Max Whitfield and the Sea of Monsters

Chapter III: I Use a Shady Taxi Service

To be completely honest, I had no idea if my plan would work. I had only had the process explained to me by Chiron, never actually tried it or seen it done. But then again, when you're a half-blood you end up trying a lot of things that you only have a vague idea of how to accomplish. And besides, there was no way I was going to make it all the way to Long Island on foot with a hellhound on my trail.

I looked for a deserted alleyway, which was slightly harder to find than you would think. I then thanked the gods I had decided to bring my last drachma with me as I pulled it out of my pocket.

"Anakoche, harma epitribeios." I called out, throwing the gold coin on the street.

The phrase could be loosely translated to 'stop, Chariot of Damnation'. I watched as the coin disappeared, melting into the asphalt. For a few seconds nothing else happened, and I was afraid I had just waisted my last drachma.

But then the ground started bubbling and a smoky form rose up. It settled in the form of a taxi, though it was grey rather than the yellow and black of the typical New York taxi. On the side was something that looked like RISG STREYS. But I imagined what was actually on it was GREY SISTERS.

The grizzled head of a an old woman popped out of the front window. Her face was hidden behind a mop of frizzy grey hair.

"Passage?" she inquired.

"One to Camp Half-blood." I requested as I entered the car.

The inside of the cab looked more or less like your regular New York taxi. There was no plexiglass window separating me from the front seats, and I kind of wished there was so I wouldn't have to look at the Grey Sisters. They were all identically hideous, with mops of frizzy hair, wrinkled skin and claw-like hands.

"Long Island! Ha!" yelled the one at the wheel before she slammed her foot on the accelerator.

The sudden burst of speed threw me back against the seats.

"Hi, this is Ganymede, cup bearer to Zeus, and when I'm out buying wine for the Lord of the Skies, I always buckle up." spoke a voice from some sort of speaker system.

Considering that the closest thing to a seatbelt was a black chain, I decided to try my luck at simply hanging on to the seats.

"Wasp, I want the eye!" the sister further on the right screeched.

"No, you had it last time, Anger! Besides, I'm driving!" the driver screeched back.

Anger was clearly not happy with that and began trying to reach Wasp. That was when I remembered a crucial, and quite disgusting detail: the Grey Sisters shared a single eye.

"Enough, both of you!" the one in the middle yelled.

"Shut up, Tempest! Wasp, give me the eye!"

"No!"

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" I asked, frankly doubting that they did.

"Oh, of course we do." Anger said.

"We know lots of things." Tempest agreed.

"Like the location you seek." Wasp added.

I frowned. Location? Unless they meant Camp Half-blood, there wasn't any location I was particularly seeking. However, before I could ask about it, Tempest scolded Wasp.

"You idiot! He hasn't asked that yet!" she said.

"Hold up, what location? What are you talking about?" I asked.

The sisters were full on brawling with each other now.

"No, no! Last time we told it was horrible!"

"My eye!" Wasp cried out, cutting Anger off as Tempest hit the back of her head.