XX
PERCY
Not twenty minutes later, Panda had fallen asleep as well. I looked at my watch; 3:43 PM. I decided to let her sleep. I pulled the blanket out from under her and softly placed it over her. She stirred, but stayed sleeping. She looked remarkably calm considering the fight and the tough choice about how to save Ryder's life. I kissed her forehead and walked out to the small lobby. I asked the lady behind the desk if there was any computer I could use. I figured that since we would be staying here for a while, I could hopefully shed some light on our mission.
"You can use that one over there," the lady said, pointing her crooked finger to a dusty computer on the farthest corner of the lobby. It was one of those really old computers; the big ones. I turned it on, hitting it a few times for lack of cooperation, and started my search. I opened up google and typed in: Marmes Rockshelter.
Tons of results appeared. I clicked one talking about history. They had found tons of artifacts and cremations made about ten thousand years ago. I read every link that came up (took me a long while too thanks to my dyslexia) and studied every picture, but nothing yielded any clues to our mission. I sighed in frustration. I typed furiously as I tried twisting words for different results.
"There's got to be something," I muttered to myself, as my head fell into my hands. After about two hours, I gave up. I shut the computer down and left for the cabin. Panda was still asleep, now softly snoring. I sat down on one of the loveseats in the cabin and thought. I tried to remember all the myths and legends in Greek mythology, but nothing came up. I was almost tempted in calling Annabeth, but I knew that would be a huge disaster. It was only six o'clock, but I decided to go to sleep. I lay down in bed next to Panda and tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Several times, Panda turned and slapped me in the face or kicked or almost pushed me off the bed. No monster was worse than trying to sleep in a three foot radius of Panda.
I fell asleep and to my great relief, I had no nightmares. It was finally bliss. The next thing I knew though, my face kissed the wooden floor.
"OW!" I said, as I stumbled up.
"Oops," Panda said, stifling a laugh. "Sorry."
"Yeah right," I said, as I rubbed my nose. I glanced at my watch and it was now 8:26 AM. Well, I certainly slept like a rock. Panda laughed and stood up. She was barefoot and she wasn't wearing her watch or belt. Her hair was a total and complete mess and her clothes didn't look any better. I laughed. It felt good to laugh too, especially after yesterday.
"What monster attacked you in your sleep?" I laughed.
"Same one that got you," she said, eyeing me up and down. "I think that fall off the bed was an improvement," she said. Okay, this was war.
"Oh yeah?" I said, taking a step closer to her. She narrowed her eyes.
"Yeah," she said dryly, as she took a step towards me.
"You're gonna regret you said that," I said.
"Oh yeah? You want a piece of this?" she said, with a cocky look on her face and doing the "bring it" sign with her fingers. Then, I lunged. I tackled her and we fell to the floor. I thought I had her, but she head butted me and spun until she had me pinned.
"Just give up Seaweed Brain, you ain't gonna win," she said cockily. I smiled. I kneed her in the back and flipped her over me. She slammed on the ground with a thud and made a funny sounding moan. I wrapped one arm around her neck and gave her a nuggie.
"AH!" she said, as she flailed her arms. I don't know how, but she somehow managed to kick me in the head and I let go, falling backwards. Panda stood up and jumped on me.
"UUFF!" I said as the wind was knocked out of me. We grappled each other and rolled across the floor. We finally landed in the weirdest lock ever. We both struggled to break free when we heard someone clear their throat.
"Having fun kids?" Ryder said, as he slowly sat up on his bed. We laughed and let each other go. Panda stood up first.
"I still won," she said, as she walked towards Ryder.
"You wish," I said, as I stood up and followed her. Ryder looked fifty times better than he had yesterday. His wounds had almost completely healed and he wasn't being affected by the poison anymore.
"How you doing?" Panda said, as she sat on the bed next to Ryder.
"Like I could run a marathon," Ryder said.
"Good," Panda said, as she rubbed his hand.
"Are you well enough to walk?" I asked. Ryder slowly stood up and almost stumbled. I caught him, but he waved me off. He straightened up and took a few steps.
"Yeah, I think I'm good," he said, as he leaned against the foot of the bed.
"Well, I guess we should go and figure out some other mode of transportation," Panda said, as she stood up. As Panda left and tried to figure out our next move, I helped Ryder pack up our things. We restocked on necessary supplies, like food and stuff like toothbrushes and perfumes. Just because we're on a mission that could lead to our death, doesn't mean we can't smell good too. We walked out, I gave the key back to the lady and we left the resort to find Panda outside on a public telephone.
As we approached, she hung up. She turned to us.
"Good news and bad news," she said.
"Good news is that I found us a bus station," she said. "Bad news is that the next bus leaving for Washington State departs at around 9:50 AM. There's no way to make it there on time, since it's almost an hour away," she said. Well, that was bad news.
"But…" she continued. She looked at me like I would hate the idea she was about to suggest.
"But?" I repeated. She gave me a smile that made me uneasy.
"We can call the Gray Sisters," she said. She was right. I hated it. The Gray Sisters. The three old ladies with only one eye and that drove like total and complete maniacs. I laughed.
"I'm not kidding," Panda said, raising an eyebrow.
"I almost died last time!" I said defensively. Ryder looked at us confused.
"Well, that's the only way we'll get there on time!" I bit my lip. I didn't want to admit Panda had a point, but I really, really didn't want to get into their car again. I sighed.
"Fine," I said. Panda cleared her throat, pulled out a drachma and threw it into the street. Ryder watched her in complete confusion, but his expression quickly changed to shock as the street bubbled a bright red and a gray smoky car slowly rose upwards.
"Perseus! Pandora!" Tempest said, as her one eye travelled between us.
"Destination?" Anger said, peeking around her other two sisters.
"1305 1st Avenue East Kalispell, MT 59901," Panda said, as she opened the door and gestured for us to get in. I jumped in first, Panda helped Ryder in next and she came in last. Before Panda had fully closed the door, Tempest stepped on the gas and sped off. We all slammed against the backseat and grabbed on for dear life. The good thing about where we were, was that there aren't as many pedestrians or turns as New York, but the car still jerked every now and again as the sisters fought for the drachma and the eye. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, which wasn't easy. About twenty five minutes later, we had arrived. The car jerked to a hard stop and we all fell forwards.
"Here!" all three sisters yelled in unison. Without hesitation, we all crawled out of the taxi so fast, we all tumbled onto the sidewalk and the sisters disappeared in the distance.
"Well, that was interesting," Ryder said, as he stood up. Panda stood up and grabbed his arm, putting it around her shoulders and helped him walk to the bus station.
"Never again," I growled at Panda. She stuck her tongue out and stopped at a small bench seat in front of the station. Ryder sat down and Panda, like always, was the one who bought our tickets with what little money we had left. We had barely made it. The bus had arrived just five minutes after we had. We climbed in and picked a seat in the very back.
Okay, so tell me what you think about this chapter, please! Thanks in advance!