Heliophile - Apollo

1.7| We Ruin A Perfectly Good Bus

It didn't take any of them long to pack. All Luke and Ana really needed were ambrosia, nectar, and their weapons but those were pretty easy to carry. One of the things that Ana had done for Luke was employ her father to make a necklace for Backbiter so it was like her bracelet so Luke didn't have to carry Backbiter around. She just wished she could have helped some of the older heroes like that.

She also brought an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush. Luke and Ana also each brought one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas.

When they met at the tree line Chiron gave Luke, Percy, and Ana 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, very feverish. An overdose would burn them up, literally.

Well, everyone except Ana. As the daughter of Phanes, she was the closest thing to immortal you could get without being a god. So she had a higher tolerance to ambrosia and nectar but also healed a lot faster.

Ana had also brought a bag to put all of their stuff in which she could make appear whenever she wanted so that she didn't have to carry it around. Luke also brought a pair of winged shoes that his father had given him.

Grover meanwhile wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He also wore a 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.

"Argus," Chiron told us. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

They heard footsteps behind them. All four turned around to see Annabeth coming up to them. She looked at Luke "take this." She handed him her invisibility hat. Luke looked at her and nodded in thanks.

Grover, Ana, and Luke then moved all the way down the hill where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed, jingling his car keys. Ana looked back in time watching as Chiron handed Percy Riptide. All four then all sat in the van as Argus began to drive.

Argus drove them out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weird to be on a highway again, Luke, Percy, and Grover sitting next to Ana as if they were normal carpoolers. "So far so good," Percy told them. "Ten miles and not a single monster."

Luke's hand immediately went to the sword charm on his necklace while Ana's hand immediately went to her bracelet as both gave him an irritated look. Luke spoke up first "it's bad luck to talk that way, Percy."

Traffic slowed down in Queens. By the time they got into Manhattan, it was sunset and starting to rain. Argus dropped the four at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side. Argus unloaded their bags, made sure they got their bus tickets, and then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch them as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Ana saw Percy looking towards the city and knew that he didn't care about retrieving thunderbritches lightning bolt, saving the world, or even helping his father out of trouble. Ana knew he at least resented his father at least a little bit for leaving him even though it wasn't his fault.

It was the drama queen's as usual. Anytime something goes wrong in the Greek world the blame can usually be placed on Zeus.

They got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. The game ended when Percy tossed the apple toward 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 the rest were too busy cracking up.