Chapter 9 (3,500 words)
We filed into the bus and took the seats at the very back, storing our bags in the overhead racks.
"Ok, here's the deal," I said after we made sure no one could hear us and the bus began moving. "The Master Bolt wasn't the only weapon stolen during the Winter Solstice," I whispered. Grover's eyes widened in shock.
"Wait what? What does that mean? Did someone steal an actual nuke or something?" Percy asked. Annabeth groaned in frustration.
"No, Seaweed Brain, you know how the Master Bolt wasn't the only weapon forged by the Cyclopes to beat the Titans?"
"Yeah, they made Poseidon's uhh… Spear… thingy… Right?"
"Oh, this is bad," Grover said, chewing his beanie hat nervously. "Is that why Poseidon and Zeus are fighting?"
"No, it's not that bad. They didn't get the Trident," I replied.
Grover sighed and groaned in fear. "I don't know whether I should be relieved it wasn't the Trident, or still be close to browning my pants that someone has the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness."
"Oh no, you should still be very afraid," Annabeth said. "Gods forbid they actually use both at the same time to attack a city, or worse, another pantheon."
"Oh gods, I hadn't even thought of that!" I exclaimed. Grover whimpered in his seat.
"Wait, so is the helmet thing Hades' weapon? Why is it even called a weapon if it's a helmet? Wait, is that why Hades sent a Fury after me?" Percy asked.
"Ok, dude, did you ever pay attention in class? I mean, there's ADHD, and then there's you."
Percy had the decency to blush.
"Ok, so here's the thing. You ever read One Piece?" I asked him, thinking about Conquerer's Haki times a thousand. He shook his head. "Well, you remember how Annabeth has her hat?" He nodded. "Ok, so imagine that, except you are truly invisible. Also, you get the ability to make anyone who sees you when you're not invisible fear you so completely, they lose the will to fight. It's both the perfect bloodless war ender, and the perfect war starter. In Hades' hands, he could probably make an army kneel just from the fear. Probably kill a few people that way as well."
Percy looked a little doubtful. "Dude, this was a weapon made by the first Cyclopes to battle the Titans. Any capability you think it has, multiply it by enough to fight on even grounds with what were essentially older, more powerful, ruthless gods. It's not as flashy as your dad's Trident or the Master Bolt, but it's still just as powerful in its own way. The only reason we're not dead right now is that whoever has the weapons is probably not fully god, so they can never use them to their full extent."
"How do you know that?" Percy asked, Grover nodding in agreement (which, I had to concede, it was a pretty big assumption to make).
"Because," Annabeth answered for me. "Perseus — the first one — was lent the Helm for his quest, and he could only use it to turn invisible. If he was able to use it to its full potential, he wouldn't have needed anything else to complete his quest." Percy adopted a look of understanding.
"Anyway, point is that Hades sent a Fury after you because everyone thinks you stole the Master Bolt, so Hades assumed you stole his Helm," I said.
"But I didn't."
I nodded. "But you didn't. So he took your mom." I held up a hand before Percy could interrupt. "Yeah, we told you this in the van, but I want to say it again: Your mom is safe. Hades isn't known for needless violence. What's important is that there's a third party that managed to steal the weapons, is framing you for it, but can't use the weapons effectively, or has another plan. And that's what's really at stake; the world is one decently powerful god using those weapons on another pantheon or mortal city away from destruction."
Grover was practically hyperventilating. Percy was pale, but he set his jaw, breathed in deeply, and nodded.
"Ok," he said.
I raised an eyebrow. "Ok."
"Cool."
"Yeah."
The bus lurched to a stop, and I noticed we'd reached our first stop at the border of New Jersey and New York. The doors opened, and—
'Fuck me really?' I thought to myself as I watched a trio of extremely ugly and suspiciously colourful grannies troop onto the bus.
"So, I'm guessing you guys see that too?" Percy said as he gestured towards the front of the bus. Annabeth and I nodded.
"Hey, that kind of looks like Mrs. Dodds," Grover said as we watched the old ladies periodically get up and move further back until they were a couple seats away from us. "Smells like her too," he said, wrinkling his nose, which was all the confirmation I needed. I quickly thought up a plan.
'Ok, these are, without a doubt, the Furies. They're after us because of a misunderstanding. How do I defuse without causing a fight?'
"I need to use the bathroom," Fury no. 1 said loudly and stood up.
"I need to use the bathroom too," Fury no. 2 said and stood up.
"I also need to use the bathroom," Fury no. 3 said and stood up.
"I need to use the bathroom as well," I said loudly and stood up.
Everyone on the bus, including the driver, looked at me incredulously. "What? I got a small bladder," I called out. "Don't worry though, I'll let you lovely ladies go first," I said as I stood to the side to let them pass.
"What are you doing," Annabeth hissed at my side.
"Trying to stop a fight," I whispered back as I smiled at the Furies pleasantly and waved at the various passengers looking at me suspiciously. Fury no. 1 passed by me grudgingly and entered the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. I smiled at the other two standing across me.
"Ok, now that we're all here, I suggest you don't do anything… Violent," I said. "My name is Gwyn. I am the son of Phlegethon, and I want to talk." I reached a hand out to them, a friendly smile on my face. "If you don't, that's ok too. Just be aware," I took control of my blood. Liquid fire oozed in droplets from my fingertips, and I suppressed the pain — burning, burning, always burning —, not letting them know how much it hurt to do that. The droplets fell, blood-red sinister, flickering in the air and sizzling as they hit the floor. I let my smile twist in a reflection of the eagerness I felt at finally being able to prove myself, that the pain was worth it. "I'll enjoy erasing you from history."
Maybe it was something in my smile, maybe it was the fact that I was the son of Phlegethon (with whom they worked with on the Fields of Punishment, supposedly), but the Furies looked taken aback and didn't immediately try to rip us open. They still glared at Percy, no. 2 in particular — Alecto, I assumed — almost hissing in anger. Percy stuck his tongue out. We all sat down and waited for no. 1 to come out of the bathroom.
I cut the blood flow out of my fingertips off but kept my water-skin at the ready. Percy had a hand in his pocket, Annabeth played with her hat, and Grover was inspecting his music pipes. Soon enough, we heard flushing, the sink running as Fury no. 1 washed her hands, and paper towels being pulled out of their receptacle to dry her hands. Fury no. 3 coughed uncomfortably. The door lock snapped open, and Fury no. 1 stepped out. She saw that no mortal was looking at us and immediately looked like she was ready to gut us, but Alecto stopped her.
"Peace, sister," she said. "Gwyn, the son of Phlegethon, has requested a parlay." Her sister scowled and growled, but conceded with a nod. She sat down as well, and we all relaxed.
"Ok, so, I know you guys think Percy stole the Helm of Darkness, but trust me, he didn't."
Fury no. 3 growled and jerked up to her feet. "Liar!"
"You're free to believe whatever you want," I said patiently. "Just remember, I hold your lives in your hands right now. Do you think Hades would be happy with you if the son of one of his employees dies because of your impatience? Better yet, do you think you can beat me if the strongest of you couldn't beat an untrained twelve-year-old?"
"Hey!" Percy called out.
Alecto scowled and slapped her sister up the head. "We agreed to listen to you for now. Continue."
"Percy didn't steal the Helm of Darkness, because he hasn't known about the Greek world until a week ago. Right now, we're on a quest to find who really stole the Bolt and the Helm, so it's in your best interest to not attack us since doing so could cause the Helm to be lost forever. Right now, we know that a third party has both weapons. Someone is playing all of us. I'm not denying that a demigod stole the Helm and Bolt, I'm just saying that the demigod was under orders from someone outside Olympus. Someone who has access to monsters from the deepest depths of Tartarus." I gave them a meaningful look.
It was something I'd thought of before: someone set a hellhound and the Minotaur on Percy. Only someone with access to and, more importantly, power, in Tartarus could do that, and Hades does not have pull in Tartarus. It seemed the Furies had understood what I was trying to say.
"It cannot be!" Alecto hissed. Annabeth looked shocked but then nodded comprehendingly.
"Yeah, someone is starting something from inside Tartarus, and we don't know who. It could really be anyone, but point is, they've got a man on the inside, a demigod willing to steal from the gods. The only good thing is that whoever is commanding things from Tartarus doesn't have the Helm and the Bolt, meaning that the demigod who stole the weapons is either on their own journey to Tartarus, or they will be going soon. Which is why we need you guys to not interfere. We're on a quest to get the weapons back right now, which means we're Hades' best hope for getting his Helm back," I said, holding Alecto's gaze to get the point across. Alecto scowled, and her sisters snarled their displeasure at letting us go, but after a beat, she nodded in agreement.
Annabeth sighed in relief, and we all dropped our guards somewhat.
"Wait!" Annabeth said suddenly. "Swear on it. Swear that you'll leave us alone and that you'll tell Hades what's going on." I nodded in agreement. I'd honestly forgotten to 'seal the deal', so to speak.
The Furies hissed in displeasure and looked just about ready to attack us.
"It doesn't have to be on the Styx!" Annabeth said hastily, seeing she'd offended them. Making an eternally binding promise should be avoided when possible, and, well, they were also likely offended that we doubted their ability to uphold an oath when they are deities of vengeance and punishers of mortal oath-breakers. "Swear on Hades' name," she amended after a beat.
Alecto exchanged a glance with her sisters, and their snarling faces softened just a touch, from 'Rage of a thousand burning souls' to, 'I'm going to torture you for a couple hundred years'. A subtle difference, but perceptible all the same.
"Very well," she said. "We, the Three Erinyes, do so swear on Hades' name, to not adversely interfere in your quest for the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness, so long as we believe you are not attempting to not return the Helm of Darkness back to its rightful owner." Their eyes dimmed for a second, and we all sighed in relief. We lurched in our seats as the bus slowed to a stop, and when I looked out the window I saw we were parked at a gas station. The digital screens in the overhead showed the bus's position on our route, and I realised we were already in the middle of New Jersey, almost two hours from Manhattan
"Alright folks, go out an' stretch ya legs, we'll be out on the highway again in thirty minutes," the driver said into the intercom as he opened the bus doors with a hiss of hydraulics as the bus sank into its suspension. A cacophony of groans and creaking of bones resounded across the bus cabin as passengers got up and stumbled out of the bus. Grover bleated nervously.
"Well, that was terrifying. I'm gonna need to change my pants," he said, chuckling nervously. He stood up and made to use the bus bathroom, but Alecto stood up and glared harshly.
"I believe your friend promised us its use first," she hissed, eyes glinting vindictively.
"Hey, no problem," Grover whimpered, holding his hands up placatingly. "I'll just go to the gas station then. I need some more cans and apples anyway." He grabbed his bag from the overhead.
Percy stood up with him. "I'll go with you. It's better if no one stays alone," he said, and I blinked in surprise.
"Wow Seaweed Brain, I didn't think you had that kind of critical thinking available in that tangle of kelp you've got in that head of yours," Annabeth teased as Alecto passed us and slammed the door to the bathroom, the other Furies trooping out of the bus, no doubt to inform Hades of what was going on.
Percy just laughed and left with Grover. Annabeth sighed and I slumped into my seat, a puddle of stress and adrenaline fumes.
"So, that happened," Annabeth said breathlessly. I nodded along.
"Honestly, I have no idea why they didn't just try to gut us when I got all cocky on them," I mumbled, my chin pressed into my chest. Suddenly, we heard someone stomp into the bus and run up to us.
"Something took Grover!" Percy said, breathing heavily. Annabeth and I jerked up.
"What?"
"Some kind of flying thing got Grover!" Percy practically yelled as he dashed back out of the bus. Annabeth and I exchanged a glance, and we grabbed our bags and followed Percy. He was already almost lost to the surrounding forest, and in the sky, I could just barely make out Grover's silhouette, struggling in the grasp of some kind of large, bat-winged creature, before they disappeared over the forest canopy.
"Did you see that?" Annabeth asked me.
"Yeah."
"Do you think the Furies went back on their word?"
I shook my head. "No idea, only one way to find out. Let's go, before he gets too far!"
I took off after Percy, quickly catching up to him, years of intense training making both me and Annabeth faster than him. Annabeth drew her knife and started slashing the trees as we passed.
"We'll try to get him down, catch up!" She called behind her as we left Percy behind. Soon enough, we heard the sounds of Grover screaming and the flapping of large, leathery wings, and saw the creature struggling to stay aloft. The creature had slowed down, belaboured by Grover's thrashing fists, weighed down from the combined weight of his bag and his body in its mouth, and unable to get a good grip with its short arms.
"Grover! Turn your shoes on!" I yelled as hard as I could as I uncapped my water-skin and aimed a ball at the creature. We heard a distant "Maia!" And I lobbed the ball of water as hard as I could.
It was too far to do any damage, but hopefully it would be distracted enough for Grover to escape. The water splashed into its eyes and with a surprised squawk, it opened its mouth and Grover was free-falling. Grover screeched as he fell, but managed to get control of his fall and flew down to us.
As Grover touched down, the world descended into madness: Percy barrelled through the undergrowth and crashed into Annabeth, Grover misjudged the weight of his bag and fell over, and the monster slammed into the ground in front of us and unleashed a truly terrifying, blood-curdling scream.
I instinctively cringed and clapped my hands over my ears, which was all the distraction it needed to dash forward and slash me with dagger-like talons. It tore through my shirt effortlessly, my chest a mass of fleshy ribbons. I was thrown back from the force of the blow, rolling on the ground. Blood sizzled into the dirt, and I could barely register any pain. I saw the monster dash to Grover, only to be intercepted by Percy, sword drawn. He slashed at the monster's neck, his sword connected… And proceeded to simply bash its head aside, throwing it off balance.
Before I knew it, my instincts had taken over and I was on my feet, my own sword drawn and bag thrown to the side. It took less than half a second, but I was able to observe the battlefield: We were in a large clearing, an old, decrepit house in the shadows of the tall trees, opposite where we emerged. Annabeth was nowhere to be seen, likely invisible and waiting to land a critical hit. Percy was standing in front of Grover, sword held in front of him, facing the monster down. I wasn't completely behind it, so I could get a good look at the monster.
It wasn't anything I recognised off the top of my head. It looked like a seven-foot-tall kangaroo, with the hooves of a goat and the head of a horse. It stood bipedal and had two short arms, both sporting black, wicked sharp claws that looked like they could cut through steel. It had a long, thin tail, tipped in some kind of three-pronged thagomizer.
It snarled at Percy and screamed that terrifying, tortured scream, flaring large, bat-like wings almost ten feet across. This time I was ready for the scream, and I quickly dashed up behind the monster, ignoring how light-headed I felt. I knew that if I got taken out right now, Percy and Annabeth would likely die. I'd seen how Percy's sword bounced off its neck, so either its hide was so thick it would be next to impossible to cut it, or Percy got his blade's edge alignment completely fucked. Either option meant they were dead without me.
The monster somehow noticed me, and I barely managed to parry its tail swipe. At the same time, it slashed at Percy, who ducked under the blow and tried stabbing it through its chest. This time, his sword managed to draw blood. Unfortunately, it only sunk a couple inches in. The monster took a breath to scream again, and I grabbed its tail from under its thagomizer, pulled it taut, and tried to chop it off. My sword barely made it halfway through its flesh, confirming that this monster was unnaturally resistant to our blades.
'Hopefully, Annabeth saw that and goes for the eyes,' I thought as I wrapped the tail around my arm, taking out one of its weapons. My actions had distracted the monster enough for it to turn halfway to me, lowering itself to pounce and allowing Percy to pull his sword out.
For a second, I saw its goat-like eyes before both of them burst like balloons of blood and eye fluid. The monster had barely enough time to let out a pained squeal, before it slumped forward, dead.
I saw Annabeth take her cap off, revealing she had used her dagger with my own to pierce its eyes at the same time. She said something, but all I could hear was the beating of my heart and the crackling of flames in my ears. I collapsed to my knees.
I could feel that burning, burning, always burning, creeping up and down from my chest, the gaping wounds left by the monster slowly closing as they leaked rivers of fire. They pulsed with my heartbeat, burning my skin and muscle away and replacing it with new flesh, only to burn away only to be replaced only to burn away and always burning. I couldn't see anymore, my eyes melting in their sockets and reforming, like little flaming maggots crawling through my skull and into my eyes and back again and again and again. I think I tried to tell my friends to get away, get away, or you'll burn too. I was deaf, hot pokers shoved through both of them. I may have tried to laugh, I may have tried to cry, I may have simply tried to die, but I saw my mom, I saw the end of the world, so I just screamed. And I screamed. And I screamed.
AN: Hello again. Apologies for the delay. I began a new job right after finishing my final exam, and have had literally no time to write or think. It's been 8 hours plus every day so far (most days more than 8 hours) no breaks, skilled work (making Excel stuff, checking and fixing stuff, etc). Hopefully I will have settled into a routine by next week and not be working all the time so I can upload more consistently. On the one hand, it's good since I have no time to spiral into depression. I just work, eat, and sleep. On the other hand, I like writing, and I can't write effectively if I'm so tired I can't think. So yeah, if you notice this chapter is a bit lax, it's because of that.
Anyway, I'm tired. I hope you have a good week. I hope you liked this chapter. Until next time.
P.S.: Alright, be honest, who thought I had dropped this? Don't worry about that, if I do have such plans I will inform you guys.