IT DIDNT TAKE PERCY LONG TO PACK. he decided that taking the Minotaur horn with him was just excessive so didn't pack it. since he didn't really have many personal belongings, he ended up with an extra change of clothes and toothbrush to put in a backpack.
Chiron had given him, annabeth and bowie each a canteen of nectar and a ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if they were seriously hurt. It was god food, Chiron reminded them. It would cure them of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half - blood very feverish. An overdose would burn a demigod up, literally.
bowie made some comment about, "burning up sounds like a fun experience, do you wanna try it out percy?" to which percy responded, "my eyes do that when they see you." bowie took offence and almost put some sort of curse on him ( he wasn't sure if it would work but she started a sentence with "I curse you ----- " ) and percy had never been happier for chiron's intervention.
though, despite her passive aggressive comments towards him constantly and how she really couldn't take alot of things seriously ( or anything seriously ), she was growing on him pretty quickly. there was something about her that made percy just feel at ease in her present, and she seemed like a good person, despite some of the things she said.
she didn't seem to be bringing alot of stuff with her either. she brought her axe, which looked heavy and very sharp ( percy made a mental note not to piss her off while she was holding that thing ), and a backpack with some perfume that smelt of some kind of fruit, a toothbrush, some kind of drink and a hoodie. also, for whatever reason, she brought some hair straighteners.
"what's the need for them?" percy asked, when he saw them in her bag.
bowie flashed him a grin, "they belong to one of my sisters, who I wanna piss off. I take these, she doesn't know and chaos follows in the cabin. with luck, there's still gonna be arguing when we come back."
if he was being completely honest, he liked the idea of that. seeing the ares cabin all argue over a pair of hair straighteners would be a very amusing sight.
annabeth and Grover brought some stuff with them too and with that, the four were ready to begin their quest. ( though, for reasons unknown, bowie was wearing a blonde wig. when he tried to ask her why she shot him a look and went, "I hate the new york adoption agency." he didn't exactly know what she meant but decided not to question her. )
they waved goodbye to the other campers ----- clarisse told bowie to come back alive because she was the only one who had the password to the safe that held the DVDs. why the ares cabin needed a safe for that kind of thing didn't make sense at first but when he thought about it a bit more, percy realised it was probably so the DVDs didn't get like blown up or something.
they hiked up half - blood hill to the pine tree that used to be thalia, a daughter of zeus, where chiron was waiting for them in his wheelchair.
percy recognised the guy next to him, it was the surfer dude he'd seen when he was recovering in the infirmary. According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so percy could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.
"This is Argus," Chiron told him . "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."
percy heard footsteps from behind them. Luke was running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.
"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."
Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around. though percy felt luke was probably a bit too old for annabeth.
"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told percy. "And I thought. . . um, maybe you could use these."
He handed percy the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelled kind of normal. Luke said, "Maia!" and white bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling percy so much, he dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.
"Awesome!" Grover said.
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 expression turned sad.
"Hey, man," percy said. "Thanks."
"Listen, Percy . . ." Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just . . . kill some monsters for me, okay?"
they shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head between his horns, gave bowie a nod of recognition, then gave a good - bye hug to Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out. After Luke was gone, percy turned to her, "you're hyperventilating."
"Am not." She said, cheeks flushing a deep red.
"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"
"Oh. . . why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?" She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed, jingling his car keys.
another boy came running towards them. bowie seemed to perk up when she saw him. percy recognised him as one of the other boys from the hermes cabin, he thinks his name was ethan. he watched as ethan took a single plain silver ring off his finger and handed it to bowie, who blushed and hugged ethan.
what is it with these girls? percy thought, having crushes on sons of hermes. but then again, he wasn't sure if ethan was actually a son of hermes. he might've just been unclaimed.
"you've got a crush on him." percy said, very factually to bowie once ethan had run back up to camp halfblood. "you're blushing like crazy right now."
bowie glanced at him, "I will shove my axe up your asshole ----- "
"bowie." Chiron interrupted, "perhaps you don't threaten percy?" he suggested.
bowie adjusted her blonde wig slightly, in an attempt to make it look realistic. "fine. but just know, if he keeps pissing me off, big electric man won't be the one who killed him."
percy got the idea ----- don't piss off bowie or her axe will go places it probably shouldn't go.
bowie waved to Chiron as she headed down to the car and sat in the front passenger seat, next to argus.
After a short conversation with Chiron, where he gave percy a ballpoint pen which was actually a sword ----- Anaklusmos or, Riptide, they were ready to go.
ARGUS DROVE THEM OUT OF THE COUNTRYSIDE AND INTO WESTERN LONG ISLAND. percy was sat between annabeth and grover while bowie was in the front ----- she mentioned something about getting carsick. that made sense, she looked pretty pale ( well, paler than normal ) and was hugging her knees to her chest.
"So far so good," Percy told Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a single monster."
She gave him an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain."
Bowie turned around and looked between the two. she then shared a look with grover and grinned at him, making some weird movement with her hand. percy guessed she mightve been speaking to grover in sign language, though he wasn't completely sure. grover shook his head and looked at her like she was crazy. to be honest, that was a reasonable reaction to any conversation with bowie.
"Remind me again -----why do you hate me so much?" Percy asked annabeth, choosing to ignore bowie and grover for the moment.
"I don't hate you."
"Could've fooled me."
She folded her cap of invisibility. "Look . . . we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."
"Why?"
Annabeth sighed, "there's alot of reasons, percy. The whole thing with medusa. . . and the 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."
"They must really like olives."
"Oh, forget it."
"Now, if she'd invented pizza ----- that I could understand."
"I said, forget it!"
Percy saw Argus smile from the front seat, and one blue eye on the back of his neck winked.
"I'm going to jump out this vehicle." bowie muttered, "I'd rather die than be in this stupid car."
"do you get carsick?"
"what do you think, drooly boy."
"i told you to stop calling me that!"
"and I'm ignoring you."
from beside him, annabeth let out a loud sigh. "this is gonna be a long journey."
"don't let percy fall asleep or he'll drool on you."
"I will hit you with my shoe." percy threatened.
"I'll eat your shoe."
grover nodded, "good idea, bowie. shoes can be very tasty."
Traffic slowed them down in Queens. By the time the questers got into Manhattan it was sunset and starting to rain. Argus dropped them at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from the apartment where percy lived.
Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer with his picture on it: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY? he ripped it down before annbeth, grover or bowie could notice it ----- the last thing he needed or wanted was to talk about his home situation.
Argus unloaded their bags, made sure they got their bus tickets and then drove away, but not before bowie gave him a hug.
"why did she hug him?" percy asked grover.
grover shrugged his shoulders, "I'm pretty sure she's close with argus. try asking her."
percy had had enough threatening done to him by bowie for now so he decided he'd leave it for a while.
percy was glad he had other people with him, but felt guilt eating away at him because he wasn't being completely straight with them. he really didn't care about zeus's master bolt, saving the world or even helping out his father.
percy felt an ugly resentment twist like a knife in his head ----- he didn't like his father. poseidon never visited him, helped his mum, never even sent some child support at least. he had been content to let his mum marry gabe and not bother helping her out.
did he even love percy's mum or was she just something he threw out the moment he got bored with her?
all percy cared about was his mum. Hades had taken her unfairly, and Hades was going to give her back. You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, the Oracle whispered in his mind. You will fail to save what matters most in the end. percy shook his head. shut up, he told himself. I'm going to save her.
the rain continued pouring. bowie pulled a coat out of her bag and offered it to annabeth, who was trying to shield herself from the downpour. grover didn't seem to bothered by the rain, though droplets were clinging to some of his curls and soaking through his clothes. percy. . . well, he liked the rain. he supposed that could easily be because of who his father was but he didn't want to associate his love of the rain with that man.
the group soon got bored waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. Bowie was. . . well, she wasn't really good at it and more just stared at the apple like she was really hungry. annabeth, on the other hand, was very impressive. she could bounce the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. percy felt he wasn't too bad himself.
the game ended when the apple got tossed towards grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, the Hacky Sack disappeared ----- core, stem, and all. Grover blushed. He tried to apologize, but Annabeth, bowie and percy were too busy cracking up.
eventually, the bus arrived. as they stood in line to board, Grover started looking around and sniffing at the air. he looked a bit nervous.
"what is it?" percy asked, having noticed the odd way his best friend was acting.
"I. . . I don't know." grover responded tensely, "maybe it's nothing."
from beside annabeth, bowie's hand slipped down to the silver ring ethan had given to her. she slowly started pulling it off her finger, skin turning pale. "there's something watching us. I feel like there's eyes crawling all over me. yuck." she shook her head and shivered.
annabeth looked down the queue of people, "I don't see anything weird. maybe you're cold from the rain?" she suggested.
bowie seemed doubtful to agree but just nodded, "maybe."
Percy was relieved when they finally got onboard and sat together in the back of the bus. they stowed their backpacks. annabeth kept nervously slapping her Yankees cap against her thigh. bowie had taken off her soaked wig and was trying to shake the water off. grover gave her looks of offence everytime water droplets landed on his clothes.
As the last passengers got on, annabeth clamped her hand onto percy's knee. "percy." she said quietly, looking in the direction of the front of the bus.
Percy followed her gaze to see an old lady board 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 beat.
it was Mrs Dodds.
She looked older, more withered, but still had the same evil face that percy had grown to hate. He sunk lower into his seat. behind her followed two more old ladies: one in a green hat, the other in a purple hat. apart from the different coloured hats, they looked exactly like Mrs dodds ----- same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, 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. The bus pulled out of the station, and started heading through the slick streets of Manhattan.
"she didn't stay dead long." percy whispered, voice shaking slightly. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."
"I said if you're lucky." annabeth replied, "obviously, you aren't."
"all three of them." grover whimpered, "di immortales!"
"we are dead." bowie stated, "any cool last words before we die and all get sent to asphodel because let's face it ----- none of us have done anything particularly heroic."
grover whimpered again, "oh gods!" he exclaimed. he grabbed onto bowie's arm tightly, "I don't wanna become a plant yet."
percy blinked, "what?"
"when satyrs die they become plants." bowie said, "gods, you're hopeless, drooly boy."
"guys, stop it." annabeth said, trying to keep her voice calm. "everything's okay. the Furies ----- the three worst monsters from the Underworld. no problem at all. we can 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. By that time, the bus was on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.
"well, i guess I'll die by the Furies and not apollo." bowie commented which percy didn't exactly understand. he'd have to ask her about that later.
"they. . . won't attack us with witnesses around. . . Will they?"
"Mortals don't have good eyes," Annabeth reminded him. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."
"They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?"
She thought about it. "Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof. . . ?"
The bus hit the Lincoln Tunnel and went dark, except for the running lights down the aisle. it was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain.
"this is horror movie material." bowie said quietly. followed by an, "ow!" percy took a guess that someone had kicked her to shut her up. it seemed pretty effective.
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," said the second sister.
"So do I," said the third sister.
They all started coming down the aisle.
"I've got it," Annabeth said. "Percy, take my hat."
"what?" he was pretty sure he was looking at her like she was crazy. . . which she kinda was.
"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away.'
"But you guys ----- "
"There's an outside chance they might not notice us," Annabeth said. "You're a son of one of the
Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering."
"I can't just leave you."
"go before I throw you out the window." bowie threatened.
"but ----- "
"Don't worry about us," Grover said. "Go!"
Percy's hands were trembling. he felt like a coward, but he took the yankees cap and put it on. when he looked down, his body wasn't there anymore.
He started creeping up the aisle. he managed to get up ten before having to duck into an empty seat because the furies walked past.
Mrs. Dodds stopped, sniffing, and looked straight at him. all he could hear was the sound of his heart jackrabbiting away in his chest. but then she and her sisters kept walking.
he was safe.
he made it to the front of the bus. they had almost gone through the Lincoln Tunnel now. he was about to press the emergency button when he heard a hideous wailing from the back row that hurt his ears.
The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same ( percy supposed that those couldn't possibly find a way to get uglier than they already were ) 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.
The Furies surrounded grover, annabeth and bowie, lashing their whips and hissing, "where is it? where?"
everyone else on the bus started to scream, cowering in their seats. they definitely saw something, but he wasn't exactly sure what.
"he's not here!" annabeth yelled, "he's gone!"
the Furies raised their whips. annabeth drew her bronze knife. grover grabbed a tin can and prepared to throw it. bowie gripped her wig tightly, like she was about to start fighting with it.
Percy looked around wildly, trying to figure out what to do. he noticed the bus driver was distracted, too occupied trying to see what was happening in his rearview mirror.
Still invisible, percy grabbed the wheel and jerked it to the left. everybody howled as they were thrown to the right.
"hey!" the driver yelled. "whoa!"
the driver and percy fought for the wheel. The bus slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind them.
The bus careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins. Somehow the driver found an exit. They shot off the highway, through half a dozen traffic lights, and ended up barreling down one of those New Jersey rural roads where you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river from New York.
There were woods to their left, the Hudson River to their right, and the driver seemed to be veering toward the river.
Percy then had another great idea: he hit the emergency brake. the bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt and crashed into some 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. Percy stepped into the driver's seat and let them pass.
The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth while she waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Grover threw tin cans. Bowie hit one of them with her blonde wig.
Percy looked at the open doorway and then back at his friends. he couldn't leave them behind. he took off the invisible cap, "hey!" he shouted, getting the attention of the Furies.
"just let him die at this point ----- he's acting like he's got a death wish." bowie sighed, running a hand through her actual hair.
The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at percy, and the exit suddenly seemed like an excellent idea. Mrs. Dodds stalked up the aisle, just as she used to do in class, about to deliver his F– math test.
Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather. Her two ugly sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward percy like huge nasty lizards.
"Perseus Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than Georgia. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."
"I liked you better as a math teacher," Percy told her.
She growled in response.
Annabeth, Bowie and Grover moved up behind the Furies cautiously, looking for an opening.
Percy took the ballpoint pen out of his pocket and uncapped it. Riptide elongated into a shimmering double - edged sword.
The Furies hesitated.
Mrs. Dodds had felt Riptide's blade before. She obviously didn't like seeing it again.
"Submit now," she hissed. "And you will not suffer eternal torment."
"Nice try," Percy told her.
"Percy, look out!" Annabeth cried.
Mrs. Dodds lashed her whip around percy's sword hand while the Furies on the either side lunged at him. His hand felt like it was wrapped in molten lead, but he managed not to drop Riptide. he stuck the Fury on the left with its hilt, sending her toppling backward into a seat.
Percy then turned and sliced the Fury on the right. As soon as the blade connected with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust.
Annabeth got Mrs. Dodds in a wrestler's hold and yanked her backward while Grover ripped the whip out of her hands and bowie started aggressively beating her with the wig.
if percy wasn't so scared, he probably wouldve burst out laughing. but he was pretty fucking scared so he didn't.
"Ow!" grover yelled. "Ow! Hot! Hot!"
The fury percy had hilt - slammed came at him again, talons ready, but he swung Riptide and she broke open like a piñata.
Mrs. Dodds was trying to get Annabeth off her back. She kicked, clawed, hissed and bit, but Annabeth held on while Grover got Mrs. Dodds's legs tied up in her own whip. Finally, bowie, grover and annabeth shoved her backward into the aisle. Mrs. Dodds 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!"
"Braccas meas vescimini!" Percy yelled at her. He wasnt exactly sure where the latin came from but he's pretty sure it meant eat my pants!
Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of his neck.
"Get out!" Annabeth yelled at him. "Now!"
Percy didn't need much encouragement. 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!"
A Hawaiian shirted tourist with a camera snapped percy's photograph before he could recap his sword.
that could be problematic.
"our bags!" grover realised, "we left our ----- "
BOOOM!!
the windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof. an angry wail from Mrs dodds informed the group she wasn't dead yet.
"how the fuck is she still alive?" bowie asked, "I thought beating her with my wig would work."
"Run!" Annabeth said. "She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here!"
The group plunged down into the woods as the rain poured down, the bus going up in flames which painted the grey sky red and orange. there was nothing but an endless darkness ahead of them.
AUTHORS NOTE . . .
-----the quest begins finally!!
-----i honestly regret not just starting this in ttc because that way I could start the romance w apollo right away but then I'll have to change how i planned bowie's entire character development😭😭
-----anyway!! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.