CHAPTER TWELVE
( TALOS II )

ARES HAD SNAPPED his fingers, making the world spin before Davina and Percy landed on the ground with a thud. She groaned and stood, looking around. The group was no longer in the town of Gila Claw. Instead, they were in the middle of the junkyard.

After being interrogated by the others about what happened in the limo (and them not believing Davina or Percy when they said that Aphrodite just warned them not to touch anything in the junkyard), they made it to a crest of one of the junk piles.

Even more piles glistened in the moonlight in front of them, ranging from broken heads of bronze horses to smashed chariots to weapons all the way to modern cars, refrigerators, and computer monitors.

"Whoah," Bianca breathed out. "That stuff. . . some of it looks like real gold."

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

"Junk?" Grover picked up a crown. "You call this junk?" He bit into the crown. "It's delicious!"

Davina smacked the crown out of his hand. "What part of don't touch anything don't you understand?"

"Look!" Bianca suddenly took off running down the hill. She held up a bow that seemed to be glowing. "A Hunter's bow!" The bow then began to shrink, turning into a hair clip. She beamed up at Percy and Davina. "It's just like your swords!"

"Leave it, Bianca," Zoë ordered.

"But–"

"It is here for a reason," Zoë told her. "Anything thrown away in this junkyard must stay in this yard. It is defective. Or cursed."

Bianca sighed and set the hair clip down.

"I don't like this place," Thalia declared, gripping her spear tight.

"You think we're going to get attacked by killer refrigerators?" Percy asked jokingly.

Thalia shot him a look. "Zoë is right, Percy. Things get thrown away here for a reason. Now, come on, let's get across the yard."

"That's the second time you've agreed with Zoë," Percy pointed out, but Thalia had already walked away from him.

As they made their way through hills of nothing but junk, it seemed that Davina – the daughter of the god of thieves – had better self-control than Grover or Percy did. They kept touching and picking things up, and she kept swatting at their hands.

"What is that?" Bianca gasped.

The only thing that was between them and the road was a bigger and longer hill than all the rest. At one end of the hill was a row of 10, 10 feet tall, long columns.

"They look like–" Bianca started.

"Toes," Grover finished.

Bianca nodded. "Really, really large toes."

"Let's go around," Thalia decided. "Far around."

"But the road is right over there," Percy protested. "Quicker to climb over."

Ping.

Davina unclasped her bracelet, her sword appearing in her hand at the same time that Thalia hefted her spear and Zoë drew her bow. The three quickly realized it was only Grover, who'd thrown a piece of metal at the toes.

"Why did you do that?" Zoë demanded.

Grover cringed. "I don't know. I, uh, don't like fake feet?"

Davina sighed and rolled her eyes as her sword returned to her bracelet. "Let's go. We're going around."

Nobody argued.

After a while of walking, they finally made it to the road.

"We made it out," Zoë breathed out. "Thank the gods."

However, at that very moment, they heard a loud sound from behind them. Davina snapped around, eyes widening in horror when she saw that the mountain of junk was rising. Then, she realized that the toes didn't just look like toes, but were toes.

The giant stood tall, about the size of a New York skyscraper. It was bronze and covered in battle armor. It looked down at them, giving the group a clear view of his face. It wasn't a pretty sight – the left side of his head was almost completely melted off.

"Talos!" Zoë exclaimed.

"Who – who's Talos?" Percy stammered out.

"One of Hephaestus's creations," Thalia answered.

"But it's too small," Davina pointed out. "That can't be the original."

"No," Thalia agreed. "I'm thinking a prototype, or maybe a defective model."

Apparently, Talos II didn't like being called defective because he drew his sword, making the six of them wince at the sound it made when coming out of its scabbard.

"Someone took something!" Zoë realized. "Who took something?"

Her eyes narrowed at Davina, who rolled her eyes. "I know when to keep my hands to myself," she defended herself.

She looked around the group, playing a small game of Spot the Thief with herself. It wasn't Percy or Grover. She'd made sure they put everything they touched back. Besides, Percy was a lot of things (annoying and an idiot were two), but he wasn't a thief.

Her eyes flickered to Bianca, who looked guilty. Before Davina could say anything, Talos II took a step towards them, making the ground shake and cutting the distance between him and the group in half.

"Run!" Grover yelped.

Davina knew running was pointless – he could catch up with them in another step, but the six of them split up and took off.

Thalia held up Aegis and ran down the highway. Talos II swung his sword and took out a row of power lines, which exploded in sparks and blocked her way. Zoë's arrows harmlessly shattered against his metal skin while Grover brayed like a kid (the goat kind, not the human) and scurried up a scrap hill.

Meanwhile, Bianca, Davina, and Percy had somehow ended up hiding together behind a broken chariot.

"Bianca," Davina looked at the girl. "I know you took something. What was it?"

"You took the bow, didn't you?" Percy accused.

"No!"

"Give it back!" Percy demanded. "Throw it down!"

"I. . . I didn't take the bow!" Bianca told them. "Besides, it's too late!"

"Bianca," Davina gave the girl the same stare her abuela used to give her. "What did you take?"

The girl reached for her pocket and opened her mouth, but then there was a loud creaking noise and darkness washed over them.

"Move!" Percy hollered, bolting down the hill. Davina pushed Bianca in front of her. She just barely made it away before the giant's foot smashed right into where they'd been hiding.

"Hey, Talos!" Grover shouted. However, he failed to get the giant's attention. Talos II raised his sword and looked down at Bianca, Percy, and Davina.

Grover pulled out his pipes and played a quick melody. On the highway, the power lines began to sprout to life. One of the few poles with the power still connected to it wrapped around the giant's calf. The lines sparked, sending jolts of electricity up, making Talos whirl around.

"Come on!" Percy urged, turning to run off while the giant was distracted.

Davina lightly pushed Bianca, making sure to keep her in front of her, but the girl wouldn't move. She looked at Davina and pulled something out of her pocket; a small figurine. "It. . . it was for Nico," she explained. "It was the only statue he didn't have."

"How can you think of Mythomagic at a time like this?" Percy hissed.

Bianca's eyes gleamed with tears, making Davina feel bad. She'd only wanted to give her brother something. She'd probably thought it would make him less mad at her.

"Throw it down!" Percy ordered. "Maybe the giant will leave us alone."

Bianca dropped the figurine reluctantly. Davina expected the Talos II to stop moving, to resort back into his mountain of junk, but he kept going after Grover. He stabbed his sword into the hill, barely missing the satyr. The scrap metal avalanched over him, and then Grover disappeared.

"No!" Thalia screamed. She pointed her spear and lightning shot out, hitting the Talos II's knee. It buckled and he collapsed but immediately started to get back up.

Davina looked around them, trying to figure out some way to stop the giant.

"I have a crazy idea," Percy announced.

Davina's eyes fluttered closed for a second. Five words she never wanted to hear from Percy Jackson. "What?"

Percy told them about a maintenance hatch at the bottom of the giant's foot. "There may be a way to control the thing. Switches or something. I'm going to get inside."

"No," Davina argued. "I'll do it."

"What?" Percy shook his head. "You're crazy. No."

"I'm faster!" Davina insisted. "Distract it for me, and I'll time it right."

"You'll get crushed!"

"There's a chance you'd get crushed, too! I trust my judgment more than I trust yours."

"I'll go!" Bianca interrupted.

Percy and Davina's heads both snapped toward her. "No!"

"You can't," Percy continued. "You're new at this. You'll die."

"It's my fault the monster came after us," Bianca stated. "It's my responsibility."

"Bianca," Davina shook her head. "You're a kid. It's not your responsibility."

"Here," Bianca picked up the figurine and placed it in Davina's hands. "If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him. . . tell him I'm sorry."

"No. You're going to give it to him your– Bianca–"

Davina reached for her, but the girl had already charged at Talos II's left foot. Thalia had his attention by running circles around him. Bianca got next to his foot, trying to balance on metal scraps that swayed and shifted from the giant's weight.

"What are you doing!" Zoë yelled.

"Get it to raise its foot!" Bianca hollered back.

Zoë shot another arrow toward Tallos II's face. It flew straight into a nostril. The giant straightened its body and shook its head.

"Hey, Junk Boy!" Percy called out. "Down here!"

He ran up to the giant's big toe and stabbed it with his sword, cutting a gash into his bronze skin. Talos II looked down at him and raised his foot, ready to flatten the son of Poseidon like a pancake. Percy was barely away from the foot when it hit the ground, sending him flying into the air. 

Grover, who'd managed to dig himself out of the junk hill, frantically played his pipe just in time before Talos II finished Percy off. Another power line pole whacked against the giant's thigh, making him turn. Grover ran two steps before he fell and didn't get back up.

"Grover!" Davina, Percy, and Thalia all rushed toward him.

Talos II raised his sword, and then he froze. His head tilted to the side and he started moving his arms and legs weirdly. He made a fist and punched himself in the face.

Davina broke out into a grin. "Yeah, Bianca!"

"Go, Bianca!" Percy cheered.

Zoë looked terrified. "She is inside?"

The small moment of celebration was quickly smashed when Talos II stumbled around, reminding them that they were still in danger. Thalia and Percy picked up Grover and ran toward the highway.

"How will Bianca get out?" Zoë questioned from ahead of them.

Talos II hit himself on the head again and dropped his sword. His body shuddered and he staggered toward the power lines.

"Look out!" Percy shouted.

The giant's ankle caught on the lines. Electricity shot up his body. Davina swallowed. Talos II's right hand fell off, hitting a scrap of metal with a deafening clang. Then, his left arm also fell off and he began to run.

The group ran after him as pieces of his body fell off. Talos II began to crumble. His head went first, then his chest, then his legs.

The group searched the wreckage until sunrise, screaming Bianca's name and crawling through pieces of the giant.

Zoë was the first to admit defeat when she sat in the middle of the ruble and sobbed. Thalia was the next to go when she yelled in rage and stabbed her sword into the giant's face. After that, it was Grover, then Percy. Davina was the only one still searching.

"She's here!" Davina was determined. She had a promise to keep. "She has to be! Help me look!"

"Davina," Percy placed a hand on her shoulder. She whipped around to face him. "She's not here. One shall be lost in the land without rain. She's gone."

"No," she mumbled, blinking back tears. She didn't cry. "I promised! I told Nico that I'd keep his sister safe!"

She glanced down at the figurine still in her hands, realizing he'd have to tell a 10 year old boy that his sister was dead because she'd made a promise she hadn't been sure she could keep.

𝒎𝒆𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒍 !!
rip bianca
also heyyy it's been a minute🙈