"HA!" Thalia pointed at Percy, "At least I didn't ruin the bus!"
"Oh, come on! Your driving was atrocious! If it wasn't magic, I'm sure you would have killed us all!"
"But I didn't ruin it!"
"You try driving a mortal bus, Pinecone Face!"
"Like you could drive a magic bus better, Kelp Head!"
"Can we please stop talking about wrecking buses?" Apollo asked weakly, remembering how Thalia crashed his sun chariot into the Camp Half-Blood lake.
It didn't take me long to pack. I decided to leave the Minotaur horn in my cabin,
"But now you don't have a weapon?" Reyna pointed out, "You did pretty well with that horn."
"I got a better one." Percy grinned.
which left me only an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in a backpack Grover had found for me.
"That seems fair enough." Hermes nodded.
The camp store loaned me
"They don't loan it to us, Percy." Grover corrected, "They give it to us to help on our quest. Did you seriously think they would except twelve year old's to pay them back?"
Percy frowned, "Of course. And how does our age even matter?"
Annabeth shook her head internally. She wasn't surprised that Percy thought he'd have to repay the money, after living with Gabe for so long. She'd have to talk to Chiron, and maybe Sally, to see how they could help Percy realize that how he was treated by Gabe wasn't normal, besides the obvious abuse.
one hundred dollars in mortal money
"Oh yeah. I suppose our strawberry sales would cover quest needs too." Katie nodded.
and twenty golden drachmas. These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other.
"Those coins are really big." Nico sighed.
"And heavy. Seriously heavy." Percy groaned, "You guys couldn't have used a lighter metal for drachmas?"
"Nope." Poseidon shook his head.
The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, Chiron told us, but Olympians never used less than pure gold.
"Because we're awesome!" Apollo cheered, and Artemis rubbed her head in exasperation, "No. Because silver was much more abundant in the past, despite being rare, and it was more suited to be made into currency. Now, gold is found much more easily."
"But it sounds like our mortal currency." Rachel asked, "Like... we have coins of different sizes depending on their value, and they're much smaller and lighter to carry around. Why bother with such large, heavy drachmas? Or, at least, make the drachma's smaller so you can make more of them?"
"Sadly, gold is required because of their power." Athena sighed; she did agree that carrying a bunch of large, gold coins wasn't exactly the best for quests, "For example, for Iris messages, when you give Iris a drachma, she will get a small boost of power from your offering. Part of the power is used to power your Iris message, while Iris absorbs the rest of it. That's why drachmas have to be of a specific purity and weight."
Chiron said the coins might come in handy for non-mortal transactions—whatever that meant.
"You know... don't quote me on this, but I believe it means transections with non-mortal beings." Leo snickered.
"Seriously? What else could non-mortal transactions mean?" Annabeth snorted.
"How was I supposed to know that we could send Iris messages?" Percy groaned, "And for that matter, why would I even know that gods operated on a similar money system to mortals!? They're gods!"
He gave Annabeth and me each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt.
"You know, it would have been handy to have that." Percy winced, remembering the Chimera poison, "Though I think it wouldn't really have helped, anyways."
It was god food, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally.
"I wish we also had some unicorn draught." Will sighed, "At least we wouldn't have to be worried about burning up if we drank too much of that."
"Perhaps we can swap some unicorns and pegasi?" Hazel asked, "I'm sure some Romans would want to learn how to ride pegasi, and you can learn about the medicinal properties of unicorn horns."
"Oh, yeah! Maybe you guys can fashion some armor for the unicorns as well." Apollo grinned, "I'm sure they thoroughly enjoyed stampeding through Tarquin's forces."
"Sadly, we can't put armor on pegasi, or they wouldn't be able to fly." Jake grinned, "But armor for unicorns? I'm sure Harley would be overjoyed."
Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she told me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture,
Thalia frowned, "You brought a book on a quest?!"
written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored,
Demeter frowned, "Really, child? You should have brought some cereal instead of a book."
"You know... I agree with my sister." Poseidon nodded, "Food would have been more helpful than an architecture book."
Annabeth blushed, "I didn't know what being on a quest was like... during my entire time at camp, only one person went out on a quest... and he wasn't eager to share the details of it."
and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector.
Chiron frowned, "I suppose I should have explained the Mist to you, Percy."
Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on.
"At least you did end up bringing some food. Fruit is good for you." Demeter nodded in approval, "Though cereal would have been great too."
"Not that it was of much help, anyways." Grover sighed.
In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.
"Grover, you need better song choices." Thalia groaned.
"I blame the instrument used. Not your playing skills." Percy reassured Grover.
We waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.
"Thank you for the constant reminder that my sister was a tree." Jason sighed.
"I think that story really stuck with Percy." Piper muttered.
"Well, excuse me for being worried that my uncles are going to kill me, and I might end up in the same situation." Percy grumbled.
Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room.
Hera smiled, glad that Argus was doing well.
According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised.
"If Frank can shape-shift, can he also make multiple eyes pop out all over his body?" Leo asked.
Frank grimaced, "As helpful as that would be... I'd rather not."
Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.
"This is Argus," Chiron told me. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."
"Chiron!" Apollo groaned, "That was a bad pun!"
I heard footsteps behind us.
Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.
Everyone scowled at the mention of Luke, while Percy, Annabeth and Grover sighed. Those shoes had helped them so much, but they also almost backfired on them terribly.
"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."
Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around.
Annabeth sighed at her younger, immature self.
"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told me. "And I thought… um, maybe you could use these."
He handed me the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelled kind of normal.
Hermes looked on curiously. He knew that he had given Luke a pair of winged shoes to help on his quest... if he kept the shoes, then maybe Luke hadn't hated him as much as Hermes thought.
"Percy... just why were you smelling his shoes?" Silena asked uncertainly.
"I didn't intentionally go and smell them." Percy winced, "And have you ever been to a boys' locker room in mortal schools? You can smell the stench of them the second they open their lockers."
Luke said, "Maia!"
"It is my shoes!" Hermes lit up, "He still helped you guys?"
"Er... kinda." Percy shrugged, not wanted to disappoint Hermes so soon, and Jason grimaced, completely misunderstanding Percy's line of thought, "Oh... right... you can't fly..."
White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling me so much, I dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.
"That," Leo's eyes widened, "sounds so cool!"
"Awesome!" Grover said.
Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days..." His expression turned sad.
Hermes let a sad whine as he deflated, as Travis huffed, "He should be happy he even got a gift from Dad at all! Compared to other cabins, and the unclaimed kids, we're pretty lucky to have Hermes as a dad!"
I didn't know what to say. It was cool enough that Luke had come to say good-bye. I'd been afraid he might resent me for getting so much attention the last few days.
Chris shook her head, "Not even Luke would have hated you for that. After Thalia... he felt sorry that your father was one of the Big Three."
Connor, Travis and Clarisse stared at him weirdly, and Chris sweat dropped, "I kind of heard him muttering under his breath one day in the bathroom."
But here he was giving me a magic gift... It made me blush almost as much as Annabeth.
"Did you... like him?" Nico asked. He was perfectly happy with Will, but when he was younger and jealous of Annabeth, he had always wondered if Percy had ever liked boys before, or was completely straight.
"I was twelve... so I wasn't sure..." Percy frowned, "But I'm fairly sure that I didn't like him in that way. I guess... I was happy that I was getting some positive attention from an older, cooler guy. Like, out of everyone in camp, he chose to give me a gift that his father had given to him."
"Hey, man," I said. "Thanks."
"Listen, Percy…" Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just… kill some monsters for me, okay?"
"Aw yeah! We so did that!" Grover cheered, before he realized that it was Luke, and the satyr sighed.
We shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head between his horns, then gave a good-bye hug to Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out.
"I wasn't!"
"Yes, I swear you were!"
"Well, I definitely wasn't!"
"Children." Hestia spoke up, and Percy and Annabeth immediately clammed up, much to Aphrodite's amusement, "You two are so cute!"
After Luke was gone, I told her, "You're hyperventilating."
"Am not."
Everyone burst out laughing, and Silena added, "Ah! The start of a beautiful relationship! You guys are arguing!"
"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"
"Oh… why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?"
"Actually, to be honest, I did let him capture the flag." Annabeth admitted, "Only because he's much faster and stronger, and I had to use my cap to make sure Clarisse didn't kill him by accident."
"That is a fair point. Hermes kids are really fast runners." Katie nodded, "And... you know... you were twelve... there was no way you could outrun an eighteen year old child of Hermes."
Hermes, as well as his three children, puffed up in pride, before they remembered Luke's fate. They deflated, while the three sons just looked sad and angry, remembering how nice Luke used to be before he started listening to Kronos.
She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed, jingling his car keys.
I picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad feeling. I looked at Chiron. "I won't be able to use these, will I?"
"Wouldn't that count as Hermes' domain? Since it's his magic shoes?" Thalia asked, "Like Apollo's Sun Chariot? Or the Moon Chariot?"
Hermes sighed, "Sadly... unlike Apollo's Chariot... if Percy were to wear those shoes and fly... I'm afraid only his feet would be considered safe in my domain."
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Percy laughed, and everyone looked at him weirdly. The thought that he would get blasted by Zeus, but his feet would be perfectly safe from harm, just amused him far too much, for some reason; his sense of humor was seriously skewed.
He shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air… that would not be wise for you."
I nodded, disappointed, but then I got an idea. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"
"Dang! You're giving away a magic item that quickly?" Jason whistled, "Even if I couldn't use it, I don't think I would have given away a magic item that quickly."
"Percy's too nice." Grover sighed, but Percy grimaced, "Sorry, G-man."
"Nah. Good thing I was wearing the shoes too, instead of you and Annabeth. On me, at least they had a chance of coming loose."
"And... why?" Hermes asked, but one look from the quest trio gave him his answer, "Ah... spoilers..."
Zeus rubbed his head, "Can't we just read their memories or something?"
"No!" Apollo frowned, "That's really rude and invasive! Anyways... if the Fates are making us read this book, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let you mind read."
His eyes lit up. "Me?"
Pretty soon we'd laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was ready for launch.
"Go! Flying goat boy!" Travis, Connor and Leo cheered.
"Maia!" he shouted.
He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos.
Hermes and Apollo completely cracked up at this.
"Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"
"Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower, heading toward the van.
Everyone burst out laughing, and Annabeth grinned, "Percy, so we so need to get you to do a collab with your mother!"
"His mother writes, right?" Thalia snickered, "Imagine actually publishing a proper book with all these descriptions! It would definitely be a best seller!"
Before I could follow, Chiron caught my arm. "I should have trained you better, Percy," he said. "If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason—they all got more training."
"I didn't know Chiron trained you, Jason." Leo joked.
"To be fair... I did get trained by Chiron. For like... one day before I set out on a quest." Jason replied, smirking, before his tone turned grave, "On a serious note... Chiron does have a point. I've had years of training with the legion, and I definitely stayed with the Fifth Cohort for more than a week before I embarked on my first quest."
"Honestly, we're lucky that Percy functions very well when he's unprepared." Grover stated, and Annabeth nodded, "He might not know what's going on, but he sure does know what to do when the time calls for it."
"That's okay. I just wish—"
I stopped myself because I was about to sound like a brat. I was wishing my dad had given me a cool magic item to help on the quest, something as good as Luke's flying shoes, or Annabeth's invisible cap.
"Honestly, that doesn't really make you sound bratty." Thalia stated, "That is a very fair point."
Artemis nodded in agreement with her lieutenant, "You don't even have a weapon, and you have to visit the Lord of the death with magic shoes that can't really help you, and an invisibility cap, which wouldn't really help against any god since we can sense your presence."
Grover, Percy and Annabeth nodded, more towards the magic shoes rather than Annabeth's cap.
"What am I thinking?" Chiron cried. "I can't let you get away without this."
He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to me. It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap. Probably cost thirty cents.
"Well, there's your regular-looking item that's actually cool and magical." Jason stated dryly, before everyone started giggling.
"Gee," I said. "Thanks."
"Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for.
"So... uh... the logistics of that plan?" Malcolm raised an eyebrow, "Lord Poseidon... did you just... give the sword to Chiron and say "Oh, take this pen-sword. You'll know who to give it to, when the time comes. In the meantime, feel free to use it in sword-class." or something like that?"
Poseidon laughed, amused at the son of Athena, and the Wisdom Goddess rolled her eyes, "You should have kept it, and when you claimed the Sea Spawn, teleported it to his table, or gave it to Chiron and instructed him to give it to him."
But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one."
I remembered the field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when I'd vaporized Mrs Dodds. Chiron had thrown me a pen that turned into a sword. Could this be…?
"The one and only." Percy grinned.
I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I held a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. It was the first weapon that actually felt balanced in my hand.
Percy fished Riptide out of his pocket, and turned to Zoe, "Thank you, Zoe. I'm honored that you'll let me to carry this sword."
Zoe let a small smile settle on her face, "Anytime, Percy."
All the Greek male demigods, as well as some of the gods, stared at Zoe, their jaws dropping.
Triton and Amphitrite looked at Percy in a new light. While Artemis hated men in general, she was usually kinder towards boys, since they were more immature, but even then, she was never one to grow fond of anyone of the male gender... besides Orion.
But Zoe was a different story. Everyone under the sea knew about her past, since her mother was an oceanid, and while they all knew that not all males were as bad as Hercules, Zoe had always hated men ever since Hercules effectively destroyed her life and left her to rot. She hated the male gender even more than Artemis did, which was a huge feat in itself.
As far as he knew... for the two thousand years Zoe had pledged her alliance to Artemis, not one male had ever managed to gain her favor... until Percy Jackson. Certainly, Percy was very different from his father's past demigod children.
Zoe blinked, and instantly scowled, "What is it, males?"
"You... you..." Travis stammered, unable to get his words out, but Connor did it for him, "You call Percy by his name?!"
"Of course." The dead huntress wrinkled her nose, "Why wouldn't I?"
"But... you always..." Pollux faltered, and Demeter sighed. The goddess started reading again, snapping everyone back to attention.
"The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron told me. "Its name is Anaklusmos."
"Hey... Kelp Head... If Zoe forbade you from using that sword... what would you have done?" Thalia asked, curiously.
Instantly, Percy replied, "I'd find another sword."
"How?" Annabeth asked, and Percy tilted his head cutely, "I don't know... but maybe I could have asked Chiron? Or Tyson, since he was at Dad's forges at the time? Or maybe, ya know... the Hephaestus cabin could whip up something that worked for me?"
Chiron shook his head, "Sadly... if none of the practice blades worked for you, and only Riptide did... I'd doubt you'd find anything else at Camp that would suit you. Apologies, child."
"Maybe there would be something in our armory that would suit you?" Triton offered.
Percy's face lit up, but he fiddling with Riptide's pen form, "That would be nice... but I think I'd still stick with this."
"Well... if you ever lose Anaklusmos, or it breaks..." Triton shrugged, "You'd know who to find."
"Awesome. Thanks for the offer, Lord Triton."
Amphitrite smiled, happy that Triton was warming up to his sibling, as her son chuckled, "Well... Lord Triton seems a little to formal, given that we have the same father... I suppose just my name could suffice for now."
Percy grinned at his half-brother, glad that he didn't hate him; he had gotten that impression during their first meeting, back during the Second Titan War, "Thank you, Triton."
"'Riptide,'" I translated, surprised the Ancient Greek came so easily.
"Use it only for emergencies," Chiron said, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case."
"Yeah, Percy, no harming mortals!" Rachel grinned, and Percy rolled his eyes, "Well, in my defense, it was absolutely necessary."
Annabeth blinked, "You tried to kill Rachel?"
"I had monsters on my trail, and she surprised me." Percy said. At the same time, Rachel stated, "I sneezed."
Everyone looked at them expectantly, wanting more answers, but Percy waved them off, "It happened during third quest. The books would probably cover it."
Grover did the math, and quickly snickered. The satyr grinned, "I hope the dam books cover it."
"Yeah, I hope we get some dam answers." Thalia laughed, understanding the joke.
Zoe shook her head, "I still have no idea what thee are talking about."
"Same." Annabeth shook her head, "Some weird inside joke."
"Yeah. A dam inside joke." Percy stated with a serious face, before he, along with Thalia and Grover burst into laughter.
Then they stopped. The joke was funny, but it had still been the quest that had killed Bianca and Zoe. Percy cringed; how on earth was he supposed to explain this to Nico and Hades?
I looked at the wickedly sharp blade. "What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?"
"The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion.
Rachel nodded, "That's exactly what happened to me."
They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill.
Rachel paused, as everyone burst out laughing.
"While I take offence to not being important enough, I like not being killed." Rachel raised an eyebrow, "But I'm the Oracle now. Or, at the very least, the host for it. Am I important enough to be killed by the blade now?"
"Let's... not try that." Apollo grimaced and shook his head, "Took ages to get a new one. I like you as my Oracle, and let's try to keep it this way for as long as possible."
And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable."
"I hate bullets!" Percy complained, "Stupid zombie skeletons!"
"Agreed. Those guys sucked big time!" Thalia nodded, "You think they used magic ones or mortal ones?"
"I don't care! Either way, it was bad for us." Percy huffed.
"Er... what?" Juniper frowned, "Did we miss something?"
Without missing a beat, Thalia and Percy replied in sync, "Spoilers."
"Good to know."
"Now recap the pen."
I touched the pen cap to the sword tip and instantly Riptide shrank to a ballpoint pen again. I tucked it in my pocket, a little nervous, because I was famous for losing pens at school.
The demigods all laughed.
"Prissy, everyone loses pens at school." Clarisse snorted.
"Losing a pen is one thing." Percy insisted, "But losing a gift from my father, which is also the only weapon that worked well for me, now that would suck majorly."
"You can't," Chiron said.
"Can't what?"
"Lose the pen," he said.
"Okay! Hold up!" Leo shrieked, "Chiron is a mind reader!"
"I'm not." Chiron chuckled, "But I have been a teacher long enough to know that children lose pens a lot, especially if they have ADHD, and would fiddle with their stationery as they try to sit still."
"It is enchanted. It will always reappear in your pocket. Try it."
I was wary, but I threw the pen as far as I could down the hill and watched it disappear in the grass.
"It may take a few moments," Chiron told me. "Now check your pocket."
Sure enough, the pen was there.
"Hey... Jason... didn't you used to have a coin or something?" Percy asked, "I remember I heard the others talking about it."
"Yep." The Son of Jupiter nodded, "I get a gladius or lance, depending if it's heads or tails. It broke when we fought a giant."
"Aw, pity. Would have loved to see that coin. We could have compared magic swords." Percy snickered, "Though it's obvious that Riptide is much cooler."
"Oh yeah? Your sword doesn't have lance form."
"Nor a grenade form." Frank added in, and Percy glared at the Son of Mars.
"Okay, that's extremely cool," I admitted. "But what if a mortal sees me pulling out a sword?"
Chiron smiled. "Mist is a powerful thing, Percy."
"Mist?"
"Yes. Read The Iliad. It's full of references to the stuff.
"Chiron... you want a dyslexic kid... to read something... right before a very important, time-sensitive quest?" Thalia asked.
"No." Chiron shook his head, "But I was hoping that he might read it when he returned from his quest... if he remembered."
Whenever divine or monstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, which obscures the vision of humans. You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go to fit things into their version of reality."
Rachel frowned, "I don't know... compared to machines and stuff... dragons and pegasi and unicorns seem way cooler."
"Until you get killed by monsters." Chris added.
"Yeah..." Rachel grimaced, "There's that, too."
I put Riptide back in my pocket.
For the first time, the quest felt real.
"You mean it didn't feel real enough when the Oracle spouted her prophecy?" Connor added.
"Did you even see who was in the illusion?" Percy grimaced, as the younger Stoll brother nodded, "Ah. Understood."
I was actually leaving Half-Blood Hill. I was heading west with no adult supervision, no backup plan, not even a cell phone. (Chiron said cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, it would be worse than sending up a flare.) I had no weapon stronger than a sword to fight off monsters and reach the Land of the Dead.
"Stop being so depressing, Percy!" Thalia yelled, "Seriously!"
"He was a twelve year old kid who just lost his mom, and thought everyone at camp hated him." Reyna pointed out, "Don't be so harsh on him."
"Chiron…" I said. "When you say the gods are immortal… I mean, there was a time before them, right?"
The gods shifted uncomfortably in their seats, as Hades frowned, "Godling... why are you asking about that?"
"Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer.
"Definitely!" The first original gods, save for Hestia, yelled.
This, the time of Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age."
"So what was it like… before the gods?"
"No one wants to live through that again, that's for sure." Hera grumbled.
Chiron pursed his lips. "Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge.
Athena snorted, "As if he cared for things like that!"
But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment. It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind,
Zeus grumbled under his breath about Prometheus and how "good" a Titan he was.
Percy winced at the mention of his name, which Nico noticed, "Hey, Perce... did you fight Prometheus too?"
Everyone turned their attention to the demigod, as Percy scowled, "I met him, once, under a truce. Didn't fight him, though."
Hestia immediately knew what Percy was talking about, as Thalia growled, "He and his stupid pithos."
"The pithos isn't stupid, Pinecone Face." Percy corrected, "Tux-guy is."
Everyone, even Zeus, snickered at the nickname Percy gave Prometheus, though while some of them might have seen Thalia carrying a pithos around the hotel, for some weird reason, none of them really knew what had really happened when the Titan came to "negotiate".
that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was branded a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall. Of course, eventually the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born."
"But the gods can't die now, right?
Hermes sighed at the loss of his son, Pan, while the quartet who had been into the Labyrinth and saw Pan fade right in front of them looked at each other sadly.
I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they're alive. So… even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up everything, right?"
"We really need to give Percy optimism lessons." Apollo noted.
"No, I think he needs a therapist." Annabeth muttered under her breath, so quiet that even Percy didn't hear what she had said.
Chiron gave me a melancholy smile. "No one knows how long the Age of the West will last, Percy. The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure endless pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive.
Percy and Annabeth looked at the ground, hoping that Damasen and Bob were somehow still alright, down in Tartarus. But they knew that it was wishful thinking; a Giant and a Titan wouldn't stand a chance against the embodiment of the pit.
At the very least, they hoped that they had managed to somehow avoid getting sucked into Tartarus' armor, and wouldn't have to suffer eternal agony.
May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom,
"Aww! Chiron! I knew you loved us!" Poseidon grinned at the centaur.
or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow our destiny."
"Our destiny… assuming we know what that is."
"So cliche." Dionysus clicked his tongue, before he took another sip of his wine.
"Relax," Chiron told me. "Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history."
"Chiron!" Hermes burst out, "You can't just end it like that! He's only twelve! You can't tell a twelve year old that the fate of the world rests on his hands."
The centaur nodded, and sighed, "I know that. Apologies, Percy."
"It's fine." Percy said in a depressed tone. Ever since he was thirteen, he had always felt like the fate of the world depended on him, even though it was his fault for bugging Annabeth about the prophecy for so long.
Then, his birthday had finally passed, and hooray, he had made the correct choice! And then the stupid Oracle decided to give them another (very literal) world-ending prophecy.
Great. Just great.
He had been so, so relieved when Thalia came back, believing that she was the one the prophecy spoke of, that he could finally hand off that burden to someone else... only for her to decide to join the Hunters. Not that he blamed her, of course; who wanted to take on the weight of the entire world? But unlike her... he couldn't run away from the prophecy.
Not when the consequence of him doing that would have put the burden on Nico's shoulders; poor, little Nico, who couldn't remember his past before Westover Hall, and had lost Bianca to the Hunters, and just as quickly, lost her again when she died.
He couldn't bear to put him through even more pain and heartbreak, especially since everything had been his fault in the first place. If he hadn't feel so overshadowed by Thalia, maybe they could have saved the siblings without losing Annabeth. Then Luke wouldn't have had any way to make Artemis hold the sky, and there wouldn't be a need for the quest to rescue her, and maybe Zoe wouldn't have died, and -
Annabeth gripped his arm, shaking him out of his thoughts, and Percy immediately snapped to attention as Demeter continued.
"Relax," I said. "I'm very relaxed."
"You were so not relaxed." Grover stated. Through his empathy link, he had seen through Percy's facade, and felt his turmoil of emotions... maybe he should talk to him about it later.
When I got to the bottom of the hill, I looked back. Under the pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Chiron was now standing in full horse-man form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send-off by your typical centaur.
"How typical." Chis stated, and everyone burst out laughing.
"Not for us." Hazel tried to hide her grimace. She loved Chiron as much as the others, but Camp Jupiter didn't exactly have the best relationship with centaurs... especially since a bunch of them tried to invade camp during the Feast of Fortuna.
Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weird to be on a highway again, Annabeth and Grover sitting next to me as if we were normal carpoolers. After two weeks at Half-Blood Hill, the real world seemed like a fantasy.
"It does feel like that." Travis nodded, and Connor added, "Especially the longer you've been in camp. Suddenly, the mortal realm is the one that feels like it's all made up and full of myths."
I found myself staring at every McDonald's, every kid in the back of his parents' car, every billboard and shopping mall.
"So... what kind of Happy Meals do the dead prefer?" Percy jokingly asked, and ducked as a pillow flew by his face.
"Shut up!" The Son of Hades groaned, as Will laughed and hugged him.
"So far so good," I told Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a single monster."
"Jinx!" The demigods all shrieked.
She gave me an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, Seaweed Brain."
"Remind me again—why do you hate me so much?"
"I don't hate you."
Silena laughed, "You certainly did act like you hated him. No wonder you guys took so long to get together."
"Could've fooled me."
She folded her cap of invisibility. "Look… we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."
Ares hastily slapped his hand over Aphrodite's mouth before she started screeching, which would have had the unintended consequence of destroying everyone's eardrums.
Everyone shot the War God a grateful look.
"Why?"
She sighed. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful.
"You think?" Athena glared at Poseidon, and the Sea God sighed, "I already apologized to you for that!"
Amphitrite just shook her head, while Triton just stewed at his father's unfaithfulness; at least, Percy was easily way nicer than Chrysaor.
Annabeth, Percy and Grover all groaned internally; how was it so coincidental that Annabeth brings up Medusa as a reason why their parents didn't get along, and they encountered the very same monster wanted to turn Annabeth into a statue and crush her, while keeping a stone Percy as a trophy?
Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."
"I was over that a long time ago." Poseidon waved his hand, "But I will stand by the fact that my gift isn't stupid."
"And what were they going to do with salty spring?" Athena growled.
"Maybe to pickle the olives, which you also gave to them?" Percy offered.
"They must really like olives."
"Oh, forget it."
"Now, if she'd invented pizza—that I could understand."
"Pizza is great!" Leo grinned, "But sometimes I could do without the olives."
"Pizza was actually a collaboration between Athena and my mother." Persephone added.
Demeter smiled at her daughter, before turning her attention back to the book.
"I said, forget it!"
In the front seat, Argus smiled. He didn't say anything, but one blue eye on the back of his neck winked at me.
"HA! Even Argus knew that you guys would get together!" Thalia laughed, "How did you guys take so long!"
"Because normal "flirting" doesn't consist of pretending to hate each other's guts, and getting into arguments about literally everything." Michael suggested.
Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan it was sunset and starting to rain.
Argus dropped us at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from my mom and Gabe's apartment. Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer with my picture on it: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY?
"Great! Now you guys have to go on a super important quest, where failure could result in a huge war between immortals!" Nico groaned, "While, you know, child protective services and police enforcement might be looking out for you!"
I ripped it down before Annabeth and Grover could notice.
"We saw it." Annabeth sighed, and Grover nodded sadly, "You just looked so angry that we didn't want to bother you."
Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got our bus tickets, then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of the parking lot.
Hera smiled, glad that Argus was helping the children out. She didn't hate demigods, per say, but they were always born out of wedlock, which was completely against her domain of marriage and family.
It wasn't the children's fault, but she was often so irritated by her fellow Olympians sleeping around despite some of the being married, that she ended up taking it out on the demigods whenever she met them. At least, her servant was being kind to them, and could help them in ways she couldn't.
I thought about how close I was to my old apartment. On a normal day, my mom would be home from the candy store by now. Smelly Gabe was probably up there right now, playing poker, not even missing her.
Everyone scowled at the mention of the vile human, but none of them act on it, since the man was already in the Fields of Punishment.
"She doesn't deserve him." Hera scowled miserably, "Why did I even allow them to get married?"
"Lady Hera..." Percy looked uncomfortable addressing the Queen of Olympus, "Just because marriage is your domain... doesn't mean that you keep track of every single marriage that occurs for mortals... I do believe that if you really knew what was going on, you would have done everything in your power to stop it."
Hera looked shocked that a demigod, the Son of Poseidon, was trying to comfort her, despite it being very clear that she didn't treat the demigods with proper respect, and in turn, demigods weren't too fond of her either.
She wasn't too sure how to respond, but she settled on a stiff nod, "Of course. I would never approve of a marriage if a man treated a woman like this."
Percy smiled back at her, while Demeter decided to use the silence as an opportunity to keep reading.
Grover shouldered his backpack. He gazed down the street in the direction I was looking. "You want to know why she married him, Percy?"
I stared at him. "Were you reading my mind or something?"
"Good guess. It's close enough." Hermes laughed.
"Just your emotions." He shrugged. "Guess I forgot to tell you satyrs can do that.
"Yes. Not just you, but apparently, so did everyone else." Percy grinned, as Annabeth sighed, shaking her head at just how mean she had been to Percy.
You were thinking about your mom and your stepdad, right?"
I nodded, wondering what else Grover might've forgotten to tell me.
Everyone laughed at this, but they did feel bad that Percy was just stumbling around on his first quest, not even sure of the details of the world he had no say in being born in.
"Your mom married Gabe for you," Grover told me. "You call him 'Smelly,' but you've got no idea. The guy has this aura... Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven't been near him for a fortnight."
Aphrodite looked horrified, "That is absolutely disgusting!"
"Wait... the way you worded that..." Juniper tilted her head, "His aura... smells different?"
"Yeah. Like monsters." Grover wrinkled his nose at the memory of the vile, putrid smell, "Monsters don't smell bad by normal standards, per say. If they did, any normal demigod would be able to detect them by smell alone. But satyrs... we don't just pick up smells like humans. We can sense these aura's through our noses... so it's basically still smelling... but we're locking onto a completely different kind of scent. Humans also give off these kinds of auras, especially if they're terrible human beings."
"Hey... so does Tyson and Mrs O'Leary smell different from other cyclopes and hellhounds?" Percy asked, and Grover nodded, "Yeah. I'm not too sure how to explain it... but I can definitely differentiate them from others of their species. Though the blessing from... you know... might have helped with that."
"Thanks," I said. "Where's the nearest shower?"
Laughter echoed throughout the Throne Room.
"You've been showering for two weeks, Perce." Beckendorf grinned, "If that isn't enough to wash the smell away, another shower isn't going to be much help."
"You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod.
"Actually, I take that back, Perce. Living with a man like that is one thing. But what he did to you..." Grover shook his head, but Percy sighed, "It's all in the past, G-man. And... you know... I should be grateful that I'm alive. At least... I didn't get mauled to death when I was like, eight, or something."
As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you.
"Sadly... she also let another monster into her home." Athena winced, "But it's the lesser of two evils. It's either a guaranteed death by monsters, or living with a man that hurts her son. Not exactly the smartest thing to do."
"Well, if you were in her shoes with limited resources and a kid to raise, what else could you do?!" Percy scowled, "Don't talk about my mom like that! She did whatever she could."
She was a smart lady. She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy—if that makes you feel any better."
It didn't, but I forced myself not to show it.
"Yeah." Grover scratched the back of his head, "That just made Percy even sadder and guilty."
I'll see her again, I thought. She isn't gone.
I wondered if Grover could still read my emotions, mixed up as they were. I was glad he and Annabeth were with me, but I felt guilty that I hadn't been straight with them. I hadn't told them the real reason I'd said yes to this crazy quest.
Grover grinned, "I knew it already, though."
"It was easy to guess, though. With all the questions you asked about the Underworld and bringing people back." Annabeth laughed, and shifted her position so she could wrap an around Percy, "Don't worry about it. We would have still tagged along for your quest."
"Thanks, guys." Percy smiled.
The truth was, I didn't care about retrieving Zeus's lightning bolt,
"Hey!" Zeus protested.
or saving the world,
Athena scowled, "Your fatal flaw, boy."
or even helping my father out of trouble. The more I thought about it, I resented Poseidon for never visiting me, never helping my mom, never even sending a lousy child-support check. He'd only claimed me because he needed a job done.
Poseidon let out a sad whimper, and Amphitrite tried to comfort him. It was never a good feeling to know that their children felt like their parents didn't care for them, and were only using them as a means to an end.
"Sorry, dad." Percy sighed, scratching his neck nervously, "You know I really don't feel like that anymore... but uh... you know... this was all before I had gotten a good grasp of these "I have to act like I don't care" kinda laws... so more thoughts like these might pop up in future books? Assuming they are still from my point of view... which I really hope not..."
"I understand." Poseidon replied, "Still... it doesn't make me happier to know that my only demigod son used to despise me. Though your gift..."
The Sea God snickered in amusement, and Percy smile widened.
All I cared about was my mom. Hades had taken her unfairly, and Hades was going to give her back.
"And that, he did." Percy nodded.
You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, the Oracle whispered in my mind. You will fail to save what matters most in the end.
Shut up, I told it.
Rachel snickered, "Percy's probably the only one who would tell the Oracle to shut up."
The others laughed at that comment.
The rain kept coming down.
We got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. Annabeth was unbelievable.
Annabeth grinned, "I've been playing that for ages."
She could bounce the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. I wasn't too bad myself.
"Honestly, given that I just taught you how to play... You really weren't too bad." Grover smirked at Percy, "But you always were good at football."
The game ended when I tossed the apple toward Grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack disappeared— core, stem, and all.
Everyone burst into laughter, as Grover turned red, "Look, I was stressed, okay! Satyrs don't do well underground... especially as far down as the Underworld!"
Grover blushed. He tried to apologize, but Annabeth and I were too busy cracking up.
Finally the bus came. As we stood in line to board, Grover started looking around, sniffing the air like he smelled his favorite school cafeteria delicacy —enchiladas.
"Urg." Annabeth shook her head, "It was definitely not enchiladas."
"If it were enchiladas, Grover would have probably knocked the entire bus over." Percy laughed.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I don't know," he said tensely. "Maybe it's nothing."
"Definitely not nothing. What monster is it this time?" Triton groaned.
But I could tell it wasn't nothing. I started looking over my shoulder, too.
"Good." Poseidon nodded.
I was relieved when we finally got on board and found seats together in the back of the bus. We stowed our backpacks.
"Annabeth!" Malcolm yelped, and the Daughter or Athena winced, "That was a terrible move."
"Honestly... I don't know... it would be hard to move around in a crowded bus with backpacks..." Percy frowned, "I'm not sure..."
"Well... it's already happened... nothing we can do about it now..." Grover sighed, "We should just count our blessings."
"More like count how many times Zeus wants me to fail despite me running an errand for him." Percy grumbled under his breath, and Annabeth let out a strained smile.
Annabeth kept slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh.
As the last passengers got on, Annabeth clamped her hand onto my knee. "Percy."
Aphrodite was able to squeal something about love, but Ares quickly shut her up, grinning with excitement, "Not now, Dite. There's a fight! I can feel it!"
An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse.
"That doesn't sound too bad." Clarisse muttered.
When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and my heart skipped a beat.
It was Mrs Dodds. Older, more withered, but definitely the same evil face.
"Oh." Clarisse blinked, "I take that back."
I scrunched down in my seat.
Hades shook his head, "Apologizes, godling, but they can still smell you."
Behind her came two more old ladies: one in a green hat, one in a purple hat. Otherwise they looked exactly like Mrs Dodds—same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dresses. Triplet demon grandmothers.
"You sent all three of them?!" Athena scowled at Hades, but the God of the Dead paid her no attention.
Meanwhile, several demigods, including Nico, were chuckling at the "triplet demon grandmothers" comment. It was just so Percy.
They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Ares cheered, but Aphrodite threw a shoe at him as payback for shutting her up two times prior.
The bus pulled out of the station, and we headed through the slick streets of Manhattan. "She didn't stay dead long," I said, trying to keep my voice from quivering. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."
"I said if you're lucky," Annabeth said. "You're obviously not."
"Even then, our dear brother would just bring them back immediately." Zeus grumbled.
Hades just snorted, "Like you can say anything, given what you did. Alecto told me about it."
"All three of them," Grover whimpered. "Di immortales!"
"It's okay," Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem.
"No problem?" Nico asked, slightly amused, and Jake groaned, "You guys are so screwed!"
We'll just slip out the windows."
"They don't open," Grover moaned.
"How do they not open!?" Beckendorf asked incredulously, "That's just... not right!"
"A back exit?" she suggested.
There wasn't one.
"Why is there no back exit?!" Leo frowned, "Who designed that stupid bus?!"
"Mortals." Hephaestus sighed, "Always trying to cut costs, prioritizing money over proper workmanship."
Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped. By that time, we were on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.
"Great." Jake groaned, "Now you guys can't even try to get off at the next stop and wait for the next bus."
"They won't attack us with witnesses around," I said. "Will they?"
"Monsters might not, but the Furies? They definitely will, especially if they are on direct orders from Dad." Nico nodded solemnly.
"Mortals don't have good eyes," Annabeth reminded me. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."
"Except for me!" Rachel grinned, but that did nothing to break the tense atmosphere.
"They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?"
"With Percy's luck, they'd probably see Kelp Head wailing on the Kindly Ones." Thalia stated, her tone showing that she was unsure whether to be horrified that everything would be pinned on Percy, or immensely amused at the mental image of Percy bullying the Furies.
She thought about it. "Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof…?"
Hephaestus snorted, deeply offended by the terrible design, "You think they would have a roof exit if they didn't even have a back one?"
We hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain.
Mrs Dodds got up.
"Uh oh." Piper breathed in.
In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the rest-room."
"So do I," said the second sister.
"So do I," said the third sister.
"So do I." Leo added. Calypso frowned, "Really, Leo? The joke isn't funny."
"I'm not joking." Leo stated, "We've been cooped up here since dinner chapters. I seriously need to use the toilet."
Zeus sighed, "I suppose that this can be the last chapter before we end for the night."
They all started coming down the aisle.
"I've got it," Annabeth said. "Percy, take my hat."
"They'd still be able to smell him." Piper pointed out, but Grover shook his head, "Nope. The bus is such an enclosed space, and Percy had to walk through the but to get to the back. His smell would be all over the bus."
"What?"
"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."
"You were lucky that the Furies had other objectives." Hades grumbled, "Otherwise, your silly hat wouldn't be enough."
"But you guys—"
"There's no way Percy is going to ditch you." Chris groaned, "Even if he takes your hat. And that's what makes me worried."
"There's an outside chance they might not notice us," Annabeth said. "You're a son of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering."
"I can't just leave you."
"How sweet!" Aphrodite cooed, but Athena rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Pull yourself together!"
"Don't worry about us," Grover said. "Go!"
My hands trembled. I felt like a coward, but I took the Yankees cap and put it on.
Annabeth patted his back comfortingly.
When I looked down, my body wasn't there anymore.
"Yes... that's what happens when you become invisible." Leo added dryly.
"Honestly, I thought I'd still be able to see my body..." Percy admitted, "Like the hat would just make me appear invisible to everyone else but myself."
"I get you." Annabeth nodded, "That was what I was expecting at first. But the magic has to be really powerful for something that complex. Might end up attracting more attention."
I started creeping up the aisle. I managed to get up ten rows, then duck into an empty seat just as the Furies walked past.
Mrs Dodds stopped, sniffing, and looked straight at me. My heart was pounding.
Apparently she didn't see anything.
"Of course she didn't see you. You're invisible." Rachel snickered, but Percy threw another pillow at her, "Shut up! You know what I mean!"
She and her sisters kept going.
I was free. I made it to the front of the bus. We were almost through the Lincoln Tunnel now.
"Good." Malcolm nodded, "Now, just get off the bus, and hopefully, once the Kindly Ones realize that you aren't there anymore, they'd leave Annabeth and Grover alone."
"Nope." Annabeth and Grover shook their heads in sync.
I was about to press the emergency stop button when I heard hideous wailing from the back row.
The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same—I guess those couldn't get any uglier—
"I'm not sure if Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone would like that description, or take offence to it." Persephone stated, somewhat amused, since she knew that the children would get out alive.
but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips.
The Furies surrounded Grover and Annabeth, lashing their whips, hissing: "Where is it? Where?"
"... It?" Apollo frowned, "Percy's not an it. You do know that, right, Uncle?"
Hades glared at Apollo, "Don't you dare take me for a fool."
Apollo shrunk back, not wanting to anger the God of the Dead, "Well... other than Percy, I wasn't made aware that you were looking for something else."
Hades glanced at Zeus, and the God of the Sky glanced back at him. Hades knew that Poseidon knew what had happened; after all, he had explained everything to his brother when he had returned Sally.
When Percy had returned the bolt, Zeus would no doubt ask him for an explanation... but did his brother not tell the others about his Helm?
The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw something, all right.
"Yeah. They saw three old ladies harassing two children." Nico snickered.
"He's not here!" Annabeth yelled. "He's gone!"
The Furies raised their whips.
Annabeth drew her bronze knife. Grover grabbed a tin can from his snack bag and prepared to throw it.
"Er... Grover, buddy..." Connor started, "I'm not sure what good a tin can would do against a Kindly One."
"Well, it was all I had!" Grover huffed, "Like my pan pipes would do any better!"
"Neither would do well against a whip, especially since Kindly Ones know how to use them." Reyna pointed out, "Thought I suppose a bronze knife would do much better than a tin can, since you can kill them if you're lucky enough to hit them in the right spot."
What I did next was so impulsive and dangerous I should've been named ADHD poster child of the year.
"If I didn't know you... I'd say that goes to Leo." Jason joked, "But now... it's a toss up."
The bus driver was distracted, trying to see what was going on in his rearview mirror.
Still invisible, I grabbed the wheel from him and jerked it to the left.
"Okay... even I wouldn't do something like that." Leo gaped, "Do you even know how to drive?!"
"Now I do." Percy grinned.
Everybody howled as they were thrown to the right, and I heard what I hoped was the sound of three Furies smashing against the windows.
"And me!" Grover protested, "I had the window seat!"
"Would you rather get killed by the Kindly Ones, or get a small bruise from hitting the window?" Will asked, and Grover bleated, "The bruise, of course!"
"Hey!" the driver yelled. "Hey—whoa!"
We wrestled for the wheel. The bus slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind us.
"Okay... Percy definitely wins the ADHD poster child of the year." Beckendorf winced; there was no way that was good for the bus, and they were currently trapped inside the metal vehicle, inside a dark tunnel.
We careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins.
"Now you're out of the tunnel. That's good news..." Malcolm nodded, plans running through his head, "Maybe you guys can get out of the bus and make a run for it."
"They can't outrun the Furies." Nico pointed out, "They can fly."
"Okay... scratch that..." Malcolm muttered nervously.
Somehow the driver found an exit. We shot off the highway, through half a dozen traffic lights, and ended up barreling down one of those New Jersey rural roads where you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river from New York. There were woods to our left, the Hudson River to our right, and the driver seemed to be veering toward the river.
"Oh, goodie! A river!" Leo grinned, "Percy can work with that!"
"He had less than two weeks of sword training, and he went on a quest the day after he was claimed. He wouldn't know how to use his powers." Katie pointed out.
"So all they had was a bronze sword, a bronze knife, and some tin cans." Michael groaned, "That's just great."
Another great idea: I hit the emergency brake.
"Good idea." Apollo nodded. While he trusted Percy to drive him to camp... he didn't have the same kind of trust in twelve year old Percy, who didn't know how to drive.
The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open.
"Okay. Now get off the bus." Thalia nodded.
The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him. I stepped into the driver's seat and let them pass.
"Of course you would prioritize the mortals first!" Travis groaned, "The Furies aren't going to go after them, you know!?"
"Percy's way too nice." Chris shook his head, "Even if he wanted to help Annabeth and Grover, maybe he could have gotten outside, where there was rain, and more space for him to swing a sword properly."
"But the Kindly Ones are stuck in the bus. They would also be restricted by the size of the bus, right?" Hazel stated, "Like... I don't think the bus is big enough for their wings..."
The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth while she waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Grover threw tin cans.
"Tin cans." Connor snickered, "So menacing."
"Hey! I'm doing the best I can!" Grover sighed, but Juniper placed a small kiss on his cheek, "We know, Grover."
I looked at the open doorway. I was free to go, but I couldn't leave my friends. I took off the invisible cap. "Hey!"
"How about you get to the door way, then get the Kindly Ones' attention?" Annabeth asked.
"Okay. Next time we encounter Furies while we're stuck on a bus with windows that don't open and no emergency exits." Percy nodded, and Annabeth groaned, "You know what I mean!"
The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at me, and the exit suddenly seemed like an excellent idea.
"Of course." Hades smirked. He was glad that the Furies still terrified Percy, despite having killed Alecto so easily.
Mrs Dodds stalked up the aisle, just as she used to do in class, about to deliver my F– math test.
"Which is... presumably, most of the time." Thalia snickered, but Percy groaned, "Math is so annoying! Reading the question is bad enough! And then we get to algebra, where they use letters instead of numbers! I couldn't even keep track of what variable the question wants because I'm always seeing different letters!"
Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather.
"That sounds awesome." Jason grimaced, "And equally terrifying at the same time."
Her two ugly sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward me like huge nasty lizards.
"They definitely wouldn't like that description." Nico sniggered.
"Perseus Jackson," Mrs Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than Georgia. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."
"Besides Mr D? Not yet." Grover corrected, "He hasn't offended any other gods yet."
Poseidon groaned.
"I liked you better as a math teacher," I told her.
She growled.
"Clearly, she didn't like you any better as a student." Hades dryly stated.
The gods blinked at Hades, stunned that he had just attempted to make a joke, while the demigods all roared with laughter.
Annabeth and Grover moved up behind the Furies cautiously, looking for an opening.
I took the ballpoint pen out of my pocket and uncapped it. Riptide elongated into a shimmering double-edged sword.
"Good." Will nodded, "At least you've managed to arm yourself before they attack."
The Furies hesitated.
Mrs Dodds had felt Riptide's blade before. She obviously didn't like seeing it again.
"No duh!" Leo deadpanned, "I'd love to see a weapon that killed me before I came back to life."
The demigods looked at Leo sourly, remembering that he had died and come back to life, and Leo slumped into his bean bag, "Okay, okay, bad joke, sorry."
"Submit now," she hissed. "And you will not suffer eternal torment."
"Nice try," I told her.
"Stop mouthing off every monster you see!" Katie groaned, "Have some self-preservation!"
"Percy, look out!" Annabeth cried. Mrs Dodds lashed her whip around my sword hand while the Furies on the either side lunged at me.
My hand felt like it was wrapped in molten lead,
Annabeth winced, "Because it pretty much was like molten lead."
but I managed not to drop Riptide.
"Somehow." Pollux sighed.
I stuck the Fury on the left with its hilt, sending her toppling backward into a seat. I turned and sliced the Fury on the right. As soon as the blade connected with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust.
Hades groaned at how easily Percy had killed Tisiphone; she certainly hadn't been very happy when Hades brought her back.
Annabeth got Mrs Dodds in a wrestler's hold and yanked her backward while Grover ripped the whip out of her hands.
"You didn't gut her?" Clarisse hissed, "If you're close enough to wrestle her, you should have just stabbed her."
"We were trying to get her away from Percy. Give him some breathing room." Grover explained, "They were all ganging up on him."
"Yeah, you could do that by killing her." Ares stated blankly, "Pity. I wanted more action."
"Ow!" he yelled. "Ow! Hot! Hot!"
"Uh, it's on fire! Of course it's hot!" Hermes snorted.
The Fury I'd hilt-slammed came at me again, talons ready, but I swung Riptide and she broke open like a piñata.
"Megaera's never going to forgive you for calling her a piñata." Nico grinned.
Mrs Dodds was trying to get Annabeth off her back. She kicked, clawed, hissed and bit, but Annabeth held on while Grover got Mrs Dodds's legs tied up in her own whip.
Apollo whistled, "Nice one!"
Finally they both shoved her backward into the aisle. Mrs Dodds tried to get up, but she didn't have room to flap her bat wings, so she kept falling down.
There was a second of silence, before the demigods snickered.
"That... shouldn't be funny... But the mental image is just hilarious!" Connor chortled, and Travis snickered, "She's... just trying... so hard! And failing!"
"Zeus will destroy you!" she promised. "Hades will have your soul!"
"Braccas meas vescimini!" I yelled.
Chiron blinked in bewilderment, as the Romans burst into uncontrollable laughter. The gods briefly flickered to their Roman forms, unsure whether to be amused, or surprised that Percy was able to say something fluently in Latin despite being a Greek demigod.
"Where... did the Latin come from?" Hazel tried to control herself, as the Greeks looked at each other, confused, "What did he say?"
I wasn't sure where the Latin came from. I think it meant "Eat my pants!"
Now, everyone else was laughing.
"I'm glad you took that away from my lessons." Chiron turned to Percy, but everyone could see the amused glint in the centaur's eyes.
"First, Grover loses his pants! Then Percy's pants gets eaten by the Kindly Ones!" Travis yelled, and everyone dissolved into even more laughter.
Demeter waited for everyone to quiet down, before continuing.
Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of my neck.
The tension was back again.
"Get out!" Annabeth yelled at me. "Now!"
"Yes. Do that." Athena growled.
I didn't need any encouragement.
We rushed outside and found the other passengers wandering around in a daze, arguing with the driver, or running around in circles yelling, "We're going to die!" A Hawaiian shirted tourist with a camera snapped my photograph before I could recap my sword.
"That's even better! Now everyone's going to think you're a terrorist or something!" Chris stated sarcastically, as he shook his head.
"Our bags!" Grover realized.
"It would be hard to fight all three Kindly Ones if you were carrying your backpacks." Persephone noted, "Especially since one of them has, presumably, a very thick architecture book in it."
Annabeth blushed, and Grover winced, "That's a very good point."
"We left our—"
BOOOOOM!
"Zeus!" Poseidon groaned in exasperation.
The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof,
"What were you thinking?!" Demeter asked, cutting herself off, "No, scratch that! You're not thinking enough! They're trying to get your bolt back! The least you could do is not making it harder by taking away their transportation! You need to eat more cereal!"
"They had to get off the bus anyways because of the Furies." Zeus argued, "And the rain would help cover up their scent!"
"As if you would do that to help demigods, especially a sea spawn." Athena hissed, "You just wanted to kill him! And my daughter could have been caught in the crossfire."
"And a satyr." Dionysus added, "Not that I would care anyways, but I would have preferred George alive so I wouldn't have to explain to Lucas why his former satyr protector is a plant. You know... like he didn't need another reason to side with your father."
The mood instantly darkened at the mention of Luke's betrayal, but it effectively stopped the argument regarding Zeus' actions.
but an angry wail from inside told me Mrs Dodds was not yet dead.
"Run!" Annabeth said. "She's calling for reinforcements!
"How did you know that? Do you speak Fury?" Nico asked, but Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Well, she's stuck in a bus that got hit by lighting. What else could she be doing?"
"Good point." The Son of Hades nodded.
We have to get out of here!"
We plunged into the woods as the rain poured down, the bus in flames behind us, and nothing but darkness ahead.
"Great. That's just great." Hermes complained, "No transportation, no supplies, not even some money so you could stock up on food or something! Not even some nectar or ambrosia in case they get injured! And, you know, the Fury is still alive! And I was busy so I couldn't have helped you anyways."
"You shouldn't be interfering anyways." Zeus seethed.
Hermes huffed, "Well, we were all busy searching for your missing bolt. And if the kids were on a quest to retrieve it, I don't see why it would be a problem if we helped them. We all want the bolt found, the earlier the better!"
"Hermes makes a good point. If we aren't allowed to interfere positively by helping, why were you able to interfere negatively by blowing their bus up?!" Athena nodded, "Hades is another matter, but from I could tell, the Furies weren't being overly aggressive. They were prioritizing looking for something over killing the children! But if they were still in the bus, they would have been killed."
Poseidon, Apollo and Artemis all started speaking up, and the other gods joined in, giving their own two cents, as all the demigods looked around at the gods like they were watching a thirteen-way tennis match.
"Enough." Hestia spoke up softly, but all the gods instantly shut up.
She stood up, and brushed off the imaginary dust from her simple brown dress, "If you don't mind, I'd like to show the children to their sleeping quarters. Today was quite busy, and unlike us, mortals require rest. After they get a good night's sleep, we can continue with the books tomorrow."
Hestia made her way towards the door, and turned towards the demigods, who still looked unsure of what to do.
"Come on." Hestia smiled, "When Annabeth redesigned Olympus, with permission from the gods, she made some guest rooms as well. I'm sure she'd like to show you her work."
With that, the half-bloods, as well as Rachel and Zoe, stood up, and followed the goddess, still in her nine-year-old form, out of the throne room, leaving the rest of the angry, agitated and upset gods behind.
It didn't take too long for Hestia to bring them to their destination, and she pushed open a door, which looked like a common room of a very fancy, high-class dormitory. The entire room was sparkling clean, with some furniture and a large television, with some gaming consoles attached to it with a mess of wires.
Annabeth frowned, "I don't remember that being there."
Hestia let out a small laugh, "When Hermes and Apollo learn that you would be staying on Olympus for the duration of the readings, they came in during dinner time to install all of this. Apollo also left some games for you... but I'm not sure when he placed them."
Off to the corner, there was neat stack of magic plates on a kitchen counter, and some more magic goblets displayed inside a cabinet. There was also several doors, and Hestia pointed to them.
"Six beds in a room, each with a magic cabinet, courtesy of Aphrodite, so you should have anything you'd like to wear as night clothes, and tomorrow morning. Each room as it's own attached bathroom, and I believe there should be enough supplies in the cabinets, again, courtesy of Aphrodite and Hermes." Hestia let out a soft smile, "However... no bed sharing. And please don't mix children of the opposite gender into one room. Hera and Artemis were very clear on those rules."
Percy and Annabeth let out a sigh. They figured that Hera would pull something like "no sharing a bed before marriage" or something like that, which in all honestly, wasn't too unreasonable for her, and Artemis was only fond of Percy.
But after Tartarus... they had always stuck together, even in college. There were times they couldn't just share a room and cuddle as they slept, and those were the times the intensity of their nightmares kicked up a notch. They could barely sleep, and usually spent the entire night awake, unable to rest, which was complete torture, since their ADHD made waiting through the night feel like eternity.
They glanced at each other. Maybe on Olympus... the nightmares would leave them alone. They could try it out. And if the nightmares still haunted them... well... surely Artemis would understand, and maybe they could get their parents to try and convince Hera that they weren't going to do anything other than cuddle.
"Enjoy yourselves, and rest up." Hestia turned towards the door, "I'm sure my nephew will be waking you up early."
Everyone, besides from the Apollo campers, groaned at the prospect of waking up early, but Hestia just let out a soft laugh. She turned to Percy, "Perseus... could I speak to you for a moment?"
"Of course, Lady Hestia." Percy reverted to formalities by default, since Hestia used his real name, and he followed Hestia out of the guest room. Hestia closed the door behind her, and asked softly, "Percy... what do you think so far?"
Percy blinked in confusion, "Of... what?"
"This entire situation." Hestia explained, "Bringing the gods and their children together, learning about the horrors of our world that the gods are oblivious to, or, at least, they turn a blind eye to. The Fates want us to change."
"Well..." Percy scratched his head, "It doesn't seem so bad. Except the part where everyone has to read my thoughts. That seriously sucks."
Hestia nodded, and sighed, "The gods have never been forced to stay together for so long. As you can see... the smallest things can result in arguments."
Percy smiled sadly, "It's not easy being the peacekeeper, isn't it?"
"It never is." Hestia admitted, "But... wanting everyone to get along. That's my fondest wish. And despite everything that has happened... I used to think that goal was so far out of reach. But now, I think differently."
"Even when they argue over everything?" Percy asked, and Hestia smiled, "Yes. Even then. They have differing opinions... but family where everyone has the exact same opinions is no family at all. That's a tyranny."
She paused.
"I do not always agree with everything Hera says... but I do believe that you are the glue that brings everyone together." Hestia looked up at Percy, "You've helped unite the two camps. Artemis and Zoe are fond of you, and even Amphitrite and Triton are warming up to you, despite them generally disliking most of your father's demigod children. Reading through all these books would help bringing the gods together... but at the cost of revealing all of your deepest, most inner secrets."
"I don't mind. Honestly... if it makes things better for everyone in the future, I think it's worth it." Percy replied, "But... my friends' secrets... they don't deserve to have their secrets spilled when I'm the one that accidentally found out."
"One or two secrets, compared to every single one of your thoughts and feelings." Hestia responded, "It's a small sacrifice, and I'm sure they would understand."
"I'd rather no one sacrifice anything." Percy muttered, and Hestia smiled, "Perhaps so."
Hestia turned back to the door, "Go and rest, Percy. There will more reading tomorrow, and it would take its toll on you the most."
Percy nodded, and bowed, "Thank you, Lady Hestia."
Hestia just looked at him, amused, "You should show the same display of respect to the other gods. And "Aunt" works much better for me."
Percy winced, and frowned, "I know I should... but..."
"Juno, right?" Hestia briefly flickered to Vesta, "I'm sure she's said some things that you don't agree with. But when Zeus closed off Olympus, she didn't have much of a choice. Even if you don't like the way she does things, her heart was in the right place. Don't hold it against her; you've seen for yourself how hard a time she has. Sometimes, we should just yield."
Percy looked back at Hestia, with a small smile on his face, "The hardest power to master."
"Indeed."
The Son of the Sea God nodded, "And that's why your wish of bringing everyone together will come true. Because you are the last Olympian; you never gave up hope that your family would get along someday."
"Hope survives the best at the hearth, after all." Hestia smiled softly, repeating Percy's words from two years prior.
They both settled into comfortable silence, and Hestia nodded at the door, "Go on, your friends are waiting for you."
"Thank you, Aunt Hestia." Percy bowed once more at the goddess, watching as Hestia disappeared in a flash of embers, leaving the smell of homecooked food in the air, before he pushed the door to the guest room open.
