SERENDIPITY ~ A. Chase

iv ~ Bus Goes Boom

Who had time for love. Such a stupid emotion in her opinion and a waste of breath. Cassandra Carter was not falling in love.

"Just wanted to say good luck. And I thought. . . um, maybe you could use these." Luke told Percy as he handed him the shoes.

To Percy they looked and seemed like regular shoes.

"Maia!" Luke said.

Wings appeared on the heels of the shoes and Percy drop them in surprise. The shoes fell to the floor flapping a bit on the way down before the wings disappeared.

"Awesome!" Grover cried.

Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days." His mood drop.

Cassie looked over at Percy. He was about to blush as red as Annabeth.

He hadn't expected Luke to give him a gift. Cassie nudged him and Percy's face returned to its normal color.

"Hey, man, thanks." Percy said grateful.

"Listen, Percy. . . A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just kill some monsters for me, okay?" Luke shifted uncomfortably.

They shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head and ruffled Cassie's hair. She gave him a small smile. They weren't super close, but you could say they were friends.

Finally Luke hugged Annabeth, who almost fainted onto Cassie.

"Need some air to help with all that hyperventilating?" Cassie teased.

"Oh, shut up." Annabeth replied.

"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?" Percy added.

"Oh. . . why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy? Carter's annoying enough."

Annabeth stomped away down to the white SUV which was waiting for them on the road. Cassie smiled at Percy, and gave a salute. She followed Annabeth to the car.

Percy grab the shoes from the ground. A bad feeling washed over him.

"I won't be able to use these, will I?"

The centaur shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy, but taking to the air. . . that would not be wise for you."

Percy felt disappointed but quickly found a solution.

"Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"

The satyr's eyes sparkled. "Me?"

Soon, Grover had the shoes on his feet. He got ready to fly.

"Maia!" He shouted.

Grover flew off the ground but quickly tipped over. His backpack dragged through the grass.

"Practice. You just need practice!" Chiron advised to his disappearing figure.

Grover went sideways flying through the air, towards the van.

Percy went to follow but was stopped by Chiron.

"I should have trained you better, Percy. If only I had more time, Hercules, Jason-they all got more training." Chiron sighed.

"That's okay. I just wish-" Percy stopped himself. He didn't want to sound like a brat. He wished his father had given him a magic item. Like Luke's shoes or Annabeth's cap.

"What am I thinking? I can't let you get away without this." Chiron remembered the pen in his coat pocket.

It was an ordinary pen. Ballpoint, black ink, and a cap.