「013. travel until you go to a dam and run from bones 」

WHEN IN mourning, find a tow-truck with fuel and decide to 'temporarily borrow' it for a while. the drive was silent. thalia (who promised she could drive well on the road) drove with a blank stare, not moving her sights from the road. zoë was in the shotgun seat whilst grover, percy and barbie were in the back listening to percy's weird hero complex which she still couldn't get a grip of. she understood everybody had fatal flaws, but sadly, bianca was gone. but they couldn't exactly do anything about that. when people try to bring people back from the underworld, it doesn't always work out.

"it should have been me," he mumbled, "i should have-"

"stop saying that," she snapped, a frown set on her face, "fate can't be meddled with. and none of us wanted bianca to die."

"we already lost annabeth and now bianca," sniffled grover, looking like he might burst into tears at any moment, "do you think i want to loose anybody else, man?"

percy's frown softened as he stared at grover, suddenly realising what he'd said as he quickly rushed out, "oh man, i'm sorry..."

the rest of the ride was silent as barbie thought about what had happened and the harsh reality of their situation. she came on this quest to prove herself, to prove she was stronger then people perceived her to be. to bring honour to the aphrodite cabin, to show they weren't just a bunch of pretty faces. all of her siblings were strong in some way, even if they didn't show it. she wanted to be the one to represent those who couldn't in her cabin. those who felt pressured to conform to the stereotype of the aphrodite cabin.

because they didn't. they were more than a bunch of pretty faces.

but as she sat in the truck, she shifted uncomfortably. she was meant to be fearless, show how strong aphrodite's children were. she always told herself she wasn't weak, she was strong.

but as she sat there, she felt like a liar telling herself that. because she wasn't fearless, nobody was. and that's what scared her. to be honest, the further they got with the quest, the more scared she was. and maybe that was what she was afraid of admitting to herself, that she was scared.

no, scratch that.

she was fucking petriefied.

bianca di angelo had just died. and the prophecy said that two would die, which meant even more deaths. quests weren't all sunshine and daisies like she wanted them to be, they were brutal. and she didn't know what to do anymore. her whole life at camp half-blood was training for a quest. but now that she finally got one she felt as if she didn't know who she was anymore.

barbie allen was known for always wanting a quest.

it seemed her whole personality was just wanting a quest. she didn't know who she was anymore. and that scared her too. all she was now was a girl who'd seen death and somebody who had weird powers.

somebody who was afraid.

"can your powers conjure fuel?" asked percy to barbie as they looked at the dead-end to the road.

thalia stepped out and slammed the door on the truck and a tire burst.

"don't suppose you could conjure a tire too?"

"uh.... i haven't got good control yet, and i'm not feeling that charged.. but i can try," she spoke.

she closed her eyes tightly and began to think about all of the things that had happened. percy and her became friends, that made her happy. bianca di angelo died, that made her sad. the giant cutting her hair, that made her ang- you know what? she was over it.

(she wasn't).

she opened her eyes and the mist around her swirled grandly, moving around her like a hurricane and soon she felt something drop to the floor.

"well-done barbie it's a- are you kidding me?"

"i told you my powers weren't that charged!" snapped barbie as they stared at the object on the floor.

instead of fuel and a tire. there was a small toy plastic truck. and that wasn't going to help her at all.

"it looks tasty," said grover, "what type of plastic is it?"

"how am i supposed to know that, grover?" asked barbie as he picked it up and took a bite out of it.

he munched on it for a moment, his facial expression hanging as he did so, "could use some cheese whiz. but, not that bad."

"i don't think naiads like me," spoke barbie as they went upstream, her face soaking wet from water that had just been splashed on her face.

"ya think?" spoke thalia, chuckling slightly.

"shut up thalia before i tell grover about that fear-"

"-ok i'm shutting up," spoke thalia quickly.

the rest of the ride was silent for them until the boats came to a stop. they looked up to see why. and the reason why was huge.

it was a dam.

"hoover dam," spoke thalia, "it's huge."

"over two hundred meters tall," spoke percy.

"built in the nineteen thirty's," spoke barbie, tears trying to escape from her eyes.

"fie million cubic acres of water," spoke thalia sadly.

"largest construction project in the united states," spoke grover as they looked at the dam.

"how do you know all that?" asked zoë in confusion.

"annabeth", mumbled barbie, "she loved this stuff."

"she loved architecture," corrected percy sadly.

"she was nuts about monuments," said thalia.

"spouted facts all the time," sniffled grover, "so annoying."

"i wish she was here," said barbie sadly, "she would have loved it-"

"uh, barbie, might want to calm down... your-"

"oh," she said as she looked around. they were swirling in a small pink vortex of sparkly mist, "sorry... lemme just-"

she closed her eyes and thought of one word: stop. she repeated it in her mind over and over again and when she opened her eyes, none of the mist was left.

"there's a snack bar in the visitor entrance," spoke thalia.

"have you been here before?" asked barbie.

"to see the guardians," she replied as she pointed to two statues. they had tall wings and sat on pedestals with significantly shinier toes than the rest of there body.

"they were dedicated to zeus when the dam was built, a gift from athena."

they all watched as tourists began to crowd around the statues all pointing towards the toes.

"what are they doing?" asked percy in confusion.

"rubbing toes," spoke thalia, "they think it's good luck."

"why?"

she 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."

"when you were here last, did they talk to you or anything?"

thalia's expression darkened,"no. they don't do anything. they're just big metal statues."

"let us find the dam snack bar," zoë said, "we should eat while we can."

grover cracked a smile, "the dam snack bar?"

zoë blinked, "yes. what is funny?"

"nothing," grover said, trying to keep a straight face, "i could use some dam french fries."

"i agree with grover," spoke barbie, trying to contain her laughter, "i could use some dam food."

even thalia smiled at that, "and i need to use the dam restroom."

maybe it was the fact they were all so tired and emotionally dead. but they all began to crack up, laughing amongst themselves whilst zoë looked at them weirdly. she definetly didn't get the joke.

"i do not understand."

"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."

the smile that had been on percy's face slid off real quick as he asked, "did i just hear a cow?"

"a dam cow?" thalia laughed and barbie snickered.

"no," grover said, "i'm serious."

zoë listened, "i hear nothing."

thalia was looking at percy with worry, "percy, are you okay?"

"yeah," he spoke with a fake smile, "you guys go ahead. i'll be right in."

"what's wrong?" grover asked.

"nothing, "percy said, "i...i just need a minute. to think."

they all looked at him and then to each other in confusion. barbie was definitely hesitant to leave him alone when grover had said he had smelt monsters nearby. but, in the end, they walked to the visitors centre and left percy 'to think'.

when barbie said she left percy 'to think'. she had lied. but i'm sure the gods would forgive her. she was trying to make sure his stupid water-boy ass didn't die. she followed him and was right behind him as he began talking to the water. suddenly she looked behind her and gasped. a group of skeletons flickered between workers with a builders uniform on and skeletal beings with spears.

this was so not good.

percy turned his head and looked at her, "barbie? what in zues' name-?"

"run, water boy! run," she whisper-yelled.

they both bolted for the visitors centre quickly.  they were both almost at the stairs when they heard the tires squeal. they were surrounded, more skeleton warriors were piling out of a van and barbie panicked. she looked around quickly before grabbing percy's hand and making a run for it down the stairs of the museum entrance.

they both ducked behind a tour guide and made their way into an elevator where another tour guide was giving information on the hoover dam. barbie was panicking as she looked around and then percy just had to stupidly ask, "does this go to the snack bar?"

she reminded herself she needed to slap him the minute they were safe. or at least scold him for being a major dork.

barbie and percy were backed into a hallway breathing heavily. percy was gripping riptide and barbie held heart breaker so tightly she thought the metal would explode.

"now would be a good time for your sparkly mist to help us," huffed percy, his voice out of breath.

"i can't control jerald-"

"seriously? you named a pink sparkly mist 'jerald'?"

"it sounded better in my-"

then right behind them, there was a sharp chhh! sound, like the voice of a skeleton. almost immediately, barbie and percy turned around, weapons in hand slashing at the skeleton.

except it wasn't a skeleton, it was a girl with curly red hair. the girl yelped and dropped her kleenex and looked at them both, her eyes wide in shock as if she could see through the mist. and then her eyes looked to barbie as if she could see swirls of pink mist around her. but that's stupid... she was mortal.

"oh my god!" she yelped, "do you two always kill people who blow their noses?"

"you're mortal!" spoke barbie, lowering her dagger slightly, "how-?"

"what's that supposed to mean? of course i'm mortal! how did you guys get a dagger and a sword past security?" cried the mortal girl, before she pointed at barbie, "and why does this chick have pink stuff swirling around her?"

"percy," hissed barbie, "she can see jerald-"

"really? you named it jerald?" asked the mortal girl.

"hey! now is not the time!" hissed barbie.

percy snapped his fingers in front of her face and said, "you don't see a sword, it's just a ballpoint pen."

she didn't look convinced, "uh... no. it's a sword, weirdo."

barbie looked at percy and whispered to him furiously, "are you even using the mist properly, water boy? honestly, you're so fucking hopeless."

"who are you?" demanded percy, ignoring barbie's comment completly.

"rachael elizabeth dare," she spoke. as if they had time for her middle name! "now you are going to answer my question or should i scream for security?"

the redhead mortal was currently disappointing redheads across the world with her stubbornness, couldn't she just pretend she saw nothing? it would be so much easier. they could just go, get away and try find their friends.

"no!" said percy, "don't call security."

"listen, rachael," said barbie quietly, "we are in a hurry ok? we are kinda in trouble-"

"in a hurry or trouble?"

"um, sort of both," spoke percy quickly.

she looked over their shoulders and her eyes widened, "bathroom!"

"what?"

"bathroom! behind me! now"

percy was about to argue but barbie pushed him as well as herself into the boy's toilets. she grimaced at the state of the toilets, "boys have hygiene issues-"

"-oh my god! did you see those kids? it's about time you got here. they tried to kill me! he had a sword! and the other one, the girl, had a dagger! for god sake! you security guys let a sword-swinging lunatic and a dagger-holding maniac inside a national landmark? i mean, jeez! they ran that way towards those turbine thingies. i think they went over the side or something. maybe they fell."

barbie's mouth opened wide when she heard the redhead mortal known as rachel cover for them.

"what the-"

rachael opened the door and looked at both of them, "all clear. but you two better hurry."

"we owe you one, rachael elizabeth dare," huffed percy quickly.

"what are those things?" she asked, "they looked like-"

"skeletons?"

she nodded uneasily.

"do yourself a favour," barbie said, "forget it. forget you ever saw us. it'll be much easier for all of us."

"forget you tried to kill me?"

"yeah. that too," rushed out percy.

"wait how did we try to kill you-" began barbie, "nevermind."

"but who are you guys?"

"percy-"

"barbie-"

the skeletons began to turn around and barbie said, "gotta go!" before pushing both of them to run away. as they ran, percy called over to her, "you know you said barbie, right?"

"shut up, jackass and keep running."

it's not every day you get a flying piggy-back ride from a gold toed angels. but, just to clarify, barbie got the shorter end of the stick. whilst grover, zoë, percy and thalia got carried by the angels as they flew. barbie had to sit like a toddler on their shiny feet. she was basically like that annoying toddler you see in videos where the parent is trying to move but can't because a kid sat on their foot.

except they were flying.

and barbie had to hold on for dear life. and they were several hundred feet above the ground. but, same thing.

rosie speaks!

so here's chapter thirteen! currently loving
their banter tho. like i low key stan it so much.

word count: 2,512 words