Chapter 1

I clenched my fist around the tiny figurine as we trekked through the magic junkyard and prayed nothing would happen.

Yeah, Zoe warned us not to touch anything, but I doubted the gods would care about one little action figure. Some minor god probably just went through a Myth-o-Magic phase and threw their stuff out when they got tired of it.

I took a peek at it, making sure no one else was looking. The stone cold face of Hades, God of Death, 5,000 attack power- or something, stared unforgivingly back at me. I tucked it into my pocket as we finally approached the edge of the junkyard. It was the only figurine Nico didn't have yet, as he'd reminded me many times. I couldn't afford to lose it. I had to make sure he knew that I hadn't left him, I was still his sister.

We made it out of the junkyard, stepping into the warm glow of the streetlights lining the road running by it. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"We made it out." Zoe said. "Thank the gods."

Apparently she spoke to soon, because just then a massive sound like ten thousand trash compactors rang out.

I turned to see a giant hulking figure rise out of the trash mountain. It's joints creaking as it stood to face us. A pit formed in my stomach. It was a metal giant, easily a hundred feet tall, caked with rust and melted in places, but that didn't make it look any less menacing.

"Talos!" Zoe gasped.

"Wh-Who's Talos?" Percy stammered.

"One of Hephaestus's creations." Thalia answered. "But that can't be the original. Too small. A prototype maybe. A defective model."

"Too small?" I squeaked.

Just then the giant defective robot drew its sword and lunged for us. We jumped backwards as the sword slammed into the highway, smashing the pavement.

"Somebody took something!" Zoe yelled. "Who took something?" She glared accusingly at Percy. I stepped backwards, covering the pocket with the figurine protectively with my hand.

"I may be a lot of things, but I'm not a thief." Percy retorted.

I tried to muster up the courage to say something, but at that moment the metal giant took a 1,000 foot step towards us and we had to scatter to avoid being squished.

The giant swung its sword, smashing into a row of power lines and sending them crashing and sparking around us. I ducked behind a broken chariot and Percy followed me moments later.

"You took something. That bow." He said.

"No!" I said. My voice shaking. This was all my fault. We could all die tonight and it'd be all my fault.

"Give it back! Throw it down!"

I clenched my hand around the toy. "I didn't take the bow! Besides. It's too late now."

"What did you take?"

I didn't have to answer, because just then a giant shadow blotted out the moon and stars and we both had to make a mad dash away from the chariot before it got crushed under the giant's foot.

The giant bore down on us, I heard Grover yell "Hey Talos!" behind us, trying to distract it, but it still seemed set on stomping us flat. Grover started playing a tune on his reed pipes. I wasn't sure how music was supposed to help at a time like this, but just then the fallen power lines snaked towards the giant and wrapped around his ankles, sending arcs of electricity up its body.

Talos stiffened, for a second unable to move, but then he turned on Grover and swung his sword into the trash pile he was on, sending him scrambling for safety.

Percy grabbed my arm and tried to pull me away.

"Come on!" But I stood frozen. Guilt-racked and shaking, I pulled out the Hades figurine from my pocket.

Percy stared at me incredulously. "How can you think of Myth-o-Magic at a time like this?"

"It's for Nico. It's the only one he doesn't have." I said lamely.

"Throw it down."

I reluctantly let it drop to the ground, but the giant continued his attack. Thalia screamed "DUCK!" and Percy and I dropped to the ground as she sent an arc of electricity over our heads and into Talos's knee. It buckled underneath him, but he immediately started to get back up.

Percy scrambled up too. He was staring at Talos's foot. "Crazy idea time."

I stared at him. "Anything."

He told me about the maintenance hatch he'd spotted in the sole of the giant's foot. "I can get inside, but I'll have to time it right. Cover for me."

"No." I steeled myself. I couldn't let him do this. Not when it was my fault. "I'll go."

"You can't! You're new at this. You'll die."

Ignoring him, I scooped up the figurine and pressed it into Percy's hands.

"It's my fault the monster came after us. It's my responsibility. Here. If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him… Tell him I'm sorry."

"Bianca, no!"

I didn't listen. I charged for the giant's foot as it rose into the air. I could see the maintenance hatch. If I could just get it open before the foot came down-

Then someone yanked me backwards and I fell on top of them into a trash heap as Talos's foot came down in front of us.

"What art thou doing?!"

It was Zoe. She pulled me to my feet and away from the giant.

"Let me go! There's a hatch- I can get inside and stop it!"

She turned to me incredulously and gripped my shoulders. "Thou cannot! Tis a suicide mission!"

I shook her off. "Just let me do this Zoe!"

Just then something clattered to the ground beside us. I glanced at it and saw that it was the figurine. No. I whirled around to see Percy standing under the giant's raised foot with his arm still raised from the throw. He nodded at me before turning and pushing the maintenance hatch open as the foot came down on top of him.

I just stood and stared, too shocked to do anything. Zoe gently took my arm. "We need to get further away."

"Wait ." I scooped up the figurine and ran. Talos raised his sword, staring right at us, and I could tell we weren't going to make it.

He swung the sword down at us. I desperately pulled Zoe to the side. Just before impact though, Talos completely seized up. He pulled his sword back so fast it slammed into his face, leaving a massive gash in the metal. "It's Percy! He made it!" I yelled in delight.

"He's inside?" Grover bleated.

Talos started flailing and jerking around, hitting himself and staggering aimlessly. We need to back up! Thalia yelled.

We all ran for the highway as the giant stumbled backwards and crashed into pile of rusted chariots. He pushed himself up and staggered forward before falling across the highway, right on top of the powerlines. Electricity arced over the giants body.

"NO!" I screamed.

Talos lay motionless for a moment before pushing himself up. The charred, smoking metal of his hands crumbled upon contact with the asphalt. Some autopilot mechanism took over and the giant ran back into the junkyard, pieces of its body falling away as he went until he collapsed completely.

No. Please no.

I raced towards the wreckage, calling Percy's name as I searched the random pieces of the robot's body. The others followed close behind.

An uncomfortable buzzing sensation filled my head. I kept seeing flashes of another scene- ghosts lining up to cross a river. One of them was a teenaged boy with dark hair…

I pushed the images out of my head. He can't be dead. He can't die for my mistake!

We searched long into the morning, crawling through the wreckage and calling Percy's name. Finally, Grover sat down in the dirt and started bawling uncontrollably. Thalia sat by him and handed him a tin can from her bag, which he munched on miserably.

"We need to keep searching." I said, frantically shifting through wreckage a third time. "We'll find him."

"No, we won't Bianca. We need to leave." Thalia said.

"How can you say that?"

"She's right." Grover sniffed. "We won't find him. It's in the prophecy remember? One shall be lost in the land without rain."

"Oh my god." I sat down in the wreckage. "Oh my god. Oh my god."

They were right. We were in the desert- the land without rain. And Percy Jackson was dead.

I pulled out the figurine that had cost Percy his life. "I- I took this. Everything's my fault. I-I'm so sorry."

Thalia stared at me. "You WHAT?"

"It-it was for Nico." I said helplessly.

Thalia's face softened, but Zoe's was steely and cold. "Thou must do better than this! I told thee no! Leaders must not endanger their comrades. Especially not for cheap trinkets!"

"Hey!" Thalia stood up and stepped between me and Zoe. "Cut her some slack! She's just a kid, and last time I checked, you're the leader here, not her. So get off her back alright?"

"I'm not on her- oh never mind. We all need to leave. The skeleton warriors are still after us." She gathered up our stuff and waited expectantly. I shakily got to my feet and took my bag from her. She stared at me silently for a solid minute before pulling me into a hug. I hesitantly wrapped my arms around her.

"I'm glad you're alright." She whispered.

I pulled away first. I didn't feel like I deserved any kindness right now.

"Are you ready to go?" Zoe asked Thalia and Grover.

Thalia had wrapped a blanket around Grover's shoulders. He was still crying, but he nodded. "-sniff- Yeah, we're ready."

Then we made the miserable trek back to the highway, leaving Percy behind.

We found a tow truck by the highway with a full tank of gas and the key still in the ignition. We all piled in, Zoe taking the drivers seat. She seemed less shaken up than the rest of us. I took the back seat and curled myself into the corner, looking at the desert landscape race by outside the window. I cupped my hands around Nico's Hades figurine. It carried so much weight now. The events of the night before replayed over and over in my head, and I started to cry silently. I pulled my hood up so no one could see.

A few hours later, Thalia called for a pit stop. "We seriously need food, pull into that little gas station." Zoe did as she was asked, and Thalia jumped out. "I'll get food for us. Tin cans too. Bianca, will you come with?"

"Uh, sure." I said. I climbed out of the car and followed her inside.

We loaded up on all the best cheap gas station food, but it wasn't until we were behind the store, scrounging for recyclables for Grover, that she spoke to me.

"Are you okay? I mean, are you going to be okay?"

I didn't know what to say. I gathered a few empty soda cans and stuck them into my bag. I wasn't okay.

"It should've been me."

Thalia faced me. "Hey, no. Percy chose to go in there. He knew the chances weren't good."

"But it's my fault Talos came after us."

Thalia rubbed her eyes. "Okay, yes. You did something stupid. Join the club. But what's done is done."

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat.

"Why aren't you mad at me?"

Thalia was silent a long time.

"There are better people to be mad at. Besides, I would have done the same thing as you honestly."

"You have any siblings?"

"… No. But Annabeth is like one."

"The girl who got captured"

"Yeah. She's the whole reason I'm on this quest."

"Percy too. He told me." I paused. "Now he's never going to get to see her."

"Hey. We need you Bianca. Nico needs you. Percy chose to go instead of you. No way he's going to regret it."

"How can you know that?"

"I may have done the self-sacrificing thing before, long story."

We got back on the road, driving westward until we ran out of gas, which also happened to be at a dead end. We got out of the truck and looked at the river-canyon below us.

"Wow." Thalia breathed. "What are we going to do now?"

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!