There was something to say about finding your way into an empty, boarded-up town in the middle of nowhere on the back of an overgrown murder pig, and that was that it absolutely sucked.

As it turned out, meeting these monsters of legend wasn't as fun or thrill invoking that the campers were hoping. There was no glory in saddle sores, nor was there beauty in hobbling along as she tried to get her legs to work properly.

She muttered a silent hymn to her father in an embarrassing desire to spare herself the pain that she would forever deny having even considered. Still, it worked good enough for her to simply shake out her legs and make it out as if it just didn't bother her.

Despite all this, the town could have been hauntingly pretty if it wasn't for the way the sight of ti made her antsy and nervous. She wanted to run far away, go around and not pass directly through to the scraps of metal hills that shown dully in the setting sun. They bode only ill feelings and bad news, but she knew that it would take an extra day to go around, time that they didn't have, and Kassandra wasn't going to risk going the long way.

They made camp at the edge of town in the middle of the road right before the junkyard. Zoe and Bianca pulled mattresses and sleeping bags from their packs (something that Kassandra was endlessly jealous of because they seemed infinite and she could just bring as much as she needed and wanted on a quest if she had that?).

Grover and Percy collected wood for a fire and Thalia started it with a zap of lightning. Kassandra got comfortable on her little mattress, pulling off her jacket and searched through her bag for protein bars to hand out. It wasn't much, but it was enough to help regain their energy.

Zoe handed out packages of dried fruit as a snack.

Sniffing the air, Grover produced his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes. They rearranged themselves in a pattern that made Grover look concerned.

"That's us," he said. "Those six nuts right there."

"Which one is me?" Percy asks.

"The little deformed one," Zoe suggests.

"She might have a point," she teases, taking advantage of the play on words to be able to actually say it.

"Oh, shut up."

"That cluster right there," Grover says, pointing to the left, "that's trouble."

"A monster?" Thalia asks.

Grover looked uneasy. "I don't smell anything, which doesn't make sense. But the acorns don't lie. Our next challenge..."

He pointed straight toward the junkyard. With the sunlight almost gone now, the hills of metal looked like something on an alien planet.

Kassandra shivered and quickly looked away. Biting her lip firmly, she finally brings up her concerns from when they had first arrived. "I know that we should go around," she says. "But that'll take way too long. We have to go through the junkyard as fast as possible. I would say run through if we could."

"Why?" Percy asks.

"Children of Apollo will occasionally get premonitions about things since their dad is the god of prophecy," Grover says nervously.

Zoe shakes her head. "That is not the case this time. You have excellent intuition at times, do thee not? It is thy intuition that is telling thee to stay away from the danger."

"If it's so bad, should we go around?" Percy asks.

"No, we don't have the time. We have to go straight through if we're to save Lady Artemis," Bianca declares. "We'll just be extra careful."

The night got chilly fast after that and the other huddled together close to the fire. Kassandra stretched out with her back against Percy, gazing out into the night as she listened to their conversation about the stars, the Lord of the Wild Pan, and Bianca's ability to kill the skeleton warriors.

"Maybe you have to hit them in a certain spot?" Percy suggests.

Her head rolls to the side and drops onto his shoulder. "There are a lot of things that people don't know about how to kill the spartoi. Maybe she's a child of Ares? They've been known to control them at times, aren't they?"

"They're created with the teeth of a dragon sacred to the god, but I don't know if his children can kill them," Thalia says.

"Never mind," Zoe tells her. "We will find the answer. In the meantime, we should plan our next move. When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas."

"No!" Bianca protests. "Not there!"

Zoe frowned. "Why?"

She twisted away from Percy, rolling so that she sat on her knees facing the girl. She looked spooked, uneasy, at the thought of returning.

"I think... I think me and Nico spent some time there before we went to the school when we were travelling, and then... then I can't remember."

Percy sits a little straighter, sharing a look with Grover. "Wait, Bianca, the hotel you stayed in, do you remember the name?"

She nods. "The Lotus Casino."

"Oh no."

"What's the Lotus Casino?" Kassandra asks.

"A couple of years ago," Percy says, "Grover, Annabeth, and I got trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave. We stayed for about an hour. When we came out, five days had passed. It makes time speed up."

Bianca went pale, shaking her head at the possibility. "No, that's not possible."

"You said that someone came and got you out," Percy says. "Do you remember what they look like?"

She opens her mouth, her lower lip trembling before she shakes her head. "I don't want to talk about this."

Zoe moves closer, placing a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Zoe, do you know who the current president is?"

Bianca scoffs. "Don't be ridiculous," she says, giving the correct name.

"Okay, what's the name of the president before him?" Thalia asks.

The girl thought for a moment. "Rosevelt."

Kassandra winced. She wasn't like Annabeth, she couldn't remember things as useless as President's easily, but she knew that it was a while since anyone with a name like that was in charge. She tried to count it back, going over the ones that she did know.

Zoe swallows. "Theodore or Franklin'?"

"Franklin," Bianca says. "F.D.R."

"Like FDR drive?" Percy asks, bringing Kassandra to smile at how airheaded he could be sometimes.

"Bianca," Zoe said slowly, gently. "F.D.R. was not the last president. That was about seventy years ago."

"That's impossible!" she protests. "I can't be that old."

"It's okay, the good thing is that--"

"Shut it," Kassandra interrupts, rolling to her feet quickly as she tilts her head. "Something is coming."

They were quick on their feet after that, weapons drawing in time to see the blinding light of a car came down the abandoned road toward them. She half expected it to be Apollo in his sun chariot pulling some ridiculous move to come and see them once more, but she knew it was impossible with the sun already set.

A deathly white limousine pulled up next to them and she held her bow carefully in hand, positioning herself slightly in front of Percy as he uncapped Riptide.

The back door of the limo opened right next to them and before she knew it there was a sword pointed at the boy's throat.

She took aim with a growl, only to freeze at the sight of him.

(When she was eight and lost on her own, she had met a girl that was a hero already. Oriana was this unattainable standard of strength and courage that she could never have dared at ever hoping to achieve.

She was intimidating to look at with muscles clear through her tight shirt and torn sleeves that exposed years of scars littered across her skin from fights and training and surviving.

And yet Oriana was so kind, so inviting and welcoming compared to the other Ares kids. She was never angry or unduly rude. She was protective, invoking the fear of life itself into the hearts of her enemies.)

He smiled cruelly. "Not so fast now, are you, punk?"

(Apparently, she looked like her dad.)

Kassandra drops her bow.

"Ares," Percy growls, no longer anywhere close to being intimidated.

The war god glanced to the others. "At ease people," he said, snapping his fingers causing their weapons to fall to the ground. "This is a friendly meeting."

He digs his sword a little bit more underneath Percy's chin and Kassandra squeaks, anger racing through her on his behalf. She itched to pull him back, her hand circling his wrist. "Of course I'd like to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."

"What lady?" Thalia asks.

Ares looked at Thalia, and while Kassandra wasn't an idiot, she took her chance to yank the boy back to stand in front of him unflinchingly as the sword pulls back only a little to press against her instead.

"Well, well. I heard you were back," he says. "Thalia, daughter of Zeus. You're not hanging out with very good company."

"I happen to think I'm very good company," Kassandra mutters spitefully.

"What's your business, Ares?" Thalia says before the god could respond. "Who's in the car?"

Ares smiles. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin toward Zoe and Bianca. "Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes."

"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares," Zoe says.

"Besides," Grover manages, "the taco place is closed."

Ares snapped his fingers again. The lights flip on and the sign turns to open. "You were saying, goat boy?"

"Go on," Percy told them. "I'll handle this."

"You heard the boy," Ares says. "He's big and strong. He's got things under control."

The others began to make their way to the shop but Kassandra didn't move as she only tensed. She kept a grip on his wrist, squeezing tightly at the thought of letting him go alone.

"It'll be fine, Kass," he whispers, easing himself out of her grip. "I'll be fine."

Still, she stays, staring at Ares as he opens the door for the boy as if he was some sort of chauffeur.

"Get inside, punk," he said. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am."

The door closes behind him, blocking out the sound before she could hope to hear a word.

Ares turns his attention to her, then, looking her over with a raised brow and dark glasses-covered eyes.

(She tries to ignore the twist in her stomach at how much he looks like Oriana when he does, how the girl had made the same expression when studying something that amused her. Kassandra had been on the other side of that look far too many times when she was learning how to hit things with a vengeance.)

"I'm not leaving him here alone," Kassandra defends herself.

"You're one of the peacock's kids. Clarisse took you on that quest."

"Yeah, I happen to be Apollo's kid," she says.

"Huh, I never expected you to look so sunny."

Her lips curl. "I think it comes with the territory. Your kids have your sneer," she tells him honestly.

He laughs (and what an odd thing it is to have made the god of war laugh). "You're definitely more interesting than your dad, kid. With how much you pray for my help when kicking ass, I should have expected it."

"I don't need your help kicking ass. I just ask for it to be safe. I'd rather go into a fight on your good side," she says.

"See, now that's the attitude every demigod should have," the god of war claims. "Who cares about your parents when you're on the sides of the gods that matter."

She wants to correct him to tell him that she isn't on his side, just that she only needs him on hers, but figures that would not be a very good idea.

(See, the art of hating the gods was a very gentle, very careful thing. There were certain things that could be said in private, certain thoughts that she could keep to herself or even share depending on the company, but the key thing was not to disrespect the ones that would kill you.

It would be suicide picking a fight with Ares when she didn't have a parent that was one of the Big Three coming to her defence. Apollo, as far as she knew, had only avenged the death of one of his children and that child ended up being a god himself, he was so favoured.

Kassandra doubted he would ever consider the same for her.)

(And truly, it was easier to show respect to the gods that did not pretend, the gods that treat you as if you were nothing and did not lie to make you feel the hero. It was easy to ignore his presence as a god when she knew her worth was better than what he could ever think of her, that she was stronger than he would ever come to give her credit. Kassandra knew that hiding her cards, even if the world knew what deck she held, was not showing her hand. She may not be a child of Athena spewing strategies that turned tides and won wars, but Kassandra was not an idiot.)

(Really, if she was nice to Ares, then who could blame her when she had never lost a fight that mattered after a prayer was sent his way. She did not pray to the gods often, especially not ever to her own father, but denying the power they had over the lives of pawns like her was some self-sacrificial bullshit.)

Just as easily as Percy had been shoved into the limo, he was dragged out as Ares ripped open the door and grabbed him by his collar as if he was some poorly disciplined dog.

She had a brief moment where she was able to see inside.

The pink clouds weren't what she was expecting.

The most beautiful woman in the world wasn't what she was expecting.

The goddess -- because could she be anything else? -- had curly blonde hair and the most striking green eyes she had ever seen, like Percy's almost, but the wrong shape. They were shaped more like Annabeth's eyes. She had pale pink that brushed across the tops of her cheeks, almost like a sunburn with freckles that she shouldn't have been able to see but really, totally could somehow.

And then Aphrodite smiled at her, lips curling in that mischievous way that she found heart clenching and waved her fingers in a gentle curl.

The door slammed shut, blocking her from sight, and her face began to burn. She refused to meet anyone's eyes even as she felt Ares' gaze scorching into her skin.

(The last time that she had seen Aphrodite, a lot younger than this and only getting the chance to glimpse her on a trip to Olympus around the Winter Solstice, the goddess had pale brown hair and eyes the same shade of brown as her own. It had been a striking revelation on self-love when she caught sight of her own eye colour on a goddess, even if she didn't know who exactly that pale brown hair came from.)

"Times up, punk," Ares says. "You're lucky we're being so nice. If it was up to me--"

"So why haven't you killed me?" Percy shot back.

Kassandra hissed, elbowing the boy before she could think it through. "Shut up, kelp brain."

Ares nods, like he'd finally said something intelligent.

"I'd love to kill you, seriously," he said. "But see, I got a situation. Word on Olympus is that you might start the biggest war in history. I can't risk messing that up. Besides, Aphrodite thinks you're some kinda soap-opera star or something. I kill you, that makes me look bad with her. But don't worry. I haven't forgotten my promise. Some day soon, kid—real soon— you're going to raise your sword to fight, and you're going to remember the wrath of Ares."

Paling, she grabs at Percy and pulls him away from the god, shoving him back. "What did you do?" she hissed.

"I'm not scared of him, Kassie," he balled my fists, "Why wait? I beat you once. How's that ankle healing up?"

Ares grins crookedly. "Not bad, punk. But you got nothing on the master of taunts. I'll start the fight when I'm good and ready. Until then... both of you get lost."

The god snapped his fingers and a world of red mist swirled around them, knocking her off her feet and she fell ontop of Percy with a grunt.

"Oh, my gods, what did you do, Percy?" she demands, pushing away so she was sitting on the ground instead of him. "Do you know how stupid it is to be against the god of war?"

"It's nothing to worry about, I promise," he says, even as she can hear the lie in his voice, she only swallows and nods. "Ares won't do anything."

(Really, Kassandra was in no place to judge him for picking fights with the gods.)

"The wrath of Ares, Percy, that doesn't sound good," she say. "Whatever it is, he says it'll be soon, that your sword will fail you."

He shakes his head and stands, holding out a hand for her to take. "Don't worry, Kassie. Come on, you shouldn't have stayed here with him."

She laughs. "You know, when he's not being a major asshole, he's not that bad."

Percy shoves her shoulder. "You're just so used to hanging out with his crazy kids that you don't notice."

The junkyard was, for lack of better terms, a junkyard. Kassandra could see the appeal to certain aspects, the pieces that littered the mountains made of real gold, treasures of the gods discarded as though they were nothing -- items that no longer mattered or were cursed to be so.

She wondered if she belonged in a place like this, a discarded treasure of Apollo, a daughter that didn't matter but was worth more than her weight in gold.

They reached the crest of a junk mountain. Piles of metal glinted in the silver moonlight. There were shields and swords, hundreds of discarded weapons that littered the place. There were broken chariots, cars, refrigerators, statues and sculptures that were dented and smashed. It was all very sad to look at.

"There's..." Bianca starts. "It looks like there's a bunch of gold."

"That's because it is gold," Thalia says grimly. "Like Percy said. Don't touch any of the junk."

"Junk?" Grover asks, picking up a glittering crown of gold and jewels. "You call this junk."

"If it's here, then it's junk," Zoe says.

"Let's just not touch anything," Kassandra says, antsy as she takes it from his hands and dropping it gently back onto the pile. "No one touches anything, please."

Percy nods, continuing down the slope of the pile of junk. She was quick to follow, eager to get out of there as fast as possible.

She had all warned them before, but it seemed they hadn't taken to the message. They ought to have just gone around if they were going to carry on through the night regardless of the added travel time.

Bianca runs past them, picking up a silver bow from the pile. "A hunter's bow!" she exclaims, holding it up as she observes the details. The bow shrinks, turning into a hair clip. "It's like Percy's sword."

Zoe's face was grim. "Leave it, Bianca," she says. "Things are thrown away for a reason. It is either defective or cursed."

"But--"

"Leave it."

Kassandra shook her head, hurrying along so as to avoid looking too long at any one thing. The allure to snatch up something that glittered with gold was intense as she spotted a flute that she could just tell was made of stygian iron or the earphones that were made to look like a golden laurel wreath that would sit across her head.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Percy pick up a guitar that was made to look like Apollo's lyre, and Grover fish out a metal branch of a golden tree with little birds that fought to flutter around with broken wings.

Even Thalia had bent to examine the edges of a shield carved with the image of Zeus (though, she had managed to refrain from touching it).

Eventually, she saw the edge of the junkyard about half a mile ahead with the lights of a highway stretching through the desert.

"What is that?" Bianca gasps.

There was a giant heap before them bigger than any other around them. It was like a metal mesa, the length of a football field and as tall as goalposts. At one end there was a row of ten thick metal columns, wedged tightly together.

Bianca frowns. "They look like..."

"Toes," Grover offers with a slight tremor to his voice.

Zoe and Bianca exchanged nervous looks.

"Let's go around," Thalia suggests. "Like far around."

Percy frowns. "Why? That'll take so long. The exit is right there. We can just climb over."

"No, let's just go around. I don't want to touch something that has giant feet," Kassandra says, nose wrinkled as she looks at the metal toes.

After a few more protests from Percy and Grover throwing a scrap of metal at the feet, they finally decide to go around, making it out onto the highway.

Exhaling in relief, she looked up to the sky and tried to judge how much time it had taken them to get out causing her to wonder why she just didn't wear a watch. There was no hint of the sun rising yet, but it felt like it might be soon, like an internal clock ticking in waiting for the rise of the sun chariot.

"Thank the gods," Zoe says. "We made it out."

Just as the words are spoken, the heap of junk behind them started to lift, the grinding of metal on metal making her ears ring and a chill rush down her spine. Her hands jumped to her weapons -- one landing on her bow, the other at her flute,

The giant toes moved, drawing back to stand on a giant foot. From the junk rose a metal giant in Greek battle armour. It looked down at them -- a he with half its face melted off, covered in dust and rusted joints screeching with each movement.

"Talos!" Zoe cried out, bow appearing in hand.

"Who?" Percy demanded.

"A creation of Hephaestus!" Kassandra answers, shifting her weight between her feet. That ADHD getting put to good use as it began to flood her with a readiness to move, readiness to fight.

"It can't be the original," Thalia says. "It's too small. A prototype, maybe. A defective model."

The automatron must have heard the girl because it moved one large hand to his side to grab at the old, dulled sword at its side. He pulled the sword free, lifting it before him. It was at least a hundred feet long.

"Someone took something!" Zoe says quickly.

Percy shakes his head. "Don't look at me. I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a thief."

The giant took one giant step forward.

"Doesn't matter who," Kassandra snaps. "Scatter!"

Taking the same tactic as with the Nemena lion, they darted apart, moving quickly to find cover so they could figure out a plan of attack.

She found herself behind the thin side of a mountain of junk. A poorly carved bust of her father stared back at her, half the face broken off.

It swung its sword in a long arc, power lines snapping in a shower of electricity around Thalia. Zoe fired arrows that bounced off harmlessly.

She winced, forgetting the option of using her bow. Her hand fell to her hip, grabbing her flute tightly as she considered what she could do.

Talos took a step, smashing down on one of the hills. She saw Percy and Bianca race out from behind her.

Taking in a deep breath, she brought the flute up and played a quick tune, scattering the sound of racing steps throughout the junkyard in a thundering chorus and impossible to pin.

"Hey Talos!" Grover screams, playing a flighty song on his pipes that causes the wires to dance their way up and jab at the back of the monsters leg. The whirled around his calf, locking him into place as electricity ran up into his backside.

It creaked as it turned to face the satyr.

The monster kept advancing on Grover, raising its massive sword. Kassandra looked around her, grabbing the broken bust of her dad's face and raised it in one hand, spinning a few times quickly on her toes before she launched it like a shock putt with a scream.

The bust smashed against the metal monster's hands, shattering into fine pieces. It brought the sword down, knocking the mountain near Grover. It caused an avalanche that swept over the satyr.

Thalia screamed, lighting bursting from the tip of her spear in powerful, thin streams.

The sword continued to move, going toward where Kassandra sought cover. She leapt back from the junk, darting away as the slope began to slide down, rolling toward her.

She shrieks as it hits into her from behind, trapping her legs underneath the weight and she begins to wiggle herself free -- one leg pulls out as she hears Percy calling her name, her right foot, however, catches.

"I'm stuck!" She calls out, trying to shove some of the garbage off her.

Lightning continues to crack down on the monster as Percy appears next to her, kneeling at her side to help her heft up some of the weight. It only shifts the mound, digging something into her leg. She cries out.

"Stop! Stop. Stop. Stop!"

He pauses, glancing up briefly to the monster that was still swinging his sword. She winced at the sound of shrieking metal and snapping electricity.

"You have any ideas?" he asks her.

She shakes her head, grunting at the weight of whatever was digging into her leg. "Not really," she says, squinting up at the monster. "It's giant and made of metal. If it was a normal giant, stab it in the foot? Hack at the heel?"

The boy nods slowly. "Alright, time for a crazy idea. You think you can do that thing like with the sirens?" he asks, grabbing the flute that she had dropped and placed it firmly into her hand. "Like, explode them?"

He mimes it with his hands.

"I don't know. It's made out of metal," she stressed, twisting the flute in her hands. "I can try. I'll try. Don't listen to the music. Tell everyone not to listen."

Percy nods as he stands, casting her one final look before he darts back into the fight.

Unable to see around the pile of junk, Kassandra only hoped that this would work as she brought up her flute as she watched Talos move around. She starts fast, rushing through the beginning of Chant de Linos before she evens out, letting the sound swell before she turned it sharp and vicious, harsh as she played through.

Like a thin veil over her eyes, she could see the way the music swirled, the sound forming spears as it struck the metal like harmless blasts.

Drawing in a sharp breath, she played fiercer, attacking the metal. She closed her eyes, heat burning through her as the sound built -- raging over her like a tidal wave. She could hear the sound of metal screeching piercing around her, could feel the music tighten like a fist.

And she could hear the sound of someone crying out in pain. Kassandra let go out the music in an instant, dropping the flute in her lap as she struggled to catch her breath, her energy drained (and goodness, she needed to practice doing this even more, but it was hard when she had nothing that she could just go around trying to blow up).

She watched as the monster slowly, jerkily, raised his sword up above his head, ready to bring it down.

It froze mid-way, head jerking to the side. Talos took a step back, jerking around as if doing the funky chicken. The sword dropped, tilting to the side opposite her and she felt the tremor in the ground as it landed.

Grover's reed pipes began to play frantically, breathy, before they stopped completely as electrical wires ripped free and jabbed at the metal, sending it careening back.

Metal screeched as the giant arm came loose landing with a thud. The hand fell on the pile ontop her leg, shifting the junk.

Kassandra cried out, yanking on her leg as she found herself able to get loose. She scrambled back, limping as each step sent a jolt through her.

Supporting herself on an Olympus washing machine, she watched as Talos began to run, falling apart at the joints.

"Bianca is in there?" Zoe yells.

She limped after them, using the junk to keep herself upright. She heard the desperate calls of the girl's name.

And she knew, she knew, that they should have gone around completely. She sat down hard as they searched, digging into her bag for her Tupperware of ambrosia. She nibbled on a piece, breathing a soft hymn under her breath as she cupped her knee in one hand. There was a tear in her pants that she would have to fix later.

When her leg no longer seized when she put her weight on it, she forced herself to stand and join them as they went in and out of the hollow limbs.

Kassandra made her way over, placing a hand on Zoe's shoulder. "The sun's starting to rise," she says gently.

The hunter looked at her, tears pooling in her eyes as she nods. She falls to her knees, sobbing into her hands.

She stays by her, fingers softly brushing through her hair. She turns to the dawn, watching the sun. It was late in rising, Apollo giving them the extra time to search, just in case.

With a wry twist of her lips, she lowers her head and says a mournful prayer for Bianca.

One shall be lost in the land without rain, the oracle had said. Prophecies were never wrong, after all.

They wouldn't be finding Bianca no matter how hard they looked.

☼ ☼ ☼

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so... a few things. Ares is kinda OC but also not? because of how I see it, there are a few reasons that the interaction could make sense. Alsooo, kass isn't all that torn up about Bianca dying? well, there are a few reasons for that as well so they would make sense if I've been portraying her character how I think I've been portraying it. AND cute Perssandra? Perssie? moment?

unedited

written: 2021-02-17

posted: 2021-04-17