ｔｈｅ　ｔｉｔａｎｓ　ｃｕｒｓｅ

THEY'D ARRIVE ON THE OUTSKIRTS of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.

Lucia was freezing by the time they got to Main Street, which was about half a mile from the train tracks. As they walked, Percy went to talk to Grover about Lucia's father's visit. Lucia hung back and walked side by side next to Bianca.

"How are you?" Bianca asked

"Well I'm still alive so I would say much better than I thought" Lucia joked "How are you immortal hunter of Artemis"

Bianca looked like Lucia slapped her in the face

"I'm not mocking you" Lucia reassured, "You deserve to be happy Bianca. I know at first I was upset but I've learned that I get emotional easily."

"You don't think it was a mistake? that Nico..."

"I think that Nico is a strong kid and he loves you" Lucia nodded "And I think that one day he will understand you, whether it's frustrating for him to or not. You chose what you thought was the best thing for you and you know what sometimes we need to be a little selfish."

"Are you?" She asked

"What."

"Do you ever let yourself be selfish?" Bianca repeated

"When did this turn on me" Lucia complained "We were talking about you B."

"I think you should tell him" She ignored her "You said you thought it was a big commitment to think about but be honest L, he is the reason you don't want to join the hunters."

"I have no clue what you're talking about" Lucia walked faster, Bianca with her blessing of Artemis was able to catch up easily.

"Luz"

"Don't." she snapped, she turned towards her before letting out a breath. "I'm sorry... it's just.."

"Only he can call you that" Bianca smirked

"You're supposed to be speaking up against love you know that!" Lucia huffed "Just wait till we find Artemis and I tell her all about this little conversation she's gonna kick your butt out! then we'll see who's laughing!"

"I never said anything about love" Bianca grinned

"Shut up! you know what you meant!"

"Do I?"

Lucia let out a noise of frustration and Bianca giggled, for the first time since she swore maidenhood to Artemis they really talked. Lucia, although she didn't quite like the topic of conversation, was happy about it. She didn't realize how much she missed talking to her friend. And she hoped to savor it for as long as possible.

When Lucia's body seized up and tears started welling up behind her long lashes she instantly blamed it on the fact that Bianca being a hunter meant she would leave by the end of the quest. That she wouldn't be around much anymore. That they wouldn't see each other for a long time because she would be out there with Artemis and the Hunters. She kept trying to repeat that to herself, like a mantra, as tears spilled from her eyes.

Bianca gasped in surprise when Lucia wrapped her arms tightly around her stopping them both in their tracks.

"B, you know I love you right." Lucia's voice broke "You were my friend when I had no one...I could never express how much that means to me. Thank you"

Lucia didn't wait for her to respond, she couldn't handle whatever she would say. She just wanted to move on and not dwell too much on the sinking feeling in her gut. So she simply took Bianca by the wrist and pulled her forward.

They stopped in the middle of town. They could pretty much see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store.

"Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."

"There's a coffee shop!" said Grover.

"Yes," Zoe said. "Coffee is good."

"And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper."

Thalia sighed. "Fine. How about the three of us go get food. Percy, Bianca, and Lucia will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions."

They agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable coming with the pair, but she did.

Lucia made sure to walk close to her, wanting to feel her presence.

Inside the store, they found out a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and there was no easy way in or out of town unless they had their own car.

"You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk said doubtfully. "That's down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars."

The clerk looked so lonely that Percy decided to buy a rubber rat out of pity. Then they headed back outside and stood on the porch. Percy held the rat in his hands and noted how Lucia kept looking at the rubber creature.

"Did you already name it?" He guessed, knowing her well.

"His name is Remi" She announced "Like in Ratatouille"

Percy frowned "His name wasn't Ratatouille?"

Lucia rolled her eyes, she grabbed the rat from his hand and cradled it "See that's why I'm in charge of naming Remi"

"Remi it is" Percy agreed,

Lucia watched him and knew that besides his outer appearance, he was restless. She knew how it felt. All half-bloods had attention deficit problems because of their inborn battlefield reflexes. They couldn't stand just waiting around. Also, Lucia had a feeling Percy was still worrying his head about Annabeth.

"Percy why don't you walk down the street, see if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion."

"But the clerk said—"

"I know," Lucia told him. "You should check anyway."

"Will you be okay?" Percy asked "Both of you?"

Lucia nodded and with her confirmation, he didn't need much more convincing. He walked away down the street.

"He sure listens to you" Bianca piped up

"Only because he wanted to go." Lucia clarified "He was only staying because he was taking care of us"

"Us?" Bianca asked

"Yes B, Percy's the most loyal, caring person I know." Lucia sighed "He knows we're inexperienced and I know he's worried about making sure we're fine."

Bianca and Lucia stood together awkwardly. Lucia shifted her weight from one foot to another, wondering what was going through the hunter's mind.

"Nice rat," Bianca said at last.

Lucia didn't even notice she was still holding on to Remi. She set him on the porch railing. Maybe it would attract more business to the store. "So... how do you like being a Hunter so far?" Lucia asked.

She pursed her lips. "I thought you weren't still mad at me for joining, right?"

"I already told you as long as you're, you know... you're happy." Lucia encouraged "I saw firsthand how much you did for Nico, It was insensitive of me to completely disregard that in my anger."

"I'm not sure 'happy' is the right word, with Lady Artemis gone. But being a Hunter is definitely cool. I feel calmer somehow. Everything seems to have slowed down around me. I guess that's the immortality."

Lucia stared at her, trying to see the difference. She did seem more confident than before, more at peace. She didn't hide her face under a green cap anymore. She kept her hair tied back, and she looked Lucia right in the eyes when she spoke. With a shiver, Lucia tried to imagine five hundred or a thousand years from now, Bianca Di Angelo looking exactly the same as she did today. She struggled.

"Nico didn't understand my decision," Bianca murmured. She looked at her like she wanted more assurance on it being okay.

"He'll be all right, I'll make sure of it," Lucia said. "Plus Camp Half-Blood takes in a lot of young kids. Percy told me that they did that for Annabeth."

Bianca nodded. "I hope we find her. Annabeth, They all seem so lost without her."

"I hope we find her too" Lucia affirmed "They all feel guilty when they aren't to blame..., especially Percy. And Annabeth, I don't know her like they do but I already feel strongly for her. Maybe it's the dreams and feeling her pain but gods I want to save her"

"I wish he didn't blame himself. He risked his life to save us. I mean, that was seriously brave. If I hadn't met him, I wouldn't have felt okay about leaving Nico at the camp. I figured if there were people like him there, Nico would be fine. He's a good guy."

"Am I chopped liver?" she teased

Bianca paled "Don't be stupid L, You know there's no one I trust more with Nico than you."

Lucia chuckled, "I'm Joking B"

A couple of hundred yards away, Grover, Thalia, and Zoe came out of the coffee shop loaded down with pastry bags and drinks. She kind of didn't want them to come back yet. It was weird, but she realized she wanted more time with Bianca. For some reason, she kept thinking she didn't have enough.

"What happened with you and Nico?" Lucia asked her. "Where did you go to school before Westover?"

She frowned. "I think it was a boarding school in D.C. It seems like so long ago."

"You never lived with your parents? I mean, your mortal parent?"

"We were told our parents were dead. There was a bank trust for us. A lot of money, I think. A lawyer would come by once in a while to check on us. Then Nico and I had to leave that school."

"Why?"

She knit her eyebrows. "We had to go somewhere. I remember it was important. We traveled a long way. And we stayed in this hotel for a few weeks. And then... I don't know. One day a different lawyer came to get us out. He said it was time for us to leave. He drove us back east, through D.C. Then up into Maine. And we started going to Westover."

It was a strange story. Then again, Bianca and Nico were half-bloods. Nothing would be normal for them.

"You really have been raising Nico pretty much all your life" Lucia stated. "Just the two of you"

She nodded. "That's why I wanted to join the Hunters so bad. I mean, I know it's selfish, but I wanted my own life and friends. I love Nico—don't get me wrong—I just needed to find out what it would be like not to be a big sister twenty-four hours a day."

"Zoe seems to trust you, "Lucia said."I'm glad you're finding yourself B"

Bianca responded with a genuine smile

Zoe, Thalia, and Grover arrived with the drinks and pastries. Hot chocolate for Bianca, Percy, and Lucia. Coffee for them.

Lucia explained where he was as she safely placed Percy's Hot chocolate next to Remi. When she was done she dug for her hand warmer in her coat and wrapped it around the cup with the intention that it would keep it warm enough for him until he came back. Lucia then received a Red velvet donut from Thalia, and it was so good she could almost ignore the knowing look Bianca gave her.

"We should do the tracking spell," Zoe said. "Grover, do you have any acorns left?"

"Umm," Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. "I think so. I just need to—"

He froze.

Lucia was about to ask what was wrong, when a warm breeze rustled past, like a gust of springtime had gotten lost in the middle of winter. Fresh air seasoned with wildflowers and sunshine. And something else—almost like a voice, trying to say something. A warning.

Zoe gasped. "Grover, thy cup."

Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly the birds peeled off the cup and flew away—a flock of tiny doves. The rubber rat squeaked next to Percy's cup. It scampered off the railing and into the trees—real fur, real whiskers.

"Remi??" Lucia asked in shock "...wow they grow up so fast"

Grover collapsed next to his coffee, which steamed against the snow. They all gathered around him and tried to wake him up. He groaned, his eyes fluttering.

"Hey!" Percy said, running up from the street. "I just... What's wrong with Grover?"

"I don't know," Thalia said. "He collapsed."

"Uuuuuhhhh," Grover groaned.

"Well, get him up!" Percy said. He had riptide uncapped and looked behind him as if he were being followed. "We have to get out of here."

They made it to the edge of the town before the first two skeleton warriors appeared. They stepped from the trees on either side of the road with transparent gray skin and yellow eyes. They were wearing blue New Mexico State Police uniforms.

They drew their handguns. Lucia hated guns, they were too loud, too violent and somehow they always ended up in the wrong individual's hands. This belief was only enforced as soon as the skeleton warriors pointed theirs at Percy.

Thalia tapped her bracelet. Aegis spiraled to life on her arm, but the warriors didn't flinch. Their glowing yellow eyes bored right into Percy.

Lucia reached for her bow and the daggers at her waistband, though she wasn't sure what good either would do against guns.

Zoe and Bianca drew their bows, but Bianca was having trouble because Grover kept swooning and leaning against her.

"Back up," Thalia said.

They started to—but then they heard a rustling of branches. Two more skeletons appeared on the road behind them. They were surrounded. Then one of the warriors raised a cell phone to his mouth and spoke into it.

Except he wasn't speaking. He made a clattering, clicking sound, like dry teeth on bone. Suddenly Lucia understood what was going on. The skeletons were now calling their brethren. Soon they'd have a full party on their hands.

"It's near," Grover moaned.

"It's here," Percy said.

"No," he insisted. "The gift. The gift from the Wild."

Lucia didn't know what he was talking about, but she was worried about his condition. He was in no shape to walk, much less fight.

"We outnumber them," Thalia said. "Four of them. Five of us. They'll have to ignore Grover that way"

"Agreed," said Zoe.

"The Wild!" Grover moaned.

A warm wind blew through the canyon, rustling the trees, but Lucia kept her eyes on the skeletons. She didn't know if she was capable of fighting them off not with that in their hands.

Percy charged first.

The first skeleton fired. Time slowed down and Lucia held her breath. She only allowed herself to breathe when he deflected it off the edge of his blade and kept charging.

Thalia charged the second skeleton. Zoe, Lucia, and Bianca started firing arrows at the third and fourth. Grover stood there and held his hands out to the trees, looking like he wanted to hug them.

The first skeleton drew a baton and he sliced off his arms at the elbows. Then Percy swung Riptide through his waist and cut him in half.

His bones unknit and clattered to the asphalt in a heap. Almost immediately, they began to move, reassembling themselves. The second skeleton clattered his teeth at him and tried to fire, but he knocked his gun into the snow.

Then two skeletons shot him in the back.

Lucia screamed. In a split second, she notched two arrows and fired. they perfectly struck the skeletons in between their brow bones sticking out of their foreheads like unicorn horns. Their skulls fell apart crumbling into pieces but it wasn't long until they grew back and Lucia's arrows fell into the snow.

Lucia got distracted when she saw Percy was alright and started getting up from off the street...He wasn't dead.

The Nemean Lion's fur! His coat was bulletproof.

Before she knew it one of the Skeletons charged toward her, Lucia raised her bow to block it. The skeleton wrapped its bone hands around Lucia's bow and CRACK it snapped it in half. Lucia gasped at the realization she was now without her weapon.

She grabbed an arrow from her quiver and stabbed it through its head with as much strength as she could muster, when his head crumbled apart Lucia used that to her advantage to move away.

It quickly re-formed

There was a crashing sound in the forest to their left, like a bulldozer. Maybe the skeletons' reinforcements were arriving. Percy got to his feet and ducked a police baton. The skeleton he'd cut in half was already fully re-formed, coming after him.

There was no way to stop them. Zoe and Bianca fired at their heads point-blank, but their empty skulls only grew back.

The skeleton lunged at Bianca, and she was almost a goner, but she whipped out her hunting knife and stabbed the warrior in the chest. The whole skeleton erupted into flames, leaving a little pile of ashes and a police badge.

"How did you do that?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know," Bianca said nervously. "Lucky stab?"

"Well, do it again!" Lucia yelled

Bianca tried, but the remaining three skeletons were wary of her now. They pressed us back, keeping them at baton's length.

"Plan?" Percy said as they retreated.

Nobody answered. The trees behind the skeletons were shivering. Branches were cracking.

"A gift," Grover muttered.

And then, with a mighty roar, the largest pig Lucia had ever seen came crashing into the road. It was a wild boar, thirty feet high, with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes. Its back bristled with brown hair, and its eyes were wild and angry.

"REEEEEEEEET!" it squealed, and raked the three skeletons aside with its tusks. The force was so great, they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where they smashed to pieces, thigh bones and arm bones twirling everywhere.

Then the pig turned on them.

Thalia raised her spear, but Grover yelled, "Don't kill it.'"

The boar grunted and pawed the ground, ready to charge.

"That's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoe said, trying to stay calm. "I don't think we can kill it."

"It's a gift," Grover said. "A blessing from the Wild!"

The boar said "REEEEEEET!" and swung its tusk. Zoe and Bianca dived out of the way. Thalia had to push Grover so he wouldn't get launched into the mountain. Lucia pulled Percy's hand making them fall into a pile of snow just a few feet away.

"Yeah, I feel blessed!" Percy said. "Scatter!"

They all ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused.

"It wants to kill us!" Thalia said.

"Of course," Grover said. "It's wild!"

"So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked.

"Yeah! I don't feel very blessed!" Lucia raged

It seemed like a fair statement to her, but the pig was offended and charged at her. She was faster than she'd realized. She rolled out of the way of its hooves and came up behind the beast. It lashed out with its tusks and pulverized the WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT sign.

Lucia racked her brain, trying to remember the myth of the boar. She was pretty sure Hercules had fought this in his 12 labors, but she couldn't remember how he'd beaten it. She had a vague memory of the boar plowing down several Greek cities before Hercules managed to subdue it.

She hoped Cloudcroft was insured against giant wild boar attacks.

"Keep moving!" Zoe yelled. She, Lucia, and Bianca ran in opposite directions. Grover danced around the boar, playing his pipes while the boar snorted and tried to gouge him.

Thalia and Percy won the prize for bad luck. When the boar turned on them, Thalia made the mistake of raising Aegis in defense. The sight of the Medusa head made the boar squeal in outrage. The boar charged at them.

They only managed to keep ahead of it because they ran uphill, and they could dodge in and out of trees while the boar had to plow through them.

A few minutes later, Zoe, Bianca, Grover, and Lucia joined them. They stood watching as the wild boar struggled in the snow. The wild boar was squealing and all they could see was the bristly tip of its back. It was wedged completely in the snow like Styrofoam packing. It didn't seem to be hurt, but it wasn't going anywhere, either.

"A blessing of the Wild," Grover said, though he now looked agitated.

"We have Lucia's father to thank for its existence." Zoe informed, "We must use it."

Lucia furrowed her eyebrows together watching the struggling pig "We aren't related, right?"

"No, he took the form of the first boar to kill Adonis, a lover of Aphrodite"

She observed the pigs size "Ouch"

"Hold up," Thalia said irritably. She looked like she'd just lost a fight with a Christmas tree. "Explain to me why you're so sure this pig is a blessing."

Grover looked over, distracted. "It's our ride west. Do you have any idea how fast this boar can travel?"

"Fun," Percy said. "Like... pig cowboys."

"Pigboy?" Lucia looked at him

"Nevermind"

Grover nodded. "We need to get aboard. I wish... I wish I had more time to look around. But it's gone now."

"What's gone?" Percy asked

Grover didn't seem to hear him. He walked over to the boar and jumped onto its back. Already the boar was starting to make some headway through the drift. Once it broke free, there'd be no stopping it. Grover took out his pipes. He started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar's nose, and the boar went nuts, straining to get it.

"Automatic steering," Thalia murmured. "Great."

She trudged over and jumped on behind Grover, which still left plenty of room for the rest of them.

Lucia kept staring at their ride with trepidation. She wanted to stay right where she was.

Zoe and Bianca walked toward the boar.

"Wait a second," Percy said. "Do you guys know what Grover is talking about—this wild blessing?"

"Of course," Zoe said. "Did you not feel it in the wind? It was so strong... I never thought I would sense that presence again."

"What presence?"

She stared at him like he was an idiot. "The Lord of the Wild, of course. Just for a moment, in the arrival of the boar, I felt the presence of Pan."