"Goblet of Fire absolutely sucked," Victor stated as they walked out of the mall. Miriam lived practically next to it and since she had the earliest curfew, it's where they always ended up hanging out.
Andrea slung an arm over his shoulder, blinking as she got used to the bright lights. "How could you hate it? You were literally in it." Victor shared the same name as Krum and as such, was expected to love all things Hermione Granger.
"Well, for one, when Hermione called Krum a 'physical being', I physically retched into my mouth. Not to mention Myrtle rubbing up on Harry in the prefect's bathroom. Name one good thing about the movie."
"Cedric." Miriam piped up and Andrea nodded, pointing at her.
"There you have it. Cedric Diggory."
"Of course, you girls would only care about Cedric." Rafael rolled his eyes and both girls simultaneously held up middle fingers. "That's probably the only reason the movie got the reviews it did."
Miriam nodded, "That and Hermione's dress. God, did you see that dress? I would do anything to be able to wear that to the school dance."
"During that scene, I was more focused on how you looked like you were going to try and rip said dress off the screen."
Miriam shoved Andrea lightly, and they all laughed. "How are you guys getting home?"
"Mum's picking me and Victor up." Rafael and Victor were neighbors.
"I'll take the bus."
Rafael eyed her. "You sure, Rhea?" They called her that after their Grade 4 teacher only heard the first part of her name during introductions and proceeded to call her that for the rest of the year much to Andrea's distaste. The nickname grew on her after 3 years. "I'm sure Mum wouldn't mind dropping you off at your place."
"It's fine, I don't even live that far," she supplied. Andrea would have called her mother to pick her up if she was sure that the woman wasn't passed out on their pullout.
After they all said goodbye, with the girls promising to text the others the moment they got home safe, Andrea sat down at the bus stop, swinging her legs.
There were three other people there, two guys and a girl around her age. They were playing Hacky Sack with an apple. One of the boys looked right at her for a bit, even after she glared at him to try and get him to turn away. But when the girl nudged him, he stopped and began paying attention to the game.
The bus stop got more crowded over time and Andrea felt strangely nervous. She tensed up and looked around, but nothing was out of the ordinary so she forced herself to relax.
The bus finally arrived, and Andrea sat near the back, using her bag to block the next seat so that no one would sit next to her.
The kids her age sat at the back and Andrea could hear them muttering, rather loudly, about the old ladies in the front.
"All three of them," the Creepy Staring Guy whimpered, "Di Immortales."
"She didn't stay dead long," Other Guy whispered, "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."
"I said if you're lucky," Girl said. "You're obviously not."
They were clearly doing some roleplay. Practicing for drama camp or whatever it was that could be about 'Di Immortales'. Andrea stopped trying to focus on the game on her phone. Clearly what was going on around her was more interesting.
"It's okay," Girl said, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."
It seemed like they were doing a Greek play. Okay, Andrea wasn't totally lost. She'd watched Disney's Hercules. What else was there? Twelve Gods and a really creepy guy with blue flames instead of hair.
She missed the next few bits of conversation and the bus had reached the Lincoln Tunnel and gone dark. Andrea could see the silhouette of one of the old ladies standing and she turned back towards the actors.
"One of them's coming here."
Creepy Stare yelped and the other two just stared at her. Andrea shrugged and regretted opening her mouth. They were all clearly practicing for the same play. And she interrupted them. She slumped down in her seat even more, her cheeks flushed with embarrasment.
In a flat voice, proving that she wasn't a very good actor, Old Lady #1 announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the restroom."
"So do I," said Old Lady #2. They began walking towards the back of the bus with Old Lady #3.
They were all probably part of the same group. In what world would there be bathrooms in the back of a bus?
Andrea tried to ignore them but the girl said something about turning invisible and she was back to eavesdropping.
"There's an outside chance they might not notice us," Girl said. "You're a son of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering."
The Big Three was Zeus (Hercules' dad), Hades (flames-for-hair guy who tried to kidnap Hercules), and some other dude (Andrea didn't remember him being in the movie, and as such did not think he was important).
Andrea turned back but Other Guy had disappeared, probably hiding under the seats. Andrea wished she could say that this was the weirdest thing she'd ever seen on New York public transport, but there was one experience that far surpassed this.
The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same 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.
Andrea sighed and turned back, to the two kids who looked terrified. "I hate that I have to ask this, but are you in a play?"
Girl looked at her, confused, "What? No!"
"A skit? A social experiment of some kind?"
"No!" That was from Creepy Stare whose, well, creepy stare had returned.
"God, I hate my life." Andrea stuck her foot out just as Old Lady was about to pass her, causing #1 to trip, followed by the rest of them.
They floated up, their eyes still on the two, lashing their whips, hissing: "Where is it? Where?"
"He's not here!" Girl yelled, "He's gone!"
Figuring they were talking about Other Guy, Andrea tapped Old Lady #3 on her shoulder.
"What!"
"Are you looking for a guy, about yea high, with black hair and colored eyes?" Andrea asked, adopting the persona that made it hard for adults to blame her for things.
"Yes," they all hissed at the same time, forgetting about Girl and Creepy Stare as they floated towards her.
"Don't know what you're talking about."
They hissed again and raised their whips just as the bus swerved. She ducked and the ladies (or creatures, rather, because what lady looks like that) were thrown to the right, smashing against the windows. Andrea really hoped the three people her age knew what they were doing.
Girl got out a tiny knife and Creepy Stare reached in his bag. He got out a tin. (A tin. A. Tin. She was so screwed.)
The old ladies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Girl while she waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Creepy Stare threw tin cans.
Andrea opened her water bottle and dumped water at the ladies but that just seemed to infuriate them further. She froze. How on Earth did she know Girl was screaming in Ancient Greek. Even worse, how did she understand what she was screaming?
The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet tar, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him.
"Hey!" Andrea turned towards the sound, seeing Other Guy at the bus entrance. Which brought up the question as to why and how he was on the other side of the bus.
The ladies turned and bared their yellow fangs at him. Old Lady #1 stalked up the aisle. Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather.
Old Ladies #2 and #3 hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled towards Other Guy like huge nasty lizards.
"Perseus Jackson." So that was his name. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."
"I liked you better as a maths teacher," He responded and Old Lady #1 growled.
Seriously. How was this not a play? Or at least a really bad action movie. Math teacher turned old lady turned winged creature and kids that are clearly hyped up on drugs.
Other Guy took a pen out of his pocket, further cementing the idea that Andrea was in a really bad dream. Like a dream with a very limited budget. He uncapped the pen and it elongated into a shimmering double-edged sword. Because who doesn't have a pen that does that?
"Submit now," she hissed. "And you will not suffer eternal torment."
She lashed her whip around Percy's sword hand while the Ladies on either side lunged at him.
He struck the Lady on the left with its hilt, sending her toppling backward into a seat. He turned and sliced the Lady on the right. As soon as the blade connected with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust. Like shimmering pixie dust from Tinkerbell. Was being high contagious? Because that was definitely what was happening. There was no way an old lady turned creature could just vanish like that.
Girl got Old Lady #1 in a wrestler's hold and yanked her backward while Creepy Stare ripped the whip out of her hands.
"Ow!" he yelled. "Ow! Hot! Hot!"
Percy swung Riptide and the Lady coming at him broke open like a piñata.
The only Old Lady left was trying to get Girl off her back. Andrea snapped out of her stupor and wrapped her arms around Old Lady's waist, or what passed off as a waist, trying to keep her still while Creepy Stare tied her legs up in her own whip. They all shoved her backward into the aisle. Old Lady tried to get up, but she didn't have room to flap her bat wings, so she kept falling down.
"Zeus will destroy you!" She promised. 'Hades will have your soul."
She directed that to Andrea which was incredibly hurtful because neither God even tried to take her on a date first.
"Angebant in stercore!" She yelled, only partially (the kind of partial you get when you realize you can speak a language you barely knew existed) sure that it meant 'Choke on your shit!'
Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of her neck.
"Get out!" Girl yelled at them. "Now!"
They 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!"
"Our bags!" Creepy Stare groaned. "We left our –"
BOOOOOM!
The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof, but there was an angry wail from inside.
'Run!' Girl said. 'She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here!'
They plunged into the woods as the rain poured down, the bus in flames behind them and nothing but darkness ahead.
They kept running, until they couldn't anymore and Andrea held up her hand. They all stopped and took up various positions while panting.
"That was not a play." Andrea could barely speak. She regretting wasting her water on the grannies.
"Who are you?" Girl asked, pushing her damp hair away from her face.
"Andrea. Now you."
"I'm Annabeth, " She pointed at Other Guy, "this is Percy," and then to Creepy Stare, "This is Grover."
Andrea looked at Percy and was surprised to see that they somewhat looked alike. They both had the same honey skin, green eyes, and black hair. Their noses had similar shapes too.
"You have the sight."
Andrea raised an eyebrow at Girl- Annabeth. "What's that?"
She sighed and leaned against a tree, "Basically, everything you've ever learned about Greek Mythology is true. The whole shebang. Zeus, Hera, Athena, all of them are real. And when they reproduce with mortals, demigods," she gestured to herself and Percy, "are the result."
"Reproduce?" Andrea's voice was oddly calm given that she had just been attacked by winged monsters.
"Yeah, you know, when a mommy and a daddy-"
"I know how reproduction works," Andrea's cheeks felt hot. "I just mean- Gods?"
'I know it's a lot to deal with but considering what just happened on the bus, you can't live in ignorance anymore." That was Grover. He kicked off his shoes to reveal hooves and lifted his baseball cap, shaking out his brown curls. Two very small but distinct horns were in the middle of his head.
Andrea groaned and slumped against a tree, sliding down it until she was on the ground. "What the actual sh-t. So we've covered Greek Gods. What the hell are demigods?"
"Demigods are the offspring of mortals and Gods. They usually have a power of sorts, connected to their godly parent. Annabeth's Athena's kid and I'm Poseidon's. Why the hell did you throw water at the Furies?"
"I didn't know what else to do. And I did kind of hope that they would dissolve like the witches in Wizard of Oz."
She nodded as though all this made sense. Percy continued, "Monsters, much like the old ladies and kind of like Grover here, attack demigods. There is something called the Mist that stops mortals from seeing the monsters. Like instead of a hellhound, they might see a dog. If you can see through the Mist, see the monsters that means that you have the Sight. In my and Annabeth's case, that means that one of our parents is a God. In yours, it means that one of your ancestors was probably a God."
"How do you know that my dad isn't a God?"
"Well, I would have noticed. I'm a satyr, a woodland creature that can do basic magic. I can sense energy signatures of various Gods and all I can sense right now is Athena and Poseidon's."
"Who's the big three? I know there's Zeus, Hades, and the fish guy but I can't remember his-"
"Poseidon."
Andrea nodded and was about to make a statement about Percy being related to fish when she saw a warm green light, reflected on her skin. She looked up to see an oddly shaped spear hovering above her head. When she tried to grab it, the entire image vanished.
"What the hell was that?"
"You just got claimed. By Poseidon. Di Immortales, this is bad."