Chapter 13

It didn't take me long to pack. Grabbing a backpack to stuff with some clothes. I also found a dagger at the weapons shed, which I thought might come in handy.

Chiron provided Annabeth and me with a canteen of nectar each and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares. He emphasized that we should only use them in emergencies, especially since they could be lethal to mortals. Overdosing would make a half-blood very feverish, and it could be deadly. But I had a strange feeling that I'd be fine, no matter how much ambrosia I ate.

Annabeth brought along her magic Yankees cap, a twelfth-birthday gift from her mom. She also carried a book on famous classical architecture written in Ancient Greek, something to read when boredom struck, and a long bronze knife hidden in her shirt sleeve.

Clarisse had light leather armor on, donning a leather jacket adorned with a boar head on the back and carrying a red backpack. She twirled a silver pen that concealed a spear, it was my spear but I removed it from Atlan and had the Hephestus kids reforge and enchant it into a pen for easy carry. At first, she had been angry when I asked her to join the quest, but after the gift, she forgave me and accepted my offer. The seemingly ordinary pen would transform into a beautiful partisan spear when uncapped. The spear had a connection to explosive greek fire instead of lightning, it was so hard to create and cost alot, but worth it.

We waved goodbye to the other campers, taking one last look at the strawberry fields, the vast ocean, and the familiar Big House. Then, we hiked up Half-Blood Hill toward the tall pine tree that had once been Thalia, the daughter of Zeus.

Chiron awaited us in his wheelchair, and next to him stood the surfer dude. Grover had mentioned he was the camp's head of security, rumored to have eyes all over his body to prevent any surprises. However, today he was dressed in a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only spot extra eyes on his hands, face, and neck.

"This is Argus," Chiron introduced. "He will drive you into the city and, um, well, keep an eye on things."Footsteps approached from behind us. Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.

"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you." Annabeth blushed, her usual reaction when Luke was around.

"I just wanted to say good luck," Luke told me, extending the sneakers, which looked fairly ordinary and even smelled somewhat normal. "And I thought... um, maybe you could use these. Maia!" Suddenly, white bird's wings sprouted from the heels of the sneakers, and I watched as they flapped around before folding back and disappearing.

"Cool shoes," Clarisse commented.

Luke smiled. "These served me well during my quest. A gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days." His expression turned melancholic.I stared at Luke blankly as I silently took the shoes, I had no plan to ever wear shoes that were cursed.

"Thanks," I replied. With that, Luke said his goodbyes to everyone and ran back toward camp. I completely burned the shoes to ash. whiping the ash off my hand. What should I do about him, let him continue or try and stop him from joining Kronos... questions I hope to have answered before I return.

Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. Being on a highway again, with Annabeth and Clarisse sitting next to me, felt strangely normal, like we were just a group of friends carpooling somewhere."So far, so good," I commented, looking out the window. "Ten miles and not a single monster."

Annabeth shot me an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, Ghost-Fish"

"Just being cautious, anyways remind me again why you avoided me so much after I was claimed?" I asked, staring at some people across the street

"Well your other father is Posideon." Annabeth responded. I raised an eyebrow and folded my arms, prompting her to continue. She reluctantly folded her cap of invisibility and sighed. "Look ... we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."

"Why?" I inquired.

She sighed again. "How many reasons do you want? One time, my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful. 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."

"You know both of those reasons are completely wrong," I pointed out.

"What?" Annabeth asked, her annoyance growing. "I know what I'm talking about."

"First of all, Poseidon had raped Athena's priestess in her temple, and in revenge, your mother cursed her and transformed her into a monster. Poseidon then left instead of helping the poor girl. Second, Poseidon had created horses not a saltwater spring, and between that and olives, he had won the competition until Athena threatened the city."

"Ugh, forget it!" Annabeth snapped, clearly not pleased with my correction.

"Look, their is alot the gods keep secret from us. There are only a few gods I respect and I can count them in one hand."Annabeth ignored me and I sighed as I focused on my mana sense.

In the front seat, Argus smiled without saying a word. He kept an eye on us, quite literally, as one blue eye on the back of his neck winked at me. Traffic slowed us down in Queens, and by the time we reached Manhattan, the sun had set, and the rain started falling.

Argus dropped us off at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from his mom's apartment.After unloading our bags and making sure we had our bus tickets, Argus drove away, the eye on the back of his hand watching us until he disappeared into the traffic.

We got a bit restless waiting for the bus, so we decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of the apples we had.Annabeth was incredible at it, bouncing the apple off her knee, elbow, shoulder, and whatever else she could find. I wasn't too bad either. The game came to an end when I tossed the apple to Clarisse, who kicked it a little too hard, sending it hurtling across the street and smacking some poor kid in the head. Clarisse tried to apologize, but Annabeth and I were too busy cracking up.

Finally, the Greyhound bus arrived. We boarded and took seats at the back. While Clarisse fiddled with her pen, I kept an eye on the other passengers, and Annabeth nervously slapped her Yankees cap against her thigh.As the last passengers boarded, Annabeth reached and grabbed my hand tightly. "Percy."

"I saw them," I replied, noticing for some reason she didn't remove her hand, so I let it be for now.An elderly woman had just stepped onto the bus. She wore a wrinkled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless Green-knit hat that cast a shadow over her face. She carried a large paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and my heart skipped a beat.

One more elderly woman followed her, she was in purple. They looked exactly like Mrs. Dodds, with gnarled hands, paisley handbags, and wrinkled velvet dresses. Triplet demon grandmothers had just boarded our bus.

We entered the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus plunged into darkness, illuminated only by the soft glow of the running lights down the aisle. The absence of rain made the atmosphere eerily quiet. Mrs. Dodds number 2 got up from her seat, and in a flat voice, as though she had rehearsed it, she made an announcement to the entire bus:

"I need to use the restroom."

"So do I," said the second sister. They began making their way down the aisle.

"I've got an idea," Annabeth said. "Percy, take my hat."

"No, you should wear it."

"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and move up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and escape," Annabeth suggested.

"No, I'm staying," I muttered stubbornly."There's a slight chance they might not notice us," Annabeth said. "You're the son of Poseidon and Hades. Your scent might be overwhelming."

"Here's a better plan," Clarisse chimed in. She raised her hand and, with a swift motion, flicked off the cap of her pen. She then threw it, and as the pen extended and transformed into a spear, it hurtled down the aisle. The Furies were caught off guard as they were walking down the aisle, and they couldn't dodge in time. The spear pierced right through Tisiphone's chest and her sisters, turning them into golden powder.

"Wicked! Two-point kill!" Clarisse cheered, raising her hand. The spear suddenly stopped and flew back into her hand.

"I'm so glad you gave me this spear!"

"Seriously?" Annabeth muttered glaring at her.

"What? You two weren't doing anything!" Clarisse shrugged. I sighed and snapped my fingers, bending the Mist so that the other passengers on the bus wouldn't remember what had just happened, a trick I had learned from Adias. We continued to drive in silence for a while before I suddenly stood up.

"We need to get off this bus now!" I exclaimed, grabbing my things. "Lightning is coming; Zeus is going to blast this bus."

"What? But we're on this quest for his stupid bolt!" Clarisse protested.

"Yeah, well, it's Zeus; he's unpredictable," I muttered before stepping into the aisle and yelled, "There's a bomb on the bus! Everyone, get off!" Panic ensued as the bus screeched to a halt, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights flickered to life, and the door swung open. The bus driver was the first to bolt out, and the passengers followed suit, yelling and screaming. I stayed in the driver's seat, letting them all pass. Thunder rumbled through the sky, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

"Get out!" Annabeth yelled at the passengers. "Now!" They rushed outside and found the other passengers in a daze, arguing with the driver, or running around aimlessly, screaming about their impending doom.

BOOOOOM!

The windows of the bus shattered as the passengers scattered, seeking cover. Lightning struck, tearing a massive hole in the roof and setting the bus on fire. A loud hissing sound followed, resembling a giant teapot about to blow.

"Run!" Annabeth shouted. "It's going to explode!" We sprinted into the woods just as the rain started pouring down. Darkness fell rapidly, and we were still far from our destination. As we walked, I used my powers to create a giant umbrella-like dome with water to shield us from the rain. 

"Neat trick..." Clarisse muttered as we trudged forward. The thunderstorm had finally subsided, and the glow of the city faded behind us, leaving us in almost complete darkness. I started a fire as I covered us in a dome of a thin shadow veil mixed with the mist that not only kept as safe from the rain but hid our scent from monsters.

"Why do you criticize mythology so much? You even find fault with many of the gods, even your fathers," Annabeth asked after a prolonged silence as I finnished setting up a campfire.

"Because nobody is as perfect as they seem, Even Hades has done some bad things. At least he tries to be better." I replied leaning back against a tree. 

"Yeah, well, they are the Olympians, our parents. Sure, they've made some mistakes, but they were justified," Annabeth argued.

"So, you're telling me they were justified in their actions? Every Olympian has a flaw and has made mistakes. I could explain everything to you, but let me ask you something," I said as I came to a stop. "How much of what you know is true? How much lies have you been told and have believed to be true, being manipulated by the gods into worshiping them."

"W-what?"

"History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books—books that glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, 'What is history but a fable agreed upon?'" I explained as I continued to walk.

"So, what are you even saying?" Annabeth huffed.

"You've been brainwashed by the gods," I replied as I grabbed a book from my inventory and threw it towords her. She luckly saw it andgrabbed it and looked at the leatherbound book from the light of the fire.

"What is this?" She asked."It is a book, you like reading right? During our quest read it and later tell me what you think." I replied as I looked at a crystal green pill that I had baught earlier. I really hope that the pill works.