The Titans Curse: Apollo's Daughter

Naiads and Regrets

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 Zoe or Skyler or 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. Zoe sat up front with Thalia. Skyler and I 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.

Skye was leaned against my side, her hand closed around something. She was holding onto something like her life depended on it.

"It should have been me." She mumbled softly. "I should've gone into the giant. I should have never let her go. I could have stopped her."

"Skyler don't... don't talk like that," I said, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her tighter to my body. "It's bad enough Annabeth is gone, and now Bianca. Do you think I could stand it if..." I paused, pressing my lips to the top of her blonde head. "Do you think anybody else would date a loser like me?" 

She let out a weak pained chuckle, taking my hand and giving it a tight squeeze. "Probably no one." She said, trying to hide the fact tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Skyler--"

"I'm... I'm fine." She said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

But she wasn't okay. Ever since New Mexico, whatever had happened when she passed out... she seemed really fragile. I was afraid to talk to her about it because for once with the daughter of Apollo I didn't know how she'd react...

I realized I couldn't stay depressed, not just for me but for Skyler. I had to set aside thinking about Bianca and keep us going forward, the way Thalia was doing. I wondered what she and Zoe were talking about in the front of the truck.

......

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. 

Skyler looked upstream and then downstream. "Well, Water Boy?"

"I, uh, think we should go farther upstream." Everyone agreed and we began our hike upstream.

We followed the river about half a mile before coming to a 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.'

"We need to go upstream," Zoe said. It was the first time I'd heard her speak since the junkyard, and I was worried about how bad she sounded, like somebody with the flu. "The rapids are too swift."

"Leave that to me," I said.

We put the canoes in the water. "Can you really..." Thalia asked and nodded to the rapids. "You know."