pulled out sleeping bags from their tiny backpacks. They had to be enchanted of some sort. I started a fire and we all sat down. I rested my head on Percy's shoulder as we discussed where we would go. Thalia brought up the lotus hotel, I saw Grover begin to open his mouth but Bianca beat him to it.
"No!" she yelled.
Everyone looked at her, "Why?" Zoe asked.
"I-I don't know. I remember staying there with Nico for a while before a lawyer came and we got transferred to the school in Maine."
I raised my head up, "You don't remember a lot do you?"
She shook her head, "Bianca, when Grover and I were in the hotel, time went by a lot faster than it felt. Do you know how long you stayed in there?" Percy asked.
"A few days maybe. Probably a month."
Percy and Grover exchanged worried looks, "Bianca...who's our president?" Thalia asked.
Bianca gave us a confused look but she said the correct president, "Who was the one before him?" I asked.
"uhh...Roosevelt."
We all swallowed in worry, "Theodore or Franklin?" Zoe asked.
"Franklin, F.D.R." she said confidently.
"Bianca..." I said softly, "Franklin was our president over seventy years ago."
"T-that's impossible, I can't be that old." she stared at her hands as if awaiting wrinkles to appear.
I looked at Thalia and her expression turned sad. She knew what it was like to be lost in time. We all tried asking questions but Bianca almost started crying saying she couldn't remember anything. I could feel dawn coming, we had an hour at most. We all decided to try and get some sleep before we'd venture off. Sadly that didn't happen, "Look!" Grover yelled, jolting me awake. We all shot up and looked to where Grover was pointing. I saw metal glinting like gold in the moonlight. Grover was already making his way to the junkyard.
"Guessing sleep isn't an option." I murmured.
Percy chuckled and we all got up. Zoe and Bianca packed up the sleeping bags while I put out the fire. We all walked down the desert land making our way to the middle of the junkyard pile.
"What is this place?" I asked, Percy's hand gripped mine.
"Junkyard of the gods." Zoe answered.
"Hephaestus is my guess." Thalia added, "don't touch anything. Gods are very picky about all of their shit."
"Why?" I asked, "I mean it's junk for a reason."
Thalia shrugged, "They're gods, I really stopped questioning their ways."
I laughed, "Yeah I stopped too, they're way too confusing."
Thalia chuckled, "Look! A hunter's bow!" Bianca yelled in excitement.
She ran over and picked it up, "Bianca, put it down. Thalia said to not touch anything." I told her as I passed by. Percy ran off rather annoyingly because he went after a guitar. We continued walking, we almost made it through when I heard metal creaking. I turned around fast and ripped off my necklace. At first I just saw a metal bumpy thing that resembled toes. Until I looked further up in the sky. "Shit! Talos!" I yelled before dodging one of the footsteps.
"Who?" Percy asked.
"One of Hepheastus's creations. This one must be a prototype!" I responded.
"Oh great!" Thalia yelled.
We all got separated, Bianca and I ended up behind something.
"Okay what did you take?" I asked, shooting a light beam at Talos.
"N-nothing."
"Bianca.." I said sternly, "now's not the time to lie. Now what did you take?"
She didn't answer, "Well clearly you took something or we wouldn't be attacked right now!" I scolded and shot another light beam.
I turned to Bianca as she pulled out a tiny figurine, "it was for Nico. It's the only one he doesn't have."
I sighed, "Look I get it, but your life is worth more than this stupid figurine. Now drop it and maybe it will go away!" I commanded.
Bianca reluctantly dropped the statue to the ground, I grabbed her hand and we both ran to attack Talos.
"It's not stopping!" Zoe yelled, shooting another arrow.
"There has to be something we can do!" I said.
"Maybe-" Zoe was interrupted by Bianca.
"I saw something, an opening on the bottom of it's right foot. If I could get inside maybe I could shut everything down."
"Bianca no!" I protested, "It's too dangerous."
She looked at me and placed something in my hand, "This is my responsibility. I'm the one who grabbed something. If I don't make it...give that to Nico and tell him I'm sorry and that I love him."
Then she ran off, "Zoe get him to lift his foot!" she called.
We did what she asked, Percy and I started attacking Talos from different sides. We were trying to get him stomp over giving Bianca a chance to get inside the machine. Sadly it worked, Bianca was able to get inside, Talos started falling apart. We couldn't get to her in time. The machine fell to the ground in pieces. We searched and searched for her, I called her name until my voice went hoarse.
"Guys we have to go." Thalia said.
"No, she can still be here." I protested pushing away a chunk of metal.
"No...she isn't" Grover said, "The prophecy, one shall be lost in the land without rain. This was meant to happen."
Tears welled in my eyes, we all looked at the sunrise and started walking. A line from the prophecy was fulfilled and Bianca Di Angelo was dead.