OH, CHÉRIE!¹ percy jackson

012

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"WE WILL NEVER make it," zoë said. "we are moving too slowly. but we cannot leave the ophiotaurus."

"mooo,"the ophiotaurus "bessie" said. he swam next to percy as they jogged along the waterfront. they'd left the shopping-centre pier far behind. they were heading towards the golden gate bridge, but it was a lot further than ivy had realized or remembered from when she used to live here. the sun was already dipping in the west.

"i don't get it," percy said. "why do we have to get there at sunset?"

"the hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," zoë said. "we can only enter their garden as day changes to night."

"what happens if we miss it?"

"tomorrow is winter solstice. if we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. and by then, the olympian council will be over. we must free lady artemis tonight."

or annabeth will be dead, ivy thought, but she didn't say that.

"we need a car," thalia said.

ivy looked around, inspecting the cars on the sidewalk. "i know how to pick a car lock."

"i'm not even going to ask how you know how to do that," percy shook his head. "but what about bessie?"

grover stopped in his tracks. "i've got an idea! the ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"

"well, yeah," the son of poseidon said. "i mean, he was in long island sound. then he just popped into the water at hoover dam. and now he's here."

"so maybe we could coax him back to long island sound," grover said. "then chiron could help us get him to olympus."

"but he was following percy," ivy said. "if he's not there, would he know where he's going?"

"moo," bessie said forlornly.

"i... i can show him," grover said. "i'll go with him."

ivy stared at him. grover was no fan of the water. he'd almost drowned last summer in the sea of monsters, and he couldn't swim very well with his goat hooves.

"i'm the only one who can talk to him," grover said. "it makes sense."

he bent down and said something in bessie's ear. sessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound.

"the blessing of the wild," grover said. "that should help with safe passage. percy, pray to your dad, too. see if he will grant us safe passage through the seas."

ivy didn't understand how they could possibly swim back to long island from california. then again, monsters didn't travel the same way as humans. she'd seen plenty of evidence of that.

"dad," percy said, his eyes shut as he faced the sea. "help us. get the ophiotaurus and grover safely to camp. protect them at sea."

"a prayer like that needs a sacrifice," thalia said. "something big."

percy got a pensive look for a second, then he took off his coat.

"percy," grover said. "are you sure? that lion skin... that's really helpful. hercules used it!"

as soon as he said that, ivy realized something.

the daughter of aphrodite glanced at zoë, who was watching percy carefully. she realized she did know who zoë's hero had been; the one who'd ruined her life, got her kicked out of her family and never even mentioned how she'd helped him. hercules, a hero admired by all.