A web of fates | Percy Jackson and the Olympians

XIV| burrito fight

At the edge of the dump, they 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 Theo or Percy or Zoë or Grover or Daphne.

"The skeletons are still out 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 at.

Zoë sat up front with Thalia.

Daphne, Theo Grover and Percy sat 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.

Percy's hand closed around the little figurine that had cost her life. Daphne still couldn't even tell what god it was supposed to be. Nico would know.

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

Daphne wanted to believe that Bianca was still alive somewhere. But she had a bad feeling that she was gone for good.

"It should've been me," Percy said. "I should've gone into the giant."

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

Daphne and Theo, sat there next to one another. Neither spoke, they didn't need to. Daphne felt unbelievably guilty.

The teenager felt as though it was her fault Bianca had died.

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

Daphne scanned the horizon. There wasn't much to see. Desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped 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 carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below them.

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

Daphne tried to see what he was talking about, and finally noticed a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face.

"That's a goat path." Theo observed.

"So?" he asked.

"The rest of us aren't goats." Percy deadpanned to him.

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

Daphne's head rested on Theo's shoulder. "That's not very reassuring."

Daphne looked over at Thalia and saw how pale she'd gotten. Her problem with heights... she'd never be able to do it.

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

"Great idea." Theo and Daphne both said.

Grover said, "But—"

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

"A walk could clear my head too," Daphne added, which wasn't necessarily a complete lie.

Daphne glanced at Thalia. Her eyes said a quick Thank you.