The Nature of a Demigod

Some Dam Problems

[Y/N's POV]

After I had regained some semblance of composure, we took off toward a tow truck we found at the edge of the dump. It looked very old, but still started, and had gas. Thalia drove, more together in the head than any of the rest of us.

I was gritting my teeth, trying not to lose myself. Sure, the demon being bottled up didn't help my anger, but this was real.

I had failed again.

"The skeletons are still out there," Thalia reminded us through the truck's back window. "We need to keep moving." She navigated us through the desert, under shining blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt our eyes. Zoe sat up in the front with Thalia, as us guys sat in the truck bed. I spent most of the ride biting down on my thumb, trying to keep my cool, and ignore the glances from Percy and Grover across from me.

My hand closed around the little figurine that had cost Bianca her life. I still couldn't even tell what god it was supposed to be. The statue was all scratched and faded. Nico would know though. She grabbed it for him.

Oh, gods... what was I going to tell the kid?

"I shouldn't have let her go in. I should've gone. I could've gotten out. I could've gotten her out. But I-" Grover punched me. "Don't say that." the satyr panicked. "You think Annabeth would want you to say things like that! Do you think we want you to say things like that?" He sniffed. I swallowed my nerves and took a deep breath. Percy put a hand on Grover's back and continued for him. "We've lost Annabeth already. And now Bianca. We can't lose you too."

"I'm not sure that you guys have much choice in the matter." I whispered, barely above silence. Grover wiped under his eyes with a dirty rag that left his face looking like he had detailed eye black on. "I'm... I'm okay." he said.

Since New Mexico, Grover hadn't been okay. Since we felt Pan's presence, he seemed fragile, like a solid gust of wind would make him cry all over again. But the one thing about my friends is that they kept me sure that I couldn't wallow in self pity. I had to be ready to help if need be, the way Thalia and Zoe were doing, like I had always done. I wondered what she and Zoe were talking about in the front of the truck.

The tow truck ran out of gas by a river canyon. That worked well too, because the road came up as a dead end right there. Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew. "Great. What now?"

I looked around. Not a lot to see, sand in one direction. Sand in another direction. Hey, look. A mountain. Oh, wait. That's just a tall pile of sand.

The canyon was really the only thing worth looking at. The river inside wasn't big. Maybe two hundred feet across? Green water, mostly still, but just with the desert around it, the river carved such a distinct hole in the sand that it was easy to notice. The cliff below us dropped straight down.

"There's a path," Grover said. "We could get to the river." I tried to see what he was talking about, and finally noticed a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face. "That's a goat path," I said. "So?" he asked. "The rest of us aren't goats."

"We can make it," Grover said. "I think." I thought about that. I'd climbed up and down stuff before, but never very easily. Then I thought about the others. Thalia looked pale, (probably because of the height) and Percy looked skeptical. Zoe seemed sure she could do it easily.

"No." Percy told Grover. "We need to find a shorter climb." Grover stammered. "B- But-"

"Let's go." I agreed. "We can all walk." Thalia shared a look of thanks in our direction.