Indigo Eyes

Chapter 56

"What did she want with you?" Bianca asked once Percy told them that Aphrodite was the 'she' inside the limo. Zoë helped Cressida up as Thalia offered Percy a hand.

"Oh, uh, not sure," Percy said and Cressida narrowed her eyes at him and Percy could just tell that she knew he was lying. "She said to be careful in her husband's junkyard. She said not to pick anything up."

Now Zoë narrowed her eyes. "The goddess of love would not make a special trip to tell thee that,"

"I agree," Cressida said.

"Be careful, Percy. Aphrodite has led many heroes astray."

"For once, I agree with Zoë," Thalia said. "You can't trust Aphrodite."

Grover was looking at Percy funny and Cressida had the feeling that he could tell exactly what happened inside that limo between Percy and Aphrodite because of their empathy link. She'd ask him about it later because she also had a feeling that Percy wouldn't be very forthcoming about the information if he was lying about it now.

"So," Percy said, anxious to change the subject, "how do we get out of here?"

"That way," Zoë pointed. "That is west."

"How can you tell?" he wondered, and Zoë rolled her eyes before staring up at the stars.

"Ursa Major is in the north," she said, "which means that must be west."

Percy clearly had no idea what she was looking at because he wasn't even looking in the right place. Now, Cressida rolled her eyes as she grabbed his face and shifted it in the right direction. "See that bright one? That's a corner of the Big Dipper. Then those three make the box and that one joins to those three other stars to make a handle. See the two other bright ones and the smaller one in the middle?"

"Oh, yeah," Percy squeaked as he actually was able to piece together the constellation, despite how fast his heart was beating at Cressida's closeness which never used to bother him before. Damn, Aphrodite. "How'd you know that?"

"Do you actually pay attention to the activities they offer at camp? They have a class on just about everything, such as astronomy," she explained, and his eyes widened.

"Oh," he said dumbly. "So that's how you know about the bear thing."

"Duh," she retorted as Zoë looked offended.

"Show some respect. It was a fine bear. A worthy opponent."

"You act like it was real."

"Again, had you taken astronomy.... I apologise on his behalf," Cressida said and Percy was still lost on the fact that the stories of the pictures in the stars were more than just stories. Orion the Hunter for example - Zoë would probably be well versed in that one.

"Guys," Grover broke in. "Look!"

They'd reached the crest of a junk mountain, piles of metal objects glinting in the moonlight.

"Whoa," Bianca said. "That stuff... some of it looks like real gold."

"It is," Thalia said grimly. "Like Percy said, don't touch anything. This is the junkyard of the gods."

"Junk?" Grover picked up a beautiful crown made of gold, silver and jewels. It was broken on one side, as if it had been split by an axe. "You call this junk?"

"It's here for a reason," Cressida said just as Grover bit into the grown and began to chew.

"It's delicious!" he exclaimed before Thalia swatted the crown out of his hands.