Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING.

Chapter 10: We Blow Up A Bus

While Nico ran off to tell Jools, I headed back to my cabin to pack up. Thalia accompanied me since our cabins were near each other. Lightning flashed overhead and rain poured throughout the valley that was never supposed to experience it ever.

"Not looking good, huh?" she asked.

"Nope, not at all," I muttered. "Do you think our dads are getting ready to pound each other right now?"

"I don't know, Percy. Do you have the urge to smash me right now?"

I paused for a moment, pretending to consider it. Since the four of us became friends in Yancy, Grover, Nico and I had always considered Thalia to kind of be the leader. She was the kind of person who was confident and in charge. Sometimes I resented it, and it always caused a lot of arguments between us – maybe it was in our nature as the kids of Zeus and Poseidon, or maybe not.

Now I was the one who was supposed to be in charge. I have to admit that I'm not the type who could act as the leader – especially for a quest like this. Apparently being the eldest and the first one to get claimed made me responsible for the lives of my friends and the prevention of World War III. Huh.

"I wouldn't dream of it," I finally said.

Thalia sighed in relief. We stopped in front of cabin three. "Well, se you in a while. And thanks."

Packing up didn't take too long. I left the Minotaur horn in my cabin, since I didn't know what good it would do for our quest. I dumped my stuff in my bed. I had a feeling that bringing a lot of luggage would make things difficult. I had a backpack and one sling bag, and enough clothes for a week. Some of these were from that trip to Montauk, while the rest were four days' worth of clothes courtesy of Chiron.

Aside from the clothes I was wearing, I decided to bring two changes of clothes, toiletries and my toothbrush. The camp store loaned me two hundred dollars in mortal money, and forty golden drachmas. These were coins that were as big as Girl Scout cookies, but sadly not edible. They had images of different Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. Apparently, ancient mortals used them in Greece and they were made of silver, but Olympians never used anything less than pure gold. Chiron also assured us that they will be useful in non-mortal transactions, whatever that is.

Five of us were demigods, so we each received one canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag filled with ambrosia squares for emergency. It was god food and would cure us of almost all injuries, but it was still lethal to mortals. Too much of it could make a half-blood feverish, and an overdose would literally burn us up.

I don't want to be roast seafood.

Annabeth brought along her magic Yankees cap, which was a twelfth-birthday present from her mom, and a book on classical architecture which was written in Ancient Greek. I vaguely wondered where exactly I could get comics written that way. She also brought a long, Celestial Bronze knife that was hidden in her shirt sleeve. I wondered if it would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector.

As usual, Grover was wearing his fake feet and pants to pass as humans, and also wore a green rasta-style cap. His curly hair flattened when it rained and the tips of his horns could be seen. He also brought a bright orange backpack full of scrap metal and apples for snacktime. He also brought his reed pipes that his daddy goat carved for him. Sadly, he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday." They sounded pretty bad on reed pipes, and Thalia kept telling him to learn Green Day songs or something.

Jools arrived with Nico, armed with their own backpacks. Our icy friend brought his bracelet-slash-sword-slash-bow. Five pouches also hung from his belt. He told us that they could transform into loaded quivers of arrows "just in case."

So that left Thalia, Nico and I without weapons of our own – if Grover could bludgeon monsters with his pipes, that is.

After waving goodbye to the other campers – many who looked jealous, while some seemed to be writing mental obituaries for us – we headed to the strawberry fields, then the ocean for a last look. We dropped by the big house for a few seconds before we trudged up Half-Blood Hill and Clio's pine tree.

Chiron was waiting for us there in his wheelchair, with the surfer dude that I remembered seeing back in the sick room. Grover told us that he was the camp's head of security and had eyes all over his body so that he would never be surprised. He was wearing a chauffeur's uniform that day but I could still see the extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.

"This is Argus," explained Chiron. "He will drive you as far as the city and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

Luke ran up the hill right then, with a pair of basketball shoes. "Hey!" he called out with a smile. "Glad I caught you guys before you left."

Annabeth and Thalia blushed – Athenas' daughter more so. The two girls stared at each other and smiled dreamily.

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke continued. He handed me the sneakers, which looked – and smelled – pretty normal. "I thought, um, maybe you could also use these. Maia!"

A pair of white bird's wings sprouted out of the heels. Startled, I dropped the shoes and they flapped around the ground on the bit before the wings folded up and disappeared.

"Awesome!" Grover said.

Nico nodded. "Those shoes are sweet!"

Luke chuckled. "They were really helpful when I was on my quest. It wasa gift from Dad, but of course I don't use them much these days."

I stared at him. To be honest, I didn't know what to say. It was cool enough that someone like Luke came to same goodbye, even if we were probably never to return again. I was kind of afraid that he might resent us for getting so much attention – no matter how negative – the last few days. Here he was, though, giving me a magic gift. I hope I didn't blush as much as Annabeth.

"Hey, man, thanks," I told him.

Luke nodded, and he suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Listen, guys. A lot of hopes are riding on you. Kill some monsters for me, okay?"

We shook hands. He ruffled Nico's hair, gave a high five to Jools, patted Grover's head between the horns, clapped Thalia on the shoulder and… gave Annabeth a goodbye hug. She looked like she might pass out.

"You're hyperventilating," I told her.

"Am not."

Jools snickered. "Hey, did just let him capture the flag?"

"Why do I go anywhere with you guys?" Annabeth asked, throwing her hands up in the air. She stomped down the other side of the hill, to the white SUV that waited by the road. Argus followed her and jingled his car keys absent-mindedly.

"I won't be able to use these," I said, having a sudden bad feeling.

Chiron shooked his head. "No, and neither will Nico. It would not be wise. But Luke meant well."

I looked around, disappointed. I glanced at Thalia, who probably won't like it, then Grover. My mind lit up with a crazy idea. "Hey, G-man, d'you want a magic item?"

He grinned. "Me?" We helped him lace the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was soon ready to take off. "Maia!" he shouted.

Good thing is that he got off the ground okay but he fell over sideways when he lost balance, and his backpack dragged through the grass. His winged shoes bucked up and down irritably.

"Practice! You just need practice!" Chiro called out.

Grover screamed, and went flying sideways down the hill, kind of likea possessed lawn mower. He headed toward the van. Jools ran after him to help.

That left Thalia, Nico and I with Chiron. The centaur looked grim. "I should have trained the three of you better. If I had more time, I could help you learn more about how to survive and make the most out of your powers. Everyone else got more training."

"That's okay," I mumbled. "I just wish…"

I stopped myself before I sounded like a brat. I wished my dad gave me a cool magic item to help me on this death quest, like Luke's flying shoes, Annabeths' invisible cap or maybe even Jools' cuff, though I'd be no use with a bow.

Chiron rubbed his forehead. "What am I thinking? You can't leave without being armed."

He pulled out three pens from his coat pockets and handed one each to us. They all looked like disposable ballpoint ones with black ink and a removable cap. I could probably buy one without spending over thirty cents.

"Gee, thanks." I said.

"What are these supposed to be?" Thalia asked with a frown.

"As I've said before, I have trained heroes for thousands of years," Chiron explained. "Over the millennia, many of them have left.. artifacts behind. These three are among them, but I was told to wait for the right people to receive them. The prophecy is clear to me now."

I remembered the field trip where everything started – when I vaporized Mrs. Dodds with the help of a pen from Chiron that turned into a sword. I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier. In half a second, I was holding a shimmering bronze sword with a leaf-shaped, double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip and a flat hilt that was fastened with studs of gold. The sword felt perfectly balanced on my hand.

"That sword, Percy, has a long and tragic history." Chiron gave me a very serious look. "We need not go into it. What you must know, though, is that it is named Anaklusmos."

"Riptide," I said. I had no idea how easily Ancient Greek came to me.

Thalia uncapped her own pen, and it transformed into a silver blade that was a little longer than mine and had a small image of a golden thunderbolt engraved on it. She frowned. "Why is it silver?"

"Keravnos, or Thunderbolt, is made of Ethereal Silver. Mostly used by the followers of Artemis and Apollo, the Twin Archers, that is the only weapon created from it that is not a bow or an arrow. It is very useful against werewolves. If you press that thunderbolt, it will transform into a spear." Chiron nodded to Nico. "Why don't you take a look at your sword?"

Nico nodded, and uncapped his own pen, which transformed into a long, black, hand-and-a-half sword with a leather-wrapped grip and a silver-studded hilt. He swung it around nervously. "Perfect balance, I think. But it's black. I've never seen a black sword before."

"That's rarer than Ethereal Silver," explained Chiron. "It's called Stygian Iron, and is used mostly by people with ties to the Underworld. A simple nick of the blade could absorb the essence of a monster. That sword is called Nightmare, and was owned by a hero who survived the Underworld but never found a use for this blade."

"Uh, thanks, I guess?" Nico mumbled.

"Use your weapons only for emergencies – and only against monsters. Heroes must not harm mortals unless it is absolutely necessary, but your swords were made in a way that they won't do any harm in any case."

I hefted my sword. "This is a wickedly sharp blade. How can it not harm mortals?"

"Celestial Bronze is forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna and cooled in the River Lethe. It is deadly to monsters and creatures of the Underworld, and could even harm gods. The same goes for Ethereal Silver, which is also forged by Cyclopes, heated by the River Plegethon but is consecrated in temples of Artemis and Apollo. Stygian Iron is cooled in the River Styx and could usually also harm mortals, but Nightmare was forged specifically not to do so. After all, the hero who was supposedd to wield it had no drop of godly blood."

"So what about us?" Thalia asked. "Will we be immune to these kinds of weapons too?"

"No. As demigods, you can be hurt by both celestial and normal weapons. You will be twice as vulnerable."

Thalia frowned. "Good to know."

Nico punched her arm. "Not funny."

Chiron regarded us solemnly. "Now, recap your pens."

When we touched our pen caps to our sword tips, they shar to ballpoint pens again. I tucked mine in my pocket nervously. Everyone knew that I tended to lose pens at school, and Thalia was a close second at times.

"What if we lose them?" Nico asked.

"You can't." Chiro frowned. "They're enchanted, and will always reappear in your pocket. Why don't you try it?" Reluctantly, Nico threw the pen as far as he could down the hill. The black pen disappeared in the grass. "It may take a few moments. Then check your pocket."

Nico did as he was told… and pulled out his pen. "Awesome."

"But what if mortals see us pulling out swords?" I asked.

"The Mist is a powerful thing," Chiron said. Upon noticing our blank looks, he elaborated. "Read the Illiad. It references that. When divine or monstrous elements begin to mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist to obscure human vision – unless that human has ties to them, like the purely mortal heroes. You will see things as they are, now that you are exposed to our world, but humans will interpret things the way that their mind could fit them in their version of reality."

For the first time ever, this quest felt real. I was leaving Half-Blood Hill to go west without adult supervision. We had no backup plans. Cell phones were big no-no's since they can be traced by monsters – kind of like sending up a flare. We only had our swords to fight monsters and reach the Land of the Dead, where we had to face Nico's evil death lord dad.

"Chiron?" I began. "If gods are immortal… was there a time before them?"

"Four ages, as a matter of fact. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, also known wrongly as the Golden Age. Western civilization and the rule of Zeus is known as the Fifth age."

"Do you know what it was like before the gods?" Nico asked for me.

Chiron shook his head. "It was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals, but I am not old enough to remember it. All I know is from what I have been told. Kronos, the Titan Lord, called it the Golden Age. People were innocent and ignorant – but it was all propaganda. You are nothing but appetizers and cheap entertainment for him. When Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind during the early reign of Zeus, humans began to prosper – and the Titan was punished direly for him. But gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born."

"Since the gods are, well, gods, the can't die now, right? They'll be alive as long as Western civilization is alive. If we fail… nothing so bad would happen, right? I mean, it won't mess up everything?"

"He's right," Thalia said quietly. "We're kids. We barely know what we're supposed to be doing. We could fail."

Chiron looked sad as he said, "We don't know how long the Age of the West will last, even though the gods are immortal. After all, the Titans are immortal too – and still exist, locked away in different kinds of prisons, tortured and punished and without the full extent of their powers. If the gods suffer the same fate, darkness and chaos will return. All we can do is to follow the destiny that the Fates have given us."

"Right. A destiny. Assuming that we know what it is," I muttered.

"Relax and keep your head clear. You may be about to prevent the biggest war to ever come to human history."

"Relaxed. We're very relaxed," I said, though I could see the tension in Thalia's shoulders and Nico's discomfort.

We walked together, the three of us – just like old times. I looked back and saw Chiron standing under the pine tree that used to be Clio, Daughter of Zeus and Thalia's half-sister. Our mentor was standing in full horse-man form. He held his bow high in salute. That was probably the typical summer-camp send-off by your typical centaur. Huh.

Nico fumbled with his jacket. "I hope that it's okay with you. That I'm coming along, I mean. After all, who wants to go on a quest with Hades' son?"

"We do." Thalia put an arm around his shoulders. "Look, we're all friends here, okay?"

"She's right," I added. "I wouldn't dream of ruining our team."

By the time we piled up in the SUV, Nico looked considerably happier. I was wedged between Jools and him when Argus began to drive us out of the countryside. Jools pulled out his wallet – a plain black leather one – and brought out a small picture of a boy and a girl. Curious, I stared at it.

The boy was him – a year younger or so – but his hair was dyed a deep blond. He had an arm around an Asian girl who was kind of as tall as him. She was pretty, I guess, with skin vaguely tinted olive, wavy black hair and slanted, chocolate-brown eyes. They were both dressed in hoodies – blue for Jools and red for the girl – and both looked really happy.

"Your girlfriend?" I asked.

Jools shook his head and put the picture and his wallet away. "Nah. She's my best friend." He looked really upset, though.

I wondered if there was more to the story than that, but I didn't want to pry. Instead, I focused on the feeling of being on a highway again with my friends. It felt weird, like my two weeks at camp made the rest of the real world seem like a fantasy. I ended up staring at every McDonald's, billboard, shopping mall and even kids in the back of their parents' cars.

"So far so good," I said. "Ten miles and not a single monster."

Annabeth groaned irritably. "Don't talk that way, Seaweed Brain. It's bad luck."

"Why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you."

"Could've fooled me."

She glared at me from her seat and looked away. "Look, we're not supposed to get along at all, okay? Our parents are rival."

"Rivals?"

I was surprised when Nico answered it. "Percy, you really didn't listen to Mr. Brunner – er, Chiron – in Latin class, huh? Athena once caught Poseidon and his girlfriend doing stuff in her temple. And the girlfriend was actually a priestess of Athena. So anway, the goddess got mad and punished the girl."

Annabeth nodded. "That was hugely disrespectful," she said. "Another time, our parents competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad gave them a stupid saltwater spring. My mom created the olive tree, which was obviously much useful, so they named the city after her."

"They must like olives. But if they invented pizza, that I could understand," I said.

"Forget it."

Thalia groaned. "If you guys keep arguing, then I don't think we'll make it to the Underworld in one piece."

We were slowed down by the heavy traffic in Queens, so it was sunset when we reached Manhatan. Rain began to fall, and I shuddered.

Argus dropped us at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, which wasn't far from my mom and Gabe's apartment. I saw a soggy flier taped to a nearby mailbox, and it had my picture on it. I ripped it down before the others could notice.

Grover was really nervous now that we were out in the open. When Thalia asked him why, all he could say was, "Five half-bloods will smell a lot."

Argus helped us unload our bags and helped us get our bus tickets. When he drove away, the eye on the back of his neck opened to watch us until he pulled out of the parking lot. I felt a big weight drop in my stomach as I realized that I was pretty close to my old apartment.

"Are you okay, man?" Nico asked.

"Y-yeah," I told him, hating the way my voice shook. "Just thinking. My mom would've been home from the candy store by now, and Smelly Gabe is probably up there in our apartment and playing poker. He probably won't even miss her."

Grover shouldered his backpack nervously and gazed down the street. His eyes darted around, as if looking for monsters. "Percy, do you want to know why your mother married him?"

"Do you read minds or something?" Thalia asked in fascination.

"Emotions," corrected Grover. "Satyrs can actually do that. Percy here was thinking about his mom and stepdad." When I nodded, he continued. "Your mom actually married Gabe for you. I know that you call him 'Smelly' but you have no idea how horrible his aura is. Urgh. I can smell him from him, and even you still have some traces even if you haven't been near him for days."

I wrinkled my nose. "Gee, thanks. Where's the nearest shower?"

Thalia chuckled and pretended to sniff at me. "Eurgh, Jackson, take a bath!" I shoved her away roughly, sending her tumbling on top of Jools.

"Cut it out, guys," Grover said. "Percy, you should be grateful. Gabe smelled so repulsively human and it overpowered your demigod presence. I knew it the moment I set foot in his Camaro. He's been covering your scent for years – like Thalia's mom and her alcohol, and Nico's natural Underworldly scent. Monsters would've found you easily years ago without Gabe. Sally must have loved you a lot to put up with him."

That didn't make things better, but I fought back the sadness. I kept telling myself that I'll see her again, and that she isn't gone for good. I hoped Grover couldn't read my emotions right then. They were so mixed up. Still, I was glad that I had my friends and Annabeth with me, but I felt guilty. I wasn't being honest, and hadn't told them the real reason why I accepted to lead this crazy quest.

I didn't care about retrieving a lightning bolt, or a trident, or even saving the world. I didn't care if my father was in trouble. I resented him for never visiting, never helping my mom, and not even sending one lousy child-support check. I was claimed only because he needed me to do a job. For all I know, he deserved what was happening to him.

I just wanted to save my mom. Hades took her unfairly, and he was going to give her back whether he wanted to or not. I didn't care about being betrayed, or failing to save what mattered most in the end. I was going to save Sally Jackson.

But first, we had to fight off our boredom while waiting for the bus to arrive.

Thalia, Annabeth and Grover decided to play some Hacky Sack with an apple. Annabeth was pretty good. She could bounce the apple off her knee, elbow, shoulder, whatever. Thalia wasn't too bad, but she kept hitting herself in the face. Not dignified for a daughter of the Lord of Olympus, yeah.

When the apple was tossed too close to Grover's mouth, he ate the Hacky Sack in a single mega goat back. We all cracked up.

Jools eyed a couple of girls who were probably in high school. He winked at them, and one giggled. The other gave him a look of disgust and pulled her friend away. Our icy friend sighed. "Old habits die hard."

"What, trying hard to be a lady killer?" I asked.

"Percy!" Nico chided.

Jools shrugged. "Back at school, I used to do it a lot to annoy Romy." He patted his hoodie pocket, where he kept his wallet. "Romy was my best friend. Her family moved to San Fransisco a couple of months before I ran away."

"Mortal?"

"Apparently." Jools shrugged. "I never heard from her again."

The bus finally came. We stood in line to board, and Grover kept looking around. He sniffed the hair as if he could smell his favorite school cafeteria food – enchiladas. He didn't look eager though. As a matter of fact, he looked downright terrified.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it's nothing," he replied. He sounded really tense, and it felt like it wasn't just nothing.

Jools still looked pretty relaxed though the rest of us began to feel more uncomfortable. "Getting the quest jitters?" he asked. I wish I could be as calm as him – or maybe not. Maybe being laid back might get us killed.

"I don't think he's just nervous," Annabeth said. Her stormy eyes darted around.

We found seats near the back of the bus. Because of Grover, we were too nervous to even stow our backpacks. Annabeth was slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh. I fidgeted nervously beside her. In front of us, Nico and Jools were talking in low voices. Behind us, Grover still kept looking around nervously. Thalia kept her eyes locked on her feet, as if deep in thought.

When the last passengers got on, Annabeth pinched me on the knee. "Percy," she hissed.

An old lady boarded the bus, dressed in a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a lumply orange knit hat shadowing her face. Her purse was big and made of paisley – which was probably outdated before dinosaurs went extinct. She looked up, and her black eyes glittered.

"Mrs. Dodds," I mumbled. She looked older and more whithered, but she still had her evil face. I slouched on my seat, doing my best to stay unnoticed.

Two more old ladies followed her – one wearing a green hat and the other in purple. Otherwise, they looked and dressed exactly like Mrs. Dodds. Triplet demon grandmothers were out to get us. They sat in the front row, right behind the driver, and the two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway. It was a casual but clear message that nobody leaves.

I glanced at my friends. Nico fell quiet and looked absolutely terrified, so I guess he saw them too. Jools looked perturbed too, which was new. Grover was definitely shaking, and thankfully, Thalia seemed more alert.

The bus pulled out of the station and plunged through the slick streets of Manhattan. "Didn't stay dead long, huh?" I muttered. I hoped that my voice didn't quiver. "You said that they could be dispelled for an entire lifetime."

Annabeth was annoyed. "I told you that it only happens if you're lucky, and you're obviously not."

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

"It's okay. It's okay." Annabeth frowned, obviously thinking hard. "Just the three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem, we'll just slip out the windows."

Thalia fumbled with one. "They don't open," she grunted.

"No back exits?" Jools asked, peering at us.

There wasn't one. It wouldn't have helped us, anyway. By that time, the bus was heading straight for the Lincoln Tunnel.

"There are witnesses," Nico said. "Will they still attack?"

Annabeth nodded. "Mortals don't have good eyes and a clear sight. Their minds process only the things that can be seen through the Mist."

"So they won't see triplet demon grandmothers killing us?"

"It's hard to say, but we can't count on mortals for help. I wonder if we can exit through the roof?"

When we hit the Lincoln Tunnel, the bus plunged into darkness. Only the running lights down the aisl provided any light. The silence that followed it felt eerie, especially without the constant sound of the rain. Mrs. Dodds got up. As if she rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus in a flat voice: "I need to use the restroom."

"So do I," the second and third sisters said, and the three evil hags started to come down the aisle.

Annabeth pursed her lips and handed me her hat. "You're the quest leader. No matter what, they can't see you. Besides, you're fast. Press the emergency stop button and we can make our exit. Okay?"

"But you guys…"

"Will manage. Nico's scent might be enough to mask us," Annabeth told me. "But you have to stay hidden, as they recognize you the most."

"What about Thalia?"

"On it already." Thalia jammed down Grover's rasta cap, concealing a great deal of her features. It clashed with the rest of her clothes, so she took off her leather jacket.

In front of us, Nico pulled up his jacket hood. Jools put a hand on his cuff, ready to turn it into a sword or a bow. We shouldered our backpacks, ready to leave at a moment's notice. Mrs. Dodds stopped near us, sniffed, then kept going.

I jammed on the Yankees cap, feeling like a coward. I looked down, and my body simply wasn't there anymore. It was disorienting, but I did my best to creep up the aisle. I already made it through ten rows and ducked into an empty seat when the furies went past me. One of them stopped, sniffed, and looked straight at me. Luckily, she didn't see anything, and the three hags kept going.

I made it to the front of the bus, which was almost through the tunnel already. I was about to press the emergency stop button when a hideous wail pierced through the silence. It came from the back row – from my friends.

My heart crawled to my throat. The old ladies simply weren't old ladies anymore. They kept the same faces since I guess they couldn't get uglier, but their bodies turned into leathery brown hag bodies. They had bat wings and gargoyle claws for hands and feet. They now held fiery whips instead of handbags.

My friends were surrounded by the Furies, who lashed their whips and screeched, "Where is it? Where?"

The other passengers began to scream and cower at their seats. They were seeing something dreadful, all right.

"Go away!" Annabeth yelled. "You won't find what you're looking for."

The Furies raised their whips, and my friends drew their weapons – a knife for Annabeth, a tin can for Grover and swords for the others. I acted on my stupid impulse – the way an ADHD poster child of the our would have done.

I spotted the bus driver, who was distracted. He was peering at the rearview mirror, trying to see what was happening. I was still invisible, so I grabbed the wheel from him and jerked it to the left. Everyone was thrown to the right, screaming all the way. I hoped that the Furies smashed against the windows. The driver protested and we wrestled for the wheel – until the bus slammed against the tunnel side.

The bus lurched out of the Lincoln Tunnel and plunged into the rainstorm, with people and monsters tossed all around it. Cars were plowed aside like bowling pins, which was not good. The driver managed to find an exit and we shot off the highway, half a dozen traffic lights and somehow a New Jersey rural road.

There was so much nothing across the riverf rm New York. I could spot woods to the left and the Hudson River to the right, where our driver was veering to. I had another fantastic idea and hit the emergency brake.

I cringed as the bus wailed and spun a full circle on the wet asphalt before hitting the trees. The emergency lights blared to life and the door opened. The driver ran out quickly, followed by a stampede of angry, yelling passengers. I let them pass by stepping into the driver's seat.

Meanwhile, the Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whip at my friends. Annabeth yelled at them in Ancient Greek, warning them to back off, as Thalia brandished her sword which crackled with blue electricity. Nico and Jools stood protectively with Grover right in between them. I was free to go, but I couldn't leave them behind. I took off the invisible cap and yelled, "Hey!"

The Furies turned, and I cringed. Their yellow fangs looked horribly lethal, and the exit suddenly seemed like a better idea. Mrs. Dodds led them, stalking up the aisle like she always did in class when she was about to deliver my F- math test. She flicked her whip and red flames danced angrily along the barbed leather. Like giant lizard hags, her sisters crawled toward me on the seats.

"Perseus Jackson," Mrs. Dodds hissed, using an accent that was most likely farther south than Georgia, "You and your friends have offended the gods. You shall die first as payment for our… previous encounter."

"I liked you better as a math teacher, lady," I said, not flinching when she growled.

The others moved up behind the Furies, trying to look for an opening. Even outnumbered, the hag ladies were probably more powerful than us. I uncapped Riptide and brandished its shimmering double edges. That made them hesitate. After all, Mrs. Dodds, felt Riptide's blade before and wouldn't be pleased to see it again.

"Submit now," the purple-hatted one said. "I assure you that you will not suffer eternal torment."

"Nice try, but no thanks," I replied.

"Percy!" Thalia yelled as Annabeth cried, "Look out!"

Mrs. Dodds Lashed her whip around my sword hand, and her sisters lunched at me from both sides. Searing hot pain wrapped around my hand, but I kept my grip on Riptide. I struck the Fury to the left with its hilt, sending her toppling backward before Jools and Thalia skewered her with their swords. Annabeth got Mrs. Dodds in a wrestler's hold, yanking her backward. I raised my blade and decapitated the Fury on the right as Nico skewered her on the stomach. Grover ripped the flaming whip out of Mrs. Dodd's hands.

"Ow! Hot!" he kept repeating.

"Zeus will destroy you," Mrs. Dodds hissed. "Hades will have your souls – even you, di Angelo. You have disappointed him."

"Braccas meas vescimini," I yelled at her. I don't know where my Latin came from, but I'm sure it meant "Eat my pants." Whatever. Thunder shook the bus as Annabeth managed to slit her throat and sent her spilling like a pinata.

Thunder boomed again, and the hair rose on the back of my neck. "Get out! We have to get out," Annabeth yelled.

Together, the six of us sprinted out, where the other passengers wandered daedly around the area. Others argued with the drivers, while some ran around in circles while yelling. There was a tourist in a Hawaiian shirt who snapped up a picture of us with his camera before we could hide transform our weapons.

Lightning struck, and the bus windows exploded. The passengers ran for cover. There was a new, giant crater on the roof. If that overkill wasn't enough to keep the Furies from reforming quickly, then I don't know what will.

"We have to go," Annabeth said. "They might have reinforcements waiting, and these mortals might realize that something's wrong."

Jools rummaged in his backpack and pulled out a flashlight. He motioned to the woods. "Got any better ideas?"

"No."

We headed into the woods while the rain was still a heavy sheet above us. The bus was in flames behind us, and ahead? Only trees and darkness.

Sorry, I got sidetracked by "Firsts", which is a splendid, splendid fanfic about Calypso and Leo. If you haven't read it yet, then I suggest that you do. You won't be disappointed!

Anyway, I really, REALLY appreciate reviews and they're for free, so don't hesitate to drop one after reading this chapter!