The King

Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Meeting Wisdom

Percy's POV

... Wow.

Just... Wow.

Deciding that we'd have a full talk after this quest, Chaos let me off... for now.

I returned to the group to meet them with solemn expressions.

Grover awkwardly sat by himself, no doubt wanting to cheer up the group but not knowing how.

Thalia looked lifeless, although her expression got better when I appeared; walking out of her shadow, I was met with a very, very tight hug.

Zoe stared at me in silence, with no idea what she was thinking. I couldn't help but think of how lonely she was, But she's not my problem.

Bianca was alive somehow because of me, I didn't need to explain how or why to them since I wasn't sure myself.

With my appearance, the group wordlessly decided to continue the quest for Artemis.

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 Zoe or Grover with me beside her.

"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. Zoe sat up front with Thalia. Grover and I sat in the pickup bed, leaning against the tow wench. The air was cool and dry, nice weather. Would have been better if we were complete.

I still held the little figurine she almost lost her life for, Tracing it, I couldn't even guess which God it was.

"Stupid girl."

I whispered.

The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well because the road was dead-ended.

Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tyres 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.

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

I tried to see what he was talking about, and finally noticed a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face. "That's a goat path," I said.

"So?" he asked.

"The rest of us aren't goats."

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

I thought about that. I'd done cliffs before, but I didn't like them. Then I looked over at Thalia and saw how pale she'd gotten. Her problem with heights… she'd never be able to do it.

"Tch, let's go around it." I decided.

"I walk wouldn't hurt." I rolled my eyes when I heard Thalia's gratitude in my head.

We followed the river for about half a mile before coming to an easier slope that led down to the water. On the shore was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season, but I left a stack of golden drachmas on the counter and a note saying IOU two canoes.