SERENDIPITY ~ A. Chase

xii ~ Deadly Disaster in the Desert

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chapter twelve ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
012. Deadly Disaster in the Desert

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Cassie had never been more confused. Her heard was pounding, just about ready to burst and her brain was running on overdrive.

Did she like Annabeth? As more than a friend? What was Aphrodite talking about? Why did the goddess look like Annabeth? Why does she keep thinking about Annabeth? Was that why she liked the ki—

"What did she want with you?" Bianca interrupted the daughter of Ares' moment of panic.

Cassie had managed to tell her friends about Aphrodite... barely.

"I— Uh... um, no clue. Just something about being careful in her husband's junkyard you know. Don't pick anything up." The flush of her face and stammer in her voice were a dead give away of the lie.

Zoë quirked an eyebrow. "The goddess of love would not make a special trip to tell thee that. Be careful, Cassie—Aphrodite has led many heroes astray."

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

Percy only held a smirk on his face and Grover looked at him funny, being able to read his emotions. One look and Cassie knew Percy knew what Aphrodite had talked to her about.

"Mhm... anyways how do we get out of this trash heap?" The brunette mumbled, quick to change the subject.

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

"How can you tell?" Percy asked.

It was pretty dim but the son of Poseidon could see Zoë roll her eyes due to the light of the full moon.

"Ursa Major is in the north, which means that must be west." She gestured a lot of directions which made Cassie dizzy. It was pretty hard to spot the constellation in the bright, star-filled sky.

"Oh, yeah. The bear thing." Percy dumbly stated his realization.

Zoë scoffed in offense. "Show some respect. It was a fine bear. A worthy opponent."

"You act like it was real."

"Guys, look!" Grover blurted out.

They'd gotten to the top of a trash mountain. Piles of metal shone in the moonlight.

Cassie glanced disturbed at the broken heads of bronze horses, metal legs from human statues, and smashed chariots. Her eyes lit up when she noticed the amount of weapons.

There was some modern stuff too like cars of gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines, and computer monitors.

Bianca's eyes widened, "Whoa. That stuff... some of it looks like real gold."

"It is. Like Cass said, don't touch anything. This is the junkyard of the gods." Thalia warned skeptically.

Grover mindlessly grabbed half of a broken crown of gold, silver, and jewels, holding it in his hands. "Junk? You call this junk?"

The satyr bit off one of the points, munching on it. "It's delicious!"

"What part of don't touch anything was not understood?!" Cassie whisper-shouted.

Thalia knocked the crown from his grasp. "We're serious!"

"Look!" Bianca shouted as she dashed down the hill. The girl stumbled over random pieces of junk before reaching for a silver bow shining in the moonlight. "A Hunter's bow!"