Chapter Ten
Bus Goes Boom
Really, that's what you name the chapter… Percy…
I hastily ran back to my cabin to pack for the quest. Annabeth was elated about it. Her grin was a mile wide as she went to get her things. The camp store loaned us twenty golden drachmas and one hundred dollars cash. I shoved the baggie full of money into my messenger bag which already had all my things and other stuff for emergencies. Percy asked me for something, and I reached into my bag to get it. The bag looked like a messenger bag on the outside, but, with a little magic, it was turned into a space large enough to hold anything and everything you could physically need all at the same time. It weighed as much as if it was empty too. Percy got raccoon eyes as he watched the bag swallow up my arm as I reached for something. We ran into Luke on the hill as we got ready for departure. He wished us luck, and gave us some of Hermes's old shoes. They were old converse with battered wings grafted to the side. Annabeth started hyperventilating as Luke gave her a quick smile. Percy made a snide remark about capture the flag—it turned out that Annabeth allowed Luke to get the flag instead of her. Chiron met up with us to bid us well and gave Percy the stick pen that he used to disintegrate Ms. Dodds. He told Percy the name, Riptide or Anaklusmos.
We left camp exhilarated and a little jumpy. I sat back in the van Argus was driving while Percy and Annabeth were having a heated conversation about why Annabeth was always rude to Percy and why their parents weren't fond of each other. We were dropped off at the Upper East Side bus stop when me and Percy spotted the flyer with Percy's picture on it. It said: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY? He ripped it off the post before Grover or Annabeth could notice. I don't blame the boy. Percy was a little down when Grover pulled the I-can-sense-your-emotions-because-I-am-a-satyr act about why his mother married Gabe. The bus took forever to get to the station, so Grover pulled an apple from his backpack and we started playing hacky sack with it. One kick near Grover's mouth and…it was gone. When we boarded the bus, we sat toward the back. Annabeth was nervously slapping her cap against her thigh, and I looked anxiously around the bus along with Grover. An old woman dressed in a gaudy dress boarded the bus, her black…eyes…shimmering. I shifted worriedly, and nudged Grover. Two more ladies came in behind her dressed very similarly. They sat near the front, blocking the walkway with their legs. We all registered that all of the Furies were on the bus. Annabeth suggested that we could climb out the windows, but they wouldn't open. The three Furies decided they needed to go to the bathroom, so they headed down to the bathroom at the back of the bus.
"Percy, take my cap. It's you they want not us." Annabeth said.
Percy reluctantly took the cap and slipped it on before the Furies could notice. The Furies could definitely smell me, considering I'm the daughter of one of the Big Three. I was getting restless wondering about Percy, when the Furies surrounded the three of us asking where Percy was. Their gravely, clipped voices made my spine tingle. They raised their whips, and Annabeth and I wielded our weapons getting ready for a fight. The bus started swerving—Percy. The bus screeched to a halt, sending all the passengers forward. It bought us some time. The doors opened as the passengers stampeded to get out. The monsters cracked their whips at us while we were shouting in Ancient Greek at them and doing the best we could to fend them off. Percy shimmered into view. The Leader, Mrs. Dodds, turned toward Percy as if she was going to give him a detention, her tongue flitting in and out of her mouth like a snake's. Percy uncapped his sword and headed for the Furies. After an action-filled scene in the bus, we finally managed to get rid of two the Furies. Thunder shook the bus, and I screamed for everyone to get out . A fat man in a busy Hawaiian shirt snapped a picture of us with a disposable camera…crap.
"Our bags!" Grover yelled.
BOOOOM!
The windows shattered as lightning tore a hole into the roof of the bus. Ms. Dodds was calling for reinforcements. We plunged into the woods. I still had my messenger bag.