Ch. 10

After grabbing bagels and coffee, Zoe, Phoebe, Thalia and Luke sat on the steps of the entrance to the train station, waiting for the youngest member of their group to join them.

Phoebe felt uncomfortable. Every time she would look, she found Thalia eyeing her. She wasn't sure what it was about but she was about ready to say something when Annabeth emerged through the doors of the Amtrak station, nibbling on her bagel while holding a hot chocolate in her other hand.

"There's a bus station in the next town over. The guy inside said it was only a couple miles and it might be quicker to walk than call for a cab."

"Alright," Zoe agreed. "It's probably best to avoid getting a cab or finding a bus anyway. The less we have to deal wth mortals, the better."

The Amtrak station had said it was in Santa Fe. In actuality, it was a few towns over, Santa Fe was just the closest urban area. As they made their way to the road, they found themselves in a very rural area. A single two lane road lead in the direction Annabeth said they needed to go and it was empty for as far as they could see.

They walked in relative silence for close to an hour until the road came to a fork. A monstrous junkyard lay directly ahead of them with both roads going parallel to the fenced in scrap heap.

"Okay Annabeth," Thalia grumbled. "Which way now?"

The daughter of Athena's forehead was scrunched as she tried to think. The man at the train station had said the bus station was to the west. He hadn't mentioned a fork in the road.

"Um," she frowned. "They guy said west. He didn't say there was a huge junkyard in the way."

"Which road goes around?" Phoebe asked.

"I... I don't know." Annabeth answered.

"Let's just go through it." Luke cut in. "I'm not walking all the way around this place, it's huge."

Thalia looked up at the junkyard and couldn't help but feel uneasy. The place looked abandoned but something about it seemed... off.

Before she could voice any of her concerns though, Luke was already approaching the fence. He scaled it with ease and then looked back at the others, waiting.

One by one they followed him over the fence. As they walked through the mounds of scrap metal and assorted junk, Thalia's sense of danger didn't subside.

Zoe stepped up beside her, "Act normal." She hissed. "We're being followed."

Despite the warning, Thalia couldn't help but stiffen at the thought of being watched. Phoebe was between both Annabeth and Luke and it was obvious from the way they tensed up, they had been told the same thing.

As she and Zoe caught up with the others, Thalia gave a sideways glance towards Zoe, waiting for her to tell her what they should do.

"Slow down," she whispered, "but keep moving."

The group collectively slowed their pace for about fifty feet, Zoe and Phoebe intermittently looking at each other as they seemed to be waiting for something.

"Now!" Zoe yelled and shoved Thalia into Luke and Annabeth, sending the trio crashing to the ground.

She and Phoebe spun around and fired arrows at two dark figures that looked frozen twenty yards behind them, At the last second, the taller of the two figures slashed a hand in front of them and the arrows simply vanished.

"What the..." Phoebe said before the two figures vanished. Suddenly both huntresses were sent to the ground after being slammed in the back.

Luke and Thalia jumped their feet and drew their weapons but not fast enough. Before he could defend himself, the taller figure stepped behind him and grabbed hold of him, pressing a dark blade to his throat.

"That's quite enough." Thalia was surprised to hear a female voice and one that sounded strangely familiar. "Drop you weapons or I'll cut his throat."

Both figures had hoods up that cast shadows over their faces, hiding them from view.

Luke tried to break free but the girl kicked him in the back of the knee, causing it to give way. He would have fallen if she hadn't held him up, her blade opening up a small cut on his neck.

"Do that again and you're a dead man." She growled at him.

Thalia stood up and dropped her spear. Zoe and Phoebe slowly approached the group, their bows held out at arms length.

"Drop them!" The other figured demanded and Thalia's eyes went wide as Zoe and Phoebe set their bows down and Annabeth dropped her small dagger.

"You!" She pointed at the smaller figure. She realized why the girl sounded familiar. "You two... You're the children of Hades!"

The girl looked at the other figure and then threw back her head, causing her hood to come off. Her long dark hair was tied back in a tight pony tail. Her olive skin was smooth, a few freckles sparsely dotting her nose. Her onyx eyes were narrowed, dangerous looking.

The other pulled down his hood to reveal the face of a young boy, Nico, whom Thalia had left behind in the custody of the insane god, Perseus.

"What are you two doing?" Thalia demanded. "And how did you get away?"

The two siblings exchanged a look before Bianca let out a laugh at Thalia's question.

"Get away? Why would we want to get away?"

Thalia frowned, "Perseus, he kidnapped you. What has he done to you? Drop your sword, we'll get you back to Camp Half Blood!"

Bianca smiled at her but it wasn't the kind she was looking for. It was a mocking smile, her amusement at Thalia's offer quite clear.

"If you'd been smart, you would have stayed on the island."

"What's wrong with you? Don't you understand what your doing? You're siding with him! With the Titans!" Thalia demanded.

"Oh my gods," Nico grumbled. "Will you just shut up?!"

Thalia couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was barely a week since these two were scarred demigods just learning about themselves and now they acted like she was the naive one.

"Your going against the gods! Against your own father!" She snarled at them, her anger growing at the sight of their derisive smirks.

"How little you know," Bianca chided. "Perseus brought us to our father after you were gone. We're here on our father's bidding."

Thalia felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. She looked at her friends and saw the same looks of disbelief that she knew she had. Could it be true? Was Hades siding with the Titans, with Perseus against Olympus?

"We came here with a warning," Bianca continued. "Turn back now, while you still can. If you continue on, you're not going to like what you find at the end of this journey."

Thalia slowly felt her shock wear off. It was replaced by an anger that was simmering deep within her. She was tired to being the last to find things out. These newbie demigods being more informed than her was her breaking point.

She dove for her spear, snatching it up and rolling forward and onto her feet right beside Bianca. The daughter of Hades didn't react though. She simply smiled at her and kicked Luke in the back, sending him crashing into Thalia's legs and knocking her down.

Zoe and Phoebe were quick to react and had their bows in hand and arrows notched before Thalia even looked up.

The both fired at Bianca point blank. She should have been dead. But the arrows passed right through her, her body becoming a mere shadow and reappearing beside her brother.

Thalia looked at her in awe.

"How?" Was all she could say.

Bianca rolled her eyes, "Time moves differently in the Underworld. While you've been gone a week, we've been training for months. Be grateful we were told not to engage you."

"You're not gonna have a choice," Zoe growled. "You'll never leave this junkyard alive."

Nico knelt down to the ground and picked something up.

"If you'd paid attention, you'd know you were in Hephaestus' junkyard." He looked down at the object in his hand, "And, you know what, I hear he isn't a real big fan of people touching his stuff." He tossed the object at Thalia who caught it out of instinct. She looked at it in her hand, confused when she saw the small figurine of Zeus.

She looked back up and the two children of Hades were gone.

Then she fell to her knees, her hands on her ears as the screeching of metal dragging across metal blotted out every other sound. Luke yanked her back up to her feet just in time to see the enormous form of a metal creature rise from one of the biggest piles of junk.

"Gods," Zoe gasped. "It's Talos."

"No," Annabeth shook her head looking terrified. "It's not big enough."

Thalia wasn't sure what she meant by that. It had to be at least fifty feet tall, towering over them and everything else around them in the junkyard.

"It must be some kind of defective prototype." Luke muttered as he gawked at it. The rusted head turned in the direction of Luke, its glowing eyes staring right at him.

"I don't think it likes to be called defective." Thalia said nervously.

The sound of metal scraping against metal made Thalia's skin crawl as mini Talos drew a rusted blade from its metal scabbard.

"RUN!" Phoebe yelled as they turned on their heels and sprinted in the opposite direction.

They moved fast, around heaps of junk and deeper into the junkyard but Talos' enormous legs closed the distance on them in a matter of seconds. Zoe and Phoebe darted to the left, leaving the other three demigods running alone to the right.

Talos was nearly on top of them when the sound of metal clanking drew Thalia's attention. She looked back and saw Talos had stopped and was turning around. Zoe and Phoebe were firing arrows in rapid succession, aiming for anything that might have been vulnerable.

Phoebe managed to launch one up the giant's nostril but it merely leaned back and fired an oily snot rocket out. It hit the ground with a silver arrow sticking out from the black sludge.

"We have to help them!" Thalia said as she watching the two hunters start to backtrack.

"How?" Luke asked panicking.

Thalia didn't have an answer for that. She held her spear in hand but it was like a sewing needle to this giant automaton. As Talos stepped towards the two hunters, Thalia caught sight of a flapping piece of metal in the bottom of the giant's foot.

She ran forward and threw her spear like a javelin. It hit the automaton in the back of the knee and stuck there, causing the giant to pause, if only for a moment. Its attention was drawn back to Zoe and Phoebe when Zoe managed to fire an arrow into its ear. Thalia could heard it clanking around inside its metal head while the giant froze mid stride.

Thalia saw the flapping metal again and her eyes widened. Emblazoned on the outside of the unattached piece were the words, ACCESS PANEL.

"Luke, distract it." She said.

At first Luke was confused but then he saw it too. He looked at Thalia and realized what she wanted to do.

"No!" He said adamantly.

She didn't listen as she pulled out Aegis and ran towards the giant. She was nearly crushed under foot when Talos stumbled from a fresh barrage of silver arrows but she managed to roll away just in time.

She hurled her shield like a frisbee, hitting the automaton in the back of the leg and forcing it down on a knee. She made a dash for the panel but froze when she saw Luke dive inside before she could get there.

"NO!" She screamed but Luke was already gone. Talos rose back to its feet and turned its glowing eyes to Thalia. It took a step towards her and raised a foot to crush her.

Then its body stiffened. The light in its eyes flickered a bit and to turned awkwardly in the opposite direction.

"Luke!" She yelled. "Get out of there!"

She had no idea if he could hear her but somehow he seemed to be in control of the automaton as it made awkward and stiff steps away from her. Phoebe and Zoe ran over to her and pulled her to her feet. They started to run after the giant automaton as it stumbled across the junkyard.

"Wait!" Zoe yelled. "STOP!"

It was too late though. Talos walked right into a trio of power lines that ran across the junkyard.

As soon a its metal body touched the lines, electricity shot through its form, sparks flying off its body as it went stiff as a board. The light in its eyes went dim and then extinguished before it fell forward and collapsed it the ground in a steaming heap.

Thalia tried to run towards it but Zoe grabbed her and held her back.

"No! You can't!" She said struggling to hold the frantic daughter of Zeus back. "Look!" She pointed towards the head of Talos where the electrical lines were wrapped around it neck, sparks flying in every direction as the electricity continued to course through it.

"He's gone." Zoe said firmly. "I'm sorry Thalia, but he's gone."

"NO!" She screeched in protest still trying to get free. "NO! NOT LUKE! HE NEEDS OUR HELP!"

Phoebe came over and wrapped her up in a tight embrace, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Thalia. There's nothing we can do. We need to go!"

Thalia refused to listen and had to be carried out of the junkyard by Phoebe. They found Annabeth waiting by the fence looking terrified. When she realized Luke wasn't with them and saw Thalia's sobbing body being carried by Phoebe, she broke down as well.

Zoe scaled the fence and ran off to check ahead while Phoebe sat, still holding Thalia. Annabeth crawled over and the daughter of Apollo held open an arm and held her as well while the two demigods cried at the loss of their friend.

Thalia couldn't think straight enough to know how long they stayed there but when she heard an vehicle speeding towards them, Phoebe lifted them both to their feet. A older model pick-up truck pulled over towards them and then backed up through the fence. Zoe opened the door and frowned at the sight of the distraught demigods.

"Let's move," she said gently to Phoebe. Phoebe nodded and gestured Zoe over. She grabbed Annabeth and guided her to the truck, getting her into the passenger seat before looking at the limited space inside the cab.

"We'll ride in the bed," Phoebe said. "Let's just get moving." She led Thalia to the truck and lowered the rusted tailgate as they both climbed in, sitting with their backs against the cab. Zoe opened the back window but she didn't say anything. She and Phoebe just exchanged a look before they took off, heading down the highway in search of the first highway west, hoping to put as much distance as they could between them and that cursed junkyard.

They drove into the night, sticking to less traveled routes as they headed west. Once Thalia had cried herself out of tears, she lay curled up on the rough bed of the truck in silence, her mind replaying the events in the junkyard over and over. At some point, she drifted off to sleep, waking up and finding a silver blanket covering her shivering body. She looked over at Phoebe who sat with her back against the cab of the truck. Her eyes were closed but Thalia could sense she wasn't sleeping.

She sat up and slid herself back against the wheel well of the truck, keeping the blanket wrapped around her to protect her from the unforgiving winds. She watched Phoebe, eyes closed and unmoving as they sped down the empty desert road.

"I saw you." She said watching turning his gaze to the bed of the truck. "I saw what happened to you."

The huntress didn't open her eyes but Thalia could tell she was listening.

"When you woke me up on the train, the dream I had was about you. I saw how you came to be a hunter."

Phoebe opened one eye and Thalia could tell she was walking a fine line.

"I know it was him that saved you. He was a monster, even then. The way he killed those men, even if they deserved it, he was like an animal."

Phoebe didn't respond. She simply closed her eye again and Thalia assumed she was not interested in discussing it.

"Do you know what the worst part of all of it was?" Phoebe asked quietly. When Thalia didn't answer, she continued. "It wasn't the beatings or even being a slave. It was the nights. To this day, my dreams are haunted by what I heard during the nights of my enslavement."

Thalia wasn't sure what to say.

"I guess I was lucky. Apparently I was a little old for their tastes. They preferred the younger ones. I hear their screams still. They will haunt me until the day I day. It made no difference, boy or girl, they just liked them young. For the entire week we marched, I didn't sleep once. I could only sit for hours and listen to children as they cried and screamed for anyone to help them, to end their suffering."

Thalia felt the blood drain from her face. Phoebe's eyes were still shut as she spoke. Though her face didn't show it, her voice held such a deep sadness it made her want to break down in tears.

"In reality, what I went through was nothing. Two weeks from the time I was captured until the time I was freed. A few beatings and lashings were nothing compared to what countless others endured."

"I... I..." Thalia didn't know what to say. "I didn't... I didn't know."

"You say you saw and animal. You know nothing of animals."

Thalia wanted to shrink down to nothing but she couldn't let this chance for answers pass.

"And now? Now you're on a quest to stop him?"

Phoebe shifted herself and tilted to her head back against the window, trying to get comfortable on the metal truck bed.

"That was two thousand years ago. Times have changed and so do people. I am bound by my oath of service. I do what is required of me."

Thalia wasn't sure what to make of that answer. It wasn't exactly a resounding declaration of dedication to stopping Perseus.

"I will do what I need to. It is my duty and my payment for a life more extraordinary than anything a simple peasant girl in ancient Greece could have dreamed of. You may question my personal feelings about it but never question my loyalty. My loyalty is absolute."

Thalia sat there and let the huntress' words sink in. She felt guilty for questioning her when she had been nothing short of steadfast in her efforts in aiding the quest. Even if Perseus had been the one who saved her, it was Artemis whom had given her her immortality and life as a huntress.

"I'm sorry." Thalia said quietly.

"For what?" Phoebe replied back. "Only a fool would continue on with someone who could be an enemy."

Thalia just nodded even if Phoebe wasn't looking at her. She leaned her head back and let the exhaustion of the day drag her back into a fitful slumber.

A.N: Another chapter down... And one was lost in the land without rain. Bear with me, everything in these past few chapters is building towards larger events in the story. Let me know what you thought, for the first time in a while, I'm actually having to stop myself from writing too much so I can function in real life.