The Path Of Glory (Annabeth Chase x Male Reader)

53. The Junkyard Of The Gods

When Y/N stood up again, the limousine was gone. The road, the taco restaurant, the whole town of Gila Claw was gone. With Ethan, Percy, Grover, Thalia, Zoë, and Bianca, he was standing in the middle of the junkyard, mountains of scrap metal stretched out in every direction.

"What did she want with you?" Bianca asked, once he'd told them about Aphrodite.

"Gods' stuff," he told her, avoiding very carefully the "good tragic love story" that Aphrodite wanted. "She said to be careful in her husband's junkyard. She said not to pick anything up."

Zoë narrowed her eyes. "The goddess of love would not make a special trip to tell thee that. Be careful, Y/N. Aphrodite has led many heroes astray."

"For once, I agree with Zoë," Thalia said. "You can't trust Aphrodite."

Behind her, Ethan looked at Y/N funny. He did . . . something . . . with his eyebrows, and Y/N felt that either he knew everything of what Aphrodite had said, either he imagined things way worse.

"So," Y/N said, looking around as to turn his face away—why did Ethan keep looking at him like that? Gods!—"how do we get out of here?"

"That way," Zoë said. "That is west."

"How can you tell?"

In the light of the full moon, he was surprised how well he could see her roll her eyes at him. "Ursa Major is in the north," she said, "which means that must be west."

She pointed west, then at the northern constellation, which was hard to make out because there were so many other stars.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "The bear thing."

Zoë looked offended. "Show some respect. It was a fine bear. A worthy opponent."

"You act like it was real," Percy said.

"Guys," Grover broke in. "Look!"

They'd reached the crest of a junk mountain. Piles of metal objects glinted in the moonlight: broken heads of bronze horses, metal legs from human statues, smashed chariots, tons of shields and swords and other weapons, along with more modern stuff, like cars that gleamed gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines, and computer monitors.

"Whoa," Bianca said. "That stuff . . . some of it looks like real gold."

"It is," Thalia said grimly. "Like Y/N said, don't touch anything. This is the junkyard of the gods."

"Junk?" Ethan picked up a beautiful crown made of gold, silver, and jewels. It was broken on one side, as if it had been split by an axe. "You call this junk?"

He bit off a point and began to chew. "It's delicious!"

Thalia swatted the crown out of his hands. "I'm serious!"

"Look!" Bianca said. She raced down the hill, tripping over bronze coils and golden plates. She picked up a bow that glowed silver in the moonlight. "A Hunter's bow!"

She yelped in surprise as the bow began to shrink, and became a hair clip shaped like a crescent moon. "It's just like Percy's sword!"

Zoë's face was grim. "Leave it, Bianca."

"But—"

"It is here for a reason. Anything thrown away in this junkyard must stay in this yard. It is defective. Or cursed."

Bianca reluctantly set the hair clip down.

"I don't like this place," Thalia said. She gripped the shaft of her spear.

"You think we're going to get attacked by killer refrigerators?" Percy asked.

She gave him a hard look. "Zoë is right, Percy. Things get thrown away here for a reason. Now come on, let's get across the yard."