¹On This Spring Day, percy jackson & the olympians

015.

ON THIS SPRING DAY
━━━━━ chapter fifteen

━━━━━ "WE WILL NEVER make it," said Zoë. "We are moving too slowly. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."

Bessie mooed from the water. He swam next to Percy as they jogged along the waterfront. The five had left the shopping center pier far behind. They were heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was a lot further than Violet had ever realized. The sun was already dipping in the west.

"I don't get it," said the son of Poseidon. "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."

Violet chewed on her bottom lip nervously. "And 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, and Bianca would have given her life for nothing, Violet thought, but didn't say.

"We need a car," Thalia said.

"But what about Bessie?" Percy asked.

Grover stopped in his tracks. "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"

"Well, yeah." Percy nodded. "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 me," said Percy, pointing to his chest. "If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"

Bessie mooed forlornly beneath them.

"I ... I can show him," Grover said. "I'll go with him."

"But, Grover," Violet started, knowing that swimming with goat hooves was not easy. "I mean—swimming is hard for you. Are you sure?"

"I'm the only one who can talk to him, Violet," the satyr said. "It makes sense."

He bent down and said something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound.

"The blessing of the Wild," Grover said, straightning to his full height. "That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he will grant us safe passage through the seas."

Violet didn't understand how Grover and Bessie could possibly swim back to Long Island from California. Then again, monsters didn't travel the same way as humans. She had seen plenty of evidence of that.

Percy straightened, looking out to the ocean sprawled before them. "Dad," he said. "Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."

"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice," Thalia pointed out. "Something big."

They were silent as everybody racked their brains for anything to offer to the God of the Seas. Slowly, Violet wrapped her fingers around the clasp keeping the lion skincoat on her shoulders. She unclasped it, tossing it to Percy.