Chapter 10: Myself, a bus, and hell's minions (or rather Hades')

disclaimer: I don't own PJO

Packing didn't take long. Grover had found me a backpack from, somewhere, which I used to stuff my things into: a change of clothes, a toothbrush. Not much, I know, but other than the minotaur's horn I didn't really have anything else.

The camp store loaned me a hundred dollars and twenty gold drachmas, which were about the size of a girl scout cookie, and had the image of the Empire State building on one side and various Greek gods on the other. Chiron told me that ancient mortal drachmas had been silver and somewhat smaller, save for a few from the time after Alexander the Great, but the Olympians never used less than pure gold in their coinage.

I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to pay back that loan.

Chiron then gave Annabeth and me a canteen of nectar each and a Ziploc bag stuffed with little ambrosia squares. He told us they were for emergencies only, like if we were seriously hurt. They weren't made for mortals, Chiron reminded us. It would heal pretty much any injury, but too much was lethal to anyone without godly blood. Even demigods, if given too much, would die.

Annabeth had with her a magical Yankees cap. A present from her mom, she told me, for her twelfth birthday. She also carried a book in Ancient Greek on famous architecture, in case she got bored, and a long bronze knife was shoved up her sleeve. She called it a kopis. I wasn't sure if that was the latest in demigod fashion or what but it was definitely step one in becoming the Indiana Jones of architecture.

Grover was wearing pants, fake feet and a green Rasta-style cap to look human. The cap was necessary in case it rained, the tips of his horns would be just visible through his curly hair. His backpack, which was a bright, almost garish, orange (like our camp shirts) was packed to the brim with apples, scrap metal, and who knows what else for snacking. He had a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him in his back pocket. I figured he brought it so he could practice during the trip.

Apparently, the last time he had practiced within the camp some of the Apollo campers had madehim swear to never practice within 50 metres of the cabins again. Then the next time he practiced the dryads made him promise to ever practice within the woods in camp, meaning if he wanted to practice he either had to hitch a canoe ride, or leave camp.

Annabeth down right grimaced when she saw the pipes.

We took once last look at the camp: the ocean, the woods, the strawberry fields, the big house, and waved good-bye to the campers. Then, we hiked up half-blood hill to Thalia's tree, where Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair, which confused me. He wasn't coming with us, was he?

Beside Chiron was a tall guy in a chauffeur's uniform. Grover told me he was the head of camp security. He seemed to be covered in eyes, although I couldn't see the parts that his outfit covered up. I couldn't help but think that that must hurt when he sat down.

"This is Argus," Chiron told me. "He will drive you three into the city, and also, well, um, keep an eye, or six, on things."

I heard footsteps behind us.

Luke was running up the hill, holding a pair of basketball shoes.

"Wait!" he panted. "Good, I caught you in time."

Annabeth looked like a cat had caught her tongue. Which was odd, since normally she was quite opinionated. It seemed the only time she wasn't was when Luke, or some reasonable facsimile, was around.

"I just wanted to wish you good luck," Luke said. "And to give you these, they might come in handy."

He handed me the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. I couldn't tell why he thought I might need them though. The only thing they'd probably give me was some blisters, as they were several sizes too big.

Not that Luke seemed to notice. He just said. "Maia!"

Which is when I noticed that these shoes were actually awesome. They sprouted white bird wings on wither side of the heels. The jerked about so much I dropped them onto the ground, where they proceeded to flap about until the wings folded up and vanished.

"Awesome!" Grover said.

Luke grinned. "Yeah, they were helpful when I was on my quest. A gift from my Dad. Although, I don't have much use for them these days…" He frowned.

I didn't know what to do. Luke had come to help us out and see us off. I hadn't really seen him much since I was claimed, I thought he might have been avoiding me, guess I was wrong.

"Hey," I said. "Thanks."

"Thia…" Luke looked uncomfortable. "Everyone here, their hopes are riding on you. So… I guess I'm saying…don't fail? And, uh, kill some monsters for me."

I gave an uneasy smile. Yeah, this quest was fate of the world kind of stuff. Hard to forget.

Luke patted Grover's head, and hugged Annabeth good-bye, which she reciprocated with a squeak. Finally, he reached his hand out to shake mine. As my hand neared his, I felt a shock, like I had just gotten a jolt of static electricity.

I laughed, "Stoll brothers got to you with a balloon when you weren't looking?" I joked.

"Yeah, must of." Luke mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

I stared at my right hand, then Luke's retreating back. Why did I suddenly have a really bad feeling about all of this.

"Thia, are you gonna just stand there or are you going to get in here and come on this quest!" Annabeth yelled from the white SUV.

"Pythia," Chiron stopped me. "Luke meant well, but…"

"I wasn't going to wear them anyway. They're way too big for my feet." Then I got an idea.

"Hey, Grover. You want some new shows?"

"Heck yeah!" He yelled.

"Mr. Underwood." Chiron chided.

Grover gulped and apologized

A few minutes later we had the shoes laced up over Grover's fake feet, and Grover was ready for take-off.

"Maia!" he shouted.

The first foot up was okay, but then he lost balance and fell sideways, his backpack dragging across the grass. The shoes kicking about like Mexican jumping beans.

I winced, "At least he's heading in the right direction."

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

Grover just yelled in response as he continued towards the SUV like a possessed lawn mower.

Chiron stopped me before I could follow. "One last thing Pythia, I'm sorry."

I blinked in surprise.

"I should have trained you better," Chiron continued. "We don't even know the first thing about the extent of your powers, what they all are even! Perseus, Achilles, Theseus – they all had more training."

"It's okay, if- When I get back from my quest. I can find out more about my powers then."

"What am I thinking?" Chiron asked himself. "I can't let you leave without this."

He pulled a pen from his pocket and gave it to me. It looked like an ordinary ballpoint, black ink, removable cap.

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming this does something…"

"Oh right." He said, and pulled of the cap of the pen.

Suddenly, I was holding a shiny bronze, double-edged sword, with a leather grip and stud riveted hilt. A xiphos.

"Woah…" I gasped.

"It was a gift from your father. He had me keep it safe for years, I wasn't sure who I was supposed to give it to, but I'm sure of it now. You are the one."

Chiron's expression soured. "That sword is called Anaklusmos, it has a long and tragic past that we don't have the time to get into at this moment."

I twisted and turned my hand to get a better look at the blade. I wondered who it's previous owner had been.

"Use it only for emergencies," Chiron said, "and only against monsters. Not that it could hurt mortals anyways, as it is made of celestial bronze, but either way a hero should never hurt an innocent bystander unless absolutely necessary."

"Wait, how can this not hurt mortals. I mean, look how sharp it is!" I pointed to the razor-sharp edge.

"It is made of celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the river Lethe. It will harm anything, ah, supernatural, I suppose you could say, but it will pass through mortals like an illusion. Also, as a demigod you are doubly vulnerable, both celestial and ordinary weapons can kill you. You must be careful."

"Well that's pleasant."

"Now recap the pen."

I did so, looking over the pen. It was light and plain-looking. I was worried I might lose it, I was infamous for losing pens at Yancy, after all.

"Do not worry," Chiron said, "it's enchanted. It will reappear in you pocket if you were to drop it." He must've had a similar thought as I did.

"Now then, you should probably catch up with the others. Annabeth is looking quite impatient."

Sure enough, Annabeth was pacing back and forth in front of the SUV, every once in a while, looking at a non-existent watch on her wrist.

By the time I got to the hill's bottom Chiron was in full-on centaur mode, holding his bow high in salute, wishing us good luck. Honestly, I was a little confused why he was in the wheel-chair in the first place.

Getting into the SUV, I couldn't help but find it odd that seeing him in the wheelchair felt a little surreal, not seeing him as a centaur. Just a couple weeks ago, I was freaking out over the fact my teacher was a centaur, and now seeing him and all the satyrs and nymphs… It was normal.

Argus drove us out into the city. The bus ride there was rather awkward. Nobody talked. Occasionally, Annabeth would stare at me, like she couldn't decide what to think about me. She did that a lot at camp too, though.

Once we were in Queens, traffic slowed us down. By the time we got to Manhattan it was sunset, and raining. Again.

Argus dropped us off at a Grehound station in the Upper East side, only a few blocks away from the apartment where I lived. I wondered how mom was doing. How was Gabe treating her? I hope he ywasn't making an ass out of himself, well, more than he already was, that is.

Argus unloaded out bags, made sure we got our tickets, then left us to wait for the bus. As he drove away, an eye on the back of his neck winked at us. It sent a shiver up my spine.

The wait for the bus was a long one, and it started to really pour before long. We huddled inside the waiting area, where there were benches, and more importantly, a roof. There we started up a game of hackey sack with one of Grover's apples.

Annabeth was awesome, she could bounce it off anywhere. Me? Not so much, but eventually I managed to bounce more often than drop it.

Unfortunately, our game ended when I accidentally bounced the apple too close to Grover's mouth. He swallowed it whole with one mega-goat bite.

Grover frantically apologized, but Annabeth ad I were too busy laughing our butts off.

After another hour or so the bus finally arrived. As we waited in line to board, Grover kept glancing and sniffing about.

"What's wrong?" I whispered to him.

"It's nothing." He replied with a nervous chuckle. He was lying, poorly.

Annabeth and I shared a look. He wasn't telling us everything.

I didn't relax until we got out seats, in the back of the bus. Even then, things were still tense. Annabeth continually slapped her cap against her knee.

"Thia." She froze, staring at the last passengers to board.

An old lady and her two sisters had boarded. They were all wearing wrinkled velvet dresses, lace gloves, carried big paisley purses and wore shapeless toques. The only difference between them was the colour of their hats. The first one wore orange, the next green, the other purple.

The lady in front lifted her head up, and I felt the blood drain from my face. It was Mrs. Dodds.

She was older than when I last saw her, but it was definitely her.

I tried to hide in my seat.

The trio sat down in the front row, right by the door. The two with aisle seats stuck their legs out, making an x.

I gulped and looked behind me. There was no emergency back door. We were stuck between a hard place and three grandmas from hell, literally.

The bus pulled out of the station and out onto the rain-slick streets of Manhattan.

"I thought she was gone." I whispered to Annabeth.

She shrugged. "Sometimes they're dead for centuries, others… Well, let's just say that you have bad luck."

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

"It'll be okay," Annabeth assured us, wincing in concentration. "The furies, the three worst monsters from the underworld, no problem. We'll just slip out through a window."

"They don't open." Grover moaned.

"A back exit?" She suggested.

"Nope." I responded, this situation was getting more hopeless by the second. "Will they attack us with witnesses around?"

"Perhaps. The mist… The people will only see what it will allow the to. We're not going to get any help that way."

"Great," I moaned. "Then news will have fun with this one. 'Three teens killed by psychotic grandmas on bus."

Grover whimpered, Annabeth glared.

"Sorry, too morbid?" I apologized.

We hit the Lincoln tunnel and the bus went dark except for the built in floor lights.

I tried to reassure myself, but I was scared. I flashed back to the time in the washroom. Mrs. Dodds screaming: 'where is it! Where is it?'

Wait a minute… 'where is it?' Why would she ask that? Unless… maybe Hades didn't have the master bolt. Maybe something of his was stolen too. Someone was trying to start a war of the gods, why not get the underworld involved as well.

"I'm going to go negotiate." I said, standing up from my seat.

"Wait, Thia!" Annabeth whisper shouted. She tried to grab my arm but I was already out of range.

"I can't look." I heard Grover mumble.

I stopped behind the two with their legs crossed. The trio bared their teeth and claws at me. I stood firm and tried to look confident. It was too late to second guess.

I placed m hands on my hips and looked at Mrs. Dodds. "Last time we met, you said you were looking for something. Only thing is, I've never taken anything from you or your master." I declared.

"She lies!" The sister in green hissed.

"Hey miss!" The bus driver interrupted. "You need to sit down."

Mrs. Dodds grumbled, but moved over.

I raised an eyebrow. "Thanks." I said sitting down.

"Tell me what it is you're looking for. Whoever stole it probably toke Zeus' master bolt as well."

The sister in purple snarled.

"Lord Hades' helm." Mrs. Dodds' voice was clipped.

I lifted my right hand in the air. "I swear, on the River Styx, that I did not take Hades' helm, or Zeus' master bolt, for that matter." Thunder boomed outside, but I remained unharmed.

Mrs. Dodds eyes widened in surprise. "She tells the truth."

"No!" The fury in green raged, only to be held back by her sister.

"Tisiphone." Mrs. Dodds scolded.

The fury, or Tisiphone as I just learnt, did something that seemed really odd on a granny that was secretly a millennium old monster. She pouted like a five-year-old.

As the three started to squabble, I felt a little awkward.

"So, I should probably get back to my friends now. They're probably worried." I said, but it didn't seem like they heard me. "Thank you."

Mrs. Dodds turned to look at me. "Good luck, Pythia Jackson."

I grinned, then headed back to where Annabeth and Grover were waiting for me.

"Hey guys." I said.

"Thia! What the Hades were you thinking!" Grover panicked. "Are you alright?"

"Yep!" I gave him a thumbs-up.

Annabeth had a look of contemplation on her face as she stared at me. "That was foolish." She scolded.

"Oh, thank goodness," Grover breathed. "They're leaving." I turned around and saw the furies leave. The bus driver not even noticing them.

Just as we exited the tunnel the bus suddenly swerved out of control, smashing into a guard-rail. I was glad I had sat back down, but even then, I slammed forward into the seat in front of me. The sound of cars honking and tires squealing filled the air.

"Ow," I moaned.

"Come on, we need to leave, quick." Annabeth said.

She and grover started to scramble out of their seats.

"Wait!" I said.

"What is it Thia?" Annabeth growled impatiently.

"The bags." I gestured to the bags still lying on the floor where they had left them.

We grabbed our nags ad left the bus. A few seconds after we had exited the bus burst into flames.

"Wow," Grover said. "It was a good thing you reminded us to grab our bags."

Annabeth huffed. "Now what do we do?"

"What the oracle said, west."