Bewitched || P. Jackson

𝟡𝟡 Issues and most of them are Mommy

Thalia was practically carrying Nicki as the group stumbled through the junkyard. Any sort of adrenaline or energy that Nicki was relying on had depleted. The other three trailed behind, a stiff silence enveloping them.

At the edge of the dump, they 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 they decided to borrow it.

Thalia drove. She didn't seem as stunned as the rest of the quest members.

"The skeletons are still out there," she reminded them. "We need to keep moving."

She navigated them through the desert, under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look at. Zoë and Nicki sat upfront with Thalia. Grover and Percy sat in the pickup bed, leaning against the tow winch. The air was cool and dry, but the nice weather just seemed like an insult after losing Bianca.

Nicki's hand closed around the little figurine that had cost Bianca her life. The hard plastic was warm to the touch. Nicki's frown tightened as Hades stared back at her, mockingly.

The entire journey was silent.

Nicki could make out muffled sounds coming from Grover and Percy, but she didn't care to listen.

"I felt her go," Nicki whispered, breaking the heavy silence.

Zoë tensed. She pulled her body away from Nicki. "I told thee that thy book was a bad omen!"

"This has nothing to do with Nicki's book!" Thalia hissed, her knuckles turning white around the dingy steering wheel. "Bianca made the choice herself."

"Hecate's magic is a sign of death."

"Are you saying it was my fault?"

"I'm saying I warned thee."

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 unbuckled her seatbelt almost slapping Zoë in the face with it. "Maybe if you didn't give her the idea of immortality, we wouldn't be here."

Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew.

"I lost her too." Nicki climbed out through the open window. "Sparky, the door's broken." Nicki hopped into the bed next to Percy.

The boy avoided eye contact with her. Guilt rushed up to his throat like bile. Nicki rested her hand lightly on his knee in search of mutual comfort.

Thalia easily cleared the side of the pickup bed, landing softly next to Nicki. "What now?"

Nicki shifted, her purple eyes 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 them.

"There's a path," Grover said. "We could get to the river."

Grover pointed to a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face.

"That's a goat path," Percy deadpanned.

"So?" he asked.

"The rest of us aren't goats."

"We can make it," Grover said. "I think."

Thalia gripped Nicki's free hand, paling by the second. Percy frowned. Nicki looked at him pleadingly. Her hand was turning bluer by the second.

"No," Percy said. "I, uh, think we should go farther upstream."

"But—"

"Come on," He said. "A walk won't hurt us." He glanced at Thalia. Her eyes said a quick Thank you.