They travelled until sunset, which was about as long as Sylvia could last without murdering Percy.

She wasn't exactly sure how many kilometres they'd covered, but the mountains faded into the distance and were replaced by miles of flat, dry land. The grass and few plants got more and more sparse until they were galloping across the desert.

As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started to drink the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground, needles and all.

"This is as far as he'll go," Grover said. "We need to get off while he's eating, or..."

"Death," Sylvia finished his sentence.

"No, he's just gonna befriend us." Thalia snorted.

They slipped off the boar's back while he was busy ripping up cacti. They waddled away as best they could with their saddle sores.

After its third saguaro and another drink of muddy water, the boar squealed and belched, then whirled around and galloped back toward the east.

"It likes the mountains much better," Percy guessed.

"Can't blame it," Thalia said. "Look."

Ahead of the group was a two-lane road half-covered in sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up shop that looked like it hadn't been open since before Queen Elizabeth was born, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging above the door. Beyond that was a range of hills...but they weren't normal hills. They were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

"Whoa," Lux breathed.

I will check this area for monsters, Fawkes told Sylvia from above, flying north.

Got it.

"Something tells me we're not finding a car rental here," Thalia said. 

Sylvia looked at Grover. "I don't suppose you've got another boar or...something that isn't as painful up your sleeve?"

The satyr in question was sniffing the wind, looking nervous. He fished out his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes. Sylvia winced at a couple wrong notes, but the song was close enough to the real thing to work just fine. 

"That's us," he said, looking concerned. "Those seven nuts right there."

"Which one is me?" Percy asked.

"That little deformed one," Zoe suggested.

The comment was so unexpected, Sylvia cackled and high-fived the lieutenant.

"Oh, shut up." Percy crossed his arms.

"The cluster right there," Grover continued, pointing to the left, "that's trouble."

"A monster?" Bianca asked.

Lux shuddered from beside Sylvia.

Grover looked uneasy. "I don't smell anything, which doesn't make sense. But the acorns don't lie. Our next challenge..."

He pointed straight toward the junkyard. With the sunlight (sadly) almost gone, the hills of metal looked like something on an alien planet.

Sylvia pursed her lips. It was going to be dark soon. Lux seemed to realize the same thing, as they stepped closer to her and discreetly grabbed her hand.

There are no monsters--from what I can tell--for at least a 500-metre radius, Fawkes reported, making Sylvia jump at the sudden voice in her head.

"Wh-what is it?" Lux asked, noticing her movement. Their hand strayed close to their crossbow.

"Just Fawkes," Sylvia told them. "She says there aren't any monsters nearby." She almost sighed out loud in relief when she noticed that the phoenix was glowing.

Whenever nighttime hits, I'll light up. Fawkes landed on her shoulder. Children of Apollo aren't the only ones who hate the dark.

You? Scared of anything? Sylvia pretended to be shocked. I can't believe it.

The group decided to camp for the night and try the junkyard in the morning. No one was keen to go Dumpster-diving in the dark.

Zoe and Bianca produced seven sleeping bags and foam mattresses out of their backpacks. Sylvia didn't know how they did it, because the packs were tiny, but must've been enchanted to hold all their stuff. Sylvia had also noticed their bows and quivers were magic. When the Hunters needed them, they just appeared slung over their backs. When they didn't, they were gone. Sylvia was kind of jealous.

The night got chilly fast, so Grover and Percy collected old boars from the ruined house, and Thalia zapped them with an electric shock to start a campfire (Fawkes stayed glowing, though). Lux and Sylvia collected all the non-magical weapons everyone had and started to sharpen them. Pretty soon, they were all as comfortable as is possible in a rundown ghost town in the middle of nowhere.

"The stars are out," Zoe said, accepting a dagger from Sylvia and inspecting it, seeming impressed.

She was right. There were millions of them, with no city lights to turn the sky orange.

"Amazing," Bianca said. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

"Really?" Sylvia paused her work to face the maiden. "I saw it all the time before I ra..." she caught herself "...before I went to camp," she finished lamely.

That was close, Fawkes told her. 

I know.

It isn't shameful, you know. What you two did was just for survival.

Sylvia didn't reply.

"This is nothing," Zoe said. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"You talk like you aren't human," Percy said.

Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I am a Hunter. I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can the same be said for thee?"

Grover sighed.  "If only Pan were here, he would set things right."

Zoe nodded sadly.

"Maybe it was the Starbucks," Grover said. "I was drinking it, and the wind came. Maybe if I drank more coffee..."

Sylvia was pretty sure getting more Starbucks would only result in him becoming broke--unless he managed to be a convincing Karen, like her--but she didn't have the heart to tell him.

Percy seemed to be thinking the same thing as her. "Grover, do you really think that was Pan? I mean, I know you want it to be."

"He sent us help," Grover insisted. "I don't know how or why. But it was his presence. After this quest is done, I'm going back to Cloudcroft and drinking a lot of coffee. It's the best lead we've gotten in two thousand years. I was so close."

"If we haven't been banned from that Starbucks," Sylvia muttered.

"What?" Lux asked.

"Nothing," Sylvia replied, a little too quickly.

"What I want to know," Thalia said, looking at Bianca, "is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them."

Bianca shook her head. "I don't know. I just stabbed it and it went up in flames."

"Maybe there's something special about your knife," Percy suggested.

Sylvia glanced at the knife, which happened to be the one she was sharpening at the moment. The daughter of Apollo inspected it from every angle, but it didn't seem to be any different from Zoe's. She told them as much.

"It is the same as mine," Zoe confirmed. "Celestial bronze, yes. But mine did not affect the warriors that way."

"Maybe you have to hit the skeleton a certain way," Sylvia mused. 

Do you know, Fawkes? Oh, wait, let me guess. You do, but you can't tell me. Sylvia was getting annoyed by all the different rules the phoenix had to follow.

Yes, I do know, and no, I cannot tell you. Fawkes looked as regretful as a bird could be.

Of course you can't.

Bianca looked uncomfortable with all the attention.

"Never mind," Zoe told her. "We will find the answer. In the meantime, we should plan out next move. When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city, where we could most likely get on a train. I think Las Vegas is the closest, but possibly Phoenix."

"No!" Sylvia and Bianca said at the same time. They looked at each other. Sylvia wondered if she looked as freaked out as Bianca, which was equivalent to someone who'd been dropped off the steep end of a roller coaster.

Percy and Lux glanced at Sylvia, brows furrowed.

Zoe frowned. "Why?"

Sylvia crossed her arms, lifted her chin, and said nothing. She really hoped no one noticed her trembling lip or shaky breaths. Or how her hands were less than steady.

It will be okay, Fawkes reassured her. You're one of the leaders on this quest. They have to listen to you.

Percy hates listening to me. Plus, I'm not the only leader, and Zoe has more experience. If she says to go to--to Phoenix, we'll have to. I'm really not sure if I could do that without breaking down, Sylvia admitted, hating herself for it.

After a minute of silence, Bianca spoke. "I...I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were travelling. And then, I can't remember..."

Focus on thinking of a lie for when they ask you why we shouldn't go to Phoenix, Fawkes told her, putting her head on Sylvia's lap to...comfort her? Sylvia wasn't really sure what the phoenix was doing half the time.

"Bianca," Percy said. "That hotel you stayed at...what is possibly called the Lotus Hotel and Casino?"

Sylvia wondered why that name sounded so familiar. Then she remembered the story Annabeth had told her about that place. She'd always thought it seemed kind of cool to never grow up and just stay and play games for eternity, but she never told her friend that. 

Bianca's eyes widened. "How'd you know?"

"Oh, great," Percy said.

"Wait." Thalia narrowed her eyebrows, clearly not understanding what was happening. "What is the Lotus Casino?"

"A couple of years ago," Percy started, "Grover, Annabeth, and I got trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave. We stayed for about an hour. When we came out, five days had passed. It makes time speed up."

"No," Bianca said. "No, that isn't possible."

"You said somebody came and got you out," Percy remembered.

"Yeah."

"What did he look like? What'd he say?"

"I...I don't remember. Please, I really don't want to talk about this."

Zoe sat forward. "You said that Washington, D.C., had changed when you went back last summer. You didn't remember the subway being there."

"Yes, but--"

"Bianca," Zoe said, "can you tell me the name of the president of the United States right now?"

"Don't be silly," Bianca said. She told them the correct name of the president.

"Wh-what about the, um, president befo-before that?" Lux asked.

Bianca thought for a while."Roosevelt."

Thalia swallowed. "Theodore or Franklin?"

"Franklin," Bianca said. "F.D.R."

"Like FDR Drive?" Percy asked.

He can't be serious, Sylvia thought.

"Bianca," Zoe said. "F.D.R. was not the last president. That was about seventy years ago."

"That's impossible," Bianca said. "I...I'm not that old." 

She stared at her hands, as if to make sure they weren't wrinkled.

Thalia's eyes turned sad. She knew what it was like to get pulled out of time for a while. "It's okay, Bianca. The important thing is you and Nico are safe. You made it out."

Nico. Sylvia repeated in her head. How will he react to all of this?

"But how?" Percy questioned. "We were only in there for an hour and we barely escaped. How could you have gotten out after being there for so long?"

"I told you." Bianca looked about ready to cry. "A man came and said it was time to leave. And--"

"But who? Why did he do it?"

"I don't know."

"Lay off her," Thalia murmured. "We can go to Phoenix, I guess."

Sylvia froze. What what my lie going to be again?

None of them would've worked, Fawkes told her helpfully.

"That works." Zoe nodded.

Lux and Percy stared at Sylvia. She avoided eye contact as she spoke. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why?" Thalia asked.

Sylvia took a deep breath. "Well, it's really dirty and the trains are all very expensive and there are too many security guards to even think about sneaking on to them and also there are a lot of monsters and oh, yeah, everyone there hates everyone else and enjoys picking fights with anyone around and--"

"Huh?" Percy looked confused. Everyone did, in fact.

"You're speaking in French," Lux told her. "It was too fast, though. I-I only caught a few words, and they were mostly, um, words like 'to' and 'and.'"

"Just repeat everything you said, in English, and slowly," Percy suggested, still staring closely at her.

Before Sylvia could do anything, though, they were hit with a blazing--and pretty--light from down the road. The headlights of a car appeared out of nowhere. Everyone grabbed their sleeping bags--and weapons--and got out of the way as a deathly white limousine slid to a stop in front of them.

Word count: 2.1k

Unedited, as always :D

I've been writing this for the past hour and a half so oops

QOTD: Would you still love me if I were a worm? /j

Actual QOTD: What are your theories about all my characters?

A: >:)

Anygays, I gtg eat smth (you should, too. And drink water)

Love y'all, and cya!

~Aspen