The ride to Manhattan was awkward to say the least. The driver, Argus, kept ninety nine of his eyes on me and one on the road, which struck me as rather dangerous. That just goes to show how much they trusted me.
In the backseat, Percy and Annabeth were arguing about the rivalry between their godly parents with Grover squished in between them looking like he'd rather be in Tartarus. I sat in the front seat, setting a tissue on fire and putting it out over and over again.
"How do you do that?"
It was Percy, finished with his argument and now watching me light the tissue with wide eyes.
"Son of Hestia, means I get limited control over fire." I explained, "I can only set small things on fire right now, but my power is supposed to grow with practice."
Percy looked confused, "You're a son of Hestia? I thought she didn't have any children and isn't she, like, eight?"
"And that's where we're similar, Percy Jackson, neither of us are supposed to exist."
Maybe he heard the bitterness in my voice or maybe not, but he shut up and stared out the window at the jammed streets.
Traffic slowed us down in Queens so it was sunset by the time we rolled into Manhattan and it was starting to rain. Argon dropped us off at the Greyhound Station where I saw Percy rip down a poster that read Have you seen this boy? in big block letters with his face underneath. I didn't ask, mostly because I didn't care.
As we waited for the bus, the three others began playing Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. Annabeth, I noted, was quite good at it. Percy, not so much. The game ended rather abruptly when Grover ate the apple right out of the air. By that time, the bus had arrived and we boarded. As we sat down on the filthy plastic seats, I sensed something. Grover was sniffing the air with a peculiar look on his face so I knew he smelled whatever was making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
"What is it?" Percy asked, oblivious to the heavy feeling of dread in the air.
"I...don't know." Grover replied, giving the air one last sniff, "It could be nothing."
"I don't think it is." I said just as Annabeth stiffened in her seat.
"Percy." She hissed, gesturing to the front of the bus where three old ladies had just boarded, each in a different color hat obscuring their faces. I could recognize them by the aura flowing off of them, they were the three Furies I had defeated not three days ago.
"Di immortales, all three of them?" I cursed, taking Max out of my pocket before realizing that I would have no room to swing in the crowded bus. Annabeth was running through escape routes when I made my decision. I stood up and began walking right towards the Furies.
"What are you doing?" Annabeth shouted after me, but I ignored her. I knew how to deal with monsters.
As soon as they saw me coming up the aisle they knew who I was. The one in the front hissed in a flat voice, "We have no quarrel with you, son of Hestia, give us the boy and we will leave."
"No can do." I said, lighting the palm of my hand on fire. The Furies backed up screeching, changing from their human forms into leathery brown hag bodies with huge talons and fiery whips instead of the handbags they had had before. The people on the bus began to scream and flood towards the back of the bus. They may not have been able to see three Furies because of the Mist, but they certainly saw something. I conjured up a small fireball, the best I could do, and hurled it at the first Fury. The flames caught on her bat's wings and she howled in pain as the flames licked at the leathery skin. I felt someone beside me and looked. Annabeth stood there with her bronze knife and Grover with a tin can ready to throw. Just before the Furies could attack us, the bus was thrown violently to the side and the Furies went flying into the windows. I saw Percy wrestling with the driver for the wheel. As we shot out of London Tunnel cars swerved out of our way as Percy hit the emergency brake. The bus screeched to a halt as Annabeth managed to get one of the Furies into a neck hold. Percy drew his sword and skewered another while I threw another fireball at the last, killing it instantly. Grover used the whips that remained on the floor to tie up the one Annabeth held and they threw it to the back of the bus.
"Go, let's get out of here!" Annabeth shouted and we hurried off the bus. Outside, the other passengers were running about and screaming. Someone snapped Percy's picture as we dashed into the nearby woods.
We ran for what felt like hours until Annabeth raised her hand for us to stop. She swiveled around and grabbed my shirt collar, slamming me up against a tree,"You could have gotten us killed!"
Sort of a cliffhanger? Anyway, please review and follow/fav if you enjoyed! Next chapter coming soon, and thank you for all of the lovely comments so far!