[1] 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐃𝐎𝐌 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 ― p.jackson ✓

012.

「012. a terrible realisation」

CADIE HAD somewhat recovered from her cadie attack. her head still felt woozy, but that might have been the high speeds the boar was travelling at. her mind was scrambled still, but she was piecing it back together, slowly but surely- she was storing the revelation of percy being her soulmate back into her mind. slowly but surely- she tried to accept that apollo had cursed her; no matter how mad or angry she was, she had to save annabeth. that was her top priority right now. she was not going to let anything come between her and her other friend. and finally, slowly but surely- she pushed the idea of death back in her mind. it was uncomfortable, but she knew it wouldn't stay there for long. she'd pick apart her untimely death eventually; probably soon.

because that's what cadie did best. worry and become an awkward and anxious mess.

when they finally stopped, cadie looked around to see miles of flat and dry land. the grass and scrub brush got sparser and they'd stopped at a creek. the boar drank the muddy water, then proceeded to rip a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chew it (needles and all).

"this is as far as he'll go," grover said, "we need to get off whilst he's still eating."

nobody really needed convincing. cadie slipped off last, stumbling as she stood on the ground warily- so unused to standing when she'd been on the back of a rabid and uncomfortable boar for what seemed like hours. lilly snorted a bit and cadie elbowed her lightly, mumbling, "shut up."

"whatever," lilly grinned, rolling her eyes. the elfish and cheek smirt was still on their face. but they squeezed her shoulders and asked, "seriously though, you okay now?"

"better," cadie said, "my skin doesn't feel numb anymore- and uh... it's not as loud, i guess."

"that's good, i think," lilly tried. there was a pause, silence. "we'll get annabeth back.  i know we will. we... we have to."

"we will," nodded cadie, "we will."

they waddled their way out of sight of the boar- with the only recognition it had gone being the loud squeal that cadie assumed came from the boar before it galloped away.

"it likes the mountains better," percy guessed.

"i can't blame it," thalia said, shrugging, "look."

ahead of them was a two-lane road half blown over with sand. on the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings that were collected together, too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop and a white stucco post office with a sign that said 'gila claw, arizona' hanging over the door. beyond that was a range of hills... but when cadie looked closer she realised they weren't exactly hills. not normal ones, anyways. the countryside was way to flat to hold hills anyways.

the hills were enormous mounds of gold cars, appliances, and other scrap pieces of metal. it was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

"whoa," percy managed.

cadie had to agree, as exhausted as she was with the ideas of percy circling her mind still. woah, indeed.

"something tells me we're not going to find a car rental here," thalia said, eyeing the hills. she looked over to grover, "i don't suppose you got another wild boar up your sleeve?"

"perhaps one that won't kill us this time?" lilly added.

grover then started sniffing the wind, as if he was nervous. he fished out his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes. it was a song she recognised, the tune distant but resonating with her. though cadie had never really played it before, she wondered if a past life had. she shrugged the thought out of her mind quickly, you're too tired for this, she reminded herself, too many things.