𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | pjo

four

lyla blinked her eyes awake as the bus slowed to a stop at the gas station. the sky was a brilliant eggshell blue, streaked with wispy clouds. and of course, the inside of the bus was as stifling as always. 

annabeth poked at her. "let's get off for a bit." 

lyla raised an eyebrow. "well, okay. sure. what about the other two?" 

annabeth looked at them. "they're staying. come on, let's go." she made eye contact with lyla, and then it hit her why annabeth wanted percy and grover to stay in the back of the car.  

"why?! it smells terrible back here," percy said, annoyed. 

"monsters can't smell you through that, so that's where i want you," annabeth said firmly. 

"i wanna vote," percy snapped back, glaring up at annabeth. "who thinks we should all get to go breathe fresh air and buy our own snacks?" 

honestly, lyla thought he had a point, but so did annabeth, and her point was more of 'oh yeah let's keep them alive' more than 'oh yeah let the annoying ones suffer'. she exchanged an exasperated glance with grover, and stayed silent. 

"there's no voting," annabeth said firmly. "chips and sodas okay for you guys?" 

"i don't think you should just get to decide we don't vote," percy said. "lyla, do you think we should get to vote?" 

"maybe you should consider why you're being forced to stay on the bus?" lyla prompted. "maybe cause she doesn't want you two to die?" she sighed. "i mean, i get that it's horrible for you guys to stay inside, but would you prefer short term gratification that leads to death, or suffer through this so you can actually complete the quest and not cause a war between gods?"

percy raised an eyebrow. "well i want to vote on whether or not you get to decide we don't vote." 

lyla rolled her eyes. "grover, can you please help your..." she trailed off as the satyr started clapping slowly. "oh, not this again. come on." 

"i don't want to be a tiebreaker," grover insisted. "i have a better idea."

"please don't," lyla muttered. 

"oh golly, the road's gettin' bumpy, cause i got me some friends who just can't get along... oh dear! when the team's getting grumpy, the trick to gettin' through it is singing this song—" 

"dude, what are you doing?" percy asked him. 

grover looked up at annabeth and lyla, then back at percy. "it's the consensus song! verse two encourages us to say nice things about each other. you get a few rounds in and you'd be amazed at how disagreements just kind of..." he looked back up at lyla and annabeth. "fade away," he trailed off. 

"chips and sodas okay for you guys?" annabeth said again. 

"whatever." 

"yes please." 

— 

"he is impossible!" annabeth scoffed the moment that they got off the bus. the two of them headed for the convenience store, grateful to be breathing fresh air. 

lyla scrunched up her nose. "i get that. he was okay in camp, but now he's, like, completely insufferable."

they approached the candy aisle. lyla immediately grabbed a bag of sour patch kids and twizzlers, because she had such a sophisticated palette, of course. 

"do you think they have goldfish crackers?" she asked annabeth, who was busy examining the different flavors of gumball candies. 

"maybe," she responded absentmindedly, grabbing a few of each flavor. "wonder how your fish friend will react to that though." 

lyla went over to another aisle, where there unfortunately were no goldfish crackers. she sighed, picked something out randomly, and met annabeth at the cash register. 

the lady behind the counter raised an eyebrow, looking extremely frazzled. "i don't get paid enough for this," lyla heard her mumble under her breath.

suddenly, lyla felt a sense of paranoia and dread. she tensed, slowly turning around. the only other person was a russet-haired lady in a trench coat. 

monster. 

it was one thing seeing them at the camp border, but somehow, it was much more terrifying out here. 

she quickly turned around before the monster caught her staring, grabbed annabeth by the elbow, and hurried out of the store. 

"she's here," annabeth whispered to lyla. "you go to the back to warn the others, i'll do the talking." 

"you're insane," lyla whispered back. "but okay. trusting you on this. don't die." 

she headed quickly to the back, crossing her fingers that they would all make it out alive. 

"...not totally against the idea of consensus, but i just don't think—" 

"guys!" lyla exclaimed. "sorry to interrupt what i'm sure is a very entertaining conversation, but we have to open that window. now." 

"i don't think these windows are supposed to open," grover mused, but lyla wasn't listening as she scanned the bus, adrenaline and fear coursing through her veins.

"oh my god, not the failed nail technician fury. you've gotta be joking," lyla mumbled, thoroughly alarmed. "okay. break the window. go!" 

grover and percy immediately rushed to try and break the window to no avail. lyla looked back again to see the fury begin to head their way, a triumphant expression spreading across her sharp features. 

lyla heard the shattering of glass, and the sudden whoosh of fresh air. annabeth, now visible, shouted—"behind you!" lyla looked back just in time to see another fury crash through the window, slamming into percy and pinning him to the bus floor. 

"oh, shoot!" she panicked, pulling out a tube of lip gloss from her pocket. 

"lyla! not the time for lip gloss!" grover shouted. 

"yeah, obviously!" she yelled back, unscrewing it quickly. the lip wand instantly became a throwing knife, which sunk into the chest of the fury. she let out a shriek, then faded into a heap of ashes. 

"okay," lyla said with a raised eyebrow, looking down at her handiwork. "let's get going."