Birthright (Forgotten Daughter part 2)

A Dam Problem

They walked in silence, continuing west. They stopped when they reached a sheer cliff. It cut deep into the earth with a small stream running through it.

Grover spotted a path down, but it was fit for a mountain goat and Percy convinced him to look for a different one.

Eventually they scaled the cliff down to the shallow river. A canoe rental place stood near the edge of the water. They took two of the small boats and placed them in the current. Grover and Zoe hopped into one of them and Percy and Thalia claimed the other.

Ali examined the floating vessels. "I'm going to sink it."

Percy chuckled and offered her his hand. "No you won't. I'll make sure of it."

She cracked a half-smile, the first one since the junkyard, and stepped into the canoe, ignoring Percy's hand.

Soon, a pair of Nyads were rushing them up river, against the current. They stopped when a massive concrete wall came into view.

"The Hoover Dam." Thalia observed.

They dismounted the boats and walked towards the huge structure.

"Annabeth really wanted to visit this place." Percy mused as he stared up at the concrete.

Ali grabbed his shoulder. "Hey." She waited for him to look at her. "We're going to get her back. I promise."

"How can you make that promise?" He looked at her like he didn't want hope.

She squeezed his shoulder. "Because I won't stop until we do." She turned and started to walk away, but Percy grabbed her hand. She looked back at him.

"Thank you." He stared her straight in the eyes.

"For what?" She couldn't tear her gaze from his green eyes. They pulsed and moved like the sea.

He smiled. "For everything."

Ali nodded.

Percy let her hand slip free of his grasp and they moved to catch up with the others.
                                   *   *   *
They walk across the top of the dam. Tourists milled about aimlessly.

Thalia recounted her previous visit to the dam, mentioning something about a snack bar in the visitor's center.

Ali could hear Grover's stomach growl from the other side of their little procession. She rolled her eyes. The guy could eat literally anything, and he was hungry.

Zoe was talking, but all Ali heard was. "Let us find the dam snack bar."

She had to repeat the sentence in her mind, before it registered and she almost dropped to the ground laughing. Grover, Thalia, and Percy didn't help, adding comments like "I need to use the dam bathroom," and "I want to buy a dam t-shirt."

She composed herself enough to add one of her own. "I don't know about you, but I can't get over this dam view."

They were laughing so hard that Grover was crying and Percy was clutching his stomach like it hurt.

"What is so funny?" Zoe asked, completely oblivious.

Percy finally calmed down enough to speak. "It's nothing. You're right. We should eat."

They made for the visitors center. Percy had stayed back to have some time alone. Understandable. They'd been through a lot in the last couple days.

As they reached the door, Ali paused. "You guys go ahead." She held the door for them. "I need some fresh air."

Zoe nodded and continued inside.

"Save me something." Ali called after Grover.

"No promises!" He replied as he rushed towards the snack bar.

Ali's smile faded and she walked to the edge of the dam, looking down at the hundreds of feet of gorge below. No one could survive a fall from that height. She picked up a pebble and dropped it experimentally into the trench. It clattered off the dam wall to the stream far below. She took a deep breath, the misty air wetting her throat. She chewed her bottom lip and kicked the wall absentmindedly.

Sighing, she looked over to where Percy had stopped. Her heart skipped a beat. He was gone; and a black car with tinted windows had pulled to a stop on one side of the dam. For a moment, she wasn't sure if she should try to find Percy or get the others or wait and see if it was a coincidence. A creepy, ominous coincidence that could get someone killed if she was wrong.

She turned towards the snack bar, almost jumping over the side of the dam when she found a skeletal soldier directly behind her.

The soldier in a camouflage army uniform gripped her forearm with its cold fingers.

She struggled, but it had an iron grip and it didn't seem phased by any of her attacks. It didn't feel pain.

It grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and slammed her forward against the concrete wall.

She leaned precariously over the edge, staring into the canyon. She braced herself against the edge and strained against the soldier.

It growled and pressed harder.

Her feet were slipping. Gripping the edge harder, she lifted her legs off the ground and kicked the soldier in the stomach with both feet.

It stumbled backwards, clutching its chest. The soldier looked up and growled.

Ali drew her knife and glared at the skeleton. She dodged a flying punch and sliced the soldier across the arm with her venomous knife.

It flinched back, but didn't seem to be affected by the poison. Blue veins crisscrossed its arm and black blood flowed from the clean cut.

She ducked another attack and cut him through the stomach.

Anger boiling, it grabbed her wrists and slammed her back against the concrete wall.

"Oh this is so not happening again." She kneed the soldier in the crouch, which didn't phase it as much as she wanted, but it loosened its grip. She ducked, braced her shoulder against its chest, and threw it over the side of the dam. Panting, she gazed over the side, watching it fall.

The skeleton clattered loudly against the canyon floor. No blood, just the crack of shattering bones.

She turned to the visitors center and dashed inside. She spotted the others eating by a table. "We need to go."

Before they could respond, Percy burst through the doors. "We have a problem."

A/N
Sorry for being late today guys, but Mondays are busy for me. I'm just glad I got a chapter out.
Hope you like it.
-Cheshire