Published: August 6, 2021
Edited: May 27, 2022

~✰~

The next morning we had to get up bright and early to leave on our quest. It didn't take me long to pack everything I needed. I decided to not pack much, just two changes of clothes, my marine biology book (written in Ancient Greek), deodorant, all my mortal savings, a fee granola bars and a toothbrush with toothpaste. All of it got stuffed in a backpack I had had since I was seven. On a whim I shoved the two trident bracelets into my bag as I left the cabin.

The camp store loaned Percy one hundred dollars in mortal money and gave us each twenty golden drachmas. These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, but Olympians never used less than pure gold. Chiron said the coins might come in handy for non-mortal transactions- whatever that meant. He gave Annabeth, Percy and I each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It was god food, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally.

Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector and Percy told her so, which only earned him a disapproving look.

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.

We waved good-bye to the other campers, who were not very kind looking. All except for Eva, apparently she had written me a note the night I had been kicked out of the Athena cabin but I never got around to reading it. Eva gave me a tearful hug and a homemade bead necklace to remember her by. I slipped it over my head and settled it next to my camp necklace.

Then we took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia.

Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood Argus, he was the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only see extra eyes on his hands, face and neck.

"This is Argus," Chiron said, though it was directed at Percy "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

I heard footsteps behind us. Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.

"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."

Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around. I smirked at her, as she glared at me.

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told us. "And I thought...um, maybe you could use these."

He handed Percy the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelled kind of normal which was surprisingfor a teenage boy.

Then Luke said, "Maia!" White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling Percy so much he dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.

"Awesome!" Grover exclaimed.

Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days...." His expression turned sad.

No one knew what to say. It was cool enough that Luke had come to say good-bye. I'd been afraid he might resent me and Percy for getting so much attention the last few days. But here he was giving Percy a magic gift....

"Hey, man," Percy said gratefully "Thanks."

"Listen, Percy..." Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just...kill some monsters for me, okay? And Mermaid? Annie...just be safe." He seemed to be on the edge of saying something more but decided against it.

He shook Percy's hand. Then Luke patted Grover's head between his horns, then gave a good-bye hug to me and then Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out.

After Luke was gone, I told her, "You're hyperventilating."

"Am not."

"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?" Percy guessed.

"Oh...why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?" She fumed, her face red as the ares cabin's paint.

She stomped down the other side of the hill, where the white camp SUV waited on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed, jingling his car keys. Percy picked up the flying shoes and I had a sudden bad feeling. I looked at Chiron.

"We won't be able to use these, will we?" Percy asked. I was thinking the same thing but I was still mad at Chiron from the night before and I wasn't going to talk to him.

Chiron shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air...that would not be wise for you or your sister." Percy nodded, disappointed, but then I got an idea.

"Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"

His eyes lit up. "Me?"

Pretty soon we'd laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was ready for launch.

"Maia!" he shouted. Grover got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos.

"Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"

"Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower, heading toward the van. I ran after him, laughing hysterically.

~✰~

For the first time, the quest felt real. I was actually leaving Half-Blood Hill for the first time in years. I was heading west (Percy had explained the Hades theory to me) with no adult supervision, no backup plan, not even a cell phone. (cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, it would be worse than sending up a flare). I had no weapon stronger than a sword to fight off monsters and reach the Land of the Dead.

Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weird to be on a highway again, Percy, Annabeth and Grover sitting next to me as if we were normal carpoolers. After so long at Half-Blood Hill, the real world seemed like a fantasy. I found myself staring at every McDonald's, every kid in the back of his parents' car, every billboard and shopping mall.

"So far so good," Percy told Annabeth hopefully. "Ten miles and not a single monster."

She gave him an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, Seaweed Brain."

"Remind me again- why do you hate me so much?" Percy asked looking annoyed.

"I don't hate you." Annabeth insisted, her face aloof.

"Could've fooled me." Percy raised his eyebrows disbelievingly.

Annabeth folded her cap of invisibility. "Look...we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."

"Why?"

She sighed. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."

I opened my mouth to defend Poseidon (salt water springs aren't so bad!) before remembering the jerk never wanted me and closed it quickly.

"They must really like olives." Percy mused.

"Oh, forget it." Annabeth sighed, shaking her head.

"Now, if she'd invented pizza- that I could understand." He said in a reasonable voice.

"I said, forget it!" Annabeth snapped.

"But you still like Neridia."

"That's different, she's my sister."

"She's my sister too." Percy muttered.

In the front seat, Argus smiled. He didn't say anything, but one blue eye on the back of his neck winked at me.

~✰~

Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan it was sunset and starting to rain.

Argus dropped us at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side. Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer with Percy's picture on it: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY? Percy ripped it down before Annabeth and Grover could notice.

Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got our bus tickets, then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of the parking lot. Grover shouldered his backpack. He gazed down the street in the direction Percy was looking.

"You want to know why she married him, Percy?" He asked. I wanted to know more about this Gabe and my brother so I cocked my head, listening in.

Percy stared at him. "Were you reading my mind or something?"

"Just your emotions." He shrugged. "Guess I forgot to tell you satyrs can do that. You were thinking about your mom and your stepdad, right?"

Percy nodded.

"Your mom married Gabe for you," Grover told him. "You call him 'Smelly,' but you've got no idea. The guy has this aura....Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven't been near him for a week."

"Thanks," Percy said. "Where's the nearest shower?" He sounded light hearted but I knew he was faking it.

"You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was a smart lady. She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy-if that makes you feel any better."

I wondered if Grover could read my emotions, mixed up as they were. I was glad he and Percy, Annabeth were with me, but I knew he felt guilty that we hadn't been straight with them. We hadn't told them the real reason we'd said yes to this crazy quest.

The truth was, neither Percy nor I cared about retrieving Zeus's lightning bolt, or saving the world, or even helping our father out of trouble. The more I thought about it, I resented Poseidon for never visiting me, never helping me all those years in the orphanage, for taking me away from Percy and my mother, never even sending a lousy child-support check. He'd only claimed Percy and I because he needed a job done.

The rain kept coming down.

We got restless waiting for the bus and the other three decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. Annabeth was unbelievable. She could bounce the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. Percy wasn't too bad either. The game ended when Percy tossed the apple toward Grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, the Hacky Sack disappeared- core, stem, and all.

I on the other hand was focused on the rain. As a child of Poseidon I should have some power over water, which would explain how I always won the canoe races. In the twenty minutes before the bus pulled up I tried to move the water around with my hands and mind, put it was hard to tell if I made any progress.

Finally the bus came. As we stood in line to board, Grover started looking around, sniffing the air like he smelled his favorite food- enchiladas.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said tensely. "Maybe it's nothing."

But I could tell it wasn't nothing. I started looking over my shoulder, too. I was relieved when we finally got on board and found seats together in the back of the bus. We stowed our backpacks. Annabeth kept slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh.

As the last passengers got on, Annabeth clamped her hand onto my knee. "Percy, Dia."

An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and my heart skipped a beat.

It was Alecto. Older, more withered then five years ago, but definitely the same evil face. Percy scrunched down in his seat while I began shaking uncontrollably.

Behind her came two more old ladies: one in a green hat, one in a purple hat. Otherwise they looked exactly like Alecto-same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dresses. Triplet demon grandmothers.
They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves. The bus pulled out of the station, and we headed through the slick streets of Manhattan.

"She didn't stay dead long," Percy said, his voice choked. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."

"I said if you're lucky," I whispered back, still shaking. "You're obviously not."

"All three of them," Grover whimpered. "Di immortales!"

"It's okay," Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."

"They don't open," Grover moaned.

"A back exit?" she suggested.

There wasn't one. Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped. By that time, we were on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.

"They won't attack us with witnesses around," Percy said. "Will they?"

"Mortals don't have good eyes," I reminded. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."

"They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?" Percy asked desperately. Annabeth thought about it.

"Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof...?" She asked.

We hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain.

Alecto got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the rest-room."

"So do I," said the second sister.

"So do I," said the third sister.

They all started coming down the aisle. All four of us were panicking now.

"I've got it," Annabeth said. "Percy, take my hat, Neridia, crawl under the seats."

"What?"

"You're the ones they want. Percy can turn invisible and go up the aisle. Neridia you can fit under the seats and crawl to the front. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."

"But you guys-" Percy started

"There's an outside chance they might not notice us," Annabeth said. "You're a son of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering."

"We can't just leave you." I protested.

"Don't worry about us," Grover said. "Go!"

My hands trembled. I felt like a coward, but I dropped to my knees and began to crawl along under the seats, avoid feet and bags. I managed to get up ten rows, then curl under an empty seat just as the Furies walked past.

Alecto stopped, sniffing, and looked straight above me. My heart was pounding. Apparently she didn't see anything. She and her sisters kept going. I was free. I made it to the front of the bus. We were almost through the Lincoln Tunnel now. I was about to press the door open button when I heard hideous wailing from the back row.

The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same- I guess those couldn't get any uglier- but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips.

The Furies surrounded Grover and Annabeth, lashing their whips, hissing: "Where is it? Where?"

The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw something, all right.

"They're not here!" Annabeth yelled. "They're gone!"

The Furies raised their whips. Annabeth drew her bronze knife. Grover grabbed a tin can from his snack bag and prepared to throw it.

What Percy did next was so impulsive and dangerous he should've been named ADHD poster child of the year. The bus driver was distracted, trying to see what was going on in his rearview mirror.

Still invisible, Percy had grabbed the wheel from the driver and jerked it to the left. Everybody howled as they were thrown to the right, and I rolled into some random mortal's lap. I heard what I hoped was the sound of three Furies smashing against the windows.

"Hey!" the driver yelled. "Hey-whoa!"

He wrestled for the wheel. The bus slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind us. We careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins.

Somehow the driver found an exit. We shot off the highway, through half a dozen traffic lights, and ended up barreling down one of those New Jersey rural roads where you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river from New York. There were woods to our left, the Hudson River to our right, and the driver seemed to be veering toward the river.

I pulled a Percy and got not so but kind of great idea: I hit the emergency brake.

The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him. I stepped into the driver's seat and let them pass.

The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth while she waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Grover threw tin cans.

I looked at the open doorway. I was free to go, but I couldn't leave my friends. I was still deliberating when Percy made the decision for me. Percy took off the invisible cap and waved it around. "Hey!"

The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at us, and the exit suddenly seemed like an excellent idea. Alecto stalked up the aisle. Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather. Her two ugly sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward me and my brother like huge nasty lizards.

"Perseus and Neridia Jackson," Alecto snarled, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than Georgia. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."

"I liked you better as a math teacher," Percy told her matter-of-factly. Alecto growled like it was the worst insult she'd ever gotten.

Annabeth and Grover moved up behind the Furies cautiously, looking for an opening. I took my retractable pen out of my pocket and clicked it. Whirlpool elongated into a shimmering double-edged sword. I glanced ever so slightly left and saw Percy with an almost identical sword, except his had 'Anaklusmos' or Riptide written in the hilt.

The Furies hesitated.

Alecto obviously didn't like seeing Riptide and one of the others seemed to recognize my sword as well.

"Submit now," Alecto hissed, stopping her advance. "And you will not suffer eternal torment."

"Nice try," I told her snarkily.

"Look out!" Annabeth cried just as the furies struck.

Alecto lashed her whip around my sword hand while the Furies on the either side lunged at Percy. My hand felt like it was wrapped in molten lead, but I managed not to drop Whirlpool. Percy stabbed the Fury on the left with his blade, sending her toppling backward into a seat where she exploded into monster dust. I turned and sliced the Fury on the right. As soon as the blade connected with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust. Annabeth got Alecto in a wrestler's hold and yanked her backward while Grover ripped the whip out of her hands.

"Ow!" he yelled, tossing it around. "Ow! Hot! Hot!"

Alecto was trying to get Annabeth off her back. She kicked, clawed, hissed and bit, but Annabeth held on while Grover got Alecto's legs tied up in her own whip. Finally they both shoved her backward into the aisle. Alecto tried to get up, but she didn't have room to flap her bat wings, so she kept falling down.

"Zeus will destroy you!" she promised. "Hades will have your souls!"

"Braccas meas vescimini!" Percy yelled defiantly.

I wasn't sure where the Latin came from. It meant "Eat my pants!"

Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of my neck. The air began to smell of ozone.

"Get out!" Annabeth yelled at us. "Now!"

I didn't need any encouragement. We rushed outside and found the other passengers wandering around in a daze, arguing with the driver, or running around in circles yelling, "We're going to die!" A Hawaiian shirted tourist with a camera snapped my photograph before I could retract my sword.

"Our bags!" Grover realized. I was the only one with my backpack, the others had left them. "We left our-"

BOOOOOM!

The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof, but an angry wail from inside told me the furies were not yet dead.

"Run!" Annabeth demanded. "She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here!"

We plunged into the woods as the rain poured down, the bus in flames behind us, and nothing but darkness ahead.

~✰~
Word Count: 3881