I 013. I

𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔

❝ hoover dam❞

ARIADNE WOULDN'T LET THE FIGURE GO. Bianca has lost her life for it, she wouldn't let it go.

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, and it had a full tank of gas, so they decided to borrow it.

Thalia drove. She didn't seem as stunned as Zoe or Grover or Percy or Ariadne.

"The skeletons are still there," she 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 from with Thalia. Grover, Percy, and Ariadne day 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.

Ariadne still couldn't tell what god the figurine was supposed to be. She had been spending the time by trying to figure it out, but it only seemed to bring tears to her eyes, forcing her to look away.

Nico would know, she said to herself.

Her heart stopped. Oh, gods... what were they going to tell Nico?

"It should've been me," Percy said, watching as the brunette's eyes geared up at the figurine. "I should've gone into the giant."

Percy has his arm around Ariadne's shoulder, keeping her close to ensure that she wouldn't break down or die of hypothermia. He still wore the Nemean Lion fur coat, only because when he tried offering it to her, she refused. The boy had to just keep her close.

Ariadne sighed softly, her head on his shoulder. She felt his hand run through her hair and it brought a twinge of comfort.

"Don't say that!" Grover panicked. "It's bad enough Annabeth is gone, and now Bianca. Do you think I could stand if..." 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, mud he has on war paint. "I'm... I'm okay."

But he wasn't okay. Ever since the encounter in New Mexico—whatever had happened when that wild blew through—he seemed really fragile, even more emotional than usual. They were afraid to talk to him about it, because he might start bawling.

Ariadne realized she couldn't stay depressed. Yes, it was torture for her, but they needed to keep going, for Bianca's sake. If they didn't complete this quest, then her death was for nothing. And Ariadne was not going to let it go to waste.

Percy seemed to have the same idea as her. They stopped the talk and went silent, keeping hold on one another to make sure they were still there. He closed his eyes and leaned his head on her head while smelling vanilla and strawberries.

She kept her face in his neck while smelling the salty sea smell that comforted her. Maybe it could help her relax. But when you're on a dangerous quest, and they had one more group member who would die, it was hard to do that.

The girl hadn't forgotten her meltdown, but she wouldn't talk about it. She would ignore it and hope that she could toughen up. No more crying on quests—she was always weak when she did.

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 slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew. Great. What now?"

Ariadne 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 thing interesting. 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 rocks dropped away below them.

"There's a path," Grover said. "We could get to the river."

Ariadne tried to see what he was talking about, and finally noticed a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face. "That's a goat path," she said.

"So?" he asked.

"The rest of us aren't goats, Grover."

"We can make it," he said. "I think."

"No," Percy said. "I, uh, think we should go farther upstream."

Grover said, "But—"

"Come on," he said. "A walk won't hurt us."

Percy glanced at Thalia. Her eyes said a quick Thank You. Ariadne raised an eyebrow but didn't question.

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 Conor 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 as if she had the Flu. Ariadne realized it had been the first time she had spoken since the junkyard, and that went the same for the brunette herself.

"Leave that you me," Percy said. They put the canoes in the water. Thalia and Grover got in one, while Percy somehow manage to convince Zoe to get in the other with him and Ariadne.

As it turned out, Percy didn't even need to control the currents. As soon as they got into the river, Ariadne looked over the edge of the boat and found a couple of the naiads staring at her.

Percy looked over at them and they giggled underwater. Ariadne glared at them while gritting her teeth, her gut twisting.

She sat in between Percy and Zoe. The girl cursed quietly, she never liked naiads.

They looked like regular teenage girls, reminded her of Beverly from the coffee shop in Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Except for the fact that they were underwater, they looked normal.

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.

Ariadne nodded. "I'm with you."

A stream of water squirted from the back of the boat, hitting both her and Zoe in the face. 

"She-devils!" Zoe went for her bow.

"Whoa," Percy said. "They're just paying."

"Curse water spirits. "They've never forgiven me."

"Forgiven huh for what?" Ariadne asked

Zoe slung her how over her shoulder. "It was a long time ago. Never mind.

They sped up the river, the cliffs looming up on either side of them.

"What happened to Bianca wasn't your fault," Percy told her. He glanced over at Ariadne, who was busy watching the naiads to make sure they didn't try anything. "Either of your faults. It was my fault. I let her go."

Ariadne scoffed. "I'm the one who made the palm. I was right there. I could've stopped her, but I didn't."

Zoe's shoulders slumped. "No, Percy. 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're the lieutenant," Percy pointed out.

She gripped the strap of her quiver. Zoe looked exhausted. "Nothing can last forever, Perch. Over two thousand years I have led the Hunt, and my wisdom has not improved. Now Artemis herself is in danger."

"Look, you can't blame yourself for that."

"If I had insisted on going with her—"

"You think you could've fought something powerful enough to kidnap Artemis? There's nothing you could have done," Percy said.

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. Ariadne shivered, she didn't have a coat, but she wouldn't let Percy know, he would freak out.

Perch took Riptide out of his pocket. Around the pen, the vines that had been there since their first quest pulsed with purple, her ring pulsing sea-green. Zoe looked at the pen and ring, and her expression was pained.

"You made this," he said.

"Who told thee."

"We has a dream about it," Ariadne said, glancing at the boy.

She studied them. "It was a gift. And a mistake."

"Who was the hero," Percy asked.

Zoe shook her head. "Do not make me say his name. I swore never to speak it again."

"You act like we should know him," Percy noted.

"I am sure you do, hero. Don't all you boys want to be just like him?" Her voice was bitter, and Ariadne decided not to ask what she meant.

Her eyes looked at her ring, thinking for the first time that maybe it wasn't made for her.

"Your mother was a water goddess?" Percy asked.

"Yes, Pleione. She had five daughter. My sisters and I. The Hesperides."

"Those were the girls who lived in a hard at the edge of the West. With the golden apple tree and a dragon guarding it," he said.

"Yes," Zoe said wistfully. "Landon."

"But weren't there only four sisters?" he asked.

"There are now. I was exiled. Forgotten. Blogged out as if it never existed."

"Why?" Ariadne asked.

Zoe pointed you Percy's pen. "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 Landon failed, I gave him the idea of how to steal the apples, how to trick my father, but he took all the credit."

Just as Ariadne was about to ask her about the girl ring on her finger, the canoe started slowing down.

They looked ahead, and saw why.

This was as far as hey could take them. The river was blocked. A sam the size of a football stadium stood in their path.

"Hoover Dam," Thalia said. "It's huge."

They 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 were so tiny they looked like fleas.

The naiads has left with a lot of grumbling—not in words Ariadne could understand, but it was obvious they hated the dam that was blocking up 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 1930s."

"Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia said.

Grover sighed. "Largest construction project in the United States."

"Created America's largest reservoir," Ariadne said.

Zoe stares at them. "How do you know all that?"

"Annabeth," Percy said. "She liked architecture."

"She was nuts about the monuments," Thalia said.

"She spouted facts all the time." Grover sniffled. "So annoying."

"I wish she were here," Ariadne said.

The others nodded. Zoe looked at them strangely, but none of them cared. It seemed like a cruel fate that'd come to Hoover Dam, one of Annabeth's personal favorites, and she wasn't here to see it.

"We should go up there," Percy said. "For her sake. Just to say we've been."

"You are mad," Zoe decided. "But that is where the road is."  She pointed to a huge parking garage next to the top of the dam. "And so, sightseeing it's is."

They had to walk 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. They straggled back toward 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 from the edges. Grover kept sniffing the wind and looking nervous. He didn't say anything, but Ariadne knew he smelled monsters.

"How close are they?" Ariadne asked him.

He shook his head. "Maybe not close. The wind on the dam, the desert all around us... the scent can probably carry for miles. But it's coming from several directions. I don't like that."

Ariadne didn't either. It was already Wednesday, only two days until 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 pintes to the far end of the dam.

Carved into the side of the cliff was a little place with two big bronze statues. They looked kind of like Oscar statues with wings."

"They were dedicated to Zeus when the damn was built," Thalia said. "A gift from Athena."

Tourists were clustered all around them. They seemed to be looking at the statue's feet.

"What are they doing?" Percy asked.

"Rubbing the ties," Thalia said. "They think it's good luck."

"Why?"

Ariadne raised an eyebrow. "Mortals get crazy ideas. They don't know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them."

"While you were here last," Percy said while looking at Thalia, "did they talk to you or anything?"

Thalia's expresiones darkened. She must've been hoping for that when she came the last time—some kind of sign from her dad. Some 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, 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 was the fact that they were so tired and emotionally drained, but when Percy started cracking up, Ariadne couldn't help but join, and Thalia and Grover followed soon after. Zoe just looked at them. "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."

Ariadne leaned against Percy as the both laughed loudly, holding their stomachs. They could've probably laughed all day if it weren't for the smiles to wash off of Percy and Grover's faces. She let her laughter subside and raised an eyebrow.

Grover looked around in confusion. "Do I just hear a cow?"

"A dam cow?" Thalia laughed.

"No," Grover said. "I'm serious."

Zoe listened. "I hear nothing."

Ariadne placed her hand on Percy's shoulder. "Hey, Kelp Head, you okay?"

"Yeah," he said. "You guys go ahead. I'll be right in."

"What's wrong?" Grover asked.

"Nothing," he said. "I... I just need a minute. To think."

They all hesitated, but he looked insistent, so they're ent into the visitor center without him. Ariadne threw a glance over her shoulder, catching as Percy was standing thee with a confused expression.

She watched as Thalia and Grover went through the line to order burritos and soda, while Zoe went to find a table. The girl walked up the Hunter. "I'm gonna go find the gift shop, see if there's a sweatshirt."

Zoe nodded and handed her ten dollars before watching the people.

Ariadne walked around aimlessly, searching for a gift shop that had a sweatshirt, there had to be at least one. Her eyes scanned the crowd of people and found a tour group entering a lit up shop with display windows, a sweatshirt shining on a mannequin.

A smile spread across her face as she practically smiled to the shop, wanting to get rid of the chilly feeling along her arms. Her purple t-shirt was grimy with dust and dirt, she needed to cover it up.

She walked around a tour group and caught the eye of a girl her age. The girl had hair as black as midnight and eyes that seemed to hold an orange tiny in them. With just one look, Ariadne felt a bit calmer.

Her eyes blinked and she turned away. She focused on the rack of clothes before her and went about to try to find her size. She found a black t-shirt with a depiction of the Hoover Dam printed onto it. Unluckily for her, she couldn't find a sweatshirt.

A body knocked into hers and she dropped the shirt. Her hand reached down just as another reached out and grabbed her shirt before she could. Ariadne glanced up and saw the girl from earlier smiling at her.

"Sorry," the girl said. "I should really pay attention to where I'm going."

Ariadne shook her head. "It's alright. I'm pretty clumsy myself."

The girl held her hand out. "I'm Molly." There was a twinkle in her whiskey colored eyes as Ariadne shook her hand. "You from around here?"

"No," Ariadne said. "New York."

Molly smirked. "Family trip?"

"Yeah. They're in line for food."

Molly raised an eyebrow at her money. "That shirts, like, twenty dollars. You have enough?"

The brunette sighed and sadly placed the hanger back on the rack. "No, now that you made me realize it. I was hoping to change." She motioned to her grimy t-shirt and Molly nodded.

"Well, here." Molly dug through her Jean pockets and produced a wad of cash. It looked like it was four hundred bucks. "I don't need it anyway"

Ariadne shook her head. "No. Sorry, I just... that's a lot of money not to want."

Molly shrugged. "Eh, my family thought I would need it when I don't. You can take it."

The brunette cautiously took the money and smiled. "Thank you, Molly. Say, where are you from?"

"Oh, you know," Molly smirked and looked around with a mischievous look in her eyes, leaning forward, "Empire State Building, sixty-hundredth floor."

Ariadne's eyes went wide. "What?" she whispered.

Molly's whiskey colored eyes changed to a orange and red. "I've got to get going, but it was nice meeting you, Ariadne."

She started walking away and through the crowded shop. Ariadne watched her walk off. "I didn't even tell you my name!" she called.

Red and orange eyes sent her a wink before her hair melted from the shirt bob it once was, to her mid-back. Her body grew taller and her skin tanner. She sent a smirk towards Ariadne who's mouth dropped open, a warmth settling over her.

Molly—scratch that—Hestia, disappeared into the crowd. Ariadne couldn't find her and glanced down at her money, a note tucked inside the wad of cash.

She picked it up and eyed it. It said: Your kindness is much appreciated, Ariadne. I hope we meet again. Ps: Athena says hi.

Her eyes went wide and she furrowed her eyebrows. Why has Hestia decided to help her. She shook her question away and picked up the t-shirt from the rack. As she started walking away, a glimmering sweatshirt caught her eye.

It was all black with Hoover Dam in small letters in the left corner. She picked it up and was surprised to see it was exactly her size. On the back of it was the words, HOOVER DAM: 2007.

Ariadne shrugged and headed towards the front counter. She payed for her items and headed towards the bathrooms next door. She changed out of her old t-shirt and threw it in the trash, feeling cozy in her new clothes.

She walked back to the snack bar where her friends were, scanning the tables for Zoe. When she found the Hunter, who was looking around with a bored expression, a hand matched onto her shoulder.

When she spun around, she met a panicked Percy who dragged her through the tables and towards Zoe. Thalia and Grover has made it back and were already eating.

"We need to leave," Percy gasped. "Now!"

"But we just got our burritos!" Thalia said.

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 them a beautiful panoramic view of the skeleton army that had come to kill them.

Ariadne counted two in 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.

But their immediate problem was much closer. The three skeleton warriors who'd been chasing Percy now appeared on the stairs. They saw him from across the cafeteria and clatter their teeth.

"Elevator!" Grover said. They bolted in that direction, but the doors opened with a pleasant ding, and three more warriors stepped out. Every warrior was accounted for, minus the one Bianca had turned to flames in New Mexico. They were completely surrounded.

Then Grover had a brilliant, totally Grover-like idea.

"Burrito fight!" he yelled, and flung Guacamole Grande at the nearest skeleton.

Grover's lunch hit the skeleton and knocked his skull clean off his shoulders. Ariadne wasn't sure what the other kids in the cafe saw, but they went crazy and began throwing their burritos and baskets of chips and sodas at each other, shrieking and screaming with delight.

The skeletons tried to aim their guns, but it was hopeless. Bodies and food and drinks were flying everywhere.

In the chaos, Thalia and Percy tackles the other two skeletons on the stairs and sent them flying into the condiment tab. Then they all raced done stairs, Guacamole Grandes whizzing last their heads.

"What now?" Grover asked as they burst outside.

No one had an 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 cafe were running up to join them. One was still putting its skill back on its shoulders. Another was covered in ketchup and muster. Two more had burritos lodged in their rib cages. They didn't look happy about it. They drew batons and advanced.

"Four against eleven," Zoe muttered. "And they cannot for."

"It's been nice adventuring with you guys," Grover said, his voice trembling.

"Whoa," Percy said, glancing behind him and at the statues feet. "Their toes really are bright."

"Perc!" Ariadne said. "Now is not the time for you to be observing a statue's feet." She was inches away from bringing out Lunacy, but there was nothing she could do, seeing as the skeletons couldn't die.

"Thalia," Percy 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."

Six skeletons raised their guns. The other five came forward with batons. Fifty feet away. Forty feet.

Ariadne clenched her hand and tried searching for a lit of soil or a plant, but there was nothing. Guns were pointed at their faces and she knew that in a few seconds that their brains would be blow out by bullets in their heads.

"Do it!" she yelled. She trusted Percy, and if he thought this was the best move, then so be it.

"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 pleased.

Thalia closed her eyes. Her lips moved in a silent prayer. Ariadne our in her own prayer to Athena and Hestia, hoping that one of them would hear and decide they should help.

And nothing happened.

The six skeletons closed in. Ariadne twisted Lunacy and raised it as Percy raised Riptide to defend themselves. Zoe pushes Grover behind her and aimed an arrow at a skeleton's head.

A shadow fell over them. Ariadne didn't know what it was for a few seconds, but after, she realized it was the shadow of an enojemos wing. The skeletons looked up too late. A flash of bronze, and all five of the baton-wielded were swept aside.

The other skeletons opened fire. Percy raised his lion coat for protection as Ariadne shielded 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 in 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, as if he hadn't had a drink siente he'd been built.

"Will ya look at my toes?" the other said. "Holy Zeus, what were those tourists thinking?"

As stunned as Ariadne was by the angels, she was more concerned with the skeletons. A few of them were getting up again, reassembling, bong hands groping for their weapons.

"Trouble!" Percy said.

"Get is 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!"

The angels looked at each other and shrugged.

"Could use a stretch," one decided.

And the next thing Ariadne kneecap one of them grabbed her, Thalia, and Percy, the other grabbed Zoe and Grover. They flew straight up, over the dam and river, the skeleton warriors shrinking to tiny specks below them and the sound of gunfire echoing off the sides of the mountains.

authors note:

To be honest, I write fluff scenes that seem so real and adorable, yet, I've never been in an actual relationship.