𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍° ! percy jackson

𝐢.𝐢𝐱 - 𝐛𝐮𝐬 = 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐮𝐩 (𝐩)

After what seemed like forever, Argus dropped them off at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side. The rain kept coming down.

Finally, the bus came. As they stood in line to board, Grover started looking around, sniffing the air like he smelled his favorite school cafeteria delicacy—enchiladas.

"What is it?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," his goat friend replied tensely. "Maybe it's nothing."

But it wasn't nothing. Percy was relieved when they finally got on board and found seats together in the back of the bus. They stowed their backpacks. Annabeth kept slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh.

As the last passengers got on, Aurora slapped Percy's shoulder aggressively. Before he could even say "Ow," he saw her.

An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and Percy's heart skipped a heat—and not in a good way.

It was Mrs. Dodds. Older, more withered, but definitely the same evil face. Behind her came two more old ladies: one in a green hat and one in a purple hat. They looked exactly like Mrs. Dodds—same gnarled hands, paisley bags, wrinkled velvet dresses.

Triplet demon grandmothers.

They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves.

Percy scrunched down in his seat. His brows furrowed in confusion as Aurora did the same.

"They're not coming for you." Percy hissed.

"Yes, they are." Aurora argued back in the same tone. When Percy looked at her quizzically, she nudged it off. "Long story. We don't have time for that. Back on topic: the Furies."

She sneered their name like she'd seen them before.

The bus pulled out of the station, and they headed through the slick streets of Manhattan.

"She didn't stay dead long," Percy whispered towards Annabeth. He was trying to keep his voice from quivering. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."

"I said if you're lucky," Annabeth said, side-eyeing the boy. "You're obviously not. Both of you. Di immortales."

"Both of us?"

"All three of them," Grover whimpered.

"It's okay," Annabeth thought out loud. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."

"They don't open." Grover moaned.

"A back exit?" She suggested.

There wasn't one. Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped, unless they wanted to fall into a highway and get run over by oncoming traffic.

They hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain.

Mrs. Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the restroom."

"So do I," her two sisters echoed, and they all started coming down the aisle.

"Wait." Aurora stood up. "Hey, bitches!" She jumped up and down, unsheathing her bow and shooting an arrow. It hit one of the Furies in the shoulder. The monster hissed in pain, and all six eyes turned towards Aurora.