Sealed fate || Percy Jackson

I • XII

Chapter twelve: "And the punch line goes."

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 the rest. 

"The skeletons are still out there," she reminded them. "We need to keep moving." 

She navigated us through the desert, under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look at. Zoe sat up front with Thalia. Grover, Nara 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. He still couldn't even tell what god it was supposed to be. Nico would know. Oh, gods… what was he going to tell Nico? 

Both Nara and him wanted to believe that Bianca was still alive somewhere. But they had a bad feeling that she was gone for good. 

Nara couldn’t still believe it, her heartbeat and breath was still fast. They couldn't have lost her, Nico couldn't have lost her…

'It's all the gods fault' a voice said inside her head 'You are here risking your lifes and what are they doing?'

Nara thought about ir for a while, It was not false. God only wanted them for their own use.

"It should've been me," Percy finally said taking Nara out of her thoughts. "I should've gone into the giant." 

Nara's was going to protest but Grover was faster.

"Don't say that!" He 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." 

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

At least there's one good thing about having a friend who gets freaked out more than you do. Percy realized he couldn't stay depressed. He had to set aside thinking about Bianca and keep us going forward, the way Thalia was doing. He wondered what she and Zoe were talking about in the front of the truck. 

He also wondered what the girl besided him was thinking, as she had been quiet since they left the limousine.

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?" 

Percy 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 us.