Finley's light brown hair whipped around in the brash wind. Tears sprung to her eyes. She wasn't sure if it was from the sand that hit her eyes or the sadness she felt in her heart. 

All around her, the land was in ruins. There were no trees or grass. The sun was gone from the sky despite the deep orange color that it assumed. The ground beneath her was nothing but grainy sand. Buildings and people were foreign in this wasteland. Instead, they were replaced by monsters and dead bodies. 

Light Bringer fell to the ground with a soft thud when she took notice of the bodies at her feet. 

They were just bodies. 

Thalia, Percy, Grover, and Annabeth laid at her feet. 

"No," she breathed as she rushed to find a pulse. 

There was no point, it was clear from the blood loss they all suffered they were gone. 

"Please wake up," she pleaded. 

Ahead a tall throne made purely of brick stood. Large, dark, and knarled branches sprouted from it. Someone sat in it. Their sandy hair was matted with dirt. A scar ran along their face, through their eyebrow, and down their cheek. 

"Luke?" Finley questioned, but when they opened their eyes, it wasn't Luke. 

The person sitting upon the throne did not have his blue eyes. 

They were golden. 

***

It was a rough night . . .or day for the group. They lost Bianca in the early hours of the morning. Finley had cried herself to sleep, filling herself with guilt. Percy was blaming himself. Thalia was driving as Zoe struggled with grief herself. 

Percy's sea-green eyes drifted to the girl that was using his shoulder as a pillow. Small puffs of air escaped her nose as she exhaled. Her dark lashes laid ethereally against tan her skin. Her light brown hair tumbled down her back as she had taken it out of its braid. 

His mind wandered back to what Aphrodite said.

Why was he truly on this quest?

To save Artemis? Maybe. 

To save Annabeth? Of course, she was one of his best friends. He saw her in the same light he saw Grover. 

But it was Aphrodite's third option that confused him. 

To protect Finley, to make sure she didn't get hurt on this quest.

Percy knew better than anyone else she could take care of herself. She could better nearly everyone in a fight at camp. She was resourceful and smart. 

But yet, the option she gave him was relevant. He didn't want her to get hurt while on this quest. He didn't want her to be the one to become lost in the land with no rain nor did he want her to perish by a parent's hand. 

Suddenly Finley shot up, quickly lifting her head from his shoulder. Her breathing was erratic. She rubbed the tips of her fingers together, a tick Percy noticed she did when she was nervous or scared. 

"Sunny?" He asked. "Are you alright?"

Her head snapped towards him. Her eyes were wide as she nodded. Responding in a faint voice, she said, "Yeah, yeah, of course, I am."

Percy didn't seem convinced but didn't push the topic. 

Finley plugged her headphones into her ears before resting her head on the window, trying to decide what her dream meant. 

It could mean a lot of things, but one theory was prominent. 

Her dream would become a reality if Kronos won. The Luke she saw wasn't Luke. She didn't know how, but she knew that was Kronos. 

The world would become nothing but wastelands. Her friends would be dead. 

Everything Luke had told her was a lie. 

Kronos didn't want to end world hunger. He didn't want to end poverty. To end racism. To end sexual assault. He wanted to rule the world, banishing the gods and making the world miserable. 

Finley may dislike the gods, especially after what happened to Bianca in their junkyard with their inventions, but Kronos couldn't rise. He won't. 

Or at least Finley hoped he wouldn't. 

The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well because the road dead-ended. Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew.

 "Great. What now?" 

Finley scanned the horizon. She saw nothing but the desert, maybe a mountain here and there. The most interesting thing had to the canyon and a river. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below the group. 

"There's a path," Grover said. "We could get to the river." 

The 'path' was extremely narrow and a death sentence to walk along. 

"That's a goat path," Percy said deadpan. 

"So?" he asked. 

"The rest of us aren't goats." 

"We can make it," Grover said. 

"I think." Percy's eyes drifted to a very pale Thalia. "No," he said. "I, uh, think we should go farther upstream." 

Grover said, "But—"

 "Come on," Finley agreed, catching on to what he was doing. "A walk won't hurt us." 

Thalia looked at the two with great gratitude. 

They followed the river about half a mile before coming to an easier slope that led down to the water. On the shore was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season, but Percy left a stack of golden drachmas on the counter and a note saying IOU two canoes. 

"Percy," Finley began. "I don't think-"

"Shh," Percy whispered. "Let me be nice."

Finley rolled her eyes and replaced the golden drachmas with mortal money. 

"We need to go upstream," Zoe said. It was the first time anyone heard her speak since the junkyard, and she sounded horrible, like somebody with the flu. "The rapids are too swift." 

"Leave that to me," Percy declared. 

They put the canoes in the water. 

Thalia pulled him aside as we were getting the oars. "Thanks for back there." 

"Don't mention it." 

"Can you really..." She nodded to the rapids. "You know." 

 "I think so. Usually, I'm good with water."

 "Would you take Zoe?" she asked. "I think, ah, maybe you can talk to her." 

"She's not going to like that." 

"Please? I don't know if I can stand being in the same boat with her. She's... she's starting to worry me."

Percy didn't want to but nodded nonetheless.  

Thalia's shoulders relaxed. "I owe you one." 

"Two." 

"One and a half," Thalia said. She smiled, and for a second, Percy remembered that he actually liked her when she wasn't yelling at him. She turned and helped Grover get their canoe into the water. 

As it turned out, Percy didn't even need to control the currents. As soon as they got in the river, Percy looked over the edge of the boat and found a couple of naiads staring at him. They looked like regular teenage girls, the kind you'd see in any mall, except for the fact that they were underwater. 

Percy spoke to the naiads. 

Finley rolled her hazel eyes as she realized they were giggling. 

The group started so fast Grover fell into his canoe with his hooves sticking up in the air. 

"I hate naiads," Zoe grumbled.

"They're a bunch of bitches," Finley nodded. 

A stream of water squirted up from the back of the boat and hit them in the face. 

"She-devils!" Zoe went for her bow. 

"Try me!" Finley was ready to fight the naiads. "I will fish you out of the water, watch you bake and dry out in the sun! Then I'll feed you to your-"

"Whoa," Percy interjected. "They're just playing." 

"They got my socks wet," Finley huffed. 

"Cursed water spirits. They've never forgiven me." 

"Forgiven you for what?" 

 She slung her bow back over her shoulder. "It was a long time ago. Never mind." 

They sped up the river, the cliffs looming up on either side of us. 

"What happened to Bianca wasn't your fault," Percy told her. "It was my fault. I let her go." 

He figured this would give Zoe an excuse to start yelling at me. At least that might shake her out of feeling depressed. 

Finley sat back quietly, waiting to see Zoe's response. She too figured the Huntress might just start yelling at him.

Instead, her shoulders slumped. "No, Percy. I pushed her into going on the quest. I was too anxious. She was a powerful half-blood. She had a kind heart, as well. I... I thought she would be the next lieutenant." 

"But you're the lieutenant." 

She gripped the strap of her quiver. She looked more tired than before. "Nothing can last forever, Percy. Over two thousand years I have led the Hunt, and my wisdom has not improved. Now Artemis herself is in danger." 

"Look, you can't blame yourself for that." 

"If I had insisted on going with her—" 

"You think you could've fought something powerful enough to kidnap Artemis? There nothing you could have done." Finley spoke up alas.

Zoe didn't answer. 

The cliffs along the river were getting taller. Long shadows fell across the water, making it a lot colder, even though the day was bright. Without thinking about it, Percy took Riptide out of his pocket. 

Zoe looked at the pen, and her expression was pained. 

"You made this," Percy stated. 

Finley was confused but said nothing. 

"Who told thee?" 

"I had a dream about it." 

She studied him and sighed. "It was a gift. And a mistake." 

"Who was the hero?" Percy asked.

Zoe shook her head. "Do not make me say his name. I swore never to speak it again." 

"You act as I should know him." 

"I am sure you do, hero. Don't all you boys want to be just like him?" Her voice was bitter. 

 "Your mother was a water goddess?" Percy asked. 

"Yes, Pleione. She had five daughters. My sisters and I. The Hesperides." 

"Those were the girls who lived in a garden at the edge of the West. With the golden apple tree and a dragon guarding it." Finley said. 

"Yes," Zoe said wistfully. "Ladon."

"It would be so cool to have a pet dragon," Finley stated. 

Zoe sent her a small smile.

"But weren't there only four sisters?" Percy questioned. 

"There are now. I was exiled. Forgotten. Blotted out as if I never existed." 

"Why?" 

Zoe pointed to his pen. "Because I betrayed my family and helped a hero. You won't find that in the legend either. He never spoke of me. After his direct assault on Ladon failed, I gave him the idea of how to steal the apples, how to trick my father, but he took all the credit." 

"But—" 

The canoe was slowing down. Finley looked ahead, and she saw why. This was as far as the current could take them. The river was blocked. A dam the size of a football stadium stood in our path. 

 "Hoover Dam," Thalia said. "It's huge." 

They stood at the river's edge, looking up at a curve of concrete that loomed between the cliffs. People were walking along the top of the dam. They were so tiny they looked like fleas. Their canoes floated back downstream, swirling in the wake from the dam's discharge vents. 

"Seven hundred feet tall," Percy said. "Built in the 1930s." 

"Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia said. 

Graver sighed. "Largest construction project in the United States." 

"Target to a German bomb plot during World War II," Finley said, gazing up at the structure 

Zoe stared at them. "How do you know all that?" 

 "Annabeth," Percy said. "She liked architecture." 

"She was nuts about monuments," Thalia said. 

"Spouted facts all the time," Finley said, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Basically a human internet."

Grover sniffled. "So annoying." 

"I wish she were here," Percy said. 

"You and me both, Seaweed Brain," Finley nodded as the others agreed. 

Zoe was still looking at them strangely. 

It seemed like cruel fate that they'd come to Hoover Dam, one of Annabeth's personal favorites, and she wasn't here to see it. 

"We should go up there," Finley suggested. "For her sake. Just to say we've been." 

"You are mad," Zoe decided. "But that's where the road is." She pointed to a huge parking garage next to the top of the dam. "And so, sightseeing it is." 

They had to walk for almost an hour before they found a path that led up to the road. It came upon the east side of the river. Then the group straggled back toward the dam. It was cold and windy on top. On one side, a big lake spread out, ringed by barren desert mountains. On the other side, the dam dropped away like the world's most dangerous skateboard ramp, down to the river seven hundred feet below, and water that churned from the dam's vents. 

Thalia walked in the middle of the road, far away from the edges. Grover kept sniffing the wind and looking nervous. He didn't say anything. 

"How close are they?" Percy asked him, knowing what Percy and Finley called 'Grovers Monster Tingle'. 

Grover shook his head. "Maybe not close. The wind on the dam, the desert all around us...the scent can probably carry for miles. But it's coming from several directions. I don't like that." 

It was already Wednesday, only two days until the winter solstice, and they still had a long way to go. They didn't need any more monsters.

"There's a snack bar in the visitor center," Thalia said. 

"You've been here before?" Percy asked. 

"Once. To see the guardians." She pointed to the far end of the dam. Carved into the side of the cliff was a little plaza with two big bronze statues. They looked kind of like Oscar statues with wings. 

"They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built," Thalia said. "A gift from Athena." 

Tourists were clustered all around them. They seemed to be looking at the statues' feet. 

 "What are they doing?" Percy asked. 

"Rubbing the toes," Finley answered. "They think it's good luck." 

"Why?" 

She shook her head. "Mortals get crazy ideas. They don't know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them." 

"When you were here last, Thals, did they talk to you or anything?" 

Thalia's expression darkened. Percy could tell that she'd come here before hoping for exactly that—some kind of sign from her dad. Some connection. 

"No. They don't do anything. They're just big metal statues." 

The last metal statue they ran into wasn't too friendly, but Finley stayed silent.

"Let us find the dam snack bar," Zoe said. "We should eat while we can." 

Grover cracked a smile. "The dam snack bar?"

Zoe blinked. "Yes. What is funny?" 

"Nothing," Grover said, trying to keep a straight face. "I could use some dam french fries."

Even Thalia smiled at that. "And I need to use the dam restroom." 

Maybe it was the fact that they were so tired and strung out emotionally, but Percy and Finley started cracking up, and Thalia and Grover joined in, while Zoe just looked at them. 

"I do not understand." 

"I want to use the dam water fountain," Grover said. 

"And..." Thalia tried to catch her breath. "I want to buy a dam T-shirt." 

"And I want some dam mac and cheese," Finley laughed loudly. 

Percy stopped laughing abruptly at the sound of a cow. 

Grover had stopped laughing too. He was looking around, confused. "Did I just hear a cow?" 

"A dam cow?" Thalia laughed. 

"No," Grover said. "I'm serious." 

Zoe listened. "I hear nothing." 

Thalia was looking at me. "Percy, are you okay?" 

"Yeah," Percy nodded. "You guys go ahead. I'll be right in." 

"What's wrong?" Grover asked. 

"Nothing," Percy insisted, but it was clearly a lie. "I... I just need a minute. To think." 

The group hesitate but left. 

"Don't blow anything up, Kelp Head," Finley warned before cracking a smile. "We don't need a dam problem interrupting my date with my dam mac and cheese."

Finley happily munched on her burrito when Percy came barreling towards the group looking frantic. 

"We need to leave," he gasped. "Now!" 

"But we just got our burritos!" Thalia said. 

Zoe stood up, muttering an Ancient Greek curse. "He's right! Look." 

The cafe windows wrapped all the way around the observation floor, which gave us a beautiful panoramic view of the skeletal army that had come to kill us. Finley counted two on the east side of the dam road, blocking the way to Arizona. Three more on the west side, guarding Nevada. All of them were armed with batons and pistols. But their immediate problem was a lot closer. 

The three skeletal warriors who'd been chasing Percy appeared on the stairs. They saw me from across the cafeteria and clattered their teeth. 

"Elevator!" Grover said. 

They bolted that direction, but the doors opened with a pleasant ding, and three more warriors stepped out. Every warrior was accounted for, minus the one Bianca had blasted to flames in New Mexico. They were completely surrounded. 

Then Grover had a brilliant, totally Grover-like idea. 

"Burrito fight!" he yelled and flung his Guacamole Grande at the nearest skeleton. 

"I'm keeping my burrito and mac and cheese safe in my pack," Finley declared after stashing them away in her black backpack. "Thank you very much."

The skeletons tried to aim their guns, but it was hopeless. Bodies and food and drinks were flying everywhere. 

In the chaos, Thalia and Percy tackled the other two skeletons on the stairs and sent them flying into the condiment table. Then they all raced downstairs, Guacamole Grandes whizzing past their heads. 

"What now?" Grover asked as they burst outside. 

No one had an answer. The warriors on the road were closing in from either direction. 

They ran across the street to the pavilion with the winged bronze statues, but that just put their backs to the mountain. The skeletons moved forward, forming a crescent around them. The skeletons' brethren from the cafe were running up to join them. One was still putting its skull back on its shoulders. Another was covered in ketchup and mustard. Two more had burritos lodged in their ribcages. They didn't look happy about it. They drew batons and advanced. 

"Four against eleven," Zoe muttered. "And they cannot die." 

"It's been nice adventuring with you guys," Grover said, his voice trembling. 

Finley stepped forward, twirling her sword in her grasp, ready to kick some zombie ass.

"Whoa," Percy said. "Their toes really are bright."

 "Percy!" Thalia said. "This isn't the time." 

"Thalia," Percy said. "Pray to your dad."

She glared at him. "He never answers." 

"Just this once," he pleaded. "Ask for help. I think... I think the statues can give us someluck." 

More zombies were approaching.

"Do it!" He yelled. 

"No!" Thalia said. "He won't answer me." 

"This time is different!" 

"Who says?" 

Percy hesitated. "Athena, I think." 

Thalia scowled like she was sure he'd gone crazy. 

"Try it," Grover pleaded. 

Thalia closed her eyes. Her lips moved in silent prayer. Percy put in my own prayer to Annabeth's mom, hoping he was right that it had been her in that elevator—that she was trying to help them save her daughter. And nothing happened. The skeletons closed in. 

Percy raised Riptide to defend himself. Light Bringer was gripped tightly in Finley's hands. Thalia held up her shield. Zoe pushed Grover behind her and aimed an arrow at a skeleton's head. A shadow fell over them. 

A flash of bronze and all five of the baton-wielders were swept aside. The other skeletons opened fire. 

Percy raised his lion coat for protection, but he didn't need it. The bronze angels stepped in front of them and folded their wings like shields. Bullets pinged off of them like rain off a corrugated roof. Both angels slashed outward, and the skeletons went flying across the road. 

"Man, it feels good to stand up!" the first angel said. His voice sounded tinny and rusty like he hadn't had a drink since he'd been built. 

"Will ya look at my toes?" the other said. "Holy Zeus, what were those tourists thinking?" 

As stunned as Percy was by the angels, he was more concerned with the skeletons. A few of them were getting up again, reassembling, bony hands groping for their weapons. 

"Trouble!" Percy said. 

"Get us out of here!" Thalia yelled. Both angels looked down at her.

"Zeus's kid?" 

"Yes!" 

"Could I get a please, Miss Zeus's Kid?" an angel asked.

 "Please!" The angels looked at each other and shrugged. 

"Could use a stretch," one decided. 

"But we can only take four," the other added. "There are five."

"Why not the five of us?" Percy demanded. 

In a split-seconds decision, Finley stepped around the angels. She raised her sword to the zombies. "I'll stay."

"No."

"Yes."

"No-"

Percy and Thalia were cut off by the first angel's voice. 

"That settles it then!" He declared.

"We can't leave her!" Zoe shouted. 

"Four passengers," the second angel nodded. "Time to take flight."

Thalia, Percy, Grover, and Zoe were carried away. This left Finley with the zombies. 

"Time to make zombie ass," she said, raising her sword in defense.

Finley leaped forward, thrusting her sword up the skeleton's spine. It shriveled to the ground before getting back up. Her dance was deadly as she brought Light Bringer into a wicked ark, slicing five of the zombies in half.

The sunlight reflected off of her golden blade. 

Come on, dad, she prayed. Give me some help.

As Finley decapitated the next zombie, its body crumbled to dust. It wasn't flames like Bianca's, but it was more so like a beam of light somehow erupted from Finley's sword. 

"Hell yeah!" she grinned wickedly. 

Just as she was about to lung for another attack, the zombies stopped. It was almost as if they were following a command. 

"Sorry, Finny Fin," Luke's teasing drawl said from behind. "But you're coming with me."