I Talk to a Goddess via Bottle

     After we had gotten donuts for Blackjack, we decided to ride the bus back to Camp Half-Blood. We were sitting in four seats, all facing each other, two per seat. Percy with Annabeth, Piper with Jason, Hazel with Frank. That left Nico and me. I guessed that if it wasn't for me, Nico would be sitting alone. And would have walked alone too, for that matter. Just then Annabeth snapped her fingers.

     "That's what I forgot! I knew I forgot something!"

     "What is it, Annabeth?" Frank asked her.

     "Lyla! I didn't get Lyla a weapon!" A weapon? Well I guess I don't have one.

     "Oh, OK. Well we're almost to camp. You can get her one soon. I don't think any monsters will attack us on the bus."

     "Frank!" Hazel knocked the back of her hand in Frank's chest. "Don't say things like that! You might jinx us."

     "Right. Sorry Hazel." Frank rubbed the back of his head. "Right about now Leo would be making some silly remark."

      "Yeah," Jason laughed nervously. "I really hope we can find him," he sighed.

     "Yeah," Percy added in, "I think we all do." After that comment, everything was quiet... until the monster attacked the bus.

...............

     It wasn't really a full scale, tip over the bus, everyone runs away screaming kind of attack. Actually it was a quiet attack and the mortals just kind of sat there as we almost died. Well, I almost died anyway. What happened was we were all just sitting in silence when this pretty girl with long blonde hair, a perfect face, and a cheerleader's outfit walked back and sat in an empty seat behind us. There was a pink backpack bouncing against her back. I didn't think much about it, but Nico sat up a little straighter and Percy started muttering something to Annabeth. The stop before ours, the girl strode up the lane. I thought she was going to get off, but instead she stopped right in front of our seats.

      "So, little demigods. Whatcha been up to?" She spoke in a sweat voice. One of those voices that no man could resist.

       "Oh, come on!" Frank yelled. "Can't a group of eight demigods travel safely to Olympus and back without being attacked!?"

      "Frank, relax," Piper looked straight at him. I felt my own pounding heart slow it's beat. Then she turned her attention to the monster\girl thing. "What can we help you with, empousa?

       "Oh, lossen up, Piper McLean. I didn't come to destroy your little bus here. I came with a gift. A gift from Hecate."

      "What kind of gift..." Hazel narrowed her eyes.

     "The nice one, daughter of Pluto," the empousa, as Piper had called it, was glaring at Hazel. "The kind for her," she nodded her head in my direction.

     "M, me?" I stammered.

     "Um, no. The other girl sitting by you" I looked to my side and saw Nico with his nose scrunched up.

     "You better quit your sarcasm and cut to the case before this bus is destroyed," Nico's nose was still scrunched up as he spoke.

     "Oh, calm down, Death Boy," she spoke with a wave of her hand in Nico's direction. He began to stand, but Piper turned her head towards him.

    "Nico, its not worth it," she spoke smoothly. He sat down and crossed his arms, grumbling. "What's the gift?" That's what I want to know. The empousa pulled her pack off her back and into to her hands. She muttered curses under her breath as she unzipped the biggest pocket. She pulled out a simmering sliver whip with a golden handle. My eyes widen at the sight of it. Obviously it was magic and I had to have it. She waved it temptingly back and forth. Back and forth. My eyes followed.

     "This is it. Like it?" She continued to wave it as she spoke. I think my eyes persued once again. I nodded. "Good," she put it back into her pack and throw it on the empty seat next to her. "'Cause you'll have to earn it!" She began to morph her appearance. Her hair turned to fire and her mouth sprouted fangs. Her manicured fingers grew into long, sharp talons. The last change was her legs. The left became  steaming and mechanical. The right was the leg of a donkey. She started hissing at me and I realized my mouth hanging open. I felt a cold finger close it.

    "Don't gawk. They hate it," Nico whispered beside me. I nodded again without looking away. I couldn't. My eyes felt glued to the monster in front of me.

     "Defeat me," she spoke in a raspy voice, "and I will award you the weapon. But only if you do it with no help."

    "What? Right here on the bus?" I asked her.

    "Did I studder?" She seamed annoyed.

    "But I don't have anything to fight with."

    "Fine! You have until the next stop! Then we will fight in the street!" And with that, she disappeared in a spiral of flames, along with the backpack. Dang it...

    "Well then," Annabeth began, "We better get you ready for a fight," she took a look around at the faces of the other demigods. "Anyone have an extra weapon for Mandy to borrow?"

     Piper raised her hand, "I have this dumb dagger. I keep it with me for emergencies. I like my new sword better," She stood and walked over to me, "This is Katoptirs," she pressed it into my hand, "At the right times it will show you glimpses of the future. Its name even means looking glass. But it will still slay a monster; I've done it plenty of times," she flashed a smile and went back to her seat.

     "But, I've never used a dagger," I spoke with clear uncertainty.

     "It's easy," Annabeth chimed in, "You'll just have to get in close. Avoid the claws and stab anywhere. That dagger's Celestial bronze." I remembered from the video that that certain metal normally reduced monsters to dust on impact. I rises the dagger closer to my face. The bronze metal simmered in the sunlight. My eyes widened as the sunlight bended and for a moment, I saw what looked like a coffee shop. It looked like more was appearing, but then bus stopped abruptly. I quickly brought the knife down from my face as my heart began to beat so fast I thought it would burst from my chest.

     "Oh my God,"

     "Ahem," Percy cleared his throat, "Gods. Oh my Gods."

     "R- right," I studdered.

     "Um, we should probably get off now," he said.

     "R- right... again." We all stood and walked off the bus. I think I was shaking. Shaking hard. We stood on the sidewalk and waited. I was breathing heavy.

      As soon as the bus was out of sight, the empousa reappeared in a blinding flash of light and flames. She stood right in the middle of the street. With a snap of her fingers everything around us stopped, frozen in place. I looked to my right, where my new friends were, but they were frozen too. Their faces held no expression, not even shock. It all happened to fast. I, on the other hand, probably had a look of utter shock plastered on my face; my left hand covered my mouth. In my right I cluched Katoptirs until my knuckles were white. I took three steps toward and let my left hand fall to my side.

     "What did you do?" I asked in barely a whisper.

     "Relax, demigod. If you defeat me, the spell will end. If I defeat you... then I might end the spell on New York. I can't say the same for your friends over there."

    I gasped. I had just enough time to jump out of the way as she lunged at me; her talons slicing the air where I once stood only a few seconds ago. She turned towards me, fangs at the ready. Slowly, she started forward. I gulped hard. For some reason, I thought of how I had dreamed of those peacocks. A weird memory for a time like this. Then I realized why. Gradually, I pieced together the puzzle.  The empousa charged again. This time I rolled to the right. I backed way while I devised my plan. One of Hera's sacred animals is the peacock. Something about its beauty or something. Then it finally hit me! Not the peacock thing. I'll have to figure that part put later. But I remember reading something about Hera having anger issues. She learned to control it... most of the time.

     If I could just direct my anger into the battle, it might just do something.

     Just before them monster came at me again, I realized I was more mad, than afraid. Mad at I had to fight this monster. Mad at the spell it had put on New York. Mad it had the nerve to include my new friends.
     I struck the dagger straight out with a yell. It went right into her chest. She stopped dead in her tracts. She peeked down and whimpered before collapsing into a mount of golden dust. It shimmered in the sunlight as the wind blew it way. It left behind three items: a glass bottle with a parchment inside, the magic whip, and Pipers dagger.

     I grabbed the weapons in one hand and the bottle in the other. I sulked back to the sidewalk. I set the whip and dagger down on the ground. I pulled the paper out by turning the bottle upside down and sticking my pinky through the opening. It was a neatly written note; it read:

     Dear Mandy,
              Please excuse my deliverer's behavior. You were only meant to receive, not fight. Since you so kindly defeated her for me, I have placed her in so far down in Tartarus, no monster can escape. Once you read this, keep the bottle. By placing note inside, I will receive them. You will also get letters from me. Have a wonderful day!
                         -Hecate

     After reading it, I turned it over. It showed one word at the very top: Reply: I looked around for a pen. I saw a mortal sitting on a bench doing a crossword puzzle. He was just a little ways away from me. I went over and plucked the pen from his hand. Under Reply: I wrote: 
Wat about da spell? How do I fix it?

     I put it i n the bottle and the light around it simmered. Other than that, nothing seemed changed. But when I pulled the paper out, Hecate's side was changed, and mine was blank. Hecate had wrote:
     Dear Lylah,
              "Wat"? "Da"?  Goodness, kids these days. About the spell. I can reverse it. Snap your fingers when you're ready.
                          -Hecate
     I slid the note back into the bottle blank, and nothing happened. I returned the mortals Pen and walked back to my friends. When I got there, I snapped my fingers.