'•' The Lightning Thief '•'

9 :: We Indirectly Explode a Bus

Published: August 6, 2021
Edited: May 27, 2022

~✰~

The next morning we had to get up bright and early to leave on our quest. It didn't take me long to pack everything I needed. I decided to not pack much, just two changes of clothes, my marine biology book (written in Ancient Greek), deodorant, all my mortal savings, a fee granola bars and a toothbrush with toothpaste. All of it got stuffed in a backpack I had had since I was seven. On a whim I shoved the two trident bracelets into my bag as I left the cabin.

The camp store loaned Percy one hundred dollars in mortal money and gave us each twenty golden drachmas. These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, but Olympians never used less than pure gold. Chiron said the coins might come in handy for non-mortal transactions- whatever that meant. He gave Annabeth, Percy and I each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It was god food, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally.

Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector and Percy told her so, which only earned him a disapproving look.

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.

We waved good-bye to the other campers, who were not very kind looking. All except for Eva, apparently she had written me a note the night I had been kicked out of the Athena cabin but I never got around to reading it. Eva gave me a tearful hug and a homemade bead necklace to remember her by. I slipped it over my head and settled it next to my camp necklace.

Then we took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia.

Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood Argus, he 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 I could only see extra eyes on his hands, face and neck.

"This is Argus," Chiron said, though it was directed at Percy "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

I heard footsteps behind us. Luke came 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. I smirked at her, as she glared at me.

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told us. "And I thought...um, maybe you could use these."

He handed Percy the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelled kind of normal which was surprisingfor a teenage boy.

Then Luke said, "Maia!" 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.