The next morning, I felt many emotions. I was really excited, but I was also scared. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have experienced campers at my side. Probably been eaten alive. But I had no time to think about that. I had to get ready to leave to save the world.
I packed a few clean clothes, money and drachmas, ambrosia, and a water bottle filled half way with the last of the healing potion into my backpack. I put on some comfy joggers, a t-shirt, and my running sneakers. It put my hair into a ponytail to keep it out of my face. "This is it," I said to myself.
When I was walking out the door, Annabeth ran into me, and we both fell onto the floor. Annabeth didn't seem surprised. Apparently this happened a lot at Camp Half-Blood.
"I'm glad I caught you," she said as we both got up. "I wanted to wish you good luck. You know, I was just a couple of years younger than you when I went on my first quest. I had been waiting for that day to come my whole life."
"Thanks," I said. "And congrats on the wedding!"
"What? How do you know about that?"
"Percy told us."
"That seaweed brain. It was supposed to be a surprise!"
I smiled. "Well, you're secret's safe with me."
She paused, and then asked, "Did they give you a weapon?"
"No."
"Well, we need to fix that. Come on. We don't have a lot of time."
She took me to a gray marble cabin with a beautiful owl carved above the doorway. Then, she took me behind the cabin to a fairly large wooden shed.
"The Athena cabin's armory," Annabeth said.
She opened the door. I was surprised to see hundreds of weapons, in all different shapes and sizes.
"Impressive," I said.
"Yeah. So what do you want? Most Apollo campers use bows and arrows."
"I like to think I'm out of the ordinary."
"I can respect that," she said. "So what would you like?"
I looked around, there must have been hundreds, maybe even thousands, of assorted weapons. There were bows and arrows, swords, daggers, knifes, even guns. Most of them were silver, but some were gold and obsidian black. They were all incredible, but none of them were really... me.
Until I saw the sword.
It was absolutely wonderful. It was blinding silver, not a speck of it dull. The handle was white leather. It was short for a sword, a little over two feet, but that didn't matter. The best part was the jewels. They covered every part that wasn't the blade. Each one was different. There were emeralds, diamonds, and rubies, and a bunch of other stones that I didn't even recognize. It was like a work of art that could kill you, maime you, or severely injure you. To me, it was the definition of perfect.
"What's that?" I said.
"That? I don't know, it doesn't have a name."
"You think I care?"
"Spunky. I think a child in the Hephaestus cabin made that and gave it to us a few years ago. In the demigod world, it won't be considered anything special. But I respect you. I know what it feels like to feel a connection with an unimportant weapon, when there's just something about it that feels right. I have that, or at least I did."
"Okay. ''
This was getting a little weird.
"So can I have the sword?" I said.
She gave a small smile. Then she went over to it and picked it up.
"Here," she said. "When you press this stone," she pointed to the most vibrant jewel of all- a sparkling sapphire. It was located directly under the blade, so you could miss it. "When you press this stone, it turns into a ring."
She did so, and the whole sword magically transformed into ring with the center stone being the same sapphire.
"When you take it off, it turns into a sword again. This will help you transport it around with you."
"Love it!" I said. I couldn't help it.
"And.. good luck, again. You're gonna need it," she said.
She gave me the magnificent sword/beautiful ring.
"Now go. You're friends are waiting for you."
I gave her a small smile. Then I ran off to catch the bus.
"There you are," Shawn said when I got to the top of the hill. "We've been waiting for you. You have everything?"
"Yeah," I answered. "I've also got this."
I took of my ring, and it expanded to its full size.
"Wow!" Jeanette, who was also already there, exclaimed.
"I know. Annabeth gave it to me."
"It will definitely come in handy," Shawn said. "Now lets get on the bus."
I soon found out that the bus driver was a male. He also had, like, a million eyes all over his body.
The bus ride was filled with awkward silence. I guess no one really knew what to say. I couldn't blame them. After all, we were sort of heading to our doom. The ride was pretty long. We were going to Manhattan, where Argus (the bus driver) was dropping us off. From there, were were on our own.
We finally arrived in NYC. I was greeted with the familiar sight of skyscrapers. I was back in my old life, but nothing would ever be the same. I was a demigod now.
"So," Jeanette finally said. "What now?"
Shawn answered. "Well, the prophecy says we need to find the empousai.
Does anyone know where they could be?"
"Why don't we ask their master?" Jeanette said.
"That's a good idea. If anyone knows where they are, it's my mom, Hecate," Shawn said.
"Great. Now we have a plan. Lets get to the empire state building, and see where we need to go from there," Jeanette said.
There was a brief silence.
"What do you say, quest leader?" Shawn asked.
"Um, yeah, that's a good idea. Uh, good work, guys!" I said, nervously.
I was making a total fool out of myself. I was their 'leader,' but there were calling all the shots. I needed to do something about that.
Argus opened the doors. We had no choice but to get out.
"Great!" Jeanette sarcastically stated. "It'll take hours to walk to the Empire State Building, and we can't waste all of our seed money for a cab. What do we do now?"
I knew the answer to this one.
"We take the subway!"
It didn't take long to find a subway station. They're all over the city. And lucky for me, I always take my metro card. I had an unimportant idea, but I felt like a genius. I contributed to this quest, to saving the world. Everyone else was all talk, but not me! That's Maya Hart, front and center for you.
And then I saw my friends.
It was Riley and Lucas on the opposite end of the subway. They didn't notice me yet. I didn't know what to do. I was on a mission, I couldn't just go and chat wiith them. A catastrophe could happen on a second's notice. And she would want to know what I was doing, she always does. But I miss her so much! And, yeah, huckleberry, too. I guess.
I was in the middle of gathering my thoughts when Riley said," Maya! What are you doing here? Aw, I missed you so much! I thought you were at some fancy-scmancy camp with Shawn... who is with you right now. Oh, no, Maya, did you get kicked out? Already? I thought you would at least make it another week! Oh, Maya..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, honey. I didn't get kicked out of anything," I said.
"Oh, sorry. I just thought... what are you doing here?"
"Yeah. What's going on?" Lucas said.
I exchanged a nervous glance with Shawn.
"It's complicated," I said.
"Well, how, then?" he asked.
I tried to change the subject.
"What are you two doing together?" I questioned.
Lucas and Riley blushed.
"We happen to be on a date," Lucas said.
"A date?"
Riley smiled.
"Yeah," she said. "We thought we would try it out?`Its actually going really well."
I could tell that wasn't the case.
"You're lying," I said.
"Yeah!" Jeanette chimed in. "Sorry,"
This time, Riley attempted to change the subject.
"So, what's going on with you?"
I just stood there, silently.
"Maya," she said.
"I just... I just can't tell you. I'm sorry."
She got serious. "Maya,"
"Riley, she really can't tell you," Shawn said. "Just leave it alone."
Riley ignored him. "Maya,"
I went silent again.
"Maya, if you don't tell me I'm gonna throw our friendship ring in the dirt!" she screamed.
It killed me, but I stayed silent.
"Fine."
Almost like it had been staged, the subway doors opened. It was our stop. All of us, including Lucas and Riley, got out. Then Riley quietly took of her ring and threw it onto the subway tracks. She walked away and didn't look back.
Here you go!