Veronica Sawyer was an iconic name. And so that was what she called herself.
She would've liked to be simple, with the basic life of demigods for a backstory-mortal parent didn't want her, she ended up a year-rounder. But the Fates didn't like Veron...
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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝟏𝟎: 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝
December 20, 2007
"WE WILL NEVER MAKE IT," ZOË GROANED. "We are moving too slow. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."
"Mooo," Bessie said. He swam his way to Percy as the group jogged along the waterfront. They'd left the shopping center pier far behind. Veronica had wound up slumped against Percy the entire time, the use of her powers shaking her so severely, she couldn't stand on her own because her knees would randomly give out. It was a good thing Percy offered to help her, because the Golden Gate Bridge was a lot farther than she'd had hoped. 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 informed him. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to night."
"What happens if we miss it?" Veronica asked.
"Tomorrow is winter solstice," Zoë said. "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."
"They'd continue the meeting even if she wasn't there?" Veronica questioned. "Seriously?"
"We need a car," Thalia said.
"What about Bessie?" Percy asked, gesturing to said Ophiotaurus.
Grover stopped in his tracks. "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"
"Well, yeah," Percy 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 me," Percy said. "If I'm 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."
"Wait, what?" Veronica spoke up.
"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. Bessie 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."
"Wait. That blessing only works on wild animals, right?" Veronica asked.
