The Titan's Curse [Book Three]

I Miss Her.

     Picking themselves up, the group of now five quest goers found an old tow truck. It was old enough to probably have been thrown away itself. However, it had a full tank of gas so they took it. Thalia drove and Zoe sat in the passenger seat. Grover, Reagan, and Percy sat in the bed of the truck. Reagan had taken off her leather jacket finally, and was wearing a sleeveless shirt with some band on the front that Percy had never heard of. Draping the jacket over her lap, Reagan turned her head to the side and allowed the wind to whip her hair and face. The weather was beautiful, and that just pissed her off even more. Percy and Grover must have been getting some of her vibes of anger, because like her dad, she radiated it at times and influenced other people with anger- made other people angry.

"Reagan?"

She blinked, green orbs flickering nervously before landing on Percy and then Grover.

"What is it?"

Percy grimaced slightly at the sound of her voice. She sounded like she has the flu. "Are you okay?" That was a stupid question. It was obvious that she wasn't okay. None of them were okay, only Thalia seemed normal compared to how stunned everyone else was.

Reagan chuckled coldly. "Do I look okay?" she muttered bitterly and glared. Before either of them could respond, Reagan's shoulders slumped and she covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry," she murmured miserably.

Percy frowned. "Hey, it's cool. We're all a little-"

She shook her head. "I should be dead now. Not-Not Bianca." Her voice cracked, her emotions daring to take control again.

"No!" Grover said quickly. "No! I can't lose another friend. First Annabeth-"

Reagan looked at Grover, shocked. Then her gaze softened and she just sighed with exhaustion, like she hadn't slept in years. "Sorry, Grover." There was a pause. "And we're going to find Annabeth still."

     Thalia stopped the car beside a gorge that had a river winding through at the bottom far below. The road was coming to a dead end, and the truck had run out of gas anyways. As she climbed out of the drivers side and slammed the door shut, a tire blew out.

"Great," she muttered sarcastically. "Now what?"

Grover sniffed the air and looked around, pointing off in the distance. "We can take that path down to the river."

It was a scraggly path that looked hazardous.

"Grover, we aren't part goat," Percy said.

"We can all make it," the Satyr argued back. "I think."

Thalia lost all the color on her face.

"I can't!" Reagan said abruptly. "I mean, uh, why don't we walk a little further and try to find a better path?" she suggested calmly and smiled.

Grover frowned. "But-"

"A little more walking won't hurt us."

     As they all started walking, Thalia and Reagan's eyes met. The daughter of Zeus nodded, a silent thank you. Reagan nodded in return. As they all walked, Reagan had eventually wrapped the sleeves of her leather jacket around her head and tied it securely. She fixed the jacket so it worked like some sort of hat to shield the back of her neck and shoulders from the sun. They found a better path and followed it down the canyon to the river, where coincidentally a canoe rental service was. However, it was out of season and therefore closed down. Percy quickly scribbled out an "IOU two canoes" on a scrap of paper and slipped it under the door of the shack.

"We need to go upstream," Zoe spoke finally, voice hoarse from crying. "The rapids are too swift."

"I can handle that," Percy said with a grin.

As they all climbed into the two canoes, Thalia grabbed Reagan by her shoulder to stop her. "Thanks for back there."

Reagan brushed her off and tried to smile. "Don't mention it."

     They got into their two canoes, with Percy, Reagan, and Zoe in one canoe while Grover and Thalia sat in another canoe. Reagan was in the middle, with Percy behind her and Zoe in the front. Percy spoke to a couple naiads in the water, and soon the water beauties were maneuvering the canoes up the river.

"I hate naiads," the Hunter grumbled.

A spurt of water sprayed up in her face, and Reagan couldn't help but to laugh. "She-Devils!" Zoe growled as she went for her how.

"Woah," said Percy. "She's just playing around."

"Cursed water spirits. They've never forgiven me."

Reagan's interest piqued. "Forgiven you for what?"

Zoe strung her now back across her back and sighed. "It was long ago. Forget it."

     And Reagan did. Instead she looked up at the sky, cliffs looming over them on both sides as they traveled up the river.

Eventually, she pursed her lips nervously. "Hey, Zoe," she began. "I'm sorry for what happened to Bianca."

Zoe shook her head without looking back at them. "It is my fault," she said. "I pushed Bianca to go on this quest. She is a powerful half-blood, and has a kind heart. I thought she would make a good lieutenant."

"But you're the lieutenant?"

The Hunter shook her head and sighed tiredly. For once, Reagan looked closely at Zoe's face, into her eyes. She could see how tired she really was- how old she was. "Things do not last forever. I have led the Hunt for over two thousand years, yet my wisdom has not grown. And now Artemis has been captured."

Percy jumped in. "That's not your fault."

"But if I had gone with her-"

"Do you really think you could have done something against a monster that had the power to overcome Artemis?"

     Zoe didn't answer. As they continued going upstream, Reagan felt the pocket of her jeans and felt a bulge. Frowning, she pulled the object from her pocket and examined it. It was the figurine for Mythomagic. Bianca flashed before her eyes, the young Hunter's smile fleeting before disappearing under the foot of Talos. In a moment of anger, Reagan rose her hand, about to chuck the metal object into the river. Her hands shook uncontrollably. She should just get rid of the thing. Yet there was something that stopped her from doing so. Reagan felt fresh tears threaten to fall, and she had to inhale deeply and slowly several times so regain control of herself. Looking back to the figurine more closely this time, she couldn't exactly identify what god it was.

"Reagan?"

She blinked and looked up quickly. "What?"

Percy pointed up ahead. "This is our stop."

     Stuffing the figurine into her pocket, Reagan looked up to where he was pointing. When her eyes landed on it, her heart sank. She wondered if the gods were laughing in their thrones. The Hoover Dam rose above them.

"Seven hundred feet tall. It was built in the 1930's," said Reagan as she climbed out of the canoe without looking away from the monument.

"Five million cubic meters of water," said Thalia.

Grover sighed. "Largest construction project in the United States."

Zoe stared at them all. "How do you know this?"

"Annabeth loves architecture and monuments," Percy answered glumly.

     Reagan was untying the leather jacket from her head and began to put it on. Her eyes were glossy, fogged over like she was going to cry.

She clenched her jaw. "Annabeth always sprouts facts about architecture and monuments," Reagan said slowly.

Grover sniffled sadly. "Always so annoying."

Reagan tried to smile or laugh, but it came out choked and forced. When she spoke, her voice was very quiet and distant. "I miss her."