RED and the Olympians

Houston, We Have A Problem

Thalia, Rachel, Zoe, and Grover looked up at the giant dam blocking the river. 

"Hoover Dam," Thalia breathed. 

"Seven hundred feet tall, built during the 1930s," Rachel muttered. 

"Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia continued.

"Largest construction project in the United States," Grover said wistfully.

Acknowledging Zoe's confused face, Rachel spoke. "Annabeth really liked architecture." A pang went through Rachel's chest at the thought of the daughter of Athena. She had fallen off a cliff when she, Rachel, and Thalia were retrieving Nico and Bianca. Rachel just hoped that she was still alive. Ever since Rachel had come to camp soaking wet when she was twelve, gripping a Minotaur horn tight in one hand and dragging a satyr behind her with another, she and Annabeth had gotten close. 

Even though Rachel had been raised by her extremely gay father (she still didn't understand the science of having two biological dads), she had thought that she was straight. Though as she watched Annabeth fall over the side of the cliff, Dr. Thorn in tow, she could feel her heart drop into her stomach. Right as the quest group reached the junkyard of the gods, Rachel had gotten a surprise visit from the goddess of love, Aphrodite. 

When Rachel had gotten into the limo (at sword point, thanks to Ares) she forgot where she was, who she was, what she was doing. The goddess' beauty was overwhelming. Rachel couldn't even tell you what she looked like. Think of your favorite features, hair, eyes, lips, whatever. If it was beautiful to you, the goddess had it. Her eyes switched colors like Rachel had seen some of her children's eyes do, though at a much faster pace. It almost made Rachel dizzy.

The goddess smiled at Rachel, and Rachel could've sworn that in that moment, she looked like Annabeth. Blonde curls, gray eyes. Her features changed almost immediately, so Rachel couldn't be sure. "Ah, Rachel. I've heard so much about you, Poseidon's pride and joy. I am Aphrodite, in case Ares hadn't clued you in on that." She smiled the single most beautiful smile Rachel had ever seen. 

Rachel sat down in the seat across from the goddess of love and said something unintelligent that was probably along the lines of "Uh, um, ugh."

"Be a dear and hold this for me, would you?" the goddess asked, handing Rachel a mirror the size of a plate and taking a dark red lipstick out of her purse. "Now, I assume you know why you're here?"

Rachel could feel the blood rise to her cheeks as Aphrodite laughed (which sounded like wedding bells, in case you were wondering). "Ah, I was half expecting you to be in denial. You're on this quest for the daughter of Athena, yes?" Met with Rachel's silence, the goddess  continued. "An interesting combination. A daughter of Athena and a daughter of Poseidon. Your parents hate each other, you know."

Rachel could hear Ares chuckle outside at the mention of her and Annabeth. Rachel knew that the war god could hear the entire conversation between herself and Aphrodite and that made her angry. "Annabeth is in trouble, and I have to help her. Why are you here?"

Clearly, Rachel said the wrong thing, because Aphrodite's face twisted into one of beautiful anger. "You would be wise to not anger me, demigod. I am the sole reason you are on this quest. You really think that the huntress wanted the hero with that sword of yours? She left that past behind long ago." Rachel fell silent in hopes that it would help calm the goddess down. "You can put the mirror down, dear."

Rachel put the mirror down. She hadn't even realized that she was still holding it, and realized that her arms were sore. "Lady Aphrodite, do you know where Annabeth is?"

Aphrodite laughed again. "Oh no, but I assume that she's being held at the same place Artemis is, and I believe that the Lieutenant knows where she is. I'll leave the details up to you." She put her lipstick back in the bag at her side and turned to completely face Rachel. "We haven't had a tragic love story in ages."

Rachel balked. "Whoa, hold up a second. Who said anything about tragic?" Aphrodite launched into some story about Helen and Troy. Rachel remembered that they started the Trojan war. She had done a paper on the couple in school. "Anyway, that isn't why I came here. I wanted to tell you: follow your heart."

All Rachel could think was that she was beautiful. You could see it in every single one of her actions. She believed in love so much. It was near impossible to not feel excited about it when around the goddess. 

Ares opened the door of the limo and threw Rachel into the junkyard of the gods. 

The quest group decided to take a little sightseeing detour of the Hoover Dam, for Annabeth's sake. Thalia stayed in the middle of the road, with Zoe as far away from the daughter of Zeus as she could get. Rachel watched as Grover sniffed the air, and she knew that he could smell monsters. "How close are they?"

Her best friend shook his head, looking out over the edge of the dam towards the river they had just traveled. "Maybe close, maybe not. The wind is traveling over miles of uninterrupted desert. It can be anywhere from a few miles away to a few hundred miles away. It is coming from all directions though, which I don't particularly like."

Rachel nodded her head. They were only two days away from the winter solstice, and they still had a ways to travel. A cold feeling settled over her. She knew that Grover was right. Something was wrong.

"There's a snack bar in the visitor center," Thalia said. 

"You've been here before?"

Thalia nodded her head, pointing to the statues on a plaza near the cliff. "Once. I came here to see the guardians. They were a gift to Zeus from Athena when the dam was built." A dark expression came over her face when she mentioned her dad. "They don't do anything though. They're just giant metal statues."

Rachel had a fleeting thought of the last metal statue that they'd run into before Zoe spoke. "Let us find the dam snack bar. I don't know when we shall find another source of food, and we should eat while we can."

Rachel cracked a tired smile as Grover and Thalia started to make jokes. All of a sudden, she heard a distant "Moooo."

Rachel thought maybe she was just imagining it, but Grover stopped laughing almost immediately after she heard the moo. "Did I just hear a cow?"

"A dam cow?" Thalia laughed. 

"No, no, I'm serious."

After Grover confirmed that the rest of the group hadn't heard anything, Rachel managed to convince them that she needed some time alone. "Go on. I just need a minute. I'll meet you." As soon as they were gone, Rachel jogged over to the edge of the dam. Thirty feet below Rachel's feet was Bessie the cow serpent. 

Rachel couldn't imagine how Bessie had gotten to Hoover Dam from Long Island Sound. They were thousands of miles from Long Island, and hundreds of miles inland. "Moo!" Bessie sounded urgent, and the only thing Rachel could think of was that she was trying to warn her of something. 

"What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

Bessie swam in a circle and banged her head against the side of the dam. "Moo." She wanted Rachel to go with her, and wanted her to hurry. 

"I can't," Rachel said. She felt kind of stupid, talking to a cow serpent. "My friends are waiting."

She gave one last urgent "Moo!" and disappeared under the water.