The Twins Of Poseidon

Bus Fight

It didn't take Percy long to pack since he only had clothes, a toothbrush and was leaving his minotaur horn here. Me however took a while, since I've never been on a quest (well aside from coming here but that didn't count) and I didn't know what to pack. In the end I had 1 bag filled with 2 spare changes of Camp Half Blood clothes (the shirt and jeans), toiletries, my spare dagger, a map, a special demi-god compass, a book of ocean animals and of course my seashell bracelet was already on my wrist. Currently though I was just wearing, my Camp Half Blood shirt, jeans, sneakers, a black and white flannel unbuttoned, a special camp half blood cap that I got when I first got here, my bead necklace and bracelet. 

The camp store loaned Percy and I each one hundred dollars in mortal money and 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, Chiron told us, 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 me 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 I knew 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. Percy was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector, but it would be fine.

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rastastyle 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, 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, daughter of Zeus. Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the camp's head of security Argus, he was actually nice if you got to know him. He had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so you could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck. 

"This is Argus," Chiron told 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 chuckled and elbowed her. "Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told Percy and me. "And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these." He handed Percy the sneakers, which I recognized as the shoes he was gifted from his dad. 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. 

"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. Then I saw Percy blush just as much as Annabeth and Grover and I exchanged looks then silently laughed at them.