𝓟𝓻𝓪𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓪 - (𝓟.𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓸𝓷)

14.

vol ii
➵ chapter fourteen ➵

The quest group had left the shopping center pier far behind, now heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Though it's farther than they had anticipated, the sun dipping in the west.

"We will never make it," Zoe says. "We are moving too slow. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."
"Mooo," Bessie replies, swimming along the waterfront.
"I don't get it," Percy states. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"
"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," Zoe explains. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to night."
"What happens if we miss it?"

"Tomorrow is winter solstice. If we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."
"We need a car," Thalia remarks .
"But what about Bessie?" Percy argues.

Grover stops in his tracks. "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"
"Well, yeah," Percy says. "I mean, he was in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped into the water at Hoover Dam. And now he's here."

"So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound," Grover explains. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."
"But he was following me," Percy states. "If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"
"Moo," Bessie says forlornly.
"I... I can show him," Grover says. "I'll go with him."

Percy stares at the satyr, knowing he's no fan of the water, having almost drowned in the Sea of Monsters.
And he couldn't swim very well with his goat hooves.
"I'm the only one who can talk to him," Grover says, determined. "It makes sense."
He bends down and says something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivers, then makes a contented, lowing sound.

"The blessing of the Wild," Grover says. "That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he will grant us safe passage through the seas."

The half-blood tries to concentrate on the waves, the smell of the ocean, and the sound of the tide.
"Dad. Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."

"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice," Thalia says. "Something big."
He thinks for a moment and takes off his coat, looking to Helia for reassurance. She nods.
"Percy," Grover says. "Are you sure? That lion skin... that's really helpful. Hercules used it!"

Realisation hits the son of Poseidon. He did know who Zoe's hero had been—the one who'd ruined her life, gotten her kicked out of her family, and never even mentioned how she'd helped him: Hercules, a hero he'd admired all his life.

"If I'm going to survive," he says, "it won't be because I've got a lion-skin cloak. I'm not Hercules."
He throws the coat into the bay. It turns back into a golden lion skin, flashing in the light. Then, as it begins to sink beneath the waves, it seems to dissolve into sunlight on the water.

The sea breeze picks up.
Grover takes a deep breath. "Well, no time to lose."
He jumps in the water and immediately begins to sink. Bessie glides next to him and lets Grover take hold of his neck.
"Be careful."
"We will," Grover says. "Okay, um... Bessie? We're going to Long Island. It's east. Over that way."
"Moooo?" Bessie says.
"Yes," Grover answers. "Long Island. It's this island. And... it's long. Oh, let's just start."
"Mooo!"
Bessie lurches forward. He starts to submerge, and Grover says, "I can't breathe underwater! Just thought I'd mention—" Glub!