Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Male Reader Insert)

Nothing Like Dam Jokes to Calm Your Grieving

Character Information:
(Y/N): Your Name
(L/N): Last Name
(H/C): Hair Color
(E/C): Eye Color
(H/L): Hair Length
(S/C): Skin Color
(F/C): Favorite Color
(F/F): Favorite Food
(F/D): Favorite Drink

Percy's POV

At the edge of the dump, we 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 we decided to borrow it.

Thalia drove. She didn't seem as stunned as Zoë, Grover, (Y/N), and me.

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

She navigated us through the desert, under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look at. Zoë sat up front with Thalia. Grover, (Y/N), and I sat in the pickup bed. The air was cool and dry, but the nice weather just seemed like an insult after losing Bianca.

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

Oh, gods... What was I going to tell Nico?

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

"It should've been me," (Y/N) said, quietly. "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.

(Y/N) buried his face in his hands. "I was the one who suggested going inside Talos. If I hadn't said that..."

I knew this wouldn't be good. (Y/N)'s habit of blaming himself for things was always bad, but now that someone was actually gone...

I leaned closer to (Y/N) and put my hand on his shoulder. "Don't blame yourself. Your suggestion was right. The rest of us are alive now because of it."

"But Bianca's not. And now Nico doesn't have a sister anymore."

A lump formed in my throat. "It wasn't your fault, (Y/N). Bianca rushed in before either of us could stop her."

(Y/N) sighed and uncovered his face. He leaned his head against the wall of the pickup bed and stared up at the sky. "I know. It's just... This is the first time I've actually lost a friend."

I nodded. Grover sniffled again and wiped under his eyes with an oily cloth that left his face grimy, like he had on war paint.

"I know we can't afford to get all depressed right now," (Y/N) said. "Things still need to get done. Bianca would want us to keep going. We still have to rescue Artemis and Annabeth, while also finding this unknown monster."

"Yeah," I agreed.

Grover nodded too. I realized that he was looking back and forth between me and (Y/N), noticing that I still had my hand on his shoulder.

I pulled my hand away immediately. I don't know how much Grover knew of my conversation with Aphrodite from the empathy link, and I didn't want to think about it.

Grover didn't say anything though.

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?"

I 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.